Police in MP to start home delivery of FIRs for violating lockdown

Quid pro quo

A day after India relaxed the ban on the exports of paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), both used in Covid-19 therapies, which enabled the United States to buy 29 million doses of HCQ, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor (pictured) asked US President Donald Trump if there would be a quid pro quo. He suggested that since India had "selflessly agreed" to lift the ban, the US must reciprocate by granting India "first priority" in sharing any Covid-19 vaccine that might be developed in American laboratories. The government had declared a one-off exception to its ban "in view of the humanitarian aspects of the pandemic". India has received similar requests from other countries, including Sri Lanka and Nepal, and the government is said to be studying the requests.

Virtual cricket

With no cricket these days, social media seems to be the new playground — albeit for lazy banter — among cricketers, both current and former. The latest entrants to this club are former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and former Indian middle-order batsman Mohammad Kaif. On Wednesday, Akhtar proposed a match between his son and Kaif’s. The challenge came on Twitter in response to an earlier tweet by Kaif, who posted a video where his son Kabir is seen suggesting that facing Akhtar would have been easy because batsmen could use his pace to send the ball across the boundary. Quoting that tweet, Akhtar wrote: "Toh phir @MohammadKaif match ho jaaye Kabir aur Mikael Ali Akhtar ka? He'll get his answer about pace...”

Home delivery of FIR

As Uttar Pradesh Covid-19 hotspots prepare to get all essentials to be home delivered from Thursday till the lockdown is lifted, the police department in Madhya Pradesh has decided to start home delivery of FIRs against those who are violating the 21-day lockdown rules. Seoni police has registered six such FIRs till now with the help of automatic number plate registration detection cameras. The government in the state has been following the lockdown rules strictly after a sharp increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.