Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday again questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘silence’ on the India-China standoff in Galwan Valley in Ladakh and said the nation needs to know what exactly was happening there.
“Why is the PM silent? Why is he hiding? Enough is enough. We need to know what has happened. How dare China kill our soldiers? How dare they take our land?” Rahul tweeted.
The Congress too has flayed the Prime Minister: “Ever wondered why a vociferous man who never failed to question the (previous) government on every issue is now completely silent? Because, now he cannot blame anyone else but himself for all the failures.”
Congress leader P Chidambaram too had questioned Modi’s silence on the border issue. “The PM has maintained a worrying silence since May 5. Can you imagine any other head of the government not saying a word for 7 weeks since the intrusion of foreign troops into a country?” he asked on Tuesday evening.
On Jun 10 too, Rahul Gandhi had tweeted: “The Chinese have walked in and taken our territory in Ladakh. Meanwhile, the PM is absolutely silent and has vanished from the scene.”
Twenty Indian Army men, including officers, were killed in a violent clash with Chinese People’s Liberation Army at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the Indian Army said on Tuesday.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi when a ‘befitting reply’ to China will be given and urged him to reveal the truth behind the violent face-off in the Galwan valley area in which at least 20 Indian Army personnel, including a Colonel, were killed. The Rajya Sabha MP added that the country will avenge the death of its personnel under the command of PM Modi.
“When will a befitting reply to China’s audacity be given? Without a bullet being fired our 20 jawans are martyred. What did we do? How many China’s jawans were killed? Has China entered our territory? Prime Minister the country is with you in this hour of struggle but what is the truth? Speak. Speak something. The country wants to know the truth. Jai Hind!” Raut’s tweet, roughly translated in English from Hindi, read. “Prime Minister you have valour and are a warrior… The country will take revenge from China under your leadership…” his subsequent tweet read.
Meanwhile, four Indian soldiers are in critical condition after the violent face-off with Chinese troops on Monday evening, according to sources. The violent clash started on late evening and night of June 15 in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side, India had said on Tuesday.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the violent face-off, government sources had revealed and added that the casualty numbers could rise. Indian intercepts revealed that Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash.
Till Monday, Mumbai had 59,293 cases and 2,250 deaths of Maharashtra’s total of 1.10 lakh cases and 4,128 deaths. BMC data show eight other Covid-19 patients died of some other illness. Health officials said the “discrepancy” came up during an exercise to match Covid-19 figures of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) portal with the Maharashtra governments. The exercise, which spanned several days, ended on June 6. It analyzed each case, removed duplication and updated patient details for those recovered, still infected and those who had succumbed to the infection. On June 10, each district was informed if there was a mismatch in figures, and the next day, state Health Secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas wrote to all to submit the updated data, with the deadline 5 pm, Monday (June 15). “Any data mismatch brought to notice subsequently would be viewed very seriously,” the notification stated.
“We found that 451 patients in Mumbai had no update,” a state health official said, adding, “Further inquiry found these patients had died but were not included in the official Covid count.”
BMC has told the state government that three of the 451 had actually died due to unnatural causes (suicide or accident), and that 20 other names were duplication in data. At least 451 deaths of Covid-19 patients in Mumbai were not reported by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a massive data reconciliation exercise by Maharashtra government has shown. Officials also said that over the last week, the BMC had reported 57 of the 451 deaths in a staggered manner. Sources said this was done after top state officials asked the BMC to “come clean” at a meeting last week. That meant the reporting of 371 deaths remains pending now, officials said.
According to ICMR guidelines, the death of any coronavirus patient has to be notified as Covid death unless the patient has terminal illness, or dies due to poisoning, accident or suicide.
“We are trying our level best to be accurate on the cases and death numbers. Once the entire audit is over, the data will be inspected and official cases will be updated.” Said Maharashtra Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta, Mehta added that they will investigate why there was a difference in figures. “If it is human error, it is alright, but if there was mala fide intention, we would be taking action.”
State epidemiologist Dr Pradeep Awate said the gap in Mumbai deaths can be possibly due to human mistake in reporting” the statistics. In May, the Centre introduced a central online portal called CV Analytics. All laboratories and district officials were asked to enter data into that portal. Officials said the data discrepancy emerged through this portal. Figures provided by laboratories differed from those updated by the BMC. In several cases, there was incomplete information on patients in Mumbai on the portal. In March when the pandemic began, districts were supposed to manually feed data and report each case and death to the state government. Awate added, “Mumbai and Maharashtra are recording thousands of cases. It is not easy to maintain updated data.”
The BMC’s staggered updating to include the missing deaths is reflected in its numbers the past few days. On June 13, for instance, the toll put out by the civic body included 19 deaths that had occurred between May 27 and June 10.
The number on June 12 too included some deaths that had taken place between May 20 and June 9. Requesting anonymity, a civic official said “reporting all deaths at once may trigger panic” and hence a decision was taken to include a few of the unaccounted numbers every day.
On Monday, Leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray raising concern over the “unreported deaths” in Mumbai. He claimed around 500 Covid deaths across hospitals in Mumbai were yet to be referred to the death audit committee.
I just want to take my time and enjoy the journey. I really like what I do – Sushant Singh
Sushant Singh Rajput was born in Patna, at his ancestral home is in Bihar’s Purnia district. One of his sisters, Mitu Singh, is a state-level cricketer. He was only son among three daughters, very much close to his mother. His mother’s death in 2002left Rajput distressed and it was in the same year that the family moved from Patna to Delhi.
Rajput attended St. Karen’s High School in Patna and Kulachi Hansraj Model School in New Delhi, he had ranked seventh in the DCE Entrance Exam in 2003 and secured admission in the Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) class in Delhi College of Engineering. He was also a National Olympiad Winner in Physics. In all, he cleared as many as 11 engineering entrance exams, including that for the Indian School of Mines. After he started participating in theatre and dance, he rarely had time for studies, resulting in several backlogs which ultimately made him leave DCE. He completed only three years of the four-year course before dropping out to pursue an acting career. While a student at Delhi Technological University, Rajput enrolled in Shiamak Davar’s dance classes, it was only later that the idea of making a career in acting came to him, as some of his fellow students in the dance classes happened to be interested in acting and were attending Barry John’s drama classes. Influenced by them, Rajput also joined the acting classes. Here, he found his passion for acting: “I found the experience liberating. I realized that I could communicate with the audience. I knew I wanted to do this forever.”
Within a few months of joining the dance class, Rajput was selected to be a member of Davar’s standard dance troupe. In 2005, he was chosen to be one of the groups of background dancers at the 51st Filmfare Awards. In 2006, he was part of the troupe that went to Australia to perform in the cultural program at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. By this time, he was tired of engineering. He was happy and successful in the dance and drama classes, and decided to do what he was good at. He dropped out of engineering and devoted himself full-time to dancing and acting. To make a break into films, Rajput moved to Mumbai and joined Nadira Babbar’s Ekjute theatre group, which he remained a part of for two and a half years. During this time, he was featured in a TV advertisement for Nestle Munch, which became famous throughout India.
His life started changing, he got his first break in the TV industry. In 2008, the casting team of Balaji Telefilms saw Rajput’s personality and acting talent while he was on stage for one of Ekjute’s plays. They invited him to audition for them and Rajput landed the role of Preet Juneja in Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil. His character was killed quite early in the show, but he was such a popular character with the viewers that he was brought back for the series finale in the form of a spirit, looking on as his family celebrates after going through difficult times.
Sushant in his own words said “I realized the importance of money very early in my life. I knew that if you don’t have it, you’re screwed, but after a point, it stops giving you any high. When it comes to fame, I think I have a lot more of it than some people I look up to, and then there are people who are more famous than me, but I wouldn’t want to be like them. So I don’t think I have much regard for either of these things. If you give them to me, of course I will take them, but I won’t miss them otherwise. I generally spend on pursuing my passions, buying things that I don’t need, but also on providing scholarships to students who deserve them. Very soon, I intend to back scripts that I like, which are in need of financial backing.
I am selective about my work because the idea is not to reach a certain goal, accumulate money or earn a certain reputation — I just want to take my time and enjoy the journey. I really like what I do, and would pay to be in such a position, so I really can’t ask for more if I’m actually being paid to do this. I’m grateful to everyone who hires me. Acting is a delicate job; there are no hard-and-fast rules to go about building a character. Every story and character require a different method and process, which an actor needs to discover along the way. So, one film at a time is an absolute necessity, at least for me.
I want to fail, again and again. I think we are too cautious and careful. We need to make some room for failure, but for the right reasons. I want to try new things every time. That’s my high. When you consistently do that, you might not know how to, and might stumble or fail, but that’s okay. No matter what happens on the Friday of my release, I’m mentally back to this excited, neutral state by Monday. Acting is what I enjoy doing, and not necessarily what I’m supposed to do, so I don’t feel the need to be cautious. The ‘why’ of doing what I do is non-negotiable and will never change. There are no lessons to learn. I’m not here to accumulate money or count the number of hit films under my belt. There are no takeaways.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that timely decisions have helped in containing coronavirus in the country.
His remarks came at his meeting with the Chief Ministers and heads of 21 States and Union Territories on the COVID-19 situation in the country, held via video conferencing.
“Two weeks have passed since Unlock 1, our experience during this time could be beneficial for us in the future. Today I will get to know ground reality from you, your suggestions will help in chalking out future strategy,” he said.
“Timing matters a lot in overcoming any crisis. Timely decisions have helped a lot in containing coronavirus in the country,” he said.
Speaking further, the Prime Minister said: “In last few weeks, thousands of Indians returned to India from abroad and hundreds of migrant workers reached their home towns. Almost all modes of transport have resumed operations, still, COVID-19 impact has not been that huge in India as in other parts of the world.”
On June 13, Prime Minister Modi had held a detailed meeting with senior ministers and officials to review India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With an increase of 10,667 cases and 380 deaths in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 count in India has reached 3,43,091 on Tuesday, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
The COVID-19 count includes 1,53,178 active cases, while 1,80,013 patients have been cured and discharged or migrated so far and the toll due to COVID-19 has now reached 9,900.
Veteran journalist Dinu Randive died on Tuesday after a brief illness. He was 95.
He died at his home in Dadar, a journalist said.
Randive, who started his journalistic career in 1956, had also participated in the freedom struggle, the Sanyukta Maharashtra movement and the Goa liberation movement.
He was conferred with the lifetime achievement award of the Mantralaya Vidhimandal Vartahar Sangh and Mumbai Press Club’s RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement last year.
Born in 1925 in Dahanu tehsil of adjonining Palghar district, Randive was a friend, philosopher and guide to many aspiring and established journalists.
In Marathi film Sinhasan (1979) journalist Digu Tipnis (Nilu Phule) uncovers a network of telephone tapping, relations between trade unions and politicians, shedding light on political corruption linked with Mumbai’s entrepreneurial sector. “Digu” was modelled on Randive.
Randive’s wife Savita, who also participated in the Sanyukta Maharashtra movement, died on May 16 this year.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray joined leading figures from politics and media in condoling Dinu Randive’s demise.
Lockdown has not only frustrated the people over lack of earning opportunities it has worried them of losing things of their own. Despite the lockdown in May, vehicle thefts in Mumbai continued to rise. In April, Mumbai police had registered 84 vehicle theft cases. The number rose to 158 in May. Last year, 218 cases were registered in May. 19,907 vehicles stolen in Mumbai in 6 years; only 5,732 found. There were 19,907 motor vehicle thefts in the city between 2013 and 2018. On an average, at least nine vehicles are stolen daily and crowded areas like Pydhonie, Azad Maidan and Mulund are particularly vulnerable to these crimes.
Mumbai, has very less parking space as most of the societies have no parking space or builders sell them separately to the flat owners. Most of the people in Mumbai park their cars outside their houses overnight. Some people even park the cars where ever they managed to get the place in surrounding areas. Many a times not cars but covers, screen inside cars, wheels and even the covers get stolen. The number of thefts had consistently been around 3,000 for the past three years, despite initiatives like installing CCTVs across the city. The gangs involved in the vehicle thefts should be identified by the police but the burglars are smarter than the cops, they cover their faces, they do good reiki of the place before committing crime, they check the angles of CCTV and by taking all sorts of precautions they act. In most of the cases in spite having CCTV footage, police fail to nab the criminal.
According to the city’s transport department, there were 33.4 lakh vehicles plying in Mumbai in 2017-18 and in 2018-2019, the number has risen to 35 lakhs even while the number of thefts has remained around the 3,000 mark. In the last decade, vehicle thefts have decreased from 4,068 in 2008 to 3,203 in 2018 due to CCTVs, awareness and quick action by police. Police said the increase in the number of vehicle thefts between 2017 and 2018 may be due to congestion. Illegal parking on roads makes it easier for robbers to access vehicles. Officials said crowded neighborhoods like Pydhonie, Azad Maidan, Lokmanya Tilak Marg, Kurla, Andheri, Ghatkopar and Mulund, are vulnerable to the thefts. In South Mumbai generally, after registering the case, police find out the bike or car abandoned in some other area, with an empty petrol tank. But still there is the low rate of recovery of stolen vehicles, because the thieves often change the chassis number of vehicles. In such cases, the vehicle is stolen at night and by the morning, when the theft is reported by the owners, the robbers have driven the vehicle out of Maharashtra and overwritten or changed the chassis number. Maximum robbed vehicles land up in Uttar Pradesh or Bihar or even Nepal. Once the vehicle is traced, it is expensive to bring it back to Mumbai and difficult to identify the original owner since the chassis number has been changed. Also, after owners of stolen vehicles claim insurance on the theft, they usually do not want to claim the found vehicle for fear that it was involved in a crime. The owners do not turn up in front of the magistrates as they have already claimed insurance.
As a result of the lockdown, there has been a marked change in the crime pattern across the city. While in April, no chain snatching cases were reported across the city, in May two cases were reported. While cases of house break-ins came down, there was a rise in cases of molestation and brawls. Data released by Mumbai police shows that in May, 158 motor vehicle theft cases were reported which means five vehicles — including bikes, cycles and cars — were stolen every day. In April, the figure was 84. Nearly 60 per cent of these cases involve bikes. It is easier to steal two-wheelers and in desperation bikes are sold for as low as Rs 5,000. Also, parts of bikes are sold separately. In some cases, vehicles were also stolen to move around in the absence of any modes of transport. Apart from this, cases of brawls went up to 266 in May compared to 148 cases in April. A lot of these cases are being reported from chawls and slum areas where there is overcrowding and people are fighting over petty issues.
The Anti-Motor Vehicle Theft (AMVT) unit of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch had last year busted a gang allegedly involved in stealing cars and selling them as second-hand vehicles after changing their chassis number and engine number. The non-availability of parking spaces in residential areas, the indifference of owners, reluctance to spend on safety devices, as well as lacunae like re-registration of vehicles in some states and manual maintenance of records are some of the factors behind the rising number of vehicle thefts in the city. Maharashtra Police had sometimes back launched a website www.vahanchoritakrar.com that allows a quick registration of theft of motor vehicles to help solve the case in a record 21 days.
The website has been designed on the lines of the applications and websites that are being used by police in Delhi and Bangalore. It aims to keep a tab on the rising cases of vehicles being stolen and provide a hassle-free process for registering complaints. Apart from Mumbai, the stolen vehicle is a common phenomenon in other cities like Thane, Pune and other metro cities in India. The vehicles stolen are generally used for illegal purposes. The website has been linked to the National Crime Records Bureau, State Crime Records Bureau and the Regional Transport Authority. According to the official website of the Mumbai Police, 36,000 vehicles worth R115 crore are stolen annually in India out of which only about 14,500 are traced. And even the stolen cars that are retrieved come back stripped bare. Why? Because before they are sold off, many of the accessories and spare parts are taken out since they command a high price in Mumbai’s infamous Chor Bazaar.
Car stereo sets, car brand emblems and other accessories are in huge demand in Mumbai’s grey market. The music systems are usually sold in Kurla’s Chor Bazaar while the emblems are sold both at the Chor Bazaar as well as in some garages in Kalina and Kurla. It depends of what make and price range the music systems belong to, says a senior officer of the city police’s detective department. Cops say they have lost track of how many thousands of car stereos and logos have been reported stolen. Small wonder then that Mumbai is apparently referred to as the ‘one-way godown’ among car thieves. This is the reason, says the officer, why the Mumbai police have not been able to break into the syndicate that forges papers for stolen vehicles.
Molestation cases also went up, from 36 cases in April to 56 cases in May. Theft cases too went up from 34 in April to 51 in May. While eight murder cases were reported in April, 10 were reported in May. The maximum cases that have been reported in the past two months are those under Section 188 of the IPC. These cases mainly relate to people not following lockdown measures like travelling without permission and not wearing masks.
Prolonged Self-isolation due to Lockdown made many people feel depressed, powerless. Actor Sushant Singh Rajput ended his life committing suicide due to depression, two long months isolated at home, failed relationships, memories of mother, no major projects in hand, his former assistant’s sudden suicide and much more to his pain.
Dr. Vishal Sawant, a Consultant Psychiatrist practicing in the city of Mumbai told Afternoon Voice “The lockdown is not just a restricted lifestyle that is new to us, but has also led to sudden new stressors for people whether it’s job insecurities, financial stressors, loneliness etc. A lot of people also at these times get support from their social support systems like friends and family which might not be available right now. Add to this the fears of the corona virus and getting the illness and information pouring in about rising cases and deaths does not help the situation. These reasons lead to anxiety or depression in people and would definitely add to the problems of people who were already suffering from anxiety or depression even before the lockdown”.
Vivekk Mantri, Emotional Wellness Coach explained that, “It’s not only the elders and professionals but even School children suffer from tedium, but also nervousness. Adults have to balance family life and responsibilities, but also balance their professional lives and cope with financial worries. Older people dread the infection and worry about the continuation of services on which they depend. The alcohol and smoking addicts had the toughest time, and some of them even resorted to domestic violence.,” Because of the way isolation and quarantine are set up, that made people feel more depressed and powerless, he added. People, especially the elderly, who remain at home and maintain social disconnection, are at a greater risk of depression and anxiety. he further stated that “Even when lockdown is released, people are going through different kinds of challenges, because their routine shift was a big problem, their sleeping time, watching TV, and easy time all of sudden came to jetlag. Now everyone is running to meet the needs”.
Dr. Abhilash who deals in Siddha Medicines told AV, “Post lockdown whoever visited us were in stress and they took stress relief treatments. The celebrity deaths are hyped that’s why we commoners get to know that they have stress or depression in their life. From common man stating in 10/10 rooms to migrants and many working-class people had gone through severe depression and many died during this isolation period, but these deaths are hardly reported”. On Sushant Singh’s suicide he said “For today’s generation, success is easier to handle than failure. People who succeed too fast, do find enough time to handle failure. It’s important to groom youngsters to handle both these imposters in the same manner. He had everything that people only wish they’d but he didn’t have was that hope which he needed the most. But there should have been someone who could have played that special role of motivating him through whatever he was going through that led this brilliant actor to do this. Unfortunately, no one seemed interested because Bollywood isn’t a fraternity anymore.”
“Covid-19 indeed has taken a toll on human mankind. Yes, we are losing lives and livelihoods while fighting this pandemic. ISOLATION, has turned out to be the strongest weapon to fight this pandemic and the same ISOLATION is seeping the sense of “Loneliness” and “Depression” in almost everybody. Here comes the need of “Relationships”, “Family” and “Friendship”. In the current era of digital revolution, “Social Distancing” should not limit us to approach our Family and Friends. Let’s keep social distancing to fight Covid-19. Let’s stay connected with family and friends to fight Isolation and Depression”, said Dr. Deepak Chaturvedi, MD Medicine.
The coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown has made people resort to social distancing and self-isolation but according to the expert’s long period of isolation had adverse effects.
Governments around the world have been urging the people to self-isolate themselves in their homes as the deadly COVID-19 continues to spread its tentacles, killing millions and bringing our daily lives to a standstill. But how long will a person restrict himself to the four walls of a room? Researchers say that a long period of isolation and solitary confinement may make humans feel depressed and powerless. Powerlessness escalates depression and hopelessness. People feel powerless when they do not have control over everyday aspects and decisions they make. There are marked differences between how the people of different age groups react to the time of crisis in different ways. People with depression may be less likely to modify their moods with uplifting activities.
Senior study author Guy Goodwin, from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, says “When we are down, we tend to choose to do things that cheer us up, and when we are up, we may take on activities that will tend to bring us down. However, in our current situation with COVID-19, lockdown, and social isolation, our choice of activity is very limited.”
Globally, more than 264 million people have depression.
Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide by hanging out of depression is not just one case that has shaken the Bollywood industry, this is also not one rare case that had happened in recent past, film industry needs to address mental health issues in young people. They should open up about any stressful situations or environment. They need a platform to speak it out. Sushant Singh Rajpoot had everything in life one can imagine; be it name, fame, money, success, family and GF and great career. Every time a celebrity or a high-profile personality commits suicide, it brings issues related to mental health and depression into the limelight. The question we end up asking ourselves is, “Why would they want to take their own life when they had everything in terms of wealth, fame and skills?” Whether it is depression, past traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, or something else altogether, mental illness like any other disease, is a battle that must be confronted. Sadly, not everyone can overcome the pain that weighs down on them. But Depression and Anxiety are two invisible diseases which cannot be x-rayed or scanned but very real and life threatening. Our country now desperately needs to focus on mental education by introducing happiness class or something which relates to.
Mental illness is a global problem. More than 300 million people, 4.4% of the world’s population, suffer from depression. These alarming figures reflect the wider prevalence of mental ill-health more generally. It is estimated that mental health conditions will affect a staggering one in four people at some time in their lives. Bollywood is depressed for some or the reason, the actors those who see peek are scared of falling down and those who are in hurry to get work have different levels of depression. Deepika Padukone like a successful actress has time and again spoken her heart out on several issues. Deepika is always seen being vocal about issues such as feminism and depression. She is the chairperson of the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image and is the founder of the Live Love Laugh Foundation, which creates awareness on mental health in India. Deepika Padukone’s non-profit organization deals with mental health issues that also launched a program called “You Are Not Alone” but even somewhere she failed to reach out to those fraternity members who are suffering mental illness or vice versa, people failed to reach out to her for help.
Zia Khan Bollywood actress who shared screen with legendary Amitabh Bachchan, at the age of 25 committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence in Mumbai. Her death left the entire Bollywood fraternity shocked as the bubbly star gave in to death due to depression and a failed love life. When popular television actress, Pratyusha Banerjee, best known for playing Anandi on the TV show, Balika Vadhu, was found dead in her Mumbai home by committing suicide, it once again opened the debate on depression. It was reported that the actress was distressed over her failed relationship and financial pressures made it difficult for her to survive. Both Zia and Pratyusha hanged themselves and ended their lives. “Crime Patrol” actress Preksha Mehta has committed suicide. She was 25. Preksha took her life by hanging from a ceiling fan at her residence in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Sejal Sharma, who acted in TV show Dil Toh Happy Hai Ji, committed suicide by hanging herself at her Mira Road residence. Sharma was a known face in the advertising world before moving on to TV. She worked with a number of Bollywood actors for her TV commercials. Originally from Udaipur in Rajasthan, Sharma moved to Mumbai in 2017. She also acted in a web show titled Azad Parinde. Another actor Kushal Punjabi had committed suicide, who has appeared in several films and television shows, committed suicide by hanging himself from a fan with a nylon rope, the incident happened at his residence at Bandra West. All these actors who hanged themselves are around the age of 25 to 35, they not even lived half of an average life span.
Lights, camera action. The three words any Bollywood star will be familiar with. Supported by makeup artists, stylists and wardrobe consultants, their job is made easier on set. They are always pretentious and live in the character of others with makeup and get up, But what about off-set? The everyday look, being confronted by paparazzi and the pressures of social media, how does this impact a star mentally?
Stories from Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and numerous other film stars have made headlines revealing their struggles with mental illness. Showing that these celebrated names are still human and cannot get away from issues related to mental health. However, celebrity depression whilst providing huge benefits to increase awareness of mental health does have different causes which would always not be experienced by the everyday person.
The Bollywood film industry today has huge demands on stars to look good appearance wise as much as their acting talents. Actors and actresses are under major social pressure to look picture perfect no matter where and when. The stars of today are under more pressure than past stars which can easily cause the development of anxiety and phobia which can ultimately lead to depression. Depression is an ugly word and for different people, it can mean different things. For some, it can mean feeling listless and lying all alone in a room after work with disturbing thoughts fleeting in and out of consciousness until everything seems bleak. For some it can manifest into physical symptoms like finding even the simple task of breathing really taxing. For the ones with depression, time crawls at its own speed transporting a person to a parallel world where simple everyday activities like sleeping, eating and showering starts looking like a humongous task. Its high time film industry comes to reality check, before getting hanged furthermore.
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Local trains, the heart of Mumbai that ferried about 7.5 million people per day were shut down completely on March 23 after the nationwide lockdown. After a huge stoppage suburban train services in Mumbai are set to resume from this week as early as Monday.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last demanded resumption of suburban train services in Mumbai for movement of staff on essential services duty. A senior state government official said that in view of the hardships faced by essential workers in commuting to their place of work, there was a need for resuming the services. After consultations with the Railway Board, a plan for resuming services has been put in place. Senior officials of Central Railways also held a meeting to work out the modalities. Railways as well as the state government will ensure multiple rounds of checking to ensure only essential workers board these trains. The first round of checking will be held before people are allowed inside the station premises. All the ticketing staff will be wearing Personal Protective Equipment at the stations. While there will be no thermal scanning for passengers at the station premises, the state government has been urged to ensure all those allowed to travel are done so after ensuring that they are medically fit and do not come from a containment zone. Both Central Railway and Western Railway are expected to operate a limited number of services based on the number of people approved by the state government to use the services. To allow adequate social distancing in the coaches, unlike its seating capacity to accommodate about 1,200 people, only about 700 are to be allowed per coach. Further the state government is expected to stagger the timings of its offices for workers coming from different areas to ensure there is no crowding at the stations and inside the trains.
Divisional Railway Manager (CR) Shalabh Goel said, “So far there is no written statement from railway board and trains won’t route without written sanction. However, several inter departmental meetings were held with commercial officers wherein ticket checkers have been asked to report for duty at their headquarters with QR code scanners in their cellphones. On Sunday the meeting was scheduled with those from the operations departments to finalise details of the number of services and the social distancing norms that are to be adhered to in coaches and how many trains will be required.
Under the plan no tickets will be issued for essential workers boarding these trains from the ticket counter. The employees instead will be given QR based ID cards which will also bear colour coding to enable Swiffer ticket checking. These cards will be directly handed over to the state government for distribution.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) along with ticketing staff is expected to be deployed at entry points of the stations to ensure only authorised people get to enter station premises where there will be separate entry and exit points. Around 3.75 lakh essential workers used bus services during the lockdown. The local trains that ferried about 7.5 million people per day were shut down completely on March 23 after the nationwide lockdown was announced.
I just want to take my time and enjoy the journey. I really like what I do – Sushant Singh
Veteran journalist Dinu Randive died on Tuesday after a brief illness. He was 95.
Prolonged Self-isolation due to Lockdown made many people feel depressed, powerless. Actor Sushant Singh Rajput ended his life committing suicide due to depression, two long months isolated at home, failed relationships, memories of mother, no major projects in hand, his former assistant’s sudden suicide and much more to his pain.
