PM holds video conf with CMs on Monday, likely to discuss ways to end
corona lockdown
| The Prime Minister is holding another video conference with Chief
Ministers on Monday, possibly on how best to lift the lockdown to stop
the country from sliding into universal poverty and at the same time
face the challenge of saving human lives from the coronavirus
epidemic. Although certain essential businesses and agro sections
have been opened up at the bottom, that is felt to be not enough.
Therefore, now the big question before the Government is how to
balance maintaining social distancing and economic activities.
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NEW DELHI, Apr 26: There were 49 deaths in India in the last 24 hours
due to coronavirus (covid), pushing up the tally to 882, according to overnight
reports. The total number of covid infections so far in the country is 27,890
while the count of new cases is 1990. Globally there were 29,94,430 cases which
included well over two lakh deaths, with the US, Spain, Italy, France, UK and
Germany suffering the worst. Nearly 60,000 people lost their life in the US
alone.
Compared with other countries, India's total involvement in the war against
the corona phenomenon has paid off, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in
his latest edition of 'Mann Ki Baat.'
The worst-hit Maharashtra (323 deaths) , Gujarat (133 deaths) and Delhi (54
deaths) accounted for more than 50% of all cases in India. Madhya Pradesh (103
deaths), Rajasthan (35 deaths), Uttar Pradesh (29 deaths) and Tamil Nadu (24
deaths) came next on the list reporting maximum infections and casualties.
However, according to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, the coronavirus situation
in the country is improving with several hotspot districts turning into yellow/green
zones. The doubling rate has come down to 9.1 days against 6.1 two weeks ago.
The production of PPE has been ramped up to one lakh a day, Bengaluru contributing
the maximum.
The Prime Minister is holding his third video conference with the Chief Ministers
on Monday to discuss and review the epidemic management in the country. Possibly
they might agree for a graded relaxation of the lockdown taking into account
the fact that the global economyy has gone into a tailspin.
India's major concern is how to bail out the unorganised workforce and the
farmers, constituting the real base of the country's economy, and who are already
pushed into the margins of poverty. Modi's stress could, therefore, genuinely
fall again on his 'Jaan Bhi, Jahaan Bhi' dictum. Although certain essential businesses
and agro sections have been opened up at the bottom, that is felt to be not
enough. Now the big question before the Government is how to balance maintaining
social distancing and economic activities. But who has the courage of conviction
to take the plunge, in a country ruled for 70 long years mostly by spectators
and proxies!
There is a global thinking that it is time to reconsider the total lockdown
and find other ways to contain the pandemic else people in larger numbers will
perish other than by the epidemic because there won't be enough food for all with
all economic activities having come to a stanstill. Several countries stuck in
limbo like the US and Italy have started opening up their businesses.
In this context, Sweden has come into limelight for the novel way it prevented
the pandemic from overwhelming the country, compared with its worst-hit neighbours,
and that without a lockdown. It acted timely in making people aware that it
was mainly their responsibility to contain the invisible invasion of this stealthy
epidemic which spreads fast and asymptomatically. There was no lockdown but
people took care of themselves as fortunately corona, although the most ferocious,
can infect only through contact. It is not airborne. Of course, as is said,
Swedes' demographic structure also contributed to their success without lockdown.
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SELECTIONS FROM OUR ARCHIVES |
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Top Govt officer thrashed, kicked inside Bhubaneswar office: Incident sparks a debate
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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.
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UK's House of Commons votes to legalise assisted dying: What it means | |
ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!
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What caused Air India Boeing 787 crash? Some questions, some answers | |
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
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Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line brings Kashmir Valley on India's rail map |
- The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
- The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
- The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest
railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)
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Work done, Elon Musk steps down from DOGE, leaves White House | |
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
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Ailing Asiatic lion Pataudi too dies of bird flu at Kanpur zoo
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Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
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48 tourist destinations closed in Kashmir following Pahalgam terror attack
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As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
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Trump slaps ‘kind’, ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on trading partners; a 'lenient' 26% on India!
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ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
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Trump signs order to shut Education Dept - And the contrast with India
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PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
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Sunita, Wilmore's Dragon splashes down in Gulf: What delayed their return? |
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
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All 80k health workers in US offered $25,000 voluntary buyout: Administering wrong prescriptions!
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The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.
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ARCHIVES
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Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
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Neighbours Calling
Bhutan
Nepal
Malaysia
Dubai
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Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
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