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Hyderabad, March 27 (IANS) Telugu star Allu Arjun has contributed Rs 1.25 crore for the battle against coronavirus outbreak in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.## The actor made the announcement through a video message he shared with IANS on Friday.## "The COVID-19 has taken the world by storm and changed our everyday lives, but even at times like this people like doctors, nurses, military, policemen and many other sectors have done a great contribution to our society," he says in the video.## Drawing inspiration from them, he would also like to do his bit.## "With all humility, I would like to announce Rs 1.25 crore to the people of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Kerala," he says.## He also appealed to the public to maintain hygiene and practice isolation.## This comes a day after his uncle and superstar Pawan Kalyan and Allu's cousin Ram Charan announced donations to the government's relief fund to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.## Chiranjeevi, Mahesh Babu, and Prabhas are other Telugu superstars who have contributed to the cause.## For more and latest news about Tollywood, stay tuned with us.

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New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) At a time when over 1.3 billion Indians have been asked to stay indoors, people who are claustrophobic or suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are finding it difficult to obey the 'Lakshmana Rekha Prime Minister Narendra Modi has drawn in from of all homes.## According to health experts, such people should first unplug themselves from the news around new coronavirus (COVID-19) and divert their minds towards constructive thoughts and engage in indoor games.## "People with OCD and those who are claustrophobic need to try and avoid reading or seeing too much negative news. Instead, they can opt for completing the work pending for some time which is a constructive channelization of the energy," said Dr Sameer Malhotra, Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket.## "If under treatment, do not stop the medications at this juncture, and if the symptoms are significant, psychiatric intervention may also be required," Malhotra told IANS.## Indians are currently living with 21-day nationwide lockdown, which started from Tuesday midnight.## According to the World Health Organization (WHO), OCD is the sixth most disabling psychiatric disorder in the world.## Dr Samir Parikh, Psychiatrist and the Director of the Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare said that in the face of a pandemic, if you have claustrophobia, OCD or any other form of phobia or anxiety, it is important to ensure that you continue to follow your treatment regimen.## "Stay connected to your doctors, take your medications regularly and also ensure that you continue to take regular therapy sessions through teleconsultations,' Parikh emphasized.## Family too would play a very pertinent role in providing support and being understanding of the challenge being face by the individual.## "Concurrently, it is important to ensure that one engages in maintaining a work-life balance, take care of certain lifestyle-related elements such as the sleep-wake cycle and also engage in activities of interest during this period," Parikh noted.## Malhotra said that it is time to rationalize negative thoughts into positive and meaningful thoughts.## "Discuss general topics, try and engage in healthy conversations at home. It is also the best time to bond with family members," he added.## For more and latest news about Life-Style, stay tuned with us.

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New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) Actress Richa Chadha recently used her social media presence to highlight the plight of an elderly couple who were allegedly being held against their will at a hotel in Gurugram, despite testing negative for COVID-19.## In a series of tweets, Richa has made a case against Lemon Tree Hotels in Gurugram, according to a report in hindustantimes.com. Later, however, she said that the matter had been resolved by the hotel.## "@LemonTreeHotels Aerocity, Delhi: Gurugram, has held 2 ppl captive for the past 5 days, despite the doctor allowing them to go home and self-quarantine. They're in their late 60s, the man is severely diabetic. His sugar has risen, he's gone into keto-acidosis, could go into a coma," wrote @RichaChadha.## She added: "If urgent medical help is not provided. Do you want people to die, @LemonTreeHotels? @HaryanaPolice27 @cmohry please look into this urgently. You are a service industry, not a hospital. If anything happens to them, there's a big lawsuit coming your way. Get them out now."## According to Richa's tweets, the couple tested negative at Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia hospital. "If you can't let them go, please provide medical assistance. As of now, even medical professionals from @LemonTreeHotels don't want to examine him because of COVID stigma. @SatyendarJain @DelhiPolice," she wrote.## The website reports Richa as saying later that the matter had been resolved. "Thank you to each and every one of you who amplified this tweet. Reached someone at @LemonTreeHotels, says the center is now using their hotels as facilities. Either way, medical help is on its way to the senior citizens. All this happened, because of a tweet thread... but, but take a pause to think. I am a privileged person, with access to tech, relative social media influence. What does the common man do at a time like this? Hamara ye haal to unka kya hoga? Sigh! Thanks, tweeple. Prayers seem to be the best bet, in these uncertain times," she wrote.## For more and latest news about Bollywood, stay tuned with us.

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Mumbai, March 27 (IANS) While there is no scientific evidence yet to prove the coronavirus was first transmitted from a bat to a person who might have consumed the animal, actor Emraan Hashmi made such a case in his latest tweet with mock conviction.## "And all this because some person thousands of miles away wanted to have a freakish culinary experience like eating a BAT," tweeted @emraan Hashmi, venting ire on someone in the faraway Chinese city of Wuhan who might have consumed an infected bat to contract COVID-19, and then pass it on to others, thereby planting the seed of the ongoing global pandemic.## At the last count, over half a million coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 22,000 deaths. In India so far, there have 16 deaths reported and the number of cases that have tested positive has risen to 694. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a 21-day national lockdown to stem the spread of the virus.## For more and latest news about Bollywood, stay tuned with us.

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Los Angeles, March 27 (IANS) Actress Jenna Dewan, who recently welcomed her son Callum, had a smooth birthing experience.## In an interview to People magazine, the "Step Up" star opened up about her experience delivering her second baby and how Sanskrit music helped her a lot to maintain calmness during that time.## "I'd heard this from a lot of people, that there's something that happens with the second baby, that there's a little bit calmer and peace in knowing what's happening. Knowing what's coming down the line, you are able to be a little more present and enjoy all of it and it's so true," she said.## Jenna had asked her fiance Steve Kazee to be on hand to play "The Devi Prayer", which is a 20 minute Sanskrit prayer that helps with meditation and relaxation if she needed it.## She added: "It's a very peaceful song. It always puts me at ease. I put that on our playlist and I said to Steve, 'If I ever start to look like I'm getting anxious or if I was having a rough time, just please play that. He was actually born to that song."## For more and latest news about Hollywood, stay tuned with us.

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Mumbai, March 27 (IANS) Naseeruddin Shah stars in the short film, "The Wallet", and the veteran actor cannot seem to stop praising the film's debutant director Saumitra Singh.## "Just as the miniature is more difficult to make than a large canvas, short stories are more difficult than to write a novel, I feel short films are also difficult to make than feature films since they have to be brief.## "Among all the short films I have done in the past couple of years, I would recommend 'The Wallet', written and directed by Saumitra Singh, which is a very simple, sweet and moving story. I really enjoyed working on it even though it is helmed by a first-time director. He was very clear with what he wanted."## The short film recently released on Jio Cinema and it features Shah with Navni Parihar in pivotal roles. The film narrates an incomplete love story of an elderly couple.## Writer-director Saumitra Singh explained why every project was important to him: "Every project, every journey is a learning experience. Yes, it's often a roller coaster ride, but that's the fun of it. I feel grateful to have worked with great icons of our film industry like Naseeruddin Shah and Navni Parihar."## "The Wallet" has garnered much appreciation in the festival circuit around the globe, winning over 50 awards across festivals.## For more and latest news about Bollywood, stay tuned with us.

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Los Angeles, March 27 (IANS) Actress Angelina Jolie has donated $1 million as an effort to feed underprivileged children whose access to school lunches has been cut off due to closures amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.## She has given $1 million to the charity No Kid Hungry, which says it has so far spread $2 million across 30 states to feed low-income children and their families, reports dailymail.co.uk.## "As of this week, over a billion children are out of school worldwide because of closures linked to coronavirus," said Jolie, 44.## "Many children depend on the care and nutrition they receive during school hours, including nearly 22 million children in America who rely on food support. No Kid Hungry is making resolute efforts to reach as many of those children as possible," added the actress, known for her philanthropy.## She has worked extensively with the United Nations and co-wrote a Time essay promoting UNESCO's new Global Education Coalition, which seeks to facilitate remote education as schools close around the world.## In 2006 the star and her former husband Brad Pitt started their own charity named after their eldest son Maddox, 18, and focused on his native Cambodia. The organization keeps 10 schools running in Cambodia. Jolie separately funds girls' schools in Afghanistan and Kenya.## Jolie is not the only celebrity to throw her support behind No Kid Hungry as Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams started a fundraiser for them last week.## For more and latest news about Hollywood, stay tuned with us.

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New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) Renowned artist and architect Satish Gujral passed away late Thursday at the age of 94.## A recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of India, in 1999, the highly celebrated painter was the younger brother India's former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral.## His death was mourned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other dignitaries of note.## Modi tweeted: "Satish Gujral Ji was versatile and multifaceted. He was admired for his creativity as well as the determination with which he overcame adversity. His intellectual thirst took him far and wide yet he remained attached with his roots. Saddened by his demise. Om Shanti."## Gujral was born on December 25, 1925, in pre-Partition India, and studied art in Lahore and Mumbai.## Gujral, a well-collected artist, was one of the few who have consistently dominated the art scene in India for the entire post-independent era.## He won an equal, if not more, acclaim as an architect. He has designed the building of the Belgium Embassy in New Delhi.## Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu tweeted: "Saddened to learn about the demise of the eminent painter, artist, sculptor, muralist and one of the pioneers of Contemporary Indian Art, Shri Satish Gujral. The nation will always remember his contributions to the field of art and culture. May his soul rest in peace."## Stay tuned...

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New Delhi, March 27 (IANSlife) As the global Coronavirus outbreak spelled a series of museum closures and postponed performances and concerts, India's most-celebrated tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain says that the humanity will need to come together to fight the pandemic.## "It is too early to tell what the effect of this disease will be but it is clear that humanity needs to come together and fight this. There needs to be a serious focus on hygiene, like washing hands every 20 minutes, drinking warm water every few minutes, wiping all metal surfaces in the house and of course keeping... the distance with other people around you.## "If and when we survive this, then we can ask the government and big corporations to help restart the support for arts," the doyen told IANSlife when asked how we can sustain the arts in this difficult times.## The Ustaad was part of a concert postponed due to COVID-19, along with Indian classical violinist Kala Ramnath and Carnatic musician Jayanthi Kumaresh - "both top-shelf premier artists representing both North and South Indian music".## Last month, Ustad Zakir Hussain had paid homage to his father and guru Ustad Allarakha on his centenary, in the form of several multi-artist performances that spanned a day.## "We had a multi-layered relationship, I was his son, then his student, then his apprentice, then his colleague and finally his friend. I cherish every moment that I spent with him. He was and is the horizon I still reach for," he said about his father.## He hopes to reinstate the concert, once a virus is contained and eradicated.## "These concerts are a way for us all to connect with each other through music. When we are all cooped at home, this can be a welcome change to everyone and keep their minds diverted to something positive when all one hears is about the virus and everyone is in tenterhooks worried about their respective future.## "We musicians are also worried but there is no point worrying and by doing these concerts we are trying to say what better than music to keep us all positive," Kala Ramnath added.## Stay tuned...

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Mumbai, March 26 (IANS) Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan tweeted a video where he talks of Chinese experts discovering that the common housefly, which sits on excreta, can transmit the coronavirus. However, the health ministry disagrees.## The video was retweeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reports hindustantimes.com.## "Chinese experts have discovered that the coronavirus can survive in human excreta for weeks. Even if the patients recover fully, the virus can survive in his excreta for a few weeks. If a fly were to sit on such a person's excreta, and then sit on fruits, vegetables or other food items, the disease can spread further," says Bachchan in Hindi, in the video posted on Wednesday, where he calls for a Jan Andolan in the lines of Swachch Bharat Andolan under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the polio eradication movement, to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.## However, Lav Aggarwal, ministry of health and family welfare's joint secretary Lav Aggrawal, dismissed the idea at a press conference on Thursday, reports republicworld.com.## Commenting on Bachchan's tweet about coronavirus spreading through flies, Aggarwal said: "I have not seen his tweet, but technically I can say that this is an infectious disease and does not spread through flies."## Along with the video in the tweet, Big B also posted a message quoting a study in The Lancet.## "T 3481 - A study in the @TheLancet shows that coronavirus lingers on human excreta much longer than in respiratory samples. Come on India, We are going to fight this! Use your toilet: Har koi, har Roz, Tamesha. Darwaza Band toh Beemari Band! @swachhbharat @narendramodi @PMOIndia" went the message by @SrBachchan.## For more and latest news about Bollywood, stay tuned with us.

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Hyderabad, March 26 (IANS) "Baahubali" actor Prabhas became the latest Telugu star to donate for the cause of combating against the coronavirus pandemic.## The actor on Thursday donated Rs 4 crore for the cause. Of this, Rs 3 crore is being given to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, while Rs 50 lakh each go to the Chief Minister Relief Funds of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.## Prabhas recently returned from Georgia, where he was shooting for his upcoming film, tentatively titled "Prabhas 20", with Pooja Hegde. Both actors went into self-quarantine for 14 days upon return.## Earlier in the day, Telugu superstars Pawan Kalyan, Ram Charan, Chiranjeevi, and Mahesh Babu had also donated to boost the fight against COVID-19. It was Pawan Kalyan who initiated the nobel gesture giving Rs 2 crore for the cause. Soon, his nephew Ram Charan declared a charity of Rs 70 lakh while Ram Charan's father, the veteran superstar of Telugu cinema, Chiranjeevi, gave Rs 1 crore. Young superstar Mahesh Babu also gave a crore for the cause.## For more and latest news about Tollywood, stay tuned with us.

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Mumbai, March 26 (IANS) As the nationwide lockdown continues amid of outbreak of COVID-19, actor Arjan Bajwa is spending happy time at home receiving a lot of praise for his performance in the web series "State Of Siege: 26/11".## Although the actor does not mix the two situations of enjoying success and the reason for the lockdown, Arjan told IANS: "I think this is the time we have got to introspect on how we were living our lives and how we should live henceforth sustainably. We will be staying at home for a couple of weeks right now. It is not just us, but the whole world."## The famed actor added: " Rarely did it happen in the past that people of the entire world stood still like this. It's as if life is in standby mood. I think such a situation did not occur even during the World War. I think this is the time we should realize that Mother Earth is upset with us and perhaps this is the punishment we are given."## "At the same time, our government and administration are working really hard to handle the situation. We have to strictly follow the rules to really save our lives. We have to stand together to fight the virus," he said.## "State Of Siege: 26/11" is based on Sandeep Unnithan's book "Black Tornado: The Three Sieges Of Mumbai 26/11".## The show is directed by American director Matthew Leutwyler and produced by Abhimanyu Singh. It features Mukul Dev, Arjun Bijlani, Vivek Dahiya, Sid Makkar, Tara Alisha Berry, Khalida Jaan, Jyoti Gauba, Roshni Sahota, Suzanne Bernert, Naren Kumar and Jason Shah.## The show is streaming on the OTT platform ZEE5.## Arjan plays the character of Colonel Kunal Sahota, the commanding officer of the NSG unit that arrives in Mumbai to take charge of handling the terrorist attacks.## "I am so glad that I am receiving so much positive feedback for the work we, the team of ‘State Of Siege: 26/11', put together. I waited for such appreciation for so long. And I am not saying because I want to thank everybody but it is really the collaborative effort of writer, director, cinematographer, producer and every member who came together and envisioned the project," he said.## For more and latest news about Bollywood, stay tuned with us.