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Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has called the killing of two sadhus in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr “terrible” and appealed people to not give it a communal colour.“Terrible! killing of two saints, sadhus at a temple in Bulandshahar, UP, but I appeal to all concerned to not make it communal the way they tried to make Palghar, Maharashtra incidence,” Raut said on Twitter on Tuesday in Hindi. भयानक! बुलंदशहर, यूपी के एक मंदिर में दो साधुओं की हत्या, लेकिन मैं सभी से अपील करता हूं कि वे इसे सांप्रदायिक न बनाएं, जिस तरह से कुछ लोगों ने पालघर मामले में करने की कोशिश की।— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) April 28, 2020 The bodies of the two sadhus were found in a temple in Pagona village in Anoopshahar area of Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district on Monday night.The police said they were killed by a sharp-edged object. They have arrested a man who, according to the police, told them it was “God’s will”. They sadhus have been identified as Jagdish or Rangidas (55) and his disciple Sher Singh (46). “As per initial probe, it has been found that few days back, the youth had taken away a belonging (chimta) of priests after which they had scolded him. Following which, he murdered 2 priests today,” BulandShahr SSP Santosh Kumar Singh said.Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took a serious view of the incident and directed senior officials to take strict action against the culprit and submit a detailed report.Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra demanded that the truth should come out and that the issue should not be politicised. “Today in Bulandshahr, two sadhus were murdered while they were sleeping. The truth must come out after investigation in this heinous crime and at this stage no body should politicise this issue,” she tweeted in Hindi. ..ऐसे जघन्य अपराधों की गहराई से जाँच होनी चाहिए और इस समय किसी को भी इस मामले का राजनीतिकरण नहीं करना चाहिए। निष्पक्ष जाँच करके पूरा सच प्रदेश के समक्ष लाना चाहिए। यह सरकार की ज़िम्मेदारी है।2/2— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 28, 2020 The incident comes almost a fortnight after lunching of two sadhus and their driver in Maharashtra’s Palghar. They were on their way from from Nashik in Maharashtra to Surat in Gujarat, when a 200-strong mob attacked them near Gadchinchle village on April 16.Asserting that nobody involved in the Palghar mob lynching incident would be spared, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a high-level probe by Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Read the full article

The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients reached 21,393 on Thursday and fatalities rose to 681, according to Union health ministry data.India now has 16,454 active cases and the number of people who have been cured stands at 4,257 the health ministry’s dashboard showed at 8 am.Maharashtra reported 6,710 cases of the coronavirus disease, including 789 discharged patients and 269 deaths. Gujarat has now become the second-worst hit state with 2,407 active cases and Delhi follows with 2,248 infections.The government on Wednesday promulgated an ordinance to make attacks on health care workers non-bailable with maximum punishment of seven years in jail and Rs 5 lakh fine. The ordinance received President Ram Nath Kovind’s assent later in the day.The Union Health Ministry also advised chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories to adopt adequate measures in ensuring the safety of health workers involved in Covid-19 services.The Indian Medical Association (IMA) called off its proposed ‘white alert’ and ‘black day’ protests scheduled for April 22 and 23 following a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah through video conference on Wednesday. The doctors’ body has been demanding that the Centre bring a law to protect healthcare workers from rising attacks at a time when they are battling Covid-19. Read the full article

India has dialled up its medical diplomacy, sending loads of medicines to 100-plus countries over the last two weeks to help them fight the Covid-19 pandemic. A top government official told Hindustan Times that India is supplying nearly 85 million hydroxychloroquine tablets and close to 500 million paracetamol tablets to the 108 countries.This is apart from the 1,000 tonnes of paracetamol granules that have been sent to make tablets.“As we speak, a total of 4,000 plus consignments to 60 countries are being cleared for dispatch,” the government official cited above said. In all, the medicine supplies will cover 108 countries.Many of the supplies have been made through special Indian Air Force flights, foreign evacuation charters and even diplomatic cargo.It is a huge exercise, and complicated too given that most countries, including India, have shut flight operations. As one example, officials speak about how Indian HCQ tablets to be delivered to the Dominican Republic, which is the current President of the UNSC, were placed as diplomatic cargo on a US evacuation flight to Atlanta, Georgia. This diplomatic cargo will then be flown from New York to the island in the Carribean region in a Dominican charter later on Thursday. The HCQ tablets sent as gifts to Mauritius and Seychelles were loaded on special Indian Air Force planes on Wednesday for delivery. For reaching the medicines to Afghanistan, efforts are being made to send the medicine by a special charter.According to South Block officials, 5 million HCQ tablets and a large quantity of paracetamol has been either supplied or in the process of being supplied to 31 countries as grant assistance to combat Covid-19.“The emphasis has been on clearing consignments to those friendly countries first which are badly affected by the virus. We will also be clearing requests from some other countries who have sought help in this hour of need. This will be done in a day or two,” said a senior official.Basically, India has decided to supply all the drugs that were lying in special economic zones or 100 percent export oriented units after ensuring that there was an adequate buffer stock for domestic requirements in a worst-case scenario.“Broadly, almost everything that was ready and lying at the airports/ports that cannot be used domestically as on April 14 has been cleared for exports,” said a Ministry of External Affairs official.India has already supplied 80 million HCQ tablets to 24 countries through commercial contracts including US, UK, Russia, France, Spain and Netherlands. It has also supplied large quantities of paracetamol to 52 countries including Italy, Sweden and Singapore. In some cases, both HCQ and paracetamol tablets were supplied. Read the full article

30-year-old para-athlete Manasi Joshi gained recognition after she clinched a gold medal at BWF Para-badminton World Championships last year. After a competition-heavy 2019, Manasi was eyeing a berth at the Tokyo Paralympics, with qualifying tournaments approaching. But the coronavirus pandemic tore the sporting calendar to shreds as tournaments all over the world started getting suspended. Just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown in India, Manasi, who was at her badminton academy in Hyderabad, flew back home to Ahmedabad to be with her family.At home, during a grocery run, Manasi realised the difficulties a person with disabilities has to face amid the nationwide lockdown, at a time of an unprecedented public health emergency. Speaking to Hindustan Times in an exclusive interview, the para-badminton star gave a glimpse of her life at home amid lockdown:“Lockdown has affected my training. My academy in Hyderabad got closed, so I returned home to Ahmedabad to stay with my parents. Luckily, I reached before the lockdown was imposed, otherwise, I would have to stay in Hyderabad alone. I am doing home-workouts, keeping in touch with my physio, trainer and my dietician. They have planned a proper schedule for me. They are helping me to figure out what training I can continue to do during the lockdown.“There is a limit to what exercises I am able to do at home, though. There are a lot of cardio-exercises I am unable to do. We had created a gym as per requirements, but now I have to readapt to my current requirements. So, it is obviously a problem. But we are trying to adapt to whatever situation we are having.“In the meantime, I have enrolled for an online course on ‘Disability Awareness and Support by University of Pittsburgh’. I have been reading and keeping myself busy. I am writing emails, talking to people. I had a busy year in 2019, so I didn’t get time to be social with people or connect with my friends. So, now is the time to get all those things going. I am keeping in touch with people. Every day, I try to contact my friends and check up with them how things are going, and what is happening in their lives.“I am also cooking at home. It was a hobby of mine, but then I started cooking to survive. But now, I can cook to experiment, which I enjoy. I made South Indian food for my family the other day. We used to have a cook aunty who would come to my place and cook some amazing delicacies. I tried to cook Palak paneer, and beans in her style. I try to put a twist in everything, and do some experiment with it. I made a different type of Frankie, which turned out to be really tasty. So, I am trying to experiment with my cooking, and eat different stuff. But of course, following my diet (laughs).“I also watch TV. I watched Special-Ops on Hotstar. It was quite interesting. I didn’t get much time to read anything, though. I keep myself busy 24X7.“With Paralympics getting postponed by one year, it has exceeded my hopes of going to Tokyo and to compete for a medal. So, this hope is keeping me quite motivated these days. One year is a lot of time for me to work on my development. It’s definitely a blessing in disguise for me.“Last year, we had a lot of tournaments. Every 15-20 day we used to play a tournament. I had broken one of my prosthesis when I was in China for my World Championships. After that, even though I tried to change the cue part of my prosthetic, I was unable to reach the alignment that I used to play at. So, now I have the time to adapt and learn to play with my new prosthesis.“I, now have time to learn different skills and styles. I have also placed an order for running prosthetics. So, I am also planning to learn running this year. I have kind of forgotten how to run. So, I am hopeful this will be helpful in training. I am keeping my fingers crossed.“I am following the WHO guidelines on how to prevent oneself from coronavirus - washing hands, wearing masks in public, maintaining social distance. Another thing I keep doing is keeping my prosthetic devices clean. At home, I use crutches, and walkers, so I keep their surfaces clean by wiping them with sanitizer.“At our household, we take turns to buy groceries. So, I also went out one day and I realised that it’s not easy for me. I had to stand in the queue for too long. Usually, I would just sit and wait for my turn, and not stand in the queue. But these days, I don’t want to contaminate myself. “People know me, my disability was quite visible, I was in my shorts. But nobody gave up their tokens for me. People who were distributing tokens, did not think that they should think about putting me ahead in line, so I won’t have to stand for too long. I had only gone to buy essentials, and not for fun.“I went for vegetable shopping later, and there were people pushing me in order to get their shopping done first. When people push me, I lose my balance, even if I am just standing.“I really wish people and government are considerate and kind enough to allow people with disabilities and senior citizens to give them a chance to get their grocery shopping done first. I really appreciate how these supermarkets are still running in these times. But I just wish there could be some rule to allow people with disabilities to go first, but then it would also be better if people become considerate themselves.“It struck me that I live in Hyderabad alone, and what if I was there on my own. At least, here, I have my siblings, here. If I ask them to go grocery shopping, they will do it for me, they are super supportive. But then, in our household, we treat everyone equally. I believe in being independent. I don’t want to be dependent on anyone. But I would request authorities to understand and be a little more kind and considerate.“People with disabilities have to touch other surfaces to know where we exactly are, and at this time, people are advised not to touch. People with disabilities are at higher risk of catching COVID-19, we are the ones who need more attention. We should keep in mind that disabled people are also vulnerable members of the society who are getting more affected by the lockdown. We should think about larger things than ‘my own problem’.“I cannot go on to just say that everything is perfect if it is not. People are empathic, but to sensitise the general public, we have to create more awareness. If I say that you need to help people with disabilities, all people say is that we will get groceries for them. That is not the type of help I require, all I need is mere ko pehle jaane do. If you don’t wish to give your token, it’s fine. But at least tell authories inko pehle jaane do.“We need to change how people react to disaster in such a scenario, and how we treat the vulnerable sections of the society. We have to think from a different perspective when we are devising a plan on how to tackle this pandemic.”As told to Karan Prashant Saxena Read the full article

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the support shown by the people of the country in making the fight against coronavirus disease a success is unprecedented. He also hailed the efforts put in by different state governments and local administration to make 21-day lockdown a success.“The lockdown completes nine days today. The discipline and service you showed during this period is unprecedented. People and administration have successfully tried to ensure this routine is followed,” PM Modi said in his 11-minute-long video message on Friday morning.“The way you came out to thank coronavirus warriors on March 22 set an example for the world. It showed the country can fight the battle against Covid-19 together,” he added.The Prime Minister also gave a pep talk to people, urging them to keep fighting the deadly disease.“Many of you think what a single person can do? How will they be able to fight this battle? And how long will you spend your time under lockdown? We are at home, but not alone. We have the strength of 130 crore countrymen,” PM Modi said in the video message.He then urged the countrymen to switch off the lights at their home, and light a lamp or torch for nine minutes on April 5 (Sunday) “to show the darkness caused by Covid-19 the power of light”.India is expected to remain under complete lockdown until mid-April in a bid to stop the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak that’s infected more than 2,000 people with deaths climbing to 72.As part of its preparations to exit the lockdown, PM Modi asked chief ministers on Thursday to formulate staggered plan, according to a government statement. Read the full article

“We have a powerful enemy designed, by chance, over millions of years. It is powerful but unintelligent. Its ways are getting better known each day. For success, we must be relentless, use our science at the right time and place and act intelligently and not randomly. So, our scientists’ task is to address all aspects of the short-, medium-, and long-haul; in a manner where we are never fatigued, but the virus is. We each need to play our part to help the government’s and the world’s efforts succeed,” said Prof VijayRaghavan on Twitter. We have a powerful enemy designed, by chance, over millions of years. It is powerful but unintelligent. Its ways are getting better known each day. For success, we must be relentless, use our science at the right time and place and act intelligently and not randomly. 3— Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt. of India (@PrinSciAdvGoI) March 29, 2020The department of science and technology (DST) is mapping the needs of healthcare workers and supporting the projects that have been identified. There are three areas the DST is focussing on –ventilators that can be manufactured easily, better protective equipment for healthcare workers, and solutions for disinfecting places.“We have already started receiving various designs for ventilators – we are looking for models which are cheap, easy to make so that the production can be scaled up quickly, and are easy to use even at home. Then, we are looking at various types of protective gear, especially body suits for the healthcare workers, and then we are looking at solutions for disinfecting places,” said Prof Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, DST.The PSA gave a shout-out to the team from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, which developed a low-cost ventilator that is currently being validated. It can be manufactured using indigenous components at a cost of Rs 70,000 instead of the Rs 4 lakh that the ventilators currently being used cost. The team was headed by Amitabh Bandyopadhyay from the department of department of biological sciences & bioengineering. A startup, Scitech Park, from Pune, supported by a DST incubation centre, has developed a negative ion generator that can reduce the viral load in an infected area. A grant of R 1 crore has been given to the company to scale up the project.The department of biotechnology is also setting up a research consortium to look for newer diagnostic kits, repurposed and novel molecules that can protect against the disease, and vaccines.Two diagnostic kits developed by Indian companies have been approved for commercial use by the National Institute of Virology, Pune.Healthcare workers are also relying on technology – webinars have been organised by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi to train doctors and nurses across the country and a 24*7 consultation centre has been started which can provide clinical guidance to doctors across the country. Read the full article

India’s fight against Sars-Cov-2 will see residents of several states come to terms with the new reality of ‘lockdown’ necessitated by the need to prevent community transmissions and it will help to know what it entails in five key points.1. The lockdown directives vary with states as per specific Epidemic Disease rules, 2020, but they mostly exempt essential services, such as Banks, ATMs, hospitals, police, water, power, media, sanitation, municipal services, supply of milk, groceries, food and pharmacies. Online services and home delivery of food are also exempted. The state governments have exempted certain state specific services depending upon their own assessment.2. While there is no ban on using private vehicles, their movement could be questioned in the 75 districts that reported positive Coronavirus cases and were put under lockdown following a directive by the Central government on Sunday. To restrict movement of people, the modes of transport including buses, trains and metros have been shut and section 144, prohibiting the assembly of more than four people under CrPC, have been imposed to enforce social or physical distancing in most states. Several governments including Delhi have announced suspension of inter-state bus services too, which means only essential travel for emergencies or for unavoidable reasons, are allowed. Domestic flights will however operate.3. People are allowed to go out but only for essential needs like medicine, withdrawal of money, groceries, hospital visits for emergencies, food takeaways etc, however, they are not allowed to dine at restaurants, visit public places in groups. Telangana has specified that only one person per family will be allowed to step out for essential work. 4. Residents of housing societies or gated communities will be encouraged to not use community facilities like gymnasiums, clubs, parks, swimming pools etc but can step out for morning walks etc as long as they are not walking in a group and maintaining a safe distance from fellow walkers.5. It is important to understand that along with the lockdown several other restrictive provisions continue to be in place in most states with penal provision for violations of social distancing measures like closure of gyms, pubs, eateries, hotels, public recreational facilities etc. One can invite sanctions and penal provisions not only by continuing to operate such facilities but even by becoming a party to using it. Read the full article

West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was present in India for the Road Safety World Series 2020 this month, has given a huge praise to India captain Virat Kohli. Speaking in an interview to Sportstar, Chanderpaul picked Kohli as the best batsman in the world. “Obviously, it’s Virat Kohli. He has been working on all the aspects of his game, and the results are showing,” he said.“He is working hard on his fitness; he works on his skills. You see him putting in the hard work, and he is one of those guys who always wants to do well. He’s proven it, day in and day out,” the former left-handed batsman added.“You have to give credit to him for that. It’s not easy to stay at the top of your game for so long. You got to put in your work, and the results are showing,” the 45-year-old further said.Also read: ‘Best thing about him is…,’ Pakistan legend Javed Miandad reveals what he loves about Virat KohliMeanwhile, Pakistan legend Javed Miandad had also praised the Indian captain in a Youtube video earlier this week. ‘Whenever he wants to score, he can. He is powerful and has the ability to clear the ropes easily. But the best thing about him is that he is humble. It is visible that he loves his cricket a lot and respects his fellow cricketers a lot,’” he had said in the video.“I have seen his conduct and he is friendly with the opposition also. I have played cricket at the same level, I can say this. Indian cricketers are now said to be aggressive. But there has to be some aggression on the field. However, there has to be a limit,” he added. Read the full article