English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-23 · amid fear of rising...

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A fter suspending train ser- vices and international flights, the Centre on Monday suspended all domestic flights, effective midnight March 24 to contain the spread of coron- avirus pandemic. The Government also decided to block all immigration ports and seaports. At the same time, Punjab and Maharashtra have decided to impose curfew while sever- al other States have announced lockdown as part of efforts to ensure safety of the citizens. These restrictions will not apply to cargo-carrying flights. Metros, inter-State buses, private and public transport including buses, auto, taxis, e- rickshaws have already been banned, and the cancellation of flights will bring the country to a complete halt. As many as 30 States and Union Territories have announced a complete lock- down. Other States and Union Territories have been placed under partial lockdown to pre- vent the spread of coronavirus pandemic while three have ordered the shutdown of some specific activities. “Airlines have to plan oper- ations so as to land at their des- tination before 11:59 pm on March 24, 2020,” the Ministry said in a statement. Sharing this information, the Delhi Airport tweeted, “Passengers of the last inter- national arriving flight have now exited the airport. Operations at T3 internation- al arrivals will remain sus- pended till 05.31 hours of March 29, 2020.” “We take this opportunity to thank all our airport employ- ees and doctors for their com- mitment. Passengers are requested to get in touch with the airline concerned for updated flight info on interna- tional departing flights. #Coronavirus,” the Delhi Airport said in another tweet. The official said all airlines will have to plan operations in such a way so that they are able to land by 11:59 pm on March 24. On Sunday, the Centre has overturned the Delhi Government decision that no flights would be allowed in or out of the Capital. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had put out a clarifi- cation saying there would be no change in domestic flight oper- ations. The Government’s lat- est decision to suspend domes- tic flights come after several States like Bihar and West Bengal reached out to the Central Government to stop flights to contain the spread of COVID-19. Earlier in the day, aviation sector regulator, Director General of Civil Aviation, said there are no restrictions on domestic and foreign air oper- ators to carry out cargo oper- ations. “Currently, there are no restrictions on domestic or foreign air operators for carry- ing out cargo operations at any airport in India. All stake- holders kindly note,” DGCA tweeted on Monday. While States have shut down inter-State traffic, except carriers of essential commodi- ties and sealed intra-city trans- port services, all private vehi- cles and citizens not engaged in essential services have been strictly asked to stay indoors. Section 144 of the Indian Panel Code has been imposed in several States and UTs. Punjab on Monday became the first in the country to impose curfew, and only exempted essential services to prevent the infection, while Maharshtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray imposed curfew in the entire State from Monday midnight as the fight against coronavirus. Delhi, Jharkhand, Goa, Assam, J&K, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tripura, Telangana and Nagaland Bihar, Haryana, UP and West Bengal declared lockdown. Chandigarh announced impo- sition of curfew. D eadly coronavirus contin- ue to spread its tentacles taking India’s tally to 468 cases on Monday with new cases being reported from Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar. The tally also includes 34 cured cases as well as death toll which rose to nine on Monday. Confirmed coronavirus cases in India have more than doubled in just the last four days. Total number of active coronavirus cases in India stands at 434, as per latest ICMR report. Multiple States and over 100 cities across the country are in lockdown till March 31. According to data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 18,383 samples from 17,493 individuals have been tested for COVID-19. Maharashtra is worst hit with 89 confirmed cases. Kerala has the second highest number of cases at 67. Delhi has reported 30 positive cases. Telangana has reported 26 cases. Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have reported 28 cases so far. In Haryana, there are 17 cases, which include 14 foreigners. Apart from these, seven confirmed cases have been reported in West Bengal, three in Uttarakhand, 13 in Ladakh, four in J&K, 5 in Chandigarh, seven in Tamil Nadu including two foreigners, 21 in Punjab, 1 in Puducherry, 2 in Odisha, 6 in Madhya Pradesh, 2 in Himachal, 30 in Gujarat, 1 in Chhattisgarh, 2 in Bihar and five in Andhra Pradesh. The deadly coron- avirus, which has infected over 3,25,000 people and killed over 14,000 globally. Gujarat, Bihar and Maharahstra reported a death each on Sunday, while four deaths were earlier reported from Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab, the Health Ministry said.Eighty cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru went into complete lockdown till 31 March. Trains, metros and inter-state buses have been shut from today, only essential services like milk, vegetables, medicines, grocery and ATMs will be available during the shutdown. A n “end of the world” syn- drome gripped the stock market on Monday, and cur- rency shared the panic. The key indices saw the biggest single day fall in the history even as the Rupee touched a new low, breaching 76 levels for the first time on intra-day basis. The BSE benchmark Sensex sunk 3,935 points or 13. 15 per cent to close at 25,981.24; while the NSE Nifty cracked 1,135.20 points or 12.98% to settle at 7,610.25. By all yardsticks, this was an unprecedented fall even considering the continuing sell-off in the global indices after the outbreak of the dead- ly coronavirus. While the Indian market crashed by near- ly 13 per cent — Sensex shed- ding more than 4000 points one time — the Asian indices were lower by 3 to 7 per cent and Europe traded in the same range. It was obvious that the foreign investors were dumping Indian stocks without consid- ering the relatively cheaper valuations. The absence of any fiscal stimulus by the Government has accented the freefall in the India market, which has come down by nearly 40 per cent from its peak. The banking sec- tor has seen the biggest sell-off amid fear of rising NPA in the coming quarters due to the “lockdown”. Take the case of a company like Axis Bank. The share plummeted by as much 29 per cent in a single day, before registering a symbolic recovery. The stock closed at 308, compared to 760 it reached six weeks ago. SBI, ICICI bank, Indusind Bank and HDFC Bank suffered the same carnage. Reliance Industry, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and L&T tanked by more than 10 per cent. In the very first hour of trade on Monday, trading on the BSE and the NSE had to be halted after the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty hit the 10 per cent lower circuit break- er. As trading resumed after a 45-minute freeze, losses widened on bourses due to unabated sell-offs across sec- tors. Global stocks too roiled after nations across the world announced lockdowns in an effort to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, spiking fears of a mammoth global recession. T he Jharkhand Assembly proceedings were adjourned sine die on Monday due to deadly coronavirus scare. The decision in this con- nection was taken at the meet- ing of the Business Advisory Committee chaired by the Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto. Earlier, on Monday the Assembly proceedings started but it lasted for only five min- utes. After this the house was adjourned till 2 pm. The decision to adjourn the Assembly was taken at the Business Advisory Committee. The budget was passed through guillotine. Guillotine refers to the exercise, which the Speaker of the House, on the very last day of the period allotted for dis- cussions on the Demands for Grants, puts to vote all out- standing Demands for Grants at a time specified in advance. The aim of the exercise is to conclude discussions on finan- cial proposals within the time specified. The Jharkhand Assembly Budget session, which com- menced on February 28 was to conclude on March 28. The budget session was adjourned a week before its scheduled time. The Jharkhand budget ses- sion since the day it’s com- menced witnessed disruption with opposition creating uproar over demand to accord leader of opposition status to BJP legislative party leader Babulal Marandi. On every day BJP members used to enter the well of house with the demand. The BJP pandemonium came to end after an assurance from Marandi to Speaker that BJP members will not enter the well of the House over Leader of Opposition demand. At the Budget Session Finance minister Rameshwar Oraon tabled an estimated budget of Rs 86,370 crore for the year 2020-21. It included sops ranging from universal health insurance to farmer loan waivers, from stipends for the jobless to dhoti, sari and lungi to 57 lakh poor families twice a year at a cost of Rs 10 each. Now, ration cards are to be given to 10 lakh people aged above 50. In the budget session the Government also passed a bill in the Assembly not Assembly not to implement NPR, NRC. The Jharkhand Assembly passed a resolution against the National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens. The Opposition opposed the bill with BJP legislators entering the well of the House. The Speaker later adjourned the House sine die. BJP MLAs Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Amar Kumar Bauri said that the gov- ernment has cheated people. “We will not allow Bangladeshi to enter Jharkhand under any circumstances,” said Shahi. Earlier, CPI (ML) MLA Vinod Singh raised the corona case as soon as the assembly proceedings commenced. He said that today there is a terri- ble situation in the entire coun- try regarding Corona. The CPI MLA stated that due to coro- navirus the workers are struck in metros, state capital and other districts as they don’t have work. “In this situation the gov- ernment has to become more sensitive and government should provide necessary financial assistance to labour- ers coming from different parts of country,” added Singh. Also, at the budget session marks was distributed among MLAs and officials of Assembly. T he Health Department on Monday collected samples of six Coronavirus suspects from Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and seven suspects from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Hospital in Jamshedpur, a press communiqué from the National Health Mission (NHM) said. Besides, samples of three more suspects — two from Palamu and one from Bokaro — were collected on Monday. The number of people under observation for Coronavirus in Jharkhand rose to 450 on Monday from 414 on Saturday. However, no positive cases were reported. Out of the 450 people, mostly travelers, 128 have passed the quarantine period of 28 days and not shown any symptoms of viral infection, health officials said on Monday. The Government has by now collected samples of 77 Coronavirus suspects here and 61 of them have come out neg- ative. However, the results of 16 more samples sent for lab tests are awaited, and the officials here have their fingers crossed. Jharkhand is surrounded by Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, and all three States have report- ed positive cases of COVID-19 in the past one week. The lethal virus by Monday evening infected nearly 3.5 lakh people across the globe and claimed more than 15,000 lives. In India, the number of patients infected by Coronavirus increased to 470 by the time this report was filed. The death toll in India was nine by the time this report was filed. The virus was first reported in China, and within a few months, it wreaked havoc in European countries, especially Italy and Spain. Doctors fear that if the virus reaches a level of com- munity spread in India, it may claim several thousand lives and prove to be catastrophic. On Wednesday, the State Government issued a circular prohibiting the use of biomet- ric attendance in all Government offices across Jharkhand amid Novel Coronavirus fear – a precau- tionary measure taken in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading in the tribal State. And by Sunday evening, it asked all Government employ- ees to work from home. C hief Minister Hemant Soren today said that the matter (possible spread of Coronavirus) is serious and it should be taken seriously. “Be prepared for a new challenge every day. You are all warriors of this battle, the coming three- four weeks is important. There should not be any kind of neg- ligence. Together we will ensure this. If we ignore things then the matter may get worse. Therefore, dealing with Corona has to be done with utmost care, seriousness, determination and responsibility,” he said. Holding a video confer- encing with all DCs and senior officials of the State here on Monday the CM said that cur- rently, Jharkhand has been put on lockdown to prevent infec- tion of corona virus. “Together we have to play an important role in dealing with Corona. All give their best from their level,” he said. The CM said that a lock- down has been declared in Jharkhand. “Markets and shops are closed on the first day of lockdown, but people’s activi- ties did not stop. All the Deputy Commissioners of the districts must make people aware that this is not a holiday. People have to avoid infection. People should not roam unnecessari- ly on the streets. Work by identifying the people associ- ated with the service. Ration, medicine, milk and other daily use items should be available to the people at their home, so that home delivery and securi- ty arrangements should be made at ration shops,” he said. Soren further asked officials to identify the poor, daily wage laborers and the needy and make arrangements to provide food in their house. “Provide work under MNREGA, ensure that workers do not have a place to gather. In all panchayats, pre- pare a list of people coming from outside with the help of those working in the system of government. So that adversity can be dealt with. One doesn’t have to scare people, but to make them aware. Arrange for the people trapped in the State border to reach their destina- tions,” he added. The CM directed DCs to make isolation centers fully functional. He directed to pre- pare 200 beds isolation ward with necessary equipment in Sadar Hospital, Ranchi. “Keep doctors, nurses and other peo- ple involved in medicine ready with impatience. Pay special attention to proper arrange- ments in the quarantine Center. Seek help from self-help groups and others to fulfill the need of mask, sanitizer,” he said. The CM said that there should not be a crowd of devo- tees at the religious sites. It should be ensured. “Ramnavami procession, ensure that the fair to be held in Chaiti Durga Puja is not organized with public support so that the infection does not spread. Take immediate legal action against those who give false information on social media,” he said. The State government has also formed State level, District Level, Block level and Panchayat level committees to undertake the works related to COVID-19. The Government has also issued directives to media houses not to report per- sonal details of infected people and others connected with the patient. CS DK Tiwari, Additional CS Sukhdeo Singh, Additional CS AK Singh, Principal Secretary Rajeev Arun Ekka, Principal Secretary Avinash Kumar, Principal Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni, DGP MV Rao, OSD to CM G Tiwari alongwith other officials were present in the VC. C hief Minister Hemant Soren has written to Union Rural Development Minister NS Tomar to consider providing unemployment allowance to MGNREGA workers, who would be badly affected due to lockdown in the State owing to COVID-19. The CM has said that normally the allowance is granted if the MGNREGA workers are not given work in 30 days, but in the present circumstances if the Centre pro- vides the funds, it will be a great relief to the workers.

Transcript of English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-23 · amid fear of rising...

Page 1: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-23 · amid fear of rising NPA in the coming quarters due to the “lockdown”. Take the case of a ... Marandi.

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After suspending train ser-vices and international

flights, the Centre on Mondaysuspended all domestic flights,effective midnight March 24 tocontain the spread of coron-avirus pandemic. TheGovernment also decided toblock all immigration ports andseaports.

At the same time, Punjaband Maharashtra have decidedto impose curfew while sever-al other States have announcedlockdown as part of efforts toensure safety of the citizens.

These restrictions will notapply to cargo-carrying flights.

Metros, inter-State buses,private and public transportincluding buses, auto, taxis, e-rickshaws have already beenbanned, and the cancellation offlights will bring the country toa complete halt.

As many as 30 States andUnion Territories haveannounced a complete lock-down. Other States and UnionTerritories have been placedunder partial lockdown to pre-vent the spread of coronaviruspandemic while three haveordered the shutdown of somespecific activities.

“Airlines have to plan oper-ations so as to land at their des-tination before 11:59 pm onMarch 24, 2020,” the Ministry

said in a statement.Sharing this information,

the Delhi Airport tweeted,“Passengers of the last inter-national arriving flight havenow exited the airport.Operations at T3 internation-al arrivals will remain sus-pended till 05.31 hours ofMarch 29, 2020.”

“We take this opportunityto thank all our airport employ-ees and doctors for their com-mitment. Passengers are

requested to get in touch withthe airline concerned forupdated flight info on interna-tional departing f lights.#Coronavirus,” the DelhiAirport said in another tweet.

The official said all airlineswill have to plan operations insuch a way so that they are ableto land by 11:59 pm on March24. On Sunday, the Centre hasoverturned the DelhiGovernment decision that noflights would be allowed in or

out of the Capital. TheDirectorate General of CivilAviation had put out a clarifi-cation saying there would be nochange in domestic flight oper-ations. The Government’s lat-est decision to suspend domes-tic flights come after severalStates like Bihar and WestBengal reached out to theCentral Government to stopflights to contain the spread ofCOVID-19.

Earlier in the day, aviation

sector regulator, DirectorGeneral of Civil Aviation, saidthere are no restrictions ondomestic and foreign air oper-ators to carry out cargo oper-ations. “Currently, there are norestrictions on domestic orforeign air operators for carry-ing out cargo operations at anyairport in India. All stake-holders kindly note,” DGCAtweeted on Monday.

While States have shutdown inter-State traffic, exceptcarriers of essential commodi-ties and sealed intra-city trans-port services, all private vehi-cles and citizens not engaged inessential services have beenstrictly asked to stay indoors.Section 144 of the Indian PanelCode has been imposed inseveral States and UTs.

Punjab on Monday becamethe first in the country toimpose curfew, and onlyexempted essential services toprevent the infection, whileMaharshtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray imposedcurfew in the entire State fromMonday midnight as the fightagainst coronavirus.

Delhi, Jharkhand, Goa,Assam, J&K, ArunachalPradesh, Kerala, Tripura,Telangana and Nagaland Bihar,Haryana, UP and West Bengaldeclared lockdown.Chandigarh announced impo-sition of curfew.

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Deadly coronavirus contin-ue to spread its tentacles

taking India’s tally to 468 caseson Monday with new casesbeing reported fromTelangana, Maharashtra,Karnataka, Gujarat, UttarPradesh, Tamil Nadu andBihar. The tally also includes 34cured cases as well as death tollwhich rose to nine on Monday.

Confirmed coronaviruscases in India have more thandoubled in just the last fourdays. Total number of activecoronavirus cases in Indiastands at 434, as per latestICMR report. Multiple Statesand over 100 cities across thecountry are in lockdown tillMarch 31. According to datafrom the Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR), atotal of 18,383 samples from17,493 individuals have beentested for COVID-19.

Maharashtra is worst hitwith 89 confirmed cases.Kerala has the second highestnumber of cases at 67. Delhihas reported 30 positive cases.Telangana has reported 26cases. Uttar Pradesh andRajasthan have reported 28cases so far. In Haryana, there

are 17 cases, which include 14foreigners. Apart from these,seven confirmed cases havebeen reported in West Bengal,three in Uttarakhand, 13 inLadakh, four in J&K, 5 inChandigarh, seven in TamilNadu including two foreigners,21 in Punjab, 1 in Puducherry,2 in Odisha, 6 in MadhyaPradesh, 2 in Himachal, 30 inGujarat, 1 in Chhattisgarh, 2 inBihar and five in AndhraPradesh. The deadly coron-avirus, which has infected over3,25,000 people and killed over14,000 globally.

Gujarat, Bihar andMaharahstra reported a deatheach on Sunday, while fourdeaths were earlier reportedfrom Karnataka, Delhi,Maharashtra and Punjab, theHealth Ministry said.Eightycities including Delhi, Mumbai,Kolkata, Chennai andBengaluru went into completelockdown till 31 March. Trains,metros and inter-state buseshave been shut from today, onlyessential services like milk,vegetables, medicines, groceryand ATMs will be availableduring the shutdown.

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An “end of the world” syn-drome gripped the stock

market on Monday, and cur-rency shared the panic. The keyindices saw the biggest singleday fall in the history even asthe Rupee touched a new low,breaching 76 levels for the firsttime on intra-day basis.

The BSE benchmarkSensex sunk 3,935 points or 13.15 per cent to close at25,981.24; while the NSE Niftycracked 1,135.20 points or12.98% to settle at 7,610.25.

By all yardsticks, this wasan unprecedented fall evenconsidering the continuingsell-off in the global indicesafter the outbreak of the dead-ly coronavirus. While theIndian market crashed by near-ly 13 per cent — Sensex shed-

ding more than 4000 pointsone time — the Asian indiceswere lower by 3 to 7 per centand Europe traded in the samerange. It was obvious that theforeign investors were dumpingIndian stocks without consid-ering the relatively cheapervaluations.

The absence of any fiscalstimulus by the Governmenthas accented the freefall in theIndia market, which has comedown by nearly 40 per centfrom its peak. The banking sec-tor has seen the biggest sell-offamid fear of rising NPA in thecoming quarters due to the“lockdown”. Take the case of acompany like Axis Bank. Theshare plummeted by as much29 per cent in a single day,before registering a symbolicrecovery. The stock closed at�308, compared to �760 it

reached six weeks ago.SBI, ICICI bank, Indusind

Bank and HDFC Bank sufferedthe same carnage. RelianceIndustry, Bajaj Finance, Marutiand L&T tanked by more than10 per cent.

In the very first hour oftrade on Monday, trading onthe BSE and the NSE had to behalted after the benchmarkindices Sensex and Nifty hit the10 per cent lower circuit break-er. As trading resumed after a45-minute freeze, losseswidened on bourses due tounabated sell-offs across sec-tors.

Global stocks too roiledafter nations across the worldannounced lockdowns in aneffort to mitigate the spread ofCovid-19 pandemic, spikingfears of a mammoth globalrecession.

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The Jharkhand Assemblyproceedings were

adjourned sine die on Mondaydue to deadly coronavirusscare. The decision in this con-nection was taken at the meet-ing of the Business AdvisoryCommittee chaired by theSpeaker Rabindra Nath Mahto.Earlier, on Monday theAssembly proceedings startedbut it lasted for only five min-utes. After this the house wasadjourned till 2 pm.

The decision to adjournthe Assembly was taken at theBusiness Advisory Committee.The budget was passed throughguillotine.

Guillotine refers to theexercise, which the Speaker ofthe House, on the very last dayof the period allotted for dis-cussions on the Demands forGrants, puts to vote all out-

standing Demands for Grantsat a time specified in advance.The aim of the exercise is toconclude discussions on finan-cial proposals within the timespecified.

The Jharkhand AssemblyBudget session, which com-menced on February 28 was toconclude on March 28. Thebudget session was adjourned aweek before its scheduled time.

The Jharkhand budget ses-sion since the day it’s com-menced witnessed disruptionwith opposition creating uproarover demand to accord leaderof opposition status to BJPlegislative party leader BabulalMarandi. On every day BJPmembers used to enter the wellof house with the demand. TheBJP pandemonium came toend after an assurance fromMarandi to Speaker that BJPmembers will not enter the wellof the House over Leader of

Opposition demand.At the Budget Session

Finance minister RameshwarOraon tabled an estimatedbudget of Rs 86,370 crore forthe year 2020-21. It includedsops ranging from universalhealth insurance to farmerloan waivers, from stipends forthe jobless to dhoti, sari andlungi to 57 lakh poor familiestwice a year at a cost of Rs 10each. Now, ration cards are tobe given to 10 lakh people agedabove 50.

In the budget session theGovernment also passed a billin the Assembly not Assemblynot to implement NPR, NRC.The Jharkhand Assemblypassed a resolution against theNational Population Registerand the National Register ofCitizens.

The Opposition opposedthe bill with BJP legislatorsentering the well of the House.

The Speaker later adjournedthe House sine die. BJP MLAsBhanu Pratap Shahi and AmarKumar Bauri said that the gov-ernment has cheated people.“We will not allow Bangladeshito enter Jharkhand under anycircumstances,” said Shahi.

Earlier, CPI (ML) MLAVinod Singh raised the coronacase as soon as the assemblyproceedings commenced. Hesaid that today there is a terri-ble situation in the entire coun-try regarding Corona. The CPI

MLA stated that due to coro-navirus the workers are struckin metros, state capital andother districts as they don’thave work.

“In this situation the gov-ernment has to become moresensitive and governmentshould provide necessaryfinancial assistance to labour-ers coming from different partsof country,” added Singh. Also,at the budget session marks wasdistributed among MLAs andofficials of Assembly.

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The Health Department onMonday collected samples

of six Coronavirus suspectsfrom Rajendra Institute ofMedical Sciences (RIMS) andseven suspects from MahatmaGandhi Memorial (MGM)Hospital in Jamshedpur, a presscommuniqué from the NationalHealth Mission (NHM) said.Besides, samples of three moresuspects — two from Palamuand one from Bokaro — werecollected on Monday.

The number of peopleunder observation forCoronavirus in Jharkhand roseto 450 on Monday from 414 onSaturday. However, no positivecases were reported. Out of the450 people, mostly travelers,128 have passed the quarantineperiod of 28 days and not shownany symptoms of viral infection,health officials said on Monday.

The Government has bynow collected samples of 77Coronavirus suspects here and61 of them have come out neg-ative. However, the results of 16more samples sent for lab testsare awaited, and the officialshere have their fingers crossed.Jharkhand is surrounded byBihar, Odisha and West Bengal,

and all three States have report-ed positive cases of COVID-19in the past one week.

The lethal virus by Mondayevening infected nearly 3.5lakh people across the globeand claimed more than 15,000lives. In India, the number ofpatients infected byCoronavirus increased to 470by the time this report wasfiled. The death toll in Indiawas nine by the time thisreport was filed. The virus wasfirst reported in China, andwithin a few months, itwreaked havoc in Europeancountries, especially Italy and

Spain. Doctors fear that if thevirus reaches a level of com-munity spread in India, it mayclaim several thousand livesand prove to be catastrophic.

On Wednesday, the StateGovernment issued a circularprohibiting the use of biomet-ric attendance in allGovernment offices acrossJharkhand amid NovelCoronavirus fear – a precau-tionary measure taken in a bidto prevent the virus fromspreading in the tribal State.And by Sunday evening, itasked all Government employ-ees to work from home.

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Chief Minister HemantSoren today said that the

matter (possible spread ofCoronavirus) is serious and itshould be taken seriously. “Beprepared for a new challengeevery day. You are all warriorsof this battle, the coming three-four weeks is important. Thereshould not be any kind of neg-ligence. Together we will ensurethis. If we ignore things then thematter may get worse.Therefore, dealing with Coronahas to be done with utmostcare, seriousness, determinationand responsibility,” he said.

Holding a video confer-encing with all DCs and seniorofficials of the State here onMonday the CM said that cur-rently, Jharkhand has been puton lockdown to prevent infec-tion of corona virus. “Togetherwe have to play an importantrole in dealing with Corona. Allgive their best from their level,”he said.

The CM said that a lock-down has been declared inJharkhand. “Markets and shopsare closed on the first day oflockdown, but people’s activi-ties did not stop. All the DeputyCommissioners of the districtsmust make people aware thatthis is not a holiday. Peoplehave to avoid infection. People

should not roam unnecessari-ly on the streets. Work byidentifying the people associ-ated with the service. Ration,medicine, milk and other dailyuse items should be available tothe people at their home, sothat home delivery and securi-ty arrangements should bemade at ration shops,” he said.

Soren further asked officialsto identify the poor, daily wage

laborers and the needy andmake arrangements to providefood in their house. “Providework under MNREGA, ensurethat workers do not have a placeto gather. In all panchayats, pre-pare a list of people comingfrom outside with the help ofthose working in the system ofgovernment. So that adversitycan be dealt with. One doesn’thave to scare people, but to

make them aware. Arrange forthe people trapped in the Stateborder to reach their destina-tions,” he added.

The CM directed DCs tomake isolation centers fullyfunctional. He directed to pre-pare 200 beds isolation wardwith necessary equipment inSadar Hospital, Ranchi. “Keepdoctors, nurses and other peo-ple involved in medicine readywith impatience. Pay specialattention to proper arrange-ments in the quarantine Center.Seek help from self-help groupsand others to fulfill the need ofmask, sanitizer,” he said.

The CM said that thereshould not be a crowd of devo-tees at the religious sites. Itshould be ensured.“Ramnavami procession,ensure that the fair to be heldin Chaiti Durga Puja is notorganized with public support

so that the infection does notspread. Take immediate legalaction against those who givefalse information on socialmedia,” he said.

The State government hasalso formed State level, DistrictLevel, Block level andPanchayat level committees toundertake the works related toCOVID-19. The Governmenthas also issued directives tomedia houses not to report per-sonal details of infected peopleand others connected with thepatient.

CS DK Tiwari, AdditionalCS Sukhdeo Singh, AdditionalCS AK Singh, PrincipalSecretary Rajeev Arun Ekka,Principal Secretary AvinashKumar, Principal SecretaryNitin Madan Kulkarni, DGPMV Rao, OSD to CM G Tiwarialongwith other officials werepresent in the VC.

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Chief Minister Hemant Soren has written to Union RuralDevelopment Minister NS Tomar to consider providing

unemployment allowance to MGNREGA workers, whowould be badly affected due to lockdown in the State owingto COVID-19. The CM has said that normally the allowanceis granted if the MGNREGA workers are not given work in30 days, but in the present circumstances if the Centre pro-vides the funds, it will be a great relief to the workers.

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Page 2: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-23 · amid fear of rising NPA in the coming quarters due to the “lockdown”. Take the case of a ... Marandi.

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State health department isgearing to ramp up testing

facility following corona virusspread. Principal health secre-tary, Nitin Madan Kulkarni,said that the State’s lone testingfacility for Covid-19 at viralresearch diagnostic laboratory(VRDL) at MGM MedicalCollege and Hospital in Dimna,Mango attempts are beingmade to increase testing facil-ities in the State.“We haveplans that VRDL facility atMGM Medical College willsoon have another RT-PCR(reverse transcription –poly-merase chain reaction)machine in addition to theexisting machine.

We also discussed aboutincreasing manpower includinglab technicians and scientists atthe facility. Soon we will havetesting facility for Covid-19 atPMCH in Dhanbad, RIMS inRanchi has already applied forpermission from ICMR and weare expecting it to be functionalin a week.

We also have asked TataMain Hospital which has astate-of-the-art microbiologyunit to apply with ICMR forCovid-19 test” said Nitin

Madan Kulkarni. EastSinghbhum deputy commis-sioner Ravi Shankar Shuklainformed that the nearly 1000-bed Tata Main Hospital willsoon be having RT-PCR facil-ity and has already applied forICMR nod to start testing forCovid-19 cases.

In a directive issued yes-terday to fight the spread of thenovel coronavirus, ICMR say-ing all hospitalised patientswith severe acute respiratory

illness, shortness of breath andhaving fever and cough willnow be tested for COVID-19infection. The new ICMRguidelines also said asympto-matic direct and high-risk con-tacts of a confirmed caseshould be tested once betweenday 5 and day 14 of coming inhis/her contact.

“We have issued to all thehospitals (government and pri-vate) to inform through ourdistrict surveillance unit about

any hospitalized cases havingbreathing distress,” saidKulkarni. Significantly, theVRDL facility at MGM MedicalCollege can efficiently con-duct viral test using RT-PCRtechnique for 40 samples daily.

The principal secretaryalso informed that so far noneof the samples have turned pos-itive in the state and alsoexpressed satisfaction at thequarantine centers arrange-ment in the district.

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A32-year-old man made a suicidal bid by stab-bing himself after killing his wife and minor

sons at his house in Bagbera Colony underBagbera police station in the wee hours today. Theman Jitendra Singh was rushed to the Tata MainHospital with a grievous injury in his abdomen.

Those killed were identified as Rani Singh(29) wife of Jitendra Singh, Aditya (10) andKarthik (4). The mystery behind the triple mur-der is yet to solved as Jitendra is still unconsciousand no one else knows anything about the inci-dent. Assistant sub-inspector police, Ajit KumarSingh said that the incident remains a mystery.

We had gone to take the statement of JitendraSingh who was admitted in the hospital, but theinjured is not in a condition to speak. We willbe able to take his statement only after he returnsto his consciousness."

Jitendra Singh stays at their double-storeyedbuilding on Road No 6 in Bagbera Colony. Theman who is a businessman resided on the groundfloor and his brother Rajesh resides on the firstfloor.

The family members are all tight lipped. Atabout 10 am, as Jitendra Singh's door was notopened, some of his kin knocked on the door, theywere shocked to see blood coming from insidefront door.

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The administration onMonday made arrangement

for more than 12 special busesto take hundreds of strandedpassengers to different districtsof the state as inter-districtpublic transport closed opera-tion with lockdown imposedacross the state.

Nearly 500 passengers hadarrived by trains at theTatanagar Station on Sundaymorning and caught in the‘Janata Curfew’ somehow man-aged to reach the city’s inter-state bus terminus atSitaramdera hoping to catchbuses for different district.However, they could not findbuses and waited till todaymorning to get buses to theirdestination.

Their wait became desper-ate when they were told aboutgovernment decision of lock-down which means no buseswould ply to any parts of thestate from Jamshedpur. “Severalpassengers were left in lurch atthe bus terminus roundaboutwhich connects city withMango in the morning.

It was then that the admin-istration intervened and gave usspecial permission to take thesepassengers to different dis-tricts,” said an official of theJamshedpur Bus OwnersAssociation (JBOA)—anumbrella body of the long dis-

tance bus operators. The busassociation senior functionarysaid that most of the passengershad arrived from places likeGujarat and Maharashtra andhad alighted at Tatanagar asthey usually do get connectingbuses to different districts fromthe city.

In view of corona virus, ply-ing of all inter-state buses fromthe steel city have been sus-pended from midnight. Theban on operation of long-dis-tance bus services from theSitaramdera bus terminus andother parts of the city willremain effective till furthernotice.

East Singhbhum seniorsuperintendent of police,Anoop Birtharay said that over500 buses leave the Sitaramderabus terminus to neighbouringstates like Bengal, Odisha andalso Bihar. "Following direc-tions from the government wehave ordered the long distancebus operators not to ply to any

destinations in Bengal, Odishaor Bihar and have decided notto allow any bus from thesethree states to enter into thecity," said Birtharay.

The senior SP pointed outthat the restriction on the oper-ation of long distance bus ser-vices has been made to ensuresocial distancing so as to stopthe spread of dangerous coro-navirus. Jamshedpur BusOwners Welfare Association's(JBOWA) official confirmedthat the association has stoppedoperation following an orderfrom the district administrationsince midnight.

"We have no choice but tofollow the orders. We havebeen asked to stop operation forthe inter-state bus services frommidnight, but it is not knownfor how long days the operationwill remain suspended. We willcooperate as this is an indis-pensable need in view of check-ing the spread of coronavirus,"said the official.

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Around 30 passengers whogot down from Up

Shaktipunj Howrah expresstrain are stranded at Daltonganjrailway station under EastCentral railway of Dhanbaddivision said station superin-tendent A K Tiwary.

This Daltonganj railwaystation expects one very longdistance train Jammu TawiTata express train either aftermid night or early in the morn-ing said Tiwary and thereafterthere is no traffic of any pas-senger or express train via thisrailway station.

Giving a roundup of theday SP Palamu Ajay Lindasaid people showed immensegood sense and remainedindoors barring some morningpopping out more out ofcuriosity than for any intentionto breach the lockdown today.

Linda said, “I took roadsurveillance journey on NH 75and then in a connecting roadwhere I found people sittingright on the road under thebright Sun here today but whenthey heard the siren of my vehi-cle they began to scamper fortheir homes.”

About stranded railwaypassengers Linda said policepatrol has been increased andpassengers have been advisedto spend night here as by 5 AMtomorrow there will be nocurb.

Linda said police and rail-way officials have been asked toexplore as to how food can bearranged for these strandedpassengers.

There are a few hotels therenear this railway station but allwere shut today.

SDPO Sadar Sandip KrGupta said, “I found a fewmotorists talking acrossthestreet but when told of thehazards of coronavirus theseyouths took to their homes.”

Siren was blown at inter-mittent interval here.At 5 in theevening people peopleexpressed their gratitude tothe doctors, nurses and otherpara medic staff for renderingmedical assistance to people insuch a hard time when life is atrisk.

Sources said IG Navin KrSingh and DIG A V Homkarremained in constant touchwith the SP Palamu today tak-ing every bit of informationabout the district.

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Vedanta Ltd todayannounced setting up of a

dedicated Rs 100 crore fund aspart of its endeavour to joinranks with the Government ofIndia to combat the widespreadoutbreak of deadly COVID-19.

The fund will cater to threespecific areas –Livelihood of thedaily wage worker, employees,contract workers, preventivehealth care and will providetimely help to communities inand around various plant loca-tions of the company, informedVivek Anand Public RelationOfficer of VedantaElectrosteelSteels Ltd (ESL).

Anil Agarwal, ExecutiveChairman, Vedanta ResourcesLtd. said, The world is currentlyputting up spirited fightingagainst COVID 19. TheGovernment of India alongwith state governments have sofar done exemplary work tocontain the spread of the virus.

It is critical that corporatehouses should assist theGovernment in the fight againstthis deadly virus by contribut-ing to the best of their ability sothat the nation has adequateresources to take care of its cit-izens and provide both medicaland financial assistance, hesaid adding, "This fund is thefirst step on Vedanta’s behalf

and we will increase the corpusif the need arises." Further, wewill also assist the communitiesat our various locations in caseof loss of livelihood.

I request every citizen inthe country to stay safe and actresponsibly and I am deeplyconcerned about our people butif we stay positive and take ade-quate precautions, we willemerge stronger, said Agarwal.

As part of other measures,Vedanta will not cut salaries orfire any staff, including tempo-rary workers during this crisisperiod.

It has also decided to pro-vide special, onetime insur-ance to cover Vedanta’s employ-ees and their families againstCOVID-19, he informed.

Further, all mobile healthvans in operational areas willaide in preventive healthcareand each business unit willcontribute towards the liveli-hood of daily wage earnersaround plant locations like teasellers and vegetable vendors.

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In view of the risk of infec-tion of COVID-19, changes

have been made in the systemof Bokaro General Hospitalsuch as task force of 15 physi-cians has been formed toreduce unnecessary conges-tion at BGH alsoarrangementshave been made to delivermedicines in the health cen-

ters of sectors 1, 6, 9 and 12 toreduce the rush of drug usersfrom the hospital pharma-cy.Daily number of blood testsare also being reduced in thehospital so that congestion canbe reduced.

Only one way is open foradmission to the ward, whichis from MG Ward.Thearrangement of a single atten-dant with a patient is being

strictly enforced.Patientswithflu-like symptoms (commoncough-cold), ward IIIC hasbeen prepared as a special fluward to isolate others.

Separate lifts have alsobeen kept for the patientsadmitted in this ward.As perprotocol, cleanliness is beingdone regularly in all thewards, OPD and lift of thehospital.

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Page 3: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-23 · amid fear of rising NPA in the coming quarters due to the “lockdown”. Take the case of a ... Marandi.

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Inspite of the State govern-ment announcing a lock-

down across Jharkhand tillMarch 31 on Sunday evening,the streets of the Capital citywere buzzing with activity onMonday as Ranchiites wereseen flocking around buyingvegetables and groceries.

The residents had howev-er, welcomed the PrimeMinister’s call of self imposingsocial distancing or ‘JantaCurfew’ on Sunday, peopleacross Ranchi were seen assem-bling in large numbers despitethe lockdown order.

The market in Lalpur hadnumerous people from theneighbouring localities buy-ing vegetables, groceries and

medicines. “I am out to dosome regular errands and alsoto get some vegetables.

I have senior citizens athome, so I am also going tostock up on their daily medi-cines. Though the lockdown isa very important move to con-trol the spread of the virus, itis something which we werenot prepared for.

I have stocked up onration for about a month, butfor perishables like dairy prod-ucts and vegetables, one has tocome out of the house on adaily basis” said a resident ofBurdawan Compound request-ing anonymity.“Upper Bazaaris one of the busiest places inthe City. Even though a lot ofshops are closed, people are stillpresent here in large numbers

not realising the gravity of thesituation. To buy essentialitems, people have been visit-ing the store in either pairs orgroups of three- four. Theadministration needs to takesome drastic steps in order toenforce the lockdown.

Those in an emergencyshould only be allowed or else

the sole purpose of imposing alockdown will be futile,” saidAmit Kumar, a grocery storeowner.“I am out to buy regularitems like newspaper, eggs,bread and milk.

The police did question meabout my whereabouts andsuggested I finish my work andrush home. They have beenrequesting others to do thesame but people seem unawareof the situation and the conse-quences of the deadlyCoronavirus.

Staying home for a fewdays is for one’s own benefit.The government and theadministration have beenworking on its toes for the safe-ty of the public which tooshould cooperate,” said AmitSingh, a senior citizen.

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Uncertainty prevails overMarch 26 biennial polls to

18 Rajya Sabha seats in view ofthe current lockdown. InJharkhand the election is fortwo seats in one seat JMM can-didate Shibu Soren is likely tobe elected unopposed while insecond seat the election isnecessary.

For the second seat BJPstate president Deepak Prakashand Congress candidateShahzada Anwar are infray.With the term of 18 RajyaSabha MPs ending on April 2,the polls are scheduled to beheld on March 26.

As there is uncertainty thecandidates too are confused.

A candidate who is in frayfor Rajya Sabha electionrequesting anonymity said,“Even we are confused aboutRajya Sabha election as noinformation has come from

Election Commission regard-ing Rajya Sabha election. Asthe election is for 18 seats indifferent states the ECI has totake the final call.”ElectionCommission had declaredpolls to 55 Rajya Sabha seat onFebruary 26.

After 37 candidates wereelected unopposed and nom-ination paper of a TMC candidate for a WestBengal seat rejected due totechnical reasons, polls to 18seats four each in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh,three each in Rajasthan andMadhya Pradesh, two inJharkhand and one each inManipur and Meghalaya — aredue now.

Earlier, the Gujarat gov-ernment has requested theElection Commission to post-pone the March 26 RajyaSabha election for four seats inthe state in view of the novelcoronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile, on Monday theBJP and Congress had separatemeetings having discussionover Rajya Sabha election.

The BJP state committeetoday held a meeting whichwas attended by BJP legislativeparty leader Babulal Marandi,BJP candidate and state pres-ident Deepak Prakash andothers.

The Congress party tooheld the meeting for RajyaSabha election. PL Punia whohas been made the observer ofCongress party for Rajya Sabhaelection reached Ranchi andhad discussion with CongressMLAs.

For winning the election,JMM requires the support 27MLAs and the party has sup-port of 29 MLAs in such situ-ation JMM Chief Shibu Sorenis sure to enter Rajya Sabha.After the first preference 27MLAs, 52 MLAs are left andthen any party needs the sup-

port of 27 MLAs as first pref-erence for winning the elec-tion. BJP has 25 MLAs andincluding Marandi the strength

the party is 26. The partyrequires the support of onlyone MLA for sailing the RajyaSabha election.

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Alarge numbers of passen-gers remained stranded

near Bus Stands and RailwayStations due to non availabili-ty of public transport vehiclesafter one-day ‘Janata Curfew’observed on Sunday and afterthat announcement ofLockdown in entire Jharkhandby Chief Minister, HemantSoren.

Soren has put the statewidelockdown to save people fromCoronavirus infection but thetrain already running fromtheir departure stations at therailway station arrived hereon Monday. It had a tremen-dous impact on the RailwayStations and Bus Terminal.

A large numbers of pas-sengers suddenly reached BirsaMunda bus terminal, who werelooking for bus to Dhanbad,Bokaro, Palamu, Garhwa,Simdega, Hazaribagh,Jamshedpur.At the same time,at the Birsa Munda bus termi-nal, the District Administrationteam took all the passengers intheir control. After this, theadministration started medicalexamination of the passen-gers. There was a long queue ofpassengers for medical exam-ination. After this, the admin-istration arranged the bus andsent the passengers to their des-tination. Here, the entry ofbuses coming from outside in

the bus terminal has beenbanned. Not a single busopened from the stand.Speaking to The Pioneer resi-dent of Gumla DistrictBirendra Ram said that hecame Patna from Delhi onSunday then he came Ranchiby train to go to Hazaribaghbut he is not getting bus to goto his home town. There wereseveral other persons with him,they asked to officials of theAdministration to arrange busfor them, he added.

Passengers arriving by autoat the bus stand have also beenbarred from entering. Theyare being checked and sentback at the entrance of thestand. Lockdown written boardwere displayed at various places

of the State Capital so that peo-ple should know that the StateGovernment has announcedlock down. Lockdown writtenboards were also displayed atBus Stand so that people do notenter the stand and the standcould be saved by congregation.

Keeping in mind theincreasing infection ofCoronavirus, the StateTransport Commissioner, FaijAhmad has issued an order tostop the entry of buses comingfrom other states to Jharkhandfrom midnight on Monday.

A copy of the order hasalso been sent to Bihar BengalOdisha and ChhattisgarhTransport Department. Thisorder will be effective till thenext order.

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The Jharkhand PradeshBharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) has demanded theState's coalition Governmentto strictly implement the lock-down in the entire State.

BJP State SpokespersonPratul Shahdeov said that theCentral Government has alsowritten a letter to the StateGovernments to take it veryseriously. He said that despitethe lock-down, life is going on

normally in the entire State onMonday. “Long queues werealso witnessed in the shops.

The State Governmentshould take initiative imme-diately action on this issue andextensive public awarenesscampaign should also be con-ducted regarding lock down.

Information should alsobe given to the public throughhoardings, loudspeakers andadvertisements in newspa-pers and channels, saidShahdeo.

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The Ranchi DistrictAdministration has pasted

posters outside at least 400houses of people on self-quar-antine across the State capitaland its suburbs – an initiativeaimed at cautioning trespassersand visitors beforehand that theresidents of the house might becarriers of Novel Coronavirus,officials said on Monday.

While the Government hasenforced a lockdown across theState in the wake of COVID-19on Sunday, the DistrictAdministration’s decision ofpasting posters was imple-mented in the urban areas ofRanchi on Monday.

The initiative of the admin-istration assumes significance asseveral thousand people havereturned to Ranchi from Stateswhere cases of Coronavirus havebeen reported.‘Home underquarantine. Keep milk bag/courier/ food packet/newspaperoutside. Do not go inside at anycost,” said one of the posters past-ed on the main gate of a houseat Harmu Housing Colony inRanchi. Ranchi Deputy

Commissioner Rai MahimapatRay said that objective behindpasting posters was not to scarepeople, but to prevent the spreadof the virus in the city.

“If any person is foundentering the houses where peo-ple are in self-quarantine, theperson will also be examinedand quarantined,” said Rai,adding that if a person spotssuch movement in houses thathave warning posters on their entry gates, then he orshe should inform the districtadministration about it. “Youcan dial 181 or 104 and informus. We have screened around4000 people by now,” he said.He also urged the people of theState to be cautious and pay

special attention to theirhygiene.While the number ofpeople infected by Coronavirusin India crossed the figure of400 by Monday, Jharkhand isamong the few states that havenot yet reported any positivecase of the lethal virus.

COVID-19 – a mysteriousvirus that has killed more than15,000 people and affected 3.5lakh across the globe – has,however, swung the healthmachinery here in action.Several trains and buses havebeen cancelled, and theGovernment has directed allpeople travelling to Jharkhandfrom affected States to stay inself-quarantine for at least 14days.

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In order to curb the spread ofCoronavirus, the Ranchi dis-

trict administration has takenvarious preventive measures.Ranchi Deputy Commissioner(DC) cum District MagistrateRai Mahimapat Ray has issuedseveral directives for precau-tion and prevention against thevirus.

The DC has directed theSecretary, Agriculture ProductMarket Committee to pro-vide a list of all the haats sothat necessary steps can be

taken to prevent the spread ofthe virus. All travel agencies inthe district have also beeninstructed to refrain from pro-viding any vehicle to an indi-vidual or a group for person-al purposes.

In view of the informationregarding the spread of bird fluin chicken and other poultry,Ray has directed the ForestDivision Officer Ranchi andDistrict Animal HusbandryOfficer Ranchi to investigatethe matter and also ensure thatnecessary action is taken toprevent it.

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An anguished PrimeMinister Narendra Modi

on Monday rued that somepeople are not taking the lock-down in the country serious-ly in the wake of Coronaviruspandemic and appealed to thepeople to save their familymembers and themselves bystrictly adhering to the direc-tions being given by the Stateand Central Governments. Healso requested the StateGovernments to make peopleadhere to the lockdown.

“Many people are still nottaking the lockdown serious-ly. Please save yourself bydoing this, save your family,follow the instructions seri-ously. I request the StateGovernments to get the rulesand laws followed,” ModiTweeted in the morning.

Later, Prime Ministerinteracted with industry rep-resentatives via video confer-ence from ASSOCHAM,FICCI, CII and several localChambers from 18 cities acrossthe country.

He appealed to the corpo-rate to be united in dealing theeconomic and social issues inthe current chaotic situationeven as he reiterated that thecompanies should not go forretrenchments or salary cuts.Modi asked the corporatehouses to be passionate totheir manpower and provideall sorts of help to them as wellas to the society in upholdingthe corporate social responsi-bility.

Soon after the PrimeMinister’s meeting, MukeshAmbani-led RelianceIndustries declared that theyhave geared up the productionof one lakh masks per day andincreased the production ofother hospital related materi-als. They also offered supportto free meal schemes across thecountry and fuel supply.Industrialist Anand Mahindratoo pitched in for productionof ventilators.

The Prime Minister saidthat while the government wasworking on giving a fillip to thepace of growth in the country,an unforeseen hurdle in theform of COVID-19 came infront of the economy. He saidthat the challenge posed by thepandemic is graver than eventhat posed by the World Warsand we need to be on constantvigil to prevent its spread.Modi told the barons that thefulcrum of the economy istrust.

“Trust has a unique yard-stick - it is earned or lost in dif-ficult and challenging times.The parameters of trust are ata critical juncture in various

sectors of the economy. Severalsectors like tourism, construc-tion, hospitality and daily lifeengagements including theinformal sector have been hitdue to COVID-19. The impacton the economy will be felt forsome time to come,” said Modito the industrialists.

The industry representa-tives thanked the PrimeMinister for leading from thefront and taking swift, front-footed action to counter thethreat. They informed thePrime Minister about the stepsbeing taken by them to main-tain supply lines of essentialitems and medical equipmentincluding ventilators, assis-tance in creation of isolationwards, utilisation of CSR fundsfor combating COVID-19 andprovision of assistance tomigrant labour.

“They discussed the spe-cific issues being faced by sec-tors like banking, finance, hos-pitality, tourism, infrastruc-ture and requested for help toovercome these challengesthrough financial and fiscalassistance. Industry represen-tatives also appreciated theimportance of instituting alockdown, irrespective of eco-nomic losses, to prevent thespread of the virus. PrimeMinister thanked the industryrepresentatives for speakingin one voice on the needs of theunorganised sector and saidthat this marks a new dawn ofeconomic integration. Heasked them to allow employeesto work from home whereverdoing so is feasible throughusing technology. He exhortedthem to adopt a humanitarianapproach and not to cut downon workforce in spite of thenegative impact on their busi-nesses,” said the PMO in astatement.

Modi reiterated about theimportance of ‘swachhta’ andfollowing medical advice toprevent the spread of COVID-19 at factories, offices andworkplace. He added that socialdistancing remains our biggestweapon in our fight againstpreventing the spread of the

virus. He also requested themto use their CSR funding forhumanitarian causes relatedto the pandemic at this criticaljuncture. Principal Secretary,Cabinet Secretary andSecretary, Department forPromotion of Industry andInternal Trade also participat-ed in the interaction.

Later, Prime Minister alsoconvened separate meetingwith Pharma company owners

and TV channels’ editors. Hepraised the media for theirwork during the crisis periodand asked the editors to ensurethe health and welfare ofreporters and cameramanworking whole day and nightin the field.

He also thanked the AirIndia crew for their courageouswork in airlifting people fromCovid-19 affected countries.

He also thanked the heads

of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka andBangladesh for offering initialfunds to the Covid Fund cre-ated by SAARC nations. Indiahas donated 10 million dollarsin the fund. Si Lanka hasdonated five million dollarsand Maldives donated twomillion dollars. Bangladeshdonated 1.5 million dollarsand Afghanistan donated onemillion dollars for the Covid-19 Fund.

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Concerned about likely joblosses and pay cuts due to

the coronavirus crisis, theMinistry of Labour &Employment on Mondayasked all the employers ofpublic/private establishmentsto not cut salaries or resort tolayoffs of their employees.

The move has come daysafter the televised address byPrime Minister NarendraModi on the outbreak onThursday when he urged thebusiness community not to cutstaff salaries.

The Ministry in its advi-sory said the Employees’ StateInsurance Corporation (ESIC)requests all employers not tocut salaries of employees whoare unable to work.

The advisory asks employ-ers not to terminate theiremployees, particularly casualor contractual employees, fromtheir jobs or reduce theirwages. The letter states that thecatastrophic situation due tothe outbreak of coronavirus isa challenge to the society and

these challenges can only beneutralised by the coordinat-ed efforts of all.

The advisory further statesthat in view of the coronaviruspandemic and the consistentefforts of the governmentrequesting the citizen toremain at home and not ven-ture out, will constraint theworker or the employee toreport for work.

There may be instancesthat on this pretext, theemployer may dispense withthe services of the employeesor may force them to go onleave without wages orsalaries.

As per the advisory, ifany worker takes leave, he orshe should be deemed to beon duty without any conse-quential deduction in wagesfor this period. Further, ifthe place of employment isto be made non-operationaldue to coronavirus pan-demic, the employees ofsuch unit will be deemed tobe on duty.

The advisory also realis-es that the termination of the

employee from the job orreduction in wages in thisscenario will further deepenthe crises and will not onlyweaken the financial condi-tion of the employee but alsohamper their morale to com-bat their fight with this epi-demic.

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Having airlifted 170 Indiancitizens from Wuhan and

Iran since the cornoaviruspandemic outbreak, the IAFhas decided not to allowCOVID-19 suspects to boardthe aircraft and directed thepilots and other crew toremain in the cockpit at thetime of escorting passengersfrom outside the country as aprecautionary measure.

In the latest set of advi-sories, the IAF also asked itscrew to brief passengers aboutsocial distancing, cough eti-quettes, refrain from touchingaircraft surfaces and person-al hygiene.

As per the drill, the board-ing passengers will go throughthermal screening and anysymptomatic person will notbe allowed to board the plane,officials said here on Monday.

After going through ther-mal screening, the passengers

will have to disinfect theirhands by using sanitisers beforeboarding the plane. Moreover,the support staff and crew ofthe IAF planes will not come inclose contact with the passen-gers as a safety measure. TheIAF had deployed its giant C-17 transport aircraft to bringback Indians from Iran andChina and the plane canaccommodate more than 400passengers. The procedureafter landing in India entailsthe ground staff maintainingdistance from the incomingcrew and passengers. Also, allwaste items left over by pas-sengers will have to be tightlysealed in bags on board anddisposed of by biohazard vehi-cles, they said.

Besides this, the IAF isalso working on a contin-gency plan to allow its per-sonnel to work from home.The Army has already imple-mented such a scheme with35 per cent officers and 50

per cent other ranks workingfrom home at the ArmyHeadquarters here fromMonday. These personnelwill work from home tillMarch 31 and then the sec-ond batch will do the same.

The IAF plan comprisesworking with 50 per centmanpower in case of coron-avirus spread in the service.The remaining workforcewill work from home, offi-cials said.

The plan also says whiledeciding the roster for thefirst week, addressees areadvise to include personnelwho are involved in coreactivities, residing in closeproximity of their office andwho may use their owntransport to travel to workplaces. The IAF has directedthe Director General MedicalServices (Air) to work out adisinfection plan for all officecomplexes of Air headquar-ters and common areas.

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Parliament was adjournedsine die on Monday, near-

ly two weeks ahead of itsschedule, due to theCoronavirus scare with LokSabha passing the Finance Bill,2020, without a discussioneven as the Opposition want-ed an announcement fromUnion Finance MinisterNirmala Sitaraman for a finan-cial package to tackle COVID-19. The Minister did notaddress the issue.

The two-part budget ses-sion was scheduled to concludeon April 03.

The decision to shortenthe session was taken beforethe House convened at 2 pmafter a meeting was held bySpeaker Om Birla with floorleaders of various parties.

The Rajya Sabha whichpassed budget for union terri-tory of Jammu and Kashmir,too was adjourned after itcompleted its business in theevening.

Besides passing the financebill, the lower house intro-duced two bills and the pro-ceedings the concluded withthe address of the SpeakerOm Birla who touched on theongoing coronavirus scare inthe country and people’s strongresolve to cope with the epi-demic.

Earlier, as the FinanceMinister presented amend-

ments to the Bill for passing,Congress legislative partyleader Adhir RanjanChoudhary said theOpposition was ready to passthe Finance Bill but wanted anannouncement fromSitharaman for a financialpackage that would help mit-igate the economic hardshipsgenerated by the pandemic.DMK member T.R. Baalu alsomade the demand.

The finance minister,how-ever, did not speak on theissue. After the passage of theBill, two more Bills for aNational Security Universitywas introduced by Minister ofState for Home G. KishenReddy. “We are ready to passthe Finance Bill but we need tohear some announcement ofan economic package fromthe Finance Minister,” saidChoudhary.

Choudhary had alsomoved an adjournment for-putting on hold the exercise ofNational Population Registerin the country.

Before the house wasadjourned Prime MinisterNarendra Modi arrived in theHouse. On the appeal of thespeaker members gave a stand-ing ovation to the first respon-ders, medical professionals,essential services workers andmedia for being at the forefrontin the fight against the pan-demic coronovirus.

The Speaker also men-

tioned the success of the ‘JanataCurfew.’ He said that as MPs goback to their constituencies,they would be joining thefight too. As Choudharysought to press for hisdemands, Birla also mentionedthat opposition leader’s daugh-ter too banged the ‘thali’ onSunday in solidarity with thedoctors and health workerswho are securing the countryfrom the epidemic.

Birla said apart from pass-ing thegeneral budget , 13 billswere passed by the house.

“As we go back to our con-stituencies, we need to take onthe challenge of this pandem-ic and turn a negative atmos-phere into a positive one,” hesaid.

The Rajya sabha lastedlonger than the Lok Sabha asit approved the Bill for the bud-get of �1-lakh crore for theUnion Territory of Jammuand Kashmir for 2020-21. Theupper house too wasadjourned by its Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu, in theevening.

It also approved andreturned to Lok Sabha anoth-er Bill for the budget ofLadakh, as required underrules for money bills.

The Bills were approvedwith voice vote after a debateof over two hours. The Jammuand Kashmir AppropriationBills were passed by Lok Sabhaon March 19.

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The over �1 lakh croreBudget for Jammu and

Kashmir and Ladakh for 2020-21 — approved by the RajyaSabha on Monday throughseparate Bills— laid emphasison the development of newlycarved-out Union Territorieswith effect from October 31,2019.

The Bills were subse-quently returned to the LokSabha, as required under rulesfor money bills.

The total Budget estimatesfor the fiscal is �1,01,428 crore,of which developmental expen-diture is of the order of �38,764crore, an increase of 27 percent. The Government alsopresented a separate expendi-ture plan of � 55,317.81 crorefor the last five months of the

current fiscal.With regard to the Union

territory of Ladakh carved outof the erstwhile state of Jammuand Kashmir, the total BudgetEstimates for the past 5 monthshave been pegged at �5,754crore. Of this, capital expendi-ture would be � 4,618.35 croreand revenue expenditure wouldbe � 1,135.65 crore.

Leader of Opposition

Ghulam Nabi Azad allegedthat Jammu and Kashmir wason “ventilator” after theGovernment put it under a“political quarantine” for thelast seven months and a half,saying the situation there wasworse than what it was even 30years ago.

MoS Finance AnuragSingh Thakur, however, saidunder the current Government

there has been a growth in GST,excise duty, stamp duty, bank-ing transactions in Jammu andKashmir.

“No loss has been evidentin micro-terms,” he said onbehalf of his senior colleagueFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman.

On the occasion, Thakurrecalled how in 2011 he wasprevented from unfurling theIndian flag at Kashmir’s LalChowk, which is somethinganyone from any corner of thecountry can do now in the val-ley.

Initiating the debate, Azadhoped that the next budget forJammu and Kashmir would bepassed in the Assembly thereand all political detaineeswould be released immediate-ly to help revive political activ-ity in the State.

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Left parties and its tradeunions on Monday urged

Centre, State Governmentsand Corporate Houses toadopt compassionateapproach to employees work-ing in private sector and unor-ganised sectors. CPI (M) gen-eral secretary Sitaram Yechuryin a letter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi demandedannouncement of economicrelief packages to the workersand employers. He also saidthat no private companieswould be allowed to go forretrenchment or salary cut inthe wake of Cornoanviruspandemic situation.

Yechury suggested thatthere should be moratoriumof bank loan repayments toSME, retail traders and EMIpayments to employees.

“Many countries in the worldhave announced that the gov-ernment will guarantee thepayment of at least 80 per centof the salaries being drawn byworkers who are now unableto attend work. Governmentof India should do likewise.Alongside there should be amoratorium on bank loans fora year for SMEs and retailtraders as well as on EMIs.Now that the

Finance Bill has beenapproved by the Parliament,the Central government mustset aside separate funds for asubstantial package to save thelives and livelihood of croresof people. This is the time touse our resources for savinglives and not be preoccupiedby concerns to maintain fiscaldiscipline,” said Yechury.

CPI’s trade union AITUCurged Government to

strengthen the grass root levelhealth administration andeconomic relief packages tothe workers and employees. “The government should havecome out with financial assis-tance to working people andbusinesses in case of shutdown due to govt. decision toensure job security and to safeguard the poor, vulnerableneedy sections of the societyspecially those who are daily/casual/contract/migrantworkers. The migrant labouris worst hit, nothing to fallback upon. The financialpackage to them for the peri-ods of lockdown is must.There should be distributionof food packets and drinkingwater to all these worst hitpeople during the lockdown,”said Amar Jeet Kaur, AITUCgeneral secretary

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Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu on

Monday asserted that membershave no right to disrupt theHouse as claimed by somebodywhile they have a certain rightto debate and discuss any issuein the House. He expressedconcern over the loss of 24 per-cent of the time of the Houseduring the Budget Session thatconcluded ahead of the sched-ule amidst rising concerns overthe spread of Corona virus.

The day also saw severalmembers including MotilalVohra, Prabhat Jha, RajivGowda, BK Hariprasad and DrSatyanarayan Jatiya retiringfrom the house.

Naidu in his valedictoryobservations in the House

informed that as against the 31sittings of the House scheduledin two parts between January31st and April 3rd, the Housewas constrained to concludeafter 23 sittings.

The Chairman stated thatas against the total scheduledduration of 118 hours 52 min-utes during the 23 sittings, theHouse functioned for a dura-tion of 90 hours and 30 min-utes resulting in 76.13 percentproductivity of Rajya Sabhaduring the Budget Session.

A total functional time of38 hours 23 minutes of theHouse has been lost due to dis-ruptions including 32 hours 51minutes so lost during the sec-ond part of the Session. TheHouse, however, sat beyond thescheduled time on 9 days for atotal of 9 hours 59 minutes.

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Following the Ministryof Labour’s advisory, the

Ministry of Finance onMonday issued order that allcasual, contractual and out-sourced staff working withthe Ministries/ departmentsand order organisations ofthe Government of Indiawould be treated ‘on duty’during stay at home in viewof lockdown order regard-ing coronavirus prevention,and pay and wages would bepaid accordingly.

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Amidst the coronavirusscare, the Centre seems to

have forgotten the peoplewith disabilities (PwDs) as itis yet to make all its informa-tion and circulars/advisoriesrelated to Covid-19 in a for-mat that is easily accessible tothem.

Waking up to this need ofthe sector, the Union SocialJustice and EmpowermentMinistry has now written tothe Department of Personneland Training (DoPT) to makethe awareness material inbraille for blind people and insign language video/tapes fordeaf and dumb people.

The Ministry has alsoasked the Union HealthMinistry to ensure medicaltreatment on priority basis tothe sector, in case they areinflicted with the virus, asenvisaged under the Rule 25of the Rights of People with

Disabilities Act 2016.In a letter to all the State

Chief Secretaries recently,Shakuntala Doley Gamlin,Union secretary (Social Justiceand Empowerment Ministry)drew their attention statingthat the information in regardto the Coronavirus that hasinfected over 3,0000 andkilled over 14,000 is veryoften not accessible by thePwDs.

As such they remainunaware of the safety mea-sures to be taken by them todeal with the situation eventhough it has been proven thatthey face increased risk of get-ting infected and developingmore severe cases of COVID-19.

The virus can be kept atbay by following simplehygiene measures like wash-ing hands with soaps andusage of hand sanitisers.

Taking stringent view ofthe gaps, Gamlin reminded

the States about the RPwDsAct 2016 that envisages dis-semination of all informationin accessible format both printand electronically.

Rule 15 of the Rights ofthe PWD rules clearly man-date that all the websites mustbe made accessible in accor-dance with guidelines for gov-ernments websites as adopt-ed by the Department ofAdministrative Reforms andPublic Grievances and allpublic domain documents tobe uploaded in the websiteeither in the OCR (OpticalCharacter Recognition) orePUB (ebook file format)format, she said.

Gamlin asserted thatimmediate steps need to betaken to make all the public-ity material related to COVID19 accessible in print mater-ial in braille and audio tapes,videographic material withsub titles and sign languageinterpretation for the sector.

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The World HealthOrganisation on Monday

allayed fear that Coronavirus(Covid-19) spread throughair also besides contaminat-ed objects.

Dr Poonam KhetrapalSingh, Regional DirectorWHO South Asia tweetedthat based on the informationreceived so far and our expe-rience with other coron-aviruses COVID-19 apppearsmostly through respiratorydroplets )(for instance pro-duced when a sick personcoughs) and close contact.

This is why the WHO rec-ommends hand washing andmaintaining hygiene.

The WHO also tweeted,“Airborne spread has notbeen reported for #COVID-19 #coronavirus. Chineseauthorities reported possi-bility of aerosol transmis-sion in a relatively closedenvironment with prolongedexposure like ICUs & CCUsin hospitals, but more epiddata analysis is needed tounderstand this.” Her clarifi-cation came amidst reportsand a few studies that thedeadly virus can be spreadthrough air also.

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Amid scarcity of medicalequipment and protective

gear for health workers, theCongress has demanded sack-ing of Union CommerceMinister and CommerceSecretary for allowing export ofventilators, surgical and facemasks, raw material formasks/coveralls till March 19.

Congress leader RahulGandhi termed the export ofmasks and ventilators till March19 as a criminal conspiracy. Heraised the issue soon after theCongress sought sacking of theUnion Commerce MinisterPiyush Goyal.

He tweeted in Hindi,“Respected Prime Minister, onthe suggestion of the WHO thegovernment was advised tokeep stock of ventilators andmasks, but the opposite hasbeen done and these itemshave been exported. At whosebehest has this been done?”

Earlier, the party objectedto the permission given tocompanies to export masksand ventilators alleging that this was allowed tillMarch 19. Surjewala termed itas a “criminal conspiracy”.

Why was it allowed whenthe country is facing a shortageof such items?” asked Surjewala.

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Thrissur(Ker)/Chennai: Ascoronavirus cases in the coun-try surge past 400, a priest inKerala who conducted a mass ata church defying a Governmentorder against public gatheringswas arrested on Monday.

Priest Pauly Padayatti,Vicar of the Lady of PerpetualHelp church at Koodapuzha inChalakudy, conducted themass on Monday morning inwhich at least 100 people hadparticipated, police said. Thepriest was arrested and later letoff on bail.

A case under sections 269IPC (Negligent act likely tospread infection of diseasesdangerous to life) and 118e ofthe Kerala Police Act (causingdanger to public) has been reg-istered against the priest and the100-odd faithful. The totalnumber of COVID-19 cases inthe country surged to 415, aspike from the figure of 360 thenight before. PTI

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The entire State of TamilNadu is being shut down

from Tuesday evening tillMarch 31 in view of theCOVID-19 coronavirus attack.By Monday evening, the num-ber of persons admitted tohospitals in the State rose to 9.

“Those tested positive werepersons who came to TamilNadu from outside the State.But there are hundreds of peo-ple who have been quarantinedin the State and we are expect-ing the results of their tests,”said Dr Vijaya Baskar, TamilNadu Minister of Health andFamily Welfare.

The decision taken by theGovernment to bring the entireState under shut down wasannounced by Chief MinisterEdappadi Palaniswamy in theAssembly on Monday. Thoughthe Chief Minister was presentin the House, he took out timeto preside over the high level

meeting which was attendedamong others by top govern-ment officials including thechief secretary.

Barring shops that sellessential commodities likemilk, meat, groceries and phar-ma products, all business estab-lishments will down their shut-ters till March 31. “All con-struction works throughoutthe State would remain sus-pended till then. But the Statehas made arrangements to takecare of the needs of workerswho would be affected by theshut down,” said the chief min-ister.

The chief minister furtherstated that all district bordersacross the State would besealed. “District collector andsuperintendents of police havebeen authorised to issue ordersunder Section 144. Public orprivate transport buses wouldnot be operated. All eaterieshave been told to suspend ser-vices till March 31 thoughthey could sell packed foods,”

he said. The general public inthe State would be serviced byAmma Restaurants that sellsubsidized idlis, pooris, Pongal,curd rice and lemon rice.

All government officesexcept district collectortates,police stations, fire and rescueservices are being shut downfrom Tuesday evening. Privatecompanies which are into theproduction of goods meantfor esports would be allowed tooperate with minimum staff.Employees of private firmsincluding IT, telecom and othertechnological sectors are towork from home while privatemedical facilities can continueto operate.

The chief minister told theassembly that the governmenthas set apart an additionalamount of Rs500 crore for pre-ventive measures againstCorona virus. Palaniswamysaid the hospitals in the Stateare fully equipped to meet anyemergency arising out of theCOVID-19 attack.

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Opulence, that’s how peopledescribe marriages in Tamil

Nadu. Whether the bride andgroom hail from the rich andpowerful families or from thelower middle class strata, mar-riages in Tamil Nadu are knownfor their extravaganzas, mindboggling entertainments andunique and exquisite spread oflunch and dinner tables. Thenumber of persons attendingthe marriage reception and thekind of swanky cars in whichthe guests arrive are an indica-tion of the social stand of thehosts.

Though the Dravidianmovements in the State claimthat they have revolutionisedTamil society with self-respectmarriages, touted as simpleevents sans Vedic scholars forsolemnising the most importantevent in the lives of youths, it is

all for public consumption. Youmay not see Brahmin punditsofficiating as “God’sRepresentative” during the cer-emony. But there are newavatars of EV RamasamyNaicker (founder of Dravidianmovement who propoundedthe idea of self-respect mar-riages) playing the role of thepundit. The marriages contin-ued to be glittering events wheremusic concerts and westerndance events by the stars ofKollywood played major role.

Not any more. The coron-avirus, which struck TamilNadu early this month, hastaken the glamour and crowdoff the marriages. The last fourdays saw people hailing fromupper middle class familiesdoing away with all opulence,high-end celebrations and theunique spreads during lunchand dinner. Gone are the glit-terati and chauffer driven lim-ousines. And above all, the

venues have been shifted to thesanctum sanctorum of tem-ples! The priest of the templeblesses the couple, whoexchange the garlands (madeout of minimum number offlowers) which are sanitised.The minimum number ofguests who grace the occasionare welcomed not with the tra-ditional sandal waters and pastesbut with sanitisers with whichthey could clean their hands!

The amount of loss sufferedby the catering agents becauseof the corona virus attack isbeyond comprehension.“Usually there would be a min-imum of 6,000 guests for a mar-riage. The coronavirus hasbrought it down. We serve 14 to20 course meals during lunchwhich include vegetablebiriyani, fried rice, parothas,puris, vegetable curries andsweet delicacies,” saidManikandan , a lead catererfrom Ambur near Velore.

Monday saw a youthbelonging to the political outfitled by film star Vijayakanthtying nuptial note in Chennai.He was forced to do away withall celebrations because of theSection 144 but he shifted thevenue to the actor’s residence sothat his “God” could grace theoccasion. A wheel chair boundVijayakanth, who is keepingindifferent health for the last twoyears attended the marriagecovering his face with mask andblessed the couple.

Elsewhere in the State, thebride, groom and their imme-diate relations constitute the listof guests. The same is the casein Kerala with parents of soonto be married youngsters decid-ing to do away with the air-con-ditioned wedding halls, lavishfeasts, and related rituals whichwould help them save a fewlakhs.

COVID virus too has itsadvantages !

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Even as all the Oppositionparties including BJP, Left

and the Congress hailed ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee forher “impressive performance”in containing the proliferationof the dreaded virus, the State,reported its first corona-infect-ed death with a 57-year-oldRailway employee from DumDum succumbing to his ail-ments late on Monday noon.At least three other relatives ofthe victim, including his wifeand mother, were under obser-vation at a different hospital ofKolkata, Health Departmentsources.

Though any foreign trav-el history of the victim was stillnot established as his wife saidthat they had not visited anycorona-affected country in therecent past, authorities weretrying to find out whether hisinfection had anything to dowith his US-based son.

The relatives of the victimsaid he had recently back trav-elled back from Bilaspur inChhattisgarh by Pune-HowrahAzad Hind Express wonderingwhether he had contacted thedisease while travelling intrain.

“If he did not pick it upfrom his son or if his son hadnot visited India in the pastcouple of months then he couldbe the first such patient whocontacted the virus from thecommunity,” a Governmentofficial said.

There are seven moreCorona-infected patientsundergoing treatment at theBeleghata ID Hospital, sourcessaid adding no new infectionwas reported on Monday.

Meanwhile, even as theurban parts of the State wentinto a complete lockdown theopposition leaders of Bengalon Monday hailed the ChiefMinister for her “impressiveperformance” in containingthe outbreak.

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Two Indians and 10Kyrgyzstan nationals were

held in preventive custodyhere on Monday in the wake ofthe coronavirus outbreak andsent to the All India Instituteof Medical Sciences (AIIMS) inthe city for tests, police said.

Acting on a complaint bythe locals, police picked themup from a mosque in Kurji areaof the Bihar capital. The for-eigners were Islamic preachers,Digha police station SHOManoj Kumar said.

The two guides are resi-dents of Uttar Pradesh, hesaid.

Six of them were testednegative for COVID-19 whilereports of the others are await-ed, the police officer said.

Six persons whose reportsare awaited have been quar-antined at a city hotel.

"Initially, we detained themfor medical examination butlater set six of them free," theofficer said, adding all hadvalid travel documents.

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Guwahati: The leader of theopposition in AssamLegislative Assembly,Debabrata Saikia, on Mondaywrote to Union HomeMinister Amit Shah expressingconcern over the targeting ofpeople from the north-east fol-lowing the coronavirus out-break.

The Congress leader, in hisletter to Shah, said that he was

bringing to his notice the factthat at a time when the coun-try was struggling to copewith the threat posed by coro-navirus, certain racist ele-ments in some parts of Indiawere abusing and vilifyingpeople with Mongoloid fea-tures who hail from the north-eastern states.

"I have already receivedinformation about several such

incidents, where persons fromthe north-east have beenabused as chinkis, bat-eatingtribe etc," Saikia said.

He said that at a shoppingmall in Pune, a middle-agedwoman abused a young girlfrom the north-east ostensiblybecause she suspected the vic-tim of being a Chinese nation-al, and therefore, responsiblefor spreading the coronavirus.

"Other incidents includeanother young woman fromthe north-east being spat uponby a scooterist in New Delhifor apparently the same rea-son.

A woman named AngelicaAribam was so appallinglyabused on social media that shewas compelled to lodge an FIRwith the Delhi Police against theculprits," he said. PTI

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Jammu: The Army on Mondayannounced the postponement ofits 10-day major recruitmentrally slated to take place inRajouri district of Jammu &Kashmir next month in view ofthe coronavirus outbreak. Therally was meant for eligible can-didates of all the 10 districts ofJammu province. "In view ofCOVID-19, Army RecruitmentRally scheduled to be held atALG, Rajouri from April 20 to29 for eligible candidates ofDoda, Kishtwar, Kathua, Jammu,Poonch, Rajouri, Ramban, Reasi,Samba and Udhampur districtsof J&K has been postponed tillfurther order," the defencespokesman said. PTI

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After locking down fourmost-affected districts in

Jammu & Kashmir andLadakh, the administrators onMonday decided to seal inter-state borders with Punjab,Himanchal Pradesh, andLadakh to effectively deal withthe outbreak of COVID-19. Italso ordered release of an addi-tional �40 crore to all deputycommissioners to support theircorona-mitigation effortsbesides two months' advanceration to eligible consumers.

The gateway of Jammu &Kashmir at Lakhanpur was

declared out of bounds byplacing concertina wires on thehistoric bridge connectingJammu & Kashmir withMadhopur in Punjab.

To check movement ofpeople in their personal vehi-cles, the Government alsodecided to restrict inter districtmovement of vehicles but onlypermitted movement of vehi-cles ferrying essential supplies.

A Government advisoryurged public to stay at hometo slow the spread of thenovel coronavirus disease(Covid-19) and advised not toventure out unless it isabsolutely essential.

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Patna: Leader of Opposition inthe Bihar Assembly, TejashwiPrasad Yadav, on Mondayoffered his 1, Polo road officialbungalow to the Governmentfor turning it into a makeshiftquarantine camp or a testingcentre for Covid-19.

Taking to Twitter, the RJDleader also said that he woulddonate a month's salary to thechief minister's relief fund tohelp those in need in the wakeof the crisis.

As per the State HealthSocietys bulletin, of the 143samples collected till Sunday, twohave tested positive for Covid-19.

One of them, a 38-year-old man,died at AIIMS, Patna, onSaturday, while the other patientwas undergoing treatment. "Asthe leader of opposition, I havebeen allotted the 1, Polo roadgovernment bungalow. I wouldlike to put it (bungalow) to bet-ter use," Yadav tweeted.

"The bungalow could beused as a quarantine camp or atesting centre, or for setting upisolation wards and increasingthe number of beds. It can alsobe used in any other manner tofight against the coronavirusoutbreak," he wrote on themicroblogging site. PTI

Alipurduar: Over 100 sex work-ers in West Bengal's Alipurduardistrict will not be working forthe next two weeks in the wakeof the coronavirus outbreak,they said on Monday.

People from several places,including neighbouring dis-tricts, visit the red light arealocated in the central part of thedistrict town.

They said that the step wastaken to prevent the spread ofthe deadly virus. A local NGOthat works for the welfare of thesex workers said it would pro-vide financial assistance to thesewomen during the period. "Thisis a very good decision and wewill provide them some assis-tance so that they can sustainthemselves during this period,"said Larry Bose, a member of theNGO. Terming the decisionexemplary, the district's chiefmedical officer Puran Sharmaappreciated the efforts of the sexworkers and said that the movewas much needed. PTI

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In an extreme measure tocheck the alarming spread of

COVID-19, Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray on Mondayordered lockdown in entireMaharashtra till March 31 andsealing of all State borders and25 coronavirus-free district bor-ders, even as the pandemicclaimed one more life and thetotal number of confirmedCOVID-19 cas es shot up to 89in the State.

An overnight after theMaharashtra Governmentextended the Prime Minister-called “Janata Curfew” from 9pm till 5 am, the Chief Ministerannounced a slew of measuresunder the Epidemic DiseasesAct, 1897, including lockdownin the entire State, sealing of allState borders and 25 coron-avirs-free district borders andpenal action against those whoare not complying with “homequarantine”.

“As a precautionary mea-sure to prevent the spread ofcoronavirus, we have sealedthe various borders ofMaharashtra. We have also thecollectors of 25 coronavirus-freedistricts to issue orders pro-hibiting any vehicular move-ments into their districts. Themovement of essential and per-ishable commodities have beenspared from the lockdown of

State borders, the district bor-der sealing orders do not applyto medical emergencies,” theChief Minister said.

Meanwhile, theCoronavirus toll in the Staterose to three as a 68-year oldPhilippine citizen man, whoinitially tested positive andlater tested negative after appar-ently after some recovery, diedat a private hospital late onSunday night.

The patient had been admit-ted to the Kasturba Hospital inMumbai ten days ago and post-recovery when he tested nega-tive, moved to a private hospi-tal where he succumbed late onSunday. “The patient was a caseof diabetes mellitus and asthma.He was admitted on March 13.He had developed acute renalfailure and respiratory distress,”a statement issued by the pub-lic health department of theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) said.

After the latest death, thetotal number coronavirus-relat-ed deaths rose to three. Earlier,a 63-year-old disease-infectedhad died at the Kasurba Hospitalon March 17, while another 63-year-old male patient, who hadbeen admitted to private hospi-tal in Mumbai on March 19.

With 15 more fresh cases,the total number of confirmedcoronavirus cases in the statejumped to 79 on Monday. “Of

the 15 fresh cases, 14 are fromMumbai and one case is fromPune. The fresh cases include 8close contacts or family mem-bers of earlier positive cases and4 with travel history to affectedcountries,” State Health MinisterRajesh Tope said.

Of the total infected cases inthe state, Mumbai accounted fora maximum of 38 cases, whilePune and Pimpri-chinchwadcities reported 16 and 12 casesrespectively. Nagpur, Yavatmal,Kalyan and Navi Mumbairecorded four infected caseseach, while Ahmednagar districtaccounted for two cases. Panvel,Thane, Ulhasnagar, Aurangabadand Ratnagiri registered oneconfirmed coronavirus caseeach. The State Health Ministersaid that the state stood on thethreshold of a 'multiplicationstage' of the virus and empha-sized the need for people tomaintain ‘social distancing’.

"This is the stage to exerciseextreme precautions since wedon't want to enter from PhaseII to Phase III at any cost," Topesaid, as he appealed to people tostay indoors as such a measurewould help check the spread ofCOVID-19.

After 22-hour-long curfew,including the 14-hour-long“Janata Curfew” called by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, peo-ple ventured out of their homesin Mumbai and other parts of

Maharashtra on Monday topurchase essential commoditiesand drugs. Though there werereasonably large crowds aroundgrocery and medical stops, thepolice chose not to enforce sec-tion 144 of CrPc banning five ormore persons understandably tohelp the harried citizens.

Addressing the peopleacross the state live throughsocial media, Uddhav said:“Essential commodities, drugs.Drug manufacturing compa-nies, agricultural goods andproducts, banks/ATMSe relatedactivities, print and electronicmedia, IT, telecom, postal, inter-net and data services, supplychain and transport of essentialcommodities have been sparedfrom the lockdown,” the ChiefMinister said.

Under the lockdown notifi-cation issued by the Maharashtralater in the evening, all publictransport services includinginter-city MSRTC buses andMetro rail will not be permitted.

Significantly enough, taxieswith not more than two personsbesides drivers, autorickshawswith not more than one pas-senger besides driver are per-mitted only for purposes spec-ified in the notification.“However, transport of passen-gers for accessing emergencymedical services shall be per-mitted. Plying of private vehiclesshall be restricted to the extent

of procuring essential com-modities, health services andactivities permitted under theorder and with only one personbesides the driver.

In a restriction that stipu-lates a penal against those notcomplying with “home quaran-tine”, the relevant portion of thenotification read thus: “Everyperson who is required to homequarantine shall strictly observethe same failing which he/shewill be liable for penal action andshifted to Government quaran-tine”.

Under the lockdown order,any congregation of more thanfive persons is prohibited in pub-lic places. “All shops, includingcommercial establishments,offices and factories, workshops,godowns etc shall close theiroperation. However, manufac-turing units engaged in pro-duction of essential commodi-ties like dal, rice mill, relatedunits, dairy units, feed and fod-der units, will be permitted tooperate,” the order stated.

The coronavirus free dis-tricts where borders have beenordered to be sealed are:Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia,Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Satara,Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur,Buldhana, Amravati, Akola,Washim, Nashik, Dhule,Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Beed, Jalna,Osmanabad, Parbhani, Hingoli,Latur, Nanded and Sindhudurg.

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Page 6: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-23 · amid fear of rising NPA in the coming quarters due to the “lockdown”. Take the case of a ... Marandi.

This Sunday, on March 22, sharpat 5 pm, we witnessed a rare trystwhen the entire nation gatheredon their balconies and rooftopsto applaud the valorous brave-

hearts who have been endangering theirlives to serve the rest. The clamour of gongsreverberated like a celebration, reminiscentof some medieval time in history. Exceptthat this solemn and collective chiming ofbells and conch shells was happening in awar-like situation of utter morbidity to fightback the black swan, COVID-19, which hasstruck lives and livelihoods with unprece-dented ferocity.

The Armageddon of 2020 is more per-ilous than the localised terrorist strikes of26/11, the Great Depression of 1929, thefinancial apocalypse of 2008 or any other one-time shocker, devastating human lives andfinancial resources. The spread of the pan-demic has left the medical fraternity and pol-icy-makers confounded on how to deal withthe crisis because the contour of this upheavalis a biological beast and has nothing to dowith the principles of economics. Yes, we areall together and, hopefully, six months fromnow, this, too, shall pass.

We stand at that moment in time whenwe have been compelled to self-reflect andre-strategise from the confines of individualisolation: How do we cope by rebuildingfrom the free-fall of economies; insulate our-selves from being afflicted by the disease; theshock of ensuing job losses; and worst, theemotional aftermath of feeling vulnerableand so close to death? The $87 trillion glob-al economy propels on the simple principleof “one person’s spending being the otherperson’s income” as the underlying driver ofany business activity. With the world in shut-down mode, the economic impact of socialdistancing is at present unquantifiable as therisks to life cascade into financial risks thatwill reverberate for at least a year until a med-ical solution is found.

Restricting physical movement hasdamaged the demand-supply economicsmuch beyond what a cyclic slowdown or arecession could erode, lowering forecasts ofglobal growth to 1.25 per cent. Prolongedgrowth below two per cent is classified as“recession” by the International MonetaryFund (IMF) with shrinkage in every para-meter: From lowered industrialist produc-tion to a slowdown in trade to tighter cap-ital flows, less of oil consumption, heightenedunemployment rates and lowered per capi-ta investment and consumption.

The only light at the end of the tunnelis for the healthcare and pharmaceuticalindustry, e-commerce platforms and any dig-ital business that delivers products and ser-vices online to the customer confined at homeas has been the case for video streaming ser-vices like Netflix, online grocery stores, Ed-tech, e-health and fintech, among others.While other sectors such as the real estate,airlines and telecom were gasping for life

much before the COVID-19pandemic struck, even the fewerstwhile profitable sectors havenow been pushed to the brink.This will all precipitate India’sbanking crisis even deeper witha likelihood of turning evenpositive net-worth firms intonon-performing assets (NPAs).

India’s response is in syncwith the rest of the world in hav-ing to resort to fiscal expansionwhile simultaneously loweringrevenue target expectations toperhaps the lowest ever. Theanticipated shortfall cannot benow made up through disinvest-ment targets but will have todepend on the deficit beingmade up through the windfallgains of roughly $50 billionthrough oil arbitrage. If the 2008financial crisis eroded a decade’sglobal growth and earnings,COVID-19 will globally regressnational and individual gainseven deeper and longer, elevat-ing sovereign and corporate debtto even higher levels than theystood historically.

But who put the world intomass quarantine? Once the chaossettles and a cure is found, Chinamust be held accountable by theWorld Health Organisation(WHO) and international tradebodies for keeping the outbreakunder wraps, which squan-dered precious five weeks thatcould have alerted the world totake proactive measures.According to a Supreme CourtAdvocate, GV Rao, “In interna-

tional/domestic environmentallaws, there is a ‘polluter pays prin-ciple.’ Similarly, China must beforced to provide free medical aidand economic reimbursementsto all countries affected by thevirus.” Especially as China prof-itted the most through globaltrade in the comity of nations. Asthe culprit nation, it deservesinternational sanction and eco-nomic isolation. Because evenacts of genocide or terrorismstand pale in comparison to thehavoc wrought by Corona’s con-tagion and contagiousness.

This is serious and re-readthis point please: I state thatChina’s wilful opacity on thisissue is tantamount to massmurder. Because near-fatal out-breaks can originate from anycountry. But the host nation hasa moral obligation to not wilful-ly obfuscate facts that can jeop-ardise the very survival ofhumanity. As the Chinese econ-omy will be the first to recoverand rise, thereby having the leadin redefining its predominance inthe world order, we need todiminish our over-dependencefor supplies of intermediategoods for pharmaceutical andelectronics from it or any singlenation. Ideally, the culprit mustbe ostracised economically for anear war-like crime.

These are testing times forthe Indian Government to dis-play how it will deliver on easeof living and ease of doing busi-ness, in line with the best prac-

tices being pursued by Canadaand the US among others, asmost nations are movingtowards offering a universalbasic income. Exceeding fiscaldeficits no longer matters as pol-icy-makers now need to tear upconventional theories of eco-nomics that are outdated andsalvage livelihoods by offeringfinancial relief commensuratewith the economic costs of thecrisis. The downside is thateven when the most developedeconomy like the US disburses$1,000 to all adults, people willspend it only on necessities andconserve the rest. This will notspur the demand cycle.

The Government’s task forceunder the Finance Ministry will,of course, address sectoral con-cerns of the largest afflictedunorganised sector, hospitalityand tourism, which employs 40million people. Restaurantsaccount for 7.3 million jobs,aviation has more than 3,50,000employees, ride hailing serviceshave five million driving part-ners, cinema and entertainmentcover eight million and onlinefood delivery companies employ5,00,000. Real estate, the secondbiggest employer after agricul-ture, is expected to take a hit of35 per cent.

But the essence for theGovernment is in speeding upthe response time to effect pay-outs to businesses; to ease liquid-ity for the crippled NBFC andMSME sectors; provide cash

payments for hawkers, vendorsand daily wagers; and food dis-tribution and emergency sheltersto the unorganised and vulner-able sections in need of financialaid with immediacy.

Aside from ensuring freerflow of working capital, theGovernment is now expected totake its fiduciary duties serious-ly by under taking the role of astanding guarantor for a portionof the wages for businessesaffected by the crisis and thoseunable to operate, offering a life-line to citizens by loweringtaxes as also the rates of utilities;extending loan tenors and relax-ing bad-debt norms for smallfirms; and speeding up directcash transfers to eligible JanDhan holders and for MNRE-GA wagers dependent on con-struction activity that hasslowed down.

This is a moment in historythat will test national leadershipby gauging how efficientlyGovernments react with compas-sion, speed and scale. This is nota moment to lose in our attemptto recalibrate and resurrect fromground zero, as it were. We haveto ride it out individually and col-lectively till we inch back to pre-crisis levels, reminding ourselveswith optimism that even war-time losses never precludedstrong economic bounce-backs.

(The writer is an author,columnist, Chairperson of theNational Committee for FinancialInclusion at Niti Aayog)

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Sir — Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan doesn’t believe inrhetoric like many other leaders,who sound much like empty ves-sels. Rather, he has silently engagedhimself in a concrete job. He andhis Government have announceda �20,000 crore revival package forthose economically weak to help them tide over the fallout ofCOVID-19 that has shut down all income-generating opportuni-ties for them.

The package includes�140,000 crore to clear variousdues the Government owes toindividuals and institutions,�2,000 crore in consumer loans,�1,320 crore to disburse two-month welfare pension inadvance and a health package of�500 crore. Be it the handling ofthe Nipah virus, the rehabilitationafter the floods or local gover-nance, Kerala has been way aheadof the curve. Through his human-itarian moves, Vijayan has provedthat his ideology, which is a mixof strategic thinking, communi-cation and coordination, havebeen much better.

Kajal ChatterjeeKolkata

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Govt must go out of the way tofight corona”( March 22). We allhave seen disasters like the tsuna-mi, floods, epidemics such ascholera and other infectious dis-eases like swine flu, bird flu andSARS among others. In all such

situations, we have displayedimmense courage. But never havewe experienced such fear andanxiety as we are witnessing rightnow due to the spread ofCoronavirus.

The Prime Minster’s move toimpose janta curfew was success-ful in bringing the people togeth-er. Other measures such as theshutdown of shops, suspension of

all passenger trains and the impo-sition of air travel restrictions willgo a long way in limiting thespread of the disease. But beyondthis, it is essential to sustain themomentum.

The number of cases beingtested and those found positivecould be the tip of the iceberg.India has very few testing centreswhen compared to its population

size. More intensive measuresmust be taken. At the same time,it is important for theGovernment to take care of thedaily wage earners and ensurethat there is no shortage of essen-tial commodities.

Yugal Kishore SharmaFaridabad

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Sir — It is a fact that the pandem-ic has wreaked havoc all over theworld. In addition to this, manyof us have had to contend with arise in the prices of essentialitems. Using the excuse of ashortage of essential commodi-ties, there are instances of pricesbeing raised even though there isno shortage of goods in reality. Ithas been made worse by all sortsof forwards on social media. Oneis unable to understand whypeople are hoarding items. TheGovernment must make it clearthat shopkeepers, who are sellinggoods at a higher price, will beprosecuted.

Abdul Malik QasmiMumbai

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Page 7: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-23 · amid fear of rising NPA in the coming quarters due to the “lockdown”. Take the case of a ... Marandi.

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Much before the crisis at the beleagueredYes Bank reached a flashpoint [when theReserve Bank of India (RBI) on March

5, 2020, superseded its Board, appointed ex-ChiefFinance Officer (CFO) of the State Bank of India(SBI) as its administrator and imposed a mora-torium for a month on critical operations suchas sanction of fresh loan, renewal of existingloans, �50,000 ceiling on withdrawal of moneyper account] some depositors had alreadysensed it coming.

They withdrew about �18,000 crore duringthe first six months of the current year (depositsdeclined from �2,27,000 crore as on March 31,2019 to �2,09,000 crore as on September 30,2019); of this, �16,000 crore were withdrawn dur-ing July–September, 2019 alone. Thereafter, thewithdrawals leapfrogged to �72,000 crore till themoratorium came into effect on March 5, 2020,the current level of deposits being �1,37,000crore.

At the core of the crisis is the surge in non-performing assets (NPAs) — a jargon for theloans that have turned bad raising seriousdoubt about their recovery. As per results for thethird quarter of current year, the NPAs are�40,000 crore. At this level, the bank was on thebrink of collapse. Had things continued as usual,each one of the remaining depositors would haverushed to withdraw his/her money lying in thebank. Given the mammoth shortfall in availablecapital, this would have led to utter chaos. TheRBI intervention averted it.

Meanwhile, the Union Government hasapproved a scheme for the ‘Reconstruction of YesBank — 2020’ under which the SBI has commit-ted to invest �6,050 crore for 49 per cent share-holding and private sector banks viz. HDFCBank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank andso on, promising to put in about �3,950 crore tak-ing the total capital infusion to about �10,000crore. With this, the moratorium was lifted onMarch 18 when the new Board took over. Underthe new ownership and management control,whether or not, the bank will be able to stem theexodus of depositors, restore confidence and startnormal operations, one time will tell.

Meanwhile, it is necessary to analyse as tohow the Yes Bank came to such a pass; in fact,look at the big picture as to how in a span of twoyears, three other financial entities viz. Punjaband Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank,Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services(IL&FC) and Dewan Housing FinanceCorporation Limited (DHFL) were pushedtowards bankruptcy. At a fundamental level, weneed to look at the manner in which the banksanctions a loan and to whom it is given name-ly, the borrower.

Let us consider three possible scenarios viz.First, the bank has conducted due diligence, care-fully assessed the viability of the project/venturefor which loan is to be given, convinced itselfabout the credibility of the borrower and takenadequate security/collateral against the loan.Second, it has granted loan in a cavalier fashionwithout conducting due diligence and assessingproject viability, at best seeing in some cases,whether or not the borrower has a licence. Third,while, granting the loan, the management onlylooks at the gain that will accrue to it at person-al level under what is termed as “quid pro quo.”

A loan given under category one could go

bad under an external environmentbecoming adverse. For instance, dump-ing of steel by Chinese producers in theIndian market a couple of years back orwithdrawal of the Generalized Schemeof Preferences or the global economicslump accentuated by the Coronavirusand so on. These are all factors beyondthe control of the borrower which couldchange for the better and with policysupport from the Government, thestress on loan can be eased.

The loan given under the secondcategory is potentially vulnerable as atthe time of sanctioning it, the bank sim-ply did not bother to conduct due dili-gence and determine whether theunderlying project is viable. Still, therecould be an unusual chance it is able togenerate adequate cash flows to amor-tise the loan — possibly based on animplicit assumption that there was nomalafide intent.

Coming to category three, a loangiven by the bank top brass with anintent of self-aggrandisement is boundto go junk as the person taking it hasno intent of returning it. The probe cur-rently underway by the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) points to severalloans given by the Yes Bank in this cat-egory. Two such cases that have beenwidely reported include a loan of�3,700 crore extended to DHFL in lieuof the latter returning the favour by giv-ing �600 crore to shell companiesowned by daughters of the ex-Chairman of the bank. Second is theloan of �1,900 crore extended to theAvantha group in lieu of the benefit ofover �300 crore given by the latter tothe wife of the ex-Chairman for pur-chase of a posh bungalow in New Delhi.

The agencies have reportedlyunravelled 78 shell companies owned

and controlled by the kin of the ex-chairman and used for laundering theproceeds of corruption. From thisalone, one gets an idea of the magni-tude of bribe money in the deals, man-ifold gain to the borrower (in the citedcases, the ratio is 6:1) and correspond-ing loss to the bank in NPAs. There isno way any loss being the result of a“quid pro quo” arrangement betweenthe bank top brass and borrower, couldbe recovered.

Add to this, NPAs due to loansgiven to Reliance CommunicationsLimited (RCL), Jet Airways, Cox &Kings and so on. The capital loss onboth these counts may well be inexcess of �30,000 crore.

The project ‘Reconstruction of YesBank — 2020’ is an attempt to plug thisbig hole created in the bank’s balancesheet by the dubious actions of the pro-moter and irregularities at the manage-ment level. To the extent, it remainsunplugged (so far, the total commit-ment is just about �10,000 crore; whichconsortium members are forced to keepinvested for three years, the SBI’s wholecontribution and private investors 75per cent), even after reconstruction, thebank will remain vulnerable.

Here, we need to recognise that theproblem is systemic. All other entities(having gone bankrupt) had givenloan under the third category. Forinstance, �6,500 crore loan given byPMC to Housing Development andInfrastructure Limited; tens of thou-sands of crores in dubious loans givenby IL&FS which landed in dozens ofshell companies owned by the top brassof the former and so on.

There is a lurking fear that thiscould be the tip of the iceberg. In thatscenario, we could be staring at a big

jolt to the financial system. The RBI andthe Government need to change gears.Instead of bolting the stable after thehorses have fled, they need to beproactive and focus more on “preven-tive” measures.

They should use surveillance pow-ers to actually see things happening andpre-empt the chances of dubious loansbeing sanctioned — instead of waitingfor the balance sheet and audit reportto be finalised. If need be, the BankingRegulation Act should be amended.The Yes Bank episode clearly demon-strates that proactive regulatory inter-vention on “real time” basis is far morecrucial than even governance reformsin banks. It also shows that lowering ofGovernment shareholding in publicsector banks to below 50 per cent or pri-vatisation in plain words is not apanacea for the latter’s ills. Irrespectiveof whether a bank is owned by a Stateor private entity, the managements areprone to playing with public money.This attitude is propelled by lack oftimely supervision on one hand andabsence of punishment commensuratewith the crime on the other.

The bailout given and that, too,using public money (resurrection of YesBank involves 60 per cent of capitalinfusion by the SBI which is majority-owned by the Government) emboldensthem to continue with their gameplan. It is, therefore, incumbent uponthe Government and the RBI to do allthat is necessary to give a body blow tothis attitude. Otherwise, the bankswill continue to remain vulnerable tomanipulation by the top managementincluding by the founder/owner foradding to personal riches.

(The writer is a New Delhi-basedpolicy analyst)

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At a time when the COVID-19outbreak has forced most peo-ple around the world to hun-

ker down and go into self-isolation,distancing themselves from everyonesocially and professionally, there arepeople who are putting themselves atrisk and who are pulling out all stopsto fight the pandemic and stall itsdeathly march across the globe.These soldiers in the war againstCoronavirus are the doctors, nurses,paramedics and other healthcareworkers who are putting their ownlives at risk and fulfilling their dutyand moral obligation like true profes-

sionals. Acknowledgement of theselfless service that the medical com-munity is providing to people aroundthe world and in India by world lead-ers and citizens alike, helps to bolstertheir confidence and motivates themto work with greater zeal.

It was heart-warming to hear allthe clapping and ringing of bells andbeating of drums and thalis by peo-ple across the country on March 22at the behest of the Prime Ministerto acknowledge the yeoman’s servicebeing provided by the media, police,doctors, nurses, other healthcareworkers, and so on.

In times like this, when social dis-tancing is becoming imperative, therole of doctors has again come to thefore and it is vital that doctorsremain closer than ever before to theirpatients. Their professional com-mitment demands that doctorsremain at the beck and call ofpatients.

So, what defines a doctor in thesesituations? No doubt it is a mix of

skills such as leadership, managinguncertainty, problem-solving, risk-taking, professional judgment and agrasp of clinical situations based ona deep understanding of the area ofpractice. Most importantly, theirmuch-required confidence and assur-ance of survival to the patients is themost important element.

During the last few decades, wehave witnessed many disease out-breaks such as Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome (SARS),Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS), H1N1 flu virus (Swine Flu)and Nipah virus among others. Allthese required quick responses fromhealthcare providers and the wholeworld have seen how Indian doctorshave proved their professionalism, beit on the ground in India or playinga critical role abroad. OurGovernment places huge faith in itshealthcare professionals and keepssending medical teams abroad as well.Doctors are among the first toobserve patients suffering from the

attack of a deadly disease, especiallyas initial signs and symptoms may besubtle or mimic common disorders,prompting victims to contact theirprimary care physicians.

In its initial stages, a contagionlike COVID-19 may not be obviousas healthcare systems sometimes arenot fool proof enough due to theirlimitations and may not always detectsuspicious patterns. In the majorityof cases, early symptoms are vagueand readily mistaken for more com-mon upper respiratory infectionssuch as influenza and staphylococcalenterotoxin B or viral gastroenteritis,which take a heavy toll on a nation’shealth.

Depending on the agent and itsmode of transmission, the populationdensity and access to healthcare, it canbe days or even weeks before anyonecan recognise the problem. As earlyresponse may be crucial in contain-ing the problem and minimisingresultant morbidity and mortality,doctors play a vital role in recording

data and developing the response sys-tem for later reference. The doctors,therefore, are first to become awareof a problem and are pivotal in ini-tiating and guiding the public healthresponse. It is they, who have toremain vigilant about general trendsand patient flow in their clinics andcommunicate the same to the healthauthorities to formulate the rightstrategy at the national level.

In an emergency situation doc-tors are required to go beyond theirroutine responsibilities. They have tocarry out exhaustive jobs in a stress-ful environment as witnessed inChina, Italy and France which arenow the epicentres of disease spread.Despite the potential hazards, health-care professionals always maintain astate of calm and readiness for fulfill-ing the planned emergency tasks inthese situations without being con-cerned for their own safety or well-being. Early responders, doctors,nurses and other healthcare profes-sionals during these times require

protection as well. Since they care forboth patients who are suffering fromCoronavirus as well as the regularpatients, they could inadvertentlyspread communicable agents ratherquickly, especially to vulnerablemembers of the population.Therefore, in the interest of thenation, it is essential that healthcareprofessionals adequately protectthemselves. In fact, all hospital per-sonnel, including regular employees,volunteers and temporary staff,should follow the highest level of per-sonal protection from infection andother risks to their safety and thesame degree of access to occupation-al health services.

Anxiety among staff confrontedwith a crisis involving the COVID-19, a highly contagious infectious dis-ease, is to be expected and requiresactive management through per-sonal protective procedures and psy-cho-social support.

There is also a chance that theefficiency and effectiveness of hospi-

tal staff may be adversely affected bycircumstances not necessarily or notdirectly related to the crisis, such asan illness or a conflict between fam-ily and work commitments. Duringan emergency of this scale, therecould also be the need for addition-al personnel for providing specialisedcare to meet the likely increase innumbers of patients seeking admis-sion to the hospital. Arrangementsmust be made to meet such eventu-alities so that there is enough time forthe healthcare professionals to restand re-energise. Provisions for req-uisitions have to be made to thearmed forces for getting their person-nel to meet emergency situations.

In these trying times when mostof us want to stay within our comfortzones to beat the Coronavirus, healthprofessionals are putting their armouron and attacking it with full force. Letus give more power to these heroeswho will eventually save the world.

(The writer is Chief ClinicalOfficer, Clove Dental)

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The coronavirus death toll inSpain surged to 2,182 after

462 people died within 24hours, the health ministry saidon Monday.

The death rate showed a27-per cent increase on the fig-ures released a day earlier,with the number of confirmedcases of COVID-19 rising to33,089 in Spain, one of theworst-hit countries in the worldafter China and Italy.

Despite an unprecedentednational lockdown which wasput in place on March 14, thenumber of deaths and infec-tions have spiralled in Spain,with the figures growing as thecountry steps up its capacity fortesting. And the lockdown,which was initially put in placefor two weeks, will be extend-ed until April 11 to try to curbthe spread, Prime MinisterPedro Sanchez said — in ameasure which will be put toparliament on Tuesday.

The rise in infections inthis country of 46 million peo-ple has brought Spain’s health-care system to the brink of col-lapse, particularly in Madrid,the worst-hit area, which hasregistered 10,575 cases, andwhere 1,263 people have died— accounting for 58 per centof the national death toll.

Some 3,910 healthcareworkers have tested positive forthe virus, or around 12 per centof those infected, the healthministry’s emergencies coor-dinator Fernando Simon said.

Officials have repeatedly

warned that the number ofdeaths and infections wouldcontinue to rise this week and that the worst was yet tocome.

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Italy banned travel and shutdown a range of industries

Monday in a last-ditch push tostem the spread of a coron-avirus that has killed nearly5,500 people in a month.

The latest wave of restric-tions is designed to get theMediterranean countrythrough a vital 10-day stretchin which the rate of deaths andinfections is supposed to final-ly drop.

Italy’s health officialssounded notes of guarded hopeafter reporting another 651fatalities on Sunday.

The figure was the second-highest recorded during thecrisis and above that officiallyregistered anywhere else in theworld in a day.

But it was still lower thanthe record 793 deaths healthofficials announced onSaturday. The number of newinfections also rose Sunday bya relatively modest 10.4 per-cent. The chief health officer ofnorthern Italy’s devastatedLombardy region soundeduncharacteristically upbeatSunday.

“These figures are always amatter of either seeing theglass as half full or half empty,”Giulio Gallera wrote onFacebook.

“Today, the glass is halffull.”

Italy has sacrificed its econ-omy and liberties by shuttingdown and banning almosteverything to halt the spread ofa virus the government viewsas an existential threat.

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The number of deathsaround the world from the

novel coronavirus cases stoodat 15,189, according to a tallycompiled by AFP on Mondayfrom official sources.

More than 341,300declared cases have been reg-istered in 174 countries and ter-ritories since the epidemic firstemerged in China inDecember.

The tallies, using data col-lected by AFP offices fromnational authorities and infor-mation from the World HealthOrganization (WHO), likelyreflect only a fraction of theactual number of infections.

Many countries are nowonly testing cases that requirehospitalisation. Italy, whichrecorded its first coronavirusdeath in February, now hasmore fatalities than China with5,476, as well as having 59,138declared infections with 7,024recoveries.

China -- excluding HongKong and Macau -- has to datedeclared 81,093 cases, includ-ing 3,270 deaths, with 72,703people recovered. It reported 39new cases and nine new fatal-ities since Sunday.

The third worst hit coun-try is Spain with 2,182 fatalitiesand 33,089 cases, followed byIran with 1,812 fatalities and23,049 cases, France with 674deaths and 16,018 cases, andthe United States with 471

deaths and 35,224 cases.Since 1900 GMT Sunday,

the Czech Republic, Nigeriaand Montenegro announcedtheir first deaths. Papua NewGuinea and Syria reportedtheir first cases.

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More than one billion peo-ple have been asked to

stay home in more than 50countries and territories aroundthe world as governments bat-tle the coronavirus pandemicsweeping the globe, accordingto an AFP tally Monday.

Some countries imposedmandatory lockdown mea-sures, while others have issuedstay-at-home recommenda-tions to stem the spread of thevirus. At least 34 countries orterritories has establishedmandatory lockdown measuresordering people to stay in theirhomes, accounting for some659 million people. Thisincludes France, Italy,

Argentina, the US state ofCalifornia, Iraq and Rwanda.

Greece is the most recentcountry to impose mandatoryconfinement measures, whichcame into effect on Mondaymorning. Colombia willenforce an obligatory lock-down on Tuesday and NewZealand will follow suitWednesday. In most cases it isstill possible to leave the houseto go to work, buy essentials orseek medical care.

At least four countries witha collective population of morethan 228 million people,including Iran, Germany andBritain, have urged their pop-ulations to stay indoors andlimit contact with other peopleas much as possible.

Berlin: Chancellor AngelaMerkel was on Sunday in quar-antine after meeting a doctorwho tested positive for thenovel coronavirus, as Germanyfurther tightens rules on pub-lic gatherings and plots ataboo-breaking package of sup-port for Europe’s top economy.

News of Merkel’s potentialexposure to the virus cameminutes after she announced aban on public gatherings ofmore than two people andfurther infection control mea-sures.

“The Chancellor has decid-ed to quarantine herself imme-diately at home. She will betested regularly in the comingdays... (and) fulfil her officialbusiness from home,”spokesman Steffen Seibert saidin a statement.

Merkel had been slated tolead a cabinet meeting Mondayto sign off on a 822-billion-euro($882 billion) slew of measuresto support Europe’s top econ-omy through the shutdowns ofpublic life designed to slow theinfection’s spread. AFP

Islamabad: Pakistan said onMonday that the total numberof coronavirus cases in thecountry rose to 803, even as theArmy scrambled to put togeth-er all resources to tackle theinfection which has claimedmore than 15,000 lives world-wide.

At least six people havedied, while six others recoveredfrom COVID-19 so far, accord-ing to the country’s NationalDisaster Management

Authority. Of the total 803cases, Sindh province account-ed for with 352 cases, Punjab246, Balochistan 108, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 32, Islamabad15 and Gilgit-Baltistan 72 and1 in Pakistan-occupiedKashmir.

Sindh Education MinisterSaeed Ghani in a video messageon Monday confirmed that hehad tested positive for coron-avirus and was now in isolationat his home. PTI

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Iran on Monday announced127 new deaths from the

novel coronavirus, raising theofficial toll to 1,812 in one ofthe worst hit countries alongwith Italy, Spain and China.

Health ministryspokesman KianoucheJahanpour said 1,411 new caseshad been recorded in Iran overthe past 24 hours, bringing thetotal of those infected to 23,049.

Jahanpour, who was speak-ing during his daily news con-ference devoted to the pan-demic, said he would no longergive a breakdown of cases byprovince.

This was necessary, he said,to avoid sparking undue con-cern among residents of themost stricken areas and ensurethat those in less affected zones

remained cautious.All of Iran’s 31 provinces

have been hit by the novel coro-navirus outbreak. Tolls pro-vided by the health ministry inrecent days indicated that thespread of the virus has wors-ened especially in northernand central regions of Iran.Jahanpour renewed a call byauthorities for people to stay athome until “the virus is con-quered”.

That call has come as theIslamic republic is celebratingthe Iranian New Year, a time when people usuallytravel far and wide across thecountry for holidays and fam-ily reunions.

Authorities, however, havenot imposed any travel ban orlockdown on Iran where theNowruz holiday continues untilApril 3.

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US President Donald Trump has said heis “a little upset” with China over its late

sharing of information on the outbreak ofthe deadly coronavirus and refusing toaccept a visit by American medical expertsto the country “out of pride”. “They shouldhave told us about this,” Trump toldreporters at a Press conference in the WhiteHouse on Sunday during a briefing on hisadministration’s coronavirus response.

“I’m a little upset with China. I’ll behonest with you, because as much as I like(Chinese) President Xi (Jinping) and asmuch as I respect and admire the coun-try,” he said. There are now 31,057 con-firmed cases across the US, with 390deaths. New York state has become the epi-centre of the outbreak in the US andaccounts for almost half of the country’scases. Trump said soon after he receivedinformation about the spread of thedeadly viral infection in China, he want-ed to send US medical team there.However, China did not allow.

United Nations: United Nations Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres on Monday called for an “imme-diate global ceasefire” in all corners of the world,emphasising that it is time to put armed conflict inlockdown and focus on the fight against the rapidly-spreading coronavirus pandemic. His appeal came asthe total number of deaths due to coronaviruscrossed 15,000 globally. Over 341,300 cases have beenregistered in 174 countries and territories since theepidemic first emerged in China in December.

Addressing UN correspondents in a virtual brief-ing, Guterres said: “Our world faces a common enemy:COVID-19. The virus does not care about national-ity or ethnicity, faction or faith. It attacks all, relent-lessly”. He voiced concern that as coronavirus spreadsacross the world, armed conflict rages on around theworld and the most vulnerable — women and chil-dren, people with disabilities, the marginalised andthe displaced — pay the highest price. Noting that these people are also at the highest riskof suffering devastating losses from COVID-19, he saidthat health systems have collapsed in war-ravagedcountries.

“The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.That is why today, I am calling for an immediate glob-al ceasefire in all corners of the world. It is time to putarmed conflict on lockdown and focus together on thetrue fight of our lives,” the UN chief said. PTI

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Zagreb: Croatia has experi-enced a series of aftershocks aday after a strong earthquakecaused widespread damage andinjured at least 27 people amida partial coronavirus lockdownof the capital.

Seismologists said Mondayat least 38 weaker temblorswere felt in Zagreb since a 5.5magnitude quake struck thecapital early Sunday, triggeringpanic, the evacuation of hos-pitals and structural damage,including the city’s iconiccathedral and other historicbuildings.

The strongest aftershockwas around noon, measuring3.7. AP

KABUL: US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo was in Kabul onan urgent visit Monday to try tomove forward a US peace dealsigned last month with theTaliban, a trip that comes despitethe coronavirus pandemic, at atime when world leaders andstatesmen are curtailing officialtravel. Since the signing of thedeal, the peace process hasstalled amid political turmoil inAfghanistan, with the country’sleaders squabbling over who waselected president.

President Ashraf Ghani andhis main rival in last September’spresidential polls, AbdullahAbdullah, have both declaredthemselves the country’s presi-dent in dueling inauguration

ceremonies earlier this month. Pompeo met separately

with Ghani and was meetingwith Abdullah before going tomeet together with bothAfghan leaders. His schedulealso has Ghani and Abdullahcoming together for a one-on-one meeting, presumably todiscuss a possible compromise.

The United States pays bil-lions every year toward theAfghan budget, including thecountry’s defence forces.Afghanistan barely raises aquarter of the revenue it needsto run the country, givingPompeo considerable finan-cial leverage to force the twosquabbling leaders to over-come the impasse. AP

Jerusalem: Israel’s SupremeCourt on Monday ordered thecountry’s parliament to recon-vene for the selection of a newspeaker, dealing a blow toPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu as he tries to steerthe country through the coro-navirus crisis and fend off alooming corruption trial.

The current speaker, YuliEdelstein of Netanyahu’s Likudparty, suspended the parlia-ment’s activities last week, cit-ing procedural issues andrestrictions on large gatheringsdue to the virus.

But the opposition Blueand White party, which isbacked by a slim majority in thenewly elected Knesset, said the

country’s legislature must con-tinue to function at such a crit-ical time. The party accusedEdelstein of shuttering the hallsof the legislature in order tokeep his job and shield hisbeleaguered party leader.

Blue and White is expectedto choose a new speaker and useits parliamentary majority topush through legislation thatcould prevent Netanyahu fromserving as prime minister in thefuture. The Likud party hasaccused Blue and White of rely-ing on the votes of “terrorist-sympathizing” Arab members ofparliament to “trample democ-racy” amid a national state ofemergency and vowed to boycotta vote for a new speaker. AP

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The Industries andCommerce Department of

Andhra Pradesh on Mondayissued a set of guidelines forindustrial units in the state tocheck the spread of coronavirus.E-commerce establishments likeWalmart and Amazon would beallowed to supply food, gro-ceries, milk, bread, fruits, veg-etables, meat, fish and also carryout other transport-related activ-ities, logistics, warehousing anddelivery facilities.

The firms could also con-tinue e-commerce services thatare essential to the public,according to Special ChiefSecretary (Industries andCommerce) Rajat Bhargava.

All essential factories andindustries across the state pro-ducing pharmaceuticals, masks,sanitizers, ventilators, COVIDkits and essential food productscould operate duly following thesocial distancing norms andother guidelines issued fromtime to time, the Special ChiefSecretary said.

The district Collectors havebeen directed to permit indus-trial units engaged in continu-ous production (steel plants,cement, fertilisers, textiles, elec-tronics and IT units) to workwith curtailed capacities,reduced shifts and skeletal staff.Bhargava said the lockdownperiod announced by the gov-ernment would not be treated asbreak in production and allindustries should mandatorilypay full salaries and wages toemployees and workers, includ-ing those under contract andoutsourcing.

New Delhi: State-owned shipmaker Cochin Shipyard Ltd(CSL) on Monday said it hasdecided to stop building andrepairing ships as part of itsmeasures to contain the spreadof deadly coronavirus.

The company has alreadybeen taking a series of mea-sures in view of the COVID-19pandemic to ensure safety andhealth of all employees besidescomplying with governmentdirectives, CSL said in a BSE fil-ing. “The company has decid-ed to stop shipbuilding andship repair operations witheffect from (wef) March 23,2020 till further order, to ensuresafety of the employees and tocontain the spread of the coro-navirus (COVID-19),” it said.

PTI

New Delhi: The Centre hasrequested chief secretaries of allstates to exempt services ofSebi-regulated stock marketentities as well as related workforce from the purview oflockdown imposed to curb spreading of coronavirusinfections.

The move comes againstthe backdrop of allegedinstances of brokers, deposito-ry participants and other per-sonnel related to stock marketsfacing difficulties in commut-ing to their workplaces.

In a letter, CabinetSecretary Rajiv Gauba hasrequested that services of Sebi-regulated stock market entitiesbe exempted from the purview

of lockdown.“Further, essential staff

related to these agents shouldbe allowed to commute so as toensure that these establish-ments function smoothly,” asper the letter addressed toChief Secretaries of States andAdministrators of UTs.

Domestic stock market suf-fered its worst-ever single-daycrash on Monday, with thebenchmark indices plummet-ing as much as 13.15 per centas sell-off continued amid ris-ing coronavirus cases.

In the wake of the coron-avirus outbreak, many stateshave announced partial orcomplete lockdown, to curbspreading of infections. PTI

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The Reserve Bank onMonday said bank credit to

registered NBFCs towards agri-culture, MSEs and housingsector up to prescribed limitswill be treated as priority sec-tor loans during the next fiscalstarting April.

The move will help boostcredit disbursement in the targeted segment likeagriculture, MSME and hous-ing sector.

After undertaking a review,it has been decided to extend

the priority sector classificationfor bank loans to NBFCs foron-lending for 2020-21, RBIsaid in a statement.

Further, it said, the existingloans disbursed under the on-lending model will continue tobe classified under PrioritySector till the date of repay-ment/maturity.

“Bank credit to registeredNBFCs (other than MFIs) andHFCs for on-lending will beallowed up to an overall limitof five per cent of individualbank’s total priority sector lend-ing cap,” it said.

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As part of its continuedeffort to provide liquidity,

the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Monday said it willconduct �1 lakh crore of short-term variable repo auction.The repo auctions will be con-ducted in two tranches. Thefirst repo auction of �50,000crore was held on Monday.

“As a pre-emptive mea-sure to tide over any frictionalliquidity requirements onaccount of dislocations due toCovid-19, the RBI has decidedto conduct the fine-tuningvariable rate repo auctions for�1 lakh crore in two tranches,“ the central bank said in arelease.

The RBI is offering fundsto banks for 16 days through

both the auctions. In the firstrepo auction, the RBI received�31,585 crore of bids. It accept-ed all the bids at a cut off rateof 5.16 per cent.

The second tranche of�50,000 crore of repo auctionwill be conducted on March 24.

As a special measure, theRBI has also allowed stand-alone primary dealers to par-ticipate in these repo auctions.

The RBI added it is monitoringthe evolving financial marketconditions.

“We will calibrate our oper-ations to meet any need foradditional liquidity support, ifwarranted, to ensure normalfunctioning of markets, pro-mote staff welfare and preservefinancial stability,” the centralbank said.

Earlier on Monday, the

RBI said it has advanced thesecond tranche of open market operation (OMO)purchase to March 26 fromMarch 30.

It will buy �15,000 crore offour government securitiesunder OMO purchase auctionon March 26.

The first tranche of OMOpurchase worth �15,000 crorewill be conducted on March 24.

New Delhi: Website andmobile app of online groceryseller BigBasket on Mondayfaced breakdown due to surgein demand amid the coron-avirus outbreak. Following theload, the company restrictedaccess of service only for exist-ing customers. “We are cur-rently experiencing unprece-dented demand. In light of this,we are restricting access toour website to existing cus-tomers only. Please try again ina few hours,” it said. PTI

New Delhi: Markets regulatorSebi on Monday put in place aframework for invocation aswell as encumbrance on unitsof real estate and infrastructureinvestment trusts.

In a separate circular, Sebihas also extended the regulato-ry due date for filing and com-pliance for real estate investmenttrusts (REITs) and infrastruc-ture investment trusts (InVITs)for the financial year endingMarch 31, by one month over

and above the timeline in thewake of coronavirus pandemic.

In view of developmentssurrounding the spread ofCOVID-19, “a need for tem-porary relaxation in compliancerequirements for REIT andInvIT is warranted”, it added.With regard to encumbrance,Sebi said entities required tohold units of REITs and InvITsmay create encumbrance onsuch units during the manda-tory holding period wherein

encumbrance will includepledge, lien, negative lien, non-disposal undertaking or anyother covenant, transaction,condition or arrangement in thenature of encumbrance.

This is subject to the con-ditions that for creation andinvocation of encumbrance arealso included in the agree-ment executed for the purposeof creation of such encum-brance, the Sebi said in two cir-culars. PTI

New Delhi: General Motors(GM) on Monday said it hassuspended production at itsTalegaon manufacturing facil-ity in Maharashtra, in supportof government efforts to pre-vent the spread of COVID-19(coronavirus).

The company, which hasceased to sell products in theIndian market and utilises theplant for export purposes, saidsuspension of production beganon March 21 and will run untilMarch 31, 2020. PTI

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday asked

captains of India Inc to ensurethat production of essentialitems is not impacted in thewake of the coronavirus out-break and there is no hoardingand black marketing.

During his interaction withleaders of India Inc, the PrimeMinister also asked them toallow employees to work fromhome, said an official release.

“The impact on economywill be felt for some time tocome,” said PM as he exhortedIndia Inc to adopt a humanitar-ian approach and not to cutdown on workforce in spite ofthe COVID-19 negative impacton their businesses. “The PMsaid that while the Governmentwas working on giving fillip tothe pace of growth in the coun-try, an unforeseen hurdle in theform of COVID-19 came infront of the economy.

“He said the challengeposed by the pandemic isgraver than even that posed bythe World Wars and we need tobe on constant vigil to preventits spread,” the release said.

Industry representativesfrom Assocham, FICCI, CIIand several local chambers from18 cities across the country par-ticipated in the interaction withthe PM through video-confer-encing. Modi asked the indus-try “to allow employees to workfrom home” wherever doing sois feasible through using tech-nology, the release said.

He exhorted them to adopta humanitarian approach andnot to cut down on workforcein spite of the negative impacton their businesses. The PMstressed that while theGovernment was working ongiving fillip to the pace ofgrowth in the country, anunforeseen hurdle in the formof COVID-19 came in front ofthe economy.

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The spread of coronavirus inIndia is rapidly increasing

with eachpassing day, theMinistry of Electronics andInformation Technology reiter-ated advisory to all social mediaintermediaries — Facebook,YouTube, TikTok, ShareChatand Twitter to control the spreadof misinformation on coron-avirus pandemic.

Showing their sense ofresponsibility, such intermedi-aries have been showing ontheir platforms the links to theWHO’s dos and don’ts regardingthe virus, and how to contain itsspread. As per a statementreleased by the ministry, socialmedia platforms are intermedi-aries as defined under section2(1)(w) of the InformationTechnology Act, 2000 and arerequired to follow due diligenceas prescribed in the InformationTechnology (IntermediaryGuidelines) Rules notified undersection 79 of the IT Act.”Socialmedia platforms must informtheir users not to host, display,upload, modify, publish, trans-mit, update or share any infor-mation that may affect publicorder in any way,” the statementread.

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China on Monday “applaud-ed” the aid sent by India dur-

ing the height of Beijing’s battleagainst the deadly coronavirusand said it would like to share itsexperience in handling theCOVID-19 with New Delhi andprovide necessary assistance inpreventing its spread.

India sent about 15 tonnesof medical assistance compris-

ing masks, gloves and otheremergency medical equipmentto the coronavirus-hit Wuhancity on February 26 by a mili-tary plane, which also evacu-ated 112 Indians and severalforeign nationals.

In his media briefing here,Foreign Ministry spokesmanGeng Shuang said China isextending assistance and aid tolocal Governments in 19 coun-tries which have extended assis-tance to it when the coronavirusoutbreak struck the country.

Asked about the conspicu-ous absence of India in the 19countries listed by him, Geng said India and Chinahave an “unimpeded channel ofexchanges and the exchange is close.” “After the outbreak ofCOVID-19, China and Indiahave been in communicationand there is cooperationbetween the two. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi senta letter of sympathies with theChinese side and the IndianForeign Minister also spoke

with the Chinese side overphone,” he said.

“We have received assis-tance from the Indian sideand we applaud that. We havea mechanism of exchanges andChina has been notifying theinformation to India in a time-ly manner,” he said.

“We have also been pro-viding assistance and neces-sary convenience to the Indiansin China. We have been pro-tecting their health and safety,”he said. “As the pandemic

spreads, we have also noted thesituation in India. China andIndia are the only two countrieswith a population of over onebillion. The virus is a challengeto all and we would like to shareour experience with the Indianside and further provide neces-sary assistance to the Indianside,” he said.

Geng also pointed out Indiawas part of a video conferenceconducted by the Chinese offi-cials to share their COVID-19experience with Eurasia and

South Asian countries recently.South Asian countries

including India, Sri Lanka,Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan,Maldives, Bangladesh partici-pated in it, he said. Officialsincluded those from healthauthorities, diplomatic ser-vices, national defence, customscivil aviation etc. The WorldHealth Organisation delegatesin the relevant countries alsoparticipated in the video con-ference, he said.

The conference was a plat-

form to share China’s experiencein epidemic prevention, diag-nosis and control, treatment,supply guarantee, Geng said,adding that Chinese officialsanswered around 80 questions.Geng said the conference lastedfor four hours and around 2,000representatives participated in it.The participants think it is time-ly and necessary to learn fromChina’s experience, he said.

China, which is battling thecoronavirus since January 23, hasreported no new domestic cases

of the COVID-19 on Sunday butreported nine deaths taking thedeath toll to 3,270 as it rampedup measures to strictly quaran-tine people coming from abroad.

The overall confirmedcases on the Chinese mainlandhas reached 81,093 by the endof Sunday. It included 3,270people who died of the disease,5,120 patients still undergoingtreatment, 72,703 patients dis-charged after recovery, accord-ing to China’s National HealthCommission.

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The trial of three Russians anda Ukrainian charged with

multiple murder for their allegedroles in shooting down MalaysiaAirlines Flight 17 in 2014resumed briefly Monday as thepresiding judge read out a num-ber of preliminary decisions.

Courtroom was almostempty due to restrictions aimedat slowing spread of coron-avirus. Decisions on severalrequests by prosecutors forfurther investigations weredelayed to give defense lawyersfor one of defendants moretime to prepare.

Among decisions taken bythe court since the trial openedon March 9, Presiding JudgeHendrik Steenhuis authorisedprosecutors to give lawyers forfamily members of the 298 vic-tims access to limited parts ofthe investigation dossier.

After a hearing of just under45 minutes, the case wasadjourned until June 8, whendefense lawyers for one of thesuspects will be allowed to makepreliminary objections such aschallenging the Dutch court’sjurisdiction to stage the trial.

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Maximum City”, “The CityThat Never Sleeps” aresome of the descriptions

that Mumbai attracts. In popularimagination, the metro is synony-mous with the film industry which,by default, also gets imbued withthe qualities of the city. But withboth being intertwined, it is not sur-prising that with the shutdown inplace due to the Coronavirus orCOVID-19 pandemic, Bollywoodsits at home — quarantined andongoing productions have cometo an untimely and infinite halt.

However, the people who pop-ulate the industry are as tensile assome of the characters that theyportray on screen. So when thestars can’t step out of their homesto shoot another blockbuster, whatdo they do? They’ve fallen back ontechnology to catch up. And thanksto social media we also get aglimpse into how they are goingabout keeping social distance attheir respective homes.

PRIYANKA-NICK’s SOCIALMEDIA MUSH

Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas,along with her husband Nick,posted a mushy picture on socialmedia while emphasising on thefact that self-isolation is the needof the hour. The actress can beseen sleeping with her head onNick’s lap. Their pet dog is sittingand relaxing next to the couple.She captioned the photo, “Stay athome.” On the other hand, Nickshared a video in which the twourged people to stay at home and

maintain social distancing.

DEEPIKA’s PRODUCTIVITYEPISODES

Bollywood actor DeepikaPadukone is utilising her time athome productively in a time ofCOVID-19 pandemic. She took tosocial media and shared a photo-graph of her wardrobe and said thatshe is busy cleaning it. “Productivityin the time of COVID-19!? #clean-ing #wardrobe,” she captioned it.

Post this, it was time for some“self love” for the actor. A photo-graph in which she was seen pos-ing with a face roller popped upnext on her account. “Season 1:Episode 2, Productivity in the timeof COVID-19! #selflove #selfcare,”she wrote.

She later posted her third pro-ductivity episode where she can beseen drinking fruit juice in hernightwear.

ALIA’s “ME TIME”Actor Alia Bhatt took to

Instagram to share various picturesof how staying at home at this timeis important and can be utilised forcompleting important chores. Oneof them was reading a book, whichshe captioned, “stay home andfinish a book.” Alia was reading abook on musician Nitin Sawhney.With the post, she urged her fansto finish the book they have beenwanting to for a long time.

She later posted an image ofherself looking at the sunset.Utilising the quarantine time to themaximum, she also posted an

image of herself which was cap-tioned, “Stay home and take self-ies (be)cause a little vanity neverhurt anybody.”

KAREENA ENJOYING HERNEWLY-JOINED INSTAGRAM

Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan,who recently made her debut onInstagram, said that there couldhave been no better timing thanthis as she is able utilise her timeto the maximum on social media.

She had earlier shared aglimpse of what the couple’s weekahead would look like. Kareenarevealed what the couple would doduring their self-isolation period:“Looks like he is ‘booked’ for theweek... While I Instagram.” She alsoshared two photos — one of Saif

reading a book peacefully in a can-dle-lit study room and the otherone of the opposite end of theroom, where she can be seen usingher phone while sitting on a sofachair.

Her next post was a cheekyselfie with a bookshelf. She can beseen with a French dictionary byCollins Robert among others andwrote dreaming of everybody’sfavourite junk, “I just love Frenchfries.”

Kareena and Saif Ali Khanknow how to keep Taimur enter-tained while abiding by JanataCurfew on Sunday, and stayingindoors in the wake of coronavirusoutbreak. In Kareena’s latest post,she shared a few photographs inwhich we can see Saif and Taimurplanting saplings in their balcony.The father-son duo is dressed inwhite kurta-pyjama. “My boysdoing their bit,” Kareena captionedthe photos. The actor also urgedpeople to “make the world a bet-ter place” and “play their part”. “StayHome...Stay Safe. #JanataCurfew,”she added.

BOLLYWOOD CLAPS FORCOVID-19 WARRIORS

Bollywood biggies likeAmitabh Bachchan, AkshayKumar, Hrithik Roshan, AishwaryaRai Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, VarunDhawan, Karan Johar, KiaraAdvani and Hema Malini wereseen participating in PM NarendraModi’s Janata Curfew ‘taali bajao’or clapping initiative to pay tributeto all those who are working round

the clock to eradicate COVID-19from India.

RANVEER’s “OUT OF QUAR-ANTINE” LOOK

Bollywood’s livewire starRanveer Singh shared his “out ofquarantine” look. In a photographthat he posted of himself onInstagram, the actor carried dread-locks and had an intense look. Hecaptioned it, “Me coming out ofquarantine.”

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE BYSURIYA

Tamil actor Suriya also took tosocial media to explain to fans theimportance and necessity of socialdistancing. In a brief video, theactor talked about how theCoronavirus is spreading fasterthan we thought and we can spreadawareness about it. Referencing tothe Jallikattu and Marina protests,he asked people to stay indoors andtake part in this war againstCorona. He also said that thedeath toll in Italy is higher than inChina because of the ignorance ofpeople living outside. The actorinsisted that we should follow theprecautions such as keeping safedistance from one another andwashing hands, so that India does-n’t become another Italy.

He also explained that when aperson, who carries the virus, trav-els by train or goes to a public eventinstead of isolating himself, he pass-es the virus to everyone around,and they suffer. He added that doc-tors, government officials have

been risking their lives, so wehave to be at home to stay healthy.Suriya then quoted a few wordsfrom Valluvar’s classic TamilLanguage text, The Thirukkural,which says, “Anjuvathu anjamaipethamai (It is foolish to say no tofear).”

SIDHARTH COOKS PRAWNSActor Sidharth Malhotra is

trying his hands at something new— cooking prawns. Sidharth shareda video on Twitter in which we cansee him cooking. He captions it,“Well, it’s never too late to try some-thing new! Here’s #MyAttempt atcooking butter garlic prawns for thefirst time, which surprisinglyturned out pretty well.”

SOURCES OF ENTERTAIN-MENT

When you were closeted withyour cousins and friends in aroom or during a long train jour-ney, Antakshari, the quintessentialIndian past time came to the res-cue. Bollywood has taken to it a leafout of that book but tweaked it topresent times. Actors AparshaktiKhurrana, Parineeti Chopra,Nupur Sanon, Bhumi Pednekar,and singers Vishal Dadlani,Harshdeep Kaur, Jonita Gandhi,Armaan Malik and Aditya Narainare some who have posted videosof themselves singing song takingoff from the last alphabet of thesinger who had tagged them wherethey are playing#QuarantineAntakshari.

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Photography is perhaps the onlyart form that captures the pre-

sent and seals it forever in history.Travel photographer Sanjay Das haschosen to lay particular emphasison the visual storytelling of differ-ent parts of India since more thantwo decades. It has always been aneffort to discover the known andunknown facets about this country,he says. However, to do this, oneneeds to walk off the beaten trackwhich the photographer has done.His objective is to create an imagerythat tells a story in texture, and inlight and shadow to form a uniqueblend, which is spiritually as well asmentally rewarding.

Bengal has deeply inspired himtime and again. For almost nineyears now,since his firstvisit, he keepsgoing back tothe region.Taking localboats and ani-mal carts toreach thenooks andcrevices of thefasc inat ingland thatholds manysurprises, he says that he alwaysprefers to travel by road. Be it land-scapes, water, people, dialects,architecture, interiors, crafts, folkpaintings, cuisine, textiles or festi-vals — Bengal is one place whereculture is a way of life.

His photographic journey ofthe State is an endeavour to bringforth the ‘spirit of Bengal’ found inthe blend of its land, people, cultureand heritage. “It is mesmerisingwith its long history, cultural lega-cy and ancient architectural sitesand above all, its amiable peopleand natural beauty. Every place Ihave visited is a witness to how thelocals organically weave their spir-itual practices within their every-day activities. The people, their life,occupation, skills, art and craft,tribes, festivals, fairs and rituals,depict the lyrical quality of life, spir-it and the pulse of Bengal,” he says.

The state was the richest partof Medieval India and has a longtradition of popular literature,music and drama largely based onBengali folklore and Hindu epicsand Puranas. He tells us, “RuralBengal takes the lead in keeping the

old customs and the associated songand dance forms alive in the mod-ern era. The folk songs and dancesdeal with a variety of themes.While some are associated with reli-gion, prayers, festivals and rituals,others talk about society at large,and yet others bring religious epicsto life.”

His focus as a photographer isto search and document uniqueimages that present the State as apulsating tapestry of life, interwo-ven together with different ethnic-ity, culture, religion, languages anda diverse landscape — flanked bythe Himalayas in the North, thelush Gangetic plains in the centralpart and the deltas and beaches inthe South before the myriad trib-

utaries and distributaries of Gangafinally drain into the Bay of Bengalforming a unique biosphere, theSunderbans.

“Many of my images havedepicted how devotion and spiritu-ality exist as a way of life in Bengal,in its lanes and by-lanes, throughits sublime culture, inherently reli-gious people and rituals that are inharmony with nature. Be it the dif-ferent religions all-assimilating intoone or the lovely cultural events thatseem to make up the glorious statethat it is. The images of Bengal’sArchitectural influences from dif-ferent eras are seen in its varioustemples, mosques, churches,rajbaris (home of the aristocraticpeople in the olden times) metic-

ulously documented by me,” hesays.

“The water line forms an inte-gral part of Bengal with its manyrivers, Ganga delta and Bay ofBengal. The Hooghly, the lifeline ofmillions of people who live alongits bank, dramatically changes thelandscape, with wonderful lushgreen fertile flood plains of thegolden Bengal. I have capturedmany moments of this fascinatingriver that flows into the Bay ofBengal from the Himalayas whereit is alive with people bathing on itsbanks, pounding their clothes onflat rocks to launder them, fishingfrom boats, towing passengersacross or swimming,” adds Das.

He feels that Kolkata is, indeed,a unique blend of past and thethrobbing vitality of a metropolis ofteeming millions. “The city, with itscenturies-old heritage buildings, isbrimming with life and looks likea medley of colours and sounds.Roads are thickly populated withyellow taxis, the rickshaw-pullers,trams, buses, cars, cycles and peo-ple. Here, life never comes to astandstill, except for the noisyimpasse created by the traffic jams,”Das tells us.

The photographs have beentaken in monochrome as he feelsthat it gives them a nostalgic feel ofthe yesteryears. However, in a spanof nine years, “during the time I wasdoing my survey and research onBengal, I have witnessed thechanges the State has undergone,”he says and adds, “In a few years,many of these facets will be reducedto dust, and with that we lose anessential part of our pristine glory.Therefore, as a photographer, whowants to keep alive the stories andunique elements for posterity, it ismy effort to preserve through visu-al archiving the remains of a glori-ous past and components of ourplush ethnicity. As much as wehope not, this may cease to exist inthe years to come. And that is whenthese archives may help amelioratethe memories of those genera-tions, who may never get to seethese images and memories again.

(Presented by Gallery ArtExposure and curated by Ina Puri,the exhibition, Aparajito — TheUnvanquished, has been put on holddue to the Coronavirus pandemic. Itshall be rescheduled and the gallerywill notify the new updates.)

Daily tasks such as cut-ting, tearing or twisting

open plastic bottles, choco-late packaging and contain-ers at home also generatesmall amounts of microplas-tics — pieces of plastic thatpollute the environment andmay risk humans, warnresearchers.

Microplastics are gener-ally believed to originatedirectly from industry. Forexample, as cosmetic exfoli-ates, or indirectly from thebreakdown of larger plasticitems over time.

Researchers at theUniversity of Newcastle inAustralia monitored the gen-eration of microplastics dur-ing the tearing open ofchocolate packaging, cut-ting of sealing tapes andopening of plastic bottlecaps.

The generation ofmicroplastics during theseprocesses was confirmedusing chemical tests andmicroscopy, said the studypublished in the journalScientific Reports.

The researchers foundthat different shapes andsizes of microplastics weregenerated during tearing or

cutting. These includedfibres, fragments or triangles,ranging from nanometresto millimetres in size.Fragments and fibres weregenerated most often.

They estimated that 10to 30 nanograms (0.00001-0.00003 milligrams) ofmicroplastics may be gener-ated per 300 centimetres ofplastic during cutting ortwisting, depending on theopening approach and con-ditions of the plastic, such asstiffness, thickness or densi-ty. “Everyday activities suchas opening plastic bags andbottles could be additionalsources of small quantities ofmicroplastics,” theresearchers noted.

However, their risk, pos-sible toxicity and how theymay be ingested are not yetresolved and further researchinto human exposure isneeded, the study said.

The finding sends animportant warning that wemust be careful when open-ing plastic packaging, if weare concerned aboutmicroplastics and care aboutreducing microplastics con-tamination.

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Page 12: English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in … · 2020-03-23 · amid fear of rising NPA in the coming quarters due to the “lockdown”. Take the case of a ... Marandi.

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�6�'���8> Canadian Olympicofficials on Sunday urged post-ponement of the Tokyo Games,saying that in view of the coro-navirus pandemic they won’tsend team in summer of 2020.

“The Canadian OlympicCommittee (COC) andCanadian ParalympicCommittee (CPC), backed bytheir Athletes’ Commissions,National Sports Organizationsand the Government ofCanada, have made the difficultdecision to not send Canadianteams to the Olympic andParalympic Games in the sum-mer of 2020,” the COC said ina statement that ratchets up thepressure on the InternationalOlympic Committee to post-pone the Games scheduled tostart on July 24.

IOC president ThomasBach said a decision on whenthe Games would take placewould be made “within thenext four weeks.”

Canadian Olympic andParalympic authorities, howev-er, said they wouldn’t wait thatlong, urging the IOC to post-pone the Games for one yearwhile offering “our full supportin helping navigate all thecomplexities that reschedul-ing the Games will bring.

“While we recognize theinherent complexities around apostponement, nothing is moreimportant than the health andsafety of our athletes and the

world community,” the COCand CPC said.

“This is not solely aboutathlete health — it is about pub-lic health,” their statementadded. “With COVID-19 andthe associated risks, it is not safefor our athletes, and the healthand safety of their familiesand the broader Canadiancommunity for athletes to con-tinue training towards theseGames.

“In fact, it runs counter tothe public health advice whichwe urge all Canadians to fol-low.”

Bach said the IOC wasconsidering “different scenar-ios,” adding that complete can-cellation of the games was notamong them.

“We are thankful to theIOC for its assurance that it willnot be cancelling the Tokyo2020 Games and appreciativethat it understands the impor-tance of accelerating its deci-sion-making regarding a pos-sible postponement,” theCanadian statement said.

“We also applaud the IOCfor acknowledging that safe-guarding the health and well-ness of nations.

“We remain hopeful thatthe IOC and IPC will agreewith the decision to postponethe Games as a part of our col-lective responsibility to protectour communities and work tocontain the spread of the virus.”

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Postponing the Olympicsover the coronavirus pan-demic may become

“inevitable”, Japan’s prime min-ister conceded on Monday, afterthe International OlympicCommittee said a delay wasbeing considered as pressuregrows from athletes and sportsbodies.

The comments from ShinzoAbe were his first acknowl-edgement that the 2020 Gamesmay not open as scheduled onJuly 24.

For weeks, Japan andOlympic officials have held theline that preparations are mov-ing ahead to hold the Games asscheduled, but there has beenincreasing pressure from sportsfederations and athletes whosetraining has been thrown intoturmoil.

On Monday, Abe told par-liament that Japan was stillcommitted to hosting a “com-plete” Games, but added: “If thatbecomes difficult, in light ofconsidering athletes first, it maybecome inevitable that we makea decision to postpone.”

“Cancellation is not anoption,” Abe said, echoing com-ments from IOC chief ThomasBach, who ruled out scrappingthe Games, saying it “would notsolve any problem and wouldhelp nobody”.

The IOC has also shifted its

position on the Games, issuinga statement on Sunday saying itwas stepping up planning fordifferent scenarios, includingpostponement.

It said it would hold“detailed discussions” on the“worldwide health situation andits impact on the OlympicGames, including the scenarioof postponement”. A decisionshould come “within the nextfour weeks”, the body added.

“Human lives take prece-dence over everything, includ-ing the staging of the Games,”Bach wrote in an open letter toathletes.

But the IOC warned that thelogistics of postponing theGames were extremely compli-cated, with venues potentiallyunavailable, millions of hotelnights already booked and apacked international sports cal-endar.

“These are just a few ofmany, many more challenges.”

The IOC is responsible formaking any final decision on theGames, and has come underincreasing pressure as the coro-navirus crisis grows.

The idea of holding theGames on schedule has drawna swelling chorus of objections.

WILL WAIT AND WATCH��;���8�+> The Indian OlympicAssociation on Monday said itwill “wait and watch” for at leasta month before taking any call

on Tokyo Olympics participa-tion.

“Being the head of IOA, thehealth and well being of our ath-letes and officials are of primeconcern to me,” IOA PresidentNarinder Batra said.

“Whatever decisions theIOA takes will be for the welfareof our athletes. But right now weare just waiting and monitoringthe situation on a daily basis.

“I assure the people that wewon’t let anyone down and ourdecisions will be in the bestinterest of our athletes,” headded.

IOA Secretary GeneralRajeev Mehta put a timeline tothis wait and watch approach,saying it would be at least amonth before anything is decid-ed.

“We will wait and watch for4 to 5 weeks and then come toany decision after consultationwith the International OlympicCommittee and the sports min-istry,” Mehta said.

“The situation is not thatbad in our country as comparedto other nations,” he added.

When contacted and askedif India is also contemplatingacting on the lines of Canada,Sports Secretary Radhey ShyamJulaniya said the ministry is notin consultation with anyone atthe moment.

“Your question is hypothet-ical and the govt cannot react tohypothetical questions,” he said.

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Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar saysyoung batsman K L Rahul is most suitable for

the number five position in the batting order inthe ODIs but suggested that the team manage-ment must look for batsmen like Suresh Raina andYuvraj Singh.

KL Rahul had batted in the middle-order inthe home ODIs against Australia in January ear-lier this year with success. He later continued hisfine form in the limited-overs series in NewZealand. Of late, the Karnataka player has alsobeen keeping wickets in the 50-over games.

Manjrekar, who played 37 tests and 74 ODIs,was responding to questions from fans after heasked them “talk cricket” with him on hisTwitter page.

He was asked whether India should stickwith Rahul at number five in ODIs and doeshe find other batsmen other than Rahul to bein that position.

To which, Manjrekar, also aknown commentator, tweeted,“For the moment he is the rightfit. But we must keep looking fora Raina and Yuvi kind of bats-man when Rahul eventuallymoves to the top.”

Yuvraj, who played 304ODIs for India, scored 8,701runs while Raina amassed 5,615runs from 226 ODIs.

The former Mumbai bats-man was also asked who hethinks was the right choice fornumber four and all-rounder’s spot in the T20World Cup to be held inAustralia. Manjrekar pickedShreyas Iyer and HardikPandya respectively.

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Professional football in Spainwill remain suspended until

further notice to limit the spreadof coronavirus, La Liga and theSpanish Football Federation(RFEF) announced on Monday.

La Liga and the RFEF saidmatches in the top two divisionswill only resume when the

Spanish government decidethere is no longer any healthrisk.

Fixtures had previouslybeen suspended for two weeksfrom March 12 but there was noexpectation they would restartthis weekend, with the crisiscontinuing to escalate.

A joint statement from LaLiga and the RFEF read: “The

Monitoring Commission estab-lished by the current RFEF-LaLiga Coordination Agreementagrees the suspension of profes-sional football competitionsuntil the authorities of theGovernment of Spain and theGeneral Administration of theState consider they can beresumed without creating anyhealth risk.”

9�:0> TheAzerbaijan GrandPrix was post-poned on Mondaybecause of thecoronavirus out-break, delaying thestart of theFormula One sea-son until the mid-dle of June at theearliest.

The first eightraces of the 2020season have nowbeen either post-poned or can-celed.

The race atthe Baku City Circuit was scheduled for June 7 buthas been called off after discussions between gov-erning body FIA and the local government.

“This comes as a direct result of the ongo-ing global COVID-19 pandemic and has been

based entirely on the expert guidance providedto us by the relevant authorities,” organizers saidin a statement.

They said a new race date would be announcedfor later in the season.

F1 races have been staged in Azerbaijan since2017.

The next race scheduled after Azerbaijan is inCanada on June 14.

The season is scheduled to end with the AbuDhabi GP on Nov 29, but could be extended to fitsome postponed races in.

A total of eight races with 12 cars must be com-pleted for the championship to be validated, FIAhas said. AP

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�1���1> Australian Olympic officials said on Monday “it wasclear” the Tokyo Games could not go ahead as scheduled thisyear and told its athletes to instead prepare for the event in 2021.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) convened aboard meeting on Monday and unanimously decided a Gamesstarting in July was not possible given the uncertainty aroundthe pandemic.

“It’s clear the Games can’t be held in July,” Australian chefde mission Ian Chesterman said.

“Our athletes have been magnificent in their positive atti-tude to training and preparing, but the stress and uncertaintyhas been extremely challenging for them.”

AOC chief executive Matt Carroll said athletes needed cer-tainty, and they must also prioritise their health and that of theirfamilies.

The board meeting decided an Australian team “could notbe assembled in the changing circumstances at home andabroad” and they should now plan for an Olympics in the north-ern hemisphere summer next year.

“We have athletes based overseas, training at central loca-tions around Australia as teams and managing their own pro-grammes. With travel and other restrictions this becomes anuntenable situation,” he said.

“The IOC had adopted the key principles of putting ath-lete health first and ensuring it acted in their best interests andthe interests of sport. This decision reflects those principles.

“We are now in a position where we can plan with greatercertainty.” Chesterman said postponing the Games until nextyear “will allow athletes from around the world to properly pre-pare with the hope the coronavirus crisis will be under control”.

“We are aware that for many such a postponement will pre-sent a range of new issues. But when the world does come togeth-er at the Tokyo Olympic Games they can be a true celebrationof sport and humanity,” he said. AFP

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“We are not in consultationwith anyone right now. Theministry can’t keep giving advi-sories,” Julaniya added.