English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ......incident, Prime Minister Narendra...

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I n a shocking tragedy, as many as 16 migrant workers were mowed down by an empty freight train while they were sleeping on railway tracks near Aurangabad in the early hours of Friday. The workers were on their way to home State of Madhya Pradesh. The deceased were among 19 migrant workers who had gone off to sleep on railway tracks while they were walking from Jalna to Bhusawal to board a “Shramik Special” train to return to Madhya Pradesh, when the incident took place at around 5.20 am. The 19 workers had slept off on railway tracks as they were apparently exhausted. Of them, 14 workers died on the spot, while two others suc- cumbed to injuries at the Aurangabad district civil hos- pital. Three others are under- going treatment. The workers apparently thought there would not be any movement of trains during the lockdown and the track was secured. The migrant workers used to work in a steel manufactur- ing company at Jalna. On Thursday evening, the workers had set out on foot from Jalna to Bhusawal to board a “Shramik Special” train to return to their home towns in twin districts of Shahdol and Umaria in Madhya Pradesh on Friday. The incident took place between Badnapur and Karmad stations of Parbhani- Manmad section of the Nanded division of South-Central Railway (SRC). “During early hours today after seeing some labourers on track, loco pilot of goods train tried to stop the train but eventually hit them between Badnapur and Karmad sta- tions in Parbhani-Manmad section. Injured have been taken to Aurangabad Civil Hospital. Inquiry has been ordered,” the Railway Ministry tweeted. “The incident took place even as loco pilot of the goods train honked as soon as he noticed a group of people sleeping on the railway tracks and also made all efforts to stop the train,” a SRC spokesperson said. Voicing anguish over the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Extremely anguished by the loss of lives due to the rail acci- dent. Have spoken to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and he is closely monitoring the situ- ation. All possible assistance required is being provided.” President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice-President M Venkaih Naidu mourned death of the migrant workers. Former Congress presi- dent Rahul Gandhi expressed anguish at the tragedy. “I am shocked at the news of migrant labourers being crushed to death by a goods train. We should be ashamed at the treatment meted out to the builders of our nation. My condolences to the families of those killed and I pray for the early recovery of the injured,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted. Continued on Page 2 W ith the number of coro- navirus cases in the country witnessing a sudden spurt in the past few days and tally heading towards 60,000 marks on Friday, the Union Health Ministry said, “We have to learn to live with the virus.” The death tally is all set to touch 2,000 marks. There was nearly 3,000 new cases and 94 deaths during Friday. Some reports said at the current rate of daily growth, the number of cases would rise to 75,000 in five days. If this tra- jectory continues beyond that period, it could overwhelm India’s hospital capacity and strain an already overburdened health system. In view of no let-up in cases and new infection being reported from several pockets, the Union Health Ministry is now in the process of revising the list of Red, Orange and Green Zones. Addressing mediapersons, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry, said, “We have to learn to live with the virus. We need to introduce certain behavioural changes to implement these (social dis- tancing) practices.” According to the Health Ministry, 16,540 Covid-19 patients, which are about 29.36 per cent of the total cases, have recovered so far, while in the past 24 hours, 1,273 people have been cured. “So far, in 216 districts, no positive case has been detect- ed. In 42 districts no new case has been detected in the last 28 days, while 29 districts have not reported any case in the last 21 days,” the official said. He said 3.2 per cent of the total active cases are on oxygen support, 4.2 per cent in ICUs and 1.1 per cent on ventilator. Although India’s coron- avirus trajectory has tapered, it continues to be steeper com- pared to Asian peers such as Japan and Singapore. The rise of infections in India is now faster than in neighbours Bangladesh and Pakistan. At 19,063, Maharashtra leads in terms of the number of cases, Gujarat has the second most number (7,403), followed by Tamil Nadu (6,009) and Delhi (5,980) followed by Rajasthan (3,419) and Madhya Pradesh (3,341). West Bengal reported 1,678 cases. Continued on Page 2 A s Indians stranded abroad start returning to India, the Centre on Friday allowed con- version of hotels, service apart- ments, guest houses and lodges across the country into paid quarantine/isolation facilities with mandatory medical amenities, including wi-fi for such evacuees. “There are a large number of facilities such as hotels, ser- vice apartments, lodges which remain unoccupied due to impact of Covid-19 on travel and tourism. “There are also instances where people who don’t have requisite space at home may opt for such facilities. This is likely to reduce the pressure on the family, give comfort to the person, and protect the family members and immediate neighbourhood,” said the guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry on Friday. It said that the owners of these facilities can host patients who do not have requisite facilities at home or want to avoid homes to ensure that their family members do not get infected with the virus. However, the tariff for the accommodation and services will be fixed in consultation with the State Governments/ UTs, say the guidelines. Though the move is also expected to boost revenue scope to the battered hotel industry amid Covid-scare, it comes with lots of responsibil- ities on the owners of such facilities. It will be their respon- sibility to provide doctor, fresh foods and nurses, and trained staff as per medical require- ments, said an official from the Ministry. As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) the quarantine and isolation facility will not co-exist and the facility owner will have a choice to offer the facility for either of the two. Continued on Page 2 O ver 900 stranded Indians, including medical stu- dents, were brought back home in five Air India flights from Singapore, Bangladesh, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and some West Asian nations on Friday under the Vande Bharat Mission. Several more are expected to arrive late on Friday and Saturday morning. According to Ministry of Civil Aviation, the first flight from Singapore landed at the Delhi airport around 11.45 am with 234 passengers. Within a couple of hours, the second special flight with 167 stu- dents arrived at the Srinagar airport from Dhaka. The third flight with 177 passengers from Manama, Bahrain landed in Kochi. The fourth flight with 153 passengers, from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, landed in Kerala’s Kozhikode at around 8.10 pm. Another flight with around 200 Indians from Sharjah is expected to arrive in Lucknow on Saturday. After the returnees reached IGI airport, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said all arrangements have been made for the Indians coming from other countries. Continued on Page 2 T he Centre on Friday announced that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will hold the remain- ing board examinations for 29 subjects for Class X (only for North-East Delhi candidates) and XII students between July 1 and July 15. The announce- ment was made by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. The results of the board exams are expected in August. “The students have been impatiently waiting for the schedule for pending exams. It has been decided today that the exams will be conducted from July 1 to 15,” Nishank said on Twitter. Continued on Page 2 T he Supreme Court on Friday asked States to con- sider non-direct contact or online sales and home delivery of liquor during the lockdown period to prevent the spread of coronavirus on account of crowding at the shops. A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and BR Gavai, hearing the matter through video confer- encing, disposed of the plea challenging the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on May 1, allowing sales of liquor through direct contact during the lock- down period. “We are not inclined to entertain this petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. The peti- tion is dismissed. However, it shall be open for the con- cerned State Government to consider non-direct sale including on-line sale/home delivery of liquor to facilitate social distancing,” the Bench said. Continued on Page 2 T he Supreme Court on Friday extended by three months the time for comple- tion of trial in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case involv- ing BJP veterans LK Advani, MM Joshi and Uma Bharti and said that judgment should be delivered by August 31. The SC asked special judge SK Yadav to control the pro- ceedings in accordance with law so that the time-frame is no longer breached. It indicated to the special judge to avail the facilities of video conferencing to complete recording of evi- dences and hearing of applica- tions that are filed during the course of trial proceedings. Continued on Page 2 T he Delhi Government on Friday asked labs in the national Capital to give corona test reports within 24 hours otherwise they cannot con- duct testing. “If due to any reason, there is a delay, action will be taken against them after 48 hours. This has happened as some labs were taking 10-15 days for report,” Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain said. While answering a query about hiding Covid-19 patient data, Jain explained that there is no question of hiding any data by the Delhi Government because if someone tests posi- tive, it should not be hidden. Continued on Page 2 I n a major boon to the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrims and border areas of Uttrakhand, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday inau- gurated an 80-km road link there by flagging off a convoy of vehicles. The new road con- structed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will reduce the time of the holy yatra by at least ten to 12 days apart from giving a boost to development in the region. The important road link is from Dharcula (Uttrakhand) to Lipulekh (China border) in Pithoragarh region. Opening the road through video-conferencing, Rajnath said here the Centre and the PM have a special vision for the development of remote areas. Continued on Page 2 I n what came as a big disap- pointment for two of its dis- gruntled leaders, the BJP on Friday denied party tickets to its former Ministers Eknath Khadse and Pankaja Munde to contest the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls sched- uled for May 21. In a clear indication of the fact that the party leadership is in no mood to rehabilitate the two side-lined leaders, the BJP ignored the claims of Khadse and Pankaja, two other ticket hopefuls Ram Kadam and Harshvardhan Patil, and nom- inated Praveen Dhatke, Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patiol, Dr Ajit Gopchade and Gopichand Paralkar as its candidates for the State Council polls. Continued on Page 2 A migrant labourer couple cycling home to Chhattisgarh with their two children was killed after an unidentified vehicle hit the bicycle the family was travel- ling on at Shaheed Path in Golf City area in Lucknow on Wednesday, police said on Friday. The children were injured in the accident, they said. Krishna Sahu, his wife Pramila and their children Nikhil and Chandni were trav- elling on the bicycle when it was hit by an unidentified vehicle. All four of them were rushed to a hospital where Pramila succumbed to her injuries, they said. Later, Krishna and his chil- dren were admitted to the Trauma Centre of King George’s Medical University. Krishna died there during treatment, they said. The chil- dren are stated to be in a sta- ble condition, the police said. Krishna’s brother told police that the family was cycling to Chhattisgarh as all public transport has been sus- pended due to the coron- avirus-induced lockdown. Migrant labourers across the country have been ren- dered jobless due to the lock- down which began on March 25. With no money to pay rent or buy food, thousands have been reaching their native places on foot, bicycles or by taking lift in trucks and other vehicles. T he Supreme Court on Friday stayed an interim order of the Orissa High Court which had asked the State Government to ensure that all migrants, who are in queue to enter Odisha, should be tested negative of Covid-19 before boarding the conveyance. The HC, in its interim order on Thursday, had sug- gested the State should ensure only those tested negative for Covid-19 are allowed to return. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan stayed the high court order, which was chal- lenged by the Centre, and issued notice to the concerned parties on the appeal. Continued on Page 2 T he Central paramilitary forces on Friday reported nearly 50 new cases of Covid infection with the BSF clocking 30 fresh cases, followed by 12 in the ITBP and 3 in CISF. The total number of infect- ed personnel in the 10-lakh strong paramilitary forces crossed the 500 mark even as 5 — 2 in BSF and CISF and one CRPF — died of the virus. With the latest additions of the Covid-19 cases in its ranks, the BSF now has a total of 223 infected personnel and is by far the worst affected paramilitary force in terms of highest num- ber of Covid-19 positive cases. Continued on Page 2

Transcript of English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ......incident, Prime Minister Narendra...

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In a shocking tragedy, asmany as 16 migrant workers

were mowed down by anempty freight train while theywere sleeping on railway tracksnear Aurangabad in the earlyhours of Friday. The workerswere on their way to homeState of Madhya Pradesh.

The deceased were among19 migrant workers who hadgone off to sleep on railwaytracks while they were walkingfrom Jalna to Bhusawal toboard a “Shramik Special” trainto return to Madhya Pradesh,when the incident took place ataround 5.20 am.

The 19 workers had sleptoff on railway tracks as theywere apparently exhausted. Ofthem, 14 workers died on thespot, while two others suc-cumbed to injuries at theAurangabad district civil hos-pital. Three others are under-going treatment. The workersapparently thought there wouldnot be any movement of trainsduring the lockdown and thetrack was secured.

The migrant workers usedto work in a steel manufactur-ing company at Jalna. OnThursday evening, the workershad set out on foot from Jalnato Bhusawal to board a“Shramik Special” train toreturn to their home towns intwin districts of Shahdol andUmaria in Madhya Pradesh on

Friday. The incident took placebetween Badnapur andKarmad stations of Parbhani-Manmad section of the Nandeddivision of South-CentralRailway (SRC).

“During early hours todayafter seeing some labourers ontrack, loco pilot of goods traintried to stop the train buteventually hit them betweenBadnapur and Karmad sta-tions in Parbhani-Manmadsection. Injured have beentaken to Aurangabad CivilHospital. Inquiry has beenordered,” the Railway Ministrytweeted.

“The incident took placeeven as loco pilot of the goodstrain honked as soon as henoticed a group of peoplesleeping on the railway tracksand also made all efforts to stopthe train,” a SRC spokespersonsaid.

Voicing anguish over theincident, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi tweeted,“Extremely anguished by theloss of lives due to the rail acci-dent. Have spoken to RailwayMinister Piyush Goyal and heis closely monitoring the situ-ation. All possible assistancerequired is being provided.”

President Ram NathKovind and Vice-President MVenkaih Naidu mourned deathof the migrant workers.

Former Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi expressedanguish at the tragedy.

“I am shocked at the newsof migrant labourers beingcrushed to death by a goodstrain. We should be ashamed atthe treatment meted out to thebuilders of our nation. Mycondolences to the families ofthose killed and I pray for theearly recovery of the injured,”Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Continued on Page 2

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With the number of coro-navirus cases in the

country witnessing a suddenspurt in the past few days andtally heading towards 60,000marks on Friday, the UnionHealth Ministry said, “We haveto learn to live with the virus.”

The death tally is all set totouch 2,000 marks. There wasnearly 3,000 new cases and 94deaths during Friday.

Some reports said at thecurrent rate of daily growth, thenumber of cases would rise to75,000 in five days. If this tra-jectory continues beyond thatperiod, it could overwhelmIndia’s hospital capacity andstrain an already overburdenedhealth system.

In view of no let-up incases and new infection beingreported from several pockets,the Union Health Ministry isnow in the process of revisingthe list of Red, Orange andGreen Zones.

Addressing mediapersons,Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary atthe Health Ministry, said, “Wehave to learn to live with thevirus. We need to introducecertain behavioural changes toimplement these (social dis-

tancing) practices.”According to the Health

Ministry, 16,540 Covid-19patients, which are about 29.36per cent of the total cases, haverecovered so far, while in thepast 24 hours, 1,273 peoplehave been cured.

“So far, in 216 districts, nopositive case has been detect-ed. In 42 districts no new casehas been detected in the last 28days, while 29 districts have notreported any case in the last 21days,” the official said.

He said 3.2 per cent of thetotal active cases are on oxygensupport, 4.2 per cent in ICUsand 1.1 per cent on ventilator.

Although India’s coron-avirus trajectory has tapered, itcontinues to be steeper com-pared to Asian peers such asJapan and Singapore. The riseof infections in India is nowfaster than in neighboursBangladesh and Pakistan.

At 19,063, Maharashtraleads in terms of the number ofcases, Gujarat has the secondmost number (7,403), followedby Tamil Nadu (6,009) andDelhi (5,980) followed byRajasthan (3,419) and MadhyaPradesh (3,341). West Bengalreported 1,678 cases.

Continued on Page 2

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As Indians stranded abroadstart returning to India, the

Centre on Friday allowed con-version of hotels, service apart-ments, guest houses and lodgesacross the country into paidquarantine/isolation facilitieswith mandatory medicalamenities, including wi-fi forsuch evacuees.

“There are a large numberof facilities such as hotels, ser-vice apartments, lodges whichremain unoccupied due toimpact of Covid-19 on traveland tourism.

“There are also instanceswhere people who don’t haverequisite space at home mayopt for such facilities. This islikely to reduce the pressure onthe family, give comfort to theperson, and protect the familymembers and immediateneighbourhood,” said the

guidelines issued by the UnionHealth Ministry on Friday.

It said that the owners ofthese facilities can host patientswho do not have requisitefacilities at home or want toavoid homes to ensure thattheir family members do notget infected with the virus.

However, the tariff for theaccommodation and serviceswill be fixed in consultationwith the State Governments/UTs, say the guidelines.

Though the move is alsoexpected to boost revenuescope to the battered hotel

industry amid Covid-scare, itcomes with lots of responsibil-ities on the owners of suchfacilities. It will be their respon-sibility to provide doctor, freshfoods and nurses, and trainedstaff as per medical require-ments, said an official from theMinistry.

As per the StandardOperating Procedure (SOP)the quarantine and isolationfacility will not co-exist and thefacility owner will have a choiceto offer the facility for either ofthe two.

Continued on Page 2

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Over 900 stranded Indians,including medical stu-

dents, were brought back homein five Air India flights fromSingapore, Bangladesh, AbuDhabi, Dubai and some WestAsian nations on Friday underthe Vande Bharat Mission.Several more are expected toarrive late on Friday andSaturday morning.

According to Ministry ofCivil Aviation, the first flightfrom Singapore landed at theDelhi airport around 11.45 amwith 234 passengers. Within acouple of hours, the secondspecial flight with 167 stu-dents arrived at the Srinagarairport from Dhaka. The thirdflight with 177 passengers fromManama, Bahrain landed inKochi. The fourth flight with

153 passengers, from Riyadh inSaudi Arabia, landed in Kerala’sKozhikode at around 8.10 pm.

Another flight with around200 Indians from Sharjah isexpected to arrive in Lucknowon Saturday.

After the returnees reachedIGI airport, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal saidall arrangements have beenmade for the Indians comingfrom other countries.

Continued on Page 2

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The Centre on Fridayannounced that the Central

Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) will hold the remain-ing board examinations for 29subjects for Class X (only forNorth-East Delhi candidates)and XII students between July1 and July 15. The announce-ment was made by HRDMinister Ramesh PokhriyalNishank. The results of theboard exams are expected inAugust.

“The students have beenimpatiently waiting for theschedule for pending exams. Ithas been decided today that theexams will be conducted fromJuly 1 to 15,” Nishank said onTwitter.

Continued on Page 2

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The Supreme Court onFriday asked States to con-

sider non-direct contact oronline sales and home deliveryof liquor during the lockdownperiod to prevent the spread ofcoronavirus on account ofcrowding at the shops.

A Bench of Justices AshokBhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kauland BR Gavai, hearing thematter through video confer-encing, disposed of the pleachallenging the guidelinesissued by the Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) on May 1,allowing sales of liquor throughdirect contact during the lock-down period.

“We are not inclined toentertain this petition filedunder Article 32 of theConstitution of India. The peti-tion is dismissed. However, itshall be open for the con-cerned State Government toconsider non-direct saleincluding on-line sale/homedelivery of liquor to facilitatesocial distancing,” the Benchsaid.

Continued on Page 2

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The Supreme Court onFriday extended by three

months the time for comple-tion of trial in the 1992 BabriMasjid demolition case involv-ing BJP veterans LK Advani,MM Joshi and Uma Bharti andsaid that judgment should bedelivered by August 31.

The SC asked special judgeSK Yadav to control the pro-ceedings in accordance withlaw so that the time-frame is nolonger breached. It indicated tothe special judge to avail thefacilities of video conferencingto complete recording of evi-dences and hearing of applica-tions that are filed during thecourse of trial proceedings.

Continued on Page 2

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The Delhi Government onFriday asked labs in the

national Capital to give coronatest reports within 24 hoursotherwise they cannot con-duct testing.

“If due to any reason, thereis a delay, action will be takenagainst them after 48 hours.This has happened as some labswere taking 10-15 days forreport,” Delhi Health MinisterSatyender Jain said.

While answering a queryabout hiding Covid-19 patientdata, Jain explained that thereis no question of hiding anydata by the Delhi Governmentbecause if someone tests posi-tive, it should not be hidden.

Continued on Page 2

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In a major boon to theKailash-Mansarovar pilgrims

and border areas ofUttrakhand, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh on Friday inau-gurated an 80-km road linkthere by flagging off a convoyof vehicles. The new road con-structed by the Border RoadsOrganisation (BRO) willreduce the time of the holyyatra by at least ten to 12 daysapart from giving a boost todevelopment in the region.The important road link isfrom Dharcula (Uttrakhand) toLipulekh (China border) inPithoragarh region.

Opening the road throughvideo-conferencing, Rajnathsaid here the Centre and thePM have a special vision for thedevelopment of remote areas.

Continued on Page 2

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In what came as a big disap-pointment for two of its dis-

gruntled leaders, the BJP onFriday denied party tickets toits former Ministers EknathKhadse and Pankaja Munde tocontest the MaharashtraLegislative Council polls sched-uled for May 21.

In a clear indication of thefact that the party leadership isin no mood to rehabilitate thetwo side-lined leaders, the BJPignored the claims of Khadseand Pankaja, two other tickethopefuls Ram Kadam andHarshvardhan Patil, and nom-inated Praveen Dhatke,Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patiol, DrAjit Gopchade and GopichandParalkar as its candidates forthe State Council polls.

Continued on Page 2

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Amigrant labourer couplecycling home to

Chhattisgarh with their twochildren was killed after anunidentified vehicle hit thebicycle the family was travel-ling on at Shaheed Path in GolfCity area in Lucknow onWednesday, police said onFriday. The children wereinjured in the accident, theysaid.

Krishna Sahu, his wifePramila and their childrenNikhil and Chandni were trav-elling on the bicycle when itwas hit by an unidentifiedvehicle. All four of them wererushed to a hospital wherePramila succumbed to herinjuries, they said.

Later, Krishna and his chil-dren were admitted to theTrauma Centre of KingGeorge’s Medical University.Krishna died there duringtreatment, they said. The chil-dren are stated to be in a sta-ble condition, the police said.

Krishna’s brother toldpolice that the family wascycling to Chhattisgarh as allpublic transport has been sus-pended due to the coron-avirus-induced lockdown.

Migrant labourers acrossthe country have been ren-dered jobless due to the lock-down which began on March25. With no money to pay rentor buy food, thousands havebeen reaching their nativeplaces on foot, bicycles or bytaking lift in trucks and othervehicles.

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The Supreme Court onFriday stayed an interim

order of the Orissa High Courtwhich had asked the StateGovernment to ensure that allmigrants, who are in queue toenter Odisha, should be testednegative of Covid-19 beforeboarding the conveyance.

The HC, in its interimorder on Thursday, had sug-gested the State should ensureonly those tested negative forCovid-19 are allowed to return.

A bench headed by JusticeAshok Bhushan stayed the highcourt order, which was chal-lenged by the Centre, andissued notice to the concernedparties on the appeal.

Continued on Page 2

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The Central paramilitaryforces on Friday reported

nearly 50 new cases of Covidinfection with the BSF clocking30 fresh cases, followed by 12in the ITBP and 3 in CISF.

The total number of infect-ed personnel in the 10-lakhstrong paramilitary forces

crossed the 500 mark even as5 — 2 in BSF and CISF and oneCRPF — died of the virus.

With the latest additions ofthe Covid-19 cases in its ranks,the BSF now has a total of 223infected personnel and is by farthe worst affected paramilitaryforce in terms of highest num-ber of Covid-19 positive cases.

Continued on Page 2

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From Page 1“The Delhi Govt has made

all arrangements for theIndians arriving from abroad,”Kejriwal tweeted.

All the arriving passengerswere put through screeningand triaging to find out anyinfection of coronavirus. Afterimmigration and customs for-malities, they headed towardspaid quarantine facilities wherethey will spend 14 days, beforegoing home.

Nearly 20 buses, includingof DTC and neighbouring

States of Uttar Pradesh,Haryana and Punjab, weredeployed at IGI airport for car-rying people to quarantinefacilities.

Srinagar DeputyCommissioner Shahid IqbalChaudhary also expressed hisgratitude to the Indian HighCommission in Dhaka for the“tremendous efforts” in gettingthese students home.“Profound gratitude to IndianHigh Commission @ihcdhakafor tremendous efforts. Moreto follow. For convenience ofstudents -- bulk tickets next,”Chaudhary said in a tweet.

Sources said 27 flights willtake off from the Gulf regionnext week with 11 from UAE(including the two that havealready landed), five fromSaudi Arabia, five fromKuwait, two from Bahrain,two from Qatar and two fromOman.

From the neighbourhood,seven flights will take off fromBangladesh (including the onethat has already landed) car-rying passengers bound forSrinagar, Delhi, Mumbai andChennai.

Similarly, sources said 14flights are scheduled to bring

Indians from South-East Asia,with five flights each fromSingapore (including the onethat has already landed) andthe Philippines and four fromMalaysia.

Seven flights have beenallotted for evacuation ofIndians from four airports inthe US -- New York,Washington DC, Chicago andSan Francisco. Another sevenflights have been assigned forpassengers in London in theUK.

Sources said Indiannationals are expected to landat 14 airports across India in

ten flights arriving in Delhi,nine in Hyderabad, nine inKochi, four in Kozhikode, onein Trivandrum, one in Kannur,nine in Chennai, one in Trichy,five in Ahmadabad, four inMumbai, three in Srinagar,four in Bengaluru, one inLucknow and one in Amritsar.

Sources said, 67,833requests for repatriation havebeen registered. These include,requests from 34 per cent of all22,470 students, 30 per cent ofall 15,815 migrant workers,9,250 short-term visa holdersfaced with expiry of visas,5,531 with medical emergency

or seeking treatment for ter-minal illness, 4,147 touristsstranded abroad, 3,041 preg-nant women and the elderlyand 1,112 of those required toreturn due to death of a fam-ily member.

The largest number ofrequests came from Indiannationals of Kerala with 25,246applications, followed by TamilNadu (6,617), Maharashtra(4,341), Uttar Pradesh (3,715),Rajasthan (3,320), Telangana(2,796), Karnataka (2,786),Andhra Pradesh (2,445),Gujarat (2,330) and Delhi(2,232).

From Page 1“Once the reports come, the

hospitals have to inform theGovernment. Across theworld, we are witnessing thatthe frontline workers are morevulnerable to this infectionbut in Delhi, the situation isbetter,” he said.

Jain said, “All these pre-dictions are made by doctorsand scientists. Earlier alsocases were predicted, but thecases are lesser than what wepredicted. If they say Covid-19 cases will reach their peakin June, it might happen as

patterns of other countries arealso similar.” The DelhiGovernment is also releasing theTablighi Jamaat members fromquarantine centres after theyoverstayed their allotted quota.

From Page 1Solicitor General Tushar

Mehta told the bench, alsocomprising Justices SK Kauland BR Gavai, that all thestranded migrants are screened

while boarding the trains andonly those who are foundasymptomatic are allowed toproceed.

Mehta referred to the April29 order of the Ministry ofHome Affairs and the guide-lines issued thereafter as perwhich moving persons wouldbe screened and those found

asymptomatic would beallowed to proceed.

“We are of the view thatthe order of the Governmentof India dated April 29, 2020provides ample protection. Itappears that before the HighCourt the order of theGovernment of India datedApril 29, 2020 and the guide-

lines were neither broughtinto the notice nor were underchallenge,” the bench said in itsorder.

“In view of the aforesaid,we stay the interim order datedMay 7, 2020. We further clar-ify that the stranded migrantsshall be dealt with as per theorder/guidelines of theGovernment of India datedApril 29 read with the guide-lines dated May 1 issuedthereunder by theGovernment of India,Ministry of Home Affairs,” thebench said.

In its appeal filed in theapex court, the Centre hassaid, “The high court, by wayof the impugned order, haswithout hearing the Union ofIndia, has passed an interimorder mandating the Covid-19testing of every migrant beforeboarding the conveyance.”

The plea added that theorder may have a “cascadingeffect” on the migrants ofother states as well.

It claimed that the order,“apart from being unwork-able”, failed to notice the stan-

dard operating procedurealready being followed by theCentre and the state govern-ments.

“It is humbly submittedthat impugned order clearlyimpinges upon the executivedomain and creates an unrea-sonable and impossible to per-form pre-condition on part ofthe governments and themigrants workers who wish totravel back to their nativeplaces,” it said, adding, the highcourt order ignores the natureof pandemic and the “delicatehandling of the situation by theexecutive, after considerationof all possible factors.”

The appeal said that theCentre, in conjunction with thestate governments, is taking allpossible precautions at thestage of boarding, during trav-el, after de-boarding and sub-sequent quarantine.

The Centre has told theapex court that after comple-tion of a strict 40 day lock-down, in which no inter-statetravel of any kind was permit-ted, a decision was taken thatmigrant workers, pilgrims,

tourists, students and otherpersons stranded at differentplaces would be allowed totravel back to their nativeplaces.

It said the Centre, in con-junction with the state gov-ernments, has taken all possi-ble precautionary steps tomake sure that travel ofmigrants does not result in thespread of Covid-19.

The appeal, which soughtsetting aside of the high courtorder, said that ‘Shramik spe-cial’ trains have been startedand till now, a total of 162trains have originated.

Social activist NarayanChandra Jena had written a let-ter to the Orissa High Court onMay 1 seeking judicial inter-vention for ensuring that coro-navirus infected migrant work-ers are not allowed to enter thestate by the state government.

The letter was later con-verted into a PIL on May 4.Following the high court’sorder, three trains, which wereto bring stranded people toOdisha from Surat in Gujarat,were cancelled yesterday.

From Page 1CBSE will announce a detailed

schedule of the exams shortly. TheCBSE board exams in India andabroad were held till March 18after which the nationwide lock-down was announced on March25. The exams for over 80 subjects

were still pending.The CBSE has now decided

that exams will be held only for 29main subjects, in order to speed upthe evaluation process and com-plete the examination formalitiesto enable students to apply foradmission to colleges and univer-sities. “The examinations to beheld will include 12 subjects pend-ing for class XII students across the

country while the tests will bescheduled for class X only inNorth-East Delhi where the papersgot postponed due to wide-spreadviolence in February,” said a HRDMinistry official.

The CBSE’s board examschedule will be a factor in theentrance exam dates in order tomake it convenient for class XIIstudents to appear for them.

From Page 1A bench of Justices RF Nariman and Surya Kant,

hearing the matter through video conferencing, passedthe orders on receiving a letter from the special judgeseeking extension of time granted to him for completingthe trial in the politically sensitive case.

“Having taken the letter dated May 6, 2020, intoconsideration, we extend the period to complete evi-dence and deliver judgment till August 31, 2020. Weare cognizant of the fact that Shri Yadav is making allefforts in order that the trial reaches a just conclusion.However, given the original time frame and theextended time frame, the effort must now be to com-plete the proceedings and deliver judgment latest byAugust 31, 2020,” the bench said in its order.

On July 19 last year the top court had asked the spe-cial judge to deliver the verdict within nine months,which was to end this April. The bench on Friday saidthat despite nine months having expired from the afore-said date (July 19), “we still find, on a perusal of theletter dated May 6, 2020, written by Shri Yadav, SpecialJudge that even the evidence is not yet completed”.

It said, “We may indicate that video conferencingfacilities are available and should be used by Shri Yadavin order to complete all evidence as well as applicationsthat may be filed in that behalf. It is up to Shri Yadavto control the proceedings in accordance with law sothat inordinate delay that is beyond the time frame thatwe now give is no longer breached”. Besides Advani,Joshi and Uma Bharti, the accused against whom con-spiracy charge was invoked in the case by the SupremeCourt on April 19, 2017, include former Rajasthan gov-ernor Kalyan Singh, BJP MP Vinay Katiar and SadhviRitambara. Three other high-profile accused GirirajKishore, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader AshokSinghal and Vishnu Hari Dalmia died during trial andthe proceedings against them have been abated.

From Page 1During the hearing, advo-

cate Sai Deepak, appearing forpetitioner Guruswamy Nataraj,argued that there are 70,000liquor vends across the coun-try and over five crore peoplehave till now purchased liquorfrom these shops.

He said that due to socialdistancing norms not being fol-lowed at the liquor vends andshops, there has been rise inCovid-19 cases. Deepak con-tended that the results, whichhave been achieved in over amonth-long nationwide lock-down will be nullified as thecoronavirus graph, which wasearlier flattening, is now show-ing a sharp rise.

He sought issuance of freshMHA guidelines or directionsfor prohibition of sale of liquorat vends and shops throughdirect contact during the lock-down period or till the NationalDisaster ManagementAuthority announces India tobe Covid-19 free.

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From Page 1All the evacuees will have to serve 14 days quaran-

tine/isolation period before they can go and join their fam-ily members.

The occupant at the hotel facility shall only be keptin an isolation facility, if the cases are clinically assessedto be pre-symptomatic or very mild.

Such facility that opts for isolation will have separateearmarked areas for keeping suspect cases and confirmedcases and will ensure no inter-mingling of these two cat-egories, as per the guidelines.

The contact/patient opting for such quarantine/iso-lation facility will have to give an undertaking promis-ing such as downloading of Arogya Setu, the Governmentapp to keep a track on his/her health status.

Also, owner will have to ensure that the quaran-tined/isolated persons are not allowed to meet visitorsthough they can talk on phone, said the official pointingout the need for implementing social distancing norms.

The facility owner will give an undertaking to followthe above SOP and to have adequate manpower includ-ing the above mentioned health workers as per the pre-scribed protocol.

From Page 1Singh said with the com-

pletion of this crucial roadlink, the decades old dreamsand aspirations of local peopleand pilgrims have been ful-filled. He expressed confidencethat local trade and economicgrowth in the region wouldreceive a boost with the oper-ationalisation of this roadway.

Recalling that pilgrimageto Kailash-Manasarovar issacred and revered by Hindus,Buddhists and Jains, theMinister said with the com-pletion of this road link, theyatra could be completed inone week compared to two-

three weeks it took earlier. Theroad originates fromGhatiabagarh and terminates atLipulekh Pass, the gateway toKailash-Mansarovar.

In this 80 kilometre road,the altitude rises from 6,000 to17,060 feet. With the comple-tion of this project, the arduoustrek through treacherous high-altitude terrain can now beavoided by the pilgrims ofKailash-Mansarovar Yatra. Atpresent, the travel to Kailash-Mansarovar takes around twoto three weeks through Sikkimor Nepal routes. Lipulekh routehad a trek of 90 km throughhigh altitude terrain and theelderly yatris faced lot of diffi-culties.

From Page 1Tamil Nadu had earlier

dropped out of the top five listbut a recent surge in newinfections has put it among thetop five once again.

The top five States togeth-er account for 75 per cent of theactive cases nationally, and thetop ten states account for 94 percent of all cases.

Over the past seven days,Punjab, Tamil Nadu, andMaharashtra have seen thehighest spike in cases amongthe top ten states with mostcases. These three Statesaccount for 75 per cent of allthe new active cases in thisperiod. Over the same period,fatalities have surged the mostin West Bengal, Gujarat, andRajasthan. These three Statesaccount for 50 per cent of allCovid-related deaths over thepast seven days. So far, 512 dis-tricts have confirmed cases inthe country. Mumbai (11,394cases) has reported the mostnumber of cases nationallyamong all districts, followed byAhmedabad (5,260) in Gujarat.Chennai (3046) in Tamil Nadu,Pune (2,129) in Maharashtraare the other leading districts.These top five districts nowaccount for 42 per cent ofconfirmed cases in the country.

From Page 1Pankaja had creat-

ed a stir in the BJP inDecember last year ahead of her late father GopinathMunde’s 70th birth anniversary by joining hands withKhadse, announcing her resignation from the party’score group and daring the party leadership to sack herfrom the party.

Even Khadse has also made no bones about themanner in which he has been sidelined in the partyon December 2 last year, after meeting BJP leaderPankaja Munde, Khadse had made a shocking alle-gation after meeting her that Pankaja and his daugh-ter Rohini Khadse in the recent State Assembly pollswere defeated due to a conspiracy hatched by someparty leaders. Meanwhile, all the four candidates nom-inated by the BJP filed their papers for the May 21Council polls, on Friday. The last date of filing nom-inations is May 11. The biennial elections have beennecessitated by the retirement on April 24 of ninemembers Neelam Diwakar Gorhe (Shiv Sena),Hemant Prabhakar Takle, Anand Rajendra Thakur(both NCP) Smita Uday Wagh, Prithviraj SayajiraoDeshmukh (both BJP), Kiran Jagannath Pawaskar,Arunbhau Janardan Adasad (both NCP), ChandrakantBatesing Raghuvanshi (Congress) and HarisinghNarsu Rathod (BJP).

#�1<<< #��� ��������������<<<From Page 1

Earlier this week, two BSF personnel had succumbed tothe viral infection.

Out of the 30 new cases of coronavirus infections in theBSF, six are from Delhi and 24 from Tripura.

“All of them are under the best available medical care atAIIMS Jhajjar and at G B Pant Hospital, Agartala. All instruc-tions and directions of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW) are strictly being followed,” a Border Security Force(BSF) spokesperson said.

Frequencies of sanitization efforts of work places/livingbarracks have been increased. In addition to existing appa-ratus of sanitization, improvised methods like water cannonsare used for quick disinfection of buildings and establishments.BSF personnel are repeatedly sensitized to firmly adhere topreventive protocols, added the spokesperson.

In the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), 12 new casesof Covid-19 infections were reported in the last 24 hours. Allcases are from units in Delhi. With this the total number ofcases in ITBP ranks sands at 94. Covid-19 infection man-agement of four ITBP personnel is being done at AIIMS,Jhajjar, Haryanam two at Safdarjung Hospital here and 88 areadmitted at CAPF Referral Hospital, Greater Noida which isalso managing 15 BSF and one each from CISF and CRPF.

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From Page 1Expressing grief over the

death of 16 migrant workers,Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray announcedan ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to thenext of kin of the migrantworkers killed in the mishap.“We are in touch with theCentre to run more specialtrains to take back migrantworkers to their home towns.My request to workers not tolose hope and patience by thedelay in the operation of specialtrains,” the Chief Minister said.

“During the last three tofour days, migrant workers havebeen heading for their native

town. So far, nearly one lakhmigrants have reached theirhomes safely. We have plannedto send back all the strandedmigrant labourers to their nativevillages. The Central Railwayhas just taken a decision to senda “Shramik Special” train fromMumbai. My appeal to migrantworkers not to risk their lives asthey did in Aurangabad inci-dent,” Uddhav said.

Condoling the death of 16migrant workers from his State,Madhya Pradesh Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan said: “Itis a shock that cannot bedescribed in words. I have spo-ken to the Railway Minister andasked for a proper probe andremedial measures.”

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New Delhi: Pakistan has saidthat water discharge in Chenabriver has come down signifi-cantly, a claim that has beentermed by India as "baselessnarrative".

In a letter to IndianCommissioner Pradeep KumarSaxena sent on Wednesday, hisPakistani counterpart SyedMohammed Meher Ali Shahstated that the discharge atMarala Headworks on Chenab,which flows into Pakistan fromthe Indian side, has unexpect-edly reduced to 18,700 cusecsfrom 31,853 cusecs.

He also asked Saxena tolook into the situation andapprise him. The IndianCommissioner for Indus Waterstermed the claim as "anotherbaseless narrative" by Pakistanand said the matter has beenexamined. "The discharges atAkhnoor and Sidhra which arethe last gauge and discharge siteson Chenab and Tawi riversrespectively in India have beenfound consistent and show nosignificant variation during thestated period," Saxena told PTIon Friday. He added the sameresponse has been conveyed to

Pakistan advising it to get thematter examined instead.

The Permanent IndusCommission, formed under theIndus Waters Treaty was signedbetween India and Pakistan in1960. Indus commissioners ofboth the countries act as repre-sentatives of the respective gov-ernments for the treaty matters.

The treaty provides for boththe commissioners to meet atleast once every year, alternate-ly in India and Pakistan.

It specifies that the waters ofthree eastern rivers namelyRavi, Beas and Sutlej, have beenallocated exclusively to India.

Of the total 168 millionacre-feet, India's share of waterfrom the three allotted rivers is33 million acre-feet, which con-stitutes nearly 20 per cent. Indiauses 93-94 per cent of water.

The western rivers, name-ly Indus, Chenab and Jhelum,are allocated to Pakistan withIndia given some rights likeagriculture, navigation, domes-tic use and also the unrestrict-ed rights to develop hydroelec-tric power projects within thespecified parameters of designand operations. PTI

New Delhi: Booze lovers con-tinued to throng liquor shopsin the city, even as the e-tokensystem introduced by the DelhiGovernment could not fullytake off due to heavy traffic onthe designated website.

The government is alsoconsidering options of con-tactless sale of liquor such asthrough home delivery, duringthe lockdown period, a seniorgovernment official said.

The Supreme Court onFriday asked states to consid-er non-direct contact or onlinesales and home delivery ofliquor during the lockdownperiod to prevent the spread ofcoronavirus on account ofcrowding at the shops.

A weblink for e-token sys-tem was launched on Thursdayby the government to bringorder at liquor shops witness-ing huge crowds and violationsof social distancing norms dur-ing lockdown.

Delhi Home ministerSatyendar Jain said that therewere some issues with the sitethat are being worked out.

"We have launched the e-

token service for buying liquorfrom yesterday and there aresome issues with the site whichare being worked out," he toldreporters.

The government weblinkfor geting e-tokens to buyliquor got crashed repeatedly assoon as it was launched onThursday evening due torecord traffic, said an official.

Many people who tried toregister for e-tokens met withfailures despite repeatedattempts. "I tried unsuccessful-ly to register for e-token andspent over an hour on Thursdaybut the site was crashed. I alsotried it in the night, but to noavail," said a hospitality profes-sional from Mayur Vihar.

Some buyers complainedthat their e-token were foradvance dates.

"After trying for hours, Ifinally registered for e-token onmy mobile phone around 2 am.But, the time given for buyingliquor is Sunday afternoon,"said a hardware engineer fromPreet Vihar. There were alsocomplaints of some personshaving valid e-token but find-

ing it difficult to get liquor dueto heavy crowd at shops.

An official, however, saidliquor shops had been asked forseparate queue of e-token hold-ers.

A person may register onthe government weblink givingdetails like mobile phone num-ber and address and name of aliquor shop. An e-token is senton the registered mobile num-ber with specific time for buy-ing liquor from the cited shop.

With the Centre allowingrelaxations under extendedlockdown to the states, theDelhi government allowed saleof liquor from 200 vends oper-ated by its four corporationsearlier this week.

With huge crowds at theliquor shops throwing socialdistancing for a toss, the gov-ernment raised liquor priceby 70 per cent of its maximumretail price but the situationremained more or less same.

Also, due to massivecrowds and fears of coronavirusspread due to violations ofsocial distancing, only 50 of 200shops could open. PTI

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A30-year-old man wasallegedly thrashed by a

policeman for "hugging people"in Southwest Delhi's Sagarpurarea. Meanwhile, police saidthey have suspended the policepersonnel and a departmentalenquiry has also been initiatedagainst him.

A video of the incident alsowent viral on social mediasites. In the video, a policemancan be seen attacking the man,who was sitting in the middleof a road, with a stick.

"When the man tries towalk away, the locals joined thepoliceman and hit the victimwith sticks again. When apasserby enquires, a man saysthat he was hugging people inthe park," as per video.

The victim was later iden-tified as Imran, a resident ofSagarpur in southwest Delhi.

According to the familymembers, Imran went to amosque on Wednesday. "Imranthen went to his elder sister's

house, who also lives in thesame locality and the incidenttook place when Imran wasreturning home" said one of thefamily member of Imran.

Narrating the incident hesaid when Imran was return-ing home, he saw police nearthe park. "He got scared andstarted running as he thoughthe was violating the lock-down. The policeman fol-lowed him and attacked forspreading coronavirus. Peoplealso joined him in attackingImran. Imran doesn’t haveCoronavirus, but even if hedid, police should have takenhim to hospital for the treat-ment and informed us," headded.

According to police saidthe officer has been identified."The policeman, who is seen inthe video, has been identifiedas a constable posted atSagarpur police station. Hehas been suspended and adepartmental enquiry againsthim is underway," said a seniorpolice official.

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The Delhi Police has arrestedthree men while one juve-

nile has been apprehended forallegedly robbing five labourersnear railway crossing PremNagar who were going to catcha train from national Capital'sOld Delhi Railway Station.

The accused have beenidentified as Amar (22), a res-ident of Baljeet Nagar, Sonu(21), a resident of PandavNagar and Arjun (21), a resi-dent of Prem Nagar.

According to a seniorpolice official, on Wednesdayaround 3 am, five labourers,natives of Chhapra district inBihar, were robbed near railwaycrossing in Prem Nagar area.

"The victims used to workin a factory in Mayapuri areaand were going via railwaytrack to Old Delhi Railway sta-tion to catch a train for theirnative place," the senior policeofficer said. "The victims toldpolice that four accused robbedthem at knife point near rail-way fatak, Prem Nagar. Whenthe robbers were trying to flee,the victims followed them andcaught hold one of the accusedpersons Amar," said policeofficial privy to investigation.

"On Amar's instance, threeother persons, including a juve-nile, were nabbed. Police haverecovered stolen mobilephones, cash with purses anddocuments from the possessionof the accused," he said.

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More than 2.57 lakh resi-dents of unauthorised

colonies in the national Capitalhave registered on PM-UDAYportal to get ownership rights.

Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA) has request-ed the residents who have notyet registered on the portal todo it as soon as possible. “Atleast 70,000 registrants havealso got the GIS mapping oftheir properties done throughthe empanelled GIS agencies.65,000 residents, who have gottheir GIS survey ID, should filetheir detailed application on-

line on the PM-UDAY portal,”it said in a statement.

DDA had started providingcomplete online service underPM-UDAY scheme for grant-ing the ownership rights to theresidents of 1,731 unautho-rised colonies.

In order to continue theservices during the Covid-19Lockdown period, backendscrutiny of applications will becarried out as the scheme istotally online. OnlineDeficiency Memo (DM) will beissued, if any deficiency isnoticed, it added.

Applicants who receiveonline deficiency memos are

advised to file their repliesonline itself, it said, adding thatthey can correct or updatetheir applications on-line.

The processing centers(Dwarka, Pitampura, HauzKhas and Laxmi Nagar) areactively working during thelockdown period, which willcontinue in future as well.

“DDA is going to resumeinspections of properties bySurveyors shortly except inthe Covid-19 ContainmentZones. The surveyors will con-tact the applicants in advanceand will visit the properties ofthe willing applicants only.The surveyors have been

advised to strictly adhere to thesocial distancing norms andtake other necessary precau-tions prescribed,” it said.

The civic body said that theexecution of authorization slipor conveyance deed of allmature cases will also be start-ed shortly. “The officials of pro-cessing centers have beenadvised to take all precaution-ary measures in the wake ofCovid-19. The number of vis-itors will be scheduled accord-ing to the space and facilitiesavailable in each processingcenter so that the social dis-tancing norms can be strictlyadhered to,” it added.

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Two healthcare workers,including a gynaecologist

of Bara Hindu Rao Hospitaltested positive for coronavirus,taking the total workers infect-ed of Covid- 19 in hospitals runby north Corporation to 15.

A senior Corporation offi-cial said that 10 healthcarestaff in Hindu Rao and five inKasturba have come positive.“All contact tracing is done andthey have been sent on homequarantine. The hospitalpremises were sanitised,” hesaid.

The official further said

that on the basis the negativereports of 46 staff receivedearlier, they have been asked toreport back on duty. “They allwere placed under home quar-antine after one of the doctorat the hospital tested positive,”he said.

The national Capital hasreported 5,980 cases of Covid-19, of which 1,931 people havebeen cured, but 66 lost theirlives.

The 980-bed Hindu Rao islargest hospital run by thenorth Corporation. The hos-pital had to be closed for a dayafter the first Covid-19 case wasreported on April 25.

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Delhi Congress has written toChief Minister Arvind

Kejriwal seeking his interventionin the early return of Delhi'slabourers to their native places.

In the letter to ChiefMinister and Delhi ChiefSecretary, the Congress Delhiunit president Chaudhary AnilKumar has sought details ofscheduled plan for sendingmigrant labourers back to theirnative places due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

Incidentally, the party hasdecided to pay train or busesfare for migrants who want toreturn back to their home.The Congress party hasreceived 2,106 forms filled bymigrant labour who want to goback to their home States.

Kumar said as per the direc-tion of Congress president SoniaGandhi, the Congress party willbear the train or bus fares ofthese migrant labourers if theDelhi Government and theRailways are not footing theirtravel and meals expenses.

“The Delhi Congress hasreceived around 2,106 formsfrom the migrant labourerswho want to go back, whichwas also enclosed along withhis letter. The condition of themigrant labourers is so pathet-ic that even those people whohave been living in Delhi for

the past many years are alsorushing to go back by the firstavailable ‘Shramic’ Special trainor by bus,” he said.

Kumar has requestedKejriwal to give details of thesteps being taken by the DelhiGovernment for the travelarrangements of the migrantlabourers and the name of thenodal officer so that DelhiCongress can give appropriatedirections to the migrantlabourers, who are in touchwith the DPCC office, RajivBhawan, for their travel totheir native places.

Accusing the Governmentof not drawing up any road mapfor the transportation ofmigrant labourers to help themreaching their homes, he saidthe Congress party came for-ward to help them to helpthem back home.

He wondered whether themove to open liquor outlets wastaken under pressure from theliquor cartel. “The KejriwalGovernment has not announcedany relief for the people throughmeasures like waiving off ofwater and power charges andschool fees,” he added.

Kumar said that due to themismanagement by theGovernment, the commonpeople, small shop keepers,daily wage earners, low-salariedpeople are in deep distress anddesperation.

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Aspecial train carrying near-ly 1,200 migrant labourers

departed from New DelhiRailway station to Muzaffarpur,Bihar on Friday.

The Delhi Governmentensured safe travel, social dis-tancing, food and water for allthe passengers.

"The train carrying 1,200migrant labourers left forMuzaffarpur, Bihar today. TheArvind Kejriwal Governmentwill bear their full travel cost,"tweeted Cabinet MinisterGopal Rai.

The Delhi Government isworking round the clock toensure safe travel for all thestranded workers.

The Government has madelists of these stranded peopleand already shared with theirhome States. There are manyStates who have not yetresponded on the matter ofbearing costs, therefore, theDelhi Government has decid-ed that if the home States do notrespond the Delhi Governmentwill bear the travel cost ofthese stranded workers.

According to officials,Government has arranged sev-

eral buses to bring these work-ers from shelters across Delhi.Teams of doctors were appoint-ed to screen them and afterthorough checkup, medicalcertificate was issued to each

one of them. “The state admin-istration ensured today's lunchalong with food and water forthe train journey,” official said.

All the people were givenfood packets to eat during the

travel by train along with dryfruits, biscuits, banana andwater bottles.

Social distancing is key tocombat Covid-19 pandemic.

To ensure the social dis-

tancing the Delhi Governmentpermitted only 12 people on abus while taking the migrantworkers to the railway station.Thermal screening of the pas-sengers was also done before

boarding the bus. The Delhi Government also

appointed civil defence volun-teers at each of these buses.

The volunteers distributedmasks to every passenger andinstructed them to ensuresocial distancing.

The volunteers also askedthem to wash their hands fromtime to time. Medical certificateand tickets were given to thepassengers after they reachedthe railway station.

The Delhi Governmenthas decided to bear the cost oftrain travel of the migrantworkers if their home States donot respond on the matter ofbearing their travel cost.

As per current guidelines,the Central Government and thehome state of the migrant work-ers should bear the cost of theirtravel. The Delhi Governmenthas already reached out to therespective States with the list ofmigrant workers stranded inDelhi. Most of these States areyet to respond on the matter ofbearing the travel costs of thesestranded people, therefore, theGovernment has taken the deci-sion to bear the cost to avoid anyfurther inconvenience to strand-ed workers.

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Gurugram reported 9 morecoronavirus positive cases

on Friday. The situation isalarming here with 65 casesreported a week ago and nowthe tally has zoomed up to 126on Friday. The Gurugram dis-trict reported 74 Covid-19 casesin the past eight days.

The total coronavirus casesare 126 in Gurugram, including52 who were cured and dis-charged from hospitals. While75 are undergoing treatment.

Gurugram Civil SurgeonJS Punia said that 20 of them arewholesale vegetable dealers inKhandsa Anaj Mandi, who havedirect contacts with theAzadpur vegetables and fruitswholesale market.

Earlier, nine wholesalers ortheir employees in the samemarket-tested positive and havebeen hospitalised.

The affected areas weresealed by MunicipalCorporation of Gurugram(MCG) and health officials haveinitiated the sanitation works.

After corona patients werefound for the first time inKhandsa market on May 3, itwas shut for the next five days.Due to this, the city is facingacute shortage of vegetablesand fruits. The official said that

65 persons are under quarantineafter they returned from otherStates. "All of them are isolatedat different Government, ESIand private hospitals. Theirfamily members are also putunder home quarantine. Thehealth officials are makingefforts to identify others whowere infected after coming incontact with them," Punia said.

Meanwhile, the official up-scale Vipul Belmonte residentialcomplex at Golf Course roadwas sealed after the emergenceof two Covid-19 cases onThursday. The patients, a seniorcitizen couple, underwentCovid-19 test after the wife gota fever. The husband had recent-ly visited the Azadpur veg-etable and fruit wholesale mar-ket in Delhi.

Earlier The district admin-istration Gurugram had issuedan order to relax lockdownnorms in the district startingfrom May 4. As per the orderpeople in the district can moveanywhere within the districtfrom 7.00 am to 7.00 pm.

After 7 pm and up to 7 amthe following morning, Nobodyallowed to move, even with apass, except for medical andessential services.Also, the peo-ple of the Containment zoneswill not be allowed to come out.The Gurugram district nowhas 24 containment zones.

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The office of Food Suppliesand Consumer Affairs has

written to the Director ofDirectorate of Information andPublicity, asking it to followorder given by the High Courtin the case titled as Delhi Rozi-Roti Adhikar Abhiyan Vs Unionof India and others.

"The GNCTD shall fur-thermore, widely publicise andcirculate the information quathe compliance of the directionsissued hereinabove, boththrough the print and elec-

tronic media, on a daily basis,"it said in the letter.

"The GNCTD is also direct-ed to immediately place ontheir official website, as well as,publicise through the print andelectronic media, grievancehelpline numbers, so as toenable members of the public,who may be aggrieved qua thelack of distribution of the foodgrains, to seek redressal of theirgrievances by contacting thenodal officers appointed forthe said purpose, whose detailsshall also be placed in the pub-lic domain forthwith,” it added.

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�����"� ����������������� ������4�� ���� �����3 ���������������������������� �� New Delhi: AAP legislator

Prakash Jarwal has moved ananticipatory bail in a Delhicourt in connection with acase pertaning to a doctor’s suicide in the national Capitalin April. The Rouse Avenuecourt will hear the matter onMay 11.

On April 18, Delhi Policehad booked Jarwal and hissupporter Kapil Nagar andothers on charges of issuingdeath threats and abetment tosuicide after Dr Rajinder Singhwas found dead in his houseand the names of both wasallegedly found mentioned inhis suicide note.

Dr Rajinder Singh, a pri-vate practitioner in Durgapuri

area in south Delhi, wasinvolved in supply of Delhi JalBoard water through tankerssince 2007. The bereaved fam-ily had claimed that theaccused had got Dr Rajinder’stankers removed from watersupply service and also pre-vented clearance of dues of alarge sum of money from theJal Board.

In his application for antic-ipatory bail, Jarwal submittedthat he will cooperate with thepolice in the investigation ofthe case, as and when called. Healso pleaded that there was noreason to subject him to cus-todial interrogation. The FIRwas lodged on a complaint bythe doctor''s son. SR

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India has identified four ded-icated COVID-19 hospitals at

as many high-load Covid-19cities to be a part of “Solidarity”,the World HealthOrganisation’s (WHO) inter-national clinical trial to helpfind an effective treatment fornovel coronavirus.

These hospitals are AIIMSin Jodhpur, Apollo Hospital inChennai, B J Medical Collegeand Civil Hospital inAhmedabad and ChirayuMedical College and Hospitalin Bhopal.

Under the trial, the effec-tiveness of four drugs andstandard care on coronaviruspatients will be compared. Thefour-drug regimes that will betested on Covid-19 patientsunder the Solidarity Trial are -Remdesivir, Lopinavir,Hydroxychloroquine orChloroquine and Interferon.

The international clinicaltrial has been launched by theWHO and its partners to helpfind an effective treatment forCovid-19. India is among 100other countries participating inthe trial.

“The Solidarity Trial willcompare four treatmentoptions against standard ofcare, to assess their relativeeffectiveness against Covid-19,” according to the worldhealth agency.

It aims to rapidly discoverwhether any of the drugs in thetrial slows down disease pro-gression or improves survival.

The trial has patients enrolledin multiple countries. “Otherdrugs can be added based onemerging evidence,” it says.

A scientist from the ICMRsaid that the research wingbody plans “to initiate the trialat 20-25 clinical trial sites inmany states across the country”.

“These sites are in various

stages of being approved. Thesites require approval fromtheir institutional ethics com-mittees, and have to be trainedand updated with the DrugController General of India(DCGI) and Clinical TrialsRegistry-India (CTRI). Somesites are already registered,some are close to registration,

and many more are in theprocess of obtaining approvalfrom their ethics committee,”said the scientist.

She said that India will betesting all the four treatmentoptions. Remdesivir, which isexclusively manufactured byGilead in the US, andInterferon beta-1a, “have been

donated by WHO for trial inIndia.”

“All four treatments will betested. Patients who are willingto participate and provide theirinformed consent will be allot-ted randomly, through a com-puter programme, to any oneof the four treatment options,”she added.

Chloroquine and hydrox-ychloroquine are very closelyrelated and used to treat malar-ia and rheumatology condi-tions respectively. The ICMRhas authorised hydroxychloro-quine as prophylaxis (preven-tive treatment), recommendingit for healthcare workers andthose taking care of COVID-19patients at home.

Remdesivir is a drug with

antiviral properties that wasmanufactured by a US-basedbiotechnology company in2014, to treat Ebola cases; it wasalso tried in patients of MERSand SARS, both caused bycoronaviruses while Lopinavir/Ritonavir is a licensed treat-ment for HIV. India first usedthe Lopinavir/ Ritonavir com-bination for treatment of anItalian couple who tested pos-

itive in Rajasthan. Interferonbeta-1a is used to treat multi-ple sclerosis.

“By enrolling patients inmultiple countries, theSolidarity trial aims to rapidlydiscover whether any of thedrugs slow disease progressionor improve survival. Otherdrugs can be added based onemerging evidence,” as per theWHO website.

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COVID-19 patients showloss of the sense of smell,

a symptom which is most like-ly to occur by the third day ofinfection with the novel virus,according to researchers.

Most of these patients arealso experiencing a loss of thesense of taste, they said in theirstudy after conducting char-acteristics and symptoms of103 patients who were diag-nosed with COVID-19 over asix-week period atKantonsspital Aarau in Aarau,Switzerland.

Patients were asked onphone how many days theyhad COVID-19 symptoms andalso asked to describe the tim-ing and severity of loss orreduced sense of smell alongwith other symptoms.

At least 61 per cent of thepatients reported reduced orlost sense of smell, said AhmadSedaghat, an associate profes-

sor in the UC College ofMedicine's Department ofOtolaryngology-Head andNeck Surgery and an UCHealth physician specializingin diseases of the nose andsinuses, who was the principalinvestigator of the study.

The mean onset for reduc-tion or loss in the sense of smellwas 3.4 days.

The findings have beenpublished in the journalOtolaryngology-Head andNeck Surgery. The first authorof the research was MarleneSpeth, at the Switzerland hos-pital.

"We also found in thisstudy that the severity of theloss of smell is correlated withhow bad your other COVID-19 symptoms will be," saidSedaghat. "If the anosmia, alsoknown as loss of smell, isworse, the patients reportedworse shortness of breath andmore severe fever and cough."

Sedaghat explained that,

"Our study indicates that adecreased sense of smell maybe an indicator of patientsearly in the disease course aswell as those who may go on todevelop more severe symp-toms, like shortness of breath,later on.”

He cautioned that whilethe loss of smell is an indica-tor of COVID-19, it's not theonly factor. "When you start toexperience serious symptomsof COVID-19 which includeshortness of breath and respi-ratory distress, that's whenyou should become alarmed."The study also found thatyounger patients and womenin the study were also morelikely to experience adecreased loss of smell, saidSedaghat.

Also, about 50 per cent ofstudy patients experienced astuffy nose and 35 per centexperienced a runny nose.Sedaghat said it was importantbecause previous studies indi-

cated that these nasal symp-toms were rare in COVID-19and these symptoms wereattributed to allergy and notthe novel coronavirus.

"No one is going to diebecause of a loss of the senseof smell and it's not the symp-tom that will kill anyone,"said Sedaghat. "However, it isimportant because it helps usto identify these COVID-19patients as asymptomatic car-riers so they don't spread thedisease to others. Now we canpotentially identify them earlyduring the disease to startantiviral medications and ulti-mately maximize our ability toeffectively treat these patients."

Other co-authors of thestudy included IsabelleGengler, UC Department ofOtolaryngology-Head andNeck Surgery, along withThirza Singer-Cornelius,Michael Oberle, and SteffiBrockmeier, all fromKantonsspital Aarau.

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The Drug ControllerGeneral of India (DGCI)

has given green signal to theCouncil for Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR) toconduct clinical trial on drugs- 'favipiravir' and 'phytophar-maceutical' - to combat coro-navirus.

Favipiravir is a drug whichis commonly used in Japan,China and some other coun-tries, to treat influenza that hasa very broad spectrum of RNApolymerase.

The CSIR is also explor-ing Cocculus Hirsutus, anative herb used by tribes inthe country, as a biologicalmedicine or phytopharma-ceutical, which is alreadybeing tested as medicine fordengue for its efficacy to

combat COVID-19.CSIR Director General

Shekhar Mande said that theywill start the clinical trialwithin a week.

In May 2016, Sun Pharmaand International Centre forGenetic engineering andBiotechnology (ICGEB),Delhi, had signed an exclusiveagreement to develop thenovel botanical drug for treat-ment against dengue.

According to CSIR scien-tists, the antiviral propertiesof the medicine have beenfound to be effective againstvector-borne dengue diseaseas part of the initial stages ofhuman trials.

"We are already testingthe efficacy of this medicineagainst dengue and it is in theadvanced stage in phase-IIhuman trials. The mecha-

nisms of treatment are simi-lar," Mande said.

Phytopharmaceutical isessentially a herbal medicineextracted from plants. It is acocktail of different com-pounds but has a biologicalorigin from a plant. In theUnited States, the Food andDrug Administration (FDA)terms it botanical, however, inIndia the DCGI calls it phy-topharmaceutical.

Talking about Favipiravir,he said it is a safe drug and itstrial is expected to be com-pleted in about one and a halfmonth. "If the tests are suc-cessful with the expectedresults, then this drug will beavailable soon at affordableprices. A big reason for this isthat Favipiravir is an old med-icine the patent of which hasnow expired," he said.

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Charting out several sug-gestions for the Centre,

former Congress chief RahulGandhi on Friday said theGovernment needs to spell outa strategy to exit the nationallockdown, immediatelyannounce a financial packageand implement a decentralisedapproach to deal with thesocio-economic fallout of thecovid-19 pandemic.

Rahul also stated the coun-try needed not just a "strongPM" but also "strong ChiefMinisters". The country wouldlose the coroanavirus fight if itwas restricted only to the PM'sOffice, he said.

"If we keep this fight onlyin PMO, we will lose; PMmust devolve power," theCongress leader said in a videointeraction with the media.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, he said, had a style ofworking and that "may beeffective" in other circum-

stances. "It may work for him, but

when the country is facingsuch an unprecedented crisis,we don't need just one strongPM... we need many, manystrong leaders, strong CMs(Chief Ministers) and strongDMs (District Magistrates).We need a strong patrioticIndian leader at the panchay-at level, district level, statelevel... we need to tackle theproblem and finish it at a locallevel, not at the national level,"he said.

"We have been 45 days inlockdown now and we arebeginning to run in a little bitof problem. There is a verystrong feeling that we need to,without any delay, get packagefor MSMEs (micro, small andmedium enterprises), getmoney in the hand of poorIndians and have a strategy formigrants as well as start prepar-ing for exit from lockdown,"Rahul Gandhi said in videopress conference.

His comments come at atime when states have beendemanding a relief and stimu-lus package to mitigate theeconomic damage caused bythe most stringent lockdown inthe world. India is now in thethird phase of the nationwidelockdown, which started on 25March.

"The Government’s gen-eral style is to not engage withopposition and we have accept-ed that. We are doing what isour work. We feel four or fivethings are immediately neededincluding a financial package,we have made a clear frame-work for MSMEs and incomesupport and suggesting 200days of work under MGN-REGS (Mahatma GandhiEmployment GuaranteeScheme)," he said.

Rahul also said states,including those ruled by theBJP, face financial distress andneed immediate central gov-ernment intervention. Headded that the pandemic

requires a ‘psychologicalchange’ among the citizens forwhich Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has to takelead.

"We simply cannot contin-ue without providing supportto people who are sufferingbecause of the lockdown. Alockdown brings a psycholog-ical change. It is not an on-offswitch. Currently, the peopleare very scared of this disease,so we are going to have to makepsychological changes in theminds of the people. The gov-ernment, if it wants to open up,has to turn this fear into a senseof confidence," he added.

"We are in an emergencyand idea of injecting a sum ofRs 7500 directly into hands ofpoor is critical," Rahul said inresponse to question frommedia.

As far as decentralisation isconcerned, Rahul Gandhi saidModi needs to trust state chiefministers and they should beable to trust their subordi-nates. He added that the clas-sification of zones (in green,orange and red) too shouldhappen in consultation withchief minsters and districtmagistrates (DMs).

For example, the grading ofred, orange and green hadbeen done at the national level,but should have been done atthe level of the DM as they havethe most ground information,he said and advising the PM totalk to Chief Ministers more

often, and as a colleague, not asa boss.

He also said massive tran-sition was needed and coordi-nation between the govern-ment and states, and the gov-ernment and the people.

To a question about thestate of migrants stranded bythe lockdown, either forced tosurvive without jobs, shelterand food or walking hundredsof km with their families, Rahulsaid this was "not the time tocriticise the Government" onthe crisis.

"Our supply chain and thehealth system of red, orangeand green is clashing. Themigrants and the poor needmoney immediately. TheMSME need money immedi-ately, otherwise the lack ofjobs will become a tsunami,"said the Congress leader.

To another question onwhether his conversations withRaghuram Rajan, AbhijitBanerjee and others were partof a bigger strategy, Rahul said:"I speak to a lot of people. A lotof conversations are interesting.I thought I would like to givea glimpse of these conversa-tions to the people of India.There is no other strategy."

On the possibility of hiscomeback as president of thegrand old party, the Gandhiscion ruled out returning asCongress president, a post hegave up last year after his partywas pulverised in the nationalelection.

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Describing Congress leaderRahul Gandhi’s comment

asking the Modi-Government tobe “transparent” about its strat-egy to counter coronavirus post-May 17 and “devolve power” toStates as “immature” and “ill-informed”, the BJP on Friday saidthat the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has been takingsuggestions from all the ChiefMinisters and quoted Nobel lau-reate Abhijit Banerjee as prais-ing the Centre’s direct moneytransfer to poor who may befacing problems during theongoing lockdown in the coun-try.

Seeking Rahul to act with"wisdom and practicality" and"fight the biggest calamity inhuman history under the ableguidance" of Narendra Modi,BJP spokesperson and RajyaSabha member SudhanshuTrivedi said Government isworking in “full harmony” withthe States and Prime Ministerhas consulted representatives ofalmost all sectors in the country,including trade, business, art ,sports or religion.

Trevedi said the best exam-ple of freedom accorded tostates to act in the pandemic is

that even before the announce-ment of the lockdown by theCentre on March 24 four states-Punjab, Odisha, Telangana,Maharashtra- had declared lock-down in their respective States.

"Ever youthful Congressleader who is about to completea half century now at leastshould have some wisdom andpracticality", Trivedi said refer-ring to Rahul’s comment ontransparency and devolution ofpower to the states in respect ofdevising strategies in respect tothe pandemic.

He said the ModiGovernment has been verymuch receptive to suggestionsfrom the opposition but it shouldbe constructive and added thatit is very typical and character-istic of Gandhi to speak beforemedia without studying facts.

The Government hasalready announced a relief pack-age of �1.7 lakh crore and hasalso ensured money in the handsof the poor through direct ben-efit transfer to help them tideover difficulties during the coro-navirus crisis, he said, respond-ing to Gandhi's demands of aspecial package and cash trans-fer to the poor. Nobel laureateAbhijit Banerjee has also praisedthe direct money transfer, he

said.In his recent talk with the

Congress leader, Banerjee hadnoted that the issues facingmigrants should be handled bylocal authorities, Trivedi said. Headded "It's not time to createcontroversy directly or indirect-ly. Instead it is time for cooper-ation and he should try to fightthe biggest calamity in thehuman history under the ableguidance of our Modi."

BJP spokesman said India isthe only country where there areattacks on health and securitypersonnel for which the gov-ernment had to bring an ordi-nance to tackle such crimes, hesaid, adding that there is an effortto “communalise” the issue, withinternational agencies beingapproached to criticise the cen-tral government. Trivedi wasapparently referring to the alle-gations that right-wing activistshave targeted Muslims for thespread of coronavirus. Congress,he said has no words to offer onthis issue.

Rahul Gandhi had earliersaid that the Government needsto tell the people about its strat-egy to open up the country aswell as the economy after theCovid-19 lockdown ends onMay 17.

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The Environment Ministryis reportedly set to issue a

notification that is likely to doaway with the mandatory useof washed coal in power sta-tions located beyond 500 KMfrom coal supplying mines. Ifdone, it would not only clearthe last hurdle in the imple-mentation of a new technol-ogy called flue gas desulfuri-sation (FGD) but also renegeon one of its own reforms.

Through a January 2014notification, the Ministry hadmade it mandatory for use ofwashed coal having ash con-tent of 34 percent or more foruse in power stations locatedbeyond 500 KM from coalsupplying mines.

At a time when the coun-try is reeling under its worstcrisis ever, experts questionthe wisdom behind this pro-posed move especially since itis also contrary to the PrimeMinister’s advise that mineral sector should benchmark its operations tointernational standards.

The notification will doaway with globally acceptedprocess of coal washing andpreparations before despatchto a consumer.

“Indian Coal does notcontain any significant per-centage of Sulphur whichwould warrant setting up ofFGD equipments involvingcrores of rupees. Also, unlikewhat is being projected, wash-ing of coal is 100% pro envi-ronment. The perceived extracost of washed coal is com-pensated by high heat valueand lesser freight cost, result-ing in eventual benefit,” saidRK Sachdev, President of CoalPreparation Society of India.

R Srikanth, Head ofEnergy and EnvironmentResearch Program at NationalInst itute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, who alsofeels washing coal is a betterand globally accepted norm,says, “ To tackle pollut ion, EnvironmentMinistry must prioritise high-ef f iciency ElectrostaticPrecipitators (ESPs) withI n d i a ntechnology which can remove99.98% of PM pollutants withvery low increase in tariff.

Instead, Environment andPower Ministries are priori-tising expensive and import-ed FGDs.” He furtherinformed that an MoP ordershows only 30% domesticcontent in FGD equipmentwhich will raise fixed cost per

unit and CO2 emissions, dueto 1.5% increase in auxiliaryconsumption.”

In fact, the EnvironmentMinistry’s 2014 notificationhad put the onus for supply ofwashed coal to thermal powerplants on Coal India Limited.Many say that this PSU alsostands to benefit out of thisnotification, as the mandate isbeing done away with.

It is in public domainthat despite its promise adecade ago on building wash-eries while issuing its IPO, CIL has notbeen able to make more thantwo such facilities.

What worries experts isthe ramifications this newtechnology will have on esca-lating costs for consumers.

“Environment Ministryshould re-examine the issuesthrough consultations withindustry and experts, beforetaking any decision.Preparation of washed coalfor use by thermal power plants has been parta n dparcel of coal mining industry globally and India isno exception,” added Sachdev.In fact, it best suits IndianCoal considering the highash and low Sulphur contentin Indian Coal.

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Congress leader inParliament Adhir

Chowdhury has quoted UnionHome Minister as saying thatBengal Government is not tak-ing enough interest in gettingback its migrating workersstuck in various parts of thecountry.

The Congress MP fromBehrampore has said that hehad taken up the issue ofBengali migrant workers

requesting him to arrange fortheir return home.

“I have talked to UnionHome Minister Amit Shah. Itis his responsibility to giverelief to the people stuck in dif-ferent states owing to the lock-down and hold consultationswith the respective StateGovernments in this regard,” hesaid adding the Home Ministerhad assured him of holdingtalks with Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee.

While the States like Uttar

Pradesh and Bihar were facil-itating the return of theirrespective citizens working inother States the BengalGovernment was not pursuingthe matter, Chowdhury quot-ing Shah said.

Bengal too has more thana lakh workers stuck in variousparts of the country.

“The State Governmentcan arrange for quarantinefacilities after bringing themigrant labourers and otherpeople back. It can also ask for

corona-negative certificatesfrom the states where they arestranded before allowing themto return,” the former RailwayMinister said.

Bengal had already broughtabout 4,500 people includingpilgrims and students strand-ed at Ajmer and Kota inRajasthan --- some by bus andothers by train.

Meanwhile, the dreadedcorona virus crept into theIndian Museum taking its tollon a Central Industrial Security

Force.A CISF Sub-inspector

posted at the Indian Museumon Friday died due to thecorona virus. The victim iden-tified as Asit Kumar Saha wasundergoing treatment inCalcutta Medical College andHospital.

The other 50 CISF per-sonnel in the same unit whocame in contact with him havebeen quarantined, the officialssaid adding the Museum staffhad also been isolated.

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Hundreds of 'distraught'workers engaged by the

Chenab Textile Mills (CTM) inKathua district on Fridayblocked the Jammu-PathankotNational Highway and stagedprotest demonstrations allegingnon-payment of full monthlysalaries for last two months.

Before stepping out of thepremises, agitated workers ran-sacked offices and pelted stoneson the private security of the tex-tile mill. A police gypsy was alsodamaged by the protesters andturned upside down to disruptthe traffic on the highway.

To contain the angry work-ers, police resorted to use of tear-gas shells. Before the situationwent out of control, senior offi-cers of Kathua police, led by SSPKathua, Shailendra Mishrarushed to the spot and the work-

ers were pacified to stop demon-strations. SSP, Shailendra Mishrahandled the situation himself byspeaking in local language andsuccessfully dispersed the crowd.

Large number of workers,who hailed from Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Chattisgarh, MadhyaPradesh alleged they have beenstaying here in the factorypremises even during this lock-down period but they haven'tbeen given their full salaries.

They charged, despiteappeals made by the PM Modinot to hold salaries of workers,the management of the ChenabTextil Mills have not been adher-ing to the diktat.

Few women workers, withtheir faces covered with masks,told TV reporters, they havebeen paid their salaries @ Rs 150per day.

"We were handed over a pal-try sum, we really don't know

how to survive with this amountin our pockets".Few other work-ers claimed, the managementpaid an equal amount to all theworkers which resulted in fric-tion as those who were workingdemanded more wages. SSP,Shailendra Mishra and DeputyCommissioner Kathua OPBhagat later directed the Millauthorities to follow the guide-lines issued by the govt andresolve the issue of pendingpayment of workers. The workers were alsodirected to enroll themselves ifthey wished to return home atthe special counters inside themill premises. Meanwhile, a FIRno 121/2020 u/s307,336,427,332,353/188/269/270/147 IPC was registered by thepolice against the employeesand workers of Chenab TextileMills for indulging in violenceand damaging police property.

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There was no reprieve forTamil Nadu from the coro-

navirus pandemic ravaging therest of the country and theworld as 600 more persons test-ed positive on Friday. Thistook the number of coron-avirus patients in the State to6,009, according to the medicalbulletin released by the depart-ment of health and family wel-fare on Friday evening.

In a major development,the Madras High Court onFriday ordered the closure of all

TASMAC liquor shops whichopened on Thursday after a 45day close down. But tipplershave been given the liberty tobook their brands by onlineand this would be delivered attheir doorsteps. Thursday andFriday saw unprecedented anduncontrollable crowd in frontof the liquor shops giving a goby to the norms of social dis-tancing and wearing of facemasks.

As has been the pattern forthe last one week, Chennairecorded 399 coronavirus pos-itive patients making the total

number of persons afflictedwith the virus in the metropo-lis 3,043, the highest in theState. The death toll due to thepandemic reached 40 withthree more persons succumb-ing on Friday.

Though the number ofpersons testing positive forCovid-19 is increasing by thehour, veteran medical doctorsand contagious disease spe-cialists are of the view that therewas no need to panic. “Thenumbers will increase furtherall over the world and TamilNadu cannot remain outside

this phenomenon,” said Dr KKolandasway, who was thedirector of public health andpreventive medicine to theGovernment of Tamil Nadu tillApril 30, 2020. After retirementfrom the office, DrKolandaswamy has been work-ing as advisor to theGovernment on issues relatedto infectious diseases and pan-demic.

Speaking to The Pioneerabout the release issued by theGovernment on Friday, DrKolandaswamy, with more thanthree decades of research and

diagnostic experience said theshooting up of the numbers isa blessing in disguise for thepeople.

“This will help in strength-ening the immunity power ofthe younger as well as oldergenerations. There is no needto be upset or panic because ofthe present scenario. We haveto observe the cardinal rules ofthe game to tame coronavirusand that is to wear the facemask, wash hands and feet andof course, maintain the socialdistance,” said DrKolandaswamy.

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On the 100th day of thecoronavirus pandemic

which fell on Friday, Keralacould look back with a sense ofsatisfaction to the path it cov-ered during the journey tofreedom from the disease. “Thecoronavirus curve has beenflattened in the State. The Statehad to face two waves of attacksince January 30, when the firstcase was reported. We havesuccessfully encountered andneutralized the pandemic,” saidPinarayi Vijayan, ChiefMinister on Friday whileaddressing the media.

“Kerala has shown greatcourage and resolve. Foughttwo waves and is ready if thereis another wave. Years fromnow, we should be able to lookback and take pride in how weresponded to this,” Vijayansaid in a social media postingon Friday. Eight of the 14 dis-tricts in Kerala have beendeclared as coronavirus free byThursday evening.

Even as the State has effec-tively controlled the spread ofthe contagious disease with asurveillance mechanism worthemulating by other States, theGovernment of Kerala isalready into another action,receiving the expatriates fromWest Asian countries as part ofthe Vande Bharat Mission. Aspart of evacuating theKeralaites who were held up inGulf countries, Air India beganits mission to bring back allthose who have registered theirnames with the ministry ofexternal affairs.

Late Thursday night two

aircraft with 363 passengers onboard landed at Kochi andKozhikode airports. All pas-sengers are being accommo-dated at the quarantine homesarranged by the StateGovernment for a period ofseven days after which thosewho are diagnosed free ofcoronavirus would be allowedto go home while those whotest positive would be hospi-talized.

V Muraleedharan, ministerof state for external affairs, saidthat all expatriates who are reg-istered with the ministry wouldbe brought home as part of theVande Bharat Mission.

“A mammoth total of 1.9lakh names from Kerala havebeen registered in the portal.We will bring back all of themand have inducted Air India’sfleet for the purpose,” saidMuraleedharan.

Dr B Rajeev, leadingayurvedic physician, describedKerala’s surveillance mecha-nism as the secret behind thesuccessful handling of the coro-navirus pandemic. “Years ago,the Government of Kerala hadappointed Dr T Jacob John,professor of virology, ChristianMedical College, Vellore, as thechairman of a high powercommittee of doctors to forti-fy the State from contagiousand infectious diseases. Thestrategy is paying off nowbecause Prof John has put inplace a network of surveil-lance with which any aberra-tions in the public health wouldbe known to the Taluk, Districtand State level medical frater-nity,” explained Dr Rajeev.

Except for an oversight by

the medical team posted atKochi Airport which resultedin a few passengers from WestAsia jumping the security cor-don and escaping to Kasargod,the entire scanning and scruti-ny operations were foolproof inthe State. The StateGovernment has arrangedquarantine and isolation facil-ities at the international air-ports at Kochi, Kozhikode,Thiruvananthapuram andKannur and has finalized anaction plan to ensure that theirwould not be any shortage ofbeds and facilities for theincoming passengers. Theflights too have been scheduledin such a way that those whoreturn to the State would notface any difficulties for want ofspace. Hundreds of doctorsand para medical staff havebeen deployed in the airportsto make Vande Bharat Missiona smooth operation.

The kind of work being putup by P M Basheer, a munici-pal councillor in Perumbavoorspeaks volumes about theinvolvement of a people’s rep-resentative in countering thepandemic.

“There are 400 houses inmy ward and I have beentasked as a nodal officer toensure that all senior citizens inthe ward got medical care.Similarly, we prepared a list ofpeople in the ward who wereput into trouble by the lock-down which affected theirlivelihood. It was my responsi-bility to see to it that they andtheir families get three squaremeals a day during the ;lock-out,” said Basheer, an activist ofthe SDPI.

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Amid an unabated increasein the number of Covid-19

triggered deaths and infec-tions in the metropolis, theMaharashtra Government onFriday shunted out MumbaiMunicipal CommissionerPraveen Pardeshi and appoint-ed Urban DevelopmentDepartment's PrincipalSecretary Iqbal Chahal in hisplace.

A day after a video show-ing at least four bodies wrappedin black plastic lying on bedsnext to Covid-19 patientsundergoing treatment at theBMC-run LTMG Hospital atSion in north-central Mumbai

went viral, the state governmentcarried out a major bureaucraticreshuffle in the state.

Under the reshuffle,Pardeshi –a 1985 batch IASofficer –was moved out fromhis position of MumbaiMunicipal Commissioner andposted as Additional ChiefSecretary (1), UrbanDevelopment Department atMantralaya in south Mumbai.

In an apparent effort tobring in some new ideas to dealwith the worsening Coronavirussituation in the metropolis, thestate government appointed I SChahal, a 1989 IAS officer whowas earlier Principal Secretary ofUrban DevelopmentDepartment, Mantralaya, as the

Mumbai MunicipalCommissioner.

In two other appointmentsaimed at strengthening theBMC set, the state govern-ment appointed Mrs AshwiniBhide, a 1995 batch IAS officer,and Sanjeev Jaiswal, a 1996 IASofficer, as Additional MunicipalCommissioners in the BMC.The two IAS officers will helpChahal in his task.

The sudden transfer ofPardeshi from the high-profileMumbai MunicipalCommissioner’s post, a post heheld for one year. Prior to hisappointment as the MumbaiMunicipal Commissioner,Pardeshi had worked asAdditional chief secretary to

former chief ministerDevendra Fadnavis.

Known for his administra-tive prowess, Pardeshi hadmade a mark for himself byefficiently handling the situa-tion of arising out a massiveearthquake at Latur inMarathwada region onSeptember 30, 1993, in whichmore than 10,000 people werekilled and 30000 others injured.

Among other assignmentsPardeshi had handled was asenior leadership position heworked in the United Nationsfor seven years in Geneva: Heheaded the NDP Geneva PostConflict Recovery Unit inGeneva (2002 to 2005, and wasthe Senior Co-ordinator,

United Nations InternationalStrategy for Disaster Reduction,Geneva for oversight overregional offices of Africa, Asia,Latin America and Europe,for policies on mainstreamingdisaster reduction in develop-ment programmes.

Meanwhile, in otherbureaucratic transfers, ManojSaunik, a 1987 IAS officer,who was earlier working asAdditional Chief Secretary,Pubic Works Department, hasbeen posted as AdditionalChief Secretary (Finance),Finance Department,Mantralaya, Mumbai.

A L Jarhad, a 1997 IAS offi-cer who was working asAdditional Municipal

Commissioner, BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation,Mumbai has been posted asSecretary (R&R), Revenue andForest Department,Mantralaya, Mumbai.

Mrs Jayshree Bhoj, a 2003IAS officer, who was AdditionalMunicipal Commissioner,Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation, Mumbai has beenposted as Managing Director,MSSIDC, Mumbai

A 2003 IAS officer, K DNimbalkar – who was workingas Secretary (R&R), Revenueand Forest Department,Mantralaya, Mumbai has beenposted as Secretary, PublicWorks Department,Mantralaya, Mumbai.

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Panaji: Factories in Goa havebeen allowed to extend theirwork shifts to 12 hours fromthe existing 8 hours, accord-ing to a government notifica-tion on Friday, citing lack ofadequate labour as the causefor the extension.

"There are restrictions onmovement of workers leadingto shortage of workers there-by causing the factories todeal with an exceptional pres-sure of work.

There is a need for relax-ing certain provisions of TheFactories Act, 1948 therebyextending the working hoursfor optimum utilization of theworkers in the factories which have been allowed tooperate during the shutdown,"the notification issued byChief Inspector of Factoriesand Boilers Vivek Marathesaid.

The notification also saidthat the extension of the workshift would enable factories toovercome the handicap oflabour shortage.

As part of the notification,factories may also extendworking hours to sixty hoursin a week and the changeswould be effective up to July 31.

Goa Chief MinisterPramod Sawant as well ascaptains of industry and busi-ness, have urged migrantworkers not to leave Goa fortheir home state despite theCovid-19 pandemic, even asmore than 80,000 workershave registered with stategovernment agencies seekingreturn home.

Sawant has also said thatthe exodus of workers, wouldseverely impact several indus-trial sectors in Goa. IANS

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Taking up the case suo motoon the Vishakhapatnam

gas leak incident, The NationalGreen Tribunal (NGT) onFriday ordered LG Polymers todepot Rs.50 crore as interimamount for damage to life. TheGreen Tribunal also issuednotice to Centre, CentralPollution Control Board andformed a six-member com-mittee comprising Justice BSeshasayana Reddy to probethe incident and submit areport before May 18.Meanwhile the CabinetSecretary headed committedalso assessed the relief andrehabilitation on the incidentwhich 11 people were killedand 1,000 exposed to it.

"Having regard to theprima facie material regardingthe extent of damage to life,public health and environ-ment, we direct LG PolymersIndia Pvt Limited to forthwithdeposit an initial amount of Rs50 crore, with the DistrictMagistrate, Vishakhapatnam,which will abide by further

orders of this Tribunal. Theamount is being fixed havingregard to the financial worth ofthe company and the extent ofthe damage caused," the benchheaded by Adarsh Kumar Goelsaid.

NGT also issued notice toAndhra Pradesh StatePollution Control Board,Vishakapatnam DistrictMagistrate and Union Ministryof Environment and the com-pany LG Polymers IndiaPrivate Ltd.

Styrene is classified as ahazardous and toxic chemical,the usage of which requiresonsite and off-site emergencyplans to prevent any damage.However, there appears to bea failure to comply with thesaid rules, said the NGT bench.

Meanwhile, the NationalCrisis ManagementCommittee (NCMC) underthe chairmanship of CabinetSecretary, Rajiv Gauba metfor the second successive dayto review the situation arisingout of the gas leak that tookplace in Vishakhapatnam onThursday early morning.

“Chief Secretary of AndhraPradesh briefed the Committeeon the ground situation aswell as the actions taken bythem after the incident toevacuate people and to containthe leakage in the plant. It wasinformed that all efforts werebeing taken by them to preventany further emissions from thetanks. Issues related to thelong term impact of the gas onhealth and on the quality ofwater and air were also dis-cussed,” said Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) said in a state-ment.

Cabinet Secretary tookstock of the current situation,preparedness, rescue and reliefoperations and directed that allassistance, as maybe requiredby the state, be provided tomitigate the situation.Consultations between nation-al and international experts onChemical Safety and Industrialprocesses and the officials onsite would be carried outthrough video conferencing,and a team of such expertswould also be flown in as perrequirements.

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Only 53,617 tons pulses dis-tributed to ration card

holders under the PublicDistribution System so far dur-ing the coronavirus lockdown.

Union Food Minister RamVilas Paswan on Friday blamedthat State Governments arenot doing enough in free dis-tribution of pulses to rationcard holders under thePradhan Mantri Garib AnnaYojana (PMGAY) during theCOVID-19 lockdown.

Paswan said that as manyas 20 states and union territo-ries are getting ready for imple-mentation of the ambitiousration card portability service'One Nation-One Ration Card'from June 1.

According to Paswan, theFood Corporation of India(FCI) has loaded a total num-ber of 2641 rakes (includingwheat and rice) towards thisend and the approx quantityloaded is 73.95 lakh metric tons(LMT) (55.38 LMT rice and18.57 LMT wheat).

Nearly a month's supply ofpulses has already been dis-patched to several states andunion territories, but they havemanaged to distribute only53,617 tonnes to ration cardholders under the PDS he saidand urged them to speed up theprocess in the interest of poorpeople.

It may be noted that thegovernment has decided todistribute free 1 kg pulses toeach PDS householder for threemonths till June under thePMGAY to ensure nutritionsecurity of the poor during thelockdown period.

"Distribution of pulses isthe responsibility of the stategovernments. It has not been

easy for us to get the raw puls-es milled and transported tostates/UTs in these difficulttimes. States should also putextra efforts to ensure at leastwhatever pulses have been sentto them are distributed viaPDS," Paswan said. He said thedelay in supply and distributionof pulses is due to late intima-tion by States/UTs on theirchoice of particular pulses vari-ety such as Tur Dal, UradWhole, Moong Whole, Chanahole, Chana Dal and Masur Dalbesides the logistics involved intransportation from differentStates during the lockdown.

The monthly allocation ofpulses is 1.95 lakh tonnes underthe PMGAY. Of this, 1.81 lakhtonnes of pulses have alreadyreached to states/union terri-tories so far, out of which only53,617 tonnes have been dis-tributed to beneficiaries, hesaid. "There is enough pulsesstock with the government.We are milling and providingit to states. Cannot states takethe responsibility of distribu-tion of pulses for three monthsat least? They cannot expect usto take care of distribution instates," Paswan said.

For instance, about 6,610tonnes of pulses have beentransported to Bihar whichplans to distribute under PDSfrom May 9. The entire month-ly requirement of 1,750 tonnesof pulses have been given toDelhi, while half of the quotaof 15,419 tonnes have beengiven to Chhattisgarh, headded. Currently, the govern-ment has about 14.48 lakhtonnes of pulses in its buffer, ofwhich tur dal is about 5.50 lakhtonnes, urad 2.60 lakh tonnes,chana 2.72 lakh tonnes, moong1.20 lakh tonnes and masur0.84 lakh tonnes.

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Maintaining the tempo ofmodernisation of the

armed forces, the DefenceMinistry on Friday signed acontract worth over Rs 1,200crore with Tata Power SED forupgradation of 37 air fields ofthe IAF, Navy and CoastGuards. Defence MinisterRajnath Nath had earlierapproved the project,knownas Phase Two of Modernisationof Air Field Infrastructure(MAFI).

The second phase is a fol-low-on programme based onMAFI Phase-I that includedupgradation of 30 airfields ofIAF. The airfields modernisedunder MAFI Phase-I have beenof immense benefit to bothmilitary and civil users.

The project is a turnkeyproject that includes installa-tion and commissioning ofmodern airfield equipment likeCat-II Instrument LandingSystem (ILS) and Cat II AirField Lightning System (AFLS).The modern equipmentaround the airfield will also be

directly connected to AirTraffic Control (ATC), therebyproviding excellent control ofthe airfield systems to the airtraffic controllers, defence min-istry officials said here. Theupgradation of navigationalaids and infrastructure underthis project would enhancethe operational capability byfacilitating air operations ofmilitary and civil aircrafts evenin poor visibility and adverseweather condition whileenhancing aerospace safety.

The contract will provideimpetus to the domestic indus-try in the prevailing situation.The project will give a boost toover 250 Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises which willbe directly benefited frombeing involved in execution ofvarious activities of this project,they said. This contract wouldaid in infusing the much-need-ed capital in the market andboost employment generationin such fields as communica-tions, avionics, informationtechnology, apart from civil andelectrical equipment and con-struction.

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There has been a massivesurge in the sale of products

of Khadi and Village IndustriesCommission which achievedits highest-ever turnover of�88,887 crore in 2019-20. Theturnover of Khadi registered agrowth of 31 per cent from�3215.13 crore in 2018-19, to� 4211.26 crore in 2019-20.

"The turnover of VillageIndustries products reached to�84,675.39 crore in 2019-20,registering a growth of over 19per cent from the previous year,i.e. 2018-19, which was at�71,077 crore," the Khadi andVillage Industries Commission(KVIC) stated.

KVIC Chairman VinaiKumar Saxena saidhe wasexpecting higher results, butseveral exhibitions planned inthe months of February andMarch were cancelled, and theyear-end clearance sale couldnot take place.

"As a result ofGovernment''s sustained effortsto revive the Khadi industryand the Prime Minister''srepeated appeals from variousplatforms including his radioaddress ''Mann ki Baat'', toadopt Khadi as a necessity ofdaily life, the KVIC has beencontinuously going up thegrowth trajectory," he said.

While the production ofkhadi, the most eco-friendlyproduct of sustainable devel-opment, has more than dou-bled in the last five years (since2015-16), the sales have goneup by nearly three times dur-ing the same period, KVICsaid.

Similarly, the village indus-try sector has also seen phe-nomenal growth, with pro-

duction and sales going up bynearly 100 per cent in the lastfive years, it added.

Khadi production since2015-16 has grown at the aver-age of 19.45 per cent perannum, which was merely 6.25per cent during the previousgovernment from 2004 to 2014,KVIC said.

Similarly, khadi''s sale grewexponentially at the annualrate of 27.6 per cent, whichremained as low as 6.65 percent from 2004-2014.

According to figures, theproduction of khadi whichwas pegged at �1,066 crore in2015-16, shot up to �2,292.44crore in the year 2019-20, reg-istering an increase of over 115per cent.

The sale of khadi fabricproducts increased by 179 percent from �1,510 crore in 2015-16 to a whopping Rs 4,211.26crore in 2019-20.

While village industriesproducts worth �33,425 crorewere produced in 2015-16;production went up by 96 percent to �65,393.40 crore in2019-20.

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The gas leak incident nearVisakhapatnam in the early hoursof May 7 has led to the death ofmore than 10 people and hospi-talisation of over 200. According

to the district authorities, the gas was con-firmed to be either styrene or vinyl benzene.As an intermediary, styrene is known as PVCgas and is used for the manufacture of insu-lation material, plastic, rubber, pipes, fibreglass and also for the packaging industry.According to the World Health Organisation(WHO), it is the 12th most used chemicalin the world. It is to the credit of the districtauthorities and the National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF), who reacted quick-ly, that fatalities remained low. Around 500kg of chemicals were airlifted from Gujaratto neutralise the effect of the gas well in time.

Separately, with the direct interventionof the United Nations (UN), the bar for inves-tigation of the Vizag gas leak case has not onlybeen raised but has also been virtually inter-nationalised. The spokesperson for the UNSecretary-General António Guterres,Stéphane Dujarric, said, “We obviouslysend our condolences to the victims and hopefor the quick recovery of those who have beenimpacted. These kinds of incidents shouldbe fully investigated by the local authorities.”

While detailed investigations wouldundoubtedly be undertaken, prima facie, itappears that the protocols necessary for therecommencement of operations after the 45-day lockdown was lifted were not followed.When the accident took place early in themorning, only a handful of casual workerswere present. Elements of negligence at mul-tiple levels are more than obvious. For this,evidence will have to be secured immediate-ly and this should be done in the rightearnest. While the plant must have beensealed, a team of experts headed by a scien-tist from the Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR) needs to be con-stituted immediately to get into variousaspects of this matter.

According to scientific research approvedby the US Environmental Protection Agencyand published in a top scientific journal,Environmental Health Perspectives, chronicexposure to styrene has been linked to theoccurrence of neurological and behaviour-al deficit. This may eventually result indecreased performance, including delayedreaction time and visual disturbances, hear-ing loss and possibly even peripheral neu-ropathy. The International Agency forResearch on Cancer (IARC) has deter-mined that styrene is a possible carcinogenand can cause cancer on prolonged exposure.

In this context, let us not repeat the mis-takes of the Bhopal tragedy. Even after 35years of the disaster, scars have not fullyhealed yet. The chain of suffering of the peo-ple has continued unabated for generationsas genetic deformities have been reported insome newborns. Bhopal has been listed asthe world’s biggest man-made environmen-

tal disaster. Thousands of peo-ple were killed in this disasterand many more suffered perma-nent damage or a genetic impact.Responses of our entire system— the executive, legislative andeven the judiciary — were foundto be inadequate to meet theexpectations of the people.Whatever was done by way ofrelief was too little when com-pared to catastrophes across theworld.

In the case of Vizag, theplant was run by HindustanPolymers 1961 onwards. Later, itmerged with UB Group in 1978.Subsequently, LG Chem ofSouth Korea took overHindustan Polymers andrenamed it as LG PolymersIndia Pvt Ltd in July 1997. It isunderstood that after the lock-down, permission to recom-mence operations was obtaineda couple of days ago on phone.The factory inspector and thepollution control board had nei-ther inspected nor understoodthe sensitivity of such a plantrecommencing operations with-out adequate precautions.

This incident should be awake-up call for Governmentagencies as well as the manufac-turers since a large number ofindustries would be preparing torecommence operations afterthe lockdown is relaxed.

Particularly after the Bhopaldisaster, a number of legislationswere enacted. From theEnvironment (Protection) Act,1986 to the Public Liability

Insurance Act 1991. Accordingto the relevant rules framed bythe Government, styrene is clas-sified as a hazardous and a toxicchemical. This should naturallyhave required a greater degree ofsupervision and monitoring ofoperations. Some of the majorlaws and regulations that appearto have been overlooked in theinstant case are, Environment(Protection) Act, 1986 and therules framed there under such asthe Hazardous WasteManagement and Handling Rule1989 and ones framed thereunder, including theManufacture, Storage AndImport Of Hazardous Chemical(Amendment) Rules, 1989,among others.

Despite a plethora of rulesand regulations, there are certainaspects which indicate weaknessin our legal system in dealingwith such cases. During a dis-cussion in the Parliament on theCivil Liability for NuclearDamage Act, 2010, it was men-tioned by the late Arun Jaitley,who was then the leader of theOpposition in the Rajya Sabha,“We have a sad and unfortunateexperience of the Bhopal gasleak. This law deals only withnuclear incidents. I think, twolessons still remain. If there areincidents and accidents, whichare not on account of a nuclearincident but because of which alarge number of casualty anddamage does take place, our legalregime even today is only theconventional legal regime. The

victims go to a civil court andthen have their remedies adju-dicated, and we are all consciousof the limitations of our legal sys-tem that it almost takes decades,not years, in order to compen-sate the victims…”

These were ominous words,whose importance one realisesonly after 10 years when a trag-ic incident has occurred inVisakhapatnam. The Parliamentcan still amend the existing lawsor legislate a fresh enactment tofill up this major lacuna. WhileAndhra Pradesh Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy hasalready visited the spot and hisGovernment is undertaking nec-essary relief measures, there stillmight be individual compensa-tion seekers, whose expecta-tions would have to be suitablyaddressed.

The number of lawsuitsfiled in India and abroad afterthe Bhopal tragedy was so largethat a special enactment had tobe undertaken. All such matterswere transferred to a single judi-cial forum, which, however,failed to deliver complete justice.So let us not repeat the mistakesof Bhopal and ensure adequatecompensation to the victimsand those injured in tune withinternational standards.Compensation for the damagecaused to the environment, too,must be made.

(The writer is a formerGovernor and a Senior Advisorat the Pranab MukherjeeFoundation)

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Sir — It is a matter of deep con-cern that Mumbai is on the vergeof an unprecedented public healthemergency as both public and pri-vate hospitals in the city areswamped with Coronaviruspatients. The ICU facilities ofalmost all hospitals are fullyoccupied and there is a shortageof nearly 400 doctors and health-care professionals. Despite thelockdown, Mumbai is witnessing400 cases daily on average. Thecity’s medical infrastructure isfinding it difficult to meet itsneeds, forcing a few to wait onroads overnight before theadministration makes arrange-ments. The situation is so direthat people with non-COVIDailments are struggling to getadmitted. If the Governmentdoesn’t act immediately, the cri-sis will worsen, putting the livesof many more patients at risk.

MN MusaMumbai

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Memories of Bhopal” (May 8).

The dreadful incident of thestyrene gas leak from a chemi-cal plant near Visakhapatnam hasbrought more bad news amid thegathering economic gloom. A gasleak at a paper mill inChhattisgarh and a boiler explo-

sion at a Neyveli LigniteCorporation plant, too, werereported on the same day.

With this, serious questionshave arisen regarding the set-upof chemical plants in the country.Styrene is a known carcinogen

and requires a high level of super-vision during usage. Negligenceon the part of the staff must beinvestigated and those heldresponsible must be booked.

In these times when theCorona pandemic has affected

more than 56,000 lives, the nationcan ill-afford to bear such a cat-astrophe. All those killed andinjured in this mishap must getjust compensation.

Tushar AnandPatna

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Sir — It is not surprising that hun-dreds of people thronged TAS-MAC shops in Tamil Nadu with-out maintaining physical distanc-ing. There is now fear that manyasymptomatic people may havespread the virus. How far couldauthorities have implemented the“one bottle per person” order of theHigh Court? When policemenfound it a Herculean task torestrict the movement of peopleduring the “lockdown within lock-down” period, how could theypossibly have controlled crowds infront of TASMAC shops? Thecrowds now endanger the healthof the entire community. Who willbe held responsible if the numbersof the infected swell soon?

Tharcius S FernandoChennai

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With India currently besieged by COVID-19 and the host of socio-economic prob-lems that come along with it, few can afford

to worry about geo-political machinations takingplace abroad. Yet, as the peace process between theUnited States (US) and the Taliban in Afghanistanreaches a precarious position — with the Taliban hav-ing ramped up their attacks against the AfghanGovernment despite the recent spread of theCoronavirus in the country — it is imperative Indiatakes stock of the situation.

While it might be many months before the USfinally exits Afghanistan, especially with the viruscomplicating prisoner exchange and the ongoingnegotiations, the South Asian security matrix is goingto undergo a paradigm shift once all American mil-itary operations come to their inevitable end. Indiamust aim to use this transition to boost its region-al security interests.

The conflict in Afghanistan can at one level beunderstood as being between the majority Pashtunswho are mostly concentrated in Southern andCentral Afghanistan (and across the Durand Line,the 2,430-km border between Afghanistan andPakistan), who the Taliban claim to represent, fight-ing against the empowerment of ethnic minoritiesfrom northern Afghanistan such as the Tajiks,Hazaras and Uzbeks by successive democratically-elected governments.

While both the past and present presidents ofAfghanistan — Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani —are Pashtun, they are seen as leaders propped up bythe West. They are also seen as being overly-sym-pathetic to ethnic minorities. Moreover, many Stateinstitutions are dominated by ethnic minorities andsee a lack of representation by the Pashtuns.

However, the conflict in Afghanistan has alsobeen considered as a continuation of the proxy warbetween India and Pakistan. It is no secret thatPakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has deepties with the Taliban and has continued to backextremist groups in Afghanistan, even while callingitself an “ally” of the US in its war on terror.

A recent example of the Pakistani military estab-lishment’s support to the Taliban and allied terrorgroups was the attack on a gurdwara in Kabul onMarch 25. Prima facie it was thought to be an attackcarried out by the Islamic State (IS). However, fur-ther investigations carried out by Afghan authori-ties found direct links between the attackers, theTaliban-linked Haqqani Network and the ISI. Areport produced by the European Foundation forSouth Asian Studies (EFSAS) further substantiatedthese links.

India, on its part, has been a staunch support-er of the democratic Afghan State. This link has exist-ed since the pre-9/11 terror attacks, when New Delhisupplied military equipment and humanitarian sup-port to the Northern Alliance in its effort to topplethe brutal Taliban regime.

The Northern Alliance later went on to form theAfghan Government and many of its leaders, suchas General Dostum, are now key members of thepresent regime. William Dalrymple’s Brookings EssayA Deadly Triangle, published in 2013, presents andexplains this tacit conflict cogently.

With the US now having committed to leaving,the weakest entity in this entire sum seems to be theAfghan Government. With the decrease in Westernmilitary support to it, the Taliban have made steadygains and now control over a third of the country.The Afghan National Army has been unable to estab-lish itself as an effective fighting force.

Moreover, the recent election results have beenheavily disputed and both leading candidates,incumbent Ashraf Ghani and his opponent AbdullahAbdullah, have sworn themselves in as President inMarch. A divided civilian leadership, a weak mili-tary establishment and with US support nearing itsexpiry date, the Afghan Government now finds itselfin a bleak spot.

This situation has been further exacerbated bythe US negotiating for a peace deal directly with the

Taliban without the Afghan Government.Regardless of how these negotiationsultimately pan out, any form of eventualpeace will need the integration of theTaliban into the governing State — a real-isation that made the US finally reach thenegotiation table. As it stands presently,the Taliban have been able to keep theirsphere of influence strong enough to makethe US realise that trying to governAfghanistan as a whole, in a state of peaceand stability, would be impossible with-out their cooperation. The US war aim ofcompletely eradicating the Taliban andmaking the majority ethnic group, thePashtuns, co-opt into a democratic systemdominated by minority ethnic groups wasnear impossible. Ghani and Abdullah bothneed to realise this, if they have not alreadydone so.

So where does India find itself at thisthreshold of a new phase in Afghanistan?The resurgence of the Taliban has obvi-ously worried New Delhi. A key interestof India, if not its main, is to ensure thatthe Afghan State does not eventually con-sist of elements that would supportextremist groups functioning in Kashmir.In the past, the Taliban have been knownto have warm relations with the Lakshar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM). Extremist networks based inKashmir, with the backing of the IS, havebeen known previously to have auxiliarybases functioning freely acrossAfghanistan and Pakistan.

However, the Taliban now seem to bewilling to leave behind extremist inclina-tions if allowed to integrate into theAfghan State. They have repeatedlyclaimed that they have now cut former tiesand will not allow terror groups to func-tion in Afghanistan if allowed to form aGovernment. Recently, during an onlineconference hosted by the Delhi-basedthink-tank Global Counter-terrorismCouncil, the Taliban spokesperson

Mohammad Shaheen stated, “We willnever want any foreign organisationusing Afghan soil to target another coun-try. We will bring a law to stop any suchactivity.” More pertinently, Shaheen alsoclaimed that the Taliban would be morethan willing to engage with neighbouringcountries “on the basis of mutual respectand mutual interests.”

While the solidity of these sentimentswill only be seen in times to come, Indiamust now aim to establish some sort ofties with the Taliban. Till now, it has beenopenly hostile to the negotiations under-taken by the US and has repeatedly triedto lobby for their termination. Continuingsuch aggressive posturing against theTaliban is folly if India wants to have sub-stantial influence in a post-AmericaAfghanistan. At a time when the Talibanthemselves are re-evaluating their relationswith their Pakistani allies and are fearingthe spectre of extremism and lawlessnessthat ISI activity brings, India must aim toprovide them with an alternate regionaloption.

Some analysts, such as veteran jour-nalist and author Ahmed Rashid, haveeven gone on to claim that the Talibanwould prefer closer relations with Indianow. In contrast to Pakistan, which hasbacked terror groups that have onlybrought destruction and devastationupon the country, India has immense softpower in Afghanistan. Holding backfrom military intervention, while contin-uing to support Afghanistan economical-ly with Indian aid totalling more than $3billion now, has been an effective geo-political move.

Further strengthening this commit-ment, the Indian Government in mid-April sent medical and food supplies to aidthe Afghan Government in tacklingCOVID-19. If relations with the Talibanare not established in this new chapter ofAfghanistan, which will most likely see

them play a pivotal role, India will risksquandering its influence. Simultaneouslythough, India must also continue itsengagement with the democratic regimeand the northern ethnic minorities. It isequally important to remember that a sit-uation resembling the Afghan civil war ofthe late 90s, between the Taliban and theerstwhile Northern Alliance, is still verymuch a possibility.

In a situation of an all-out militarycampaign, where the Taliban might havean inclination to fall back on Pakistan forassistance, India must be ready to engagewith equivalent assistance in the form ofeconomic and humanitarian aid to theentities that will safeguard its interests.Some hawkish voices have even called forIndian boots on the ground in an effortto fill the void that will be left by the UStroops.

Yet, if history has taught us anything,after the British, Soviet and now US mis-adventure to stabilise Afghanistan, itwould be a terrible mistake to do so. It isimportant to remember that much of thegoodwill harboured by the Afghanstowards India has been due to our abili-ty to help them without intervening mil-itarily, an action which will be perceivedas hostile by many. No nation appreciatesthe idea of a foreign army on its soil —especially not Afghanistan.

In a situation which is constantlydeveloping and has the possibility of mul-tifarious outcomes, India must constant-ly try to pre-empt the status quo and buildties that will help assert its geo-politicalinterests. A stable and peaceful regime inAfghanistan, which censures terror activ-ity, is vital to India’s security interests.Deeming Afghanistan to be irrelevant, assome have, will only result in the weak-ening of India’s position in South Asia.

(The writer is with the School ofOriental and African Studies, University ofLondon)

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Agricultural extension is aform of informal educationthat aims at transfer of scien-

tific interventions to farmers andcollection of feedback from them.The ultimate aim is to introduce thelatest technical know-how in agri-culture and allied activities such asdairy, poultry, apiculture, marketingand so on. The use of effective tools,vernacular languages and groupdynamics marks the effectiveness ofany extension programme.

Apart from the other challengesthat plague agricultural extension,

the ongoing Coronavirus pandem-ic has compelled us to think andplan about its future in India.

Normally, agriculture exten-sion services are mainly provided bythe functionaries of State depart-ments of agriculture and local vol-untary organisations.

The Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR) start-ed its extension activities with theNational Demonstration project in1964. Further, the Krishi VigyanKendra (KVK) was introduced in1974 to offer need-based and skill-oriented training to farmers andextension workers. Then the Lab toLand Programme was launched in1979 to improve the economic con-dition of small, marginal farmersand landless agricultural labourers.

KVKs are considered to be thefront runners in providing extensionservices to farmers even in theremotest districts of the country.The mandate of KVKs isTechnology Assessment and

Demonstration for widerApplication and to enhanceCapacity Development (TADA-CD). The target is horizontal expan-sion of proven agricultural technolo-gies through on-farm testing (OFT),frontline demonstrations (FLDs),farmers’ trainings, vocational train-ings for rural youth, interactionmeetings between scientists andextension functionaries, field daysand Kisan Melas. At present thereare 713 KVKs under the adminis-trative control of State and CentralAgricultural Universities (498),ICAR Institutes (63), NGOs (101),State Governments (38) and othereducational institutions (13).

In recent years, KVKs are per-forming the duties of primaryawareness centres for all Centrally-sponsored schemes in the ruraland agricultural sector. During thelockdown period also, KVKs are cre-ating awareness among rural house-holds for taking precautionary mea-sures in their farms to avoid the

spread of the Coronavirus.However, extension activities

such as training of farmers, ruralyouth and extension functionariesrequire a minimum gathering of 20to 25 people at one place. On theother hand, organisation of KisanMelas, field days on specificcrop/enterprise, farmers’ seminarsand campaigns involve the build-upof more than 100 farmers.

One of the modern extensionapproaches recommended for dou-bling farmers’ incomes are SelfHelp Groups (SHGs), farmers clubsand so on. These are formed toboost group activities so as to bringeconomies of scale in farmingthrough better resource manage-ment.

Farmers, as producers of agri-cultural products, can form groupsand register themselves under theIndian Companies Act to formFarmer Producer Organisations(FPOs). The aim is to improve thebargaining power of farmers

through building of resources andsocial capital. The Governmentintends to set up 10,000 FPOs overthe next five years in different fieldsof agriculture, including value addi-tion and processing of fruits, vegeta-bles and meat products.

Cluster frontline demonstra-tions (CFLDs) on oilseeds and puls-es, traditional agriculture develop-ment plan and so on, are among themajor extension programmes ofthe Ministry of Agriculture andFarmers’ Welfare which employs acluster approach for sustainableproduction in agriculture.

Further, agricultural market-ing covers so many activities whichinvolve interaction of multiple stake-holders at one place. Starting fromprimary rural/village markets towholesale regulated markets, allinvolve direct contact of manyfarmers, intermediaries and con-sumers to do interconnected activ-ities for completing the supplychain of agricultural products.

However, there are a large num-ber of agricultural services that areeffectively managed by IT applica-tions, including accessibility to mar-kets, training, capacity-building,collection of feedback from farmersand so on. The creation of an ITinfrastructure has been an integralpart of the Government’s strategy foreffective delivery of services.

The National e-GovernancePlan (NeGP) was introduced in2006 to make all Government ser-vices available to citizens via theelectronic media. Approximately, 45per cent of the world’s ICT projectsare implemented in India, with themaximum number of informationkiosks being in rural India.

E-agriculture initiatives suchas Agrisnet, Digital green, eSagu,Agmarknet, eArik, VillageKnowledge Centers (VKCs), SMSPortal/mKisan Portal, Kisan CallCenters (KCCs) and so on, are suc-cessfully rendering agriculturalextension services.

Mobile apps like Kisan Suvidha,Pusa Krishi, Krishi Gyan, Cropinsurance, Agri Market and IFFCOKisan Agriculture and so on, are alsopopular among farmers and exten-sion functionaries.

Despite the availability of the e-platform for extension services inagriculture, the usage by farmers,even the youth, remains very low.

Looking at the current mindsetand the need for social distancing inthe wake of the pandemic, organ-ising agricultural extension activi-ties in the country will be a hugechallenge.

Taking into consideration thesuccess of group dynamics in agri-cultural extension, there is an urgentneed to devise alternative method-ologies for offering uninterruptedextension services to the clientele,apart from ICT.

(The writer is Scientist, AgrilEconomics, Sher-e-KashmirUniversity of Agricultural Sciencesand Technology)

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Singapore: Far from barking itsorders, a robot dog enlisted bySingapore authorities to helpcurb coronavirus infections inthe city-state politely asks jog-gers and cyclists to stay apart.

The remote-controlled,four-legged machine built byBoston Dynamics was firstdeployed in a central park onFriday as part of a two-weektrial that could see it join otherrobots policing Singapore’sgreen spaces during a nation-wide lockdown.

“Let’s keep Singaporehealthy,” the yellow and blackrobodog named SPOT said inEnglish as it roamed around.

“For your own safety andfor those around you, pleasestand at least one metre apart.Thank you,” it added, in a

softly-spoken female voice.Despite the niceties,

breaches of Singapore’s strictlockdown rules can result inhefty fines and even jail.

The city-state of 5.7 millionpeople has more than 21,000cases, one of the highest talliesin Asia, largely due to massinfections among migrantworkers living in cramped dor-mitories in areas little visited bytourists.

Under rules to enforce thelockdown in place until June 1,residents can only leave theirhomes for essential trips like gro-cery shopping and must wear amask at all times in public.

Exercise outdoors is per-missible but must be donealone.Another robot, in theshape of a small car, has been

deployed at a nearby reservoirto warn visitors “not to loiter”and that “gatherings are notallowed”.

The authorities behind thelatest trial - the governmenttechnology and cyber securityagencies - said in a statementthat SPOT could better crossrough terrain in parks andgardens. As well as broadcast-ing messages reminding visi-tors of social distancing mea-sures, SPOT is fitted with cam-eras and analytics tools to esti-mate the number of people inthe park. Authorities said thecameras would not be able totrack individuals or recordpersonal data.SPOT has alsorecently been trialled for use ata temporary hospital deliveringmedicines to patients. Agency

Geneva: A wholesale market inthe central Chinese city ofWuhan played a role in the out-break of the novel coronaviruslast year, as the source or pos-sibly as an “amplifying setting”,the World Health Organizationsaid on Friday, calling for moreresearch.

Chinese authorities shutdown the market in January aspart of efforts to halt the spreadof the virus and ordered a tem-porary ban on trade and con-sumption of wildlife.

“The market played a rolein the event, that’s clear. Butwhat role we don’t know,whether it was the source oramplifying setting or just acoincidence that some caseswere detected in and aroundthat market,” said Dr Peter

Ben Embarek, a WHO experton food safety and zoonoticviruses that cross the speciesbarrier from animals tohumans.

It was not clear whetherlive animals or infected vendorsor shoppers may have broughtthe virus into the market, hetold a Geneva news briefing.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo has said there is “a sig-nificant amount of evidence”the virus came from theWuhan laboratory, althoughhe has also said there wasn’tcertainty.

No public evidence haslinked the outbreak to the labin Wuhan and scientists havesaid the coronavirus appears tohave developed in nature. AGerman intelligence report

cast doubts on Pompeo’s alle-gations, Der Spiegel reported.

Ben Embarek did notaddress the accusations.

He noted that it tookresearchers a year to identifycamels as the source of theMERS (Middle EastRespiratory Syndrome) virus, acoronavirus that emerged inSaudi Arabia in 2012 andspread in the Middle East,adding: “It’s not too late.”

“What is important, whatwould be of great help, is to gethold of the virus before it adapt-ed to humans, before the versionwe have now. Because then wewould better understand how itadapted to humans, how itevolved,” he said.

“In terms of investigations,China has most probably, most

likely, all the expertise neededto do these investigations. Theyhave lot of very qualifiedresearchers to that,” he said.

A common sight acrossAsia, wet markets traditional-ly sell fresh produce and liveanimals, such as fish, in theopen air.

Many markets worldwidethat sell live animals must bebetter regulated and hygieneconditions improved, and someshould be closed down, BenEmbarek said. “But the vastmajority can be fixed, can bebetter organised.” It is often aquestion of controlling wastemanagement, the movement ofpeople and goods, and of sep-arating live animals from ani-mal products and from freshgoods, he said. Agency

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China on Friday askedAmerican politicians not to

“waste” their time by trying todrive a “wedge” between the rul-ing Communist Party and theChinese people over the dead-ly coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson Hua Chunyingduring a media briefing heresaid it was under the leadershipof the Communist Party ofChina (CPC), Chinese peoplemade important progress infighting the pandemic.

“Accusing Chinese politicalsystem. We cannot accept this.They are doing it out of mali-cious intentions. They want todrive a wedge between the CPCand people,” Hua said.

“The US politicians should-n’t waste time in driving a wedgebetween the CPC and the peo-ple. Our political systems can co-exist and this serves the com-mon interest of both the people,”she said, responding to criticismon a host of issues related toChina by US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo.

In recent days, US PresidentDonald Trump and Pompeohave claimed that the deadly

virus originated from theWuhan Institute of Virology inthe central Chinese city ofWuhan, where the outbreakwas first detected last December.

The Trump administrationis currently weighing punitiveactions against China over itsearly handling of the globalhealth emergency. Washingtonis also pressing Beijing to allowAmerican experts to probe theorigin of the deadly virus.

China has stoutly denied theallegations and says the USwants to distract from its ownresponse to the pandemic aheadof the November presidentialelection in which Trump isseeking re-election.

The US is home to theworld’s largest and deadliestcoronavirus outbreak, with morethan 75,000 fatalities and over1.2 million cases.

Pompeo, who is regularlyaccusing China on a slew ofissues relating to the COVID-19,dominates the Chinese ForeignMinistry press briefings almostevery day with a host of Chinesejournalists raising questions oneafter another seeking responsefor comments.

This promoted her to saythat the ministry’s briefings

have become a venue to refutePompeo’s “lies”.

Stating that China and theUS should not be enemies but“comrades” in this fight againstthis pandemic, she said, “Facingthe coronavirus pandemic, ide-ological and political differ-ences can be put aside. Life mat-ters the most.”

On Trump’s allegation thatChina may have made “enor-mous mistake”, Hua said “hatenormous mistakes we made.This is a sudden disease weconfronted among the first to be affected by the virus”,she said.

“China took comprehen-sive and rigorous measuresand our efforts have beenrecognised by the internation-al community. When we lookat the US it is simple math.Who has been making an effec-tive response and who has not.I don’t want to compare the twocountries but you reportersmake us compare,” she said.

She also backpedalled onthe allegations made by hercolleague Zhao Lijian earlierstating that the US army mayhave brought the coronavirus toWuhan during the last year’smilitary games.

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European leaders held mutedcommemorations Friday to

mark the end of World War IIon the continent, as coron-avirus lockdowns kept crowdsfrom celebrating VE Day.Across the ocean, Americansawaited what is expected to bethe worst set of unemploymentfigures since record-keepingbegan in 1948.

The European celebrationscame in stark contrast to theway millions of its citizens

spilled onto the streets 75 yearsago, waving flags, flashing vic-tory signs and dancing in joybecause the carnage on theircontinent had ended.

Street parties this year werebanned in Britain. In France,President Emmanuel Macronlaid a wreath at the Arc deTriomphe monument at the topof a largely deserted Champs-Elysees Avenue since the coun-try is still under a strict lock-down until Monday.

A day earlier, Macronspoke to his Russian counter-part Vladimir Putin, who hadto cancel his own huge VictoryDay parade that had beenplanned for Saturday inMoscow.

Macron said the pandem-ic “makes the construction ofpeace and stability on the con-tinent and in the rest of theworld more necessary thanever,” according to a statement.

With nearly 26,000 con-firmed virus deaths, France isamong the world’’s top five

hardest-hit nations in the pan-demic. Britain, with over30,000 confirmed deaths, issecond only to the US, whichhas seen nearly 76,000 peoplekilled by the virus. Russia hasreported only 1,625 virusdeaths, but infections are jump-ing by over 10,000 each day.Experts believe all those figures— especially the Russian deathtoll — understate the trueimpact of the coronavirus.

In Germany, PresidentFrank-Walter Steinmeier,Chancellor Angela Merkel andthe heads of the parliament andtop court laid wreaths at thememorial to victims of war andviolence in Berlin.

“The corona pandemic isforcing us to commemoratealone — apart from those whoare important to us and towhom we are grateful,”Steinmeier said. He urgedGermans to “think, feel and actas Europeans” amid the coro-navirus crisis.

As European nations and

US states plot tentative, chaot-ic and often completely differ-ent road maps out of their lock-downs while still attempting toavoid a second wave of infec-tions, China and South Koreahighlighted the risks of easingsuch measures. Both Asiannations on Friday reportedmore coronavirus cases afterrelaxing restrictions.

South Korea’’s 13 newinfections were its first increasehigher than 10 in five days. Adozen were linked to a 29-year-old who managed to visit threenightclubs in Seoul last week-end. “A drop of ink in clearwater spreads swiftly,” ViceHealth Minister Kim Gang-lipsaid, urging vigilance to guardthe country’’s hard-won gains.“Anyone can become that dropof ink that spreads COVID-19.” South Korea’’s top infec-tious disease expert said thecountry could possibly pushback its plans to reopen schoolsif infections surge again overthe upcoming weekend after a

weeks-long decline.In China, where the new

coronavirus first emerged latelast year, authorities reported17 new virus cases, including16 people not showing anysymptoms. No new deaths havebeen reported for more thanthree weeks.

Health experts say everynation will see some type ofsecond wave of infections aftertheir lockdowns ease. Yet theeconomic impact of the mea-sures on the world’’s largesteconomy will be on full displayFriday when the U.S. govern-ment reports the unemploy-ment rate for April.

The rate could reach 16%or more, according to econo-mists surveyed by the dataprovider FactSet. Some 33 mil-lion Americans have soughtunemployment benefits sincethe virus hit and experts say 21million jobs may have been lostfor good. That would mean thatnearly all the U.S. job growth inthe 11 years since the Great

Recession ended had beenwiped out in one month.

And even those figureswon’’t capture all the workerswho have seen their hours orpay cut in the United States.Around the world, millions ofday laborers in Asia are goinghungry as their jobs vanish,tourism workers in Africa haveseen whole sections of theirfragile economies vanish andunemployment in the 19-coun-try eurozone is expected to sur-pass 10% in the comingmonths. The U.K. economy isforecast to shrink by the mostsince 1706.

On the anniversary of NaziGermany’’s surrender to Alliedforces in Europe in 1945,United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterreswarned that the coronaviruspandemic is unleashing “atsunami of hate and xenopho-bia, scapegoating and scare-mongering.”

He appealed for “an all-outeffort to end hate speech glob-

ally.” The U.N. chief warnedthat “anti-foreigner sentimenthas surged online and in thestreets, anti-Semitic conspira-cy theories have spread andCOVID-19-related anti-Muslim attacks have occurred.”

Worldwide, the virus hasinfected more than 3.8 millionpeople and killed nearly270,000, according to a tally byJohns Hopkins University basedon official data. But limited test-ing, differences in counting thedead and concealment by somegovernments undoubtedlymean the true scale of the pan-demic is much greater.

In Iran, which is battlingthe worst outbreak in theMideast while still under heavyU.S. sanctions, Friday prayerswere resuming in mosques in146 cities after being bannedfor more than two months, thecountry’’s semi-official Tasnimnews agency reported. Prayergatherings will still be bannedin major cities, including allprovincial capitals, it reported.

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China said on Friday it sup-ports a World Health

Organization-led review intothe global response to the coro-navirus outbreak, but “afterthe pandemic is over”.

The comments from for-eign ministry spokeswomanHua Chunying came as Chinahas faced increasing globalpressure in recent weeks toallow an international investi-gation into the origins of thepandemic.

The review should be con-ducted in an “open, transpar-ent and inclusive manner”under the leadership of WorldHealth Organization (WHO)chief Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus, Hua said at abriefing.

But she added that itshould be at an “appropriatetime after the pandemic isover”. China also stressed thatany inquiry should be based onthe International HealthRegulations, and be authorisedby the World Health Assemblyor Executive Committee —the WHO’s dual governingbodies.

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President Donald Trump onFriday said the United

States was not behind a failedcovert plot in Venezuelaallegedly involving twoAmericans, but that if he didorder an attack it would be anopen “invasion.”

“If I wanted to go intoVenezuela I wouldn’t make asecret about it,” he told FoxNews. “I’d go in and theywould do nothing about it.They would roll over. I would-n’t send a small little group. No,no, no. It would be called an

army,” he said. “It would be called an inva-

sion.”Leftist Venezuelan

President Nicolas Maduro’sgovernment says the apparentlybotched plot was funded byUS-backed opposition leaderJuan Guaido and that two for-mer US special forces soldierswere among 17 people takenprisoner.

Another eight allegedattackers were killed in ashootout, the government says.

Maduro has said the twoAmericans have “confessedtheir guilt.”

Islamabad: US SpecialRepresentative ZalmayKhalilzad discussed theAfghanistan peace process withPakistan Chief of Army Staff(COAS) General Qamar JavedBajwa on Friday.

In a statement, the PakistanArmy Khalilzad met the COASin Rawalpindi.

“During the meeting,issues of mutual interest andoverall regional security,including Afghanistan recon-ciliation process were dis-cussed,” according to the Army.

General Bajwa reiteratedsupport for the peace process.Khalilzad appreciated Pakistan’scontinuous efforts for stabilityin the region, according to thestatement. PTI

GENEVA: The World HealthOrganization’s emergencieschief is pushing back againstmisinformation that heating orcooling the body can help fightthe coronavirus.

Dr Michael Ryan saidFriday he’d heard “various sto-ries” suggesting it might beimportant “to be very hot or bevery cold” to fight COVID-19.

“This has no impact on thevirus,” he said.

Ryan’s comments were thelatest attempt to dispel urbanlegend and other speculationabout how to defend against,counteract or seek miraclehome remedy-style cures forthe pandemic disease.

Ryan noted that virusesand infectious diseases oftencause the body to have fevers.

“Having a temperature initself is not necessarily a badthing,” he said.

“But also that temperaturehas to be carefully monitored,especially in children.”

AP

LONDON: The head of theWorld Health Organizationsays the agency needs $1.7 bil-lion to fund its response effortsfor COVID-19 for the rest ofthe year — and that it’s about$1.3 billion short.

Last month, U.S. PresidentDonald Trump announced hewas suspending funding to theU.N. health agency, sayingWHO botched its response tothe coronavirus pandemic andwas acting as a public relationsagency for China. WHO saidpreviously it was conducting anassessment of what the loss ofU.S. funding would mean for itsoperations.

In a press briefing onFriday, WHO chief TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus saidWHO’s COVID-19 strategicplan is focused on severalobjectives, including providingtechnical and logistical supportto all countries, particularlythose with fragile health sys-tems.

AP

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The number of people inItaly who’ve died with

COVID-19 infections hastopped 30,000.

The Health Ministry reg-istered 243 deaths on Friday,bringing the total of those whodied in the country to 30,201.Italy was the first country inEurope with a major outbreakof the coronavirus.

Authorities say many morelikely died with the infection athome or in nursing homeswithout being diagnosed.

With 1,327 more cases reg-istered in the 24-hour periodending Friday evening, Italynow tallies 217,185 confirmedcoronavirus infections.

Some 11,000 more peoplehave recovered from the illnessthan are currently positive forthe infection.

Lombardy in the northcontinues to be the hardest-hitregion, accounting for nearlyone-half of the latest cases reg-istered on Friday.

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Spain’s army says it expectstwo more outbreaks of the

coronavirus, according to aninternal document seen by The Associated Press.

The army report predicts“two more waves of the epi-demic” and Spain will take“between a year and a year-and-a-half to return to nor-mality.”

It says the second wavewould be in autumn or winterand possibly less serious thanthe initial outbreak due tohigher immunity in the popu-lation.

It adds a possible thirdwave would be “greatly weak-ened” if there is a vaccineavailable next year.

The document was pub-lished by Spanish newspaper ABC on Friday andlater confirmed as authentic bythe AP.

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New Delhi: Employers’ asso-ciations on Friday demandedsuspension of labour laws bar-ring some key provisions acrossthe country for next two-threeyears to help the industry comeout of the crisis induced by the

lockdown to combat Covid-19pandemic.

Labour Minister SantoshGangwar on Friday held awebinar with employers’ bod-ies such as CII, Ficci andAssocham to discuss issues

like restarting economic activ-ities, job creation and measuresto improve the situation ofMSMEs to enable them to dis-charge their liabilities underlabour laws. The industry bod-ies suggested a slew of mea-

sures and sought relaxationssuch as increasing workinghours to 12 hours per dayfrom the existing 8 hours perday to help them revive oper-ations, according to a release bythe Labour Ministry. PTI

Mumbai: As the country entersthe final week of the thirdphase of the Covid-19-inducedlockdown, public sentiment isgetting into negative territorieswith over 50 per cent of thosepolled having a negative out-look on income.

What is more, younger andthose in the middle-incomeconsumers are more worriedabout their income post-Covid,loan repayments and spending,

says an international survey.According to a survey by inter-national consultancy BostonConsulting Group, as much as85 per cent of those in the pollare worried about servicingloans post-moratorium, whilemore than 40 per cent are plan-ning to cut down spending inthe next six months as they fearabout their jobs and income.

The survey, carried outduring the third phase of lock-

down (May 4-17) among 1,300consumers in metros and Tier1 & 2 cities, is part of a globalCOVID-19 consumer senti-ment research.

“Despite lockdown relax-ations, concerns across health,economic situation and dailylifestyle continue to remain highas consumers have more pes-simistic about their futureincomes, spends, and loan repay-ments,” the survey said. PTI

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Markets squandered earlygains but managed to end

in the green on Friday, proppedup by heavyweight RelianceIndustries which announcedanother stake sale deal for itsdigital platform.

A strengthening rupee andfirm global cues also support-ed the domestic bourses,traders said.

After rallying 645.13 pointsduring the day, the 30-shareBSE Sensex finally settled199.32 points or 0.63 per centhigher at 31,642.70.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty rose 52.45 points, or 0.57per cent, to finish at 9,251.50.

Reliance Industries was thebiggest contributor to the gainson the benchmarks, jumpingover 3 per cent after the com-pany announced the sale of2.32 per cent stake in JioPlatforms to US-based VistaEquity Partners for �11,367crore, the third such deal in alittle over two weeks.

In absolute terms,Hindustan Unilever was the

top gainer in the Sensex pack,rallying 4.81 per cent, followedby Nestle India, Tech Mahindraand Sun Pharma.

On the other hand, M&M,Axis Bank, NTPC andIndusInd Bank were among themajor laggards, shedding up to3.87 per cent.

During the week, theSensex plunged 2,074.92 pointsor 6.15 per cent, and the Niftytanked 608.40 points or 6.17per cent. “Nifty fluctuatedaround 150 points in anotherday of volatile trades, trackinguncertainty in the markets.Gains were led by Reliance,which succeeded in anotherround of fundraising even inthis adverse scenario.

“Global market trends werealso positive following attemptsto defuse tensions around theUS- China trade talks. Whilethe earnings season has beenlacklustre, markets seem to beawaiting announcement of astimulus package from theGovernment,” said Vinod Nair,Head of Research at GeojitFinancial Services.

BSE energy, FMCG,

healthcare, teck and IT indicesrallied up to 2.59 per cent,while power, utilities, con-sumer durables, auto and met-als closed with losses.

Broader BSE midcap indexrose 0.04 per cent, while thesmallcap gauge slipped 0.45 percent. Foreign portfolioinvestors purchased equitiesworth a net �19,056.49 crore in

the capital market in the pre-vious session, provisionalexchange data showed.

Global markets advancedas US and China discussed thefirst phase of a trade deal onFriday, while investors alsowelcomed moves by variouscountries to ease lockdownmeasures and resume eco-nomic activities.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Tokyo and Seoul endedwith substantial gains. Topstock exchanges in Europewere also trading on a positivenote in their opening sessions.

Meanwhile, internationaloil benchmark Brent crudefutures climbed 1.73 per cent toUSD 29.97 per barrel.

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Reliance Industries on Fridayannounced the sale of 2.32

per cent stake in its digital unitto US-based Vista EquityPartners for �11,367 crore, thethird deal in a little over twoweeks that will inject a com-bined �60,596.37 crore in theoil-to-telecom conglomerateto help it pare debt.

The US-based private equi-ty firm will buy a stake in JioPlatforms, which houses thecountry’s youngest but biggesttelecom firm Jio, at an equityvalue of �4.91 crore and anenterprise value of �5.16 crore.“Vista’s investment will trans-late into a 2.32 per cent equitystake on a fully diluted basis,making Vista the largestinvestor in Jio Platforms behindReliance Industries andFacebook,” the company said ina statement.

The deal follows Facebookpicking up a 9.99 per cent stakein Jio Platforms on April 22 for�43,574 crore. Within days ofthat deal, Silver Lake — theworld’s largest tech investor —bought a 1.15 per cent stake inJio Platforms for �5,665.75crore. “Jio Platforms has nowraised �60,596.37 crore fromleading technology investors inless than three weeks,” thecompany said.

Vista co-founder BrianSheth is half-Indian and hisfather hails from Gujarat.Reliance owner and richestIndian Mukesh Ambani, who

also comes from Gujarat, is saidto have personal connectionswith the private equity firm’sfounder Robert Smith.

The discussions were ledby Ambani’s close aide ManojModi and Sheth. Strategic andfinancial investors are to form20 per cent of Jio Platforms.Between the three deals,Reliance has sold 13.46 per centof Jio Platforms and more such investments arelikely in near future.

Ambani, 63, chairman andmanaging director of Reliance,had in August last year set a tar-get of March 2021, to make hisconglomerate net debt-free.But thanks to the Facebookdeal, a �53,125 crore rightsissue, Silver Lake and VistaEquity investments, and morestake sale to companies such asSaudi Aramco, the target islikely to be achieved byDecember.

At the end of March quar-ter, Reliance had an outstand-ing debt of �3,36,294 crore andcash in hand of �1,75,259 crore.After adjusting cash, the net debt came to �1,61,035 crore.

Of the outstanding debt,�2,62,000 crore is on Reliancebooks and �23,000 crore is withJio. As part of debt reductionplans, the company expects tocomplete a capital raising pro-gramme totalling �1.04 lakhcrore by June.

This includes the rightsoffering of one share for every15 shares held at �1,257, a 14

per cent discount to the clos-ing price for April 30.

Also included is the�43,574 crore from theFacebook-Jio Platforms dealand �7,000 crore from the saleof 49 per cent stake in fuelretailing venture to UK’s BP plc.Jio Platforms, a wholly-ownedsubsidiary of RelianceIndustries Ltd, is a next-gen-eration technology company.Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd,with 388 million mobile sub-scribers, will continue to be awholly-owned subsidiary ofJio Platforms.

Vista is a leading globalinvestment firm focused onempowering and growingenterprise software, data, andtechnology-enabled companiesthat are reinventing industriesand catalyzing change. Vistahas more than USD 57 billionin cumulative capital commit-ments and its global network ofcompanies collectively repre-sents the 5th largest enterprisesoftware company in the world.

Commenting on the trans-action with Vista, Ambani said,Vista, one of the world’s mar-quee tech investors globally, alsoshares the same vision of con-tinuing to grow and transformthe Indian digital ecosystem forthe benefit of all Indians. “InRobert and Brian, whose fam-ily hails from Gujarat, I foundtwo outstanding global tech-nology leaders who believe inIndia and the transformativepotential of a Digital IndianSociety,” he said.

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The rupee appreciated 18paise to provisionally set-

tle at 75.54 against the US dol-lar on Friday, tracking higherdomestic equities and weakness in the Americancurrency.

Forex traders said positivecues from domestic equitiesand significant foreign fundinflows supported the localunit. At the interbank foreignexchange, the rupee opened at75.36, then pared some initialgains to finally close at 75.54against the US dollar, register-ing a rise of 18 paise over itsprevious close. During the day,the domestic unit hit an intra-day high of 75.27 and a low of75.59 against the US dollar. OnWednesday, the rupee had set-tled at 75.72 against the US dol-lar. Forex market was closed onThursday on account ofBuddha Purnima.

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Moody’s Investors Serviceon Friday projected

India’s growth at zero per centfor the current fiscal and saidthe negative outlook on sover-eign rating reflects increasingrisks that GDP growth willremain significantly lower thanin the past.

The outlook also partlyshows weaker policy effective-ness to address economic andinstitutional issues, it noted inthe update to its November2019 rating forecast.

Stating that the negativeoutlook indicates that anupgrade is unlikely in the nearterm, Moody’s said high gov-

ernment debt, weak social andphysical infrastructure, and afragile financial sector facefurther pressures due to thecoronavirus outbreak.

Moody’s had, in November2019, affirmed India’s ‘Baa2’rating but revised downwardthe outlook to negative fromstable on concerns of lowereconomic growth.

‘Baa2’ is an investmentgrade rating with moderatecredit risk, and is two notchesabove the junk grade.

The negative outlookreflects increasing risks thateconomic growth will remainsignificantly lower than in thepast, it said. “This is in light ofthe deep shock triggered by the

coronavirus outbreak, andpartly reflects lower govern-ment and policy effectivenessat addressing longstanding eco-nomic and institutional weak-nesses, leading to a gradual risein the debt burden fromalready high levels,” Moody’ssaid in a credit opinion titled‘Government of India- Baa2negative’.

It said the shock fromcoronavirus pandemic willexacerbate an already materi-al slowdown in economicgrowth, which has significant-ly reduced the prospects fordurable fiscal consolidationand government measures tosupport the economy shouldhelp to reduce the depth and

duration of slowdown.“However, prolonged

financial stress among ruralhouseholds, weak job creationand, more recently, a creditcrunch among non-bankfinancial institutions (NBFIs)have increased the probabilityof a more entrenched weaken-ing,” Moody’s said.

It added that prospects offurther reforms to supportbusiness investment andgrowth at high levels, and sig-nificantly broaden the narrowtax base, have diminished.

Moody’s projected India’s economic growth for2020-21 fiscal at 0 per cent,lower than 4.8 per cent esti-mated in 2019-20.

New Delhi: With current pric-ing formula making natural gasproduction economically unvi-able, Oil Minister DharmendraPradhan on Friday hinted atbringing in a new gas policy aswell as launching a gasexchange very soon as part ofreforms to promote greateruse of environment-friendlyfuel in the world’s third-largest

energy-consuming nation.Pradhan also said that

India favours reasonable pricesthat give some space to the pro-ducer countries.

“We have to have a rea-sonable price. India is a majorconsumer. But at this juncture,India’s viewpoint is the priceshould be reasonable andresponsible,” he said. PTI

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�What appealed you the mostabout your character, journal-ist Sanjeev Mehra?

The fact that he was once ahero, a beacon of journalisticcourage, who degenerates himselfinto rabble rousing as that’s thejournalism that sells. His charac-ter is nuanced and gives me ascope to interpret him in a com-plex way.

�How challenging was it tocarve yourself into the charac-ter? What research went into it?

It was a step by step process.I had to first read up on the greatjournalists of 1990s in India andresearch their work and philoso-phies. Then a quick study ofjournalism, as it is practised,today. A brief visit was made toa television news channel inDelhi, where I got to see andunderstand the entire process ofhow news travels from the studioto the public. Once this skeletalstructure was made, I had to pre-pare the psychological spaces thecharacter goes through in hisbrain so that I was prepared to getinto that state every time I was onthe set. Every scene was a con-scious preparation. There was aprofessional life and a personallife of my character, both, oppo-site to each other.

�Since the series revolvesaround the conspiracy to kill atop-notch journalist, does itaim to give a message aroundthe fourth pillar of democracyor anything at large?

Not really! The plot is anattempted assassination of a pop-ular television journalist wherefour suspects are nabbed. Duringtheir investigation by a police offi-cer, shocking discoveries are madewhich lead him to the nether-world.

But the series explores a larg-er context. That of the classdivide in our country — upper,middle and lower classes. Theirinteractions lead to truths and dis-coveries of an India that we knowlittle of. That is the larger message.

�Does it also gives an insightinto how the killing of journal-ists like Gauri Lankesh, ShujaatBukhari and many othersimpact good Journalism? Orwhat all is at stake for an inves-tigative journalist?

Well yes, the arc of my char-acter in the series reflects whatyou have mentioned above butthe series as a whole is not aboutan assassination alone.

�Given that there have been a

number of murder mysterieswritten and filmed in the past,you always need somethingnew that cannot be easily pre-dicted or guessed. Do you thinkthe series has a completely newangle for the audience?

Yes. It presents a new angleas it explores the ancient realmof Paatal Lok, Dharti and Swarg.The past lives of the four suspect-ed assassins is a shocking reve-lation that will certainly keep theaudience hooked.

�You played the antagonist inHichki, DCP Parulkar in SacredGames and did a romantic rolein Netflix’s Once Again. Howsmooth or tough it is for you toswitch genres?

That’s what I have come herefor as an actor. To be able toexplore from one end of thespectrum to the other and per-form roles that are absolute con-trasts to each other, yet touch thehearts and minds of the audience.And in the process, leave myself

as a mystery where it becomesquite impossible to identify thereal person behind these charac-ters. That would be my completejourney as an actor. Acting is notabout you, it is about the charac-ter you are playing. That is whyyou need to transform.

�You have played many impor-tant characters in theatre —Shakespeare (as Banquo),Moliere (as Sganarelle) andmany more. How has thisshaped you as an actor?

It has shaped me com-pletely. Theatre has beenand will always be my foun-dation as an actor. It hasgiven me the education Ineed to be able to process ascript, understand voice andemotions, create characterarcs, transform, disciplinemyself, work on my physicalintelligence, respect mywork, develop strength toendure long hours of filmshoot, and so much more.

�You also conduct the-atre workshops. Whatwould you say about theinterest of youth in themedium?

I am fortunate to seethis gradual change ofthe youth towards actingeducation. I have beenconducting workshops formany years now and in thelast couple of years, I haveseen a steady growth ofparticipants who are veryeager to learn and want towork very seriously towardsa performance technique.They are slowly realisingthat merely going to a gym,building their bodies, look-ing good, doing the rounds ofauditions is not getting themanywhere for years. You needskill today. Even the audienceis interested in watching anactor with a craft and acting skilland not only looks.

(The series goes live onAmazon Prime Video on May 15.)

Kelly Rowland says her new singleCoffee and its accompanying music

video is her “ode to the beauty of blackwomen.” Rowland made her debut withthe breezy R&B track and video featur-ing black women across a spectrum ofshades and colours two weeks ago.

“I just wanted it to be an expressionof black beauty and the different varia-tions and tones and body shapes,” saidRowland, who shot the video in Miamilate last year. “I was really inspired byblack women.”

The Grammy-winning singer saidshe first started working on Coffee in 2017but held on the track, which was co-writ-ten by Syd of the alternative R&B bandThe Internet.

“I was very particular after I had myson about what I was saying and howgood it was because I wanted to makehim proud,” said Rowland, who gavebirth in 2014. “I was extremely hard onmyself.”

The 39-year-old Rowland talks aboutcoffee — the song and the drink — as wellas signing with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation com-pany for management and life in quar-antine. Excerpts:

�There’s been a really warm responseto Coffee and its video. How does thatmake you feel?

The morning that it came out, I hadthis really big weight on my chest. I lit-erally got to my closet and cried becauseI was like, “This is what I remember theanxiety and everything feeling like,” butthis one felt a little different. It’s becauseI’ve been in business for 20-plus years andit was like an overwhelming sense of grat-itude. When I started seeing, whether it’smy fans or new people, or I’m seeingdancers put movement to the song,that’s really something to take in and cel-ebrate and be grateful for. It could becompletely different. I feel this over-whelming sense of gratitude that literal-

ly gives me a ball in my throat. You justdon’t take anything for granted. You real-ly don’t.�Are you a big coffee drinker?

I’m a coffee ice-cream girl. Wheneverthere’s affogato close, it has my name onit. I like it when it’s iced. I like iced cof-fee and I drink it with whiskey.

�How’s the album coming along?I’m very excited about this album,

especially for the fact that the years thatit took me to find tempo. The wholealbum’s not like that but I’m excited toshare my tempo. I feel like I always hadmids and slower records but yes, I’mready to dance. Especially, when we comeout of all this (Coronavirus lockdowns),we need to dance.

�Have you finished the album?In my gut, I feel like I have like one

more record to do.

�And you’re technically an indepen-dent artist now?

Yes, for now. There have been real-ly cool calls. At the same time, it’s sucha different space and time in music now.I think in my head, it’s just navigating itall. I am definitely independent. It’ssomething about it that I am really, real-ly loving but I am also just like, “Oh Ineed a little bit more of some budgetmoney to execute some of this.” I alwayssay that Destiny’s Child set me up becausewe had visuals. People are like, “You’regoing release a song with no visuals?”Now that I released Coffee, people are say-ing, “OK! What are we going to get next?

What visual are we going to get?” So I dofeel that pressure at time but I just wantto take it a little easier on myself.

�Is this album through Roc Nation?Roc Nation is my management com-

pany. And that’s new.

�How did it come about?It is family and it happened just like

that. It really happened to work and it’sworking out really well so far. My teamis great. It’s not to say I didn’t have a greatteam before, But I am realising, youevolve, you move on and that’s really it,so Roc Nation is home now.

�What have you been doing with yourtime at home now?

I wish I would have learned how towork ProTools. I think now that itmakes you definitely want to learn. Youwatch artists like Ariana Grande. I heardTrey Songz does it too. So many differ-ent artists are doing things right now overthat. And hence, they’re operating theirown new sessions. But I feel why didn’tI learn how to do that. That’s probably mynext goal — to learn how to record myselfbecause I could have got so many thingsdone by now. I’ve been sent songs sincethe beginning of quarantine and I am lit-erally waiting for my engineer to comeout of his quarantine.

�Did you have a goal date for gettingthe album out?

No. Before quarantine, we were at theclose of the record. That’s when you’returning records in, talking to writers andproducers, working on that whole pro-cedure of the end process. It’s not that it’sslowed down but definitely made thingsa little more challenging to navigate. Wegot this and definitely this year. I am notwaiting anymore. I won’t waste anymoretime. I will do it this year.

—AP

Actor Chitrangda Singh believes it isimportant to stay mentally fit, come what

may.“The mental health of the women in the

family affects everyone and it’s important toencourage people to talk about it. Peopleshould absolutely not make women feelguilty about having any kind of issue or stressor anxiety. There is no bravery in faketoughness. Weall are weak attimes, and it’sgood to makepeople feel thatit is all okay andnormal. So yes, Ibelieve the veryimportant stepis to talk about itin the firstplace,” saidChitrangda.

She sharedthat it is equallyimportant formen to managethe chores of thehouse. “It won’t be difficult if the workloadof the family is distributed among all themembers of the family. I suggest one couldhelp by managing the daily chores or takingturns to help with the kitchen or the kids. Also,it is extremely important to find some timeto talk to her (women at home) and know howshe is managing or feeling physically and men-tally,” she said.

The actor also suggested staying busy bydoing anything you love during the lockdown.

Amid the lockdown, Chitrangada is writ-ing a short film, making fun videos for fansand much more. She will be next seen in BobBiswas, a spin-off to the 2012 hit, Kahaani,

�)+��

Chitrangda emphasiseswomen’s mental health

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The immediate effect of yoga andmeditation can astonish some peo-

ple as they have the ability to quicklystill the mind and clear negativethoughts. When we begin to meditate,we often wonder why we had not doneit before. Patanjali, the ancient authorof the ‘Yoga Sutras’, describes themind as a restless monkey, which isconstantly distracted and always hov-ering around.

However, meditation is some-thing that can help one gain peace andcontrol over the frenetic activities of themind. We are able to land in a peace-ful sanctuary, away from the noise anddisturbance of the materialistic world.In this state of mind, our being is muchbetter balanced and our body becomeshealthy. This should be our first andmost natural protection against theongoing pandemic and all other dis-eases. If this is done in time, we maybe stronger and we may not even needmedicines. We must also rememberthat all yoga is first based upon yamaor niyama. This is the ethical founda-tion of life and it is the basis of yoga.Unless this ethics is not followed, themind will never be still and meditationwill not be possible.

Here are a few excerpts from myfilm, Key to Immunity Part III, whereyoga experts talk about how they viewit:

Yoga expert, Dr Ananda Balayogifrom Puducherry, says, “The chitta (apart of mind) is that subconscious,unconscious mind that is constantly inmotion. The ancient rishis said that themind is a monkey, a drunken one, andon top of that, is bitten by a scorpion.Well, if that’s how the mind is — con-stantly in motion, it’s whirlpooling thesubconscious mind. The two togeth-er just drag you down,

away from your goal even before youcan blink an eyelid.”

Yoga exponent, Sivananda School,Grass Valley CA, Ananda Prema ofRussia, says, “When you do asanas,your mind becomes focussed, andhence, it becomes still. When mind isstill, there is no desire and when thereis no desire, you attain happiness. It’sall about mind and controlling themind. It’s very hard to control yourmind which is running like awild horse, unwilling to fol-low any discipline andit’s very tough togently take overit, to make itlisten to you, tomake it followwhat youwould like itto do.”

New York-based TulkuSherdor, direc-tor, BlazingW i s d o mInstitute, says,“What moderncognitive science,theories, physics,Buddhist science andthe yoga agree with isthat all that we everexperience is our ownmind and all we can

personally experience is the naturaldisplay or energetic expression of ourown minds. This is exactly what weneed to realise through practice. Whenwe realise that all we experience is theproduct or result ofour own minds, itm e a n st h a t

there is a potential to work skillfullywith that expression of our own mindsto transform or change it.”

Acharya Swami Sitaramananda,Sivananda Yoga, Grass Valley CA, says,“A lot of people practice yoga but theyjump over its foundation, — the twomain practices of yama and niyama,which are the prescription by the yogisabout the dos and don’ts, the restric-

tions and the observances.”Talking about yama-niyama,

Puducherry-based Yoga guruMinakshi Devi Bhavnani, says,“It basically means a method orcould be called a technologyto evolve from the domi-nance of the animal braininto the conscious use ofthe human brain.”

As Patanjali hadsaid, yoga never harms.It is absolutely brillianthow it takes control ofthe tongue, our sexu-al desires, greed, thedesire to steal and allthe other natural

impulses neces-sary for sur-

vival.

Actor Kartik Aaryan saidplaying two characters in

one movie would seem scary,but if the transition from Veerto Raghu in Love Aaj Kal wassmooth he credits the film’sdirector Imtiaz Ali for it. Theactor feels Ali brings out greatperformances from actors in hismovies.

Kartik took to Instagramand shared a still from Love AajKal, and also a picture of him-self along with Ali.

Alongside the image hewrote, “When you first dreamof being in films, you act infront of the mirror and nail itevery time, and the world offilms seems magical? Then youget a film. You see the cameraand are unnerved. It’s biggerthan the suitcase you broughtto Mumbai. The bright lightsseem to be scolding you for notlanding on a one inch tapemark and wasting everyone’stime.

“The first few years becomeabout trying not to look ner-vous? Then you get an ImtiazAli film. The moment he nar-rates the story, you are pulledinto a dream. I don’t evenremember seeing the cameraon his set, he’d always be stand-ing wherever I looked after cut.He was never at the monitor, hewas by my side. The lights onImtiaz Ali’s set help you findthose tape marks,” he added.

Kartik claimed he neverexperienced the kind of loveand appreciation he got for hisperformance in Love Aaj Kal.

“And that too from some ofmy favourite filmmakers andpeople I most respect in theindustry. How ironic that themaking of this film felt mosteffortless. It would scare me tothink of doing two charactersin one movie. And here, I did-n’t even realise how smoothlyI was being transitioned

between #Veer and #Raghu,” hewrote.

“For an actor, there is nobetter environment than beingIn front of that mirror. ImtiazAli takes you there. This is thereason why so many greatactors’ greatest performanceshave been in Imtiaz Ali films,”Kartik added.

The actor then praised Ali,calling him a “magician.”

“Imtiaz Ali director nahihain, jadugar hain (Imtiaz Aliis not a director but a magi-cian)! Thank you sir for givingme the best performance of mycareer yet. @imtiazaliofficial#LoveAajKal.”

Love Aaj Kal co-starringSara Ali Khan released onValentine’s Day this year. Ittraced love stories of two dif-ferent eras — the first is set inthe late 1980s-early nineties,and unfolds between Raghuand Leena. The other lovestory, set in the present time,happens between Veer andZoe.

The film is a retelling ofAli’s own film of 2009 thatstarred Deepika Padukone andSaif Ali Khan, and was a hit.Love Aaj Kal 2020 fared belowexpectation at the box-officeand was also critically panned.

—IANS

Many of today’s highest-sellingartists produced their bestworks in solitude, away from

the clamour of society

������� ��Pain thrums through Frida

Kahlo’s life and art: childhood poliocrippled her; a near-fatal bus crash atthe age of 18 led to a life of surgeriesand recoveries; abortions and miscar-riages left her traumatised. Then, ofcourse, there was her turbulent on-off love affair with Diego Rivera, astring of adulterous liaisons and herstrained relationship with her moth-er.

Kahlo channelled this personalsuffering into her art, birthing amacabre creativity now feted theworld over.

She began painting in 1925, dur-ing her nine-month convalescencefrom the bus accident, using a cus-tom-made lap easel and an overheadmirror installed in her bed’s canopy.Over the next 20 years or so, Fridapainted the frailty of the human body,life and death and decay with haunt-ing poignancy. “I paint myself,” sheonce said, “because I am so oftenalone, because I am the person Iknow best.” Of her 143 survivingpaintings, 55 are self-portraits.

!��� �3����Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) saw art

as a means to effect social and polit-ical change. By the early 1970s, he waswidely regarded in Europe as one ofGermany’s leading conceptual artists.

He was, however, less well-knownacross the Atlantic.

It was during his first trip toAmerica in 1974 that Beuys unveiledI Like America and America Likes Me,a live performance piece — or Action— that has become one of his best-known works.

�������� ��In 1967, Agnes Martin (1912-

2004) gave away her painting mate-rials and fled New York in a pickuptruck. She resurfaced around 18months later on a remote mesa inTaos, New Mexico. “I’ve finishedpainting,” she said to Arne Glimcher,the founder of Pace Gallery, justbefore she took off. “I’m never paint-ing again.”

According to Glimcher, “She feltshe had painted everything she couldpaint. She needed to go back to NewMexico, to that kind of space and soli-tude.” But more than anything, headds, “I don’t think she could copewith the notoriety that she was start-ing to gain.”

In Taos, Martin led a simpler, ifisolating existence. She didn’t own atelevision, or a phone, or a cat for thatmatter. “I can’t have any distractions,”she said to Glimcher.

She would not return to paintinguntil 1974. And when she did, heraesthetic had changed — her gridshad morphed into an exploration ofhorizontal and vertical lines, thepastel greys and whites replacedwith soft pinks, yellows and blues.This new painterly language would

earn her widespread recognition andcult status as a sort of desert mystic.

����� � � ��Ivon Hitchens (1893-1979) is

perhaps best known today for hispost-war abstract paintings of theBritish countryside, executed inblocks of rich, vibrant colour. Manysuch landscapes were painted in andaround Greenleaves, the rural homehe shared with his family nearPetworth in Sussex.

The artist’s retreat to Greenleaves

at the outbreak of World War Two —his London studio was bombed in1940 — marks a turning point in hiswork. Surrounded by six acres ofwoodland, Greenleaves proved a fer-tile source of inspiration: the silverbirch trees in his garden, the nearbymeadows, and the sunflowers, pop-pies and dahlias from his courtyardgarden would populate his canvasesfor the next 40 years.

������������Yayoi Kusama has described her

work as ‘art medicine’; the makingprocess as a form of ‘self-therapy’. “Ifit were not for art,” she once revealed,“I would have killed myself a longtime ago.”

By drawing and painting repet-itive patterns, Kusama seeks to oblit-erate her hallucinatory daemons andescape them. “I paint them (dots) inquantity; in doing so, I try to escape,”she explained of her polka-dot worksin an interview with Artspace in 2017.Her Infinity Net paintings, which firstwon her critical acclaim in New York,are her most sought-after works atauction.

Open about her illness, Kusamahas lived voluntarily in a psychiatricasylum in Tokyo since 1977. She isnow in her nineties. Most recently, inresponse to the current health crisis,Kusama shared a message with theworld, in which she says it’s time “tofight and overcome our unhappiness.”

����� �������� Vincent van Gogh’s painful last

years saw the creation of some of hismost famous works, including TheStarry Night (1889), Wheat withCrows (1890), and Portrait of DrGachet (1890), the last ofwhich sold for$82,500,000 in1990 at Christie’sNew York, set-ting a recordprice at auctionfor any work bythe artist.

Much of hiswork from 1889,including Vue de l’asileet de la Chapelle de Saint-Rémy, wascompleted during his stay at SaintPaul de Mausole, a former monasterythat had been converted into a pri-vate hospital for the mentally ill.

His urgent brushstrokes, use ofelectrifying colours and ridges ofthick impasto would pave the way forearly 20th-century Expressionism. Yetduring his time at the asylum, main-taining the balance between hismental health and being able to focuson his work proved difficult. “To sac-rifice one’s freedom,” he wrote to hisbrother Theo, “to stand outside soci-ety and to have only one’s work, with-out distraction… it’s beginning toweigh too heavily upon me here.”

��������D��After the death of her photogra-

pher husband, Alfred Stieglitz, in1946, Georgia O’Keeffe would spendsummers and autumns isolated atGhost Ranch in New Mexico, livingoff a generator and without a tele-phone. The house was sparsely fur-nished, reflecting her minimalistaesthetic.

She said the solitude offered ‘akind of freedom’ that brought hercloser to nature. The view of the wideopen desert backed by the CerroPedernal mountain, as in Red Hills

with Pedernal, White Clouds(1936), became her favourite

subject. “It’s my privatemountain,” she explained.

“It belongs to me.God told me if I

painted it enough,I could have it.”

������� ���V a s u d e o

Santu Gaitonde(1924-2001), more

commonly known as VSGaitonde, is one of the highest-sell-ing modern Indian artists at auction.According to Deepanjana Klein,Christie’s International Head of SouthAsian Art, “his mostly monochro-

matic paintings have a depth thatengulfs you in silence and stillness.”

Those same qualities of silenceand stillness also characterised theman himself. As the late art criticDnyaneshwar Nadkarni explained in1983, “Gaitonde isolated himselfvery early in his career from every-thing in his environment which heconsidered irrelevant to (his) inten-sity as a painter.”

Gaitonde only produced aroundfive or six paintings a year, and rarelymixed with fellow artists. “Everythingstarts from silence,” he once said. “Thesilence of the canvas. The silence ofthe painting knife. The painter startsby absorbing all these silences.”

������E�����Born in 1839 in Aix-en-

Provence, Cézanne studied lawbefore leaving for Paris in 1861 topursue a career as a painter. There,he met the Impressionist CamillePissarro and later exhibited at the first(1874) and third (1877) Impressionistexhibitions.

By the early 1880s, however,Cézanne had returned to Provenceand begun to withdraw from theParis-centred Impressionists. In therugged solitude of his sun-drenchedhomeland, his work pivoted in direc-tion. He played with perspective andused short, hatched brushstrokes,blocks of strong, saturated colour andirregular lighting.

Today, works from Cézanne’sgroundbreaking late period are high-ly sought after by collectors at auc-tion. Formerly in the storied collec-tion of SI Newhouse, Bouilloire etfruits (1888-90, above) sold for$59,295,000 in May 2019 at Christie’sin New York, well above its on-request estimate in the region of $40million.

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‘Love Aaj Kal my best performance’

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Australian opener David Warner saysit is unlikely that the T20 World Cup

will be staged in his country in October-November because of the Covid-19 pan-demic.

“The ICC World Cup will not goahead here by the looks of it. It will bedifficult to get everyone (16 teams)together,” said Warner in an InstagramLive session with India’s batting star RohitSharma.

However, the International CricketCouncil is yet to take the final call on theT20 showpiece event.

During the chat, Rohit said India’stour of Australia, which is scheduled afterthe T20 World Cup, will be a “great way”to restart international calendar.

“I love playing against Australia.When we won last time (in 2019), it wasgreat for us. You guys (Warner and SteveSmith) were missing (due to ball-tamper-ing bans).

“What our bowlers and batters didthere was amazing. I am looking forwardto the upcoming tour already. Hope bothboards manage to get the series under-way. Will be a great way to kick off crick-et in the world,” said India’s limited oversvice-captain.

India won their first Test series inAustralia, and Warner said he was feel-

ing helpless watching his team lose.“Watching that series was hard as you

can’t do anything from the outside. ButI want to say that India has the best paceattack against left-handers. They zero in

one spot and keep bowling there.“Mentally, it was great for Indian

cricket but it was hard to watch. I felthelpless. Hope it does happen and look-ing forward to the battle,” said Warner.

The Australian said playing India inIndia is one of the toughest challenges inworld cricket.

“I love playing India in india.Everyone is against you. Hard conditions.Same for you (Rohit) when you comehere,” he said.

Warner is also not enthused by theidea of playing in front of empty stands,like Australia did against New Zealandin Sydney in March before the ODI serieswas called off.

“It was a bizarre experience. Youcould only hear echo of cricket ball. It wasbizarre. We are used to calling ‘yes andno’ while running between wickets but wedid not need to do that.

“It was literally like playing a warmup game. It was surreal. I don’t know forhow long you can sustain that. You gainyour momentum from home crowd.”

The Aussie opener also spoke aboutplayers considered the best in the worldin Test cricket in Virat Kohli and SteveSmith. “People say Kohli and Smith arethe best in the world,” said Warner. “Butwe make Smith and Kohli because wetake the shine off the ball. We have gotan important job as openers.”

� ��� �1-�&1�,��

India skipper Virat Kohlibelieves cricket in empty

stadiums is a real possibility ina post Covid-19 world andthough it is unlikely to have abearing on the intensity ofplayers, he feels the magicwould certainly go missing.

“It’s quite a possible situ-ation, it might happen, I hon-estly don’t know how everyoneis going to take that becausewe all are used to playing infront of so many passionatefans,” Kohli said in Star Sportsshow Cricket Connected.

“I know it will be playedat a very good intensity butthat feeling of the crowd con-necting with the players andthe tension of the game whereeveryone goes through it inthe stadium, those emotionsare very difficult to recreate,”he added.

Kohli said the manymoments which are createdbecause of the passion broughtin by fans, would be missing.

“Things will still go on,but I doubt that one will feelthat magic happening insidebecause of the atmospherethat was created.

“We will play sports howit is supposed to be played, butthose magical moments willbe difficult to come by,” hesaid.

‘HOLLOW FEELING’Cricket is not going to be thesame in the post Covid-19world and playing in emptystadiums would be a “hollowfeeling” but Australiawicketkeeper-batsman AlexCarey is ready to embracethe “new normal”.

Carey is open to the ideaof playing in empty stadi-ums, which according to himcould be a way forward.

“Cricket as we’re used to isgoing to be different for a bit.There’s the T20 World Cupand the IPL that we’re alllooking to play, but it’s hard topicture anything without thefans. It’s going to be a hollowfeeling,” said the DelhiCapitals player during anInstagram Live session withhis IPL team.

“But I feel the fans will atleast have some Live cricket tolook forward to on TV, and Ican promise it’s still going tobe some solid cricket whichthe fans are going to love,”added the left-hander.

� ��� �1-�&1�,�

It is premature to talk aboutresumption of cricket butIndia’s tour of Australia

later this year is likely to goahead, BCCI treasurer ArunDhumal said on Friday, down-playing the logistical issueslikely to arise because of theCovid-19 pandemic.

To ensure that the high-profile tour, starting in October,goes on as scheduled, Dhumalsaid quarantining of Indianplayers upon their arrival is apossibility even though it is notfeasible before every overseasassignment.

“You can’t be sure of the sit-uation prevailing at that pointof time. As of now the Australiatour is on because nobody hascalled off that tour and same forT20 World Cup,” Dhumal said.

“The need for quarantineahead of Australia tour onlyarises if the preceding T20World Cup doesn’t take place.If the World Cup happens, thenplayers would have alreadycompleted their quarantine.”

Dhumal said isolationbefore the start of the tour canonly be a one-off.

“If quarantine becomes anorm before every tour then itwould be difficult to organise

games,” he said.Dhumal then went on to

list the bigger logistical chal-lenge that awaits Australia —the T20 World Cup in

October-November.“...Would it be possible for

Australia to have so manyteams (16) coming in andquarantining for two weeks?

Players will be out of cricket forso long and further two weeksof quarantine and thenstraightaway to go into T20World Cup. Who would be

interested? So there is no clar-ity.

“Once the situationimproves and the lockdownends, then we will see keepingthe safety and health of ourplayers in mind as that is para-mount,” said Dhumal.

India are scheduled to playfour Tests Down Under withCricket Australia consideringan additional one. Dhumalsaid the five-Test series ideawas discussed before the lock-down but Cricket Australiacould now change its mindconsidering the severe financialimpact Covid-19 has had onthe board.

“The India-Australia touris more likely to happenbecause it is further away andlogistically it easier to organ-ise. We will have to see whatgovernment guidelines are atthat point (both India andAustralian Government).

“How will the team trav-el? There is no clarity oninternational travel and if wecan get an exemption. Wedon’t know as of now. The pic-ture is ho hazy that we can’tdecide anything,” saidDhumal.

On Cricket Australia’s ideaof an additional Test, Dhumalsaid:”As far as the fifth Test

goes, that discussion hap-pened before the lockdown.When cricket resumes, (wewill see) whether any countrywould like to host an addition-al Test or have two T20sinstead, which is likely to gen-erate more revenues.

“There is a possibility thatrequest comes from CricketAustralia only.”

Dhumal also said if theIPL doesn’t take place, theboard will take a hit of �4000crore.

“If IPL doesn’t take placethe revenue loss will be �4000crore. In case, we lose thehome season also, that willalso be a substantial amount.BCCI is also facing huge loss-es. If IPL doesn’t happen thenwe will be in a very big prob-lem,” said Dhumal.

If the T20 World Cupdoesn’t take place in October-November, staging the IPL isa possibility in that window.

“If the situation improvesby that time (September-October), we also have thinkabout T20 WC and Asia Cupand accordingly take a call. Fora full-fledged IPL to happen,you have to have at least 45-50 days. Whether we get thewindow, it is still a questionmark.”

������� England captain JoeRoot has said he is “very opti-mistic” Test cricket will takeplace in his side’s 2020 home sea-son even if that means thesquad have to go into more thantwo months’ of quarantine.

With Britain currently inlockdown because of the coro-navirus, a three-Test seriesagainst the West Indies sched-uled for June has been post-poned, with Pakistan due to visitlater in a season whose start hasnow been delayed until July 1.

“I’m very optimistic, hope-fully that can be the case and itwould be a real shame if it was-n’t,” he told the Cricket show onSky Sports.

“I think a number of peopleare desperate to see Live sportback on telly (television) and theguys are all very much missingplaying and would love to getback out there.” AFP

� � � �1-�&1�,�

The Technical Committee of AllIndia Football Federation on

Friday recommended the implemen-tation of the continental body’s rule onfielding foreign players in a domesticmatch from next year, reducing thenumber to four from five, a decisionwhich is in line with national teamcoach’s thinking.

India head coach Igor Stimac hadin March expressed unhappiness at thenumber of foreign players featuring ina match in Indian Super League andI-League, saying it was coming in theway of the country producing a futureSunil Chhetri.

Stimac had said that ISL and I-League should follow Asian FootballConfederation’s policy of allowing amaximum of four foreign players in amatch instead of the five permitted inthe domestic games currently.

The AIFF’s Technical Committee

met on Friday via video conferenceunder the chairmanship of ShyamThapa and took the decision to recom-mend the 3+1 (three non-Asians andone Asian) rule.

“The Committee discussed atlength and unanimously recommend-ed the implementation of the 3 (for-eigners) +1 (Asian) recruit rule for alldomestic league matches after the 2021season onwards, as per current AFCregulations for participation in AFCClub competitions,” the AIFF said ina release.

“However, if AFC changes thisrule, the changes will be implement-ed for domestic league matches,” itadded.

The Committee was also briefedabout the postponement of the FIFAU-17 Women’s World Cup India 2020by the FIFA-Confederations workinggroup, and informed that the futuredates of the tournament haven’t yetbeen finalised.

�������� Football teams will beallowed to use five substitutes whenplay resumes after the coronaviruspandemic, the sport’s law-makingbody announced on Friday.

The International FootballAssociation Board (IFAB) said in asstatement that it had agreed to aproposal by world governing bodyFIFA for a temporary change to therules “to protect player welfare”.

Teams face likely fixture con-gestion in a packed calendar as theyattempt to make up for lost timewhen play can resume.

The lay off is expected to havean impact on player fitness levelstoo.

It also said that competitionswhich were using video assistantreferee (VAR) would be allowed todrop it for the time being.

The change will apply to com-petitions scheduled to be complet-ed by 31 December of this year.

While teams will be able tomake five substitutions, “to avoiddisruption to the game, each teamwill only have three opportunitiesto make substitutions” as well as athalf time or before extra time.

In competitions that allow ananother replacement in extra time,teams will have an additional sub-stitution opportunity.

The previous limit on outfieldsubstitutes for top-level competi-tions has been three in regulationtime. AFP

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Italian football giants Inter Milanand AC Milan were both back

training on Friday two months aftera strict lockdown which has hit thenorthern Italian city hard.

Inter said all their players andstaff have tested negative for coron-avirus on Friday, clearing the way forthem to return to individual train-ing in the afternoon.

“All the medical tests that the firstteam underwent have come backnegative,” the team said in a state-ment.

“Optional individual trainingsessions will begin this afternoon.”

City rivals AC Milan resumedearlier in the week with club techni-cal director Paolo Maldini warningon Friday “not going back on thepitch would be a disaster.”

Former Italy captain Maldini,together with his 18-year-old sonDaniel, a Milan youth team player,have both recovered from coron-

avirus.“You have to be careful, but not

to resume would be a disaster fromall points of view,” 51-year-oldMaldini said during a liveInstagram chat on Fridaywith former Milan team-mate Filippo Inzaghi.

“France were wrong todecree the end immediate-ly, but we will accept whatwill be the verdictof theG ove r n me nt .There is so muchuncertainty.”

The city inthe northernL o m b a r d yregion is the

epicentre of Italy’s outbreak, one ofthe worst in Europe in terms ofdeaths and infections.

Lombardy has suffered some15,000 deaths, around half of Italy’s30,000 coronavirus fatalities, since theoutbreak first erupted in early March.

Both Milan clubs insisted theywere taking the maximum precau-tions.

“We have closed the commonareas of Milanello,” said Maldini.“The players are divided into fourfor each pitch and in 12 you canwork well anyway.”

Inter added: “The clubmaintains the utmost attention to

preventive measures to safe-guard the health of

the players and allmembers of theclub, in accor-dance with all thegovernmentaland publichealth protec-

tion guidelines.”

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Tottenham Hotspur strikerSon Heung-min was

named one of the topfive recruits in his unit ashe finished three weeksof compulsory militarytraining in South Koreaon Friday.

South Korea’smarine corpsposted picturesof Son wield-ing an M-16assault rif leand salutingon theirF a c e b o o kpage as hecompleted hisstint at a boot

camp.All able-bodied South

Korean men are obliged toserve in the military for

nearly two years, makingup the bulk of Seoul’s600,000-strong forces —who face off against

North Korea’s army of 1.3million.

But Son — thetop Asian

goalscorer inPremier Leaguehistory, and theAsian FootballConfederation’sreigning inter-national playerof the year —was in the South

Korean team

that earned an exemption bywinning Gold at the 2018Asian Games in Indonesia.

The Spurs star broke downin tears of joy after the 2-1extra-time win over Japan,which meant he could fulfil hisobligations with just threeweeks’ basic training andaround 500 hours of commu-nity service.

In April he reported to amarines camp on the island ofJeju for the basic training,which involved lengthy hikes,as well as tear-gas trainingand rifle practice.

He was judged among thefive best recruits out of 157 onhis course, a spokesperson forthe Republic of Korea MarineCorps said.

!��!���The towering stands ofthe 42,477-capacity JeonjuWorld Cup Stadium stoodempty on Friday as South Koreaopened football’s post-coron-avirus era without fans, butwith an unprecedented interna-tional TV audience.

With most leagues world-wide sidelined by the pandem-ic, the K-League is the first com-petition of any standing to comeback to life and a host of safetyprecautions have been imposed,with wild goal celebrations andeven talking discouraged.

The long-delayed season-opener between defendingchampions Jeonbuk Motors andCup-holders Suwon Bluewingswas watched by sport-starvedfans in a swathe of foreign

countries, even though specta-tors are not yet allowed at K-League games.

Paper sheets taped to stadi-um seats spelled out

“#C_U_SOON” and “STAYSTRONG”, while one end wasdraped in a giant green bannerfor the Mad Green Boys, theJeonbuk fan club.

Once the match began, fill-ing the site were the sounds ofplayers shouting calls and ballkicks that would have beenburied under fans’ thunderingchanting during normal times.

The match was punctuatedwith intermittent playing ofJeonbuk fan club’s recordedchants via speakers.

The season’s opening goalwas a header by veteran strikerLee Dong-gook of Jeonbuk inthe eighty-third minute.

Lee celebrated the scoringby posing with teammates asexcessive celebration involvingclose physical contact is bannedby K-League’s safety guidelines.

Using sign language theyexpressed their “respect” formedical workers treating coro-

navirus patients.Jeonbuk maintained the 1-

0 lead till the end.Before and after the match

the players bumped fists insteadof handshakes as advised.

The match, played understringent safety guidelines, is thefirst glimpse of post-virus foot-ball and similar scenes are like-ly elsewhere as other leagues getunder way.

All personnel entering thestadium had their temperatureschecked and were required towear face masks, and hand sani-tisers were located throughoutthe venue.

Players have been told toavoid excessive goal celebra-tions, handshakes, close talkingand blowing their noses. AFP

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India will not win the Testseries in Australia later this

year if they fail to dismiss sea-soned run-machines Steve Smithand David Warner early, thegreat Ian Chappell said on Friday.

Should the much-anticipatedseries goes ahead as scheduled,the duo’s presence will put thehosts at an advantage, accordingto the former Australian captain.

“I am certainly looking for-ward to it (the India-Australiaseries). It will be a very interest-ing one. India will come with theconfidence of having won lasttime they toured Australia,”Chappell said on the Sony Ten PitStop show.

The 76-year-old added, “Itwill be a bit harder this time (forIndia) with Smith and Warner inthe Australian side. But India arewell equipped to handleAustralian conditions.”

Aussies missed services ofSmith and Warner in the lastseries.

“Australia are pretty hard tobeat at home and particularlywith the attack that they have gotat the moment, it is a very, verystrong attack.

“The batting last time Indiawere here wasn’t so good. IfIndia can keep getting Warnerand Smith out cheaply, thenIndia could win. If they don’t getWarner and Smith cheaply,

Australia will win,” said Chappell.Chappell heaped praise on

current India skipper ViratKohli, saying he is the best at themoment when it comes to play-ing all the three formats, reiter-ating a point he made recently.

“India has had some prettygood batsmen, but the com-ment I made was over the threeformats. I was basically askedSteve Smith or Virat Kohli andI said — over the three formats,you can’t pick anyone ahead ofKohli.

“I mean his records in allthree formats is incredible andhow he averages over 50 in T20cricket, I think it’s a tremendousfeat.

“So, he (Kohli) in my opin-ion, if you are taking about allthree formats, Kohli is the bestbatsman at the moment,” said thelegendary Australian player.

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