English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media...

12
T he third phase of nation- wide lockdown started on a chaotic note after reopening of Government and private offices, shops, markets and liquor vends on Monday. Social distancing norms were flouted across the country with impunity in both rural as well as urban areas across India. While people were asked to follow the social distancing guidelines to stem the spread of coronavirus, the norms went for a toss as crowds flocked to liquor vends and people jostled with each other in market areas. According to officials, there was a noticeable increase in road traffic as non-essential stores lifted shutters and offices opened up. Hundreds of people queued up before liquor shops throwing social distancing norms to the wind. The easing of the lockdown measures came with its own set of challenges for policemen as they struggled to manage the crowds outside liquor shops and in some areas in Delhi, they resorted to lathi charge to bring the situation under con- trol. As per the Government notification, shops selling liquor have to ensure social dis- tancing and also make sure that no more than five people are present at one time at the shop. With the Home Ministry allowing plying of private vehi- cles in all zones with restric- tions, traffic was back on the roads in cities — a departure from the eerie quiet that had descended over them during the 40-day lockdown. While the restrictions have not been eased in contain- ment areas, movement of pri- vate vehicles have been allowed in red zones with two passen- gers besides the driver for cars (earlier it was just one passen- ger in all zones) and no pillion rider for motorcycles. Hours after liquor vends re-opened across India, com- motion erupted outside many liquor shops across States, including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, UP, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Rajasthan giv- ing a harrowing time to the police who struggled to keep them apart. Officials had painstaking- ly drawn chalk circles for buy- ers of booze to stand in but the social distancing efforts were thwarted as people gathered from early morning at 7 am. Long queues were seen outside liquor outlets in Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, a day after the State Government said shops of non-essential items, including liquor, will be allowed to open in non-containment zones, but to the dismay of the customers, they remained shut. Administrations of Solapur, Aurangabad, Jalna, Buldhana and Amravati dis- tricts have issued instructions that liquor shops will not be allowed to open. Tipplers queued up outside liquor shops in Dahisar, Matunga, Santacruz, Malwani, Kandivali and other places since early hours of Monday, but found the outlets closed. Standalone liquor shops in West Bengal reopened on Monday in green, orange and red zones, except in contain- ment areas, but the police closed down several of them within an hour as people start- ed jostling with each other in front of the outlets with social distancing going for a toss. Chaotic scenes outside liquor stores in some parts of UP were witnessed, while else- where serpentine queues were seen long before the outlets opened. Principal Secretary, Excise, Sanjay Bhoosreddy along with officials of the department inspected liquor shops in Lucknow. The UP Government has capped liquor purchase per person. T he deadly coronavirus headed southward in a vicious way with Tamil Nadu registering a record number of 527 case in a single day on Monday taking the tally of Covid-19 patients in the State to 3,550. The death toll reached 31 with one more person suc- cumbing to the pandemic. Total countrywide count surges past 4,500 mark with 1,515 deaths. More than one fourth of the total cases in the country have been recorded in just last four days. Delhi recorded 349 new cases taking count to 4,989 with 63 deaths. Mumbai continued to face grim situation with Dharavi, Asia’s biggest slum, witnessing case explosion. Punjab’s cases too tripled in five days to touch to 1,232 cases with 130 new cases on Monday itself. Gujarat report- ed 376 new cases, taking the total to 5,804. Tamil Nadu on Monday saw 527 people testing positive, its highest single-day spike. A large number of these cases are said to be linked to the Koyambedu wholesale market in Chennai. This brings the total tally in the State to 3,550 positive cases with 2,107 active cases. Chennai is the worst-hit with 1,724 cases. On day one of the third round of lockdown, 25 new positive cases, 1 from Jammu division and 24 from Kashmir division, were reported in Jammu & Kashmir on Monday. With this, the total tally of pos- itive cases have gone up to 726. According to official sources, “an octogenarian, who had recently undergone surgery at a private hospital in Amritsar, tested positive in Ashok Nagar, Satwari area of Jammu”. The patient tested positive at a private laboratory and is expected to be tested afresh at a government labora- tory on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the number of total corona infected cases in Bengal went up to 1,259, the Chief Secretary said on Monday adding out of these 908 were active cases. Besides, he said the State had witnessed 61 corona deaths which was in addition to the 73 other deaths where comorbid- ity was present among the corona patients. Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry on Sunday said at least 682 patients were cured in the last 24 hours. This has taken the recovery rate in the country to 26.59 per cent. Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, who visited Lady Hardinge Medical College to review the status of Covid- 19 management said, “The recovery rate of Covid patients has steadily increased which shows that more and more of these patients are getting bet- ter and going back to their homes. Till now around 10,000 Covid patients have recovered and have joined their normal life. Majority of patients in other hospitals are also on the road to recovery.” I ndia will start bringing back from May 7 tens of thou- sands of its citizens stranded abroad. This will be a massive evacuation process where 14 Indian Navy ships and 500 flights, including 30 jumbos of IAF, will be deployed. Medical screening of pas- sengers would be done before taking the flight. Only asymp- tomatic passengers would be allowed to travel. During the journey, all these passengers would have to follow the pro- tocols, such as the Health Protocols, issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said the MHA. Indian citizens working in Maldives and wanting to come back will be the first lot of returnees. According to offi- cials, around 100 persons, who lost job opportunities in Maldives due to Covid-19 lead- ing economic crisis, have reg- istered for coming back. The big challenge is from Middle East countries where the number of stranded per- sons has not been not yet assessed exactly. A ppearing impatient to return to their native places, migrant workers pelted stones at police in Surat district of Gujarat on Monday, leaving nearly a dozen personnel injured, one of them an IPS officer, and also held protests elsewhere during the coron- avirus-enforced lockdown. Several labourers came out on a road in Rajkot demanding that they be sent back to their hometowns, while some migrant workers got their heads tonsured in an area of Surat after being unable to go back home. Police personnel lobbed teargas shells and baton- charged agitated workers from Uttar Pradesh, who pelted stones on them near Vareli vil- lage on the outskirts of Surat, an official said. Migrant workers, number- ing more than 1,000, were demanding that arrangements be made to send them back to their native places during the coronavirus-enforced lock- down, which has rendered them jobless, he said. T he lethal combination of virus and muddy politics continued to blemish Bengal’s anti-corona battle with a war of letters between the Mamata Banerjee Government on one side and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the visiting — inter-ministerial Central team (IMCT) on the other. The Governor and the IMCT accused the State of doing everything to worsen an already grim situation even as the top TMC leadership hit back with vengeance blaming the BJP for using the Governor’s office and IMCT to further its political interests. Bengal has the highest mortality rate in the country at 12.8 per cent, IMCT leader Apoorva Chandra wrote in his final observations to Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha on Monday. “This extremely high mor- tality rate is a clear indication of low testing, weak surveil- lance and tracking,” Chandra said in the letter. The Governor shot off a five-page missive to Mamata accusing her “to be the fountain head of a police State that ran syndicates.” I n two separate attacks on paramilitary forces in Kashmir Valley on Monday, at least three Central Paramilitary Reserve Force (CRPF) jawans attained martyrdom and seven others received injuries when a patrolling party was fired upon by “unidentified” terrorists near Wangam in Kralgund area of Handwara in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district. A CISF jawan received injuries in a separate grenade attack near Nowgam area of Budgam. The joint teams of securi- ty forces cordoned off the area amid intermittent firing. Additional reinforcements were rushed to the spot to prevent the terrorists from escaping. Reports said one body was seen lying on the side of the road near the encounter site but due to the ongoing firing in the area the identity of the deceased was not known. Reports suggested, CRPF jawans neutralised at least one terrorist while repulsing the attack. However, official con- firmation was still awaited. This is the second major terror strike on security forces in Handwara in the 48 hours. A commanding officer of 21 Rashtriya Rifles along with a Major and Sub Inspector of Jammu & Kashmir Police and two jawans were killed in action in Chunjmulla area of Handwara late on Saturday night while evacuating civilians held hostage in a house. In the last one month, security forces have lost at least 19 men, including elite para commandos, a com- manding officer and a Major rank officer and six CRPF per- sonnel in five encounters. A mid reports of anxious tipplers failing to maintain the mandatory six feet distance from one another at some liquor shops in their eagerness to end the prolonged dry spell on the first day of easing of cer- tain restrictions under the third phase of the coronavirus- induced lockdown, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said all relaxations in areas where people violate social distancing and other norms will be withdrawn. In an online media brief- ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol- lowing the guidelines and requested everyone to not take any risk. Extraordinary scenes of men and in a few cases women too, were seen stand- ing in snaking queues for hours or jostling restlessly to lay hands on liquor. The Resident Welfare Associations (RWA’s) in Delhi have urged the Government to immediately close down all liquor vends and review arrangements. Several Resident Welfare Associations in Delhi have strongly objected to open- ing of liquor shops in most parts of the city despite entire Delhi being declared as a Red Zone with over 4,459 coron- avirus cases. The Delhi Government on Monday had permitted about 150 Government-run liquor shops have been allowed to open from 9 am to 6:30 pm in accordance with the latest lockdown relaxations given by the MHA. New Delhi: The Delhi Government on Monday decided to extend its scheme of one-time 5,000 assistance to each e-rickshaw drivers during the Covid-19-induced lockdown to cover e-rick- shaw owners. The decision will benefit over 60,000 permit holders vehicles and owners of e-rickshaws registered in Delhi, the Government said. Noida: Twelve people, includ- ing a CISF personnel tested positive for coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar on Monday, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases in the district to 179, accord- ing to officials. Thiruvananthapuram: For the second consecutive day, no new Covid-19 cases were reported in Kerala while 34 people are under currently treatment after 61 were dis- charged, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. P unjab Government would pay for the train travel of lakhs of migrant workers set to move back to their native places in other States. Announcing this, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday tweeted, “@PunjabGovtIndia stands with migrant workers in this challenging hour and will con- tinue ensuring livelihood, food & shelter. As suggested by #SoniaGandhi Ji, we will pay railways for the travel of migrant workers.” The modalities for the pay- ment of the train tickets for the migrants would be discussed by the Punjab Cabinet. As per the available figures, about 8.29 lakh migrants want- ed to go back to their home states from Punjab, with max- imum 4.66 lakhs from Ludhiana only. Earlier in the day, Congress national president Sonia Gandhi had announced that every Pradesh Congress Committee shall bear the cost for the rail travel of the migrant workers. In her statement on Monday morning, Gandhi lashed out at the Union Government for not extending free travel facility to the migrant workers at a juncture when the Ministry of Railways has donated 151 crore to the PM CARES fund. Subsequently, the Ministry of Railways sources clarified that the migrant workers were not being charged. They added that the Centre and the State Government is paying 85 per- cent and 15 percent of the tick- et cost respectively. However, the Railways Ministry on Monday issued detailed advisory in pursuance of the Ministry of Home Affairs order dated May 1, 2020, through which movement of migrants workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stuck at different places has been allowed. It read, “Railways shall print train tickets to the spec- ified destination, as per num- ber of passengers indicated by originating state and hand them over to the local State Government authority. The local State Government author- ity shall handover the tickets to the passengers cleared by them and collect the ticket fare and hand over the total amount to Railways.” Slamming the Centre for not even extending the helping hand in the evacuation of the Sikh pilgrims from Nanded in Maharashtra, Punjab Cooperation and Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said: “The State Government would pay for the migrants’ train journey to their native places.” Continued on Page 2

Transcript of English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media...

Page 1: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

������������������ ���� ��������������� ����� ������������������� ��������� ��������������������������������������������������������������

����������� ��������������������������� ����� ����!�����������������������������������"#�������������������������� ������$%�������&�'������� ��(���(�'���������#��� ��������

������������������ ������ ���������������� ����� �� ��������������(�����������"��������������)*���������������(����+,�����������#�������������������������'�����#�������������'�����#���������#�����-������������������������������������������

�������

����� ./0�!/1)$

The third phase of nation-wide lockdown started on

a chaotic note after reopeningof Government and privateoffices, shops, markets andliquor vends on Monday. Socialdistancing norms were floutedacross the country withimpunity in both rural as wellas urban areas across India.

While people were asked tofollow the social distancingguidelines to stem the spread ofcoronavirus, the norms wentfor a toss as crowds flocked toliquor vends and people jostledwith each other in marketareas.

According to officials, therewas a noticeable increase inroad traffic as non-essentialstores lifted shutters and officesopened up.

Hundreds of peoplequeued up before liquor shopsthrowing social distancingnorms to the wind.

The easing of the lockdownmeasures came with its own setof challenges for policemen asthey struggled to manage thecrowds outside liquor shopsand in some areas in Delhi,they resorted to lathi charge tobring the situation under con-trol.

As per the Governmentnotification, shops sellingliquor have to ensure social dis-tancing and also make sure that

no more than five people arepresent at one time at theshop.

With the Home Ministryallowing plying of private vehi-cles in all zones with restric-tions, traffic was back on theroads in cities — a departurefrom the eerie quiet that haddescended over them duringthe 40-day lockdown.

While the restrictions havenot been eased in contain-

ment areas, movement of pri-vate vehicles have been allowedin red zones with two passen-gers besides the driver for cars(earlier it was just one passen-ger in all zones) and no pillionrider for motorcycles.

Hours after liquor vendsre-opened across India, com-motion erupted outside manyliquor shops across States,including Andhra Pradesh,Kerala, Chhattisgarh, UP,

Karnataka, Maharashtra,Telangana and Rajasthan giv-ing a harrowing time to thepolice who struggled to keepthem apart.

Officials had painstaking-ly drawn chalk circles for buy-ers of booze to stand in but thesocial distancing efforts werethwarted as people gatheredfrom early morning at 7 am.

Long queues were seenoutside liquor outlets in

Mumbai and Pune inMaharashtra, a day after theState Government said shops ofnon-essential items, includingliquor, will be allowed to openin non-containment zones, butto the dismay of the customers,they remained shut.

Administrations ofSolapur, Aurangabad, Jalna,Buldhana and Amravati dis-tricts have issued instructionsthat liquor shops will not beallowed to open. Tipplersqueued up outside liquor shopsin Dahisar, Matunga,Santacruz, Malwani, Kandivaliand other places since earlyhours of Monday, but found theoutlets closed.

Standalone liquor shopsin West Bengal reopened onMonday in green, orange andred zones, except in contain-ment areas, but the policeclosed down several of themwithin an hour as people start-ed jostling with each other infront of the outlets with socialdistancing going for a toss.

Chaotic scenes outsideliquor stores in some parts ofUP were witnessed, while else-where serpentine queues wereseen long before the outletsopened. Principal Secretary,Excise, Sanjay Bhoosreddyalong with officials of thedepartment inspected liquorshops in Lucknow. The UPGovernment has capped liquorpurchase per person.

��� � ./0�!/1)$

The deadly coronavirusheaded southward in a

vicious way with Tamil Naduregistering a record number of527 case in a single day onMonday taking the tally ofCovid-19 patients in the Stateto 3,550. The death toll reached31 with one more person suc-cumbing to the pandemic.

Total countrywide countsurges past 4,500 mark with1,515 deaths. More than onefourth of the total cases in thecountry have been recorded injust last four days.

Delhi recorded 349 newcases taking count to 4,989 with63 deaths. Mumbai continuedto face grim situation withDharavi, Asia’s biggest slum,witnessing case explosion.

Punjab’s cases too tripled infive days to touch to 1,232cases with 130 new cases onMonday itself. Gujarat report-ed 376 new cases, taking thetotal to 5,804.

Tamil Nadu on Mondaysaw 527 people testing positive,its highest single-day spike. Alarge number of these cases aresaid to be linked to theKoyambedu wholesale marketin Chennai. This brings thetotal tally in the State to 3,550positive cases with 2,107 activecases. Chennai is the worst-hitwith 1,724 cases.

On day one of the thirdround of lockdown, 25 newpositive cases, 1 from Jammudivision and 24 from Kashmirdivision, were reported inJammu & Kashmir on Monday.With this, the total tally of pos-itive cases have gone up to 726.

According to officialsources, “an octogenarian, whohad recently undergone surgeryat a private hospital inAmritsar, tested positive inAshok Nagar, Satwari area ofJammu”. The patient testedpositive at a private laboratoryand is expected to be testedafresh at a government labora-tory on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the number oftotal corona infected cases inBengal went up to 1,259, theChief Secretary said onMonday adding out of these908 were active cases.

Besides, he said the Statehad witnessed 61 corona deathswhich was in addition to the 73other deaths where comorbid-ity was present among thecorona patients.

Meanwhile, the UnionHealth Ministry on Sundaysaid at least 682 patients werecured in the last 24 hours. Thishas taken the recovery rate inthe country to 26.59 per cent.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, UnionHealth Minister, who visitedLady Hardinge Medical Collegeto review the status of Covid-

19 management said, “Therecovery rate of Covid patientshas steadily increased whichshows that more and more ofthese patients are getting bet-ter and going back to their

homes. Till now around 10,000Covid patients have recoveredand have joined their normallife. Majority of patients inother hospitals are also on theroad to recovery.”

����� ./0�!/1)$

India will start bringing backfrom May 7 tens of thou-

sands of its citizens strandedabroad.

This will be a massiveevacuation process where 14Indian Navy ships and 500flights, including 30 jumbos ofIAF, will be deployed.

Medical screening of pas-sengers would be done beforetaking the flight. Only asymp-tomatic passengers would beallowed to travel. During thejourney, all these passengerswould have to follow the pro-tocols, such as the HealthProtocols, issued by theMinistry of Health and theMinistry of Civil Aviation, saidthe MHA.

Indian citizens working inMaldives and wanting to comeback will be the first lot ofreturnees. According to offi-cials, around 100 persons, wholost job opportunities inMaldives due to Covid-19 lead-ing economic crisis, have reg-istered for coming back.

The big challenge is fromMiddle East countries wherethe number of stranded per-sons has not been not yetassessed exactly.

����� ��*&�

Appearing impatient toreturn to their native

places, migrant workers peltedstones at police in Surat districtof Gujarat on Monday, leavingnearly a dozen personnelinjured, one of them an IPSofficer, and also held protestselsewhere during the coron-avirus-enforced lockdown.

Several labourers came outon a road in Rajkot demandingthat they be sent back to theirhometowns, while somemigrant workers got theirheads tonsured in an area ofSurat after being unable to goback home.

Police personnel lobbedteargas shells and baton-

charged agitated workers fromUttar Pradesh, who peltedstones on them near Vareli vil-lage on the outskirts of Surat,an official said.

Migrant workers, number-ing more than 1,000, weredemanding that arrangementsbe made to send them back totheir native places during thecoronavirus-enforced lock-down, which has renderedthem jobless, he said.

���������������� 2312&�&

The lethal combination ofvirus and muddy politics

continued to blemish Bengal’santi-corona battle with a war ofletters between the MamataBanerjee Government on oneside and Governor JagdeepDhankhar and the visiting —inter-ministerial Central team(IMCT) on the other.

The Governor and theIMCT accused the State ofdoing everything to worsen analready grim situation even asthe top TMC leadership hitback with vengeance blamingthe BJP for using the

Governor’s office and IMCT tofurther its political interests.

Bengal has the highestmortality rate in the country at12.8 per cent, IMCT leaderApoorva Chandra wrote in hisfinal observations to BengalChief Secretary Rajiva Sinha onMonday.

“This extremely high mor-tality rate is a clear indicationof low testing, weak surveil-lance and tracking,” Chandrasaid in the letter.

The Governor shot off afive-page missive to Mamataaccusing her “to be the fountainhead of a police State that ransyndicates.”

�� ������ ���� 4&���

In two separate attacks onparamilitary forces in

Kashmir Valley on Monday, atleast three Central ParamilitaryReserve Force (CRPF) jawansattained martyrdom and sevenothers received injuries when apatrolling party was fired uponby “unidentified” terroristsnear Wangam in Kralgundarea of Handwara in NorthKashmir’s Kupwara district. ACISF jawan received injuries ina separate grenade attack nearNowgam area of Budgam.

The joint teams of securi-ty forces cordoned off the areaamid intermittent firing.Additional reinforcements were

rushed to the spot to preventthe terrorists from escaping.

Reports said one body wasseen lying on the side of theroad near the encounter site butdue to the ongoing firing in thearea the identity of thedeceased was not known.

Reports suggested, CRPFjawans neutralised at least oneterrorist while repulsing the

attack. However, official con-firmation was still awaited.

This is the second majorterror strike on security forcesin Handwara in the 48 hours.

A commanding officer of21 Rashtriya Rifles along witha Major and Sub Inspector ofJammu & Kashmir Police andtwo jawans were killed inaction in Chunjmulla area ofHandwara late on Saturdaynight while evacuating civiliansheld hostage in a house.

In the last one month,security forces have lost atleast 19 men, including elitepara commandos, a com-manding officer and a Majorrank officer and six CRPF per-sonnel in five encounters.

�������������� ����� ��������������������� � ������������������������������������������������ ������������������

������������� ./0�!/1)$

Amid reports of anxioustipplers failing to maintain

the mandatory six feet distancefrom one another at someliquor shops in their eagernessto end the prolonged dry spellon the first day of easing of cer-tain restrictions under thethird phase of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal onMonday said all relaxations inareas where people violatesocial distancing and othernorms will be withdrawn.

In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad thatsome Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines andrequested everyone to not takeany risk. Extraordinary scenesof men and in a few caseswomen too, were seen stand-ing in snaking queues forhours or jostling restlessly tolay hands on liquor.

The Resident WelfareAssociations (RWA’s) in Delhihave urged the Government to

immediately close down allliquor vends and reviewarrangements. Several ResidentWelfare Associations in Delhihave strongly objected to open-ing of liquor shops in mostparts of the city despite entireDelhi being declared as a RedZone with over 4,459 coron-avirus cases.

The Delhi Governmenton Monday had permittedabout 150 Government-runliquor shops have been allowedto open from 9 am to 6:30 pmin accordance with the latestlockdown relaxations given bythe MHA.

���������������������������������� �!������������������������������������������ �!�

New Delhi: The DelhiGovernment on Mondaydecided to extend its schemeof one-time �5,000 assistanceto each e-rickshaw driversduring the Covid-19-inducedlockdown to cover e-rick-shaw owners. The decisionwill benefit over 60,000 permitholders vehicles and owners ofe-rickshaws registered inDelhi, the Government said.

"�� ����������#����$%��������&������'���(� �)�*�������

����������������� �����������������" ������(��!�������&#���+,��-�����&�.�&*���������+��&������/0$11�

Noida: Twelve people, includ-ing a CISF personnel testedpositive for coronavirus inUttar Pradesh’s Gautam BuddhNagar on Monday, taking thetotal number of Covid-19 casesin the district to 179, accord-ing to officials.

23������!���������&�����+���* ���#��

Thiruvananthapuram: For thesecond consecutive day, nonew Covid-19 cases werereported in Kerala while 34people are under currentlytreatment after 61 were dis-charged, Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan said.

��������������������"����

&*������,��&#�,��(�����4�&�����(��,���*�5��+���6�7

�������#� ������������$������������%�����

&�/8� ����0�3&*�������������(��&���&*)���9�:�;�<�+�&�+���6��*

&�� �������� ����'�(������������)*'+��,�(�$,�(��������� �� �#����

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������ ����������������� ��������!���� "�#�� �����$�������

%��������������������������&���������������������������������������������������!�������������'������������������������������������� �������!���� %�

!�����������������������������(�)��*�+��������������������������������������������(���������,�������������%���)���(������-������������ �������!���� ��.

�������������� �)&.!$5&*)

Punjab Government wouldpay for the train travel of

lakhs of migrant workers set tomove back to their native placesin other States.

Announcing this, the ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh on Monday tweeted,“@PunjabGovtIndia standswith migrant workers in thischallenging hour and will con-tinue ensuring livelihood, food& shelter. As suggested by#SoniaGandhi Ji, we will payrailways for the travel ofmigrant workers.”

The modalities for the pay-ment of the train tickets for themigrants would be discussed bythe Punjab Cabinet.

As per the available figures,about 8.29 lakh migrants want-ed to go back to their homestates from Punjab, with max-imum 4.66 lakhs fromLudhiana only.

Earlier in the day, Congressnational president SoniaGandhi had announced thatevery Pradesh CongressCommittee shall bear the costfor the rail travel of the migrantworkers.

In her statement onMonday morning, Gandhilashed out at the UnionGovernment for not extendingfree travel facility to the

migrant workers at a juncturewhen the Ministry of Railwayshas donated �151 crore to thePM CARES fund.

Subsequently, the Ministryof Railways sources clarifiedthat the migrant workers werenot being charged. They addedthat the Centre and the StateGovernment is paying 85 per-cent and 15 percent of the tick-et cost respectively.

However, the RailwaysMinistry on Monday issueddetailed advisory in pursuanceof the Ministry of Home Affairsorder dated May 1, 2020,through which movement ofmigrants workers, pilgrims,tourists, students and otherpersons stuck at different placeshas been allowed.

It read, “Railways shall

print train tickets to the spec-ified destination, as per num-ber of passengers indicated byoriginating state and handthem over to the local StateGovernment authority. Thelocal State Government author-ity shall handover the tickets tothe passengers cleared by themand collect the ticket fare andhand over the total amount toRailways.”

Slamming the Centre fornot even extending the helpinghand in the evacuation of theSikh pilgrims from Nanded inMaharashtra, PunjabCooperation and Jails MinisterSukhjinder Singh Randhawasaid: “The State Governmentwould pay for the migrants’ trainjourney to their native places.”

Continued on Page 2

-��!���,�(�������%��������������(������#� �����������

6���!���������� �������' �� 7�����������<����)�����&9

������������� ���

� ��=�>�/.�/8��*&�)/��39/*�:�,,,����

����#�� �� 7�����������7

1�������� �!�"��+��##$� �:�;&����������#��/��������&�������

��������<�� ��!/1)$��1��2.30 %)3�&1��%)�%&./�0&*

*&.�)$�*&$��* �)&.!$5&*)�!/)*&!�. )=!/*&%&!�9$4&=0&!&

�#%&'��#��(��)*+������������� ��������������

� �� ��� ������ �������,��-.-./��������-��-

� � ��?

��/0$.5�9/.3�

� ���23���)�&>�&!9$�/���)&)&1

�3���/��*/&�/��3*/

������������� ��������������������� �

Page 2: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

�� ����������������������� ����� !�"#"#

����������� ������ ����� ������������� ������������������������� ������� ����!������ �����������"������������#$%�%��&�����'�������(�������)*+�������(��+%$**)*�,���-��*%.)+/$*01/.�������������23��� �����������������-��))�����+44�4��������������������5����!�����6���+�������������7�������!�����6���� ��������47�27�5�78!��7��%�**!��6�������7����� �� ���9��-����6���:���6��� �;����� ������6 �(����;�������������6��3�����'����#�����6-��$� �����8�� �9�� �������<����(�-�9'����+%%***)������6*%%+/*%%*/==�������������#�����6&+0%�������$�-#4'��8��� ���-(�+)*%0*%�2��������6*%)*+/1.>1**;/1.>>**�������9#�����6/��&���������������(�������&�? �7���������9+))$*%$�,���������6*=))+)0/$//0+/=

���������� ����������������������������������������������������� ��������������� ������������������������������������������ ��������������� �� ��������������� ����� ��������������������������������������� ����������� ���� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �!����������������"���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������������� �����������������������������#��������������������������� ���� ����$����%����&�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������'����������������������������������� ���������������"��������������������(�����������������������������

����� �)$�1&

Getting partial relief afterover five weeks, people

gathered in large numbers out-side shops in Shimla onMonday as the third phase ofthe coronavirus-forced lock-down began with the easing ofcertain restrictions.

Government offices alsoopened with 30 per cent staffin attendance, but public trans-port remained shut.

Himachal PradeshGovernment has allowed mostof the shops, except hair salons,barbershops, spas and bars, toopen during a five-hour relax-ation in the curfew for the firsttime since March 24. For thestate capital, curfew has beenrelaxed from 9.30 am to 2.30pm. In market areas, shopshave been allowed to open onalternate days to maintainsocial distancing.

Long queues were seenoutside liquor vends whichwere allowed to open after 40days. At the stretch betweenCTO and Scandal Point, peo-ple, wearing masks, gathered inlarge numbers without main-taining social distancing normsto buy liquor.

One-way entry and exit ofpeople were allowed on theMall, Scandal Point and mar-kets, and police have beendeployed in large number toensure that lockdown normsare observed.

With just one active coro-navirus case in HimachalPradesh currently, all districts,except Kangra, has been des-ignated green zone. Kangrafalls under the orange zone. InKangra, shops will remain openfrom 9 am to 2 pm, DistrictMagistrate Rakesh Prajapatisaid, adding tea shops, sweetshops, restaurants and roadsideeateries can open but can onlyprovide take away facility. “Inmarket areas, no one will beallowed to bring their vehicles.They can park their vehicles indesignated areas and walk tothe market,” he said.

Prajapati also said thatliquor shops are also allowed to

open but the bars will remainshut. Public dealing in banksand post offices will be allowedfrom 9 am to 2, he said, addingsenior citizens are allowed totake a walk from 5.30 am to 7am.

No passes are required forvehicles to move within the dis-trict during the curfew relax-ation period, but only two pas-sengers will be allowed in cars.

“Though marriages areallowed with 20 people inattendance, I would still requestpeople to perform it with notmore than five guests fromeach side... the risk of infectionis high,” Prajapati said.

A total of 41 positive caseshave been reported in the stateso far. Thirty-four have recov-ered, two died and four havebeen shifted to a private hos-pital outside Himachal Pradeshon their request.

CM FLAGS OFF THREETRUCKS LOADED WITHRELIEF MATERIAL

Himachal Chief MinisterJai Ram Thakur on Mondayflagged off three trucks loadedwith relief material containingfood and essential commoditiesdonated by Art of Living forfree distribution byInternational Association forHuman Values. He thankedthe Art of Living and itsfounder Sri Sri Ravi Shankarfor this generosity and said thatthis would go a long way inproviding relief to the needy.

He said that this philan-thropic act would also inspireother organizations to comeforward and contribute for thesociety.

Thakur said that out ofthese three trucks, two truckswould be sent to Mandi districtand one to Shimla district.

HIMACHAL GETS CEN-TRAL ASSISTANCE OF RS.220.46 CRORE

In the wake of Covid-19,the Central government hasprovided assistance to theHimachal PradeshGovernment under variouswelfare schemes, a spokesper-son of the state governmentsaid on Monday. These includ-ed Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Yojna in which Rs twothousand have been trans-ferred in the accounts of8,74,401 farmers in the monthof April, with an expenditure of�175 crore.

CM URGES MAHARASH-TRA GOVT TO PROVIDEASSISTANCE TO STRAND-ED PEOPLE OF THE STATE

Chief Minister Jai RamThakur on Monday urged theMaharashtra Government toprovide assistance to residentsof Himachal Pradesh stuck inMumbai and other places in theMaharashtra in wake of coun-trywide lockdown due toCovid-19 pandemic.

In a letter written to theChief Minister of MaharashtraUddhav Thackeray, Thakursaid the State Government wasreceiving several SOS calls forHimachalis stranded inMaharashtra and for extendingnecessary assistance to them. Hesaid that most of these peoplewant to come back to theirnative places. He also urged hisMaharashtra counterpart totake care of the stranded resi-dents of Himachal Pradeshand ensure proper food, shel-ter and medical care to them.

He said that HimachalPradesh Government wasensuring all possible help to thepeople of other States strand-ed in the State.

����������� ���������������� �������

/��������(!�����"�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������-��������!����0� ������������

����� �)&.!$5&*)

The number of Coronaviruscases has crossed the 100-

mark in Chandigarh onMonday.

Five fresh positive caseswere reported from BapuDham colony on Monday tak-ing the toll number to 102 inthe city.

“Five family contacts ofalready diagnosed Covid-19positive case of the same fam-ily from Bapu Dham colony,Sector 26 have been reported aspositive. They include 17 yearsold male, 43 years old male, 15years old male, 23 years oldmale and 13 years old femalefamily member,” stated theChandigarh’s HealthDepartment evening bulletin.

Following more cases fromBapu Dham, theAdministration decided to fur-ther expand the containmentzone in Bapu Dham Colony, sothat more people are broughtunder intensive screening andtheir movement outside couldbe further regulated.

The ChandigarhAdministration has declared“six containment zones”including part of Bapu Dhamcolony (BDC), part of Sector30-B, Kacchi Colony, Dhanas,part of Shastri Nagar(Manimajra), Part of Sector 38and Part of Sector 52 to stem

the spread of Coranavirus.“Till Monday evening, the

city reported 102 Coronaviruspositive cases out of which 80are active cases. While oneCoronavirus related death hasbeen reported in the city so far,21 have been cured of the dis-ease,” the bulletin stated.

A day before, an 82-year-old woman from Chandigarh,who was suffering fromCoronavirus, had died at theAlchemist Hospital inPanchkula. She was a residentof Sector 18 and had tested pos-itive for Covid-19 on April 20.

1678 samples have beentested so far for theCoronavirus in the city. As aprecautionary measure, 3991residents have been put underhome quarantine till now, outof which 2125 have completedthe quarantine period.

Notably, the first case ofCoronavirus was reported onMarch 19 in the city.

Chandigarh is currentlyunder lockdown and there is aprohibition on movement ofindividuals for all non-essentialactivities between 7 pm to 7 amwhile relaxations have beenprovided from 7 am to 7 pm.

Curfew, which wasimposed on March 24 to ensuresocial distancing, was liftedon May 3 midnight by theAdministration.

'�����(��������������.#�������/+

����� �)&.!$5&*)

The ChandigarhAdministration on Monday

decided to open its offices inthe union territory from 10:30am to 4:30 pm to reduce thecongestion on roads and city’sborder areas.

The decision was takenduring the daily review meet-ing held under PunjabGovernor and UTAdministrator VP SinghBadnore.

A large number of peopletravel to their work place everyday in Chandigarh from satel-lite townships of Mohali(Punjab) and Panchkula(Haryana).

During the meeting, it wasdecided that office timings inthe Administration’s officeswill now be from 10:30 am to4:30 pm.

UT Adviser Manoj Paridasaid that to avoid congestion onstreets due to simultaneoustravel of officer goers, theAdministration has changed itsoffice timings. It won’t clashwith office timings of Punjab,Haryana and CentralGovernment.

He said that efforts arebeing made to ensure that therelaxation given is not beingmisused. The field staff is tak-ing care to ensure social dis-tancing at public places, headded.

A day before, theAdministration had announceda series of relaxations and also,lifted curfew from May 3 mid-night in the city. Chandigarh isnow under lockdown till nexttwo weeks.

As per the relaxationsgiven, all government officeswill be open under strict socialdistancing norms from.However, no public dealing

will be done till May 11 so thatthe premises can be sanitizedand pending or arrear workscould be expedited.

The residents have beenallowed to use their vehicleswithout formal passes from 7am to 7 pm for essential pur-poses like going to office, fac-tory, hospital and neighbour-hood shops. All shops ininternal sector markets (neigh-bourhood shops) are alsoallowed to open from 10 am to6 pm on odd-even basis.

Reviewing the develop-ments after relaxations weregiven, the UT AdministratorVP Singh Badnore said thatafter 41 days of lockdown, itwas necessary to ease outrestrictions for bringing theeconomy on track and also forgiving relief to daily earners.

Hence, as per guidelines ofunion Home Ministry, theChandigarh Administrationprovided certain exemptions inthe lockout, he said.

He also appealed the resi-dents to strictly follow thedirections of Administrationrelating to social distancing.

Notably, a committeeunder UT Finance SecretaryAK Sinha has been set up todecide grievances, clarifica-tions on opening of individualshops, markets, industries etcduring the lockdown period.

AK Sinha, FinanceSecretary said that he is coor-dinating with the Industry andTrade Associations regardingthe relaxations given in the recent order ofAdministration.

Their day to day problemsof opening of shops is beingsorted out. The entry to theindustrial estate has been reg-ulated. All persons entering theindustrial estate will be sani-tized and thermally checked

before entry, he informed.The Administrator was

also apprized that Sector 26Market has been thoroughlysanitized and cleaned. Effortsare being made to shift part ofthe Sector 26 Market to ISBT,Sector 17 temporarily, so thatthe crowd in the market couldbe reduced. This will be a pure-ly temporary arrangement, itwas informed.

Entire Bapu Dham willnow be containment zone

With the number ofCoronavirus cases witnessingsurge in Bapu Dham colony inSector 26 every day, theAdministration on Mondaydecided to declare entire colonyas a containment zone to stemthe spread of infection.

The city has so far record-ed 102 cases with five freshcases reported from BapuDham on Monday.

During the meeting, theUT Administrator directed thesenior officers to focus onBapu Dham Colony, Sector30-B and other containmentzones. He also instructedDirector Health Services tostart a special drive for screen-ing and testing suspect cases inthe area.

He further advised the staffto use proper protective gearswhile going for field operationsto reduce the risk of infection.

It was decided to expandthe containment zone in BapuDham Colony, so that morepeople could be brought underintensive screening and theirmovement outside could befurther regulated.

UT Adviser Manoj Paridasaid that containment zonenow covers entire Bapu Dhamcolony and entry and exit issealed and only governmentstaff on essential service isallowed to enter there.

'���� ���������������%�����#��������#����0����%#

����� �)&.!$5&*)

Haryana has chalked out anaggressive strategy to woo

the investments/ Companiesintending to either shift fromChina or setting up of a newmanufacturing facility in India.

As a part of the planPrincipal Secretary to ChiefMinister, Rajesh Khullar, shallhold an open house with poten-tial investors from 3 pm to 4 pmeveryday on 6th , 7th and 8thMay from 3 pm to 4pm every-day through VideoConferencing and Webinars, aGovernment statement said.

"A number of US, Japanese,Korean and Euro ZoneCompanies are proposing toshift their plants from China or

set up additional manufacturingfacilities to other locations inSouth Asia.

The Government has pre-pared a strategy to create win-dows in the existing policies thatwould ensure quick setting up ofmanufacturing facilities in anyindustrial estate of the choice ofinvestors wanting to shift basefrom China," the statement said.

While separate emails arebeing sent to the identifiedCompanies, interestedCompanies willing to join theVideo Conferencing/Webinarcan also send their requests onthe email [email protected] andthey would be shared all the nec-essary details of the video con-ference, the statement added.

������������ ������� ����������� ������ ����

Chandigarh: The mortalremains of Major Anuj Sood,who was killed in an encounterwith terrorists in Kashmir,arrived on Monday at the AirForce station here where floraltributes were paid to the martyr.The mortal remains of the Armyofficer who was from the Brigadeof the Guards regiment, part ofthe 21 Rashtriya Rifles anddeployed to counter terrorism inthe Kashmir valley, arrived at the12 Wing Air Force station,Chandigarh.

The last rites will be con-ducted on Tuesday with fullmilitary honours at the crema-tion ground at Mani Majra here,officials said. The 30-year-oldofficer was among the five secu-rity personnel killed in theencounter with terrorists at a vil-lage in Rajwar forests of northKashmir on Sunday.

Major Sood's fatherBrigadier Chandrakant Sood(retd) is a resident of Panchkula,Haryana.

He told the media at hisPanchkula residence that thenews of his son's demise had lefthim shocked, but at the sametime he was proud of thesupreme sacrifice he had madefor his motherland. "He was atrue son of the nation," he said.

Major Anuj, who was mar-ried, also has two sisters one ofwhom lives in Australia while theother one is serving in the Army,his father said.An alumnus ofPunjab Public School, Nabha, hehad joined the National DefenceAcademy in 2008.

He had one dream, whichwas to join the Army, accordingto his family. PNS

��?���&��?����@� ������ ���������������#���

-��!���,�(�������%�����From Page 1

“When the Sikh pilgrimswere stranded in Nanded, theCentre told us to take buses.The buses covered a two-wayjourney of 1700 km each. Thegovernment which cannot givemoney for 3000 people, how wethink that they would pay forlakhs. What can we think aboutsuch a government?” saidRandhawa.

He said that the PunjabGovernment will pay for thetickets of our workers strand-ed in other places.

Notably, the Ministry ofRailways has decided to runShramik Special trains totransport migrants across thecountry after the Ministry ofHome Affairs allowed the inter-state movement of strandedpersons. Each Shramik Specialtrain will run non-stop and willhalt at a single destinationmore than 500 km away fromthe originating station.Moreover, the occupancy of thetrains must not be less than 90percent.

The Railways will directlyhand over the tickets to theState Government which, inturn, shall pass them on to theapproved passengers after col-lecting the designated fare fromthem — a clause which hasdrawn criticism from the oppo-sition leaders.

As per the detailed advi-sory, the Railways Ministryhas appointed DivisionalRailway Manager FirozpurRajesh Aggarwal as nodal offi-cer for the purpose.

The advisory requires theState Governments to designatenodal authorities and to devel-op standard protocol for receiv-

ing and sending such strandedpersons. In case, a group ofstranded persons wish to movebetween one State or UT andanother State or UT, the send-ing and receiving States mayconsult each other and mutu-ally agree to the movement byrail. The originating state willfinalize the requirement ofspecial trains in consultationwith receiving states and com-municate the requirement ofspecial trains to the nodal offi-cer of Railways.

The non-stop ShramikSpecial train will not stop at anyin between station before thedestination station. The train,with full length compositionwith social distancing (notcounting the inside middleberths), can carry approxi-mately 1200 passengers each.

The originating state shallplan the group of travelersaccordingly. The consent ofreceiving state shall be obtainedby originating state and a copy

provided to Railways beforedeparture of train.

“All persons would bescreened by the originatingstate and those found asymp-tomatic for Covid-19 wouldonly be allowed to travel.Originating state will provide acertificate in this regard alongwith a list of passengers includ-ing their mobile numbers oraddresses. Railway reserves theright not to allow any passen-ger to travel if he is found tohave any symptom for Covid-19,” read the advisory.

The State government shallissue food packets and drink-ing water at the originatingpoints. It will be mandatory forall passengers to wear facemasks or face covers. The orig-inating state will encourage allpassengers to download anduse Aarogya Setu App. Fortrains with long journeybeyond 12 hours, one meal willbe provided by the railways, thespokesperson added.

/�����������������������������&�������������������������-���������� �)&.!$5&*)

Haryana Government has made elaboratearrangement to send migrant labourers of

Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh to theirhome states free of cost by special Shramik Trainsfrom different stations in the state.

As the number of migrant labourers from theremaining states is few in Haryana, therefore theirreturn will be ensured through special trains run-ning from New Delhi, a government statement saidhere. Apart from this, elaborate arrangements arebeing made to send agricultural labourers of BorderStates of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab,Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to their homesin buses.

Additional Chief Secretary, HomeDepartment, Vijai Vardhan has appealed to themigrant labourers to stay where they are stayingat present and follow social distancing norms.Elaborate arrangement are being made by the StateGovernment to send them to their home states.The Haryana government has also designated var-ious nodal officers to coordinate with other statesfor the same, he said.Sharing more information anofficial said that all such migrant labourers wouldhave to mandatorily get themselves registered inthe web portal. The portal can be accessed athttps://edisha.gov.in/eForms/MigrantService. Acall centre will also be run to assist in registration,which will help people register on the e-Disha por-tal.

Page 3: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

�������������������������� ����� !�"#"#

�����������������������

����� �)&.!$5&*)

Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Monday wrote to the UnionHome Minister Amit Shahseeking his personal interven-tion to arrange special trains forthe next 10-15 days, beginningMay 5, for transporting migrantlabourers stranded in Punjab totheir homes in other states.

The Chief Minister hasurged the Home Minister todirect the Ministry of Railwaysto make suitable arrangements,since migrant labourers strand-ed in Punjab were “under-standably restless to return totheir native places”.

The Chief Minister’srequest came as the more than

6.44 lakh migrant workersinterested in returning to theirhome states had successfullyregistered on the StateGovernment’s specially createdportal — www.covidhelp.pun-jab.gov.in.

In his letter to Shah, theChief Minister said that hisGovernment would indicate itsdaily requirement of trains inadvance to the Ministry ofRailways for the next 10-15 daysto transport all the people whohad registered on the portal. Atthe local level, Capt Amarindersaid that Punjab officers werecoordinating with seniorRailways officers and the offi-cers of recipient states to plansmooth movement of migrants.

The Chief Minister point-

ed out that a large number oflabourers come seasonally fromUP, Bihar and other easternStates to seek temporaryemployment in both industri-al and agricultural sector inPunjab. These people, whowere due to leave in March,normally after Holi, could notleave due to the imposition oflockdown this year, he pointedout.

Though the StateGovernment had made all pos-sible arrangements to providethem food and shelter in pastsix weeks, they were now nat-urally keen to get back home,said Capt Amarinder, urgingthe Home Minister to imme-diately intervene in view of the“special exigency.”

(��������������-��� �����������������������������������&�������&�����������

����� �)&.!$5&*)

Haryana on Monday regis-tered its highest single-day

increase in Covid-19 cases. With75 new corona virus cases, thetotal number of positive Covid-19 cases has risen to 517. Themajority of the new cases arefrom NCR districts – Faridabad,Gurugram, Sonepat, Jhajjar.

Of the tally, 257 patients areactive corona virus cases, and atotal of 254 patients have beendischarged as of Monday.According to the StateGovernment’s health bulletin, 75fresh cases were reported fromGurugram, Faridabad, Nuh,Sonepat, Panipat, Ambala andJhajjar districts.

The worst affected districtsof the State with maximumnumber of positive cases areFaridabad (75), Gurugram (73),Sonepat (73) Nuh (59), Jhajjar(56), Ambala (37) and Palwal.

While hard hit Faridabadreported two more case, takingthe total number of Covid-19cases in the district to 75,Gurugram district that had sofar reported 72 cases over fewweeks ago, added one morenow, taking the tally to 73.Sonepat reported 29 more case,taking the tally to 73. Jhajjarreported 14 more case, takingthe tally to 56. 23 more casesreported in Ambala, taking thetally to 37. Meanwhile, 42 Covidpatients have been discharged in

Faridabad while 47 inGurugram, 53 in Nuh, 32 inPalwal, 17 in Panchkula and 11in Ambala.

As many as 38,138 sampleshave been tested so far, out ofwhich 34,501 have tested nega-tive. The report of 3,120 samplesis awaited.

Haryana has maintainedthat many of the coronaviruscases in its NCR districts havetheir origins in infections ema-nating from the national capitaland authorities had orderedsealing of the districts withDelhi to check spread of infec-tion. In Haryana, two districtshave been designated as redzones, 18 as orange zone andtwo districts as green zones. Thetwo districts in green zones areMahendragarh and Rewari.Sonepat and Faridabad districtshave been designated as redzones in the State.

PEOPLE THRONG MAR-KETS AS HRY EASESRESTRICTIONS

With Haryana Governmenteasing some restrictions in thethird phase of the corona virus-forced lockdown, people rushedto the markets on Monday pos-ing a challenge for the authori-ties to maintain social distanc-ing.

On relaxations for differentzones and reports of rush inmarkets at some places, HaryanaHealth Minister Anil Vij said,

"People should maintain socialdistancing and wear masks.They should not wait for police-man to enforce social distanc-ing."

Vij, who is also the stateHome Minister, said inter-stateborders will continue to remainsealed.

“In every district, DeputyCommissioners are holdingmeetings with traders associa-tions on how shops in marketscan remain open while follow-ing lockdown," he said.

Barring in containmentzones, many shops have beenallowed to open in green andorange zones during the day inpursuance of the Union HomeMinistry guidelines. However,the State Government is yet todecide on allowing the openingof liquor vends in the state.

According to officials, thegovernment has directed deputycommissioners to take a decisionon whether to allow openingshops according to odd-evenformula or on alternate days toavoid large gathering of people.

Industrial activity is alsobeing allowed in all three zoneswith conditions. However,hotels, cinema halls, gyms,swimming pools, shoppingmalls, bars, auditoriums, ban-quet halls, schools, colleges,universities, all educational insti-tutions and coaching institutescontinue to remain closed, anofficial said.

������������������������������������ ����� �)&.!$5&*)

Expressing concern over theplight of tiny, micro, cottage

and small industries amid thecontinued lockdown, PunjabChief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh on Mondaysought the Centre’s permission toallow these to operate by engag-ing labour from the family or theneighbourhood.

The Chief Minister has writ-ten to the Union Home MinisterAmit Shah to allow such indus-tries, located in urban areas, tofunction outside the contain-ment zones, and be subject to fullCovid-19 preventive measures asper the specified SOPs in thisregard. This initiative would beinstrumental in largely ensuringcontinued employment of labourbesides sustaining the MSMEsector, said the Chief Minister.

Pointing out that mostindustrial cities of Punjab haverecently come in the red zone,largely on account of people whohave come from other States,Capt Amarinder said that theserestrictions have made it difficultfor industry to resume opera-tions. He further pointed out thatthere are a large number of tiny,cottage, micro and small indus-tries operating in the State,employing two-five persons,who reside in the neighbour-hood, and in many cases onlyfamily labour is used with noexternal workers at all.

Often these small and tinyunits are vendors of large unitsand supply them with someessential components, failing

which even large units, eventhough permitted, cannot func-tion, he further observed, seek-ing amendment to the instruc-tions or guidelines issued by theUnion Home Secretary undersection 10(2) (I) of the DisasterManagement Act 2005, where-by certain industries in urbanareas, other than containmentzones, have been permitted tofunction. The Chief Minister hassolicited Shah’s prompt inter-vention to direct his Ministry toamend these guidelines, underpara 7 (ii) (b) wherein this relax-ation is restricted, to allow thesaid industries in Punjab tofunction.

CAPT SEEKS PM’S DIREC-TIVE FOR ENHANCINGTESTING CAPACITIES ATSIX GoI INSTITUTIONS TO2000 EACH A DAY

To overcome overstretchedand limited testing capacities inPunjab particularly amid themovement of migrants backhome, the Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Mondaysought immediate enhancementof viral testing capacity at eachof the six premier research insti-tutions located in the State andChandigarh to 2000 tests a day.

These institutions are:PGIMER Chandigarh (Ministryof Health and Family Welfare),IMTECH-CSIR Chandigarh(Department of Science andTechnology), Indian Institute ofScience Education and ResearchMohali (Ministry of HumanResource Development),National Institute of

Pharmaceutical Education andResearch, Mohali (Departmentof Pharmaceuticals), NationalAgricultural BiotechnologyInstitute, Mohali (Department ofBio-Technology) and CentralUniversity, Bathinda (Ministry ofHuman Resource Development).

In his letter to the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, theChief Minister requested him toissue urgent directives to theseinstitutions to scale up theirtesting capacity to assist theState Government in its publichealth response to Covid-19.

The State Government, hesaid, was making all possibleefforts to contain the Covid-19pandemic in keeping with theguidelines issued by theGovernment of India from timeto time. “The State Governmenthas already requested these insti-tutions of Government of Indialocated in Punjab andChandigarh to provide viral test-ing capacity of 2000 tests daily,”he said.

Notably, the state has till dateconducted a cumulative of24,908 tests for Covid-19, ofwhich about 1000 were foundpositive. Of these tests, 20,729have been conducted inGovernment Medical Colleges(Patiala, Amritsar, Faridkot)which have a daily testing capac-ity of about 1050, while remain-ing tests have been conducted byprivate labs as well as CentralGovernment labs. The PunjabState labs are already over-stretched with three shifts a day,thus limiting the number oftests.

(���������/!�������������������������������������*���������1��

����� �)&.!$5&*)

The continuous trend of Sikhpilgrims, recently returned

from Gurdwara Hazur Sahib atNanded in Maharashtra, test-ing positive for the novel coro-navirus in Punjab has erupteda war of words within theCongress party. Days afterMaharashtra’s senior Congressleader and PWD MinisterAshok Chavan held “Punjabdrivers “responsible for thespread of deadly virus inNanded, the State Governmenton Monday vehemently refut-ed his claims.

“The statement given byAshok Chavan in which heclaimed that the drivers fromPunjab might have infected thepilgrims from Nanded Sahib ismisleading and bereft of facts,”said Punjab Transport MinisterRazia Sultana. RejectedMaharastra PWD Minister’sstatement, she said that a per-son holding a constitutionalpost must not act irresponsiblyand give any statement withoutverifying the facts.

Sultana claimed that inreality, the first batch of 31vehicles (20 buses and 11Tempo Travelers) which ferried860 pilgrims from Sri NandedSahib to Punjab were allMaharashtra vehicles withMaharashtra crew.

“The first three groups ofpilgrims, which came via pri-vate buses, were arranged local-ly from Sri Nanded Sahib,” she

said adding that the first batchof seven buses sent by TakhatSri Hazoor Sahib Trust startedits journey for Punjab at thenight of April 23.

“The second batch of 11Tempo Travelers started mov-ing to Punjab on April 24 latenight and reached Punjab onApril 26 at late night. Similarly,third batch of 13 buses carry-ing pilgrims started their jour-ney to Punjab from Sri HazoorSahib from April 25 late nightand April 26 early morning,these buses reached Punjabon April 27 late night and inearly morning on April 28,” shesaid. Sultana added that PunjabGovernment’s buses left fromPunjab to Sri Nanded Sahib onApril 25 and reached thereearly morning on April 27.These buses started their jour-ney back to Punjab at night onApril 27 and started reachingBathinda on April 29 afternoononwards till April 30 earlymorning. “It is a matter of factthat few private vehicles had leftSri Nanded Sahib even beforethe buses started bringing thepilgrims and the passengers,who traveled in these privatevehicles, have tested positiveincluding one of the driversbelonging to Nanded.

SAD president SukhbirSingh Badal on Monday blast-ed the senior Congress leaderDigvijay Singh for holding theSikhs, especially the “devoutand innocent” pilgrims, guiltyof spreading the coronavirus.

���?����������������A��� ���������?��������������������#��

!��������������?������#�����'�����������(����������������)&.!$5&*)

Controversial Punjabi singerSidhu Moosewala was

booked for curfew violationand a DSP suspended after avideo of him at a shootingrange in Sangrur surfaced onsocial media.

A case has also been lodgedagainst five other policemenwho were allegedly deputed atthe range by the DSP.

The singer is seen shootingat the firing range in the video,which surfaced at a time whenthe entire state is under thecoronavirus lockdown.

The action was taken onthe directions of DGP DinkarGupta, a government state-ment said.

The DGP ordered theimmediate suspension ofSangrur DSP (Headquarters)Daljit Singh Virk on charges ofdelinquency in duty. The DGPhad directed the Sangrur SSPto hold a preliminary inquiry,which prima facie establishedthat the DSP had facilitated theshooting at the firing range ofBadbar village in Sangrur at atime when the entire state isunder curfew.

The DGP took a sternview of the DSP's act of deput-ing police personnel attachedwith him at the shooting rangeunauthorisedly and acting in amanner unbecoming of anofficer, the statement said.

A criminal case underSection 188 of the IPC andSection 51 of the DisasterManagement Act has been reg-istered at the Dhanaula policestation.

All police officials are post-ed in Sangrur district and fur-ther investigation is in progress,the release said.

����� �)&.!$5&*)

For the sixth consecutiveday, Punjab has recorded

more than 100 cases in a day.But the silver lining is that 132fresh coronavirus cases werereported on Monday againstthe previous day’s figure of 331.With this, the state’s tally hasreached 1232, of which, 65 per-cent are returnees to Punjabfrom other states, includingNanded Sahib in Maharashtra.

Besides 132 new cases, theState has also reported threedeaths — one each inKapurthala, Ludhiana, andHoshiarpur, taking the state’stotal death toll to 24.

It has been learnt thataround 4,100 Sikh pilgrims,stranded at Gurdwara HazurSahib at Nanded, have returnedto Punjab, of which more than700 have been tested positivewhile the reports of nearly1,800 are still awaited.

Even though many stu-dents and workers have alsoreturned from Rajasthan andother states, such a large num-ber of Sikh pilgrims testingpositive for the coronavirushave become a major challengefor the state health authorities.

Among 132 fresh casesreported on Monday, 124 arethat of the Sikh pilgrims.Maximum 52 new cases werereported from Sangrur, 26 fromTarn Taran, 15 from Barnala,13 from Ferozepur, 12 fromFaridkot, six from Gurdaspur,four from Jalandhar, two fromPathankot and one each fromBathinda and Mansa, as per thedaily health bulletin.

The bulletin also recordedtwo deaths — a 62-year-oldwoman from Ludhiana and a65-year-old man from

Phagwara in Kapurthala —that were reported on lateSunday evening. Another deathwas also reported fromHoshiarpur — a 55 years oldMahesh Singh who was under-going treatment at Guru NanakDev Hospital at Amritsar sinceMay 2

“His sample result cametoday, which was positive. Hedied in the evening atAmritsar,” said HoshiarpurDeputy Commissioner ApneetRiyait confirming the deathwhich is yet to be added in thestate’s official tally.

Among the districts,Amritsar continue to be on thetop with 218 cases, followed byJalandhar (128), Ludhiana(110), Mohali (95), Hoshiarpur(88), Patiala (86) and SBSNagar (85).

Among other places,Sangrur reported 63 cases,Muktsar 49, Ferozepur 42, TarnTaran 40, Gurdaspur andBathinda 36 each, Moga 28,Pathankot 27, Barnala 19,Faridkot 18, Mansa 17,Fatehgarh Sahib 16, Rupnagar14, Kapurthala 13 and Fazilkafour, as per the bulletin.

A total of 28,545 sampleshave been taken so far in thestate and of which, 21,295 havereturned negative and 6,018reports are still awaited. Thereare 1,081 active cases in thestate, as per bulletin.

��#�&���������������� 233������42���������5�������������������67����������

Page 4: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

�� ����������������������� ����� !�"#"#

���� ������� ��./0�!/1)$

After the CRPF, theBSF has now

sealed at least twofloors of its headquar-ters at the CGOComplex here after aHead Constable wastested positive forcoronavirus late onSunday evening.

Direct, secondaryand tertiary contacttracing of other per-sonnel with the infected per-son is being conducted as perprotocol and the building isbeing disinfected, BSF offi-cials said.

"A head constable of BSFworking in BSF ForceHeadquarters Block 10 CGOComplex, has been foundCOVID-19 positive late nighton 3rd May 2020. He lastattended office on Friday 1stMay 2020. He was working inan office on 2nd floor of BSFForce Headquarters ," aspokesperson of the BorderSecurity Force (BSF) said.

All persons came in hiscontact have been identifiedand quarantined. They willalso be tested for COVID-19.Offices on first and secondfloors of Force Headquartershave been closed as a precau-tion, the official said.

Prior to the detection ofthe case, on Friday (May 1,2020), as a special precau-tionary measure BSF ForceHeadquarters was closed earlyby 4 PM, he said.

All attending staff vacat-ed offices and the entire officecomplex was thoroughly san-itized with prescribed solu-tions of disinfectants. ForSaturday and Sunday, theForce Headquarter wasclosed.

No staff other than thesecurity personnel and thecontrol room members inlimited numbers worked atthe Force's Headquarters.

The disinfection of thecomplete BSF Block was doneagain on Monday in the lightof the latest COVID-19 pos-itive case in the paramilitary.

"Identification of sec-ondary and tertiary contactsas per protocol is being car-ried out. All protocols arebeing followed," an officialsaid, adding those identifiedwill be also put under homequarantine.

Meanwhile, the SashastraSeema Bal (SSB) has report-ed 13 personnel as Covid-19positive till so far.

While nine personnel

infected with corona virus arefrom the 25th battalion of theborder guarding force basedat Ghitorni in the nationalcapital, the remaining four arefrom other locations, offi-cials said.

They said all the infectedpersonnel have been put inhospital isolation.

The 80,000 personnelstrong SSB is the designatedborder guarding force andLead Intelligence Agency forthe 1,751 km long India-Nepal and 699 km of theIndo-Bhutan borders.

The SSB is also engaged ina variety of internal securityroles in different theatresincluding Jammu andKashmir and Naxal-hit States.

The Central Reser vePolice Force (CRPF) head-quarters, also located in theCGO Complex here, was shutfollowing a positive Covid-19test report of an AssistantCommandant attached with asenior paramilitar y official.

����������������������� �����������&�������������������������B��

����� ./0�!/1)$

With just 610 coronaviruspositive cases, 112 of the

total 115 aspirational districtshave fared well when comparedto the national level of infec-tion.

Aspirational districts arethose which have shown rela-tively lesser progress in keysocial areas and have emergedas pockets of under-develop-ment, thereby posing a chal-lenge to ensure balancedregional development.

“In the AspirationalDistricts Programme piloted byNITI Aayog, as of now thereare about 610 cases in 112 aspi-rational districts which is con-sidered fairly low at less than 2per cent of the national level ofinfections,” Niti AayogChairman and head of anEmpowered Group AmitabhKant said on Monday at apress briefing here on Monday.

Of these, six districts havereported the first case afterApril 21. Major hotspots areBaramula (62), Nuh (57),Ranchi (55), YSR (55),Kupwara (47) andJaisalmer(34), he said.

NITI Aayog has taken stepsto ensure that these districts areable to contain the spread of thevirus and has actively referredthe requirements in testingkits, PPE and masks to therespective empowered groupsfor necessary action in order toaddress supply constraints, itnoted.

“Collaboration has beenone of the guiding principles inAspirational DistrictProgramme and these part-nerships have enabled theDistrict Administrations inramping up isolation camps,

setting up control rooms, door-to-door food supplies, distrib-ution of cooked foods, mobi-lization of Self Help Groups formaking home-made masks,sanitizers and re-usable & ster-ilizable protective gear whilesimultaneously sustaining theirlivelihoods during lockdownperiod. Osmanabad is one suchdistrict where a testing Centrehas been established by utiliz-ing the CSR corpus,” it said.

However, he admitted thatthe return of migrant labour-ers en masse from urban hubsof work to their villages is a pri-mary area of concern andefforts are being taken toensure their care, quarantineand treatment go hand in hand.

Kant talked about ‘surak-shit dada-dadi & nana-naniabhiyan’ programme launchedby the Piramal Foundationsaying that it aims at an out-reach focused on senior citizensin order to sensitise them onpreventive measures and req-uisite behavioral changes anddocument and address issuesrelated to food, ration, medi-cines, etc delivery.

Similarly, Bill & MelindaGates Foundation, in partner-ship with NITI Aayog andother development partners,have developed a public goodmessage repository with stan-dardized content in local lan-guages on mask wearing,hygiene measures, social dis-tancing, motivation of frontlineworkers, among others.DMs/DCs of AspirationalDistricts have been requestedto examine and suitably use theresources on this website (indi-afightscovid.com) for strength-ening the communication strat-egy, said a statement from theNiti Aayog

����� ./0�!/1)$

Rejecting the PakistanSupreme Court’s order to

hold general elections in Gilgitand Baltistan, New Delhi onMonday reiterated that theyare an integral part of Indiaand issued a demarche to reg-ister its protest to a seniorPakistani envoy here.

The demarche Mondayconveyed "the entire UnionTerritories of Jammu andKashmir and Ladakh, includ-ing the areas of Gilgit andBaltistan, are an integral partof India" by virtue of its fullylegal and irrevocable acces-sion.

Moreover, theGovernment’s position isreflected in a unanimous res-olution passed in this regard

by Parliament in 1994, theexternal affairs ministry saidhere.

Reacting to the PakistanSupreme Court order passedlast week, the ministry alsosaid the Pakistan governmentor its judiciary has no locusstandi on territories illegallyand forcibly occupied by it.

“India completely rejectssuch actions and continuedattempts to bring materialchanges in Pakistan Occupiedarea of the Indian territory ofJammu and Kashmir,” theministry said.

The court order allowedthe Pakistan government tohold elections in September inGilgit-Baltistan and settingup a caretaker governmentduring the interim period.The order said Gilgit-Baltistan

came within its domain.The Indian Government,

meanwhile, also asked in thedemarche that Islamabad must"immediately vacate them”which are under “its illegaloccupation.”

The strong retort said suchactions can neither hide theillegal occupation of parts ofUnion Territories of Jammuand Kashmir and Ladakh byPakistan nor the grave humanrights violations, exploitationand denial of freedom to thepeople residing in Pakistanoccupied territories for thepast seven decades.

In a recent order, thePakistan Supreme Courtallowed the amendment to theGovernment of Gilgit-BaltistanOrder of 2018 to conduct thegeneral elections in the region.

1,�� ��$�&������������� ����%������)���$�-������2������%���2

����� ./0�!/1)$

Pakistan is still following its“myopic” and “limited”

agenda of pushing terroristsinto Jammu and Kashmirand India will respond appro-priately with precision unlessthe neighbouring countrygives up its policy of State-sponsored terrorism, ArmyChief Gen MM Naravanesaid here.

In an exclusive interviewto PTI, the chief of the 1.3million-strong Army saidIndia will give “proportionateresponse” to all acts ofinfringement of ceasefire andsupport to terrorism byPakistan.

On the Handwaraencounter, Gen. Naravanesaid India is proud of the fivesecurity personnel who laiddown their lives saving civil-ians from terrorists at a vil-lage in the North Kashmirlocality and particularlycomplimented Col AshutoshSharma who led the opera-tion.

“I would like to empha-sise that Indian Army willgive proportionate responseto all acts of infringement ofceasefire and its (Pakistan’s)support to terrorism. Theonus remains with Pakistanto bring peace in the region,”the Chief of Army Staff said.

“Unless Pakistan gives upits policy of State sponsoredterrorism, we will continue torespond appropriately andwith precision,” he added.

Gen Naravane said therecent infiltration attempts byPakistan along the Line ofControl in Jammu andKashmir showed thatPakistan is not interested inbattling the coronavirus pan-demic and is still following its“own myopic and limitedagenda of pushing terroristsinside India.”

“The low priority given tothe Pakistani citizens by itsown government and thearmy is apparent by the expo-nential rise in cases and mas-sive shortages of medicalequipment and supplies inPakistan,” he said.

The Army Chief saideven during the SAARCvideo conference, Pakistan’snarrow-mindedness was onfull display when it used theplatform to complain about“non-existent” violations ofhuman rights in Kashmirinstead of finding ways tokeep its citizens safe from thepandemic.

“The increased intensityof ceasefire violations by thePakistan army, where its tar-gets innocent civilians onthe LoC, just shows that thecountry is a global risk and isnot interested in providingrelief to its own citizens,” hesaid.

“In fact , Pakistan’sremoval of names of hardcoreterrorists from the terrorwatch list just proves that itstill believes in exporting ter-rorism as an instrument ofState policy,” he added.

On implementation ofrecommendations of terroranti-terror watchdog FATF,Gen Naravane said Pakistanhas sought to “blindside” theinternational community bymaking superficial changesand amendments to its “non-existent” checks on terrorfinancing and money laun-dering.

“It still continues toemploy proxies to inflict ter-ror and violence not onlyinside India but also inAfghanistan where it sup-ports the Taliban militarilyand financially,” he said.

“The sudden spurts inviolence against Afghan secu-rity forces are indicative ofthe illegal and illicit drug andmoney laundering networksthat fuel the conflict,” GenNaravane added.

�������� �������������������� ��������� �� ���� ������

����� ./0�!/1)$

The Supreme Court Mondayasked the Bombay High

Court to decide the plea,preferably within two weeks,opposing the burial of peopledying of Covid-19 in a ceme-tery in Mumbai's Bandra westlocality on the ground that itmight spread infection inadjoining areas.

A bench comprisingJustices R F Nariman andIndira Banerjee passed theorder while hearing throughvideo-conferencing an appealfiled against the April 27 inter-im order of the high court.

The order had refused togrant interim relief on a pleachallenging BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation's(BMC) permission to use threecemeteries in the Bandra Westto bury bodies of COVID-19victims.

"The impugned interimorder by the single judge of theBombay High Court datedApril 27 has denied ad-interimrelief in the writ petition filed,"the apex court said in its order.

"Concerning the fact thatthe writ petitioner and hisfamily members are worriedabout the spread of COVID-19thanks to burials taking placein the immediately adjacentburial ground, we feel that thisis a matter in which the motionitself should be taken up anddisposed of at the earliest,preferably within a period oftwo weeks from today," thebench said while disposing ofthe plea.

The plea, filed in the highcourt by Mumbai-residentPradeep Gandhy and otherswho are residing near theKonkani Muslim Kabrastan insuburban Bandra west, had

claimed that locals were afraidof community spread of thevirus, if the burial was not doneproperly.

Later, a Muslim body hadsought intervention in theappeal filed by Ghandy in thetop court, and said that theapprehension about allegedspread of infection due to bur-ial of bodies of those infectedwith COVID-19 was unfound-ed as there was no risk of thespread of virus.

“It is submitted that theburial of dead bodies is essen-tial to the religion of Islam aswell as in other religions suchas Christianity.

Such a right forms part ofthe right to practice one's reli-gion under Article 25 of theConstitution of India,” theMuslim body had said in itsplea.

In its order passed onMonday, the apex court noted,"Application for implead-ment/intervention is disposedof in view of the fact that thespecial leave petition itself hasbeen disposed of."

����� ./0�!/1)$

The Centre and the Jammuand Kashmir administra-

tion justified in the SupremeCourt on Monday the restrictionon 4G service in the UT sayinghigh speed internet might beused for sending informationabout troop movement, andreferred to Saturday's "tragic"deaths of security personnel inan encounter with terrorists.

The top court, dealing withPILs seeking restoration of 4Gservice in the UT, said it has todeal with the legal question ofensuring balance in view ofhealth and security concernsraised by the petitioners and thegovernments.

The submissions of the

Centre and the UT were opposedbefore a bench, headed by JusticeN V Ramana, by senior lawyersSalman Khurshid and HuzefaAhmadi who were representingparties seeking restoration of 4G,on grounds such as right toaccess doctors is an inherentunder article 21 (Right to Life)of the Constitution and it's depri-vation should be judged in viewof the coronavirus or Covid-19pandemic.

They also alleged that theright of children to access schoolsthrough the high speed internetservice have been hampered.

The bench, which also com-prised Justices R Subhash Reddyand B R Gavai, heard argumentsof both sides including that ofAttorney General K K

Venugopal and Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta, for the Centre andthe Union Territory respective-ly, and reserved the verdict.

During the over 2-hourhearing, held via video confer-encing, Venugopal said the gov-ernment's policy decision shouldnot be questioned as the restric-tion was meant to protect theentire population of the State andnot only patients.

“Terrorists are being pushedinto the country. Yesterday, therewere some tragic incident,”Venugopal said, adding thatvideos of the troop movementscan be shared with the enemy byusing 4G and there was nodenial of the fact that security ofthe state was considered whiletaking such a decision.

��2������7������������������������������������������������

����� ./0�!/1)$

The Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR)

has deployed tech giant IBM’sartificial intelligence-poweredWatson virtual assistant on itsportal to respond to queriesfrom front-line staff and dataentry operators across thecountry on COVID-19.

The virtual agent has beendeployed on protected pagesof the ICMR website that canbe accessed only by autho-rised personnel who are

involved with sample collec-tion and testing in hospitalsand diagnostic labs, IBM saidin a statement on Monday.

The queries could berelated to nature and processof data to be captured by testlabs, how to record invento-ry of test kits and reagents,process of report ing to various Government agencies and references tothe latest guidance, in addi-tion to responding to querieson COVID-19 in general.

“It is critical to remain

focused on testing, diagnosisand treatment in order tolower the growth curve. Thiscollaboration with IBM willhelp automate responses fromthe field and facilitate accessto accurate and updated dataon COVID-19 diagnosticsand reporting,” said ProfessorBalram Bhargava, DirectorGeneral, ICMR.

"This will help augmentour teams'' response time andallow them to concentrate onpriorities like developing,updating testing and treat-

ment protocols and guidancefor COVID-19," he added.

The Watson virtual agentis able to understand andrespond to common queriesin English and Hindi fromapproved testing facilities forCOVID-19 across India atscale, around the clock in auniform and timely manner.

The virtual agent is alsoexpected to help in on-board-ing new data entry operatorsand staff of diagnostic centres,as the COVID-19 test net-work expands across the

country."The deployment of IBM's

chatbot AI platform is aimedto help ICMR effectively manage the process of cap-turing data relat ing toCOVID-19," saidGopalakrishnan SeniorAddit ional Secretar y,Ministry of Electronics andInformation Technology.

IBM last month said it hastrained virtual agent ''WatsonAssistant for Citizens'' toanswer common queriesabout COVID-19.

!"#$�������!�#�%������&!�������������������'

����� ./0�!/1)$

As India faces an unprece-dented challenge with the

Covid-19 global pandemicaffecting livelihood, a networkof 92,000 NGOs, a record ofsorts, has joined hands with theGovernment in deliveringessential services such ascooked and raw foods besidescreating awareness about socialdistancing to crores of vulner-able including homeless,migrants and poor people.

The Government consti-tuted Empowered Committee-6 Chairman Amitabh Kant,CEO NITI Aayog said onMonday that NGOs likeAkshaya Patra, Rama KrishnaMission, Tata Trusts, PiramalFoundation, Piramal Swasthya,Bill and Milinda GatesFoundation, Action Aid,International Red Cross Centre(ICRC), Pradhan, Prayas, Help-age India are among numerousNGOs doing a commendablejob.

Ditto with SEWA, SulabhInternational, Charities AidFoundation of India, GaudiaMath, Bachpan BachaoAndolan, the Salvation Army,Catholic Bishops' Conference ofIndia and many more NGOslike Mahaveer Internationaland Uttarakhand Manav SevaSamiti.

For instance, MahaveerInternational which has 212centres across the States hasbeen distributing ration kitswhich include food items likewheatflour, rice, oil and othersas well as packed fresh cookedfoods to the poorest of the poorat Yamuna Khadar, near DNDFlyover and rainywell nearYamuna bridge, ITO since lock-

down crisis. “While reachingout to the beneficiaries weensure that they follow socialdistancing norms. We also dis-tribute masks to them,” said VN Sharma, Chairman(Finance), MahaveerInternational, Delhi.

These NGOs are engagedin assisting and supporting thelocal administration in settingup community kitchens par-ticularly for migrants andhomeless population workingin urban areas.

For instance, Akshaya PatraFoundation, has served overtwo crore meals to vulnerablecommunities likemigrant pop-ulation, daily-wage labourers,industrial workers and home-less people across India duringthe COVID-19 related lock-down.

Creating awareness aboutprevention, hygiene, social dis-tancing, isolation, and com-bating stigma and supple-menting the government effortsto provide shelter to homeless,daily wage workers, and urbanpoor families are some otherareas where these NGOs arepitching in, said Kant.

“A primary area of concernin these times is the mass exo-dus of migrant labourers fromurban hubs of work to their vil-lages. NGOs are coordinatingefforts and working closelywith the district administrationsand state governments so thatmeasures of care, quarantine,and treatment go hand in hand.

“In the next phase, we planto mobilise Civil SocietyOrganisations/ NGOs formovement against Covid-19stigmatisation and in protectingthe elderly and senior citizens,”the official added.

+28��9:��#������������9�)��������)���������������)�����

����� ./0�!/1)$

The BJP on Monday accusedthe Congress of accusing it

of “politicising” the “smoothprocess” of transportation ofmigrant workers strandedacross States.

BJP said the railways hasbeen providing subsidised tick-ets bearing 85 percent of thetravel costs, while the rest of 15per cent cost will be borne byStates.

BJP’s national spokesperson,Sambit Patra, took to Twitter say-ing, “Rahul Gandhi ji, I haveattached guidelines of MHAwhich clearly states that ‘No tick-ets to be sold at any station’Railways has subsidised 85% &State govt to pay 15% The Stategovt can pay for the tickets(Madhya Pradesh’s BJP govt ispaying). Ask Cong state govts tofollow suit".

The BJP spokesperson fur-ther said, “And this is how theCongress ruled StateGovernments can pay the 15%for the Migrant workers (85%being taken care of by theRailways) rather than politicis-ing the otherwise smoothprocess taken up by the railways.”

Congress leader RahulGandhi had criticised govern-ment for allegedly charging theworkers for ferrying them totheir respective native placesand Congress president SoniaGandhi has offered to bear thecost of the tickets through theparty's State units.

,�����#�����(����������9�)�������������������;����)���

-(������,��&���/(����������������������&��������(�)���)���������2������ ����� ./0�!/1)$

The Government onMonday notified new sets

of specified health warnings forall tobacco product packs bymaking an amendment to theCigarettes and other TobaccoProducts (Packaging andLabelling) Rules, 2008. Theamended rules will come intoeffect from September 1, 2020,to be valid for a year from thedate of effect.

The Government issuedtwo images—to be displayedby the tobacco products man-ufactured or imported or pack-aged on or after September 1while the other one will be dis-played by the product manu-factured or imported or pack-aged after September 1, thestatement said.

“The fresh warnings willbe valid for a year from thedate of effect,” added the state-ment.

"Any person engageddirectly or indirectly in themanufacture, production, sup-ply, import or distribution ofcigarettes or any tobacco prod-ucts shall ensure that all tobac-co product packages shall havethe specified health warningsexactly as prescribed,'' saidthe statement.

Any violation of the rulesis a punishable offence withimprisonment or fine as pre-scribed, it noted.

The Government hasalready asked the States to pro-hibit spitting tobacco andguthka in the public placeswarning that it may helpspread infectious Coronavirus.

Subsequently many States likeRajasthan, Haryana andHimachal Pradesh has alreadybanned the spitting and thoseviolating the norms will befined.

As per the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), smok-ing may increase the risk ofgetting a severe case of coro-navirus as it damages thelungs and other body parts."The act of smoking meansthat fingers (and possibly con-taminated cigarettes) are incontact with lips whichincreases the possibility oftransmission of the virus fromhand to mouth. Smokers mayalso already have lung diseaseor reduced lung capacitywhich would greatly increasethe risk of serious illness," as per the WHO.

� ��� �����������������������������������

����������� �� ������������� �������� � �

��!�"��" #�����$�%���"���&'�(��#)�*)���+��,��

����)����� �)������������$���� %$��-�)� ." ����"�$����������)�$��������������/������#� �)��� �����

��$��" %��

Page 5: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

�� ��0�������������������� ����� !�"#"# ���� 0�1�������������

Chennai: Come May 7, tipplers inTamil Nadu can have their drink inTamil Nadu as the State Governmenthas decided to open the liquor shops.

In a statement issued here thegovernment said the Tasmac liquoroutlets will be opened from May 7onwards. The shops will functionbetween 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The Tamil Nadu governmentsaid in order to control the movementof people in the state border areas withKarnataka and Andhra Pradesh asliquor shops have been opened there,the decision to open the liquor shopsin the state has been taken.

However liquor shops located inthe containment zones will continueto be closed.

According to the government,social distance of six feet should be

maintained between persons standingin a queue.

For the state government, the saleof liquor is a major source of revenueand this was stopped for the past 40days due to nationwide lockdown.

On Sunday night the governmentincreased the value added tax onpetrol and diesel. IANS

������ ���������� 23�)$

All concerns and apprehen-sions expressed by medical

doctors, health experts andthose in the business of drugindustry should be termedmuch ado about nothing,according to two septuagenar-ian doctors who have more thanfive decades of experience in thefields of diagnosis and medicalresearch.

Citing an editorial pub-lished in 1993 by The Lancet ,the weekly peer-reviewed gen-eral medical journal which hadits origin in 1823, these doctorsCV Krishnaswamy and ProfBM Hegde, widely respected intheir profession by peers andjuniors alike, ask the commonman/woman and policy makersnot to be carried away by terms

like coronavirus, Covid-19 andpandemic.

The April 17, 1993 issue ofThe Lancet has an editorialtitled “Do EpidemiologistsCause Epidemics?” in which itis mentioned that physicianshave a tendency to diagnosewhat they believe is common.The Lancet, a highly respectedmedical journal, had warned in1993 itself that epidemiologicaldata make easy headlines whicheveryone can understand and isentitled to have an opinionabout-“coffee causes cancer”and “breast cancer on the rise”.

The Lancet has pointed outin the same editorial about areport stating that an increase infatal myocardial infarctionamong young women who usedpsychotropic drugs. “Theseresearchers pointed out that

the finding was unexpected, thatit was the result of a secondaryanalysis, in a study done forother reasons and that theremight be a host of alternativeexplanations,” said the Lanceteditorial, always considered asthe last word in the world ofmedical research.

The recent past saw WHOand other related organisationsdeclaring many such medicalissues and epidemic and pan-demic, pointed out Dr CVKrishnaswamy. “Don’t youremember the chaos and fearcaused during the days of swineflu, bird’s flu, SAARS, Nipah andthe likes. What happened tothose days,” asked DrKrishnaswamy.

The Lancet also remindsabout a provincial cancer reg-istry issuing a warning that

cancer rates were increasing inan area that had been underenvironmental suspicion forsome years. “The popular pressresponded with dramatic head-lines. Real estate prices fell,inhabitants reported healthproblems among friends andneighbours and contemplatedmoving even though individualrespondents showed moreresilience in their health beliefs.

On review it was found thata wrong denominator had beenused , a mistake that could eas-ily happen because the report-ing of population figures did notfollow the same administrativeboundaries as the cancer reg-istry,” said the Lancet editorial.

Back home in India, TamilNadu itself is a ‘victim’ of sen-sational reporting by the mediawhich had blown out of pro-

portion the ‘reports’ released bycertain NGOs that the IndiraGandhi Centre for AtomicResearch (IGCAR) atKalpakkam has caused a cancerepidemic in the region. A thor-ough probe ordered by theDepartment of Atomic Energy(DAE) found that there was noabnormality of any kind in andaround Kalpakkam.

Dr Krishnaswamy is of theview that an audit about thefatalities that had happenedduring the coronavirus is amust. “The State has seen 30perosn succumbing during theperiod. There were octogenar-ians and nonagenarians amongthe victims. Some of those whodied had kidney and heart ail-ments which state that the coro-navirus is not the reason for thedeaths,” said the doctor.

(�����������&������������&��������<�=���������������� ���������� 23�)$

In what could be a major set-back for the Tamil Nadu

Government, the Madras HighCourt on Monday stayed thecircular issued by the HinduReligious and CharitableEndowment Commissionertransferring an amount of �10crore from the temples in theState to the Chief Minister’sRelief Fund.

A division bench consist-ing of Justices Vineeth Kothariand Pushpa Sathyanarayanastayed the circular issued by theHR&CE commissioner whilehearing a public interest litiga-tion filed by TR Ramesh, pres-ident, Temple WorshippersSociety, pleading for declaringas null and void the said cir-

cular.“The court accepted our

contention that the HR & CEcommissioner has no right tounilaterally issue an order totransfer temple funds for thebusiness of Government. Itseems better sense prevailedand the Government lawyertold the court that an orderstaying the said circular would

be withdrawn. But the judgesasked the Government to filethe order withdrawing the cir-cular as an affidavit by Friday,”said Ramesh.

What upset the TempleWorshippers Society was theindifference of the StateGovernment towards thepathetic living conditions of thepriests and other staff in tem-ples.

“The HR&CECommissioner is the personwho whets the proposal by theTrustees to transfer funds tovarious activities and he is theofficial sitting on judgment onsuch suggestions. The courtordered that the HR&CE com-missioner could not be thejudge in his own case,” saidRamesh.

*����3� ��'���������,�(��#�(��������������#%����������'*4�5��

������ ���������� 23�)$

GMuraleedharan, theThiruvananathapuram

based lawyer who was takeninto custody from the residenceof his lover at Kollam on MayDay for flouting the lockdownrules and was quarantined forpossible coronavirus observa-tion escaped from the isolationward on Sunday night alleged-ly with the connivance of thepolice.

Muraleedharan, a CPI(M)leader and secretary ofTrivandrum Bar Associationfell into police net when resi-dents in Chathanoor of Kollamalerted the district adminis-tration about the nocturnalinter district visits made by himto his lover’s house. It is report-ed that Muraleedharan wasprovided with a two-wheeler bythe party leadership and a

trusted CPI(M) worker tookhim to Thiruvananthapuramthrough a circuitous routekeeping the police and healthofficials at bay

He was caught from hisparamour’s residence on May 1night and was admitted to thequarantine ward to ensure thathe was not infected as well asto make sure that he does notinfect others. But being aCPI(M) leader, Muraleedharanwould have got the silent nodof the police as well as thehealth department officials toescape from the ward whichwas otherwise under round-the-clock police guard.

But Muraleedharan’s car isstill under police custody andthis would be an embarrass-ment to him as well his politi-cal masters, said KKunhikannan, political com-mentator.

>�����������������������

Bengaluru: A 56-year-old-manfrom Kalaburagi succumbed toCovid-19 even as 28 new posi-tive cases emerged in Karnataka,including 21 from Davangerealone, in the past 19 hoursraising the State's tally to 642, anofficial said on Monday.

With the new death, Covid-19 toll in Kalaburagi has risento six."Positive case 587, 56-year-old resident of Kalaburagiadied at designated hospital,"the official said.

The deceased man is thestate's 26th Covid death, whowas admitted to a hospital on

Wednesday with the knowncase of Severe Acute RespiratoryInfection (SARI), cough andfever. His X-ray examinationsalso diagnosed bilateral patchyPneumonitis. Kalaburagi is 575km north of Bengaluru in thissouthern State. Meanwhile, aspike in Covid cases inDavangere contributed 21 of the28 new cases which emerged inthe past 19 hours.

Except one case withInfluenza Like Illness (ILI), restall from Davangere were con-tacts of earlier cases, mostlyfrom case 533 and two from

556. Among the Davangerecases, 12 are men and eightwomen, including three chil-dren below 17.Until Sunday 5p.m., Davangere recorded only10 cases, out of which two weredischarged, seven active and onedead.

With the sudden spike,Davangere is now battling 28active cases. It is 266 km north-west of the city. The balanceseven cases of the 28 newemerged from Mandya andKalaburagi, 2 each,Chikkaballapura, Haveri andVijayapura, 1 each. IANS

������ &�&*&9&�$

Andhra Pradesh continues to grapplewith the Covid-19 pandemic as the

number of cases detected keep fluctu-ating with each passing day.

The State nodal officer reported that67 cases were detected from the samplestested during the 24 hours ending 10a.m. Monday. With 10,292 samples test-ed during this period, the State report-ed the largest number of tests conduct-ed in a single day. Of the 67 cases detect-ed, 25 were reported from the Kurnooldistrict which continues to top the chartof covid-hit districts in the State.Kurnool districts' tally stands at 491compared to 338 in Guntur district, and278 cases in the Krishna district.

The last 24 hours saw only five ofthe 13 districts report new cases. Guntur,Krishna, Visakhapatnam, Kadapa, andChittoor districts reported 19, 12, six,four and one cases respectively.

Of the cumulative tally of 1650cases, 524 persons have been cured anddischarged so far. The death toll has

remained unchanged at 33 since Friday.The number of active cases in the stateis currently 1,093.

Incidentally, after witnessing a rel-ative decline in cases over the past threedays, the state reported a slight rise incases on Monday morning. This is beingattributed to the significantly largenumber of tests, 10292 cases, conduct-ed. In fact, AP has the nation's highestratio of tests conducted per million.

The state conducts 2,345 tests permillion population, followed by TamilNadu with 1929 and Rajasthan with1,492 tests per million.

Although the absolute figures, interms of positive cases continue to grow,and stood at 1,650 on Monday, over thepast week the State had shown someapparent progress in the containment ofthe coronavirus cases.

The last seven days' statistics indi-cate that even as the state ramped up thenumber of tests conducted every day toabove 5,000, there was a relative declinein the number of positive cases detect-ed.

2�&%�$3#�%�%�����43��2!5#��33�5#��!6��%7�&#�%����8(�99�5�86��!9%����%&%���!:�584�8%%!�&5(#�%���3&%��%�6��:�8;�6!8(�%�!8#�!9�%��35��#%#�&8(�!%��5�#%&99

�8�%�43��#

%����������������������� 673�

2������'������������� ������������������� ��������-C:

���� � 4&$��*

The Covid-19 cases in Jaipur crossed the1,000-mark on Monday as it registered 12

new cases taking its tally to 1,005 while the stateoverall crossed the 3,000-mark registering atotal number of 3,009 cases, said AdditionalChief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh.

A total of 123 Covid-19 cases was report-ed in Rajasthan in the last 12 hours out of which73 were from Jodhpur, 19 from Chittaurgarh,12 from Jaipur, 11 from Pali, three from Kota,two from Rajsamand, and one each fromBikaner, Alwar and Udaipur, Singh said.

Overall, 75 deaths have been reported inthe state so far with 44 deaths reported in Jaipur,nine in Jodhpur, six in Kota, two each inNagaur, Bharatpur and Bhilwara, one each inAjmer, Alwar, Bikaner Pratapgarh andChittaurgarh, two in Sikar and one in Tonk.

���������������� 333��������"�#��������������4 33+������

����� ���� ��� ���%&$

Maharashtra’s former ChiefMinister Prithviraj Chavan

on Monday gave a new dimensionto the controversy over the Centre’sdecision to shift the InternationalFinancial Services Centre (IFSC)Authority from Mumbai to Gujarat,by claiming that though thisAuthority was set up atGandhinagar way back in March2015, it had failed to take off as theAhemdabad-GIFT City did notfulfill primary requirements forbeing an IFSC.

A day after NCP chief SharadPawar dubbed the Centre’s decisionto establish the IFSC Authority atGandhinagar instead of Mumbai as“egregious, erroneous and unwar-ranted” and asked Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to reconsider themove, Chavan gave a new spin tothe controversy by saying that

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) based at Gujarat’sbusiness capital of Ahmedabad"has not taken off " as it did not haveany of primary requirements forbeing an IFSC.

Seeking to substantiate hisclaim, Chavan tweeted the copy ofa press release put out through thePress Information Bureau (PIB) bythe Modi government’s FinanceMinistry on March 1, 2015,announcing that “an InternationalFinancial Services Centre (IFSC) isset up at Gandhinagar, Gujarat aspart of the Special Economic Zone(SEZ). To operationalise the IFSC,a notification under the ForeignExchange Management Act, 1999(FEMA) shall be issued by theReserve Bank of India in March2015, making regulations relating tofinancial institutions set up in theIFSC”. The press note cited by himgoes onto list the key features of the

regulations will be any financialinstitution ( or its branch) set up inthe IFSC.

Chavan, who had also served asthe Minister of State in PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh’s officein the Ministry of ParliamentAffairs and Ministry of Personnel,Public Grievances and Pensions,went on put a series of tweets tosuggest that the Ahmadbad-GIFTCity did not have any pre-requisitesto become an IFSC and that waswhy it had failed to take off.

Chavan’s tweets should be seenin the context of the Narendra Modigovernment’s notification on April27 declaring Gandhinagar inGujarat as the headquarters of theIFSC Authority, at the GujaratInternational Financial-Tech(GIFT) City. The ruling MahaVikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders hadearlier disapproved the move, bysaying that the Prime Minister

should not only think of his homestate, but nation as a whole.

The senior Congress leadersaid that there were some of the pri-mary requirements for setting up anIFSC like full array of internation-al banking services for corporatesand individuals, Full array of inter-national capital markets, productsand services and a full array of riskmanagement services.

Chavan said that the otherprerequisites for an IFSC included:a full array of insurance and rein-surance services, a full array ofcommodities markets, trading andhedging services, a full array ofbusiness support services(Accounting, Legal, IT support) anda range of global, regional andnational investment banks.

The former chief minister saidthat some other primary require-ments for setting up an IFSCincluded a range of global, region-

al and national insurance compa-nies, existence of global, regional,national equity markets and exis-tence of wide, deep and liquidderivatives market. “DoesAhmadbad-GIFT City have any ofthese attributes? No wonder it hasnot taken off. #IFSC,” Chavan saidin his concluding tweet.

Chavan also slammed formerchief minister Devendra Fadnavisfor making “misleading state-ments” about the reason behindshifting the IFSC from Mumbai toGujarat.

Defending the Centre’s decisionto shift IFSC from Mumbai toGujarat, Fadnavis had tweeted onMay 2: “I would like to once againdraw your attention to the reportsubmitted by a high-level commit-tee to the Manmohan Singh gov-ernment in February 2007 for IFSCin Mumbai. However, till 2014, theprevious governments at either the

Centre or then (Congress-NCP)state government had not taken anyaction on the report”.

In his response, Chavan tweet-ed: “What @Dev_Fadnavis hastweeted was a UPA Expert GroupReport on Making Mumbai anInternational Financial Centre. Thisgroup was set up exclusively tomake #IFSCinMumbai. Read thereport before making misleadingstatements. In 2015 Modi obsti-nately chose Ahmadabad overMumbai”.

It may be recalled that in his let-ter written to the Prime Minister onSaturday – copy of which wasreleased to the media on Sunday,NCP chief Sharad Pawar had said:“Since IFSC is a unified agency toregulate all financial service centresin the country and Mumbai beingthe country’s economic, financialand commercial capital is the bestchoice and place to relocate IFSC.

Jammu: The Pakistan Army onMonday trained their guns towardsNowshera and Sunderbani sectors ofRajouri district and targeted severalcivilian pockets in the forward area.

According to field reports, thePakistan Army was using long rangeand heavy calibre guns to target thecivilian pockets. Several houses in thearea suffered damages due to rainingmortar shells. Hitting back, Indianarmy too retaliated strongly and tar-geted several 'offensive' gun positionsof Pakistan army to silence them.

Ministry of Defence spokesmanin Jammu, Lt-Col Devender Anandsaid, "the Pakistan Army first violat-ed ceasefire agreement at around4.00 p.m in Nowshera sector andwithin half an hour they also startedpounding mortar shells in Sunderbanisector of Rajouri on Monday. Lt-ColAnand said, "the Indian Army retal-iated effectively". PNS

����� 4&���

On day one of the third round of lock-down, 25 new positive cases of novel

Coronavirus, 1 from Jammu divisionand 24 from Kashmir division, werereported in Jammu & Kashmir onMonday. With this, the total tally of pos-itive cases have gone up to 726.

According to official sources, "anoctogenarian, who had recently under-gone surgery at a private hospital inAmritsar, tested positive in Ashok Nagar,Satwari area of Jammu". The patient test-ed positive at a private laboratory and isexpected to be tested afresh at a govern-ment laboratory on Tuesday.

According to the daily Media Bulletin,

out of 726 cases, 415 are active positive,303 have recovered and 08 have died.

Moreover, 16 more Covid-19 patientshave recovered and discharged from var-ious hospitals from Kashmir Division.Meanwhile, the Inspector General ofPolice Jammu Zone, Mukesh SinghMonday visited Samba, Kathua andLakhanpur to take stock of police pre-paredness and measures to contain thespread of Covid-19,

At Lakhanpur, labelled as gateway ofJammu and Kashmir, IGP Jammu inspect-ed the Inter-State Entry Point and com-plimented SSP Kathua and other officersfor ensuring smooth entry and movementof essential goods in the Union Territoryafter proper screening at the barrier.

.?-(����<�!�����'*(!����������������������23�7�&���������������������(�)������*��������������'����

�0�������"����������� ������1���"����/�2

�������������������������!���@

����� ���� ��� ���%&$

Amid an announcement bythe interim Congress pres-

ident Sonia Gandhi that herparty would bear the cost forthe rail travel of migrant work-ers and labourers, ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayhas urged the Indian Railwaysnot to charge money towardstickets for travel of migrantlabourers from Maharashtrato their respective home States.

Interacting with RevenueDivisional Commissioners,Collectors, bureaucrats at thestate secretary and senior policeofficials through video-con-ferencing, Uddhav said: “Sincewe have relaxed lockdownnorms to an extent, migrantlabourers based in variousparts of Maharashtra are goingback to their home states for a

few days. These labourers arepoor and their financial con-dition has gone down. Werequest the Railways to con-sider their case in a humani-tarian manner and not tocharge them any moneytowards tickets for travel totheir home states”.

For the past three days, thestate authorities have beensending stranded migrantsfrom Maharashtra to theirrespective homes states bytrains. The special trains car-rying migrant labourers havealready left for various statesfrom Bhiwandi and Nashik. Aspecial cell set up at Mantralaya( state secretariat) is co-ordi-nating the transportationarrangements.

“There are a large numberof migrant labourers fromUttar Pradesh, Bihar,

Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka,West Bengal and Chhattisgarhwho are stranded in differentparts of our state. We have pro-vided shelter and made foodarrangements for nearly fivelakh migrants in various partsof the state. These arrange-ments, which have been goingon for the past 40 days, willcontinue till these migrant

labours will return to theirnative places,” Uddhav said.

“These labourers eke theirliving through daily labourand their lives have been badlycrippled because of theCoronavirus crisis. Under thecircumstances, these labourersdo not have enough money topay for their railway tickets toback to their native states. Atsome places, voluntary andsocial organisations are givingthem money to buy tickets.That being the case, it will begood if the Railways do nottake money towards ticketsfor their return journey,” thechief minister said.

“In this regard, we havebeen co-ordinating well withthe senior Railway officials.Even other concerned stategovernments are also co-ordi-nating with the Railways. I

request you to complete thepaper formalities quickly andsend these labourers back totheir home state after under-taking their medical tests,” thechief minister told the stategovernment at the meetingheld on Sunday through video-conferencing.

Uddhav also directed theState Government officials toprepare the lists of home state-bound migrant labourers. “We should have the lists readybefore the migrant labourersdepart for their home States inthe next few days,” the ChiefMinister told the StateGovernments.

It may be recalled that onThursday last the chief minis-ter had set into motion theprocess of movement of 6.5lakh migrant workers staying atvarious labour camps, to their

respective states, by releasingthe Standard OperatingProcedure (SOP) and appoint-ing three senior officers tocoordinate the efforts.

The Centre’s decision topermit the Maharashtra gov-ernment to send back themigrant workers staying invarious parts of the state, totheir respective home states fol-lowed Uddhav’s efforts tomount pressure on the Uniongovernment to give a go-aheadto state to send back themigrants to their states.

The chief minister hadraised the migrant workers’movement issue with the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi atthe meetings that the latter hadwith various chief ministers inthe country in April to reviewthe continued lockdown acrossthe country.

!����(!������"�����������������������������������;����)���((�&:�&�#!�(�5�6%�(�%���%&%���!:�584�8%�!99�6�&�#%!�35�3&5��%�����#%#�!9�!4���%&%�0'!$8(

4�;5&8%��&'!$5�5#"�<�2�#�!$�(��&:��%�����#%#

5�&(7�'�9!5��%���4�;5&8%�&'!$5�5#�(�3&5%�9!5�%���5�!4���%&%�#��8�%���8�=%9���(&7#�>����%!�(�%���%&%���!:�584�8%#

����� ���� ��� ���%&$

With no let up in the inci-dence of coronavirus

infections, Mumbai’s Dharavilocality on Monday recorded42 new positive cases of Covid-19, taking the total number ofinfected cases in Asia’s biggestslum to 632.

A day after the Cornavirusclaimed two lives and left arecord day’s tally of 94 othersinfected, the pandemic onceagain raised its ugly head as 42others tested positive for thepandemic.

With the fresh cases, thetotal number of positive caseshas risen to 632 in Dharavi.

Like in the previous days,fresh infected cases werereported from most parts ofthis densely populated slum. Amaximum of seven positivecases were recorded in

Matunga Labour camp, fromwhere 11 new cases had beenreported on Sunday. Thoseinfected included one month-old male baby.

Three fresh cases each werereported from 90 feet road, 60

feet road and Sant RohidasMarg.

There have been substan-tial number infected cases inDharavi for the past three days.A day after it had witnessed 89– which thereto the biggest-

ever surge in Coronavirusinfections in a single day,Dharavi witnessed an alarming94 new infected cases onSunday.

Earlier on April 23, onedeath and 25 cases had beenreported from Dharavi in a sin-gle day. Later on May 1, therewere 38 new cases.

There have so far been 20Covid-19 triggered deaths inDharavi, which is one of theCovid-19 hotspots in Mumbai.

Spread over 240 hectarearea, Dharavi is home to morethan 4 lakh people.

Ever since first few cases ofcoronavirus were reported inthe early first week of April, theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) is closelymonitoring the situation inDharavi where the healthauthorities have clamped atotal lockdown.

+����*�,�-��.*��������/0��

Page 6: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

Even as India is grapplingwith the monstrousCoronavirus and everyorgan of the State is doingits best to contain the

spread of the pandemic, theChairman of the Delhi MinoritiesCommission, Zafarul Islam Khan,publicly declared that Muslims arebeing “persecuted” in the country.He has taken, what one would con-sider, the most irresponsible step byreaching out to the Muslim worldfor help. He thanked theGovernment of Kuwait “for stand-ing with the Indian Muslims.”Khan has since partially retractedhis statement but the damage isdone because he persists in sayingthat Muslims are being persecutedin our country.

In his first Facebook post, hehad said that Indian Muslims had“opted until now” not to complainto the Arab and Muslim worldabout the hate campaigns againstthem. He then warned that “the daythey are pushed to that (com-plaining to the Muslim world), big-ots will face an avalanche.” Well, MrKhan, under our Constitution andthe laws, you do not have the“option,” which you imagine youhave. Our Constitution and ourlaws strictly forbid citizens frombehaving in this manner. WhileArticle 19(1)(a) guarantees freedomof speech and expression, Article19(2) imposes “reasonable restric-tions,” which pertain to the “sover-eignty and integrity of India, thesecurity of the State, friendly rela-tions with foreign States, publicorder… and incitement to anoffence.” In other words, the Statehas the right to make laws toensure that no individual commitsthese infringements. Hence theprovisions in the Indian PenalCode (IPC) which deal with thesematters.

Despite holding an importantpublic office — there are lakhs ofour fellow citizens who are Muslimsand who are holding public officesin this country — Khan has soughtto run down the nation he belongsto. This writer is of the view that hisattempt to reach out to the Muslimworld is an affront to the core val-ues of our secular Constitution; itconstitutes denigration of thenation he belongs to; and disturbsthe sovereignty and integrity ofIndia because he sought the help ofother nations for a section ofIndia’s citizenry. It affects publicorder because his petition to theMuslim world will offend the sens-

es of 85 per cent of the coun-try’s citizens, who are notMuslims and many Muslimsthemselves, who will feel thatthis is an act of betrayal.Consequently, this could resultin incitement to an offence.Finally, it is certain to disturbfriendly relations with the Arabworld — a relationship that isvery dear to every Indian fromthe days of former EgyptianPresident Gamal Abdel Nasserand former Chairman of thePalestine LiberationOrganisation Yasser Arafat.

The Delhi Police has actedpromptly in this case. Theyhave filed an FIR against Khanunder Sections 124A and 153A of the IPC, which deal withsedition and promoting enmi-ty among different groups. Sonow, the law will take its course.But what Khan has done goeswell beyond legal niceties andcourtroom dramas. It is a warn-ing bell for every citizen, whowishes to preserve the secular,liberal and democraticConstitution that our foundingfathers have given us. Will wekeep it or lose it, thanks to thefollies of Khans of this world?

His original comments areindeed detestable and must,therefore, be contested vehe-mently. In that statement, Khanalso revealed the kind of com-pany he keeps. He had saidZakir Naik, who is spreadingcommunal venom, is a“respected household name.”

Seeking the interferenceof another country in India’sinternal affairs is an act oftreachery. This should never becountenanced because, in ademocracy, various groups willalways have some grouse oranother. India’s Constitutionhas created an elaborate mech-anism to address these griev-ances and to find solutions.Apart from the two Houses ofParliament and the legislativeAssemblies in all States, thenation has a strong, robustand independent judiciary thateven has the power to strikedown Constitutional amend-ments enacted by Parliament.

The country also boasts ofthe National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) and theNational MinoritiesCommission (NMC) and sim-ilar institutions in States as alsothe Central InformationCommission (CIC). To top itall, India has a vibrant mediathat reflects every aspect of thecountry’s plurality — one lookat the abuses and barbs flung atPrime Minister Narendra Modiby Muslim leaders and theirflunkies on television debatesand on Twitter, Facebook andother social media outlets willgive you an idea of how “per-secuted” the Muslims are in ourcountry.

Should they be citizens ofthe Islamic nations who arebeing beseeched by Khan andshould they try something like

this on the leaders of thosenations, they would be headingstraight to the gallows. Also,some of the highly provocativeand distasteful videos circulat-ed by Muslim youth againstHindus in recent monthswould surely be additional evi-dence of the “persecution ofMuslims” that Khan is talkingabout. Or, are we to believe thathe has not seen any of this?

Now, onto the TablighiJamaat. When all the templesand churches in the countrywere closed, including the tem-ple of Lord Balaji in Tirupati,why did the Tablighi Jamaatflout Government orders? Whydid it hold the conference inDelhi in the second half ofMarch with foreign delegates,which resulted in the rapidspread of the virus in the coun-try? Are the Tablighis above thelaw? And why have they beenspitting and abusing doctorsand nurses in different parts ofthe country? Are they devoid ofbasic manners?

When all this was report-ed in the media, Khan declaresthat India is in the grip ofIslamophobia. Did you, Khan,advise the Tablighis to behave?Have you no responsibility inthis regard?

Annie Besant and BRAmbedkar had the prescienceto anticipate this problem — ofIndian Muslims seekingMuslim brotherhood andcamaraderie outside the nation

they belong to. In her book,The Future of Indian Politics,Annie Besant said in 1922 that“the primary allegiance of themusalmans (Muslims) is toIslamic countries, not to ourmotherland.” She said theirattitude was “subversive of civicorder and the stability of theState. It makes them bad citi-zens for their centre of alle-giance is outside their nationand … they cannot be trustedby their fellow citizens.”

Annie Besant soundsprophetic when we read thestatement of Zafarul IslamKhan but let us not forget thatmillions of Muslims, who workin every sphere of life includ-ing the armed forces, scientif-ic laboratories, academia, enter-tainment and the crafts, havemade us proud. Several ofthem have achieved the pinna-cle of success like formerPresidents Abdul Kalam, ZakirHussain and Fakhruddin AliAhmed and Bharat RatnaUstad Bismillah Khan. All thishas been possible because ofthe rhythm and harmony cre-ated by our Constitution toenable each one of us to chaseour dreams in an environmentthat breeds equality and frater-nity. We should not allow a fewmalcontents like Khan to dis-turb this.

(The writer is an authorspecialising in democracy stud-ies. Views expressed are personal.)

#���������������������������� )������������������ ������������� ��*+(�� ���������,��������������%����

���)����#��-%)#.����������������������/����������������������������������������������������)���������������������0�������%�����������������������������������������"������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �����������������������)���%������������������������� ���������������0����������������(

������������������������(���������������������"�����������������������1���� �2�������������������������������������������������������,��������������������������������������������������� ��������������*+�� ������������2����������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������"��������������������������������3�������������������������"��������������"���������������� ��������4����������� ��������56� �������� �)���������������������%����������������������������������������������������������������������� �����������6����������������������������4�����7��������������������� ������������� ����������� �������������������������������������� �� ��������������������"���������� ������������������������������������������ �������� �������������#�������������������� �������������������(���������������������������������������������������������������������)���%��������������������������������������������������������������������

#���������������������8794�(:;��������������������4��������������������������������������������������������4���������������������������������������������������������������������#�����(����������������4������������������������ ���������������#������������������������������������ ������������������������(�&��2��������������������������������������������������������,������(�������"������������������������������������ �

)������������������������������1�������7���������������/���� ������������������������� �������8�����%�������

������������8��������������� ���������������������������������������������0�������������������������������<������=������("������(�����������������������������������������(�������������������������������#�����������������������������������������������(� ������� �������������������������(������������������������������������������������������������/�������� �4������������

����������������� ��������������������������������������������������)����������������������������������������)��� ��� ������6���%���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����&�������������������������������������>������������������������������� ��������������(��������������������������)���%��������������������������������(���������������������;+������4���������������������������������������������������4������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������ �� ��������������������������������������������������������%�����������&������������������������������������������������������������,�����������������������������������������������,�����������������(������������� ��������0?$��8�������������)����%�����&��������� �������������������������� ����������������������4��� �� ���5,��������������������������������7���������(����)�������0�������������(�����(������������(����)�������%������5,��������������������������������������������������� ����������������� ������������� ������������ ��������������������������5,��������������������������������������)���������������������(�������5,����������������������� �������������������$68��������������������������������������������������(������������ 57��������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������8794�(:;����������������#�8�������������������������������������������������7������������������ �#�������������8���6���������������������������������������������������(���)����%����������������������� �����������������������������������������������&����� ������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������#������������������������,���������������������������������������������������������������(������������������������������������������

#���������"��������������������������������������4�������(������������������������������������ ��������������������������� ����)������� ���7���������8���6�������������������������������8����0������������������������� �� ��������� ������������������������������������� ������������������������� ���������������������������(���������� �����������������������������������������������������������������������4����&���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������&�����������(�� ������������������������������#�������������������������������������0���������������������������������0��������������������4����4�������������������������������4���������������������������������������� ������������������������������������#� ������������������������������)�������#�!����� ��������� �����������:@+��������$6�����������������������������������������A������������������������������������������������������������������������������1���������)����������������� ������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������A�&�������������������(����������������������������)����������)������ 4����&�������������� ������������������������������������ ����������������������������� ������(����������������������������������������������������� ������� ����&��������8�����&������������(������������� ���������������������������������������� ����������4����&����������������������������������:+���������������� ������5)�������������������������� ��������������6����������������#�����������������������������������#����(������������&����������������������������� ������

���������

Sir — The death of ChuniGoswami, the captain of theIndian football team that wongold at the 1962 Asian Games,came 41 days after the passing ofhis former teammate, PKBanerjee. Goswami led Bengal inthe Santosh Trophy and RanjiTrophy, playing both football andcricket like Denis Compton.The versatile Goswami wasunique in other ways as well. Heplayed for Mohun Bagan from1954 to 1968 but was actuallyspotted by BD Chatterjee as aneight-year-old schoolboy;Chatterjee got him into MohunBagan’s junior team in 1946. Heheld the distinction of playing forBagan throughout his career inspite of offers from its arch-rival,East Bengal, besides reportedoffers from the famous Englishfootball club, TottenhamHotspur. As a cricketer, Goswamifearlessly took on Roy Gilchrist.But some of the best cricket heplayed was in 1966 when he andSubrata Guha plotted the historicinnings defeat of Garry Sobers’West Indies. He will be missed.

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

� ���� ��������� �

Sir — Speculations were doingthe rounds about North Koreanleader Kim Jong-un’s healthafter he disappeared for 20days. All concerns were, howev-er, put to rest on May 2 when heattended a ceremony in

Suncheon. Report has it that the sudden

disappearance of Kim did nothappen for the first time. In 2014,too, he had disappeared from thepublic view for over a month. Itwas widely believed that he wasdead and the announcementwas delayed only because his suc-cessor was not yet named. Kim

Yo-jong, the sister of Kim Jong-un, was set to succeed him.

But why do we care about hisdisappearance all the time? Thisbecause although a tiny State,North Korea is very important tothe world — not because it doesanything good but because it’s anuisance. The world cannotafford to ignore it. As a dictator,

Kim may be having more foesthan friends. No wonder, he iscurious to know how many willgrieve or celebrate his death.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

������������������

Sir — The Union Government’sdecision to operate special trainsto let stranded migrant labour-ers reach home was long over-due and is welcome. The chal-lenge now before StateGovernments is to ensure thatthe mass return of migrantsdoes not lead to the spread ofthe Coronavirus disease. Ofutmost importance is to ensurethat social distancing norms aremaintained during travel.Thereafter, when they reachtheir destinations, strict quaran-tine and effective monitoring isa must. As it is, the health infra-structure is very weak. Withmore than 42,000 cases, Indiacannot afford any further spreadof the disease.

Aditi MallikVia email

( & ( 1 $ � % ! 2 � � ( & � � ! 3 �

������������ �����������' �� 7�������������D 6���!������������D ����#�� �� 7�����������7

���� �������������������� ����� !�"#"#

�2

�%���� �(���#

�� !"#� �&����3

E������$� �2���A����� �������������������������� �(��������������������������������������������������������� �)���� ��������������������� ��������������

$������������������� �����������#������(��������� ��������� �� ������(����������")���������)��������( )�����������������*�� �

�!8;5�##���&(�5F&�����'����#����

$������#���������������'�����#����(����������"���� �0����$�(��� ���������$������������������������������$�� ��� ��������������#� �����

�6%!5F��� �����*����

$����������������������%��?��# ��������(�����������������������'��������������������������� ����#��������� �� �0����������������������������������"�GA����������#��

����5�#�(�8%F!�������� �

� 4 � ( 5 + * 6 �

� � 6 6 � & � 6 4 � 66 3 � � � 5 * 6 4 &

����� ����������������������� ���

�����������������������#������������������������"����������� �������������������39$!"�G����"�� �������������������������������������

������������������������������� ��������������������������������� ���������� �� �.�(�������������������������������A��#���#�����������������(������������������������������'����(�����#������������������� � �0�������������������#�(������������������������ ���� �� ���#���������� �.��5����� �������������������������������������������������������"�� ����� ��� ���������� ���� ����� ����� ��� ���� 0�������������������(��������������������� ���������������������������������H��� �

!������������������&������2�?��(������#�������������������������#����������'��(������������������5����� ���A���������������'�������������� �0������������ �����������#������������#������������"� �������(����������������(���������������������� ������(����������������#���� � ���������(����������������������� ����� �%�����������������#���� �������#�� ��� ����������� ���� �� �� ��

5����� ���� �������������������������������� ��� ���������� ����� ����������������'��#�����"�������' ������ ����� ������������������ ���������##� ���������������������������������'��#�������"�� ����������������������������������������������������������� ��� ����������������������������������� �����'�������� ����������#���������������� �0������������(�����������������(���������������� ���#��� �

�&%$5$� $5;&��5&#&(�&!���������

-��������������&�������<��%%�5#%!3�!8��5?;4&��"6!4�

&�������������)������������������(�����������(��'�� �0���������(������������������(��(������������������������������������������� ��������� ������

�!8;5�##���&(�5F�����2� ���������

-��%����������6%%���������(����������������,�(���������+������������������������������(��������(�� ����������#�

����������������������7����(��������������������������(��(�����������0����8�'��������$�����������(�������#��� ������

$��������������������

Page 7: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

�������������%�����

� ����������2������������ ������������������������ ��������2������� ���������2 �������������������������������� �����2���"

@������������ ������������ �

� �����2���� �������� ��� �),���������A���� �������������B��� �����������������2���������,��������"�@�C��������������������������

�$��%�4�(6�&�$��%�

On October 15, 2018, while interacting withglobal leaders from the energy sector in NewDelhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had

expressed concern over the steep increase in theinternational prices of crude oil (at $80 per barrelleading to corresponding increase in price of dieseland petrol) and had urged all leadingproducers/exporters to be more responsible in fix-ing the price, to bring it down to a reasonable level.

At that time, no one had even contemplated ascenario wherein the price of crude would plungeto a fraction of the October 2018 level. On April 22,Brent crude was ruling at just about $15 per barrel.In fact, the WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crudeprice went into the negative territory at minus $40per barrel. A negative price connotes that the sell-er is willing to pay the buyer for lifting the productas the former has no place to store and it is not pos-sible to abruptly stop production due to technicalreasons. What has led to a complete turnaround?

Already, during 2019, particularly in the secondhalf, a global surplus was building up which led toa decline in price to $60 per barrel and the trendcontinued till the beginning of this year. By Marchthe surplus intensified due to the failure of theOrganisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) to agree to a production cut.

Meanwhile, there was an exponential growth inCoronavirus cases, forcing a global lockdown, whichled to the destruction of oil demand on a scale neverseen before. According to research firm RystadEnergy, during April, there was excess supply ofabout 27.4 million barrels per day (mbpd).

Despite the agreement by OPEC on April 10 tocut supplies by 10 mbpd, a huge demand-supply mis-match remains. This has caused a precipitous decline.Even after the Coronavirus crisis is over, the sup-ply-demand imbalance will remain, with priceexpected to stay well below $30 per barrel for a fair-ly long period.

These developments hold important lessons forstakeholders on both sides of the fence viz. sellersand buyers of both crude oil and gas in the inter-national market. From the sellers’ perspective, eventshave demonstrated that their actions to manipulateprice by orchestrating production cut don’t alwayssucceed. If, they could extract a price as high as closeto $150 per barrel (2008) or $117 per barrel (2014),it can also decline steeply to a low of $10 per bar-rel (1997) or $26 per barrel in early 2016 and toaround $20 per barrel currently.

The short point is that in a market where pricedetermination is entirely dependent on supply anddemand factors — irrespective of the cost of sup-ply — demand is as crucial. In 2008, when globaldemand was increasing exponentially (courtesy,pump-priming by developed countries in the wakeof the Lehman financial crisis besides major boost-ers from China and India), the price skyrocketed.Now, when COVID–19 has annihilated demandfrom all over the globe, it has plunged to a low ofabout $20 per barrel.

This (COVID–19) being a once in a lifetimeexogenous event, oil exporters may be tempted tothink that after this, it will be business as usual; hencetheir continued ability to extract a higher price fromimporting countries. This is flawed thinking. TheOPEC should realise that their attempt to extract apound of flesh in the past (that manifested in theoil crisis of 1973 and 1979) prompted the US — thena net importer — to develop its own resources. Asa consequence, the latter catapulted itself to one of

the net oil exporters.With a share of about 60 per cent in

total oil exports, the hold of the OPEC blocon the market has substantially dimin-ished. Now, it needs the support of othernon-OPEC exporters also to prop up theprice. Even if both OPEC and non-OPEC act together, they will have to intro-spect whether or not by crippling resourceposition of importing countries (inevitable,if the price is high), they will end up harm-ing their own interests.

This is where the clarion call given byModi in October 2018 and thereafter reit-erated by Oil Minister, DharmendraPradhan on umpteen occasions toexporters for exercising restraint in pric-ing assumes significance. While decidingtheir pricing policies, the latter need tostrike a judicious balance between max-imising their revenue on the one hand andensuring that the demand does not col-lapse. That the price had plummeted by50 per cent even before the Corona pan-demic should serve as a warning signal.

For decades, oil exporters have gotattuned to spending extravaganza on thestrength of high revenue from export ofoil based on exorbitant price charged fromimporters. For Saudi Arabia — the leadexporter from OPEC group — nearly 87per cent of its budget is supported fromoil revenue. For Iraq, another majorexporter from the region, this figure iseven higher at above 90 per cent. This isa dangerous situation.

With a low price scenario continuingfor a fairly long period (a distinct possi-bility as restoration of demand to the pre-COVID level is bound to be long-drawn),this could increase fiscal stress in thesecountries to unsustainable levels. Forothers like Mexico or Venezuela, whichexport much less, their economic survivalis totally dependent on oil revenue, thiscould lead to a catastrophe. Saudi Arabia

has sensed it and accordingly, it is look-ing for opportunities to diversify itssources of income to reduce its overdepen-dence on crude. In pursuit of this strate-gy, last year, it unleashed plans to invest$100 billion in India’s downstream sector,including refining, petrochemicals, retail-ing and so on.

This includes Aramco’s proposal toacquire 25 per cent equity in the $60 bil-lion West Coast refinery and petrochem-ical project in Maharashtra in which 50per cent will be owned by the Indian OilCorporation Limited (IOCL), BharatPetroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)and Hindustan Petroleum CorporationLimited (HPCL) and the remaining 25 percent by the Abu Dhabi National OilCompany (ADNOC). Aramco is alsopicking up 20 per cent equity in oil andgas assets of Reliance Industries Limited.

Saudi Arabia and other oil exportersfrom the Middle East should pursue thisstrategy aggressively. While reducingtheir vulnerability to fluctuation in theprice of crude and resulting revenue loss,this will also drive them towards beingmore “reasonable” and “responsible” indealing with importing countries likeIndia.

There are lessons for India as well.First, even if it pursues indigenisation atan accelerated pace (unlikely, as during thelast five years or so, despite loud talk ofincreasing domestic production, ourdependence on import has only increasedfrom a little less than 80 per cent to 85 percent currently), we will continue toimport an overwhelming share of ourrequirements.

Hence, there is dire need to improveour import management strategy thatshould maximise gain when the price fallsand minimise loss when it increases. Thecurrent strategy has too many gaping holesor else, how does one explain an “inven-

tory loss” (this represents the differencebetween the price at which the product instorage was imported and the currentprice) of about �25,000 crore by our oilPublic Sector Undertakings (PSUs) likeIOCL/BPCL/HPCL due to the recentplunge in prices.

Second, when the Governmentexpects oil exporters to charge less fromIndia, the same logic should apply whenthe product is sold to Indian consumers.Unfortunately, that does not happen.When, the international price increases thesame is passed on to the consumer. Evenwhen the price goes down, the consumerdoes not get the benefit as then theGovernment increases central excise duty(CED). In case of gas, even as CED is “nil”the price to users increases on account ofhigh value added tax (VAT) levied by StateGovernments.

There is also the fortuitous benefit thataccrues to upstream crude producingPSUs viz. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(ONGC), Oil India Limited (OIL), whichproduce nearly 15 per cent of India’srequirements, due to high international oilprices — albeit at the expense of con-sumers. Be it a desire to collect more taxrevenue or enable PSUs to garner higherprofit, any attempt to increase price to theconsumers should be avoided on the samelogic as India uses while advocating“responsible” pricing by oil exporters.

Whether it is oil supplies from OPECor domestic supplies, the overarching con-sideration in pricing should be to ensurethat the product is “affordable” to the endconsumers. Sans this, there will be large-scale demand destruction which is badomen even for suppliers, including theGovernment-owned PSUs viz. ONGC andOIL. In short, detoxification of oil pricingis in the best interest of all stakeholders.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based policy analyst)

+���'69)�.�:��������������������(�������������%������#����������������������������������������������������������� ����%��������#��#%����� �����������+������������������

�1��� �/' * & � 6 � 4 � � 7 (

& �������������� ��

'((�����3���

$���������������������������������������������������������� ����(�������

�39$!"�G�������

!%%�' ���6�

0)/�)/*�$��$��3$1�

����1$/��<*3�3�/��

3*�!3�/��$�����1$/����)/39/*&*�)$.5

�3.�$!/*&�$3.�$.��*$�$.5�

�)3�1!�%/��3�/.��*/�

�)&���)/��*3!���

$��I&<<3*!&%1/A��3��)/�/.!

�3.���/*� ��&.���)$���

�)/*/�0$11�%/�1&*5/"��&1/

!/�&.!!/��*���$3.

0)$�)�$��%&!�3�/.�

/9/.�<3*����1$/*��$.�1�!$.5�

�)/�539/*.�/.�"

30./!�����1$2/�3.5��

#�8794�(:;�������������������������������(����������������������� (����������,�������������� �������������������4�������������

���������6���������������������������������������(����-������������������������������8����������.�#� �� ��� ������� �� ��������� ������ ����� ���������� ���� ������������������������������������������<������=����������������������,���������������������(������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������,������������������������������������������������ ����������������8����������5

8794�(:;�������������������������������(�������������������������������������������"��� ������������� ����������������������������4�������������"��� ��������������������4��� ��������������������������������������������������(�������������"��� ��������������������������/�� ������� 4�������������� �������� ����������� ��:B:+�+++�����������:B:�+++��������� ��,����2����7������������#����������������������������(��������(�������������������������������������������� ���������3�������������������"������������������������,����8794�(:;����������������(����������������������������������������������������(���������������������������������������������������������������������5

4����� &���������������������������������������������������������(��������������������������������������,����������������������4����������������������������������������������(����,������������� ������������ ��� 4��������� ��� ���������������������������������������������� �����(����������������������������������� ������������������� ��������������������������������������������

#�:;:C������1�������������4����������������������������������� ����������� -:+(D+���(����.�������������������������������������-*�E;�����.����������)������� ����������������������� )����� :;;* ��� � ����� ������ )�����2������������������������������������)����������(��������������������������(�����������

#�%�������������������� ��������������(������������������������ ������������������(���������������0���������������������������������"����� ����������������������������(������������������ ����������������������������(�� ���������#�����������������������������(�������������������������FDG+���������)�����)�������)����&����������������� ����������������������������������������������

������������7�����D;�:;;;������� ������������������DG+�������������7������������������(��� ��������� ���������������������������������� �3��������������������������:+�+++����H����������������������������������������������:E������������������������4������������������� � ����� �� ������� �� �� 4����� 6�������������������-46�.����������������������������������������46��3����) ���)����7������������4����� )��� !����� 7������������ 8����� ,���8����������%��������)��� ��4������� �������!���)�����8�����������#��� ����������������(����������������������������������������������������

4� ����������������� ����������������� ���������� �������������8794�(:;�������0�������������������� ��� �������� �� �������� �������� ���� ����(������������������������������������������������������ �������������������� ��������������������������#���������������������

#���������������� �������� ������������������� ���������������4���������������������1(�������������������������������������������������(������� �������������������������������������� ��������4�����$��������������"�������������"���������������������������������������������(������%�$���������� �

-���������������� ������ �������� �������������������������������� ����������.

The COVID-19 pandemic hasengulfed over 100 countriesaround the world and for the

lack of a cure, governments havebeen compelled to largely depend onsocial vaccination measures, includ-ing lockdown, isolation and socialdistancing. This flu-like virus, withorigins in China’s Wuhan city, hascaused tremendous distress in termsof health, economic and social well-being of the international commu-nity.

Accountability : Worldeconomies are in shambles but

when the dust settles, fingers will bepointed and responsibility strictlyapportioned. Already China is beingpushed against the wall by theglobal community and difficultquestions are being asked of itregarding the origins of the virusand the delay in warning the worldabout it turning into a pandemic.

Predictably, the issue of China’slegal liability for the COVID-19 out-break will be raised. The US has fileda $20 trillion lawsuit — an amountlarger than China’s Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) — against Chineseauthorities to seek reparation foreconomic harm. Similar lawsuitshave been filed in Germany andIndia against China claiming com-pensation for damages. However,domestic laws are unsuited for thistask because the principle of sover-eign immunity prevents local courtsfrom ruling on the acts of foreigngovernments. For the lack ofenforceability, we must redirect ourattention to supranational legal

frameworks for remedies and solu-tions to this precarious inquiry.

International HealthRegulations, 2005: After the spreadof the Severe Acute RespiratorySyndrome (SARS) in 2003, theWorld Health Organisation (WHO)adopted an International HealthRegulation (IHR) by making mem-ber countries accountable to countersuch global pandemics. Article 6mandates each member country to“notify the WHO, by the most effi-cient means of communicationavailable, by way of the NationalIHR Focal Point, and within 24hours of assessment of public healthinformation.” Further, Article 7goes on to state that if a country “hasevidence of an unexpected orunusual public health event withinits territory, irrespective of origin orsource, which may constitute apublic health emergency of interna-tional concern, it shall provide to theWHO all relevant public healthinformation.”

These regulations are furtherfortified by Articles 11 and 12 of theIHR which require the WHO toshare such data, once verified, withother countries so that they canenact precautionary measures.

It is alleged that China notonly failed on both counts but alsocensored, misled and suppressedinformation, from the media andthe WHO, about the Coronavirusand its effects. Moreover, China por-trayed COVID-19 as a new form ofpneumonia that could not be trans-ferred from one human to another,which was later admitted byChinese authorities as otherwise.Collectively, these actions made itdifficult for countries around theworld to adequately prepare for thisdeadly virus, leading to colossaldamages to the health and financesof nations. The destruction of virusstrains in Wuhan University alsoraised suspicions regarding theCOVID-19 being a man-made virusto be used as a biological weapon,

currently put under experimenta-tion in Wuhan Labs. Keeping theseaccusations aside, it is important tonote that it is not the first time Chinais the place of origin of an epidem-ic or deadly disease. From the Asianflu and Hong Kong flu to the Swineflu, all had China as their epicentre.In the case of SARS, China’s exoticwet market was on the radar butBeijing failed to impose restrictionson its billion dollar industry, over-looking the threat of a repeated cat-astrophe. China flouted the rules,time and again and for this, it mustbe held to account.

Jurisdictional issue: The finaland probably the most vital piece inthis puzzle is how might China bebrought before an internationalcourt for its unlawful actions?

The major lacuna is the jurisdic-tion of the International Court ofJustice (ICJ). Cases are referred tothe ICJ once consensus between dis-puting parties has been establishedand taking into account past

records, China has been resistant toauthority and may continue on thepath of resistance. An unconven-tional way of circumventing thejurisdictional issue would be toinvoke the provision that empowersan organisation to refer disputes tothe ICJ. Article 75 of WHO’sConstitution gives the organisa-tion the right to refer matters to theICJ for advisory purposes.

China’s failure to disclose infor-mation and disseminate data aboutthe Coronavirus during its prelim-inary stages, coupled with its wilfulnegligence in regulating wildlifetrade, invariably triggers a breach ofthe treaty. Though experimental anduntested, this route offers a glimmerof hope for invoking the jurisdictionof the ICJ to assess Chinese liabili-ty and hold that nation accountablefor losses caused to the internation-al community at large.

While the ICJ’s opinion is notdirectly enforceable, they do providean authoritative assessment of legal

liability around which governmentscan synchronise their politicalresponse by way of seizure ofChinese assets or imposing tradesanctions. China, being Asia’s largesteconomy, holds an influential placein world politics today. This, how-ever, shall not be construed as ameans to assume absolute powerand continue flouting rules of theIHR issued by the WHO.

Measures available to the affect-ed countries are by no means sim-ple. Each requires considerableinternational collaboration, cooper-ation and resolve to implement, par-ticularly considering China’s tower-ing economic influence. It is evidentthat China is the originator of thepandemic but it will be an oneroustask to classify its action andresponse as advertent, willful or acase of gross negligence in its greedto push a lucrative, yet hazardousbillion dollar industry.

(The writer is Managing Partnerat KS Legal and Associates)

'����2������������������������������������������ ������������������������������������ ����������������� ������������������ ������� ������������������ ��������������������������

�!�������������������������������������"�������#������#�� ������������������������#����� ������"�������!�����������!������ ���������

$��'��3�(58�(*

�������������������� ����� !�"#"#

������������ ����

Page 8: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

� ��)��9�������������������� ����� !�"#"#���� 0�1�������������

� ���������������� �'������� ���������������"�������(���������������������� �����39$!"�G�������������������������� ��������������������#��������#������ �'��#�����������������������������������������������#��������5����� ��� �5�������������/3�!�����3A!������������ ��������������#����������������#���������������#�F�� +� �������������#������������,,�,,,���:,,�,,,�������� J0�������������������#�������������������������� ��������������������������� ���������K����3A!����������%�A�J<��������.����� K�J&������������������(�������#����� �����������������(��������������������������(������� �����������������������������(���������#������������������������������� K

� ������������ ����������4���������������������������'��(������(���������������������'������������������������(���"����������������������������' ��������������#����� �������������������������������������#������� ������������������������(��'�������(��'�������������������������������������������� ��������A��������������������������#��<�����"���'��#������F(������� ���������F���3���������������

� ��������������������'��������"�G������������,���������"������#�������������������(�����"���� ���������������������������������(��(��'���������������������(�������������� �����.�������)������ �����L.)�M�����������������(������� ����39$!"�G����(��������������������� �&�������(�����������������#���� ������� �&�������(��� ��� ����������������#��(��� �����������(������������ �&�����������G-:��� ��� ����������������#�GN���� ���������(������������ ���������������������.)�����

� 4����A�5����� ����������������������������������������(������������� ��#����������������������������������������#�����������#������������������������ �� ��� �������������O��&�������������������� ����"��#��������� ��#�����������'�����������������#�������&����P��������������#������������������������������ �$����������������0�������������&����������������������������������������������������������#����������������������

� %��O�A����������4��%��������������#���������������A���'��(�������������������������������������"������� ������ ���������������� ������������� �������"�G����������������,,�,,,��(���� ���������P�,,,����� �%��������� �������#���������������������#������'��(�����������������������������������������%�����

� $���������������������� �H���������������������������� �������(���'��� ���������������������� ���N,�,,,����������������(��������������������������������������� �)����� ��������'� ���2������4�������������PC���(�������������#������-�:PP����������� ������������������������$����������������������������������� ��"<������� �$����������������������CP������������(����������������++����

;��������;��������

,����,����

����� 0&�)$.5�3.7$�1&�&%&!

The US has again proddedPakistan by seeking justice

for murdered American jour-nalist Daniel Pearl, days afterhis family filed an appeal beforethe Supreme Court against averdict by a court in Sindhprovince which acquitted theprime accused and British-born top al-Qaeda leaderAhmed Omar Saeed Sheikhand three others in the case.

Pearl, the 38-year-old SouthAsia bureau chief for The WallStreet Journal, was abductedand beheaded while he was inPakistan investigating a story in2002 on the alleged linksbetween the country’s powerful

spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda.On April 2, a two-judge

Sindh High Court bench over-turned the death sentence of46-year-old al-Qaeda leaderSheikh, who was convicted inthe abduction and murder ofPearl in 2002. He has been injail for the past 18 years. Thecourt also acquitted his threeaides - Fahad Naseem, SalmanSaqib and Sheikh Adil- servinglife sentences in the case. Thebench announced the verdicton the appeals filed by the fourconvicts 18 years ago.

“On the eve of World PressFreedom Day, we honour thelegacy of journalist DanielPearl,” State for South andCentral Asian Affairs AliceWells tweeted on Sunday.

"�&���������+��*������9�@��*�+�&*�A�������5��+��(����&

�D���$#%5&��&�6!8#�(�5�:�5$#�E%5&:���'$''��FSydney/Wellington: NewZealand and Australia arediscussing the potential cre-ation of a “travel bubble”between the two countries,sources said on Monday, evenas Australia reported its high-est number of coronaviruscases in two weeks.

New Zealand PrimeMinister Jacinda Ardern willtake part in a meeting ofAustralia’s emergency coron-avirus cabinet on Tuesday,the Australian Governmentsaid, stoking speculation thattwo-way travel could be per-mitted in the near future.

“The idea of a bubblewith Australia was floatedtwo weeks ago, and this is anexample of the sort of actionthat could happen within it,while always ensuring theprotection of public health,”

New Zealand ForeignMinister Winston Peters saidin a statement.

The prospect of two-waytravel was first proposed byPeters, though Ardern in Aprilinsisted it was a “long-termgoal” and would need toinclude other Pacific countries.

Australia and NewZealand have both slowedthe spread of coronavirus inrecent weeks to levels signif-icantly below the those report-ed in the United States, Britainand Europe.

Meanwhile, New Zealandrecorded no new cases of thecoronavirus for the first timesince March 16 and less thana week after the Pacific nationended a strict lockdown thatappears to have containedthe outbreak.

Agencies

���������� �&*$�

The number of confirmedcoronavirus cases world-

wide surpassed 3.5 million onMonday, with three quarters ofthem in Europe and the UnitedStates. At least 3,599,396 infec-tions and 2,49,744 deaths havebeen recorded globally. Thenumbers around the worldreflect only a fraction of the realfigures as many countries testonly serious cases

US: Anxious to spur aneconomic recovery withoutrisking lives, President DonaldTrump insists that “you can sat-isfy both” — see states gradu-ally lift lockdowns while alsoprotecting people from thecoronavirus pandemic that haskilled more than 67,000Americans.

The President, fieldingquestions from Americans

Sunday night in a virtual townhall from the LincolnMemorial, acknowledged validfears on both sides of the issue.Some people are worried aboutgetting sick; others are reelingfrom lost jobs and livelihoods.

Trump increased his pro-jection for the total US deathtoll to as many as 1,00,000 - upby as much as 40,000 fromwhat he had suggested just afew weeks ago.

“Look, we’re going to loseanywhere from 75,000, 80,000to 100,000 people,” Trump said.“That’s a horrible thing. Weshouldn’t lose one person outof this. This should have beenstopped in China.” But hestruck a note of urgency torestart the nation’s economy,declaring, “We have to get itback open safely but as quick-ly as possible.”

After more than a month ofbeing cooped up at the White

House, Trump returned from aweekend at the Camp Davidpresidential retreat in Marylandfor the virtual town hall hostedby Fox News Channel.

The president said of hismonumental backdrop: “Wenever had a more beautiful setthan this.” As concerns mountabout his reelection bid, Trumpstuck to his relentlessly opti-mistic view of the nation’s abil-ity to rebound soon.

“It is all working out,”Trump said. “It is horrible to gothrough, but it is working out.”Many public health expertsbelieve the nation cannot safe-ly reopen fully until a vaccineis developed. Trump declaredSunday that he believed onecould be available by year’s end.

Spain: For a second day ina row, Spanish health officialsare reporting 164 new con-firmed deaths from the coron-

avirus, the lowest daily deathtoll in six weeks, to a total of25,428.

The figures came as arespite for a country that hasspent seven weeks under astrict lockdown and that onMonday entered the first stageof its 4-phase lockdown roll-back, expected to span overnearly two months.

People ventured out for thefirst time for haircuts, buyingglasses or food take-outs, activ-ities that are allowed on thecondition of a pre-existingappointment.

Many small shops werestill closed, as business ownersworked on preparing to meetthe strict health and hygieneguidelines that the govern-ment only published onSunday.

Face masks are alsomandatory on public transportand the government is distrib-

uting 14 million of them atmajor transportation hubs.

Political tension in thecountry is on the rise as oppo-sition parties critical of PrimeMinister Pedro Sánchez’s han-dling of the crisis threaten toblock extending further thestate of emergency in a parlia-mentary vote later this week.

Italy: Italy’s national statis-tics agency has released the firstcomprehensive data on theeffect of the new coronavirus onItaly’s mortality rates. The datafound 38.7% more people diedthrough March 31 than theaverage over the past five years.

ISTAT calculated anincrease of 25,354 excess deathsfrom the start of the outbreakFeb. 20 through March 31,compared to the average from2015 to 2019.

But only 54% of thoseexcess deaths were actuallypositive for the virus, meaningItaly’s official death toll ofnearly 29,000 is likely off by atleast 10,000. The report fromISTAT was released on thesame day Italy began easingEurope’s first and longest lock-down restrictions.

The report provides data toback up the anecdotal evi-dence of the staggering toll

COVID-19 has taken on someprovinces in hardest-hitLombardy region: Bergamosaw its mortality rate increase568% compared to the five yearaverage while Cremona’sincrease was 391%.

The report was producedin conjunction with Italy’sSuperior Institute of Health.

It said while only 54% ofthe excess dead were actuallypositive for the virus, the oth-ers were likely either positivebut never tested or died as anindirect result of the pandem-ic because of the “crisis of thehospital system and fear ofgoing to the hospital.”

������ ������������������������ ��� ���&�� ���GC�NP+ -G�,�������� :�CN��,� :+�C:N$���� :����G�N :G�,PG<����� ��-N�-G� :C�NG+�2� ��G,�+NC :N�P�C5�� ���� ��-+�PC+ -�N--*���� ��C+�:-N ���+-���'�� ��:-�,C+ ���GP

� �B"�"��;������C;��"�:�$���"$0:$<00��������(�������������� �������

����� *3�/

Stir-crazy Italians will be freeto stroll and visit relatives for

the first time in nine weeks onMonday as Europe’s hardest-hitcountry eases back the world’slongest nationwide coronaviruslockdown.

Four million people — anestimated 72 percent of themmen — will return to their con-struction sites and factories asthe economically and emo-tionally shattered country triesto get back to work.

Restaurants that have man-aged to survive Italy’s most dis-astrous crisis in generations willreopen for takeaway service.

But bars and even icecream parlours will remainshut. The use of public trans-port will be discouraged andeveryone will have to wearmasks in indoor public spaces.

“We are feeling a mix of joy

and fear,” 40-year-old StefanoMilano said in Rome.

“There will be great happi-ness in being able to go runningagain carefree, in my son beingallowed to have his little cousin

over to blow out his birthdaycandles, to see our parents,” thefather-of-three said. “But we arealso apprehensive because theyare old and my father-in-law hascancer so is high risk”.

���6�,�#�&������+��#��5��+��&#����&����&)�*�����(*�)&

���� � 0&�)$.5�3.7�/3�1

US Secretary of State MikePompeo has renewed

Washington’s goal of denu-clearizing North Korea andcreating a “bright future” for itspeople after North Koreanleader Kim Jong-un’s return tothe public eye following his 20-day absence, a media reportsaid on Monday.

“Our mission has remainedthe same, to convince theNorth Koreans to give up theirnuclear weapons, to verify thesame, and to then create abrighter future for the NorthKorean people,” the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agencyquoted Pompeo as saying in anABC News interview on

Sunday.“That’s been something

President (Donald) Trump’sbeen focused on since thebeginning of his time in officeand something we’ll continueto work on,” he added.

On Saturday, the North’sofficial Korean Central NewsAgency reported on Kim’s visitto a fertilizer factory comple-tion ceremony in Sunchon,north of Pyongyang, on Friday,ending rumours of his failinghealth.

Kim had disappeared fromthe public view since hepresided over a premier rulingparty meeting on April 11.

Various rumours emergedafterward, including Kim beingin a coma after surgery or the

ruler simply self-isolating overcoronavirus concerns.

Asked about Kim’s weeks-long absence, Pompeo refusedto comment in detail, said theYonhap News Agency report.

“There’s not much that Ican share with you about whatwe knew about ChairmanKim’s activities during thattime. We don’t know why hechose to miss that moment,” hesaid, referring to his absencefrom an event marking theApril 15 birth anniversary ofhis late grandfather and nation-al founder, Kim Il-sung.

“We know there have beenother extended periods of timewhere Chairman Kim’s beenout of public view as well, so it’snot unprecedented,” he added.

Tehran: Iran has rejectedreports claiming that Iranianborder guards had torturedand thrown Afghans into ariver to prevent their illegalentry into the country, themedia reported.

“The incident affecting anumber of Afghanistan’s citi-zens has taken place on thatcountry’s soil and the IslamicRepublic of Iran’s border guardshave denied any involvement inthis regard,” ,” Press TV quot-ed Iran’s Foreign MinistrySpokesman Abbas Mousavi assaying on Sunday.

“Taking into account sig-nificance of issue and in orderto obtain accurate informationabout how incident took placeon the Afghan soil, we have beenprobing the issue in cooperationwith that country’s officials,”Mousavi added. IANS

London: Researchers have iden-tified a fully human monoclon-al antibody that prevents theSARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) virusfrom infecting cultured cells. Thediscovery, detailed in the journalNature Communications, is aninitial step towards developing afully human antibody to treat orprevent the respiratory diseaseCovid-19 caused by the novelcoronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

The Covid-19 pandemic hasspread rapidly across the globeinfecting more than 3.3 millionpeople worldwide and killingmore than 235,000 people so far.This research from UtrechtUniversity, Erasmus MedicalCenter and Harbour BioMed(HBM) builds on the work theyhave done in the past on anti-bodies targeting the SARS-CoV

that emerged in 2002/2003.“Using this collection of

SARS-CoV antibodies, weidentified an antibody that alsoneutralises infection of SARS-CoV-2 in cultured cells,” saidstudy co-lead author Berend-Jan Bosch, Associate Professorat Utrecht University in theNetherlands.

“Such a neutralising anti-body has the potential to alterthe course of infection in theinfected host, support virusclearance or protect an unin-fected individual that is exposedto the virus,” Bosch added.The researchers noted that theantibody binds to a domain thatis conserved in both SARS-CoVand SARS-CoV-2, explaining itsability to neutralize both virus-es. IANS

6&466*(�6&466*(���4+��

���F�� ���� ��-������� �������������!$�� �(��.�����2������������������������( �'�����������2������������������#�O��������������� ��'���������#���#�������2� �4��#"��A��������� ���������������� �������'����( �����=��#"����(���(����������������������������2���������� �������������������������� ���.� �:����� ������.����2����A�/ �������1����������#�O�������������� ���� ��'����2� A��������������=������.�(�&#����

,������� ��������� ������������������&'$�� &�����������&�#���������(����'��������������?�����(����������� ��������������������������"��������'�������� ����������������)� ���������������������������������� �&����'����'��������.���"�"����?������������������

=��������������������������������������������������(�����������

)�����������#�� �;� ��������������������

�+!������55��+��@�+�����&����*�&�(����%����

����� 0&�)$.5�3.

US President DonaldTrump, who has come

under fierce criticism for hishandling of the coronavirus cri-sis in the US, has alleged thatthe Chinese Government waseither incompetent in prevent-ing the deadly virus fromspreading globally or did it fora reason.

More than 68,000Americans have died of coro-navirus in the last three monthsand over 1.1 million have test-ed positive. America accountsfor the largest number of casesof infections and fatalities in theworld. “It (coronavirus) is a ter-rible thing, a terrible thingthat happened to our country.It came from China. It shouldhave been stopped. It couldhave been stopped on the spot,”Trump said during a town hallorganised by the Fox News onSunday.

“They chose not to do it orsomething happened. Eitherthere was incompetence orthey didn’t do it for some rea-

son. And we’re going to have tofind out what that reason was,”he said.

The Chinese, he said, knewthey had a problem.

“I think they were embar-rassed by the problem, veryembarrassed,” he said.According to the president,the intelligence agencies toldhim about it on the January 23.“Shortly thereafter, I closeddown the country. But I didn’tdo it because of what they said,because they said it very mat-ter-of-factly, and it was not abig deal,” he said.

Unlike in the last few days,Trump refrained from giving adefinitive answer if he wants toimpose additional tariff onChina as a punishment fortheir handling of the virus.

“Well, it’s the ultimate pun-ishment. I will tell you that...Idon’t like — again, I don’t liketo tell you what — because, youknow, we’re all playing a verycomplicated game of chess orpoker. Name whatever youwant to name. But it’s notcheckers. That I can tell you.

We have a very complicatedgame going,” he said.

“Our country was beingripped off by every nation inthe world. Now we have madeunbelievable strides.Unfortunately, then we get hitby this whole situation. But wehave done so well. We havetaken in so much money.Going before the virus, Chinahad the worst year they had in67 years. That’s a reason — andI’m not happy about that. Butwhat it does is it says they weretaking us for a ride,” said thePresident.

Trump also alleged that theWorld Trade Organization hasripped off this country.

“That’s when Chinabecame an economic power.And, by the way, you haveWorld Trade and you haveWord Health. The WorldHealth Organization (WHO)has been a disaster. Everythingthey said was wrong. Andthey’re China-centric. All theydo is they agree with China,whatever China wants to do,”he said.

London: WikiLeaks said itsfounder Julian Assange willhave to wait at least untilSeptember before a Britishjudge will hear a US request forhis extradition.

Assange, who faces espi-onage charges over the activi-ties of WikiLeaks, is currentlyin Belmarsh Prison in Londonand is fighting the allegations.

Kristinn Hrafnsson,WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief, saidin a video posted on socialmedia that it was “completelyunacceptable” that Assange hasto spend another four months— and potentially longer — inprison. By the time any hearingbegins in September, Assangewill have spent a year in remandafter he was dragged out of theEcuadorian Embassy inLondon. AP

A���B����<�B����������������%�����'��������������

����� 0&�)$.5�3.

US Treasury SecretarySteven Mnuchin on

Monday warned China of “verysignificant consequences” fornot honouring the trade dealsigned between the two coun-tries early this year.

“I have every reason toexpect that they honour thisagreement. And if they don’t,there would be very significantconsequences in the relation-ship and in the global econo-my as to how people would dobusiness with them,” Mnuchintold Fox News.

Mnuchin’s warning toChina came a day afterPresident Donald Trump saidthat he will terminate the tradedeal with Chin, if they do nothonour the commitment ofbuying an additional USD 200billion worth of agriculturalproducts from the US. Underthe US-China trade deal signedin January, Beijing agreed to buyat least USD 200 billion more inUS products and services in2020-2021 two-year period thanit did in 2017. Responding to aquestion, Mnuchin said thatTrump is reviewing all issueswith China very carefully.

(�������������������������)����(�)��*�+�����������������������������<������

$��L����������M����������������#����������������#�����

����������������������� �$��� ����� ������ �

$����������������������� �$�����������

���������������������� ���� �����

/�������'�������(����� ������������7��������������������� ����������

���� �� ��2�� �����������

������������������������������������C����������������������������������DC�2�����������������E(�������!���C �?���������������������&������������)�)��;���B����� �-���1����� ��!����0�:�����������������������������-���������������������������������������������������������������������)������������������������������ ����������������������&�������������� ��������������������������������������)��������&���� %�

%������������������������������)������������������������������������&����������������)�������������������������&������������������������)�����������������)����������������-�0������&�� �"����� ���!���� %�

"��������F����������&�������������������������������������F������������9�)������������&������������������>��1��(��� �!����!���� ��������������!���� %�

%�%����������������������������������������������������&�����������������������������������)������������������&�����������=��� �%������ ��!����0�%���������������������������������������)����*��������������0�����%��������)�����������)����������������������������)�������������� �����������������������������������(�)��*�+������)���� %�

Page 9: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

# �1��:�������������������� ����� !�"#"#

����� ���%&$

Equity benchmark Sensexplummeted 5.94 per cent or

2,002 points on Monday, track-ing massive selloffs in globalmarkets amid rising US-Chinatensions.

After a highly volatile ses-sion, the 30-share BSE indexsettled at 31,715.35, plunging2,002.27 points, or 5.94 percent. Similarly, the broaderNSE Nifty suffered a heavy lossof 566.40 points, or 5.74 percent, to settle at 9,293.50.

ICICI Bank was the top

laggard in the Sensex pack,sinking over 10 per cent, fol-lowed by Bajaj Finance, HDFC,IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank andMaruti.

Shares of RelianceIndustries fell over 2 per centafter the oil-to-telecom con-glomerate on Thursday postedits biggest ever drop in quar-terly net profit. Its net profit inJanuary-March dropped 37 percent to �6,546 crore, the low-est in three years.

Bharti Airtel and SunPharma were the gainers in theBSE index. According toNarendra Solanki, Head-Equity Research (Fundamental)at Anand Rathi, the domesticmarkets opened lower takingnegative cues from its globalpeers in Asia.

Claims by the US withregard Covid-19 sparked fearsof a renewed trade war andfresh tussle with China over itsrole in the pandemic spread.

Although the major mar-kets in Japan and China wereclosed for holidays, stocks in

other Asian markets fell astensions between the US andChina weighed on investor

sentiment, Solanki said.Bourses in Hong Kong and

Seoul were plunged up to 4 percent, while stock exchanges inEurope opened with significant losses.

Back home, sentimentsalso remained downbeat afterthe country’s manufacturingactivity growth declinedsharply in the month of April2020, amid national lockdownrestrictions to help stem thespread of coronavirus infec-tions, he added.

The headline seasonallyadjusted IHS Markit IndiaManufacturing PurchasingManagers’ Index fell to 27.4 inApril, from 51.8 in March,reflecting the sharpest deteri-oration in business conditionsacross the sector since data col-lection began over 15 years ago.

According to analysts, themarket has realised that thecascading effect of the extend-ed restrictions on the domes-tic economy and corporateearnings is much more thananticipated.

���� � ���%&$

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Monday reviewed

the liquidity and credit flow sit-uation in the NBFC sector andassessed the position of MutualFunds (MF) with respect ofimplantation of relief measureswhich it had earlier announcedto mitigate the economic falloutof Covid-19 outbreak.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas held meetings with the rep-resentatives of both NBFCsand MFs in two separate ses-sions through video conference.

“The Governor acknowl-edged the critical role thatNBFCs, including MFIs, play indelivering last mile credit, andthe importance of Mutual Fundsin financial intermediation,”the RBI said in a statement.

During the meeting, theRBI discussed the post lock-down strategies with NBFCsand MFIs for supply of credit,including working capital, toMSMEs, traders and bottom ofpyramid customers in semi-urban, rural and urban areas.

Implementation of threemonths moratorium on repay-ment of loan instalmentsannounced by the RBI, andstrengthening grievance redres-sal mechanisms were also dis-cussed.

The RBI Governor alsochecked with NBFCs and MFsabout their liquidity position,especially after introducing var-ious schemes for the sectors.The concern is whether banksand financial institutions havebegun lending to NBFCs whichgot hit after failure of few enti-ties last year. With MFs, the RBIalso revised the functioning ofthe bond markets and tookstock of their plans for the wayforward, especially in context ofFranklin Templeton MutualFund shutting down six of itsfunds due to credit issues.

���� � ./0�!/1)$

The Covid-19 outbreak andnationwide lockdown is

severely denting the revenuecollections of states pushingthem to look at possible rev-enue earning measures includ-ing phased opening of liquorvends and pan and gutka shopsin the first phase of relax-ations for restarting economicactivity post lockdown.

Sources in the StateGovernment departments saidthat GST collections, one of theprime sources of revenue forthe states, is seriously compro-mised in the month of Aprilwith several state governmentsreporting serious fall in collections that are as high as 80-90 per cent some cases.

Concerned about the steep

fall, the Centre is yet to declarethe GST collection numbers forApril though monthly GSTcollection numbers for a par-ticular month is announced onthe first day of the next month.The delay, officials say, isbecause the governmentdeferred allowed delayed filingof GSTR 3B returns for 15 daysfrom the due date of April 20to ease compliance burden ontaxpayers during lockdown.

The worst hit seems to bestates such as Delhi, WestBengal, Assam, AndhraPradesh that are reporting fallin April GST collections to thetune of 90 per cent. In case ifDelhi, officials have indicatedthat they have collected just�300 in April against normalmonthly collection of �3,000 crore.

Mumbai: In yet another majorde velopment, RelianceIndustries Limited (“RelianceIndustries”) and Jio PlatformsLimited (“Jio Platforms”)announced on Monday morn-ing that Silver Lake will invest�5,655.75 crore into JioPlatforms.

This investment values JioPlatforms at an equity value of�4.90 lakh crore and an enter-prise value of �5.15 lakh croreand represents a 12.5 per centpremium to the equity valuationof the Facebook investmentannounced on April 22, 2020.

RIL had announced that anequivalent investment of up to9.99 per cent would follow theoriginal Facebook investment.The second tranche has beenmade at a 12.5 per cent premi-um to the FB investment made

recently. But this does notcomplete the investment limitand further headroom is avail-able for yet another investmentopportunity claimed analysts.

Silver Lake is the globalleader in technology investing,with over $43 billion in com-bined assets under manage-ment and committed capital.

The Menlo Park headquar-tered Silver Lake is an Americanprivate equity firm focused onleveraged buyout and growthcapital investments in technol-ogy, technology-enabled andrelated industries. Founded in1999, the firm is one of thelargest technology investors inthe world and notable for par-ticipating in club deals.

Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RelianceIndustries Limited, is a next-gen-

eration technology companybuilding a Digital Society forIndia by bringing together Jio’sleading digital apps, digitalecosystems and India’s #1 highspeed connectivity platformunder one umbrella. Reliance JioInfocomm Limited, which pro-vides connectivity platform toover 388 million subscribers, willcontinue to be a wholly-ownedsubsidiary of Jio Platforms.

Jio’s vision is to enable aDigital India for 1.3 billion peo-ple and businesses throughoutIndia, especially small mer-chants, micro-businesses andfarmers. Jio has brought trans-formational changes in Indiandigital services space and pro-pelled India on path towardsbecoming a global technologyleader and among leading digi-tal economies in world. IANS

New Delhi: With theGovernment easing restric-tions in select zones across thecountry from May 4, Ola andUber on Monday announced toresume their operations ingreen and orange zones across India.

Uber will provide rides ingreen zones like Daman, Kochi,Guwahati and more placeswhile it will provide rides inorange zones like Amritsar,Udaipur, Mohali andGurugram, among others.

“If you must travel, Uber isready to serve residents inthese zones from Monday, May4. Riders will constantly benotified with further informa-tion and the status of specificcities through our app,” thecompany said in a statement.

IANS

���� � ./0�!/1)$

Union Minister Nitin Gadkarihas a simple mantra at

hand, build more, build fasterwhile maintaining all precautionsto beat the Covid-19 inducedeconomic slowdown.

Gadkari, the UnionMinister for Minister of RoadTransport & Highways, Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises,in an exclusive interview withIANS, talked about a massivepush to infrastructure creationas a means to mitigate the eco-nomic fallout of the Covid-19pandemic and to accelerategrowth.

In essence, the ministeraims to attain a faster pace of

highway construction, boostthe Bharatmala Pariyojana pro-gramme, and aid the MSMEand the auto sectors, amongothers.

Lately, Gadkari has been intouch with various stakehold-ers spanning multiple sectorsvia video conferencing todevise the strategies to re-startthe clogged road networks,rescue the stranded truck dri-vers and allow limited con-struction activity.

At present, India is undera more relaxed form of lock-down which will last till May17. However, ratings agencieshave cut the country’s GDPforecast on lack of economicactivities.

Besides, many companieshave instituted pay cuts andhave downsized their work-force.

The circumstances are setto trigger a recessionary cycle,even though India has notbeen hit very hard by the actu-al pandemic due to the earlypreventive measures adoptedby the Centre.

However, the lockdown tocurb the spread of the virus hashad an adverse impact on thecountry’s economy.

The lockdown has dealt aheavy blow to commerce lead-ing to temporary closure ofshopping malls, dine-in restau-rants, grounding of aircraft,shutting down of factories,

leaving the major market placesdeserted.

Not just sectors such as air-lines, tourism, hotels and auto-mobiles, but even the govern-ment’s own revenue accretionhas been impacted.

Particularly impacted arethe MSMEs. The sector isessentially the backbone of theeconomy.

Consequently, Gadkari hascome out with a plan to revivethe economy while keeping allhealth related safeguards ofsocial distancing in place.

According to Gadkari, theCentre will not hesitate “to takeany decision required to bringcomplete transparency, removebottlenecks and introduce fast-

track highway development”.“A lot of projects are of

national importance andimmediate start of work onthese projects is very impor-tant. But we also understandthe intensity of this pandemic.I have reviewed the present sce-nario,” the minister told IANS.

“Wherever we can gradu-ally open construction works inidentified zones with the per-mission of the local adminis-tration, we shall certainly do so.We are exploring the possibil-ity of restarting works as soonas possible.

“However, we are onlylooking at allowing those worksto start where standard socialdistancing norms can be fol-

lowed and highest standards ofhygiene and safety are adheredto,” he said.

In terms of highway devel-opment, the minister said:“Though we are hit by theCovid-19 pandemic, we aspireto maintain the momentum of

last year and our targets forconstruction in FY 2020-21 areslightly more than last year at10,250 km.”

“Similarly, for awarding ofnew works, we have a target of12,650 km,” he added.

When asked about theprocess of reviving the BOT(Toll) mode of highway devel-opment and incorporation ofamendments proposed in theModel Concession Agreement(MCA), the minister replied:“After an exhaustive process ofconsultations with all stake-holders, the process of incor-poration of amendments inthe Model ConcessionAgreement of BOT (Toll) modeis at the final stage.”

“The objective of the entireexercise has been to take intoconsideration the concerns ofthe highway constructionindustry and revive BOT (Toll)mode as an attractive option forconcessionaires keen to workwith the government in thePPP domain,” he said.

For the auto sector, theminister said that a scheme forscrapping old vehicles for cer-tain perks that can be used byowners to buy new cars isbeing pursued and is also in thefinal stages.

The policy will benefit theauto sector and reduce thecost of procuring expensivemetals such as copper fromabroad.

Mumbai: The rupee depreci-ated by 64 paise to settle at75.73 against the US dollar onMonday due to fears of arenewed trade war betweenthe US and China, snapping itsfour-day winning run.

Heavy sell-off in domesticequities and a strengtheninggreenback overseas alsoweighed on the rupee.

“The greenback surgedfollowing safe-haven buying asuncertainty increased afterPresident Trump threatened toimpose new tariffs on China,”Sugandha Sachdeva, VP-Metals, Energy & CurrencyResearch, Religare Broking,said. The dollar index, whichgauges the greenback’sstrength against a basket of sixcurrencies, rose by 0.27 percent to 99.35 The selloff indomestic and global equitieshas led to selling pressure inthe domestic currency at thebeginning of the week,Sachdeva added. PTI

����� ./0�!/1)$

With the unprecedented situationarising out of Covid-19 pan-

demic, companies across the worldhave re-evaluated their HR practices,and while 50 per cent organisationsacross industries are keeping theirsalary hike budgets unchanged, 36per cent have opted for a decline, saysa survey.

In its India’s Covid-19 HRPractices Survey Report, KPMG saidaround 70 per cent of the organisa-tions across levels have reported nochange in the planned impact onfixed pay at the non-managementand junior management levels.

In a bid to sustain these toughtimes, a few organisations are imple-

menting hiring freezes and wagefreezes, while others are introducingremote working alternatives, revisit-ing employee engagement initiativesand additional financial assistance.

The survey titled ‘Cuttingthrough Crisis’ noted that 50 per centof the companies have deferred or suspended their promo-tion schedule.

Moreover, a downward trend inpromotions numbers across all joblevels was observed wherein 33 percent of organisations admitted tohaving reduced it.

However, most organisations inIT/ITES, life sciences/pharma andretail sector have refrained from anydownwards trend in overall promo-tion cycle, the survey noted.

However, if the Covid-19situation persists, around 22 percent of the organisations may defer,freeze or suspend incentive payoutsto support their overall finances.While 50 per cent organisationsacross industries are keeping theirsalary increment budgets unchanged,around 36 per cent organisationshave opted for decreasing the salaryincrement budgets, it said.

“Organisations are navigatingan unprecedented and challengingtime and are collectively at a level-playing ground as none had anupper hand of being better preparedor equipped to deal with the crisis,”said Vishalli Dongrie, Partner andHead, People and Change, KPMG inIndia.

������ !"#$�%�����&'()#"�*�)+�,"#-'�)�!.(�)!�%#')��!/����.��-#��(�!*�!*.���'�0'"��

��&��D����� ��������30111�!��;� ����������������������

��%��� �����>0�%���<?�<��� �����@����������������

���� %&.5232

Global stock marketsdropped on Monday as

tensions between the Trumpadministration and China overthe origins and handling of thecoronavirus pandemic rattledinvestors.

Benchmarks fell in mostcountries except for Australia,which was lifted by signs itsown virus outbreak is beingbrought under control.

In Europe, where mostmarkets returned from a long

holiday weekend, Germany’sDAX dropped 3.5% to 10,480 and the CAC 40 inParis lost 4% to 4,390. Britain’s FTSE 100, which wasopen on Friday, declined 0.4%to 5,742.

The future for the S&P 500slipped 1.1% and that for theDow industrials lost 0.8%,pointing to a lower open onWall Street after tech firmsbrought US markets down atthe end of last week.

Tokyo, Shanghai andBangkok were among markets

closed for holidays on Monday.Criticised over his han-

dling of the crisis, PresidentDonald Trump has tried toshift the blame to China.Beijing has repeatedly pushedback on US accusations that theoutbreak was China’s fault.

The antagonisms threatento undo the truce in a trade warbetween Washington andBeijing that was struck justbefore China began shuttingmuch of its economy down inlate January to fight the pan-demic.

A 4-page Department ofHomeland Security intelligencereport dated May 1 andobtained by The AssociatedPress contends that Chinese leaders “intentionallyconcealed the severity” of thepandemic from the world inearly January.

It alleges, citing variancesin trade patterns, that Chinawas downplaying the severityof its outbreak, first reported inthe central Chinese city ofWuhan, while stockpiling med-ical supplies.

��������������� ��1%��������'����./����������(���(���

�!()�&�" (�'-"!((��.��()"�#(�0##,�.2�('�'"3�+�0#%��2#)(��.-+'.2#��' ���,'.�# �-����"/#3

",.���)�������������� ������������������,?(� �!?�

���� 0�1�������

������������%����������,�+����������������;%���

�������B�(������&������$0?$$�7$�����&�E�����5��+������&������6��������5��/�>1B ��

6��$�/�������#���(������� ����������� ��A���

Page 10: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

The silent epidemic of insomnia isinvading our lives, triggering a

gamut of problems — physical andmental exhaustion, emotional distur-bances, diminished productivity, acci-dents and lifestyle diseases. A recentstudy which appeared in the Journal ofFamily Medicine and Primary Carestates that around 33 per cent Indianadults suffer from insomnia. Moreover,there has been a staggering increase inthe cases of childhood insomnia overthe last few years, and this has had anadverse impact on children’s growth anddevelopment. We all know that gettingaround six to eight hours of sound sleepis a must to remain healthy, but a largemajority finds it daunting to put thisinto practice.

The problem usually starts with ourdesire to stay awake as much as possi-ble. We are always spurred by a load ofunfinished business and distractions —demanding projects, tight deadlines,fascinating videos, endless updates onthe social media and buzzing smartphones. Under the spell of this constant

stimulation, we keep on stretching ourwaking hours and fighting our need forsleep. Late night coffee and tea are fastbecoming a norm because they muffleall signs of slumber.

Over time, such behaviours ruinour inbuilt sleep-wake cycle by keep-ing us overly aroused during the night,sluggish during the day and slowlyinsomnia creeps in. Thereafter, itbecomes a challenge to fall off to sleep,remain asleep or feel fresh after wak-ing up. This is when insomnia tightensits grip around us. Thankfully, most ofus can easily escape from the clutchesof insomnia and retrain our minds andbodies to sleep better.

We must remember that our wak-ing life and sleep influence each otherand therefore spending our day mean-ingfully, peacefully and productivelyallows us to go to bed with a happy andrelaxed frame of mind. In this state,there is no resistance to sleep and wedrift away into the dreamworld ratherswiftly. In other words, a day well-spentbrings happy sleep. Therefore, let us

make our waking life balanced, gener-ously demarcating spaces for work,leisure, exercise and fun.

A bunch of practices known assleep hygiene, if followed consistentlycan improve your sleep. Start by cur-tailing your daytime naps to 30 min-utes, anything longer than that can spoil

your sleep at night. Do not consume tea,coffee or alcohol after 5 pm becausethey can keep your mind stimulated forlong. Encourage yourself to relax andinstruct your brain to slow down twohours before bedtime. This includes eat-ing a light and easily digestible meal,keeping away from electronic gadgets

and television and dimming the lightsin your house. You may play some softand soothing music, read a nice book,chitchat, practice gentle breathing exer-cises or meditation to utilise this time.If any disturbing thoughts and emotionscome up, note them down tellingyourself to peruse them the next day.Finally, switch off the lights and liedown on the bed focusing on yourbreath, allowing yourself to slip intosleep.

Despite doing all this, there will betimes when sleep may not come easi-ly. Even then refrain from worryingbecause that will push your mind andbody into hyperarousal making it dif-ficult for you to doze off. You can eithercontinue to lie down, making yourbreath calm and focusing on it or youcan get up and do some light activitytill the time you feel sleepy. In any caseif you continue to be calm, happy sleepwill eventually come.

������������������������������������������������������������ ��

!*�9$4&=�4&.&5&�&

����������� ����������

�������� �������� ���� ���

��������� �����������

Cardiovascular Diseases claimed more than 17.5 million casesworldwide, of which at least a third of them previously had heart

attacks. Surviving a major cardiac event is an extremely fortunatething. However, most survivors go to a state of complete rest withno or minimal exercises soon after leaving the hospital. It is truethat one must avoid excessive physical exertion after a heart attack.However, appropriate exercises along with medication and thera-pies including occupational and physical therapy, will help inimproving blood circulation and overall well-being. Thus cardiacrehabilitation is a highly recommended program to eliminate therisk of a second cardiac event, or post operative complications ina survivor and improve overall emotional well-being of an indi-vidual.

Cardiac rehabilitation is a multidisciplinary recovery programdesigned to strengthen the heart, body and mind aof people whorecovered from cardiac events. With the intent to inculcate heart-healthy habits in an individual, a variety of physical activities aretaught along with providing necessary one-on-one support andawareness to relieve stress and enhance mental health. Each patienthas a different pace of recovery. In general, cardiac rehabilitationis offered for a period of 12 weeks, ideally in an inpatient setting.However, depending on the individual condition, the program couldrun for longer duration.

Studies observe, people who undergo cardiac rehabilitation have30 per cent less repeat cardiac events. They were also found to behealthier and could walk longer distances. Supervised exercise pro-grammes can reduce blood pressure, stress levels, body weight; atthe same time improve balance and flexibility.

Although individual condi-tions decide the ideal time bywhen one could return to or startexercising after a heart attack, butin general you should be able tostart in six weeks. Individuals whodon’t participate in cardiac reha-bilitation will need to take thedoctor’s consent before starting toexercise. One could slowly beginby doing gentle exercises likewalking. For the first week, youcould walk for five minutes at atime. The momentum could begradually built and extended to 10minutes by next week and 30minutes after six weeks. Thisagain depends on how active youwere previously. Hence, consult-

ing a doctor in choosing the right type of physical activity is of para-mount importance.

Listed below are few other safety tips that could be followedfor safely resuming to or newly getting into active lifestyles,� Start walking slowly, gradually increase speed and lower the pacebefore stopping completely.� Don’t exert yourself at the end of the day when you are alreadyworn out. The best time to exercise is early in the day or when youfeel fresh and relaxed. Make sure you are hydrated before and dur-ing the activity. Never do any physical activity soon after a bath ortaking meals.� Gradually, minimise sitting time and aim to do moderate inten-sity activities for at least 40 minutes, 4 days a week.� To feel more motivated and comfortable, you could consider exer-cising with a personal trainer or a close family member.� Monitor your progress and continuously update doctor on theachieved and newly planned goals.� Climb stairs slowly until you are able to do it at the same paceof a normal walking.� As your fitness and confidence increases over the weeks, you canslowly move from mild to moderate intensity activities like cycling,swimming or even light weight training.

Here are some Cardiac Rehabilitation exercises you can do athome: elbow bends, bent arm raises, side elbow extensions, straightarm raises, arm circles, marching at a place, waist bends, waist twists,knee touches and knee bends. Structured exercises, monitored andsupervised by a medical team and custom tailored to the patient’scondition are helpful in reducing the risk of a repeat cardiac event.

*)�-�)%����� ) ;������"����

��"�)�"���!������ �������)�� �� �����) "� �;��" ���!�� ��������$��

�<��"���=�4��" %�)�� ��1�!�$��!1

) �$�$�����<��"������� �

�� �$

������� ����$�%������������������������� ����� !�"#"#>���&�� �'� &�'�(��)*���+'�+�������+'���

'�&+ ��)�,�&�+�����+'�� ���+��+���&!������*�+���)�!� ��� ���+� �&-�)���,�����+�.+' �,*&/�������0� ��*�0���'�� �&-� �&�&�&*���&&�(���������&'�0'�&+����+'&���'��� ��&�(� ����,�&��������&���������&-���� ��&�&���+'���(�����0

�0�����!�(� ���!� 12#�� ����+�)�+'��*��+��� ���))��+����+�&���+�����* ��0�+'�� ���(�&

&�� )����

������� Sattu is a flourconsisting of a mixture ofground pulses and cereals.The dry powder is preparedin various ways as a principalor secondary ingredient ofdishes.

Drinking the sattu sharbathelps you stay energeticthroughout the day. It can beprepared by mixingsattu with eithersugar and water orjaljeera, greenc h i l l i e s ,black salta n dcorianderl e a v e s ,dependingon how youwant to have it— sweet or sour.

Sattu sharbat is the perfectdrink to battle dehydrationand heat stroke.

Sattu has amazing hydrat-ing properties, hence if con-sumed regularly; it can helprestore your skin’s naturalglow It also prevents the wearand tear of skin cells.

It is good for Diabetes too.It has a low glycemic index

that keeps our sugarlevels in check. The

namkeen sattudrink may bea good optionfor diabetics.

It a lsohelps in weight

loss by prevent-ing unwanted

hunger calls andalso boosts digestion.

� � � � � � � � � � � �

COVID-19 is a respiratory dis-ease, hence it may be a causeof worry for the asthma

patients or the patients already suf-fering from a variety of other respi-ratory diseases, but till date there isno data to prove that the virus has adifferent effect on asthma patientshowever in asthmatics the COVID-19 disease may be more severe.

Every virus evolves as the timepasses by; same is with coronavirus as well. There have beenchanges in the disease pattern sincethe beginning of this outbreak,necessitating modifications in itsmanagement, precautions to betaken. Dry cough, cold, and feverwere supposed to be initial symp-toms of this virus but now there arevaried presentations in form of gas-tric symptoms, loss of smell andmany a patient may be asympto-matic as well. Possibly differentprevalent strains of the virus may beaffecting the persons differently,and varied symptoms may alsodepend on the age group, immuni-ty or the pre-existing diseases a par-ticular person may already be suf-fering from. Till date there is noproof that the virus affects the asth-ma patients differently as was initial-ly expected, but the same cannot besaid for the future as the virus is stillevolving. Respiratory viruses aretriggers for asthma, but not allviruses affect asthma patients equal-ly. Basic precautions and propermedications are the mainstay fortotal control of asthma.

Asthma patients are prone tomany viral infections: Coronavirusis a respiratory virus. The concern

of asthma patients in regard tocoronavirus is justified, but it shouldalso be kept in mind that they areprone to other viral infections as welllike swine flu and influenza, whichalso triggers for asthma worsening.Having said that, keeping in mindthe current air quality index, theasthmatic patients are getting tobreathe fresh air in many yearswhich is definitely a pro of theCoronavirus-led lockdown.

Pollen allergy is also a seasonaltrigger. It is being assumed by pub-lic that less air pollution may giveway to enhanced pollen allergywhich is not correct, rather anyamount of air pollution aggravatesthe pollen allergy. The entire worldis in the grip of corona virus, whichis actually worrying but at the sametime it is very important not toignore other infections as thesepatients are more prone to these aswell. Hence the importance of handwashing, proper sanitisation, main-taining high level of disinfection andsocial distancing along with wellsupervised medication.

Vaccination is important: Thereare a number of vaccines which aregiven yearly like swine flu, influen-za as a precaution to asthma patients.Take them timely as advised by yourtreating physician. Regarding coro-na virus, the vaccine is still awaited.

Keep your inhaler and medi-cines stock ready: During the lock-down period make sure you don’t goout of stock of inhalers or anyother required essential medicines.Avoid going to hospital for consul-tation in this time, keep in touchwith your concerned doctor through

Telemedicine and keep updatingabout your health so as to avoid vis-its to the hospital. In case of anyemergency make sure that only oneattendant goes with the patient to thehealthcare facility to manage theexacerbation. Avoid nebulisation asmuch as possible because of aerosolgeneration, posing risk of infectionto others. However, follow the adviceof the treating physician and one canuse them in open space like porch

or balcony to avoid contact with oth-ers. Children do require extra carein this regard.

Follow other general precau-tions: Stay safe at home, go out onlyif necessary, maintain social distanc-ing, don’t touch your face withoutsanitising or washing your handsthoroughly with soap. FollowWHO's guidelines in this regard.

In case you feel feverish, sufferfrom sore throat, dry cough, chestdiscomfort or any new symptoms,please consult your doctor immedi-ately or call at Covid help line.

Be careful while eating: Duringthis lockdown period one needs tobe very careful about food intake aswell, especially those already suffer-ing from any pre-existing diseases.Prioritise nutrition in your meals;add immunity boosting items to it,overeating should be avoided. Don'tskip meals, take them on righttime, keep yourself well hydrated,take plenty of fresh fruits and veg-etables, avoid items with preserva-tives like pickles, jams, or dried cutfruits. Any eatable item which mightaggravate your allergy should beavoided at all costs. Be careful whileconsuming raw food like fruits,salads. Wash them properly in warmwater. Maintain high level of basichygiene. Take your treating doctor’sadvice and follow in this regard well.

Exercise and positive attitude:Do regular exercises — yoga, breath-ing exercises. Nutritious diet, regu-lar exercise and a positive attitudewould go a long way in leading ahappy and a healthy life.��������������-�����(����������"����������!������ �-���,���#��%�����!�������.�������

�������������"����������

No or fewer outings during the quaran-tine might lead to stress, anxiety, low

mood, and irritability and affect our over-all health and well being. Watching thesame news every hour and scrolling thesocial media too much can make us feeldepressed, exhausted and tired. Sure, quar-antine can be emotionally challenging butmore than ever taking care of ourselvesphysically, mentally and emotionally shouldbe at the forefront of our minds. Here aresome easy ways that can help promote goodhealth while staying at home.

To boost physical health:Follow a healthy and balanced diet:

There is nothing better than consuming ahealthy and well-balanced diet to achievevirtuous health. A diet filled with nutrientshelps in maintaining your weight while low-ering down the risk of various diseases. Youcan add fresh and seasonal fruits and greenleafy vegetables in your diet and stay on thetrack of overall health. Also, one thing wecan do to stay hale and hearty, is follow ahealthy diet regime with regular meals. But,due to irregular sleeping patterns these days,many of us tend to skip breakfast some-times. But make sure to start your day witha healthy and nutritious breakfast that pro-vides essential nutrients to stay focused andenergised throughout the day. Include apower packed home cooked breakfast suchas idli, upma, paratha, poha in your dailydiet.

A very important aspect of diet to takecontrol is mid-day snacking, which most-ly goes wrong for most of us. Why notreplace your unhealthy snacks with health-ier options like roasted chana, roastedmakhana, salads, seeds or nuts. If you aren'tmuch into preparation or hooked to yourlaptop for work, stick to a handful of nuts.A handful of walnuts equivalent to 28 gramsespecially can do wonders for your health.

Build a home-based exercise routine:A regular home workout cannot only helpyou in maintaining your weight but also fillyou up with positivity and great energy lev-els. 30-45 minutes of a workout session cando wonders for your stress levels whileimproving your overall health and well-being. Use your stairs and balcony and addin squats, lunges, pilates, yoga, and aerobicsin your workout.

To boost mental health:Meditation: There is nothing great than

adding a session of meditation in yourlifestyle to calm down your mind and toeradicate those negative vibes. Research sug-gests meditation can easily combat stresslevels and lower down the symptoms ofdepression and anxiety while giving agreat boost to memory. You can do breath-ing exercises, breath counting, and positivevisualisation for about 30-45 minutes.

Sound sleep can do wonders: A nightof sound sleep can give a great boost to yourmental health like nothing else. Sleepdeprivation cannot only make a person dulland absent-minded but it also takes a per-son closer to various health problems likeheart diseases, diabetes, and obesity. Regularsleep of eight hours is a pre-requisite for ahealthy body and mind. ��������������������������G�?�����*(H: ������B���

B����������������#���������������� �� �C*;*)

;,;=�;D�������%�������������%���������������������� ���������������(������������

*(#�%$� $!�+� &((��;������������������������������%��������)�������������������#����#�����*����(��$������������������ ���� ������������������������������#�����(��������������������-/D )+��3;=*;��������%��������%��%��������(����#����������#%��(�����%

PUT HEALTH6C�56=E5=6C+

�311/.�&11/*5=$��&��/&�3.&1�*$55/* �$��$�&����/!��)&�

1/���&$*�311��$3.��&=

5$9/�0&=��3/.)&.�/!��311/.&11/*5=�0)$�)�$�

.3���3**/���*&�)/*�&.=

&�3�.��3<�&$*�311��$3.��&.�&55*&9&�/�$�

54�����

3��0����&�� ��!����!*�&.$�/�)�&*=&����������������������������������'����������(������� ������������������������39$!"�G���������(���������������������#������������� ��������

Page 11: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

�������������������� ����� !�"#"#

9������������C����� ��(� �'�������#��������������������������������#�����G%&��&3!!5A&1�%��?������������������ �����PN"����"���%��(������������������������������'�����J������������������( K

4���������(����������������4����?��5�������������������������� ��������� �J$�A�#�������������'������������������(��'��������(�������������������� ����� �'�� ����#������������������� ��#����� ���������������(���������������� ���(�� ����� K

������(��������� ��4��������&����.�#��������

&���������� �� ����'���$���#�� ������������������ ���"������#��)������������

�����C"����"�����������������������������(������#����� ��������������������#������#������#�������������(�

J$�� ���������'���������������������������������������� �� � ����#��)���� ����������

���������������#��������� � ��������������������#������ �����(���� ������� �����������������������������������K�����#����������

J)����������"��#������������ ������������ �����������(� ���$

�����'��(� �$�����������'���������������������#���� ��������������������������������� ��K��������

?*��-����1�� �)�� !������#1����=�*!����-�����������!�����)�� ����)�- �-��� ���

� $��������-�=�*@#���� ��� �� ���)$�=�*�-����1��� -�)*)������ �1�)��-�!��� ���� � �# ���! %����=�*�@���"���$�)���"�=�*�-��� #���������#�"%�����1�� �*@#�� ���$�#1������ � ����" %���=@A�1%��#���%��

�#!���)�-����)!1�# ����@��)���

-�-"��1�>>

�#���"�������������%" ��%# %�*����������������������������������������������� ������������������������ ��������"��������������'���������#���(�������������'���(������+�,,,������������������ ����������"��������������������������#����������!���

& ��������39$!"�G�����������������������������������'�(��������������������"�#����������&����:G���������������(�������(�������"'�����'������������������&� ��

*������#��������� ������ �����&� �����'�������� �������������'������(��������������J5����$�� ��������������������# ��������(������# �$�A����������� ��������'���������*�����)��������A�(��������������� ��Q�������� K

The nation, on Sunday, witnessed oneof the biggest virtual events, I for

India, where 85 Indian and global starsassembled on Facebook to raise fundsfor GiveIndia COVID-19 relief fund.

Actors Amitabh Bachchan, AkshayKumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan,Ayushmann Khurrana, Hrithik Roshan,Ranveer Singh, Tiger Shroff, VickyKaushal, Vidya Balan, Katrina Kaif,Rani Mukerji, Arjun Kapoor and DiljitDosanjh were among the ones who par-ticipated in the virtual concert.

Also joining in were PriyankaChopra Jonas and Nick Jonas, AnushkaSharma and Virat Kohli, KareenaKapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan, andAishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan.

International stars including JackBlack, Will Smith, Russel Peters, MickJagger, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas andSophie Turner were also a part.

Everyone did their bit to entertainthe audience while performing at thenoble show, which was organised byfilmmakers Karan Johar and ZoyaAkhtar. The objective of the philan-thropic concert was to pay tribute tothose who are working on the frontlinesand to provide 100 per cent proceedsfrom the fundraiser concert to the India

COVID-19 Response Fund, to supporton-ground relief efforts. Over �3 crorewas raised by the end of the four-hourdigital concert.

Amitabh Bachchan gave a tributeto the late actor and his close friendRishi Kapoor during the concert. SRKand Hrithik turned singers.

Shah Rukh sang, “Sab sahi hojayega,” assuring people that things willbe alright soon. His son AbRam toomade a special appearance in the song,composed by rapper Badshah.

Hrithik played piano and croonedto Tera Jaisa Yaar Kahaan, which wascomposed by his uncle Rajesh Roshanfor the 1981 Amitabh Bachchan-star-rer Yaarana. Reportedly, Hrithik spentover seven hours honing his musicalskills prior to the concert.

Ayushmann Khurrana, who is alsoan established singer, sang Ik Vaari andMitti Di Khushboo.

While Akshay Kumar recited apoem, titled Tumse Ho Nahi Paega,Aamir Khan and his wife, filmmakerKiran Rao, spoke about how importantit is to extend support to the needy.They also sang Raj Kapoor’s Kisi KiMuskurahaton Se and Aa Chal KeTujhe by Kishore Kumar.

Alia Bhatt, along with sisterShaheen and composer Ankur Tewari,sang Ik kudi from her film UdtaPunjab while Priyanka Chopra Jonastoo recited a poem on the current sit-uation.

Farhan Akhtar along with hisband performed the songs of Rock On,while the film’s composer trio, ShankarEhsaan Loy, belted out some of theirblockbuster hits.

F%���������

It was raining when the old woman’s sonleft for the US. She says the house wept

too. She is sitting in the courtyard, alone.Maybe because the rooms are in mourn-ing.

There is a certain rhythm to things inthe way filmmaker Harjant Gill handlesmigration in his documentary, Sent AwayBoys, which illuminates the experiences ofthose who are left behind, of course, inaddition to exploring the phenomenon ofglobal migration through the frameworkof gender (specifically, masculinity).Rather than following the journeys ofmigrants, he prefers to gaze at how fam-ilies and communities are transformed bytheir absence as well as the circum-stances that motivated their decision toleave their home.

If you watch Gill’s three documentariesSent Away Boys, Mardistan and Roots ofLove back to back, what strikes most is notthe lives of the subjects or the research. Butthe pregnant pauses. While Mardistan, areflection on manhood, addresses theurgent and widespread issues of patriarchy,son-preference, sexual violence, andhomophobia in the Indian society, it alsopresents the responsibilities and challengesconfronting Indian men today. A marriedgay man, who insists that cannot leave hiswife for she is not at “fault.”

Roots of Love delicately talks aboutidentity, the turban and hair being repre-sentative — a young Sikh man, who hascut his hair, listening, while the mothertells the camera her anguish.

Associate Professor of Sociology,Anthropology and Criminal Justice atTowson University, Gill, a 2020 Fulbright-Nehru Research Fellow, who is, at present,developing a script which is a Punjabiadaptation of the great American novel,The Great Gatsby is also writing his book,Coming of Age in Macholand.

Though all the three documentariesin the masculinity series were funded bythe PSBT (Public Service BroadcastingTrust), the filmmaker agrees that fundingfor this format is certainly dwindling. “Ihave stopped applying for funding toIndian institutions primarily because Iwant filmmakers in India to be availed ofthose dwindling opportunities. I have alsobeen writing a lot about how the distrib-ution landscape has changed in the last 10years, with the arrival of streaming.”

He adds, “And now, with COVID-19,this will force us to innovate and come upwith new ways of sharing our work andscholarship. I am ultimately hopeful andexcited about the possibilities that emergeout of these new limitations which will lead

to innovation in technology of story-telling.”

Talk to him about Punjabi cinema’sobsession with romantic comedies and theunserious depiction of people from thispart of the country, and he asserts,“Punjabi men are the biggest audience ofthese films. For instance, my parents wholive in CA watch almost every Punjabi filmthat has been released in the last 20 years.I would argue that Punjabi audienceinteracts with Punjabi films very different-ly from Hindi films that feature Punjabis.While Hindi films like Singh is Kinng oreven DDLJ are seen as “exaggerated” fan-tasy films, where transgression of socialnorms, such as interfaith or inter-castemarriages are possible, Punjabi films likeTera Mera Ki Rishta or Munde UK De areviewed as a more accurate/authenticreflection of the reality on Punjab, albeitthrough rose-colored glasses of transna-tional migration.”

He adds, “Even though they are poor-ly scripted and acted, Punjabi films aremore palatable because they don’t trans-gress social norms around marriage, love,

etc. There were films in 1980s such as LongDa Lishkara, where this was done, but thefilms that have come out after the 1990s— particularly the “NRI genre” of Punjabifilms, are fairly muted in their plot lines.As an interlocutor summed it up for me,‘Punjabi films are basically a travel videoabout videsh (foreign), where you get tosee how Punjabis live abroad, you go ona videsh-di-saar (foreign tour), whileenjoying AC for three hours, what moredo you want?’”

Stressing that with social media, he isseeing a lot of imagination at play, Gilladds, “The young are definitely engagingin everyday artistic expressions, which ishow they cope with the utter banality andhopelessness that young Indians are con-fronting. I just wish there was more crit-ical reflection, more questioning andmore challenging of norms that went onamong young Indians. Maybe, we need tomake films that appeal to them and cantranslate to platforms they prefer? There’sa reason why most of my films have beenunder 45 minutes. My students in USA,like their Indian counterparts, look inter-ested within 30 minutes. It’s not their fault,they grew up in an environment wheretheir attention span is constantly beinginterrupted or diverted. Yet, most Indiandocumentary filmmakers I know are stillmaking films that are two hours long,maybe it’s the filmmaker and storytellerswho need to look at their approach.”

Still in touch with the subjects of hisdocumentaries, Gill checks in with themvia Facebook or WhatsApp. “Sometimeseven if I don’t want or need to talk to them,they call me. I quite like the fact that theyfeel comfortable to get in touch. A subjectmoved to Canada in November 2019. Ilearned about it via his Facebook pagemost Punjabis won’t tell their friends thatthey are going abroad... their friends onlylearn about their migration when they postselfies at the airport. I am hoping to trav-el to Canada sometime soon, after flightsresume, and interview them for follow upinterviews for my book.”

F.%�-

My mission in life is not merely tosurvive,

but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style.

These lines by Maya Angelou pret-ty much sum up British textile histori-an, Jenny Housego’s recently released e-book, A Woven Life. Layered and can-did, it is an ordinary memoir ofHousego, who as a child in countrysideEngland thought she would grow up tobe a spy but life had other plans for her.Along with journalist, researcher andteacher, Maya Mirchandani, she laysbare her idyllic childhood in the after-math of the second World War; her aspi-rations of being in the arts and then asa researcher at the Victoria and AlbertMuseum in London.

“Life unfolds in mysterious ways. Inthe course of one of my earliest jobs atthe Victoria and Albert Museum inLondon, I was transferred to the textiledepartment even though I had beeninterested in ceramics and pottery. I hadno interest in textiles since I was a stu-dent of Christian art. Today, I realisethat this was not just a godsend oppor-tunity, but also perhaps destiny show-ing me the way. As I walked through themuseum’s textile galleries, I was trans-ported to lands and cultures I knewnothing of. I had wanted adventure. Iwanted to travel and see the world, andsuddenly I had found a doorway to leadme to it all,” she quotes in her book.

Brought to the world of Asian tex-tiles, art and museums, she has over thelast five decades travelled across Asia todocument traditional, local, andnomadic weaving and handcrafted tex-tiles. She says that her life is an excit-ing story and she enjoyed it thorough-ly with its own ups and downs. Perhaps,the reason why Housego wanted to tellit to the world! “I lived in many differ-ent countries and each place has had aprofound impact on me. The people Imet and the places I travelled to gave merich experiences to share,” adds she.

The book also talks about herstruggles of falling in and out of love,a broken marriage and parenting.

How does it feel to lay yourself barein front of people you didn’t evenknow or maybe more so, those who sup-posedly knew you? Well, Housegopromptly answers, “I felt anxious.” Shegoes on to add a few more points buther British accent makes it tough for meto understand what she is saying overthe call. Her friend, Asaf, intervenes andsmoothens the semantics. But he makessure that he apprises me of the fact thatHousego had suffered a stroke longback. But she is a survivor. “A stroke

might have inhibited my movement butcertainly not my spirit! However, mymemory, sometimes, is not whatit used to be, and so inorder to fill in somegaps, I relied on ahost of my family andfriends to piece some ofmy life together,” sheinterjects and makes herpoint, though, gently.

Recently, in an inter-view, Maya said thatHousego’s anxiety about whatthe world might think of herwhen the story is out makes herreal and so relatable. “Yes, I feelHousego is a truly remarkablewoman. Resilient and reticent at thesame time. Vulnerable, yet incrediblybrave. She is witty, extremely talentedand prioritises family and personal

relationships. Her personality is onethat seeks both unity and perfec-

tion and she has to struggleespecially after her stroke and a

turbulent personal journey toreconcile all these various

pulls and pressures. To tellone’s own story, to write a

memoir and yet keep thatdelicate balance of rela-

tionships intact evenas she dissects them in

her words was whatmade me say that,”says Maya.

She had her ownset of interests while co-

authoring the biography. Mayagoes on to add that she came to help

Housego put her thoughts to pen andpaper, help her distill what she feltwould appeal to a general reader, and

what would be a valuable contributionto the understanding of the Indian tex-tile journey. She says, “It was interest-ing that so many people behind someof our great textile brands have been for-eigners/expats... so it was curiositymore than anything about what broughtthem here, what attracted them to ourtextile tradition and how they found alanguage to communicate with ourcraftspeople. Art is universal and peo-ple like Housego are living proof of that.”

As someone who has reported fromKashmir and been a student of the his-tory of Iran and Afghanistan too, Mayawas fascinated by her journey. Housegowas witness to some landmark momentsin history — the extravagant dinner inPersepolis for example, that turnedmuch of Iran against the Shah. “InKashmir, I found it remarkable that awoman shook off fear, even forebodingand went back to work when her sonwas kidnapped by militants in 1994 atthe height of the insurgency... so natu-rally, it was an appealing story. Theopportunity to weave political historywith a textile journey was compelling,”says Maya.

Housego had a strong connect withKashmir. The author of Tribal Rugs: AnIntroduction to the Weaving of theTribes of Iran, and of Bridal Durries ofIndia, says that she finds watching thecraftsmen and women in Kashmiradopt her enthusiasm and give theirideas thrilling. She quotes in her book,“It is in Kashmir that the threads of fab-ric I first encountered at the Victoriaand Albert Museum in London cametogether in majestic weaves and embroi-deries, allowing me to revive, create andinnovate.”

During her over three decades inIndia, Housego has worked withweavers and embroiderers to forge newways of combining traditional crafts-manship with contemporary designs.

Co-founder of Shades of India andKashmir loom, Housego feels that clothhas its own way of telling stories. It hasalways fascinated her. “Each thread car-ries a history. Each shade of eachcolour evokes a different emotion. Andtogether, each type of fabric — cottonor muslin, silk or satin, organza or lace,and especially wool — opens up differ-ent worlds of mystery, spirituality,livelihood and wanderlust,” she says.However, when asked about her chal-lenges as a businesswoman, she laughsand says, “I am not good with expres-sion. I can only count my fingers. Howcan I be a businesswoman?”

One wonders what does the futureof the written word look like since weare swamped by digital entertainment,especially in these trying times? We areeven devoid of the pleasure of walkinginto a bookstore and scanning hundredsof books lining the shelves. Well,Housego has a tendency to find a silverlining in situations. She says that theyare still going to be read because thereare a lot of things you cannot watch.Personally, she feels, in India peopleread a lot of books. However, contraryto her, Maya says, “The written word hasalso gone digital. After all, A Woven Life,was first released as an e-book due tothe lockdown. Moreover, broadly, irre-spective of formats as long as there is agood story to be told or written, therewill always be someone to read it.”

She shares that her growing up yearsinfluenced her writing as she readmany books. When asked to recall a few,she names War and peace (Leo Tolstoy)followed by a laugh as she couldn’tremember more.

However, she recalls various authorsshe loves to read, namely, Julian Barnes,Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, PankajMishra, Jounalist Karan Thapar, VSNaipaul and many other Indian authors.Though she isn’t able to recall any oftheir books, she says, “I love Indianauthors.”

When you ask a woman, who hasseen decades, some anecdotes from herchequered life, you expect many tocome through as Housego has alreadywritten a book on some of them. But tothe contrary, I could sense her tryinghard to recall one. She says, “There aremany. I can’t recall one. I love goingaround and visiting textile monuments.”A historian by profession, Housego listssome of her favourites — Orchha andSanchi Stupa in Madhya Pradesh, andHampi in Karnataka and many others.

“I love going around India and I lovemountains. I also love going to Kashmiror watching anything being wovenbeautifully, for I know it is a gift whichis given to only a few,” says she.

(The book will be published by RoliBooks.)

A MEMOIR OF A THOUSAND MILES&�����������������������FECCG�36/�E,6����������������������������$��%�������������� �����������������.����$���������������.�����������!���������*;G;�*)='3;C�;C)��&���; �3) �3;=*;

D��(�� �C�(���������������������������� ��������#��������(����� �'��)&*4&.��5$11������� �#����������������� ����������������������(���������(��#����������������������������(�����������������

,����� ���������������� �#�����"���� ��#��������������������(��� ����)��(��������%��(����������������

Page 12: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today …...2020/05/05  · In an online media brief-ing, Kejriwal said it is sad that some Delhiites were not fol-lowing the guidelines

�� ���>��������������������� ����� !�"#"#

����� ./0�!/1)$

Tainted former Pakistanpacer Mohammad Asif

says he wasn’t the first norwould be the last to haveindulged in spot-fixing andshould have been treated bet-ter by his country’s CricketBoard, which gave “everyonea second chance” except forhim.

Asif said he should havegot a second chance likemany others, whom he didnot name.

“Everyone makes mis-takes and I did too. Playershad been indulging in fixingbefore me and even afterme. But those before me areworking with PCB and thereare few after me still playing,”Asif told ‘ESPNCricinfo’.

“Everyone was given asecond chance and there arefew who never got the sametreatment (as me). PCB nevertried to save me regardless ofthe fact that I am the kind ofbowler who was highlyregarded by everyone in theworld.

“But anyway I’mnot sitting aroundbrooding about thepast or hung up on it.”

Asif said he takespride in the perfor-mances he dishedout in his limitedcareer.

“ H o w e v e rmuch I played inmy career, I madeit count, duniya hila

ke rakh di thi (I shook up theworld). That is more impor-tant for me to think about.Even today, so many yearslater, the best batsmen in theworld still remember me andthey talk about me.

“Just think how big theimpact was that I had on theworld. So this is what makesme proud - that there is a rea-son KP, AB de Villiers,Hashim Amla talk highlyabout me. That is what makesme happy.”

The 37-year-old, whoalso failed a dope test in2006 and served a one yearsuspension for it, admittedthat he “should have behavedbetter off the field”.

“That is where I hadissues. I want to give the kidsthis message that when youcross the boundary line intothe field, your ambitionshould be to do well foryourself and for your team.”

“I was selfish as a bowlerbecause I wanted to takewickets, and that was to helpthe team win. Being selfishisn’t bad if you’replaying yourpart for theteam,” hesaid.

����� ./0�!/1)$

Delhi Capitals spinner AxarPatel has credited skipper

Shreyas Iyer for helping himadjust to his new IPL teamsmoothly after spending half-a-decade with Kings XI Punjab.

“I’ve played with Shreyas atIndia A also, and when I came toDelhi Capitals, it was really easyfor me because we bond reallywell,” he said while speaking onthe franchise’s official Instagramhandle during a live session.

“On the field, he gives free-dom to his bowlers, and lets you

adjust the fields. He is quitepatient as well, and I have reallyenjoyed playing under him.”

Patel said he was worriedabout his future at the time of auc-tion.

“I was sceptical at first becauseI had spent five years at thePunjab franchise, and I didn’tknow where my future would lie.But when I was picked up byDelhi Capitals, I was really excit-ed because the team had so manyplayers I had played with before.

“It was a bit different in thefirst couple days when I joined thepre-season camp, but it took meno time to adjust into the teamdue to the mood in the squad,” hesaid.

Reflecting on his first seasonwith the franchise, Patel said, “Ifeel when you’re winning, the feel-ing is really different and the con-fidence is high.

“We had a great combinationin our team, and the team envi-ronment was such that it broughtout the best in all of us. Makingit to the play-offs in my first sea-son with the franchise was great.”

����� ./0�!/1)$

Yuzvendra Chahal is amongthe leading leg spinners in

world cricket but he can bemore effective with better useof the crease, says formerPakistan spinner MushtaqAhmed.

Ahmed, who has coachedall around the world and iscurrently a consultant for hisnative team, said India’s abili-ty to take wickets in the mid-dle-overs in the limited oversformat through Chahal andKuldeep Yadav has been agame-changer for them.

Both the wrist-spin-ners were brought intoIndia’s limited overs set-upfollowing the 2017Champions Trophy. Though,of late, both Chahaland Kuldeep havn’tbeen playingtogether.

“Chahal isa very goodbowler butcan usethe creasem u c hbetter. Hecan go wide of thecrease at times. Yougot to be smartenough to understandpitches. If it is a flatpitch, you can bowlstump to stump,”Ahmed, one of thebest leg-spinnersPakistan has pro-duced, told PTI.

“If the ball is gripping, youcan go wide of the creasebecause you can trouble eventhe best of batsmen with thatangle. That way your googlyalso doesn’t turn as much asthe batsman expects and youend up taking a wicket.”

Ahmed also feels the likesof Chahal and Kuldeep havebenefitted immensely fromformer captain M S Dhoni’sadvice from behind thestumps.

“You have got to be onestep ahead of the batsman.

You should know yourfield position as per thebatsman’s strength. Ialways say attack withfielders not with the

ball. If you understandthat theory, you will

always be suc-cessful,” the49-year-old,who played52 Tests and144 ODIs,said.

“Indiah a sbecome aforce to

reckon within all three formatsas it uses itsbowlers really well.Dhoni was a mas-ter at getting thebest out of his

bowlers in limitedovers cricket andnow you have Virat

Kohli.”

����� �/1%3�*./

Australia can deal with thechallenge of getting teams

into the country for the T20World Cup but whether it isworth having the tournamentin empty stadiums is themain point for considera-tion, feels sports ministerRichard Colbeck.

Travel restrictionsand question marks overhow long it would taketo contain the COVID-19 pandemic has putthe future of T20 WorldCup and India’s tour ofAustralia in doubt.

Cricket Australia isstaring at a staggering loss of300 million Australian dollarsif things don’t go ahead asplanned.

“I’d love to see anAustralia-India Test seriesthis summer and I’d really liketo be able to see the WorldCup go ahead

“... The issue is not somuch the teams as the crowdsand that’s probably one of the

hurdles we really have to con-sider and probably one thatworld cricket will look atpretty closely as well," Colbecktold SEN Radio on Monday.

He said logistics of host-ing the event in the postCOVID-19 world can be dealtwith.

“We all know the differ-ence in atmosphere ... But in

a team sense I'dlike to think thatwe can build someprotocols with thecooperation of thesport and the play-ers, that’s going tobe extremelyimportant, with

appropriate quarantine andbio-security protocols to seeif we can make the competi-tion go ahead.”

While T20 World Cup isscheduled for an October 18start, India’s tour of Australiawill begin with a T20 tri-seriesin October and end with afour-match Test series inDecember.

The International Cricket

Council recenly said thatpreparations were still on forthe 16-team tournament anda final decision will be takenby August.

Australia is consideringmaking travel exemptionsfor the Indian team's tourDown Under to save thecricket board for the financialloss but Colbeck said theyneed to be careful in expand-ing exemptions to othernations for the T20 WorldCup.

“Those conversations arebeing had, discussions aboutwhat the protocols mightlook like,” Colbeck said.

“They will be difficultbecause one of the things thathas been a key part of oursuccess is that we limitedaccess to Australia from areaswhere there were significantoutbreaks of Covid-19 andthat’s contributed to the lowrate of spread we have now.

“But we would have to beprepared to consider appro-priate plans put forward bythe various codes.”

����� �&!*$!

Professional soccer players in Spainwill be tested this week so they can

start training again for the first timein nearly two months.

Basic training has been allowedto resume in Spain on Monday afterthe government eased some of thelockdown measures that had been inplace since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandem-ic.

Spanish league players are expected to get back on thefield later in the week after they are tested for COVID-19and after the clubs' training facilities are properly preparedand disinfected. The facilities will have to be inspected tomake sure they comply to the cleaning protocols establishedby local authorities.

All players, coaches and club employees who are goingto be involved in the initial training phase will have to betested two days before the individual practices can begin.

The tests will reportedly begin as early as Tuesday, andthe league wants them to be conducted daily after the indi-vidual training sessions begin.

The league wants a period of training of about a monthbefore it can resume with matches in empty stadiums some-time in June. There is no set date yet for the league’s resump-tion.

The league recently sent clubs a protocol with safetyguidelines on how to return to practice. The protocol, whichwas obtained by The Associated Press, has a four-stage planthat details the current preparation phase, an individualtraining stage, a phase with smaller group sessions and final-ly one with full squad sessions.

Players will be allowed to use the teams' training facil-ities but won't be allowed to interact with teammates in theinitial phase. They will travel individually to the facilitiesand must arrive already wearing their training uniforms.

No more than six players will be allowed on the fieldat the same time, and they must stay "the greatest distancepossible" from each other. The use of equipment should belimited and coaches must supervise players from a distance.

Players must wear gloves and masks until going ontothe pitch, and only one or two players can share the gymat a time. The league protocol, which was prepared by themedical staff of some first-division clubs, recommends thatplayers - and those living with them - should not leave theirhomes other than to go to practice. It says each club mustestablish a food-delivery system for first-team players.

������ ./0�!/1)$

The real challenge for any inter-national cricketer comes withplaying Test cricket. But with

countries forced to postpone tours dueto the coronavirus pandemic, ques-tions have been raised on the fate ofthe inaugural edition of the World TestChampionship. It now looks almostimpossible that the final can be playedat Lord's in England in June 2021.However, the legendary SachinTendulkar has a solution.

Speaking to IANS, Tendulkar —the only cricketer to play 200 Testmatches — said that a leaf can betaken from the books of theInternational Olympic Committee(IOC) in how they dealt with shiftingthe Tokyo Olympics to 2021 and stilldecided to call it Tokyo 2020.Tendulkar feels some permutation andcombination will need to be workedout to ensure the inaugural edition iscompleted without a hiccup.

“I think so (need permutationsand combinations to be worked out).With regards to the World TestChampionship, if you see, theOlympics also has been postponed butit will still be called 2020 Olympicseven though it will be now held in2021. They are still calling it 2020Olympics and in that way, we need tofigure out a window where you knowall these games which would have ide-ally happened at this time, how can weaccommodate them in the futureand yet continue with this champi-onship.

“To start a fresh would be a bigthing. And if you have started some-thing, it needs to be completed in thebest and fairest manner where we are

able to accommodate all the remain-ing matches and give everyone a fairchance. We could extend the timelimit a bit because these tours alsoaren’t cancelled totally, they havebeen postponed. So, along with thetours, the championship also getspostponed,” he explained.

Another debate in recent timeshas been on whether players should

be picked on the basis of age or fitness.With the fitness level of players acrossthe world getting better, it is oftenquestioned if seniors are blocking theway for youngsters to break into thescene and establish themselves on theinternational stage.

In fact, even in the Indian team,there have been questions on whethera young Rishabh Pant should get a

longer rope or whether WriddhimanSaha should don the wicket-keepinggloves in Tests. While Tendulkardoesn't wish to get into selection poli-cies, he says that fitness should be thecriteria, not age.

“Whoever is good should begiven a go. It is not about a youngsteror such things. If Saha is fit and fitenough to deliver, he should be given

a go. Similarly, if Pant is fit, he shouldbe....let the team management decide.I am not saying Saha should be aheadof Pant or Pant should be ahead ofSaha. Let the team managementdecide that.

“If someone is fit, age criteriashouldn’t come into play. So, to cut myanswer short, if someone is fit, age cri-teria should not come into play andthe team management should decidewhoever needs to play," he pointed.

������ ./0�!/1)$

India batsman Sanju Samson has narrated anincident involving former captain Mahendra

Singh Dhoni and referred to him as India’sgreatest captain ever.

He also stated that Dhoni is one-of-a-kindcricketer and whosoever tries to copy him onthe field, usually comes back empty-handed.

“A guy coming from Jharkhand andbecoming India’s greatest captain ever. I feelvery emotional whenever I talk about Dhoni,”Samson told Rupha Ramani in a video sharedby Chennai Super Kings on their Twitter han-dle.

“You tend to observe his game and thentry to copy him but you fail. You just cannotcopy him or get into his shoes,” he added.

Samson then went onto talk about adream featuring Dhoni. He revealed that has-n’t told him about this story yet but is plan-ning to do so soon.

“I actually saw him in my dream whereMahi bhai was the captain of the team and hewas changing the field around. I was standingin the slips and he said ‘Sanju wahan ja’,”Samson said.

“Then after a few days later he steppeddown as captain and I thought how will mydream come true now.

“Then there was a game between India ‘A’and England where they asked him to captain.And when I was standing in the slips and hesaid 'Sanju udhar ja’.

“I think I should tell him that this hap-pened and it just might bring a smile to hisface,” he added.

World Test C'ship can follow Olympics path: Tendulkar

.�����������=�����8���������&������������������������� ������������

B6 �������������� %�)�!���!�$����$=

�)����1 %��-������)�� #����$�

�����)��� �!�" #�����)������!����)�������#�����������

���!���� "" ## )�����������#��$�#�"���)�$�-���-��1 ������"�"�=�8�" %�)��<��)������#����#����!��

!�"%���������� %���� ���@��""����)� ���1�����1��-�

!���� ��� �)=�� �� $����������� %�������"�#�� ����

�� �$����� ��� �)C

*����7��(���'�����������������#���

?����)�����������������)��.�������&���� ���<�-����

-�#��-���������������! -� ��������������������������� ���� �������� �� �

���� ���������������� �� �������� ������-�"�������.�� ��

.����������������#����� (���������<�%'��

-'&���(�����������(��#���;��

����� 13.!3.

Feeling like a kid again,England batsman Jason Roy

can’t wait to get back on the crick-et field but says it would makesense to postpone the T20 WorldCup in October-November ifteams don’t get enough time toprepare for the mega event.

All cricketing activities havecome to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the future ofT20 World Cup in Australia isalso in doubt.

“If players aren’t able to pre-

pare in the right way and are notable to get over to Australia, thenit makes sense to postpone it,”Roy was quoted as saying byESPNcricinfo.

“But if it goes ahead, it’s ourjob to play cricket - and if we’retold we have three weeks to pre-pare to go and play in the WorldT20, all the boys will be puttingthe yards in to make sure we’reready for that.

“I think all the boys are onedge, waiting for the call saying,‘Right, we have a month turn-around or a six-week turnaround.

Get in the nets and go hit someballs.’ I think the boys will be asready as they can be,” said the 29-year-old opener.

While Roy is eager to be play-ing again, he said safety is para-mount.

“I’ve got a huge amount oftrust in the ECB. I think they willlook into every single avenue ofall the positives, all the negatives.So, I guess I would trust in whatthey say, probably have a chatwith Morgs (Morgan) and seewhere his head’s at and go withthat.

����� �&*$�

Hugo Lloris believes that ending theEnglish Premier League season without

declaring Liverpool champions would be“cruel”, but the Tottenham captain wants thefinal table decided on the field.

The goalkeeper is following the Englishsocial isolation rules at home with his fami-ly in London, helping his two oldest daugh-ters with their homework while trying to stayfit in case the reason restarts.

“We’re in a situation where everyone wantsto finish and get the verdict from the pitch,”Lloris told French sports daily L’Equipe.

“It would be terrible if it all ended like thatwith nine or 10 games to go in the PremierLeague.”

“We’re coming into the most exciting,beautiful time of the season. Nobody wantsit to end like this.” Liverpool lead the table by25 points. “It would be cruel for Liverpool withthe lead they have. They’re practically cham-pions.

“There would be a taste of the unfinishedbusiness.”

The France captain says that resuming thePremier League without fans will be strange.

“It’ll be weird wherever it happens.Football is not a closed-door sport,” he said.

“Without spectators, it’s not thesame sport. That’s not how I see football.

“We’re here to bond, to share our emo-tions. We all want full stadiums, with atmos-phere, fans, colour and song.” “But you haveto take the context into consideration.”“Everyone has to find the right compromise

between health, which is above all else, andthe need to finish this season,” he added.

The British government still has not givenany indication when football will be able toresume.

“We have to be ready. Just in case,” saidLloris, who was among the players to returnto Tottenham's training centre last week forindividual sessions.

1��1�#�������������#��������#����������������������#B������������B��������������������������

<����'����'����#�����?���(������������ ������'��R�*��