New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) Around 90 per cent of respondents feel that video calls have helped them to combat feelings of loneliness amid the pandemic, a report said on Tuesday. The survey conducted by video-conferencing platform Zoom in collaboration with Qualtrics Research also revealed that 50 per cent of respondents have used video calls for business purposes. And over half of them (52 per cent) appreciate having a choice between virtual and physical meetings as they feel "

Guwahati, May 10 (PTI) "Tell your mother, I will be the chief minister one day", Assam's new Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had told a young Riniki Bhuyan, who became his wife later, when he himself was a student of Cotton College here. He was completely focused even in his student days, and very sure of what he wanted to do in the future, the chief ministers wife told reporters after the swearing-in of her spouse as the 15th chief minister of the northeastern stat

New Delhi, May 10 (IANSlife) 'Sacred Games' actor Kubbra Sait says that in her sixties or seventies, she would like a tiny home with a little garden probably growing cabbages. "Oh yeah, if it faces the beach, then that will be amazing," quips Kubbra. The performer, who left behind a successful corporate career for a career in acting, recently featured on the 'My 3 Secrets To Success' audio series on Audible Suno. Answering a question on what her 60s or 7

Mumbai, May 9 (PTI) Miss Universe aspirant Adline Castelino, who is preparing to take on the coveted pageant, says she epitomises women challenging the odds every day in their lives to make their dreams come true. The winner of LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2020 has her sights on winning the prestigious contest, which is set to be held in the US on May 16.  "As a young girl growing up in Kuwait with no exposure, I would always look up to Miss Universe with so much awe but nev

Mumbai/Los Angeles, May 9 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan joins a host of international personalities including Pope Francis and US President Joe Biden in a globally televised special titled Global Citizen's VAX LIVE: The Concert To Reunite The World, which aims to inspire vaccine confidence worldwide and help get the Covid-19 vaccine to everyone everywhere. The special programme is aired globally on Sunday evening according to India time. The concert has been pre-ta

New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) After making waves with films like "Margarita with a Straw", "Yeh Jewani Hai Deewani" and "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara", award winning French-Indian actor Kalki Koechlin is to debut as a writer with "The Elephant In the Womb", publisher Penguin Random House India announced on the eve of International Mothers Day on May 9. In this unique graphic book, a combination of personal essays and think-pieces, we finally have that c

New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) Actress Raveena Tandon says she is disturbed by the oxygen shortage in the capital amid the second wave of Covid, and has taken it upon herself to send oxygen cylinders to the city. Raveena has started an initiative called Oxygen Seva On The Wheels Mumbai To Delhi, where she is sending oxygen cylinders through her non-profit organisation, Rudra Foundation to the Capital. "Just look around you, how can what's happening not need you to do something,

Mumbai, May 6 (IANS) Marking a significant achievement, the civic-run BYL Nair Charitable Hospital has just completed its 1025th safe delivery for a woman infected by Covid-19 - and may walk into record books, excited officials said. The first such delivery of an infant by a Covid-19 positive mother took place on April 14, 2020 at the height of the pandemic at the hospital run by BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). "Of around 1,025 safe deliveries so far, there was one

MUMBAI, MAY 5 (IANS): A year after its launch, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s mental health helpline clocked over 72,000 calls, with a majority from men, pertaining to job security and health during the Covid-19 pandemic, an official said here on Wednesday. The "BMC-Mpower1on1", a 24X7 helpline, received calls on a variety of issues ranging from jobs to academics, and fear of contracting Covid to depression. A whopping 70 per cent of the callers were

New Delhi, May 4 (IANSlife) Punjabi pop icon Daler Mehndi says that only if we were to acknowledge ourselves and teach our kids how 'durlabh' (rare) our human body, life and the mind is -- "only then, we will be able to take care of it and only then we will make well-informed choices and thus be better people, then a better society, a nation and a world." To spread a positive outlook towards life in the middle of the pandemic, the 'Bolo Ta Ra Ra' singer has

New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) Sonu Sood on Monday evening thanked Priyanka Chopra for backing his appeal for free education to children of those who lost their lives to Covid, even as many fans pitched him for next Prime Minister of India. "Thanks a ton Priyanka for your support. I promise we will make this happen," Sonu wrote to Priyanka, along with a folded hands emoji. His post came in reply to Priyanka's long tweet earlier in the day, agreeing with Sonu's appeal a

Mumbai, May 3 (IANS) Actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra took to Instagram on Monday to share a motivating message for her fans. She posted a picture that shows her meditating in the mountains, with the text: "Overthinking will destroy your happiness and your mood. It'll make everything worse than it actually is. Take a deep breath, exhale and have faith. What's meant to be, will be." In the caption, she wrote about how we must try to help those who we can. She also sp

Mahoba (Uttar Pradesh), May 3 (IANS) This groom could have never imagined that flunking a simple 'maths test' would make his marriage plans go awry. The groom, all decked up, reached the wedding hall on Saturday evening with his 'baraat' but the bride, who was suspicious of his educational qualifications, asked him to recite table of 2, before the garlands could be exchanged. The groom failed to recite the table and the marriage was called off. Panwari Station

New Delhi, May 2 (IANSlife) Actor and entrepreneur Masumeh Makhija, who is part of Shiladitya Bora's upcoming film 'Bhagwaan Bharose', and has appeared as a child actor in 'Banegi Apni Baat' (1994) and several TV commercials, finds it refreshing that independent productions and international cinema are finding a home on Indian screens. Excerpts from an interview with the '3 Storeys' actor about her work: You started your career at the age of 11 and now

New Delhi, April 30 (IANSlife) With the lockdown, restrictions and changes at work, people have been grappling to find some normalcy in their lives. As the crisis deepens, there are mixed emotions, feelings of despair, fears, insecurity, stress, and for women, in particular, there have been extra care-giving responsibilities while working from home and working at home. It's important to remain upbeat while staying at home, managing self-care and well-being. Vasant Mundra, Consul

New Delhi, April 30 (IANSlife) While some states and cities in India saw the partial opening of schools for a short period of time prior to the new virus mutations that make the second wave so much more severe, it is a fact that pre-schoolers and those in elementary years, including primary years, continued to operate with their virtual engagements. As it was not deemed 'safe' for them to be in physical environments other than the safety of their homes given a host of reason

Mumbai, April 29 (IANS) A month-old infant girl, who faced a double life-threatening challenge of Covid-19 and a congenital heart defect, has been cured at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (KDAH) here this week, an official said on Thursday. After spending a month in the hospital, the infant, now two months old, returned home after successfully beating both Covid-19 and cardiac issues. The unchristened daughter of Krishna Agarwal from Nandurbar was diagnosed with a critica

Mumbai, April 29 (IANS) Creating a much-needed solution to address the shortage of medical oxygen currently facing India, the IIT-Bombay has come up with a simple tech-hack to convert a Nitrogen Unit to an Oxygen Unit, an official said here on Thursday. A pilot project has been successfully tested with promising results that can help the country where lakhs of Covid-19 patients in hospitals urgently need oxygen to survive. The technique involves conversion of Pressure Swing Absor

Jaunpur (UP), April 28 (IANS) Shocking pictures of an old man carrying his wife's body on his bicycle for cremation have exposed another heart-wrenching aspect of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. According to reports, the old woman died of Covid and the local villagers did not allow her cremation in the village, fearing spread of the infection. Her husband was forced to carry the body of his deceased wife on his bicycle for hours, in search of a place to cremate her. In one

New Delhi, April 28 (IANS) Sometimes the pace of the film can be the real content. At times, it is the rhythm that says the most important things. Filmmaker Akshay Indikar, whose latest movie 'Sthalpuran' ('Chronicle of Space') premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival and will be the closing film at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), feels that cinema should unfold, rather than tell everything. "Also, it should not reveal all. Some thin