Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Sir Donrsquos death and Middayrsquos famous Page 1A commuter holds the paper in his hands at Churchgate station PicsGetty ImagesExactly 20 years ago this newspaper was in the forefront of coverage for cricket legend Sir Donald Bradmanrsquos deathThe news of his demise appeared on the news wires on the night of February 25 2001 Taking it as the Page 1 lead story in the first edition was a nobrainerEnhancing the coverage for the second edition was more of a challenge Not long after sending the first edition to print the Midday reporter and photographer were at The Taj in Colaba where the Indian and Australian teams were put up for the following dayrsquos Mumbai Test matchPorters reading midday at a railway station PicWikimedia CommonsWe woke up Sachin Tendulkar via the house phone at 7 am and he obliged us with a reaction Remember the connection between Tendulkar and Bradman grew manifold after the Indian master visited the great Australian for his 90th birthday in 1998 Sachinrsquos reaction and other tributes made it in time for our second edition And thatrsquos the one you see in these pictures of our Page 1 on the streets of Mumbai captured by Getty ImagesThe paper being sold at an AH Wheeler stall in a railway stationWe remember that time with sadness because cricket lost its greatest batsman but with pride as well since we were the first to do justice to the occurrence That Channel Nine Australia chose to interview the said reporter and photographer to enhance their allday coverage made it memorable tooCheers to 25 years of InternetA flipbook of stories collected from netizens photographs of abandoned cyber cafeacutes short videos exploring the impact of Internet shutdowns and throttling mdash these are among the 25 creative projects that have stemmed from India Foundation for the Artsrsquo IFA 25x25 initiative set to go live online today The initiative marks 25 years of grantmaking by IFA and 25 years of Internet in India shared Menaka Rodriguez head of resource mobilisation and outreach ldquoWe felt it would be the appropriate theme considering how reliant we have become on the digital world in the past yearrdquo she said adding that IFA will be hosting live interactions with the artists on their creations Tune in to explore this web of projects at FacebookIndiaIFAAll packed and raring to goRepresentation picNews of the vaccines being rolled out has Indian travellers ready to pack their bags and embark on trips found a recent survey conducted by a panIndian tour operator The survey which was taken by more than 2000 online respondents in January 2021 revealed that more than 65 per cent of respondents are actively searching for and planning a vacation within the next two months To date more than 70 per cent of respondents have taken a trip since Phase 1 of Unlock As many as 40 per cent have gone on one or two minivacations and 18 per cent have taken more than three trips during the pandemic Once vaccinated 81 per cent of respondents would travel for leisure while 55 per cent sought to visit friends and familyOn the other hand 46 per cent would travel for business or work purposes Interestingly the survey also found that while most travellers preferred the company of their spouse and families in the months following the lockdown with the vaccine on the horizon they are now keener to travel with friends or by themselves More than 70 per cent favoured road to air travel We wonder if the recent spike in COVID19 cases in the city will make travellers reconsider their plans Running for child abuseA common misconception about child abuse is that it only happens in the lower socioeconomic strata of our society however child abuse happens everywhere and must be addressed in more pressing terms said Insia Dariwala a child rights activist and founder of The Hands of Hope FoundationHer foundation is conducting a virtual run to engage participants across the country ldquoOur goal is to get every citizen involved We also want to support NGOs working in various spheres of child abuse mdash from sexual violence to trafficking mdash to raise fundsrdquo she told this diarist Pranav Joshi one of the organisers said that the run will benefit 35 NGOs The event kicks off on February 27 You can choose a route as per your convenience log your kilometres online and express your solidarity Register online at racetimemleventhopeRun