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LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh government has hinted on extending the lockdown in view of the rise in coronavirus-positive cases in the state.

The populist right building their electoral strength on boisterousness and arrogant self-confidence has been a known matter. It has been an open secret and there is no new element involved in it. The rightist rulers of the capitalist countries Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro and others have been using this mechanism to cling to a narrative of normality only to hold on to the power. For them the gravity of a crisis does not matter much unless this harms them personally and directly.

It's an open secret that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is known for her pro-India image — both in her native place and in India. Nobody can deny the strong actions taken by Hasina since her coming to power in 2009, against the anti-India elements who used to operate from the soil of Bangladesh. That's the reason that Hasina commands respect across the political spectrum of India — whether it is the Congress or the Left or the BJP.

Many do not agree that the directed programme of standing in balconies or terraces with ancient type lit lamps in hand and power based lights switched off on Sunday night for exactly nine minutes at the stroke of nine was nothing more than a superstition brought in play to drive off the evil pandemic corona virus from India. The bursting of crackers in places by literate but lacking in intellect enthusiastic supporters confirmed their belief that the event would drive away the epidemic. They were indifferent to their action adding to the pollution.

An admirer of Harold Wilson, the newly elected Labour leader Keir Starmer is nevertheless determined to carve out his own niche in UK and Labour politics. But one thing is certain that Starmer who is known to follow the middle path, cannot leave his impact without following the political line of Jeremy Corbyn, the outgoing Labour leader.

BHOPAL: Despite all possible medical and clinical measures, coronavirus continues to expand its footprint in Madhya Pradesh. In the last 24 hours, as many as 22 new positive patients were identified in Bhopal. They include 16 officials of the health department. With this, the total number of patients in the state has touched 263.

Has politics, as we know it, come to a halt at a pit-stop? The feeling is not lost on people. Political parties and politicians appear to have courted ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’. It’s like they have been cured of the virus ‘politics’ and a lockdown is in place. But maybe it’s camouflage. Post-scaremageddon, there might well be a return to reality.

What is the impact of coronavirus on religion? As the well-known German philosopher and economist Karl Marx said, religion is the “opium of the people.” For believers, world over it provides psychological and emotional as well as moral support. But the novel Coronavirus is a pandemic, which threatens the believers and atheists alike, which knows no religion.

It was too good to last. Few will be surprised that the truce between the BJP and the Congress lasted for only about a week. It was a temporary moratorium imposed by an unprecedented crisis, the like of which India hadn’t seen before. But the animus between the two parties is too deep-rooted for them to suppress or tide over.

Notwithstanding poor demand and production cutback across industry, contributions worth millions of dollars from business establishments are pouring in to government and non government charities ever since the nation went on a three-week lockdown to maintain social distance to prevent coronavirus from spreading.