Lockdown Diary, Day 44: Quarantine stamps burn skin; black panther spotted in Goa

India also began its biggest-ever repatriation exercise Thursday to bring back its citizens stranded abroad. The first Air India flight carrying 177 passengers landed in Kochi from Abu Dhabi. It was followed by a Dubai-Kozhikode flight of the same airline. Indian Navy’s INS Jalashwa, also reached the Maldives to bring back stranded Indian citizens.

As many as 64 flights and three Navy ships will be operated until May 13 to bring home nearly 15,000 Indians stranded overseas.

Here is a curated list of some interesting stories from across the country on Day 44 

‘U2 stay home: Mumbai Police’s safety tunes

The Mumbai Police on its Twitter account posted memes of popular rock bands while urging citizens to stay indoors during the lockdown. “Stay indoors, for we are on the streets, playing your favourite safety tunes with our Band-o-bast,” the tweet reads. Memes of popular rock bands such as U2, Backstreet Boys, Oasis and Linkin Park featured in their tweet. Using bands name creatively, the police advised citizens to “U2” stay home, not loiter in “backstreet boys”, home is an “oasis” and don’t visit “Linkin park”.

Stay indoors, for we are on the streets, playing your favourite safety tunes with our ‘Band-o-bast’. #LockdownPerformance #TakingOnCorona pic.twitter.com/ejPW0Ofbfw

— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) May 7, 2020

Goa: Quarantine stamp ink causes burn, peeling of skin

Quarantine stamps that aim to keep check on people with travel history are resulting in skin burns and allergic reactions in Goa. At checkpoints, passengers crossing the border and entering the state are stamped with two different inks — one declaring the date and the other sending them to quarantine. On Thursday, a Goan named Prajyot Lawande tweeted two photographs showing his singed burnt due to the ink applied at Patradevi checkpost.

On Thursday, a Goan named Prajyot Lawande tweeted two photographs showing a wound caused by the ink applied at a checkpost.

Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, “We arrived at 5 pm at the checkpoint on Wednesday and we were stamped. We were three of us and we followed the instructions. We were taken to a quarantine facility where we waited for our results to arrive. We tested negative. At first, there was some irritation our hands but later the skin showed some changes and finally in the morning I saw the skin had peeled off.”

On Thursday, officials confirmed the Health Department who are manning the kiosks at the border that the the ink has been changed.

Maharashtra: Order to post teachers at liquor shops for monitoring canceled

Earlier this week, the administration in Maharashtra’s Akola district posted nine teachers from colleges at liquor stores in Murtizapur town to ensure social distancing, following the Centre’s permission to reopen liquor stores. The order was cancelled today.

The decision did not go down well with the teachers’ organisation which took up the issue with the government. “We had been assigned for duty at liquor shops for monitoring and supervision of crowd and maintenance of social distancing, but now the order has been canceled,” one of the Shri Gadge Maharaj College teachers told PTI.

Tehsildar Pradip Pawar told PTI that there was a shortage of staff as personnel of revenue, agriculture and other departments were already assigned other coronavirus-related duties.

Black panther spotted in Goa’s Netravali Sanctuary

Courtesy the nationwide lockdown, a Black Panther was seen at Patiem beat of Netravali wildlife sanctuary in South Goa. “A great glimpse of Goa;’s rich wildlife. Black Panther camera trapped at Patiem beat of Netravali wildlife sanctuary,” Chief Minister Pramod Sawant tweetd, posting a picture of the panther. A senior forest department official said they were trying to find out if it was a lone Black Panther in the sanctuary or there were others too. While the area is a known as a habitat of tigers, this is for the first time a Black Panther was captured on camera in Netravali sanctuary, he added.

While the area is a known habitat of tigers, this is for the first time a Black Panther has been captured in camera in Netravali sanctuary, he added.

Indian twin brothers fly home after spending 50 days at Dubai airport

Indian-origin identical twin brothers, who were stranded at the Dubai airport for nearly 50 days due to the Covid-19 lockdown, finally boarded their flight to Kozhikode in Kerala today.

The twins – Jackson and Benson Andrews – were among the 177 Indian passengers who were stranded at the Dubai International Airport’s terminal 3 since March 19 while they were returning from Lisbon, Portugal, the Khaleej Times reported. They were among the 19 Indian passengers who were stuck inside the airport for over a month.

“We are Indian citizens and have been working in Portugal for two years now. We decided to leave Lisbon when the situation was getting increasingly bad in Europe,” Jackson was quoted as saying.