'Twenty eight-year-old Mohammad Javed, driver of a truck carrying LPG cylinders, has been stranded at the Hubli checkpost since Tuesday afternoon without food, water or any hope. The policemen posted at the border would not allow him to cross over as the COVID-19 lockdown is to be followed stringently. Javed is among some 500,000 drivers and helpers left high and dry across the many state borders, estimates made by the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT) suggest.
'Derek Gomes is 77 years old and needs kidney dialysis three times a week. His wife Jennifer Gomes depends on auto rickshaws to take him to the Nanavati Hospital, four km away from their flat in Khar in Mumbai. But she is worried she won’t find one for the next 21 days. Prabir Kumar Banerjee, 79, needs to complete his four-month-long chemotherapy cycle for bone marrow cancer. The resident of Faridabad, Haryana, has appointments at the Apollo Hospital in Delhi on March 25 and April 1.
'Ardra Narayanan, a student-activist in Bengaluru who was arrested by Bengaluru police for holding a “Muslim, Kashmiri, Bahujan, Adivasi, Trans liberation now” placard a month ago, was released on bail on Tuesday after a month.
'It’s been an unusual Monday afternoon for Dharmanath Sapera, who, instead of his usual routine of collecting scrap or working at construction sites, is spending the day worrying about arranging the next day’s meal for his family of nine members... “We went to the chowkri (a place for daily wage labourers to seek work) today, but the police drove us away. They told us to stay at home. If we stay at home, how will we feed our families? We are dependent on our daily income as we don’t have savings,” Sapera, a father of six, told The Indian Express...'
'Police in Hyderabad and Delhi assaulted at least four journalists yesterday, as India began a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to news reports and journalists who spoke to CPJ. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a statement yesterday, reiterating that journalists are exempt from the lockdown and are free to do their work without any restriction.
'Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said that if the people did not adhere to the curfew implemented across the state, he would be forced to issue 'shoot at sight' orders and appealed to citizens to ensure that the situation does not get out of hand. "If people don't listen to the police, we will need to impose curfews and issue shoot at sight orders. If then also people don't listen, then we will have to deploy the Army. Is that necessary? Should it come to that? People should reflect on this and exercise restraint. We should not make things worse.
'Despite journalists, doctors, nurses and health workers being exempted from the state lock down as they are enlisted under ‘essential services' by the Telangana government, several reports have emerged of them being attacked by the police on the first day of curfew. Curfew has been imposed in the state from 7 pm to 6 am as part of the lockdown. On Monday, Bureau Chief of The Hindu, Ravi Reddy was physically assaulted and abused by the Begumpet police, for being on the road, during the curfew hours. Reddy was returning home after work.
'The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing has closed a case against former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family members, where they were accused of falsifying a property document while selling land, an official said on Tuesday. Scindia quit the Congress on March 10 and later joined the BJP. His resignation from the Congress triggered a revolt in the Madhya Pradesh party unit, with 22 MLAs who belong to his camp also tendering their resignations. This led to collapse of the Kamal Nath-led state government last week...'
'Residents say that the police were also beating them up after being seen at grocery stores... Several residents of Bengaluru city have complained that police personnel, deployed to enforce the lockdown, have been shutting down grocery stores and drinking water units. This, despite the Karnataka Chief Secretary Vijay Bhaskar issuing an order that clearly said that grocery stores are essential services that will be allowed to operate...'
'Processors and importers are finding it hard to keep up the supply of essential commodities with most markets, such as vegetables, edible oil, grain and pulses being disrupted either because they don’t have workers, or transport facilities are not smooth. If such a situation continues for long, scarcity could be a major problem, say market leaders. In Mumbai, grain offtake has doubled to 100,000 bags of 30 kg each a day over the past few days.
