'On Wednesday, April 1, the Uttar Pradesh Police in Faizabad registered an FIR against The Wire on the complaint of an individual under Sections 188 and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code. Section 188 refers to disobedience of an order issued by a public servant and 505 (2) to “statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes”. The FIR cites a passage without mentioning the date or headline of the article it is drawn from... The founding editors of The Wire have issued a statement in response to the FIR, which is appended below...'
'‘Stay home and stay safe’, the global slogan to contain the spread of coronavirus doesn’t sound too convincing to Mohammed Hakim and his associates who, unlike many other migrants, were forced to stay back and are battling hunger each day. Their names are listed on ration cards but the cards, along with their families, are at home in Bihar. Living five to six persons in one windowless room at shanties behind the Jal Vihar bus terminal in the shadow of the posh Lajpat Nagar 1 colony in Delhi, they are now struggling to get one meal a day...'
'In the week since India locked down to contain the spread of Covid-19, Sanjay Tadas has been unable to go to work and wears a homemade grey mask when he steps out of his lane. Apart from that, however, little has changed in the way he and his family live inside Shiv Nagar slum in Mumbai’s Andheri suburb. “We are six of us living in one 100-sq-ft room, so maintaining distance from each other is impossible, of course,” said Tadas, a clerk in municipal office in Mumbai. At night, Tadas, his wife and four children squeeze in next to each other as they always do.
'Renuka Devi, who lives in Bengaluru, is staring at an uncertain future. For the next two weeks of the lockdown, the 32-year-old, who works as domestic help, is not going to get her monthly salary. Renuka works in multiple households to earn enough to run and manage her household. With the lockdown, several of her employers have refused to pay her and she is struggling to sustain her livelihood. Just like many women across India, who work as domestic helps, Renuka too is struggling to buy ration and does not have the privilege of social distancing in times of a pandemic.
'As doctors in Kashmir complain of not having enough personal protection gear and N95 masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government on Wednesday issued an order, saying that "strict action will be initiated against such elements who resort to such uncalled for reporting to media.” A senior official said some of the doctors are disobeying the rules and instead of doing actual work during this pandemic, they are airing their views liberally about minor issues, which is creating confusion...'
'On 30 March, Dr Harsh Vardhan, India’s health minister, chaired a meeting to review the nation’s COVID-19 testing strategy. While the Modi administration has been reluctant to expand testing, the novel coronavirus has marched away from India’s megacities, and emerging evidence suggests that testing gaps will hamstring efforts to contain hotspots in smaller cities and rural areas.
'Sale of cow urine has picked up in Gujarat as belief that it has immunity boosting property gains ground in the state amid the coronavirus outbreak. Vallabh Kathiria, chairman of Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog, told ET that consumption of goumutra (cow urine) and goumutra ark, or condensed cow urine, in the state has risen significantly after the coronavirus outbreak to about 6,000 litres a day. Cow urine has long been promoted by cow entrepreneurs as a panacea for a myriad of ailments.
'Delhi police have asked residents’ welfare associations to spy and report on people stepping out for morning or evening walks, or even moving about on the compound, attracting charges of trying to create a “police state”. The advisory, which asks the RWAs to go through CCTV footage to identify those violating the lockdown, says people with valid reasons to step out will not face action.
'There is now a real fear that slums of Mumbai could turn out to be a big challenge in Maharashtra’s war against COVID-19, with an estimated 54 per cent of the total population of Greater Mumbai residing in them and 89 of the 203 positive cases in the ‘Maximum City’ being reported from such clusters...
'...Sangeeta from Sudhama Puri, who worked as a house help, said she is six months pregnant and is concerned over the money required for her child’s birth. “When she [employer] needed me, she used to make so many calls. Now, she hasn’t even asked me how I am managing, whether I am alive or not. She deducted money for 10 days and when I asked for her help, she did not even open the door and treated me like an untouchable,” said Sangeeta. She last went to work on March 22.
