IANS News en-US https://ians.in C-1-1220275-1219957
"Russia will be ready and we have forwarded our proposals to Russian national sports federations for them to get in touch with the international federations to offer them assistance with the cancelled tournaments, particularly with the qualifying tournaments for the 2021 Olympics," Matysin is quoted as saying by Russian news agency TASS.

"Russia is ready to extend a helping hand to organise sports tournaments in our country."

Since the start of the year, a number of Olympic qualifiers, many of whom were to be hosted in China, have been shifted or postponed due to the outbreak of coronavirus at different levels around the world.

While Matystin has expressed confidence in Russia's ability to host events, the country has not been spared from the brunt of the virus.

Nearly 12,000 cases of infection and 100 deaths have been reported from the country due to the novel virus that has brought the world of sports to a halt. Last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finally announced the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. The Games will now start on July 23, 2021.

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:50:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220275 IANS C-1-1220258-1219956
"Today's positives include 7 members of a religious congregation who were traced, and isolated on March 27. Just proves that a determined tracking works. Appeal please cooperate", government spokesman, Rohit Kansal tweeted.

Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Srinagar DM said, "8 Covid +ve in #Srinagar today sounds panicky, but it's not. This is a classic 'tracing success story. Please help report".

Sources said the seven persons who tested positive today had come here with a local Tablighi Jamaat member who also tested positive today.

The total number of positive cases today crossed 200 in J&K as the number shot to 207.

Out of these, 39 are in Jammu division while 168 are in Kashmir division.

--IANS
sq/prs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:45:16 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220258 IANS C-1-1220255-1219955
Sanjeev Sharma (42) had attacked the duo for ‘spreading coronavirus' when they were buying groceries outside their residence on Wednesday night. He has now been sent to judicial custody till April 24.

Delhi Police had registered a case against the accused under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for molestation, outraging the modesty of women and causing hurt and wrongful restraint.

The court accepted the argument put forth by police that the offence was "serious in nature and that the accused should not be enlarged on bail".

--IANS
aka/arm

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:43:01 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220255 IANS C-1-1220236-1219954
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, in a tweet, said that another Covid-19 positive case has been confirmed, taking the state's total number to two.

"The patient is a 32-year-old male from Madhya Pradesh and currently staying at Damcherra (in northern Tripura). He has travelled along with the first COVID-19 positive patient in train (from Guwahati)," said Deb, who also holds the Health portfolio.

A 45-year-old woman first tested positive for coronavirus in Tripura on Monday.

Health officials said that the woman, who returned to Tripura by train on March 18-19 after offering puja at Guwahati's Kamakhya temple, is now undergoing treatment at the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital and her condition was stated to be stable.

In Assam, five samples of state's existing 28 positive cases tested negative in the last checks, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Guwahati.

The first corona death of Assam, also the first in the northeastern region, was reported from the state's Hailakandi district.

"Faijul Haque Barbhyan, 65, from Hailakandi district died at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) early on Friday due to COVID-19. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family," Sarma said in a tweet.


Barbhyan's swab sample had tested positive on Tuesday and he was immediately admitted to the SMCH. He had a travel history to Saudi Arabia and had returned home recently via Delhi.

According to Silchar hospital's officials, the condition of the patient, a former employee of Madrassa Education Board, had turned critical on Thursday and was admitted in the ICU.

Hailakandi Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli told the media that after funeral prayers, Barbhyan's body, kept in an airtight three-layered plastic bag, was disinfected and taken to a burial ground 10 km from the Hailakandi city and buried there in the presence of his close relatives and an Imam.

Of the total 34 positive cases in five northeastern states -- Assam (28), Manipur (2), Tripura (2), Mizoram (1) and Arunachal Pradesh (1), 28 took part in a Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi last month.

A Manipuri woman and a Mizoram man tested positive last month after they returned from the UK and the Netherlands respectively.

A 52-year-old trader in Assam's Kamrup (Metro) district has also tested positive for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Sarma, while addressing media in Guwahati on Friday, said that as a public health safety measure, the state government has declared Athgaon Kabristhan Masjid in Guwahati as "self containment zone" and sealed it for 14 days.

After returning from Nizamuddin Markaz event in Delhi, eight people stayed there and on March 12 held a congregation in the presence of at lease 100 people. Three of them have so far tested positive for Covid-19.

--IANS
sc/vd



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:43:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220236 IANS C-1-1220201-1219953
Shree Ghatak plays the transgender in the film. Asked if he has ever closely interacted with people from the LGBTQ+ community, Azhar said: "I had gay friends in school and college but I never had an opportunity to interact with transgenders in my life."

"This film is all about hope and happiness. When you see the film, you will realise that every character, in its own way, is trying to bring in certain changes in society. Maybe it's not underlined like a regular commercial film, but the nuances are there. I am sure people like Usmaan and Romita (characters in the film) exists in our society. It's so relatable that you will feel emotionally connected with all of them," he said.

The film is directed by Ram Kamal Mukherjee and it has travelled to several films festival including Cardiff International Film Festival and Rajasthan International Film Festival..

The film is a tribute to the late filmmaker Rituporno Ghosh.

"Season's Greetings" releases on April 15 on the OTT platform ZEE5.

--IANS
aru/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:42:58 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220201 IANS C-1-1220272-1219952
The film was initially scheduled to be ireleased n over 50 theatres across the US and Canada, and is now available at ThemindfulnessMovement.com.

The feature documentary examines how people are increasingly taking to mindfulness -- a peaceful quality of attention anyone can develop
by simply focusing on the present moment in a non-judgmental way -- as a means to create a healthier, happier world.


Sharing the importance of the film, Chopra took to Twitter and wrote: "Mindfulness can help reduce anxiety in these uncertain times. Please take a moment to visit the site to learn more about this important film."

According to Jewel, mindfulness can help reduce the "pandemic's silent symptoms of anxiety, fear and depression".

--IANS
sim/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:42:57 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220272 IANS C-1-1220252-1219951
The media bulletin issued by the state nodal officer, on Friday evening, stated that the highest number, 8 cases, were reported from Guntur district, and East Godavari reported 5, while Kurnool and Prakasam districts reported 2 cases each.

With 10 persons being cured and discharged from hospitals, and 6 deaths, the number of persons under treatment for COVID-19 in the state is 365.A

With 2 new cases reported in the latest batch of tests, Kurnool district's tally rose to 77 cases and continues as the district with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh. Guntur district ranks second with 58 cases while Nellore district remained in the third position, with 48 positive cases on Friday evening.

On Friday, the state intensified its containment strategy by identifying 133 high-incidence clusters as 'red zones'.

The state nodal officer stated that clusters are spread across 11 of the 13 districts in the state. The highest number of 30 red zones have been identified in Nellore, followed by 22 in Kurnool, 16 in Krishna, 12 in Guntur, 12 in West Godavari, 11 in Prakasam.

Similarly, 8 clusters have been demarcated in East Godavari, 7 in Chittoor, 6 in Kadapa, 6 in Visakhapatnam, and 3 clusters in Anantapur district.

The zones will be monitored minutely, with focus on isolation, maintaining social distance and intense follow up by health workers. The containment zones will be bounded by buffer zones to prevent spread of the infection.

--IANS
pvn/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:42:56 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220252 IANS C-1-1220253-1219950
The national capital has reported two new deaths in the last 24 hours, and the total toll due to COVID-19 is 14 since the outbreak of the infection.

According to the Delhi Health Department, among the total 903 cases, 584 cases are from the Nizamuddin Markaz, with 154 new cases in the last 24 hours.

"Among the 183 new cases, 20 had travel history or contact history," the health bulletin said.

It says 269 positive cases have foreign travel history and their contacts. The positive cases in Delhi have increased dramatically since people were evacuated from the Markaz building where over 2,300 people from different parts of the world and country were staying under one roof without following any social distancing.

Among the total patients, 26 have been discharged and cured while one has migrated.

"Total 862 patients are in the hospitals. While 42 are in the ICU, seven are on ventilators and 20 are on oxygen," the Health report said. So far, 11,061 tests have been conducted in the city and 496 reports are pending.

"While 903 reports were positive, 9,662 reports were negative," it says.

About 18,500 people are home-quarantined across the city and 2,565 are quarantined at the government facilities. The positive cases in the city are increasing at a rapid rate for the last 10 days.

The total positive cases in Delhi were 97 on March 30, which increased to 120 on March 31. While the cases were 152 on April 1, on April 2 , the count jumped to 293 cases.

On April 3, the tally reached 386 while the next day, on April 4, it was 445.

The total cases on Sunday was 503. The total coronavirus cases in the national capital were 525 on Monday, and reached 579 on Tuesday. The number jumped to 669 cases on Wednesday.

While there were 720 cases in the city on Thursday, the tally crossed 900-mark on Friday.

--IANS
nks/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:39:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220253 IANS C-1-1220239-1219949
The violators will be booked under IPC section of 188 if they are found without wearing masks on roads or any other public places.

Amit Khatri, the district magistrate of Gurugram has issued a notification in this regard citing spikes in corona positive patients and violations of lockdown.

"It is applicable for every citizen, government officials and any other employees associated with essential services. It is also applicable on motorists too while driving private or government vehicles," Khatri said.

Khatri further said that government officials should also wear face masks on ground. They will be not allowed in meetings if they would not wear proper face masks.

Gurugram district has total 32 positive cases and 3 of them were discharged from hospital on Friday. With this, total 12 corona infected patients have been discharged now and 20 are admitted in different hospitals.

"As a preventive measure, we have declared containment zones in the areas where corona infected persons emerged. Till the time, sector 9A, Palam Vihar, sector 54 Nirvana Country, Sector 83 Emmar Palm Garden, Laburnum society, sector 39 and three villages namely Raipur, Pataudi (Helimandi) and Fazilpur are declared as containment zones after corona infected patients were found," Khatri said.

"The SDM of the areas will decide the area of containment zones. They will be assisted by area ACP and SHO of Gurugram police," Khatri said.

As per the guidelines issued on Thursday, the 3 km area from the houses of corona infected persons will be declared as containment zones.

"Containment zone is progressive process, hence, we have decided to access the situation in every 5 days," Khatri added.

--IANS
str/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:39:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220239 IANS C-1-1220219-1219948
"Besides serving food to thousands of migrant labourers in 100 relief camps in the city, we are distributing foodgrains and medicines to the needy across the city, as they are without work and money to sustain during the lockdown," the official told IANS.

The needy, including daily wage workers, street vendors, domestic servants, porters in markets and transport firms have been rendered jobless since the 3-week lockdown was enforced on March 25 to contain the coronavirus spread and business activities, including public transport have been suspended.

"Foodgrains worth Rs 25 lakh is being distributed directly to the needy in each of the 198 civic wards across the city so that they don't have to go out in search of food or work as the lockdown is strictly enforced and none should go out of home," said the official.

The state labour department and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) are supervising distribution of food and essentials to the migrant labour and the needy supplied by scores of agencies, including corporates, non-government organisations (NGOs), trade associations, religious bodies and civic societies.

"To prevent the needy coming out and crowding at collection centres, foodgrains will be delivered at their doorstep. Even milk will be supplied free to them," the official asserted.

Meanwhile, about 500 National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets have started distributing food packets to daily wagers and street vendors in various localities in the city.

"About 5,000 cadets of the Karnataka and Goa directorate also volunteered to man helplines, call centres, distribution of relief materials, food, medicines and essential commodities to the needy and the migrant labour," added the official.

--IANS
fb/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:33:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220219 IANS C-1-1220263-1219947
According to a bulletin of the Health Department on Friday night, the total number of active cases in hospitals stands at 430.

So far 45 persons have recovered and discharged while 12 have died.

Though Health Minister Etela Rajender had said Thursday that said 60 to 70 patients were likely to be discharged, no one was discharged on Friday.

Rajender also hoped that by April 22 all those under treatment would recover and be discharged from hospitals.

"Till date there is no evidence of community transmission in Telangana," the bulletin said. As many as 101 hotspots were identified in the state

Six diagnostic labs are functioning round the clock to test the samples. The family contacts and secondary contacts of those at the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi are being traced, tracked, tested and treated for Covid-19.

--IANS
ms/vd



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:33:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220263 IANS C-1-1220222-1219946
It came after nearly a month-long row between YSR Congress Party government and Ramesh Kumar after the latter postponed the local body elections citing the precautionary measures required to check the spread of coronavirus.

The Government Order (GO) removing Kumar was issued after Governor Viswabhusan Harichandan gave his assent to an ordinance reducing the tenure of the SEC to three years from the current five years.

Kumar had strained relations with Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had personally met the governor to complain against him on March 14 hours after the SEC postponed the elections to rural and urban local bodies were scheduled on March 21 and 23 respectively.

The chief minister had slammed the SEC for his unilateral decision and alleged that he acted at the behest of leader of opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was unable to digest the fact that YSR Congress Party was heading to sweep the polls.

The High Court and the Supreme Court upheld the SEC decision to postpone the elections because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the apex court relaxed the poll code till announcement of the next schedule.

Last week, Ramesh again angered Jagan government by issuing a directive to the administration to keep the local body election contestants away from distribution of government aid to the poor during the lockdown period. He passed the order acting on complaints from opposition parties that the ruling party contestants were making use of the government money for their personal goodwill among the electorate.

--IANS
ms/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:33:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220222 IANS C-1-1220268-1219945
Talking about it, Vivek said: "I received a message from Jitendra last night, thanking me for working on this song. It's overwhelming to hear words of appreciation from my audience as well as the cast and makers of the show."

The show features Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav and Chandan Sanyal among others, and is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

The story is set in rural Uttar Pradesh. "We wanted to create something that would connect with rural India and yet have a very twisted and modern vibe to it. Fortunately, we managed to bring this out for our audience -- a song that is fresh, fun and high on energy. If you ask me, it was a great learning experience as I got to explore a new side of me. I haven't done anything like this before," the singer said.

--IANS
aru/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:30:16 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220268 IANS C-1-1220240-1219944
According to the Delhi Health Department, close to 1,500 houses have been included in the containment zone and buffer zone.

"Three of a family tested positive in the village. It is a single cluster in a residential colony. So, the administrative boundary of the colony is to be made a containment zone and an additional one kilometre radius has been made a buffer zone," an official from the Health Department told IANS. Total 10 areas, including the Dindarpur, Dindarpur Extension, Shiv Puri Part-1 and Shayam Enclave, have been included in the containment and buffer zone.

"A population of about 8,000 will be screened by the Health Department," the official said.

The Health Department said a 43-year-old man, and two women -- one 40-year-old and one 19-year-old -- had tested positive. 24 contacts have been tested, of which nine were negative so far, while reports of the rest are awaited.

According to the Delhi Police, the man was under home quarantine at his residence in the village by the health authorities.

"During physical verification of home quarantined persons, he was not found present at his residence. On subsequent questioning, he hid facts about his past travel and movements. After analysing his call detail records and physical enquiry, it was found that he had been at the Jamaat at Nizamuddin," the police said.

The man, according to the police, during the repeated medical and police enquiry, "withheld" this fact.

"He has jeopardised the health of the local community and his family members. Two of his family members have been found positive. As a fallout, a containment zone has been declared in the village and legal action has been initiated against him," the police said.

The District Magistrate has declared the Dindarpur area as a containment zone in an order dated April 8.

While in a containment zone, no movement of the residents is allowed, the buffer zone around the containment zone can have carefully monitored minimal movement. Also, people from the two sections are not allowed to cross their boundary lines.

According to an official from the SDM office in Kapashera, all residents, employees, service providers of the Dindarpur area like plumbers, electricians, caretakers, security guards, grocery shop employees among others need to be quarantined and medically checked.

"This is a precautionary measure and samples must be taken immediately to ascertain the intensity of spreading of Covid-19 within the society. The Health Department and Delhi Police are the main departments for the task. The action plans of both the departments have been prepared in detail," the official told IANS.

The official said till April 8, 600 houses have been already checked. "While the contacts of the positive cases will be tested, all those in the containment zone having symptoms will also be tested.

"If anyone refuses to comply with the orders, they can be booked under the IPC, the official added.

An order, dated April 9, says no outside person be allowed to enter into the area.

"Violation by the public persons should be taken seriously and action against the violators must be initiated immediately," the order, a copy of which is with IANS, added.

The order said banners will be prepared to the effect that the area is a containment zone and no one is allowed to enter it.

"SDMC, Najafgarh Zone will ensure the proper sanitation and hygiene of the area," it says. It added that proper distribution of food has to be done by the Food and Supply Department.

"The Tehsildar (Kapashera) will be the overall nodal Officer for the entire process and will ensure the presence of all deployed staff on their assigned duty in the containment zone," the order added.

So far, close to 30 areas across the city have been made containment zones, with the government claiming it has made Dilshad Garden -- city's first containment zone -- coronavirus free. More than 700 coronavirus cases have been reported from Delhi since the outbreak of the infection.

--IANS
nks/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:30:15 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220240 IANS C-1-1220246-1219943
The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation said that these flights are being operated to transport essential medical cargo to remote parts of the country to support India's war against Covid-19. Accordingly, these flights are being operated by Air India, Alliance Air, Indian Air Force and other private carriers.

"Over 180 flights have been operated under Lifeline UDAN during Covid-19 lockdown out of which 114 flights were operated by Air India and Alliance Air . 58 Flights were operated by IAF," the ministry said in a statement.

"Pawan Hans Ltd operated 5 cargo flights upto 8th April 2020 carrying 1.07 tons of critical medical supplies to Guwahati, Agartala, Kishwar, Navapachi, Srinagar, Jammu , Nagpur, Aurangabad, covering distance of 3,561 kilometres."

State-run Air India has collaborated closely with the IAF primarily for J&K, Ladakh, North-East and other island regions. "The cargo essentially covered COVID-19 related reagents, enzymes, medical equipment, testing kits and PPE, masks, gloves and other accessories of HLL and cargo requisitioned by State or UT governments and also postal packets," the statement said.

Besides Air India, Blue Dart, SpiceJet and IndiGo are also operating cargo flights on a commercial basis. The Lifeline Udan flights connect hubs in locations such as Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Agartala, Aizwal, Dimapur, Imphal, Coimbatore, Thiruvanthapuram, Bhub aneswar, Raipur, Ranchi, Port Blair and Goa.

Special focus has been given to the northeast region, island territories and the hill states. As part of India's war against Covid-19, the Civil Aviation Ministry had launched Lifeline Udan flights on March 26 for movement of medical and essential supplies across the country and beyond. At present, no foreign or domestic passenger flight operations are allowed in the country.

--IANS
rv/sn/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:27:06 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220246 IANS C-1-1220269-1219942
A video footage by a drone camera released by the Indian Army on Friday shows precision targeting of a terror launch pad and an ammunition dump on Pakistan side of the LoC in Keran sector.

The Indian Army, according to defence sources, has used a battery of artillery guns to target an artillery formation across the LoC that was being used by Pakistan for indiscriminate targeting of defence and civilian facilities in Keran and Tangdhar sectors.

The heavy firing exchanges continued between the two sides for several hours. Fearing for their lives, residents of at least half-a-dozen villages close to the LoC abandoned their homes to run to safer places away from the line of enemy fire.

--IANS
sq/prs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:27:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220269 IANS C-1-1220248-1219941
A video footage by a drone camera released by the Indian Army on Friday shows precision targeting of a terror launch pad and an ammunition dump on Pakistan side of the LoC in Keran sector.

The Indian Army, according to defence sources, has used a battery of artillery guns to target an artillery formation across the LoC that was being used by Pakistan for indiscriminate targeting of defence and civilian facilities in Keran and Tangdhar sectors.

The heavy firing exchanges continued between the two sides for several hours. Fearing for their lives, residents of at least half-a-dozen villages close to the LoC abandoned their homes to run to safer places away from the line of enemy fire.

--IANS
sq/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:27:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220248 IANS C-1-1220267-1219940
"The Arsenal Foundation has joined forces with HIS Church to deliver 15 tonnes of emergency supplies into Islington," said the former Premier League champions.

Working with Islington Council as part of the borough's emergency response plan, the donation will provide more than 30,000 free meals, as well as essential items such as sanitary and personal hygiene products to those most vulnerable in the local community, the club further said.

"This initiative forms part of our wider community response to COVID-19, which has seen Arsenal in the Community staff volunteer to transport frontline NHS workers. The Arsenal Foundation has also pledged 100,000 pounds to local organisations and redirected a further 50,000 pounds of partnership funding with Islington giving towards their COVID-19 Crisis Fund."

Alan Sefton MBE, Head of Arsenal in the Community, said: "We are very proud to be able to support the people of Islington during this challenging time. Islington Council have set up an extremely well-coordinated response and it is essential that we play our part in supporting that.

"This aligned community response is the result of a lot of hard work and collaboration with a number of local organisations. By working together with Islington Council and others, we hope we can continue to identify and support those in our local community who most need our support."

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:27:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220267 IANS C-1-1220262-1219939
In the festival, one will get to watch actors such as Nasseruddin Shah, Vikrany Massey, Rhea Chakraborty, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rajeev Khandelwal, Sumeet Raghvan, and Hruta Durgule.

The Short Film Festival premiere on April 15 on the OTT platform ZEE5.

"We are looking forward to premiering the Short Film Festival on April 15. Given the current scenario, the team at ZEE5 is pushing boundaries to provide its audience with unparalleled entertainment. The nine short films will also touch upon diverse conversation topics." said Aparna Acharekar, Programming Head, ZEE5 India.

There will be "Half Full", which revolves around two men having contrasting attitudes coming from two different worlds, but are headed towards the same vertex. Vikrant and Naseeruddin will be seen playing lead roles in the Karan Rawal directorial.

There is "Heartbeat" directed by Manu Chobe. It revolves around how Saanvi is set to make the biggest decision of her life, but not before getting some answers about humans. The film stars Anupriya Goenka and Rajeev Khandelwal.

Based in Kolkata, "Seasons Greetings" is about a mother-daughter relationship. It stars Celina Jaitley and Lillette Dubey in lead roles. Author-turned-filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee's Hindi feature film is a tribute to late Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh and it touches upon human emotions, interwoven with many contemporary social aspects.

"How about a kiss?" stars Rajat Kapoor and Ritabhari Chakraborty. The Satarupa Sanyal directorial is about a student who falls in love with her professor.

"Second Hand", starring Parul Gulati and Abhishek Banerjee, is about marriage, love and cheating. It is directed by Navjot Gulati.

"Svah! So be it" is a family drama of a girl wanting to get married but she faces the most bizarre hurdle ever. Starring Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rajit Kapur and Shilpa Tulaskar, it is a Gauri Daswani directorial.

"Food for Thought", directed by Tania Deohans, stars Rashi Mal, Alka Amin and Usha Nadkarni. It narrates consequences when a broad minded family meets a conservative family.

The lineup also includes: Sonam Nair's "Boom Noom", a comedy film starring Rhea Chakraborty and Manjot Singh, and "Strawberry Shake", about a single father who tells his 19 year old daughter to treat him as a friend but things go wrong when she brings her boyfriend home.

--IANS
sug/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:24:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220262 IANS C-1-1220256-1219938
Speaking to media at a conference, Joint secretary of the Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal said: "at least 16002 samples were tested on Thursday, of which only 320 people tested positive for COVID-19. Only 2% cases tested positive. Based on the samples collected, we can say that the infection rate is not high although it is dynamic."

Agarwal, however, suggested that people need to be alert. "Today, the challenge is not local or community transmission but the challenge is whether we are following all the precautionary and containment measures? There is no community transmission in the country yet, but we need to remain aware and alert," said Agarwal.

Agarwal also said that there was just one lab in the country and now there are total 213 laboratories in the country at present for testing COVID19 and the government is opening labs at the rate of 2.5 per day. "There are 146 government and 67 private labs. Earlier we did five to six thousand tests per day but yesterday 16002 tests were conducted. We are making 2.5 labs operational per day.

Manoj Murhekar. Director, National Institute of Epidemiology who was also present at the press conference told the media, "144910 samples were tested till yesterday 9 p.m. from 103792 suspected patients of which 5075 were positive. We conducted 16002 tests in a single day. It (number of tests per day) has increased substantially.

The Joint Health Secretary informed the media that there were a total of 6412 cases of COVID-19 reported so far. "At least 503 people were cured while 199 people died till date. A total of 678 new cases and 33 new deaths in a single day."

--IANS
sfm/prs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:21:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220256 IANS C-1-1220230-1219937

The officer died in Bengaluru on April 9. His parents are travelling by road from Gurugram to Bengaluru to attend his last rites.

They left on Friday morning and are likely to reach only by Saturday evening, driving about 2,000 km.

Bureaucratic hurdles didn't allow the parents of Col Bal (39) to travel by military aircraft. The matter was ignored at the force and the bureaucratic top level, sources said.

Colonel Bal was awarded the Shaurya Chakra, the third highest peacetime gallantry award for showing exemplary valour in an operation in Lolab in Jammu and Kashmir.

The bureaucratic explanation given to the parents was that there are no civilian flights available. They were also told that requests made for an military aircraft to fly did not materialize as no formal orders were passed.

The parents were told that due to the lockdown, a clearance was needed from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The necessary permissions for movement were given by Thursday evening.

However, there were no formal orders for the Indian Air Force to fly the parents, forcing them to take the arduous road journey.

"There needs to be a clearance for civilians to fly in an Air Force aircraft and despite requests and an understanding that the family could be flown, there were no formal orders," said a source.

Colonel Bal was a Special Forces officers belonging to the 2 Para Regiment of the Indian Army.

He also commanded his unit before he was diagnosed with cancer over a year back. The officer was commissioned in the Indian Army in 2002.

--IANS
sk/prs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:21:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220230 IANS C-1-1220249-1219936
A price cap on ventilators, masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid-19 pandemic will be more beneficial to the people than an import duty cut, Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) told IANS.

"The coronavirus pandemic has made many engineers to look at designing ventilators. Similarly, several automotive companies and others too announced their interests in getting into the sector. The Central government's decision to cut the import duty will have an impact on innovation and investments," he said.

On Thursday, the Central government allowed duty free imports of various medical items like ventilators, face masks, surgical masks, PPE, Covid-19 test kits and all inputs that go into the manufacturing of these devices.

Nath said manufacturers - old and proposed- will import the items and market them under their own brand while the government's Make in India plan continue to remain on paper.

According to him, the import duty on gloves was already zero.

For the past couple of months, there were no imports of ventilators and other items from China and it has started now, he said, noting that government policy does not allow manufacturing of components within or the full product in India and the country is 80 per cent dependent on imports.

About the ventilator sector in the country, Nath said there are 11 manufacturers and the country could have had 20, had imports of pre-owned/second hand ventilators not been allowed.

"It is strange that imports of second hand automobiles are banned but not second-hand ventilators," he said, while adding that many such imported second-hand ventilators are lying unused for want of spares and a proper service network in the country.

Nath said duty free imports of gloves are allowed from Malaysia, Thailand or Vietnam due to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) but if the same person buys the gloves from a factory in the Indian Special Economic Zone, then he has to pay 11 per cent duty.

A level playing field should be there for the glove manufacturers in the country, he said.

--IANS
vj/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:15:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220249 IANS C-1-1220261-1219935
In court documents filed on Tuesday in New York, the actress was accused of copyright infringement by a New York photographer, reports eonline.com.

The photos were allegedly taken, owned and copyrighted by photographer Felipe Ramales.

In the two pictures, Schumer is seen pushing her son, Gene, in a stroller in New York in November 2019. In the photos, the actress is sporting a "Plus Size Brain" sweatshirt, which is for sale on her website's store.

In addition to Schumer, the star's company, Claudette LLC is also named as a defendant. "Defendants ran the photographs on the website to sell and promote their clothing," the documents read.

"Defendants infringed plaintiff's copyright in the photographs by reproducing and publicly displaying the photographs on the website. Defendants are not, and have never been, licensed or otherwise authorised to reproduce, publically (sic) display, distribute and/or use the photographs," the lawsuit further alleged.

Ramales is seeking a trial by jury, monetary damages and legal fees among other relief.

"As a direct and proximate cause of the infringement by the Defendants of Plaintiff's copyright and exclusive rights under copyright, Plaintiff is entitled to damages and Defendants profits pursuant...for the infringement," the lawsuit read.

"Alternatively, Plaintiff is entitled to statutory damages up to $150,000 per work infringed for Defendants willful infringement of the Photographs."

Ramales' attorney Richard Liebowitz said: "This is a classic example of celebrities using their social media to generate revenue without paying the photographer any license to use their photo."

"Photographers need to stick up for their rights and make sure they get paid for their work."

--IANS
nn/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:15:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220261 IANS C-1-1220250-1219934
Still, Jatin is sentimental about the date. "April 10 will remain a very special day for me. We had announced that April 10, 2020 would be the release date of '83'. It is an ambitious project and one of the biggest films of my life. I got a chance to work with a superstar like Ranveer (Singh) and a director like Kabir Khan. But when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, everything changed. I was sad that one of the biggest films of my life was not releasing on the scheduled date. Then, around the same time, I got to know that 'Bamfaad' would release on April 10!" he said.

"That was surreal. You know, life is not bad! This is a special day!" added the actor.

In "Bamfaad", he plays one of the friends of the three lads the story revolves around. The film marks the debut of Paresh Rawal's son Aditya Rawal, and also features Shalini Pandey and Vinay Varma, and has dropped on ZEE5.

Talking about working with Aditya, Jatin said: "He does not have the attitude of being the son of an iconic actor like Paresh ji. I am a huge fan of his. But Aditya does not have any arrogance. He is like my younger brother. When we started the project, we had a budget constraint but he never had any extra demand. He is a very humble fellow! Also, in film he does not look like a debutant. He knows acting."

--IANS
aru/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:09:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220250 IANS C-1-1220260-1219933
"We would like to take this opportunity to remind the public and the media to respect the wishes of Norman and his family and to give them the space they need during this difficult time," Leeds said in a statement on its website, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Keep battling Norman, we are all with you," the statement added.

The 76-year-old had played 726 games for Leeds in his career.

Recently, Former England forward Jimmy Greaves was admitted to hospital for an unspecified illness.

The 80-year-old, a World Cup winner with England in 1966, played for Tottenham Hotspur and had netted 44 goals in 57 games for his country and a club-record 220 league goals.

"We can confirm that our record goalscorer Jimmy Greaves is currently being treated in hospital," a Spurs statement read.

In another developmet, Manchester United and England centre back Harry Maguire and his family will be supplying food packages of everyday essentials to the elderly in and around his hometown.

"I am very proud of my Mosborough roots -- it's where I grew up and where my family still live. I come back to visit everyone as much as I can," Maguire was quoted as saying by The Star.

Football in the United Kingdom has been suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic that has infected even the country's Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Over 65,000 have been infected in the country and nearly 8000 have died.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:09:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220260 IANS C-1-1220259-1219932
Over 46.9 per cent people in the Western region are fearful of getting infected, even as the outbreak has claimed thousands of lives globally. Meanwhile, 60.6 per cent of people in Southern India divulged that they are not worried about the transmission of the disease.

The net outcome came out in the survey conducted from April 4 to 6. The statement, "I am afraid that either myself or someone in my family may catch coronavirus", was put forth before the people and their answers on the pandemic were sought.

Over 45.6 per cent and 41.7 per cent of people in Eastern and Northern regions, respectively, followed West's trail and showed panic over the incumbent situation.

Besides this, 44.7 per cent people living in urban areas are afraid of contracting the virus, whereas 56.9 per cent of people in semi-urban areas, which mostly inhabits the middle-class population, expressed similar views.

Meanwhile, the global death toll from the dreaded virus is inching closer to the one lakh mark. In India, the number of cases has surged past 6,000, while over 200 people succumbed to disease so far.

-- IANS
aka/arm


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 21:06:08 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220259 IANS C-1-1220254-1219931
Yashwant Deshmukh, Founder-Director, C-Voter International, said that the Index of Panic has gone down in the third week of tracker as the levels of complacency go down among the masses.

He said that basically more people are becoming alert the more they are consuming the information while more preparedness is keeping the panic level in check.

However, the tracker brings to the fore several clear socio-economic trends which are visible in the data.

Deshmukh said that as the education levels go up, more people are becoming aware that this threat is real, not exaggerated.

"And as the income levels go down, more people are panicking that they are going to be infected. In short, the bottom of the pyramid is more panicked, but the middle class is holding the fort," he added.

The third tracker was conducted on April 4-6 with a sample size of 1,114 across all the states.

To a question on whether people are afraid that they or someone in their family can get the coronavirus, 43.4 per cent said yes while 53.6 per cent disagreed. The numbers for the previous week were 48.3 per cent and 46.5 per cent, respectively. More complacency was seen in the first week of the tracker.

The responses and trends come at a time when just four days are left to go for the national lockdown to end. But indications are that the lockdown will be extended, at least in the hotspots, and a gradual exit strategy will be followed.

Among the socio economic groups, and the Index of Panic in the age groups, the panic level is maximum among the freshers, those below 25, with 50.6 per cent agreeing with the proposition. Those above 60 years come in second at 49.3 per cent.

Similarly, the panic levels are higher among the lower education groups at 44 per cent, compared to higher education groups at 39.8 per cent.

On income levels, the panic level is higher among lower income groups at 45.6 per cent who agree with the question, while it is much lower among the higher income groups at only 37.9 per cent. The availability of resources is providing the cushion for the lockdown period and to weather the storm.

The panic level is more or less the same among the various caste and religious groups in the early forties except the Sikhs where only 37.8 per cent agree with the question.

Among the regions, in the East the number of people who disagree with the question is 5.9 per cent, in the North it is 14 per cent, in the South it is 21.4 per cent while in the West it is 10 per cent.

On the index of complacency, the tracker found that the level of complacency is coming down and less people think that the threat is exaggerated.

In the third week, 53.7 per cent disagree that the threat is exaggerated while those who agree is 38.1 per cent, with a gap of 15.6 per cent. This is the highest reading on people becoming cautious since the first tracker.

The complacency is highest in the West with 45.8 per cent agreeing with this exaggeration perception while it is the lowest in the East at 29.5 per cent. The West region is followed by South at 42.3 per cent.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:57:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220254 IANS C-1-1220225-1219930
Javadekar's remarks hinting at exteding the lockdown period beyond April 14 came during a Facebook live address to Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Pune.

He said, Prime Minister Modi is regularly reviewing the situation to decide the future course of action.

"When the Prime Minister warned us about this disease, we too didn't believe it. Let me be truthful to you," conceded Javadekar. But faced with a new reality, he reiterated the need to practise strict social distancing and personal hygiene.

He said PM Modi's initiative has resulted in 30 companies being readied in India to manufacture PPE (personal protection equipment) kits.

The Minister said the success of 'Janata curfew' was a proof of the PM's credibility.

--IANS
abn/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:57:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220225 IANS C-1-1220243-1219929
The city Commissioner of Police has issued orders - valid from April 10 to April 24 - prohibiting any kind of fake or distorted information on all social media like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instragam, etc.

It has also banned derogatory or discriminatory messages towards any community, or causing panic and confusion among the people, said the order signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Pranaya Ashok.

The order also prohibits any attempts to incite mistrust against the government officials or their acts to prevent the spread of coronavirus and such messages causing danger to public health or safety or public peace.

For all such acts by any person or groups, the person designated as "Group Admin" shall be held personally liable for such content in his/her group and attract action under the relevant laws, warned DCP Ashok, who is also the Mumbai Police official Spokesperson.

As a fallout of the orders, the state police have arrested 39 persons for propagating fake news, rumours and hate speeches, while 33 others identified would face action, said Superintendent of Police Balsing Rajput.

Since the first day of lockdown, the state police has registered 161 such cases over social media content, including 30 in the past 48 hours, with WhatsApp, Facebook and TikTok being the favourite of the miscreants, he added.

"The perpetrators are mainly spreading rumors about Covid-19 and its treatment. There are rising trends in hate speech cases, out of total registered cases, 73 cases about hate speech over social media," Rajput said.

Besides launching awareness efforts to sensitize people, police are also sounding out various platforms and intermediaries to filter the fake news videos or posts to reduce their spread, the officer said, urging people to guard against such content.

--IANS
qn/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:51:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220243 IANS C-1-1220234-1219928
According to GMR-led Airport, an Airbus A 320 aircraft landed at 1.52 p.m. from Mumbai and departed with 70 US-bound passengers (69 adults and one infant) at 3.03 p.m. to Mumbai.

The second special flight, also an Airbus A 320 aircraft, landed at at 3.12 p.m. from Mumbai and departed with 98 US-bound passengers (96 adults and 2 infants) at 4.24 p.m. to Mumbai.

As per the flight itinerary, the passengers were to be further connected with Delta Airlines from Mumbai to their final destinations in the US.

Both the flights were purely domestic and operated from the main Passenger Terminal Building of the Hyderabad International Airport.

In coordination with the US Consulate and the Telangana government, the US-bound passengers reached the airport from various part of Hyderabad. All these passengers were serviced through the fully-sanitised main passenger terminal building, which has been kept ready for evacuation operations, an airport spokesman said.

With the two flights on Friday, a total of 267 US nationals have been airlifted from Hyderabad.

On April 7, Hyderabad Airport had served 99 US bound passengers who flew to Mumbai and from there to the US by Delta Airlines.

Earlier, on March 31, a group of 38 German nationals flew from Hyderabad by a special flight of Air India which ferried the passengers from Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai to Frankfurt.

The Hyderabad Airport also serviced a special medical evacuation flight of IndiGo, which dropped its 8 crew members bound for Hyderabad and departed to Chennai with 5 stranded IndiGo crew members.

While the RGIA is handling the seamless operations of evacuation flights as per requirements, its cargo terminal is also fully operational to keep the vital link of essential supplies completely alive.

--IANS
ms/vd



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:45:07 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220234 IANS C-1-1220244-1219927
The 47-year-old, who is the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and late director-and-producer Bruce Paltrow, was working at a toy store on New York's Madison Avenue back then, but she was dismissed after failing to turn up for work while on school holidays, reports dailymail.co.uk.

"I got fired because I went on spring break, but I didn't tell my boss. I just didn't show up for duty. I thought the world stops when you go on spring break," said the Oscar-winning actress.

"I was devastated, but it was a good lesson."

When she was still at school, Gwyneth and her friends used to go to "upscale" nightclubs, where they all felt very "sophisticated".

She told the Town & Country magazine: "What we figured out was that the more upscale places would let you in, but if you were trying to get into the Irish bar on Second Avenue, they wouldn't.

"We thought we were so sophisticated, talking about Dostoyevsky and cutting school to go to the Met. Margot Tenenbaum, but maybe with less eyeliner."

--IANS
nn/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:45:06 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220244 IANS C-1-1220247-1219926
The survey indicates that the level of awareness about the dreaded infection is increasing, as people consume volumes of information from various mediums. But, the trend on awareness, across various socio-economic groups, is not consistent.

The survey also points out that as the education levels go up, people from the middle income group (54.3 per cent) and higher income group (65.6 per cent) disagree that the threat from coronavirus is exaggerated.

In the rural set up, 40.3 per cent agree that the threat from the viral infection is exaggerated and 53.5 per cent agree that the threat is real.

In the urban set up, 58.2 per cent disagree that the threat from coronavirus is exaggerated and 33.9 per cent agree that the threat is inflated.

In the semi-urban set up, 40.5 per cent agree that the threat from the viral infection is real. Therefore, it is apparent that in the higher education group, more people are aware the threat is real. And in the rural and semi-urban set up, people majorly agree that the threat is real.

People from SC category (41.8 per cent), ST category (42.5 per cent) and OBC category (37.9 per cent) agree that the threat from the viral infection is exaggerated, which indicates that people from these social groups are yet to ascertain their views on the deadly virus.

A total of 39 per cent Muslims agree that the threat from coronavirus is exaggerated while 59.7 per cent Christians also hold the same belief on the contagious viral infection.

In the gender based approach, the survey found that 56 per cent women disagree that the threat from the viral infection is exaggerated while only 20.2 per cent men disagree.

According to the health ministry data, men are more vulnerable to the viral infection and the maximum number of coronavirus patients is also men.

The survey noted that the level of awareness is more in the age group of above 60 years, as 54.5 per cent people believe that the threat from coronavirus is real, and not exaggerated. The survey on the question, "I believe the threat from the coronavirus is exaggerated" concludes that 53.7 per cent agree that the threat is real.

--IANS
ss/arm

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:45:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220247 IANS C-1-1220241-1219925
"I am very proud of my Mosborough roots -- it's where I grew up and where my family still live. I come back to visit everyone as much as I can," Maguire is quoted as saying by The Star.

"There's always been a real sense of community in the area which is more important than ever at the moment.

"In times like these you think a lot about your loved ones and those that are more elderly, so, I just wanted to do something to help those who need it most.

"My family and I hope this provides a small comfort to people who might be struggling."

Apart from this, Maguire is also coordinating the Manchester United first team's response to the newly launched Players Together NHS fund as the team's captain.

Football in the United Kingdom has been suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic that has infected even the country's Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Over 65,000 have been infected in the country and nearly 8000 have died.

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:39:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220241 IANS C-1-1220237-1219924
The 25-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain striker, along with two other teammates, rejoined the Chinese outfit, which set up a training camp in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, following the lockdown on Wuhan was lifted on Wednesday.

"When the epidemic broke out, head coach Jia Xiuquan tried every means to get us back to the team," she was quoted by ThePaper.cn as saying on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"His efforts, though in vain, made me never feel being walked out on," she said.

Wang and her two teammates, all Wuhan natives, were staying with their families for the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays in the Hubei province capital city when novel coronavirus broke out.

"In the beginning, I was rather anxious, fretting over the epidemic. But, encouraged by our head coach to keep good spirits, I then took that as it came. After having come through the isolation of two months and a half, now I can keep a peaceful frame of mind," she said.

Though stranded, Wang said she kept training every day to keep fitness according to a regimen prescribed for her by Jia.

Speculations abounded about her allegedly strained relations with Jia since the 2019 World Cup when the latter gave a terse retort to a reporter who asked why he sent Wang on to the field only in the second half of China's 1-0 loss to Germany in a group game.

"What I need is a team instead of a star in the team," Jia then said.

The Chinese side is now training in Suzhou to prepare for the two-legged playoffs against South Korea, slated for June 4 and 9.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:36:35 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220237 IANS C-1-1220227-1219923
Cases have been registered against Pannun and US-based SFJ under Section 124 A of IPC, and Sections 10 (A) and 13 (1) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, at the State Special Operations Cell inMohali, said Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta.

According to Varinder Pal Singh, AIG State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Mohali, preliminary enquiries have revealed that Pannun was involved in the commission of seditious acts of advocating secession of Punjab through automated calls as well as pre-recorded audio messages to various residents and nearby areas in March and April 2020, with the intention to foment trouble.

Since the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, Pannun, his associates and his organization were found incessantly disseminating seditious contents on social media to further frustrate and instigate the already anguished and distressed masses of Punjab.

Disclosing the modus operandi, the AIG said that in one such recorded audio message, sent from an international number of North America region, Pannun instigated the listeners by alleging that the Central government and the Punjab government were torturing the youth in the name of enforcing the ongoing curfew-lockdown in the state due to the pandemic.

The pre-recorded interactive voice response messages through telephone calls as well as audio messages to the people of Punjab belonging to various walks of life from New York are being made for pushing the secessionist agenda of his self-styled organization Sikhs for Justice, said the AIG.

--IANS
vg/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:36:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220227 IANS C-1-1220233-1219922
"We're doing good. We're mostly commiserating over the fact that… 24 hour parenting is not human," the pop star said when he was recently asked if quarantine has helped or hindered the relationship, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Justin shares five-year-old son Silas with Jessica.

This comes months after fans of Timberlake and Biel felt that the couple could be headed for a break-up after he was seen getting a little too cozy with his film co-star Alisha Wainwright.

Justin also explained how the family was taking things easy as they self-isolate from the comfort of their remote Montana property.

"We thought the best way to kinda do our part…we have a place in Montana and so we came up here," Justin said.

He shared how fortunate the family was able to get away from the city, saying: "We feel very lucky and kind of blessed… We're in a place where, they're pretty socially distant here anyway, where our place is. Just being able to kind of walk out into your driveway, maybe go for a little hike."

Late last month, Justin shared a scenic view of the snowy surroundings at their winter home along with a message to fans.

"Out here social distancing with the fam and a lot of these (trees emojis) I hope you guys are staying safe and healthy.

"We need to stick together and look out for each other during this crazy time. Go through my stories for some ways you can support your local communities.

"While there's a lot of chaos and confusion right now, there's also a lot of good and so many ways to help. Spread the word @feedingamerica @americanredcross @savethechildren @wckitchen (sic)."

--IANS
nn/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:33:14 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220233 IANS C-1-1220229-1219921


In the letter to the Home Minister, the IMA said: "The need to strengthen 23 state laws is becoming clear every day. IMA once again points out that a central legislation under item 1 and 2 of concurrent list ie IPC and CrPC are absolutely essential to deal with such situations. Kindly consider our plea."

Speaking to IANS, IMA President Dr Rajan Sharma said: "It is extremely sad that many such cases are coming into light these days from states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh etc. The Indore incident was very well highlighted in the media. There was an incident near Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi where two young lady doctors were accosted and abused physically and verbally by an assailant who blamed them for the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. There was a group of people who remained silent as if they concurred with them."

Sharma also said that there was a need to fulfill a long-standing demand to bring a central legislation in order to deal with such matters.

"It is good that the Delhi Police has taken action in that (Safdarjung) matter but the moot question remains how long such abuses be tolerated especially amidst a pandemic? Doctors, nurses and health care workers have been risking their health to save others. The Prime Minister has condemned such violence twice."

Sharma told IANS that such incidents are increasing and there is lack of good deterrence in law for dealing with such incidents. "Morale of the medical and allied healthcare workers is vital to fight the current epidemic. Such demoralising incidents have to stop. We once again demand an ordinance against violence on Doctors nurses , health care workers and hospitals," he said.

(Sfoorti Mishra can be contacted at sfoorti.m@ians.in)

--IANS
sfm/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:30:44 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220229 IANS C-1-1220218-1219920
Most of supermarkets in Noida are complaining of lack of supply of essential items such as rice, flour and pulses. Local markets are also facing shortage of items like Dettol, Maggi, Nutrela, among others.

One of the store managers of an Easyday retail outlet in Ghaziabad's Crossing Republic told IANS: "The demand for rice, pulses, wheat and flour is quite high. However, the supply is limited during the lockdown period. We are receiving these items once in two days."

The condition was similar at the Easyday oulet in Noida area as well as Spencer's in Noida and at other local retailers.

He said the demand for the Dettol, Nutrela, Biscuits and bread have gone up following the lockdown.

While all passenger, mail and express train services have been suspended during the lockdown period, freight trains, special parcel trains and goods trucks are plying across the country to maintain the supply of essential items. Yet basic items like rice and pulses are fast flying off the shelves at many stores, much to the dismay of the common people.

Till Friday evening, the total number of active Covid-19 cases in India rose to 6,741 with 206 people have succumbed to the dreaded virus across the country so far, according to the data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

A bread supplier in Noida area said that the delivery of the breads is getting delayed as the trucks are arriving late due to the lockdown and are stranded at checkposts at number of places.

He said he supplies bread to around 15 stores in the Noida area.

Another supplier wishing not to be named said he was getting less supply from the stockists. "Out of the limited stock that I get, I have to maintain the supply to all the stores".

--IANS
aks/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:30:43 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220218 IANS C-1-1220235-1219919
This essentially means that people are panicking less than they were a week before.

Responding to the statement that "I am afraid that either myself or someone in my family may actually catch coronavirus," 39.3 per cent strongly disagreed while 14.3 per cent disagreed. Collectively, they cross the 50 per cent barrier.

However, there are still 30.1 per cent respondents who said they strongly believed that they might catch the virus, while 13.3 per cent respondents said they didn't strongly agree with the idea, and conceded that they were fearful. Meanwhile, 2.9 per cent said they can't say.

To put things into perspective, last week the number of people who said they strongly disagreed that they were afraid was 31.5 per cent.

In other words, last week, 31.5 per cent said they were vehemently unafraid of the virus. That number has gone up this week and the change is 7.8 per cent.

At a time when the government's primary role is to contain the panic so that people stay indoors and follow social distancing norms, these numbers will certainly bring some sense of relief.

The IANS C-Voter Covid Tracker findings and projections are based on a daily tracking poll on CATI, conducted during the last seven days among 18+ adults nationwide. The data is weighted to the known demographic profile of the states.

The Tracking Poll Fieldwork covers random probability samples during the last seven days from the release date. The sample spread is across all Assembly segments across all states. The sample size is 1,114. The survey was conducted from April 4-6.

--IANS
abn/arm
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:28:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220235 IANS C-1-1220232-1219918
According to a BBC report, the six board members expressed their concern over the financial implications in a joint letter amid the coronavirus crisis.

"We have arrived at this point because we cannot reverse the way the club is managed in the face of important challenges in the future, especially in the post-pandemic era," the six said in their letter as quoted by BBC.

"We also want to show our displeasure over the unfortunate episode about the social media accounts, known as 'Barcagate', which we learned about through the press.

"As our last act of service to the club, we recommend that elections are called as soon as circumstances permit so that the club can be managed in the best way possible and deal with the important challenges of the immediate future."

In response to the resignations, Barca said they have come about "due to a reorganisation of the board put forward by Bartomeu and which will be completed in the next few days".

The Spanish football club, in a statement, added that the reorganisation was being planned to push through "the necessary measures to prepare for the club's future, overcoming the consequences of the public health crisis which is currently upon us and to bring to a conclusion the management programme".

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:27:59 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220232 IANS C-1-1220226-1219917
Dia's first conversation with filmmaker Zoya Akhtar dwelt on a number of things, from their shared love for nature to how they are both dealing with the lockdown.

On choosing Zoya as her first guest on "#DownToEarthWithDee", Dia said: "Zoya and I have been talking wildlife, conservation, ecological balance, stories and more for years. She is one of the most well-informed, empathetic, passionate, fun, articulate and talented people I know."

During the chat on Wednesday, Zoya elaborated on how the artistes community is always deeply affected by circumstances and is responsible for sharing observations of life and feelings through all mediums of their expressions. "This lockdown is going to alter the world. We will witness these shared experiences permeate into our narratives," the filmmaker said.

Dia's second chat friend was Shreya. "Shreya is an incredible artiste and human being who has brought so much joy to our lives with her amazing voice. She is also someone who has always made time for wildlife and nature," Dia said.

Shreya shared a few insights into her early days. "Owing to my childhood spent in a little township of Rajasthan, I am very grateful for the peace and minimalism I experienced which made my musical sense better. From the rustling of trees to the sound of the wind, the animals and birds, it is something I definitely miss now that I live in Mumbai."

Commenting on the current scenario, she added: "With the lockdown, people are realising that nature has always been here and we have just stopped listening and looking."

Dia has lined up more guests for her Wednesday rendezvous.

She believes the discussions on "#DownToEarthWithDee" will inspire people as they foster a relationship with nature.

"I hope these conversations on '#DownToEarthWithDee' every Wednesday will help all those seeking ways to live in better harmony with nature despite living in cities. I hope they find some magic, inspiration and solutions in our conversations,'' Dia said.

--IANS
nn/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:20:15 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220226 IANS C-1-1220231-1219916
Portuguese news outlet Correio da Manha's magazine Vidas said the forward had moved to a detached five-bed home near the fishing village of Canical in the east of Madeira which was costing him nearly 4000 Euros a week to rent.

The magazine quoted a source saying: "He felt he needed space, that he was getting a bit stifled inside four walls.

"This new place has a big garden and more privacy of course. Cristiano is very used to having a quiet life.

Ronaldo had first come to Portugal from Italy where he plays for Serie A giants Juventus after his mother suffered a stroke. He stayed put after Serie A was suspended due to the explosion of coronavirus cases in Italy.

Ronaldo is en route to becoming first football player and third sportsman overall to cross $1 billion in career earnings. This is despite the fact that Ronaldo has reportedly agreed to a wage cut of nearly 4 million Euros with his club Juventus so as to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Forbes, the cut hardly puts a dent on the Portuguese captain's annual earnings and he had earned a staggering $109 million last year. A further 30 percent wage cut is on the cards with the Serie A frozen due to the pandemic but Ronaldo could still earn an estimated $46 million annual paycheck.

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:20:14 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220231 IANS C-1-1220228-1219915
According to the latest survey, there is a clear correlation between socioeconomic strata and educational qualification when it comes to sense of panic among the people.

A whopping 45.7 per cent from the upper income group said that they ‘strongly disagreed' with the assertion that "I am afraid that either myself or someone in my family may actually catch coronavirus".

However, the numbers drop to 38.9 per cent in the middle income group and further to 37.6 per cent in the low income group.

The story isn't much different when one counts the number respondents saying ‘disagree' to the proposed query. It goes up with financial power.

Meanwhile, the same logic doesn't seem to work if one takes education as a yardstick as compared to financial strength.

It's the middle education group that seems to panic the least by the outbreak of coronavirus. A total of 42.3 per cent from the middle education group said that they don't worry at all, while only 38.1 per cent from the higher education group and 38.6 per cent from the lower education group said the same.

However, 20.2 per cent among the higher education group said they ‘disagreed' with the assertion, while that percentage was significantly lower in the other two education segments.

Meanwhile, men seem to be faring better than women, though marginally. Among the age groups, it's the middle aged and the young guns who are panicking the least. As much as 59.5 per cent in the age bracket of 45 to 60 years said they are not panicking at all -- the highest among all age groups.

Among the four zones of India, South India fared the best as far as not panicking is considered. A total of 60.6 per cent respondents from South India said they aren't afraid of the virus. That number dropped to 55.7 per cent in North India, 51.5 per cent in East India and 47.9 per cent in West India. Maharashtra, one of the worst affected states, falls in the western part of India.

Finally, among the urban, semi-urban and rural populace, it's the semi-urban that took the cake with 56.9 per cent saying they aren't afraid of catching the virus. Interestingly, rural India fared marginally better than urban India.

The IANS C-Voter Covid Tracker findings and projections are based on a daily tracking poll on CATI, conducted during the last seven days among 18+ adults nationwide. The data is weighted to the known demographic profile of the states.


The Tracking Poll Fieldwork covers random probability samples during the last seven days from the release date. The sample spread is across all Assembly segments across all states. The sample size is 1,114. The survey was conducted from April 4-6.

--IANS
abn/arm

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:15:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220228 IANS C-1-1220223-1219914
"The Two Halves Of My Heart," Kunal captioned the image, depicting the word 'Heart' with an emoticon.

In the picture Soha is seen holding the little girl in her arms.

Seeing the picture, actress Kareena Kapoor Khan could not resist herself from dropping a comment.

"Gorgeous two,"Kareena wrote.

Apart from showcasing his photography skills, Kunal has been impressing fans with his dancing lately.

Recently, Soha posted a video of Kunal that shows him grooving to "Wakhra Swag" song.

On the work front, Kunal will be next seen in the second season of e tweb show "Abhay".

--IANS
sim/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:15:35 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220223 IANS C-1-1220221-1219913
Taking to Twitter, Hardik wrote: "Happy #SiblingsDay Pandya fam. I've got the best in the world."

The pandemic has put the whole world on pause and sporting events across the globe have either been cancelled or suspended and even the fate of the 13th edition of the IPL hangs in balance with the BCCI now also open to shifting the tournament to the October-November window if the ICC does plan to postpone the World T20.

Former India and Chennai Super Kings pacer Ashish Nehra believes an IPL is possible in October. "Even if the IPL doesn't happen in August, there are lot of places in India that witness rains during that month and there are high chances that lots of matches will get cancelled. If things go back to normal around the world by October, we'll have a 100 per cent clearance," he pointed.

Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen also believes that the IPL should happen once things return to normalcy even if that means playing the tournament behind closed doors.

"Let's say July-August is the earliest, I do truly believe the IPL should happen," Pietersen said on Star Sports Cricket Connected. "I do believe it is the kick-start to the cricket season. I think every single player around the world is desperate to play the IPL.

"There could be a way in which to get some money into the franchises, into the economy by having a situation where you use maybe three venues which are completely closed to fans and the players can still go out and play the tournament in three weeks or in four weeks."

Pietersen also went on to add that having the fans watch from home is a solution. "So it's a more condensed tournament in three venues, which we know are safe, which we know are secure. I don't think the fans need to be risked in this situation.

"I think the fans need to understand they can't watch a live game at the moment and they might not be able to watch a live game for the foreseeable future. [But] what would you guys give right now, to watch Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings right now?" he pointed.

--IANS
bbh/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:15:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220221 IANS C-1-1220204-1219912
The Scoot Tiger Airlines carried 248 passengers to Singapore while the Druk Air or Royal Bhutan Airlines, handled by Air India, took off with 80 passengers for Paro, they said.

--IANS
vj/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:09:23 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220204 IANS C-1-1220217-1219911
"Corona...ab tera rona shuru hojaega .. aisa bhagega tu ...bhagega tu corona ..mangega na tu paani...India me ghusne ki kar baitha jo tu naadani. . Teri maregi nani...hum Hindustani" Johny said in the video.

Sharing the video on Twitter, Johny wrote: "Warning to #corona Warning ...#humhindustani #IndiaFightsCarona #GharBaithoIndia #covid19."

And it seems Johny's warning has left netizens in splits.

A user commented: "Hahaha. Super sir."

Another one wrote: "What an actor, it made me laugh a lot."

--IANS
sim/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:09:22 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220217 IANS C-1-1220211-1219910
Besides the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate also stepped into the scene by seizing the five vehicles in which the Wadhawans and others travelled yesterday from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar, as a huge political controversy erupted in the state.

Soon after the BJP state vice-president Kirit Somaiya raised the issue late on Thursday night, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis demanded a reply on the matter from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Demands also came for suspension of the concerned IPS officer, Home Department Principal Secretary (Special) Amitabh Gupta who allegedly granted permission to the 23-strong group of Wadhawans and others travelling in a private convoy of five vehicles from Khandala in Pune to Mahabaleshwar in Satara.

Moving swiftly, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh early today sent Gupta on 'compulsory leave' for the indiscretion and followed it up by ordering a time-bound probe by a senior officer, to be completed within 2 weeks.

Attacking the BJP, Congress state spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that Wadhawans' group companies like DHFL, HDIL, RKW have all funded the BJP.

"Wadhawans' company Privilege Hi-tech is developing Vijaydurga Port in which BJP MP R. Chandrashekhar, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a partner. Hence the false pretence of Kirit Somaiya won't work," Sawant said.

Nationalist Congress Party National spokesperson and Minority Affairs Minister and Deshmukh pointed out that all IAS and IPS officers come under the jurisdiction of the PMO.

"Since your party (BJP) is in power at the Centre, you should demand his (Gupta) suspension from the PMO," both ministers advised, pushing the state BJP into an embarrassing corner.

Dropping dark hints, Sawant said that Gupta was appointed by the Fadnavis government which kept supporting the Wadhawans who are now lodged in a government quarantine facility in Panchgani hillstation.

"It cannot be ruled out that someone higher up from the BJP may have influenced help for them (Wadhawans). The MVA government has taken immediate action against Gupta. The Modi government must take action and come clean," demanded Sawant.

The Wadhawans' detention in Mahabaleshwar proved a boon for the CBI which was on their trail for a month when they absconded after the arrest of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor on March 8, and also Enforcement Directorate (ED) which wants them for its probe.

"From the developments, it seems that the Wadhawans were in touch with certain officials like Gupta who were holed up in Khandala. Whether the CBI was deliberately kept in the dark of their whereabouts also needs to be probed," said a Shiv Sena leader, requesting anonymity.

The ED today seized the five vehicles in which the Wadhawans and others travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar while the CBI has directed the Satara Police chief not to release the wanted Wadhawans without its prior permission.

The CBI said that Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan are absconding and it had searched their premises in Mumbai, and later secured non-bailable warrants of arrest against them.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:06:59 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220211 IANS C-1-1220216-1219909
In a statement, the industry body has said that it is working with state governments to assure the availability of essential products.

"There is enough stock of grains, pulses and other daily essentials for the lockdown period and beyond. There is no need for citizens to believe otherwise and engage in panic buying," it said.

The entire government machinery at the central, state and local levels has been working relentlessly along with RAI and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth supply of essentials, it said.

RAI, along with its members, is working closely with various state governments and with the Centre to resolve supply concerns with regards to essentials as they arise at the earliest, said the retailers' body.

"All stakeholders are working at war footing with the sole intent of ensuring citizens are safe and comfortable and do not face any hardships for accessing daily essentials," it said.

--IANS
rrb/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:06:58 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220216 IANS C-1-1220215-1219908
Bank employees' association leaders said the Lala Lajpat Rai Road branch of the nationalised bank has been sealed for ensuring the safety of the staff and the customers. It would be sanitised before its reopening.

The officer's mother had developed symptoms of Covid-19, following which she was tested and found positive. The officer as also other staff of the branch are now in quarantine.

--IANS
ssp/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:00:38 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220215 IANS C-1-1220202-1219907
An order issued on Friday by the General Administration Department said that offices will start functioning in Srinagar from May 4, but added that those employees belonging to the Valley will only move to the Valley this year, while employees belonging to the Jammu division serving in such offices will work on a 'as is where is' basis.

This means such employees will not move to the Valley during this year's Darbar move.

The order further says the situation will be reviewed after June 15, depending upon the extent and spread of Covid-19.

Since the times of the Dogra Maharajas the top offices of the government have been shuttling on a six-monthly basis between the twin capitals of Srinagar and Jammu.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:00:37 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220202 IANS C-1-1220214-1219906
While closed-door services were held in some churches, there were no emotional processions as in the past due to lockdown.

Some churches live streamed the services for the people to watch online from their homes.

--IANS
vj/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:00:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220214 IANS C-1-1220213-1219905
The celebrated Indian DJ, who has been rocking dance floors for over two decades now, is set to give musical joy and leave music lovers' feet tapping to Bollywood numbers as well as English tracks when be goes live this weekend.

"Music has no barriers, I look forward to bring everyone together virtually over the next few days on the Magic Moments Instagram platform and give them a good reason to make every moment a magic moment at home," DJ Aqeel said.

This will give people across the world to unite and attend a party in the comfort of their homes.

"This is a wonderful way for people to beat isolation and kill boredom as all they will need to do is tune in to the Instagram page and join the party," said Amar Sinha, Chief Operating Officer, Radico Khaitan.

"We never had a second thought about this collaboration. Considering the interest of the youth today and things that would help us (as a brand) connect with them, we went ahead with this association to unite one and all while keeping safety first in mind," added Sinha.

--IANS
nn/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:57:28 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220213 IANS C-1-1220210-1219904
Known to be bitter rivals on the court, Swiss ace Federer and Spanish great Rafael Nadal have had many memorable matches over the years. Nadal is yet to take up his challenge at a time everybody is cooped up at home to stave off the coronavirus pandemic.

But a fan, wearing a Nadal shirt, decided to take up the challenge while reading a book with a racquet in the other hand. He tagged Roger in his Instagram story saying that good reading was always important. However, that was certainly not what piqued Roger's interest.

Noticing his t-shirt, Roger replied – "Yes true but…. .the shirt???"

Federer came out with a new volley challenge for his fans recently who have been advised to stay home during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The 38-year-old Swiss, who has been exploring new ways to embrace tennis at home, found a fun method at the wall where he'd previously put on a trick-shot show on ice.

In the video, he stood just inches from the wall and hit rapid fire forehand volleys. Federer was already hitting volleys when the video began and he was still doing so when the video ended. The shots that he hit against the wall were too quick to count, but he hit about 200 consecutive volleys in one minute without moving his feet.

Federer had tagged the likes of Virat Kohli, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Coco Gauff, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Brady, Bill Gates and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in his post.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion previously had posted clips of himself hitting against a wall in the snow, including around-the-back or through-the-leg-tweener trick shots.

The men's and women's professional tours remain suspended until at least mid-July because of the coronavirus outbreak which has claimed more than thousands of lives across the world.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:57:27 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220210 IANS C-1-1220209-1219903
The state government released the travel history of last four COVID-19 cases on Friday.

According to the state government, case number 47 and 48 who tested positive for COVID-19 are aged 9 and 5, respectively. These two girls belong to Jharpada area of Bhubaneswar.

Both the minor girls are close relatives of state's patient number 42, said the government.

A 37-year-old relative of these two girls has also tested positive for COVID-19.

The two minor girls and the 37-year-old woman had visited AIIMS Bhubaneswar on April 4 and 5 to attend to their relative (case number 42) who was undergoing treatment at the hospital.

The government has also released the travel history of case number 45, who is a 20-year-old youth of Golamunda in Kalahandi district.

He came in contact with the first COVID-19 patient of the district, who had returned from Bahrain, on April 4.

The youth later tested positive for the virus on April 9.

--IANS
cd/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:57:26 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220209 IANS C-1-1220212-1219902
The study by Bengaluru-based sleep solutions startup Wakefit.co suggests that while the current lockdown has given many the opportunity to work-from-home and try their hand at household works, it has however impacted the sleep patterns of many.

Over 81 per cent of the respondents believe their sleep schedule will be better once the lockdown ends, according to the study which involved 1,500 people.

While 46 per cent of the respondents used to sleep before 11 pm prior to the lockdown, now only 39 per cent go to bed before 11 pm.

Similarly, about 25 per cent of the respondents used to go to bed post 12 at night during normal circumstances, post the lockdown, 35 per cent have started going to bed after 12. This indicates a 40 per cent rise in late night sleepers since the lockdown.

Coronavirus related concerns like job security, managing finances at this time and worrying about family/friends' security accounted for most sleepless nights among respondents, with 49 per cent staying up because of these issues, said the study.

--IANS
gb/na

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:57:25 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220212 IANS C-1-1220174-1219901
In letter to the BSNL Chairman and MD P.K. Purwar, the industry body said: "There is an urgent need for intervention and support regarding clearance of outstanding dues of our IP - 1 members due to which our members are facing huge cash crunch which is leading to following challenges with regard to ensuring 24x7 telecom operations on telecom tower sites of BSNL in view of present situation due to COVID-19," citing difficulty in paying rent and in incurring operational expenses among other issues.

TAIPA, on Friday, said it has also asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to intervene and support in clearance of the dues.

TAIPA's members include Indus Towers Limited, ATC Telecom Infrastructure Pvt Limited, Bharti Infratel Limited and Tower Vision Limited, Sterlite Technologies Limited, Space Telelink Limited, Applied Solar Technologies andCoslight India Limited.

In its letter dated April 9, TAIPA said that landlords where BSNL sites are installed have been demanding the payment of rentals and threatening for coercive action and the infrastructure providers are also facing difficulty in payment of electricity bills of BSNL tower sites.

It further said, "procurement of diesel/batteries and other back up storage devices for telecom towers sites of BSNL is getting impacted."

The tower companies are also facing challenges in keeping the uptime as per SLA's (service-level agreement) for BSNL tower sites which is leading to BSNL network outage and blackouts in nearby areas of the sites.

T.R. Dua, Director General, TAIPA said: "The situation has become highly critical now with total outstanding dues from BSNL amounting to approximately Rs 1,500 crore which has been pending for long. Already the telecom industry is going through financial crisis, this is an addition to the financial woes of the telecom IP-1 players who are working tirelessly for ensuring 24/7 connectivity across the country."

"We are looking forward to an urgent intervention and support from the CMD, BSNL in the matter," he added.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:54:47 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220174 IANS C-1-1220208-1219900
"Thank you all... you lovely people for your warms wishes... we really left a strong bolt of love come our way. Rest assured we are very well and fully recovered now," Purab wrote.

He also urged people to "stay indoors".

"Yes it's hard! But firstly we need to put the brakes on this pandemic, and then we have to conserve energy and rest our bodies and build strength. God forbid if you do catch the virus, your body which is the real weapon against this virus, will need loads of energy to fight it."

Purab also thanked all those who are working day and night to protect the world from the deadly virus.

"A big shout out to all the frontline workers and health workers around the world who are risking their own health and the health of families to serve us all. Bless them.

"This is a photo of us in Coonoor last year while I was filming Out of love. Also a reminder to me of the good times to come once we beat this problem as #OneWorld #FightAgainstCorona," Purab added, sharing a throwback picture that shows him sharing smiles with his wife Lucy, daughter Inaya and son Osian.

--IANS
sim/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:52:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220208 IANS C-1-1220200-1219899
India's forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs) and India's reserve position with the Int ernational Monetary Fund (IMF). On a weekly basis, FCAs, the largest component of the forex reserves, edged lower by $547 million to $439.11 billion.

Similarly, the value of the country's gold reserves decreased by $340 million to $30.55 billion. The SDR value rose by $5 million to $1.42 billion. In addition, the country's reserve position with the IMF went down by $19 million to $3.56 billion.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:48:49 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220200 IANS C-1-1220173-1219898

The helplines are flooded with around 3,000 to 4,000 calls regularly, with most of the callers seeking help to send them to their hometowns while others are informing about the acute shortage of staple food items like rice, flour and pulses.

Maximum callers are migrant workers who are stranded in various states due to the 21-day lockdown imposed by the government to break the chain of coronavirus transmission.

With the number of cases growing by the day and some states like Uttar Pradesh and Delhi sealing several areas identified as hotspots for the dreaded virus, many of the poor families are seeking help from the MHA control room after being in hit hard by the lack of money to meet the needs of their family members.

Over 80 lines linked to the helpline numbers 1930 (an all India toll-free number) and 1944 (dedicated to the Northeast) are being run in four separate rooms of the Ministry of Home Affairs office round-the-clock to address the queries of people.

Talking to IANS, an operator at 1930 said that he receives maximum calls related to ration.

"Most of the callers inform that they have ration that will last only for a few days and ask what will they do after that," said the operator, requesting anonymity.

He said that many of the callers seek help to reach their hometowns.

Similar calls are received on 1944 from across the country and these are transferred by the operators to the concerned lines which are dedicated to solve issues related to some particular states and Union Territories.

"Some people seek information about the phone numbers of nearby ration shops, medicine stores and hospitals. We try to address all their problems," he said.

"We provide the number of government ration shops in the nearby areas of the caller. We also provide them with helpline numbers of the concerned states and the areas from where they call. We note down the name, address and number of the callers and also make follow-up calls to find out if they have received helped or not," he added.

Another helpline operator said that he tries to persuade people seeking help to go to their hometowns.

"I tell them that they can go to their villages or hometowns after the lockdown is eased. I tell them that the restrictions are for their own safety in order to break the chain of transmission," he said.

Maintaining social distancing, the MHA control room operators from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been providing their service ever since the two helplines were set up on April 3.

In its persistent effort to help the needy amid the Covid-19 crisis, the two helplines addressed over 300 queries on Wednesday.

Besides 1930 and 1944, seven other helplines are already active in the Home Ministry control room to respond to other Covid-19 related issues and they deal with the concerned departments involved in the fight against Covid-19, which has claimed 199 lives besides infecting over 6,000 people across the country.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:48:48 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220173 IANS C-1-1220145-1219897
"The nation is fighting against the pandemic... we are prepared to contribute in the fight and every Congress worker is serving the people. Due to lockdown, migrant labourers have travelled to their native places, our workers helped them collectively, and I am thankful and obliged for the work done by you all"

"As you are aware I and Rahul Gandhi have written letters to the Prime Minister to give suggestions. We hope that government will make a strategy to face this challenge as the poor farmers and labourers are in pain," she said.

Gandhi said due to the lockdown, the economy is in shambles. The economy was already in a bad phase and the problem will get aggravated so we should be ready to help the people, she added.

She on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting five measures to curb government expenditure" and to divert these funds to fight the deadly virus.

In her letter, she suggested that the Central Vista project of approximately Rs 20,000 crore be scrapped, government advertisements in media tbe stopped as well as foreign visits of ministers and other dignitaries, and asked to divert the money in the PM-CARES fund to the PM's National Relief Fund.

--IANS
miz/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:48:46 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220145 IANS C-1-1220176-1219896
In all, the affected and cured cases are 364.

Two deaths had been reported previously, but those patients had other serious ailments.

"Today there are 1,29,021 under observation at homes and 730 at various hospitals in the state," said Shailaja.

The police today registered 2,239 cases and recorded arrest of 2,308 people and impounded 1,530 vehicles in the state for violating lockdown norms.

On Friday the government came out with an order that allows opening of shops selling fans and airconditioners on Sunday, while on Monday it allowed opening of optical shops and shops selling construction material could open on Monday and Tuesday. But these shops must not have more than three employees.

Meanwhile, State Education Minister C. Raveendranath pointed out that if the situation persists, the ministry might consider conducting the remaining Class X and XII exams online.

With four more deaths reported of Keralaites on Friday in Europe and the US, the total number of such deaths touched 29.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:48:45 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220176 IANS C-1-1220207-1219895
Waugh, who retired in 2002 after playing 128 Tests and 244 ODIs, said that he found his "arsenal of weapons" from his playing days and named which of those were his favourites.

"Cleaning the garage out today and came across my arsenal of weapons over the years. My favourite was 2nd from the end on the right. Note my Symonds Super Tusker thought it was ripper in the day but looks like a plank," said Waugh in his tweet.

Kumar Sangakkara responded to another tweet by a fan who asked him, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and West Indies great Viv Richards to share pics of their old bats. Sangakkara, who played 134 Test and 404 ODIs in an illustrious 15-year international career, said that he doesn't have any with him.

"I would love to post some pics but unfortunately I have no bats at home. None that I have used in my career. Given them all away," he said.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the cricket calendar to a grinding halt. Players, both former and current, have hence taken to interacting with each other and with fans on their social media handles.

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:46:35 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220207 IANS C-1-1220205-1219894
Author-filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee's Hindi language film, titled "A Tribute To Rituparno Ghosh: Season's Greetings", was earlier slated to open last year post Diwali. It will now premiere on the digital platform ZEE5 mid April.

"Poila Baishak (Bengali New Year) is an auspicious day for us, and since the film is set in Kolkata and pays tribute to Bengal's most loved filmmaker, this is the best time to release the film," said Mukherjee.

The film revolves around a mother-daughter relationship and also trains focus on transgenders. Celina apart, the film also features Lillette Dubey in a pivotal role. Incidentally, the film will mark the playback debut of singer Kumar Sanu's son Jaan Kumar Sanu.

"We are extremely happy to have author turned filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee's Hindi feature film 'A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh: Season's Greetings' premiering exclusively on ZEE5. We are happy to announce that this film will be a part of ZEE5 Short Film Festival, with 8 other distinctive films across genres that will be released on April 15 as well," said Aparna Acharekar, programming head, ZEE5 India.

Director Mukherjee said: "I thank Tarun Katiyal and Jay Pandya from ZEE5 for showing faith in my vision."

--IANS
abh/vnc



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:46:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220205 IANS C-1-1220195-1219893

The Delhi Police and the administration immediately sealed the society on Wednesday night after the announcement by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Besides the Shahjahanabad society, the Delhi government also sealed 19 other areas to contain the spread of Covid-19.

A day later, Delhi government added five more areas in the sealing list.

According to Delhi Police sources, the society in Dwarka area was sealed after six people, with travel history to Nizamuddin Markaz and Bangladesh were tested positive.

On Friday, following the sealing of the society, no outsider was allowed to enter the society and only local administration officials along with health officials and sanitation workers entered to carry out sanitization and tests.

A woman resident of the society, wishing not to be named said, "I came to know about the sealing of our society from the TV news. And now we are not allowed to go out."

She further said that the administration people are coming in the society for sanitization and health tests of the residents.

She also said that the administration has arranged for the milk and vegetable vendor so that we don't face any problems.

Covid-19 cases went up after several people from Tablighi Jamaat who attended Nizamuddin Markaz tested positive.

The Delhi Police has already registered a case against several people of Tablighi Jamaat.

On Friday, the number of Covid-19 cases in India rose to 6,741 with 206 deaths across the country.

--IANS
aks/kr
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:46:33 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220195 IANS C-1-1220178-1219892
Health Minister Eatala Rajender has also called for exempting imported equipment from customs duty.

He made the demand during a video-conference Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held with health ministers of all states.

Rajender also demanded that ventilators and other equipment being manufactured by public sector undertakings like Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) should be made available to states.

He also requested the Centre to take necessary steps to ensure that the states get N-95 masks, Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs) and testing kits as early as possible.

He suggested that the Centre take all measures to make sure that there is no black-marketing of medical equipment used in the management of COVID-19. He said the Centre should acquire these equipment and make them available to the state governments.

Rajender informed the Central minister that there is no community transmission of coronavirus in Telangana. "We have so far tested samples of 8,500 people and out of them 471 were found positive. While 12 people died, 45 recovered and discharged from hospitals," he said.

The minister suggested that the Centre take views of all states on the issue of extending the lockdown.

--IANS
ms/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:43:10 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220178 IANS C-1-1220189-1219891
The company got the licence days after the union government took the initiative for largescale manufacture of the drug in view of the raging pandemic.

According to the company chairman P.M. Chandraiya, BCPL has the capability to churn out 10 lakh hydroxychloroquine tablets daily.

Founded in 1901, BCPL is the country's first pharmaceutical company, and once manufactured Hydroychloroquine. However, it stopped manufacturing the product decades back.

Chandraiya said the cost of raw materials for making the drug has gone up 20 times in the past few weeks.

"We have requested the union government to put a cap on the raw material prices," he said.

--IANS
ssp/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:39:23 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220189 IANS C-1-1220149-1219890
"The system remotely assesses the health of Covid suspect or patient quarantined in hospitals or at home and protects healthcare staff's exposure," said the official of the city-based BEL in a statement here.

The company developed the dynamic system on inputs from AIIMS to provide a digital and clinical solution without exposing health workers to the deadly virus.

The system's integrating non-invasive health monitoring sensors measure temperature, pulse rate, saturated oxygen level and respiration rate.

"With expertise in network centric and Internet of Things (IoT) systems, we have networked the sensors for monitoring the key parametres remotely," said the official.

The BEL also developed a mobile app/web browser to enable patients to get admitted to hospital on feeling Covid symptoms.

The institute will study the patient's complaints and give him or her a kit for periodical monitoring of the key parametres.

"The software will give SMS alerts to medical officers and health staff when the parameters exceed the threshold. It will also record the patient's condition in colour codes," said the company.

The centre's data analytics software will map the geo-distribution of the virus-hit suspects/patients in the state.

"The data will help the hospital administration to identify the hotspots, isolate and cordon off the areas to check the virus spread," added the official.

--IANS
fb/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:39:22 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220149 IANS C-1-1220180-1219889
The Utkal Petroleum Dealers Association decided not to sell petrol/diesel/CNG to customers not wearing masks.

"The government's decision is for the benefit of the general public and we completely support it. The decision has been taken to ensure that people follow the government's guidelines", said Sanjay Lath, general secretary of the association.

He said the decision was taken to ensure the safety of the employees and the customers as well.

The Odisha government on Thursday made wearing masks mandatory for people stepping out of their houses.

It has decided to impose fines on violators. The fine would be Rs 200 for the first 3 times and then Rs 500 for every subsequent violation.

--IANS
cd/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:39:21 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220180 IANS C-1-1220196-1219888
An elderly woman in Tuticorin died due to Covid-19, taking the toll in the state to nine.

The total number of Covid-19 patients who got discharged from the hospital fully cured to date was 44.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Shanmugam said all the 77 persons were from quarantined/contained area and not from outside.

According to him, in a day or two, family members of all patients will be surveyed for coronavirus infection symptoms.

He also said the Central government has given Rs 314 crore to Tamil Nadu from the National Health Mission to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Queried about the expert medical group's recommendation to extend the lockdown period by two more weeks, Shanmugam said a decision will be taken on Saturday after a video conference meeting between Chief Minister K. Palaniswami and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to him, after the video conference, there will be a cabinet meeting and the decision on extending the lockdown will be taken.

The medical expert team had said that despite the various measure taken by the state government, the rate of coronavirus infection has not gone down.

On the delay in receiving the rapid test kit from China, Shanmugam said the kits will arrive in a day or two, adding that the state government on its own has been taking measures to procure test kits and personal protective equipment and is not dependent on the Central government.

He stressed that Tamil Nadu is still in Stage-II of the virus spread and has not entered the stage 3 -- the community spread.

--IANS
vj/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:36:15 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220196 IANS C-1-1220185-1219887

The people of the society have taken the decision of administration to seal their society seriously and are adhering to all the precautions suggested.

Following the sealing, no outsider is allowed to enter the society and there is presence of police round the clock at the main entrance.

The home delivery of ration has also been stopped and the residents are being asked to collect their items from the main gate of the society.

Speaking to IANS, Mirza Tariq Beig, a resident of the society said, "As our society has been locked down we are not allowed to go out."

"We are only allowed to come to the main gate to collect the items that have arrived from the e-platform delivery," he said, adding that even the people are not allowed to roam in the society.

Beig, who is in his late 60s further said that only problem that they are facing is that the ration which has been ordered a week ago is being delivered now.

"And most of the items are still not delivered as it showing out of stock with the supplier," he said.

When asked if they were getting milk and vegetables inside the society, he replied, "Yes, the administration has arranged a milk vendor and vegetable vendor inside the society."

He said, the police team remains inside the society when the vegetable and milk vendor arrives to maintain the social distancing.

Anil Kumar, who works as an Assistant Manager for the maintenance team in the society told IANS that to ensure social distancing, a team of volunteers have been formed from each tower of the society.

He said, even the society has arranged for the lodging of over 40 security guards, house keeping people and maintenance team people inside the society.

He said, he himself has not gone out of his home in last 10 days as the society was earlier sealed following few people testing positive for Covid-19.

Kumar further said that the residents have provided the guards and other staffs of the society gas cylinders, utensils, bedding, vacant flats and ration for staying.

Kumar also said that the district administration officials are also carrying out sanitation in the society on regular interval.

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to seal the hotspots in 15 districts on Wednesday to cut the transmission of Covid-19.

In Gautam Buddha Nagar, till Friday a total of 64 positive Covid-19 had been detected out of which 12 have been cured.

--IANS
aks/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:36:14 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220185 IANS C-1-1220123-1219886
The ministry claimed that the delay has been caused by incomplete renovation work on the memorial site due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

The renovation work at the memorial site was to be completed by March, but it has taken a hit because of the coronavirus outbreak.

"Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the said work has been affected. It has now been decided that the memorial site will be closed for visitors till June 15," the ministry said.

--IANS
rag/arm



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:31:30 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220123 IANS C-1-1220199-1219885
The first corona death of Assam, also the first in the northeastern region, was reported from Hailakandi district in its southern part.

"Faijul Haque Barbhyan, 65, from Hailakandi district died at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) early on Friday due to COVID-19. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family," Sarma said in a tweet.

Barbhyan's swab sample had tested positive on Tuesday and he was immediately admitted to the SMCH. He had travel history to Saudi Arabia. He returned to his home recently via Delhi.

According to Silchar hospital's officials, the condition of the patient, a former employee of Madrassa Education, had turned critical on Thursday and was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit.

Hailakandi district's Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli told the media that after the performance of "namaz-e-janaza" (Muslim ritual before burial) Barbhyan's body with an airtight three-layered plastic bag was disinfected and taken to a burial ground 10 km from the Hailakandi city and buried there in the presence of his close relatives and a Muslim Imam.

After one death, of the total 33 positive cases in five northeastern states -- Assam (28), Manipur (2), Mizoram (1), Arunachal Pradesh (1) and Tripura (1) -- 28 took part in a Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi last month.

A Manipuri woman and a Mizoram man tested positive last month after they returned from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands respectively.

A 52-year-old trader in Assam's Kamrup (Metro) district has also tested positive for coronavirus.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Sarma while addressing media in Guwahati on Friday said that as a public health safety measure, the state government has declared Athgaon Kabristhan Masjid in Guwahati as "self containment zone" and sealed it for 14 days.

After returning from Nizamuddin Markaz event in Delhi, eight people stayed there and on March 12 held a congregation in the presence of at lease 100 people. Three of them have so far tested positive for COVID-19.

--IANS
sc/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:31:29 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220199 IANS C-1-1220203-1219884
"Lawn time, no see!" CSK said in a tweet from their official handle.

The outbreak of the coronavirus saw the Chennai Super Kings training camp being called off and skipper Dhoni returning home from Chennai.

CSK bowling coach Lakshmipathy Balaji recently said that the former India skipper looked very intense during his training sessions even though he was making a return to competitive cricket post a sabbatical.

"Dhoni was looking good, fit. He focused on training just like he always does and was as normal as he has always been. He trained like the way he did last year or 2 years ago. There is nothing that changes when it comes to his preparation. His routine, his mindset, everything is the same," Balaji had said.

Recently former India opener and domestic legend Wasim Jaffer also revealed that all Dhoni wanted when he started off was to make Rs 30 lakh and live peacefully in Ranchi.

Replying to a fan's question on his "favourite memory with M.S. Dhoni", Jaffer said on social media: "In his 1st or 2nd year in Indian team, I remember he said, he wants to make 30 lakhs from playing cricket so he can live peacefully for the rest of his life in Ranchi".

Dhoni went on to play 90 Tests, 350 ODIs, and 98 T20s for India, captaining the team to the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 50-over World Cup.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:31:28 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220203 IANS C-1-1220193-1219883
Of this, 6,039 are active cases of novel coronavirus, and 206 fatalities have been reported till date.

The Health Ministry also said that a total of 515 people have recovered and discharged from the hospital, and one person has migrated to another country.

Addressing the daily press conference, Joint Secretary, Health, Lav Agarwal said: "A total of 678 new cases and 33 deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported in the last 24 hours."

The total number includes 71 foreign nationals, the Ministry said.

Maharashtra continued to report the most number of cases, at least 1,364, while there are 898 cases in the national capital. Tamil Nadu has reported 834 cases of Covid-19 so far and Telangana has 473 cases. Kerala reported 357 cases and Uttar Pradesh 431. The number of cases in Rajasthan spiked up to 463, to 363 in Andhra Pradesh, to 241 in Gujarat, and 259 in Madhya Pradesh.

Other states and UTs that have reported cases are West Bengal (116), Punjab (132), Karnataka (197), Jammu and Kashmir (184), Haryana (169), Bihar (60), Assam (29), Himachal Pradesh (28), Odisha (44), Uttarakhand (35), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (11), Arunachal Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (18), Chhattisgarh (10), Goa (7), Jharkhand (13), Ladakh (15), Manipur (1), Mizoram (1), Puducherry (5), and Tripura (1).

--IANS
sfm/vd



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:28:45 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220193 IANS C-1-1220181-1219882

A majority of the cases came from four districts that lie within 50-60 km of Delhi.

After Muslim-dominated Nuh (Mewat) and upscale Gurugram, Faridabad and Palwal districts have become state's coronavirus new hotspot where the virus containment plans also came into effect.

The only saving grace for them is that no new case was reported from the hotspot districts in the past 24 hours.

Nuh has the highest number of 38 cases, followed by 32 in Gurugram and 28 each in Palwal and Faridabad.

A day earlier, Health Minister Anil Vij told media that out of active 136 coronavirus patients in the state, 108 belonged to the Tablighi Jamaat, which means nearly 80 per cent of them belonged to the Jamaat -- the super-spreader.

Vij said 15,000 people with foreign travel history had been quarantined.

He held the Tablighi Jamaat accountable for the Covid-19 spread that was otherwise under control in the state.

On the containment plan for each district, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rajeev Arora said the government is undertaking extensive screening, sampling, and testing to trace cases and prevent local transmission.

"We are going to test 450 samples in all hotspots -- Gurgaon, Nuh, Palwal and Faridabad -- and a minimum 125 tests in other districts," he said.

He said the state is currently in Stage II. "We have to identify symptomatic persons and their contacts."

According to state's health bulletin, Haryana has so far sent 3,496 samples for testing out of which 2,443 have come out negative, while the result in remaining 892 is awaited.

Palwal Chief Medical Officer Brahm Deep Singh said a majority of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the district have attended the Markaz or came into contact with those who returned from Markaz.

Director General of Police Manoj Yadava said the Tablighi Jamaat members entered the state ahead of the March 25 nationwide lockdown.

"The violation on their part is that they hid their travel history and were actively socialising with people," he said.

On Thursday the state recorded three positive cases, much relief from a day earlier when 24 cases were reported.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who sanctioned Rs 5 crore for sanitization of 2,588 panchayats, has asked the Deputy Commissioners to prepare containment plans as well as set up committees to implement them to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has prepared district containment plans as a precaution, an official statement said on Thursday.

A spokesman said 36 villages in Nuh district, which reported 38 positive cases, have been declared as containment zone and its 104 villages as buffer zone so that people can be investigated.

The movement of residents in the containment zones is restricted and all these areas will be sealed by the police.

In Palwal district, another coronavirus hotspot, nine villages have been ordered to be sealed, declaring their area as a containment zone as well as 27 adjacent villages as buffer zone.

Similarly in Panchkula town, the Nada Sahib area, Civil Hospital in Sector 6, Command Hospital and bus stand have been declared as containment zones, while Moginand, Sector-7, MDC-4 and Sector-10 have been declared as buffer zones.

Thirteen areas in Faridabad district have been declared as containment zone, including Sectors 11, 37, 16, 3 and 28, Badkhal village, Green Field Colony, A.C. Nagar, Fatehpur Taga, Khori, Chandpur Aura, Mohana and Ranheda villages.

The spokesman said that no positive cases of corona have been reported so far in Rohtak, Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Yamunanagar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Sonipat and Rewari districts.

Fourteen Italian patients were admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, out of which 13 have been discharged, the state's Health Department bulletin said.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

--IANS
vg/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:28:44 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220181 IANS C-1-1220198-1219881
Urvashi took to Instagram, where she shared a picture from what seems like to be from a photoshoot. In the image, she is seen wearing a jet black swimsuit with a plunging neckline and a chunky yellow coloured neckpiece.

She captioned the image: "The love could be labeled poison & we'd drink it anyway."

The sizzling hot picture of Urvashi has garnered over 994K likes on the photo-sharing website.

Urvashi recently shared a video where the actress can be seen enjoying a scrumptious breakfast spread on a floating tray.

The B-Town hottie and internet sensation recently got trolled for repeating her bikini in previous posts.

--IANS
dc/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:20:20 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220198 IANS C-1-1220197-1219880
In the current situation where most of the people have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, social meeting applications provide easy ways for people to connect via video, audio or text.

With the rise of social distancing, Kaspersky experts investigated the threat landscape for social meeting applications to make sure users are safe and their communication experience is enjoyable.

Subsequent analysis detected around 1,300 files that have names similar to prominent applications like Zoom, Webex, and Slack.

Among those 1,300 files, 200 threats were detected -- the most prevalent being two adware families, DealPly and DownloadSponsor.

Both families are installers that show ads or download adware modules. Such software typically appears on users' devices once they are downloaded from unofficial marketplaces.

While adware is not a type of malicious software, it can still pose a privacy risk.

Apart from adware, in a few cases Kaspersky experts found threats disguised as .lnk files -- shortcuts to applications.

In fact, the vast majority of them were detected as Exploit.Win32.CVE-2010-2568 -- a quite old, yet still widespread malicious code that allows the attackers to infect some computers with additional malware.

The real "king" of social meeting applications in terms of the one whose name is most used by criminals to try to distribute cyber threats is Skype.

Kaspersky experts were able to find 120,000 various suspicious files that use the name of this application.

Moreover, unlike the names of other apps, this particular name is used to distribute not only adware, but also various malware -- particularly Trojans, Kaspersky said.

--IANS
gb/na]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:20:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220197 IANS C-1-1220166-1219879
Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that after compromising on 'India First' policy in the HCQ drug "climbdown", the Modi government is again failing to secure the safety and livelihood of Indians in the US.

"The sword of H-1B visa job termination looms large on the heads of an estimated 75,000 Indians, with the United States giving them only a 60-day period to find a new job in case of a lay-off. There are 309,986 Indians working on H-1B visa in the USA, and given the COVID-19 lockdown in the two countries, it is logistically impossible for them to come back to India," said Surjewala

The party said in a statement that when the COVID-19 pandemic was raising its ugly head in India, the government was holding public felicitation for the US President and his entourage.

"Time for the Prime Minister to ensure that our soft power of 'Namaste Trump' converts into fair treatment of H-1B visa holders in the United States," said Surjewala.

"The US has put American citizens on temporary paid leave or allowed them to work for reduced hours in the wake of the virus; Indian H1B workers, on the contrary, will have to work for 40-hours per week on a payroll and be paid nothing less but the same am sount."

The party said that 60,000 H-1B visas are generally granted to Indians each year which have already been on a steady decline for the last few years; where rejection rates have gone up as high as 53% for some top IT companies.

The economic slowdown is becoming more and more extreme during lockdown. The IT sector contributes nearly 8 per cent to the GDP, where the US accounts for two-third of the IT Services exports, the party noted.

Almost 3 lakh jobs, which have been one of the highest contributors to India's growth, are at risk and the most affected would be the one, whose visa renewal is past due or would be in the coming months, it said.

"Most organizations are considering terminating the contract unless Modi government intervenes with the help of the Trump administration in finding a solution," said Surjewala.

--IANS
miz/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:16:39 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220166 IANS C-1-1220192-1219878
Sharing a picture of himself, he wrote: "Thank you for all your prayers and duas on #Shab_e_baraat. My heartfelt prayers for all of you too."

Fans flooded the 97-year-old Bollywood icon's post wishing him well, and praying for him.

"Lots of prayer for you Allah khush Rakhe sir," a fan commented.

Another fan wrote: "Sir, wish you health and happiness always."

As the nation is experiencing a lockdown owing to the COVID 19 pandemic, the veteran actor recently took to Twitter to share a message urging citizens to stay at home.

He wrote: "I urge you to #StayHomeSaveLives during this #COVID19pandemic

Dawa bhi, dua bhi
Auron se faslaa bhi
Ghareeb ki khidmat
Kamzor ki seva bhi..."

--IANS
abh/vnc



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:16:38 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220192 IANS C-1-1220194-1219877
"TalkBack braille keyboard is a new virtual braille keyboard integrated directly into Android. It is a fast, convenient way to type on your phone without any additional hardware, whether you are posting on social media, responding to a text, or writing a brief email," Brian Kemler Product Manager, Android Accessibility said in a statement on Thursday.

TalkBack keyboard uses a standard 6-key layout and each key represents one of six Braille dots which, when tapped, make any letter or symbol. "To type an ‘A' you would press dot 1 and to type a ‘B', dots 1 and 2 together," Kemler added.

It works on all Android text fields - from Docs to Gmail to text messages - and also offers the way to delete letters, words, add lines as wll as submit text.

The keyboard is rolling out to all devices that run Android 5.0 or later.

To enable it, just go to Settings > Accessibility and select TalkBack. One can see full instructions on the Android Accessibility Help website.

--IANS
wh/na]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:09:38 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220194 IANS C-1-1220146-1219876
The Minister also instructed BSF to increase the vigil on border areas specifically where there is no fencing to avoid any cross border entry considering the spectre of coronavirus spread.

The direction came in view of movements of some anti-national elements like drug peddlers, terrorists and smugglers across the 3,323 km India-Pakistan and 4,096 km India Bangladesh borders.

Reviewing border security on Thursday as part of precautionary measures to avoid the spread of the deadly virus through India's borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Home Minister asked the BSF to "increase the vigilance on border areas specifically in those areas where there is no fencing".

"The Home Minister also instructed to stop cross border movements. He also suggested to make villagers and farmers aware about the Covid-19. He also directed the district authorities to ensure that no one inadvertently crossed the border," a Home Ministry official said.

The BSF is mandated to guard India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders and the Home Minister's direction to it is part of measures to break the chain of the transmission of the virus which so far has claimed 199 lives and infected over 5,700 people across the country.

--IANS
rak/vd



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:09:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220146 IANS C-1-1220191-1219875
The 19-year-old took to TikTok on Thursday, where she lip-synced portions of Eminem's "Those kinda nights", featuring Ed Sheeran, particularly one that read, "She said: "No, I'm bi'.", reports dailymail.co.uk.

She further confirmed the news on Twitter, when a fan asked if she liked girls and she responded, "if i may escort you to my tiktok... @auliicravalho".

The section of "Those kinda nights" lyrics which she lip-synced are: "Seriously though, jokes aside, how you doin'? You straight? / She said: ‘No, I'm bi' / She said: ‘Are you drunk?' I said: ‘No, I'm high' / I'm checkin' out the chick, she said: ‘So am I'."

The actress didn't lip-sync to the entire section, though, starting with "Seriously though, jokes aside, indicating that she was serious about the revelation. She also lip-synced to "No I'm bi", along with, "She said, ‘Are you drunk?'" and then "So am I" as the brief video came to an end.

The actress got support from 18-year-old actress Rachel Zegler, who will make her film debut in Steven Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story".

Zegler was one of the first responses to Cravalho's "if I may escort you to my TikTok" tweet, stating, "oh absoLUTELY".

Cravalho responded in kind on Twitter with a quote re-tweet which said: "I Love You".

Cravalho was in high school in Hawaii when she auditioned for Disney's animated film "Moana". She was the last to audition out of thousands of girls, winning the title role alongside Dwayne Johnson's Maui. The animated adventure was a big hit at the box office, earning $248.7 million domestic and $690.8 million worldwide in its theatrical release.

After "Moana", Cravalho went on to star in short-lived musical series "Rise", which lasted just one season in 2017. She also reprised her role as Moana in Disney's 2018 animated sequel "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2" and she also played Ariel in "The Little Mermaid Live".

The actress will next be seen in the upcoming film "Sorta Like a Rock Star" alongside Justina Machado and Carol Burnett and Amazon's "The Power".

--IANS
sug/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:09:35 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220191 IANS C-1-1220165-1219874
"We have stocks for 10-15 days now. We appeal to the government to help us," said an auto rickshaw driver in Srinagar.

"Things are getting really difficult for us. We want the government to announce a package for transporters and daily wageers on the lines of Delhi," said a taxi driver in Srinagar.

"We will be happy to transfer money directly into the bank accounts of transporters and daily wage labourers when such a scheme is announced. So far no such scheme has been announced," said Haneef Balkhi, ADC Srinagar.

--IANS
zi/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:09:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220165 IANS C-1-1220190-1219873
The study, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, aimed to determine if having an overweight or obese range body mass index (BMI) at time of beginning school is associated with increased fracture incidence in childhood.

"In a cohort of almost half a million children from Catalonia, Spain, we have found a strong association between pre-school overweight/obesity and the risk of fracture during childhood," said study senior author Daniel Prieto-Alhambra from the University of Oxford in the UK.

According to the researchers, a dynamic cohort was created from children presenting for routine preschool primary care screening, collected in the Information System for Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP) platform in Catalonia, Spain.

Data were collected from 296 primary care centres representing 74 per cent of the regional pediatric population

The study included 466,997 children with weight and height measurements at age four years who were followed for a median of 4.9 years.

The findings showed that fractures occurred in 9.20 per cent of underweight, 10.06 per cent of normal weight, 11.28 per cent of overweight, and 13.05 per cent of obese children.

Compared with normal weight, overweight and obesity were linked with 42 per cent and 74 per cent higher risks of lower limb fractures, respectively, and a 10 per cent and 19 per cent higher risk of upper limb fractures, respectively.

Overall, preschool children with an overweight or obese range BMI had increased incidence of upper and lower limb fractures in childhood compared with normal-weight kids.

"More research is needed to further understand the mechanisms underlying this correlation," Prieto-Alhambra said.

--IANS
bu/na
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:09:33 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220190 IANS C-1-1220188-1219872
"Dear everyone in Assam, really sad to know that first death due to Covid-19 has been reported in our state. I request everyone to kindly take this pandemic more seriously. Our doctors, police, sanitation and all essential workers are risking their lives for us. Stay home safely," Hima said in a tweet.

The first corona death of Assam, also the first in northeastern region, was reported from Hailakandi district in its southern part.

"Faijul Haque Barbhyan, 65, from Hailakandi district expired a few minutes ago at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital due to COVID-19. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family," Sarma said in a tweet.

Barbhyan's swab sample had tested positive on Tuesday. He had travel history to Saudi Arabia. He returned to his home recently via Delhi.

According to Silchar hospital's officials, the patient, a former employee of Madrassa Education, had turned critical on Thursday and was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit.

Of the total 34 positive cases in five northeastern states -- Assam (29), Manipur (2), Mizoram (1), Arunachal Pradesh (1) and Tripura (1) -- 28 took part in a Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi last month. A Manipuri woman and a Mizoram man tested positive last month after they returned from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands respectively.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:09:32 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220188 IANS C-1-1220187-1219871
While promoting Don Saladino's free fitness classes amid coronavirus, Lively told her hubby Reynolds that she has mistaken Instagram for a dating app.

Taking to her Instagram Story, shereposted Reynolds' story in support of Saladino's four-week body weight program, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"@vacinityreynolds I keep swiping right. This thing isn't working. Oh… swipe UP," she captioned the photo.

Saladino was amused by her humour.

Sharing her story, he captioned: "LOL."

Along with that he also put out a "swipe right" sticker and a note that read: "Thank you B."

Reynolds' original Story had a photograph of Saladino topless and his workout.

Over the photo, the actor urged the fans to check out the trainer's free program.

Lively herself has worked out Saladino's expertise to get back in shape back in 2018.

--IANS
dc/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:04:40 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220187 IANS C-1-1220143-1219870
All employees actively helping would be given an additional one-month CTC, while the frontline staff deployed at Seven Hills Hospital, ER and two isolation rooms will get an additional payout besides the extra salary, said the HNRFH Hospital CEO Dr Tarang Gianchandani.

The hospital will also distribute grocery bags to its staff who are not in the hostel, through the HR and Corporate admin teams, besides continuing the free bus service to all employees commuting to the HNRFH along with water, biscuits and masks en route and free meals to all staff during this crisis.

The HNRFH - supported by RIL and chaired by Nita M. Ambani - has decided to waive all affiliation charges from all medical and surgical Visiting Consultants from March 15 onwards.

The hospital said it will also take full care of all medical expenses in case any staffer or their family members are infected by Covid-19.

It has also ensured adequate and best available personal protective equipment (PPE) for the frontline warriors at all locations where they are working with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 cases, said Gianchandani.

--IANS
qn/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:04:39 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220143 IANS C-1-1220186-1219869
According to the report by leading management consulting firm McKinsey and Company, the cost of stabilising and protecting households, companies and lenders could exceed Rs 10 lakh crore, or more than 5 per cent of GDP in such a scenario.

The report, titled ‘Getting ahead of coronavirus: Saving lives and livelihoods in India,' said that restarting supply chains and normalising production and consumption can take three–four months if the lockdown goes till mid-May as the virus ligers on.

If the lockdown continues for additional two–three weeks in Q2 and Q4 FY 2021 because of virus resurgence, it could mean an even deeper economic contraction of around 8 to 10 per cent for fiscal year 2021.

"This could occur if the virus flares up a few times over the rest of the year, necessitating more lockdowns, causing even greater reluctance among migrants to resume work, and ensuring a much slower rate of recovery," the report suggested.

To understand probable economic outcomes and possible interventions related to COVID-19, McKinsey spoke with some 600 business leaders, economists, financial-market analysts and policy makers.

According to the findings, in case the lockdown period is extended till mid-May, the potential economic loss in India would vary by sector, with current-quarter output drops that are large in sectors such as aviation and lower in sectors such as IT-enabled services and pharmaceuticals.

"Current-quarter consumption could drop by more than 30 per cent in discretionary categories, such as clothing and furnishings, and by up to 10 per cent in areas such as food and utilities," said the report.

Strained debt- service-coverage ratios would be anticipated in the travel, transport, and logistics, textiles, power and hotel and entertainment sectors.

There could be solvency risk within the Indian financial system, as almost 25 per cent of MSME and small- and medium-size-enterprise (SME) loans could slip into default, compared with 6 per cent in the corporate sector (although the rate could be much higher in aviation, textiles, power and construction) and 3 per cent in the retail segment (mainly in personal loans for self-employed workers and small businesses).

"Liquidity risk would also need urgent attention as payments begin freezing in the corporate and SME supply chains. Attention will need to be given to the liquidity needs of banks and nonbanks with stretched liquidity-coverage ratios to ensure depositor confidence,' the report mentioned.

Given the magnitude of potential unemployment, business failure and financial-system risk, a comprehensive package of fiscal and monetary interventions may need to be planned.

"Consideration could be given to an income-support programme in which the government both pays for a share of the payroll for the 60 million informal contractual and permanent workers linked to companies and provides direct income support for the 135 million informal workers who are not on any form of company payroll,' the report further suggested.

Since last week, the Health Ministry has observed a staggering rise daily in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the country -- nearly 500-plus cases daily with a few exceptions where the number has gone below 400 cases -- a pattern which indicates a worrying trend after solid implementation of the nationwide lockdown and sealing of hotspots.

On Friday, the number of confirmed cases has risen to 6,412, an addition of 669 cases in a day.
Punjab and Odisha have already extended lockdown till May 1 and April 30, respectively.

According to the report, countries that are experiencing COVID-19 have adopted different approaches to slow the spread of the virus.
Some have tested extensively, carried out contact tracing, limited travel and large gatherings, encouraged physical distancing, and quarantined citizens.

Others have implemented full lockdowns in cities with high infection rates and partial lockdowns in other regions, with strict protocols in place to prevent infections.

"The pace and scale of opening up from lockdown for India may depend on the availability of the crucial testing capabilities that will be required to get a better handle on the spread of the virus, granular data and technology to track and trace infections, and the build-up of healthcare facilities to treat patients (such as hospital beds by district)," said the report.

Since there is a very real possibility of the virus lingering on through the year, a micro-targeting approach could help decelerate its spread while keeping livelihoods going.

"It is imperative that society preserve both lives and livelihoods. To do so, India can consider a concerted set of fiscal, monetary, and structural measures and explore ways to return from the lockdown that reflect its situation and respect that most important of tenets: the sanctity of human life," the report noted.

--IANS
na/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:01:31 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220186 IANS C-1-1220163-1219868
The 7,242 construction workers of Delhi had applied for registration but their application was pending with the Delhi Labour Welfare Board and the government decided to give the assistance amount to them as well.

"The Delhi government has released a total of Rs 3.6 crore for the payment to the additional workers," the government said in a statement.

On March 31, the Delhi government had given the assistance amount to 32,358 registered construction workers.

According to the government, a total amount of Rs 16.18 crore has been given to the registered construction workers of Delhi.

"The money is being transferred directly to the account of these labourers," the government said.

To tackle the Coronavirus outbreak, nationwide lockdown was imposed till April 14.

The lockdown has created a financial crisis for the daily wagers and to help them, the government had announced the assistance money.

The government has also announced free ration and cooked food to the poor.


While it has doubled the pension under various pension schemes of the Delhi government, free ration for 71 lakh beneficiaries and free food in the night shelters across the city.

Also, those who are poor but do not have a ration card, are also being provided rations.

--IANS
nks/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:01:30 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220163 IANS C-1-1220183-1219867


The website coronajankari.com employs an interactive tool similar to that used by National Health Service in the UK to know about the coronavirus positive and suspect patients.

IAS officer Prashant Sharma, 32, said the website has been set up keeping in mind the 45-50 crore Hindi-speaking users in north and central India.

It incorporates all information related to coronavirus, government guidelines, tests and even a helpline.

Sharma said that the user can fill in details about his or her age, gender, symptoms if any, travel history, pin code of address etc on the website to know whether he or she is a suspected coronavirus patient or not.

Thereafter, the user will get advice as to whether he should visit a hospital, stay at home or call a helpline.

Since people using the website would fill up their details to know about their health status, it would help authorities take suitable action to prevent community spread of the dreaded coronavirus, the IAS officer said.

The officer had in 2016 made an aap ‘Ask UP' that enabled users to get information on all state government policies and programmes, projects and services while sitting at home.

Sharma had done engineering in information technology before he cracked the civil service examination.

(Navneet Mishra can be contacted at navneet.m@ians.in)

--IANS
Hindi/tsb

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:01:29 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220183 IANS C-1-1220061-1219866
Analysing news reports, the survey by the IAN-backed PR and communication SaaS platform said that weekly trend describes a five-week window where the percentage of positive news in the first week was 29 per cent, which drastically dropped to below 5 per cent in the fifth week. It said that the current situation has dropped the polarity score quite steeply.

"Effect of Covid-19 on VCs will be seen after the outbreak tones down. Therefore, a drastic effect is witnessed and can take sudden turns in the upcoming months," the report said.

On the e-commerce sector, the report said that during the third and fourth weeks, there was immense upsurge in the e-commerce sector with positive news between 38 per cent and 40 per cent. But it fell in these last few weeks to below 28 per cent due to the recent out of stock problems and precautions taken during delivery by limiting the number, it said.

Further, it said that in terms of profit and production, media and entertainment has shown considerable loss which has drastically pulled down the whole positive polarity which was initially gained from increasing OTT platform viewers.

But because of internet congestion and reduced byte-rate due to work from home, the quality of viewers has decreased considerably. Overall, the polarity of positive news is around 15, it said.

--IANS
rrb/arm



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:57:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220061 IANS C-1-1220182-1219865
"This is for all the Frontline Warriors -- fighting for us, saving us, risking their lives for us and our families against coronavirus," he tweeted along with the video.

"Have written these words to express my gratitude. I salute you. India salutes you. Jai Hind," he added.

He starts the poem by highlighting the plight of a shop owner, and people residing in the buildings which have been sealed amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Through the poem, he stressed that the situation is a "collective karma of humankind".

The actor saluted the spirit of people working hard to ensure essential services reach people, healthcare officials, police and people working hard towards making it a clean and sanitized environment.

He urged people to give respect to the frontline warriors, once this is over, saying "koi kaam chotha nahi hota yeh baat apne paale bandh lena".

Ayushmann also said that they are the true stars as he mentioned: "Mujh jaise Bollywood hero hain bas naam ke". The actor said that they can give money, and help them in the fight, but they are the true fighters.

He ended the video saying that while frontline warriors have to face and fight the battle against this deadly virus and all we have to do is stay at home.

--IANS
sug/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:57:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220182 IANS C-1-1220130-1219864
In a statement, Amazon said that this fund can be utilised by qualifying individuals who have been quarantined or diagnosed with COVID-19.

"While Amazon hopes none of the associates who are working hard to deliver essentials to customers are affected by hardship, the fund is there to support them financially with the help of a grant. This protects thousands of associates not employed by Amazon but who play an integral role in the logistics network helping customers stay home in this challenging time," it said.

The Amazon Relief Fund has been set up globally with an initial contribution of $25 million initial contribution to support employees, qualified independent contractors, and employees of qualified vendors who face financial hardships from qualifying events. These events could be natural disasters, government declared emergencies, or unforeseen personal hardship.

"In these unprecedented times, the health and safety of all our partners and associates in India continues to be our top priority as we face the challenges associated with COVID-19. The Amazon Relief Fund is one such step to extend financial support to thousands of associates part of the Delivery Service Partner Programme Amazon Flex partners and our trucking partners providing middle mile logistics in the event any of them are quarantined or diagnosed with COVID-19" said Akhil Saxena, VP, Customer Fulfilment Operations, APAC & Emerging Markets, Amazon.

All associates working in Amazon buildings directly or through staffing agencies are already covered for medical insurance under the ESIC (Employee State Insurance Programme) and if they are confirmed positive for COVID-19 or placed under quarantine based on direction from the government or by Amazon, they will receive two weeks of pay over and above their available leave balance.

The statement said that Amazon India has also begun temperature checks in buildings to ensure that employees, associates, partners and support staff are healthy when they arrive at work. It has increased the frequency and intensity of cleaning at all sites, including regular sanitisation of door handles, handrails, touch screens, scanners, and other frequently touched areas.

"Amazon India has also adjusted practices so that teams can adhere to social distancing whether at site or while even making deliveries to customers. This includes eliminating stand-up meetings during shifts, staggered shift start times and break times and spread out tables in the break rooms on site."

--IANS
rrb/vd



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:57:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220130 IANS C-1-1220164-1219863

In a double whammy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) rushed to enter the scene by shooting off an email to the Satara Superintendent of Police not to release the scam-tainted Wadhawan brothers - who were absconding since a month - without its prior permission.

Raising eyebrows, a day after getting permission to travel from Pune district to Satara district, on Thursday, DHFL's RBI-appointed Administrator R. Subramaniakumar announced a contribution of one-day's salary by all employees to PM-CARES Fund, but the amount was not specified.

The officer on the radar is Principal Secretary (Special) in the Home Department, Amitabh Gupta (IPS), who was shunted on ‘compulsory leave' early today after the controversy erupted late on Thursday night.

Simultaneously, the Mahabaleshwar Police swung into action early today and booked 23 persons of the Wadhawan family and others for violating various laws including the Indian Penal Code, Disaster Management Act, Epidemic Diseases Act, etc, said Deshmukh.

The probe will be conducted and completed within 15 days by Addl Chief Secretary Manoj Saunik, the minister added.

Gupta's permission - in the form of a ‘To Whomsoever It May Concern' letter - was issued on his personal letterhead on April 8 (Wednesday), permitting the Wadhawans and others to cross from Khandala (Pune) to Mahabaleshwar (Satara).

"They were found here on Thursday evening and said they had come from Mumbai, travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar. We have lodged a FIR against them under various laws pertaining to flouting lockdown under the pandemic," an official from Mahabaleshwar Police Station told IANS.

According to local reports, several natives from Mahabaleshwar were surprised to see a convoy of vehicles suddenly zooming in and shattering the calm of the hill station on Thursday afternoon.

While some protested, others complained to the police, expressing apprehensions about the medical condition of the visitors who had come there at the height of the pandemic lockdown.

The matter sparked off a storm late on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and state Vice-President Kirit Somaiya demanding a probe and Deshmukh's scalp.

Hitting out at the BJP, Deshmukh and Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said that since IAS and IPS officers come under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Officer, any powers to suspend them are vested only with the PMO.

"Since your party (BJP) is in power at the Centre, you should demand his suspension from the PMO," both ministers said.

Gupta's helpful letter said: "This is to just inform you that following are well known to me as they are my family friends and travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar for family emergency. Hence you are hereby informed through this letter to co-operate with them to reach their destination."

It listed the registration numbers of all the five vehicles and the names of all the family members, friends, and others who were planning to travel in each of the vehicles for the unspecified ‘family emergency'.

For the agency, the action in Satara has proved to be fortunate as it managed to trace the absconders - Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj - who are presently lodged in a government quarantine centre in the adjoining twin-hill station of Panchgani.

The CBI said that the Wadhawan brothers were absconding since beginning of the investigation in the alleged Yes Bank scam probe, but have now been found sitting in a government isolation centre.

Last month, the CBI had raided the Wadhawans' premises, but both were missing and later the CBI served notices to them, but they did not respond.

Following their-non compliance, the Mumbai Special CBI Court on March 17 issued a non-bailable warrant against both of them, but they continued to evade the law.

Besides CBI, the Wadhawans are also accused by the Enforcement Directorate, which had summoned them, searched their premises in Mumbai and Mahabaleshwar, but they could not be traced.

After the arrest of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor on March 8 by the ED, the Wadhawans went into hiding, but the coronavirus has helped the investigating agencies trace and pin them down.

The Wadhawans have been linked as accused in the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank and Yes Bank scams along with the entities, DHFL-HDIL.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)

--IANS
qn/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:54:23 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220164 IANS C-1-1220147-1219862
Amid apprehensions of community spread of Covid-19, the government decided to extend the curfew, an official statement said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Council of Ministers to check community spread of the pandemic and to prevent overcrowding at the amandis' in the light of the ensuing wheat harvesting and procurement season.

Amarinder Singh will convey the decision to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Saturday's conference with the chief ministers, an official spokesperson said.

Citing the grim projections about the spread of the pandemic in the coming weeks, the Chief Minister said the curfew restrictions were essential so that the medical infrastructure is not burdened beyond its capabilities.

There was general consensus in the medical community that the lockdown curbs would only delay the spread of the disease, he said, hoping that some medication and cure would be found soon.

On a proposal by the Chief Minister, the Council of Ministers also decided to set up a multi-disciplinary task force to formulate an exit strategy for gradual relaxation of curfew or lockdown.

The task force will submit its report within 10 days. The task force comprise about 15 members representing trade, business, industry, agriculture, civil society and healthcare professionals.

The Chief Minister has been authorised to decide on the composition of the task force.

The Cabinet also approved establishment of a high-powered committee to suggest a roadmap for state's economic revival in post-Covid era once the crisis softens and normal working is restored.

Amarinder Singh said he would request former Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Ahluwalia to head the committee.

The Council Ministers also resolved to urge upon the government of India to establish an advance centre of virology in Punjab with an anticipated investment of Rs 500 crore, with the state government to offer land free of cost for the project.

For the quick upgradation of the state's health infrastructure to combat the current crisis, the Cabinet set up a task force under the Principal Secretary (Public Works Department) to look into it.

--IANS
vg/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:51:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220147 IANS C-1-1220179-1219861
Sukhwinder feels this a test that the human race is being put through, as people have taken nature's gifts for granted.

"We have taken nature for granted and this prayer is an acceptance of our mistake. I'm sure we will come out of this wiser but for now, we must do everything we can to overcome the pandemic," he said.

"Keeping physical and mental strengths intact is the need of the hour and the Almighty will guide us out of the woods," added the singer, who has given many Bollywood hits like "Chaiyya chaiyya" and "Ramta jogi".

The total number of active cases in India is 6,039 according to official government figures at 5pm on Friday. Of these, 515 have been cured or discharged and the country has recorded 206 deaths.

--IANS
nn/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:51:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220179 IANS C-1-1220168-1219860
"Seal-down orders are only in ward 134 Bapuji Nagar and Ward 135 Padarayanapura due to fresh cases and to contain the spread of Covid. Urge television channels to report facts and not speculate," tweeted Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar.

Earlier, Kumar announced sealing the two wards to contain Covid spread.

"BBMP will completely seal Bapuji Nagar Ward 134 and Padarayanapura Ward 135 to prevent the spread of Covid after five fresh cases were reported," he tweeted.

Following the sealing, Kumar said the civic body will supply all essentials to the residents of the two wards, including banning all vehicular movement.

Bengaluru city Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao has also clarified that the seal down is limited only to the two wards, housing nearly 40,000 people.

"No other part of the city is under seal-down, no other part of the city is under containment. Kindly clarify this amply to the citizens of Bengaluru," said Rao at a press conference to specially address this issue.

He said the police are carrying out peripheral patrolling of the two wards, shutting all entry and exit points, ensuring nobody leaves those wards or nobody enters those wards as part of enhanced care on the two localities.

"We are continuously monitoring those areas with CCTV as well as drones. All the service providers going inside the two wards will be provided with separate equipment," said Rao.

Interestingly, all the garbage collected from the sealed off wards will be treated as biomedical waste and will be scientifically disposed of.

According to Rao, the two wards are currently under augmented government care with officials working rigourously to restrict the virus spread.

He appealed to the city residents to continue their cooperation to successfully tackle Covid.

--IANS
sth/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:48:33 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220168 IANS C-1-1220142-1219859
"All states have been asked to keep a work plan ready, so that MNREGA work can be started in all districts, from April 15, if the situation allows us to," said Tomar during a video interaction with reporters.

India's current shutdown ends on April 14 and it was speculated that PM Modi may extend it further. But Tomar's statement adds a new dimension to it.

He also conceded that a fair share of perishable goods like flowers and fruits have been damaged due to shutdown announcements. However, he added that only respective state governments can quantify the loss.

The farm minister added that harvesting has not been hit due to the shutdown. He argued that keeping in view the harvesting and sowing season, the Centre exempted farming operations by farmers and farm workers in the field, ‘Mandis' to operate by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee, shops for seeds, fertilisers and pesticides among others.

However, the lockdown has affected the sector deeply. Procurement of wheat has been delayed in most of the wheat procuring states. Now, it is likely to commence from April 15-20. The horticulture industry too has taken a bad hit.

Though Tomar, during the video conference, highlighted the relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor in this hour of crisis, but the fact remains the financial assistance proved to be too little for them.

The current nationwide shutdown was enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus in India which has so far infected 6,761 people here.

--IANS
abn/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:46:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220142 IANS C-1-1220150-1219858
A Ministry of External Affairs official said HCQ is high on demand globally and several countries have made requests to India.

"Taking in view domestic requirements and stock availability, the Group of Ministers (GoM) has decided to release some surplus medicine for export purposes. The first list of countries has been approved and the products have started to leave. We are now working on the second and the third list. Domestic requirement is a priority for the government", said the MEA official.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said 3.28 crore tablets of HCQ are available for domestic use. This quantity is thrice the projected requirement for the country. This quantity is enough for the month-end requirement.

"We need 1.62 crore tablets till month-end and the stock we have is in fact in excess of 3 crore tablets. We have already arranged for 2 to 3 crore extra tablets for domestic supply. For the country's requirement, domestic production is 100 per cent ensured for HCQ, just not for today but this production has been ensured for the future", said Agarwal.

He added to ensure the availability of HCQ in the private sector, as this tablet is only given on physician prescription, 2 crore tablets have already been out at state level.

HCQ, also known as the malaria drug, is touted famously by US President Donald Trump, as a potential cure for covid-19 though there is only anecdotal evidence on this.

Anecdotal studies have shown HCQ can reduce viral loads in COVID-19 patients. Clinical trials are on in certain countries like the US, UK, Spain and Australia. Experts suggest that larger clinical trials are needed on patients to ascertain the effectiveness of the drug against the viral infection.

The MEA official added that 20,473 foreign nationals have been evacuated from India as of Thursday, and soon a decision will be taken, at a later stage, on the return of Indians from abroad.

--IANS
ss/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:43:29 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220150 IANS C-1-1220148-1219857
According to the Delhi Health Department, close to 1,500 houses have been included in the containment zone and buffer zone.

"Three of a family tested positive in the village. It is a single cluster in a residential colony. So, the administrative boundary of the colony is to be made a containment zone and an additional 1 kilometre radius has been made a buffer zone," an official from the Health Department told IANS.

Total 10 areas, including the Dindarpur, Dindarpur extension, Shiv Puri part-1 and Shayam Enclave, have been included in the containment and buffer zone.

"A population of about 8,000 will be screened by the Health Department," the official said.

The District Magistrate has declared the Dindarpur area as a containment zone in an order dated April 8.

While in a containment zone, no movement of the residents is allowed, the buffer zone around the containment zone can have carefully monitored minimal movement. Also, people from the two sections are not allowed to cross their boundary lines.

According to an official from the SDM office in Kapashera, all residents, employees, service providers of the Dindarpur area like plumbers, electricians, caretakers, security guards, grocery shop employees among others need to be quarantined and medically checked.

"This is a precautionary measure and samples must be taken immediately to ascertain the intensity of spreading of Covid-19 within the society. The Health Department and Delhi Police are the main departments for the task. The action plans of both the departments have been prepared in detail," the official told IANS.

The official said till April 8, 600 houses have been already checked.

"While the contacts of the positive cases will be tested, all those in the containment zone having symptoms will also be tested."

If anyone refuses to comply with the orders, they can be booked under the IPC, the official added.

An order, dated April 9, says no outside person be allowed to enter into the area.

"Violation by the public persons should be taken seriously and action against the violators must be initiated immediately," the order, a copy of which is with IANS, added.

The order said banners will be prepared to the effect that the area is a containment zone and no one is allowed to enter it.

"SDMC, Najafgarh Zone will ensure to carry out the proper sanitation and hygiene of the area," it says.

It added that proper distribution of food has to be done by the Food and Supply Department.

"The Tehsildar (Kapashera) will be the overall nodal Officer for the entire process and will ensure the presence of all deployed staff on their assigned duty in the containment zone," the order added.

So far, close to 30 areas across the city have been made containment zones, with the government claiming it has made Dilshad Garden -- city's first containment zone -- coronavirus free.

More than 700 coronavirus cases have been reported from Delhi since the outbreak of the infection.

--IANS
nks/vd




]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:43:28 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220148 IANS C-1-1220172-1219856
Recently, Gadot united with her celebrity friends to participate in a virtual singalong of John Lennon's "Imagine", including Mark Ruffalo, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Adams, Will Ferrell, her "Wonder Woman 1984" co-star Kristen Wiig and numerous others, to lift spirits during the coronavirus lockdown.

When she posted the video on Instagram it was criticised for being "out of touch", showing all those celebrities self-isolating in their mansions while millions have lost jobs and are fretting about how they will be able to afford groceries and essentials.

During a chat on the "Tea With Me" podcast, Dornan said that he was roped into doing it by Wiig, his co-star in her upcoming film "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar", reports dailymail.co.uk.

He insisted Gadot was "trying to do a good thing".

Dornan said: "Kristen and I did a movie together last summer that's meant to be coming out on July 31 but who knows what will happen. We got on brilliantly. I would do anything for her -- that's how highly I think of her. I was the biggest fan of her before anyway."

"Not being on social media, I wasn't aware of the reaction -- but was made aware by mates. Kristen texted, ‘Gal and I are trying to organise this thing to lift spirits'," he added.

The actor agreed to do the video and admitted he received a text message from Wiig several days after its release apologising for getting him involved.

He said: "So I was like: ‘Of course I'll do it'. Then she texted days later saying, ‘Sorry'."

Dornan filmed his segment from his toilet "to make it normal" and insisted Gadot was "trying to do a good thing", adding: "I just got dragged along with it."

The video was an attempt to lift people's spirits during the coronavirus lockdowns taking place in several countries around the world. However, social media users quickly condemned the video after its release, saying the stars were all isolating in luxury.

--IANS
sug/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:43:26 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220172 IANS C-1-1220154-1219855
It was necessary for the private hospitals to join the battle against COVID-19, said Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, while chairing a video conference of the Council of Ministers.

The Chief Minister has been authorized by the Council of Ministers to approve the final draft of the Bill after its legal vetting.

Amarinder Singh said it was important to activate all the resources, in the larger interest of the state, in the light of the current battle, which threatens to be a long-drawn one.

The ordinance will provide for registration and regulation of clinical establishments in a professional manner to ensure compliance of clinical standards and protocols and transparency in the functioning of these establishments for fair and proper delivery of health services to the common man.

There would be no undue interference in day-to-day functioning of these establishments, as per the proposed legislation, which will, to begin with, be applicable to all clinical establishments of 50 beds and above as in the case of Haryana.

It is proposed that the Punjab Health Council may be headed by an expert or professional of national repute instead of a bureaucrat, with at least two other professionals as members.

--IANS
vg/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:39:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220154 IANS C-1-1220175-1219854
The tournament was earlier postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I am happy to share that we are working with #FIFA to choose a new and earliest possible timeline to host the U-17 Women's World Cup," Patel tweeted. "The LOC and FIFA are working in close collaboration to finalise new dates keeping health and safety a priority."

Patel also said that the AIFF is in discussions to work on the age criteria for the World Cup. With the possibility of the tournament being held next year, many players could end up falling out of the maximum age bracket for participating in it.

"We are also in discussions with #FIFA to keep the age criteria of U-17 Women's World Cup the same as originally planned, so that all the players who have been working very hard to prepare for the tournament,do not miss an opportunity to play due to the postponement," said Patel.

The tournament was initially scheduled to kick off in November but FIFA had announced the postponement of all its upcoming tournaments, including the U-17 World Cup as the coronavirus pandemic started spreading around the world.

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:39:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220175 IANS C-1-1220169-1219853

Additionally, Beijing has also announced that it is ramping up of military industries in Wuhan, the original epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month, a People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft flew at night over the sea, crossing the Taiwan Strait, provoking an F-16 fighter jet response from Taiwan. Though conducting provocative military and naval operations near Taiwan is not new for the PLA, it was for the first time that its aircraft crossed the strait at night.

On April 1, PLAAF undertook a 36-hour combat oriented exercise near Taiwan.

The same day two PLA Navy Air Force maritime strike bombers and one electronic warfare and surveillance aircraft flew through international airspace between two Japanese islands in the East China Sea. In a prompt response, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force flew its fighter jets.

Two days later, Chinese Navy warships attacked and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat.

The PLAAF also conducted a long-range military drill with bombers, an airborne early warning and control aircraft, an electronic warfare and surveillance plane and fighter jets passing through the Bashi Channel, a strategic waterway between the Philippines and the Taiwanese island of Orchid connecting the South China Sea with the western Pacific Ocean.

In March, the Chinese military carried out high-altitude 'live fire' exercises in Tibet.

In January this year, Beijing and Islamabad carried out their naval exercise 'Sea Guardian 2020' phase one, the images of which were caught on satellite and posted on Twitter by an open source intelligence tracking handle d-atis. The image "echoes the China-Pakistan solidarity and its evolving military interoperability west of India in the Arabian Sea," he tweeted.

These Sea Guardian "anti-terror" exercises near Karachi were the largest between China and Pakistan. The Chinese military literature describes Karachi as a PLA Navy base and Gwadar as a PLA Navy Logistics Base.

India's China expert Jayadev Ranade believes that all the activities amidst the coronavirus pandemic were "clearly intended to convey to Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and India, as well as the US, that China retains the capability and intent of becoming the dominant power of the Indo-Pacific."

Incidentally, on Friday, a United States military reconnaissance aircraft and Chinese warplanes were monitored southwest were reported flying near Taiwan's southern airspace. A US RC-135U Combat Sent was operating in the South China Sea, according to a flight chart posted on Twitter Friday morning by Aircraft Spots, a military air movement tracker.

--IANS
at/prs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:33:39 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220169 IANS C-1-1220157-1219852

In a conversation with IANS, Chaudhary said that the Central government has been working since the early days of the lockdown to ensure that the farmers of the country do not face any problem and this was being reviewed daily.

On the question of missing farm labourers during this peak season of rabi crops when wheat harvesting was going on Chaudhary said, "Recently, we had talks with agriculture ministers from all over the country through video conferencing about the problems of farmers in which no one said that harvesting was getting hampered in the absence of labourers."

The Minister said that wheat harvesting is done by machines and all the concessions have been given for the purchase, repair and transport of machinery, so that farmers do not face any problem in harvesting.

He said that there would be no difficulty in harvesting and procurement of the crop even as the lockdown was on because they have been exempted.

Chaudhary said, "The states have been issued advisory on the issue of purchasing wheat. They can purchase through cooperative societies at the Panchayat level. State governments are free to purchase wheat from which ever agency they wish to. They will take a decision on when to start their purchase."

Like in earlier years, the procurement of wheat was going to start from April 1, but due to the lockdown, it has not started in any state. According to the information received from Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, the procurement would start after April 15, once the lockdown was lifted.

Kailash Chaudhary, the young minister in the Modi government, has been active regarding the farmers' problems.

Chaudhary said that Rs 14,000 crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of about seven crore beneficiary farmers under the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme till now. He said that farmers are getting the benefits of all the schemes being run by the Modi government.

On the question about the benefits to farmers from the special Parcel Trains being run across the country, he said that this will facilitate the transportation of perishable agricultural products, including fruits and vegetables, milk, and other items. He said that for all these items the farmers would be benefited as this will give them a fair price for these products.

Chaudhary said that during the lockdown, the maximum relaxation has been given to agriculture and allied sectors, and where activities in many other sectors of the economy have almost stopped due to the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown, farming-related work was going on.

--IANS
hindi-dpb/bg]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:33:38 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220157 IANS C-1-1220161-1219851
Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal, said, "At least 16,002 samples were tested on Thursday, of which only 320 tested positive for Covid-19. Only 2 per cent cases tested positive. Based on the samples collected, we can say that the infection rate is not high, although it is dynamic."

According to Agarwal, India has reported 6,412 Covid-19 positive cases so far.

"At least 503 people have been cured while 199 people died till date. A total of 678 new cases and 33 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours," he informed.

Agarwal also suggested that people need to be alert. "Today, the challenge is not local or community transmission, but whether we are following all the precautionary and containment measures. There is no community transmission in the country yet, but we need to remain aware and alert," he said.

Agarwal also said that initially there was just one laboratory for Covid-19 testing in the country, which has now been increased to 213, meaning the government is opening labs at the rate of 2.5 per day.

"There are 146 government labs and 67 private labs now. Earlier, we conducted 5,000-6,000 tests per day, but on Thursday, 16,002 tests were done. We are making 2.5 labs operational per day," Agarwal said.

Manoj Murhekar, Director, National Institute of Epidemiology, who was also present at the press conference, told the media, "A total of 144,910 samples were tested till 9 p.m. on Thursday from 103,792 suspected patients, of which 5,075 returned positive. We conducted 16,002 tests in single day. It (number of tests per day) has increased substantially."

--IANS
sfm/arm



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:33:37 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220161 IANS C-1-1220171-1219850
Payne said the project will mark the band's tenth anniversary in July, reports thesun.co.uk.

The singer revealed that he is in constant contact with bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson about plans to mark the milestone. He didn't say whether former bandmate Zayn Malik, who quit in 2015, would be involved.

"We've got a ten-year anniversary coming up so we've all been speaking together a lot over the last few weeks which has been really nice. To hear a lot of people's voices and seeing old content and different things that we haven't seen for a long time or never seen before, it's very interesting," Payne said.

"At the moment I'm not sure what I'm allowed to say. There's a number of different things that we are all working on to try and make happen and people are forwarding emails around. But more than anything it's just been a real good time for us to connect together again," the singer added.

The group, who sold more than 50 million records, went on an indefinite hiatus four years ago. Payne says he loves what his bandmates have done in the meantime - especially Styles.

Talking about the group's success, Payne said: "It's insane, it really is.I still can't believe, I still feel like I don't know what the hell I'm doing. It's amazing and everyone's had such great success. It's been great hearing a lot of Harry's stuff at the moment. Adore You, I see it in the charts all the time. I think he's really found his sound at the moment which is a joy to watch."

--IANS
sug/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:30:20 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220171 IANS C-1-1220170-1219849
Ronaldo and Beckham were both part of the famous Galacticos' team between 2003 until 2007.

"One of the first people that I ever saw was you," Beckham said to Ronaldo over Instagram Live. "When you walked into the changing room it made me comfortable to be in the club."

Ronaldo replied, saying: "Man, you are amazing. For me, you are one of the best of all time in the centre.

"The way you would touch the ball, the way you could get the ball wherever you want, and without looking at me. I should thank you for the many balls you gave to me," said the ace striker.

While Beckham moved to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2003, Ronaldo joined them one year earlier from Inter Milan.

Beckham also spoke about his new MLS franchise Inter Miami with the club's inaugural season interrupted by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

"It's difficult times. You know, I think with Inter Miami, this was the first season. We played two games so far. We haven't played a home game yet in our stadium," Beckham said, as quoted by Goal.

"The first week of the lockdown was when we were going to go play our first game. So it's difficult, but I think that the most important thing is that obviously, everybody stays healthy, stays safe, and then we can take the advice of the governments and the places where we're going to be playing. But I think that that's the most important thing.

"With Inter Miami, we're excited...it's a special place with special people and to have the team that we have, to have the players that we have, to have the ownership group and to have the stadium and the (training) facility that we have is really exciting for us.

"I tried to take things from Manchester to Madrid to Milan to PSG, to the (LA) Galaxy. All the teams that I've played at, I tried to take a little bit from every team into this organisation. So we're really excited. We're really excited to be owners of the team. It's something that feels different, but it's special."

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:30:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220170 IANS C-1-1220160-1219848

The sources, requesting anonymity, told IANS that though Saad did not wish to meet the media, he was open to meeting the police officials entrusted with the case at the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Nizamuddin colony in southwest Delhi.

A statement on similar lines was given by Maulana Saad's son to the Crime Branch on Thursday.

The sources and those close to the Tablighi leader maintained that Maulana Saad had quarantined himself at a relative's house in Zakir Nagar area since he did not have any other option to stay in Delhi, except for the Markaz.

Those close to Maulana Saad said that only his sons Mohammad Yusuf and Mohammad Sayyid or some other close family members knew about his exact whereabouts.

Asked why he was not coming out of hiding, a person close to Maulana Saad said he was continuously in touch with Crime Branch officials. "Had he been on the run, why would his son Sayyid go and meet Crime Branch officials on Thursday on his own?" he questioned.

He said that Maulana Saad's had conveyed through his son to the Investigating Officer that he could make himself available at the Nizamuddin Markaz since all relevant documents and the persons who need to give their respective statements would be available at one place.

Maulana's Saad's son had gone to the Crime Branch to deliver the reply to the second notice sent to the Tablighi leader, in which he has mentioned his current location as Zakir Nagar.

The source said that other co-accused named in the case had also met the Crime Branch officials regarding investigations, adding that it was police which had said that they will call Maulana Saad and others whenever needed.

Crime Branch DCP Joy Tirki and ACP Arvind preferred not to comment on the developments, though other officials said the addresses of the accused had been made available to the police and that they would be summoned whenever needed for questioning.

The sources said Crime Branch officials were awaiting forensic reports in the case as also some Call Details Record of certain mobile phone numbers.

As for the items seized from the Tablighi headquarters, Crime Branch officials said no laptop has been seized, though some documents have been obtained apart from visitors registers. A video clipping in which Nizamuddin SHO is seen warning Tablighi leaders has been sent for forensic examination, they added.

Asked who all would be questioned, the officials said that statements of area civic body and health officials, apart from the SDM, would be recorded so as to form the basis of questioning of Tablighi members accused in the case.

The Delhi Police had registered a case against Maulana Saad and six others under the Epidemic Disease Act of 1897 and the India Penal Code on March 31 on charges of violating government directions to Markaz management regarding restrictions on gatherings in the national capital.

The Delhi Police had served a second notice to the Jamaat chief on Monday and sought additional information and documents from him regarding the Markaz meeting.

(Sanjiv Chauhan can be contacted at sanjiv.c@ians.in)
--IANS
Hindi/tsb

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:30:18 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220160 IANS C-1-1220162-1219847
"I have donated, I feel you need to lead by example and you need to practice what you preach. Also, we have a WhatsApp group with my parents the CEO of Save The Children India and my very good friend Maya Patel, so we have created this initiative to raise money and provide for the people who are vulnerable," she said.

She has also arranged hearing aid batteries for the needy.

"Also, a couple of weeks ago we realised that some of the kids who are a part of Save The Children India have cochlear implant surgeries and they have to wear a earing aid. That battery was running out and all the warehouses were shut, so for about one week we were trying desperately to contact different warehouses and CEO's of different companies to try and get those specific batteries, because if you don't get those batteries it is taking them back 6 months because they won't be able to hear and that affects their education and daily lifestyle.

"So we have also been focusing on getting those batteries, finally we did get them last week and it just brought me so much happiness and joy. Things like these and also just spreading awareness, and speaking to even the people I think helps. The word spreads and it helps people be more concious and take notice to what really matters," Athiya informed.

--IANS
sim/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:27:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220162 IANS C-1-1220167-1219846
In his Instagram post, he wrote: "Being homebound is no excuse, stay fit, stay in, stay safe."

Earlier, PM Narendra Modi on Friday spoke to 49 sports personalities that included the likes of BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, cricket great Sachin Tendulkar, badminton world champion P.V. Sindhu and chess legend Viswanathan Anand as he urged them to keep spreading awareness as the world fights the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic has put the whole world on pause and sporting events across the globe have either been cancelled or suspended and even the fate of the 13th edition of the IPL hangs in balance with the BCCI now also open to shifting the tournament to the October-November window if the ICC does plan to postpone the World T20.

Former India and Chennai Super Kings pacer Ashish Nehra believes an IPL is possible in October. "Even if the IPL doesn't happen in August, there are lot of places in India that witness rains during that month and there are high chances that lots of matches will get cancelled. If things go back to normal around the world by October, we'll have a 100 per cent clearance," he pointed.

--IANS
bbh/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:27:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220167 IANS C-1-1220159-1219845
Waititi took to Instagram with the stars from "Thor: Ragnorak" as he hosted a viewing party for "Ragnorak" on Instagram Live, reports variety.com.

"It's like 10-year-olds told us what should be in a movie and we said yes to every single thing," Waititi said of the premise to "Love and Thunder". He added that there are about five drafts of the film's script done and Thompson, his first guest, has read the latest.

Waititi took the "Thor" franchise to new comedic heights as he introduced hard drinking Valkyrie (Thompson) and exiled Avenger Hulk (Ruffalo). The much anticipated "Love and Thunder" will catch up with Thor and Valkyrie after the events of "Avengers: Endgame", and is slated to release on February 18, 2022.

When "Thor: Love And Thunder" was announced at last year's San Diego Comic Con, it was also revealed that Thompson's Valkyrie would be one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first LGBTQ heroes.

The director wouldn't give any information on Christian Bale's character in the upcoming movie, and confirmed that the galactic hero Silver Surfer wouldn't be in the film. He also didn't comment on if Tom Hiddleston's Loki would be back from the dead for the movie.

Ruffalo later replaced Thompson on the Instagram video, but he and Waititi mostly joked around and played with the split-screen video feature.

--IANS
sug/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:15:08 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220159 IANS C-1-1220158-1219844
On Friday the Pole was asked by the Polish TV Eleven Sports to compare Cristiano Ronaldo to Szczesny's compatriot Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I think Cristiano is more focused on work. There are jokes before and during the training. He is a machine. Lewandowski is a little more relaxed. I don't compare who works more, but who is obsessed with this work. It's definitely Cristiano," said the Juventus custodian.

"Cristiano has an egoist face on the pitch and I think that face makes him one of the best players in football history. It sometimes makes him look frustrated and thus looks selfish. It's just an obsession with winning, an obsession with being the best and requiring others to help him. It would be unhealthy if there were six, seven or ten people with such a character in the dressing room, but one that pushes others to be better is positive," added Szczesny.

Seria A competition has been suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak. All Juventus players were quarantined after Blaise Matuidi, Daniele Rugani and Paolo Dybala tested positive for COVID-19.

"My health is very good. I came back to the country, so I'm in the quarantine with my family. It was hard in Italy because I was alone. Since I am at home I have not been bored," claimed Szczesny.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:15:07 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220158 IANS C-1-1220155-1219843
In a video that has been released by UNICEF India, Manushi is seen urging people to stay at home and practice social distancing.

"As a citizen of my country, it is my duty to stand up and do my bit to raise as much awareness on issues pertaining to us. Coronavirus has thrown us all into an unchartered territory and it is an extremely critical situation that's affecting us all," Manushi said.

She says she is honoured to be part of Unicef's initiative to make fellow citizens "aware of the tremendous threat that exists if they decide to step outside their homes."

"It is an extremely important campaign that all Indians should take note of to stop infection and save lives."

Manushi, who is set to debut in Akshay Kumar starrer "Prithviraj" is seen in the video saying: "I'm staying at home right now because I want to make sure that my friends, family and also all of you are safe."

She is seen speaking about the do's and don'ts thay people should keep in mind if they step out of their home.

"Social distancing means staying at home and when we go out for groceries maintaining a one metre or more distance between us and another person. However, the physical distance doesn't mean we are not together or that we don't care about each other. Right now, we all have to support each other so let's do this!"

Manushi also speaks about the need for social distancing.

"We can show neighbours we care by waving, by saying namaste (does the actions), by sending a message or calling to check in on a friend or relative to see how they are, to show we care. Staying home is necessary for all of us and it will be a big help to containing the spread of corona virus.

"It is the best thing we can do to keep our family and our nation safe."

--IANS
dc/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:15:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220155 IANS C-1-1220124-1219842
In a fresh letter to the Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla instructed them to inform district authorities and field agencies on the specific prohibitions as mentioned in the consolidated guidelines on lockdown measures.

He also directed them to take "all required precautionary and preventive measures for maintenance of law and order, peace and public tranquillity".

"In view of the ensuing festivals in the month of April 2020, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed all states and UTs to ensure strict compliance of lockdown measures to fight COVID-19 and not allow any social and religious gathering or procession," a Home Ministry statement said.

The instruction came in view of Baisakhi, and Ambedkar Jayanti which will be celebrated on April 13, and April 14 respectively, while Ramadan will begin April 23.

Appropriate vigil on social media should also be maintained against circulation of any objectionable content, the communication adds.

The MHA has also sought that the respective provisions of the guidelines should be widely circulated for the attention of the public authorities, social or religious organisations and citizens. It adds that for violation of any lockdown measure, action under the relevant penal provisions of the Disaster Management Act 2005 and IPC should be taken by the law enforcing agencies.

The consolidated guidelines on the lockdown measures to be taken by ministries, and departments of the Centre, states, UTs for containment of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 epidemic in the country were notified by the Home Ministry on March 24. Further modifications in the guideline were also issued on March 25, March 27, April 2 and April 3 under which no religious congregation will be permitted without any exception and all social, cultural, religious functions or gatherings shall be barred.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic which has so far claimed 199 lives while there are over 5,700 confirmed cases across the country.

--IANS
rak/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:15:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220124 IANS C-1-1220138-1219841
"Total positive cases in J&K now 207. Jammu 39; Kashmir 168. A detailed bulletin follows shortly," government spokesman Rohit Kansal tweeted.

Of the 23 positive cases reported on Friday, 18 are from the Kashmir division while 5 are from the Jammu division.

So far, 10 Covid-19 patients have completely recovered, while four have died.

The number of active cases in J&K is 193 now.

--IANS
sq/arm

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:06:43 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220138 IANS C-1-1220156-1219840

Some have allegedly attempted to commit suicide, while it is also not uncommon for addicts to try to get alcohol from other unsafe sources such as alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Reports of alcohol smuggling and rise in bootlegging have emerged from several parts of the country in recent times.

Given that more than 5.7 crore people in India are estimated to be affected by harmful or dependent alcohol use, and most of them do not have any access to treatment, should alcohol be made easily accessible just as groceries and vegetables during the time COVID-19 restrictions remain?

Experts have different views on the issue. While some argue that making alcohol easily accessible can help reduce hospitalisations of those suffering serious conditions due to withdrawal symptoms, thereby reducing the burden on already stained healthcare systems due to COVID-19, others feel that identifying and treating these people by experts is the right way to move forward.

This is because in addition to threatening the social distancing measures, making alcohol available during a lockdown situation may increase domestic violence and abuse of children.

"(When denied access), people with substance addiction can have acute withdrawal symptoms and can face serious issues. They can go wild, they can go into delirium. So they need to be treated. People who have substance addiction (including alcohol addiction) is a medical condition that warrants attention," Oommen John, Public health Researcher at The George Institute for Global Health India told IANS.

Alcohol and drug de-addiction specialist Sameer Malhotra said that alcohol withdrawal is characterised by excitement and can vary from mild symptoms like some anxiety, restlessness, palpitations, sweating, disturbed sleep and some irritability to severe symptoms like epileptic fits/ seizures (withdrawal fits), hallucinations, scary dreams including dreams of snakes, delirium tremens(disorientation, marked confusion, significant tremors, agitation and a threat to life).

"The risk of severe complicated alcohol withdrawal is approximately 10 per cent amongst those dependent on alcohol. However timely psychiatric intervention and medication can prevent people with alcohol dependence from facing significant withdrawal," Malhotra, who is Director, Mental Health & Behavioural Sciences at Max Hospitals, told IANS.

"Instead of considering alcohol as essential, people with alcohol dependence should be strongly advised to seek timely psychiatric intervention, as alcohol dependence is a biological disorder with risks of psychological, neurological, hepatic, family, social, occupational and legal complications including the risks of accidents," he said.

So if you know someone with alcohol use disorder, it is better to ask them to seek help from experts. Typically it is a psychiatrist who helps people with alcohol use disorder.

"Alcohol dependence disorder needs to be seen as a medical disorder, as withdrawals may have medical complications. In this situation taking medical advice/treatment is the right way forward," said Samir Parikh Director and Head of Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences Fortis Healthcare.

In India, about 14.6 per cent of people (among 10-75 year old) are current users of alcohol, i.e. about 16 crore people, according to a recent report from the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

Prevalence is 17 times higher among men than women, said the report titled "Magnitude of Substance Use in India".

About 5.2 per cent per cent of Indians (more than 5.7 crore people) are estimated to be affected by harmful or dependent alcohol use.

In other words, every third alcohol user in India needs help for alcohol related problems.

(Gokul Bhagabati can be contacted at gokul.b@ians.in)

--IANS
gb/na]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:03:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220156 IANS C-1-1220126-1219839
Mukul Tyagi, a farmer, has built a tree-house in Asodha village in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh with old and dried wood logs tied together to make a platform.

"With my son's help, we cut the trees and joined the planks together. The 'house' was ready and we have been living here. I feel close to nature and the environment is also very clean. I am enjoying my experience of living in the wild. My food comes from home where my son and his family live in isolation," he said.

Tyagi said he would like to continue living in the tree-house even after the corona scare is over.

--IANS
amita/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:00:22 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220126 IANS C-1-1220153-1219838
Fenty told The Sun he was very ill after testing positive for the deadly virus, and he has Rihanna, whose birth name is Robyn, to thank for his road to recovery.

"My daughter Robyn was checking in on me every day. I thought I was going to die, to be honest," Fenty said.

She added: "She did so much for me. I appreciate everything she has done."

He shared that his daughter even bought a ventilator for him and sent it to Barbados for him to use, but his symptoms were not so severe enough for him to use it.

"I got a fever up inside of my nose. I had a fever across my lips. It was just a lot of fever. I feared the worst."

According to the portal, Fenty spent 14 days at the Paragon Isolation Center on the island.

--IASN
dc/vnc


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:00:21 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220153 IANS C-1-1220152-1219837
"A small request from my side to @StarSportsIndia. Cricket is being shown 24x7 in Starsports on this lockdown period Hot face Would be a great help if you can telecast other Sporting events too. Kids would benefit big time," Prannoy tweeted.

Star Sports replied with a link to its online TV Guide and said, "We hear you, Prannoy! We are glad to inform you that we have a variety of other sports lined up for our viewers to enjoy - Wimbledon & French Open, fast-paced action from F1, including classic races, and Football, to name a few."

Prannoy then said: "Please include badminton too."

Live sporting action has come to a halt in India due to the coronavirus pandemic which has killed over 200 people in the country and total reported infections have crossed 6000.

Globally, over 1.5 million people have been infected and nearly 90,000 have died. The pandemic led to the Tokyo Olympics being postponed to next year.

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:00:20 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220152 IANS C-1-1220127-1219836
"Around two lakh people arrived in the state and 1.70 lakh have been identified. The state government is keeping track of them to deal with the infection. A list is being prepared at panchayat level of people who arrived in the state from outside. The government is prepared to deal with the situation at every level," said the Chief Minister in the all-party meeting.

"Resources are being generated to deal with coronavirus. After Ranchi and Jamshedpur, the test has been started in Dhanbad district. The government is sensitive towards social security, health facilities and labourers living outside the state. Various organstaions are working with the state government in its fight against coronavirus. The state govt will deal strictly with those who will try to disturb the social harmony".

Soren expressed concern over the sudden rise in the number of cornavirus cases. He informed the state parties about government efforts to provide foodgrains and meals to the people.

"Around seven lakh labourers are trapped in other states of the country due to lockdown. All information related to them is being gathered so that help could reach them. The state government is also working get them jobs after they return to the state," said the Chief Minister.

He informed that the work is going on to provide Rs 15 lakh to each legislator for arranging food for the people.

State BJP chief Deepak Prakash demanded financial support to labourers who are trapped outside the state.

--IANS
ns/prs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:57:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220127 IANS C-1-1220133-1219835
Now a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Hisar district of Haryana, Joginder is making sure people stay indoors and adhere to the guidelines of the government during the ongoing 21-day lockdown in place amid coronavirus outbreak which has claimed around 200 lives thus far in the country.

And for discharging his duties, he has to be available 24/7.

"My day starts around six in the morning. Today I started at 9am and am returning home now (8pm). But I need to be ready for emergency calls, so effectively I am available for duty 24 hours, and I can't say no," Joginder told ESPNcricinfo on Friday divulging details of his routine in the contemporary times.

"The area that I need to oversee is mostly in the rural belt of Hisar. Right now, it involves guarding various check-posts and instructing not just truck and bus drivers but also common people about the virus. The basic message is: do not get out of the house unless you need to. If someone is outside without any purpose, we can sanction them under various legal acts."

While it has been advised to people to stay indoors and practise social distancing, Joginder says police have to allow people to buy essentials. "Of course, if people are out to fetch essential home supplies like groceries or there is a medical emergency, we allow that as long as they are maintaining social distancing, wearing protective gear like masks and respecting the guidelines set by the government."

Speaking about the challenges he faces while performing his duties as a cop, he recalled the time when he had to explain a group of migrants that no vehicles were available due to the lockdown.

"Personally, one time I got scared was when some groups of migrants were desperate to get back home to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, even though no modes of transport were working, due to the national lockdown. Me and my team had to stop them and explain the situation to them. Eventually they were moved to makeshift shelter homes. Although we were using megaphones, some interactions had to be on a one-on-one basis. It was tough," he said.

As he comes in contact with many people, Joginder in order to avoid any risk, doesn't go to his home after his duty hours end.

"Although I live in Rohtak, which is just 110km from Hisar, about one and a half hours by road, I have decided not to go home.

"I don't want to take a chance because I am in contact with people all day and I don't want go home and put my family at risk," he said.

The former medium pacer had a short international career of four ODIs and four T20Is but was immortalised when he took the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq, who looked set to win the match for Pakistan, and won India the inaugural World T20 title. He played 77 matches in his first-class career picking up 297 wickets.

--IANS
aak/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:54:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220133 IANS C-1-1220125-1219834
When the whole world is locked down in their home, this youngster from the national capital understood the need of the hour and developed an innovative method to create protective gear for the corona warriors at his home.

20-year-old Udit Kalra is manufacturing face shields at his home in Delhi's Patel Nagar through a 3D printers and providing to the frontline of India's defence against the pandemic i.e. the health care workers.

Speaking to IANS, Kalra said, "I got this idea earlier this month when my mother required the face shield in the hospital where she is working as there was some shortage of supplies. I got the design online as many designeres abroad have started this initiative."

The prodigy is making 20-25 maks a day with the help of 3-D Printers. The process completes in around one and a half hour. Elastic, OHP Sheet and Elastic are the main components of this face shield.

"We put the design file in the computer software that makes a code for the printer to carry out the process, following which the printing procedure starts," Kakar said while adding that he has got contracts from laboratories and doctorsA across Delhi for his initiative.

"Currently I have got around 6 contracts. I am currently not accepting orders from the cities or states as shipping at this point of time is not possible due to the lockdown," Kakar said. These faceshields are used to protect the health workers from direct splatter from cough and sneezes. The polyacetic has holes for the respiration and fit over nose and mouth.

--IANS
anb/sdr/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:51:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220125 IANS C-1-1220144-1219833
"Little pleasures of life... my boys and i celebrating my first double landing. @kuldeepshashi @swainvikram @nadeemakhtarparkour88," he captioned the vidoe.

Fans are absolutely delighted to watch the video and they expressed awe and admiration in the comments section.

One fan commented: "Excellent work Tiger!"

Another fan wrote: "Tiger Shroff is a legend."

A female fan expressed: "My king, my love, my superhero!"

Recently, Tiger Shroff shared a video where he can be seen working out on his home's terrace. The actor left his upper body bare to flaunt his perfect abs and muscles.

--IANS
abh/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:51:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220144 IANS C-1-1220079-1219832
The actors suggest putting minds to creative activties like writing, drawing or engaging in any form would not only keep oneself busy but would also help in maintaing a good mental health and reduce anxiety.

Speaking to IANS, Arunansh Shokeen, founder of Delhi based theatre group Natya Ustaad said, "This is the time to be friends with your diary. Maintaing a diary not only helps you remember things but would also help you grow your vocabulary, communication skills and would also become your memory bank."

"You can write poetry, stories or what happened in the day. Maintaing mental health is the most important thing during this time. People should follow their passions and things they never found time for," he added.

Veteran bollywood actor and Bhalla from Comedy classic Andaaz Apna Apna, Shehzad Khan said, "People should stay inside their homes and dedicate some time to meditation to keep your mind in proper shape.

"I do a lot of meditation, yoga and watch a lot of films to detoxify myself and stay away from news as it becomes depressing," he added.

Atishay Malkotia, renowned RJ at Red FM Dehradun, told IANS, "Everyone had thought of some things which they planned to do when they get time. It's time to check your to-do list. Be it the old guitar which is hanging by the paintball or the books lying in the shelf still to be read."

He also said that it is the finest time to create memories with your family as all are at home and can spend good time together.

The Delhi government on Thursday updated the list of hotspots in the national capital adding a few more places taking the total number of high-risk COVID-19 areas to 25.

The initial list which had 20 hotspots was released by the government on Wednesday while on Thursday five more places were identified as hotspots.

Bengali Market was added in the list on Wednesday night itself after three fresh COVID-19 cases were reported while four new zones -- Shashtri Market in JJ Colony, Sadar Bazar, B1 and B2 blocks in Paschim Vihar, Nizamuddin Dargah and Nizamudding Basti -- were added on Thursday.

--IANS
anb/sdr/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:51:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220079 IANS C-1-1220136-1219831

Gurpreet has been in Australia for almost a month now and with India observing a 21-day lockdown from March 25, the 28-year-old has no idea about his duration of stay Down Under.

But while Gurpreet can afford to stay at his home in Sydney, his parents, father SP Tejinder Singh Sandhu of Punjab Police and mother DSP Harjit Kaur of Chandigarh Police, have to venture out everyday to ensure that lockdown protocols are maintained in Chandigarh.

"Things in Chandigarh are fine. Mum and dad are police officers so they have to go to their jobs. So they need to do that. They are safe. I speak to them almost everyday. But the number of cases are rising in India which is a concern," Gurpreet told IANS from Sydney on Friday.

"But I am glad that lockdown happened at the right time especially in a country like India where we have so many people. I am really proud of the citizens who have understood the point and have stayed home," said the ace Bengaluru FC custodian.

Gurpreet said things are better in Australia and the curve is slowly flattening.

"We are safe staying indoors, following government guidelines. I have no idea what is the timeline of my stay because of the restrictions on travel and stuff. To jab update aayega (when update will come), I will have a plan in hand.

"Here things are looking under control. The percentage of the virus has gone down significantly. Winter is coming. Weather is good here."

Asked about his training during lockdown, the two-time Indian Super League (ISL) Golden Glove winner said he is doing non equipment based workout at home besides household work.

"I try to do all the house work and try to keep fit by doing some non-equipment exercises. There is a ground also nearby so I try to go there every now and then and train. But it's not the same without the team."

Gurpreet helped Bengaluru FC reach the semifinals this season before they lost to eventual champions ATK over two legs.

"The season as a team I was proud of the boys the way they played. It's very normal to not win a trophy every single time. We need to get stronger from that and learn."

On him winning the Golden Glove, the former Stabaek FC keeper said: "Winning the Golden Glove would not have been possible without my teammates because it's a team sport and a clean sheet is a collective effort."

The first Indian footballer to play for a European top division club, Gurpreet added that he is has started doing some online courses to keep himself busy during the lockdown period.

"Today itself, I started to do some online courses to pass some time. You can educate yourself, internet is there you can learn a lot of things," he concluded.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:44:15 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220136 IANS C-1-1220137-1219830
The classical musician and writer, known for her proficiency as a ghazal singer, also authored 'Begum Akhtar: The Story of My Ammi', a biographical work on renowned ghazal singer Begum Akhtar.

Born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Hiranand started training thumri, dadra and ghazal singing under Begum Akhtar and the relationship continued till Akhtar's death in 1974.

The government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of Padma Shri, in 2007, for her contributions to Hindustani music.

--IANS
sj/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:44:14 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220137 IANS C-1-1220135-1219829
Such application for lower withholding tax rate will not get extension of any previous order (for FY20) for a period of three months till June 30, 2020.

On March 31, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) allowed taxpayers who had filed for lower TDS/TCS for FY21 and whose application was pending for disposal as on date to extend the period of their FY20 order on lower TDS by three months to June 30, 2020. Such extension was given even if taxpayer did not file application for current fiscal but had orders for lower tax for the previous year.

In a clarification, CBDT has said that if an application for FY21 is seeking lower TDS/TCS than what was accorded in FY20, then the relaxation provided in March 31 order will not apply and such applicant will follow due procedure and apply afresh.

Extension will also not be given to the payee or buyer taxpayer who has made application for FY21 mentioning a new or different TAN.

TAN stands for Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number. It is a ten digit alphanumeric number thats allotted to those who are supposed to deduct tax at source or TDS.

It has also been clarified by CBDT that extension of lower TDS/TCS is a mitigation exercise against hardships of payees caused due to Covid-19 related disruptions. So, this extension will only be available during April-June period.

The CBDT order is expected to allow seamless flow of payments to contractors and service providers, both residents and non-residents, as continuity of tax treatment will flow for another three months.

--IANS
sn/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:40:39 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220135 IANS C-1-1220139-1219828
"We have announced the reward and also assured people that their identity will not be disclosed. We hope to get information about Jamaatis who may be hidden in the district," Superintendent of Police Azamgarh Triveni Singh told IANS on Friday.

Azamgarh has a predominantly Muslim population and some areas like Saraimir, Mubarakpur, Char Sikari and Amila have a Muslim population of over 70 per cent.

Sources said that Azamgarh could be a hotspot for Jamaatis because of the population.

Till now Azamgarh has reported four positive corona cases while 38 corona suspects have been put under quarantine.

"We want to contain the spread of corona at all costs. If we get information about Jamaatis, we can quarantine them and get them tested before it is too late," said the SP.

--IANS
amita/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:39:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220139 IANS C-1-1220140-1219827
The Ministry said over one crore additional people are being provided food in various food camps in different states and Union Territories (UTs). As per the Ministry, it has been continuously monitoring the enforcement of lockdown measures across all states and UTs, asserting that the enforcement measures and the supply of essential goods and services is "satisfactory".

"As many as 37,978 migrant relief camps have been set up in states and UTs in which over 34,000 have been set up by the state governments and over 3,000 by the NGOs. Around 14.3 lakh migrant workers have been provided shelter in these camps," said a Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry in a press briefing.

Besides, 26,225 food camps have also been set up in various states and UTs out which 14,799 were set up by the government and 11,426 by the NGOs, said the officer, adding over one crore people are being provided food in these camps.

These facilities are being provided to the poor, destitute, migrant workers, those who only need food, and for those who have reached their destination, but have been quarantined due to standard health protocol, the official said.

Officials said the condition of migrant workers is "under control" and food and shelter facilities to 16.5 lakh workers are being provided by their employer and industries.

The Joint Secretary said the Home Minister on Thursday reviewed the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh border security with the officials of Border Security Force (BSF) and directed to increase the vigilance on border areas specifically in those areas where there is no fencing.

"The Home Minister also instructed to stop cross-border movements. He also suggested making villagers aware about COVID-19. He also directed to inform the district authorities to ensure that no one inadvertently crossed the border."

--IANS
rak/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:34:31 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220140 IANS C-1-1220115-1219826


Speaking to IANS, Dr. B.N. Tripathi, Deputy Director General of ICAR's Animal Science division said: "Three institutes of ICAR have been identified for conducting Covid testing on human samples. Since we are also getting requests from the Wildlife Authority of India and Ministry of Environment, we are going to test wildlife samples too."

The Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Izatnagar, the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal and National Research Centre on Equines in Hisar have been identified for this purpose by Dr T. Mohapatra, who is ICAR's Director General and Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education.

"The Health Ministry has permitted the ICAR, so we are going to start testing in the next 2-3 days in close coordination with the respective state and district health authorities," Dr. Tripathi said.

Meanwhile, zoos in the country are on high alert after a tiger in a zoo in the US tested positive for coronavirus. Last month, a pet cat was also infected with the novel coronavirus in Belgium. The animals are believed to have contracted the virus from the people they live with.

According to the World organisation for Animal Health, cats and ferrets are the most susceptible species for Covid-19.

Assuaging the fear, Dr. Tripathi advised those infected with the virus to not only isolate themselves from other humans but also from their pets.

"Coronavirus is not only a human virus, it affects chicken, domestic animals, canines, felines, bats, etc. Research should be conducted on animals as well. We are going to take up projects and work on it soon," he added.

--IANS
aka/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:31:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220115 IANS C-1-1220141-1219825
A meeting of the Council of Ministers was held via video conference.

--IANS
vg/prs




]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:29:24 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220141 IANS C-1-1220128-1219824
The development comes hours after the Maharashtra government on Friday sent on 'compulsory leave' IPS officer and Principal Secretary, Special, Amitabh Gupta for allegedly allowing the them to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday at the height of the lockdown.

A senior agency official here said that on Thursday information was received by CBI that Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan were located in Satara and lodged at a government quarantine centre at Panchgani.

"Thereafter, an email has been immediately sent to DM and SP of Satara for not releasing them without NOC from CBI or order of the court and taking other necessary steps to prevent the accused persons from absconding," the official said.

The directions from the CBI came after the local administration put both the brothers, along with 21 others in a quarantine centre in Maharashtra's Panchagani, a hill station near Pune.

The CBI official said that the Wadhawan brothers were absconding since beginning of the investigation in the alleged Yes Bank scam probe.

The CBI had carried out searches at the premises of Wadhawans on March 9 this year and during the time of the searches, both of them were not available at their residence.

The two had also notices served to them but did not join the investigation.

Following their-non compliance, the Special CBI court in Mumbai issued a non-bailable warrant against both of them on March 17.

The official said that even after the issuance of NBW, they have not appeared before CBI or the court.

Besides the CBI, both the brothers have been named as accused by the Enforcement Directorate. Wadhawans were summoned on multiple occasions by the CBI and the ED. The ED had also searched their Mumbai residence and Mahabaleshwar farmhouse but both of them could not be traced.

According to the central agency sources, the Wadhawans went in hiding since March 8 after Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor was arrested by the ED in a case related to suspicious loans granted by the bank and alleged quid pro quo to Kapoor's family companies for these loans.

However, the 21-day novel coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown forced them to vacate the guesthouse. Fearing arrest, they decided to travel to Mahabaleshwar and not Mumbai.

The Mahabaleshwar Police early on Friday booked 23 persons of the Wadhawan family and others for flouting various laws including the Epidemic Diseases Act.

"They were found here on Thursday evening and said they had come from Mumbai, travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar. We have lodged an FIR against them under various laws pertaining to flouting lockdown under the pandemic," an official from Mahabaleshwar Police Station told IANS.

The matter sparked off a huge political storm late on Thursday with the Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and Bharatiya Janata Party state Vice-President Kirit Somaiya demanding a probe and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh's scalp.

The Wadhawans have been linked as accused in the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank and Yes Bank scams along with the entities, DHFL-HDIL.

--IANS
aks/vd


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:26:37 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220128 IANS C-1-1220086-1219823
Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media the data transfer was taking place in Kerala from the local ward level. The data is collected by the government and sent to the server of the US-based marketing company, he said.

"Several countries have banned this. The most precious thing is data, especially related to Covid-19. What is doubtful is why this is being handed over to a foreign company when our own state-owned companies can do an analysis. The emblem of the Kerala government is being used by this US firm. These are generally protected health information pertaining to our people," said Chennithala.

Demanding an investigation, Chennithala asked: "We want to know what's this all about. What's the financial implication in it? The government has to come out with an explanation."

--IANS
sg/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:26:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220086 IANS C-1-1220062-1219822
Most of the state representatives demanded more quantity of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and testing kits from the Health Ministry.

Speaking to the Harsh Vardhan, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said, "We need more ventilators."

Echoing the demand, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma urged the ICMR to relax the testing strategy so that more and more tests could be conducted.

"Ramganj near Jaipur is badly affected. May be we have to vacate the entire area and send every single family to quarantine. We want to increase the testing capacity, therefore I request the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to relax the testing strategy so that more and more tests could be conducted."

He also suggested allocating more money to the states having Covid-19 hotspots and demanded rapid antibody testing kits.

The representative from Himachal Pradesh said that the state needed more ventilators and PPEs. He said that the state bodies are working efficiently as per the guidance of the Centre, but are facing shortage of PPE and Ventilators.

Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pnadey said that there are at least 11 districts in the state which have been badly affected by the disease. He said, "Bihar has received only Rs 80 crore from the Centre," and urged the Union Health Minister to allocate more funds to the state.

Gujarat Health Minister Nitinbhai Patel requested the Centre to set up more testing labs in the state.

The representative of Haryana said that the state did not receive a single ventilator, while his West Bengal counterpart said there is scarcity of Hydroxychloroquine in West Bengal.

The representative of Haryana also complained about shortage of PPE kits. Similar issue was raised by his counterparts from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Harsh Vardhan, on his part, informed all state representatives that antibody rapid testing kits are not available in the country as of now and that the government has ordered more ventilators.

"There are no antibody rapid test kits available in the country as of now. We have placed order for them and we will give them as soon as the order is delivered," he said.

The chief scientist of ICMR, Raman Gangakhedkar, requested the state representatives not to hoard testing kits. "Many states have placed orders in advance with the manufacturers. This is unnecessary and will cause a rise in the price of the kits. Moreover, rapid testing kits are not the replacement of RT-PCR," said Khedkar.

Harsh Vardhan also informed the state representatives that the government has ordered more ventilators but they will be needed in very few cases; therefore, the states should focus on other requirements like oxygen cylinders, beds etc.

"There are 17,000 ventilators for Covid-19 hospitals, and the government has placed orders for 50,000 more. States should focus more on oxygen cylinders, beds etc.," he said.

The meeting was also joined by the MoS Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Health Secretary Preeti Sudan.

--IANS
sfm/arm



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:26:35 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220062 IANS C-1-1220091-1219821
They said the state government and the media could help in spreading the de-addiction message aggressively as the time is right now.

Owing to the coronavirus scare and also due to the lockdown, the de-addiction centres do not accept new patients but refer them to government hospitals where they are received.

"The calls received now are emergency/crisis calls from the family members on seeing their loved ones suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms. The nature of calls received now are different from the calls received prior to lockdown," Jacqueline David, Senior Counsellor, TTK Hospital told IANS.

The de-addiction centres are receiving calls from family members citing intense anger and violent behaviour on the part of the affected member.

According to David, the state has already seen deaths due to the craving for alcohol post lockdown.

Three persons died after drinking paint varnish with water and two persons lost their lives after consuming after-shave lotion with water.

She said though the hospital is closed for new admission, two counsellors attend to the calls of distressed family members and counsel them.

"We have two dedicated numbers for tele-counselling - 9940656081 (10 a.m to 2 p.m. and 9840821627 (2 p.m. to 6 p.m.) for people to call for advice," David said.

"In these days of coronavirus spread, one does not know the health condition of an alcoholic -- whether he is a coronavirus infected or not. We request the callers to approach the government hospitals," A. Felix, Manager, Trust Way Foundation, told IANS.

David said not many realise that alcoholism is a mental and nervous disease needing medical attention.

She said when an alcoholic is deprived of his drink then he suffers from what is called withdrawal symptoms.

The withdrawal symptoms are anger, shaking hands, heart burn sensation, anger, fits, hallucination, hearing voices in the ears, sleeplessness, violent behaviour and others.

According to her, to manage the withdrawal symptoms, an alcoholic's fluid intake should be increased.

"An alcoholic could be given lime juice with sugar and a dash of salt. One can also give other juice. The other steps that family members could take is to distract the alcoholic and keep his mind engaged," she said.

According to Felix, family members should see that the suffering member is well fed -food and lots of vegetables- and he should not be allowed to feel hungry.

"A hungry stomach will trigger craving for liquor in an alcoholic. Apart from food, the person should be given lots of juice," Felix added.

--IANS
vj/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:17:18 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220091 IANS C-1-1220121-1219820
These persons are being monitored by local health officials.

According to the government spokesman, 8,671 persons have been put in institutional quarantine while 459 have been admitted to the isolation wards.

The count in Uttar Pradesh, on Friday, touched 431 with 21 new patients who tested positive for the virus.

Corona footprints can now be found in 40 of the total 75 districts.

The official spokesman said that with strict enforcement of lockdown and sealing of hotspots, the Corona curve was expected to flatten in the coming week.

Meanwhile, online services like Swiggy and Zomato, on Friday, stopped service in several areas and their app simply states that the area was unserviceable.

--IANS
amita/vd



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:17:17 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220121 IANS C-1-1220132-1219819
The aap that can be used on phones with iOS and android systems has been launched with the avowed aim of fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Developed under the private-public participation, the aap uses Bluetooth and Artificial Intelligence technologies and algorithm to meet its objectives of helping users make an analysis of danger from the coronavirus.

It will allow people to know about those suffering from coronavirus infection in their respective areas.

Over one crore people in India have so far downloaded the app available in 11 Indian languages.

--IANS
Hindi/tsb

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:17:15 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220132 IANS C-1-1220102-1219818
Accordingly , SpiceJet operated its first ever cargo freighter carrying around 16 tons of pharma essentials including medicines and other medical supplies from Hyderabad to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

"The airline deployed its Boeing 737 freighter aircraft for the assignment which took-off from Hyderabad at 10.30 AM IST and is scheduled to reach Ho Chi Minh City at 16.20 PM (local time)," the airline said in a statement.

On Thursday, SpiceJet operated its first cargo freighter on the Chennai-Singapore-Chennai route to bring critical medical equipment and devices to India.

SpiceJet has operated 220 flights since the lockdown began carrying more than 1,850 tons of cargo a" more than double than all domestic airlines combined. Out of these 61 were international cargo flights.

The airline has operated special cargo flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong and a host of other places carrying vital supplies.

--IANS
rv/sn/prs




]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:12:40 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220102 IANS C-1-1220134-1219817
The findings, published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, emphasize the role of social networks and personal relationships in maintaining good mental health and why people should preserve those connections, even in the face of obstacles or pursuing challenging goals.

"When people base their self-worth on financial success, they experience feelings of pressure and a lack of autonomy, which are associated with negative social outcomes," said study researcher Lora Park, Associate Professor, University at Buffalo in the US.

"Feeling that pressure to achieve financial goals means we're putting ourselves to work at the cost of spending time with loved ones, and it's that lack of time spent with people close to us that are associated with feeling lonely and disconnected," added Deborah Ward.

Ward said it's not the financial success that's problematic or the desire for money that's leading to these associations.

According to the researchers, when people's self-worth is contingent on money, they view their financial success as being tied to the core of who they are as a person.

The degree to which they succeed financially relates to how they feel about themselves -- feeling good when they think they're doing well financially, but feeling worthless if they're feeling financially insecure.

For the findings, the researchers involved more than 2,500 participants over five different studies that looked for relationships between the financial contingency of self-worth and key variables, such as time spent with others, loneliness and social disconnection.

This included a daily diary study that followed participants over a two-week period to assess how they were feeling over an extended time about the importance of money and time spent engaged in various social activities.

"We saw consistent associations between valuing money in terms of who you are and experiencing negative social outcomes in previous work, so this led us to ask the question of why these associations are present," Ward said.

"We see these findings as further evidence that people who base their self-worth on money are likely to feel pressured to achieve financial success, which is tied to the quality of their relationships with others," she noted.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:12:39 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220134 IANS C-1-1220131-1219816
"We know that different countries are at different stages of managing this pandemic so we are trying to give a structure to our athletes and member federations so they can begin to plan for the year ahead," Coe said in the statement.

"If it is at all possible, we will schedule a belated outdoor season from August to October to help our athletes to figure out where they stand after the disruption of this year."

Coe said that he is looking to provide some sense of hope of return to normalcy to stakeholders amidst the coronavirus pandemic which has forced the cancellation or postponement of virtually all sports events including the Tokyo Olympics.

World Athletics has frozen the weekend of April 9 and 10 for national competitions. "This will be followed by what we hope will be a solid international season, but of course we are dependent on the global response to the pandemic," Coe said.

"Nevertheless, we think it's better to offer our stakeholders some hope of a return to normalcy later this year."

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:12:38 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220131 IANS C-1-1220129-1219815
"Following the New Zealand government travel restrictions and government lockdown which we find ourselves in at present, combined with the medical advice of our team doctors and in the interests of the health, safety and well-being of our players and support staff, the decision has been made by Hockey New Zealand to cancel our tour of India (Men) and China (Women) at this present time," said Ian Francis, Chief Executive, Hockey New Zealand.

The Indian team is currently at the fourth spot in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2020 standings, while the New Zealand team is at the sixth spot. Both sides have recorded two victories each in the competition so far.

Hockey India CEO Elena Norman expressed that during these difficult times it is important to stand by the decision taken by Hockey New Zealand and be supportive.

"It is disappointing that the matches against New Zealand need to be cancelled at this time, but these are unavoidable circumstances and we support Hockey New Zealand's decision. Safety of players and their support staff is a top priority for every national sports federation. I wish the New Zealand team all the very best and hope to host them again soon in India once the situation improves for teams to travel," Norman said.

Norman further added, "Hockey India would like to confirm that all the tickets of India's matches against New Zealand on 23 & 24 May 2020 that were bought by our fans whether online or offline would be refunded. Looking at the current scenario, we will only be able to confirm the dates for refund on a later date once the situation improves considerably."

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 17:11:27 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220129 IANS C-1-1220104-1219814
"Why on earth would the administration suspend the internet in the entire district because of shelling along the LoC? It's almost as if the authorities are looking for any excuse to flick the internet switch", Omar tweeted.

The indiscriminate shelling by Pakistan army in Keran and Tangdhar sectors of the LoC has affected over half-a-dozen villages.

After unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan, Indian positions have also retaliated with appropriate fire power, defence sources said.

Fearing for their lives many residents of villages close to the LoC in these areas have abandoned their homes.

--IANS
sq/prs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:58:50 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220104 IANS C-1-1220116-1219813
The youth wing of the party has also instlled an automatic chapati machine at the headquarter, which can prepare 1,000 chapatis in an hour.

IYC president Srinivas B.V. said : " We all must come forward and play our part in this fight against Covid-19 pandemic. The nation needs to remain together and strong, as we can only defeat this disease by being united. In pursuance of this one goal, the IYC has established community kitchen and food bank at its Raisina Road office. We are trying our level best to reach to thousands of people every day with fresh food and clean drinking water."

--IANS
miz/sdr/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:58:49 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220116 IANS C-1-1220113-1219812
A day after Rachakonda Police Commissioner tweeted that they have booked and arrested store manager and two guards for not allowing the two students to enter the store, Rijiju praised Rachakonda police.

"I appreciate such prompt actions by @RachakondaCop police. This kind of humane gesture spreads positive messages and make our country united," tweeted the minister.

One Jonah had tweeted that his two friends were not allowed to enter the grocery store at Vanasthalipuram for looking like foreigners. He had also tagged Rijiju, who had inquired about the location.

Telangana minister K.T. Rama Rao, who was also tagged, had requested the DGP to instruct all police commissioners and superintendents of police to take up these issues seriously with retail association and send out a clear message.

"This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Racism in any form should be dealt with sternly," Rama Rao tweeted.

Subsequently, Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat tweeted that a case against the store manager and two guards of Star Market is registered at Vanasthalipuram police station.

The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 153 (wanton vilification or attacks upon the religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc of any particular group or class), 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant) and 341 (wrongful restraint).

Meanwhile, Bhagwath called the two Mainpuri youths - Angam Weapon and Thangkai Haokip to his office on Friday, interacted with them and handed over rice bags and pulse packets as a gesture.

The police commissioner, who started his career in Indian Police Service in 1997 at Manipur and has knowledge of Manipuri language, society and culture, reassured them to reach him in case of any emergency.

Bhagwat warned managements of super markets that any discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, race, language etc will not be tolerated.

Rachakonda is one of three police commissionerates covering Hyderabad and its surroundings.

--IANS
ms/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:58:47 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220113 IANS C-1-1220122-1219811
Called ‘fishbone', which boasts of greater strength and better drape-ability, this particular form of weaving was done 50-60 years back exclusively by Majid Mir's grandfather.

Hailing from a family that first integrated Calligraphy weaving into Pashmina, Mir brothers have found a new-age approach to the long lost weaving technique.

The reinvented technique is fully hand combed and hand spun, making it one of the finest crafted products with 100 per cent Pashmina wool. The designs created by the artisan duo follow a contemporary style and have a colour palette that perfectly matches today's consumer sensibilities.

In an experiment to diversify the use of Pashmina, the Mir brothers constructed a men's formal jacket and a couch that were also a part of a special showcase at the recently held India Craft Week.

The design of the couch was developed by the students and faculty members of the Space & Interior Design Program from Pearl Academy, New Delhi.

"We were disconnected due to lack of phone and internet availability in the recent past, and there was no way we could do any productive activity being cut-off from the rest of the world. So, we decided to focus on new ideas, research and development," said Fayaz Mir.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:56:21 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220122 IANS C-1-1220110-1219810
"Seal down orders are only in ward 134 Bapuji Nagar and Ward 135 Padarayanapura due to fresh cases and to contain the spread of Covid. Urge television channels to report facts and not speculate," tweeted Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar.

Earlier, Kumar announced the sealing of the two wards to contain the coronavirus spread.

"BBMP will completely seal Bapuji Nagar Ward 134 and Padarayanapura Ward 135 to prevent the spread of Covid after five fresh cases were reported," he tweeted.

Following the sealing, Kumar said the civic body will supply all essentials to the residents of the two wards, besides banning all vehicular movement.

--IANS
sth/sdr/bg]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:56:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220110 IANS C-1-1220120-1219809
Speaking to Talk Sport, Flintoff recalled an episode from a 2005 Test match against Pakistan wherein Akhtar kept calling Flintoff fat and the burly all-rounder gave it back to the speedster, but the end result wasn't too sweet for the Englishman.

"Listen to this, I got feelings. He (Shoaib) kept having a go at me. He kept calling me ‘fat'. Fat this, fat that. I am not having this, I am thinking I am going to nip this in the b***. So, as I walked in, I said, Shoaib, it's all right, you look like Tarzan, but you bowl like Jane," Flintoff said.

"It haunted me straight away. I walked out to bat, I think 1st or 2nd ball, my off-stump was cart-wheeling back as he knocked it over. Then, as I walked off, he gave me a big ‘OOOHHHH'."

Former and current cricketers have been interacting with fans on social media these days as the world has come to a standstill due to the coronavirus outbreak and Akhtar took to his YouTube channel to suggest a series between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the pandemic.

"I want India and Pakistan to play a series. I want it to happen without crowds, just broadcasting unit should be there and the matches should be televised, three ODIs or T20Is should be played. I cannot understand why this is a bad idea," Akhtar said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

"Players can play after undergoing testing, if the series happens, just think how many people will watch the matches on television, think about the funds the series can generate. For the first time, there will be no loser, there is everything to gain, imagine Indian team winning the match, and the funds going to Pakistan as well and vis-a-vis," the Rawalpindi Express said.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:56:18 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220120 IANS C-1-1220118-1219808
Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary Health Ministry, said there is no community transmission of the coronavirus viral infection, thus people should not panic.

He said the infection rate from coronavirus is not huge, for example out of 16,000 tests in a day, only 0.2 per cent cases have tested positive. As many as 146 government labs are testing samples for COVID-19 and 67 private labs have been given approval to conduct the test, said the health ministry.

The ministry official said in January this year, they began with just one lab then scaled it up to 15 labs. "We have done upscaling to 2.5 labs in a day so far", said Agarwal.

He said though there is no community transmission in the country till now, but people have to be alert and follow dos and don'ts.

On the availability of the Hydroxychloroquine, Agarwal said there is a stock of more than 3 crore tablets in the country, and the required projection of consumption is nearly 1 crore tablets.

"The stock is sufficient for the month-end requirement", said Agarwal citing the MEA decision to export surplus medicine.

The total number of confirmed cases in India is 6,412, 503 have been cured/ discharged. The country has recorded 199 deaths. There are 5,709 active cases in the country.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:50:29 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220118 IANS C-1-1220080-1219807

Cutting across religious divides, residents of Christian dominated Konsakhul - a small village in Kangpokpi district = are distributing various vegetables in the neighbouring villages inhabited by Hindus and Muslims.

Under the initiative of Konsakhul village Chief Alyson Abonmai, the villagers of Konsakhul collected the vegetables from and around the village and gifted them to the people of various villages dominated mostly by tribals, migrant workers and daily wagers.
.
"We are carrying the vegetables in trucks and distributing them among the people of the neighbouring villages. As per our prior announcement, the villagers are gathered in mutually convenient locations to take the vegetables," Abonmai told IANS over phone from Konsakhul village, 60 km north of state capital Imphal.

He said: "We are distributing the vegetables for the past two weeks. So far we have distributed the veggies among 7,500 villagers in three districts - Kangpokpi, Senapati and Imphal West. We will continue our endeavours in the coming days if the lockdown continues."

"The vegetables we have been distributing might not be sufficient for the villagers, but we would be failing in our human responsibility if we do not extend that little help that is within our capacity as fellow human beings," said Alyson Abonmai.

"It is a very touching gesture of the Konsakhul villagers headed by village Chief Alyson Abonmai to help their neighbours," said writer Rajkumar Kalyanjit Singh.

Singh told IANS: "This act of Konsakhul villagers in this difficult situation where people struggle to find food items is worthy of appreciation. The villagers of Konsakhul village are also not differentiating between any communities, caste, creed and religion."

After the photographs of the distribution of the vegetables appeared in various social media platforms, thousands of people appreciated this. Comments praising the initiative of Konsakhul villagers poured in from different individuals across the country and even abroad.

"Such initiatives would narrow down the gap between the hills and valley," Kalyanjit Singh remarked.

In Christian dominated neighbouring Mizoram too, the influential Young Mizo Association (YMA) is taking vegetables and various essentials to the people in the mountainous state, bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh. After procuring the items from the government's Food and Civil Supplies, Agriculture and Horticulture Departments, the YMA volunteers carrying the vegetables and a variety of essentials in small vans visited hundreds of localities across the state, providing them to the consumers at fixed prices.

Joining the "Local Task Force", managed by the YMA, hundreds of youths, both men and women, are on the forefront to manage stores, packaging and delivering the much needed essentials to the people.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)

--IANS
sc/sdr/bg]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:47:09 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220080 IANS C-1-1220099-1219806
"Look, I am not saying this because I am from the opposition. But Kejriwal's response has been that of a total failure. He introduced an app for giving out rations. One, there is no transparency on that and more importantly, how can you expect a poor person with no Android phone or internet connection to register in an App to get ration during this time of distress?" said Bidhuri, while talking to IANS.

Kejriwal earlier said that ration would also be provided to the people without ration cards. However, such people need to apply online and on that basis, the government will provide them ration. Bidhuri alleges, while the genuinely needy are robbed off their chance to get it, those with ration cards stand to exploit the system.

BJP MLA Ajay Mahawar has levelled allegations of corruption in the ration supply. He has claimed that the quantity of ration meant for Narela has been found to be underweight.

Gambhir, who recently had an exchange with Kejriwal over Twitter blamed Kejriwal for the sudden exodus of migrants from New Delhi, that shook the conscience of the nation and sent the administration into a tizzy.

"Delhi government did not share the exact data of ration distribution and food. And if he could have done accommodation arrangements, then why did daily wagers leave Delhi in thousands?" asks Gambhir.

Earlier, in a ground investigation, IANS had found that accommodation facilities even after the migrant workers left Delhi in hordes weren't enough. Many were spotted sleeping on the banks of Yamuna, at night under the open sky, barely a few kilometers from the Chief Minister's residence.

Bidhuri went a step further than Gambhir to accuse Kejriwal of deliberately creating panic and orchestrating the exodus of migrant workers, mainly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, most of whom left for their homes on foot, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21 days pan-india shutdown.A

He even adds that whatever ready to eat food is available in the national capital should be credited to NGOs and not Kejriwal. "We requested Kejriwal to provide us with kitchens so that we can serve food to the poor of Delhi. He didn't," claims Bidhuri.

As on Friday, Delhi has recorded a total 720 cases of Covid-19, out of which 12 have succumbed. As numbers rose, the Delhi government designated many places across the national capital as containment zones and completely sealed them. It includes prominent places like Bengali Market, at the heart of the capital.

With each new spate of cases, the onslaught of the opposition only rises against Delhi's CM who has recently come back to power and has battled two crisis since - the riots and Covid-19 outbreak.

Gambhir alleges, "Till now, the Chief minister has been late in reacting. As a result, Delhi is facing shortage of medical equipment and PPE kits, as well."

The Aam Aadmi Party could not be reached for its response, in spite of repeated attempts.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:45:09 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220099 IANS C-1-1220119-1219805
The company is offering free shows including Oprah's talks on COVID-19, Little America, Servant, For All Mankind, Dickinson, Snoopy In Space, Ghostwriter, Helpsters and The Elephant Queen.

However, Apple's Golden Globe-nominated marquee show 'The Morning Show' is not available through this free offering.

The programmes can be accessed at apple.co/FreeForEveryone in the Apple TV app.

The Apple TV app is available on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac, select Samsung and LG smart TVs, and Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices.

The app is not available on Android phones but users can stream it on the web browser.

Apple TV+ joins various other streaming services likr HBO, AMC and others to offer free content as well as extended free trials during the coronavirus lockdown.

--IANS
wh/na
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:45:08 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220119 IANS C-1-1220117-1219804
According to the company, a team of Amazonians with a variety of skills – from research scientists and programme managers to procurement specialists and software engineers – have moved from their normal day jobs onto a dedicated team to work on this initiative.

"We have begun assembling the equipment we need to build our first lab and hope to start testing small numbers of our front line employees soon," Amazon said in a statement late Thursday.

The ecommerce giant admitted it is not sure how far it will get in the relevant timeframe.

"We think it's worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn with others," said Amazon.

To date, Amazon has made over 150 process changes at sites around the world to ensure the health and safety of its teams.

A next step might be regular testing of all employees, including those showing no symptoms. Regular testing on a global scale across all industries would both help keep people safe and help get the economy back up and running, said the company.

More than 50 Amazon-owned facilities have confirmed COVOD-10 cases in the US, several with multiple instances of the deadly coronavirus.

Amazon has largely remained open throughout the pandemic. To meet surging demand, Amazon has hired additional 80,000 workers.

To lift the mood of its frontline workers, the company posted a video of Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos visiting a fulfillment center and Whole Foods superstore where he is seen, wearing mask, interacting with the staff.

"We're all incredibly proud of the thousands of our colleagues working on the front lines to get critical goods to people everywhere during this crisis," said the company.

After being slammed by legislators, unions and employees about health safety across its workforce at warehouses amid the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon said that it is taking major steps to protect the workers.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:41:17 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220117 IANS C-1-1220075-1219803
Despite this steep rise in numbers, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data suggest the rate of positive cases is between 3-5% from the samples tested so far.

On Thursday, the Union Health Ministry said since Wednesday, 540 cases of coronavirus infection have been reported and 17 deaths have occurred due to the deadly infection. The total number of confirmed cases in India is 5,734, 166 have succumbed to the deadly viral infection and 472 people have been cured so far; and total 5,095 active cases in the country.

Today, the number of confirmed cases has risen to 6,412, an addition of 669 cases in a day.

On Sunday, the number of confirmed cases shot up to 693. Last week, more than 500 coronavirus cases were registered for four consecutive days, even as the government announced a massive ramp-up in the testing facilities.

On Wednesday, the Health Ministry reported 773, the highest number of cases so far, new cases in the past twenty four hours.

Although, the pattern emerging from the Indian Council of Medical Research, which has tested a total 1.3 Lakh samples over one-and-a-half months, suggests the rate of positive cases has ranged between 3-5 per cent. The government has also significantly increased the number of tests per day, in association with private labs, as it has also identified hotspots and high-risk zones.

The government has started conducting surveys where it is sampling people with hypertension and diabetes. The Health Ministry insists the country has not reached the community transmission stage yet, as the steep rise in the number of positive cases is not observed if it were to have reached the community spread stage.

According to the ICMR, 13,345 tests are done in a day, a massive increase in the number of tests in comparison with 5,000 sample size earlier this month.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:37:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220075 IANS C-1-1220112-1219802
Kajal revealed she got the recipe from her "master chef mommy", sharing photos of the freshly-made crispy samosas.

"My first attempt ever at making this (if I may say so myself!) decadent, very punjabi #KhastaSamosa . Such fun learning the art of manoeuvring the dough into the perfect cones under the fine tutelage (and very strict quality control) of my master chef mommy @vinayagg2060 #learningnewskills #samosaloverforever," Kajal wrote on Instagram.

Fans thought her effort did look yummy.

"You are making me hungry," wrote a user.

Launding the actress' efforts, another fan wrote: "Multi talented".

Recently, Kajal had baked a gluten free, sugar free and low calorie carrot cake and also shared recipe with her fans.

--IANS
abh/vnc


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:34:51 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220112 IANS C-1-1220114-1219801
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:34:50 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220114 IANS C-1-1220100-1219800

At present, the drug is being aggressively pitched as the best option to fight the Covid-19 infection. However, no large-scale trials have taken place to prove such claims yet.

Nevertheless, world leaders like US President Donald Trump have become ardent advocates of the drug.

India, thus, has become the world's focus for being the largest producer of the drug and the manufacturing numbers are just staggering. Some industry estimates show that India can produce around 30 crore doses of the medicine per month, while the domestic requirement will not exceed 10 crore pills.

Consequently, both the US and Brazil have requested the Centre to allow exports of the drug, with the Brazilian side going as far as to compare the drug to 'Sanjivani', a mythical herb which was referred to in the epic Ramayana.

India has now allowed the drug to be shipped out, but on a case-to-case basis, making the product as vital as adhesive tape or aspirin of the present time, not to mention that it was developed during World War-II.

Pharma major IPCA Laboratories' Joint Managing Director Ajit Kumar Jain said: "We are currently producing 10 crore Hydroxychloroquine pills per month. We plan to increase the production to 13 crore pills by June."

"We have already supplied the Central and the state governments with 4 crore pills and there are still pending orders with us which we will easily fulfil. There will not be any domestic shortage of the medicine from our side. Exports to the US will start some time after addressing the supply chain."

According to Sudhir Kalhan, Chairman, Institute of Minimal Access Metabolic Bariatric Surgery, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital: "India at present has enough stock of this medicine and can even afford to export some of it to the countries which have been heavily impacted by Covid-19."

"At present, only healthcare workers would require this drug to deal with the initial signs of being infected with Covid-19," Kalhan who is also the Chairman of industry body Assocham''s National Council on Healthcare said.

On March 25, India had banned the export of Hydroxychloroquine. However, on April 6, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notified lifting ofrestrictions on 14 drugs, including Hydroxychloroquine.

"The ban earlier imposed was based on emergency situation and in absence of proper assessment of requirements within the country vis-a-vis capacity," said Shirish Ghoge, an independent industry expert and a former senior director with Abbott and Sanofi.

"Two factors weighed in favour of bringing Hydroxychloroquine tablets from the banned to the restricted category. There were assessments of realistic requirements for local consumption and the capacities with the Indian companies like IPCA and Zydus Cadila which can produce over 10 crore tablets per month," Ghoge added.

"As a result, a very wise and rational decision has been taken by the Indian government in allowing measured quantities of export of Hydroxychloroquine tablets and we should compliment them for earning goodwill from the US government which will further improve the trade relations between the two countries," he said.

Pharma industry expert Aamit Khanna said: "India has enough stocks of Hydroxychloroquine despite the Indian government lifting the ban in order tosupport its relationship with the US and Brazil. India has stood strongly for human interest and supported the global fight against the Covid19 crisis.

"Indian pharma companies currently can boost production capacity by 5-6 times to 70 MT per month, totalling to 35 crore tablets every month. India needs to have 10 crore tablets in stock for its domestic consumption."

However, Anil Tiwari of Fenesta Healthcare LLP said: "Even though India needs a lesser quantity of anti-malarial drug in comparison to countries in the African continent, and Indian manufacturers are well equipped to fully fill the domestic demand, the real hurdle will be faced to source raw materials to manufacture the drug."

In addition to the goodwill generated towards India, many industry insiders feel that the move will also help them build brand reputations in the US andother key markets.

They said that this opportunity can be used to project India as not just generic drugs major, but also as a powerhouse of medicine production.

(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)

--IANS
rv/sn/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:29:57 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220100 IANS C-1-1220074-1219799

The ICMR conducted surveillance among SARI patients, as it can help identify the spread and extent of transmission of coronavirus. SARI surveillance was initiated in the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in India. The study was also to check the possibility of community transmission of the viral infection.

The study involved examining SARI patients admitted at 41 sentinel sites from February 15 onwards were tested for COVID-19 by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Most patients in India have acquired the viral infection from their travels to foreign countries having reported positive coronavirus cases, or establishing contact with somebody who has traveled to these countries. The stage of community transmission is arrived when it is not possible to trace the origin of the viral infection and there is an exponential rise in the number of positive cases.

The median age of COVID-19 positive SARI patients was 54 year (interquartile range: 44-63), and 85 (83.3 per cent) were males; 83 (81.4 per cent) of the affected patients were more than 40 years of age. Positivity was higher in males (2.3 per cent) and in 50-70 years of age group (4.4 per cent), said the study.

"COVID-19 positivity among SARI patients increased from 0 per cent before March 14, to 2.6 per cent by April 2. In 15 states, more than one per cent of SARI patients were COVID-19 positive. About a third of COVID-19 positive, SARI cases did not have any history of contact with laboratory-confirmed case or international travel, and such cases were reported from 36 Indian districts in 15 states. These districts need to be prioritized to target COVID-19 containment activities", said the study.

Maharashtra reported the highest 21 SARI patients who tested positive for COVID-19. Delhi had 14 cases followed by Gujarat with 13 cases. ICMR has said the data involved in the study is not representative of the entire district or state.

In the study, a total of 5,911 SARI patients were tested for COVID-19. Of these, 104 (1.8 per cent) were tested positive. Among the 965 SARI patient samples that were tested retrospectively between February 15-29 and March 19, two (0.2 per cent) were positive for COVID-19. When the COVID testing strategy was expanded to include all SARI patients, a total of 4946 samples yielded 102 (2.1 per cent) cases. The positivity increased from zero during the initial weeks to 2.6 per cent in the 14th week.

According to the study, in the 12th week, 2 out of 106 SARI patients were found positive for COVID-19. The steep rise came in the 13th week, where the number of positive cases jumped to 48 out of 2877 SARI patients. Between March 29 and April 2, 54 tested positive out of 2,069 SARI patients.

"Of the 102 COVID-19 positive SARI patients, 40 (39.2 per cent) did not report any history of contact or international travel, two (2.0 per cent) reported contact with a confirmed case and one (1.0 per cent) reported recent history of international travel. Data on exposure history were not available for 59 (57.8 per cent) cases", said the study.

The study concluded that COVID-19 containment activities need to be targeted in districts reporting COVID-19 cases among SARI patients." Intensifying sentinel surveillance for COVID-19 among SARI patients may be an efficient tool to effectively use resources towards containment and mitigation efforts, said the study.

(Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in)

--IANS
ss/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:27:38 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220074 IANS C-1-1220059-1219798
Addressing the media on the occasion, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, "The state government had decided to extend help to those people whose livelihood has been affected due to corona outbreak. In this context, in the first phase, more than 11 lakh construction workers in the state have been provided Rs 1,000 each in their accounts."

Yogi Adityanath is holding meetings twice a day on the coronavirus situation with senior administrative officials at his residence.

They are closely monitoring the ground situation in various districts, especially those reporting corona cases.

The hotspots in 15 districts which have six or more cases of coronavirus have been sealed.

--IANS
amita/sdr/bg]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:27:37 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220059 IANS C-1-1220111-1219797
"Thank you, Sachin Tendulkar for stepping in and helping Apnalaya help the ones suffering the most during this lockdown. He will be taking care of the ration of around 5000 people for a month. There are many more individuals who need your support, people! Donate now," tweeted an NGO named Apnalaya while expressing gratitude to Tendulkar and urging others to donate.

The 47-year-old, on his part, wished the NGO to continue their work in the service of the distressed and needy. "Keep up your good work," he tweeted.

Earlier, Tendulkar had donated Rs 25 lakh each to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES Fund) and Chief Minister's Relief Fund (Maharashtra) in his bid to join the fight against COVID-19.

The Master Blaster has been urging people to adhere to the guidelines issued by the government and stay indoors during the ongoing lockdown in place amid the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed around 200 lives in the country thus far.

--IANS
aak/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:27:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220111 IANS C-1-1220097-1219796
The incident occurred in Anantapur district. After District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Anil Kumar took two sips of the sanitiser kept in his house, his family took him to a nearby private hospital.

Doctors examined him and said there was no danger to his life. They said the DMHO would be discharged in a few hours.

--IANS
ms/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:27:35 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220097 IANS C-1-1220107-1219795
The government is expected to take a decision on the matter on Saturday at the Cabinet meeting.

The recommendation has come in the wake of increasing number of persons testing positive for coronavirus in the state and the 21-day lockdown period coming to an end on April 14.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K.Palaniswami on Friday held a meeting with the expert committee and other state government officials on preventing the virus spread and the treatment given to the patients.

Speaking to the reporters after the meeting, a member of the medical expert group contended that the impact of Coronavirus is on the rise despite various measures by the government and hence the group has recommended to extend the lockdown period by two more weeks.

With no downward trend seen in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus and a possibility of the state moving into the community spread stage (third stage) looming large, Tamil Nadu is yet to chart out any lockdown exit strategy.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Palaniswami said the state is now in the second stage of coronavirus spread and there is a possibility of moving into the third stage -- community transmission -- and steps are being taken to prevent that from happening.

Pointing at the rising number of positive cases in the state, hesaid the decision to extend the lockdown will be taken after looking at various aspects.

A 19-medical team has been constituted for the purpose. The group's advice, along with that of the 12 official groups set up earlier, will be taken into account by the government while deciding whether to extend the lockdown.

Officials also said the exit strategy is yet to be charted out as the number of people testing positive for coronavirus is on the rise and the curve has not gone flat yet.

They also pointed out that several Chief Ministers have asked the Central government to extend the lockdown period.

--IANS
vj/vd


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:27:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220107 IANS C-1-1220108-1219794
"He has been released from medical isolation and has now been "deemed alright," his spokeperson Juda Engelmayer informed about Weinstein, who is out of his 14-day quarantine at Wende Correctional Facility, the New York facility where he was housed as per a report by foxnews.com.

The spkesperson however denied knowledge of what symptoms of the novel coronavirus Weinstein, 68, may have had.

As per the disgraced movie mogul's prison consultant Craig Rothfeld, they "cannot comment on Mr. Weinstein's health condition due to HIPPA Laws in addition to wanting to maintain his privacy which he deserves".

Rothfield did say that Weinstein "is still in the Regional Medical Unit (RMU) at Wende CF and being monitored for his various medical conditions".

His team pointed out that he is "in a super-maximum prison with no special treatment. He doesn't have his own phone, TV or any other things people are speculating about".

On March 11, the producer was sentenced to 23 years in prison for third-degree rape and a criminal sex act. He, however, maintained that he had consensual "extramarital affairs" with the victims. A week later, he was transferred from the city prison Rikers Island to Wende and it was then when he was tested positive for COVID-19 and immediately put in isolation.

--IANS
sug/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:24:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220108 IANS C-1-1220098-1219793

At present, India is under a lockdown which will last till midnight April 14. Consequently, ratings agencies have cut the country's GDP forecast and many companies have instituted pay cuts.

This has led several leading industry bodies to request the Centre for a relief package ranging from Rs 9 - Rs 11 lakh crore. They have also recommended to the Centre to relax the lockdown in a graded manner which will give preference to the manufacturing, logistics and transportation sectors to be the first to open up.

However, the rising number of Covid-19 cases and state government's reluctance in relaxing the lockdown due to the fear of a faster spread of Coronavirus infection has led to speculations that this phase might get extended by another 15 days.

Many economists and industry insiders told IANS that curbing the spread of Covid-19 should be the top most priority; nonetheless, a robust stimulus package is also needed to curtail the economic fallout of the extended lockdown.

"The loss of economic output will be significant amid restricted economic activity. While India has taken stringent steps to contain the pandemic, the fiscal policy response has been tepid and is yet to cover the SME sector, which generally is more vulnerable during economic downturns," Edelweiss Securities' Lead Economist Madhavi Arora told IANS.

"There could be supply side shocks in some food items which could temporarily spike inflation. However, given a sharp growth downturn, the domestic demand will see a significant correction, which would put immense downward pressure on core inflation."

Currently, the lockdown has dealt a heavy blow to commerce and led to temporary closure of shopping malls, dine-in restaurants, grounding of aircraft, shutting down of factories and deserted market places.
"India's economy will lose $4.6 billion on each day of the lockdown and this will translate to a GDP contraction of nearly 6 per cent in the first quarter. If the pan India lockdown is extended further by 26 days, there will clearly be additional losses to the economy, which can worsen the GDP contraction in Q1 to double digits," said Karan Mehrishi, Lead Economist at AcuitA¿ Ratings & Research.

"The impact is foreseen on every sector in the economy but it will further hit some of the services sectors like transport, logistics, aviation, financial services, and hospitality."

According to Rajat Bahl, Chief Rating Officer, Brickwork Ratings: "With the current lock-down the GDP growth is not expected to be above 3 per cent compared to the earlier estimates of around 5.5 per cent for FY21."
"Any further extension of the lock-down will have an even sharper impact on the economy and businesses in many sectors will find it difficult to absorb the shock."

Another challenge facing the government would be to replenish the millions of 'Mom and Pop' stores whose supplies are nearly depleted.
Unlike the western economies, where major retail chains have massive capacity to stock a large number of items of a longer period, India's system made-up primarily of 'Mom and Pop' stores lack this type of stocking capacity."The biggest problem emanating from this lockdown is its impact on supply chains - especially pertaining to the essential item list," Mehrishi said.

"This will not only give impact to large retailers or wholesalers but small mom and pop shop owners as well, who depend on the supply chain. The administration has to make it a priority to smoothen supply chain disruptions at the earliest."

Nevertheless, key issues like harvesting and processing of crops, sowing for the new agriculture season, immediate travel needs of patients suffering from other diseases, OPD services and supplies of bulk non-essential but important daily use items would also need to be considered by the Centre, if the idea of an extension is entertained.

"While no country can afford continued lockdown for some more time if the need of the hour is containment then it makes sense because it is about human lives and without human lives there is no commerce or economy," Sridhar V, Partner, Grant Thornton India LLP, told IANS.

"The impact of continued lockdown will leave no sector untouched and it will at the same time put the common man through more hardship. Hence it will be good to explore if there are any other alternatives like phased approach... Businesses and the government should look at mechanisms which will help the economy through fiscal and other measures."

On relaxing the lockdown, many stakeholders opined that this should be done in a graded manner.

"Human life should be given the priority and based on the number of infections the government should be able to take the best decision," Dr Sudhir Kalhan, Chairman, Institute of Minimal Access Metabolic Bariatric Surgery, Sir Gangaram Hospital. He is also the Chairman of industry body Assocham's National Council on Healthcare.

"However, relaxing the lockdown through a graded manner is seen as the best option. Certain hotspots, where there are higher prevalence of this infection can be quarantined for a longer time, while in other areas graded relaxations like opening of factories and construction work can be allowed so as to protect the livelihood."

"India it seems has flattened the curve. This has given us time to be well prepared to deal with any contingency."

The Covid-19 outbreak started in China in December 2019 has morphed into a global pandemic, affecting 203 countries, over one million people and increasing rapidly - European countries, North America and Asia being severely impacted.

(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)

--IANS
rv/sn/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:24:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220098 IANS C-1-1220109-1219792
The study, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, calls attention to the risk posed by overreliance on COVID-19 testing to make clinical and public health decisions.

The sensitivity of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing and overall test performance characteristics have not been reported clearly or consistently in medical literature, the study said.

"As a result, health care officials should expect a less visible second wave of infection from people with false-negative test results," said study co-author Priya Sampathkumar from Mayo Clinic in the US.

"RT-PCR testing is most useful when it is positive. It is less useful in ruling out COVID-19," she added.

A negative test often does not mean the person does not have the disease, and test results need to be considered in the context of patient characteristics and exposure, the researcher said.

Even with test sensitivity values as high as 90 per cent, the magnitude of risk from false test results will be substantial as the number of people tested grows.

"In California, estimates say the rate of COVID-19 infection may exceed 50% by mid-May 2020," Sampathkumar said.

"With a population of 40 million people, two million false-negative results would be expected in California with comprehensive testing. Even if only one per cent of the population was tested, 20,000 false-negative results would be expected," she added.

The authors also cited the effects on health care personnel.

If the COVID-19 infection rate among the more than four million people providing direct patient care in the US were 10 per cent -- far below most predictions -- more than 40,000 false-negative results would be expected if every provider were tested.

While dealing with the enormity of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, it's important for public health officials to stick to principles of evidence-based reasoning regarding diagnostic test results and false-negatives. health care workers and patients may be necessary.

Development of highly sensitive tests or combinations of tests is needed urgently to minimize the risk of false-negative results, the researchers said.

Improved RT-PCR testing and serological assays -- blood tests that identify antibodies or proteins present when the body is responding to infections such as COVID-19 -- are needed, they added.

--IANS
bu/na
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:19:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220109 IANS C-1-1220063-1219791
The notice was issued after the civic body found 35 workers of the Bangla Pastry Shop living under unhygienic conditions in a congested space, violating the social distancing norms in place to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The civic body had surveyed the area after three persons were found Covid-19 positive from the neighbourhood area between April 4 and April 6.

The Delhi Police had then said that the three persons testing positive were the owner of Bangla Pastry Shop, his son and a cook at the confectionary.

"NDMC has mentioned in the notice that the act of negligence on the part of the vendor not only violated the primary conditions of the health licence, but also put the lives of many people in danger," a senior NDMC official said.

As per the provisions of Section 339 of the NDMC Act, 1994, NDMC has directed the vendor to explain why the shop's health licence should not be revoked within 10 days of the issuance of the notice, otherwise the civic body could seal the shop without further notice.

"NDMC will also take similar action against other defaulters if they are found violating the guidelines laid down by the District Administration for containment of Covid -19," the official added.

The surveillance team, which comprised officials of the District Administration and those from the NDMC, had on Wednesday screened 325 houses, two markets and about 2,000 people in the Bengali Market area.

--IANS
rag/arm


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:31 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220063 IANS C-1-1220103-1219790
Taking to Instagram Story, Janhvi uploaded a video where she can be seen getting her hair done by Khushi.

"Getting me all dressed up to go nowhere," she captioned the video.

In the video, Janhvi is also seen enjoying gorging on a pastry.

On the film front, Janhvi will next be seen in "Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl", "RoohiAfza" "Takht" and "Dostana 2".

Janhvi and Khushi are the daughters of late superstar Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor. Janhvi made her Bollywood debut in 2018 opposite Ishaan Khatter in "Dhadak". Earlier this year, she was seen in the Netflix film "Ghost Stories".

--IANS
sim/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:30 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220103 IANS C-1-1220106-1219789
It is no ordinary animal. It is a massive gelatinous string siphonophore -- a floating colony of tiny individual zooids that clone themselves thousands of times into specialised bodies that string together to work as a team – estimated to be 150-foot long (45.72 metre), US-based philanthropic non-profit Schmidt Ocean Institute said on Thursday.

Also called "long stringy stringy thingy", a siphonophore looks like one even when it is actually a colony of individuals, each specialising in different functions like feeding, reproduction, swimming.

"We suspected these deep sea areas would be diverse but we have been blown away by the significance of what we have seen," said scientist Nerida Wilson from Western Australian Museum.

The discovery of the massive gelatinous string siphonophore was just one of the unique finds among some of the deepest fish and marine invertebrates ever recorded for Western Australia.

Additionally, up to 30 new underwater species were found by researchers from the Western Australian Museum aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor.

The scientists from the Western Australian Museum were joined by researchers from Curtin University, Geoscience Australia and Scripps Institution of Oceanography in exploring the Ningaloo Canyons in the Indian Ocean.

Using an underwater robot, ROV SuBastian, they completed 20 dives at depths of up to 4,500 metres over 181 hours of exploration.

During the expedition, scientists collected the first giant hydroids in Australia, discovered large communities of glass sponges in Cape Range Canyon, and observed for the first time in Western Australia the bioluminescent Taning's octopus squid, long-tailed sea cucumber, and a number of other molluscs, barnacle and squat lobster species.

The expedition is part of Schmidt Ocean Institute's year-long initiative in Australia and the Pacific to conduct a number of science and engineering expeditions with teams of scientists and researchers from around the world.

The footage and samples collected from the oceans that surround Australia will have important implications for the sustainability and protection of these underwater ecosystems and for similar habitats worldwide that are in peril because of rising ocean temperatures and other environmental threats.

--IANS
gb/na

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:29 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220106 IANS C-1-1220105-1219788
A new API referred to as "Clips" in iOS 14 code would enable users to scan a QR code linked to an app and then interact with content from that app via a floating card on the screen, reports 9To5Mac.

The card may also let users choose to download a full version of the app from the App Store or to open the content in the app if it is already installed.

Apple may be testing the new app previews with OpenTable, Yelp, DoorDash, Sony's PS4 Second Screen app and YouTube.

The feature sounds somewhat like the Slices feature on Android that allows interactive parts of a third-party app to appear in Google Search and Google Assistant.

This helps Android users to get tasks done quicker by giving them access to parts of an app that they have not installed.

iOS 14 is also expected to include updates to iCloud Keychain, a new list view for the home screen, a new fitness app, and more.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:28 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220105 IANS C-1-1220088-1219787
Steps taken to ensure timely information dissemination throughout the country were also stressed by the PMO, which reviewed the preparations to counter the impact of the pandemic.

The issues related to supply chain and logistics management for availability of necessary items, efforts undertaken for the benefit of stakeholders involved, steps to assist farmers harvest their produce while maintaining social distancing, necessary confidence building measures required, and need to ensure percolation of guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs to the ground level were discussed.

Prime Minister's Principal Secretary P.K. Mishra discussed these issues while chairing a meeting of the Empowered Groups of Officers to tackle the challenges emerging as a result of the spread of COVID-19 in India.

The meeting was the latest in a series of periodic reviews at various levels by the PMO to monitor the situation in which the Principal Secretary reviewed the efforts undertaken by the Empowered Groups.

The participants reviewed and expressed satisfaction on the detailed testing protocol and procedure, under which (as on date) 1,45,916 samples have been tested.

Noting that the production of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is being ramped up and capacity building for healthcare personnel ensured and that NGOs and civil society groups are also being mobilized, Mishra suggested that coordination with NGOs at district level be done to avoid overlaps and ensure efficacious utilization of resources.

The meeting was told that all state Chief Secretaries were instructed to arrange for shelters for vulnerable groups like migrants and homeless.

The progress of the welfare measures rolled out through an economic relief package under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana was also reviewed.

The Principal Secretary underlined that data sanctity was important to ensure that the benefits reach to all intended beneficiaries.

On the technology and data management front, he expressed satisfaction on the rollout of Aarogya Setu app and said that the user engagement with the app needs to be enhanced.

The Centre on March 29 constituted 11 empowered groups for planning and ensuring implementation of Covid-19 response activities.

Each group will be handled by a group of senior government officials empowered to identify the problem areas and provide effective solutions, delineate policy, formulate plans, strategise operations and take necessary steps for effective and time-bound implementation of these plans, policies, strategies, decisions in their respective areas.

A total of 80 senior civil servants have been deputed in the 11 groups which may seek the guidance of the Cabinet Secretary.

--IANS
rak/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:27 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220088 IANS C-1-1220101-1219786
The nostalgia-filled call has come to life after the duo exchanged pleasantries on social media over a 'Frying Pan' challenge which the legendary Paes started. While Paes is still to call time on his illustrious career, Bhupathi had retired sometime back and recently served as the non-playing captain of India's Davis Cup team.

Paes had said that 2020 would be his final hurrah but with the Olympics postponed, he might reconsider his time on the court with Bhupathi and his father, Vece Peas, saying the 46-year old can continue for one more year.

Terming it as "The Last Roar", Olympics bronze medallist Paes had said this would be his last year of his professional tennis career.

Paes won the do-or-die doubles tie with Rohan Bopanna in India's Davis Cup Qualifiers against Croatia in Zagreb earlier this year. After their win, Sumit Nagal was routed by Marin Cilic, which led to India losing the tie 1-3.

With the triumph, Leander extended his Davis Cup record of most doubles victories to 45 in what is possibly his final appearance in the competition.

Paes also finished runner-up in his final ATP Tour match on home soil at the Bengaluru Open.

In a Twitter exchange recently, Paes challenged fans to take up the 'Frying Pan' challenge.

"Here's a challenge for you guys while we're in lockdown! How many can you do? I'm challenging all of you out there. Send in your entries with the Frying Pan Challenge, tag me, and I'll share the best few!" Paes had tweeted along with the video of him hitting no-look volleys with a frying pan.

Bhupathi, who had partnered Paes in men's doubles for many years in the past, was in awe of the 46-year-old. Quoting the video put on ATP Twitter handle, Bhupathi wrote, "Man can volley with anything."

Bhupathi then did his own bit with a smaller frying pan, saying: "@Leander here you go, I tried your no look, talking to the camera version but I don't have that kind of skill so I went down in size to a mini frying pan to make it challenging."

"You've always had mad skills and I remember that volley winning us a few Grand Slams," Paes tweeted in reply to Bhupathi.

Bhupathi has won three of his four Grand Slam doubles titles with Paes. The pair have had their well-documented differences in the past with a lot said about their frosty relationship off the court.

"Lee-Hesh for Olympics next year, anybody?" a fan wrote on Twitter. "Anytime , anyday, " pat came a reply. There were many others who felt the same way as their minds went back to those glorious days of the Lee-Hesh era.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:26 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220101 IANS C-1-1220093-1219785
"May the Darkest Night will end and the Sun will rise. Have a positive hope on this auspicious day and have a blessed Good Friday!" Rijiju tweeted.

Earlier, the Sports Ministry had moved to help hockey Olympian and member of the 1975 World Cup winning team, Ashok Diwan, who is currently stranded in the US due to travel restrictions in place amid global COVID-19 pandemic.

Rijiju's office on Thursday evening said the Indian Embassy in San Francisco has been contacted and they are sending a doctor to attend Diwan who is currently dealing with health issues.

Diwan, who represented India at the 1976 Summer Olympics, had written a letter to Narinder Batra, President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), asking him for help.

India is currently under a 21-day lockdown which ends on April 14. However, with there being an upstage in the number of COVID-19 patients with each passing day, it is likely that the lockdown will be extended.

Over 5500 cases have been reported in India thus far with nearly 200 deaths. Globally, the number of reported infections is over 1.5 million with nearly 90,000 killed.

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:25 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220093 IANS C-1-1220095-1219784
Dion posted a re-do of the lyrics of her 1997 hit on her Instagram feed on Thursday, reports dailymail.co.uk.

The 52-year-old French Canadian diva posted a brief video snippet of her music video from the hit, which was the love theme for the Oscar-winning film "Titanic", next to which she wrote the altered lyrics in both English and French.

"Near, far wherever you are... make sure you're practicing social distancing," the singer wrote, before repeating the same sentiment in French.

She signed off in the caption with "Team Céline" and included the hashtags #ThursdayWisdom #restezchezvous #StayAtHome and #throwbackThursday.

Dion's post comes as many celebrities remind fans and followers via their social media channels about the importance of staying home during the spreading pandemic.

Earlier in an episode of "Watch What Happens Live", she revealed that initially she didn't even want to do "My heart will go on".

"There was one song that I didn't want to record, and I'm glad they didn't listen to me," Dion said in response to a question from a fan on the show.

It was her late husband Rene Angelil, who was her manager at the time, who convinced her otherwise.

"It didn't appeal to me. I was probably very tired that day -- very tired," Dion confessed, adding: "My husband said, ‘Let's hold on'. He talked to the writer and he said, 'Let's try to make it, like, a little demo'."

The song went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammys for the superstar.

--IANS
sug/vnc

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:24 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220095 IANS C-1-1220081-1219783
In a statement issued here, Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat said that the state should not adopt such trial-and-error methods for treatment when the country is facing the coronavirus crisis.

"It is important that Sawant's claims regarding the ayurvedic medicines to treat and cure COVID-19 patients need to be substantiated with scientific methodology and procedure. The government should not adopt trial-and-error methods on our patients and should strictly refrain from using them as guinea pigs," Kamat said.

"We need to know whether the ayurvedic medicines used on COVID-19 patients are approved by the Ministry of Health and up to internationally acceptable standards. It is also important to know whether the Ministry for AYUSH has got permission from the World Health Organisation to undertake such treatments," the former Chief Minister said.

On Thursday, Sawant announced that Goa is the first state in the country to integrate ayurveda and allopathy systems of medicine to treat COVID-19 and suspect patients.

Sawant, a doctor in alternative medicine, had also said that ayurveda had no cure for COVID-19, but was beneficial in building an individual's immunity.

--IANS
maya/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:22 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220081 IANS C-1-1220096-1219782
As the lockdown induced by the coronavirus pandemic continues, delve into a world of music, corporate strategies and social bonding. This is what the IANS Bookshelf offers you this week. Make the most of it.

1. Book: Sebastian & Sons - A Brief History Of Mrdangam Makers: Author: T.M. Krishna, Publisher : Context; Pages: 366; Price: 799.

As a practitioner of vocal music, T.M. Krishna has, over the years, met some of the makers of the mrdangam, a cylindrical two-faced drum, the primary percussion instrument used in Karnatik music performances and Bharatanatyam recitals. "But they were not an integral constituent of Karnatik music's history or mythology. We knew very little about the people, their lives, struggles or indeed, their creativity and workmanship," writes Kriahna, whose uncommon rendition of music and original interpretation makes it strong and subtle, manifestly traditional and stunningly innovative.

Thus began a laborious journey into the making of a mrdangam that is intellectually, aesthetically and physically taxing. From acquiring the skins for the circular membranes and straps to sourcing the wood for the drum, curing the material, the final construction, and at the end of it all, making sure it has the required pitch and tone, mrdangam-making is a highly nuanced operation at every stage, the author discovered.

Through 12 chapters based on extensive interviews with, in some cases, third generation practitioners of the craft, Krishna leads the reader into a world that has never been explored before. In this, the book is a valuable addition to the growing literature on Indian classical music.

It’s a work to be treasured.

2. Cut To The Chase - A No-Nonsense Approach Towards Strategy and Problem-Solving; Author: Siddharth Balakrishna; Publisher: Sage; Pages: 268; Price: Rs 495.

Mahatma Gandhi once said: "Happiness is when What you think, What you feel and What you Do are in Harmony."

What is the lesson in this for today’s corporate world?

"As corporate leaders, we must realise what our people really feel and as corporate workers we must be able to express what we feel and think without the fear of consequences...Are we really in touch with what our people feel? Do we understand their motivations and passion? Do we understand what is behind their seeming assent? Is it genuine support or is it merely hierarchy making people’s feelings and emotions," asks, Balakrishna, who has over 15 years of experience in the media and entertainment, AI, energy, infrastructure and education sectors.

"It is very important in corporate life to be able to 'express oneself'. Most employees curb their natural instincts, passions, motivations and fire to what they feel the company demands. But it is important to find the space to express oneself, especially what motivates or excites you with regard to work.

"The best companies and the best leaders succeed in offering this space to individuals," Balakrishna writes.

History has shown that the companies that listen are the ones that prosper.

3. Caste as Social Capital - The Complex Place Of Caste In Indian Society; Author: Prof. R. Vaidyanathan; Publisher: Westland; Pages: 131; Price: Rs 299.

"We have an uncanny ability to be masochistic. But more tragic is our enthusiasm to convert all our strengths to weaknesses since some white men started to abuse Indians for having the caste system. We fail to recognise that it is a valuable social capital, which provides a cushion for individuals and families in dealing with society at large ,and more particularly, in interactions with the State," writes Vaidyanathan, a two-time Fulbright scholar who retired as Professor of Finance from IIM-Bangalore.

In contrast, the Anglo-Saxon model "of atomising every individual into a single element in a rights-based system and forcing him to have a direct link with the State has produced disastrous effects in the West wherein families have been destroyed and communities have been forgotten", the author contends.

Conversely, caste has "played an important role in the consolidation of business and entrepreneurship in India particularly in the last seventy years. The economic development that has taken place in India Uninc. or the partnership and proprietorship activities has been financed by domestic savings and facilitated by clusters of caste and community networks".

Thus, "let is recognise the positive role played by caste as a social capital in the midst of all criticisms of the caste system," Vaidyanathan concludes.

Considerable food for thought!

(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)

--IANS
vm/sdr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:17:21 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220096 IANS C-1-1220089-1219781
The actor took to Instagram to post a video, in which a chubby kid is happily dancing away. Though one can't understand the lyrics, the video leaves behind a positive vibe.

"Once this ends I will celebrate like this," Varun wrote along with the video.

Varun's celebrity friends reacted to his post, asking him to count them in as well.

Actor Arjun Kapoor tried to decode the words and make it more 'desi', with his comment where he said: "Mann dola dola dola".

Lizelle Remo D'souza commented: "I will join you for sure @varundvn and you know who we can pull in for this dance hahahahahahhahahahahahah."

Rohit Shetty, Nora Fatehi, Aparshakti Khurana and Athiya Shetty found the video funny, and commented with laughing emojis. Kiara Advani said: "Superbbb."

Meanwhile, Varun will be hunting for the best talent among youngsters across the nation through an online talent hunt show titled "Entertainer No 1".

Sharing the details of the concept, Varun said, " Through this new show, we are seeking to entertain millions of fellow Indians as we bring in some much-needed positivity. I'm looking forward to delivering the best entertainment in collaboration with people from across India. Our country is a treasure trove of talent and I truly believe that anyone should have the opportunity to showcase their entertainment skills."

The stay-home reality show is launching on Flipkart video in collaboration with Varun. The actor believes that such conceptual shows are important to stay positive as the world is going through a tough time due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Varun said: "Given the unique format of the show, I'm looking forward to some exciting entries from across India and can't wait to get on this entertaining rollercoaster ride that begins next week."

--IANS
sug/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:02:10 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220089 IANS C-1-1220068-1219780
Those who received this counselling included many in quarantine and in isolation, besides health professionals too.

P.S. Kiran, State nodal officer, Mental Health programme, said the psychological issues to which these people are vulnerable include stress, anxiety, stigma, social needs and sleep impairment.

"About 74,463 follow up calls were made for those with these issues," said Kiran.

They have also launched a psycho-social helpline for providing counselling and other psychological supports to healthcare professionals, including doctors and nurses.

"The common mental traumas being faced by medical professionals, especially the frontline staff, are stress and anxiety. Most of the healthcare employees, engaged in COVID-19 related work, are staying away from their families and some of them are in quarantine also. We call them through the helpline and provide counselling and assistance," said Kiran.

"Officials from various departments are also going through mental health issues like stress during the lockdown period. So we are extending this support to other departments also," said Kiran.

Psycho Social Support Teams have been constituted in all the 14 districts in the state and it includes 1058 people which include psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, clinical psychologists, social workers and counsellors.

--IANS
sg/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:57:27 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220068 IANS C-1-1220076-1219779
In a statement, Prosus said that in addition to its direct contribution to the PM- CARES Fund, it is working closely with partner companies to support measures designed to help Indians affected by the situation.

"A variety of innovative initiatives have been created by these companies to benefit their customers and communities," it said.

Prosus has been an investor in India since 2005 and has invested more than $5 billion in Indian technology businesses, including classifieds, payments and fintech, ecommerce, education, and food delivery. Its portfolio includes BYJU'S, OLX, PayU and Swiggy among several others.

Bob van Dijk, Group CEO, Prosus and Naspers, said: "These are unprecedented times and we want to play our part in contributing to the efforts underway in India. By working with the government and civil society, we hope to help India overcome this very difficult period. We are also immensely proud of the innovative efforts of our partner companies to help their country, customers and colleagues."

--IANS
rrb/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:54:53 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220076 IANS C-1-1219996-1219778



The exercise is being undertaken to prepare the umpires to take up the Level one training and examination conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The KCA has included all these 165 people and its trainers into one WhatsApp group and are providing audio clips containing detailed interpretations of the latest edition of the MCC Laws of Cricket.

The trainers include Tony Emmatty, a BCCI Level two umpire and former international umpire Jose Kurishinkal and former national umpire Ajith Kumar.

The KCA had planned this as a classroom activity, but dropped the plan after the lockdown came into effect in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.


--IANS
sg/aak/dpb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:54:52 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219996 IANS C-1-1220087-1219777
"You've always had mad skills and I remember that volley winning us a few Grand Slams," Paes tweeted in reply to Bhupathi taking up his 'Frying Pan' challenge.

Bhupathi has won three of his four Grand Slam doubles titles with Paes.

"@Leander here you go, I tried your no look, talking to the camera version but I don't have that kind of skill so I went down in size to a mini frying pan to make it challenging," Bhupathi had earlier tweeted with a video of him volleying a tennis ball on the wall with a small frying pan.

Earlier this week, Swiss Maestro Roger Federer had posted a video of himself volleying, while slamming the ball on the wall. He also urged fans and celebrities, including the likes of Virat Kohli, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, etc to take up the challenge.

However, Paes went one step ahead and has come out with the 'Frying Pan' challenge.

"Here's a challenge for you guys while we're in lockdown! How many can you do? I'm challenging all of you out there. Send in your entries with the Frying Pan Challenge, tag me, and I'll share the best few!" Paes tweeted along with the video of him hitting no-look volleys with a frying pan.

Former Indian Davis Cup captain Bhupathi, who had partnered Paes in men's doubles for many years in the past, was in awe of the 46-year-old. Quoting the video put on ATP Twitter handle, Bhupathi wrote, "Man can volley with anything."

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:52:13 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220087 IANS C-1-1220085-1219776
In a statement, the club announced that it has joined forces with digital sports broadcaster DAZN to play the match on KONAMI's Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 (PES 2020).

The game will see Portuguese striker Rafael Leao of AC Milan take on Inter Milan's striker Sebastiano Esposito in what is expected to be an exciting match up.

Ahead of the game, the two young strikers have confessed their love for video games, with football games being their favourites. "We can't physically be on a football pitch right now, so it will be quite fun to represent my team and play against Sebastiano (Esposito) on PES. This is a derby after all and I want to win, but most importantly this is a way to be a little closer to our fans in these difficult times," Leao said.

With Serie A, like the rest of Europe's elite leagues, suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, fans will be able to watch the game on AC Milan's official app, club's Facebook and YouTube channels and on TV subscription-based channel Milan TV.

The virtual Milan derby is part of a series of initiatives organised by AC Milan to unite all fans during the coronavirus pandemic and to invite them to contribute to the ongoing fundraising campaign launched by the club and Fondazione Milan in the fight against COVID-19. The campaign has so far raised over 600,000 euros.

--IANS
aak/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:52:12 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220085 IANS C-1-1220071-1219775
"British travellers in Karnataka should visit the India Travel Advice page on www.gov.uk website to reserve seats in the chartered aircraft that will fly to London from Bengaluru on April 20," UK acting High Commissioner Jan Thompson said in a statement here.

Hundreds of Brits have been stranded across the country since the 21-day lockdown was enforced on March 24 midnight to contain the coronavirus spread and all domestic and international flights suspended till further notice.

"The UK government has arranged 12 chartered flights from Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram in south India to fly its citizens to London at the earliest," said Thompson.

About 3,000 other stranded Brits will return home on the flights from April 13-20 for which bookings opened on Friday.

The aircraft will fly from southern cities Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi on April 15, Hyderabad on April 17, and Chennai via Bengaluru on April 20.

"About 2,000 British citizens stuck across the country have been flown from April 8 to April 12 from Goa, Mumbai and New Delhi in seven chartered flights," said the statement.

The first chartered flight from India landed at London Stanstead on Thursday with 317 Britishers evacuated from Goa.

"Over 300 Brits arrived from Goa on Thursday; 1,400 more will arrive over the Easter weekend and the remaining in 12 flights by April 20," said UK Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon from London.

Thompson lauded the Indian government for helping get the stuck Britishers home at the earliest as it is a priority with Britain's government.

"India is a priority country for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to arrange chartered flights from, with a large number of Brits wanting to return amid absence of commercial flights and curbs on movement of people due to the lockdown," Thompson pointed out.

--IANS
fb/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:52:10 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220071 IANS C-1-1220084-1219774
In a new article for Time magazine, the mother-of-six said that she's worried about the safety of children in self-isolation, because the stay-at-home guidelines play the favour of perverts and abusers, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"(They are) especially vulnerable to so many of the secondary impacts of the pandemic on society. Isolating a victim from family and friends is a well-known tactic of control by abusers, meaning that the social distancing that is necessary to stop COVID-19 is one that will inadvertently fuel a direct rise in trauma and suffering for vulnerable children," she said.

Jolie said there are already reports of a surge in "domestic violence around the world, including violent killings."

Jolie is also concerned about the schools shut down.

"It's a lifeline of opportunity as well as a shield offering protection - or at least a temporary reprieve - from violence, exploitation and other difficult circumstances, including sexual exploitation, forced marriage and child labour and domestic violence. It's not just that children have lost support networks. Lockdown also means fewer adult eyes on their situation," she said.

Jolie urged people to "make a point of calling family or friends, particularly where we might have concerns that someone is vulnerable".

"It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child. It will take an effort by the whole of our country to give children the protection and care they deserve."

--IANS
dc/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:52:09 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220084 IANS C-1-1220082-1219773
Sara took to her Instagram where she shared a video clip, where the siblings are seen looking towards the camera as she shares one of her knock-knock jokes.

Sara captioned the post saying: "Throwback to when you could...But for now #stayhome #staysafe and don't go knocking."

Sara has been keeping her fans and followers entertained with her regular updates on social media.

She recently shared tips for her fans to beat lockdown boredom.

Sara posted a throwback dance rehearsal video and gave a funny caption: "Monday motivation...Sara's suggestion- dance edition... Revisit any previous tradition... Riyaaz, training, repetition... It'll all come to fruition... And of course- I must mention In this ‘quarantime' any routine will help your condition.#sarakishayari #QuarantineKiTayari #stayhome #staysafe," she wrote.

On the work front, Sara will be next seen opposite Varun Dhawan in the remake of "Coolie No.1". She will also be seen sharing screen space with Dhanush and Akshay Kumar in "Atrangi Re".

--IANS
dc/vnc

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:43:14 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220082 IANS C-1-1220042-1219772
SSB, under Ministry of Home Affairs, guards the 2450 km long Indo-Nepal and Indo- Bhutan border and is spread along the International border across Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The intelligence wing of the force alerted District Magistrate of Bihar's West Champaran district and Superintendent of Police of Bettiah on April 3. The force stated there is an input regarding movement of suspected Corona positive Indian Muslim nationals from Nepal to India.

The SSB top officers have stated that the letter was issued to the local authorities.

IANS reviewed the missive addressed to District Magistrate of Bihar's West Champaran district. It stated, "Input received from very reliable sources that one person named Jalim Mukhiya, resident of Jagannathpur under Serwa police station in Parsa district in Nepal, is planning to spread Corona pandemic in India."

The letter pointed that the accused is involved in smuggling of arms and fake Indian currency notes from Nepal to India.

The intelligence sleuths alerted that Mukhiya has taken responsibility to cross Indian Muslim nationals working in different Muslim countries during the lockdown.

"As per sources, around 200 Indian Muslim nationals (working in Muslim countries) along with five to six Pakistani nationals have arrived in Nepal via Kathmandu and presently residing in mosque/madarsas at villages Chandanbasra and Khairwa in Nepal," the letter stated.

It further said that around 40 to 50 more suspected Indian Muslim nationals would arrive on April 4 and more in next coming days. "As per sources these nationals were consuming paracetamol tablets for lowering temperature on the way and they may be corona positive," it stated.

The intelligence sleuths asked the local authorities to alert the concerned agencies and also the counterpart district authorities in Nepal.

Guarding the border, SSB said that they are maintaining tight vigil in order to avoid any infiltration into India during the lockdown. The force also stated that the borders have been sealed and they are keeping utmost vigil.

--IANS
sk/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:42:53 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220042 IANS C-1-1220078-1219771
The data, released by the Statistics Canada on Thursday saw the largest loss of jobs in a single month since the records began in 1976, the BBC reported.

The report said that "measuring the labour market is not business as usual" for the end of March.

Statistics Canada said 1,011,000 jobs were lost across the country, driving the unemployment rate up 2.2 per cent to 7.8 per cent from last month.

The February unemployment rate stood at 5.6 per cent.

Between March 15-21, an estimated 1.3 million people were not able to work due to COVID-19, the BBC quoted the agency as saying.

An additional 800,000 worked half of the hours they normally would.

All together, approximately 3.1 million people were affected either by job loss or reduced hours.

The country was now at its lowest employment rate since April 1997.

In his briefing on Thursday after the new numbers were released, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "As stark at those numbers are they aren't a surprise."

"We all knew this was going to be a tough time," the BBC quoted Trudeau as saying.

He added that other countries were facing similar problems as a result of the global pandemic.

Trudeau further said that portions of the economy can expect to re-open over the summer, after the first wave of infections have passed.

But he warned that smaller outbreaks coukd be expected to continue throughout the summer.

There have been 19,290 confirmed cases in Canada and 436 deaths, according to figures from the Washington-based Johns Hopkins University.

--IANS
ksk/


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:42:52 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220078 IANS C-1-1220040-1219770
On Thursday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami said the state is now in the second stage of coronavirus spread and there is a possibility of moving into the third stage -- community transmission -- and steps are being taken to prevent that from happening.

Pointing at the rising number of positive cases in the state, Palaniswami said the decision to extend the lockdown will be taken after looking at various aspects.

A 19-member medical team has been constituted for the purpose. The group's advice, along with that of the 12 official groups set up earlier, will be taken into account by the government while deciding whether to extend the lockdown.

Officials also said the exit strategy is yet to be charted out as the number of people testing positive for coronavirus is on the rise and the curve has not gone flat yet.

They also pointed out that several Chief Ministers have asked the Central government to extend the lockdown period.

--IANS
vj/arm]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:40:57 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220040 IANS C-1-1220055-1219769
B. Sunil Kumar, superintendent, of the prison, said they have received an order from the Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) for making 500 gowns for their staff.

"Since they have to treat emergency COVID-19 cases, there is a rise in demand for the gowns," said Kumar.

"The material for uniforms are provided by the SCTIMST. So, we will be charging only for stitching, that too nominally. We have already supplied a set of 25 uniforms to them, and more are in the making," said Kumar.

Sanitiser, which has a huge demand at present, is also being produced at the Central Prison.

"We have got 7,000 litre of spirit from the Excise Department for producing sanitizers, for which pure spirit has been used. We charge Rs 50 for 100 ml bottle and most of them were purchased by the departments," added Kumar.

--IANS
sg/dpb



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:39:18 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220055 IANS C-1-1220069-1219768
Salman took to Instagram on Friday morning to share a video where he can be seen feeding leaves to his horse while he also munches on them! The actor captioned: "Breakfast with my love..."

It seems Salman enjoyed chewing the leaves as after he finished eating them, he said, "It's damn good ya!" The actor who is spending the lockdown period in his Panvel farmhouse, seems to be having a nice time with his animals over there.

Salman had recently shared a video where he spoke about missing his father, Salim Khan who is residing alone in their Mumbai apartment. The rest of their family along with Salman are stuck at their farmhouse in Panvel, near Mumbai amid the lockdown. In that video, Salman informed that he has not met his father since three weeks.

--IANS
abh/vnc


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:39:17 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220069 IANS C-1-1220060-1219767
"BBMP will completely seal Bapuji Nagar Ward 134 and Padarayanapura Ward 135 to prevent the spread of Covid after five fresh cases were reported," tweeted BBMP Commissioner B. H. Anil Kumar.

Following the sealing, Kumar said the civic body will supply all essentials to the residents of the two wards, besides banning all vehicular traffic.

--IANS
sth/sdr/bg]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:39:16 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220060 IANS C-1-1220053-1219766
Defence sources said Pakistan army started unprovoked shelling and automatic gunfire at Indian positions in Keran sector of the LoC Friday morning.

"The unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan has been befittingly retaliated. There is no casualty on our side," said a defence source.

As over five areas close to the LoC in Keran sector were affected by Pakistan shelling, there was widespread panic in these areas.

At some places, residents were reported to have abandoned homes to save themselves and their families.

Till last reports came in, heavy shelling was going on in Keran sector between the two sides.

--IANS
sq/prs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:30:10 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220053 IANS C-1-1220073-1219765
"As our main priority, our principles, the ones we employ in our competitions and also we invite everyone to follow, is health comes first," Goal.com quoted Infantino as saying. "As much as I emphasise it, it is not enough. It's not worth putting at risk any human life for any game, any competition, nor any league. Everyone should have this clear in their minds," he added.

"It would be more than irresponsible to restart the competitions if the situation is not safe 100 per cent. If you must wait a bit more time, we must do it. It is better to wait a bit more than taking risks," he said.

Over the course of February and March, international competitions and club competitions -- both domestic and continental -- started suspending or postponing matches as COVID-19 gained steam around the world. The 2022 World Cup qualifiers, 2020 Euros and matches in the prestigious UEFA Champions League have all been postponed.

While there have been no new dates suggested for the World Cup qualifiers or the rest of the Champions League matches, UEFA said that the 16th Euros will now be held from June 11 to July 11, 2021.

--IANS
rkm/aak/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:30:09 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220073 IANS C-1-1220048-1219764
The team claims that the kit is as safe as the standard PPE suits, but would cost less than Rs 100 in mass production. The IIT team of bio-science and bio-engineering researchers has named the kit PIPES (Polyethylene-based Improvised Protective Equipment under Scarcity).

The PIPES kit can be used by medical professionals, policemen, and sanitation workers who are at risk of contracting coronavirus infection.

Prof Nitin Gupta of Department of Bio-sciences and Bio-engineering, who headed the team, said: "The spread of coronavirus has resulted in a huge demand for PPE for those working in high-risk environments. As standard PPE kits have become scarce, there is a need for low-cost and mass producible alternatives for protection of the entire human body."

He said that they designed the PIPES kit based on thin cylindrical rolls of polyethylene (polythene), which is non-porous and commonly used for packaging and making carrybags.

The design and production process of PIPES Kit is open-source, so any small or medium-scale factory can start manufacturing them in large quantities soon. If mass produced, one kit can cost less that Rs 100, Prof Gupta said.

"The PIPES Kit may not be visually appealing and as comfortable as the standard PPE kit, but it meets the primary goal of protection against infection. The usability of the kit has been checked and feedback from doctors has taken," he added.

--IANS
amita/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:24:40 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220048 IANS C-1-1220039-1219763
However, he said the lockdown should continue.

The Punjab CM claimed that during lockdown, the illegal drug supply chain has ben broken in the state.

Speaking at a press conference conducted by AICC, the CM said: "We are lifting (the harvest) for farmers district-wise and village-wise so that there is no rush at the purchasing place."

For this the number of mandis has been increased from 1,800 to 3,800. "The task is huge as the state is expecting a bumper harvest. Around 75 per cent of it is expected to come into the market for smooth procurement," said the Chief Minister, adding he has taken up manufacturing of jute bags with West Bengal for storage of the food grain.

In its efforts to contain the virus, one positive impact is that "the drug supply chain has been broken in the state".

The state has quarantined about 14,000 people who returned from abroad and most of them have completed their quarantine period, he added.

The Punjab CM said 651 people from Punjab had attended the Markaz event in Delhi out of which 636 have been traced and 15 are untraceable. As many as 27 Markaz returnees have been found corona positive.

Amrinder Singh said the emergency fund given by the Centre is far too less to fight the pandemic. "Feeding people and ensuring medical supplies are the most crucial aspects".

He said due to scarcity of testing kits, only 2,877 tests have so far been conducted. "The government is acquiring more testing kits for second testing".

--IANS
miz/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:21:26 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220039 IANS C-1-1220054-1219762
However, he made it clear that since the lockdown could not be indefinite, the government was also looking for ways to extricate the state from the restrictions and enable it to function with the coronavirus around.

A high-powered committee with several doctors, medical and other experts, was examining the situation and will soon submit its report on the lockdown exit strategy, said the Chief Minister.

Given the projections for India and the global trend of COVID-19, this is just the start of the war and the situation threatens to get worse over the next few months for India, Amarinder Singh warned, adding that lifting the lockdown would not be easy for any state in the present situation.

Pointing out that most of the 27 positive cases reported on Thursday, the maximum daily increase for the state, were cases of secondary transmission, the Chief Minister described it as an indication of the state moving into the stage of community transmission.

The situation could seriously worsen in the coming weeks, he added.

"The predictions are horrendous, but we are doing our best," he said, adding that while currently the numbers were low in Punjab compared with most other states, it cannot remain isolated as the pandemic spreads further.

At a video conference with the media, hosted by the AICC from New Delhi, the Chief Minister said the projections by scientists and medical experts suggested that the pandemic would peak in India by July-August, and around 58 per cent of Indians would get infected, with 87 per cent of people likely to get affected in Punjab.

In the circumstances, no government could afford to ease the restrictions, he said, asserting that "we have to check the spread of the infections."

The state's preparations would be aligned to these projections, he added.

The Chief Minister rejected as absolutely insufficient the Rs 15,000 crore announced on Thursday by the Union government for the nation's health infrastructure, saying, "How can this be enough for the nearly 1.4 billion people of India?"

No state has the resources needed to fight the battle without the help of the Central government and they have to come forward to help the states, he said, adding that he will take up the issue of more funds to enable every state to fight the war.

The Chief Minister reiterated the state government's demand for a special economic package to deal with the crisis, pointing out that the Centre had released part of Punjab's pending GST arrears over the past few days, but those would barely meet the normal needs of salaries, etc.

He stressed the need for the Centre to come forward with financial assistance for combatting the COVID-19 crisis, saying it was the responsibility of the government of India as states had to ensure food, free rations, shelter, etc. for the poor people.

Punjab was taking care of the basic needs of the lakhs of migrant labourers stuck here, but even industry could not continue to pay them indefinitely without assistance, he added.

In response to a question, Amarinder Singh said his government was gearing up for every eventuality, and had planned for making arrangements in four phases -- for 2,000 patients, 10,000 patients, 30,000 patients and one lakh patients needing isolation and treatment.

While ventilators, masks, etc, were sufficient for the present, more had been ordered and would start coming in the next few days, he added.

On PPE kits, the Chief Minister said with two Ludhiana manufacturers getting approval for making such kits, the state would start getting 5,000 of them a day from Monday and could provide the excess to other states, with directly or through the government of India.

As for medical staff, he said retired doctors had volunteered in large numbers and were on standby to help out.

With regard to testing, the Chief Minister admitted that the 2,877 tests conducted so far were simply not enough, given Punjab's population of 2.8 crore.

Testing was constraint as only two hospitals in Punjab were given permission to test initially, along with the PGI in Chandigarh, but one more was now being added along with two private labs, he added.

With 25,000 rapid testing kits also expected to arrive, mass testing in hotpots will also begin from Monday, he said.

In the next few days, the health department would get more aggressive with testing and random testing will be done in areas of concentration, said Amarinder Singh.

On the contribution of Tablighi Jamaat to the spread of the pandemic in Punjab, the Chief Minister said his government had received a list of 651 who had entered the state, and of these, 636 had so far been traced and 27 found positive, including 10 contacts of the Nizamuddin attendees.

Among the nearly 1.5 lakh NRIs and foreign returnees, the state had traced and quarantined the majority, said Amarinder Singh, adding that the quarantine period was over in 33,166 cases of foreign travel.

Replying to questions on the harvesting of wheat, scheduled to begin on April 15, the Chief Minister said the state was gearing up to handle another bumper harvest and would be going in for district wise and village wise marketing/procurement.

--IANS
vg/dpb



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:21:25 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220054 IANS C-1-1220044-1219761
Dilshad Garden -- a densely populated area of the national capital had the potential to become a hotspot even before Nizamuddin Markaz became one, after a woman infected at least eight people, including a mohalla clinic doctor.

The government used Operation SHIELD -- Sealing, Home Quarantine, Isolation and Tracking, Essential Supply, Local Sanitisation and Door-To-Door Checking -- to control the spread of the virus, the Delhi Health Department said.

A total of 123 medical teams screened more than 15,000 people living in 4,032 houses and hospitalised the coronavirus suspects.

According to the Delhi Health Department, a 38-year-old woman along with her 19-year-old son returned to Delhi on March 10, from Saudi Arabia.

On March 12, she developed fever and cough and went to a doctor in Mohalla Clinic. On March 15, the woman was taken to the GTB hospital where the doctors referred her to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.

On March 17, she tested positive for coronavirus and on March 18 the authorities traced that she had met nearly 81 people after returning from Saudi Arabia.

On March 20, her brother and mother also tested positive. On March 21, the infection spread to her two daughters and on March 22 the clinic doctor who first saw her was also tested positive, the Health Department said.

Soon after she tested positive, Operation SHIELD was launched in Dilshad Garden.

"The Delhi government made Dilshad Garden a containment zone and Operation SHIELD was activated after the woman tested positive and infected eight others, including a mohalla clinic doctor," the Health Department said.

The Delhi government traced all the people who came in contact with the woman and quarantined them. "Under SHIELD, curfew was imposed in parts of Dilshad Garden and Old Seemapuri. The Delhi police and the Delhi government worked together to make this plan a success", the Health Department added.

District Administration officer of Shahdara, S.K. Nayak, who overviewed the whole operation, said when the woman tested positive for COVID-19, the administration rushed to her residence to ask her family for names and addresses of people who had visited them since March 10 -- the date of her return from Saudi Arabia.

"Her son was not very cooperative, so we had to seek the help of the local police to get information. We also used footage from the CCTV cameras installed near their home to identify people who needed to be put under surveillance," said Nayak.

Out of the 11 points that lead to Sector L of Dilshad Garden, which reported most cases, nine were completely shut with police barricades.

"Neither vehicles nor pedestrians were allowed, nor even essential services. The authorities also announced through microphones to appraise the residents about the situation and urged them to come out if they have met the family," Nayak added.

The 123 medical teams surveyed the houses and asked a set of questions.

"Any person who had met the family was quarantined or shifted to the GTB hospital for medical treatment and testing. Along with this, an action plan was prepared with the help of the District Magistrate of Shahdara. The government took help from the police and the MCD."

Nayak said the government is still tracking the people of the area and if there are symptoms, then they are being quarantined.

"The Delhi government will also initiate random testing of the residents soon. By working round the clock in the last 15 days, 'SHIELD' was successful at Dilshad Garden. There is not a single positive case in the last 10 days from the area," Nayak added.

Speaking to the media, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said Dilshad Garden was the first successful implementation of Operation SHIELD.

"I feared a massive COVID-19 outbreak in the Dilshad Garden area after several people were found positive. It was transmitted from the woman who returned from Saudi Arabia and found COVID-19 positive," Jain said.

After the woman was found coronavirus positive, he said, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal instructed to implement Operation SHIELD at Dilshad Garden.

"The hard work of the health officials and the successful implementation of the Operation SHIELD made Dilshad Garden 'Coronavirus-free'", Jain said.

Delhi has so far reported more than 700 coronavirus cases, with about 60 per cent from Nizamuddin Markaz alone. Over 2,300 people from different parts of the country and world were rescued from Markaz earlier this month.

--IANS
nks/




]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:21:24 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220044 IANS C-1-1220067-1219760
Beckham took to Instagram and posted a video story in which the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star was seen clapping along with his family.

"Managed to set the phone up this week to get the whole family showing our appreciation for all the frontline workers and our brilliant NHS. Thank you for another week of hard work. #ClapForOurCarers," Beckham wrote in the story.

The entire sporting calendar has come to a grinding halt because of COVID-19 which has claimed more than 90,000 lives across the world thus far.

A total of 7,978 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 881 on Wednesday.

There were now a total of 65,872 confirmed cases in the country. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to the St Thomas' Hospital in London on Sunday, on the advice of his doctor, after continuing to have a cough and high temperature 10 days after testing positive for the virus.

--IANS
dm/bbh
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:21:23 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220067 IANS C-1-1220065-1219759
The "Joker" actor has shared the experience with GQ magazine, adding that has to take special measures to cope with his stress when working, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Phoenix said he "still gets crippling anxiety for weeks before shooting starts" and "feels physically sick" when he begins working on new projects.

"For the first three weeks of shooting, I sweat so much that they have to put pads in my armpits."

Film director James Gray told the portal: "He is incredibly shy - something most people think is an act or something."

Gray, who worked with Phoenix on projects like "We Own the Night" and "The Immigrant", recalled once waiting backstage with him before a TV interview, when he got so nervous he puked.

He didn't share what show the star was due to appear on.

Phoenix said his nerves come about because "everything they teach you as a kid (about acting) is completely f**king wrong."

"They teach you to remember your lines. Wrong! They teach you to follow your light. Wrong! They teach you to hit your mark. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Those are the things that you shouldn't do."

--IANS
dc/vnc

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:21:21 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220065 IANS C-1-1220010-1219758
For the findings, the research team at the Shinshu University in Japan looked at green tea and the abundance of Flavonifractor plautii (FP) bacteria found in the gut. FP has been reported to be a part of the catechin metabolism in the intestines. Catechin is an antioxidant found in a variety of foods, including green tea, of which 30 to 42 per cent of its dry weight is catechin. The researchers found that oral administration of FP strongly suppresses the Th2 immune response to food allergies in vivo.

The food we eat effects the complex cocktail of different strains of bacteria in the gut, they said.

Drinking green tea increases the abundance of FP (Flavonifractor plautii) which suppresses the Th2 immune response. FP is a strain of the Clostridia family of bacteria, which is known to have effects on the immune system, notably inhibiting inflammation.

According to the study, some clostridia strains show promise of lowering blood pressure and some are known to be abundant in lean people and not in heavier people, leading researchers to believe they can be used to regulate weight. However, the researchers noted that more studies are needed to look into the safety of FP before it can be used as a probiotic to treat allergies.

--IANS
bu/dpb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:14:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220010 IANS C-1-1220066-1219757
Speaking to reporters in a conference call, Giles said: "The deadline of May 28 still stands but it's looking less and less likely that we're going to be out there in June. We have to look at alternatives."

Giles further said that the ECB was also looking at the fixtures that follow the Windies series as England are set to play home series against Pakistan, Australia and Ireland.

"We are looking at scenarios where we can push those matches back as far as possible without losing any cricket," said Giles.

"Whether eventually games start falling off the calendar right now we don't know. If we can't get it all, it's really important we work in partnership with all the other boards to fulfil those fixtures but with a priority on keeping people safe."

The pandemic saw the Tokyo Olympics being postponed by a year and even other major events have either been suspended or cancelled. The fate of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League hangs in balance as franchise owners as well as the BCCI awaits the next advisory from the government on April 14.

--IANS
bbh/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:13:59 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220066 IANS C-1-1220049-1219756
Hong Kong's Art Central was cancelled on February 7 in response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

From March 18 to May 1, the online platform is serving as an opportunity for galleries to promote the works previously selected to have been on view and for sale at the fair to a wide audience.

Reflecting the strength of the region and the burgeoning gallery scene in Hong Kong, Art Central 2020 was set to feature a record number of Hong Kong-based exhibitors, alongside a strong contingent of leading regional and international galleries. The special edition digital catalogue offers extended site presence and longer opportunity for collector inquiry for the participating galleries.

In the previous editions, art galleries from India, including Sanchit Art, New Delhi, and Gallery Sumukha, Bengaluru, had also participated in Art Central and displayed their astounding work.

This year the online catalogue successfully connected exhibiting galleries with collectors in the digital realm, which complemented the art fair experience.

Corey Barr, Fair Director, said, "We are grateful to Artsy for this generous offer of support to the many galleries who rely on Art Central to access the breadth of the art market in Asia each year.

"While we cannot hope to replace our annual edition on the Hong Kong Harbourfront, Artsy's online platform is a welcome opportunity for collectors to show support for artists and galleries in view of the current challenges."

Art Central is a partner of ART Power HK, a collaborative campaign that has grown organically from a community-wide desire to maintain momentum for arts in Hong Kong.

--IANS
sukant/arm





]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:11:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220049 IANS C-1-1220064-1219755
"My mom and I always wanted to have a hydroponics garden of our own where we grow our own vegetables and can have a fully sustainable lifestyle. We wanted to have a garden to table lifestyle at home and we are both happy with the progress," she said.

The science of soil-less gardening is called hydroponics. It involves growing healthy plants without the use of a traditional soil medium by using a nutrient like a mineral rich water solution instead.

Bhumi is also the brain behind her online and offline initiative called "Climate Warrior" through which she is raising awareness on how citizen of India can contribute to protect the climate.

"This quarantine has made me get into learning the science of hydroponics and understand the essence of what conservation of environment can truly mean. I have been working closely with my mom during this time. I'm proud that our garden can now produce food for two days of the week!"

Bhumi says she has tried to be closer to nature during the lockdown.

"And it has made me realise that we can become completely self-sustaining as a community and do our best for its preservation," she said.

--IANS
dc/vnc


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:11:33 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220064 IANS C-1-1220057-1219754
Hansal took to Twitter, where he showed his dismay over the new version -- "Masakali 2.0" -- which is sung by Tulsi Kumar and Sachet Tandon, with music by Tanishk Bagchi. The number is picturised on Tara Sutaria and Sidharth Malhotra.

"This 'recreation' of old songs can stop if the public rejects them. The numbers on YouTube for godawful versions of old songs are huge and hence music companies keep producing them. Stop viewing the videos. Stop listening to the songs. Stop playing them at events. They will stop," he tweeted.

He added if people stop consuming remakes, producers will stop making them.

Mehta said: "We are complicit in this bastardisation of old songs. It is seen as a small price to pay for getting your film produced. Truth: it is a travesty. It is an insult to the original creator by an ecosystem that thrives on sh*t. Stop consuming sh*t. People will stop producing sh*t."

Without beating around the bush, the director said he was talking about the new version.

"Yes. I am reacting to the awful, ear shattering #Masakali version. But check its YouTube views in 48 hrs. Then see how DJs blast it at events. And how people groove to the godawful version. Sh*t sells. While we cringe, somebody is laughing his way to the bank," he said.

Rahman and lyricist Prasoon Joshi had created the 2009 gem for filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Delhi-6", and on Thursday joined a growing band of social media users who have conveyed their disappointment over the new number.

--IANS
dc/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:07:46 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220057 IANS C-1-1220052-1219753
People in closed spaces and while talking to others should also wear the masks.

The Health Department has updated an earlier advisory on 'Masks only for the sick' to 'Mask on while stepping outdoors, in closed spaces and while interacting with others'.

The orders noted that the studies in Japan have shown that wearin masks slowed the spread of coronavirus.

"This revision of advice is based on the learning that a large number of infected people do not show any symptoms - are asymptomatic - but are still carriers of the infection and can infect others."

It pointed out that coronavirus infection spreads through droplets released while sneezing, coughing and talking. Thus, marks will prevent the droplets from escaping and potentially infect others and will also protect a person from inhaling droplets carrying the virus.

The department recommended homemade cotton double-layer reusable masks as the first line of protection.

Twelve people have died of Covid-19 in Telangana with total positive cases reaching 471.

--IANS
ms/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:06:24 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220052 IANS C-1-1220058-1219752
"I think probably a bigger factor was six months before leading into that Indian series the media and everyone commentating on the Aussie cricket team were pretty clear in their direction in the way they wanted the Aussies team to go and that was playing a little bit less aggressively out on the field," Cummins told BBC Sport.

"I'd say that would have been a bigger factor than trying to win or lose friends out on the cricket field. But you never know, that might have been a factor for some players," he added.

Recently, former skipper Michael Clarke said current Australian players were too scared to "sledge" Virat Kohli and in order to protect their million dollars IPL deals, they "sucked up" to the India captain which resulted in their cricket becoming "soft".

Current Test captain Tim Paine has also rubbished Clarke's remark and told ESPNcricinfo: "I certainly didn't notice too many people being that nice to Virat or not trying to get him out or anything like that."

"I thought everyone who had the ball in their hand or when we were batting were trying their absolute best to win the game for Australia. I'm not sure who was going easy on him; we certainly had a thing where we didn't want to provoke any fight with him because we think that's when he plays at his best," Paine said.

India, under Kohli's captaincy, won the series 2-1, thus making them the first Asian team to beat Australia Down Under in a Test series.

--IANS
aak/




]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:02:21 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220058 IANS C-1-1220056-1219751
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told reporters that the new restrictions would come into effect Saturday onwards and follow the state of emergency declared earlier this week by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, reports Efe news.

Koike announced that alcohol could be served in bars and restaurants only till 7 p.m. and they would have to close down an hour later.

She said restaurants and bars could open for business from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m..

These measures are a part of initiatives taken up to control the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Japanese capital.

Koike reiterated Prime Minister Abe's call for reducing social contacts between people.

Tokyo, a city of 14 million inhabitants, recorded 181 new cases of novel coronavirus cases, taking the total to 1,519.

Koike had been pushing the Abe government to approve a state of health emergency in the country.

The government approved the measure for the capital and other six prefectures worst affected by the disease.

According to the latest official data, the COVID-19 has affected 5,300 and killed 121.

In the press conference, Koike said that shops in Tokyo selling essential items would remain open as usual.

She said there was no need to stock food and medical supplies and reiterated that people should remain home and come out only if it is necessary and maintain a safe distance in public places.

Schools and universities along with sports centres, theatres, museums, gyms and businesses not selling essential items were also ordered to remain closed to avoid people from gathering.

The health emergency will continue until May 6.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:02:20 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220056 IANS C-1-1220051-1219750
Salman on Thursday night took to Twitter, where he shared photographs of empty streets and a closed "qabristaan".

"Wah ! Thank you for listening and understanding the gravity of this situation the country is in. God bless and protect each and every 1. #IndiaFightsCorona," he captioned the image.

According to reports, Salman is currently staying at his Panvel farmhouse with his nephew and brother Sohail Khan's son, Nirvaan. He is constantly in touch with his father Salim Khan via video calls.

Salman has extended help to 25,000-odd daily wage workers of the film industry whose lives have been affected by the ongoing national lockdown that has brought all filming activity in Bollywood to a grinding halt.

Salman's contribution will aid the artistes of Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), said the body's president BN Tiwari.

--IANS
dc/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:02:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220051 IANS C-1-1220035-1219749
The police recovered 11 gm of smack from their possession.

Inspector Vibhuti Khan, Shyam Babu Shukla said the two youths were stopped at the barricade for checking and they claimed they were doctors working for corona patients.

"However, he seemed in a drugged state and we frisked him and the other youth and recovered smack from them. One of the youths is Austin Pal and works as a para-medical staff on an ad hoc basis at the King George's Medical University (KGMU). His accomplice is Sunny Masih. Both are drug addicts," said the inspector.

--IANS
amita/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:57:50 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220035 IANS C-1-1220037-1219748
Kumar said in the letter that the 47 Corps Battalion of the Border Security Force has informed him that 40 to 50 suspects have entered India from Nepal to spread the coronavirus in India. In a letter dated April 3, the Border Security Force informed the DM that a man named Jaleem Mukhiya is overseeing the entire operation. He is from Jagarnath Pur in Parsa district, 10 km inside Nepal and is planning to spread the epidemic in India.

The letter said that the person has been involved in the illegal arms trade and smuggling along the Nepal-India border earlier. Therefore, vigilance should be increased in all the border districts.

When asked about this, Bettiah MP and Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal said: "The information has been received in this case."

According to Jaiswal, a person named Jallim Mukhiya has been involved in extortion and illegal trade of arms for the last 20 years. Taking advantage of the lockdown, these people are spreading their hateful agenda in India, he added.

Meanwhile, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey said that "there is no need to create a furore over that letter as it was not verified. The intelligence wing of the SSB wrote the letter to DM and SP of Bettiah. 50 people are about to enter through the route, who may be corona patients. But after that there is no development in it. At the same time, the SSB said that the border has been completely sealed and there is no evidence that those people have entered India."

--IANS
hindi-rs/bg]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:57:49 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220037 IANS C-1-1220045-1219747
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will lead the first national digital Easter Sunday service from his kitchen, the BBC reported.

Prince Charles, who had tested positive for coronavirus last month, will also feature in the service which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and on the Church of England's website and Facebook page from 9 a.m. on Sunday.

The Archbishop normally preaches to a congregation of about 1,500 people at Canterbury Cathedral on Easter morning.

The oldest bell at the cathedral will also toll every evening in remembrance of those who have died from coronavirus, and celebrate those working on the front line.

The 17th Century bell, named Harry, will ring out over Canterbury at 8 p.m. every day.

Meanwhile, the Dean of York, Rt Revd Jonathan Frost, will also host a special video service at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

This comes as a total of 7,978 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 881 on Wednesday.

There were now a total of 65,872 confirmed cases in the country.

On Thursday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the ongoing lockdown restrictions will stay in place until evidence showed the UK had moved beyond the peak of the virus, the BBC reported.

He acknowledged it was hard for people hoping to go out and be with their families over Easter, but urged restraint.

--IANS
ksk/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:53:28 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220045 IANS C-1-1220032-1219746
"Ten foreigners have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody. They are being tested for corornavirus in the government hospital and will be shifted to Puzhal prison in Chennai," K.Singaravelu, Inspector of Police, Mayiladuthurai, told IANS.

The arrested included five French nationals, three from Cameron one each from Belgium and Congo.

Two Indians -- one each from Bihar and Maharashtra -- have also been arrested along with the foreigners.

According to Singaravelu, the foreigners had come to India in February and have been visiting various places.

He said they will be charged with violating the visa rules. They had come to India on a tourist visa and indulged in religious preaching, which was not allowed, he added.

They are also charged with putting at risk the health of public at large at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has affected the nation.

The foreign preachers are allegedly linked to Tablighi Jamaat headquartered in Delhi with overseas presence.

The state police has recently booked Tablighi Jamaat preachers from Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh for violation of visa rules.

--IANS
vj/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:50:48 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220032 IANS C-1-1220047-1219745
Raja Kumari took to Instagram, where she shared a throwback photograph of herself as a child posing with the sitar maestro.

She wrote: "Pandit Ravi Shankar was the first person to bless me in my artistic career. Whenever I doubted myself, I always remembered his words anointing me and felt that I could do anything."

Raja Kumari said she used this image of him as a blessing.

"I decided to use the image of him blessing me as the cover art for Believe in You...because in all essences, his blessings were always a reminder of why I should believe in myself #100yearsravishankar," she wrote.

April 7, 2020, marked the 100th birth anniversary of Pandit Ravi Shankar

--IANS
dc/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:50:47 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220047 IANS C-1-1220050-1219744
Yuvraj had gotten the better of Pietersen quite a few times during their contests on the international stage and they are known to pick on one another and engage in friendly banter.

While sporting actions across the world have come to a standstill due to the coronavirus outbreak, KP believes that the IPL should happen once things return to normalcy even if that means playing the tournament behind closed doors.

"Let's say July-August is the earliest, I do truly believe the IPL should happen," Pietersen said on Star Sports Cricket Connected. "I do believe it is the kick-start to the cricket season. I think every single player around the world is desperate to play the IPL.

"There could be a way in which to get some money into the franchises, into the economy by having a situation where you use maybe three venues which are completely closed to fans and the players can still go out and play the tournament in three weeks or in four weeks."

Pietersen also went on to add that having the fans watch from home is a solution. "So it's a more condensed tournament in three venues, which we know are safe, which we know are secure. I don't think the fans need to be risked in this situation.

"I think the fans need to understand they can't watch a live game at the moment and they might not be able to watch a live game for the foreseeable future. [But] what would you guys give right now, to watch Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings right now?" he pointed.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:50:46 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220050 IANS C-1-1220046-1219743
The Argentina forward also denied rumours of a possible transfer to his former Argentinian side Newell's Old Boys.

"What they said about Newell's Old Boys a few weeks ago is also false, thank God no one believed them," Messi said in an Instagram post.

He also distanced himself from a rumour that said he had paid the bail money to allow the release of Brazilian star Ronaldinho from a Paraguay jail.

Messi shared a tweet from a football news portal and singled out the Inter move and Ronaldinho bail money reports as 'Lie No. 1' and 'Lie No.2' on Instagram.

Ronaldinho was released from jail and has been placed under house arrest in Paraguay. Both Ronaldinho, 40, and his brother Roberto Assis have denied any wrongdoing.

The Brazilian football great and his brother, Roberto Assis, have been held at a prison in Asuncion since March 6 for using fake passports.

The pair was relocated to a hotel in the center of Asuncion after agreeing to pay $1.6 million in bail during a court hearing. Judges had rejected three previous bail requests by the brothers.

Another Brazil great, Kaka, recently called Messi a genius.

"I played with Cristiano and he's really amazing, but I'll go with Messi," Kaka said when asked who he would pick out of Messi or Ronaldo during an Instagram Live Q&A for FIFA's channel.

--IANS
dm/aak/

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:48:12 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220046 IANS C-1-1220043-1219742
UFC 249 was scheduled to take place on April 18 and UFC president Dana White planned to follow it with regular fight cards from Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino on tribal land in California's Central Valley.

However, he told ESPN that he got a call from the higher ups in Disney and ESPN that the fight needs to be cancelled.

The event was originally slated to have a lightweight championship match between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov. The latter had to eventually pull out due to travel restrictions in his native Russia which led to UFC scrambling to find a replacement and bringing in American Justin Gaethje.

The UFC planned to stage the fights in an empty arena owned by the Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Tachi Yokut Tribe. "Tachi Palace has had our back this whole time, has stood their ground and was willing to do this fight," White told ESPN.

USA has become the epicentre of the spread of coronavirus. As of Friday, the country has recorded 466,299 coronavirus cases, the highest in the world, and 16,686 deaths.

--IANS
rkm/aak/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:41:10 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220043 IANS C-1-1220033-1219741
"Hello @MumbaiPolice, will you please look into this ? Here @anuragkashyap72 is rolling a joint which is illegal in India," the user wrote.

To this, Kashyap responded, tagging Mumbai Police: "Yes please for once @MumbaiPolice look into it. Once and for all let's make it clear that I roll tobacco and please thoroughly investigate for the satisfaction of the bhakts and the trolls."

Many netizens then started wondering how the filmmaker had managed to get tobacco in these days of lockdown, when the commodity was not being sold openly.

"I am impressed by your honesty sir. Purchasing loose tobacco and rolling it. Accha one minute, where do you get this tobacco from... dawa ki dukaan or sabzi ki dukaan," a user sarcastically commented.

--IANS
abh/vnc



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:41:09 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220033 IANS C-1-1220038-1219740
The Prime Minister was admitted to the St Thomas' Hospital in London on Sunday, on the advice of his doctor, after continuing to have a cough and high temperature 10 days after testing positive for the virus, the BBC reported.

The Prime Minister was given oxygen before being taken to intensive care on Monday.

On Thursday night, Downing Street said that Johnson "has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery"

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, the Prime Minister's father Stanley Johnson, said: "He took one for the team and we've got to make sure we play properly now."

Stanley Johnson spoke of his "relief" and said the whole family was "tremendously grateful" that the Prime Minister had been moved out of intensive care, adding that he thought his illness had "got the whole country to realise this is a serious event".

"It does come close to home. It's certainly made me feel cautious," he told the BBC.

He added that there would have to be a "period of adjustment" before the Prime Minister returned to work in Downing Street, saying "he must rest up".

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Johnson, has said that lockdown restrictions will stay in place until evidence showed the UK had moved beyond the peak of the virus.

He acknowledged it was hard for people hoping to go out and be with their families over Easter, but urged restraint.

Raab was speaking ahead of a bank holiday weekend forecasted to see higher temperatures in London on Saturday, though cooler weather was expected on Sunday.

This comes as a total of 7,978 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 881 on Wednesday.

There were now a total of 65,872 confirmed cases in the country.

Downing Street has said it gave its "full backing" to officers enforcing the lockdown rules, the BBC reported.

A government spokesperson said: "We understand that people will want to spend time with their friends and families this Easter, and we recognise that we are asking the public to make sacrifices in the fight against this disease.

"We are at a crucial moment in preventing further transmission of coronavirus, and so it is vital that we continue following the government's guidance."

--IANS
ksk/

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:37:54 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220038 IANS C-1-1220031-1219739
Police said several people have been arrested for defying the lockdown restrictions by attending the funeral of a slain militant in Zaingeer area of Sopore.

Sajad Ahmad, a JeM militant was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Arampora area of Sopore on Wednesday.

Police had lodged an FIR after scores of people attended the funeral of the slain militant on Wednesday.

The FIR said those defying the lockdown by attending the funeral procession had not only violated the rules, but had also endangered the lives of the entire population in the area.

--IANS
sq/prs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:35:57 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220031 IANS C-1-1220021-1219738
"To date, 207 Covid positive cases have been confirmed. This includes six deaths and 30 discharges," a health official said.

The 10 new cases surfaced between 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday noon.

Karnataka's 198th Covid positive case is a 48-year-old man from Bengaluru, a contact of earlier cases 167 and 168.

A 57-year-old man from the same place with similar contact history is the 199th case.

An 8-year-old boy from Mysuru, son of 103rd case and also a contact of 159th case, is the 200th case.

Next, a 48-year-old woman from the same place contracted the virus as 201st case, mother-in-law of 103rd case. Three people from the same family, father, son and mother-in-law tested positive.

A 33-year-old man from Mysuru, contact of 111th case, has tested positive as the 202nd case. The 111th case is an employee of Jubilant Life Sciences pharmaceutical company.

The state's 203rd positive case is a 28-year-old woman from Mysuru, wife of 85th case.

A 48-year-old woman from the same place is 204th case. She is the wife of 183rd case.

Continuing the streak of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) cases turning Covid positive, a 55-year-old man from Kalaburagi has emerged as the 205th case.

The last case on Friday morning and 207th case is a 11-year-old girl from Bengaluru. She is the daughter of 206th case.

In the past 19 hours, five cases have emerged from Mysuru and four from Bengaluru.

--IANS
sth/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:35:56 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220021 IANS C-1-1220041-1219737
The face shield was completed in three days after they came up with the idea, according to the study from Osaka University in Japan, in collaboration with Charmant, a global manufacturer of eyeglass frames (Sabae, Fukui).

"The collaborative development project between our university and Charmant was based on the idea that it would become easier to locally procure and produce face shields if it were possible to create frames with 3D printers, which have recently become more sophisticated and affordable, from locally-available, common materials," said researchers.

When dealing with coronavirus disease, it is essential for healthcare personnel to wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

However, the unexpectedly rapid spread of the disease has led to a shortage of important components of personal protective equipment, including masks, face shields, and gowns.

It has been reported that some healthcare professionals in New York are forced to provide treatment wearing garbage bags to cover their bodies.

According to the researchers, usually, countries export personal protective equipment to affected countries as emergency supplies.

However, in cases such as the current coronavirus pandemic, where outbreaks are occurring at an unprecedented, rapid pace in numerous locations around the world both in developed and emerging countries, conventional procurement methods such as emergency exports/imports are unfeasible.

The face shield may be very useful in regions already facing a serious shortage of shields and masks, as well as African countries where there is a growing concern about the spread of the virus.

The 3D data for the frame and the video showing how to assemble the face shield were made available free of charge at the website -- 'www.project-engine.org'.

--IANS
bu/na
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:35:55 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220041 IANS C-1-1220028-1219736
Singapore closed its schools on Wednesday in response to a rising number of coronavirus cases, the BBC reported.

Parents told local media that the incidents took place in a geography class for first-year secondary school pupils.

About 39 children were in the class when the stream was hacked, before "two Caucasian men" appeared and made lewd comments. The class was stopped immediately.

"Home-based learning is supposed to be a safe space," one parent told the Singapore-based Straits Times. "I know it's difficult to manage but as a parent I feel very concerned."

It's not known how the hackers gained access.

Zoom meetings have nine-digit IDs and can, in theory, be joined by any user if they are not protected by the organiser.

"These are very serious incidents," the BBC quotd Aaron Loh of the government's educational technology division, as saying.

"The Ministry of Education is currently investigating both breaches and will lodge a police report if warranted.

"As a precautionary measure, our teachers will suspend their use of Zoom until these security issues are ironed out."

Also in response, Zoom told the BBC that the company was "deeply upset" about the incidents.

"We have been deeply upset to hear about these types of incidents," a spokesperson said.

"Zoom strongly condemns such behaviour and we encourage users to report any incidents of this kind directly to Zoom so we can take appropriate action."

The company said it had "changed default settings", to "enable virtual waiting rooms and ensure only hosts can share their screens by default".

It has also set up a guide for setting up and securing virtual classrooms.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:33:32 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220028 IANS C-1-1220036-1219735
The smartphone market in China saw a sharp hit in January and February but was already recovering before the end of March as supply chains and retail activity returned to normalcy.

According to Counterpoint Research, the second quarter will reflect a slight rebound with further slight positives throughout the balance of 2020 in China.

However, the picture is not that rosy in India and elsewhere where lockdowns came in place in March.

"It may be as deep as China's sharp slowdown but will likely last longer. Unlike China, where at least a part of the slowdown was supply driven, the rest of world's contraction is driven more by consumers withholding replacement activity until they get more comfortable with the new economic realities of their situation," said Peter Richardson, Research Director, Counterpoint.

The smartphone production in India is set to decrease by nearly 30 per cent for the month of March amid lockdown as smartphone manufacturing units are now shut nationwide.

Assuming the lockdowns ease within a few weeks, the recovery should be strong, he said, though we can expect some consumers to change their spending patterns.

The world is officially in a global recession as declared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to the IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, the global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020, and over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year.

However, the impacts are likely to be felt differently among the developed and developing countries.

"In India, the government acted with great speed to lockdown the country. But in so doing, it seemed to forget the millions of migrant and casual laborers that make-up a large percentage of the workforce. Many found themselves not only jobless, but also homeless - more or less overnight," said Richardson.

The governments of emerging economies are not strong enough to support their populations or corporations during lengthy shutdowns. And worse, capital is fleeing to safe havens, which has meant the US dollar, almost exclusively.

"Companies may be able to reduce the size of office space as they realize that as many as a third of employees can work effectively from home on a near continuous basis," said Richardson.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:33:31 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220036 IANS C-1-1220020-1219734
K. Venkateshwara Rao of the Khammam district tied masks on his goats' muzzles to protect them from possible human to animal transmission.

The man in the Peruvancha village of Kalluru 'mandal' (block) made special masks from cloth and covered the muzzles of all his 20 goats.

Rao said he acted after reading in newspapers about a tiger in New York's Bronx Zoo testing positive for COVID-19 and the authorities in all Zoos in India taking special measures to protect the animals.

Rao, who himself wears face mask while herding the cattle, said his goats were the only source of income for his family and hence he decided to take precautions by making masks for them.

"I did not want to take any chance, so I put these masks. After reaching the interior forest area I remove their masks to enable them to graze and again cover them while returning home in the evening," he said.

--IANS
ms/dpb



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:33:30 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220020 IANS C-1-1220027-1219733
Reeves is in London, waiting until production on his highly anticipated Warner Bros. feature "The Batman, reports deadline.com.

"We're not officially editing right now" said Reeves, adding: "We've actually shot a quarter of the movie and I have been pouring through dailies, looking at takes, and what's to come."

When production stopped on March 14, the filming was expected to move on from London to Liverpool.

Asked if the team would relocate the shooting location, he said: "It's way too early to say. I can't imagine we wouldn't finish in London. The situation is fluid."

The director also refused to answer whether the film will feature Robin's family, saying: "I can't give you the answers to any of that."

The film stars Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Paul Dano as the Riddler, and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman. It won't be an origin story. Rather, it's about Bruce Wayne trying to find his footing on becoming a genius detective.

As he's diving into dailies, Reeves says he has no plans to re-write anything that he has already written.

"It took me two years to work on that story, and it's a very specific mystery noir that's been really thought-out by me and my partners," he said.

Reeves might reconsider "the tone of things".

He said: "It happens any time you shoot anything. The unexpected -- happy accidents and things you didn't quite expect: That is the lightning in a bottle for something that is alive. I would say that the changes really have to do with ‘Oh, seeing the tone of this' with these scenes we haven't done which connect to that part of the storyline. It feels like there might be an opportunity to explore some of that unexpected tone that we found. With these movies, you never have enough prep time, because they're so complex and so enormous in so many ways. It also gives me a moment to think about the larger sequences that have yet to come up and how I want to realise those."

--IANS
sug/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:21:43 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220027 IANS C-1-1220022-1219732
The PM's remark came after the two leaders thanked him for clearing the export of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a drug said to be effective against the deadly disease.

"Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!" Netanyahu tweeted on Thursday.

In response, PM Modi said, "We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel."

Similarly, Bolsonaro also thanked PM Modi for timely help to Brazil, adding that the raw material will help to continue production of hydroxychloroquine to treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of lupus, malaria, and arthritis.

"Thank you, President Jair Bolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times. India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic," PM Modi said.

The drug has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as potential treatment for the coronavirus and was touted repeatedly by President Trump as a "game changer". India had earlier put a hold on its export, but later allowed it on Trump's request.

--IANS
aka/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:16:56 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220022 IANS C-1-1220030-1219731
These six big and three small vehicles will not only sanitise the hotspots but also areas within the three-km radius.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had flagged such vehicles in Lucknow on Thursday.

Before these fire brigade vehicles were flagged off from Sector 108 here, teams deployed on these also gave a demonstration about their work before the Noida Commissioner of Police.

Alok Singh told the media that these vehicles were fitted with 30-feet-long pipes which would enable them sanitise narrow lanes and bylanes as well.

--IANS
Hindi/tsb


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:16:28 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220030 IANS C-1-1220019-1219730
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik advised the private institutions to be sympathetic while dealing with school fees.

The government said this will help the parents whose income has been adversely affected due to lockdown.

"In view of the lockdown & associated economic stress for #COVID19, #Odisha Govt advises all private educational institutions to be sympathetic to consider reduction/deferment of school fees from April to June. This will help the parents whose income have been adversely affected," tweeted the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

The Odisha government on Thursday extended the lockdown period till April 30 to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

--IANS
cd/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:16:27 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220019 IANS C-1-1220026-1219729
The app also made 'Tinder Passport' feature, which is typically paid for, free - meaning that members can match and chat with Tinder members in a destination of choice. Before this, users could match only in the geographic region they were in. India has seen a 25 per cent increase in the rate of Passporting to other parts of the world, Germany recorded a 19 per cent increase, France, 20 per cent and Brazil, 15 per cent, Tinder said.

"Stay home, be safe, social distancing, ‘how are you', wash your hands and face emojis are seen being used in personal bios. There is no precedence for this period, and the increase in both conversation length and Passport usage even before it was available for all users, only validated our belief that in challenging times, the community is finding ways to form new connections and discover new social discovery rhythms," Taru Kapoor, GM, India - Tinder and Match Group told IANSlife.

In this unprecedented time, people are feeling a potent mix of anxiety, lonely and uncertainty. The mix of self-isolation and work-from-home means we're missing out on the everyday exchanges that make us human. And even though we're socially distancing, this hasn't meant disconnecting for Tinder members.

Globally more members are swiping right on someone new, having more conversations overall, and those conversations are lasting longer. Daily conversations have been up an average of 20 per cent around the world, and the average length of the conversations is 25 per cent longer.

--IANS
sj/tb/sdr/


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:16:26 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220026 IANS C-1-1220025-1219728


Many projects have been put on hold due to the global lockdown following the increase in number of victims of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

But The Aces, which consist of sisters Cristal (lead vocalist and guitarist) and Alisa Ramirez (drummer), Katie Henderson (guitarist) and McKenna Petty (bassist), dropped their new song just a few days ago.

"'Lost Angeles' was actually written about a year ago. It documents our experience moving from our smaller suburban home town, and how heartbreak can change a city for you. We think people need music more than ever right now, so we will continue to give our fans new music," Cristal told IANS.

The quartet had also recently released the video of their track "Daydream".

Now, they are in Utah in the US with family. "We aren't getting together because we are trying to be as safe as we can, but lots of group FaceTimes are happening," said Alisa.

They just united for a virtual performance and chat with their fans for ‘Vh1 Quarantunes' Live on the Instagram page of Vh1 India.

They are used to performing in front of a crowd. Asked what they like about the concept of virtual concerts, Katie said: "That you can connect to more people than you would be able to in a live setting. More people can tune in and watch, plus they get to do it from the comfort of their own homes."

Many people are bringing out their inner chef or showing their creative side during this global lockdown.

For these girls, they are really trying to comfort and stay close to their fans. "I think we are more accessible to them right now. It feels like despite everything that's going on, everyone is getting really creative and pushing themselves to go outside of the box. We feel really inspired by it," said McKenna.

They feel they have evolved a lot since their first single, "Stuck", which had released in 2016. After few more singles, they launched their debut album "When My Heart Felt Volcanic" in April 2018.

"We've evolved a lot, we've grown up. We are more sure of ourselves and better know how to say exactly how we feel. It just comes with age," Cristal.

(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)

--IANS
nn/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:16:25 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220025 IANS C-1-1220024-1219727
Dr Niti Kautish, Senior consultant, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad, sheds light on the importance or iron.

It is an important component of hemoglobin and helps in transporting oxygen throughout the body. But at the same time an excess iron can also be very dangerous. It promotes the formation of damaging oxidative radicals. This can also deposit in organs such as the liver, heart and pancreas which can lead to conditions like cirrhosis, heart failure and diabetes. Since both iron deficiency and high concentration of iron can compromise cellular function, the levels of in the cells must be regulated precisely.

This can be well studied in the case of malaria. Malaria infections are a major global cause of anemia. The relationship between malaria and iron is often debated. It has been a subject of discussion in the global health community since 2006, ever since a large-scale trial on the island of Pemba discovered that iron supplementation in children related to the rise in malaria-related mortality.

Through the study conducted by National Institute of Health (NIH), let us further understand the relationship between iron and malaria; and how iron worsens malaria infection:

Malaria parasites feed on iron. Organisms have a protein called ferroprotein, which prevents toxic buildup of iron in RBC. It also protects the cells against malaria infection. By studying mice and samples from malaria patients, researchers found out that high concentration of iron interferes with ferroprotein.

The researchers observed that lack of ferroprotein in erythroid cells (red blood cells and their precursors) allowed iron to accumulate to toxic levels inside RBCs. The mice with intact ferroprotein were more stable, had less parasites and better outcomes as compared to the mice that lacked ferroprotein.

It was also observed that a hormone called hepcidin regulates ferroprotein in red blood cells and their precursors. The hormone is more abundant in high iron concentration and lowers the ferroprotein level. It also prevents iron from being removed from the cells.
The researchers also studied if the ferroprotein mutation Q248H, which is found in African population protects against malaria.

After studying children hospitalized for malaria in Zambia, it was observed that nearly 20 percent of the children who had the mutation, had fewer malarial parasites and tolerated fewer for longer period before visiting the hospital. The results stated that the mutation protects ferroprotein from hepcidin's effects, and thus protects against malaria. This further explains the presence of mutation in the people living in malaria endemic regions.

In another study on 290 pregnant women in Ghana, it was observed that the 9 percent, who had the ferroprotein mutation Q248H, were comparatively less prone to pregnancy associated malaria, in which malaria parasites cause adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes by accumulating in the placenta.

--IANS
tb/sdr/

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:04:22 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220024 IANS C-1-1220023-1219726
After the 76-day lockdown in Wuhan was lifted on Wednesday, Wang, Yao Wei and Lyu Yueyun left the city for Suzhou, in east China's Jiangsu Province, where the national team is currently training, and underwent COVID-19 tests on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The players received their negative test results on Friday morning. They are currently in good physical condition," read a CFA statement.

"As the players are confirmed healthy, Wang can start regular training from now on, while Yao and Lyu will stay in medical quarantine for another seven days," added the statement, saying that the players are following local epidemic control regulations.

The different quarantine requirements for the three players is determined by China's smartphone-based health code service, which give users color-coded designations based on their health status and travel history, and a QR code that can be scanned by authorities.

Wang was given a green code, which typically allows people to travel relatively freely, while Yao and Lyu have yellow codes, indicating that the holder should be in home isolation. A red code means the user is at high risk of contracting COVID-19 and should be in quarantine.

The three Wuhan natives had been stranded in the central Chinese city since it was locked down on January 23, missing China's Olympic qualifiers in Australia in February, which the Steel Roses won to set up a two-legged play-off against South Korea, currently scheduled for June.

To prepare for the play-off, China called up 23 players to a training camp in Suzhou from April 2 to 30, which Wang, Yao and Lyu were not initially able to be part of.

On Wednesday, China officially lifted outbound travel restrictions on Wuhan, allowing the three to join up with their teammates and ending a lockdown that had sealed off around 10 million people from the rest of the world for 76 days.

25-year-old Wang, who was named Chinese Female Footballer of The Year for the third successive occasion in January, is widely regarded as the backbone of Chinese women's football.

Midfielder Yao featured in all four matches during the team's 2019 World Cup campaign, while university-educated Lyu is considered a promising young prospect.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:04:21 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220023 IANS C-1-1220008-1219725
A 65-year-old female from Ramganj in Jaipur, who was admitted in SMS Hospital on Wednesday with complaint of respiratory distress pneumonia with comorbidity hypertension, died on Thursday evening, said Rohit Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary.

Meanwhile, 12 new cases reported in Banswara are contacts of previously reported positive case. Jaisalmer (Pokhran) too reported eight new cases who are all contacts of a positive case; and Jhalawar with three new cases, also contacts of a corona postive patient, he added.

One new patient found in Alwar had travelled from Delhi but had not given any contact history. Another case in Bharatpur is a contact of a corona positive Tablighi Jamaat follower. One case reported from Kota is also a contact of corona patient.

Jaipur district has the highest 168 corona patients, Jodhpur 34 and Jhunujhu 31.

Bhilwara has 27 corona patients, Jaisalmer 28, Tonk 27, Banswara, 24, Ajmer 5, Alwar 6, Bharatpur 9, Bikaner 20, Churu 11, Dausa 6, Dholpur 1, Dungarpur 5, and Karauli and Pali two each, Sikar one, Udaipur four, Pratapgarh two, Nagaur one, Kota 18, Jhalawar 12 and Barmer one.

Overall, 19,107 samples were tested, of which 17,851 are negative. Reports of 767 samples are awaited.

--IANS
arc/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:04:20 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220008 IANS C-1-1220012-1219724
A brief comparison on the crimes registered during the same period last year shows significant decline, as crime in every segment has come down.

When it came to thefts during the lockdown period as compared to the same period in the previous year, from 12 it came down to 2 and in small petty theft cases, was a mere eight.

While four murder cases have been registered, incidents of crime against women were just 10 and one rape case was registered.

While there has been a spurt in domestic violence incidents across the country, in Kerala during the lockdown period so far just two complaints have been registered.

However, with regard to cases against people for breaking lockdown rules, more than 30,000 cases have been registered and 20,000 vehicles have been impounded.

On Friday, the police authorities pointed out that space is turning out a constraint in police stations, they have requested authorities that it would be better if the owners are asked to take away their vehicles, while the case will take its legal course.

--IANS
sg/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:04:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220012 IANS C-1-1220018-1219723
During pregnancy, indigestion is a very common and one of the few troubles including cramps, headaches, stretch marks and swollen ankles, says Dr.Seema Sharma, Senior Consultant Gynaecologist and High risk pregnancy expert at Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Chandigarh

Indigestion, also called ‘dyspepsia', one of the commonest problems of pregnancy, is a feeling of pain or discomfort in the stomach (upper abdomen, or, tummy). It occurs due to significant physical and hormonal changes and the effect of progesterone and estrogens hormones which are many times are given to mothers to support the ongoing pregnancy. As the number of weeks increase and the trimester changes, indigestion becomes more common and may be caused by your baby pushing up against your stomach. As many as 8 in 10 women may have indigestion during their pregnancy, the expert says. She underlines the symptoms and prevention measures to be taken.

Symptoms of Indigestion during pregnancy

• Morning or evening sickness

• Nausea

• Vomiting

• Constipation

• Lack of appetite to excessive salivation make life of first trimester expecting mommies miserable

The reason behind these symptoms is simply slowing of the digestive system leading to delayed gastric emptying and aversion to many smells and tastes dissuade pregnant mothers from eating much. The family pressure and expectation of the norm to eat for two to fulfil the needs of the growing foetus adds stress to mothers to be. Inability of the spouses to empathise and blame mommies for throwing unnecessary tantrums makes things even more difficult. In pregnant women, indigestion can be caused by:

• eating a big meal

• eating high-fat foods

• drinking fruit juice or caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, cola drinks)

• doing physical activity soon after eating

• feeling anxious

While, Indigestion can be uncomfortable it certainly isn't harmful for your baby. The slowing of your digestive system may even benefit your baby, as it gives your body more time to pass nutrients through the placenta.

Prevention is better than Cure

For any expecting mother, the first and foremost preventive and corrective measure required is to accept and welcome the changes associated with early pregnancy and understand pregnancy is not a disease, probably one of the confirmations of good health. Pregnancy is a "Wellness and not an Illness".

• Small and frequent meals: One must have small frequent meals instead of heavy two or three meals in a day or keep a wider gap between the first meal and subsequent meals. It is recommended eating smaller meals, more often. Although you should ensure you're well-nourished during pregnancy, overeating is likely to cause more issues with indigestion as your abdominal area is already pretty full. It can help your digestive system function so you don't overwhelm your body with large meals that can cause indigestion. Late night dinners are a strict NO. Chinese food has to be avoided as it contains ajinomoto as it can cause birth defects in babies.

• Avoid spicy, fried food and caffeinated drinks: Expecting mothers have to choose their foods wisely. It is important to cut down on caffeine, fizzy drinks and rich, spicy and fatty foods. These are more likely to cause irritation and bloating and lead to discomfort. In worse cases, it may also lead to gastritis. Mother should avoid canned or frozen foods in favour of fresh home cooked food and fruits or vegetables.

• Sitting upright: When you eat, try to maintain a good posture. This will help to take pressure off the stomach and allow your digestion system to function more efficiently.

• Smoking and Drinking: Don't smoke or drink: You should try to knock these habits on the head before pregnancy as it can harm your baby. However, it also increases chances of indigestion which could otherwise be avoided.

• Tight clothing: Being comfortable when pregnant is essential when trying to avoid distress to both yourself and your baby. Tight clothing can put even more pressure around the abdomen worsening indigestion and discomfort. This can have injurious effects to maternal and foetal health.

• Stay Hydrated : Take plenty of fluids to remain well hydrated

• De-stress: Take time out before going to sleep to calm yourself and the baby. Try meditating or having some quiet time so your body isn't tense during sleep

• Sleeping position: Try to tilt your mattress so your head and shoulders are slightly higher, approximately 10cm. This helps to prevent stomach acid coming up while you sleep. Take eight hours of sleep, plenty of rest and stay calm and happy to enjoy the journey to parenting.

It is important to know if anything or the slowing of the digestive system allows more time for nutrients to be passed through to your baby – so try not to panic!

If you have relentless pains it can be worth seeing a doctor, even if just to put your mind at ease. If your indigestion is not helped by diet and lifestyle changes, or your symptoms are more severe, your doctor may suggest medicines for indigestion that is safe to use during pregnancy. Medicines can neutralise the acid in your stomach, reduce the amount of acid produced by your stomach and stop the acid rising into your oesophagus. However it is advisable to all expecting couples to avoid self-medication.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:01:41 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220018 IANS C-1-1220014-1219722
"The eyes they see blurred images .. the vision reads double and for some days now I reconciled myself to the fact that blindness is on its way, to add to the million other medical problems that invest in me," expressing his concern, Amitabh Bachchan wrote on his blog.

The actor also went down the memory lane to recall how his mother would cure him if he ever got hurt in the eyes. "But then .. today .. thought of those early years when Ma used to take the edge of the sari, the ‘pallu' , make a soft round ball with it , blow into it to make it warm and place it on the eye .. and BAM ! problem solved ..So followed that .. hot watered a hand towel and placed it on the eyes," he wrote.

Big B later revealed that his doctor has assured him that he is not turning blind. It is just enhanced screen-time which is taking a toll on the eye. "spoke to the doc and followed his instruction of putting in prescribed eye drops every hour .. reassured me that I was not going blind - that there was far too much time being spent in front of the computer .. the eyes were tired .. thats all."

However, Bachchan sounds happy that following his mother's homely remedy has worked wonder on his eyes! He expressed: "And YES .. that old Mother's technology worked .. YEEAAHHH .. I can see now!!"

--IANS
abh/vnc


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:57:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220014 IANS C-1-1220017-1219721
"I expect Secretary (Sonny) Purdue to use all of the funds and authorities at his disposal to make sure that our food supply is stable, strong, and safe," Trump tweeted on Thursday night, adding that he wanted to "expedite help to our farmers, especially to the smaller farmers who are hurting right now", reports Xinhua news agency.

In response, Perdue tweeted that his department "is using all financial resources we have been given to develop a program that will include direct payments to farmers & ranchers hurt by COVID-19 & other procurement methods to help solidify the supply chain from producers to consumers".

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ripple across the country, crop and livestock prices have fallen to levels that threaten the livelihoods of many US farmers and ranchers, according to recent analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

Last month, 48 agriculture groups, including the AFBF, had called on Congress to expand the US Department of Agriculture's borrowing authority to assist farmers and ranchers facing serious cash flow challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Millions of producers will need help with cash flow given the rapid and unanticipated decline in commodity prices, the likely closures of ethanol processing plants, the effective elimination of direct-to-consumer sales and decline in full-service restaurant and school meal demand," the groups wrote in a letter to congressional leaders.

As of Friday, the US has recorded 466,299 coronavirus cases, the highest in the world, and 16,686 deaths.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:57:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220017 IANS C-1-1220009-1219720
It is the first such consignment to come by train to Jammu ever since the lockdown was enforced last month.

Other materials, including sanitisers and medicines, are being brought by such trains over the next few days.

"This is the first day of the parcel train which has brought masks, tomorrow medicines and sanitisers will be brought to Jammu," said an officer who was accompanying the train.

"It is a part of the arrangements being made to bring medicines to J&K," he said.

The J&K administration has said that there is no scarcity of medicines.

Last week, a consignment of medicines was flown into J&K by an Air Force aircraft.

The administration has said that essential and life saving drugs are being received as per the demand and regular supply will follow.

--IANS
zi/dpb



Sent from my iPhone

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:55:20 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220009 IANS C-1-1220016-1219719
"Cricket vs COVID-19," says Guha at the end of the video. Cricket, like every other sport has come to a standstill due to the spread of the pandemic. It has thus far infected more than 1.5 million people around the world and killed over 85,000.

The three former players, who are currently active as commentators and pundits, urged everyone to stay together and stay healthy to see out the crisis.

The measures that Guha, Anjum and Sthalekar mentioned were to wash hands frequently, maintain social distancing, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, practice respiratory hygiene, to seek medical care if you have a fever, cough or difficulty in breathing, stay informed and to follow advice of the healthcare providers.

The most recent tournament to take place in cricket was the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup. Since then, a succession of bilateral series were postponed or cancelled. India were to host South Africa for a three-match ODI series before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL). While the first match of the series was washed out, it later emerged that the second and third matches will be played on a later date. The IPL itself was eventually deferred.

--IANS
rkm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:55:18 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220016 IANS C-1-1220015-1219718

As per ontological coach and author Geeta Ramakrishnan, while this Virus crisis will have a psychological effect on all of us, you want to make it as soft and digestible as possible for the little ones.

"You can explain to your kids that Coronavirus is the name of an evil flu virus. When you usually get sick with flu, you get fever, cold and cough, and the doctor gives you medicines and you get better. But when this evil Coronavirus gives flu, it sometimes affects people's breathing," she told IANSlife.

What's required are some rules. "This evil virus sticks to you when you go out and touch things. So you must use some secret tricks which this evil Coronavirus will not like. You must wash your hands with soap and sanitizer as often as you can to keep them clean. You must not go out to meet your friends, so the virus can't stick to you. If older people have to go out to buy important things, we have to wear a mask and gloves. Parents can use paper and colors to help create stories with your kid on how the brave kids of today saved the world from the evil Coronavirus."

Parents can also use a free-to-read, digital book for primary school age children. Illustrated by Axel Scheffler, the children's guide is about the coronavirus and the measures taken to control it. It is published by Nosy Crow, and written by staff within the company.

With expert input from Professor Graham Medley of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, two head teachers and a child psychologist, the book answers key questions in simple language: What is the coronavirus? How you catch it? What happens next? And, what can one do to help?

"This pandemic is changing children's lives across the globe and will have a lasting impact on us all. Helping children understand what is going on is an important step in helping them cope and making them part of the story – this is something that we are all going through, not something being done to them. This book puts children in the picture rather than just watching it happen, and in a way that makes the scary parts easier to cope with," Professor Graham Medley said.

The book is available for free on the Nosy Crow blog.

A new story book by UNICEF - available for free in six languages including English - will also help children understand and come to terms with COVID-19. It has been produced by a collaboration of more than 50 organisations working in the humanitarian sector.

(Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in)

--IANS
sj/tb/sdr/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:55:17 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220015 IANS C-1-1220011-1219717
The city police commissioner has issued orders - valid from April 10 to April 24 - prohibiting any kind of fake or distorted information on all social media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instragam, etc.

It has also banned derogatory or discriminatory messages towards any community, or causing panic and confusion among the people, said the order signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Pranaya Ashok.

The order also prohibits any attempts to incite mistrust against the government officials or their acts to prevent the spread of Coronavirus and such messages causing danger to public health or safety or public peace.

For all such acts by any person or groups, the person designated as "Group Admin" shall be held personally liable for such content in his/her group and attract action under the relevant laws, warned DCP Ashok, who is also the Mumbai Police official Spokesperson.

--IANS
qn/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:54:55 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220011 IANS C-1-1220013-1219716
To share love and happiness in these self-isolation times, Ferns N Petals, now allows you to opt for digital gifting options such as guiitarist on video call, personalized video message and personalized e-story books along with other digital and virtual gifting choices.

Ferns N Petals has come up with technology enabled gifting options that are designed to make not just birthdays and anniversaries, but everyday of their loved ones more special and memorable while practicing social distancing, since in some cases they are separated by miles during the nation-wide lockdown in the backdrop of Covid-19.

Guitarist on Video Call is a musical gesture to uplift mood and bring joy in loved ones' life without worrying of the human contact to accept the gifts. To help an individual escape from the current stress and monotony, the guitarist will play whimsical music for 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the option chosen by the sender. As part of this musical initiative, the Guitarist contacts the sender and takes down list of songs to be played via WhatsApp video conference call with the sender and recipient. It is an extraordinary sweet way of expressing emotions in the ongoing difficult time.

Whereas the other digital gifting service ‘Personalized Video Message' promises to deliver a wonderful surprise to your loved near and far ones irrespective of the lock down. It is an accessible gifting which customers can opt to send on any special occasions. They just have to add images, a personalized heartfelt message in the text box and then FNP's Guitarist will record that message and clubs it together with the song and images to create a beautiful personalized video , which will be send to the receiver as well as the sender.

Talking about these digital gifting options, Pawan Gadia, CEO, Online & Retail, Ferns N Petals, India, UAE & Singapore, said: "At present, we all are in midst of an unprecedented crisis and staying at home is the only way to flatten the curve. In order to spread positivity in the current situation, the newly launched digital gifting options by Ferns N Petals is a great way to cheer up and gift happiness to your loved ones even when they are miles apart. Also, I believe music is a magical remedy to fight tough times with ease and that is the reason the digital gifting options are enabled with melodious music of customer's choice. As a brand it is an initiative to keep gifting alive and engage our customers with innovative heart whelming gifting ideas in quarantine".

For children, it has ‘Personalized E-Story Books'.

Parents can personalize these e-story books by making their little ones the heroes of the tales they have been reading and gift to their children to engage them into a beautiful experience. Through these e-books, your kids' favorite hero (Aladdin, Cinderella, Snow White) can be replaced by the face of kids and make them believe that they can do anything.

--IANS
pg/tb/sdr/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:54:54 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220013 IANS C-1-1220001-1219715
Wall Street's S&P 500 shares index rose 12 per cent this week, as the US central bank announced more stimulus measures to support the economy hit by the global health crisis, the BBC reported.

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve said an additional $2.3 trillion was available to support debt markets saying it would act "forcefully, pro-actively, and aggressively" to combat an economic tidal wave.

This came after data showed US jobless claims jumped by 6.6 million, taking the three-week total to more than 16 million unemployed and seeking benefits.

The Fed's chairman Jerome Powell emphasised the central bank's measures were temporary, but that there was "no limit" to the dollar amounts it can deploy for programmes already on the books, said the BBC.

Markets were also lifted by comments from Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said there may end up being fewer fatalities from the coronavirus than earlier forecast.

The US has recorded 466,299 coronavirus cases, the highest in the world, and 16,686 deaths.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:54:53 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220001 IANS C-1-1220005-1219714
Around 70 per cent of the organisations believe that the single biggest concern for continued remote working is fall in productivity, said the study titled "HR resilience planning--COVID-19 impact and preparedness".

At this time of crisis, organisations must adapt to the changing ways of working, and invest in the right IT infrastructure and build in structured mechanisms to institutionalise remote working.

Organisations that were not accustomed to virtual working have faced the heat and have had to mobilise IT infrastructure and set up data security protocols at a very short notice.

"Going forward, the opportunities for organisations lie in institutionalising digital ways of working, rethinking workforce models and resource plans, revamping traditional employee engagement models and techniques, redesigning the performance management process and restructuring benefits and policies," said Anurag Malik, Partner and India Workforce Advisory Leader, People Advisory Services, EY India.

The crisis is also forcing organisations to re-look at the HR processes and operations through a digital lens.

More than 70 per cent of the organisations are now moving to virtual methods of recruitment, and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation and Machine Learning are leading this change.

Around 87 per cent of the respondents currently have travel restrictions in place in addition to the mandated ones, said the study.

An important dimension that organisations will have to consider is the psychological impact of the crisis on their employees.

While some organisations have started virtual yoga and psychological counselling sessions, a holistic approach to employee wellness will be imperative.

Over 50 per cent of the organisations foresee medium to significant impact on employee cost, while others are still unclear, the results showed.

Many organisations have adopted an employee centric view and trying to protect the junior management, a few are also offering additional pay-outs, hazard pay to support their workforce through these tough times.

Only 22 per cent organisations are thinking about manpower optimisation in the short term (maintaining an employee centric view), while 35 per cent organisations want to look at optimisation in the future basis business impact and in line with the newer ways of working.

The survey incorporates first-hand perspective of HR Heads/CHROs (chief human resource officers) of over 100 organisations across sectors in India including retail, financial services, and technology & technology enabled services, among others.

The findings are combined with extensive secondary research and analysis, in context of the current scenario and the impact of COVID-19, EY said.

--IANS
gb/na]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:54:52 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220005 IANS C-1-1220006-1219713
In a statement, ITF said: "The job protection scheme includes a furlough for approximately half of ITF staff. The remaining staff will continue to work to sustain business critical services and essential platforms with a 10 per cent reduction in salary. The senior leadership team has taken a 20 per cent reduction in salary, while the ITF President has voluntarily taken a 30 per cent decrease for the year.

More than 900 tournaments across all ITF circuits, including the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals 2020, have been postponed till now in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and it remains uncertain when play can resume.

The ATP and WTA Tours have been suspended since early last month and are not scheduled to return until July 13. The Wimbledon Championships, for the first time since World War II, has been cancelled while the French Open has been postponed to September.

"The situation we are facing represents a fundamental challenge to our organisation and our sport," Haggerty said.

"Our purpose is to ensure the long-term growth and sustainability of our sport in collaboration with our 210 member nations, which is why we are making difficult decisions in the short term so that we can continue to deliver tennis for future generations across the globe."

The federation also said that it looking into the "various options to support nations and players during these times".

The entire sporting calendar has come to a grinding halt because of COVID-19 which has claimed more than 90,000 lives across the world thus far.

--IANS
aak/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:40:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220006 IANS C-1-1219994-1219712
The Health Department has shared the development on its website.

However, it has not shared the details of the fresh cases.

The department said that 408 samples were tested on April 9, out of which six tested positive for COVID-19.

While the active cases stand at 45, one person has succumbed. Meanwhile, two have been discharged from hospital.

The Odisha government on Thursday extended the lockdown period till April 30 to contain the spread of coronavirus.

--IANS
cd/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:40:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219994 IANS C-1-1220004-1219711
This comes after the Bollywood superstar recently donated Rs 25 crore to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's PM-CARES fund.

Yesterday, Akshay took to Twitter to express gratitude to Mumbai Police and BMC. "There's an army of people working day and night to keep us safe, our families safe. Lets together say #DilSeThankYou to them because that's the least we can do. @mybmc @MumbaiPolice," he wrote.

In a separate tweet, the actor shared: "Name : Akshay Kumar
City : Mumbai
Mere aur mere parivaar ki taraf se...
Police, Nagar Nigam ke workers, doctors, nurses, NGOs, volunteers, government officials, vendors, building ke guards ko #DilSeThankYou."

Recently, Akshay's wife, author-actress Khanna , revealed on social media what prompted him to donate such a huge amount to the PM-CARES fund. "The man makes me proud. When I asked him if he was sure as it was such a massive amount and we needed to liquidate funds, he just said, ‘ I had nothing when I started and now that I am in this position, how can I hold back from doing whatever I can for those who have nothing," she wrote.

--IANS
abh/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:38:13 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220004 IANS C-1-1220000-1219710
Of the total, eight have since recovered. One elderly woman patient died two days ago.

Of the 80 patients who are now quarantined at different places, 48 were said to be associated with the Tablighi Jamaat.

Meanwhile, district authorities have sealed 22 hotspot zones in Agra, restricting the movement of city residents.

Health workers have traced 140 people who came in contact with the Tablighis. Around 25 have been home-quarantined.

Meanwhile, despite continued efforts of government agencies, the number of complaints relating to supply of essentials has been increasing.

Vegetable prices have gone up steeply, while milk is in short supply.

The mobilisation of a large number of NGOs and charity organisations has somewhat helped ease the situation.

Business chambers, trade organisations, and professional bodies have been cooperating and supplementing the governmental efforts. The Indian Medical Association has announced a helpline number for those requiring emergency consultation.

--IANS
str/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:37:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220000 IANS C-1-1220002-1219709
The FC Bayern Munich midfielder emerged as the best player in a simulated Football Manager 20 (FM20) game, played between the best young talents in the Bundesliga.

With global football on lockdown due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, fans, players and managers alike have resorted to FM20, the game seeing a sharp spike in player numbers in the past one month.

The Bundesliga, which houses quite a few superstars in the making collaborated with Sports Interactive to find out the hottest prospect in German football through FM20.

The New Zealand international Sarpreet was adjudged the Man of the Match, finishing with a 9.0 player rating. The 21-year-old grabbed a couple of assists as his team, captained by Borussia Dortmund's Gio Reyna beat Team Joshua Zirkee (of Bayern Munich) 4-2.

Ever since signing for the European powerhouse from Wellington Phoenix last summer, Sarpreet has gone on to impress at Bayern. His consistent performances for the reserve side saw him being awarded a first-team debut for the record 28-time German champions in December last year.

Sarpreet recently revealed that his parents missed watching him make his Bundesliga debut owing to the time difference between Germany and New Zealand as they were 'probably not awake'.

Sarpreet shot into fame with 5 goals and 7 assists in the 2018-19 A-League season, playing for Wellington Phoenix, alongside Roy Krishna and David Williams, both of whom turned up for Indian Super League champions ATK.

--IANS
dm/bbh]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:34:16 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220002 IANS C-1-1219993-1219708
"In a bid to increase the country's capacity for isolation facilities, Railways is converting sleeper class coaches into Covid isolation wards suitable to act as quarantine hubs," said an official spokesperson in a statement.

The railway coach quarantine wards are expected to meet any exigency as and when the government requires.

Equipped with facilities as required by medical guidelines and paramedics, each coach will turn into an eight berth cabin for isolation.

"SWR has so far converted 270 coaches, as against a target of 312 coaches as quarantine wards as per isolation cabin prototype. This coach isolation prototype was issued by the Railway Board on March 30," said the statement.

As part of the conversion, the railway zone has detached middle berths and ladders for space and comfort, hung transparent plastic air curtains, fixed bottle holders to hold medical equipment and water bottles and created a cabin for storage and paramedics near the bathroom among others tweaks.

Among the 270 coaches, SWR's Hubballi Workshop converted 76 coaches, Mysuru Workshop (71), Bengaluru Division (61), Mysuru Division (29) and Hubballi Division (33).

Suresh Angadi, Minister of State for Railways is scheduled to visit Hubballi Workshop on Friday to review the progress.

--IANS
sth/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:32:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219993 IANS C-1-1220003-1219707
According to a CNN report on Friday, the tech giant has given two options to its workforce: Take a 12-week leave at one go or few days in a week.

Microsoft has called this initiative "12-Week Paid Pandemic School and Childcare Closure Leave" which is meant to "give our employees greater flexibility and time off as they face extended school closures".

Global tech companies with deep cash reserves have announced some measures to help their workforce.

Facebook last month said it would give $1,000 to each of its 45,000 employees.

Its CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in an internal memo that all employees will earn at least their full bonuses for their six-month review.

Most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to UNESCO.

These nationwide closures are impacting over 91 per cent of the world's student population. Several other countries have implemented localised closures impacting millions of additional learners.

"UNESCO is supporting countries in their efforts to mitigate the immediate impact of school closures, particularly for more vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, and to facilitate the continuity of education for all through remote learning," it said.

--IANS
na/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:32:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1220003 IANS C-1-1219999-1219706
"To date, 207 Covid positive cases have been confirmed. These include six deaths and 30 discharges," a health official said.

The 10 new cases surfaced between 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday noon.

--IANS
sth/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:32:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219999 IANS C-1-1219989-1219705
Over 3,000 British travellers are currently stranded in India and the charter flight from Chennai via Bengaluru is scheduled on April 20, said a statement from British Deputy High Commission here.

An additional 12 charter flights will be operated and bookings have opened on Friday.

This follows the seven charter flights announced on April 5 from Goa, Mumbai and New Delhi (April 8-12) and will take the total number of people brought back on these 19 flights to around 5,000.

The first charter flight from India arrived at London Stansted on Thursday morning with 317 British nationals on board from Goa.

"We are doing all we can to get thousands of British travellers in India home. This is a huge and complex operation which also involves working with the Indian government to enable people to move within India to get on these flights," UK Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, was quoted as saying in the statement.

"Over 300 people arrived from Goa on Thursday morning, 1,400 more will arrive over the Easter weekend and these 12 flights next week will bring back thousands more," he said.

Jan Thompson, Acting High Commissioner to India, said: "We can confirm 12 more charter flights to bring British travellers back home, on top of the flights already launched. We are extremely grateful for the support we are receiving from the government of India. Getting people home as quickly as possible remains our absolute priority," Jan Thompson, Acting High Commissioner to India was quoted a saying in the statement.

The following flights to London are scheduled for the next two weeks and British travellers should visit the India Travel Advice page to reserve seats as well as for any further information:

* Amritsar-UK: April 13, 17, 19

* Ahmedabad-UK: April 13, 15

* Goa-UK: April 14, 16

* Goa (via Mumbai)-UK: April 18

* Thiruvananthapuram (via Kochi)-UK: April 15

* Hyderabad (via Ahmedabad)-UK: April 17

* Kolkata (via Delhi)-UK: April 19

* Chennai (via Bengaluru)-UK: April 20

So far, flights have brought back British travellers from the Philippines, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nepal, Ghana, Tunisia, Algeria and Peru.

The charter flights are for UK travellers who normally reside in the UK and their direct dependants. A number of seats will be reserved for those deemed vulnerable.

To book flights and register their details, British nationals should use the city-specific webpages listed on the India Travel Advice page, the statement said.

--IANS
vj/prs
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:32:01 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219989 IANS C-1-1219997-1219704
In her latest address on Thursday, she said that the global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020, and over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year.

"It is already clear, however, that global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020, as you will see in our World Economic Outlook next week. In fact, we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," said the IMF Chief.

She said that the bleak outlook applies to advanced and developing economies alike. "This crisis knows no boundaries. Everybody hurts," she said.

Given the necessary containment measures to slow the spread of the virus, the world economy is taking a substantial hit, Georgieva said, adding that this is especially true for retail, hospitality, transport, and tourism.

In most countries, the majority of workers are either self-employed or employed by small and medium-sized enterprises and these businesses and workers are especially exposed, she said.

She also noted that the economic crisis is expected to hit vulnerable countries hardest. Emerging markets and low-income nations, across Africa, Latin America, and much of Asia, are at high risk.

With weaker health systems to begin with, many face the dreadful challenge of fighting the virus in densely populated cities and poverty-stricken slums, where social distancing is hardly an option, said the IMF Chief.

"With fewer resources to begin with, they are dangerously exposed to the ongoing demand and supply shocks, drastic tightening in financial conditions, and some may face an unsustainable debt burden."

She also noted that the emerging and low-income countries also are exposed to massive external pressure.

In the last two months, portfolio outflows from emerging markets were about $100 billion, more than three times larger than for the same period of the global financial crisis, she said. Commodity exporters are taking a double blow from the collapse in commodity prices, and remittances are expected to dwindle.

"We estimate the gross external financing needs for emerging market and developing countries to be in the trillions of dollars, and they can cover only a portion of that on their own, leaving residual gaps in the hundreds of billions of dollars. They urgently need help," Georgieva added.

--IANS
rrb/sn/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:31:20 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219997 IANS C-1-1219998-1219703
The drone images come from Hart Island, off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, which has been used for more than 150 years by city officials as a mass burial site for those with no next-of-kin, or families who cannot afford funerals, said the BBC report.

It is probable that many of the coffins are for coronavirus victims, but it was not clear whether they fall into the above categories.

Burial operations at the site have ramped up amid the pandemic from one day a week to five days a week, according to the Department of Corrections.

As of Friday, New York state now has more coronavirus cases than any single country.

The state's confirmed cases jumped by 10,000 on Thursday to 159,937, of whom 7,000 have died, the BBC reported.

The US as a whole has recorded 466,299 cases, the highest in the world and 16,686 deaths.

The news of the images have come after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had indicated earlier this week that "temporary burials" might be necessary until the crisis had passed.

"Obviously the place we have used historically is Hart Island," the BBC quoted the Mayor as saying.

Stay-at-home orders have in the meantime closed non-essential businesses in 42 states, while drastically slowing the US economy.

New data on Thursday showed unemployment claims topped 6 million for the second week in a row, bringing the number of Americans out of work over the last three weeks to 16.8 million.

Chicago meanwhile imposed a curfew on liquor sales from 9 p.m. on Thursday to stop the persistent violation of a ban on large gatherings.

The measure, due to remain in place until 30 April, comes after health officials this week said black Chicagoans account for half of all the Illinois city's coronavirus cases and more than 70 per cent of its deaths, despite making up just 30 per cent of the population.

--IANS
ksk/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:31:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219998 IANS C-1-1219995-1219702
Srikant Arja, state nodal officer stated that of the 892 COVID-19 tests conducted in the state during the past 24 hours, 17 samples were confirmed as positive cases.

Till date, 10 affected persons have been cured and discharged from hospitals in the state. The death toll in AP had touched six on Thursday, following the death of two persons in Guntur and Anantapur districts respectively.

Despite no new cases reported in the latest batch of tests, Kurnool district continues to lead with 75 cases.

With two new cases on Thursday, Anantapur district tally rose to 15 but remained far behind Guntur district where the tally stands at 51. Nellore district remained in the third position,with 48 positive cases.

--IANS
pvn/dpb
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:31:18 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219995 IANS C-1-1219992-1219701

Speaking to IANS, Ramji says it is not very difficult and one doesn't really need weights to stay fit. In fact, seven years since training a bunch of smart men to the title in the Champions Trophy, Ramji is surprised at how the whole perception of staying fit has changed.

"Trust me, you can maintain top fitness even at home. Just need to know your body and what works for you. I just don't get the obsession over weight training these days. Yes, it definitely works for some athletes, but it is not the only road to staying fit and healthy. I have been with the Indian team when it had some brilliant cricketers, but more importantly, smart people who knew what their body needed.

"I never saw a Sachin Tendulkar, Dhoni, Virender Sehwag or Rohit Sharma obsess over weight training. Yes, they did hit the gym, but there was a reason when they did and not because they would lift heavy weights. The likes of Sachin would work a lot on their wrists and shoulders. Let's keep Dhoni aside because I honestly believe he was a natural. You cannot go through a career like his and with the workload he had and still count injuries on your fingers," he laughed.

"But coming back to the others, you will be surprised to know how smart Sehwag was with his training. He knew exactly what he wanted. He did a lot of core exercise because that is where the energy and power really come from. Similarly, for Rohit, have you seen his sixes? I would say along with Yuvraj Singh, he is one of them who hits them really long. But again, I never saw him do heavy weights in the gym.

"The problem is that we tend to forget that what works for someone doesn't necessarily work for the other. You cannot generalise. You would again be surprised to know that Zaheer Khan was another cricketer who knew almost every muscle in his body. He knew exactly what he wanted to train and how so that he has the right strength in his hamstring and lower back to help him deliver."

Talking about the 2011 team that won the World Cup, Ramji says: "You had brilliant guys there, but then, if you check the statistics, around 7-8 of our starting XI were in their 30s. It doesn't come easy. But these guys trusted me and I knew how to keep them at the top of their fitness game. The only injury we had was Ashish (Nehra) breaking his finger. To play in that heat in India and to be injury free, must have done something right (laughs)."

So then, why are there so many injuries in the current team when they are not only young, but have top-class trainer at their disposal? Ramji has quite a few reasons for the rise in injuries in this Indian team.

"Travel can be one reason, improper food habits is another cause for concern, workload issues is there, wrong exercise pattern is a reason, wrong choice of exercises is an issue, another problem can be trying to reach advance level too fast without the body being ready for it and finally, lack of comprehensive training with focus on the overall body rather than particular muscles," he pointed.

Ramji then moves to one of India's best when it comes to fitness and fielding -- Ravindra Jadeja. "He doesn't do weights at all and yet, look at his throws. He loves running and sprinting and the gym training is just basic. Jaddu is one of the best in the business and you have your answers there. Again, it is not wrong to do heavy weight training but one wrong movement and you are down with injuries," he said.

But Ramji confesses he too learnt from his mistakes. Going back to his initial days at the MRF Pace Foundation, he recollects how he was initially training the boys as per the Australian module before realising that you cannot have a set pattern when it comes to fitness.

"I have made mistakes, but thankfully, I learnt from them and tried to better myself. When I started off at the pace foundation, I would initially follow the Australian patterns. But I soon realised, it wasn't getting me the desired results and that is when I decided to make my own charts and prepare routines as per the needs of the Indian boys," he smiled.

--IANS
bbh/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:17:24 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219992 IANS C-1-1219987-1219700
At least 46 new positive cases and 2 more deaths were reported on Friday morning, as the spread of local infection continues to grow in the state. In the last 12 hours, Vadodara saw 17 new positive cases, followed by 11 cases in Ahmedabad, 5 in Rajkot, four in Bharuch and Bhavnagar, two cases each in Kutch and Patan and Gandhinagar registered one case.

Two more positive patients of the virus succumbed on Friday, as a male (40) with comorbid conditions like kidney problems, admitted in the Civil hospital and another male (81) with comorbidity like hypertension and diabetes, admitted in the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS) hospital, Gandhinagar, died. Four positive patients were discharged after treatment.

Ahmedabad has the maximum number of positive cases (153), followed by Vadodara (39), Surat (24), Bhavnagar (22), Rajkot (18), Gandhinagar and Patan (14 each), Kutch and Bharuch (4 each), Porbandar (3), Mehsana, Gir-Somnath, Chhota Udepur and Anand (two each) and Panchmahal, Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha and Dahod (one each).

"More positive cases of Corona being detected is a good sign and is not a cause of worry. This was expected. We have also found that a doctor in Ahmedabad serving in the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Program of the government has been found positive of the virus. Another doctor from the Sola Civil hospital has also been found positive. But it needs to be found out whether they contracted the virus while on duty or through their social contacts," said Jayanti Ravi, the Gujarat health secretary.

Despite the secretary's claims, it is a matter of concern that some new positive cases have also sprung up in areas which are out of hotspots. In Ahmedabad, apart from the hotspots, positive cases were found in Manekchowk, Juhapura, New Vadaj and Dudheshwar areas. Similarly new cases have been found outside the hotspots in Vadodara as well.

"Out of the total 259 active cases, the condition of 257 is stable, whereas the condition of 2 is critical and they are on ventilator," added Ravi.

"In the last 24 hours, we have taken 978 samples for the testing, where 67 have been found positive, 635 negative and 276 are pending," added Ravi.

"The total number of quarantined in the state is 12,352, where 11,015 are home quarantined, 1170 in government facilities and 167 in private facilities," added Ravi.

--IANS
amc/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:12:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219987 IANS C-1-1219991-1219699
The FIG executive committee held a video conference on Thursday to discuss major issues raised by the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games to July 2021, reports Xinhua news agency.

In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has extended the Tokyo Olympics' qualification period until 29 June 2021, giving a larger window for the completion of the qualification process.

While almost 75 per cent of the 324 Olympic places in gymnastics have already been allocated, the remaining qualifying events, which had been planned to take place between mid-March and the end of May 2020, were disrupted by the pandemic.

The Apparatus World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan had to be stopped on March 13 before the competition had been completed. The executive committee decided that the results of the qualification stage must be considered as the final rankings, with points to be awarded accordingly.

All remaining gymnastics qualifying World Cups and continental championships that were not run as originally expected will be re-scheduled once the current restrictions on travel and group gatherings are eased.

Athletes or National Olympic Committees who have already confirmed their places at the 2020 Olympic Games will compete as planned.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:12:17 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219991 IANS C-1-1219990-1219698
Traditional economic recovery estimates, such as surveys and interviews, are usually costly, time-consuming and do not scale-up well.

However, in the new study published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers were able to accurately estimate the downtime and recovery of small businesses in countries affected by three different natural hazards using aggregated social media data.

"The challenge of nowcasting the effect of natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and pandemics on assets, people and society has never been more timely than ever for assessing the ability of countries to recover from extreme events," said the study's lead author Filippo Simini, Senior Lecturer at University of Bristol in Britain.

"Often, small to medium-sized businesses slip through the net of traditional monitoring process of recovery. We noticed in areas struck by natural hazard events that not all areas and populations react in the same way," he said.

The method relies on the assumption that businesses tend to publish more social media posts when they are open and fewer when they are closed, hence analysing the aggregated posting activity of a group of businesses over time it is possible to infer when they are open or closed.

Using data from the public Facebook posts of local businesses collected before, during and after three natural disasters comprising the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, the 2017 Chiapas earthquake in Mexico, and the 2017 hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the team charted the number of smaller urban businesses who were closed and then were able to measure their recovery post-event.

The team validated their analysis using field surveys, official reports, Facebook surveys, Facebook posts text analysis and other studies available in literature.

Importantly, the framework works in "real time" without the need for text analysis which can be largely dependent on language, culture or semantic analysis and can be applied to any size area or type of natural disaster, in developed and developing countries, allowing local governments to better target the distribution of resources, said the study.

--IANS
gb/na]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:10:12 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219990 IANS C-1-1219986-1219697
Only emergency health services and distribution of food aid will be allowed in the camps, bdnews24 quoted Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Md Mahbub Alam Talukder as saying on Thursday.

"We will not allow people to roam about for good reason," he said.

The district's Deputy Commissioner Kamal Hossain imposed the ban on travel to and from the district on Wednesday.

The inhabitants of the district will be under lockdown for an indefinite period, he said.

The authorities announced the shutdown of all tourist spots in Cox's Bazar last month.

"In fact, an unofficial lockdown of the refugee camps had already been there since March 11," bdnews24 quoted Mahbub as saying.

Vehicles moving into the camps for emergency reasons will require permission of his office, he said.

Army personnel sealed off the camps while police and Rapid Action Battalion were patrolling inside, Mahbub said.

The number of infections in Bangladesh has increased to 330, with 20 dead.

Most of the Rohingya refugees arrived in the camps following a military crackdown in the neighbouring state in 2017, said a BBC reported.

Almost 750,000 crossed the border, joining hundreds of thousands of refugees already living in Cox's Bazar.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:06:48 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219986 IANS C-1-1219988-1219696
An analysis of 10 on-demand streaming series, published online in Tobacco Control which is an international peer-reviewed journal from the BMJ, revealed that the extent of tobacco imagery and brand placement in on-demand streaming service content in India is high, while compliance with the rules is low.

The researcher teams were from the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), a central scheme of the Indian government; Health Promotion Division, Public Health Foundation of India; Tobacco Free Initiative, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva; Onbeyond LLC, Fairfax, California; and Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco.

"There is no reason to expect that the effects of exposure to tobacco imagery in streaming shows should be any different than the effects of tobacco imagery in films," the authors wrote.

To reach this conclusion, the researchers held focus group discussions with school and college students, aged 15 to 24, in New Delhi, to find out which streaming services they used the most and what they watched.

Based on these discussions, the researchers came up with the 10 most popular series, comprising 188 episodes.

All but two of the series were streamed on Netflix; the rest were streamed on Amazon Prime Video. Only two of the series were Indian productions.

The 10 series were: The Marvellous Mrs Maisel (rated 16+); Stranger Things (16+); Bodyguard (16+); Riverdale (13+); Narcos (16+); Sacred Games (18+); Mirzapur (18+); Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (16+); 13 Reasons Why (16+); and The Crown (16+).

The researchers used a validated method (Breathe California) to count the number of tobacco incidents in each series.
The analysis showed that 70 per cent of the series depicted tobacco incidents which ranged from zero to 1652 in The Marvellous Mrs Maisel.

More than half of the total number of episodes (57.4 per cent) contained at least one such incident.

Narcos contained 833 incidents; The Crown 599; Stranger Things 233; Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 171; Mirzapur 78; and Sacred Games 67.

The Marvellous Mrs Maisel (18 episodes over two seasons) had the highest average number of tobacco incidents (87.5) per episode for the entire series, followed by The Crown (20 episodes over two seasons) with 29, and Narcos (30 episodes over three seasons) with 26.5.

"Indian productions contained fewer tobacco incidents per episode and per hour than those produced elsewhere," the findings showed.

Four out of the 10 series depicted tobacco brands, including Mayburn, Camel, Marlboro, Salem and Newport. All these series were foreign productions.

"But none of the series that included tobacco incidents complied with the tobacco-free film and TV rules in India," the study authors emphasized.

According to the researchers, the rules, which are designed to protect young people, should be more rigorously enforced.
Almost 266 million people aged 15 and older use tobacco in India, and the resulting health problems are "substantial," the researchers added.

Since 2012, any film or TV programme containing tobacco imagery in India must include prominent audio-visual anti-tobacco health warnings for specified periods of time, irrespective of whether it's produced in India or elsewhere.

"On-demand streaming content providers and governments should heed the lessons learnt from the film industry and apply the same rules to include tobacco imagery in the content available through on-demand streaming platforms," the study said.

It's clear that the legislation "is blatantly being violated in this new media, indicating the need for better enforcement of existing rules in India and updating the guidelines for implementation of Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control," they elaborated.

--IANS
na/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 13:06:47 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219988 IANS C-1-1219982-1219695
With 5 new positive cases on Friday, Mumbai's Dharavi slum now has 22 cases, up from Thursday's 17, said a Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation official.

Two others who attended the Tablighi Jamaat even in Delhi are also found positive in Mumbai, and 3 new cases were added from Dadar who include two nurses from the private Sushrusha hospital.

Elsewhere in the state, Pune notched 9 new cases, Akola 4, Buldhana 2 and Ratnagiri 1.

Maharashtra notched a whopping 25 deaths, the highest so far, taking the state total to 97.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:47:13 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219982 IANS C-1-1219975-1219694
In a video shared on Twitter by former UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim, he said: "Bravo! Baljit Singh and his family are running the best Indian restaurants in Norway.

"During the coronavirus lockdown they give fabulous Indian food free of charge to health personal at the frontline and to poor people. Great service."

Congratulating Singh, the Embassy of India in Oslo said he has been doing wonderful social service for the past many years and making India proud.

"Keep up the good job," it said in a Facebook post.

--IANS
vg/dpb/ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:46:31 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219975 IANS C-1-1219981-1219693
The audio clip claimed that the medicine had come from the USA and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of targeting a particular community.

District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said that the message went viral on April 5, following which police began a manhunt for the culprits.

He said one of the accused Mukesh was arrested first, who claimed to have received the clip from his friend Shakeel, who was also arrested later. Both accused are rickshaw- pullers.

"The police Cyber Cell is trying to trace the links and identify the person who put this message in circulation," the official said.

--IANS
amita/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:44:08 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219981 IANS C-1-1219984-1219692
The WFP, a UN agency, feeds more than 12 million Yemenis a month, 80 per cent of whom were in areas controlled by Houthi forces, said the BBC report.

The Houthis seized control of much of the west of the country just over five years ago, since when it has been engaged in a conflict against forces backed by Saudi Arabia and eight other Arab states.

The conflict has created a major humanitarian crisis.

The UN has said that some donors have stopped their aid over concerns that deliveries were being obstructed by Houthi forces.

Lise Grande, the UN's senior representative in Yemen, told the BBC that the lack of funds would affect every aspect of UN's assistance in the world's biggest humanitarian aid operation as the threat of coronavirus looms.

"It couldn't come at a worse time with COVID-19 threatening."

Yeman on Friday reported the first case of the novel coronavirus.

Some donors, including the US have already cut aid, claiming that donations were being obstructed and diverted in areas under Houthi control.

Some said there were long delays in permits and permissions and said staff had been harassed and detained.

However Houthi officials hit back accusing aid agencies, including WFP of corruption and mismanagement. Months of negotiations led to some changes however aid agencies say they are not enough.

A spokesperson for the UK's Department for International Development told the BBC that it has not suspended aid.

However it was "extremely concerned that Houthi restrictions and interference in in the delivery of humanitarian assistance is now forcing donors and UN agencies to scale back their assistance in northern Yemen".

A unilateral two-week ceasefire called by the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Syria came into effect on Thursday.

The coalition said it wanted to support UN efforts for a political solution and help stop coronavirus spread.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:44:07 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219984 IANS C-1-1219976-1219691
He said that as a nation, "we owe them and their families a huge debt of gratitude for the tremendous personal sacrifices each of them is making".

Rahul Gandhi's open letter dated April 9 to these workers lauded their dedication and courage for putting their lives at risk on the frontlines of India's battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The greatest form of patriotism is to serve our country in her hour of need. Our community workers are true patriots, our unsung heroes, who toil tirelessly away from the limelight, to keep our communities safe in the midst of this grave crisis," wrote the former Congress President.

"I salute each and every community worker for their service to the nation and pray that they and their families will remain safe through this pandemic."

"In an environment where fear and misinformation pose a bigger danger than the virus itself, community workers have a key role to play in educating people about the dangers of COVID-19 and the manner in which it is transmitted," Rahul Gandhi pointed out.

Rahul said that he hoped when this crisis is over their exemplary services will serve as a catalyst for deep-rooted changes in their work conditions.

--IANS
miz/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:41:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219976 IANS C-1-1219978-1219690

"Hello sir, I am 9-month pregnant with twins. There is no possible commuting way for my checkups due to lockdown. Now I am having contracts n wanted to check with doctor," tweets a woman from somewhere in Telangana. She was assured help is on the way.

Ever since the lockdown began last month, Telangana's senior cabinet minister K.T. Rama Rao aka KTR has emerged as the key point of contact for people in distress.

From someone in a remote part of Telangana with emergency healthcare need to people stuck in Hyderabad and wanting to rush to their native places in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for attending funerals of their near and dear ones to those living abroad and concerned about the wellbeing of families backhome, all tweet him.

Every day, KTR receives dozens of requests on various social media platforms, primarily on Twitter. Many people tweet him on behalf of the poor and the needy.

"We will take care @KTRoffice please assist," comes the assurance in response to someone's tweet about treatment of a seven-year-old daughter of daily wage workers.

"My grandmother passed away this morning. I am struck in Hyderabad. My mother is alone in my native. Could you please help me reach my native Kakinada," tweets Sandeep Yendamuri.

"Sorry for your loss Sandeep. @KTRoffice please assist immediately," comes the reply.

The young and dynamic minister, son of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, on Thursday requested the state police chief to explore the possibility of bringing back a group of people from the state stuck in Varanasi.

He promised help for treatment of a poor woman in Nizamabad, who fell down after giving birth to twins, suffered blood clot in the brain and required Rs 5 lakh for urgent surgery.

He also takes suo moto note of newspaper reports and give necessary instruction. After reading a report in a vernacular daily about two girls losing their parents, he immediately requested Siddipet collector on Twitter to take care of them by getting them into a residential school

KTR also reacts to some ugly incident like two persons from northeast being denied entry into supermarket for they looked like foreigners. "This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Racism in any form should be dealt with sternly," he tweets and asks police to send out a clear message.

KTR has always been just a tweet away for citizens seeking help but in the lockdown period his office is busy attending to numerous calls from people in distress.

"After the lockdown came into effect, lot of citizens stranded in various places had emergency needs to either go out or get to something at the doorstep. The minister is responding to all SOS calls because people don't know where to approach. They tweet on the minister's personal handle and he tags his office," Konatham Dileep, Director, Digital Media, Government of Telangana told IANS.

The ministera¿s office which has one personal secretary and two officers on special duty divide work among themselves and coordinate with concerned government agency or private person to resolve the issue

"Lot of requests relate to healthcare emergencies or untoward incidents like death in the family. What the minister feels is that in this hour of crisis all support mechanisms currently available will be overburdened. We have services like 100, 104, 108 and different helplines but because lakhs of people will be in need of those services they are overwhelmed. He feels there is need for another channel to extend help to those in need. That is reason he is responding," said Dileep, a key member of KTR team.

Though holding several key portfolios like industry and commerce, information technology, municipal administration and urban development and shouldering key responsibility in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as its acting president, he is quite active over the social media.

The suave and affable leader has 2.1 million followers over Twitter handle KTRTRS.

Popular among techies and students alike, he always tweets to encourage youngsters for their achievements and innovations.

He takes time out to reply to tweets by youngsters about their innovative ideas or designs to combat COVID-19 situation and asks his office or a senior bureaucrat to look into the same.

--IANS
ms/rs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:41:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219978 IANS C-1-1219983-1219689
Professor Trisha Greenhalgh at the University of Oxford and colleagues said despite limited evidence, masks "could have a substantial impact on transmission with a relatively small impact on social and economic life."

"Masks are simple, cheap, and potentially effective. We believe that wearing both in the home (particularly by the person showing symptoms) and also outside the home in situations where meeting others is likely (for example, shopping, public transport), they could have a substantial impact on transmission with a relatively small impact on social and economic life," said researchers.

However, the question of whether masks will reduce transmission of COVID-19 in the general public is contested.Although clinical trial evidence on the widespread use of facemasks as a protective measure against COVID-19 is lacking, at the time of writing increasing numbers of agencies and governments, including the US Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention, are now advocating that the general population wears masks, but others, such as the World Health Organization and Public Health England are not.

Some researchers argue that people are unlikely to wear masks properly or consistently, and may ignore wider infection control measures like handwashing. Others say the public should not wear them since healthcare workers need them more.But the current study, published in the journal The BMJ challenge these arguments and suggest that in the context of COVID-19, many people could be taught to use masks properly and may well do this consistently without abandoning other important anti-contagion measures.

According to the researchers, if the political will is there, mask shortages can be quickly overcome by repurposing manufacturing capacity - something that is already happening informally. They concluded that it is time to act without waiting for randomised controlled trial evidence.

Even researchers at Tsinghua University in China agreed that the public should wear face masks because the benefits are plausible and harm unlikely. They also said that cloth masks are likely to be better than wearing no mask at all.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:37:45 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219983 IANS C-1-1219969-1219688
Priyanka Gandhi demanded that the UP government should distribute masks as it has been made mandatory. She also demanded to distribute more sanitizers.

She said, "In Bhilwara, 24 lakh people were screened in 9 days and now the infected persons have been identified. Comparatively in UP, the rate of testing is less and testing can be Ramban (Panacea) against the disease."

"Mild to moderate high risk cases" should be treated at war footing which will create less pressure on ICU and in isolation wards, and quarantine wards should have humane approach, suggested Priyanka Gandhi.

There are reports of mismanagement and pathetic condition of the quarantine centres and this should be done properly and the government should create awareness and confidence so that people should come out on their own.

She suggested that NGOs, social activists and political workers' help can be taken and the Congress workers are ready for any help.

"This is a time when political ideology should be kept aside and everyone should be helped and there should be fearless atmosphere to contain this disease," Priyanka said.

She also said that the needs of the family members of those who are quarantined should be taken care of. There is also a need to create an atmosphere in which people come out on their own and report cases, she added. `

Quoting nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Priyanka Gandhi said that with helpful administration, correct information and people's participation, one can fight this pandemic.

--IANS
miz/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:37:44 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219969 IANS C-1-1219985-1219687
This Exynos chip will feature two Cortex-A78, two A76 and four A55 cores. The GPU will be a Mali MP20 based on a new architecture from ARM, code named Borr.

The A78 and Borr cores are yet to be officially announced, GSMArena reported.

The chipset is expected to release this year and will be manufactured using Samsung's ‘5nm LPE' process.

The custom Exynos SoC will include Google's own Visual Core ISP and NPU instead of Samsung's.

The firm has major plans for its Exynos line of processors in the future, this includes switching from Mongoose CPU cores to stock ARM cores.

Further, the company is reportedly even ditching the Mali GPUs it has been using for long.

Last year it was reported that Google is in the process of poaching chip designers from companies like Broadcom, Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm.

Now, it appears that the search engine giant may have settled with Samsung's Exynos line.

Some reports also claim that even Facebook can make use of the Exynos chipsets in their upcoming Oculus AR and VR products.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:37:43 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219985 IANS C-1-1219977-1219686
Exporters, particularly those months SME segment, have been badly hit by COVID-19 pandemic as not only their production has come to a grinding halt due to lock down but several are also facing cancellation of their orders by overseas buyers.

Under the special drive launched by Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), all refund and drawback claims of exporters pending upto April 7 will be disposed within the current month. The drive shall be in place till April 30.

It is expect we'd the exporters have refund and drawback claims amounting to about Rs 10,000 crore. It's immediate refund is expected to provide much needed liquidity to exporters who are facing existential problems with several also looking to wind up operations.

The CBIC drive follows government announcement early we this week to issue all the pending income-tax refunds up to Rs 5 lakh, and all pending GST and Custom refunds. The decision for GST and Customs refund would provide benefit to around 1 lakh business entities, including MSMEs, a government statement had said.

CBIC has directed that officers of the level of principal commissioners and special commissioners to personally monitor the performance of the refund drive closely on a daily basis and suitably guide the officers convened to maximise the disposal without delays. However, the officers would be guided by all legal provisions, notifications, circulars and instruction while processing refunds.

All communication between officers and exporters would be done through email as part of efforts to minimise physical contact during COVID-19 pandemic.

--IANS
sn/rs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:19:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219977 IANS C-1-1219979-1219685
The show will be hosted by Jatin Sapru at 7 & 9 pm on the Star Sports network and Disney+ Hotstar app.

Among the discussions this week will be the future of M.S. Dhoni, who last played international cricket during Team India's semi-final exit against New Zealand at the 2019 World Cup in England.

The experts on the show will weigh in on India opener Rohit Sharma being left out of this year's Wisden list and will also look back at the ‘Little Master' Sunil Gavaskar rewriting history books in 1971, when he notched up 774 runs against West Indies in the series.

While the world of sport has come to a grinding halt and with cricket-starved fans eagerly waiting for enriching content, ‘Cricket Connected' has been their one-stop destination to engage with their favourite experts and keep them connected with the sport they love.

Every week, ‘Cricket Connected' gives fans an opportunity to connect with experts through different segments such as ‘#AskStar' & ‘Cricket Recreated' thus giving them an opportunity to share their favourite cricket moments and get featured on the show.

With an aim to involve young fans, a special segment ‘Kids Connected' will give Gen Next a chance to share home-made videos of themselves doing commentary from which the experts will choose a winner from the selected lot.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:19:18 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219979 IANS C-1-1219974-1219684
The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) usually meets in April every year to address the state budget and Cabinet reshuffling, but it has been closely watched from outside for any glimpse into the reclusive state's stance on foreign affairs, including its stance on denuclearization talks with the US, said the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.

Friday's meeting, however, was expected to centre on discussions of major domestic issues, given that Pyongyang has been making all-out efforts to block the outbreak of COVID-19 on its soil.

North Korea is among just a few countries in the world that claim to have no coronavirus infections, generating speculation that it might be hiding an outbreak.

Pyongyang has tightened control of its borders with China, where the coronavirus originate late December. It has also toughened quarantine criteria and restricted the movement of people and goods.

In particular, the border closure with China could weigh on its already moribund economy long crippled by global sanctions, as it depends heavily on the neighboring ally for its trade.

It was unclear whether leader Kim Jong-un will attend the SPA meeting.

Kim attended last year's meeting to give a policy speech at the session.

Earlier on Friday, North Korean state media reported that Kim has supervised a mortar firing drill, Yonhap News Agency reported.

It did not provide details on when and where the drill took place, but such military activity is usually reported a day after it happened.

Friday's session was also drawing keen attention as Pyongyang could send a message to the US amid a stalemate in denuclearization talks, which have stalled since a no-deal summit in Hanoi between Kim and American President Donald Trump in February 2019.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:11:39 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219974 IANS C-1-1219968-1219683
"We are really the last bastion in the national effort against the pandemic," Admiral Singh said in his address to his men.

He said that Coronavirus has had an unprecedented and extraordinary impact across the globe, as also for India. "We all have soon come around to realising that the danger is real, imminent and unprecedented," he said.

For the Navy, Admiral Singh said that they have taken certain measures in consonance with the government, including stoppage of recruitment and training; freeze on movements and transfers; stoppage of work, except those related to national security, health and essential services.

He expressed satisfaction that all personnel and communities have risen to the occasion and pro-actively come forward with a sense of commitment, courage, imagination and ingenuity.

"In particular, our medical teams, yard personnel, NWWA and ops/security/admin staff have been at the forefront, and deserve support and recognition," he said.

He said that the force medical teams have set up Corona care centres, quarantine facilities and isolation wards in short time span; 24 hr helplines, and COVID control centres to monitor the situation.

In terms of support to civil administration, he said that ships and aircraft remain on standby to extend support to Indian Ocean Region nations and island territories.

"Some support activities undertaken include airlifting of doctors for training, and blood samples for testing, from Goa to Pune; and movement of masks from Delhi to Goa," he said.

He also said that the challenge is only likely to intensify in the days and weeks ahead, requiring the force to further augment our preparedness.

"It can no longer be business as usual. We have to take certain concrete measures to make sure that we are geared and prepared to tackle the full onslaught of the virus," he said.

He also cited three priorities for the force. "We have to redouble our efforts to make sure that our personnel and families continue to remain safe and healthy," he said.

Admiral Singh pointed that care givers cannot afford to become care seekers.

"We also have to make sure that our operational assets, especially ships and submarines, remain free from the Virus," he said.

Indian Navy chief said that physical distancing remains a challenge for any warship or submarine. "This requires us to apply ourselves, to make sure that our personnel and our readiness is not compromised. Follow physical distancing norms; adhere to advisories; screen personnel, using the word 'Physical', because socially in the Navy we remain cohesive and close, but physically we will maintain distance," he said.

He also stressed that the spirit of innovation, sense of generosity and attitude of selfless service must continue to steer collective efforts.

"Finally, we have to keep our guard up and retain our sights firmly on full combat readiness. There can be no leeway on this count. Operation readiness must remain an important priority," he said.

--IANS
sk/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:06:14 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219968 IANS C-1-1219971-1219682
The first corona death of Assam, also the first in northeastern region, was reported from Hailakandi district in its southern part.

"Faijul Haque Barbhyan, 65, from Hailakandi district expired a few minutes ago at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital due to COVID-19. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family," Sarma said in a tweet.

Barbhyan's swab sample had tested positive on Tuesday. He had travel history to Saudi Arabia. He returned to his home recently via Delhi.

According to Silchar hospital's officials, the patient, a former employee of Madrassa Education, had turned critical on Thursday and was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit.

Of the total 34 positive cases in five northeastern states -- Assam (29), Manipur (2), Mizoram (1), Arunachal Pradesh (1) and Tripura (1) -- 28 took part in a Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi last month. A Manipuri woman and a Mizoram man tested positive last month after they returned from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands respectively.

A 52-year-old trader in Assam's Kamrup (Metro) district has also tested positive for coronavirus.

--IANS
sc/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:06:13 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219971 IANS C-1-1219973-1219681
"Probably technically the best batsman (Tendulkar) I ever saw. The hardest batsman to get out. I think Sachin, technically, didn't have a weakness. Part of you hoped that he made a mistake," Fox Sports quoted Clarke as saying on the Big Sports Breakfast radio show.

Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket in 2013, scored 15,921 and 18,426 runs respectively in 200 Tests and 463 matches he played for India. He holds the record for scoring the maximum number of centuries (100) in international cricket.

The 39-year-old termed Virat Kohli as the best batsman across all three formats at present.

"His ODI and T20 records are phenomenal and he's also found a way to dominate Test cricket. What Kohli and Tendulkar have in common is they love making big hundreds," Clarke said.

Recently, legendary West Indies batsman Brian Lara had stated Tendulkar, was not "but is one of the greatest" to have played the glorious game of cricket.

"Sachin Tendulkar not was but is one of the greatest to have played our glorious game," Lara had said in an Instagram post.

--IANS
aak/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:05:10 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219973 IANS C-1-1219956-1219680

In the absence of adequate food in the populated areas of the state capital and other popular destinations when close to 8.6 billion people staying indoors following the COVID-19 clampdown, the monkeys are no more dangling there.

They have, it appears, made a tactical retreat into the woods, till their predecessors win the war against the pandemic.

Wildlife officials say without tourists on the streets in most of the resorts, monkeys entered to nearby forests for the natural vegetation to forge.

Local residents are stunned by how they moved to the outskirts of cities and towns on their own.

Old-timers say in Shimla that the city hasn't been rid of monkeys for decades. It is time to grow natural food in their habitat when the coronavirus is defeated so they could not return to the 'concrete' jungle.

Sandeep Rattan, Assistant Director with the Forest Department's wildlife wing, has been monitoring three troupes of monkey in the Jakhu residential area of Shimla for quite some time.

"With the imposition of the city lockdown, there is a shortage of foodstuff in human wastes," Rattan told IANS.

With the closure of restaurants, shops and temples and no humans on the streets, the monkeys have moved to nearby villages and forest areas where they are feeding on natural vegetation, he said.

Now only some dominant ones remain in town, wildlife veterinary surgeon Rattan said.

"We got reprieve from the marauding monkeys after a long, long time. We are praying they should not come back with the lockdown getting over," octogenarian Ramesh Sud said, while pointing towards an iron grill erected outside his home to prevent straying of monkeys.

As per the last census conducted in 2015, Himachal Pradesh has a population of 2.07 lakh monkeys.

Barring Lahaul-Spiti district and some pockets in Kinnaur district, the state is in the grip of monkey menace as they have caused crop losses worth hundreds of crores of rupees in recent years.

As the religious sentiments prevent the people from kill the monkeys, their population is multiplying and their menace has increased manifold in cities and villages.

Marauding monkeys, prowling in gangs on streets of Shimla, Kasauli, Chail, Manali and other places create panic among residents and tourists. They have been causing havoc by biting passersby and snatching food.

Pictures of monkeys drinking from abandoned coke bottles and carrying food wrappers up into the trees are common once.

Officials say on an average at least 50 monkey bite cases are being reported every month in the Rippon Hospital in Shimla alone.

In Shimla's localities like Jakhu, Tutikandi, Nabha, Phagli, Kaithu, Summer Hill, Tutu, Boileauganj, Chotta Shimla and Sanjauli, the residents have literally converted their houses into jails by erecting iron grills on the doors and windows to check the intrusion of monkeys.

Wildlife officials said over a decade-and-a-half ago monkeys were trapped from streets of Shimla and banished to the jungles -- a technique to reduce their population.

But Rattan believes the translocation has not resolved the conflict rate, conversely such translocations shifted the problem to new areas instead of resolving the issue.

Activists working for the cause of farmers have been demanding the monkeys should either be eliminated professionally by hiring hunters or lifting the ban on the export of monkeys for bio-medical research to check their rising numbers.

The central government had banned the export of wild animals in 1978.

In written reply last month, Forest Minister Govind Thakur informed the assembly apart from monkey sterilization, the state has got the monkey declared as vermin in the most affected 91 tehsils and sub-tehsils of the state and within the Shimla Municipal Corporation.

He said for designing effective strategy of mitigating damage by monkeys, the population estimation of monkeys has been carried with the help of primate specialists from the Wildlife Institute of India and the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural Historyin December 2019 and the estimation report is under preparation.

The habitat enrichment plantation scheme is being implemented across the state under which fruit bearing trees of different species are being planted in 10 adversely affected forests for providing natural food resource for the monkeys and other wild animals so that they may not come over to agricultural fields.

Also, the Shimla Municipal Corporation has been requested to adopt effective waste management practices to help managing the conflict as throwing of waste specially food items lead to increase in the commensalism in monkeys, the minister said.

Commensalism refers to increased dependence of monkeys on human food.

Himachal Pradesh has declared nine species of wild animals as crop damaging animals.

They are the rhesus monkey, wild boar, blue bull, porcupine, jackal, chittal, sambar, hare and the parrot. All of them are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

--IANS
vg/rs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:05:09 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219956 IANS C-1-1219970-1219679
Disney on April 3 launched Disney Plus (Disney+) in India via Hotstar, a popular on-demand video platform, at a starting price of Rs 399 a year.

The company announced it has now surpassed 50 million paid subscribers globally.

"We are truly humbled that Disney+ is resonating with millions around the globe, and believe this bodes well for our continued expansion throughout Western Europe and into Japan and all of Latin America later this year," said Kevin Mayer, Chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International.

"Great storytelling inspires and uplifts, and we are in the fortunate position of being able to deliver a vast array of great entertainment rooted in joy and optimism on Disney+," Mayer added.

Disney+ originally set a target of 60 million to 90 million subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024, when it was first launched in the US in November.

Disney+ amassed 26.5 million subscribers during the first quarter of 2020 in February. The new numbers indicate that Disney+ added 21.4 million subscribers in just over two months.
Netflix, the leader in the segment, announced that it has reached 167 million global subscribers in January.

Disney+ has also been rolled out in eight Western European countries, including the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland.

--IANS
wh/na
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:05:08 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219970 IANS C-1-1219855-1219678
"We were clear from the top, our women propel themselves. Their flaws, highs, crashes, celebrations are theirs. They are not a consequence of the men in their lives and therefore they will not pin either what's wrong or for that matter what's right in their lives on the men they share their lives with," Rangita told IANS.

"That is the only way this show is about them, their stories, their lives. And that is what sets us apart from every other show/movie made in the Indian content space about women. There is zero male-bashing. The men are lovely, there are times that as an audience you want to yell at my girls because they're letting down the men in their lives. Sometimes you even love the men more than my girls do. It's one of the things we pride ourselves on; there is no black or white. The world we live in is many shades of grey," she added.

Through the prism of "Four More Shots Please!", Rangita tells the story of four unapologetically flawed women as they discover life while balancing their friendship in Mumbai. They are not ashamed about their sexual desires, unabashed about their sexuality or how they lead their lives. They screw up, but own up to their mistakes. They are successful, but yet face failure in some aspects of their life.

Many assumed it will be a reminder to American drama "Sex and The City" -- a presumption which was short-lived as the show narrates a much more complex tale imbued with subtle sexism present in Indian society along with wit.

"When you tell a story about young women living and loving their way through life in Mumbai, can sexism ever be ignored? Prejudice is a reality, has been forever. The challenge is to make it tonally audible. It is important that women watch our show and it is also important that men watch, enjoy and have our backs on it," Rangita said.

Opening up about the success of the show, she said: "The success amongst women we had anticipated to an extet... not this massive avalanche of love! What also surprised us was the love we received from male audiences, though not all of them will come out and say they watch the show-it's their guilty pleasure. But the numbers tell us clearly that this is a show that both, women and men have not only loved but anticipation for season 2 is high!"

The show is produced by Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd. Starring Kirti Kulhari, Sayani Gupta, Bani J. and Maanvi Gagroo, with Prateik Babbar, Lisa Ray, Milind Soman, Neil Bhooplalam, Simone Singh and Amrita Puri, the second season of the series will launch on April 17 on Amazon Prime Video in India. The story picks up from the previous season's cliffhanger ending.

According to Rangita, the second season is "all about peeling back the layers we had written in season one and digging deep to find new fears, new conquests, new highs, new pitfalls for the girls".

Talking about the challenges while making the second season, Rangita said: "The writing got challenging, for sure. We now had characters that an audience had made their own, the world around women, the conversations around women, women themselves continue to undergo a sea-change as we speak."

"To write a show about women that doesn't disrespect everything that's happening in the world in context to women and yet remains entertaining, relatable and tonally audible for all sexes... that's a tremendous challenge. Hitting a shrilly pitch where no man -- even other women -- wants to listen to what we have to say defeats the purpose of our show. And ofcourse: dates! The show was successful, that led to many of our talent and HODs picking up lots of new work, leaving limited time for us. It was the juggle of the century and from every estimation, this is going to only get tougher as we progress, hopefully, to subsequent seasons," added Rangita, who has previously backed projects like "Chameli", "Shaadi Ke Side Effects" and "Mastizaade".

Next, she wants to tell a love story.

"I love a good human connect story. And then there's love. Different for everybody and yet at the core of it all, the one emotion the world pivots to. I'd love to work on a love story for our times when everything we know about love has changed, one could even say mutated," she said.

--IANS
sug/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:46:26 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219855 IANS C-1-1219967-1219677
After 11 hours of talks via video-conference, "the parties could not reach any agreement", reports Efe news

They further added that Kazakhstan, "remains hopeful that in the future the consensus on collective reduction of oil production will be reached, which will impact positively on the oil industry".

The negotiations were set to continue on Friday during the G20 talks in which the OPEC+ alliance hopes to convince Mexico so that the new agreement on oil-production cut is reached, sources of the delegates participating in the webinar told Efe news.

Zamina Alieva, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy Azerbaijan, told Efe news that the draft agreement, which seeks a collective reduction of 10 million barrels a day, will be finalized if Mexico agrees to the proposed reduction of 400,000 barrels a day.

The spokesperson further added, that without Mexico's consent, the agreement will not come into effect.

Mexico withdrew from the meeting without giving its consent to the new agreement.

"Mexico in the meeting to stabilize the oil price of the @OPECSecretariat has proposed a reduction of 100,000 barrels per day in the next 2 months," Mexico's Energy Minister Rocio Nahle tweeted.

She further added that"from 1,781 million barrels per day of production that we reported in March 2020, we will reduce it to 1,681 million barrels per day".

According to Russian agency RIA Novosti, the negotiations failed because of differences on basic level for the reduction set for the country.

According to agreement plan accessed by official agency TASS, Russia and Saudi Arabia must bring down their production by 2.5 million barrels a day from the current figure of 11 million barrels a day.

In May and June, the production of these petroleum giants is to be reduced to 8.5 million barrels a day.

The OPEC+ alliance countries are to cut their production by 10 million barrels a day, from 43.8 million to 33.8 million.

Every country participating in the cutback would reduce production would be reduced 23 percent.

The objective is to limit oil production for two years, with gradual change: from July 1 to December 31, reductions will be at 10 million barrel a day, while for May and June it is expected to be at 8 million barrel per day while it will be down to 6 million barrel a day between January 2021 and April 2022.

Iran, Libya and Venezuela OPEC members will remain exempted from the extraction quotas due to the falling productions in their petroleum industry because of diverse reasons.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:44:59 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219967 IANS C-1-1219966-1219676
Mindfulness is when people are centred and living in the moment, rather than dwelling in the past or worrying about the future.Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common and often debilitating chronic gastrointestinal disorder characterised by abdominal pain and altered bowel habits.

For the findings, published in the journal Neurogastroenterology and Motility, 53 women and 15 men with irritable bowel syndrome participated in an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction class.

"This study shows that people with irritable bowel syndrome can have significant improvements in their symptoms and quality of life without medication or diet change, just by participating in a mindfulness-based stress reduction class," said study senior author Kirsten Tillisch from the University of California, Los Angeles in the US.

According to the researchers, most participants experienced significant improvements from pre-treatment to three months follow up regarding gastrointestinal symptoms, quality of life, and anxiety related to gastrointestinal symptoms.

Although increases in three of the five measured facets of mindfulness were found, increases in the ability to stay in the present moment and act with awareness seemed especially important, the study said.The study found that mindfulness-based stress reduction training was associated with robust improvements in gastrointestinal symptoms and associated problems in participants with irritable bowel syndrome.

"It appears that by improving this moment to moment awareness in their daily actions, people with irritable bowel syndrome feel better, possibly because this mindful activity in the present moment keeps the brain from going back to old fears or worries," Tillisch said.

These results may inform the refinement of mindfulness-based protocols specifically for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, the researchers noted.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:42:44 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219966 IANS C-1-1219964-1219675
Rakesh B. Kitturmath, who worked as a team leader at Emrill Services, an integrated facilities management (FM) headquartered in Dubai, was sacked on Thursday, the company's CEO told Gulf News.

"Kitturmath's employment stands terminated with immediate effect. He will be handed over to Dubai Police. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards such hate crimes," said Stuart Harrison, CEO of Emrill Services.

Kitturmath sparked outrage on social media after he ridiculed Muslim worshippers in response to a Facebook post on the coronavirus pandemic.

A screenshot of Kitturmath's response went viral on social media with hundreds demanding his dismissal and arrest.

Harrison told Gulf News that they were trying to find out if Kitturmath was still in the UAE.

"We have over 8,500 employees so this may take a while. That said, we have fired him. If he's still in the country, he will be handed over to Dubai Police," he said.

Originally from Ranebennuri, Karnataka, Kitturmath joins a growing list of Indian expats who have landed in trouble for Islamophobic messages in recent days.

Earlier this week, Abu Dhabi resident Mitesh Udeshi was sacked for posting a cartoon mocking Islam on his Facebook page, while a police complaint was filed against Sameer Bhandari in Dubai after he asked a Muslim job seeker from India to go back to Pakistan.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:42:42 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219964 IANS C-1-1219963-1219674

After a closed-door discussion at the UN Security Council on Thursday, Guterres in a brief press statement said: "While the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, its implications are much more far-reaching. The pandemic also poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security -- potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease."

Guterres spoke by video conference at the UNSC meeting on the COVID-19 impact. It was the first discussion of the UNSC on the pandemic.

Terrorist groups, he said, may see a window of opportunity to strike while the attention of most governments was turned towards the coronavirus pandemic.

"The weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic," the UN chief said, adding: "Provide a window onto how a bio-terrorist attack might unfold - and may increase its risks."

"Non-state groups," he warned "could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe".

Guterres said that in some conflict settings, the uncertainty created by the pandemic may create incentives for some actors to promote further division and turmoil.

"This could lead to an escalation of violence and possibly devastating miscalculations, which could further entrench ongoing wars and complicate efforts to fight the pandemic," he added.

On March 23, the Secretary-General had called for an immediate global ceasefire, urging all warring parties in conflict zones to suspend violence in view of the devastating effects of the coronavirus and the global efforts to combat the pandemic.

On Thursday, the UN chief said the engagement of the Security Council will be "critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic".

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:40:49 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219963 IANS C-1-1219965-1219673
"Unfortunately, we do not have any available slots to service you right now. Please try again later," was the message Arun Kumar, a Noida resident, received from Bigbasket. Kumar has been trying incessantly for the past few days to get an online delivery.

In its latest operational update, Bigbasket said: "We are reporting slot availability across cities each day. We have been working hard to ensure that we are able to service you over the next few weeks".

Angry users blasted the delivery platform on the operational update.

"Tell something new... Every time same updates to fool people. And no slots available in reality," posted Aru.

Another user replied to Bigbasket: "What the hell! Everyday I am checking it is saying all slots are filled."

The Grofers' story was no different.

"Where is my refund.. u guys cancelled my order to take new order in hiked price.. atleast refund money asap so that u can get stuff from offline," Shaktiprasad tweeted to Grofers.

Ajay Kumar tweeted: "I am trying to place the order with Grofers from last 16 days but it's not accepting my order, what I am getting is assurance only, dropped mail but no +ve response receiving".

"We received delivery but not what we ordered," said one BBDaily user from Noida Sector 143 which is not a hotspot.

The state governments had claimed to ensure people that essentials like groceries, vegetables, milk, medicines and others will be brought to the doorsteps of the people in hotspots.

The news also led to panic buying and stockpiling of groceries in Noida and adjoining areas as long queues were seen outside the grocery stores.

The telephone numbers that the Noida authorities provided were either switched off or out of order for many.

Several Noida users, who were not in the designated hotspot zones, were equally affected.

"Apologies for the trouble, due to unprecedented order booking, you may not find slots. We are doing our best to create more capacity. We'll update the slot availability status on our app and website every day. Do keep checking them every now and then for updates," was the message on most of the online delivery platforms.

Several Milkbasket users were left clueless as they did not get deliveries in their societies which were not sealed.

"Dear customer, in our attempt to comply with heightened measures in and around certain zones in the city, we will not be able to service your society until further notice. We can understand the inconvenience it might cause and deeply regret it," was the message people living in several Noida societies received which were not sealed.

--IANS
na/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:40:48 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219965 IANS C-1-1219960-1219672
The meeting presided over by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao will be held at 3 pm at Pragati Bhavan, Rao's official residence.

It will discuss at length the situation arising out of the spread of coronavirus.

The Cabinet may also discuss the need to extend the lockdown, the Chief Minister's Office said.

The meeting is also likely to discuss the state's economic situation, future course of action, assistance given to the poor in the state and others who have migrated to Telangana, procurement of agricultural produce, crop losses due to hailstorm, and other issues.

--IANS
ms/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:40:47 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219960 IANS C-1-1219957-1219671
Tiny particles in air known as PM2.5 were docked at 47, while PM10 stood at 92 in the "satisfactory" category.

"The ratio of PM2.5 to PM10 has declined significantly indicating missing sources of fossil fuel emissions and enhanced role of natural summer dust," stated an advisory issued by System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).

The advisory further stated that high surface winds are likely to continue and lifting of local dust is expected. "The coarse dust particles (PM10) will be the lead pollutant," it added.

The quality of air was in the "good" category last week, but spiked on March 6 after people burst crackers to "challenge the darkness" as a sign of participation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for switching off lights and lighting diyas and lamps to fight against the coronavirus crisis.

Meanwhile, AQI in Pune, Ahmedabad and Mumbai was docked in the "satisfactory" category at 66, 119 and 81, respectively.

--IANS
aka/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:40:46 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219957 IANS C-1-1219962-1219670
England had won the game by two runs in a thrilling encounter and Ponting still remembers Flintoff's fiery over from that match.

The official Twitter handle of England Cricket posted a video of that over and Ponting responded to it saying: "Best over I ever faced. Class reverse swing at 90odd mph!"

After being invited to bat first, England posted 407 runs in their first innings in that match. In reply, Australia were bundled out for 308, conceding a crucial first-innings lead of 99 runs. However, the visitors made a stunning comeback in the second innings and rode on Shane Warne's magical spell to bowl out the hosts for just 182 runs.

Chasing 282 to win the Test, Australia got off to a decent start with openers putting up 47 runs before Flintoff struck in his very first over.

Ponting, who came in next, faced the heat for the rest of the over. Flintoff was able to move the ball at a fierce pace and had Ponting in trouble right from the word go.

After surviving three balls, Ponting left alone the outside off-stump delivery and heaved a sigh of relief as the over had finished. But Flintoff had overstepped and the then Australian skipper was left to face one more ball in the over.

For the final ball, Flintoff bowled a full-pitched outside off delivery, forcing Ponting to go for a drive. The ball, however, moved away just enough to kiss the outside edge of his bat and went straight into the gloves of the wicketkeeper. The entire Edgbaston crowd went into a frenzy as Ponting made the long walk.

Just like that over, the match ended on a thrilling note as Australia, after being 220/9, went close to the touching distance courtesy a fighting partnership between Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz. However, they fell just a couple of runs short and lost the match to England who went on to win the series later on.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:40:45 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219962 IANS C-1-1219959-1219669
"Everyone's been telling us how lucky we are to be on an eternal honeymoon on a dream island, which also happens to have only a few cases of coronavirus (19 so far, with 13 recoveries)," Ria Bhatia told Gulf News on Thursday from her room at an idyllic beach resort located on the tip of South Male Atoll.

"But truth be told, it feels like the honeymoon is long over because we are very anxious to return home," she said.

Rohan Bhatia, who works as a trade development executive, said he and his wife were to fly back to Dubai on March 20, a day after the flight suspensions kicked in.

"By the time we realised there would be no flights after 12 noon on March 19, it was too late and we could not advance our return," he said.

Stuck on the island now, Rohan told Gulf news: "I did not bring my work laptop and can't do much from here. My employer has been very supportive through this.

"I don't know how long we will have to stay here and hope we can get back soon. Our families too are a worried lot."

The couple said they had the option of flying out to their home countries when the flights to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were suspended.

"The Indian Embassy has been helpful but our situation is complicated as Ria is a Canadian passport holder and I have an Indian passport. We are both settled along with our families in the UAE and that's where we belong," he told Gulf News.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:40:44 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219959 IANS C-1-1219944-1219668
Simltaneously, the Mahabaleshwar Police early on Friday booked 23 persons of the Wadhawan family and others for flouting various laws including the Epidemic Diseases Act, an official said.

"They were found here on Thursday evening and said they had come from Mumbai, travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar. We have lodged an FIR against them under various laws pertaining to flouting lockdown under the pandemic," an official from Mahabaleshwar Police Station told IANS.

"As per discussion with CM (Uddhav Thackeray), Amitabh Gupta, has been sent on compulsory leave with immediate effect, till the pending of enquiry, which will be initiated against him," said Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in a tweet early on Friday.

The permission - in the form of a 'To Whomsoever It May Concern' letter - was issued by Gupta on his personal letterhead on April 8 (Wednesday), permitting the Wadhawans and others to cross from Khandala in Pune to Mahabaleshwar in Satara.

The matter sparked off a huge political storm late on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and state Vice-President Kirit Somaiya demanding a probe and Deshmukh's scalp.

Deshmukh said the probe will also go into how the 23-member team managed to reach from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar despite the stringent lockdown which has stranded millions of migrants all over the country.

Gupta's letter said: "This is to just inform you that following are well known to me as they are my family friends and are travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar for family emergency. Hence you are hereby informed through this letter to co-operate with them to reach their destination."

It listed the registration numbers of all the five vehicles and the names of all the family members, friends, and others who were planning to travel in each of the vehicles for the unspecified 'family emergency'.

The Wadhawans have been linked as accused in the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank and Yes Bank scams along with the entities, DHFL-HDIL.

--IANS
qn/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:22:44 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219944 IANS C-1-1219955-1219667
Braving all the odds, the school teacher from Bodhan town travelled on the two-wheeler to Nellore district and brought her son back.

Razia Begum had to embark on the arduous journey as her son Mohammed Nizamuddin was stuck in Rehmatabad in Nellore district for nearly two weeks.

Nizamuddin, a student of Intermediate Second Year (12th standard) at a private college in Hyderabad, had gone to Rehmatabad along with his friend after their annual exams. He, however, was stranded there due to suspension of all public transport and imposition of lockdown.

Worried over the wellbeing of her son, Razia Begum decided to undertake the long journey to bring him back. Razia, who serves as headmistress at a primary school, approached Assistant Commissioner of Police V. Jayapal Reddy and obtained a permission letter from him.

She left for Rehmatabad on the morning of April 6. Though she was stopped by the police at many barricades and checkposts, she produced ACP's letter and persuaded the police officers to allow her to continue the journey.

Someone who had never stepped out of the town on scooty, she succeeded reaching Rehmatabad the next day with the help of Google maps and locals along 700-km.

"I stopped at the checkposts to take some break and then continued my journey," said the woman, who has two sons and a daughter.

She picked up her son and left for Bodhan on the evening of April 7 and reached home the next day. The distance was long but the concern and love for her son made the task easy. "If you have the determination you can achieve anything," she said.

--IANS
ms/rs

AA]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:20:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219955 IANS C-1-1219958-1219666
"For this, you need a piece of clean cloth," he said.

"Masks are compulsory in Punjab now," the Chief Minister informed in a tweet.

"Health Secretary is issuing a detailed advisory for the people. Just remember to wear mask when you step out of home for any emergency or essentials. A piece of clean cloth is all you need. Let's all stay safe and fight #Covid_19 together," he added.

Punjab reported a new coronavirus case on Friday morning, taking the state's tally to 131.

Eleven have succumbed to the disease till date.

--IANS
vg/dpb




]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:17:30 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219958 IANS C-1-1219948-1219665
Incidentally today's mass symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Calvary Hills nearly 2,000 years ago.

For the Christian's, today, on a normal Good Friday day, Churches across the state would be overflowing and is often recorded as the most crowdest day in a Church calendar.

Likewise this is one day, which sees the longest service as in some Churches this mass that begins around 8 am ends as late as 3.30 pm, while in most it ends around 1 p.m.

Three events stand out on this day and it includes the 'Way of the Cross' - the 14 stations on Christ's Journey to Mount Calvary from Pilate's palace .

The chief priest who conducts the day's mass, along with a large number of the laity re-enact Jesus journey with the worshippers moving to each station singing hymns as the story of the betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion of Christ is narrated by the priest.

This time, however would be only a symbolic event.

The second most important ritual in the mass today is the drinking of the 'choruka' (a decoction made of bitter gourd juice and vinegar) by all.

When the 'Good Friday' mass reaches its last lap, the priest pours out a
spoon of 'Choruka' into the mouth of each and every person who has come for the mass.

This symbolises the cry, a crucified Jesus made just before he died, and how some of those watching took a piece of cloth, dipped it in cheap wine,put it on a piece of stick, lifted it to his mouth and tried to make him drink.

This time, it would be given to just the five who conduct the mass.

The third feature of the day is after the mass ends ,'kanji' - the hot steaming hotAgruel made with rice is served in bowls with mango pickle and a serving of pulses.

Incidentally this also will not happen.

Of the 33.4 million Kerala population, Christians number 61.41 lakhs (29.94 lakhs males and 31.47 lakhs females.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:17:29 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219948 IANS C-1-1219942-1219664
According to a police official in Agra, some 'petha' sellers in the city have told the police that some 'Muslims' made bulk purchases of 'petha' after the Holi festival, which is when the Jamaat meeting ended in Delhi.

A senior police official who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, "We have received reports that the Jamaatis distributed sweets. It is not very normal for Muslims to distribute sweets to co-passengers on buses and trains. We are talking to several bus conductors and daily passengers who have monthly passes to confirm this."

The official said that at least, two 'petha' shop owners had told the police that they sold five to ten kilograms of 'petha' to customers, apparently Muslims, in mid-March.

"If the report of distribution of sweets is confirmed, it could be a major problem tracking down the co-passengers of the Jamaatis. They could be businessmen and lawyers who travel regularly between Delhi and Bareilly, Badaun, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur. They could also include those who travel to visit families and relatives in Bareilly, Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Hapur, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad etc," he said.

The Tablighi Jamaatis returnees have been found in almost all parts of Uttar Pradesh. These Jamaatis, majority of them confirmed as 'Corona carriers', returned to various cities and spread the virus.

Search is on for those who had travelled with the Jamaatis and accepted the sweets, as authorities fear that it could have passed on the infection.

Police in different parts of the state are already mapping these men and their primary contacts.

--IANS
amita/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:13:28 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219942 IANS C-1-1219950-1219663
Braving all the odds, the school teacher from Bodhan town travelled on the two-wheeler to Nellore district and brought her son back.

Razia Begum had to embark on the arduous journey as her son Mohammed Nizamuddin was stuck in Rehmatabad in Nellore district for nearly two weeks.

Nizamuddin, a student of Intermediate Second Year (12th standard) at a private college in Hyderabad, had gone to Rehmatabad along with his friend after their annual exams. He, however, was stranded there due to suspension of all public transport and imposition of lockdown.

Worried over the wellbeing of her son, Razia Begum decided to undertake the long journey to bring him back. Razia, who serves as headmistress at a primary school, approached Deputy Superintendent of Police Jaipal Reddy and obtained a permission letter from him.

She left for Rehmatabad on the morning of April 6. Though she was stopped by the police at many barricades and checkposts, she produced DSP's letter and persuaded the police officers to allow her to continue the journey.

Someone who had never stepped out of the town on scooty, she succeeded reaching Rehmatabad the next day with the help of Google maps and locals along 700-km.

"I stopped at the checkposts to take some break and then continued my journey," said the woman, who has two sons a daughter

She picked up her son and left for Bodhan on the evening of April 7 and reached home the next day. The distance was long but the concern and love for her son made the task easy. "If you have the determination you can achieve anything," she said.

--IANS
ms/rs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:06:53 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219950 IANS C-1-1219954-1219662
An official involved with the Bihar Rural Livelihood Project (Jeevika) said that women associated with the programme were preparing face masks in all the districts of the state.

The women are being provided the raw material required to make face masks.

"As many as 1,276 self-help groups involved in the activity had till Thursday made 5,88,331 masks, which will be provided to the people at reasonable prices in the retail market," Jeevika officer Mahua Rai told IANS.

She said that the endeavour had provided a source of income for those connected with the programme amid the lockdown.

By Thursday, women in Shekhpura district had made 68,902 masks, in Patna 40,017, in Araria 5,439, in Madhubani 53,785, in Aurangabad 28,815, in Nalanda 28,914, in Gaya 24,579, and in western Champaran 58,500.

Cleanliness and social distancing norms are being observed at all manufacturing sites.

South Bihar Power Distribution Corporation as well as many bank and non-governmental organisations have bought face masks for their respective staff, an official said.

Jaywanti, associated with a self-help group in Gaya district, said that around 20 women from different villages were making around 1,000 masks daily, which were finding ready buyers in Gaya and Bodhgaya markets.

--IANS
Hindi/tsb


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:06:52 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219954 IANS C-1-1219947-1219661

DM Baramulla, G.N.Itoo passed an order that no bank branch will function in the district today.

"The order has been passed to ensure compliance of social distances which we have noticed is not followed when people visit different branches of the bank.

"Of course it is a warning and unless the people and the bank management ensure compliance there could be more restrictions in the offing", officials said.

The surfacing of COVID-19 positive cases has surged during the last two days in Kashmir division.

Yesterday, 24 new cases came to light while 34 surfaced on Wednesday.

Alarmed by the rising numbers of positive cases, DM Srinagar has ordered complete sealing of the district disallowing all entry and exit except of those directly engaged in fighting the outbreak.

The total number of positive cases has shot up to 184 in J&K.

--IANS
sq/rs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:06:50 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219947 IANS C-1-1219953-1219660
The plan, which could include buyouts, early retirements and involuntary layoffs, were expected to mostly target the company's commercial arm, since turmoil in the global airline industry has put the unit under immense strain, Xinhua news agency quoted the Wall Street Journal as saying in a report on Thursday.

No decisions on cuts have been made, with the potential 10 per cent decline in labour force still under consideration, according to the report.

Last week, Boeing announced it was initiating a voluntary layoff (VLO) plan to try to stem the financial strain from the pandemic.

"One thing is already clear: It will take time for the aerospace industry to recover from the crisis," said Dave Calhoun, the company's president and CEO, in a letter to employees.

"We are initiating a VLO plan that allows eligible employees who want to exit the company to do so with a pay and benefits package. This move aims to reduce the need for other workforce actions," he added.

Boeing employs about 145,000 employees across the US and in more than 65 countries and regions, according to its official website.

--IANS
ksk/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:06:49 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219953 IANS C-1-1219952-1219659


The 2020 IPL season was slated to start from March 29 but due to the coronavirus outbreak, it remains suspended till April 15.

The entire nation is currently under a 21-day lockdown which ends on April 14. However, with there being an upstage in the number of COVID-19 patients with each passing day, it is likely that the lockdown will be extended, meaning that IPL cannot be held in the near future.

"IPL is a big brand. But the board can only take a decision once the situation improves and coronavirus is gone. At the moment, it's on upstage. So, no one is going to take a risk," Lal told IANS.

"Once coronavirus is gone, cricket can obviously take place because it's such a popular sport and is loved by all. Even the players would like to play in front of crowds and that can only happen once the situation fully improves," he added.

The 69-year-old also insisted that there was no point of having the IPL matches in front of empty stands without any spectators.

"There's no point in playing IPL matches in front of empty stands. It's not just about the players and the fans, it's about other people who are also involved in the process while travelling, organising, broadcasting, etc," Lal, who was part of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, said.

"Once situation improves, other series will also take place and BCCI can totally recover for the lost time."

India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh recently said that a lot of lives are on the line and that's why he won't mind playing without spectators if the situation demands. Even Pat Cummins has backed the idea of having a closed-door IPL.

The BCCI is also looking at the October-November window to host the tournament. But the move can only be possible if the ICC decides to postpone the T20 World Cup that is to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia.

--IANS
aak/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:01:48 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219952 IANS C-1-1219945-1219658
Gopinathan, a 2012 batch IAS officer hailing from Kerala and posted in Dadra and Nagar Haveli as Power and Non-Conventional Energy Secretary, had quit the IAS pretesting against the denial of "fundamental rights" to lakhs of people in Jammu and Kashmir for weeks after the state lost its special status.

Thirty-four-year old Gopinathan confirmed that he got a letter asking him to join back the service as the country is fighting Covid-19.

"Asking me to return to service is not one with a good intent and meant to harass me. I see some sort of pettiness and vengeance. If they want me to work for Covid-19, I am already doing it and am working with NGOs in Maharashtra. For doing Covid-19 work, I don't need the tag of an IAS. If they say I should do this work in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, I am willing, but will not return to service and I have written back," said Gopinathan to the media.

He also pointed out that though he resigned in August last year, he is yet to get his salary for the days he worked in August.

His work during the 2018 floods in Kerala was appreciated, as many came to know he was an IAS officer much later.

--IANS
sg/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 11:00:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219945 IANS C-1-1219941-1219657
The two currency notes were found lying in the colony on Thursday night and the residents called the police through the helpline, which seized the notes.

The local people insisted that the notes had been thrown on the road to spread coronavirus.

The notes, seized by the police, were kept separately and a local doctor was consulted on the situation. The doctor asked the cops to keep the notes separately for 24 hours.

The residents of the Paper Mill Colony, meanwhile, remained locked in discussion till well past midnight. The residents, while maintaining social distancing, discussed the 'threat of corona through currency notes' till the police asked them to return to their homes.

In normal times, the 500-rupee notes would not have remained on the road for long. Any passersby would have quietly picked up the same and walked away without a word.

According to a police official, the panic, on Thursday night, was created by a WhatsApp video that has been doing the rounds.

In the video, when the son responds to the doorbell and opens the door, he finds a Rs 500note lying on the doormat outside. He quickly shuts the door and informs his mother, who is flabbergasted.

The son wears his protective gear, picks up the sanitiser bottle, cautiously opens the door and sprays ample sanitiser on the currency note. Then he slowly pushes the note to the neighbour's door and retreats into his flat.

The video seeks to confirms the belief that coronavirus is being spread through the currency notes too.

However, no action has yet been taken to track the video. Meanwhile, the two Rs 500 notes continue to remain with the police.

--IANS
amita/dpb





]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:58:52 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219941 IANS C-1-1219951-1219656
The newborn, one of the youngest COVID-19 fatality, died on April 5 in Lipa, a city situated some 70 km south of Manila in Philippines, however the test results for the virus were not known until Thursday, reports Efe new.

Another four-day-old baby born prematurely, and who tested positive for COVID-19, died on Wednesday in Brazil due to respiratory failure, while a five-month old died a day later in Bolivia from the virus after spending a week in the intensive care unit.

The Philippine Department of Health is yet to confirm the Lipa baby's death in its daily bulletin, which on Thursday night reported 4,076 COVID-19 cases with 203 deaths and 124 recovered patients in the country.

The country's biggest and most populous island, Luzon, has been under strict quarantine since March 17 after being identified as the COVID-19 the main focus of concentration in the Philippines.

However, cases have been reported in all provinces of the country.

To contain the spread of COVID-19, the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, on Monday ordered strict quarantine measures for the entire island of Luzon, home to some 57 million inhabitants, and strengthened the lockdown of the capital until April 12.

Health authorities have announced that from April 14 onwards the country would be able to carry out massive testing to isolate the positive cases, including asymptomatic ones, after the establishment of laboratories across the country and the arrival of thousands of testing kits donated by China, South Korea and Brunei.

--IANS
ksk/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:58:51 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219951 IANS C-1-1219949-1219655
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, kicked off an extraordinary video conference on Thursday to discuss oil production cuts, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Kuwait held marathon talks in the past days and during the meeting to create a state of consensus between the member states in the hope of rebalancing the oil markets," said the Minister.

Mexican Energy Secretary Rocio Nahle, who also attended the teleconference, tweeted early Friday that Mexico is ready to reduce the national oil production by only 100,000 barrels per day in May and June.

"From 1.781 mbd (million barrels per day) of production that we reported in March 2020, we will decrease to 1.681 mbd," Nahle said, adding that Mexico agreed to stabilize the price of oil at the OPEC Secretariat meeting.

Also on Friday, Russia, the US and Saudi Arabia have agreed to coordinate actions on stabilizing oil markets and minimize the impact of oil price volatility on global economy,.

"Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud," the state-run TASS News Agency quoted the Kremlin press service as saying in the statement.

The sides confirmed "determination to coordinate actions to stabilize the situation in the global oil trade and minimize the negative impact of volatile oil price quotations to the global economy", it said.

The previous OPEC+ agreement had expired on March 31.

--IANS
ksk/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:45:16 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219949 IANS C-1-1219946-1219654
On Thursday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte held a teleconference with business and labour leaders to discuss when Italy can begin to relax the restrictions imposed to contain the disease, Efe news reported.

The shutdown was initially meant to last until April 13, but chances that any significant easing would take place was deemed as virtually non-existent.

"We need to pick sectors that can restart their activity. If scientists confirm it, we might begin to relax some measures already by the end of this month," Conte told the BBC.

The final decision on when and how to re-open the economy will be made by the Scientific Technical Council that is advising the government on the crisis.

The number of new confirmed cases grew 1,615 overnight to 96,877. That increase was larger than the previous day's, 1,195, and nearly double Tuesday's figure of 880.

The total number of cases in the country now stands at 153,222, the second highest in the world after the US (466,033).

Civil Protection chief Angelo Borrelli said that the number of people hospitalized fell by 86 to 28,339 and 88 coronavirus patients were moved out of ICUs, leaving 3,605, he said.

"The past five days, have ended with fewer patients hospitalized compared to the previous day," Franco Locatelli, chair of Italy's Higher Health Council, told reporters on Thursday.

With concern about the economic damage from the shutdown growing more acute, the Senate approved on Thursday a 25 billion euro ($27.3 billion) aid package.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:41:12 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219946 IANS C-1-1219940-1219653
In a statement, Mayawati has urged UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath to intervene in the matter and ensure action against the accused MP.

The BJP MP Subrat Pathak, accompanied by 20 to 25 men, had allegedly broken into the house of the tehsildar, Arvind Kumar, on Monday and had assaulted him over the distribution of ration to people mentioned in a list sent by him.

Mayawati said, "The incident from Kannauj where an honest Dalit tehsildar was beaten by a BJP MP is shameful. What is more concerning is that he is still roaming scot-free instead of going to jail."

Demanding that Adityanath look into the matter, she wrote that recurrence of such incidents must be stopped and Dalits should not be attacked in this manner.

"Stern action is needed against the MP. This is what the BSP demands," she stated.

A case has been registered against Pathak and 25 unidentified men, and around 10 vehicles have been seized from the site of the assault.

The tehsildar had earlier said that he had explained to the MP over the phone that other senior officials were looking into the distribution of ration to people mentioned in his list. However, despite the explanation, the lawmaker abused and threatened him.

Pathak's supporters have denied the incident, saying that they had gone only to discuss some development projects with Kumar.

A report in the matter has been filed with the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police.

--IANS
amita/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:39:07 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219940 IANS C-1-1219943-1219652
The third-part store known as JD Sanfang Store listed the iPhone 9 to start shipping between May 1 and May 10, reports GizmoChina.

The landing page, however, does not reveal any detail of the device.

The listing does not have an image showing how the device looks. Instead, the listing has a photo of something covered by a piece of cloth.

The iPhone 9 or iPhone SE 2 has been tipped to be launched on April 15 and go on sale from April 22.

Apple had initially planned the launch of the iPhone 9 for March 2020. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has obviously affected the launch timeline.

The upcoming iPhone is expected to be an affordable iPhone, like the 2016 iPhone SE.

In terms of specifications, the iPhone 9 is expected to come with a 4.7-inch display with a design that is similar to the iPhone 8. It is likely to be powered by the company's A13 Bionic chipset coupled with either 64GB or 128GB storage variant.

--IANS
wh/na
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:39:06 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219943 IANS C-1-1219934-1219651
On normal days, according to official figures, on an average over 4 lakh patients visited various state-run medical centres in the previous fiscal. Today, the numbers have crashed to a mere 10 per cent of the earlier footfall.

At present, over 1.40 lakh persons are under observation in Kerala, with 357 coronavirus patients.

The Kerala's health system comprises district hospital in each of the 14 districts and healthcare institutions at the grass-roots level, besides eight medical colleges and the fledgling private healthcare centres.

A health professional attached to the state's premier medical college hospital in the state capital said that as compared with around 5,000 out patients on normal days, a mere 200 persons visited the OPDs nowadays.

"It's understandable that as this hospital is one of the centres to treat Covid-19 patients and suspected cases. So, none would like to take a risk," said the professional who did not wish to be identified.

At a leading private hospital in the central district of the state, the scene is no different.

"Today, we have mere 15 to 20 per cent OPD patients compared with normal days. But one difference is that we are getting numerous calls from state-run hospitals to see if we can accommodate patients if they are shifted here. In our hospital, the strength of medical professionals is less," said a medical professional on the condition of anonimity.

Numerous medical scaning centres and medical laboratories too nowadays give a desolate looks, though they used to be overcrowded otherwise.

Their precarious situation is borne by the fact that their staff have been intimated about 50 per cent cut in salaries by managements due to poor turnout of patients, which was in circulation on social media.

Though the Kerala government has warned of strict action against private healthcare institutions cutting salaries or asking staff to quit, it has not happened on the ground. Members of staff of a private hospital here have approached the Labour Department with the complaint that they have been asked to quit by the mangement.

So, while the authorities in Kerala fight against the spread of coronavirus, staff of private healthcare stare at an uncertain future, at least in the near future.

--IANS
sg/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:39:05 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219934 IANS C-1-1219937-1219650
After building ships for the US Navy from 1806 to 1966, the yard became the site of an industrial complex managed by the New York City government, Efe news reported.

Once the scale of the crisis in New York became clear, officials appealed to local firms with manufacturing capability to start making masks, gloves, gowns and other personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff at the city's beleaguered hospitals.

Several of the companies who answered that call are located at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, including Duggal Visuals, a design and printing outfit that converted its 215,000 sq.ft event space overlooking the East River into a factory floor.

The firm's head, Michael Duggal, said that he and his employees were preparing to shut down the operation in accord with the restrictions imposed New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo to contain the spread of Covid-19 when they learned of the appeal for companies to make PPE.

A member of the staff realized that a material Duggal Visuals worked with regularly was suitable for the task and the team immediately started on prototypes of a face shield for doctors and nurses, Michael Duggal told Efe.

The company began making face shields on a Wednesday and delivered the first shipment of 50,000 on a Saturday, he said.

Since then, the operation, which also involves Bednark, a navy-yard based builder of custom installations for clients such as Google and Heineken, has turned out 250,000 shields.

"In this building right now we have about 160 people working. We could actually fit more and we have more people who want to be part of it, but we're trying to keep everyone with the safe social distances and the bathrooms, food, meeting areas, everything not get (crowded), and keep everybody safe," Michael Duggal said.

Output now ranges between 25,000 and 30,000 shields per day.

The US leads with the world with 465,750 confirmed coronavirus cases and New York state accounts for nearly half of that total and almost 50 per cent of the country's 16,690 deaths.

--IANS
ksk/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:22:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219937 IANS C-1-1219938-1219649
The 13th IPL edition, which was due to start on March 29, remains suspended till April 15 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. And with there being an increase in number of COVID-19 patients with each passing day, the chances of IPL taking place in the near future are grim.

Cummins, while speaking to BBC Sport, said he remains "super hopeful" that the tournament will go ahead.

"The first priority is safety but the second one is getting back to normality, finding that balance," he said. "If that unfortunately means no crowds for a while, then that is that, but hopefully people can watch at home on TV.

The 26-year-old, who was named one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year on Wednesday, said playing the IPL behind closed doors would have a "totally different feel about it".

"When people ask about the difference between playing cricket in India the first thing is the crowd," he said.

"They scream every single ball whether it's a six or a wicket - it's the same noise every ball - so that atmosphere is something that we love about playing in India.

"It will be missed in the short term if it can't happen, but I have no doubt it will be a great event even if it has to be played without crowds," he added.

India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh recently said that a lot of lives are on the line and that's why he won't mind playing without spectators if the situation demands.

The BCCI is now looking at the October-November window to host the tournament. But the move can only be possible if the ICC decides to postpone the T20 World Cup that is to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia.

--IANS
aak/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:18:13 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219938 IANS C-1-1219939-1219648
Reported first by BuzzFeed News, Google has apparently sent an email to employees that employees who had installed Zoom on their workstations will not be able to use it as it has been deactivated.

"We have long had a policy of not allowing employees to use unapproved apps for work that are outside of our corporate network," a Google spokesperson told The Verge.

"Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees. Employees who have been using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends can continue to do so through a web browser or via mobile," the spokesperson elaborated.

While Zoom has emerged as a leading teleconferencing provider during the COVID-19 pandemic, the app is marred by daily news about it being prone to hacking.

Other issues that has affected its credibility is data-sharing with Facebook, exposed LinkedIn profiles, and a "malware-like" installer for macOS.

Zoom Video Communications has also been sued by one of its shareholders who alleged that the company kept some of its security flaws hidden.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California this week alleged that Zoom failed to disclose some vulnerabilities and that the services did not provide end-to-end encryption.

Zoom started facing criticism as reports of "Zoombombing" and other privacy issues started surfacing from different parts of the world.

Meanwhile, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted late Thursday that the company is supporting over 2 million new users on Google Meet each day, and 100 million students and educators on Google Classroom.

"To help businesses and schools stay connected, we've extended free access to advanced features of Meet to all @GSuite customers through September 30, 2020," Pichai announced.

Last month, the company made advanced Google Meet video-conferencing capabilities available at no cost to all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers.

Earlier this year, G Suite also hit another important milestone, surpassing six million paying businesses and organisations.

--IANS
na/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:18:12 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219939 IANS C-1-1219853-1219647
"I am making best use of this time away from the shoot and spending most of it with my family as I do not get enough time with them. I'm trying out new things as I am completely free with no stress of studies as well. Recently, we celebrated my brother's birthday and I baked a cake for him and it was one of the highlights during this stay at home period," said Avneet.

She is also utilising this time to re-arrange her room, wardrobe and make-up.

"I am creating fun content for my social media handles. This time has also brought me much closer to my family and we are watching movies and shows together as a family. I'm closest to my mother. She is like my best friend. So, we both spend a lot of time together doing mother-daughter things," she said.

She also took a moment to thank her fans.

"Another happiest moment that my entire family celebrated recently was when I touched 10 million mark on Instagram. I'm extremely grateful to my fans, followers and the viewers of 'Aladdin: Naam Toh Suna Hoga', for all the love and support they have showered me with," said Avneet, who plays Yasmine in the Sony SAB show.

--IANS
nn/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:18:11 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219853 IANS C-1-1219935-1219646
On Wednesday, the Saudi-led Arab alliance said it would observe a renewable two-week ceasefire in Yemen in response to the UN's calls for a halt in military hostilities around the globe in order to slow the pandemic, reports Efe news.

On Thursday, Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdelmalek blamed the Houthis for firing a ballistic missile on residential neighbourhoods in the city of Marib, and bombing al-Hodeidah as well as other areas after the announcement of the truce.

"The ceasefire is a serious opportunity to secure Yemen and its people from the risks of coronavirus, not a chance to blackmail and exploit the needs and fears of the people," Abdelmalek said on Twitter, hoping the Houthis would abide by the humanitarian truce.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, meanwhile, accused the Saudi-led forces of launching attacks on various battlefronts since the early hours of Thursday.

"They carried out more than five raids on Haradh, Rushahah and al-Buqaa, and they are still going on since dawn under an intensive air cover with fighter jets and Apache helicopters," he saidd.

Saree said the Houthis responded to those attacks, adding that dozens were killed in their rivals' ranks.

Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries, has not officially recorded any COVID-19 case yet.

The aim of the ceasefire is to end the years-long conflict in Yemen and "concentrate on confronting" the virus, according to the Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan.

Farhan tweeted earlier that Saudi Arabia would pledge $500 million to a UN humanitarian response plan in Yemen and an extra $25 million to fight coronavirus.

Yemen has been gripped by a devastating conflict since late 2014, setting the Houthis against the internationally-recognized government.

The power-struggle intensified when Saudi Arabia began a military intervention in Yemen in March 2015 in support of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi against the rebels, pushing Yemen to the verge of famine and devastating its health facilities.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:18:10 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219935 IANS C-1-1219919-1219645
A FIR has also been registered against him at Shivkuti police station for concealing his travel history from police.

He has been booked under sections 269 (acting negligently and likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease) and 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) of the Indian Penal Code and section of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

The professor, who is said to be associated with Tablighi Jamaat for long, has been quarantined along with his wife and adopted son.

According to police, the professor is a resident of Rasoolabad area of the city and had also visited Ethiopia few months back.

When he returned to New Delhi, he attended the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizammuddin Markaz from March 6 to 10.

He came back to Allahabad on March 11 and was assigned invigilator's duty during annual exams from March 12-16. He was on duty in an examination hall, where around 150 students were taking the examination for five days.

On receiving information, SP (city) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava and his team reached the professor's house and after confirming his travel history, the family was taken to a guest house at Kareli, where a medical team collected their throat and nasal swab samples for testing.

SSP (Prayagraj) Satyarth Aniruddha Pankaj said, "We are now identifying the students and faculty members who came in contact with the professor. We will also contact the other family members of professor and those who met him after he returned from Delhi."

The man's elder brother, who works in AU administration, lives in the house next door.

According to reports, the professor has been associated with Tablighi Jamaat for long and had visited several countries while serving on many high posts of the organization.

--IANS
amita/rs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:18:09 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219919 IANS C-1-1219917-1219644
Most of the men, especially those belonging to the minority community, have fled or gone into hiding.

Police are conducting frequent raids to arrest those who allegedly attacked a team of cops on Monday.

Around 200 people, 150 of them unidentified, were booked and 49 have been arrested so far.

"My husband did not indulge in violence and had merely gone out of the house to see what was happening on that day. He may have been caught on CCTV cameras at the site of the incident. He left on Thursday night for a relative's home in an adjoining district. Before leaving, he has made arrangements for us," said a woman in the village.

She revealed that about 20 other men had also fled the village after the incident.

With men having run away from the village, fearing police action, the harvesting operations have been adversely affected.

"We are trying to manage harvesting to the best of our abilities. My children help me but we need labourers that are unavailable due to lockdown," said another woman whose husband and two sons have left the village.

A delegation of the Samajwadi Party, on Thursday, met DIG Rajesh Pandey and requested him to bring the lives of villagers back on track.

The members of the delegation said that most families in the village were facing shortage of food and medicines after the incident.

Izzatnagar Station House Officer K.K. Verma who distributed some food packets among women and children working in the fields on Thursday, also made announcements in the village, asking residents to return.

SSP Shailesh Pandey said, "We have not forced anyone to leave the village and I would request them to return home and lead a normal life. We will take action only against those people, against whom we have conclusive evidence like video footage. We have also asked the local officials to provide support to families that are facing difficulties in getting food or medicine."

--IANS
amita/rs]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:18:08 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219917 IANS C-1-1219928-1219643
Ahmed Patel said, "The Central government must look into the possibility of giving some relief, rebate in power bill for economically weaker consumers."

Addressing his demand to Union Power Minister, Patel tweeted: "Many households do not have regular incomes & won't be in a position to pay rising power bills, particularly in summer season."

The Central government has approved a Covid-19 emergency response and health system preparedness package in a bid to strengthen the national and state health systems.

"The project will be implemented with the objectives of emergency COVID-19 response, strengthening national and state systems, procurement of essential medical equipment and drugs, strengthening of surveillance including setting up of laboratories and bio-security preparedness," the letter addressed to additional chief secretaries, principal secretary and commissioner of state and union territories, stated.

--IANS
miz/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:17:24 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219928 IANS C-1-1219936-1219642
The campus of Masters' Union School of Business will be located in Cybercity, Gurugram and will tap its locational advantage to build deep industry connect with over 600 multinational corporations based in the special economic zone (SEZ).

The institution is a result of the collective vision of pre-eminent thought leaders and industry veterans like Arun Maira (Former Chairman, Boston Consulting Group), Mukund Rajan (Former MD, Tata Teleservices Limited, Karthik Ramanna (Director, University of Oxford), Narendra Jadhav (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Former Chief Economist, RBI), Tathagata Dasgupta (Chief Data Scientist, Viacom) and Bhaskar Chakravorti (Former Professor, Harvard Business School and Former Partner, McKinsey & Company).

"The element I am most excited about is that the curriculum will be developed dynamically with inputs from leaders in business, leaders from the government as well as leaders from the third sector," Ramanna who is a Founding Master of Masters' Union School of Business said in a statement.

"This curriculum and pedagogy will ensure that students are receiving learning that is connected to, and serves the need of the industry," Ramanna added.

Its flagship, 16-month intensive programme, PGP-TBM (Post Graduate Program in Technology Business Management) is designed to keep hands-on learning at its very core, delivering the courses using live consulting projects, field tours and internships, to offer students industry-immersive learning at every step.

In addition to that, Masters' Union said it will conduct tech boot camps in emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, software-as-a-service (SAAS) and cybersecurity.

The course will see students choosing unique industry concentrations like PE/VC (private equity/venture capital), Digital and E-commerce Technology, Product and Project Management and Banking to name a few, areas that are at the cross section of technology and business model disruption.

Masters' Union School of Business will establish a unique student-run venture fund with a corpus of Rs 5 Crore that will invest in areas like real estate and capital markets.

It will also have a Centre for New Business Models, a research based forum that will formulate business opportunities in newer technologies like blockchain, bio-tech, and machine learning.

Additionally, Masters' Union will run a CXO shadow programme that would enable students to have a first-hand look into a day of a CXO to experience how organisations are run and business decisions are made.

"In medical schools, doctors teach students, practicing lawyers teach in law schools, but in business schools faculty may not have experience with hands-on leadership in the industry. That's a gap Masters' Union addresses by getting CXOs, MDs and business leaders to teach and train students," said Dasgupta who is also a Founding Master of Masters' Union School of Business.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:03:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219936 IANS C-1-1219932-1219641
Although the outbreak was finally under control, severe restrictions and preventative measures remain in place, with other new rules introduced to avoid a resurgence of the virus, Efe news reported.

New norms require the mandatory use of masks outdoors, health risk assessment codes on mobile phone apps and maintaining safe physical distances from others.

An increasingly large stream of people were emerging from their homes, excited to be allowed to walk the streets of the city as they run errands and eat and shop.

Streets were once again bustling in many parts of the city, such as Dazhilu, where bicycles, pedestrians and cars compete for space.

Retail outlets of phone companies - such as Apple, Vivo and Huawei - have also reopened, where people formed long queues.

Meanwhile, other people walk their dogs, take pictures, order food at takeaways or enjoy a stroll along a stretch overlooking the Yangtze River.

Some 620,000 passengers reportedly used the city's public transport on the first day of restrictions being lifted in Wuhan on Tuesday.

According to the state-owned Xinhua agency, the demand for bus, boat, taxi and subway services witnessed a marked increase on Wednesday, after 76 days of quarantine.

The same day, some 52,000 passengers left Wuhan by train, plane or bus, while around 31,000 entered the city.

China's National Health Commission on Wednesday reported only two deaths related to COVID-19 in the country, both in Wuhan, which also accounts for 135 of the remaining 176 critical patients.

The number of active COVID-19 infections has declined to 1,160 in China, according to official figures. Although 63 new cases were diagnosed on Wednesday - 61 of them from abroad -, the daily rate of recovered patients is much higher.

The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in China since the start of the outbreak was now 3,339 out of the 82,919 total infections, while 77,370 recovered.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:59:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219932 IANS C-1-1219933-1219640
The activities are designed to help at-home learning for children ages 4 through 8 years old, or pre-kindergarten to second grade.
Some activities are personify something, capture a time-lapse video, see colour in slo-mo, go on a phone walk, storyboard your daily routine and find shapes in nature, etc.

"We've designed 30 Creative Activities for Kids — or for the whole family — as part of our ongoing effort to support at-home learning. We can't wait to see what you create,' tweeted Apple Education on Thursday.

Explore 30 fun, constructive, and creative activities to do with built-in features of iPad (you can also use an iPhone).

Designed for children in grades PK–2, these activities can easily be tailored for the whole family, said Apple.

Many activities tap into iPad's camera and first-party apps.

"We know parents out there are juggling a lot in this challenging time. Apple's education team has some fun ways to keep kids everywhere creating," tweeted Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Some other fun activities are go back in time (find an old photo, take a new picture, recreate the scene by using black and white filters to make it look like from the past) and write a love letter to the planet.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:58:59 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219933 IANS C-1-1219929-1219639
"As per discussion with CM (Uddhav Thackeray), Amitabh Gupta, has been sent on compulsory leave with immediate effect, till the pending of enquiry, which will be initiated against him," said Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in a tweet early Friday.

The permission -- in the form of a 'To Whomsoever It May Concern' letter -- was issued by Gupta on his personal letterhead on April 8 (Wednesday), permitting the Wadhawans and others to cross from Khandala in Pune to Mahabaleshwar in Satara.

The matter sparked off a huge political storm late on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and state Vice President Kirit Somaiya demanding a probe and Deshmukh's scalp.

Deshmukh said the probe will also go into how the 23-member team managed to reach from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar despite the stringent lockdown which has stranded millions of migrants all over the country.

Gupta's letter said: "This is to just inform you that following are well known to me as they are my family friends and travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar for family emergency. Hence, you are here by informed through this letter to cooperate with them to reach their destination."

It listed the registration numbers of all the five vehicles and the names of all the family members, friends, and others, who were planning to travel in each of the vehicles, for the unspecified 'family emergency'.

The Wadhawans have been linked as accused in the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank and Yes Bank scams through their entity, HDIL.

--IANS
qn/dpb
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:58:58 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219929 IANS C-1-1219931-1219638
Rijiju's office on Thursday evening said the Indian Embassy in San Francisco has been contacted and they are sending a doctor to attend Diwan who is currently dealing with health issues.

"Hockey Olympian Ashok Diwan is stranded in the US and is unwell. He reached out to Kiren Rijiju through IOA. The Indian Embassy in San Francisco has been contacted, they're sending a doctor to attend to Mr. Diwan to ensure he receives immediate medical attention."

Diwan, who represented India at the 1976 Summer Olympics, had written a letter to Narinder Batra, President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), asking him for help.

In his letter, the 65-year-old stated that he is suffering from high blood pressure among other diseases and he had to attend hospital in emergency last week in California.

Diwan said that he was supposed to fly back to India on April 20, but due to the ongoing situation his travel dates have been pushed.

"I am not feeling well these days, moreover I don't have any insurance here. As you know the medical costs are very high here," he wrote.

"I request a favour to forward this message to the Sports Minister and the External Minister for helping me here by instructing Indian Embassy at San Francisco to help me with a hospital for my check-up or if they can arrange earlier departure from San Francisco to India.

"Sir, kindly treat this urgent as I am really in bad health here," Diwan, who was one of the first three Dhyan Chand awardees, added.

He also promised to pay all the bills after returning to India.

India is currently under a 21-day nationwide lockdown which will end on April 14 due to coronavirus outbreak which has claimed around 200 lives in the country thus far. Till then, there's also a travel ban in the country, both within and outside.

The Indian government has also made it clear that any decision to allow foreign flights to operate to India can be taken only once the current lockdown period ends on April 14 midnight.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:58:56 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219931 IANS C-1-1219930-1219637
"The prisoner release process will continue... (It is) a part of the broader list that the Taliban shared with us," National Security Council spokesperson Javid Faisal told Efe news on Thursday.

President Ashraf Ghani has tasked the NSC to deal with the prisoner release process.

Ghani's government released the first batch of 100 Taliban prisoners from the Bagram jail on Wednesday as part of a prisoner-swap process to pave way for the intra-Afghan talks.

But the Taliban rejected it, saying it violated the peace agreement signed with the US on February 29 in Doha.

"We don't confirm the prisoner release (process) that is not according to the provisions of the agreement with the US," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Efe news.

The Taliban want the government to release 5,000 of its prisoners as was agreed in the agreement with Washington.

Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesperson in Qatar, told Efe news that the government's approach was "not acceptable to us".

"We want the prisoners released as per the peace agreement," Shaheen said.

The insurgents have warned that there won't be any talks with the Afghan government if its members were not set free.

The government said that it was "open" to continue technical talks with the Taliban "to advance the peace process" to end the 19-year long deadly conflict in the country.

More prisoners would be freed in the coming days based on their age, health conditions and the length of their remaining prison term, said Faisal.

Faisal said the jailed Taliban members were being released on the decree of President Ghani issued on March 11 that ensures the release of 5,000 prisoners in a phased manner and on the condition that there would be no uptick in violence.

Ghani had decreed that 100 prisoners would be released each day in the first 15 days after the process begins. The remaining 3,500 were to be freed in phases - 500 after every fortnight.

But Faisal said the numbers may vary now, depending on some "factors" that he did not explain.

"Yes, the release is according to President Ghani's decree of March 11, but 100 every day is not must, as the number may go up or down," Faisal told Efe news.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:58:55 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219930 IANS C-1-1219927-1219636
Gajjar operated under the name ‘LeadCloak' and provided ad-cloaking software designed to push fake news and scams related to COVID-19, cryptocurrency, pharmaceuticals, diet pills and fake news pages. Some of cloaked websites also included images of celebrities.

LeadCloak's software also targeted a number of other technology companies including Google, Oath, WordPress, Shopify, and others, claimed Facebook in its lawsuit filed in federal court in California.

"Cloaking is a malicious technique that impairs ad review systems by concealing the nature of the website linked to an ad," Facebook said in a statement late Thursday.

"When ads are cloaked, a company's ad review system may see a website showing an innocuous product such as a sweater, but a user will see a different website, promoting deceptive products and services which, in many cases, are not allowed," explained Jessica Romero, Director of Platform Enforcement and Litigation at Facebook.

According to Gajjar's brief profile available on Internet, he is a digital marketer, SaaS expert and Founder and System Architect at LeadCloak.com.

Gajjar earned Bachelor's Degree in Management Information Systems, General from California State University-Sacramento and Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, also from California State University-Sacramento.

In addition to the lawsuit, Facebook said it has taken technical enforcement measures against Leadcloak and accounts that "we've determined have used their software, including disabling personal and ad accounts on Facebook and Instagram".

"This suit will also further our efforts to identify Leadcloak's customers and take additional enforcement actions against them".

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:42:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219927 IANS C-1-1219909-1219635
"Doing such mischief would not help the society since the main objective of rumour mongering is to create a law and order situation by stoking passions. Such anti-social activities only compound the problems of the common man.

"We believe the main purpose of the rumour mongers is to distract the attention of the security forces from doing anti-pandemic duties.

"It is not difficult to understand that rumour mongering in times like this is not only a penal offence, but a crime against the society at large", said a top intelligence officer.

Rumour has always moved ahead of the genuine news in this landlocked Valley where people in days bygone believed that the world ends at the Pir Panjal mountains.

The latest addition to this by the incorrigible rumour spreaders is that the Supreme Court has advised the government to restore 4G Internet in J&K within 24 hours.

A fake document circulated through social media websites reads almost like a genuine order issued by the registry of the apex court.

The profiles of the petitions, respondents and the officials of the court have been copied and instead of the actual direction of the court that issued notice to the respondents, the fake order speaks of 4G restoration within 24 hours.

The cyber cell of local police has registered a case in this incident and senior officials told IANS that the IP identities, etc. of the rumour mongers have been traced.

"Arrests would soon be made to book the culprits who are disregarding the hard times the country is presently going through", a senior police officer said.

Even earlier to Thursday's fake order, fraudsters had thrice circulated fake orders those attributed restoration of 4G Internet to an order purportedly issued by the UT's home department.

Authorities had to deny repeatedly that such orders ever existed.

--IANS
sq/dpb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:41:47 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219909 IANS C-1-1219926-1219634
Johnson was admitted to the St Thomas' Hospital in London on Sunday, on the advice of his doctor, after continuing to have a cough and high temperature 10 days after testing positive for the virus, the BBC reported.

The Prime Minister was given oxygen before being taken to intensive care on Monday.

On Thursday night, Downing Street said that Johnson "has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery".

A spokesman added: "He is in extremely good spirits."

He "continues to improve" after a "good night" and thanked the National Health Service (NHS) for the "brilliant care" he has received, the spokesman added.

Following the news of the development, US President Donald Trump tweeted that the Prime Minister's moving out of intensive care was "great news", the BBC reported.

In a statement, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "So good that the Prime Minister is out of intensive care and on the road to recovery. The NHS is there for us all and I know our amazing NHS staff have given him their characteristic world-class care."

Newly elected Labour leader Keir Starmer also welcomed the "good news", tweeting: "I hope it is the beginnings of a speedy recovery."

Meanwhile, applause rang out across the UK in the third "Clap for Carers" event, where people showed their appreciation for NHS staff and other workers on the front line of the pandemic.

A total of 7,978 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 881 on Wednesday.

There were now a total of 65,872 confirmed cases in the country.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:41:46 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219926 IANS C-1-1219923-1219633
The Ministry, in its morning update, said that 199 deaths have been reported in India so far, with highest 97 from Maharashtra, followed by Gujarat with 17.

"A total of 503 patients have been cured and discharged," it said.

Among the 27 states and Union Territories with coronavirus patients, Maharashtra has the highest number of positive cases at 1,364, followed by Tamil Nadu at 834.

India has been under a 21-day nationwide lockdown since March 24 midnight in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

--IANS
rag/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:41:45 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219923 IANS C-1-1219918-1219632
The case has been filed under section 66 (computer-related offences) of the IT Act soon after the circulation of the video asking people to "stop entry of minority community's vending carts by checking their identity cards, as they were spreading coronavirus".

Ashutosh Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO) of the Nauchandi police station here, said, "An FIR has been filed against unknown persons for circulating an instigating video asking people to ban the entry of the minority community vendors in their colonies.

"The video, which was apparently shot in Meerut's Shastri Nagar, shows a group of people sitting outside a house and talking to each other. The person recording the video is heard saying that the residents of Shastri Nagar have come together to ban the entry of minority community, including vendors, inside the colony because they were spreading the deadly virus."

The video has been sent to the cyber cell to trace the exact location and also to track the person who made it.

Meerut District Magistrate Anil Dhingra said, "Action will be taken against those circulating misleading content on social media. They will be dealt severely according to law."


--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:41:43 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219918 IANS C-1-1219921-1219631
SP City Dinesh Kumar Singh said that the additional city magistrate-I, circle officer of Bhelupur along with a team of doctors inspected the incident site after which the body was sent for post mortem.

The Belarus embassy has been informed about the tourist's death.

Following the initial investigation, SP City Dinesh Kumar Singh said that this tourist had come to the city with one more companion in February. The duo stayed at Alvis guest house in Shivala area. His companion had left after a few days but the deceased was apparently stranded here due to declaration of lockdown.

When the team of doctors had conducted mandatory checking of foreigners stranded in Varanasi, he had not been found.

The guest house manager said that the deceased had taken normal dinner on Wednesday night before going to bed.

However, when he did not open doors of his room till late morning on Thursday, the guest house staff alerted Bhelupur police.

When Bhelupur police broke into his room, his body was found lying on bed in nude condition. Singh said that the post-mortem report will throw light on the cause of his death.

--IANS
amita/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:28:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219921 IANS C-1-1219916-1219630
"We are really the last bastion in the national effort against the pandemic," Admiral Singh said in his address to his men.

He said that coronavirus has had an unprecedented and extraordinary impact across the globe, as also for India. "We all have soon come around to realising that the danger is real, imminent and unprecedented," he said.

He also said that the challenge is only likely to intensify in the days and weeks ahead, requiring the force to further augment its preparedness.

"It can no longer be business as usual. We have to take certain concrete measures to make sure that we are geared and prepared to tackle the full onslaught of the virus," Admiral Singh said.

He also cited the priorities for the force. "We have to redouble our efforts to make sure that our personnel and families continue to remain safe and healthy," he said.

Admiral Singh pointed that care-givers cannot afford to become care-seekers.

"We also have to make sure that our operational assets, especially ships and submarines, remain free from the virus," he said.

The Navy chief said that physical distancing remains a challenge for any warship or submarine. "This requires us to apply ourselves, to make sure that our personnel and our readiness is not compromised. Follow physical distancing norms; adhere to advisories; screen personnel, using the word 'physical', because socially in the Navy we remain cohesive and close, but physically we will maintain distance," he said.

He also stressed that the spirit of innovation, sense of generosity and attitude of selfless service must continue to steer collective efforts.

"Finally, we have to keep our guard up and retain our sights firmly on full combat readiness. There can be no leeway on this count. Operation readiness must remain an important priority," he said.

For the Navy, Admiral Singh said, they have taken certain measures in consonance with government actions, including a stop on recruitment and training; freeze on movements and transfers; and stoppage of work, except those related to national security, health and essential services.

He expressed the satisfaction that all personnel and communities have risen to the occasion and proactively come forward with a sense of commitment, courage, imagination and ingenuity.

"In particular, our medical teams, yard personnel, NWWA and ops/security/admin staff have been at the forefront, and deserve support and recognition," an official statement issued on Thursday quoted him as saying.

Admiral Singh said that the naval medical teams have set up corona care centres, quarantine facilities and isolation wards in a short time span; 24-hour helplines, and COVID control centres to monitor the situation.

In terms of support to the civil administration, he said, ships and aircraft remain on standby to extend support to the Indian Ocean Region nations and island territories.

"Some support activities undertaken include airlifting of doctors for training, and blood samples for testing, from Goa to Pune; and movement of masks for Goa government from Delhi to Goa," the naval chief said.

-- IANS
sk/tsb]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:26:48 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219916 IANS C-1-1219925-1219629
In a media release, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said du Preez, fondly known has Jackie, passed away on Wednesday in Harare, Zimbabwe. He had been suffering from a heart condition for some time.

He was one of the many Zimbabweans to play for South Africa under the banner of the South African Cricket Association in his country's pre-independence days.

Part of a rare breed of leg-spinners in South African domestic cricket in the 1960s, he was also a good enough batsman to be regarded as a genuine all-rounder and he represented South Africa in the final two Test matches against Australia in the 1966-67 season.

"On behalf of the CSA Family I extend our deepest condolences his family, friends and cricketing colleagues," commented CSA Acting Chief Executive Dr. Jacques Faul.

He was also an outstanding fielder and combined with Eddie Barlow in a boundary edge double play to run out Bill Lawry before the Australian opening batsman had faced a ball in the final Test match of that series at St. George's Park.

In a first-class career that lasted nearly 20 years, he made more than 4,000 first-class runs, including a century, and took 296 wickets, including 11 fifers. He also took 80 catches.

In later years he served as a national selector of Zimbabwe Cricket.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:24:43 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219925 IANS C-1-1219924-1219628
If you try to open Facebook while in ‘Quiet Mode', you'll be reminded that you set this time aside to limit your time in the app.

"We also added shortcuts to Notification Settings and News Feed Preferences, so you can make the most of your time on Facebook by controlling the type of posts you see in your News Feed as well as the updates you receive," the social networking giant said in a statement late Thursday.

The aim is to help people adjust to new routines as they stay home in COVID-19 times.

"Setting boundaries for how you spend your time online can be helpful," said Facebook.

The ‘Quiet Mode' can be found under Facebook's "Your Time on Facebook" dashboard.

Facebook said it is sharing tips from the World Health Organization (WHO) on how people can take care of themselves, stay active, relieve stress, and establish new goals and routines while staying home.

"We'll also connect people to their local crisis hotline, so people can call or text to get help when they need it. These tips and resources will be available in the Coronavirus Information Center on Facebook," said the company.

Facebook also donated $2 million to support organizations like Vibrant Emotional Health that operates the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the US, Kids Help Phone in Canada, iCALL Psychosocial Helpline in India, Samaritans in the UK, Centro de Valorização da Vida in Brazil and more.

"These organisations offer critical support for people struggling with loneliness, anxiety and other mental health issues and we want to help them increase capacity quickly during this time," said Facebook.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:24:12 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219924 IANS C-1-1219922-1219627
The ministers' meeting on Thursday night endorsed a proposal from the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), which is called Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE), reports Xinhua news agency.

It will allow for financial assistance up to 100 billion euros in loans from the EU to the affected member states.

The money will be used in public expenditure for the preservation of employment, acting as a second line of defence, supporting national short-time work schemes and similar measures.

The meeting also endorsed the initiative of the European Investment Bank Group to create a pan-European guarantee fund, which could support 200 billion euros of financing for companies with a focus on small and medium-sized companies throughout the EU.

In addition, the meeting endorsed a tool within the European Stability Mechanism, to open a credit line to the governments of member states, at 2 per cent of the respective country's gross domestic product, translating to about 240 billion euros.

Mario Centeno, president of the Eurogroup, described the three measures as three safety nets, each for workers, firms, and governments. They total over 500 billion euros.

The meeting also agreed to work on a temporary Recovery Fund to prepare and support the recovery, providing funding through the EU budget to programs designed to kick-start the economy.

The amount, financing and many details, however, remain undecided.

Some countries remain opposed to the idea of common debt, or Eurobonds, where joint European loans are guaranteed by European countries as a whole.

Southern European countries have pushed for it, but northern European countries resist it, as that could effectively mean the richer countries pay for the poorer ones.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:22:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219922 IANS C-1-1219913-1219626
No private vehicles, except those belonging to doctors, para-medical staff, power employees, state government and police personnel will be allowed to move on the roads.

Later in the night, the district magistrate issued another order, exempting the media from the ban.

The district magistrate said that government employees and bank employees and other pass holders will be required to reach their offices before 9.30. a.m and can move out only after 6 p.m.

Shopkeepers that are opening their shops in the lockdown will also follow the same rule.

The clampdown on the 12 hotspots identified and sealed in Lucknow will continue with no movement -- physical or vehicular -- allowed in the areas.

Meanwhile, the Lucknow zoo has also set up an isolation ward for animals after reports of a tiger in a New York zoo being infected with Coronavirus.

The state government has already made it mandatory for everyone to wear masks while moving out of their houses.

According to official sources, till now, 39,857 persons have been booked for violating lockdown across the state.

--IANS
amita/skp/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:22:33 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219913 IANS C-1-1219920-1219625
German football is preparing to start playing games in front of empty stands in May to finish the 2029/2020 season in times of the coronavirus crisis. First and second tier teams are preparing for the new challenge. After two weeks of cyber training at home, most clubs have started training in small groups under strict rules set up by health authorities.

"We might experience these games like the final training session in advance of a final in the Champions League," Muller told Xinhua news agency in a recent interview.

The 2014 world champion spoke about Bayern's squad getting along reasonably well with the strange situation. He said Bayern is one of the favourites to win the Champions League.

He expects other cornerstones of Bayern's squad to follow the example of head coach Hansi Flick and himself. After Flick and Muller extended their contracts with the 2013 treble winner, negotiations with Manuel Neuer, David Alaba and Thiago Alcantara are in progress.

The team's goals remain the same despite the uncertainty caused by the situation. The national leagues are under shutdown since mid-March in most European countries. As for games behind closed doors, Muller is trying to figure out a way of approaching them.

"The atmosphere could be similar to the one we experience at the last training session in the arena before a Champions League final. Your mind is determined to win the final, and you need to be entirely focused until kick-off," Muller commented.

At present, this strategy seems the most suitable to face unusual games for him, the former German international said.

"We will face 90 minutes without feedback from outside. It will be different from what we were used to over the decades."

He said he is primarily missing normal locker room life, adding it is an excellent motivation to be back to reduced training on the pitch. "You see your teammates in other groups from a distance of 50 meters, but you see them and talk about their feelings over the distance," the attacker emphasized.

Training in small groups is better than attacking the flower vases in the living room at home. Muller praised Bayern's efforts to provide variety in cyber training "as they even came up with a ball artist."

Teams that manage to deal with the circumstances best will be the ones successful in the end. "It is part of our job to accept the situation and address the requirements."

Training efforts will increase as soon as a fixed date for a restart is announced. Currently, things are still left in the uncertain.

Several changes will stay a challenge. He never counted much on the assumed advantage of games in front of the home crowd. "I don't think it will be a great advantage to play home games under these conditions.

After Bayern's last coach Niko Kovac left him out of the team several times last autumn, he considered joining a new club. "You might accept to sit outside when the team is winning games, but you don't when results are far from expectations," he said, adding he has the feeling to have returned to one of the team's influencers.

It was vital for him to see a convincing perspective at Bayern for him and the entire team. The current squad is one of the best in the club's history, he added.

--IANS
aak/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:18:48 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219920 IANS C-1-1219914-1219624
In the week ending April 4, the number of people filing for unemployment benefits slightly decreased by 261,000 to 6,606,000, after setting a second straight record in previous week, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics reported on Thursday.

"The very large spikes in weekly jobless claims, which were over 6 million for two consecutive months, suggests a much broader set of job closures in the short run," Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Indiana, told Xinhua news agency email.

"The very rapid adoption of shelter-in-place orders by US Governors is clearly causing a significant reduction in employment across the states implementing it," Hicks said.

As the pandemic continues to sweep across the country, over 40 states and the District of Columbia have ordered residents to stay at home unless necessary.

Deborah Birx, the COVID-19 response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, has recently discouraged Americans from visiting the grocery store and pharmacy.

Hicks, however, noted that it was also possible that some workers will find work in other sectors (grocery and delivery stores) and for some businesses to reopen after acquiring sufficient personal protective equipment, or separating workers in an assembly line or factory.

The newly released number came after the figure spiked by 3 million to reach a record 3.3 million in the week ending March 21, and then surged by 3.34 million to reach 6.65 million in the week ending March 28, which was revised up 6,87 million.

The report also showed that the four-week moving average, a method to iron out data volatility, increased by 1,598,750 to 4,265,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.1 percent for the week ending March 28, an increase of 3.0 percentage points from the previous week's unrevised rate, according to the report.

Hicks said job losses will propel the US unemployment rate over 15 per cent by the end of April, and "perhaps higher in later months".

As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, non-essential businesses, such as theatres, museums, gyms and shopping malls, are largely shut down, and restaurants and bars are asked to avoid in-person dining, effectively paralyzing the consumption-driven US economy.

As of Friday morning, 465,750 confirmed cases have been reported across the US, with 16,684 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:18:47 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219914 IANS C-1-1219915-1219623
In a statement issued in Nairobi, the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) on Thursday announced the decision to end all league and cup competitions for the 2019/20 season, becoming the first local governing sports body to do so as the country battles to contain the spread of COVID-19, reports Xinhua news agency.

The annulled competitions include the Kenya Cup (top-flight league), Championship (second tier), and nationwide leagues, as well as Enterprise and Mwamba cup tournaments.

"The cancelation means there will be no promotion or relegation in any of the leagues, with all teams remaining in their current division," affirmed the communication signed by KRU secretary, Ian Mugambi.

The cancelled leagues were at the play-off stages at the time of suspension of all sporting activity in Kenya for an initial 30 days last month, when the country reported its first positive coronavirus case on March 13.

Due to the play-off system, title winners cannot be decided unless the remaining fixtures are completed, and with the lockdown likely to be extended, the KRU board added they were left with no choice other than to cancel the season altogether.

Mugambi assured affected clubs, sponsors and fans that a range of options were explored, but the broad consensus reached across the game was that annulling the campaign was the most appropriate outcome.

"Our primary concern remains the health and safety of all our stakeholders, including the players, technical teams, officials, fans as well as groundsmen and security personnel," said Mugambi.

The decision to resume rugby activities and fixtures will be subject to the direction and guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Sports, according to the Union.

So far, all football leagues, including the top-tier Kenyan Premier League and Nationwide Football League second division, remain suspended, with the Kenyan government closing all training camps for athletics.

--IANS
aak/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:18:46 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219915 IANS C-1-1219912-1219622
"200+ migrants were just returned to Libya. In the past few days, six boats carrying 500+ migrants departed from Libya. Most of them were returned by the coast guard," the IOM tweeted on Thursday.

The rescued immigrants, including women and children, were still on the Libyan coast guard's vessel and have not disembarked yet due to fighting in the area, Xinhua news agency quoted the IOM as saying.

"IOM reiterates its call to end returns to Libya. A safe disembarkation mechanism is needed," it added.

Libya has become a preferred departure point for migrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards European shores.

The IOM has repeatedly said that Libya was not a safe port for immigrants' disembarkation due to the deteriorating security condition in the country.

The agency estimates that there are currently 650,000 illegal immigrants in Libya, many of whom lack medical care and basic needs.

--IANS
ksk/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:05:22 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219912 IANS C-1-1219849-1219621
"I just love gardening. I used to do that as a kid with my grandparents and they would tell me stories while gardening and the entire family would have breakfast together. I have some amazing memories of gardening. I never got the time once I started acting," she said.

"Since there is more time now, I thought of starting it again. I have a variety of plants in my house and some of my friends have started calling it a nursery which I am just loving," she added.

Payal has mostly featured in films in South Indian languages like Telugu, Kannada and Tamil. She was last seen in a 2017 Bollywood film titled "Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi", which also starred veteran actors Rishi Kapoor and Paresh Rawal.

--IANS
nn/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:03:38 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219849 IANS C-1-1219910-1219620
"Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud," the state-run TASS News Agency quoted the Kremlin press service as saying in the statement.

The sides confirmed "determination to coordinate actions to stabilize the situation in the global oil trade and minimize the negative impact of volatile oil price quotations to the global economy", it said.

According to the statement, the sides discussed the situation on oil markets, including with regard to the emergency OPEC+ ministerial meeting and the upcoming video conference of G20 energy ministers.

The plan on oil production cuts within the OPEC+ framework envisages that Russia and Saudi Arabia will reduce their oil production by 2.5 million barrels per day, from the current 11 million barrels to 8.5 million barrels per day in May-June, according to a draft agreement obtained by TASS.

During a video conference that began on Thursday, OPEC+ nations have been discussing the situation on the oil market and proposed cuts.

The previous OPEC+ agreement expired on March 31.

After that Russia and Saudi Arabia failed to agree on the terms of its extension.

The parties' withdrawal from the agreement pushed OPEC+ to increase production, which coincided with a sharp decline in oil demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, the oil price plummeted to $22 per barrel which is the sharpest fall in 20 years.

In late March, the partners decided to resume consultations and to invite more oil producing countries to take part in the joint activities to balance the oil market.

--IANS
ksk/

]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:03:37 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219910 IANS C-1-1219911-1219619
Based on the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the FIBA Executive Committee held a video conference and reached an agreement on a revised basketball calendar.

The FIBA Olympic qualifying tournaments will be played between June 22 and July 4, 2021, with exact dates pending approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The 2021 FIBA EuroBasket and FIBA AmeriCup are rescheduled to the period between September 1 and 18, 2022.

The 2021 FIBA Afrobasket (August 24 to September 5) and 2021 FIBA Asia Cup (August 17 to 29) are put back by one and two weeks respectively, to avoid the calendar clash with the new dates for the Tokyo Olympics.

The 2021 FIBA Women's AmeriCup will take place between June 20 and 27, 2021, prior to the Tokyo Olympics and on similar dates to the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 (June 17 to 27).

The 2020 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup in Bulgaria will now follow the same schedule as the 2020 FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup in Romania (August 15 to 23).

"I'm very pleased that, in a very challenging period, FIBA has been able to conduct an internal consultation process so fast and confirm an updated calendar for our senior tournaments within almost two weeks from the IOC's announcement of the new dates for the Olympic Games," said FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis.

"The outcome is a calendar of FIBA major events which remains very attractive for our fans, with a balanced distribution of top events, keeping always in mind the welfare and availability of players."

FIBA also said that its Executive Committee will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation on a daily basis and evaluate the options for the lifting of the suspension of FIBA competitions when the situation allows for it.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:03:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219911 IANS C-1-1219908-1219618
According to the apex court's roster, six division benches will work at Islamabad registry, while a three-member bench will work at Karachi registry and a two-judge bench at Lahore registry, The Express Tribune reported.

However, only a few cases will be fixed before all the benches.

The SC judges were already concerned over the rapid increase in the backlog of cases in the top court.

According to a recent report of the apex court, 43,847 cases had been pending until March 31.

The report said that despite the lockdown in the country, 602 new cases had been instituted, while 438 cases were decided from March 15 to March 31.

The decision comes as Pakistan has registered a total of 4,474 confirmed coronavirus cases with 65 fatalities.

--IANS
ksk/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 08:49:38 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219908 IANS C-1-1219907-1219617
"As per decision of the government of Pakistan, the suspension of International and Domestic Flight Operations as effected earlier has been extended up to Tuesday April 21, 11.59 p.m.," The Express Tribune quoted the notification as saying on Thursday.

In its last notification, the CAA had said that diplomatic, special/cargo flights and flights of national carrier to/from Pakistan holding special approval from the competent authority for transporting stranded passengers would be exempted from the ban.

The decision comes as Pakistan has registered a total of 4,474 confirmed coronavirus cases with 65 fatalities.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 08:49:37 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219907 IANS C-1-1219906-1219616
"While communicating Pakistan's decision to the Saarc Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the fund should be administered by the Saarc Secretariat and that the modalities for the fund's utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the member states as per the Saarc Charter," The Express Tribune quoted the Foreign Office as saying in a statement on Thursday.

According to the statement, the news about Pakistan's contribution was also conveyed during a telephone conversation between Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and Secretary General Saarc Esala Ruwan Weerakoon earlier in the day.

"Being a founding member, Pakistan considers Saarc an important platform for regional cooperation.

"Pakistan remains committed to the Saarc process and will continue working with the member states to strengthen regional cooperation," it added.

On March 15, Saarc leaders held a virtual summit which was spearheaded by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to chalk out a common strategy for combating the novel coronavirus in the South Asian region.

India has pledged $10 million, Bangladesh $1.5 million, Nepal $1 million, Afghanistan $1 million, the Maldives $200,000 and Bhutan $100,000.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 08:32:47 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219906 IANS C-1-1219901-1219615
On Thursday, the country reported 29 new confirmed and probable cases, bringing New Zealand's total to 1,239 -- including only one death. Of those cases, only 14 are in hospital -- and 317 have recovered, CNN reported.

New Zealand, a small island country with a population of just under 5 million, is halfway through a month-long lockdown aimed at not only containing the virus, but eliminating it.

And so far, the approach appears to be successful.

"We are turning a corner," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a speech Thursday.

"And your commitment means our plan is working."

For other countries, those positive signs might be a reason to lift restrictions. Denmark, which has at least 5,597 cases and 218 deaths, announced it will begin to lift its lockdown next week if cases remain stable.

Instead, Ardern said Thursday she was tightening border restrictions, meaning all those who arrive in the country will be required to spend two weeks quarantined in an approved facility, rather than self-isolating at home. The rule only applies to New Zealanders -- foreign nationals have been banned from entering the country since March 20.

"At the halfway mark, I have no hesitation in saying that what New Zealanders have done over the last two weeks is huge," Ardern said at a press conference Thursday that many Kiwis listened to live. "You made the decision that together, we could protect one other. And you have. You have saved lives."

"But as I've said, this is going to be a marathon."

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 08:03:27 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219901 IANS C-1-1219842-1219614

"The fact that he has signed a film as an actor came as a surprise to me. Aditya had an interest in writing. He is a very good scriptwriter. He writes dialogues and poetry, and I have seen how good he is as a writer. He went abroad and studied (writing), too. So naturally, I thought that he will write films. I did not know that the script he and the team of his film were working on over the past one month was actually his acting assignment! They were doing a workshop. But when I got to know it is his acting debut, I was surprised pleasantly!" Paresh told IANS.

He added, about the cast and crew of his son's debut project: "I know all these youngsters, and all of them are hard-working. Now that I know they put their heart and soul into 'Bamfaad', I really want people to love their work. My wish is not just for Aditya but the whole team."

"Bamfaad" also features Vinay Varma and Jatin Sarma among others, and is set to release on Friday on ZEE5.

While the trailer has received positive feedback, what was his reaction of watching his son on screen? "As a father, when I watched my son on screen, it was an emotional and overwhelming moment. I think he does not look like a debutant. His body language, expressions, dialogue delivery are all in control. He looks the part. He carried himself well as a character in the film. I appreciate that," Paresh replied.

"Usually in a debut film, we look for the potential in an actor. I think Aditya has it in him. As an actor, his basics are correct," said Paresh.

Does he see a younger version of himself in Aditya? "Not at all. Aditya's approach to a character, and style of acting are way different from mine. He is methodical as a performer, I am spontaneous. These are two different styles of acting. I think we are also different as individuals."

So, what is his tip for Aditya? "I think we all emphasise on hard work. What I told Aditya is, do your hard work as part of your preparation and unlearn it when you are acting. Audience tumahara hard work nahin, ek film dekhne aa rahein hain (the audience is not coming to see your hard work, they are coming to watch a film). So, people should see the character in you and not Aditya, who is playing the character, or the hard work in between. It has to be seamless. You are an artist, not labour. Warna banawati lagta hai, darshak woh nahin dekhega (otherwise it seems fake, people won't watch it)," Paresh signed off.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)

--IANS
aru/vnc/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 08:03:26 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219842 IANS C-1-1219904-1219613
"The curve is flattening out," said Merkel at the Chancellery. The latest COVID-19 infection figures in Germany gave "reason for cautious hope," reported Xinhua news agency.

Merkel stressed that it would be necessary to be "very, very careful" with relaxing the current restrictions. The ultimate goal is not to overburden the healthcare system in Germany, she said.

German citizens have repeatedly been urged to obey the contact restrictions over the upcoming Easter holidays. The situation is still "fragile" and "we are not allowed to be careless now," she said.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn also stressed that the Easter holidays in Germany would be a "fork in the road" in the fight against the coronavirus.

"If we remain forceful over the weekend, a gradual return to normality becomes more probable," said Spahn. "If we get careless now, the likelihood increases that an extension of the conditions will be necessary."

Spahn said that the "restrictions in everyday life," such as the closure of kindergartens and schools, were slowing down the spread of the disease. Of the almost 110,000 confirmed infections in Germany, more than 50,000 people have already recovered.

Despite some issues, the German healthcare system has a "strong foundation," Spahn said. Currently, about 3,000 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care in German hospitals, but more than 10,000 intensive care beds are still vacant.

Next week would witness "important consultations," Merkel said. On Wednesday, the German government and the state ministers are scheduled to discuss the next steps in the coronavirus crisis, such as a potential easing or extension of the restrictions.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 08:03:25 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219904 IANS C-1-1219895-1219612
"A pandemic amplifies and heightens all existing inequalities. With COVID-19, this is even more so," said Guterres in a policy brief on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The policy brief highlighted the social and economic impacts of the pandemic on women across four areas: economic, health, unpaid care, and gender-based violence.

Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex, said the policy brief.

These impacts risk reversing limited gains made on women's rights in the past decades, Guterres warned.

He asked for inclusion of women and women's organisations at the heart of the COVID-19 response; the transformation of the inequities of unpaid care work into a new, inclusive care economy that works for everyone; the designing of socio-economic plans with an intentional focus on the lives and futures of women and girls.

"Putting women and girls at the centre of economies will fundamentally drive better and more sustainable development outcomes for all, support a more rapid recovery, and place us back on a footing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals," said the policy brief.

Women are the majority of those employed in sectors the worst hit by business closures due to COVID-19, including the service sector and tourism. The situation is worse in developing economies where the vast majority of women's employment, 70 percent, is in the informal economy with few protections against dismissal or for paid sick leave and limited access to social protection.

The policy brief recommended actions, including prioritizing putting money in the hands of women through cash transfer programs, expanding social protections including to informal workers, and alleviating the tax burden on women-owned businesses.

The health of women is adversely impacted through the re-allocation of resources and priorities, including sexual and reproductive health services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Women may be at greater risk of exposure as they constitute 70 percent of the global health workforce on the front lines of response to COVID-19.

The policy brief called for specific attention to the needs and protection of female health workers and the continuation of standard health services.

With children out of school, intensified care needs of older persons and ill family members, and overwhelmed health services, demands for care work in a COVID-19 world have intensified exponentially. Prior to the crisis, women already averaged three times more time spent on work in the home than men.

The policy brief recommended the expansion of social protection, expansion of child care programs, and the design of economic recovery packages which finally make visible and place a value on unpaid care in the formal economy.

As the COVID-19 pandemic deepens economic and social stress coupled with restricted movement and social isolation measures, gender-based violence is increasing exponentially.

The policy brief recommended for all countries to make prevention and response part of their national COVID-19 response plans, ensure domestic violence shelters are designated essential services, move help and reporting and response online where possible, and increase funding to civil society organisations providing services in communities.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 07:45:04 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219895 IANS C-1-1219898-1219611
Speaking at a Mission briefing on COVID-19 from Geneva on Thursday, the WHO chief said that so far, more than 1.3 million people have been infected, and almost 80,000 people have lost their lives, reported Xinhua news agency.

"This pandemic is much more than a health crisis. It requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response," he said.

He added that the world is yet to see the devastation it could wreak in poorer and more vulnerable countries. Without help and action now, poor countries and vulnerable communities could suffer massive devastation.

"The window for containing the virus at the sub-national and national level is closing in many countries. The infection numbers in Africa are relatively small now, but they are growing fast," he warned.

"As I said in the press conference yesterday, we must quarantine politicizing this virus at national and global levels. We have to work together, and we have no time to waste," he added.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 07:40:51 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219898 IANS C-1-1219900-1219610
"We expect the IMF to immediately respond to the request of Iran which itself is a founding member of the Fund," Abdolnaser Hemmati, the CBI chief, wrote on his Instagram page, reported Xinhua news agency.

Hemmati has said that the IMF's response will be a litmus test for claims about relief aid for containing the disease.

According to Press TV, Hemmati sent a letter to IMF president on Wednesday to emphasize Iran's need for the loan to finance a current fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

On March 12, it was announced here that the CBI had asked the IMF for a 5-billion-dollar loan to combat the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

However, reports said that the United States had blocked Iran's request for the emergency loan.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the recent rejection of Iran's application for the loan from the IMF amid the novel coronavirus fight is "unacceptable" and "unfair."

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 07:22:40 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219900 IANS C-1-1219905-1219609

On the same day, New York State suffered the deadliest blow, posting a record-breaking increase in coronavirus deaths for a third consecutive day even as hospitalisations and intubations slowed, suggesting the curve is finally flattening. The net 200-patient increase in hospitalisations is the lowest since the nightmare began.

White House data is also showing that US men are testing positive at a much higher rate than women.

Data on those under 25 years were drawn from a universe of 200,000 tests while more than half a million people in the 25-45 years age group and in the 45-65 age group have been tested, according to Dr. Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the White House response to the pandemic.

Among 200,000 people in the 65-85 age group, Birx reported 22 percent positive tests and a slightly higher 24 per cent positivity level among 30,000 people above 85 years who were tested.

The pattern emerging from the US testing data are consistent with insights the White House has absorbed from attack rates in other countries which have come off their infection peaks, especially Europe.

Birx urged American men who are symptomatic to get tested. So far, nearly 6 in 10 people who have been tested are female while a little more than 4 in 10 are men. Positivity rates are 16 per cent for women and 23 per cent for men.

"Men often don't present in the healthcare delivery system until they have greater symptomatology. This is to all of our men out there no matter what age group. If you have symptoms, you should be tested, and make sure that you are tested," Birx said.

More than 6 in 10 states, Birx said, have less than 10 percent positive rate "despite significant testing".

"Issues around those with comorbidities and those of the elderly" continue to be the dominant concerns, according to Birx.

Despite the rising tide of horrible news, the White House task force remains focused on the upside of mitigation efforts which are showing up as flatter curves in outbreaks outside the New York and New Jersey metro areas.

Birx said the curves in Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Denver "are much lower than New York and New Jersey and this gives us hope".

America's top infectious diseases expert on the White House task force Dr Anthony Fauci backed up Birx's comments saying America is headed in the "right direction".

"That means that what we are doing is working, and therefore we need to continue to do it. I know I sound like a broken record, that's good - I want to sound like a broken record, let's just keep doing it," Fauci said about continued adherence to social distancing guidelines in place since March 16.

Predictive models from the Institute For Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington which earlier projected a nationwide death toll of 100,000-200,000 have now revised downwards to a little over 60,000 deaths by August first week of this year. These models assume "full social distancing" in place.

Fauci announced "broad, general good news" on the race for therapeutics that can serve as a stop gap measure until a vaccine is ready.

"There are a lot of candidate potential therapeutics that are going into clinical trials now that we're sponsoring at the NIH," Fauci said.

NIH is short for National Institutes of Health, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the country's foremost medical research agency.

These trials, Fauci said, would give scientists the answers they seek on safety, effectiveness and the circumstances under which the drugs can be used as prophylaxis in early and late stage disease.

"We're doing an awful lot from a scientific standpoint, so that when we do get to next year, next Fall, next winter, hopefully we'll have something that we can offer."

A vaccine, Fauci has maintained since the US outbreak began, will take anywhere from "12-18 months".

(Nikhila Natarajan can be contacted at @byniknat)

--IANS
nn/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 07:22:39 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219905 IANS C-1-1219840-1219608
"We don't get paid for singing in Bollywood at all. What happens is they feel that if we give a superhit song, the singer will earn through shows," Neha told IANS.

The 31-year-old added: "I get a good amount from live concerts and everything, but Bollywood doesn't have this scene. To make us sing a song, they don't pay."

On the work front, Neha will feature in a song with rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh titled "Moscow suka". The number is a mix of Punjabi and Russian language.

The Russian vocals are given by Ekaterina Sizova.

On Thursday, Neha took to her Instagram stories, where she uploaded a string of pictures of herself along with her brother Tony Kakkar, whom she wished a happy birthday.

Tony and Neha have together collaborated for numbers like "Car main music", "Dheeme dheeme" and "Coca Cola".

--IANS
dc/vnc/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 07:07:59 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219840 IANS C-1-1219833-1219607
On TV show "Celebrity IOU", the actor spoke about his bond with his cosmetic experts and also shared an awkward anecdote he had experienced with Jean.

"She's family, we're like brother and sister. She's been that person I value so much in my life," Brad Pitt said.

The Oscar-winning actor has worked with Jean on over 40 movies, but he admitted "Legends of the Fall" in 1994 provided their most awkward moment when the make-up artist had to use cosmetics to even out a tan line on Brad's butt, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

He added: "When it comes up, we can't really look each other in the eye."

Jean Black has taken care of Brad Pitt's make-up in numerous films including "Inglourious Basterds", "Ocean's Thirteen", "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button", "Babel", "Burn After Reading", and "The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford".

--IANS
sim/vnc/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 07:07:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219833 IANS C-1-1219894-1219606
"The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic," he told the council in a virtual briefing on Thursday, reported Xinhua news agency.

"Indeed, a signal of unity and resolve from the council would count for a lot at this anxious time."

To prevail against the pandemic, the world will need to work together. That means heightened solidarity, and it means having the necessary resources, said Guterres.

The financial situation of the United Nations remains perilous, and it has only enough cash to fund peacekeeping operations through the end of June and no capacity to pay troop- and police-contributing countries, he said.

While COVID-19 is first and foremost a health crisis, its implications are much more far-reaching, he warned.

"We are already seeing its ruinous social and economic impacts, as governments around the world struggle to find the most effective responses to rising unemployment and the economic downturn. But the pandemic also poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security -- potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease."

In his briefing through video teleconference, Guterres reminded the Security Council of eight concerns that come under its purview: the maintenance of international peace and security.

First, the pandemic threatens to further erode trust in public institutions, particularly if citizens perceive that their authorities mishandled the response or are not transparent on the scope of the crisis.

Second, the economic fallout of this crisis could create major stressors, particularly in fragile societies, less developed countries and those in transition. Economic instability will have particularly devastating impacts for women, who make up the vast majority of those sectors worst affected. The large numbers of female-headed households in conflict-settings are especially vulnerable to economic shocks.

Third, the postponement of elections or referenda, or the decision to proceed with a vote -- even with mitigation measures -- can create political tensions and undermine legitimacy. Such decisions are best made following broad consultation aimed at consensus. This is not a time for political opportunism.

Fourth, in some conflict settings, the uncertainty created by the pandemic may create incentives for some actors to promote further division and turmoil. This could lead to an escalation of violence and possibly devastating miscalculations, which could further entrench ongoing wars and complicate efforts to fight the pandemic.

Fifth, the threat of terrorism remains alive. Terrorist groups may see a window of opportunity to strike while the attention of most governments is turned toward the pandemic.

Sixth, the weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic provide a window onto how a bioterrorist attack might unfold, and may increase its risks. Non-state groups could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe.

Seventh, the crisis has hindered international, regional and national conflict resolution efforts, exactly when they are needed most. Many peace processes have stalled as the world responds to COVID-19. Restrictions on movement may continue to affect the work of various confidence-based mechanisms, as well as the ability to engage in crisis diplomacy to de-escalate potential conflicts.

Eighth, the pandemic is triggering or exacerbating various human rights challenges. "We are seeing stigma, hate speech, and white supremacists and other extremists seeking to exploit the situation. We are witnessing discrimination in accessing health services. Refugees and internally displaced persons are particularly vulnerable. And there are growing manifestations of authoritarianism, including limits on the media, civic space and freedom of expression."

The world faces its gravest test since the founding of the United Nations, said Guterres.

The world is struggling to absorb the unfolding shock: the jobs that have disappeared and businesses that have suffered; the fundamental and drastic shift to daily lives, and the fear that the worst is still yet to come, especially in the developing world and countries already battered by armed conflict.

"This is the fight of a generation, and the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself," he told the Security Council.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 07:07:01 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219894 IANS C-1-1219903-1219605
"The fire starts to come under control," PM Pedro Sánchez told MPs in Madrid, saying the country would have "total victory" over the virus, the BBC reported.

Spain has Europe's highest number of confirmed cases, with 152,446.

As of Thursday, the country has reported 15,238 deaths.

Sánchez is the latest European leader to suggest the situation may be stabilising.

His comments came ahead of news that EU finance ministers had agreed a 500 billion euros ($546bn) rescue package for European countries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The deal, reached after marathon discussions in Brussels that began on Tuesday, was announced by the chairman of the Eurogroup finance ministers, Mário Centeno.

The French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, said the agreement was the most important economic plan in EU history. The ministers fell short of accepting a demand by France and Italy to share out the cost of the crisis by issuing so-called "corona bonds" (or eurobonds) - mutualised debt that all EU nations help to pay off.

On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country rejected a plan to share out coronavirus-incurred debt in the form of "coronabonds" (or eurobonds) - mutualised debt that all EU nations help to pay off.

"You know that I don't believe we should have common debt because of the situation of our political union and that's why we reject this... but there are so many ways to show solidarity and I believe we will find a good solution," she said.

According to latest data from the past 24 hours, Spain has recorded 683 deaths - a drop from the 757 reported on Wednesday.

Total confirmed cases now stand at 152,446, and Spain has now reported the second-highest number worldwide after the US, which has more than 400,000.

On Thursday, Spanish lawmakers participated remotely in a parliamentary debate before agreeing hours later to extend the country's state of emergency until 26 April, keeping people at home for a further two weeks.

Spain has imposed some of the strictest measures in Europe. But Sánchez said they had helped drastically cut the infection rate.

Europe is still the region hardest-hit by the outbreak worldwide, suffering the majority of deaths and confirmed cases.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 06:52:02 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219903 IANS C-1-1219897-1219604
The first participants have enrolled in the trial at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Tennessee, reported Xinhua news agency.

The blinded, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial aims to enroll more than 500 adults who are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 or in an emergency department with anticipated hospitalization.

All participants in the study will continue to receive clinical care as indicated for their condition. Those randomized to the experimental intervention will also receive hydroxychloroquine, according to the NIH.

"Effective therapies for COVID-19 are urgently needed," said James Kiley, director of the Division of Lung Diseases of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the NIH.

"Hydroxychloroquine has showed promise in a lab setting against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and preliminary reports suggest potential efficacy in small studies with patients. However, we really need clinical trial data to determine whether hydroxychloroquine is effective and safe in treating COVID-19," he said.

While COVID-19 usually presents as an acute respiratory infectious illness, it can damage multiple organ systems, including heart, lung, and blood.

Currently, no therapies have been demonstrated to prevent the progression of COVID-19 to severe illness, but several medicines available in the United States have been proposed as potential therapies, said the NIH.

Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria and rheumatoid conditions such as arthritis. In various studies, the drug has demonstrated antiviral activity, an ability to modify the activity of the immune system, said the NIH.

The drug has an established safety profile at appropriate doses, leading to the hypothesis that it may also be useful in the treatment of COVID-19, according to the NIH.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 06:52:01 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219897 IANS C-1-1219902-1219603
"I'm reporting today that we passed 2 million tests completed in the United States," Trump said during the White House press briefing, adding that the tests are "highly sophisticated and highly accurate", CNN reported.

Earlier in the briefing, the President said, "Other countries are looking to what we are doing, and our testing operation has now become, far and away, the most sophisticated and the best anywhere."

However, Trump conceded there will not be mass coronavirus testing for all Americans as the country goes back to work, but also claimed it was not needed.

"We want to have it and we're going to see if we have it. Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes. We're talking about 325 million people and that's not gonna happen, as you can imagine, and it would never happen with anyone else, either. Other countries do it but they do it in a limited form. We'll probably be the leader of the pack," Trump said.

Trump also suggested there would be "massive testing" in "certain areas" of the country.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 06:52:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219902 IANS C-1-1219899-1219602
The fresh figure reached 90,057 as of 12.25 p.m. (1625 GMT), an interactive map maintained by the university's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) showed, reported Xinhua news agency.

Italy saw the most deaths, standing at 17,669 among 139,422 confirmed cases, followed by Spain, with 15,238 deaths among 152,446 cases, the tally showed.

The United States reported 432,579 confirmed cases, the most in the world, and its death toll stood at 14,831, according to the CSSE.

--IANS
rt/
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 06:33:28 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219899 IANS C-1-1219896-1219601
In total, 12,210 patients succumbed to the COVID-19 compared with Wednesday's 10,869 which did not update human loss reported in retirement homes due to a technical problem, according to figures unveiled by Health General Director Jerome Salomon, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

Some 86,334 people had tested positive for the virus, up by 4,334 in one day. Including infections reported in retirement homes, the figure rose to 117,749, Salomon told a daily conference on the epidemic.

He added that 30,767 patients are now hospitalized, up by 392 in the last 24 hours, while 23,200 others have recovered, a one-day rise of 2,000.

Admissions in intensive care units (ICU), considered "an important indicator" to evaluate pressure on hospitals, reported a decline for the first time since the epidemic began. Some 7,066 infected people need intensive care on Thursday, an 82 decline in the last 24 hours.

"The balance is for the first time slightly negative. So we can hope for a plateau, but it is a very high. We have to be careful," Salomon said.

Salomon noted that even if some relief in emergency services was noteworthy "the epidemic will only drop when there are fewer patients in hospital."

The confinement imposed since March 17 "begins bearing fruit," he said. "So, it's absolutely essential to continue the lockdown. Stay at home. The first slowing seen is linked to your good respect of the confinement rules."

On April 7, France entered its fourth week of nationwide confinement. Tough restriction on people movement would likely be maintained for further two weeks to stem the virus spread.

President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation next Monday, his third televised appearance in less than one month, to unveil a new batch of measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic and cushion its severe economic fallout.

In its report released on Wednesday, French central bank BdF estimated that every two-week confinement would lead to a 1.5 per cent loss in the gross domestic product (GDP).

The coronavirus pandemic has hit hard local businesses in tourism and manufacturing, with the country's economic activity tumbled by 32 per cent since the lockdown began.

Adding to that, strict instructions to limit people movement had negatively impacted local demand, one of the main growth engines in the domestic economy.

In a joint interview with Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin, Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday told business newspaper Le Echos that the government would double its financial aid to 100 billion euros (US &109.23 billion) to help companies stay afloat through the virus outbreak, consisting in large part of tax and payroll charge deferrals.

"These figures could change as the economic situation and businesses' need of support change rapidly. We are doing everything to save our businesses," Le Maire said.

As almost all sectors are at halt and because of costly measures to help local firms to be back on the recovery track, Le Maire expected the French economy to shrink by 6 percent for the whole year of 2020.

"This is the biggest recession in France since 1945. Unknowns remain and this forecast may still change, particularly with regard to the duration of confinement and the terms to lift it. This is crucial: the longer the confinement is, the lower the growth will be," he added.

The government predicted the budget deficit would hit 7.6 per cent of the GDP this year, in its second update to the 2020 budget it will present next Wednesday, according to Budget Minister Darmanin.

"We will be over 170 billion euros of budget deficit, while we had forecast 93 billion in the initial finance law. This is higher than that of post-financial crisis of 2010 ... This figure may still change," Darmanin said.

France's previous deficit record dated back to 2009 when the eurozone's second largest economy recorded a gap at 7.2 per cent of the GDP during the global financial turmoil.

"The economic recovery will be long, difficult and costly. It will require efforts from all the French," Le Maire said.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 06:30:13 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219896 IANS C-1-1219890-1219600
"The Islamic Republic has invariably supported independence, national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political stability in Iraq, and considers formation of consensus among all of its political movements through democratic pathways to be the only peaceful solution for all differences," the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi was quoted as saying, reported Xinhua news agency.

Iran considers the current consensus that has led to al-Kadhimi's appointment as "a right step in the right direction," said Mousavi.

On Thursday, Iraqi President Barham Salih named al-Kadhimi, director of Iraq's National Intelligence Service, as the new prime minister-designate and tasked him with forming a new government in a month.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 06:30:12 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219890 IANS C-1-1219828-1219599
Asked if it is true that she took up "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum" without reading the script, Berry said: "Yes, because I was such a fan of 'John Wick' 1 and 2. I knew what it would require of me and the chance to kick ageism in the face."

"People at a certain age believe they are done and cannot do certain stuff. I knew that this would give me a very great platform to show something different which is very important," she added.

The "John Wick" franchise, starring Keanu Reeves, has raised the bar for action films mainly due to its departure from the cliche action aesthetic.

The third chapter of the film franchise "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum" released last year. It will air in India on April 12 on Star Movies. Stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski helmed the third movie as well. It also stars Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick.

Talking about how she got the role in the third part, Berry said: "I got a phone call from my agent and my manager saying 'They're doing a 3 rd installment of John Wick. Did you ever see John Wick 1 and 2?' I said 'Oh my god! I love it! What do you mean if I ever saw it? Of course I've seen it. Are they making a three?!' they said 'Yeah and there is a possible role for a bad a** female, would you be interested?' I said 'Call up Chad right now and get a meeting for me, I have to be in this movie!'"

--IANS
sug/vnc/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 06:08:23 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219828 IANS C-1-1219893-1219598
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 285.8 points, or 1.22 per cent, to close at 23,719.37. The S&P 500 was up 39.84 points, or 1.45 per cent, to 2,789.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 62.67 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 8,153.58, Xinhua news agency reported.

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States totalled 6.6 million last week amid mounting economic fallout from COVID-19, following a similarly staggering figure the week earlier, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday.

The newly released number came after the figure spiked by 3 million to reach a record 3.3 million in the week ending March 21, and then surged by 3.34 million to reach 6.65 million in the week ending March 28, which was revised up to 6.87 million in the new report.

COVID-19 continues to impact the number of initial claims. Its impact is also reflected in the increasing levels of insured unemployment, the bureau noted.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced additional actions to provide up to US $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy.

"This funding will assist households and employers of all sizes and bolster the ability of state and local governments to deliver critical services during the coronavirus pandemic," the US central bank said in a statement.

"The number of new claimants since the coronavirus hit the numbers is 17 million. Bear in mind, many people are out of work and have not filed. Many more are not eligible," Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, said in a note on Thursday.

"Stocks are up because the damage to the economy -- evident in claims -- is beyond comprehension, while the response of the Fed is easier to understand," he added.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 05:49:50 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219893 IANS C-1-1219891-1219597
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Thursday announced the decision after chairing a meeting of Britain's emergency COBRA committee, reported Xinhua news agency.

He announced there had been a further 881 hospital deaths linked to the virus in the previous 24 hours. It brought Britain's death toll to 7,978.

The good news was that Johnson was on Thursday evening moved out of intensive care after nearly four days in an intensive care unit, but remained in hospital.

A No. 10 spokesperson said the prime minister will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery. "He is in extremely good spirits," the spokesperson said.

Johnson introduced the lockdown on March 23, telling all citizens to stay at home, with outside journeys limited.

The fear was that a relaxation of the lockdown could risk seeing millions of people heading to seaside resorts and tourism hotspots during the four-day Easter holiday which starts Friday and lasts until Monday.

Raab urged people to stay at home during the holiday rather than heading out. There had been speculation that the lockdown could have been made more stringent.

"At this stage, the government continues to gather data to determine the effects of the lockdown and physical distancing measures," he said.

He said it was too soon to say conclusively whether the measures were working.

But Raab said most people were following the instructions to limit their activities and to practice social distancing.

He said until the pandemic reaches beyond its peak in Britain it is too early to lift the lockdown measures. "We're not done yet, we must keep going," Raab said at a Downing Street briefing.

He said the government would carry out a further review in a week's time. "There will be no decision on whether to extend the lockdown until the end of next week," he said.

A relaxation is not expected until after scientists are convinced Britain has reached its peak.

In a plea to the British public, Raab said: "Let's not ruin it now, let's not waste the gains we've made. I know its tough going but this is a team effort and we will only beat the virus if we all stay the course."

Although most people are adhering to the instruction, there are fears that with hot and sunny weather, and a temperature of 27 degrees Celsius forecast, some families may break the lockdown rules and leave home to enjoy the Easter Holiday.

Media reports in Britain said some police forces say officers will arrest people who break the lockdown rules.

Extra police patrols will be visible on motorways and major roads leading to tourism destinations.

Usually, around 10 million people head to visitor destinations in Britain during an Easter weekend, generating several billion U.S. dollars for the tourism industry.

The current rules stipulate occasions when people are allowed to leave their homes, covering shopping for essentials to heading outdoors close to home to exercise, with a requirement to stay at least two meters away from other people at all times.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 03:52:03 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219891 IANS C-1-1219892-1219596
On Thursday, the Turkish forces fired on the Kurdish positions in a number of areas in the northern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported Xinhua news agency.

The UK-based watchdog group said the Turkish forces fired heavy artillery on Kurdish forces' positions in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

Turkey has been targeting positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) since last October as Turkey deems the Kurdish militia as a terrorist group due to its links with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is banned in Turkey.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 03:35:37 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219892 IANS C-1-1219889-1219595
The initial list which had 20 hotspots was released by the government on Wednesday while on Thursday five more places were identified as hotspots.

Bengali Market was added in the list on Wednesday night itself after three fresh COVID-19 cases were reported while four new zones -- Shashtri Market in JJ Colony, Sadar Bazar, B1 and B2 blocks in Paschim Vihar, Nizamuddin Dargah and Nizamudding Basti -- were added on Thursday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his video address to the citizens of Delhi presented a status report on the measures taken by the government to contain COVID-19 epidemic and also insisted on wearing masks which helps in stopping the spread of the virus.

The areas which have been sealed are:

1. Entire affected street near Gandhi Park, Malviya Nagar

2. Entire effected street of Gali No 6 , L 1 Sangam Vihar

3. Shahajahanabad Society, Plot No 1, Sector 11, Dwarka

4. Dinpur Village

5. Markaz Masjid and Nizamuddin Basti

6. Nizamuddin West (G and D blocks)

7. B Block Jhangirpuri;

8. H. No 141 to H. No 180, Gali No 14, Kalyanpuri

9. Mansara Apartments, Vasundhara Enclave

10. Three Galis of Khichirpur, including Gali containing H. No. 5/387

11. Gali No 9, Pandav Nagar

12. Vardhaman Apartments, Mayur Vihar, Phase I Extension

13. Mayurdhwaj Apartments, IP Extension, Patparganj

14. Gali No 4, from H. No. J-3/115 (Nagar Dairy) to H. No. J- 3/108 (towards Anar Wali Masjid Chowk), Kishan Kunj Extension

15 Gali No 4, from H. No J-3/101 to H. No. J-3/107, Krishan Kunj Extension

16. Gali No 5, A Block (From H No. A-176 to A-189), West Vinod Nagar

17. J and K, L and H pockets, Dilshad Garden

18. G, H, J, Blocks, Old Seemapuri

19. F-70 to 90 Block, Dilshad Colony

20. Pratap Khand, Jhilmil Colony

21. B1/2 block in Paschim Vihar

22. Bengali Market

23. Nizamuddin Basti

24. Nizamuddin Dargah

25. Shastri Market in JJ Colony (South Campus)

--IANS
hindi-rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 03:23:35 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219889 IANS C-1-1219888-1219594
"The SHO along with a reader and the driver of the SHO decided to self-quarantine themselves," sources from Mundka police station told IANS on intervening of Thursday and Friday.

All the three are on leave as of now while the charge of the SHO has been given to someone else. IANS tried to contact Joint Commissioner Shalini Singh but couldn't reach to her.

An Assistant sub-inspector posted Delhi traffic police and a constable posted in the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO) have been tested positive of coronavirus. The ASI lives in Kalkaji Police Colony while the constable lives in Rohini. The constable is currently admitted to LNJP Hospital.

--IANS
hindi-rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 03:04:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219888 IANS C-1-1219887-1219593
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Thursday that the Howrah district hospital superintendent and a health worker had been detected with the COVID-19 disease.

According to sources, on March 30 a woman had died at the hospital. Later, her coronavirus test results came positive. After her death, the nursing staff and other health workers staged a demonstration outside the room of the superintendent accusing him of not arranging any protective gear for them for treating the woman despite repeated requests.

The hospital was then closed for fumigation and all doctors, nurses and health workers who were involved in the woman's treatment were sent on quarantine as a precautionary measure.

On Tuesday, the superintendent became ill, and on Thursday his corona report came positive. He is now admitted in the isolation ward of M R Bangur Hosptial.

A health worker of the hospital has also been detected with covid-19.

Source said close to 200 people who came in contact with the two of them have been sent on home quarantine.

Meanwhile, the high official of the North Bengal Medical College Hospital also tested positive for the viral infection and was admitted to the isolation ward of the health facility.

The official, who had fever, cough and respiratory distress since Tuesday, is said to be stable.

A number of those who came in contact with him have been sent on quarantine.

Earlier, a nurse of the hospital also tested positive for the disease,

On March 30, a corona positive woman from Kalimpong passed away at the hospital. The nurse was involved in her treatment.

A railway worker, adjudged positive for the viral disease, was also under treatment at the hospital till his death.

Meanwhile, two doctors of Howrah municipal Corporation have also been sent on home quarantine for coming in contact with a coronavirus positive patient. A primary health centre of the corporation has been shut for fumigation.

--IANS
ssp/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 02:32:20 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219887 IANS C-1-1219886-1219592
The actress said the incident took place about a year ago, according to a report in indiaglitz.com. The website said that Maanvi got a call from the producer in question, with an offer for a role in an upcoming web series.

"A year ago, I got a call from a random unknown number. They were like, 'we're doing a web series and we wanted to cast you'. They told me the budget and I said, 'no, this is too less and why are we talking about the budget? Tell me the script. Only if I'm interested and you are interested in roping me, we can discuss about money, dates and all'. So he's like 'we're asking people if they are okay with the budget.' When I said 'no, it's less', he tripled the budget just in his next sentence. He said, 'I can give you this much also, but you'll have to make a compromise'," Maanvi said, according to the website report.

The actress then said she would call the police and added: "This words 'compro', 'compromise' -- I was hearing it after seven or eight years. Suddenly, I don't know what triggered me, I started abusing him. I told him 'How dare you? I'm going to file a complaint with the police'. I was really mad because in this pro-imposed #MeToo era, I was baffled how things like this still happen."

Maanvi appears in the popular Amazon Prime web series "Four More Shots Please". Earlier this year she was seen in the film "Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan", and last year she had a starring role in "Ujda Chaman".

--IANS
vnc/vnc]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 02:00:06 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219886 IANS C-1-1219885-1219591
Bollywood stars, as a community, have always rooted for all things patriotic. In these times of COVID-19 peril, B-Town has also banded together as a social media entity to promote the virtues of lockdown. The recent #DilSeThankYou sees the stars stand up and ovate India's Corona Warriors -- particularly Mumbai Police -- who have been working tirelessly to ensure a safe city, even as Mumbai continues to be one of the worst-affected zones in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in India.

As Akshay Kumar rightly noted, the need of the hour was to thank the police for their service. "There's an army of people working day and night to keep us safe, our families safe. Lets together say #DilSeThankYou to them because that's the least we can do," the superstar said on social media.

An emotional Akshay, in a separate tweet, posed with a piece of paper on which he had written "#Dil Se Thank You."

The caption of the picture thanked all Corona Warriors. It read:
"Name : Akshay Kumar
City : Mumbai
Mere aur mere parivaar ki taraf se...
Police, Nagar Nigam ke workers, doctors, nurses, NGOs, volunteers, government officials, vendors, building ke guards ko #DilSeThankYou"

To Akshay's tweet, Jackie Shroff replied: "Asli stars respects."

A video posted by Mumbai Police within the hashtag, in this context, has become very popular among the stars. Ayushmann Khurrana, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon are among many stars who retweeted the video, which subtly conveys the message how tirelessly the police force have been working in these taxing times.

In the video, which runs for two minutes and two seconds, we see a heartwarming collage of policemen across ranks, who are asked the same question: What would they do if they had a chance to stay at home during the 21-day lockdown? The answers remind you that beneath their superhero conviction to serve the nation, police personnel are human beings, too. Some of them talks of spending much-yearned time with family, some want to play with their pets, some want to relax in from of a TV set, while a few would simply go back to sleep.

Re-tweeting the video, Ayushmann Khurrana wrote in Marathi: "Don't have words to thank you enough! Today I thank you with my whole heart for keeping us safe."

The Mumbai Police gave a witty reply in Marathi, with a reference to Ayushmann's films, "Vicky Donor" and "Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan".

"'Thank you Vicky, we will do everything to keep the mumbaikars zyada saavdhan," they wrote.

Posting the video, Alia Bhatt agreed with Mumbai Police that it was best that we all stayed at home under the circumstances. "Thank you @MumbaiPolice Words cannot express our love and gratitude. Let's stay home for them. #TakingOnCorona."

That apart, Alia retweeted the reply her tweet elicited from Mumbai Police, that said: "Mumbaikars, we hope you all are 'Raazi' with this advise of Ms @aliaa08 to not venture out in any ‘Gully' unnecessarily and take care of ‘Dear Zindagi' for all!"

The video also seems to have touched a chord with Katrina Kaif, who also shared it on Instagram.

"Thank You Mumbai Police. Saluting the bravery and dedication of the Mumbai Police and Maharashtra Police who are working so hard while we stay in the safety and comfort of our homes. Tremendous respect for all of you #DilSeThankYou #StayHome #MumbaiPolice #MaharashtraPolice," Katrina captioned the video.

Another actress who posted the same video on social media is Kriti Sanon. She took to her Twitter handle and posted the video with the message: "A Big Big Thank You to the #MumbaiPolice and people in the police forces of other cities.. Even to doctors, nurses, hospital staff, essential goods vendors, BMC and all the ppl who have been out of their houses so that we can stay at home safe!! "

Every star had his own way to thank Mumbai Police, sharing the video. Tiger Shroff wrote: "So so grateful and lucky we are to have you all @MumbaiPolice. can't thank our real heroes enough."

For Ajay Devgn, his city's police force is second to none, anywhere in the world. "Dear Mumbai Police, you are known as one of the BEST in the world. Your contribution to the COVID-19 pandemic is unparalleled. Singham will wear his Khakee and stand beside you whenever you ask. Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra @CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice"
Anil Kapoor expressed: "This is the time to heartily thank our Mumbai Police, who leaving their families at homes are working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety.. Thank you Mumbai Police.. Love you Mumbai Police," he tweeted.

Posting under "#DilSeThankYou, Sonakshi Sinha chose to look at the perils of India's Corona Warriors. "While we are in the safety of our homes waiting for this phase to pass,doctors,healthcare workers, @MumbaiPolice, essential service providers, volunteers and government officials are leading the battle against Corona. Here is a #DilSeThankYou to all of them for taking care of us," she wrote.

Sonakshi also put up a short video where she is seen ornately sketching the words "Dil Se Thank You" on a sketch pas and flashing it for the camera. Alanis Morissette's 1998 single "SIlence" plays in the background.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police tweeted mentioning Abhishek Bachchan's character in the "Dhoom" franchise, ACP Jai Dixit, as an inspiration. Their official handle shared: "Just taking the 'ACP Jai Dixit' route to ensure that the city gets back to normalcy soon -- that too, with a 'Dhoom'! All Mumbaikars need to do is not make 'Dus Bahaane' about going out unnecessarily!"

Reacting to the tweet, Abhishek wrote: "Always in debt to them and the great work they do. @MumbaiPolice."

Throughout Thursday, Twitter kept buzzing with gratitude messages from B-Towners.

Raveena Tandon shared: "This is the time to thank our mumbai police,who leave their families at home and are working with untiring efforts for our security and safety.. Thank you @MumbaiPolice we are forever indebted."

Jackie Shroff expressed: "@MumbaiPolice @DGPMaharashtra Asli Stars #RealHeroes #OurPride."

Urvashi Rautela posted: "This is the time to heartily thank our @MumbaiPolice & Maharastra police, who leaving their families at homes are working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety.. #ThankYouMumbaiPolice #ThankYouMaharasthraPolice."

Varun Sharma wrote: "We are safe sitting at home and the only thing we need to do is be home. Me my family are greatful and don't have words to thank Police , Doctors , NGOs , building guards and every person out there helping us be safe and storm this crisis. @MumbaiPolice @mybmc #DilSeThankYou."

Director-producer and chat show host Karan Johar expressed: "This is the time to show our gratitude to the ones who are working selflessly and tirelessly to keep us safe. Despite being away from their families and loved ones, they work with their spirits high to protect us. And for that, we are very grateful @mumbaipolice. Thank you!"

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar wrote: "Salute & respect to our @MumbaiPolice #IndiaFightsCoronavirus."

Producer Ekta Kapoor shared: "Your undying spirit, determination and courage to keep our city safe is fantastic. Putting our safety before anything else, you guys are the pillars that are keeping us strong! ... Gratitude #ThankYouMumbaiPolice for all your hard work! #DilSeThankYou @MumbaiPolice."

Heartfelt wishes and encouraging notes have also kept pouring from netizens all over the country at #DilSeThankYou.

--IANS
vnc/vnc
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 01:28:32 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219885 IANS C-1-1219884-1219590
Their resignations followed an order from state Medical Education Department seeking their consent for renewal of contract beyond three months. Of the 82 doctors on roll, 50 have resigned refusing the offer.

Dr. S.N. Iyenger, Dean Gaja Raja Medical College, said: "The contractual appointment was temporarily given for three months to 82 doctors who had completed MBBS and internship at Jairogya Hospital. A new order from the state government sought the doctors' consent for continuation of contractual appointment. 50 said they did not want to continue working."

Dr. Iyengar said these resignations have nothing to do with the order pertaining to enforcing Essential Services Maintenance Act that was invoked on Thursday.

He said one year's service is mandatory in government hospital as a medical officer after completion of the MBBS course and internship. A three-months temporary contract appointment was given to these doctors. Now while 32 of these doctors are still working. Currently patients suffering from corona are being treated at Jairogya Hospital and most of the doctors have been dedicated to corona cases.

One of the doctors on the condition of anonymity said that once they accepted the new contract, they would not be able to quit. ESMA could be a new deterrent. The scare of corona had forced them to rethink on continuation.

--IANS
naidu/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 01:21:16 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219884 IANS C-1-1219851-1219589
Gehlot took this decision in view of a letter from the Seemant Lok Sangathan President Hindu Singh Sodha and directed the officials to ensure that the Pak displaced families get ration on time.

Sodha had apprised Chief Minister through his letter that approximately 6,000 Pak displaced families are residing in various districts in the state and many of these needy families had faced scarcity of ration due to lockdown.

According to the reports sent by the collectors, 500 Pak displaced families reside in Jamdoli, Govindpura and Mangyawas of Jaipur. These families are in contact with the district administration and are being distributed ration.

Similarly, in Jodhpur, 618 Pak displaced and needy families are being provided ration. Additional District Collector (II) Mahipal Kumar had been directed to be in touch with Sodha and make sure that needy families were extended all support.

As per the report, there are around 200 Pak displaced families in Sheo and Chauhatan Panchayat Samiti in Barmer district, 92 families in Pali and 93 families residing in Pugal and Bajju tehsil of Bikaner district. All these families were being provided ration items as per the demand.

Besides these districts, Pak displaced families were also residing in Jaisalmer, Jalore and Sirohi districts and are being met with their all food-related requirements and the eligible families are being provided with the financial assistance.

Gehlot further directed that all such needy Pak displaced families, who do not come in the ambit of any social security scheme, should be provided ration.

--IANS
arc/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 01:16:53 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219851 IANS C-1-1219856-1219588
He asked the officials to continue working for success in controlling corona in Rajasthan. He directed them to implement the 'Bhilwara Model' in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Churu, Tonk, Jhunjhunu, Banswara and other districts to control the situation.

Gehlot was reviewing the situation of corona infection the state including Jaipur through video conference from his official residence on Thursday. He said that curfew should be strictly imposed in 38 areas and no person, including the government employees, should be allowed to either enter or exit the curfew areas.

He said that screening, testing and other arrangements should be made in Ramganj and other densely populated areas of Jaipur including Bhatta Basti, Amritpuri, Kho-Nagorian or Moti Dungari.

Chief Minister said that apart from the walled city, wherever corona positive cases have been found, the residents of nearby houses should be kept in home quarantine. Buildings of big educational institutions, hotels, hospitals and other institutes in the outer areas of Jaipur should be identified and utilised for quarantine.

He said that all necessary amenities should be extended to the people living in quarantine and protocol should be strictly followed. Jaipur Development Commissioner T Ravikanth would be the in-charge of all quarantine facilities in the city.

Gehlot asked for installing cameras for effective online monitoring of corona infection in hotspot regions. This would help in strict monitoring of the movement of people.

He said that if this experiment resulted success in the walled city, the same would be replicated at other places as well. He stated that drone cameras should be used for effective monitoring and action should be initiated against those violating the protocol of social distancing.

CM instructed for cluster sampling in corona infected areas in the walled city. Proper arrangements should be made for this by dividing the entire area into 30 clusters and 30 samples should be collected from each cluster.

Doing this, most of the infection in the area could be detected and then it would be easy to take effective steps in checking spread of the disease. He further asked to keep five mobile medical units ready all the time in the affected areas.

--IANS
arc/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 01:16:51 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219856 IANS C-1-1219862-1219587
"Launching now: Karnataka State Police FactCheck - Don't fall for fake news, factcheck.ksp.gov.in," tweeted Director General of Police Praveen Sood.

The verifying platform has listed a bunch of fake news which recently gained currency and refuted them with detailed explanations.

Calling out a fake video circulating on social media which claimed that Muslims were purposefully sneezing in the Hazrat Nizamuddin area in Delhi to spread coronavirus, Karnataka police said the video is a malicious message.

"Below post has been found as circulating on social media. It's a ritual in Sufism and the mosque is not Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah," explained the police about the video in which more than a 100 Muslims on knees were seen forcefully thrusting themselves downwards as they sneeze.

The platform presented the video as suspicious message/content and followed it up with the verification.

Police flagged the fake video for its false captions and suspicious nature.

Vishwanath, a social media user thanked police for bringing out the truth and busting fake news.

"Thank you very much because we are blindly believing what we receive on social media," he said in the comment box on Thursday evening.

Farhana Banu, another user said: "Dear Sir/Madam, thank you so much for clarifying that these videos are fake. Being Muslims we are mentally disturbed by seeing the blacklash by our friends online."

Tazim Rawat, another social media enthusiast said the clarifications are a big relief as it is becoming very difficult to answer people.

Similarly, other fake news making tall claims and misleading the masses which police busted included 'Global Corona patient zero had sex with bats', 'Muslims licking utensils to spread Coronavirus', 'PM announced all India lockdown increased till May 4th' and 'Hanta virus is a new virus that spreads human to human'.

Karnataka Police shared at least nine fake news items to show they were false.

Police invited public spirited individuals to submit fake news for verification, asking details such as where he or she saw the fake news, website or app, and gave an option to submit audios, videos and images up to 2 mega bytes size.

"Karnataka State Police has taken this initiative in collaboration with Check4Spam to counter rumours amid the Coronavirus outbreak. The citizens can utilize this portal to verify any suspected news and also upload the content for its verification and clarification," said the platform.

--IANS
sth/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:51:40 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219862 IANS C-1-1219881-1219586
In a tweet on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Today marks 100 days since @WHO was notified of the first cases of what we now call #COVID19. Over 1.3M people have been infected & almost 80K have lost their lives. This pandemic is much more than a health crisis. It requires a whole-of government & society response."

The deadly respiratory disease came to light in early January and on Thursday, it had infected over 1.3 million people worldwide, with the US on the top.

The Director-General said that the WHO has been working day and night to fight COVID-19 in five key areas. Supporting countries to prepare & respond, providing accurate information & fighting the infodemic, ensuring supply of medical equipment for #healthworkers, training & mobilizing health workers and accelerating R&D.

"Our focus has been on working with countries & partners to bring the world together to confront this common threat together. We've been especially concerned with protecting the world's poorest & most vulnerable, not just in the poorest countries, but in all countries," he emphasised.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged support for the WHO after US President Donald Trump threatened to freeze American funding.

"It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19," Xinhua news agency quoted Guterres as saying in a statement.

Trump on Tuesday criticized the WHO's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and threatened to freeze US funding for it.

Again on Wednesday, Trump while addressing the White House daily briefing claimed that the WHO has gotten the pandemic "wrong"

--IANS
na/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:35:20 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219881 IANS C-1-1219883-1219585
According to the administration the postponed exams include that of regular colleges, School of Open Learning, non collegiate women education board and ex-students.

"It is notified for information of all concerns that all the university examinations (theory and practical) of the student of regular colleges, non collegiate women education board and ex-students are here by postponed till further notice/orders," varsity said in a notice.

It added that the fresh dates of the exams will be announced later.

"The fresh date sheet of the all the university examinations shall be notified later," notice added.

--IANS
rag/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:32:31 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219883 IANS C-1-1219875-1219584
The doctors said they had just emerged from the gate of the AIIMS on Wednesday evening enroute their homes in nearby areas when they were ruthlessly attacked by the policemen who had barricaded the area.

"We showed them our IDs and we had our aprons on. There were some more colleagues. The policemen were abusive and said we were the ones causing the viral infection.

"They threw away our belongings and kept hitting us without any rhyme or reason," said Ritu who was accompanied by her colleagues.

They received first aid from the AIIMS and some friends recorded the version of the doctors in bandage and quavering in trauma.

AIIMS Bhopal Director Sarman Singh downplayed the incident and said "we have no grudge against the police as their officers contacted us and said they have acted promptly against the offenders.

Bhopal City (South) Superintendent of Police Sai Krishna Thota on Thursday took a constable off field duty and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

"The police got a call that some vendors were selling vegetables near AIIMS which they were not supposed to. Two constables rushed to the spot to disperse the crowd.

"The people out there ran helter and skelter seeing the police. Near the same place they met these (two) young doctors in civil dress. It was hard to differentiate them from the other crowd," he contended.

These doctors were not buying vegetables and were in fact purchasing milk, he added.

"The doctors have sustained no major injuries or fractures. The doctors and the police are on the same page in fighting the virus and we want cordial relations between the two pillars striving to manage the situation," he said.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath tweeted, "Reports of policemen beating two PG doctors including a lady doctor has come to light. This is extremely shameful. We are proud of doctors who are serving people during the pandemic by risking their lives."

He demanded immediate probe and strict action against the guilty to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.

--IANS
naidu/arm
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:32:30 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219875 IANS C-1-1219867-1219583
Of the new cases in Jaipur, which took its total to 168, one was a four-year-old kid.

The samples of Rajesh Kalra, of the posh Raja Park, tested positive.

The boy was admitted in C.K. Birla hospital on April 4 with complaint of Influenza-like Illness (ILI). His first sample found negative on April 5 but the second sample collected on Wednesday was found positive on Thursday. His mother was also having complaint of high fever but now she is fine, said Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh.

A fresh case reported from Bhilwara after hiatus of many days.

The patent was identified as 47-year-male who is a teacher by profession. He came to OPD of the district hospital with a complaint of sore throat and cough with no travel and contact history given.

Two more patients tested positive from Kota - a 19-year-old female and a 9-year-old female and both contacts of already positive case.

Overall, seven people have tested positive each in Jhalwarad, Jhunjhunu and Tonk, while two new cases each have been reported in Banswara and Kota, Jailsalmer has five, Jodhpur has three and Barmer has one.

A 77-year-old man died in Jodhpur on Thursday - the state's seventh death due to coronavirus. The other deaths reported include two in Bhilwara and one each in Alwar, Jaipur, Kota and Bikaner.

In the Jaisalmer Army Camp, four evacuees from Iran tested positive while in Jodhpur, two evacuees had tested positive.

--IANS
arc/vd]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:32:29 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219867 IANS C-1-1219882-1219582

A spokesman for the Chinese mission to the UN had earlier said that the "question of Kashmir remains high on the Security Council's agenda".

Beijing's position on Indian Kashmir remains unchanged, he said adding that it is a "dispute left from history, and should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the charter of the United Nations, Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements. China opposes any unilateral actions that complicate the situation".

On China's part, the spokesman said Ambassador Zhang as the Security Council president, had raised the issue at Pakistan's behest in March.

In response to queries, the ministry of external affairs, Anurag Srivastava said that India rejects the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations.

"China is well aware of India's consistent position on this issue. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India. Issues related to J&K are internal matter to India," he said.

The spokesperson said that the government's expectation is that other countries, including "China, would refrain from commenting on matters that are internal affairs of India and respect India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We also expect China to recognise and condemn the scourge of cross-border terrorism that affect the lives of the people of India, including in J&K".

--IANS
aat/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:25:23 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219882 IANS C-1-1219880-1219581
From developing India's first test kit for COVID-19, to despatching life saving medicines in remote areas, and from chalking out strategies for the government to tackle the spread of the virus to building treatment protocols, women from various walks of life burn midnight oil to counter the virus which is gradually spreading in world's second most populated country.

Just a day before she delivered a baby, Minal Dakhave Bhosale, a Pune based virologist, managed to deliver the first testing kit for COVID-19 to India. In just a record time of six weeks, Minal and her team including some of the best scientists gifted its first test kit to conduct COVID-19 tests at a large scale in the country, an exercise required to identify and isolate carriers of the dreaded virus.

A few kilometers away from Minal's laboratory in Pune, another virologist, Dr Priya Abraham, made an important breakthrough by isolating the virus. This breakthrough, by Dr Abraham, Director of the National Viral Institute, helps the scientists and immunologists in developing a vaccine or a drug for the treatment for new coronavirus.

Around 1500 kilometers away from Pune, in India's seat of power, New Delhi, several women bureaucrats, policy makers, health strategists, joined hands with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in chalking out strategies and initiating quick steps to prevent the country from slipping into stage 3, where disease is transmitted into communities.

Preeti Sudan, an alumni of London School of Economics, and presently the Secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Welfare, became the nodal point for the PMO to execute the key medical strategies on ground through health departments of various states."

Preeti is a workaholic. Fortunately she has rich experience of public food distribution, disaster management and PM's mega health Insurance scheme. She seems to be the fittest person to be the nodal point for coordinating the war against a pandemic, " says a 1983 batch IAS and batchmate of Preeti Sudan.

Incidentally, the person in charge of viral diseases in India's premiere medical body, Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), happens to be a well known woman scientist, Dr Nivedita Gupta. Her contribution in containment of virus Nipah in India's southern most state of Kerala is widely acknowledged in the research fraternity.

Dr Gupta, who played a key role in setting up a viral and diagnostic network for ICMR, is presently building testing and treatment protocols in India. Such protocols, adhered by the medical practitioners are vital in the fight against the virus.

The actual battle against COVID-19 could be won only through a repurposed drug or a vaccine, a field which usually comes under biotechnology ministry. As several groups of scientists launch the project of developing repurpose drugs or a vaccine to combat the virus, Renu Swaroop, a top class scientist and secretary in the Union Ministry of Biotechnology, looks after all these projects.

She hopes that repurpose drugs could be an answer to quickly deal with the highly infectious virus.Seeing her deep involvement in the going projects, the union government has given Renu Swaroop one year extension in her service.

While these scientists and bureaucrats hold the key in fighting the pandemic, thousands of nurses, who form the frontline of the battle, work tirelessly in hundreds of hospitals where patients are being treated.

"We are thankful to Prime Minister Modi. For the first time we were invited in a video conference with the PM and I am happy to say all our requests ranging from suitable insurance package to availability of Personal Protection Equipments (PPEs) were heard and sorted out, " said Professor Roy George, the President of The Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) the apex body of nurses founded in 1908.

India has over 1.2 million workforce of trained nurses, who seem to brave this highly contagious virus and redefine women empowerment as the country gears up to battle coronavirus.

--IANS
ds/rt
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:24:36 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219880 IANS C-1-1219877-1219580
According to the European Space Agency, the ozone layer over the North Pole has been depleted plenty of times in the past.

Scientists using data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite have noticed a strong reduction of ozone concentrations over the Arctic.

Unusual atmospheric conditions, including freezing temperatures in the stratosphere, have led ozone levels to plummet -- causing a ‘mini-hole' in the ozone layer, the ESA said in a statement.

While the ESA scientists expect it to close up later this month, it's a troubling update on the planet's environmental health.

The ‘ozone hole' most commonly referenced is the hole over Antarctica, forming each year during autumn.

In the past weeks, scientists from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have noticed the unusually strong depletion of ozone over the northern polar regions.

Using data from the Tropomi instrument on the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, they were able to monitor this Arctic ozone hole form in the atmosphere.

"The ozone hole we observe over the Arctic this year has a maximum extension of less than 1 million sq km. This is small compared to the Antarctic hole, which can reach a size of around 20 to 25 million sq km with a normal duration of around 3 to 4 months," said Diego Loyola from the German Aerospace Center.

Arctic temperatures do not usually plummet as low as in Antarctica. However, this year, powerful winds flowing around the North Pole trapped cold air within what is known as the ‘polar vortex' -- a circling whirlpool of stratospheric winds.

By the end of the polar winter, the first sunlight over the North Pole initiated this unusually strong ozone depletion -- causing the hole to form.

However, its size is still small compared to what can usually be observed in the southern hemisphere, informed ESA.

Claus Zehner, ESA's Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission manager, said: "The Tropomi total ozone measurements are extending Europe's capability of the continuous global ozone monitoring from space since 1995. In this time, we have not witnessed an ozone hole formation of this size over the Arctic."

In the past, mini ozone holes have occasionally been spotted over the North Pole, but the depletion over the Arctic this year is much larger compared to previous years.

--IANS
na/arm


]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:16:19 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219877 IANS C-1-1219879-1219579
Health department officials said Indore continued to lead the tally 235 out of 426 corona patients. In the last 24 hours, 22 new cases have been reported in Indore.

Four persons tested positive in state capital Bhopal. With this Bhopal cases now stand at 98, including 50 health department employees and 12 policemen.

With the death of two corona patients, including a doctor in Indore on Thursday, 33 people have died in the state so far. They include 23 in Indore, five in Ujjain, two in Khargone and one each in Bhopal, Dewas and Chhindwara.

This epidemic has spread to 19 out of 52 districts in the state. The new districts affected are Dewas, Dhar and Shajapur. The cases in the other district are: 15 in Ujjain, 13 in Morena, 12 in Khargone and Barwani, nine in Jabalpur, six each in Gwalior and Hoshangabad, five in Khandwa, three in Dewas, two each in Chhindwara, Vidisha and Shivpuri and one each in Betul, Sheopur, Raisen, Dhar and Shajapur. One corona infected patient is from UP.

--IANS
naidu/rt]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:16:17 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219879 IANS C-1-1219869-1219578
"Board exams for the secondary school leaving certificate (SSLC) and the pre-university course (PUC) have been postponed to May from April, as the lockdown and restrictions on movement of people are likely to continue till this month-end to contain the coronavirus spread," Kumar told reporters here.

The SSLC exams were already put off to April 20 from March 27 to April 9 after the nationwide lockdown was enforced on March 25.

"We will announce the new exam schedule one week before the commencement so as to give enough time to prepare, as they have been postponed again due to extraordinary situation arising out of the pandemic crisis," Kumar said.

About 8 lakh students have registered to appear for the SSLC board exams, which have been put off for the first time in many years.

Though PUC board exams began on schedule on March 4, the last exam (chemistry) could not be held on March 23 as nine districts in the state were shut down till March 31.

"Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to engineering and medical courses is also postponed from April 23 to a later date, which will be announced in advance after the situation returns to normalcy in the state," Kumar said.

The class 10 and class 12 exams in central schools by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) were also postponed in March and their new dates are yet to be announced.

"Exams of under-graduate courses in the state universities have also been deferred to May," Kumar added.

--IANS
fb/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:16:16 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219869 IANS C-1-1219866-1219577
The plea, filed by social activist and Delhi Commission for Safai Karamcharis former Chairman, Harnam Singh, contended the sanitation workers have been exempted from closure of services due to its "essential" nature.

The plea, filed through advocate Mehmood Pracha, sought direction to the governments to instruct all the agencies undertaking sanitation facilities, municipal boards, panchayats, cantonment boards, railway authorities, falling under its jurisdiction not to have any sanitation worker to carry out any cleaning activity in the absence of Covid-19 protective gear/personal protective equipment, which includes long-sleeved gown, gloves, boots, masks and goggles/face shield. The plea urged that this protective gear should be provided within a period of 24 hours, and for the testing of the workers and their immediate family within a period of 48 hours.

The plea contended that these workers are poorly-paid and live in densely-populated clusters. Therefore, if any worker were to contract the coronavirus infection, then chances are very high that this infection could spread in the entire cluster.

"The safai karamcharis/sanitation workers carry out the essential service of keeping every city, town and village clean, sweep the roads, carry waste from every household, clean sewers etc. In order to carry out said work, these safai karamcharis/sanitation workers are not equipped with any Covid-19 protective gear/Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to safeguard them from the highly infectious coronavirus," said the plea.

The plea cited a technical brief and an internal guidance issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) stating the sanitation workers should wear appropriate PPE, which includes protective outerwear, gloves, boots, goggles or a face shield, and a mask while they carry out their respective duties.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:16:15 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219866 IANS C-1-1219748-1219576
Sawant, who is a doctor of alternative medicine, however, said that ayurvedic treatment helps build up the immunse system to resist Covid-19 and added that Goa was the first state in the country to introduce an integrated treatment progamme for Covid-19 patients as well as those under quarantine.

"Ayurveda has no cure for Covid-19, but it can increase immunity," Sawant said at a press conference here on Thursday.

Earlier this week, amid denials from the official spokesperson of the British Prince, AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Goa, had insisted that Prince Charles was "101 per cent" cured of Covid-19 with a combination of treatment using ayurveda and homeopathy medicines.

Sawant also said that Goa is the first state in the country to integrate ayurveda and allopathy in treating the six Covid-19 positive patients as well as those who are currently quarantined in state government facilities.

"Ayurveda doctors are working in consultation with our medical teams about what ayurvedic medicine should be given to the patients who are Covid-19 positive and in quarantine. We are the first state to do so. It is an integrated treatment of allopathic and ayurveda medicines," Sawant rold reporters.

--IANS
maya/arm



]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:11:31 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219748 IANS C-1-1219859-1219575
According to the office of Delhi Cabinet minister Gopal Rai, the machine will be installed on Friday at Gate number 1 of the Mandi.

The Mandi fulfills a major requirement of fruit and vegetables for the national capital.

The Mandi administration has been distributing masks and also ensuing the sanitization of the area and the trucks coming.

"We are ensuring all the steps to control the spread of coronavirus and also to ensure uninterrupted supply of vegetables to the city," said one of the officials from the Mandi committee.

--IANS
nks/kr]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:09:57 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219859 IANS C-1-1219878-1219574
"The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery," the spokesperson said, reported the BBC.

"He is in extremely good spirits," he added.

Johnson was admitted to hospital on Sunday and shifted to ICU on Monday after COVID-19 symptoms worsened.

--IANS
rt/]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:09:55 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219878 IANS C-1-1219844-1219573
Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a tweet, said: "A person from Dhubri district, who was in contact with the first patient (with Markaz linkage) from the same district, has been confirmed as COVID-19 positive. The total number of Covid patients in Assam now stands at 29."

Dhubri district in western Assam borders Bangladesh.

Apart from Assam, the other case are in Manipur (two), and Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura (one each) and 28 of the 34 took part in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi last month, while a Manipuri woman and a Mizoram man had tested positive last month after they returned from the UK and the Netherlands, respectively.

A 65-year-old man from Assam's Hailakandi district whose sample tested positive two days ago has a travel history to Saudi Arabia and returned to his home recently via Delhi.

According to officials in Silchar Medical College, the condition of the man, a former employee of madrassa education board, is very critical and he is being treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the medical college.

A 52-year-old trader in Assam's Kamrup (Metro) district has also been infected with coronavirus.

Besides, four persons from Assam and eight from Tripura, who had attended the Jamaat congregation, have tested positive for Covid-19 and are under treatment in hospitals in north India.

Assam's Golaghat district has reported the highest number of nine cases followed by four each from Nalbari and Morigaon districts, three from Goalpara, two each at Silchar and Dhubri, one each from Hailakandi, Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup, Lakhimpur and South Salmara district.

Sarma told the media in Guwahati that the state government is considering issuing entry permits as a temporary measure to regulate the entry of people into Assam after the nationwide lockdown ends.

"This temporary permit would be a special entry certificate and not on the lines of Inner Line Permit, as is mandatory in the other northeastern states," Sarma said, adding that legal action would be taken under the Disaster Management Act against those people who are hiding after attending the Nizamuddin event.

"We are concerned that once the lockdown is lifted and inter-state transport is resumed, there would be a lot of pressure since there are thousands of people from Assam and other northeastern states who are stranded in different parts of the country and would try to come back to their homes," the minister said.

Assam is the gateway for six other northeastern states.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:06:54 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219844 IANS C-1-1219854-1219572
The country's internal intelligence agency extended its hand following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call for countrymen to contribute to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES Fund) to help strengthen the fight against the dreaded virus, which has claimed 169 lives besides infecting over 5,000 people in the country.

The Director of Intelligence Bureau, Arvind Kumar, on Thursday handed over a cheque of Rs 3.5 crore to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Minister of State for Home, G. Kishan Reddy, and Union Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, were present on the occasion.

"On PM Narendra Modi's clarion call to fight the menace of Covid-19, staff of the Intelligence Bureau have donated their one-day salary (totalling Rs 3.5 crore) to PM-CARES Fund. Director IB handed over the cheque to Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier today (Thursday)," the Home Minister's office tweeted.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:06:53 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219854 IANS C-1-1219873-1219571
A notification issued by Chief Secretary J. Suresh Babu said Y. Joykumar Singh has been made a minister without portfolio.

The notification, which is available with IANS, said Joykumar's portfolios -- Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development, Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Science and Technology, Economics and Statists -- have been reallocated by Governor Najma Heptulla to Chief Minister N. Biren Singh.

Earlier on Thursday, BJP leaders had asked its ally National People's Party's (NPP) ministers to leave the council of ministry because of the "irresponsible and derogatory remarks Joykumar had reportedly made against the Chief Minister."

According to the media reports, Joykumar, a former Director General of Manipur Police, had reportedly made some offensive comments against Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, when some women met the former to complain about not receiving ration of rice due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing lockdown.

The leaders of the NPP, which has four MLAs, including Joykumar, in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, are yet to make any public reactions on the sudden political development.

In the 2017 Assembly elections in Manipur, the Congress had won 28 seats and the BJP got 21. However, the BJP allied with NPP, Naga People's Front and others to form a coalition government.

The latest development is likely to have a political fallout since several MLAs of the BJP and its allies have been demanding a reshuffle of the council of ministers.

The effective strength of the 60-member Assembly is now 59 after a Congress MLA, who had defected to the BJP, was disqualified by the Speaker last month following an order of the Supreme Court.

The Election Commission in June last year declared the NPP led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma as a national party. The NPP has political base in most of the northeastern states, including Meghalaya, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.

--IANS
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]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 00:06:52 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219873 IANS C-1-1219874-1219570
After several staff members tested positive, the hospital decided to test the patients as well.

According to the administration, at least three patients have been tested positive so far, while reports of others are awaited.

The hospital is not for COVID-19 treatment and is finding the source of the infection.

So far, total 21 staff, including three doctors, one sanitation worker and 17 nursing staff have been tested positive, with the hospital saying most of the staff tested positive were asymptomatic.

Delhi has so far reported 720 coronavirus cases.

--IANS
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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:54:41 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219874 IANS C-1-1219872-1219569
The basic customs duty exemption will be applicable until September 30 so that enough time is available for imports.

The exemption has been given for imports of ventilators, face masks, surgical masks, personal protective equipment (PPE), Covid-19 test kits and all inputs that go into manufacturing of these devices.

"In the context of COVID-19 situation, considering the immediate requirement of ventilators and other items, the Central government has granted exemption from basic customs duty and health cess, on the import of following goods, with immediate effect: a. Ventilators, b. Facemasks, surgical masks, c. Personal protection equipment d. COVID-19 test kits e. Inputs for manufacture of the above items," a Finance Ministry statement announcing the changes said.

Earlier in the day, the Centre also approved a COVID-19n emergency package worth Rs 15,000 crore for states. It has been named India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package.

In recent days as the number of Covid-19 positive patients has gone up, so has the requirement in Indian hospitals while the domestic production of some of these medical equipment is now increasingly becoming insufficient to meet the growing requirement. Due to shortage of the equipment, there has been a spike in prices of key products that is being made domestically. Reduction is duty is expected push down prices and improve availability of these equipment.

--IANS
sn/vd]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:47:35 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219872 IANS C-1-1219876-1219568
Rajiv Bansal, Chairman & Managing Director, Air India, in a note to employees said that the airline has been passing through a critical financial condition from much before the Covid-19 onslaught.

"The crippling effect of the pandemic, especially in the aviation sector, has further plummeted our finances to a precarious position. In spite of this, your airline has left no stone unturned to continue to remain afloat," Bansal said.

Bansal also applauded the airline's team for its heroic efforts. "It gives me great pride to acknowledge your selfless contribution towards serving the cause of India and humanity at large during this global pandemic. Each and everyone of you has put in your might -- braving the dark clouds of coronavirus to breathe in new life and hope to overcome this gigantic challenge before us," he said.

"As the airline is currently unable to utilise the fleet to operate commercial flights during the lockdown, it has diversified our operations to engage the aircraft by operating quick turnaround cargo flights.

"Air India is amongst the very few airlines in the world, which is providing hazmat suits and other protective equipment for our crew to equip them to face any covid-related safety concern on board.

"It is due to these precautionary measures that so far, only one of our crew members amongst so many, who have been flying our charter flights all over the world, has tested covid positive. I am relieved to inform you that she has also been discharged after full recovery under the watchful eyes of our medical department," he said.

As part of government's Mission Lifeline UDAN scheme, Air India and Alliance Air have over the last two weeks operated over 100 charter flights to ferry medical equipment and other items essential to fight back and contain the spread of the pandemic.

The flights, being operated regularly between the metro hubs of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai to the remote spoke destinations of the Northeast and other far flung areas of the country, have been serving as the lifeline of the nation.

"We are also operating cargo flights between Delhi and Shanghai and to Hong Kong transporting vital medical cargo," Bansal said.

"Air India had spread its wings to stand by the nation in its hour of crisis, ever since we took off to evacuate Indians stranded at Wuhan, the epicentre of this dreaded disease on 31st January, 2020," Bansasl said.

The two epic rescue flights to Wuhan were followed by several other flights to Japan, Milan and Rome to bring back countrymen stranded in the affected cities. Air India also operated a number of flights to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur to ferry passengers coming from corona affected Iran for quarantine purposes.

"In spite of constraints, Air India has mobilised all our available resources to operate 18 charter flights ferrying German, French, Irish and Canadian nationals stranded in India as requested by the embassies. Others were flown up to London, Heathrow. Earlier, it had operated a special charter flight from Delhi to Tel Aviv with Israeli nationals," Bansal added.

--IANS
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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:47:34 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219876 IANS C-1-1219838-1219567
Addressing a global online conference over coronavirus, Harsh Vardhan said "One of my biggest challenges these days, apart from fighting COVID-19, is fighting with misinformation. So many things keep floating on social media. No one even thinks before putting out a tweet or a news item without confirming and checking it with a reliable source."

"I can say with utmost confidence and conviction that anyone who wants authentic information, should visit the website of the Health Ministry. The website of the Health Ministry has thoroughly comprehensive, complete and updated information. We are receiving 22 crore hits everyday. It is updated twice a day. Giving correct information is as important as taking care of the COVID patients."

The Health Minister also said that he was very upset with people who misbehave and target the healthcare workers. He said that such people should be named and shamed and the society should take a stand for the medical professionals.

"I would like to thank all corona warriors leading from the front. They face risk of getting infected. They are putting their heart and soul into ensuring the success in the battle against coronavirus. But cases appear here and there where doctors and the other health professionals are being insulted or ostracised or humiliated in the society. We have to name and shame such people. As a society we should stand with the medical professionals and ensure that such incidents don't happen," he said.

Harsh Vardhan also said that there are 30 manufacturers in India who are going to provide PPEs. "By next week we shall be having 10 lakh PPEs we will be able to give ample numbers of PPEs to the people, especially medical professionals," he said, adding "We have ordered 30,000 more ventilators. Very few cases require ventilators. We are prepared for the worst case scenario which I personally feel, will not come. We have made enough arrangements for oxygen cylinders, beds, and ventilators and specific drugs also. Work on the scientific front is also going on like research on vaccine and drugs."

The Health Minister said India is putting its best foot forward in fighting against coronavirus.

"We are in constant touch with the World Health Organisation. I have attended conferences with health ministers of the world and region and the WHO has on record appreciated the actions and initiatives taken by the Indian government. They are also confident that India should do well."

--IANS
sfm/kr]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:43:58 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219838 IANS C-1-1219865-1219566
Addressing a meeting of education officials, via video conferencing, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that schools will not debar any student from attending classes for reasons like non-payment of fees and directed that the schools should bar taking three months' advance fee or any other charges from March 15 onwards during the current education session.

He also directed the schools to promote students of all classes except students of classes 10 and 12. The others will be promoted to the next higher class this year, he said adding that summer vacation should be declared in higher education and technical education institutes from April 15.

Gehlot also asked the officials to provide online classes and e-learning sessions so that students are regular in their studies.

School education Govind Singh Dotasara said that the school textbooks have been made available online. Work is in progress to make online content for students, he added.

Technical Education Minister Dr Subhash Garg said that a YouTube channel is being prepared to provide e-content to students in which more than 600 videos have been uploaded. Teachers have been instructed to upload remaining videos soon, he said.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary DB Gupta and Ministers including Bhanwar Singh Bhati, Dotasara and Garg.

--IANS
arc/vd]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:42:14 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219865 IANS C-1-1219871-1219565
A total of 477 people have recovered from the disease while 169 persons have lost their lives. One person has migrated to another country.

According to the Health Ministry data, the number of cases in Maharashtra climbed up to 1,135, followed by Tamil Nadu (738), Delhi (669), Telangana (442) and Uttar Pradesh (410).

Andhra Pradesh has reported 348 cases while Kerala has reported 345 cases and Rajasthan has 383 cases.

Other states and UTs that have reported confirmed cases are Gujarat (179), Haryana (169), Jammu and Kashmir (158), Karnataka (181), Madhya Pradesh (259), Punjab (101), West Bengal(103), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (11), Arunachal Pradesh (1), Assam (28), Bihar (39), Odisha (42), Uttarakhand (35), Chandigarh (18), Chhattisgarh (10), Goa (7), Himachal Pradesh (18), Jharkhand (13), Ladakh (14), Manipur (2), Mizoram (1), Puducherry (5) and Tripura (1).

--IANS
sfm/arm]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:36:00 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219871 IANS C-1-1219817-1219564
Speaking to IANS, a Health Department official maintained that the local and community transmission of the infection has not been reported so far.

"With proper implementation of the lockdown and formation of the containment zones across at least 25 locations in the city, the chances are now even less that Delhi can go for stage three transmission, if it continues such measures."

According to the official definition, Stage 3 is the community transmission, when infections happen in public and the source for the virus cannot be traced.

The official said nine out of 11 distracts in the city have containment zones, with maximum from East district.

"While there is a sense of panic in people after a geographical region is announced to be a containment zone but it is for the benefit of the people. Their movement is restricted and so the chance of the spread of the infection."

Across the city, there are 720 Covid-19 cases and about 60 per cent of these are from Nizamuddin Markaz alone, while 35 per cent have foreignAtravel history or their immediate contacts.

"So, we can say no community transmission has taken place. But the fear is not over. We need to continue taking preventive steps."

The official said close to 20,000 people are under quarantine at homes or government accommodations.

"As per our current preparations, we are ready to deal up to 25,000 to 30,000 active cases."

On the need for making containment zone, even when the lockdown was imposed, the official said the containment zones are made up of a limited geographical area.

"It becomes important because if people continue to buy essential items from a shop, where an infected person may have also gone, the scope of community transmission increases. The infection can also be carried through a garbage collector, who goes from house to house as part of his job."

To check this, the official said, all social activities are stopped, "the government ensures that the essential communities are supplied to each house and the people do not move out of the houses."

According to the Health Ministry, an area with 10 or more cases of an infection is called a cluster and if multiple clusters develop in any region and have the potential to spread it further, it is called a hotspot.

However, for coronavirus, it is an emerging term and even an area with one positive case can be called a hotspot, depending upon the possibility of the spread in that area, the official said. After an area is declared a hotspot or have the capacity to be a hotspot, the authorities have the right to restrict the movement of the people and make the area a containment zone -- locking down a defined geographic area to contain the outbreak of COVID-19.

The containment zones, created to map the local transmission of the disease and prevent the contagion from spreading, are announced by the office of the District Magistrate. The area and the houses in it are sanitised properly.

So far, several pockets in the city have been declared containment zones, including parts of Nizamuddin, Dilshad Garden, Sadar Bazar, Vasundhara Enclave, Kalyanpuri, Pandav Nagar, Krishan Kunj, Khichripur, Malviya Nagar, Sangam Vihar and Patparganj.

--IANS
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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:33:39 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219817 IANS C-1-1219841-1219563
Thursday alone had a total of 76 positive cases registered in the state, following the intense testing. Gujarat now has a total of 262 positive cases and 17 deaths.

Ahmedabad, the financial capital of Gujarat had the major chunk of cases spread in the state, with more than half of Gujarat's total positive cases.

On Thursday evening, health authorities detected 21 new positive cases, in addition to the morning's 55. Out of the 21, Ahmedabad had 8, Patan had 7, Vadodara had 4 and in Rajkot, 2 more positive cases were found.

Now Gujarat has a total of 262 positive cases where Ahmedabad has the maximum number of cases at 142, followed by Surat 24, Vadodara 22, Bhavnagar 18, Rajkot and Gandhinagar 13 each, Patan 12, Porbandar 3, Kutch, Mehsana and Gir-Somnath 2 each and Panchmahal, Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha, Dahod and Anand one each.

"Just like the case in Gandhinagar, the total number of positive cases in Patan's Siddhpur turned out to be a single contact infection, where all the positive cases belong to one family. Due to the cooperation of sarpanches of adjoining villages of Siddhpur town, the entire place has been locked tightly and strictly, so that the spread of virus doesn't go beyond the limited area in Siddhpur," said Jayanti Ravi, principal secretary, Health and family welfare Department, Gujarat.

"Seeing the increasing numbers of positive cases in the hotspots and clusters of Gujarat, we are hopeful of curbing the virus spread. It can be said that the virus is in control," added Ravi.

"But we are fully prepared for the worst scenario also. As far as exclusive COVID-19 hospitals are concerned, ICU care with 6,000 beds, PPE kits, N95 masks, triple layered masks, hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin drugs, we have adequate stock, quantity, facilities. We also have a bank of 9,000 ventilatory care technicians if the need arises," added Ravi.

"We have mapped out the worst scenario in every detail. The Indian Medical Association's (IMA) response towards the government has been very good. They have assured the Gujarat government to standby if the need arises," added Ravi.

"We have also started 23 exclusive COVID-19 hospitals, covering 26 districts of the state in private facilities," said Ravi.

"The government has also taken an important decision. If an asymptomatic elderly person, over the age of 85 is assured by the family members, to provide him/her of isolation facilities in the house itself, the permission will be granted. Shortly we will be framing the guidelines for this," added Ravi.

"Out of the total 215 active cases, the condition of 212 is stable, are on normal air or simple oxygen, whereas the condition of 3 is critical and they are on ventilator," added Ravi.

"In the last 24 hours, we have taken 1,975 samples for testing, where 76 have been found positive, 1,541 negative and 358 are pending," added Ravi.

"The total number of persons quarantined in the state is 12,352, where 11,015 are home quarantined, 1,170 in government facilities and 167 in private facilities," she said.

--IANS
amc/kr]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:33:38 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219841 IANS C-1-1219870-1219562
They joined Expedition 62 Commander Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos and NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir aboard the ISS, NASA said.

The arrival temporarily restores the station's crew complement to six for the remainder of Expedition 62.

Skripochka, Morgan, and Meir will undock in their Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to return to Earth on April 17.

At the time of undocking, Expedition 63 will begin with Cassidy as the commander for a mission of more than six months during which they will conduct about 160 science investigations in fields such as, biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development.

Work on the unique microgravity laboratory advances scientific knowledge and demonstrates new technologies, making research breakthroughs that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars.

The crew members of Expedition 63 are scheduled to be aboard the station to welcome the first commercial crew spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who will arrive on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 flight test, currently targeted to launch in mid-to-late May, said NASA.

It is the third spaceflight for Cassidy and Ivanishin and the first for Vagner.

--IANS
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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:28:21 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219870 IANS C-1-1219864-1219561
The glitzy Laburnum Society also figures in the list of containment zones.

Sector 9, Nirvana County in Sector 54, Palam Tihar, Emaar Palm Gardens in Sector 83, Laburnum Society and Sector 39 are among the urban clusters that figure in the list. Three rural clusters have also been earmarked as containment zones -- Fazilpur Jharsa, Ward No 11 in Pataudi and Raipur village in Sohna.

The administration said that its team will go from door-to-door in these areas for screening or thermal scanning of each resident. "Gates/door knobs of each and every household will be properly sanitised," said the government order.

Needless to say, none can either leave the areas till they remain designated as containment zones, nor can anyone enter there. The administration has asked the Gurugram Police to put barricades as well.

For essential services like ration, dairy products and vegetables, a list of shops has been asked to be prepared and arrange for home delivery of essential items.

This is in line with the sealing of 34 areas in Noida, which came into effect from April 8 midnight, and the sealing of some pockets in Delhi on Thursday.

This is part of emulating the Bhilwara model in Rajasthan with an aim to aggressively ensure contact tracing and enforce strict social distancing.

Meanwhile, ambulances and paramedics have been kept on standby in these areas, should the need for them arise.

As of Thursday evening, India has recorded 5,218 active Covid-19 cases and 169 deaths. Haryana has recorded a total of 169 cases so far.

--IANS
abn/arm]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:19:08 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219864 IANS C-1-1219830-1219560

Organised by Livejam Foundation founded by Keralite Bonny Andrews, it would see the likes of Stephen Devassy, Sheldon Bangera, Alobo Naga, Prakruthi Angelina and Cameron Mendes and has been named 'Easter at Home' and will be hosted as a Facebook Watch Party.

Andrews said that there has never been a better time for them to come together in solidarity sharing this message of hope, music and stories so that they can encourage each other in this time of Easter.

--IANS
sg/vd]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:13:40 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219830 IANS C-1-1219834-1219559
The latest deaths included that of the oldest victim - a 101-year-old woman - so far in the state, as well as the country.

This takes the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Maharashtra to 97 - with Mumbai and Pune jointly accounting for the lion's share of casualties - at 54 and 24, respectively.

With over 200 new cases, the number of infectees in the state now touched a staggering 1,364.

Among the Mumbai fatalities was the 101-year old woman, who died of hypertension complications in a private facility, B.S. Hospital here.

As many as 14 deaths occurred in Pune, plus one each in Malegaon and Ratnagiri, and of the total 25, 10 were females and 15 were males.

In an encouraging development, 125 patients have been fully cured and been discharged for their homes till date, the officials said.

A whopping 36,533 persons are in 'home quarantine' and 4,731 are in institutional quarantine.

To cater to the growing demand for isolation facilities, the National Sports Club of India has become the country's first quarantine centre in a sporting facility, and can house around 500 patients.

The BMC plans to set up institutional quarantine facilities for more than 11,000 people in the 24 wards in Mumbai, the worst-hit by Covid-19 in the country so far.

Simultaneously, as the congested but carefree Dharavi causes worries for the health authorities, Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced that the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) would be deployed in that slum, and other slum pockets in the city to strictly enforce the lockdown.

With a population of around 800,000 crammed in barely 2.25 sq. kms, Dharavi has already recorded 3 coronavirus deaths and 17 positive cases, though Tope on Wednesday ruled out "completely sealing" off Asia's biggest slum.

To prevent risks of contracting the disease in the course of duties, the Mumbai Police requisitioned the state's first 'sanitiser van' which will move around the entire city from Thursday.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh took a demonstration of the van which will go around the city and help field police personnel to 'sanitise' themselves while serving in sensitive localities, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranaya Ashok.

Meanwhile, as per Central guidelines, the government has implemented cluster containment in areas with maximum number of Covid-19 cases or casualties and set up 4261 teams to survey over 1.60 million people in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Palghar Buldhana, Nagpur, and other cities.

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has accused the Centre of not exercising precautions like Maharashtra to grant permission for the Tablighi Jamaat event last month in Delhi which has resulted in a spurt of corona cases in the state, as elsewhere.

Till date, at least 25 infectees are those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat, and Deshmukh said that around 50-plus others have switched off their phones and cannot be traced, raising apprehensions.

--IANS
qn/vd]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:07:16 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219834 IANS C-1-1219852-1219558
Eleven cases were reported from Prakasam district, two from Guntur district and one each from East Godavari and Kadapa districts.

With one person getting discharged from the hospital in Chittoor district, the number of cured patients in the state stood at 10 on Thursday. The discharged person is a 25-year old male with a travel history to the UK.

Despite no new cases getting reported in the latest batch of tests, Kurnool district continues to lead with 75 cases. With two new cases on Thursday, Guntur's tally climbed further to 51. Nellore district remained in the third position with 48 positive cases.

The state also reported two deaths, one each from Anantapur and Guntur districts, taking the death toll in Andhra Pradesh to six.

--IANS
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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:01:25 +0530 https://ians.in/?param=news/C-1-1219852 IANS