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The Epidemics Disease Act, 1897

In response to the growing threat of the pandemic COVID-19, on March 11, 2020, the Cabinet advised all States and Union Territories (UTs) to invoke Section 2 of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 (“the Act”). This was done in order to ensure that the advisories issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare or State or UTs are enforceable.

US President Donald Trump has promised to sign on a $2 trillion economic relief package for the US coronavirus hit. Americans are not very sure if the relief will reach intended beneficiaries, more likely fund-rich companies. Narendra Modi unveiled a Rs 1.7 lakh crore relief tranche for India’s poor; those with slippery jobs, meaning employment that is not counted as “jobs” by government edict. There’s little confidence whether the Rs 1.7 lakh crore will reach targeted individuals and families!

THURUVANANTHAPURAM: The first death due to Covid-19 in Kerala has been reported on Saturday.

Like many parts of the world our country too is grappling to prevent spread of Covid -19 to the third stage. This is a precarious situation wherein every step has to be taken cautiously with lot of precaution. The medical, paramedical staff and the safai karamcharis are at high risk. Several doctors and nurses have already lost their lives in China, Italy, Iran and Spain after they caught infection while caring for the sick.

There is a new star emerging on the post-coronavirus energy horizon, and that is the humble coal. The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken energy markets to the core, creating incredible volatility for fuel prices. But the one energy source that has not blinked is coal, which according to energy experts could come out stronger through the current crisis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement declaring “lock down” — or, in common man’s language, “curfew” — throughout the country to tackle the coronavirus menace, is a welcome step. But the uncalled for inconveniences caused to people has been overlooked by government. As a result, there has occurred complete breakdown of public services — the newspapers were not delivered in the morning for successive four days now; the maids, who do routine work, did not turn up; garbage piled in front of houses, in absence of sweeping staff. If this continues, diseases may break out, take the form of epidemic, and may cause more damage than coronavirus alone.

The last decade of the last century revolutionized the communication sector. The easily availability and affordable costs of mobile phones ushered in the new era of social development. Further innovations and introduction of free usage of communications through social media became a boon but soon it got converted into a mode of uses and abuses. In the difficult times in the wake of dread of the Corona virus afflictions it became a curse. The middle class, educated but no particular about consequence of their actions, used the medium for conveying unverified but alarming messages. Young appeared keen to grab credit to be first in forwarding messages without verifying the veracity.

The post-peace optimism halts before a politically nebulous terrains in the landlocked Afghanistan is multi-horned. And the manifestation is symbolic as well as sanguinary. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria)-inspired terrorist strike at a Sikh gurdwara killing at least 25 people in presence of security forces, symbiotically with the US announcement of slashing $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan, is a symptomatic manifestation. Worrisomely, the attack was mostly carried out by a single gunman with multiple attackers involved in the assault that lasted hours befooling the Afghan security forces, who had to struggle hard to track down and neutralize the assailants in the complex and its adjacent residential area.

Everyone agrees that delays in judicial delivery give rise to a large number of our country’s problems. I decided to try and evaluate how many extra judges would be required to start reducing judicial backlogs.

Narendra Modi has been playing truant with the people of the country in fighting coronavirus. If Modi has been really worried of the welfare of his people it must not have taken two and half month for him to grasp the escalation of the monstrous virus and react to the threat. It was on 30 December, 2019 the first case of corona virus was reported in Kerala. The victim was a student who along with his three friends had returned from Wuhan, China.