Rate of COVID cases dropsfurther to 6.9% as 87 test +ve

oUR STAFF RePoRTeR

Indore

Rate of COVID positive pa-tient declined further to6.9% on Friday. On Thurs-day it stood at 7.83%. During the day, 87 samplesout of 1,261 samples testedCOVID-19 positive takingthe number of positive pa-tients to 3,431. Three moredeaths were reported on Fri-day taking city toll to 129. Asmany as 1,159 samples test-ed negative on Friday."A 58-year-old man of

Vikas Nagar, a 50-year-oldof Tilak Nagar and a 54-year-old woman of Ma-haveer Nagar succumbedto the disease during treat-ment," Chief Medical andHealth Officer Dr PravinJadia said. All of them hadco-morbid conditions likediabetes and hypertension.According to the bulletinreleased by CMHO, 34,738samples had been testedtill Friday. Contd. on P8

Cops prevent minor’swedding as father

produces fake paper

oUR STAFF RePoRTeR

BHOPAL

The Sukhi Sewania policestopped wedding of a 15-year-old girl, which wasscheduled on Friday, asthey reached her house anhour before the arrival ofbaraat. Though the girl’s father

tried to mislead police bystating that would-be-bridewas 18 years old and pro-duced a duplicate marksheet of the girl to corrobo-rate his claims, the policeignored his plea.The incident occurred inBalampur village wherethe baraat was to arrivefrom Vidisha. As in thelockdown is in force, fewguests arrived. Neighbours were not in-formed about the wedding.But a villager informed anNGO Awaaz that forwardedthe matter to Child Linefoundation, which in turnforwarded the message topolice.Deputy Superintendentof Police (probationer)

Shivali Chaturvedi con-firmed that girl’s weddingwas scheduled on Friday.She said she did not trusther family members whoclaimed that she was not aminor and insisted onmeeting the girl who was inbridal dress.According to DSP, the girllooked hardly over 15 yearsof age.She asked her family toproduce other age relateddocuments. With reluc-tance, they produced heridentity card, which con-firmed that she was lessthan 18 years old. The po-lice then contacted groom’sfamily in Lalakhedi villagein Vidisha and asked themnot to come to Bhopal formarriage as they will be introuble.

gamchha getscredence after

BJp ‘unrest’

oUR STAFF RePoRTeR

Indore

The Prime Minister, usinga gamchha as a mask toconnect rural India had animpact on the deshwashiy-on’s psyche. And hencehow could ‘THIS NEW’ or-der by Indore’s administra-tion be followed in letterand spirit?Morning certainly does-n’t show the day. An earlierorder by the administra-tion asking citizens to wear

ONLY surgical masks andfailing which would invitefine, was not taken in goodspirit by the BJP. An ‘unrest’ in the saffroncamp, led to ease the orders.Collector Manish Singh hadto clarify later in the daythat gamchha or hankiescould be used to cover theface hence diluting the“only surgical mask” order.Sources said that theamended orders will be re-leased on Saturday.Earlier in the day, the dis-trict collector, Manish

Singh, in order to containthe outbreak of the Covidpandemic, had stepped ongas to ensure that the citi-zens must abide by therules of wearing only sur-gical masks and desistfrom free flow spitting. Anamount of Rs 100 and Rs200 was fixed as fines forthese offences respectively.The order had said withinthe boundaries of Indoredistrict, it will be bindingfor all people to necessarilywear surgical masks out-side their homes. The use of handkerchiefsor gamchha etc. as maskswill not be considered, theorder added.

Contd. on P8

WEATHER41.60C.26.60C.

sunrise: 05 : 42

sunset : 07 : 06

Thought for the day“When you are

worshipping your Guru,then this master withinyou is also worshipped.

You respect it, you glorifyit, you awaken it and you

manifest it”

h. h. Mataji N irmala Devi

t INDORE t BHOPAL t UJJAIN t MUMBAI t PUNEN

ATIO

N modi 2.0 fuLfiLs BJp's core

agenda in firsT year

EDIT

SPO

RTS

Lockdowns or noT, The virus musT go

r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2018-2020

Toss which

disappeared

free-pressvol. XXXvII no. 352 | IndoRe | SatuRday | May 30, 2020 | PageS 12 | ` 3 www.freepressjournal.in

r RnI no. 38281/83

iit-i classrooms to house 50%, hostels 40% of capacityATUl GAUTAM

Indore

As the country looks for-ward for completion of thelockdown 4.0, Indian Insti-tute of Technology Indorehas prepared a comprehen-sive plan to resume its aca-demic and research activi-ties in a phased mannerstrictly adhering to Covid-19 guidelines and healthprotocol.It has planned some

tough measures to checkentry of the deadly virusentry into the campuswhen academic activitieswill start.

“On return of students tothe campus, the institute isgoing to put them under 14-day quarantine. Besides,the hostels will be accom-

modating 40 per cent of itscapacity so that adequatesocial distancing is main-tained. The classroomswill be housing 50 percent

of its capacity,” IIT Indoreacting director NeeleshKumar Jain told FreePress.The Institute had consti-tuted a high level COVID 19Task Force which hasevolved protocol for stay-ing and dining arrange-ments for the students, en-suring social distancing inclassrooms, library, healthcentre and other work-places.

Contd. on P8

rebel patients seek discharge, take docs hostage

oUR STAFF RePoRTeR

Indore

All-round distress andfrustration during the sub-sequent lockdown regimesand the prevailing pan-demic situation led to apanic-like situation in In-dex Medical College on Fri-day evening when a largenumber of COVID patientscreated ruckus in the hos-pital. They were demanding

immediate discharge.Moreover, the agitating pa-tients also took two dutydoctors ‘hostage’ in theward for more than half-an-hour and four PG stu-dents fled the wards in or-der to save themselves.After the situation wentout of control, the hospitaladministration had to in-form the police.Meanwhile, agitating pa-tients alleged that the hos-pital staff had kept them inthe hospital unnecessarilyfor the last several days"even as they had recov-ered and do not have anyproblem.“Many patients who wereadmitted after us have

been discharged from thehospital.”“We asked them to re-lease us as we did not haveany symptoms or any prob-lems but they have turneddown our pleas,” agitatingpatients said. They also alleged thatsome of them have evencompleted 14-15 days in thehospital.

Meanwhile, the adminis-trative official of IndexMedical College NitinGothwal said, “They wereall positive and had createdruckus and even kept thedoctors hostage. Our staffhad to flee as they were ag-itating and had gheraoedthe corridor.”He said the decision todischarge patient(s) was

taken by the nodal officerdeployed by the adminis-tration. “We send the reports tothem and they have to takea decision on patients' dis-charge on the basis ofhealth status and guide-lines,” Gothwal said.Later, police pacified thepatients and also warnedto lodge FIR against them.

oUR STAFF RePoRTeR

BHOPAL

People in and around Mada,famous ecological and his-torical place in Singraulidistrict, were terrified aftermysterious death of morethan thousand bats. Peopleknowing about origin ofCoronavirus from bats arenow skeptical about reasonsfor their death. A team of forest and vet-

erinary officials visited thespot to ascertain reason ofdeath of bats in such alarge numbers. Bats have made theirhabitat in several old andlarge trees in the region fora long time. Thousands ofbats were found dead andlying on ground on Fridaynoon around the trees.District forest officer Vi-jay Singh said that a teamof forest officials alongwith some veterinary offi-cials were sent to the spot-about 40 kms south of the

district headquarters. “The veterinary officialshave taken samples andwould be conducting inves-tigation into the reason fordeath in such large num-bers,” said Singh. Singh said that it was forthe first time that bats werefound dead in so large num-bers in that region. He saidthat the reason could only beascertained after a reportfrom the veterinary depart-ment. The place is largelyinhabited by people fromBaiga and Gond tribal com-munity. This area has agroup of caves made in sev-enth century. While some from the trib-al community fear un-known because of theevent the literate lot is try-ing to connect it with thespread of corona virus. A tribal working in forestdepartment said that thebats may have died becauseof some unknown diseasetaking lot in large numbers.

Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jayelyricist Yogesh passes away

new delHi

Veteran lyricist YogeshGaur, whopennedlyrics forevergreensongs likeKahin DoorJab DinDhal Jaye

and Zindagi Kaisi Hai Pa-heli for the film Anand,passed away on Friday(May 29). He was 77. Yogeshpassed away at his house in

Mumbai’s Goregaon. Hemanaged to leave an everlasting impact on the in-dustry with his songs.He also wrote lyrics of hitsongs Rimjhim GireSaawan, Kai Baar YunhiDekha Hai, Na Bole TumNa Maine Kuch Kaha, fromBaaton Baaton Mein toname a few.Lata Mangeshkarmourned Yogesh’s death onTwitter and offered hercondolences.

Contd. on P8

News Brief

4.6 magnitude quakejolts Delhi-NCR

New Delhi: Anearthquake, measuring 4.6on the Richter scale, joltedthe national capital and itssurrounding regions onFriday evening. Accordingto the National Centre forSeismology, the earthquake,with a depth of 3.3-kilometre, occurred at 9.08pm. It's epicentre was 16km east-southeast ofHaryana's Rohtak district.

Lockdown likelyfor two more wksNew Delhi: Thenationwide lockdown - thefourth phase of which endson May 31 - is likely to beextended beyond this datewith more relaxations asmost Indian states are infavour of continuing it fortwo more weeks, sourcessaid on Friday.

India’s COVID tollovertakes ChinaNew Delhi: India'scoronavirus death toll hassurpassed that of China afterit reported a total of 4,706fatalities, while it overtookTurkey to become the ninthworst-hit nation by thepandemic with 1,65,799COVID-19 cases.The countryregistered 175 deaths and arecord 7,466 fresh infectioncases in the last 24 hrs.

India or Bharatin SC on June 2New Delhi: The SupremeCourt will hear a plea on June2 seeking direction to theCentre to amend theConstitution and change thename of the country fromIndia to 'Bharat'. The pleaclaimed that this will helpcitizens of the country getover the colonial past andinstil a sense of pride in theirnationality.

niTendRA SHARMA

BHOPAL

A bureaucrat from MadhyaPradesh, who became a po-litical heavyweight inChhattisgarh, Ajit Jogipassed away on Friday.About Jogi his friends saidthat he had always been apolitician-bureaucrat. Un-like collectors of today,Jogi never shied away frompeople. Instead, he was al-ways with them, his col-leagues said.

Interestingly, as long ashe worked as an IAS offi-cer, he remained a collec-tor. In 1986, when he wasthe collector of Indore, heresigned from his job and

joined the Congress. Thethen Prime Minister RajivGandhi took interest inbringing him to the Con-gress. Since Jogi was promoted,he was posted as managingdirector of MP State Coop-erative Dairy FederationLimited. Nevertheless,Jogi resigned from his jobeven before getting reliev-ing letter from Indore. Jogiwas the collector in Sidhi,Shahdol, Gwalior, Raipurand Indore. Contd. on P8

1,700 samplestaken from

four districtsindoRe

As part of its nationwidesurvey to estimate theprevalence of coronavirusinfection in India, theICMR has collected samplesof 1,700 common peoplefrom four districts in Mad-hya Pradesh, who have notshown any symptoms ofthis disease.Scientists expressed hopethat the results of this surveywill provide accurate infor-mation about the spread ofthe epidemic among the pop-ulation in these four dis-tricts- Indore, Dewas, Ujjainand Gwalior.According to them, it willalso help ascertain if therehas been community trans-mission of the virus andwhether collective immuni-ty has developed in the peo-ple. This nation-wide hasbeen named sero-survey.Under this survey, Ja-balpur-based National Insti-tute of Research in TribalHealth (NIRTH) has collectedblood samples of people fromthe four districts in the state. Aparup Das, Director ofNIRTH, said, "Under the na-tionwide sero-survey ofICMR, blood samples of 500people in random contain-ment zones of Covid-19 inIndore have been randomlytaken, including fever andcolds. Contd. on P8

As an IAS officer Ajit Jogiwas always a collector

cases

1,65,799

death

4,706

actiVe

89,987

cured

71,106

india

cases

7,672

death

334

actiVe

3,042

cured

4,269

mp

cOVid-19

Daruwalla falls BejanRobin Roy

The man who hadcorrectly predictedthe rise and rise of

Narendra Modi amongseveral other predictionslike Sanjay Gandhi'sdeath, the Bhopal gastragedy, Bejan Daruwalladied on May 29 following alung infection. He was 89.He was admitted to ahospital in Ahmedabadrecently and was put onventilator after he com-plained of breathing trou-bles.After the news of his

death came in, several re-ports suggested that hehad died due to coron-avirus. However, his as-trologer-son, Nastur, de-nied these reports. Earli-er, it was reported thatthe noted astrologer hadtested positive for the

novel coronavirus on Sat-urday. His son stronglydenied the rumours andsaid that his father hadbeen suffering from pneu-monia and lung infection,and the oxygen level inhis body had dipped.On Modi Bejan had said,“Narendra Modi’s Moonand Mars are together.Moon is for popularityand Mars is for energy.The combination of twomakes him a winning ma-terial. For all these rea-sons, Narendra Modi willwin the game.”

Contd. on P8

Panic in Singrauli after morethan 1,000 bats found dead Police take written

note from parentsDSP Shivali Chaturvedi saidshe made girl’s parents togive in writing that theywill not arrange hermarriage till she turns 18.

icmr’S coVid SurVey

FOUR PG STUDENTS flee premises to save themselves, cops called inFifty-six patients weredischarged from three cityhospitals on Friday. Thirtypatients were dischargedfrom Index Medical College,25 from Choithram Hospitaland 1 from MRTB Hospital. Alldischarged patients expressedtheir gratitude towards thedoctors and staff of thehospitals and thanked themfor saving their lives. Morepatients would be dischargedfrom Sri Aurobindo Hospitalon Saturday.

56 patients discharged

Residents pRotest against health centRe again

Residents of Suyash Vihar staged demonstration against Urban Primary Health Centre atSuyash Vihar Colony on Friday. They alleged that no social distancing was followed bythe people coming to the health centre. They had protested against the centre, a coupleof day ago as well.Residents said that they will launch a protest against the centre till itwas shifted.

ELITE INSTITUTE TO PUT STUDENTS UNDER 14-DAY QUARANTINE, calls in all PhD students living outside the campusbtech StudentS may be called in laSt week of July

To resume research activities and accelerate research related to coronavirusvaccine development, institute has asked all students of PhD, MTech, MSc, andMS (Research) programmes to return to campus during 3rd week of June.Students of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year of BTech programme may be called backduring last week of July. The institute has allowed online viva of graduatingstudents of different PG programs to be completed by 4th week of June. It isalso exploring the option of online exams of other graduating students.

COLLECTOR DILUTES onsurgical mask orderafter party heartburn

Spot fine from Rs 500 to Rs 5000 on mass gatheringIn the backdrop of

organising parties atMahant Complex inMallhargaj from where 90COVID-19 positive patientswere reported and villageBadodiya Khan in Sanwer,from where 19 positive caseshad come, the districtadministration has bannedparties. In case of violation,Rs 500 will be imposed onindividuals participating inmass gatherings and a fineof Rs 5000 will be imposedon party organisers.

late breaking

Badjatya’s deathreported after 40 daysDeath of 50-year-old LalitBadjatya of Tilak Nagar wasreported by the healthdepartment after 40 days. Hedied on April 19 but his deathwas reported by thedepartment on May 29. Hisfamily members had allegedthat Synergy Hospital had hidthe report from them to extortmoney while the hospitalclaimed that they receivedreport late from CMHO.Meanwhile, Chief Medical andHealth Officer Dr Pravin Jadiasaid that they received detailsof the deceased on May 29."Hospital has sent us paperand proper format of thedeceased on May 29 due towhich we declared it late," headded.

3 more test +ve inRaj Bhavan, tally 10Despite all precautionaryand preventive measures,Raj Bhavan has becomenew hotspot. On Friday,three more positive caseshave been detected in RajBhavan taking its tally to10.

Sagar reportS 27 caSeS, 11 from Same family

Sagar reported 27 positive cases on Friday. Eleven of thembelonged of one family. Four positive cases belonged to anotherfamily in Vithal Nagar. In fact, Sadar area of the district has so farreported 78 cases, taking district's tally to 138.

2 INDORE CITYFREEPRESSsaturday | may 30, 2020 | indore

tINa KHatrI

Indore

Animals residing in Kamla NehruPrani Sangrahalaya, Indore mightnot have had any visitors since lasttwo months, but at least they are re-laxing and enjoying their specialsummer diet with coconut water,de-stress supplements, mood-en-hancing fruits, glucose poweredfeeds and electrolytes.

As Nautapa peaks, the heat af-fects the health and wellness of an-imals especially the snakes in therecently built Snake House at thecity zoo.City zoo is taking extra measures

to ensure the wellness of animalsas high temperatures can often re-sult in fatalities. With the SnakeHouse hosting about 30 reptiles inover a dozen enclosures, it is a newchallenge for the keepers of thecity zoo.“The major issue faced by ani-

mals much like humans in Indoreis due to hot and dry weather,” DrUttam Yadav, city zoo in-charge,said. He explained that humidityplays an essential role in the well-ness of most animals.“Handling high temperature is a

major issue only in case of birds,but dry weather troubles most ani-

mals,” Yadav said. To ensureenough moisture, various stepshave been taken in the zoo for ani-mals.

Cheer Up Birdie!

Birds may get stress-induced feverresulting in an increase in bodytemperature.To help them cheer up on hot

days, the city zoo is adding supple-ments to their feed. A balanced dietwith seeds, fruits and glucose isgiven to birds for the summer.Indore is not only home to exotic

and native small birds, but alsohome to some of the largest birdsin world including ostrich andemu. Beans, oatmeal and proteinitems are being specially orderedfor them along with food supple-ments.Other than this, bird enclosures

have been covered with greenshade and dry grass. Their enclo-sures are sprayed with water thricea day to keep them cool despite ris-ing temperature.

Splashing Monkey town

Indore city zoo is home to a vari-ety of primates ranging from thesmallest monkey known as Fingermonkey or Marmoset to Baboonsand Sloth bears. To keep themhappy and hydrated, temporaryshades have been made in theirenclosures.“We turn on the sprinklers every

few hours for monkeys, as theyare notorious and often break oth-er water lines we install in theirenclosures,” Yadav said. For Mar-moset who seeks more attentionthan any other monkey, special

fruits and feeds are providedevery 2 hours. Next in line, seek-ing extra attention, are the squeal-ing monkeys.

The royal ones: Wildcats

More than 50 air-coolers have beeninstalled in animal enclosures oftigers, lions, jaguars, cheetah andleopards. Other than this, to ensurethat these wildcats don’t lose theirtemper due to rising temperatures,their enclosures are sprayed withsprinklers every couple of hours.Tigers have a pond, where they areoften seen playing

Special SnakeHouse treatment

Snake House is home to some ofthe rarest species like a 14 feet-longWhite Python (female), Green Vinesnake, Banded Krait snake, RedSand Boa and cobra. Catering to 30such reptiles, Snake House now hasan automatic humidifier for thecomfort of these species.

Wallowing pond

Many deer perform wallowing, cre-ating wallow sites in wet depres-sions in the ground, eventuallyforming quite large sites (2–3 macross and up to 1 m deep). Hence,wallowing ponds have been madefor deer family in summers.

Other changes

The authorities have also madechanges in the diet of the animalsand birds. The meat consumptionfor carnivores has been reduced asthey do not need much energy atthis time. They have also reducedprotein intake for birds, and arefeeding them a carbohydrate-baseddiet. The green vegetables are be-ing incorporated in the diet of her-bivores animals while limiting theuse of jaggery.

City zoo taking Care to keep inmates Cool

Celebrity elephant Moti enjoying hisshowers and shelter at city zoo

Wildcats on their power walks as seen in city zoo Photos by PINtU NAMDEV

Deer family enjoying their tomato treat

MaNOHar LIMBODIa

Indore

Former Indore collectorwho became Rajya SabhaMember of Parliament(MP) and went on to be-come the first Chief Minis-ter of Chhattisgarh, AjitJogi is the only collectorknown to have completed 5years as a collector in In-dore. As he passed away atthe age of 74, Indore remi-nisced his contribution as acollector and his transfor-mation into a politician. Itwas in Indore that Jogitransformed from being agovernment official to apolitician. Looking back at his life

and time in Indore, follow-ing are some highlightsthat set him apart and showhis Indori connect:

HaNdliNG riots &

commuNity support

In 1984 when Indira Gandhiwas assassinated by herSikh bodyguard, Jogi wasserving as Indore collector.He was equally upset withthe act.It was the first time when

police entered Imli Sahib

gurudwara. The city hadbled as hundreds of fami-lies were burnt alive alongwith their homes andshops. Following the riots,when Sikh community wasextremely upset and angry,Jogi convinced ArjunSingh, then Minister of Hu-man Resource Develop-ment, to come down andmeet the community. Notonly this, he convincedSingh to give a public apol-ogy to the communitymembers.

JoGi's political

start from iNdore

Jogi began his politicaljourney nearly 35 years agowhen he joined the Con-gress party after quittinghis job as Indian Adminis-trative Service (IAS) officerposted in Indore. He left thegovernment service in 1985and became a Member ofParliament (MP) in RajyaSabha in 1986. Jogi re-mained a member of theUpper House till 1998.He faced opposition from

former Chief Minister ofMP Digvijay Singh and hadcontinual political fightswith Congress leader Ma-

hesh Joshi. Yet in November 2000,

when the new State ofChhattisgarh was created,Jogi was chosen by SoniaGandhi to head the State,pipping veterans like MotiLal Vohra and the lateVidya Charan Shukla.

soft corNer for love

When Jogi was Indore col-lector, a Jain Sadhvi hadfled with her lover, whichwas initially reported to bea case of abduction. Thecouple had reached Jogi forhelp. Revolting against so-cial norms, Jogi allowedthem to stay in his homeand further helped them intying the knot.

briNGiNG rrcat

to iNdore

Raja Ramanna Centre forAdvanced Technology, In-dore is a major researchcentre in Madhya Pradesh.The unit of Department ofAtomic Energy, Govern-ment of India, was broughtto Indore by Jogi. He hadused several sources andproposals to ensure thatRRCAT comes to Indore.

City saw Ajit Jogi turn from bureaucrat to politician

FIRE AT LASUDIA MORI

A warehouse was completely gutted in a fire in Lasudia Mori. The fire started late onThursday night and it was morning before it could be doused.

LOCKDOWN 'LIPSMACKER'

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

Are you a fan of sim-ple and light South In-dian dishes? A lot ofIndoris cannot resistthe classic dosa or themodified fusion Chi-nese idli in the city.However, due to highrice content, thesedelicacies are not dia-betic friendly and lowin fibre content.Here is an interest-

ing way to enjoy ahealthier, tastier andbetter Green Idli thissummer. This recipewill help you in brav-ing summers andstaying strong.

HealtH beNefits

The recipe is rich inB-complex vitaminsand moong dal helpsyour body break car-bohydrates down to glucose, and produce usable ener-gy for your body. The folic acid present in it also helpsmaintain healthy brain function and in the productionof DNA.Giving your body enough nutrition, the recipe has

some amount of vitamin E, C and K. Further, it is agood source of antioxidants, which may reduce yourrisk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, dia-betes and certain cancer.

How to make

GreeN idli?

l Combine the 1 cup greenmoong dal, ¼ cup urad daland fenugreek seeds in adeep bowl and keep asideto soak in enough water for2 hours.

l Drain water and blend thegreen moong dal, urad daland fenugreek seeds in amixer along with about 1cup of water till smooth.

l Transfer the mixture into adeep bowl, add the salt andmix well. Cover with a lidand keep aside to fermentfor 4 hours.

l Once fermented, add theginger-green chilli paste andcoriander and mix well.

l Pour a spoonful of thebatter into greased idlimoulds and steam in asteamer for 12 minutes.

l Cool slightly and demould.

GREEN IDLI: A stepahead towards health

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

Prior to Pentecost, Chris-tians are following the les-sons taught by JesusChrist and helping thosein need. In their drive tohelp underprivileged fami-lies, Christian volunteersforming a group are pro-viding ration packets tothem.Christian holiday of Pen-

tecost, which is celebratedthe 49th day (the seventhSunday) after Easter Sun-day, will be celebrated onMay 31. The holiday com-memorates the descent ofthe Holy Spirit upon theApostles and other follow-ers of Jesus Christ. Underthe drive, ration packetsare given to 200 to 250 peo-ple on a regular basis.“Christ was the ultimate

social worker. Not onlycould he find housing forpeople, or give them free

food,” Ashutosh Joseph, avolunteer said. He citedthat in the Bible, God's callto His followers to care forother human beings isclear (Philippians 2:4; 1John 3:17-18; Proverbs19:17 New International

Version).“In fact, Jesus states that

one of the most importantcommandments is ‘loveyour neighbour as your-self ’,” Joseph said.The packets are distrib-

uted in front of Mission

hospital. All those in needcan seek help there. Othervolunteers regularly con-tributing to the cause in-clude Wilson Gadkar,Rakesh Singh, Sheeni God-win, Dr Ashish and Bablu Bhai.

Prior to Pentecost, Christianspreparing ration packets

Ration and food packet distribution

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

BJP leader JyotiradityaScindia is planning astate-wide campaign tomeet his supporters inview of the forthcomingby-elections and the im-

pending cabinet expan-sion. He is coming to Bhopal

on June 1 to start his cam-paign, and in the initialphase, his focus would beon Bhopal, Indore andGwalior regions.Scindia supporter Raju

Chouhan said that he willtake the views of his sup-porters during the courseof the campaign. The cam-paign has been made insuch a way that all the pre-cautions necessary to pre-vent the spread of coron-avirus is taken.

State water resourcesminister Tulsi Silawatsaid after coming toBhopal on June 1, he willmeet chief minister Shiv-raj Singh Chouhan andBJP state president B DSharma. Silawat saidScindia is expected to tour

Bhopal region for two daysand then leave for Gwaliorwhere he is expected tostay till June 5. He is alsogoing to meet all the for-mer Congress MLAs whohave resigned in his sup-port and discuss the by-elections with them.

Scindia gearing up for bypolls, to meet supporters from June 1

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

A manager of a companywas found dead under mys-terious circumstances inthe bathroom of his flat inRajendra Nagar area onThursday night. Rajendra Nagar police

station in-charge SunilSharma said that the de-ceased has been identifiedas Albert John (58), a resi-dent of Silicon City. He was

found dead in the bathroomof his flat in PremsagarApartment at around 9.30pm. He was the manager inMittal Appliances, Pitham-pur.Preliminary investigation

revealed that Albert hailedfrom Chennai and was stay-ing here for a few years. Hewas on leave from the com-pany for a week. A personfrom the company made aphone call to him when hedidn’t reply, the police were

informed. A police teamreached there and knockedon the door but when therewas no answer, they brokeopen the door and found thebody inside the bathroom.The reason of his death

could not be established,but the police suspect thathe died of heart attack.They are waiting for autop-sy report for confirmation.Meanwhile, the police haveinformed his family mem-bers.

Company manager founddead in flat's bathroom

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

To detect metal weapons, police have decided to tie HandHeld Metal Detector to a stick to scan people, maintainingsocial distancing, on Friday at Musakhedi check point. IGVivek Sharma inspected this technique.According to information, in the last few days, it was ob-

served by the police that several persons are roaming inthe city with weapons. Police official said in order to nabsuch persons red-handed, the police have developed thistechnique.

Innovative cops

Our Staff repOrter

Indore

Amid the horrors of coron-avirus, the good news isthat now the recovery rateof COVID-19 patients hascrossed the 50% mark inthe city. Also, the mortalityrate has come down to3.7%, said divisional com-missioner Akash Tripathiwhile briefing about the sit-uation in the city, on Friday.Tripathi said the number

of patients in the YellowHospitals, where patientssuspected of having COVIDare treated, has come down.

The Fever Clinics are alsohelping by treating peoplewith flu-like symptoms anddetecting those who mightbe corona positive, the com-missioner said.

No positive case

detected from about

200 coNtaiNmeNt areas

Tripathi said that there aremore than 200 declaredContainment Areas fromwhere not a single COVID-19 positive case has beenreported since May 1. Hesaid that according to thedata, about 80 per cent ofthe new cases coming inare mild and asympto-matic in nature. One or twocases are being seen fromthe new Containment Areas. The speed of sam-pling has also been in-creased and efforts are on

to test more than 1000 sam-ples a day.

ready for peak

On the speculation thatthere may be a peak of inthe number of cases in thecity in June-July, Tripathisaid they are already mak-ing arrangments in casethe prediction about thespike in positive casescomes true. He said effortsare on to arrange about13,000 beds. There will beabout 10,000 isolation bedsand 2000 isolation bedswith oxygen. Work hasstarted for providing about500 beds in MYH Hospital,about 400 ICU and 100 oxy-gen beds in Super Special-ty Hospital, 30 normal and70 oxygen beds in MRTBand 100 oxygen beds inMTH Hospital.

Good News: Recovery rate crosses50%, mortality rate down to 3.7%

Most new cases ofCOVID-19 areasymptomaticand mild

INDORE CITY 32 minors among 3 arrested for stabbingIndore: Three persons including two minor boys were arrested by the police for stabbing and injuringa 65-year-old man in Pardeshipura area on Friday. According to the police, 65-year-old Ganesh Mukatiof Gauri Nagar was stabbed and injured a couple of days ago. Police said Ganesh had an argumentwith accused Shivaji over spitting on the road, following which the accused along with his twoaccomplices attacked Ganesh.Two knives were also recovered from the accused.

FREEPRESSsaturday | may 30, 2020 | indore

COVID-19 effect: DAVV to reduce 26%seats for maintaining social distancing

Our staFF rePOrterIndore

As Indore continues to reelunder COVID-19 on-slaught, the state-govern-ment run Devi AhilyaVishwavidyalaya (DAVV)here is gearing up to takesome major decisions toensure coronavirus guide-lines are followed on theuniversity campus.One such big decision isthe reduction in the num-ber of seats for admissionsin university teaching de-partments.The university has in-principle decided to doaway with 26 per cent seatsincreased last year forgranting 10 per cent quotafor students belonging tothe economically weakersection (EWS). The reduction will bedone in such a way that thepercentage of EWS andother quotas remains unaf-fected.“As of now, we have in-principle agreed to acceptthe same number of stu-dents we had in the session2018-19,” said AkhileshSingh, member of DAVVadmission committee.He stated that DAVV ad-mission brochure wouldcarry details of seats but there won’t be anyreservation-wise classifi-cation in it.“We will adhere to the

state’s reservation policybut the classification of

seats will be made just afew days before coun-

selling for admissionsstarts,” he added.

The university has decid-ed so as there is still noclarity on reservation per-centage for OBC students.When Congress govern-ment had come to power inthe state, it had increasedOBC quota from 14 percent to 27 per cent.Later, that decision wasquashed in court. “Thepresent status of the caseis not known to us so wewill wait till there is clari-ty from the government onthe OBC quota,” Singhsaid.

DAVV To INcrEAsE sEcTIoNs, DEcrEAsE

HosTEl occuPANcy by 50%

Despite reducing 26 per cent of seats, theuniversity would have to increase thenumber of sections so that there is atleast a two-metre gap between studentswhile in classroom. “We will have to re-duce the classroom occupancy by 50 percent for implementing social distancingnorms,” said former vice-chancellor ProfAshutosh Mishra. He also stated that in-creasing the number of sections willmean that there would be an extra load onteachers as they would have to deliver thesame lectures for two different sections.Registrar Anil Sharma stated that theywould also have to reduce occupancy inhostels. “The hostels have an intake ca-pacity of around 2200 inmates. Each roomhouses two students. Now we will have tohouse one student in each room. Thatmeans the occupancy rate will be down by50 per cent,” he added.

The total intake capacity of DAVV isaround 6400 students. If 26 per cent

seats are decreased, then 1665 lesser stu-dents will be able to take admission in theuniversity teaching departments. Whilethis may deprive many students of achance to study in DAVV, the universitywill also lose around Rs 35 crore which itcould have generated from fees of thesestudents.“It’s not about money. It’s about safety ofour students. We don’t want to risk lives of

students for revenue,” Singh said.The university infrastructure did nothave the capacity to houses 26 per centmore students last year but it still had toincrease the seats following the order ofthe state government. Now that it has tomaintain social distancing, the varsitywill have to either increase the infra-structure or decrease the number of stu-dents. As infrastructure cannot be ex-panded overnight, it has to go with thesecond option.

NEArly 1665 lEssEr ADmIssIoNs IN DAVV

Students of IMS on UTD campus. RepResentatIonal photo

Our staFF rePOrterIndore

Amid the ongoing battle with COVID-19 for last2 months, Chief Medical and Health Officer DrPravin Jadia has been exhausted due to his ill-ness and has gone on leave for four weeks.He is suffering from back pain due to a pinchednerve. “Yes I have applied for leave for four

weeks due to the illness. I have been suggestedby surgeons to rest at least for four weeks as thepain is reoccurring again and again. I will takecharge after getting relief,” Dr Jadia said.He had gone through a surgery in the firstweek of March due to the same but joined thework just after a week’s rest due to COVID-19outbreak in city.After Dr Jadia being ill, administration has

planned to give charge to Dr MP Sharma as thein-charge CMHO. Dr Sharma is serving as Ad-ditional Chief Medical and Health Officer atpresent and will take charge as in-chargeCMHO after getting the official orders. Howev-er, sources said that an investigation startedagainst Dr Madhav Hasani over the expensesunder National Health Mission has disturbedDr Jadia as well.

Dr Jadia takes four weeks leave due topinched nerve, Dr Sharma to take charge

MhOw (FPNs)

Five new corona positive patientswere found in Mhow city and sur-rounding areas on Friday. Two ofthem are from Luniyapura, one isfrom Tall Mohalla while one is fromMhowgaon. One more patient hasbeen found positive in Mhow jail, thusthe total number of patients testingpositive today is 5 and the total num-ber of positive patients in Mhow isnow 116.The situation in Mhow is getting

worse by the day because people arenot following social distancing and atthe same time administration is un-able to control the public. As persources, the local administration isplanning to seal all boundaries of thecantonment area so that nobody frominside will be able to go outside and atthe same time nobody from outsidewill be able to come inside. As per thesources, had the administration takenthis step earlier, Mhow's situationwould not have worsened to such anextent.

Five new corona patients in Mhow

taruN tiwariIndore

Indoreans have been follow-ing the slogan meant ofSwachhta Abhiyan “IndoreRahega Number 1” in thenumber of COVID-19 casesand leading in the state. Thecity is also in top 10 worsthit cities in the countrywith 3344 positive COVID-19patients (till May 28).Moreover, the number ofcases in the city was in-creasing with each passingday; at the rate of five pa-tients per hours in last onemonth of the lockdown.Surprisingly, the popula-tion share of Indore to theoverall population of thestate is only 4.38 percent butwhen comes to the share ofCOVID-19 positive patients,it is the highest with 44.87percent.First case of COVID-19was found in city on March

24 and it has been risingwith each passing day. Thenumber of patients be-tween March 24 to April 28reached to 1466. On the sec-ond month of lockdown, thenumber of cases was 1878between April 29 and May28 which is about an aver-age of 61 cases per day and

about 5 patients every twohours.As the administration hasplanned to increase relax-ation to the lockdown, thedata is a cause of concernas people will have to takeall the necessary precau-tions to prevent the spreadof the disease.

Every 2nd COVIDpatient in state from city5 patients discharge every two hours in last one month

INDorE’s sHArE of cAsEs As comPArE To sHArE IN PoPulATIoN

State’s population: 7.26 crores (as per public relations department)

Indore’s population: over 32 lakh (as per indore.nic.in)

Percentage share of Indore in state: 4.38 percent

Total number of positive COVID-19 cases in MP: 7453 (till May 28)

Total number of positive patients in Indore: 3344 (till May 28)

Indore’s share in positive cases: 44.87 percent

Total cases in Indore: 3344 (Till May 28)

March 24 to April 28: 1466

April 28 to May 28: 1878

Average patients every day (from April 28 to May 28): 62.6

Average patient per hour (April 28 to May 28): 2.6

Average patients in two hours (April 28 to May 28): 5

Super SpecialityHospital to start

from June 15Hospital to have 400 ICU beds

Our staFF rePOrterIndore

The Rs 230 crore, 534-bed Super Spe-ciality Hospital will start from June15, said divisional commissionerAkash Tripathi while presiding overa meeting called to discuss theprogress in the construction of thehospital. The hospital has a capacity of 536beds, out of which 400 beds will beoxygenated, out of which 100 beds areof ICU. The hospital has 136 otherbeds.The meeting was attended by Dr Jy-oti Bindal, dean of MGM MedicalCollege, Dr AD Bhatnagar, in-chargeof Super Specialty Hospital, officialsof public works department and rep-resentatives of Super Specialty hos-pital's construction company. Tripathi set a time-limit for everydepartment for completing the work.He instructed the electrical wing ofthe PWD to complete the work ofelectric supply in the first week ofJune. He also instructed for the pur-chase of furniture through GeM(Governed E-Marketplace) portal.

iNdOre

Indore Fitness Association, on Friday, do-nated fruits and other necessary things toIndore police which will help the latter infighting with the pandemic.Police said that the association has do-nated 300 kg watermelons, 200 water bot-

tles and 200 masks. The president of the as-sociation, Aman Yadav donated theseitems to ASP Manisha Pathak Soni at DIGoffice.Aman said that police are doing a greatjob in saving people from the pandemic. Po-lice are front liners and always ready forservice.

Indore Fitness Association's gesture

DIFFERENT SHADES DURING THE HEAT

Cops performing their duty near Regal crossing Sleeping under the shade of trees outside the garden at Rajwada

Peacocks at the shaded Bhandari Mills compound Drinking water to cool oneself

Accused sells 'stolen'two-wheeler anddupes insurance company

Our staFF rePOrterIndore

Crime Branch on Friday ar-rested three persons for dup-ing insurance company andtaking claim amount by lodg-ing fake FIR of bike theft onFriday.

WHAT HAPPENED?

According to Additional Su-perintendent of Police (crime)Rajesh Dandotiya, oneShankar Verma had sold hisscooter to his friend after

changing the colour and tookclaim from the insurance com-pany after lodging an FIR atpolice station stating that hisbike was stolen. The crime branch team initi-ated a probe and came to knowthat Shankar had a bluecolour scooter which he hadsold to his friend Ashish. Af-ter that, the accused hadlodged a complaint with thepolice that his vehicle wasstolen and got the insuranceclaim. Later, Ashish fraudu-lently put the registrationnumber on the vehicle andfurther sold it for Rs 12000 toGovind and assured to givehim the documents in a fewdays. The persons have beenarrested and have been hand-ed over to Pardeshipura policefor further probe.

Scooter turns'chameleon', 3 held

Lockdown 4.0

FP News serviceJaora

A couple was all set to tie theknot in April, but it kept get-ting delayed because of the na-tionwide lockdown due toCovid-19 outbreak. They finallygot married during Lockdown4.0 with guests over video calling. Saurabh Dhariwal, son ofsenior journalist late RameshChandra Dhariwal was set tomarry Ritika Kankrecha of Uj-jain on April 12. The weddingwas postponed by both the par-ties, keeping in mind the cen-tral government’s instructions.They finally got married onWednesday, when relaxationswere given by the administra-tion. Ritika, who is a resident of Uj-jain, reached Jaora with justfour kin. The wedding, which

had been delayed for about amonth and a half, was organ-ised in the presence of very fewguests. Ritika and Saurabh gar-landed each other while main-taining social distancing. Theceremony was simple and cosy.Relatives and friends from bothsides who could not attend thewedding in person watched thelive video of the ceremony overan app. Both parties had made allarrangements for the wedding,but the lockdown stopped them.With the start of the fourthlockdown, the government al-lowed weddings to be organisedwith just 50 guests and funer-als, with 20. Ritika reached Jao-ra with her mother and twobrothers on the morning ofMay 27. The ceremony and ritu-als were held at a private hall,situated at the four lane road.About 45 to 50 people attended

the wedding. Social distancingwas maintained by all, includ-ing the bride and the groomduring the entire event. Allguests and the newly marriedcouple had masks covering

their mouths. Ritika andSaurabh performed all ritualswhile donning the masks. Sani-tisers and soap and water waskept at all corners of the hallduring the wedding.

Thanks to relaxations, couple tie knot after waiting for 45 daysFAMILY SKIPS MRITYU-BHOJ,

DONATES RS 88.1K MUNDI: Mrityu-Bhoj, or the feast organised on death of a kin isconsidered important in many communities across the nation.However, people have started to shun the practice and many com-munities have also banned it. Chauhan family of Dharakwadi vil-lage decided to donate the money instead of conducting the feast. Thakur Bharat Singh Chauhan, father of former mandi direc-tor Jitendra Singh Chauhan and teacher Virendra SinghChauhan passed away on May 26. The family donated Rs 88,100 tovarious social organisations instead of organising the tradition-al feast.Jitendra Singh Chauhan informed that Rs 51,000 will be given toRajput Samaj, Rs 21,000 to Rajput Samaj Dharamshala, Rs 5,100 toa cow shelter and Rs 11,000 to other communities of the village.

4 Ujjain CityFREEPRESSSaturday | May 30, 2020 | Indore

UJJAIN WEATHERMAXIMUM: 40.5°C, MINIMUM: 27.0° C

HUMIDITYMORNING: 55per cent, EVENING: 24 per cent

SUNRISE: 5.41 am , SUNSET: 7.07 pm

News in Brief

New areas declared as containment zonesCollector Asheesh Singh on Friday has notified manyareas of the city as containment zones under MP PublicHealth Act. City’s Rajeev Gandhi Nagar, Malanwasa,Vikramaditya Bhawan, Madhav Nagar, Ghee Mandi,Shivansh Paradise and Jagdish Gali have been declaredunder containment area.

Books gutted in Gurunanak Hospital blazeFire suddenly erupted in Gurunanak Hospital located inFreeganj on Thursday late night. Hospital manager DrMukesh Jethwani informed that the fire probably erupteddue to short circuit in his office and began to spread.There was no major damage took place in the hospital asthe fire brigade soon controlled the fire, only some bookswere burnt, Jethwani added.

MPSS to distribute informationbooklets on COVID-19District unit of Madhya PradeshShikshak Sangh (MPSS) organized anonline meeting on the role of MPSSduring Covid pandemic. On thisoccasion district unit head JagdishChandra Kelwa informed that MPPSwill play its positive role at districtlevel and will distribute informationbooklets on Covid-19 to studentsalong with food, medicines and otheressential items to needy duringlockdown. On this occasiongovernment teachers of the regionparticipated in the meeting.

Power companies staff to observe black dayGovernment electricity employees will observe black dayon June 01 to protest Electricity Amendment Act 2020and privatisation of the department in union territories.According to Madhya Pradesh United Forum as many as15 lakh employees across the country will observe theblack day and stage protest in the evening at 5.30 on thesame at divisional and district head office withmaintaining social distance.

‘Take action against those postingcontent on social media against SP’Shri Rajput Karani Sena has emailed a letter to policedepartment to take action against elements that aremaliciously targeting SP Manojkumar Singh and postingobjectionable content against him on social mediaplatforms. Similarly, Akhil Bharatiya Kshtriya Mahasabaalso condemned such acts and warned to launch anationwide agitation if such incidents are not curbed.

LCIF donates 1,000 PPE kitsLions Club International Foundation (LICF) donated1000 PPE kits for doctors and paramedical staff atMadhav Nagar Hospital on Friday. On this occasionmember of parliament Anil Firojia, mayor Meena Jonwal,MLA Mohan Yadav, municipal commissioner KshitijSinghal, Lions district governor RG Pathak, Pharmacycouncil head Om Jain, ex corporator Ram Bhagwat,Girish Jaiswal, Rakesh Sharma, Santosh Agrawal, CMHOMahavir Khandelwal and Dr Suresh Sharma werepresent. RG Pathak on this juncture told that LCIF isextending helping hand for Corona warriors across theworld and will continue to do the same in future.

NirUKT BHArGAvA

Ujjain

Despite tall claims of the localadministration that health facil-ities fall under Essential Servic-es Maintenance Act (ESMA)and that no hospital in the city

can refuse the patient comingfor treatment, the death of a 61-year-old Ashok Sharma on May26 will leave everyone feelingdisgusted about the apathy andthe mismanagement that marsthe whole administration andhealthcare system in Ujjain.

Ashok’s son, Ankit Sharma, isyet to overcome the agony of be-ing a victim of systemic failurewhich lead to the death of his fa-ther. He shared the events lead-ing to the death of hisfather who used to runa flour mill in Free-ganj Sabji Mandi area.He said that he wasbarely able to admithis father to the seventh hospi-tal after six hospitals refusedhim to treat his father. Accord-ing to Ankit his had caught alung infection so on May 26 herushed to get him admitted intoa hospital. But the prominent

hospitals of the city: Tejankar,Sanjeevani, Gurunanak, Pati-dar, RD Gardi MedicalCollege hospital re-fused to admit his fa-

ther. Not onlythis, when hereached dedi-cated Covid-19RD Gardi

Medical College hospi-tal, he was advised to goto the District Hospital. Thoughhe could get him admitted at 10pm in the District Hospital, but,Ankit alleged that no treatmentwas given to his father till 10 am

on the following day. Then forsome reason the hospital de-

clared him to be a TBpatient and shiftedhim to CHL Hospitalwhere Rs 31, 000 wasrecovered from himas expenses for theduration he wasthere. In the end theCHL hospital only re-turned his father’sbody over to him.

According to Ankit, he kepthis father in the car, whichhe borrowed from a friendand kept moving from pillarto post, but every private

hospital that he checked upwith gave him the same re-sponse that there is no placein isolation ward and or ex-pert doctor is not availableand or ambulance is also notavailable.Shameless audacity and curt-ness of the system had more instore for Ankit as after losing hisfather he fell victim the reportconundrum of the administra-tion. As his father death was notattributed to Covid-19, Ankitpaid Rs 700, received the vehiclefrom the hospital and carriedthe body of his father to Chakra-teerth crematorium, where he

performed his last rites. Basedon the medical reports his kinalso attended the funeral andcontinued to meet the peoplelike usual. However, the wholefamily was in for another shockas on the third day of the death,when the report of the deceasedcame as positive and the wholefamily was home quarantinedon the night of May 28.Like previous occasions, forthe reasons of the state, neitherCMHO Mahavir Khandelwalnor any other responsible au-thority were available for com-ments till the filing of thisnews piece.

Anarchy in hospitals claims elderly man’s life in Ujjain!another one bites the dust, all’s right with the system

son loses father after six hospitalsrefused to take him in

admin wakes up from slumber toquarantine kin after 3 days

ASHOK SHARMA

Covid-19 distriCt update

286 undertreatment

FP News service

Ujjain

Contrary to Thursdaywhen the administrationsuddenly issued two healthbulletins, only one ‘am-biguous’ bulletin was is-sued on Friday. Accordingto it 2 persons tested posi-tive for the dreaded viruson Friday taking the casestally to 660. At the sametime, after the death of an-other corona patient, thefigure of the deceasedreached 56.The district administra-

tion is once seemed to beplaying with the format ofthe health bulletin to en-sure the ambiguity of in-formation which is beingshared. So, the format is-sued on Thursday waschanged on Friday andmany important informa-tion were not given in thefresh bulletin. Likewise, itdid not share as to howmany positive patientshave been reported in Uj-jain so far. Apart from this, a deathwas also included in thebulletin, but informationlike- the area which theperson belonged to, ageand in where did the per-son succumbed- were notshared. Despite repeatedcalls, CHMO Mahavir

Khandelwal choose not tomake himself available toclarify the things to theFree Press.

As per the medical bul-letin issued by CMHO at7.10 pm on Friday, 2 newpatients belong to Ujjain

City: a 47-year-old womanof Daulatganj and 67-year-old man from Gola Mandi.The tehsil-wise break-up

included 526, 77, 8, 34, 4 and1 patients of Ujjain, Barna-gar, Nagda, Mahidpur,Tarana and Khachrod, re-spectively. The death toll reached 56as a report of a 50-year-oldwoman, reportedly resi-dent of Rami Nagar, whodied on Tuesday, came posi-tive on Friday. Her Covid-19positive husband is report-edly under treatment at theAmaltas Hospital, Dewas. So far 7,332 samples havebeen taken in the. Accord-ing to CMHO, in all 185samples were examined onthe day. So far 318 patientshave been discharged tilldate from different hospi-tals and quarantine cen-ters while 286 are undertreatment.

death toll reaches 56, cases tally 660

Commuters throng roads in Ujjain on Thursday afternoon FP PHOTO

FP News service

Ujjain

District administrationshifted more than 40 per-sons from Dholi Gali un-der Jiwajiganj police sta-tion limits on Friday to aquarantine centre. Thisarea is emerging as ahotspot after Jansapuraarea. According to collectorAsheesh Singh, these per-sons have been quaran-tined to save them fromCovid-19 infection astheir houses are verysmall and located at verynarrow streets of thearea and about halfdozen residents of near-by areas have alreadytested Covid-19 positiverecently. As per sourcesthe administration hastaken the step to quaran-tine of 40-odd persons ofthe area as 5 to 7 personshave been tested positivefrom the same area. After thermal screeningof all the residents of thearea at PTS Maksi Roadthey have been quaran-

tined at Rajendra JainSurishwar quarantinecentre, Dewas Road. Theywere taken in three pri-vate buses, which led to alot of chaos across the city.Woman and children were

also included among them.During screening most ofthem were found in asound health. They may bedischarged from the quar-antine center within aweek, said a source.

More than 40 residentsof a chawl quarantined

Over 40 residents of Dholi Gali located Chawl being shifted toquarantine center FP PHOTO

Miscreants attempt tobreak open ATM

FP News service

Ujjain

Some miscreant made anabortive effort to open lockof an SBI ATM located in abuilding at Indore Road. On being informed by thebuilding owner, Neelgangapolice reached at the spotand registered an FIRagainst unknown miscre-ants. The building ownerin which the ATM is situat-ed told police that he wokeup at around 2.15am onFriday on hearing somerattling sound, he sawthree miscreants tamper-ing with the ATM ma-chine. After he raised analarm, the trio fled the

spot. He then informed po-lice. SBI ATM channelmanager Ravindra KumarNannore also reached thespot in the morning andtold that albeit the miscre-ants tampered with themachine, yet they did notsucceed in taking awaycurrency notes.

FP News servcie

Ujjain

Vikram University’s Inter-nal Quality Assurance Cell(IQAC) has organised 3-dayWeb Lecture Series. On theconcluding day of the se-ries on Friday, the scholarslaid stress on preservationand availability of waterand energy production formaking India a self-reliantnation. Delivering the speechhead of water resourcemanagement and rural de-velopment group of CSIR,Bhopal Dr Jai PrakashShukla termed water aslifeline for human life aswell as the economy of thecountry. He was sharinghis views on Water man-agement and safety for selfreliant India. He laid stresson the need of waterpreservation at homes andat farmlands. Chhattisgarh State PowerCompanies chairman

Shailendra Shukla sharedhis thoughts on Energyconservation for self-re-liant India. Throwing lighton energy production in In-dia, he told that the coun-try has become self-reliantin energy production. Headvised the countrymen toget solar panels installed atthe roof of the houses tobecome more reliant on en-ergy individually. On this occasion IQAC di-

rector Prof Pramod K Ver-ma told that Vikram Uni-versity has initiated thislecture series to reflect onthe theme of self-reliantIndia. The programme waspresided over by vice-chan-cellor Dr Balkrishna Shar-ma and conducted by HoDPhysics, Dr Swati Dubewhile proctor ProfShailendra Kumar Shar-ma extended the vote ofthanks.

Scholars lay stress on water management& energy production for self-reliant India

Experts participate in the concluding session of a three-daywebinar organised by the Vikram University FP PHOTO

Creates artworkwith pujan samagri

amid lockdown

GULreZ GOUri

Ujjain

Versatile artist KuldeepDubey is a well-knownname in the city, who has sofar illuminated the name ofthe country along with thecity through his artisticperformances spreadingacross genres. Kuldeep is well versed inKathak, singing, music andamid lockdown, he is im-pressing art lovers by mak-ing attractive paintingswith worship material in-stead of colours. Talking to Free PressKuldeep said that duringlockdown, he has tried to dosomething new. Since theentire market is closed andthe material used for paint-ing is not available, he hasused pooja material liketurmeric, kanku among oth-ers to prepare his artwork. Kuldeep has presented‘Kathak’ in London and per-

formed at many pro-grammes. Amid lockdownhe also tries to teach Kathakto his students by makingshort videos. So far he hascreated 25-30 videos ofKathak so far. Not only this,he also prepared videos ofclassical dance for sharingon social media. Lovers ofclassical dance from coun-try and abroad have appre-ciated his videos. Kuldeephas also trained manyyoung folk dancers per-formed folk dances in Lon-don. Kuldeep is also profi-cient playing harmoniumand he also shares videosof instrumental music onsocial media.

Lack of resources not abarrier for an artist,

proves Kuldeep Dubey

Policemen inspecting the ATM

KULDEEP DUBEY

Here leakage from pipeline is theonly source of water for villagers

FP News service

Petlawad

Most villages in the stateface water crisis duringsummer season, but Bardiavillage in Petlawad tehsilfaces the problem all yearlong. As the temperature in-creases, so does the gravityof the issue. Villagers andeven children have to wan-der around to collect justone bucket of water.Despite them making sev-eral complaints, the offi-cials have not taken any ac-tion on the issue. The prob-lem is so grave that the vil-lagers have dug a pit near aleaky pipeline of the Mahiriver project and are usingthe water being collected inthe pit. Villager Mangibaisaid that the villagers sub-mitted multiple applica-tions to Petlawad adminis-tration but the crisis hasnot been redressed. Thepanchayat, however hascompletely ignored the vil-lagers’ problem. Villagers have to walkover two kilometres to getjust one bucket of water,and some are so much inneed. The village is housesabout 400 people and nonehas taps under the Nal JalYojana, nor any other reser-voir or arrangement for wa-ter. There is, however, a wa-

ter tank in the village but isall dried up. The villagershave to walk miles to getmeagre quantities of water,

which is a terrifying situa-tion right in front of the ad-ministrative officials, whohave chosen to ignore it.

FP News service

Jhabua

Residents of Jhonsar vil-lage in Jhabua districtstore water in drums andthen lock them in a bid toprevent the water from be-ing stolen.“The entire Panchayat isfacing an acute water cri-sis. Therefore, sometimesthe water gets stolen. So,we keep it locked. We fetchwater from three kilome-tres away,” said a local.Another person added,

“There is no water avail-able in our village. So, wehave to walk a few kilome-tres to get it.” NS Bhide,executive engineer, PublicHealth Engineering De-partment, Jhabua, saidthat power pump and handpumps are installed in thevillage.“The water level goesdown there during thesummer, so they face prob-lems. If the hand pumpsare not working, we willget them repaired,” Bhidestated.

LOcaLS kEEP watER-FiLLEd dRumS LOckEd tO PREvEnt thEFt

Hand-pumprepair workunderway

in DharDhar: Repair work ofhand-pumps is underwayin Dhar. Dhar boasts of17,335 hand-pumps, out ofwhich 1,819 are not work-ing. Out of these 1,819,1,594 do not have adequatewater levels and 225, due toother reasons. Hand-pumprepairing work began onMay 1. Public Health Engineer-ing Department execu-tive engineer KP Vermasaid that drinking waterwill be provided to de-pendent areas under NalJal Yojana. According to Vermathere are a total of 487taps under the Nal Jal Yo-jana, out of which 466 arein working condition.Out of rest of the 21, fivehave damaged pipelines,water reservoir of fivehas been dried up, twohave damaged motorpumps and rest eighthave become obsolete.Twelve sources for NalJal Yojana are being con-structed and 16 were re-paired to provide drink-ing water to villagers.

FREE PRESS

EXPOSÉ

CORONA PANDEMICSHOWS LITTLE SIGNS

OF ABATEMENTOUR STAFF REPORTER

BHOPAL

The corona pandemic whichburnt its way to the statecapital on March 22 hasshown little signs of abate-ment. Jamaatis were initiallyblamed for spreading thedisease. The infection thatbegan to spread from Ja-maatis has afflicted the offi-cials of health department,police, residents of Je-hangirabad, Malgalwada,Jatkhedi and Barkhedi.

Now, it has spread to some ofthe employees in RajBhawan. The government offers

fresh reasons every timewhen new cases come tolight. Earlier, residents in Je-

haringabad were blamed forthe spread of the disease, be-cause they did not follow so-cial distancing norms.

The health departmentwas also held responsible forthe spread of the disease. When the officials were in-volved in blame game, thosewho were really responsiblefor it remained safe. Perhaps, Bhopal is the firstcity where swab samples ofthe infected people were nottested through contact trac-ing. Instead, people suspect-ed of corona were calledthrough public announce-ment for testing.Some of the corona-infect-ed residents of Je-hangirabad were shifted toother places where chancesof spreading the diseasehave increased. The administration hascompleted only formalities

by putting up barricades onthe roads in containment ar-eas. Nevertheless, the gov-ernment should have col-lected the swab samples ofthose who came in contactwith the infected person. The reports of swab sam-pling are received after along time, and by the time itis obtained, the infected per-son has passed on the virusto others. A fresh cause is always of-fered for spread of the dis-ease after a few days. The pandemic shows nosigns of abetting in the statecapital. Rather than ebbing,the number of cases shootsup with each passing day.

AfteR JAmAAtis, JehAngiRAbAd,new AReAs become hotspots

RERA slashes penalty rate over house transfer delayBHOPAL: In a relief to the real estate sector in the state amid the ongoing coronavirus-inducedlockdown, the state Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has reduced rate of penalty from 10 percent to 9 per cent over delay in transfer of houses after deadlines. Earlier, RERA had extended by sixmonths the completion deadline of registered projects that were to be completed on or after March 15.The decision was to benefit about 3,000 projects across the state.

MADHYA PRADESH 5FREEPRESS

Saturday | May 30, 2020 | Indore

OUR STAFF REPORTER

BHOPAL

The police allegedlyopened fire on two Baigatribal in Balaghat districtsuspecting them naxals.First fears of COVID-19have made people silentin district and now thegunfire bang of police leftthem more frightened.MLA Sanjay Uike in-formed Free Press thatfew days ago the Balaghatpolice had gone to deep re-mote areas and near thevillages Pathvi and Ganje-sara. At hamlet Maadi,the police team hadplanned an ambush on thenaxal.Meantime, the two tribalwho were brothers, werereturning from the near-by jungle along with theirbuffalo. Their dog wasalso accompanying them.The police team had alsoa dog and it barked at thetribals. Soon, policeopened fire on the tribal.However, the bullet didnothit them and they both

hid themselves and re-mained there till morning.In the morning the mat-ter was reported to theMLA and also to the localpolice station.When the MLA contact-ed the police they in-formed that the policeparty had opened the fireon the naxal not on thetribal.The MLA has asked thepolice to secure the tribaland also to put controlover the naxal movement.SP Abhishek Tiwari in-formed that where the in-cident had happened, afiring between the naxaland the police team wasgoing on.He further added thatprobably the brotherswere crossing the area atthat time and their mobilephone was recovered fromnear the spot and the po-lice investigating the case.Sources informed thatdue to the lockdown thenaxal are trying to lurethe unemployed youths ofthe village.

BALAGHAT POLICE OPEN FIRE ON TRIBALS SUSPECTING NAXALS

BJP DEFENDS HER ABSENCEOUR STAFF REPORTER

BHOPAL

The poster war has intensi-fied in the state as activitiesrelated to•by elections in 24assembly constituencieshave gained momentum. In alatest incident, the postersindicating that Bhopal MPSadhvi Pragya Thakur hasgone missing, has evokedfresh controversy. The Congress said MPhas no concern for peoplein the pandemic situationto which BJP responded bysaying that she in hospital.On Friday morning, theposters were seen in many

parts of state capital in-cluding the New Marketarea, bus stops at LinkRoad No 1 and 2. Theposters that appeared with

image ofMP read,"Bhopal’sresidentsare suffer-ing fromcoron-aviruspandemic,where is

MP Pragya Thakur?"Though it has not been re-vealed that who put up theposters, former minister PCSharma supported the actand said people have a rightto know about Thakur's

whereabouts during timesof distress.The state BJP spokesper-son Rahul Kothari saidPragya Thakur has alreadystated that she is in New Del-hi's AIIMS undergoing treat-ment for cancer and eyes.“Several works like distribu-tion of food, groceries are be-ing carried out in her con-stituency,” Kothari said,adding that Digvijaya Singh'spublic appearances weremere "politics".Few days back a Congressspokesperson landed in po-lice custody after he put up a‘missing’ poster of formerunion minister JyotiradityaScindia in front of Jai VilasPalace in Gwalior.

Posters asking ‘where is Sadhvi?’ put up in city

Despite orders, liquorshops remain closed

OUR STAFF REPORTER

BHOPAL

Liquor traders refused toreopen shops on Friday, de-spite government’s order. The government issuedan order for reopeningliquor shops within munic-ipal limits in red zones, likeBhopal, Indore, Ujjain,Burhanpur, Jabalpur, De-was, Mandsaur, Neemuch,Dhar and Kukshi. After that, the collectorsissued an order permit-ting reopening of liquorshops outside contain-ment areas. The liquortraders refused to reopentheir shops, despite theseorders.

The Bhopal collector hasissued order to reopen 30shops in the city, but itcame to naught. According to a liquor car-tel Monu Bhatia, a petitionhas been filed in the highcourt and it will be heardon June 2. The shops will be re-opened on the basis of thecourt order, Bhatia said.During the hearing of thepetition on May 27, the gov-ernment said it would notact against the liquortraders, so their contractcannot be cancelled for notreopening the shops.

30 OUTLETS PERMITTEDTO REOPEN OUTSIDECONTAINMENT ZONE

our StAFF rEportEr

BHOPAL

The locusts that enteredMadhya Pradesh are com-paratively bigger in sizethereby posing tougherchallenge to the teams bat-tling them. For the last ten days vari-ous teams are battling todrive away the locustswarms in the state. Whilethey are chased during theday, they are eliminated atnight. According to officialsof the agriculture depart-ment, the success rate ofeliminating them stands be-tween 35-40%. “Our team in Pusli villageof Betul district sprayedchemicals and successfullyeliminated about 40% of thelocusts. There are severalchallenges on the spotswhere the locusts rest andchemicals are sprayed,”

said Sanjeev Singh, directoragriculture. Generally, fire tenders areused to spray chemicals itcan throw it to good heightbut sometimes the distancebetween the tree and fire

tender is so much that it re-duces the effectiveness. Considering the scale ofmenace, teams have nowstarted using drones tospray chemicals. Chief sci-entist and coordinator from

the Locust Warning Organ-isation Dr KL Gurjar saidthat more drones will be in-cluded in the fleet thisweek. Moreover, an aircraftis also expected very soonthat will spray the chemi-

cals on tall trees present inunreachable terrain. The size of the locusts (notswarms) is also big. Thechemicals have less affecton big size locusts therebyreducing the results. At present several swarmsare present in the Vindhyaregion including Satna andRewa, villages aroundMorena district, Betul andBalaghat. Some groups arealso active in Datia, Niwadiand bordering areas of Ut-tar Pradesh. “Alert has been issued toall districts. Our teams con-stantly inform officialsabout the movement of lo-custs so that teams fromnearby places remain pre-pared to fight the menace,”said director agriculture.Farmers have been advisedto spray pesticides on theircrops to save them from un-wanted guests.

Locusts entered in MP bigger in size, 40% success in elimination

Hope returns;corona dins

importance ofcleanliness intopeople’s mind

Arup ChAkrAborty

BHOPAL

Markets have begun to re-open in the last phase oflockdown 4.0 in the city,but the usual delight onthe faces of people seemsto have gone missing.Yet, disappointment pre-vailing in the three otherphases of lockdown hasebbed a little, though.Sweetmeat shops in MPNagar have attractedcrowd. There are queues,but small, outside ManoharDairy and Milan Sweets. A few people with sweet-tooth are happy. Sanitisinghands has been mandatoryin all sweet shops. The pandemic has doneone thing good. It hasdrummed the importanceof cleanliness into theheads of residents inBhopal. Else, Bhopalis barelybother about hygiene,even if Swachch Bharat

Abhiyan began in 2014.The pandemic has alsodrilled into the mind ofeveryone the importanceof wearing mask. Health has suddenly be-come so important thatother things, especially

large social gatherings,have become a thing ofthe past. People keep awayfrom one another.In many colonies, resi-dents do not easily allowan outsider. One cannotsneeze or cough in public.A person doing so is in fortrouble.Locusts have attackedcrops. Bhopal and its near-by areas are safe from it.Yet, the farmers across thestate are freighted with

fear of crop loss, becauseswarms of locust have be-gun to hover over thestate. Many people sightfamine on the horizon. There are barriers onthe thoroughfares. Atnight, policemen stoproamers and questionthem. Most of the officeshave begun to function,but public transport hasyet to start. The corona positive cas-es are rising with eachpassing day. Nine staffersin Raj Bhawan have testedpositive. This has put theadministration on pinsand needles. The city has so far re-ported more than 1,400corona cases. The num-ber may go up. Yet, nei-ther the scientists northe doctors can sight itsend. The fight is on.

lockdown 5.0 in offing

People with sweet tooth looktickled pink after two months

Reflections

Officials have issuedwarnings and ways to

deal with the menace.Playing loud sounds in-cluding banging utensils,etc has been advised toshoo the locusts awayfrom their areas. Youth in Kesarpura ofJawad block in Neemuchdistrict not only followedthe advice but chased thelocusts from their village.A group of youth de-tached the silencers from

their bikes- as the warn-ing arrived. The DJ playerof that village was askedto remain ready withloudest sound tracks. “We were waiting for thelocusts to arrive. Ourgroup have more than twodozen bikes and dozencars besides tractors.Moreover, our DJ was alsoawesome. It was more of abaraat procession” saidAjay Dhakad, the brainbehind the whole episode.

The whole group ofabout 100 people withbikes, cars and DJ chasedthem- all honking hornsand DJ playing the loud-est track. The women folktoo played their part bang-ing kitchen utensils thatmade loud sounds, hesaid. It took about morethan an hour to shoo themaway, as they kept hover-ing for a long time andused to return after awhile, he added.

They chased away locusTs by honking horns, sirens and playing dJ

Road leading from Govindpura to Subhash Nagar is barricaded

Letters should be limited to 150 words and must be sent via e-mail. Letters may be edited for clarity or space. E-mail: fpindore@gmail.com

6 EDITFREEPRESS

INDORE | SATURDAY | MAY 30, 2020

Kamal Nath, the former Congress Chief Min-ister of Madhya Pradesh, who accused thegovernor, Lalji Tandon, of colluding with the

Centre is probably blissfully unaware of B.R.Ambedkar’s unflattering description of the guber-natorial office as “a rubber stamp, a mere figure-head, having absolutely no power worth the name”.The question then arises: do we need governors atall?It is being asked again in West Bengal where thegovernor, Jagdeep Dhankar, loses no chance to nee-dle Mamata Banerjee, the combative TrinamoolCongress Chief Minister. The COVID-19 pandemic,panic-stricken return to the state of hundreds ofthousands of migrant workers from all over thecountry, and, now, the havoc caused by Cyclone Am-phan enables Mr Dhankar constantly to find faultwith the elected government. There has been aslight pause in the exchange of accusatory lettersbetween them because of the Prime Minister’s briefvisit for an aerial survey of the cyclone damage, butthis can only be the lull before the storm.In the United States, the governor is the electedhead of the state government. In India, the gover-nor is a relic of British times. When ConstituentAssembly members were discussing the Constitu-tion, they could not imagine the state governmentsthat were to replace provincial governments beingwithout a head of state. Even Vallabhbhai Patel,who has posthumously been elevated to be theBharatiya Janata Party’s icon, professed to favour“the British type of constitution with which we arefamiliar”. Since the Government of India Act 1935,which is in all essentials today’s republican Consti-tution, had governors, we continued the tradition. At the same time, and as with the highest office inthe land, that of President of India, we tried to en-sure the British convention of form without sub-stance. Jawaharlal Nehru even said in the Con-stituent Assembly that any precise list of dos anddon’ts would derogate from the President’s dignity,as it would from that of the British monarch. Theanalogy was all wrong. It misread the tempera-ments of the two peoples concerned, and what eachunderstands by convention. It was also historicallyinaccurate. True, “many things which cannot bewritten in a Constitution are done by conventions”,

as Rajendra Prasad rightly noted. But unlike senti-mental Britons, hard-nosed Indian politicians donot respect conventions without punitive force.British sovereigns did not voluntarily surrenderthe authority still vested in them in theory. Theywere forced to do so by revolts and revolutions, de-thronements, exile, imprisonment and even an exe-cution. At university in England in the 1950s, wewere taught that if the Queen strayed from her cer-emonial role, Parliament would cut off the CivilList, her payment from the state. Every Britishmonarch has before him or her the spectre of thedecapitated Charles I. The British held that some of the divine right ofkings percolated through the viceroy to provincialgovernors and even to heads of districts. They but-tressed this fancy by claiming that the Maurya,Gupta and Mughal empires exalted its regionalsatraps, and, indeed, some of them, notably in Luc-know and Hyderabad, became almost independent.Since Independence, a state governor has been ex-pected to be apolitical and to act on the advice of thecabinet. In practice, governors like Ram Lal inAndhra Pradesh, Dharma Vira in Bengal orSikkim’s Homi Taleyarkhan gave short shrift to thefigurehead theory.

The British devised the office of governor in thetwilight of the Raj to ensure that even if theprovinces had elected governments with Indianpremiers in charge, certain essential powers, aswell as control over the Centre, still remained inBritish hands. New Delhi has used this reserve au-thority ever since to keep recalcitrant states on ashort leash. The now forgotten Burgula Ramakr-ishna Rao was the governor of Kerala who in 1959enabled Nehru to dismiss what has often beencalled the world’s first democratically elected Com-munist government.Mr Dhankar may aspire to similar eminence in

Bengal as he comments adversely on just aboutevery aspect of the state government’s perform-ance. He has spoken on the supposed flight of in-dustry from the state, criticised the protests againstthe Citizenship Amendment Act, and complainedabout not being appointed to the governing board ofthe private Christian La Martiniere schools. He de-scribes the Bengal government’s actions to containCOVID-19 as an “abject failure” and panders to theHindutva lobby by criticising what he calls the “ex-plicit and awkward appeasement of the minoritycommunity”. In an unprecedented move, he evenonce called an all-party meeting.It’s difficult to think of a topic he has left out. Heaccuses the Chief Minister of “demagoguery”. Hecomplains of the state’s allegedly low testing ratefor coronavirus and charges Ms Banerjee’s govern-ment of abetting a “PDS scam”. In one letter he saidhe had sought the Centre’s confirmation about thenumber of testing kits Bengal had as well as the dis-tribution of rations under the Union government’scoronavirus relief scheme, provoking an immedi-ate and furious response from the Chief Minister.She argued that an unelected figurehead had noright to a political role. “You appear to have forgot-ten that I am an elected chief minister of a proudIndian state,” she wrote. “You also seem to have for-gotten that you are a nominated governor.”Mr Dhankhar was unfazed. “Your constant re-frain of governor being ‘nominated’ is lamentableand can be ascribed to elementary ignorance of theConstitution,” he wrote back. He also justified hisinterventionist role: “Governor is not expected tobe in sleep mode when the state is facing a chal-lenge.” The point was reiterated on Twitter, “I can-not be fiddling in Raj Bhawan when people arestressed. I cannot turn ‘Nelson’s eye’ to issues beingfaced by the people in this crisis period.” Whatever merit the governor’s argument mighthave, newspapers now seek his views on things thatwere not asked of previous governors. Is he “satis-fied with the state government’s efforts in combat-ing COVID-19 spread”? Will he “request the Centreto release more funds to the state government”?What are his thoughts on “lifting the lockdown”?Mr Dhankar’s televised address on Doordarshanwas dubbed in Bengali. Bengal’s BJP Opposition might be ineffective andimpotent but its BJP-appointed governor is a robustsubstitute. That answers the question with which Istarted. E.M.S. Namboodiripad, early victim of gu-bernatorial manipulation, thought governors couldbe dispensed with. But he was looking at the matterfrom an administrative point of view. As Nam-boodiripad also concluded, “whatever the theory re-garding the governor in the Constitution, the gov-ernor is, in practice, an agent of the Central gov-ernment, or rather of the party which rules theCentre.” No Centre will surrender that asset.

The writer is the author of several books and a regular media columnist.

LOCKDOWNS OR NOT,THE VIRUS MUST GO

India’s strategy in dealing with the deadlyCOVID-19 has been a mixed bag. The total num-ber of cases reported from across the country

has crossed 1.5 lakh, making India the ninth most af-fected country in the world. Yet, considering that In-dia is the second most populous country in theworld and is of mammoth size while some countriesin Europe are at best the size of small and mediumIndian states, the country has not done badly so far.Particularly in terms of casualties this country hashad a record that reminds us that we could havebeen much worse but for the four rounds of lock-downs and other administrative measures. What isalso encouraging is that the percentage of recover-ies among cases is over 40 per cent which compareswell with most countries. Yet, it would be wrong torest on our laurels. The management of the pan-demic leaves a lot to be desired considering thatwhile we are on the threshold of a fifth lockdown,which is an indicator that the lockdowns have beensuccessful in some states but in some others the au-thorities have failed to rein in the numbers. Somewhere along the way, there is lack of ac-countability with the way Maharashtra has beenbreaking records in the numbers afflicted and WestBengal has been cocking a snook at the Centre, de-fying instructions with impunity while failing tostep up substantially its extent of testing. The Mus-lim sect Tablighi Jamaat played a major part in thespread of the pandemic in the initial stage by or-ganising a congregation composed of delegatesfrom many countries in which the norms of eachone maintaining a safe distance from other partici-pants was grossly disregarded. That after the Delhimeeting the Tablighis fanned out within the coun-try, many of them carrying the virus worsened mat-ters. At this stage, while the Tablighi woes have sub-sided and faded from public forums, there are otherreasons why the pandemic is still far from beingcontrolled. In Mumbai, which is a hotbed of coron-avirus cases, the density of population is so highthat there is a huge number of ‘containment’ zoneswhich are continuing to rain misery on the afflict-ed. The Maharashtra government has been of littleheld with the inexperienced Uddhav Thackeray ofthe Shiv Sena holding fort while groping for solu-tions. In the normal course, it was a fit case for theCentre to impose President’s rule but the BJP iswary of acting against an Opposition-ruled stategovernment while not taking parallel action in BJP-ruled Gujarat.Sadly, each lockdown is costing the Centre and thestates crores upon crores but the rate of growth ofnumbers of corona-afflicted is failing to go downmuch in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Naduand even in Madhya Pradesh. The states can hardlygo on imposing more lockdowns groping in the darkon what to do even as Coronavirus continues to ex-tract a heavy toll. It is time the Uddhav Thackeraygovernment is given an ultimatum to pack up if it isunequal to the task of controlling the pandemic.The economy has to be put back on the rails. It can-not wait any longer. If we do not approach the re-covery issue on a war footing, foreign investors whoare looking at re-locating to India from China maydrift to other countries like Vietnam andBangladesh. That would be a lost opportunity thatwe will regret much. There is bound to be an acuteproblem on the migrants issue. Tens of thousandsof migrant labour has been uprooted by the virusand has moved to their homes where there are notenough jobs. While some states are promising themjobs in their home states, there would not be thatmany jobs going around. Government schemes likeMNREGA could absorb some but the Central andState governments have their own limitations giventhe crippling blow that coronavirus has dealt totheir economies. Our productivity is low in variousareas of activity. It is time now for raising this inline with world standards. While India is in the racefor finding a vaccine to cure coronavirus, it wouldbe futile to pin too much hope on an early cure. Whatis sorely needed is to look to manage the present.

Figurehead theory to the role of governors

Thorn on our sideThe Global Times, statemedia of China, hasaccused the US PresidentDonald Trump of driving awedge between China andIndia. Even in the J&Kmatter, the US and someother countries had offeredto mediate. But the offerwas turned down by Indiaas the matter is bilateral. Inthis case also, India’s standcan be no different. What isastonishing is Beijing’sview, as China has alwaysregarded India as its bêtenoire.

K.V. Seetharamaiah

Tone up adminBMC is the richestcorporation in India whosebudget is higher than manystates. Mumbai is thefinancial and commercialcapital of India; with thefinest doctors of the world,it is also called Medicalcapital of India. Its policeforce is best in India and isbeing compared withScotland Yard. Then, howcome this abysmal position;it has not been able tocontrol Corona pandemicaffecting its citizensadversely. Need of the houris to tone up theadministration to performat the best level.

Dr B.L Tekriwal

Serve and learnThe envisaged 'Tour ofduty' plan gives anopportunity to youngstersto understand tough andunconventional lifestyle of'the men in Olive green' byjoining the Army for ashort period of three years.The indicative titlesuggests that thisaugmented manpower willhave its own limitations inemployability owing to thenature of militarymanoeuvre. This plan isbeneficial to the younggeneration who want to addsome adventure to their CV,while the Army hasmultiple advantages —meeting the immediatemanpower requirementwhile applying costeffective measures,utilising these youngsoldiers as mascots tospread a positive note onmilitary way of life andmotivating them to chooseArmy as a career byeliminating common mythsassociated with the Army.Bollywood has played itsrole in pumping 'Josh' inyouth and glamourising the'Uniform'.

Murali M. Mallareddy

The pandemic has brought with it many horror storiesnot the least of which is the way in which the dead arebeing robbed of their dignity, and their family mem-

bers denied the right to perform the last rites in accordancewith customs, traditions and rituals. Poor communicationsand the lack of understanding of a protocol issued way backin March by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (Mo-HFW) is leading authorities and all manner of officialdom tostitch up their own versions of protocols that are based moreon fear than on science and a measured reading of the risk ofthe transmission of the virus from those who have died of thedisease.The government will have to do much more to explain itsown protocol at various levels to make way for a humane ap-proach and offer people help and succor where it is most need-ed. The protocol is an important document that needs morepublicity and discussion. A failure to communicate this isless seen in these difficult times but is most felt by those whohave gone through the agony of seeing someone die of the dis-ease.To be sure, and to make it clear, the body of a person whodied of COVID-19 does not and cannot transmit COVID-19 inordinary circumstances. This is quite unlike in the case of,say, the Ebola virus outbreak, where every pore, every open-ing, every cut in the body discharges the deadly Ebola virusand can infect people handling the body. There is no such riskin the case of COVID-19. The body of a person who died ofCOVID-19 cannot transmit the infection to those who handlethe body. This much is plain and clear.The MoHFW has a seven-page document (COVID-19:GUIDELINES ON DEAD BODY MANAGEMENT) that rightupfront puts up the following clear position: “The main driv-er of transmission of COVID-19 is through droplets. There isunlikely to be an increased risk of COVID infection from adead body to health workers or family members who followstandard precautions while handling the body. Only the lungsof dead COVID patients, if handled during an autopsy, can beinfectious.” The document lists precautions for those remov-

ing the body, for mortuaries and for autopsies but these aremostly standard precautions and they reinforce use of mask,repeated hand washing and safe disposal of linen, etc. Theguidelines in fact say that “viewing of the dead body by un-zipping the face end of the body bag (by the staff using stan-dard precautions) maybe allowed, for the relatives to see thebody for one last time.” WHO guidelines clearly say that there is no need to disinfectthe body before transfer to the mortuary area, body bags arenot necessary (although they may be used for other reasonslike excessive body fluid leakage) and no special transportequipment or vehicle is required. The body can be wrappedin any suitable cloth or placed in a coffin if that is the customof the family. The MoHFW guidelines are dated March 15. Theministry must be complimented for this early issuance. But acase can be made now for a revised version to incorporatesome of the WHO language and also add in experiences of thelast two months in India in handing the disease, along with arobust effort to communicate the guidelines. Orders of vari-ous State governments must be aligned to these Central di-rectives.In sum, for the immediate family in mourning, there are nospecial precautions required to be taken when attending tothe last rites of someone who has fallen to COVID-19 save thefollowing two: 1. The number of people attending the funeral must be re-stricted to that specified by the local administration. Thisnumber should be agreed and implemented on a nation-widebasis. It is quite obvious that this restriction is to protectthose attending the funeral, to enable the maintenance ofphysical distancing so that the mourners in attendance donot spread the virus to each other. Therefore, the number re-striction is for persons gathering at a time, not a blanket re-striction for the same persons who were present at the begin-ning of any ceremony. Some of the mourners could be closerelatives who would have had exposure to the virus and theythemselves may be under quarantine and therefore should re-consider attending the funeral at all or wear face mask and re-frain from touching any surface. 2. Kissing or hugging the body is disallowed to prevent therisk of infection from any residual virus on skin surface.It is important to stress that death with COVID-19 comes af-ter unimaginable suffering, often in isolation. This can lastmore than a fortnight, after the initial days of suffering athome, as the patient steadily deteriorates. The last days of

those suffering from COVID-19 offer no opportunity for com-fort, personalised care or the loving touch of those near anddear. Fighting the disease by themselves in hospital, even ifthey are well attended, is itself lonely because of the suddenchange of surroundings and the sudden removal of lovedones from their lives. To add to that they may never see eachother again, the pain and trauma caused by this separationcan only be imagined. In the thick of a pandemic, with bedsfilling up, there is little scope for the health system to createconditions to allow loved ones to see the patients. Worse, theloved ones themselves are often under quarantine and will beconcerned about being infected by the virus. Social serviceagencies are not allowed into COVID wards in many cases.The practice of trained grief counsellors and support staffthat can help the patient navigate through this sudden andfrightening change is also almost non-existent in the Indianhealth system.In these circumstances, a high order of patience, compas-sion and care is required even as a person heads towarddeath. As we exit the lockdown and as hospitals settle in tohandle COVID with a greater sense of understanding andsome experience of the last one month, they must make spaceto allow at least one relative at a time, with full protectiongear to visit their loved ones and to comfort them. This canalso relieve some of the burden of hospital teams and nurs-ing staff. The call will have to be careful, taking into consid-eration that virus transmission is by droplets and via fomites,and only after the hospital is able to put in place a system ofchecks and controls so that risk of infection spreading is min-imised.We must in any case work as a nation to stop the horror im-ages of bodies in black plastic bags, tied with rope, beingswung into burial pits as if they are the most hazardous kindof waste and a prime source of infection. To repeat, this is notappropriate or acceptable, and there is no reason to fear in-fection form those who died of COVID-19 beyond taking theregular, normal and sensible precautions that are already inforce. At the most, special PPE such as face mask, apron,gloves — may be called for. Beyond that, the relatives cangrieve, perform rituals, say prayers and bid goodbye in peace.

Jagdish Rattanani is a journalist and faculty member at SPJIMR. Dr. TJacob John is retired Professor of Clinical Virology, CMC Vellore, and

past President of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics.Syndicate: The Billion Press

PANDEMIC MUST NOT ROB THE DEAD OF DIGNITY

Global VillageSunanda K. Datta-Ray

LETTERSTO THEEDITOR

The understanding of convention by the British monarch is poles apart to that of the Indian President

New Zealand only has one active case in the country. No new cases for seven days. No hospital cases. An early hard lockdown, commitmentto testing, resistance to herd immunity, and clear humane health messaging seems to work. Who would have thought it?

Matt Haig, Writer

Thing about a crisis like this pandemic, it is genuinely not a question of partisan politics - the crisis is either handled well or it’s not. A countrylike New Zealand has handled it well. We, with the highest death rates IN THE WORLD, have not. That’s just a fact.

Stephen Mangan

New Zealand had a lot going for it naturally in the fight against the coronavirus, like a relatively low population density and compliantcitizens. But one of its secret weapons is a leader who communicates well and whom the public trusts.

Anna Medaris Miller, Senior health reporter

Inverclyde has recorded five times more fatalities than New Zealand and its death rate is double the national average in Scotland - this is anational scandal and demands serious answers from the Scottish Government.

Jamie Green, Scottish Conservative MSP for West Scotland

SATURDAY’S SWIPEONE FLEW OVER THE NEST #newzealand

OpinionJagdish Rattanani & T Jacob John

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The only way to make sense out of changeis to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

— Alan Watts

TAILPIECE

103-year-old celebrates COVID-19 recovery with ice-cold Bud Light

103-year-old Stejna recently beat the novel coronavirus.Upon recovery, the hospital staff gave the COVID-19 sur-vivor an ice-cold Bud Light to celebrate, US Today report-

ed.According to the American daily, Shelley Gunn calls her

Polish grandma as having a 'feisty spirit'. She certainly showedthat spirit in her fight with the deadly infection.A few weeks back, Stejna had a low-grade fever and was

moved to a separate ward and was the first to test positivefor the COVID-19 infection in her nursing home. Stejna didn'treally grasp or understand COVID-19, Gunn said, but didknow she was very ill. After Stejna's condition started deterio-rating, Shelly said they called to say what they thought wastheir final farewell.But Stejna recovered on May 13."This feisty old Polish grandmother of ours officially beat the

coronavirus," Shelly’s husband Adam Gunn was quoted assaying by USA Today.A 'hardcore' Boston sports fan, Stejna has lived all her life in

Massachusetts. Teddy, her husband of 54 years of marriage,died in 1992 at the age of 82. Throughout her life, Stejna wasan avid bingo player and enjoyed reading books.The 103-year-old COVID-19 survivor has two children, three

grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren, the family said.

-ANI

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar

FREE PRESSFOR FREE FLOW OF TRUTH

NATION 7Special scheme to help rural industrial units in TN launchedCHennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Friday launched a Rs 300-crore special assistancescheme to help rural industrial units affected by the COVID-19 lockdown to start new such units and alsogenerate employment opportunities. The scheme, which is part of the State Rural Transformation Project,would cover about 1.39 lakh beneficiaries of whom 31,952 would get a long-term loan of Rs 159.76 crore.Palaniswamigave away the assistance to five beneficiaries to mark the commencement of the scheme.

FREEPRESS

Saturday | May 30, 2020 | Indore

News from South

Police personnel stand guard as workers load cartonsof liquor on a truck during the ongoing nationwideCOVID-19 lockdown, in Kozhikode, on Friday

Maha continues to add toKarnataka's COVID-19 tallyBengaluru: Karnataka recorded a biggestsingle-day spike of 248 COVID-19 cases withreturnees from Maharashtra continuing to addto the state's tally, taking the virus count to2,781 on Friday.One casualty was reportedand with this the COVID-19 death toll hasgone up to 48, the health department said. Awhopping 208 out of the fresh cases arereturnees from Maharashtra. The previousbiggest single-day spike was recorded on May23 with 216 cases, when the state hadbreached the 200 mark for the first time, interms of number of positive cases per day.

Tel CM inaugurates KondaPochamma Sagar reservoirHyderaBad: Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao on Friday inaugurated theKonda Pochamma Sagar reservoir in Siddipetdistrict, part of the state government's flagshipKaleswaram project across the Godavari river. Heinaugurated the 15 TMC reservoir in the presenceof spiritual guru Sri Tridandi SrimannarayanaChinna Jeeyar Swamy. Water would be suppliedfrom the Konda Pochamma Sagar reservoirthrough gravity to the hitherto arid lands in theregion which had no irrigation facility till date,official sources said.

65-year-old Gulf returneesuccumbs in Kerala, Toll 8Kottayam: A 65-year old man died of COVID-19 at the Government Medical College Hospitalhere in the early hours on Friday, taking the tolldue to the disease in Kerala to eight, officials said.The man from Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta districthad severe diabetic related problems and testedpositive for the coronavirus recently, days afterreturning from Sharjah in the Gulf where he wasemployed, they said. After being treated initially atthe General Hospital in Pathanamthittaa, he wasreferred to the Government Medical CollegeHospital here on May 25 for providing himimproved health-care.

Bajrang leader, 3 others booked for 'assaulting' boymangaluru: A 25-year old local Bajrang Dalleader and three minor boys have been booked oncharges of threatening and assaulting a boy andforcing him to chant 'Jai Sriram' in DakshinaKannada district in Karnataka, police said on Friday.The incident occurred in communally sensitiveBantwal taluk a few days ago, but a video of itwent viral on the social media, after which the boyfiled a complaint with the police on Thursday.Based on the complaint, a case was registered atVittal police station against Bajrang Dal leaderDinesh of Kanyana and three minor boys.

Prez, PM condole death of Veerendra KumarKozHiKode/ Wayand: A host of leaders ledby President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Friday condoled the death ofM P Veerendra Kumar, Rajya Sabha member andManaging Director of Malayalam daily'Mathrubhumi', who passed away late last night.State Ministers, the general public and a slew ofjournalists paid floral tributes to Kumar's mortalremains at Kozhikode before his body was takento his native Wayanad district for funeral thisevening.

Recovery rate highest in TN,says CM; slams OppnCHennai: Averring that the rate of recoveryafter successful treatment for COVID-19 in TamilNadu stood at 54.4 per cent, the highest in India,Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Friday slammedopposition parties for faulting his government oncontaining the lethal virus. He said that ever sincethe first Coronavirus case was detected (in earlyMarch), his government swung into action andlaunched appropriate measures to contain thespread of the virus, besides taking up screeningand treatment on a war footing.

4 fresh COVID-19 cases inPuducherry, tally rises to 35PuduCHerry: Four fresh cases of COVID- 19were reported on Friday, pushing the totalnumber of active cases to 35 in the unionterritory. The patients, all from Puducherry regionof the UT, were being treated in the governmenthospital here. The other three regions - Karaikal,Yanam and Mahe - have nil cases as of now,Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao told reportershere. On Thursday, nine patients were dischargedfrom the government hospitals in Puducherry andMahe regions after recovery.

Karna BJP MLAs' meetingtriggers speculationsBengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa on Friday dismissed reports thathe has convened an emergency meeting of asection of BJP MLAs after a group of partylegislators met in Belagavi, fuelling speculationsabout fresh discontentment in the ruling camp.The MLAs from North Karnataka met at theresidence of former MP Ramesh Katti at BelladBagewadi in Belagavi district on Thursdayevening in the backdrop of coming elections tofour Rajya Sabha seats from the state,according to party sources.

Akhilesh, Shivpal likely topatch up ahead of 2022 polls

SP withdraws its petitionseeking cancellation ofShivpal’s legislatorship

KAnchAn srivAstAvA

Lucknow

After three years of animosity, theSamajwadi Party patriarch MulayamSingh Yadav’s family shows sign ofpatch-up as the party withdrew its pe-tition seeking disqualification of leg-islator-ship of Mulayam’s brotherShivpal Yadav.Shivpal is the brother of the party

founder Mulayam and uncle to cur-rent party chief and former UP Chiefminister Akhilesh Yadav. Accordingto sources, Akhilesh softened hisstance towards uncle at the insis-tence of his father. The party hadfiled the petition on 4 September lastyear. The UP Assembly Speaker Hri-

day Narayan Dixit allowed the SP torevoke its petition on the groundsthat it had not attached any docu-ments or evidence against Yadavneeded for disqualification. Dixit toldmedia today, “SP leader Ram GovindChaudhary had submitted a petition.He now wanted it to be withdrawn onsome crucial grounds. So, I am allow-ing them to do so.”The development is being seen as

reconciliation of the Yadav clanahead of the 2022 Assembly polls.They had drifted after just beforeAssembly elections in 2017. Ob-servers believe that internal tussleled to massive defeat of the SP andBJP won the game. Akhilesh andShivpal never got along thoughMSY continued to support hisbrother and son both. MSY is notkeeping well these days and hasbeen hospitalised several times inpast one year. Shivpal was electedfrom the Jaswantnagar assembly

constituency in 2017, but laterformed a new party, PragatisheelSamajwadi Party (Lohia).He appeared to be inching closer

to BJP as the Yogi government al-lotted him a palatial bungalow inLucknow in October 2018 vacatedby former chief minister Mayawatiby the court order. Later, he con-tested the 2019 Lok Sabha electionon his own party’s symbol from theFirozabad seat, but lost. Akhileshtold media today, “Samajwadi partywill not form an alliance with anybig party, but we can do local ad-justments with smaller outfits suchas with chacha ji. We can adjust hisparty on the Jaswantnagar seat.But we’ll decide these things beforethe 2022 assembly elections.” Shiv-pal responded “It’s a good decisionby the Samajwadi Party and I wel-come it. These ‘adjustments’ or al-liance issues will be decided in thefuture, not right now.”

KolKAtA

Two days before the end of thefourth phase of the nationwidelockdown, West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onFriday announced a slew of re-laxations, including reopeningof shrines from June 1.She also announced restarting

of private and public sector of-fices with full attendance fromJune 8.After Karnataka, West Bengal

became the second state to an-nounce reopening of theshrines for devotees.However,the chief minister made it clearthat no congregation and notmore than 10 people would be al-lowed at a time at the religiousplaces in the state. Banerjee alsoannounced full operationalisa-

tion of the tea and jute industry,the states economic backbone.Hitting out at the Railways for

sending jam-packed trains fullof migrant labourers by com-pletely disregarding social dis-tancing norms, the chief minis-ter wondered whether the Indi-an Railways was running "coro-na express trains instead ofShramik Special trains". "I havecome to know that the Railwaysis sending trains, jam-packed,with migrant labourers. In oneseat, three-four persons aretravelling for 48 hours, 72 hours."So I thought then what is theharm in opening up religiousplaces. From June 1, religioussites and places can open up inBengal. But there would no ma-jor congregation or celebrationof any festival," Banerjee said.

Attack on Salahuddin blows lid off 'homegrown' militancy in KashmirAgencies

Srinagar

The reported attack on HizbulMujahideen chief Syed Salahuddinin Islamabad on May 25 could havefar reaching consequences on whathas been called 'homegrown' mili-tancy in Kashmir.A senior leader of the hardline

Jamaat-e-Islami (JeM) in Kashmir,Salahuddin is believed by many lo-cals to have opted for the separatistarmed struggle after he was defeat-

ed in the assembly elections in1987.Those elections are widely be-

lieved to have been rigged and mostof the youth supporting Salahud-din in the 1987 elections ultimatelyjoined militancy.The HAJY (Hamid, Ashfaq,

Javaid and Yasin) group that start-ed militancy in Kashmir as early as1988 after obtaining arms fromPakistan included election agentsof Salahuddin from Amira Kadalconstituency in Srinagar.

Salahuddin was seen not only asthe prime motivator of the youth

for 'Jehad', but also somebody whohad faulted by participating in anelectoral process that turned out tobe a sham.To keep up the facade of an

'indigenous struggle' against Indi-an rule, Salahuddin was made thechief of the Muzaffarabad basedUnited Jehad Council (UJC), a con-glomerate of all militant groupswho were pushed into J&K fromthe Pakistan side of the border.Most local commanders other

than those who initially started

militancy belonged to Kashmirifamilies who had a 'Jamaati back-ground' as the intelligence agen-cies referred to such families.The fountainhead of the so-called

homegrown militancy, SyedSalahuddin was given wide cover-age in the Pakistani media.He was projected as the champion

of Kashmir's desire to secede fromIndia and any international dele-gation visiting Pakistan-adminis-tered Kashmir would first interactwith Salahuddin.

Modi 2.0 fulfils BJP's core agenda in first yearCOVID-19 throws newchallenges

Agencies

New Delh

The Modi government executed itsideological agenda at a vigorouspace in its first year in office in itssecond term but the economic dev-astation wrought by COVID-19 haspresented the saffron dispensationwith a massive challenge as the fo-cus shifts to economy.With the BJP-led National Demo-

cratic Alliance government mark-ing its first anniversary on Satur-day, the first year is likely to be re-membered for the fulfilment ofdecades-old Hindutva demands asPrime Minister Narendra Modiused the huge majority his partywon in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls topush through its core agenda.Nullification of Article 370,

which gave the erstwhile state ofJammu and Kashmir special sta-tus, and construction of Ram tem-ple in Ayodhya have been the twokey ideological highlights of theBJP's manifestoes over thedecades, and both were settled inits favour in the last one year.Article 370 was nullified by the

government with Parliament pass-ing a resolution to this effect aswell in August, and the state wasbifurcated into union territories.An order from a constitutional

bench of the Supreme Court pavedthe way for the construction of thetemple at the place in Ayodhyawhere lord Ram was believed tohave been born.It was a sign of the perceived pop-

ular acceptance of the Hindutvaagenda that many of its key issues;which once made the BJP a pariahfor most parties and forced it tokeep them away to win allies in thelate 90s, drew support from even

non-NDA parties in Parliament.The BJP succeeded in criminalis-

ing the practice of instant divorceamong Muslim men and success-fully pushed through both gousesof Parliament the contentious Citi-zenship (Amendment) Act.BJP vice president Vinay Sa-

hasrabudhe told PTI that the com-pletion of the first year of Modi 2.0is all about keeping promises."It's also about three Cs: Convic-

tion, Courage and Commitment.The first stint was about effectiveimplementation of welfareschemes that yielded remarkableresults," he said, noting that themove on the Article 370 and theCAA was "very natural" after theBJP received a "renewed and ex-tended" mandate in 2019.The passage of CAA, which seeks

to grant citizenship to non-Mus-lims from three neighbouring Mus-lim majority countries on theground of religious persecution,prompted intense protests, promot-ing the prime minister to assertthat his government has not dis-cussed any move to implement theNational Register of Citizens.Opposition parties and social

groups have argued that the NRCin conjunction with the CAA canbe discriminatory.As COVID-19 ravages lives across

the country, forcing reverse-migra-tion of the poor in huge numbers,

claiming employment in millionsand posing health as well as eco-nomic challenges, the pandemichas been dominating the publicdiscourse and posing new chal-lenges to the government.Sahasrabudhe says the govern-

ment and the BJP have been fight-ing the challenge of COVID-19 withremarkable courage.The discourse on "atmanirbhar

Bharat", he says referring to Modi'scall for a self-reliant India to dealwith the COVID-19 crisis, is allabout our commitment to "antyo-daya" (uplift of the most poor)."Conversion of a challenge to an

opportunity is the way ahead, mak-ing it the fourth C," he says.During the relatively muted an-

niversary celebrations by the party,its organisational efforts under itspresident J P Nadda and the Modigovernment's measures to addressthe adverse fallout of COVID-19will be at the centre of its outreach.

ED attaches Rs 385-cr assetsof Agusta middleman Saxena

Agencies

New Delhi

The Enforcement Directorateon Friday said it has attachedassets, including five Swissbank accounts, worth Rs 385.44crore of Rajiv Saxena, a mid-dleman in the AgustaWestlandVVIP choppers money laun-dering case.It said the value of the prop-

erties attached is USD 50.90million (Rs 385.44 crore) and aprovisional order under thePrevention of Money Launder-ing Act (PMLA) has been is-sued.The attachment pertains to

two PMLA cases being probedby the central agency, the Rs3,600 crore VVIP choppers case

and the Moser Baer bank fraudcase in which the prominentaccused are the promoters ofthe latter firm, businessmanRatul Puri and his father Deep-ak Puri.Ratul Puri is the nephew of

former Madhya Pradesh chiefminister Kamal Nath and isalso an accused in the VVIPchoppers case. "The attachedassets include a villa in PalmJumeirah, Dubai, worth 20million AED and balances infive Swiss bank accountsamounting to USD 45.55 mil-lion," the agency said in astatement. Saxena was deport-ed by India from the UAE inJanuary last year and was ar-rested by the ED. He is out onbail at present.

Govt must come cleanon border standoffwith China: Rahul

new Delhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday askedthe government to come clean on the borderstandoff with China and tell the country whatexactly is happening as its silence is fuellingspeculation and uncertainty. "The Govern-ment's silence about the border situation withChina is fuelling massive speculation and un-certainty at a time of crisis," he said on Twitter."The government of India must come clean

and tell India exactly what's happening,"Gandhi added. There was a standoff be-tween Indian and Chinese troops at the bor-der in Ladakh early this month.The situation in eastern Ladakh deterio-

rated after around 250 Chinese and Indiansoldiers were engaged in a violent face-offon the evening of May 5 which spilled overto the next day before the two sides agreed to"disengage" following a meeting at the levelof local commanders.

Police stop commuters, who were trying to cross the Delhi-Gurugram border, nearDhanchiri Camp in Gurugram on Friday

India's coronavirus deathtoll overtakes that of China

new Delhi

India's coronavirus death toll hassurpassed that of China after it re-ported a total of 4,706 fatalities, whileit overtook Turkey to become theninth worst-hit nation by the pan-demic with 1,65,799 COVID-19 cases.The country has registered 175

deaths and a record 7,466 freshcoronavirus infection cases in thelast 24 hrs till Friday 8 am, accord-ing to the Union Health Ministry.According to the John Hopkins

University (JHU) data, India hasnow overtaken Turkey and is theninth most affected nation in termsof COVID-19 cases after the US,Brazil, Russia, UK, Spain, Italy,France and Germany.China has confirmed 84,106 cases

and 4,638 deaths from COVID-19 sofar, according to the JHU. This isthe first time that the single-dayspike crossed the 7,000 mark, with

the country reporting over 6,000coronavirus infection cases per daysince May 22.The number of active COVID-19

cases in India stood at 89,987, while71,105 people have recovered so farand one patient has migrated."Thus, around 42.89 per cent pa-tients have recovered so far," a sen-ior Health Ministry official said.According to the Indian Council

of Medical Research (ICMR) a totalof 34,83,838 samples have been test-ed as on May 29 till 9 am and1,21,702 samples have been tested in24 hours. Of the total 4,706 fatali-ties, Maharashtra tops the tallywith 1,982 deaths followed by Gu-jarat with 960 deaths, MadhyaPradesh with 321, Delhi with 316,West Bengal with 295, UttarPradesh with 197, Rajasthan with180, Tamil Nadu with 145, Telan-gana with 67 and Andhra Pradeshwith 59 deaths.

A woman carries water collected from a well that was refilled by the authorities withthe help of a water-tanker, at Nandgaon village in Thane district, on Friday

CBI registers preliminquiry against Tablighiover cash transactions

Agencies

New Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investiga-tion (CBI) has registered a prelimi-nary enquiry against Tablighi Ja-maat and other unknown personson a complaint alleging that the or-ganisation's trust indulged in dubi-ous cash transactions, CBI officialssaid on Friday.According to the officials, Tab-

lighi Jamaat's trust indulged in du-bious cash transactions by using il-legal means and also known dis-closer of receipt of foreign funds tocompetent authorities.This comes as charge-sheets have

been filed against over 900 foreignnationals who attended the congre-gation at Markaz Tablighi Jamaatin Nizamuddin area of the nation-al capital. The congregation had re-ported become an epicentre ofcoronavirus spread across thecountry.

Mamata announces slewof relaxations, shrines to

reopen from Monday

In 'exit plan,' positive signfor Metro, malls, restaurants

new delhi

Three days ahead of complet-ing 68-day countrywide lock-down, the Centre is learnt tohave come up with a roadmapof an exit plan from the crisisin its fourth extension of therestrictions '5.0' which may al-low malls and restaurants toreopen and limit restrictionsonly in containment zones.Other activities expected to get

the government nod could in-clude movement of Delhi Metroand opening of more markets.There is a possibility of allow-ing religious places to function.But social distancing norms,use of face cover and AarogyaSetu mobile app would be thekey entry tickets everywhere.However, education insti-

tutes are supposed to functiononline only in the further ex-tension expected to cover aminimum of 10 days as thelockdown 4.0 ends on May 31.The Centre in the new range

of restrictions would sharpenits focus on containmentzones, which would have to begeographically defined basedon factors such as mapping ofcases and contacts and theirgeographical spread. Thiswould enable the authoritiesto demarcate a well- definedperimeter and enforce strictprotocols of lockdown.

Sources in the governmentssuggested that it would be a"different fight" in the lock-down 5.0 against the deadlyvirus which has so far infect-ed over 1.65 lakh people andkilled 4,706 Indians. The coun-try ranks 9th in the world inthe context of highly COVID-19-affeced countries.From June 1, municipal cor-

porations would decide if res-idential colonies, mohallas,municipal wards or police-sta-tion areas, municipal zones,

towns could be designated ascontainment zones.The new guidelines for the

extended lockdown, however,will be comparatively muchstricter for 13 worst COVID-19-hit cities. These cities are con-sidered the worst COVID-19-affected locations and formabout 70 per cent of the posi-tive cases in the country.The 13 focus cities are Mum-

bai, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmed-abad, Thane, Pune, Hyder-abad, Kolkata and adjoiningHowrah, Indore, Jaipur, Jodh-pur and Chengalpattu andThiruvallur. The last twocities are from Tamil Nadu.However, Maharashtra is theonly state with three worst-hitcities of India.The fresh guidelines issued

by the Ministry of Home Af-fairs for the extended lock-down will give powers tostates to take strict measuresas per their need without di-luting Centre's norms.

Monkey snatched COVIDpatients' blood samples,eats surgical gloves

Our cOrrespOndent

Lucknow

In a bizarre incident in UttarPradesh’ Meerut city, a mon-key attacked a lab technician,snatched vials containingblood samples from threecoronavirus patients fromwithin the hospital premisesand escaped.In a video of the incident

which reportedly happenedTuesday at Meerut MedicalCollege but went viral on so-cial media Friday, the monkeycan be seen sitting atop a treein the hospital, chewing sur-gical gloves he stole alongwith the samples. The hospi-tal is a nodal centre for the

treatment of COVID patientsin western UP and also has atesting lab. The monkey's ad-venture led to massive coronascare among patients and hos-pital staff both. Hospital au-thorities admitted to the fias-co but claimed that the sam-ples snatched by the monkeywere not swab samples."These were not COVID test

samples, but blood samplesfrom COVID patients meant forroutine tests. Coronavirus sam-ples are stored and transportedin cold chain boxes, not in theopen. Fresh samples from allthe three pateints have been col-lected," Dr SK Garg, principal ofMeerut Medical College andHospital, said.

1,700 samples...The epidemic was not common and lookedhealthy." Under this survey, the blood serum ofpeople is being investigated to monitor thespread of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that spreadsCovid-19). "After examining the serum ofblood, it will be especially important to knowhow the immune system has reacted if thatperson has been suffering from SARS-CoV-2attack and whether antibodies developedagainst this virus in their blood or not?Obviously, it will also provide informationabout herd immunity," he said. "These days, alarge number of COVID-19 cases are coming upacross the state, in which patients do not showcommon symptoms of this infection, whilemany other infected people have commonsymptoms," Das said. The scientific communi-ty is trying to find out if this situation is due tothe differences in people's personal immunity,he added. He said that under the ICMR's sero-survey, samples of 500 people in Indore and of400 people each in Dewas, Ujjain and Gwaliordistricts have been taken. Indore is among themost affected districts of coronavirus infectionin the country in Madhya Pradesh, where 3,344patients have been found so far, of whom 126have died. All these samples have been sent toICMR's Chennai- based institute for examina-tion, he said. "We have selected high-transmis-sion, medium- transmission and low-transmis-sion districts of COVID-19 in the state undersero-survey. A comparative study of the surveyresults will show why SARS-CoV-2 spread inIndore rapidly and what was the reason behindthe relatively low spread of the virus in otherdistricts," he added. According to Das, the sur-vey report will be shared with all the states ofthe country to help them decide the strategyagainst COVID-19.

Gamchha gets...On violating the order, a spot fine of Rs 100was pegged on the violator. In case of viola-tion found in business institutes, shops,offices etc., the amount could range betweenRs 1000 and Rs 10,000. The order also said onviolation of social distancing, institutionswill have to shell out fines between Rs 1000and Rs 10,000.

Daruwalla falls Bejan...He had a general approach and technique tomake his predictions in the following manner,"First of all, if the person is there I look athim and get vibrations. Secondly, the time theperson comes is important. Thirdly, what typeof day is it? Good, bad or indifferent? Fourth,lines on the palm. Fifth, the Indian horoscopeand lastly, the western horoscope. So all thisgoes into a computer called the brain. Andafter that I look at Ganesha and make a pre-diction." Daruwalla had predicted several

Prime Ministerial victories including that ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee, Morarji Desai. He hadalso predicted the assassination of RajivGandhi. On astrology, Daruwalla had saidthat intuition is key. "I combine everything.But the final trigger is intuition. For example,I could see the face of V P Singh and not RajivGandhi. So I said that V P Singh wouldbecome the Prime Minister. A lot of things gotogether in it," he had told a portal. More thantwo million page views every month andabout 30,000 phone consultations daily,GaneshaSpeaks currently pegs a turnover ofRs 10 crore every year. With its expandingaccess across networks and associationsacross the web, the company hopes to touch agrowth rate of 50 per cent by next year, a com-pany release had stated.

Kahin Door Jab Din...Paying a heartfelt tribute to him, the Lag JaGale singer wrote, “Mujhe abhi pata chala kidil ko chunewale geet likhnewale kaviYogesh ji ka aaj swargwas hua. Ye sunkemujhe bahut dukh hua.Yogesh ji ke likhe kaigeet maine gaaye. Yogesh ji bahut shaant aurmadhur swabhav ke insan the. Main unkovinamra shraddhanjali arpan karti hun (( Ijust came to know about demise of Yogesh,who wrote soulful songs. I am sad to knowabout his death. I have sung the songs writtenby him. He was a calm person. I pay myrespect him.)" Actor and producer NikhilDwivedi tweeted, "#YOGESH Gems one afterthe other.. Pedestrian so often finds more res-onance with the Pop Culture that we end upignoring class or don't recognise it the way itshould have been.. #SongWriter#RareGenius #LostLegend." He shared theclassic song 'Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaye'from Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchanstarrer 'Anand' on Twitter.

IIT-I classrooms...According to the protocol, everyone isrequired to submit a self-declaration formstating his/her health condition and travelhistory of self and family members before re-entry to the campus. The protocol made for thestudents coming back to the campus takescare of different aspects. All the students afterreturn to the campus will be placed in quar-antine for a period of 2 weeks before com-mencement of any academic and researchactivity. Their health will be monitored andonline classes will continue during the quar-antine period. The staying and dining facili-ties have been strategically modified and spe-cial arrangements have been made to ensuresocial distancing and safety norms. All theneeds of the students would be met within thecampus itself and unnecessary movementswill be restricted. Adequate arrangements

have been made in the dining hall and it isplanned that the students will be placed inbatches for dining. “The tables and chairshave been placed strategically so that socialdistancing is automatically maintained.Various food serving counters have beenplaced to avoid crowding. The menu has beenmodified to include more hot served fooditems. Facilities of handwash and sanitisingare adequately placed. Adequate arrange-ments have been made in the library andhealth centre too, to ensure social distancingand adherence to safety norms,” said IITIndore PRO Sunil Kumar. The institute shiftedits PhD students stranded in different parts ofIndore city inside the campus during 4th weekof May. “This has provided these students asafe and fearless environment and also helpedthem to resume their research activity after a14 days quarantine resulting in very little lossof research time,” Kumar said.

Rate of COVID cases..."We have taken 1,599 more samples," headded. As many as 1,527 patients are undertreatment in various hospitals, while 174 peo-ple were discharged from quarantine centres.Total 1,527 patients have been discharged sofar.

As an IAS officer...Jogi was a 1968-batch IPS officer and a1970-batch IAS officer. When he was selected in theIAS he resigned from the police service. In 1968,Jogi who stood first in the final year examina-tion of Maulana Azad Institute of Technology(MANIT) was selected in the IPS the same year.He became friends with many people when hestudied in Bhopal and when he worked as IPSand IAS officer. His batch mates in the IAS werewell-known in MP. They are late LK Joshi, KShankernarayanan, Vijay Singh, Ajit Raizada,KK Chakraborty, Manoj Kumar, SLakshminarayanan, SC Majumdar and RobertHrangadwala. All of them were 1970-batch IASofficers. A senior journalist Girjashanker saidJogi was different from others as an officer andas a politician. According to Girjashanker, thecollectors f today should learn from what Jogihad done. As long as he lived in the collector’sbungalow, he himself picked the phone, soeveryone could easily send his message to him.Jogi had instructed his staffers that nobodyshould be stopped from meeting him even atnight. The popularity Jogi had earned as col-lector benefitted him as politician. A batchmate Jogi, Ajit Raizada said Jogi was a dynam-ic officer, and he always earned popularity ascollector. It was a coincidence that when Jogiwas the collector in Indore, Raizada was the col-lector in Ujjain. Raizada said he never knewthat his friend would resign from the job, joinpolitics and become chief minister.

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8 NATIONRamesh Kumar reinstated as Andhra SECAmArAvAti: Within hours of his reinstatement by the Andhra Pradesh High Court as the State Election Commissioner(SEC), Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar on Friday assumed charge of the post. Nearly one and a half months after he was sackedby the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government, the retired IAS officer was back as SEC after the court struck down an ordinanceto sack him. The court also quashed the government order to appoint retired Madras HC Judge V. Kanagaraj as the new SEC.Ramesh Kumar, in a circular to all district collectors, chief executive officer of zilla praja parishads, district panchayat officers,and municipal commissioners, stated that pursuant to the High Court orders he stand restored to the office of SEC.

FREEPRESSSaturday | May 30, 2020 | Indore

Jarkiholi claims he canengineer defections

from CongressBengaluru

Karnataka Water Re-sources Minister RameshJarkiholi on Fridayclaimed that 22 CongressMLAs were in touch withhim and he could get five ofthem to defect 'on a trial ba-sis' within a week if theBJP high command giveshim the go-ahead.Congress was quick to re-

act, saying his remarksonly showed that all wasnot well within the BJP."If the BJP high com-

mand permits, I can getfive Congress MLAs to de-fect immediately. There are22 Congress MLAs in touchwith me, but on a trial ba-sis I can get five of them to

break away in a week,"Jarkiholi told reporters inChamarajnagar. Jarkhi-holi's remarks came a dayafter a section of MLAsfrom North Karnataka metat the residence of formerMP Ramesh Katti at BelladBagewadi in Belagavi dis-trict in the backdrop ofcoming elections to fourRajya Sabha seats from thestate Vijayapura BJP MLABasanagouda Patil Yatnal,who was among those whoattended the meeting, onFriday expressed dissatis-faction with Yediyurappa'sstyle of functioning, sayingsome works had not beencompleted despite theMLAs taking them up withthe Chief Minister.

Lockdown 5.0

NC won't participatein delimitation

exerciseSRINAGAR: The NationalConference on Friday an-nounced that it will not partic-ipate in the delimitation exer-cise to redraw parliamentaryand assembly constituenciesin Jammu and Kashmir be-cause the party was unwillingto accept the events of August5 last year when the specialstatus of the erstwhile statewas abrogated. The Union LawMinistry has constituted thedelimitation commissionheaded by former SupremeCourt judge Ranjana PrakashDesai to redraw Lok Sabhaand assembly constituenciesof the union territory of Jam-mu and Kashmir and north-eastern states of Assam,Arunachal Pradesh, Manipurand Nagaland.

“Don’t think of introversion as something that needs tobe cured… Spend your free time the way you like, not

the way you think you’re supposed to.” — Susan Cain

US SEES NIGHT OF VIOLENCE, PROTESTS7 people shot at Louisville

CORONA CURE CORNER

Pharmaceutical company executives said Thursday that one orseveral COVID-19 vaccines could begin rolling out before 2021,but warned the challenges would be “daunting” as it wasestimated that 15 billion doses would be needed to halt thepandemic.Well over 100 labs around the world are scrambling to come upwith a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, including 10 thathave made it to the clinical trial stage.Albert Bourla, head of Pfizer, said that his company believed avaccine could be ready before the end of the year. Pfizer isconducting clinical trials with German firm Biontech on severalpossible vaccines in Europe and the United States.

Vaccine could be ready by October: Pfizer head

Patanjali joins the raceThe Patanjali group, whose flagship unit sells consumer productsand ayurvedic remedies, said it has launched clinical trials onhumans to find a cure for COVID-19 after receiving regulatoryapprovals."We are not talking about an immunity booster. We are talkingabout a cure," said Acharya Balkrishna, managing director ofPatanjali.The clinical trials have begun in Indore and in Jaipur afterPatanjali secured permission last week.

US President Donald Trump isfeeling "absolutely great" aftertaking a two-week dose ofantimalarial drughydroxychloroquine and will takeit again if he thinks he isexposed to the coronavirus, atop White House official hassaid. Hydroxychloroquine sulfatewas first synthesised in 1946and is in a class of medicationshistorically used to treat andprevent malaria.

Prez Trump feels absolutely great after taking HCQ: WH

• Sun Pharma gets DCGI approvalfor clinical trial with Nafamostat inCovid-19 patients• US biotech firm Novavax buysSerum Institute parent's Czech unitfor �1,270 crore to make coronavirusvaccine

Demonstrations reignite in HKAGENCIES / Hong Kong

Dozens of people protestedin a mall in Hong Kong onFriday following a vote byChina's ceremonial parlia-ment to approve legislationthat could severely restrictopposition political activityand civil society in the Asianfinancial center.The protesters chanted slo-

gans in the main atrium ofthe mall in the high-end Cen-tral district, some drapingbanners over the balconieswith slogans such as "Inde-pendence for Hong Kong."Police waited in vans parkedprominently outside the mallbut did not attempt to breakup the gathering. Hundredsof people have been arrestedduring recent demonstra-

tions that seek to revive themomentum of protests thatshut down large parts of thecity during the second half oflast year.China's National People's

Congress on Thursday votedto approve the bill that willnow be sent to its standingcommittee for final approval.Details of the final version

of the law aren't known, butChina says it will prohibitseparatist activities and ac-tions that might threaten theCommunist Party's monop-

oly on political power inmainland China.Beijing and its supporters

in Hong Kong are defendingthe legislative move againstcriticism from foreign coun-tries, including the U.S.,which has threatened to re-voke special trade privilegesgranted to the former Britishcolony when it was handedover to China in 1997 under a"one country, two systems"framework in which it wasguaranteed its own political,legal, social and legal institu-

tions for 50 years.In Beijing, foreign ministry

spokesperson Zhao Lijiansaid China would not toler-ate any interference in whatit considers a strictly inter-nal matter."We advise the U.S. side to

have a correct understand-ing of the situation and stopinterfering in Hong Kong af-fairs and China's internal af-fairs. If the U.S. insists onjeopardizing China's inter-ests, China will definitelytake all necessary measuresto fight back." Tensions be-tween the administration ofPresident Donald Trumpand China are already highover trade, human rights,China's threats against Tai-wan and the coronaviruspandemic.

The protesters chanted slogans in the mainatrium of the mall in the high-end Central

district, some draping banners over the balconies with slogans such as "Independence for Hong Kong"

Now, groups of 6can meet in UK

ADITI KHANNALondon

British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson has an-nounced that groups of up tosix people will be able tomeet outdoors in Englandfrom next Monday, providedstrict social distancingguidelines are followed, aspart of steps towards easingthe country's coronaviruslockdown.The devolved administra-

tion of Scotland has beguneasing its lockdown fromFriday, which allows peoplefrom two households to meetoutside so long as they keepat least two metres apart.The changes come in over

two months after the UKwent into lockdown to con-trol the spread of the deadlyvirus on March 23 and hasresulted in a death toll ofover 37,800.Downing Street said the

changes are part of a "care-fully-designed package" toease the burden of lockdownin a way that is expected tokeep the R rate - or rate of in-fection - down."We know that transmis-

sion of the virus is far loweroutdoors, so we can confi-dently allow more interac-tion outside," said Johnson."I want to reaffirm that

fundamental commitment to

the British people that all thesteps we have taken, and willtake, are conditional. Theyare conditional on all thedata, and all the scientific ad-vice, and it is that scientificadvice which will help us tojudge what we are doing issafe," he said.He stressed that the gov-

ernment will be monitoringhow the new changes areworking, and look at the Rrate and the number of newinfections before taking anyfurther steps to avert therisk of a second peak of thevirus.As part of measures to re-

open the economy, a series ofmeasures will be put in placefrom next Monday in threecore areas - schools, retail,and social contact.

Primary schools,nurseries and otherearly year schoolsettings will be

reopened from June 1and from June 15,

secondary schools andcolleges will begin toprovide some face-to-face contact time tohelp students preparefor exams next year

• S Africa has backlog of nearly 100,000 tests

• Thailand relaxes coronavirus restrictions

• B’desh to resume domestic flights on June 1

• Indonesians return to mosques

• Two Radio Pakistan staffers die of COVID-19

• Coronavirus cases in Pak cross 64,000-mark

• France reports 3,000 single-day cases

DEATHS

363,007+

5,950,863+CASES

2 lions maulzookeeper inAustralia

AGENCIESSydney

Two lions mauled and criti-cally injured a zookeeper in-side their enclosure Fridayat a closed Australian zoo.Emergency services were

called to Shoalhaven Zoonorth of Sydney on Fridaymorning where a 35-year-oldwoman suffered serioushead and neck injuries, po-lice and ambulance state-ments said. She was airliftedto a Sydney hospital and re-mained in critical condition.The zoo is closed to the

public because of coron-avirus pandemic.Ambulance officer Faye

Stockman described the at-tack as "absolutely harrow-ing," adding it was frighten-ing to be the first to walkinto the enclosure to treatthe zookeeper."This is one of the worst

jobs I have ever experi-enced," Stockman said in astatement.Police Detective Superin-

tendent Greg Moore said thetwo male lions were securedshortly after and posed nofurther threat.He said it was too early in

the investigation to saywhether the lions would bekilled.Another zookeeper suf-

fered a hand injury at thesame zoo in 2014 when acrocodile dragged himinto water during a feed-ing show.

AGENCIESRio De Janeiro

For Joao Blank and EricaBlank's first kiss as husbandand wife, they didn't locklips. The couple could onlypress their face masks to-gether while sitting in theback of a hatchback, wherethey had just been wed.A Brazilian notary public

hovering outside the carpresided over Thursday'sceremony.The drive-thru marriage

perhaps wasn't the romanticvision the Blanks had imag-ined, but it is one of few pos-sibilities in the era of thenew coronavirus.People have begun turning

to this unconventional unionat a notary in Santa Cruz, aneighborhood on the west-

ern outskirts of Rio deJaneiro, since the COVID-19disease caused by the virusstarted battering Brazil. OnThursday alone, 15 coupleswere married at its drive-thru."We're very happy because

we didn't think we weddingdate would come so soon,"

said Erica Blank, 24, whoworks in a pet shop."We found out a week ago

that we would get marriedand it was so good!" Rio deJaneiro state is Brazil's sec-ond hardest-hit state by thepandemic, with nearly 45,000people infected, according tothe official tally.

Cars instead of altars: ‘I Do’ at Drive-thru in Brazil

In Netherlands, robosare the new waiters

AGENCIESRenesse

You can always count on arobot for perfect timing.When Shaosong Hu saw ro-

botic waiters serving food inChina last fall, he knewexactly what he want-ed for his orientalrestaurant in theDutch beachsidetown of Renesse.He just didn'thave a clue howuseful they wouldprove.The coronavirus

pandemic hasturned a whimsicalidea into perhaps a windowinto a dystopian futurewhere a human touch maymake people cringe withfear, and a waiter clearing

the table sends a customertense with stress - only to berelieved by a soothing brushwith plastic."They came in just ahead of

that time," said Hu's daugh-ter Leah, who also works at

the restaurant, the RoyalPalace.

Now, his two shinywhite-and-red ro-bots glide acrossthe dining area'sfloor where, oncethe restaurant re-opens, they willbe serving Chi-nese and Indone-

sian specialties likeBabi Pangang and

Char Siu at 15.5 euros ($17)each."Hello and welcome" the ro-

bots say - in a voice best de-scribed as pre-programmed.

AGENCIES / Louisville

At least seven people were shotin Louisville as protestersturned out to demand justicefor Breonna Taylor, a blackwoman fatally shot by police inher home in March.Louisville Metro Police con-

firmed in a statement early Fri-day that there were at least sev-en shooting victims, at least oneof whom is in critical condi-tion. The statement said therewere "some arrests," but policedidn't provide a number."No officers discharged their

service weapons," policespokesman Sgt. Lamont Wash-ington wrote in an email to TheAssociated Press. Washingtonsaid that all seven were civilians.Around 500 to 600 demonstra-

tors marched through the Ken-tucky city's downtown streetson Thursday night, the CourierJournal reported. The protestsstretched for more than sixhours, ending in the early hoursof Friday as rain poured down."Understandably, emotions

are high," Louisville MayorGreg Fischer tweeted just be-fore midnight, sharing a Face-book post asking for peace thathe said was written on behalf ofTaylor's mother. "As Breonna'smother says let's be peaceful aswe work toward truth and jus-tice." Taylor, a 26-year-old emer-gency medical tech, was shoteight times on March 13 afterLouisville narcotics detectivesknocked down the front door.No drugs were found in the home.Attention on Taylor's death

has intensified after her familysued the police department ear-

lier this month. The case has at-tracted national headlinesalongside the shooting of Ah-maud Arbery in a Georgianeighborhood in February.Thursday's demonstration

came as protesters across thecountry - from Los Angeles toMemphis, Tennessee, to NewYork to Minneapolis itself -have demonstrated against thedeath of a black man, GeorgeFloyd, in Minneapolis policecustody.Around 12:20 a.m., Fischer

tweeted a video that he said wasa message from Taylor's family."Louisville, thank you so

much for saying Breonna'sname tonight. We are not goingto stop until we get justice," awoman says in the video. "Butwe should stop tonight beforepeople get hurt. Please go home,be safe and be ready to keepfighting." Meanwhile, live videofrom downtown Louisvillearound 12:30 a.m. showed some

protesters behind makeshiftwooden barricades, which ap-peared to be made out of picnictables spray-painted with thewords "You can't kill us all." Asmall fire inside a trash can wasvisible in the middle of thestreet.Police in body armor and face

shields held batons and lined uparound Louisville City Hall.They appeared to fire rubber

bullets and deploy tear gas can-isters, fogging the air and in-ducing coughs among the re-maining members of the crowd.Protesters were shown filmingpolice with their cellphones.Kentuckians are still under so-

cial distancing mandates drivenby the coronavirus pandemic.Many protesters wore masks.Chants early Friday included

"No justice, no peace" and"Whose streets? Our streets."Looking to defuse tensions in

Louisville over the fatal shoot-ing of a black woman by policewho broke down her door, thevictim’s mother on Fridaycalled on protesters to continuedemanding justice but to do itin “the right way without hurt-ing each other.”In her statement, Tamika

Palmer said her daughter — anemergency medical technician— devoted her life to others, andthe “last thing she’d want rightnow is any more violence.”“Please keep saying her

name,” her statement said.“Please keep demanding justiceand accountability, but let’s doit the right way without hurtingeach other. We can and we willmake some real change here.Now is the time. Let’s make ithappen, but safely.”

Taylor, a 26-year-oldemergency medical tech, wasshot eight times on March 13

after Louisville narcoticsdetectives knocked down thefront door. No drugs were

found in the home. Attentionon Taylor's death has

intensified after her familysued the police departmentearlier this month. The case

has attracted nationalheadlines alongside the

shooting of Ahmaud Arbery ina Georgia neighborhood

in February

WORLDFREEPRESS

INDORE | SATURDAY | MAY 30, 2020

9

10SPORTSFREEPRESS

INDORE | SATURDAY | MAY 30, 2020

WHAT’S ONPools and halls willreopen in green zone

Andy Murray to returnto action in June

LPGA stars set to compete in Texas Open

PARIS: The swimming pools, sports halls and gymnasiums, closedsince the start of containment, will reopen on June 2 in the greenzone, then on June 22 in the orange zones, Prime Minister ÉdouardPhilippe announced Thursday. "I know it was a decision expected bymany as the summer approached," said the head of government.Outside Ile-de-France, Guyana and Mayotte, territories classifiedorange, athletes will therefore be able to enjoy their activity inenclosed spaces, whether it is bodybuilding or swimming. Receptionconditions will, however, be fairly strict, with compulsory reservations.

LONDON: Andy Murray will return from his latest injury problem onJune 23 in a tournament organised by his brother Jamie to raise moneyfor a UK National Health Service charity. Jamie Murray has helped createthe behind-closed-doors tournament called 'Schroders Battle of the Brits'.The event, which runs from June 23-28, will see the Murray brothers andfellow British players Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans go head to head atthe Lawn Tennis Association's Roehampton base in London. With theATP and WTA seasons postponed due to the coronavirus, Murray's firstappearance since November's Davis Cup Finals

TEXAS: Two-time major winner Stacy Lewis and former US Women'sOpen winner Brittany Lang will tee it up at the Texas Women's Opennext week in Dallas. American's Lewis and Lang will be joined byseveral other US LPGA players, including Cheyenne Knight, France'sCeline Boutier, Maria Fassi, of Mexico, and Gerina Piller for the June2-4 event. The Texas Women's Open used to be an LPGA Tour eventin the 1950s, but is now sanctioned by the North Dallas chapter of thePGA of America. It was first played in 1933 and previous winnersinclude Babe Zaharias and Betsy Rawls.

Sweden to open doors for events from June 14

STOCKHOLM: Competitive and professional sport can resumefrom June 14, the Swedish government said Friday, but gameswould have to be played mostly without an audience. WithSweden's softer approach to the new coronavirus, children's sportsactivities continued and adults were able to go to practice sessions."Now we're also opening up for competitive play among all ages,which means that high-level sports can resume once again," cultureminister Amanda Lind told a press conference. She said it wouldapply to all sports and at all levels, but only in a way that respectscurrent guidelines from the Public Health Agency.

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTEINSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

Confidence is very important – even pretending to be Confident.If you make a Mistake but do not let your Opponent see what

you are thinking then he may overlook the Mistake.”— Viswanathan Anand

SPORTS CAFE

THIS DAY, THAT YEAR...2016: Alastair Cook becamethe first Englishman to make10,000 Test runs, and theyoungest at 31 years and 157days, when he hit themilestone in Chester-le-Streetagainst Sri Lanka. Cook hadstarted the Test, his 128th, on 9980 runs and fell for 15 in thefirst innings. After Sri Lanka's fightback in the follow-on, led byDinesh Chandimal's century, England needed 79 to win on dayfour. Cook made 47 of those, reaching the landmark with a clipoff his pads off the bowling of Nuwan Pradeep.

Kompany turns down offer: ReportsBRUSSELS: Vincent Kompany has turned down anoffer from Manchester City to become Pep Guardiola'sassistant coach, according to various Belgian mediareports on Friday. The former City captain is undercontract as player-manager of Anderlecht until 2022,having left the Etihad Stadium last year following a

trophy-laden 11-year spell in England. Kompany, who has neverconcealed his desire to one day be City manager, said he wanted tostay at Anderlecht. On Thursday, Belgium's most successful clubresponded to recent financial difficulties as Wouter Vandenhaute tookover from Marc Coucke as president. Anderlecht finished only eighth inthe Belgian league season, which was curtailed by the coronaviruspandemic, their worst post-war position.

BWF reschedulesWorld Junior

KUALA LUMPUR: TheBadminton World Federation(BWF) on Friday rescheduledthe BWF World JuniorChampionships 2020 toJanuary next year due to thecoronavirus pandemic. TheChampionships, initiallyscheduled to be held inAuckland in September thisyear, will take place fromJanuary 18 to January 24,2021.

Renault to staydespite job cuts

PARIS: Renault said on Friday itwill continue to run a team in theF ! world championship, despiteannouncing nearly 15,000 joblosses in the wake ofplummeting car sales. TheFrench manufacturer, whichreturned to F1 in 2016 after afive-year absence, saidupcoming changes to the sport'sspending cap will help themcontinue to compete.

IOA finance defendsdecision

NEW DELHI: Indian OlympicAssociation's finance committeechairman Anil Khanna on Fridaydefended his decision not to giveclearance for hotel bookingsrelating to Tokyo Games in 2019,saying "FC has no power toapprove even one rupeeexpenditure" without sanctionfrom either the president orsecretary general. IOA PresidentNarinder Batra on Thursday hadasked Khanna to furnish "factualposition" on why there was adelay in clearance for booking of15 twin rooms.

Australian, BritishMotoGP off track

LONDON: The AustralianMotoGP and British MotoGP wereon Friday cancelled due to theongoing coronavirus pandemic.The Australian MotoGP 2020 wasdue to take place at the PhillipIsland Grand Prix Circuit from 23-25 October. Whereas, the BritishMotoGP was due to be held atSilverstone on August 28-30.

FPJ SPORTS DESKMumbai

Capital Cup, in the capitalof the country will featureto-eight top team of the In-dia. This move was initiat-ed by Football Delhi,wherein teams from Indi-an Super league and I-League teams will takepart.New Delhi which organ-

ises one of the oldest foot-ball tournament of theworld, the Durand Cup andDCM will add this to theirfixtures soon which willalso be an annual feature.Football Delhi president

Shaji Prabhakaran statedthat his organisation istargeting the early part ofnext year to launch thetournament as the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely topermit a big tournamentwith spectators this year."Without crowd this tour-

nament will have no mean-ing and the COVID-19 pan-demic is unlikely to permitany tournament with big

crowd to happen this year.So, we are looking at earlynext year before the end ofthe season," Prabhakaransaid."So, it is not that we want

to stage the tournament inthe next few months. Butonce the tournament islaunched, it will be an an-nual affair," he added.Football Delhi will re-

quest the All India Foot-ball Federation to grantappropriate window tohold the all-India tourna-ment in Delhi where mini-mum four ISL/I-Leagueclubs will be invited toplay in an eight-teamleague-cum-knockout com-petition."In order to promote local

clubs, four clubs from Del-hi will join the tourna-ment," Football Delhi saidin a release. The ExecutiveCommittee also decided toapprove the launch of aDigital Hub to connect andengage with the footballcommunity and stakehold-ers in the city.

Capital Cup in capitalearly next year

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICENew Delhi

Former Sri Lanka skip-per Kumar San-gakkara revealed

what actually happened dur-ing the 2011 World Cup final

against India at Wankhedethat led to two tosses and'The Islanders' batting first.Sangakkara jogged down

memory lane and spokeabout that titanic contest be-tween the two Asian rivalsduring a live video sessionwith India spinnerRavichandran Ashwin onInstagram.

"Tell me what happened atthe toss in 2011 World Cup(final). I saw two tosses. Iwas standing near the dress-ing room, I went inside and Ihad no idea what just hap-pened," Ashwin asked San-gakkara on his show 'Remi-

nisceWithAsh'"I think it was the crowd..

the crowd was huge (atWankhede). It never hap-pens in Sri Lanka and it onlyhappens in India, at least tome," Sangakkara said."I remember calling on the

toss and then Mahi wasn'tsure what I had called. Hesaid did you call tails I said

no I called heads. And thenmatch referee actually saidI had won the toss and Mahisaid no no no he didn't. Sothere was a little bit of con-fusion there."Then Mahi said let's have

another toss. And that's

when the second one wentup and it came down headsagain. I am not sure if luck-ily I had won because if Ihad lost the toss, it mayhave been that India mighthave batted," he added.Sangakkara also revealed

how an injury to their all-rounder Angelo Mathewschanged Sri Lanka's strate-

gy in the final. The south-paw states they would havebatted second had Mathewswas fit enough to feature inthe finale. "If Angelo was fitI am hundred percent surethat we would have chased.I am not sure if result

would have changed but wewould have definitelychased in the match," San-gakkara said."That balance of Mathews

at seven... If you look at ourentire campaign, whateverwe did, Matthews' overs andhis ability to bat with thetail was an incredible bonusto us," he added.

Toss which disappeared Sangakkara's confession on two tosses in 2011 WC final in Mumbai

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICENew Delhi

The Bundesliga in Germanyhas resumed behind closeddoors, while both the Pre-mier League in England andLa Liga in Spain are workingtowards a return to action.Both these leagues, could beplayed without fans in thestadium, which could be thenorm for sports in the fore-seeable future and might bethe case in the upcoming In-dian football season as well.India and Bengaluru FC

captain Sunil Chhetri how-ever, feels that the first stagetowards a resumption ofsporting action is to ensuretraining restarts fully."The Korean League and

Bundesliga are checkingevery player every singleday before he trains. Whenthey go to the match, theyhave already been tested,that they have no virus. But,you never know, becausesome can be asymptomatic.That's why, for a second layerof protection, they are say-ing don't hug each other,don't spit and stuff likethat," he said in a webinarhosted by non-profit organi-sation Yuva."But I think the first stage

is training only. Matches areonly once a week, but youtrain every day. It's going tobe 30 players minimum, 12coaches, a ball boy and a kitman. Everybody is goingback home, and you don'tknow who they are meeting.You don't know who they aremixing with. But then again,you have to start," Chhetriadded.Cricketers Rahul Dravid

and Zaheer Khan, bad-minton star PV Sindhu andshooter Anjum Moudgilwere other sports stars pres-ent in the webinar. Chhetrijoked that the lack of fans inthe stadium might exposethe abusive language thatfootball players use duringmatches."These superstars (Sindhu

and Moudgil) play a gamevery nicely and they arevery well-behaved, theydon't abuse," Chhetri said."So if there are no fans,

people will get to know ourvocabulary of abuses. We ut-ter nonsense, but we are al-lowed to say anything, ex-cept to the referee. We aredirty, we are ugly. If the fansare there, they are loud, andit (the abuse) all gets sub-dued. But if they're notthere, my god..."

Chhetri warnsplayers on abusesin empty stadium

PTI / Melbourne

Cricket Australia has notruled out the possibility ofthe COVID-19 pandemic forc-ing a change in the schedulefor India's tour of the countrywith the board still keepingthe door open for hosting fourTests in as little as one venue.Cricket Australia (CA) on

Thursday announced thatIndia will play the Tests atBrisbane (December 3-7),Adelaide (December 11-15),Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 3-7)respectively.However, CA chief execu-

tive Kevin Roberts said theschedule could change de-pending on the travel restric-tions due to the health crisis."That (schedule) assumes

that state borders are open todomestic travel. It may bethat circumstances dictatethat when the time comesmaybe we can only use one ortwo venues, we really don'tknow any of that yet," he toldreporters on Friday. "There isa lot of variables based onwhether we have four venuesin four states or as little as onevenue in one state”.

CA open forchanges inschedule

FA Cup finalset to be heldfrom August 1

AFP / London

The FA Cup final is set totake place on August 1 afterthe English Football Associa-tion announced provisionaldates to finish the competi-tion on Friday.After the Premier League

revealed they plan to resumethe season on June 17, the FACup has now returned to anEnglish fixture list throwninto chaos by the coronavirus.The FA Cup was halted be-

fore the quarter-finals be-cause of the pandemic, buttournament organisers hopeto complete it alongside thePremier League.The four matches in the last

eight will be played over theweekend of June 27 and 28,with no decision reached yet onwhether these will be played ona home-and-away basis as nor-mal or at neutral venues.Leicester take on Chelsea,

Newcastle face holders Man-chester City, Sheffield Unitedplay Arsenal and Norwichmeet Manchester United.The semi-finals will be

played on July 11 and 12, andthe final to be played at Wem-bley as usual.

ACCORDING TO AIRASIA INDIA CEO

MUMBAI: The pent-up demand for air travel is expectedto last only two-three weeks with airlines' current passen-ger load factor at around 50%, said AirAsia India ChiefExecutive Officer Sunil Bhaskaran in a CAPA India webi-nar on the aviation sector held. Domestic flight operations commenced this Monday af-

ter remaining suspended for two months due to a nation-wide lockdown, imposed to stem the spread of COVID-19. Currently, people across the country are trying to get to

their destinations as flights had remained cancelled be-tween Mar 25 and May 24 leading to pent-up demand.The government has also till Aug 24 capped the mini-

mum and maximum air fare that airlines can charge be-tween destinations. For a 40-minute flight, the minimum price cap is 2,000 ru-

pees and for 210-minute flight, the maximum price cap isup to 18,600 rupees. Bhaskaran outlined that AirAsia India is not in favour of

the price caps imposed by the government but highlightedthat since the caps have been set for a short duration ofthree months, the industry should be able to absorb it butbeyond that fares should be driven by market forces.Bhaskaran highlighted that though demand for air travelis seen subdued in the short term, no fundamental risk todemand is seen in the future once situation surroundingthe COVID-19 crisis normalises. AirAsia India is expected to get the required approval for

international operations soon, Bhaskaran said. "Probably luckiest thing which has happened to us that

we did not have international, otherwise the hit to uswould have been much worse...than what it has been to allour competitors who have international," said Bhaskaran,adding that recovery of international air travel is expect-ed to take longer than domestic and that the airline's fleetexpansion is currently on hold.

‘Pent-up demand to last only 2-3 weeks’

GST Council to meet next month; FinMin not for raising rates onThe finance ministry is not in favour ofincreasing goods and services tax rates on non-essential items in the next month's meeting ofthe GST Council, despite depressed revenuecollections due to the nationwide lockdown to

contain the spread of COVID-19. If goods andservices tax (GST) rates are increased on non-essential items, sources said it will further bringdown their demand and impede the overalleconomic recovery.

BIZ BUZZSingapore top source of FDI in FY20with investments worth USD 14.67 bnNEW DELHI: Singapore was the top source of foreign directinvestment into India for the second consecutive financialyear, accounting for about 30% of FDI inflows in 2019-20. Inthe past two financial years, FDI from Singapore hassurpassed that from Mauritius. In the last financial year, Indiaattracted $14.67 billion in FDI from Singapore, whereas itwas $8.24 billion from Mauritius, according to the data of theDepartment for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

US consumer spending sinks byrecord 13.6% in face of virus WASHINGTON: US consumer spending plunged by a record-shattering 13.6 per cent in April as the viral pandemicshuttered businesses, forced millions of layoffs and sent theeconomy into a deep recession. Last month's spendingdecline was far worse than the revised 6.9 per cent drop inMarch, which itself had set a record for the steepest one-month fall in records dating to 1959. Friday's CommerceDepartment figures reinforced evidence that the economy isgripped by the worst downturn in decades, with consumersunable or too anxious to spend much.

India's housing sector facing itsworst-ever crisis: CREDAI ChairmanNEW DELHI: Already reeling under liquidity concerns, lowdemand and high inventory levels, India's housing sector isfacing its biggest-ever crisis amid the pandemic and thenationwide lockdown, says Jaxay Shah, the Chairman of theConfederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India(CREDAI). Speaking to IANS, Shah said that the sector iscurrently in a "very fragile" state as it has faced severaldisruptions in the past four years, including demonetisation,Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the much celebrated RealEstate (Regulation and Development) Act.

Sebi slaps Rs 20 lakh fine on DHFLfor violating market norms NEW DELHI: Markets regulator Sebi levied a fine of Rs 20lakh on Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) for notcomplying with market norms while issuing non-convertibledebentures (NCDs). The markets watchdog had received areference from Catalyst Trusteeship Ltd, a Sebi-registereddebenture trustee, pertaining to NCDs issued by DHFL..

KEC International Q4 profit down 3pc to Rs 193 crNEW DELHI: KEC International on Friday reported about 3per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 192.88 crorefor the quarter ended March 31, 2020. The globalengineering, procurement and construction (EPC) major hadclocked a profit of Rs 198.76 crore in January-March 2018-19,it said in a filing to BSE. Revenue during the quarter declinedto Rs 3,673.73 crore as against Rs 3,845.51 crore in the year-ago period.

TCS CFO sees economic downturn asbest time to pick an assetMUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, the country's largestinformation technology major, believes an economicdownturn is probably the best time to buy an asset as thereare fewer buyers for it. The COVID-19 pandemic has disruptedbusiness and demand globally, and the priority for mostorganisations is to cut costs and conserve cash. TCS, however,said it has sufficient cash on its books. "We are always opento the idea of picking up the right asset at the right price,"Chief Financial Officer V. Ramakrishnan said.

Andhra govt says Aurobindo Pharmato invest 15-20 bln rupees in 2 yrsHYDERABAD: Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has committed to anadditional investment of up to 20 bln rupees in AndhraPradesh in the next two years, a release from the chiefminister's office said. "Madan Mohan Reddy, board director ofAurobindo Pharma, has assured that the company will invest1,500-2,000 crore (15-20 bln rupees) in coming two years,"the state government said.

HCL Tech to buy Cisco''s Self-Optimizing Network tech for $50 mlnBENGALURU: HCL Technologies will acquire products andservices built on Cisco's Self-Optimizing Network technologyfor $49.99 mln, the company said in an exchange filing. Theacquisition will help HCL Tech meet the growing needs of itscustomers in the telecommunication industry, it said. Theacquisition is likely to be completed by January 2021, it said.Cisco's Self-Optimising Network technology is a platform thatuses machine learning and a set of applications to automatethe radio access network.

SEBI warns TCS to be careful in dis-closing material informationMUMBAI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India haswarned Tata Consultancy Services Ltd to be careful in makingdisclosures of material information in the future. The warningby the market regulator came in reference to a disclosuremade by TCS on April 16, 2016, when the company said thata jury verdict in the Epic Systems case will not have a bearingon the March quarter and 2015-16 (Apr-Mar) earnings of thecompany.

Schwing Stetter MD: Co to move someEuropean production lines to IndiaCHENNAI: The year 2022 is expected to be a booming yearfor construction and earthmoving equipment in India, a topofficial of Schwing Stetter India said in an interview withIANS. "Though the year 2020 started well, the Covid-19pandemic has had a major impact on the economy. The lastquarter of 2020 will tell how the economy would be in 2021.We expect 2022 to be boom time for domestic and exportmarkets," said V.G. Sakthikumar, Managing Director, SchwingStetter India.

—Agencies

MONEY FREEPRESS

INDORE | SATURDAY | MAY 30, 2020

11

NEW DELHI: India's an-nual inflation based on theConsumer Price Index for In-dustrial Workers fell to a 16-month low of 5.45% in Aprilfrom 5.50% a month earlier,data released by the LabourBureau showed. In April lastyear, CPI-IW inflation was at8.33%. Food inflation based on

CPI-IW eased to 6.56% inApril from 6.67% theprevious month. CPI-IWinflation eased in Aprildespite the overall indexrising 0.9% on month. The maximum upward

pressure to index came fromthe food group, whichadded 2.43 percentagepoints to the total change,the Labour Bureau said.

No decision taken on settingup bad bank: FinMin officialNEW DELHI: The finance ministry on Friday said there isno decision taken on the proposal of setting up of agovernment-sponsored bad bank to help ease pressure onlenders with regard to non-performing assets (NPAs) whichare likely to witness a surge due to the COVID-19 crisis.Even the Economic Survey 2017 had proposed this idea,suggesting the creation of a bad bank called Public SectorAsset Rehabilitation Agency (PARA) to help tide over theproblem of stressed assets.Lenders have been making a case for setting up a badbank to ease out pressure of bad loans on them in thesedifficult times.According to a senior official of the finance ministry, theproposal was discussed during the Financial Stability andDevelopment Council (FSDC) meeting on Thursday.However, no decision has been taken on the issue, the

VIL on Google picking stake:No proposal before board nowNEW DELHI: Amid reports of Google eyeing a five per centstake in the company, Vodafone Idea said it constantly evaluatesvarious opportunities but there is no proposal before the boardof the firm as yet. The clarification by Vodafone Idea to the BSEcame a day after reports that Alphabet Inc's Google is eyeingabout 5 per cent stake in the telecom company."As part of corporate strategy, the company constantly evaluates

various opportunities for enhancing the stakeholders' value. As andwhen such proposals are considered by the board of directors ofthe company warranting disclosures, the company shall complywith the disclosure obligations," Vodafone Idea said.Currently, there is "no proposal" as reported that is being

considered at the board, it added."We wish to reiterate and clarify that the company will comply

with Sebi Listing Regulations and duly keep the stock exchangesinformed of all the price-sensitive information," it said.Vodafone Idea's shares, which had rallied earlier on Friday,

shed some of the gains after the clarification by the telecomcompany. The scrip ended at Rs 6.56 a share on the BSE, nearly13 per cent higher than Thursday's close.After the reports of Google's interest in VIL circulated, many

analysts had opined that any potential investment by the globaltech titan in the cash-strapped Vodafone Idea, if it materialises,will be a strategic positive for the Indian telecom operator butstill inadequate to solve the telcos' debt woes. —Agencies

BEIJING:Volkswagen isspending 2 billion euros ($2.2billion) to expand its pres-ence in China's electric carindustry in the biggest for-eign investment announcedsince the country's economybegan to reopen followingthe coronavirus pandemic.Volkswagen AG said Fri-

day it will buy control of itselectric vehicle venture witha Chinese partner in a 1 bil-lion euro ($1.1 billion) deal.The German automakersaid it would spend another 1billion euros ($1.1 billion) tobecome the biggest share-holder in a battery producer.The ruling Communist

Party scrapped limits on for-

eign ownership of electricvehicle makers in 2018 topromote industry develop-ment. Beijing sees electriccars as a profitable technolo-gy where China can becomea global leader.China accounts for about

half of global electric carsales but demand hasslumped as Beijing wounddown multibillion-dollarsubsidies and shifted theburden to automakers by im-posing sales quotas. Sales ofpure-electric and gasoline-electric hybrid models fell43.4% in the first fourmonths of this year from ayear earlier to 205,000 vehi-cles.

April eight core industrial output fell by record 38.1%

NEW DELHI: The output of India's eightcore industries tanked by a record 38.1% inApril as the nationwide lockdown broughteconomic activity to a shuddering halt dur-ing the month, data released today by thecommerce ministry showed. At (-)38.1%, core sector growth in April is

the new record low under the current series,which goes back until April 2012. The fallout from the lockdown was visible

across the board, with the output of all eightcore industries contracting in April. The steel and cement sectors bore the max-

imum brunt of the lockdown, with their out-put declining by a massive 83.9% and 86.0%,respectively. "In view of (the) nationwide lockdown dur-

ing April 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic,various industries viz. Coal, Cement, Steel,Natural Gas, Refinery, Crude Oil etc experi-enced substantial loss of production," thegovernment said.The nationwide lockdown, which began on

Mar 25, has entered its third month. However, some restrictions have been re-

laxed from this month in areas that are lessrisk-prone to COVID-19. While electricity generation declined

22.8%, coal production fell 15.5%. In March,output of the eight core industries had con-tracted 9.0%.

With the eight core industries together ac-counting for 40.3% of the total weight of theIndex of Industrial Production, the massivefall in core sector output in April is likely todrag down industrial production for themonth. Data for industrial growth for Aprilis scheduled to be released on Jun 12. Going forward, the contraction in core sec-

tor output may narrow as the governmentrelaxed the lockdown and allowed the re-sumption of production and opening of fac-tories in many areas. However, the issue of labourers may im-

pact the output. "With labour mismatches expected to con-

strain construction activity in the urban ar-eas, we expect these sectors (cement andsteel) may continue to report subdued out-put in the coming months," said Aditi Nayar,Principal Economist, ICRA.

INDIA CPI-IWINFLATION AT16-MONTH LOWOF 5.45% IN APR

Econ growth slows to3.1%, worst en route

AGENCIESNew Delhi

India's economic growth tumbled to3.1% in the March quarter -- the slow-est pace since the global financial cri-sis more than a decade back -- but theworst is yet to come as the full impactof the world's most expansive lock-down that brought the nation to anear standstill will get fully account-ed for only in the next quarter.The government began locking down

Asia's third-biggest economy only to-wards the end of the March quarter tocontain the spread of the coronaviruspandemic. The arduous lockdown, im-posed on March 25, has already beenextended thrice, with some relaxationsbeginning early this month.Manufacturing contracted 1.4% in

the last quarter of 2019-20 fiscal (April2019 to March 2020) while construc-tion plunged 2.2%. Agriculture grewby an impressive 5.9%, the Ministry ofStatistics and Programme Implemen-tation said, adding the GDP estimates

were "based on available data" and arelikely to undergo revision.The Indian economy grew by 4.2%

in 2019-20 fiscal, the slowest in 11years, after downward revision ofgrowth rates for each of the previousthree quarters.The growth rate in FY20 is slower

than the 5% the government expectedbefore the virus outbreak.International credit rating agencies

S&P Global and Fitch Ratings as well assome economists expect the fiscal yearthat began in April to see the worst eco-nomic contraction in four decades, withGDP shrinking by a record 5%.

India was already in the midst of aprotracted economic slowdown beforethe virus hit due to a festering crisisamong shadow lenders and on declin-ing consumer demand and private in-vestment .The Indian economy had grown by

6.1% in FY19.The services sector accounts, which

accounts for 55% of gross domesticproduct (GDP), and manufacturinghas been severely crippled by thelockdown, causing ripple effects onjobs and economic growth.Infrastructure output, which com-

prises eight sectors including coal,crude oil, and electricity, contracted38.1% in April from a year earlier. Thecore sectors account for nearly 40% ofthe country's industrial output.Slower economic growth also meant

slippage in fiscal deficit target. Fiscaldeficit -- the shortfall in a govern-ment's income compared with itsspending -- came in at 4.59% of GDPfor FY20, as compared to the budget-ary target of 3.8%.

FY20 fiscal gap shotup to 4.6% of GDP

NEW DELHI: The country'sfiscal deficit widened to 4.6%of the Gross Domestic Prod-uct in 2019-20 mainly on ac-count of poor revenue reali-sation, shows official data.The deficit, which signifies

the gap between governmentrevenue and expenditure, ishigher than the revised esti-mate of 3.8% for the fiscal.According to the Con-

troller General of Accounts(CGA) data, the fiscal deficitfor 2019-20 worked out to be4.59% of the GDP, while therevenue deficit was 3.27%.The effective revenue

deficit was 2.36%, the datashowed.Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman while unveilingthe budget in Februarypegged the fiscal deficit for

2019-20 at 3.8%, up from 3.3%in the original budget esti-mate.The increase in the fiscal

deficit has been mainly on ac-count of shortfall in revenuecollection during 2019-20. Therevenue receipts during theyear worked out to be only90% of the revised estimate.In absolute terms, total re-

ceipts of the governmentwere Rs 17.5 lakh croreagainst the estimate of Rs19.31 lakh crore.The data showed the gov-

ernment's total expenditurewas Rs 26.86 lakh crore, low-er than Rs 26.98 lakh croreprojected earlier.The revenue deficit during

the fiscal soared to 3.27% ofthe GDP as against 2.4% inthe revised estimates.

Oil Minister for home delivery of petrol, CNG

AGENCIES/ New Delhi

After doorstep delivery ofdiesel, the government islooking at starting home de-livery of petrol and CNG forthe greater convenience ofcustomers, Oil MinisterDharmendra Pradhan said.Also, the government is

looking at unveiling a newfuel retailing model whereall types of fuels -- petrol,diesel, CNG, LNG and LPG -- would be available at oneplace, he said.Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the

nation's largest fuel retailer,in September 2018 startedhome delivery of dieselthrough a mobile dispenser.This service is availableonly in a handful of cities.Doorstep delivery of petrol

and CNG is said to poserisks due to highly inflam-mable nature of the fuel,and safe and secure modesapproved by relevant au-thorities need to be evolved.Speaking at a function to

inaugurate 56 new CNG sta-

tions in 11 states, Pradhansaid the government has al-ready started mobile dis-pensers for diesel.It "would like to expand the

same for petrol and LNG,"an official statement quotedhim as saying. "Pradhansaid that people would beable to get the home deliveryof the fuel in future." Thegovernment, he said, isworking on energy efficien-cy, affordability, security andaccessibility.He envisioned that soon,

the customers will have togo to only one place, whereall types of fuels - petrol,diesel, CNG, LNG and LPGwill be made available.

Renault to save 2 bn eurosby ‘22 at cost 0f 14,600 jobs

AGENCIESParisi

As a part of its plan to re-duce its costs by two billioneuros by 2022, French auto-motive group Renault on Fri-day said it would be sendingout 14,600 of its employeesaround the world over thenext three years.According to Renault, as

per its draft plan, 4,600 postswill be in France and the bal-ance 10,000 posts in rest ofthe world.As per the draft plan, Re-

nault plans to achieve itscost savings by increasingthe common parts across themodels, reducing the diversi-ty in vehicles/engines, opti-misation of research and de-velopment resources acrossthe world, right sizing ofglobal production capacities;and scrapping capacity ex-pansion plans in Moroccoand Romania.Renault also plans to accel-

erate its plant transforma-tion through the generalisa-tion of Industry 4.0, and ac-celerating digitalisation anddesign to process.The group will also cut

down its vehicle productionto 3.3 million units by 2024from 2019 level of 4 millionunits and also accordinglyadjust the production head-count.Renault also plans toincrease efficiency of sup-port functions like generaland marketing.According to Renault, the

plans will be presented toemployee representativebodies in accordance withapplicable regulations.

The estimated cost of im-plementing this plan is inthe order of 1.2 billion euros.Renault said the difficul-

ties encountered by theGroup, the major crisis fac-ing the automotive industryand the urgency of the eco-logical transition are all im-peratives that are driving thecompany to accelerate itstransformation.It said the draft plan aims

to lay the foundations for thegroup's long-term develop-ment. "I have confidence inour assets, our values and inthe management of the com-pany to succeed with the en-visaged transformation andto return our Group to itsfull value by deploying thisplan. The planned changesare fundamental to ensurethe sustainability of thecompany and its develop-ment over the long term,"Jean-Dominique Senard,Chairman of the Board ofDirectors of Renault, said.

SpiceXpressgets nod fordrone trials

VW spending $2.2 bn toexpand in China EV mart

NEW DELHI: Budget carrierSpiceJet on Friday said itsfreighter arm SpiceXpress hasreceived approval forconducting drone trials fromaviation regulator DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA).Post trials and approvals, the

airline plans to use drones indelivery of essential suppliesto remote areas, it said."A SpiceXpress-led

consortium had submitted aproposal to the regulator forconducting experimentalbeyond visual line of sight(BVLOS) operations of remotelypiloted aircraft in response toa DGCA notice invitingexpression of interest," SpiceJetsaid.Based on the

recommendations of theBVLOS Experiment Assessmentand Monitoring Committee,SpiceXpress was grantedpermission for conductingexperimental BVLOSoperations, it stated.

FREEPRESS SATURDAY| MAY 30, 2020 | INDORE12

D-11022

iscovery has announced that it will be documenting the launch of a SpaceX rocket ship with two NASAastronauts on a history-making flight into orbit. The launch was called off on Wednesday with less than17 minutes to go in the countdown because of thunderclouds and the danger of lightning. The liftoffhas been rescheduled for Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Discovery’s show Space Launch: America Returns To Space will document the events of the day and it willbe later showcased on Discovery, Science Channel on June 8 at 9 PM. Viewers can stream the show bydownloading Discovery Plus app. The show will also feature some of the biggest names in entertainment withappearances by global superstar Katy Perry, TV and Internet personality Adam Savage, former NASA engineer andYouTube sensation Mark Rober, among others. —PTI

DFREEPRESS

Now, watchlaunch of SpaceX

astronauts 13INDORE | SATURDAY | MAY 30, 2020

rotests over the death of George Floyd, ablack man who was a victim of police bru-tality, has been making headlines sinceWednesday. After several international

celebrities joined the outcry for justice, Bolly-wood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan took to her In-stagram to share a picture of the protest and de-manded ‘Justice for George Floyd’. However, Ka-reena was called out by netizens for not raising hervoice against the ongoing crisis in the country.She posted a monochrome picture of a protest ral-ly, where a man is seen running as a large group ofcops parade behind him. The bold text comparedAmerica in the years 1968, 2015 and 2020.

It read: ‘What has changed. What hasn’t.’ Sharingthe picture, she used the hashtag ‘#JusticeForGe-orgeFloyd’ in the caption. While celebrities dropped RIP emojis, netizensslammed the actress for ‘ignoring’ the problems inIndia. A user wrote, “Shouldn’t you be talking moreabout the mismanagement of Corona Virus inMumbai?” Another commented, “Read about Indiawhat has changed in these 4 years.”While another wrote, “We need just for migrantworkers who are the same in 1968 vs 2020,still suffer-ing...dying with hunger...god bless India.”A comment read, “Don’t mind it ma’am but Ihaven’t seen you posting anything on any of the na-tional incidents, insted of that u are posting what’shappening in america, phale apne desh ke baaremei to aap kuch socho or bolo uspe kuch commentkaro, baad mei videsh ka soch lena uspe commentkrlena & George Floyd ke sath jo b hua wo galathua...”For the unversed, George Floyd died on Mondayevening in Minneapolis shortly after a white policeofficer held him down with a knee on his neckthough the victim repeatedly pleaded, “please, Ican’t breathe” and “don’t kill me”, reports Xinhuanews agency. The four officers involved in the case were fired af-ter a video showing Floyd’s death went viral on so-cial media on Tuesday, sparking a national outcryfor justice. —FPJ Web Desk

Bebo facesnetizens’ ire Kareena Kapoor Khan called outfor ‘ignoring’ problems in India

and demanding ‘Justice forGeorge Floyd’

P

What is it about?

On the eve of March 24, 2020, India went intolockdown owing to the rapid spread of coro-navirus. The first case was discovered in

Kerela, on January 30, when a student fromWuhan came back as a carrier of the deadly

virus. Immediate measures had been taken by au-thorities to arrest this deadly virus. Yet, it continuedto contaminate, casting its tenacious clutches over apopulation of 1.3 billion, making them victims to thedeadly COVID-19.The financial capital, Mumbai, was badly hit by thevirus. Dharavi, India’s largest slum, falls under the

jurisdiction of Senior Inspector Ramesh B Nangare.The slum is a hotbed for migrant labours and severalsmall scale industries. Inspector Ramesh walks usthrough how he has efficaciously managed to control thesituation in Dharavi. He goes an extra mile educating resi-dents on the perils of the deathly virus. This part of thedocumentary shows that it indeed takes a lot to educate theuneducated on the perils this pandemic. The documentary then introduces us to the young Sangli-based Dr Hamna Abdur Nazir. The doctor speaks abouthow her life transformed once she was enlisted to join a

team of doctors, trained to manage COVID-19 cases. DrHamna speaks about the physiological and psychologicalchallenges that she has braved during the course of thisjourney. We manage to get a sneak peak into the life of ourHealth Minister, Harsh Vardhan, and how he communi-cates with doctors of various medical and health facilitiesfrom around the country to keep abreast of situation andcoming up with stringent plans to halt its growth. Journal-ist Sweta Singh, Delhi-based Aaj Tak correspondent, re-counts her experience of field reporting, speaking to anumber of migrant labourers who were waiting to go backto their villages before the borders were sealed. The docu-mentary also records statements from some other eminentunsung heroes like Dr Tedros .A. Ghebreyesus (W.H.O), In-spector P. Vijayan (IPS Kerela Police), and Mohammed ARahman (CEO, Propellor Technologies), who has played animportant role in the creation of robots to serve food toCOVID-19 positive patients in hospitals in Chennai.

The Review It is interesting to learn how the technological apparatushas transformed our lives for the better. This project wascompleted during the second lockdown. Today, all oneneeds is a simple hand-held device with smart features and

an excellent editing programme to create a documentary.The Lockdown is a good example of excellent editing skillsdespite limitations that one has faced to produce this proj-ect. There is a slight bucolic feel that is purposely left, help-ing us arrive at the truth of the matter. While we are shownbasic aspects of the lockdown, the documentary could havetold us more about the plight of migrant worker. We couldhave introduced how the tertiary sector has been coming toterms with the ‘new normal’. Time and circumstanceshave limited several aspects that could get involved in themaking of a better documentary. However, as an onlooker,one could hope for a sequel that will weave in various otheraspects that have impacted the country at large as we headtowards a possible lockdown 5.0.

—Review by Heer Kothari

Web Watch

The Lockdown: This docu gives a glimpse of early lockdown days

Name of the documentary: The Lockdown (in conjunctionwith the National Geographic)

Platform: Disney+Hotstar

Approximate time: 45 mins

Cast: Real People, real stories

Director: Sajeed A

Rating: 4/5

onu Sood on Friday came to the rescue of 117 girlsas he helped them reach home in Odisha. The ac-tor airlifted the girls who were stuck in Keraladue to the nationwide lockdown to contain the

spread of coronavirus. According to a source close tothe actor, Sood was informed about the group of girls by aclose friend from Bhubaneswar and he decided to helpthem. “The actor started the process by taking several per-missions from the government to have Kochi andBhubaneswar airports opened. A special aircraft has beencalled from Bangalore to airlift these 177 girls from Kochiwho will be now taken to Bhubaneshwar so they can final-ly reunite with their families. The flight duration from thevillage to Bhubaneswar is going to be two hours and soonafter finishing their journey, the girls will be heading backhome,” the source said.Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik took to Twitter to thankSood for his “noble efforts”. The actor along with hisfriend Neeti Goel have won hearts of millions of Indianswith their ‘Ghar Bhejo’ initiative. Sood facilitated severalbuses for workers stuck in Mumbai due to the coronavirus-forced nationwide lockdown. Recently, the actor launcheda toll free helpline to help migrants. —PTI

oved by the plight of stranded migrants,Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchanhas come forward to contribute his miteto their cause. After the Friday afternoon

‘namaz’, a fleet of 10 buses carrying around225 excited migrants, including women and 43children, were flagged off for various destinationsin Uttar Pradesh. As green flag was shown to the Bachchan-spon-

sored initiative, the weary but cheerful migrantslet out collective cheers of joy and relief, with‘thumbs up’ or ‘V’ signs, looking forward to theirlong journey home. Five of the buses are on way toPrayagraj, two buses each are headed for Gorakh-pur and Bhadoi, while one bus will arrive at Luc-know. The migrants will then have to proceed totheir respective villages from these towns. The flag-off was attended by ABCL Managing Di-

rector Rajesh Yadav, Suhail Khandwani, Manag-

ing Trustee of the Mahim Dargah Trust andTrustee of Haji Ali Dargah Trust, officials andtop representatives of both the trusts includingMohammed Ahmed. The Haji Ali Dargah, incidentally, has an emo-

tional connect with Bachchan and his fans. Hehad shot the climax of his 1983 superhit Coolieat the historic shrine. The Manmohan Desai en-tertainer is still recalled for the grievous acci-dent that the superstar suffered on the film's set,following which he was hospitalised for months. While on his current initiative, Bachchan had

been feeding hundreds of migrants at various lo-cations and also providing them with medicinesover two weeks, without much fanfare. They were also given footwear, as many mi-

grants were developing sores or blisters or gash-es on their legs due to long hours of walking inthe scorching sun. —IANS

16-acre, high-maintenance set that was builtfor the Ajay Devgn-starrer Maidaan has beendismantled owing to the ongoing COVID-19lockdown and the upcoming monsoon season.

“We built a massive outdoor set covering a 16-acreplot around Mumbai, with all the production infra-structure. Just as the shoot was getting underway, thepandemic hit the world,” said the film's producerBoney Kapoor, adding, “The set has now been disman-tled as rains are due to arrive in Mumbai. The rebuildwill take at least two months, which will start in Sep-

tember at the earliest, so shooting cancommence only in November.” Kapoor added this meant a mas-sive loss for us. “Thankfully allthe indoor and some outdoor,training portions were shot inLucknow and Kolkata, so are al-ready in the can,” he informed. Directed by Badhaai Ho maker

Amit Sharma, Maidaan is a foot-ball drama based on the life of

former player, the lateSyed Abdul Rahim,who is also regard-ed as one of thegreatest coachesin the sportthat India hasseen. He man-aged the Indi-an nationalteam from1950 untilhis death in1963, andis widelyknown asthe archi-tect ofmodernIndianfootball. Report-

edly, sets ofthe AkshayKumar-starrerhistoricaldrama,Prithviraj,will also be

dismantleddue to high

maintenance cost. —IANS

Jamie Foxx defends Jimmy Fallonctor Jamie Foxx defended Jimmy Fallon after the Tonight Show hostapologised for wearing blackface during a 2000 episode of SaturdayNight Live. According to Fox News, the actor, Fallon responded to thecontroversy after a sketch from 2000 in which he appeared in blackface

to perform an impression of Chris Rock resurfaced onTwitter. Things got so bad that the hashtag‘#JimmyFallonIsOverParty’was briefly trending onthe social mediaplatform.However, Foxx

disagreed withthe host’sdecision toapologise for thesketch. Heresponded in thecomments of an E!News Instagram post on thematter to defend Fallon and comedians atlarge for pushing racial boundaries.The Django Unchained star wrote, “He was

doing an impression of chris rock. It wasn’tblack face. We comedians I know it’s a toughtime right now. But this one is a stretch. On ashow called in living colour we played every raceLet this one go. We got bigger fish to fry ...#changecourse.” He was referencing the 1990sketch show, In Living Colour, which ran for fiveseasons and often contained controversial sketchesabout race. —ANI

Sonu helps177 Odiagirls stuckin Kerala

S

Big B sponsors 10 busesfor UP migrants

MA

COVID-19 effect Ajay-starrer Maidaan

set dismantled

Hollywood TalkWill Smith reveals his ‘terrifying’ moment

ill Smith says taking on the role of Geniein the 2019 film Aladdin was terrifying.Was he anxious about playing Genie? “Itwas much more. It was terrifying! Robin

Williams did just an absolutely brilliant,memorable and nostalgic job in his film. So, for mewhen I am looking at a role and especiallysomething that has historic and nostalgic value,what I am asking myself is ‘is there any meat lefton the bone? What is it that I would add to therole’ and one of the major aspects was going fromanimation to live-action,” said Smith. “So, the idea was like okay live-

action that is going to be differentand the idea of being able tomodernise, to be able to payhomage to the originalcharacter, to be able to honourRobin while at the same timegetting a new voice tomodernise the Genie. I saw therewas a potential for absolutetragedy but there was apotential to be ableto createsomething thatdid both ofthose things,”he added.

—IANS

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Megan Fox first dumped hubby BrianAusting Green when he was bedridden

nsiders are furious with Hollywood star Megan Foxafter she split from husband Brian Austin Green forthe second time. According to Page Six, the sourcessay that in 2015, the star dumped husband Green

around the time he was seriously ill with a stroke-likesyndrome that left him bedridden and barely able to move —only to take him back and dump him all over again a few years later. Green became sick with a terrifying undiagnosedbrain condition around December 2014, and he spent morethan six months in bed. “He could barely lift his head,” said aninsider. Meanwhile, Fox left Los Angeles to go to

New York to shoot for a movie in 2015.Sources say that when shereturned, she seemed suddenlyvery keen to end theirmarriage, and she filed fordivorce in August. However,they reconciled. We’re told thatafter the trauma of both theillness and the breakup, Greenworked to rebuild theirmarriage. Then — according to Green,

who discussed the news on hispodcast, ‘With Brian AustinGreen,’ Fox broke up with himagain earlier this year afternearly 10 years of marriage.

—ANI

IA