巴拉特

作者： bharat.cn

  • Several cities across the country saw the lockdown restrictions being eased. Folk artists perform at Jaipur’s iconic Jantar Mantar

    Several cities across the country saw the lockdown restrictions being eased. Folk artists perform at Jaipur’s iconic Jantar Mantar

    everal cities across the country saw the lockdown restrictions being eased with even traffic snarls returning back on roads on day 1 of the government’s Unlock 1 as the nationwide tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases crossed 1.9 lakh.

    STREETS COME ALIVE AGAIN IN TAMIL NADU

    After a hiatus of 68 days, government-run buses resumed operations in a limited manner in Tamil Nadu on Monday except in Chennai and three nearby districts while autorickshaws, which were already plying in other parts of the state, hit the roads in Chennai.

    Also, intra-state passenger train services were back on track in Tamil Nadu

    connecting key places for the first time since the Covid-19 lockdown was announced on March 24 and the resumption of public transport, albeit, curtailed, brought cheers to the general public.

    NO TAKERS FOR RAJASTHAN MONUMENTS

    After over two months of closure due to the coronavirus lockdown, monuments and tourists places in Rajasthan reopened on Monday with cultural events and performances by folk artists, but there was no footfall.

    Domestic tourists mostly visit these places during the summer season and they can be expected in the next few days.

    Folk artists perform at Jaipur’s iconic Jantar Mantar.

    Barring the high-risk areas where the authorities have clamped a curfew to check the coronavirus spread, shops reopened in the Jaipur’s walled city after over a gap of two months on Monday.

    However, the response from people remained lukewarm as a majority of shops in the main markets of the walled city reopened.

    LUCKNOW BOUNCES BACK TO LIFE

    In Lucknow, Alambagh, Nahariya Chauraha, VIP Road and Rae Bareli road tri-section, which had virtually turned into zones of silence following the imposition of lockdown, witnessed a flurry of activities and clamorous honking of vehicles.

    After relaxing curbs on movement, traffic congestion also witnessed at some places in Lucknow as the government allowed two people (rider and pillion) on two-wheelers and private cabs to ply as well.

    Markets opened in the city on the basis of the left-right formula as directed by the district administration.

    In Allahabad, shops in Civil Lines opened, and the Hanuman Mandir Chauraha, which wore a deserted look since Holi, witnessed the movement of people and vehicles.

    Shops in Banda also opened on Monday and UPSRTC buses to other districts of the state also started plying.

    ODISHA ANNOUNCES WEEKEND SHUTDOWN

    Amid a spike in Covid-19 cases and reports suggesting that outbreak might peak in June, Odisha on Monday announced weekend shutdown for the month in 11 districts of the state, anticipating that people might venture out in large numbers as the Centre has eased lockdown curbs.

    The state government has also prohibited all sorts of public congregations across the state till month-end, Chief Secretary A K Tripathy said.

    “Educational institutions, including schools, colleges, coaching centres, will remain closed till the end of July, while places of worship will be shut for devotees up to June 30. Similarly, shopping malls, cinema halls, swimming pools and gyms will also remain closed till June-end, he said.

    Hotels, however, will be allowed to reopen with just 30 per cent occupancy, but their restaurants will be operating only for in-house requirements, the chief secretary said.

    The two-day shutdown would be implemented in Bolangir, Nayagarh and nine coastal districts, including Khurda, Cuttack, Puri, Kendrapara and Balasore, in view of “high-case load” in these places, he said.

    CENTRE GIVES BOOST TO MSMES, FARMERS, STREET VENDORS

    The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and farm sectors received major boosts on Monday as the Union Cabinet approved relief packages announced earlier by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with a few new reliefs.

    The Cabinet approved a package worth Rs 20,000 crores which will benefit 2 lakh MSME units, Union minister Prakasha Javadekar said. The government also approved a Rs 50,000 crore package for the street vendors. Under this package, street vendors, including hawkers, cobblers and salons, can get a loan of Rs 10,000. The Union minister said that at least 50 lakh vendors will benefit from this scheme.

  • Unlock Day 1. A traffic jam was seen on the Delhi-Haryana border after CM Kejriwal’s announcement

    Unlock Day 1. A traffic jam was seen on the Delhi-Haryana border after CM Kejriwal’s announcement

    Unlock Day 1: Cities come alive with eased curbs even as total coroanvirus cases cross 1.90 lakh

    Several cities across the country saw the lockdown restrictions being eased with even traffic snarls returning back on roads on day 1 of the government’s Unlock 1 as the nationwide tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases crossed 1.9 lakh.

    Life returned to near normal in many parts of the country as several restrictions were eased in the fifth phase of the lockdown that began on Monday.

    Roads bustled with traffic as people came out in large numbers to visit markets, which are now open for longer hours.

    After the Centre allowed lifting of restrictions on inter-state movement of people, several states also began allowing various activities that have been restricted since March 25, when the nationwide lockdown came into effect to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

    DELHI OPENS BARBERSHOPS, CLOSES BORDER

    In the national capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the reopening of barbershops and salons, among various other relaxations, but said spas will remain closed for now. A complete lockdown in containment zones will continue till June 30.

    Kejriwal also said there will be no restrictions on the number of people travelling in four-wheelers, two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws, e-rickshaws and other vehicles in the city.

    A traffic jam was seen on the Delhi-Haryana border after CM Kejriwal’s announcement.

    Now, all shops in the markets will be permitted to function, Kejriwal said.

    He, however, said Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh will be sealed for a week in the wake of rising coronavirus cases in the city and sought suggestions from the people by Friday to reopen them.

    GUJARAT OPENS UP AGAIN

    In Gujarat, life returned to near normal in many parts including in Ahmedabad, the state’s worst coronavirus-hit district, as several restrictions were eased.

    In Ahmedabad, a limited number of city buses began plying with 50 per cent seating capacity to maintain social distancing, while autorickshaws hit the roads for the first time in ten weeks, though the reduced number of passengers they have been permitted to ferry was a dampener.

  • Storms Like Amphan Have Made A Deal With The Natural World

    On May 20, it was the phase of the waning crescent, just one day to the new moon…the time for very high natural tides! So the threat from Amphan was extreme—the tidal surge would have swallowed more and more high ground. And seawater did indeed push 25 km inland. Shrinking high ground would mean no ‘social distancing’. Putting prey within reaching distance of predator, with no escape route, sounds like nature playing a cruel joke on one species. But again, a tiger is not a wanton killer. It only kills when hungry. This writer has seen tigers pass by bait without making any attempt to kill them. Under Amphan, the universe of both predator and prey was equally threatened. No one would have been thinking of just a meal, literally.

    Talking of meals, the day after, the fast receding waters of the estuary leave ample fish in the eddies created on the shoreline and on the large cavities on the forest floor left by uprooted trees. It happens in the cities too. In an incident reported to the BBC on May 21, 2020, a unique sight had been spotted near the gates of Presidency University on College Street, Calcutta. A small catfish, marooned as the street waters receded back to the Hooghly, was being preyed on by a street dog. So imagine places where nature is bountiful! Tigers, fishing cats, otters having the time of their life; free meals literally, with no workload on their shoulders. The Amphan holds no bias, like a herd of elephants passing through a forest, and pulling down the high branches to the ground, scattering succulent leaves on the forest floor that would otherwise have been out of reach for the herbivores. As fresh rainwater trickles down the trunks of trees and drips off the tips of cupped palms of leaves, all take turns to sip at the nectar, for they had been drinking saline water till then.

    Why should humans be left out of their share of nature’s bounty? The huge cache of freshwater received by coastal river systems offers a chance for a sizeable influx of the dream fish of Bengal, the Hilsa! Wait for it to happen.