Amid the chaos, fear and uncertainty spreading across the country because of the COVID-19 outbreak, a distressing narrative has emerged from Delhi, where thousands of migrant workers, left without jobs, shelter or money after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 21-day nationwide lockdown shut down almost all commercial establishments, are still trying desperately to return to hometowns and villages across the border in Uttar Pradesh. The centre’s “total lockdown”, meant to halt the spread of a highly infectious novel coronavirus that transmits rapidly in crowded spaces, had suspended all interstate bus and railway services, leaving migrants and their young families no option…
Author: Our Correspondent
Four Russian athletes, including two former Olympic champions, have been charged with doping based on evidence from the bombshell McLaren report, the Athletics Integrity Unit (IAU) said. Andrey Silnov, the 2008 Olympic high jump champion, and 2012 Olympic 400m hurdle champion Natalia Antyukh will have to face a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The same fate awaits 1,500m runner Yelena Soboleva, the silver medallist at the 2007 world championships, and hammer thrower Oksana Kondratyeva. The report of Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, which was commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 2016, exposed wide-scale, institutionalised doping…
The world is in the face of a devastating impact due to the coronavirus pandemic and has clearly entered a recession, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday, but projected a recovery next year. “We have reassessed the prospects for growth for 2020 and 2021. It is now clear that we have entered a recession as bad or worse than in 2009. We do project recovery in 2021,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters at a news conference. Georgieva was addressing the press after a meeting of governing body of the IMF, the International Monetary and Financial Committee. Representing…
For millions of American kids staying indoors with their parents due to coronavirus shutdown in the US, President Donald Trump has a word of advice: sit back, behave, wash your hands and be proud of your country. Much of life in America, and across the globe, has ground to a near halt as the coronavirus pandemic spreads, resulting in closing of schools, thwarting travel, forcing employees to work from home and shutting institutions. The authorities now believe that the rapidly-spreading disease could fundamentally upend life for months. Speaking to reporters on Friday, President Trump was asked what would he say…
Consequent to the announcement of the 21 days national lock down, Southern Naval Command (SNC) has taken a slew of measures in consultation with the state Government and Naval Headquarters aimed at two pronged strategy to counter the contagion COVID-19, which is to be prepared and equipped to assist the civil society in its fight against the disease and concurrently to ensure insulation of own personnel from infection as well as availability for all duties as required. Ten teams of Battle Field Nursing Assistants (BFNA), comprising of non-medical personnel have been readied at Kochi to help medical staff should the…
The Union Home Secretary has written toall States/UTs to take immediate steps to provide adequate support, including food and shelter, to migrant agricultural labourers, industrial workers and other unorganized sector workers during the 21-day Nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.Similarly, States/UTs have been advised to take steps to ensure that students, working women from other States, etc. are also allowed to continue in their existing accommodation. The advisory suggests that in order to mitigate the situation for unorganized sector workers, particularly stranded migrant workers, States/UTs need to explore measures by involving various agencies, including NGOs, to provide food and shelter with basic amenities…
Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shri Santosh Gangwar has decided to donate one month’s salary to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for relief work following outbreak of COVID-19. Announcing this Shri Gangwar said, “We are contributing to fight the epidemic caused by COVID-19, in one way or the other. I have decided to make a contribution of my one month’s salary to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund towards combating the pandemic.” Shri Gangwar also stated that under the leadership Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Govt has been swift in taking appropriate and timely relief measures for common people…
India has proposed setting up of a common electronic platform for all SAARC nations to share expertise and best practices to jointly combat the spread of coronavirus, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly pitched for a regional approach to deal with the pandemic. India made the proposal at a video conference of senior health officials of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on Thursday. The SAARC is a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. At an India-initiated video conference of SAARC leaders on March 15, Modi suggested that health…
Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar on Friday donated Rs 50 lakh to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed 17 Indian lives and wreaked havoc globally. Tendulkar’s donation is so far the biggest contribution among India’s leading sportspersons, some of whom have pledged their salaries while a few others have donated medical equipment to fight the dreaded outbreak, which has caused more than 24,000 deaths globally. “Sachin Tendulkar decided to contribute Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and Chief Minister’s Relief Fund in his bid to join the fight against COVID-19. It was his decision that…
Apple is reportedly working on the bringing the Face ID feature to MacBooks and iMacs. The company’s Face ID feature, which is quite fool-proof, debuted on the iPhone X and since has become a standard in all iOS handsets. Apple uses Face ID on its iPads as well. Just as Touch ID began on its iPhone before spreading to iPad, and then both the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, so Face ID is coming to Apple’s range of Macs. It’s been rumoured before, and Apple has said that Face ID will come to more devices, but a new patent application…