巴拉特

作者： bharat.cn

  • Social distancing became the ‘it’ thing in the nation on Thursday as Indians settled into the second day fo 21-day lockdown

    Social distancing became the ‘it’ thing in the nation on Thursday as Indians settled into the second day fo 21-day lockdown. Several interesting cases of social distancing means came forward, while good samaritans made headlines for helping out poor and needy during the lockdown in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

    The central and states governments continued to make efforts to sort of glitches in the home delivery services for essential goods like groceries and dairy. MPs and MLAs cutting across party lines, celebrities, business heads and Bollywood celebs came forward to pitch in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed the lives of over 22,000 people across the globe.

    Fresh casualties reported from Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan took India’s total toll to 17, while the number of cases confirmed as positive for Covid-19 reached 694. It is a jump of 88 cases in one day. During the lockdown, heartbreaking reports of migrant labourers leaving for their homes on foot have emerged. Chief ministers of different states have pleaded others to help these migrants in times of crisis.

    The health ministry said that the lockdown has been successful in breaking the chain of transmission as is ‘evident from the stability in the rate of increase in numbers’. However, a ministry official said, that everyone will have to stick to lockdown guidelines issued by the government to ensure that we come out of the lockdown victorious.

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a G20 meet via video conferencing. During the meeting, PM Modi pitched for developing a new crisis management protocol to deal with the global health crisis and urged the powerful G20 grouping to work towards addressing shockwaves triggered by the pandemic. As per MEA briefing, G20 leaders have agreed to take all necessary measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and protect people.

    Total number of cases

    The number of coronavirus cases climbed to 694 in India on Thursday. According to the ministry data, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country stood at 633, while 44 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated.

    The total number of 694 cases included 47 foreign nationals, the ministry data said.

    Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases so far at 124, including three foreign nationals, followed by Kerala, where the number of cases has climbed up to 118, including eight foreign nationals, according to the ministry data.

    The number of cases in Karnataka has gone up to 55 while cases in Telangana rose to 44, including 10 foreigners.

    The number of cases in Gujarat has climbed to 43, including a foreigner.

  • People receive food at a government shelter in New Delhi, after the lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus meant many poor people were unable to make a living

    People receive food at a government shelter in New Delhi, after the lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus meant many poor people were unable to make a living

    People receive food at a government shelter in New Delhi, after the lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus meant many poor people were unable to make a living

    India has unveiled a US$22 billion package to provide food rations and cash transfers to about 800 million people hit by the coronavirus lockdown.
    Although India had a record harvest and has enough reserves, there are concerns about the food supply chain disruptions, especially for the poor

    When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that a 21-day nationwide lockdown would take effect from Wednesday to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus, anxious Indians thronged grocery shops and vegetable stores in a spate of panic buying.
    But authorities were quick to offer reassurances of sufficient grains such as wheat and rice for the country’s 1.3 billion people for the next four months, thanks to record harvests.
    On Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an initial 1.7 trillion rupee (US$22.5 billion) package chiefly targeting poor households, while prioritising food distribution.
    Under the newly launched “Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Jojana” (Prime Minister’s Poor Welfare Scheme), each individual who already benefited from a subsidised public distribution system will be able to receive an additional five kilograms of either wheat or rice, and each household will get one kilogram of pulses free of cost for the next three months. The package will benefit about 800 million people.
    Direct cash transfers of between 500 and 2,000 rupees will also be made to the most economically vulnerable, such as farmers, daily wage labourers, construction workers, disabled people, poor widows, and women self-help groups.

    “No one will go hungry,” Sitharaman promised.

  • 如何封锁13亿人口

    贫穷流动人口

    根据国际劳工组织(International Labour Organization)数据，印度至少有90％的劳动力是在非正规部门，包括保安员，清洁工，人力车夫，街头小贩，垃圾收集者和家庭帮佣。

    大多数人没有退休金，病假，带薪假或任何保险。许多人没有银行帐户，依靠现金收入来满足日常需求。

    一名人力车司机说自己已经4天没有收入了。
    很多人是移民工人，这意味着他们应当是来自外邦的工人。然后是流动人口的问题：这是指那些在很长一段时间内没有生活定居在任何邦的人，他们在全国四处流动寻找工作。

    北方邦前首席部长雅达夫（Akhilesh Yadav）坦白挑战十分艰巨，他称“全球没有任何一个政府面对过这些挑战”。

    “所有政府都需要迅速采取闪电行动，因为情况每天都在变化。我们需要启动大型社区厨房并向需要的人提供食物。我们需要分发现金，大米和小麦-不论来自哪个邦，” 他说道。

    印度铁路现已暂停所有载客服务直至3月31日。但是，在3月23日禁运开始前几天，成千上万的农民工乘坐火车从德里，孟买和艾哈迈达巴德等受到严重打击的城市前往他们在北方邦的村庄里的家乡。这增加了病毒社区传播之风险，专家们担心，未来两周对印度来说是最具挑战性的。

    但是，并不是每个人都能负担得起回去村庄所需的路费。

    在北部城市阿拉哈巴德（Allahabad）担任人力车拉夫的拉尔（Kishan Lal）说，过去四天他没有赚到一块钱。

    他说：“我需要赚钱养活我的家人。我听说政府将给我们钱补贴，但我不知道何时以及如何能拿到。”

    他的朋友哈桑（Ali Hasan）在一家商店做清洁工，说他已经没有钱买食物了。

    “商店两天前关门了，我没有拿到薪水。我不知道何时商店会重新营业。我很害怕。我还有一个家庭，该如何养活他们？” 他问。