Living up to the name

Not for nothing is Chandrababu Naidu known as the most tech-savvy politician in India. His Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will hold its two-day annual conference, Mahanadu, on May 28 and 29 via video conferencing app Zoom. Around 10,000 delegates from the two Telugu speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, along with others, will join the virtual conference which will be coordinated from its Hyderabad headquarters, NTR Bhavan. Naidus’ son and TDP General Secretary N Lokesh has been entrusted with the task of holding the meet through Zoom. Mahanadu is a big event in the party calendar. TDP lost power in Andhra in 2019 elections and is a marginal force in Telangana.

Janata Drill after Janata Curfew

Not just states but even cities are now making their own arrangements to prevent the further spread of Covid-19. Meerut was one of the worst hit after those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat convention in Delhi returned. Now, extensive checks and sanitation precautions have been imposed in the city. Taking a leaf out of the Prime Minister’s “Janata Curfew”, a new operation, Janata Drill, has been launched in the markets of Meerut. No one will be allowed in the markets without a mask and sanitiser. If you don’t have both, a case can be registered against you and you will be fined. What is more, the police is working on a plan under which, at a certain hour, sirens will go off and everyone has to whip out a sanitiser from their pockets and sanitise their hands. The plan is being final touches.