Thursday, January 21News That Matters

Tag: pandemic

20Jan By moderatorNo Comments
Business

Savings: Covid hits savings for kids’ education | India Business News – Times of India

MUMBAI: The pandemic has caused major change of priorities for urban Indians as far as their savings are concerned. People are saving less for marriages, kids’ education or for small luxuries like cars and vacations. They are setting aside more for retirement, health and untimely death of the breadwinner. According to an annual survey conducted by Max Life, the awareness and actual purchase of insurance by households has jumped during the last one year. But there is a general feeling of being less secure than before, thanks to the fallout of the pandemic. “The overall protection quotient has gone up as Indians are more aware of insurance protection. Life insurance ownership has gone up 5 percentage points to 71% (among respondents), but the percentage of respondents feeling secure has c...
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19Jan By moderatorNo Comments
Business

Hyderabad Swimmer Who Saved People from Suicides Starts ‘Sonu Sood Ambulance Service’

Inspired by actor Sonu Sood's goodwill gestures, a good samaritan here, who saved several people from drowning in the historic Hussainsagar Lake located in the heart of the city, started 'Sonu Sood Ambulance Service' on Tuesday.Shiva, a swimmer, says he saved over 100 people from being drowned in the lake when they attempted suicidefollowing which people started referring him as 'Tank Bund Shiva' for his brave acts.After noticing his selfless deeds people started giving him donations. However, he bought an ambulance and named it after Sonu Sood."People have donated money to me for my family. But I spent that amount to purchase an ambulance. I named theambulance as Sonu Sood Ambulance Service because I was inspired by his good work," Shiva said.Sonu Sood, who was in the city, launched th...
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18Jan By moderatorNo Comments
Career and Education

Low Turnout as Schools Reopen for Classes 9 to 12 in Rajasthan after 10 Months

Schools in Rajasthan opened for classes 9 to 12 on Monday, 10 months after they were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, with only a handful of students returning to classes. Students were given a warm welcome at schools, which were sanitised on Sunday, and teachers ensured they wore masks and maintained social distancing.The state government has allowed schools to reopen with each room having 50 per cent seating capacity and students attending classes with the consent of their parents. "The turnout of students was quite low today, particularly in classes 10 and 12. Hopefully, it will increase over the next few days. Parents are in a wait-and-watch mode before allowing their wards to attend regular classes," said Sanjay Parashar, spokesperson of Subodh Public School here."Fifty per ...
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16Jan By moderatorNo Comments
Business

Lonely Rhinoceros at Bangladesh Zoo Seeks New Love After Losing Her Partner 7 Years Ago

A lonely rhinoceros at a Bangladesh zoo is looking for new love after losing her partner seven years ago, but pandemic travel restrictions are hampering her keeper's attempts to play matchmaker.Kanchi, a star attraction at the Bangladesh National Zoo, is at her most fertile age. But since the death of her male partner in 2014, she has been living on her own in her muddy pen in the northern suburb of the capital.The malaise of Kanchi the rhino has become increasingly apparent to the two million-plus visitors a year at the Dhaka landmark.Kanchi refuses food and often snubs her carer Farid Mia, who hugs the rhino and scratches its neck and shoulders.The one-tonne vegetarian beast is served six kilograms (13 pounds) of rice bran and one kilo of chickpeas each day."Her mood swings frequently...
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13Jan By moderatorNo Comments
Business

‘Covid Museum’ with PPE Kits, Masks and Sanitisers on Cards in Kolkata to Honour Frontline Workers

To commemorate the frontline workers who died in the battle against the coronavirus and document how lives have changed amid the pandemic, doctors are planning to set up a museum in Kolkata.The museum will showcase items like PPE kits, masks, gloves and sanitisers, besides several other materials that became essential in the fight against the virus, West Bengal Doctors' Forum (WBDF) office-bearer Dr Rajiv Pandey said on Wednesday.A proposal has been sent to the state government and a final nod is awaited, Dr Pandey said."This pandemic has come after more than 100 years, even our grandparents have never seen something that we are witnessing," he told PTI."We have already lost around 90 doctors in our state to the pandemic. Like so many other things, this time and these people will be for...
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12Jan By moderatorNo Comments
Business

Wrapped in Plastic, no Picnic for Hungarian Teddy Bears Asleep in Pandemic

In a small village in eastern Hungary, more than 20,000 teddy bears are "hibernating" in a warehouse, waiting for the coronavirus pandemic to ease so they can bring joy to children in local nurseries.Nicknamed "Teddy Bear Mama", Valeria Schmidt looks after her precious collection of bears, now packed up in plastic bags for their unusually long winter sleep as Hungary remains in partial lockdown due to a resurgence of the virus."I give away teddy bears to nurseries, pre-schools and poor families. I make exhibitions for (children's) institutions, a kind of therapeutic teddy bear corner with about 30-50 bears which the children can play with," Schmidt said."Unfortunately, because of the virus situation, I cannot do these now."The 62-year-old Schmidt, who has four adult children, has been c...
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12Jan By moderatorNo Comments
World

UK In “Race Against Time” To Roll Out COVID-19 Vaccines: Boris Johnson

This is a very perilous moment, said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. (File)London: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday Britain was in "a race against time" to roll out COVID-19 vaccines as deaths hit record highs and hospitals ran out of oxygen, and his top medical adviser said the pandemic's worst weeks were imminent.A new, more transmissible variant of the disease is now surging through the population, with one in 20 people in parts of London now infected, threatening to overwhelm the National Health Service (NHS) as hospitals fill up with patients.The death count in the United Kingdom has been soaring and now stands in excess of 81,000 - the world's fifth-highest official count - while more than three million people have tested positive.In a bid to get on top of the pande...
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10Jan By moderatorNo Comments
Business

How Rambo Circus Kept a ‘Dying Art’ and Hope Alive During COVID-19 Pandemic

"I was so anxious and excited the previous night, that I couldn't sleep a wink. It felt like a life-defining moment was ahead of me, and I would finally get back everything I had lost last year," he said. "My kids were thrilled when they heard my circus was reopening. But I only believed it after I saw the paint on my face, and the clown costume on my body," he added.Rambo Circus, which was forced to close down abruptly last March after a lockdown was announced to curb the coronavirus, reopened in January 2021 on the sector ten ground of Airoli, Mumbai and is currently doing daily shows. It is one of the few circuses in the country that has continued to do business online during the pandemic and opened shows this year. However, the last ten months had been incredibly difficult, and tumu...
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9Jan By moderatorNo Comments
Business

New York’s Famous Opera and Theater’s Prototype Festival Pushed Online Amid Pandemic

One of the world’s top festivals of contemporary opera and theater has shifted format because of the coronavirus pandemic.The ninth annual Prototype festivals opens Friday night with the world premiere of “Modulation,” a self-guided digital work for distanced times by 13 composers exploring isolation, identity, and fear.Two other world premieres will be presented through Jan. 16, including “Times3″ a digital audio collage by composer Pamela Z and theater artist Geoff Sobelle in New York’s Times Square, and “Ocean Body,” a multi-screen and music installation for in-person audiences of four a time at HERE Mainstage in lower Manhattan.There also will be three U.S. digital premieres: Ben Frost and Petter Ekmann’s “The Murder of Halit Yozgat;” Valgeir Sigurðsson’s “Wide Slumber for Lepidopte...
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