BY SACNILK

New Delhi, April 28 (IANS) No househelp and no option to step out have made many feel like being locked up in the "Bigg Boss" house. But former "Bigg Boss" contestant Hina Khan says that participating in the reality show and experiencing the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown have nothing in common.## The reality show, an Indian version of international series "Celebrity Big Brother", features celebrities locked inside a house for months under constant camera surveillance, without any gadgets or luxury.## "The 'Bigg Boss' house and this quarantine phase are poles apart in regards to any kind of comparison. There is no tactic I am using right now," Hina told IANS.## Unlike the show where the contestants have to be away from their loved ones, Hina is living with her family in Mumbai right now and is feeling fortunate.## "I am so happy to have them by my side during these tough times," said the "Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai" actress.## Like others, she is also doing household chores and keeping herself entertained with engaging content online.## "From cooking to cleaning to working out to watching stuff online, I have been diverting my mind with things that are positive and productive. Right now it's best doing what you like doing more than anything else, to deal with the home quarantine phase in a better way," she said.## The lockdown, which has been imposed since March, has been a learning experience for her.## "The art of patience is the biggest thing I have learned from the lockdown. Keeping calm, composed, and patiently passing through each day is what I am now getting much better at," she shared.## She doesn't have big plans after the lockdown gets over.## "I feel that even when the lockdown is over, getting back to the normal way of life like it was before this whole scenario began, is honestly going to take a lot of time. So even if there are things I want to do, it's all going to be done with keeping necessary precautions in mind first," she said.## While there is still time for the lockdown to be lifted, viewers can enjoy her recently released a short film titled "Smartphone".## "The short film has a great message. One is about never underestimating anybody else's abilities and there is a strong sense of women empowerment as well, so content-wise it is quite good. And right now I feel that good, meaningful, and interesting content is what people need to be given to watch, to help divert their minds from the stressful situation that we are all facing at the moment," said Hina.## She plays a rural woman in the short film.## "It was a challenging role with lots of nuances to keep in mind. From the desi accent to the language, dressing style, and even personality traits of the character, I had to ensure that every small detail was perfect! And challenges like these in my workspace are what I actually look forward to and enjoy working on, so this definitely is one of those amazingly challenging projects," she said.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Lucknow, April 28 (IANS) Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor has now approached the King George's Medical University (KGMU), offering to donate her plasma for treatment of other Covid-19 patients.## The singer called up the head of the transfusion medicine department, Prof Tulika Chandra, and volunteered to help.## "She called me up and said she really wanted to help other Covid-19 patients. Vice-Chancellor Prof M.L.B. Bhatt has given a go-ahead on it and we will now be carrying out the tests on her to see if she is fit to donate her plasma," said Prof Chandra.## As per experts, Kanika's sample will be tested for a number of things before she can donate her plasma. These include her hemoglobin level that should be above 12.5, weight should be more than 50 kg and the patient should not have diabetes, cardiovascular issues, malaria, syphilis, and other such ailments.## Kanika's sample will probably be taken on Tuesday and if found to be eligible, she will be donating her plasma on Wednesday.## Kanika Kapoor had grabbed headlines last month when she became the first Bollywood celebrity to test positive for Coronavirus.## Kanika had attended two parties in Lucknow in the presence of top politicians and bureaucrats and all of them were later tested for Corona.## Kanika was hospitalized for over a fortnight at the Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS).## She had, on April 26, come out with a statement clarifying her travel and Covid-19 history declaring that she was aware of misconceptions and wrong information floating around her but she chose to remain silent until ready to speak.## Kanika in her social media post had said that all persons she came in contact within the UK, Mumbai, and Lucknow had been tested negative and that she had duly followed the process.## Meanwhile, the KGMU on Sunday night made the first plasma transfusion in a 58-year-old patient from Orai who is a government doctor whose condition was critical.## The doctors now say that the patient is responding well to the transfusion.## The university has received three plasma donations from fully recovered Covid-19 patients, two from doctors and one from a Lakhimpur man.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 27 (IANS) Actress Tisca Chopra says due to the ongoing isolation period, anxiety and mental health are big issues today. She has stepped forward to help people get through this tough time.## People have been under lockdown for over a month now, and a lot of celebrities are trying to help fans through various activities. Some are suggesting good books, others are posting videos of cooking, while some are spending time learning new things.## Tisca has also found a way to help the masses through this lockdown. She conducted a live session on Instagram with Dr. Sanjay Chugh who specializes in neuro-psychiatry. During the session, they discussed issues that people are dealing with currently, right from anxieties to parenting.## "Due to this pandemic, we all are sitting in our homes and there are chances that we might feel anxious about this drastic change in our lifestyle. Due to this isolation period, anxiety and mental health is a big issue today. We might do yoga and other workouts to keep ourselves healthy physically but it is equally important to stay fit mentally too and so, I decided to get Dr. Chugh on board though by Instagram to explain people a lot of factors related to their psyche," Tisca said.## "Dr. Chugh is a well-known neuro-psychiatrists whom I have known for many years. I urged him to do this so that we can help share the right information and the right strategy to deal with the issues that people are going through. The fight isn't over yet and I hope that I can keep doing my bit by hosting more sessions like these for everyone," she added.## Meanwhile, Tisca recently shared a photograph of herself in a monochrome monokini. In the image, the "Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji" actress was seen lying on the sand.## She mentioned that she was "missing the outdoors but making the most of the indoors".## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Los Angeles, April 27 (IANS) Singer Katy Perry says she will never forget being pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that she is trying not to be stressed about her delivery.## The 35-year-old star is expecting her first child with her fiance, actor Orlando Bloom.## During a conversation with "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest, she admitted that she is facing some tough challenges due to the isolation, reports dailymail.co.uk.## Perry told Seacrest that dealing with "a pregnancy in a pandemic" is something she "will never forget".## "I'm having cravings that I cannot necessarily fulfill if I want to but, you know, I think there is a lot of things that I am grateful for these days," she said.## The "Darkhorse" hitmaker revealed her pregnancy news recently when she dropped the music video for recent single "Never worn white", in which she is seen cradling her baby bump at the end.## With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Perry and Bloom, who got engaged earlier this year, are following advice to stay at home and are trying to "exercise and eat well".## "Along with so many other people, they stay home. They both try to exercise and eat well so they can stay healthy. Katy really hopes everything has calmed down with the virus by the time the baby will be born this summer. She tries not to stress about the birth, but she definitely thinks about it a lot," a source said previously.## Recently, "American Idol" made TV history with the first remote results show ever due to the coronavirus. It is aired in India on Star World.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 27 (IANS) Singer Aastha Gill has collaborated with Sukh E for a fun wedding song "Video bana de", and says she hopes that the track brings "much-needed cheer and optimism" amid the challenging times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.## "This is the first time I am collaborating with Sukh E. I have always loved his music, and working on this together has been super fun," Aastha said.## "It's a wedding song, a track that will definitely make you tap your feet. We created and shot the song before the lockdown, and in these tough times I hope Video Bana de brings in much-needed cheer and optimism," she added.## SukhE said: "‘Video bana de' is quirky, unconventional and bright. Aastha's vivacious energy just added to the whole experience of making the song. I hope this track helps in maintaining positivity during these tough times."## Sony Music India released the track on Monday. Since the song has a wedding theme, the duo recently announced a "Virtual wedding" as part of a promotional strategy. They posted an invitation card on their social media and the wedding functions were as follows: April 24 -- cocktail, April 25 -- sangeet, April 26 -- Mehendi and April 27 wedding.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 27 (IANS) Actress Bhumi Pednekar will share health and nutrition tips to tackle emotional eating during the novel coronavirus lockdown.## "I have always strived to lead a balanced lifestyle and believed in the synergy of how nutrition, what we eat directly impacts our health and fitness. This lockdown, though extremely challenging for all of us because it has changed how we live life and exist, is also impacting our minds and that can throw off diet and nutrition in a big way," said Bhumi, who will initiate the effort with her nutritionist.## "What we eat has a lot to do with how we feel - it's connected and it's mostly emotional. This will create health and fitness issues and I want to share with everyone my nutrition journey through COVID-19 and I hope that people will find this useful."## The actress has maintained a routine and stuck to her nutritious way of life all through the coronavirus pandemic. She credits her nutritionist Dr. Siddhant for her fit body and will be doing a live chat with him to share health and nutrition tips with everyone.## "I have ensured that I'm mobile, I have been working out, I'm on a nutrition-rich diet and I have not resorted to binge and junk eating. My nutritionist Dr. Siddhant is a genius and has a wealth of knowledge which has helped me shape my life. I want him to share his knowledge with as many people as possible because he has kept me going despite the lockdown challenges," she said.## On the professional front, Bhumi will next be seen in the films "Durgavati" and "Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare".## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 27 (IANS) Known for his chiseled frame and fitness fetish, Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan wants to decimate the last cigarette on the planet.## The subject came up on Twitter after a user asked him he had a cigarette in his hand while he was standing with his sons in the balcony of his home, in a recently-posted picture shared by the actor's Fanclub.## "Does @iHrithik have a cigarette in his hand or am I seeing wrong? I hope you don't @iHrithik. It makes me very very very sorry," the user wrote.## The actor replied: "I am a non-smoker. :) and if I was Krrish, the first thing I'd do after eradicating this virus would be to decimate every last cigarette from this planet.## Recently, Hrithik shared some 'lockdown tips' with fans. He suggests a daily dose of vitamin D to take care of mental health even as we continue to be confined at home.## Hrithik Roshan has been spending the lockdown with his ex-wife Sussanne Khan, who has temporarily moved in with him, to take care of their two sons Hrehaan and Hridhaan.## Talking about mental health, Hrithik has recently started learning piano, which he feels is "great for activating both sides of the brain".## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

New York, April 27 (IANS) Joining the growing body of evidence for social media being the primary source of fake news around coronavirus, a new study has found that people who relied on social media or conservative news outlets in early days of the COVID-19 outbreak were more likely to be misinformed about how to prevent the virus and believe conspiracy theories about it.## The Annenberg Science Knowledge (ASK) survey on COVID-19 was conducted in early March, among a nationally representative sample of 1,008 US adults, the researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US said.## The study, published in the journal Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, found that there were notable differences in views about the coronavirus that correlated with people's media consumption.## According to the researchers, conservative media usage (such as Fox News and Rush Limbaugh) correlated with higher levels of misinformation and belief in conspiracies about the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.## The survey found that more than 23 percent people thought it was probably or definitely true that the Chinese had created the virus as a bioweapon (there is no evidence of this).## More than 21 percent of participants thought taking vitamin C can probably or definitely prevent infection by the coronavirus (it does not).## Social media and web aggregator usage was associated with lower levels of information and higher levels of misinformation, the researchers added.## People who used social media (such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) were more likely to believe that taking vitamin C can prevent infection with the coronavirus; that some in the CDC were exaggerating the threat to harm the president and that the virus was created by the US government.## People who used web aggregators (such as Google News, Yahoo News) were less likely to believe in the effectiveness of handwashing and avoidance of symptomatic individuals as ways to prevent transmission of the virus (in early March, the asymptomatic transmission was less clear).## Mainstream broadcast and print media usage correlated with higher levels of the correct information and lower levels of misinformation, the study said.## People who reported using broadcast news (such as ABC News, CBS News, NBC News) were more likely to say, correctly, that the novel coronavirus is more lethal than the seasonal flu, it added.## People who consume mainstream print news (such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal) were more likely to hold accurate beliefs about the virus.## They were more likely to report that they believe that regular hand washing and avoiding contact with symptomatic people are ways to prevent infection with the coronavirus; and less likely to believe that vitamin C can prevent infection.## "Because both information and misinformation can affect behavior, we all ought to be doing our part not only to increase essential knowledge about SARS-CoV-2, but also to interdict the spread of deceptions about its origins, prevention, and effects," said study co-author Kathleen Hall Jamieson.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Los Angeles, April 26 (IANS) Covid-19 survivors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have offered their blood to help develop a vaccine for coronavirus.## In early March, the couple had tested positive for Covid-19 while in Australia.## They returned home to Los Angeles at the end of March after recovering.## Hanks said on a podcast last week that he and Wilson volunteered to donate their blood and plasma for coronavirus research, reports variety.com.## "A lot of the questions (are) what do we do now? Is there something we can do? And, in fact, we just found out that we do carry the antibodies," he said. "We have not only been approached, but we have also said, aDo you want our blood? Can we give plasma?'"## The actor also said that he had a name ready if a coronavirus vaccine is made from his blood donation.## "In fact, we will be giving it now to the places that hope to work on what I would like to call the 'Hank-ccine'," he said.## Hanks also said that he and Wilson are feeling "just fine" and "dandy" after their bout with the virus.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 26 (IANS) Singer Kanika Kapoor, who was the first Bollywood celebrity to have tested positive for COVID-19 in India, has broken silence on her travel history, diagnosis and treatment.## Kanika was admitted on March 20 when her tests revealed that she was Coronavirus positive.## She was discharged from the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow earlier this month.## She has now issued a statement on Twitter in which she has revealed why she chose to be silent all this while.## "Every person that I have come in contact with, be it in UK, Mumbai or Lucknow, has shown no symptoms of Covid-19. In fact all those tested have been negative," she said in her statement.## "I travelled from UK to Mumbai on March 10 and was duly screened at the international airport. I travelled to Lucknow the following day on March 11 to see my family. There was no screening set up for domestic flights. On March 14 and 15, I attended a friend's lunch and dinner. There was no party hosted by me and I was in absolute normal health. I had symptoms on March 17 and 18, so I requested to be tested."## The singer also mentioned that she has been at home for 21 days now and also thanked doctors and medical staff for "taking care of her during a very emotionally testing time".## She concluded the statement by saying: "Negativity thrown at a person does not change the reality."## A case had been registered against the singer, last month, for hiding her travel history and attending parties after returning from London.## She was charged under IPC Section 269 (a negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and Section 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life).## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 26 (IANS) Bollywood actress Vidya Balan is elated as she's raised over 2,500 PPE kits for doctors and Rs 16 lakhs for those who are battling at the frontline to keep everyone safe from COVID-19 pandemic.## Vidya had also collaborated with celebrity shout-out platform Tring, along with Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films and photographer cum film producer Atul Kasbekar.## She took to Instagram on Sunday afternoon where she shared the good news.## "I've woken up to good news this morning. We've reached 2500+ PPE kits and raised over 16 lakh in just a few hours. A big thank you to each of you who has donated and made this possible. A load of gratitude and bless you. This is truly the unity and spirit of India..." she said in the video.## Alongside the video, Vidya wrote: "Thank you very much for your generous donations from all over the world. I'm elated to share that we have raised 2500+ kits accounting over Rs 16 lakh within a few hours. A load of gratitude for helping in donating over double our initial target.## "The campaign will run for some more time, so if you haven't been able to donate yet but want to help out, go to www.tring.co.in and donate whatever you can. Every single kit is helping protect a life. The #WarAgainstCovid19 continues, let's #UniteForHumanity #StayHome#StaySafe".## In an earlier post, the "Mission Mangal" star had informed that each PPE kit worth Rs 650 consists of one coverall laminated and waterproof nitrile gloves, goggles, face shields, 3-ply surgical mask, and shoe covers.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 26 (IANS) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan shared a "breaking news" that a bat entered his home Jalsa here.## Amitabh took to Twitter to share the "news of the hour" with his fans and followers.## "Ladies and gentlemen of the Jury .. news of the hour .. BREAKING NEWS .. would you believe it .. A Bat, a (chamgadar) has come into my room .. in Jalsa .. on the 3rd floor .. in my Den..."## The thespian said that it was a tough job to take the bat out from the room.## "Badi mushkil se use bahar nikala (It as tough to take it out)... Corona peecha chodh hi nahin raha (Corona is not leaving)."## However, the tweet did not go down well with many social media users.## A user wrote: "Sorry to hear this from a reputed personality. Bats are not harmful and there is no need to fear. Kindly understand that they did not spread the virus to human. The reason is still debated. By nature, most animals have got virus in their body. Pls read this."## Another commented: "Not in good taste sir. You have millions of followers. Still we don't have exact process of human virus spillover. Demonising bat is last thing we want. Things we know for sure; They are pollinators. They help in pest control. Please revisit it."## "This is story of every uncle now days after limits on WhatsApp forwards," said a user.## On the work front, Big B will next be seen in films like "Chehre", Gulabo Sitabo", Brahmastra" and "Jhund".## Stay tuned...