Closures, travel restrictions, and self-isolation measures due to the coronavirus have cleared public squares, roads, and travel destinations across the globe. Photographers have been capturing the eerie stillness of these public spaces, recently emptied of the crowds they were built for.
Two days on, regular activities were witnessed near the Lakhimpur railway station and other market places where vendors and shops were operating as usual.
Even media persons covering the agitation manage to reach the protest sites with difficulty as they first have to pass through checking and then cross multiple layers of barricading. A Bharatiya Kisan Union office-bearer at Ghazipur border, which now resembles a highly-secured fortress, said despite the odds, supporters from far-off places are reaching the site to express solidarity with farmers.
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Travel bubbles, also called travel bridges or green corridors, do away with the waiting period for travellers from certain countries. They are reciprocal in nature, meaning flyers from both countries will enjoy similar benefits.
'Jammu and Kashmir is free for any movement and accessible to all including citizens, outsiders, journalists and all others for free movement'
Similar traffic restrictions in other cities did not see a significant improvement in air quality only because car owners begin making more trips during their unrestricted periods. The other apprehension, as seen in other cities, is that residents have bought secondhand cars, using the other number plate so that they can continue to drive to their work place, thereby defeating the very purpose of this scheme.
The commission has also enhanced the limit of people allowed for door-to-door campaign.
Everybody knows what's happening. How I feel is not important. How the people are feeling is important'
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 7 per cent drop in its June quarter net profit as retail business got hit by the second wave of COVID infections.
The government has decided to restart scheduled international flight services from March 27 after a two years hiatus due to COVID-19, according to civil aviation ministry officials.
The function at India Gate will begin at 9 am, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Alok Kumar, said.
In December 2016, the Supreme Court directed the central government to have a graded action plan to tackle the menace of air pollution. There are two plans - Comprehensive Action Plan and Graded Response Action Plan.
The ministry of home affairs in its advisory on December 28 had advised states and Union Territories that they can impose local restrictions, including night curfew, based on their assessment of the situation to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Minutes after Gandhi made the statement, the Srinagar Police also tweeted that the situation was peaceful.
In India, domestic airlines have not secured any relief from the government and are reporting 50-55 per cent loads as domestic air travel resumed on May 25 after two-month suspension.
Modi offered prayers during his visit to the gurudwara for which no police bandobast or traffic barriers were put in place to restrict movement of the common man, official sources said.
There was an environment of "indifference" towards the use of technology in governance before 2014 due to which the poor and the middle class suffered the most, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. He asserted the current government has ensured last-mile delivery of services with the help of technology, including drones. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating India's biggest drone festival in Delhi, he said, "At a time when we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is my dream that everyone in India should have a smartphone in his or her hand, every farm should have a drone and every house should have prosperity." The enthusiasm being seen in India about drone technology is amazing and indicates possibilities of an emerging sector of employment generation, the prime minister said.
The Maharashtra government on Sunday extended the lockdown-like curbs till June 15 and also announced that relaxations will be granted depending upon the Covid-19 positivity rate and availability of oxygen beds.
Restrictions have been imposed in five police station areas of Srinagar, a police official said.
Vistara has filed for slots at the Delhi airport and is also training pilots as it prepares for operations. The Delhi-London flight is being planned from mid-August, while services to Paris and Franfkurt would be launched later.
Regular visa, e-visa or stay stipulation, of such foreign nationals who have been stranded in India because of spread of COVID-19 in many parts of the world and also due to travel restrictions imposed by Indian authorities, and whose visas have expired or would be expiring during the period from February 1 midnight to May 3 midnight, would be extended till midnight of May 3 on 'Gratis' basis, after online application by the foreigner, the statement said.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday was spotted riding on his bicycle while heading to the AIR office in New Delhi.
Police also said that people will have to adhere to all Covid-protocols, such as wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing, at the programme on Rajpath on January 26.
Delhi police commissioner Rakesh Asthana on Sunday said over 27,000 police personnel have been deployed for Republic Day security duties in the national capital and anti-terror measures intensified.
All the market places and shops reopened and traffic has resumed as normal in all these districts bringing much relief to the people.
Salute explores narratives of police brutality and unethical practices, power-hungry politicians who will stop at nothing and the helplessness of innocent victims of crime, observes Divya Nair.
The economy faces more downside risks now as economic disruptions arising from the second wave are likely to stabilise only from July, warned the Swiss brokerage USB Securities. Last month, the brokerage had cut its GDP forecast by 150 bps to 10 per cent for FY22, which though is much higher than the consensus projections by others with some pegging it at as low as 8 per cent. Though adverse impacts on sequential growth is less severe than in the June 2020 quarter when it plunged by 23.9 per cent, as lockdowns are more targeted and localised and households and businesses have adjusted to the new normal now, still, it is increasingly possible that normalcy returns only by July as against our baseline assumption of June.
Telecom operator Vodafone Idea is in advance stages of processing order for network capacity expansion in six circles through Chinese telecom gear makers, according to industry sources aware of the development. The order will be only for expansion of existing telecom network capacity where the contract was already awarded to the Chinese vendors, according to the sources.
The comments by a spokesperson in the British High Commission in New Delhi came amid concerns in India over the latest Covid-related travel restrictions announced by the UK.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe attended the spectacular sunset Ganga Aarti at the fabled Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi on Saturday.
From making 'COVIDIOTS' (a term coined for those flouting restrictions) squat on the road and do sit-ups, to making them pose with pamphlets admitting their fault, police officials have pulled out all the stops from their kitty of creativity to drive home the message.
There were nearly 4,000 cabin crew with Jet when the airline was grounded; every fifth remains without a job to date. One cabin crew member with 10 years of experience has been forced to take up a teaching job; some have branched out into small businesses. Aviation jobs were scarce even before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived on Indian shores in early 2020. The situation has been exacerbated since.
Tata Sons has started the process of due diligence of state-owned Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express. Sources said the group has appointed Bain and Company and Seabury Group for this purpose. Once complete, a financial bid will be submitted and a deal to take over the airline is likely to fructify by end of this year or even earlier, people involved in the process said. Simultaneously, the group has brought in veterans in the aviation business from Delta and United Airlines to prepare a plan for post-merger integration of Air India with its existing airline ventures. Tata Sons operates Vistara - a 51:49 percent joint venture with Singapore Airlines and Air Asia India, in which Tatas hold 83.67 per cent stakes.
The road, which connects Noida to south east Delhi and further to Faridabad in Haryana, was closed for traffic in the wake of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protest at Shaheen Bagh since December 15.
The Supreme Court said it would hear on February 10 the pleas against protests at Shaheen Bagh as it did not want to "influence" the Delhi assembly elections by hearing the matter on Friday.
The issue of fog and low visibility primarily impacts airports in northern India and Bengaluru.
According to officials, inflammatory speeches were made during a protest against derogatory remarks made against Prophet Mohammad by now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
The decision comes in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, besides another attempt to target a Central Reserve Police Force convoy with a car bomb on the highway near Banihal in Ramban district on March 30.
The Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir to the rest of the country, was closed for vehicular traffic as the valley including Srinagar experienced fresh snowfall on Wednesday.
