To track movement, Kerala police use wedding photographers who fly drones

Priyanka’s missive

Joining other opposition leaders, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is in charge of UP affairs, has put out suggestions to fight coronavirus. In recent weeks, Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati have been quite vocal on the public health crisis and are communicating through social media and press releases. Joining the ranks, Vadra has written a letter to UP Chief Minister Adityanath, underlining the need to increase the ambit of tests to determine the number of people carrying coronavirus infection. She said a small country like South Korea with a population of 60 million attained a testing ratio of six per 1,000 people, while UP, with a population of 230 million, was way behind. She also referred to the success of the sample-testing policy in Bhilwara district of Congress-ruled Rajasthan to obliquely criticise the Adityanath government.

Drones tracking trouble

In Kerala, people start running for cover when they see a drone these days. The state police are using youngsters with a penchant for flying drones as also those who shoot weddings and movies using drones to track and disperse crowds in remote places. So now those who flout the lockdown have started avoiding main roads and places where people gather and play games. While there is no remuneration for their “service”, those who have pressed their drones into Covid service have urged the government to help them procure spare parts and offer them some sort of subsidy on imported products. This way, they say, they can “enhance their support” for law enforcement.

Online sports coaching 

In Madhya Pradesh, it’s not just the school education department that is providing students online classes. The Bhopal chapter of the Sports Authority of India has also launched online classes to coach and interact with players who are under lockdown. Athletes had been complaining that they were missing their routine training and an extension of the lockdown could jeopardise their health and fitness. Under the new e-training programme, coaches track their performance during online sessions and record videos, which are later sent to authorities concerned. Athletes also get online nutritional and psychological counselling.