Masks compulsory in Delhi, UP; Delhi seals 20 corona-active
spots, UP seals 104
After losing precious time to stop coronavirus spread, today
State Government after State Government is making face
masks compulsory. It was known in the beginning that corona
is a droplet contagion and not an airborne disease. This
feature, if taken care of, inhibits its ferocious ability for
asymptomatic transmission. Last two months, doctors,
officials and politicians, here and elsewhere, had been telling
people not to rush for masks as they do not give protection
against covid. Now even the WHO has changed tune!
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW, Apr 8: The Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Governments today
made wearing of face masks compulsory. Maharashtra, the worst hit, is still waiting
to follow suit.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, "Wearing of facial masks can reduce
the spread of coronavirus substantially. Therefore, it has been decided that
facial masks will be compulsory for anyone stepping out of their house. Cloth
mask shall be eligible too." Earlier he had said the common man doesn't need face masks. The WHO also propagated such a view earlier but two days ago it came out with a modified statement. (SEE video). The Earlier WHO stand: 'If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.' Modified version: 'Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.'
UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said wearing of masks
has been made compulsory in the State in order to prevent community spread of
covid. There can be legal action also for not wearing masks, he said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unlike the WHO, recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies)
especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. (SEE video on top : How to make your own face covering)
UP has also sealed highly sensitive 104 hotspots in 15 districts to check community
spread of coronavirus infection, followed by Delhi which sealed 20 vulnerable
spots. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, "No person will be permitted
inside these localities or will be allowed to leave them." The Government will
ensure delivery of essential items in areas that have been sealed to combat
covid-19 spread, he said. The decision was taken at an emergency meeting held
at the Chief Minister's residence.
The UP districts are Agra, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Lucknow, Varanasi,
Shamli, Meerut, Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Kanpur, Basti, Ferozabad, Saharanpur,
Maharajganj and Sitapur. The 104 hotspots are spread over 81 police stations
in these 15 districts. They are sealed till after the end of lockdown on April
14. Of the 15 districts, Agra, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Kanpur
account for over a dozen cases each.
“There would be no movement of people even within the inner lanes of these
affected localities and the police would put up barricades for this purpose,”
UP Director General of Police (DGP) Hitesh Chandra Awasthi told newsmen here
today.
Officials claim that the sudden spurt in new cases is due to the Tablighi Jamaat
international conference held in Delhi which was attended by Muslim members
from all over India and abroad, from Malaysia and Indonesia.
DELHI lists hotspots:
Gandhi Park street, Malviya Nagar
Gali No 6, L1 Sangam Vihar
Shahajahanabad Society, Plot No 1, Sector 11, Dwarka
Dinpur villge
Markaz Masjid and Nizamuddin Basti
Nizamuddin West (G and D block) areas
B Block Jhangirpuri
H No 141 to H No 180, Gali No 14, Kalyanpuri
Mansara Apartments, Vasundhara Enclave
3 Galis of Khichirpur, including Gali of H No 5/387
Gali No 9, Pandav Nagar
Vardhaman Apartments, Mayur Vihar, Phase I Extension
Mayurdhwaj Apartments, IP Extension, Patparganj
Gali No 4, from H No J-3/115 (Nagar Dairy) to H No J- 3/108, Krishan Kunj
Extension
Gali No 4 from H No J-3/101 to H No J-3/107 Krishan Kunj Extension
Gali No 5, A Block (from H No A-176 to A-189), West Vinod Nagar
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.
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!
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.
Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.
A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924)
(Today's headlines )
Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”
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 )
"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...
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.
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.
"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.
Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.
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 )
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.
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.
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.
Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See:
New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)