In these tough times, please try to give up something. It could be your lunch, or the ice cream you crave for every evening, or that extra two minutes you spend in the shower.

That's the message the top civil servant of Churu district in Rajasthan has been spreading with a unique initiative called 'Give Up Something' to encourage people to make small sacrifices to save resources and focus on what's essential instead of harping on the non-essential luxuries that they are used to.

It is the time for us to give up something without which we can sustain ourselves. We should save resources and should use available things judiciously at this time of crisis. Therefore I took the initiative to give up my lunch during the lockdown period and motivated others to give up whatever they can, Churu collector Sandesh Nayak told PTI.

He said that that the initiative, which was introduced three days back, has received a good response from district administration officials as well as people of the district, activists and others.

'We are making efforts to ensure that nobody goes to sleep hungry and people should understand that things which can be avoided at this time should be avoided', he said.

Apart from lockdown all over, curfew is imposed in Churu city and Sardarshahar town.

The collector said that when public movement was restricted due to lockdown and curfew, people used to call him and other officials complaining that fruits, chocolates, specific vegetable, ice creams were not available in the market and that they were craving for such things.

People themselves should have dropped such items from the list of daily requirements, he said. 'Coronavirus has led to a crisis and we need to think about saving and using available resources judiciously. So I asked people to give up things without which they can sustain, he said.

Apart from resources, the collector said that he has also appealed to people to give up addictions during the lockdown period.

The initiative inspired Rajeev Birda, a veteran of an expedition to the Antarctica, to announce he will auction his prized collection of Antarctica T-shirts, gloves, masks and other memorabilia, and donate to the proceeds to the state government's fight against coronavirus.

Several people have decided to skip one meal a day during the lockdown period, another official said.

One of them, Birbal Nokhwal of Ghaghu, has also decided to give up his favourite potato, while an Ayurveda doctor Liladhar Sharma decided to cut his diet in half, as well as limit ghee, oil, chillies, spices, milk an tea from the whole family's meals.

Gandhian activist LD Joshi renounced his morning breakfast and milk, saying he will help the helpless with this money saved by this.

Kathua panchayat skips a meal everyday to feed the hungry

Setting an example, about 2,500 residents of a panchayat in Kathua district Saturday decided to skip their one meal everyday to feed the hungry as the coronavirus lockdown has snatched livelihoods of many and left them without food, despite best government efforts.

Sarpanch Shiv Dev Singh of Panchayat Baira-Buorthian said a resolution to this effect was passed by the Panchayat, which has a population of over 2,500, at a special meeting

The 2500 residents implemented it immediately, he told PTI, raising the slogan save food - save the nation .

It is a token contribution from our panchayat in the country's fight against coronavirus.

Jammu and Kashmir was put under complete lockdown on March 22, two days ahead of the 21-day nationwide shutdown announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to combat the spread of novel coronavirus.

A total of 207 people - 168 in Kashmir and 39 in Jammu - have tested positive in the Union Territory, out of whom four have died, three in the Valley and one in Jammu.

Workers of a grocery store prepare packets for home delivery during a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, in Allahabad PTI

Flipkart, Tata Consumer Products Limited partner to launch distribution solution

Flipkart and Tata Consumer Products Limited said on Saturday they have come together to launch a distribution solution amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling access to essential food and beverage products to consumers.

Tata Consumer Products distributors will list as marketplace sellers on the Flipkart platform, a joint statement said.

Consumers can use the Flipkart platform to buy different combo packs of essential products such as beverages (Tata Tea and Coffee) and foods (Tata Sampann Spices, Pulses, and Nutri mixes) offered by Tata Consumer Products, it said.

Flipkart's marketplace supply chain will fulfill the orders by picking up these essentials combinations from Tata Consumer Company distributors and delivering them to customers using its network of delivery executives.

The partnership is already operational in Bengaluru, and the companies plan to expand these facilities in Mumbai and Delhi in the coming week and Tier 2 towns in the future.

The product combinations have been curated keeping in mind specific needs of Indian consumers, while also offering them significant cost benefits, the statement said.

Woman delivers baby on road while being taken to hospital on bicycle in UP

A woman delivered a baby on the road when she was being taken to a community health centre on a bicycle here, police said on Saturday.

'On the evening of April 9, the woman, a resident of Raghunathpur village, was being taken on a bicycle by her husband to Madnapur community health centre, which was 10 kilometres away. As the couple travelled almost 5 kilometres and reached near Sikandarpur crossing, the woman delivered a baby girl,' Superintendent of Police (rural) Aparna Gautam.

She said said a passerby informed a Police Response Van (PRV) that rushed the woman to the health centre.

'Meetu Tomar deployed on PRV-1358 with the help of a woman, who was working in the nearby fields, took the woman to Madnapur community health centre. Both the mother and the child are fine,' Gautam said.

Tomar has been given a certificate of appreciation, she said.

(Representational image) Spotted and Sambar deer were also found roaming freely Shutterstock

Lockdown: Wild animals are having a gala time in Karnataka

It looks like wild animals are having a gala time during the lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic they are getting bolder and becoming explorers as areas outside their habitat are becoming quiet.

At some places adjoining forests in Karnataka, particularly in Kodagu district, elephants were seen walking on the roads happily. Spotted and Sambar deer were also found roaming freely.

'Wildlife is always happy when environment becomes quiet, they (wild animals) are roaming not only in their own areas but also outside...in forest fringe areas,' Karnatakas Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Sanjay Mohan told 'PTI' on Saturday.

Due to human activity and busy roads otherwise, they never used to venture out, he said. Now, even spotted deer is trying to come out and 'see what all is happening. They (wild animals) are basically free-ranging animals; when they find that their surroundings have become quiet, they tend to come out and explore.

'Elephants are already used to going out of forests; now with quieter environs, they are happily moving on roads like any other people, and they are coming out because vehicles are not there.'

But Forest department officials also said with restrictions on movement of people and vehicles, hunters are on the prowl again.

Mohan, also the State's Chief Wild Life Warden, said there has been a spurt in the number of hunting cases during the lockdown period, adding, the Department has taken measures, including stepping up night patrolling, to curb such activities.

Animal handlers in the Department and Zoos have been instructed to strictly follow COVID-19 guidelines like wearing masks, gloves and maintaining safe distance, he said. 'In Zoos, they were following such instructions earlier also, now they have become strict.'

Mohan said a man was killed in a bear attack in Ballari district earlier this week, which 'could be one of the fall-outs of COVID-19 (with bears becoming bolder and venturing out).'

He said the Department has continued to keep cages wherever human-wild life conflict is more and 'leopards are getting captured.'

Karnataka is home to around 6,000 elephants, 500 tigers, 2,500 leopards and 600-700 Lion-tailed macaque, according to him.

Glimpse of wildlife on Pondy streets during lockdown

With the COVID-19 lockdown in force here, it's not the citizens who have been violating the regulations by stepping out of their homes- it's the wildlife - a troop of monkeys which had come out of nowhere to invade the roads in the former French colony.

The now-quiet, deserted streets were full of monkeys running about, much to the amusement of children confined to the four walls of their houses, as schools and colleges have been shutdown ever since the lockdown was brought into effect.

With the roads empty of vehicles, there was nil noise pollution and public movement, this could have attracted the wild animals to explore the human habitats.

Some residents, upon spotting the chatter of monkeys which are commonly seen on tree tops, hurled bananas onto the roads and the simians had their fill before going about their way.

A few residents said besides monkeys, birds of all kinds and shapes invaded the usually-congested arterial roads of Puducherry. The commonly spotted house sparrows and the ubiquitous crows have arrived on the territorial roads taking advantage of nil-human movement in the streets.