As the number of cases crossed 2,56,000 with more than 7,100 fatalities, according to Union health ministry figures, and the country made a calibrated exit from the lockdown in non-containment zones, shop shutters in many malls went up for the first time since March 25 but the sprawling retail places were eerily empty.
Long queues outside grocery stores, inflated prices, difficulty in getting important items -- these were some of the problems encountered by people in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Daily wagers are running out of resources, including ration and cash, and the state governments might not be able to sustain their needs for a longer period of time, given the lockdown has already been extended until May 3.
Sheela Bhatt reports from Firozabad, the country's centre for glass bangles, on what life is like for its workers in the wake of the national lockdown.
'Wasn't it the PM's duty to reach out to the daily wagers of whom he claims to have been a part?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
'The policy is to consolidate farming into the hands of a few and to take away the food security of the country.' 'Once food is in the hands of 15 chosen corporate houses, you will get food, but at a price that they determine.'
The journey of getting used to a new way of life -- without domestic help, without the necessity of dressing up to step out and just staying cooped up indoors -- has been out of the ordinary, equal parts good, bad and ugly.
Indian Army officers, serving and retired, will tell you that the one thing that makes the Indian soldier singularly unique is his josh and jazba.
"Though we reiterate our commitment to peace, our defence forces -- the army, the air force and the navy -- are adequately mobilised in a well-coordinated move to thwart any attempt to undermine our security. Our national interest will be protected at all costs. We have also ensured a widespread understanding in the international community of India's firm and principled stand," the President said. India and China are locked in a nearly nine-month long military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
For Chef Thomas Zacharias, Chef Floyd Cardoz, was a partner, mentor. And family.
With more than 21 lakh migrant workers returning to the state as per official data, the Nitish Kumar government faces an enormous challenge in providing jobs for them.
Women and children have been given short shrift with these crucial sectors facing substantive budgetary cuts, discovers Rashme Sehgal.
Sheela Bhatt visits a large urban basti a mere 20-minute drive from the prime minister's home to discover a story of grim struggle in the time of lockdown.
'Today, everybody is on the computer, everybody on the mobile.' 'There is very less physical activity.' 'The treatment most effective in reducing heart disease is exercise.' 'It is very, very, important.'
'We are trying to trace them.' 'We feel their phone batteries must have died because they are travelling by road.'
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad made this assertion outside Parliament while speaking to reporters and said the revocation of suspension of the Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs was not a demand, but a 'request'.
The Congress leader was brought to the jail on Thursday evening and he has got no special facilities, except a separate cell and a Western toilet as specified by the court, prison officials said. Like other inmates, he will also have access to the prison's library and can watch television for a specified period.
Speaking to Tista Sengupta/Rediff.com, model Amit Ranjan gives his views on Virat Kohli-Anushka Sharma's relationship, the concept of house husbands and what he thinks aspiring male models should do.
In a video message posted as part of the Congress' 'Speak Up India' campaign, which was launched on Thursday, she also demanded that the government provide Rs 7,500 to each needy family for the next six months and Rs 10,000 as immediate cash to them.
Noting that the situation on the ground was "very difficult", the Congress leader said it was high time the prime minister announced a relief package for the poor and a financial stimulus for the economy.
Even as the war of words continues within the Aam Aadmi Party, photographs emerged on Thursday of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal practicing naturopathy at the Jindal Nature Cure Institute in the outskirts of Bengaluru.
'The Swiss show their love of cows by letting them graze in meadows, plump and healthy, instead of by killing minorities.' 'Women drink and kiss their dates in public while wearing tiny skirts, yet walk home unraped.' Mitali Saran on how much she misses Switzerland.
'Everybody knows that any solution would upstage and expose official bungling.' 'That is something Mrs Sitharaman's masters will not allow.' 'No matter how high the cost in human misery, they will squander a fortune on the unnecessary Central Vista extravaganza,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'Parsis are brought up with a great sense of the importance of truth and speaking your mind.'
Rediff reader Diwakar Keshri shares his incredible weight loss journey.
The man also went live on Facebook five times from the protest site and the cover picture of his profile showed him holding a sword.
Come May, the Deltin Royale, which boasts of the country's largest poker room, will play host to India's first Poker Sports League.
''Even without major reforms, with a business as usual scenario, and with current inflation trends, we should be clocking around 11 to 12 per cent nominal growth.' 'That is not happening and is a source of worry,' Rathin Roy tells Arup Roychoudhury.
With the lockdown extended till May 3 to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the little money daily wagers had is mostly gone and so is hope.
'I sighed, wondering what we'd eat if all farmers took jobs in the city and all their fields degenerated into land for sale,' notes Geetanjali Krishna.
You might be unintentionally harming yourself.
'In countries like Japan, one out of 11.7 tests turns out to be positive, which is among the highest in the world. Italy tests 6.7 persons for one positive test while the USA tests 5.3 persons and the United Kingdom 3.4'
'While the poor have little say in shaping India's intellectual or public discourse, they do have a significant role in deciding political outcomes,' points out Roshan Kishore.
A home ministry official said while 9,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their primary contacts have been quarantined till now across the country due to "massive efforts" to check the outbreak, the Centre has written to all states and union territories that "the lockdown measures should be implemented in letter and spirit".
Putting an end to all speculations regarding the menu of the dinner to be served to Chinese President Xi Jinping who will be coming to Ahmedabad on his maiden visit on Wednesday, the state government has said the food will consist of only Gujarati delicacies.
10 malls expected to go off business this year
The Union health ministry officials also said India was at the second stage as there is still no 'hard evidence' to say that there has been community transmission of the fast-spreading coronavirus, remarks which may provide anxious citizens with much needed assurance and hope.
'Count your blessings, feel gratitude for the medical and essential services providers and police forces who are staking their lives to fight this invisible enemy.'
'All of our lives are going to be changed in a permanent way...' 'We just have to ride out the tide right now and we will see a rainbow at the end of this.'
PM Modi, BJP president J P Nadda, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have all expressed grief over the incident.
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