SHOPIAN: Curfew extended in Punjab till May 17Apr 30, 2020  · lowed to resume their functions. The...

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PAGE 5 PAGE 3 PAGE 6 PAGE 8 Govt will provide all possible help to industrialists: Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur Member of Parliament Sharma appeals for safety of students stranded abroad WWW.YUGMARG.COM REGD NO. CHD/0061/2006-08 | RNI NO. 61323/95 Thursday, April 30, 2020 CHANDIGARH, VOL. XXV, NO. 89, PAGES 8, RS. 2 YOUR REGION, YOUR PAPER FOLLOW US ON Three terrorists killed in Shopian encounter SHOPIAN: Three terrorists have been killed in an en- counter with security forces at Zainapora in Shopian district on Tues- day, informed Kashmir Zone Police on Wednes- day. The joint operation, con- ducted by Army's 55 RR (Rashtriya Rifles), Shopian Police and CRPF started yesterday and continued through the night. Bodies of two terrorists have been recovered so far. "One more unidentified ter- rorist killed in Shopian en- counter. A total of three ter- rorists neutralised so far," said the police. Test matches are purest form of cricket : Stokes Asymptomatic COVID-19 pa- tients to be treated at home: Delhi Health Minister 12 new COVID- 19 cases in Chandigarh CHANDIGARH: As many as 12 new coronavirus cases have been found in Chandigarh on Wednes- day, said Health Depart- ment, Chandigarh. "With the confirmation of 12 new COVID-19 cases, the total number of cases in the UT has reached to 68," read an official state- ment from the Health De- partment. As per the latest update by the Ministry of Health and Family Wel- fare, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country stands to 31,787. India's COVID- 19 tally mounts to 31,787 NEW DELHI: With 1,813 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours and 71 deaths, In- dia's total count of coron- avirus cases surged to 31787, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday. The total cases are inclu- sive of 7,797 cured and discharged patients, one migrated and 1,008 deaths. At present, there are 22,982 active COVID-19 cases in the country. Earlier in the day, Union Minister of Health Dr Harsh Vardhan said that of the total number of coronavirus cases only 0.33 per cent people are on ventilators. AGENCY MUMBAI, APR 29 Irrfan Khan, one of India's finest and most versatile ac- tors, lost his battle with a rare form of cancer and died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednes- day, a statement from his family said. He was 54 Irrfan, who was diag- nosed with neuroendocrine tumour in 2018, is survived by his wife Sutapa and his sons Babil and Ayaan. It is the second tragedy for the family in less than a week. The Maqbool actor lost his mother, 95-year-old Saeeda Begum, in Jaipur just four days ago and could not attend the funeral because of the nationwide lockdown. Irrfan, that rare actor who straddled multiple worlds, making his mark in both in- ternational and Indian cine- ma in roles intense and light- hearted, was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Am- bani Hospital with a colon in- fection. It's saddening that this day, we have to bring for- ward the news of him passing away. Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always in- spired everyone who came close to him. After having been struck by lightning in 2018 with the news of a rare cancer, he took life soon after as it came and he fought the many battles that came with it,? the statement from his family said Surrounded by his love, his family for whom he most cared about, he left for heav- enly abode, leaving behind truly a legacy of his own. We all pray and hope that he is at peace. Versatile actor Irrfan Khan dies in Mumbai hospital AGENCY NEW DELHI, APR 29 The Supreme Court Wednes- day granted partial relief to Vodafone Idea Ltd by asking the Income Tax department to refund Rs 733 crore to the telecom firm within four weeks, for assessment year 2014-15. Vodafone Idea, formerly known as Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd, had however sought Rs 4,759.07 crore in tax refund from for AYs - 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18. The top court did not or- der I-T refund pertaining to AYs other than 2014-15. Insofar as AY 2014-15 is concerned, final assessment order passed under Section 143(3) of the (Income Tax) Act indicates that the appel- lant (telecom firm) is enti- tled to refund of Rs 733 Crores; while for AY 2015- 16 there is a demand of Rs.582 Crores, a bench com- prising Justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran said in the judgement. AGENCY DEHRADUN, APR 29 The portals of the Kedarnath temple were opened on Wednesday with the first puja performed on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and only members of the shrine's committee and administrative officials attending it amid the COVID-19-induced lock- down. The doors of the eleventh jyotirlinga at Kedarnath in the Garhwal Himalayas were opened at 6.10 am. The temple was decorated in a grand way with 10 quintals of flowers, temple committee officials said. The portals of the four fa- mous Himalayan shrines -- Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gan- gotri and Yamunotri -- are opened every year between April and May after a six- month closure during which they remain completely snow- bound. The Gangotri and Ya- munotri shrines were opened on April 26 on the occasion of Akshay Tritiya. The Badrinath shrine will open on May 15. The first 'rudrabhishek' was performed on behalf of Prime Minister Modi, a Kedarnath temple committee official said. The pujas were per- formed by Shivshankar Ling in the absence of the chief priest, Bhimashankar Ling, who is in 14 days of quaran- tine. Only priests of the tem- ple, and officials of the temple committee and administration were present during the puja. Due to the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, pilgrims are not being allowed to visit the temple, an official said. Portals of Kedarnath temple open; first puja performed on behalf of PM BUREAU SHIMLA, APRIL 29 Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur expressed grief over tragic fire incident which took place in village Shishtwari of Gram Panchayat Pekha, Chirgaon, Rohru in Shimla district in wee hours today. According to reports reaching at State headquarters one person has died, two persons sustained injuries and seven houses were gutted into fire, affect- ing 11 families in this inci- dent. Jai Ram Thakur directed the district administration to provide immediate relief, ra- tion and other es- sential articles to the affected fami- lies. He said that a fire tender would be placed at Chir- gaon, so that it could reach to af- fected sites at the earliest and miti- gate the losses. Deputy Commis- sioner Shimla Amit Kashyap rushed to the site after hearing the news of the incident and supervised the relief and rescue operations. Jai Ram expresses grief over fire incident in Shishtwari village Bollywood mourns demise SC asks I-T dept to refund Rs 733 cr to Vodafone Idea Only 0.33% COVID-19 patients are on ventilators: Dr Harsh Vardhan NEW DELHI: Union Min- ister of Health Dr Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday said that of the total num- ber of coronavirus cases only 0.33 per cent people are on ventilators. "Only 0.33 per cent patients are on ventilators, 1.5 per cent patients are on oxygen support and 2.34 per cent patients are in ICU, which reflects the quality of care being provided across the country," said Vardhan dur- ing a video conference with Lions Club International. Highlighting India's ap- proach in combating COVID-19, he said, "This time the hallmark of our ap- proach has been fivefold. Govt allows movement of stranded people with conditions AGENCY NEW DELHI, APR 29 Migrant workers, tourists, students and other peo- ple, who are stranded in different parts of the coun- try, were on Wednesday allowed to move to their respective destinations with certain conditions. In an order, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhal- la said buses shall be used for transport of such groups of stranded people and these vehicles will be sanitised and will have to follow safe social dis- tancing norms in seating. "Due to lockdown, migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons are stranded at different places. They would be allowed to move," he said in an order issued to all states and union ter- ritories. Listing the conditions, the ministry said all states and union territories should designate nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for re- ceiving and sending such stranded persons. The nodal authorities shall also register the stranded persons within their states and union ter- ritories, it said. In case a group of stranded persons wish to move between one state and union territo- ry and another state and union territory, the send- ing and receiving states may consult each other and mutually agree to the movement by road. The mov- ing persons would be screened and those found asymptomatic would be allowed to proceed, ac- cording to the home ministry. The states and union territories falling on the bus transit route will allow the passage of such persons to the receiving states and union territories, it said. On arrival at their des- tination, such persons would be assessed by the lo- cal health authorities, and kept in home quarantine, unless the assessment requires keeping the persons in institutional quarantine, the order said. Industrial units allowed to start function in Hry NEERAJ SHARMA CHANDIGARH, APRIL 29 The Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar has announced relaxations for industrial units to re- sume functioning in non contain- ment areas here. The chief minister said that all the industrial units in non containment areas had been al- lowed to start working with 50 per- cent strength of employees and as per guidelines issued by MHA. He said that the shops in villages and neighbourhood shops in urban areas had also been allowed to open. The IT companies with work force of 33 percent of total strength are also al- lowed to resume their functions. The Chief Minister said that sealing bor- ders with Delhi was a need of hour as most of recent cases in nearby dis- tricts have connections with nation- al capital. Khattar further added that the spread of virus had been con- tained in state by the efforts of health workers and police administration. He said that total 308 cases of COVID 19 had been reported so far and out of which 224 have been re- covered. Haryana stands second af- ter Kerala in recovery rate at 72.7 per cent in country and now there are only 81 active cases in state , the Chief Minister said. He further in- formed that the state had been divid- ed into two zones and seven districts had been declared as sensitive areas. These include Gurugram, Nuh, Pal- wal, Faridabad, Panipat, Sonipat and Panchkula and relaxations in these districts would be decided after May 3, Khattar said. State has second highest recovery rate in country: Khattar Curfew extended in Punjab till May 17 Shops to open by rotation from today for 4 hours BUREAU CHANDIGARH, APRIL 29: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday announced extension of curfew in the state by two weeks after May 3, while unveiling steps for limit- ed lifting of the lockdown restric- tions, from tomorrow, in the non- containment and non-red zones, with strict adherence to Covid-19 safety protocols. Based on the report of the Ex- pert Committee set up to formu- late the state’s exit strategy, and the inputs received from various sections of the society, the Chief Minister said it was necessary to continue with the lockdown re- strictions for some more time. The curfew/lockdown in the state will now remain in force in Punjab will May 17, though limit- ed easing of restrictions will be in place from tomorrow from 7 am to 11 am every day. The contain- ment and red zones will, however, continue to remain under total and strict lockdown. In an address to the people of the state, the Chief Minister said the situation will be reviewed af- ter two weeks and further relax- ations will be announced there- after if the pandemic remains in control. As per the limited relief an- nounced by the Chief Minister, certain shops will be allowed to remain open in certain areas by rotation, for four hours every morning, with 50% staff strength. The DCs have been directed to work out the rotational schedule for the shops that are allowed to be opened in line with the Chief Minister’s directives, which have come four days after the new MHA guidelines came into effect. The lockdown/curfew will re- main in place after 11 a.m., as usual, said the Chief Minister, ap- pealing to people to be back in their homes by that time, and con- tinue to maintain social distanc- ing. All those stepping out during the relaxation period would have to wear masks and maintain a 2 meters distance from others, he said, adding that the relief has been provided only for the con- venience of the people and should not be used for interactions with friends etc. If the situation im- proves after two weeks, we can take more steps, said Captain Amarinder. The limited relaxations an- nounced by the Chief Minister from tomorrow include permis- sion for opening of all registered shops, except those in multi-brand and single-brand malls, with 50% strength of workers from 7 am to 11 am. In urban areas, all stand- alone shops, neighbourhood shops and shops in residential complexes are allowed to open during this period, as per the new directives. 20 policemen quarantined after accused tests positive AGENCY AURANGABAD (MAHA), APR 29 Twenty police personnel attached to the City Chowk po- lice station here have been quarantined after an accused who was recently arrested tested positive for coron- avirus, an official said. A 45-year-old man who was ar- rested last Friday tested positive for infection two days ago. "He did not have any coronavirus symptoms when his primary health check-up was done after arrest. Later when he was sent in magistrate's custody he showed some symptoms. On Monday night his test report came. He tested positive," said a police official.

Transcript of SHOPIAN: Curfew extended in Punjab till May 17Apr 30, 2020  · lowed to resume their functions. The...

Page 1: SHOPIAN: Curfew extended in Punjab till May 17Apr 30, 2020  · lowed to resume their functions. The Chief Minister said that sealing bor-ders with Delhi was a need of hour as most

PAGE 5PAGE 3 PAGE 6 PAGE 8

Govt will provideall possible helpto industrialists:Himachal ChiefMinister Jai RamThakur

Member of ParliamentSharma appealsfor safety of studentsstrandedabroad

WWW.YUGMARG.COM

REGD NO. CHD/0061/2006-08 | RNI NO. 61323/95

Thursday,April 30, 2020

CHANDIGARH, VOL. XXV, NO. 89, PAGES 8, RS. 2 YOUR REGION, YOUR PAPER

FOLLOW US ON

Three terroristskilled in ShopianencounterSHOPIAN: Three terroristshave been killed in an en-counter with securityforces at Zainapora inShopian district on Tues-day, informed KashmirZone Police on Wednes-day.The joint operation, con-ducted by Army's 55 RR(Rashtriya Rifles), ShopianPolice and CRPF startedyesterday and continuedthrough the night. Bodiesof two terrorists have beenrecovered so far."One more unidentified ter-rorist killed in Shopian en-counter. A total of three ter-rorists neutralised so far,"said the police.

Testmatchesare purestform ofcricket :Stokes

AsymptomaticCOVID-19 pa-tients to betreated at home:Delhi Health Minister

12 new COVID-19 cases inChandigarhCHANDIGARH: As manyas 12 new coronaviruscases have been found inChandigarh on Wednes-day, said Health Depart-ment, Chandigarh."With the confirmation of12 new COVID-19 cases,the total number of casesin the UT has reached to68," read an official state-ment from the Health De-partment. As per the latestupdate by the Ministry ofHealth and Family Wel-fare, the total number ofcoronavirus cases in thecountry stands to 31,787.

India's COVID-19 tally mountsto 31,787NEW DELHI: With 1,813new cases of COVID-19reported in the last 24hours and 71 deaths, In-dia's total count of coron-avirus cases surged to31787, said the UnionMinistry of Health andFamily Welfare onWednesday.The total cases are inclu-sive of 7,797 cured anddischarged patients, onemigrated and 1,008deaths.At present, there are22,982 active COVID-19cases in the country.Earlier in the day, UnionMinister of Health DrHarsh Vardhan said thatof the total number ofcoronavirus cases only0.33 per cent people areon ventilators.

AGENCYMUMBAI, APR 29

Irrfan Khan, one of India'sfinest and most versatile ac-tors, lost his battle with a rareform of cancer and died in aMumbai hospital on Wednes-day, a statement from hisfamily said. He was 54

Irrfan, who was diag-nosed with neuroendocrinetumour in 2018, is survivedby his wife Sutapa and hissons Babil and Ayaan.

It is the second tragedyfor the family in less than aweek. The Maqbool actor

lost his mother, 95-year-oldSaeeda Begum, in Jaipur justfour days ago and could notattend the funeral because ofthe nationwide lockdown.

Irrfan, that rare actor whostraddled multiple worlds,making his mark in both in-ternational and Indian cine-ma in roles intense and light-hearted, was admitted to theintensive care unit of theKokilaben Dhirubhai Am-bani Hospital with a colon in-fection. It's saddening thatthis day, we have to bring for-ward the news of him passingaway. Irrfan was a strong

soul, someone who fought tillthe very end and always in-spired everyone who cameclose to him. After havingbeen struck by lightning in2018 with the news of a rarecancer, he took life soon afteras it came and he fought themany battles that came withit,? the statement from hisfamily said

Surrounded by his love,his family for whom he mostcared about, he left for heav-enly abode, leaving behindtruly a legacy of his own. Weall pray and hope that he is atpeace.

Versatile actor Irrfan Khan dies in Mumbai hospital

AGENCYNEW DELHI, APR 29

The Supreme Court Wednes-day granted partial relief toVodafone Idea Ltd by askingthe Income Tax departmentto refund Rs 733 crore to thetelecom firm within fourweeks, for assessment year2014-15.

Vodafone Idea, formerlyknown as Vodafone MobileServices Ltd, had howeversought Rs 4,759.07 crore intax refund from for AYs -2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17

and 2017-18.The top court did not or-

der I-T refund pertaining toAYs other than 2014-15.

Insofar as AY 2014-15 isconcerned, final assessmentorder passed under Section143(3) of the (Income Tax)Act indicates that the appel-lant (telecom firm) is enti-tled to refund of Rs 733Crores; while for AY 2015-16 there is a demand ofRs.582 Crores, a bench com-prising Justices U U Lalitand Vineet Saran said in thejudgement.

AGENCYDEHRADUN, APR 29

The portals of the Kedarnathtemple were opened onWednesday with the first pujaperformed on behalf of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andonly members of the shrine'scommittee and administrativeofficials attending it amid theCOVID-19-induced lock-down.

The doors of the eleventhjyotirlinga at Kedarnath in theGarhwal Himalayas wereopened at 6.10 am. The temple

was decorated in a grand waywith 10 quintals of flowers,temple committee officialssaid. The portals of the four fa-mous Himalayan shrines --Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gan-gotri and Yamunotri -- areopened every year betweenApril and May after a six-month closure during whichthey remain completely snow-bound. The Gangotri and Ya-munotri shrines were openedon April 26 on the occasion ofAkshay Tritiya. The Badrinathshrine will open on May 15.The first 'rudrabhishek' was

performed on behalf of PrimeMinister Modi, a Kedarnathtemple committee officialsaid. The pujas were per-formed by Shivshankar Lingin the absence of the chiefpriest, Bhimashankar Ling,who is in 14 days of quaran-tine. Only priests of the tem-ple, and officials of the templecommittee and administrationwere present during the puja.Due to the lockdown imposedto prevent the spread of thenovel coronavirus, pilgrimsare not being allowed to visitthe temple, an official said.

Portals of Kedarnath temple open; firstpuja performed on behalf of PM

BUREAU SHIMLA, APRIL 29

Chief Minister Jai RamThakur expressedgrief over tragic fireincident which tookplace in villageShishtwari of GramPanchayat Pekha,Chirgaon, Rohru inShimla district inwee hours today.

According toreports reaching atState headquartersone person hasdied, two persons sustainedinjuries and seven houseswere gutted into fire, affect-ing 11 families in this inci-

dent.Jai Ram Thakur directed

the district administration toprovide immediate relief, ra-

tion and other es-sential articles tothe affected fami-lies. He said that afire tender wouldbe placed at Chir-gaon, so that itcould reach to af-fected sites at theearliest and miti-gate the losses.Deputy Commis-sioner Shimla

Amit Kashyap rushed to thesite after hearing the news ofthe incident and supervised therelief and rescue operations.

Jai Ram expresses griefover fire incident inShishtwari village

Bollywood mourns demise

SC asks I-T dept to refundRs 733 cr to Vodafone Idea

Only 0.33%COVID-19 patientsare on ventilators:Dr Harsh VardhanNEW DELHI: Union Min-ister of Health Dr HarshVardhan on Wednesdaysaid that of the total num-ber of coronavirus casesonly 0.33 per cent peopleare on ventilators. "Only0.33 per cent patients areon ventilators, 1.5 per centpatients are on oxygensupport and 2.34 per centpatients are in ICU, whichreflects the quality of carebeing provided across thecountry," said Vardhan dur-ing a video conference withLions Club International.Highlighting India's ap-proach in combatingCOVID-19, he said, "Thistime the hallmark of our ap-proach has been fivefold.

Govt allows movement of stranded people with conditionsAGENCYNEW DELHI, APR 29

Migrant workers, tourists, students and other peo-ple, who are stranded in different parts of the coun-try, were on Wednesday allowed to move to theirrespective destinations with certain conditions.

In an order, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhal-la said buses shall be used for transport of suchgroups of stranded people and these vehicles willbe sanitised and will have to follow safe social dis-tancing norms in seating.

"Due to lockdown, migrant workers, pilgrims,tourists, students and other persons are stranded atdifferent places. They would be allowed to move,"he said in an order issued to all states and union ter-ritories.

Listing the conditions, the ministry said allstates and union territories should designate nodal

authorities and develop standard protocols for re-ceiving and sending such stranded persons.

The nodal authorities shall also register thestranded persons within their states and union ter-ritories, it said. In case a group of stranded personswish to move between one state and union territo-ry and another state and union territory, the send-ing and receiving states may consult each other andmutually agree to the movement by road. The mov-ing persons would be screened and those foundasymptomatic would be allowed to proceed, ac-cording to the home ministry. The states and unionterritories falling on the bus transit route will allowthe passage of such persons to the receiving statesand union territories, it said. On arrival at their des-tination, such persons would be assessed by the lo-cal health authorities, and kept in home quarantine,unless the assessment requires keeping the personsin institutional quarantine, the order said.

Industrial unitsallowed to startfunction in Hry

NEERAJ SHARMACHANDIGARH, APRIL 29

The Haryana Chief Minister,Manohar Lal Khattar has announcedrelaxations for industrial units to re-sume functioning in non contain-ment areas here. The chief ministersaid that all the industrial units innon containment areas had been al-lowed to start working with 50 per-cent strength of employees and asper guidelines issued by MHA. Hesaid that the shops in villages andneighbourhood shops in urban areashad also been allowed to open. TheIT companies with work force of 33percent of total strength are also al-lowed to resume their functions. TheChief Minister said that sealing bor-ders with Delhi was a need of houras most of recent cases in nearby dis-tricts have connections with nation-al capital. Khattar further added thatthe spread of virus had been con-tained in state by the efforts of healthworkers and police administration.He said that total 308 cases ofCOVID 19 had been reported so farand out of which 224 have been re-covered. Haryana stands second af-

ter Kerala in recovery rate at 72.7per cent in country and now thereare only 81 active cases in state , theChief Minister said. He further in-formed that the state had been divid-ed into two zones and seven districtshad been declared as sensitive areas.These include Gurugram, Nuh, Pal-wal, Faridabad, Panipat, Sonipat andPanchkula and relaxations in thesedistricts would be decided after May3, Khattar said.

State has secondhighest recovery ratein country: Khattar

Curfew extended inPunjab till May 17

Shops to open by rotation from today for 4 hoursBUREAU CHANDIGARH, APRIL 29:

Punjab Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh on Wednesdayannounced extension of curfew inthe state by two weeks after May3, while unveiling steps for limit-ed lifting of the lockdown restric-tions, from tomorrow, in the non-containment and non-red zones,with strict adherence to Covid-19safety protocols.

Based on the report of the Ex-pert Committee set up to formu-late the state’s exit strategy, andthe inputs received from varioussections of the society, the ChiefMinister said it was necessary tocontinue with the lockdown re-strictions for some more time.

The curfew/lockdown in thestate will now remain in force inPunjab will May 17, though limit-

ed easing of restrictions will be inplace from tomorrow from 7 amto 11 am every day. The contain-ment and red zones will, however,continue to remain under total andstrict lockdown.

In an address to the people ofthe state, the Chief Minister saidthe situation will be reviewed af-

ter two weeks and further relax-ations will be announced there-after if the pandemic remains incontrol.

As per the limited relief an-nounced by the Chief Minister,certain shops will be allowed toremain open in certain areas byrotation, for four hours everymorning, with 50% staff strength.The DCs have been directed towork out the rotational schedulefor the shops that are allowed tobe opened in line with the ChiefMinister’s directives, which havecome four days after the newMHA guidelines came into effect.

The lockdown/curfew will re-main in place after 11 a.m., asusual, said the Chief Minister, ap-pealing to people to be back intheir homes by that time, and con-tinue to maintain social distanc-ing. All those stepping out during

the relaxation period would haveto wear masks and maintain a 2meters distance from others, hesaid, adding that the relief hasbeen provided only for the con-venience of the people and shouldnot be used for interactions withfriends etc. If the situation im-proves after two weeks, we cantake more steps, said CaptainAmarinder.

The limited relaxations an-nounced by the Chief Ministerfrom tomorrow include permis-sion for opening of all registeredshops, except those in multi-brandand single-brand malls, with 50%strength of workers from 7 am to11 am. In urban areas, all stand-alone shops, neighbourhoodshops and shops in residentialcomplexes are allowed to openduring this period, as per the newdirectives.

20 policemen quarantinedafter accused tests positive

AGENCYAURANGABAD (MAHA), APR 29

Twenty police personnel attached to the City Chowk po-lice station here have been quarantined after an accusedwho was recently arrested tested positive for coron-avirus, an official said. A 45-year-old man who was ar-rested last Friday tested positive for infection two daysago. "He did not have any coronavirus symptoms whenhis primary health check-up was done after arrest. Laterwhen he was sent in magistrate's custody he showedsome symptoms. On Monday night his test report came.He tested positive," said a police official.

Page 2: SHOPIAN: Curfew extended in Punjab till May 17Apr 30, 2020  · lowed to resume their functions. The Chief Minister said that sealing bor-ders with Delhi was a need of hour as most

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020

NEWSPAGE2

BRIEFNEWS

Honda Cars India introduces ‘Honda from Home’ Online Booking Platform

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things

while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

Lao Tzu

Chandigarh: TikTok’s #EduTok campaign gives the platform’s users an opportunity to ‘watch and learn’ from tech tips to math tricks, fitness routines to dance moves, and tips on photography to academic preparations. As part of its ongoing campaign, TikTok creators and institutional partners creating educational content have joined the fundraising LIVE stream campaign #EveryViewCounts on the platform and will be going live on 29th April to help support NGOs towards their COVID-19 relief efforts and to encourage users to #LearnFromHome. Influencers such as Beer Biceps and Dr. Ashwin Vijay, Creators like Fuxino and ed-tech partners such as CPKota among others will be going live to share their expertise on subjects such as medicine and health, fitness hacks at home, entrance exam preparations, keyboard lessons among others. Catering to its users’ need to stay motivated, positive and informed, TikTok has also collaborated with TEDx for exclusive live sessions on its platform.

Skill up with #EduTok on TikTok

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Shimla :Amazon.intoday announced the launch of ‘Local Shops on Amazon’ The program brings the benefits of ecommerce to local shopkeepers and retailers of all sizes. It helps supplement the existing footfalls with a digital presence and expands their reach beyond their normal catchment. As part of the program, Amazon will use its technology, training and enablement capabilities to power local shops and retailers of all sizes from across India to sell online.Shopkeepers joining “Local Shops on Amazon” use their existing delivery setups to deliver faster within the city and can choose to expand their serviceable areas by using Amazon’s fulfilment services. Additionally, these shops can sign up for Amazon’s other programs that include I Have Space to act as delivery and pickup points, and ‘Amazon Easy’ to offer expanded selection to their walk-in customersto earn additional income.Over 5000 local shops and retailers from across India have already enrolled for this program and hundreds of them are selling products that are essential to customers during these challenging times.

AGENCY Bourses in Shanghai, Hong MUMBAI, APR 29 Kong and Seoul settled on a

positive note. Markets in Europe Extending its gains for the third were also trading higher in early session, equity benchmark Sensex deals.rallied 606 points on Wednesday, International oil benchmark buoyed by banking and IT stocks Brent crude futures rose 2.99 per amid positive cues from global cent to USD 23.41 per barrel.markets. On the currency front, the

Investor sentiment improved rupee surged 52 paise to on hopes that gradual lifting of provisionally close at 75.66 lockdowns across the world would against the US dollar.help start economic recovery, Meanwhile, global tally of traders said. coronavirus infections has crossed

After surging 783.07 points 31 lakh, with over 2.17 lakh during the day, the 30-share BSE deaths.index ended 605.64 points or The death toll due to COVID-1 . 8 9 p e r c e n t h i g h e r a t 19 in India rose to 1,007 and the 32,720.16. announcement of larger stimulus heavily negative sectors like number of cases climbed to

Similarly, the NSE Nifty package for the economy, which financials ahead of monthly expiry 31,332, according to the health advanced 172.45 points, or 1.84 also led to some short covering in on Thursday," he said. ministry.per cent, to close at 9,553.35.

HDFC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 7 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, M&M, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, SBI, Bajaj Finance and Infosys.

On the other hand, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, HUL, Titan and IndusInd Bank were among the laggards.

Indian markets opened on positive note taking positive cues from its Asian peers and ahead of U S Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates amid ongoing coronavirus pandemic, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

"Indian benchmarks extended their gains in late afternoon session as traders also took encouragement from reports of F inance Min i s t e r ' s l i ke ly

SHAREit contributes in COVID-19 relief efforts to help feed 500,000 people

CHANDIGARH: SHAREit,in an attempt to help fight the adverse effects of COVID-19 in India and with the intention to provide aid to vulnerable familiesimpacted by the pandemic, has partnered with TheAkshaya Patra Foundation. The global content discovery, consumption and sharing application has committed to donate INR 1 crore as a part of the initiative which would help feed 500,000 people in need. “The world is going through extremely harsh times at the moment and we at SHAREit believe that it is times like these that demand everybody to join hands to help each other. While the world is trying to find a way out of this pandemic, it is crucial to ensure that the people affected by the crisis are taken care of. Providing meals and groceries to these people is our way of showing that we are all in this together”, said SHAREitspokespersonHitesh Dhingra. Expressing his gratitude, Mr. Shridhar Venkat, CEO - Akshaya Patra, said.

CHANDIGARH: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has committed to donating 1.5 lakh packs of Horlicks to help provide immunity to health care workers and providers as they continue their tireless fight against Coronavirus. The first packs have already reached 39 Covid hospitals across India and will soon reach all major Covid hospitals in 12 key cities. Horlicks* combines the goodness of milk, wheat and malted barley with 23 vital nutrients such as proteins, Zinc, Vitamin C and Vitamin D with other immunity supporting nutrients like Selenium, Folic acid, Iron, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin B6. Zinc, Vitamin C and Vitamin D are key nutrients known to build immunity against disease. There is also laboratory evidence that Zinc, in combination with ionophores, has helped in viral load reduction of previous coronaviruses like SARS. Unfortunately, zinc deficiency in the Indian population.

HUL commits to donating Zinc SupplementedHorlicks to Hospitals battling COVID-19

CHANDIGARH: Founder & CEO of B2B marketplaces Pumpkart.com & Figgital- K S Bhatia, who is a well known entrepreneur from Chandigarh region, has initiated a unique Hyper-Local E Commerce business model, which when implemented will be the first in the country. As the model is slated to resolve the economic slowdown being witnessed across the country due to the COVID 19 pandemic, it is quite well suited for different North Indian state governments and Chandigarh,UT. It is noteworthy that Pumpkart has made a name for itself even globally when it attracted attention of Google CEO Sundar Pichai for selling water pumps online. Pichai had appreciated Pumpkart's business model at his digital India speech in front of PM Modi in the US. K S Bhatia said, "Pumpkart is a B2B E Commerce operator which since the last 5 years has been doing digital distribution of branded & non branded products to retailers. We have also unveiled figgital.com, which we have rolled out keeping in mind the lock-down period.

Chandigarh region start ups Pumpkart & Figgital unveil Hyper-Local E Commerce model

Chandigarh, In awake of providing relief to covid warriors Nanhi Jaan, the flagship project of NGO Veeranwali Foundation handed over second batch of 1200 protective PPE coveralls to PGIMER, GMCH-32 and Sector 16. These coveralls were designed by the NGO as per government guidelines and got approved by INMAS Delhi. The NGO further got these produced at a very cost-effective rate.

PPE Coveralls provided to medical fraternity by Nanhi Jaan

CHANDIGARH: The all-new Nissan KICKS 2020 to be launched soon in India. It will feature the most powerful engine in its class - the Nissan Turbo – and Nissan’s widely-acclaimed X-tronic CVT.Rakesh Srivastava, MD-Nissan Motor India said, “The all new Nissan KICKS 2020 is built with Japanese engineering and technology and has high build quality with purposeful and intelligent technology with class-leading premium-ness. The New Nissan KICKS is powered by best-in-class turbo engine and best-in-class X-tronic CVT offering higher fuel economy and acceleration.”

Nissan’s new KICKS 2020 to featuremost powerful engine in its class

Sensex rallies 606 pts, Nifty reclaims 9,500 Delhi HC directs to ensure compliance of lockdown norms in CWG village

AGENCY Anoop Sharma through NEW DELHI, APR 29 advocate Joby P Varghese,

also sought a report from Delhi High Court has directed authorities concerned within Nodal Officer to ensure strict four weeks.compliance of all lockdown The petitioner requested directives and COVID-19 to let the Nodal Officer be related guidelines in the permitted to take all necessary Commonwea l th Games measures , th rough the Village with the help of existing Facility Management Facility Management Service Service Agency and other Agency and other staff. CWGVAOA staff, to ensure

Justice Yogesh Khanna on strict compliance of the Monday also directed Nodal lockdown directives and other Officer to report matters to the COVID-19 related guidelines local authorities concerned issued by the Centre and Delhi whenever such action is government wi thin the deemed appropriate. Commonwea l th Games

The court observed that an Village and report all such e-circular dated April 9, 2020, violations to the concerned of the FMS agency, which is local authorities for taking managing operations and action against such erring maintenance in the village residents.specifically directed the The petitioner said that residents to stop visiting DDA the Nodal Officer was earlier parks and walking in the permitted to act to the limited village, but the guidelines are extent of making payment of not being followed. essential service charges

The court, which was including statutory payment hearing a petition filed by to the local authorities.

Amazon India strenghthens partnership with Indian RailJALANDHAR, APR 29:--Amazon speed and reliability. Indian customer orders with enhanced India today announced that it has Railways with the support of the speed and capacity. We are grateful strengthened its partnership with the Railway Board and the zones across for this timely decision by the Indian Indian Railways to transport Western, Central, Northern, Eastern, Railways to offer freight movement consignments via rail across the South Central, Southern, South solutions during these challenging country. The company is leveraging Eastern, North East Frontier, North times.” said Abhinav Singh, the ’COVID-19 Parcel Special Western and South Western have Director – Amazon Transportation Trains’ introduced by the Indian created a proactive solution to Services, Amazon India. “We are Railways to ramp up its operations to provide support for transportation pleased to extend our partnership 55 lanes during the lockdown during lockdown. with Amazon India and offer period. This is yet another step “In these unprecedented times, services of ’COVID-19 Parcel towards a long-term partnership we understand the importance of Special Trains’ to ensure that between Amazon India and Indian ensuring that critical supplies reach essential needs of the public across Railways which is focused on our customers across the country. the country are met and fulfilled by developing the rail network to With the support of COVID-19 Amazon. We will continue to build supplement the road and air Parcel Special trains introduced by on this partnership to help the networks for transportation of the Indian Railways, we are industry service customers during customer packages with improved confident that we can further fulfil this critical period.”

CHANDIGARH: In its endeavor to offer a convenient purchase experience to its customers, Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL), leading manufacturer of premium cars in India, today announced its ‘Honda from Home’ online booking platform through its corporate website https://www.hondacarindia.com/honda-from-home. With this digital solution, backed by robust sales process of the dealership, customers can manage their car purchase from the comfort of their homes without having to visit the dealership. The platform allows customers to browse through the product options, select their preferred dealership and proceed to book their car online. Designed to simplify the booking process by offering round-the-clock access from any location, this digital booking platform will soon integrate HCIL’s pan-India dealerships. Mr. Rajesh Goel, Senior Vice President and Director, Sales and Marketing, Honda Cars India Ltd said, “At Honda, providing ‘Joy of Buying’ to our customers is at the core of our corporate philosophy.

Amazon launches the ‘Local Shops on Amazon’ program

Rupee settles 52 paise higher at 75.66 against US dollar

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee surged 52 paise to close at 75.66 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking positive domestic equities and a weak American currency in the overseas market. This is the third consecutive day of gain for the rupee, during which it has appreciated by 80 paise. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 75.94. During the session it touched an intra-day high of 75.60 and a low of 75.96.The domestic unit finally settled at 75.66, registering a rise of 52 paise over its previous close.On Tuesday, the local unit had settled at 76.18 against the US dollar. Forex traders said positive start of domestic stocks supported the local unit. Besides, market sentiments improved as more countries are announcing gradual lifting of lockdowns that have been imposed to contain coronavirus infection. Meanwhile, domestic stock exchanges were trading on a positive note with benchmark indices Sensex trading 519.56 points higher at 32,634.08 and Nifty up by 150.70 points at 9,531.60. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.28 per cent down at 99.58.

ITI Cuttack develops low cost robots to combat COVID-19

AGENCY Mohanty told a news agency. work autonomously in a hospital ward, BHUBANESWAR, APR 29 One of the two robots is a service Mohanty said. The second one, named

robot, named CO-BOT (Corona NIGA-BOT, is a telepresence robot Joining the fight against Covid-19, the Combat Robot), which can move on which can be used for surveillance and government-run Industrial Training wheels and has a humanoid structure. teleconsultation by doctors who can Institute (ITI) in Cuttack has developed Its hand-like structures can hold a tray interact remotely with patients through two low cost robots, which can save and carry a load upto 20 kg, the live video streaming. health workers from the infectious virus principal said.and reduce the need for personal It can be used in COVID-19 protective equipment. hospitals for carrying food, water and

The cost of each robot is expected medicines to and from patients. "This to be around Rs 2.5 lakh, ITI-Cuttack will reduce the risks to attendants principal Hrushikesh Mohanty said. In serving the COVID-19 patients," he the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, said.the institute had constituted an The wireless communication innovation team that developed the protocols being used to control the robots in its laboratory, in association robot can be further programmed with with SAK Robotics Lab, a start-up, navigation and mapping to make them

CHANDIGARH : Global smartphone brand vivo has donated 15,000 PPE suits and 50,000 litres of sanitizer to the Central Government to ensure safety of caregivers and healthcare professionals. vivo India has been at the forefront of providing essentials for the frontline workers. The brand had earlier donated close to 9 lakh masks to state and central government, police agencies and other municipal corporations. At a time when the entire country is in lockdown, healthcare workers continue to work under difficult circumstances and rigorously fight against the spread of the novel virus. The country has reported more than 31,000 COVID-19 cases. This has generated a huge demand for protective gear for doctors and health workers across the country.

vivo India Donates 15,000 PPE suits to central government

Page 3: SHOPIAN: Curfew extended in Punjab till May 17Apr 30, 2020  · lowed to resume their functions. The Chief Minister said that sealing bor-ders with Delhi was a need of hour as most

NEWS BRIEFS

3NEWSWoman missingunder suspicious

circumstancesMAIN PAL KASHYAPINDRI, APRIL 29

A case of the disappearance of awoman from village Tusang in thearea in a suspected manner hascome to light. The police have reg-istered a case and started searchingfor the woman. According to the in-formation received from the police,the woman suddenly disappeared atnight. Shamsher Singh son Babu-ram resident Tusang said in hiscomplaint to the police that mydaughter-in-law Priya suddenly dis-appeared from the house at night.People tried hard to find her butfailed to do so. Later they requestedthe police for help.

Young mandisappearsfrom house

MAIN PAL KASHYAPINDRI, APRIL 29

A young man's disappearance fromhis house under suspicious circum-stances in Dhanaura Jagir hascaused a sensation in the village.Police have registered a case andstarted the search after receiving acomplaint. According to the infor-mation, the mother of 22-year-oldAman resident Dhanora Jagir saidin a complaint to the police a mancomplained that his son Aman hadgone away from home on April 16for some work but never returned.

Aman's mother said that shesearched for her son in all thehomes of her relatives but no cluewas found anywhere. Family mem-bers are now crying foul. Whentalked to the investigating officerMohan about this, he said that acomplaint has been received aboutthe disappearance of Aman, policehave registered the case and startedthe search.

Safety of farmers,labourers matters

most: AshnaVIVEK RANAGHARAUNDA, APRIL 29

The security of our farmers andagricultural laborers matters mostin this critical time of harvestingand selling under lockdown. TheWaritra Foundation is providingmasks and sanitizers to one thou-sand farmers and agricultural labor-ers. Called the Kisan Suraksha Ab-hiyan, this initiative has been start-ed by Waritra founders AishnaKalyan and Baljeet Yadav. In thiscampaign of Waritra, she is beingsupported by Sushil Garg fromGharaunda Mandi Association andRohit Bhandari, Vibhor, DevendraSharma, Amit Jangda, Ballindraetc. of Waritra and coming to thefrontline to make this campaign asuccess.

Baljeet said that during thispandemic it is necessary that everyaspect of society should go togeth-er to tackle the dangerous situation.One important thing is that themasks given in this campaign aremade by rural women, which willalso help them financially.

Caution requiredto avoid corona,

says TarunROHIT LAMSARTARAORI, APRIL 29

Social worker Tarun Bansal saidthat we need to take precautions toavoid the epidemic of corona infec-tion. If the corona infection is to beavoided, it is better to cooperatewith the administration. If we all to-gether follow the instructions givenby the district administration, then

an epi-d e m i cl i k eCoronawill bee r a d i -c a t e dsoon, hesaid. So-c i a lworkerT a r u nB a n s a lsaid thatcases of

corona infection are increasingabroad more than in India, but thepeople of India are sensible, whoare following the instructions ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

Tarun Bansal said that just aswe had complied with the instruc-tions given under the lockdown tillApril 14, now again we will haveto give full support to the lock-down-2 imposed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi till May 3. He saidadministrative officials and policeofficers are on the streets only forour safety. They are engaged in de-fending us while fighting the waragainst Corona. Tarun Bansal ap-pealed to the townspeople to takeprecautions to prevent corona in-fection and stay safe.

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020

31.94 MT wheat procured so farCHANDIGARH: In a statement issued here, Additional Chief Secretary Agri-culture & Farmers Welfare and Cooperation Department, Mr. SanjeevKaushal, stated that today 48,220 Metric Tonnes of Wheat was procuredfrom 6314 farmers in the Procurement Centres of Haryana. With this theprogressive total of 31.94 Lakh Metric Tonnes of Wheat has been procuredfrom 3,60,817 farmers in the State in the last nine days.He also added that today 23,603 Metric Tonnes of Mustard was procuredfrom 8817 farmers in the 163 Procurement Centres of the State and progres-sive total of 3.25 Lakh Metric Tonnes of mustard has been procured from1,19,575 farmers.

BUREAU CHANDIGARH, APRIL 29

The Saksham Haryana programme,an initiative of Haryana, School Edu-cation Department, which has beenfunctioning for last 3 years, hasshown significant improvement instudent learning levels across thestate’s 119 blocks in the SakshamGhoshna examination, which wereconducted in February 2020.

The Saksham Ghoshna exam re-sults of grades 3 and 4 has been ahuge success with 117 and 116 blocksof the state being declared as Sak-sham respectively.

Project Director Chief MinistersGood Governance Associates (CMG-GAs), Dr. Rakesh Gupta, shared thedetails while presiding over a meetingthrough video conferencing with theDistrict Education Officers (DEOs),District Elementary Education Offi-cers (DEEOs), DPCs, DIET Princi-pals, BEOs and CMGGAs with morethan 200 officers participating in itacross the 119 blocks in the state. Mr.Gupta congratulated the officers ofdistricts Hisar and Bhiwani for theoutstanding performance in the exam-ination conducted in February 2020despite being among the largest dis-tricts of the state. He also congratu-lated the officers at Charkhi Dadri for

conducting cheating-free exams inthe district. Mr. Gupta said that weneed to curb the cheating culture andaccept that cheating doesn’t help.

He said that the schools wereclosed due to COVID-19 but we haveto motivate students to educate athome. He also shared the detailsabout the “Ghar Se Padhao” Abhiyanto ensure uninterrupted education tochildren.

The assessment criteria of theSaksham Ghoshna exam was also dis-closed at the meeting according towhich for any given grade, a block is‘Saksham’ where more than 80% stu-dents score over 50% marks in theGhoshna exam. A block is ‘Near Sak-sham’ where more than 60% studentsscore over 50% marks in the Ghosh-na exam. A block is ‘Not Saksham’where less than 60% students scoreover 50% marks in the Ghoshnaexam. A block is ‘Disqualified due tocheating’ where data analysis indicatemass cheating.

Speaking on the Saksham Ghosh-na results he said that 93 blocks havebeen declared as Saksham in grade 5.While in grades 6 and 8 almost half ofthe blocks have been declared Sak-sham with 64 and 65 blocks respec-tively achieving this benchmark. Afurther 40 blocks were Saksham ingrade 7.

Sharing details on the SakshamGhoshna exam he informed that itwas a third-party assessment for allsix grades from staring from 3 to 8 ingovernment schools in all 119 blocksin Haryana. The students are assessedin Hindi, Maths, EVS, Science, andSocial Studies.

Earlier the examination was con-ducted in September, where no blockwas declared as Saksham for all thesix grades but in the exam carried outin February this year, nearly 22blocks from across 14 Districts havebeen assessed as Saksham in allgrades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Theseblocks were from districts Ambala,Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Faridabad,Gurugram, Hisar, Jind, Kaithal, Ma-hendergarh, Nuh Mewat, Rewari, Sir-sa, Sonipat, and Yamuna Nagar Dis-tricts, he added.

While informing the officers onthe next year’s exam he said that thefocus will be on improving perform-ance in senior grades this time. Heurged the DEOs to prepare the stu-dents for next year's exams, it is cru-cial that the students continue to learnfrom home during this lockdown. Hesaid that the education department hasmade educational videos for allgrades available through three newEDUSAT channels - available on bothCable and DTH TV networks.

Saksham Haryana Prog leads tohuge success: Rakesh Gupta SHIV KUMAR SHRAMA

ROHTAKM APRIL 29

Dr. Arvind Sharma has writtenletter to the External Affairs min-istry appealing for the safety ofthe Indian students trappedabroad so that they can bebrought back to the country. Hehas asked for special arrange-ments from the government forthe return of te students. Many ofthese students are also from Ro-htak Lok Sabha constituency,who are enrolled in MBBS andEngineering and other profes-sional courses in Universities ofUkraine. MP Arvind Sharma haswritten letter that due to outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic Indian students are trappedabroad.

He requested that they be brought back toIndia as soon as possible. Because the

COVID-19 epidemic has delayed flights com-ing from abroad to the country indefinitely dueto which they are delayed to return to the coun-

try. Until then Dr. Sharma hasurged the Government of India totake special steps for the Indianstudents abroad for their healthand safe life. Dr. Sharma is con-stantly in touch with the con-cerned ministries of the Govern-ment of India and the problemsbeing faced by Indian studentsabroad are also being conveyedto the concerned ministries. TheGovernment of India is also intouch with the administrative au-thorities of the state governmentsin this regard. The MP has also

written to the Indian Embassy in Ukraine tobring all MBBS students back to India andprovide them a healthy and safe environmentin Ukraine. Dr. Sharma is also in contact withthe parents of many students of Rohtak.

Sangharsh Seva Groupdistributes 385 ration kits

BUREAUKARNAL, APRIL 29

The young social workers have distributed 385 ration kits. VinayGoyal, the director of Vinay Gas Agency, said that his group has sofar provided drought rations to a total of 3891 families. Since April10, 400 to 500 goats are being fed green fodder, biscuits to dogs andwater and grains to birds. The group members have adopted the slumcolony of Sector-33. The administration has entrusted the responsi-bility of Ward-16 and Ward-4 to these social workers.

Apart from this, on the request of Councillor Yudhveer Saini, inWard-15, this team has distributed ration to 73 families. Besides 30kits have also been distributed in Councillor Ramchandra Kala’sWard-14. Rajoj Sabha Youth District President Manoj Rana said thatthe needy whose calls come from the city are also provided ration.This social service team of 124 members is performing its responsi-bility well in Lockdown. On this occasion, Vinay Goyal, Manoj Rana,Praveen Goyal, Mohan Lodhi, Manish Garg, CA. Rohit Garg, RajeshSingla, Goldie Rana, Gagan Jindal, Ravi Goyal and Bhupendra Nau-tan were present.

MAIN PAL KASHYAPINDRI, APRIL 29

The village Badarpur wassanitised by the Japanese ma-chine to protect people fromcoronavirus. Block Commit-tee Chairperson Kusum Kam-boj, Block Committee Mem-ber Rajni Devi reached thevillage and sprayed the entirevillage with a sanitiser by theJapanese machine. KusumKamboj said that to avoid thisepidemic, we have to take ut-most care.

She said that sanitiser isbeing sprayed in every villageas per the instructions of thegovernment. All villages willbe sanitised by this Japanesemachine. He said that toavoid this epidemic, usemasks, wash your hands with

the sanitiser and talk distance.Follow the lockdown im-posed by the government anddo not consider the lockdown

as a burden or ban. It has beenimposed by the governmentfor the benefit of all the peo-ple.

Sharma appeals for safety ofstudents stranded abroad

Badarpur village sanitisedby Japanese machine

MLA missing from constituencyfor long: Tarlochan

SHIV KUMAR SHARMAKARNAL, APRIL 29

Congress leader Tirlochan Singh has written ina letter to Chief Minister Manohar Lal that to-day the lock-down has been going on for al-most 36 days. The people of Karnal havelonged to see their elected MLA. Because ofCorona, due to social distance, due to folk don,you will not get common public. But they willrealize that during the election, the MLApromising "I will be among the people of Kar-nal" will realize that promise even if you donot go to Kalpana Chawla Medical College,distribution of ration in ration depot To see, Nirmal Kutia and Dera KarSeva will not be able to see the system of providing rations to the poorforced people and anchors at night. While the people of Karnal had open-ly voted for him, I want to move away from politics as a voter of Karnaland say that you are the MLA of Karnal and the Chief Minister of Haryana,please come to Karnal in such a difficult time. Administrative officers andNGOs are all working hard and diligently, getting up from politics with-out discrimination. The people of Karnal salute them.

GURMEET KASHYAPKARNAL, APRIL 29

SB Mission School at Subhash Gate wassealed for violating rules during lock-down. This action took place in the pres-ence of officers and police team. The po-lice have registered a case against theschool operator and arrested him. In viewof Kovid-19, the state government hasclosed all schools, colleges and all educa-tional institutions in the state till furtherorders. This school was opened in viola-tion of the rules of the state government.

On the basis of secret information onWednesday under the guidance of DeputyCommissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, theadministration team and police depart-ment officials raided the SB MissionSchool at Subhash Gate. Duty MagistrateATP Ajmer Singh, District Basic Educa-tion Officer Rohtash Verma, SHO Harjin-der Singh and concerned officials were

present dyrubg raid. District EducationOfficer Ravindra Chaudhary said thatduring the raid it was found that theschool was open and therefire it has beensealed. After this, the director and princi-pal of the school have been arrested bythe police.

School sealed for runningunder lockdown

SHIV KUMAR SHARMAKARNAL, APRIL 29

The Central Executive of theUnnat Bharat India Organisa-tion has taken a decision on theUnnat Bharat Dairy Project.Soon about 10 major centres ofdairy, fruits and vegetables willbe started in India as collabora-tive employment of agriculture.Due to the well-known dairysector, Dr. Hari Ram Gupta, and hisassociate institute Dr. Harry Consul-tants, Corona will develop fruit fruitvegetable and dairy production cen-ters for poor unemployed small farm-ers and livelihoods for every section.On this occasion, National PresidentBharat Prem said that in collaborationwith Mata Mantari Devi CharitableTrust and Unnat Bharat SangathanTrust, will work on setting up 1000 to

2000 liters dairy processing plant. Agroup of 50 villages with each centerwill train 10 families from every vil-lage and the work of HonorableNarendra Modi ji will be started.

By the end of 2020, Dr. HarryConsultants and Mata Mantari DeviCharitable Trust will jointly fulfill thedream of employment of Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi by making thisprogramme successful under Mudra

loan through 10 centres. Forthis task, Dr. Hari Ram Gupta,in collaboration with dairy ex-pert, Shiv Ratan Agarwal Ut-tarakhand, Sardar SurinderSingh Punjab, Brijpal RanaHaryana, R. Alwin Devdas Ma-harashtra, Dr. NR LashkarNorth East, Dr. RS Ravi BiharJharkhand nominated associatemembers will collaborate. Thescheme of 10 centres will be

led by Suresh Jain, Advocate ShyamBatra, and Suresh Sharma.

Young Akhil Nath, RamphalNumberdar, Sardar Shaman Gharuwill support this team to realise thedreams of Swami Ramdev, and thePrime Minister of the country,through Unnat Bharat dairy. Milk,and vegetable products will be firstmade available in Delhi, Lucknow,Jaipur, Chandigarh and Mumbai.

Unnat Bharat dairy projectto be launched soon

Dushyant true well wisherof farmers: Bhim Singh

ROHIT LAMSARTARAORI, APRIL 29

Zilla Parishad member and JanNayak Janata Party's S.C. Cell Dis-trict President Bhim Singh Jalala saidthat Deputy Chief Minister DushyantChautala is a true benefactor of farm-ers. He knows all the problems of thefarmers well and also diagnoses theproblems of the farmers from time totime. He said that Deputy Chief Min-ister Dushyant Chautala is working for the interests of the peo-ple of the state. The people of the entire state have full faith inDushyant Chautala's policies. Bhim Singh Jalala was talking toreporters in Taraori. He said that in the event of a lock-down, allof us would have to follow the instructions given to prevent thecorona. Especially in the mandis, care has to be taken. Farmersand labourers should wear masks in the market. Social distresswill also have to be fully maintained. Bhim Singhsaid that thefarmers are coming to Dushyant Chautala with their problems.He said that farmers will not be allowed to face any kind of trou-ble. Dushyant Chautala is working to protect the interests offarmers.

SHIV KUMAR SHARMAKARNAL, APRIL 29

Commendation letter wasgiven by Inspector General ofPolice Karnal Range BhartiArora, for doing excellentwork to Dr. Sunil Kumar andhis team, Secretary, DistrictRed Cross Society, playingthe role of District Surveil-lance Officer in Kovid-19And awarded by giving cashprizes. The Inspector Generalhonored the Kovid-19 Dis-trict Surveillance Team bycalling him to his office onWednesday. Regarding theofficer of this team, RedCross Secretary Dr. Sunil Ku-

mar, the Inspector General ofPolice said that the wholecountry and society was

afraid in the corona virus epi-demic, this team came for-ward and accepted this chal-

lenge regardless of theirhealth.

This team supported thedistrict administration by do-ing an excellent job in thepast. He was honoured forthis. Superintendent of PoliceSurendra Singh Bhoria saidthat the work of the surveil-lance team formed at the dis-trict level under Kovid-19was better. The work of thisteam is very prominent.These team members haveaccelerated their work withgreat effort. Home Quaran-tine done to hundreds of pa-tients under Kovid-19 atKalpana Chawla GovernmentMedical College

IG Karnal Range honoursKovid-19 surveillance team

44 lakh quintal wheat purchasedBUREAU KARNAL, APRIL 29

Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said that the work of procurement of wheat is go-ing on in full swing in the Karnal district. All the necessary arrangements for procurement werealready completed by the district administration earlier. Till April 28, 44 lakh 54 thousand 538quintals of wheat of 22480 farmers of the district were procured in various purchase centers andmandis. He said that orders have been given to the procurement agency to get the wheat pro-cured immediately. The Deputy Commissioner said that the work of procurement of wheat start-ed by the Haryana government from April 20. Since April 20, wheat arrivals at 173 mandi andpurchase centers had started.

Page 4: SHOPIAN: Curfew extended in Punjab till May 17Apr 30, 2020  · lowed to resume their functions. The Chief Minister said that sealing bor-ders with Delhi was a need of hour as most

Editorial

"Honeybee requires40,000 - 80,000 trips andvisits a number of flow-

ers several times, to searchand assemble nectar, enoughto make one pound of hon-ey. The average trip is sup-posed to be about 1.6 to 2.4km, thus to collect a poundof honey, a single honeybeewill have to travel at leasttwice the distance aroundthe world". Apiculture hasturned a popular, economi-cal and lucrative farm prac-tice today which requiresproportionately less labourfor earning livelihood. Anordinary beekeeper usuallyearns a net profit of 5-6lac rupees per annum.Keeping this in view, a sur-vey was conducted ondozens of migratory and lo-cal beekeepers in Hamirpurdist. of H.P. which has un-equivocally unravelled sev-eral mysteries : Adverse cli-matic conditions, more oftenlead to occurrence of manydiseases and reduced pro-ductivity in bees. During suchconditions, either sugar so-lution is applied to hives orhoney bees are fed onpacked pollens.

However, most of thebeekeepers claim "naturalpollens are superior topacked ones and as suchhave no elegant substitute".If lid of 'bee box' isopened and no artificialfood is provided to honey-bees during such criticalperiod , bees shall attackneighbouring hives andsteal their honey. In case ofinadequate natural pollina-

tion (by wind or insects) , itcan be compensated byplacing bee colonies at thecentre of every 3 Km2 of afarm. Placement of beecolonies must be inadver-tently avoided near 'tele-phone towers' and 'high ten-sion power lines' for allow-ing honey bees to performtheir normal activity uninter-ruptedly . Unlike miserablestate of affairs of 'apicultureindustry' in other states, H.P. has emerged the best suit-ed abode followed by Ra-jasthan for propagating suchpractices owing tofavourable climatic condi-tions and positive attitude oflocal authorities. As ahealthy customary practicehere, farmers either make nouse of pesticides or do notspray all the crops of anarea at the same time.Thus, the bees, who can bekilled by visiting the flow-ers just sprayed by pesti-cides, have an alternativeoption of changing their

route . In case of viral dis-eases and mites' attack,hives are adequately pumpedwith sulphur smoke whichcan be repeated 10x a year.Any extra dose of suchsmoke may harm bees mis-erably as their larvae startdecomposing, broods openprematurely and bees mayconsume all the stored hon-ey. As of now, use of smok-er has become obsolete andsulphur dusting is preferredto it.

Likewise, 'Wang's Man-pu Varroa Miticide Strip'and 'Bee Varroa Terminator'are the most effective miti-cides used by beekeepers.After suspending this stripamidst frames, box is keptclosed for 4-5 days. Conse-quently, mites die and falloff towards bottom. Forcombating menace ofpredatory wasps, 'gur orsugar' is applied on a pieceof wet canvas and waspsare killed manually imme-diately after they are at-

tracted to it . For getting ridof ants, fine powder ofGamaxine or Malathion isspread below 'bee box stand'. During winter, diarrhoea isthe most common diseaseencountered in bees whichcan be effectively cured byapplying sulphur smoke.

Similarly, during sum-mer, 'wax moths' attack beesquite frequently . Theirwhite coloured larvae vora-ciously eat 'hive wax' andsometimes bees are forced toleave the hive even. In suchcases, 2 'Sulphas' tabs.wrapped in polythene arekept in the hive for onemonth for saving 'wax sheets'of frames. 'Formic acid' - alaboratory reagent of 'NiceChemicals (P) Ltd co.', is an-other all weather medicineemployed in apiculturewhich assumes special sig-nificance when bee larvaestart decomposing and theyoung offspring show wrig-gling movements or appar-ently turn handicapped. Un-der such circumstances, a cot-ton plug soaked in 2 ml offormic acid (in a loose poly-thene knot) is placed oneach frame . Then, the box isclosed tightly and keptundisturbed for one wk soas to allow sufficient odourto accumulate inside. Like-wise, 'Thymol' is an elegantanswer to all bee diseasesespecially during winter. ¼of a 'table spoon of thymol'is either used directly asdusting powder or appliedon frames after mixing withformic acid. Reportedly, beesraised in areas rich in me-

dicinal plants like neem arecomparatively less prone todiseases. Amazingly enough,a tiny 'avil' tab. has provedan 'emergency drug' for cur-ing allergic reactions causedby bee sting in all apicul-turists .

Beekeepers more oftenmultiply their colonies thriceor four 4x a year. Many ofthem delightfully recall thatplenty of local 'bee flora' isavailable in Hamirpur hillswhich mainly includes karipatta, shisham, jamun, khairand spheda flowers. Somebeekeepers vehemently ex-plained "honey is formed indifferent hues and colours de-pending upon the type of flo-ra available in a given lo-cality" e.g. monofloral 'sar-son honey' of Haryana andRaj., and 'litchi honey' ofDehradun appears white ;'eucalyptus honey' of U.P.and 'kesar honey' of Kashmiris red, while multifloralhoney of H.P. hills is yellowor brown in color.

All types of honey moreoften freeze except yellow,brown and red ones. Differ-ent state govts. supportbeekeepers differently .Some of them offer lucrativeincentives like 'soft loans';lump sum cash payment ;to and fro fare; free beecolonies and free boarding& lodging etc. to eachtrainee during such trainings.

ByASHWANI SHARMAPrincipal, Govt. College

Dhaneta,Dist. Hamirpur (H.P.)

4WE DON'T HAVE A CULTURE OF REALIS-

TIC ACTING IN INDIA.

IRRFAN KHAN

I CAN'T THINK OF A MORE PATHETIC SITUATIONFOR AN ACTOR THAN TO DO A FILM AND NOT

CONNECT TO IT. AND I PRAY TO GOD THAT I NEV-ER FACE THAT SITUATION.

IRRFAN KHAN

STARS TALKSSeemaa Singh, Astrologer

and Vastu Expert knownfor her accurate predic-

tions of winning BJP ministerKirron Kher, as well winning of

Punjab elec-tions by Con-gress. She hasdelivered manylectures on as-trology in Indiaas well asabroad. Fol-

lowed by international confer-ences and T.V. shows on vari-ous Channels.ARIES:-Workers could facestrains in their relations withsenior officers. Shortage offunds is predictable. You mightfind yourself helpless in love.

Lucky Color:-Navy BlueLucky Number:-22

TAURUS:-Healthy competi-tion at work would encourageexhibiting hidden talent. Takingcalculated risks in financialmatters will enableto earn profits.Lucky Color:-

PurpleLucky

Number:-18

GEMINI:-You mightget a goodprofessionaloppor tuni ty.You are likely tomake huge expenseson a ceremony. Fame iswithin your grasp.

Lucky Color:-GreyLucky Number:-8

CANCER:-Your communica-

tion skills, convincing powerand a pleasing personalitycome to your aid work. Familywill be very positive and sup-

portive. Lucky Color:- Dark

GreyLucky Num-

ber:-5LEO:-Puttingcreative abilityto positive usebrings good re-sults. Income

will be on thehigher side. In love

renew pledges to ce-ment the bond.

Lucky Color:-BrownLucky Number:-1

VIRGO:-Don't hesitate to goafter your dreams. Parentalhealth requires immediate at-

tention. Keep your cool andwork attentively.

Lucky Color:-LavenderLucky Number:-5

LIBRA:-Failure in keeping theprojects within stipulated budg-et could invite additional finan-cial burden. Enemies take ad-vantage of nice behaviour.

Lucky Color:-PinkLucky Number:-11

SCORPIO:-Time to startworking on projects that will begood for your future. Invest-ment on household assets is onthe cards.

Lucky Color:-RedLucky Number:-9

SAGITTARIUS:-You are like-ly to get an opportunity toprove mettle at workplace. Fi-nancial situation will improveon striking a financial deal.

Lucky Color:-WhiteLucky Number:-17

CAPRICORN:-Think beforeyou speak. Don't reveal confi-dential secrets to your beloved.It's time to make changes forbetterment. Lucky Color:-Golden Brown

Lucky Number:-7Aquarius:-You might sufferfrom short temper at work.Health of a family membermight cause worry. Financialpressure may exert.

Lucky Color:-Dark GreenLucky Number:-6

PISCES:-You need to improveyour working style to get posi-tive results. An ability to takerisks would even impress thehardest of your critics.

Lucky Color:- CreamLucky Number:-2

Zeroing in on apicultural practices report

Governments all over the world now face a dilemma: tolift the lockdown and open the economy, or not. And thestakes are high. To open means allowing people, the

most vulnerable of them all, to encounter a novel virus whichis out to kill. To continue with the lockdown means to exposethem to one of the oldest enemies of human species with a fa-tal hold on its history: hunger. It’s heads we lose and tails theywin for the marginalised, poor and migrant labour. As Frencheconomist Thomas Piketty points out, “What we see with thiscrisis is in many ways the violence of inequality.” India, ademocracy with a widening chasm between the haves andhave-nots, would find it increasingly difficult to reconcile thevarious conflicting interests of its stakeholders. It would callfor statesmanship of the highest order to present a proposal,which can address the needs of the most number of peoplewhile jeopardising the interests of the least number of them.Any attempt to thinking of life after lockdown must factor inthis hard reality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s videocon-ferencing with state chief ministers on Monday appears tothrow some light into the thinking of the government.

It is understood that the Prime Minister has expressed hisinclination towards letting states decide the minute details ofimplementing the lockdown policies in various regions. This isa welcome step, as it will allow the Union government to takeover the role of policymaker and enabler and the states thefrontline foot soldiers. Given our constitutional scheme, thestates have a major say in most subjects that come into playwhile fighting coronavirus — health, law and order, civil sup-plies, local self-government and agriculture. Micromanagingthe lockdown at the village and block levels by the Union gov-ernment would prove counterproductive even while striking atthe roots of the federal nature of the constitution. The state gov-ernments are best placed to balance the varied demands of thepeople and come up with solid plans to take the country backto life that cannot brook further delay. The Union governmentcan come up plans such as reverse quarantine to protect themore vulnerable segments of the population and letting theworkforce go back to work meeting prudent social distancingand personal hygiene norms. While granting more power to thestates is welcome, the Prime Minister’s continued silence onthe states’ demands for more funds is worrisome. The chiefministers have raised the issue in all three videoconferencesthey have had with Mr Modi after he announced national lock-down on March 24. This assumes urgency due to the fact thatmigrant workers who fuelled growth engines in the metropoli-tan cities now feel cheated after being rendered jobless, home-less and penniless. They will be the worst victims of the vio-lence of inequality, and hence must be immediately attended to.Lifting of lockdown would mean heightened vigil and effortsto upgrade medical infrastructure.

Fund state campaigns,efforts to exit lockdown

In a recent study, re-searchers have developedan algorithm within AI-

Rad Companion, which ex-amines chest scans, providesresults comparable with lungfunction tests, which measurehow forcefully a person canexhale.

The study shows that arti-ficial intelligence (AI) soft-ware works are the first steptowards possibly using chestscans to quantify the severityof the lung disease and trackthe progress of treatment.

"Everybody has a differ-ent trigger threshold for whatthey would call normal andwhat they would call dis-ease," said U Joseph Schoepf,MD, director of cardiovascu-lar imaging for MUSC Healthand assistant dean for clinicalresearch at the Medical Uni-versity of South CarolinaCollege of Medicine.

"In the past, if you lostlung tissue, that was it. Thelung tissue was gone, andthere was very little you coulddo in terms of therapy to helppatients," he said.

Schoepf was a principalinvestigator in a study look-ing at the results of SiemensHealthineers' AI-Rad Com-panion as compared with tra-ditional lung function tests.The study has been publishedonline in the American Jour-nal of Roentgenology.

But with advancements intreatment in recent years hascome an increased interest inobjectively classifying thedisease, Schoepf said. That'swhere artificial intelligence

and imaging could come intoplay. In the study, researcherswent back and looked at thechest scans and lung functiontests of 141 people. Chestscans aren't currently part ofthe guidelines for diagnosingchronic obstructive pul-monary disease, an umbrellaterm that includes emphyse-ma, chronic bronchitis andother lung diseases, Schoepfsaid, because there haven'tbeen an objective means toevaluate scans.

However, he anticipatesa role for imaging scans if itcan be shown that they offera benefit in terms of objec-tivity and quantification.

Philipp Hoelzer, a cus-tomer engagement managerwith Siemens Healthineers,said having an objectivemeasurement could help inassessing the value of newtreatments or drugs. TheSiemens Healthineers teamsees the program as a way forartificial intelligence to work

in tandem with the clinicalexpertise of radiologists, hesaid.

"Taking away manual,repetitive tasks, like thosethat require a lot of measure-ment, is of great benefit to aradiologist, especially whenreading cases that may have20 or more nodules," he said."Interpreting the images, andthe abstract thinking thatgoes along with it will re-main with the radiologist."

The program can also of-fer concrete aid to doctorstrying to impress upon pa-tients the necessity of mak-ing changes. It can create a3D model of the patient'slungs, showing the existingdamage.

"If you could visualise itand provide the informationin image terms, you couldbetter communicate with thepatient and hopefully nudgethe patient into smoking ces-sation or lifestyle changes,"Hoelzer said.

AI can serve as backupto radiologists' eyes

Let’s rethink draconiancurbs during lockdown

It is time now to sit backand objectively reconsiderthe draconian policy meas-

ures unleashed in India. In onefell stroke, we have managedto render wageless at least 100million people. We still don’thave any clear picture of thedeaths due to the lockdownstress, but we are getting moreclarity on the economic lossesthat it has caused.

Epidemiological studiesput out by several well-re-garded institutions like MITand the Global Virus Network(GVN) suggest that this par-ticular Coronavirus is endem-ic in populated areas falling inthe temperature band of 3-17

degrees Celsius, with a hu-midity between 51-79 percent. These initial findingssuggesting a correlation be-tween latitude and incidencehave the powerful endorse-ment of Dr Robert Gallo, thefamed virologist and head ofGVN. The essential factsabout Covid-19 is that while itis virulent, its fatality is onlyabout three per cent, and thisis principally concentratedamong the elderly and alreadyailing. Its symptoms are most-ly akin to common seasonalflus often attributed to achange of season, etc. Over 80per cent of the infected peopleremain asymptomatic or have

mild symptoms. Covid-19 canonly be confirmed by testingand the cheapest test costsabout Rs 4,500 each. What weare testing only confirms this.There is no treatment and novaccine as yet. We must focuson that.

The average life ex-pectancy of Indians is 68.7years. The above-65 years co-hort accounts for only aboutsix per cent of India, whichsuggests that the incidence offatality here will be lower.Bubonic plague has a mortal-ity of over 80 per cent, whileeven diphtheria has a mortali-ty rate of almost 20 per cent.Covid-19 is not a killer virus.

Children's rearing envi-ronment has a meaning-ful impact on their risk

for major depression later inlife, a recent study has foundand also noted the importanceof nurturing environmentswhen a child is at risk.

The research was pub-lished in the American Journalof Psychiatry. In the study, au-thors analysed the healthrecords of full and half-siblingswith at least one biological par-ent with depression who wereraised by either their biologicalparents or in carefully screenedadoptive homes. Generally, thechildren in adopted homesshowed lower risk, but what-ever the setting, episodes ofmajor depression in the parentsmeant the children were moresusceptible to depressionthemselves.

"The Rearing Environ-ment and Risk for Major De-pression: A Swedish NationalHigh-Risk Home-Reared andAdopted-Away Co-SiblingControl Study"--led by Ken-neth S. Kendler, M.D., withVirginia Commonwealth Uni-versity in Richmond, andKristina Sundquist, M.D.,Ph.D., from Lund Universityin Malmo, Sweden--involveddata from the Swedish Nation-al Sample.

The researchers identified666 high-risk full sibling pairsand 2,596 high-risk pairs ofhalf-siblings each with at leastone child reared at home and

one adopted. High risk was de-fined as having at least one bi-ological parent with major de-pression. In Sweden, the adop-tive parents are carefullyscreened and undergo a rigor-ous selection process to ensuretheir ability to "provide a sup-portive and generally advan-taged home for their adoptivechild."

In the full sibling group,the risk for major depressionamong adopted siblings was23% lower than the siblingraised in the home with theirbirth family. In the group of

half-siblings, the risk of de-pression was 19% lower forthe adopted siblings. For boththe full and half-siblinggroups, the protective effect ofadoption disappeared when anadoptive parent or step-siblinghad major depression or whenthe

The study authors con-clude that their results "furtherstrengthen the evidence thathigh-quality rearing environ-ments can meaningfully re-duce rates of major depressionin individuals at high familialrisk." The research also "sup-

ports efforts to improve therearing environment in high-risk families as an approach tothe primary prevention of ma-jor depression," the authorsnote. Myrna M. Weissman,Ph.D., from Columbia Univer-sity Vagelos College of Physi-cians and Surgeons, noted inher accompanying commen-tary that to the question ofwhether it is nature or nurturethat contributes to depressionrisk, the answer remains "yes,"it is nature and nurture, withrelative proportions and forwhich type of depression con-

tinue to be examined. Yet, forthe present study "the resultsdemonstrate the strong impactof the rearing environment onrisk for major depression andsupport the importance of in-tervention efforts to improvethe rearing environment inhigh-risk families."

AI can serve as backup toradiologists' eyes In a recentstudy, researchers have devel-oped an algorithm within AI-Rad Companion, which exam-ines chest scans, provides re-sults comparable with lungfunction tests, which measurehow forcefully a person canexhale. The study shows thatartificial intelligence (AI) soft-ware works are the first steptowards possibly using chestscans to quantify the severityof the lung disease and trackthe progress of treatment.

"Everybody has a differenttrigger threshold for what theywould call normal and whatthey would call disease," saidU Joseph Schoepf, MD, direc-tor of cardiovascular imagingfor MUSC Health and assistantdean for clinical research at theMedical University of SouthCarolina College of Medicine.

"In the past, if you lostlung tissue, that was it. Thelung tissue was gone, and therewas very little you could do interms of therapy to help pa-tients," he said.

Schoepf was a principalinvestigator in a study lookingat the results of Siemens

Healthineers' AI-Rad Compan-ion as compared with tradition-al lung function tests. Thestudy has been published on-line in the American Journal ofRoentgenology.

But with advancements intreatment in recent years hascome an increased interest inobjectively classifying the dis-ease, Schoepf said. That'swhere artificial intelligenceand imaging could come intoplay.

In the study, researcherswent back and looked at thechest scans and lung functiontests of 141 people. Chestscans aren't currently part ofthe guidelines for diagnosingchronic obstructive pulmonarydisease, an umbrella term thatincludes emphysema, chronicbronchitis and other lung dis-eases, Schoepf said, becausethere haven't been an objectivemeans to evaluate scans. How-ever, he anticipates a role forimaging scans if it can beshown that they offer a benefitin terms of objectivity andquantification.

Philipp Hoelzer, a cus-tomer engagement managerwith Siemens Healthineers,said having an objective meas-urement could help in assess-ing the value of new treatmentsor drugs. The Siemens Health-ineers team sees the programas a way for artificial intelli-gence to work in tandem withthe clinical expertise of radiol-ogists, he said.

Child's home environment can impactrisk of developing depression

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020

Page 5: SHOPIAN: Curfew extended in Punjab till May 17Apr 30, 2020  · lowed to resume their functions. The Chief Minister said that sealing bor-ders with Delhi was a need of hour as most

NEWS AT AGLANCE

80% of coronavirus cases in J-K reported from6 hotspotsJAMMU: Nearly 80 per cent of the total coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmirhave been reported from six districts of the state, said Bhupinder Kumar, theMission Director of National Health Mission (NHM) in Jammu and Kashmir onWednesday. He also appealed to the people to follow the guidelines issued by theCentre in the wake of the situation arising out of the COVID-19 crisis. "We have sixdistricts which are hotspots, and when I say hotspots, it implies that out of the totalcases that have been reported in the state, 80 per cent have been reported fromthese districts. And of these districts, one district is in Jammu division, and inKashmir division- Bandipora, Srinagar, Shopian, Kupwara and Baramulla are thehotspots," Kumar told ANI.

Merchants happy onopening of shopsafter 35 daysJOGINDRA DEV ARYABANGANA: With the opening ofshops again in Himachal Pradesh onMonday, the business is back on track.Business has started with the openingof shops in most rural areas. With thegains being made during the four-hourrelaxation, the faces of the tradershave started to reappear. During thelockdown, there was a huge drop inbusiness due to the closure of shopsin most areas. During lockdown onlynominal shops were able to open. Inthis, permission was given to openshops of daily needs, but now thestate government has givenpermission to open most shops in ruralareas of the state. Vijay Sharma, thehead of the business division of Sub-divisional Bangana, says that thecorona virus has hit his business toomuch. The daily business figures usedto be back on track. The merchantclass is stunned by the opening ofshops after 34 days. They say thatever since the corona epidemic hascaused a lockdown, the business classhas been reeling. Where the businesshad come to a standstill during thepast days, after the opening of shops,it seems to be increasing. VijaySharma says that businessmen aresitting at home and paying theiremployees salaries. Rs 1000 arebeing added to the labour account bythe government, but no relief is beinggiven by the government to thoseworking in the shops, while the tradersare providing Rs 250 for theregistration of employees.

Rana, Verma explainimportance of socialdistance

NALAGARH: Nalagarh MunicipalCouncil's chairman, Goldie Rana andManoj Verma explain importance VirusSection 144, to the people, and alongwith this, requested all the peoplekeeping an eye on the relaxation givenby the government in the lock down.They should come out of the houseonly for very important work, at onetime only one person to get the goodsfrom the market and along with this, allthe shops opened in the whole market.Keeping in mind the social distanceahead of them, they have maderoundabouts so that people can followthe social distance and theythemselves with a dangerous diseaselike corona, as well as they haverequested to cooperate with the policeand administration so that we and youcan can fight dangerous disease.

450 Una patientsavailed PGITelemedicine facility

PREETI RANAUNA: In order to deal with theCorona crisis, the districtadministration introducedtelemedicine facility from PGIChandigarh to the patients of DistrictUna amidst the lockdownimplemented across the country. PGIChandigarh's telemedicine facilitystarted from April 7 amid curfew indistrict Una and so far about 450patients have undergone theirtreatment.To take advantage of thetelemedicine facility, registration onthe phone number 78764-91951 isrequired. After registration, the date ofarrival will be given to the patient, sothat about 20 patients can be calleddaily and the rules of socialdistancing can be followed.Thetelemedicine facility of PGI is only forthose patients who are alreadyundergoing treatment from PGIChandigarh and are unable to go toChandigarh for follow-up during thelockdown period. Such patients areable to reach the Jal Shakti RestHouse of Una and solve theirproblems through the expert doctors ofPGI Chandigarh. The patient's data isfed into a machine installed in Una,which is seen by expert doctors sittingin Chandigarh and then givesmedicines to the patient. DeputyCommissioner Una Sandeep Kumarsaid that on the lines of thetelemedicine facility of PGI Chandigarh,the district administration Una alsostarted tele counseling facility of TagoreHeart Care Hospital Jalandhar andFortis Hospital Mohali. To takeadvantage of this facility, TagoreHospital has issued mobile number6239127185 for patients undergoingtreatment while Fortis Hospital Mohalihas issued 0172-4692222 for gettingtele counseling facility.

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020

Govt will provide all possible helpto industrialists: Jai Ram Thakur

CM interacts with representatives through video conferenceAGENCYSHIMLA, APR 29

The State Government wouldprovide all possible help to theindustrialists for smoothrunning of their units besidesensuring uninterrupted supplyof raw material and finishedproducts to the markets.

This was stated by ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur whileinteracting with theindustrialists of steel industriesof Kala Amb area in Sirmaurdistrict through videoconferencing from Shimlatoday.

Chief Minister said thatState Government wasproviding various concessionsto industrial, commercial unitsincluding tourism sector,agriculture and other electricityconsumers in the State due tooutbreak of COVID-19 in thecountry.

He said that the payment ofdemand charges in respect of

industrial, commercial andagriculture consumers forelectricity consumption ofApril, 2020 would be billed inMay, 2020 and for theconsumption of May, 2020 tobe billed in June, 2020 has beendeferred till 30th June, 2020

and these charges would berecovered in three equalinstalments during the monthsof July, August and September,2020.

Jai Ram Thakur said that arebate of one percent subject tomaximum of Rs. 10,000 will be

available for industrial,commercial and agricultureconsumers who will pay thebills on or before 31st May,2020 for the consumption ofApril, 2020 will be billed inMay, 2020 and payment of billon or before due date forconsumption of May, 2020 willbe billed in June, 2020.

Chief Minister urged theindustrialists to effectivelymaintain social distancing intheir factories. He also assuredthe industrialists thatgovernment would considertheir other demandssympathetically.

Representatives of SteelIndustry Hem Raj Garg, SanjayJain and Pawan Saini raisedvarious demands of industryduring the video conferencing.

Additional Chief SecretaryIndustries Manoj Kumar,Additional Chief SecretaryHealth R.D. Dhiman and othersenior officers were alsopresent on the occasion.

DINESH AGARWALSHIMLA, APR 29

While addressing the BJP officebearers, booth palaks and partyworkers of Seraj Vidhan Sabha areaof Mandi district through videoconferencing from Shimla, ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur thankedthe people of the area forcontributing about Rs. 25 lakhtowards PM CARES and HPSDMA COVID -19 State DisasterResponse Fund. He said that thisamount would help the StateGovernment in providing PPE kitsand other safety equipments to thecorona warriors. The ChiefMinister urged the people todownload Arogya Setu App as thiswould go a long way in preventingspread of COVID-19 virus. Hesaid that this App was animportant weapon to fightcoronavirus, as with the help ofGPS and Bluetooth sensor it sendsout notification whenever onecomes in contact with infectedperson. Jai Ram Thakur said thatsince the harvesting season ofwheat and peas is at its peak,people should maintain socialdistancing, besides wearing facecovers. He said that governmentwas ensuring adequate

arrangements for smoothtransportation of agricultureproduces to the markets. He urgedthe workers to sensitize peopleregarding coronavirus.

Chief Minister said that theparty workers should alsomotivate the people to avoid anykind of social and religiousgatherings, as this could be riskyin catching the coronavirus. Healso asked the workers to ensurethat no one in the area goeswithout food. He said thatparticular care should be taken oflabourers from other Statesworking in the area.

Jai Ram Thakur said that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasrecently held a video conferencingwith Chief Ministers of the States.He said that even Prime Ministerhas appreciated Active CaseFinding Campaign launched by theHimachal Pradesh government andhas asked other States to replicatethe same. He said that stategovernment has also requested theCentre Government to allow a feweconomic activities in the state butat the same time it has favouredextension in the lockdown. He saidthat the government has allowedentering the people of the Statestranded in other States.

CM thanks people of SerajConstituency for contributingRs. 25 lakh towards relief fund

PANKAJ KATNASIRMAUR, APR 29

If we stand united in the heartof patriotism, then corona willbe defeared which is truepatriotism.We are talking aboutthe services of teachers ofHimachal's district Sirmour, infar-flung areas. A person froma common family of villageShailahan (Haripudhar) ofSirmaur district can also do thisdue to the Crona epidemic.Thisteacher decided to give one dayof every month salary to theRelief Fund for 1 year and alsorequested his colleagues tohelp the country in this way, sothat this country can be takenout of the hour of this crisis,although this amount makes Rs1440 per day, but when every

teacher contributessomething in the interest ofthe country, then this amountcan reach in billions.Surendra Sodhi, who iscurrently serving as a teacherin Government High School,Badol District, Sirmaur, isgiving his services and theinspiration of how childrenshould work in the interest ofthe country. Since 2007, hehas also been active memberof Vidyarthi Parishad, thelargest student organizationof the country.

Baddi police launches campaignagainst traffic chaos at toll barriersSHANTI GAUTAMBADDI, APR 29

Baddi police are making allout efforts to removed longqueue of vehicles at the tollbarrier Baddi. Giving thisinformation, Ankit Sharma,DSP, Baddi, said that theentire police station in Baddialong with drug officialschecked the records at thedrugstores in which howmany medicines have beensold. The CCTV cell of thepolice has come back intoaction and the traffic systemis improving on the roads inBBN. He said that in asimilar case, the police havealso caught the application ofan Aristo Spinning Millambulance in another case. Acase has been registered inthis regard and the vehiclehas been impounded. On the

other hand, he told that BBNpolice has also checkeddozens of vehicles inDhabhota and Panjehrabarrier under the district. Heinformed that in variousareas including Kishanpura,liquor is being sold at threetimes the black marketing oncontracts, against whichaction will be taken againstthe contractors soon. He said

that by 6 o'clock in themorning, about a thousandvehicles had entered thebarrier, in the same way,about 106 big small vehicleshad been sent out by evening.He said that under the 360 Epass permission issued in theBBN area, nearly twohundred vehicles have goneout of BBN under interdistrict permission today.

All teachers askedto contribute for

fight corona virus

Mahindra plant andClub Mahindra presentface-shield to Governor

SHIMLA, APR 29

Governor Bandaru Dattatraya here today waspresented face-shields by Gagandeep Singh,Cluster Head, Mahindra plant, Himachal Pradesh aspart of their Corporate Social Responsibility forstaff members of Raj Bhawan, Shimla, today.

The Governor thanked him for their gesture andsaid that not only corporate sector, Non-governmental organizations and social workers in alarge number providing helping hand in many waysand came forward in providing relief to poor peopleat the time of COVID-19 crises.

"I also thank the Mahindra Group who arestrengthening this fight by providing suchequipments to the Corona Warrior", said Dattatraya.

He said that it would also motivate the others tocontribute in any way in the hour of distress.

On the occasion, Gagandeep said that theMahindra group has also provided these face-shields to medical and police staff deployed in highrisk areas of COVID-19 in the state. Secretary toGovernor Rakesh Kanwar, Samik Sarkar, Manager,Mahindra Resort, Mashobra and Deepak UpadhayaFood and Beverage Manager Club MahindraKandaghat were also present on the occasion.

IMA sets up 12th freemedical camp for

people's convenience

JYOTI SYALUNA, APR 29

Deputy Commissioner Una Sandeep Kumar told that theIndian Medical Association Una today set up a free medicalcamp near the Shiv Mandir on Malhat Road for healthcheckup of slum dwellers, in which more than 100 personswere examined and were given medicines free of cost as perthe need of medications. He told that the patients wereexamined by Dr. Praveen Bhardwaj and Dr. Ashish Sharma.Camp coordinator and Ayurveda medical officer Dr. GS Dehalwas also present during this period. DC appreciated the effortsof the IMA and said that this was the 12th camp of doctors ofthe association, which has benefited the poor people greatly.Those who were unable to reach the hospital amid curfewhave received medical facilities at their doorstep.

SHIMLA, APR 29

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur waspresented a cheque of Rs. 51 lakh byChairman Kangra Central Co-operativeBank Dr. Rajeev Bhardwaj on behalf ofthe bank towards ‘HP SDMA Covid-19State Disaster Response Fund. He wasalso presented another cheque of Rs.23,73205 by the Chairman on behalf ofthe employees of the Bank towards theFund. The Association of H.P. ParaRegular Teachers also contributed Rs.1,01000 towards this fund. EducationMinister Suresh Bhardwaj was alsopresent on the occasion. Chief Ministerthanked this noble gesture.

Chairman KCCB presents Rs. 51 lakhtowards HP SDMA-COVID-19 SDRF

SBI operates functions with social distancePREETI RANASANTOSHGARH, APR 29

Due to Corona virus, thework of cash transactions tothe customers is continuingwith social distance in thebank near Ambedkar Chowknear the city councilSantoshgarh. Due to thelockdown caused by thecorona virus, people aregetting cash transactions atthe State Bank of Indiabranch Santoshgarh bymaking a distance of onemeter at the time of curfewrelaxation. Bank Manager

Yashwinder Rana said thataccording to the orders of thegovernment after thelockdown, due to coronavirus in the bank at the timeof cash transaction in thebank, the work of social

transactions is taking place inthe bank near the AmbedkarChowk near Santoshgarh citycouncil. Due to the lockdowncaused by the corona virus,people are getting cashtransactions at the State Bank

of India branch Santoshgarhby making a distance of onemeter at the time of curfewrelaxation. Bank ManagerBalwinder Singh Rana saidthat according to theinstructions given by thegovernment after thelockdown, cash transactionsare being carried out only bykeeping social distance insidethe bank. Signs have beenmade on the ground inside thebank for the transaction.Customers are doing cashtransactions following socialdistance. Rana said that peopleare getting a lot of support.

Role of religious and socialinstitutions in corona epidemic

commendable: Satpal PANKAJ KATNAUNA: Former BJP President Satpal Satti praised thework being done by Radha Swami Satsang Dera Beasto tackle the global epidemic Corona. He said thatduring the disaster, other religious-social institutionsof the state besides Dera Beas and especially the DeraRudranand Ashram of District Una, Baba Bal Ashramand Guru Ghar Gurdwara are also able to supportHimachal Pradesh government in isolation centers in

Corona epidemic and other ways.Come forward in times of adversity,these institutions are playing theirleading role in dealing with theepidemic. Satti has acknowledged thatthe power of these religious institutionshas proved that in a disaster, the

country is bigger than any religion and religiouscamps should always be ahead for the sake of thenation, without discriminating with sincerity. He saidthat dedication of basic infrastructure by thesereligious institutions for the treatment of peoplesuffering from infection is a laudable work in itself.Today hundreds of people have been quarantined inthese ashrams and food is also being provided to thequarantine people by these institutions themselves.Satti said that many private hospitals in the state havealso done an exemplary work by providing theirinstitutions to the Himachal government for thetreatment of the infected. Significantly, on the onehand, while the government and organizations aremaking every effort to maintain the courage of theCorona Warriors, on the other hand, with thecooperation of socio-religious institutions.

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Lyallpur KhalsaCollege student excelin B.Sc examsHARPREET SINGH LEHALJALANDHAR: Tanu Priya of LyallpurKhalsa College Jalandhar has bagged7th position in the University exams ofB.Sc. (Non-Medical)-I Semester bygetting 327 marks out of 400. This

informationwas given in apress releaseby thePrincipal of theCollege Dr.GurpinderSingh Samra.The Presidentof the CollegeGoverningCouncil

Sardarni Balbir Kaur congratulated thestudents and wished them success inlife and reiterated the commitment ofthe college to quality education andproductive research. Principal Dr.Samra also congratulated Prof. ArunjitKaur Head Department of Chemistry,Prof. Jaswinder Kaur HeadDepartment of Zoology, Botany, Dr,Narveer Singh Head Department ofPhysics and the teachers ofconcerned departments.

19 more COVID-19 casesin Rajasthan, state tallyreaches 2,383JAIPUR: 19 more COVID-19 caseshave been reported from Rajasthan,taking the state's tally of coronaviruscases to 2,383 on Wednesday, saidthe state Health Department. Out ofthe 19 new cases, 5 are from Jaipur,11 from Ajmer, one case each fromUdaipur, Banswara and Jodhpur, thehealth department's bulletin added.Meanwhile, India's tally of COVID-19cases has reached 31,332, said theUnion Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare on Wednesday. With 73 moredeaths reported, the number of deathsdue to coronavirus in the countrybreached the 1,000 mark and stood at1,007. The tally is inclusive of 22,629active coronavirus cases, 7,695patients who have beencured/discharged and one patientmigrated.

Gehlot condolesdeath of Irrfan Khan

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot on Wednesdaycondoled the death of actor IrrfanKhan, describing him as one of thecountry's most versatile actors. The54-year-old actor died in a Mumbaihospital on Wednesday, losing hisbattle with a rare form of cancer. In atweet, Gehlot said, I am saddenedand shocked to know about theuntimely demise of one of ourcountry's most versatile actors, IrrfanKhan. My heartfelt condolences to hisfamily, friends and fans. May Godgive them strength". May his soul restin peace, he said. The Maqbool actor,who was diagnosed withneuroendocrine tumour in 2018, losthis mother in Jaipur just four daysago. He was admitted to the intensivecare unit of Mumbai's KokilabenDhirubhai Ambani Hospital with acolon infection.

License of a arhatiya cancelled for three days

KULBHUSHAN GARGGIDDARBAHA: Giddarbaha's SDMOm Prakash suspended licence of anarhatiya for three days. Pritpal SinghGill, Secretary of the MarketCommittee, said that during thechecking of the different procurementcenternd some discrepency. A showcause notice was first issued to thefirm Midha Mallan Dewan Chand notcleaning and weighing the wheat of afarmer for four days. On behalf ofSahib, the license of the said firm hasbeen canceled for three days.

NEWS AT AGLANCE

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020

6

FICO urges CM to allow Industry in MLU Areas ANKUSH SHARMALUDHIANA: Government of Punjab is deciding to allow the industries outside the City Limits as wellas in designated Industrial Focal Points beyond 3rd May. Gurmeet Singh Kular President FICOalong with Harpal Singh Bhamber requested Captain Amarinder Singh Chief Minister to allow theindustry in MLU Areas also. Kular said that there are lots of industries lying in Mixed Land Use Areasin Ludhiana, where the plot sizes are also very minute 50 sq. yards to 100 sq. yards, majorly thisindustry falls under the Tiny & Micro Segment. Moreover, the small units are the vendors of the largeunits and supply mandatory goods to large units, if small don't run, then running of large units is alsodifficult. So, they further requested to allow the MLU industry also to operate when the otherindustries will be permitted.

Asymptomatic COVID-19 patients to betreated at home: Delhi Health Minister

AGENCYNEW DELHI, APR 29

Those COVID-19 patients whoare asymptomatic or have mildsymptoms of the infection willbe kept under home quarantinefor 14 days and will be treatedat their homes, Delhi HealthMinister Satyendar Jain said onWednesday.

There are currently 3,314COVID-19 cases in Delhi. Sofar, 1078 have been cured inthe national capital. 53 arecurrently in ICUs and 12patients are on ventilators, theHealth Minister said.

"According to the newprotocol, those who areasymptomatic or have mildsymptoms of COVID-19 willbe kept under home quarantinefor 14 days and will be treatedat their homes. There is noneed to hospitalise suchpatients," Jain told mediapersons here.

The decision taken by theDelhi government comes after

the Union Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare has issuedguidelines for home isolationof people who either have verymild COVID-19 symptoms orare in the pre-symptomaticphase. Being asked about theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) statementthat currently there are noapproved, definitive therapiesfor COVID-19, he said theDelhi government has receivedpermission from Centre toconduct plasma therapy.

"The Centre has said thatplasma therapy is verytechnical and is at anexperimental stage currently.Those who do not havepermission should not practiceit. Delhi has permission fromthe Centre. Only, those whohave permission shouldperform this therapy," he said.

Various states includingUttar Pradesh, Karnataka, andMaharashtra have started usingplasma therapy for treatingCOVID-19 patients. In Delhi,the first patient, who wasadministered convalescentplasma therapy oncompassionate grounds at MaxHospital has recovered fully.

11 traders associated with AzadpurSabzi Mandi test positive

NEW DELHI: As many as 11 traders associated with Delhi'sAzadpur Sabzi Mandi have tested positive for thecoronavirus, informed District Magistrate (North), DeepakShinde on Wednesday. "The traders are not directly connectedto the mandi, we are tracing the contacts of the cases," addedShinde. Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain hassaid that the mandi is being disinfected and other preventivemeasures are also being taken. "Azadpur Mandi is beingproperly disinfected. All the shops nearby, where COVID-19positive cases were reported, have been sealed. All theprecautionary measures are being taken," said the Minister.The Azadpur Mandi continues to operate during thelockdown as the government has exempted all essentialservices from restrictions.

No one has right to sayanything which divides society:

BJP leader Sidharth NathLUCKNOW, APR 29

No one has the right to say anythingwhich divides the society, said BJPleader and UP Minister SidharthNath Singh on Wednesday. Thecomments came soon after the BJPissued a show-cause notice to two ofits MLAs from UP for giving aspeech against the party line.

"Our national president hadclarified that immediate action willbe taken against BJP members whosay anything like this. State chieftoo took immediate action againstthem. No one has the right to sayanything which divides the society,"said the Minister.

The party had issued a show-cause notice on Tuesday to two of itsMLAs--Suresh Tiwari, MLA fromBarhaj constituency of Deoriadistrict and Shyam Prakash, MLAfrom Gopamau of Hardoi district,for giving a speech against the partyline. In a separate notice to bothMLAs, BJP said: "We have receiveda complaint against you for giving aspeech in public against the partyline, which is published innewspapers. The party has taken it

seriously. Hence, according toinstructions of Uttar PradeshPresident, Swatantradev Singh, youare asked to give your clarificationwithin a week."

In a viral video that has surfacedon the Internet, Tiwari is seen askingpeople not to buy vegetables fromMuslims.

Later when asked to clarify hisstatement, the BJP MLA told mediapersons, "I had visited myconstituency recently. The citizensthere told me that Muslim vegetablesellers are applying their saliva onvegetables."

"I told them that I cannot domuch in this regard other thanadvising them not to buy vegetablesfrom such sellers.

Cong accuses govt of weakeningbanking architecture

NEW DELHI, APR 29

The Congress on Wednesdayattacked the government overthe issue of bad loans,accusing it of weakening theentire banking architecturefiscally and imprudently inthe name of cleaning thesystem.

The party wasresponding to FinanceMinister NirmalaSitharaman's tweet onTuesday night in which sheaccused the Congress and itsleaders of "misleading"people on loan write-offs.

"Nirmala Sitharaman ji,Cleaning the Banks ofpeople's money by rightingoff loans of absconders andfraudsters is not called'cleaning the system',Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala said in atweet. "It's called weakeningthe entire Bank architecturefiscally and imprudently, if

not maliciously," he saidIn a tweet, the finance

minister had accusedCongress leaders RahulGandhi and Surjewala ofattempting to mislead peoplein a brazen manner. "Typicalto congress, they resort tosensationalising facts bytaking them out of context,"she had said. Hitting back,Surjewala demanded simpleanswers from Sitharamaninstead of "twisting facts".

"Simple answer that FM,Smt @nsitharaman needs togive instead of twisting facts-:Why has Modi Govt written

off Bank Loans worth Rs6,66,000 Cr between 2014-15 & 2019-20? Is RBI's RTIreply dated 24th April, 2020of Bank loans write off of Rs68,607 Crore wrong orright," he asked.

"Why is Modi Govtrighting off Bank Loans ofabsconders & fraudsters likeNirav Modi+MehulChoksi(Rs 8,048 CR), JatinMehta(Rs 6,038 CR),Mallya(Rs 1,943 CR) &others as per RBI's RTI replyof 24/4/2020?

"Who permitted suchhuge write offs of Bank loans

of defaulters & why"Surjewala asked the financeminister.

The RBI released a list of50 top bank loan defaulters inthe country in an RTI reply.

Sitharaman had also said"Congress and Shri.RahulGandhi should introspectwhy they fail to play aconstructive role in cleaningup the system. Neither whilein power, nor while in theopposition has the Congressshown any commitment orinclination to stop corruptionand cronyism."

The finance minister alsoclaimed that "Earlier, on18.11.2019, in the Lok Sabhafor an unstarred Questionno:52, a list of Borrowersflagged as wilful defaulter byPublic Sector Banks underCRILIC reporting as on30.09.2019 (For borrowerswith exposure of Rs. 5 croreand above, Globaloperations) was provided.

Pb govt to procure every grain of wheat: Jaspal SinghDALJEET AJNOHAHOSHIARPUR, APR 29

Jaspal Singh, Principal Secretary(Planning) Punjab said that thePunjab Government would procureevery single grain of wheat from themandis and would not allow anyinconvenience to the farmers. Hewas visiting various mandisincluding Hoshiarpur today. DeputyCommissioner Apneet Riyait wasalso present on the occasion. JaspalSingh, Principal Secretary said thatthe Punjab Government wasensuring the procurement of wheatthrough coupon system this time inview of COVID-19 so that where thewheat of the farmers could beprocured smoothly, there would beno effect of COVID-19. Could alsobe avoided. He directed theprocurement agencies to ensuretimely procurement of wheat and

also ensure lifting within 48 hours.He also directed the concernedauthorities to maintain socialdistance in the mandis in view of thecorona virus. He appealed to thefarmers to ensure the use ofsanitizers, masks and soaps in themandis along with the social

distance. He also interacted with thefarmers on the occasion. DeputyCommissioner Apneet Riyaitinformed that smooth procurementof wheat was being done in themandis of the district. He said that sofar 1,15,713 metric tonnes of wheathas been procured by variousprocurement agencies. He said thatPungrain had procured 26,588 MT,Markfed 20,654 MT, PUNSUP25,732 MT, Punjab State WarehouseCorporation 13,146 MT, FCI 28,230MT and private traders 1,363 MT.He said that about 3 lakh 20thousand metric tonnes of wheat wasexpected to arrive in the mandisduring this wheat season as against 2lakh 91 thousand 481 metric tonneslast year. Apart from DistrictController Food and Civil SuppliesRajnish Kaur, District Mandi OfficerTajinder Singh and other officialswere also present on the occasion.

70 pilgrims fromHazur Sahib isolated

KARANPREET DHANDRALBARNALA, APR 29

During the curfew imposed in view ofNovel Corona Virus (Covid-19), manypersons of the state were stranded inoutsied states and the PunjabGovernment was making continuousefforts to bring them back. About 70 ofthese pilgrims have already reached thearea and have been isolated. About 26laborers and others belonging toBarnala district have been brought backto Barnala from Rajasthan. At the sametime the flow of pilgrims from HazurSahib continues. Disclosing this DeputyCommissioner Tej Partap SinghPhoolka said that during the curfewimposed due to corona virus manypersons of the district were trapped inthe outlying states and were beingbrought back. He said that workers andothers from Rajasthan (total 26) hadreached Barnala last night. He said thatsamples have been taken after screeningby the health department. All thesepersons have been secluded atGovernment Senior Secondary School(Dhanola) as a precaution and

administrative officers and concernedduty magistrates are supervising theentire process. He said that pilgrimswere also coming from Sri Hazur Sahibby special buses. About 70 pilgrimsfrom Barnala district have reached thisevening and have been secluded at GuruGobind Singh College, Sanghera andMalwa College, Mehal Kalan. He saidthat under the guidelines of Punjabgovernment sampling would be done bythe health department.

Satya Pal Jain, former member of Parliament paid a visit to Digambar Jain Temple in Sector 27Chandigarh on Wednesday, where meals for around 900 persons prepared everyday and delivered to

Chandigarh Administration.

HARPREET SINGH LEHALJALANDHAR, APR 29

Under the guidance of SMO DrRavinder Singh, labourers working invarious grain markets and rice millsmainly in villages Hakimpur, Khanpur,Garcha, Mukandpur and Phambra wereinstructed to wear face masks andpracticing social distancing even whiledoing work. As per governmentguidelines, they were also instructed toregularly use soap and scrub all surfacesof the hands for atleast 40 seconds andrinse thoroughly with running water or

use a sanitizer that contains 60%alcohol. They were also advised to useseparate utensils for drinking water, teaand lunch. In these grain markets andrice mills multipurpose healthsupervisors Rajkumar, Balwant Ram,Kuldeep Singh and Sarabjeet Singhchecked more than 500 labourers andfurther reported to Rapid ResponseTeam. After that RRT Medical OfficersDr Jatinder Sidhu, Dr Balkar and DrShingara Singh examined the symptomslike fever, dry cough, breathlessproblem, running nose and throatinfection of the labourers.

Health Deptt of CHC Mukandpur givesCOVID-19 related awareness to labourers

GSS School Jahangir hasinitiated online classes

VIKAS VERMADHURI, APR 29

During this camp students Learnt to make masks,toys from clay,Calligraphy, handwriting competition. Several competitions werearranged as painting, Card-making & folder making. Handwritingcompetitions were hold for all the three languages.Studentsenthusiastically participated and presented their writing skillExceptionally.Navdeep Kaur & Manpreet kaur of10+2(A),Arshdeep kaur of 10th(A) ,Khushpreet kaur of 9th(A) &Gursinder kaur of 6th(A) with Great zeal & zest, in Punjabiwriting competition.Beside this in English handwritingcompetition,Komalpreet kaur of 12th(A) ,Jaspreet kaur of12th(B),Gurwinder Singh 12th(C),Jashanpreet kaur of10th(A),Manjeet kaur of 10th(B)& Komalpreet kaur of 6th Awere no less,Beside this in Hindi Handwriting CompetitionRamanjot kaur of 10th B,Khushpreet kaur of 9th B,Prabhjot singhalso participated with great enthusiasm. Satnam Singh EnglishLecturer, Hardeep singh bhudan Lecturer, Gurpreet kaur PunjabiMistress,Rajpal kaur Hindi Mistress,of all staff completed this online summer camp successfully. Principal Madam Surinder Kaurcongratulated students,Parents and staff for great success.PrincipalMadam gave some tips for Preventive measure to be taken duringthis panademic Covid-19.She added to her words suggesting tofollow government orders,Principal Madam called up studentsand appreciate them for their tremendous tasks.

Kharar Police again distribute ration,among mentally retarted boys

OUR CORRESPONDENTKHARAR, APR 29

Kharar City Police againcame to the help of about 10mentally retarted boys whoare staying in a house inGillco Vally Kharar and givethem ration like atta, rice,sugar, tea, mustrad oil,

washing soap etc . Notably amessage was received byKharar City SHO BhagwantSingh about this that theywere having no stock ofthese things. SHO BhagwantSingh along with otheremployees when to theyresidence and handed overthe ration to them.

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NEWS AT AGLANCE

YUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020

7

Chandigarh man wins battle against corona,discharged from PGI

CHANDIGARH: In the subdued environment of Chandigarh,when discouraging stories about the surge in numbers of Covid-19 cases are dominating news platforms and social media time-lines, the news of another person getting discharged to go backhome from PGIMER’s Covid Hospital after battling hard anddefeating the demon of Covid-19 definitely brings some cheerand hope to everyone in the city.

With the discharge of this resident of Sector 37, the numberof cured and discharged patients from PGIMER’s Covid Hospi-tal has increased to 11.

GAURAV GOELCHANDIGARH, APR 29

On the directives of ChiefMinister Captain AmarinderSingh, Punjab Home Depart-ment has issued detailedguidelines to the district au-thorities to allow industrialactivities across the state.

Clarifying the scope ofpermissible construction ac-tivities specifically whether itincludes personal, residen-tial/commercial building, theState Government has alsopermitted all kinds of newconstructions in rural areaswithout any restrictions. Inurban areas, there is restric-tion in the sense that only on-

going projects can continuesubject to availability ofworkers at site. It may ac-cordingly be seen that there isno restriction on continu-ing/resuming work on the al-ready ongoing works includ-ing personal,residential/commercial build-ing subject to availability ofworkers at site. Accordingly,construction activities inclause 16 of MHAguidelinesof April 15 would includeconstruction of houses/com-mercial/institutional build-ings by individuals subject tocondition already imposed.Disclosing this here today, anofficial spokesperson saidthat the Additional Chief

Secretary (Home) SatishChandra has issued detailedguidelines in this regard en-suring industrial activities, al-ready permitted by the Gov-ernment of India, in the state.Accordingly, the District Au-thorities have been directed

to call the industrial associa-tions for a meeting and per-suade them to re-start the op-erations in the permitted ar-eas. The Spokesperson fur-ther pointed out that the man-agement of the state Industryhave also been asked to im-

plement the Standard Operat-ing Procedure (SOP) in linewith the guidelines of UnionMinistry of Home Affairs, asper clause 15, which havepermitted the industries inSpecial Economic Zones(SEZs).

Govt okays construction activities inrural areas without any restrictions OUR CORRESPONDENT

KHARAR/ MOHALI,APR 29

Kharar MLA Kanwar Sand-hu while appreciating thedecision of the governmentto allow L&T company tocontinue the constructionwork of Khara flyover evenduring curfew has demand-ed that in order to expeditethe construction work of theproblem faced by the com-pany should be solved soon.

In a letter written to theChief Principal Secretary toChief Minister Punjab onTuesday he has written thework has not taken off at thedesired pace due to variousreasons.

He has written that theconstruction company washaving difficulty in gettingcrusher, stone dust and sandetc. which are coming fromsome stone crushers ofRopar and Mohali district.The company require about10,000 metric tonnes ofthese items every week .

Similarly, the companywas facing cement, bitumenand flyash from the plantsand stock yards. He haswritten that some materialneed to be sourced from UP.“I also learn that some ma-

chinery required for specif-ic jobs needs to be trans-ported from Gurgaon.While the ConstructionCompany is struggling toput together its work force(some have gone home), afew of their specialistlabour are stuck in Saharan-pur in UP” he has written.

He has suggested thatthe matter should be takenup with the concerned inPunjab and other states andproblem faced by the company should be solvedsoon.

Kharar MLA demands solutionof problems faced by L&T to

expedite Kharar Flyover work

Revenue Patwar Unioncondemns show cause notices tohealth workers fighting coronaKULJEET SINGH JANDIALA GURU: Guru Nanak DevHospital and Medical College Amritsarissued a show cause notice to healthdepartment employees fighting a life-to-death battle with the corona virus.District Chief Kulwant Singh Dehriwal of

The RevenuePatwar Union andState Principal ofKanugoAssociationNirmaljit SinghBajwa said thatDeputy SecretaryMedical Education

and Discovery Department Punjab withMIMO No. 1/19/2020, 2513-16 with 18April 2020 Employee Narinder Singhlabs at the Nanak Dev Haspatal andMedical College Amritsar with duty tofight life to the death with global Covid19 Bishan Devi Nursing Sister (KronaWard), Prem Chand LaboratoryTechnician, Jatin Sharma LaboratoryTechnician, Government MedicalCollege Guru Nanak Dev HasapatalAmritsar, were issued show causenotices that must be withdrawn withoutany delay. The unions hoped thatDeputy Commissioner AmritsarShivdular Singh Dhillon, who isinvestigating the Kits scam, will soonmake a fair inquiry and present the truth.

33 pilgrims from HazurSahib sent to quarnentinefor 14 daysKULJEET SINGH Jandiala Guru: About 33 pilgrims fromthe area around Jandiala Guru, whohad gone to Gurdwara Sach KhandShri Hazur Sahib on a pilgrimagebefore the lockdown have been sentback to solitary confinement by the

health department for 14 days. SMODr. Nirmal Singh said that about 33devotees from Gurdwara Sri HazurSahib including 23 men, 7 women and3 children have been housed at RadhaSwami Satsang Ghar of Jandiala Guru.He said that these pilgrims weretransported from Gurdwara Sri HazurSahib by different vehicles.

The SDM said that they areresidents of Gunowal, Mananwala andRampura Jhite villages near JandialaGuru. All these 33 pilgrims are beingtested. DR. Nirmal Singh said that atpresent all of them are looking fine butthe rest of the situation will be clearonly after receiving their reports. Hesaid that at present they are being keptin solitary confinement for 14 days andthe rest will be as per the instructionsof the administration.

Husband of sarpanchof village Khara shoots person

REKHA VERMAGURDASPUR: While the crisis ofcorona is taking place all over theworld, there are some people who getdrunk beyond this global disaster tocarry out untoward incidents and do notcare destroying anyone's family,especially those whose hands the reinsare given by the public . One suchincident occurred when a rulingCongress sarpanch’s husband of theneighboring village of Khara killed aperson under the influence of liquor.Giving information in this regard,Jagroop singh the son of the deceasedDilbag resident of village Khara toldthat at around 11 pm, CongressManbir Singh came out of his houseand started abusing. On which heasked him to go back to him and not toabuse in the village like this as he is aresponsible person, but he continued toutter that derogatory language JagroopSingh's father Dilbag Singh came out ofthe house and Manbir Singh to stopthis nonsense, on which the drunkenmanbir singh got angry and shot DilbagSingh with his 12 bore rifle and wentback to his home and slept.

OUR CORRESPONDENTKHARAR/MOHALI,APR 29

Efforts of the two officersof the Punjab HorticultureDepartment staying at JalVayu Towers at Kharar re-sulted in the made avail-ability of the fresh fruitsand vegetables for aboutone thousands families re-siding here under the“Farm to Fork” model ofthe department in whichthe farm produce are sup-plied directly from thefarm to the consumer.

Under this CommunitySupported Agriculture(CSA) model, horticulturalcrops like fruits and veg-etables which are perish-able in nature sold on fairrates directly to the con-sumer, which are higherthan the Mandi rates(wholesale rate) for thefarmer and lower rates for

the consumer than the re-tail rates. Under this mod-el, due to lower rates, fruitsand vegetables can bemade accessible to thepoor and low income fam-ilies. As per informa-tion received from VijayKumar vise president of JVTowers, Dr. Bharat Bhusanand Dr. Yuvraj both em-

ployee of the horticulturedepartment are staying inthis complex. During cur-few when people are notpermitted to step out theirhouses these team two em-ployees tide up with farm-ers to bring their producevegetables and fruits to thesociety, complex and sell atvery reasonable price.

CHANDIGARH: On thedirectives of Chief MinisterCaptain Amarinder Singh,the State Home Departmenthas issued detailed guide-lines to allow opening ofshops in a staggered way onrotation, maintaining uni-form timings from 7 am to11 am only.

Disclosing this here to-day, an official spokesper-son said that the issue ofopening of shops has beenconsidered in detail and itwas decided that all the dis-tricts should allow openingof shops as per the guide-lines of Ministry of HomeAffairs, Government of In-dia, but they should do so in

a staggered way on rotation,maintaining uniform tim-ings from 7 am to 11 amonly. The Spokesperson fur-ther pointed out that duringthe period of opening ofshops, common man wouldbe allowed to go out to pro-cure commodities strictlyadhering to completeCOVID prevention meas-ures such as social distanc-ing, use of sanitisers andmasks etc. and thereafter,not only curfew should beenforced strictly, no oneshould be allowed to openshops or move around with-out prior permission of theCompetent Authority. TheSpokesperson also stated

that in line with the 4th cor-rigendum of MHA issuedon April 24, the State HomeDepartment has issued de-tailed guidelines clarifyingthat the word ‘shoppingcomplexes' is replaced with'market complexes' withinthe limits of municipal cor-porations and municipali-ties meaning thereby thatactivities in market com-plexes would continue to re-main prohibited till May 3,2020. In rural areas, allshops registered under theShops & Establishment Actexcept those in multi-brandand single-brand malls areallowed to open with 50%strength of workers.

Guidelines for openingof shops issued

Fruit, Vegetables made available forresidents under ‘Farm to Fork’ model SARWAN

QADIAN, APR 29

People are facing a lot oftrouble due to the vacant postof Secretary of the MarketCommittee since last about12 days in Qadian.

It is worth mentioning thatearlier the additional chargeof the Qadian Market Com-mittee was given to OmPrakash, Secretary of theMarket Committee, Kah-nuwan, but he has been sentto Patti Jail due to allegationsof taking bribe from a com-mission agent named Rahul.Since then, the Chairman ofMandi Board Lal Singh 3times from 19 to 23 April,two secretaries and 1 c cate-gory employee were giventhe additional charge of themarket committee Qadian butall three took a turn from thisadditional charge.

Since April 23, chairmanhas not issued any new orderfor appointing secretary tosolve the problems of farmers

and the laborers , due towhich labor and farmers aregetting upset for making cur-few pass in Qadian.

At the same time, the ad-ministrative system of theQadian has also collapsed.Farmers are also being lootedby manipulators by manipu-lating their weighing ma-chines, some of them wereheld by the GOG team in thepast and also got compensat-ed the farmers from commis-sion agents.

In view of this arrange-ment, the farmers and the of-ficials of the market commit-tee have demanded that im-mediately someone should beassigned the job of secretaryso that the work of the marketcommittee can run properlyin the season.

When the matter wastalked to the Additional Sec-retary Mandi Board HS Brar,he said that the matter hascome to his notice; he is stilltaking action in this matter.

Market committee has been running withoutSecy since last 12 days while season on its peak

CHET RAM RATTAN NAWANSHAHAR, APR 29

District Hospital Shaheed Bha-gat Singh Nagar has onceagain become the first in thestate for the year 2019-20 un-der the Kaya Swachh BharatKaya Kalp programme due toits excellent health services.

This place was won byNawanshahar and Gurdaspur.The hospitals in Punjab havegot 78.5 per cent marks due tostiff competition. Giving infor-mation to the media, RajinderPrasad Bhatia said that earlierthe hospital was eligible underthe National Quality Assur-ance Standard, under whichthe hospital has received agrant of Rs 10 lakh every yearfrom September 17, 2017 to 26September 2020. Civil Sur-geon Dr. Bhatia said that lastyear the SMO of this hospital,

Dr. Harvinder Singh has alsoreceived the Best SMO Awardunder the Kaya Kalp program.

Deputy CommissionerVinay Bablani congratulatedthe District Hospital Nawan-shahar on being re-elected forthe award under the bodytransplant programme. MLAAngad Singh congratulated allthe wing staff of the district

hospital for their special con-tribution in receiving theaward in the body transplantprogramme. The award-win-ning SMO Dri HarvinderSingh credited the guidancegiven by the entire hospitalstaff and civil surgeons fromtime to time for being selectedfor the first place in Punjab forthis Body Transplant Award.

Nawanshahar, Gurdaspur hospitals to be awardedfirst place in state with Rs. 15 lakhs prizes

DeputyCommissioner VinayBablanicongratulated theDistrict HospitalNawanshahar onbeing re-elected forthe award under thebody transplantprogramme.

CHET RAM RATTAN NAWANSHAHAR, APR 29

People of Shaheed BhagatSingh Nagar district are onceagain scared of two positivecorona case surface in vil-lage Boothgarh. Samples of50 people from the villagewere taken by the HealthDepartment administration.Of which 48 were negativeand two were positive withCovid-19.

Jatinder came fromJammu to Takkar districtalong with his colleaguesRavi Kumar and Naresh Ku-mar to get the goods. Heroamed the area in violation ofa 14-day solitary order of ad-ministration. Deputy Commis-sioner Vinay Bablani appealedto the people after the cases ofthe corona virus that "the waris not over", "we need to be

constantly vigilant to win thewar". Orders have been issuedto ban them from going out ofthe district. After examiningthose coming from other dis-tricts and states, 14 secluded

places will be maintained.Deputy CommissionerBablani asked people to keeptheir health safe by staying inhome during the lockdown.SDM Jasbir Singh said that thepeople of sealed villages in thearea are being provided rationfacilities uninterruptedly.

Two corona positive casessurface in Boothgarh village

Medicines donated inmemory of Brahamleen

Sant Baba Charan Dass Ji

DALJEET AJNOHAHOSHIARPUR, APR 29

Kutia 108 Sant Baba Dhian Dass ji Dhunne wale onbehalf of Present Mahant Hari Dass ji with the sup-port of the group associates, during the epidemic dueto Carona virus, 81 thousand rupees in three hospitalsin the region for the needy patients 'S medicine, san-itizer, masak and gulbaj etc. were given on the occa-sion Babu kimti Lal, SMO Paladi Dr. Balwinder Ku-mar, Baljit DasS, Madam Veena Dutta and Other staffwere Present.

Sukhwinder SinghSekhon visitsgrain market

MAMOON RASHIDMALERKOTLA, APR 29 Sukhwinder Singh Sekhonstate general secretary CPI(M) visited gran market to-day, Sekhon while speakingto media said that he has ob-served lack of bags (bardana)to cary and preserve wheat,he said that facilities shouldbe given to the farmers andcommission agents. Sekhonlashed out at center govern-ment and said that lockdownwill take the country yearsback and perhaps more peo-ple will die of hunger insteadof corona virus. He furtherappealed the government toend the lockdown and let thepeople work and earn fortheir livlefood. Sajid Gorapresident of commissionagent association said.

DALJEET AJNOHAHOSHIARPUR, APR 29

While various departmentsare diligently carrying outtheir duties during the cur-few imposed to curb thespread of Covid-19, there isalso an officer who hasserved Punjab with a richsense of service. Has en-hanced its prestige. proud ofPunjab's rich heritage Muk-erian goes to S.D.M.AshokKumar, who entertained theneedy besides those fromother states with such inten-sity that the people con-

cerned never tire of praisinghim. Whether it is a personbelonging to Jammu andKashmir or a family of Guj-jar community, SDM AshokKumar left no stone un-turned in providing facilitiesto them. Deputy Commis-sioner Apneet Riyait saidthat SDM Ashok Kumar is

performing his duty with asense of service, of whichthe district administration isproud. He said that apartfrom the families of Gujjarcommunity, every arrange-ment was made for the con-venience of the people be-longing to Jammu andKashmir.

DC’s competent leadership, heartfelt thank forhelping needy boosted work further: SDM PRITPAL SINGH

JALANDHAR, APR 29

Prinicpal Secretary AlokShekhar, Punsup MD Rambirand Deputy CommissionerVarinder Kumar Sharma onWednesday took the stock ofwheat procurement operationsduring ongoing Rabi season inJalandhar.

Showing satisfaction onthe procurement works in theJalandhar during their visits incity's grain market and KhairaMajha village markets, theysaid that this time, the seasonwas one of challenging task forthe ensuing smooth and hassle-free procurement in the pre-

vailing situation arising out ofCovid-19 pandemic. Theyasked district managers of var-ious procurement agencies tostrictly adhere by the guide-

lines of the state governmentof the lifting wheat within 48hours of its purchase and toldMandi Board officials to en-sure obeying of the social dis-

tancing in the grain markets.They told that all the procure-ment agencies must make surethat there was no glut of grainsin the markets/ mandis by en-suring its prompt lifting. Theyadded that the procurementagencies must monitor theprocess of lifting in the mandisallotted to them and make surethat it was done within 48hours of its purchase. Theytold that any sort of callousnessin this job was unwarrantedand undesirable. They said thatduring the procurement,coupons are being issued bymarket committees to Arthiyaswhich subsequently being giv-en to the farmers.

Agencies to ensure lifting of wheat within 48 hours

Punjab Aids control employeeswelfare association holdonline meeting

MAMOON RASHID MALERKOTLA: Mohinderpal SinghPresident of Punjab Aids controlEmployees welfare association took anonline meetig of working committeeand people district level authorties ofassociatiion. They discussed that theemployees of said association areworking under threat to their life for last30 years on contract of Punjab Aidscontrol society that comes underhealth department and they arecounceling Aids patients.

Page 8: SHOPIAN: Curfew extended in Punjab till May 17Apr 30, 2020  · lowed to resume their functions. The Chief Minister said that sealing bor-ders with Delhi was a need of hour as most

J Arunkumar appointed as USA men's team head coach

NEW DELHI: Amidst the break from cricketing events due to the coronavirus crisis, former Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal revealed his all-time Test XI.Interestingly, Chandimal listed his Test XI with a condition of selecting players with whom he has played or has seen playing.Chandimal, who has played 57 Test matches for Sri Lanka, picked two Indian heavyweights, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in his playing XI The 30-year-old cricketer picked Tendulkar and former England batsman Alastair Cook as the opening pair. The number three spot was bagged by former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Kohli was given the number four spot.The only West Indian player picked by Chandimal was legendary cricketer Brian Lara. Also, former Sri Lanka cricketer Mahela Jayawardena was named as the captain of the team. South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis was included to strengthen the middle-order while Dale Steyn was picked to bolster the bowling line up.

CALIFORNIA: USA Cricket have finalised a two-year deal with J Arunkumar as head coach of their men's national team.Arunkumar, 45, is a former Karnataka captain, with a strong body of work in the Indian domestic circuit. He replaces interim coach James Pamment, who was appointed in October 2019 after USA Cricket chose not to renew contracts of their support staff in the likes of former India players Kiran More, Sunil Joshi and Pravin Amre along with David Saker, the former Australia bowling coach."I'm delighted to say that we have subsequently reached an agreement with 'Jak' that he will take up the role and be permanently based in the United States as and when his working visa has been obtained," USA Cricket CEO Ian Higgins said in a statement. "Of course, the COVID-19 crisis has now presented some challenges around the scope of the role in the short/medium term, but we look forward to completing all of the arrangements and to welcoming him more formally in due course.

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TALKSSHORT

'I know the journey and the pain': Yuvraj condoles demise of Irrfan KhanBCCI yet to take call on contract extension of ombudsman DK JainNEW DELHI: BCCI ombudsman and ethics officer DK Jain is yet to hear from the top brass on his contract extension after his one-year term ended in February. Justice Jain was appointed as Ombudsman cum Ethics Officer in February, 2019 and now it is up to the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah to offer him an extension. "It was some time back that the CEO (Rahul Johri) had verbally asked me if I would be interested in an extension and I had said yes. But after that I haven't yet heard from them. Obviously, now the situation is different due to the lockdown," Justice (retired) Jain told a news agency on Wednesday. "Let BCCI come up with a formal (written) offer and I will definitely consider it," Jain added. Asked if he has received any new set of complaints, he replied: "I wouldn't be knowing because BCCI sends me the list.

AGENCY 'Angrezi Medium'. He was not a part of by fans and critics alike with critically NEW DELHI, APR 29 the film's promotions owing to his ill acclaimed films like 'The Lunchbox' and

health. He was regarded as a fine actor 'Paan Singh Tomar' to his credit.Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh on Wednesday condoled the demise of actor Irrfan Khan. The cricketer said he knew that Irrfan khan had fought till the end and he is in a better place now. On March 16, 2018, Irrfan had announced through a Twitter post that he was suffering from a neuroendocrine tumor - a rare form of cancer.

Yuvraj, who also battled cancer, said that he is well aware of the journey and the pain that Irrfan must have gone through.

"I know the journey I know the pain and I know he fought till the end some are lucky to survive some don't I'm sure you are in a better place now Irfan Khan my condolence to your family. May his Irrfan passed away at Mumbai's while battling rare cancer. He was 53.soul RIP," Yuvraj tweeted. Kokilaben Hospital on Wednesday Irrfan was last seen on screen in

MANCHESTER,: All players from overseas seeking to join Premier League clubs are set to be subject to points-based criteria for work permits after Britain's departure from the European Union is complete.Currently, only players from outside of the European single market have to meet certain soccer-specific immigration requirements. But new regulations are required because clubs will no longer have the unrestricted ability to sign players from the continent after the transition period for Britain's divorce from the EU. The English Football Association disclosed in its annual financial report on Tuesday plans for a points-based system for the Premier League, which had wanted a way of maintaining the status quo. The FA and Premier League are yet to come to an agreement on the specifics of the number of homegrown players in the 25-man squads, with eight currently required. The new points system will expand the current assessment for work permits for non-European players, so taking into consideration the number of international appearances by players, the FIFA ranking of their country, the transfer fee, and salary to establish the need of the club to sign them.

Sachin, Virat Kohli and Lara in Chandimal's all-time Test XI

Premier League set for points-basedwork permits post-Brexit

SPORTSYUGMARG, CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020

Sachin, Virat express griefNEW DELHI: India skipper Virat Kohli and former batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday expressed grief over the demise of the ace Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan.Taking to Twitter Kohli condoled the death of the 'phenomenal talent' and wrote, "Saddened to hear about the passing of Irrfan Khan. What a phenomenal talent and dearly touched everyone's heart with his versatility. May god give peace to his soul." Veteran cricketer Tendulkar lauded Irrfan's skills and said "acting came so effortlessly to him". "Sad to hear the news of #IrrfanKhan passing away. He was one of my favorites & I've watched almost all his films, the last one being Angrezi Medium. Acting came so effortlessly to him, he was just terrific. May his soul Rest In Peace. Condolences to his loved ones," Tendulkar tweeted.

Test matches are purest form of cricket : Stokes

AGENCYNEW DELHI, APR 29

England's f lamboyant al l -rounder Ben Stokes has said the longest format of the game will always remain the purest form of cricket.The 2019 World Cup-winning hero also said that the longest format does not need much tinkering and the great players would also not want to see many changes in the longest format.

"For me, Test cricket is the pinnacle. I do not know where the talks of Test cricket dying are coming from. You can ask the likes of Virat Kohli, Joe Root and they will say that Test cricket is where a player gets really tested," Stokes told New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi during a Rajasthan Royals' podcast program.

"In the longest format, you find out who you really are as a cricketer and for me, it will always be the purest form of cricket. It needs to stay around, it would be really sad if Test

committee was deliberating pressure points in the global organised.cricket is changed. If they are

upon the idea of four-day Test cricket calendar in the future, But the idea has been going to change the rules, I

matches. ESPNCricinfo had reported. If rejected by the likes of Virat think it should be called easy

There has been widespread the four-day Tests indeed start Kohli as he said that the purest cricket then," Stokes added.

discussion among cricketing being played, it would allow for form of cricket should not be Last year, ICC's cricket

boards on how to reduce m o r e Te s t s e r i e s t o b e tinkered with.

Manpreet recalls Dhanraj Pillay's words that keep him motivatedAGENCY (1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004), four Twitter, when the midfielder was NEW DELHI, APR 29 World Cups (1990, 1994, 1998, asked to name his favourite player

and 2002), four Champions from the 1975 World Cup winning-Indian hockey team skipper Trophies (1995, 1996, 2002, and side, the only time India won the M a n p r e e t S i n g h r e c a l l e d 2003), and four Asian Games World Cup, he picked former legendary player and former (1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002). skipper Ajitpal Singh.skipper Dhanraj Pillay's words that India won the Asian Games The 2020 Tokyo Olympics has keep him motivated before any (1998) and Asia Cup (2003) under been postponed until next year due game. his captaincy. He was also the to the coronavirus pandemic. Now,

During a question and answer highest goal scorer in the Bangkok the games will take place from July session on Twitter when Manpreet Asian Games and was the only 23 to August 8 next year while the was asked to share something that Indian player to feature in the Paralympics Games will be held Pillay had taught him, he World Eleven side during the 1994 from August 24 to September 5, replied, "These are his words World Cup in Sydney. 2021.that we will always remember 'if The Indian men's hockey team C o m m e n t i n g o n t h e you believe in yourself, you will is currently away from their postponement of the Olympics be able to beat any team' and that families due to the coronavirus Manpreet said, "We are positive, keeps us motivated before any enforced lockdown at the Sports motivated and pumped up and match." Authority of India (SAI) facility in nothing can bring us down as it

produced. He is the only player to Pillay is regarded as one of Bengaluru. give us "extra" time to prepare well have played in four Olympics the best players India has ever During the interaction on for next year."

LEEDS, APR 29: Former Argentina forward Javier Saviola has warned Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez about the difficulties he will face while playing with all-time great players and teammates - Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez."Honestly for me he is a player who can come in handy for Barcelona," Goal.com quoted Saviola as saying of Martinez. "We know what it means to be next to Suarez, Messi and other great players. I am not saying that it is easy to play with them," he added. Martinez has been one of the stars of Serie A in 2019-20, scoring 16 goals in 31 appearances before the coronavirus outbreak brought football across Europe to a halt. According to Goal.com report, Barcelona have made Martinez their top priority this summer and are ready to offer the 22-year-old a contract worth 10 million euro a year. "Dybala said it was difficult with Messi and I supported him because it requires a high level of concentration, to be at his pace," said Saviola, who represented Barcelona between 2001 and 2007.

Not easy to play with Suarez, Messi: Saviola warns Lautaro Azhar supports Indian Cricketers Association

to help players amid lockdownNEW DELHI: Former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has supported the initiative of the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) to help around 30-40 former players who are in need of funds amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown. The ICA has generated around Rs 25 lakh and former skipper Azharuddin has also contributed Rs 1 lakh. The ICA president Ashok Malhotra has said that the contribution of Azharuddin will prove as a game-changer as it will encourage more and more people to lend their hand for a good cause. "We have been able to generate Rs 25 lakh till now, it is a very big plus, just two and a half days have gone by, we will try to reach out to the rest of the members as well. I would expect the donation to be a bit more as we are trying to 30 to 40 cricketers in five zones," Malhotra told . "After listening to our appeal, Mohammad Azharuddin also contributed Rs 1 lakh, his contribution can be considered very big. We are now getting donations from legends. I hope things get better from here onwards," he added.

Match-fixing row:Akhtar lashes out at PCB

AGENCY PCB. There is an urgent of NEW DELHI, APR 29 bringing such a law and this can

only be done in the national Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar assembly," he added.has lashed out at the Pakistan Akhtar also slammed Cricket Board (PCB) for not Mohammad Amir for turning taking serious action against his back on Pakistan Cricket. people who get themselves Amir was caught in a spot-involved in match-fixing. He fixing scandal in 2010, but the also asked that why doesn't the pacer made a comeback for country bring in a legislation to Pakistan. criminalise match-fixing. His Akhtar slammed the PCB remarks came a day after Umar first for not setting the right Akmal was given a three-year examples and then said Amir ban for not reporting a match- did not repay the country back fixing offer. as he decided to turn his back on

As match-fixing continues Test cricket. "Why did you to bother Pakistan cricket, bring back Mohammad Amir? former players in the country Why there are different have raised their voice to ask for guidelines for different players? legislation, criminalising You tried to make Amir a star, you match-fixing. "Why cannot bypassed all guidelines, and what you make match-fixing a did Amir do? He said I won't play criminal offence in Pakistan? Test cricket, there you go," Akhtar You can give a jail term or seize said. Chairman of the Disciplinary the offenders' property, it will Panel Justice (retired) Fazal-e-put fear in people, the PCB and Miran Chauhan on Monday their legal team are being announced the decision to ban incompetent, why there is no Akmal for three years.legislation to criminalise "Akmal was charged for match-fixing," Akhtar said in a two breaches of Article 2.4.4 of video posted on his YouTube the PCB Anti-Corruption Code in channel. two unrelated incidents. Article

"Now there are people who 2.4.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption are asking PCB to bring in Code reads: "Failing to disclose to legislation to criminalise the PCB Vigilance and Security match-fixing. I want to ask D e p a r t m e n t ( w i t h o u t those people what did you do unnecessary delay) full details when you held positions in the of any approaches.

Latham, Southee feature in NZ Cricket's awards

WELLINGTON, APR 29 : Opener Tom Latham has won the Redpath Cup as New Zealand's best batsman, breaking a seven-year streak in which the trophy was won by either Kane Williamson or Ross Taylor.Latham won the annual award for the first time after scoring 608 runs in nine tests at an average of 40.53. His best innings was his 154 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in August which helped New Zealand win the second test and level the two-match series. Latham was selected as an opener in the International Cricket Council's world test team of 2019. “This season we faced some of the very best bowling attacks in the world and Tom was an absolute rock at the top for us," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said.