On this Take Note, we talked about public health messaging, specifically how the U.S. government has communicated about and reacted to the coronavirus outbreak. Also, how dealing with a pandemic is different in a democracy than in an authoritarian country. Our guest was Nita Bharti, an assistant professor of biology and the Lloyd Huck Early Career Professor in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State. This interview is from the Democracy Works podcast, a collaboration between WPSU and the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. TRANSCRIPT: Jenna Spinelle: This is Jenna Spinelle here today with Nita Bharti. Nita, thanks for joining us on Democracy Works. Nita Bharti: It's my pleasure. Thanks Jenna. Spinelle: We are going to talk today in the midst of the corona virus outbreak about the relationship between information, government and the public in the midst of an outbreak. That's a complex topic. We're going to kind of come at it from a couple of different angles

What day is it today? The woman on the other end of the phone asked, “How’s your day going?” “Oh, about the same as yesterday...” “Good one,” she says. At least I could inject a bit of humor. I don’t know about you, but for those of us quarantined at home, it seems as though every day is Sunday: one yawning day without very many milestones. I consider receiving the mail a major event. The governor’s daily address at 2:30 ish in the afternoon is another. At the beginning of this stay at home order I told myself that I would use noon as a cutoff: I had to be out of my pajamas by noon. Do I dare tell you that it is past 4:00 and I’m still in my nightgown? Let’s just say I’m getting in touch with my inner sloth. This order also breeds laziness. At one point I was counting out the number of underwear I had until I had to do laundry. What is wrong with me? I used to be a productive member of society: I read the newspaper daily. Now I collect the newspaper from the driveway every two days, I

Assam finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “We had an informal discussion with these states and we may increase the tax on liquor. Tomorrow we are having a cabinet meeting in Assam and a decision in this regard will be taken.”

Following instructions from Excise Minister Ram Naresh Agnihotri, principal secretary (excise) Sanjay R Bhoosreddy said that a rate higher than the fixed MRP cannot be charged by liquor vendors under any circumstances.

Sharing the reasons for the slowdown in the shoe industry, shoe manufacturer Pradeep Kumar said: "The main cause is the flood that most part of the country is facing. Due to sluggish sales, we are also short of funds."

There is a lot of deal activity because businesses are looking for capital.

The commission said that the bag which was made available by Bata in Rs 2 to the consumer had the company’s logo and accessories printed on it.

Every year, leather shoes worth over Rs 3,000 crore are exported to European countries from Agra. The US and several African countries are also important destinations for Agra footwear, say industry sources.

In a letter to the brand’s business partners, Bjorn Gulden, global CEO of Puma SE, announced Ganguly’s elevation in the company adding that that he will continue to work out of Puma’s India head office in Bengaluru.

“We have bagged a multi-million dollar order from the Ministry of Defence to make rucksacks for the Indian army. It is an unchartered territory but creating an ideal rucksack for an Indian jawaan who spends maximum time outdoors in challenging terrain will be good learning. The order will be executed next year,” said Siddharth Sood, cofounder of Wildcraft India.

One of the roles of sound art is to transform spaces by changing how we perceive them. Miguel Carvalhais and Pedro Tudela have mastered this approach in recent years, constructing installations made in classic or adventurous places whose sound, in →

Industry bodies Manufacturers’ Association of Information Technology (MAIT) and India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) have written to the government seeking concessions in the delivery of smartphones among other electronics devices and removal of restrictions on the movement of components for inland and export purposes.

All India Mobile Retailer Association (AIMRA), which represents 1.5 lakh such retailers across the country, wrote to commerce minister Piyush Goyal to not consider mobile handsets as essential items.

The high court, based on King's ownership of the intellectual property rights for the Candy Crush game and the evidence of its popularity.

Soni said that the company wants to keep users engaged through localised stickers, deals and future products like games.

The mobile app development companies as well as independent developers are leveraging this to pitch their apps into the market.

Free download of Can't Trust the News from Enter the Haggis ' new CD "The Modest Revolution", currently featured on The Sound.

Free download of Most of that Left from the CD Empty Glasses by Reagan Boggs , currently featured on The Sound. Find out more about the artist here .

The Kanpur-based group is being probed by the CBI and the ED in connection with the alleged swindling of Rs 3,695 crore of loan funds.

Earlier, the loan default was estimated at over Rs 800 crore but scrutiny of documents by CBI revealed that the amount is much larger.

Readers have placed online orders and bookstores are keeping a track of each order and are hoping to cater to every such customer once the situation gets better.

The company had recently contributed Rs 15 crore to PM CARES Fund.

Documentation solutions firm Xerox today announced the appointment of Ashraf ElArman as Managing Director of its Indian unit, effective June 22.

India’s largest maker of writing & printing paper has been in talks with Nine Dragons for some time now. Discussions are likely to lead to a binding agreement soon, sources said.

'Leathery and musky' is how the brand describes it and claims that the scent will stay for as long as four years. Each bag comes with a complimentary miniature bottle of FendiFrenesia, which can be used to refresh the bag's scent and can be worn as a traditional perfume.

Ace Turtle’s ecommerce platform, which facilitates crossborder payments, supply chain, returns and customer support will help Jennifer Lopez reach out to millions of internet shoppers in these markets.

Mr. Ajoy Chawla, CEO, Jewellery Division at Titan Company Limited said, "All 328 Tanishq stores remain shut this year and hence it would be unfair to compare numbers with last year. But the overall customer response to tanishq.co.in from key metros and even with tier-2 and tier-3 towns has been extremely encouraging.

Online retailers such as Myntra and Tjori have their consumer engagement teams working on to engage their customers till the time the lockdown eases. Others such as fashion brand Anita Dongre are brainstorming changes in consumer behaviour and how to keep them engaged online till the time stores become fully operational.

In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, he said the council members could not clear the shipments on time because of lack of documents, "therefore, demurrage waiver may please be granted starting from March 1 till the time lockdown continues".

612 League sells its products through 48 EBOs and 450 points of sales across the country. "We will also increase our points of sales to 800 in 4 years," he said.

“50% of those surveyed said they were not able to buy at all due to no availability while 26% said they had to buy an unknown brand as reputed brands were out of stock. 8% said they were able to buy reputed sanitizers at a general retail store and 15% said they were able to buy reputed brand sanitizers at a chemist,” LocalCircle survey said.

The Mysuru-headquartered brand is using its fragrance stock to make ayurvedic hand sanitisers ever since its product portfolio comprising incense sticks, prayer and wellness products came under the non-essential category.

To mark the occasion of Anti Obesity Day on November 26, the company would provide DNA scan to individuals at its centres countrywide and also educate them on issues leading to the problem such as weight gain, exercise and food habits etc.

Dave will report directly to Osman Ayaz, Managing Director of the Emerging Markets adidas Group, the company said in a statement.

Magician and animal trainer Roy Horn, of the legendary Las Vegas duo Siegfied and Roy, died Friday from complications related to COVID-19. Horn tested positive last week. He was 75. "The world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend," Siegfried Fischbacher said of his partner in a statement. "Roy was a fighter his whole life including during these final days. I give my heartfelt appreciation to the team of doctors, nurses and staff at Mountain View Hospital who worked heroically against this insidious virus that ultimately took Roy's life." Roy Horn was born in Germany in 1944. He and Siegfried began their act in Las Vegas in 1967. In 1989 they began a 14-year run at the Mirage Resort performing illusions with exotic animals, making tigers, lions, even elephants vanish and reappear. In October of 2003, Roy Horn was performing with a 400-pound white tiger named Mantecore when the great cat grabbed him by the throat before a stunned audience and dragged him

Monty and Rose met last year on a beach on the north side of Chicago. Their attraction was intense, immediate, and you might say, fruitful. Somewhere between the roll of lake waves and the shimmer of skyscrapers overlooking the beach, Monty and Rose fledged two chicks. They protected their offspring through formative times. But then, in fulfillment of nature's plan, they parted ways, and left the chicks to make their own ways in the world. Monty and Rose are piping plovers, an endangered species of bird of which there may only be 6,000 or 7,000 in the world, including Monty, Rose and their chicks. They were the first piping plovers to nest in Chicago in more than 60 years. After their chicks fledged, they drifted apart. Rose went off to Florida for the winter, and Monty made his way to the Texas coast. They'd always have the North Side, but were each on their own in a huge, fraught world. And then, just a few days ago, Monty and Rose were sighted again, on the same patch of sand on

Updated at 9:44 a.m. ET As a young woman growing up in a poor farming community in Virginia in the 1940 and '50s, with little information about sex or contraception, sexuality was a frightening thing for Carole Cato and her female friends. "We lived in constant fear, I mean all of us," she said. "It was like a tightrope. always wondering, is this going to be the time [I get pregnant]?" Cato, 78, now lives in Columbia, S.C. She grew up in the years before the birth control pill was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on May 9, 1960. She said teenage girls in her community were told very little about how their bodies worked. "I was very fortunate; I did not get pregnant, but a lot of my friends did. And of course, they just got married and went into their little farmhouses," she said. "But I just felt I just had to get out." At 23, Cato married a widower who already had seven children. They decided seven was enough. By that time, Cato said, the pill allowed the couple to

The Rockford Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau (RACVB) wants you to stay home and write songs. "Stay Home Songs" is a community song writing contest that is open to all ages and all types of musicians. There is no fee to enter and all genres of music are welcome. Musicians who live in Winnebago County and may enter one original song that is less than three minutes long. Nick Povalitis is the vice president of marketing and sports development for the RACVB. He believes this contest creates an engaging way for people to stay together during Governor J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order. "We want to do our part to tell stories and connect people," Povalitis said. "Musicians are some of our best creators and there are a lot of talented musicians within Winnebago County and the Rockford region." This includes the contest judges. Jodi Beach, Vince Chiarelli, Duntai Mathews, Miles Nielsen, and Antonio Ramirez will select the winning songwriter. The winner will receive a $200 gift card to a

The Mayors of DeKalb and Rockford responded to the statewide minimum wage hike that was signed into law last week. The measure will raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. DeKalb Mayor Jerry Smith worries about the effect this may have on small businesses. Smith says he would have preferred that the increase be done more incrementally. "I would have liked to have seen something that was written into law that mandated perhaps a one or two year step, and then let's take a look at it," he said. "You know, economies change." But he says the law taking effect means businesses know what to expect. "If you know that you're going to be paying nine and a quarter next year and ten the following year, or whatever the case may be, the smart businesses -- small or large -- are going to make those adjustments that are necessary so the bottom line is still black," he said. Smith says the City of DeKalb already pays its employees at a level where the wage hike's effect on city

Illinois raised its per-gallon gasoline tax at the beginning of July and it’s already having an effect on state prices. AAA reports the current state average is around $3.14 per gallon, and may be driving some border residents to get their fuel in other states. GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan says the change came quickly. “Average prices shot up noticeably within the first 24 hours but it took almost 48-72 hours for stations to fully pass along the state’s 19 cent per gallon increase in gasoline tax,” he said. DeHaan says prices also remain high because of increased oil costs. This, he says, is due to tensions between Iran and the West in the Persian Gulf.

An Illinois church is appealing a decision that upholds Governor J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order for religious gatherings. Pastor Stephen Cassell with the Beloved Church of Lena sought a temporary restraining order so it could hold in-person services. Over the weekend, a judge ruled the governor’s order is constitutional in order to prevent mass infections and death. Senior Counsel Peter Breen is with the Thomas More Society, which is representing the church. He said the current limit on attendees in the coronavirus executive order violates religious freedom. “There’s no other essential business or operation in the state that has to follow a 10-person hard cap," he said. "We want to have that reversed so that Pastor Steve and the Beloved Church are able to have their services unmolested by local law enforcement or state law enforcement.” Breen said he also has qualms about the governor's recent comments. “Governor Pritzker in his most recent press conferences is saying that people

Governor J.B. Pritzker has released a five-part plan to allow certain regions of the state to open up to more activity. The governor is calling it Restore Illinois. The plan sets up four regions of the state. Each could open to more business every month if they were to improve on COVID-19 cases and treatment. Currently Illinois sits at phase two, with partial stay-at-home rules. Pritzker says if certain regions have improved enough by late May, they might see restrictions eased. “At that point, with face coverings as the norm, non-essential manufacturing and other non-essential businesses can open in accordance with safety guidance,” he said in his daily news conference. That would include barbershops and salons along with some retail and offices. If enough improvement is shown, schools and colleges could open in certain regions. The gatherings of large crowds will still be prohibited until there is either a vaccine or better treatment of COVID-19. As reported by Bill Wheelhouse, WUIS

RUGBY players in Scotland who earn over £50,000 are being asked to take salary cuts amid the coronavirus pandemic.

SMITTEN Paige Turley has been feeding her hunky Love Island boyfriend Finn Tapp with the finest of Scottish cuisine while in lockdown - and it seems he can’t get enough of haggis.

ONE of the biggest sporting scandals of all time was just about to erupt in the USA 100 years ago this month. It was in the spring of 1920 that a persistent rumour engulfed the Chicago White Sox baseball team.

WHILE almost every athlete has been affected by the global shutdown of sport, it is perhaps the old and the young who are feeling it the most.

IN normal circumstances, Auchinleck Talbot manager Tommy Sloan would be popping Champagne bottles and celebrating his second league title victory in a row.

The first U.S. presidential contest of the 2020 election begins Monday night with results from the Iowa caucuses coming in throughout the evening. Stream NPR's live audio coverage below and on many public radio stations. Follow our liveblog coverage and results here . For nearly half a century , the Iowa caucuses have kicked off the presidential primary and caucus season with the potential to shape the 11-candidate field right as the election enters full swing. That said, with a population of around 3 million people and only about 16% of the state population coming out to caucus in 2016, a very small number of people have a significant amount of power tonight. Looking at the numbers, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders leads in the polls followed closely by former Vice President Joe Biden. Not far behind Biden trials Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. What's more, Iowans often decide who they are supporting late. As of mid-Jan., a Monmouth

President Trump is delivering the 2020 State of the Union address, which comes under the shadow of his impeachment trial. Watch his remarks live and follow a live annotation of his remarks, including fact checks and analysis from NPR reporters. Loading...