Thousands accused PM Janez Jansa of using the coronavirus crisis as a pretext to restrict freedoms.

A slow and steady weight loss plan is always a good idea, but losing weight too fast means putting your health at a risk which can lead to severe issues. So, be wise about undertaking excessive exercising or going for a crash diet. Pooja Chaudhary, wellness consultant, Healthians, an online diagnostic center that offers at-home services, lists down the common factors to take care of during a weight loss regime:

Losing weight around 0.45 kg-0.9 kg per week is a safe bet. But losing more than that can be considered as rapid weight loss which can have an impact on the health. At the start of exercise plan or diet plan, people witness a sudden weight loss of 2-3 kg. This is actually the water weight.

Angeli Misra, Co-founder of Lifeline Laboratory, lists down a few side effects of losing weight too fast:

1. It could damage your liver: Alcohol is not the only factor that puts you at a risk of developing a fatty liver. Sometimes following a surgery to reduce weight can also affect your liver.

2. Loose skin: Rapid weight loss leads to loose skin as skin loses elasticity.

3. It may slow down your metabolism: Excess of everything is bad. Excessive exercises and crash dieting can slow down your metabolism as you easily and soon get tired. Due to that your body works slow and you feel a sense of fatigue.

4. Other side effects: Losing weight fast by doing excessive exercise, swimming and crash diet may be linked to several other side effects like hunger, fatigue, irritability, muscle cramps, dizziness, constipation or diarrhea.

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Cars honk as they make their way through Bandra-Kurla Complex to get to offices or to the newest eatery that has set up shop in the swanky financial district, the people in them all but oblivious to a small park in the back lanes that acts as a haven for the city's youth.

Annul Pale from the Meteoric crew trains at City Park, BKC

You will find them all here - collegians skipping classes, teens on their skateboards, and a group of young men performing exhilarating tricks on their bicycles. These are the city's BMX riders, for whom cycles are not simply modes of transport, but a way to express themselves.

The Sharptune crew at the Cycling Festival of India, held last weekend at Nehru Centre, Worli. Pics/Ashish Raje

"There is a community of approximately 45 BMX riders in Mumbai. Many of us prac-tise here at City Park daily," says 22-year-old Manoj Jaiswal, a Sion resident who was introduced to the sport by his neighbour in 2011. "We used to train along Carter Road promenade and the streets of BKC, but cops would arrive and shoo us away. And no public park allowed us entry with our bicycles. We ran out of places, but eventually, this park's management allowed us to use it."

This struggle is not new to the BMXers, who often end up travelling to far-flung - and thus less crowded - locations like Kalyan and Navi Mumbai. After all, in a city starved of space for even pedestrians, it's hard to imagine people giving up their precious streets to a sport they view as - in Jaiswal's words - a circus act.

Dipak Panchal

The beginnings
BMX racing took off in California back in the 1970s, inspired by motocross. It didn't take time for its popularity to rise among the youth, and soon, you could find them trying tricks on their own cycles across the world.

Rahul Mulani

Bandra resident Rahul Mulani was among the first few to bring the BMX movement to Mumbai three decades ago. "When we started out around 1987, we used to practise at a parking lot near Scandal Point in Breach Candy. There were fewer cars in the city back then, so there was plenty of space for us," he says.

Manoj Jaiswal

Not just empty parking lots; the seafront promenades used to be fair game, too. Thirty-year-old Dipak Panchal, who dropped out of college to pursue his passion for BMX and now runs a bicycle store in south Mumbai, shares that even as late as 2005, he could be found practising his moves at Marine Drive.

"Lately, whenever I have tried to practise there, policemen passing by have come and stopped me. They have even deflated my bicycle's tires, and there have been times they've threatened to throw me in the back of their van," he says, adding, "If there is a rule preventing people from cycling on promenades, they can tell us that without being rude. They allow elderly gentlemen to cycle peacefully, and even though we're not causing any damage to people or property, we are treated like criminals."

So, to avoid such conflicts, his crew, Sharptune, practises at a space they have rented out in Bandra. Last week, at the city's first cycling festival, amidst panel discussions and stores exhibiting the latest gear, they got a chance to show off their skills, but such events are few and far between. Though Panchal and Mulani try and organise jams and competitions, sponsors are hard to come by.

Need of the hour
Today, Mulani and Panchal, as well as the rest of the community, stick to a handful of spaces, including their own building compounds, that they know won't draw any unwanted attention.

"Even skateboarders are now getting recognition. In 2015, Khar Social set up a ramp, but it is too small for us to practise on, even though our requirements are not too different from a skateboarder's," says Jaiswal, whose crew, Meteoric, comprises skateboarders too. And because BMX is hidden away from the spotlight, the community is growing slower than it would have, had its members been given the chance to showcase their skills in public without any fear of repercussions.

The problem in India, Panchal believes, is that cricket overshadows every other sport. This leads to other sports, especially extreme sports like BMX, being ridiculed and even neglected by the public and the authorities. "The country's first pump track came up in Hyderabad this year, and it was built by a private body. We don't see the Cycling Federation of India [CFI] taking any interest in the BMX community," says Mulani.

VN Singh, assistant secretary, CFI, which is based in New Delhi, says they can't do anything for the sport until it is officially recognised. "I know it's an Olympic sport, but until there are enough practitioners of BMX in the country, we can't provide any support," he says. He follows this up by saying that a pump track in Delhi is in the offing, but quickly adds that he doesn't know how long it will take. "You see, we don't have the funds for it."

Gone are those days when runways and red carpets were the only places to look out for latest fashion trends and styles, that too, only for the big events.

Thanks to social media, we have insta-looks for our daily life, with the very basic clothes and accessories in the cupboard.

The most influential women in fashion, like Gigi Hadid, Kim Kardashian West, Selena Gomez, Sonam Kapoor and others, give us major fashion goals, even while going to the gym, airport, a coffee run, and everything in between.

Relating to this, Vogue, in an article, wrote, 'Perhaps that micromanaged, not-quite-genuine feeling has something to do with our interest in the complete opposite: fashion that's less predictable, less deliberate, and maybe a little strange. The coolest stylists we're following aren't necessarily dressing top models or actresses; they're doing editorials for indie magazines, taking raw selfies in their own vintage finds, and getting noticed for it via Instagram.'

The fashion magazine even picked up three new fashion stylists on Instagram- Anastasiia Gutnyk, Leah Abbott, Ewelina Gralak- who can actually be our everyday guide to rule the world in style.

Anastasiia Gutnyk is based in the U.K. and grew up in Ukraine. Following her Instagram, it can be seen that she majorly style herself in fun and quirky manner, with the commonly available clothes and accessories, rarely made by major brands.

'With everything I do, I try to have fun with it. In my case, it's about the energy, which is backed up with lots of colour and kitsch,' she said, as quoted by Vogue.

Leah Abbott first got recognised for her own offbeat style on the streets of London and worked with stylist Luci Ellis before striking out her own.

'I got into styling during my final year at university, because I was constantly being asked where I sourced the pieces I wore on nights out,' Abbott said. 'Most of it was second-hand. As a curvy black stylist, I haven't always been able to fit in major 'markets,' so I guess that made me stand out.'

Ewelina Gralak, who started styling in her native Poland and now lives in downtown Manhattan, is known for her singularly off-kilter vision'a mash-up of ugly-pretty shoes, lace tights, neon camouflage, and street-wear.

'I just surround myself and wear the pieces that I like at the time,' she said. 'That could really be anything'I'm obsessed with Japanese workwear, '90s hip-hop culture, military clothing, early [Nicolas] Ghesquière, [Maison] Margiela, Raf [Simons], and Alaïa. Mix that all together, add my Polish [upbringing] in the early 00's, and that's it.'

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The Centre on Monday said that around 50 journalists testing positive for COVID-19 in Mumbai is very unfortunate.

"Journalists testing positive for COVID-19 is very unfortunate news. When you (journalists) attend your call of duty, kindly take the required precautions, follow the norms of social distancing and wear face masks," Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare said at a daily briefing here.

#WATCH Journalists testing positive for #COVID19 is very unfortunate news. When you (journalists) attend your call of duty, kindly take the required precautions, follow the norms of social distancing & wear face masks: Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry pic.twitter.com/0Xu9vP9xLw

— ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2020

This comes as 53 journalists in Mumbai tested positive for COVID-19. All of them are under isolation, according to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Responding to a question of whether asymptomatic people need to be tested, Agarwal said, "80 per cent cases are asymptomatic and mild symptoms and we can track them. Sampling criteria is very clear that anyone who needs to be tested will be sampled."

"We have been highlighting that there are two criteria of concerns -- areas having a large number of cases, areas having the rate of growth of cases is high and the doubling rate is low," he added. Agarwal stated health officials are ensuring effective intervention so that affected areas do not lead to a large number of cases further.

"We are coordinating with states and district administration and take necessary action. Three teams of the central government have been sent to Maharashtra which is working in Pune, Mumbai and a team co-ordinating between Maharashtra state with central government and district administrations," he said. Agarwal said that India's COVID-19 doubling rate has improved to 7.5 days from 3.4 days before the lockdown was enforced.

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The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 to further extend the lockdown for a further period of two weeks beyond May 4.

The current lockdown period is scheduled to end on May 3.

"After a comprehensive review and in view of the lockdown measures having led to significant gains, the COVID-19 situation in the country, Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, today, to further extend the lockdown for a further period of two weeks beyond May 4, 2020," read the order of the Home Ministry.

The Central government also listed 319 districts of the country as green zones, 284 as orange and 130 as red zones. This classification, which will come in force for a week after May 3, is multi-factorial and takes into consideration incidence of cases, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback to classify the districts.

Maharashtra, which accounts for the highest number of cases and deaths, has 14 red zones which include Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Pune, Thane, Palghar, Nashik, Nagpur, Solapur, Yavatmal, Aurangabad, Satara, Dhule, Akola, Jalgaon.

Uttar Pradesh has 19 red zones,  followed by Tamil Nadu with 12 red zones and 11 in Delhi. The national capital has no orange and green zones but only red zones.

In red zones and outside containment zones, certain activities including plying of cycle rickshaws and auto-rickshaws, taxis and cab aggregators, intra-district and inter-district plying of buses and barber shops, spas and salons will be prohibited in addition to those prohibited throughout India.

A limited number of activities will remain prohibited across the country, irrespective of the zone, including travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road, running of schools, colleges, and other educational and training/coaching institutions, the order said.

This came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with chief ministers of several states last month where some of them suggested extension of lockdown.

Highlights of lockdown 3.0

• MHA issues new guidelines to regulate activities during extended lockdown based on risk profiling of districts into red, orange, green zones.
• Travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road and schools, colleges to remain shut during extended lockdown
• Educational, training, coaching institutions and hospitality services including hotels and restaurants to remain close during lockdown
• Places of large gatherings such as cinema halls, malls, gyms and places of political, cultural gatherings to remain shut, says MHA
• Movement for all non-essential activities will be prohibited between 7 pm and 7 am.
• People living in COVID-19 containment zones must download 'Aarogya Setu' app 
• Religious places and places of worship will remain shut during lockdown
• In all COVID-19 zones, people above 65, those with comorbidities, pregnant women to stay at home, except for essential works
• OPDs, medical clinics shall be permitted to operate in red, orange and green zones with social distancing norms during lockdown
• In COVID-19 red zones and outside containment areas plying of cycle-rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, taxis, opening of salons prohibited
• Sale of liquor, paan, tobacco to be allowed in green zones after ensuring minimum six-feet social distancing; not over 5 persons at one time at shop
• In COVID-19 red zones movement of individuals, vehicles allowed only for permitted activities during lockdown
• Maximum of 2 persons, besides driver, in four wheelers, no pillion rider on two wheelers

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The government on Friday announced that a "limited" lockdown, including suspension of inter-state travel, air and train services, will continue to remain in force for another two weeks throughout the country from May 4 but some activities would be allowed after classifying areas into Red, Orange and Green zones. The government order, which announced extension of the lockdown invoking the Disaster Management Act, said a limited number of activities would remain prohibited throughout the country, irrespective of the zone.

These prohibited activities include travel by air, rail, Metro and inter-state movement by road, running of schools, colleges, and other educational and training hospitality services, cinema halls, malls, gymnasiums and sports complexes. All social, political, cultural and other kinds of gatherings and religious places or places of worship for public will also remain shut, the order said but added that movement of persons by air, rail and road is allowed for select purposes, and for purposes as permitted by MHA.

The home ministry also issued new guidelines to regulate different activities in this period, based on the risk profiling of the districts of the country into new zones with Red signifying a hotspot.

A health worker cleans an area near Jhalar Math slum, in Kolkata on Friday. Pic/PTI

Divided into zones

The Union health ministry has listed 130 districts in the country in red zone, 284 in orange zone and 319 in green zone on the basis of incidence of cases of COVID-19, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback.

This classification of districts is to be followed by states and UTs till a week post May 3, when the second phase of lockdown will end, for containment operations. The list will be revised on a weekly basis or earlier and communicated to states for further follow-up action. Metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad have been designated as red zones in the new classification.

Zone assessment erroneous: Bengal

West Bengal Principal Secretary (Health), Vivek Kumar has written to Union Health Secretary, Preeti Sudan, calling the Centre's assessment of 10 red zones in the state "erroneous". Kumar said in a letter that there are only four red zones — Kolkata, Howrah, North-24 Paraganas and Purba Medinipur. "With regard to the presentation made in the cabinet secretary's video conference with the states, 10 districts were shown in the red zone. This is an erroneous assessment," the letter said.

K'taka cases rise; WB asks clinics to open up

• The COVID-19 total in Karnataka rose to 576 with the addition of 11 new cases, the health department said on Friday. "Eleven new positive cases have been reported from last evening to this noon... Till date, 576 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed," it said.
• Wearing of facial mask in public and work spaces has been made compulsory in the city with violations to attract penalty of Rs 1,000 for first time as part of measures to fight COVID-19. Spitting, urinating and littering in public places have also been banned and such acts will be considered as public offence in the Karnataka capital.
• With Haryana government sealing its borders with Delhi to contain COVID-19 spread, scores of people commuting to Gurugram were sent back on Friday by the state police, which only allowed passage of those associated with essential services.
• The Tamil Nadu government on Friday said it has received over Rs 300 crore in cash and kind towards its battle against Coronavirus. Government employees, corporate entities, individuals, philanthropic organisations and others have contributed Rs 306.42 crore for this purpose to the CM's Public Relief Fund so far.
• Two days after West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee appealed to all doctors across the state to resume private practices in their respective neighbourhoods, majority of private healthcare clinics remained closed owing to unavailability of community physicians on Friday.

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The Tourism Ministry and the IRCTC have enlisted 60 bloggers from 23 countries, including India, as part of a new publicity blitz to write on luxury trains run by the railways and improve their dwindling occupancy rate. The first-of-its-kind venture will allow the bloggers to take a week-long journey on Palace on Wheels, Maharaja Express, Deccan Odyssey and Golden Chariot in groups of 15 on each of the trains, a tourism ministry statement said today. The first 15 bloggers started their journey today on the Palace on Wheels from Safdarjung Railway Station in New Delhi.

The decision to promote travel on the trains comes after a recent parliamentary panel report pointed out that the occupancy rate during past four years - starting in 2012-13 - had been 29.86 per cent, 32.33 per cent, 41.8 per cent, 41.58 per cent and 36.03 per cent respectively. It had also said that most of the seats on these trains were occupied by passengers who had complimentary tickets. The bloggers, who have been chosen on the basis of their number of followers, will travel to destinations in various states across India on the trains and write about them. "The campaign will generate widespread publicity for the luxury trains as well as the destinations visited, by way of blogs, videos and photos published by the bloggers or Instagramers on their experiences of their journey.

Needless to say this initiative would benefit the railways and the luxury train operators to a large extent", the statement said. The second group will leave Delhi on Maharaja Express on February 10, and the third group is scheduled to leave on Deccan Odyssey on the same day from the Chaatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai. The final group will leave on Golden Chariot on February 19 from Bengaluru on a week-long journey.

The Railway Board, the state sovernments of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka and the IRCTC - the tourism arm of the railways - have joined hands to host the bloggers, according to the statement.

The Italian Department of Finance has released new lists of government and private sector entities covered by Italy's split-payment mechanism.

The Bermuda Government on January 31, 2018, updated the lists of the countries with which it will exchange country-by-country reports filed in Bermuda in 2018 and in 2019.

HM Revenue and Customs has written to VAT-registered businesses that trade with the EU, advising them on how to prepare for changes to customs, excise, and VAT in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Jeremy Latcham has an important role to play. Entertainment One has inked a first-look deal with Marvel Studios alum Jeremy Latcham, with Dungeons & Dragons set as the first project.

Having a baby is one of the best things that could happen in your life - but sadly it could also be the worst thing that could happen to your finances. We discuss the effects of the gender pay gap. Plus FT Money editor Claer Barrett talks to guests about what kind of investor Adrian Mole could have grown into. And what could happen to the 'best buy' lists used by fund supermarkets in the wake of the Woodford scandal?

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Providing every primary school in the country with access to at least one specialist science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teacher could be possible if teachers are incentivised to acquire STEM specialisations and collaboration between schools is prioritised.

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