12
T he end of the extended lockdown has began to look like a possibility with the Centre on Wednesday disclos- ing that road public transport services may resume soon. The Government is for- mulating guidelines for safe usage of different transport modes adhering to social dis- tancing norms to check the spread of coronavirus. While addressing mem- bers of Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said, “The Government will soon make efforts to start bus services on the basis of certain guidelines. We need to start transport at some level, because people are stranded in several places.” Gadkari said the opening of transport and highways will go a long way in instilling confidence among the public and cautioned towards main- taining social distancing and adopting all safety measures like hand wash, sanitising, face masks, etc, while operating buses and cars. On demand of a bailout for passenger transport industry, Gadkari said the Government is fully aware of their problems and will fully support them to mitigate their issues. He said he is in regular touch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who are working overtime to uplift the economy during these difficult days of Covid-19 pandemic. The Minister also asked investors and the industry to convert the coronavirus- induced crisis into an oppor- tunity by occupying larger global market. “Economy is facing crisis due to coronavirus outbreak... We should treat it as blessing in disguise as no one wants to deal with China. Japan’s Prime Minister is facilitating industry there to do investment out of China... It is a chance to boost Indian economy,” the Minister said. He said Indian industry should grasp this opportunity to invite those foreign compa- nies to invest in them in India. He expressed confidence that the country and its industry will together win both the bat- tles — the one with coron- avirus, and the one with eco- nomic slowdown. Responding to concerns raised by the operators, the Minister said his Ministry is looking at adopting the London model of public transport, where Government funding is minimal and private invest- ment is promoted. He also pointed out towards the poor standards of Indian bus and truck bodies which he said are functional for only 5-7 years, whereas the European models last for up to 15 years. Gadkari emphasised upon adopting good practices from European operators, which will also be economically viable for indigenous industry in the longer run.The Minister said he is aware of the tight financial condition of the Indian market during the ongoing pandemic. But, he said all stakeholders will have to work together to com- bat it. R iyaz Naikoo, one of the top commanders of Hizbul Mujahideen, a pro-Pakistan banned terror outfit in Kashmir Valley, was killed along with one of his close aides in Beighpora area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday. Naikoo was an A++ catego- ry terrorist and carried a reward of 12 lakh on his head. In 2019, Naikoo had also figured on the list of most wanted terror- ists prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Two other local terrorists were killed in a separate encounter with the joint teams of security forces in Sharshali Khrew area of Awantipora, taking the tally of killed terror- ists since January 2020 to 67. As stone-pelters as usual tried to scuttle the encounter, a few of them were injured in police action, but there was no official confirmation about the nature of injuries. Confirming the identi- ty of the terrorists killed in Beighpora area, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar told reporters, “The slain terrorist was identified as Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief operational commander Riyaz Naikoo”. Police spokesman in Srinagar said, in Sharshali encounter, 2 ter- rorists of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) were killed.“In the second opera- tion in Beighpora village of Awantipora, a top terrorist com- mander was trapped along with his accomplice. The operation was launched last evening and contact was established with hiding ter- rorists in the morning on Wednesday. In this encounter, two terrorists were killed. One of the terrorists has been identified as Riyaz Naikoo. He was the chief operational commander of the HM outfit in Kashmir,” the spokesman said. Following his elimination in the six-hour long operation, widespread incidents of stone- pelting were reported from Beighpora, Gulzarpora, Ghat Tokna and Malangpora prompt- ing the authorities to suspend mobile internet and voice calling facilities of private networks across the Kashmir valley. I ndia’s Covid-19 count crossed half-lakh mark on Wednesday as the country reg- istered 3,050 fresh cases of viral infection, taking the tally to 52,460. The death toll from the virus also surged to 1,781 with Maharashtra again topping the list of the worst-affected States. However, the total recovery numer is 14,911, and active cases 35,762. Maharashtra’s tally spiked to 16,758 after detection of 1,233 new cases — highest in a day so far while 34 deaths on Wednesday took toll to 651. Tamil Nadu reported 771 positive cases taking the tally to 4,829 while Gujarat reported 6,680 after the day’s addition of 380 cases even as 25 more patients died. The total death count in Gujarat stands at 298. Delhi has 5,110 cases, includ- ing 65 fatalities. Uttar Pradesh added 118 more cases to be just two short of 3,000 with a death count of 60. Madhya Pradesh report- ed 89 cases for a tally 3,138. The Ministry of Home Affairs secretary Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday wrote to West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiv Sinha saying the coronavirus testing in the State was very low and the mortality rate was higher than any other State. S erious concern about data security breach of Aarogya Setu App was raised after a French hacker Robert Baptiste, who goes by Elliot Alderson on Twitter claimed a potential securi- ty issue in the app, prompting the Government to issue clarification that there was no security vulnerability in the contact tracing app. Responding to clarification, Alderson tweeted, “I will come back to you tomorrow. The challenge by the hacker has put the Government machinery in a fix and given ammu- nitions to the Opposition parties amid Covid lockdown. The app with about 9.08 crore users as of now has been the most down- loaded app on Play Store. It did not take long for the tweet to catch the eye of Aarogya Setu App team which con- tacted Alderson shortly and tried to fix the loopholes. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Software Freedom Law Centre, India (SFLC.in) and the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), have raised question on Aarogya Setu App. After Alderson’s tweet, several peo- ple have expressed privacy and securi- ty concerns over the app, which has been made mandatory for all public and private sector employees, as well as those in coronavirus containment areas. His tweets created a flutter on Twitter, with several people asking him ques- tions about the alleged security issue. One Twitter user asked if Alderson believed the issue was intentional and done by design, to which he replied in the affirmative. Soon after the Modi Government rejected the claim, Alderson tweeted that five people felt unwell at the PMO; two unwell at the Army head- quarters; one infected people at the Indian Parliament and three infected at the home office. A bout 10,000 migrant work- ers from Dhanbad in Jharkhand were caught in a hapless situation in Karnataka when the State Government cancelled three trains that were to carry them back to their native places on Wednesday. The Karnataka Government decided to stop them from going back after a meeting between Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and property builders a day before. The logic of “reviving economy” in the State seemed to have prevailed over the BJP Government in cancelling the special trains, which was strongly criticised by the Opposition Congress. The State Government was holding workers as “captive” and treat- ing them like “bonded labour- ers”, alleged the Congress. The All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AIC- CTU) termed the move a vio- lation of the fundamental right of the freedom of movement and one that promoted forced labour. AICCTU has moved the Karnataka High Court seeking relief to migrant workers who are left stranded after the Karnataka Government’s sud- den move. The plea states the stand of the State Government is in vio- lation of the fundamental rights of the workers protected under Articles 19 (1)(d) and Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Ahmedabad: To control the spread of coronavirus in the worst-hit Ahmedabad city, civic authorities on Wednesday ordered the closure of all the shops except those selling milk and medicines for a week, trig- gering panic buying of grocery items and vegetables.

2020/05/07  · Kumar told reporters, “The slain terrorist was identified as Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief operational commander Riyaz Naikoo”. Police spokesman in Srinagar said,

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Page 1: 2020/05/07  · Kumar told reporters, “The slain terrorist was identified as Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief operational commander Riyaz Naikoo”. Police spokesman in Srinagar said,

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�������

� �� -.%��.,/�

The end of the extendedlockdown has began to

look like a possibility with theCentre on Wednesday disclos-ing that road public transportservices may resume soon.

The Government is for-mulating guidelines for safeusage of different transportmodes adhering to social dis-tancing norms to check thespread of coronavirus.

While addressing mem-bers of Bus and Car OperatorsConfederation of India, UnionTransport Minister NitinGadkari said, “TheGovernment will soon makeefforts to start bus services onthe basis of certain guidelines.We need to start transport atsome level, because people arestranded in several places.”

Gadkari said the openingof transport and highways will

go a long way in instillingconfidence among the publicand cautioned towards main-taining social distancing andadopting all safety measureslike hand wash, sanitising, facemasks, etc, while operatingbuses and cars.

On demand of a bailout forpassenger transport industry,Gadkari said the Governmentis fully aware of their problemsand will fully support them tomitigate their issues.

He said he is in regulartouch with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman,who are working overtime touplift the economy duringthese difficult days of Covid-19pandemic.

The Minister also askedinvestors and the industry toconvert the coronavirus-induced crisis into an oppor-tunity by occupying largerglobal market.

“Economy is facing crisisdue to coronavirus outbreak...

We should treat it as blessing indisguise as no one wants to dealwith China. Japan’s PrimeMinister is facilitating industrythere to do investment out ofChina... It is a chance to boostIndian economy,” the Ministersaid.

He said Indian industryshould grasp this opportunityto invite those foreign compa-nies to invest in them in India.He expressed confidence thatthe country and its industrywill together win both the bat-

tles — the one with coron-avirus, and the one with eco-nomic slowdown.

Responding to concernsraised by the operators, theMinister said his Ministry islooking at adopting the Londonmodel of public transport,where Government funding isminimal and private invest-ment is promoted.

He also pointed outtowards the poor standards ofIndian bus and truck bodieswhich he said are functional for

only 5-7 years, whereas theEuropean models last for up to15 years.

Gadkari emphasised uponadopting good practices fromEuropean operators, which willalso be economically viablefor indigenous industry in thelonger run.The Minister said heis aware of the tight financialcondition of the Indian marketduring the ongoing pandemic.But, he said all stakeholders willhave to work together to com-bat it.

�����#�������� 01""2

Riyaz Naikoo, one of the topcommanders of Hizbul

Mujahideen, a pro-Pakistanbanned terror outfit in KashmirValley, was killed along with oneof his close aides in Beighporaarea of South Kashmir’s Pulwamadistrict on Wednesday.

Naikoo was an A++ catego-ry terrorist andcarried areward of �12lakh on hishead. In 2019,Naikoo hadalso figured onthe list of mostwanted terror-ists prepared bythe Ministry ofHome Affairs.

Two otherlocal terroristswere killed in as e p a r a t eencounter withthe joint teamsof securityforces inS h a r s h a l iKhrew area ofAwantipora,taking the tallyof killed terror-

ists since January 2020 to 67.As stone-pelters as usual

tried to scuttle the encounter, afew of them were injured in policeaction, but there was no officialconfirmation about the nature ofinjuries. Confirming the identi-ty of the terrorists killed inBeighpora area, Inspector Generalof Police, Kashmir range, VijayKumar told reporters, “The slainterrorist was identified as HizbulMujahideen’s chief operationalcommander Riyaz Naikoo”.

Police spokesman in Srinagarsaid, in Sharshali encounter, 2 ter-rorists of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT)were killed.“In the second opera-tion in Beighpora village ofAwantipora, a top terrorist com-mander was trapped along with his

accomplice. The operation waslaunched last evening and contactwas established with hiding ter-rorists in the morning onWednesday. In this encounter,two terrorists were killed. One ofthe terrorists has been identifiedas Riyaz Naikoo. He was the chiefoperational commander of theHM outfit in Kashmir,” thespokesman said.

Following his elimination inthe six-hour long operation,widespread incidents of stone-pelting were reported fromBeighpora, Gulzarpora, GhatTokna and Malangpora prompt-ing the authorities to suspendmobile internet and voice callingfacilities of private networksacross the Kashmir valley.

� �� -.%��.,/�

India’s Covid-19 countcrossed half-lakh mark on

Wednesday as the country reg-istered 3,050 fresh cases of viralinfection, taking the tally to52,460. The death toll from thevirus also surged to 1,781 withMaharashtra again topping thelist of the worst-affected States.

However, the total recoverynumer is 14,911, and activecases 35,762.

Maharashtra’s tally spikedto 16,758 after detection of1,233 new cases — highest ina day so far while 34 deaths onWednesday took toll to 651.

Tamil Nadu reported 771positive cases taking the tally to4,829 while Gujarat reported6,680 after the day’s addition of380 cases even as 25 morepatients died. The total deathcount in Gujarat stands at 298.Delhi has 5,110 cases, includ-ing 65 fatalities.

Uttar Pradesh added 118

more cases to be just two shortof 3,000 with a death count of60. Madhya Pradesh report-ed 89 cases for a tally 3,138.

The Ministry of HomeAffairs secretary Ajay Bhallaon Wednesday wrote to WestBengal Chief Secretary RajivSinha saying the coronavirustesting in the State was verylow and the mortality ratewas higher than any otherState.

��$� ��#������ -.%��.,/�

Serious concern about data securitybreach of Aarogya Setu App was

raised after a French hacker RobertBaptiste, who goes by Elliot Aldersonon Twitter claimed a potential securi-ty issue in the app, prompting theGovernment to issue clarification thatthere was no security vulnerability inthe contact tracing app.

Responding to clarification,Alderson tweeted, “I will come back toyou tomorrow. The challenge by thehacker has put the Governmentmachinery in a fix and given ammu-nitions to the Opposition parties amidCovid lockdown.

The app with about 9.08 crore usersas of now has been the most down-loaded app on Play Store. It did not takelong for the tweet to catch the eye ofAarogya Setu App team which con-tacted Alderson shortly and tried to fixthe loopholes.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi,the Software Freedom Law Centre,India (SFLC.in) and the Internet

Freedom Foundation (IFF), have raisedquestion on Aarogya Setu App.

After Alderson’s tweet, several peo-ple have expressed privacy and securi-ty concerns over the app, which hasbeen made mandatory for all public andprivate sector employees, as well asthose in coronavirus containment areas.His tweets created a flutter on Twitter,with several people asking him ques-tions about the alleged security issue.One Twitter user asked if Aldersonbelieved the issue was intentional anddone by design, to which he replied inthe affirmative.

Soon after the Modi Governmentrejected the claim, Alderson tweetedthat five people felt unwell at thePMO; two unwell at the Army head-quarters; one infected people at theIndian Parliament and three infected atthe home office.

� �� -.%��.,/�

About 10,000 migrant work-ers from Dhanbad in

Jharkhand were caught in ahapless situation in Karnatakawhen the State Governmentcancelled three trains that wereto carry them back to theirnative places on Wednesday.The Karnataka Governmentdecided to stop them fromgoing back after a meetingbetween Chief Minister BSYediyurappa and propertybuilders a day before.

The logic of “revivingeconomy” in the State seemedto have prevailed over the BJPGovernment in cancelling thespecial trains, which wasstrongly criticised by theOpposition Congress. The State

Government was holdingworkers as “captive” and treat-ing them like “bonded labour-ers”, alleged the Congress.

The All India CentralCouncil of Trade Unions (AIC-CTU) termed the move a vio-lation of the fundamental rightof the freedom of movementand one that promoted forcedlabour.

AICCTU has moved theKarnataka High Court seekingrelief to migrant workers whoare left stranded after theKarnataka Government’s sud-den move.

The plea states the stand ofthe State Government is in vio-lation of the fundamental rightsof the workers protected underArticles 19 (1)(d) and Article14 of the Constitution of India.

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Ahmedabad: To control thespread of coronavirus in theworst-hit Ahmedabad city, civicauthorities on Wednesdayordered the closure of all theshops except those selling milkand medicines for a week, trig-gering panic buying of groceryitems and vegetables.

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Page 2: 2020/05/07  · Kumar told reporters, “The slain terrorist was identified as Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief operational commander Riyaz Naikoo”. Police spokesman in Srinagar said,

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About 900 migrant labour-ers are expected to return

from Hyderabad on Thursdaymorning. A train carrying theworkers is scheduled to reachTatanagar railway stationtomorrow between 4 am to 7am. Soon after their arrival, thepassengers will undergo med-ical check-up at the stationpremises from where they willbe sent to their respected dis-tricts.

In order to review thepreparations, deputy commis-sioner Ravi Shanker Shuklaalong with other officialsinspected Tatanagar railwaystation. He informed that a spe-cial train carrying 900 labour-ers will reach the station. Thehealth department officials will

conduct the medical check-upbesides taking swab samples ofall the workers.

Shukla along SSP M TamilVanan inspected preparationfor screening at Tatanagar rail-way station.“We have put upseveral banners and posters atthe railway station to educatepassengers.

Moreover, suspected pas-sengers are will be screened atthe station after they arrive,”saidSukhla.

The officials informed thatthe after the tests those pas-sengers found carrying symp-toms will be subjected to quar-antine. Those having com-plaints of sneezing and feverwill be asked to remain inhome quarantine for the next14 days.

“We will take swab samplesof the suspects for getting themexamined in the MGM MedicalCollege.

We will also keep a vigil onthose returned so that they donot develop some symptoms,"said the official.

He said the district admin-istration has set up quarantine

centres as they expect hundredsof migrant labours to return tothe district within the next fewdays and many of them may bein need of getting accommo-dated in the quarantine centres,they are keeping the centresunoccupied.

“We do not have commu-nity spread now, and when ithappens, it will be a huge chal-lenge. We are ready to manageany situation. We have isolation

wards in medical college hos-pitals and quarantine facilities,”an official said.

Officials of Tatanagar rail-way station informed that thesituation is being constantlymonitored and coordinated atall levels.

The official said that deskshave been set up all over therailway system and the staff hasbeen sensitized and educatedabout the subject. The collab-

oration and coordination withthe concerned health authori-ties are also being ensured.

Meanwhile, deputy com-missioner along withJharkhand Police officials andothers, also inspectedJharkhand – West Bengal bor-der for the facilities are beingprovided to the migrants andcorona relief centers duringCOVID-19 lockdown atBaharagora area.

� �� +/2+1-.5%1!4�(2!�

While uncertainty loomslarge over holding of the

annual Rath Yatra of LordJagannath this year scheduledon June 23 due to the lockdownfor the Covid-19 pandemic, theState Government onWednesday sought permissionfrom the Centre for construc-tion of chariots.

The decision came after thetemple administration wrote tothe State Law Departmentseeking its permission to startchariot construction work withstrict adherence of lockdownand social distancing norms.

However, the StateGovernment was so far silenton construction work of char-iots despite appeal of the ShreeJagannath Temple ManagingCommittee and GajapatiMaharaja Dibyasingha Deb.

The committee had alsoexpressed concern over thematter as the Rath makingwork had already been delayedby eight days. They apprehendthat the work may not be com-pleted in time.

Chariot head carpenterBijay Maharana said that sincethe Government is yet torespond to the Rath construc-

tion issue, it seems it is impos-sible to complete the job by therequisite day of May 15.

Senior Daitapati servitorBinayak Das Mohapatra took aswipe at the State Governmentfor its move seeking theCentre’s permission forRathYatra when the State itselfis the sole stakeholder of thisholy event.

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)�������������������*������������������+���� �"���������������� ��������������������������������������������������� � ����������������� ���������������������� ������,-&)� !���� ������.��������������+���� ���

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With sudden surge in theCOVID-19 positive cases

in Chandigarh, the recoveryrate has declined to 16.9 per-cent in the city, lower than thenational average of around 29percent.

Nine fresh cases werereported on Wednesday takingthe total number to 124 in thecity. Chandigarh, a joint capi-tal of Punjab and Haryana, isdeclared as Coronavirus red-zone by the CentralGovernment.

“Out of nine fresh cases,eight were reported from BapuDham colony and one fromSector 56 here.

The total number of posi-tive cases stood at 124 in thecity,” as per the ChandigarhHealth Department’s eveningbulletin.

“The city has 102 activecases while 21 have recoveredfrom the infection so far. OneCoronavirus death has beenreported. 1785 samples have

been tested till evening,” thebulletin stated.

The densely populatedBapu Dham colony (BDC) inSector 26 here continues toremain the epicenter of out-break of highly contagious dis-ease.

As per the mapping ofpositive cases, 66 cases haveso far been reported fromBDC followed by 20 fromSector 30. Five cases eachhave been reported in Sector21 and Sector 33, three eachin Sector 32, 37, 38 and 52and two each in Sector 19,Sector 49, Dhanas amongothers.

The entire BDC in Sector26 has been sealed to containthe spread of infection. Around60,000 population in BDC isunder containment zone.

After the first positive caseof Coronavirus from the BDCwas reported on the night ofApril 24, this containment zonehas seen an explosion of infect-ed patients with numberalready crossing 60 and the

reports of more infected peo-ple continues to pour in everyday.

The ChandigarhAdministration has so fardeclared six containment zonesincluding entire BDC, part ofSector 30-B, Kacchi Colony,Dhanas, part of Shastri Nagar,Part of Sector 38 and Part ofSector 52 in the city.

While relaxations havebeen allowed during lock-down in the non-containmentzones in Chandigarh from 7am to 7 pm post May 4, thecontainment zones remainsealed and only governmentstaff related to essential ser-vices are allowed to enterthese areas.

As a precautionary mea-sure, 4469 residents have beenput under home quarantine tillnow, out of which 2168 havecompleted the quarantine peri-od.

Notably, the firstCoronavirus positive case inChandigarh was reported onMarch 19.

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One more person tested positive forCOVID-19 in Kangra district of

Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, takingthe total number of cases to 44 in the state.

The patient is a resident of Jamanabadin Kangra district, Superintendent ofPolice Vimukt Ranjan said. Meanwhile,Kangra Deputy Commissioner RakeshPrajapati said the man was quarantined atPanchayati Raj Training Institute (PRTI)in Baijnath after he had been tested pos-itive at Tanda's Dr Rajendra PrasadGovernment Medical College (RPGMC).

He returned from Dubai last monthand subsequently came to his house in ataxi with three other persons on April 27.The taxi driver has also been identified.The DC said the quarantined man's 24contacts were identified. They have beenquarantined and their samples have also

been taken for testing, Prajapati added.Meanwhile, one more person who had

been staying at Gagret in Una district test-ed positive in Jammu and Kashmir. A res-ident of Jammu, the man had returned toJammu and Kashmir a few days ago andwas tested positive at Lakhanpur, UnaDeputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumarsaid.

The DC said the district administra-tion received information from Lakhanpurthat the man had been tested positive forcoronavirus. His contacts in Una districthave been quarantined, he added.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health) RD Dhiman said, "Of the 600 samples sentfor testing on Wednesday, 212 tested neg-ative whereas the one from Kangra testedpositive for the infection while reports ofthe rest are awaited." Of the total 44patients in the state, 34 have recovered andthree died.

Four people were shifted to other statesfor treatment. Himachal Pradesh now hasthree active cases, one each in Sirmaur,Kangra and Mandi districts. Una has thehighest number of recovered patients at 16,followed by Chamba with six, Solan withfive, Kangra with four, Hamirpur with twoand Sirmaur with one, the officials said.

RS 50 LAKH EX-GRATIA TO BUSSTAFF DRIVERS ENGAGED INBRINGING BACK STRANDED PEO-PLE

Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur onWednesday appreciated the work of driversand conductors of HRTC in bringing backa large number of students of HimachalPradesh stuck in Kota of Rajasthan, Delhi,Chandigarh Tri-city area and other partsof the country due to lockdown imposedin the wake of coronavirus.

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After witnessing four-timerise in number of con-

firmed cases within a week byregistering more than 100 casesevery day, Punjab onWednesday registered a dip innew cases. Punjab, which wit-nessed highest spike on May 3with 331 fresh cases, onWednesday recorded 75 newcases, besides two deaths.

With this the total positivecases in Punjab has reached1,526, of which 1364 are active,while the state’s death toll hasreached 27. The state’s tallystood at 375 on April 29, afterwhich Punjab did not registercases less than 100 any day.

Of the 75 positive cases, 28cases were reported fromMoga, 16 from Tarn Taran, 13from Amritsar, three fromFatehgarh Sahib, two each fromPatiala, Mansa, and Sangrur,one each from Barnala,Muktsar, Gurdaspur, SBSNagar, Fazilka, Ferozepur,

Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, andJalandhar.

Majority of cases testedpositive were of the peoplereturning to Punjab from otherstates —including pilgrimsfrom Gurdwara Hazur Sahib atNanded in Maharashtra,migrants anmd students fromRajasthan, among others. Outof 75, 36 were pilgrims, six weremigrants, and 19 were contactsof previously diagnosed cases.

The state’s four districts —Amritsar with 230, Jalandharwith 135, Ludhiana with 124,and Tarn Taran with 103 — hascrossed 100-mark of positivecases. In Jalandhar, a 59-year-old man who was employed atGuru Nanak Mission Hospitalhas been tested positive.

Amritsar reported 13 newcases, 12 of who were pil-grims, Tarn Taran reported 16new cases, seven of whomwere contacts of already diag-nosed cases, Ferozepur andFazilka reported one new caseeach, both Nanded pilgrims.

Mohali case tally nowstands at 96, although this hasyet to be added to the officialtally. Confirming, MohaliDeputy Commissioner GirishDayalan said: “District todaysaw a positive case coming tolight. The person is aged 57years and is a resident ofZirakpur and has been admit-ted at the Gian Sagar Hospital.”

As of now, the total positivecases in the district are 96 , whilethe number of recovered casesis 43 and that of active cases is51, said Dayalan adding that thenew case was repoted from thedistrict after about 48 hours.

Mohali Civil Surgeon DrManjit Singh said that the manhad undergone operation at aprivate hospital in Sector 26Panchkula recently. “Duringthe treatment, the hospitalauthorities had sent the sam-ples of the man for testing thereports of which were positive,and the management of the pri-vate hospital has informed usin this regard,” he added.

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The police department hasswung into action after a

fake post regarding the demiseof the Chief Minister wasshared on the social media.

The director general (Lawand Order) Ashok Kumar saidthat this fake post had crossedall limits.

“The Dehradun districtpolice has been directed tolodge an FIR and take strictaction against the culprits.More than one person isinvolved in this rumour mon-gering which has stooped to avery low level. We have alreadybeen warning all to neitherspread nor believe in fake

news,” said the DG.Meanwhile, the BJP

Mahanagar head Sita RamBhatt filed a written complaintat the Cantt police station stat-ing that a number of personshad spread fake news about thechief minister’s demise onFacebook.

The complainant statedthat the accused had spread thefake news as part of a conspir-acy to make the general publicfeel insecure and exert a nega-tive effect on the efforts beingundertaken by the governmentto tackle the current situation.A case has been lodged underrelevant sections and necessaryaction is being taken by thepolice.

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The Central Academy forState Forest

Service(CASFoS) organised itsconvocation through onlineplatform for the 2018-20 batchof State Forest Service OfficerTrainees on Wednesday. Thebatch consisted of 36 officertrainees including 10 lady offi-cer trainees sponsored by theState Governments of Odisha,Karnataka, Chhattisgarh andMadhya Pradesh.

Speaking as the chief guest,the director general of forests,Sanjay Kumar stressed on thecrucial role of the passing outofficers as future custodians ofour country’s rich forest wealth.He said that they are enteringthe service at a time when thesector is facing multiple chal-

lenges and requires great skilland devotion to rise to theexpectations of their nation’scitizens.

He stressed on the need ofnature education and conser-vation among the masses and

exhorted the young passing outofficers to serve the nation andhumanity to the best of theirabilities. CASFoS principalKunal Satyarthi and a numberof senior officials also partici-pated in the convocation.

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Kumbh Mela officer DeepakRawat is trying to give

momentum to the KumbhMela works which stalled dueto the lockdown imposed tocontain the spread of COVID-19. After the commencementof the Mela works in Haridwar,Rawat inspected the worksalong with other officials anddirected them to maintainquality of work and motivatethe workers.

The Kumbh Mela officerrecently inspected the highwayconstruction works along withthe underground cable project.He also inspected all the ongo-ing works from Haridwar toManglaur, checked the con-struction of the bridge beingcarried out by the irrigationdepartment near Ranipur Jhaland also inspected the con-struction work in Roorkee.

On Wednesday, Rawatinspected the Haridwar hillbypass.

This route is of consider-able importance especially forthe Kumbh Mela. He said thatwith the help of Indian Institute

Of Technology (IIT) Roorkee,a detailed study of landslideshas been after which the PWDprepared a project worth Rs 34crore. The administration isworking on some objectionsraised by the wildlife board. If

these are not resolved, theadministration will work on analternative plan. AdditionalMela officers Lalit NarayanMishra and Harbir Singh andother officials were also presentduring the inspections.

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No new novel Coronavirus(COVID-19) patient was

detected the State healthdepartment in Uttarakhand onWednesday. The State has so farreported 61 patients of thedisease out of whom 39 haverecovered from the disease.

The additional secretary,State health department, YugalKishore Pant said that reportsof 342 suspected patients werereceived by the departmenton Wednesday till 2 pm and allthem were found negative forthe disease. He said that reportsof 286 samples are still await-ed by the department. Theauthorities have so far takenswab samples of 8346 (sus-pected and repeat) for COVID-19 test. On Wednesday, sam-ples of 143 suspected patients

were taken and sent to the labfor test.

The health departmentclaims that 65 per cent of thepatients in the State have so farrecovered from the disease.Out of the total samples sent fortesting, only 0.78 per cent hasbeen found positive for

COVID-19.The State now has 21

active patients of the disease, 13of whom are in Dehradun dis-trict and four in Udham SinghNagar district. Two active casesof the disease each are inHaridwar and Nainital dis-tricts.

Meanwhile one cancerpatient, a resident of Dehradunwho was tested recently atApollo hospital Delhi and wasfound positive for the diseaseon his return to Dehradun hasbeen found negative for the dis-ease twice. This patient isadmitted in All India Instituteof Medical Sciences (AIIMS)Rishikesh.

On the day theGaindikhata, Jwalapur,Manakmajra and Badarpurlocalities of Haridwar weretaken out from the list of con-tainment zone for COVID-19.The district now has only twocontainment zones. Theauthorities have declared sevenlocalities as containment zonein Dehradun district while onelocality each in Nainital andUdham Singh Nagar is con-tainment zone now.

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The extended lockdown hasforced many couples to

spend more time together andwith other family membersfor more than a month now.While some of them like thischance to spend some qualitytime together, others statedthat staying at home with theirspouses all the time for morethan a month is making themanxious.

According to a Rudrapurhomemaker Swati Saini, "Wehave actually never spent somuch time together since ourwedding. These days my hus-band helps me in householdchores which he used to avoidearlier unless at times when Iwas sick. We have also divid-ed school subjects to teach ourdaughter as due to the lock-down her classes are beingtaken online. So far, I amdoing fine in the lockdownwith my husband and kid."However, husband of Swati,Abhay Saini added, "I, ofcourse, like spending time withmy family but I actually do not

enjoy it every day. I am accus-tomed to work in the officeeveryday and sometimes stay-ing at home for this long real-ly makes me anxious."

However, some housewivesdescribe living with their hus-bands without a break duringthe lockdown as stressful. "It isactually quite stressful to livewith your husband for over amonth without any break whenyou are a housewife. WhateverI do, my husband finds a faultin it every time. As a housewife,I have a way of doing things ina certain way and I do not like

interruptions every single time.Just because husbands are get-ting bored at home during thelockdown does not give themthe right to poke their nose ineverything. Since the imple-mentation of lockdown, wehave arguments almost everyday," said Dehradun residentDeepa Bhatnagar.

However, some spouses doadmire the time they get tospend with their better halves.According to a Haldwani res-ident Kundan Jeena, he and hiswife have full time jobs whichnever give them chance to

spend much time together.“My wife is a professor in a col-lege in Haldwani and I work inDehradun. We have hardlyspent one week together in lasttwo years. So we are reallyenjoying spending time togeth-er,” he said. “He cooks anddoes cleaning every day. Weplay video games and alsoworkout together. Yes we getinto arguments with each othersometimes as both of us are inthe habit of living alone, but wedefinitely enjoy each other'scompany," said Jeena's wifeArchana Negi.

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The UttarakhandGovernment will bear the

expense to be incurred onbringing stranded natives backto the State by train. The StateGovernment is committed tobringing back people of thestate stranded in other Stateswanting to return. Chief sec-retary Utpal Kumar Singh saidthis while addressing the mediahere on Wednesday.

Singh said that about 1.64lakh people had registered forreturning to Uttarakhand. Sofar about 7,300 such personshave been brought back fromother States while 8,146 per-sons have been transportedfrom one district to anotherwithin the State. “All thosewho wish to return toUttarakhand will be broughtback. Some patience and selfcontrol should be exercised.Various precautions have to beobserved which is why all can-not be brought back together.Health check, arranging forvehicles, accommodation and

other aspects have to beaddressed. The Government isworking day and night forthis,” he said. Singh informedthat 1,500 persons had beenpermitted to return in privatevehicles from Haryana wherebuses will also be sent.Arrangements are being madeto bring back 400 persons eachfrom Udaipur and Jammu.Gujarat and Maharashtra havebeen informed thatUttarakhandis are to bebrought back in train fromSurat, Ahmedabad and Pune.The State Government hastalked to the Railway ministry

and the States concerned arealso to talk to the Ministry.About 1,000 persons are to bebrought back from two cities ofKerala. UttarakhandGovernment will bear theexpense of bringing back thestate’s people by train. TheCentral Government is arrang-ing to bring back Indians fromforeign nations. The Ministryof External Affairs will informthe state if any of these personsis from Uttarakhand. The Statehas prepared standard operat-ing procedure for this, addedSingh.

Regarding the doublingrate for COVID-19 inUttarakhand, the chief secre-tary said that no positive hadcome up in the past two days.The condition of all the 21active COVID-19 patients isnormal. The doubling rate inUttarakhand is consistentlyimproving and is 47 days atpresent. Of the total COVID-19 patients, 85 per cent are menand 15 per cent women withmost of them being young. Dueto this the possibility of recov-

ery here is high.Singh further informed

that recently the state govern-ment had appointed 401 doc-tors. The requirement for 467posts is also being sent to theselection commission. Thecommission will be requestedto expedite the selectionprocess. In addition to this, thecabinet had revived 180 poststo which recruitments will bemade in the near future.

Stating that the public hadcooperated so far in the lock-down, Singh said that in thethird phase too the citizenshave to act responsibly.Sanitisation, wearing mask andsocial distancing must beobserved by all. The relax-ation provided now will con-tinue and if discipline is main-tained, the scope for providingmore relaxation can be con-sidered.

About ��� 60 crore hasbeen contributed in the CMrelief fund and state disasterrelief fund so far by variousinstitutions and citizens. Thisfund is being used in the fight

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The director of Doon Groupof Colleges, Sanjay

Chaudhary, opines that theacademic institutions wouldhave to make necessarychanges in the time table andadopt practices which makesoptimum use of the availablefacilities to follow the normsof social distancing after theuniversities and collegesreopen after a prolonged lock-down presently enforced toreduce the contagion of thenovel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

In an interaction with ThePioneer Chaudhary said thatthe social distancing in the aca-demic institutions cannot beimplemented with the presentsystem. “We at the Doon group

of colleges have more than5000 students.

It would be difficult for usto observe social distancing ifwe continue to stick to presentsystem. To reduce the numberof students in classrooms andother places we would have tostagger the timings and makenecessary changes in timetable,’’ he said.

On the question of theeffect of the lockdown on thestudents and academics, thedirector said that the institutehas started online classes fromfirst week of April. “We havespecial software for the stu-dents and teachers for theonline classes. I feel that theonline classes are more of a oneway communication but underthe present circumstances theyare the best possible method to

ensure that the academic activ-ities are not ceased. Now withsome relaxations from the lock-down we have opened theadministrative section and havealso asked the teachers to startvisiting their departments.Though the regular teachings

would remain suspended andthe norm of only 33 percentattendance of staff to remainimplemented, the teacherswould remain present in theirdepartments from 9.30 am to3.00 pm. It would help them totake online classes in betterway. Further we have circulat-ed the phone numbers of theHead of Departments andother experts so that the stu-dents can consult them when-ever needed. We are also tak-ing regular feedback from thestudents and monitoring theonline classes closely,’’ hequipped.

Chaudhary admitted thatthe crisis precipitated by theCOVID-19 would have a neg-ative effect on the new admis-sions this year. He said that thenumber of students getting

admission in the institute coulddecrease as the paying capaci-ty of people has decreased. Thedirector also opined that theplacement of the students also

could get affected with lesscompanies coming to the cam-pus this year.

He said that the fee collec-tion has witnessed a decline

due to which there is somechallenge on the financial frontbut the institute is managingthings from its resources. “Wehave decided that no one wouldbe removed from service andno deduction in salary of thestaff would be done. If someinstitutions are doing that thenit is unethical.

They should understandthat the fees collection can getdelayed but the fee would ulti-mately get deposited. I thinkpatience is the key and believethat things would become nor-mal with time,’’ he said.

Chaudhary said that theDoon Group of Colleges is dis-tributing food packets in manylocalities for the poor and theinstitute is planning to makesuitable donation in the chiefminister’s fund for the purpose.

About the institution

The Doon group of col-leges has four constituent col-leges- Doon (PG) paramedicalcollege and hospital, Doon(PG) College of science andtechnology, Doon (PG) collegeof Agriculture and allied sci-ences and Doon Valley collegeof education.

In last 20 years the insti-tute has made a name for itselfin the academic domain of theState.

The constituent collegesoffer many graduate and postgraduate courses in variousdiscipline of pure science, phys-iotherapy, lab technology, agri-culture, horticulture, fisheries,food technology, businessadministration andeducation.

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As done by some otherstates, the Uttarakhand

Government is also planning toimpose COVID-19 cess onsale of liquor in the State. It islearnt that the Governmentwould charge �20-30 on everybottle of liquor to add to itskitty for anti COVID-19 mea-sures. A formal decision in thisregard is expected to be takenin the meeting of the state cab-inet scheduled on Thursday.The excise commissioner,Sushil Kumar told The Pioneerthat the department has pre-pared a proposal in this regard.He however refused to divulgedetails of the proposal sent bythe department to the

Government. Kumar informedthat 421 liquor shops out oftotal 504 in the state are opennow. He added that the officersof the department have beenasked to ensure that the sale ofthe liquor takes place on thenew rates.

“We have asked them to pastea sticker of new price on every

bottle and also display new ratelist prominently at every shop,’’he said.

The excise commissioner

said that the department isplanning to ensure that 153shops which were not auc-tioned earlier start functioningas well. On surging crowds ofliquor aficionados outside theliquor shops, theCommissioner said that thesocial distancing norms shouldbe adhered to in the shops. Hesaid that the liquor shopswould remain open so peopleshould not engage in panicbuying.

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ADehradun based doctorhas claimed that combi-

nation of three different drugscan be used effectively in thetreatment of patients of novelCoronavirus .

Dr Amit Varma who isHead of Department (HoD) ofmedicine at SGRR institute ofmedical and health sciencesclaimed that these three drugsfrom two different classesmight prevent the entry of thevirus inside the human cells

and thus, would prevent infec-tion or reduce the severity ofthe infection.

He said that out of thesethree drugs, two are beingused for treatment of diseaselike pancreatitis and rheuma-toid arthritis while the thirdhave never been used for anyother indication.

Dr Varma however addedthat the proposed treatmentawaits approval by authoritiesconcerned. He said that he hasapplied for patent of the com-bination.

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The Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) chief

Pritam Singh has said that theState Government should takeimmediate action against thoseresponsible for the incident inwhich a MLA from UttarPradesh (UP) was able to entergreen zone areas of the stateduring lockdown. Interactingwith the media persons at thestate headquarters of theCongress party here onWednesday, Singh that it is sur-prising that a pass was issuedfor a MLA of UP for visitingBadrinath shrine during lock-down.

“Those who are entering thestate are needed to be put into

quarantine for 14 days and aMLA is being allowed to movein the state.

Strict action should betaken against those who wereresponsible for the fiasco andthe officer who stopped theMLA should be felicitated,’’ hesaid.

Singh said that the

Congress President SoniaGandhi has offered thatCongress party would paythe train fare for return ofmigrants to their respectivestate as the UnionGovernment has failed in itsresponsibilities.

“The Congress presidenthas taken a historic decisionwhich has induced hope inthe migrants stranded in dif-ferent parts of the country,’’ hesaid.

The PCC presidentaccused the Uttarakhand gov-

ernment of hiding behindguidelines of union govern-ment.

“The UttarakhandGovernment bends over back-wards to send home 1800 peo-ple belonging to Gujarat dur-ing lockdown and when theissue of return of people ofUttarakhand stranded in dif-ferent parts of the countryback to their homes came, thestate government is takingexcuse in guidelines of centralgovernment. It is double stan-dards,’’ he said.

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Residents of West Bengalstranded in Haridwar sat

on dharna at Vishnu Ghat andraised slogans against the WestBengal Government for thedelay in facilitating their returnto their home State. On receiv-ing information about this,the district tourism officerSeema Nautiyal and senior subinspector Jagmohan Ramolareached the site to pacify thestranded Bengalis.

Around 950 residents ofWest Bengal are staying at var-ious hotel Dharmshalas inHaridwar.

They have been demand-ing to be sent home since thelockdown first started.However, their return has notbeen facilitated reportedly dueto pending approval from theWest Bengal Government. TheBengalis had come to Haridwarto bathe in the Ganga but havebeen stranded here since thelockdown began. Frustratedwith the stance taken by the

Government of their homestate, the stranded citizensdemonstrated at Vishnu Ghatand alleged that the WestBengal Government was actingin a biased manner by bringingback stranded persons fromsome particular locations whileignoring the ones stranded inHaridwar.

The State officials some-how pacified the protestingcitizens and took a memoran-dum from them. Nautiyalsaid that the Haridwar districtmagistrate is making consistentefforts to send them to WestBengal, but the stranded per-sons could not be sent yet dueto pending approval of the

Bengal government. All necessary arrange-

ments including lodging arebring provided free of cost tothe stranded Bengalis.

As soon as the order comesfrom the Government level,arrangements will be made tosend them back to WestBengal.

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Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and

Congress chief Sonia Gandhion Wednesday questioned theModi Government's decision-making on the extended coro-navirus lockdown and soughtto know the roadmap after May17 when the deadline for thirdlockdown ends.

Both Singh and Sonia werepart of the video conferencemeeting of Chief Ministers ofCongress-ruled States. Soniaquestioned the Governmentover the criteria it adopted tojudge how long the COVID-19-induced lockdown will con-tinue.

Addressing the ChiefMinisters of States where theCongress is in power, sheasked "what after May 17?"

India has been underlockdown since March 25 tocurb the spread of the novelcoronavirus. The first andsecond phase of the lock-down was from March 25 toApril 14 and April 15 to May3, respectively. The thirdphase began from May 4 andwould end on May 17.

Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and formerCongress chief Rahul Gandhiwere also part of the meetingheld through video-confer-encing.

"After May 17th, What?and After May 17th, How?What criteria is GoI

(Government of India) usingto judge how long the lock-down is to continue. . . , "Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala quotedSonia Gandhi as saying in themeeting to discuss theCOVID-19 situation and thepost-lockdown work.

She thanked farmers, par-ticularly of Punjab andHaryana, for ensuring foodsecurity by giving bumperwheat produce despite allodds.

Singh said, "We need toknow, as Soniaji said, whatwill happen after lockdown3.0?".

"Soniaji has already point-ed out. CMs need to deliber-ate and ask as to what is thestrategy of the government ofIndia to get the country out ofthe lockdown," Singh asked.

Rahul said the centralpiece of the strategy to fightCOVID-19 is to protect theelderly as well as those whoare diabetic and with heartconditions.

Speaking at the meeting,Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh said he hasset up two committees, one tostrategise on how to come outof the lockdown and the other

on economic revival."Concern is people sitting

in Delhi are deciding on clas-sification of (COVID-19)zones without knowing what'shappening on the ground," hesaid at the meeting.

Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot said, "untilextensive stimulus package isgiven, how will states and thecountry run? We have lost Rs10,000 crore revenue."

He said states have repeat-edly requested the prime min-ister for a package, "but we areyet to hear from the govern-ment of India".

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel said,"States are facing dire eco-nomic crisis. They need to beprovided immediate assis-tance."

He said Chhattisgarh isone state where 80 per cent ofsmall industries have restart-ed and nearly 85,000 workershave returned to work.

The Centre is deciding onCOVID-19 zones withoutconsulting states, Puducherrychief minister VNarayanasamy alleged.

"This is creating an anom-alous situation. People sittingin Delhi can't tell the states,

No State or CM is consulted.Why?" he asked.

"PM isn't saying a word oneconomic package for states,"he said.

Former Union financeminister P Chidambaram alsoalleged that states are "bleed-ing" in terms of finances butno money is being allocated

by the government.He said a number of

newspapers have brought outthe unavailability of financeswith states.

Former Union Minister MVeerappa Moily said the strat-egy to declare lockout or comeout of it hasn't been stated atall by the prime minister or

changed at all.The Congress president is

also likely to discuss the issueof migrant labourers andworkers stranded at variousplaces and steps taken by thestates in bringing them backto their home states.

Sonia Gandhi hadannounced on Monday that

the state units if Congressparty would pay for the trainfare of migrants as they pre-pare to go back to theirhomes. She also criticised thecentral government for charg-ing them train fare.

Surjewala later said duringthe chief ministers meetingwith the Congress president,

that "states should assure thatthey have decided to pay forthe travel of migrant labour-ers and have asked theRailways for special trains."

"Punjab CM informs that� 35 crore has been set asideand Railways is charging �870per ticket, which state is pay-ing," he said.

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The Congress on Wednesdayslammed the Centre for

increasing the prices on petroland diesel. Terming the rise infuel prices as unfair, the partydemanded that theGovernment immediately rollback the increased prices.

Congress leaders RahulGandhi and Priyanka Gandhisaid that at a time when thefight against coronavirus iscausing economic hardships toall, the Government has cho-sen to increase fuel pricesinstead of reducing them.

"The ongoing battle withthe coronavirus is causingsevere economic hardship forour crores of brothers and sis-ters. At this time, instead ofreducing prices, the decision ofthe government to raise pricesof petrol and diesel by �10-13

per litre is unfair and should bewithdrawn,” Rahul tweetedafter the Centre hiked exciseduty and cess on petrol by �10per litre and on diesel by Rs 13a litre. This was the second hikein excise duty in less than twomonths.

Congress general secre-tary Priyanka Gandhi Vadrawas also unsparing in herattack against the Government

over its decision to hike exciseduty on petrol and diesel. In aseries of tweets, Priyanka saidthat the government was busyfilling its coffers at a timewhen the benefit of low crudeoil prices should have beentransferred to the consumers.

“The people should bene-fit from the low crude oilprices. But the BJPGovernment repeatedly hikes

excise duty so that the benefitthat should have gone to theconsumers is instead used tofill its own suitcase. Who is thegovernment collecting thismoney for? The labourers,farmers, middle-class, industry,nobody is benefiting from thefall in crude oil price,” Priyankasaid.

Senior Congress leader andformer Finance minister PChidambaram too voiced con-cern and suggested the Centremust borrow to meet deficitsand not impose higher tax bur-dens when economic activityhas ground to a halt amid thecoronavirus.

“New or higher taxes arejustified only when the econo-my is booming. Tax burdens onthe middle class and poor isactually taxing distress.Governments should givemoney to the people in times of

distress, not squeeze and takemoney from the people,”Chidambaram tweeted.

Congress chief spokesmanRandeep Singh Surjewala atAICC Press video conferencesaid the entire nation and its 130crore people are fighting theCorona pandemic and the poormigrant labourers and workers,the shopkeepers, the farmers,the small and medium busi-nesses are virtually penny less,they are struggling for every sin-gle Rupee, yet, this draconianGovernment is fleecing 130crore Indians by raising insur-mountable taxes on petrol anddiesel.

Congress alleged thatbetween the years 2014-15 up tillthe year 2019-20 that is in a peri-od of six years, the Modi gov-ernment has increased taxeson petrol and diesel 12 timesand has collected �17 lakh crore.

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The Centre and the MamataBanerjee dispensation’s

locking of horns continued onWednesday this time over theissues of non-movement ofessential goods through theIndia-Bangladesh border as itentail international ramifica-tions and the under-reportingof Covid-19 related deathsfrom the State besides viola-tion of lockdown guidelinesthere.

Union Home SecretaryAjay Bhalla wrote two lettersto the State Chief SecretaryRajiv Sinha. In the letter sentin the morning, the MHAblamed the State Governmentfor blocking international car-gos to Bangladesh while in theone in the evening it accusedthe Trinamool Congress-ruledState of underreporting ofCovid-19 deaths and series ofviolations of lockdown rules.

"A large number of truckscarrying essential supplies,bound for Bangladesh, arestranded at different bordercrossing points.... A number ofdrivers returning fromBangladesh have not beenallowed to cross the borderand are stranded inBangladesh. The unilateral

action of State Governmentwill have larger implicationsfor the Indian Governmentwith regard to its legally bind-ing international commit-ments,” Union HomeSecretary’s letter to the StateChief Secretary stated.

Bhalla also said, “This actof the State Governmentamounts to violation of the

orders issued by MHA underDisaster Management Act,2005.”

Bhalla said directionswere given on April 24 toallow cross land border trans-portation of essential goodsthrough all Indo-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Bangladeshborders and send a compli-ance report to the MHA. But

we have not received the com-pliance report from the stategovernment of West Bengal,he said.

In the second letter, Bhallasaid: “Lockdown violationshave been noted in Kolkata,Howrah by specific groups inspecific localities with mediareports of 'corona warriors'including the police beingattacked. This necessitatesstricter enforcement of lock-down. Overcrowding inbazaars, free movement ofpeople in large numbers with-out masks, bathing of peoplein rivers, playing cricket foot-ball, serious laxity in enforc-ing lockdown in containmentzones and poor supervision nimplementation of crowd con-trol measures by the districtauthorities,”

The Home Secretary alsocited the reports of Centre’sInter-Ministerial team’s find-ings against the West BengalGovernment in tackling thepandemic and non-coopera-tion including the under-reporting of the number ofdeaths.

“There remain gaps inthe surveillance and contacttracing of positive cases. Statehas not furnished any dataregarding the

households/individuals con-tacted/sur veyed forCOVID19. Indefinite delays intesting results have furtheraffected the contact tracing,put patients at risk...Points tovery low rate of testing in pro-portion to the population,and a very high rate of mor-tality of 13.2, by far the high-est for any State. This is areflection of poor surveil-lance, detection and testing inthe State,” said the UnionHome Secretary.

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Responding to the Centre’sletter, the West Bengal

Government said it will take acall on the movement of essen-tial goods through the Indo-Bangladesh borders after con-sidering all aspects. State’'sHome Secretary AlapanBandopadhyay said: “Thereare a lot of things that need tobe looked into," he said.

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Civil society groups haveurged Prime Minister

Narendra Modi to ensure thatthe Railways do not charge fortickets on the special trainsbeing run to transport migrantworkers back to their homesamid the coronavirus-forcedlockdown.

They said all travel must befree and food expenses shouldbe borne by the state.

The civil society organisa-tions, who have come togetherto form 'National Campaign

for Migrant Workers', demand-ed that the migrant workersreturning home be provided anex-gratia of �7,000 in lieu of thewages lost due of the lockdown.

They also appealed to theministry of home affairs to issuedirections to withdraw all themass FIRs against the migrantworkers filed in places like Surat,Bandra (Mumbai), Hyderabadwhere the workers protested toallowed to be go home. “Theprotests were an expression ofgenuine distress,” said theactivists.

The campaign also urged

the MHA to withdraw the May2 order, clarifying the definitionof stranded workers.

The Home Ministry had onSunday made it clear that therelaxations given for the move-ment of people during the lock-down were available only to dis-tressed migrant workers.

It clarified that the order isnot applicable to those categoriesof persons who are otherwiseresiding normally at places otherthan native places for purposesof work etc and those who wishto visit their native place in nor-mal course.

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The Union EnvironmentMinistry’s Expert Appraisal

Committee (EAC) on infra-structure has cleared terms of ref-erence (ToR) for three seaplaneairports at the Brahmaputrariverfront in Guwahati and at theStatue of Unity and ShatrunjayDam, both in Gujarat. The ToRsare guidelines for conductingenvironmental studies of projectsafter which it is considered forclearance by the panel.

The EAC in its meetingheld through video-conferencingin April noted that the wateraerodromes aims to boosttourism near Statue of Unity andSardar Sarovar Dam, Gujaratalong with terminal building onthe land side and allied facilities.Both projects are planned in theland provided by the State CivilAviation Department.

The �12.5 crore proposedproject is located onPanchmukhi Lake (Lake-3) ofSardar Sarovar Dam at LimdiVillage in Narmada District,Gujarat. Over 2,046 sqm landwill be acquired for the proposedproject.

The development of WaterAerodrome has been proposedat Shatrunjay Dam, Village vadalin District Bhavbnagar byGujarat Civil AviationDepartment to be spread over0.40 hectares of area. The pro-posed project is planned in thearea provided by the NarmadaWater Resource Department,Partly Private land in the pro-

posed access road near Palitana,noted the EAC.

Similarly, the developmentof water aerodrome has beenproposed at Guwahati Riverfront(Bramhaputra River), Guwahati,Assam by the State TransportDepartment.

The proposed terminal willbe spread over the plot area of0.42 Hectares.

Considering that the wateraerodrome are just emerging inthe country as a new mode oftransport involving sea/riverfronts and its likely impacts onwater, air and aquatic biodiver-sity including flora and fauna, theEAC followed the appraisalprocess as is being done in thecase of airports.

The project proponents alsoinformed the EAC that wateraerodrome were primarily onwater, intended to be used eitherwholly or in part for the arrival,departure and movement ofseaplanes, and any building andequipment on ground or water.

Sea plane operation from coastal/river/ canal as well as terrestrialwater bodies will extend the con-nectivity to those areas wherethere is no land-based airport.

The high capital investmentfor airside infrastructure devel-opment required in land-basedairport can be avoided. Thus,there is a necessity to establishwater aerodromes for seaplaneoperations, argued the projectproponents.

After discussion with mem-bers, the EAC cleared ToRs forthe three projects asking theirproponents to take clearancefrom the National Board forWild Life (NBWL) in case nearto the sanctuary as well as impactof aerodrome on flow charac-teristics during normal and floodconditions by modelling studyamong other required clear-ance.

They have also been askedto conduct public hearing forpreparation of environmentimpact assessment report.

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The Delhi High Court hassought response of the

police on a plea moved by aman, serving life term since2005 in a murder case, seek-ing parole to find a suitablewife for himself and curb his"inner stress and depression"due to incarceration whichhas "exacerbated" due toCOVID-19 pandemic.

Justice Prateek Jalandirected the police to file astatus report after verifyingthe address and health con-dition of the petitioner's fam-ily, with whom he intends tostay if parole is granted.

The court also directedthat the status report shallalso "disclose the precautionswhich are being followed bythe jail authorities whilereleasing the prisoners onparole or bail and at the timethey are returned to custody,inter alia, in terms of thedirect ions of the HighPowered Committee".

With the direction, thecourt listed the matter forhearing before an appropriatebench on May 19.

The petitioner has chal-lenged the authorit iesDecember 2019 decision toreject his application forparole "to explore the possi-bility of finding a suitablematch, to maintain social tiesand family relations, and tocurb inner stress and depression due to incarcera-

tion".The high court had on

January 14 issued notice tothe police and called for hisnominal role. However, due tothe COVID-19 outbreak, thecourt 's functioning wasrestricted and his plea couldnot be heard.

Subsequently, he movedtwo applications - one seekingearly hearing of his plea andanother for grant of parole onthe grounds of coronaviruspandemic.

His lawyer told the courtthat the grounds upon whichparole was sought from theState included the requirement to curb innerstress and depression due toincarceration which has beenexacerbated due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The police told the courtthat his application for parolewas rejected by the authoritiesas on an earlier occasionwhen he was granted the

relief in 2011, he committedan offence in respect of whichhe was convicted on February22, 2018 for dacoity, robbery,and conspiring to committhese crimes.

On the ground taken bythe police regarding violationof an earlier parole, the courtsaid despite his conviction in2018, he was, thereafter,released on parole twice in2018 and 2019 which werenot misused by him.

The court also noted thataccording to his nominal rollhe worked as a 'sahayak' in thejail and his conduct has beensatisfactory at least for lastone year.

The petitioner was earli-er convicted in 2005 in amurder case and sentenced tolife imprisonment by a trialcourt.

His appeal against the2005 order of the trial courtwas dismissed by the highcourt in 2009.

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The Government may beapplauding the role of

frontline health workers byvarious gestures like the recentone by showering flower petalson them, but around 200 nurs-es at the Centre-run RMLHospital in Delhi are a disap-pointed lot.

Appointed in December lastyear, they are yet to get theirsalary which has left them at thereceiving end as many of themare living in rented accommo-dations. Hailing from across thecountry, some of these nurseshave been taking credit fromtheir friends and relatives to paytheir bills as they have not gotsalary for the last four monthssince joining the hospital. TheCovid-19 induced lockdown hasjust added to their agony.

Some of them have beenassigned duties at the Covid-19wards as well. Though they haverepresented before the con-cerned authorities in this con-nection several times but exceptassurance their grievance has notbeen met.

A nurse on the condition ofanonymity said that they havesubmitted all the required doc-uments related to their job.

“We are doing our dutydiligently. But in this lockdowntime, it is difficult to sustain with-out money. Moreover, it is quitefrustrating that while on the onehand the country is expressingsolidarity with our efforts, on theother we are waiting for what isour rightful due,” she said

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APIL was filed in the DelhiHigh Court on Wednesday

seeking direction to the AAPgovernment to close liquorshops here until the coronaviruspandemic is under control.

The plea was mentioned foran urgent hearing and it is like-ly to be listed on May 8.

The petition by NGO, CivilSafety Council of India, chal-lenged the Delhi Governmentand its Excise Department'sdecision to open liquor shops inthe city from Tuesday “withoutany planning and crowd man-agement”.

The plea, filed throughadvocate Arvind Vashistha,said the people of Delhi are fac-ing complete lockdown for thelast so many days but the May3 notification regarding open-ing of liquor shops has failed thewhole system, set up by theState, and it is going waste andputting the life of citizens indanger.

“Liquor consumption isnot in consonance with thedirective principles of state pol-icy, under which improvingpublic health is among the pri-mary duties of the state. Thiswould include prohibition ofintoxicating drinks and drugswhich are injurious to health,”the plea said.

It said due to this decision,a large number of persons havelined up outside liquor shops inthe city for the second consec-utive day.

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Page 5: 2020/05/07  · Kumar told reporters, “The slain terrorist was identified as Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief operational commander Riyaz Naikoo”. Police spokesman in Srinagar said,

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Tamil Nadu Governmenthas no options other than

opening liquor shops in theState to tide over the econom-ic crisis caused by the coron-avirus pandemic and the resul-tant lockdown, according to atop Government official in Chennai.

All liquor shops barringthose in Chennai city wouldreopen on Thursday morningbringing cheers to the dispirit-ed tipplers in the State .

More than ten persons hadcommitted suicide during thedays when the 5,146 liquor out-lets in the State downed the

shutters. Though theGovernment hiked the prices ofliquor by Rs 10 to Rs 80 perbottle, it has not dampened thespirit of the boozing fraternityas the wait for sun to rise onThursday to queue up in frontof the liquor outlets.

Liquor is one of the mainsources of income for TamilNadu Government.

“State’s Own Tax Revenuecontributes to 60 per cent ofTamil Nadu’s monthly revenuewhich runs to Rs 10,000 crore.What the State may receive inthe month of April wouod notbe more than 20 per cent of thisamount because of the shutdown,” Prof C Murukadas, lead

economist of Tamil Nadu andadviser to the Government.

Fifty percent of the SOTR

comes from the sale of alcoholand petroleum products.

Tamil Nadu Government

holds the monopoly in liquorprocurement and sales. Allliquor outlets in the State areowned by the Government.The financial year 2017-2018saw liquor contributing Rs26,797 crore of the State’s rev-enue.

“Excise duty on manufac-ture and sale of alcohol com-prises 10 to 15 per cent of theState’s Own Tax Revenue. Stateslike Tamil Nadu impose VAT;also charge special fees onimported foreign liquor, trans-port fee and label and brandregistration fee. As liquor salesare operated by TASMAC,Tamil Nadu Governmentreceives certain amount as

sales margin. Altogether in2018-2019 , Tamail NaduGovernment’s earnings fromliquor stood at Rs 31, 157crore. This is 35 per cent of theState’s Own Tax Revenue of Rs87, 905.26 crore generated in2018-2019. The Total Revenueof Tamil Nadu in 2018-2019was Rs 2.98 lakh crore out ofwhich liquor contributed 10.45per cent. There fore TamilNadu Government cannotafford to dispense with theearnings from liquor for its dayto day functioning,” said ProfMurukadas, himself a strongproponent of prohibition.

Prof Murukadas, a widelyrespected scholar in the State

with many books to his cred-it, pointed out that Tamil Naduwas on the brink of financialcrisis mainly due to the expen-diture for containment ofCovid-29 pandemic.

“At this juncture, it is notpossible for the government todeploy the police force to detectillicit distillation. The inci-dents of suicides are on thehigh because of liquor addicts,”he pointed out.

Besides, liquor and petro-leum, the other areas fromwhich the State mobilizes rev-enue are registration of vehiclesand immovable properties.“But there are no businessactivities in the State because of

the coronavirus lockdown.Since vehicles are off the roads,there is no sale of petroleumproducts and this has taken aheavy dent on the State’s econ-omy,” pointed out ProfMurukadas.

Officials in TASMAC(Tamil Nadu State MarketingCorporation), said the distil-leries from where they procureliquor are owned by leaders ofthe DMK as well as theAIADMK. “The DMK is in theforefront opposing the gov-ernment’s move to reopen theliquor shops. But that is toimpress and convince the people in the State,” said theofficial.

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Thirty four cases of coron-avirus were detected posi-

tive, taking the total tally to 775in Jammu & Kashmir onWednesday.

Out of 34, a total numberof 32 cases were reported fromKashmir while 2 fresh caseswere detected from Jammudistrict. At present four districtsof Kashmir valley namelyBandipora, Srinagar, Anantnagand Baramulla have reportedmore than 100 positive cases.

On Wednesday,Srinagarand Anantnag districts report-ed 11 fresh cases each whileShopian reported 5 andKupwara three fresh cases.

Worried over the constantrise in number of positive cases,Deputy Commissioner, SrinagarDr Shahid Choudhary tweeted,“Each Covid+ve case confirmedin Srinagar today & yesterdaycould’ve been avoided. Mosttraced to single illegal travel.Please don’t make fatal mockeryof our efforts for your safety” InJammu, the authorities hadcompletely sealed entry andexit points of localities fromwhere fresh cases have beenreported since Monday.

According to media bul-letin, out of 775 positive cases,445 are active Positive, 322 haverecovered and 08 have died.

B�������)�����������#������$��GG=�� �0F: Panaji: Criticising the

Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) for its lackadaisical atti-tude towards the preservationof a 17th century Catholicchurch, the Basilica of BomJesus, Goa Governor Satya PalMalik on Wednesday appealedto Union Minister of State forTourism, Prahlad Patel, forassistance.

In a letter to Patel, Malikalso urged the Union Ministryto instruct the ASI to completemaintenance work at the OldGoa church complex, one ofthe most popular tourism des-tinations in the state, before theonset of the monsoon.

“Though ASI has citedvarious constraints for the slowpace of work such as non-avail-ability of sand or dillydallyingand unresponsive behaviour ofthe contractors, the entire atti-tude of the ASI in preserving,conserving and restoring theBasilica seems to be casualand lackadaisical,” theGovernor said in his letter toPatel.

“The report of the ASIreflects uncoordinated actionand non-committal attitude ofthe different branches of theASI in dealing with the preser-vation and restoration of thearchitectural marvel,” Maliksaid in his letter.

After complaints made bythe Rector of the Basilica, Fr

Patricio Fernandes, ChiefMinister Pramod Sawant hasordered the formation of acoordination committee of offi-cials from the state governmentagencies and the ASI, forstreamlining maintenance andrestoration work at the Churchcomplex.

The Bom Jesus Basilica ishome to the mortal remains ofSpanish saint St Francis Xavier,who was also associated withrecommending the Inquisitionin Goa. Born in Navarro villagein Spain’s Basque region,Francis Xavier is regarded asthe patron saint of Goa by thestate’s Catholics, who accountfor around 26 per cent of thestate’s 1.5 million population.

The Basilica is also recog-nised as an UNESCO worldheritage site and is one of themost prominent places on theitineraries of the several milliontourists and devotees who visitthe state annually.

Quoting a complaint madeby the church authorities,Malik said that the Basilica isin a general state of disrepairand neglect.

In his letter, Malik alsourged the Union Minister todirect the ASI to “pull up theirsocks to complete all therestoration works in a time-bound manner and if possible,before the monsoon arrives inGoa”. IANS

Thiruvananthapuram: KeralaChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanon Wednesday said non-resi-dent Keralites returning fromabroad and from within thecountry from Thursday, exceptpregnant women and children,will remain in state-run quar-antine centres for a week.

Such arrivals are scheduledat Thiruvananthapuram, Kochiand Kozhikode. The Kannurairport is not on the list, butwould be added in the secondschedule.

The arrivals at these air-ports would be supervised bya DIG of Police.

“The exception from quar-antine is only for pregnantladies and kids, who canremain in isolation at theirhomes. This is the rule for allthose arriving from outsidethe country and those fromwithin the country,” saidVijayan.

“There are two flights onMay 7 as of now -- one fromAbu Dhabi to Kochi and anoth-er from Dubai to Kozhikode.We are waiting for furtherinstructions from the Centre.After quarantine, those who

test negative can go home andremain in quarantine foranother week” said Vijayan.

The Chief Miniser saidthat all arrangements havebeen made.

“The media also shouldtake necessary caution.Attempts to interview thosewho are coming from abroadshould not be done. Media hasto ensure that social distancingnorms are followed. You shouldensure that there is self-con-trol,” added Vijayan.

State Health Minister K.K.Shailaja said: At present, 207hospitals in the state have beenkept ready to admit peopleshowing coronavirus symp-toms. Everyone landing at theairports will have to downloadan app. The body temperaturesof all returnees would be takenat the aerobridge. All those whoare normal will be send to thehelp desk while those whohave higher-than-normal tem-perature would be moved tothe isolation bay. From there,normal returnees would betaken to the corona care cen-tres and others send to hospi-tal.” IANS

Bengaluru: To bring early reliefto farmers, flower growers,washermen, barbers, auto-rick-shaw and taxi drivers — someof the worst-affected by theCovid-19 induced lockdown,the Karnataka Government onWednesday announced a Rs1,610 crore package.

“The state government willprovide Rs 1,610 crore com-pensation/benefit to the peoplewho are in distress due to thelockdown since March 25 andextended till May 17 to containthe coronavirus spread,” ChiefMinister B.S. Yediyurappa toldreporters here.

Among the beneficiaries ofthe package are farmers andgrowers of f lowers, vegetables and fruits, washer-men, barbers, auto-rickshawand taxi drivers who all suf-fered huge losses due to theprolonged lockdown, whichhas been extended twice sinceApril 15 and May 4.

“As growers have destroyedtheir flowers in 11,687 hectaresacross the state due to lack ofdemand during the lockdown,Rs 25,000 compensation perhectare will be given to thosewho suffered crop loss to theextent of 1 hectare,” saidYediyurappa.

A separate relief packagewill soon be announced forfarmers and growers of veg-etables and fruits, as they toosuffered huge amount of loss-es due to the lockdown, he

added.Similarly, service profes-

sionals like 2,30,000 barbersand 60,000 washermen (dho-bis) in urban and rural areas,who too have been affected bythe lockdown, will be givenone-time compensation of Rs5,000 each.

About 7,75,000 auto-rick-shaw and taxi drivers across thestate, who also lost income dueto lockdown, will be givenone-time compensation of Rs5,000 each.

“As micro, small and medi-um enterprises (MSMEs) alsoreeled under production lossover the last 42 days and willtake time to revive, monthlyfixed charges on their electric-ity bills will be waived for twomonths since April,” saidYediyurappa.

Payment of fixed chargeson power bills of large indus-tries will also be deferred with-out penalty and interest for twomonths since April.

“Incentive and concessionswill be given to consumers pay-ing bills in the stipulated time.Reduction will be given oninterest on delayed payment and adequate time forpaying balance bill payment ininstallments,” said the ChiefMinister.

Power connection will notbe disconnected till June 30 forconsumers who have not paidarrears of their electricity bills.

“Of the Rs 109 crore loan

waiver scheme announced ear-lier for handloom weavers, Rs29 crore has been paid to themand balance Rs 80 crore will bereleased soon,” Yediyurappasaid.

The 54,000 handloomweavers will also be eligible forfresh loans to resume theirbusiness. A reimbursementbenefit will be provided toweavers who repaid loan in thelast fiscal.

The Chief Minister said anew scheme “weaver sammanyojana” (nekarara sammanayojane) for the benefit of theweavers would soon beannounced.

Under the scheme, thestate government will depositRs 2,000 in the bank account ofeach handloom weaverthrough the direct benefittransfer (DBT) scheme.

“We are also transferringRs 2,000 in the bank accountsof 11.80-lakh building workersthrough the DBT,” he said.

About 15.80 lakh regis-tered building workers are reg-istered across the state, andaction has been initiated totransfer Rs 2,000 into theaccounts of the remaining 4-lakh construction workers afterverifying their bank details, headded.

The state government hasalso decided to transfer Rs3,000 more to building work-ers through DBT.

IANS

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Despite Tamil NaduGovernment’s stance that

all is well on the coronavirusfront, the number of personstested positive for Covid-19reached 4,829 by Wednesdayevening. The day saw 771 per-sons testing positive for thepandemic on Wednesday, thehighest number of personstesting positive on a singleday.

The death toll reached 35in the State while Chennai hasbecome the epicentre of thepandemic. The release issuedby the Department of Healthsaid 324 persons tested positivein Chennai making the totalnumber of Covid-19 patients inthe metropolis to 2,328.

The release further saidthat all persons tested positivewere contacts of Covid-19patients, which means all ofthem were infected frompatients suffering from thepandemic.

The number of cops work-ing in the State Police HeadQuarters who have been test-ed positive reached 13 byWednesday evening.

Chief Minister EdappadiPalaniswami asked the peoplenot to panic because of thespurt in the number of coron-avirus cases in the State. “This

is because of the increase in thenumber of tests being done inTamil Nadu compared to otherStates in the country. 1,88,241samples have been tested tilldate and we have 52 testingcentres in the State, the Statewith largest number of testinglabs,” said the Chief Ministerwhile speaking to reportersearlier in the day.

It was on March 7, 2020 theState confirmed the detectionof the first coronavirus patient.It took 36 days for the numberof patients with COVID-19 treach the 1000 mark.

Within the next 16 daysTamil Nadu’s coronavirus casescrossed 2000. The number shotpast the 3000 mark in five daysand by Monday evening itstood at 3,550.

It crossed the 4000 mark injust two days. As things standtoday, the number of coron-avirus patients in the State is allset to cross the 5,000 mark byThursday evening.

Medical experts and gov-ernment officials are worriedover the opening of the liquoroutlets in the State on Thursdaymorning. “It is certain that wewill see more crowd in front ofthe liquor shops and the pos-sibility of infections increasingis very high,” said a governmentdoctor who did not want hisname to be quoted.

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In an effort to meet an antic-ipated increase in the num-

ber of Covid-19 infections dur-ing May, the MaharashtraGovernment has requestedhospitals, institutions andbuildings under the manage-ment of the Railways, MumbaiPort Trust, Indian Army, Navyand other Central Governmentundertakings to make availableIntensive Care Unit (ICU) bedsat their facilities available acrossMaharashtra.

In a statement issued hereon Wednesday, chief ministerUddhav Thackeray said: “Forthe past three months, theState Government has beenfighting a war against virus andso far, has managed to containit’s spread through variousmeasures. The number of testsis being significantly increased,and hence, the patient count isrising. The numbers of patientsbeing cured and discharged has

also increased”.“The state government has

requested hospitals, institu-tions and buildings under themanagement of the Railways,Mumbai Port Trust, IndianArmy, Navy and other CentralGovernment undertakings tomake available Intensive CareUnit (ICU) beds at their facil-ities available acrossMaharashtra. I have personal-ly spoken to people at a high-er level in this regard,” the chiefminister said.

Uddhav said that since theUnion government had pre-dicted that the severity ofCoronavirus would increasein the month of May, his gov-ernment had planned toincrease the isolation facilitiesand ICU beds in Mumbai,Pune and other prominentcities in the state.

“In this context, the gov-ernment has already createdICU beds in Mumbai’sMahalaxmi Race Course,Nehru Science Centre, NehruPlanetarium, GoregaonExhibition Centre, Richardson& Cruddas factory, BandraKurla Complex (BKC) andother locations,” the chief min-ister said.

“Similarly, the MunicipalCommissioners and districtcollectors concerned are creat-

ing additional ICUs beds inother big cities in the state. Weare Also getting huge placesbelonging to private hospitalsand major organisation forcreating ICU beds in otherparts of the state,” Uddhavsaid.

The chief minister saidthat following the relaxation oflockdown norms, the peoplehad started coming toMaharashtra from other partsof the country and even peoplewill start returning from abroadin the coming days. “Keepingthis and as well as the antici-pated increase in number ofcases, the state government isall to increase the availability ofICU beds in various hospitals,

including those Railways,Mumbai Port Trust, IndianArmy, Navy and other CentralGovernment undertakings

Meanwhile, Brihanm umbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC)Commissioner Praveen Pardeshihas authorized all ward officersin the city to requisition addi-tional beds/wards/facilities inprivate hospitals or clinics forCovid-19 patients.

Mumbai is the worstCovid-19 affected city in thecountry. With 25 fresh deaths769 new infected cases report-ed on Wednesday, the totalnumber of deaths has risen to412, while the total number ofinfected cases has mounted to10714.

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In yet major another spike ininfected cases in Mumbai’s

Dharavi, one person died andas many as 68 persons testedpositive for corinavirus onWednesday, taking the totalnumber of infected cases inAsia’s biggest slum to 733.

A day after as 33 more per-sons tested positive for Covid-19, Coronavirus claimed onelife taking the total number ofdeaths to 21 and left 68 othersinfected in various parts ofthis densely populated slum.

A maximum six positivecases were reported fromMatunga Labour camp, whilefive new infected cases eachwere recorded in transit camp,Kumbharwada, Indira Nagarand 90 feet road area. Amongthe infected persons was a 90-year-old woman fromKumbarwada. Three cases eachwere reported from 60 feetroad area and Dharavi PC.

With 68 fresh cases, thetotal number of positive caseshas risen to 733 in Dharavi.Dharavi has witnessed sub-stantial number infected casesin Dharavi for the past five days.

On Tuesday, 33 new posi-tive cases were reported from

Dharavi. On Monday, therewere 42 new positive cases ofCovid-19. On May 3,Cornavirus claimed two livesand left a record day’s tally of 94others infected in this slum. OnMay 2, Dharavi recorded asmany as 89 Covid-19 positivecases. On May 1, there were 38new cases. Earlier on April 23,one death and 25 cases hadbeen reported from Dharavi ina single day.

Dharavi is one of theCoronavirus hotspots inMumbai. Spread over 240hectare area, this slum is hometo more than 4 lakh people.Ever since first few cases ofCoronavirus were reported inthe early first week of April, theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) is closelymonitoring the situation inDharavi where the healthauthorities have clamped a totallockdown.

Till Tuesday, theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) screened83,500 people in Dharavi. “Tillyesterday, as many as 2380people are in institutional quar-antine, while 196 people weredischarged from various hos-pital after full cure,” a seniorBMC official said.

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The Maharashtra Congresson Wednesday slammed

Information and BroadcastingMinister Prakash Javadekar formaking a “false” allegation thatall State Governments are pay-ing rail fare for poor migrantsexcept Maharashtra, Keralaand Rajasthan Government,“who are taking fare from thepoor”

“Even in times of crisis, theBJP’s blatant insensitivity inlying to the people is shocking.I would like to challengePrakash Javadekar that if thereis any sensitivity in the Uniongovernment, the Centre should

issue a two-line order that therailways shall not take anymoney for ticket fare frommigrant workers,” MaharashtraPradesh Congress Committee(MPCC) spokesperson SachinSawant said.

Sawant said that thoughthe central government allowedthe migrant workers to returnto their hometowns, it took an“insensitive decision” of askingthe state government to collectfare from the poor and depositwith the Railways.

Sawant said that extreme-ly upset over this insensitive-ness, the Congress PresidentSonia Gandhi decided that thecost of repatriation of migrant

workers in this extremelyunfortunate situation wouldbe borne by the Congress ineach of the states.

“With the general publicaware of the insensitivityshown by the central govern-

ment and the decision taken byCongress president SoniaGandhi, the grounds of theBhatiya Janta Party (BJP) hasshaken. As a result, BJP lead-ers have launched a nationwidecampaign to spread propagan-

da and false statements,”Sawant said.

“Yesterday, Sambit Patra,BJP’s national spokespersonmade a public statement thatthe central government is giv-ing 85 percent concession whileother 15 percent is being borneby the state governments,” thestate Congress spokespersonsaid.

“And, in such a scenario,what the Congress party willgive? In order to target oppo-sition, the union ministerPrakash Javadekar went aheadand made a false allegation thatall state governments are pay-ing rail fare for poor migrantsexcept Maharashtra, Kerala

and Rajasthan government,who are taking fare from thepoor,” Sawant said.

He said that in the firstplace, health was a state issueand “in such a crisis period, nofinancial assistance has beengiven to the states by the cen-tral government despite the factthat state governments arefighting against the corona cri-sis”

“Besides, the central gov-ernment has not given Rs15,000 crore for GST compen-sation to the state. There isalready a loss of around Rs25000 crore in March. There isno income this month. In sucha scenario, there is no support

from the Centre. It seems thatthe Centre is shirking itsresponsibility by passing thecost of travel fare of migrantworkers to the states,” Sawantsaid.

“Javadekar’s statementshows the mentality of thecentral government is to takecredit of work done by the stategovernment,” the Congressspokesperson said.

“Official decision to give85% concession in railway fareshas not yet been taken.However, it is quite possiblethat the BJP can make a moveto say later that this concessionwas already there. Currently therailways is recovering full fare

for the tickets. It is cleared thatthe central government hasdirectly cheated poor people,”Sawant said.

“Going beyond that, to saythat only the governments ofMaharashtra, Rajasthan andKerala are taking money fromthe workers is the height ofhypocrisy of BJP leaders likeJavadekar. In Gujarat, severalmedia channels not only haveshown that money is beingtaken from all workers but nopeople are being sent withoutwater and food. And the BJP’shypocrisy has been exposed. InMadhya Pradesh too, labourersare travelling at full cost,” theCongress spokesperson added.

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The Government’s directive to allpublic and private sector employ-ees to install the Aarogya Setu appin their mobile phones has raisedeyebrows in some quarters. But the

fact is that a post-COVID world is going tobe equated with a digital society. It will be thenew normal, where the use of diverse and con-verged digital technologies will help peoplemaintain social distancing and facilitatesecured living in an age of pandemic.

The Aarogya Setu app is designed tokeep the people informed about the risk ofthem being infected with Coronavirus.Self-assessment begins with a request forinformation such as gender, full name, age,countries travelled to in the last 30 days andprofessional details. The app, which makesthe use of GPS to get the user’s location, dis-covers other available applications nearhis/her device using bluetooth. By cross-ref-erencing the location details with that ofIndian Council of Medical Research(ICMR)’s database and by collecting recordsof nearby users, it does a risk assessment andreturns with a colour-coded message. Itappears that the app continuously collects theuser’s data and uploads them to aGovernment server along with a DiD,which is a unique digital id. Data in the serv-er is anonymised in such a manner that per-sonalised features are suppressed withoutaffecting the statistical features of the dataensembles.

The fact that devices exchange informa-tion, continuously collect location data ofregistered users and maintain a record of theplaces where they may have come in con-tact with other people has given rise to asense of distrust among the people. Hence,the controversy. Arguments can be drawninto two fields: One of data privacy and theother on surveillance. While debate aroundthe Aarogya Setu app is unsubstantiated andunfounded, questions related to data priva-cy will very much be a talking point in a post-COVID society.

Data is now widely being treated as thenew “oil”, “gold” and is a valuable resourcefrom the perspective of society, economy,polity, privacy and human progress. For asociety to make progress from an informa-tion age to a knowledgeable, digital world(data-driven society), the effective use of dataand information, while qualifying with pri-vacy parameters, will be a cornerstone ofpublic discourse. Privacy is as old asmankind and has a close connection withhuman dignity, freedom and independenceof an individual. Maintaining privacy will bemore challenging in an age of informed soci-ety. Data privacy is a necessity so as to pre-serve and protect personal informationthat is collected by organisations. The fearof it being used by a third party is alwaysthere.

Data privacy assumes significance aspeople live with the app economy for theentire day, every day and every hour. Digital

citizens, while accessing variousapps, give in to the consentclause and in reciprocation for-feit intimate details to data com-panies by accepting the fine printof services that they receivethrough the app. Further, sever-al devices often track our move-ments, preferences and anyinformation they can mine fromour digital existence. This with-out the consent of the user.

Let us be clear at this stagethat collecting data, however pri-vate it may be, with the user’sconsent, implicit or explicit, forany purpose and using it for dataanalytics in anonymised form isnot a breach of privacy. Ofcourse, unless the data is person-alised and shared with otherplatforms or a third party. Thisseemingly is not the case withthe Aarogya Setu app at present.

The nation has just seen thatall efforts to curb the rapidspread of the Corona pandem-ic can be seriously affected dueto contact tracing. This can beminimised with the help ofdata-driven technology that col-lects contact history of individ-uals. Undoubtedly, contact his-tory is private but is used for apublic cause. Aarogya Setuensures just that and is a proofthat India is growing to be a dig-itally matured State.

Post the COVID pandem-ic, India will witness a rise inapp-driven socio-economicactivities. Every aspect of thedigital society — spanning from

e-commerce, digital marketingand learning, digital art and cul-ture, digital banking and trans-actions, social networking andsocial media, to digitalGovernment interventions —will spread ominously.

Collection of data, private orotherwise, is inevitable andunavoidable in a data-intensiveand algorithmically governedsociety. At the same time, the useof data responsibly while alsopreserving privacy should be theorder of the day.

This brings us to an impor-tant question: Is India preparedto regulate data laws in thecyberspace? Further, are the cit-izens digitally educated tounderstand the trade-offbetween “comfort” and “luxury”while using digital technologiesor when they share their data fora purpose? Are they aware of theprivacy concerns arising there-of? These questions need to beaddressed by digital communi-ties of a post-COVID society.

India’s legal system, too,can be construed as half pre-pared to deal with concerns aris-ing out of data privacy violationin the app economy and highlyintegrated digital age, eventhough the InformationTechnology Act (2008, amend-ed in 2011) provides the neces-sary legal regime for cybersecu-rity and protecting privacy con-cerns thereof.

With changing transnation-al contours of the app economy,

where the jurisdictional function-ality of service providers is ques-tionable and operates in clouds,India needs to consolidate andstrengthen data laws on priority.

The Personal DataProtection Bill, 2019, which isstill stuck in Parliament, intendsto regulate the processing of per-sonal data of individuals (dataprincipals) by the Governmentand private entities (data fiducia-ries). The Bill must providelegal teeth to data protectionauthorities to prosecute the datafiduciaries with penal actions.Such regulation, even if passed,cannot be effectively compliantin the context of lacking digitalcitizenship practices and eti-quette.

A post-COVID society anddemocracy in India will be dig-itally driven and will be con-verged around data privacy andsecurity that should not bedevalued due to the currentpolitical bickering on the instal-lation of the Aarogya Setu app.The app has only a limited pur-pose to contain the spread of theCorona infection. At the sametime, developers of the appmust take care to ensure that thedata collected for the purpose isnot intruded, de-anonymised orexploited by any other party.

(The writer is former Deanof the School of Computer andInformation Sciences at theUniversity of Hyderabad andcurrently the Vice Chancellor ofCentral University of Rajasthan))����������������*�� ����!� ����(

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “All for a drink” (May 5). Asthe fight against COVID-19entered its third phase with theGovernment providing consider-able relaxation in lockdown curbsas part of a phase-wise exit plan,hundreds of people have been lin-ing up before Government-runliquor shops, jostling and push-ing in complete defiance of socialdistancing norms. At most places,many buyers were not even wear-ing masks. The over one-month-long nationwide lockdown toprevent the spread of the viruswill become ineffective if theGovernment does not controlsuch crowding around the liquorshops.

MN QasmiKolkata

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Sir — The extended lockdownhas exposed the plight of themigrant workers. India of the1960s had dignified the ruraleconomy. Rural infrastructuresupport, that would have sus-tained income levels in agro-slack

seasons, was soft-pedalled, result-ing in migration.

Now, as restless migrantstried to set off for their villages,employers leveraged the lock-down to block the exodus toensure continuity to their farmand factory outputs. This 140 mil-lion strong migrant labour isvital to our economy, yet shock-

ingly, their status remains unde-fined. China has 300 millionworkers but it provides themwith more congenial work envi-ronment. It would be a pity if wenow fail to incorporate theexploited labour in the newscheme of things.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Reality, not criticism” (May 5).The homecoming of migrantworkers on special trains is wel-come. But it is also the moralresponsibility of the Governmentto bear the cost of their train jour-

ney considering their tragedyand distress. It’s ironical that theGovernment could fly backstranded tourists back home forfree to display its efficiency to therest of the world.

Though after facing pressurefrom Opposition, the Centreclarified that the railways will pay85 per cent of the train fares andthe remaining 15 per cent will bepaid by the State Governments,the onus has been put on respec-tive States who are already reel-ing under tough conditions. Notto forget, there’s no accountabil-ity of the money being collectedin the name of the crisis in thePM Cares fund.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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Sir — The loss of three soldiersin Jammu and Kashmir is tragic.India must retaliate with fullmight. Only immediate forcefulaction will calm the people ofIndia.

JayantVia email

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Page 7: 2020/05/07  · Kumar told reporters, “The slain terrorist was identified as Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief operational commander Riyaz Naikoo”. Police spokesman in Srinagar said,

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Adoctor contracted COVID-19 from a patientand succumbed to the virus on April 19 inChennai. The funeral of the doctor was

stopped by residents who assembled in large num-bers to oppose it. The Madras High Court, takingsuo moto cognisance of the despicable incident, saidthat Article 21 of the Constitution, which protectsthe life and personal liberty of all persons, includeswithin its ambit the right to a decent burial. The courtsaid that this doctor was deprived of his right to havea decent burial.

In another incident in Meghalaya, the local gov-erning bodies known as Durbar Shnong preventedthe cremation of a COVID-19 infected doctor.Consequently, the Meghalaya Bar Association fileda Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court,against the State and local bodies. The court notedthat the State authorities handled the matter in aninept way and the obstructive conduct of the DurbarShnong would shock the conscience of every right-thinking individual.

The contemptible action of various groups toobstruct the dignified interment of doctors and otherhealthcare professionals has outraged the medicalfraternity and all citizens with a conscience. On April20, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said thatobjections to proper funerals of doctors and otherhealth workers, dying in the line of pandemic duty,is the last straw. The IMA demanded a specialCentral law to take stringent action against those whoindulge in violence against healthcare professionalsand hospitals. The IMA called for a “white alert”on April 22 and sought to declare April 23 as a “blackday” if its demands to protect the serving medicalfraternity were not met.

Soon after, the Union Cabinet passed theEpidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020which was then signed by the President. TheMinistry of Health and Family Welfare intended theOrdinance to ensure “zero tolerance” to any formof violence against healthcare professionals and dam-age to property. Significantly, in 2019 the HealthcareServices Personnel and Clinical Establishments(Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property)Bill, drafted by the Health Ministry to contain vio-lence against doctors, was rejected by the HomeMinistry, saying that there cannot be a separate leg-islation to protect the members of a particular pro-fession.

Hopefully, this Ordinance will make up for thepast errors and infuse confidence in the healthcarecommunity, that is on the frontline in our war againstthe pandemic. Though the passing of the Ordinanceitself is a positive decision by the Government, themoot question is whether the new law is adequateto protect doctors and other healthcare workers?

According to the Ordinance, an “act of violence”includes any of the following acts committedagainst healthcare personnel: Harassment impact-ing living or working conditions; harm, injury ordanger to life; obstruction in the discharge of dutiesand loss or damage to the property or documentsof the healthcare personnel.

Property is defined to include: Clinical estab-lishment; quarantine facility; mobile medical unit,and other property in which a healthcare worker hasa direct interest. Further, “healthcare personnel” arepeople, who while carrying out their duties in rela-tion to countering the epidemic, may come in directcontact with affected patients and thereby are at therisk of being impacted by such disease and includeany public and clinical healthcare providers such as

doctors, nurses, paramedical staff andcommunity health workers. The Ministryclaimed that while the citizens fully coop-erated with healthcare personnel most ofthe time, there were sporadic incidents ofviolence that demoralised the medical fra-ternity fighting the contagion. Therefore,it was felt that separate and stringent pro-visions for emergent times were neededto act as effective deterrents to any suchincidents of violence.

Though the Ministry makes tallclaims of zero tolerance, with very highaspirations of pacifying a demoralised andshaken medical fraternity, the Ordinancedoes not address the issue of attacks onhealthcare workers in normal circum-stances, after the pandemic is over.Assaults on them existed globally, longbefore COVID-19 reared its ugly head.Numerous pleas to protect medical staffhave fallen on deaf ears. According to theIMA, over 75 per cent of doctors and otherhealthcare professionals have faced vio-lence at work.

In 2012, a pregnant woman withobstetric complications died in Tuticorin.In retaliation, the attending doctor waskilled by the enraged husband. This trig-gered a call for a strike by the Tamil NaduGovernment Doctors’ Association. TheIMA has demanded that hospitals bedeclared as “protected zones” and calledfor strict implementation of laws in casesof violence against health professionals.

In 2014, angry relatives of a 14-year-old boy, who was declared “broughtdead” at a private hospital in Bathinda,Punjab, went on a rampage. They dam-aged the nursing home and burnt downthe doctor’s house. The Punjab StateChapter of the IMA demanded strictaction against those responsible for dam-aging the nursing home and the house ofthe doctor. Angry relatives of patients arenot the only ones who oppress medicalprofessionals, the Government set-up is

also equally guilty. Dr Indranil Khan, anoncologist, faced harassment after he post-ed images of doctors wearing raincoats ina COVID-19 ward of a Government hos-pital on social media. Police detained DrKhan, charged him with causing commu-nal disharmony and criminal intimidationand confiscated his phone.

A writ petition against his harassmentby the police was filed before the CalcuttaHigh Court. Justice Prasanna Mukherji ofthe Calcutta High Court said that freedomof speech and expression, which is grant-ed under Article 19 of the Constitution,has to be scrupulously upheld by the State.The court said that if an expression ofopinion brings the Government into dis-repute, it cannot defend the allegation byintimidation of the person expressing theopinion by subjecting him to prolongedinterrogation, threatening arrest, seizinghis mobile phone and SIM card.

In another incident, Dr PiyushPushkar Singh, who complained about theshortage of equipment and protectivemasks, was terminated by the Hindu RaoHospital for bringing disrepute to the insti-tution on April 15. Clearly, the EpidemicDiseases Ordinance, 2020, which is stat-ed to ensure the safety of healthcare pro-fessionals is not designed to protect DrKhan and Dr Singh.

Sadly, the COVID-19 outbreak led toa rash of attacks against doctors and otherhealth workers. Healthcare personneldeployed in rural areas were beaten andstopped from entering the villages and for“violating” the lockdown while going towork. The hurried promulgation of theOrdinance appears to be a knee-jerk reac-tion by the Government. First, theMinistry’s claim that the citizens fullycooperated with the healthcare workers isbelied by its own statement that incidentsof violence have occurred which demor-alised the medical fraternity. Second, theOrdinance only “protects” healthcare

personnel in an epidemic and not in gen-eral conditions. Therefore, this Ordinancedoes not afford any protection to the med-ical fraternity in a non-epidemic situation.

According to the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), health workersmust be provided with training on infec-tion prevention, given Personal ProtectionEquipment and technical updates. Theymust have a blame-free environment toreport on incidents such as exposure toblood or bodily fluids or violence.

The right to health i.e. the right to livein a hygienic and safe environment,flows from Article 21. According toArticle 47 the improvement of publichealth is the primary duty of the State.Justice Chandrachud said under Article21, the right to life is meaningless unlessaccompanied by the guarantee of certainconcomitant rights including, but not lim-ited to, the right to health. The right tohealth is understood to be indispensableto a life of dignity, well-being and includes,for instance, the right to emergencymedical care and the right to maintenanceand improvement of public health. In thecurrent situation, with the need to have aconducive and safe environment formedical professionals and the responsibil-ity of the State to provide for public health,the Government will be well-advised totake all steps to protect the medical fra-ternity from any form of lawlessness. TheCentre must consider enacting a stand-alone law that will enable hospitals andmedical personnel to work in a safe envi-ronment at all times, so as to attain theConstitutional aspiration of right tohealth for all citizens. While social distanc-ing is being advocated, medical profession-als do not have the privilege of workingremotely. The best form of applause to givethe doctors and medical personnel is togive them a safe working environment.

(The writer is Advocate Partner in alaw firm)

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The Indian subcontinent hasalways been extremely proneto natural disasters like floods,

earthquakes, landslides, avalanchesand storms. Statistics published inmedia reports suggest that post-Independence, till 2017, India haswitnessed 529 natural disasters,leaving aside those caused bydroughts, epidemics and extremetemperature. These disasters haveresulted in nearly 2,00,000 deathsand left hundreds of millions affect-ed in the country.

In all of these incidents, our

armed forces have been employedfor conduct of HumanitarianAssistance and Disaster Relief(HADR) missions, more often thannot, as the key nodal agency.

It, therefore, comes as a majorsurprise to all, especially the mili-tary leadership, when they findthemselves and the military on thefringes in this ongoing war againstthe pandemic, tasked with provid-ing only limited assistance on theperiphery.

That apparently appears to havebecome a source of immense anxi-ety and insecurity among theService Chiefs, forcing them to calla press conference to announce aseries of displays by elements of thethree Services and the Coast Guardto honour our “Corona warriors.”

If, on the other hand, these werethe directions of the Governmentthat they were complying with —which is also a major possibility —it shows them up as weak, only aim-ing to please their political bosses in

hopes of future rewards.To my mind, there appears to be

no other reasonable explanation forthis bizarre exercise, which obvious-ly appears to have, at least outward-ly, paid them some dividends, if thePrime Minister’s tweet means any-thing.

Let us not get it wrong. Thereis indeed much to be appreciative of,inasmuch as such displays gotowards building the morale of the“Corona warriors.” But did it reallyrequire the Chief of Defence Staffand the three Service Chiefs to makethe announcement? Is that whatthey have been reduced to? For thatmatter, was the scale that thismorale-boosting exercise wasundertaken at really necessary?

In such troubled times, sub-stance over showmanship wouldhave been better appreciated. Muchof that time, money and effort, couldand should, have been better utilisedin providing assistance to the vastnumbers of our citizenry who have

been rendered utterly destitute,hungry, without shelter and unableto reach their homes because of anill-planned and poorly-executednationwide lockdown.

Feeding the hungry, providingtented shelters for the homeless ortransport for the weary are not mat-ters that require approval from thehighest levels, just a humane bent ofmind at the local level. That in itselfwould have garnered enough good-will among the populace, withoutthis grasping for publicity that wewitnessed on television.

It should be seen as a positivestep that our military has not beencalled out in this disaster, except ofcourse for providing medical assis-tance where necessary. This suggeststhat our civil administration isfinally maturing and waking up toits duties, however poor its perfor-mance might have been this timearound.

In all fairness, this particulardisaster has been on an unprece-

dented scale. We neither anticipat-ed it nor were we prepared ortrained for it and errors were to beexpected.

It has been the bane of the mil-itary in the past that whenever a dis-aster occurred, it invariably led tothe civil administration and itsagencies all but abdicating theirresponsibilities, leaving it to the mil-itary to take over the process, coor-dinate and provide the requiredassistance. Examples are too numer-ous to quote but the floods that dev-astated Uttarakhand and Kashmir,in the past, best illustrate this phe-nomenon.

Clearly, as we look at and assessthe security environment in ourregion, there can be little doubt thatour military must take all necessaryprecautions to keep its units out ofharm’s way so that they can meettheir constitutional obligations andsuccessfully protect our sovereign-ty at a moment’s notice. Static unitsand those uncommitted opera-

tionally, spread out all over thecountry could have been utilised ina number of ways to provide suc-cour to our hard-pressed brethren.As a matter of fact, it was the bound-en duty of our Service Chiefs to haveinterceded with the Prime Ministerand have convinced him of the enor-mous range of assistance that ourforces were capable of providing.

Obviously the lack of PersonalProtection Equipment (PPE) with-in the forces may well have been animportant consideration for thehierarchy in whatever suggestionsthey may have made. In any case, the“Corona warriors” would have beenmore appreciative if they had beenprovided with PPE and protectionfrom rampaging mobs instead.

In fact, within the veteran com-munity, leaving aside a few, thesetheatrics have been seen as contraryto service norms and ethics, as theformer Naval chief, AdmiralLaxminarayan Ramdas’, article inone of our dailies makes it amply

clear.Instead of copying what the US

Air Force Aerobatics Teams did atNew York, we could have looked atthe more innovative ways theSpanish military was used to man-ufacture PPE. It may come as a sur-prise but various Ordnance Corpsestablishments within the Armyare authorised tailors and equipmentrepairers, who could have beengainfully employed to producemasks and other equipment.

Given the massive deficiency inPPE suits, even the OrdnanceParachute Factory at Kanpur couldhave been modified quickly tomass-produce them. An opportuni-ty to do good was truly squandered,leaving behind only a bitter taste inthe mouth that is unlikely to disap-pear any time soon.

(The author, a military veteranis a Consultant with the ObserverResearch Foundation and a SeniorVisiting Fellow with The PeninsulaFoundation, Chennai)

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AChinese medicalresearcher on the “verge of

making very significant” coro-navirus findings has beenfound shot dead in the US stateof Pennsylvania, media reportssaid on Wednesday.

University of Pittsburghprofessor Bing Liu, 37, wasfound dead inside his home inRoss Township, north ofPittsburgh, on Saturday withgunshot wounds to the head,neck, torso and extremities,according to the Ross PoliceDepartment.

Investigators believe anunidentified second man, HaoGu, 46 who was found dead inhis car, shot and killed Liu inhis home before returning tohis car and taking his own life,the Pittsburgh Post-Gazettereported.

Police believe the menknew each other, but say there

is “zero indication that therewas targeting due to his (Liu)being Chinese,” according toDetective Sgt. Brian Kohlhepp,the CNN reported.

The university issued astatement saying it is “deeply saddened by the trag-ic death of Bing Liu, a prolificresearcher and admired col-league at Pitt.

The University extends ourdeepest sympathies to Liu’sfamily, friends and colleaguesduring this difficult time.”

“Bing was on the verge ofmaking very significant find-ings toward understanding thecellular mechanisms thatunderlie SARS-CoV-2 infec-tion and the cellular basis of thefollowing complications,” hiscolleagues at the university’sDepartment of Computationaland Systems Biology said in astatement.

“He was a very talentedindividual, extremely intelligent

and hard-working,” said IvetBahar, the head of the compu-tational and system biologydepartment in Pitt’s School ofMedicine. Members of the uni-versity’s School of Medicinedescribe their former colleagueas an outstanding researcherand mentor, and have pledgedto complete Liu’s research “inan effort to pay homage to hisscientific excellence.”

Liu, who earned a Ph.D incomputational science fromthe National University ofSingapore, worked as a post-doctoral fellow at CarnegieMellon University beforebecoming a research associateat the University of PittsburghSchool of Medicine.

The deadly coronaviruswhich originated from theChinese city of Wuhan hasinfected over 3.67 million peo-ple and killed 258,051 peopleglobally, according to a tally byJohns Hopkins University.

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China on Wednesday daredUS Secretary of State Mike

Pompeo to show the “enor-mous evidence” he has to provethat the novel coronavirus orig-inated from a lab in Wuhan andasserted that the matter shouldbe handled by scientists insteadof politicians out of theirdomestic political compulsionsin an election year.

In recent days, USPresident Donald Trump andSecretary of State Pompeo haveclaimed that the deadly virusoriginated from the WuhanInstitute of Virology in the cen-tral Chinese city of Wuhan,where the outbreak was firstdetected last December. Thetwo leaders have also said thatChina has refused to give inter-national scientists access tolearn what happened.

The claim has drawn fierce

rebuttal from Beijing, which onWednesday described the accusation as “smear”intended to bolster PresidentTrump’s re-election chances inNovember.

“He (Pompeo) said ‘enor-mous evidence’. Then showus,” Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson Hua Chunyingtold a media briefing here.“Pompeo cannot present anyevidence because he does nothave any,” Hua said. “This mat-ter should be handled by sci-entists and professionalsinstead of politicians out oftheir domestic political need”.

China’s foreign ministrycalled the accusations a polit-ical strategy to “smear China”for Republicans ahead of the2020 election.

“The recently exposed USRepublican strategies showsthey are encouraged to attackChina under the pretext of the

virus,” Hua said, adding thatChina was “fed up with suchtricks.”

“We urge the US to stopspreading disinformation ormisleading the internationalcommunity. It should deal withits own problems and dealwith the pandemic at home,”she said. Hua said the head ofthe World Health Organisation(WHO) stated that the US hasnot presented any evidence toit so far to back up its claims.

“On the issue of the originof coronavirus, people have dif-ferent opinions. I think tracingthe origin is a very serious mat-ter. That should be researchedby scientists and professionals,”she said.

“Almost all top scientists,including those in the US,believe that this virus camefrom nature, not man-madeand there is no possibility thatit was leaked from a lab,” said.

“The WHO officials alsosaid all the evidence showedthat the virus is not man-made”, she said.

Hua also said all countriesmust examine the reports thatthe cases of Covid-19 werereported in some countries in

September and December lastyear. She said recent reportssaid coronavirus cases werereported in the US in October

last year. Reports from Francespoke of a coronavirus casedetected from a patient inDecember last year, Hua said.

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Asenior Chinese diplomatexpressed backing for the

World Health Organisation onWednesday, but said an invita-tion for the agency’s experts tovisit Wuhan to look into theorigins of the coronavirus mustwait until after the pandemic isbeaten.

“First things first: The toppriority for the time being is tofocus on the fight against thepandemic,” said Chen Xu,China’s ambassador to UNinstitutions in Geneva, whenasked about the timing of a

possible invitation for a WHOteam. “We need the right focusand allocation of ourresources.”

“So it’s not we are allergicto any kind of investigations,inquiries or evaluations,” hesaid, “as long as it will be ben-eficial to the internationalefforts.”

The comments from Chenamount to the latest Chinesediplomatic push, just as theUnited States has criticized theWHO over its handling of theCOVID-19 outbreak that hasinfected millions and killed atleast 2,50,000 people — and its

alleged coziness with Beijing.Chen said China is now on

board for an initiative led by theWHO, many European coun-tries and charity groups like theGates Foundation to expeditevaccines and COVID-19 treat-ment tools to developing coun-tries. He didn’t offer details onhow China would show itssupport.

The US meanwhile hasnot lined up for the Access toCOVID-19 Tools, or ACT,“Accelerator” that aims to helpthe most vulnerable countriesgain access to vaccines, diag-nostics and treatment tools for

the coronavirus as they emerge.President Donald Trump’s

administration has criticizedthe WHO’s handling of theearly outbreak and announceda suspension of funding fromthe US — the UN agency’s topdonor. Administration officialshave accused the WHO ofcovering up missteps as theoutbreak emerged in Wuhan.

Chen said the US was“duty-bound” to keep up itsfunding.

“We do hope that theAmericans could have secondthoughts, to come back to theright track,” he said.

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From the marbled halls ofItaly to the wheat fields of

Kansas, health authorities areincreasingly warning that thequestion isn’t whether a secondwave of coronavirus infectionsand deaths will hit, but when —and how badly.

In India, which relaxed itslockdown this week, healthauthorities scrambledWednesday to contain an out-break at a huge market. Hard-hit New York City shut downits subway system overnight fordisinfection. Experts in Italy,which just began easing somerestrictions, warned lawmakersthat a new surge of infections and deaths is com-ing, and they urged intensifiedefforts to identify victims, mon-itor their symptoms and tracetheir contacts.

German Chancellor AngelaMerkel said after meeting withthe country’s 16 governors thatrestaurants and remainingshops will be allowed to reopenin the coming weeks but thatrestrictions will be reimposed ifnew infections hit a certainlevel. “There will be a secondwave, but the problem is towhich extent. Is it a small waveor a big wave? It’s too early tosay,” said Olivier Schwartz, headof the virus and immunity unitat France’s Pasteur Institute.France, which hasn’t yet easedits lockdown, has worked up a“re-confinement plan” to readyfor that second wave.

Many areas are still strug-gling with the first wave. Brazilfor the first time locked downa large city, the capital ofMaranhão state. Across theocean, the number of con-firmed coronavirus cases inAfrica has shot up 42% in thepast week. Infections wereexpected to surpass 50,000 thereon Wednesday.

An Associated Press analy-sis, meanwhile, found that U.S.infection rates outside the NewYork City area are in fact rising,notably in rural areas. It found

New York’s progress against thevirus was overshadowingincreasing infections elsewhere.

“Make no mistakes: Thisvirus is still circulating in ourcommunity, perhaps even morenow than in previous weeks,”said Linda Ochs, director of theHealth Department in ShawneeCounty, Kansas.

The virus is known to haveinfected more than 3.6 millionand killed more than 251,000people, according to a tally byJohns Hopkins that all expertsagree is an undercount becauseof limited testing, differences incounting the dead and con-cealment by some governments.

The U.S. has seen over71,000 deaths amid its 1.2 mil-lion confirmed infections, andEurope has endured over144,000 reported deaths.

“Burying both parents atthe same time? It’s hard,” saidDesmond Tolbert, who lost hismother and father in ruralGeorgia. Because they had thevirus, he couldn’t be with themwhen they died.

The researchers behind awidely cited model from theUniversity of Washington near-ly doubled their projection ofdeaths in the U.S. to around134,000 through early August,in large part because of the eas-ing of state stay-at-home restric-tions.

President Donald Trump,with his eye on being reelectedin November, is pushing hard toease the social-distancing ordersand resuscitate the U.S. econo-my, which has seen over 30 mil-lion workers lose their jobs inless than two months. Thoughthe White House had signaledTuesday that it would beginwinding down the country’scoronavirus task force, Trumptweeted Wednesday that itwould continue “indefinitelywith its focus on SAFETY &OPENING UP OUR COUN-TRY AGAIN.”

Underscoring those eco-nomic concerns, the EuropeanUnion predicted the worstrecession in its quarter-century

history, and the U.S. unem-ployment rate for April, whichcomes out Friday, is expected tohit a startling 16 percent, a levellast seen during the GreatDepression of the 1930s.

A century ago, the Spanishflu epidemic’s second wave wasfar deadlier than its first, in partbecause authorities allowedmass gatherings fromPhiladelphia to San Francisco.

As Italy’s lockdown easedthis week, Dr. Silvio Brusaferro,president of the SuperiorInstitute of Health, urged “ahuge investment” of resources totrain medical personnel to mon-itor possible new cases. He saidtracing apps — which are beingbuilt by dozens of countries andcompanies — aren’t enough tomanage future waves of infec-tion.

“We are not out of the epi-demic. We are still in it. I don’twant people to think there’s nomore risk and we go back tonormal,” said Dr. GiovanniRezza, head of the institute’sinfectious-disease department.

Lothar Wieler, head ofGermany’s national disease con-trol center, said scientists “knowwith great certainty that therewill be a second wave” of infec-tions but said Germany is well-prepared to deal with it. Thecountry has been hailed for test-ing widely and has had one-fourth the number of deaths inItaly or Britain, which havesmaller populations.

Britain has begun recruiting18,000 people to trace contactsof those infected. British officialsacknowledge that they shouldhave done more testing and trac-ing earlier and could learn fromSouth Korea, which brought itsoutbreak under control by rig-orously testing, tracing and iso-lating infected people.

South Africa, which hasyears of experience trackingHIV and other infections, hasmore than 30,000 experiencedcommunity tracers at work.Turkey has 5,800 teams of con-tact tracers who have trackeddown and tested nearly half a

million people.India was concentrated on

the immediate drama aroundthe market in the southern cityof Chennai, which is now tiedto at least 1,000 virus cases. Anadditional 7,000 people con-nected to the now-shutteredKoyambedu market are beingtraced and quarantined. Expertsare worried about a health cat-astrophe in a country of 1.3 bil-lion people with an alreadystressed medical system.

New confirmed daily infec-tions in the U.S. exceed 20,000,and deaths per day are well over1,000, according to the JohnsHopkins tally. And public healthofficials warn that the failure tolower the infection rate couldlead to many more deaths —perhaps tens of thousands — aspeople venture out and busi-nesses reopen.

“The faster we reopen, thelower the economic cost — butthe higher the human cost,because the more lives lost,”New York Gov. Andrew Cuomosai d. “That, my friends, is thedecision we are really making.”

New York City Mayor Billde Blasio warned on CNN thatsome states may be reopeningtoo quickly.

“My message to the rest ofthe country is learn from howmuch effort, how much disci-pline it took to finally bringthese numbers down and followthe same path until you’re surethat it’s being beaten back,” hesaid, “or else if this thingboomerangs, you’re putting offany kind of restart or recoverya hell of a lot longer.”

Trump acknowledged thetoll but argued that keeping theUS economy closed carriesdeadly costs of its own, such asdrug abuse and suicides.

“I’m not saying anything isperfect, and yes, will some peo-ple be affected? Yes. Will somepeople be affected badly? Yes.But we have to get our countryopen and we have to get it opensoon,” he said during a visit toArizona in which he did notwear a face mask.

Geneva: At least 90,000 health-care workers worldwide arebelieved to have been infectedwith Covid-19, and possiblytwice that, amid reports ofcontinuing shortages of pro-tective equipment, theInternational Council of Nurses(ICN) said on Wednesday.

The disease has killed morethan 260 nurses, it said in astatement, urging authorities tokeep more accurate records tohelp prevent the virus fromspreading among staff andpatients.

The Geneva-based associ-ation said a month ago that 100nurses had died in the pan-demic sparked by a novel coro-navirus that emerged in thecentral Chinese city of Wuhanlate last year.

“The figure for health careworkers infections has risenfrom 23,000 to we think morethan 90,000, but that is still anunder-estimation because it is

not (covering) every country inthe world,” Howard Catton,ICN’s chief executive officer,told Reuters Television in itslakeside offices.

The 90,000 estimate isbased on information collect-ed on 30 countries fromnational nursing associations,government figures and mediareports. The ICN represents130 national associations andmore than 20 million registerednurses.

Catton, noting that 3.5million cases of Covid-19 havebeen reported worldwide, said:“If the average health workerinfection rate, about 6 percentwe think, is applied to that, thefigure globally could be morethan 2,00,000 health workerinfections on Wednesday.

“The scandal is thatGovernments are not system-atically collecting and report-ing on this information. Itlooks to us as though they are

turning a blind eye which wethink is completely unacceptable and will costmore lives,” Catton, a Briton,added.

The World HealthOrganization (WHO), which iscoordinating the globalresponse to the pandemic, saysthat its 194 member states arenot providing comprehensivefigures on health worker infec-tions as they grapple with theunprecedented crisis.

The WHO last said onApril 11 that some 22,000health workers were thought tohave been infected.

The ICN said it nowbelieves those “shocking” fig-ures to significantly underesti-mate the reality.

“This failure to record bothinfection rates and deathsamong healthcare workers isputting more nurses and theirpatients in danger,” the state-ment said. Agency

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There are no signs NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un

received heart surgery when hedisappeared from state mediafor three weeks, but he reduced public activity due tocoronavirus concerns, SouthKorean lawmakers briefed bythe spy agency said onWednesday.

Kim attended the comple-tion of a fertiliser plant, NorthKorea’s official media said onSaturday, the first report of his appearing in public sinceApril 11.

His absence fuelled a flur-ry of speculation about hishealth and whereabouts, witha South Korean news outletreporting Kim was recovering

from a cardiovascular proce-dure while CNN said US officials were monitoringIntelligence he was “in gravedanger” after surgery.

Members of South Korea’sparliamentary Intelligencecommittee said after a meetingwith the National IntelligenceService (NIS) that the reportswere “groundless.”

“The NIS assesses that atleast he did not get any heart-related procedure or surgery,”committee member KimByung-kee told reporters.

“He was normally per-forming his duties when he wasout of the public eye.”

“At least there’s no heart-related health problem.”

But the lawmaker said KimJong Un only made 17 public

appearances so far this year,compared with an average of 50from previous years, whichthe National IntelligenceService (NIS) ascribed to a pos-sible coronavirus outbreak inNorth Korea.

“Kim Jong Un had focusedon consolidating internal affairs such as military forcesand party-state meetings, andcoronavirus concerns have further limited his public activity,” Kim Byung-kee said.

“Though North Koreamaintains it has zero cases, itcannot be ruled out that there is an outbreak theregiven they had active people-to-people exchanges withChina before closing the bor-der in late January.”

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The unprecedented increasein excise duty on petrol and

diesel by �10 and �13 per litreon Tuesday may not be the endof the government’s exercise tofleece the two petroleum prod-ucts for additional revenuethis year.

Sources indicated that thatanother �3-6 per litre increasein excise duty on petrol anddiesel may come midway dur-ing the year if government feltthe need to mobilise moreresources to finance addition-al economic recovery packagesto fight Covid-19 related dis-ruptions.

This level of increase couldprovide government addition-al revenue to the tune of�60,000 crore for full year.

In March, government hadtaken Parliamentary approvalto raise special additional exciseduty on petrol to �18 per litreand on diesel to �12 per litrebut did not change the levythen. On Tuesday, special addi-tional excise duty has beenraised to �12 on petrol and to�9 on diesel. This leavesGovernment with the space toincrease excise duty on petrolby a further �6 per litre and ondiesels by �3 per litre.

“This is the option with theGovernment that could be con-

sidered later in the yeardepending on the need andprevailing global oil prices. Ifglobal oil and product pricesremain at current levels orlower, a further duty hike thisyear is a strong possibility,” saida source from public sector oilmarketing company.

For consumers, any furtherincrease in duty should notimpact much as retail pricesmay be left unchanged or mar-ginally increased as lower oilprices would allow for absorb-ing any increase in price.

However, a further increasein taxes on fuel would make theproduct most taxed globally.

The current taxes accountfor close to 70 per cent of theprice of petrol and diesel. Withany further increase in duty,this Fichte could reach 75-80

per cent level.Higher retail price is not an

option for the government atthis juncture as it could pushinflation.

According to Barclays theestimate is that the centralgovernment’s revenue benefitfrom the additional hikes infuel taxes undertaken onTuesday, could be as much as�1.4 lakh crore (0.67% of GDP)on an annual basis. This is ontop of an estimated �2.8 lakhcrore already being collected bythe central government fromthe fuel tax/cess, which wouldbring the total contribution tocentral exchequer from fueltaxes to �4.4 lakh crore (~ 2.1%of GDP). These projectionsassume that demand for bothpetrol and diesel will fall 12%in FY20-21.

New Delhi: In a relief to tele-com major Bharti Airtel, theDelhi High Court has directedthe Centre to verify the com-pany’s claim of excess GST of�923 crore within two weeksand refund the amount onceverified. Bharti Airtel allegedthat there was excess paymentof taxes, by way of cash, to thetune of around �923 crore.

“This was occasioned to agreat degree due to non-oper-ationalisation of Forms GSTR-2A, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 andthe system related checkswhich could have forewarnedthe petitioner about the mis-take. Petitioner now desires tocorrect its returns, but is beingprevented from doing so, asthere is no enabling statutoryprocedure implemented by theGovernment,” said the judge-ment copy.

“We also direct theRespondents that on filing ofthe rectified Form GSTR-3B,they shall, within a period oftwo weeks, verifythe claimmade therein and give effect tothe same once verified,” theHigh Court said. IANS

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Markets found firmerground on Wednesday

after two sessions of losses asinvestors made a cautiousreturn to some recently-bat-tered banking, finance andauto counters.

Dismal macroeconomicdata and rising concerns overthe country’s economic outlookamid rising Covid-19 casescapped the gains, traders said.

After swinging over 800points during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 232.24points or 0.74 per cent higherat 31,685.75.

On similar lines, the NSENifty rose 65.30 points, or 0.71per cent, to finish at 9,270.90.

M&M was the top gainerin the Sensex pack, spurting5.27 per cent, followed by BajajFinance, HDFC Bank, BhartiAirtel, ICICI Bank, HeroMotoCorp and HDFC.

On the other hand, ITCcracked 5.81 per cent. HUL,TCS, Titan and Infosys tooended in the red.

According to traders, eco-nomic uncertainty due to theCovid-19 pandemic, mutedcorporate earnings and weak

macroeconomic data keptinvestors wary.

India’s service sector activ-ity plummeted to a historic low

in April amid the coronaviruslockdown.

The IHS Markit IndiaServices Business Activity

Index stood at just 5.4 in April,from 49.3 in March — the mostsevere contraction in servicesoutput since records began inDecember 2005.

“Markets were volatile as9,100 levels held out as a keysupport for the Nifty in a dayof mixed gains for its con-stituents. Financials led thegains, in anticipation of stim-ulus measures while FMCG,bluechip IT stocks and OMCsdisappointed.

“The volatility in theindices is expected to contin-ue as investors look out fortrading cues in the form ofstimulus measures by the gov-ernment and global markettrends,” said Vinod Nair, Headof Research at Geojit FinancialServices.

BSE finance, telecom,bankex, auto, basic materialsand realty indices climbed upto 2.46 per cent, while FMCG,consumer durables, IT andenergy closed lower.

Broader BSE midcap andsmallcap indices rose up to 0.78per cent. Global equities weremixed as investors tracked therising coronavirus cases andescalating US-China tensions.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong

Kong and Seoul settled withsignificant gains, while Tokyowas closed for a holiday.

European markets weretrading on a cautious note inearly deals. International oilbenchmark Brent crude futuresrose 1.65 per cent to USD31.48 per barrel.

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Telecom regulator Trai onWednesday resumed its

customary open house discus-sion (OHD) on pending mat-ters through video-conferencebut the issue of floor price oftariffs is unlikely to be taken upvia online mode for now, till theongoing situation arising fromCovid-19 pandemic stabilises,a source said.

The Trai source said the reg-ulator may soon come out witha consultation paper dealingwith bill shocks in internation-al mobile roaming, that will seekto address the issues faced byconsumers in terms of loss ofconnectivity, and high bills.

The modalities of the con-sultation paper will be finalisedsoon, and it may be releasedwithin a month.

The Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (Trai) has, sofar, lined up at least two OHDs— a standard practice followedby it to take verbal inputs fromindustry and public on specif-ic issues — through video-con-ference for this month.

The source said in all prob-ability an OHD will also beorganised on the issue of“transparency in publishing oftariff offers”, by month end.

Besides, at least 3-4 other

OHDs will take place nextmonth through video-confer-ence, and online will be the reg-ular mode for such discussionstill things get back to normal.Even once things are back to nor-mal, OHDs may assume a hybridformat, to ensure increased par-ticipation, the source added.

However, the issue of fix-ing floor price of tariffs may notfigure immediately in OHD viavideo-conference, the sourcesaid adding that some of thepending matters are likely to betaken up first.

Also, given the ongoingscenario of coronavirus pan-demic and the difficulties facedby people, Trai may wait forsituation to stabilise before itproceeds to the OHD stage onfloor price issue, the sourcesaid. When contacted, CellularOperators’ Association of India(COAI)Director General RajanMathews recently told PTI thatthe regulator is aware of theindustry’s sense of urgency,but that the industry will waitfor Trai to take a call.

Stating that telcos are cur-rently focusing on ensuringuptime, quality of service andengaging with the Governmentto open retail recharge facilities,Mathews said the “issue offloor price will emerge once weget past Covid-19 situation”.

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Automobile majors, includ-ing Maruti Suzuki India,

Mercedes-Benz, TVS Motor,and Royal Enfield, onWednesday announcedresumption of or plans torestart production at theirrespective manufacturing unitsfollowing relaxation of guide-lines by the Government forthe third phase of lockdown.

The country’s largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India(MSI) said it would resumeoperations at its Manesar plantfrom May 12. The Gurugramdistrict administration hadallowed MSI to run Manesarfacility on a single shift basis,while fixing the total numberof employees at plant at 4,696.

The company’s Manesar(Haryana) plant is outside thelimits of Gurugram MunicipalCorporation, while itsGurugram plant falls within thecity limits.

The two plants in Haryanahave an installed capacity to roll

out 15.5 lakh units per annum.Operations at the facilities aresuspended since March 22.

Hyundai Motor India,which is yet to start rolling outvehicles from its Chennai plantthough it has commencedpreparations to do so, saidaround 250 company dealer-ships have resumed operationsacross various States.

On the other hand,Mercedes-Benz India said ithas resumed production at itsmanufacturing facility inChakan, Pune.

The production has com-menced in a graded mannerfollowing directives from the

Government of Maharashtra toreopen and resume operations,the company said in a state-ment. Similarly, Chennai-basedTVS Motor Company said ithas commenced operations inIndia across all factories inHosur, Mysuru and Nalagarh,while niche bike maker Royal Enfield also said it hasresumed operations at its man-ufacturing plants.

However, Honda CarsIndia Ltd (HCIL) said lack ofrequired workforce is makingit difficult for the company toresume operations at its twomanufacturing plants, butadded that its dealerships have

started to open across thecountry.

The automaker, which sellsmodels like City and Amaze,said that with new relaxationsfrom the Government, it isplanning to restart operationsat Tapukara plant in Rajasthan

sometime next week.Likewise, utility vehicle

maker Isuzu Motors India alsosaid said it has receivedapprovals from local authoritiesto resume operations at its plantin SriCity, Andhra Pradesh.

Similarly, tyre major MRFLtd said it has partially resumedoperations in most of its plantswith restricted manpower, fol-lowing relaxation of lockdownguidelines by the Government.

The Home Ministry hadallowed factories in rural areasor those outside municipallimits to resume productionunder strict safety and hygiene guidelines fromMonday with an aim to kick-start economic activity in thethird phase of lockdown tillMay 17.

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The rupee depreciated 9 paiseto close at 75.72 against the

US dollar on Wednesday due togrowth concerns as a surveyshowed that the services sectorcontracted in April.

Weakness in Asian cur-rencies following Chinese yuandropping by 0.6 per centagainst the US dollar and sus-tained foreign fund outflowsalso weighed on the rupee.

Inflation concerns follow-ing the Centre and some statesincreased taxes on petroleumproducts also hit investor sen-timent.

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Shares of oil marketing com-panies — Indian Oil

Corporation Ltd, BharatPetroleum Corporation Ltdand Hindustan PetroleumCorporation Ltd — onWednesday trimmed most oftheir early losses at close oftrade after plunging up to 13per cent during the day afterhike in excise duty on petroland diesel.

Shares of HindustanPetroleum Corporation Ltd(HPCL) settled 5.68 per centlower, Indian Oil Corporation(IOC) slumped 2.73 per centand Bharat PetroleumCorporation Ltd (BPCL) fell0.94 per cent on the BSE.

During the day, HPCLtanked 13 per cent, BharatPetroleum 9.99 per cent andIndian Oil 7.49 per cent.

Late on Tuesday evening,the Government hiked exciseduty on petrol by �10 per litreand that on diesel by �13 a litreto mop up gains arising frominternational oil prices fallingto a two-decade low.

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Enquiries regarding residen-tial properties across major

cities by prospective buyershave increased during the lock-down, courtesy the onlineroute, although sales remainedsubdued, according to a reportby 360 Realtors.

The report noted that thecoronavirus pandemic contin-ues to undermine growth in theIndian realty sector, as demandhas softened in most of themajor cities.

“The industry showedsome resilience by leveragingthe digital medium, but aknock-off in site visits andsales was inevitable. The num-bers plunged, thereby tankingoverall sentiments.Interestingly, there was a steeprise in enquiries as people are

having plenty of extra time dueto lockdown,” it said.

In Pune, the monthlyenquiries grew by 220 per centin April, while in Bengaluru,the rise is pegged at 140 percent, said. In Noida, it was up58 per cent, followed byMumbai where enquiries roseby 56 per cent.

Ankit Kansal, Founder andMD, 360 Realtors said: “Due tolockdown, most of the peopleare working from home, whichis giving them ample time toresearch and learn more aboutproperties.

Although COVID has trig-gered uncertainty and volatil-ity in the market, it is alsoenabling wide-scale behav-ioural changes. Across the valuechain, spurred adoption of thedigital medium is visible.”

In terms of demand, the

report said that the distress ismore visible in markets likeGurugram, where a sharp 70per cent monthly reduction intransaction volumes has beenregistered.

However, in other IT-cen-tric markets like Pune andBengaluru, the deceleration ismore indistinct, as realtors cansell properties through onlineplatforms.

It observed that theremight be a possible compres-sion of 10-25 per cent in theoffice rentals. The report fur-ther revealed that renewedleasing will be in the range of20-25 million square feet in theyear, a notable dip of around 50per cent.

However, strata leasing andsmall ticket size sales of �50-70 lakhs will continue toinfuse momentum.

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The outbreak of Covid-19pandemic and the subse-

quent national lockdownimplemented to curb its spread,has led to a massive declin e inIndia’s service sector output inApril, a macro-economic datapoint sho wed on Wednesday.

Accordingly, the IHSMarkit India Services BusinessActivity Index showed a read-ing of 5.4 in April, which is anextreme decline from 49.3 inMarch, and indicative of themost severe contraction in ser-vices output since recordsbegan in December 2005.

An index reading of above50 indicates an overall increasein economic act ivity and below50, an overall decrease.

The survey panellists saidthe activity fell severely as a

result of the n ationwide lock-down, leading businesses toshut down their operations asdema nd collapsed.

“Approximately 97 per centof survey respondents observeda reduction in o utput, high-lighting the widespread impactof the Covid-19 pandemic,” thereport said.

Similarly, the CompositePMI Output Index, which mea-sures the combined ser vicesand manufacturing output,sank to a new record low inApril.

“At 7.2, the index fell from50.6 in March and was indica-tive of an unprec edenteddecline in private sector busi-ness activity,” the report said.

“The latest reading wasthe smallest by some margin,eclipsing the previos low seenin February 2009.”

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US stocks closed higher asmarket sentiment was

boosted by a strong rally in oilprices and hopes for restartingthe economy.

On Tuesday, the Dow JonesIndustrial Average increased133.33 points, or 0.56 per cent,to 23,883.09, after jumpingmore than 400 points earlier inthe session, Xinhua newsagency reported.

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Overall sale of luxury properties across thekey markets of National Capital Region

(NCR), Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR)and Bengaluru rose by 9 per cent in 2019 on ayear-on-year (YoY) basis to 40,376 units,according to a PropEquity report.

As per the report, supply of luxury units roseby 7 per cent in 2019 across the three metrosto 31,230 units and the unsold inventory in thesegment declined 9 per cent 95,965 units.

Sale of luxury housing in Delhi-NCR wit-nessed a growth of 17 per cent in 2019,whileBengaluru and MMR saw a growth of 10per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

Samir Jasuja, Founder and MD ofPropEquity said: “There was a limited demand

for luxury housing projects across India withready-to-move-in options by Grade-A devel-opers seeing some traction in 2019. Going ahead,we can expect some decent uptake for ready tomove in and nearing completion luxury projectsby renowned developers in top cities.”

He further said that as corona pandemic isexpected to subside in the next few months, themarket may witness a positive spike in luxurydemand as buyers who were delaying their deci-sions would enter the market.

“New supply of luxury housing units inDelhi-NCR jumped by 37 per cent to 8,026 unitsin 2019, whereas Mumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR) saw a marginal growth of only 3 per centto 15,720 units and new supply fell by 8 per centto 7,484 units in the same period in Bengaluru,”it said the report.

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In the backstage hallways ofWashington DC’s Capital One

Arena, Michelle Obama walksarm-in-arm with her husband,Barack Obama. She has just fin-ished the third stop on whatwould be a 34-city book tour ofsuch unprecedented scale that italmost resembled a Beyoncéconcert tour.

Nadia Hallgren’s camera istrailing them when Michelle per-haps looking for reassurance,asks the former president: “Doesit seem like a show that you’d liketo see?”

Hallgren’s documentary,Becoming, is — more so thanwe’ve seen before — the MichelleObama Show. It captures the for-mer first lady, in settings bothpublic and intimate, navigatingher post-White House life, inter-acting with fans and generallyfostering a spirit of positivity, self-belief and hope that few besideher husband are capable ofinspiring.

“My life is starting to be mineagain,” she says in the film.“There’s another chapter waitingfor me out there.”

Becoming, which debutsWednesday on Netflix, is anextension of her 2018 best-sell-ing memoir of the same nameand a kind of authorised filmicportrait of Obama. It’s producedby Higher Ground Productions,the film company founded by theObamas.

Before now, Higher Groundhas backed well-received, social-ly-minded documentaries aboutAmerican labour (the Oscar-

winning American Factory) andthe disability rights movement(the acclaimed Sundance-winnerCrip Camp: A DisabilityRevolution). It’s been an auspi-cious, award-winning beginningfor Higher Ground, the mostambitious post-White Housedive into Hollywood of any for-mer US president. WithBecoming, one half of HigherGround now steps in front of thecamera, too.

The film, itself, was a secretuntil last week when Netflixannounced its forthcoming pre-miere. Hallgren typically workedwith small crews or just by her-self. Much of Becoming takesplace either in arenas crowdedwith cameras or in private set-tings — the back seat of an SUV,the childhood home of Obama— so few would have spotted her.

“I think if people saw me, itprobably looked very unofficial,”chuckles Hallgren. KeepingBecoming clandestine still wasn’teasy, though. “My closest friendshad no idea what I was doing,”Hallgren says. “People werealways like, ‘What are you upto?’”

Hallgren is a veteran docu-mentary cinematographer

(Trouble the Water, Girl Rising,Trapped) making her featuredirectorial debut. The job,Hallgren believes, she won fromher body of work and, as first

gleaned in a high-pressure meet-ing with Obama, their similari-ties. “She’s from the South Side.I’m from the South Bronx,” saysthe New York-bred filmmaker.

Unlike the interview-heavyHulu doc-series Hillary on HillaryClinton, Hallgren’s approach ismostly fly-on-the-wall, mixingglossy onstage footage of Obama’stalks with the likes of OprahWinfrey, Reese Witherspoon andStephen Colbert with more per-sonal scenes offstage. Obamareflects on her eight years in theWhite House and the often racist-tinged response they engendered.“You hope people were moreready for us than maybe theywere,” she says.

Obama doesn’t analyse the2016 election or the rise ofDonald Trump except for onecomment lamenting the turnoutof African American voters.“That’s my trauma,” she says.

But the main trust ofBecoming is not just Obama’sstory but what she inspires —how one story begets others.Hallgren, drawing from the pho-tography of Garry Winogrand,lingers on the faces in Obama’scrowds, and in some cases takesa moment to follow their lives.Becoming may be part concertfilm but it’s nearly as interested inthe audience as it is in the show-stopper on stage.

“Often times when Obama

was on stage, I was not the maincamera filming her,” saysHallgren. “So I had the opportu-nity to walk around. There wassuch an incredible energy inthose arenas. The excitementthat people had felt special. Ithought: I want to capture this.”

The timing of of the docu-mentary is interesting not justbecause it captures a sense ofcommunity before people wereforced into lockdown by the pan-demic but because it comes in themiddle of the presidential cam-paign. The Deadline review of thefilm isn’t alone in maintaining: “IfMichelle Obama wasn’t soadamant that she isn’t running forpublic office, the perfectly timedthe documentary would sureseem like a campaign launch.”

Obama, however, has stead-fastly maintained she’s not apolitical figure and hasn’t beforeofficially endorsed a candidate.Obama decline to be interviewedfor this article but she released astatement when Becoming wasannounced.

“Even as we can no longersafely gather or feed off the ener-gy of groups, even as many of usare living with grief, lonelinessand fear, we need to stay open andable to put ourselves in other peo-ple’s shoes. Empathy is our lifelinehere. It’s what will get us to theother side,” said Obama. “Let’s useit to redirect our attention towardwhat matters most, reconsiderour priorities, and find ways tobetter remake the world in theimage of our hopes.”

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It started with a small trickle with thesharing of screenshots of chats of anInstagram group by an individual

and, within a few hours, became a del-uge. Soon social media was agog withthe workings of the (now infamous)‘bois locker room,’ where boys (andgirls) spoke graphically about girlstheir age. Within three days, therehave been enough twists and turns tomatch a thriller with arrests, leaking ofmore chats and name calling. But thisis certainly not the first, and certainlynot the last case where juveniles havebeen involved in cyber crime.

Experts who follow juvenile behav-iour acquiesce. Dr Samir Parikh,Director and Head of Department ofMental Health and BehaviouralSciences, Fortis Healthcare says that thecase didn’t come as a surprise. “We arebasically a hibernating society andneed something to wake us up for somedays, intellectualise it and then returnto slumber. There are million other inci-dents out there,” he says.

Supreme Court advocate PavanDuggal, who specialises in Cyberlawsays, “The lockdown period has seen thehighest spike in cyber crime in 20 yearssince the internet was introduced inIndia.”

Of course, there are a number ofreasons why such incidents take place.

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Societal norms hold parents respon-sible for bringing up children andimparting values. Consequently, the firstfingers always point in their directionwhenever youngsters are involved inbehaviour that is deemed unacceptable.Dr Geetanjali Kumar, counselling psy-chologist and parenting coach for 22years points out the gaps in present-dayparenting. “Children have a sense ofentitlement which springs from guiltcompensatory parenting. The latestphones, the smartest TV in each bed-room are gifted by adults to make up fornot spending time with children.” Thequestion to ask is why do youngstersneed these rather than fulfilling everywhim.

An extension of this is the way par-ents cover up their wards’ misde-meanours. “There is no sense of own-ership and responsibility as we haven’tmade them realise that every action hasconsequences,” says Dr Kumar. A

missed test in school sees parentsshooting off explanatory letters. “If thechild hasn’t finished the assigned work,we are quick to say it doesn’t matter andwe will pay the tutor,” says Dr Kumar.The boundaries for the lack of respon-sibility keep on extending to underageor drunken driving and more.

Etishree Bhati, clinical psychologist,says, “There are two kinds of parents.Ones who approach the problem calm-ly and question whether it was curios-ity or sexual arousal that made the childdo this? The other kind are harsh anddon’t try to understand the reasons.Their children are more likely to engagein this behaviour repeatedly, of course,secretly.”

Role modelling too comes intoplay. When the first thing a parent doesin the morning is to scroll the mobile,how can they admonish the child for thesame?

��������� �Society is in a state of flux where

the greys are more prominent while theclear-cut demarcation between rightand wrong has been obliterated. RajatMitra, Professor of Clinical Psychology,Amity University, who has workedextensively with juveniles and appearedin several hundred cases in court toassist its proceedings says, “Many par-ents are indifferent and haven’t takenany assertive stand about value forma-tion.” He recalls an incident whenDelhi Police found minors, both girlsand boys, from upper middle class fam-ilies in a state of undress and engagingin sexual acts in a public place. “Parentsdismissed the behaviour by sayingthat the children were just having funpost exams. Right and wrong havebecome relative unlike in the pastwhen values were absolute,” pointsout Mitra further elaborating thatmost people feel that if it seems right,it must be so.

Bhati extends the argument further.She points out that 15 years ago, edu-cators were talking about limiting chil-dren’s screen time on parents’ deviceand now every child has a personal one.“During lockdown, children retreat totheir rooms on the pretext of onlineclasses but neither the parents nor theteachers are aware of what they aredoing. Even during a class they mightbe chatting or visiting adult sites,” shesays.

������ ��������These blurring lines and easy access

to pornography, with inherent vio-lence, without any influence of ethicshas repercussions. Mitra says, “Between15-20 per cent adolescents get into vio-lent sexual fantasies and some actual-ly commit them.”

Violent and vulgar sexual languageseen in the ‘bois locker room’ screen-shots is indicative of a violent streak.“This violence associated with thecrime gives them a high more than thecrime itself,” says Mitra.

Another attribute of the young is thelove of risk taking. Dr Kumar says, “Theregulatory mechanism of the brainwhich advises caution isn’t developed asyet which makes the prohibited moreattractive.”

��� �������What sparked outrage about the

‘bois locker room’ incident was that itconsisted of a group, rather than justindividuals, engaging in lewd conver-sations. Mitra explains, “The boys givecollective shape to the violent fantasiesas they don’t have to feel individualguilt. It is the same psychology at workwhen crowds burn, kill, loot and rapein the actual world absolving individ-ual responsibility. This is replicated dig-itally.”

� "����"���������� Often we have seen that even at din-

ner tables people are glued to their indi-vidual mobiles. This effectively meansa lack of communication. “Even the sib-ling bond isn’t strong as children do noteven watch TV together,” says DrKumar.

A lack of communication leads toan inability to express emotions and ascarcity of emotional vocabulary. “Weneed to generate thinking with a logi-cal and emotional perspective whereyou can define the whys and hows ofemotions. Children get frustratedbecause they can’t talk to anyoneabout their concerns like changingbody, hormone surge and more,” sheadds.

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The lack of communication meansthat they lack the arsenal to deal withtheir raging hormones. “Will it be donerespectfully or in a vulgar fashion is

what makes or breaks the situation. I’vehad cases where 15-year-old girls haveshared explicit photographs with boysand when discovered, threatened toslash their wrists if the parents say any-thing. The boys asking for photographsand the girls doing it willingly all pointin the direction,” says Kumar.

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A change in the visual and vocab-ulary landscape of the media with theadvent of first, cable television, and now,OTT platforms has been blamed formany societal ills. Dr Parikh says,“Attitudes and behaviours are formed byobservation and imitation. The mostaccessible observable source is themedia. Lack of censorship is taken as asign of free thinking but if we see thetop two-three shows on any streamingplatform and their language, sexual por-trayals as well as violence, we can seewhat the children were influenced by.”He says that, as a deterrent, thereshould be a band at the bottom, high-lighting the negative impact the way itis done with alcohol and cigarettes.

He points out that in the lastdecade we have deteriorated value-wisein the content. He gives the examplesof dance shows featuring children andsays, “Have you seen the expressionsand movements of six-year-olds?”

Of the new media, the social kindhas the singular largest impact. Whenin the the adult world, it is common-place to see violent, sexual and false nar-ratives in social media as a way of bring-ing down independent women, whatmakes us think that children would beimmune from the behaviour? Parikhtoo agrees, “Often Twitter trends havean abusive word and children do use it.”

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“Do you know who is my father?”is a refrain that all of us have heard oftenin reel and real life. Mitra says, “Manychildren grow up in homes where theyhear their parents openly talk of flout-ing laws and bribing police.”

Coupled with the lack of respect forlaw is an extremely derogatory view ofwomen. They grow up in cultureswhere women have get no respect orempathy. “This makes them incapableof empathetic or caring relationships,”says Mitra.

��� �� "��� After parents, schools are supposed

to influence and educate children.Bhati says, “They haven’t been able totalk about emotional closeness and afulfilling relationships. They aren’timparting sex education and even ifthey are, children today believe that theyknow-it-all.”

Dr Kumar, a pioneer in sex educa-tion was associated with the first ado-lescent education programme launchedby United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA) in 2002-3, says, “I start thetalk on a neutral note and when I cometo the topic of sex education, thevibrant discussion becomes lukewarm.”Other gaps include the lack of coun-selling despite the presence of psychol-ogists and counsellors.

���� ��� ��� �� ��DDuggal says, “Children accessing

the internet have the basic presumptionthat they know more than their parents.”Add to it the fact that the IT Act of 2000which was amended in 2008 made allthe offenses bailable. People on bailsdeleted the electronic evidence againstthemselves. Consequently, there hasbeen a famine of cyber crime convic-tions giving children the impression thatthe law is inadequate to catch them.“The fact that we haven’t got any exem-plary conviction in the 17 years since2003 makes youngsters reckless,” saysthe lawyer who was the counsel for thefirst cyber crime conviction for thecomplainant in 2003. There has beena massive change in technology and amore holistic, topical Act which takesinto account that most cyber offensesare committed by youngsters is need-ed.

In this case, the juveniles would atthe most be sent to corrective homes oradvised counselling. “Even in the applic-able Act, Section 67 and 67 (A) whichdeal with sharing obscene electroniccontent against a woman were invokedby the police but they should haveincluded Section 67 (B) which woulddeal with child pornography,” saysDuggal.

����� �����While this is one more in the series

of offenses which have been committed,we cannot keep on moving our thresh-old further. Dr Parikh says, “The onlyhope is to create filters in young mindsto minimise damage to belief systems,attitudes and behaviours. Gender sen-sitisation has to be a priority.”

In a t ime when exposure isinevitable, the least we can do is pro-tect children. “Media literacy should betaught in schools along with other sub-jects. This would enable them to ques-tion, ‘Is it right?’ ‘How would this makeme feel if it happened to me or my lovedone?’ ‘Are they selling a product byusing a celebrity?’” says Dr Parikh.Along with this, the media too needsself censorship, self realisation andresponsibility.

Bhati emphasises on appropriateage-related sex education while DrMitra says that parents, schools andfriends need to watch out for cues fromadolescent. “There is a need for preven-tive action and greater awareness.”

For this particular case, Dr Kumarsays, “The parents and the children needto be counselled both in groups andindividually. They should be encour-aged to accept their mistake and thenonly is it possible to move forward.” Asfor the larger picture, she feels parentsand schools should work in tandem toreinforce values. “Counsellors in schoolshave to upgrade their skills. The lock-down is a time for schools to go inwardand find out and address problems intheir vision.”

Only time will tell if the correctiveactions will be put in place or if we willjust slip back into slumber till the nextand even more heinous offense grabseyeballs.

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After a complete destruction of theworld, god recreates the universe

and simultaneously gives the knowl-edge of four Vedas in the heart of fourrishis because in the absence of Vedicknowledge, human beings wouldremain ignorant and would be unableto utilise the purpose of their worldlyexistence.

The first mantra of Rigved is:Agnimeedey Purohitam. It refers to thevirtue that a person must desire to wor-ship god and before beginning any newthing, should first remember god todestroy all the sorrows, problems, dis-eases etc.

Vedas are the invaluable treasureof education of each and every world-ly subject that is, right from straw toBrahma. Therefore, medical science isalso a part and parcel of Vedic knowl-edge.

An Atharvaved mantra preachesthat god is the creator, who nurses andis “Su Bhishaktamaha” that is, the mostsupreme doctor. Hence, god is empow-ered to destroy all diseases, which can-not be controlled by any doctor in theworld.

This is why several doctors, dulyinspired by almighty god, clearlyinform the relatives of highly criticalpatients that, “We, the doctors, havedone our best, now everything lies inthe hands of god.” But it’s our bad luck

that we are ignorant of the Vedas andhence, never praise, pray or worshipgod according to Vedas.

If we stop remembering god, thesupreme power stops protecting usfrom diseases and leaves us to bear thesorrows according to our previous lives’bad deeds.

Vedas preach that the base of thehuman life is Brahmacharya. So anoth-er Atharvaved mantra preaches thatwhen a person maintains firm brah-macharya, then a precious gem ofstrength is generated in his body,which kills all the microbes that causediseases.

Further, it also preaches thatBrahmacharya generates the best med-icine within the body to kill all typesof disease-causing germs. But there isa doubt that in the absence of holdingVedic knowledge whether or notBrahmacharya can be maintained.

In previous yugas, the knowledgeof Vedas was in vogue. As a result,everyone used to maintainBrahmacharya, perform dailyYajyen/agnihotra, which purified theair, water, food, etc. Therefore, the ques-tion of suffering from any disease didnot arise.

In current life, living beings,including humans, spread pollution inthe atmosphere. If we go by a Yajurvedmantra, we will find that if we perform

daily agnihotra/Yajyen, then all infec-tious diseases could be destroyed. Itpurifies the air and thus erodes all kindsof pollution. Where would then the dis-eases exist?

But to our bad luck, unlike previ-ous yugas, we are not aware of the vedicknowledge and as a result are unableto liberate ourselves from serious dis-eases spreading in the world current-ly.

Let us pay our attention to aYajurved mantra, which preaches thatif a person makes contact with alearned Acharya or guru, then s/he, byteaching him Vedic knowledge, canhelp him purify his speech, respirato-ry system, senses, vision, the source ofhearing, naval, organs of excretion andultimately, his character and conduct.

These are the results that one willfind in oneself if one follows vedicmantras:

- There will never be any kind ofdiseases spreading around.

- Yajyen purifies the universe if itis performed by everybody. It emergesin the form of smoke, which reachesup to the sun’s rays and then, spreadsaround, reaching humans and otherliving beings. Thus it purifies the airand atmosphere.

(The author is Swami Ram Swarup,Yogacharya, the chief editor of the VedIshvareeya Vani magazine.)

Indian Air Force showered flowerpetals on Kalinga Institute of

Medical Sciences (KIMS) CovidHospital, Bhubaneswar in a flypastfrom its helicopters on Wednesdayas a mark of gratitude from thenation to the medical professionalscombating COVID-19 crisis. TheIAF took this initiative to boost themorale of the Corona warriors, whohave dedicated themselves to savelives of the patients affected bynovel Coronavirus.

The KIMS Authority hasexpressed pleasure for the show ofsolidarity by the IAF. “We express ourheartfelt gratitude to theGovernment of India for motivatingand lifting the spirits of COVID-19warriors at KIMS. Through this, thewill power of all the doctors, nursesand paramedical staff along withpatients will be strengthened byand large and they would continuetheir fight against the novelCoronavirus disease with renewedzeal”, said Dr Achyuta Samanta,founder of KIIT, KISS & KIMS.

He also thanked Naveen Patnaik,chief minister, Odisha, for his sup-port to open a special Covid Hospitalat KIMS. “As a result, it has been pos-

sible for us to witness such a remark-able and memorable moment,” addedDr Samanta.

“We have come forward to agreat extent in this war againstCOVID-19 and it is because of DrSamanta’s consistent endeavor toaugment our moral strength,” saidthe doctors.

Among the dignitaries, DrSubrat Acharya, pro-chancellor, KIITDeemed to be University, Dr BishnuPrasad Panigrahi, CEO, KIMS, Maj.Gen. Dr PK Patnaik, principal, KIMSand Dr Ambika Prasad Mohanty,MS, were also present to witness theaerial salute along with other staffmembers.

The Department of Pension &Pensioners’ Welfare have takenthe following initiatives to pro-

mote ease of living amid COVID-19crisis:�� The Department of Pension &Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) hassuccessively taken steps in the recentpast date to make life easy for thePensioners. Here are some other ini-tiatives too�� The department runs an onlinegrievance portal “CPENGRAMS”(Centralised Pension GrievanceRedressal & Monitoring Mechanism)in which any central government pen-sioner can register a complaint and thesame is monitored by DoPPW till itsfinal resolution and closure by thePension settling Department/Ministry.DoPPW started a Toll-free call cen-tre number 1800-11-1960 in June 2019where pensioners grievances are lodged. The Department also counsels seniorcitizens on their pension related prob-lems.�� It got a deep-dive/root-causeanalysis conducted by an independentthird party. It was seen that someMinistries/departments often closedgrievances routinely without qualita-tive resolution. It therefore evolved amodel of on-the-spot resolution ofgrievances called the Pension Adalat. �� With respect to NPS (NationalPension System), DoPPW decided tostart awareness workshops for centralgovernment employees. It conductedits first awareness programme atJammu to educate the subscribersabout the provisions of NPS and at thesame time educate the differentDepartments on the Dos & Don’ts withrespect to the system. �� Keeping in view the representa-tions/court cases filed by several cen-tral government officials covered underthe NPS (National Pension Service)whose recruitment had been complet-ed before January 1, 2004 but who forsome reason, administrative or other-wise, could join service only on or afterthat, an option has been given to jointhe old pension system, if they so desire

by giving a one-time option up to May31.��Another initiative was the promo-tion of Digital Life Certificate. Keepingin view the difficulty faced by thoseseniors who are settled abroad withtheir children after retirement, itbrought out a circular on ConsolidatedInstructions on Life Certificate andCommencement of Family Pension forthose living abroad, vide which thebank branches abroad and the IndianE m b a s s i e s / C o n s u l a t e s / H i g hCommissions have been instructed tofacilitate submission of life certificateand commencement of family pension.��All pension disbursing banks havebeen instructed to provide door-stepLife Certificate facility to those pen-sioners who are unable to visit banksin the month of November.��To provide comfort to pensionersaged 80 and above, OM dated July 18,2019 enables them to submit their LifeCertificate w.e.f. October 1 every yearinstead of November 1. A pilot wasdone in 2018 in 8 cities in whichPensioners’ Associations were roped in

to go door to door and inhospitals/ICUs with newly purchasedIris devices to collect DLCs. This wasexpanded in 2019 to 24 cities.

DoPPW also showed the sensitiveside of the government with severalreforms which touched human livesimmensely. To enumerate a few:��Rule 54 of CCS (Pension) Rules wasamended to provide for payment ofenhanced family pension (50 per centof last pay) to families of even thoseemployees who die during servicebefore completing service of sevenyears. Earlier, the family of an employ-ee who died during service before com-pleting service of seven years was notentitled to enhanced family pension.��A minimum qualifying service of10 years is required for eligibility forpension under the CCS (Pension)Rules. Rule 38 of CCS (Pension) Rulesamended to provide for InvalidPension at 50 per cent of last pay tothose government servants who retiredue to bodily or mental infirmity evenbefore completing qualifying service of

10 years.��For those living in non-CGHS areas,for OPD the amount of Fixed MedicalAllowance (FMA) raised from � 500per month to � 1000 per month.�� Permission of CMO/CGHS dis-pensed with for sanctioning FMA topensioners residing in cities/areas notcovered under CGHS.��Co-authorisation of pension for dis-abled children/siblings/dependent par-ents introduced in the PPO. Thiswould avoid the delay and hassles of afresh PPO by the office in favour of dis-abled children/siblings/dependent par-ents.��Minimum pension raised from �3500 per month to � 9000 permonth. Minimum disability pensionand family pension covered underCCS(EOP) Rules enhanced from �7,000 to � 18,000.��A new slab of death gratuity hasbeen added. The family of a govern-ment servant dying while in servicewith a qualifying service of 11 to 20years would be entitled to death gra-tuity at 20 times of monthly emolu-

ments as against the existing entitle-ment of 12 times of emoluments.��The ceiling of gratuity raised from� 10 lakh to � 20 lakh.�� The rates of ex-gratia lump-sumcompensation being paid to the fam-ilies of employees who die in perfor-mance of duty has been increasedfrom existing � 10-15 lakh to � 25 to45 lakh, depending upon the circum-stances in which the death occurs.��DoPPW also targeted awareness ofpensioners/family pensioners throughsocial media. The Union Minister ofState (Independent Charge)Development of North-Eastern Region(DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel,Public Grievances & Pensions, AtomicEnergy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singhlaunched the Twitter Do You KnowSeries on Family Pension at Jammu onFebruary 29.��DoPPW will now take out a seriesof 30 info graphics (two per week) tospread awareness about family pen-sion. Through this, theP e n s i o n e r s / F a m i l yPensioners/Departments & Ministryofficials/Bank officials/Pensioners’Associations will become aware of thefamily entitlements for which till nowthey had to run around offices. Twobooklets on family pension, in Hindiand English were also released by theMoS(PP).��Bhavishya (Online pension settlingsystem): Pensioners’ portal wasstrengthened by adding the facility ofonline pension sanction process —Bhavishya. It is a software with a digi-tised end to end solution for pensionsettlement. As of now more than 1lakh cases have already been processedthrough this software. ��Sankalp: With a view to re-orientpensioners towards an active postretired life and utilise their skill andexperience towards nation buildingactivities and social work, a new ini-tiative namely Sankalp was undertak-en. Under this, Pre-RetirementCounselling (PRCs) are being organ-ised for those employees who areabout to retire in a year.

In a new beginningmade by chief executive

officer, Greater Noidaauthority honoured itsemployees by announc-ing the ‘Employee of theMonth.’ It expressed itsgratitude to all perma-nent and contractualemployees including dri-vers, security guards,sweepers, gardeners, andsweepers. This will befollowed monthly toencourage positive envi-ronment.

ACEO Deep Chandsaid that it has beendecided by the authoritythat employees, whocared for the residentswithout caring abouttheir own lives during thepandemic and acted self-lessly should be thanked.

Its over 500 staffmembers are engaged indistributing food to theneedy and providing civicservices across the city.

Chand also said, “We

cannot honour the staffmembers with prize moneydue to fund crisis. Hence,

we are thanking by crown-ing them with respect.”The authority said that its

employees have now disin-fected about 40 areas andare working to disinfect an

equal number of villageseveryday to control thespread of COVID-19.

Amid COVID-19 crisis, jutefarmers of West Bengal and

other jute-growing states havedone a commendable work bysowing the crop in more than 90per cent of their areas. In somestates, 15 to 20 per cent more sow-ing area is anticipated despitelockdown and restrictions. Allthis was possible by the efforts ofICAR-CRIJAF, Barrackpore whoissued regular agro-advisory, con-stant monitoring on availability ofseeds, implements and other agro-inputs to the farmers and otherstakeholders.

Farmers are worried aboutthe infestation of pests and diseaseson jute due to the rainy weather.At present, the jute crops in thefarmers’ fields of different parts ofthe state is almost 20-50 days olddepending on the sowing time.Due to the heavy rain in somepockets of Bengal and adjoiningstates, the jute fields have beenwaterlogged. Under such changingweather conditions, the crop nowneeds infestation, said ICAR-CRI-JAF director, Dr Gouranga Kar.

He added that the institute isissuing weekly agro-advisory onpriority to outreach farmers andextension personnel of state gov-ernments through different digitalplatforms. He also said thataround seven lakh farmers of dif-ferent jute-growing states are get-

ting benefitted every week throughtheir agro-advisory.

Under rainy and waterloggedsituation, he advised that the farm-ers should drain out the waterimmediately. After a few daysthere may be incidence of seedlingblight and damping off. If suchcondition arises, some commonfungicides like mancozeb (1g/l) orcarbendazim (4g/l) may be sprayedonce the field is drained out anddried up.

The damage of Indigo caterpil-lar has been reported from manyfarmers’ fields, said Dr Satpathy,head division of Crop Protection,ICAR-CRIJAF. The insect usuallybecomes more problematic in jutefields, in which cabbage, cauli-flower, potato, etc, were grown asthe previous crop. In case of heavydamage, the farmers should go forthe spraying of chlorpyriphos20EC (2 ml/l).

In grown up jute plants of 30-

50 days, grey colour weevils withdark white spots and elongatedheads are visible on the growingfoliage. Heavy defoliation weak-ens the plant and adverselyaffects the growth. In case of con-siderable damage, foliar spray ofchlorpyriphos 50EC+cyperme-thrin 5EC combination (1-1.5ml/l) or chlorpyriphos 20EC(2ml/l) or quinalphos 25 EC(1.25 ml/l) may be done.

Generally, after moderaterainfall, the yellow mite infesta-tion in jute goes down. Butchances are that just after rain,once the weather is clear andthere is abundant sunshine andthe temperature is high, the miteinfestation gradually increases.Maintain adequate soil moistureto reduce the damage symptomcaused by mite infestation. Incase of rain, wait for at least fiveto six days to initiate the acari-cide spray if symptoms persist.

Dr Kar also said that it isadvised to always use protectiveclothing, gloves and mask toavoid the drift of the insecticide.While conducting any type ofintercultural operation, like pes-ticide spray, the farmers areadvised to maintain social dis-tancing and take all other preven-tive measures as per the adviso-ry to check the spread ofCOVID-19.

TOUCHING HEARTS, CHANGING LIVES ��!���!���#&��#$� ������ �� �)��� �����64� �����,�! &�� �#$�5����#��7�5����#��!�"��($�!�� #�,!#&# �������#$�(�)��'��&����#!#��)�!*��%!����

&��������������������������/&�� Greater Noida authority grateful to employees

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Page 12: 2020/05/07  · Kumar told reporters, “The slain terrorist was identified as Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief operational commander Riyaz Naikoo”. Police spokesman in Srinagar said,

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Virat Kohli’s Indianteam still has a long

way to go before it is spo-ken of in the same breathas Australia of 2000s, feelsformer India pacer AshishNehra.

Under Kohli’s leader-ship, India earned itsmaiden series victory inAustralia in 2018-19,achieving the feat aftertrying for seven decades.

However, it can’t bediscounted that absence ofSteve Smith and David

Warner due to ball tam-pering ban turned out tobe an important factor.

“This Indian team hasto still cover a lot of dis-tance in order to match upwith that Australia team(led by Steve Waugh andthen Ricky Ponting),”Nehra said during aninteraction with ex-playerAakash Chopra on hisshow ‘Aakash Vani’.

“You are talking aboutan Australian team whichwon three consecutiveWorld Cups and beforethat reached the final in

1996, won 18-19 Testmatches in home andaway conditions,” Nehraadded.

He also did not appre-ciate the fact that everynow and then team com-bination is being tinkeredwith.

“It’s not like thisIndian team can not reachthere but I believe thecore group is very impor-tant. A person gets con-fused after watching manydishes on the table and soit’s important to havefewer but better dishes,”

Nehra made his displea-sure clear.

He the went on to citehow team managementhad handled RishabhPant's career so far.

“KL Rahul is playingon the fifth position andPant, the person you werepreparing to succeed M.S.Dhoni, is serving drinks,”the left-arm fast bowler,known for his straight for-ward views, said.

Thanks to his incon-sistency, Pant had lost hisplace in the Indian team inwhite-ball cricket to

Rahul.“I know he (Pant) has

missed his chances andthere is no doubt about itbut then you have kepthim in the team becauseyou saw the potential inhim at 22-23 years,” Nehrasaid.

“There are a lot of tal-ented players but theyshould be backed for alonger duration. Todayalso when we talk aboutthe number five and sixslots in Indian ODI side,then we are not sure aboutit," Nehra said.

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He has flattered to deceive onumpteen occasions but highly-

rated wicketkeeper-batsman SanjuSamson says he has learnt to accepthis failures in pursuit of the calmdemeanour that former India captainMahendra Singh Dhoni possesses.

The 25-year-old from Kerala hasalways been talked about by the likesof Rahul Dravid and GautamGambhir but it hasn’t translated intointernational success with only fourT20 Internationals in his kitty in thelast five years.

“I have learnt to understand andfocus more on my strengths and (bemore) accepting (of) the failures. I tryto contribute to the team’s cause andtry to take the team over the line. I amlearning to focus and control my emo-tions while batting like MS Dhoni,”Samson said during a podcast organ-ised by Rajasthan Royals.

He recently made a comeback inIndia’s T20 side and it was a worthyexperience for him.

“It was great to be a part of theIndian team again. To be a part of oneof the best teams in the world, sur-rounded by players like Virat bhai andRohit bhai, it was a fantastic experi-ence,” Samson said.

In one of the games in NewZealand, Samson was sent to bat in theSuper Over, something which madehim feel wanted in the Indian set-up.

“It was a great feeling to be trust-ed by the players such as Virat bhaiand Rohit bhai to go out there and batin the crucial moments. It’s a greatfeeling when the team and the play-

ers consider you to be a match win-ner.” On a lighter note, Samsonrevealed that he refers to Steve Smithas “chachu” (uncle) after Brad Hodgeonce started calling him by thatname.

“I share a very good relationshipwith ‘Chachu’ Steve Smith. He is oneof the best brains in world cricket andwe all enjoy a lot playing under him.”

While Dhoni is his idol, he alsoloves watching Jos Buttler in Royalsand makes notes on how the starEnglishman prepares for games.

“I observe Jos especially given hetoo is a wicketkeeper-batsman. He’salways working on his skills and hisgame and never sits idle.

“He’s either working on his keep-ing, batting in the nets or runningaround the park. I love to observe andknow how he thinks and prepares asa keeper before a game.”

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They have similar impact ontheir teams but Virat Kohli isdriven by sheer passion to

subdue the rivals while Steve Smithjust enjoys batting, says Australiaopener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and topAustralian batsman Smith arearguably the top two cricketers of thecurrent era. They achieve new mile-stones consistently, invoking debates,who is better between them.

“Virat’s passion and drive toscore runs is different to what Steve’swould be,” Warner said while speak-ing to Harsha Bhogle on ‘Cricbuzz inConversation’.

“Steve is going out there for a hitin the middle, that’s how he seesthings. He’s hitting them out in themiddle, he’s having fun, he's enjoy-ing himself, just does not want to getout.”

Warner feels, while Kohli is bat-ting he is aware that if he sticksaround the middle his team will beon top of the proceedings.

“Virat obviously doesn’t want toget out but he knows if he spends acertain amount of time out there, he’sgoing to score plenty of runs at arapid rate. He’s going to get on top ofyou. That allows the guys coming in,especially in the Indian team you’vegot a lot of players who can be flam-boyant as well.”

The Australian opener addedthat both men are mentally strongand a good knock by them boosts themorale of the entire team.

“When it comes to cricket, theyboth have got the mental strength, themental capacity to score runs. Theyboth love spending time in the mid-dle.

“They stabilise, they boostmorale - if they score runs, every-one else’s moral is up. If they are outcheaply you almost sense that on thefield that everyone is (down onmorale and thinking) ‘now we allhave to step up’. It’s a very bizarre sit-uation,” he added.

Asked about the similaritiesbetween himself and Kohli, who are

both live wires on the field, Warnersaid the passion to do better than theopponent keeps him going.

“I can’t speak for Virat, obvious-ly, but it’s almost like we got this thingin us when we go (out to the middle)we need to prove people wrong,prove someone wrong.”

“If you’re in that contest, and ifI’m going at him for example, you’re

thinking, ‘Alright, I’m going to scoremore runs than him, I’m going totake a quick single on him’. You aretrying to better that person in thatgame. That’s where the passioncomes from.”

Warner also explained how hebreaks down a match into smallercompetitions.

“Obviously you want to win the

game but you almost break it downto: If I can score more runs thanVirat, or if Pujara scores more runsthan Steve Smith, you have these lit-tle contests and that's how you try tonarrow the game in the sense that ifwe do these little things, we can beahead of the game or we can bebehind the game.

“The passion is driven by...Iknow my sense - one, the will to winand two, wanting to do better thanthat person in the opposition,” saidWarner.

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Defender Gurinder Singhfeels India has been play-

ing an aggressive brand ofhockey under chief coachGraham Reid, and it hashelped the team in creatingmore goal scoring opportuni-ties.

India displayed an attack-ing brand of play in the FIHHockey Pro League earlierthis year and reaped richrewards for it, beatingAustralia and world champi-ons Belgium.

“It’s been over a yearsince chief coach Reid hasjoined us and I am sure onecan see the difference he hasbrought to the side sinceApril last year. We havebecome much more aggres-sive in our approach andtherefore we are creatingmany more goal-scoringopportunities,” Gurinder said.

Gurinder said since hisarrival Reid has been workingclosely with every player,besides emphasising on teamtactics.

“It was amazing to see

him shift focus from workingon team tactics to the devel-opment of each and everyplayer during the senior mennational coaching camp inNovember last year," he said.

“Since there was a lot oftime to prepare for the nexttournament after theOlympic Qualifiers, chiefcoach Reid spent time with allplayers and ensured that weimproved on certain aspectsduring the camp,” he added.

Gurinder, who has beenin and out of the team, saidhis immediate goal is to book

a place in the Olympic-boundteam.

“I am working extreme-ly hard to book a place in theIndian team for the Olympicsat the moment. Keepingmyself fit is my number onepriority during the lockdownperiod and I am carrying outsome stickwork drills as well.”

“Playing for India at theOlympics has been a dreamsince childhood and hopeful-ly, I will make it to the squadand contribute to India win-ning a medal at the quadren-nial event,” he said.

��� -.%��.,/�

India’s Test vice-captain AjinkyaRahane on Wednesday said crick-

eters will need at least a month oftraining before resumption of com-petitive games, which should happenonly after a vaccine for the dreadedCOVID-19 is discovered.

Rahane also said that in a coro-navirus-scarred world, the lifestyleof cricketers will undergo a changeas far as pre and post-match routinesare concerned.

“...We would be needing three tofour weeks of proper practice beforeplaying any kind of competitivegame (domestic or international),”Rahane, who was named brandambassador of ELSA (EnglishLanguage Speech Assistant) app,said during an online press confer-ence.

“...I am missing my batting. Butobviously, cricket should only startwhen we get a vaccine to fight thevirus,” he asserted.

While the sports ministry isplanning a phased resumption ofnational camps in Olympic disci-plines, the BCCI is yet to spell outits plans on cricket. Rahane said heis focussing on his fitness amid thelockdown.

“I am following the chart givenby our trainer. I am also doing ‘freeweights’ at home apart from medi-tation,” he said.

He agreed that in future, play-ers will be wary of wild celebrationsand group hugs which they are soused to at the fall of wickets.

“I think we might go back to thegood old days when fielders would

still stand in their designated posi-tions after the fall of a wicket andclap. May be handshakes will bereplaced by a 'Namaste',” the elegantMumbai right-hander predicted.

“But once sport resumes, youcan’t take anything for granted. Thesafety of the fans will be of utmostimportance. There will be changesin lifestyle while travelling.Especially before and after thematch,” Rahane said

However he was non-committalon whether there should be a ban onthe use of saliva to shine the ball, atopic of debate right now.

“I would like to wait and watch.You will only get a fair idea aboutrevised rules once play resumes.”

��� ,9-�9-

The Marylebone Cricket Club(MCC) on Wednesday

announced that it would recom-mend a second term for its PresidentKumar Sangakkara owing to theglobal disruption caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The former Sri Lanka wicket-keeper-batsman became the firstnon-British President of the clubwhen he assumed office on October1 last year.

“The disruption to the globalcricketing landscape caused by theoutbreak of Covid-19 has led theCommittee to recommend thatSangakkara, who began his term ofoffice on 1 October 2019, be invit-ed to serve as President of the Clubuntil 30 September 2021,” the clubsaid in a statement.

The recommendation forSangakarra’s extension will be sentfor approval to the club's membersat the Annual General Meeting,which has been scheduled for June24. The club also added that this wasnot the first time a president will

serve beyond his oneyear tenure.

“ W h i l s tPresidents ofMCC only nor-

mally serve for atwe lve-mont hperiod, it is notunprecedented forlonger terms to be

introduced torespond to extra-

o r d i n a r yc i rc um-stances.”

�� �� ,1/9!.

Former Australia all-rounder TomMoody believes Pakistan bats-

man Babar Azam has grown byleaps and bounds in recent timesand will “definitely” be among thetop five batsmen of the decade inTest cricket in the near future.

“He (Babar) has emerged overthe last year or so into somethingthat is going to be so special. Wetalked about how Virat Kohli is sogood on the eye as a batsman. If youthink Virat Kohli is good to watch,have a look at Babar Azam bat. Mygosh, he is something special,”Moody said in The Pitch SideExperts Podcast as quoted by crick-etpakistan.com.pk.

“I think in the next five to tenyears, he will definitely be in yourtop five (batsmen of the decade)without a question,” he added.

The former SunrisersHyderabad coach, however, admit-ted considering Azam’s statistics at

the moment, it is very difficult to puthim in the top five current batsmen.

“I think, in the next 5-10 years,he will be on your top five position.Even though he has played 26matches but in half of those match-es he was not considered even partof the main batting line-up forPakistan. He was the after-thoughtdown the order,” he said.

“I think at the moment, it is veryhard to justify him at that positiongiven his statistics. Away fromhome he is only averaging 37 and athome he is averaging 67. But wehave to consider that he has hardlyplayed away from home and a lot ofthose games away were during theearly part of his career,” Moodyadded.

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The National Anti-DopingAgency's Director General

Navin Agarwal on Wednesdaysaid the body will conduct itsdisciplinary hearings onlinefrom Friday despite the manylogistical challenges to ensurecases don’t pile up due to thenational lockdown.

NADA hearings have notbeen taking place due to thelockdown to contain theCOVID-19 pandemic.

“That’s right, we will bestarting with our online hear-ings from May 8. Both Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel(ADDP) and Anti-DopingAppeals Panel (ADAP) hear-ings will be conducted for thecases which are pending,”Agarwal told PTI in an inter-view.

“Last year, they (ADDPand ADAP) did a remarkablejob and disposed off so manycases which hasn't happenedearlier in the history of NADA.Our panels disposed off 180cases which is a record for theagency,” he asserted.

Agarwal acknowledgedthat the unprecedented stepwould have its share of opera-

tional hassles.Listing inconsistent or

unavailable internet as one ofthem, Agarwal said athleteswill be allowed to participate viaaudio calls to ensure that thingscan be managed smoothly.

“We understand that theathlete needs to have the (inter-net) facility at his home for thehearings. I know there are lim-itations. We are working on thatand made arrangements at ourlevel.

“It will only be done on theavailability of an athlete througheither audio or video. I know inrural areas, internet bandwidthcan be an issue or network, weare game with even an audiorecording or a conference call,”he explained.

“We are requesting theministry as the campuses inNIS Patiala and Spots Authorityof India (SAI) Bengaluru areclosed and have barred entry orexit of any outsiders as per gov-ernment guidelines.

“So we are taking this upwith ministry and would like toknow whether our DopeControl Officers (DCOs) willbe allowed inside the campus-es for testing subject to allclearances,” he said.

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If given the option, Rafael Nadal said he wouldscrap this season entirely so tennis could resume

normally in 2021.The second-ranked Spaniard, who is 33 years

old and has won 19 Grand Slam titles, said he hopedto resume playing this year but doubted it couldhappen because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I would sign up right now just to being readyfor 2021,” Nadal said in interviews with El País andother Spanish newspapers published Tuesday.

“I’m more concerned with the Australian Openthan with what happens later this year. I think 2020has been practically lost. I'm hopeful of being ableto start next year.”

Nadal said the logistical difficulties of havingto move people from country to country for tour-naments make it hard for tennis to resume safelyamid the pandemic.

“Sadly, I’m not going to lie to you, the feelingis that we are losing a year of our lives,” Nadal said.

“And at 33, 34 years old, that is more valuablethan at 20, when you have more time ahead of you.”Nadal recently said he was concerned with the riskof new injuries when players return to action aftera long time without proper training. The Spaniardhas had to deal with a series of injuries through-out his career and expects his body to struggle againwhen competitions finally resume.

Nadal also complained about “confusing”information regarding the return to practice of ten-nis players in Spain. He said he went to train on aprivate court because it wasn’t clear to him

whether he could practice normally after the gov-ernment eased some of the lockdown measures thathave been in place in the country since mid-March.

Professional and high-performance athleteshave been allowed to resume practicing at any timethis week, but sports facilities and training centersare to remain closed, with some exceptions for soc-cer clubs and a few other sports.

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