Vol. 13 No. 188 | Pages 24 | `̀ 5.00NEW DELHI, Friday, May 22, 2020 www.mailtoday.in / www.mailonline.in

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Even as domestic f lights are cleared for take-off with riders,virus fear may severely repress air travel demand, say experts

COVID SHADOW OVER TRAVEL

By Manu Kaushik in New Delhi

AFTER a series of delib-erations, the Ministry ofCivil Aviation (MoCA)has finally given a greensignal to domesticflights starting May 25.International flightsthough will remain sus-

pended for the timebeing. Minister of CivilAviation Hardeep SinghPuri announced theresumption of flightswith riders. First, airlinesTurn to Page 18

PAGES4-5RAIL TICKET BLACK MARKET EXPOSED

FLIGHTPLAN FORCORONA TIMES

THE TRAIL

72 killed & thousands left homelessas Amphan wrecks Bengal

GROUND RULES FLY SAFE

One-third of operations will be allowed when domesticf lights resume on Monday, the civil aviation ministry saidwhile releasing SOPs for f lying in the time of coronavirus.

CRUSHED!

� Face mask mandatory throughoutthe journey, from end to end.

� No passengers from containmentzones will be allowed to fly.

� Report at the airport two hoursbefore flight.

� No physical check-in at airportcounters. Only web-check isallowed; get baggage tag online too.

� One check-in bag per passenger.Tag should be affixed on luggage.

� Aarogya Setu status has to be displayed to airport staff (childrenbelow 14 are exempted).

� Passengers who do not have Aarogya Setu app will have to fill a

detailed self-declaration form.

� Passengers to walk throughpre-embarkation securityscreening.

� Security staff will practise‘minimum touch’ protocols.

� Collect safety kit (3-layeredsurgical mask, face shield andsanitiser) near the boarding gate.

� Inside aircraft, face to face interactionand use of lavatory to be minimised.

� No meals to be served, passengerscannot even bring their own food.

� No newspaper or magazine shall beprovided on board.

� Cabin crew to be in full protective gear.

FARE DEAL� All the airlines will have toadhere to upper and lower limits of fares prescribed bygovernment.

� 40% seats in flights wouldhave to be sold at mid-point of

lower and upper air fare limit.

� On Delhi-Mumbai route, upperlimit for fare would be `10,000.

� Bridges washed away, houses and crops destroyed; trees, electricpoles, mobile towers uprooted.

� North and South 24 Parganas districts in the state devastated, EastMidnapore and Howrah hit hard too.

� PM Narendra Modi in Bengal and Odisha today toconduct aerial surveys & take part in review meets.

Mangled remains of a bus after a tree fell on it, in Kolkata on Thursday. The citywore a battered look with collapsed structures and overturned vehicles.

people alsoaffected in Odisha

where damages arelimited mainly to

agriculture,said govt.

45 lakh

REPORTS ON

PAGES6-9

AIRLINES REBOOTAMID HEADWINDS

‘Social distancing

requirementnot met even

if middle seatsin flights arekept vacant, so we willfill up middle seats.’

HARDEEP SINGH PURI,CIVIL AVIATION

MINISTER

5,609 Covidcases in India,

total 1,12,359

132 moredeaths,

toll 3,435

FULL COVERAGE ON PAGES2-5 & MY BIZ PAGE 18

INDIA TODAY TVINVESTIGATION

2 NEWS Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

By Manjeet Singh Negiin New Delhi

INDIA on Thursdaysaid China was hin-dering normalpatrols by its troopsalong the Line ofActual Control in

Ladakh and Sikkim andstrongly rejected Beijing'sallegations that Indianforces trespassed into theChinese side.

The Ministry of ExternalAffairs said all Indian activitieshave been carried out on its sideof the border and that India hasalways taken a very responsibleapproach towards border man-agement.

At the same time, it said Indiawas deeply committed to pro-tect its sovereignty and security.Several areas in Ladakh andNorth Sikkim witnessed majormilitary build-up by both theIndian and Chinese in the lastfew days, in a clear signal ofescalating tension and hard-ening of respective posi-tions by the two sideseven two weeks afterthey were engagedin two separateface-offs.

On Tuesday,

China accused the Indian Armyof trespassing into its territory,claiming that it was an attemptto unilaterally change the statusof the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Sikkim and Ladakh.Any suggestion that Indiantroops had undertaken activityacross the LAC in the Westernsector or the Sikkim sector is not accurate. Indian troopsare fully familiar with the align-ment of the Line of Actual Con-trol in the India-China borderareas and abide by it scrupu-lously, MEA spokespersonAnurag Srivastava said at anonline media briefing.

He said all Indian activitieswere entirely on the Indian sideof the LAC. In fact, it is Chineseside that has recently under-

FACE-OFFChina is creating hindrance in patrolling along

the Line of Actual Control, says India amid talks

THE US on Wednesday came out stronglyin support of India when it came to theboundary question and the recent bor-der skirmishes between India and China.

Addressing an online press briefing,Ambassador Alice G Wells, PrincipalDeputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau ofSouth and Central Asian Affairs said thebehaviour of Beijing was provocativeand "disturbing".

"The flare-ups on the border as areminder that Chinese aggression is notalways just rhetorical. Whether it is onthe South China Sea, or along the bor-der with India, we continue to seeprovocations and disturbing behaviourby China that poses questions about how

China seeks to use its growing power,"she said.

The outgoing head of the South Asiaand Central Asia Bureau emphasised theneed for like-minded countries to cometogether. The US has been pushing for amore assertive role for the QUAD in themaritime space where Chinese aggres-sion has increased lately.

"Thats why you've seen a rallying oflike-minded nations whether it's inASEAN or through other diplomaticgroupings like the trilateral with the US,Japan and India, or the QUAD; conversa-

tions globally, about how we can rein-force the principles of the post WorldWar II global order that supported freeand open trade... In this, incidents like

the border disputes are a reminder ofthe threat by China," said AmbassadorWells.

These remarks come in the backdropof escalated tensions at the Line ofActual Control (LAC) between the armiesof the two countries in Sikkim andLadakh.

Hitting out at China on the issue of theChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), the US official also said that in the

times of Covid-19, China should stop its"predatory" dealings with Pakistan.

"US has expressed concerns over thelack of transparency, the unfair rates ofprofit that are guaranteed to Chineseorganisations. At a time of Covid-19 crisis,China should stop this predatory lend-ing," said the top US official.

India is not only facing border tensionson the China front, but with Nepal aswell. While many say that Nepal's revi-sion of its political map incorporatingterritories that Indian claims as its own,could be influenced by Beijing; on a sep-arate matter, the Americans havepinned their hopes on the fierce sover-eignty that Nepal exhibits.

To a question on grants to Nepal andhow much does that influence theirdecisions, Alice Wells said, "In somecases the grant assistance has become apolitical football. I am confident that thegovernment of Nepal is sovereign, that itdoes not take dictation from China. Itdoes what is in the best interests of itscountry. The MCC is one of many US pro-grammes to help Nepal develop. And wehope the Nepali leadership will stand upfor the people of Nepal."

taken activity hindering India'snormal patrolling patterns.Indian side has always taken avery responsible approachtowards border management,Srivastava said.

At the same time, we aredeeply committed to ensuringIndia's sovereignty and security.The Indian troops strictly followthe procedures laid down in var-ious bilateral agreements andprotocols to resolve any situa-tions which may arise due to dif-ference in perception of LAC, hesaid.

Without elaborating, the MEAspokesperson said both sideswere engaged to address anyimmediate issue. The two sideshave established mechanisms toresolve such situations peace-

fully through dialogue. Bothsides remain engaged with eachother to address any immediateissues, he said.

INDIA-CHINA TALKS ONTO RESOLVE GALWAN ISSUE

Field commanders of India andChina are talking along the Lineof Actual Control in the Ladakhsector to resolve the ongoingstand-off in Galwan Nala area innorthern Ladakh.

Top governmentsources said eventhough the Chineseare objecting overIndian constructionactivities in thearea, their chop-

pers have been coming to theIndian patrolling point in therecent past.

“Our satellite monitoring andintelligence inputs haverevealed that the Chinese havealso built many roads in the areato transport troops and suppliesclose to the Indian patrollingpoint near the Galwan riverwhich is a tributary of the Shyokriver. Meetings have been takingplace between the officials of the81 Brigade in the Daulat BegOldie sector and their Chinese

counterparts even as theboth sides have

increased their trooppresence in the area,”sources said.

The tensionsbetween the two

sides have been on for over twoweeks now in the Galwan Nalaarea over construction activities.

Sources said that it was afterthe Chinese infrastructuredevelopment that the Indianside also built proper network ofroads on its side of the LACusing the Border Roads Organi-sation.

Even though the Chinesechoppers have been flying closeto the Indian patrolling line inthe Galwan Nala area, they raiseobjections over Indian flyingactivities in the area.

The situation is being moni-tored closely by the top brass inthe national security domainand efforts are being made todeescalate the situation.

- With PTI inputs

Local commanders of both the sides have reportedly held at least three meetings in the last couple of days to bring down thetension but there was no positive outcome from the exchanges.

— Zhao Lijian, Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesman

‘‘In fact, it is Chineseside that has

recentlyundertaken

activity hinderingIndia’s normal

patrolling patterns.

—Anurag Srivastava,External Affairs Ministry

spokesperson

‘‘

US slams Beijing, backs NewDelhi on Sino-India flare-up

‘The behaviour of Beijing wasprovocative and disturbing’

By Geeta Mohan in New Delhi

Chinaincreased its

presence in areasaround Pangong TsoLake, Galwan Valley

China'sposition on theChina-Indiaboundary issue isconsistent andclear. The USdiplomat'sremarks are just nonsense.

‘

’

US diplomat Alice G Wells

3NEWSMail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

By Nikhil Lakhwaniin New Delhi

AFTER a gap of nearlytwo months, the publicparks and sport com-plexes in the nationalcapital were thrownopen to the public —but with completeadherence to the gov-ernment guidelines.

Both the NDMC and theDDA allowed the outdoorspaces under their juris-diction — parks, golfcourses and sport com-plexes — to be opened tothe residents to carry outroutine exercise, but withcertain restrictions.

The guidelines also men-tioned that no personbeyond the age of 65 andunder the age of 10 shall

enter these premises asthese age groups are highlyvulnerable to the deadlycoronavirus.

For now, the timings havealso been limited by theauthority to three hourseach in the morning and inthe evening.

On the first day that peo-ple were allowed to ventureout into such spaces afterthe enforcement of thenationwide lockdown, manypeople were seen cycling,jogging and walking. Somepeople were also seen play-ing badminton and doingPranayam in central Delhi’sNehru Park.

The residents were visiblyhappy to be out in the openspaces after the nearly two-month lockdown.

Men and women of all agescould be seen returningback to their old routines,and engaged in multiple dif-

ferent activities.Meanwhile, some people

who are not permitted to beout under the governmentguidelines could also beseen enjoying their time outin the open.

Deepak, a man who is inhis late sixties said, “Wecan’t spend months in thelockdown by staying insideour houses. We need to beable to come out at a partic-ular point to get a senseof relief. Though I know Iam not allowed but Icame with all the neces-sary precautions.”

In the partial relax-ations that have beenannounced under ‘Lock-

down 4.0’, spaces such asthe open gyms and yogacenter are not yet permit-ted, and have been man-dated to stay shut.

For those who wish to playcertain permitted sports inthe sports complexes, theyneed to bring in their ownequipments, due to thesafety measure that areenforced due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

THE DELHI Commission forWomen (DCW) has taken suo-moto cognizance of the risingtrend of the use of social mediaplatforms for posting abusiveand provocative content.

It is seen that a large numberof videos, photos and postsdepicting violence and harass-ment — especially violenceagainst women and children -are being posted and sharedon the social media platforms.

The notice has been issued toFacebook, Instagram, Twitterand TikTok and they have beenasked to inform the commis-sion regarding their standardoperating procedure when itcomes to such matters.

“In the past few days, tons ofsuch content have come tolight. While a blanket ban onsuch platforms is not a solu-tion, it is critical that propermechanisms are put in place toprevent such posts from beinguploaded. And if uploaded, thecontent and the creatorshould be immediatelyremoved from the platform,”said DCW chief Swati Maliwal.

DCW: Socialmedia mustcurb abusive content

Those above 65 andunder 10 not allowed

City residents return to public parks after

two months, amid strict social distancing

By Ram Kinkar Singh in New Delhi

THE MEMBERS of theMaulana Azad ResidentDoctors Association haveraised questions on the‘Quarantine Guidelines’of the Ministry of Healthand appealed to the Gov-ernment to reconsider it.

The president of thebody, Dr Parv Mittal, also

added that they havedecided to suspend theLNJP’s checkout noticefor a week. The decisionwas taken after a meet-ing with the hospital’smedical director.

The LNJP Hospital ofDelhi government hadearlier issued orders tovacate all the staff of thequarantined hospitalfrom the hotel and thedharamshala where theyhad been residing in.Theywere asked to vacate itby 12 noon on Thursday.

The order issued byLNJP's medical directorSuresh Kumar said thatafter Thursday, the hospi-tal will not spend in anyway and the guest willhave to bear theexpenses themselves.

The Resident DoctorsAssociation had beenarguing that the 14-dayquarantine period afterduty was very important,otherwise there was arisk of them infectingtheir family and friends.

Doctor Kaushal Singhsaid that the quarantineperiod for the doctorswas not a vacation or aluxury holiday. He arguedthat, after working for 14consecutive days, anydoctor can be a virus car-rier, and that too withoutany symptoms. So he caninfect the rest of hispatients and other mem-bers at home he comes incontact with, so the quar-antine is necessary forevery Covid fighter.

The current guidelineclearly state that onlythe ‘high risk’ will getquarantine facility.

Only ‘high risk’ arequarantined now

Patients outside the LNJP Hospital on Thursday.

C VID-19

PANDEMIC

Doctors seek review ofquarantine guidelines

By Arvind Ojha in New Delhi

ANOTHER RECORDSURGE IN CAPITAL

571 Covidcases, total

11,659

18 moredeaths,toll 194

Breathing easy DCWchiefSwatiMaliwal

QAMAR SIBTAIN

PANKAJ NANGIA

Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 4

— SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN, MP CM

Migrants are humans too. Theyare our brethren. We do not have anyobjection in migrants coming backto the state & we will embrace them.

‘

’

A case has beenregistered against

Congress president SoniaGandhi in Karnataka inconnection with a tweet

posted on the party sofficial handle allegingmisuse of PM-CARES Fund,police said. The case wasregistered on Wednesday.

C VID-19

PANDEMIC

By Md Hizbullah, Jamshed Khan and Nitin Jain in New Delhi

THE country’s notorious blackmarket of rail e-ticketing roaredback on track as soon as thegovernment announced specialRajdhani-type trains during thelockdown earlier this

month, an India Today TVinvestigation has found.

With stranded travellers strug-gling with an overloaded book-ing portal, tech-savvy side-street agents and touts havebeen found to be hoarding seatreservations and selling them offat a premium.

At least 30 special trains haverolled on since May 12, connect-ing major cities like Delhi, Mum-bai, Thiruvananthapuram,Chennai, Bengaluru, Secunder-abad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata,Patna, Ranchi, Guwahati, Agar-tala and so forth.

These trains, charging Rajd-hani fares, are taking onlinebookings only during the lock-down.

PROFI-TICKETING IN LOCKDOWN

Tour operator Krishna Kant of‘Book India Trip’ at Delhi’sPaharganj offered e-tickets inblack when our reporter methim posing as a Ranchi-boundpassenger.

“We have tried but are unableto make the bookings our-selves,” the undercover journal-ist told Kant.

“If you book it on your own,wouldn’t we have to shut ourshop then?” the agent replied.

Kant refused to divulge how hecan secure reservations from theIRCTC website which ordinarypassengers grappled with. “I willnot reveal the recipe. But Ipromise delicious meals.”

BLACK MARKETBACK ON TRACK

Touts sell Railway tickets at exorbitant rates as lakhs ofpeople — desperate to gethome — stay stuck in states

The agent demanded Rs 4,000for one 3AC seat to Ranchi,which was originally priced at Rs2,400 at the time.

“I am offering a confirmeddeal,” said the agent as hesolicited Rs 20,000 for five book-ings.

The Indian Railways’ onlinebooking system is no stranger tohacking. Unscrupulous ticketingagents and touts have beenarrested before for hoardingtatkal reservations and sellingthem off at higher prices.

Kant is not alone in this trade.

HACKERS AT WORK?In the backpackers’ haunt of

Delhi’s Paharganj, Raju of ‘Par-adise Tours and Travels’ offereda Delhi-to-Patna reservationworth Rs 2,100 for Rs 3,500.

“If you try booking yourself fora month, you’ll get nothing,” heboasted. “The train (reserva-tion) shows a full house in 40seconds after opening.”

“So, how are you able to do it?”the reporter probed.

“You leave that to us. It’s ourjob. It involves (access to the)

RAILWAY Minister Piyush Goyalon Thursday said booking oftrain tickets will resume ataround 1.7 lakh common serv-ice centres across the countryfrom Friday, making the serv-ice accessible to those inremote locations where theavailability of computers andinternet is negligible or absent.

The minister said bookingswill also resume at counters atspecific railway stations overthe next two to three days.

“We have to take Indiatowards normalcy. We aredeveloping a protocol to iden-tify the stations where coun-ters can be opened. We haveto ensure that there are nolarge crowds gathering atcounters to book tickets, sowe are studying the situationand devising a protocoltowards it,” Goyal said.

“We will also soon announcethe resumption of moretrains,” he further said duringa conversation with his party

server. It can’t be done other-wise,” Raju replied as hedemanded Rs 14,000 for fourpassengers bound to Patna in a3AC coach.

Another operator Deepak of‘Himachal Holiday Tours’ atPaharganj offered reserved seatfrom Delhi to Mumbai almostdouble their original fare of Rs2,200 per passenger. “One ticketwill cost you at least Rs 4,000,”he said. “It will be Rs 16,000 forfour in 3AC.”

GOVT WARNING“Any tout or any dalal if found

illegally selling tickets throughsome software… we are takingstrict action against such peo-ple. Anyone found black-mar-keting the tickets after blockingthem or uses a fake ID, the pas-senger will also face an enquiry.We request the passengers if anytout approaches them, or saysthey will book the tickets forthem… please report. We arekeeping a very close eye on thetouts. The passenger will alsoface cancellation of the ticket.Kindly call on the complaintnumbers,” Union Rail MinisterPiyush Goyal said.

‘Bookings to open atcentresfrom today’

A physically challengedpassenger is carried by aporter after arriving atNew Delhi Railway Station.

INDIA TODAY TV� INVESTIGATION�

`6Lworth of tick-ets recoveredafter Railway

ProtectionForce arrested

14 people,including 8

IRCTC agents,for touting.

File photo ofmigrants fromLucknowwaiting toboard‘ShramikSpecial’ trainto reach theirnative placesin Panvel,Maharashtra.

Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 5NEWS

— SACHIN PILOT, RAJASTHAN DEPUTY CM

Self-attestation would suffice forissuance of job cards under MGNREGA tomigrant workers coming back to thestate without required documents.

‘

’

The Delhi HighCourt has decided

that from Friday all itsjudges will sit everyday totake up urgent matters of

all kinds via videoconferencing. Till now,urgent matters werebeing taken up by twodivision benches.

migrants hailingfrom UP, whowere stranded indifferent parts of

the country, have returned tothe state in 881 special trains.

15L

colleague and BJPspokesperson Sambit Patra.He said the railways whichstarted the Shramik Specialtrains from May 1 has run2,050 such trains since then,ferrying around 30 lakhmigrants, students and otherstranded people.

Goyal also praised UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and Gujarat ChiefMinister Vijay Rupani for theircooperation with the railwaysin running the Shramik Spe-cial trains and criticised WestBengal and Jharkhand fortheir non-cooperation.

He said till date the railwayshas been able to run only 27trains in West Bengal and tillMay 8-May 9, only two trainscould reach there. Jharkhandhas allowed only 96 trains whileRajasthan has so far received 35trains, he said. —PTI

By Saurabh Vaktania in Mumbai

THOUSANDS of migrantworkers expecting to travelto Uttar Pradesh from Mum-bai by train were left disap-pointed due to miscommu-nication between state andrailway officials on Thurs-day morning.

The Mumbai Police toldthe workers that their trainwould leave from Borivalistation and asked them togather at a public groundin Kandivali.

But when they did, theywere told by the police thattwo UP-bound trains hadbeen cancelled and weresubsequently asked to leave.

Shivkumar Sharma, acash-strapped migrantworker living in NalaSopara, has to provide for afamily of seven.

An auto driver, Sharma,paid a fellow driver a hugesum of money to ferry him

and his family to theground. They left home at 3am to reach Kandivali.

Now, the family says theycan’t go back to NalaSopara. Railway officials sayno scheduled trains werecancelled on Thursday.

Migrants in Mumbaiturned away by cops

By Rahul Shrivastava in New Delhi

PRESIDENT Ram NathKovind accepted the creden-tials of ambassadors and highcommissioners of as many asseven countries by means ofvideo conferencing. This was afirst for Rashtrapati Bhavansince Dr Rajendra Prasadmoved into the premises onJanuary 26, 1950.

Diplomats from the Democ-ratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Senegal, Trinidad &Tobago, Mauritius, Australia,Cote d’Ivoire and Rwanda pre-sented their papers to Presi-dent Kovind via a digital linkon Thursday. This was done inlight of the novel coronavirusoutbreak and the ongoing lock-down.

The President termed thedigitally-enabled credentials’

ceremony “a special day inIndia’s engagement with thediplomatic community in NewDelhi”.

Barry Robert O’Farrell is the

New High Commissioner ofAustralia to India, Choe HuiChol is the new Ambassador toIndia from Democratic Peo-ple’s Republic of Korea,

Jacqueline Mukangira is thenew High Commissioner ofRwanda to India while AbdoulWahab Haidara is the newAmbassador of Senegal. Mean-while, the new High Commis-sioner of Trinidad & Tobago toIndia is Dr Roger Gopaul, Mrs

Santi Bai Hanoomanjee thenew High Commissioner ofMauritius to India and N’DRYEric Camille is the new Ambas-sador of Cote d’Ivoire to India.

A Letter of Credence is a for-mal document appointing adiplomat as Ambassador orHigh Commissioner to anothersovereign state. Each of theseletters is addressed from onehead of state to another.

7 NATIONS PRESENT ‘E-CREDENTIALS’

By Shivendra Srivastava in Lucknow

AS the blame game between theCongress party and BJP govern-ment in Uttar Pradesh over thebus issue ensues, the migrantslabourers continue to walk toreach their homes in the state.

The UP government deniedentry to buses provided by theCongress. All buses wereseen lined up at theDelhi-UP borderand were eventu-ally sent back.

The UP govern-

ment denied permission on basisof fitness and condition of thebuses provided by Congress,India Today TV did a realitycheck to find out the conditionof buses meant to ferry migrants.

Shakuntala Mishra Universityin Lucknow, a nodal centre fortemporary bus terminal, hasdozens of buses parked in itspremises. These buses are sup-posed to drop labourers to their

native districts.Most of the busses areUPSRTC managed, astate-run roadwaysauthority. Reportedly,the authority has

deployed more than 5,000 busesto bring back the labourers andother stranded passengers.

However, many of these busesare unfit to ply long distances.Many has no insurance and pol-lution & road tax details in gov-

ernment’s record. Another buswas running without a fitnesscertificate. There was no detailof pollution validity and insur-ance as well. There were morethan a dozen buses withoutproper certificates.

Are UP buses fitto ferry workers?

In a first, Prez Kovindaccepts via video call

Railways says notrains cancelled

Govtauthorities

did not respondto phone calls

Booking of traintickets willresume at around1.7 lakh commonservice centresfrom today.

‘

PIYUSH GOYAL, Rly Minister

Migrant workers gather inside a park as they wait fortransportation to a railway station in Mumbai.

UP Police personnel stop migrants from walking towards UttarPradesh at Delhi-UP border, in New Delhi on Thursday.

President Ram Nath Kovind accepts credentials from sevencountries through a video conference in New Delhi.

‘

6 Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

Devastation

PRIME Minister NarendraModi will visit West Bengalon Friday to assess the dam-ages in the southern part ofthe state due to cycloneAmphan.

The initial plan is that afterPrime Minister NarendraModi arrives at kolkata air-port around 10:30am, bothMamata Banerjee andNarendra to travel thereafter in a specialaircraft/chopper to affectedareas in north and south 24parganas including Kolkata.

The first hand plan is only

of an aerial survey of thearea.

It was Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee who hadput out a request to PrimeMinister for visiting bengalin this time if crisis, in amedia briefing.

Prime Minister then hadtaken it up and his office wasworking on it and 'planningseriously' for a visit.

This will be the first travelof Prime Minister NarendraModi since March when thelockdown began.

—Manogya Loiwal

PM Modi to undertake aerialsurvey in Bengal, Odisha today

Cyclone Amphan leaves

at least 72 dead in West

Bengal, authorities start

mega relief & rescue ops

— THE DALAI LAMA, BUDDHIST SPIRITUAL LEADER

As a mark of solidarity with the people of WestBengal and Odisha, I am making a donationfrom the Dalai Lama Trust... I would like toconvey my condolences to you...

‘

’ — MAMATA BANERJEE, WEST BENGAL CM

I have never witnessed such a fiercecyclone and destruction in my life. I wouldrequest PM Modi to come and visit CycloneAmphan-affected areas...

‘

’

— PM NARENDRA MODI

Have been seeing visualsfrom West Bengal on thedevastation caused byCyclone Amphan... In thischallenging hour, the entirenation stands in solidaritywith West Bengal.

‘

’

NEWS

CYCLONEAmphan weak-ened Thursday, aday after tearingthrough WestBengal where 72

people were killed and twodistricts were completelydevastated with thou-sands of people left home-less, bridges washed awayand low-lying areas inwaist deep water.

The fiercest cyclone to hit WestBengal in 100 years destroyedmud houses and crops, anduprooted trees and electricpoles. It also wreaked havoc inOdisha damaging power andtelecom infrastructure in severalcoastal districts.

Odisha government officialsestimated it has affected around44.8 lakh people in the state.

"So far as per the reports wehave received, 72 people havedied in the state due to CycloneAmphan. Two districts Northand South 24 Parganas are com-pletely devastated. We have torebuild those districts fromscratch. I would urge the Cen-tral government to extend allhelp to the state," Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee said after con-ducting a review meeting withofficials.

"I will visit the affected areasvery soon. The restoration workwill start soon. A large part ofNorth and South 24 Parganasand Kolkata are facing massivepower cut since last evening.Even telephone and mobile con-nections are down," she said.

"I have never witnessed such afierce cyclone and destruction inmy life. I would request PrimeMinister Narendra Modi tocome and visit CycloneAmphan-affected areas."

THE chief ministeralso announced acompensation of Rs2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakhfor the family mem-

bers of each of the deceased. Besides North and South 24

Parganas and Kolkata, the dis-tricts of East Midnapore andHowrah were the worst hit asportions of several dilapidatedbuildings came crashing down inseveral places.

Senior officials of the WestBengal government said it wastoo early to estimate the exactdeath toll or damage to propertyas the worst hit areas were still

not accessible. In Kolkata, hundreds of cars

were overturned in the strongwinds with speed up to 125kmph that also felled trees andelectricity poles blocking keyarterial roads and intersections.Large parts of Kolkata andother affected districts wentwithout power. Mobile andinternet services were also dis-

rupted as the fierce cyclone haddamaged several communica-tion towers.

Residents recalled livingthrough hell for six hours as thewinds howled incessantly.

"Windows buckled from thepressure of the storm, carsfloated on water logged roads,bumping against each other.Parts of air conditioners were

People and policepersonnel (L)gather around atree that fell onelectric lines on astreet after thelandfall of cycloneAmphan inKolkata.

An aerial (R) viewshows flooded

houses andbuildings as a dam

broke after thelandfall of cyclone

Amphan inShyamnagar.

A damaged traffic signal post due to Cyclone Amphan.

Air India aircraft are parked at the flooded Netaji SubhasChandra Bose International Airport.

Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 7

— AMIT SHAH, UNION HOME MINISTER

The Narendra Modi govt is committed forthe safety and security of every citizen. Iurge people of West Bengal and Odisha tostay indoor and follow instructions.

‘

’ — P CHIDAMBARAM, CONGRESS LEADER

My sincere and heartfelt condolences tothe government and people of West Bengalwho have suffered enormously due toCyclone Amphan...

‘

’

“I am devastated, can only eatpoison or hang myself,” said Sid-dheshwar Majhi, a West Bengalfisherman who lost everythingafter Cyclone Amphan rippedthrough many parts of the stateon Wednesday.

Majhi’s family, like many oth-ers in West Bengal, lost every-thing during the devastationcaused by Cyclone Amphan,which hit the state at a timewhen people were alreadyreeling under the current coro-navirus crisis.

Staring at the sea blankly fromhis roofless shop, Majhi said hewitnessed the storm blow awaythe last of his belongings and hisdreams along with it.

Majhi and his wife Alpana used

to earn a living by cookingmeals for tourists who came toTajpur, a popular beach located20 kilometres from Digha,which was pummelled severelyafter the landfall.

The 33-year-old told IndiaToday TV that he has lost every-thing he saved for years, partlydue to coronavirus and the restdue to the cyclone.

"The lockdown has led to somany problems. I have tried torun my family. We have no earn-ings for two months, but nowafter this cyclone, the roof isalso lost,” Majhi said.

“I don’t know what I will eat. Ihave lost my sleep already andnow there is nothing left in myshop,” he added.

“Even if you stay athome...you need foodto stay alive, whowill cook for usevery day or helpus with money.”

Majhi said that

now he has to either borrow ordepend on the government toprovided rice for surviving. “Ican stay hungry but how can Ikeep my kids hungry?” he asked.

“I have no roof even to save myfamily during rain. I am helplessand can only sit and stare at theraging sea,” Majhi added.

His wife Alpana is equally dev-astated.She is worried abouthow they will arrange meals fortheir two children in the comingdays. Her eyes teared up as sheshared her ordeal.

“There has been lockdownfrom the past two months. We

have been hand to mouthand I do not know how

I will run my familyand feed my kids,”she said.

“This cyclone

has broken everything in ourlives."

There are around 50 such shopsin Tajpur which depend ontourists. Some days the earningis as low as Rs 100 while it rises toRs 1,000 during the travel season.

TWIN BLOWSMajhi repaid only Rs 40,000 in

eight months. But this was tillFebruary after their lifechanges due to the coronaviruscrisis. They now have to dependon government for food, whichincludes two kilos of rice and akilo of pulses. It is not enoughfor the family to last a month,said Majhi. With a steep debt,two children to feed, both Majhisaid he may have no option butto commit suicide.

—Manogya Loiwal

‘Can only eat poisonor hang myself’

Many have losteverything they had

1,500Villagesaffected inOdisha due tothe storm. `2.5

Lakh compensationannounced for thefamily of thedeceased in Bengal. 125

KMPH velocity ofthe deadlycyclone recordedin Bengal.

NEWS

flying around like missiles Theworst was the wind. The sixhours went very slowly yester-day," said Mithu Chatterjeewho lives on the fifth floor of a30-story building.

PRIME MinisterNarendra Modi saidno stone will be leftunturned in helpingthose affected by the

cyclone. "Have been seeing visu-als from West Bengal on the dev-astation caused by CycloneAmphan," he tweeted.

"In this challenging hour, theentire nation stands in solidaritywith West Bengal," the primeminister said.

The National Crisis Manage-ment Committee (NCMC)reviewed the rescue and reliefoperations in West Bengal andOdisha at a meeting in Delhi andwas told that minimal loss of liveswas reported due to accurateforecast by the IMD and timelydeployment of NDRF troops.

Headed by Cabinet SecretaryRajiv Gauba, the NCMC wastold by the chief secretaries ofWest Bengal and Odisha thattimely and accurate forecast bythe IMD and advance deploy-ment of the National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF) facili-tated in evacuation of aboutfive lakh people in West Bengaland about two lakh in Odisha.

"This has resulted in minimalloss of human lives, consider-ing the fact that the intensityof the Amphan was next onlyto that of the super cyclonethat struck Odisha in 1999causing large scale devasta-tion," an official statement saidin Delhi.

The NDRF is moving addi-tional teams to West Bengal tospeed up restoration work,especially in Kolkata.

The Food Corporation ofIndia will also ensure adequateavailability of food grains, espe-cially rice, to West Bengal sothat marooned people are pro-vided immediate sustenance.

—PTI

Notsure what

will they eat inthe days to come.

A passerby looks at a car damaged by an uprooted tree,after super cyclone Amphan in Kolkata.

An aircraft is seen amidst acollapsed hangar at floodedNetaji Subhas Chandra BoseInternational Airport afterthe landfall of cycloneAmphan in Kolkata onThursday.

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

PHOTOS: AGENCIES / TWITTER

8 NEWS

MT brings to you images of how Bengal &

Odisha are picking up the pieces after the

cyclone left a massive trail of destruction

AMPHANAFTERMATH

People stand near an uprooted banyan tree in West Bengal’sBirbhum district.

A milkman wades through a flooded road in West Bengal’sNorth 24 Parganas district. Two districts of North and South24 Parganas have been devastated.

The people ofOdisha stand withthe people of WestBengal at this hour

of crisis.

‘‘

’’— NAVEEN PATNAIK, ODISHA CHIEF MINISTER

A villager and his familymembers salvage items fromtheir damaged house in WestBengal’s Midnapore.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaikduring an aerial survey onThursday. He directed theChief Secretary to remain intouch with his West Bengalcounterpart and ensure allassistance to the state.

Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 9NEWS

Submergedvehicles in a

flooded alleywayin Kolkata.

A man tries to pass hisscooter under an uprootedtree in Kolkata.

Passersby look atuprooted lamp post andhoardings in Kolkata.

National DisasterResponse Force

personnel carry outreconstruction work at

a BDO office in WestBengal’s Howrah

district.

Mangled remains of ataxi after a tree fell on itat Dharamtala In Kolkata.

People retrieve belongingsfrom their damaged

houses in Kolkata.

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 10 COMMENT

THANK GOD for Latin,otherwise just like BC(“Before Christ”, now“Before Corona”), ADtoo would have fallenvictim to the Coron-

avirus! So far, we remain in annodomini and let us not rush toherald or bemoan the hegemonyof the dragon.

The Coronavirus pandemic has nowraged for nearly four months with thestaggering death toll continuing toclimb across the developed countries inthe West. More pain is forecasted, withGDP in the West set to plummet by asmuch as 10 per cent in 2020.

In recovery modeThe past three decades have seen

China rising dramatically from a devel-oping country to the second largesteconomy in the world. It has also suc-cessfully pursued its hegemonic ambi-tions both in its neighbourhood andglobally through the Belt and Road Ini-tiative. The latter found fertile groundin Europe with several economies reel-ing from the 2008-09 recession and des-perate for foreign investment.

The United States (US) had anaggressive administration targetingChina but went along with striking ofdeals. Indeed, one was signed justbefore the Coronavirus pandemic brokeout in the US.

At the same time, China – the countrywhere the virus originated -- appears tohave handled the pandemic well and isreturning to normalcy with only a hand-ful of new cases.

Its economy seems to be in recoverymode, and it may even claw back to maintaining its HGDP level. Moreominous are reports that the Chineseare in the race to develop a vaccine tocounter the Coronavirus and again the world may have to turn to them,just as they had to for PPE and testingkits.

But, let us not sound the trumpet justyet. This pandemic is set to change theway the world operates.

Public health and economic security,in general, will now receive the atten-tion larger economies have previouslyreserved for defence. We can expectshorter supply chains, and potentiallykept within national borders, acrosssectors, including health, food andenergy.

We are already seeing major compa-nies looking at possibilities of relocat-ing some of their production units outof China with Japan, ASEAN and Indiawooing them. These are not insignifi-cant costs, and these changes will harmChina’s economy in a big way.

Moreover, the pandemic has fuelledfurther reliance on technology, which inturn pushes for greater use of human-replacing AI and robotics. The Chinesehave been doing well in today’s high-tech areas (5G being an example) butcritical technological innovations andbreakthroughs remain western andwell-enforced technology restrictionswill hugely hurt them.

Indeed, since these technologiesreduce the need for human-power, theadvantage of cheaper labour will be loston China as well.

Nativist behaviourAccording to the IMF, global GDP at

the end of 2019 was around US$ 87 tril-lion. Of this, the US and EU-countriestaken together account for $21 trillionand $19 trillion, respectively. AddingJapan, UK and a few others, the west’sshare of global GDP is around 60 percent. But these countries have recently

faced schisms in their traditional bondsof camaraderie, spurred by nativistbehaviour.

China was riding on this shaky coali-tion and taking advantage of the Euro-peans who have lagged on leveragingtheir aggregate potential leaving theworld with a general view that they aresomewhat lost. This, however, hugelybelies the truth given their considerablestrengths exemplified, even in theCovid context, by the fact that thelikely first vaccine in an Oxford effort,supplemented by a manufacturer inIndia.

And, let us not forget that the com-pany that was being lured to bring itsCovid vaccine research to the US wasGerman!

Stand togetherThe massive common hurt caused by

the Coronavirus coupled with the starkrealisation that China is a major threatshould catalyse coalescing among theUS and Europe no matter the results ofthe US Presidential election in Novem-ber.

Effectively ring-fencing technologicalinnovation and restricting economicaccess for investment can itself raisethe bar and dash for quite some timeChinese hopes that a divided Westwould let them rule.

Propelled by the size of its population,China was well on its way to becomingthe largest economy in the world. Butat $14 trillion, it is yet only 15 per cent ofglobal GDP in nominal terms.

And, in per-capita income terms, onlyranks 65 out of 186 countries. Its rise inrecent years may have been meteoricbut the numbers appear to indicatethat the Coronavirus pandemic mayhave caught it wrong-footed. CE would continue as the Common Eraand not find itself transformed into theChinese Era.

The writer is is former Deputy Permanent Representative of India to

the UN and former Indian Ambassadorto Nepal, European Union, Belgium &

Luxembourg. TThhee vviieewwss eexxpprreesssseedd aarree ppeerrssoonnaall..

HUMOURDAILY Ask your child what he

wants for dinner only if he’sbuying.

—Fran Labowitz

Remember, once you’re overthe hill, you begin to pick upspeed.

— Arthur Schopenhauer

The human race is facedwith a cruel choice: Work or daytime television.

SO FUNNY

SENEGAL’S Covid-19 responsebegan in January. The governmentclosed the borders, initiated a planof contact tracing and offered a bedfor every coronavirus patient.

As a result, this nation of 16million people has had only 30deaths. Ghana, with a population of30 million, has a similar death tollto Senegal, partly because of anextensive system of contact tracing,utilising a large number of healthworkers and volunteers. This isbeing studied by WHO.

Across Africa, the lack of access toexpensive pharmaceutical productsfuelled interest in herbal remedies.One plant, Artemisia annua hasdrawn attention after Madagascar’spresident Andry Rajoelina, claimedit was a “cure” for Covid-19. Theplant is being tested on cells andhuman clinical trials may follow.

A patronising attitude towardsEast Asia is what led Europe to becaught by surprise at the spread ofthis disease. Now a similar mindsetseems to ensure we don’t learn whatAfrica has to offer in overcoming it.

We must heedAfrica’s responseto Coronavirus

DAY IN WORDS

DAY IN NUMBERS

AROUND THE WORLDTHE GUARDIAN

ON LESSONS FROM AFRICA

I prefer sauvignon blanc, Imean, if I’m drinking white..I’m trying to wait until6 p.m., so I have, like, a preemptivebeer at 5.

If that’s what that science istelling us, that it’s high riskusing saliva ... it is okay aslong as we’re keeping otheroptions open.

— PAT CUMMINS, co-vice captain ofAustralian cricket team, speaking

on the saliva ban on cricket balls

Patronising African innovationwon’t help Europe this time

—BS YEDIYURAPPA, Karnataka CM,after Law Minister JC

Madhuswamy was rude to awoman farmer

”

100Russian tourists

stranded inThiruvananthapuram

flown back toMoscow on Thursday

2.4 mnpeople filed forunemployment

benefits in UnitedStates on Thursday,says US Labour dept

What [Madhuswamy] said isnot right. Behaving like thatdoesn’t bode well. I’ll ensurethis doesn’t happen again.

“

by ManjeevPuri

— JENNIFER LAWRENCE,actor, on her

drinking habits during the lockdown

“

NEWSMAKER OF THE DAY BY SIDDHANT JUMDE

MAMATA BANERJEEThe Bengal Chief Ministeron Thursday said thedamage caused by Amphanwas more than thecoronavirus pandemic afterthe cyclone claimed thelives of 72 people. Banerjeehas asked Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to visit theaffected districts andprovide help to “rebuildthose areas from scratch”.She also announced acompensation of `2.5 Lakhto the families of those whodied in the cyclone.

The post-Covidworld and China

”

11Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Thursday, May 7, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

DESERT DUNES

BATTLING theCovid-19 infec-tion spreadrequires continu-ous change instrategy. In

Rajasthan, the first majorspread initiated from anNRI in Ramganj, whoinfected many in Jaipur. Itwas followed by the move-ments of Tablighi Jamatin the state and now, it ismostly being spread bymigrant workers.

As a result, the Rajasthan gov-ernment has created red, orangeand green zones according tourban areas and panchayatsamitis because of the manycases that are coming from ruralareas due to inward migration.

In this way, 139 out of 304 pan-chayat samitis of the state are inred zones, 83 in orange and 82 ingreen. In other words, 13 of 33

40% of stateis in red zone

Homecoming for the vulnerableTHIRTY one out of 33 districts ofRajasthan have Covid-19 caseswhose number has reached5,845. The good news is thatthere are 2,365 active cases.Tuesday saw a peak of 338 in asingle day. Jaipur tops that with1,640 cases so far, Jodhpur has1082, and Udaipur 414, Kota 331,Ajmer 257 and Pali 201.

Even districts such as Dun-garpur have 194 and Nagaurhas 190. Chittorgarh, Tonk andBharatpur also have more thana hundred. But the spread atthe most places is so suddenthat numbers soar from almostnone to a hundred within a dayor two. Just when Jaipurappeared to have controlledthe spread, its jails reported150 cases. Only until a fewweeks ago, Udaipur seemedthe safest city with just fourcases. The state has also wit-nessed a rising number of

cases where COVID is detectedpost death and there are fatal-ities suddenly due to loss ofoxygen and clotting. So peoplemust realise that despite arelaxed lockdown, COVID-19must be taken very seriously.More and more people are

gradually wearing masks butthey are not maintaining a dis-tance of six feet when they goout shopping. With the arrivalof the migrants, the COVIDcases will rise in numberengulfing places that werefree of the virus so far.

SPOTLIGHT

ROHIT PARIHAR

districts are entirely in red zoneswhich include Jodhpur, Udaipur,Kota and Bhilwara. 15 districtheadquarters are in red zones,which include Jaipur and onlysix districts have headquartersin green zones. Broadly speak-ing, 40 per cent of Rajasthan is

red, 54 per cent is orange andonly six per cent is green.

Urban Jaipur, which is outsidethe walled city, has mostly fol-lowed restrictions. So there islesser traffic on roads, andalmost none between 7 pm and 7am during curfew hours. Urban

Jaipur is in the red zone but allits 15 panchayat samitis are inorange zones. Subsequently,rural Jaipur has only orangezone restrictions.

—The writer is Senior Editor,India Today.

RAJASTAN’S CMGehlot has beenconsistent on his

stand on how to dealwith Covid-19. Gehlotsucceeded in convincingthe Centre to let statesdecide on various riskzones. He did not get therelief he expected fromthe centre so he changedhis response of “der ayaddurust ayad”, which hemade when PM NarendraModi announced `20,000crores relief to Der ayadlekin durust nahin” whenFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman did not offersubstantial relief to thestates. “We have to takecare of ourselves,” hestated.

RAJASTHAN isunder locust attack.The state has

ordered 1,000 sprayersthat will be mounted ontractors to kill locustsbefore they hatch eggs. Ifthe eggs are laid andhatched, mature locustscan damage young cropsin August. The Centre istrying to get fivehelicopters and 60mounted vehicles. As of now there are onlysmall swarms of locustsand these cover one tofour sq kms of fields whenthey land in the night torest. They have beenmoving around across onethird of the state. Thesehave been spotted inKishangarh and Puskarhaving entered fromPakistan. Chief MinisterGehlot has one more crisisto deal with.

Jaipur has 1,640cases so far

With many migrants returning home, certain districtshave seen a dramatic increase in the spread of infection

A file photo of formerCM Vasundhara Raje

CHIEF Minister Gehlot helda live video conferencewith MLAs and MPs of allparties. The leader ofopposition Gulab ChandKataria said Gehlot shouldavoid attacking Modi onthe virus. BJP MLA MadanDilawar accused the Con-gress of taking care ofMuslims more than otherreligious groups duringthe pandemic relief. Thesurprise was when ex CMVasundhara Raje appreci-ated Gehlot’s interaction.Raje stayed for the entireconference. Her sonDushyant Singh who rep-resents Jhalawar, broughtup a few pressing issues.The conference showedthat Gehlot is in control ofthe situation.

UNION Minister forJalshakti GajendraSingh Shekhawat

((ppiiccttuurreedd)) says the stategovernment was wrongin accusing the centre ofnot giving relief forCovid-19 andadded that`1600 crorefunds wasforpandemicrelief.

State BJPpresident SatishPoonia has also kept theparty going. They, alongwith Arjun Meghwal,union minister of state,can be a potentcombination to take onthe Congress in the nextassembly. This can onlyhappen if they are able toexpand their base.

FACING THEOPPOSITION

The state has createdred, orange and greenzones according tourban areas.

12 Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

13Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

By Mail Today Bureauin New Delhi

RIDING on theoverwhelmingresponsereceived by therecent digitalversions of

‘Agenda Aaj Tak’, India’sNo. 1 News Channel is nowback with its speciallycurated e-version of‘Sahitya Aaj Tak’ fromMay 22 -24.

The flagship literature festivalof the India Today Group willshowcase unique conversationswith prominent celebrities,singers, lyricists, writers, colum-nists and other distinguishedpersonalities with rich insightson real life anecdotes and chal-lenges arising out of the Coronavirus crisis. e-Sahitya Aaj Tak isa successful reinvention of anotherwise on-ground event notpossible currently due to thenationwide lockdown. e-Sahitya Aaj Tak will have over 28speakers and 25power-packedsessions overthree days.

The e-litera-ture fest prom-ises to bringtogether a conflu-ence of the greatest names in lit-erature and the performing artsto express their views openlyand engage in a meaningful dia-logue. The big attractions of the3-day event include AnupJalota, Javed Akhtar, Hans RajHans, Surendra Sharma, Pra-soon Joshi, Amish Tripathi,Ashok Vajpeyi, Swanand Kirkire,Chitra Mudgal, Manoj Munt-ashir, Javed Ali, Ashok Chakrad-har, Asghar Wajahat, PiyushMishra, Maithili Thakur, ChetanBhagat, Neeraj Pandey, ManojTiwari, Dinesh Lal Yadav(Nirahua), B Praak, Saloni Gaur,Cheshta Saxena along with themuch celebrated star cast from

Ramayana and Mahabharata.India’s No. 1 news channel for

past two decades, Aaj Takrecently hosted several editionsof Indian heartland’s biggestthought leadership summit‘Agenda Aaj Tak’ in the forms of‘e-Agenda Aaj Tak’. The sum-mits were power-packed eventswith a congregation of leaderson one common platform, delib-erating on the present issuesfaced by the world’s largest

democracy.Innovations,like being thefirst IndianNews channelto use drone

camera foractive news cov-

erage, interviewson teleportation, implementa-tion of the latest technologies innews delivery, besides a slew ofnew programming initiatives,exclusive interviews and Indus-try first events have kept thechannel in pole position. India’smost watched and No.1 newschannel Aaj Tak for last 20 years(Source - BARC/TAM, 15+,HSM, in terms of MarketShare) has also been theNo.1 TV Channel dur-ing Coronatimes with36 Crore viewers(Source: BARC,Absolute CummReach, 2+, All India,Week 12-19'20).

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 14 ENTERTAINMENT

A virtual literarymahakumbhIndia Today Group is all set to host e-Sahitya Aaj Tak from May 22-24

By Suhani Singh

THE Eid release date is usuallyreserved for Salman ‘Bhai’ Khanfilms. Not so in 2020 with Covid-19 having wreaked havoc glob-ally leading to closure of cine-mas and stoppage of shoots.Khan’s 2020 Eid offering,Radhe: Most Wanted Bhai wasone of the many casualties of thecrisis. But there is a new releaseon May 22 albeit it is on astreaming platform. Starring

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, RaghubirYadav, Swanand Krikire, IlaArun, Anurag Kashyap and withcameos by Amitabh Bachchan,Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinhato name a few, Ghoomketu, writ-ten and directed by PushpendraNath Mishra, finds an audienceon Zee5.

Mishra is glad that his featuredebut is reaching its intendedaudience: families. “It is a storythat celebrates family,” he said.“It’s a comedy which should be

film to tell a story regardless of where it will be seen,” he says. “It should reach people.”He adds that not all films are tailor-made for cinemas and can find a lifeline on a streamingplatform. There are advantagestoo. “With OTT nothing is local,everything is global,” he said.“Money Heist in Spain is beingwatched in India and a showabout mafia in Mumbai is being watched in US.” One wayto captivate people is “by tellingvery local stories which cele-brate culture, idiosyncrasies andcharacters”.

While Mishra may not haveknown where his film wouldrelease, what he did know wasNawazuddin Siddiqui was theright fit for the titular part of astruggling writer albeit one witha funny bone. When Mishra hadapproached Siddiqui, the actorwas yet to acquire the fame hehas now. “He offers a rare combi-nation of someone who evokesthe feeling of both the commonman and the star,” says Mishra.“With some actors you see theirpreparation and with others youdon’t get to see it. His process issilent but it is there. I knew he’dbe a star.”

watched with family.” With thelockdown still in place there isno better opportunity than now.

Produced by Phantom Filmsand Sony Pictures, Ghoomketuthough wasn’t originally made

for an Over the top (OTT) platform. After a couple of years in limbo, it got picked upby Zee5. Mishra though isn’t insistent on a theatricalrelease. “A filmmaker makes a

‘With OTT everything is global’

Director PushpendraNath Mishra (left);Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Ghoomketu is acomedy for the family

BOLLYWOOD celebrities, includ-ing filmmaker Shoojit Sircar,and actors Taapsee Pannu andRajkummar Rao, on Thursdaysaid they were praying for allthose who have been affectedby cyclone 'Amphan' in WestBengal and Odisha.

The extremely severecyclone has killed at least 12persons and ravaged Kolkataand several parts of West Ben-gal as it left behind a trail ofdestruction by uprootingtrees, destroying thousands ofhomes and swamping low-lying areas of the state. Shoo-jit, who is currently in Kolkata,took to Twitter and said that hehad never experienced thiskind of chilling and devastatingwinds. “Bengal will need a lotof support to get out of thisdevastation. Uprooted treesand toppled homes of poor... Itmay take years to get to nor-mal in some areas,” the film-maker posted. Replying to histweet, Taapsee said she ishopeful that people will collec-tively emerge stronger fromthe situation. “Together to getthrough this one too. Probablyall these are the tests for us to

1

43

2

5

87 6

910

1. Javed Akhtar

2. Chetan Bhagat

3. Ashok Vajpeyi

4. Prasoon Joshi

5. Anup Jalota

6. Piyush Mishra

7. Swanand Kirkire

8. Manoj Muntashir

9. Arun Govil

10. Amish Tripathi

Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 ENTERTAINMENT 15

By Suhani Singh

MEGHA Ramaswamy’sfeature debut, What arethe Odds?, follows a dayin the life of twoteenagers who bondover their mutual

appreciation for the strange.Through the course of an action-packed day which borders on sur-real, Ramaswamy gives a glimpse oftheir minds and life. Starring

Megha Ramaswamy on her

feature debut and her

penchant for characters

with enormous oddities

Yashaswini Dayama(Delhi Crime, Made inHeaven, Adulting) andKaranvir Malhotra (Selec-tion Day) as the odd pairat the heart of the storyand Abhay Deol in a smallsupporting part, the inde-pendent film had a festivalrun after which it beganstreaming on Netflix fromMay 20.

Ramaswamy, who co-wroteShaitaan, has directed twoshorts and The Last Music Store,a documentary on Mumbai’serstwhile music haven RhythmHouse, talks about how shethrives on the quirky and whyshe will tell stories aboutwomen.

ODDITIES ABOUND INTHIS FILM AND BECOMENORMAL GRADUALLY.TELL US ABOUT FINDINGJOY IN THE STRANGE. There is joy in the strange. I’m afirm believer in exploring andembracing it. As an only childmy greatest solace was buildingimaginary worlds and adventur-ing through them with a pet andmy grandparents. This was mynormal. I wish it for all kids(older and younger!).

To bring that to life via film,music and visuals seemed like Iwas doing something personal. Iunderstand this world. It’s

whimsical, it’s quirky, it’s kooky.I felt alienated when I wasyounger to be called all this.Now it’s the opposite.

It’s an honour to be all thesethings and make way for kidslike me who want to tell thesestories too.

IT STARTS OFF AS THEQUINTESSENTIAL BOY-MEETS-GIRL STORY. BUTYOU AVOID USING THEROMANTIC TROPE MOSTFILMS WOULD OTHERWISE DO. The young shouldn’t have todeal with the pressures ofdefined and limited relation-ships. Their world is abundant.Vivek (Dalal) and Ashwin (Mal-hotra) represent that world ofkeeping things curious anduntypical. Hopefully it becomesnormal in films for young boysand girls to be nothing in partic-

ular, to not be an item, to nothave the closure of happily everafter.

It’s so final. Who needs finalwhen you’re 14? Or even 37? Lifeas I know it is a series of inter-esting relationships – good andbad. There’s something in everyone of these to take back home.

YASHASWINI SPEAR-HEADS THE FILM. HOWWAS IT COLLABORATINGWITH HER?For dialogue writer ShreyaVaidya and me it was veryimportant that Vivek was a real-istic, relatable depiction of ateenager. I found a video ofYashaswini on YouTube singingher heart out and playing a littleguitar. It was so sincere. Myheart skipped a beat. I called herin a matter of seconds. She washappy reading the script and herapproval and instinctive under-

standing of Vivek as a clunky yetbizarrely, confident kid meantthe world to me. Yashaswininever shies away from being ahysterical and endearing littlehurricane.

Shreya and I knew we had anintelligent, natural actor for usto work with.

Yashaswini has incidentallysung all her parts as have Abhayand Karanavir.

YOUR BANNER IS CALLEDMISSFIT FILMS. DO YOUSEE YOURSELF AS ANODDITY IN BOLLYWOODIN TERMS OF THE STO-RIES YOU WANT TO TELLAND HOW YOU WANT TOTELL THEM?I just see myself as a safe spacefor younger people who don’t fitinto any mould in particular. Asa kid I lived in my head most of

the time. As an adult there’s alot of clarity. I am neither inde-pendent nor mainstream. I think the Indian film industryhas room for everyone - fromgangsters and ghouls to storiesabout little girls just beingthemselves.

Missfit films as the name sug-gests is very focused on storiesabout young women. We likebeing Miss Fits.

It’s a thing to celebrate. In anindustry where majority of ourstorytellers are men, we loveholding our own and being girls,women and queer.

YOUR NEXT IS TITLEDRESHMA SHERA.It’s a love-story between a beau-tiful black pariah dog and anine-year-old child which JarPictures will produce. We can’twait for the world to unpause onus and start to shoot this film.

Bollywood celebs prayfor Bengal and Odisha

‘Ultimately, storymatters the most’FILMMAKER Sujoy Ghosh saysIndian entertainment industrywill face many changes in thepost-lockdown world, but one willhave to learn to narrate their storywhile adhering to the rules andregulations.

The director, who often sets hisfilms in Kolkata, said given thestate of the coronavirus pan-demic, people will have toexercise caution from nowon. “As it's a health crisis,we all need to be carefuland follow the safety reg-ulations that will beincorporated while mak-ing movies. I will tell sto-ries that appeal to mewhether they are set inKolkata or Glasgow. It isthe story that matters.Filmmaking is litera-ture and not calcula-tions. We have to becareful given thecondition. I amsure all this willget sorted,”Ghosh told PTIin an interview. In

the wake of the pandemic, movietheatres have downed shuttersfrom mid-March and films such asGulabo Sitabo and ShakuntalaDevi are heading straight for a dig-ital release. Ghosh said the threemediums of entertainment -- OTT,films and TV -- are all shop win-dows where a creative person candisplay and sell their products.

“When as a creator, I makesomething, it helps me if I

know for which window I ammaking the content for.

If I know where I am goingas a filmmaker, I can controlmy writing, budget, cast, etcand accordingly serve theaudience.” The Badla direc-tor said the high of making a

film for the big screen isunparalleled. “That enthu-

siasm of making a filmwith 200-250 peopleworking on it...

Whether the prod-uct will work or not

is secondary, wecan't predictthat.” –– PTI

‘I FIND JOYIN THEQUIRKY’

Director MeghaRamaswamy; Left:

A still from Whatare the Odds?

FilmmakerSujoy Ghosh

get into the next decade. Weshall pass with flying colours.I wish to keep up the hope,”the actor said. FilmmakerKaran Johar tweeted, “Canthis year get any worse! Staysafe Bengal... All of us pray foryour safety and protection.”Rajkummar Rao said he is

deeply saddened by the lossof lives due to the cyclone.“My thoughts and prayers arewith everyone affected by#AmphanSuperCyclone andmy deepest condolences tothe families of victims wholost their lives. #PrayforWest-Bengal #PrayforOrissa,” he

tweeted. Actor Tisca Chopra won-

dered what is happening in2020 and also offered herprayers to those affected bythe cyclone. Amphan is oneof the fiercest cyclone to hitthe state in the last 100 years,according to India Meteoro-logical Department.

—PTI

Taapsee Pannu and KaranJohar among those whotweeted about the cyclone

Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 202016 COFFEE BREAK

TWO PAGES OF ASTROLOGY, PUZZLES AND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

ARIES Apr 14-May 14

Your love for one another isgoing to get stronger. Youare most likely sharing a

spiritual connect with your matewhich makes this relationship more meaningful.

CANCER July 16-Aug 15

Avoid distracting yourself at atime when everything is in

your favor. You can miss out on a lot ofaccomplishment. Just make a littleeffort to step out a little morefrequently.

LEO Aus 16-Sep 15

You and your partner will geta chance to discuss yourproblems and this way you

will get to clear the air. Manycomplications can get sorted out this way.

SCORPIO Nov 16-Dec 15

Work is likely to keep you very

hectic with barely any time to

spend with your loved one. You are

going to make up for this by making

the evening distinct.

AQUARIUSFeb 12-March 13

Your relationship is movingjust the way you have

continuously wanted it to be and thiswill give your self-assurance to takethings little easy.

SAGITTARIUSDec 16-Jan 13

With a little imaginative input,your love life can get much

better. It has been deteriorating but thatcould be because neither of you made muchattempt to do anything.

GEMINI June 16-July 15

You are going to provide theadded energy to make this

relationship a really care free affair. Youcould end up pleasing your partner tothe maximum. It will make him / herhappy.

TAURUS May 15-June 15

You could get veryenthralled by someone you

meet whom you will find incrediblycharming and positive. Before longyou will be making strategies to keepin touch and maybe even go out.

VIRGO Sep 16-Oct 15

You might want to relax a bit

and you will find that your

mate is very receptive and

helpful towards you. It is going to be a

day of numerous positive activities.

LIBRA Oct 16-Nov 15

You could be guarded aboutyour plans and this mightboomerang as your love

mate is going to be left pretty much inthe dark about a lot of what you aredesigning to do.

PISCES Mar 14-Apr 13

There will be closeness inthe relationship now. You

may want to seal this relationship withan appointment as soon as you can. Itis a busy day.

CAPRICORNJan 14-Feb 11Your mate is going to findyou to be an astounding

partner. You will leave no stoneunturned to influence him/her. It isgoing to be a very relaxing day.

By Dr Ajai Bhambi

Co

ffee

Bre

ak

Difficulty Rating

Cross out numbers to create blanks. No digit canappear in a row or column more than once. No twoadjacent squares can be blacked out. All the squaresleft unblacked must be connected — vertically or horizontally — to form a single shape.

SCRABBLE GRAMS

DAILY JUMBLE MINI SUDOKU SUDOKU X

CODEWORDSUDOKU

Difficulty Rating

Difficulty Rating

Difficulty Rating

Difficulty Rating

KAKURO SUDOKU CLASSIC HITORI

*Datesbased

on VedicSun Signs

Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 17COFFEE BREAK

by Manisha Koushik

FOCUSFOCUSASTROASTRO

ARIES Mar 21-Apr 20

Your efforts of last few years willreap rewards for you and translateinto continuously improving financial

condition. You will manage to make yourseniors happy at work with your efforts andperformance.

TAURUS Apr 21-May 20

Money will come your way andmake your financial front more

comfortable than before. You can addvalue to an event, so show your creative side.

GEMINI May 21-June 21

A great financial advice fromsomeone will help keep your

financial front stable. Someone importantat work will appreciate your efforts andgive thumps up to your performance.

CANCER June 22-July 22

You may receive expectedmoney soon. Thinking overthe results of your action is

not the need of the time; you shoulddo what needs to be done at this point of time.

LEO July 23-Aug 23

You will lead a life of luxury as youhave strong financial condition. You

will perform excellently on the academicfront. You will keep yourself fit and fine byremaining regular in your workouts.

VIRGO Aug 24-Sep 23

If you want to buy a major item,then you need to double yourefforts at earning. Wait and watchthe developments happening at

work. You become more health consciousand ditch junk food.

LIBRA Sep 24-Oct 23

You will become fit and healthsooner than expected as youare following an exercise

regimen. You may get a nod of someonein authority of a new project.

SCORPIO Oct 24-Nov 22

Your financial situation willimprove soon. You will get relieffrom a recurring ailment by

restoring to an alternative medicine. You may get mixed signals on the romantic fruit.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23-Dec 21

Avoid paying up for somethingwithout getting all the details. Youmay not meet a deadline at work.

You may pursue some physical activity orsport to remain fit and healthy.

CAPRICORN Dec 22-Jan 21

Your earning capacities willincrease and money will be nolonger an issue. You will play

your cards well and get into the noticeof seniors at work.

AQUARIUS Jan 22-Feb 19

Legal and medical professionalmay seek monetary gains. You willtake the cue with your smartness

and do the things in right manner. It willnot be hard for you to come back in shape, so keep going.

PISCES Feb 20-Mar 20

You will get money from the leastexpected sources and it will make

your financial front stable. Your initiativeswill start gathering steam. Aches and painsare set to disappear.

KEN-KENEach row & column must contain numbers 1 to 4 (easy) or1 to 6 (difficult). The numbers within the heavily outlinedboxes must combine to produce the numbers in the top-left corner.

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS3 In addition - no fours! (4)

5 That saucy look of TrooperThomas (4)

7 It’s the colour of breamwhen it’s gone off (5)

8 I boast to ten about beingstubborn (9)

9 I indicate that no tip isrequired (5)

10 Lee is disturbed in themind but certainly showsspirit (9)

11 Shut out, the French call ina detective (6)

14 Quickly! Change thatposter! (6)

19 Finds grime on the seat somoves to another place (9)

20 How I harden to findingruin in the East (5)

21 I’m delivering sermons onthe use of unsuitablenames (9)

22 Have them point to the air!(5)

23 It’s not an attractive wordto use! (4)

24 Kiss then go out in thesnow with them (4)

DOWN1 Dogs as fellow travellers

should remain on the floor!

(7)

2 It makes you cross when they

shorten it! (7)

3 I object when they rest at the

top (7)

4 They have rules about taking

tea in Northern Ireland (6)

5 As an act of mortification you

get the cane for taking a pen

(7)

6 Take back what you said con-

cerning this region (7)

12 Mel returns with the imperial

dynasty, makes one suicidal

(7)

13 A pressing need to cry and

point with a gun (7)

15 Opposes the need to have the

sisters transferred (7)

16 The salt had it due to him - his

rank was acknowledged (7)

17 Commanded by two Reds to

accept nothing (7)

18 A swift dash right to Kate’s

place if you’ve nothing on,

that is! (6)

SUDOKUFill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, column and each of the 3X3squares contains all the digits from 1 to 9. Solutions are below.

Difficulty Rating Difficulty Rating Difficulty Rating

TODAY’S SOLUTIONS

HITORI CRYPTIC CROSSWORDKAKURO

SUDOKU SUDOKU CLASSICMINI SUDOKU

QUICK QUIZ: 1. Four; 2. Serbian; 3. No. 1;

4. Jelena Gencic; 5. 2003; 6. Jo-Wilfried

Tsonga; 7. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

CODEWORD

Scrabble and scrabble tiles are registered trademarks. Allrights in the game are owned in the USA by Hasbro Inc., inCanada by Hasbro Canada Inc., and elsewhere by J.W. Spear &Sons Limited., a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc

SCRABBLE GRAMSSUDOKU X

KEN-KEN

1. Djokovic is associated with

Tennis. At what age did he

begin playing the sport?

2. What is the nationality

of Djokovic?

3. Currently what is the

world rank Djokovic holds in

men's singles tennis by the

Association of Tennis

Professionals?

4. Which Yugoslav tennis

player spotted six-year-old

Djokovic at Mount

Kopaonik, and worked

with him over the follo

wing six years?

5. Which year did Djokovic

turn professional by entering

the ATP World Tour?

6. At the Australian Open

finals, who did Djokovic

defeat in four sets so as to

earn his first Grand Slam

singles title?

7. When Djokovic won in the

2008 Australian Open, it was

the first time since 2005 that

a Grand Slam singles title

was not won by which two

other players?

QUICK QUIZ

Novak Djokovic wasborn on May 22,1987.

18

Continued from page 1

will be allowed to operate onlyone-third capacity approved inthe summer schedule in 2020. Forinstance, if all the airlines were totake 100 daily flights betweenDelhi and Mumbai as per thesummer schedule, they can onlytake 33 now. Although the minis-ter said airlines would be allowedto add more flights “in a cali-brated manner,” he didn’t elabo-rate on the conditions that arerequired to be met.

In addition, the ministry hasgiven a fare band under sevencategories depending on theduration of the flight. Forinstance, a Delhi-Mumbai ticketcan be priced between Rs 3,500and Rs 10,000 with 40 per cent ofthe tickets to be sold below Rs6,750. Then, there are a host ofguidelines issued for the passen-gers who are keen on air travelafter the flights are resumed.

With this, the airlines have goneback to the drawing board to pre-pare a fresh reboot plan. But evenas airlines take to the skies after agap of 62 days, they would be fac-ing the most difficult question:Will there be a sustained demandfor air travel in the Covid world?Experts say demand for air travelis going to peak post May 25 for aweek or so since a lot of peoplewho were stranded would return

to their safe zones. After that,there is a strong likelihood thatthe demand would tank.

As per some estimates, nearly80 per cent of air travel demandwould get wiped out over thenext three months. That’sbecause nearly 40 per cent of theair travel is driven by leisure, anduntil a cure is found, this segmentwould remain fragile. Holiday-makers would prefer their privatevehicles for a trip within a drivingdistance of three-five hours. Eventhough the demand on the busi-ness segment, which is 60 percent of the overall demand, isexpected to be better thanleisure, the overall pie wouldsqueeze.

“After a week, I believe thatthere will be a true test of thedemand. This is the biggestdemand shock for the airline sec-tor in history. Even one-thirdcapacity is a bit much, and I seeairlines would be forced to selltickets at the lower end of theband,” says Vinamra Longani,head of operations at Sarin & Co,a law firm specialising in aircraftmatters.

AIRLINES RESUME FLIGHTSWITH VIRUS ON RADAR

We have identified 12sectors, including autoparts, textiles andindustrial machinery,in which India will beself-reliant and canalso lead the globalsupply chain.

‘QUOTE OF THE DAY

— PIYUSH GOYAL, COMMERCE MINISTER$13.6 bnis projected size of India’scybersecurity servicesindustry by 2025.

NUMBER OF THE DAY

ONGC and NTPC signed a pacton Thursday to form a joint

venture which will set up renewablepower assets in India and overseas.ONGC chairman Shashi Shankerjoined the signing through virtualconferencing.

mybiz

‘

DIVERSIFIED financial servicesgroup Indiabulls Group hasasked nearly 2,000 employ-ees to resign from the com-pany. The Group, however,said this was part of theannual attrition cycle andclaimed these were not lay-offs.

The company typically seesan attrition of 10-15 per centof its workforce every yearduring April-May in the nor-mal course of business. Thisyear we waited till we gotclarity from the SupremeCourt and MHA. There are nolayoffs other than in the nor-mal course of business due toattrition and as per the per-formance trend of the entireyear and not just a couple ofmonths, Indiabulls Group saidin a statement. The group didnot disclose any specificnumbers.

The group employs morethan 26,000 people and in2019-20 itself, it added morethan 7,000 new members, thestatement said.

Recently, employees of thegroup's housing finance armIndiabulls Housing Financeclaimed that they were askedto resign from the companyby their reporting manageron May 15, 2020, with their lastworking day as May 31, 2020. Afew employees of the mort-gage lender told PTI that theywere not being allowed toserve the three-month noticeperiod. Our appointment let-ter mentions a notice periodof three months from bothparties. We had requestedthem to let us serve the noticeperiod so that we can look fora new job, an employee toldPTI. The company'sspokesperson, however, saidthe notice period will vary asper the contract of employ-ees. Some employees of thecompany claimed theyreceived a transfer order asthey have not submitted theirresignation. —PTI

Indiabullsgives pinkslips to 2000employees

U.S. carriers JetBlue Airways Corp andUnited Airlines Holdings Inc announcedfresh safety measures on Wednesdayaimed at restoring confidence in airtravel as several executives pointed tosigns domestic demand is improving.

U.S. states are starting to reopen andairlines expect an increase in domestictravel over the extended holiday week-end for Memorial Day on Monday.

While data shows only a small fractionof recent flights were more than 70% full,

there may soon be full or near-full planes,said Airlines for America, a trade grouprepresenting major U.S. airlines.

Major airlines have mandated face cov-erings for travelers and are taking a lay-ered approach to safety.

JetBlue will continue blocking someseats on its aircraft through at least July 6while checking crew members’ tempera-tures and stepping up aircraft cleaningwith electrostatic aircraft fogging.

United will roll out Clorox Co’s electro-

static sprayers and disinfecting wipes atits Chicago and Denver hub airports, fol-lowed by other locations. It will set uptouchless kiosks and implement temper-ature checks for staff as well. Delta AirLines Inc will continue capping its passen-ger load at 60% beyond June, sourceshave told Reuters, and is undertakingother efforts to boost customer confi-dence as it adds flights back to its net-work.

—Reuters

US airlines step up safety measures to keep coronavirus at bay

Flyer count expected to be low

GOVT CAPS AIRFARES By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

CIVIL AVIATION minister Hardeep Singh Purion Thursday said the Centre has slotted air-fares into seven price bands basedon flight duration, with eachband having fixed minimumand maximum fares that air-lines can charge passengerstill August 24.

Later, the Directorate Gen-eral of Civil Aviation (DGCA)announced the specific pricebands, with the lowest fareset at Rs 2,000 and the highestat Rs 18,600.

Much like the hotel sectorwhere operators are finding ithard to keep the hotels running,experts believe that it mightcome to a point where airlinesmight find it unprofitable to keepthe operations running. How? Ina normal situation, nearly 40 percent of the airline’s expenses arefixed (salary, leases, etc), and 30per cent is ATF cost. Thoughsome of these have been ratio-nalised in the Covid period,there’s still a significant cost thatairlines will have to bear to flyplanes.

“The airlines have a long list ofcreditors (lessors, airports, oilcompanies) who are waiting toget paid. This is on top of the Rs3,700 crore of pending refunds tothe passengers. Some airlineshave stopped paying staffsalaries from April. Operating

flights at weak load factorswould aggravate their losseswhen they are already facinghuge financial challenges overthe past two months,” says anaviation consultant.

As per ratings agency ICRA,domestic carriers are losing Rs75-90 crore per day, and their debtlevel is expected to rise to Rs46,500 crore in FY22. “Even whenthe operations resume and pas-sengers start flying, a large per-centage of passengers may beusing these credit shells, and thusmay not bring any significantadditional cash inflows to the air-lines,” said Kinjal Shah, vice pres-ident at ICRA.

Weaker airlines like SpiceJetand GoAir (with poor cash situ-ation) are staring at an addi-tional challenge of fighting itout with stronger players like

IndiGo and Tata Group-ownedcarriers (Vistara, AirAsia India)who could likely use this as anopportunity to decimate com-petition. That’s exactly the rea-son given by the MoCA to intro-duce fare bands. But Puri madeit clear that this is not fare fixa-tion as the government is deal-ing with an extraordinary situa-tion. “It’s conceivable that thefares would sky-rocket. Basedon the consumer feedback,once we exit the three-monthperiod, we could return to sta-tus quo or market-based sys-tem – which is equitable,” theUnion minister said.

Mark Martin of Martin Consult-ing says that the governmentshould not control fares even inthe current circumstances. “Theairlines have been bleeding forover two months.”

Duration Min fare Max fare(minutes) (Rs) (Rs)

0-40 2,000 6,000

40-60 2,500 7,500

60-90 3,000 9,000

90-120 3,500 10,000

120-150 4,500 13,000

150-180 5,500 15,700

180-210 6,500 18,600

WHAT FLYERS HAVE TO PAY

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

HardeepSingh Puri

LOW-KEY OPS: File photo of passengers at the Delhiairport

Indiabulls founder Sameer Gehlaut

19

Amazon makesdebut in fooddelivery services

MY BIZ

By Aishwarya Paliwal in New Delhi

EXPERTS have projected thatIndia’s GDP may shrink up to sixper cent during the 2020-21financial year, according toFinance Commission chairmanNK Singh on Thursday.

“India’s GDP is expected growbetween -6% & 1% this financialyear according to experts,” hetold reporters after a commit-tee under the 15th Finance Com-mission met on Thursday to dis-cuss the fiscal consolidationroadmap of the central andstate governments.

“There is lot of uncertainty. Wewill have to look at growth datafor the fourth and first quartersto assess medium term fiscalpath.” India had widened lastyear’s fiscal deficit to 3.8% ofGDP and had targeted it at 3.5%this year, and at 3.3% and 3.1%over the next two years.

‘India’s GDPmay shrinkup to 6%’

INDIAN pharmaceutical companyStrides Pharma Science Ltd onThursday received regulatoryapproval to start clinical trials ofantiviral drug favipiravir, whichhas been touted as a potentialtreatment for COVID-19.

The Bengaluru-based companyhas received approval from the DrugController General of India to con-duct human studies of favipiravir inthe country, a Strides executive saidon a post-earnings conference call.Favipiravir is manufactured underthe brand name Avigan by a unit ofJapan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp.

Strides to holdvirus drug trials

GLAXOSMITHKLINE Pharmaceu-ticals on Thursday said it hasdecided to discontinue produc-tion and sale of Zinetac tablets,used to treat and preventheartburn, in the country. The company will in due courserequest cancellation of themarketing authorisation associ-ated with the drug, Glaxo-SmithKline Pharmaceuticalssaid in a regulatory filing.

GSK to stop saleof Zinetac tablets

By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

AMAZON Indiaon Thursdaysaid it islaunching itsfood deliveryservices in the

country, starting with Ben-galuru, a developmentwhich will pose a challengeto established playersSwiggy and Zomato at atime when the two start-ups have been hit hard dueto the lockdown.

Amazon already has a strongpresence in India with its e-com-merce business and the fooddelivery services would only addan attractive option for the com-pany that has been investingheavily in the country.

“Customers have been tellingus for some time that they wouldlike to order prepared meals onAmazon in addition to shoppingfor all other essentials,” an Ama-zon spokesperson said in a state-ment, adding that the companyhad rolled out the feature inBengaluru.

Amazon launched its Primeservices in India in 2016 andalready offers services such asvideo and music streaming aswell as grocery delivery in manycities across the country.

The company’s move comes ata time when both Swiggy andZomato are reeling from the eco-nomic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forcedthe two startups to scale downjobs cut costs as fresh funding isdrying up. They will now alsohave to contend with competi-tion from the US tech giant whichhas very deep pockets.

“Amazon Food will be launchedin some areas in Bengaluru andcustomers can order from over100 handpicked restaurants andcloud kitchens that pass thecompany’s high hygiene certifi-cation bar. These include outletslike Box8, Chai point, Chaayos,Faasos, Mad Over Donuts as wellas restaurants from hotel chainslike Radisson and Marriott,” thecompany spokesperson said.

T HE ORDERS canbe placed throughAmazon app butthe option will cur-rently be visible to

customers in the live pin codes. The Amazon launch comes as

both Swiggy and Zomato facesharp declines in their core busi-ness, with restaurants remainingshut during the two-month lock-down, forcing the companies tocut hundreds of jobs to savecash. Both the companies haveannounced plans to step up theirpresence in the grocery deliverysegment to cover up the setback —MT Bureau & Agencies

By Guy Faulconbridge, KateHolton & Aakash B, in London/ Bengaluru

THE UNITED States has securedalmost a third of the first one billiondoses planned for AstraZeneca’s exper-imental COVID-19 vaccine by pledgingup to $1.2 billion, as world powersscramble for medicines to get theireconomies back to work.

While not proven to be effectiveagainst the coronavirus, vaccines areseen by world leaders as the only realway to restart their stalled economies,and even to get an edge over globalcompetitors.

After President Donald Trumpdemanded a vaccine, the U.S. Depart-

ment of Health agreed to provide up to$1.2 billion to accelerate AstraZeneca’svaccine development and secure 300million doses for the United States.

“This contract with AstraZeneca is amajor milestone in Operation Warp

Speed’s work toward a safe, effective,widely available vaccine by 2021,” U.S.Health Secretary Alex Azar said.

The vaccine, previously known asChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and now asAZD1222, was developed by the Univer-sity of Oxford and licensed to Britishdrugmaker AstraZeneca. Immunity tothe new coronavirus is uncertain and sothe use of vaccines unclear.

The U.S. deal allows a late-stage -Phase III - clinical trial of the vaccinewith 30,000 people in the United States.

AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge,England, said it had concluded agree-ments for at least 400 million doses ofthe vaccine and secured manufacturingcapacity for one billion doses, with firstdeliveries due to begin in September.

INDIA PLAYING ROLE AstraZeneca said it was in talks withgovernments and partners around theworld - such as the Serum Institute ofIndia - to increase access and produc-tion, and is speaking to various organi-sations on the fair allocation and distri-bution of the vaccine.

“We would like to thank the US andUK governments for their substantialsupport to accelerate the developmentand production of the vaccine,”AstraZeneca Chief Executive PascalSoriot said. The Serum Institute ofIndia, the world’s largest maker of vac-cines by volume, has dedicated one ofits facilities with a capacity to produceup to 400 million doses annually to pro-ducing the Oxford vaccine.

US secures claim to UK anti-virus vaccine in $1.2 bn deal

EXPANDING FOOTPRINT: File photo of an Amazon warehouse

from the food delivery business.SWIGGY, ZOMATO EYE

BOOZ BIZ Meanwhile, as part oftheir survival plans both Swiggyand Zomato said they wouldbegin delivering alcohol in somecities starting Thursday. Themove aims to cash in on the highdemand for booze during thecountry’s coronavirus lockdown.

Cash-strapped state govern-ments that have seen a big hit intheir revenue collections, withthe lockdown bringing eco-nomic activity to astandstill, are keen tosee the resumptionof liquor sales. Thisis expected to helpthe two startups

in getting the necessary clear-ances for entering the new deliv-ery business.

India was among the few coun-tries to restrict liquor and tobaccosales as it announced one of theworld’s strictest lockdowns inMarch. Hundreds of peoplestarted queuing up at liquor storesearlier this month in brazen viola-tion of social distancing normswhen the country eased somerestrictions. This had led to

chaotic scenes as police hadto resort to baton-charges

to control crowds insome places.

The companieswill roll out theservice in select

cities in the eastern state ofJharkhand, starting with its cap-ital of Ranchi from Thursday,Swiggy and Zomato said in sep-arate statements.

Swiggy said it was in advancedtalks with multiple states tolaunch the service in more loca-tions, and both firms said themove to allow alcohol ordersthrough smartphones will pro-mote social distancing and cus-tomer safety.

“By enabling home delivery ofalcohol ... we can generate addi-tional business for retail outletswhile solving the problem ofovercrowding,” said Anuj Rathi,vice president of products atBengaluru-based Swiggy.

Swiggy, Zomato face challenge

Serviceslaunched in some

Bengaluru localities

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

SENSEX30,818.61

THURSDAY’S CLOSE

30,932.90

WEDNESDAY’S CLOSE

9,106.25

WEDNESDAY’S CLOSE

H: 9,178.55

L: 9,056.10

39.709,066.55

THURSDAY’S CLOSE

NIFTY

114.29H: 31,188.79L: 30,765.32

MA

RK

ET

S

BU

LL

ION

1 ITC 7.48 188.90

2 ASIAN PAINTS 4.97 1,575.00

3 HEROMTCRP 4.73 2,119.10

4 BAJAJ AUTO 3.18 2,639.45

5 MARUTI 3.14 5,046.00

% change Price (`̀)TOP GAINERS

% change Price (`̀)

TOP LOSERS

1 INDUSINDBNK -2.91 346.95

2 NTPC -2.74 90.35

3 BAJAJFNNCE -2.65 1988.55

4 HDFC -1.88 1,596.25

5 LARSEN -1.75 820.40 EX

CH

AN

GE

RA

TEThursday

(SILVER)

(GOLD)

Wednesday Thursday

Fri Mon Tue Wed Thu

100

90

80

70

60

Mon Tue Wed

$ YEN

DOLLAR,YEN

Mon Tue Wed

£

EURO,POUND

76

72

68

64

60

Dollar `̀75.64 `̀75.51

Euro `̀82.97 `̀82.87

Pound `̀92.86 `̀92.20

Yen (100) `̀70.32 `̀70.09

GOLD/10 gm `371 `46,760

SILVER/1 kg `653 ̀ 48,405

45,000

40,000

35,000

400

380

350

Fri Mon Tue Wed Thu

¤

20 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

21

Sports

MailCSA wants Sourav Ganguly asICC chairman: Graeme Smith

Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

By Aditya K Halder in New Delhi

HEPTATHLETESwapna Barman, whois currently safe at herhome in West Ben-gal’s Jalpaiguri,expressed her grief on

the damages done by CycloneAmphan in Odisha and Bengal.

While the death toll has crossed 80after the cyclon hit the two easternstates, including Bangladesh onWednesday evening, striking images ofits devastation in Kolkata, left Swapnaat a loss of words.

“I don’t know what to say… this isunbelievable. After I saw the images ofwhat happened in Kolkata, I wasshocked. First the pandemic, now this,it has been a really bad year. We need tokeep Bengal, Odisha and Bangladesh aswell in our prayers,” said the 2018 AsianGames gold medallist.

Since the cyclone wreak havoc in thecity of joy on Wednesday night, networkconnectivity, along with powerfailure in most of the areas, hasbeen a major issue, leavingmasses in dark about well-beingof their friends and family. Thesituation is no different for 12-toe athlete, who is unable to con-tact his coach Subhash Sarkar,residing in Kolkata

“I am really worried for mycoach and friends in Kolkata as Ihave been unable to reach themdespite repeated attempts. I canonly hope they are all safe and Iwill be able to connect withthem soon,” Swapna told MAIL

TODAY on Thursday evening.The heptathlete, who used to

train at the SAI facilities inKolkata, revealed her coach senther home before lockdown, fear-ing the risk of the contagion.

CFI calls Bihar migrant girl for trialsMail Today Correspondent in New Delhi

IT HAS been heart-wrenching to seethousands of immigrant workers takingdesperate measures to go back to theirvillages due to scarcity of job opportu-nities in cities amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Many celebrities and institutions havealready come forward to help ease painof the migrant labours as their miserycontinues. In such times, Cycling Feder-ation of India has come up with itsunique gesture to pay their homage tothe migrants by inviting 13-year-oldJyoti Kumari — who covered 1200kms ina bicycle carrying her ailing father from

Gurugram to Bihar in seven days — for atrial in the capital when the normalcyresumes. CFI chief Onkar Singh, who isknown for showing faith in country’syoung cyclists, feels Jyoti has shown

quality for endurance cycling by cover-ing such immense distance in a weekwith a pillion and wants to give her achance to prove her talent.

“We got in touch with the girl afterlearning of her feat. We have asked herto come for a trial when lockdown islifted next month. If she proves her tal-ent, we will take her in as a trainee atour National Cycling Academy (at the IGIStadium),” Onkar told MAIL TODAY.

Jyoti’s father, Mohan Paswan, anautorickshaw driver in Gurgaon gotinjured and the lockdown left him with-out any source of income.

He had to return the autorickshaw tothe owner.

Swapna atloss of

words aftercycloneAmphanwreaks

havoc ineastern

states

While she was following indoortraining regime since then,Swapna was eager to return toKolkata after governmentallowed athletes to train againfrom March 18 onwards. Butwith the natural disaster settingin, the athlete was forced toreassess her plans.

“I was eager to go back toKolkata after outdoor trainingresumed again. I was planning

to book a car to Kolkata butnow have to rethink my plans asthe cyclone has made thingsuncertain now,” she said.

Swapna had endured a careerfull of injuries. Her injuries weresomething that also made theheadline along with her painfultussle with unfit shoes at theAsian Games, where she alsoposted her best score of 6026points. Post 2018 success, theheptathlon queen had to settlefor 2019 Asian Championshipssilver medal in April, which wasalso her last competitiveappearance in the event.

Swapna revealed to the paperlast year that she targetsOlympic qualification through

alternate route World Athleticsranking as the direct qualifica-tion standard is set too stiff at6420 points.

The athlete, who revealed thatshe is injury free at the momentand raring to get back intoaction, feels that uncertaintyregarding Athletics calendarleaves her worried.

“My focus remains qualifyingthrough World Athletics ranking(currently 48).

But with no idea of how will bethe new calendar be and if therewill be enough competition forheptathletes to improve rankingis something that worries me,”she explained.

13-year-old Jyoti

travels 1200km in cycle

carrying father

INTERVIEWSWAPNA BARMAN

‘PRAY FOR BENGALODISHA’

PANDEMICC VID-19 I don’t know what to say…this is

unbelievable.After I saw the images of whathappened in Kolkata,I was shocked.First thepandemic,now this,it has been a really bad year.‘ ‘

— Swapna Barman, 2018 Asian Games gold medallist

&

Jyoti ridesfather fromGurugramto Bihar.

TWITTER

22 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Mail Today Correspondent in New Delhi

THE Ministry of YouthAffairs and Sports hasallowed the opening up ofsports complexes and sta-dia in SAI training centresto resume sports activi-

ties. Accordingly, the Sports Author-ity of India has drawn up a StandardOperating Procedure (SOP), to befollowed at every sports complex andstadia with the approval the govern-ment.

The SOP incorporates bestpractices being followed acrossthe world customized to Indiancontext. “‘Khelo India-Phir Se’ iswhat we want to covey with thisSOP,” SAI said in a statement.

The document that details theroadmap for pursuing sportsactivities, keeping in mind thehealth and safety of athletes andall stakeholders. There are sev-eral do's & don’ts mentioned in it.

According to the SOP, batonexchange won’t be allowed inrelay training for athletes, box-ers will not have access to ringsand only singles players will getto practice at indoor badmintonand table tennis courts.

Athletics, hockey, badminton,boxing and shooting were amongthe eleven disciplines which werepermitted to resume outdoortraining following relaxations inthe lockdown to contain theCOVID-19 pandemic. However,considering the kind of heat inHyderabad, the shuttlers to trainoutdoors would be really tough.

It also stated that weightlifters,

archers, cyclists, fencers, wrestlersand paddlers too can resumetraining with requisite safetymeasures. The SOP, however, pro-hibits sparring for contact disci-plines and has barred the use ofswimming pools for now.

SAI secretary Rohit Bharadwajmade the announcement in anonline video conference hostedby SAI in which the SOP waspresented.

Bharadwaj said that the SOPwould be implemented “immedi-ately,” there was no specificguideline as to when the athletescan start outdoor training, par-ticularly at the National Insti-tute of Sport in Patiala and theSAI centre in Bengaluru.

The senior Indian hockey teamsand 10 track and field athleteswho are training for the post-poned Tokyo Olympics are at SAIBengaluru while a number of elitetrack and field athletes includingstar javelin thrower NeerajChopra are at NIS Patiala.

A separate committee headedby Executive Director, TEAMSDivision of SAI Radhica Sree-man was formed for formulating

No sparring, nobaton exchanges:SAI releases SOPto resume training

ATHLETICS■ All event training can resume.Use of high jump/long jump/triplejump/pole vault pit is not permit-ted unless available for personaluse. Relay training must notinclude contact or batonexchange.■ Number of athletes per eventarea (shot put, discus, javelin,track must be decided adhering toadequate social distancing norms.■ Sharing of javelin, discus, hur-dles set, starting blocks, shot putetc. or any athlete equipment notpermitted.■ Equipment must be sanitised preand post every use.

HOCKEY■ Individual skill training permit-ted with number of athletesdecided adhering to adequatesocial distancing norms. It is rec-ommended that it not exceed 12players on field (3 each in 1 quad-rant) at a time.■ Each player must have their des-ignated area of training.■ Activities requiring player tokneel, sit or lie on turf is prohib-ited.

■ Tackling is prohibited.■ Sharing of hockey sticks, etc. isprohibited. Balls/cones/commonitems used for drills must be han-dled with due precaution.■ Equipment must be sanitised preand post every use.

WEIGHTLIFTING■ Training in alternate platformspermitted with minimum 2m dis-tance between platforms.■ Each lifter to have his/her desig-

nated training set. Sharing ofequipment prohibited.■ Equipment and flooring must besanitised pre and post every use

ARCHERY■ Practice with individual targetset allowed with alternate lanegap.■ Archers must maintain individ-ual bow and arrow sets. Sharing ofequipment is prohibited and sani-tised pre and post every use.

BADMINTON■ Outdoor training is recom-mended wherever feasible.Indoor court training (if neces-sary) limited to singles only.■ 2 players and 1 coach allowedwith alternate court gap. Duringsparring both players must usetheir own set of shuttles.■ Sharing of racquets/similarequipment prohibited and mustbe sanitized pre and post everyuse.

BOXING■ Skill training using personalbags only (name tagged) adheringto minimum social distancingnorms of 2m.■ Human sparring, use ofboxing ring, etc. is prohib-ited.■ Sharing of gloves/wristwraps etc. is pro-hibited;Bags/floor and

SAFE

TYPR

OTOC

OL

SOPs for swimming. Opening ofstadiums and sports complexesfor athletes was among theguidelines issued by the Min-istry of Home Affairs on May 17while announcing an extensionof the nationwide lockdown thatis in place to stem the spread ofCoronavirus.

The SAI’s SOP came after thehome ministry allowed theopening of sports complexesand stadia in its guidelines forthe fourth phase of the lock-down, which has been extendedtill May 31. But there has beenno clarity on when the trainingwill resume.

Khelo India Phir Se. All stadia and sports complexes are openagain. However, health of athletes and other stakeholders

comes first for which a detailed SOP has been prepared toensure that. I welcome athletes back to the field #KheloIndiaPhirSe

PANDEMICC VID-19

ROADMAP

READY— KIREN RIJIJU, sports minister

Javelin throwers arebarred from sharing

their equimpent. (In pic) Neeraj Chopra.

Tabletennis star GSathiyan.

Simranjit Kaur (in red) has said she is okay to train without asparring partner.

23Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020 COVID-19 PANDEMIC

By V Krishnaswamyin New Delhi

THEY have spent more thanhalf their lives at the DelhiGolf Club. They learnt theirgolf here, won amateur titleshere and then Internationaltitles. Both Gaurav Ghei andShiv Kapur, call the DelhiGolf Club their ‘first’ home.They spend all their time atthe club, playing, socialisingand often their families arethere with them.

But seldom has a trip tothe Delhi Golf Club been assatisfying as it has been forpast two days when theycould not play golf becauseof Covid-19. “What a reliefand a stress-buster,” saidKapur.

Ghei whose first and most

famous Asian Tour win, theGadgil Western Masters,came at this course 25 yearsago, was even more evoca-tive. “Being away from golfwas so strange. It is the onlything I have done and it’sthe thing I know best and ithas been my livelihood forthree decades. So its greatto be back playing golf, evenwith rules that we nevereven thought of.”

The two, as also their otherclose buddy, Chiragh Kumar,who has also won an AsianTour event at the DGCcourse, have played countlesstimes but this latest experi-ence was something else.

Ghei added, “Shiv and Ihave played hundreds andthousands of time at DGC.But never was as it excitingas it has been the past twodays. We understand why thiswas done. Yet playing golf isour job. In a way, we werewaiting to return to our jobs.”

Kapur confessed, “I wasafraid that I might not beable to follow some strictrules of social distancing andso on. But we got used to itas we continued our play.But am happy to do what weare used to – play golf for aliving. The competitions aresome way off, but the firststep has been taken.”

The golfers were also back

in Chandigarh, where thestandard bearer of Indianprofessional golf, JeevMilkha Singh, played withhis old buddies. His father,the 90-year-old legend,Milkha Singh, an avid golfer,was missing as rules prohib-ited golfers above 65 fromplaying right now.

Playing with Jeev wasUttam Singh Mundy, formerpro and now CEO of PGTI,Gurbaaz Mann, a former proand now a coach and AsianTour pro, Ajeetesh Sandhu.Amritinder Singh, a formerAsian Tour pro, and now aswing coach for Jeev, and agood friend of all of them,accompanied them all.

‘RELIEVED TO BEBACK ON COURSE’

OLYMPICS chief Thomas Bachsaid 2021 was the last option forholding the delayed TokyoGames on Thursday, stressingthat postponement cannot goon forever.

Bach told the BBC thathe agreed withJapan’s stance thatthe Games willhave to be can-celled if the Coro-navirus pandemicisn’t under con-trol by next year.In March, theTokyo 2020Olympics were post-poned to July 23, 2021as the Coronavirusspread across the globe,killing hundreds of thousandsof people and making interna-tional sport impossible.

“Quite frankly, I have someunderstanding for (Japan’s

position) because you cannotforever employ 3,000, or 5,000,people in an organising com-mittee,” the InternationalOlympic Committee presidentsaid.

“You cannot every yearchange the entire

sports scheduleworldwide for all themajor federations.

“You cannot havethe athletes beingin uncertainty, youcannot have somuch overlapping

with a futureOlympic Games.” The Olympics have

never been cancelled out-side of the world wars, but

Japanese officials have beenclear that they have no inten-tion of postponing the Gamesagain beyond next year.

—Agencies

SPINNER RRaavviicchhaannddrraannAAsshhwwiinn on Wednesdaysaid the reason behindjoining the Delhi Capitalswas to “strengthen thebowling” and make theteam “the front-runners forthe IPL title.”

“I was coming to a fran-chise which had qualifiedfor the playoffs last season,and had some very excitingplayers including Rishabh(Pant) and Prithvi (Shaw).I thought I could use myexperience for the fran-chise and improve the teamfurther,” he said.

Speaking on the changesin cricket once the sportresumes, Ashwin said, “Itmay take time to get usedto certain things. Theentire lockdown and itsexperience is a way of ourworld, and nature tellingus to pause.” —Mail Today

2021 ‘last option’for Tokyo Games,says IOC chief Bach

InternationalOlympic

Committeepresident Thomas

Bach.

Ghei & Kapur

train at Delhi

Golf Club

all equipment must be sani-tised pre and post every use.

CYCLING■ Limited cyclists allowed ontrack adhering to adequatesocial distancing norms.■ Sharing of cycles/equip-ment strictly prohibited.Sanitisation of flooring,cycle, equipment etc.mandatory pre and posteach use.

FENCING■ 1 fencer per piste allowedper alternate piste. Humansparring not permitted.Dummies (if used) must bepersonal (name tagged).■ Sharing of equipment pro-hibited. Mandatory sanitisa-tion of equipment/dummiespiste pre and post use.

SHOOTING■ Dry and live fire training

permitted with alternatelane gap.

■ No equipmentsharing is permitted

including ammo.■ Adequate care must betaken when refilling of air.■ Shooting stations must beanitized pre and post use.

WRESTLING■ Sparring with personaldummies (name tagged)with 1 wrestler per mat at atime.■ Mats/dummies to be sani-tized pre and post every use.■ Human sparring of anyform or contact is prohib-ited.

TABLE TENNIS■ Indoor board training lim-ited to singles only.■ During sparring (if neces-sary) both paddlers musthandle/serve using theirown set of balls.■ Training in every alternateboard only.■ Sharing of paddles/similarequipment prohibited andmust be sanitized pre andpost every use, includingboards.

We are sani-tising Chhatrasalstadium rightnow. Hopefullytraining willresume soonaccording to theguidlines.

‘‘

— SUSHIL KUMAR, OLYMPIC MEDALLIST WRESTLER

‘‘

Only theactivities that arepermitted undergovernmentguidelines willbegin. Protocolsare effectiveimmediately.

‘‘

— ROHIT BHARADWAJ, SAI SECRETARY

‘‘

‘IT MAYTAKETIME’

Feelstough to

change theentire sports

schedule world-wide for all major

federationsbecause ofOlympics

Sprinter Hima Das(right) is part ofthe camp in NIS,Patiala.

Wrestler VineshPhogat (in blue) has

been vocal aboutresumption oftraining amid

COVID-19 pandemic.

Gaurav Ghei and ShivKapur (right) at the

Delhi Golf Club.

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

Published & Printed by Amit Gupta on behalf of G.H. Prints Pvt. Ltd, A-256, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase -1, New Delhi - 110 020. Published at F – 26, Connaught Place, New Delhi – 110 001. Editor: Dwaipayan Bose

RNI No.: DELENG / 2007 / 21922

T.V. Today Network Limited. Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, A-8, Sector-7, Noida - 201301 andFirst Floor,

Former Brazil star Ronaldo

FABIO Capello has revealed that Brazilianstar Ronaldo caused him endless problemswith his partying and the Real Madrid dress-ing room sometimes reeked of alcohol.

‘The Phenomenon’ was approaching thetwilight of his stellar career when he playedunder Capello for six months at the Bern-abeu in the 2006-07 season.

And though the Italian disciplinariandescribed Ronaldo, then 30, as the ‘greatesttalent’ he has ever coached, their clash ofpersonalities led to the player being sold toAC Milan in January 2007.

'“The greatest talent I ever coached wasRonaldo,” Capello told Sky Sport Italia.

“But at the same time he was the playerwho created the most problems for me inthe dressing room. He used to throw par-ties and do everything.

“Once (Ruud) Van Nistelrooy said to me,‘coach, the dressing room smells like alco-hol’.

‘Then Ronaldo went to Milan, and westarted to win, but if we’re talking about tal-ent then he was the greatest, without adoubt.”

Van Nistelrooy has since come out to denyCapello’s claims about his comments.

The Dutch striker wrote on Twitter:“According to some statement attributedto Fabio Capello, pointing out that I, in thisday, told him that the Real Madrid dressingroom ‘smelled of alcohol’, I want to flatlydeny such claims. The dressing room fromthe first day showed maximum profession-alism. From the first to the last team-matewe worked and defended the club’s badgein a comprehensive and professional man-ner”. —Daily Mail

RONALDO WAS A PARTY ANIMAL AT REAL: CAPELLO

Sports

MailKante stays away fromtraining over virus fears

EFFORTS to resume the Championshipcampaign ramped up on Thursday, withteams starting to give Coronavirus tests fol-lowing meetings with the EFL.

Discussions were held on Wednesday concerningthe Championship as well as League One andLeague Two on the best way to deal with theremainder of the 2019-20 season.

For the Championship, it is about trying to completefixtures and the first step towardsdoing that will be to hold coron-avirus tests throughout Thursdayand Friday.

Results for the tests areexpected to return on Sundayand should they be satisfactorythen teams in England’s secondtier will be hoping to resumegroup training again on BankHoliday Monday with a restarthopeful for June 20.

A 42-page protocol documenthad been sent out to all clubs thisweek, containing strict guidelineson a return to training as well ascompeting on match days.

The news will come as a boostto the likes of Leeds United andWest Browmich Albion who withnine games to have a healthygap at the top of the table asthey both look to seal automaticpromotion to the PremierLeague.

But the three Football Leaguedivisions have differing views onhow to conclude the current cam-paign, with League One arguablythe most divisive.

The majority of teams in Eng-land’s third tier are in favour ofending the season with immedi-ate effect, citing operationalcosts of holding match days inlight of a significant reduction inrevenue.Teams in the FootballLeague rely heavily on support-ers for their income on match-days and with games set to beplayed behind closed doors thiswill have significant impact onclub finances, especially amongsmaller clubs.

But while most teams will fallinto this bracket, much of thetop half of the division will bekeen to press on for completingthe season knowing that pro-motion to the Champi-onship could bringincreased income ofaround $7.4million.

Currently there arejust three pointsseparating Rother-ham United in sec-ond place with an

automatic promotion placeand Wycombe Wander-

ers down in eighthspot.

With the divisiondivided, the clubswill have to meetagain to decide away forward

although time pressures are nowstarting to increase in regards tomaking a decision.

League Two have alreadydecided to end the season on apoints-per-game basis, with fourteams to be promoted, one viathe play-offs that will take place.

—Daily Mail

Mail Today, New Delhi / Chandigarh, Friday, May 22, 2020 Mail Today, New Delhi, Friday, May 22, 2020

C VID-19

PANDEMIC

EFL CHAMPIONSHIP TOP 51 Leeds United 37 21 8 8 26 71

2 West Bromwich Albion 37 19 13 5 27 70

3 Fulham 37 18 10 9 14 64

4 Brentford 37 17 9 11 31 60

5 Nottingham Forest 37 16 12 9 10 60

6 Preston North End 37 16 8 13 5 56

LeagueOne clubs

though still atodds on how to

complete campaign

Championshipmatches have beenput on hold sinceMarch 22.

English playerslook to cross majorbarrier beforeLeague resumption

CHAMPIONSHIPSTARS TAKECORONA TEST