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Coronavirus in India

Karnataka has done 70k tests , it’s the same population to test ratio as Maharashtra even with less than 5% cases as later

Yeah, if you add today numbers they have done 30000 test for last 127 cases..
For me, Karnataka may be doing testing more than they needed in last few days
 
Yeah, if you add today numbers they have done 30000 test for last 127 cases..
For me, Karnataka may be doing testing more than they needed in last few days

Yes Karnataka, maharashtra have around 1000 tests/million which needs to improve at least to 10,000/million as community spread has already started in at least 8 to 9 states

In India, worst part is 70 to 80% r asymptomatic cases so unless states test aggressively we will not come to know about them. These asymptomatic guys r most dangerous as they spread to vulnerable ppl like old ppl & infants
 
Yes Karnataka, maharashtra have around 1000 tests/million which needs to improve at least to 10,000/million as community spread has already started in at least 8 to 9 states

In India, worst part is 70 to 80% r asymptomatic cases so unless states test aggressively we will not come to know about them. These asymptomatic guys r most dangerous as they spread to vulnerable ppl like old ppl & infants

Agree with u
 
Yes Karnataka, maharashtra have around 1000 tests/million which needs to improve at least to 10,000/million as community spread has already started in at least 8 to 9 states

In India, worst part is 70 to 80% r asymptomatic cases so unless states test aggressively we will not come to know about them. These asymptomatic guys r most dangerous as they spread to vulnerable ppl like old ppl & infants

It’s a tough one imo . I would rather see states like WB test more . Living in Bangalore , the lockdown has been followed relatively better than other Indian cities . Most of it being IT crowd went into WFH a week before the lockdown was announced and with that most of the city . So am inclined to believe that the situation is much more under control here , we should continue to increase the testing but rather have other states where cases are closing up use the kits for now .
 
Yeah, if you add today numbers they have done 30000 test for last 127 cases..
For me, Karnataka may be doing testing more than they needed in last few days

I don’t know which part of the state they are testing as Bangalore is barely adding single digit every day . Mysuru which has about 80 cases is mostly one factory where a guy went undetected and infected everyone . Hope fully it’s north Karnataka which has relatively higher number of cases for their population .
 
It’s a tough one imo . I would rather see states like WB test more . Living in Bangalore , the lockdown has been followed relatively better than other Indian cities . Most of it being IT crowd went into WFH a week before the lockdown was announced and with that most of the city . So am inclined to believe that the situation is much more under control here , we should continue to increase the testing but rather have other states where cases are closing up use the kits for now .

Karnataka has at least 400 to 500 tablighi returnees and not sure how many of them got infected or infected others
In AP we have cases where delivery boys who visited/delivered items (medical or emergency) to some families got covid infected. These families came in contact with delhi returnees
Most of the states in india have cases related from these tablighi returnees or ppl who came in contact with them.

Community spread started from ppl who had returned from delhi or came in contact with ppl (who got infected from returnees) , so we have to careful.

Unless we test thoroughly we can't be confident.
 
Karnataka has at least 400 to 500 tablighi returnees and not sure how many of them got infected or infected others
In AP we have cases where delivery boys who visited/delivered items (medical or emergency) to some families got covid infected. These families came in contact with delhi returnees
Most of the states in india have cases related from these tablighi returnees or ppl who came in contact with them.

Community spread started from ppl who had returned from delhi or came in contact with ppl (who got infected from returnees) , so we have to careful.

Unless we test thoroughly we can't be confident.

lol Still blaming the Muslims. The Dehli protesters are the hosts? :)))
 
“As of 6pm on Saturday, we received more than 150,000 registrations,” Consul General of India in Dubai, Vipul, told Gulf News.

A quarter of them want to return to their homeland after losing their jobs, he said.
 
lol Still blaming the Muslims. The Dehli protesters are the hosts? :)))


I am not blaming any community but that is the truth in many states in India. My state Andhra pradesh
had 21 cases (foreign returnees & it's contacts) on 29-March , after a week 252 cases and now total 1500 cases !

Source : https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www....t-up-from-21-to-252-in-seven-days-821761.html


In one instance one muslim politician's brother- in-law went to tablighi event , came back & has thrown party to few ppl in my state.


Source : https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www....vid-19-family-moved-isolation-ward-121381?amp


In my state, 90% cases r from delhi markhaz returnees, their primary contacts or secondary contacts , remember india banned international flights from march 24th
 
lol Still blaming the Muslims. The Dehli protesters are the hosts? :)))


Moreover let's not call them as protestors. They were devotees who went to some noble event but as other religious folks they ignored few norms & went ahead of the event.They haven't done any thing intentionally, in fact they are now life savers.

In India these markhaz returnees are queuing up to donate their plasma (plasma therapy) which is life saving for other covid patients.

Also if u see pakistan's case , source of virus is from foreign returnees, folks returning from iran's religious event, folks from tablighi event right ? So u have to say the obvious.
 
Moreover let's not call them as protestors. They were devotees who went to some noble event but as other religious folks they ignored few norms & went ahead of the event.They haven't done any thing intentionally, in fact they are now life savers.

In India these markhaz returnees are queuing up to donate their plasma (plasma therapy) which is life saving for other covid patients.

Also if u see pakistan's case , source of virus is from foreign returnees, folks returning from iran's religious event, folks from tablighi event right ? So u have to say the obvious.

They were protesting not doing pooja or worhsip.

There was no lockdown so they broke no virus laws.

Your intelligent PM announced the lockdown a few hours before it came into play, this was the main cause. India is lucky this hasnt spread the virus to millions and millions.

Stop passing the buck to Muslims and blame your government, the Hindu extremist one you elected.
 
They were protesting not doing pooja or worhsip.

hmm.. I think u r getting confused here. When I say delhi returnees I actually meant tablighi jamaat event returnees.For this religious event thousands of people from all over India attended.

First of all , these tablighi guys contributed to good amount of cases in malaysia, pakistan too.

They shouldn't have arranged these events in many countries in march knowing covid issue but they did.

So after this event many returned back to their respective states and virus got spread bcoz this tablighi event had some chinese/indonesian virus carriers and rest is history.

I wasn't talking about protestors, this is wat happens when u jump in the middle of conversation of two people without knowing the context in which they were talking.

Whether modi is extremist or not doesn't matter now all it matters is how countries like pakistan, india, bangladesh fight this pandemic.
 
https://theprint.in/health/tracking...ovt-action-attempts-at-covering-it-up/413262/

Bhopal/Indore: There is an old Chinese saying which loosely translates as bad things never occur alone. This has been especially true of Madhya Pradesh, which since March had been left in lurch because of a ‘political coup’ and a raging pandemic. Kamal Nath resigned as CM on 20 March after 22 rebel Congress MLAs jumped ship to the BJP, the same day on which the state recorded its first Covid-19 case in Jabalpur.

In a month, two big hotspots emerged in the state — Indore and Bhopal. Questions were still being raised about the state government’s handling of the situation. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who had been reinstated as the chief minister, did not appoint a Cabinet for nearly a month, which meant that he was also handling the home and health portfolios.
 
Absolutely pathetic from the 2 despots. In their unbridled thirst for power, these 2 have foisted a totally incompetent and good for nothing Chauhan on MP, thereby endangering entire state's well being.

And then this guy preaches all Indians...
 
We're not flattening the curve. Just wave the white flag and move on.

Bakwaas like our Air Force doing a flypast, banging plates and spoons has obviously not helped.
 
I hear stories that these migrants when they reach their villages they r either not allowed by their villagers or kept in quarantine for 14 days, this chinese virus spoiled , destroyed lives of millions around the world.

This year I badly miss haleem in hyderabad :(
Telangana authorities had to ban haleem restaurants & mosque congregations due to fear of virus spread & lockdown.
 
India records highest daily increase

India has reported 2,644 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, its highest daily number to date, bringing its total to more than 39,000 confirmed infections. The country also reported 83 additional deaths for a total of total 1,301.

Meanwhile, Indian Air Force conducted flypasts and showered flower petals on hospitals across different cities including the national capital of New Delhi as part of the Armed Forces’ efforts to thank doctors, nurses and police personnel who have been at the forefront of the country’s battle against the pandemic.
 
If that's true then you can imagine how much help and money these migrants are getting from our government. :inti
We have neglected our majority, most of whom are hit really hard from this shoshebaaz government ever since demonetization.

Had these nincompoops applied bit of their mind and allowed these migrants to return before announcing lockdown, things won't have been as bleak as they are now. You can't keep so many people confined in these pathetic living conditions forever. If you're allowing them to return now, won't that be counterproductive to social distancing? If yes, why weren't they allowed to return earlier?
 
Maharashtra is only doing ~8K tests a day. For a state with so many resources, it’s shameful that we are not doing more. SS runs the BMC which is conducting tests in Mumbai and they are only testing patients with symptoms in the slums. For the rest they are only using thermal screening, which is ineffective. Hopefully SS pays for this come the next elections.
 
The third phase of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown to break the chain of transmission will kick in from Monday after the government extended the nationwide lockdown for two more weeks. According to latest figures provided by the Health Ministry, the total number of coronavirus cases climbed to 40,263 with as many as 1,306 fatalities. The ministry said 2487 cases and 73 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

“After a comprehensive review and in view of the lockdown measures having led to significant gains in the Covid-19 situation, the government has decided to further extend the lockdown,” the MHA order read.


The MHA further said a limited number of activities will remain prohibited across the country, irrespective of the zones, including travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road; running of schools, colleges, and other educational and training/coaching institutions.

Source Indianexpress
 
[MENTION=133135]kaayal[/MENTION] why Kerala is not opening Alcohol shops, they were first to protest against the order of not selling alcohol during lockdown.
 
If that's true then you can imagine how much help and money these migrants are getting from our government. :inti
These bigots spent 6 crores on getting Indians back from foreign land while charging nothing to the Indians stuck there.

And they'll charge these poor migrants for the rail fare!
 
Correction: Workers have to pay the full fare. Not only the regular fares, but extra charges of fifty rupees per passenger for "express charges" and food.

So bloody heartless.
 
Correction: Workers have to pay the full fare. Not only the regular fares, but extra charges of fifty rupees per passenger for "express charges" and food.

So bloody heartless.

It is disappointing to see that India does not care about the suffering of its poor people. Sure, they have money in reserves to use it at this kind of situation.
 
It is disappointing to see that India does not care about the suffering of its poor people. Sure, they have money in reserves to use it at this kind of situation.
Money in reserves? Don't get me started as to how much money this pathetic dispensation has wasted for someone's fetish for personal glory.
 
And these had galls to spend 100 crores on just 1 program for Trump in Ahmedabad stadium.
 
Hopefully bhakhts won't shoot me but just came across this news.

Important: I am not a Kaangress Supporter. [MENTION=428]Romali_rotti[/MENTION]

Congress will pay: Sonia Gandhi attacks Centre over migrants' train fare

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has launched a scathing attack on the Centre for charging migrant labourers returning home for their train travel in the wake of the novel coronavirus lockdown and said that the Congress will bear the cost of their travel.

"Our workers and labourers form the backbone of our economy. Their hard work and sacrifice are the foundation of our nation," she said.

Sonia Gandhi said, "The Indian National Congress has, therefore, taken a decision that every Pradesh Congress Committee shall bear the cost for the rail travel of every needy worker and migrant labourer and shall take necessary steps in this regard. This will be the Indian National Congress’ humble contribution in service of our compatriots and to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with them."

Attacking the Centre over the crisis of the migrant labourers stranded in different parts of the country, she said, "But what is the responsibility of our Government? Even today, lakhs of workers and migrant labourers are languishing in different parts of the country and wish to return to their homes and families but there is neither adequate money nor provision for free transport. What is particularly disturbing is that the Central Government and the Rail Ministry are charging them for train tickets in this hour of crisis."

"Post the partition of 1947, this is the first time India witnessed a tragedy with such a massive human cost as thousands of migrant workers and labourers were forced to walk home several hundred kilometres on foot- without food, without medicines, without money, without transportation, without anything except for the desire to return to their families and loved ones. The very thought of their plight is enough to break our hearts as there was also the outpouring of support from fellow Indians for their inspiring resolve," Sonia Gandhi said.

Questioning the government on the difficulty faced by the migrant labourers, who were stuck away from their homes since the lockdown was imposed, Sonia Gandhi asked, "When our Government can recognise its responsibility by arranging free air travel for our citizens stranded abroad, when the Government can spend nearly Rs. 100 crores on transport and food etc. for just one public programme in Gujarat, when the Rail Ministry has the largesse to donate Rs. 151 Crores to the PM’s Corona fund, then why can’t these essential members of our nation’s fabric be given a fraction of the same courtesy, especially free rail travel, at this hour of acute distress?"

The Indian Railways had issued a set of guidelines for Shramik Special trains to ferry the migrants stranded across the country.

A provision in the SOP, which drew a good deal of flak, said the "local state government shall handover the tickets for these passengers cleared by them and collect the ticket fare and hand over the total amount to Railways."

In the SOP, the railways said the responsibility for food, security, health scanning, providing tickets to the stranded will be with the state from which the train is originating. It, however, took the burden of providing one meal to passengers whose journey will be of 12 hours or more.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...rers-train-travel-tickets-1674076-2020-05-04s
 
India's manufacturing activity contracted at its sharpest pace ever in April as a lockdown to combat the rapid spread of the coronavirus led to a slump in demand and significant supply-chain disruptions, a private sector survey showed on Monday.

The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by IHS Markit, plunged to 27.4 last month from March's 51.8, by far its lowest since the survey began in March 2005 and its first time below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction in nearly three years.

"After making it through March relatively unscathed, the Indian manufacturing sector felt the full force of the coronavirus pandemic in April," noted Eliot Kerr, an economist at IHS Markit.

"Record contractions in output, new orders and employment pointed to a severe deterioration in demand conditions."

With new orders and output shrinking at the steepest pace since at least early 2005, factories also cut jobs at the fastest rate in the survey's history, signalling a high chance of recession.

Asia's third-largest economy is taking a huge hit from the continuing nationwide lockdown, which started on March 25, and its gross domestic product is expected to shrink for the first time since the mid-1990s this quarter, a Reuters news agency poll showed last month.

That was despite the government announcing a spending package of 1.7 trillion Indian rupees ($22.4bn) and a significant easing in monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India.

Indicating key supply-side disruptions, an IHS Markit sub-index tracking supplier's delivery times declined to a level not seen since the survey began.

A record slump in input and output prices, suggesting a sharp fall in overall inflation which has held above the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4 percent for six months, failed to stoke demand.

That gives scope for the central bank, which has already aggressively cut its key interest rates, to ease monetary conditions further.

Bad debts ballooning

But along with the economic downturn, India's policymakers also expect bad debts at its banks to double, a senior government official and four top bankers told Reuters.

Indian banks are already grappling with 9.35 trillion rupees ($123bn) of soured loans, which was equivalent to about 9.1 percent of their total assets at the end of September 2019.

"There is a considered view in the government that bank non-performing assets (NPAs) could double to 18-20 percent by the end of the fiscal year, as 20-25 percent of outstanding loans face a risk of default," the official with direct knowledge of the matter said.

A fresh surge in bad debt could hit credit growth and delay India's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

"These are unprecedented times and the way it's going we can expect banks to report double the amount of NPAs from what we've seen in earlier quarters," the finance head of a top public sector bank told Reuters.

The official and bankers declined to be named as they were not officially authorised to discuss the matter with media

India's finance ministry declined to comment, while the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks' Association, the main industry body, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Bankers fear it is unlikely that the economy will fully open up before June or July, and loans, especially those to small- and medium-sized businesses which constitute nearly 20 percent of overall credit, may be among the worst affected.

The 40-day nationwide lockdown, which ground India's economy to a standstill, has been extended by an additional two weeks, although the government began to ease restrictions in regions that are relatively unscathed by the virus.

India has so far recorded nearly 40,000 cases of the coronavirus and more than 1,300 deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/lockdown-india-manufacturers-biggest-slump-200504050951150.html
 
Hopefully bhakhts won't shoot me but just came across this news.

Important: I am not a Kaangress Supporter. [MENTION=428]Romali_rotti[/MENTION]

Congress will pay: Sonia Gandhi attacks Centre over migrants' train fare

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has launched a scathing attack on the Centre for charging migrant labourers returning home for their train travel in the wake of the novel coronavirus lockdown and said that the Congress will bear the cost of their travel.

"Our workers and labourers form the backbone of our economy. Their hard work and sacrifice are the foundation of our nation," she said.

Sonia Gandhi said, "The Indian National Congress has, therefore, taken a decision that every Pradesh Congress Committee shall bear the cost for the rail travel of every needy worker and migrant labourer and shall take necessary steps in this regard. This will be the Indian National Congress’ humble contribution in service of our compatriots and to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with them."

Attacking the Centre over the crisis of the migrant labourers stranded in different parts of the country, she said, "But what is the responsibility of our Government? Even today, lakhs of workers and migrant labourers are languishing in different parts of the country and wish to return to their homes and families but there is neither adequate money nor provision for free transport. What is particularly disturbing is that the Central Government and the Rail Ministry are charging them for train tickets in this hour of crisis."

"Post the partition of 1947, this is the first time India witnessed a tragedy with such a massive human cost as thousands of migrant workers and labourers were forced to walk home several hundred kilometres on foot- without food, without medicines, without money, without transportation, without anything except for the desire to return to their families and loved ones. The very thought of their plight is enough to break our hearts as there was also the outpouring of support from fellow Indians for their inspiring resolve," Sonia Gandhi said.

Questioning the government on the difficulty faced by the migrant labourers, who were stuck away from their homes since the lockdown was imposed, Sonia Gandhi asked, "When our Government can recognise its responsibility by arranging free air travel for our citizens stranded abroad, when the Government can spend nearly Rs. 100 crores on transport and food etc. for just one public programme in Gujarat, when the Rail Ministry has the largesse to donate Rs. 151 Crores to the PM’s Corona fund, then why can’t these essential members of our nation’s fabric be given a fraction of the same courtesy, especially free rail travel, at this hour of acute distress?"

The Indian Railways had issued a set of guidelines for Shramik Special trains to ferry the migrants stranded across the country.

A provision in the SOP, which drew a good deal of flak, said the "local state government shall handover the tickets for these passengers cleared by them and collect the ticket fare and hand over the total amount to Railways."

In the SOP, the railways said the responsibility for food, security, health scanning, providing tickets to the stranded will be with the state from which the train is originating. It, however, took the burden of providing one meal to passengers whose journey will be of 12 hours or more.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...rers-train-travel-tickets-1674076-2020-05-04s

Least she and her party can do after looting the nation for 70 odd years.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just In: Migrant workers clash with police in Kadodara area of Surat. Police used tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Workers want to go back to their natives. <a href="https://twitter.com/the_hindu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@the_hindu</a> <a href="https://t.co/cvD9iNoxTd">pic.twitter.com/cvD9iNoxTd</a></p>— Mahesh Langa (@LangaMahesh) <a href="https://twitter.com/LangaMahesh/status/1257221283470643201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just in | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Migrantworkers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Migrantworkers</a> clash with police in Kadodara area of Surat. Police used tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Workers want to go back to their natives. <br>- <a href="https://twitter.com/LangaMahesh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LangaMahesh</a> reports<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID%E3%83%BC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVIDー19</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lockdown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#lockdown</a></p>— The Hindu (@the_hindu) <a href="https://twitter.com/the_hindu/status/1257222901201321985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Is this a Muslim dominant area or not? Can we expect to see the media giving it a communal angle or not? "Corona bombs" anyone? Boycott of the community?
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just In: Migrant workers clash with police in Kadodara area of Surat. Police used tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Workers want to go back to their natives. <a href="https://twitter.com/the_hindu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@the_hindu</a> <a href="https://t.co/cvD9iNoxTd">pic.twitter.com/cvD9iNoxTd</a></p>— Mahesh Langa (@LangaMahesh) <a href="https://twitter.com/LangaMahesh/status/1257221283470643201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just in | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Migrantworkers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Migrantworkers</a> clash with police in Kadodara area of Surat. Police used tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Workers want to go back to their natives. <br>- <a href="https://twitter.com/LangaMahesh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LangaMahesh</a> reports<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID%E3%83%BC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVIDー19</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lockdown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#lockdown</a></p>— The Hindu (@the_hindu) <a href="https://twitter.com/the_hindu/status/1257222901201321985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Is this a Muslim dominant area or not? Can we expect to see the media giving it a communal angle or not? "Corona bombs" anyone? Boycott of the community?

Quite cute of you to come in again with your religious angle. I believe there are just not enough threads to spread your vitriol.

Now that you are here, can you confirm that you support the Tablighi event in Pakistan? And the decision of the maulvis there to keep the mosques open, irrespective of the consequences? Or is your hypocrisy limited to India, where we are not allowed to call out Muslim hardliners? And no don’t go running behind the social media nutcases because your whataboutism in the previous post, just proved you are one too, but from a different religion
 
Police clash with migrant workers as India eases coronavirus curbs

AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - Indian police fired tear gas on Monday to scatter migrant workers during clashes in the western state of Gujarat, officials said, as authorities relaxed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The nationwide lockdown, extended twice since it was adopted on March 25, is being eased in some areas, but will run until May 17, the government said last week. The tally of infections stands at more than 42,500, with 1,300 dead.

About 1,000 stranded workers seeking help to return to homes in states across India gathered on the outskirts of the industrial and diamond-processing city of Surat, but threw stones at police who ordered them to break up, an official said.

“The police fired tear gas shells to disperse protesters,” a police official in Kadodara, near the site of the clash, told Reuters, seeking anonymity as he was not authorised to speak with media.

Television showed images of police entering buildings and homes in the area and detaining people.

Surat has suffered incidents of labour unrest since the lockdown began.

The shutdown endangers the economic survival of many of India’s estimated 140 million migrant labourers, though officials say it is key to beating the virus in a nation of 1.3 billion people, where health services are already stretched.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...s-india-eases-coronavirus-curbs-idUSKBN22G148
 
IMG_20200504_155439.JPG
Congress is playing politics once again.
Ticket counter are closed, so ticket can be sold, Railways gave the advanced ticket to state department to give to those person whom they allowed to travel. They subsidesed the rate like 300 instead of 740 including food. As usual South government like AP, TN came top, they didnt play politics and didn't charge the workers. I can see why South India is more devolped.
While the richest state charged the workers and blamed the central government, later their left media like ndtv and wire also blamed the central government, and people wonder why Indian hate left media
 
View attachment 100730
Congress is playing politics once again.
Ticket counter are closed, so ticket can be sold, Railways gave the advanced ticket to state department to give to those person whom they allowed to travel. They subsidesed the rate like 300 instead of 740 including food. As usual South government like AP, TN came top, they didnt play politics and didn't charge the workers. I can see why South India is more devolped.
While the richest state charged the workers and blamed the central government, later their left media like ndtv and wire also blamed the central government, and people wonder why Indian hate left media


MHA says 85% subsidy and only respective only 15% state govts. have to pay


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rahul Gandhi ji,<br>I have attached guidelines of MHA which clearly states that “No tickets to be sold at any station”<br>Railways has subsidised 85% & State govt to pay 15%<br>The State govt can pay for the tickets(Madhya Pradesh’s BJP govt is paying)<br>Ask Cong state govts to follow suit <a href="https://t.co/Hc9pQzy8kQ">https://t.co/Hc9pQzy8kQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/2RIAMyQyjs">pic.twitter.com/2RIAMyQyjs</a></p>— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) <a href="https://twitter.com/sambitswaraj/status/1257156770386055170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
This was dated 2/5/2020. See point no:11(c) according to which most of the states send their migrant labourers back home.

E851E682-537D-460C-AA3D-BC4AEF69A56E.jpg

Railway just changed their dialogue after Sonia Gandhi’s statement.
 
Karnataka has at least 400 to 500 tablighi returnees and not sure how many of them got infected or infected others
In AP we have cases where delivery boys who visited/delivered items (medical or emergency) to some families got covid infected. These families came in contact with delhi returnees
Most of the states in india have cases related from these tablighi returnees or ppl who came in contact with them.

Community spread started from ppl who had returned from delhi or came in contact with ppl (who got infected from returnees) , so we have to careful.

Unless we test thoroughly we can't be confident.


Davangere in Karnataka, where my inlaws are based out had 2 cases till last week .
Some one from Muslim community got infected and now the entire predominantly Muslim area called Badhsa Nagar is infected . They have sent over 280 samples and large majority of them are expected to come positive . This was the city tagged green by central govt and now the district authorities have requested and changed it to orange , thus putting every ones lives on hold for another two week .

Large majority of Muslims have been irresponsible to put it mildly , this is not the same as poor migrants getting desperate to reach their home town .
 
This was dated 2/5/2020. See point no:11(c) according to which most of the states send their migrant labourers back home.

View attachment 100737

Railway just changed their dialogue after Sonia Gandhi’s statement.

Can you just give me the website or link the document you posted because it's small in size and can't read it properly.
 
[MENTION=133135]kaayal[/MENTION] why Kerala is not opening Alcohol shops, they were first to protest against the order of not selling alcohol during lockdown.


I think they fear people gathering in large numbers without social distancing. Apart from tourism, Kerala Government’s main income is from these liquor shop. So don’t think they will close it for any other reason.
 
I think they fear people gathering in large numbers without social distancing. Apart from tourism, Kerala Government’s main income is from these liquor shop. So don’t think they will close it for any other reason.

I think you are right, people in North toady behaved like jaahil on liquor shops, completely ignoring the social distancing norms
 
New Delhi: In a huge row over special trains to take migrants to their home states, the government said today that it had never talked about charging the workers train fare. 85 per cent fare will be borne by railways and the rest by state governments, said a top Health Ministry official.

"We have given the permission to run special trains on states' request. We are dividing the cost in 85-15 per cent (railway: states) as per the norms. We never asked states to charge money from the stranded labourers," Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal told reporters.

He was responding to questions following Congress president Sonia Gandhi's announcement that her party would pay the fare for all migrants and needy workers travelling home by these trains.

Sonia Gandhi said it was "disturbing" that the centre was charging migrants who had been stranded without food, shelter or jobs in their hour of crisis.

"When our Government can recognise its responsibility by arranging free air travel for our citizens stranded abroad, when the government can spend nearly Rs 100 crore on transport and food etc. for just one public programme in Gujarat, when the Rail Ministry has the largesse to donate Rs 151 crore to the PM's corona fund, then why can't these essential members of our nation's fabric be given a fraction of the same courtesy, especially free rail travel, at this hour of acute distress," the Congress chief had said.

Rattled by the comments, the government today asserted that the railways were paying 85 per cent of the fare and it was up to the states to bear the rest of the cost. A government circular on the special trains that started running on Friday, however, was different.

"The local government authorities shall handover the tickets to the passengers cleared by them and collect the ticket fare and handover the total amount to the railways," read the circular accessed by NDTV.

Last week, the central government relented and allowed the transfer of migrants using buses and trains after 36 days of intense criticism and pushback.

Thousands of migrant workers and others, stranded after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown on March 25, had been desperate to go home for weeks.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/cor...5-cost-states-15-2223087?pfrom=home-topscroll
 
We gave them food and water. The least the centre could do is paying their train fare.

 
[MENTION=133135]kaayal[/MENTION] Maharashtra misinterpreted the circular in this case. I have first hand information from TN where my uncle son is Assistant station master and they said they didn't charged any worker, it is his word.
Train from TN ran before Maharashtra one
 
We gave them food and water. The least the centre could do is paying their train fare.


You are right, Railways should bear the cost but government is already bearing the cost of people coming from outside India.So they may have asked state.
But ideally Central government should bear it
 
Delhi shuts some liquor shops due to crowds

_112103019_gettyimages-1211679775-594x594.jpg


Police in India's capital Delhi shut liquor stores in parts of the city, hours after they opened for the first time since 24 March.

India issued new guidelines that came into effect on Monday, permitting some standalone shops and offices to open.

States have been pushing for liquor shops to reopen as excise duty on alcohol is a major source of income.

However, videos of snaking lines and jostling crowds in front of the shops have gone viral.

This is despite strict orders that people buying alcohol would have to stand six feet apart, and that only five people would be allowed inside a shop at any given time.

Delhi was among several states that reopened liquor shops, but similar scenes are being reported from other parts of the country.

In the southern state of Karnataka, queues formed outside alcohol shops from very early morning.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that it was time for restrictions to be relaxed in the city, saying it was time the city "learned to live with the coronavirus".

With the economy slowing dramatically due to India's grinding lockdown, there has been pressure to partially ease restrictions.

But social distancing is proving to be a real challenge.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52529931
 
You are right, Railways should bear the cost but government is already bearing the cost of people coming from outside India.So they may have asked state.
But ideally Central government should bear it

Yes, ideally the centre should pay their fare. State economy is already broken because of the lockdown. Now considering the paltry 157 crore we got as the Covid crisis management fund from the centre, how much can we do? Already we need to support the health system, police etc and also there is community kitchen to feed the poor too.
 
Quite cute of you to come in again with your religious angle. I believe there are just not enough threads to spread your vitriol.

Now that you are here, can you confirm that you support the Tablighi event in Pakistan? And the decision of the maulvis there to keep the mosques open, irrespective of the consequences? Or is your hypocrisy limited to India, where we are not allowed to call out Muslim hardliners? And no don’t go running behind the social media nutcases because your whataboutism in the previous post, just proved you are one too, but from a different religion

I made this post here since I didn't know where else to put it. It was meant to be a thought provoking example as someone said this

Couple of days back a police contingent went to enforce lockdown at a place close to Kolkata. A muslim majority area, they were attacked abd stones pelted on them. Later a huge police battalion had to go and enforce the lockdown. Now if surrounding areas stop communication with that area, you cannot blame the other people.

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...slim-bashing-in-India&p=10742392#post10742392

The post isn't supposed to say oh look here is a group of people breaking the lock down so the other group is justified too none is justified. Cricketjoshila tried to give an example as to why there might be communal hate against Muslims. My post was to serve as an counter-example and show that certain (ignorant) people regardless of their religion are prone to breaking the lock down and may even turn violent against police enforcing it. Giving such breaches a communal angle is misguided and the Indian Media has done it very destructive.

I don't support continuous of Tablighi Jamat event whether in India nor in Pakistan.

I say mosques should be closed in India and Pakistan until the situation has normalized.

Those who violate governments guidelines regarding a lockdown deserve to be criticized and punished.

Clearly, you haven't read any of my posts properly. I am not criticizing that Mosques or religious events have been stopped in India or that no one should criticize the Jammat's leaders.

Nizamuddin markaz's decision to keep the event going after Delhi state had ordered ban on such gatherings was wrong, wrong and wrong. It was a dumb move based on ignorance and underestimating the threat. Everybody should criticize it. After the crisis is over Indian government should properly investigate the matter pushing those responsible for this fiasco.

My main criticism is on the massive media campaign that was launched after this event was exposed and words like Corona Jihad, Corona Bomb and other were used to sensationalize and capitalize on the issue. Among others the Media made it seem like the tablighis broke the rules not because of their stupidity but because they have a hatred for India and wanted to bring it down through their actions.

My criticism is about the fake news that were also spread and trending on social media and through Tablighi Jamat all the Muslims were being made the evil guys. Criticize the hardliner all you want but what Indian Media did was way out of proportions and only served to spread communal hatred. Many BJP members were caught spreading communal hatred by using fake news. International observers have seen a rise in violence and discrimination against a whole community because of this fake news.

However many still deny that media went too far or played a role in polarizing the society. They want to believe that all the communal isolation and discrimination is based on justified reasons.

The situation and polarization of the society must have been dramatic enough that's why even RSS chief spoke against it and told people to stop blaming and isolating a whole community because of a few. It also forced many former Indian bureaucrats to send a letter to the government to caution about it. What they said in there letter that's also my view:

As many as 101 former bureaucrats have written to the Chief Ministers of states expressing anguish over the "harassment" of Muslims in some parts of the country.

They termed as "misguided and condemnable" the action of Tablighi Jamaat in organising a meeting in Delhi, but mentioned the "utterly irresponsible and reprehensible" action of a section of media in fuelling hostility towards the Muslims.
[...]
"The fear and insecurity generated by the pandemic is sought to be channelled into the "othering" of the Muslim community in different places to keep them out of public spaces, purportedly to protect the rest of the population," the former civil servants said in an open letter.

"The action of the Jamaat in organizing such an event, ignoring the Delhi government''s advisories was, without question, misguided and condemnable. However, the action of the media in communalising it and extending it to the Muslim community as a whole is utterly irresponsible and reprehensible," it said.

Such coverage has fuelled hostility towards the Muslim community in parts of the country, the former bureaucrats said, citing different incidents of alleged bias towards Muslim.

"More disturbingly, reports of discrimination are also coming in from various places about Muslims being turned away from hospitals and health facilities," the letter said.

"In addition, there are reports of the special entitlements of rations and cash, that governments have sanctioned at this time, being denied to Muslim families," they former civil servants claimed.

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...slim-bashing-in-India&p=10736835#post10736835

I haven't based by opinion on a whim nor I am stating them to ridicule Indians. When I see these Indian officials speaking up against vilifying a whole community and RSS cheif do the same I realize how bad the situation has become and see a reason to question certain narrative. One being that everything is normal in India and communal tension or hatred hasn't increased.
 
https://theprint.in/india/viral-ima...et-but-bjp-says-its-not-what-it-seems/414029/

Bhopal: Battling the Covid-19 pandemic, the Madhya Pradesh government finds itself in a controversy amid allegations that a migrant-labourer couple and their children were quarantined at a toilet in Guna.

Images of the couple having a meal inside the toilet went viral over the weekend, after the Congress took on the state’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for allegedly mistreating the family.
 
https://theprint.in/india/viral-ima...et-but-bjp-says-its-not-what-it-seems/414029/

Bhopal: Battling the Covid-19 pandemic, the Madhya Pradesh government finds itself in a controversy amid allegations that a migrant-labourer couple and their children were quarantined at a toilet in Guna.

Images of the couple having a meal inside the toilet went viral over the weekend, after the Congress took on the state’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for allegedly mistreating the family.

Disgusting if it's true.
 
MP under Chauhan has been hugely incompetent in handling this Covid crisis.
 
I made this post here since I didn't know where else to put it. It was meant to be a thought provoking example as someone said this



http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...slim-bashing-in-India&p=10742392#post10742392

The post isn't supposed to say oh look here is a group of people breaking the lock down so the other group is justified too none is justified. Cricketjoshila tried to give an example as to why there might be communal hate against Muslims. My post was to serve as an counter-example and show that certain (ignorant) people regardless of their religion are prone to breaking the lock down and may even turn violent against police enforcing it. Giving such breaches a communal angle is misguided and the Indian Media has done it very destructive.

I don't support continuous of Tablighi Jamat event whether in India nor in Pakistan.

I say mosques should be closed in India and Pakistan until the situation has normalized.

Those who violate governments guidelines regarding a lockdown deserve to be criticized and punished.

Clearly, you haven't read any of my posts properly. I am not criticizing that Mosques or religious events have been stopped in India or that no one should criticize the Jammat's leaders.

Nizamuddin markaz's decision to keep the event going after Delhi state had ordered ban on such gatherings was wrong, wrong and wrong. It was a dumb move based on ignorance and underestimating the threat. Everybody should criticize it. After the crisis is over Indian government should properly investigate the matter pushing those responsible for this fiasco.

My main criticism is on the massive media campaign that was launched after this event was exposed and words like Corona Jihad, Corona Bomb and other were used to sensationalize and capitalize on the issue. Among others the Media made it seem like the tablighis broke the rules not because of their stupidity but because they have a hatred for India and wanted to bring it down through their actions.

My criticism is about the fake news that were also spread and trending on social media and through Tablighi Jamat all the Muslims were being made the evil guys. Criticize the hardliner all you want but what Indian Media did was way out of proportions and only served to spread communal hatred. Many BJP members were caught spreading communal hatred by using fake news. International observers have seen a rise in violence and discrimination against a whole community because of this fake news.

However many still deny that media went too far or played a role in polarizing the society. They want to believe that all the communal isolation and discrimination is based on justified reasons.

The situation and polarization of the society must have been dramatic enough that's why even RSS chief spoke against it and told people to stop blaming and isolating a whole community because of a few. It also forced many former Indian bureaucrats to send a letter to the government to caution about it. What they said in there letter that's also my view:



http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...slim-bashing-in-India&p=10736835#post10736835

I haven't based by opinion on a whim nor I am stating them to ridicule Indians. When I see these Indian officials speaking up against vilifying a whole community and RSS cheif do the same I realize how bad the situation has become and see a reason to question certain narrative. One being that everything is normal in India and communal tension or hatred hasn't increased.

I stay away from other threads, as they result in the same old India-Pakistan, Hindu-Muslim diatribes which have been repeated ad-nasueam. I incorrectly assumed, you were in the list of some Pakistani posters here who revel in misery. The Indian media has been shameful in their behavior for vilifying or justifying the behavior of an isolated gathering of idiots, to score brownie points with their masters. Reading the news is painful enough, so I avoid venturing outside of this thread.
 
I stay away from other threads, as they result in the same old India-Pakistan, Hindu-Muslim diatribes which have been repeated ad-nasueam. I incorrectly assumed, you were in the list of some Pakistani posters here who revel in misery. The Indian media has been shameful in their behavior for vilifying or justifying the behavior of an isolated gathering of idiots, to score brownie points with their masters. Reading the news is painful enough, so I avoid venturing outside of this thread.

Looking back at recent posts in this thread and seeing how many posters are having a serious discussion about the developing coronavirus situation in India, I have to admit it was a poor decision by me to make the post here and should have posted it in other thread. Apologies. I will keep this in mind the next time and not derail serious discussions.
 
Last fortnight, a camera operator working in the studio of a news network in the western city of Mumbai joined some of his colleagues to test for the novel coronavirus which was sweeping the city.

Days after, the 35-year-old man tested positive. He had developed no symptoms at all.

"It came as a shock to all of us. He hadn't even stepped outside for work," Prasad Kathe, the editor of Jai Maharashtra, told me.

Since then, 15 people working at the seven-year-old Marathi news network have tested positive for the virus. Most of them are reporters and camerapersons. Three weeks ago, the network stopped deploying journalists for field assignments. Most of them are quarantined at home.

The contagion has effectively shut down the network's 12,000 sq ft two-studio newsroom in an eight-storey building in the busy neighbourhood of Andheri. Only two people - an electrician and a production control room technician - remain there.

A majority of the 120 employees - from the journalists to technicians to company drivers - have been tested. The results are arriving slowly from the overwhelmed labs. The infections could rise further.

"Hit by the virus, running a live news channel became a challenge," Mr Kathe told me. "So we had to redesign our format to keep it running."

For the last three weeks, the direct-to-home network has been broadcasting six 28-minute live bulletins a day instead of the usual 18. The rest of the time is filled with recorded news and current affairs programmes.

And the station is far from the only one to be affected: almost 100 journalists have tested positive for the virus - a considerable amount in a country where just more than 42,000 cases have been officially reported.

Anchors sitting in their boxy homes in the space-starved city have set up cameras and gamely read the news with the network's branding in the background. The broadcasts are relayed to its production centre home using their home broadband and 4G mobile hotspots.

"There are glitches. Sometimes the electricity goes off in the anchor's home in the middle of the bulletin. Sometimes the internet gets disconnected. It's not easy, but we are coping and haven't missed a single bulletin," says Mr Kathe.

India has ordered its people to stay at home, shut businesses and suspended all transport in what is the world's most grinding lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

But many journalists - especially working for networks - have been going out regularly to report and getting infected.

Some 35 are infected in southern Chennai city. A sports photographer in the eastern city of Kolkata has died in what doctors believe was a suspected case of Covid-19. There are reports of 19 employees of the influential Punjab Kesari media group in the city of Ludhiana in Punjab state testing positive. Earlier this month, the group asked its employees to work from home.

But most of the infections have been reported from Mumbai, which has emerged as a raging hotspot - more than 11,000 infections and 340 deaths have been reported in India's financial and entertainment capital so far.

Fifty-three of the 167 journalists tested for the infection in the city so far have turned in positive results. Three dozen of them have returned home; the others are recovering in hospitals. Many more are quarantined at homes and hotels. Some 170 more journalists are waiting to be tested.

Most of the infected are TV reporters and camerapersons and have shown no symptoms. The majority of the infected in India could be asymptomatic or show mild symptoms, reckons the Indian Council of Medical Research.

But why are so many journalists getting infected with the virus?

"There's a bunch of reasons. Initially, there was a lot of editorial pressure on TV journalists at some networks to go out and get visuals of the lockdown. Then there were some over-enthusiastic journalists who possibly didn't take enough precautions. They were going to hotspots and filming and doing interviews," Vinod Jagdale, president of Mumbai's TV Journalist Association, told me.

The journalists were also taking company taxis on assignments and sharing compact work places with colleagues on return to office. The infected include at least three drivers who were driving the journalists around.

Things are so bad now that networks have sent most of their journalists to work from home.

"There's a lot of fear among the journalists. Most of them have stopped going out. Their bosses are now more careful about pushing them to get out and do stories," says Mr Jagdale.

Ronny Roy, a sports photographer based in Kolkata who had shot an assignment for BBC News site six years ago, had no such fears.

His last assignment was to cover a cricket match in Rajkot in western Gujarat state in March. He had taken precaution by wearing a face mask and washing his hands regularly. Weeks after returning home he developed a nagging fever and dry cough and body ache.

On 24 April, he woke up and complained of breathlessness. "I am having problems breathing," he told a fellow photographer on the phone. "Get me an ambulance quickly because I will die if you don't."

The ambulance arrived after three hours. He collapsed within an hour of reaching the hospital and suffered from a heart attack. "They never even got the time to test him," says a family member. Health officials said Roy was a suspected Covid-19 case, and the family was barred from attending his cremation.

There are well laid out guidelines for journalists reporting on Covid-19. Making sure they are followed is important. Barkha Dutt, who has reported more on the pandemic and the fallout of the lockdown than any other journalist in India, says she follows every precaution in her gruelling routine.

Ms Dutt has travelled more than 4,000km (2,485 miles) from her base in Delhi to report from six states in a little more than a month. Her three-member crew and the vehicle driver have remained unchanged during her journeys.

"Precautions have changed as the science has," Ms Dutt told me. "We wear masks and gloves at all times. We ensure our mike is tied to a stick and we interview from a physical distance instead of huddling too close to the interviewee."

After every shoot, the crew dispose off their gloves and masks and wash their hands and equipment with antiseptic lotion and special sponge.

When they entered a Covid-19 hospital in the hotspot city of Indore, they wore protective gear. And they try to make sure that they return to their homes in Delhi so "avoid strange beds in public places."

"It is typical for us to drive eight hours one way, shoot for four to five hours and then drive back another eight hours to Delhi," says Ms Dutt.

With all the precautions, pandemic journalism is in fact an act of courage and very hard work.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52464029
 
Even Swamy is castigating his own government for charging rail fares from poor migrants.
 
And then he quickly retracted after being talked to by Piyush Goyal.

Quite a turnaround....Anything that comes out of this lying dispensation isn't worth anything.
 
Looking back at recent posts in this thread and seeing how many posters are having a serious discussion about the developing coronavirus situation in India, I have to admit it was a poor decision by me to make the post here and should have posted it in other thread. Apologies. I will keep this in mind the next time and not derail serious discussions.
No worries mate. Misunderstanding all around
 
Chaos outside liquor stores as India eases virus lockdown

Police used batons on Monday to beat back thirsty Indians jostling to buy alcohol for the first time in 40 days as the government eased further the world's biggest coronavirus lockdown.

The government credits its harsh shutdown of almost all activity since in late March with keeping the tally of cases to a relatively modest 42,500 with around 1,400 deaths.

But it has also caused misery for millions of workers in India's vast informal sector left suddenly jobless and dealt a major blow to Asia's third-biggest economy.

Adding to some relaxations for industry and agriculture last month, on Monday offices could operate with one-third capacity as well as some cars and motorbikes and certain shops.

Officials had painstakingly drawn chalk circles for buyers of booze to stand in but the social distancing efforts were thwarted as people gathered from early morning.

"We have been in solitude for over a month," Asit Banerjee, 55, told AFP as he queued in Kolkata, where -- as in Delhi and elsewhere -- police used "lathi" batons to control the crowds.

"Alcohol will energise us to maintain social distancing during the pandemic," he said.

Elsewhere such as in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh state police closed down the shops soon after they opened as long queues of men in face masks snaked around the block.

"One of the shops had opened in the morning but clashes broke out as a lot of crowd had gathered," a police officer in Ghaziabad told AFP.

But hundreds continue to loiter in neighbouring streets and bylanes in the hope they would be reopened.

"It's not like I have anything to do at home," Deepak Kumar, 30, told AFP as he waited patiently across the street from one outlet in the national capital New Delhi.

One lucky customer who managed to buy some wine, 25-year-old Sagar, said he went to a store in Delhi at 7.30 am and was delighted to discover it had opened early.

"There were about 20 to 25 people in the morning and the shop was open for about two hours," he told AFP.

"People in rows of five were being allowed in. Now they've shut it."

In some other states, including Maharashtra, certain liquor stores remained shut amid confusion over which outlets were permitted to open. In others such as in Assam they opened several days earlier.

Although illegal in some states like teetotaller Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gujarat, alcohol consumption has risen strongly in recent years as the country's middle class has grown.

This is particularly true of spirits, with the country of 1.3 billion people reportedly guzzling almost half the world's whisky, although much of it in reality is rum according to purists.

https://www.france24.com/en/20200504-chaos-outside-liquor-stores-as-india-eases-virus-lockdown
 
90% of the posts in this thread from Indians are to blame their own brethren - the Muslims. I shudder to think what their attitude is with their neighbors and colleagues who might happen to be Muslims. What a shameful thing to blame a disease on a religion. What a pathetic nation India has become.
 
Chaos outside liquor stores as India eases virus lockdown

Police used batons on Monday to beat back thirsty Indians jostling to buy alcohol for the first time in 40 days as the government eased further the world's biggest coronavirus lockdown.

The government credits its harsh shutdown of almost all activity since in late March with keeping the tally of cases to a relatively modest 42,500 with around 1,400 deaths.

But it has also caused misery for millions of workers in India's vast informal sector left suddenly jobless and dealt a major blow to Asia's third-biggest economy.

Adding to some relaxations for industry and agriculture last month, on Monday offices could operate with one-third capacity as well as some cars and motorbikes and certain shops.

Officials had painstakingly drawn chalk circles for buyers of booze to stand in but the social distancing efforts were thwarted as people gathered from early morning.

"We have been in solitude for over a month," Asit Banerjee, 55, told AFP as he queued in Kolkata, where -- as in Delhi and elsewhere -- police used "lathi" batons to control the crowds.

"Alcohol will energise us to maintain social distancing during the pandemic," he said.

Elsewhere such as in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh state police closed down the shops soon after they opened as long queues of men in face masks snaked around the block.

"One of the shops had opened in the morning but clashes broke out as a lot of crowd had gathered," a police officer in Ghaziabad told AFP.

But hundreds continue to loiter in neighbouring streets and bylanes in the hope they would be reopened.

"It's not like I have anything to do at home," Deepak Kumar, 30, told AFP as he waited patiently across the street from one outlet in the national capital New Delhi.

One lucky customer who managed to buy some wine, 25-year-old Sagar, said he went to a store in Delhi at 7.30 am and was delighted to discover it had opened early.

"There were about 20 to 25 people in the morning and the shop was open for about two hours," he told AFP.

"People in rows of five were being allowed in. Now they've shut it."

In some other states, including Maharashtra, certain liquor stores remained shut amid confusion over which outlets were permitted to open. In others such as in Assam they opened several days earlier.

Although illegal in some states like teetotaller Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gujarat, alcohol consumption has risen strongly in recent years as the country's middle class has grown.

This is particularly true of spirits, with the country of 1.3 billion people reportedly guzzling almost half the world's whisky, although much of it in reality is rum according to purists.

https://www.france24.com/en/20200504-chaos-outside-liquor-stores-as-india-eases-virus-lockdown
Pathetic from us Delhites. At some places, there were 3 KM long queues outside liquor joints.
 
The koyambedu market, my God, a place fast food and restaurant owners have been buying in Chennai for ever, tragedy!

I remember my dad in 90s and early 2000s used to go at 3-4 am to this market to buy fresh produce.
 
India reports biggest daily spike yet

With 3,900 fresh infections in the last 24 hours, India has seen its sharpest rise in daily cases yet, according to the health ministry.

The latest spike means the country now has confirmed 46,433 cases of Covid-19. This includes the more than 12,000 patients who have recovered or been discharged and the 1,568 who have died.

The uptick in numbers could be because of increased testing - more than 80,000 people across the country were tested on Monday, and health officials hope to start testing around 100,000 samples every day soon.

The new numbers come just as the country woke up to new relaxations in the lockdown on Monday, including the opening of standalone shops and allowing private offices to open with 33% of staff.
 
We gave them food and water. The least the centre could do is paying their train fare.


Centre is paying 85 Percent of the fare, states 15 percent.

Only three states took money from migrants, Kerala, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
 
India to launch massive evacuation mission

Tens of thousands of Indians stranded abroad because of the coronavirus crisis will be repatriated starting on Thursday.

A total of 190,000 Indians will be repatriated in the coming weeks from several countries, including those in the Middle East, where huge numbers of Indian blue-collar workers live, civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri said.

In the first week, 14,800 Indians will be brought back from 12 countries such as the United States, Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.

Three ships of the Indian Navy will bring back 1,000 Indian nationals from West Asia and the Maldives, broadcaster NDTV reported.
 
India to launch massive evacuation mission

Tens of thousands of Indians stranded abroad because of the coronavirus crisis will be repatriated starting on Thursday.

A total of 190,000 Indians will be repatriated in the coming weeks from several countries, including those in the Middle East, where huge numbers of Indian blue-collar workers live, civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri said.

In the first week, 14,800 Indians will be brought back from 12 countries such as the United States, Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.

Three ships of the Indian Navy will bring back 1,000 Indian nationals from West Asia and the Maldives, broadcaster NDTV reported.

I hope once they come to India they will be properly quarantined for 2-3 weeks. If not then God help this country
 
We have scaled up from 50K to 80K tests a day. The infection rate amongst tested candidates is around the same.

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and WB infection rate is still a problem, and death rate in Gujarat, MP and WB is bad.
MP is now churning out little less case with decrease rate but their death rate is huge
 
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and WB infection rate is still a problem, and death rate in Gujarat, MP and WB is bad.
MP is now churning out little less case with decrease rate but their death rate is huge

Maharashtra has been utter disgraceful. This is a state which contributes 20%+ of national gdp and has access to some excellent private healthcare, but the government has failed big time. SS started off well but their failure to contact trace and effectively close off areas has resulted in the densely packed slums being infected. If they don’t get their act together before the approaching monsoons it will be catastrophic. We are testing only 8k per day :facepalm:
 
Maharashtra has been utter disgraceful. This is a state which contributes 20%+ of national gdp and has access to some excellent private healthcare, but the government has failed big time. SS started off well but their failure to contact trace and effectively close off areas has resulted in the densely packed slums being infected. If they don’t get their act together before the approaching monsoons it will be catastrophic. We are testing only 8k per day :facepalm:

Maharashtra and Gujarat both need to test around 15k everyday, while MP, UP and Delhi 10k
 
At the weekend, India extended the nationwide coronavirus lockdown by another fortnight, but said that domestic helpers can now return to work. The decision has had millions of middle-class homes debating a key question - to let the workers in or not?

A friend once said that if she had to choose between her husband and her maid, she would pick the latter.

The comment was made as a joke, but it's an example of how much Indians depend on their domestic helpers.

According to official estimates, more than four million people are employed as domestic helpers, while unofficial ones put that number at a whopping 50 million.

But with the lockdown extended twice already, and the idea sinking in that this is going to be a long haul, middle-class India has begun to miss the maids.
 
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