Far from the metros and big cities, the coronavirus crisis in the country's districts, towns and villages is being led by district magistrates.
The responsibility of keeping the pandemic under control lies with the DM or collector.
Subrat Kumar Sen, the young district magistrate of Saran, north Bihar, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih how he and his staff are combating a crisis that no one has confronted before.

'This week will be crucial and we are prepared.'

'Times will be tough, but we will get by and by the grace of Lord Balaji.'

I do think a younger population structure is an advantage against this virus, but there are other important factors such as the capacity of the healthcare system," says Dr Jennifer Dowd, associate professor of demography and population health, University of Oxford.

'Since it was the last day of flights, the feeling was weird. There were hardly any aircraft on the ground or in the air.'

'Anyone who takes the eye off the movement of the virus should be prepared for unpleasant surprises.'

'You can only see it when you look for it. Seek and you shall find.'

'Dr Abdullah is the oldest and tallest leader in our current political landscape and it was very kind of him to come and see us.'

'Right now there are two battles, the one in our heads about the pandemic and 2, the actual pandemic itself.'

'Healthcare workers treating coronavirus have been among the hardest hit.' 'It is scary, but this is what we signed up for and became doctors.'

'We have to accept that the infection is now in the community and we can't isolate everyone who gets it.' 'Instead, what we need to do is to find out those who are most at risk of death, isolate them and save them from the rest.'

'The BJP would not have brought him into the party if they did not appreciate him.'

'He too can become a good BJP worker like Rajmata and those from his family before him.'

'This was the first ever visit by a President in a re-election year so it sent a strong signal of the priority of the relationship and the desire to continue to strengthen it.'

We are becoming more cruel and less civilised

Nitin Singh, tourist guide, spent 75 minutes with Donald and Melania Trump at the Taj Mahal. 'They were very down to earth and listening to me intently as I told them the story of the Taj and the Mughals.'

'I am sure every effort will be made to showcase Rashtrapati Bhavan to President Trump.'

'I was told that Agra has never been cleaned, spruced and scrubbed like it has been for Trump!' A tourist who visited the Taj Mahal over the the weekend gives an account of how the city is gearing up to welcome the Trump Parivar.

'If there were no Ahmedabad programme -- no flashy town hall event in a huge cricket stadium with thousands cheering him on -- then Trump may well have decided not to go to India.'

What goes behind the scenes for an American President's visit?

For two-and-half weeks, as Kanhaiya Kumar's Jan Gan Man Yatra opposing the CAA-NPR-NRC makes its way through Bihar, it has come under sustained violent attack. Archana Masih/Rediff.com discovers that the yatris, who include teenagers wanting to save the Constitution and the Nation, are unfazed by the threats and loathing.

'It is an uncomfortable situation for a woman.' 'She has been on her own, separated from family.' 'That is the point of isolating her -- breaking her to a point where she bends to their will.'

'All political parties have exploited the police. The current government at the Centre is blatant and unapologetic about it.'

'AAP's next target will be Punjab.'

'Potent nationalism doesn't just distract from the economic task at hand; it actively undermines it.'

Despite all of the PM's many strengths, it is increasingly clear that he does not necessarily have a coherent and clear worldview on matters of macro policy.

'Both my father and brother are very strong. Their spirit is unbroken,' says Dr Farooq Abdullah's daughter and Omar's sister, Safiya Abdullah Khan.

'Irrespective of their politics, people feel happy.' 'One of the best compliments I have received is that I have made it from Kashmir to Karnataka.'

'The government's job is to enable people to live together, not tear them apart.' 'It is supposed to create spaces to work, live and survive -- this country is struggling and this government is saying you have no right of being.' 'It wants to declare human beings illegal. It is the most bizarre nonsense in the world.'

There have been some benefits to the corporate sector, agreed they also need support, but the government should realise that the economy is not suffering from lowering investment -- people are ready to invest but where is the demand?

'The awareness of how big my father's sacrifice came to me when we went for the Republic Day parade and my mother received the Ashok Chakra,' Rukmini Vasanth, whose father Colonel Vasanth Venugopal was killed in action fighting terrorists, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.

'War is won by team work. War is won by sacrifices,' says Subedar Sanjay Kumar, Param Vir Chakra.

Major Sheena Nayyar describes what it means for an Indian soldier to be part of the Republic Day parade.

'It is my duty to tell them about the brave soldiers who gave their lives for our land.' 'The free air of freedom that we breathe is because of men like them.'

'The protests have forced the government to announce that the NRC is not an immediate priority.' 'Even if they are trying to pursue this policy in a different guise, through the NPR, the fact that they have been forced to pause and backtrack at least temporarily shows the positive impact of the protests.' 'Moreover, various state governments have opposed the NPR which cannot be carried out without their cooperation. That is also a success of the protests.' 'The state governments would not have taken this stance against the central government if their hand had not been forced by the popular mood.'

'I chose the army over glamour,' says Major Sheena, who feels no other profession elicits the kind of respect like the army does.

'Every bit of the parade is important. Everything that is being executed, you have to be completely in it,' says Captain Tania Shergill, the first woman adjutant at a Republic Day parade.

'An all-out war affects the whole nation.'

'Dr Abdullah is fine and in good spirits,' says National Conference Lok Sabha MP Mohammad Akbar Lone.

More rural women are having babies in government hospitals. Facilities have improved, but Bihar has is a long way to go in public health.