A ˘0!0! /ˆˆ0 *: ˆ=6 >55! 1 :/8 :AA0(!82 2 2/(.!:1 3 :*02 …...2020/05/04  · band, Pallavi...

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A Commanding Officer (CO) of the Indian Army's elite Counter-insurgency force, 21 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), was martyred in action, along with four other security personnel, including a Major and Sub Inspector of Jammu & Kashmir Police, in Handwara town of North Kashmir’s Kupwara dis- trict late on Saturday night. They came under heavy fire while attempting to evac- uate civilians amid fierce gun- fight with a group of Pakistani terrorists. In the night-long operation, two terrorists, including a Lashkar-e- Tayyeba (LeT) commander Haider from Pakistan, were killed while try- ing to escape the tight cordon near the encounter site. At least, two to three ter- rorists are believed to have escaped taking advantage of the adverse weather conditions prevailing in the area. On ground zero, the security forces were still carrying out search- es in the area to track down the footprints of terrorists. The commanding officer, who attained martyrdom in the line of duty, was identified as Colonel Ashutosh Sharma from Uttar Pradesh. He had been decorated twice for bravery and had been part of several successful counter-terrorism operations in the past. In a span of less than one month, the Indian Army has suffered huge losses while con- ducting counter terrorist oper- ations in Kupwara district alone. On April 5, the Indian Army had lost five soldiers, including three elite para com- mandos, in a hand-to-hand combat with infiltrating ter- rorists in Keran sector of Kupwara. Remembering her hus- band, Pallavi Ashutosh told a TV news channel, “I am proud of his supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. The loss is unbear- able and irreparable but I’m proud of what he did for his nation, for his unit, for his men and for the safety of civilians. I have no regrets.” He had told me he will come home the next day after eliminating the terrorists. “He will be home tomorrow with us, wrapped in a tricolour,” she said. Another Army officer, who attained martyrdom, was iden- tified as Major Anuj Sood from Himanchal Pradesh. His father, Retd Brig Chandrakant Sood while paying tributes to his son said, “He has made a supreme sacrifice. It was part of his duty and what he was trained for. I feel sad for his wife as they just got married 3-4 months back. He was meant to save lives.” According to ground reports, the joint teams of the security forces were chasing a group of 4-5 terrorists in Rajwara forest area since May 1. On May 2 when security forces received credible inputs about the presence of terrorists in Chanjmulla area of Handwara, they launched an operation to free civilians from the custody of holed up ter- rorists. Ground reports claimed, the team of Army offi- cers led by CO, along with JKP cop, was conducting house-to- house searches in the area when they came under fire from the terrorists inside one of the houses. However, Army spokesman claimed a team of five Army and J&K Police per- sonnel entered the target area occupied by the terrorists to evacuate the civilians and suc- cessfully extricated the civilians. Continued on Page 2 H it hard by coronavirus, the CRPF shut its head- quarters here after an Assistant Commandant attached with a senior officer as private secre- tary tested positive even as 26 BSF men were also found infected on Sunday. The entire building at the CGO Complex here will be dis- infected and offices will remain closed till Tuesday morning. The infected officer’s fam- ily is being tested. Forty men traced to be in his contact have been quarantined. “As one corona positive case has been detected in the Directorate, the entire building of the Directorate General will be subjected to disinfection by the Government notified agency, keeping in view with protocols and directions of MOHFW. Accordingly, the Directorate General, CRPF office will remain closed till Tuesday morning (May 5, 2020). Hence all officers and men working in Directorate General, CRPF are requested not to come to office and work from home till then. They should remain available to their seniors on phone to respond to necessary emer- gencies,” said an order of the CRPF headquarters on Sunday. Continued on Page 2 W ith several States like Punjab, Bihar, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, which were relatively safe, reporting high number, and Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh showing no sign of slowing down in terms of positive cases, India on Sunday saw another 2,000 plus day cases taking its overall count to 42,000. This a huge increase from the time the country went into the first lockdown on March 24 when the total stood at just 500 positive cases. Delhi recorded highest sin- gle-day spike with 427 new coronavirus cases, tally now 4,549, said the Delhi Government. For instance, Haryana saw biggest single day gain of 66, while Bihar crossed 500 mark by adding 22 new cases and Ladakh’s count doubled in last two days from 23 to 42. Meanwhile, the Union Ministry has deployed 20 pub- lic health teams in 20 highest Covid burden districts which are reporting the maximum number of cases in the coun- try to oversee the containment measures in the affected areas. These districts are: Mumbai, Thane and Pune in Maharashtra; Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodra in Gujarat; South East and Central Delhi; Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh; Jaipur and Jodhpur in Rajasthan; Chennai, Tamil Nadu; Hyderabad, Telangana; Agra and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh; Kolkata, West Bengal; Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna in Andhra Pradesh. Punjab on Sunday record- ed 331 new coronavirus cases, with the total climbing to 1,102. Of the 331 cases, 326 were returnees from the famous Sikh shrine in Maharashtra’s Nanded, who came back last week after remaining stuck there for nearly a month. In the past five days, Punjab record- ed 728 cases — a majority of them Nanded returnees. Tamil Nadu reported one Covid-19 death, 266 fresh infections, pushing total num- ber of coronavirus cases to 3,023 while Haryana reported 421 cases. Ladakh added 19 cases on Sunday taking the total to 92 cases. Gujarat on Sunday regis- tered 374 new Covid-19 cases and 28 deaths, which is the highest single-day increase in deaths so far. With this, the overall number of the coron- avirus positive cases mounted to 5,428 and the death toll rose to 290. Continued on Page 2 T he Delhi Government on Sunday announced that officials engaged in essential services will function with full strength, but private offices will resume operation with 33 per cent workforce from Monday. “We have requested the Centre to lift lockdown and declare non-containment zone as Green zone so that com- mercial activities may start. Every year, in April, Delhi col- lects 3,500 crore revenue but this year only 350 crore rev- enue has been generated,” said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Chief Minister said the City Government will imple- ment all lockdown regulations prescribed by the MHA. The Delhi Government’s order came in the wake of spike in corona positive cases amid 97 areas of the national Capital being declared as containment zone while all 11 districts have been declared as ‘Red zone.’ “If the whole of Delhi is in the Red Zone, it will create problems for everyone,” Kejriwal said. Outlining the list of activ- ities that will be allowed dur- ing third phase of the lock- down, Kejriwal said that call centres and IT services, print and electronic media will remain open and weddings will be allowed at designated public places with 50 guests. But air, rail, metro, road transports will remain shut. Delivery of essential goods through e-commerce portals will continue while malls, cin- emas, salons, market complex- es, will remain shut. Self-employed such as elec- trician and plumbers are allowed to join work. Similarly agriculture work, warehouses, goods and services trans- portation are allowed. A cknowledging the role of the “corona warriors” in fighting the pandemic in the country, the Armed forces on Sunday paid tributes to them by conducting flypasts by fight- er jets in many parts of the country, including the nation- al Capital, playing martial tunes outside hospitals treating coro- navirus patients, and shower- ing on them flower petals by choppers. The warships were lit up from evening onwards and enthralled people in the coastal region at more than 25 places. The thanksgiving to the “frontline corona fighters”, including doctors, nurses, san- itation workers, police and the media, commenced in the morning with wreath placed on behalf of the three Services at the National Police Memorial here as a mark of respect. The IAF helicopters show- ered petals from air at the memorial. The nationwide pro- gramme of saluting the “coro- na warriors” was unveiled by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday. In fact, some of the activities began on Saturday itself with the three services conducting flypasts, performances by military bands and the warships on the shores gaily lit up. The finale was on Sunday. After the wreath-laying ceremony at the Police Memorial, the countrywide activities commenced with a flypast of fighter jet formation including SU-30s, Jaguars and MIG-29s above the Rajpath. The fighter flying was undertaken at a height of 500 metres to enable the people of the capital and suburbs to see the skillful display. Continued on Page 2 C ommercial passenger flights at Delhi airport will initially operate from Terminal 3 after the lockdown ends, said a senior official of its operator DIAL on Sunday, adding that entry gates, self check-in machines and check- in bays will be allocated to air- lines to avoid overcrowding. The airport will use “ultra- violet disinfection tunnels” for all incoming baggage, said according to their plan. Continued on Page 2 Hyderabad: Tirumala Tirupati Devesthanam (TTD) Board chairman and former MP YB Subba Reddy was seen offering prayers at the temple along with his family members dur- ing the coronavirus lockdwon, triggering controversy. MHA’s orders state that places of wor- ship will continue to remain closed during the lockdwon. Meanwhile, Reddy rub- bished the allegation and said that he is entitled to visit the temple to review the situation as TTD chairman. The TTD also denied that it has sacked 1,300 sanitation workers. PNS I ndia has completed 10 lakh real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests to identify people infected with coronavirus. According to offi- cials, this is a major milestone in India’s fight against coron- avirus. But at 758 per 10 lakh tests, India’s testing ratio has been one of the lowest in the world. India has decided to ramp up its testing number to one lakh per day soon. The milestone comes amid the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s attempts to increase the number of test- ing. The biomedical research agency has ramped up tests to more than 70,000-75,000 sam- ples per day. According to the officials, testing for Covid-19 has been scaled up signifi- cantly over the last two months. They said, till March 31, 47,852 samples were tested, which increased to a total of 9,02,654 samples as on April 30. From May 1 till May 2 evening, 1,37,346 tests were done. A RT-PCR test is a labora- tory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA that detects the virus while the antibody tests, which use blood, detect the body’s response to the virus, experts said. Starting with one single laboratory, the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and having 100 labora- tories in the beginning of the lockdown, the RT-PCR test facility is now available in 292 Government and 97 private facilities across the country, officials said. Considered to be the most- effective diagnosis, RT-PCR is a throat and nasal swab test. It detects the virus early on, which is helpful in identifying and iso- lating an infected person. Meanwhile, domestic man- ufacturers of RT-PCR kits have been asked to ramp up pro- duction. Against a demand of 35 lakh RT-PCR kits, orders have been placed for 21.35 lakh kits, out of that orders for 2 lakh kits have been awarded to the domestic manufacturers. In Government labs, the tests are free but at private lab- oratories, it costs 4,500. A mid the extended lock- down, alcohol consumers living in the red zones of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and the areas under the Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Malegaon Municipal Corporations had something to cheer on Sunday, as the Maharashtra Government ordered the re-opening of liquor shops in all areas except in containment zones from Monday onwards, with “certain conditions”. “There is no restriction on the number essential shops. In the case of non-essential shops, only five can remain open in one lane. Among the five non- essential shops, there can be one liquor shop. Malls, market complexes and markets shall remain closed in urban areas,” a senior official said. Detailed report on P5

Transcript of A ˘0!0! /ˆˆ0 *: ˆ=6 >55! 1 :/8 :AA0(!82 2 2/(.!:1 3 :*02 …...2020/05/04  · band, Pallavi...

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ACommanding Officer(CO) of the Indian Army's

elite Counter-insurgency force,21 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), wasmartyred in action, along withfour other security personnel,including a Major and SubInspector of Jammu & KashmirPolice, in Handwara town ofNorth Kashmir’s Kupwara dis-trict late on Saturday night.

They came under heavyfire while attempting to evac-uate civilians amid fierce gun-fight with a group of Pakistaniterrorists. In the night-longoperation, two terrorists,including a Lashkar-e- Tayyeba(LeT) commander Haider fromPakistan, were killed while try-ing to escape the tight cordonnear the encounter site.

At least, two to three ter-rorists are believed to haveescaped taking advantage of theadverse weather conditionsprevailing in the area. Onground zero, the security forceswere still carrying out search-

es in the area to track down thefootprints of terrorists.

The commanding officer,who attained martyrdom in theline of duty, was identified asColonel Ashutosh Sharmafrom Uttar Pradesh.

He had been decoratedtwice for bravery and had beenpart of several successfulcounter-terrorism operations inthe past.

In a span of less than onemonth, the Indian Army hassuffered huge losses while con-ducting counter terrorist oper-ations in Kupwara district alone.

On April 5, the IndianArmy had lost five soldiers,including three elite para com-mandos, in a hand-to-handcombat with infiltrating ter-rorists in Keran sector ofKupwara.

Remembering her hus-band, Pallavi Ashutosh told aTV news channel, “I am proudof his supreme sacrifice in theline of duty. The loss is unbear-able and irreparable but I’mproud of what he did for his

nation, for his unit, for his menand for the safety of civilians.I have no regrets.”

He had told me he willcome home the next day aftereliminating the terrorists. “He

will be home tomorrow with us,wrapped in a tricolour,” she said.

Another Army officer, whoattained martyrdom, was iden-tified as Major Anuj Soodfrom Himanchal Pradesh. His

father, Retd Brig ChandrakantSood while paying tributes tohis son said, “He has made asupreme sacrifice. It was part ofhis duty and what he wastrained for. I feel sad for his wife

as they just got married 3-4months back. He was meant tosave lives.”

According to groundreports, the joint teams of thesecurity forces were chasing agroup of 4-5 terrorists inRajwara forest area since May1. On May 2 when securityforces received credible inputsabout the presence of terroristsin Chanjmulla area ofHandwara, they launched anoperation to free civilians fromthe custody of holed up ter-rorists. Ground reportsclaimed, the team of Army offi-cers led by CO, along with JKPcop, was conducting house-to-house searches in the areawhen they came under firefrom the terrorists inside oneof the houses.

However, Armyspokesman claimed a team offive Army and J&K Police per-sonnel entered the target areaoccupied by the terrorists toevacuate the civilians and suc-cessfully extricated the civilians.

Continued on Page 2

��������������� ! 1�� 2��

Hit hard by coronavirus,the CRPF shut its head-

quarters here after an AssistantCommandant attached with asenior officer as private secre-tary tested positive even as 26BSF men were also foundinfected on Sunday.

The entire building at theCGO Complex here will be dis-infected and offices will remainclosed till Tuesday morning.

The infected officer’s fam-ily is being tested. Forty mentraced to be in his contact havebeen quarantined.

“As one corona positivecase has been detected in theDirectorate, the entire building

of the Directorate General willbe subjected to disinfection bythe Government notifiedagency, keeping in view withprotocols and directions ofMOHFW. Accordingly, theDirectorate General, CRPFoffice will remain closed tillTuesday morning (May 5,2020). Hence all officers andmen working in DirectorateGeneral, CRPF are requestednot to come to office and workfrom home till then. Theyshould remain available totheir seniors on phone torespond to necessary emer-gencies,” said an order of theCRPF headquarters on Sunday.

Continued on Page 2

����� ! 1�� 2��

With several States likePunjab, Bihar, Haryana,

Jammu & Kashmir, which wererelatively safe, reporting highnumber, and Maharashtra,Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhiand Uttar Pradesh showing nosign of slowing down in termsof positive cases, India onSunday saw another 2,000 plusday cases taking its overallcount to 42,000.

This a huge increase fromthe time the country went intothe first lockdown on March 24when the total stood at just 500positive cases.

Delhi recorded highest sin-gle-day spike with 427 newcoronavirus cases, tally now4,549, said the DelhiGovernment.

For instance, Haryana sawbiggest single day gain of 66,while Bihar crossed 500 markby adding 22 new cases andLadakh’s count doubled in lasttwo days from 23 to 42.

Meanwhile, the UnionMinistry has deployed 20 pub-lic health teams in 20 highestCovid burden districts whichare reporting the maximum

number of cases in the coun-try to oversee the containmentmeasures in the affected areas.

These districts are:Mumbai, Thane and Pune inMaharashtra; Ahmedabad,Surat and Vadodra in Gujarat;South East and Central Delhi;Indore and Bhopal in MadhyaPradesh; Jaipur and Jodhpur inRajasthan; Chennai, TamilNadu; Hyderabad, Telangana;Agra and Lucknow in UttarPradesh; Kolkata, West Bengal;Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna inAndhra Pradesh.

Punjab on Sunday record-ed 331 new coronavirus cases,with the total climbing to 1,102.Of the 331 cases, 326 werereturnees from the famousSikh shrine in Maharashtra’sNanded, who came back last

week after remaining stuckthere for nearly a month. In thepast five days, Punjab record-ed 728 cases — a majority ofthem Nanded returnees.

Tamil Nadu reported oneCovid-19 death, 266 freshinfections, pushing total num-ber of coronavirus cases to3,023 while Haryana reported421 cases. Ladakh added 19cases on Sunday taking thetotal to 92 cases.

Gujarat on Sunday regis-tered 374 new Covid-19 casesand 28 deaths, which is thehighest single-day increase indeaths so far. With this, theoverall number of the coron-avirus positive cases mountedto 5,428 and the death toll rose to 290.

Continued on Page 2

����������� ! 1�� 2���

The Delhi Government onSunday announced that

officials engaged in essentialservices will function with fullstrength, but private officeswill resume operation with 33 per cent workforce from

Monday.“We have requested the

Centre to lift lockdown anddeclare non-containment zoneas Green zone so that com-mercial activities may start.Every year, in April, Delhi col-lects �3,500 crore revenue butthis year only �350 crore rev-enue has been generated,” saidChief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The Chief Minister said theCity Government will imple-ment all lockdown regulationsprescribed by the MHA.

The Delhi Government’sorder came in the wake of spikein corona positive cases amid97 areas of the national Capitalbeing declared as containmentzone while all 11 districts havebeen declared as ‘Red zone.’

“If the whole of Delhi is inthe Red Zone, it will create

problems for everyone,”Kejriwal said.

Outlining the list of activ-ities that will be allowed dur-ing third phase of the lock-down, Kejriwal said that callcentres and IT services, printand electronic media willremain open and weddingswill be allowed at designatedpublic places with 50 guests.

But air, rail, metro, roadtransports will remain shut.

Delivery of essential goodsthrough e-commerce portalswill continue while malls, cin-emas, salons, market complex-es, will remain shut.

Self-employed such as elec-trician and plumbers areallowed to join work. Similarlyagriculture work, warehouses,goods and services trans-portation are allowed.

����� ! 1�� 2��

Acknowledging the role ofthe “corona warriors” in

fighting the pandemic in thecountry, the Armed forces onSunday paid tributes to themby conducting flypasts by fight-er jets in many parts of thecountry, including the nation-al Capital, playing martial tunesoutside hospitals treating coro-navirus patients, and shower-ing on them flower petals bychoppers.

The warships were lit upfrom evening onwards andenthralled people in the coastalregion at more than 25 places.

The thanksgiving to the“frontline corona fighters”,including doctors, nurses, san-itation workers, police and themedia, commenced in themorning with wreath placed on

behalf of the three Services atthe National Police Memorialhere as a mark of respect.

The IAF helicopters show-ered petals from air at thememorial.

The nationwide pro-gramme of saluting the “coro-na warriors” was unveiled byChief of Defence Staff GeneralBipin Rawat on Friday. In fact,some of the activities began onSaturday itself with the threeservices conducting flypasts,performances by militarybands and the warships on theshores gaily lit up. The finalewas on Sunday.

After the wreath-layingceremony at the PoliceMemorial, the countrywideactivities commenced with aflypast of fighter jet formationincluding SU-30s, Jaguars andMIG-29s above the Rajpath.

The fighter flying wasundertaken at a height of 500metres to enable the people of

the capital and suburbs to seethe skillful display.

Continued on Page 2

���� ! 1�� 2��

Commercial passengerflights at Delhi airport will

initially operate from Terminal3 after the lockdown ends,said a senior official of itsoperator DIAL on Sunday,adding that entry gates, selfcheck-in machines and check-in bays will be allocated to air-lines to avoid overcrowding.

The airport will use “ultra-violet disinfection tunnels” forall incoming baggage, saidaccording to their plan.

Continued on Page 2

Hyderabad: Tirumala TirupatiDevesthanam (TTD) Boardchairman and former MP YBSubba Reddy was seen offeringprayers at the temple alongwith his family members dur-ing the coronavirus lockdwon,triggering controversy. MHA’sorders state that places of wor-ship will continue to remainclosed during the lockdwon.

Meanwhile, Reddy rub-bished the allegation and saidthat he is entitled to visit thetemple to review the situationas TTD chairman. The TTDalso denied that it has sacked1,300 sanitation workers. PNS

����� ! 1�� 2��

India has completed 10 lakhreal-time polymerase chain

reaction (RT-PCR) tests toidentify people infected withcoronavirus. According to offi-cials, this is a major milestonein India’s fight against coron-avirus. But at 758 per 10 lakhtests, India’s testing ratio has been one of the lowest inthe world. India has decided toramp up its testing number toone lakh per day soon.

The milestone comes amidthe Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR)’s attemptsto increase the number of test-ing. The biomedical researchagency has ramped up tests tomore than 70,000-75,000 sam-ples per day. According to theofficials, testing for Covid-19has been scaled up signifi-cantly over the last two months.

They said, till March 31,47,852 samples were tested,which increased to a total of9,02,654 samples as on April 30.From May 1 till May 2 evening,1,37,346 tests were done.

A RT-PCR test is a labora-tory technique combiningreverse transcription of RNA

into DNA that detects the viruswhile the antibody tests, which use blood, detect thebody’s response to the virus,experts said.

Starting with one singlelaboratory, the NationalInstitute of Virology (NIV) inPune and having 100 labora-tories in the beginning of thelockdown, the RT-PCR testfacility is now available in 292Government and 97 privatefacilities across the country,officials said.

Considered to be the most-effective diagnosis, RT-PCR isa throat and nasal swab test. Itdetects the virus early on, whichis helpful in identifying and iso-lating an infected person.

Meanwhile, domestic man-ufacturers of RT-PCR kits havebeen asked to ramp up pro-duction. Against a demand of35 lakh RT-PCR kits, ordershave been placed for 21.35lakh kits, out of that orders for2 lakh kits have been awardedto the domestic manufacturers.

In Government labs, thetests are free but at private lab-oratories, it costs �4,500.

����� �/�30�

Amid the extended lock-down, alcohol consumers

living in the red zones ofMumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR) and the areas underthe Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwadand Malegaon MunicipalCorporations had something tocheer on Sunday, as theMaharashtra Governmentordered the re-opening ofliquor shops in all areas exceptin containment zones fromMonday onwards, with “certainconditions”.

“There is no restriction onthe number essential shops. Inthe case of non-essential shops,only five can remain open inone lane. Among the five non-essential shops, there can beone liquor shop. Malls, marketcomplexes and markets shallremain closed in urban areas,”a senior official said.

Detailed report on P5

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Abu Dhabi: A 62-year-oldIndian businessman has died inAbu Dhabi after contractingthe novel coronavirus, accordingto a media report.

PK Kareem Haji, who hailedfrom Thiruvananthapuram inKerala, died on Thursday due tocomplications arising from coro-navirus infection, his sonMohammad Abdul Gafoor toldthe Gulf News.

Haji was a former presidentof Abu Dhabi Kerala MuslimCultural Centre (KMCC) and anactive member in the IndianIslamic Centre and the SunniCentre, the daily reported.

Gafoor said his father was adiabetes patient since 15 years."Two weeks ago he complainedof fever, cough. Our local doc-tor took a swab test and theresult came positive (for coron-avirus). My father was shifted toBurjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi.

His condition deteriorated andthe last two days he was put onventilator," Gafoor said. Haji issurvived by his wife, three sonsand four grandchildren.

The Indian community hereis in "shock" with Haji's passing,the daily reported.

"We are in shock. Haji test-ed positive two weeks ago. Hiscondition was pretty seriousand he was put on ventilator. Buton April 30 he died in the earlyhours of the morning at 12.36am. The community is very sad,"said Shukoor Ali Kallungan,president of KMCC, Abu Dhabi.

Haji's was leading the fightagainst coronavirus in AbuDhabi.

He was in-charge of a fooddrive feeding over 1,000 people.Haji was working with restau-rants to send packed meals toworkers during the country'ssterilisation drive. PTI

Guwahati: The AssamGovernment on Sunday saidthe first instance of AfricanSwine Flu has been detected inthe north eastern State whichhas already killed around 2,500pigs across 306 villages.

Despite a go-ahead fromthe Centre, the State will notresort to culling of the pigsimmediately and will adoptalternative mechanisms to pre-vent the spread of the highlycontagious disease, stateAnimal Husbandry andVeterinary Minister Atul Borasaid.

"The National Institute ofHigh Security Animal Diseases(NIHSAD), Bhopal has con-firmed that it is African SwineFlu (ASF). The CentralGovernment has informed usthat it is the first instance of thedisease in the country," he said.

According to a 2019 censusby the state department, the pig

population in Assam was 21lakh, but it has increased inrecent times to around 30 lakh,the Minister said.

"We have discussed withexperts if we can save the pigswithout culling them. Thedeath percentage of the pigsaffected by the disease is almost100 per cent. So we have madesome strategies to save thepigs, which are not yet affect-ed by the virus," Bora said.

He, however, said the dis-ease has not spread much yet.

Noida (UP): Nearly 1,200 stu-dents from various colleges anduniversities across Noida andGreater Noida on Sunday left fortheir homes on specially-arranged buses amid the Covid-19 lockdown, officials said.

Fifty-one buses werearranged by the Gautam BuddhNagar administration to sendthe stranded students back totheir homes as per directionsfrom the Uttar Pradesh govern-ment, the officials said.

These students were stuck inNoida and Greater Noida due tothe nationwide lockdownimposed to contain the spreadof coronavirus. Earlier this week,the Union Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) allowed the statesto ferry migrant labourers, stu-dents and tourists back home inbuses or special trains.

"A total of 1,184 studentsleft for their homes on Sunday

on 51 buses. The students fol-lowed the guidelines ofCOVID-19 prevention andobserved social distancing asthey got on board the buses toleave for their destinations," anofficial statement said.

District Magistrate Suhas LY and nodal officer for COVID-19 response Narendra Bhooshanoversaw the process, for whichstudents had enrolled them-selves by filling registrationforms online, it said.

"Once they reach home,these students will have to stayin home quarantine for 14 days.The students have been instruct-ed on how to carry out the quar-antine at home and told that itwas necessary so that the novelcoronavirus does not spread,”according to the statement.

The students were also pro-vided food packets and waterbottles and the buses were sani-

tised before the passengers goton board, the officials said.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath had three days agoissued directives that studentswho want to return to theirhomes in the state be prepared.

He had sought a list of stu-dents from Noida, Ghaziabadand Aligarh besides those fromDelhi. He has asked his offi-cials to establish a communi-cation with the Delhi govern-ment to ensure the strandedstudents return to their homesin UP, according to tweetsshared by the chief minister'soffice on Thursday.

As of Sunday evening, thewestern Uttar Pradesh districthas recorded 167 positive casesof coronavirus, even as thenumber of patients cured anddischarged from hospitals roseto 101, according to official fig-ures. PTI

New Delhi: In a relief for engi-neering and medical aspirants,the HRD Ministry willannounce fresh dates for com-petitive exams —JEE andNEET— on May 5.

The exams were postponeddue to nationwide lockdownannounced to contain theCovid-19 spread.

"The fresh dates will beannounced by HRD MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'on May 5. This will put an endto uncertainty for the aspirants.The Minister will also interactwith students online the sameday," a senior ministry officialsaid.

While Joint EntranceExam-Mains (JEE-MAINS) isconducted for admission toengineering colleges across thecountry, the National Eligibilitycum Entrance Test (NEET) isheld for medical colleges.

More than 15 lakh students

across the country have regis-tered for NEET this year, whichis the gateway to medical col-leges in India, whereas morethan 9 lakh have registered forJEE Mains, the entrance examfor all other engineering col-leges except IITs.

The JEE-Mains is consid-ered as a qualifying exam forJEE-Advanced.

The HRD Ministry'sNational Testing Agency(NTA) had also given studentsan option to change their optedcentres for the two tests as stu-dents have moved to differentplaces since the lockdown.

Universities and schoolsacross the country have beenclosed since March 16 whenthe centre announced a coun-trywide classroom shutdown asone of the measures to containthe Covid-19 outbreak. Later, anationwide lockdown wasannounced from March 25,

which was extended till May17.

There is however, no clar-ity yet on when the pendingboard exams for class 10 and 12will be conducted by theCentral Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE).

The board had announcedthat it will conduct pendingexams in 29 subjects crucial forpromotion and admission tohigher education institutions.

The death toll due toCovid-19 rose to 1,301 and thenumber of cases climbed to39,980 in the country onSunday, according to the Unionhealth ministry.

The number of activeCovid-19 cases stood at28,046, while 10,632 peoplehave recovered and onepatient has migrated, the min-istry said. The total number ofcases include 111 foreignnationals. PTI

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Aday after it recorded 27deaths out of total 36 State

death, Mumbai went into adaze once again on Sunday, asit accounted for 21 deaths outof the 27 Covid-19 deaths inMaharashtra. The city alonereported 441 out a total 678new infected cases in the State.

On a day whenMaharashtra witnessed 27deaths and 678 new infectedcases, Mumbai was on theforefront of the Covid-19 fatal-ities and infections in theState.

Of the 27 total deathsreported on Sunday, therewere 21 coronavirus deaths inMumbai, while Pune record-ed four more deaths. One caseeach was reported fromBhiwandi and Navi Mumbai.

With fresh deaths, thetotal number deaths inMaharashtra mounted to 548.,while total number of deathsin Mumbai have jumped to343. Similarly, the total num-ber of deaths in Pune has goneup to 99.

On the infections front,the total number of infectedcases has risen to 12,974.

Being the worst affectedcity in the country and state,the total number of infectedcases recorded in this metrop-olis has gone up to 8,800. OnSunday, as many as 441 peo-ple tested positive forCoronavirus.

Of those died on Sunday,16 were men while 11 werewomen. Fouteen of them agedover 60 years, 10 were from theage group 40 to 59 years and3 were aged less than 40 years.

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Panic gripped across forwardareas of Manjakote sector in

frontier Rajouri district follow-ing 'unprovoked' ceasefire vio-lation by the Pakistan Army latesunday evening.

According to groundreports, an average number oftwo dozen mortar shells werelanding per minute from acrossthe Line of Control in severalforward areas of Manjakote.

In response, the IndianArmy is also giving them a befit-ting reply.

Reports of ceasefire viola-tion was also received fromBalakote sector of Poonch .

Jammu based Defencespokesman Lt Col DevenderAnand said, "at around 9.00pm, Pak initiated unprovokedceasefire violation by firingwith small arms & shellingwith Mortars along LoC inBalakote Sector, DistrictPoonch", he added.

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Ranchi: Chief MinisterHemant Soren on Sunday saida "total" lockdown will contin-ue in Jharkhand for the nexttwo weeks and the Centre'srelaxation guidelines will not beapplicable in the state.

The relaxations given bythe central government duringthe lockdown would not beapplied in the state to protectthe health of people, he said.

On May 1, the Ministry ofHome Affairs announced a"limited" lockdown.

The suspension of air,train and inter-state road trav-el will continue to remain inforce across the country fortwo more weeks from May 4,but some activities will beallowed after a classification ofdistricts into "Red", "Orange"and "Green" zones, based onCOVID-19 risk-profiling, itsaid. PTI

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Agartala: Twelve more BorderSecurity Force jawans testedpositive for Covid-19 in Tripuraon Sunday, a day after two BSFjawans were found to have beeninfected with the deadly virus.

With the 12 new cases, thetotal number of Covid-19 casesin the state rose to 16, of which14 are active as two personshave recovered from coron-avirus.

Tripura Chief MinisterBiplab Kumar Deb took toTwitter late this evening toannounce, "Alert! 12 personsfrom 138th #BSF unit Ambassafound #COVID19 positive.Total #COVID19 positive casesin Tripura stands at 16 (2already discharged, so activecases : 14) Don't panic, followthe Gov't guidelines. We areworking vigilantly for your safe-ty. #TripuraCOVID19Count."

All the new COVID-19

cases are BSF jawans from138th battalion, the same bat-talion from where last twocoronavirus patients were iden-tified on Saturday.

Covid-19 Nodal OfficerDr Deep Kumar Debbarmasaid the newly identifiedcoronavirus patients werekept in isolation inside theBSF camp itself at Ambassa inDhalai district, about 120 kmfrom here.

Debbarma said swabs ofnearly 300 BSF personnel fromthe camp were collected for test-ing and reports would be com-ing on Monday.

According to latest reports,527 persons are under quaran-tine in Tripura, including 111 indifferent institutional quaran-tine centres.

The state has tested 4,955people for the virus so far,officials added. PTI

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From Page 1It will keep all food, bev-

erage and retail shops open toavoid overcrowding at oneplace, says the plan preparedby the GMR group-led DelhiInternational Airport Ltd.

The plan said the passen-gers of Vistara and IndiGowould enter the airportthrough gates 1 and 2 only.These two airlines will havecheck-in rows A, B and Camong them, it said. AirAsiaIndia and Air India passengerswill use entry gates 3 and 4.These passengers will then goto rows D, E and F where thestaff of these two airlines wouldassist them check-in, accordingto the plan.

SpiceJet and GoAir pas-sengers would enter throughgate 5 towards the staff ofthese two airlines at rows G and

H for check-in. Passengers ofall other domestic airlines willenter through gate 5 and willhead to row H, the plan said.All international airlines’ pas-sengers would be entering theairport using gates 6, 7 and 8.The staff of these airlines wouldbe sitting at rows J, K, L and Mfor check-in at Terminal 3.

The DIAL’s exit plan stat-ed that entry gates, self check-in machines and check-in bayswould be allocated to airlinesto ensure smooth flow of pas-sengers from forecourt intocheck-in hall and securitythereafter.

India has been under alockdown since March 25 tocurb the spread of the novelcoronavirus, which has infect-ed around 40,000 people andkilled more than 1,300 peoplein the country till now.

All commercial passengerflights have been suspended forthe lockdown period. However,cargo flights, medical evacua-tion flights and special flightspermitted by the aviation reg-ulator DGCA are allowed tooperate.

“Initially, once the lock-down is over, the commercialpassenger fights will be oper-ating from Terminal 3 only.Later, once the number offlights increase, other terminalswill be used,” the DIAL officialsaid.

The DIAL would bepreparing stringent standardoperating procedures (SOPs)for food, beverage and retailshops in order to ensure socialdistancing, the exit plan noted.The operator will promote dig-ital payments and digitalmenus at various outlets tominimise human contact.Moreover, DIAL wouldencourage usage of self-order-ing kiosks at the food court toreduce queues.

From Page 1The planes and helicopters

then showered petals on IndiaGate and Red Fort besidesperforming similar feat at allthe hospitals treating Covid-19patients. These hospitalsincluded All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS), BRAmbedkar Hospital, MaxSaket, Gangaram Hospital,Deen Dayal Hospital and someothers.

A similar exercise wasconducted over Srinagar’s DalLake, Chandigarh’s SukhnaLake and Lucknow. InMumbai, fighter jets conduct-ed a flypast over the MarineDrive and dropped petals overthe King Edward MemorialHospital and Kasturba GandhiHospital, among others.

In all, 35 aircraft wereutilised including ten fighter

jets, four transport aircraft and20 helicopters.

The IAF helicoptersdropped flower petals in 20cities and 58 hospitals acrossIndia.

Appreciating the uniqueefforts of the Armed forces,Defence Ministry quotedDefence Minister RajnathSingh as saying, “The ArmedForces today organised sever-al activities to express gratitudeto the corona warriors who arebattling against the pandemic.These frontline warriors aredoing commendable work instrengthening the morale of allthose involved in India’s fightagainst Covid-19.”

The Indian Navy personnelonboard the aircraft carrierINS Vikramaditya expressedtheir appreciation by forminga human chain saying IndianNavy salutes corona warriors.

“Personnel onboard IndianNavy Ships mission deployedFrom the West to East inIndian Ocean Region,

expressed their appreciationand salute the Corona warriorsincluding doctors, nurses, otherhealth workers, sanitation staffand police personnel who havebeen relentlessly fightingagainst the COVID pandemic,”the Navy said in a statement.

In all, 25 Indian Navalwarships across nine port citiesincluding in Andaman andNicobar Islands carried outillumination from 7:30 pm tillmid-night. In addition, fourmission deployed ships alsotook part to express their grat-itude while 15 helicopters andaircraft took part in showeringflower petals and flypast incoastal cities.

The Indian Coast Guard(ICG) ships were illuminated at25 locations covering the entirecoastline of the country, includ-ing far flung island territoriesof Andaman and NicobarIslands and Lakshadweep andMinicoy Islands. A total of 46Coast Guard ships and 10 heli-copters took part in the initia-

tive including dropping petalson hospitals in Chennai andGoa.

Several hospitals thankedthe Armed forces for their ges-ture of showering petals. In aletter to the Chief of DefenceStaff (CDS) General BipinRawat, the Resident DoctorsAssociation of the All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciencesappreciated the “morale boost-ing” gesture by the defence ser-vices in solidarity with them tofight the pandemic.

In the evening, Navy shipsdocked at major ports, includ-ing Mumbai and Chennai,were lit up. Five warships wereilluminated in Mumbai off theGateway of India in Mumbaidisplaying banners like “IndiaSalutes Corona Warriors” andsounded the siren and fireflares in the evening.

The Eastern NavalCommand illuminated twoships at anchorage from 7.30pm to midnight atVisakhapatnam coast.

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Chandigarh: More than sixlakh migrants stuck in Punjabdue to the coronavirus lock-down have applied with thestate government for returningto their respective states, offi-cial said on Sunday.

Most of them are migrantlabourers from Bihar, UttarPradesh and Jharkhand, theysaid. The state has around 10lakh migrant workers, of which7 lakh are in Ludhiana alone.

The Punjab governmenthad asked those who wish toreturn to their native places toapply online and 6,44,378migrants have registered.

According to a govern-ment data, 3.43 lakh of themare from Uttar Pradesh and2.35 lakh from Bihar. PTI

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From Page 1“During the process, the

team was subjected to heavyvolume of fire by the terrorists.In the ensuing firefight two ter-rorists were eliminated andthe team of five security per-sonnel comprising two Armyofficers, two Army soldiersand one Sub Inspector ofJammu & Kashmir policeattained martyrdom,” he said.

Acknowledging the valourof serving officers, the IndianArmy in a statement said, “Wesalute Col Ashutosh Sharma,Maj Anuj Sood, Naik RakeshKumar, Lance Naik DineshSingh & SI Shakeel Qazi andexpress our deep felt condo-lences to the bereaved families.”

Prime Minister NarendraModi and Defence MinisterRajnath Singh also paid tributesto courageous soldiers mar-tyred in Handwara encounter.

“Tributes to our coura-geous soldiers & security per-sonnel martyred in

#Handwara. Their valour &sacrifice will never be forgotten.They served the nation withutmost dedication & workedtirelessly to protect our citizens.Condolences to their families &friends,” tweeted Modi.

Chief of Defence Staff,General Bipin Rawat in his trib-ute said, “Commanding Officerleading from the front alongwith other personnel of theunit and J&K Police have laiddown their lives, living up to themotto: Service Before Self.”

Army Chief General MMNaravane and all ranks ofIndian Army also paid tributesto the valiant braves of Armyand J&K Police for theirsupreme sacrifice while fight-ing and eliminating terrorists inHandwara.

In Kupwara, rich tributeswere paid by the senior Armyand police officers before dis-patching the mortal remains ofmartyred soldiers to theirnative places.

From Page 1Those responsible for col-

lection and distribution ofurgent messages may continueto do so by safe and securemeans. All other activitiesincluding Monday meetingstand postponed, added theorder.

The AssistantCommandant infected withCovid-19 was tested onFriday.

Meanwhile, 25 more menof a company of BSF’s 126Battalion deployed with DelhiPolice in Jama Masjid areahave been tested Covid-19positive on Sunday. Thestrength of the company is 94.The test reports of nine mencame on Saturday of whichsix were found to be positivefor the viral disease, BSFofficials said.

On Sunday, test results of80 other jawans came and 25of them were found positive.

Corona virus test results of fivepersonnel are awaited.

As many as 31 personnel of126 Battalion have tested posi-tive so far even as results of fivejawans are awaited. The remain-ing 58 personnel of the compa-ny are Covid-19 negative.

From Page 1Around 790 people had

tested positive and 36 deathswere reported in the worst-hitstate of Maharashtra, bringingtotal to 12,296.

In West Bengal, the totalnumber of novel coronaviruscases reached 886 even as 15more people died due to Covid-19 and 127 people tested posi-tive.

Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan said at least 682patients were cured from thehighly contagious novel coro-navirus disease in the last 24hours. This has taken the recov-ery rate in the country up to26.59 per cent.

He said the recovery rate ofCovid-19 patients has steadilyincreased which shows thatmore and more of these patientsare getting better and goingback to their homes.

“Till now around 10,000Covid patients have recoveredand have joined their normallife. Majority of patients in

other hospitals are also on theroad to recovery. It reflects thequality of care provided by ourfrontline health workers inIndia. It is heartening to see thehigh morale of our health war-riors in these testing times,” hesaid.

Talking about opening upof the various activities, hesaid, “Slowly and gradually theeconomic activities would beopened up one by one. There isdetailed planning according towhich various industries likedrug, pharmaceuticals etc. arebeing assisted to return back tonormalcy as soon as possible.”

“The rate of growth of newcases has also been steadyingfor a while. As per the datareceived today, for the pastthree days, the doubling rate is12.0, for seven days, 11.7 andfor 14 days, it is 10.4,” he said.

Also, he stressed on need toadhere to strict physical dis-tancing and basic hand hygieneetiquettes properly to take lock-down 3.0 to a logical end.

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The Delhi Metro RailCorporation (DMRC)

completed yet another eventfulyear of its journey as itobserved its 26th FoundationDay on Sunday. However,unlike the preceding years,this year, the occasion couldnot be formally celebrated inview of the ongoing lockdownto combat the Covid– 19 pan-demic.

DMRC’S ManagingDirector Dr Mangu Singh con-gratulated the employees on theoccasion saying that and saidall should all be extremelyproud of what we have beenable to achieve as an organisa-tion.

“Today, the Delhi Metrostands as one of the largestMetro systems in the worldwith a massive network of 360kilometres, 264 stations and 14depots. More than sixty lakhjourneys with a punctuality ofover 99 percent were being per-formed on the Delhi Metroeveryday prior to the suspen-sion of services in March,” hesaid.

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New Delhi MunicipalCouncil (NDMC) has

decided to provide compensa-tion of �15 lakh in case of deathof any employee who are work-ing in close proximity of Covid-19 and being exposed to thedanger of contacting the dis-ease.

All the health care staff ofthe civic body will be benefit-ted with the scheme includingregular, contractual, RMR(Regular Muster Roll), TMR(Temporary Muster Roll) out-sourced wagers etc, the civicbody said in a statement.

“Though NDMC is adopt-ing all measures to safeguardand protect its employees orworkers from COVID -19,however it has been felt neces-sary to assure financial help totheir family members in case ofdeath due to COVID-19 attrib-utable to duty, so that suchworkers are able to serve thecivic body in such difficulttimes,” it said.

NDMC is providing allmunicipal services to its resi-dents and important offices,buildings of central govern-ment as well as diplomaticmissions in their jurisdictionduring lockdown period, itsaid, adding that it is alsosimultaneously fighting vigor-ously to contain the spread ofCOVID-19 in its area.

This compensation will beavailable to all eligible cases fora period of three months fromthe date of issue of the order.This step is a temporary mea-sures and no age limit is pre-scribed if fulfilling the criteriafor engagement with NDMC.

A sum of Rs15 lakh will bepaid to the legal heir of thedeceased, a senior official said,adding that his will not coverthose not attending duties andthe death from COVID-19

cannot be established to beattributable to duty.

It further said that theclaim for the compensationwill be submitted by legal heirof the deceased through headof the concerned departmentduly verified with all requiredinformation to welfare depart-ment for obtaining approval ofthe Chairman of NDMC andfurther processing the case forreleasing the payment by theaccounts department.

In case of outsourcedworkers, the claim will be sub-mitted by the concessionaireafter verifying the credentials ofworker and his/her familymembers to HoD concernedwho will scrutinised andprocess the claim and forwardit to the welfare department.

All such cases will bescreened by a committe com-prising of Director ( MS ),Director (Finance) and con-cerned HOD with Director (Welfare ) of NDMC.

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Flower petals were showeredby Indian Armed forces at Sir

Ganga Ram Hospital on Sundayas a mark of gratitude to thefrontline health workers whowere rendering yeoman servicein the ongoing fight against thedreaded coronavirus pandemic.

Doctors, nurses, ward boysand paramedical staff lined up onthe hospital premises andacknowledged the Defenceforces gesture.

“Military bands also played“patriotic tunes” outside thehospital treating coronaviruspatients after which armed forces

representative felicitated Covidwarriors of Sir Ganga RamHospital,” the hospital adminis-tration said in a statement,adding that Indian Air Forceshowered flower petals on thehospital while fighter jets flewover the hospital as mark ofrespect to COVID-19 warriors.

According to Dr D S Rana ,Chairman, Sir Ganga RamHospital, " We are thankful toour Armed Forces to increase themoral of our healthcare workersin this fight against Covid-19. SirGanga Ram Hospital has been inforefront with the government inthe fight against Covid-19.

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The Delhi Police on Sunday registeredover 80 cases and detained 2,365 peo-

ple across the national Capital for violat-ing government orders during the coron-avirus lockdown.

According to the data shared by thepolice, 82 cases were registered under sec-tion 188 (for disobedience to order dulypromulgated by public servant) of theIndian Penal Code (IPC) till 5pm.

Police said that a total of 2,365 peoplehave been detained under section 65 (per-sons bound to comply with reasonabledirections of police officers) and 109 vehi-cles have been impounded under section66 of the Delhi Police Act.

“The police also registered 38 casesagainst people for stepping outside theirresidence without wearing masks. A totalof 316 movement passes have been issued,”police said.

Since March 24, over lakh people havebeen detained so far for violating orderunder section 65 of the Delhi Police Act.

However, on Sunday Delhi Policereceived over 900 calls on their 24x7helpline number to resolve issues relatedto lockdown. Police said that total 35, 977number of calls received by police tillSunday on their helpline 011-23469526.

“Police received 903 calls from Saturday2 pm to Sunday 2 pm. Out of 903, around55 calls were related to outside Delhi, whichhave been referred to respective state

helpline numbers. No calls were receivedrelated to no food/no money on Sunday,”said police.

“While 378 calls were related to move-ment passes and were advised to applyonline on website of Delhi Police,” saidpolice.

“The food delivery network establishedin all 15 districts with involvement of near-ly 400 NGOs/ RWAs/Good Samaritansfacilitated by Delhi Police has led to pro-vision of meals/food packets at more than250 locations which enabled feeding ofnearly 264236 persons,” said the police.

The move comes following nationwiderestrictions due to complete lockdownimposed across the country to containCoronavirus.

������������� ! 1�� 2��

At least 480 Delhi studentsstranded at coaching hub

Kota in Rajasthan due to thecoronavirus lockdown returnedto the national capital onSunday morning in 40 privatebuses.

Delhi's Transport ministerKailash Gahlot said the stu-dents, who arrived at theKashmere Gate Inter State BusTerminal (ISBT), would besent home in DTC buses afterundergoing medical tests.

“Due to lockdown situa-tion, various students of Delhistudying in institutes at KotaRajasthan were stuck there.On the direction of ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal,Delhi Government sent 40buses on May 1 to bring back

its students from Kota,Rajasthan,” the Governmentsaid in a statement.

On May 2, these buses

reached Kota where they weresanitised properly. OnSaturday, around 8 pm these480 students started their jour-

ney from Kota towards Delhiand reached ISBT KashmiriGate on Sunday morning, itsaid.

While arrangements weremade by the Government tobring 813 students, only 480 students who belong toDelhi were brought back.Remaining students werereported to belong to otherplaces, it added.

At ISBT Kashmiri Gate, 11counters were made for dis-tricts of Delhi where everystudent was properly screenedfor COVID-19 by 11 separatemedical teams comprising of adoctor and paramedic, it said,adding that in front of everydistrict wise counter, 100 circleswere drawn at a distance of 6feet so that during screeningthe social distancing norms canbe followed properly.

“After the medical screen-ing, every student was given acoupon indicating the DTC bus

number dedicated to their spe-cific route. Parents were askedto not come to the ISBT as thegovernment made properarrangements through theseDTC buses to make sure thatevery student reaches theirrespective homes safely,” it said.

The Transport Ministerwho was personally monitoringthis entire process said “I amdelighted that we brought back all our students fromKota safely. I would like torequest to all the students whocame back yesterday to stay inhome-isolation for 14 days toensure the safety of their fam-ily members.” The statementfurther reads that before thearrival of students, the entirepremises of the ISBT KashmiriGate along with every DTC buspresent there were sanitised.

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Although calls to theGurugram police helpline

number related to crimesagainst women have decreasedduring the Covid-19 lockdown,instances of domestic quarrelsand abuse have seen a sharprise.Fights between couplesand in-laws have increasedduring the lockdown period.

Most of the calls receivedon the women helpline numberduring the lockdown is relatedto quarrels between couplesand inlaws over householdchores. The Gurugram policeusually received around 30

calls per day, But during thelockdown period it has comedown to 10 calls per day.However, there has been achange in the nature of thecalls.

"Earlier calls were related torape, molestation, sexualharassment, harassment atworkplace and eve-teasing.Now we receive call related to

fights with husbands and in-laws over domestic issues,” asenior police officer said.

"Earlier, every month 12-13FIRs were filed after receivingcalls on the helpline. But nowin most of the cases the womenwho call for help do not wantFIR against their family mem-bers. They expect the police toissue threats to family membersso that they listen to her and donot trouble her," he added.

Swati Newati, practisinglawyer at Gurugram districtcourt, said that the lockdownhas put additional pressure onwomen. “In most families malemembers do not help in house-hold chores and leave women

to do household work. Issuesrelated to domestic abuse hasalso increased,” she said.

The official said a numberof calls on women helplinenumber have come down. “Ourteam is working round theclock to help women in distress.After receiving a call at thehelpline number local policerespond to it and tries toresolve the dispute,” he said.

Apart from this Gurugramhas so far reported 72 positivecases including five fresh caseson Sunday of which 43 havebeen cured and discharged.While 29 are undergoing treat-ment. Gurugram has 28 con-tainment zones.

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At least six doctors and threeothers tested positive for

the novel coronavirus onSunday, taking the total num-ber of health care workersaffected with Covid-19 to 15 innorth Corporation hospitals.

“Six doctors of the northCorporation-run Hindu Raoand Kasturba Hospital, onemedia person who is husbandof nurse tested positive earlier,one patient who was referredby OPD and one other personwho is also the husband of oneof our nurses earlier testedpositive. All these people arealready placed under quaran-tine,’ a senior northCorporation official said.

The official said that someof the pending reports of sam-ples taken earlier came today.Amongst all, nine has testedpositive.

The persons affected withCoronavirus have reached to 15but it including private peopleas well who simply got tested

with us and our staff, he said.“Till now four doctors and twonurses of Hindu Rao, five doc-tors of Kasturba hospital, oneaya at Rajan Babu TuberculosisHospital and the rest are nonemployees,” he said.

A doctor of theCorporation-run Hindu RaoHospital had tested positive forthe novel coronavirus onSaturday. Two nurses of thehospital have tested positive forthe disease in the last oneweek. After the first nurse test-

ed positive last Saturday, sam-ples of 78 other staffers, includ-ing the doctor, were sent fortesting.

The largest municipal hos-pital run by the north corpo-ration was closed on Saturdayafter the first nurse had testedpositive. Both the nurses hadfive common contacts, the offi-cial said. Services in emer-gency wards, including a fluclinic and three OPDs at thecivic body-run hospital, wereresumed from Monday.

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The Delhi Police has arrestedfour for allegedly ferrying

around 25 migrant labourers totheir native places in UttarPradesh and Bihar.

The arrested truck drivershave been identified as AvinishTiwari, (24), a resident ofGovindpuri and Manoj KumarYadav (28) a resident ofAllahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Policesaid that the duo was trying tocommute these migrant labourstheir natives places.

According to R P Meena,the Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), Southeast district,after police received inputs aboutillegal migrantion of labourers toUP and Bihar in connivancewith truck drivers, patrolling wasintensified in the night amidongoing lockdown.

"During patrolling on lateSaturday night, when our policestaff reached near a company atA-55 Okhla Phase-II, two trucksbearing registration of Haryanaand Uttar Pradesh were found

parked in suspicious conditionand around 20-25 persons werestanding near the trucks withoutfollowing social distancingnorms," said the DCP.

"During interrogation, thetwo truck drivers revealed thatthey were in contact with twopersons -- Aklu Bind (26) and(34) Ravi Shankar Kumar for thelast four-five days and they hadconvinced them to take awaysome labours belonging toMunger district, Bihar," saidthe DCP.

"Both Aklu Bind and RaviShankar Kumar, also hail from

Manger district in Bihar and onSaturday, they asked these 20-25migrant labourers from nearbyarea to assemble at Okhla Phase-II to board truck for theirrespective destinations," saidthe DCP.

"During interrogation, Akluand Ravi stated that both ofthem are presently living on rentin Sanjay Colony, Okhla Phase-II and both of them had madea call to these migrant laboursbelonging to their native villageto gather at that place to boardthe trucks ready to ferry them toBihar," the DCP said.

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The incident of stone-peltersresurfacing in Pulwama

and attacking forces engaged inan encounter with terrorists hasalarmed the security establish-ment. It has come about aftera long gap and that too, amida stringent Covid-19 lockdownin the Valley and the continuedpresence of security forces infull strength since the abroga-tion of Article 370 giving spe-cial status to Jammu andKashmir last year.

Faced with this re-emerg-ing threat after it nearly dieddown in 2019, the securityforces are now redrawing theirtactics to control crowds atencounter sites. Officials havemaintained that there has been“no major incident of stonepelting at encounter sites” in2020. Hence, the Pulwamaincident has understandablyalerted the security establish-ment.

The stone-pelting incidenthas also coincided with thesurge in militant activities lead-ing to increased anti-militancyoperations. At least, 62 mili-tants have been neutralizedsince January one this year with30 of the total ultras killed inthe month of April alone, offi-cials said.

However, at least 15 secu-rity men have also died in thelast four months including thelatest casualties of a Coloneland a Major on Friday. In fact,terrorists barged into thehomes of some security men inKashmir valley and shot themdead before decamping withtheir automatic weapons.

The sequence of events inDangerpora, Pulwama, sawheavy stone pelting commenc-ing as the security forces wereapproaching the houses wherethe militants were hiding. Thiswas to delay the cordon andsearch net to get in place andgive ample warning to the

ultras to escape. Reports saidwhile two militants were killedin the ensuing firefight, theother two managed to escape inthe confusion due to stone

throwing.Radicalised elements, espe-

cially in four districts of SouthKashmir, used to resort tostone throwing whenever

the security forces were closingin on hiding militants in vari-ous hamlets, sources said hereon Sunday.

The phenomenon peakedinto a major disruptive activi-ty during the encounter withthe Hizbul Mujahideen com-mander Burhan Wani in 2016and it continued for the nextcouple of months.

After giving a tough timeto the law enforcement agen-cies, stone pelting instancesnearly came to an end in late2019 after the Centre’s Article370 move. Prior to that, theerstwhile State witnessed 1,999incidents in the same year.This figure had crossed 2,650in 2016 following Wani’skilling. More than 1,450 inci-dents were reported in 2018while 1,410 incidents occurredin 2017.

With almost negligent inci-dents in the last many months,security forces are taking the

Pulwama incident

seriously as it took place despitelock down restrictions andgeneral improvement in lawand order, sources said.

The tightening up of theanti-terror grid will now seegenerating more real-timeintelligence to go after the mil-itants so as to avoid giving anywhiff to the misguided locals togather and throw stones as anobstruction, they said.

Moreover, the focus will beon launching operations insmall teams in minimum pos-sible time to avoid leakage ofinformation and getting out ofthe encounter site as fast as pos-sible. This will make sure thatthe radicalized elements donot have time and space tomarshal their resources,sources said adding any chanceof collateral damage will also bereduced to a large extent.

On the sudden spurt in thenumber of fire-fights, officialssaid Pakistan-backed militantsare now trying desperately to

infiltrate from the mountainpasses in North Kashmir.While many attempts werefoiled, some militants managedto sneak in and the encounterin Keran some weeks backand the latest engagement inHandwara are clear indicators,they said. Both these places arein North Kashmir.

Five para-commandoswere killed in Keran in earlyApril while five security per-sonnel including two officersfell on Friday.

With snow melting in thehigher reaches of NorthKashmir, the anti-infiltrationgrid is now fully geared tothwart determined attemptsby Pakistan to push in militantsinto the Kashmir valley.

According to an estimate,nearly 300 well trained ultrasare lodged in more than 25launch pads across the Line ofControl(LOC)and sources didnot rule out the number ofencounters on the LOC and in

the hinterland going up in thecoming days.

Army Chief General M MNaravane, who visited Srinagarin late April after the five com-mandos were killed, had saidfocus on anti-infiltration mea-sures on the LOC will contin-ue. “As far as fighting terrorismin the hinterland is concerned,we will approach it through thejoint mechanism instituted forthe purpose. We have a highlevel of synergy between all theforces operating in the Valley,”he had said.

The Army Chief had alsosaid the security forces will giveproportionate response toPakistan to all acts of infringe-ment of ceasefire and his sup-port to terrorism. The onusremains with Pakistan to bringpeace in the region. “UnlessPakistan gives up its policy ofstate sponsored terrorism, wewill continue to respond withimpunity and precision,”Naravane said.

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Cancer has emerged as oneof the major risk factors

responsible for increased mor-tality due to Covid-19, accord-ing to a study published in lat-est journal of CancerDiscovery. It is the largest studyso far to assess outcomes forpatients with cancer who havealso been infected with thedeadly contagion.

As a group, said the study,Covid-19 patients with bloodcancers, such as leukemiaand lymphoma, has the high-est mortality rate.

"Our findings emphasisethe need to prevent cancerpatients from contractingCovid-19 and-if they do-toidentify and closely monitorthese individuals for danger-ous symptoms," said co-leadauthor of the study, Dr VikasMehta, a surgical oncologist atMontefiore and associate pro-fessor of otorhinolaryngolo-gy--head and neck surgery atEinstein.

Dr Mehta added, “wehope that our findings caninform states and communi-ties that have not yet been soseverely struck by this pan-demic about the unique vul-nerability cancer patientsface."

The study involved 218cancer patients who testedpositive for Covid-19 fromMarch 18 to April 8, 2020 atMontefiore Medical Center inthe Bronx, New York City, oneof the regions in the UnitedStates hit hardest by the pan-demic.

A total of 61 cancerpatients died from Covid-19,a dramatically high case-fatal-ity rate of 28 per cent.

"A key element is thatmortality appears to be moreclosely related to frailty, age,

and co-morbidities than toactive therapy for cancer,"said co-senior author BalazsHalmos, director of theMultidisciplinary ThoracicOncolog y Program atMontefiore and professor ofmedicine at Einstein.

"Our data suggest that weshould not stop lifesaving

cancer therapies, but ratherdevelop strategies to min-imise potential Covid-19exposures and re-evaluatetherapies for our most vul-nerable cancer populations,"explained co-senior authorAmit Verma, director of thedivision of hemato-oncologyat Montefiore and professor of

medicine and of develop-mental and molecular biolo-gy at Einstein.

The time period duringwhich these patients weretreated was earlier in the epi-demic when testing wasalmost exclusively done insicker, symptomatic patientswho required hospitalisation.

This may partially explainthe high fatality rate withinthe study's cancer popula-tion. However, even whencompared to mortality ratesin non-cancer patients atMontef iore and across New York City during thesame time period, cancerpatients demonstrated a sig-

nificantly higher risk of dying from Covid-19, said thestudy.

As a group, Covid-19patients with hematologic(blood) cancers, such asleukemia and lymphoma, hadthe highest mortality rate: 37per cent (20 of 54 patients).For patients with solid malig-

nancies, the mortality ratewas 25% (41 of 164). Strikingdifferences were observedamong specific solid cancers:the mortality rate for patientswith lung cancer was 55 percent and colorectal cancer was 38 per cent, com-pared with mortality rates of14 per cent for breast cancer

and 20 per cent for prostatecancer.

Certain underlying conditions-older age, hyper-tension, heart disease, andchronic lung disease--weresignificantly associated withincreased mortality amongcancer patients with Covid-19.

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Disability rights organisa-tions are up in arms

against the recent order of theDirector of the All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences,Rishikesh, threatening itsemployees including faculty,with compulsory retirement ifthey are unable to performduties, due to physical or men-tal disability, which interfereswith efficient discharge ofduties.

The organisations havenow sought intervention ofDr Harsh Vadhan, UnionHealth Minister and ThawarChand Gehlot, UnionMinister of Social Justice andEmpowerment to intervene inthe matter, seeking with-drawal of the “blatantly dis-criminatory order.”

‘Any employee (includ-ing faculty), if unable to per-

form duties, due to Physical ormental disability, which inter-feres with efficient dischargeof duties, will be compulsoryretired, as per CCS rules,’says the official order dated 9April 2020 signed by Dr RaviKant, Director, AIIMS,Rishikesh.

The National Platformfor the Rights of the Disabled(NPRD) slammed the move,saying that “the memo doesnot specifically state whichsection of the CCS rulesmakes a provision for such“compulsory” retirement.

“On the contrary, theCentral Services (Pension)Amendment Rules, 2018,states, “The case of a govern-ment servant acquiring a dis-ability, where the provisions ofSection 20 of the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities Act,2016 (49 of 2016) are applic-able, shall be governed by the

provisions of the said section,”said MuralidharanVishwanath, Secretary, NPRD.

He also cited various pro-visions of the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities(RPWD) Act 2016 which pro-tects the righst of the PwDswhile in duty.

“Despite progressive leg-islation to empower peoplewith disabilities, the AIIMS,Rishikesh is passing an officeorder which is not only unfair,discriminator y but alsounlawful”, said disabilityrights activist and founder ofDoctors with Disabilities, DrSatendra Singh.

Dr Singh also said that theorder will have adverse impacton the morale of disabledstaff at AIIMS, Rishikesh dur-ing Covid-19 pandemic timeswhen all efforts are beingtaken to boost the morale ofthe employees.

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Days after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi expressed

his vision for self-reliant andsustainable villages, theCommon Service Centres(CSC), the digital arm of theGovernment, on Sundayannounced to fulfil the nation'sneeds for assimilating the spir-it of self-reliance at rural level.

From the new age e-com-merce to realising direct ben-efit transfers (DBT) to provid-ing loans and imparting onlineeducation to villagers, the CSChas all in its basket to play asignificant role in nation’sgoal of achieving Gram Swaraj,CSC CEO Dr Dinesh KumarTyagi said.

The Prime Minister had onPanchayati Raj Day on April 24emphasised the need for assim-ilating the spirit of self-relianceand advocated that panchyatsand villages can play a signif-icant role in nation’s goal ofachieving Gram Swaraj.

The PM highlighted therole of the digital economy(CSC) and internet connectiv-ity( Bharat Net ) in facilitatingself-reliance and meeting theseemerging challenges encoun-tered by the country in today’scontext like the corona pan-demic scare.

The CSCs, under the

Ministry of Electronics & IT ofGovernment of India, is a sig-nificant pillar of the DigitalIndia Programme. This pan-India network is operated andmanaged by the Village LevelEntrepreneurs and is closelyaligned to the spirit and visionof Gram Swaraj. Currently,over 3 lakh VLEs are manag-ing the CSCs in rural andsemi urban areas of the coun-try.

"The core components ofGram Swaraj centered on self-reliance and socio-economicdignity, especially for the mar-ginalized communities, arebeing addressed and deliveredby the CSCs. Through tech-nology, enabling policy anddigital infrastructure, CSCsare contributing to GramSwaraj through digital literacy,awareness about Governmentand other schemes contribut-ing to social empowerment;digital entrepreneurial oppor-tunities and infrastructure con-tributing to economic empow-erment and citizenship servicesthat contribute to inclusion andpolitical empowerment by pro-viding easy access to servicesand schemes," said Tyagi.

Tyagi said the fact thatSarpanchs(Panchayat repre-sentative) of different GramPanchayats from across thecountry sitting in villages con-

nected with the Prime Ministerdigitally through video con-ference itself establish thepower of digital infrastruc-ture and support the vision ofdecentralized democracy andcitizens’ active participation innation building.

Other significant tenets ofthe Gram Swaraj concept is thefocus and ability for meetingcommunity needs utilisinglocally available resources.During the COVID 19 pan-demic the innovative CSCGrameen e store are not onlymeeting the requirement of the

citizen but also supporting thefarmers to sell its produce or anartisan to market its products.

"This localised e-com-merce CSC Store is trans-forming the rural economyand making them self reliantbeside general economic devel-opment of the village," Tyagisaid.

CSC has also started in alimited way the Rural BPO,which has a huge potential foremployment generation andcan reverse/contain the Ruralmigration, he pointed out.

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The Department ofBiotechnology (DBT)

under the Union Science andTechnology Ministry hasannounced the launch of1,000 Genome sequencing ofSARS-Cov 2 virus to under-stand viral and host genomicsof COVID-19 outbreak. Thedeadly contagion has sweptacross the nations killing over2 lakhs worldwide. In India,the virus has claimed over1,320 lives.

Under the study, the sci-entists will sequence 1,000SARS Cov-2 genomes fromthe clinical samples to under-stand the evolving molecularphylogeny of the virus and theemerging mutations in theviral RNA as well as identifythe host genetic variationswhich correlate with trans-mission, susceptibility anddisease severity.

The samples will be col-lected from across India tostudy the emerging mutationsin the virus and how theychange the symptoms of theinfections disease that haskilled at least 235,000 peopleacross the world, as per astatement here.

This study is being coor-dinated by National Instituteof Biomedical Genomics(NIBMG) in Kalyani, WestBengal. The institute hasalready sequenced about fiveSars-CoV-2 genomes.

Other partners includeCentre for DNAFingerprinting AndDiagnostics – Hyderabad,Institute of Life Sciences –Bhubaneswar, National Centrefor Cell Science – Pune,Institute For Stem Cell Scienceand Regenerative Medicine –Bengaluru. Other DBT labo-ratories will also contribute insample collection andsequencing from across thecountry. The Indian Instituteof Sciences is also likely to jointhe project.

The analysis of the datawill also help the researchersunderstand how genetic vari-ations in the human hostrelate to the severity andtransmissibility of the infec-tion and the susceptibility toit.

The findings of this studywill also assist development ofefficient diagnostic assays,vaccine and drug candidatesand help formulate policies forcontainment of the outbreak.

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Amid rising number of coro-navirus cases in the

Central Armed Police Forcesand concerns over severalpolicemen contractingCOVID-19, the Centre hasadvised the States for preparingan effective second line ofdefence to contain the spreadof the pandemic.

In a separate letter to all theChief Secretaries of States/UTsand DGs Prisons, the Ministryadvised them to strictly followguidelines and protocols formanaging Covid-19 in prisons.

In its communication toall the States and UnionTerritories, the Union HomeMinistry said the police chiefsmay consider the option of'work from home' for person-nel not deployed on frontlinein hotspots and containmentznones, and wherever feasible.

"To meet the challenge ofCOVID-19, and to ensure sus-tainment of control strategyfor COVID- 19, police forcesneed to prepare an effectivesecond line of defence to makeup for the police personnelwho may be rendered ineffec-

tive due to COVID infectionduring the

pandemic," the home min-istry said.

The Ministry has also reit-erated guidelines and proto-cols for security personnelengaged in managing publicduring the continuing lock-down.

As for writing about theguidelines for prisons, theHome Ministry said the novelcoronavirus is a global healthcrisis and has affected a hugepopulation the world over.

The virus which causes thedisease is highly infectiousand even pre-symptomaticpeople can infect others andany person who is in closecontact with someone who hassuspected or confirmedCOVID-19 is at risk of con-tracting the disease, it said.

"People in prisons andother places of detention, liv-ing in closed and crowdedenvironment, are likely to be

more vulnerable to the coro-navirus disease," the HomeMinistry said.

Moreover, it said, experi-ence shows that prisons, jailsand similar settings wherepeople gather in close prox-imity may act as a source ofinfection, amplification andspread of infectious diseaseswithin and beyond prisons.

Prison health is, there-fore, widely considered aspublic health. Any controlstrategy for COVID-19 in thecommunity which does notencompass the prison contextwill not be sustainable, theministry said.

"It is, therefore, consideredessential that health-careteams of States and UTs shouldwork with the custodial anddetention staff in prisons andother places of detention, fol-lowing the national guide-lines and protocols on thesubject issued by the govern-ment of India from time to

time," it said.The home ministry said

certain inmates in a prisonwere tested COVID-19 posi-tive.

In view of this, it is con-sidered expedient to issuethese guidelines to reiterate theprecautions and measures tobe taken, the ministry said.

In a separate development,the ministry has sought areport from the CRPF on whythere has been an upward spi-ral in the number of Covid-19cases.

The BSF has also reported42 Covid positive cases till sofar.

In 31 Battalion located ata camp here, as many as 140persons have been tested pos-itive for the disease even as testreports of others are awaited.

Another company wasquarantined on Saturday fol-lowing detection of a coronavirus positive case. On Sunday,the CRPF headquarters wassealed after detection of aCovid-19 positive case and all40 personnel traced to havebeen in contact with theinfected official have beenquarantined.

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Chief Justice of India S ABobde has directed that

Supreme Court officers inthe ranks of deputy registrarand above or their equivalentin the registry shall attendoffice from May 4.

The apex court hasrestricted its functioning sinceMarch 23, days before thenationwide lockdown startedfrom March 25, and ispresently hearing urgent mat-ters through video-confer-encing.

An office order, issued onSunday by the top court'ssecretary general Sanjeev SKalgaonkar, said that remain-ing staff members shall con-tinue to work from home asper terms and conditions asnotified earlier.

"In partial modification oforders referred above, theChief Justice of India hasbeen pleased to direct that allthe officers in the ranks ofdeputy registrar and above, or

their equivalent, in the registry shall attend officewith effect from Monday,May 4, 2020," it said.

"The remaining staff shallcontinue to work from homeon such terms and conditionsas notified earlier, by theorders under reference, how-ever, concerned registrar(s)may direct any other subor-dinate officer/staff to attendoffice to meet any urgentrequirement(s) and, on suchdirection, such officer and/orstaff shall report for duty atoffice on the date and time sodirected," it said.

The office order said allofficers and staff, while com-muting to and from office andalso while at work, shall strict-ly follow all precautions as peradvisor y and guidelinesissued by the Governmentand the apex court registryfrom time to time towardspreventing the spread ofCOVID-19, like practisingsocial distancing and wearingface masks.

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While the Centre and StateGovernments in the country

are burning mid-night oil devising astrategy to deal with the post-coro-navirus phase, a senior CPI(M)leader in Kerala has been caught upin a Catch -22 situation at the resi-dence of his secret lover at Kollam.The district administration has putthe prince of romance under quar-antine in a Government hospital.

It turned out to be a May Daywith a difference for GMuraleedharan, a criminal lawyer byprofession who is also the secretaryof the Trivandrum Bar Association.He had an illicit affair with a mar-ried woman in Kollam, the adjoiningdistrict.

When her husband left forAlappuzha to attend the last rites ofa close relation, the lady invited thelawyer lover for a rendezvous at herown residence. The CPI(M) leadertold his wife at Thiruvananthapuramthat he has to meet a client at Kollamto be briefed about an upcominghearing and would be back only thenext day.

His escapades to the neighbour-ing district continued for a couple ofdays and this was observed by thelocal residents. Unknown to thelawyer was that fact thatChathannoor, the area where his loverhad her residence, has been declared

as a containment zone and strict lock-down rules were in force.

The local population who tooknote of the arrival and departure ofthe stranger struck on May Day byinforming the Kollam district col-lector about the goings on. TheCollector in turn alerted the coron-avirus monitoring team about theinter-district visitor who was floutingthe laws openly. On the occasion ofhis fourth visit, the lawyer was takeninto custody by a team of officialsdrawn out from the departments ofpolice, revenue , health and localadministration.

The arguments by the lawyer thathe had come as part of his professionfell flat as the relations of the womancertified that there were no legalissues associated with the family.

The district administration wasnot willing to take any chances andthe modern day Perry Mason wasquarantined for 14 days in the KollamDistrict Hospital where he is busypreparing a brief to present before the“Court of Justice” where he has toappear first after releasing from theconfinement, his own house.

One is reminded of the catch-word that coronavirus is not just a dryand humid season but has lightermoments too. May be a movie byname Pathi,Pathni and Pandemiccould be made featuring theescapades of the modern dayCasanova.

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With 35 fresh cases of coronavirus,the Union Territory of Jammu &

Kashmir Sunday crossed the 700 bar-rier. On the other hand, theGovernment on Sunday listed all 10 dis-tricts of Kashmir valley as red districtsalong with three districts of Jammu,Samba and Kathua from Jammu divi-sion.

Four districts of Reasi, Udhampur,Ramban and Rajouri were categorisedas Orange districts and only three dis-tricts of Doda, Kishtwar and Poonchwere categorised as Green districts.

Meanwhile, the testing capacity inJammu and Kashmir has been furtherincreased up to 2500 tests per day.

According to the media bulletin, 35new positive cases of novel Coronavirus(Covid-19), 01 from Jammu divisionand 34 from Kashmir division, havebeen reported on sunday thus takingthe total number of positive cases inJammu & Kashmir to 701.

According to the bulletin, out of 701positive cases, 406 are Active Positive,287 have recovered and 08 have died.

Moreover, 33 more Covid-19patients have recovered and dischargedfrom various hospitals- 02 from Jammu

Division and 31 from Kashmir Division.Earlier, in the day Indian Armed

Forces organised multiple events toshow solidarity and gratitude to theseCorona Warriors across J&K.

Indian Army organised events inKashmir valley, in Rajouri, Akhnoor,Jammu, Samba, Kathua and felicitatedall agencies involved in the fight againstCovid-19 by organizing Military PipeBand Displays as a token of apprecia-tion and goodwill gesture at manyplaces. In Jammu Tiger Divisionorganised events at: Govt MedicalCollege Jammu, J&K Police linesGandhi Nagar, Govt Hospital Gandhi

Nagar, Police Station, Bari Brahmana,Employees State Insurance CorporationHospital, Bari Brahmana. Banners withencouraging slogans were displayed andsenior army officials greeted and inter-acted with counterparts from otheragencies. Miran Sahib Brigade also pre-sented Hand sanitizers manufactured byBrigade EME workshop and Greetingcards from children to the CoronaWarriors in Govt Medical CollegeJammu. In Rajouri, Corona Warriorswere honoured by Ace of SpadesDivision at District Police Lines, CivilHospital, Government College andArmy Hospital.

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It turned out to be a BlackSunday for Chennai as the

number of persons tested pos-itive for coronavirus in themetropolis increased by 203 ina single day, according to themedical bulletin released bythe Government of Tamil Nadu.

The total number of per-sons tested positive for thepandemic in the State crossedthe 3,000 mark by Sundayevening and reached 3,023 by7.15 pm. The day saw 266 per-sons testing positive for coron-avirus all over the State.

This is the highest numberof persons testing positive in theState in a single day whichprompted medical expert likeDr Ranjith Vijayahari to desig-nate Chennai as a “very veryhotspot” and termed the situa-tion highly critical. With 203persons testing positive on asingle day, Chennai city alonehas 1,458 active covid-19patients. One more person suc-cumbed to the pandemic onSunday making the total num-ber of deaths to 30.

What is causing concern isChennai emerging as TamilNadu’s epicenter of coronaviruseven as the State Government

has decided to relax the regu-lations and make things easy forindustries and business estab-lishments to function fromMay 4. “The only option beforethe Tamil Nadu administrationis to identify, isolate and quar-antine the persons testing pos-itive. The State has to ramp upthe testing. The contacts of allthe 203 persons tested positivehave to be identified and test-ed and if need arises, they haveto be isolated,” said DrVijayahari who prefers a totalclose down of the hotspotswith stringent regulations.

Earlier in the day, theGreater Corporation ofChennai passed a legislationtaking over all marriage hallsand halls in the city to accom-modate the coronavirus patientswhose numbers are rising bythe day. The perception of thegeneral public towards the

norms declared by theGovernment need to bechanged, according to DrRajesh Kesavan, a medical doc-tor.

“The fact that we haveseized more than 3 lakh vehi-cles for violation of the pro-hibitory orders and collectedmore than �3.5 crore as fineshows that there is no let up inthe attitude of the city residents.Now we have to see whatimpact the new order enactedby the Tamil Nadu Governmentto arrest and imprison personsloitering around would make,”said a police officer in Chennai.

The lack of coordinationbetween the State and CentralGovernments with regard to theavailability of quarantine facil-ities came out on Sunday. TheSouthern Division of theRailways had worked overtimeand converted 575 rail bogiesinto temporary hospital facili-ties. “Each compartment/bogiecould accommodate eight per-sons and if the need shoots up,we can put 16 persons in a sin-gle coach. But the request hasto come from the StateGovernment. We are ready witha buffer arrangement,” a seniorRailway Official told ThePioneer.

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For the entire medical fra-ternity in Tamil Nadu and

Kerala, Sunday, May 3, 2020would remain as a day to beremembered throughouttheir life.

The helicopters of IndianAir Force showered petals onCovid warriors, the doctors,nurses, para medical staff andall healthcare workers engagedin fighting the spread of thepandemic.

In Chennai IAF heli-copters flew over the RajivGandhi Government GeneralHospital and the Tamil NaduGovernment Multi SuperSpecialty Hospital and show-ered flowers over the hospitalstaff waiting outside.

Many of the doctors and

nurses could be seen showingthe victory sign with theirfingers as a mark of apprecia-tion to the country’s Forcesand the respect they showedon the hospital staff.At Thiruvananthapuram,Brigadier Seshadri, head of theArmy Unit accompanied byofficers and soldiers drovedown to the Police HeadQuarters and expressed theirgratitude to the members ofthe Kerala Police who havebeen working round-the-clockas the frontline guards to fightcoronavirus.

The Government GeneralHospital at Ernakulam wit-nessed some emotional scenesas the doctors and nursing stafffrom Sanjeevani, the Navy’shospital at the Head Quartersof the Southern Navy

Command called on theircounterparts to hand over a‘big thank you’ message.

These doctors, nurses andpara medical staff deserve allour respects and love becauseof the kind of job which theyare doing since the outbreak ofthis pandemic. This is an extraordinary situation and that’s

why we are here to give themall moral support,” said thecommanding officer ofSanjeevani, the naval hospital.

The doctors and nurseslooked excited and happy astheir cavalcade of the IndianNavy came calling. “I havebeen working as a nurse for 29years and this is the first of its

kind recognition and acknowl-edgement I am getting. Thiswill rekindle and rejuvenateour energy,” said a nurse in theGovernment general Hospital.

But there were dissidentvoices too. Dr Rajesh Kesavan,adjunct professor, SRMInstitute of Technology andScience said there was no needof such a grand show just toexpress gratitude.

“The medical fraternityneeds dignity and freedom towork. The smile of the patientswho get discharged from thehospital after they are curedare our trophies,” said DrKesavan.

Some of the medical staffwho stood outside the hospi-tal building in the scorchingsun of May were heard com-plaining that not even a singlepetal fell on them.

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In what was dismissed as anorchestrated show of soli-

darity for the same policeforce which the locals attackeda few days ago for imple-menting lockdown atTikiapara in Howrah, hun-dreds of locals on Sundaytook out a long processionexhibiting contrition for manyof them did last Tuesdaywhen men in uniform tried tomake them follow the lock-down rules.

A large number of civilsociety members andOpposition leaders immedi-ately dismissed the “suicidal”rally as a Trinamool Congress’damage-control exercise andquestioned the organizers’level of awareness in takingout the Sunday’s “apology-cum-solidarity” march.

“It is like adding salt to thewound. Tuesday’s incidentwas a spontaneous local out-burst by a particular sectionof electorate that usuallyserves as the vote bank of theTMC… but what happenedtoday was irresponsible andsuicidal,” BJP’s Sayantan Basusaid asking why the localadministration gave the per-mission to the organisers toarrange such a huge gather-ing.

“The rally itself shows

how irresponsible the politi-cal leaders who organized itare. It was no method ofshowing solidarity. I will notonly hold the police admin-istration responsible but alsothe police ministry whichworks under Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee for thisreckless act. And if someonesays that the Governmenthad no information of thisrally I will not subscribe that,”CPI(M)’s Sujan Chakrabartysaid.

Half-a-dozen men inkhaki were injured and at leasttwo police vehicle were van-dalized when locals attackeda police party that tried topush the people indoors whilethey were breaking lockdownnorms and crowding a smalllane at Tikiapara which hasbeen identified as a contain-ment zone. Incidentally, theattack on police men contin-ued even on Saturday eveningwhen several men in uniformwere beaten up and theirvehicles were damaged atSiuri in Birbhum district,sources said.

Meanwhile, amid theongoing ‘ration unrest’ under-scoring an inefficient publicdistribution system that hasallegedly deprived hundredsof villagers of their weeklyallotment of free rice theState administration has can-celled the licenses of 42 ration

dealers, Bengal Governmentsources said adding another32 erring dealers have beenar-rested too.

Earlier, State FoodMinister claimed that about 7crore people of the State hadbeen provided with free rationin the month of April blam-ing the Centre however thatfor supplying lesser amount ofpulses. He said while theState required more than43,000 metric tons of pulsesthe Centre had sent only lit-tle more than 4,000 MTs.

There was more violencein Bengal with agitated vil-lagers attacking and vandal-izing ration shops this time atNandigram following com-plaints that the dealers werenot supplying adequateamount of ration to them.Hundreds of villagers raidedthe house of the dealer atNandigram and burnt hisvehicle, sources said. Similarunrests were earlier witnessedat North 24 Parganas, Salar inMurshidabad district wherethe locals torched a rationshop.

Violence was also wit-nesses at Bhangar in South 24Parganas where hundreds ofration cards were recoveredfrom the house of an allegedTMC leader.

The ruling party howev-er has dismissed any connec-tion with the said person.

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Aday after Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee

wrote a 13-page letter to GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar faulting himonce again for humiliating heroffice it was the turn TrinamoolCongress MP and the ChiefMinister’s nephew AbhishekBanerjee to fire salvos at theCentral Government for wastingpublic money to beautify Luttyen’sDelhi.

Junior Banerjee said that theCentre was spending �20,000crore to beautify Parliament andthe surrounding areas adding theamount could be spent to providetwo meals to 1.85 crore people forsix months during the hard coro-na times.

Writing a lengthy letter to theGovernor the Chief Minister hadon Saturday asked him to eitherstop attacking her or step downfrom his office and assumecharges as the Chief Minister ofthe State.

Referring to supremacy ofthe legislature she wrote that “theparamountcy of the StateLegislature (as, indeed, ofParliament) is subject only to theConstitution, judicial review andthe basic structure doctrine andcertainly not even remotely to theoffice of Governor….”

Quoting from the SarkariaCommission reports and aSupreme Court judgment shewrote, “In a nutshell, Respected

Governor, the crux of the matter, which is being missed byyou, is that if you a) do not agreewith me or my Government, b)find that the state is not being runas you like it, c)find wrong decisions, wrong appointments,wrong policies, wrong everything;You may (politely) bring yourgrievance to my attention (notwrite to Ministers, departments,officers or go to Press or public)and, if it is still not resolved toyour satisfaction, there is, unfor-tunately no other power in you, solong as my government com-mands the confidence of the leg-islature.”

Senior TMC leader ParthaChatterjee also said thatDhankhar had disrespected hisconstitutional post as theGovernor of West Bengal. “He isopposing the State government'smoves like a political figure usingthe media. He is giving out all hisletters sent to the chief minister'soffice in the public domain. Thisis unwarranted and unfortunate,” the senior Ministersaid.

Soon after receiving the letterthe Governor hit back saying: “Atthe outset in this critical time Iurge her to focus on grim situa-tion and work in togethernesstowards alleviating untold publicmiseries. While I find no sub-stance in her version, both in factand law, I appreciate her stance forfull cooperation with stateGovernment.”

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Amid the extended lock-down, alcohol consumers

living in the red zones ofMumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR) and the areas underthe Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwadand Malegaon MunicipalCorporations had something tocheer on Sunday, as theMaharashtra Governmentordered the re-opening ofliquor shops in all areas except-ing in containment zones fromMonday onwards, with "certainconditions".

A day after it notified theextended lockdown guidelines,the State Governmentannounced certain relaxations,under which it allowed re-opening of any number ofstand-alone shops vendingessential commodities and fivenon-essential shops, includingone liquor shop, on a particu-lar road/lane, from Mondayonwards.

“There is no restriction onthe number essential shops. Inthe case of non-essential shops,only five can remain open inone lane. Among the five non-essential shops, there can beone liquor shop,” a senior gov-ernment official said.

In its notification amend-ing its earlier notification, theState Government said: “A;;malls, market complexes andmarkets shall remain closed inurban areas. However, shops

selling essential goods in mar-kets and market complexes arepermitted”

“All stand-alone (single)shops, neighbourhood (colony)shops and shops in residentialcomplexes, without any dis-tinction of essential and non-essential, are permitted toremain open in urban areasexcluding containment zones.However, in areas under theMumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR), Pune MunicipalCorporation (PMC), Pimpri-Chinchwad MunicipalCorporation (PCMC) andMalegaon MunicipalCorporation (MMC), if thereare more than five shops in alane/road then besides all shopsselling essential goods, up to amaximum of 5 shops sellingnon-essential goods in thatlane/road will be permitted toremain open,” the amendednotification read.

“All shops in rural areas,except in malls, are permittedto remain open, without anydistinction of essential andnon-essentials. Social distanc-ing will be maintained in allcases,” the notification added.

The MMR, where relax-ations have been announced,comprises Mumbai, satellitetowns like Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Navi Mumbai,Panvel, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayandar and Ulhasnagar.

The State Government has

permitted supply of goods, allessential supplies shops andmovement for medical emer-gencies have been permitted inall – Red, Orange, GreenZones, besides containmentareas and also within civicbodies.

The Government has alsopermitted opening of medicalclinics, out-patient-depart-ments, posts and couriers,banking and finance, agricul-tural activities, e-commerceessential goods, urban indus-tries, industries with accesscontrols.

The State Government haspermitted cars on a driver-plustwo passengers basis in allthree zones, including redZones, while it has allowed ply-ing of two-wheelers without apillion rider Taxis and aggre-gators have been barred.

In Red Zones, onlyGovernment offices shall con-tinue to work with 5 percentstaff as in the past two lock-down periods even in lock-down 3.0.

However, relief has beengranted for government andprivate offices in Green andOrange Zones which can startwork with 33 percent staff.

Industrial activities con-tinue to be banned in the RedZones comprising MMR, PMRand MMC, though private con-struction sites having in-situlabour can resume activities inthis zone.

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Dubbing the Centre’s deci-sion to establish the

International Financial ServicesCentre (IFSC) Authority inPrime Minister NarendraModi’s home State of Gujaratinstead of Mumbai as “egre-gious, erroneous and unwar-ranted”, NCP President SharadPawar said that the move wouldnot only cause financial dam-age to the country but will alsobring “international discredit”to it by undermining theimportance of Mumbai.

Indirectly accusing Modiwho hails from Gujarat ofindulging in “State politics”,Pawar said in his letter: “DearPrime Minister you have madeyour mark on the world forumwith your vision, wisdom, clair-voyance and political acumen.I expect you to take a rational,judicious decision keeping asidethe state politics and considerit as an issue of utmost nation-al importance... I hope my let-ter will be taken in a right spir-it. And a true statesmanship isexhibited, considering to estab-lish IFSC in a Financial Capitalof India i.e. Mumbai."

Pawar’s letter to the PrimeMinister came on the heels ofthe leaders of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress Maha VikasAghadi in Maharashtra slam-ming the Narendra Modi gov-ernment’s notification on April27 declaring Gandhinagar in

Gujarat as the headquarters ofthe IFSC Authority, at theGujarat International Financial-Tech (GIFT) City. The MVAleaders disapproved the move,by saying that the PrimeMinister should not only thinkof his home state, but nation asa whole.

In a letter written to thePrime Minister on Satuday –copy of which was releasedSunday, Pawar said: “SinceIFSC is a unified agency to reg-ulate all financial service cen-tres in the country and Mumbaibeing the country’s economic,financial and commercial cap-ital is the best choice and placeto relocate IFSC. I thereforeurge you to reconsider thedecision to shift the FISC inGujarat and shift it in Mumbaion merit basis”.

Citing the data publishedby the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on April 23, 2020 to con-firm the Government’s earlierdecision to set up the IFSC inMumbai, Pawar stated: “TheIndian banking sector hasdeposits to the tune of145,00,000 crore. The share ofMaharashtra alone in thedeposits is 22.8 percent, fol-lowed by Delhi (10 percent),Uttar Pradesh (7.8 percent),Karnataka (7.2 percent) andGujarat (5.4 percent)”

“As per the reserve require-ment, every bank has to main-tain SLR at the rate of 18 per-cent of its deposits in the form

of government-securities (G-Sec). Though this G-Sec, theCentral Government receivesfunds to the tune ofRs.26,00,000 crore. Out of suchfunds, Rs 5,95,000 crore isreceived from the state ofMaharashtra alone as againstGujarat’s contribution of Rs1,40,000 crore,” the NCP chiefsaid.

“In spite of Maharashtra’simmense contribution to G-Sec, the decision of establishingthe IFSC (Authority) in Gujaratis egregious, erroneous andunwarranted. It will be per-ceived as a move to shift finan-cial institutions and businesshouses away from Maharashtraand will create unnecessarypolitical disturbances. It will notonly cause financial damage tothe country but also bringinternational discredit to it byundermining the importance ofMumbai,” the NCP chief wrote.

“Mumbai is already recog-nized as the world’s Top 10 cen-tres of commerce in terms ofglobal financial flow generating6.16 percent of India’s GDP andaccounting for 25 percent ofindustrial output and 70 per-cent of capital transactions toIndian economy. The cityalready houses important finan-cial institutions and corporateheadquarters of numerouscompanies and its businessopportunities attract manyMNCs from all over the world,”Pawar said.

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Spotlight once again turned ontoMumbai’s Dharavi slum on Sunday, as

two more persons succumbed to Covid-19 and Asia’s largest slum recordedhighest-ever day’s tally of 94 infectedcases, taking the total number of positivecases to 590.

With two fresh deaths, the total num-ber of deaths in this densely populatedslum has risen to 20.

A day after it had witnessed 89 –which thereto the biggest-ever surge inCoronavirus infections in a single day,Dharavi witnessed an alarming 94 newinfected cases on Sunday.

That the pandemic has spread allover Dharavi could be evidenced fromthe fact fresh cases are being reportedfrom majority of the areas of this slum.

On Sunday, as many as 11 new caseswere reported from Matunga Labourcolony, while there were 10 new cases inValmiki Nagar.

The following are other areas wherea big surge in infections was witnessed:Indira Nagar (7 cases), Cross Road(seven cases) 60 feet Road ( six cases)and Mukund Nagar (four cases).

There were three children – agedthree, nine and ten years -- among thenewly infected persons. Eighty three oldwoman from Ajmera chawl is the old-est woman is among the persons whotested positive for Coronavirus onSunday.

Sunday was the fourth occasionwhen there have been substantial num-ber of cases. Earlier on April 23, onedeath and 25 cases had been reportedfrom Dharavi in a single day. Later onMay 1, there were 38 new cases.

Spread over 240 hectare area, Dharaviis one of the Covid-19 hotspots inMumbai.

Ever since first few cases ofCoronavirus were reported in the earlyfirst week of April, the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC) is close-ly monitoring the situation in Dharaviwhere the health authorities haveclamped a total lockdown.

Located between Western Railway’sBandra-Matunga and Central Railway’sSion-Matunga stations in north-centralMumbai, Dharavi is home to more than4 lakh people.

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As the “sword arm” of the nation,the armed forces are the ultimatearbiters of national sovereigntyand security. Constitutionalwirings of the country have

mapped out clearly defined roles, restraintsand interplay mechanisms among the vari-ous specialist arms of governance. In pur-suance of the defined realms, recruitment,equipment and training are afforded ontoeach institution to work independently andoccasionally, complement each other, excep-tional exigencies aside. Herein, the principleof requisitioning the armed forces as only the“last resort” is implied when the said exigencyis believed to be beyond the specific capabil-ity or assets of the defined specialist institu-tion and all other alternative civilian and non-military (including those of centrally polic-ing armed forces) assets. Therefore, for allinternal exigencies like riots, mob control andarmed insurgencies among others, variousStates and specialist Central police forces areresponsible.

Similarly, to manage natural disasters likeearthquakes, tsunamis or floods, organisa-tions like the National Disaster ManagementAuthority (NDMA) have a National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF) team of trained13,000 personnel. Even the Government’smedical ecosystem (not private) is said tohave over 35,000 hospitals with well over7,00,000 beds to cumulatively address anymedical exigency, like the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Yet, it is disconcerting to see the fre-quent invocation and requisitioning of thearmed forces towards all sorts of exigencieswith increasing regularity.

At one level, it speaks volumes about thefaith the citizenry affords on the institutionof the armed forces to conduct the tasks withclinical efficiency. On the other hand, itreflects the abysmal and repeated failure ofother arms of governance to cope with theirrespective callings. While handling internalinsurgencies in Kashmir or the North-east-ern States is now almost assumed to be a mil-itary task (when it ought not to be), thethoughtless beseeching of the military intovirtually any civil predicament is unhealthyfor the institution as also for the nation. Afew months back, the lazy clamour, seekingmilitary intervention on the streets of Delhito restore peace amid communal violence wasautomatically triggered, interestingly byboth sides of the conflict. The disciplined,apolitical and agenda-less moorings of thearmed forces beget the much-needed reas-surances of fair play and non-partisan pro-tection.

Involving the armed forces into internalstrife dilutes the fundamental ethos of the mil-itary, which is to protect the nation fromexternal threats and provide support in nat-ural disaster relief. This calls for anunmatched organisation, the ablest body andthe most disciplined personnel — all ofwhom are driven by a sense of national ser-vice beyond their principal mandate. But they

should never be seen taking ontheir own citizens, however mis-guided they may be, as thatwould willy-nilly dilute the per-ception of political agnosticismof the armed forces. Civil strifesare complex with shades of greythat could entail some genuinegrievances and missteps by theGovernment, too. A couple ofyears ago, a “godman” had heldPanchkula hostage with his fol-lowers and the might of the Statepolice had embarrassingly capit-ulated — it took just six columnsof an Army detachment toimmediately restore order. Suchinstances have led to the conve-nient assumption of “callingout” the Army at the drop of ahat, like now in the ongoingCOVID-19 crisis.

This pandemic has led tomultiple civic and control issuesthat are challenging for thepolice. However, to suggest itsintervention is premature andnot in consonance with theprinciple of “last resort.” Neitherare the police understaffed,underequipped or underexposedto deal with such issues vis-à-visthe armed forces, nor should thenation tap into the “last resort”and reservoir of able-bodiedpersonnel safeguarding the sov-ereignty of the country. Already,the military domain has beenroped in to organise quarantineset-ups. That brings the risk ofinfection within its “barracks” —the haunting spectre of two sud-denly impoverished ships of theUS Navy (aircraft carrier USSTheodore Roosevelt and the

destroyer USS Kidd) ought toposit the real risk of the realmonto conventional weaponryand personnel. Around 122jawans at a Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) battalion inDelhi have already tested posi-tive for Coronavirus.

As it is, the working condi-tions of the armed forces neces-sitate certain commune-styleliving and operations. To add theadditional burden of COVID-19imperatives means double taxa-tion. The ongoing challenges ofmanaging insurgency inKashmir (additionally bornedue to “supporting” the policingforces) have not diminished.News columns regularly carrythe casualty toll in the ongoinginsurgency.

The potential (willful)decapitation of the militarywherewithal with Corona risks,without maximising the variousgovernmental or even privatealternatives available, is unfair.With its budgetary allocations,the existing medical ecosystemof the armed forces is alreadywell stretched to attend to nor-mal requirements of the servingand veteran fraternity, for whichit is primarily intended.

In a deeply polarised society,unfortunately, even an unprece-dented tragedy like COVID-19has subliminal political and reli-gious undertones that beset anypotential involvement. Thearmed forces cannot saunterinto the societal minefield ofcommunity management as it isinflicted with perception

“divides” of regional, ethnic andworse, religious denominations.The management of the timesrequires “civic engagement”,which is fundamentally differentfrom the blunt kinetic training ofthe Army. The Army should not“untrain” itself to adjust to thepolicing imperatives as thatdilutes the principal task of a mil-itary soldier.

Last, such requisitioningalso militates in the eyes of theservicemen, who could feel thatthe nation has taken them forgranted, to be used as and where,and then forgotten with mean-ingless platitudes. They areremembered the next time whensome other arm of governancefails. Beyond the condescendinginanities, the armed forces havewitnessed an unprecedenteddilution of budgets, precedenceand work conditions.

The same cannot be saidabout various other governmen-tal institutions to which thearmed forces provide regular“support.” Such trying timesoffer an invaluable opportunityto introspect the strategic pre-paredness, planning rigour andinstitutional efficacy of all gov-ernmental arms. To casuallyrequisition the armed forces is awillful and regrettable shortcut.It endangers the fighting abilityof the sword arm and ensuresthat other institutions anddomains remain perenniallysub-optimal.

(The writer, a military veter-an, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands)

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Sir — The Government’s decisionto extend the lockdown for twomore weeks with limited relax-ations in red, orange and greenzones so as to exit from the shut-down in a staggered mannerwhile also reopening the econo-my is welcome. The businesscommunity, while welcomingthis decision, pointed out that apartial relaxation of the lockdownwon’t be enough to repair thefractured supply chain.

Most activities that call formass gathering remain suspend-ed. Schools, colleges, malls, cin-ema halls and restaurants willremain closed. This sounds strin-gent but the relaxations allowedin green and orange zones offersome relief to businesses keen toget back to work. TheGovernment’s intent behind thismove, which is to resume theeconomy, cannot be doubted.But a Byzantine set of guidelinesis sure to create confusion amongthe people. Who’s going to definewhat’s allowed and what’s not?Further, the rules themselvesvary from place to place.

Mayank KhatriUjjain

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Diluted lockdown till May 17”(May 2). The only ideal way toprevent the spread of Coronavirusnow seems to be physical confine-

ment. This is why the Ministry ofHome Affairs’ decision to extendthe nationwide lockdown for twomore weeks didn’t come as surprise.

It is a fact that despite takingevery possible precautionary

measure, the deadly virus contin-ues to spread among the peoplewith a sheer rapidity. This man-ifests that our battle against thepandemic is going to continue fora longer period of time.

Even now, people are seen

violating the lockdown rules inseveral cities and villages. Onlypatience, unity and belief can actas ammunition in this fierce bat-tle against COVID-19. Losingtemper on “Corona warriors” isnot the solution.

Tushar AnandPatna

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Sir — With lakhs of migrantworkers wanting to travel backhome, in a post-COVID worldwhen economic activity resumes,many States would be staring ata labour crisis. Already, the shockit has dealt to an already vulner-able economy has been immense.Home to about eight lakhmigrants, excluding the IT sector,Bengaluru is heavily dependenton them to keep its economygoing. Not to forget, the countrywas already suffering from aneconomic crisis. A labour marketcrunch can further aggravateproblems and easily turn into anightmare.

MN Qasmi Kolkata

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There is a general understanding that pandem-ic preparedness requires not only the involve-ment of the health sector but the whole soci-

ety. However, until there is scientific intrusion in thedecisions at each level, the preparedness andresponses will be partial. This increases the scien-tific responsibility manifold with a commitment tofast track information and solutions that will ulti-mately influence life sustenance. During an outbreak,there is a moral obligation to learn more, as quick-ly as possible, in order to shape the public healthresponse and for proper scientific evaluation of newinterventions being tested. Such an approachimproves preparedness for future outbreaks.

This requires carefully-designed and ethically-conducted scientific research and release of correctscientific information. Evaluation of diagnosticsthrough rapid methods, probable treatmentsthrough suggested drugs and vaccines require clin-ical trials and regulatory control. Research for sug-gesting preventive measures and social behaviourincluding epidemiological, social science and imple-mentation studies can play a critical role in reduc-ing morbidity and mortality.

The world is looking at national and worldhealth systems for an emergency response to thispandemic and at the same time expecting the sci-entific fraternity to come up with a scientific pre-paredness plan in the form of prevention, manage-ment and treatment. There is no paucity of exper-tise and technology available to carry out crisis-relat-ed research. Using the available infrastructure andmanagement framework, the resources can be rapid-ly mobilised to come up with rapid solutions.

Science for response coordination: Preparingfor and deploying emergency responses will requirecoordination not only of scientific research activi-ties but for associated policy and administrative deci-sions, too. A coordinated scientific response is thekey to collaborate and integrate the efforts to ensurethat other than scientific expertise, a complete spec-trum is covered, including epidemiologists, datamanagers, laboratory technicians, emergency man-agement and risk communications specialists, pub-lic health managers and medico-legal personnel.Active participation and cooperation of represen-tatives of different sections of the community willbe an absolute must for tackling the situation. ThePreliminary Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) ofthe India COVID-19 Emergency Response andHealth Systems Preparedness Project has elaborat-ed the requirement for strengthening pandemicresearch and multi-sector, national institutionsand platforms for “one health.” This is in the formof a separate component of the strategic plan whichseeks to develop core capacity to deliver the “onehealth” approach to monitor, detect and manageinfectious disease outbreaks in animals and inhumans. India is uniquely positioned to play a keyrole in research on viruses, other disease pathogensand vaccines for its own emergency response andfor global public good.

This component will support research onCOVID-19 by Indian institutions working in col-laboration with the Indian Council for MedicalResearch (ICMR). It will support biomedicalresearch to generate evidence to inform the short-term and medium-term response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The component will build capacity forresearch at Central and State levels to position Indiato better respond to pandemics.

Scientific information availability for research:Availability of credible information on a global plat-form is crucial for scientists for their research andto avoid duplicity of efforts. It typically takes time

to organise scientific research effortsand/or access the data generated. Toaddress this, the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) has created a plat-form to integrate the global research infor-mation on COVID-19. This platform pro-vides updates on research activities, inter-national clinical trials registry platform forvaccines and therapeutics and solidarityclinical trials.

The platform also provides access tothe WHO’s COVID-19 database thatprovides global literature on the disease.It is a valuable information resource andis of great importance to the global scien-tific fraternity conducting research on thevirus. The National Institute of Health(NIH), Office of Data Science and Strategy,too, is hosting a platform to provide openaccess data and computational resourcesto address the health emergency. It is animportant resource to access informationon genomics, clinical studies, digitalimages, expression counts, bioactivitydata, case studies, visualisation tools, epi-demiology, community participation andparticipant-level clinical data. Severalcountries, including India, are providingsuch platforms to their scientists. Thereis an effort to find cohesive groups inter-nationally so that such collaborativegroups can come up with quick alterna-tives to the global pandemic.

Scientific solutions through samples:The COVID-19 represents a great chal-lenge for our healthcare systems. The sit-uation and the working conditions are dif-ficult in many places and direct patientcare has the highest priority. The next chal-lenge, however, is to support those whoare finding a cure for it. Biobanks are cru-cial in the run towards a vaccine and/ortreatment. Biobanks can provide key ser-vices to researchers, such as efficient andhigh-quality storage of samples in clini-cal and research settings, samples fromhealthy individuals and standards for tar-getted identification, collection and con-servation of important samples.

Biospecimens offer researchers oppor-tunities to understand the pathogen bet-

ter and develop diagnostic, therapeutic,and preventive measures, that may miti-gate the damage by similar outbreaks inthe future. At the same time, long-termstorage of biospecimens involves poten-tial risks to individuals and communities.These risks can be managed throughadherence to guidelines relevant to thelong-term storage of biological specimenscollected during infectious disease out-breaks. Only biobanks and researcherswith the appropriate equipment, trainingand facilities can collect, share and han-dle samples from COVID-19 affectedpatients. India has set up a number ofbiobanks but all positive samples arerequired to be transported to ICMR-NIV,Pune for the purpose of maintaining a bio-repository for health research purposes.

Scientific efforts that will shape thefuture: The WHO has pooled in resourcesand scientists from across the world in itssearch for a potential vaccine and sever-al scientific endeavours all across the globeare shaping social, economic and politi-cal decisions on managing the disease andbehavioural patterns. India is also playinga big role in association with WHO andindependently for tackling the disease bur-den and its spread. In addition, thousandsof researchers around the world are offer-ing their expertise, time and help throughinternational platforms such as CrowdfightCOVID-19 to fight against the contagion.Scientists are connecting through socialmedia apps such as Twitter, Facebook, andLinkedIn to provide their services volun-tarily.

With no vaccine in sight for at leastthe next 12-18 months, it seems the fightfor rescuing humanity from this deadlyvirus has only just begun. With no realglobal consensus on the response mech-anism, each nation is finding its own wayto protect its citizens.

While India’s “containment/lock-down” approach to fighting the pandem-ic is happening on one side, the slowdownin trade between India and the world iscounter-productive. This disruption intrade is hitting the supply chains of many

essential commodities needed for the fight.This includes COVID-19 testing kits,masks, alcohol-based sanitisers, person-al protective equipment (PPEs), dressmaterials for frontline health workers, ven-tilators and so on. All efforts at global andlocal levels are being made to hasten theavailability of the essentials so that human-ity does not suffer.

India has set up a ‘COVID-19 TaskForce’ for mapping virus-related technol-ogy capabilities in start-ups, academia,research and development labs and indus-try. The capacity-mapping group consistsof representatives from the Departmentof Science and Technology (DST),Department of Biotechnology (DBT),ICMR, Ministry of Electronics andInformation Technology (MEIT), Councilfor Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR), Atal Innovation Mission (AIM),Ministry of Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MMSME), Startup Indiaand All India Council for TechnicalEducation (AICTE). This task force hasidentified over 500 entities in the areas ofdiagnostics, drugs, ventilators, protectiongear, disinfecting systems and so on. Thesolutions identified include masks andother protective gear, sanitisers, affordablekits for screening, ventilators and oxygena-tors, data analytics for tracking, monitor-ing and controlling the spread of outbreakthrough Artificial Intelligence and Internetof Things-based solutions, to name a few.

Many research groups are focussingon basic science and other social aspectsof this pandemic like virus morphogen-esis and development, sequencing oflocal strain, virus-host interaction, genet-ic variants linked with virulence, evolu-tion and transmission pattern, pathogen-esis studies and collection of epidemiolog-ical data. These studies are necessary fordevelopment of vaccines and therapeuticdrugs against COVID-19. In the end thescientific community has a responsibili-ty to find a solution to this pandemic soon.

(Bhaskar is Registrar, Regional Centerfor Biotechnology, Faridabad and Suri iswith the IIM, Jammu)

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The most repeated cliche inadvertising and marketingcircles is the word “disrup-

tion.” It implies breaking away fromthe norm and using jarring ways toattract the attention of potential con-sumers towards a product or a ser-vice. But as with most post-mod-ernist ideas this, too, became anautomated norm that lost its mean-ing beyond being just an excitingword to throw around. Nevertheless,American author David Von Drehleexplains this idea of disruption asbeing part and parcel of a mindset

that eventually aided the rise of neo-populism.

He sees “disruption” as a glori-fied recklessness which may exciteand even enrich hip, young entre-preneurs, but isolates those whoselivelihoods are still dependent onwhat is wrecked in the name of suchdisruption. Drehle equates this withthe nature of populism ruling var-ious countries, especially the US,India, Brazil, Hungary, Italy, the UK,the Philippines, Venezuela, Pakistan,and do on.

Populism gains currency intimes of major economic and socialchanges. Such changes can triggeran optimistic outlook, as they didwith the rise of science and brandnew economic and political ideas,which aided the growth and influ-ence of the middle classes from the18th century onwards. But thesechanges also leave behind a trail offailures which can dramaticallytransform an optimistic outlook

into a more paranoid one. This is the scenario in which

populism thrives. When thesechanges grow roots, they establishtheir own elite. And it is this elitethat are targetted by populists. In hisbook The Populism Explosion, JohnJudis writes that things remain incheck as long as the elected andunelected political elite work todeliver sustained prosperity to themasses and steadily improve thenation’s living standards. But if thisprocess is dented by an economicdownturn, things can get ugly.

Political analyst Patrick Liddiardwrites that populism emerges whenpolitical and economic elite leave outvast sections of the polity from thedecision-making process. The reac-tion to this gets compounded dur-ing an economic crisis. He adds that,whereas the entry of new players ina democratic process should bodewell for a democracy, it in fact endsup shattering it when this process is

initiated and enforced by populists. According to Drehle, in times of

disruptive changes that have com-plex and overlapping reasons, pop-ulists tend to boil it down to just oneor two explanations. For example,during the early decades of the 20thcentury, when revolutions wereerupting, wars were being wagedamong dying monarchies, newpolitical ideas were being shapedand Western societies were rapidlyshifting from rural to urban, “thetypical populist boiled it down to aproblem of corrupt railroad baronsand Jews.”

Drehle adds that it was thewidespread impact of World War-II which suddenly eroded pop-ulism’s appeal. This, followed bycompetent leadership, broke theback of early 20th-century pop-ulism. Many political analysts arepredicting that the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic is likely toplay a similar role in eroding the

appeal of neo-populism. DanielLinsker writes, “Populist govern-ments, reliant on their need toconstantly convey positive messag-ing that bolsters their support, havestruggled to take the decisive, for-ward-looking action that theCOVID-19 crisis demands.”

Linsker adds, “More than ever,populist leaders now face a credibil-ity problem. Obsession with thespread of the virus is leading thepublic to seek answers from expertsand specialists, and self-isolationprovides people with more time tolook for information.” This is exact-ly the opposite of what populismseeks from the polity.

The glorified disruption ped-dled as something revolutionary andanti-elite is likely to devour the dis-rupters themselves, as the pandem-ic wrecks economies and lives. Yet,true to form, some populists are try-ing to win back the initiative by cre-ating a scapegoat.

Perpetrators have simplyrevived the tactics of a time whenthe US spent billions of dollars toportray China as an evil entity outto destroy humanity.

Failing to stop the communistsfrom taking over China in 1949 —and after fighting a gruesome warwith the Chinese army in Korea —a book appeared in 1951 by EdwardHunter, Brainwashing in Red China:The Calculated Destruction of Men’sMind. It quickly became a bestseller.So much so that Hunter soon pro-duced a sequel. In the book, Hunterclaimed that the Chinese had invent-ed an elusive brainwashing tech-nique to create a slave race.

Hunter was neither a psychol-ogist nor a psychiatrist. But he stillmanaged to impress the USGovernment. Hunter’s tomesinspired the US Government tospend billions of dollars to under-stand this brainwashing technique.The US Government also brought

in a host of psychologists to studythe files of American POWs inChina. All this amounted to noth-ing in the end.

There is no doubt that the cur-rent authoritarian Chinese set-upbungled the handling of the out-break of COVID-19 in China in itsdelay to report it. If it had warnedthe world and not tried to hide theoutbreak, the world would not havebeen in the mess it is now. But topopulist leaders around the world,this mistake can be transformed intosomething a lot more insidious,especially during times of theirfailing.

For pro-China populist regimes,however, such as the one rulingPakistan, the guns have been turnedtowards a provincial Government(in Sindh) that is not headed by theruling party. Thus far, the SindhGovernment seems to be substitut-ing for China as a scapegoat.

(Courtesy: Dawn)

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Washington: The streamingvideo began and, within min-utes, the president’s eldest sonwas musing that Osama binLaden had endorsed JoeBiden.

Subtle, it was not.Welcome to the Trump cam-paign, digital edition.

Seven nights a week,President Donald Trump’sreelection team is airing liveprogramming online toreplace his trademark ralliesmade impossible for now bythe coronavirus pandemic.

Hosted by top campaignofficials, prominent Republicansand “Make America GreatAgain” luminaries, the free-wheeling shows offer realityaccording to Trump.

The shows are an effort tostay connected with core sup-porters and maintain enthusi-asm for a suspended campaignthat has had to rewire itself onthe fly. Trump himself has notyet appeared in his campaign’sshows.

A review of one week’sworth of the 8 pm broadcasts,ending on the final day ofApril, reveals a concertedeffort to test attacks on Biden,

the presumptive Democraticnominee.

But the inherently limitedeffort also raises questions asto whether the campaign canreplace the gold mines ofpotentially new voter data thatthe rallies delivered as itattempts to reverse a recentslide in a number of battle-ground states.

The shows are a proxy forthe “Trump TV” network thepresident considered launch-ing had he lost the 2016 elec-tion, and they create an echochamber for true believers.

Akin to actors in a belovedsitcom well into its run, theTrump officials warmly speakin shorthand, trusting thattheir audience knows the plotand its characters and are tun-ing in to see programs that, attimes, made the president’sinfamously off-the-cuff ral-lies look tightly scripted.

“Joe Biden had the covet-ed Osama bin Laden endorse-ment! That’s sort of a big deal!”exclaimed Donald Trump Jr onApril 24, hosting that night’sbroadcast deemed “Triggered”after his new book. AP

Rome:From the United States toEurope to Asia, the easing ofsome coronavirus lockdownsbrought millions out of theirhomes to enjoy the outdoorsand warm spring temperatures.

Yet the global pandemic isstill slicing through the defens-es of other nations, causinginfections and deaths to marchrelentlessly higher.

India on Sunday reportedmore than 2,600 infections, itsbiggest single-day jump, andnew coronavirus cases in Russiaexceed 10,000 for the first time.

The confirmed virus deathtoll in Britain was creeping upnear that of Italy, the epicentreof Europe’s outbreak, eventhough the UK population isyounger than Italy’s and Britainhad more time than Italy to pre-pare before the pandemic hit.

There was also worryingnews from Afghanistan, wherenearly a third tested positive ina random test of 500 people inKabul, the capital city.

China, which reported twoonly new cases, is seeing asurge in visitors to newlyreopened tourist spots afterdomestic travel restrictions wererelaxed ahead of a five-day hol-iday that runs through Tuesday.

Nearly 1.7 million peoplevisited Beijing parks on thefirst two days of the holiday, andShanghai’s main tourist spotswelcomed more than 1 millionvisitors, according to Chinesemedia. Many spots limited dailyvisitors to 30 per cent of capac-ity or less to keep some socialdistancing in place.

Italians are counting downthe hours until Monday, whenparks and public gardens werere-opening nationwide forstrolling, jogging or bike riding.But with sunshine and warmtemperatures across the coun-try, many were outside in forceon Sunday, walking downstreets and chatting on side-walks. Many had masks, but inRome, some lowered them totalk with friends or neighbours.

Despite the easing, Italianswill still have to stay a metreapart, picnics are not allowedand playgrounds will remainclosed. Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte has warned ifthe rate of contagion starts ris-ing again, such freedoms will becurtailed.

In Spain, many venturedout this weekend for the firsttime since its lockdown beganon March 14. AP

Seoul (South Korea): NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Undid not undergo surgery or anyother medical procedure, aSouth Korean official saidSunday, amid speculationabout his health that continuesto linger even after he reap-peared publicly in recent days.

North Korea had saidSaturday that Kim attended thecompletion of a fertilizer fac-tory near Pyongyang onFriday, in his first publicappearance in about 20 days.

While North Korean videoshowing a smiling Kim movingaround, cutting a red ribbonand smoking quelled intenserumours that he might begravely ill or even have died,some media outlets andobservers still raised questionsabout his health, citingmoments when his walkinglooked a bit stiff at the factory.

A senior South Koreanpresidential official toldreporters Sunday that the gov-ernment had determined thatKim did not have surgery orany other procedure, accord-ing to the presidential BlueHouse. AP

London: British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson revealed for thefirst time on Sunday that therewere “contingency plans” inplace in case things went “badlywrong” and he died during histreatment for Covid-19 in ahospital here last month.

The 55-year-old leader,who returned to work at 10Downing Street after his recov-ery last week, told ‘The Sun OnSunday’ that he was given “litresand litres of oxygen” after goinginto intensive care at St Thomas’Hospital on April 7.

“It was a tough oldmoment, I won’t deny it. Theyhad a strategy to deal with a

‘death of Stalin’-type scenario,”he told the newspaper. “I wasnot in particularly brilliantshape and I was aware therewere contingency plans inplace. The doctors had all sortsof arrangements for what to doif things went badly wrong.They gave me a face mask so Igot litres and litres of oxygenand for a long time I had thatand the little nose jobbie,” hesaid as the country reportedover 28,000 deaths due to thecoronavirus outbreak as onSaturday.

The interview comes a dayafter his fiancée CarrieSymonds shared a picture on

Instagram with the couple’snewborn son, who they havenamed Wilfred Lawrie NicholasJohnson — with the nameNicholas chosen in a nod to thetwo doctors who saved theBritish premier’s life.

Johnson admitted that hewas “in denial” about how seri-ous his condition was aftertesting positive for coronavirusand that he really did not wantto go to hospital.

“I said I really didn’t wantto go into hospital. It didn’tseem to me to be a good movebut they were pretty adamant.Looking back, they were rightto force me to go,” he said. PTI

New York: Faced with 19,000coronavirus deaths and count-ing, the nation’s nursing homesare pushing back against apotential flood of lawsuits witha sweeping lobbying effort toget states to grant them emer-gency protection from claimsof inadequate care.

At least 15 States haveenacted laws or governors’orders that explicitly or appar-ently provide nursing homesand long-term care facilitiessome protection from lawsuitsarising from the crisis.

And in the case of NewYork, which leads the nation indeaths in such facilities, a lob-bying group wrote the firstdraft of a measure that appar-ently makes it the only state withspecific protection from both

civil lawsuits and criminal pros-ecution. Now the industry isforging ahead with a campaignto get other states on board witha simple argument: This was anunprecedented crisis and nurs-ing homes should not be liablefor events beyond their control,such as shortages of protectiveequipment and testing, shiftingdirectives from authorities, andsicknesses that have decimatedstaffs.

“As our care providers makethese difficult decisions, theyneed to know they will not beprosecuted or persecuted,” reada letter sent this month from sev-eral major hospital and nursinghome groups to their next biggoal, California, where Gov.Gavin Newsom has yet to makea decision. Other states in their

sights include Florida,Pennsylvania and Missouri.

Watchdogs, patient advo-cates and lawyers argue thatimmunity orders are misguided.

At a time when the crisis islaying bare such chronic indus-try problems as staffing short-ages and poor infection control,they say legal liability is the lastsafety net to keep facilitiesaccountable.

They also contend nursinghomes are taking advantage ofthe crisis to protect their bottomlines. Almost 70% of the nation’smore than 15,000 nursinghomes are run by for-profitcompanies, and hundreds havebeen bought and sold in recentyears by private-equity firms.

“What you’re really lookingat is an industry that always

wanted immunity and nowhas the opportunity to ask forit under the cloak of saying,‘Let’s protect our heroes,’” saidMike Dark, an attorney forCalifornia Advocates forNursing Home Reform.

“This has very little to dowith the hard work being doneby health care providers,” hesaid, “and everything to do withprotecting the financial inter-ests of these big operators.”Nowhere have the industry’sefforts played out more stark-ly than in New York, which hasa fifth of the nation’s knownnursing home and long-termcare deaths and has had at leastseven facilities with outbreaksof 40 deaths or more, includingone home in Manhattan thatreported 98. AP

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White House coronaviruscoordinator Dr Deborah

Birx is calling it “devastating-ly worrisome” to see protestersin Michigan and elsewherenot wear masks or practicesocial distancing as theydemonstrate against stay-at-home orders.

Birx was responding tothe hundreds of protesterswho crowded the Michiganstatehouse last week to push fora reopening of businesses.

She tells “Fox NewsSunday” that people “will feelguilty for the rest of our lives”if they pick up the virusbecause they didn’t take pre-cautions and then unwittinglyspread it to family memberswho are especially vulnerableto severe illness due to preex-isting conditions or older age.

Protests took place in sev-eral states over the weekendamid growing frustration overthe economic impact fromstay at home orders during thecoronavirus outbreak.

Houston: Researchers in theUS’ Texas A&M University areasking hundreds of frontlinemedical workers to participatein a late-stage, phase 4, clinicaltrial of a widely-used tubercu-losis vaccine that could helpboost the immune system andblunt the devastating effects ofCovid-19.

Texas A&M is the first USinstitution in the clinical trial tohave federal clearance for test-ing on humans. Researchershope to demonstrate thatBacillus Calmette-Guerin orBCG mitigates the effects of thenovel coronavirus, allowingfewer people to be hospitalised

or to die from COVID-19.The researchers are seeking

to repurpose the vaccine, whichis also used to treat bladder can-cer. BCG could be widely avail-able for use against COVID-19in just six months because it hasalready been proven safe forother uses, the university said.

“This could make a hugedifference in the next two tothree years while the develop-ment of a specific vaccine isdeveloped for COVID-19,” saidDr Jeffrey D Cirillo, a Regent’sProfessor of MicrobialPathogenesis and Immunologyat the Texas A&M HealthScience Center. AP

Moscow: Russia on Sundayrecorded its highest daily risein confirmed coronavirus caseswith 10,633 new cases, bring-ing the total to 134,687, withmore than half of cases anddeaths in Moscow.

But the mortality rate hasslowed in recent days andremains much lower, in rela-tive terms, than many othercountries.

Russia has said its lowermortality rate was because theRussian outbreak occurred laterthan in many other countrieswhich gave the authoritiesmore time to prepare.

Russia’s nationwide deathcount rose to 1,280 on Sundayafter 58 people died in the last24 hours, Russia’s coronaviruscrisis response centre said on itswebsite.

Russia has been in partiallockdown since the end ofMarch to curb the spread of thevirus. People in Moscow canleave home to visit the nearestfood shop or chemist, walktheir dog or throw out rubbishbut need special passes forother activities.

President Vladimir Putinhas ordered the nationwidelockdown to remain in placeuntil May 11 inclusive, whenRussia finishes celebrating itsLabour Day and World WarTwo Victory Day holidays.

Moscow Mayor SergeiSobyanin urged residents on

Saturday to continue to strict-ly self-isolate over the longholidays.Sobyanin said therehad been progress in expand-ing testing, allowing the author-ities to treat those in needmore quickly.

But he said the number ofcritically ill patients was rising,albeit not as steeply as worst-case scenario projections. Hesaid he thought 2 per cent ofMoscow, with a population of12.7 million, had been infect-ed, a much higher figure thanofficial statistics show.

“It is obvious that the threatis growing,” he said on his web-site. He told Rossiya-1 TV sta-tion that the Moscow authoritiesmight cut the number of digitalpermits issued for travel acrossthe city if the situation worsened.

Prime Minister MikhailMishustin, Russia’s second-most senior official after Putin,told the president on Thursdayhe had tested positive for coro-navirus and was temporarilystepping down to recover.

First Deputy PrimeMinister Andrei Belousov isnow serving as acting primeminister in his absence. OnFriday, another Russian cabinetmember, Construction MinisterVladimir Yakushev, announcedhe had been diagnosed with thevirus and would be treated inhospital. Dmitry Volkov, one ofhis deputies, also tested positive,the ministry said. Agency

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=��2�=��2��B���<:*���������������������������� ��������������������������� ���@���(6C Berlin: An international media

rights group said on Sunday thecoronavirus paxndemic is beingused by governments around theworld to increase restrictions onpress freedoms.

In a report issued to coin-cide with World Press FreedomDay 2020, the InternationalPress Institute concluded that inboth democratic and autocrat-ic states the “public health cri-sis has allowed Governments toexercise control over the mediaon the pretext of preventing thespread of disinformation.”

It said authoritarian gov-ernments have been abusingemergency measures to “furtherstifle independent media andcriminalise journalism,” while in

democracies “efforts to controlthe public narrative and restrictaccess to information around thepandemic are on the rise.”

The Vienna-based organi-zation said it has documented162 press freedom violationsrelated to coronavirus coverageover the past two and a halfmonths, almost a third of whichhave involved the arrest, deten-tion or charging of journalists.

The institute’s report camethree days after the InternationalFederation of Journalists pub-lished a survey that found thatthe working conditions of newsreporters around the globe havedeteriorated during the pan-demic amid job losses andattacks on media freedom. AP

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Thousands of desperatemigrants are trapped

in limbo and even at risk ofdeath without food, water orshelter in scorching desertsand at sea, as Governmentsclose off borders and portsamid the coronavirus pan-demic.

Migrants have beendropped by the truckload inthe Sahara Desert or bused toMexico’s desolate border withGuatemala and beyond. Theyare drifting in theMediterranean Sea afterEuropean and Libyan author-ities declared their portsunsafe. And about 100

Rohingya refugees fromMyanmar are believed to havedied in the Bay of Bengal, ascountry after country pushesthem back out to sea.

Many governments havedeclared emergencies, saying apublic health crisis like thecoronavirus pandemicrequires extraordinary mea-sures. However, these mea-sures are just the latest effortsby governments to clampdown on migrants, despitehuman rights laws.

“They just dumped us,”said Fanny Jacqueline Ortiz, a37-year-old Honduran travel-ling with her two daughters,aged 3 and 12.

Ortiz reached the U.S.,

but American authoritiesexpelled her to Mexico. TheMexican government in turnabandoned the family onMarch 26 at the lonely ElCeibo border crossing withGuatemala. Ortiz and othermigrants on the two-bus con-voy were told to avoid theGuatemalan soldiers guardingthe border, which was closeddue to the pandemic.

“They told us to go aroundthrough the mountains, andwe slept in the woods,” sherecalled.

Over the next few weeks,an activist helped Ortiz andothers in her group of 20 finda ride to the next border, inHonduras.

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Jerusalem: In a rare move, theIsraeli High Court on Sundaybegan hearing petitions againstPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu forming aGovernment while facing crim-inal indictments in a sessionbeing broadcast live given its sig-nificance.

The hearing, held by anexceptionally large panel of 11out of the court’s 15 justices,focuses on the issue of whethera politician can form a govern-ment while under indictment.

Israeli law mandates thatcabinet ministers and mayorsresign if indicted, but does notexplicitly prohibit a politicianfrom becoming a PrimeMinister if backed by the major-ity support in the Knesset (Israeliparliament).

Netanyahu, 70, was indict-ed earlier this year on charges ofaccepting bribes, fraud andbreach of trust. He has deniedany wrongdoing.

His trial was postponed dueto restrictions his hand-pickedinterim justice minister placedon the courts after the coron-avirus crisis erupted and isscheduled to commence later

this month. Israel’s AttorneyGeneral Avichai Mandelblit lastweek said that while Netanyahu’sindictments “raise significantproblems,” there was no legalbasis for barring him from serv-ing while facing criminalcharges. Speaking at the open-ing of the High Court hearingon Sunday, Anar Helman, rep-resenting the Attorney General’sOffice, reiterated the same opin-ion saying that there is no legalobstacle despite “serious crimesof personal integrity”.

“The main considerationthat must be taken into accountis the realization of the voters’will. This is the democratic sys-tem,” Helman said, arguing thatthe law differentiates between aPrime Minister and a Minister,who is not allowed to serveunder indictment, due to the factthat the Prime Minister is elect-ed by the people.

“The fact that a person hasbeen indicted for serious crimesof personal integrity does notprevent the Knesset membersfrom recommending him toassemble the government. TheAttorney General’s Officebelieves that there is no imped-

iment that Knesset MemberNetanyahu will form the nextgovernment,” Helman asserted.

The court will address addi-tional petitions concerningNetanyahu’s power-sharing dealwith his main rival, former mil-itary chief Benny Gantz, onMonday. Netanyahu and Gantzsigned the agreement to anational Government lastmonth after an unprecedentedthird round of polls which againdid not give anybody a clear ver-dict to form the government.

The deal allows Netanyahuto serve the first 18 months asPrime Minister after whichGantz would assume power forthe next 18 months.

Israel could plunge into adeep political chaos if the courtdecides against Netanyahuforming a government underindictment. Protesters oppos-ing Netanyahu’s continued rulehave been taking to the streetsdespite the ongoing lockdowndue to the coronavirus pan-demic. Last week saw counter-protests from Netanyahu sup-porters who demonstratedagainst “court’s interference ina democratic process”. PTI

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Cairo: Egyptian police forceskilled 18 militants in a raid onthe restive northern part of theSinai Peninsula, the InteriorMinistry said on Sunday.

The Ministry said securityforces exchanged fire withIslamic militants as they stormeda hideout in the small Sinai townof Bir al-Abed.

No casualties were reportedamong the police. The ministry,which did not say when the raidtook place, said police foundweapons, three explosive devicesand two explosives belts.

The details could not beindependently corroborated asEgyptian authorities heavilyrestrict access to that part ofSinai.

On Thursday, an explosionhit a military armored convoycausing at least 10 casualtiesamong Egyptian soldiers whowere participating in a campaignagainst an Islamic insurgency inthe volatile region.

The military spokesman,Tamer el-Refai, did not specifythe number of soldiers killed bythe improvised explosive device.

But other officials, speaking oncondition of anonymity, said 10soldiers died, including an offi-cer, and three others sufferedshrapnel wounds.

An affiliate of the IslamicState group based in northernSinai claimed responsibility forThursday’s attack, which tookplace during the Islamic holymonth of Ramadan, after sun-down when the faithful breaktheir daily fast.

El-Refai said Friday thatthe military killed two militantswho were hiding in a farm innorthern Sinai.

Egypt has been battling mil-itants in the northern part ofSinai Peninsula for years, but theinsurgency became far moredeadly after the 2013 militaryouster of Mohammed Morsi, anelected but divisive Islamistpresident amid nationwideprotests against his brief rule.

An Islamic State affiliatebased in the Sinai has carried outhigh-profile attacks in recentyears, mainly targeting securityforces and Egypt’s Christianminority. AP

Seoul: North and South Koreantroops exchanged fire alongtheir tense border on Sunday,the South’s military said, blam-ing North Korean soldiers fortargeting a guard post.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff inSeoul said in a statement thatNorth Korean troops fired sev-eral bullets at a South Koreanguard post inside the heavilyfortified border. South Koreafired two rounds in responseafter issuing a warning broad-cast, it said.

South Korea suffered nocasualties, the military said. It’sunknown whether NorthKorea had any casualties. TheNorth’s official Korean CentralNews Agency hasn’t reportedabout the incident.

It comes a day after NorthKorea broadcast images ofleader Kim Jong Un reappear-ing in public after a 20-dayabsence amid intense specula-tion about his health.

KCNA said Kim attendedFriday’s ceremony marking thecompletion of a fertilizer fac-tory near Pyongyang along

with senior officials. State TVshowed Kim smiling and walk-ing around factory facilities.

Kim earlier vanished fromthe public eye after presidingover a Politburo meeting of theruling Workers’ Party on April11 to the coronavirus.

Speculation about hishealth began swirling after hemissed an April 15 event com-memorating the birthday of hisgrandfather and state founder,Kim Il Sung, something he hadnever done since inheritingpower upon his father KimJong Il’s death in late 2011.

The Koreas are split alongthe 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long, 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide border called theDemilitarized Zone that wasoriginally created as a buffer.But unlike its name, the DMZis the world’s most heavily for-tified border. An estimated 2million mines are pepperedinside and near the DMZ,which is also guarded bybarbed wire fences, tank trapsand combat troops on bothsides. AP

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Retailers and traders expectto re-open more shops

from Monday under the newrelaxed guidelines by theGovernment for the extendedlockdown period till May 17,although they are still seekingclarity from local authorities.

Retailers Association ofIndia (RAI) said it will have tobe seen how it works out at theground as there is confusion,and many States are yet tocome up with guidelines to fol-low the Centre’s decision.

It has already stated thatwhat constitutes market placescould be misinterpreted.

Similarly, Confederationof All India Traders (CAIT)also claimed they will be in a

“dilemma” as there is confusionover “what constitutes a neigh-bourhood shop and a stand-alone shop”, while organisedretailers such as Future Groupand V-Mart Retail said they arealso seeking permissions fromlocal authorities.

“Some parts of the busi-nesses will reopen. What we seeis that there is the possibility ofopening of some standalonestores. We will open whereverwe can and we will talk to thelocal authorities to open. Wewill have to see how it worksout.

“In any case individualstates will have to come outwith clear guidelines. Whilesome states have come outwith the guidelines but they arethe same as what Centre hassaid. I think the states are alsoconfused and they are printing

the same thing that Centre issending,” RAI CEO KumarRajagopalan told PTI.

Expressing similar con-cerns, CAIT Secretary GeneralPraveen Khandelwal said, “Thetraders will be in a dilemma”.

When asked whetherthings are expected to changeon the ground with the phase3 of lockdown beginningMonday, he said there is “lackof clarity and confusion overwhat constitutes a neighbour-hood shop and a standaloneshop”. He asserted that the“clarification should come fromthe right quarters. Not only theCentre, it is the duty of the stategovernments to issue that clar-ification because most of theissues are under the domain ofthe state governments, the lawenforcement authorities alsofunction as per their directives”.

National General Secretaryof the Federation of All IndiaVyapar Mandal, V K Bansalsaid, “The biggest problemwith the guidelines is that it alldepends on the states. Thestates frame their own policiesand do not want to take anyresponsibility. The Centrewants relaxation but States arerestrictive”.While wholesalemarkets are not allowed toopen in red zones in Delhi, hesaid, standalone shops canopen but the state govern-ment’s role was crucial inimplementation of the Centre’sguidelines.

Bansal added that unavail-ability of migrant labour was amajor issue faced by shop own-ers, restricting their opera-tions.

According to the leadingretailer Future group, the com-

pany would now start retailingother than non-essential andfood items wherever allowedafter the new notification.“Inside Big Bazar, we would benow able to sell not just foodand essentials only but alsoother items as crockery,kitchenware and general mer-chandise. Even at Big Bazaar, atcertain places we would startselling other products apartfrom food,” said a Future groupofficial.

The Future Group, whichoperates in several formatssuch as large stores Big Bazaarand neighbourhood storeEasyday, said that the compa-ny is in the process of obtain-ing permission to open thestores in the green zone.

“Wherever, we have stand-alone stores in the green zone,we are also figuring out with

the authorities when to startoperating,” the official said.

According to anotherFuture group official, most ofits big format stores like BigBazaar are in malls, whichhave been kept closed evenduring the second phase of thelockdown.”The standalonestores of Big Bazaars werealready operating. Some of ourstores are in non-mall areas andwe have written to the localauthorities seeking permissionfor that,” he said.

Around 80 per cent storesof Big Bazaar are operationalwith several restrictions such astiming, number of visiting andretailing activities limited onlyto essential items, the officialsaid.Value fashion and lifestyleproducts retailer V-Mart Retailalso said it is gearing to openthe stores in the green and

orange zone but reiterated thatthere is a need for clarificationon the difference between mallsand standalone stores, special-ly in small towns.

“We have around 62 storesare in green zone and 98 are inorange, where there are chancesthat the stores would open. Weare in talks with the localadministration to allow thestores to open,” V-Mart RetailChairman and MD LalitAgarwal said.He, however, saidit will be a gradual opening asinitially people would hesitateto come into the store.”Weexpect all our stores to beopened in phased mannersand in the initial month only 20per cent customer would visit,”Agarwal said.

He sought greater clarityfrom the government on thedifferentiation between a mall

and standalone retailers.“In the small towns, there

are no malls and they (localauthorities) misunderstandsmall standalone stores like usfor a mall and prohibit usfrom operating,” Agarwal said.

Under the MHA guide-lines, malls will continue toremain shut in all zones.

In red zone all malls, mar-ket complexes and marketswill remain closed in urbanareas, which are within limitsof municipal corporations andmunicipalities.

However, shops sellingessential goods in markets andmarket complexes are allowed.

All standalone shops,neighbourhood shops andshops in residential complexesare permitted in urban areaswithout any restrictions ofessential and non-essential.

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Drop in production due toCovid-19 pandemic,

nation-wide lockdown, besidesGovernmental restrictions,may lead to a loss of huge for-eign currency earnings as Indiaused to export tea to more than30 countries, experts said.According to economists andexperts, delayed start of variousworks in the tea gardens,including plucking and pro-cessing, besides Governmentenforced restrictions, areamong the key reasons to givea blow to export of tea in over30 countries.

North Eastern TeaAssociation (NETA) adviser

Bidyananda Barkakoty said:“Exports of Indian tea may getaffected. The Out Of Home(OOH) consumption is almostnegligible due to the ongoinglockdown and it would con-tinue even after partial relax-ations of lockdown.”

“There was no harvestingof tea leaves for three weeks fol-lowed by skiffing of more than35 per cent of tea bushes. Andnow, only 50 per cent of theworkforce is allowed to work bythe government due to thecoronavirus pandemic.Therefore the crop loss may bemuch more than what wasestimated,” Barkakoty toldIANS.

In 2019 (January toDecember) India exported

248.29 million kg of tea valuedat �5,610.65 crore with theunit price of �225.97 per kg. In2018, the country sold 256.06million kg tea worth � 5,335.33crore abroad, with unit price of�208.36 per kg.

The NETA adviser saidthat around 18 per cent ofIndia’s tea production is export-ed whereas the rest 82 per centis consumed domestically.

Quoting the Tea Board’srecords, he said that the CIS(Commonwealth ofIndependent States) countries,including Russia, imports about50 million kg of Indian tea fol-lowed by Iran at about 40 mil-lion kg, China about 12 millionkg, USA about 11 million kg,UK about 10 million kg, UAE

about 10 million kg, Germanyabout 8 million kg, followed byother countries.

The NETA has done aSWOT (Strenghts-Weakness-Opportunities-Threats) analy-sis of Assam tea industry dueto the lockdown impact andrelated issues, to study bothpositive and negative attribut-es, determining how best tosustain in this difficult time.

Barkakoty said: “It wouldtake some more time for thesupply chain to stabilize. Hugeliquidity crunch is facing teaproducers. The total revenueloss from March 23 to April 14is to the tune of �1,218 crore.

The crop loss in March andApril would continue till Maybecause of the necessity of

skiffing of overgrown leavesdue to lockdown. The totalcrop loss would be about 80million kg. The tea gardenshave resumed operations fromApril 15 with 50 per cent work-force. Therefore, both the cropand the revenue losses wouldfurther increase.

Tripura Tea DevelopmentCorporation ChairmanSantosh Saha also echoedBarkakoty’s observations.

“Since December 15, prun-ing, tipping, plucking, pro-cessing in 22 factories by andlarge stopped in Tripura due tonumerous reasons, includingthe crisis of coal. From March,owing to Covid-19 pandemicand lockdown, no works weredone.

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The COVID-19 pandemic isexpected to hit Indian

economy with about $320 bil-lion in terms of daily grossdomestic product (GDP) lossafter 40 days of lockdown, saida report.

The daily GDP of India isestimated to be approximately$8 billion.

The impact has been severeon the travel and mobility sec-tor with unicorns such as OYO,Ola, MakeMyTrip seeing mas-sive revenue decline, said thereport from DataLabs by Inc42.

The micro, small and

medium enterprises (MSME)sector, often called the back-bone of the Indian economy,has had to shut small-scale fac-tories, and is working withminimal workforce.

The COVID-19 pandemichas decimated the MSME rev-enue even more, said the“COVID-19 Startup ImpactReport - Threats &Opportunities For The IndianEconomy”.

For some sectors, this pan-demic has sounded the deathknell, but the supply chaindisruption has impacted man-ufacturing everywhere.

However, even amid thesedisruptions, some sectors haverisen to the top owing to thebehavioural changes in con-sumers.

The sudden surge indemand for services like hyper-local deliveries, media andcontent, video conferencingand other enterprise tech appli-cations will further enhancerevenue prospects of someIndian startups in the comingfiscal years, said the report.

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GST officers would have toaudit and assess taxpayers

via video-conferencing insteadof undertaking physical visitsamid the coronavirus pan-demic, and the current guide-lines need to be reviewed forthis, according to experts.

As per the current goodsand services tax (GST) auditguidelines, taxpayers have beenbroadly categorised into threegroups based on their annualturnover — large, medium and small.

While large and mediumunits are compulsorily underpremises-based audits; forsmall units, desk-based audithas been suggested.

However, in the case ofnon-cooperative taxpayers orany inherent weakness of theinternal control system, officerscould shift back to the premis-es-based audit.

Last month, the CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes andCustoms (CBIC) issuedinstructions requiring officersto hold a personal hearing inrespect of customs law, centralexcise and service tax lawsthrough the video-conferenc-ing facility.

Experts said that with theaudit for the financial year2017-18, the first year in theGST regime, yet to begin, thetax officers would need toreview the audit guidelinesand include video conferencefacility along with strengthen-ing the risk management sys-tem to flag risky cases. PwC

India Partner National Leader(Indirect Tax) Pratik Jain saidGST audit and assessment for2017-18 will start soon and thedepartment will have to reviewthe audit guidelines.

“The current guidelinestalk about physical visits topremises of large business forsay 7-8 days and conductingaudit. With social distancingbeing a ‘new normal’ now,GST officials might have toexplore more virtual verifica-tions,” Jain said.

The government will haveto take a re-look at its risk man-agement system and devisebetter ways of assessing tax-payers, he added.

AMRG & AssociatesSenior Partner Rajat Mohansaid one segment of the CBIC,which is Customs, has alreadyembraced the use of technolo-gy, and now it is expected thatGST having more than 1.2crore taxpayers would alsointroduce such facility in all thedepartmental functions includ-ing assessments, adjudications,appeals, and audit.

“Introducing a video-con-ferencing facility in all the taxlaws is imperative to the busi-ness continuity plan of theeconomy, otherwise, this pan-demic will result in inordinatedelay in the delivery of justice,”Mohan added.

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The nationwide lockdownhas had deep ramifications

on economic activity andaccording to a CEO Snap Pollby the (CII), 44.7 per cent ofthe corporate chiefs believethat it would take more than ayear for the Indian economy torecover.

According to the snap pollon the ‘Impact of COVID-19on Economy and Industry’, asa majority of the firms contin-ue to anticipate a significantdecline in their revenues, theynow foresee a delay in eco-nomic revival and demandrecovery.

“The survey results reveal

that the country may experi-ence a protracted slowdown ineconomic activity as a majorproportion of the respondents,around 45 per cent feel it willtake more than a year toachieve economic normalcyonce the lockdown ends,” a CIIstatement said.

Around 36.5 per cent of thecorporate bosses feel that eco-nomic recovery of the countrymay be achieved in 6-12months. Around 17 per cent ofthe respondents were of theview that recovery would beachieved in 3-6 months, fol-lowed by 1.8 per cent who feltthat it would require a three-month period.

With respect to their own

companies, the respondentsanticipate a slightly quickerrecovery, with 34 per cent of therespondents indicating a 6-12month period for recovery oftheir companies, the surveyshowed.

Further, a major propor-tion of the respondents antic-ipate normalcy in domesticdemand conditions within 6-12months, post lockdown.

The survey saw the partic-ipation of more than 300 CEOs,of which nearly two-thirdsbelonged to MSMEs.”The lock-down brought economic activ-ity to a grinding halt and thesurvey findings indicate that asignificant majority of the firms(65 per cent) expect revenues

to fall more than 40 per cent inthe current quarter (Apr-Jun2020),” it said.

For financial year 2020-21,the expectations of a fall in rev-enue are staggered, with 33 percent of the firms anticipating arevenue fall of more than 40per cent, closely followed by 32per cent of firms expecting arevenue contraction rangingbetween 20-40 per cent.

The survey revealed thatwhile three out of four firmshave identified that a completeshutdown of operations was amajor constraint being faced bybusinesses, more than half ofthem have also indicated lackof demand for products as ahindrance to business activity.

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The domestic automobileindustry might resort to

cuts in spending on researchand development (R&D) andalso exit unprofitable busi-nesses and segments with thecoronavirus pandemic taking atoll on companies’ revenuesand cash flows, according to areport by Deloitte.

The reduction in R&Dactivities may impact progressmade in the alternative fueltechnologies till now, the reportnoted. “The COVID-19 lock-down has had a multipliereffect — the industry has beenat a complete standstill sinceMarch 24. A prolonged trun-cation of consumer demand

due to the lockdown is signif-icantly affecting auto sectorrevenues and cash flows,”Deloitte India Partner andAutomotive Sector Lead RajeevSingh said.

In response, companiesmay resort to starving theirR&D funding in order to sus-tain core operations, andpotentially set back theprogress made on alternativefuel and mobility technologiesby 2-4 quarters, he added.

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Punjab Food & Civil SuppliesMinister Bharat Bhushan

Ashu on Sunday said thatdespite several challenges aris-ing out of lockdown/curfewamid COVID-19 restrictions,the State has successfully procured more than 90 lakhmetric tonne of wheat in 19days, out of a total expected 135 LMT.

Congratulating the State’sfarmers, Arthiyas, labour andother stakeholders for smoothconduct of ongoing procure-ment operations across thestate, Ashu informed thatPunjab Government led by theChief Minister Captain

Amarinder Singh was strictlymaintaining social distancingin all more than 4000 purchasecentres for the health safety andwell-being of those involved inthis gigantic task. He said that

it was a matter of great satis-faction that in just 19 days thestate has successfully procuredover 90 LMT of wheat despiteseveral obstacles includingshortage of labour and closureof jute mills.

Reiterating the resolve ofthe state Government to ensurepurchase of every single grainof state farmers produce in ahassle-free manner, theMinister also pointed out thatin these difficult times morethan 4000 purchase centreshad been established as com-pared to over 1800 in 2019 withsame strength of employees forthe facilitation of farmers.Besides, the State Governmenthas also made elaborate

arrangements includingissuance of tokens to farmers,requisite sanitizers, masks, footoperated water tanks etc.

Nevertheless, the scarcity oflabour amid lockdown and cur-few, Punjab Government hasloaded a record 25.77 LMT ofwheat and rice through 1031special trains so far in order toensure food security of thenation besides assisting the otherstates said the Minister addingthat it was 44% of the total food-grains supplied, nation-wide.

On the lifting front, Mr.Ashu mentioned that the Statewas also lifting more than 5LMT daily in order to ensurethat no farmer had to wait dueto space crunch in mandis.

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Non-performing assets ofBank of Baroda soared

more than six-fold to �73,140crore while those of IndianBank surged four-times to �32,561.26 crore in six years,according to a Right toInformation reply.

The NPA of Bank ofBaroda (BoB) rose from �11,876 crore at March-end2014 to �73,140 crore atDecember-end 2019, the RTIreply showed.

The number of NPAaccounts rose from 2,08,035 ason March 31, 2014, to 6,17,306as of December 2019.

The NPAs of Indian Banksurged from �8,068.05 crore ason March 31, 2014, to�32,561.26 crore as on March31, 2020.

The NPA accounts rose to5,64,816 as on March 31, 2020,from 2,48,921 as on March 31,2014, according to reply toRight to Information (RTI)queries on number of NPAaccounts and the total amountfiled by Kota-based activistSujeet Swami.

The RTI data also showedthe state-run lenders earnedhuge amount from SMS alertservice fees, minimum bal-ance charges, locker charges,debit-credit cards servicecharges, outward, inward,ledger follow charges, amongothers.

According to the reply,Bank of Baroda collected �107.7 crore through SMS alertfee during April 1, 2018 toFebruary 29, 2020.

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Office space demand fell 3per cent during the first

quarter of this calendar yearbut rents increased by up to 8per cent across five major cities— Bengaluru, Hyderabad,Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata,according to US-based prop-erty consultant Vestian.

The consultant expectsdecline in demand for officespace in the short-to-mediumterm. The growth in rental val-ues would also slow due to thecoronavirus pandemic.

According to the data, theweighted average rental valuesof the five cities moved mod-erately, on a year-on-year basis,in the range of 0-8 per cent.The monthly average rent roseby 8 per cent in both Bengaluruand Hyderabad at Rs 75.5 andRs 62 per sq ft, respectively.

Chennai saw a 5 per centrise in rental value at Rs 60 persq ft a month, while Mumbaiwitnessed a modest rise of 2 percent at Rs 125 per sq ft.

The average rental value ofoffice space in Kolkataremained stable at Rs 48 per sqft per month.

“The five major cities ofBengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai,Hyderabad and Kolkata sawabsorption of approximately9.18 million sq ft office spaceduring Q1 2020, depicting adecline of just 3 per cent over

the absorption observedin the corresponding period inthe previous year,” Vestian saidin a report.

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The Association of MutualFunds in India (AMFI) on

Sunday said that net redemp-tions under credit risk fundsdropped 81.5 per cent after theReserve Bank of India (RBI)announced a special liquidityfacility of �50,000 crore for themutual fund industry.

Credit risk fund is a debtmutual fund scheme category,which constitutes less than 5per cent of total debt mutualfund AUM.In a statement,AMFI said net redemptionsunder credit risk funds stood at�2,949.49 crore as on April 24,and peaked at � 4,294.36 croreas on April 27, 2020.

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Industry body COAI hasurged the telecom depart-

ment to consider extending thetimelines for minimum roll-outobligation by at least 6 to 9months, saying it would be dif-ficult to complete many of the“complex” activities due to thelockdown triggered by thecoronavirus pandemic.

The Cellular Operators’Association of India (COAI)said it would be unfair if thetelecom operators were to suf-fer from any of stipulatedpenalties “for a situation thatcan at best be described asForce Majeure”.

“We request the DoT tokindly consider extending the

currently specified timelines forminimum roll-out obligationby a period of at least 6 to 9months so that relief is afford-ed to all forthcoming mini-mum roll-out obligation time-lines and not just to those duefor testing at this present pointin time,” COAI said in a recentletter to Department ofTelecommunications (DoT).

Noting that the DoT cir-culars suspending the regis-tration and testing related toroll-out obligation of telcos(initially till March 31, April 30and subsequently till May 31),the association said the indus-try had. However, requested forrelaxation and extension formeeting all forthcoming min-imum roll-out obligation

(MRO) timelines by further 6-9 months as it would be diffi-cult to complete many activitiesleading to registration and test-ing, due to the lockdown.

The entire process ofMRO entails multiple criticaland complex activities.

The fulfilment of MROtesting itself requires goingthrough multiple steps wheretime is of essence, including siteacquisition and approvalsrequired from various localbodies, arranging maps, whichrequires interaction with stateG o v e r n m e nt / mu n i c i p a lauthorities, coordinating withvarious partners for drive-tests/self-testing, preparationof exhaustive test reports, andsubmission of reports.

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We lost two great Bollywoodactors this week. One of

them brought back memories oflunchboxes.

Irrfan Khan played the lead ina film by the same name — TheLunchbox. In the film, like manyother office-goers in the city ofMumbai, he’d consume foodcooked and delivered to his officeby the famous dabbawalas. Forhim, it used to be an everyday,monotonous meal, packed by alocal chef until the lunchbox getsmixed up by delivery person,which changes everything. It con-nected his tastebuds and his des-tiny to a lady homemaker who’drecently begun cooking lunch forher husband with some tips fromher neighbour, and of course,dollops of love. It was then thatIrrfan ji’s character started wait-ing for his lunchbox to arrive andopens it with excitement whileexpecting something new every-day.

The film took me back to mychildhood days when other kidsand I would carry our lunchbox-es to school, unsure of what trea-sure was hidden inside them.Lunch was a time for discovery.Sometimes, it was joyful, some-times disappointing. But the fun

of opening the box in the compa-ny of friends was thrilling.

As we grew up and a busylifestyle took precedence, thehumble lunchbox disappearedfrom our lives. So when I came toIndia, I was pleasantly surprisedto see many of my Indian col-leagues carrying a personal lunch-box to office, taking it to the cafe-teria during the lunch-hour, heat-ing up the food in the smart ovensand serving themselves. I wouldoften be reminded of the taste ofthe food, which my mothercooked — and all the secretrecipes that made it so delicious.

Like many of our colleaguesfrom Korea, I would also wonderabout the hundreds of lunchbox-es of different shapes, sizes andcolours, that lined the walls of theoffice building as their ownerswent out for a quick walk postlunch, especially during the win-ter months. We were intrigued asmuch as we were touched by thisact of love in Indian families.

When someone recommend-ed this film as a “must-watch,” ourKorean colleagues decided to acton the tip. Some went to the the-atres, some watched it at home,while some others organised spe-cial screenings for groups of

friends. It was one of the mostamazing films I had watched andcertainly the best Bollywood one.I also introduced it to my wifewhen she joined me in Delhiafter a few months and several ofour friends.

As life’s biggest secrets arealways unveiled at the theatre, myfirst Indian film, The Lunchboxshowed me how an Indian tiffin isprepared at home — with love —handed over to the dabbawalas,transported on local trains to far-off offices, and delivered in an effi-

cient manner. The journey ofthose lunchboxes and peoplearound them taught me how lifemoves here and reaches its desti-nation — through the beautifulchaos of the metros.

South Korea and India sharesimilar family values. Maybe thatis why we love watchingBollywood films, while Koreanmovies, K-serials and K-pop aregaining popularity with millenni-als here. While watching the film,we were also reminded of ourloved ones back home and ourparents. We could understand theethos and the bonding that existin Indian families. We also got toknow more about the interestingIndian cuisine and its range ofmasalas (spices).

The characters in the filmwere very real and the actorsplayed them efficiently. I remem-ber how Irrfan ji’s character wouldwait for his lunchbox and laterclean it up. He was so natural!

Hearing the news of hisdemise was shocking. I was verysad. I have watched Irrfan ji’s per-formances in Hollywood filmslike Slumdog Millionaire and Lifeof Pi. He was not just a great actorbut also a great example of the“genius Indian” and the “globalIndian”.

His films will remain etched inmy memory. What The Lunchboxtaught me was that the box carriesthe same ingredients of care andexpectation whether it’s made inIndia or Korea. The only differ-ence is — in India, your lunchboxwill find you.

(The author been working inSamsung, India for more than fiveyears now. He loves walking thestreets of Delhi to learn moreabout the flavours of India and tounderstand life and people here. Hestill can’t speak in Hindi or anyother local language, though he cansay “theek hai” (alright) easily.)

Working from home has becomethe new normal. And it haschanged our routine drastical-

ly in many ways. Our work patterns haveundergone a major transformation dueto the current circumstances posed bythe global Coronavirus pandemic. Theneed to adapt to new methods of work-ing around technology has become a cru-cial component for us to achieve ourmilestones. However, work from homecan prove challenging with the changedsurroundings.

Considering the uncertainty loom-ing in our lives, this time, I have adapt-ed to it with many permutations andcombinations. Here are some pointswhich are helping me navigate and con-duct my business and personal transac-tions through the lockdown phase, eas-ily:

Optimise your daily task listI like to start my work day early by

organising and planning my task list onpriority. This is followed by pre-sched-uled calls with the management team,

connecting with our dealer partners anda daily exchange of learning with myteams to refresh our business awareness,among other tasks. We are utilising thistime to evaluate, conceptualise and pre-pare for the changes that we foresee asessential in our customer engagementand approach, especially post lockdown.

I have found it useful and worthwhileto assign a place to work in my houseduring the lockdown as it supportsconsistency and discipline while alsoassisting with productivity.

Re-create the changing wheelEverything around us will be rede-

fined after COVID-19, wherein the roleof digital and adaptation of the existingset up to the changed times would haveto be taken into consideration. It is essen-tial to utilise the current period effective-ly to write the new norms for the busi-ness.

We need to understand and strive toengage with our customers despite chal-lenges and should be open to adaptingwith the changing norms and take

informed decisions keeping them inmind. Therefore, we are undertaking var-ious steps to sanitise our workshops andcars, re-shaping and defining our back-end tasks, planning progressive digitallaunches for forthcoming vehicles andrevamping the test drive experience forcustomers. Businesses are already oper-ating on a new tangent and hence,adaptation is paramount in the currentglobal economic scenario.

Prioritise your roles at homeMy time at home during lockdown

has inspired me to engage more with myfamily. Take this opportunity to helpthem with tasks around the house andtake on a more active and supportive rolein everyday chores. It is like being in theoffice where despite your work, youengage in conversations with your col-leagues and visitors and help them to findsolutions for issues that may not bedirectly related to the task at hand.

Work from home certainly has itsadvantages like saving the time of com-mute, to engage more with your family

at home, friends and your extended fam-ily through various forms of digital com-munication. The lockdown has made mefind my passion for cooking and learn-ing yoga. I also look forward to veryengaging and intellectual conversationswith my daughters.

Upgrade your skills and acumen Even though lockdown 3.0 has come

with new restrictions and allowances, butas we prepare ourselves to enter a newworld post complete freedom fromlockdown, one must make all the effortsto upskill and upgrade themselves.

Invest your time in harnessing yourskills, which may help you in your lineof work or if you have mastered that,learn something new. There are numer-ous digital courses offered by reputedplatforms and universities that onecould register and pursue.

With respect to work, office teamscan start focussing on individual areasof self-development. Share and discussyour daily learnings over a team call andparticipating in daily quizzes on variousaspects of business is a great team activ-ity for skill upgradation.

Set aside personal time For many of us, apart from office,

working from home may mean addedworkload with the responsibility ofmanaging household chores. It is crucialthat we utilise our time effectively by set-ting out tasks for the day and allocatingtime for each accordingly. Finding those30 or more minutes of personal timeamid all of this is very important. Andit could be anything that helps you tofind your inner calm — reading a book,meditating, exercising, catching up on aweb series, conversing with your friendor family member, listening to music,practicing any art form and so on. Itallows you to connect with yourself andkeeps the emotion of feeling over-whelmed in check.

Future ready In our fast-paced lifestyle, we forget

to stop and think about our lives atlength. We constantly keep working toreach our goals but never pause to rejoicein current moments. Well, now is thetime.

Make living in the present andempowering yourself for future your toppriorities. Renowned psychologistAbraham Maslow had rightly acknowl-edged, “The ability to be in the presentmoment is a major component of men-tal wellness.” However, it is also neces-sary that we stay focussed on our goalsand our dreams for the future during thistime. Therefore, take the time to createthe wishlist you want to prioritise, andwork on them post the lockdown. Giveyourself free reign to plan for your futureas it is the positive route to establishinga firm hold on your aspirations.

One could also consider collaborat-ing with ongoing local and communityinitiatives, helping people in need of sup-port during the lockdown to not only beconducive towards personal growth butalso spread positivity around yourself.

Striking a reasonable balancebetween your work and personal life willaid in making this period productive.Stay focussed on positivity and take goodcare of your health, while you prepare fora reformed world when the lockdown issuspended.

(The author is the head of AutomobiliLamborghini, India.)

��������������������A hot-headed widow searching for the hit-and-run

driver who mowed down her husband befriends aneccentric optimist who isn’t quite what she seems.Starring Christina Applegate, Linda Cardellini and JamesMarsden, season 2 releases on May 8 on Netflix.

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Performed live at theNeptune Theatre in Seattle,the film covers Jimmy’shilarious interactions withimmigrant parents, histhoughts on Matt Damon,and whether ghosts willhaunt one-bedroomapartments. It releases onMay 8 on Amazon PrimeVideo.

���������������������Maternity leave is over and it’s time for four moms to

return to work while navigating kids, bosses, love and lifein modern-day Toronto. Starring Catherine Reitman, DaniKind and Juno Rinaldi, the series releases on May 6 on Netflix.

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Health is wealth, an old maxim, is relevant evenin this modern age. It’s a fact that health is very

essential for a happy and natural living. Today,nobody wants to be sick and physically distressedto spend their hard-earned money on doctors andexpensive medicines. This is the reason why peo-ple all over the world have become more health con-scious than they were a few years back.

According to World Health Organisation(WHO), health is physical, mental and social well-being rather than merely the absence of disease.Since there is an intimate connection between mindand body, many a times a physical diseases causesome symptoms of ailment in the mind and viceversa. To treat it, there are many systems or pathiesas we call them. Usually, the doctors give medicineso that the symptoms of the disease disappear.However, there are only afew systems which areconcerned with therestoration of health. Infact, various systemsdefine ‘disease’ and itscauses differently. Theirphilosophy of health anddisease is very differentfrom that of the others.For example, theAllopathic system ofmedicine is based on thephilosophy that it is thevirus which causes a dis-ease and hence, allopaths consider virus as livingmicro-organisms. They also think that there aremany diseases which are caused by bacteria, if notby viruses. So their system attempts to kill theseviruses or bacteria to help the body to recover fromtheir attack. But the hygienist school of thought orthe nature curists say that viruses are not living enti-ties. They consider viruses as the proteinaciousdebris of spent cells that create a condition of intox-ication, called toxemia or toxicosis. They say thatbacteria have always been with us because they areour symbiotic partners. According to the naturecurists, the real culprit is the accumulated toxic mat-ter. Hence, they consider a disease not to be a resultof attack by virus or bacteria but the result of thetoxic matter, generated within or adopted from out-side. They say all diseases are toxemiac in originand most diseases are a remedial effort by the bodyto purify or repair itself.

Now, if we consider disease as the manifesta-tion of a signal concerning the accumulated debris,waste or toxic matter, then we will have to say thatpurification of the body is the mother of health. Inthis purification, purity of mind plays a very greatrole. Purification of the body requires fasting or eat-ing healthy, avoiding toxic food and having controlover sensual pleasures that lead to waste of body-vitality. It also means control over our behaviourand emotions, for these also lead to debility,ennervation and unhealthy functioning of our ner-vous or glandular system. Even if we believe in theexistence of virus, bacteria or other micro organ-isms as the cause of our disease, it would be hardto deny the fact that the main culprit is the accu-mulated toxic matter in our body as it provides asuitable breeding ground to the virus.

Summing up, it would be correct to say thatspiritual and physical purity is the factor that pro-motes natural health. Hence, without positiveemotions of love and enthusiasm, one cannot havethe vitality to maintain normal functions of all body-parts. The negative emotions cause a great drain onone’s vitality and debilitate the whole organism. Itwould, therefore, be proper to emphasise that puri-ty is the main ingredient to achieve good health.So while doctors talk of holistic health, hyperten-sion, psychosomatic diseases, drug addiction, wewish that due attention is also paid to the turmoilcaused by one’s negative thoughts, which are mak-ing the atmosphere of the society polluted andunhealthy.

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As summer’s arrival coin-cides with government stay-

at-home orders, the itch to getoutside has turned gardens intoa getaway for the mind in chaot-ic times. Gardeners, who alreadyknow that working with soil isa way to connect with nature, sayit helps take away their worries,at least temporarily.

“I love to see things grow,”Lindsay Waldrop said. “It’sincredibly therapeutic.” Nowmore than ever. Waldrop, a res-ident of Anaheim, California,has an anxiety disorder. Exerciseis supposed to help but her newjob as a college biology profes-sor had prevented her from get-ting into a routine. Her grand-father, who introduced her togardening by showing her howto plant seeds, died about a yearago. “Sometimes I just like to sitand dig holes in the quiet withmy own thoughts,” she said.“Outside, it takes my mind off.It gives something for my handsto do. It gives you a separateproblem to think about thanwhatever else is going on. It getsyou off of social media.”

Waldrop and her husbandmoved last summer from NewMexico, where she didn’t havemuch luck gardening in ascorching climate. At her newhome, she got rid of the lawn,installed an irrigation system,and recently planted dozens oftomatoes, eggplant, peppers andother vegetables. Over the years,

Waldrop converted her skepticalhusband, who initially won-dered why digging in the dirtand moving things around wasconsidered fun. After tasting hisfirst home-grown tomatoes, hewas converted.

Families, too, are discover-ing that gardening gives cooped-up kids something to do, buildstheir self-esteem and bringsvariety to what has suddenlybecome a lot of time spenttogether.

In Miami, Annika Bolanosisn’t a fan of the south Floridaheat and mosquitoes. But goingoutdoors lately has been a life-line. Bolanos works at homemaking cakes and doing book-keeping with her husband’s golfcart business. Her three youngchildren add an extra layer ofbusy, and together they’ve seed-ed a variety of vegetables andherbs. “We have always loved theidea of growing our own food,”Bolanos said. “It feels good to eatsomething that you grew your-self too. It also helps my kids eatmore fruits and veggies sincethey find it cool to eat what they

have grown.”Her children water the

plants daily and concentrate onwhat’s growing. “You’re feelingthe sun and the breeze anddon’t have to worry about any-thing in the moment,” Bolanossaid.

In Britain and Germany,

there’s a premium on allotments— popular parcels of land rent-ed for growing food crops.“Those with a garden are thelucky ones,” said HeidiSchaletzky, standing on the lawnbeneath a cherry tree in thenorth of Berlin.

Schaletzky and her husband

have been cultivating a plot inthe “Free Country” communitygarden for the past eight years,growing strawberries, saladgreens and kohlrabi. So far,access to garden plots remainsexempt from restrictions intend-ed to stop the spread of the virusin Germany. “We’ll be able to seeother people, too,” she said. “Aslong as they stay on their side ofthe fence.”

As the weather warms, gar-den shops are bustling as otherbusinesses shut during the out-break. At the Almaden ValleyNursery in San Jose, California,rose expert John Harp has seena mix of new gardeners and reg-ulars. Customers can’t comeinto the shop, so their onlineorders are brought to their vehi-cles in the parking lot. “Aroundtown everyone is gardeningright now,” Harp said. “They’relooking to be a little bit moreself-sufficient.”

This home-grown attitudegoes back to World War II,when millions of people cultivat-ed victory gardens to protectagainst potential food short-ages while boosting patriotismand morale.

Hollie Niblett, who livesnear Kansas City, Kansas, hopesthe victory gardens come back.Niblett, who has a degree in hor-ticultural therapy, tends to akitchen garden near her back-door, perennial flowers, flower-ing trees and shrubs, and upper

and lower grassy yards con-nected by a path through an arealeft in its natural condition.

“There are so many thingsabout it that feed my soul,” she said.“Right now, more than anything,my garden gives me hope, givesme purpose and provides a senseof connection to something biggerthan myself.”

For beginners, wondermentawaits. Just south of Atlanta, 10-year-old Ezra Gandy’s love forplaying baseball has been paused.He and his grandmother, MelanieNunnally, recently started an out-door garden, planting strawberries,cabbage, broccoli, kale and aspara-gus. “I like digging in the dirtbecause I like to see all the bugsand stuff that’s in the ground,” hesaid.

The nonprofit groupKidsGardening.org suggests thatchildren grow their own salads ordo other activities.

The virus scare could evenusher in a new crop of gardenerswho start from seed rather thanrisk the crowds buying starterplants.

Kendra Schilling of ScottDepot, West Virginia, doesn’t havespace for a sprawling garden, soshe’s planting potatoes in a buck-et and trying to figure out with herteenage daughter what to do withother vegetable seeds. “I usually gobuy the plants and stick them inthe dirt. But this year we’re goingto try to do the seeds,” she says.

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The warmer weather bringshope for the inhabitants ofLadakh, the land of high

passes, significant cultural heritageand extreme cold weather. This isthe time when inhabitants of thissnow desert let go of the winter andstart planning for summer. Peoplestart preparing to resume theirwork after the long hibernation justlike Marmots. But this year was dif-ferent for people of Leh, just like therest of the world. As the rays of sunstarted filtering in from the winterclouds, people of this cold desertlearnt about the spread of novelCoronavirus.

India became one of the coun-tries where COVID-19 made itspresence felt. On January 30, thefirst case of was confirmed in thesouthern state of Kerala. In March,the number of confirmed casesfrom all over the country increased.In Ladakh’s Leh district, the first twocases of Coronavirus were con-firmed on March 7 with bothpatients having a travel history toIran.

As naïve as children are, manyexpressed happiness about the lock-

down that was implemented toensure ‘physical distancing’. Whilesome, who really were looking for-ward to returning to college afterwinter slumber, felt disappointed.However, with time, as cases ofCorona grew, the happiness sub-sided and everyone started prayingfor the recovery of those affected.Local administration, following theorders of the Central Government,implemented a strict lockdown inthe region. Many students and vol-unteers supported the efforts ofadministration by reaching out tothe public with detailed informationabout the virus — the symptomsand the precautions they must fol-low for the safety of their familiesand society.

The real challenge for us,Ladakhis, is the crucial timingwhen this virus entered our lives.During summer season, the expec-tations were to prepare better mealsto compensate for the nutrient lossthat our community faces in thewinter season. People survive win-ter by having pulses and dry vegeta-bles.

This is the time we look for-

ward to resuming with our normallives. People who run small busi-nesses like shops were caught com-pletely off guard and had no idea ofhow to manage their lives. Theywere worried about how would theyfind the means to feed their fami-lies. During winter, the shops areshut and they don’t earn anythingand whatever money they hadearned last summer, they hadalready spent it on the winter stock.

Migrants are the worst affect-ed by the lockdown. People fromother states like Bihar, Jammu andKashmir, Jharkhand, who comehere to work, have been left with nofood, money or proper shelter. Thetourism industry — the fuel ofLadakh’s local economy — is severe-ly affected due to stay-at-homeorders and so is the life of theseworkers who depend on theseresources for their survival. Bothlocal and central administration ishelping the migrant population byproviding them food. People ofLadakh have also contributed to theefforts of the administration.

In these tough times, those whohave the privilege to survive andstay safe inside their houses shouldutilise this opportunity to work onthemselves. Ladakh, which isalready less polluted compared toother places, is now witnessingeven clearer skies and fresher airdue to temporary shutdown of a lotof industries, factories and smallcompanies. Families are spendingtime together, especially with thegrandparents. Interaction withneighbours has increased. One ofthe most important changes thathave taken place is that people aredoing their own work without

being dependent on labourers. The lockdown days have turned

out to be a nostalgic trip down thememory lane of my childhood. I amreminiscing about things that I havenot done since childhood as I havestarted engaging in them again.Along with my family, I am work-ing in the garden and field, spend-ing time with animals and sharingour thoughts. We are utilising thedays by learning new things likecooking different dishes, playingboard games, watching films andexploring world through the eyes ofour elders. Grandparents share sto-ries of their childhood, making usrealise how different their timeswere. During night, while sittingnear the bonfire, we sing, dance andsolve riddles.

Every day, I sit near the Indus.Everything around this mightyriver looks so calm and peaceful.And I ask myself, how quickly willthis go back to being polluted oncethe lockdown is lifted? The riverand its environs will be flooded withplastic and all sorts of other wastefrom our houses, hotels and restau-rants. This is the time to introspect,change our habits and continuepracticing them once the lock-down is lifted. Undoubtedly,COVID-19 has made us realise theimportance of things that we alwaystook for granted. Many lives havebeen lost in our country and aroundthe globe. The times are tough butwe should not give up yet. Weshould be hopeful of a bright futurewhere all of us will play our rolesmore responsibly. This is the timeto prepare ourselves to become bet-ter human beings.

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Former India openerGautam Gambhir feels thatRohit Sharma has been

able to make more impact inwhite ball cricket compared toVirat Kohli despite Indian skip-per’s staggering statistics inshorter formats.

Gambhir, however, believesthat Kohli will end up scoringmore runs than Rohit.

“... For me white-ball crick-et is all about impact. Kohli willend up getting many more runsthan Rohit, and Kohli is amongthe greatest right now, but Rohithas an edge over Kohli becauseof the impact he has,” Gambhirtold Sports Tak, according toIndia Today website.

“I think he (Rohit) is thebest white-ball cricketer in theworld right now. He is not thegreatest overall but at themoment he is the best. He is theonly player to have hit 3 ODIdouble hundreds, 5 World Cuphundreds (in one edition) andhe is also the only player, whoonce gets past 100-run mark,people say that he missed a dou-ble century.”

Talking further about Kohliand Rohit, the 2011 World Cupwinner said, “It is very difficultto compare both of them. ViratKohli is unbelievable. His statsprove that.

"But when your reputationis such that when you get outafter a hundred, people say hehas missed out on double hun-dred, that speaks volumes aboutyou.”

The 33-year-old Rohit has

scored 9115 runs from 224ODIs at an average of 49.27 at astrike rate of 88.92. He has 29hundreds and 43 fifties to hisname. In T20Is, Rohit has scored2273 runs from 108 matches atan average of 32.62 and a strikerate of 138.78.

The 31-year-old Kohli, onthe other hand, has scored11867 runs from 248 ODIs at anaverage of 59.33 at a strike rateof 93.25. He has scored 43 cen-turies and 58 half centuries.Kohli has also scored 2794 runsfrom 82 T20Is at an average of50.80 and a strike rate of 138.24.

The 38-year-old Gambhir,now a BJP Member ofParliament, gave credit toMahendra Singh Dhoni forRohit’s successful career.

“Where Rohit is today, it isbecause of MS Dhoni. Onegood thing about MS was thathe always kept Rohit in the talks,even if was not part of the team,he was always part of the group.He never let him get sidelined,”Gambhir said.

It’s the backing of captainthat makes or breaks a player,Gambhir said.

“You can talk about theselection committee and teammanagement, but if you do nothave the backing from your cap-tain than it is all useless.Everything is in the hands of thecaptain. How MS Dhoni hadbacked Rohit Sharma over aperiod of time, I do not thinkany player has been given suchsupport.”

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The thought of standingup to Brett Lee’s thunder-bolts had taken Rohit

Sharma’s “sleep away” when hefirst started out but among thecurrent lot, Josh Hazlewood isone speedster the India swash-buckler “doesn’t want to face”in Tests.

Rohit said he will have tobe mentally prepared to faceHazlewood when India tourAustralia for a Test series laterthis year, provided the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.

Asked to name the tough-est pacers he has faced so far,Rohit said, “One bowler isBrett Lee because he didn’t letme sleep the previous night onmy first tour to Australia in2007, as I was thinking how toplay this bowler who bowls inexcess of 150 kmph.”

“In 2007, Brett Lee was athis peak. I used to watch himclosely and noticed that he wasconsistently bowling at thespeed of around 150-155kmph. The thought of a young-ster like me facing that kind ofspeed took away my sleep,”Rohit said of the formerAustralian speed merchant onStar Sports’ ‘CricketConnected’.

Since making his debut in2007 as a precocious talent,Rohit has gone on to becomeone of the world’s most prolif-ic batsmen, and his exploits inlimited overs cricket are secondto none.

Rohit has racked up 29ODI hundreds and six cen-turies in Test cricket, besides

four three-figure mark in theT20 Internationals.

“Currently, someone whomI don’t want to face in Test crick-et would be Josh Hazlewoodbecause he’s disciplined anddoes not move away from thatlength. He does not give youloose balls,” he said.

Among the retired lot,Rohit said South African pacegreat Dale Steyn has also givenhim nightmares because of hisability to swing the ball at greatspeed.

“I have two retired favouritebowlers who I never wanted toface, one was Brett Lee and theother was Dale Steyn. I neverwanted to face Steyn becauseplaying pace and swing at thesame time was a nightmare, itwas just unreal.”

Rohit said he continues toface quality bowlers in the pre-sent day with Hazlewood beingamong the best .

“I have watched himenough to understand that. Iknow for a fact that if I have togo to Australia to play a Test,then I have to be mentally pre-pared to be disciplined whilefacing Josh,” said the scorer ofthree double hundreds in ODIs.

���� ! 1�� 2��

Big-hitting West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell says

playing for Kolkata KnightRiders in the IPL is where hegets the “most goosebumps”and wants to remain in thatside till his very last game in theleague.

The 32-year-old was speak-ing to KKR’s official ‘KnightsUnplugged’ online show. TheJamaican is currently at homeas the IPL has been suspendedindefinitely owing to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

“Let me confess something,IPL is where I get the mostgoosebumps. I get that in CPL(Caribbean Premier League) aswell but when it comes toplaying in IPL, especially EdenGardens, there is no compari-son,” Russell said referring tohis team’s home ground inKolkata.

“...The welcome I get, that’slove. It puts pressure on me butit’s good pressure,” he added.

Russell said the Edencrowd has been supportivetowards him even when he has-

n't exactly delivered and that’swhy it’s the one place, he wouldlike to call it quits as and when

he does.“I would love to be at KKR

until that moment when I say

that this will be my last IPL. Ihave been at KKR for six sea-sons and I enjoyed every bit ofit,” he said.

“I know even if I fail twogames straight, when I comeout to bat for the third game,it is the same deafening reac-tion I will get from the crowd.It’s always a welcoming thing,”he said.

Hopeful of playing in theIPL some time this year, Russellalso spoke about dealing withbeing away from his new-borndaughter and wife. Both werein Miami when the coron-avirus-forced travel restric-tions came into force globally.

“She (his daughter) andJassym, they are both in Miami.I stay connected to them andtalk to them. I wish I couldhave them here, but with allthese travel restric”

“It’s not really a situationanyone would want to be in.This is affecting the world, it’saffecting me, preventing mefrom hitting sixes. Hope thisthing calms down in a monthor two and we can go back tonormal life again.”

���� ! 1�� 2��

There is a raging debate on whether theuse of sweat and saliva should be

banned once cricket resumes after theCOVID-19 pandemic but seamer JaydevUnadkat feels that these components won’tmake much of a difference with white ball.

“I think white ball won’t be a problemas a whole. Even in ODIs, you will be usingtwo new balls 25 overs each. Reverseswing has never been a big factor in white-ball cricket. Even the new ball doesn’trequire any sweat or saliva as far as whiteball is concerned,” Unadkat told PTI dur-ing an interaction.

The Ranji Trophy-winning Saurashtracaptain said the reason behind that is thatthe quote of white lacquer requires little orno sweat or saliva for swing.

“White lacquer remains shiny even ifyou just rub it on your trousers while forred ball, the red lacquer and the redleather demands that we shine it more withsaliva and sweat,” the left-arm seamersaid.

That’s the reason, he feels, that in lim-ited over contests, it will be a lesser risk forbowlers and can be started before one getsto the Test and first-class games.

“If we are starting with white-ballcontests, we will surely have an advantageas saliva and sweat are as big a factor as itcould be in red-ball cricket.”

Even for red-ball cricket, Unadkatfeels that precautions will be necessary onlyif cricket starts before the pandemic havesubsided completely.

“If we start closed doors, then proba-bly certain precautions will be mandatory.”

Unadkat says that a prolonged breakalso means that he will be on even keel with

some of the other bowlers who would bevying for their places in the Indian team forthe World T20.

In fact, had the IPL started on March29, Unadkat would have barely got threeweeks rest after a gruelling domestic sea-son where he carried the burden ofSaurashtra bowling.

“To be honest, the big break evens outa lot of things as far as team selection is con-cerned. A lot will depend on can carry theform through the break and who can cancome out sooner.

“You can’t really judge now as you dontknow how big the break will be. Even if Idon’t get match time sooner, if we get prac-tice time sooner, it won’t take much timeto get back the rhythm.”

While remaining fit has been a require-ment, Unadkat has taken time out to pur-sue another vocation, which is learning gui-tar.

It was his fiancee Rinny who encour-aged him to take up online guitar classesalong with her.

“I had done a a few classes in the pastbut then lost touch a couple of years back.Luckily my fiancee is also a guitar fan andhas taken lessons in the past and both of ofus decided to enrol for online classes.

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West Indies fast bowlinggreat Michael Holding

has termed the World TestChampionship’s points sys-tem as “ridiculous”, wheresome of the Tests will be ren-dered inconsequential onceteams realise that they can'tfinish in top two in thepoints table.

As per the current pointssystem, the value for eachTest match win in a two-match series is 60 points agame. However, if it’s a five-

match series, the value of aTest match win is reduced to24. So basically, a team cangain up to 120 points from aseries, regardless of the num-ber of matches.

The top two then quali-fy for the final.

The Test Championship,which is scheduled to finishwith a final at Lord’s in June2021, was introduced by theICC last year in a bid torevive bilateral Test cricket.

“It doesn’t work,”Holding told Wisden CricketMonthly during a round

table when asked if the Testchampionship was achievingwhat it was designed for.

“First of all the pointssystem is ridiculous. Youcan’t play five Test matchesand get the same amount ofpoints if you play two Testmatches.

“And secondly, at somepoint you’re going to haveteams who know they can-not get to the final and sothose Test matches aren’tgoing to be all that entertain-ing. People know it’s justanother game.”

���� 2:!�:!

Manchester Unitedmidfielder Paul

Pogba is using the coro-navirus lockdown to stepup his return to fitnessafter an injury-plaguedseason.

Pogba had made justeight appearances forUnited this season beforethe health crisis forcedthe suspension of thePremier League inMarch.

The French WorldCup winner hasn;tplayed a single match in2020 due to his persistentankle problems.

His last appearancecame in a December 26win over Newcastle, butPogba has been keepingfit during the virus break

and hopes to be ready ifthe Premier League canreturn in the summer.

“I have a little home

gym in my house,” Pogbatold United’s website.

“I can do some train-ing, some running, somebike, go outside and dosome things with theball. I am just keepingbusy and keepinghealthy.

“We have got to staymotivated, there is noother choice. It is a peri-od and we don’t knowuntil when it will be likethis, but I still have goalsin my head and one dayhopefully this (pandem-ic) will stop.

“And then we have toget back on the pitch, sowe have to be ready.

“For myself, I havebeen out for a long timeas well, so for me I justwant to come back play-ing football.”

���� 3�/�� 2�

Manchester City midfielderKevin De Bruyne believes

the Premier League season willbe finished despite the coron-avirus pandemic "because thefinancial aspect is far too impor-tant”.

“My feeling is that we maybe able to train again within twoweeks. The government wants torestart football as soon as pos-sible to give people something.I think this season will be fin-ished,” De Bruyne told Belgiandaily Het Laatste Nieuws.

“The financial aspect is fartoo important in the PremierLeague. If the season is not fin-ished, it will cause serious prob-lems,” he added.

Clubs were presented withthe league's “Project Restart”plans at a meeting on Friday andwere told the remaining 92matches of the 2019-2020 seasonmust be played at neutral venues.

De Bruyne also said he wasoptimistic about City's participa-tion in next season’s ChampionsLeague. UEFA has banned theclub from European competitionfor the next two years for “seri-

ous breaches" of financial fair-play rules.

“The club told us they’regoing to appeal and that they’realmost certain to get their way.I’m waiting to see what happens,but I trust my club,” said DeBruyne.

The 28-year-old Belgiuminternational admitted he wouldbe forced to consider his Cityfuture if the ban was upheld.

“Once we know more, I willmake a decision. Two yearswithout playing in Europe wouldbe long but in the case of oneyear I might see,” he said.

���� �� �

Italy offered Serie A clubs a glimmer of hopeon Sunday after it said footballers could take

part in individual training sessions as thestrictest coronavirus lockdown measures beginto ease.

The interior ministry’s go-ahead for play-ers to attend their club’s training facilities offeredfans in the football mad country the first signthat the 2019-20 season might yet be saved.

Some of the bigger clubs with title aspira-tions from the less affected regions have beentalking about going back to training for weeks.

But Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte onlyallowed teams to resume organised activitieson May 18 — a date that might push back thisseason’s completion into the start of the next.

Several regions that have avoided theworst of the pandemic have taken mattersinto their own hands and allowed clubs to

open their facilities for players to train ontheir own.

Teams such as Napoli and Parma havefollowed the lead of Lazio — trailing lead-ers Juventus by just a point — and gave thenod for players to return.

They insisted that they were not break-ing the rules because Conte has allowed allItalians to start exercising in open publicplaces starting Monday.

The interior ministry bowed to theseemingly inevitable on Sunday and agreedthat teams can open their facilities to play-ers for training.

“Athletes, professional or otherwise, ofnon-individual sports are allowed — just asevery citizen — to exercise in public or pri-vate areas,” the interior ministry said.

But players must “respect social distanc-ing rules of at least two metres and the banon public gatherings.”

���� ! 1�� 2��

Sports Minister Kiren Rijijuon Sunday said his min-

istry is devising a plan forphase-wise resumption ofnational camps for Olympic-bound athletes by the end ofthis month.

Rijiju said the coron-avirus-forced nationwidelockdown, which has beenextended till May 17, forcedhis ministry to delay theresumption of the trainingcamps at Sports Authority ofIndia (SAI) centres. The lock-down was earlier meant toend on May 3.

“The camps will start ina phase-wise manner. First wewill start training in NISPatiala and SAI, Bengaluruwhere athletes are based cur-rently...By the end of thismonth training is expected tostart in Bengaluru andPatiala,” Rijiju said at FICCI'swebinar titled 'Corona &Sports: The ChampionsSpeak’.

“The camps will be forthose sports which have qual-ified for Olympics or thesports whose Olympic qual-ification is in future,” hesaid...We will relax thingspartially looking at theOlympics," he added.

The national camps weresuspended in mid-Marchwhen the COVID-19 casesbegan rising in the country.

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Thought of facing Lee took my sleep: Rohit