A Modest Proposal is brilliant, biting, hilarious satire, that is as horrifyingly relevant in 2020 as it was in 1729. This reads like one of those brilliant editorials from The […]

Scuttle scuttle

28-years-old model, Emily Ratajkowski, and her husband are the loving owners of Colombo, the cutest good boy.   

They have all spent their quarantine days with their close friends, Josh Ostrovsky, founder of the Fat Jewish meme account, his wife, Caitlin King, and their dog, Happy.

On Saturday, Emily decided to hosts a special wedding ceremony for Colombo and happy - 'quarantined together so why not marry our children".  
Ratajkowski shared plenty of behind-the-scenes footage on Instagram from the ceremony, including individual images of Colombo and Happy posing while wearing dog cones as the "the groom" and "the bride", respectively.

Congrats, Colombo and Happy! 

People will be allowed to exercise outside more than once a day, First Minister Mark Drakeford says.

Experts tell the BBC that euphoria over success models runs the risk of people becoming complacent.

At React Conf 2019 we announced an experimental release of React that supports Concurrent Mode and Suspense. In this post we’ll introduce best practices for using them that we’ve identified through the process of building the new facebook.com.

This post will be most relevant to people working on data fetching libraries for React.

It shows how to best integrate them with Concurrent Mode and Suspense. The patterns introduced here are based on Relay — our library for building data-driven UIs with GraphQL. However, the ideas in this post apply to other GraphQL clients as well as libraries using REST or other approaches.

This post is aimed at library authors. If you’re primarily an application developer, you might still find some interesting ideas here, but don’t feel like you have to read it in its entirety.

Talk Videos

If you prefer to watch videos, some of the ideas from this blog post have been referenced in several React Conf 2019 presentations:

• Data Fetching with Suspense in Relay by Joe Savona
• Building the New Facebook with React and Relay by Ashley Watkins
• React Conf Keynote by Yuzhi Zheng

This post presents a deeper dive on implementing a data fetching library with Suspense.

Putting User Experience First

The React team and community has long placed a deserved emphasis on developer experience: ensuring that React has good error messages, focusing on components as a way to reason locally about app behavior, crafting APIs that are predictable and encourage correct usage by design, etc. But we haven’t provided enough guidance on the best ways to achieve a great user experience in large apps.

For example, the React team has focused on framework performance and providing tools for developers to debug and tune application performance (e.g. React.memo). But we haven’t been as opinionated about the high-level patterns that make the difference between fast, fluid apps and slow, janky ones. We always want to ensure that React remains approachable to new users and supports a variety of use-cases — not every app has to be “blazing” fast. But as a community we can and should aim high. We should make it as easy as possible to build apps that start fast and stay fast, even as they grow in complexity, for users on varying devices and networks around the world.

Concurrent Mode and Suspense are experimental features that can help developers achieve this goal. We first introduced them at JSConf Iceland in 2018, intentionally sharing details very early to give the community time to digest the new concepts and to set the stage for subsequent changes. Since then we’ve completed related work, such as the new Context API and the introduction of Hooks, which are designed in part to help developers naturally write code that is more compatible with Concurrent Mode. But we didn’t want to implement these features and release them without validating that they work. So over the past year, the React, Relay, web infrastructure, and product teams at Facebook have all collaborated closely to build a new version of facebook.com that deeply integrates Concurrent Mode and Suspense to create an experience with a more fluid and app-like feel.

Thanks to this project, we’re more confident than ever that Concurrent Mode and Suspense can make it easier to deliver great, fast user experiences. But doing so requires rethinking how we approach loading code and data for our apps. Effectively all of the data-fetching on the new facebook.com is powered by Relay Hooks — new Hooks-based Relay APIs that integrate with Concurrent Mode and Suspense out of the box.

Relay Hooks — and GraphQL — won’t be for everyone, and that’s ok! Through our work on these APIs we’ve identified a set of more general patterns for using Suspense. Even if Relay isn’t the right fit for you, we think the key patterns we’ve introduced with Relay Hooks can be adapted to other frameworks.

Best Practices for Suspense

It’s tempting to focus only on the total startup time for an app — but it turns out that users’ perception of performance is determined by more than the absolute loading time. For example, when comparing two apps with the same absolute startup time, our research shows that users will generally perceive the one with fewer intermediate loading states and fewer layout changes as having loaded faster. Suspense is a powerful tool for carefully orchestrating an elegant loading sequence with a few, well-defined states that progressively reveal content. But improving perceived performance only goes so far — our apps still shouldn’t take forever to fetch all of their code, data, images, and other assets.

The traditional approach to loading data in React apps involves what we refer to as “fetch-on-render”. First we render a component with a spinner, then fetch data on mount (componentDidMount or useEffect), and finally update to render the resulting data. It’s certainly possible to use this pattern with Suspense: instead of initially rendering a placeholder itself, a component can “suspend” — indicate to React that it isn’t ready yet. This will tell React to find the nearest ancestor <Suspense fallback={<Placeholder/>}>, and render its fallback instead. If you watched earlier Suspense demos this example may feel familiar — it’s how we originally imagined using Suspense for data-fetching.

It turns out that this approach has some limitations. Consider a page that shows a social media post by a user, along with comments on that post. That might be structured as a <Post> component that renders both the post body and a <CommentList> to show the comments. Using the fetch-on-render approach described above to implement this could cause sequential round trips (sometimes referred to as a “waterfall”). First the data for the <Post> component would be fetched and then the data for <CommentList> would be fetched, increasing the time it takes to show the full page.

There’s also another often-overlooked downside to this approach. If <Post> eagerly requires (or imports) the <CommentList> component, our app will have to wait to show the post body while the code for the comments is downloading. We could lazily load <CommentList>, but then that would delay fetching comments data and increase the time to show the full page. How do we resolve this problem without compromising on the user experience?

Render As You Fetch

The fetch-on-render approach is widely used by React apps today and can certainly be used to create great apps. But can we do even better? Let’s step back and consider our goal.

In the above <Post> example, we’d ideally show the more important content — the post body — as early as possible, without negatively impacting the time to show the full page (including comments). Let’s consider the key constraints on any solution and look at how we can achieve them:

• Showing the more important content (the post body) as early as possible means that we need to load the code and data for the view incrementally. We don’t want to block showing the post body on the code for <CommentList> being downloaded, for example.
• At the same time we don’t want to increase the time to show the full page including comments. So we need to start loading the code and data for the comments as soon as possible, ideally in parallel with loading the post body.

This might sound difficult to achieve — but these constraints are actually incredibly helpful. They rule out a large number of approaches and spell out a solution for us. This brings us to the key patterns we’ve implemented in Relay Hooks, and that can be adapted to other data-fetching libraries. We’ll look at each one in turn and then see how they add up to achieve our goal of fast, delightful loading experiences:

1. Parallel data and view trees
2. Fetch in event handlers
3. Load data incrementally
4. Treat code like data

Parallel Data and View Trees

One of the most appealing things about the fetch-on-render pattern is that it colocates what data a component needs with how to render that data. This colocation is great — an example of how it makes sense to group code by concerns and not by technologies. All the issues we saw above were due to when we fetch data in this approach: upon rendering. We need to be able to fetch data before we’ve rendered the component. The only way to achieve that is by extracting the data dependencies into parallel data and view trees.

Here’s how that works in Relay Hooks. Continuing our example of a social media post with body and comments, here’s how we might define it with Relay Hooks:

// Post.js
function Post(props) {
  // Given a reference to some post - `props.post` - *what* data
  // do we need about that post?
  const postData = useFragment(graphql`
    fragment PostData on Post @refetchable(queryName: "PostQuery") {
      author
      title
      # ...  more fields ...
    }
  `, props.post);

  // Now that we have the data, how do we render it?
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{postData.title}</h1>
      <h2>by {postData.author}</h2>
      {/* more fields  */}
    </div>
  );
}

Although the GraphQL is written within the component, Relay has a build step (Relay Compiler) that extracts these data-dependencies into separate files and aggregates the GraphQL for each view into a single query. So we get the benefit of colocating concerns, while at runtime having parallel data and view trees. Other frameworks could achieve a similar effect by allowing developers to define data-fetching logic in a sibling file (maybe Post.data.js), or perhaps integrate with a bundler to allow defining data dependencies with UI code and automatically extracting it, similar to Relay Compiler.

The key is that regardless of the technology we’re using to load our data — GraphQL, REST, etc — we can separate what data to load from how and when to actually load it. But once we do that, how and when do we fetch our data?

Fetch in Event Handlers

Imagine that we’re about to navigate from a list of a user’s posts to the page for a specific post. We’ll need to download the code for that page — Post.js — and also fetch its data.

Waiting until we render the component has problems as we saw above. The key is to start fetching code and data for a new view in the same event handler that triggers showing that view. We can either fetch the data within our router — if our router supports preloading data for routes — or in the click event on the link that triggered the navigation. It turns out that the React Router folks are already hard at work on building APIs to support preloading data for routes. But other routing frameworks can implement this idea too.

Conceptually, we want every route definition to include two things: what component to render and what data to preload, as a function of the route/url params. Here’s what such a route definition might look like. This example is loosely inspired by React Router’s route definitions and is primarily intended to demonstrate the concept, not a specific API:

// PostRoute.js (GraphQL version)

// Relay generated query for loading Post data
import PostQuery from './__generated__/PostQuery.graphql';

const PostRoute = {
  // a matching expression for which paths to handle
  path: '/post/:id',

  // what component to render for this route
  component: React.lazy(() => import('./Post')),

  // data to load for this route, as function of the route
  // parameters
  prepare: routeParams => {
    // Relay extracts queries from components, allowing us to reference
    // the data dependencies -- data tree -- from outside.
    const postData = preloadQuery(PostQuery, {
      postId: routeParams.id,
    });

    return { postData };
  },
};

export default PostRoute;

Given such a definition, a router can:

• Match a URL to a route definition.
• Call the prepare() function to start loading that route’s data. Note that prepare() is synchronous — we don’t wait for the data to be ready, since we want to start rendering more important parts of the view (like the post body) as quickly as possible.
• Pass the preloaded data to the component. If the component is ready — the React.lazy dynamic import has completed — the component will render and try to access its data. If not, React.lazy will suspend until the code is ready.

This approach can be generalized to other data-fetching solutions. An app that uses REST might define a route like this:

// PostRoute.js (REST version)

// Manually written logic for loading the data for the component
import PostData from './Post.data';

const PostRoute = {
  // a matching expression for which paths to handle
  path: '/post/:id',

  // what component to render for this route
  component: React.lazy(() => import('./Post')),

  // data to load for this route, as function of the route
  // parameters
  prepare: routeParams => {
    const postData = preloadRestEndpoint(
      PostData.endpointUrl, 
      {
        postId: routeParams.id,
      },
    );
    return { postData };
  },
};

export default PostRoute;

This same approach can be employed not just for routing, but in other places where we show content lazily or based on user interaction. For example, a tab component could eagerly load the first tab’s code and data, and then use the same pattern as above to load the code and data for other tabs in the tab-change event handler. A component that displays a modal could preload the code and data for the modal in the click handler that triggers opening the modal, and so on.

Once we’ve implemented the ability to start loading code and data for a view independently, we have the option to go one step further. Consider a <Link to={path} /> component that links to a route. If the user hovers over that link, there’s a reasonable chance they’ll click it. And if they press the mouse down, there’s an even better chance that they’ll complete the click. If we can load code and data for a view after the user clicks, we can also start that work before they click, getting a head start on preparing the view.

Best of all, we can centralize that logic in a few key places — a router or core UI components — and get any performance benefits automatically throughout our app. Of course preloading isn’t always beneficial. It’s something an application would tune based on the user’s device or network speed to avoid eating up user’s data plans. But the pattern here makes it easier to centralize the implementation of preloading and the decision of whether to enable it or not.

Load Data Incrementally

The above patterns — parallel data/view trees and fetching in event handlers — let us start loading all the data for a view earlier. But we still want to be able to show more important parts of the view without waiting for all of our data. At Facebook we’ve implemented support for this in GraphQL and Relay in the form of some new GraphQL directives (annotations that affect how/when data is delivered, but not what data). These new directives, called @defer and @stream, allow us to retrieve data incrementally. For example, consider our <Post> component from above. We want to show the body without waiting for the comments to be ready. We can achieve this with @defer and <Suspense>:

// Post.js
function Post(props) {
  const postData = useFragment(graphql`
    fragment PostData on Post {
      author
      title

      # fetch data for the comments, but don't block on it being ready
      ...CommentList @defer
    }
  `, props.post);

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{postData.title}</h1>
      <h2>by {postData.author}</h2>
      {/* @defer pairs naturally with <Suspense> to make the UI non-blocking too */}
      <Suspense fallback={<Spinner/>}>
        <CommentList post={postData} />
      </Suspense>
    </div>
  );
}

Here, our GraphQL server will stream back the results, first returning the author and title fields and then returning the comment data when it’s ready. We wrap <CommentList> in a <Suspense> boundary so that we can render the post body before <CommentList> and its data are ready. This same pattern can be applied to other frameworks as well. For example, apps that call a REST API might make parallel requests to fetch the body and comments data for a post to avoid blocking on all the data being ready.

Treat Code Like Data

But there’s one thing that’s still missing. We’ve shown how to preload data for a route — but what about code? The example above cheated a bit and used React.lazy. However, React.lazy is, as the name implies, lazy. It won’t start downloading code until the lazy component is actually rendered — it’s “fetch-on-render” for code!

To solve this, the React team is considering APIs that would allow bundle splitting and eager preloading for code as well. That would allow a user to pass some form of lazy component to a router, and for the router to trigger loading the code alongside its data as early as possible.

Putting It All Together

To recap, achieving a great loading experience means that we need to start loading code and data as early as possible, but without waiting for all of it to be ready. Parallel data and view trees allow us to load the data for a view in parallel with loading the view (code) itself. Fetching in an event handler means we can start loading data as early as possible, and even optimistically preload a view when we have enough confidence that a user will navigate to it. Loading data incrementally allows us to load important data earlier without delaying the fetching of less important data. And treating code as data — and preloading it with similar APIs — allows us to load it earlier too.

Using These Patterns

These patterns aren’t just ideas — we’ve implemented them in Relay Hooks and are using them in production throughout the new facebook.com (which is currently in beta testing). If you’re interested in using or learning more about these patterns, here are some resources:

• The React Concurrent docs explore how to use Concurrent Mode and Suspense and go into more detail about many of these patterns. It’s a great resource to learn more about the APIs and use-cases they support.
• The experimental release of Relay Hooks implements the patterns described here.

• We’ve implemented two similar example apps that demonstrate these concepts:

  • The Relay Hooks example app uses GitHub’s public GraphQL API to implement a simple issue tracker app. It includes nested route support with code and data preloading. The code is fully commented — we encourage cloning the repo, running the app locally, and exploring how it works.
  • We also have a non-GraphQL version of the app that demonstrates how these concepts can be applied to other data-fetching libraries.

While the APIs around Concurrent Mode and Suspense are still experimental, we’re confident that the ideas in this post are proven by practice. However, we understand that Relay and GraphQL aren’t the right fit for everyone. That’s ok! We’re actively exploring how to generalize these patterns to approaches such as REST, and are exploring ideas for a more generic (ie non-GraphQL) API for composing a tree of data dependencies. In the meantime, we’re excited to see what new libraries will emerge that implement the patterns described in this post to make it easier to build great, fast user experiences.

Harsh Gawali is a 24-year-old guy from Pune who kickstarted his career as a freelance model back in 2015. Currently working as a senior marketing operation analyst at one of the leading Edtech companies in India, Harsh has effortlessly balanced his life to dedicate time for his modelling career as well.

In addition to his modelling assignments, Harsh is a huge fitness enthusiast and athlete. Harsh, being a public figure always had to look fresh and fit. From his eating habits to waking up early in the morning and running and doing a proper workout, Harsh has to struggle hard in order to maintain himself.

Harsh Gawali is a former 55 kgs wrestler too and has achieved milestones in climbing some of the hardest pinnacles of Maharashtra. In addition, Harsh is also a trained cadet of Maharashtra Civil force and has served the rescue team lead during flood crises in Sangli and Kolhapur, 8 months ago when he led a team and successfully rescued 200+ people in 6 hours.

Harsh is a profound model and with his intense looks and perfectly shaped physique he has been drooled by many girls and his, Instagram is proof of it. With a well-built physique and great interest in sports, adventures, and fitness, Harsh has been a total inspiration for all the youngsters out there.

Harsh is a fitness phenomenon and pro-level combat athlete, with extensive knowledge about fitness, healthy lifestyle, personality development, and much more.

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of deliberately maintaining "silence" on issues like suicide by farmers and unemployment while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls. Addressing a rally at Bhayander in Thane district of Maharashtra Monday night, Pawar said unemployment has gone up manifold since the NDA government came to power in 2014.

The former Union minister alleged that the Modi government lacked policies for ensuring industrial and agricultural growth. He was canvassing for Anand Paranjape who is the NCP candidate from Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency.

"Due to lack of any industrial policy, unemployment has gone up in Maharashtra which is the most industrialised state in the country. Modi government is deliberately not making any attempts to ensure the growth of industries and agriculture," the NCP chief said.

Claiming that as many as 11,990 farmers have killed themselves since the BJP government assumed office, Pawar said the prime minister avoids talking about this reality as well as other issues like farm distress, water scarcity and price rise at hustings. "Modi also keeps mum on the Rafale deal scam. Under Modi regime, institutions like RBI, CBI, supreme court etc. are being undermined," he alleged.

Last week, Pawar lambasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is "peeping into the homes of others" as he has no family of his own. Addressisng a poll rally at Partur here Monday, Pawar said Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was released by Pakistan under pressure from the world community and the Modi government had no role in it.

"I have my wife, daughter, son-in-law and nephews. What Modi has?...no one," he said, attacking the PM over his remarks on feud in the Pawar family. "That is why Modi is peeping into the homes of others. How will he (Modi) know how to run a family, he has no one?" the former Union minister said.

The Maratha strongman said Modi stooped low by making comments about his family, but he cannot behave in the same way. At an election rally in Wardha early this month, Modi had said a family war is going on in the NCP. The PM had also claimed that Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar is slowing capturing the 1999-founded party. Pawar said if Modi had a 56-inch chest, as he has claimed, then why his government has failed to ensure the release of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Navy officer, from Pakistani jail.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates

The numbers don't lie; Mumbai motorists are in selfie-destruct mode. At least 50 per cent of road accidents on the 93-km Mumbai-Pune Expressway are due to cars stopping or stalling on the road.

A report in this paper stated that stopping to take a selfie or to enjoy the greenery along the E-way could cost you your life. The first two months of the year have already seen 91 accidents, in which 52 people have died. Of these, 26 accidents happened because of vehicles halting. We must warn people that however tempting the scenery, it is just not safe to halt on the E-way and take photographs of the greenery. Once you reach Pune or the outskirts, you have the time to park your vehicle, alight and take all the pictures you want, so keep moving along the expressway, which is what is was made for.

Travellers must realise that an expressway is a piece of infrastructure, pure and simple. It is designed to take people to their destination. It is certainly not a picnic spot. It is no place to lounge around and eat, get out of the car and wash your hands, use as a Kodak moment or to idle outside your car for any other reason. Drivers have to drive within the speed limit on the expressway.

Cut going over the speed limits, which is a sure killer. Authorities have to ensure cameras are in excellent condition. If there is a car breakdown, switch on your hazard lights, and get your co-passengers to wave their hands; do all you can to alert oncoming traffic. The upcoming monsoon means more challenges for E-way users. Let us bring those fatality figures down, and let the numbers do some happy talking, for once.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan, who had been undergoing treatment for Neuroendocrine tumour since the last two months, breathed his last on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Paan Singh Tomar actor was admitted to Kokilaben Hospital for a colon infection. While a host of Bollywood celebrities mourned his death, politicians across parties took to Twitter to pay homage to the most 'Versatile' actor of the Indian Film Industry.

Irrfan Khan’s demise is a loss to the world of cinema and theatre. He will be remembered for his versatile performances across different mediums. My thoughts are with his family, friends and admirers. May his soul rest in peace.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 29, 2020

Saddened by the demise of the late actor, PM Narendra Modi said that Irrfan Khan's demise is a loss to the world of cinema and theatre. While offering his condolence to the the late actor's family, PM Modi said that Irrfan will be remembered for his versatile performances across different mediums.

With the untimely demise of #IrrfanKhan, we lost a versatile actor.
Not just a hardworking actor but he was also a good cricketer but couldn’t persue due to lack of funds. His TV and film presence is unparalleled and has been giving confidence & motivation to many.
(1/2)

— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) April 29, 2020

Remembering the fond memories that he shared with the late actor, former CM of Maharashtra and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that Irrfan was also a good cricketer but couldn't persue it due to lack of funds. While Rajya Sabha Member and actor Shatrughan Sinha said that Irrfan was a man of few words, but a volcano of talent.

Here's how other's paid homage to Irrfan Khan:

Heartfelt condolences on the untimely demise of a self made, brilliant, versatile actor par excellence our own #IrrfanKhan. He was certainly one of the best in our film industry. A thorough gentleman & fine human being @irrfank. A man of few words, but a volcano of talent.

— Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) April 29, 2020

Saddened to hear about the demise of #IrrfanKhan.

One of India’s most versatile actors and a true gem of a person, my thoughts are with his family and friends in this hour of grief. Om Shanti.

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) April 29, 2020

Sorry to hear about the untimely passing of #IrrfanKhan. He was a truly talented & versatile actor, who helped India shine around the world. His presence will be missed on & off screen. My thoughts & prayers are with his friends & family.

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) April 29, 2020

Saddened to hear about the passing of Irrfan Khan. The Indian film industry has lost a much accomplished artist, who was also a warm, affectionate and humble person. He will be missed by all!#IrrfanKhan #RIPIrfan pic.twitter.com/QrfhJxSYBR

— N Chandrababu Naidu #StayHomeSaveLives (@ncbn) April 29, 2020

सिनà¥Â‡à¤Â…भिनà¥Â‡तà¥Â‡ à¤Â‡रफान à¤Â–ान याà¤Â‚à¤Âšà¥Âया निधनाà¤Âšà¥Â€ बातमà¥Â€ à¤Âà¤Â•à¥Â‚न दà¥Âà¤Âƒà¤Â– à¤Âालà¥Â‡. à¤Â…तिशय सà¤Â‚à¤Â˜रà¥Âष à¤Â•रà¥Â‚न पà¥Âढà¥Â‡ à¤Â†लà¥Â‡लà¥Âया या à¤Â…भिनà¥Â‡तà¥Âयानà¥Â‡ à¤Âœाà¤Â—तिà¤Â• सिनà¥Â‡मात à¤Â†पलà¥Âया à¤Â…भिनयाà¤Âšा ठसा à¤Â‰मà¤ÂŸविला हà¥Â‹ता. तà¥Âयाà¤Â‚à¤Âšà¥Âया निधनानà¥Â‡ दà¥Â‡श à¤Âà¤Â•ा महान à¤Â•लाà¤Â•ाराला मà¥Âà¤Â•ला à¤Â†हà¥Â‡.
तà¥Âयाà¤Â‚ना भावपà¥Â‚रà¥Âण शà¥Âरदà¥Âधाà¤Â‚à¤Âœलà¥Â€ðŸ™ðŸ¼

— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) April 29, 2020

No stereotypical looks, no six-pack, no fancy dance steps, no dynastic claim to a place in Bollywood. It was just talent & a breathtaking screen presence. #IrrfanKhan your courage to speak up when others chose silence was your biggest asset & will be missed the most. God speed.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) April 29, 2020

We've lost a tremendous actor who shattered all the stereotypes of what a 'Bollywood hero' should be.
Heartfelt condolences. #IrrfanKhan

— Prakash Ambedkar (@Prksh_Ambedkar) April 29, 2020

My sincere tributes to the great magician of an actor, the legendary #IrrfanKhan who weaved magical emotions into his characters with utmost ease in each of his acts!

Indian Cinema will struggle to fill the void to be felt by his absence!Condolences to near & dear#RIPIrrfanKhan

— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) April 29, 2020

Omar Abdullah, former CM of Jammu and Kashmir said that Irrfan had talent and a breathtaking screen presence which helped him cement a place in the Bollywood film industry. Poitician and advocate Prakash Ambedkar said that the Irrfan shattered all the stereotypes of what a 'Bollywood hero' should be, while former Deputy Chief Minister, Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav said that Irrfan weaved magical emotions into his characters with utmost ease in each of his acts!

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his nomination to the State Legislative Council. According to sources, Thackeray asked for PM Modi's help, saying if it doesn't happen, he will have to resign. The PM said that he would look into the matter and get more details. The Maharashtra Cabinet on April 28 once again asked Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to nominate Chief Minister Thackeray to the State Legislative Council.

Earlier on April 9, the state Cabinet had recommended Thackeray's name for one of the two vacant MLC seats that were to be nominated by Koshyari to the Legislative Council to avoid a constitutional crisis. Thackeray was sworn-in as the Maharashtra Chief Minister on November 28, last year. He is currently not a member of either of the House -- Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council.

According to the Constitution, Thackeray has to be elected to either Assembly or Council within six months in order to continue in his post.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

After requests by MMR municipal corporations and councils to the BMC to provide accommodation in Mumbai to those travelling there every day for essential services fell on deaf ears, employees' unions have demanded that all frontline warriors be treated equally.

Advocate Prakash Devdas, Convener of All Municipal Unions Coordination Committee said, "BMC has to give equal treatment to all frontline warriors. Some of the security guards are staying in a godown with just one toilet for 20 people. BMC asked sweepers to stay in schools without adequate facilities. Workers need accommodation with facilities."

Almost 60-70 per cent of the cases in MMR include people who travel to Mumbai for work, or their contacts. While the BMC has made arrangements for the stay of health and water supply staff, it has not yet agreed to MMR's appeals for accommodation for around 55,000 others.

The Municipal Union General Secretary Ramakant Bane pointed out that the workers spend more than four hours travelling to work every day. "Many workers, especially labourers stay in small houses outside the city have been requesting the civic body for accommodation, but the corporation is turning a blind eye. However, there are a few employees who need to go back home every day," Bane said.

Of the one lakh employees reporting to work since the BMC issued 100 per cent attendance directive, around 50-55,000 live outside city limits. Then, there are those who work in private sectors like hospitals, laboratories, banks, etc. MMR, which includes Thane, Thane Rural, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Mira-Bhayandar, Palghar and Vasai-Virar, collectively has 1,596 patients — 16 per cent of that in Mumbai.

Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Chandrakant Dange told mid-day, "Out of 190 confirmed patients, almost 100 either work in Mumbai or are their close contacts. As of now, Mira-Bhayandar city has 71 active patients and only 21 of them don't have a link to Mumbai. Maximum patients are related to health professionals, and there are private hospital staff too."

Dange said they expressed their concerns in a letter to the private hospitals where 36 residents work, but didn't get any response. He said the situation is worsening and he will send a letter to the BMC as well.

"It takes nearly three hours to reach office. We have to wait for the bus, which then makes rounds to pick up other employees. But, at least we eat homemade food and go back to our children at night," said one of the BMC employees.

SJ Kunte, deputed for COVID-19 work in rest of MMR, pointed out that no is forced to stay in Mumbai. "There isn't any travel ban on residents in MMR who go to Mumbai for essential services. But it is important to control the virus transmission by restricting travel and if the BMC can arrange the duties of essential staff in a way that they can stay back home for 10-15 days and work in the city on other days it will help to reduce the number of COVID-19 patients in other corporations," said.

"We have provided accommodation in some of hotels for staff related to essential services, like doctors, nurses, etc. But there is a limitation and it is hard to provide the facility to all the employees," said a senior BMC official.

No. of COVID-19 patients (as on May 5)

Mumbai: 9,945
Thane Rural: 82
Thane: 466
Navi Mumbai: 415
Kalyan-Dombivli: 227
Ulhasnagar: 12
Bhiwandi-Nizampur: 20
Mira-Bhayandar: 182
Palghar: 31
Vasai-Virar: 161

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

A group of 30 civil society organisation have jointly written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, asking for a smooth procedure and free travel for the migrant workers.

Amid the misery and uncertainty brought upon jobless migrants by the third phase of the new Coronavirus-caused lockdown, they wrote, "Migrant workers... are not in a position to afford the travel cost. Moreover, the losses they have incurred due to the delay in their travel are on account of State action, and hence, they shouldn't have to bear the burden of those losses."

Bilal Khan of the Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, one of the signatories to the letter, said: "Migrant workers are the worst-affected by the mismanagement and short-sighted policy decisions during the lockdown. The government is now forcing stranded labourers to pay for their travel back home. They're being heavily charged by private doctors for medical certificates and local vendors are selling application forms at unreasonably high rates. Our letter has demanded to waive off all travel charges along with other recommendations to ensure safe travel."

He added: "Many states have either refused to or are reluctant to take workers back as Mumbai is a Coronavirus hotspot," he said. "Police stations in Worli, Shivaji Nagar, and Mankhurd are simply not accepting applications."

Bilal said there are 12 lakh registered construction workers in the state but the number will be higher as most are unregistered. He added that migrant workers without ration card have not received food relief. "BMC is supplying khichdi on a small scale. NGOs too are providing food, but their efforts combined with that of the government are still inadequate," he said.

"Some are so traumatised that they have decided never to come back. This will also stress the state with so many unemployed workers. The government must take care of them for at least three months post-lockdown. A relief and rehabilitation plan must be made," Khan said.

'Medical certificates futile'

Apart from the ticket cost, the letter highlights the cost of medical certificates. "The medical certificates are a futile exercise as they have no validity due to reasons stated in the letter," Khan said. Some of the recommendations include reducing panic and ensuring systematic rescue/evacuation. "We have demanded zone-wise transportation of workers from within the city," Khan said.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

Ace India sprinter Hima Das on Sunday said her role model has always been cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.

In an Instagram chat with veteran India batsman Suresh Raina, Hima said: "My role model is Sachin Tendulkar, I still remember talking to him when he invited me to his home. When I saw him, I ended up crying and sir consoled me. It was the best moment for me. Meeting your role model is a big moment for everyone and no one can forget that."

On her COVID-19 lockdown lessons, Hima said: "I have learnt a few things during the lockdown: 1. Dedication. 2. We used to go out to eat, which is not healthy 3. We can stay at home and live life without going out unnecessarily," Hima said.

Hima told Raina that she is doing yoga and indoor workout to keep herself fit. "Since we are not allowed to go to the ground, I am doing workouts in the room. We have a 30-40 metre long lawn, and I am utilising it for exercise. Started doing yoga and mind exercise. Eating habits have also changed. I have stopped eating meat and I am consuming more fruits and water," added the 20-year old Assam girl.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

American TV star and model Olivia Culpo celebrated a unique prom night during self-isolation with her National Football League (NFL) star boyfriend Christian McCaffrey, 23.

The couple partied with Olivia's sister Sophia and Christian's mother Lisa besides other family members. "Tonight is prom night with our quarantine crew," the Sports Illustrated model Olivia wrote on social media alongside pictures and a video of their celebration. "Lisa made all the boys do a "promposal" and now's she torturing all of us with chores," added Olivia, 27.

The outdoor party in a cocktail lounge area could also be a celebration of Christian's four-year $64 million (R484 crore) contract extension signed with NFL side Carolina Panthers in April.

The group ate, drank and also played with a unique bubble machine, blowing bubbles for everyone around.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

Mawa modak

Modak is Ganesha’s favourite dish and therefore, Ganesh Chaturthi celebration is incomplete without this Indian sweet. Modak has evolved with time and is now available in myriad forms, including steamed and fried forms. Thanks to restaurants and chefs in Mumbai, who are taking initiative to give a tasty twist to the traditional sweet dish.

This year on Ganesh Chaturthi, Executive chef Kamlesh Rawat of 180 Degrees Grand Sarovar Premiere in Goregaon has prepared a massive 5kg Mawa Modak to mark the occasion. The modak will be there on display until Sunday, August 27. Do not forget to drop in to take a glance of this mighty modak.

5kg Mawa Modak at Grand Sarovar Premiere

Read the recipe of the modak here:

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1. 3Kg Mawa(if hariyali mawa is good texture)
2. 1.5 Kg sugar or add as per taste
3. 200 Gm. Cardamom powder
4. 10 Gm. Saffron
5. 200 Gm. Ghee for Modak greasing

Method:
1. Heat pan in low flame and put mawa on it. As the mawa starts melting, keep stirring it on low flame.
2. When the mawa begins to melt add sugar in it and stir again.
3. When the mawa starts bubbling, add cardamom and saffron in the mixture.
4. Keep stirring on low flame until the mixture starts leaving the bottom of pan.
5. Transfer the mixture into a big bowl and wait for it to cool.
6. Place the mixer on a greased plate and mould it in the shape of a modak.
7. Garnish with saffron on top and the Mawa Modak is ready to be served

Where: Grand Sarovar Premiere, AK Plaza, SV Road, Goregaon West, Mumbai

Tofu for Ganesha
This vegan, gluten- and sugar-free modak is bound to get the fitness freak interested. A blend of tofu, almond flour, coconut powder and soya milk, with a whiff of cardamom and saffron, makes this made-to-order eat delicious to the core.

Time: 12 pm to 1 am
At: Dishkiyaoon, ground floor, The Capital, Bandra Kurla Complex Road, Bandra East.
Call: 8291139404
Cost: '350 plus taxes for five modaks

With love from Manchuria
Enjoy the piping-hot and deep-fried Manchurian Modak that oozes with Chindian flavours or opt for other savoury varieties like Dahi Modak Chaat, Matar Samosa Modak and Hara Bhara Modak at a 10-day chaat festival.
Time: 12 pm to 10 pm at Dillie Heart, Nalanda Co-op housing Society, Evershine Nagar, Malad West
Call: 28800781
Cost: '99 (for a plate of five pieces)

Do the tutti frutti
If you love a dose of colourful tutti frutti, this mawa modak with a mix of the confectionary is what you need. They offer 20 variants, including Chocolate Chips, Gulkand, Roasted, and Mathura Modak.
At: Puranmal restaurants at Juhu, CSMT, Chandivali, Khopoli and Ghatkopar.
Call: 8080806749 (CSMT)
Log on to: puranmal.com
Cost: '121 for six modaks

Break it open
Try D:OH! Dak, a hollow chocolate modak filled with ice cream brownie and chocolate sauce, served with a side of hand-churned modak ice cream featuring jaggery, coconut and dry fruits.
Till: September 5 Time 9 am to 1 am
At: D:OH outlets in Kamala Mills, Lower Parel and Fun Republic Mall, Andheri West
Call: 62372830 (Lower Parel)
Cost: '299

For gooey goodness
Here's an artisanal version of your regular festive favourite - this modak has a filling of caramel and tender coconut, all encased in a shell of saffron mousse. And to help you maintain your vegetarian diet, it's egg-free!
Time: 10.30 am to 12.30 pm
At: Toshin, first floor, IVY Restaurant & Banquets, GM Road, Amar Mahal, Chembur West
Call: 67982298
Cost: '260 per piece

The anti-dairy bite
Sworn off dairy products and unable to enjoy mawa modaks? Order the decadent Chocolate Cranberry variety, which includes oats laced with cocoa and bits of tangy-sweet berries. It isn't just vegan but gluten- and sugar-free too.
Time: 9 am to 9 pm at Buddha Bowl, Hill Road, Bandra West
Call: 33126724
Cost: '360 (for a box of 11)

Modak platter

Malai modak, chocolate modak, mawa modak, Ganpati Bappa's feast is incomplete without a plate of modaks. And, so is ours during Ganesh festival! But, this Ganeshotsav, ditch the calorie laden modaks and try their healthy alternatives. We bet the modaks taste yummy and are perfect sweets to indulge in during the festival in Mumbai. What more do you need when you have more 'goodness' on a platter?

1. Oats modak: Made with jaggery instead of sugar, Oats modak is an all time favourite healthy Indian dessert to savour during Ganesh festival. Crush the oats to give a fine texture to the dessert. Keep a frying pan in low flame and put jaggery on to it. Once the jaggery melts, add coconut oil, crushed coconut, powdered oats and assorted crushed dry fruits. Make a fine mixture and keep it aside to cool down. Once the mixture cools down, place it in a modak mould, press hard and take it out gently. Place it on a plate, garnish with pistachio and your nutritious oats modak is ready to be served.

Oats modak

2. Figs and dates modak: Soak dates and figs in hot water for some time. Once it turns soft, drain the water and grind it to make a fine paste. Take a handful of almonds and cashews and ground it into a fine powder. Heat a pan, add ghee, dates and figs mixture and powdered nuts gradually. Cook it for a while and place it aside to call down. Put the mixture in a modak mould, press it, and take out from the mould once the shape is formed.

3. Chana Dal ka Modak: Consumption of legumes in any form is good for health. Boil chana dal in a pressure cooker, drain out excess water and mash the dal to make a smooth paste. Add jaggery and ¼ water to a pan. Keep the pan in low flame and stir the jaggery until it melts. Add chana dal and 1/3 cup of grated coconut to the jaggery syrup. Mix everything and cook on a low flame until a thick mixture is formed. Let it cool down before you start shaping it in the form of modak. Fill the mould with the mixture for healthy and delicious chana dal modak.

Ukadiche Modak

4. Ukadiche Modak: Also known as steamed modak, this is one of the popular and nutritious versions of modak available in the market. The sweet dumplings are made from rice flour. Add rice flour in a pan of boiling water. Mix well, knead into a soft dough and keep it aside to cool down. Heat ghee and add coconut, jaggery and poppy seeds to it. Make a thick mixture and let it cool for a while. Make rice balls, stuff the centre of the balls with the mixture and put them in a modak mould. Moisten the modaks with little water and place them in a steamer. Steam for around 10 minutes and serve warm.

5. Dark chocolate modak: Heat dark chocolate and milk in a pan until it turns into a smooth mixture. Add crushed digestive biscuit crumbs to make the modak more nutritious and knead to form a soft dough. Once the paste cools down, put it in a modak mould and serve. Garnish it with finely chopped nuts.

None of these modaks is made of sugar and is therefore perfect for those on a diet plan or those who are looking out for healthy alternatives of the traditional dessert. Yet, these are delicious in taste and are ideal to indulge during the festival. The recipes are simply too. So, why not give it a try at home?

Twins Thomas and Mathias Sühring grew up in Berlin, which was then part of East Germany. Summer holidays were spent at their grandparents' farm, near the Polish border, harvesting vegetables and fruits, and feeding ducks, chicken, and pigs.

"We derived immense joy from going to the forests to pick berries and mushrooms, and fishing in the lakes nearby. As kids, it was nothing short of an adventure. We feasted on our grandmother's cooking. It was special to see how she got the family together at the table," says 40-year-old Mathias in an email interview from Bangkok, where the duo runs Sühring, which has placed 13th on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list this year.

They first arrived in Bangkok in January 2008 to helm the kitchen at Mezzaluna -- the city's highest restaurant, located on the 65th floor of Tower Club in Lebua. Next week, they will be at The Taj Mahal Mumbai for a pop-up that runs from September 13 to 17. But, before that, they share the story of what brought them to Mezzaluna and how it led them to launch their own brand.

Excerpts from the interview:

Did both of you want to become chefs?
Thomas: Our parents made us realise how much we loved the time we spent on the farm, harvesting and preparing food
with our grandparents. They suggested we explore the idea of becoming chefs since Germany was finally united by the time we turned 19, and we had the freedom to travel to wherever we wanted. We trained in different hotels in Berlin and earned a diploma after three years. We took a trip across the country in our car and visited all the three-Michelin-starred restaurants to apply for a position.

But no one was interested in hiring us.

Our journey towards becoming professional chefs began when a chef named Sven Elverfeld, from Aqua at The Ritz Carlton in Wolfsburg [Germany], called us.

What led you to launch Sühring?
Thomas: Five years ago, we realised that starting our own restaurant would allow us to fully express ourselves. We knew
Gaggan [Anand, celebrated Bangkok-based Indian chef] since 2008, when we were working at the same hotel in different capacities. He had always been encouraging us to open our own place.

We launched Sühring on February 22, 2016, which also marks the birthday of Gaggan, our partner and friend.

Sühring is 13th on the Asia's 50 Best list. What is the secret behind its success?
Mathias: We never expected Sühring to rank so high on the list within a year of its launch! The atmosphere of a restaurant
goes a long way in establishing a bond with the guests. We ensure that our guests feel comfortable, as if they are visiting an old friend. Hence, we live at the restaurant, to create a warm and relaxed atmosphere. What's better than great food in a homely set-up?

What, according to you, constitutes modern German food?
Thomas: For a long time, Germany wasn't considered to be a country of culinary excellence. The cuisine is often labelled as boring, heavy, fatty, and fixated on meat. But there is so much more to it than just salted pork legs, sausages, potatoes or sauerkraut. We incorporate modern cooking techniques into traditional methods to transport diners to another culinary generation. The result is perfect -- simple execution with robust flavours.

There is a notion that twins think along similar lines. Does this happen with the two of you in the kitchen?
Mathias: There have been instances when both of us have thought on a similar line without having talked about it. We ensure that we openly share ideas and thoughts that work in our favour.

What's your brotherly bond like?
Mathias: We have a respectful and professional equation at work. We discuss all new dishes together. Often, we have a similar view and when we don't, we let the dish take shape, and give it a fair chance. What's important is that we learn every day. Currently, Thomas takes care of cooking hot food items and I focus on preparing cold
ones, including pasties.

What's in store for Mumbai?
Thomas: We are presenting our signature dishes, like Frankfurter Grüne Soße, a sauce that originated in Frankfurt and is made with seven different herbs. We will also bring our two-and-a-half-year-old sourdough to Mumbai to bake authentic German breads, which will be part of the menu. Another dish, called Brotzeit, will have butter churned from lacto-fermented cream and flavoured with wild garlic leaves. Also on the menu is a traditional noodle dish, called Spätzle, from the Black Forest
region of Germany. This one will be served with mushrooms and fresh truffles.

Has Gaggan given you advice for this trip?
Mathias: He told us to enjoy his country and its incredible people.

Lewis Hamilton and Heidi Klum

Formula One star Lewis Hamilton, 32, and supermodel Heidi Klum, 44, went on a dinner date in New York recently after attending a fashion bash in the wake of talk that Klum and her current boyfriend of three years Vito Schnabel, 31, are taking some time off their relationship.

Hamilton is now in Singapore for the F1 event. According to The Daily Mail, Klum was seen walking towards the waiting car with Hamilton in tow.

But the F1 driver made sure to maintain some distance from the America's Got Talent judge on their exit from their dinner.

"She was seen with Hamilton at the Harper's Bazaar event," said a source.

Fernando Alonso, 37, who announced that he will retire from Formula One at the end of the season, could get married to Italian supermodel Linda Morselli, 29, soon.

According to reports in Socialite program, one of the reasons that could have made Alonso take the decision to leave F1 is that he wants to lead a happy married life and start a family with his girlfriend of two years.

Linda Morselli. Pic/Getty Images

While announcing his retirement, Alonso, had said in a statement: "After 17 wonderful years in this amazing sport, it's time for me to make a change and move on. I'm having one of the happiest times ever in my life but I need to go on exploring new adventures."

Recently, Morselli posted this picture on social media kissing Alonso and captioned it: "Love you." If Alonso gets married, it will be his second wedding. He was married to singer Raquel del Rosario till 2011.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

Nitin Kumar is a known name in Pollywood Music, but he is more known as Nitin Vilecha hails from Punjab, he was born on 23rd July 1999 is young enough to gain a good name in the music and fashion world. Although the world of modeling is often dominated by females, Nitin was successful enough in breaking this stereotype and emerged a big name in the fashion world. With his handsome looks, he was able to make his entry into the fashion world. He worked with top models including Jon, Opry, and Lucky Blue to name a few. After reaching the zenith, he tried his luck in acting.

Soon entered in Pollywood music seen with some songs. His intention is clear, he wants to make his entry in Bollywood. He is waiting for the right opportunity to make a move inside B Town. However, in modeling he has proved his worth and soon it won't be surprising to see him becoming the part of several global events as well.He has worked with different brands and companies and with his handsome and stunning avatar, he is willing to go a long way doing big ventures in modeling. Besides, he has remained the part of many fashion shows as well working as a showstopper for several top brands.

In a short time, he was able carve his niche in this field and is now counted among the top models in the glamour world. People have started recognising him as he has become a regular face in the Pollywood music and fashion world. He is leaving no stone unturned to give his best and find time for every assignment doing justice to the ventures he keeps on getting in his way. He may be a stable model with good earning but he wants to make his mark in the Bollywood industry as well. Hope to see him soon on the big screen with B Town stars.

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Is there any greater form of justice than vigilante justice? This genre has found great success both in India and abroad, but we seldom saw it on television. But it seems we are all set to see one in the form of Hero- Gayab Mode On, the new show that's all set to arrive on Sony SAB.

The teaser reminds you of all the films where the protagonist made invisibility his strength and fought his enemies, of course, the most iconic and memorable one being Anil Kapoor's Mr. India. And the teaser will surely leave you excited.

Have a look right here:

This fantasy fiction will be a significant addition to an already illustrious set of fantasy characters such as Baalveer and Aladdin that have been entertaining the viewers of the channel.

Committed to providing values-driven light-hearted entertainment that is cherished by the entire family, Sony SAB is all set to widen its slate of shows with this latest brand-new fantasy offering.

Stay tuned to Sony SAB to catch Hero in action!

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10 AM on April 14, the last day of the ongoing nationwide COVID-19. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10 AM on 14th April 2020," PMO India tweeted.

Prime Minister @narendramodi will address the nation at 10 AM on 14th April 2020.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) April 13, 2020

In his last address to the nation on March 24, the Prime Minister had announced the 21-day lockdown in the country to contain the spread of coronavirus. During a meeting last week, several Chief Ministers had suggested to the Centre that an extension of the lockdown may be considered amid surging coronavirus cases across the country.

India's tally of positive COVID-19 cases rose to 9,152 following an increase of 796 cases in the last 24 hours, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on Tuesday at 10 am, the Prime Minister's Office said. The 21-day nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus ends on Tuesday and the PM is likely to talk about its possible extension. "Prime Minister @narendramodi will address the nation at 10 am on 14th April 2020," the PMO tweeted.

Last month, the PM had addressed the nation twice – on March 19 and March 24. On March 19, he had called for resolve and restraint to fight Coronavirus. He had also announced a 'janta curfew' on March 22, a Sunday. On March 24, he had announced the 21-day nationwide lockdown to check the spread of the deadly virus. In a video message on April 3, Modi had urged people to switch off the lights at their homes and light up lamps, candles or mobile phone torches for nine minutes at 9 pm on April 5 to display the country's "collective resolve" to defeat the Coronavirus.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Tuesday, extended the nationwide lockdown till May 3.

In a televised message to the nation the prime minsiter said that the main focus will be on the hotspots and the government will impose stricter measures to fight covid-19 outbreak. The PM said "Till 20th April, all districts, localities, states will be closely monitored, as to how strictly they are implementing norms. States which will not let hotspots increase, they could be allowed to let some important activities resume, but with certain conditions." 

He thanked and paid a debt to gratitude to the citizens for fighting a courageous battle against COVID-19 despite facing their own personal challenges. He praised everyone and said that everyone is well aware of the situation and has fulfilled their responsibility.

Prime Minister began his address to the nation by saying India is doing well to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. He thanks people on the frontline of the COVID-19 battle. "Our fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic is progressing with strength," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech invoked Dr. BR Ambedkar and acknowledged the courage shown by the people of India during the COVID-19 lockdown. "In our constitution, 'We the People' is written and the power of 'We The People Of India' has been seen in the country during the lockdown. This is the best respect we can pay to Dr BR Ambedkar on his anniversary." he said.

He also said that rules would be stricter in order to curb the spread of novel Coronavirus. "Till April 20, each district, each state will be monitored closely to see whether the lockdown is being followed. Then we can decide on relaxing the restrictions," said the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that whatever relaxations granted during the lockdown to some areas will be upon conditions and even if one such case is reported, the relaxations will be taken back.

Talking about daily wage workers, PM Modi said that the new guidelines will be made keeping their interests in mind. Rabi crops cutting is on, and the measures will be taken to reduce their problems.

He asked for the unity and support of India on seven issues where he spoke about taking care of elders in the family, supporting the healthcare workers among others. He issued a seven-point appeal to the citizens and asked for:

• Take proper care of the senior citizens of your house, especially those with underlying problems.
• Lockdown and social distancing should be properly followed. Home-made face covers and masks should be used.
• Increase your immunity by following directions given by Ayush Ministry.
• To help curb coronavirus spread, download the Aarogya Setu application.
• Wherever possible, help poor families.
• In your businesses, help your coworkers, including those working under you, don't downsize people.
• Respect the Coronavirus 'soldiers' -- doctors, nurses, sanitation workers and other essential service workers.

He added that India did not wait for the problem to increase but it foresaw the problem and made an attempt to control it. Modi added that compared to other nations, India is at a better position.

He ended the address by asking people to be very vigilant and wished everyone good health.

It was Narendra Modi's fourth televised address to the nation in less than a month. Last month, the Prime Minister had addressed the nation twice – on March 19 and March 24. On March 19, he had called for resolve and restraint to fight Coronavirus. He had also announced a 'janta curfew' on March 22, a Sunday. On March 24, he had announced the 21-day nationwide lockdown to check the spread of the deadly virus. In a video message on April 3, Modi had urged people to switch off the lights at their homes and light up lamps, candles or mobile phone torches for nine minutes at 9 pm on April 5 to display the country's "collective resolve" to defeat the Coronavirus.

On Monday the number of COVID-19 cases rose by 1,253 to 10,444 cases. Nearly 10 states, including Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, Telangana, Punjab had already announced an extension of the lockdown until April 30.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

After his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed his profile picture on Twitter. He used a picture where his mouth was covered with a cloth, thereby spreading awareness.

Narendra Modi has often emphasized on the need to cover face, wash hands and practise social distancing to curb the spread of novel Coronavirus. His new profile photo with his face covered aims to spread awareness among people on covering their faces with homemade masks and other solutions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also wore a mask when he held a virtual meeting with the chief ministers from various states. In his address, Modi extended nationwide lockdown until May 3 and said that detailed guidelines will be brought out on Wednesday in order to ensure that the virus does not spread.

India has reported 10,363 cases of the virus infection and 339 deaths so far.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked people to follow seven steps in the coming days to help the government in its fight against Coronavirus.

The seven steps which the PM asked people to follow included taking care of the elderly as they are more prone to infection, keeping their faces covered while venturing out and taking care of the poor and the needy who have been effected by the lockdown.

"... if we continue to be patient and follow rules, we will be able to defeat even a pandemic like Coronavirus. With this faith and trust, I seek your support for seven things," he said in his address to the nation.

Health workers spray disinfectant at Nawabpura in Moradabad, on Tuesday. PIC/PTI

Modi on Tuesday announced that the lockdown across the country will be extended till May 3 to fight the pandemic, saying the measure has produced a significant outcome in containing the infection.

The first step was to take special care of the elderly, especially those who have chronic diseases. "We have to take extra care of them, and keep them safe from Coronavirus," he said.

The second step, Modi said, was strict adherence to the 'Lakshman Rekha' of lockdown and social distancing. "Please also use homemade face-covers and masks without fail," he said. He also urged people to follow the protocol issued by the Ayush Ministry to enhance immunity.

"Regularly consume warm water and 'kadha'," he said. The PM also stressed the need to download the Arogya Setu mobile app to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus infection.

"Take as much care of poor families as you can ... try to fulfill their food requirements ... Be compassionate towards the people who work with you in your business or industry. Do not deprive them of their livelihood," he said.

Finally, he said people should pay utmost respect to Corona Warriors – doctors and nurses, sanitation workers and the police force.

Railway services suspended till May 3

The Indian Railways on Tuesday extended the suspension of all its passenger services till May 3, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to extend the nationwide lockdown amid the COVID-19 threat. It also said that full refund of fare would automatically be provided to its online customers for trains cancelled up to May 3, while those who have booked at the counters can claim the refund till July 31.

Gujarat police book Bhushan, Gopinathan

The Gujarat police have booked lawyer and activist, Prashant Bhushan and former IAS officer, Kannan Gopinathan for their social media posts on Sunday. While Bhushan has been charged for allegedly using an objectionable tweet against the Ramayana, Kannan Gopinathan has been booked for using government orders on social media to mislead people. The FIR was registered at Bhaktinagar police station, Rajkot city. Later, the investigation was transferred to the special operations group.

Airlines refuse to refund tickets

With the Centre extending the lockdown to May 3 and subsequently the suspension of all commercial passenger services also till then, domestic airlines have again decided not to refund the customers in cash for their cancelled flights and instead offer them rescheduling of tickets for a later date without any additional fee. India had imposed a 21-day lockdown from March 25 to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Consequently, all flights were suspended for the period.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a video conference with the chief ministers of all the states on April 27 over the COVID)-19 crisis. The Prime Minister has held two such interactions earlier with the chief ministers over the coronavirus situation and lockdown imposed to prevent its spread.

Before the lockdown was announced on March 24, the prime minister had interacted with the chief ministers on March 20 to discuss the means to check the spread of the deadly virus. In his last such interaction with the CMs, Modi had thanked the states for supporting the decision of the 21-day nationwide lockdown and praised how all the states have worked together as a team to check the spread of the virus.

The lockdown which was initially meant for 21-days was later extended till May 3 by the government. Meanwhile, the total number of positive coronavirus cases across the country rose to 19,984, including 15,474 active cases.

So far, 3,869 patients have been cured and discharged while 640 deaths have been recorded, as per the data provided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

New Delhi: An astounding 93.5 per cent people in the country believe that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is handling the coronavirus outbreak effectively, a survey revealed on Thursday.

The central government had imposed a 21-day nation-wide lockdown on March 25, which was later extended till May 3.

According to the IANS-C-voter COVID-19 tracker, the number of people who laid trust on the Modi government on the first day of the lockdown was 76.8 but that has now increased to 93.5 per cent as of April 21.

In the survey, the statement -- "I think the Indian government is handling the coronavirus (outbreak) well" -- was put forth before people between March 16 to April 21 and their answers were sought.

On April 16, 75.8 percent people said that they have faith in the government, but the percentage increased after the stringent curbs were imposed in the country.

Interestingly, an overall confidence in the incumbent government saw a sharp rise on April 1. A 89.9 percent people believed that the government is working well in comparison to March 31, when the percentage was 79.4

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter on Friday morning informing that he will be interacting with 'Sarpanchs' from across the nation. He will also launch an unified e-GramSwaraj portal and a mobile app on National Panchayati Raj Day. "At 11 AM today, PM @narendramodi would be interacting with Sarpanchs from across the nation via video conferencing. All Sarpanchs will be able to join this interaction through Doordarshan, from their respective homes adhering to social distancing norms," Modi tweeted.

He added that the village heads who were participating and will be sharing their views with him will be doing so from a Common Service Centre close to them. National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated on April 24 as it marks a defining moment in the history of decentralisation of power to the grassroots level, with the institutionalisation of Panchayati Raj through the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992, which came into force on April 24, 1993.

The portal that PM Modi will launch is a new initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj which will provide the gram panchayats with a single interface to prepare and implement their Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).

The Prime Minister will also launch the Swamitva Scheme on the occasion. The scheme provides for an integrated property validation solution for rural India; the demarcation of inhabited land in rural areas would be done by the use of latest surveying methods -- Drone technology with the collaborated efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Departments, State Revenue Departments and Survey of India.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Business magnate Anand Mahindra is known for sharing posts that showcase innovative techniques that people use to make life easy.  The chairman of Mahindra and Mahindra Group has recently tweeted a video of a man’s e-rickshaw and how it helps practice social distancing amid the Coronavirus outbreak. He praised the idea in his tweet in which he also asks one on his teams to take a leaf from.

The viral video shows an e-rickshaw with a wall that divides the seats in the vehicle making it efficient to accommodate four people. The wall will not allow the customers to have any physical contact with each other, while they ride in the rickshaw. “The capabilities of our people to rapidly innovate & adapt to new circumstances never ceases to amaze me,” Mahindra writes in the tweet. He tags Rajesh Jejurikar, the Executive Director of Auto and Farm Sectors in Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, and writes, “we need to get him as an advisor to our R&D & product development teams!”

The capabilities of our people to rapidly innovate & adapt to new circumstances never ceases to amaze me. @rajesh664 we need to get him as an advisor to our R&D & product development teams! pic.twitter.com/ssFZUyvMr9

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 24, 2020

Since shared on Friday, the video has garnered more than 255,200 views with over 34,200 likes and was retweeted more than 7,300 times. The users commenting on the post lauded the creativity behind the vehicle with some asking to introduce a fund for innovators to showcase their talent.

Thats almost a "Quarantine Tuk-Tuk"!!Brilliant!!

— NIRANJANA CHELUR (@MAXCHELUR) April 24, 2020

Necessity is the mother of invention. !!

— Siva Kumar 🇮🇳 (@nakshatrala) April 24, 2020

You should launch a 10year close ended innovation fund. India has abundant innovators if only they could get some support.

— Cold Oatter (@cold_oatter) April 24, 2020

Sir, I am sure all of us would have seen street smart guys/kids through our lives, though they aren't Princeton/Harvard educated..They might not know complex PPT presentation, but they know how to survive challenges!
Glad that you are giving him a platform to showcase his talent!

— ತರà³Âà²²à³Â† 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓂𝓂𝒶 (@BLRrocKS) April 24, 2020

Super 👌👌👌👌

There is no lack of creativity & capabilities in India.

— Krutika Varu 🇮🇳 (@VaruKrutika) April 24, 2020

What do you think about the video?

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that India's fight against the coronavirus is "people-driven" and is being fought by the masses and the administration together. "India's fight against coronavirus is actually people-driven. This fight is being fought by the people and the administration together. Every citizen as a soldier is fighting this war," Prime Minister Modi said in his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' address.

The Prime Minister said a vast country like India which is starving for development and fighting a decisive battle against poverty has only this option to fight against coronavirus. "I am confident that in future, whenever there is a discussion regarding the pandemic there will be a reference to Indian's people-driven fight against the infection," he said

The Prime Minister said today's Mann Ki Baat is taking place "when we are in the midst of a 'Yuddh' (war).

"When I talk about a mask, I remember an old thing. You also would be remembering, there was a time when a person seen buying fruits would be questioned whether someone in the family was sick. It meant, fruits could only be consumed during illness, such was the thinking that time. But with changing times, this thinking also changed," he said.

"Similarly, perception regarding the mask is also about to change. You will see that mask will now become a symbol of civilised society. If you want to save yourself and others from disease, then you will have to use a mask. And, I have a simple suggestion, 'Gamcha'," he added.

He added that in changing times due to COVID-19, masks are becoming part of our lives. "We have not been habitual of seeing people around us with masks but this is happening now. It doesn't mean that all those who use masks are sick," the Prime Minister said.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

As the world struggles to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to the people to shun the habit of spitting in public places. Pointing out that it was a case of "better late than never", the Prime Minister said society has understood the negative impact of the spitting habit, which affects health and cleanliness of surroundings.

"We in India always knew that spitting in public places is wrong. Yet, it continued in places. Now is the best time to ensure we do not spit," Modi said in the 64th edition of his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'. "This will increase basic hygiene and strengthen the fight against COVID-19."

The Prime Minister's address came at a time when the entire country is under complete lockdown -- a measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus which has so far claimed 824 lives and over 19,800 confirmed cases across the country.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' address, has given a direction to the Indian citizens for fighting the battle against Coronavirus.

"PM Modi in his 'Mann ki Baat' has said that the battle against Coronavirus has to be won within one month. He had said that by the time Eid comes we will defeat Coronavirus," Javadekar said.

He further said, "Modi had also said that society has shown humanity by ensuring that no one goes hungry during the lockdown." "In today's address, the PM gave a proper direction that is necessary to fight the battle against Coronavirus," he added.

Modi while addressing the nation during his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' had said that India's fight against the Coronavirus is "people-driven" and is being fought by the masses and the administration together.

He also informed that the government has come up with a digital platform to link volunteers of social organisations, representatives of civil society and local administration.

Tamil Nadu under major lockdown

The complete lockdown in the major urban centres of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai and Coimbatore, came into force on Sunday with groceries and vegetable shops also shutting down as civic bodies intensified disinfection work in their respective regions. While police patrol vehicles and flying squads of civic bodies alone could be seen in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem and Tirupur, people in some localities in north Chennai loitered around.

Standalone shops open up in Delhi

The Delhi government has allowed the standalone shops in the national capital based on the Union Home Ministry's order but the markets and complexes will remain shut, Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal said. He also said that no other relaxation will be given to the city till May 3 — lockdown deadline. "Last Sunday we decided to continue the lockdown without any relaxation. We are giving one relaxation today. The Centre on Friday announced to open some shops and we are implementing it."

Shops sell PPE for as cheap as Rs 198

As they fight the deadly Coronavirus pandemic 24/7, frontline healthcare workers are facing a severe crunch of personal protection equipment (PPE) suits or hazmat suits. Suddenly, several retail shops have cropped up across the country, offering such specialised medical suits at cheap prices. Shops in Tirupur — also called the knitwear city of India — in Tamil Nadu are offering such suits for as low as R198 and R225, take minimum order for 50 suits with courier charges extra.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to interact with Chief Ministers on Monday, via conferencing, on the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country.

"At 10 AM, Shri Narendra Modi will be interacting with state Chief Ministers via video conferencing. They will be discussing aspects relating to the COVID-19 situation," PMO tweeted.

Today's meeting comes just a week ahead of the scheduled ending of nationwide lockdown. On March 24, the Prime Minister had announced a 21-day lockdown as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown was later extended till May 3.

Meanwhile, speaking on the forthcoming meeting with the Prime Minister, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said, "The CMs will explain the situation in their respective states at the conference. There will be some estimate on the situation in the country and in the states. Opinions on how the next plan of action will also be figured on Monday's conference. Hence, there will be clarity on the future course of action."

The Prime Minister has already held two such interactions with the Chief Ministers over the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a video conference with Chief Ministers over the COVID-19 situation, was seen covering his face with a traditional 'gamcha on Monday.

The Prime Minister's 'gamcha' was a plain white colour with a sea green check pattern. Covering the mouth and nose with a traditional 'gamcha' has been the go-to option for Modi in a bid to make people aware of how they can easily take precautions against coronavirus.

Modi wore a 'gamcha' previously for his address to the nation on April 14 during which he announced the extension of the national lockdown till May 3. During a video interaction with Sarpanchs on April 24, Modi again opted for a 'gamcha'. He was seen wearing a homemade white cloth mask in his previous meeting with Chief Ministers on April 11.

With 1,396 more COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's count of coronavirus cases has reached 27,892, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday. Out of the total cases, 20,835 patients are active cases and 6,185 cases have been cured, discharged, or migrated. The death toll stands at 872, with as many as 48 fatalities reported in the last 24 hours.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever