Sowmiya Ashok
Sowmiya Ashok, a former Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, is now an independent journalist based in Chennai. She reports on China, politics and the environment. She tweets @sowmiyashok
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As Wuhan unlocks, queues at restaurants, also at expressway tolls
After 76 days under lockdown, Wuhan city at midnight on Wednesday emerged out of what some people termed “a prison” being pushed into a complete shutdown on January 23.
Wed, Apr 08, 2020
Strict restrictions slowed spread of COVID-19 by over 7 lakh cases in China: Study
The Wuhan shutdown also delayed the growth of the epidemic elsewhere in China, slowing the dispersal of the infection to other cities by an estimated 2.91 days.
Sun, Mar 15, 2020
How the Chinese are coping with being in quarantine
From learning to cook and playing indoor badminton to reading statistic to their cats, the Chinese are finding ways to pass time at home
Sun, Mar 15, 2020
Varanasi port lags in cargo handling, finds RTI
The terminal is part of the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for navigation of cargo which stretches from Haldia in West Bengal to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh under the National Waterway-1. It is a 1,620-km stretch.
Tue, Mar 03, 2020
Coronavirus: Iran flights cancelled, many students among Indians stranded
There are roughly 250 Indian students across Iran, including in Tehran, Shiraz and Kish Island.
Fri, Feb 28, 2020
Coronavirus outbreak: Plane delivers medical equipment in Wuhan, leaves with stranded Indians
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had written to Chinese President Xi Jinping on February 8 and expressed solidarity. He had also offered assistance to China.
Thu, Feb 27, 2020
On February 26, third flight heads to coronavirus-hit Wuhan to evacuate Indians
Nearly 100 Indians are on stand-by since February 20 to be evacuated out of Hubei province though many among them are students, the third evacuation has Indians who work in the province and chose to stay back unsure when their workplaces will reopen.
Tue, Feb 25, 2020
Coronavirus outbreak: India to send medical supplies to Wuhan
Embassy of India in Beijing said, GOI [Government of India] will send a consignment of medical supplies on a relief flight to Wuhan later this week.
Tue, Feb 18, 2020
Explained: Why this study by Indian scientists in Antarctic matters
Indian scientists on a South African vessel are in Antarctica, midway through an expedition across the Southern Ocean. What are they studying, what are its implications for world climate and Indian monsoon?
Sat, Feb 15, 2020
COVID-2019 in Hubei: How did new coronavirus cases multiply from one day to next?
State news agency Xinhua reported that “clinically diagnosed cases are unique to Hubei statistically”. This implies inclusion of those cases drive the surge in numbers.
Fri, Feb 14, 2020
Why a Chinese scholar translated the Upanishads
Hu Hsu, the only Chinese man at the Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry, spent his life immersed in Indian philosophy and translated Gita, Upanishads and Aurobindo’s works.
Sun, Feb 09, 2020
The Flu: How Kerala, China are tackling coronavirus
With India reporting three positive cases of the novel coronavirus, all in Kerala, The Sunday Express on how the state is leaning back on its Nipah experience to tackle the latest outbreak. Over 4,000 km away, in China’s Hubei and nearby provinces, life in lockdown is a series of do’s and don’ts.
Sun, Feb 09, 2020
Poompuhar: Scientists to digitally recreate Tamil Nadu port city swallowed by sea 1,000 years ago
DST officials said there are exhaustive narrations in works of Sangam Tamil literature to infer that the city, located 30 km from the existing Poompuhar town in southern TN, was submerged due to “kadalkol” or rising sea levels.
Tue, Feb 04, 2020
Union Budget: Old, polluting coal power stations to be closed, says FM
In another major decision for the green sector in the Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs 4,400 crore in the 2020-21 fiscal for improving air quality in cities with population of more than 1 million.
Sun, Feb 02, 2020
Coronavirus outbreak: Evacuated from Wuhan, 324 Indians head home, face two-week isolation
The evacuees will be kept in isolation at facilities of the Army in Manesar and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) near Chhawla.
Sat, Feb 01, 2020
Coronavirus outbreak: Embassy alerts Indians about tentative evacuation plan today
The Indian embassy said that the details “are tentative and are being shared with you so that you are adequately prepared”.
Fri, Jan 31, 2020
Coronavirus outbreak: Exit from China — India plans two flights, 28-day isolation in Delhi
Though the fatality rate of the current virus is said to be low at around 3%, India is not taking any chances.
Thu, Jan 30, 2020
Indians in Wuhan asked to fill consent form for evacuation after coronavirus outbreak
In a message sent this morning, EOI officials have said that the Embassy is “working on finalising the date and logistics of the evacuation of Indian nationals” from Hubei province.
Wed, Jan 29, 2020
Coronavirus outbreak: Indian Embassy, China officials discuss options for evacuation
The EOI has asked all those presently in Hubei province and not in personal possession of their passports to intimate the embassy with name, passport number and the Chinese authority to which the passport has been handed over, and the date on which it was submitted.
Tue, Jan 28, 2020
Coronavirus in China: Indian students watch and wait in Wuhan — ‘Not a soul in sight’
Wuhan, in the central Chinese province of Hubei, is on lockdown. Transport restrictions have been strictly enforced, forcing many like Srikanth to remain within the four walls of their homes for the last five days.
Mon, Jan 27, 2020
Explained: What new monsoon dates mean
The monsoon is supposed to begin on June 1, and withdraw fully by September 30. Over the past many years, however, significant changes have been seen in precipitation patterns. So, the ‘normals’ are now set to shift.
Sat, Jan 18, 2020
The Spice Route
Meet the tiny network of Chinese women, who work the Indian diplomatic circuit in China and learn to puff the perfect chapati.
Sun, Jan 05, 2020
‘Russian bomb-making tech linked India, China revolutionaries in early 1900s’
Over two years later, on December 23, 1912, the British marked the formal completion of shifting India's capital from Calcutta to Delhi, with a huge procession. In attendance that day was Lord Hardinge, the viceroy of British India, who rode an elephant towards the Red Fort with his wife for the formal handover.
Sun, Dec 22, 2019
People’s Daily article on Net shutdowns in India: ‘Internet cannot be independent of sovereignty’
Citing India’s example of shutting down the internet in Assam and Meghalaya to control protests, the commentary noted, “It means that shutting down the internet in a state of emergency should be standard practice for sovereign countries.”
Thu, Dec 19, 2019
What learning Mandarin has taught me
How does an adult learner process a new language?
Sun, Dec 01, 2019