The corona virus pandemic, apart from being an economic and human tragedy, has affected the socio-fabric of India by increasing hate, xenophobia, and prejudices against minorities. Thus, an analysis of Indian media, with respect to COVID-19 spread, becomes important. A religious congregation organized by Jammat e Islami, a global religious organization in Delhi, between March 1 and 21, brought more than 5,000 people from various countries to India's capital. This event led to a major spike in corona cases in India. This gathering was dubbed as potential hotspot by mainstream media in India. The widespread reporting of this news had major implications for intercommunal relations (Hindu-Muslim relations) in India. Given the background, the present paper tries to analyze the media coverage of this mega event and its implications on Indian society. During our review, we analyzed various mainstream newspapers such as Times of India, Indian Express, Business Standard, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Wire, and The Print. The "Markaz event" was dubbed by Indian media as a coronavirus hotspot. They reported that the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Nizamuddin West, New Delhi from March 1 to 21 has emerged as the epicenter for the spread of coronavirus to different parts of the country. Gupta (2020) writes that the congregation at the Jamaat headquarters in Delhi has been single largest source of infection in Delhi and responsible for two-thirds of COVID-19 cases (total 1,080 out of 1,561 cases) that are being treated. The highest number of COVID-19 cases linked to Jamaat was 325 out of 351 cases. As the Outlook reported on April 3, 2020, the total cases linked to Jamaat was 647 in 14 states of India. There were 4291 (29.8%) cases were linked to Jamaat out of 14,378 total cases in India, including that of Tamil Nadu (84%) and Telangana (79%) (

is facing one of greatest economic crises since its independence in 1948, affecting its more than 22 million people (Cogan & Ahlawat, 2022). Food items, medicine and fuel ran out of stock or became unaffordable (Subramanian, 2022). People are dying while waiting in lines for petrol. School exams are being cancelled due to a lack of funds to import paper and ink (Vanamali, 2022). With Sri Lanka facing an unprecedented economic crisis, an influx of refugees to Tamil Nadu has begun (Janardhanan, 2022). Amid increasing protests, opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn as Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, after Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned following violent protests over the worst economic crisis (The Times of India, 2022). Wickremesinghe announced the government will have to print money in order pay salaries (Perera, 2022).Sri Lanka has sided with China in the past few years. China is the biggest bilateral lender and owns at least 10% of Sri Lanka's $51 billion external debt (New18, 2022). Experts opined that China has contributed to the current devastating economic crisis in Sri Lanka by large scale investments and debt-trap diplomacy (Business Standard, 2022a). Many of these projects, like the Rajapaksa airport, Hambantota port, a conference hall, the Colombo Lotus Tower are funded by China, and stand as reminders of mismanagement of funds (Nath, 2022).Meanwhile, India, which follows "neighborhood first policy," is trying to bring Sri Lanka out of the current crisis. India, which made its commitment to grant loans, credit lines and currency swaps (The Times of India, 2022b) and emerged as the biggest providers of aid to Sri Lanka, seeks to win public trust in crisis hit Sri Lanka (Srivastava, 2022). Since January 2022, India has extended almost $3 billion to Sri Lanka (Kuruwita, 2022). Sri Lankan Prime Minister praised India for extending support to strengthen the ties between the two nations (Business Standard, 2022b). In this study, we will analyze how the Indian mainstream media reported the Sri Lankan economic crisis and its implications on India. We analyzed Indian mainstream media such as The Print, The Wire, The Indian Express, The Times of India, and The Hindu to elaborate our findings. The authors considered media coverage from 25th March 2022 to 31st May 2022.The Indian mainstream media generally portrayed Sri Lankan economic crisis as "Chinese debt-trap" rather than a consequence of decades of misgovernance and poor economic choices. It is reported that the crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign

No abstract

The recently passed farm laws in the parliament created a huge uproar in India. The government touted them as a historic step that would allow farmers to sell their produce outside the Agricultural Price Marketing Committee/Mandis anywhere in India to wholesale agents, cold storage farms. It allows them to go for contract farming, and so forth. But many farmers groups and opposition parties consider it as a death warrant for them which would eventually expose farmers to vagaries of the market and thereby impoverish them in the long run. Various farmers groups have been protesting against the farm bills since then. India's mainstream media has notoriously sided with the government's narrative and has tried to delegitimize their movement against the farm acts. They have labeled them as separatists, Maoists, and Khalistani terrorists.

addic tion-centr e-emplo yees-obser ve-strik eat -nurma hal-.aspx Tobacco use is a major threat to public health globally working as spreader tool of coronavirus: Balbir Singh Sidhu. (2020, May 30). Punjabi Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.punja btrib une. com/news/20840 7-tobac co-use-is-a-major-threa t-to-publi c-healt h-globa lly-worki ng-as-sprea der-tool-of-coron a-virus-balbi r-singh-sidhu.aspx Vishnoi, Anubhuti. (2020, February 9). Centre readies action plan for districts affected by drug abuse. The Economic Times. Retrieved from https://econo micti mes.india times.com/news/polit ics-andnatio n/centr e-readi es-actio n-plan-for-distr icts-affec ted-by-drug-abuse/ artic lesho w/74050 295. cms World Tobacco Day: Shops inspected in Mohali to ensure hygiene. (2020, May 31). Hindustan Times. Retrieved from https://www.hindu stant imes.com/chand igarh/ world-tobac co-day-shops-inspe cted-in-mohal i-to-ensur e-hygie ne/story-lreOE g16Wa FuGgL B5lxY TL.html 17pc addicts hooked on de-addiction drug in Punjab. (2020, March 8). The Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.tribu neind ia.com/news/punja b/17-pc-addic ts-hooke don -de-addic tion-drugin-punja b-52512