19

राजस्थान में कोरोना वायरस के 19 नए मामले, 2383 हुई संक्रमित मरीजों की संख्या

राजस्थान में कोविड-19 के 19 नए मामले आने के साथ ही कोरोना वायरस संक्रमितों की संख्या बुधवार सुबह बढ़कर 2,383 हो गई।




19

कोविड-19: राजस्थान में आज तीन और मौत, 33 नए मामले, संक्रमितों की संख्या 2617 हुई

राजस्थान में शुक्रवार को कोरोना वायरस संक्रमण से तीन और लोगों की मौत हो गई। राज्य में इस घातक वायरस से मरने वालों की संख्या 61 हो गई है। इस बीच 33 नए मामले आने से राज्य में संक्रमितों की संख्या बढकर 2,617 हो गई।




19

13 बसों में 319 लोग उत्तराखंड, लेह और जम्मू-कश्मीर रवाना, आज हरदोई के लिए चलेगी ट्रेन

कोरोना महामारी के चलते मोहाली में फंसे दूसरे राज्यों के युवाओं और लोगों को भेजने का सिलसिला जारी है।




19

कोविड-19: छत्तीसगढ़ के गांवों में कोरोना को लेकर जागरुकता फैला रही है ये महिला ब्रिगेड

महिला कमांडो का नेतृत्व करने वाली शमशाद बेगम ने कहा, 'हमने सोचा कि कोरोना वायरस को लेकर लोगों को जागरूक करने में हमारी भूमिका महत्वपूर्ण हो सकती है और इसलिए हम महामारी से लड़ने के लिए जिला प्रशासन के साथ काम करने लगे।'




19

Covid-19: क्या टेस्ट बढ़ने से भारत में तेजी से सामने आ रहे हैं कोरोना वायरस के मामले

लाख जतन के बावजूद यह अनजान बीमारी कम होने की बजाय लगातार बढ़ रही है




19

पत्नी अरुणा को आनंद के जल्द वापसी की उम्मीद, कोविड-19 लॉकडाउन के चलते जर्मनी में फंसे

पांच बार के विश्व चैंपियन विश्वनाथन आनंद कोविड-19 के कारण यात्रा संबंधी पाबंदियों के चलते जर्मनी में फंसे हैं।




19

विदेशी खिलाड़ियों के बिना शुरू हो सकती है चीनी लीग, कोविड-19 के कारण हुई थी स्थगित

कोरोना के कारण स्थगित कर दी गई चाइनीज सुपर लीग (सीएसएल) पॉलिन्हो और मार्को अर्नातोविच जैसे स्टार विदेशी खिलाड़ियों के बिना अगले महीने से शुरू हो सकती है।




19

कोविड-19: बिहार में आज सामने आए चार नए मामले, संक्रमितों की संख्या 407 हुई

देशभर में कोरोना वायरस मरीजों की संख्या बढ़ती जा रही है। बिहार में भी कोविड-19 संक्रमितों की संख्या में बढ़ोतरी दर्ज की जा रही है। शुक्रवार को बिहार में कोरोना वायरस के चार नए मामले सामने आए।




19

दूसरे राज्यों से बिहार लौटे लोगों में 19 कोरोना पॉजिटिव, राजस्थान के भीलवाड़ा में कर्फ्यू के 50 दिन पूरे

बिहार में कोरोना वायरस के मरीजों की संख्या में लगातार बढ़ोतरी हो रही है। प्रदेश में शुक्रवार को कोरोना के 24 नए मामले सामने आए। इनमें 19 वो लोग हैं जो तीन दिन पहले दूसरे राज्यों से विशेष ट्रेन से वापस लौटे हैं। 




19

More than 900 COVID-19 cases at Cargill plant, but governments allow it to reopen

Karl Nerenberg

Cargill Incorporated is the largest privately held company in the United States, and that means it is essentially a family business. 

You cannot buy Cargill shares on the Toronto, New York or any other stock exchange. The descendants of William Cargill, who founded the company in 1865 as a grain storage operation, own 90 per cent of the company.

But if it is a family business, Cargill is no mom-and-pop operation. 

The company has grown over the past century and a half into a multi-tentacled corporate behemoth, involved in everything from grain to livestock to potash to steel to transport to financial services. In 2018, Cargill and its various subsidiaries reported revenues of over $110 billion

Cargill has operations on five continents, in more than 70 countries, including Canada, and the company's meat-packing plant in High River, Alberta is a tiny piece of that worldwide empire. 

In this country, however, the High River plant has an extremely high profile. It is one of the epicentres of COVID-19 in Canada -- in all of North America, in fact -- with over 900 reported cases out of 2,000 employees. That's almost half the workforce.  

Two people have died in connection with the Cargill outbreak -- one, a plant worker originally from Vietnam; the other, an infected plant worker's father, who had been visiting from the Philippines.

Cargill initially resisted pleas from workers and their union to close the plant, but finally relented, in late April. After only two weeks, it hastily reopened, on Monday, May 4, giving the largely immigrant workforce the Hobson's choice of either going back to a potentially fatal workplace or losing their jobs. 

Neither the workers, nor their union think the plant has become safe. 

The union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), has gone to court to force a shutdown, until Cargill can absolutely guarantee safe and healthy conditions for all employees. 

The UFCW does not think the notoriously low-paid plant workers should have to risk their lives to fatten the balance sheet of a U.S.-based transnational corporation that ranks number 15 on the Fortune 500. 

Kenney and Trump on the same wavelength

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has a different view from that of the union and the workers it represents. 

The premier, and former Harper Conservative government cabinet minister, appropriates a concept meant to describe access to necessary basic foodstuffs we all need for sustenance – food security – and applies it to the much different situation of the High River plant. The Cargill workers have to do their part, the Alberta premier argues, to ensure food security for Canadians. 

The truth is that Canada's food security does not depend on meat from Cargill or any other commercial operation. 

If our local butcher runs out of hamburger for the barbecue, we all have other nutritious options. There are, for instance, the protein-packed pulses -- chickpeas, lentils and the like -- that farmers in Saskatchewan grow in great quantity. 

In the U.S., as in Canada, COVID-19 has been particularly hard on the meat-packing industry, forcing more than 20 plant closures, and causing meat shortages on grocery shelves. Some fast food chains have even had to take hamburgers off the menu. 

Corporate executives in the meat industry told U.S. President Trump that they were reluctant to reopen their U.S.-based plants for fear of lawsuits. The U.S. is a far more litigious country than Canada. 

The president's response was to give the corporations cover, by invoking the U.S. Defense Protection Act (DPA). In effect, the president is forcing the corporations to reopen their plants. 

The purpose of the DPA is to allow a president to harness the resources of private industry to serve public needs in time of war or national emergency. Many have urged Trump to invoke the act to assure production of personal protective equipment for front-line workers during the pandemic, but he has refused. 

Now, Trump is using the extraordinary powers of the DPA to force workers back to dangerous plants, while shielding their bosses from responsibility.

As for the High River Cargill plant workers, they fall under provincial labour jurisdiction. And the Alberta premier has already indicated he will not lift a finger to protect them. But there might be a way that federal authorities could step in.

Jagmeet Singh urges Trudeau government to act

In Canada, it is the federal government that has authority over food safety, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh believes the Trudeau team should assertively use that power to protect the Cargill workers.

Singh put the question to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland during the House of Commons' weekly face-to-face session on Wednesday, May 6.

"Food safety and worker safety cannot be divorced," Singh told the House. "Will the government ensure that the Cargill workers are in safe work conditions?"

Freeland, in a manner all-too-typical of Liberal politicians, dissimulated, offering sympathy but no action.

"The member opposite is quite right that where the federal government has particular authority in food processing is to guarantee the safety of the foods processed there for Canadians to eat," she said, and then expressed some vague sentiments of concern. "When it comes to Cargill and food processing, I agree with the member opposite that it's something we all need to be particularly concerned about, and we have been."

The NDP leader was not satisfied. 

"Will the government commit to using the authority that it has under food safety to ensure that workers are also safe, because there's no way that food can truly be safe if workers are in dangerous conditions and if workers are contracting COVID-19?" Singh asked, adding: "If workers are dying, the food can't be safe."

Freeland would not budge. The Trudeau government wants to get credit for caring, without pushing the envelope in dealing with the most prickly and confrontational provincial government in the country, Alberta's. 

"I think we all understand there is a very clear difference between the duty to inspect food which is produced and to ensure that that food is safe for Canadians, and even more sacred duty to ensure that workers are working in safe conditions," Freeland answered. "We take both of those extremely seriously and we are aware what falls specifically in our jurisdictions. Having said that, we care very much about all Canadian workers." 

Freeland's assertion that responsibility for the safety of a product that consumers eat does not include making sure a processing plant is not an active breeder of a deadly virus reflects a narrow and limited understanding of the federal role. 

There is no evidence of food borne transmission of COVID-19, or of food packaging carrying the virus, according to authorities in both the U.S. and Canada.

But experts have not always got it right about COVID-19 since the outbreak at the beginning of this year. At this stage, all we know for sure is that there remain many unanswered questions about it.

'The worst company in the world'

What is not in doubt is the kind of company we're dealing with. 

Not too long ago the U.S. environmental organization Mighty Earth undertook a study of the social and environmental impact of Cargill's operations and issued a report they called "The Worst Company in the World."

The report opens by stating "when it comes to addressing the most important problems facing our world, including the destruction of the natural environment, the pollution of our air and water, the warming of the globe, the displacement of Indigenous peoples, child labor, and global poverty, Cargill is not only consistently in last place, but is driving these problems at a scale that dwarfs their closest competitors."

The report details how Cargill has become more powerful than governments and has betrayed repeated promises to adhere to high environmental standards. 

"Nowhere is Cargill's pattern of deception and destruction more apparent than in its participation in the destruction of the lungs of the planet, the world's forests. Despite repeated and highly publicized promises to the contrary, Cargill has continued to bulldoze ancient ecosystems, sometimes within the bounds of lax laws -- and, too often, outside those bounds as well."

With the advent to power of virulently anti-environmental Trump in the U.S. and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, there is now virtually no limit, Mighty Earth says, to Cargill's capacity to ravage rainforests, savannahs and other vital habitats. 

Mighty Earth cites many examples. 

One of those is that of "the Gran Chaco, a 110-million-hectare ecosystem spanning Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay." 

This ecosystem "is one of the largest remaining continuous tracts of native vegetation in South America, second in size only to the Amazon rainforest. These forests are home to vibrant communities of Indigenous Peoples … who have depended on and coexisted with the Chaco forest for millennia."

Cargill, the report tells us, is now actively endangering both the people and other inhabitants of the Gran Chaco to produce a cash crop -- soy -- that feeds the animals which become Big Macs and Whoppers.

"Once the impenetrable stronghold of creatures like the screaming hairy armadillo, the jaguar, and the giant anteater, Cargill has infiltrated the Gran Chaco, bulldozing and burning to make way for vast fields of genetically modified soy."

Mighty Earth also documents Cargill's use of violence to subdue Indigenous peoples, its exploitative labour practices, including child labour, and its predatory practices that have driven competitors out of certain businesses. 

This is the company that Jason Kenney says must be allowed to operate, uninhibited by health concerns, to assure our food security. 

If you believe that, you might also believe that injecting bleach into your veins can cure COVID-19, or that, as many opinion leaders in the U.S. say, it is necessary to accept that thousands must die in the interests of what they call the economy. 

The owners of Cargill are not personally offering to sacrifice their lives. They are offering their employees' lives instead.

Karl Nerenberg has been a journalist and filmmaker for more than 25 years. He is rabble's politics reporter.

Image: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr

 





19

After the COVID-19 pandemic, older generations should reflect on the need for climate action

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a cornucopia of reflections about what is to be learned from it. One of the issues around which this has been the case is climate change.

There are a few ways in which climate change is linked to reflections on the pandemic. One of these links is seeing the pandemic and where there has been relative success in dealing with it as a good case study in the value of scientific advice over politics. The wish is that as a result science might regain a more secure foothold in the debate around climate change. This is generally coupled with a reflection on the extent to which the pandemic might have been even better prepared for and dealt with had early generic warnings about the likelihood of a pandemic been heeded, and also if warnings about the actual pandemic had been acted on earlier than they were at the beginning of 2020. The hope is that this lesson in the consequences of not heeding warnings will rub off on the climate change debate, if not on the most committed climate change deniers.

Another link between the pandemic and climate change is one less reflected on, although I did see at least one article on it, and that is the whole issue of inter-generational ethics that arises. The lock downs associated with COVID-19 tended to be justified on two grounds: One was containing the spread in such a way as to prevent health-care systems from being overwhelmed, and the other had to do with containing the spread of the virus for the sake of the those who were most likely to die from it, namely the elderly, an argument certainly borne out by the statistics even if it is the case that some younger people seem, for reasons yet to be determined, very vulnerable.

And so it was that multitudes of young people have had to put their lives and dreams on hold in order to safeguard the lives of many who are much older than them.  Young people have mostly willingly and without complaint acceded to the moral imperative and practical wisdom of sacrificing things like their personal, educational, athletic, travel, financial and/or employment hopes for the greater good, specifically for the older generation in their society. 

Other groups, like frontline health-care workers, and those newly classified as working in essential jobs, like grocery store workers, have also been asked to make a disproportionate sacrifice. But that is for another article on how their real value has been revealed -- and how that value should be recognized in the post-pandemic world (better wages for one thing). 

Unfortunately, the link between the demands on the young in the pandemic containment strategy and the debate on climate change manifests itself in observing, so far, the unwillingness of populations, and their governments, to demand a reverse moral imperative from older citizens when it comes to sacrifices they might make for the sake of younger and future generations. What are older citizens prepared to sacrifice to safeguard the quality of the lives younger citizens will lead in the coming decades, by substantially reducing our carbon footprint, and seriously dealing with other environmental challenges?

One could argue that, in the case of Canadians, the population has done its part by electing a majority of MPs committed to action on climate change, only to be let down by a government that wants to have its cake and eat it too on climate change by imposing a carbon tax and buying a pipeline. Nevertheless, as we emerge on the other side of the pandemic, hopefully sooner rather than later, it seems to me that there will be a new opportunity for moral reflection on what the generations owe each other. Of course right-wing politicians are always claiming to be worried about passing on fiscal debt to the next generation. But passing on an environmental deficit is a much more real and  serious issue. Part of the moral logic of pandemic containment has been asking one generation to sacrifice for another. It seems only fair then that the political debate about climate change should at some point soon become much more focused on what the older generation can do for the younger generation. Demanding real action from their political leaders, even if it means locking down or at the very least winding down lifestyles that have become ingrained would be a good start. And for those who can afford it, showing a willingness to pay higher taxes to build the infrastructure of a sustainable and livable future would also be in order.     

Bill Blaikie, former MP and MLA, writes on Canadian politics, political parties and Parliament.

Image: John Englart/Flickr

May 8, 2020




19

Strikers 1945 II Launches May 29 on Steam

City Connection announced it will release the 1997 shoot ’em up, Strikers 1945 II, for Windows PC via Steam on May 29. It will support English and Japanese language options.

Full Article



19

Local COVID-19 death rate higher than provincial; another senior dies

A centenarian who tested positive for COVID-19 has become the oldest local resident to die from the virus. The woman in her 100s was a resident of a long-term care or retirement home. She died on Thursday, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reported during its end-of-week epidemic data summary on Friday. “I would like to […]




19

City hall payouts for injuries, damages hit eight-year low in 2019

City of Windsor payouts on personal injury and property damage claims totaled $2.1 million in 2019, the lowest number in eight years. The total — for settlements as well as court decisions — was well below the $3 million budgeted for the hundreds of claims made each year against the city for everything from trip-and-falls, […]




19

Tech leaders talk about adapting to COVID-19

Windsor’s tech community came together Friday to share all the ways they are making the most of the COVID-19 pandemic. During an online event, leaders of seven local tech companies explained how they are dealing with, and capitalizing on the current pandemic. From the ability to scan facial temperatures, checking your blood for COVID-19 immunity, […]




19

There are many reasons why covid-19 contact-tracing apps may not work

Many countries are hoping to use contact-tracing apps to leave lockdown and suppress further coronavirus outbreaks, but the use of such technology has many issues




19

Why Temperature Screenings Alone Won't Protect People From Covid-19

While such a plan might sound appealing, it’s likely to provide a false sense of security




19

Teenager Accused of Leading Ring of 'Evil Geniuses' on £19.3 Million 'Cybercrime Spree'

The hacker in question hasn't even graduated high school yet.




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One Family’s Frantic Search to Get the Drugs to Combat COVID-19

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty

Marissa Guale is like all too many Americans right now. Her husband and father of her two children, Raul, is on a ventilator in a hospital on Long Island, fighting for his life while sick with COVID-19. Raul, a 34-year-old nurse, likely caught the disease while working in a nursing home. When the National Institutes of Health announced an emergency use authorization for the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir, Marissa scrambled friends and family on Facebook to figure out how to get access for Raul, emailing hospital administrators, senators, and doctors. They pressed the Guale family’s case for a potentially lifesaving treatment on social media to anyone who would listen.

Her confusion about where and how to get access to the drug isn’t unique. All over the country, families, doctors, and hospitals are wondering how to get the drug and on what basis it’s being distributed. The Trump administration, which is in charge of allocation, hasn’t published any guidance on how it’s making decisions about the scarce supplies of the drug.

So who decides which hospitals get remdesivir? And what’s the most ethical way to prioritize access?

Read more at The Daily Beast.




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Bill Maher Has the Worst Take on Adele’s Weight Loss: ‘The Old Adele Would Not Fare as Well With COVID-19’

HBO

Adele posted a message to her social media channels this week thanking those on the front lines fighting COVID-19. In the process, the celebrated singer unveiled a thinner frame—and the internet had a lot of thoughts about it, almost all trash.

Enter Bill Maher, noted #MeToo skeptic, with perhaps the most garbage take of them all.

On Friday night, during the interview portion of his HBO show Real Time, the comedian began by placing the bulk of the blame for the high amount of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. compared to other countries on America’s obesity problem—not, say, the fact that the Trump administration didn’t do a single thing during the month of February to contain the spread of the virus.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here




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Second NY Child Dies From Rare Syndrome Linked to COVID-19

Lucas Jackson/Reuters

A 7-year-old boy from Westchester County is the second child in New York state to die from pediatric multi-symptom inflammatory syndrome tied to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. A 5-year-old boy died earlier in the week from the same syndrome at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital in New York City.

The childhood ailment has affected at least 73 children in New York state and authorities are now looking for other potential cases across the country. Cases have also been reported in Washington, D.C., California, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington state and New Jersey, where a 4-year-old died with symptoms last month.

It has been previously thought that children are less likely to suffer any serious complications from the coronavirus.

Read more at The Daily Beast.




19

हरिद्वार: भाई की हत्या के आरोपी की जमानत खारिज, 19 नवंबर को की थी हत्या

जमीन के विवाद को लेकर छोटे भाई की हत्या करने के आरोपी की जमानत याचिका प्रथम अपर जिला एवं सत्र न्यायाधीश रुड़की सुशील तोमर ने खारिज कर दी।




19

We may have found 19 more interstellar asteroids in our solar system

A bunch of asteroids near Jupiter and Neptune with orbits perpendicular to the plane of the solar system may have come here from a different star system




19

'1619' Pulitzer Will Boost Socialist Teaching in Schools

The Pulitzer Prize Board this week awarded its commentary award to The New York Times' Nikole Hannah-Jones for her essay launching the "1619 Project." This will accelerate a trend already underway: subjecting schoolchildren to a curriculum that blames slavery on capitalism and whose creator believes socialism offers the best path to racial equity.




19

NY Has Mismanaged COVID-19 From Top to Bottom

There is something deeply unsettling about the lionization of Andrew Cuomo and his handling of the epidemic, especially in the light of the raw statistics




19

Nursing Homes & Veterans' Homes Are Epicenters of Covid-19

The overlooked epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic is our nation's nursing homes, veterans' homes, and other long-term care facilities.




19

We're at IROS 2019 to Bring You the Most Exciting Robotics Research From Around the World

As always, our coverage will feature the coolest, weirdest, and most interesting things that we find at this massive robotics conference




19

Robot Gift Guide 2019

Over a dozen robots that we promise will make fantastic holiday gifts




19

Siegfried & Roy Magician Roy Horn Dead at 75 Due to COVID-19 Complications

“Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend,” Siegfried Fischbacher said in a statement.




19

बोकारो में मिले कोरोना वायरस के दो नए मरीज, झारखंड में 19 लोग Covid-19 की चपेट में

झारखंड में कोरोना वायरस महामारी से संक्रमित होने वाले मरीजों की कुल संख्या बढ़कर 19 हो गई है




19

लालू प्रसाद यादव भी कोरोना संदिग्ध, कोविड-19 जांच के लिए रिम्स प्रशासन आज लेगा फैसला

राजद सुप्रीमो लालू प्रसाद यादव पर कोरोना संक्रमण का खतरा मंडरा गया है। माना जा रहा है कि आने वाले कुछ दिनों में उनकी कोरोना जांच की जाएगी।




19

सप्ताह के आखिरी कारोबारी दिन बढ़त पर बंद हुआ बाजार, सेंसेक्स में 199 अंकों की तेजी

सप्ताह के आखिरी कारोबारी दिन यानी शुक्रवार को दिनभर के उतार-चढ़ाव के बाद शेयर बाजार बढ़त पर बंद हुआ। बॉम्बे स्टॉक एक्सचेंज का प्रमुख इंडेक्स सेंसेक्स 199.32 अंक यानी 0.63 फीसदी की बढ़त के साथ 31642.70 के स्तर पर बंद हुआ।




19

Covid 19: Lyft कैब में ड्राइवर और पैसेंजर का मास्क पहनना हुआ अनिवार्य

Lyft की नई पॉलिसी के मुताबिक जो लोग नए नियमों का पालन नहीं करेंगे, उन्हें लिफ्ट इस्तेमाल करने की अनुमति नहीं मिलेगी, हालांकि इस मामले में कंपनी अपने पैसेंजर और ड्राइवर पर भरोसा कर रही है,




19

RPGCast – Episode 319: “Epoch Images”

This week we have our PAX Prime wrapup! Of course, while we were out at PAX Sony and Nintendo decide to announce a billion games...




19

RPGCast – Episode 419: “The Star Trek V of Mass Effect”

Digimon has a new case. Nintendo has a new Limited Edition. Radiant Historia has a new remake. World of Warcraft has a new patch. You...




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RPG Cast – Episode 519: “Sommersaulting Cat Buses”

Jonathan crashes the RPGCast this week because he heard that Chris, Anna Marie, Kelley, Peter, and Nathan were dissing on Tactics Ogre. We also discuss child care our Now Playing. But don't worry, while the news is slim, it's also pleasantly robust.




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RPG Cast – Episode 529: “Game of the Year 2019 – Pandacide”

Woop woop! Explicit alert! This get a bit unclean as we try to figure out our Game of the Year picks for 2019. We find out just what you can get done with slave labor. We learn the true martial power of haircuts. And we finally realize Anna Marie shouldn't be allowed to keep animals.




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कोविड-19: विचाराधीन कैदियों की अंतरिम जमानत की अवधि बढ़ाने के आदेश के लिए पीठ गठित

दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय ने कोविड- 19 महामारी की वजह से जेलों में भीड़ कम करने के इरादे से अंतरिम जमानत पर रिहा कैदियों की जमानत की अवधि 45 दिन और बढ़ाने के न्यायिक आदेश पारित करने के लिए एक खंडपीठ गठित की है




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नई दिल्ली स्टेशन से 1190 श्रमिकों को लेकर मुजफ्फरपुर के लिए चली ट्रेन

नई दिल्ली रेलवे स्टेशन से शुक्रवार को करीब 1190 मजदूरों को श्रमिक स्पेशल ट्रेन से बिहार के मुजफ्फरपुर भेजा गया। दोपहर तीन बजे यह ट्रेन नई दिल्ली के प्लेटफार्म नंबर 16 से रवाना की गई




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नई दिल्ली स्टेशन से 1190 श्रमिकों को लेकर मुजफ्फरपुर के लिए चली ट्रेन

नई दिल्ली स्टेशन से 1190 श्रमिकों को लेकर मुजफ्फरपुर के लिए चली ट्रेन




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Could hotel service robots help the hospitality industry after COVID-19?

A new research study, investigating how service robots in hotels could help redefine leadership and boost the hospitality industry, has taken on new significance in the light of the seismic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on tourism and hospitality.




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Towards antibodies against COVID-19

Researchers have announced the isolation and characterization of a unique antibody that can bind to the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). The team has established that the antibody binds to a conserved epitope on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.




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Sewage poses potential COVID-19 transmission risk, experts warn

Environmental biologists have warned that the potential spread of COVID-19 via sewage 'must not be neglected' in the battle to protect human health.




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Most critically ill patients with COVID-19 survive with standard treatment, study reveals

Clinicians from two hospitals in Boston report that the majority of even the sickest patients with COVID-19 -- those who require ventilators in intensive care units -- get better when they receive existing guideline-supported treatment for respiratory failure.




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Position statement addresses difficult issue: allocating scare resources in COVID-19 era

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure on societies worldwide, given the pandemic's rapid, often deadly spread. In health care, the pandemic has raised the pressing question of how society should allocate scarce resources during a crisis.




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Outpatient COVID-19 clues

A new report offers insights that can help clinicians distinguish between patients with COVID-19 infections and those with other conditions that may mimic COVID-19 symptoms.




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Survey: Half of Americans concerned about new moms, babies being in public amid COVID-19

A new national U.S. survey finds that nearly 80 percent of respondents would be concerned about themselves or an expectant mother in their life in the midst of the current COVID-19 outbreak, with almost half expressing fear of going to a scheduled prenatal appointment.




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Grocery store employee working during COVID-19 crisis: 'I'm going to say my prayers'

When his alarm goes off at 3:30 a.m., 54-year-old Jeff Reid knows it's time to begin his day and prepare for an eight-hour shift on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. As a grocery store worker, Reid never imagined he'd find himself in this position. Every day before his 5 a.m. shift, Reid prepares his morning essentials -- 1,000 milligrams of the powdered vitamin supplement Emergen-C and his morning prayers.





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Taking on COVID-19, South Africa Goes After Cigarettes and Booze, Too

JOHANNESBURG -- The dealer had a stash, but the young woman wasn't getting through the door without an introduction. That's where her friend, already a trusted customer, came in. And even then there were complications.The woman wanted Stuyvesants. The dealer had Courtleighs. But in a South Africa where the sale of cigarettes is newly illegal, quibblers risk nicotine fits.She took the Courtleighs and high-tailed it out of there."I feel like I'm buying cocaine," said the woman, 29, who asked not to be named for fear of being fined or arrested.In late March, in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, the South African government banned the sale of tobacco and alcohol as part of a broad lockdown -- one of the strictest anywhere. But even as the government has begun rolling back the lockdown, the bans remain in effect.A government minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, cited "COVID-19 reasons" for maintaining the ban.Dlamini-Zuma, a doctor who served as health minister in the 1990s and is now cooperative governance minister, said that "besides the effects itself on the person's lungs," there were concerns that smoking could promote coronavirus infection."The way sometimes tobacco is shared does not allow for social distancing," she said, "but actually encourages the spread of the virus."Defending the ban of alcohol sales amid cries of protest from the liquor industry, President Cyril Ramaphosa said alcohol was "a hindrance to the fight against coronavirus.""There are proven links between the sale and consumption of alcohol and violent crime, motor vehicle accidents and other medical emergencies at a time when all public and private resources should be preparing to receive and treat vast numbers of COVID-19 patients," the president said in a statement.The government has also cited the risk of domestic violence in households where families are isolated at home.Perhaps not surprisingly, an underground market in both cigarettes and alcohol quickly sprung up.Like bootleg markets everywhere, it relies on word-of-mouth, as the 29-year-old woman who settled for the Courtleighs soon learned.She made her purchase in a suburb of Vereeniging, a city south of Johannesburg, where dealers are said to sell only to buyers referred by someone they know. And they sell only from their homes to avoid driving around with large quantities of cigarettes, since if they were to be caught at one of the dozens of police roadblocks set up around the country, they could be arrested on the spot.Instead, the smoker carries the risk -- and the cost. A pack of 20 cigarettes now goes for upward of 150 rand (about $8), three times the old legal price. Underground alcohol prices have also skyrocketed. A bottle of low-end vodka that usually sells for 120 rand ($6) now sells for at least 400 rand ($21).South Africa lifted its nationwide lockdown on May 1 but is continuing to implement strict social distancing and face mask rules. Already under siege from HIV, the country has around 8,200 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and has reported about 160 deaths.The country had implemented one of the world's most stringent lockdowns after recording its first coronavirus-related death in March. In addition to banning the sale of cigarettes and alcohol, the regulations banned jogging and dog-walking, and shuttered parks.Before the lockdown, with a ban looming, some smokers stocked up on cartons of cigarettes. But when the ban on cigarettes was extended beyond May 1, things for smokers began to grow tense.Now it's a matter of who you know. The cafe owner willing to slip a box under a container of milk, perhaps, or a supermarket cashier willing to steal and resell cigarettes languishing in the storeroom.In one Pretoria township where everyone knows everyone -- including the police -- few dare sell cigarettes from their homes. Instead, dealers hide among young men milling around on the neighborhood corner.A 23-year-old smoker said that when he saw a group of four men sharing a cigarette, he approached them to find out where they had found the contraband. They just so happened to be selling, they told him.Desperate after a failed attempt to quit smoking, he said, he paid 160 rand for his favorite brand and "ran home," where he took a photograph of the sealed pack, planning to share it on WhatsApp with envious fellow smokers.But when he opened the pack, a cloud of sawdust choked him. There was not a cigarette to be found.Smokers say they are finding fake cigarettes in sealed boxes that look exactly like legitimate brands. And those who are desperate enough are buying unknown brands that have appeared during the lockdown, with names like Pineapple and Chestel, and are notorious for inducing immediate coughing.The tobacco industry has not taken kindly to the government's new policy.The ban has fueled an underground cigarette trade that was thriving even before the lockdown. By some estimates, it made up more than 30% of the market, depriving the above-ground tobacco industry of profit and the government of tax revenue.Now both industry and government are losing even more.The country's largest cigarette manufacturer, British American Tobacco South Africa, at one point threatened legal action if the government did not drop its ban, but Wednesday changed course. "We have taken the decision not to pursue legal action at this stage," it said in a statement, "but, instead, to pursue further discussions with government."The company said, "We are convinced that by working together we can find a better solution that works for all South Africans and removes the threat of criminal sanction from 11 million tobacco consumers in the country."The ban on cigarettes and alcohol has set off a debate on civil liberties in a country with one of the world's most liberal constitutions. While South Africa was an early adopter of public smoking regulations, many see the bans as a symbol of government overreach.Though its coronavirus policies may have succeeded in keeping the outbreak in check, some are calling the government hypocritical. Junk food remains readily available. And officials strictly limited outdoor exercise during the lockdown.In a country increasingly struggling with diabetes and obesity, such inconsistencies undercut the government's argument that it is guarding the public's health, said one South African constitutional law expert, Pierre De Vos."In the long term, if the government overreaches and it wants to continue imposing these limits when the threat has subsided, I think the courts will invalidate this," he said.Still, the ban may have yielded at least one former smoker: the man who bought the box of sawdust."I cannot just go around losing money like that," he said. "I just said to myself, 'Nah, man, it's not worth it. I'll stay home and eat sweets, as that's what's legal now.'"This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company