Migrant labourers start booze party in quarantine centre, face police ire

One man’s jackfruit...

Our humble jackfruit has found its place under the sun. With fear for meat rising worldwide, Kerala has reported a spike in demand of the backyard regular among people in the West. There had been some demand for it among vegans and vegetarians in the West as a meat substitute but now many are said to be switching to vegetarian food — because of the suspicion over animal products in the aftermath of Covid-19 — and in some places due to a shortage of vegetables because of movement restrictions. India is the world's biggest producer of jackfruit and is looking  at the global pandemic as a 

great opportunity.

Quarantine party

Liquor aficionados are posing a new set of challenges to state authorities taking care of people quarantined in Chhattisgarh. Last week, a group of migrant labourers, who had been kept in isolation at a government school in Janjgir district, decided to celebrate by uncorking the bubbly. They were joined by relatives who sneaked in somehow. Officials swung into action when news of the celebration reached a local police station. While those who were drunk were spared, others faced the officers’ ire. The local police booked five people including a village guard for supplying liquor to the group. In their defence, the suppliers said since the people were suffering from depression because of prolonged isolation, they decided to provide a sip of support.

Sport relief

Starved of live sporting action for months now, Indian viewers welcomed the first offering that came their way with open arms. The numbers recorded after the resumption of the German football league, the Bundesliga, on May 16, provide some indication of this. It is learnt that viewership on the streaming platform Disney + Hotstar this past weekend was six times that of the league’s opening weekend in October 2019. In the pecking order of European leagues among Indian fans, the Bundesliga is usually low down, with the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga being the most preferred ones. It remains to be seen if the German tournament is able to tap this windfall to cultivate loyal viewership in a new territory even after football action resumes elsewhere.