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PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM GUWAHATI & DIBRUGARH
RN-1127/57 TECH/GH – 103/2018-2020, VOL. 82, NO. 102 GUWAHATI, FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020
82 years of service to the nation
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p2 p5 p11Nagaland to get COVID-19testing laboratory soon
Sonowal reviews Covid-19scene at Biswanath
China, Europe showrestarting economy not easy
No gemstones are needed,
a mask and sanitizer will
help you during this bad
phase!
JOCOSERIOUS
NEW DELHI, April 16:Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday re-viewed the impact of COV-ID-19 on the Indian econ-omy, and discussed a pos-sible second stimulus withFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman to boost sec-tors hit hard by the pan-demic.
Modi held discussions with
the Finance Minister as the
pandemic hit sectors from
small industries to the avia-
tion sector hard with millions
of jobs at stake.
The meeting comes amid
drastic reduction in GDP
growth forecast by various
multi-lateral funding agen-
cies for the current fiscal due
to the impact of COVID-19
and consequent lockdown.
Modi reviews impact ofCOVID-19 on economy
State of the economy was
discussed in details during
the meeting, sources said,
adding resource mobilisation
for taking on the future chal-
lenges was also highlighted.
As per the World Bank’s
latest assessment, India is
expected to grow 1.5 per
cent to 2.8 per cent. Similar-
ly, the IMF on Tuesday pro-
jected a GDP growth of 1.9
per cent for India in 2020, as
the global economy hits the
worst recession since the
Great Depression in 1930s.
The pandemic and conse-
quent lockdown have hit vari-
ous sectors, including MSME,
hospitality, civil aviation, agri-
culture and allied sector.
The government constitut-
ed an empowered group -
headed by Economic Affairs
Secretary Atanu Chakraborty
- which is entrusted with the
task of suggesting measures
that can bring the economy
back on track quickly post the
lockdown.
Besides, it was also asked
to work on relief and welfare
measures for various sectors
of the economy as well as for
the poor and needy.
In his address to the nation,
the Prime Minister had ex-
pressed concern over prob-
lems being faced by poor and
daily wagers and farmers.
“The government has
made every possible effort to
help them through Pradhan
Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yoja-
na. Their interests have also
been taken care of while mak-
ing the new guidelines,” he
had said. – PTI
R DUTTA CHOUDHURY
GUWAHATI, April 16: At
this time of crisis, the Assam
Police is making optimum
use of the social media not
only to reach out to the people
to educate them, but also help
out the people in need. Since
the outbreak of COVID-19,
the social media posts of the
Assam Police are reaching
out to millions of people to
educate them and also to help
those in need.
Additional Director Gen-
eral of Police, Harmeet Singh
said, “as with every crisis sit-
uation we have faced in the
past, communication is the
key. This is also vital in this
Assam Police using socialmedia to reach people
hour of crisis. Social media
has always been an important
aspect of our communication
strategy, as it allows us to
facilitate conversations
around the crisis, connect us
to the citizens and directly
communicate with them.”
Singh said that the Assam
Police followed a multi
pronged strategy of sensitiza-
tion, reaching out to the com-
munity to provide relief, and
being a credible source of in-
formation in this ‘Infodemic.’
This has been not only for the
people, but as a source of in-
formation for the media, too.
The Assam Police is also using
the social media to prevent an-
yone from creating confusion
in the minds of people with
false information.
The Smart Social Media
Centre of the Assam Police
has been very proactive in
dealing with COVID-19
crisis, getting into action as
early as March 12. Since,
then, the social media team
has been running a wide
range of campaigns- sensitis-
ing citizens on the gravity of
crisis, lockdown guidelines,
various dos & don’ts, impor-
tance of social distancing and
the menace of misinforma-
tion through regular adviso-
ries, memes, graphic explain-
ers and videos.
ImportedChinese PPEswill be tested,says Himanta
RITURAJ BORTHAKUR
GUWAHATI, April 16:
Amidst concerns about the
safety of the PPEs imported
from China, Health Minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma today
said the kits which reached
Guwahati last night will be
tested in state labs even
though they are CE/FDA
verified.
Some reports today
claimed that many PPE kits
that arrived in India have
failed safety checks at the
Defence Research & Devel-
opment Organisation labora-
tory in Gwalior.
Sarma, however, told The
Assam Tribune that there is
no instruction from Govern-
ment of India regarding test-
ing the imported kits in
Gwalior.
Assam became the first
State yesterday to buy PPEs
directly from China. Earlier,
the states had been getting
the share of those procured
by Government of India.
Some kits were also donat-
ed by China.
A consignment of 50,000
PPEs ordered by Assam gov-
ernment from Guangzhou in
China reached Guwahati in a
special flight last night, tak-
ing the stock of PPEs in the
State to 1.5 lakh.
“The consignment was
cleared by Custom today
evening. The kits will be test-
ed in our lab, only after that
it will be dispatched to the
hospitals,” Sarma said.
SEE PAGE 6
Second stimulus under consideration
SEE PAGE 6
Indiansabroad
NEW DELHI, April 16: Atotal of 3,336 Indians in 53countries were infected bythe novel coronaviruswhile 25 lost their livesdue to the disease,government sources saidtoday. The strandedIndians will have to bepatient as the governmentis not evacuating them aspart of a policy decision tocheck spread of the virusin the country, they said. –PTI
China refutalBEIJING, April 16: China
has refuted allegations thatthe coronavirus pandemicmay have originated in alaboratory near the city ofWuhan where contagioussamples were beingstored. A foreign ministryspokesman cited the WHOhead and other medicalexperts as saying therewas no evidence thattransmission began fromthe lab. – AP
Army decisionNEW DELHI, April 16:
The Indian Army onThursday directed all itsmilitary establishments,cantonments, formationheadquarters and fieldunits to totally restrictmovement of forces tillApril 19 in view of thegovernment's freshlockdown relatedguidelines. – PTI
Full refundNEW DELHI, April 16:
The Civil Aviation Ministryon Thursday said thepassengers who had bookedflight tickets during thefirst phase of lockdown fortravel up to May 3 mustget a full refund from theairlines without anycancellation charges if theyask for it. – PTI
nnnnn Also see page 9
HelplineGUWAHATI, April 16: The
Assam Police on Thursdaylaunched four mobilehelpline numbers to assistthe senior citizens duringthe lockdown hours. Thenumbers are 6026900974,6026900975, 9435215029and 9132699735. – StaffReporter
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: The
State government has accord-
ed permission to the Guwa-
hati Tea Auction Centre
(GTAC) to restart their oper-
ations in a limited manner to
conduct e-auctions of tea with
effect from April 16. Howev-
er, auction will resume at the
centre from April 23.
This permission to resume
operations was also accorded
to related stakeholders as and
when required with certain
riders – registered tea ware-
houses in Guwahati city, reg-
istered tea auctioneers offices
in Guwahati city, registered tea
buyers offices, registered tea
producers offices, registered
transporter companies and
registered courier offices.
The establishments will
have to avoid overcrowding
and maintain social distancing
and COVID-19 protocol.
The last auction was held at
the GTAC on March 24.
Last year, the GTAC sold
195 million kilograms of tea.
The State’s production last
year stood at 655 million kilo-
grams.
Guwahati Tea Auction Buy-
ers Association secretary Di-
nesh Bihani said the govern-
ment’s decision will help the
seller members who want to
sell their teas immediately at
the GTAC because due to
lockdown they were unable to
open their factories. Recently,
the tea industry has allowed
them to resume operations
and they have produced their
teas and dispatched to GTAC.
“It will be helpful to reduce
their cash crunch and solve
their problem of cash liquidity
to some extent,” Bihani said.
Tea auction centreto operate from April 23
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16:
Two persons from Mori-
gaon have tested positive for
COVID-19 today, taking the
cumulative number of posi-
tive cases in the State to 34,
Health Minister Himanta
Biswa Sarma said.
The two from Morigaon
– Samsul Alom (72) and
Furkam Ali (25) – were sec-
ondary contacts of Nizamud-
din Markaz attendees and
were in quarantine at the
Lahorighat Model Hospital.
There were seventeen
people in quarantine at the
Lahorighat hospital.
“They were to be re-
leased after the mandatory
tests on the thirteenth and
fourteenth day. These two
persons, however, tested
Two more test positive in MorigaonDC, SP quarantined; 3 released from Goalpara hospital
positive for COVID-19 on
the 14th day,” officials said,
adding that the patients are
being brought to Guwahati
for further treatment.
Morigaon DC Rituraj
Bora, SP Swapnaneel Deka
and the district’s joint direc-
tor of health Dr RK Barka-
taky, who came in contact
with the COVID-19 positive
duo, have been instructed to
go for quarantine at their re-
spective quarters for 14 days.
Two local TV journalists of
Lahorighat have also been
asked to be in home quaran-
tine.
Meanwhile, three patients
were released from Goal-
para Civil Hospital today.
Sarma along with Minis-
ter of State for Health Pi-
jush Hazarika visited the
Goalpara hospital to moni-
tor the discharge of the pa-
tients – Khabiruddin
Ahmed, Shahjahan Ali
Ahmed and Yusuf Ali.
“As per Indian Council of
Medical Research protocol,
they have been sent to 14-
day home quarantine after
they tested negative in two
successive tests on the thir-
teenth and fourteenth days,”
Sarma said.
Yesterday, two patients
were released from the
Sonapur Civil Hospital after
they were declared virus-
free by doctors. These re-
leased patients too will have
to be in home quarantine for
another 14 days as per WHO
protocol.
Around ten more patients
are likely to be discharged
tomorrow or day after.
“By April 20, we hope to
release most of the pa-
tients,” the Health Minister
said.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visiting the newly set up isolation centre at Sri Sri Pitambar Dev Goswami Civil
Hospital in Majuli on Thursday. – UB Photos
Strategicapproach tofight virus
NEW DELHI, April 16:
The Union government has
adopted a special strategy to
fight coronavirus, with specific
instructions for the district and
state authorities on how to go
about with it, the Home Min-
istry said on Thursday.
The strategic approach for
COVID-19 containment
broadly involves defining the
area of operation, applying pe-
rimeter control, delineating
containment and buffer zones,
a ministry statement said.
Besides, there is active
search for cases, contact trac-
ing, quarantine, clinical man-
agement and awareness gen-
eration among public.
NEW DELHI, April 16:
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi on Thursday called
for a united fight against
COVID-19 and said a lock-
down is no solution, but ag-
gressive testing is the main
weapon to defeat the coro-
navirus and it should be
used strategically.
Addressing a press confer-
ence via video link, he said
India will emerge as a bet-
ter place if everyone fights
the virus with confidence
and not out of fear. Noting
that the ongoing nationwide
lockdown is like a “pause
button” and not a solution to
defeat the virus, the former
Congress chief said testing
is the real weapon against it,
which India should use stra-
tegically.
Calling upon the govern-
ment to quickly resolve the
issue of the migrants strand-
ed at various places without
food and money, he feared
that it might lead to social
unrest otherwise.
He also called for a provi-
sion of food to be distributed
among the poor and margin-
alised, while providing a safe-
ty net for the MSMEs and
other strategic industries,
which foreign entities may be
eying for takeovers.
“In no way does a lock-
down defeat the virus. It
stops the virus for some
Rahul for united fight againstCOVID-19, aggressive testing
time. The biggest weapon to
fight the virus is testing. Test-
ing is scaled to know where
the virus is moving and you
can isolate it and target it,”
he said.
Gandhi said the scale of
testing in India has been
low so far at 199 per 10 lakh
people – around 350 tests
per district – which he said
is not enough to tell which
way the virus is moving.
“If you have to fight the vi-
rus, you have to increase
testing dramatically... That
means you have to move
into random testing,”
he noted.
More than 2,083,820 declared cases registered in 193
countries and territories
Death toll from the pandemic 137,500
At least 450,500 patients recovered
Now the pandemic epicentre, the US has 639,664
infections and 30,985 deaths
Italy the next most-affected country with 21,645 deaths
from 165,155 infections
Data till 4:30 pm on Thursday – AFPCOCOCOCOCOVID-19VID-19VID-19VID-19VID-19 sta sta sta sta status in tus in tus in tus in tus in INDIAINDIAINDIAINDIAINDIA
Confirmed cases 12,759
Cured/Discharged 1,515
Death 420
Figures include foreign nationals
As on 16/04/2020 at 5 pm
Source: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Alert TODAY
Alive TOMORROW
SEE PAGE 6
SEE PAGE 6
Journalist bodymoves SC against
media houses
SPL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, April 16: The
National Alliance of Journalists
(NAJ) on Thursday moved the
Supreme Court against all re-
trenchment, salary cuts and
allied orders by media houses
against its employees.
The media body sought
the intervention of the
Supreme Court in ordering
that the actions against jour-
nalists be suspended.
The petitioner NAJ has
called for direction to all me-
dia houses, including digital
media, to treat all termination
notices, resignations received
pursuant to request, wage re-
ductions, and directions to go
on leave without pay, which
took place after the announce-
ment of the COVID-19 lock-
down, as suspended with im-
mediate effect.
Layoffs, salary cuts
SEE PAGE 6
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 20202 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI
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INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL
Washington: President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House onWednesday in Washington. – AP/PTI
BEIJING, April 16: As countriesconsider how to restart their virus-halted economies, the early expe-riences in China and parts of Eu-rope show it will be no easy task.
Workers back on the job are waryof spending much or going out.
Shoppers are staying away fromthe few stores reopening. Masksand social-distancing measures arenot fading. And pervasive is the fearthe coronavirus could return iflockdowns meant to stop its spreadare eased too much, too quickly.
Still, leaders are anxious to reo-pen factories, schools and shops andto repair the economic damagefrom the pandemic that has claimedmore than 137,000 lives of morethan 2 million people infected.
Some Chinese cities tried reas-suring consumers by showing offi-cials eating in restaurants. In the US,
people have begun getting reliefchecks to help them pay the bills.
Rome’s streets were largely de-serted despite some stores reopen-ing. In Vienna, clothing store ownerMarie Froehlich said her staff washappy to be back after weekscooped up at home. But dependentlargely on tourism,she expects thebusiness will takemonths to returnto normal.
“Until then, we are in crisismode,” she said.
Truck salesman Zhang Hu inZhengzhou, China, is back at workbut his income plummeted becausefew people are buying 20-ton rigs.
“I have no idea when the situa-tion will turn better.” In the US,with many factories shut down,American industrial output
shriveled in March, registering itsbiggest decline since the nation de-mobilised in 1946 at the end of WorldWar–II. Retail sales fell by an un-precedented 8.7 per cent, with Aprilexpected to be far worse.
And troubling data indicate theworst may still be to come in many
parts of the world.UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres is urging stepped-up ef-forts to prepare Africa, warning thatthe continent “could end up suffer-ing the greatest impacts.” Singa-pore’s outbreak has jumped morethan 1,100 cases since Monday.
It had looked to be successful incontaining a first wave of infections,but the new cases are occurring
among workers from poorer Asiancountries who live in crowded dor-mitories and work in the tiny city-state’s trade-dependent economy.
In Brazil, a war of words has bro-ken out over President JairBolsonaro’s lackadaisical approachto the virus. “We’re fighting against
the coronavirus andagainst the‘Bolsonaro-virus,’”Sao Paulo state
Governor Doria told The Associ-ated Press in an interview, addingthat he believes the President hasadopted “incorrect, irresponsiblepositions.”
The US began issuing one-timepayments this week to tens of mil-lions of people as part of its $2.2-trillion coronavirus relief package.
But another part of the reliefpackage, a $350-billion paycheck
protection programme aimed atsmall businesses, is running dry af-ter being open for only a matter ofdays. Negotiations were accelerat-ing in Washington over a $250-bil-lion emergency request to help.
The US has recorded more than30,000 deaths “the most in theworld” and over 600,000 confirmedinfections, by a Johns Hopkins Uni-versity count.
Still, the nightmare scenarios pro-jecting a far greater number ofdeaths and hospitalisations have notcome to pass, raising hopes fromcoast to coast and promptingstronger calls for easing of restric-tions. Foreign leaders, meanwhile,rushed to the defence of the WorldHealth Organisation after Trumpvowed to halt US payments to theUN agency for not sounding thealarm over the virus sooner. – AP
China, Europe show restarting not easy
Virus-hit economies
WASHINGTON, April 16: TheUS has “passed the peak” on newcoronavirus cases, PresidentDonald Trump has said and pre-dicted that some states would reo-pen this month.
The US has over 637,000 con-firmed COVID-19 cases and over30,826 deaths, the highest for anycountry in the world.
At the daily White Housecoronavirus briefing on Wednesday,Trump said new guidelines to reo-pen the country would be an-nounced on Thursday after hespeaks to Governors.
“We’ll be the comeback kids, allof us,” he said. “We want to get ourcountry back.”
The Trump administration haspreviously fixed May 1 as a possi-ble date to reopen the world’s larg-est economy, but the President saidsome states may be able to returnto normalcy earlier than that.
“The battle continues, but the datasuggest that nationwide we havepassed the peak on new cases. Hope-fully, that will continue, and we willcontinue to make great progress,”Trump said. These encouraging de-velopments, he said, have put theUS in a very strong position to fi-nalise the guidelines for states onreopening the country.
“Hopefully that will continue, andwe will continue to make greatprogress,” Trump said.
US has ‘passed the peak’ on newcoronavirus cases, says Trump
Dr Deborah Brix, a member ofthe White House Task Force onCoronavirus, said that over the lastfive or six days there has been de-cline in new cases across the coun-
try. “This has been very reassuringfor us. At the same time, we knowthat mortality and the fatalities thatwe are facing across the UnitedStates continue,” she said.
Nine states have less than 1,000cases and less than 30 new casesper day. Some states like Californiaand Washington State, Oregonnever really had a peak because of
so much work that their populationsdid to decrease and keep the newcases down, she said.
Two states, Rhode Island andProvidence are in a unique situa-tion, she said. First, they had in-creasing cases from the New YorkCity area and now they have newincreasing cases from the Bostonarea. They are caught between twoincredible hotspots in the country,she said.
Reiterating that this is a highly-contagious virus, Brix said in socialgatherings and coming togetherthere is always a chance that asymp-tomatic person can spread the vi-rus unknowingly.
“No one is intending to spread thevirus. We know if you are sick youwill stay home. But to all of you thatare out there that would like to jointogether and just have that dinnerparty for 20 don’t do it yet. Continueto follow the presidential guidelines.We really appreciate the work of theAmerican people,” Brix said.
Asked why the US accounted forsuch a significant proportion of theglobal death toll of 136,908, Trumpaccused other countries of lyingabout their mortality rate.
“Does anybody really believe thenumbers of some of these coun-tries?” he said, in an apparent ref-erence to China where the pan-demic originated and spread acrossthe world. – PTI
WASHINGTON, April 16: Al-leging that coronavirus was ge-netically-engineered in a Wuhanlab, an Indian-American survivorof the deadly virus has urgedPresident Donald Trump to seekcompensation from China, runninginto trillions of dollars, for the thou-sands of deaths and harming theAmerican economy.
“The unleashing of global deathand suffering with thecoronavirus, a plague upon all ofus, is worse than Pearl Harbour,and given its deception, and later,cover-up, lack any semblance ofhonour,” Indian-American attor-ney Ravi Batra said in a letter tothe President.
“On the established rules oflaw, China is at least guilty of neg-ligence in proximately causing aworld pandemic, where nearlytwo million people have sufferedits pain and suffering, and nearly
122,000 souls have lost their livesand left their families damagedand fractured,” he said in a letterdated April 14.
China owes us civil compen-sation – at least for negligence -a fair and reasonable amount,“which I recommend match ourstandard for 9/11, but no less thanUSD 1 million dollars for everyAmerican who tested positive forCoronavirus, USD 5 million forevery American who died, andUSD100,000 for every Americanwho has to be ‘locked down’,” hesaid.
“I recommend, given the cover-up, which exacerbated the injury,pain and suffering globally, as wellas avoidable deaths, that China’sownership of debts in every coun-try – for example the USD1.2 tnin China’s ownership of our T-Bills– be cancelled,” Batra said.
In his letter, Batra charged
China with hiding the actual sourceof coronavirus.
He also accused Beijing of ig-noring “the fraudulent assertion”by the Chinese Communist PartyPropaganda Czar that “Wuhan Sea-food Market, with zero Bats, hasany value to getting to thesource.”
China, it appears, is following anold playbook it developed in SARSoutbreak, he alleged.
On Wednesday, Fox News, in anexclusive report, said COVID-19originated in a Wuhan laboratorynot as a bio-weapon, but as part ofChina’s effort to demonstrate thatits efforts to identify and combatviruses are equal to or greater thanthe capabilities of the UnitedStates.
This may be the “costliest gov-ernment coverup of all time,” oneof the sources was quoted as say-ing by Fox News. – PTI
Trump urged to seek compensationfrom China on nCoV
6.50-lakh nCoV medicalkits dispatched fromChina: Indian envoy
BEIJING, April 16: China on Thursday dispatched 650,000coronavirus medical kits to India to help fight the COVID-19pandemic, Indian Ambassador to Beijing Vikram Misri said.
Over two-million test kits being procured from Chinawill be sent to India in the next 15 days, he told PTI here.
“#IndiaFightsCoronavirus A total of 650,000 kits, includ-ing Rapid Antibody Tests and RNA Extraction Kits havebeen despatched early today from Guangzhou Airport to#India,” Misri tweeted on Thursday.
As its factories resumed operations after over a two-monthgrim battle against the coronavirus, China is busy tappinginto the vast business opportunities of export of key medicalgoods, especially ventilators and personal protection equip-ment (PPE), across the world, including India, where bothprivate and government bodies are placing orders for theimport of these products.
Two major consignments of medical kits were reportedto have been sent to India from China earlier as part ofefforts to step up testing specially in hotspots during thecurrent lockdown in the country.
India has extended its ongoing lockdown to fight thecoronavirus till May 3. It has reported 414 deaths due to thedisease and 12,380 people have been infected by the diseasein the country. – PTI
The Australian cruise ship Greg Mortimer arrives to port for passengers to be transported to the international airport in Montevideo,Uruguay on Wednesday. The ship has been anchored off Uruguay's coast since March 27 with more than half its passengers andcrew infected with the new coronavirus, according to authorities. – AP/PTI
ABUJA, April 16: Nigerian securityagents have killed 18 people in their en-forcement of measures to curb coronavirus,a figure higher than the documented tollinflicted by the disease, the country’s hu-man rights body said.
Africa’s most populous nation has im-posed a total lockdown in megacity Lagosand the capital Abuja and set restrictions inother regions in a bid to contain the virus.
According to official figures, coronavirushas so far infected 407 people in Nigeria, 12of them fatally. Security forces, includingpolice and army, have been deployed to en-force the restrictions, sparking deadly con-frontations in some states.
In a report released late on Wednesday,the National Human Rights Commissionsaid it had received and documented “105
complaints of incidents of human rights vio-lations perpetuated by security forces” in24 of Nigeria’s 36 states and Abuja.
Of these complaints, “there were eightdocumented incidents of extrajudicial killingsleading to 18 deaths”, it said. The commis-sion noted that the tally of killings was higherthan the recorded toll from the disease itself.
“Whereas COVID-19 led to the death of11 victims, law-enforcement agents extra-judicially executed 18 persons in the causeof the enforcement regulations,” it said,referring to the official virus toll as at thetime of the report.
It accused the security agents of “exces-sive or disproportionate use of force, abuseof power, corruption and non-adherence tonational and international laws, best prac-tices and rules of engagement.” – AFP
18 killed by Nigerian security forcesover virus lockdown: rights body
South Koreanruling party
wins landslidevictory in polls
SEOUL, April 16: South
Korean President Moon Jae-
in’s ruling Democratic Party
won a landslide victory in
parliamentary elections held
amid the COVID-19 pan-
demic, preliminary results
revealed on Thursday.
The preliminary results
from the National Election
Commission showed that the
Democratic Party secured
163 directly-contested con-
stituency seats, while its sis-
ter Platform Party gained 17
proportional representations
(PR) slots, reports Xinhua
news agency.
The quadrennial elections
for the 300 members of the
National Assembly were held
across the country on
Wednesday to let voters cast
ballots for 253 constituency
seats and 47 PR slots.
It marked the first timesince the Constitution was
amended in 1987 to end the
past military dictatorshipand adopt democratic elec-
tions that a single political
party won three-fifths ofthe total parliamentary
seats.
The main conservativeOpposition United Future
Party and its satellite party
garnered 84 constituencyseats and 19 PR seats.
The minor progressive
Justice Party won one con-stituency seat and five PR
slots, while the centre-left
Open Democratic Party andthe centrist People’s Party
won three respective PR
seats.Five independent candi-
dates obtained the remaining
constituency seats in the
parliamentary elections,
widely seen as a mid-term
referendum on the Moon
government. – IANS
Record 22 mn havesought US jobless aid
WASHINGTON, April 16:The wave of layoffs that hasengulfed the US economysince the coronavirus struckforced 5.2 million more peo-ple to seek unemploymentbenefits last week, the govern-ment reported on Thursday.
Roughly 22 million havesought jobless benefits in thepast month – easily the worststretch of US job losses onrecord.
All told, roughly nearly 12
million people are now re-ceiving unemploymentchecks, roughly matching thepeak reached in January2010, shortly after the GreatRecession officially ended.
All businesses deemednonessential have beenclosed in nearly every stateas the economy has virtuallyshut down. Deep job losseshave been inflicted acrossnearly every industry.
Some economists say theunemployment rate couldreach as high as 20 per centin April, which would be thehighest rate since the GreatDepression of the 1930s. Bycomparison, unemploymentnever topped 10 per centduring the Great Recession.
Layoffs are spreading be-yond service industries likehotels, bars and restaurants,which absorbed the brunt ofthe initial job cuts, into whitecollar professional occupa-tions, including software pro-grammers, constructionworkers and sales people.
Collectively, the job cutscould produce unemploy-ment on an epic scale. Up to50 million jobs are vulnerableto coronavirus-related lay-offs, economists say – aboutone-third of all positions inthe United States. – AP
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 3NATIONAL
CHANDIGARH, April 16: The
coronavirus pandemic and the result-
ing lockdown may impact some chil-
dren’s mental health and emotional
wellbeing and parents should address
their needs with compassion and a
friendly approach, according to a lead-
ing psychiatrist.
While the impact of the pandemic and
the ensuing situation on the mental health
of children and adults may not have been
documented yet, SK Mattoo, the head
of PGIMER, Chandigarh’s Psychiatry
Department, suggest some ways in
which children can be counselled.
“There are some general principles
which apply to adults and children as well.
As far as children are concerned, the
responsibility lies more with parents and
caretakers and they must address the
needs of children, whatever their que-
ries are, whatever be their difficulties or
problems. They need to be addressed
through compassion, consideration and
a friendly approach,” he said .
NEW DELHI, April 16: The
Union home ministry on
Thursday asserted that rules
such as wearing face masks,
practising social distancing and
no gathering of five or more
persons should be strictly en-
forced at public places in or-
der to ensure that the lock-
down clamped to contain the
spread of coronavirus in the
country is implemented effec-
tively.
Addressing the daily media
briefing, Joint Secretary in
the ministry Punya Salila
Srivastava said it should be
ensured that five or more per-
sons do not assemble at a pub-
lic place.
Also, people should not spit
at public places and workplac-
es, she said.
Elderly people, those who
are not keeping well and those
with young children should be
encouraged to work from
Mask-wearing, social distancingshould be enforced strictly: MHA
home and temperature
screening as well as use of hand
sanitizers should be made man-
datory at workplaces, Srivas-
tava said.
She added that the sale of
liquor, gutkha and tobacco
should be banned to ensure
that the lockdown is imple-
mented effectively.
The officer said that the
home ministry on Wednesday
had published comprehensive
directives or guidelines to be
followed for the second phase
of national lockdown valid till
May 3 and it had asked various
States and Union Territories
to get these implemented on
ground.
The ministry also stressed
on wide publicity of these
measures among the general
public, she said.
Under the ongoing lock-
down, Srivastava said, airlines,
railways and road transport
will be banned.
Taxis, auto rickshaws, cycle
rickshaws and cab aggregator
service will also be prohibited
along with all educational and
related institutes, Srivastava
said.
The officer said all public
spaces like malls, sports com-
plexes and all cultural and reli-
gious meetings will be prohib-
ited from being held during
this period.
Those places that are not
hotspots and containment
zones will be allowed to hold
some select activities post
April 20, provided all existing
directives and social distanc-
ing norms are followed in
those areas strictly.
“This is to ensure that agri-
culture and related activities
are fully operational and rural
economy works with more ef-
fectiveness,” she said.
She said due action is being
taken wherever the lockdown
is being violated.
“The situation of supply of
essential food items like
wheat, rice, pulses and milk
supply is satisfactory and
their availability is being
monitored continuously,”
Srivastava said.
She added that the workers
in private and public sector
should be encouraged to use
the Aarogya Setu app. – PTI
MHA ministry stresses on widepublicity of these measuresamong general public
NEW DELHI, April 16: A
university in Rome is conduct-
ing a pilot run for a patented
artificial intelligence-based
tool developed by three bio-
technology students and a pro-
fessor from Mumbai, which
they claim can test COVID-19
through voice-based diagnosis
using a smartphone.
The tool is being tested by
the University of Tor Vergata
in Rome and has already been
tested on 300 individuals, and
has yielded 98 per cent accu-
rate results.
According to the students
and the professor from DY Pa-
til Institute of Bio Technology
and Bio Informatics, Mumbai,
the tool is based on a voice-
based diagnosis through an app.
The team includes bioinfor-
matics students – Rashmi
Chakraborty, Priyanka Chau-
han and Priya Garg.
Students develop AI-based voicetool to detect COVID-19Rome university conducting pilot run
“While several foreign uni-
versities are trying to launch a
voice-based AI tool for COV-
ID-19 detection, this Indian
tool is fully functional and cur-
rently in use in Italy to suc-
cessfully identify COVID-19
patients. The students have a
full-fledged working software
with a rich database of patients
and healthy samples. This tool
is being currently used by the
University of Rome to detect
COVID-19 patients with 98
per cent accuracy,” Prof San-
tosh Bothe, who supervised
the project, told PTI.
“As someone speaks to the
microphone on the app, the tool
breaks down the voice in mul-
tiple parameters such as fre-
quency and noise distortion.
These values are then com-
pared to a normal person’s val-
ues and the patented technique
then determines if the patient
is positive or not,” he added.
A team at the Indian Insti-
tute of Science (IISc), Banga-
lore, is also working on a diag-
nostic tool based on analysis of
cough and respiratory sounds.
According to Giovanni Sag-
gio, professor at the Rome
university’s Engineering de-
partment, the audio-based dis-
ease diagnosis tool can find
coronavirus from the timbre
of the voice.
“Each human voice has
6,300 parameters, and only a
few units, less than a dozen,
specifically characterize indi-
viduals. The human ear, apart
from colds, is not able to dis-
tinguish them, but AI does.
Each one of our internal or-
gans is sort of a resonator, so if
we have a problem with our
lungs or our heart, this is re-
flected in our voice,” Saggio
said. – PTI.
MUMBAI, April 16: A
Mumbai court here on Thurs-
day granted bail to a television
journalist arrested for alleged-
ly ‘spreading misinformation’
with his report that the gov-
ernment was thinking of start-
ing Jan Sadharan train servic-
es for migrants, which alleg-
edly led to a crowd gathering
in Bandra.
Rahul Kulkarni, journalist
with a Marathi news channel,
was arrested by Mumbai Po-
lice on Wednesday, a day after
several migrant workers gath-
ered near Bandra station here
demanding that they be sent
back to their home towns.
Kulkarni was produced be-
fore a magistrate in Bandra on
Thursday where the police
sought his custody.
The court, however, refused
the police’s plea and remand-
ed Kulkarni in judicial custody,
Migrants’ unrest: Scribe held formisleading report gets bail
following which his advocate
Subodh Desai immediately
filed a bail application.
After hearing brief argu-
ments, the court granted him
bail on a surety of Rs 15,000.
Ten others arrested in the
case were remanded in police
custody till April 19.
The police booked Kulkarni
under Indian Penal Code Sec-
tions 269 (negligent act likely
to spread infection of disease
dangerous to life) and 505(b)
(intent to cause fear or alarm
among public whereby any
person may be induced to com-
mit an offence against the state
or against public tranquility),
and provisions of the Epidem-
ic Diseases Act.
According to police, Kulkar-
ni allegedly gave a “false” sto-
ry, saying the Railways was
going to start special trains to
ferry migrant workers strand-
ed in Maharashtra back to their
native States.
The police said hundreds of
migrant workers gathered at
the Bandra station on Tuesday
after watching the news, and
they were later dispersed.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena lead-
er Sanjay Raut hailed the
court’s decision to grant bail
to Kulkarni. He said the arrest
of the journalist in connection
with the gathering of migrants
in Bandra was unfortunate.
Talking to a news channel,
Raut said the government and
media were both important
pillars of democracy.
“Both sides should be alert
that such an incident should not
happen again. I am happy jour-
nalist Rahul Kulkarni got bail.
The police should find out truth
into the charges on which he
was arrested,” the Rajya Sab-
ha member said. – PTI
IMTECH to dogenome
sequencing ofcoronavirus
CHANDIGARH, April 16:
Embarking on an ambitious
project, CSIR-Institute of Mi-
crobial Technology (IMTECH)
on Thursday said it has initiat-
ed whole genome sequencing
of the novel coronavirus
SARS-Cov-2.
Whole genome sequencing
is the method used to deter-
mine the complete DNA se-
quence of a specific organism’s
genome.
CSIR-IMTECH along with
other sister CSIR laboratories,
with specialisation in genom-
ics, medicine and cell biology,
will carry out large-scale ge-
nome sequencing of the vari-
ous SARS-Cov-2 strains across
the country, an official said.
With its expertise in micro-
bial and genomic research,
CSIR-IMTECH will perform
sequencing of the SARS-Cov-
2 RNA genome isolated from
clinical samples, he said.
Viruses have higher muta-
tion rate than other microbes
and their genetic material
keeps on changing quickly as
they replicate rapidly.
The complete genome se-
quence information will ena-
ble researchers to gain in-
sights about the origins of the
virus, the different types of
strains circulating in India and
how has it spread across the
length and breadth of our coun-
try, Sanjeev Khosla, Director,
CSIR-IMTECH said.
The genomic resource ob-
tained from this sequencing
will also allow identification of
new targets for diagnosis and
drugs for COVID 19, he said.
“CSIR-IMTECH has been
at the forefront in augmenting
efforts of the government to
fight COVID 19. We have al-
ready started clinical testing of
samples and now by embark-
ing on this mission to se-
quence viral strains, we will
be better equipped to under-
stand the nature of this virus
which has caused a global pan-
demic,” he said. – PTI
K O T TAYA M / T H I R U -
VANANTHAPURAM, April
16: A 50-year-old woman trav-
elled 2700 km in a car crisscross-
ing 6 States to meet her criti-
cally ill son, a BSF jawan in Jodh-
pur, despite strict lockdown re-
strictions due to COVID-19.
The woman was accompa-
nied by her daughter-in-law
and another relative during the
journey, which they covered in
3 days time.
Speaking to PTI from Jodh-
pur in Rajasthan, Sheelamma
Vasan said the health condition
of her son, Arun Kumar (29),
who is suffering from myosi-
tis, (inflammation of muscles),
is improving.
“Due to God’s grace we have
reached here without any prob-
lems anywhere,” she said.
The family was informed by
a Malayali doctor at AIIMS in
Woman travels 2,700 km tomeet ailing son in hospital
Jodhpur about Arun Kumar’s
condition following which they
decided to undertake the jour-
ney from Kerala through Tam-
il Nadu, Karnataka, Maharash-
tra, Gujarat to reach Rajasthan.
Thanks to the intervention of
Union minister V Muraleedha-
ran, office of Chief Minister Pi-
narayi Vijayan and Congress lead-
er Oommen Chandy, the family
could get necessary passes for
the travel across the States.
Volunteers of Hindu help
line, a VHP organisation,
helped in arranging a cab and
two taxi drivers free of cost to
take them to Jodhpur.
After getting necessary
passes arranged by Kottayam
District Collector PK Sudheer
Babu, Sheelaamma accompa-
nied by her daughter-in-law
Parvathy and another relative
set off on the journey from
Panackachira village in Ko-
ruthodu panchayat in Kot-
tayam on April 11 and reached
Jodhpur on April 14.
The jawan, who had come
to his village in February end
on leave and days after his re-
turn had fallen ill, had ex-
pressed desire to meet his
mother and wife.
Arun Kumar’s one-year-old
child is in Kerala.
This mother’s journey
comes close on the heels of
another woman who rode
1,400 km on her two-wheeler
from Telangana to bring back
her son stuck in Andhra Pra-
desh. The burqa-clad mom,
Razia Sultana, a school teach-
er from Bodhan town in Tel-
angana undertook the journey
on her scooter and brought her
son, a student from Rehmata-
bad in Andhra Pradesh. – PTI
Parents should address needs of children withcompassion, says PGIMER psychiatry head
Mattoo said that parents should not
try to just discipline or control, but try
to understand the issues and problems
from the children’s or younger peo-
ple’s perspective.
“They should try to help them solve
those problems or issues,” he told PTI.
While some adults too may feel anx-
ious and isolated, and worry about the
uncertainty these days, Mattoo said
people should keep themselves busy
and try to maintain a daily routine.
“They should try
to sleep well, eat
well and at proper
time, take care of
their bodies, exer-
cise daily, do yoga
and meditation,
keep themselves
entertained and re-
laxed with whatev-
er is available,” he
said.
“They must also
collect appropriate information about
dos and don’ts with regards to the coro-
navirus. Where to seek help, how to
seek help, phone number, email IDs,
apps and maintain contact with people
over phone, social media, talk to
friends, family members and well-
wishers, while following social distanc-
ing norms,” he said.
Mattoo said that in case they feel
stressed or tense, they must talk to
people and try to find appropriate solu-
tions to their wor-
ries,” he added.
He said while
most people are re-
silient and under-
stand what the
problem is, a few
people may have
personal issues be-
cause of which they
might worry.
“Some people
might have physi-
cal illnesses, some have mental illness-
es, some may have disabled people at
home who need to be taken care of
and may face issues of how to procure
medicines and help for them,” he said.
In case there is a problem, one can
always seek help, he said.
“There are helplines available with
all major hospitals, including PGIMER,
Government Medical College here.
There are helplines available both for
physical issues and any queries related
to health, including mental health.
“Also, all hospitals have emergency
open round-the-clock. Anybody who
feels there is an emergency should get
the help required,” he said.
Asked what would be the advice for
people with depression and related
conditions, the doctor said, “If there
are issues, they must maintain contact
with their social network then seek
help. And if things get out of hand then
there are medical agencies, hospitals,
helplines.” PTISK Mattoo
Charbagh railway station wears a deserted look during the nationwide lockdown in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, inLucknow on Thursday. – PTI
War against an invisible enemy
4 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020
MESSAGE FOR TODAY
Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.
– MARK TWAIN Covid-19 and the race for a cure
Extra vigilanceWith the number of Covid-19-affected persons rising to
32 in the State and several suspected carriers who hadattended the Tablighi Jamaat remaining untraced, the au-thorities need to be extra vigilant to ensure that thingsstay under control. Compared to the rest of India, Assamand the Northeast as a whole has so far not reached anyalarming stage vis-a-vis spread of the coronavirus and thisleeway at our disposal should be put to good use to preventan epidemic. Our preparedness levels need to be upgrad-ed further by adding necessary equipment and infrastruc-ture, especially testing and treating facilities, and at thesame time driving home into the mass psyche the mes-sage that maintaining physical distance during the lock-down period will be critical to warding the scourge off. Thattwo Covid-19 patients have been cured and released fromhospital is another positive indication – something thatwould encourage people to come forward for voluntaryscreening and treatment if necessary.
With five districts of the State out of 170 in the countrynow declared as Covid-19 hotspots, there is an urgentneed for expediting screening of every suspect casebesides restricting inter-district movement of people intothese areas. A sustained campaign in these clusters in-volving different media platforms including social mediais another imperative. The fact that a number of TablighiJamaat attendees who do not belong to the State but havebeen staying in Assam are reportedly on the run to es-cape the heightened security has emerged as a matterof worry. The neighbouring northeastern States shouldintensify vigil so that these people can be detected fornecessary screening. Community leaders should impressupon these people – and in fact any individual who areapprehensive of voluntary screening – to avail testing asthey pose a grave risk to community health. In anotherdisturbing development for the Northeast, six more per-sons have tested positive in Meghalaya in quick time, allbeing members and helpers of the same family whereone member had died of Covid-19. The need is to identi-fy all those who came into contact with the affected familyand facilitate their screening before it is late. Alongsideefforts to check the spread of the deadly virus, the StateGovernment would also do well to chalk out a compre-hensive revival package for the economy. Unavoidableas it is, the extended lockdown will bleed many sectorsand hence the need to evolve ways and means to easethings in the days ahead. Agriculture is one such areathat will need constant focus of the authorities. It is goodto see many curbs now being removed nationwide to en-sure that agriculture and related activities do not come toa grinding halt during the shutdown. Agriculture still be-ing a major component of the State’s economy, the dis-tressed farming community will need a lot of interven-tions from the Government in the coming days.
Bad timingApparently, with American President Donald Trump, it
is both ‘America first’ and ‘Donald Trump first’, never mindthat Planet Earth at the moment is in the midst of a lethalhealth crisis! Till just a few months ago the maverick Pres-ident was sitting pretty as far as the imminent November2020 US Presidential elections were concerned. The way-ward American public seemed to have forgotten about therecessionary trends in their nation’s economy in 2008caused by George W Bush’s adventurism, which catapult-ed the first African-American Barack Obama to the Presi-dency. It took two terms on Obama’s part to prudently man-age the economy and bring it back to shape. Things hadalready been looking good for the American economy,employment was rising as fast as the GDP when, much tothe surprise and consternation of the international com-munity, Donald Trump won the 2016 elections. The buoy-ant economy helped maintain Trump’s favourable ratingsat a comfortable level despite the numerous lies he hasspouted and the blunders he committed. But, at the begin-ning of this year, the Covid-19 pandemic spread acrossthe entire globe, creating havoc in the US, and Trump’selectoral prospects have turned a trifle sour. His appre-hension of becoming a one-term President has becomemore real because the coronavirus has severely damagedthe US economy and unemployment figures have climbedto an unprecedented level.
It is an unsavoury aspect of Trump’s persona that, inresponse, he has started using diversionary ploys to takethe heat off his own mismanagement of the crisis and focusit on the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as Chi-na. Trump is complaining that the WHO had “defendedthe actions of the Chinese Government, even praising itsso-called transparency”, rather than call a spade a spadeand hold that nation to account. In retaliation, he has an-nounced that he would be withholding US aid to the WHO,which amounts to between $400 to $500 million annually,while accusing the UN body of “severely mismanagingand covering up” the threat posed by the coronavirus. Buteven some of his own supporters have not forgotten thatTrump had pooh-poohed the conclusions of the WHO whenit declared ‘a public health emergency’ on January 30, andasserted that Covid-19 was not any more serious a threatthan the common flu! He had at that stage even praisedChina for its ‘efforts and transparency’ with regards to theoutbreak and the measures it was taking to stem its spread.An individual would have to be extremely naive not tobelieve that Trump is targeting the WHO now because heneeds a scapegoat for his administration’s own initial com-placent response to the threat. That he has chosen to en-gage in such an appalling strategy when humanity is bat-tling to confront the Covid-19 crisis reveals the absoluteegocentricity of this President.
ue to the current Covid-19 pandemic, the wholeworld is under the shad-ow of the fear of death.
Neither a vaccine to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection nor appropriatemedicine to cure Covid-19 patientshas been invented so far. Due to lackof proper medicines, a large numberof Covid-19 patients are losing theirlives globally per day. In such a time,the drug hydroxychloroquine hasbeen in the news for the past coupleof weeks due to its possible use incuring Covid-19.
The drug hydroxychloroquinehas been identified by the US Foodand Drug Administration (FDA) asa possible treatment of Covid-19and it is being tested on more than1,500 Covid-19 patients in NewYork. Anticipating that it will work,given the initial results, the US Pres-ident Donald Trump has boughtmore than 29 million doses of hy-droxychloroquine for potentialtreatment of Covid-19 patients.Though the efficacy of hydroxychlo-roquine in Covid-19 treatment isnot yet clinically proven, yet the USPresident has been a proponent ofits use, calling it a ‘game changer’.It has generated massive interestafter Trump endorsed the drug.Meanwhile, the US FDA has givenemergency use authorization tohydroxychloroquine to treat adultand adolescent Covid-19 patientswho cannot participate in a clinicaltrial. The US FDA has said that hy-droxychloroquine can be prescribedas appropriate, when clinical trialsare not available or feasible. Hence,many US hospitals are currentlyusing hydroxychloroquine as thefirst-line therapy for hospitalizedCovid-19 patients despite extreme-ly limited clinical data supporting itseffectiveness. The Brazilian Presi-
D
More data on
hydroxychloroquine for treatment
of Covid-19 are urgently needed
to inform clinical practice. Clinical
trials are on in certain countries
like the US, UK, Spain and
Australia, but the experts
suggest that larger clinical trials
are needed on Covid-19 patients
to test the effectiveness of the
drug hydroxychloroquine.
Lettersto the
EDITOR
Sir, – Many experts have nowstarted hinting that the world isheading towards a huge change inall economic and geopoliticalscenarios and calculations. Theyhave compared the presentsituation with the World War III.Though it is not a war againstnations, but it is definitely a waragainst a tiny sub-microscopicvirus whose body has nothing buta little bit of RNA and protein. Allthe deadliest weapons of thisworld seem to be useless in frontof this microbe. The world is nowtrembling with fear of this unseenenemy. Those giant world leaderslook helpless, existence of God isin doubt as all doors of churches,temples, mosques and gurudwar-
as are closed now. So, fromwhere the people can see a silverlining then? Human superiority ison the verge of extinction whilefighting against a deadly virus.Acharya Chanakya stated that
dent Jair Balsonaro compared hy-droxychloroquine to ‘Jeevan dayi-
ni’ for Covid-19 patients. While suchworld leaders as Trump and Bal-sonaro have been praising the roleof hydroxychloroquine in the battleof Covid-19, concerns are beingraised worldwide about the effec-tiveness of the drug to fight againstthis deadly virus. Is hy-droxychloroquine really acure for Covid-19 patients?The answer to this ques-tion is ‘no’. The drug hy-droxychloroquine has notyet been proven to cureCovid-19 patients.
Hydroxychloroquine isan inexpensive anti-malar-ial drug similar to chloro-quine, one of the oldest andbest-known anti-malarialdrugs with lesser side-ef-fects. Though chloroquinephosphate is typically usedto treat malaria but hy-droxychloroquine, which isa less toxic variant, is alsoused in some other cases.It is an anti-inflammatory drug; henceit has been used to treat rheumatoidarthritis and lupus, apart from ma-laria, for decades. According to theNational Institute of Health, in vari-ous studies, hydroxychloroquine hasdemonstrated antiviral activity, anability to modify the activity of theimmunity system, and has an estab-lished safety profile at appropriatedoses, leading to the hypothesis thatit may be useful in the treatment ofCovid-19 patients. Hydroxychloro-quine is an interferon blocker, andworks by diminishing the immunesystem’s response to a viral infec-tion. A hyperactive response by theimmune system is said to be prima-rily responsible for alveolitis, also afallout of severe Covid-19.
The drug hydroxychloroquineshot to fame as it is shown to haveshortened the time to clinical recov-ery of Covid-19 patients. However,no proper human trials have beenconducted to determine its efficacy.Many anecdotal studies have shownthat hydroxychloroquine can reduceviral loads in Covid-19 patients. Astudy in France enrolling 80 patientsshowed that hydroxychloroquine
alone or in combination with azithro-mycin appeared to reduce the viruslevels quicker. A new study of 1,061hospitalized Covid-19 patients inFrance showed 91.7% cure (viralshedding) within 10 days of hydrox-ychloroquine treatment along withantibiotics. It also reported a 96%cure rate after 15 days. In anotherstudy in Wuhan, the epicentre of theCovid-19 outbreak, it appeared toreduce the duration of severe Cov-id-19 illness with hydroxychloro-quine treatment.
Though hydroxychloroquine haslesser side-effects, it is not withoutrisks, as even short-term use cancause cardiac arrhythmias or irregu-lar heartbeats, seizures, dermatolog-ical reactions and hypoglycaemia. Hy-
droxychloroquine is likely to be safefor 90% of the population, but it couldpose serious and potential lethal risksto those susceptible to heart condi-tions, especially those with chronicmedical problems and are already onmultiple medications. Just recently,an anaesthesiologist in Guwahati diedfrom a heart attack after he took hy-droxychloroquine. The drug takenin combination with azithromycin in-
creases the risk of side-effects like arrhythmiaand even toxicity if takenin higher doses. A recentstudy has shown that upto 11% of Covid-19 pa-tients on hydroxychloro-quine and azithromycinare in the red zone for po-tential cardiac side-effects.Few hospitals in Swedenhave halted the use of hy-droxychloroquine due toreported side-effects suchas cramps and loss of pe-ripheral vision in patients.
India is a dominant man-ufacturer of hydroxychlo-roquine, which manufac-tures 70% of the world’s
supply of hydroxychloroquine. WhileIndia supplied the drug to the USand some other countries lifting theban on its export on April 7, 2020 totreat Covid-19 patients, concerns arebeing raised why India is not usinghydroxychloroquine as first-line ther-apy for hospitalized patients withCovid-19.
The Ministry of Health and Fami-ly Welfare, Government of India hascleared that India wouldn’t includehydroxychloroquine in the treatmentprotocol of Covid-19 patients now asits effectiveness to cure Covid-19patients hasn’t been proven yet. TheIndian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) says that while reduction inviral load has been observed in Cov-id-19 patients, there is not enough
data to say that hydroxychloroquinecan be used as a treatment for Covid-19 patients. No data from the WHOis also available in this regard. TheWHO has included hydroxychloro-quine in an international clinical trialcalled the ‘solidarity trial’ which iscurrently evaluating four differenttreatment options. The ICMR hasalso initiated study in this regard. TheICMR will let everyone know its find-ings based on evidence. Of course,India is allowing the use of hydroxy-chloroquine with azithromycin in se-verely ill Covid-19 patients understrict medical supervision.
The ICMR has cleared on March24, 2020 that hydroxychloroquineshould be used as prophylaxis, orpreventive medications by healthcareworkers, their contacts and familymembers of Covid-19 patients. TheICMR has recommended the re-quired dose for them also. The ICMRhas decided that if hydroxychloro-quine reduces the chances of Covid-19 among them, then it will be ad-vised to other people also. The re-sults are awaited. The people mustnot start using hydroxychloroquinethemselves; it can cause death.Hence, the Union Health Ministrylast month moved hydroxychloro-quine to Schedule H1, which can besold only on prescription from a qual-ified doctor.
Most of the medical experts aroundthe world have warned against anyuse of hydroxychloroquine as a treat-ment of Covid-19 patients withoutclinical studies. It is therefore theneed of hour that more data on hy-droxychloroquine for treatment ofCovid-19 are urgently needed to in-form clinical practice. Clinical trialsare on in certain countries like theUS, UK, Spain and Australia, but theexperts suggest that larger clinicaltrials are needed on Covid-19 patientsto test the effectiveness of the drughydroxychloroquine.
Why NYAY is relevant in corona timesYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yo-jana) or the Minimum In-come Support Pro-gramme which was the
thrust of the Indian National Con-gress Party’s campaign in the lastLok Sabha elections of 2019 hascome back into focus in the coronabackdrop. Debates and discussionson NYAY dominated television spacethat perhaps India desperately re-quired a social security net for itsbelow poverty line citizens. Theserpentine flow of the village-bounddesperate penniless migrant work-ers on the highways of India in theaftermath of the sudden lockdownand the recent protests of migrantworkers in Surat (Gujarat) and Ban-dra (Mumbai) are a rude awakeningfor any government to pull up itssocks, do a reality check on the lackof safety net for our impoverishedlow income daily wage-earners andour unemployed population.
Between 2004 and 2014, the Con-gress-led UPA Government hadmanaged to lift 14 crore people outof poverty and with NYAY the objec-tive was to eliminate abject povertyby the year 2030. NYAY would havebrought into its ambit five crore fam-ilies from among the poorest of thepoor. Each family would have been
n Bobbeeta Sharma
guaranteed a cash transfer of Rs72,000 a year. The money would havebeen transferred to the account of awoman of the family. NYAY wasplanned keeping in mind the size ofIndia’s GDP and the level of TotalExpenditure (Central and State gov-ernments) which would have madeit possible to implement NYAY ‘with-out, in any way, affecting the goal offiscal prudence’. A gradual implemen-tation plan was also chalked out inphases – Design phase (3 months),Pilot and Testing phases (6-9 months)and finally the roll-out which wouldalso have been in phases. The esti-mated cost was planned at 1% of GDPin the first year, 2% of GDP in sec-ond year and ‘as the nominal GDPgrew and families moved out of pov-erty, the cost would decline as a pro-portion of GDP’. An independentpanel of eminent economists and so-cial scientists would have supervisedthe NYAY programme right fromdesign to the final roll-out. Had theCongress won the 2019 LokSabhaelections, NYAY would have been areality by now and could have pro-vided the safety net for its belowpoverty line citizens and understand-ably would have been a saviour formany families amidst the presentcorona crisis.
The developed countries aroundthe world have social security meas-ures for their citizens. The UnitedKingdom has the Job Seekers Al-lowance and Low Income Benefits.Many European countries haveFamily Allowance Benefits whichare paid monthly. Single parentsreceive extended child benefits. InDenmark, citizens can claim socialassistance if they undergo a chal-lenging social change like unemploy-ment, illness or divorce due to whichthey are no longer capable of sup-porting themselves or their family.Such benefits in many Europeancountries are given apart from theusual free education of their chil-dren, health insurance, maternitybenefits, old age pensions, etc.
Just as it is the duty of any gov-ernment to provide basic ameni-ties of water, electricity and roadsto its citizens, so also is the respon-sibility of any government to pro-vide required social security bene-fits to its citizens. These are not tobe considered as doles but arerights of every citizen. In a highlypopulated country like India it isnot possible to extend such bene-fits to all its citizens, hence it shouldbe the goal of any political party tosee that at least the underprivi-leged section of the population iscovered with a social security net.
The corona challenge is a wake-up call for the Government to put inplace a permanent safety net for thepoorest of the poor of our country.And NYAY is one such scheme thatcan be implemented even at thisjuncture. As it is, many previousUPA schemes have been carriedforward by the NDA Governmentat the Centre as governance is a con-tinuous process. Of course one mustadmit that the party in power havevery intelligently repackaged thesewith populist names over the pre-viously slightly bureaucratic-fla-voured titles that would easily re-side in a common man’s psyche!Nearly 32 of such UPA schemeshave been repackaged and renamed.For instance, the 2013 NirmalBharat Abhiyan became the SwachhBharat Mission. The 2010 Free LPGConnection to BPL Families becamethe Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.The 2008 National Girl Child Dayprogramme became the Beti Bach-ao, Beti Padhao Yojana. The 2011National Manufacturing Policy be-came Make in India. The 2010 Na-tional Skill Development Pro-gramme became Skill India and soon and so forth.
The Government’s announce-ment of an economic package of Rs1.70 lakh crore distributing free foodgrain and cooking gas for three
months is a temporary measure totide over the immediate coronavi-rus crisis but that will not sustain forlong. In these unprecedented timesIndia desperately needs a perma-nent scheme like NYAY to give res-pite to its underprivileged popula-tion. It should not matter now thatNYAY is the brainchild of Congressleader Rahul Gandhi or that it is ascheme that is close to his heart. Itshould not matter now that RahulGandhi in his 2019 campaign saidthat NYAY would restart the econo-my the way a key starts a car, that itwould revive an economy hit hardby demonetization. It should not alsomatter now that Gandhi was the firstIndian politician to warn the Gov-ernment about the corona threat asearly as in February 12, 2020. Healso said that mere clapping wouldnot help; there was need for cashrelief and tax sops, besides relief inrepayment of loans as part of a bigeconomic package.
Indeed it is still not too late toimplement NYAY. What mattersnow is a scheme like NYAY whichis expedient for the daily wage-earners of our country and it shouldbe implemented fast and quick. Ifserving the people of the nation isthe overriding goal of any politicalparty, it should not matter whogave birth to NYAY.
N
‘when the enemy is invisible, it isprudent to remain in the hiding’.That’s what we all are doing now,just retreating and hiding in ourown households. This is the onlyway left. Let’s stay at home andhope for a sunny day. Yours etc.,Dr ILA BANIA, Morigaon.
RERA officeSir, – The Real Estate (Regula-
tion and Development) Act(RERA) was implemented onMay 1, 2016. Many States likeMaharashtra, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh, etc., have taken severalsteps for the interest of thestakeholders of the real estatesector prior to the start of thenationwide lockdown. Now, thegood offices of RERA under theseStates are giving some relief tothe stakeholders due to theproblems faced because of thelockdown. But, in Assam, we donot see the existence of anyRERA office and its function.Under this situation, manyunscrupulous builders aredelaying the construction works ofthe projects or are staying away
from the sites, harassing the bonafide customers. This has createdan unprecedented recession in thereal estate sector, distorting thedevelopment of the realty marketin the State. The condition will bepathetic in Assam due the absenceof a full-fledged independent officeunder RERA and the accumulatedunsolved cases to date. Yours etc.,PRASANTA BARUAH, Math-uranagar, Dispur.
Exorbitant pricesSir, – The authorities con-
cerned have constantly beenpublishing the prices of vegeta-bles in the market, through boththe electronic and print media,during this period of lockdown.But, we the common people arefacing the wrath of the unscrupu-lous vendors, who are chargingwhimsical rates. Moreover,cigarette, gutkha, etc., are beingsold in the black market in everynook and corner of Guwahati andother towns of the State at pricesbest known and fixed by thevendors. Are there any authori-ties to keep a check on these
vendors at this time of crisis?Moreover, some mobile apps aredoing the rounds about deliveringfresh vegetables at our door-steps. That is also a far cry as Imyself had ordered somevegetables through one such appa few days ago, but the order isyet to be delivered. The contactnumber provided in the app iseither busy or notresponding. What about thepeople who have just a fewrupees left at this time of thecrisis, like the daily wage-earners, etc.? So, I request theauthorities concerned to keep astrong vigil on the vendors andprovide the consumers a phonenumber through which we canlodge our grievances andcomplaints. Yours etc., ROOPAMGOSWAMI, South Sarania,Guwahati.
Student communitySir, – I would like to draw the
attention of the authoritiesconcerned to the huge loss thatthe student community is going toincur during this academic year as
the lockdown has been extended.It’s undeniable that now it’s timewe gave priority to the concern todefeat the pandemic and ensureour survival. Since a few districtsof the State are not affected thatmuch by the pandemic, the districtadministrations concerned shouldmake efforts to find out all thepossible measures that may enablethem to allow the schools andcolleges to reopen imposing someprecautionary restrictions aftertwo weeks or so. Though someschools and colleges have beenfacilitating online education, itdoesn’t seem to be fruitful.Besides, the students belongingto the very poor section of thesociety are not able to avail suchnew-age facilities. The authoritiesought to figure out somethingeffective to extend a helping handto the students at this crucialhour. Yours etc., DIPEN GOGOI,Teok, Jorhat.
n Dr Dharmakanta Kumbhakar
Articles (within 1000-1100 words) and
Letters to the Editor for publication in
the editorial page may be sent to the
email ID: [email protected].
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 5CITY
LOCAL FORECAST:
Partly cloudy sky. Rain/thundershower is likely tooccur. Maximum andminimum temperatures aremost likely to be 32°C and22°C respectively on Friday.
TEMPERATURE:Max 33.1°CMin 19.4°C
OBITUARY
KamaleswarGoswami
GUWAHATI,April 16: DrKamaleswarGoswami, re-tired Director,Forensic Sci-ence Laborato-ry, Assam,breathed his
last at a private hospital here todayat 3.50 am. He was 77.
Dr Goswami, a resident of Bhaga-dattapur, Beltola, leaves behind hiswife, a son, two daughters, two sons-in-law and grandsons besides a hostof relatives, friends and well-wishers.
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: Express-ing concern at reports of some me-dia houses in the country resortingto salary cuts and sacking of theiremployees in the wake of the COV-ID-19 pandemic, principal opposi-tion Congress party today request-ed media houses to refrain from suchactions while at the same time, call-ing upon the government to imme-diately announce a financial stimu-lus package for the sector.
Former Chief Minister Tarun Go-goi said media has continued itsoperations despite numerous obsta-cles which have arisen due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and the nation-wide lockdown.
“The newspapers and news me-dia have also felt the impact of COV-ID-19. However, despite the lock-
Cong urges media managements not to cut salaries, sack staffdown the newspapers are continu-ing their operations and fulfillingtheir responsibility towards society.Unfortunately, some media houseshave resorted to certain steps whichwill hurt their employees. In somecases employees have been sacked.
In some cases salaries of employ-ees have been cut. As a result, thejournalists and other media sectoremployees are suffering from anxi-ety and apprehensions. We all areworried,” said Gogoi.
He added, “We request mediahouses not to sack their staff orcut salaries of their employees.We hope media houses will refrainfrom undertaking such actions.
Even the Prime Minister hascalled upon all companies not tosack employees or reduce salariesin this period of crisis.”
Gogoi said that media, as thefourth pillar of Democracy, has avery crucial role in society. “As such,
we request the government to pro-vide a stimulus package to news-papers and media houses. Both theCentral and Assam governmentsshould do so at the earliest. Jour-nalists are functioning as soldiersin the frontline in the fight againstCOVID-19. The government shouldprovide relief to the media sectorand journalists,” said the three-timeChief Minister.
Assam Pradesh Congress Com-mittee (APCC) president RipunBora said that the COVID-19 pan-demic has impacted all sectors andthe media industry in India andAssam is also facing problems onaccount of it.
“However, many national mediahouses, instead of working togeth-er with their employees at this timeof crisis, have resorted to pay cutsand sacking and forcing many staffmembers to take leave without pay.This is very unfortunate. This willimpact tens of thousands of mediasector employees and their fami-lies,” Bora said.
He added, “Many media organi-
sations have been in existence fordecades and a loss of advertisingrevenue or subscriber base for aperiod of one or two months shouldnot lead to a situation where thou-sands of their employees lose jobsor face salary cuts. In such a situa-tion, we urge all media houses acrossIndia, including Assam, not to re-sort to staff retrenchment or salarycuts. Media personnel should notbe made to suffer on account of tem-porary losses faced by media hous-es,” the State Congress chief said.
Bora called upon the Central gov-ernment to provide “a stimulus pack-age for the media sector, with spe-cial emphasis on the print media tohelp it tide over this crisis.”
He added that in Assam, themedia, and especially, the printmedia, has played a vital role innation building since the pre-In-
dependence era.“As such, the Assam government
should also take steps to help thelocal and regional media houses ofthe State. Some sort of subsidy orstimulus to local and regional me-dia houses will come handy to re-vive the sector at this crucial mo-ment. In addition, journalists, likehealth workers, police and securi-ty personnel and other emergen-cy services staff, are workinground the clock in Assam at thistime of pandemic to bring news tothe public and help the govern-ment in the fight to prevent spreadof COVID-19. So, media person-nel of Assam should be immedi-ately brought under coverage ofthe health insurance scheme an-nounced recently by the Stategovernment for staff of other emer-gency services,” Bora said.
Tarun Gogoi, Ripun Bora urge Centre, State Govt to providestimulus package to newspapers and media houses
Security personnel seizing two-wheelers without necessary documents, during the second phase of the
lockdown, in Guwahati on Thursday. – AT photo
ANYTHING FOR THE TUMMY: Poor people search for food items in a garbage bin in Guwahati on
Thursday. – Photo: Samarendra Sarma
MAMATA MISHRA
GUWAHATI, April 16: Even associal media is filled with memeson husbands ‘forced’ to do house-hold chores during lockdown, in re-ality, it’s a picture in stark contrastfor women like Jonali and Korobi forwhom life has been hell within theconfines of their homes because ofdomestic violence. Fears of under-reported surge in domesticabuse cases in the Statehave made women’s rightsgroups wary about the safe-ty of women during the on-going lockdown.
With the lockdown inforce, and women trappedwith their abusers, a num-ber of cases are being reported fromvarious parts of the State of womenfinding it difficult to escape or re-port the physical, mental and ver-bal abuse. Most of such cases arebeing reported from rural Assam.
“Unprecedented situation, lack ofincome and similar factors are mak-ing the situation worse for womenas the perpetrators unleash theirfrustration on the women and chil-dren, who are in a much more vul-nerable position in the present sit-uation,” said Anurita Pathak Haz-arika, State director of the NorthEast Network (NEN) which has beenworking on the issue of domesticviolence for the past 25 years.
NEN has approached Jishnu Baru-ah, Additional Chief Secretary, De-partment of Social Welfare, seekingcertain measures to ensure that theAssam State Advisory to combatCOVID-19 includes gender respon-sive measures by government to ad-
dress safety and security of women.The organisation has also de-
manded recognition of domestic vi-olence intervention by profession-als and different organisations as anessential service and allowing mo-bility with service passes to the or-ganisations and activists respond-ing to such crisis situations.
Korobi’s (name changed) casewas reported from upper Assam to
NEN. Soon after the lockdown wasenforced, and her husband could notget his regular supply of liquor, Ko-robi and her child had to bear thebrunt of his anger.
Though physical abuse was notnew to her in her seven years ofmarried life, it became an everydayaffair as her husband was compelledto live at home 24X7.
On the other hand, another vic-tim of domestic violence Jonali(name changed) was rescued by herbrother after days of mental tortureby her in-laws.
“We have received many suchcases so far. The actual number is farmore than what is being reported.We understand that the 181 helplineand one stop centres are functional.However, in remote villages wherewe work, women are not being ableto access these services for variousreasons,” added Anurita.
“We are remotely handling such
cases due to the lockdown restric-tions in force and the support pro-vided by us is only limited giventhe current scenario. If such vio-lence continues or gets aggravat-ed, it may prove to be disastrous forwomen and children in the long run.Our cases so far include abusedwomen fleeing violent homes toseek shelter, reporting to the tha-na, calling us on our helplines for
help and so on,”she added.
The Chairper-son of the Nation-al Commission ofWomen had re-cently stated thatin India domesticviolence com-
plaints have been increasing by theday since the nationwide lockdownwas imposed.
On behalf of the organisations ad-dressing violence against women,NEN has also made an appeal for ac-cording mobility to organisations ac-tively providing services like coun-selling, legal aid, shelter and othersimilar services and which are rec-ognised by the State social welfaredepartment as service providers.
“Shelter homes, irrespective of thescheme they run, must be authorisedwith special protocols to provide shel-ter to any aggrieved women and theirdependants affected by or fleeing vi-olence, the appeal added.
The government must also alertfrontline grassroots workers likeANM, anganwadi, village defenceparties, village headmen/women,etc., to immediately report suchcases to service providers, police,NGOs, etc., the appeal further said.
Women’s rights groups wary ofsurge in domestic violence in State
Call to ensure that the Assam StateAdvisory to combat COVID-19 includes
gender responsive measures bygovernment to address safety and
security of women
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: In a bid toensure that the spirit of Rongali Bihuremains intact amid the fight tocheck the spread of COVID-19,singer Angaraag Mahanta aka Pa-pon organised a three-day concertlive on social media platforms onApril 14, 15 and 16.
The innovative mode of ‘virtual’Bihu celebration generated a lot ofenthusiasm among fans as a num-ber of artistes including singingsensation Zubeen Garg joined theonline concert from Mumbai and ex-tended Bihu greetings to the peo-ple of Assam.
Bihu songs, dance and musicform the soul of the festival of Bo-hag Bihu that marks the beginningof the Assamese New Year. In nor-mal times, the entire State rever-berates to dhol beats and songs.Affected by the global pandemichowever, this major festival wascelebrated indoors by the peoplethis time.
Papon peps up Bihu spiritwith 3-day online concert
“Unfortunately this year sincethe people of Assam and all the As-samese people around the globe
will not be able to step out to cele-brate, I thought why not keep up
with the celebrations by using thedigital medium. This live concertis dedicated to the festival, tospread positivity and bring peopletogether virtually. I was joined bysome of my friends on April 15 inthe live session. I am really excit-ed and happy to be curating thesesessions,” Papon said, at the sametime asking people to stay indoorsand spread positivity.
Fans and viewers were in for areal treat as singers like ShreyaGhoshal, Shaan, Richa Sarma,Zublee and others joined the onlineconcert and hummed several songs,including some popular Bihu num-bers. The concert went live on Fa-cebook, Instagram and YouTube at6.30 pm each day. The singer alsotook requests from viewers.
Heart throb Zubeen Garg in avideo chat with Papon, wished thepeople on the occasion of Bihu fromMumbai. Zubeen also informed thepeople about his better health con-dition and his upcoming musicalprojects.
Papon and Shaan during the online
concert.
Guv urges leaders of all organisationsto impress upon their followers
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: In view offive Assam districts being identi-fied as novel coronavirus hotspotsby the Union Health Ministry,Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi to-day appealed to the leaders andmentors of different socio-religious,cultural and sports organizations toimpress upon their followers andmembers to strictly adhere to rulesduring the extended lockdown pe-riod of the pandemic.
Prof Mukhi said the lengthen-ing of the mandatory stay-at-homeperiod to 40 days has been neces-
sitated to contain and controlspread of the deadly virus in thecountry.
It may be noted here that the Un-ion Health Ministry on Wednesday
listed five districts in the State asCOVID-19 hotspots, though all ofthem have been identified as ‘clus-ter hotspots’.
The Governor, while appealing toeverybody to remain inside and notventure out unless it is extraordi-narily an emergency situation, heobserved that if the coronavirus sit-
uation spins further out of control, itwill take a heavy toll on the humanand economic health of the State aswell as the country.
He, therefore, urged all to showtheir solidarity with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s callto follow the lockdown exten-
sion till May 3, 2020, to break thechain of transmission induced by thenovel coronavirus.
The Governor, at the same time,hailed the residents of the State forobserving 21-day national lockdownassiduously and cooperating withthe government in the fight againstthe COVID-19 pandemic.
n Obeying lockdown rules
GUWAHATI, April 16: Anticipat-ing the huge surge in the demandfor withdrawal from the EPFScheme to fight the COVID-19 pan-demic, EPFO has come out with acompletely new software and a re-ceipt module for online receipt ofclaims, according to a press releaseissued here.
The application was required tobe in paperless form to curtail anyphysical movement in view of theongoing social distancing. It was de-cided to introduce a system of set-tling claims in auto mode directlyby the system in respect of all suchmembers whose KYC requirementswere complete in all respects.
The provision for special with-drawal from the EPF Scheme tofight the COVID-19 pandemic ispart of the PMGKY scheme an-nounced by the government and anurgent notification on the matterwas made to introduce a para 68 L(3) of the EPF Scheme. Under this
EPFO settles over 1.37 lakhCOVID-19 claims
provision non-refundable with-drawal to the extent of the basicwages and dearness allowances forthree months or up to 75 per centof the amount standing to a mem-ber’s credit in the EPF account,whichever is less, is provided. Themember can apply for a lesseramount also. This being an ad-vance, does not attract income taxdeductions.
Since introduction of this pro-gramme, EPFO across the countryhas processed about 1.37 lakhclaims disbursing an amount of Rs279.65 crore. All applications whichare fully KYC compliant are proc-essed in less than 72 hours. Mem-bers, who have applied for claims insome other category, can also fileclaims to fight the pandemic anddepending upon the KYC compli-ance condition of each member, eve-ry effort is being made to settleclaims at the earliest, the press re-lease added.
Food distributedGUWAHATI, April 16: Global
Hospital of Surgery distributed fooditems among more than 100 fami-lies here on April 13, said a pressrelease today. The hospital plans todistribute more such items shortly.
Door-to-doordistribution of
meat, eggsfrom today
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: The Kam-rup (Metro) district administrationin collaboration with the AssamLivestock and Poultry Corporationwill start door-to-door distributionof mutton, chicken and eggs in thecity from Friday. Under the initia-tive, public will get a plate of eggsat Rs 140, one kilogram of dressedand packed chicken at Rs 240 andone kilogram of dressed and packedmutton at Rs 650.
The distribution process will bemonitored by a team comprising of-ficials from the Guwahati MunicipalCorporation and district animal hus-
bandry and veterinary department.
COVID-19disrupts mosquito
control driveSTAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: At a timewhen the whole world is fightingagainst COVID-19, people from dif-ferent corners of the city have com-plained about a sudden surge in thenumber of mosquitos in their re-spective areas, which has created anew health concern for them.
Entomologists have attributedthis to the disruption of the routinedesiltation of drains on account ofthe nationwide lockdown.
“At this time of the year, generally,regular fogging and desiltation of drainsis needed to control mosquitos. But,the current health emergency situa-tion has obviously disrupted such ac-tivities,” an entomologist said.
Meanwhile, a senior official of theGMC stated that its drain desilta-tion drive system has been largelyaffected by the shortage of labour-ers amid the lockdown, as labourersfrom outside the city have not beenable to attend duty.
“Though we have scarcity of la-bour, yet we resumed the desilta-tion drive and set a target to cover60 per cent of the areas of Guwaha-ti,” the senior GMC official said.
Officials of the Kamrup (Metro)district health department, at astakeholders’ meeting held late lastweek, informed that the fightagainst COVID-19 and mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, dengueand Japanese Encephalitis will be
carried on simultaneously.
GU cancelssummer vacation
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: The Gauha-ti University on Thursday announcedcancellation of the upcoming summervacation as its academic activitieshave been greatly disrupted amidstthe nationwide lockdown. Themonthlong vacation starts from July 1as per the academic calendar.
Different colleges affiliated to theUniversity, however, have contin-ued their classes through the on-line mode during this period. Theauthority of the Dakshin KamrupGirls’ College, located at Mirza onthe western outskirts of Guwahati,said the college has already con-ducted 60 online classes in each de-partment during the lockdown.
The online classes are being con-ducted by colleges via platforms likeWhatsApp video call, WhatApp chat,the Zoom app, conference call, etc.
Popular sciencepioneer’s death
condoledSTAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: BharatJan Bigyan Jatha secretary DrManuj Kumar Patowary hascondoled the demise of notedscientist Dr Mahanta KumarKalita, a pioneer and leader ofpeople’s science movement inAssam, who passed away onApril 13.
Dr Patowary said that DrKalita played a major role inorganizing the Bharat JanBigyan Jatha in the Northeast-ern region and in bringing astream of volunteers andorganizations under it.
Mowsam Hazarika, formereditor of Bigyan Jeuti, alsocondoled the demise of the notedscientist and said that Dr Kalitamade a tremendous contributionin the people’s science move-ment in the State.
WEATHER
GUWAHATI
Call for Govt aidto families hit by
thunderstormGUWAHATI, April 16: Voluntary organisation Save
Guwahati Build Guwahati (SGBG) has appealed to
the State government to extend all possible help to
those marginal farmer families whose dwelling
houses were damaged by the thunderstorm that
lashed several parts of the State on Wednesday.
In a press release issued here today, SGBG
president Krishno Kanto Borooah and vice president
Ajoy Dutta urged the State government to immedi-
ately deploy resources at its command to provide
new dwelling houses to those marginal farmers who
lost their dwelling houses in Wednesday’s thunder-
storm.
In case the government fails to do this, the
ongoing anti-coronavirus lockdown will become
meaningless, as these marginal farmer families
would start staying with their relatives or fellow
villagers going against the protocol of social distanc-
ing, they pointed out. They also reminded the
government that these affected families do not have
any ready funds to rebuild their houses within a
short period.
The State government should engage the Assam
Disaster Management Authority or any other
appropriate authority to assess the damage and
provide all materials and human resources required
to build the dwelling houses of these families
without any delay, the SGBG office-bearers said.
PPE kits beingmade at NF Rly
workshopsSTAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: The Northeast FrontierRailway (NFR) has started manufacturing Per-sonal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits at its work-shops.
“Indian Railways’ production units, workshopsand field units have started manufacturing PPEcoveralls for medical and healthcare personnelwho get directly exposed to the COVID-19 whileworking among infected patients. Indian Railwayswill produce over 30,000 such coveralls in Apriland plans to manufacture one lakh units in May.The prototype coveralls have already cleared theprescribed tests with the highest grades at theauthorized DRDO laboratory at Gwalior,” said Sub-hanan Chanda, Chief Public Relations Officer(CPRO) of the Maligaon-headquartered NFR.
“In order to fill the gap in availability and re-quirements of PPEs, workshops in NFR have alsostarted making PPEs as per specification provid-ed. Prototypes of PPEs made at the New Bon-gaigaon and Dibrugarh workshops with the helpof presently available infrastructure have beentested by railway medical professionals. Nearly150 sets of PPEs have been made in last two tothree days. NFR plans to make 2,000 sets of PPEsout of 30,000 targeted by Indian Railways,” headded.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 20206 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI NATIONAL
ADVERTISEMENTNo. UDD(T)9/2020/56
Selection to the post of Chairperson of Real Estate Appellate Tribunal.
In view of the national lock down on account of Corona pandemic (COVID-19) and in
accordance with Section 46(1)(a) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016,
the Govt. of Assam in Urban Development Department invites applications from Hon’ble Judges
and Hon’ble Judges (Retd.) for selection to the post of Chairperson of Real Estate Appellate
Tribunal from persons who meet the following criteria:-
1. Section 43 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 provides for the
establishment of the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal and under Section 45 of the said Act,
the Appellate Tribunal shall consist of a Chairperson and not less than two whole time
Members.
2. Under Section 46(1)(a) of the said Act, a person shall not be qualified for appointment
as a Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal unless he is or has been a Judge of a High
Court.
3. Under Section 46(2) of the said Act, the Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal shall be
appointed by the appropriate Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of High
Court or his nominee.
4. Under Section 47(1) of the said Act, the chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal shall hold
office, as such for a term not exceeding five years from the date on which he enters
upon his office, but shall not be eligible for re-appointment. Provided that in case a
person, who is or has been a Judge of a High Court, has been appointed as Chairperson
of the Tribunal, he shall not hold office after he has attained the age of sixty-seven years.
5. Section 47 (2) of the said Act mentions that before appointing any person as Chairperson
of the Appellate Tribunal, the appropriate Government shall satisfy itself that the person
doesnot have any such financial or other interest, as is likely to affect prejudicially his
functions as a Chairperson.
6. The salary allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the Chairperson of
the Appellate Tribunal will be as per clause 30(1)(a) of the Assam Real Estate (Regulation
and Development) Rules, 2017.
7. Desirable Applicants with adequate qualification and requisite age as prescribed above
may apply with their Bio-data (format at Annexure-I) mentioning their age, qualifications,
experience within 17:00 hours of 08.05.2020 to Sri Niraj Verma, Principal Secretary,
Urban Development Department, Block-D, 1st Floor, Janata Bhawan, Dispur, Guwahati-
6 with the envelope superscribed “Application for the post of Chairperson of Real Estate
Appellate Tribunal”.
8. The Headquarter of Real Estate Appellate Tribunal will be in Guwahati.
9. The applicants in Service should apply through proper channel.
10. The format for application is enclosed at Annexure-I.
Sd/-
Principal Secretary to the Govt. of Assam,
Urban Development Department
------------------------------------------------------
FORMAT OF APPLICATION FOR THE POST OF CHAIRPERSON OF THE REAL
ESTATE APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, ASSAM
1. Name and Address :
2. Age as on 01.01.2020 and Date of Birth :
3. Educational Qualification :
4. Present post held :
5. Details of posts previously held and experience :
:
6. Willingness letter to resign from the present
post if selected for the post of Chairperson,
Real Estate Appellate Tribunal :
7. Past Administrative knowledge and experience :
Date:- SIGNATURE
NAME
Note: 1) Please attach 4 (for) copies of your recent passport size photographs along-with a
xerox copy of your Photo Identity Card
2) Please attach 2 (two) extra sheets and copies of the supporting documents to
substantiate the claims made in the application.
3) Please attach NOC from the present employer if already in Govt. Service.
Janasanyog/D/184/20
ADVERTISEMENTNo. UDD(T)9/2020/55
Selection to the post of Member (Judicial) and Member (Administrative) of Real Estate Appellate
Tribunal.
In view of the National lock down on account of Corona pandemic (COVID-19) and in accordance with
Section 45 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, the Govt. of Assam in Urban
Development Department invites fresh applications for the third time (as the last date of receipt of
applications for the posts advertised by the Department vide advertisement No. UDD(T)9/2020/52,
dated 17.03.2020 published in the esteemed dailies on 18.03.2020 fixing the last date of application
till 17.04.2020) for selection to the post of Member (Judicial) and Member (Administrative) of Real
Estate Appellate Tribunal from persons who meet the following criteria:-
1. The Member (Judicial) and the Member (Administrative) shall be appointed by the appropriate
Govt. on the recommendations of a Selection Committee consisting of the Chief Justice of the
High Court or his nominee, the Secretary of the Department handling Housing and the Law
Secretary and in such manner as may be prescribed.
2. In the case of Member (Judicial), he has held a judicial office in the territory of India for at least
fifteen years or has been a member of the Indian Legal Service and has held the post of
Additional Secretary of that service or any equivalent post or has been an advocate for at least
twenty years with experience in dealing with real estate matters.
3. In the case of Member (Administrative) he is a person who is well versed in the field of urban
development, housing, real estate development, infrastructure, economics, planning, law,
commerce, accountancy, industry, management, public affairs or administration and possesses
experience of at least twenty years in the field or who has held the post in the Central
Government or a State government equivalent to the post of Additional Secretary to the
Government of India or an equivalent post in the Central government or an equivalent post in
the state Government.
4. The Member of the appellate Tribunal shall hold office, as such for a term not exceeding 5 (five)
years from the date on which he enters upon his office, but shall not be eligible for re-
employment. Provided further that no Judicial Member or Administrative Member shall hold
office after he has attained the age of sixty-five years.
5. The person should not have any financial or other interests that is likely to affect prejudicially
his functions as Members.
6. The salary/allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the Member (Judicial) and
the Member (Administrative) of REAT will be as per Clause 30 of the Assam Real Estate
(Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017.
7. Suitable candidate with adequate qualification and requisite age as prescribed above may
apply with their Bio-data (format at Annexure-I) mentioning their age, qualifications, experience
within 1700 hours of 08.05.2020 to Sri Niraj Verma, Principal Secretary, Urban Development
Department, block-D, 1st Floor, Janata Bhawan, Dispur, Guwahati-6 with the envelope
superscribed “Application for the post of Member (Judicial), Member (Administrative) of Real
Estate appellate Tribunal”.
8. The Headquarter of Real Estate Appellate Tribunal will be in Guwahati.
9. The applicants in Service should apply through proper channel.
10. The format for application is enclosed at Annexure-I.
11. Those candidates who have already applied in terms of the earlier advertisement No. UDD(T)148/
2017/Vol-I/47, dated 18.12.2019 may not apply again.
12. An applicant who applies for both the posts should submit separate applications for each post.
Sd/- Principal Secretary to the
Govt. of Assam,
Urban Development Department.
FORMAT OF APPLICATION FOR THE POST OF MEMBER (JUDICIAL)/MEMBER
(ADMINISTRATIVE) OF THE REAL ESTATE APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, ASSAM
1. Name and Address :
2. Age as on 01.01.2020 and Date of Birth :
3. Educational qualification :
4. Present post held :
5. Details of posts previously held and experience :
I) Member (Judicial): The details of the applicant who has been a Head of a judicial office in
the territory of India for at least fifteen years or has been a member of the Indian Legal
Service and has held the post of Additional Secretary of that service or any equivalent post
or has been an advocate for at least twenty years with experience in dealing with real
estate matters :
II) Member (Administrative): The details of the applicant being well versed in the field of urban
development, housing, real estate development, infrastructure, economics, planning, law,
commerce, accountancy, industry, management, public affairs or administration and possess
experience of at least twenty years in the field or who has held the post in the Central
Government or a State Government equivalent to the post of Additional Secretary to the
Government of India or an equivalent post in the Central Government or an equivalent
post in the State Government :
6. Willingness letter to resign from the present post if selected for the post of Member (Judicial)
and Member (Administrative) of REAT :
7. Past Administrative knowledge and experience :
Date: Signature
Name
Note: 1) Please attach 4 (four) copies of your recent passport sized photographs along-with a
xerox copy of your Photo Identity Card.
2) Please attach 2 (two) extra sheets and copies of the supporting documents to substantiate
the claims made in the application.
3) Please attach NOC from the present employer if already in Govt. service.
Janasanyog/D/181/20
CHENNAI, April 16: The Cen-
tre has informed the Madras High
Court that it is not possible for it to
organise any evacuation of Indian na-
tionals from any foreign country in
the current COVID-19 lockdown
situation.
The submission was made in a
counter to a PIL seeking steps to
bring about 350 Indians stranded in
Malaysia after visiting the country
on tourist visa.
A Special Bench of Justice R Subbi-
Can’t evacuate Indians from overseas: Centre tells HCah and Justice R Pongiappan, before
which the PIL came up for hearing,
adjourned the matter after two weeks
after going through the counter.
In the counter, filed by Additional
Solicitor General G Rajagopalan on
behalf of the Union home ministry,
the government submitted that af-
ter the global outbreak of COVID-
19 it has proactively taken steps to
ensure safety and wellbeing of Indi-
an nationals abroad as well as peo-
ple in the country.
It said all types of passenger move-
ments through designated immigra-
tion land checkposts on the country’s
borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and
Myanmar border have been suspend-
ed as also all scheduled international
commercial passenger flights.
Some of the countries have re-
ported a very large number of cas-
es including deaths, putting passen-
gers from these countries particu-
larly at higher risk of infection.
Travel back of such passengers to
different regions of India poses a
grave risk to the country having a
population of over 1.3 billion.
“In such a lockdown situation, it
is not possible for the Government
of India to organise any evacuation
of Indian nationals from any coun-
try,” the counter said.
Petitioner Gunasekar, an advocate,
submitted that while the Malaysian
government flew back all its nation-
als stranded in India by arranging a
special flight, the Centre is not tak-
ing any steps to bring its nationals
in Malaysia.
According to him, his client Mul-
lainathan had telephoned him from
Malaysia on April 4 and informed
that he visited Malaysia on a tourist
visa and that now he is unable to
come back due to the lockdown.
Besides his client and his family,
there were over 350 Indians strand-
ed in Malaysia due to the cancella-
tion of the flight operations follow-
ing the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Supreme Court had on Mon-
day observed that Indian citizens
stranded in various countries due to
the COVID-19 pandemic should “stay
where they are” after the Centre said
it would not be feasible to “selective-
ly evacuate” those who want to re-
turn due to various reasons.
The Centre’s response was to a
batch of pleas seeking evacuation of
Indian citizens from different coun-
tries, including United Kingdom
and Gulf nations. – PTI
26 new casestake Dharavi
tally to 86;death toll 9
MUMBAI, April 16: The
number of coronavirus cases
in Dharavi jumped to 86 after
as many as 26 people tested
positive for the infection on
Thursday in the slum area of
Mumbai, a civic official said.
With one more person suc-
cumbing to the infection on
Thursday, the COVID-19
death toll in the slum reached
nine, the official said.
“Eleven persons had tested
positive earlier on Thursday,
while 15 cases were detected
later in the day. This took the
day’s tally of COVID-19 patients
from Dharavi to 26,” an official
of the Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) said.
Eleven of these cases were
reported from Muslim Nagar
locality, four from Mukund Na-
gar, two each from Social Nagar
and Rajiv Nagar, and one each
from Sai Raj Nagar, Transit
camp, Ramji Chawl, Laxmi
Chawl, Janata society, Shiv-Shak-
ti Nagar, and Sarvoday Nagar
localities in Dharavi, he said.
Dharavi is one of the largest
slum areas in Asia. Nearly 15
lakh people live in shanties in
this highly congested area. – PTI
SER startsmanufacturing
PPE kitsKOLKATA, April 16: The
South Eastern Railway has
started manufacturing Person-
al Protective Equipment
(PPE) to ensure proper pro-
tection for its doctors, para-
medical staff, nurses and
healthcare personnel to deal
with COVID-19 pandemic, an
official said here on Thursday.
The kits are being manufac-
tured mainly at SER’s Kharag-
pur workshop and the divi-
sional unit there, he said.
The PPE kits include face
cover, eye shield, N-95 mask,
coverall gown with hood, shoe
cover and gloves, the official said.
As a pilot project, the
Kharagpur workshop has
manufactured 52 PPE kits,
while the Kharagpur division-
al unit has produced 20 such
kits, he said. – PTI
countrywide lockdown an-
nounced by the Central gov-
ernment to contain coronavi-
rus pandemic in the country.
“The document makes ref-
erence to earlier advisories of
the Cert-In and states that
Zoom is not a safe platform.
The guidelines have been is-
sued to safeguard private indi-
viduals who would still like to
use the platform for private
purposes,” the ministry said.
It said the advisory has been
issued to prevent any unau-
thorized entry into a Zoom
conference room and to pre-
vent unauthorized participants
to carry out malicious attacks
on the terminals of other us-
ers in the conference. – PTI
MHA warns againstholding Zoom meetings
NEW DELHI, April 16:
Zoom meeting platform is not
safe and it is not to be used for
official purposes by govern-
ment officials, the home min-
istry said on Thursday.
The warning, earlier issued
by Computer Emergency Re-
sponse Team (Cert-In), was
reiterated by the Cyber Coor-
dination Centre (CyCord) of the
home ministry in an advisory.
“This advisory states that
the platform is not for use by
government officers/officials
for official purposes,” a state-
ment from the ministry said.
Zoom became a popular ap-
plication for executives con-
ducting meetings while work-
ing from home during the
IIT-Kanpur,Lucknow
institute makealternative to
N95 masksKANPUR (UP), April 16:
The IIT-Kanpur and Luc-
know’s Sanjay Gandhi Post-
graduate Institute of Medical
Sciences have claimed to have
developed an alternative to
high-end N95 face masks.
Called as the positive pres-
sure respirator system (PPRS),
it will address an acute scarcity
of N95 masks, which are a crit-
ical component of personal pro-
tective equipment kits, IIT’s
mechanical engineering Prof
Nachiketa Tiwari said.
He said the new mask can
be produced in a large quanti-
ty in a short time as it needs
local material. He claimed that
the PPRS is a safer alternative
to their counterpart.
The existing N95 respirator
does not protect the user if
there is an imperfect seal be-
tween the mask and the face,
as there is negative pressure
inside it, Tiwari said.
“In contrast, the PPRS pro-
vides uncontaminated air be-
cause it uses positive pres-
sure. Thus, contaminated air
from a room cannot enter it
even in the presence of a leak-
age,” he added. – PTI
Assam Police ...(Contd from page 1)
The reach, especially after stepping up of the social media
content push, has been phenomenal. Till now, with a reach of
over 18.1 million users, 8.76 million post engagements and
over a period of three weeks, some of the awareness video
campaigns have gone viral reaching more than 6 million views.
Similarly on Twitter, the social media team has received
more than 2 million impressions. The police personnel also
disseminate their message through WhatsApp to each of the
police personnel, who then pass it on to their social networks.
This reach is massive and incalculable.
For example, an awareness video from Tinsukia on the im-
portance of personal hygiene and social distancing has received
around 3 million views alone. The video campaign on Bihu
awareness, put up a couple of days back, has already received
1.1 million views and over 30,000 shares on Facebook.
Singh said that the social media also allows sensationalism
and disinformation to spread quickly - and that’s where the
social media team of the police comes in. “Our response to the
Infodemic fallout of COVID-19 has been multi pronged too. We
have been putting out regular advisories to sensitise citizens
on the menace of fake news and rumours.
With the kind of reach our social media channels have, the
content pushed through our social media channels is then being
used by TV, electronic, radio and other digital mediums as a
credible source of information. This is key to fighting misinfor-
mation - being a credible source of information to counter the
fake narratives,” he added. The Assam Police is also taking
tough action against those involved in spreading rumours and
false news.
Social media has also emerged as a platform to provide relief
and assistance to those in distress and in emergency due to the
lockdown guidelines. The police social media response team,
apart from handling regular queries, is also responding to peo-
ple who are reaching out to it for help. From providing life-
saving medicines to food essentials and ration, the team coor-
dinates with the concerned district police to facilitate the deliv-
ery of essential items to people in need. Through Twitter,
Facebook and WhatsApp, the team receives a good number of
queries on an average every day. All district arms of the team
are also running their own relief campaigns and providing as-
sistance to the needy.
Journalist ...(Contd from page 1)
The NAJ submitted before the Supreme Court that various
employees of the media industry were meted out with inhu-
man treatment by their employers, based on unilateral deci-
sions to either slash salaries or issue termination notices.
It pleaded that these steps were taken despite an advisory
from the Centre directing that no services should be termi-
nated during the period of the nationwide COVID-19 lock-
down. The petition listed at least nine instances where media
houses have imposed salary cuts or issued notices sending
employees on indefinite unpaid leave, or served termination
letters.
In the backdrop of the lockdown, the media industry has
affected job and wages cuts with impunity, the petitioner al-
leged.
The media houses have “summarily shut down”, arguing
that it was in violation of the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947.
Further, apart from contravening legal provisions and adviso-
ries, the petitioner argued that these steps were taken without
being mindful of the helpless position of the employees.
Moreover, such treatment is contended to be in violation of
the terms of the employment contracts and appointment let-
ters, in some cases. The retrenchment effected over the last
few days is additionally in violation of the Working Journalists
Act of 1955 as well as the Other Newspaper Employees (Con-
ditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955, it
pointed out.
Strategic ...(Contd from page 1)
The strategic approach for containment include defining area
of operation and applying perimeter control, active search of
cases, early isolation, contact listing and tracking, quarantine
and follow up of contacts.
The government is also carrying out sample tests of all sus-
pect cases, symptomatic contacts, asymptomatic direct and high
risk contacts of a confirmed case and severe acute respiratory
infections (SARI) cases, the statement said.
In the (hotspots red zones) districts or cities, there is focus
following detection of a large number of cases or higher growth
rate. The highest case load districts contribute to more than 80
per cent of cases in India.
In the hotspots of clusters and large outbreak areas, there
has been localised increase in the incidence of COVID-19 cases
occurring within a defined geographic area, e.g., in a village,
town, or city and the cases may not be epidemiologically linked.
If there is more than 15 cases, it implies progression of a
small cluster or evolvement of multiple clusters. Less than 15
cases means it is happening in a limited area and cases are
epidemiologically linked, the Home Ministry said.
The perimeter of mapped clusters are facilitated by existing
geographic boundaries like roads, rivers, etc, and established
clear entry and exit points. Only one or two arterial roads into
the containment zone will be kept open for essential services.
All roads connecting the containment zone will be guarded by
police or volunteers.
There will be no unchecked outward movement except for
essential services, there will be no unchecked influx of popula-
tion into the containment zone too.
All vehicular movement, public transport and personnel
movement will be restricted. Details of people moving out of
the perimeter will be recorded and followed up with the Inte-
grated Disease Surveillance programme (IDSP), it said.
The perimeter control operations for the clusters and large
outbreaks remain the same except for the enhanced scale of
arrangements for large outbreaks. – PTI
Rahul for ...(Contd from page 1)
“When we come out of the lockdown, the virus is going to
start its work. It is important that we have a strategy in place to
come out of the lockdown,” he said, adding that it is time to ramp
up testing and put adequate infrastructure in place when the
virus picks up again.
Urging people not to be worried, Gandhi said they should
fight the virus unitedly as the country is bigger than any disease,
while asserting that India will overcome the current crisis too.
“...Caste, religion and creed will have to be forgotten in fighting
this virus,” he said.
Calling for a “strategic opening” of the lockdown, Gandhi sug-
gested opening certain key areas and to use testing to identify
hotspots. “This is where ramping up testing is important, to
dynamically identify the hotspots,” he said, suggesting creation
of two basic zones – a hotspot zone and a non-hotspot zone.
The Congress leader said the pandemic will have a negative
effect on the country’s economy, while adding that people are
becoming unemployed and “it is going to get worse”. He also
called for preparing packages for SMEs as well as for big com-
panies.
Calling for providing money and foodgrains to the poor, he
said in line with the proposed NYAY scheme of the Congress,
the government should give money directly to 20 per cent of the
poor people in the country because they are facing difficulties.
He also called for setting up structures and managing funds,
saying if all the money is spent now, there can be a financial crisis
later. “Hence, you need to think and move strategically,” he said,
adding that there is going to be a massive financial backlash due
to COVID-19 and waves of unemployment that will put a huge
pressure on our financial system.
The Congress leader also called for granting adequate re-
sources to the states to help them deal with COVID-19 in a
“nuanced” manner. He insisted that there is a need for devolu-
tion of powers to the states to help them effectively deal with the
situation. – PTI
Imported ...(Contd from page 1)
He further said the items are CE/FDA-verified and better
quality than those available in the local market. “We have re-
viewed the products available locally,” the Minister said.
The Central government has been insisting that it was pro-
curing CE/FDA-certified PPE kits only. But some consignments
were also received as donations.
Kits that are not FDA/ CE-approved have to pass quality tests
in India.
There is concern among medical circles about the shortage of
PPEs in India. Assam had just 10 PPEs on March 16.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 7
NORTH EAST
NORTH EASTERN COALFIELDS
Coal India Limited(A Maharatna Company under Ministry of Coal)
Margherita-786181 (Assam)
Registered Office : Office of the General Manager, North Eastern
Coalfields, Coal India Limited, Dist Tinsukia, Assam-786181, Corporate
ID No. L23109WB1973GOI028844, Phone No. 03751-220344, E-mail:
[email protected], Website : www.neccoal.co.in
All the tenders issued by CIL and its Subsidiariesfor procurement of Goods, Works and Services areavailable on website of Coal India Ltd.www.coalindia.in respective subsidiary Company, CILe-procurement portal https://coalindiatenders.nic.inand Central Public procurement portalhttps:eprocurement.gov.in. In addition, procurementis also done through GeM portal https://gem.gov.in
Sd/- General Manager,NEC, Margherita.
No. DME/28/AIIMS/2020/4967
Corrigendum Notice
Due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the prebid
committee meeting in respect of EOI (Expression of
Interest) published Vide No. DME/28/AIIMS/2020/4456,
dt. 20.03.2020 for Establishment of temporary campus
for AIIMS, Guwahati, is postponed and rescheduled on
2nd May 2020 and the last date of bid submission is
extended upto 8th May 2020.
For details changed, kindly go through the website:
www.dme.assam.gov.in.
Sd/- Director of Medical Education, Assam
Sixmile, Khanapara, Guwahati-22.Janasanyog/C/20/20
Forecast for NE: Rain/thunder-
shower is very likely to occur
at many places over Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya,
Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram
and Tripura.
Warning: Thunderstorm with
lightning and gusty wind with
speed (30-40) KMPH is very
likely to occur at isolated places
over Arunachal Pradesh. Thun-
derstorm with squall with
speed(40-50) KMPH accompa-
nied by hail is very likely to
occur at isolated places over
Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland,
Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
Heavy rain is very likely to oc-
cur at isolated places over As-
sam and Meghalaya.
Temperatures:
Max (°C) Min (°C)
Dibrugarh 31.4 20.0Tezpur 30.6 20.1Silchar 31.8 18.4Dhubri 30.8 20.1Jorhat 27.0 18.7N Lakhimpur 31.2 18.6Shillong 21.2 –Cherrapunjee 22.5 12.9Aizawl 29.6 16.9Kohima – 12.8Pasighat 30.4 21.8Itanagar 31.3 18.5Imphal 27.0 15.5Agartala 34.3 20.0
WEATHER
NORTHEAST
RON DUARAH
DIBRUGARH, April 16: He had
to bear the “stigmatization” of be-
ing a Tablighi Jamaat returnee, and
being a 31-year-old man, that did not
make him any happy. However, his
family members in the sleepy Medo
village near Tezu, headquarters of
Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh,
are happy that he is likely be released
from hospital on Friday.
The first and lone COVID-19 pa-
tient of Arunachal Pradesh is cur-
rently asymptomatic, in good health
and has a healthy appetite, complain-
ing of no physical discomfort.
Two teams of medical personnel
have been attending to the patient in
the special isolation ward of the Tezu
Zonal General Hospital since March
Arunachal COVID-19 patient likely to be released today31. His COVID-19 test was declared
positive by the Dibrugarh-based Re-
gional Medical Research Centre, a
unit of the ICMR, on April 2.
Meanwhile, the first medical team
is now under mandatory isolation. Af-
ter the patient’s release from hospi-
tal, the second team of medics will
also go into isolation, District Medical
Officer of Tezu, Dr S Chai Pul, said.
When asked, Dr Chai Pul told The
Assam Tribune today that the pa-
tient was not given any major
drugs. “We gave him broad spec-
trum multivitamins with better Vi-
tamin C content,” she said, adding
that he was given a diet with a lot of
nuts like almonds.
Dr Chai Pul said that the patient
was found COVID-19 negative as per
the ICMR guidelines on Wednesday
for the fourth time. This qualifies for
his release from the hospital.
Meanwhile, the four family mem-
bers of the patient, who had been
kept under home isolation since
March 31, have all tested negative,
and the Health authorities have de-
clared all of them safe for perform-
ing normal social activities.
Dr Chai Pul also said that the pa-
tient was provided an electric kettle,
tea, salt and sugar. He was allowed to
drink warm water and sip black tea.
Though the patient has not been
on any drug therapy, he has recov-
ered well enough in less than 20 days
of hospitalisation. Many believe in
private that warm saline gargles and
dozens of cups of tea may have
helped. Tea professionals have all
along been eulogizing the curative
properties of tea, both black and
green. The magic element in tea is
supposed to be polyphenols which
have anti-viral properties. This prop-
erty has been established during the
containment research on SARS,
which is also caused by a coronavi-
rus. Veteran tea professional Saura-
bh Shankar states that tea has more
than 200 medicinal properties, and
that all of these are being document-
ed systematically by scientists of the
Tea Research Association at Tocklai
in Jorhat district. He said that both
green tea and black tea have medic-
inal properties that have been proved
in the United Kingdom and China
over the ages.
While the anti-coronavirus prop-
erties of tea are yet to be fully docu-
mented in any medical journal of
repute, the tea planting community
is now all the more inclined to bet-
ter explore the medicinal proper-
ties of teas of the Brahmaputra Val-
ley in particular. The results could
be quite revealing.
Retired professor of tea husband-
ry at the AAU, Jorhat, Dr Swapon
Baruah said that polyphenols in tea
have high antioxidant properties
which are known to inhibit cold and
flu. He added that the pharmaceuti-
cal properties of tea have been fairly
well-documented. Tea consumed in
generous quantities with no milk and
less sugar is always beneficial, he
maintained. Dr Baruah pointed out
that tea workers generally do not
suffer from cold and flu, chiefly due
to their consumption of black tea
without sugar.
A deserted locality in Shillong after the district administration imposed curfew in the Meghalaya capital following detection
of COVID-19 cases, on Thursday. – UB Photos
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG, April 16: The
mortal remains of the doctor
who died of COVID-19 on
Wednesday, were laid to rest
at the Presbyterian Church
cemetery at Raithsamthiah
here today, almost 24 hours
after his demise.
The deceased was first tak-
en to the electric crematori-
um at Jhalupara on Wednes-
day. However, local residents
disallowed his cremation, fear-
ing spread of the virus. The
district administration tried
to convince the local residents
to allow the cremation, but
they did not relent.
Later, the traditional heads
of Nongpoh also reportedly
did not allow the deceased to
be buried at his farmhouse in
Ri-Bhoi district either.
Throughout the night the
authorities tried to convince the
people to allow the last rites of
Meghalaya doctor laid torest 24 hours after death
the deceased, allaying fears of
transmission of the virus.
After several rounds of
meetings among the public
and the district authorities,
people of some areas finally
came forward to allow the
burial. It was then decided that
the deceased should be bur-
ied at the Presbyterian
Church cemetery at Rait-
samthiah. A few officials from
the district helped in the per-
formance of the last rites.
The unfortunate develop-
ment has been attributed to
the alleged failure of the
Health Department to create
awareness on the issue of
deaths due to COVID-19.
There is still no information
from the State Health Depart-
ment about the national and
international protocol that is
followed to handle bodies of
those who die of the disease.
It has also failed to dispel fears
about virus transmission from
the dead bodies.
According to the Union
Health Ministry, “the main
driver of transmission of
COVID-19 is through drop-
lets. There is unlikely to be
an increased risk of COVID
infection from a dead body to
health workers or family
members who follow stand-
ard precautions while han-
dling the body.”
The Ministry states that
“only the lungs of dead COV-
ID patients, if handled during
an autopsy, can be infectious.
The ash does not pose any
risk and can be collected to
perform the last rites.”
The same guidelines have
also been laid down by the
World Health Organization.
However, the Meghalaya
Health Department has failed
to highlight these vital points
to the people and has still not
taken a cue from the latest
incident in the State.
Rs 30,000 toSikkim patients
strandedoutside StateA CORRESPONDENT
GANGTOK, April 16: The
State Government has decid-
ed to provide a one-time med-
ical assistance amounting to Rs
30,000 to patients from Sik-
kim stranded in other parts of
the country.
In addition to this, the Gov-
ernment has also decided to
provide all ASHA workers
with an honorarium of Rs
5,000 in view of their role in
the ongoing efforts to contain
spread of COVID-19.
“I briefed the Governor
on steps taken to distribute
relief materials. An addi-
tional list of 29,000 benefi-
ciaries will be provided by
Sunday,” said Chief Minis-
ter PS Tamang.
Governor Ganga Prasad
and the Chief Minister
launched a portal, COVID-
19 Transmission Chain Pre-
vention System, of the
Health and Family Welfare
Department developed by
the NIC. It has a self-report-
ing module wherein people
who have returned to the
State can register them-
selves. Those people will be
observed for 14 days with
constant monitoring.
The Governor also handed
a cheque for Rs 11 lakh con-
tributed by Mahashay Dhar-
ampal Gulati, CEO of MDH
Spices, to the Chief Minister’s
Relief Fund.
ArunachalGovt to extendaid to citizens
strandedoutside State
CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR, April 16:
The Arunachal Pradesh Gov-
ernment has decided to ex-
tend financial assistance to
people of the State who are
stranded in other parts of the
country due to the ongoing
nationwide lockdown.
The decision to this effect
was taken today in a Cabinet
meeting held by Chief Minis-
ter Pema Khandu through
video conferencing.
“In view of the grievanc-
es and issues faced by per-
sons from Arunachal
Pradesh stranded across
the country, the cabinet de-
cided to provide financial
assistance to all such per-
sons. It was decided that an
amount of Rs 3,500 each
will be disbursed to all per-
sons of Arunachal Pradesh
stranded outside the state
for sustenance during the
lockdown period, from
Chief Minister’s Relief
Fund,” stated a press re-
lease from the CMO here.
The financial aid will be dis-
bursed by the deputy com-
missioners concerned in con-
sultation with local MLAs and
other stakeholders through
direct transfer to bank ac-
counts or through UPI after
due verification.
The Google doc sheet
which was circulated by the
State Government to gather
information of all persons
stranded outside the State,
will be shared with the re-
spective DCs for disburse-
ment of financial assistance.
The Cabinet further decid-
ed to extend the time and date
for registration of persons
stranded outside the State to
12 am on April 19 for the proc-
ess of disbursement. Further,
those who are unable to reg-
ister on the Google doc sheet
by the extended deadline, can
contact their respective DCs
or MLAs for assistance, which
will be provided after due ver-
ification, the release added.
POWERGRID reliefGUWAHATI, April 16: The Power Grid Corporation of In-
dia Ltd, North East Region, has been distributing essential
items like pulses, rice, oil, soaps, masks, etc., among needy
people living in and around its substation at Bongaigaon, Salaka-
ti, Misa, Balipara, Tezpur, Biswanath Chariali, Mariani, Silchar
and Badarpur in Assam, Agartala and Kumaraghat in Tripura,
Mokokchung and Dimapur in Nagaland, Khlrehiat and Shil-
long in Meghalaya, Imphal in Manipur and Aizawl in Mizoram,
a press release stated. The distribution process is still on and
till date, a sum of Rs 1.7 crore has already been spent, includ-
ing aid for setting up quarantine centres and testing laborato-
ries, and aid to the NEIGRIHMS, Shillong, and the Tezpur and
Jorhat Medical Colleges in Assam.
The POWERGRID has also been providing Rs 250 to every
contractual worker as additional support, in addition to their
wages. It has already contributed Rs 200 crore to the Prime
Minister Cares Fund, besides donating one day’s salary from
all the employees, the press release added.
CORRESPONDENT
IMPHAL, April 16: The Ma-
nipur Government has begun
transferring Rs 2,000 each to
the bank accounts of people, in-
cluding students, stranded out-
side the State, who had sought
help through the State’s newly
launched website.
Speaking to reporters dur-
ing his visit to two old age
homes on the outskirts of Im-
phal today, Chief Minister N
Biren Singh said his Govern-
ment is also considering pro-
viding assistance to those who
are currently in different cit-
CORRESPONDENT
DIMAPUR, April 16: Nagaland will
soon get a Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) lab-
oratory for COVID-19 tests with the
equipment for it reaching here on Thurs-
day. The consignment weighing 18
tonnes was brought from Mumbai in a
C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft of
the India Air Force, following a request
from Nagaland Governor RN Ravi to
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Along with the sophisticated equip-
ment, a technical team also arrived here
to set up the BSL-3 laboratory at the
Naga Hospital Authority Kohima. The
aircraft was scheduled to arrive at the
Dimapur airport on Wednesday, but was
delayed due to bad weather in Assam.
Considering the urgency of setting up the
laboratory in the State, the IAF on Wednes-
day even made efforts through diplomatic
channels to use Bangladesh airspace, but it
did not materialise as the weather in that
Manipur Govt gives Rs 2,000to people stranded outside State
ies for medical treatment.
A website
(www.tengbang.in) was
launched on March 29 to reach
out to the people of Manipur
who are stranded outside the
State and in need of help to
overcome hardships due to
the nationwide lockdown im-
posed in the wake of the COV-
ID-19 outbreak.
The Chief Minister handed
over rations and medical sup-
plies, including hand sanitiser,
masks and medicines, to the
inmates of the old age homes
and interacted with them.
BJP MLA Th Satyabrata,
Principal Secretary (Health)
V Vumlunmang, Social Wel-
fare Director Ng Uttam and
other government officers
were also present.
The visit came in the back-
drop of the Prime Minister’s
recent call to take special care
of the elderly people.
Singh said that post April 20,
the State Government may
consider certain relaxations for
a few selected sectors after as-
sessing the situation. Howev-
er, no decision would be taken
in a hurry as the State has a
long international boundary.
Urging the public and civil
society organisations to join
hands with the Government in
the fight against COVID-19, he
observed that it is not the time
to indulge in a blame game and
unnecessary criticism. He also
called upon the public to imme-
diately inform the police if any-
body detects sale of essential
items at higher prices.
Meanwhile, a team led by
Principal Secretary and Resi-
dent Commissioner of Ma-
nipur Bhawan in Delhi PK
Singh has started distribution
of dry rations to students and
others stranded in the nation-
al capital.
Nagaland to get COVID-19testing laboratory soon
country was also not conducive.
The next consignment for the labora-
tory is expected to arrive soon.
Meanwhile, Nagaland Chief Minister
Neiphiu Rio has thanked the Indian Coun-
cil of Medical Research, New Delhi, for
fulfilling the long-felt need of the Gov-
ernment to “have our own testing facil-
ities”. Work will begin immediately so
that it becomes functional at the earliest,
he said. State Health and Family Welfare
Minister S Pangnyu Phom said the labo-
ratory would be set up on a war footing.
It may be mentioned here that a pa-
tient with COVID-19 symptoms was
shifted from Dimapur to the GMCH in
Guwahati, Assam, on April 12. Subse-
quently, he tested positive and is cur-
rently undergoing treatment at the
GMCH. The Nagaland Government has
thanked the IAF, the Centre and the Min-
istry of Defence for extending support
and cooperation to the State in its fight
against COVID-19.
Plea: Nagaland Congress president K
Therie on Thursday requested Chief
Minister Neiphiu Rio to provide a
monthly aid of Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 each
to the people of Nagaland stranded in
other parts of the country and abroad
due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown.
Warning: Dimapur Deputy Commis-
sioner Anoop Khinchi on Thursday said
that strict action would be taken against
those found violating the containment
measures against COVID-19.
Khinchi said despite repeated orders
issued by him, it had come to notice
that some villages have barred entry
of medical professionals, personnel on
emergency duty, and the staff and pa-
tients of the Zion Hospital, Dimapur,
where a COVID-19 patient was initial-
ly admitted.
He directed the village councils, col-
ony chairmen and all concerned to en-
sure that frontline workers are hon-
oured and respected.
Technical personnel after delivery of laboratory equipment at the Dimapur airport on Thursday. – Photo: Correspondent
8 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020STATENEWS IN BRIEF
Relief materials distributedGUWAHATI, April 16: Lion’s Club of Gauhati Seva
distributed relief materials to poor people at KalapaharColony and Lal Ganesh in the city. This was informed bysecretary Neeru Sethi in a press release. Daljit Singh andSanpreet Singh assisted in the distribution of reliefmaterials. Over 200 packets were distributed by the
organisation among the people.
Scholars donate fundsJORHAT, April 16: Fifty-eight research scholars
working at CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat, have contributed anamount of Rs 54,201 to the Prime Minister’s CitizenAssistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund. ACSIR-NEIST press note stated the amount was trans-ferred through SBI online donation payment portal.CSIR-NEIST also produced hand sanitisers, liquidhandwash, disinfectants, homemade masks, which weredistributed to police stations, district administrationoffices, post offices, banks, ONGC, BCPL, District andSessions Judge Court, FCI, Indian Air Force Station inthe past one month. – Staff Correspondent
Teleconferencing at DhemajiDHEMAJI, April 16: Due to the lockdown, activities of
the Dhemaji District Child Welfare Committee havebeen severely affected. The committee has taken adecision to conduct its activities through teleconferenc-ing. Dhemaji District Child Welfare Committee chairper-son Labanya Lahan Chutia called upon the public tocommunicate with her in respect of child welfare andchild protection or about any kind of incident relating tochild. – ANN Service
Guidelines on masksSILCHAR, April 16: Wearing of face masks in public
places has been made compulsory across the countryduring the ongoing lockdown. “As per the directions onCOVID-19 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Governmentof India, along with special emphasis on social distanc-ing, wearing of face covers by people at public placesand work stations as their social responsibility iscompulsory now,” said Cachar ADC Sumit Sattawan. TheADC informed that as per the directions, spitting inpublic places shall be punishable with fine as well.– Staff Correspondent
Competitions for studentsHAILAKANDI, April 16: Students of Hailakandi
district took part in various competitions on the occasionof Ambedkar Jayanti and Rongali Bihu through ICT-enabled Distance Learning Programme. Inspector ofSchools Rajiv Kumar Jha disclosed that students of 62secondary and higher secondary schools and 36 pre-senior madrassas participated in the competitions fromtheir homes through ICT-based distance learning.– Correspondent
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
JORHAT, April 16: The CSIR-North
East Institute of Science and Technolo-
gy (CSIR-NEIST) in collaboration with
the 5 Air Force Hospital at Rowriah is in
the process of setting up a laboratory at
the IAF hospital to test samples for
COVID-19.
Speaking exclusively to The Assam
Tribune, CSIR-NEIST Director Dr G
Nara Narahari Sastry said that as the
institute was having expertise in mo-
lecular biology and microbiology with
required laboratory facilities and gov-
ernment laboratories operational under
CSIR authorised to take up testing of
COVID-19, an initiative to set up the
laboratory has been undertaken.
Dr Sastry said the proposed labora-
tory will be able to carry out tests on
nearly 100 samples within a 3-4 hours
under the RT-PCR (reverse transcrip-
tion polymerase chain reaction) meth-
ROOP CHOUDHURY
GOALPARA, April 16: Tea gar-
den labourers, working as daily-
wage earners at the Maijonga Tea
Estate in Raikhyasini, Garopara
Part II under Matia Revenue Cir-
cle, around 6.5 km from the dis-
trict headquarters of Goalpara,
have been facing extreme eco-
nomic hardship during the lock-
down period.
These people are simply at a
loss as to whom they can speak of
their woes as they are out of work
in the tea gardens since the lock-
down started on March 25. They
said that the lockdown extension
till May 3 would bring unprece-
dented hardship as their employ-
er follows the principle “No work,
No Pay”.
This correspondent, while trav-
elling through the area with a team
from the Red Cross Society, Goal-
para branch, met some females la-
bourers who are living in abject
poverty in hamlets in the Raikh-
yasini Part-I and Part-II areas.
For these labourers, life is full of
New lab for COVID-19 atIAF hospital likely
od. The laboratory at the IAF hospital
will be one among the 12 CSIR labora-
tories to be set up across the country
under the CSIR initiative.
Dr Sastry said that on Wednesday, a
team of NEIST scientists led by him
and Air Commodore Dr S Bhargava
along with doctors and officials of 5
Air Force Hospital held a joint meet-
ing and finalised the infrastructural and
logistical aspects that will be needed
to operate the laboratory at the 5 Air
Force Hospital.
He said a joint team of doctors of the
IAF hospital and CSIR-NEIST scientists
will work together to operate the labo-
ratory.
“If things go according to plan, we
will be able to make the laboratory ready
within a week,” Dr Sastry stated.
The CSIR-NEIST team of scientists
will not only provide the equipment and
diagnostic kit reagent support, but also
facilitate the Air Force hospital staff to
conduct the testing as CSIR-NEIST has
almost all the infrastructural facilities to
conduct such tests with little orienta-
tion, Dr Sastry said.
The director said that the laboratory
will function in close coordination with
the district administration and the Jorhat
Medical College and Hospital.
Dr Purnima Baruah, JMCH Superin-
tendent and Associate Professor of
Microbiology, told this newspaper that
a team of CSIR-NEIST and IAF hospi-
tal recently visited the JMCH laborato-
ry to know about the set-up.
Dr Baruah said the proposed labora-
tory is expected to be a booster in the
efforts under way to prevent outbreak
of novel coronavirus.
Dr Sastry said that the CSIR-
NEIST and the 5 Air Force Hospital
were also jointly working to set up a
101-bed makeshift hospital for treat-
ment of COVID-19 patients at the IAF
hospital premises.
Tea garden labourers facing extreme economic hardshipuncertainties with very little in-
come besides day-to-day hardship.
Some female labourers expressed
concern over their earnings as daily
labourers, saying that their income
has totally stopped and most of
them have run out of money.
They also said that the relief dis-
tributed by the government was
insufficient and they were not able
to sustain their families. There is
also shortage of drinking water as
most of the wells in the area have
dried up.
Kamona Ghosh, a 33-year-old
who resides in Raikhyasini Part-II
and works as a temporary labour-
er at the tea estate, said her family
is excluded from the public distri-
bution system as she does not have
a ration card and has a family of
seven members. To augment the
family’s income, her husband runs
a small tea stall in front of her hut
which is now closed due to the lock-
down. She harvested some paddy
recently from her small plot of land
on which the entire family is de-
pendent. Her family also depends
on wild edible tropical plants and
tubers to enrich their diet.
She is now short of food and said
that she has not received any re-
lief. She has no clue how to feed
her family due to extension of the
lockdown, and said, “we are going
to bed with hunger pangs”.
Though she admitted to having
received Rs 500 in her Prime Min-
ister Jan Dhan Yojana account, she
alleged that some people who not
engaged in farming activities are
getting money under the PM-Kis-
han scheme whereas her family
has been excluded despite being
engaged in agriculture activities.
She has been hardly able to ob-
serve the mandatory health guide-
lines laid down by the government
as precautions against coronavirus.
Proper sanitation is still a far cry in
the neighbourhood affected by low
standard of living. She uses her
chadar as a mask to cover her face
and there is lack of awareness re-
garding the dreaded virus and the
need for social distancing in the
neighbourhood.
Another example is Lata Pal, a
35-year-old who works as a casual
labourer and gets Rs 167 as daily
wage at the Amjonga Tea Estate.
She has a ration card and has re-
ceived 25 kg rice and Rs 500 in her
PM Jan Dhan Yojana account.
She has two minor daughters
and they have been surviving on
rice, salt mixed with a little mus-
tard oil with wild edible plants but
no vegetables.
Pal works with pottery in her
spare time and her husband sells
the items in the market, earning a
measly sum of around Rs 600 per
month. She said she is worried
about her daughters in the absence
of proper sanitation, potable wa-
ter and household toilet.
Ashim Kumar Chakravorty,
manager of the Maijonga Tea Es-
tate, said that the tea garden is reel-
ing under heavy financial loss fol-
lowing the lockdown, and the loss
at present is estimated at around
Rs 1 lakh daily.
The tea leaves have overgrown
and harvesting could not be done
on time. He said he had received a
verbal order to open the garden
following the mandatory health
guidelines.
The garden has 130 permanent
and 110 casual labourers, and most
of the permanent labourers have
been engaged.
The manager said free ration
will be provided by the garden
management to the permanent la-
bourers as per the Plantation La-
bour Act during the lockdown pe-
riod. All the labourers have ac-
cess to health facilities provided
by the garden.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross Soci-
ety, Goalpara branch, urged the la-
bourers to remain vigilant and dis-
play strong resolve to fight the dread-
ed coronavirus. The Red Cross So-
ciety assured that masks will be dis-
tributed to all the labourers.Women labourers at the Maijonga tea estate in Raikhyasini, Garopara.
Members of Lion’s Club of Gauhati Seva distributing reliefmaterials.
CORRESPONDENT
DIPHU, April 16: In view
of the lockdown, prices of
vegetables have started soar-
ing, causing concern for the
common man. In Diphu, the
prices of vegetables have in-
creased abnormally for the
past several days.
Taking advantage of the
situation, a section of traders
have hiked prices of vegeta-
bles and essential commodi-
ties. The traders have in-
creased prices in the range
of 50-60 per cent. But what
is more unfortunate is that
the farmers are yet to get
their due prices.
“This year, I have incurred
a huge loss in my tomato cul-
tivation as no one is willing
to purchase my produce. I
have a huge loan, and I am
not in a position to repay the
instalments,” said Nimai Sin-
ha, a tomato cultivator of
Natun Basti of Bakalia.
He is not alone, as hun-
Farmers incur hugeloss in Diphu
State has sufficient food stock,says Agriculture Minister
CORRESPONDENT
SIVASAGAR, April 16:
Agriculture Minister Atul
Bora and Food and Civil
Supplies Minister Phani
Bhusan Choudhury on
Thursday visited Sivasagar
and Charaideo districts to
review the overall situation
in upper Assam.
Briefing the media at the
Sivasagar DC’s office, Bora
said the State has sufficient
food stock for over a
month, and hence there
should not be any shortage
in the food supply chain.
Replying to queries that a
section of unscrupulous
traders have been reaping
benefits by creating
artificial scarcity of essential
items, the Minister said the
retail market in Sivasagar
district is controlled by
wholesale traders of Jorhat
for which the three Deputy
Commissioners of Sivasa-
gar, Jorhat and Charaideo
have been asked to monitor
the situation.
The Minister said death
of large number of pigs in
the district, as reported by
The Assam Tribune on
April 9, is being looked into
and the necessary preven-
tive measures against
swine fever are being taken
so that it cannot take the
form of another epidemic.
Bora said the govern-
ment has been taking all
possible steps for doubling
farmers’ income by 2022.
The farmers and the SHGs
have been provided
tractors, power tillers and
other agriculture machin-
ery to encourage multiple
cropping.
Choudhury said adequate
measures have been taken to
help the needy people during
the lockdown and except rice
and masoor dal, there is no
scarcity of any essential
items at present. “The state
requires 5,000 MT of rice
per week, and, therefore
there was some shortage
initially as the rice mills
were completely closed for
about a month,” he said.
The meeting was
attended by Amguri MLA
Pradip Hazarika, Thowra
MLA Kushal Duwori,
Sonari MLA Nabanita
Handique, Sivasagar DC
Lakhinandan Gogoi,
Sivasagar DDC Nawab Al
Azhar Ali, BJP leader
Bhaben Mohan, and senior
AGP leaders of the district.
CORRESPONDENT
HAILAKANDI, April 16:
The Hailakandi district admin-
istration felicitated the front-
line workers who are on the
forefront in the ongoing fight
against the novel coronavirus.
At a programme held at the
Deputy Commissioner’s of-
fice on Tuesday, Deputy
Commissioner, Keerthi Jalli
and senior officials of the ad-
ministration and health de-
partment felicitated 23 front-
line workers such as ASHAs,
ANMs, supervisors, sanita-
tion workers, drivers and
technicians who are combat-
ing the virus.
Jalli said the felicitation
programme coinciding with
Rongali Bihu was organised
to acknowledge the pivotal
role played by the frontline
heroes in protecting the so-
ciety, state and country from
the coronavirus pandemic.
“As we usher in a New Year,
let us start afresh with a new
Frontline workers engaged inCOVID-19 management feted
resolve in the fight against
coronavirus,” she said.
Saluting the warriors, Jalli
said, “Everyone should take
note of the fact that the first
line of workers is already
engaged in COVID-19 relief
and doing commendable job.
I salute the frontline warri-
ors who are being felicitated
today and those who are at
ground zero fighting against
the pandemic.”
Jalli urged the society not
to ostracize the frontline
workers or attach any stigma
to them. “The enthusiasm
shown by the frontline army
of workers is unmatchable and
surely deserves praise from
the administration. The small
gesture from our side will
boost their morale to work
further against the coronavi-
rus contagion,” she said.
The Deputy Commission-
er pleaded with the people
to cooperate with municipal
and sanitation workers who
are working round the clock
in collecting waste and clean-
ing the streets in this hour of
crisis. “The sanitation work-
ers must be appreciated for
working tirelessly to help
prevent the spread of the vi-
rus,” she said.
Jalli warned that those ob-
structing or coming in the
way of the frontline workers
from discharging their duties
during the challenging times
would not be spared. “These
frontline workers are mem-
bers of my family. Those who
are threatening or prevent-
ing them from doing their
duties would have to confront
me first,” she warned.
DDC Vikram Dev Sarma,
ADC RK Dam, AD (Health)
EL Faihraem, Circle Officer
Tridip Roy, Joint Director
(Health Services) Dr RC
Dwivedy garlanded the work-
ers and presented a gamosa
to them as a token of recogni-
tion for their hard work.
OBITUARY
Nirmal BorahCORRESPONDENT
DOOMDOOMA, April 16:
Nirmal Borah,
a social activ-
ist, died on
Wednesday
following a
cardiac arrest.
He was 60. He was closely as-
sociated with Doomdooma
Namghar, Doomdooma bran-
ch of Elora Vigyan Mancha and
several other organisations.
He leaves behind his wife and
a son. His sudden death was
widely mourned.
Power supplydisrupted in
JorhatSTAFF CORRESPONDENT
JORHAT, April 16: Power
supply was disrupted in many
areas across the district due
to a thunderstorm that hit the
district late on Wednesday
afternoon. Uprooted trees
fell on electricity lines, while
electric poles also fell down
due to the high-velocity
winds, leading to disruption
of power supply.
A district administration
official said that APDCL staff
since Wednesday night have
been working to restore the
electricity supply and by
Thursday afternoon, the sup-
ply was restored in several
areas. On the extent of dam-
age caused by the storm, the
official stated that survey
work was under way.
It may be mentioned here
that around 100 houses were
completely damaged and 704
houses were partially dam-
aged due to a thunderstorm
that blew over Jorhat district
on the night of April 9. Alto-
gether, 4,019 people spread
over 60 villages were affect-
ed by the storm on April 9,
the DDMA report stated.
dreds of farmers in the dis-
trict are now facing the same
problem. The problem gets
aggravated day by day due to
the lack of initiative on the
part of the Agriculture depart-
ment. “We don’t get adequate
prices on our vegetables.
However, a section of traders
has been earning handsome-
ly depriving the farmers,” the
farmer claimed.
Several farmers, including
Satyaranjan Sinha, Paresh
Das, Hejuram Das, Noni Das,
Sankar Das and Harekrishna
Singh criticised the Agricul-
ture department for its al-
leged failure in taking action
to help the farmers. “I have
suffered a huge loss as crops
are now getting rotten due to
lack of support from the au-
thorities,” Satyaranjan said.
To mitigate the situation ,
the farmers have now de-
manded the Agriculture de-
partment to offer help and
procure their produce to
avoid further loss.
Guidelines for saleof fish, poultry
CORRESPONDENT
HAFLONG, April 16: As
a precautionary measure
against COVID-19, the Dima
Hasao district administration
has allowed door-to-door
sale of fish, meat and poultry
products in Dima Hasao
twice a week.
The Animal Husbandry
and Veterinary department
will prepare a system for sale
and purchase of fodder and
feed in the district and main-
tain a record of vehicle pass-
es for both government and
private vehicles used for pur-
chase of fodder and feed from
other districts. However,
only one vehicle is allowed
per day with mandatory ve-
hicle details to be mentioned
in the pass along with the
name of the helper and driv-
er. The retail outlets for sale
of fodder and feed will open
only twice a week.
For sale of meat or fish,
selected vendors will be is-
sued passes for house-to-
house sale, area-wise and
only twice in a week while
strictly maintaining social
distancing during sale. It is
to be mentioned that proper
hygiene is to be maintained
at all times while selling.
Sale of meat or fish at
shops has not been permit-
ted yet. However, price hike
of 20 per cent above the gov-
ernment-approved rate is
permissible. Laying stress on
strictly maintaining social
distancing during sales, the
district administration has
also ordered that in case of
any violation of the guide-
lines, people shall attract
penalties as per provisions of
the Disaster Management
Act, 2005 and cancellation of
permission.
Officials of the 129 Bn of the CRPF distributing food items at Bhadeyaguri in Chirangdistrict on Thursday. – Photo: ANN Service, Gossaigaon
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 9BUSINESS & ECONOMY
NEW DELHI, April 16: Highlighting the piv-otal role played by IMF in maintaining stability ofthe international monetary and financial system,Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister NirmalaSitharaman today said that the multilateral financ-ing body should continue rendering this criticalrole to the global financial architecture.
The Finance Minister said this during theplenary meeting of the International Monetaryand Financial Committee, the ministerial-lev-
el committee of the International MonetaryFund (IMF), which she attended through vid-eo-conference.
The discussions at the meeting were basedon IMF Managing Director’s global policy agen-da titled, ‘Exceptional Times – ExceptionalAction’.
The members of the IMFC updated thecommittee on the actions and measures takenby member countries to combat COVID-19,and also remarked on IMF’s crisis-responsepackage to address global liquidity and mem-bers’ financing needs.
During her intervention, Sitharaman outlinedvarious measures taken in India to respond tothe health crisis as well as to mitigate its im-pact. In this regard, she mentioned about allo-cation of $2 billion (Rs 15,000 crore) by theGovernment of India for strengthening thehealthcare system; announcement of a schemeof social support measures amounting to $23
NEW DELHI, April 16: Morethan 20 lakh jobs are at risk in In-dia’s aviation space and depend-ent sectors in the wake of thecoronavirus pandemic, accordingto global airlines’ grouping IATA.
Commercial flight services havebeen suspended till May 3 as thegovernment has extended the na-tionwide lockdown in continuingefforts to curb spreading of coro-navirus infection, which has al-ready affected more than 11,000people in the country.
Faced with challenging businessconditions, some domestic air-lines have resorted to leave with-out pay and layoff of expat pilots.
Against the backdrop of the cur-rent situation that has also result-ed in substantial economic disrup-
FM underlines IMF’s role in maintainingstability of global financial system
billion (Rs 1.70-lakh crore) to alleviate the hard-ship of the poor and the vulnerable; provisionof relief to firms in statutory and regulatorycompliance matters; easing of monetary policyby the RBI; and three-month moratorium onloan instalments.
The Finance Minister also informed theIMFC about India’s role as a responsible mem-ber of the global community by providing crit-ical medicines to other nations. She also men-tioned about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
initiative of creating a COVID-19 EmergencyFund for the SAARC region at the SAARCleaders’ video-meeting.
The IMFC meets twice a year, once duringthe Fund-Bank annual meetings in October, andagain during the spring meetings in April. Thecommittee discusses matters of common con-cern affecting the global economy and advisesthe IMF on the direction of its work. This year,due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the meetingtook place through video-conference. – IANS
COVID-19 pandemic
Over 20 lakh jobs at risk, says IATAtions, the IATA said airlines in In-dia are also not spared.
The International Air TransportAssociation (IATA) today said thatairlines globally are now facing anexistential crisis as a result of theCOVID-19 outbreak.
“Airlines in India are not spared.Passenger revenue is expected tofall by more than $8.8 billion andpassenger demand decline by 36per cent. This puts over 2 million(over 20 lakh) jobs at risk, includingsectors that are dependent on avia-tion,” Albert Tjoeng, Assistant Di-rector for Corporate Communica-tions (Asia Pacific) at IATA, said.
He told PTI that the priority forthe Indian government is to ensurethat airlines have sufficient cash flowto tide them over this period, byproviding direct financial support,facilitating loans, loan guarantees,and support for the corporate bondmarket. “Taxes, levies, and airportand aeronautical charges for the in-dustry should also be fully or par-tially waived,” he added.
The IATA is a grouping of around290 airlines, including Air India,Vistara, IndiGo and SpiceJet.
Globally, Albert Tjoeng said,IATA is expecting a revenue lossof $314 billion and passenger de-mand to fall by 48 per cent com-pared to 2019. Airlines are facinga liquidity crisis, burning $61 bil-lion of their cash reserves in the
second quarter of 2020, he added.On Tuesday, IATA Director
General and CEO Alexandre deJuniac said the industry’s outlookgrows darker by the day.
“The scale of the crisis makes asharp V-shaped recovery unlikely.Realistically, it will be a U-shaped re-covery with domestic travel com-ing back faster than the internationalmarket. We could see more than halfof passenger revenues disappear.That would be a $314 billion hit,” hehad said. He had also said that air-lines could burn through $61 billionof cash reserves in the second quar-ter alone. “That puts at risk 25 mil-lion jobs dependent on aviation. Andwithout urgent relief, many airlineswill not survive to lead the econom-ic recovery,” he had said. – PTI
Indian aviation,dependent sectors
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attends the plenary meeting of the International Monetary
and Financial Committee of IMF through video-conference, in New Delhi on Thursday. – PTI
NEW DELHI, April 16: TheCentre has formed guidelines onrefund of air tickets which werebooked during the first and theextended lockdown periods.
In an office memorandum, theMinistry of Civil Aviation acknowl-edged the unusual situation that hasarisen due to the lockdown and itsconsequential effect on the air pas-sengers and airlines. At present,domestic and international commer-cial flights are banned since March25, 2020, barring cargo operations.
To deal with massive cancella-tions, domestic airlines started tooffer credit to the passengers inlieu of their booking amounts.These credits can be used to booktickets at a later stage, when thesituation normalises.
However, discrepancies haveoccurred on the refund mechanism.The first phase of lockdown wassupposed to have ended on April
KOLKATA, April 16: The Com-merce Ministry is working on afinancial package for the tea indus-try which has been reeling under acrisis in the wake of the coronavi-rus outbreak, Tea Board ChairmanPK Bezbaruah said today.
Production has been hit badlyas tea gardens across the countrywere closed due to the nationwidelockdown to contain the spread ofthe disease, he said.
Recently, West Bengal and As-sam, two big tea producing Statesin the country, have allowed op-erations in the estates with re-stricted workforce.
The planters were asked tomaintain social distancing normsand take proper safety precau-tions in the tea gardens.
“The Commerce Ministry isworking on a financial package forthe battered tea industry whichhas been hit by the lockdown,”Bezbaruah told PTI.
There will be a “drastic reductionin volume this year due to the lock-down, and this could be to the ex-tent of 120- 125 million kg,” he said.
NEW DELHI, April 16: Retire-ment fund body EPFO settled3.31 lakh PF withdrawal claimsworth over Rs 945 crore in last15 days to give relief to the mem-bers during the lockdown.
The provision, which was notifedon March 28, 2020, for special with-drawal from the EPF Scheme totide over the COVID-19 pandemicas part of the Pradhan Mantri GaribKalyan Yojana (PMGKY) package,has provided timely relief to theworking class of the nation, a La-bour Ministry statement said.
Since the introduction of this pro-gramme, in just 15 days Employ-ees’ Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO) has processed 3.31 lakhclaims disbursing an amount of Rs946.49 crore, the ministry said.
In addition, an amount of Rs 284crore has been distributed by theexempted PF Trusts under this
NEW DELHI, April 16: Mobile phones, televi-sions, readymade garments and stationery items willbe allowed to be sold on e-commerce platforms likeAmazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal during the lockdownfrom April 20, officials said today.
The clarification from a senior Home Ministry of-ficial came a day after Union Home Secretary AjayBhalla issued revised guidelines for the extendedlockdown period till May 3.
Electronic items like mobile phones, TVs, refrig-erators, laptops will be available one-commerce platforms from April20, the official told PTI. Readymadegarments and stationery items for school childrenwill also be available on the e-commerce platforms.
“Along with essential commodities like groceriesand medicines, non-essential items are also allowedto be sold by the e-commerce companies,” anotherofficial said.
However, the delivery vans of the e-commercecompanies will need permission from authorities toply on roads. According to fresh guidelines issued onWednesday, commercial and private establishmentsare being allowed to operate during the extendedlockdown period.
“Vehicles used by e-commerce operators willbe allowed to ply with necessary permissions,”
Bandhan Bank sees noproblem in loan repayments
Commerce Ministryworking on package forsector: Tea Board chief
The country had produced around1,380 million kg of tea last year.
Assam and West Bengal al-lowed 50 per cent and 25 per centworkforce respectively to startoperations in the gardens, but thiswill not suffice to maintain the pro-duction volume at a decent level,Bezbaruah said.
Operations with 50 per cent work-force have also been allowed in thetwo others tea producing regions –Kerala and Nilgiris, he added.
A list of suggestions regardingthe financial package was sent tothe Commerce Ministry whenthe lockdown started, he said.
The proposals included en-hancement of working capital lim-it by 20 per cent, bringing downthe interest rates and waiver ofpenalty for deferred loan repay-ment, Bezbaruah said.
“This (the package) will bear amarginal cost to the governmentand will not be much,” he said.
Bezbaruah also urged the gov-ernment to pay the provident fundfor all the tea garden workers fora period of three months. – PTI
PF withdrawals
EPFO settles 3.31 lakhclaims worth over
Rs 945 cr in 15 daysscheme, notable among them be-ing TCS, it added.
Under this provision, non-re-fundable withdrawal to the extentof the basic wages and dearnessallowances for three months orup to 75 per cent of the amountstanding to member’s credit in theEPF account, whichever is less,is admissible.
The member can apply for less-er amount also. This being an ad-vance, does not attract income taxdeductions, it stated.
EPFO is committed to serve itsmembers during this crisis, and itsoffices are functional to maintainthe continuity of essential servic-es even in difficult situations.
The availability of these facili-ties through online services hasbrought much relief to the needysubscribers during the lockdownperiod, it added. – PTI
Centre forms guidelinesfor refund of air tickets
14, but it has been extended till May3. “If a passenger has booked a tick-et during the first lockdown peri-od... for travel during the same pe-riod for both domestic and interna-tional air travel and refund is soughtby the passenger against that book-ing being cancelled, the airline shallrefund the full amount collectedwithout the levy of cancellation
charge,” the ministry said.The guideline mandates air-
lines to make the refund withinthree weeks from the date of re-quest for cancellation.
“If a passenger has booked aticket during the first lockdownperiod... for travel during the sec-ond lockdown period for both do-mestic and international air trav-el and the passenger seeks refundon cancellation of the ticket, the
airline shall refund the full amountcollected without levy of cancel-lation charge.”
Similarly in this case, the air-lines have been mandated to makerefunds within a period of threeweeks from the date of requestfor cancellation.
On Wednesday, senior officialsfrom the Ministry of Civil Aviationvia a virtual platform met airlineCEOs on the issue. In hindsight,private airlines were acceptingticket bookings for travel post April14. However, the earlier lockdowndeadline got extended till May 3.Consequently, airlines adoptedtheir previous strategy of provid-ing a “travel credits” to passen-gers of the now cancelled flights tomake another booking as and whenthe sector reopens.
This system is complicated as tick-eting agents and various paymentchannels are also involved. – IANS
National lockdown
Mobiles, TVs, readymade garmentsto be available from April 20
the ministry said.The previous notifications of the Home Ministry
had specifically said that e-commerce platforms areallowed to sell only essential goods like food, phar-maceuticals and medical devices.
The new guidelines did not classify essential andnon-essential items.
The move is being viewed as an attempt by thegovernment to revive industrial and commercial ac-tivities which have been stalled due to the lockdown
since March 25.A large number of people are
engaged in the logistics and deliv-ery works of such e-commerce platforms. By open-ing the sector, the government is trying to protectthe interests of this large segment of employees.
The guidelines also said: “All facilities in the sup-ply chain of essential goods, whether involved in man-ufacturing, wholesale or retail of such goods throughlocal stores, large brick and mortar stores or e-com-merce companies should be allowed to operate, en-suring strict social distancing, without any restric-tion on their timing of opening and closure.”
The government has also allowed movement ofall trucks and other goods/carrier vehicles with twodrivers and one helper subject to the driver carryinga valid driving licence. – PTI
Hyundai handsover advanced
COVID-19 testingkits to ICMR
BUSINESS REPORTER
GUWAHATI, April 16: Country’ssecond largest auto-maker HyundaiMotor India Ltd (HMIL) today hand-ed over COVID-19 advanced diag-nostic testing kits to Indian Councilof Medical Research (ICMR).
The globally proven diagnostickits worth Rs 4 crore, which havebeen imported from South Ko-rea, offer high level of accuracyand can cater to the testing re-quirements of over 25,000 indi-viduals, an HMIL statement said,adding that the same diagnostickits are also being exported to theUSA, Europe and other countries.
“As a socially responsible and car-ing brand, Hyundai is committed tothe fight against COVID-19. To pro-vide further assistance to the gov-ernment’s efforts, we have handedover globally proven COVID-19advanced diagnostic testing kits im-ported from South Korea,” thestatement quoted SS Kim, MD &CEO, HMIL, as saying about thehandover of kits.
Hyundai has taken a series ofinitiatives to assist the govern-ments in the battle against COV-ID-19, including donation of Rs 5crore to TN CM’s Relief Fund,supply of ventilators and otherrespiratory aids, distribution ofPPEs, masks and other safety kits,and distribution of dry rations toadversely impacted sections ofsociety, it said.
Hyundai will also offer extend-ed support of 2 months to cus-tomers who were unable to availvehicle’s warranty/extendedwarranty/free service due tohealth emergency or dealershipshutdown in affected cities, be-sides the ongoing roadside assist-ance service to customers (doc-tors/police/bankers, etc.) who arein essential services, the state-ment added.
E-commerce platforms
COVID-19 leavespvt healthcare
sector in financialdistress: studyNEW DELHI, April 16: The
private healthcare sector in thecountry is witnessing an unprec-edented slowdown due to out-break of COVID-19 in India andthe resultant lockdown, accordingto a FICCI-EY study.
“The pandemic has caused anadverse impact on the privatehealthcare sector resulting in 70-80 per cent drop in footfall, testvolumes and 50-70 per cent dropin revenue in last ten days ofMarch that is expected to sustainin month of April with continuedlockdown,” the study said.
Possible ramp up will be gradu-al thereafter, taking at least threequarters for return to normalcy,according to the study titled,‘COVID-19 impact assessmentfor private healthcare sector andkey financial measures recom-mendations for the sector’.
“With an estimated impact ofRs 14,000-24,000 crore operatinglosses for the quarter, the sectorwould need liquidity infusion, in-direct and direct tax benefits, andfixed cost subsidies from the gov-ernment to address the disrup-tion,” the study said.
According to FICCI HealthServices Committee Chair AlokRoy, the financial distress accen-tuated by COVID-19 lockdownhas forced several standaloneand small nursing homes in tier-II and III cities to pull down theshutters.
Many others are at high risk ofclosing down soon since theircash flows have dried up, due tosteep decline in patient footfalls,and they are facing liquidity cri-sis for even sustaining their staffsalaries, he added. – PTI
Lockdown
KOLKATA, April 16: Privatelender Bandhan Bank does notapprehend any repayment is-sues owing to the nationwidelockdown to contain the spreadof COVID-19, a top official of thebank said.
Recovery, however, has beenhalted at present dueto the curbs.
MD and CEO ofBandhan Bank ChandrasekharGhosh said repayments should notbe a cause for concern as borrow-ers’ businesses are continuing.
“Recovery of micro loans fromborrowers have stopped fromMarch 23,” Ghosh told PTI.
He said since bank personnelcannot physically go to collect theloan repayment amount, the out-standing will remain at the previ-ous level.
Ghosh said interest will be re-
covered at the time of repayment,irrespective of whether the cus-tomer opted for the three-monthRBI moratorium.
“We are explaining to our cus-tomers that the costs involved inopting for the moratorium are highsince the interest will be com-
pounded at the time ofrepayment,” anotherbank official said.
In case of microfinance, repay-ments are made on a weekly ba-sis (equated weekly instalments),and not as EMIs.
The official said most of thebank’s customers are apprised ofthe costs of opting for the mora-torium and are agreeable to re-pay as per schedule.
As on March 31, BandhanBank’s total loan book stood at Rs71,825 crore, reflecting a 60 percent year-on-year growth. – PTI
Govt waivesrental of firms
in STPI till JuneNEW DELHI, April 16: IT
companies operating in SoftwareTechnology Parks of India (STPI)will not have to pay rent for fourmonths starting March 1, 2020 inthe wake of the coronavirus out-break and the lockdown.
“In view of the challenges thrownby COVID-19 outbreak and conse-quent lockdown, the NarendraModi Government today took amajor decision to provide relief frompayment of rental to the small ITunits operating out of the STPI,”Ministry of Electronics and IT (Me-itY) said in a statement. Around 266companies operate in STPI with atotal employee strength of over4,100. Most of these units are ei-ther medium and small technologyenterprises or start-ups.
“The MeitY has decided to pro-vide rental waiver to these unitshoused in STPI premises in thecountry from March 1, 2020 till June30, 2020, i.e., for 4-month periodas of now,” the statement said.
STPI is an autonomous societyunder MeitY and it has 60 centresacross the country, it added. – PTI
LOCKHORNS
THE PHANTOM ® By Lee Falk
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE
BLONDIE
Know your DAYBy JACQUELINE BIGAR
HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Friday, April 17, 2020:
With serious purpose you expect to be listened to, and this year you are not
disappointed. You may change your mind in your career direction but even with
added pressures you do well. A turn for the better in your fortune is likely. If
single, you meet someone new and become a couple very quickly. If attached,
do not be critical. Your partner needs extra reassurance now. PISCES is way
sensitive and vulnerable.
The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-
Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult.
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
H Longstanding communication problems with a child or roman-
tic interest can be overcome today. Talk and listen openly and hon-
estly and give plenty of time for what needs to be said. The result of this is a
deep sense of connectedness. Bravo. Tonight: Early bedtime.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
H HH Kindness and patience are of the utmost importance today.
Be on guard and avoid repeating patterns. A past life connection with
a social group you are dealing with is being played out. Reflect on karmic
connections in order to facilitate trust and acceptance. Tonight: Relax.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
H HH You might enjoy experimenting with new forms of meditation
and prayer today. Too much ritual and formality will generate restless-
ness for Gemini. Keep incantations short. A light heart sings a sweet song.
Tonight: The gods and goddesses are apt to respond to humor and novelty.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
H A new perspective regarding challenging situations develops
today. This is good for talking through problems and finding an-
swers. Be a good listener. Honesty and ethical behavior provide the stand-
ards for success. Tonight: Talk with a friend who lives a long ways away
from you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
HH H Today, charming and eloquent companions go out of their
way to include you in their plans. A telepathic exchange can even
occur, providing a deeper glimpse into the heart and mind of a partner. Tonight:
Go over financial strategies as sources of security are shifting.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
HH H Do not lose focus today. Dissipating precious energy will end
in frustration. You enjoy the peace and beauty of nature. Performing an
act of kindness for one who is ill will bring a personal blessing. Tonight: Intimate
date night, even if virtual.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
HHH Today will be exciting but extremely hectic. Don’t become over-
whelmed: It is all good news. Lovers offer valuable information. Stay
centered with your daily session of relaxation techniques. Tonight: Take care of
your body and honor it as a temple of spirit.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
H Ask elders for guidance. Delve into your family’s heritage. Set
aside a corner of your home to create a personal altar. Decorate it with
a familiar keepsake. A great depth of spiritual understanding will follow, which
you will find comforting. Tonight: Chat with friends.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
H Social prospects are happy today. An existing relationship
can strengthen or a new one develops. A talented and well-mannered
person includes you in plans and invitations. Make sure you spare time for a
child who needs your attention. Tonight: Online retail therapy.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
HHH Today brings helpful guidance from friends, so seek an opinion
or request advice. You will feel like keeping to yourself, but if you do
this you will advance. There is an urge to contribute on a professional level.
Take time to relax. Tonight: Be yourself.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
HH Today is your day. You especially enjoy exchanging notes
with a new prospect who has suddenly caught your eye. A degree of
freedom in a committed situation is essential to your happiness, so make sure
this prospect is independently minded. Tonight: As you like it.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
H You gain a deeper awareness of who you are and what your
life means today. Prepare for secrets to come to light. You might even
get a glimpse into the motivations of others as well as a message from the spirit
world. Tonight: Show off.
H H
Thought for the day
You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible.
– ANTON CHEKHOV
I am as confounded by dogs as I am ___
to them. – Roger A. Caras (8)
Words: Educe, sixty, docent, billed.
Answer: I am as confounded by dogs as
I am indebted to them. – Roger A. Caras
Given below are four jumbled words. Solvethe jumbles to make proper words and movethem to the respective squares below. Selectthe letters in the shaded squares and jumblethem to get the answer for the given quip.
JUMBLED WORDSHEALTH CAPSULES®
by Bron Smith
Health Capsules is not intendedto be of a diagnostic nature.
CROSSWORD - 6870
Across:1 Wick, 4 Emblem, 8 Spa, 10 Scan, 13 Iterates, 14
Penance, 15 Setter, 17 September, 21 Boy, 22 Eat, 23 Axe, 26
Kshatriya, 27 Pariah, 28 Lasagna, 32 Asphodel, 34 Sign, 35 GMT,
36 Halide, 37 Seth.
Down: 1 Wasp, 2 Clan, 3 Epic, 5 Murder, 6 Lot, 7 Misery, 9 Ate,
11 Celeb, 12 Nasty, 15 Seta, 16 Taxi, 18 Pour, 19 Mesh, 20 Bah, 23
Areas, 24 Eying, 25 Splash, 26 Kayoed, 28 Leg, 29 Alms, 30 Give,
31 Ankh, 33 Pal.
SOLUTION
SOLUTION TO TRIBUNE CROSSWORD – 6870
Across
1 Candle fibre (4)
4 Symbol (6)
8 Health resort (3)
10 Look at (4)
13 States repeat-
edly (8)
14 Act of contrition
(7)
15 Breed of gun-
dog (6)
17 Ninth month of
the year (9)
21 Lad (3)
22 Consume (3)
23 Chopping tool
(3)
26 The warrior as
per Indian caste
system ? (9)
27 Outcast (6)
28 Wide flat pasta
strips (7)
32 A flowering plant -
“shop deal” ana-
gram ? (8)
34 Indication (4)
35 Greenwich Mean
Time (3)
36 A compound con-
taining a halogen
(6)
37 Third son of Adam
(4)
Down
1 Insect (4)
2 Family (4)
3 Heroic story (4)
5 Homicide (6)
6 Destiny (3)
7 Wretchedness (6)
9 Had a bite (3)
11 One in the spot-
light (5)
12 Beastly (5)
15 Bristle (4)
16 Car for hire (4)
18 Come out in a
stream (4)
19 Network (4)
20 Exclamation of
contempt (3)
23 Regions (5)
24 Regarding (5)
25 Spatter (6)
26 Knocked out in
boxing match (6)
28 A lower limb (3)
29 Charitable gifts (4)
30 Bestow (4)
31 Egyptian symbol
of life (4)
33 Comrade (3)
07:45 Pratham Xongbad
14:00 Biyolir Headline
16:00 Abelir Khabar
16:30 Superfast Prime Time100
17:00 City18
18:00 Prime Time18
19:00 Dintur Shironam
20:00 Porjyobekhyon
21:30 Aparadh Nama
22:00 North East Scan
22:30 Noixo Xironam
08:30 Devotional Music08:45 Swachh Bharat Batori
08.50 Batori
15:00 Vigyan Prasar
15:30 Classical Music
16:00 Abelir Batori
16:05 Akholor Juti
16:30 Chiphung
17:00 Nimishote Batori
17:02 DD Kisan TV Serial in Hindi
17:30 Krishi Darshan
18:00 Dharabahik
18:30 Batori
18:45 NE News
12:00 Oggy And The Cock...
15:30 The Tom & Jerry Show
15:30 Tom And Jerry: Back to Oz
16:00 Oggy And The Cock...
21:30 The Tom & Jerry Show
22:30 Courage, Cowardly Dog
23:00 Ben 10
23:30 Teleshopping
12:00 Chhota Bheem
12:30 Grizzy And The Lemm...
13:30 Chhota Bheem
14:30 Grizzy And The Lemm...
15:30 Chhota Bheem
16:30 Grizzy And The Lemm...
17:30 Chhota Bheem
18:30 Chhota Bheem Neeli..
20:00 Super Bheem
21:00 Grizzy And The Lemm...
22:00 Mr. Bean: The Animated...
23:00 M.A.D.
23:30 Teleshopping
12:00 Africa's Wild Side
13:00 Wild Families
14:00 Wolves of Yellowstone
15:00 Survival Of The Fittest
16:00 The Lakeshore Killers
17:00 Built For The Kill
18:00 World's Weirdest
19:00 Wild Pals
20:00 Survival Of The Fittest
21:00 India's Wild Leopards
22:00 Hostile Planet
23:00 Dangerous Encounters
12:00 Snakes in The City
13:00 Running Wild/Bear Grylls
14:00 Adventure: Primal Survivor
15:00 Science of Stupid
07:00 Breakfast Live08:00 Live at 809:00 Good morning Assam10:00 Assamese news11:30 Kotha Barta (R)12:00 Mid Day Live13:00 Assamese Telefilm14:30 Afternoon Prime17:30 Guwahati Bisesh18:00 Guwahati Live18:30 Breaking @ 6:3019:00 Assamesse Prime Time20:00 Discussion Show21:00 Super Prime Time22:00 Live at 1022:30 Noixo Guwahati
23:00 Noixo Batori
1700 Xopun1730 Barala Kai1830 Xopunor Aasutia Rang2000 Jonaki Kareng2030 Xopun2100 Oi Khapla2130 Bah Amarawati Bah2200 Borola Kai
14:30 IPL HLs
15:00 ICC WC T20I
18:30 Sledge Hammer
19:00 ICC World T20 HLs
20:00 IPL HLs
21:00 ICC World T20 HLs
22:00 IPL HLs
23:00 Ind vs Aus ODI HLs
23:00 Hero ISL HLs
14:30 IPL HLs
15:00 ICC WC T20I
18:30 Sledge Hammer
19:00 ICC World T20 HLs
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19:00 BBL Rewind19:30 Great Centuries20:00 Nail-Biting Finishes20:30 Cricket Talk21:00 India’s Finest21:30 Master of Oz22:00 Men in Blue Victorious23:00 Great Centuries23:30 Nail-Biting Finishes
14:30 WWE BlockBusters
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12:40 Chori Chori Chupke
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15:10 Ajnabee
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13:10 Resident Evil: Vendetta
14:50 Ant-Man and the Wasp
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to Disaster
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11:45 Disturbia
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22:45 Godzilla (2014)
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ZEE CINEMA
23:30 Mahaveer No. 1
STAR MOVIES
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12:00 Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ka
12:30 Yeh Rishtey Kya Khelta
13:00 Yehh Jadu Hai Jinn Ka!
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23:30 Mahaveer No. 1
As people adopt social distancing meas-
ures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic,
every mom should know that newborns
are most prone to infections as their immune
system is still developing, and hence, they
should be protected from infection-causing
germs and bacteria.
Simple tips like washing your hands before
feeding your baby, after changing a nappy, after
touching pets or any surface and not mixing
baby's clothes with that of an adult can go a
long way in protecting your baby from
infections, health experts said.
These measures need to be followed
every day, not just during the period of the
pandemic.
"Hygiene plays a key role in keeping your
baby healthy. It reduces the chance of your
baby falling ill due to the germs and virus she
is exposed to every day. So, to ensure baby's
safety, parents should maintain good hygiene,
especially mothers, since the baby spends a lot
of time with her," said Dr Prathibha Babshet,
Ayurveda expert, The Himalaya Drug
Company.
Your hands carry germs and bacteria that
most often cause the common cold, flu, and
other infections.
Washing your hands properly and regularly
for a minimum of 20 seconds with water and
soap is essential to remove harmful bacteria
and germs, Dr Prathibha said.
It is equally important to encourage your
toddler to wash hands. Keep a sanitizer with
you at all times, just in case you do not have
the option to wash your hands, she said.
While your baby is playing, crawling, or
running, she comes in contact with floor
surfaces and almost everything in the
house. This exposes her to all kinds of
bacteria. Therefore, make sure to clean
surfaces with disinfectants, the Ayurveda
expert advised.
New mothers should also remember that it
is natural for your baby to create a mess while
crawling, playing, or eating.
A good bath is necessary to keep your baby
clean and tidy. Make sure you replace your
baby's bath towel every 3-4 months, she said,
adding that it is equally important for the
mother to maintain basic hygiene, which will
prevent germs from passing on to the baby.
As baby's clothes and diapers get soiled
every other hour, make sure you change the
diaper every 2-3 hours and clean or wipe the
baby's bottom also.
Keeping your nails long can cause a
bacterial infection because dirt can accumulate
in your nails.
(Source: IANS)
Newborn hygieneHealth experts give tips on hygiene rules for
moms of newborn babies
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 202010 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI LEISURE & LIFESTYLE
THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 11FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020
STATE
Two arrestedfor arson
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH, April 16:
Police have arrested the two
persons accused in setting
ablaze some seven shops in
Greenwood tea estate area
on Sunday.
According to police,
around 11 pm on April 12,
miscreants set fire to a ra-
tion shop owned by one Na-
zir Hussain of Niz Khania
Gaon under Rohmoria PS.
The same miscreants had si-
multaneously set fire to an-
other six shops in 40 no. line
of Greenwood TE, under La-
howal police station. One of
those six shops was owned
by the same person Nazir
Hussain.
On joint investigation by
OC, Lahowal and OC, Roh-
moria, the two were arrest-
ed yesterday, police in-
formed. The accused are Md
Alam Ali alias Alam Zafar
(32), s/o Lt Abdul Gafar, Pal-
tan Bazar, Chandmari and Md
Jiarul Haque alias Muna (32),
s/o Md Khairul Haque of
Chaulkhowa.
One seriouslyhurt in knife
attackA CORRESPONDENT
NAGAON, April 16: In a
dispute last night, a gang of
miscreants injured one Nitu
Das severely with a sharp
knife at Amolapatty Red
Cross Chariali in the town and
fled away from the spot be-
fore the police arrived.
According to sources, the
seriously injured youth was
immediately admitted to the
Nagaon Swahid Bhugeswari
Phookonani Civil Hospital.
Police have registered a case
in this regard and started in-
vestigation. But no one has
been arrested till the filing of
this report.
The sources said here this
afternoon that the youth had
indulged in a dispute with the
gang for an unknown issue at
around 10:30 pm on Wednes-
day and during the dispute,
one of the members of the
gang attacked Nitu Das with
a sharp knife following which
all of them fled from the spot.
Meanwhile, the local resi-
dents of the area have identi-
fied three of the gang mem-
bers who are now absconding.
One dies inboat mishapCORRESPONDENT
DHUBRI, April 16: One
Sher Ali (56) died after his boat
sank in the Brahmaputra near
New Ghat area under Dhubri
Police Station on Wednesday
morning due to a storm.
According to police, Sher
Ali and his son Mohor Ali
went to the river for fishing
on Wednesday morning.
However, due to a storm
their boat sank. Though,
Mohor survived, his father
drowned, police said.
Police constablecommits suicideSTAFF CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH, April 16:
One police constable of the
Traffic branch identified as
Rupjyoti Kalita reportedly
committed suicide at his rent-
ed house in Bishnunagar here.
The cause of his extreme step
could not be ascertained. Kali-
ta hailed from Titabor.
OBITUARY
Akhilesh MishraCORRESPONDENT
DOOMDOOMA, April 16:
Former vice-chairman of
Doomdooma Municipal Board
(DMB), veteran Congress-
man and vice-president of Ka-
kopothar Block Congress
Committee Akhilesh Mishra
passed away this morning at a
private nursing home in Di-
brugarh. He was 68 and suf-
fering from kidney-related ail-
ments.
Before the cremation, the
mortal remains of Mishra was
taken to the office of the Doom-
dooma Municipal Board and
the Rajiv Bhawan here to pay
the last tributes. Doomdooma
MLA Durga Bhumij also con-
doled the demise of Mishra.
A resident of Doomdooma
town, Mishra leaves behind
his wife, two sons and a host of
relatives.
CORRESPONDENT
BISWANATH CHARIALI,
April 16: Chief Minister Sar-
bananda Sonowal reviewed
the situation in Biswanath
district today arising out of the
COVID-19 pandemic at a
high-level meeting held in the
conferrence hall of the office
of the Deputy Commisioner
of Biswanath district.
Addressing the meeting,
Sonowal said that the State
gevernment has undertaken
all necessary steps for clamp-
ing total lockdown following
the revised guidelines of the
Central government during
the second phase of the lock-
down. He said that the gov-
ernment had given permis-
sion to farmers to engage in
agricultural activities and,
hence, he ordered the district
Agriculture department to
ensure that the farmers were
not harassed in any way. He
instructed the district admin-
istration to form some super-
visory units in the tea gardens
of Biswanath district to super-
vise the compliance of the
standard operational proce-
dures including social distanc-
ing in work places, factories
etc., by tea garden labourers.
Likewise, he also asked the
administration to ensure ful-
filling the interest of the small
tea growers in the district.
The Chief Minister in-
structed the Deputy Com-
missioner to hold meetings
regularly with the Minister-
in-Charge of the district, par-
liamentarians and MLAs for
resolving problems that
might arise due to the ongo-
ing lockdown. He observed
that nine lakh people of Biswa-
nath district should not face
any dificulty in availing essen-
tial commodities and servic-
es and asked the departments
concerned to ensure public
safety. He called upon the of-
ficers and employees to work
honestly, friendly and devot-
edly. The meeting was well
attended by State Minister
Ranjit Dutta, MLAs Padma
Hazarika, Utpal Borah,
Prashanta Phukan, Deputy
Commissioner Dhruva Jyoti
Das, Superintendant of Police
Rajen Singh, Gohpur SDO
(Civil) Narendra Kumar Shah
and others.
Later, Sonowal addressed
a press meet in which he ex-
pressed his gratitude to all the
departments including
Health, Home, Food and Civ-
il Supplies, media persons
etc., for their restless work
in the society during the out-
break of COVID-19.
Sonowal reviews COVID-19scene at Biswanath
Hindu MilanMandir donatesfor corona reliefOUR BUREAU
DIBRUGARH, April 16:
The executive comittee of
the Dibrugarh Hindu Milan
Mandir today donated Rs
50,000 towards the Assam
Arogya Nidhi. The cheque
was handed over to
Additional Deputy Com-
missioner Susanta Kumar
Dutta by a delegation of the
mandir committee,
comprising Madhusudan
Ghosh (president), Sudip
Kumar Banik (vice
president), Debnath Lahiri
(secretary) and joint
secretaries Pranabendu
Ghosh and Kamakhy
Chakraborty.
Relief distributedANN SERVICE
PATACHARKUCHI,
April 16: In a bid to provide
relief to the needy families
here during the ongoing
nationwide lockdown, a
section of people, including
a senior advocate and
notary public, Bajali,
Giridhar Choudhury, has
been distributing food
items in different parts of
the subdivision.
Choudhury distributed
packets of essential
commodities among 30
needy families at Kharad-
hara here today. The needy
families from different
communities belong to
Bilpar, Nizsathisamuka,
Khatpar, Pahala and Barjar
villages under three gaon
panchayats.
During distribution, he
appealed to the villagers to
follow the lockdown strictly
and strengthen the age-old
bond of unity in the society.
Mahendra Das, a social
worker, along with the
representatives of Kharad-
hara Unnayan Samiti and
the Kali Puja Celebration
Committee, helped in the
smooth distribution of food
items and maintaining
proper social distancing.
Workers maintaining social distance after plucking leaves at a tea garden near Jorhat, on Thursday. – UB Photos
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH, April 16:
Allaying apprehensions
among the tea garden work-
ers that their wages and oth-
er entitlements accrued dur-
ing the 19-day industry clo-
sure due to the lockdown
would be deducted in the lat-
er working season, State La-
bour Welfare Minister San-
jay Kishan today said that the
plantation industry must pay
wages and distribute the ra-
tions to all its workers not-
withstanding the loss the in-
dustry has incurred during
the 19 days.
“There is a departmental
order in which all employers
and managements have been
asked to pay wages on due
dates and also give the la-
bourers the rations they de-
serve without any deduction.
At this time of crisis the in-
dustry has to make the pay-
ment,” the Minister said
while replying to newsmen
here today at the Circuit
House. The Minister was
here to attend a joint review
meeting of the Labour De-
partment, Food and Civil
Supplies Department, Agri-
culture Department, Veteri-
nary and Animal Husbandry
and other allied industries.
Agriculture Minister Atul
Bora, Food and Civil Supply
Minister Phani Bhusan
Choudhury and Revenue and
Disaster Management Min-
ister Jogen Mohan and other
MLAs and officials of the de-
partments concerned also at-
tended the meeting.
TEs must pay wages toworkers for lockdownperiod, says Minister
336-year-old tradition broken atBiswanath Ghat temple
CORRESPONDENT
BISWANATH CHARIALI,
April 16: A 336-year-old tra-
dition was broken on Wednes-
day at historic Biswanath
Ghat temple on account of the
ongoing lockdown. The tem-
ple, better known as ‘Gupta
Kashi’ is situated on the bank
of the river Brahmaputra in
Biswanath district and around
15 kilometres away from
Biswanath Chariali town to-
wards the south of the NH-
15. The tradition is that the
idol of Lord Shiva is carried
to a nearby village, Bhirgaon
on a dola covering a distance
of five kilometres and is wor-
shipped in a temple there for
the day.
It is returned to the origi-
nal site in the evening. People
offer pooja-archana to the
deity along the road. Accord-
ing to information, the tradi-
tion was started by Ahom king
Gadadhar Singha in 1684 and
since then it has been carried
out every year without any
break. But this time, the au-
thorities in the temple decid-
ed to move the deity around
the temple for three times
only and thus concluded the
programme adhering to so-
cial distancing and other
norms strictly. The district
and police administration
made adequate security ar-
rangements for it.
A CORRESPONDENT
NAGAON, April 16: Amid
the ongoing nationwide lock-
down called in wake of the
COVID-19 outbreak, the offi-
cials and other staff of Nagaon
District Transport Office, the
commandant and other staff of
the 9th Assam Police Battal-
ion, Barhampur, together ex-
tended their helping hands to
those needy and daily wage
earners of the society and dis-
tributed packets of essential
goods among them at various
locations in the district.
As per information received,
the commandant of the Battal-
ion, Hitesh Roy, following the
appeal of the government went
ahead to help those needy peo-
ple in and around greater
Barhampur area and distribut-
ed rice, dal, sugar, milk, mus-
tard oil, wheat flour and tea
leaves among around 350 fam-
ilies of Barhampur Adar-
shagaon, Shivasthan, Panigaon,
Nedhorgaon, Putoni, Ghugor-
gaon, Rongajan, Sonarigaon and
other nearby villages of great-
er Barhampur area.
The battalion significantly
used a total of 12 trucks to car-
ry the essential commodities
during the distribution.
It may be mentioned that
the commandant of the battal-
ion initiated strict measures
during the distribution so that
no photo or video of distribu-
tion would go viral in the so-
cial media.
Similarly, under the special
pursuance of DTO, Nagaon,
Ranjib Kr Boruah, the officials
as well as other staff of Na-
gaon District Transport Office
also distributed essential
goods among more than 300
poor families and other daily
wage earners at various plac-
es in the town. Assistant En-
forcement Officer Pradip
Bhuyan led the team of offi-
cials who distributed the es-
sentials among the poor fami-
lies of the town.
Meanwhile, the president
and secretary of Nonoi Sutar-
gaon Gram Panchayat, Dipa-
moni Bora, and Tarun Das,
respectively distributed Rs
1,000 each among 121 fami-
lies who have no ration card.
Essential items distributedamong poor families at Nagaon
Security personnel keeping a strict vigil during the second phase of national lockdown, at Mariani on Thursday. – UBPhotos
CORRESPONDENT
TEZPUR, April 16: State
Agriculture Minister Atul
Bora in a review meeting
held yesterday evening at the
Circuit House here said that
the government and the lo-
cal administration will make
all arrangements for the sale
of local farmers’ produce in
other States of the region.
Along with other parts of
the State, the farmers in
Sonitpur district are facing
heavy losses this time due
to the lack of common mar-
ket to sell their produce,
particularly the seasoned
crops, including green veg-
etables.
After holding a meeting
with the Deputy Vommis-
sioner Manvendra Pratap
Singh and other administra-
tive officials, Bora stated that
the farmers should not lose
hope.
“We understand the con-
dition of the farmers and took
note of their losses,” he said,
adding that the farmers here
can sell their produce to the
other States of the region and
the government will extend
all necessary help to them.
Govt will extend all help to farmersto sell their produce: Minister
ANN SERVICE
DULIAJAN, April 16: The
Rotary Club of Duliajan has
taken an initiative to support
the daily wage earners here.
The club members recent-
ly distributed grocery items
like rice, dal, mustard oil, po-
tato, onion, salt, soaps, etc.,
among 100 families in the
adopted village of the club, at
Chapatoli Bongali Gaon under
Duliajan constituency.
Rotarian Siddartha Hazari-
ka, Rotarian Sunil Borgohain,
Rotarian Rajumoni Gogoi, Ro-
tarian Bimal Borgohain and
Rotarian Dhurbajyotj Hazari-
ka were present during the
programme.
The Rotary Club of Dulia-
jan has joined hands with the
Government of India to fight
the dreaded COVID-19 pan-
demic.
To curb the menace, united
cooperation is needed, stated
a press release issued by the
Rotary Club of Duliajan.
Rotary Club distributes fooditems among needy families
CORRESPONDENT
HAILAKANDI, April 16:
The district police has arrest-
ed some persons in connec-
tion with pilferage of rice and
flour wheat meant for the poor
here on Wednesday.
Revealing it, Superintend-
ent of Police Pabindra Kumar
Nath said a huge quantity of
rice and wheat was recovered
from 299 Berakhalerpar LP
School under Mohanpur Part
II of Algapur circle on
Wednesday. “Forty-five bags
of rice and five bags of wheat
flour, each bag containing 50
kg of grains, weighing around
2,500 kg, have been recov-
ered from the school used as
a godown,” Nath said.
When the police personnel
reached the site, they found
the main door of the school
locked from outside. When
they opened it, they found a
person inside.
Police are on a hot trail of
the absconding fair price shop
dealer Ainul Hoque who hap-
pens to be an Anchalik Pan-
chayat member and president
of the school management
committee of the LP School
where the foodgrains were
concealed.
Nath said Ainul, who had
stated on Tuesday before the
Algapur OC that he had re-
ceived 12 quintals of rice in
March and April, was making
a ‘blatant lie’ as the police re-
covered 22.5 quintals of rice
and 2.5 quintals of wheat flour
from the school. The police
also conducted a search oper-
ation in his house.
The SP said the foodgrains
stored in the school would
have found its way to the open
market had the police not act-
ed timely.
Following the unearthing of
misappropriation of NFSA
rice worth Rs 40 lakh in the
district, the police is pursuing
the case vigorously with raids
being conducted at some plac-
es leading to the recovery of
stockpiles of foodgrains and
arrests being made “as it was
a clear cut case of theft and
embezzlement”.
Two cases have been reg-
istered with the Algapur Po-
lice Station on Wednesday.
Three persons have been ar-
rested in connection with
these two cases. Further in-
vestigation into these cases is
on.
Three held for theft of essentialcommodities in Hailakandi
Demow Primary Health Centre carrying out a fogging drive, on Thursday. – UB Photos
I have done well evenin the recent domesticgames that I haveplayed. I have noreason to doubtmyself (that I can’tmake anothercomeback).
– Dinesh Karthik
“
12 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATISPORTS
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020
Originating from Japan,
‘su do ku’ is a mind game
and a puzzle that can be
solved with proper
reasoning and logic. Fill
the grid with digits in such
a manner that every row,
every column and every
3 x 3 box accommodates
the digits 1 to 9 without
repeating any.
Solution of last problem
SU DO KU
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[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]. Editor: Prafulla Govinda Baruah
LONDON, April 16: Newcastle
United fans have long dreamed of
ridding the club from owner Mike
Ashley, but a potential 300 million
pound (USD 377 million) takeover
Saudi takeover promises new dawn for Newcastle at a cost
backed by the Saudi sovereign
wealth fund presents fans on Tyne-
side with a different dilemma.
Retail tycoon Ashley has been
deeply unpopular in his 13 years in
charge of Newcastle, during which
time the club have twice been rele-
gated from the Premier League
before bouncing back into English
football’s lucrative top flight.
British financier Amanda Stave-
ley has held a long-running inter-
est in brokering a deal for one of
England’s most passionately sup-
ported clubs with attendances of-
ten above 50,000 despite years of
limited success.
Ashley labelled Staveley a “waste
of time” when a previous bid to take
control collapsed in 2017.
However, documents filed last
week to Companies House provide
a framework for talks between
Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners and
Ashley.
According to reports, 80 per cent
of the deal would be funded by Sau-
di Arabia’s Public Investment Fund
with Staveley providing 10 per cent
and the other 10 per cent coming
from British billionaire brothers
David and Simon Reuben.
The Toon Army have long voiced
their dissent as Ashley has tried to
cash in on the riches of Premier
League television rights deals,
whilst investing little on improving
the team on the pitch.
“There was a famous banner a
couple of years ago that read: ‘We
don’t demand a team that wins, we
demand a club that tries.’ For the
last 13 years we haven’t had a club
that has tried,” a spokesman for the
Newcastle United Supporters
Trust (NUST) told AFP.
“Under this ownership there has
been no ambition, effectively no in-
vestment and no hope for a sport-
ing entity that hasn’t been a sport-
ing entity. It’s been there to sur-
vive and nothing more.” The pros-
pect of deep-pocketed owners, par-
ticularly at a time when most other
clubs will be cutting back due to
the economic crisis caused by coro-
navirus, is an alluring one for the
Magpie faithful.
Indeed, a 40 million pound drop
in Ashley’s asking price since talks
began in January is believed to be
linked to the falling value of football
assets due to a shutdown caused by
the COVID-19 outbreak.
Manchester City’s run of 11 ma-
jor trophies since an Abu Dhabi
takeover in 2008 transformed their
fortunes is an example of the dif-
ference wealthy Middle Eastern
owners can make.
Prior to 2011, City had not won a
major honour since 1976. Newcas-
tle’s barren run stretches back to
1969. – AFP
Under Mike Ashley, Newcastle United has twice been relegated fromthe Premier League.
NEW DELHI, April 16: The BCCI on
Thursday suspended the 2020 Indian Pre-
mier League “till further notice” in the
wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which
has claimed more than 400 lives and af-
fected over 12,000 in the
country.
The PTI reported on
April 14 that the Indian
cricket board (BCCI) had
intimated the eight fran-
chises along with other
stakeholders about the
indefinite postponement
of the tournament’s 13th
edition but there was no official word from
the parent cricketing body.
“Due to the evolving global health con-
cerns regarding COVID-19 and lockdown
measures implemented by the Govern-
ment of India to contain the spread of the
pandemic, the IPL Governing Council of
the BCCI has decided that the IPL 2020
season will be suspended till further no-
tice,” said BCCI secretary Jay Shah in a
statement.
Still have lot to offer in
T20 format: KarthikNEW DELHI, April 16:
Dinesh Karthik understands
the reason for his exclusion
from India’s ODI team af-
ter an underwhelming 2019
World Cup but what he can’t
comprehend is the T20 snub
as that is one format where
he is still confident of making
significant contributions.
Karthik, who has played
26 Tests, 94 ODIs and 32
T20s over a 15-year-ca-
reer, is used to making
comebacks but to make
another one will be tougher
than ever for the 34-year-old.
And he knows that.
“My record in T20s has
been good. A big tournament
like the World Cup did not go
exactly as per the plan. I could
understand the one day bit
(being dropped from ODIs)
but even now I would like to
think that I stand a good chance
in returning to the T20 side.
“I have done well even in
the recent domestic games
that I have played. I have no
reason to doubt myself (that I
can’t make another come-
back),” Karthik told PTI in an
exclusive interview.
Out of the three formats,
he averages best in T20s –
33.25 with a strike rate of
143.52. Does getting dropped
hurts? “It does hurt, no doubt
about that. I have always had
this burning desire to play for
my country and it hasn’t di-
minished one bit.”
It was a rollercoaster ride
for Karthik leading up to the
World Cup as he was dropped
for the home ODI series
against Australia, India’s last
before the showpiece event.
However, the selectors
picked him in the squad over
Rishabh Pant for his “better”
wicket-keeping skills.
Eventually, Pant too be-
came part of the World Cup
side after Shikhar Dhawan
fractured his thumb in the
middle of the tournament.
Karthik failed to make an
impact in two innings he got
in the World Cup including the
semifinal which India lost to
New Zealand. In fact, Indian
team management drew
heavy flak from all quarters
for fielding three specialist
keepers (MS Dhoni, Rishabh
Pant and Karthik) in playing
XI while ignoring specialist
batsman Kedar Jadhav.
He was assigned the role
of a finisher in the T20 side
and his most significant knock
came in the 2018 Nidahas Tro-
phy final where he hit a last-
ball six to win India the title.
Though he has slipped con-
siderably in the pecking or-
der, Karthik remains hopeful
of another comeback. KL Ra-
hul is currently being tried as
a wicketkeeper-batsman in
limited overs cricket at the
expense of Pant. – PTI
IPL 2020 suspendedtill further notice
The IPL was set to start on March 29
and end on May 24 but it was first post-
poned till April 15 after a surge of COVID-
19 positive cases in India. However with
situation not being conducive for any sport-
ing activity and the coun-
try in the midst of a 40-
day lockdown, the BCCI
didn’t issue any fresh
date.
“The health and safety
of the nation and every-
one involved in our great
sport remains our top pri-
ority and as such, the
BCCI along with the Franchise Owners,
Broadcaster, Sponsors and all the Stakehold-
ers acknowledge that the IPL 2020 season
will only commence when it is safe and ap-
propriate to do so,” Shah further stated.
While BCCI is not committal on when
cricket could resume in the country, Shah
maintained that India’s richest sporting
body is monitoring the situation and will
seek guidance from the central government
as well as states. – PTI
MINSK, April 16: The start of the new
women’s soccer season in Belarus has been
delayed by fears that players have been ex-
posed to the new coronavirus, but the men’s
league shows no sign of stopping.
The women’s league was due to start its
2020 season on Thursday, but the Belarus
soccer federation said on Wednesday it is now
“suspended until further notice.”
The federation added that “several” play-
ers had contact with “possible carriers” of
the coronavirus.
Belarus is the only country in Europe still
playing professional men’s soccer games with
spectators in the stands. Belarusian President
Alexander Lukashenko has opposed strict
lockdown measures and even played in an ice
hockey game in front of spectators last month.
“There is no basis to close down the cham-
MELBOURNE, April 16:
Cricket Australia on Thursday
laid off majority of its staff till
June 30 as it battled a financial
crisis triggered by the COV-
ID-19 pandemic but remained
hopeful of the T20 World Cup
in October-November, fol-
lowed by the India tour being
held on schedule.
The Australian financial year
starts on July 1 and ends on
June 30, which means that em-
ployees have been laid off for a
period of two and half months
during which it is impossible
to have any sporting activity
with no chance of normalcy
around the corner.
“We have made the decision
during this period of isolation,
where activity has naturally
Cricket Australia lays off staff till June-endbeen reduced, to stand down
our people on reduced pay
(with the exception of a skele-
ton staff) effective 27 April for
the remainder of the financial
year,” CA said in a statement.
The decision was conveyed
to the staff by Chief Executive
Kevin Roberts.
“The impacts on the sports
industry of the coronavirus
pandemic are bigger than any
one sport,” CA said.
“We are conscious of the
impact this will have on Aus-
tralian Cricket and are work-
ing hard to manage that proac-
tively,” it added.
Cricket Australia had earli-
er delayed the announcement
of central contracts for its play-
ers amid the financial hit
caused by the pandemic. Play-
ers have also spoken about the
possibility of a pay cut given
the situation.
While there is speculation
that the IPL, which has been
postponed for the time being,
might take the T20 World
Cup’s slot, CA said the host
country is ready to conduct the
event even in empty stadiums
if that’s what guidelines de-
mand.
The CA admitted that there
have been major financial re-
percussions of the pandemic.
“Even though CA was able
to complete a bulk of its 2019-
20 season before the corona-
virus crisis hit, the subsequent
downturn has brought the in-
definite postponement of crick-
et and other sports worldwide,
which has in turn severely dis-
rupted commercial partners
and other revenue streams,”
it stated.
“CA remains optimistic the
2020-21 men’s and women’s
home summer scheduled to
begin with the men’s T20
World Cup in October and
November will proceed,
whether in empty stadia if so-
cial distancing restrictions re-
main in place or as relevant
crowd guidelines allow,” it
added. The CA has followed
in the footsteps of the Austral-
ian Football League and the
National Rugby League in lay-
ing of staff till June 30.
“CA has followed the lead
of the Australian Football
League and National Rugby
League in reducing its work-
force to a skeleton staff until
June 30 when more will be
known about restrictions
brought about by the virus, and
the economic picture is poten-
tially clearer,” it stated. – PTI
A post of the flood light system of the All Assam Tennis AssociationComplex at Chachal, Guwahati, fell on the court under the impact ofthe storm that took place on Wednesday. The storm also causedmajor damage to the complex.
The officials of the Guwahati Sports Association (GSA) with thehelp of RG Baruah Unnayan Samity, Gopal Nagar Unnayan Samityand Pub Sunsali Development Committee distributing foodmaterials to the needy people in various places of East Guwahation Thursday. The GSA officials also distributed Bihu jalpans topolice personnel on duty at various places of Guwahati. They alsodonated Rs 50,000 to the Assam Arogya Nidhi and the cheque washanded over to DC Kamrup (M) Biswajit Pegu.
Belarus postpones women’ssoccer but men’s league on
pionship,” Sports and Tourism Minister Ser-
gei Kovalchuk said of the men’s league in an
interview broadcast on Wednesday by the
state Belarus 5 TV channel.
He was speaking before the announcement
that the women’s league was suspended.
Attendance for men’s league games in Be-
larus has plummeted in recent weeks as many
fans chose to stay away. Fan boycotts have
been organised at the majority of the 16 top-
tier clubs.
“Nowadays, the number of fans has shrunk
by more than 70 per cent,” Kovalchuk said.
“No one is forcing anyone to go to the sta-
dium. You can go, or not go.”
The Belarusian league has attracted fans
from other countries in lockdown and signed
new foreign TV deals with broadcasters keen
to show live sports. – AP
Sharathhighest-ranked
Indian againNEW DELHI, April 16:
Veteran table tennis player
Sharath Kamal on Thursday
surpassed compatriot G
Sathiyan to become the
highest-ranked Indian in the
ITTF world rankings,
jumping seven spots to
reach 31.
The jump in the rankings
comes after Sharath’s
triumph at the Oman Open
last month, when he won
his first ITTF title in 10
years.
“Some positive news,
amidst all the negativity
currently (due to the
COVID-19 pandemic).
Feels great actually. Just the
news I needed while I find
myself away from the game
during this lockdown,” an
elated Sharath said.
His younger team-mate
Sathiyan dropped a place to
be 32.
The fast-rising Mudit
Dani also made notable
progress in the rankings as
he broke into the top-200
for the first time in his
career. – PTI
BUDAPEST, April 16: In-
ternational Weightlifting Fed-
eration (IWF) president Tam-
as Ajan resigned in the wake
of allegations of corruption and
doping violations made in a
documentary earlier this year.
“The IWF thanks Tamas
Ajan for more than four dec-
ades of service to weightlift-
ing,” said IWF acting presi-
dent Ursula Papandrea in a
statement on its website.
“We can now begin the
work of determining a fresh
path towards achieving the full
potential of our sport,” said
Papandrea.
NEW DELHI, April 16: Australia’s Pat Cummins is
the most complete fast bowler from the current crop
of cricketers, says legendary Glenn McGrath.
McGrath answered 25 rapid-fire questions from ES-
PNcricinfo on a range of subjects.
Asked about most complete bowler in world cricket
now, McGrath replied: “Pat Cummins. I like the way
he goes by.”
One of the best fast bowlers through the 90s till late
2000s, McGrath believes that bowling to Brian Lara
will be slightly tougher than Tendulkar. He also re-
vealed his secret wishlist, if he could take a Test hat-
trick.
“Tough,” he said when given a choice between Lara
and Tendulkar.
“I would go with Lara just (a bit) from my experi-
ence. The hat-trick wishlist would be Brian Lara, Sachin
Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.”
Asked what delivery, he didn’t possess in his armoury,
he cheekily replied: “The 100 miles per hour deliv-
ery.”
According to him, the bowlers who work a lot hard-
er than the batsmen, “Fast bowlers are better blokes,
work harder and batsmen expect everything.”
Given a choice of Mankading in a World Cup final
where he has to get the last wicket but with only two
runs to defend, the legendary pacer said that he would
never do it.
He also feels that after watching Jim Carrey’s per-
formance in Dumb and Dumber, he would like the Hol-
lywood actor to play his role if a biopic is made. – PTI
Cummins is most complete fastbowler in world: McGrath
Weightliftingchief steps down
The statement by the Bu-
dapest-based federation noted
an independent investigation
is ongoing into the allegations
made by German broadcaster
ARD in a report in January.
The documentary alleged a
“culture of corruption” had
been established in the Olym-
pic sport with prominent
weightlifters rarely subjected
to drugs tests and cash being
taken by doping controllers to
accept manipulated samples.
Hungarian Ajan, 81, who
had been at the IWF since
1976 serving 24 years as
general secretary and the
past 20 as president, claimed
the allegations were un-
founded.
The programme by jour-
nalists ARD including Hajo
Seppelt, who broke the sto-
ry on Russia’s state doping
scandal, claimed half of the
450 world championship or
Olympic medallists between
2008 and 2017 were not
asked to undertake any dop-
ing tests. – AFP
Tamas Ajan
Pat Cummins