The Vinoba Bhave Nagar police arrested a 34-year-old man for allegedly stealing batteries placed inside ATM centers as a power back up. The accused identified as Tawab Ali Jaffer Ali Shaikh, who was once an owner of a petrol pump was caught in a vicious circle of drugs settled on stealing batteries to finance his addiction. When produced in court today, he was remanded to judicial custody.

The VB Nagar police received a piece of information that a man in his 30s will be stealing batteries placed as a power back up for ATMs. Acting on the tip-off, the police team activated their informer network to find out about an unidentified man showing CCTV footage while stealing in Ghatkopar, Vakola, and Kurla.

Senior Inspector Rajesh Pawar formed a team under the leadership of Assistant Police Inspector Bapu Salunkhe. "An informer told us that the person in CCTV is Tawab Ali Jaffer Ali Shaikh, a resident of Kurla (W). We tracked him down and arrested him on Sunday," said an officer from VB Nagar Police station.

After interrogating Tawab, the police officials found the shocking story of his downfall. "Whatever information we have been able to gather from him and his elder brother, Tawab belongs to an affluent family that had ownership of a petrol pump at Reay Road. The family was well off making a handsome income," told an officer. "Tawab studied till 12th standard and then got married. He has two kids," the officer added.

"Four years back Tawab got addicted to drugs. Initially, he was taking synthetic ones but as his finances dried down he started taking Mephedrone (MD)," said another officer. "But, for a few months, as he couldn't afford MD too, he started with taking buttons (sleeping tablets). For this, he was stealing batteries," added the officer.

"In such an attempt, he was caught in the CCTV camera in which he was seen stealing batteries and keeping them inside his SUV. He was arrested on Sunday and while searching we have found a German-made revolver, a screwdriver, and knife," said Rajesh Pawar, Senior Inspector VB Nagar Police station.

Tawab was booked under Arms Act and was produced in Kurla Court on Monday where he was sent in judicial custody. The police are now in process to book him for theft of batteries and will seek his custody again for further investigation.

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Industrial units in rural areas will be allowed to function from April 20 provided they follow social distancing norms while all kinds of public transport will be barred and public places closed till May 3, according to guidelines issued on Wednesday to enforce the second phase of the lockdown.

Wearing masks/face covers in public places is now compulsory across the country. Besides, strict ban enforced on the sale of liquor, gutka, tobacco etc under the new Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines that come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3.

The PM also said necessary activities will be allowed from April 20 in identified areas of the country. Laying out the dos and don'ts for phase two of the pan India lockdown, the guidelines state that all work places should make adequate arrangements for temperature screening and must provide sanitisers at convenient places.

Services provided by self-employed electricians, IT repair personnel, plumbers, motor mechanics and carpenters will be allowed from April 20. Inter-state, inter-district movement of people, Metro, bus services will be prohibited till May 3. Manufacturing, industrial units with access control in SEZs, export oriented units, industrial estates, industrial townships will also be allowed to function from that date. Educational institutions, coaching centres, domestic, international air travel, train services will remain suspended, the ministry said. Public places such as cinema halls, malls, shopping complexes, gyms, sports complexes, swimming pools and bars will be shut too till May 3.

Leave without pay for Vistara employees

Vistara chief Leslie Thng on Wednesday announced that senior employees will be going on compulsory leave without pay for up to three days between April 15 and 30 as a measure to further conserve the airline's cash flow amid lockdown to combat the COVID-19 threat. On March 27, the airline had also introduced compulsory leave without pay for up to three days between April 1 and April 14 for the same set of senior employees.

'Monsoon will be normal this year'

Southwest monsoon will be normal this year, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday in its forecast for the four-month rainfall season in the country. In an online briefing, IMD Director General, M Mohapatra said the Long Period Average (LPA) of monsoon will be 100 per cent which falls in the "normal" category. "Monsoon will be normal this year," he said.

Gujarat CM Rupani goes into isolation

Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani has decided to run the state administration without meeting anyone for the next one week after a Congress MLA whom he met tested positive for Coronavirus. Rupani's health is fine and he will run the state administration through technological facilities like video-conference, video-calling and tele-calling, Chief Minister's Office (CMO) secretary, Ashwani Kumar said on Wednesday. "No visitor will be allowed at the chief minister's residence for the next one week," Kumar said.

Doctors attacked in Moradabad

Stones were pelted at an ambulance carrying a team of medical personnel and police, which had gone to escort family members of a person who died of COVID-19 in UP's Moradabad, to a quarantine facility. "When our team boarded the ambulance a crowd started pelting stones. Some doctors are still there. We are injured," said the ambulance driver.

'Farmers will be paid in 3 days'

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Chaudhary said the farmers will be paid within three days of their crops purchased by the government. He has also asked the states to make arrangements for procurement. The government procurement of wheat in many states, including MP and Punjab, has started from Wednesday. Haryana has announced to start purchasing mustard first and then wheat from April 20.

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To ensure that the labourers and migrant workers can earn a livelihood once the lockdown is over, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation has started an initiative to introduce skill-based training among beggars and the homeless in the city. Tukaram Mundhe, Nagpur Municipal Cooperation Commissioner said, "After the lockdown was announced, we shifted the homeless and beggars to shelter homes and providing them with food, accommodation and other facilities."

With about 19 shelter homes around the cities accommodating close to 1,500-2,000 people, the commissioner said they are being provided with some skill development activities apart from having basic amenities. "We have also introduced skill development programmes for them. In the long run, we intend to take up the eradication of beggary program in Nagpur by providing them skills so that they can get employed," Mundhe said.

Glimpses of homeless beggars in Nagpur after a makeover by NMC:

NMC's shelter home took many #Homeless people under its care during the #lockdown

Some with special abilities were also given a complete makeover for health and sanitation purposes. #Covid_19india #homelessness pic.twitter.com/w11dVpnNBa

— Tukaram Mundhe (@Tukaram_IndIAS) April 12, 2020

"We are also giving them a makeover as we are providing them skill-based training so that they can earn their livelihood once the lockdown ends," said Manish Soni, Public Relations Officer, NMC.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2,916 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state, out of which 295 patients have recovered and 187 patients have succumbed to the virus.

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Six Indian companies are working on a vaccine for COVID-19, joining global efforts to find a quick preventive for the deadly infection spreading rapidly across the world, says a top Indian scientist. Nearly 70 'vaccine candidates' are being tested and at least three have moved to the human clinical trial stage, but a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is unlikely to be ready for mass use before 2021. As COVID-19 infects more than 1.9 million in the world and claims 1,26,000 lives, Indian scientists are also part of the global fight against the disease.

"While Zydus Cadila is working on two vaccines, Serum Institute, Biological E, Bharat Biotech, Indian Immunologicals, and Mynvax are developing one vaccine each," Gagandeep Kang, executive director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, told PTI. Kang is also vice chair of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which noted in a recent study that the "global vaccine R&D effort in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in terms of scale and speed".

But it is a complicated process with many stages of testing and many challenges, explained experts. A vaccine for the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, may not take 10 years that other vaccines do but it could be at least a year before it is proven safe, effective, and made widely available, they said. "Vaccine development is a lengthy process which often takes years, with many challenges," said E. Sreekumar, chief scientific officer at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Kerala.

"Generally, vaccines take several months to pass the different stages of testing, and then approvals also take time. For COVID-19, we don't expect a vaccine to come in this year," agreed Rakesh Mishra, director of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad. Vaccine testing typically begins with animal and lab testing before going on to different stages of human testing.

"The human testing phase is composed of many phases," Sreekumar told PTI. "Phase one trials are small-scale, usually involving few participants, to assess whether the vaccine is safe for humans. Phase two trials often involve several hundred subjects, and mainly evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine against the disease," he said.
The final phase involves thousands of people to further assess the efficacy of the vaccine over a defined period of time, and can last several months, Sreekumar said.
"That is why we don't see a vaccine coming in at least a year from now."

Even after the vaccine is ready, he explained, there are a lot of challenges, including whether the vaccine is effective in all populations, and if it can be used for different strains of the novel coronavirus, which might start mutating as time passes. "There are lots of vaccines which are being tested for COVID-19, some of which are in the stage 1 clinical trial," Mishra added.

"But we still don't know how fast they will proceed towards a vaccine and they can take several months to reach any point," he said. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), three vaccine candidates are in the clinical testing phase, meaning they are able to be tested on humans, while nearly 70 are in the preclinical phase -- either in lab testing, or animal studies. Though Kang named six companies, the WHO has listed only Zydus Cadila and Serum Institute from India as among the global firms working on a COVID-19 vaccine.

As of April 8, 2020, said CEPI, the global COVID-19 vaccine R&D landscape includes 115 vaccine candidates, of which 78 are confirmed as active and 37 are unconfirmed.
Of the 78 confirmed active projects, 73 are currently at exploratory or preclinical stages, noted the CEPI team in an analysis published in the journal Nature reviews drug Discovery last week.

The most advanced candidates have recently moved into clinical development, including mRNA-1273 from US-based biotechnology company Moderna, Ad5-nCoV from Chinese biopharma company CanSino Biologicals, and INO-4800 from American pharmaceuticals company Inovio. Others in this list include LV-SMENP-DC and pathogen-specific aAPC from Shenzhen Geno-Immune Medical Institute in China.

Numerous other vaccine developers have indicated plans to initiate human testing in 2020, the CEPI scientists said. Experts believe the genome sequencing of the new coronavirus provided by scientists in China shows it shares 79 per cent of the same genetic material as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and 50 per cent of the same material as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), a species of coronavirus which infects humans, bats, and camels.

This allows developers to use groundwork already created in research for vaccines for those viruses. Australia's national science agency CSIRO announced earlier this month that it has begun preclinical tests of a vaccine developed by Oxford University in the UK. A striking feature of the vaccine development landscape for COVID-19 is the range of technology platforms being evaluated, including nucleic acid (DNA and RNA), virus-like particle, live weakened virus, and inactivated virus approaches.

The CEPI noted that many of these platforms are not currently the basis for licensed vaccines, but experience in fields such as oncology is encouraging developers to exploit the opportunities that next-generation approaches offer for increased speed of development and manufacture.

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People living in around 72 houses have been asked to stay in quarantine after a pizza delivery boy, who had delivered food in Malviya Nagar area, tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, according to District Magistrate, South Delhi. Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said that 17 other delivery boys linked with the infected man have also been placed under institutional quarantine. "A pizza delivery boy has been detected with COVID-19 here. 17 other delivery boys linked with him have been placed under institutional quarantine and 72 people have been placed under home quarantine," Jain told ANI.

Food delivery app Zomato said that the staff of infected person's restaurant has delivered some orders which were placed on its platform.

"We've been made aware today that a restaurant's employee, who has been recently tested positive for COVID-19, had delivered food in the past to a few customers in the Malviya Nagar area in Delhi. All these customers have already been contacted by the govt authorities... We are not sure whether the rider was infected at the time of delivery," the company said in a statement.

Zomato also claimed that colleagues of the delivery boy have tested negative for COVID-19.

"This restaurant had instructed their riders to wear masks and follow strict hygiene to keep customers safe from any unintended mishap. All co-workers of the said rider have been tested negative. And as a precaution, the restaurant where this rider worked has suspended operations," read the statement.

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A 50-year-old coronavirus patient succumbed to the infection in state-run Sassoon Hospital here in Maharashtra on Friday morning, taking the toll in Pune district to 48, an official said. The man suffered from pre-existing illnesses and was under treatment for the last two days, he said. With this, the death count in Pune district, the second worst affected by coronavirus after Mumbai, has gone up to 48, according to health authorities.

As many as 39 of these COVID-19 patients have died in the state-run hospital, whose dean, Dr Ajay Chandanwale, was transferred on Thursday evening by the government. "The man with co-morbid conditions such as diabetes and hypertension was admitted to the hospital on April 15 and died on Friday during treatment," said an official from the medical facility.

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Amid lockdown, a woman from neighbouring Navi Mumbai found herself completly helpless when two hospitals refused to admit her husband, a lawyer, who had suffered a heart attack. After running from one hospital to another in an ambulance, when Jaideep Jaywant (56) was finally admitted to a medical facility, it was too late, his distraught wife Deepali, who is also a lawyer, told PTI. She said in the initial days of lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, it was her husband who had taken an initiative to supply essential items to harried neighbours, but he died without getting timely help.

The victim, resident of Sector 17 in Vashi area of Navi Mumbai, had a massive heart attack on April 14. He collapsed after having lunch. "I could feel his pulse. There was still life in him. I immediately called an ambulance and rushed him to a nearby hospital," his wife said. "But, the security guard at the hospital did not even open the gates. They said they admitted only COVID-19 patients and no (other) emergency," she said.

They then went to a municipal hospital in Sector 10 but were not allowed inside. They subsequently proceeded to D Y Patil Hospital in Nerul. "By the time we reached there, 30 minutes were wasted and he was declared dead," the grief-stricken wife said. "Can't there be any medical emergencies other than COVID-19 during the lockdown? Is it right for hospitals to turn away patients needing emergency medical aid?" she asked.

The woman said she can't seek action against the hospital in her neighbourhood since she has no evidence against it. "General practitioners are all closed. Where do
ordinary people go?" she asked.

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Some financial activities will start in Maharashtra from Monday onwards, said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday. "Tomorrow onwards we are starting some financial activities. If we don't run our economy now, we will be in a financial crisis after we come out of the corona crisis. We are starting some business activities in a limited way. Fortunately, several of our districts have zero positive cases," said the Chief Minister during a press conference.

We're in talks with the centre. I'm confident that a solution will come out in the coming days. Don't worry. We're gradually starting work in Maharashtra. If it's possible you can come back to work,you'll continue with your livelihood: Maharashtra CM to migrant labourers in state pic.twitter.com/IMElkKXnQm

— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2020

Appealing to migrant labourers in the state, the Chief Minister said: "We are in talks with the Centre. I am confident that a solution will come out in the coming days. Don't worry. We are gradually starting work in Maharashtra. If it is possible you can come back to work, you will continue with your livelihood."

"I give you my word that Maharashtra government will take you to your homes the day this crisis ends. I believe that when you go back to your homes, you should go back happily and not out of fear," the Chief Minister assured the migrant labourers.

He informed that over 66,000 tests have been conducted in the state so far. "95 per cent of these are negative. Around 3600 are positive, 300-350 of these have recovered and have been discharged. 75 per cent are either mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic. 52 patients are serious. We are looking at saving their lives," said Thackeray.

The total number of positive coronavirus cases across the country is 15,712, including 12,974 active cases. So far, 2,230 patients have either been cured or discharged while 507 deaths have been recorded in the country, as per data provided by the Union Ministry of Health.

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The COVID-19 situation is "especially serious" in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and violation of lockdown measures risk the spread of the Novel Coronavirus, the Centre said on Monday.

In a communication to state governments, the home ministry said there have been several incidents of violence against COVID-19 frontline healthcare professionals, complete violation of social distancing norms and movement of vehicles in urban areas. These should be stopped, it said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 543 and the number of cases climbed to 17,265 in the country on Monday, according to the Union health ministry. The situation is "especially serious" in Indore in MP, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Jaipur in Rajasthan, and Kolkata, Howrah, East Medinipur, North 24 Parganas, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, the ministry said. There are 4,203 confirmed Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra of which 223 people lost their lives.

In MP, out of the 1,407 cases, 70 people have succumbed to the disease. Rajasthan has reported 1,478 cases of which 14 people died. In West Bengal, there are 339 confirmed cases of which 12 people died due to the infection, according to health ministry data.

UP CM to not attend father's funeral

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath's father Anand Bisht died on Monday and will be cremated in Haridwar at a funeral which will not be attended by the CM, who said he is duty-bound to stay in his state. Bisht, 89, was admitted to the gastroenterology dept of the AIIMS after his health deteriorated.

'Flight restrictions to continue'

Restrictions on domestic and international flights will be lifted when the government is confident that spread of Coronavirus has been controlled, and poses no danger to Indians, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday, amidst reports of some airlines doing open bookings.

Pizza delivery boy's contacts test negative

After a pizza delivery boy in South Delhi district tested positive for COVID-19, his 16 high-risk contacts have tested negative for the virus, the administration said. According to B M Mishra, district magistrate (south), no person in the 72 houses, where the boy delivered food, has developed symptoms.

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In a tragic case of migrant labour crisis, a 12-year-old girl, working at a chilli farm in Telangana, collapsed and died on Saturday while trying to make her way back home in Bijapur district in Chhatisgarh, amid the Coronavirus lockdown. According to the officials, the deceased, Jamalo Madkam, who left home in Bijapur’s Aded village just two months ago, was barely 11 km away from reaching there when she collapsed, Indian Express reported.

Officials also said that Madkam is suspected to have died of electrolyte imbalance as she was walking for three days with 13 others working in Telangana to her village, covering the distance of 100 km. The girl has also tested for Coronavirus that came negative. The results of the test came a day after she died.

Other than Madkam, the group included three children and eight women. Madkam’s father Andoram said that he had heard she left with a group from Peruru village in Telangana on April 16. “They decided to come back after realising that the lockdown had got extended and they would not get any work,” he said.

They'd gone to Telangana to work in chilli fields. Since there's no mode of transportation they walked from Telangana. Her body was preserved&samples were sent for testing as a precautionary measure. It came negative so further action is being taken after postmortem: CMHO Bijapur https://t.co/UR23YXW71L

— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2020

The girl was the only daughter of Andoram (32) and his wife Sukamati (30), who were barely surviving on forest produce until she went to Telangana for the first time to work on a chilli farm. He said that she had gone to work with some women from the village.

Medical Officer of Bijapur district Dr B R Pujari was quoted by the newspaper as saying that the group had walked through forests and in one place, the girl had a fall. The newspaper quoted sources saying that the girl had died at 8 am on Saturday when the group had reached the border of Bijapur district. They could not inform her family earlier as only among them carried a phone whose battery died.

When the group reached Bhandarpal village, they managed to inform the girl’s family by requesting a resident of the village to help them make a call to her parents. They also informed the police about the girl’s death to the police.

Pujari said that the medical team rushed to the spot as soon as they got the news. “Since Telangana had cases, we immediately sent our teams, but we couldn’t find them,” he said.  Then the team found the group who handed over Madkam’s body to them. The group was then sent to a quarantine facility whereas the girl’s body was sent to a morgue. Andoram and Sukamati collected the girl’s body on Sunday evening.

Chhatisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel announced Rs 1 lakh compensation for the girl’s family on Monday.

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The family members of at least 25 houses in the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises have been asked to isolate themselves after a staffer's relative tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that has claimed over 550 lives in India so far. Official sources confirmed the news to IANS on late Monday night.

"A relative of a resident of Rashtrapati Bhavan Estate Quarters died a few days ago. The person who has tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday had attended the funeral," a source in the know of things said.

The individual has been sent to the quarantine centre in the nearby Birla Mandir complex.

The people in the house where the corona-positive person was found, along with the families living in around 25 houses have also been asked to isolate themselves as a precautionary measure. All of them have been instructed to follow social distancing norms strictly, sources said.

According to sources, the staffer's relative who has been found corona positive has no direct connection with Rashtrapati Bhavan. The individual's relative is serving there.

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Among the 87 laboratories, which are set up in 15 states, Maharashtra has the highest number of COVID-19 testing labs at 20. It is to mention that Maharashtra is the worst-hit state in the country in terms of the number of people infected from coronavirus.

Moreover, 12 laboratories are in Telangana, 11 in Delhi, 10 in Tamil Nadu, 7 in Haryana, 6 in West Bengal, 5 in Karnataka 4 in Gujarat, and 2 each in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and 1 each in Uttarakhand and Odisha.

The ICMR further said that a total of 4,62,621 samples from 4,47,812 individuals have been tested for COVID 19 as on April 21 at 9 pm. "Also, 26,943 samples have been reported on 21 April till 9 pm," it added.

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Two families from Agartala in Trupura who had visited Chennai for medical treatmnet got stranded due to the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government to curb the rising number of coronavirus cases in India. But what followed was quite extraordinary as the families had to pay a whopping Rs 1.4 lakh to hire an ambulance to take them back to Tripura.

One family resides in South Tripura district's Udaipur area while the other stays at Mohanpur area of West Tripura district. Interestingly, the two families shelled out the huge sum and travelled over 3,700 kilometres for five days to reach Tripura from Chennai.

While speaking to Times of India, Chanchal Majumder, who stays in Udaipur said, "Both families had travelled to Chennai on March 20 for treatment and had planned to return in a week," He said that they were stuck in a hotel in the Southern Metropolis of Chennai after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 crisis.

Recalling the experience in Chennai, Majumder said, "Life became terrible as we were confined to one room and were suffering from shortage of amenities." He further said that till April 14 (the last day of 21-day lockdown) they could manage somehow but things started to get tougher since then and more so, he had to return home as his daughter's wedding is fixed to talke place on May 8.

Talking about how he managed to get transport amid the lockdown crisis, Majumder said that on April 15, they finally managed to hire an ambulance to get back home. On their way back home, the ambulance in which the two families were travelling was stopped at over hundred checkpoints but Majumder said that the police were kind enough to let them pass through after listening to their story.

"Food and water was not a problem. In many places, NGOs and and police officers offered us meals and water," Majumder stated. Upon reaching Tripura, both the families were sent in isolation for 14-days at a quarantine facility.

Tripura health officials said, "All five are doing good and none of them have shown any COVID-19 symptoms so far. However, just to be extra cautious, we have sent their samples for testing."

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A four-month-old baby girl, who had tested positive for COVID-19 and suffering from congenital heart disease, died in a hospital here on Friday morning after suffering a cardiac arrest, officials said.

The baby was admitted to the Medical College Hospital here on Apr 21 with history of fever, cough, breathing difficulties and seizure and the end came at 6 am, a medical bulletin said.

She hailed from Payyanad at Manjeri in Malappuram District.

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It is a known fact that the year 2020 has been terrible so far due to the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown imposed in countries across the world. With life coming to a standstill and people waiting for things to get better, food delivery application Zomato, being themselves, asked their followers, what if 2020 was a dish.

Zomato’s tweet read, “If 2020 was a dish, what would it be?” To describe how their year has been so far, tweeple posted hilarious reactions. Some described their year with their least favourite dish, while some did so with some of the weird dishes they came across.

If 2020 was a dish, what would it be?

— Zomato (@ZomatoIN) April 24, 2020

The food delivery giant’s tweet that was posted on Friday garnered more than 3,200 likes and was retweeted 144 times. Among the comments received on the posts,  former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah described his year as ‘offal’.

Here are some more responses:

Offal

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) April 24, 2020

kadhi-chawal

— amrita madhukalya (@visually_kei) April 24, 2020

Corona Burger pic.twitter.com/eXVkUiMYfH

— Dr. Vedika (@vishkanyaaaa) April 24, 2020

Suryavansham wali kheer

— karanbir singh (@karanbirtinna) April 24, 2020

Jala hua tinda

— à¤Â…à¤Â‚à¤Â•ित à¤Âœà¥Âˆन (@indiantweeter) April 24, 2020

How was your year so far?

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As the deadly coronavirus infection spreads fast in India and elsewhere, even faster is the spread of fake news regarding the pandemic and experts warn this 'infodemic' can have huge economic costs for companies across the world in addition to health concerns for the public at large. While authorities have announced severe penal actions for those spreading fake news regarding this pandemic, which has already caused nearly 2 lakh deaths globally with more than 28 lakh infections since its outbreak in China last December, widespread misinformation surrounding the disease has seen people drinking disinfectants and industrial alcohol while trying various rumoured treatments.

False claims and fake news, mostly forwarded through social media platforms, have also led to several cases of religion-based attacks, hate speeches and other discriminatory activities, while cyber frauds are also on the rise with scamsters seeking to take advantage of the crisis situation. In addition to the damages caused to public health and societal behaviour, experts warn the undeterred wave of fake news poses a huge risk to corporates, for whom it becomes difficult at times to filter out the right information that is crucial for them to ensure success of their business continuity, especially when almost the entire world is locked down.

Farah Lalani, who is a community creator for media, entertainment and information industries at the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), said businesses need to be proactive about calling out misinformation that is spreading about their brand, directing customers to official channels and making sure there is always clear and up to date information on all their social accounts. "While bad actors, fraudsters, and uninformed users can spread fabricated or misleading information, if businesses collaborate closely with the entire media ecosystem and regulatory bodies, they can start to work together to solve this very challenging problem," she told PTI.

In India, some organisations including industry bodies and advocacy groups have begun compiling official and credible information about the COVID-19 fight and the ongoing lockdown to help companies in their preparedness for tackling the crisis. Leading advocacy group Chase India, which was among the first to start this practice right from the initial days of the COVID-19 crisis emerging as a major threat in the country, has been sending across multiple daily updates to its clients, including on the latest actions taken by the central and state governments and also on initiatives being taken by various corporates.

Experts said the correct information is necessary for companies to help them understand, analyse and then implement various new guidelines being issued by the central and state governments. "In today's circumstances, besides the current public health crisis of COVID-19 and socio-economic impact related to climate change, one of the biggest concerns is legitimate and timely sourcing of information," Chase India's co-founder and Executive Vice President Manash K Neog said.

"As a public policy consultancy, our key challenge during the pre-lockdown phase was to mitigate frenzy around rumours of lockdown for our clients as it was creating panic for the operational teams of clients. "Further to that, we have institutionalised mechanisms such as our hourly and daily COVID-19 advisory trackers for the central and state governments to support clients with timely and authentic information basis which they are able to better plan their business continuity strategies," he added.

According to experts, companies are working hard to ensure timely access to right information as costs could be too high for them if they fall for some misinformation and in such a situation the role of media is also very important. Releasing a new survey recently, which found that just about one-fourth of the consumers in India currently pay for news but nearly two-thirds are willing to pay, the WEF said the current coronavirus challenge further emphasises the indispensable role that the media plays in society today.

With social media becoming the main platform for spread of false claims, giants like Facebook and Twitter have also begun deleting such posts and taking other actions. Some of the posts deleted on such grounds include those of public figures as well, the most famous being posts shared by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in which he had claimed anti-malaria prescription drug hydroxychloroquine was an effective treatment for COVID-19.

Twitter had also deleted a post by Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in which he had apparently endorsed a "brew" for eliminating infectious genes. Various social media platforms have also imposed several restrictions on advertisements claiming various cures for COVID-19, while hate content regarding the pandemic is also being dealt with sternly. However, all these steps have not been able to totally eradicate the fake news flow, which the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described as 'infodemic' in the context of the novel coronavirus.

"We are not just fighting an epidemic, we are fighting an infodemic," he said, referring to fake news as something that "spreads faster and more easily than this virus". United Nations' chief Antonio Guterres too said last month that an "infodemic of misinformation" was also an enemy that we all need to fight while battling COVID-19.

"To overcome the coronavirus, we need to urgently promote 'facts and science' and 'hope and solidarity' over despair and division," he said.

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Playing game of cards and hosting parties to kill time during the nationwide lockdown, two truck driver in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada city spread coronavirus to as many as 38 persons, officials said on Sunday.

One of them infected 24 people while organising a game of cards at his house and inviting his neighbours and friends to join in. According to officials, he had gone to Kolkata in West Bengal to ferry some goods and returned to the city on April 4 via Odisha.

Feeling bored, the driver invited neighbours and friends for a game of cards while his wife invited womenfolk from nearby houses.

When the truck driver tested positive, officials questioned him and came to know about his activities since his return hoe. Those who came in contact with him were screened and most found infected.

Another driver spread the virus to 14 people. Investigations revealed that he had gone to Dubai and returned via Sri Lanka and Chennai last month. Without observing home quarantine, he attended parties and thus spread of virus.

Vijayawada is a hotspot in the state and it accounts for more than 100 of the 177 positive cases reported so far in Krishna district.

District collector Imtiyaz Ahmed said unless people cooperate in checking the spread of coronavirus, government efforts alone can't yield the desired results.

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The Indian Newspaper Society, which petitioned PM Modi to grant a two-year tax holiday on media businesses, bump up DAVP advertisement rates and increase government's advertising outlay, has also urged the government to settle outstanding bills that central ministries owe to the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), which in turn pays media organisations for running advertising campaigns for ministries.

Dues totalling more than Rs 350 crore have not been paid to DAVP by various central ministries despite repeated requests by the INS and the Association of Radio Operators of India, which have demanded release of outstanding money for the bleeding print and broadcast sectors.

Industry sources said some pending payments are related to ad campaigns nearly 4-5 years ago. The health ministry, sources said, owes over Rs 61crore to DAVP. The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) echoed INS's demand for a bailout package, requesting the government to allow advertisers to treat advertising money as investments and allow it to spread expenditure incurred in advertising over three years.

AAAI's demands for government intervention comes on the heels of persistent requests by media organisations to the Centre to clear outstanding DAVP dues and announce a bailout package for the industry. AAAI has sought the government's intervention to permit a loaded deduction of 200% on advertising expenditure, a move that is likely to encourage advertisers, both publicly listed and private, to advertise sooner and essay a faster economic recovery. In a letter to the Union government, the AAAI also demanded that the government clear its outstanding bills by way of income tax and GST refunds. To help the industry, AAAI said payments should not be taxed, and directions should be given to banks and advertising sector's debtors to provide cash flow to meet essential expenses.

Demands for relief packages have also been raised by Indian Broadcasting Foundation and News Broadcasters Association. While INS sought removal of 5% customs duty on newsprint, twoyear tax holiday for newspaper establishments, 50% increase in DAVP advertisement rates and 100% increase in budget spend for print media, NBA sought waiver of 18% GST on advertisements, or for it to be lowered to 5% to bring it on par with print media.

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The business of advertising agencies has shrunk by more than 70 per cent following the spread of Covid-19 and the lockdown. In a recommendation to the government, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), which is the national association of advertising agencies, has proposed that advertising expense be treated as an investment and the cost be amortised over the next three years.

The objective is to encourage a higher level of expenditure by profitable companies, which will in turn accelerate the revival of economic activity. In a letter to Prakash Javadekar, the Union minister of information & broadcasting, AAAI said on a Rs 100 expense, an advertiser be allowed to claim an expenditure of, say, twice that amount (Rs 200), while computing income tax.

The bulk of the agency's costs are fixed in nature, be it salaries, rent, electricity and communication, among others. "The income and cash flow has been in serious stress in the last month and unless there is some intervention, many businesses will either file for bankruptcy or will have to under-size considerably," the note said.

AAAI president Ashish Bhasin, who is also CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network Greater South and chairman & CEO of India, told TOI, "Advertising industry is like the lubricant to the economy. And the lubricant for the advertising industry is liquidity. If we can infuse liquidity in advertising by encouraging profitable companies to continue to advertise, it will spur consumer demand, which in turn will kick-start the economy. The positive benefit from an improved consumer demand will far outweigh the offsets we are asking for."

With hotels, airlines and other industries impacted by the lockdown, Bhasin said overall average advertising industry revenues have come down by more than 70%. "We had earlier estimated a growth projection of 11-12% for this calendar year. However, with the current situation, we might just end the year with a degrowth," said Bhasin.

AAAI has requested the government to pay its dues to advertising agencies at the earliest possible. AAAI has also asked for an expedited refund of GST applications within 2-4 weeks.

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A 35-year-old police constable on lockdown duty here in Maharashtra was injured after a man allegedly assaulted him and tried to set him ablaze, an official said on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Arun Sinh Jadhav, has been arrested, he said. The incident took place near Maloli village in Malshiraj tehsil of Solapur on Tuesday night when the constable was asking people to stay indoors, a duty officer at Velapur police station said.

"At that time, Jadhav came in his car and started abusing the policeman. The accused sought an explanation from the constable as to why he had gone to check his brother's hotel," the official said. Jadhav snatched the policeman's phone and threw it on the road. He then allegedly slashed the constable's left hand and face with a blade and started thrashing him, the official said. "The accused then took out a bottle of petrol from his car and allegedly poured it on the policeman. However, a
police patil (village-level official) and some others caught hold of Jadhav and stopped him from setting the constable on fire," the official said.

The constable, who is attached to Velapur police station, later lodged a police complaint in connection with the incident. The accused was subsequently arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), the official said.

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Tasked to ensure the enforcement of lockdown in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the district's Sahibabad Police were on Wednesday surprised when a mother came to the police station complaining that she had sent her son to buy groceries but he returned with his wife.

"I had sent my son to do the grocery shopping today, but when he returned, he came back with his wife. I am not ready to accept this marriage," said the teary-eyed mother. Speaking about the marriage, Guddu, 26-year-old groom, said: "I got married to Savita two months ago at an Arya Samaj Mandir in Haridwar."

"However, we could not get the marriage certificate at that time due to lack of witnesses. I had decided to visit Haridwar again for my marriage certificate but could not do so as the lockdown was imposed," he added. "After returning from Haridwar, Savita stayed at a rented accommodation in Delhi. However, today I decided to bring her to my mother's house as she was told to leave the rented accommodation due to lockdown," said Guddu.

Giving a solution to the family feud, the Sahibabad Police have asked Savita's house owner in Delhi to let the couple stay there during the lockdown period.

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A special non-stop train with 1,200 stranded migrants started from Telangana to Jharkhand's Hatia, officials said on Friday. According to the railway officials, a special non-stop train operated as a one-off service on Friday morning from Telangana to Hatia in Jharkhand. Railway sources said the train carrying 1,200 migrant workers from Telangana left from Lingampalli station at 5 a.m.

Speaking to IANS, Railway Protection Force (RPF) Director General Arun Kumar said, "A non stop train from Telangana to Jharkhand started this morning with 1,200 migrants." He said the train will reach Hatia around 11 p.m. on Friday. According to officials in Jharkhand, the state government has made adequate arrangements for the testing and quarantine of the migrants returning to the state from the special non-stop train.

A one-off special train was run today from Lingampalli (Hyderabad) to Hatia (Jharkhand) on request of the Telangana Government & as per the directions of Union Railway Ministry. pic.twitter.com/9YptotxcbV

— ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2020

The railways have suspended the passenger, mail and express train services in a bid to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Last month, hundreds of migrants reached Bandra terminus railway station in Mumbai after rumour was spread that train services were resumed.

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A 68-year-old COVID-19 patient died in Pune on Saturday, taking the total toll to 100 in the district, a health official said. The cause of the patient's death is acute respiratory failure due to ARDS with myocarditis with coronavirus infection.

"A 68-year-old patient who had tested positive for COVID-19 passes away in Pune. The cause of death is acute respiratory failure due to ARDS with myocarditis with COVID-19 infection. Total death toll in Pune district is now 100," an official said.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the total number of COVID-19 cases across the country surged to 37,336, including 26,167 active cases, 9,951 cured/discharged/migrated and 1,218 deaths.

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Cycle rickshaws, autos, taxi, cabs, barber shops and intra-district plying of vehicles and buses are restricted in Red Zones mentioned in the fresh lockdown 3.0 guidelines to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. However, the guidelines allowed the movement of individuals and vehicles, only for permitted activities with restrictions. Four-wheeler vehicles will have maximum two passengers besides the vehicle driver; for two wheelers, pillion rider is not allowed, according to the guidelines issued with the announcement of extension of nationwide lockdown for another 14 days beginning on May 4.

The lockdown 3.0 will end on May 17. Industrial establishments in urban areas such as Special Economic Zones (SEZ), Export Oriented Units (EOUs), industrial estates and industrial townships with access control; manufacturing units of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates; production units, which require continuous process, and supply chain; manufacturing of IT hardware have been allowed in the Red Zone.

Jute industry with staggered shifts and social distancing and manufacturing units of packaging material are permitted. All industrial and construction activities are permitted in rural areas. Construction activities in urban areas; only in situ construction (where workers are available on site and no workers are required to be brought in from outside) and construction of renewable energy projects are permitted.

All malls, market complexes and markets shall remain closed in urban areas such as areas within the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities. However, shops selling essential goods in markets and market complexes are permitted, all standalone (single) shops, neighbouring (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas without any distinction of essential and non-essential. All shops in rural areas, except in malls, are permitted to remain open without any distinction of essential and non-essential.

"Social distancing ('do gaj ki doori') will be maintained in all cases." E-commerce activities will be permitted only in respect of essential goods. Private offices can operate with upto 33 per cent strength as per requirement with the remaining persons working from home. All government offices shall function with officers of the level of Deputy Secretary and above to the extent of 100 per cent strength.

The remaining staff will attend up to 33 per cent as per requirement. However, defence and security services, health and family welfare, police, prisons, Home Guards, civil defence, fire and emergency service, disaster management and related services, National Informatics Centre (NIC), customs, Food Corporation of India (FCI), National Cadet Corps (NCC), Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) and municipal services shall function without any restrictions. Delivery of public services shall be ensured and necessary staff will be deployed for such purpose, the guidelines said.

The fresh guidelines were issued after the Ministry announced extension of the lockdown for more 14 days till May 17, splitting the country in Red, Green and Orange Zones. The criteria for identification of districts as Red, Green and Orange Zones have been spelt out in detail in the letter dated April 30, issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). The Ministry made the announcement as the lockdown 2.0 was to end on May 3.

The government took the decision after a comprehensive review, and in view of the lockdown measures having led to significant gains in the COVID-19 situation in the country.

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Five persons have been injured in a series of attacks by a tiger in the Jari village near the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Uttar Pradesh. The tiger also attempted to attack a forest department team that was called in to push it back into the wild. Two persons were injured in this attack. According to the victims, the incident first took place on Friday when the tiger attacked two brothers -- Gurpreet Singh and Hardeep Singh of village Jari -- when they were on way to their agricultural field on their motorcycle. They had a close shave but managed to flee by speeding away on their motorbike.

A few minutes later, the tiger pounced at Ram Bahadur, a cyclist, and injured him. The big cat left him as it was distracted by the noise of the bike's engine and horn blown by the two brothers. Within 10 minutes, the tiger again pounced on two commuters, Ujagar Singh and his aide Lalta Prasad of Lalpur village. They sustained serious claw injuries on their heads and shoulders. As they started to scream and brandished the rod they were carrying, the tiger abandoned them and disappeared into the nearby shrubs.

The PTR Deputy Director Naveen Khandelwal said the tiger also charged at the forest staff when they tried to push it back towards the jungle. "The operation was suspended on Friday afternoon and will be resumed depending upon the suitability of the ground conditions as we do not want to tranquilize the tiger. For the safety and security of villagers, the forest teams will keep monitoring the big cat's movement till the time it retreats into the forest," Khandelwal said.

On Saturday, the forest team lay in wait for the tiger but it did not make an appearance. The local residents have been advised to remain indoors and to move in groups, only if necessary.

The victims would be given financial compensation, the official added.

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A five-year-old tiger that had attacked and injured five persons over the weekend, died 15 minutes after it was tranquilised at the Jari village on Sunday evening in the Pilibhit Tiger reserve (PTR).

The forest officials claimed that the big cat died of wounds, some wildlife activists suspect that it died due to overdose of tranquilizers.

The tiger had strayed out of the range of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) and attacked three people in Jari village under Gajraula police circle on Friday morning.

It had also attacked a team of forest force personnel that had come to drive it back to the reserve.

The presence of the tiger had brought agricultural activities to a virtual standstill at Jari village.

A team of forest personnel that was camping in the village, had been closely monitoring the tiger's movement by installing camera traps in the area.

A team of veterinary officers, headed by doctor S.K. Rathore, also arrived in the village on Sunday in order to tranquilize the tiger and later release into the wild.

The tiger was spotted and tranquiliser darts were fired on it. But the big cat died within 15 minutes after it was tranquilised.

Deputy director of PTR Naveen Khandelwal said the tiger collapsed during the period it was under medical observation.

"The tiger had three wounds in its trachea, as a result of which it died," he said.

Kaushlendra Singh, a wildlife activist in Lucknow, however, said that the tiger's death was due to an overdose of tranquiliser.

Referring to information of forest staff present at the spot during the operation, Singh claimed that the tiger was hit with four darts. one after another.

Chief conservator of Bareilly zone, Lalit Verma, had told reporters that the veterinary team used only two darts in the operation.

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A pregnant woman died at a hospital in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Sunday, with her family alleging negligence by doctors and medical authorities. The family carried the body from the hospital in a stretcher trolley, a video of which went viral, triggering outrage.

This incident happened a week after another pregnant woman died along with her unborn twins at the MCCH in Anantnag. The woman, who eventually was declared COVID-19 positive, came from a Red Zone area and had been allegedly denied swift treatment. Shakeela Akhtar, a resident of Salai Panzmulla area of the south Kashmir district, was admitted at sub-district hospital Seer Hamdan on Saturday night, but was referred to the Maternity and Child Care Hospital (MCCH) on Sunday morning where she died, officials said.

They said her family alleged delay in her treatment at the SDH and also protested outside MCCH against doctors claiming negligence. The district administration, however, said while an inquiry has been ordered into the death of the woman at the sub-district hospital and a doctor and a nurse have been placed under suspension, the family took away the body without completing the formalities. "Prima facie, medical negligence that warranted immediate suspensions.

Further action shall follow after enquiry outcome. About denial of ambulance, the infuriated attendants apprehensive about delay in burial on account of tests, took away the dead body without completing formalities," additional district magistrate, Anantnag, Syed Yasir said on Twitter. Deputy Commissioner Anantnag Bashir Ahmad Dar also said the family feared they would have to wait for the burial of the woman's body if her sample was taken for COVID-19 testing.

"Preliminary reports suggest the dead body was taken away by relatives, fearing they will have to wait for burial if sample is taken for covid test. Most unfortunate to say the least (sic)," Dar wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, several political parties have demanded a time-bound inquiry into the death of the woman. National Conference Member of Parliament from Anantnag Justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi, while expressing grief and sorrow over the deaths of two pregnant women, welcomed the action taken by the authorities against the doctors and other staff suspected to have acted negligently.

Masoodi demanded time-bound inquiry and action warranted in light of the results of the inquiry. CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami demanded an FIR must be lodged against the culprits without any delay. "There should be no eye-wash or cover-up as due to willful negligence of the doctors, a mother and a yet to be born baby have lost their lives," he said. The Congress party also demanded an inquiry and action against all those involved in the death of two pregnant women in the district, a spokesman of the party said in a statement here. Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) senior leader and former legislator Rafi Ahmad Mir also demanded a time-bound and a fair probe into the incident.

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A 58-year-old assistant sub- inspector of police has died of coronavirus in Maharashtras Solapur district, an official said on Thursday. With this, five police personnel from the state have so far succumbed to the viral infection. The assistant sub-inspector, posted at Solapur MIDC police station, was admitted to the civil hospital there on Tuesday after he tested positive for coronavirus. He died while undergoing treatment at the hospital on Wednesday, the official said.

The victim, who was set to retire after four months, was on duty till last week, he said. Maharashtra Police expressed grief over the personnel's demise. "DGP and all ranks of Maharashtra Police offer their condolences to the bereaved family, the state police said in a tweet.

Constable Amit from @DelhiPolice succumbed to Coronavirus. Shri. Amit was serving the state of Delhi in these troubled times. May his soul rest in peace.

DGP and all ranks of Maharashtra Police offer their condolences to his family.

— Maharashtra Police (@DGPMaharashtra) May 7, 2020

Last month, three personnel of Mumbai Police and one of Pune Police died of COVID-19. So far, 456 police personnel, including 42 officers, have tested positive for coronavirus in the state.

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For many, social distancing, self-isolation, and quarantine is the new horror. The prime minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi, has already asked people to stay indoors for some more time. As the lockdown has been extended until May 3, 2020, T&C applied, we are here to save you from some boredom and anxiety.

We are sure you must have already binged-watched every other show, but what we have for you right now is a list of horror films you can watch and get frightened instead of fearing the virus. The more you keep yourself occupied and busy, the less you'll feel anxious and worried due to the lockdown. So, let's take a look at the Netflix list right away!

Eli

Well, well, well! This one will test your patience, and the climax of the movie is worth it! Why, you ask? This obscure story shares a rare tale of a little boy named Eli, and his struggle to fight disease. As he and his parents decide to self-isolate (relatable much?) to fight against what has struck the kid, Eli unravels his truth, unknown and unwitnessed for so many years! 

The Ritual

Starring Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier and others, this one will make your heart skip a beat. It has scares, hidden truths, an unknown religious rite that takes the four friends, who have been exploring the woods of Sweden, down. Fair warning, not for the faint-hearted!

Apostle

Just like the Ritual, Apostle also has a history connected to the characters. In 1905, Thomas Richardson travels to a remote Welsh island to rescue his sister, Jennifer, who has been kidnapped and held for ransom by a mysterious cult. His journey unravels many realities but leaves him with the sacrifice of his own life as the only option to save everyone. Interesting, huh?

I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House

This one got me for real! If you are alone at home, the suggestion would be to skip this one. If you are with your quarantine special, I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House will make a good watch. A nurse, who must take care of the house and its owner, a writer, ends up witnessing the reality of the haunted house. End? Well, we will leave it up to you to figure out what happens to the one who lives with an infected house.

Satanic

Satan's followers are scary, and if this entire plot of people worshipping Satan sends chills down your spine, abort mission! Right away! This too isn't for the ones who think Conjuring and Annabelle are scary. If that's what you think horror is, Satanic is surely not your cup of tea.

Scared already? Wait until you watch them all in a day, and share your experience with us! Also, stay tuned for the hidden gems on OTT platforms.

P.S: Stay tuned for our list of shows you can binge on this quarantine season, and don't let the boredom hit you even for a second!

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It's impossible for someone's childhood to have existed without Tom and Jerry and Popeye. It's also difficult to imagine that someone might have grown up without reading the immensely enjoyable comic- Tom Terrific. The one thing that unites all three of them is Gene Deitch, the director of these historic cartoon characters! He passed away on April 16 at the age of 95.

It wouldn't be wrong to describe him as the man that accidentally created history. He was trained to become a pilot but destiny pushed him towards the field of creativity and cartoons. And as he began to get excited and enamoured by the world of animation, he gave birth to some characters that not only defined our childhoods but somehow became an integral and important part of them- Tom and Jerry and Popeye! 

He also went on to create another fantastic and funny comic book- Tom Terrific. But his work goes beyond and so does his contribution to the field of cartoons and animation. In 1960, he was awarded the Oscar for the animated short film, Munro, and the Winsor McCay Award for his contribution to the field of animation in 2004.

He's survived by three children from his first wife and all of them are in the same field as their father. They have rightly inherited his genes and genius, but to face the truth, it's hard to imagine any piece of work that can even come close to the history that Tom and Jerry and Popeye created. It's impossible for the childhood of today to be the same as the childhood of the people back then, and it's impossible to have another Gene Deitch. Rest In Peace!

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Actor Matthew Perry, best known as Chandler Bing in the popular sitcom "Friends", has been spending some time in kitchen amid the coronavirus lockdown. Taking to social media, Matthew posted a picture of cookies that he baked himself. More than the tempting cookies, it's his caption that grabbed attention of his fans.

 

 

 

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I made these by the way. Also I’m not wearing any pants. #gettingreadyforsomeseriousnudeeating

A post shared by Matthew Perry (@mattyperry4) onApr 20, 2020 at 6:07pm PDT

Revealing a bit of the trademark Chandler Bing wry humour, Perry wrote: "I made these by the way. Also, I am not wearing any pants. Getting Ready for some serious nude eating," he wrote.

On the work front, Matthew and his other "Friends" co-stars -- Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc -- will be soon seen in a "Friends" reunion special.

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Remember when you used to sit in front of the television with your family to watch your favourite shows? Fighting for the remote and almost crying when you miss the first 5 minutes because of that? Quarantine comes with a lot of free time in our hands. While ongoing shows going on hiatus indefinitely, bring back memories with these shows from the past to keep you company.
Here are 6 on-air shows that will surely bring back all the delightful memories:

Two and a Half Men:

Two and a Half Men follows the life of a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper, his uptight brother, Alan and Alan's growing son, Jake. Charlie's free-wheeling life is complicated when his brother gets divorced and moves, along with his son, into Charlie's beach-front Malibu house. Aptly named, the series is humorous and entertaining to the T. Watch this eccentric family get through their lives only on Colors Infinity at 7 pm from Monday to Friday.

FRIENDS:

Who doesn't know about this bunch of unconventional friends break all norms to relate the best bond ever? We've all dreamed of having such friends, haven't we? The story follows the life of 6 friends struggling yet having fun as they cope with adulting. Prepare yourself to fall in love with every single one of them only on Comedy Central, Monday to Friday at 7 pm.

The Walking Dead:

Escaping grave danger and trying to stay alive under near-constant threat of attacks from the mindless zombies, colloquially known as "walkers", a group of survivors led by police officer Rick Grimes travel in search of a safe and secure home. Follow their difficult and tedious journey through the trials only on Starworld.

Mike and Molly:

Michael Biggs, an overweight police officer, meets Molly Flynn, a school teacher, at a Chicago Overeater's Anonymous group. Attempting to lose weight, both find themselves developing feelings for the other. Catch their sweet romance and hilarious moments only on Comedy Central, Monday to Friday at 10 pm.

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Spider-Man" actor Tom Holland says his time during the COVID-19 lockdown has been "a little bit productive". Holland, who is in London, opened about how he is being productive when he appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" through video-chat, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

When Kimmel asked how Holland is getting along with his family amid lockdown, the actor joked that there has been a lot of "getting drunk", adding that actor Ryan Reynolds recently sent him a case of "spider-gin".

He then went on to say that he is lucky to be "doing fine" and living in a place that has a nice outdoor space.

Holland then shared that he has been "a little bit productive" and has been writing a screenplay with his brother Harry -- which they have already sent out to producers. He joked that sending the script to people has been nerve-wrecking because they might find out that he's "stupid" or "can't spell anything".

Talking about the disruption to his projects, Holland said that he was in Berlin filming "Unchartered" when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Now, the film will be rescheduled. He will also be shooting the next "Spider-Man" installment in the near future, but he is unsure when.

Amid the ongoing health crisis, Holland is working with The Brothers Trust, a charity set up by his family to raise funds for various causes.

He is also keeping up with his co-stars, and recently Facetimed "Ironman" star Robert Downey Jr.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" is aired in India on Star World.

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From bringing estranged couples together to encouraging stars to become corona warriors, the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown period is changing reality for many celebrities, and they are embracing it with an open mind. Here are some of the changes:

Estranged by love, united by the lockdown:

For many estranged couples, lockdown spelt truce. Celebrity exes, including Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne Khan; Imtiaz Ali-Preety Ali; Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, are spending the lockdown together with their children and making the most of it. Their social media handles are a glimpse into how they are spending their time together.

Stars turn corona warriors:

Apart from extending monetary help in the fight against the pandemic, some stars are joining the battle as corona warriors. Like actress Shikha Malhotra, who worked with Sanjay Mishra in "Kaanchli Life in a Slough", is currently working as a volunteer at a hospital in Mumbai to fight against coronavirus, and actor Ashish Gokhale is also working at a private hospital treating the coronavirus patients. In the West, actor Sean Penn has partnered with authorities in Los Angeles to run a coronavirus testing centre.

Taking precautions, but fashionably:

 

 

 

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Safety First NEXT LEVEL. Thank you @lindaevangelista Full video coming on my YouTube soon… All bought on @Amazon 6 weeks ago

A post shared by Naomi Campbell (@naomi) onMar 10, 2020 at 6:07pm PDT

Supermodel Naomi Campbell went viral when she was spotted wearing a hazmat suit, a surgical mask and rubber gloves at an airport to guard herself against the coronavirus. And that's not it. Celebrities are taking all the precautions to protect themselves from getting the disease while staying stylish and glamorous. Kim Kardashian West has also been spotted warning masks and gloves.

Apart from this, the stars are also keeping their fans and followers updated about how they are spending their free time, from their work out a schedule to kitchen escapades to new found love for gardening.

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It should come as no surprise, but Renée Zellweger is one of the most prestigious and prolific actresses of her generation. With two Oscars, four Golden Globes, and literally dozens of other awards to her name, the actress's popularity has skyrocketed, and she's been wowing critics and moviegoers alike for decades now. She made her debut in the early 1990s, but it doesn't look like Zellweger will be stopping her reign anytime soon. Renee Zellweger has reaffirmed herself as one of the most captivating performers of our time and as she celebrates her 51st birthday, let's take a look at the mesmerizing roles played by the actress.

1. Bridget Jones' Baby

This 2016 follow-up to the first two films is occasionally a cheese-fest but it remains true to the eccentric earnestness that first made audiences love Bridget Jones. Zellweger brings her adorable clumsiness to the role yet again, as Bridget becomes pregnant and attempts to discern the identity of her baby's father. Catch Bridget Jones' Baby only on Sony PIX.

2. Appaloosa

Appaloosa is a gripping film that mixes the elements of a western culture with the crime genre which features many unlikely players. Ed Harris leads the pack, but Zellweger's character of a vengeful widow, is one of the film's biggest highlights and surprise. Watch Appaloosa only on Sony PIX.

3. Judy

Upon seeing the trailer for Judy, the 2019 biopic about an emotionally and physically distressed Judy Garland, it was easy to tell that Renée Zellweger would be recognized at every award show. This heartbreaking and gut-wrenching tragedy about the final year in the life and one of Hollywood's saddest stories could not have been brought to the screen with anyone but Zellweger in the lead role. Almost unrecognizable in the makeup and scars of an emotionally spent woman, Zellweger brings Garland's persona to life one final time.

4. Chicago

Stepping into Judy Garland's shoes earned her an Oscar, but Zellweger proved her musical talent long ago as Roxie Hart in this 2002 caper. Adapted from Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb's stage musical, the plot follows Roxie and Velma as they compete for fame after being arrested for killing their significant others. The film's music and dialogue are packed full of irreverent wit, and Zellweger's cheeky portrayal of Roxie is captivating as she seeks the spotlight at all costs. Her rendition of 'Roxie' is an incredible combination of suave dance moves and vocal power, which Zellweger demonstrated again 17 years later in Judy.

5. Jerry Maguire

'You had me at hello'. Those five words took Renée Zellweger from a relatively unknown actress to an overnight star following her portrayal of single mom Dorothy Boyd in Cameron Crowe's 1996 Jerry Maguire. Her struggles as a parent in the Cameron Crowe film, as well as her earnest relationship opposite Tom Cruise, both still hit hard.

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Quirky talk show host such as David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, Graham Norton, Jimmy Kimmel is amongst the television maestros who engage with celebrities through humorous acts and discussions revealing interesting instances of theirs.

The Graham Norton Show has brought alive many such candid moments through its fun segments such as the big red chair, impromptu music gigs and more keeping the show highly entertaining as it remains top-rated amongst the audience even after 22 years. As Graham returns on the virtual sofa with a special lockdown series of his chat show, we take a look at the top moments of the greatest, goofiest moments through the years.

When Matt LeBlanc made Emilia Clarke blush:

The mother of dragons has always been about open about her crush on Matt Le Blanc and in awe of his portrayal of Joey from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Her prayers were finally answered when the two came together on The Graham Norton Show and Matt asked her ‘How you doing’. Turns out Joey’s immortal phase still works like a charm as Emilia simply could not blushing as she continued to giggle.

When father-son duo Will Smith and Jaden lit up the stage with their funky dance moves:

Will Smith took the stage with his son Jaden as the duo performed to Fresh Prince and then brought on Alfonso Ribeiro for a special appearance as the trio showed off their dance moves to the Sugarhill Gang’s Apache (Jump On It). The impromptu performance by Hollywood’s most popular star sent the audience into a state of frenzy and remains one of being amongst the show’s greatest moments!

Jason Momoa on stealing the limelight in pictures with Strangers' Girlfriends:

Along with his phenomenal performances in Baywatch, Game Of Thrones and Aquaman amongst others, global icon Jason Momoa is also known for his unique way of taking photos with female fans. Jason revealed on the Graham Norton Show that when married couples come to him for a photo, women want a tight hug and for him to push their husband away. Jason’s fan pictures won hearts and continue to remain an online trend earning him much appreciation from fans.

When the Spice Girls made Emma Stone cry!

The ever-gorgeous and stunning Emma Stone confessed to being obsessed with the 'Spice Girls' when she came on as a guest on the Graham Norton Show. Emma revealed that while she was in Australia, she wept on getting a video message from Melanie Brown. Emma went on to mention that the Spice Girls taught her about girl power and that Emma Button is her favourite spice girl.

Jennifer Lawrence spills the beans on why she banned her brother from awards shows:

Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence made some astonishing confessions when she attended the Graham Norton Show along with Eddie Redmayne. Jennifer revealed she had a meltdown the night she won an Oscar as she fell on her face moments before that and forgot to thank the movie’s director in her victory speech. She went on to mention of kicking her brother out from award season for a while because he tried to arm-wrestle Matthew McConaughey who was not into it.

The latest season of the Graham Norton Show will air in India 26th April 2020, 9 pm onwards on Comedy Central India.

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Grammy-nominated gospel singer Troy Sneed has died from complications with the coronavirus. He was 52. Sneed's publicist, Bill Carpenter, shared that the singer passed away on Monday at a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, reports usatoday.com.

Sneed earned a Grammy nomination for his work on the Youth For Christ's 1999 album, "Higher". The singer traveled throughout the US early in his career to sing the gospel with the Georgia Mass Choir. He arranged music on their albums and appeared with the choir in the 1996 film "The Preacher's Wife" starring Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington. He also served as a producer on Youth For Christ's "The Struggle Is Over", which was at No. 1 on Billboard's gospel songs chart in 2006.

As a solo artist, Sneed released seven albums and had several hit songs within the gospel realm including "Work it out" and "My heart says yes". He is also known for the upbeat "Hallelujah".

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Veteran actress Julie Andrews says she wants a third part of "The Princess Diaries" franchise to happen soon as she is "getting awfully old". It's been 16 years since the second film in "The Princess Diaries" film opened. The series also stars Anne Hathaway.

During her appearance on "The Talk", the 84-year-old actress opened up about the prospect of a third movie, reports dailymail.co.uk. "It's long been talked about but nothing sort of been on my desk or anything like that. I think I would (do it). I'm getting awfully old and crotchety," she said.

Andrews played Queen Clarisse Renaldi, the ruler of Genovia in "The Princess Diaries", with Hathaway playing her granddaughter, Princess Mia Thermopolis.

The first movie followed the Queen as she groomed the princess to rule the land of Genovia. The movie made on a $26 million budget was a surprise hit. In 2004, Andrews and Hathaway reunited for the sequel "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement", about Mia preparing for marriage and finding love.

Talking about the franchise, Andrews said: "'I'm not sure if it's the right timing, but I think to work with Annie (Hathaway) would be lovely again. And yeah, sure I would be up for it. I think we should wait if the script comes in just wait for that."

Filmmaker Garry Marshall, who passed away in 2016, directed both movies, with Gina Wendkos writing the first movie and Shonda Rhimes writing the sequel.

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Pop diva Madonna has revealed that she has tested positive for the COVID-19 antibodies. The singer shared the news in the 14th edition of her 'Quarantine Diary' on Instagram TV.

"Took a test the other day and I found out that I have the antibodies. So tomorrow I'm just going to go for a long drive in the car, and I'm gonna roll down the window and I'm gonna breathe in the COVID-19 air. Yup. I hope the sun is shining," Madonna said.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US, antibody tests are used to determine whether or not a person has been exposed to COVID-19 by finding proteins the body produces to fight the virus. However, the CDC has yet to confirm if the possession of antibodies is equal to immunity.

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Amid the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, pop star Selena Gomez has set up a small studio at her home, and is working on new music. The singer took to Instagram to share a picture of her home recording studio, reports dailymail.co.uk.

 

 

 

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Makeshift studio so I can work from home 🎧🎼🎤

A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) onMay 2, 2020 at 12:53pm PDT

In the picture, the 27-year-old is seen sitting on the floor next to her furry slippers in front of a studio, with a professional microphone, mic stand, and insulated walls. She is wearing a grey tee with a pair of dark blue pants, she also has a book with a sketch on one side and another book with notes kept in front of her.

"Makeshift studio so I can work from home" she captioned the image. Recently, during a conversation with Apple Music's Zane Lowe, Gomez revealed her plan to build a home studio.

"Currently I'm actually building this little studio situation and I'm doing it with the people that have been in my house," she said.

"So I'm creating a little station where I'm going to be able to FaceTime with my engineer and some of my producer friends and we're going to try to make some music, which I'm so excited about," she added.

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"Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds feels theres immense potential in the R-rated superhero franchise, and says it will be "explosive" to have Deadpool in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The franchise currently lies with The Walt Disney Studios, after the studio acquired 20th Century Fox.

During an appearance in "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon", Reynolds opened up about the future of his popular film franchise, and its treatment, reports dailymail.co.uk. "Deadpool was Fox and now it's in the hands of Marvel now over at Disney," Reynolds told Fallon through a video call.

"I see infinite possibility in either version. I think if Deadpool was in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I think it would be explosive and amazing and what a sandbox to play in. If Deadpool continued to just do his own thing and be his own thing, also just like infinite possibilities," added the 43-year-old.

Reynolds, who played the lead characters in both "Deadpool 2" and "Deadpool", said that he writes the "Deadpool" movies with two "geniuses" -- Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

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Teenage days are never coming back! If you are out of your teens, you'll be surely reminiscing the old gold days. If you've grown up watching Beverly Hills, 90210, Dawson's Creek, Everything Sucks, That 70s Show, Gossip Girl, you'll surely relate to what you are about to read. Netflix has a wide range of teen shows, and as the lockdown continues, we still have time to watch some more and complete the list. Check them out.

Never Have I Ever:

 

 

 

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"No one label or character can fully represent all the stories waiting to be told," says @maitreyiramakrishnan who hopes that her future roles are just as complex and badass as Devi, saying her dream is to play "something dark like an assassin. Super chaotic and messy but still so strong and powerful."⁣ ⁣ art by @geoffjkim

A post shared by Netflix US (@netflix) onMay 8, 2020 at 10:16am PDT

A coming of age comedy-drama television series by Netflix, Never have I Ever, starring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is created by none other than The Mindy Project actress, Mindy Kaling, along with Lang Fisher. Partially based on Kaling's growing up years in the Boston area, the show shares the story of an Indian American high school student dealing with the death of her father and other teen issues.

Sex Education:

 

 

 

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"statistically, two thirds of girls experience unwanted sexual attention or contact in public spaces before the age of 21." - Viv, S2E7 ðŸ¤Âš - @aimeelouwood, @trishallison, creator @laurienunn, and founder of #everydaysexism @laura_bates__ sat down for a powerful conversation about aimee's season 2 storyline and non-consensual penises - hit the link in our bio to watch the short film now. 🚍💛💪

A post shared by Sex Education (@sexeducation) onJan 26, 2020 at 3:01am PST

Oh, man! Where do we start with this one? It's a goldmine for all the teen drama. In this British comedy-drama, Sex Education talks about growing up and difficulties faced by high-school kids. Be it physical, emotional or psychological, Sex Education gives a panoramic view of the no-more-kids, not-yet-adults stage of the students. It stars Asa Butterfield as a socially awkward teenager who finds it difficult to adjust in the everyday changing lifestyle of the high-school kid.

Elite:

 

 

 

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A post shared by Élite (@elitenetflix) onMar 25, 2020 at 9:59am PDT

If you follow Money Heist, you won't get bored watching Rio and Denver in this one too! Elite is a Spanish thriller teen drama web television series, set in Las Encinas, a fictional elite secondary school. Elite revolves around the relationships between three working-class teenage students enrolled at the school through a scholarship and their wealthy classmates. Things turn dirty with every episode and reveal how wealth is used to manipulate the future of teenagers.

Riverdale:

 

 

 

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There's no place like Pop's. Stream the season finale free, link in bio. #Riverdale

A post shared by Riverdale (@thecwriverdale) onMay 8, 2020 at 5:30pm PDT

If you think Gossip Girls is dramatic, wait until you binge-watch this one! Based on the characters of the popular Archies comics, Riverdale screams high-school drama. There's a cool guy, who has the most popular girl in town as his girlfriend, and then comes along a string of events that turn the lives of the teens living in Riverdale upside down.

The End Of The F***ing World:

 

 

 

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A post shared by The End of the F***ing World (@teotfw) onNov 5, 2019 at 4:07am PST

The End of the F***ing World is so dark it will make you weep to look at the miserable lives of the characters before you go to sleep. If you aren't an ardent fan of dark humour, abort mission! Well, many aren't aware that this one is based on a graphic novel of the same name created by Charles Forsman. The programme follows James (Alex Lawther), a 17-year-old who believes himself to be a psychopath after a series of incidents occur in his life after his mom's death. Alyssa (Jessica Barden), is shown as an angry classmate who has profound parenting issues ever since her childhood. James and Alyssa are connected in the weirdest way possible, and the entire show speaks about their escape from their tumultuous home life. 

Entertaining much?

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"'Yaar, main ja raha hun. Please khayal rakhna' (I am leaving, please take care of my family), was what he told me in our last conversation, before he resumed duty at Jammu," said Sudhir Tayde, about Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan Sanjay Rajput.

Sanjay was one of the 40 CRPF personnel who were slain in Pulwama on Thursday, when a car laden with explosives rammed their bus in a terror attack. He was also one of two jawans from Buldhana district, Maharashtra on it. The other was Nitin Shivaji Rathod. The duo, like others on the bus, was resuming duty after a holiday.

'Son will join defence forces'
Nitin Shivaji Rathod, 36, was a resident of Chorpangra village in Buldhana district. Nitin is survived by his parents, his wife Vandana, 28, and two children, Jeewan, 8, and Jivika, 5. He had joined the CRPF when he was 23.

Vandana recalled, "Just a week back we were together having meals and enjoying with everyone. I will dedicate my son to the defence forces too, as it was my husband's dream."

Sanjay Rajput

Villagers want revenge
The mood was sombre in Chorpangra village. No one has cooked since Thursday night when they got the news. All the villagers were at Nitin's house. Many people displayed their anger and said the government must take strong action against Pakistan.

Everyone remembered Nitin. Baburao Sawadkar, a teacher from Vasant Primary and Secondary Ashram School, who taught Nitin said, "Since his school days he was patriotic. He was good in studies and always participated in cultural programmes. He would always play an Army soldier in them. He would sing patriotic songs in these programmes and knew many of them by heart."

Nitin's childhood friend, Raju Rathod, said he was a hard-worker. They had studied together till they graduated. "Since age 13, he wanted to join the defence forces. During college he was often adjudged the best sports person. He was an excellent cricket and kabaddi player. He was also a good wrestler. In college days, he also worked as a labourer to pay for his education."

Extended service by five years
Sanjay Rajput, 49, the other jawan who was slain, was a resident of Malkapur in Buldhana district. He had recently shifted to Nagpur for his children's education. Sanjay had served the CRPF for 23 years and had extended his service by five years and was transferred to Jammu. He is survived by his wife Sushma, and two sons, Jay, 12, and Shubham, 11.

His brother recalled him as a brave person and said, "We had talked to him on Wednesday. He told us that due to snow, the roads were blocked and so they had to camp in another area. We have not informed our mother about his death, because this will be the second shock this year, as our elder brother died seven months back in a road accident." He too said once Sanjay's children each are 18 years old, he would want them to join the defence forces.

Prayers in mosques in memory of jawans
A condolence meeting was held and prayers were offered in memory of the CRPF jawans in many mosques in Pune city on Friday. Maulana Farukh Sahab of Noor-e-Hira masjid said, "The act is heinous and no religion talks about such inhuman acts. This act is against humanity and we condemn it."

Some youths from Pune, including local politician Amit Bagul and his friends, have written a letter in their blood, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to avenge the deaths of the CRPF personnel.

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A toddler, who was playing marbles with a friend on Sunday evening and who had put his hand into a hole that a marble had slipped into, died some hours later when doctors discovered he had been bitten by a snake.

Although he was bleeding from the hand when he went home, it was only when he started vomiting some six hours later that his parents rushed him to a hospital, where he died later. They were shocked to hear that he had been bitten by a snake.

The police have identified the child as Krishna Naik-Rathod, 4. The Pimpri police station has registered the case of accidental death and are probing the case. Senior inspector Ranganathan Under of Pimpri police station said, "Krishna was playing marbles with his friend on Sunday evening near an under-construction area.

As a marble fell into one of the many holes in the ground there, he put his hand in, attempting to bring it out. He suddenly felt something was not right and when he pulled out his hand, it was bleeding from a small wound. He came running to his parents. However, as the parents did not know exactly how he had sustained the wound, they applied some medicine and he rushed back out to play."

He added, "He started vomiting and was rushed to Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial hospital, where he was declared dead while undergoing treatment." Krishna's father Apurva said, "We cannot believe this has happened to us."

Also Read: Heavily drunk man survives after biting and killing poisonous snake in Madhya Pradesh

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In a bizarre incident, a 60-year-old labourer lost his life after he was trapped under the debris of a well which collapsed near Ganesh Nagar Kolar Vadi in Ambegaon on Thursday night. The police have identified the deceased as Kishan Dhami Gawade (60), a resident of Kolarbadi in Ambegoan, Pune. The local residents along with the police and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot to rescue the man.

NDRF commandant Pandit Ithape said, "The under-construction work of the well is going on and around 50 feet has been dug. On Thursday, around 7 pm, as it was dark, the labourers inside the well we're moving out. A part of the debris fell on Kishan who was trying to move out."

"We were alerted about the incident and immediately rushed to the spot at around 9 pm. The debris was too huge to be dug out manually. Initially, we used a JCB, but to avoid any injuries to the victim, the jawans thus started digging and around 5 am, we found his body. He was rushed to hospital but was declared dead." he added.

In another incident, in an attempt to take a selfie proved fatal for two youths as they fell into a well in Rajasthan's Sikar district, police. The incident took place in Reenu village of Laxmangarh town when Rajesh Godara and Irfaan were taking a selfie near the well, DSP Brij Mohan Aswal said. The duo died as they slipped and fell into the well, he said. The bodies were handed over to the family members today after conducting postmortem, he added.

Also Read: Mumbai: Aid for kin of three victims who drowned in Vile Parle well

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Arjun Kapoor has always appreciated eclectic content. The actor, who runs his own digital property Arjun Recommends through which suggests great content for people to binge on, is currently gorging on yesteryears acclaimed TV show Byomkesh Bakshi played by actor Rajit Kapur.

For Arjun, this show is like a whiff of nostalgia from his childhood. He says, “Whenever I could catch Byomkesh Bakshi as a kid, I remember I enjoyed it thoroughly. For me, Byomkesh was what a hero should be. Slick, super-intelligent, and charismatic, he is one of the best sleuths that I have seen on screen! I have been watching Byomkesh on TV again and it is pure nostalgia for me!”

Arjun lists his reasons why he loves this indigenous super-detective. “The best thing about Byomkesh was that he solved intelligent crimes and that really hooked me on. The writing, the cleverness of the cases really got me interested. The show still hooks you thoroughly and that’s what great writing, great acting can do. Great content has the ability to become timeless and universal,” he adds.

Arjun secretly wishes to play a detective on screen. “Since then, I had always wanted to play a detective who saves the day and saves lives. I got to live my childhood dream by playing an undercover agent and saving the country in India’s Most Wanted! I still hope I get to play a detective on-screen one day!” says Arjun.

Also Read: An overwhelmed Arjun Kapoor wishes a frontline doctor on her birthday as she pens an emotional note

2 years ago, on this day, Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja tied the knot, after dating each other for 2 years.  That Sonam was dating a 'London based businessman', surfaced on the internet for the longest time, but the duo remained tight-lipped about their relationship until it was time to make it official. Sonam and Anand had a traditional, Punjabi wedding in Mumbai, and of course, a star-studded one.

She took to Instagram to write the sweetest anniversary wish for the husband, and also shared with us the first photo they clicked together, 4 years back. Her caption tells us how she was impressed with Anand from their very first meet and found him 'unbelievably cool and sexy'. "Your compassion, kindness, generosity and smarts are incredibly attractive but so is your moodiness and your annoying perfectionism. Thank you for being my partner and standing besides me for these 4 years. They have been my most fulfilling. Happy happy anniversary husband. I’m soo thrilled I get to keep you for the rest of my life," Sonam wrote.

 

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Our first picture together.. 4 years ago today I met a vegan who could do complicated yoga positions and speak about retail and business with the same ease. I found him unbelievably cool and sexy., he still makes my heart race and grounds me at the same time. Nothing compares to you @anandahuja , your compassion, kindness, generosity and smarts are incredibly attractive but so is your moodiness and your annoying perfectionism. Thank you for being my partner and standing besides me for these 4 years. They have been my most fulfilling. Happy happy anniversary husband. I’m soo thrilled I get to keep you for the rest of my life. I love you the most and I know you love me the best and the most. That I promise you is the greatest gift I’ve ever received. ❤️ #everydayphenomenal

A post shared by Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamkapoor) on May 7, 2020 at 7:58pm PDT

Sister Rhea Kapoor also wished the couple on their anniversary, on Instagram. She shared a video consisting of some of their adorable moments, and wrote, "Happy anniversary family, I hope every tomorrow is the best day of your lives".

 

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Happy anniversary family, I hope every tomorrow is the best day of your lives. @sonamkapoor @anandahuja love you!

A post shared by Rhea Kapoor (@rheakapoor) on May 7, 2020 at 8:41pm PDT

Sonam and Anand are presently at the latter's Delhi house since they returned from London and quarantined themselves. Quite sue they're celebrating the day in their own way in the company of each other!

A few weeks back, actor Abhishek Bachchan, on Instagram, shared a priceless throwback photo from his first ever stage performance as an actor alongside father Amitabh Bachchan, in 2004. His love for the stage, however, began when he was merely a child and would accompany his father for his live shows. He shared a video, giving us glimpses of one such show and also spoke about the fondest memories spread over the years.

"I have so many memories of being on the road with him, his co-stars and the immense Kalyanji and Anandji and their 40 piece orchestra helmed by a young and upcoming Viju Shah ( Kalyan ji's son and future Music Director of huge fame)," he wrote.

 

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#FlashbackFriday My 1st ever stage performance after becoming an actor. Got to share it with a pretty cool dude! This was for the "Help" telethon which was done to raise money to help all the victims of the devastating tsunami which occurred on December 26th 2004. This huge enterprise of getting the entire Hindi film industry together ( a Herculean task) was spearheaded by @duttsanjay . And although I was slated to make my debut stage performance in Amsterdam for the IIFA awards later in the year, I just couldn't say no to the cause and Sanju sir. Both dad and I performed to a mix/ medley of his song रंग बरसे and "one love" a track I had done as a cameo in my dear friend @suniel.shetty film Rakth. The show took place in early February 2005. Both dad and I were shooting for "Kajra re" with Aishwarya for Bunty aur Babli. I would shoot the song all day from 9am to 10pm and then drive to the concert venue and rehearse all night. I even spent my birthday shooting Kajra re ( but that is a different story, reserved for another Friday). At night, after the shoot I remember when I reached the venue for my rehearsal all the lights were off!!! Thinking that I had made a mistake and showed up to rehearse when there wasn't any.... Suddenly all the stage lights came on and all the dancers, Ganesh Hegde the choreographer, stage hands and technical staff surprised me! Then Sanju sir and @walia_bunty ( he was one of the organisers) rolled out a huge cake and a birthday present for me. They all sang and managed to embarrass me to bits! What fun. Good times!

A post shared by Abhishek Bachchan (@bachchan) on Apr 24, 2020 at 3:38am PDT

The actor went on to recall how the artists would gather in his parents' suite for a midnight dinner and how their return journey by flight would be nothing less than a mini concert mid-air! In the video, Big B can be seen calling Abhishek and sister Shweta to the stage as he introduces them to the audience.

"What times! As a child standing in the wings looking at the show in awe and wonderment. Not realising at that time the legends that I was blessed to witness perform live. Secretly imagining myself on that stage once I grew up," Abhishek added.

That's certainly where it all started!

However successful a fashionista or a film-maker Karan Johar is, his children are his most difficult critics. From his choice of glasses to his choice of films, everything gets dismissed by twins Yash and Roohi, who also keep trolling their father quite mercilessly.

In a video shared by Karan on Instagram, he tries to turn an in-house entertainer for the kids and attempts to sing a song. Roohi is seen trying to switch on the music player while Karan tells her he will sing instead. However, the moment he starts singing, both the children plead him to stop and tell him he is giving them a headache. LOL! He does make a second attempt too, but has to give up after another round of discouragement comes in. Watch the hilarious video below.

 

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No appreciation for my singing #lockdownwiththejohars

A post shared by Karan Johar (@karanjohar) on May 7, 2020 at 11:49pm PDT

Arjun Kapoor came up with a fresh reason why the kids might have got a headache, and dropped the funniest comment. "U just wear simple clothes," he wrote. Well!

Karan's children have earlier brutally fat-shamed him, saying that he resembles an elephant. This one was mild in comparison!

Ahead of Mother's day, Kajol spoke to a daily about motherhood and the bond she shares with her kids. Kajol got married to actor Ajay Devgn in 1999 and the two went on to become parents to two beautiful kids- Nysa and Yug.

When she conceived Nysa, Kajol had only one thought and that was to ace this test of motherhood. However, she soon realized that it is no cakewalk and it took her six months to realize that she can't do it alone. Kajol said that her children make her want to be a better and fun person.

Kajol also revealed that her children have not watched too many of her films. She said that it is because she hasn't made many and according to the kids, Kajol cries too much and makes them cry too.

While talking about her bond with her mother Tanuja, Kajol said that the relationship they share is the best and that they never discuss work. She said that her mother gave a lot of advice but never listened to it until she landed in a problem.

ALSO READ: From working with Shah Rukh Khan to Ajay Devgn not cooking for her, Kajol makes some interesting revelations during her chat session