A paralytic father and a mother who has been rendered jobless due to the coronavirus lockdown has forced promising Nagpur-based athlete Prajakta Godbole to fight extreme hunger with fear of unknown -- from where will the next meal be arranged. The 24-year-old Prajakta, who resides with her parents in a Siraspeth slum in Nagpur, represented Indian Universities in the 5000m race at the World University Games in Italy in 2019. She clocked 18:23.92 and could not qualify for the final round.
'What I'm really worried about is that the day this lockdown ends, we will all rush to work and we'll kill the lovely environment we are seeing now.'
At Srinagar's famed Lal Chowk, Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf meets a computer engineer who drives an auto for a living and discovers that Kashmiris are more interested in finding jobs than discussing the assembly election.
As India reached the halfway point in the 21-day coronavirus lockdown on Saturday, some states and rail and airline operators were considering measures to relax restrictions in phases from April 15. Simultaneously, the Centre has drawn up a cluster containment strategy to contain the coronavirus pandemic within a defined geographic area by early detection of cases, breaking the chain of transmission and thus preventing its spread to new areas.
'I will live in a nearby hotel but will not stay at home, that's it for me now, can't bear anymore lockdown days.'
Rediff readers sent us these pictures to show how their kids are making the most of the lockdown.
'Every report I filed for Rediff.com on the professor's incarceration, would leave me wondering for days, at the depth of the State's malevolence towards this disabled professor, and his equally deep capacity to tolerate it,' recalls Jyoti Punwani.' 'No country in the world would do what our country was doing to someone so helpless.'
When the lockdown ends, Hasleen plans to come out of it a stronger person.
A month-long national lockdown to arrest the spread of COVID 2.0 could shave off 100-200 bps of GDP, leading to a 300 bps risk to annual growth, a brokerage report has flagged while expressing doubts over the ability of local lockdowns to control the pandemic. The second wave of the coronavirus inflection has caught the government off-guard with the daily cases jumping over 6.5 times in the past 30 days. With close to 3.53 lakh fresh daily infections, the country is the worst hit globally.
A new three-day lockdown in Brisbane has put Cricket Australia in a spot of bother as it makes desperate efforts to hold the fourth and final Test against India in the Queensland state capital from January 15
'The challenge is to put in place a strategy for future courses of action beyond April 14 when the lockdown comes to an end,' notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
We've never, ever been confined to our homes for so many days. What has the experience been like? Tell us!
Naren from Hyderabad tells us how his family saved money in the lockdown.
'India has been cleaved into two by a government that has shown amazing consistency in cleaving.' 'One India is gasping for life, and the other is doing yoga and clapping from balconies and WhatsApp groups,' observes Debashish Chatterjee.
Boris Johnson on Tuesday announced July 4 as the date for a significant lifting of lockdown restrictions in the country, with cinemas, museums, bars, pubs and restaurants being allowed to open their doors to the public once again.
'The economic impact of this lockdown is evidently huge.' 'Its impact on the livelihood of vulnerable sections of the society is immeasurably bigger,' observes Mahesh Vyas.
The six-day lockdown in South Australia to contain COVID-19 cases has improved Adelaide's chances of remaining the venue of the first day-night Test between India and Australia from December 17 even though the situation remains fluid
According to sources, government officials have asked industry bodies and manufacturers to submit key concerns and requirements to begin manufacturing activity.
The Centre has announced an extension for two more weeks in the nationwide lockdown. However, several relaxations will be allowed as per zones.
"Confinement is fostering the tension and strain created by security, health, and money worries. And it is increasing isolation for women with violent partners, separating them from the people and resources that can best help them. It's a perfect storm for controlling, violent behaviour behind closed doors," UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said in a statement calling the violence against women and girls 'a shadow pandemic'.
Barbados is set to become operational in the next six to 12 hours, ending the shutdown forced by a category 4 hurricane.
The lockdown in India has been a timely, graded, proactive and pre-emptive public health measure to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and has been part and parcel of the government's overall strategy, Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, and Chairman, Empowered Group 1, said at a media briefing on the COVID-19 situation.
Viren Rasquinha, who is the CEO of Olympic Gold Quest, stressed on the importance of sports psychologists for athletes in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics, which has been postponed to next year.
The rising COVID-19 infections across the country are a matter of concern, but it may not impact the ongoing economic revival as one does not foresee lockdowns, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday. The economic revival will continue "unabated", Das said, asserting that there is no need for a downward revision of RBI's 10.5 per cent GDP growth forecast for FY22. Speaking at Times Network's India Economic Conclave, Das said, "We have 'insurance' to protect economic revival like a fast-paced vaccination drive, greater ability among people to follow COVID protocols", and one does not see lockdowns as well.
Citadel: Honey Bunny will stream from November 7 on Amazon Prime Video.
Amarinder said predictions by health experts about the spread of the pandemic are 'horrendous and frightening'.
This will be the third video conference of the prime minister with the chief ministers after the spread of the COVID-19 in the country. Sources in the government indicated that besides discussing the way forward in dealing with the pandemic, the discussion could also focus on a 'graded' exit from the lockdown which is in place till May 3.
India's boxing icon MC Mary Kom shared her fitness secret with her fans on Monday as the Olympic medallist showed how she is making most of spending time at home during the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Union home ministry on Tuesday allowed opening of shops selling school books and electric fans, services of bedside attendants of senior citizens and public utilities including recharge facilities for prepaid mobile phones during the ongoing lockdown.
In a communication to the chief secretaries of the states and Union territories, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said the guidelines for the fourth phase of the lockdown were issued after taking the views of the states, following a video-conference held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with chief ministers on May 11.
Less than six months ago, Delhi was gasping for breath. Authorities said air quality had reached "unbearable levels". Schools were shut, flights were diverted, and people were asked to wear masks, avoid polluted areas and keep doors and windows closed. But during the lockdown that began on Mar 22, the concentration of poisonous PM2.5 particles in a cubic metre of air averaged at 44.18, according to a Reuters analysis of government data, indicating a rare "good" rating, the safest level on the scale.
'Life has been very stressful and frustrating.'
After months of anticipation (and 31,000 submissions from the British public), the Britain's Duchess of Cambridge's final selection of images for Hold Still is available to view on the National Portrait Gallery's website. Designed to "capture and document the spirit, the mood, the hopes, the fears and the feelings of the nation" during lockdown, the project brings together 100 moving amateur shots of everything from at-home haircuts to make-shift classrooms; exhausted NHS staffers on duty to dedicated postmen in superhero costumes; pensioners FaceTiming with their grandchildren to mothers cradling their newborn babies. Below, see 22 remarkable images from Hold Still - then head to the The National Portrait Gallery website for the full exhibition.
The Centre stressed that the next three weeks will be critical for the country reeling from the worst health crisis as it announced a series of measures to shore up medical infrastructure and supplies and scale up vaccination.
'Since I got married, I've seen him watch KBC all the time.' 'We never have songs or movies playing on our TV; it's always general knowledge and current affairs.'
The nationwide lockdown has robbed several daily wage labourers and households of their incomes. Vrushali Vilas Kadam tells Divya Nair/Rediff.com how her family is struggling to make ends meet.
In his complaint lodged with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former Congress MLA Surendra Singh Jadavat alleged that Chittorgarh SDM Tejasvi Rana also snatched currency notes from vendors in the mandi and tore them up. A sitting ruling party MLA, going to Circuit House in a vehicle, too was stopped by her and his driver was fined by police on her directions for not carrying licence.
A few local public transport unions have also suspended their services fearing the spread in the interiors of the state.
'What criteria is GoI (government of India) using to judge how long the lockdown is to continue...'
The Sinkovic brothers, who won the men's double sculls event at the Rio Olympics in 2016, have spent the lockdown training at home, but carried their boat out to Lake Jarun in Zagreb for a light session on Monday.
