Heena Sharma Blog

The nationwide lockdown is all set to be extended beyond May 3, at least until the middle of the month in the red zones of the country, as many states told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video-conference meeting on Monday that it’s not the time yet to lift the curbs. This means more activities may be allowed to resume in green zones of the country. Most Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states support extending the lockdown, but will wait and abide by the Centre’s fresh guidelines. Telangana has already extended the lockdown until May 7, and will take a decision on further extension on May 5. Odisha, Meghalaya and some others support extending it by a month. Congress-led governments want the lockdown to be lifted in areas other than hotpots or containment zones. Read More

Under a warm sun that marked the end of winter, Arvind Kejriwal took his third oath as Delhi chief minister in seven years. Keen to reshape his and his party’s image from that of disruptors to a centrist, problem-solving umbrella party, the 51-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician sought cooperation from rival parties in making Delhi the “number one city”. Kejriwal reached out to supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, and other parties, and said he was now their CM too and they should approach him unhesitatingly. He said he was keen to move beyond the bad blood of elections, and sought cooperation and blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre. “ I had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi but he could not come as he may have been busy. We want to seek his blessings for smooth governance of Delhi,” Kejriwal said in his nearly 20-minute address. The prime minister, who was in his constituency Varanasi where he inaugurated several projects, later g