New Delhi, May 28 (IANSlife) Bollywood actress Bhumi Pednekar has lent her support to Whispers initiative, "Mobileshaala", which aims to provide free education as schools across the country remain closed due to the pandemic. Whisper is one of India's leading names in Feminine Care and menstrual hygiene products.   School closures due to government mandated lockdown could lead to an increased drop-out rate, disproportionately affecting adolescent girls. While th

New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) "This is not an attempt at literary writing; the passages featured in this book are reflections of my observations and sometimes unprocessed thoughts; expressed without filter," Prime Minister Narendra Modi writes in the foreword to his collection of poems, published as "Letters to Mother" by HarperCollins which will be released in June and is available for pre-order on e-commerce websites.   "I am not a writer, most of us ar

New Delhi, May 27 (PTI): A pangolin rescued by the forest department from a quarantine centre in Odisha's Cuttack district will undergo COVID-19 test, an official said.   The swab samples of the pangolin has been collected for the coronavirus test, the official said on Tuesday.   The pangolin was rescued by the personnel of Athagarh forest division in Cuttack from a quarantine centre at a school at Mahulia following a tip-off from a village head.  

New Delhi, May 26 (IANSlife) There are more than 8 million people who die from tobacco related causes each year. Of these, over 7 million die as a result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke. Smoking is decidedly bad for your health and harms nearly every organ of the body.   Smoking causes damage to blood vessels making them thicken and grow narrower. This increases heart rate and your blood pressure. Smoking also cause

New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) Neha Kakkar says singers do get their due credit but stressed that it is important for them to be seen these days.   "Wherever there are singers, they get mentioned whenever the credits come," Neha told IANS, referring to singers being given credit, but she added: "It has become important to be seen also." The "Garmi" hitmaker says singers are not known if they are not visually present.   "When they do

New Delhi, May 25 (PTI): Swarms of locusts entered some residential areas of Jaipur on Monday, presenting the local people with an unusual sight.   Locusts normally affect districts in western Rajasthan but this time the swarms have travelled as far as Jaipur city. The swarms later headed towards Dausa district.   The swarms are travelling farther and damaging trees as there are no standing crops for them to feed on, an official said.   In Jaipur's

New Delhi, May 25 (ANI): As flights restarted in India on Monday after two months because of the coronavirus lockdown, a little boy in Bengaluru airport carrying a "special category" ticket was among the most heartwarming sights of the day.   Five-year-old Vihaan Sharma travelled alone from Delhi, and walked into the arms of his overjoyed mother at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport. He travelled as a special category passenger.   Vihaan Sh

BY SUKANT DEEPAK  New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Delicate lives at their most profound. No overt metaphysical questions, just rhythmic existence leaving enough room for interpretation. Stories, mostly wrapped under a thin disguise. What she manages to say loudly is always with the silences and abandon of her characters. With glimpses of tales and images unseen, left for the imaginations of viewers, National-award winning filmmaker Rima Das always convinces -- there is never just on

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The news of a 15-year-old girl Jyoti Kumari taking her injured father to home in Bihar's Darbhanga -- 1,200 km from Gurugram, on a bicycle during the lockdown, has impressed US President Donald Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump.   Praising Jyoti, Ivanka on Friday shared the news on Twitter and said the "beautiful feat of endurance and love has captured the imagination of the Indian people and the cycling federation". &nbs

Mumbai, May 22 (IANS) Actress Sonali Bendre has always spoken about what a wonderful support system her husband, filmmaker Goldie Behl, has been all though her cancer treatment in New York. However, few are aware that Goldie did not neglect work owing to the trials that the couple has faced. Constantly at Sonali's side through the testing times, Goldie also kept working in the Big Apple. He wrote a major portion of his show "RejctX" sitting in New Yorks Central Park. &

Kanpur (UP), May 22 (IANS) An eleven-member marriage party returned to their home with the bride after spending almost 60 days in the bride's home in Begusarai in Bihar.   The family that came back to their home in Chaubeypur on Thursday, has now been sent on a 14-day home quarantine.   According to family sources, the marriage of Imtiaz, hailing from Hakeem Nagar village of Chaubeypur area of the district, was solemnized with Khushboo of Begusarai in Bihar on

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) With social distancing being need of the hour, virtual concerts have become the latest trend. Singer Richa Sharma is all for it, but says such concerts should not be held for free.   Right from the legendary Asha Bhosle to Grammy winner Ricky Kej to the prolific Shreya Ghoshal, every singer seems to be boarding the virtual concert bandwagon, but not all the artists get paid for singing live from their homes.   "If times like these go

United Nations, May 21 (IANS) Global human development, which can be measured as a combination of the world's education, health and living standards, could decline this year for the first time since the concept was introduced in 1990, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) warned.   "The world has seen many crises over the past 30 years, including the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-09. Each has hit human development hard but, overall, development gains accrued globall

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI): Cycling almost 1,200 km with a debilitated person riding pillion could be a daunting task even for professional athletes, leave alone an ordinary teenager and that too amid the COVID-19 pandemic.   In this case, the heavily-stacked odds against Bihar girl Jyoti Kumari were no match for her grit.   Kumari, a lion-hearted 15-year-old, cycled all the way from Gurugram in Haryana to Bihar's Darbhanga district with her incapacitated father

London, May 19 (IANS) Weekly sessions of yoga can ease depressive symptoms in people with other mental health issues, according to a new study. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting more than 340 million people and the team of researchers wanted to know if yoga might be helpful for people with a range of mental health issues. Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the current study reviewed 19 randomised controlled clinical trials,

BY ADITI ROY ( New Delhi, May 19 (IANSlife) The COVID-19 pandemic that spread like wildfire since last December has affected human life and economies across the world. Among all the sectors that are reeling, it is the tourism and hospitality industry that has been hit the most given all the border closures, travel restrictions and lockdowns, airlines, cruise operators and hotels are seeing instant effects of the pandemic. While many are willing to stay put for the next few m

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Sonakshi Sinha is missing friends and going to work, but doesn't mind sitting at her home in lockdown if "it means that we can stop the spread of the virus". The actress feels fortunate to be at home with her loved ones during the pandemic, and says that the crisis has made everyone realise not to take things for granted. "I miss my friends but that's really not even an issue if you put things in perspective. I'm okay with the lockdown if it means that we ca

New Delhi, May 18 (IANSlife) The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said it is disappointed that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ignored the F&B sector while announcing the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package by the Centre. "We are very sad and extremely disappointed that the Hon'ble Finance Minister chose to completely ignore this sector in these five days of announcements of stimulus package," Anurag Katriar, President of NRAI, said in a statement. The sector

Morung Photo by Manen Aier   BY N. LOTHUNGBENI HUMTSOE    New Delhi, May 17 (IANSlife) We are certainly aware of the medical and economic consequences of COVID 19; but what is also critical is the psychological aspect of this fight, especially for children -- in their families, isolation facilities, child care institutions as well as NGO run shelter facilities. There is a need to educate parents and caregivers to support children in these difficult times a

New Delhi, May 16 (IANSlife) As the third phase of the nationwide lockdown draws to a close, latest data suggest there has been a significant change in people's reading patterns. There is a surge in readership around subjects like automotive, home loans, security of video conferencing applications, and remote learning for students stuck at home, says a trend report by discovery platform Taboola. What is India reading? There is an increase in traffic about topics such as health