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The plight of almost 40 crore of workers, based on a very miserly estimate, out of 54 crores of workers with almost 90 per cent of them in the unorganised sector as of now in 2020 needs to be addressed immediately. The estimates are that 10 crore and above are migrant workforce in various sectors including in construction, agriculture, factories, contract/daily/casual in private transport beginning from rickshaw pulling to all motored vehicles, those in domestic work, in piece-rated work in home-based sector, workers in shops and dhabas, loaders-unloaders, coolies, porters at Railway stations, bus stations, mandies, hawkers and vendors, waste pickers and others. They are very hard-hit and a substantial number of them could not reach their native homes as the Railways and road transport services were abruptly stopped without giving them advance warning and time to reach their respective homes.

The fear of the unknown is most terrifying. It turns more acute when one is not sure what lies ahead and is not in the position to comprehend how many ways one should try to perceive an outcome. The same situation has arisen in the wake of imposition of lockdown to counter the spread of the disease.

By all means these days are critical. In India this stage of the pandemic is the most decisive one. Its dangerous threat of spreading wide was predicted by experts. A national crisis does stare at the face of India. Its impact on India's future is unpredictable today. One thing is certain. Contemporary history will be divided into before and after Corona. The task of utmost importance at the moment is to fight COVID-19, the corona virus. All out efforts with real perspective are needed. India sees the necessity of a government that could rise to the occasion and mobilize the whole population to meet the challenges. Unfortunately, that exactly is what we lack today. The Modi government is unveiling its absolute incapacity to fulfil the people's expectations. Rhetoric of the highest volume will not suffice to meet this deep crisis, the challenge of the century.

The lockdown has completed a week and has two more weeks to go. By that time one hopes the lakshman rekha will be wiped off by Modi, who gloomily declared the lockdown and before on 19 March, ordered Indians to follow janata curfew and thali bajao campaign on March 22 to morally support the medical community involved in combating the coronavirus.

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh’s opposition parties have come together in a big way to help the general public during the current corona crisis.

Central trade unions of India have written a collective letter addressed to the Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Santosh Gangwar, highlighting the plight of workers, especially the informal workers, in the wake of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 induced 21-day lockdown. The joint letter has been signed by Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC), Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Labour Progressive Federation (LPF) and United Trade Union Congress (UTUC).

God versus Virus. Who would have thought! Praying for divine intervention at times of crisis has been in the nature of man from time immemorial. But for religions, which came rather late in the day, to take everything, including viruses, as a challenge to God’s supremacy and therefore to be challenged, even at the risk of total annihilation, is foolish to the extent of being suicidal!

The whole country is under lockdown for 21 days, even though WHO has warned that a lockdown alone cannot defeat the coronavirus. Was our country fully prepared to meet both the corona and the economic pandemic? Have we learnt any lesson after the outbreak in China? There is an acute shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, gloves, cover all suits, etc. There is also shortage of ventilators.

Welcome to ghost-town Britain, a land none of us was prepared for.

Humanity has been winning the war against epidemics because in the arms race between pathogens and doctors… Once scientists understood what causes epidemics, it became much easier to fight them. Vaccinations, antibiotics, improved hygiene, and a much better medical infrastructure have allowed humanity to gain the upper hand over its invisible predators…. global campaign of smallpox vaccination was so successful, that in 1979 the World Health Organization declared that humanity had won, and that smallpox had been completely eradicated.

– Yuval Noah Hariri, author of Sapiens, Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.