Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that he would share a video message this morning, but did not specify the subject. “At 9 AM tomorrow morning, I’ll share a small video message with my fellow Indians,” PM Modi tweeted in Hindi and English. Many believe his message could be related to the coronavirus crisis. The PM has addressed the nation twice since the pandemic became a cause for serious concern in India. In his first address, he called for a one-day Janata Curfew and in the second address on March 24, he announced a national lockdown to contain the…
Author: Our Correspondent
A 65-year-old Muslim man from suburban Malad here, who died of coronavirus infection, was cremated after the trustees of a cemetery denied permission to bury his body there, his family members alleged on Thursday. The incident took place on Wednesday. The patient, a resident of Collector Compound in Malwani, died at a civic-run hospital in Jogeshwari East early on Wednesday. One of the family members of the deceased alleged that when his body was taken to Malad Malwadni Kabrastan, its trustees denied burial “as he was coronvirus positive”. “This was despite the local civic authorities giving permission for the burial…
Actor Sunny Leone on Thursday announced the launch of her digital chat show, titled “Locked up with Sunny”. The 38-year-old actor took to Instagram to share that she would do a live chat everyday noon, beginning with YouTuber Anisha Dixit today. “It was my idea to just have fun with our fans and people on insta. Light hearted conversations with funny things and details about the guest,” Sunny said in a statement. “Lockdown with Sunny” will see the actor in conversation with different personalities across the globe and discuss how they’re spending their quarantine time. From teaching yoga, holding live…
Women who exercise regularly but struggle to consume enough calories and have menstrual disorders can simply increase their food intake to recover their menstrual cycle, says new study. The study, published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, found that exercising women with menstrual disorders can start menstruating again by consuming an additional 300-400 calories a day. “These findings can impact all exercising women because many women strive to exercise for competitive and health-related reasons but may not be getting enough calories to support their exercise,” said lead researcher Mary Jane De Souza from Penn State University in the US.…
Shenzhen has become the first Chinese city to ban the sale and consumption of dogs and cats, a move that comes after the coronavirus outbreak was linked to wildlife meat, prompting authorities to ban the trade and eating of wild animals, a media report said on Thursday. The new law will come into force on May 1. In a statement, autothotities in Shenzhen said that “dogs and cats as pets have established a much closer relationship with humans than all other animals”, adding that the ban “also responds to the demand and spirit of human civilization”. In February, Chinese authorities…
While more and more coronavirus cases in the country are being traced to a religious gathering in Delhi of the Islamic missionary sect Tablighi Jamaat, a hunt is on for its leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, last seen on March 28. Close to 400 COVID-19 cases are estimated to be linked to the gathering last month at “Markaz Nizamuddin”, the 100-year-old building in a crowded south Delhi locality where the Tablighi Jamaat is based. Officials believe nearly 9,000 of its members, both Indian and foreign, are at risk. Maulana Saad, 56, may have been exposed to coronavirus, police sources say. The…
World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus today praised PM Narendra Modi for his efforts to help poor amid the lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus epidemic. The WHO chief said that steps like lockdown can lead to dire consequences for the poor and vulnerable section of the society. “Countries are asking people to #stayhome and shutting down population movement to limit #COVID19 transmission. These steps can have unintended consequences for the poorest and most vulnerable,” Mr Ghebreyesus said. He praised PM Modi for announcing relief package that provided food rations, cash transfers and free cooking gas. “My appreciation to…
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday commuted the death sentences of the key accused in the case of slain American journalist Daniel Pearl, who was abducted and beheaded in Pakistan in 2002. The death sentence of the prime accused Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh was commuted to seven years in prison while the other three convicts, Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil, who were earlier handed life sentences, were set free by the court, Dawn news said in a report. Since Sheikh has been in prison for the past 18 years, his seven-year sentence will be counted from the…
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Tablighi Jamaat cannot be pardoned for the religious gathering in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area amid the outbreak of novel coronavirus. People who showed coronavirus symptoms being taken to various hospitals from the Nizamuddin area in New Delhi on Monday. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Tablighi Jamaat for the religious gathering in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area for two weeks defying government restrictions and guidelines amid the outbreak of novel coronavirus across the world. Naqvi equated the event to a “Talibani crime” and said it could not…
No new COVID-19 positive cases emerged in Karnataka on Thursday morning, an official said. “From 5 p.m. Wednesday to 10 a.m. Thursday no new cases have been reported,” said a health official. The state”s COVID-19 status continues at 110 positive cases, three deaths and 10 discharges. Meanwhile, the health department reiterated its call to all the Tablighi pilgrims to report to the helpline. Reinforcing COVID-19 monitoring among the pilgrims, the health department has instructed all the asymptomatic Tablighis to enter government monitored quarantine centres even if they are yet to complete a fortnight since return from the Nizamuddin shrine in…