分类： bharat

Qatar has temporarily barred travelers from 14 different foreign nations from today as the coronavirus infection tally surged globally. The ban covers China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand. Qatar has a coronavirus infection toll of 15.

Globally, such measures are now the norm. The ministry of health has published a travel advisory for Indian citizens, asking them to refrain from traveling to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy and Japan. According to the statement: “Indian citizens are advised to refrain from travel to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy and Japan and advised to avoid non-essential travel to other COVID-19 affected countries. In addition to visa restrictions already in place, passengers traveling from /having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health authorities of these countries. This will be enforced from 00:00 hours of March 10, 2020, and is a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subside.”

Even as restrictions on overseas tourists rose, Japan lodged a strong protest with India over its decision to cancel all e-visas to Japanese nationals in view of coronavirus cases. Japan issued a demarche to India seeking review of its decision to cancel e-visas to Japanese nationals. In its demarche, Japan took strong note of India’s decision to club Japanese nationals along with people from other countries ignoring strong bilateral ties between the two nations.

India had suspended all regular visas/e-visas granted on or before March 3 to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan as part of measures to check spread of coronavirus in the country. The regular/e-visas granted to people from Italy, Iran, Japan and South Korea were suspended after these countries reported rising number of coronavirus cases. The e-visas granted to people from these four countries who have not yet entered India were also suspended with immediate effect. India had suspended regular/e-visas granted on or before February 5 to Chinese nationals and the restriction is continuing.

On Sunday, five fresh coronavirus cases were reported in Kerala, bringing the tally to 39. Three people who returned from coronavirus-affected regions in the past nine day were on Sunday quarantined for suspected exposure in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, a senior health official said on Sunday. Indore District Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Praveen Jadia said the three, including a 34-year-old woman, had returned from the United States and Malaysia.

After flooding and landslides caused numerous deaths in Pakistan late last week, parts of the country are bracing for the arrival of another potent storm system.

The storm will track from southern Iran into Pakistan through Tuesday before arriving in northern Pakistan on Wednesday.

Showers and thunderstorms will spread from eastern Afghanistan into far northern India, including the states of Himachal, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh by Wednesday.

Steadier and heavier rain is forecast for far eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan and into far northern India as the storm forces moisture into the meeting point of the Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountains.

By Friday, the storm will begin to move east. Rain and storms will gradually taper off across Pakistan, but they will spread farther east along the Himalayas into northeastern India and Bhutan.

Through the second half of the week, isolated showers and thunderstorms are also expected to develop in parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal of eastern India.

This Friday, we’re flocking to the theatres to catch Irrfan make a come back to the big screen after a 2-year-long hiatus, with Angrezi Medium. Speaking about working with Irrfan, his co-star in the film, Kareena Kapoor Khan, said, “I have worked with all the Khans – Shah Rukh, Salman, Aamir and Saif. But for me, it is an honour and privilege to work with Irrfan Khan. He is the pioneer, one of the finest actors among all the Khans if I may say, and he is the biggest Khan for me.”

But the biggest Khan of Hindi cinema had quite a rocky start too. He missed out plenty of coveted opportunities – the most notable of all is Mira Nair’s, Salaam Bombay. In this week’s Tuesday Trivia, we tell you how a role in Nair’s 1988-film, that could have made Irrfan, was reduced to a blink-and-you-miss cameo. And how he rose like a falcon later, The Namesake, also directed by Nair.

In 1986, when Mira Nair visited NSD (National School of Drama), her eyes were looking for trained actors who could work with street kids in her upcoming film Salaam Bombay, a film based on the lives of street kids in Mumbai. At the basement workshop of the college, she spotted Irrfan.

“I noticed his focus, his intensity, his very remarkable look – his hooded eyes. I clocked him,” she said to Anees Chhabra for his book Irrfan Khan, The Man, The dreamer, The Star.

For the 20-year-old Irrfan, it was a dream come true. He jumped on the offer and flew to Mumbai to attend the film’s workshop. He and actor Raghubhir Yadav stayed at a flat that Mira had rented. They, along with a few street kids, took part in workshops that were organised at the flat.