JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SINCE 1932 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD,CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA,LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018-20RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AMINUSCULENUMBEROF CASESVERSUSDEATHSNUMBERS PARTSOFNIZAMUDDINWESTUNDER Dayasymptomatic people6:testGovting positive:Govt zeroesinvitesecond look frinom officionals 10strict lochotspotskdown, withdrones, police personnel Delhi, Mumbai, 600 migrants detained Noida in list with near Nashik several clusters; to sent to see more testing quarantine

NEERAJTIWARI ABANTIKAGHOSH CORONACOUNT NASHIK,MARCH30 NEWDELHI,MARCH30 1251 32 THE NASHIK Police on Monday AS THE number of COVID-19 CASES DEATHS interceptedfivetruckswith over cases reached1,251across the 600migrant workers from country(101recovered, 32 101 RECOVERED Mumbai and nearbyareas, dead), Indiaisset to rampup headedtowards NorthIndia to testing in 10 identified drop them offintheir home “hotspots”where“unusual” stepping up testing in the states. transmission has been detected. hotspots.But testing will be done The firsttwo trucks,which Of these, two—Dilshad Garden onlyasper testingprotocol.”The were carrying atotal of 67 pas- and Nizamuddin —are in Delhi, government position remains sengers, were interceptedon the othersbeing Noida,Meerut, that thereisnocommunity Sundaynight on the Nashik- Bhilwara, Ahmedabad, transmission so far. Mumbai highway near Igatpuri. Kasaragod, Pathanamthitta, Joint Secretary, Ministryof The crackdown continuedinto Mumbai and Pune. In the last24 Health, LavAgarwal said the early hours of Monday hours, 227cases and five deaths Monday, “Weare studying the morning,with the policesetting have been reported. emerging hotspots.Wewillfol- up anakabandi at the spotafter Asource in the Integrated lowrigorous surveillanceand Trucks carryingmigrant workers interceptedbypolice near Nashik on Monday. PrashantNadkar whichthree moretrucks were Disease SurveillanceProgramme containment measures in these intercepted. The total number of said, “Normallywedefine any places.” He addedthatonlya migrantsdetainedwas over 600. area wherethereare morethan “minuscule percentage” of “Therehavebeen anumber 10 cases as acluster. Placeswhere asymptomatic peoplehave of vehicles that have been appre- thereare severalclusters are tested positive in the country. Delhi area under watch: Officials link BUSINESSASUSUAL hendedbythe police. These treated as hotspots.Sometimes India has so fardone38,432 tests. were all migrantswho were the cases arelocalised, some- Explaining the rationalebe- BY UNNY planning to move towardsNorth timessowidespread that the en- hind the decision to step up test- 5Telangana deaths, trace 1,600 people India.The district administration tirecity hastobecovered. inginhotspots,the sourcesaid hasmade arrangementsfor their Ahmedabad is an exception — that by the 100cases to onedeath stay and food. We will be keep- therehavebeen justfivecases, surveillance ballpark,India’scur- linkedto cases in AndhraPradesh, Delhi nowstands at 97. The six areapartofthe Tablighi ingthemhereand theywillnot but three deaths. Our assessment rent number of cases is less than ASTHASAXENA& Tamil Nadu, Andaman islands, Further,the Health Jamaat outfit and arebelievedto be allowedtomove till the lock- normallyisthat thereare 100 half of what it should be.“We SOMYALAKHANI Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. Department has shifted85peo- have come in contact withmany down is lifted,” Nashik District cases foreverydeath. That is why maybemissing out something. NEWDELHI,MARCH30 Partsofsoutheast ple from the area to Delhi gov- others, with authorities saying Collector Suraj Mandhare said. Ahmedabad is ahotspotinour Thereisasofnow no changein Nizamuddin West in Delhihave ernment’s Lok Nayakhospitalaf- around 1,600are being traced The migrantsweresubse- list. Threedeathsand five cases testing strategy,but we are Agathering at amosque in been put under astrict lockdown tertheydeveloped symptoms of across the country.Cases in quentlyput up at twoholding do notadd up.” pulling out all the stops in the Nizamuddin West mid-March —with barricades, adrone and coronavirus. The hospitalhas 174 some other states, including centres that the district admin- Asenior official in the Health door-to-door containment plan.” has emergedasthe epicentreof over 100police personnel —as suspected patientsadmitted in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, the istration had setuparound Ministryconfirmed, “Weare CONTINUEDONPAGE2 the coronavirusoutbreak notjust health officials said thereisa total, of which153 arefrom Andamanislands andKashmir, Nashik city wheretheywere inparts of the region nowput un- possibility of acoronavirus out- Nizamuddin West. have also been linked to the providedfood. Manymigrants, der strict lockdown, but in break in the area. Of the 25 new This comes aday after23 gathering. however, complainedthat the Telangana, whichannounced cases of COVID-19reported from newcases were recordedinthe In Hyderabad, health depart- ISLAMPUR FIGHTS arrangementswerepoor and at Monday five COVID-19related Delhi on Monday, 18 arefrom capital —six of whom were ment officials said Telangana RUMOURS, oneinstance in Vilholi the school deaths of persons who were part Nizamuddin West.The total tracedtoagathering at amosque recordedfivemorecoronavirus DISCRIMINATION P4 wherethe migrantswereput up of thisgathering.Itisalso being number of confirmedcases in in Nizamuddin West lastmonth. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 had no electricity and manyof those who were detainedslept out in the open. BMC issues circular: Manyofthe migrantssaid Walking with the migrants, thattheywerebeing forced to leave Mumbai as theiremploy- Bodies must be cremated ershad asked them to vacatethe across four states, one story: irrespective of religion CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Trucks linedupinChandigarh, Monday. Jaipal Singh THE EDITORIAL PAGE What do we have here? Neither document mentions LAXMANSINGH possibility of the infection Drivers abandon loaded MUMBAI,MARCH30 spreading from abody buried WHYTHEYWALK TEST following all the anti-infection HOME vehicles, trucks stuck as REP RTS THE BRIHANMUMBAI protocols having been followed. BY PARTHA MUKHOPADHAY FROM THE Municipal Corporation (BMC) The BMC circular says the or- &MUKTA NAIK state borders still clogged has ordered that “irrespective of der wasissuedafter community PAGE 8 FIELD religion” bodies of all those who leaders expressedconcern over even leaving behind vehicles die of coronavirus mustbecre- contamination as mostofthe PRANAVMUKUL loadedwith goods worthcrores TRACKINGTHEVIRUS, mated to “avoid transmission burial grounds areindensely WORLD &AASHISHARYAN of rupees unattendedalong the LOCKDOWN chances in the community”, but populated localities.“All dead NEWDELHI,MARCH30 highway.Transporters also re- says exceptions willbemade bodies of COVID-19patients portedincidentsofstranded wherethe burial ground is “large should be cremated at the near- THE CENTRE’S clarification on trucks being lootedatlocations DIPANKARGHOSE enough so as nottocreatepossi- estcrematorium irrespective of Sundayallowingmovement of suchasthe Maharashtra- MORENA(MP),MARCH30 bility of spread of infection in the religion. The rituals involving alltrucks, carrying essentialas Madhya Pradesh border. neighbouring area”. touching the body should be well as non-essential goods, has In addition to this, some THEYBUILThomes, offices,even SavitriBai and her familyinMorena, on their wayfromAgra The circular wasissuedby avoided,” the circularsays.Itfur- nothelpedunclog chokepoints truckers have reportedtraffic cities. Theyworkedintechnol- to Ambah in MP. GajendraYadav BMC commissioner Parveen ther says “packaging the body in across manystate borders, with jams along major routes and ogy companies. Theycookedthe Pardeshi. aplastic bag and burying the road transporters facing fresh highways at the border entry food we ate, cleanedthe roads Guidelines issuedonhan- same preventsearly decompo- PEAK IN 2WEEKS, problems causedbythe massive pointsofstatessuchasUttar we travelled. But now, manyof StateHighways.Theyare going As the national lockdown en- dling COVID 19-infected dead sition and riskscontaining the reverse migration from eco- Pradesh, Bihar,Punjab, them walk,run, dodgeand hide. home. In the hundreds. Left teredits second week,The bodies, both by the Ministryof virus forfuturespread”. KEEPING TOLL TO nomic centres including Delhi Maharashtraand West Bengal. Thereare blisters on their feet, without work and food in the big Indian Express travelledacross Health and FamilyWelfareand Emphasising that “burial 1LAKH WOULD BE A andMumbai to Uttar Pradesh, “Wehavereceivedreports of and their shoulders hurtfrom cities,theysay that’s theonly four states to trackthis unprece- by the WorldHealth should notbeallowed”, it says GOODJOB: TRUMP Bihar and Jharkhand. somelootingof fruits andvegeta- bags and the children. way. Even if borders areshut, a dented exodus, examine what Organisation, allowfor thebur- the order would be communi- Truckowners said almost bles in Maharashtraand goods Theyare at the Anand Vihar 14-dayquarantine awaitsand socialdistancingand isolation ial or cremationofpersons who cated to localleadersbyassistant CHINA BUILDING half the number of drivers fled likericeand flourin some villages Bus Terminal in Delhi. Theyare governments, at the Centreand means in towns and villages off have diedofthe disease, while municipal commissioners. HOSPITALFOR PAK to their native townsand villages of Punjab. We have offeredour on the Yamuna Expressway in the state, have resolvedtolay cameraand offthe highway— setting out the procedures to be The circulargoesontosay TO TREAT PATIENTS following apile-upofvehicles at emptytrucks to carry some of UP.Onthe Chambal Bridgein down the hardlineonthe lock- andwhatcould awaitthe first followedtoprevent infection that “[h]owever, if someone PAGE 12 inter-stateborders, withsome CONTINUEDONPAGE2 MP.OnNational Highways.On down. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 from spreading from the body. CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE 1 ANCHOR Initial focus on China, Europe as virus sneaked in through Gulf

Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar curbs on travellers from the Gulf history to China, Italy, Thailand, SouthAmericas. Asia and Europe in trying to con- KRISHNKAUSHIK Pradesh, Karnataka,Telangana, came late, almostthree months 2OF3WITHTRAVELHISTORYTOUCHEDGULF Iran, France, Spainand Germany Barring in Iran, the number trol Indians traveling to thesere- &MANOJCG Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, afterthe government’s first (March 10). of positive cases in the Gulf gionsand screening or prohibit- NEWDELHI,MARCH30 Punjaband West Bengal—to- global travel advisory related to StateTotal International From Gulf It wasonlyonMarch 16 countries has notbeen very high, ing travellers coming from there. gether,these account formore the outbreak on January17— cases travel nations when the Government started whichcould have explained The virus, meanwhile, sneaked AS OF Monday evening, more than 70 per cent of all cases in when it calledfor avoiding travel Maharashtra203 71 36 mandatoryquarantine of pas- India allowing travellers from in largely through travellers com- than half the patients(53.97%) India —shows that morethan to China. Kerala (Mar 29) 181154 135 sengers coming from the UAE, the region to come in unchecked. ing backfromthe Gulf countries, who tested positivefor COVID- half (54.94%) of them with inter- Sincethen, it issuedasmany Karnataka 74 49 22 Qatar,Omanand Kuwait. The According to the Johns who have passedonthe virusto 19 in the worst-hit states national travel historyhad come as eight advisories that included Uttar Pradesh 96 25 8 same day, passengers from EU, Hopkins Coronavirus Resource othersintheir home states. Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar from or through the Gulf nations. suspension of ae-visas for Total554 299 201 (67.22%) Turkey and the UK were banned Center,the total number of cases Asenior health official from a Pradesh and Karnataka,had an Even considering the total Chinese nationals (February3); Telangana 71 35 6 and on March 22, all interna- in UAEonMondaywerejust570, statewithmorethan50positive overseas travel history. number of cases in these 10 avoid travel to Iran, Italyand Gujarat 70 32 18 tional flightsweresuspended. and therewere1299 positive cases said: “Initially, if we had fo- Significantly,two of everythree states, travellers from the Gulf South Koreaand screening of Incidentally, the Gulf coun- cases in Saudi Arabia, 634in cusedonthe Middle-East, we Rajasthan (Mar 29) 57 30 10 of them (67.22%) had returned account foroverone in every passengers basedonrisk assess- tries, especiallyUnited Arab Qatar,515 in Bahrain, and 266in would have been better off. We from or via acountry in the Gulf four positive cases. Theyhave ment(February 26);suspension Tamil Nadu 67 26 4 Emiratesand Qatar aremajor Kuwait. were focusing more on Spain, other than Iran. also contributed to indirect cases of all visas fortravellersfrom Punjab 39 80ports of transitfor flightsbe- As the epicentreofthe global Italy, the US, the UK, China. We An analysis by The Indian transmitting it to people came in Iran, Italy, Japan, China and South West Bengal 19 50tween India and mostofthe pandemic wasChina, followed missedout on the Middle-East Express of the travel history of contact with them. Korea(March 3); 14-day home Total877 435239 (54.94%) western world, including by Iran and Italyand nowthe US, and Dubai. We were abit late.” positive cases from 10 states One possiblefactoristhat quarantine forthose with travel Europe, Africaand Northand India focusedonChina, southeast CONTINUEDONPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020

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BMC circular as the factoryownerasked us to the roof. Avoiceshoutsout: At theRarha border postbe- go home because of the lock- “Whereare yougoing? tween Rajasthan and Madhya insists to burydead body,hewill down. He hadevenarrangedthe Mathura?”“Lucknow,”hesays,in Pradesh close to Bharatpur,a bepermittedif theburialgrounds tempoinwhichweleftfrom Delhi, Mumbai, Noida in list with disappointment. groupof menarewalkingbackto arelarge enough so as nottocre- Mumbai and said that it would ForSingh,Lucknowisonlya their villages, over a1,000 km atepossibilityof spreadof virusin dropusatourrespectivevillages,” transit point, amiddle ground away.Atthe border,theyare the neighbouring area and other said26-year-oldSuraj Prajapati,a several clusters; to see more testing that giveshim hope. Home is stoppedbypolicemen who ask: arrangementsare made by the native of Uttar Pradesh. Palamu in Jharkhand, over 1,000 “Whydidn’t youstayinGujarat? concerned on their ownfollow- Hoursaftertheybeganonthe km away.Singh pointsatthe The governmenthas already an- ing alltheguidelines andprecau- journey,the tempowas inter- The clustercontainment emergedasahotspotafter are- porttovisit his in-laws in the Severaldoctors and staffmem- speedcamerasontheeight-laned nouncedthat youwill getfood tionsasgivenfordisposalof dead ceptedand Prajapati’s hand was plan, as per the notified guide- ligious meeting therewas at- city.Apart from the homeshe bers of another hospital had to “accesscontrolledhighway”.“Can and shelter whereyou are? Are bodies of COVID-19”. stampedwith “Home quaran- lines of the MinistryofHealth, tended by peoplewithtravel himself went to in the neigh- be quarantinedafter apatient theyrecordhow fast Iamwalk- youbringingCoronabacktoyour Pardeshi had to issue an tined”. Prajapati will nowhaveto mandates: “If the epidemio- history to Indonesia and bourhood, his familyissus- tested positive. ing?”helaughs. To the leftofthe village?” One of the workers, amendedcircular to include this stay putinaquarantineshelterat logical assessment process is Malaysia. The Dilshad Garden pected to have exposedmany Therehavealsobeen cases cameras, is asignpost drapedin RannvijaySingh, responds: “I did exception,afteranearliercircular, Nashik forthe next 14 days. to take time (>12-24hrs), then indexpatient had returned people to the virus. in severalslum clusters, irony: “Expressway pe paidal notliveoncharity.Iworked in a whichstatedthat those who in- Prajapati, his co-workers and acontainmentzone of 3Kms from Saudi Arabia, passedon In Mumbai, officials sus- wheresocial distancing is un- chalnajanleva ho saktahai shop in Surat, did honestwork, sistonburialwouldbepermitted truckdriverAsgar Ali said that and abufferzone of 7Kms will the virus to adoctor,who in pectseveral clusters have de- realistic. (Walking on foot on the express- and sentmoneybacktomy fam- to doso“onlyifdeadbodyistaken theyweresurprisedatbeing be decidedwhichmay be sub- turn sawover1,000patientsat veloped. One hospital had to be In Bhilwara, severalmed- waycan be threatening to life).” ily. Whyshould Iliveinashelter outof Mumbaicity’sjurisdiction” stoppedastheypoliceofficials at sequentlyrevised,ifrequired, amohalla clinic before being closeddownafter aretired ical staffofapopularprivate Twohours later,onthe out- likeaprison? My children are and buriedoutside, created con- Wadpe on the Mumbai-Agra basedonepidemiologic inves- diagnosed. urologist who died and his son hospital have tested positive, skirts of Mathura, families sit on here. Who will take them to hos- cern in the Muslim community. Highway hadallowedthemto go tigation. Exceptfor ruralset- The Meerutcaseconcerns who tested positive were leading to more than 20 lakh the ground next to apolicebarri- pitalif theyget sick?Inthevillage, “I told the BMC commissioner to afterallegedly taking Rs 2,000 tings.” aman who came backfrom found to have had contact with people across the district being cade, and three policemen. A we have farm fields, whichwill withdraw theorder.Thisproblem from them. Nizamuddin in Delhi has Dubai and took publictrans- alarge number of people. surveyed. group of 30 has just boardedthe give us food. Thereisnorent. In came up as manyburialgrounds “InWadape police station af- backofatruckwith barelyspace thevillage,theworkersfromout- declinedtoallow infectedpeople terbeingstoppedfor morethree to breathe.Unabletoget on, side have leftand gone to their to be buriedontheir premises. I hours theytook my name and Rs MrigendraJha, aconstruction homes. Who will cut the wheat if have told the BMCthat thereisa 2,000letusgo.We were however Delhi’s Nizamuddin West underwatch, labourer,andhisfamilyoffourget we don’t?” newburialgroundinKurlawhere stoppedatNashik.The people in up to walk.Sofar this morning, At 10 pm, at Kosikalan on the all the affected bodiescan be the truckweretaken to anearby the police have been sympa- Haryana-UPborder,agroupof 30 buried,”MinorityAffairsMinister school. Iamnow waiting forin- 1,000 being traced across country thetic: “Whyare youwalking? men aredeboardedfromatruck and senior NCPleader Nawab structionsfromthe police on Howfar will youget?” Jha’s re- and threatenedwith legal action. Malik said afterthe firstorder. what Ineedtodo,”Ali said. sponseissimple:“Aurraastakya AllresidentsofHodalinHaryana, “Therehavebeen deaths due deaths —all of persons linked “Around 1,600people are markaz told The Indian Kashmir as well as Bangladesh, hai (Is thereany other way)? We theyhad travelledfromBhopal, to the outbreak across the world, Trucks stuck to thegathering at nowbeing tracedand we are Express, “On Monday, 300 Malaysia, Nepal and Dubai. usedtospend what we earned evadingcheckposts before being nowherehaveweseendirectives thesemigrants, but there is no Nizamuddin. in the process of gettingthe people were evacuated... There Nizamuddin West had first daily. Without that, thereisno caughtatthelastone,15 kmfrom beengiventhatthebodiesshould clarityfromlocalauthorities,”said “It is suspected that the Alami Markaz Banglewali is no needtoworry,weare comeunder the scanner of au- food formytwo children. So we home. The question thrownat onlybecremated.Asperthelaid- Kultaran Singh Atwal, President, virus mayhavebeentransmit- Masjid in Nizamuddinevacu- onlybeingtaken forcheck-up. thorities afteran80-year-old mustgohome wheremyfamily them is one theyhaveheardbe- downprotocals,provisionscanbe All India MotorTransport tedbythose who were infected ated.People who came to This will go on forafew days residenttestedpositive last is,andtherewillbefood.Perhaps, fore:“Pradhanmantri ko sune made to ensure that burials take Congress.Truckdrivers,doingthis when theyattendedthe event. Delhi forthe event have been till everyone is sent foracheck- week,but the magnitude of someone will give us aride on a nahikya?Baarbaarbolerahehai, place in asafemanner.The order suo motu, were facing challans District Collectors have been in- living in dormitories. We are up.” the possible outbreak became trucktoVaranasi and to gharmeinraho, ghar mein raho? wasuncalledfor,”saidSamajwadi from the local police. structed to form teams to con- sending buses to the area at Saying that it plans to lodge clearer when the six men Samastipur.Wewillgetnowhere Samajh nahi aa rahi? Yehbimari PartyMLA Abu Asim Azmi. According to official data, duct checks on familymem- regular intervals, and sympto- an FIR againstthe maulana of tested positiveonSunday. The waiting here. We mustmove.” khatarnak hai (Did younot hear “TheBMCshouldprovidesep- mostmigrant labour from Uttar bers and all thosewho came in matic patientsare being re- the mosque, the Delhi govern- six arenot residentsofDelhi. Between Singh and Jha, thePrimeMinister?Hesaidagain arateordesignatedburialareafor Pradesh, Bihar,Madhya Pradesh, touchwith these persons,” the ferred to government hospi- ment issuedastatement: Aresident of Nizamuddin Palamu to Samastipur,the anxi- and again, stay at home, stay at the dead bodies. Whereisthe Punjab and Rajasthan, arein Telangana Health department tals. Those who are “Lockdown wasimposedin West said, “Since lastnight, etyanddespairarecommon:the home.Doyou not understand? place outsideMumbai? Delhi. “Weurgethe government said in astatement. asymptomaticand needtobe entireIndiaonMarch 24 and it therehas been heavy police lockdowncausedbythe fear of This disease is serious).” Cremationisnotasolution.Every to clear the wayfor truckscarry- Morethan 30 personsfrom quarantinedare being trans- wasthe duty of everyowner presence and we haven’t the virus has takenawaytheir The reply—from Rajendra funeral should be allowedasper ing essential goods and com- Telangana and AndhraPradesh ported to Delhi’s government’s and administrator of everyho- steppedout of the house at all. daily-wage jobs;withnocertainty Chauhan, oneofthe workers—is the person’s religion,” said moditiesorelsethiscouldleadto had attendedthe event from DDAfacility in Narela,” said a tel, guesthouse, hosteland We arescared sincethere were of what happens next, the home, equally forceful, perhapsfrom MaulanaMahmoodDariyabadi, asevereshortage of supplies in March 13-15, officials said. senior officer from the Delhi similar establishment to main- severalpeopleinside the backinthe village,isthe only twodays of practice. “If Corona general secretary, All Ulema majorcentresinthecomingdays. “Coronavirus has spread health department. tain social distancing. It looks mosque, and six have tested source of succour—economic comes,and Iamtodie, canapoor Council.Hesaidsuchbodiescould The government has passedor- among some of those who at- DCP (Southeast) RP Meena likesocial distancing and quar- positive. None of us arestep- and emotional. mannot even see hisfamily?” be burieddeeper. dersbutthesituationongroundis tendedareligious prayer said: “There areessentiallytwo antine protocols were not ping out to even buy ration.” This isn’t migration,theyhad Father Nigel Barrett, very different,” Atwalsaid. meeting from March 13-15in buildings —one is amosque practicedhere.” An official from all migrated already from their spokespersonfortheArchdiocese “Almost50per cent of our truck amosque in Nizamuddin area and the other amarkaz (cen- The statement further said Nizamuddin dargahsaid the hardscrabblevillagesto thecities, Virus focus of Bombay, saidtheyare yettore- drivershave ranawaytotheirvil- in Delhi. Special teams under tre) —with five-six floors. that “it has come to our knowl- premises arebeing sanitised this is about returning to there- Result:instate afterstate ceive anycommunication from lages,” he said. the district collectors have Around 1,500-2,000 people edge that the administrators thrice aday and announce- assuring contours of thefamiliar, where corona cases have global theauthorities.“Cremationisper- Themassmigrationof people identifiedpersons who came live here. The lasttime ajamaat violated theseconditions and mentsare being madetoen- the home in the villagetheyleft travelhistory,there isahighshare mittedintheCatholicChurch and frommajorstatehubsto theirvil- in contact with these persons, washeld herewas on March severalcases of corona positive surenoone visits. behindlongago —and will leave from the Gulf. in the situation we areinwe lages has also causedashortage and theywereshiftedtothe 20-21. Sincethe lockdown was patientshavebeen found The Tablighi Jamaat is a oncetheshadows lift—isnowall In Maharashtra, whichhad would understand.However,we of labourers in these centres, hospitals. Theyweretested implemented,wehavesent here... By this gross act of neg- conservative Muslim organisa- theylook forwardto. At least,for the highestcaseload, 203 cases willwait to be notifiedaboutit.” whichhas created aproblem for and treated.All those who par- twonotices to them about en- ligence many liveshavebeen tion that wasset up in 1926 by the time being. until Monday, 36 were travellers NCPleader and Health truckers and grocerysuppliers ticipated in the prayers should forcement of section 144. endangered... this is nothing MaulanaIlyas to spread reli- Soby 11 am,thesunisbeating fromtheGulf,almosthalf of those MinisterRajesh Tope said, “We alike. An owner of atransporta- inform the officials. The gov- There areover100 police per- but acriminal act.” gious knowledge among down, and policeconstables at whotestedpositive andhadover- will have to lookatthe central tion companyinPatna reported ernment would conduct tests sonnel thereand one drone, to As many65peoplefrom Muslims. It is supposedtobe the Dholpur-Morena border, seas travel history. government advisory.Whatever that twotrucks carrying medi- and offertreatment to them ensurethereisnomovement the locality were earlier admit- the largest Muslim religious whereRajasthan ends and In Kerala, the shareismuch itisthat has to be followedfor fi- cineshad reachedits destination free of cost,” theMedical and at all. Onlyhealth department tedtothe RajivGandhi super- movement in the world, with Madhya Pradesh begins, are higher.Almost87per centof nal rites.” but therewas nolabour available HealthDepartment stated in a officialsare allowed.”Hesaid specialityhospitalafter they the word Tabligh (propagator) sweating. Notfromthe heat, but thosewithtravelhistoryarefrom Apublic health department to unload the vehicles. In places statement. areas between the mosque and showedcoronavirus symp- signifying itsmandateof the relentlessstreamofmigrant the Gulf. officialsaid forH1N1 deaths, also likeDelhi-NationalCapitalRegion, The Delhi government, in a Nizamuddin dargah, right up toms.Their resultsare awaited. spreading the word of Islam. workers. Each one is stoppedat ForKarnataka, according to an infectious disease, burials are aglitchinsmooth transportation statement, said it plans to to thepolice station, have been Those admitted at the hospital (WITHINPUTSFROM the border, andsortedintobuses the March 30 data,22out of the permitted fordead bodies.“We hasleftsomeshopownersfacing lodgeanFIR againstthe cordonedoff. include people from Assam, SREENIVASJANYALA takingthemtodifferent districts 49 positive cases with interna- onlyadvise familiestonot touch ashortageofessential packaged maulana of the mosque. Aspokesperson of the Kolkata, Bihar,Telangana, IN HYDERABAD) in Rajasthan. The numbers are tional travel history had touched the body,” the official said. goodslikeflour,biscuits,packaged overwhelming —300 to 400per theGulf.Thestatehad74 positive The circular restrictsthe par- snackfoods,etc. hour at this one border, says one casesuntilMonday. Of the32pos- ticipationatallfuneralsto amax- Further,online grocerycom- vancedsafetyand hygiene pre- erycompanieswerenot receiving restaurant owner said. them to go to the telecom tower official. itive casesinGujaratthathave in- imumoffivepeople.Officialssaid panieslikeBigbasket andGrofers cautionsfor their well-being as itemssuchascutleryandpackag- The delivery personnel of on- to ensure delivery,buttheyhadto In frustration, he asksone ternational travel history, more violationsofthese directiveswill arealso farfromrunningattheir well as the safetyofour cus- ing material, whichisnecessary line food ordering platforms also take circuitous routes while re- group:“Didyouthinkatallbefore thanhalf, 18,had come from the inviteactionunderSection188of full capacity.Grofers has, in fact, tomers. Forustocome backto fordelivery of food,but notseen facedsimilar problems. In some turning to theoffice. leavingyourcitiesto dothis?”Pat Gulf.Gujarathas70 positive cases. IPC. evenreachedoutto othersto aug- 100% operational capacity will as essential earlier.“In the case of cities, theseplatforms suchas comes an exhaustedreplyfrom The Gulf sharefor other states Mumbai has so farregistered mentitsworkforce.“If yourcom- take afew days more”. “.weare food, all rawmaterialsfor prepa- Swiggy and Zomatohaveout- 4states, 1story Savitri Bai, from Ambah in isn’t as high. Telangana has 71 to- eight confirmedcoronavirus panyhasidlingsemi-skilledwork running at muchlower thanour rationof foodwere includedinthe sourcedthe work tobusiness-to- COVID-19patients here. MadhyaPradesh who has trav- talcaseswith35 whocameonin- deaths. Thereare over 50 crema- forcethat can do with morein- 100%operationalcapacityasper- essentialcategory. Butthenpack- business delivery services plat- At 6.30amSunday, onthezero elledfromAgra:“Thereisnothing ternational flights, but onlysix of toriumsandburialgroundsoper- come +workinasafeenviron- mitsare required forall ware- agingmaterial suchassilverfoil form. point of the Yamuna Expressway forusinthecity.WeknowCorona them were from the Gulf. Of the ated by the BMCacrossthe city. ment, please reachout to Grofers houses and passes arerequired and plastic cutlerywas notinthe “On their waytodelivering thatleadstoAgra,SatyendraSingh isserious.Ourvillageiswherewe 67 cases in Tamil Nadu, of whom Apart from this, over 120crema- -weare hiringinourwarehouses foreachdeliveryperson.Sofar, we essentialcategoryproductlist.We theseorders, our boys can easily is tired of waiting. With ared bag willbeableto survive,takecareof almosthalf arethose with inter- toriums areoperated by private to increasethroughoutinallcities. have gotpassesforaround40%of hadatoughtimeprocuringthem,” navigatesince theyhavefood slung across his shoulder,hesays our families. The richwereal- national travel history,onlyfour organisations. Requirement -Smartphone our staff and local authorities are adelivery-onlyrestaurant-owner withthemto show fortheirwork hebeganwalkingat2.30amfrom lowedbackontheir planes. Why were from the Gulf. Therewere In Mumbai, thereare so far savvy.Transportprovided,” helping us with the rest of the basedout of Bengaluru said. and also have the curfew pass. It hisrentedshack inNoida,nearthe couldn’ttheyhaveallowedtrains none in Punjab whichhas atotal 170confirmedcasesof COVID-19, Grofers CEO Albinder Dhindsa passes,”Gupta added. The kitchen staffofthese isontheirwaybacktotherestau- mobile phone companyhe or busesfor twomoredays?Did of 39casesincludeseightwithin- admitted in variousmunicipal said in atweet,adding that one Similarly,Bigbasket saidthe restaurantsalsohadto faceahar- rantor their basethattheyhavea worked for. The companyisshut, the government have aplan?” ternational travel history. West hospitals.OnMonday, therewere batchofworkers from textilein- companywasoperatingat10per rowing time,often opting to stay tough time convincing the au- and notjustfor threeweeks, he At theRajasthan border,the Bengal has 19 positive cases, only 47 newcases from Mumbai and dustryhasalreadybeeninducted. cent capacity on March 25 and as back duetofear theywouldbe thorities that theywereout for wastold. And it’s been an hour AssistantCommissionerof Police five of whomhadtravelledabroad, Metropolitan Region. Inamailto thecompany’scus- of Sundayat40per cent. hauledupbythe policeontheir work,” the head of operations of here. incharge admits:“Asof today, the and none came backfromthe tomers, Grofers’ Head of “Meanwhile,our HR teams have waytoduty or backhome. “We one suchdelivery platform said, “Icannotaffordtherentwith- plan is to take everybody in, and Gulf.Country-wise data of travel Customer Experience Suneet been workingonrecruiting and have nowmade temporary requesting nottobe named. out pay, and Iwill run out of sendthemto theirdistricts,where history of positive patientsisnot Nashik Gupta said,“Dueto thelockdown, retaining people so that we can arrangementsfor some of our The drivers of trucks and moneysoon,” he says.And so, he theywillbescreened, andquar- publiclyavailablefor all states. premises where they had been our delivery partners had also increase our capacity,” it said in a staff. Since thereare no dine in mini-trucks carrying diesel for beganwalking. About 7.30 am, a antinedifnecessary. But,thegov- (WITHINPUTSFROMSOHINI staying. “I wasemployedinafac- gonehomeforafew days.Weare statement. customers these days,theysleep telecomtowers also narrateda bus pressedintoservice forthe ernment’splanskeep changing GHOSH,GOPALKATESHIYA, toryandusedtostay inthefactory nowrequesting them to come Additionally, within the city in the restaurant itself and eat similar problem, statingthat the daybythe UP government slows too, and all we candoisto follow RAVIKBHATTACHARYAAND premises.We were forcedto leave backwith us having takenad- limits,restaurantsandfooddeliv- here,” another Noida-based authorities had nowallowed down next to him, room onlyon directions.” LIZMATHEW)

Half the beds with ventilators, it is learnt. Railwayshas been asked to ex- nowinthe process of deciding the required number of some told The Indian Express. Railway Boardtoits zonal units AVISHEKGDASTIDAR Basedonthekindof scaleindi- plorewaystolet ventilatormanu- whether to dedicate some 60-70 2,000 ventilators thatare ex- The national transporterwas and factories on Monday. in 125 rail NEWDELHI,MARCH30 cated to it, the Railwayson facturersuse itsfactories to ramp strategicallylocated railway hos- pected to be required forCOVID- alreadyonwaytoturningcoaches The IndianExpress had on Mondaysoundedout itszonal up production numbers. “Weare pitals entirelyfor COVID-19pa- 19 patientsincomingdays.Itcur- intoisolationwards,andthenum- March23reported thatplans to hospitals to THE INDIAN Railways has now unitsthat it mayneedtoconvert lookingatcollaboration,”asource tients, or to keep certain keyhos- rentlyhasaround100ventilators. bers needtobehigher and much turnrailway coachesinto isolation been asked to earmarkhalfofits up to 20,000 coaches intoisola- said. pitals in “dual mode”, with The Railwayshas decidedto faster,theRailwayshavedecided. unitswereafoot. be marked hospital bedsacross Indiafor tion unitsincoming days and is- Necessaryinstructionsforthis dedicatedentrypointsandexclu- procurefrommultiplesources,as “Railwaysmay berequiredto con- This is over and above the COVID-19patients, out of which suedordersto startwithconvert- were issuedMondayfromthe sive wings and blocks forcoron- alsoseek the helpofthe Ministry vert up to 20,000 suchcoaches, massproductionof personalpro- for corona one-third willhavetobefitted ing 5,000coaches. Railway Ministry. avirus patients. of Health and FamilyWelfare,the with 5,000 coaches to be con- tectiveequipment(PPE) that the with ventilators. With the progress of itsown TheRailwayshas13,000beds WhileRailwaysisinthe nodal agency. “This is partofde- verted initially into Railwayshas initiated in all its patients Thiswilltranslateintoaround productionunitstowardsmaking inits125hospitalsacrossIndia,in- processofprocuringmoreventi- cisionstaken at high-levelmeet- quarantine/isolation units,” ac- units, putting to use itsentirein- 6,500beds,includingnearly 2,000 ventilatorsasyet uncertain, the cluding in remote locations. It is lators,itis,however, nowherenear ingsinthe government,” asource cording to aletterfromthe dustrial capability. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 3 THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 THE OUTBREAK Mumbai

Vendorsline up at APMC marketinNaviMumbaiastrucks from rural parts of the statearrivewith vegetablesMonday. NarendraVaskar

CivicbodytouseGPSdatato 2daysafter 17 zonalrlystobegin woman tests converting coaches mapcoronahigh-riskzones positive, BMC yet to trace into isolation wards To rope in medical studentstoboost healthcarefacilities markedasstorage or paramedic area. Two contact source IRAMSIDDIQUE oxygen cylinders will also be providedwith MUMBAI.MARCH30 appropriateclamping facilities in this area. SANJANABHALERAO One of the twotoilets, whichhas apan, will MUMBAI,MARCH 30 TO HELP local hospitals deal withanincreased be covered and converted intoabathroom BMC seals Worli Koliwada SANJANABHALERAO number of COVID-19cases,theRailway Board with abucket, mug and soap dispenser.Each FACEDWITH repeated violations of the MUMBAI,MARCH30 (RB) willconvertatotal of 20,000coachesinto of the eight cabins will be equippedwith ad- lockdown and fears of community trans- isolation wards. On Monday, the boardsaid17 equatecharging pointsfor laptops and three mission of coronavirus disease, the as 8test positive; cops to TWODAYSafter a43-year-old woman zonal railways have been directed to convert dustbins -red,yellowandbluein colour-with Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation from the eastern suburb of Mumbai 5,000 coachesinthe firstphase of the initia- appropriategarbagebags. The windows of the (BMC) has decidedtouse Global Positioning tested positive forCOVID-19, the BMC is tive.InMumbai, the Central Railway (CR) and coaches aretobecovered in mosquitonets, System (GPS) datatomap high-riskzonesin help with essential supplies still struggling to find the source from Western Railway (WR) will convert 482and while the roof of the coach, as well as itssides, the city and the number of positivecases in where she couldhavecontractedthe in- 410coaches,respectively,intoisolation wards. will be covered in bamboo mats to isolateit eachoftheseareas. The trackerisexpected fection. Her 14-year-old son and 60-year- The directive wasissuedafter prototypes from the heat. to be uploadedonthe corporation's web- from Koliwada had tested positive while old mother,meanwhile, were tested pos- were prepared by five zonalrailways,follow- Asenior RB official said, “Zonal railways sitesoon, LAXMANSINGH test resultsoffour others were found to itivefor thevirus Sundayand admitted to ing avideo conference on March 25. The have beenaskedto give atimeperiod thatthey officialssaid. MUMBAI,MARCH30 be positive on Sundayand Monday. aprivate hospital. The woman’s nine- IndianRailways has been allocatedaroundRs will requiretoconvert the assignednumber On Monday, Mumbai Police sealedthe All of them aremale and aged above year-old daughter with special and her 100crore by the Centrefromits COVID-19 of coaches intothese quarantine/isolation fa- densely populatedWorli-Koliwada area af- THE BMC lateSundaysealedWorli 45, while three arefromthe same family caregiver, however, have tested negative. fund forthe work. cilities, and startthe work immediately.” tereight persons tested positive forthe Koliwada area, comprising acolonyof and five others arefromdifferent areas in Ahuman resource professional, offi- Of the 5,000 coaches to be converted in On CR, the work is beingundertakenby virus, restricting entryand exit of citizens. fisherfolk and adjoining slums, aftereight Koliwada, officials added. cials said, the woman had no travel his- thefirstphase, south-central railway (CSR) Matungaworkshop,while in WR itwillbe Forty-sevenmorepeople tested positive for residentstestedpositivefor coronavirus "A man who worksatacanteen in an tory abroad or known contact with an will work on 482coaches and south-eastcen- done by Pareland Bhavnagar.InWR, thework coronavirusinMumbai Metropolitan disease (COVID-19). BimbisarNagar in eastern suburb,his brotherand son tested infected patient. On March 19,she first tral railway (SECR) on 111 coaches, officials will be carried outatMahalaxmiworkshop, Region on the day, thecivic body said. Goregaon (East) and Dahisar were also positive.Theyare at Kasturba hospital. contacted Kasturba Hospital’shelpline said. whichwill do 40 coaches,and LowerParel Till now, to assuagefear and prevent sealedafter one person eachweretested Five others areindifferent parts of with symptoms suchasfever,breathing According to zonal railways,the instruc- workshop that will do another 60 coaches. stigmatization of patients —and their resi- positive in the twoareas, officials said. Koliwada," an officialsaid. difficulty, arunning nose and cough. She tions have been issuedafter consultation with The conversion of eachofthese coaches will dential precincts—BMC had refrainedfrom The entryand exit of residentswas Officials also said theyhad decidedto calledagain on March 21,with asimilar the ArmedForcemedical service, medical de- costRs2lakhs,officialssaid.AWRofficialsaid, revealing details pertaining to COVID-19- barredtoprevent furthertransmission, seal the area as making peoplecomply complaint. However, as she had no travel partment of zonal railways,and Ayushman “Mostofthese coaches will be developedin afflictedpatients,suchastheir residential and police ropedintoprovideessential withdirectiveswas “proving to be impos- history or contactwith an infected pa- Bharat. Mumbai itself.” ward.Itonlyrevealedbroader details like supplies. The BMC disinfected and fumi- sible”, with large crowds gathering at sev- tient, she wasasked to stay on home The railways has been askedtouse non- Railway officials were firstasked to look patient’s age, gender and abroader residen- gatedthe area on Monday. eral places. quarantine.She waslater takentoahos- AC Link Hofmann Bush (LHB) coaches, which foroutside charging points to provide electric tialarea. WorliKoliwada has apopulation of StateTourism Ministerand localMLA pital in Chembur,and afterher condi- arepreferably15yearsold, forthe purpose. supplytothe coaches when parkedorinthe However, withaspike in the number of over one lakh, withsmall oneortwo- AadityaThackeray also tweetedabout the tioneddeteriorated,she wasshiftedtoa Eachquarantine coachwill have nine cabins, wayside. Astock of the pantry car is also be- lockdown and quarantine violations, the storey and two-storeyhouses, mostlyoc- area beingsealed. He statedthatdisinfec- private hospital, wherethe coronavirus with the firstcabin towardsthe bathroom to ing done to provide food forthose who will be civic body has decidedtomap thehigh-risk cupiedbyfisherfolk. tion and contact tracing wason. infection test wasconducted. be separated using twocurtains and ear- in these isolation facilities. zonestoalertcitizens to stay away from "Since it is denselypopulatedand Civic authorities have also marked As per the MinistryofHealth and these areas and followlockdown instruc- thereisachance of spreading it to others Bimbisar Nagarasahigh-risk zone and FamilyWelfareguidelines, coronavirus tions.The details willalso be usedbyward living in the area, we have decidedtoseal imposedarestriction onentryand exit of infection testsare approved only for officers who will ensuremandatoryhome- the locality.Wehavetaken thestepto residentsafter apersontestedpositive for thosewho have travel history to coron- delivery of essentials, likemedicines and avoid further spread of virus outside the the virus. The area, officials said, willbe avirus-affected countries and areshow- grocery items, to restrictcitizens movement locality. With thehelp of police, we arego- sanitisedand residentsprovidedessen- ing symptoms, citizens who have come in these zones. ing to makesome arrangementsfor es- tial goods through home delivery to en- in contact with COVID-19positive pa- Meanwhile, to strengthen the healthcare sentials. As of now, till further notice, no- surecomplete social distancing. tients, symptomatic health workers and facilities, final-year medical studentsand body can enter Koliwada and no one can The civic body uses sodium hypochlo- acuterespiratorydistress patients. second-and third-year nursing students come out. Positive casesdonot have any ritefor disinfecting and area and ML oil, The local authorities till nowhaveput from four medical collegesinthe citywill be travel history and contact tracing is on," usedduring monsoon, forfumigation, of- 15-20 people, who mayhavecomein draftedintoits workforce. The studentswill said Sharad Ughade,Assistant Municipal ficials said. contact with the patient, on home quar- be givencharge of OPDs and administrative Commissioner,GSouth ward (Worli, So far, Mumbai fire brigade and civic antine. The localauthorities have also duties at various civic-run hospitals. Prabhadevi). staffhavejointlysanitisedover1,350 sanitised the residential society,com- To further de-congestmajor hospitals Officials said on Saturday, four people premises across the city. mon areas of the building, local hospi- and effectively use isolation bedsfor pa- tals and office. tients, the civic body has decidedtocate- ShivSena corporator Anjali Naik said, gorise COVID-19patients depending on “There is panic in the housingsociety symptoms and risk category. The symptomatic patients. An order issuedbythe municipal com- wherethe woman resides. However, three categoriesare —asymptomaticpa- With the classification, BMC aims to pro- missioner states: “All existing BMC isola- theyare notforthcomingand arenot tientsbelow55years andwithout anyco- vide services to stable patients at quaran- tion hospitals should classifypositive sharing the details of residentswho had Migrant labourers providedaccommodation at CIDCOexhibition centreinNavi morbidity,asymptomaticormildlysymp- tine centres, freeing thehospital bedsatiso- COVID-19 patients andshift them in an am- travelledabroad.” Mumbai. NarendraVaskar tomatic patientsabove 55 years, and lation facilities forcritical ones. bulance with aseptic precautions.” If we don’t go back, our cattle will starve to death, stranded family pleads

their relative,who resides in aslum at Indian Bilal Khan, an activistwith Ghar Bachao remainedchaotic,with some of shelters even vulnerable sections arefacing, ateam of SANDEEPASHAR Oil NagaronGhatkopar-MankhurdLink GharBanao Andolan, whichhas been work- being discontinued. youngsters from the Shivajinagar slum in MUMBAI.MARCH30 Road. Kale, who does notown arationcard, ing closelywiththe community,sayswhile While Thackeray had originallyan- Govandi, whichhas been hit harddue to the has found it difficult to securefood supplies theyhavebeen supplying ration, bathing and nounced thatcivic schools willbeconverted lockdown, distributed free food and waterin FORTHE past couple of days,SeetabaiPawar forhis ownfamilyamid the lockdown. washing soap through crowd-funding to lo- intotemporary shelters forthe homeless, other slum pockets. has been goingtoShivaji Nagarpolicestation "I have notearnedasinglerupee in two cal families, there is an urgent needfor cook- sources saythis decision has nowbeen re- "Weare notanNGO, we have pooledin at leasttwice aday urging cops to help her weeks. Whatever supplieswehad stocked ing gasrefills and edible oil so that the ration versedwith senior bureaucratsraising con- funds to secure supplies.Alot of people in return to her villageinParbhani. The 50-year- arenow exhaustedand Idon’t have enough can be puttouse. cerns over the needfor disinfecting schools Mumbai have been hit hardbythe mass clo- old woman, whose entirefamilyhad come formyownfamily, howdoItake careofrel- Khan says amajority of the workers in the before classes resume. sures, we aretrying to do whatwecan," says to Mumbai to visit arelative on March 16,is ativesaswell?" he asks. area is notregisteredwith the state-run On Monday,the government decidedto Shammiullah Khan, 24,ajuice centreowner. worriedthatifshe does notgoback, her cat- Bhanudas Kale, alocal resident and ac- MaharashtraBuilding and Other re-purpose large open spaces, including Theycall themselvesTeam 19. tle maystarvetodeath. “Weown afive-acre tivistinthe area, says NGOs have been kind ConstructionWorkers WelfareBoardand is sportscomplexesand grounds,besides com- farm, we have twobullocks and acow back enough to supply rice, wheat and flour,but wary that the government's relief measures munity centres as temporaryshelters forthe Community kitchens in the village. When we came here, we did- the families heresay theyare running out of will notreachthem. homeless and migrants. to comeup n’t expect to be stuckfor so long,” she says. edible oil and gastocook food. As manyas Khan claims that amajority of head load- The Bombay exhibition centre(NESCO) MadhuPawar,30, her son, said theyhad 200families of mathadi workers(head load- ers livinginMumbai’s other slumpockets in Goregaon, spread over 60,000 sq m, and The stategovernmenthas directed civic triedmanymeans to return home, but to no ers), mainlyfromBeed, Parbhani and arealso unregistered. While the Centrehas the Andherisports complexare amongthe commissioners and district collectors to iden- avail. They even askedfor arecommenda- Solapur,reside in the slum. already announcedcash doles,Maharashtra large spaces identifiedfor thepurpose. The tify places to setupcommunity kitchensfor tion letter from this journalisttoshowasa As India grapples withanunprecedented is also planningarelief packagefor the reg- Mumbai municipality has also shortlisted those who do nothavearoofovertheir heads. certificatetogoback. “Our cattle is starving shutdown prompted by the coronavirus isteredlabour force. some disusedgovernment and private high- On Monday, the statealso appointed acom- there, though we have adequatesupplies (COVID-19) outbreak,mass closures have left Aday afterChief MinisterUddhav rises to shelter the homeless, but concerns mittee under Chief SecretaryAjoyMehta to backhome and herewehavetostruggle for Mumbai’s mathadi workers in avulnerable Thackeray assuredmigrant workers and the arebeing raisedoverthe lackofbasic ameni- coordinateefforts of moving them to tempo- Seetabai Pawarand her family even barerations,”Madhusays. position. The community thatsurviveson homeless in thestate that emergency safe ties, including watersupplyand toilets,at raryshelters. An independent helpline, 1800- strandedinMumbai Monday. Express Sevenmembers of the Pawarfamilyhad dailywages has no moneyinhand to make spaces had been setupacrossthe stateto these facilities. 22-1292,was alsoannouncedfor thehome- come visit Kathu Kale, amathadi worker and ends meet. shelterthem, the arrangement in Mumbai Amidchallenges thatthe authorities and less and thosestrandedinMumbai. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4 THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 THE OUTBREAK Maharashtra WALKING HOME: WHO THEY ARE,WHY THEYARE LEAVING

SURAJ PRAJAPATI, 26 ALI ASGAR, 32 RAMBRIJ CHAUDHARY, 38 PARVESH KUMAR YADAV, 30 Familymembers: 4 Familymembers: 5 Familymembers: 4 Familymembers: 6 Profession: Helfer in glass firm Profession: Truckdriver Profession: Helfer Profession: Dailywageworker Earning: Rs 300aday;Headed towards: Gorakhpur,UP Earning: Rs 600aday; Headedtowards: Lucknow, UP Earning: Rs 450 aday; Headedtowards: Gonda, UP Earning: Rs 450 to 500aday; Headedtowards: Sultanpur,UP WHY HE LEFT: “Companyowner told me go to the villagetill the WHY HE LEFT: “The countrywas totallyshut and no jobs were WHY HE LEFT: “Since the hotels were shut, even though Ihad WHY HE LEFT: “Since lockdown, we have notgot work situation is normal, the owner has arranged atempo to drop me to available in the market,sowhen Igot achance to drive atempo to money, Icouldn’t getproper food to eatand noplace to sleep. So, I anywhere. We earn dailyand that’s howweeat daily, but since Gorakhpur.” Lucknow, Ileft.” leftfor Gonda from Bhiwandi.” March 19,Ihaven’t got anyjob, so Icouldn’t earn.”

SHESH NARAYAN YADAV, 30 PREMCHAND YADAV, 50 RAJKUMAR CHAUHAN, 39 SARAFAT ALI, 29 Familymembers: 4 Familymembers: 4 Familymembers: 25 Familymembers: 2 Profession: Oil loader Profession: Driver Profession: Has a bhangar shop Profession: Attendant to truckdriver Earning: Rs 400aday; Headed towards: Kadipur,UP Earning: Rs 600aday; Headedtowards: Kadipur,UP Earning: Rs 700aday; Headedtowards: Gonda, UP Earning: Rs 400aday; Headedtowards: Bhadohi, UP WHY HE LEFT: “I wasworking as an oil loader at the main branch WHY HE LEFT: “I usedtodrive tempos and cars. But since WHY HE LEFT: “I have a bhangar shop but since the lockdown, it WHY HE LEFT: “I wasworking as an attendant to atruckdriver, of HPCL-Diesel. Even though oil loading wason, Iwas unableto lockdown, tempoowners arenot giving rent, and car owners are has been shut and Ihad no choice but to drop some family but did notget work or moneysince the lockdown.” travel from Vasai to the oil loading branch.” notgoing out, so Iwas left with no choice but to go backhome.” members to my native place.” REPORTING:NEERAJTIWARI,PHOTOS:PRASHANTNADKAR 22 OUT OF 25 POSITIVECOVID-19 CASES FROM ONE FAMILY More than 200stranded Islampurfightsrumours,discrimination labourers moved to TABASSUMBARNAGARWALA ISLAMPUR(SANGLI),MARCH30 hostel building DR SAKET Patil, the taluka health officer,has twosheets of paper in front of him: one has a in Palghar family tree drawnonit, the other is amap of Uran Islampur. Twenty-five people,including22of afam- ily, have tested positive fornovel coronavirus SADAFMODAK (COVID-19) in this dusty town near the MUMBAI,MARCH30 Karnataka border,after four of the familyre- turnedfromapilgrimageinSaudiArabia.Now, ADAY aftermigrant labourers strandedat Islampur is fighting several battles ?against Maharashtra-Gujarat border were reportedly coronavirus, rumours,discrimination, and told to sleep in an open ground, the district au- poormedical facilities. thorities Mondayarranged to accommodate With one of India’slargest clustertrans- morethan 200persons in aschool hostel, of- missions,Islampur,withapopulationof about ficials said. 80,000,has been under totallockdown since “A total of 214persons were accommo- March 23,whenthefirstcasewasdetected.Its dated in 33 rooms of aschool hostelin roads deserted, iron barricades sealing each Talasari.Arrangementsfor their stay and food entrypoint,evenpharmaciesandclinicsshut, arealso being made,” Palghar District the onlyglimpses of habitation arethe faces Collector Kailash Shinde. peekingout from windows. The daily wagers and migrant labour- Thefourpilgrimshadboardedaninterna- ers, working at construction sites, canteens tional flight to NewDelhi,and then adomes- and hotels in Mumbai and itssuburbs, had tic flighttoMumbai on March 13.According leftfor their hometowns in Rajasthan, to Dr Saket Patil, talukahealth officer,after Madhya Pradesh andGujarat, somewith landing at Mumbai airport, the four family their families, afterthe 21-daynationwide membersate at aColaba restaurant and then lockdown leftthem strandedwith no took ataxi to Islampur,340 km away.Back means of livelihood and accommodation. home, none of them,includinga65-year-old, With thestate border,the localauthorities observed home quarantine. The 65-year-old and police had stoppedthe them at vari- visited abank twice, sat at abangleshopon ous checkpointsinPalghar. thegroundfloorof histwo-storeyhousedaily, Manyofthe strandedpersons were sent andstrolledinGandhiChowkthatseesafoot- to Thakkar Bappa School in Talasariwherethe fall of about 3,000everymorning. local authorities, including the tehsildar and On March 19,hedevelopedacough and Completelockdown in Uran Islampur in Sangli district after25residentstestedpositive forCOVID-19. Amit Chakravarty health officials,ensuredthatthey underwent coldand visitedthe sub-district hospital. By healthcheck-upandwere providedwithfood. March 22, allfour had been admitted in Miraj The labourers and their families, includ- MedicalCollege.The next day, their nasal lowedtostepout.Police and volunteers de- The65-year-oldpilgrim’s31-year-oldson, Imay getthe infection,”she said. of the village, no sanitation worker wasready ing children, were,however,told to sleep in swabstestedpositive.Avacantgirls’hostelwas livermilk and vegetables at their doors. who has also tested positive, saidtheyare In the lastfew days,residentspurchased to clean therooms. the school’s playground in absence of proper converted intoaquarantine centreand the “Morethanthevirusitself,itisthefearthat afraid to return home. “Thereissomuchha- masksandglovesforhealthworkers.Eachday, “Wehad to counsel and convince them,” accommodation.Following this several familymembers were immediatelyshifted iskillingus.Myshophasbeenclosedsincethey tred againstour family. Itriedmybesttoget an ASHA worker visits25-30 houses in said Dr Swati Patil,medical officer. strandedpersons had complainedabout be- there.Fivemorefamilymemberstestedpos- tested positive,” said neighbour Shahjahan my father tested immediatelywhen he Islampur lookingfor COVID-19symptoms. Thereare also very fewtests beingcarried ing swarmedbymosquitoes. itivebyMarch 24;another twoonMarch 25; Shikalgar.The familyhad distributed dates showedsymptoms. Initially,hewas asked to Dr BhupalShrirang Girigosavi, district outeachday.Atleast10othermembersof the On Monday, all the strandedpersons were and12onMarch 26. from Saudi to severalpeople. All thosepeople return home by agovernment hospital,” he health officer,saidprotectivegear has been familyare waiting foranasalswabtest. accommodated in separaterooms and pro- Besides the 22 familymembersand three have been quarantined. said. “Wenever wanted this to happen in procuredforallhealthworkers.“Weare onthe The family’s twodomestic helps have also videdwith mattresses, officials said. While others in their immediateneighbourhood in At least77houses,whoseresidentshadin- Islampur.Iwish my parentswerestoppedat coronavirus map because we identified so tested positive.One of them worked in seven some continuedtostayatthe school,many Gandhi Chowk area, another 489are sus- teracted with the family, have ared-coloured Delhiairport andquarantined,” he said. manycasesevenbefore theydevelopedsymp- other houses. The residentsofthose houses returnedtoMumbai, theyadded. pected to have been infected. notice pastedoutside,declaring theyare in Healthworkers arewaryofapproaching toms. We areaggressively fighting this infec- areunder home quarantine too. The MinistryofHome Affairs had Sunday “Everybodyretreatedindoorsthatday. The homequarantine. theareato conductthedailycheckonquaran- tion,” he said. The government planstoset up alabora- directed all states ensureadequatearrange- town came under alockdown,” said former “Ourvillagenamehasbeenspoiltbecause tinedpatients and contact tracing. An ASHA AfterMumbai and Pune, Islampur has the tory at the Miraj MedicalCollege to starttest- mentsoftemporaryshelters and provisionof corporator Kapil Oswal. of them. People areangryhere. The govern- (AccreditedSocialHealthActivist)workersaid maximum cases in Maharashtra.Districtoffi- ing samples. Meanwhile, panichas triggered food forthe migrant workers and homeless Theresidentsof1,100houses,withina700 ment is notproviding anyration or facility,” she had notbeengiven anymask or gloves. cialsadmittedthatthemoraleofhealthwork- rumours.OnSunday,policeregistered an FIR people,manyofwhomhave setoutonfoot to metreradius of the family’shouse, arenot al- said Yusuf Maner,aresident. “Myfamilyisscared,neighbourscomplainthat ersislow. At thequarantinecentre,attheedge againstaresident forspreading rumours. reachtheir hometowns. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 5 THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 THE OUTBREAK Maharashtra

MVA govt adopts ‘wait and watch’ policy over economic revival package Ajit Pawarwrites to Centre, seeksRs25,000 crorefinancial assistance

SANDEEPASHAR MUMBAI,MARCH30

WHILE THE Kerala government hasalready announcedRs20,000-crorerevival package to tideoverthe coronaviruscrisisthat has drainedthe state’s economy, Maharashtra, whichisseverelyhit by itsoutbreak,isyet to do so. The UddhavThackeray-ledcoalition instead has decidedtoadopta“wait and watch” approachasfar as announcing eco- nomic measures go. With debt mounting on the state’s ex- chequer,itwantstowait forthe Centretofirst roll out various relief and fiscal measuresfor various affected segments before announc- ing itsown bouquetofinitiatives. On Monday, state’s Finance MinisterAjit SETTINGOFF ON FOOT: Migrant workers heading towardsUPand MP,near Nashik on Monday. PrashantNadkar Pawarwrotealetter to the Centre, seeking fi- nancial assistance of Rs 25,000croretorevive the economy. Pawararguedthat the lock- downs has adverselyhit the state’s economy. Thestatehas also soughtimmediaterelease of Rs 16,654crore in grantsdue from the Centre. TOTALPOSITIVECASES Stateconfirms2moredeaths,tollrisesto10 Maharashtra,the country’s mostindustri- 220INMAHARASHTRA alisedstate,accountsfor about15per cent of Number of deaths10* rushedtoHiranandani hospital whereshe the nation’s GDP.The massclosuresdue to the EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Panic in village after baker tests positive testedpositive.BMCofficialsareyet to confirm unprecedentedshutdown has hit the state’s Totalnumber of people discharged39 MUMBAI,PUNE,NAGPUR,MARCH30 her death wascausedbycoronavirus. economyhard, with both the formal and the Number of patientscritical - Mumbai: The 6,700 residentsof threat of the infection spreading. Finally, In Mumbai on Monday, severalstaffers unorganisedsector suffering massive losses. MAHARASHTRA’S DEATH toll due to COVID- PimpalgaonNajik,avillage located230km theywereconvinced,” Salve said. from Jaslokhospital were quarantined aftera With nearly 94percent of operationalfac- Number of people tested 4,096 19 rose to 10 afteran80-year-oldman suc- north of Mumbai, were grippedbypanic Authoritiesclaimedasperpreliminary patient admitted in the hospital tested posi- tory unitsinthe stateshut, the small busi- Totalnumber quarantinedin cumbedaday afterhospitalisationandanother aftera30-year-oldbakertestedpositive for information gatheredfrom the patient, he tive.The patient had no travel history,no nesses, in particular,havebeen the worsthit hospitals today328 52-year-oldman diedinaPune hospital. COVID-19onSunday night, becomingthe has had no historyoftravel. “The person known contact withany confirmed caseof by the coronavirus outbreak. An 85-year-old woman, who diedin firstpositive caseinNashik district. runsabakeryandasperpreliminaryinfor- coronavirus. He developedsymptoms few The statehas about 17 lakhregistered mi- Number of newcases 17 Hiranandani hospital days afterinitially test- Localauthorities had adifficult time mation has had no travel history.Hehad days afterhospitalisation.“Allthemedicaland cro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), (8 in Mumbai, 2inNagpur,1inNashik,1 ingnegativeforCOVID-19,isnot beingcounted pacifyingvillagers,whodemandedthatall approachedprivate hospitalsonMarch 12 non-medical staffwho cameindirect or indi- whichalso cater to alabour forceofover1.5 in Kolhapur and 5inPune) yetasdeathcausedbythe infection. thosewhohadbeendeliveredbreadby the complainingof fever.Hethenmovedtothe rect contact with the affected patient have crore. “Restrictions imposeddue to thecoro- *Apart from 10,one Philippines Accordingtothe statehealth department, bakerbemovedoutof thevillage.“Villagers LasalgaonruralhospitalonMarch 25ashe beenidentifiedandscreenedandquarantined navirus outbreak has hurtthe state’s income. national’s deathand another 85-year- the number of cases in the stateroseto220, were of theviewthathewould have wasnot respondingtotreatment. He sub- asperprotocol.We areinitiatingandactivating We areexpecting the annual incometargets to old’s deathwill be assessed by death with eight newcases in Mumbai on Monday. passedonthe virustomanypeople,” dis- sequently gothimself admitted to Nashik utmostprecautionstoensure safetyand safe fall shortby10per cent,” an official said. reviewcommittee of BMC Thereis,however, adiscrepancybetweenstate trict health officer Dr Dawa Salve said. civil hospital on March27fromwhere his treatment to our patients,medical and non- Having already setaside Rs 15,000 crore and Mumbai civic body figures. The BMC re- Police had to be called in to pacify the sampleswere sentfortestingandhetested medicalcommunity at the hospital,” a forthe farm loan waiver in 2019-20,the ported47new cases. Additional municipal villagers.“We toldthevillagersthatasking positive on Sundayevening,”Nashik dis- spokesperson from the hospitalsaid. Thackeray government has decidedtowait commissionerSureshKakanisaidthe47 cases peopletoleave would cause agreater trictCollector Suraj Mandharesaid. ENS The cases of people testing positive for till the Centreannouncesits relief measures, include 18 resultsfromprivate laboratories coronaviruswith no known link to acon- before announcing the state’s revivalpack- over the lastfour days.Accordingtothe state firmedcase arerisinginMumbai. At least 11 age, aseniorofficial said. healthdepartment count, Mumbaihas 92 screenallresultsof BMC listedcases,“thetally coronavirusaday later on March 29. newpatients, according to BMC,haveno cases, while according to BMC,the total shouldmatch”.The80-year-oldmanwhodied The 85-year-old woman who diedin travel history or known contact with acon- Mumbai count is 126. wasadmitted in Fortis hospitalonMarch 27. Hiranandani hospitalhad tested negative last firmedcase. Onlythree of the newcases had HC allows state to CORONA AnupKumar Yadav, director,National He also sufferedfromhypertension and is- week afterher son (49) tested positive for atravelhistory from UAEand Madrid. HealthMission,saidtheprivate laboratoryre- chemicheartdisease.Hesufferedacuterespi- COVID-19 afterhereturnedfromthe US. The In Nagpur,two moretestedpositive on postpone polls to WATCH portswillbeanalysedbefore gettinglabelledas ratory distress anddiedonthe evening of womanwasdischargedaftertestingnegative. Monday,the wifeand brother of apatient COVID-19cases.State officials sayonce they March 28. Hisswabsample testedpositive for Shesufferedbreathlessnesslastweekandwas who had tested positive on Sunday. district cooperative Around100SRPFpersonnel banks, sugarfactories deployedinMumbra,Kalwa ELGAARPARISHAD CASE Acute labour shortage Mumbai: Close to ahundred personnel Varavara Rao, Shoma Sen file for bail on hits freightoperations, of the StateReserve Police Force(SRPF) OMKARGOKHALE were deployedinMumbraand Kalwa nearly40% drop MUMBAI,MARCH30 onSundaytoassistthelocalpoliceinen- medical grounds citing coronavirus outbreak forcingthenationwidelockdown. “Both Mumbai: Amid theCOVID-19crisis, Indian IN VIEW of COVID-19and the invocation of theseareas aredenselypopulated and Railways hasbeenworkingwithstate govern- the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 in the state, have alarge number of slums….” Said S Sharif Shaikh, states that she is around 61 by familymembers and lawyers have been mentstoensuretransportation of foodgrains the AurangabadbenchofBombay HighCourt SBurse,DeputyCommissionerof Police, SADAFMODAK years old and suffers from multiple ail- in place, therehas been no communication isnot affected,but the lastfew days have seen last week relaxed itsprevious directions and Zone I. One platoon comprising of 90 MUMBAI,MARCH30 ments, suchasosteoarthritis, glaucoma with inmates lodgedinvarious prisons adrastic drop in freight operations by nearly allowedstate government to postponeelec- SRPF personnelwas called in to ensure and high blood pressureand is vulnerable across the state. Familymembers of Rao 40percentdueto acutelabourshortage,which tionsto22district central cooperative banks, localresidentsdid notcrown publicar- CITINGTHE spread of coronavirus, poet P to coronavirus. said that while theyusuallyreceivedlet- has hit loading of goods at various places. sugarfactories and 8,194village-levelagri- easandshops,stayedintheirhomesand Varavara Raoand retired professor Shoma The National Investigation Agency (NIA) ters from him at leastonce in 10 days,the Despitethis,the railways saidtheyhad cultural credit co-operative societies. didnottravelintheirvehicles,Bursesaid. Sen, amongthe nine persons accused in the has opposed thebail applications stating last letter theyreceivedwas on March 11, managedto increaseloadingof foodgrainsfor The HC benchonMarch 11 had struck Elgaar Parishad case, have sought tempo- thatthe virusisauniversalproblem,but the sent by him on March 2. March.Unlikeotheressential items, suchas down the stategovernment’sJanuary27and 55moreviolationsof rary bail on medical grounds from aspecial accusedcannotbereleasedonbail. NIAspe- “I also sent amoneyorder but did notre- milkandLiquefiedPetroleumGas(LPG),food- 31 ordersto postponetheelectionsstatingthat court. The court on Mondayheardthe argu- cialpublic prosecutor saidthattherewas no ceive an acknowledgement regarding itsde- grains arelabourintensive as theyare loaded officials would be busy with the Mahatma lockdown:Police mentsontheir bail pleas.Anorder in the urgency shownbythe defenceand no med- livery.Heissuffering from variousailments and unloadedmanually. Many workers in- JyotibaPhuleShetkariKarjamuktiYojna,2019, Mumbai: Asmanyas55violations of matter is likelytobepassedTuesday. ical certificateattachedtothe bail plea. and wasnot keeping well when we lastmet volvedinthisoperationaremigrantsanddaily thefarmloanwaiverscheme,anddealingwith the nationwidelockdownwerere- Raoand Sen along with the sevenother “The outbreak of coronavirus has been him in courtonFebruary28. We have been wage earners. Loading of foodgrains has risen natural calamities. ported in MumbaionSunday. In Khar accusedinthe case have also sought access declared apandemic by the WorldHealth worriedand calledprison authorities mul- by nearly 30 percent, with 2,405 wagons The HC had passedthe judgment while West,aman wasbooked forspread- to their familymembers and lawyers Organisationand one doesnot knowhow tiple times. We were told that theyhavea loaded on March 29 as againstanaverage hearingabatchofpetitionsfiledbycooperative ing afakemessageofapersonhaving through telephone since jail authorities have long it would last. Thus, considering the pe- coin boxfor over 3,000 prisoners lodged in loading of 1,853 wagons loadedper daylast societies and other individuals seekingtoset contractedcoronavirus in the area and suspendedprison visitsfor over aweek,over culiar circumstances, the jail could regulate the jail and theyhavebegun giving access year.According to PSMishra,Member Traffic asidethegovernment’sdecisionclaimingthat causing panic among local residents, coronavirus pandemic. some time by which telephonic access could to aphone to inmates’ families block-wise. in Railway Board,itwas close coordination it wasdonewithoblique motive.Ithad ob- police said. In spiteofrepeatedappeals “It has been found that older peopleand be hadwith their relativesand lawyers,” We do notknowwhenhis turnwill come with stategovernments, includingFood served that thegovernment hadsufficient by police, 22 cases were registered those with underlying medical problems are stated the application filedbythe nine ac- foraphone call,” said Hemlatha, Rao's wife. Corporation of India(FCI),which has ensured manpower to conduct elections to co-opera- across thecityagainstcitizens for morelikelytodevelop serious illness... The cused, through filedbylawyerSusan Sen’sdaughter Koel alsosaid that ini- constant loading of foodgrains. tive societies while sparing officials forimple- crowding in pubic areas, in violation of applicant [Rao] is aged about80yearsand Abraham, seeking telephoneaccess.They tially, the jail authorities had informedher “Core commodities such as cement and mentation of thefarm loan waiver scheme. orders prohibiting the gathering of suffers from multiple ailmentsand is vul- alsostatedthat therehas been no means of that therewas no meansofcommunication fertilisers arehit but we aremaintaining sup- As per regular schedule prescribed by the morethan 5people. An additional 27 nerable to suchadisease… thatspreads communicationwiththe inmates to inquire since the prison visitshavestopped. She was plyofessentialproducts,” said Mishra. cooperative societies law, the elections were cases were filedagainstmotorists for rampantlyand is seen as athreat to human about their health and condition. later told that thereisone cell phoneas- Cement loadingduringthe lockdownhas tobecompletedbetween April and June this unnecessarytravel, whichispartofthe life.Already manycountries have lostsev- WhileRao, SurendraGadling, Mahesh signed forcalls to be made by inmatesto come to astandstill, while steel droppedby year,whichwas postponedbythe statefor curfew enforcedtocurbthe spread of eral lives... The applicant is already apatient Raut, Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Arun their familymembers foraduration of two 70 per cent and iron orebyanother 60 per threemonths.OnMarch 11,the HC had di- COVID-19. Sunday's cases brought the of respiratoryproblems andissuffering due Ferrieraand Vernon Gonsalvesare lodged minutes,but she has notreceived anycallso cent. As aresult, averageper dayloading rected the governmenttoconduct the elec- tallyofcurfew violations inthe city to to suffocation,” Rao’s bail application, filed in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai, Sen and Sudha far. “I am anxious about her [Sen’s] health droppedfrom58,900wagonsin2019to tions as per schedule while refusing to ex- 266since March 20, police said. through his lawyer RSatyanarayan, states. Bharadwaj arelodged in Byculla jail. and notbeing able to communicatewith her 34,750 wagons. Of these,around 25,000wag- tend the stipulated tenure. Sen’s bail plea, filedthrough lawyer Sincethe restrictions on weeklyvisits makes it worse,” Koel said. ons were usedfor essential items. ENS However, in wake the lockdown, the State Cooperative Election Authority filedanap- plicationbeforethe court and submitted that it is notinaposition to conduct the election within the timeframe. INNOVATIONS TO FIGHT COVID-19 Adivision benchofJustices SV Gangapurwala and Shrikant DKulkarni on March 23 notedthat afterits March 11 order IIT-B designs UV sanitiser that can sterilise wallets, purses, small items severalmeasures had been in force, includ- ing invocation of the Epidemic Diseases Act whichmay also be carriers of the virus. This Theinstitutehasalsobeenmakingitsown and alockdown. The bench, ledbyJustice ABHAGORADIA includes papers, files, currency notesand cottonsmasks, whichare double-layeredand Gangapurwala, observed,“Today, the situa- MUMBAI,MARCH30 phones. In the coming week,wewill experi- washable. So far, the institute has madeover tionisdifferent. The lawisnever rigid. It will ment with the dosageand surfaces, and con- 100masksand planstomake1,000more, for have to take intoconsideration the prevalent STUDENTS AND faculty of IIT-Bombay’s duct trials in the hospital. So far, we have used use by IIT-Bombaysecurity and hospital staff. situation and the measurestaken to curbthe Industrial Design Centre(IDC) have devel- materialsavailableinthe lab,”IIT-Bombay The institute will be distributing the masks menace of COVID-19.Nobody is awareofthe opedaportableUVsanitiser whichcan ster- dean (research and development) Milind through NGOs and whoever else approaches period the epidemic would continue.” ilise wallets,pursesand other smallitems Atreytold The Indian Express. “If we aretoscale them,Atrey said.IDChasalsocollaboratedwith The courtalsonoted that if authorities that arepassed on from hand to hand. this, we will needtosource materials from acompanycalledAppliedSystems to manu- areunable to conduct elections within the The portable UV sanitiser hasbeenmade outside.Weexpectthe industryto then come facture face shields using helmetvisors. stipulated time, it will notamount to con- usingstainless steel kitchen containers and The portablesanitiser;cotton mask forwardand liaison the technology.” He added IIThad,earlier,developedappsto helpkeep temptofthe courtorder as exceptions are aluminiummesh.Rightnow,isitintheproof- made by the students. Express that the idea of sanitising bigger surfaces and quarantineviolationsincheck.Ameetingalso made due to “unavoidable catastrophe”. The of-conceptstage andhasbeendesignedbased working on different models is also being ex- tookplaceintheinstituteonMonday, withfac- benchalso gave liberty to the authoritiesand onastudy published in ajournal “PubMed”, Coronavirus,Crimean-CongoHaemorrhagic plored.IDC professors Kums PKumaresan, ultymembers and deans, to discussdifferent the stategovernment to postpone the elec- by theUSNational LibraryofMedicine.The strateshow ultravioletCLight can inactivate FeverVirus, and Nipah Virus. PurbhaJoshiandAmbarishKunwarhavebeen possibilities in whichthe university can gen- tion process and directed them to take nec- study,publishedinJanuarythis year,demon- Severe AcuteRespiratorySyndrom “Sanitising gelcannotbeusedonobjects, involved in the making of the gadget. erateoutput to help combat COVID-19. essarysteps as providedinlaw. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 6 THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 THE OUTBREAK Nation Calls pour in at aJharkhand Migrantcrisis: helpline for ‘food, food and food’ Statesenforce CORONA food, food, and food,” says Arvind, certo help themigrants. Thegov- WATCH ABHISHEKANGAD the executive who answered ernment has also formedateam RANCHI,MARCH30 Ansari’scall.“Mostofthecallsare of 15 IAS officers who have been quarantine, from labourers who arestuck in assigned specific states to look “HUM AAPKOhaathjod ke bol rahe otherstates.Only20-30%ofthe intothe problems of labourers. hain, yahansenikaal lijiye (With calls arefromwithinthestate,” he Therehave, however, been our foldedhands, Irequestyou to adds, moving on to thenextcall. complaintsofpeople notbeing please getusout of here),” Imam Thereare 34 waiting to get able to getthrough to the sealborders Ansari, aresident of Garhwadis- through to the helpline. helplinesoroflackoffollow-up trictofJharkhand who is stranded Another executive,Rajeev, re- of the complaints. in Pune, pleads to an executive of ceivesacallfromagroupof labour- Raju Singh, who worksasa 7,200migrants, is flying drones aCOVID-19helpline in ers, asking if there’s anychanceof driverfor acourier companyin AVANEESHMISHRA, with cameras outsidethe houses Jharkhand.“We arecrying. People abus service from Ahmedabad. Kolar,Karnataka, told TheIndian SANTOSHSINGH, to makesurepeoplestay indoors. at home arealso crying. Thereis “Don’tfallforsuchrumours.There Express that he has been stuckin VARINDERBHATIA Artists paint graffiti food for2-4 days,after that noth- is no bus service.” Thereare now the company’s parkinglot forthe LUCKNOW,PATNA, BIHAR on awall in Bikaner ing. Ihavenomoney.” 27 calls on the waitlist. last11daysalongwithothers,eat- CHANDIGARH,MARCH30 Bihar Chief MinisterNitish thanking doctors, As Ansari speaks, anumber SanjayJain, whose company ing “rice, salt, and water” once a Kumar Mondaysaid that those police and others. PTI flashesonthe executive’s com- Liningupfor relief in Ranchi on Monday. PTI provides thetech platform forthe day. “Themanager is notpicking UTTAR Pradesh, Bihar and withasuspectedCOVID-19infec- puter screen: 35.Thereare 35 181service, says,“We have re- ourcalls.We willdiewithoutfood. Haryana, whichhavebeen wit- tion will have to go through peopleinthe queue, waiting to ceived10,000calls since the start We have no money. Ihad called nessingasuddeninfluxof labour- mandatorytests.Health kitsare getthrough to the helpline.The dle calls on the virus and meas- Information Bureaustated that of theCOVID-19helpline.Initially, thehelplineonSaturday, buthave ers from farawayDelhi and being providedtodistrict and UTTAR PRADESH executive notesdownAnsari’s ures to checkits spread. Another “various helpline numbers have the queries were on the virus, cur- got no relief yet,” he said. Mumbaiandotherurbancentres, blockhospitals. All migrantswill DarulUloom details -“an electrician,earnedRs helpline operates out of the been setupfor morethan 3lakh few, testing, etc. Nowmostofthe The government has, how- have completely sealedinterstate be transportedtotheir villagers 350aday in Pune” -onaGoogle labour department office. people who arestrandedoutside calls arefor food.” ever,promisedtoreach outmore borders,and ordered to keep mi- wheremukhiyas and localoffi- offers Docs file and assureshim that the However, since the March 24 the state”. With manyofthe stranded effectively.Jharkhand Chief grant workersinisolation. cialswouldhave to ensurethat14- government will reachout to him. announcement of the 21-day Forthe lastseveral days,many migrantworkersfromJharkhand, SecretaryDKTiwari said, Over the last48hours, work- dayquarantinewas adhered to. building for On March 23,the Jharkhand lockdown,mostofthecallsonthe of these migrantshavebeen put- Chief MinisterHemantSorenhas “Various governmentsare react- ersfromvarious urbancentres, Disastermanagementdepart- isolation government converted its181 helpline have been from ting out their contact numbers been requesting other stategov- ing to our constant follow-ups. facing acoronavirushealthscare mentprincipalsecretaryPratyaya helpline, launchedbythe previ- Jharkhand’s migrant workers and addresses on social media in ernmentstotake careofthe mi- LikeinAndaman andNicobar, ontopofjoblosses,triedtoescape Amritsaidabout50,000migrants Aligarh: Deoband-based ous Raghubar Das government strandedinother states, usually adesperateattempt to seek food grants. The government ap- people strandedwereprovided the21-daylockdown,andrushed hadbeentakentotheirrespective Darul Uloom, Asia’s forits Jan Samvadprogramme, desperatecries forhelp and food. and other basic necessities. pointedPrincipalSecretarytoCM, rations. We aretryingtoreachas backtotheirhometowns. districtsfromsix transit camps largest madrassa, on intoaCOVID-19helpline to han- On Monday, the statePress “All the calls have been about RajeevArun Ekka, as anodal offi- manypeople as possible.” While UP ordered 14-day along Bihar borders. However, Mondayoffered to hand home quarantinefor migrant some of the migrantsarriving over one of itsbuildings labourers returning home, fromWest Bengal,Jharkhandand to the Uttar Pradesh Haryana has setup“safehomes” Madhya Pradesh at the Rajauli government to turnitinto in all the districtstoretain them. borderinNawadaandthosefrom an isolation ward for Haryanahasalsoorderedmanda- UPandDelhiarrivingatGopalganj COVID-19patients. The tory health check-up forall since borderingGorakhpurskippedthe offerwas made by Mufti theyviolatedsocialdistancingrule. screeningatthetransitcampsand Abdul Qasim Nomani, the Though mostofthe states headedfor their villages. Vice-Chancellor of the have setupscreeningcamps at In Banka district,mukhiyas of theological school, in a theirdistrictentrypoints, some several villagesare struggling to letter to Chief Minister returningworkers areskipping keepvillagersinschoolstill14-day Adityanath, offering the screening. quarantine period. three-storeybuilding whichcan accommodate UTTAR PRADESH HARYANA up to 100people, Darul UPsealeditsbordersMonday, Afterstopping the exodus of Uloom spokesperson putting astoptothe flowofmi- migrant labourers intothe state Ashraf Usmani grant workersreturning home and bringingthem to “safe said. PTI fromothersstates.Andto keepthe homes”set up in all districts “lakhs of migrant labourers” un- whichprovide them food and DGCA:Give der mandatory 14-dayhome shelter,the state’shealthdepart- equipment to quarantine, the statemade con- menthasbegunconductingtheir tinuousannouncementsthrough medical examination. Haryana cargostaff loudspeakers and conductedpo- Chief SecretaryKeshniAnand lice patrol on aloop. Arorasaid peoplecoming to NewDelhi: Aviation regula- All districtsand Community Haryana from other states would torDGCAonMondayasked Health Centres (CHCs) near dis- be mandatorily quarantined for allcompaniesto ensurethat trictentrypointswereaskedto set 14 days.OnSunday, thestate the personnel dealing with aside30-50 isolationbeds. sealedall itsinter-state andinter- cargo flight operations are In Pilibhit, migrant workers districtborders.All migrant providedprotective gear arebeing kept in home quaran- labourers/workers who were likemasksand gloves.The tine. “So far, those who entered stoppedfromwalkingtowards DGCAfurther said that all thedistricthave undergonehealth Delhiorotherneighbouringstates these personnel should be checkups... Afterprimary of Haryana, arebeing broughtin made awareofthe impor- checkup, we areadvising home to the461 “safehomes”. tance of ensuring adequate quarantinetothem, and putting “Listofmigrantlabourersfrom distanceatallwork stations. upstickers outsidetheirhouses, UP,Bihar and Odisha has been Shiftin-charge of airports, askingpeopleto notinteractwith providedtothe Deputy packaging and handling themorgo insidethehousetillthe Commissioners and theywould centres should ensurethe quarantine periodisover,”said ensurethat nobodygoes outof same,itsaid. PTI Pilibhit DM VaibhavSrivastava. theserelief campsduringthelock- ASouthern Railways worker prepares bedsfor an isolation ward at theRailwayHospital in Chennai. PTI The Badaunadministration, downperiod,”saidKeshniAnand UTTARAKHAND whichsaw areturnofaround Arora,ChiefSecretary,Haryana. Insurancefor those on the 50 labourers on 800-km walk home to MP KERALA frontlines stoppedbyTelangana cops, moved to shelter Behind 93-yr-old’s recovery, Dehradun:Thestategovern- mentwillprovidelifeinsur- ance coverofRs4lakh each have closed down. Our supervi- noon. “Wewerenear Ghatkesar MSumitra, head of NGO several miracles: ‘6 times to more than68,400people SREENIVASJANYALA sors arenot answering our calls. when members of NGO Ankuram, said it wasdifficult to on the frontlines of the bat- HYDERABAD,MARCH30 We did notevenget our wages. Ankuram stoppedusand offered convince the workers to move to tle againstCOVID-19. The Withoutmoney, foodortransport, food and water. When we told the shelter.“Theyhad some dry we thought we lost him’ insurancecoverwillbefora AFTER THEIR workplacesclosed we decideditisbettertotry and them whereweweregoing, they ration and plannedtocook on one-yearperiodandwillbe down due to the lockdown, a go homethanbelefttofatehere,” were takenabackand askedto the way. We informedpolice paidfor by theChief group of 50 migrant labourers saidDayalMandal,aworkerfrom wait. Later,police brought us who movedthem to the shelter that theyhad skipped the cough and the accumulationof Minister’sRelief Fund.The had startedoff on a800-km walk Hirapur village of Betul district. here. We were givenrice, curry at Bogaram. Theydon’tintend to SHAJUPHILIP screening at the Kochiairport phlegm causing his oxygen lev- beneficiaries will include from Tukkuguda in Hyderabad “Wewaited for3-4 days,but and waterSundaynight. The stay forlong,”Sumitra said. &VISHNUVARMA upon their arrivaland notin- els to fluctuateand requiring police personnel, safai to their homes at Betul district in when rumours startedthat NGOprovidedrationtodayand “I wastaken abackwhen THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, formedthe authorities of their him to be put on ventilator sup- workers,anganwadi work- Madhya Pradesh. someone got coronavirus in the we arecooking lunch. Police and theysaid theyplannedtowalk KOCHI,MARCH30 foreign travel. Theyhad not port. In between, he suffereda ers, and various others. An Aftertheywalkedabout 80 colonywherewewereliving, we NGOmembers have told us to all the way. We convincedthem practisedsocial distancing ei- heartattack. Both Thomas and officialsaid that health de- km, policestoppedthem and decidedtoleave,” he added. stay herefor afew days,but our to stay at the shelter forafew ONE OF the 10 ‘hotspots’inthe ther,attending functions and Mariyamma had to be also partment staffare covered convincedthem to stay at a Mostmembers in the group familymembers areworried days,” Rachakonda Police country, Pathanamthittadistrict travelling, including to post-of- treated forurinaryinfection, and by lifeinsurance provided school-turned-shelter fornow. worked as construction workers and aretelling us to return Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat in Kerala got anewstowarm its fices, banksand police stations. later the 88-year-old also caught by the Centre. ENS “The places wherewewere at aluxuryvillas project.They home,” saidDipak Mandal, an- said. FULLREPORTON heartonMonday. Acouple, 93- Over 900people, who had pri- abacterial infection. working as construction workers startedwalkingSunday after- other worker. www.indianexpress.com year-old Thomas and maryorsecondary contactwith AHealth Department re- Mariyamma, 88, suffering from the familyduring the period, lease said the couple, who age-related illnesses and under- were put in quarantine by the wanted to return home, at times STRANDED IN UTTARAKHAND lying diseases, tested negative Health Department. refusedtoeatand were uncoop- forcoronavirus and areset to be The five as well as the aged erative withthe nursing staff. ‘6-7 people in aroom...where is social distancing?’ dischargedfromhospital. He couple had developedsymp- Lastweek,ashis condition had aheartattackwhile hospi- toms associatedwith coron- wasstabilised, Thomas was talised, sheabacterial infection, avirusand visitedthe General takenoff ventilator. Their tests years ago, said: “I want to go 34,who worksasanattendant at while anurse who tendedto Hospital in Pathanamthittaon forcoronavirus have come neg- LALMANIVERMA home. Iamthe onlywoman ahotel in Delhi, walked to them also tested positive. March 6. Twodays later,they ative,and theyare stable. The DEHRADUN,MARCH30 here. The others in the room are Dehradun to return home –in Five other members of the tested positive and, aday later, medical boardwould decide on men. Iwill requestpoliceoffi- Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashidistrict. family—the couple’s son, the couple whose case was adatefor discharge soon. IN HER forties, Shahnaz Bano cials —when theycome —to “When Iwas headingtowards daughter-in-law, grandson and moreserious than the others In arelease,Kerala Health comesfromKhatakhedi villagein provide me aseparateroom.” Rishikesh on Sundayevening, twoother relatives—lefthospi- were movedtoKottayam MinisterKKShailaja congratu- Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur dis- SP (City) ShwetaChaubey some policemen near ISBT told talonMondayafter being de- Medical CollegeHospital. lated the staffofthe Kottayam trict. She had come to Dehradun said she willensureseparate me that Icannotgoanywhere... clared clear of COVID-19. The The treatment wasplanned Medical College. on March 21 foratreatment at arrangement forShahnaz if no Theyaskedme to stay here in this staff, includingdoctors, bid a by the medical staff keeping in Sevendoctorsand 25 nurs- DoonHospital following certain one is accompanying her. school, but Iwant to go.Thereare tearful farewell as the five left mind that Thomas and ing staff members were partof health complications and had to Chaubey said thatseveral six or sevenpeople in asingle the General Hospital in Mariyammahad diabetes, hy- the medical team that looked af- stay backfor aday.But that was places, including the local gurd- room. Whereisthe socialdis- Pathanamthitta. pertension plus other ailments terthe couple. Shailaja also before theworld as she knewit wara andeducationalinstitutions tancing,”heasked. The son’s familycame from associated with age. promised fullsupportfor the changed —alockdown wasim- suchasthoseinNehruColonyand Vinodhas writtenamessage Italytothe familyhome at The firstfew days were nurse who tested positiveon posedinUttarakhand immedi- PremNagar, arebeingusedtopro- forthedistrictmagistrateandpo- AythalainPathanamthittaon tough, with Thomas developing March 27. atelyafter theJanataCurfewin vide shelter to migrant labourers. lice on theclassroom board: “We February29and is believedto chestpainand cardiaccompli- The nursetold The Indian the stateonMarch 22. The state At RamMohan RoyAcademy, arestrandedinDehradunand have passedonthe virus to the cations. Initially, he and Express,“The couple knew borders were sealedand public 24 labourers have been put up in have no conveyance to go home. couple. Said the couple’s son, 55, Mariyamma were kept in sepa- about the seriousness of coron- transportwas stopped. At the Raja RamMohan RoyAcademy, in Dehradun. Express three classrooms,and arepro- Those who want to go home on “Wewereplanning to come on rate rooms, but as this made avirus but justwanted to return Aweek on, she wasstill try- videdall meals. Thereare carpets foot,please allowthem to leave.” leaveinAugust. But father said them anxious, theyweremoved home. As the mother is suffer- ing all means to getatransport in the rooms forthem to sleep on, PSMehra, in-charge of secu- hemay notsurvive untilthen.” intothe transplant ICU where ing from hearing lossdue to backtoSaharanpur.Invain. to Raja RamMohan Roy ing backhome—withinthestate but theycomplainedofmosqui- rity at the school, said the work- The three-member family theycould at leastsee each age, Ihad to stand very close to On Sundayevening, police Academy, where arrangements and outside, especiallytoUP. toes and askedformosquitonets. ers arebeing givenfood with the had to face the ireofKerala’s other. her while speaking.” personnel foundShahnaz near have beenmadeforaccommoda- Shahnaz, who has no family But the workerssaidthey help of social organisations and Health Department and public However, Thomas continued FULLREPORTON thecity’sISBTandaskedher to go tion of migrant labourers walk- afterher husband lefther afew want to go home. Vinod Kumar, the police. censureafter it became clear to deteriorate, with intense www.indianexpress.com WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 THE OUTBREAK 7

Migrantmovement hastobestopped, govttellsapexcourt

ANANTHAKRISHNANG NEWDELHI,MARCH30

THE CENTRE told the Supreme Court Mondaythatthe mass movement of migrantsduring the lockdown has to be stopped, and that it will be detailing the steps takeninastatus reportto the court. The benchofChief Justice of India SABobde and JusticeL NageswaraRao, turning to a video-conference to hear two petitionswhichsought the The CJI heardtwo petitions via video conference court’s intervention in the mat- ter, observed that fear and panic were proving to be abigger and Rashmi Bansal. asked thepetitioner to wait for Migrant Indian labourers argue with authorities to letthem in at Raxaul on the India-Nepal border,onMonday. PTI problem than the coronavirus Srivastava’s plea sought food, the reportwhichthe Solicitor itself. water, shelter,transportand Generalhas promisedtofile. The benchsaid it will hear medical aid formigrant workers The benchsaid some of the whatthe government is doing and their families who have prayers of the petitioner seem on themass movement of mi- takenthe road to walk to their to have been addressed already Korea’s testing protocols to help Indians grant workers. It adjourned the villages. Responding to it, Mehta by the authorities. hearing by aday afterSolicitor said the Centreand stateshave Bansal’s petitionsought General Tushar Mehtasaid the takencertain steps and were medicaland safetymeasures for Centrewill file astatus reporton taking more. He said he will file the migrant workers. The peti- abroad: PMdiscussesCOVID-19 with envoys the steps taken. an affidavit in this regard. tioner suggestedthat there The judges said theydonot Srivastava contended that could be sprinklingofsanitising want to createmoreconfusion therewas lackofcoordination material on these groups in the While complimenting them unaffected,through their coor- cases, mortality has been “quite by issuing directions on meas- between states in dealing with interestoftheir health and SHUBHAJITROY fortheir effortstoevacuate dination with foreign partners”. low” and the Indian side is keen ures whichthe government is the situation. safety. NEWDELHI,MARCH30 Indians strandedabroad, he also Later,10Indian envoys—in to learnabout their success. And, already taking to deal withthe The CJI said the court did not The petitioner also sug- exhortedthem to ensuretheir Beijing, Washington DC, Tehran, India is looking at howGerman matter. want to createconfusion by gested the use of counsellors for TESTING PROTOCOLSadoptedin ownhealth and safety, besides Rome,Berlin, Kathmandu, Abu automobile-manufacturers are The twoPILs were filedby dealing with what the govern- people trying to return home in South Korea, car-makers in that of their teams and families. Dhabi, Kabul, Male and Seoul — making ventilators. advocates Alakh Alok Srivastava ment is already handling. He panic. Germanymaking ventilators, He also asked them to attend offeredtheir perspectivestothe ■ Some Indians arestranded ensuring cooking gassupply to Indians who remain in vari- PM and the rest of theaudience. attheNepalborderandtheIndian from the UAE, medical expertise ous foreign countries, giventhe Embassyisreachingout to them. TELANGANA Help govt servepoor: PM to NGOs shared by the US, experiences in uncertaintyofcontinuing inter- What envoys told PM ■ Thereisalockdown, con- Iran and Italy, and apossible nationaltravelrestrictions. ■ While the epidemic is struction activities,asourceof Speakingwiththeirrepresen- “second wave”ofthe pandemic He said theymust“stay alert slowing down in China,thereis employmentfor many, arestill CM, MLAs, EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE tativesviavideoconferencing,the in China—these were some of and identify in their countries of afear that therecould be a“sec- on. India is alsolooking at LPG NEWDELHI,MARCH30 PrimeMinisterinvokedMahatma ideas and perspectivesshared by ‘Extraordinarytimes require accreditationbestpractices, in- ond wave” of the pandemic. supplyfromthere. govt staff to Gandhi to exhortthe organisa- Indian ambassadors from 10 extraordinarysolutions,’ novations, scientific break- ■ In the US, wherethereare ■ In Afghanistan, thereisa PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi tions to servethe poor and the global hotspots of COVID-19 Modi told Indian envoys. throughs and sources to procure about 120,000 cases and 2,000 small Indian community whose Mondaycalledonsocialwelfare downtrodden.“Theentirenation with Prime MinisterNarendra medical equipmentfor India’s deaths, the US government has welfareisbeing looked after. take pay cut organisations and NGOs to help is displaying immenseresilience, Modi on Monday. fight againstCOVID-19”. been “quitesupportive”and has India will supplyfood grains. the government during the lock- gritand patience’’ in facing the The PM’sinteraction with globalisedera,mostofthe world He also advised them to pub- extendedthe visas of Indian stu- ■ Tourism, and thus the as virus hits downby providingbasicnecessi- challengeofCOVID-19,Modisaid. the envoys, part of avideo con- had quarantineditself”. licise the newly establishedPM- dentsand H1B visa holders. economy, have been hit in the ties to the underprivileged, sup- Hepraisedthededicationand ference with about 130Indian Modi said India had taken CARES Fund to mobilise dona- ■ Those Indians who could Maldives. India is sendingmed- plying medical and protective commitmentof theparticipating envoysacross the world, wasto “unprecedented”and “early tions from abroad. notbeevacuated from Qom, icines, ateam of doctors and es- economy gear,andassistingwithawareness organisationstowardsservinghu- discuss responses to the global steps” to reduce the risk of im- Since this crisis impactsthe Iran, arebeingtaken careof. sential items. campaigns on social distancing. manity. COVID-19pandemic. porting the infection. “This in- economy,the PM advisedHeads ■Thereare about 500Indian ■The highvolumes of testing Modi told the Indian envoys cludedthe world’s largest quar- of Mission to also focus on “en- studentsinIran, and India has in SouthKorea calls foracloser SREENIVASJANYALA that“extraordinarytimes re- antine and lock-down, suringthat commerce in essen- providedassistance to them. study.The country used techni- HYDERABAD,MARCH30 quireextraordinarysolutions, implemented by India,” he told tial supplies, logistics chains, re- ■ In Germany, where there cal aid and monitored people’s whichwas whyeveninthis the Indian diplomats. mittances and so on are have been morethan 60,000 movementsunder quarantine. TELANGANA CHIEF MinisterK Chandrashekar Rao, his Cabinet colleagues and the MLAs and ASSAM MLCs in thestate willfacea75 Empowered group likely to firm up per centsalarycut due to the Doctor who impact of the COVID-19out- break on the state’seconomy. medical emergency plan in next few days The deathtollinTelangana took malaria due to COVID-19 has climbedto six, with five deathsonMonday. drug dies of days,” asourcesaid. cers constituted by Home learnt to have urgedCSOs to sup- Six newcases of infectionwere HARIKISHANSHARMA The group, whichcomprises SecretaryAjayKumar Bhalla on port the local administrationin reported in the stateon NEWDELHI,MARCH30 senior officials from the Ministry Sunday “for planning and ensur- addressing issues related to the Monday, taking the totalnum- ‘heart attack’ of HealthandFamilyWelfare,the ingimplementationof COVID-19 COVID-19pandemicand by run- berofcases to 77. ADAY afterthe government CabinetSecretariat, Department response activities”. ning decentralisedkitchens and The Telangana government formedanempowered group of of Biotechnology,National Another empoweredgroup sheltersforhomelessandmigrant has decidedtocut salariesofall EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE officers on ‘medicalemergency DisasterManagement Authority constitutedfor‘coordinatingwith workers,partner with stateand staff. Stating that the outbreak GUWAHATI,MARCH30 managementplan’,thesix-mem- (NDMA),andthePrimeMinister’s private sector, NGOsandinterna- local governmentstominimise is adverselyimpactingthe bergroup, headedbyNITIAayog Office(PMO),alsotookanassess- tionalorganisationsforresponse- adverse effectsofthe spread of state’s economic situation, a ADOCTORinGuwahati,whomay member VKPaul, held itsfirst mentof suppliessuchaspersonal related activities’ also had itsfirst coronavirus. high-levelcommittee has rec- have takenhydroxychloroquine meeting on Monday anddis- protective equipment(PPE) and meetingunderthechairmanship He is learnt to have asked ommendeddrastic steps so that (HCQS)—recommendedasapre- cussedthe various scenarios in ventilators required to deal with of NITI AayogCEO Amitabh Kant. them to identify the infected pa- the state has enoughfunds to ventive drug againstthe coron- whichthe number ofCOVID-19 emergency situations, it is learnt. Sources said the group inter- tientsand those mostaffected, tackle the outbreak.“In this avirus forhigh-risk individuals— cases can changeinthe coming Thegeographicaldistribution acted with representativesofin- and assisting people requiring background, the state govern- diedofaheartailmentonSunday month. of health infrastructurewas also dustrybodies suchasFICCI and hospitaladmissions;establishing ment had to act withcaution night, multiple doctors said. “Thegroup is expected to assessed, sources said. CII, and 32 civil society organisa- andoperatingquarantineandiso- and foresight. Ahigh-levelre- Dr UtpaljitBarmanwas in his come up withamedical emer- ThegroupunderPaulisoneof tions (CSOs). lationcentres in taluk headquar- view meeting washeld on 40sandworkedasananaesthesi- gency action plan in the next few the11 empoweredgroupsofoffi- Duringthe meeting, Kant is ters of morerural districts. MondayatPragathi Bhavanon ologist at Pratiksha Hospital. Its the financial situation of the medical superintendent, Dr NK state. Afterreviewing the finan- Hazarika,saidaccordingto thein- cialcondition of the state, deci- formation he has, Barman took Rural Development ministry cites report sions aretaken on payment of the anti-malarial drug as apro- various salaries,” astatement phylactic againstthe virus, as did said. manyother doctors. “But the on community kitchens in advisory Therewill be a75per cent deathwasdueto amyocardialin- cut in the salaries of the Chief farction, aheart attack. Whether Minister, cabinet ministers, theHCQScauseditisnot known,” UnionTerritories,listingoutactiv- MLCs, MLAs, chairpersons of he said. VISHNUVARMA ities the rural livelihoodmissions statecorporations and local Therewas noautopsydoneon KOCHI,MARCH30 in eachstate (SLRMs) could un- body representatives. Barman’s body,and doctors close dertaketoreducedifficultiesfaced Therewill be a60per cent to him said that he had an under- THE UNIONRural Development by the disadvantaged sections of salarycut forIAS, IPS, IFS and lying hypertension condition. Ministryhas cited an Indian the society during the lockdown. other suchcentral services offi- AmessageBarman sent on a Express reportoncommunity The SLRMsshould extend cers. Employees in all other cat- WhatsAppgroupbefore hisdeath kitchensinKeralabeingpowered supportin“cookinganddistribu- egorieswillface a50per cent indicated that he washaving by anetwork of womenself-help tion of mealsfor the needy etc salarycut. problemsafter having HCQS. groups as partofits advisoryto throughgroupsthatalreadyhave Class IV and contractual em- “HCQSisnotverygoodasprophy- states and union territories on theexistinginfrastructureandex- ployees will face a10per cent laxis.Lotsof issues.IthinkImhav- tackling the situationarising out The Indian Expressreportthat appeared on March 28 pertise. This would include run- paycut.For pensioners, there ingsomeproblemsafterItookit,” of the COVID-19 outbreak. ning community kitchens in col- willbea50per cent cut in the he wrote. He did notspecify The March 27 reporthad laborationwithstate and district pension. Retired Class IV em- whetherhetookitasaprecaution thrownlight on the role of sons, those in the unorganised experience, were joining hands administrations.Asisalreadybe- ployees will face a10per cent forcoronavirusorself-medicated Kudumbashree,Kerala’s23-year- sector,anddestitutefamiliesdur- withlocalgovernmentstorunthe ing done in Kerala through com- cut in pension. dueto someotherailmenthewas old networkofwomenself-help ingthe21-daynationallockdown. community kitchens. munityinstitutions.(Acopyofthe Employees of allPublic having. groups, in running community The article underlinedhow The RuralDevelopment articleinthisregard isattached),” Sector Undertakings and insti- Barman wasnot treating any kitchens at thelocallevel to feed severalgroupsof Kudumbashree Ministrycited thearticle as part the advisory noted, referring to tutions that receive government suspected COVID-19patient. migrant workers, homeless per- women, having years of catering of arecent advisorytostates and the Indian Express report. grantswillalso face apay cut. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020

WORDLY WISE 8 THE EDITORIAL PAGE Candy’sdandybut liquor is quicker. —OGDEN NASH Why they walk home

§ FOUNDED BY § RAMNATH GOENKA Migrant workers distrustastate that does nottakethem BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL into account, addresses them through prism of control

LOCK, DON’TSHUT Partha Mukhopadhyay andMukta Naik Economyisaliving machine —cannotbesimplyturnedoff OF THE MANY,manycountries that COVID fleeting possibility of transport, which them “temporaryjails” is unhelpful.Giventhe and on. Even in lockdown, it needs to be kept alive has nowlockeddown, India stands, or rather, brought migrantstothe streetsevenin understandable distrustofgovernment, this walks, alone. Bereft of transport, by road or Kerala, wheretheyhad thus faraccepted has to beacrediblepromise—eitherfromthe VERYONE KNOWS THATthespreadof the novelcoronavirusismainlyfromper- rail, people arewalking home, to nearbydis- their confinement farfromhome. home ministerorprime minister.Tocontrol son-to-person. It is,therefore,welcomethatthe Centre has nowexemptedtrans- tricts, and to far-offdestinations severalhun- But, at the heart, their walking conveys a transmission, we needtoidentifythe migrants portation of all goodsfromthe lockdown’sprovisions,withoutdistinction of “es- dred kilometresaway, the mother carrying deep distrustofthe state, especially when it and their destination so that local govern- Esential”and“non-essential”.Whengoods aren’tthe culprit—theycannotcough, belongings on her head, the father carrying promises assistance. Theyact as if the offeris mentscan be informed. This can be collected sneeze or shakehands —itdidn’t makesense in anycase to allowbureaucratsand local au- the child on his shoulder.Itisan imageofde- adiversionarytactic to makethem relent by from their Aadhaar cards at registration. spair,but also immensepower—avivid re- awilystate,whichwill go backtobeing its Then, aftercollectingtheir Aadhaar de- thorities to decide what is essential and hold up trucks carrying material deemednon-es- minder of individual agency to the powers uncaring self, once theydo. tails, those within walking distance —say,a sential. To produce sugar,anessential commodity,amill needs notonlycane, but also sul- that believedtheywould passively accept And thereisthe pull of home —the need hundred kilometres —who want to walk,can phur,limeand HDPEbags.Onecannotexpectofficialsorstate border police to have intimate being lockeddown. to be together with familyatthis time of rad- be allowedtodoso. Once theyreachhome, knowledge of productionprocesses and inputsthat go intoevery good, essential or other- Invisible, largely,inthe Census and in na- ical uncertainty —todrawstrength from we needtoensure panchayatstestasample wise. Thepurpose of lockdown is to minimise physical human interactionand maintain tional sample surveys —and consequently eachother,tobeonfamiliarground to com- of returningmigrants—theywill knowwho socialdistancingeven if people have to meet.Blocking movement of goods, farfromachiev- to administrators —field studies have con- bat whatever might come. Our cities have al- theyare,evenifthe Aadhaar database is de- sistentlyclaimedshort-term labour mobility ways been exclusionary to migrants, and layed.Kerala and Odisha have been aheadof ing that objective,onlyresultsinovercrowding and snarls at checkposts. in India wassignificant. The pastweek has even today, thereason we want them to stay thecurveindelegating responsibilities and But it is notonlytransport. There’s no reason whyevenindustrial establishmentscan- seen emphatic validationofthese claimsas put is to protect ourselves. resources to panchayats —the ministryofru- notbepermittedtorun during lockdown. Again, it shouldn’tmatter whether these units highways across the countryhavebeen Promise them that,ifthey As acountry, we have notsucceededin raldevelopment and the finance commis- areproducingessential or non-essentialgoods. What matters is onlysocial distancing. pedestrianised. In itscallous haste,the Union want to, arrangements will making people believe that the stateisthere sion should supportthis nationally. Howcan one declareknitwear or grey iron castings as non-essential? The Punjab govern- government, when it announced thelock- be made totakethem home forthem,that it will have their backfor as Panchayats needtobeprepared to com- ment has takenthe rightstepofpermitting allfactories in the statetoresumeoperations, down, did notthink through howmigrants, —but only if they came, long as it takes—that it is their right as citi- bat the epidemic.Otherswho want to go caught unawares, at the wrong place, at the zens of India. The poor see and experience would be enrolledinadigital ticketsystem subject to their being abletoprovide in-house lodging,food andmedical facilities to wrong time, would respond. Nowtheyknow. registered and stayed in the stateoften through alens of violence and onlyfor migrantsinthe designated shelters. workers and ensurenoovercrowding at the plant. Mostfactories today, whether in Punjab, At first, the stateseemedtorealisethat designated shelters—and control, as evidencedinthe recent orders, Their Aadhaar number,address and destina- Haryana andDelhi or Maharashtra,Gujarat and TamilNadu, aremannedbymigrant this determinedcolumn of citizens could not calling them ‘temporaryjails’ and rarely through aprism of care. tion would be sent to acentralised number labourers from Bihar,Uttar Pradesh and other eastern states. Had measures to retain this be forced to turn back.Indeed, herding them is unhelpful. Given the Indeed, if the imageryofIndians walking and theywould receive adate- and time-spe- workforcewithin or close to thepremises of factories been in place —instead of ablan- and locking them down would onlydefeat across the countrywerenot so gripping glob- cific bus ticket,via SMS/WhatsApp and understandable distrust of ketorder to shutdown—the current situation of mass exodus of labourers and the at- the lockdown’s purpose of social distancing. ally, wouldwebeasworried? If there is no printed listsatshelters. Buses should leave tendant risk of COVID-19transmission mayhavebeen avoided. It isn’t going to be easy So, it offeredsuccour. government,this has to be a communitytransmission (perhaps some from the shelters, to minimisecrowding at With unusual alacrity, stategovernments clustertransmission) as the governmentre- central bus stations, and their Aadhaar forthe closedunitstoget this labour backevenwhen the lockdown ends. credible promise —either responded, ofteninpartnership withlocal from the home minister or minds us, agroup of walking migrantsare checkedatboarding. The economyisultimatelyaliving machine —one that cannotsimplybeturnedoff communities, to rapidlyestablish spaces of notashigh arisk as is being made out to be. Concurrently, to identify places receiving and on. Even in alockdown, it needs to be kept aliveand whirring. The danger from me- food and shelter forthe nowsuddenlyvisible prime minister.Tocontrol Of course,ifcommunity transmission has migrants, whichare thus priority high-risk chanicallyordered closureofactivities is that resumption becomes difficult. Rebuilding migrants, as city residents lockedthemselves transmission, we need to begun, we shouldbemoreworried —but areas of COVID transmission, telecom firms broken supplychains is easier when things areallowedtorun even if at lowkey,sothat down. But, theywalked regardless. identify the migrants and then, the government hasrefusedtocom- can be askedtoanalyseVLR datafromtheir the system can respondwhen demand returns. Combating COVID-19should obviously Then, likeheadless chickens, the state mence prevalence testing. base stations, especiallybeforeand afterthe flip-flopped—itfirstoffered transportfor their destination so that So, what is to be done now? Should they lockdown, to identify areas showing arise in be the government’s toppriority now. Lockdown is anecessarypartofthatstrategy,but strandedmigrants, and then as the scale be- local governments canbe justbeallowedtowalkhundreds of kilome- subscribers, and if possible, their previous cannotbeanend in itself. It is necessaryprimarily forsocial distancing, whichcan also be came predictablyoverwhelming —revealed informed. This canbe tres? It seems inhumane, but if transportis location. This has to be done quicklybefore achievedwithout bringingthe wheels of commerce to acomplete halt. the mailedfistinside the velvetglove. collected from their Aadhaar offered, we needasystemfor coping with the dataisdeleted. Governmentsconverted highways to shel- the kind of demand thatshowedupinDelhi Locking people up is no waytoenforce a ters and issuedorders to turn stadiainto cards at registration. Then, when UP arranged athousand buses. Given lockdown or manageanepidemic. We area “temporaryjails”, at atimewhen other coun- after collecting their Aadhaar achance, manywould liketogohome. maturetechnologicallyadvancedstate with CORONA-ANXIETY tries areturning them intohospitals. details, those within walking Atwo-pronged approachcan be consid- adatabase forall itsresidents. We can do One can offerreasons whythe walking distance —say,ahundred ered.Promise them that, if theywantto, better. continued: Poor implementation of meal arrangementswill be made to take them It is imperative that the battle on the mental health front is programmes, lowawareness, the standing kilometres —who want to home —but onlyiftheycame, registered and The writers arewith theCentrefor Policy integrated intothe waragainstCOVID-19 rabi crop waiting to be harvested, andthe walk,can be allowedtodo so. stayed in designated shelters—and calling Research,New Delhi

HE SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19infection arewell-documented.Thereisagrow- ing body of literatureonthe epidemiological aspectsofthe outbreak.Its so- cial and economic falloutsare becoming apparent. However, conversations on Tpeople’s emotional well-being during the pandemic are, by andlarge,taking place onlywithin specialisedcircles. Thereare pressing reasonsthat this discourse is ur- gentlymainstreamed. During times of strife, suchasnatural calamities, wars and eco- AVOICE OF HIS OWN nomichardships, people reachout to eachother.The novelcoronavirus outbreak,how- ever,circumscribes suchbehaviour.Tocombat the virus, millions have been forced to isolatethemselves, sometimes even within the same house, from those theyinteract Artist, architect, creativevisionary:Satish Gujral leavesbehind asterling legacy with everyday —colleagues, family, friends. At the same time, the outbreak and lock- downs have plunged theworld intouncertainty.All this, warn experts,will take atoll on people’s mental health, especiallythose who already sufferfromanxiety disorders. Gayatri Sinha In the firstweek of February, when the outbreak hadn’t yettaken theform of apan- demic,apaper in the medical journal, Lancet,pointed out that “patientswith confirmed COVID-19may experience fear of the consequences of infection with apotentiallyfatal SATISH GUJRAL’S DEATH has come at atime damaged leg and hip onlyheightenedhis iso- teomyelitis, he shared aclose bond, and un- when the worlditself is entombed in alarger lation: “The failuretohearmyown voice der David Siqueiros, learnt to use acrylic newvirus, and those in quarantine might experience loneliness, anxiety and anger”. The silence. Forsuchagregarious man, this is in- made me feel Iwas living in aphantas- paint, bringing the technique backwith him paper,byseven Chinese researchers, also warnedthat even the onsetofsymptoms — deedamournful farewell. Gujral as apost- magoric and surreal cocoon. At timesI to India. Both Siqueiros and DiegoRivera fever,breathlessness and cough —could lead to anxiety and mental distress. With India Independence moderniststood at some dis- doubted my ownsanity.” were to admirehis passion and commit- reporting at leastthree coronavirus-related suicides in less than aweek —according to tance from the Progressive artists.In His familyintroducedhim to thewritings ment, and, wrotetogether in 1952, “Gujral’s reports,seven people took theirlives in Kerala due to depression causedbynot being retrospect, he maybeseenassomething of of Munshi Premchand, Sarat Chandra pictorial work appears to us to be of extreme able to buy alcohol —the country’s public health authorities needtotake the warnings alonely tower, in the rugged individualism ChatterjeeandLalaLajpat Rai,andhe also de- importance.The relation that is between his of his work and the great ease withwhichhe velopedalovefor Urdu poetry. His life changed work and modernMexican painting will un- of the Chinese researchers seriously. They also needtopay attention to the emotional could manipulatedifferent languagestohis when he entered the Mayo School of Artin doubtedly be of greatuse.” well-being of healthcareworkers. Mental health experts point out that suchworkers ownends. Lahore, wherehegainedskills in carpentry, The artistic linksbetween India and mayexperience fear of the contagion and panic at the prospect of spreading it to theirfam- Even as his locationinart history nowde- claymodelling, wood carving and drawing, all Mexico mayhavefaltered;however, Gujral ilies, friends and colleagues.Astudypublishedlastweek in the Journal of theAmerican mands morecritical attention, Gujral’s orig- What Chittoprosad and of whichlaidthefoundationforhis later prac- continuedtobring enormous energy to Medical Association,basedonasurvey of 34 hospitals in China, forinstance, reportedthat inality markedwhat the critic Charles Fabri Somenath Hore did forthe tice as apolymath. To avoidthebadly-cooked whatever he sethis hands to.During the “more than 70 percent of thedoctorsand nurses who attendedcoronavirus patients described as “genius” in the early 1950s. Bengal Partition, Gujral did school food, he begantoeat at his elderbrother 1950s, encouraged by IndiraGandhi, he What Chittoprosad and Somenath Horedid Inder Gujral’s collegehostel, wherehemet painted in aspateportraitsofNehru, Krishna have experiencedpsychological distress”. to mark the Partition of forthe Bengal Partition, Gujral did to mark some of the leading voices of the Subcontinent Menon, Maulana Azad and Indiraherself. Manycountries, including India, have setuphelplines formental health issues precip- the Partition of West Punjab, whichhewit- West Punjab, whichhe —FaizAhmedFaiz, Krishan Chander and Ali Then,between 1962-80, he executed murals itated by the pandemic. It’s imperative that information on these helplines is made widely nessedfirsthand, driving atrucktoferry mi- witnessed first hand,driving Sardar Jaffri, who wrotewith nationalistzeal at leading locations likePunjab University, available. Experts,including the authors of the Lancet article, warn that psychological scars grantstoIndia.Nearly four decades later,in atrucktoferrymigrants to and romantic fervour.Healso studiedatthe J Shastri Bhavan, Delhi High Court, the World of the pandemiccould belong-term.Theyrecommend regularmentalhealthscreeningsof the aftermath of the Sikh riots following India. Nearly four decades JSchool in Bombay, butasPartition neared, Trade Centre,New York,and so on. Rather healthcareworkers and patientswho have been through quarantines. It is imperative that IndiraGandhi’s assassination, he wasto and he helpedwiththe painful processof than settle intoasingle medium, he moved later,inthe aftermath of the the battle on the mental health front is nowintegrated intothe waragainstCOVID-19. makehis burntwood sculptures, drawing on evacuation, thefoundation forwhatis known ontopaper collages with large primitive atechnique of burning and charring remi- Sikhriots following Indira as his Partition paintings waslaid. In his first forms, metal-basedsculptures, drawings, niscent of artists likeAlberto Burriand Gandhi’sassassination, he exhibition, inaugurated by Octavio Pazin paintings and the burnt wood series. As an Anselm Kiefer.Asanarchitect of morethan Delhi, these paintings, with their powerful ex- artistinthe worldofarchitecture, he said, “I 20 major projects, he completelydislodged wastomakehis burnt wood pressionistic brushwork, enabled him to win have to approacharchitecturebyits own IT’SOK,RAISE ATOAST prevailing styles to bring backthe arch,the sculptures, drawing on a ascholarship to Mexico. rules. Idon’t simplydrawabuilding; Ibuild vault and the dome, creating in the process a technique of burning and While the Progressive artists identified it”. Forhis diversity and extraordinarypas- As governments everywherelockdown, at leasttwo progressive newarchitectural ideal. charring reminiscent of with the schools of Paris and NewYork, sion, Gujral has made hisplace in arthistory. Gujral sufferedahearing loss at the age Gujral’s tutelage, at atime of great social administrations arehelping citizens keep up their spirits of eight, following aswimming accident in artists likeAlberto Burri and change, wasunder the Mexican muralists. The writer is director, the riverLidder.Aseries of operations on his Anselm Kiefer. WithFridaKahlo, who also sufferedfromos- criticalcollective.in NTHE SEASONofsocial distancing, it maybeargued, the social lubricant is unnec- essary. But while governmentsthe worldoverbatten down allhatches in response Ito the novelcoronavirus, and the WorldHealth Organisationopines,inthe face of empirical if anecdotalevidence to thecontrary, that alcohol is an “unhelpful coping strategy” forlockdowns, certain progressive governmentsare refusingtobeilliberal. In the UK, wherethe primeministerisinself-isolationand the health ministerhas MARCH 31,1980, FORTY YEARS AGO tested positive,off-licences arebackinbusiness, and the pub, the cornerstone of British social intercourse, could also be drawing pintsofwarm beer fortakeawaysoon. And in A SSAM ON EDGE SECOND JANATA SPLIT INDIA-PLO STAND Kerala, alcohol is deemedtobeasimportant aservice as the supplyofmedication, and TROOPS HAVE BEENalerted to help the civic THE JANATAPARTY has split forasecond THE PALESTINE LIBERATION Organisation and the excise departmentisduty bound to supply anyone presenting adoctor’s prescrip- administration in Assam, and, if necessary, time within one year with JagjivanRam’s fac- India agreedthat de-escalation of tensions in tion. Their commitment to human rightsand supportfor personal choice is exemplary. to dealwith anycommunal trouble in the tion styling itself as the JanataParty and South Asia “could onlybeachievedthrough state, Paramasivam, the chief secretary, said electing him as the party president. Atwo- political and diplomatic measures and notby What adismal contrastthe rest of India presents, having to makedowith acruel in Gauhati. This wasdone as aprecaution in dayconvention wasorganisedtothat effect, militaryconfrontationthrough inductionof WhatsApp jokewhichassures the recipient of home delivery of twobottles by thegov- view of the reportedtension in some areas and whichwas attendedbyRam’s support- arms.” Ajoint press statement issuedatthe ernment, but clickingonthe link calls up apictureofanape making arude gesture. of the state, he said. He said Governor LP ers but notthe members of the other con- end of the three-dayfirstofficial visit of PLO It’s notonlyaboutrightsand preferences. The sale of alcohol brings thousands of crores Singh would hold aseries of discussions to- stituentsofthe JanataParty likethe erstwhile Chairman Yasser Arafat, did notmakeany di- to the statecoffers, revenuethat will beneededtodefray social spending on the coronavirus morrowwith the All Assam StudentsUnion Congress (O), SocialistParty and the Jana rect reference to Afghanistan. It saidduring crisisinthe months ahead. Some of it would payfor thetreatment of conditions likedepres- and the GanaSangramParishad to find asat- Sangh. These factions arestillstruggling with his talkswith Prime MinisterIndiraGandhi, sionand anxiety,whichthe moderateuse of alcohol helps with.The health authorities pres- isfactorysolution to the vexedforeignna- the dual membership issue within the party. on the situation in tbeSouth Asian region, tionals issue. Meanwhile, afour-pageofficial ChandraShekhar, who stands removedfrom Arafat expressedhis appreciation of India’sre- entalcoholasaproblem,andfocusontheobviousdamagewroughtby excessive use.Buttaken release saidthe governmentwas seriously the party membership, according to the Ram sponse. The statement said: “Arafat and Mrs in moderation, it can be asolution. Archaeologists currentlybelievethatmaking bread may concernedatthe continuedagitation in the faction, declinedtocomment on the IndiraGandhi discussedinternational issues have been abyproduct of makingbeer.The ancientsknewwhat wasgood forthem. stateonthe foreign nationals issue. developments. and the situation in the South Asian region.” WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 WHATTHE OTHERSSAY “China has controlled the epidemic situation mainly by relying on its own produced medical materials. TheChinese products are undoubtedly reliable. Otherwise,there wouldn’t have been so manycountries placing orderswith 9 THE IDEAS PAGE China.” — GLOBALTIMES,CHINA The art of China’s legalpolitik The milk Winning the legal argument, China has learnt from the history of great powerrelations, mustflow is very much partofgreat powerjousting Lockdownisaproblem,socialdistancinganew challenge,butthereare ways to keepthingsgoing

Equally, if notmore, challenging wasto enforce social distancingamong the 30 lakh-odd farmers pouring milk at our 18,500villagesocieties. We distributed banners on dos and don’tstoeachofthese RAJA MANDALA societies with farmerscompulsorily hav- ing to keep aminimumtwo-metredistance by CRajaMohan while standing in line and washing their RSSodhi hands properly with soap prior to entering AS THE WORLDWIDE death toll from Covid- the collection centrebuilding. The tankers 19 pandemic mounts—by theweekendit and vans carrying the milk were also to be had crossed33,000 —animportant argu- FORAMUL, the “lockdown” isn’t com- disinfected before entering the dairyplant. ment is unfolding about China’sresponsibil- pletely new. We have seen them in the past, Our member unions collect roughly ity forwreaking the havoc. Lawyers and ac- whenevertherewereriots,curfews or nat- 260 lakh litres per day(LLPD) of milk,of tivists have begun to sue China in US courts ural calamities —fromfloodstothe Gujarat which210 is from Gujarat, while the re- demanding compensation. Politicians arenot earthquakein2001. Iremember driving my maining is mainlyfromRajasthan, farbehind. old Fiat car through Kalupur,Khadia, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Aresolution has been movedinthe US Astodia, Jamalpur and Dariapur in Bengal. Likeinprevious calamities, there Senatecalling on the international commu- Ahmedabad during1990. Thesewerethe has been no fall in our procurement this nity to inquireintothe origins of the virus in mostdisturbed areasthat had extended time as well. Out of the 260 LLPD, we nor- China’sWuhan province, quantify the dam- curfews afterthe riots had takenplace. mallysell around 150asfresh pouched ageinflictedonthe rest of the world, and de- In all these disturbances, we had stan- milk,chhaachh and curd. The balance is sign amechanism of reparations from dardprocedures and steps that were to be converted into skimmedmilk powder, Beijing. followed: Keep the milk procurement from dairy whitener, baby food, butter,gheeand The casefor China’s culpability is based our villagecooperative societies and pro- cheese. Youcannotstopcowsand buffaloes on theprinciples of stateresponsibility and cessingatthe district union dairies going. from producingmilk.Havingsufficient dry- Beijing’s alleged failuretorespect the obliga- Thecritical thing wastoensurethat the lo- ing and powdermanufacturing capacity tion, under the 2005 International Health gistics were in place and that all the ap- givesusthe flexibility to managethe sea- Regulations, to notify the worldonthe out- provals from authorities —especiallyfor sonal milk surpluses or deficitsinthe run- break of the epidemic. Manyinternational the movement of tankers, milk vans and ning pipeline. jurists dismiss theseclaimsbyciting the prin- our employees —weretakenimmediately. In the firstthree days of thelockdown ciples of sovereign state immunity,the lackof Milk,beinganessential commodity,plus (March24-27), our liquid milk and fresh precedentinholding states to account forthe the branditself,meant that we neverreally product sales were actually15per cent spread of infectious disease beyond their bor- facedissues. Our vehicles were never higher than the normal of 150LLPD. The ders and the absence of provisions forrepa- stopped; my owncar,plasteredwith an reason foritwas panic buying by house- rations under the IHR. Amul milk posteronthe windscreen, could holds. But in the lastcouple of days,they On the face of it,China is toomuchofa easilyride through the curfew areas in east have fallento25per centbelowthe aver- Gullivertobetieddownbylegal Lilliputs. Yet, Ahmedabad. age, as households no longer feel the need before we dismissinternational lawasnot This time, it hasn’t been muchdifferent. to stockup. There canbenobetterindica- real law, “legalpolitik” can put some real pres- If anything, rather than securing permis- torthanthis of our farmersdelivering sureonbig nations and contributetothe sions, Ireceivedcalls the very daythe lock- even in anationalcalamityofthis scale. In powerplayamong them. As public opinion down came intoeffect from the Union situations likethese, youneedeveryone begantointrude intodiplomacy over the last home ministryofficials, the animal hus- from policymakers, district administra- twocenturies,legality andmoralpolitik have CRSasikumar bandryand dairyministerand the princi- tions and local police, to farmers, procure- become an integral partofgeopolitics. “world government” that can compeldeviant underwritten by apowerful legal tradition pal chiefsecretarytothe Gujarat Chief ment staff, employees,transporters,C&F Mostworld leaders know, whether they states to conform to rules. that shapes the global narrative on mostis- Minister, and the chief secretaries of agentsand distributorstoworkinclose sayitaloud or not, the international costs of In theory, the members of the UN Security sues. Gujarat and afew other states, asking what coordination. the pandemic could have been farlesser if Council can authorise coercion —inthe form As it mountsamassive propaganda of- permitsorother helpwas required to en- Therecould be problems in the coming China had acknowledgedthe spread of the of economic sanctions or militaryforce. This, fensive againstthe US on the corona crisis, sureuninterruptedsupplyofmilk. days,though, notfor consumers as much virus from Wuhan early on and informed in turn, involves building aconsensus among China’s statelawyers have filedacase in the We have been better placedinotheras- as forproducers. The closureofhotels, other countries. major powers, including the five permanent Wuhan IntermediatePeople’s Courtlast pectstoo. In the old days,therewereno restaurants, caterers and even teashops It is one thingtoknowbut entirelyan- membersofthe UNSC who wield aveto. In week accusing various US government agen- mobiles or laptops thatmade working from during the lockdownisalready affecting other to proveitunder the law. Mostgovern- reality,then, the UNSC can’t act againstone of cies of covering up the origin of the coron- remote places possible. While landlines our milk sales. The exodus of migrant mentsbelieve the pursuit of claims against the five permanent members. avirus.Itisnolonger about China defending were available at our offices, plants andres- labourers, whether from Delhi, Beijing is awaste of time. If Beijing can make Beijing, whichwas so eager to getthe againstapowerful international narrative; idences, collectingmoneyfromdealers, in- Ahmedabad or Surat, backtotheir villages, the WorldHealth Organisation toeits line UNSC to discuss the situationinJammu and it is developing one of itsown. voicing and making paymentstofarmers will also have an impact on demand. and prevent the rest of the world, including Kashmir since lastAugust, has simply Over the lastfew years, China has learnt or transporters all had to be donephysi- Further,manyprivate dairies engaged US President DonaldTrump, from describ- blockedall suggestions foradiscussion on to deployinternational lawinpursuit of its cally. in the production of commodities (milk ingCOVID-19asthe “China Virus”, it is un- the corona crisis in recentdays. largerglobal goals. It has trainedarmies of The one big challengefor us in this lock- powder and fat) forinstitutional and busi- likelytobeimpressedbyafewlegal impre- Does that mean might is alwaysright? international lawyers who argue from the down, however, has been the needtomain- ness-to-business markets have stopped sariosfromthe West. Arelawsmeaningless in the global arena? firstprinciples of jurisprudence, inject tain social distancing. Even before the lock- procurement. Thefarmers,who were sup- Afterall, China had dismissedthe unan- While outcomes in international conflicts Chinese politicalconceptions likethe “Belt down, whichweknewwas coming,wehad plying to dairies whichhaveslashedprices imous verdict of the International Courtof tend to be definedbypower, the interna- and Road” intomultilateral agreementsand plannedtohavetwo separateteamstotake or have declared “milk holidays”, arenow Justice in 2016 on Beijing’s territorial claims tional discourse on anyconflict todayis While outcomes in pushfor newinternational norms to suit turns at our headquarters. Onlyone team starting to supply to cooperatives. The dis- over the South China Sea. Beijing didnot framedinlegal terms. Whether it is aconver- international conflicts tend Beijing’s interests. would come to office on one day, while posal of surplus milk is going to be aserious even bothertoappear in the casefiled by sation between astate and itscitizen or to be defined by power, the India has been at the receiving end of those in the other team worked from home. problem in the coming days andthe gov- the Philippines. China had simplydeclared among governmentsorinacountry’s out- China’s legalpolitik —mostrecentlyonthe Unlikeinthe previous “lockdowns” where ernment should lose no time in paying at- that the ICJ has no jurisdiction in the reachtothe global society,legal narratives international discourse on questfor the membership of the Nuclear the idea wastoget as manypeopletophys- tention to it as well. matter. have aweight all of their own. Delhi, forex- anyconflicttodayisframed Suppliers Group and the constitutional icallycome to office, this time we had to Despitewinningthe case on all countsat ample, has struggledinrecent days to in legal terms. Whether it is a changes in Kashmir.Delhicould learn atrick keep them to the minimum without any The writer is managing director of Gujarat the ICJ, the government of the Philippinesun- counter the global interpretation of itsdo- conversation between astate or twofromBeijing on howtomakeinter- disruption in operations. CooperativeMilk Marketing Federation Ltd der President Rodrigo Dutertechose to for- mestic actions. national lawthe keystone of India’s diplo- getthe judgment and seek political accom- Winning the legal argument, China has and its citizen or among macy,especiallyinthe multilateral domain. modation with Beijing. Manila’s choice learnt from the history of great powerrela- governments or in a If China could emulateUSand Britain on boosts the belief that when powermeets law, tions, is very much partofgreat powerjoust- country’soutreachtothe leveraging legalpolitik forstrategic ends, LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR it is usuallythe former that prevails. ing. The negative lessons arefromthe Soviet global society, legal narratives India should notfind it toohardtoreinvest in That powertends to prevail over lawis Unionthatdismissedthe Western legal ar- the geo-legal arts thatDelhi inherited from certainlytruer in international relations than gumentsduring the Cold Warasbasedonthe have aweight all of their own. the Anglo-Saxons but seems to have lost domestic politics. In the domestic domain, logic of capital and empire. That did notcon- Delhi, forexample,has along the way. RIGHT TEST the stateasthe highestauthority compels cit- vert manybeyond thechoir. struggled in recent days to PRIVATE TESTINGPROCEDURES for LETTER OF THE izens to abidebythe law, with forceifneces- The positive lessons arefromGreat Britain The writer is director,InstituteofSouthAsian COVID-19are toocomplexand expen- WEEK AWARD sary. In the international arena, no singleac- and the United States. The enduring Anglo- counter the global Studies,National University of Singaporeand sive.You needtobook online, fill aform, torhas the monopolyoverthe instrumentsof Saxon hegemonyisrootednot justineco- interpretation of its domestic contributing editor on international affairs upload adoctor’s certificateand ID, and To encouragequality reader force. We have multiple sovereigns but no nomic and militarypower.Ithas alwaysbeen actions. for The Indian Express payRs4,500. Surelypaying and book- intervention, The Indian ing via an online form, with aline foran ID, should be enough? Also the price Express offers the Letter of should be Rs 500atmost, and full dress the Week award. The letter gear is notneededfor sample collection. adjudged the best forthe Further,stadiums should be converted week is publishedevery to temporaryhospitals, and some used Saturday. Letters maybe Amask and ashield formigrant workers: Theyhavetoilets, e-mailedto showers, and space fortesting and [email protected] quarantine, all under one roof. or sent to The Indian Expansionofmask production on warfooting and call to action forall Indians to wear them areneeded Bina Agarwal, Delhi Express, B-1/B, Sector 10, Noida-UP 201301. Arpit Gupta,Anup Malani and Reuben Abraham FEARVSRIGHTS THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Careless AS INDIA enters three weeksofnationwide tion or removal. outbreak there. Taiwan, yetanother success able, DIY effortscan be alastresortwhen talk’ (March 30). By making the status of virus. Moreover, the pandemic doesn’t lockdown to address COVID-19,wemust Maskshaveprovenveryeffective in the story, respondedtothe epidemicbyramp- manufactured masksare unavailable. We those suspected to have the COVID-19 carry anylong-term social stigma. At plananexit strategy from this scenarionow. pastatlimiting infection ratesfromin- ing up itsmask production and banning ex- needtoproduce YouTubechannels in all virus public, the government is scaring times likethese, the collective welfare An indefiniteperiodofquarantineissimply fluenza-likediseases. Areviewofseveral ports of masks. Indian languages providing clear introduc- away those who maybecarrying the ofpeople has to take precedence over infeasible foracountry likeIndia, whereso studies concludedthat: “Surgical masksor These findingssuggestaclear national tions forthe production of masks, as other virus, but areloath to come out fearing individualrights, as we arewitnessing manylivehand-to-mouth in an informal N95respirators were themostconsistent policy:Begin wartime mobilisation to dras- countries suchasthe CzechRepublichave society’s backlash. Reports of people’s in the case of right to freedom of move- economy.Instead, mitigationstrategies — and comprehensive supportive measures.” ticallyincrease mask production, and man- done. Whilecloth masks arelesseffective completely insensitive attitude towards ment. whichdampen the rate of spread of COVID- Arange of other randomisedtrials have datebylaw their use in public spaces, and in than surgical masks, theystill provide pro- suchpeople aredoing the rounds. Vijai Pant, via email 19,while allowing Indians to continuework- reachedsimilar conclusions. Surgical masks spaces wheresocial distancing is impossible. tective benefitsfor non-healthcareworkers When we all arelockedupinside our ing —mustbethe next phase of the strategy. arenot as protective as N95 masks(which Obviously, the firstpriority should be to who areasymptomatic. An additional advan- homes, whyreveal the identities of END DISRUPTION An expansion of mask production on awar areless comfortable to wear) in alaboratory makesureour health and essential services tage of DIY masksisthat manyfamilies can thosealready undergoing the trauma footing and acall to action forall Indians to settingbut arenoworse at protecting from workers have an adequatesupplyofmasks makethesewith scissors, needle and thread of fighting the deadly virus? Statistics THIS REFERSTOthe editorial, wear them is imperative to making this influenza in ahealthcaresetting.Eventhe before the general population starts wear- even during the lockdown. Homemade areenough. ‘Essential protection’ (IE, March 30). policy work. United States’Centers forDisease Control has ing them. In addition, offeringasafeoption masksare alastresort, but theyare clearly Kamna Chhabra, Gurugram The complexsupplychain systems One characteristic that sets COVID apart said surgical masksare an “acceptable alter- forindividuals to continue working will likely preferable to no protection at all. have been up and running, despitea from other corona and flu viruses is that a native”toN95 masks.Inaddition, if every- encourageessentialservices workersto COVID-19isaddressable,but it requires THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Careless fewhiccups in some regions, since the large number of infected people remain one wears amask even when theyare showup. Currently, thereare stories of many novelthinking and tactics. Acombination of talk’ (IE, March 30). Looking at India’s lockdown. The needofthe hour is to asymptomatic. Masksare mosteffectiveat healthy, it will double the protection from suchworkers leavingtheir posts out of fear of large-scale testing, tracing, and widespread teeming billions and the high risk ensureprotection of all those involved reducing the spread of disease from asymp- masks. Everyone will be protected by two catching COVID-19. use of masksislikelytoyield the greatestdiv- whichthe extremelycontagiousvirus in keeping supplies going. But our tomatic carriers, who maybeunaware they masks: The one the other person is wearing Maskswill also be particularly helpfulin idend. It also allows the economytorecover carries,the stamping of COVID19sus- economy, despiteevery effort,isinICU. have theillness, by capturing emitted and the one youare wearing. urban settings, especiallyslums. Doctors rec- in acontrolledmanner,while we wait fora pects,pasting notices outside their The government needstouse everyre- droplets.But theycan also reduce airborne Whilewedonot yetknowthe impactof ommend people staysix feet apart from each vaccine. homes and the GPS monitoringoftheir source in the fiscal policy toolkit to infection ratesamong healthyindividuals. mask-wearing on COVID-19specifically, all otherwhile outside. In some places, physi- phones arenecessary. Reports of peo- mitigatethe scalethis disruption. This Maskscan also help reduce the natural ten- EastAsian countrieswheremask use is cal distancing is notpossible. Slums have 10 Gupta is an assistant professor of finance at plehiding their travel history, evading can be done by resource transfersas dency to touchone’s face, reducing contact prevalent have notseen the same rate of dis- timesthe population densityofother areas NYU Stern School of Business, Malani is a screening and keeping their unhealthy loans to affected sectors, tourism and spread.Maskuse doesrequirefacial touching ease spread as elsewhere, while also notbe- of Indian cities. But even there,masks will professor at theUniversity of Chicago Law parameters under wraps makethem transportinparticular. to putonproperly andremove.For this rea- ing subject to the mass quarantine effortsin reduce the risk that large droplets of liquid, School and PritzkerSchool of Medicine and silentand dangerouscarriersofthe Ravi Jain, Zirakpur son,itisessential to encouragehandwash- place in India.Hong Kong officials credit suchasfromacough, will infect others. Abraham is CEO of IDFC Institutein ing or hand sanitiser usebeforemaskinser- mask-wearing with limiting the coronavirus While N95 and surgical masksareprefer- Mumbai WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 10 EXPRESS NETWORK

Focus on testing those MAHARASHTRA who came from Policeuseteargastostop Advisory panel to abroad:Biharminister draw up international migrantsinSurat,96detained curriculum under “The Prime Ministerhas ap- LIZMATHEW pealed to everyone that people catedifhavetostayinthatroom NEWDELHI,MARCH30 should stay wheretheyare dur- KAMAALSAIYED foroveranhour,” he said. state board formed ing the lockdown. Movement is SURAT,MARCH30 Rauji JeewanVerma (40), THE BIHAR government is cur- notthe right thing to do. It is im- from Amirpur in UP,said the rentlyfocusingontestingthose portant forsafetyand to save AS MIGRANT workers across the owner of the dyeing and printing The department also an- who have come from abroad for themselves, theywill have to countryset offonfootinades- unit whereheworkedhad not EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE nouncedformation of “state COVID-19and wantsmigrant maintain adistance,” he said. perateattempt to reachtheir paid his salary. “Weare surviving MUMBAI,MARCH30 levelcurriculum formation workers to stay wheretheyare “Weare appealing to every- home states, thesituation took a on our savings, whichisless than committee”, headedbydirector to ensure social distancing, state one. The Prime Ministerhas ap- violent turn in Surat on Sunday Rs 1,000.The local kirana shop NEARLYAmonth afterSchool of theMaharashtraState Council HealthMinisterMangal Pandey pealedwith foldedhands notto night when police triedtostop owners arecharging double… EducationMinisterVarsha of Educational Research and told The Indian Express on cross the lakshman rekha,” the about 500textile factorywork- The monthlyrent of my room, Gaikwad announcedthe disso- Training (MSCERT). This com- Monday. ministeradded. ers —mostlymigrantsfromUttar whichIsharewith three others,is lution of Maharashtra mittee has been tasked withcre- “Weare conducting the tests. However, he said,the govern- Pradesh, Bihar, MadhyaPradesh Rs 3,000;onSaturday, the land- International Education Board ating textbooks aftercompara- We arecollecting samples, even ment has reachedout to every- andChhattisgarh. lordwarnedustohandinthe (MIEB), apet projectofformer tively studying existing curricula at the district level. In Bihar, we one who has comeinsofar.If The migrant workers, mostly rent by month-end, or to leave… BJP education ministerVinod of Balbharti, MSCERTand MIEB. have tested 1,000people and 15 anyone among the migrant employedinthe powerloom fac- We aresurviving on rice and salt, Tawde, the school education de- In another notification,the have tested positive.Priority is workers shows anysymptom, tories and dyeing and printing the vegetable carts have partment on Mondaytook the government providedseveral being giventothose who have theywill be tested immediately, unitsofSurat, had lefttheir Migrant colonywhichsaw incident Sunday night. Hanif Malek stopped,” he said. firststeptowardsdrawing up a pointsfor cancellation of MIEB. come from abroad,” Pandeysaid. said the minister. rented rooms in Pandesaraarea, SanjayKumarYadav(23) said curriculum of international Giventhat NEP will be imple- Pandeysaid Indian Council “People arereturning and we and were walking towardsthe he waswas worriedabout his standards forall studentsunder mented,the department stated of Medical Research has ap- have helpedthem reachtheir National Highway,about 20 km “WehavelodgedanFIR from BuxarinBihar, wasamong seven-year-old brother,who lives the stateboard. that therewas aneedtodevelop proved three testing centres for villages. Theyare quarantinedin away.When police stopped againstamob of 500people… those who setoff on foot on withhis widowedmother in Through anotification, the newbooks,and also stated that the stateand these centres can schools run by panchayats. them near Sachin area, about 2 Theywerechargedundersections Sunday. “Weleftwith abottle of Banda district of UP.Hesaid his department announcedthe for- MIEB had notsought approval conduct 600tests daily. “But we Around 2,500people areiniso- km from Pandesara, someofthe relatedto rioting,attackingpolice, water, cellphone and power brother wassick, and he had mation of a“stateinternational from MSCERTfor itsexisting arenot getting so manysamples. lation and observation,” the min- workers reportedlystarted pelt- damaging public property and bank,”hesaid. The plan,hesaid, askedafriend to take him to hos- curriculum advisorycommit- curriculum. People have notcome out in istersaid. ing stones. While nobody wasin- also under provisions of the wastouse the phone GPS to pital. “But thepolice beat them tee” foraperiod of three years, It addedthat acomparative suchnumbers. Onlythose who The ministryisfollowing up jured,some police vehicles were EpidemicDiseasesActfordefying maketheirway to Ahmedabad up; thereisnobody to take him comprising 24 members and study showedthatthe costof have symptoms have come out,” on the dataonthose who have damaged. restrictions,” Chaudhari told PTI. or Vadodara, and then home. to hospital now. So, Idecidedto helmedbyGaikwad. training teachers wassignifi- the ministersaid. come from abroad, he said. “We Around 11.30 pm, police first “The situation is under con- “When the police stoppedus, leave forhome,” he said. This committee has been cantlyhigher.While Rs 1,000 is Asked if fear or anxiety was go to their houses, collect sam- resortedtoalathicharge andthen trol. The police team triedtheir we told themthatwedidn’thave Hafiz Ali (22), from Maujpur tasked with studying aspects of spent per teacher of astate stopping people from approach- ples and conducttests,” he fired30teargasshells, pushing best to convince the workers, but food or money, andhad no other in UP,said hismonthlyincome is National EducationPolicy,edu- boardschool, MIEB costthe gov- ing authorities,hedenied. added. them backtoPandesara.Ninety- the workershad onlyone thing option… Theystill stoppedus… Rs 15,000,ofwhichhesends Rs cational practices in other states ernment Rs 64,000 per teacher. “Awareness campaign is on. Bihar has so farreportedone six workers were arrestedforriot- on theirmind—towalkback When we resisted, theybeat us 10,000 to his parents. “Wehave and providing guidance to sub- To provide equal education Everyone is awareofthe disease deathdue to COVID-19. ing;theywerereleasedonbailon home… We arrested 96 people up with sticks,” he said. nothing to eat here.When we go committees, as well as outlining to allstudents,the government and itsimpact,” he said. According to Pandey, thestate Monday.“When the police per- forrioting,” said Chaudhari. “Duetouncertainty in the out to buy something,police beat intended outcomesofaninter- will take measurestocreatean The ministersaid that as of government has takenall meas- sonnel were trying to convince Following the incident, secu- textile industry, our dyeing and us up… My father keeps calling national-levelcurriculum. international curriculum and now, around2,500peopleare in ures and procuredadequatema- them to remain indoors, they rity has been tightenedin printing unitsremainclosed for me,” he said. “Weheardthat the Earlier this month, the state implement it in aphasedman- quarantine in the stateand ef- terial suchasprotection equip- startedpelting stones at them. Pandesara. “Wehavetalkedtoall twodaysinaweek.Weearn lockdown maycontinue forthree government decidedtomerge ner,the notificationstated. “How fortsare on to identify andmon- ment,masksand testing kits. Severalpolicevehicleswere dam- thosearrestedand explained around 10,000 permonth. After months. IhaveonlyRs3,000, MIEB with the stateboard after thecurriculum will be imple- itor thosewho mayhavecomein “Thereissome issue with aged in the stone pelting,” said that it is notpossible to leave the the lockdown wasannounced, howcan Isurvive,” he said. all ministers were of the view mented and in howmany contact with the infectedpeople. procurement but thereisno Deputy Commissioner of Police, city.Wehavetalkedtosome so- the factoryowners told us notto DharmendraKumar (32), that thereshould be onlyone phases will be decidedonce the He said the stategovern- shortage.PPEs and medicines Zone 3, Vidhi Chaudhari. cial workers and they aresupply- come to work and did noteven from AzamgarhinUP, also said boardofeducation forschools meeting of the committee takes ment’s priority nowistoconduct areinstock and moreare com- Police registeredarioting ing food packetsinthe area,” said clear our pending dues,” he said. the dyeingand printing mill and thereshould be no dis- place afterthe lockdown,” an of- tests forthose who have come ing. It is true that theyare not complaint and arrested 96 peo- Chaudhari. “Westayinarented room of whereheworkedhad notpaid crimination in imparting edu- ficial said. from abroad and to appeal to mi- easilyavailable, but we aretak- ple, all migrant workers.On Sources said officials had also 10 ft x10ft, in achawl witha his salarylastmonth.“Thereisno cation.The boardwas setupby Theschool educationdepart- grant workers to “staywhere ing all measures,” the minister Monday,all thosearrestedwere requestedlocal landlordsto common toiletand bathroom… other option than to return to the previous government to ment, in another notification, has theyare.” said. producedbeforeacourtand later waivethe rent. Five of us live in aroomwithno Azamgarhbyany means, even on provide international-leveled- directed schoolsofall boards to releasedonbail. Pankaj Kumar Gupta (22), fanorsunlight. We feel suffo- foot,” he said. ucationtostudentsinMarathi, relax norms regarding feepay- and had 81 affiliated schools ment. It has directed schools to across the state. These schools extend dates forfeepaymentand J&K: PSA detention CHEMICALSSPRAYED ON PEOPLE RETURNING HOME 37 Mecca were re-affiliated to the state notforce parentstopay within a boardafter the present govern- strict deadline foreitherthe pres- Bareilly DM blames ‘overactive’ pilgrims in ment’s decision. ent year or the upcoming year. of 31 people revoked Pilibhit booked tention. NAVEEDIQBAL Confirming the develop- civic officials, orders probe for violating Stuck in Ghatkopar naval SRINAGAR,MARCH30 ment, J&KDGP Dilbag Singh said the majority of those whose de- quarantine rules facility, 44 from J&K THE JAMMUand Kashmirad- tention wasrevoked were ministration on Mondayre- booked afterAugust5,when the EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE vokedthe detention of 31 de- special status wasscrapped. LUCKNOW,MARCH30 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE airlifted from Iran not tainees under the Public Safety Beforethe lockdown to curb LUCKNOW,MARCH30 Act(PSA). All 31 detaineesare in the spread of COVID-19was an- MIGRANT WORKERS returning ‘allowed’ entry into state different jails across the Union nounced, the administration to their homes in Bareilly, Uttar PILIBHIT POLICE have lodged an Territoryand “will be releasedin sent alistwith names of 14 peo- Pradesh, were reportedly FIRagainst37people, including the next fewdays”, sources said. ple in jails outside J&K and 88 sprayed with chemicals to sani- twowho tested positive forcoro- original plan wastofly intoDelhi Of the 31 detainees, 17 are within the Union Territoryacross tise themamid the coronavirus navirus, forallegedly violating EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE and to Jammu fromthere. from Kashmir and 14 from different districts, seeking inputs outbreak,triggering large-scale the home quarantine rules and MUMBAI/SRINAGAR However, due to COVID-19, few Jammu division. Five detainees on who could be released. outrageand condemnation. hiding the information about flightswerecoming backand we arefromBaramulla, four each Following aMarch 23 Afteravideo of the incident their pilgrimagetoSaudi Arabia. AGROUP of 44 Kashmiris, who had to take aMumbai flight. We from Anantnagand Budgam, SupremeCourtorder to all states went viral on social media, The 37 returnedtoMumbai were on theirway backtoIndia were allcheckedfor thevirus in twofromBandiporeand One and UTs, J&K setupits high-level BareillyDistrict Magistrate Were reportedlyshoweredwith sodiumhypochloritesolution aftercompleting apilgrimageto fromIranafterareligiouspilgrim- Iranandtestednegative.Oncewe eachfromKupwaraand committee to include the Nitish Kumar on Mondaysaid Mecca on March 18,said Pilibhit age, arestuck at anavalfacility in reachedhereonMarch 13,we Pulwama. All the 14 detainees Executive chairman StateLegal thathehas ordered aprobe and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Ghatkopar afterthe administra- were takentoaquarantine facil- from Jammu arefromPoonch Services Authority,Principal blamediton“overactive”civic gatedand those affected arebe- around 40 migrant workers, in- Seema Agarwal. Twodays later, tion in Kashmir allegedly refused ity in Ghatkopar.Weare24 district. SecretaryHome as well DGP J&K officials. ing treated.BareillyNagar Nigam cluding women, areseen sitting theyreachedPilibhit through them entryinwakeofthe coron- womenand20men.After14days Sources in the administration police. This committee, as per SC Kumar said that afteragroup and Fire Brigade teams were ear- on aroadside with their clothes Bareilly. avirus (COVID-19) outbreak de- of being in quarantine, we were also said that at least16people, directions, will determine the of migrant workers, returning lier directed to sanitisethe buses, on and luggage beside them. A The CMO said the group had spitetestingnegative fortwice. tested and theresultsconfirmed all being held under PSA, were class of prisoners who could be from Delhi in the wake of the 21- but since theyare overactive watercannon from afiretender removedthe ‘home quarantine’ Thegrouphasbeenaway from thatnoneofushad the virus.We releasedlastweek. releasedonparole forfour to six daylockdown, reachedSatellite theydid that. Orders have been is seen spraying achemicalliq- stampmarkedbyMumbai air- theirhousefornearly twomonths were alsotold that we would be Not allthose whose deten- weekstoavoid overcrowding in Bus Terminal in Bareilly, local issuedtotake action against uid on them as officials wearing portauthorities and did notcon- and some senior citizens in the sentto KashmironMonday. Navy tion wasrevoked Mondaywere jails to safeguardagainstthe civicofficialsand fire brigade those responsible,” DM Kumar whiteprotective dresslook on. tact the administration formed- grouparefindingitdifficultto ad- officialstoldusthatthedistrictad- booked in the run up to the spread of COVID-19. teams showeredthem with wa- tweetedinHindi. One of the officials in the ical checkup. Theyalso did not justtothe high temperatureof ministration in Srinagar has not scrapping of the special status of Political parties acrossthe terreportedlymixed with Later in the day, theDM video is hearddirecting the mi- followthe advisorytostayin Mumbai. MohammadSadiq Sofi, allowedusentry.” Jammu and Kashmir when sev- spectruminJ&K have been de- sodium hypochlorite, whichis postedanother tweet, saying grantstokeep their eyes shut. home quarantine for14days, the groupleaderofSaqlainTours, AseniorofficialinSrinagartold eral political leadersand party manding the release of prison- usedfor bleaching and disinfect- that while suchmass sanitisa- Accordingto medical experts, said Agarwal. whichtookthe grouptoIranfor The Indian Express the matteris workers were placed underde- ers in jails, citingthe outbreak. ing water. He also said that all the tion is carriedout across the dependingonthelevelofchlorine, Of the 37 people,a70-year- religious pilgrimage, said, “The being looked into. affected people areundergoing globe“one should take precau- the solution can cause burning old woman and her son (31) later treatment under the supervision tion and keep in mind that peo- and itching if appliedonthe skin. tested positive fornovel coron- of district chief medical officer. ple don’t face anyproblem”. The chemical can cause more avirus and areundergoing treat- “The video is being investi- In the videothat went viral, problems if it reaches the eyes. ment. The rest have been put un- Kashmir’s firstcorona Speaking to The Indian der home quarantine. Express, District Chief Fire Afterlearning that theywere patient recovers; 11 fresh Officer KNRawat said that he allegedly flouting the quarantine came to knowabout the inci- instructions by meeting people, dent onlythrough media re- the district administration took cases reported in J&K portsand calledthe incident them formedical examination man, whotestedpositive, suc- “unfortunate”. Adetailedin- on March 20. ADILAKHZER cumbed to the infection. He was vestigation has been ordered Police onSundaylodgedan SRINAGAR,MARCH30 the second coronavirus-related by the DM and action would FIR againstthe 37 under IPCsec- death in Jammu and Kashmir. definitelybetakenagainst tions270,271 and 269, said sta- EIGHT FRESHcases of coron- J&K spokesperson Rohit thoseresponsible behind the tion house officer of Amariya po- avirus were detected in Kashmir Kansal on Monday said cases act, Rawatsaid. lice station, Udai Veer Singh. on Monday, and three in Jammu, have been reportedinSrinagar Police also in- taking the total number of cases and Shopian.“Four more cases vokedthe Epidemic in the Union Territoryto49. detected positive in Kashmir.2 CX. ´fi. ´ff½fSX MÑXf³Àfd¸fVf³f IYfSX´fûSmXVf³f d»f. Disease Act. However, thefirstperson in eachfromShopian and Srinagar. d°fd±f d½fÀ°ffSX BÀfIf¹ffÊ»f¹f Ied³fd½fQf Àfa£¹ff Kashmir to be in- All contactsofprevious positive Me.-175/19-20 IZ Jb»f³fZ Ied°fd±f A´fdSWf¹fÊ fected by COVID-19 cases. Contact tracingworking IfS¯fûÔ ÀfZ dQ³ffaI 07.04.2020 °fI ¶fPf¹fe has recovered, with on ground,” he posted. He also twoofher test re- tweetedthat three fresh cases ªff°fe W`Üd³fd½fQfAûÔ IZ ´fi´fÂf d³f²ffÊdS°fVfb»I E½fa ports negative. were reportedfromJammu. Department of Forest, Environment and d³f²ffÊdS°f ²fSûWSSfdVf AfS.Me.ªfe.EÀf./ “Her twotests He later tweetedthat more Climate Change, Jharkhand, Ranchi E³f.BÊ.ER .Me. IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹fa°ff, have been found cases have been reportedfrom Office of Additional Principal Chief Conservator of d½fôb°f ´ffSm¿f¯f ¸f¯O»f, ¸fZSNIZ´fÃf ¸fZÔ State negative.She is do- Kashmir and the total number in Forest, CAMPA, Jharkhand VanBhawan, Doranda, Ranchi Bank of India, CanttBranch, ing well and has re- J&Khad risen to 49.However, he Meerut Account No. covered. The patient didn't give anydetails from NOTICE is currentlyinthe whichdistrict the newcases The advertisement issued vide Advt. PR 11047201099, IFSC Code hospital and would were been reported. SBIN0000680 ¸fZÔ ·fe ªf¸ff ISf¹fe ªff be dischargedwhen Following the cases reported No. 214520 dated 17.08.2019 and 214586 ÀfI °fe W`ܶf`ÔI ªf¸ff Ie Àffùf ¹f±ff ¹fûª¹f should aftershe in Shopian, twovillages in the dated 18.08.2019, is hereby cancelled due ¹fc.Me.AfS.Àfa£¹ff, ´fZ-B³f dÀ»f´f ¸fc»f Ie ´fid°f completesher quar- district were declared as "red antine,” SKIMS zones"toprevent the spread of to unavoidable circumstances. d³fd½fQf IZ ´fi±f¸f ·ff¦f IZ Àff±f Àfa»f¦³f dI ¹fZ ªff¹fZÔÜ VfZ¿f Vf°fZË ¹f±ff½f°f SWZÔ¦feÜ A²feÃf¯f Medical COVID-19. Sd/- Ad·f¹fa°ff, d½fôb°f ´ffSm¿f¯f ¸f¯O»f, 130-Oe Superintendent, Dr Kashmir Divisional Commi- Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, CAMPA Farooq Jan told The ssioner Pandurang KPole has Department of Forest, Environment and Climate Change d½f¢MûdS¹ff ´ffIÊ ,¸fZSNÜ kkSf¿MÑ dW°f ¸fZÔ DªffÊ Indian Express. asked Deputy Commissioners to Jharkhand, Ranchi ¶f¨ff¹fZÔll ´fÂffaI No. 912 d½f.´ff.¸fa. The freshcases in constituteavillage/wardlevel Kashmir were re- team forcontainment and sur- PR 227637 Forest, Environment and Climate Changes(19-20)D /ETC/¸fZSNdQ³ffaI :30/03/2020 portedaday aftera veillance of COVID-19. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 11 E EXPLAINED TheOutbreak

SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER The businessofbreathing CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED DAILY Whatdoes it take to build aventilator,and who can do it?What hurdles mustIndia overcome to 22,444 63,929 97,689 82,198 accomplish suchamassive scale-up before the pandemiccan potentiallyoverwhelm the health system? United Kingdom Germany Italy China

10%ofventilators in use in India aremanu- PRABHARAGHAVAN factured in the country. Thepandemic has 40,752 NEWDELHI,MARCH30 affected global supplychains, even as de- France mand has surgedeverywhere. With imports 9,661 AS INDIA braces forcommunity spread of the slowing,anincreasedburdennow lies on 144,672 South novelcoronavirus and aspikeinhospital ad- Indian manufacturers, who have limitedca- US Korea missions, the government is seeking to ramp pacity to scale up production. 41,495 up itscapacity of ventilators. Alarge number DatafromIndian manufacturers project 85,195 Iran Spain of ventilators maypotentiallyberequired their totalmonthly capacity to toucharound soon, and the Railways-ownedIntegral 6,000ventilators in amonth from now. Firms 15,526 CoachFactory(ICF) has made an attempt to likeABIndustries saytheycan scale up Switzerland “reverse engineer” the machines. Private sec- monthly production to around 350-400 in torcarmakers with no experience in this line the next twomonths. Bengaluru-based TOTALCONFIRMED:745,308 DEATHCOUNT:35,307 too, have climbed on to the bandwagon. Skanray Technologies, whichhas claimedit intends to manufacture100,000ventilators, Source: Johns Hopkins University,updated at 11pm on March 30 What areventilators, and whyare they currentlyhas the capacity to build only 5,000 important in the outbreak? in one batch. The rest of itsproduction would Ventilators (or respirators) aremechani- have to come through collaborations. For how long can virus in this caldevices that help apatientbreathe when Thereisalso the question of rawmate- theyare unable to do so on their own. ArespiratorsystematUniversity Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf. Demand is rial. At least40% of aventilator’s physical Hospitals have asupply system forgases like high worldwide;slowing imports put extraburdenonIndian manufacturers. Reuters components areimportedfromcountries outbreak survive on clothes? oxygen, whichare usedinventilators. likethe US, China, France, and Germany, ac- “The ventilator takesthe compressedgas cording to PatelofABIndustries. These in- (oxygen) and mixes it with other gases (be- IN ARESPIRATOR clude severalcrucial componentslikesen- cause typicallywhat we breatheis21% oxy- sors and displays.(Seebox) genfromthe atmosphere). It allows youto SENSORS —pressuresensors, flow high-pressureoxygen, whichcan handle Skanray ManagingDirectorVishwaprasad artificiallypush in acertain required amount sensors, oxygen sensors —tomonitor the gaswithoutdeteriorating Alva said:“Inausualsituation,thegovernment of oxygen intothe patient’slungs and allows and control the pressure, volume of air; PATIENT ACCESSORIES likeinspiratory has an epidemic and disastermanagement them to deflate,” said aspecialistwho works deliverright concentration of oxygen and expiratoryvalves, whichallowthe cell, whichissupposedtostore ventilators in in the intensive careunit of alarge hospital in DISPLAY SYSTEM,likeanLCD monitor, gasintoand out of the lungs ‘live’mode, running and monitored.Our gov- Cloth usedas Mumbai. “With COVID-19, the patient some- ernmenthasnotdonethis,inspiteofsomuch whichhelps adjustmultiple parameters SOFTWARE and printedcircuit boards protection in times has interstitial pneumonia.”The virus communicationandmeetingswiththem.We acafein causes inflammation in the air passages in- SOLENOID VALVES,whichcontrol the TURBINE or blower, turbine-driving have been talking to them since2012-13. The Australia. side the lungs calledbronchioles, causing in- flowand direction of the air circuit, softwareand PCBs in the case of a previous government also did notdothis.” turbine-drivenventilator Reuters flammation in this area and in the alveoli, the TUBINGS and pressureregulators for tinysacs that the air is deliveredto. “Anyin- So what is being done to address the flammation means air can’t getinorget out.” situation now? DOESTHE novelcoronavirus survive As the space forthe exchangeofair in the worstcase, needbetween 1lakh and 2.2 lakh nentsthatcan achievethe required outputs,” Bharat Electronics Ltd(BEL), aPSU under on your clothes, and if so,for how SURVIVALTIMEOFVIRUS, lungs decreases, the patienthas to work ventilators by May15. he said. “Ventilators areacombination of the MinistryofDefence, is in the process of long? The answer to the firstquestion ACCORDINGTORESEARCH harder to breathe, whichmay notbepossible Dr Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant for technologies —not onlysoftwareand elec- manufacturing 30,000 ventilators.Health is that it probablydoes survive,but it indefinitely. “A patient can’tbebreathing at respiratorymedicine and critical careat tronics, but also pneumatics, as theyhandle MinistryPSUHLLLifecareLtdhasfloatedaten- is notclearfor howlong. Studieshave ratesof40-45 (breaths)aminuteand expect Delhi’s Apollo Hospital, expressedoptimism gases. Theyare also required to adhereto derfor20,000.ICF Chennai,makerof Train18, looked at howlong the viruscan sur- On stainless steel Up to 3days to sustain life. At this point,aventilatoral- about availability.“Talkingtoall our inten- safetystandards, and include amechanism is attempting to manufactureventilators. vive on various surfaces —plastic, On plastic Up to 3days lows youtorestthe patient’s lungs by giving sivists,asof now, there is no shortageofven- to minimise the risk to the patient in the In theprivate sector,Skanray is working steel, cardboard—and even in the air, On cardboard3hours them oxygen at higher rates. Theyallowthe tilators because very fewpatientsare requir- event the device malfunctions.” with BEL and Mahindra &Mahindratosim- but none has looked at fabric yet. patient time to heal on their ownbysupport- ing them.Mostare justonoxygen. Thisis Basedonthe mechanism usedtodeliver plify the design of ventilators, and could start On copper 4hours Mostviruses, however, have been ing asystemthat would have otherwise probablyalso because other (non-COVID-19) the air (flow-delivery mechanism), thereare acollaborationwith Tata,too.Simplifying the known to longer on nonporous sur- In aerosol (air) 3hours failed,” the specialist said. patientshavedecreased tremendously,”Dr three majorclassifications forventilators, design would help overcome hurdles like faces suchassteel, than on porous Chawlasaid. “In asituation likeItaly’s (which Patel said: bellow-drivenorpistonventila- sourcing importedcomponents. Maruti ones suchascardboard. And fabric is Source: NewEnglandJournal of Medicine Does India have enough ventilators? had nearly 98,000 infections and 11,000 tors, turbineventilators, and external com- Suzuki India has announcedanarrangement porous. Agood thing about porous India’s statehospitalstogether have deaths until Monday), anycountrywould pressedair drivenventilators. with Noida-basedAgVaHealthcareto“rap- surfaces is that theytend to trap the website: “Clean clothes, bedclothes, 14,220 ICU ventilators as of now. Additionally, have aproblem. But as of now, it (the situa- Apneumatic external compressedair- idly” scale up production to 10,000per month. virus, making it tougher to transmit bath andhand towels, etc. of ill per- government (and some private)hospitals tion in India) seems okay.” drivenventilatorinanICU setting would be Experimentsare alsoonto findalternatives thanitwould have from,say,plastic. sons using regular laundrysoap and dedicatedfor the management of COVID-19 The ApolloGroup has around 1,000ven- ideal forCOVID-19patients. Turbine ventila- to imported electronic components such as In anycase, it is imperative to keep waterormachinewashat60-90°C patientshaveabout6,000 ventilators. tilators nationwide, mostofwhichare in use. tors, although less effective,are the next best sensors and displays.“We candoawaywith clothes clean. “There arenoadvisories with common household detergent. As of Monday, India had 1,251confirmed option —theyhavefewer components, and it the display. We can go to atotal, simple user forclothes. WHO (World Health Dryitthoroughly.Place contaminated cases of the disease, onlyasmall fraction of What does it take to build aventilator? would probably be easiertoscale them up, interface without buttons, whichcan be pro- Organization) guidelines saydolaun- linen intoalaundrybag. Do notshake the global totalof7.22 lakh, but the number Different typesofventilatorsdeliverair Patelsaid.“A COVID-19patient’s lungsarerel- grammedwithout display,”Skanray’s Alva dryat60-90°C forlinen.Webelieve soiledlaundry and avoid direct con- of infections will almostinevitablyrise faster in different modes. Ashok Patel, Chief atively stiffand the air passages areswollen. said.HesaidTataandM&M,whichdesigntheir detergentscan kill the virus,” said Dr tact withthe skin and clothes with the than at present. According to recent mathe- Executive Officer of AB Industries, which Low-flowgas will nothelp. Youwould need productsfromscratch, could look forcertain Tanu Singhal, infectious disease ex- contaminated materials.” About matical modellingbyscientists including Dr makes Max ventilators,said the components higher pressureand high flow,”hesaid. The automotive componentsthatcan be usedfor pert. “But no dataisavailable forcoro- masks, it advises: “If using cloth Raman RGangakhedkar of the Indian Council would vary depending on the type. idea is to ensuretimelytreatment to ensure medical purposes in an emergency likethis. navirus. Careshould be takentowash masks, wash them at leastdaily.” of Medical Research (ICMR),around half of “Tomakeaventilator,one hastohave the lung cells arenot permanentlydamaged. Skanray anditscollaboratorsarelookingat clothes of infected people separately.” those infectedand in intensive carewould re- core knowledge of the clinical aspects of the atimelineof 5-6weekstopushouttheseven- The HealthMinistryadvises on its EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE quiremechanical ventilation. Using this ventilator and the requirementsofthe doc- And what will it take to scaleupIndia’s tilators. “With the measures thatthe govern- model andother data,think tank Brookings tors using them. These requirementshaveto ventilator capacity? ment is taking... it might flatten the curve. You Indiahas estimatedthat Indiacould, in the then be converted intoengineering compo- According to industrysources,onlyabout couldgiveyourselftime to be ready,” he said. INDIA COUNT: 1251 (32 DEATHS) RESTOFINDIA TOP10STATES AndhraPradesh23 AndamanandNicobar Islands 9 What is being sprayed on migrants, is it safe? Bihar 15 38 Punjab 87 Delhi Chandigarh 8 Chhattisgarh 7 So, what wasthe concentrationusedin InPune,thechemicalhasbeensprayedon 36 Haryana 82 UP Goa 5 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE the spray in various places? buildings. Public health expertDrSubhash 59 Rajasthan HimachalPradesh 3 JammuandKashmir 48 MARCH30 In Delhi,officials have said a1%sodium Salunkhe, also chairman of the statetechnical Ladakh 13 hypochloritesolutionwasusedinthesprayap- committeeto preventcommunicablediseases, MadhyaPradesh 47 IN SEVERAL places on Sundayand Monday, pliedonmigrantworkers’belongings.Thecon- said even this could be harmful to people liv- 69 Gujarat Manipur 1 migrant workers travelling to their home centrationinotherplaces,includingthoseused ing inside. In astatement, he appealedtocivic 198 Maharashtra Mizoram 1 states, or their belongings, were sprayedwith on buildings or vehicles, is notveryclear. authorities to putanend to this fumigation. Odisha 3 adisinfectant, apparentlytosanitise them. A1%solutioncan causedamagetothe skin 71 Telangana Puducherry 1 Workers were sprayed in BareilyofUttar of anyone who comes in contact with it. If it Does the chemicalget rid of the novel TamilNadu 67 Pradesh, and belongingsofworkers in Delhi. gets insidethebody,itcancauseseriousharm coronavirus? 83 Karnataka Uttarakhand7 The chemical in the spray wasasodium to lungs. Sodium hypochlorite is corrosive,and The WorldHealth Organization, and the 202 Kerala WestBengal 22 hypochloritesolution. Sodium hypochlorite In Gujarat on Sunday. BhupendraRana is meant largely to clean hardsurfaces. It is not US Centersfor Disease Control and is commonly used as ableaching agent, and recommendedtobeusedonhuman beings, Prevention,recommend homemade bleach also to sanitiseswimming pools. certainlynot asaspray or shower.Evena0.05% solutions of about 2-10% concentration to Union Health Ministry update at 9.30 pm, March 30. Some states mayhave This chemical is also being usedinGujarat, whichisadisinfectant. The concentration of solution could be very harmful forthe eyes. clean hardsurfaces to clearthem of anypres- reportedhighernumbers. Onlystateswithmostcasesare listed above. Maharashtraand Punjab,for disinfecting thechemicalinthesolutionvariesaccordingto “It can cause itching or burning and is not ence of the novelcoronavirus. AMichigan 102PATIENTS DISCHARGED IN 15 STATES ACROSS THE COUNTRY buildingsand solid surfaces in abid to wash the purpose it is meantfor.Large quantities of approved to be usedonhumans,” said Dr StateUniversity tutorial says that cleaning away anypresence of novelcoronavirus. chlorinecanbeharmful. Anormal household Rajan Naringrekar,insecticide officer in hardsurfaces with this solution can disinfect bleachusuallyisa2-10% sodium hypochlo- Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. He them notjustfromnovel coronavirusbut also Have aquestion on the COVID-19outbreak and what youshould/shouldnot do? Is the chemical safe? ritesolution.Atamuchlower 0.25-0.5%, this says the chemical should neverhavebeen “help preventflu, food born illnesses, and [email protected] As acommon bleaching agent, sodium chemical is usedtotreat skin wounds likecuts usedonhumanbeingslikethis. “Inswimming more”. However, it adds: “Alwaysuse bleach hypochloriteisusedfor avariety of cleaning or scrapes. An even weaker solution (0.05%) pools, the quantity of sodium hypochloriteis in awell-ventilated area and wear gloves anddisinfectingpurposes.Itreleaseschlorine, is sometimes used as ahandwash. very low, so that it does notharm the skin.” when handling the productorsolution.”

What citizens of variouscountries thinkoftheir governments’ anti-pandemicmeasures

Their regular lives disrupted by the lockdowns, travel restrictions and social distancing measures, howhavethese gone down with people around the world? Earlier this month, researchersatCambridge University’sWinton Centrefor Risk and EvidenceCommunication surveyed attitudes of sevencountries’ citizens to measures enforced by their respectivegovernments. Some of theirfindings below:

ITHINKTHEGOVERNMENT'SPLANNEDRESPONSEIN 0.4 HOWMUCHDOYOUTRUSTPOLITICIANSTODEAL 0.4 HOWMUCHDOYOUTRUSTTHENATIONALMEDICAL 0.5 THEPASTFEWWEEKSWAS... EFFECTIVELYWITHTHEPANDEMIC? ANDSCIENTIFICADVISERSTOKNOWTHEBEST 0.4 AU DE 0.3 0.3 MEASURESTOTAKE? AS 0.3 IT MX 0.2 0.2 UK 0.2 US 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 1234567Idon’tknow 0.0 1234567 0.0 1234567 Notfirmenough TooFirm theresponse Notatall Verymuch Notatall Verymuch

Mostrespondentsfelt their governments’ responses haven’t been firm enough. German respondentsshowedmoretrustthan othersinthe ability of their Trustintheir scientific advisors is generally highinall countries. This includedthose in Italyand Spain, which have had longer, stronger measures. respectivecountries’ politicians to deal with the pandemic. Source: University of Cambridge.Around 700persons surveyed in eachcountry. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 Va nGogh Painting Stolen In Raid Apainting by Vincent vanGogh, ‘The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884’, wasstolen in an overnight smash-and-grab raid on an Amsterdam museum that wasclosed to prevent the spread of the 12 coronavirus, police and the museum said Monday THE OUTBREAK TheWorld

PANDEMIC WATCH Keepingtollto1lakhwouldbegoodjob:Trump Peak US death rate likely in two weeks, says Spain overtakes Trump, deaths worldwide exceed 35,000 China’s case count CLARA-LAEILALAUDETTE Prince Charles AGENCIES &NATHANALLEN MARCH30 New York toll crosses1,000 MADRID,MARCH30 UNITED KINGDOM FACED WITHthe grim prospect NewYork: NewYork came as MayorBill de Blasio SPAIN OVERTOOK China’s total PrinceCharles that 200,000 Americans could Governor Andrew MCuomo warnedthat New York City number of coronavirus cases Pushback outofisolation, die even with aggressive action deliveredagrimassessment had onlyabout aweek’s on Mondaybut business lead- to slowthe spread of the coron- of the coronaviruspandemic worthofmedical supplies. ers and regional authorities fromindustry ‘ingoodhealth’ avirus, President Trumpex- engulfing the stateon “Wehaveenough supplies criticisedthe government’s de- tendedthe guidelinesonavoid- Sunday,ashereportedthat to gettoaweek from today, cision to further restrict the London: British heir-to- ing nonessential travel, staying 237people had diedinthe withthe exception of ventila- movement of people and keep IN ANOTHER sign of the the-throne PrinceCharles, away from work,visiting bars statesince the daybefore. tors —we’regoingtoneedat non-essential workers at home fine line to treadbetween who had tested positive and restaurantsand gatheringin “I don’t think there’s any least severalhundred more until mid-April. combating the outbreak forcoronavirus,isout of groups of morethan 10 forat waytolookatthose num- ventilators very quickly,”de An overnight death toll of 812 and preserving the econ- self-isolation afterseven leastanother month. bers,” Cuomo said, “without Blasiosaid on CNN. people brought totalfatalitiesin omyand employment. days and is in good health, “Wecan expectthatbyJune seeing thousands of people The mayorsaid the city Spain to 7,340,while the number Business leaders in Spain his spokesman said on 1, we willbewell on ourway to pass away.” wasalsofacing acriticalshort- of infectionsrose by 8% to 85,195 have already criticised the Monday. Lastweek,his recovery,” Trumpsaidon By Sundaynight, the ageofmedicalpersonnel and on Monday,against 81,470 in move to extend the lock- Clarence House office re- Sundayevening. “Wethinkby statewide death toll wasmore that he made adirect request China, wherethe disease origi- down and ban on non-es- vealedthat Charles, 71, June 1. Alot of greatthings will than 1,000,accordingtofig- to President Trumptosend nated at the end of 2019. sential sectors. Asper re- had been tested afterdis- be happening.” US President Donald Trumpwith members of the ures from datacompiledby moremilitaryand civilian Health emergency chief ports,thecomplainthasto playing mildsymptoms of Morethan 700,000 cases of coronavirus task force, Dr AnthonyFauci and Dr Deborah The NewYork Times. doctors and nurses from Fernando Simon, who has been do with inducing asocial the virus and had been in the coronavirus have been offi- Birxatthe WhiteHouse. AP Cuomo’s bleak message around the country. NYT holding dailybriefings on the crisis in acountrythat has self-isolation at his ciallydeclaredaround the world epidemic, has tested positivefor thesecond-highestunem- Birkhall home in Scotland since the startofthe pandemic, the virus, his deputy said. ployment rate in Europe. wherehehad continued according to atally on Monday House news conference thathe "I want the American peo- to account forthe fast worsen- Easterdate, April12, based on Maria Jose Sierra,who re- Grocerychainsaresomeof to work.After consultation based on official sources.Over had to extend the social dis- ple to knowthatyourselfless ing US pandemic. databut because it wasa placedSimon, said the dailyin- the fewtobuckthis trend, with his doctor,heisnow 35,000people have died, as per tancingmeasurestill April 30, inspiring and valiant effortsare "2.2 million people would "beautiful timeline." fection increase had slowed withmanyhiringworkers out of self-isolation, the AFP tally. basedonthe advice from his saving countless lives. Youare have diedifwedidn'tdowhat Shrugging offhis rowback, since the introduction of lock- to cope with demand. Clarence House said.He The total number of con- twotop public health advisors making adifference. The mod- we aredoing," the President said. TrumpclaimedSundaythat down measures to 12%onaver- will resume meetings and firmedcoronavirus cases in the and members of the White eling estimates that the peak "If we can hold thatnumber Easter(on April 12)had only agesince March 25 fromaround take exercise in accor- US stood at 143,025 and 2,509 House Task Forceonand death rate is likelytohit in down ... to 100,000,it's ahorri- been an "aspirational date." 20% in the March 15-25 period. prices, following reports that un- dance with government people have diedinthe country, Coronavirus: Dr Deborah Bix twoweeks," Trumpsaid during blenumber,maybe even less... "Wecan expect thatbyJune As Spain awoketoits third dertakers were taking advantage and medical guidelines. according to datafromJohns and Dr AnthonyFauci. his second Rose Garden press we all,all togetherhavedonea 1wewill be well on our wayto weekof anationwidelockdown- of increaseddemand. Hopkins University. "Theydemonstratethat the conference on the coronavirus very good job," Trumpsaid. recovery," he said. the strictestyet —flags flewat The firstbatchofmedical Assuring his countrymen mitigation measures we are outbreak. The newApril 30 date Major disasterdeclaration half-mastinthe capital and the supplies requestedbySpain that he expectsthe United putting in placemay signifi- Trumppredicted his decision marks yetanotherreversal of has been notifiedinnearly two surroundingregion, whichhas from NATO’s disastercoordina- NEW ZEALAND States to be on itsway to recov- cantlyreduce the number of would save hundredsofthou- position on the pandemic by dozen states, in addition to been the epicentre of the epi- tion centrearrived from the erybyJune 1, Trumptold re- newinfections and ultimately sands of lives, in an apparent the President,who lastweek Trumpdeclaring anational demic. The government said it CzechRepublic by plane on Sitetoreport porters at atelevisedWhite the number of fatalities. moving of the political goalposts made it clearhedid notpickthe emergency aweek ago. wasimposing caps on funeral Sundayevening. REUTERS lockdownrule floutingcrashes COVID-19PANDEMIC:FOURKEYFIGURES Virus could Wellington: New lead to over Zealanders have become $2.5tn $3 bn so keen to reporttheir 10,000 deaths, neighbours forbreaking The UN called fora$2.5-tn Bangladesh garment lockdown rulesthat po- packagetohelp developing manufacturers sayfashion lice on Mondaysaid a countries, including debt retailers have cancelledor warns Iran websitededicated to ad- cancellationand ahealth put on hold morethan dressing the issue recovery ‘Marshal Plan’ $3 billion in orders AGENCEFRANCE-PRESSE crashedsoon aftergoing TEHRAN,MARCH30 live.The SouthPacificna- tion is in the midst of a $130 bn 5.4% THE NUMBER of declared infec- four-week COVID-19 Australian Prime Minister The percentagebywhich tions in Iran topped40,000 lockdown, with residents Scott Morrison on Monday the pandemic is expected Monday, as the government under orders to stay at announceda$130billion to shrink Germany’s warnedthe outbreak could run home or remain at least packagetosupportwages economic output in forseveral moremonths and twometres(6.5 feet) of up to 6million citizens 2020, as per apanel costover10,000 lives. apart if theymustgoout- With the tallyclimbing, side."We'vehad 4,200 President Hassan Rouhani stood reports of people believ- accusedoffailing to take prompt ing others weren't com- China building makeshift actionbysome of his political op- plying," Police commis- ponents.Therowcameasareport sioner MikeBush said. by Iran'santi-coronaviruscommit- hospital for Pakistan to teesaid the countrymay struggle BELGIUM until at leastearly summer. treat COVID-19 patients Parviz Karami, who pub- Tollpasses lishedthe study on Instagram, 500,with Lastweek this hospitalhas been said 11,000 people would die in KJMVARMA put intoconstruction,” she said AMID PANDEMIC,BLAST IN KABUL case of "medium government 12,000cases BEIJING,MARCH30 while replying to aquestion. intervention", including meas- China had built twomajor Adamaged vehicle is removedfromthe siteofabomb explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. Taliban attacks in the ures already takenbyIran. Brussels: Belgium's death CHINA,WHICHhas sent medical makeshifthospitals with 2,300 north and south have killedatleast11Afghan soldiersand policemen, as per officials. AP Potential fatalities could drop toll from the novelcoron- teams and suppliestoPakistan bed capacityinWuhan in early to 7,700with "maximum" inter- aviruspassed the 500 wherecoronavirus cases arein- Februaryatthe height of the vention, suchasbanning move- markonMonday, with al- creasing steadily, saidon coronavirus outbreak in the city. ment inside cities and imposing most12,000 cases de- Mondaythat it wasbuilding a Hua said China has invited quarantines, he said. tected since the startof makeshifthospitaltheretotreat Pakistantoattend the video con- Brazil economy can’t stop, says Bolsonaro Health ministryspokesman the epidemic. Health au- COVID-19patients. ference on COVID-19and amed- Kianoush Jahanpour said thorities in the countryof The number of cases in ical expertteam is in Islamabad. die of thedisease,you starve," Monday another 117peoplehad 11.4 million said 513 Pakistanreached1,664while the On Saturday, aspecial plane AGENCEFRANCE-PRESSE the vendor is seen telling TWITTERBAN diedand 3,186new cases had COVID-19 deaths had deathtoll stood at 18,health of- from China carrying ateam of SAOPAULO,MARCH30 Bolsonaro, who responds: been confirmed,raising the to- been recordedand 11,899 ficials said on Monday, underlin- eight medical experts and relief "You'renot going to die!" taltomorethan 41,000. cases confirmedbylabo- ing that local transmission of the assistance arrivedinPakistan. BRAZIL'SFAR-RIGHT President In another video, the presi- TWOTWEETS by Jair ratory tests. But officials deadlyCOVID-19isincreasing. Besidesairliftingsupplies, Jair Bolsonaro on Sundayflouted dentcalls fora"return to nor- Bolsonaroinwhichhe said the rise in admissions "Recently,thepandemicisalso China also sent medical supplies his government's social distanc- mality," questioningquarantine questionedquarantine to hospital and to inten- spreading in Pakistan. We totally to Pakistanthrough the ing guidelines againstthe spread measures imposedbygovernors measures were removed sive care unitshad slowed relatetowhattheyare experienc- Pakistan-occupiedKashmir to of the coronavirus by mixing and some mayors across the Sunday, on the grounds slightlyoverthe previous ing,” China's Foreign Ministry fight the steadilyincreasing with supporters on the streetsof country. "If it continues likethis, that theyviolated the 24 hours. "We'renot at spokespersonHuaChunyingtold coronaviruscase there. Brasilia and urging them to keep In Brasilia, Monday. Reuters with theamount of unemploy- rules. Twitter explained the peak, but at whatwe amedia briefing here. Atruckfull of five ventilators, the economygoing. ment whatwewill have later is that it recentlyexpanded call the inflection point..." "The Chinese government 2,000 safetyapparel, 20,000 "What Ihavebeen hearing averyserious problem thatwill itsrules on managing said EmmanuelAndre, has donated supplies suchas medical masksand 24,000 nu- from people is that theywant to beginning is that 'weare going take years to be resolved," he content that contradicted spokesman. testing kits, masks, protective cleic acid testingkitsweresent work," the president told astreet to be careful, the over-65s stay at said of the isolation measures. public health information suitsand ventilators to Pakistan. from Khunjrab Pass to the Gilgit- vendorinone of severalvideos home'," he said. "Brazil cannotstoporwe'll from official sources and At acemetery outside ISRAEL And we will alsohelp Pakistanto Baltistanregion, according to of- postedonhis Twitter account. "Wejustcan't stand still, turn intoVenezuela," Bolsonaro could put people at risk Tehran, Iran, Monday. AP Netanyahu setupadhoc makeshifthospital. ficial media here. PTI "What Ihavesaidfromthe thereisfear because if youdon't later told reporters. inquarantine Jerusalem: Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin ‘THEY WON’T HAVE EXPERIENCED THE CRISIS AS WE DID... SO FOR THEM IT WILL BE QUITE ASURPRISE’ Netanyahu's office said on Mondaythat he will en- terquarantine afteran Leagues under the sea, submariners likelyunaware of outbreak aide on Knesset affairs tested positive forcoron- avirus. Neyanyahu's office submarines arehabitually onlybetoldofthe pandemic as can carry six nuclear warheads, changed by the pandemic. said the step wasapre- ASSOCIATEDPRESS spared bad news while under- theyhead backtoport, in the fi- leftharbour before France insti- On March 1, France had just caution and is being LEPECQ(FRANCE),MARCH30 watertoavoid undermining nal twodays of their mission. tuted anationwide lockdown on 130confirmedCOVID-19cases takenevenbeforethe epi- their morale, saycurrent and for- "Those who areatsea don't March 17. and twodeaths. In under a demiological investiga- OFAworldincoronavirusturmoil, mer officers who served aboard needthis information," said "Because the deterrent is month, those numbers have tion has been concluded, theymay know little or nothing. France's nuclear-armedsubs. Salles,who also commandedthe wrappedinabubble of protection surgedpast2,600dead and over Haretznewspaper re- Submariners stealthily So anycrews thatleftportbe- nuclear-armedFrenchsubma- and confidentiality,itisimpossi- 40,000 sickened. ported. Israel is under to- cruising the ocean deeps, pur- fore thevirus spread arelikelybe- rine "L'Inflexible". ble to knowwhether the crews Forsubmariners,the return tallockdown withpeople posefullyshieldedfrom ing kept in the darkabout the ex- "The commander,Ithink,is are informedornotofthis situa- to land could be ashock. notallowedtoeven walk worldlyworriestoencourage tent of the rapidlyunfurling crisis doubtless informedabout what tion," Frenchnavyspokesman Lt "Theywon't have experi- beyond 100metresfrom undividedfocus on their top- by theircommanders until their is happening. Idon't think he'll Cmdr Olivier Ribardsaid. encedthe crisis as we did, with their homes and have secret missionsofnuclear de- return, theysay. have all the details," he said. Frenchsubmarine missions abit of fear,the lockdown. So for been generallyadvisedto terrence, maybeamong the "Theywon't know," said re- The Frenchnavywon't di- last60to70days,with about 110 them it will be quiteasurprise. go outonlytostock up lastpockets of people any- tired Admiral Dominique Salles, Frenchsubmarine missions last60to70days. AP/File vulgewhat has or hasn't been crew members aboard. So acrew Theywill learn the history,but it food. So far, 4,347 Israelis wherewho arestill blissfully who commandedthe French said to submarinecrews.Nor that leftatthe end of February will be ahistory that is relatedto have tested positive for unaware of howthe pandemic ballistic submarine squadron will it saywhether anyofthe wouldn't be expected backbe- them," said aserving officer who the coronavirus. is turning lifeupside down. from 2003-2006."The boys fortheir mission." Associated Press,Salles said he four Frenchballistic submarines, fore theend of April. In that case, wasthe doctor on the ballistic Mariners aboardballistic needtobecompletelyavailable Speaking exclusively to The believessubmariners will likely laden with 16 missiles that each theywill return to aworld submarine "Le Triomphant". WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 13 ECONOMY GOLD RUPEE OIL SILVER `41,705 `75.59 $26.15 `38,100

Note:Spotgoldmarkets shutdue to lockdown in major states.*Indianbasket as on March 19,2020 SENSEX: 28,440.32 ▼ 1375.27 NIFTY: 8,281.10 ▼ 379.15 NIKKEI: 19,084.97 ▼ 304.46 HANGSENG: 23,175.11 ▼ 309.17 FTSE: 5,454.43 ▼ 55.90 DAX: 9,593.35 ▼ 39.17

*Internationalmarket data till 1900IST COVID-19 IMPACT RUPEE CLOSES 70 PAISE LOWER AGAINST US DOLLAR Net traffic surgesduring EQUATED MONTHLYINSTALMENTS Sensexdives1,375ptsasrising lockdown,but video Banks,HFCs to offer streaming cos may need moratorium option to viruscasesfuelinvestorsell-off new content to gain users globebecause of COVID-19out- andNiftySmallcap100by2.3per PRANAVMUKUL break.Hotstar also recentlyde- all, but short-term ENSECONOMICBUREAU EFFORTSTOBOOSTACTIVITYACROSSWORLD cent. “The lockdown in major NEWDELHI,MARCH30 ferred the launchofDisney’spre- MUMBAI,MARCH30 cities has also startedshowing its miumportfolioundertheDisney+ relief comes at big cost ■ Central banksacross the has been acause of concern impact andthink-tanksare now ATOTAL lockdownthat has im- brand, whichwould have added STOCKMARKETS on Monday worldhavemounted all-out as it has surpassedmore vocalaboutstrong possibility of pacted mostsegmentsofthe hours of newstreamable content plunged close to 4.5 per cent as effortstobolsteractivity than 7lakh cases further contraction in growth economy andthe workforce, in to Hotstar’scurrentlibrary. “While SANDEEPSINGH Borrowers with worriedinvestors unloaded with rate cutsand massive numbers,” said Ajit Mishra, VP— addition to confiningpeopleto Disney+ launch (expected to on NEWDELHI,MARCH30 longer residual term stocks,citingtherisingnumberof stimulus ■In India, the nation-wide research,Religare Broking. their respectivehomes, has 29th Mar with startofIPL) has coronavirus cases, lockdown, lockdown, weak global cues Centralbanksacrosstheworld provento bebittersweet forvideo been pushedback, we seecom- WHILETHERBIonFridayper- of loans and who opt weakglobalcuesandfallincrude ■However, the rapid and fall in crude oil prices has have mounted an all-out effort to streaming platforms suchas petition picking up with the app mitted bankstoallowmora- formoratorium may oilprices. The benchmarkSensex increase in COVID-19cases affected investor sentiment bolsteractivity withratecutsand Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, launchgiven itsappealing family torium of threemonths on plummeted1,375.27pointsto massivestimulus. However, the etc. On the one hand, mostof content. Ideally, alockdown like payment of instalments in re- see asignificant rise 28,440.32,whiletheNSENiftyin- rapid increase in COVID-19cases theseplatforms arewitnessing a this could be good time to launch spect of all loans including in their loan tenure dexfell 379.15 pointsto8,281.10. nessedheavy selling pressure ingvirusinfectionsanditsimpact has been acause of concernasit massive surge in traffic, on the Disney+ as it would gain instant home, car and personal loan or will have to The rupee, too, closed70paise with auto,banksand realtyre- on the Indian economy,”said has surpassed morethan 7lakh other,aclosureacrosstheglobeis traction,”BofA Securities noted. among others, leading banks lowerat75.59againsttheUSdol- maining the toplosers. “As ex- Vinod Nair,head of research, cases.The US has seen asignifi- likelytoaffect rollout of new “Apotentialcancellationof IPL and housing financecompa- increase their EMIs lar due to the sell-off in domestic pected,themarketshaveset aside Geojit Financial Services. cant rise and New York has now movieand series titlesonthese createsahugeopportunitylossfor nies (HFCs) areset to extend to keep the equities and capitaloutflows. the stimulus measures an- The overall market breadth become the epicentreofthe out- services. Notably, experts have Hotstarwhichbringshugetrac- the moratoriumoptiontoall tenureconstant Excepthealthcare andFMCG, nouncedbythe RBI and thegov- wasnegative as well, with Nifty break.InIndia, over 1,100people pointed out that originally pro- tion on the platform everyyear — their customersand the com- allother sectoral indices wit- ernment, and focusedonthe ris- Midcap 100down2.8 per cent have contracted thevirus. ducedcontentandreleaseof new some of whichshould be over- munication to customers will titles is what traditionallydrives come on backofincreasedview- be sent through mails and therate of 8.5percentandthe growth forthese platforms. ershipdueto morepeoplewatch- messagesbeginningTuesday. tenureofthe loan is 19 years. After Trai push, “Premium,originalcontentre- ing contentastheystayathome. Banking sources con- If youopt forthe moratorium, INDIAINCACTS Crude falls to 2002 lows; mains one of the biggestdrivers Lastyear,Hotstarsaw20million+ firmedthat ICICI Bank,HDFC the interestamount of the telcosstart and differentiators in the OTT viewersonitsplatforminasingle Ltd,State BankofIndia and moratoriumperiod (three RILdonates global markets inch up (over-the-top) space with a dayonthedayofIPLfinaland300 AxisBank,amongothershave months) gets addedtoyour worktoextend plethoraofOTT platforms com- million viewers during the sea- decidedtoprovide the mora- principal outstanding and in `500crtoPM peting forconsumers’ attention. son,”the research report added. toriumoptionto allcustomers thiscaseitwouldbearoundRs pre-paid validity OTT players areinvestingheavily Even before the21-daylock- irrespectiveoftheamountand 1.05 lakh. Now, afterthree CARESFund in acquiring or developing new down wasannouncedbyPrime tenureofthe loan. months when your EMI re- content, newservicesand im- MinisterNarendra Modi, anum- “The back-end is being sumes, it will be basedona NewDelhi: Mukesh AASHISHARYAN proved experiences,” arecent re- beroffilmproductionhousessus- worked upon and we should loan amount of Rs 51.05 lakh Ambani-ledRelianceIndus- NEWDELHI,MARCH30 portonthe media and entertain- pendedtheir activities as state be able to send out mailsand and if youkeep the EMIsame triesonMonday gave anad- mentsectorby FICCIandEYnoted. governmentswereclamping messagesto allcustomersbe- as it wasbefore, then the ditional Rs 500crore to the AFTERAnudgefromtheTelecom According to aresearch note down on multiplexesand movie ginningtomorrow. We aretry- tenureofyourloan will rise Prime MinisterCARES Fund RegulatoryAuthority of India by Bank of America(BofA) theatresacross the country. ingto work outcustomisedso- from 228 to 240months, ontopofthemulti-croreini- (Trai)askingtelecomoperatorsto Securities,appdownloadsof Zee5, The FICCI-EY reportsaid that lutioninthemannerthateach whichmeansanadditional12 tiative of the country’s first extend the validity forpre-paid Amazon Prime and Netflix Netflix is expected to invest Rs customer will reachalink EMIs.Incaseyouwantto keep COVID-19hospital, in addi- subscribers so thattheycan re- showedastrongspikeinMarch 3,000 crorein2019and 2020 to- whereonceheenterstheloan your tenureat228 months, tion to theother effortsitis main connected during the lock- “asconsumerslookto watchcon- wardscontent in India “tolicense account number,hewill also youwillhave to raiseyourEMI taking to fightthe crisis.PTI down,thecompanieshave started tentwhenbeinglockedathome”. and createover50originals and getdetailslikeifheoptsforthe from Rs 44,272 to Rs 45,202, preparationsforthesame,sources However, similartractionwas shootacrossmorethan20cities”. moratorium then whichisarise of Awoman outside asupermarketinHatfield, Britain, as the close to thedevelopment said. notwitnessedbyHotstar, which It also notedthat in 2019,over by howmany Rs 930 forape- BHELstaff spread of coronaviruscontinues. Reuters Whilestate-run BSNL and isthemainstay foronlineviewing 1,600hours of original content months the loan riod of 228 contributes MTNL have extendedthe validity of sports events —mostofwhich were created forOTT platforms , tenurewillin- months. of allsuchpre-paidsubscriberstill have been suspendedacrossthe whichled to increaseddemand. crease and how So, the costof one-daysalary Composite added190.13points, April 20, private telcossuchas muchshall he in- the moratorium REUTERS or2.53percent,to 7,692.51. MSCI’s Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and crease the EMI is substantial on NewDelhi: To bolster the NEWYORK,MARCH30 gauge of stocks acrossthe globe Reliance Jio Infocomm also held (postthe morato- borrowers and fight againstthe novelcoro- gained1.13per cent following internal reviewand meeting on Cash management, ops of rium period) to hence, it should navirus,employeesof state- GLOBAL EQUITYbenchmarks broad gains in Europe and de- Tuesdaytodiscuss the issue. keep the tenure same,” said a onlybeoptedif individualsare ownedBharat Heavy rose on Mondaydespiteadropin clinesinAsia. BSNLand MTNL have alsode- banking correspondents senior officialwith abank. witnessingerosioninmonthly Electricals Ltd (BHEL) have oil prices to their lowest levels Meanwhile,ChinaonMonday cidedto give freetalktimeof Rs10 Once the communication income and arefindingit donated their one-day’s since 2002, as central banksand becamethelatesttoaddstimulus, to all userssothat theycan make isreceivedbycustomers,they tough to service the loan. salarytothe Prime Mini- the United States triedtocontain with acut of 20 basis pointstoa calls even if their balance falls to take ahit in rural areas can optfor the moratorium Itis,however, importantto ster’s Relief Fund. Further, damagefromthecoronavirusthat keyreverse repo rate,the largest zero,theTelecomMinistrysaidin posit/withdrawcashfordailyand whichwill allowthem to not note thatif theresidualtenure BHEL’s Ranipetunithas de- hasupendedtheglobaleconomy. in nearly five years. arelease. ENSECONOMICBUREAU arefacing great difficulties.” In paythe EMI instalment for and principal outstanding is velopedanin-house spray In middaytrading, the Dow Brentfutureswere down8per Telecom MinisterRavi MUMBAI/NEWDELHI,MAR30 mostrural areas, customersare three months. When con- less, then the burden is not assemblythatatomises Jones Industrial Averagerose cent, or $2, at $22.50 abarrel— Shankar Prasad,meanwhile,said unable to meetBCs due to shut- tacted,aHDFCLtdofficialsaid, huge. Forexample, if theout- sanitising liquid and can be 401.95 points, or 1.86 per cent,to their lowest in 18 years. US West thathewasalsourgingprivate tel- WHILE BANKShavemaintained down of transportservices. “HDFCwillreachoutto itscus- standing forthe same exam- usedformasssanitisationto 22,038.73, the S&P 500gained TexasIntermediate(WTI) crude cos to followthe steps takenby thatessentialserviceslikecashde- BCFI said anumber of itsaffil- tomers via emailand SMS, in- ple stands at Rs 15.37lakh for limit the virusspread. ENS 55.27points, or 2.17 per cent, to futuresfell as faras$19.92, near a BSNL on extendingthe validity, posits, withdrawals, remittances iate members have reportedthat formingthemto exercisetheir 40 moremonths,then if the 2,596.74and the Nasdaq 2002 lowhit thismonth. during the lockdown period. and clearing of cheques areavail- theiragentsare beingharassedby choice through alink in their customeroptsforthemorato- ableatbranches,manyinteriorre- policeandotheragenciesandnot website. The customer will rium,hewill see his tenureof gions in the countryare facing being allowedtooperateorvisit alsohavethe optiontocon- theloanincreasefrom40to 41 problems in withdrawing cash the branches as required under tinue with the EMIs.” months,withtheEMIremain- ‘COVID-19 to dampen growth from ATMs,branches andutilis- banking services guidelines for Itis,however, importantto ing same. ing services of business corre- withdrawal and depositingcash. note thatthe moratorium pe- Even bankers saythat substantially in South Asia’ spondents(BCs) of banks. Inherinteractionswithheads riodwillnot come free,and while manythought of it as a Asperbankingsources,dueto of public and private bankson sincetheReserveBankof India concession when RBIan- The COVID-19pandemic is expected to dampen economic the lockdown, the cash manage- Saturday, FinanceMinisterNirm- (RBI)hassaidthatinterestwill nouncedit,itisactuallynot.“It growth ‘substantially’ in theSouthAsian region, including ment system has sloweddown ala Sitharaman told them to en- continueto accrueontheout- isgoingto increasepainforthe India, an EconomistIntelligence Unit (EIU) report said withruralareasgettinghitascur- sure “adequatecash” wasavail- standing portion of the loan customer in the longerterm rency vans areyet to fill cash in able at the branch, ATMand BC during the moratorium pe- andhence,borrowerswhodo FactorsthatmakeSouth Healthcarechallengesin ATMs. Besides, month-end cash level. Despitebanking and finan- riod, it mayincrease the cus- nothaveliquidity constraints Asianregionmostvulnerable: SouthAsia: demand to meetbasicrequire- cial services being exempt,the tomers’burdensignificantlyin should notavail of the mora- ■ Dense living conditions ■ Chronic underinvestment in mentsisalso high. BCs, agents of lockdownhasaffectedmovement termsof theanotableincrease torium facility and payasper ■ Low hygiene awareness healthcare infrastructure banksworkinginrural areas, are of cashfromcurrencycheststo ru- in tenureofthe loan or in- the original schedule, since ■ Overburdened healthcare ■ Low number of doctors and unable to operate and facilitate ralareas. The Finance Ministryis crease in EMIs. thereisnospecific advantage. systems hospitalbeds cash withdrawals and deposits. holding discussions to states to Itwill also save such borrow- In alettertoRBI Governor ensurethereare norestrictionson Howmuchcan the ers the hassles of communi- ShaktikantaDas,the Business movement of cash, bankers,ven- burden increase cating with the lender and Cycle of demand and supply shock: Preventive steps by Stimulus may not offset losses: The stimulus Correspondent Federationof dors or bank mitras. avoid anyextension of their governments will limit movement of peopleand lead to provided by the central banks and governments Source: India (BCFI) said, “a large number TheIndianBanksAssociation, Suppose youhavealoan loanperiod,”saidasenioroffi- demand-side shock, while closure of factories and will not come close to offsetting the loss of EIU/PTI of labour,small towns and village meanwhile, has advisedcus- outstanding of Rs 50 lakh at cial with aleading bank. businesses will lead to asupply-sideshock economic activity residentpopulation working tomers thatmostbanking serv- away fromhomeisnotableto de- ices areavailableonline. New India Assuranceunveils `50 lakh MCA offers ‘fresh start’ Sebi asks CRAs not to treat Slowdown: coverage for healthcare providers to companies, LLPs to payment delays as default Direct tax “Weconfirmthattheriskcov- seamlessstandardoperatingpro- icingdueto disruptionscausedby receipts may ENSECONOMICBUREAU eragehas commencedwith im- cedurewillbefinalisedbyit, the lower compliance burden ENSECONOMICBUREAU COVID-19outbreakandto ensure MUMBAI,MARCH30 mediateeffect and the coverage Departmentof FinancialServices, MUMBAI,MARCH30 continuity of viable businesses. fall after20yrs will continue till June30, 2020,” and the MinistryofHealthand ENSECONOMICBUREAU The Companies Fresh “Basedonitsassessment,if the PUBLICSECTORinsurerNewIndia the insurer said in aconfirmation FamilyWelfare. NEWDELHI,MARCH30 THE SECURITIES and Exchange CRA is of the viewthat the delay SUMITJHA Assurance has unveiledaninsur- letter to theSecretary, Ministryof The scheme will be effective StartScheme, 2020 and BoardofIndia (Sebi) on Monday in payment of interestorprinci- NEWDELHI,MARCH30 ance packageofRs50lakh per Health and FamilyWelfare. from March 30 and continue till COMPANIES AND limited liabil- the revisedLLP asked credit rating agencies pal has arisen solelydue to the person to 22.12 lakh healthcare It said the premiumpayment June-end.Theinsuredwillinclude ity partnerships (LLPs) will have Settlement Scheme, (CRAs) nottoconsider as default lockdown conditions creating AFTER TWOdecades, the providers,whoareattheforefront processhasbeeninitiatedandthe 22.12 lakh public healthcare the opportunity to makegood anydelayinpayment of interest temporaryoperationalchallenges Centre’s direct taxcollections of the battle againstcoronavirus tailor-made policy will provide providers, including community anyprevious filing defaultswith- 2020 “incentivize or principal loan amount arisen inservicingdebt,includingdueto will likely show ayear-on-year (COVID-19).Thethree-monthin- comprehensive personalaccident healthworkers who mayhaveto out paying latefiling fees and be- compliance and reduce solelydueto thenationwidelock- procedural delays in approvalof decline in FY20, reflecting the suranceschemewaspartoftheRs cover, including accidental lossof be in directand careofCOVID-19 come compliant, courtesy of a compliance burden” down conditions. The move fol- moratoriumonloansby thelend- enormity of the economic 1.70 lakh Pradhan Mantri Garib lifeonaccount of contracting the patients andwho maybeatrisk one-time amnesty scheme from lows athree-month moratorium inginstitutions,CRAmaynot con- slump, whichhas latelybeenac- Kalyanpackageannouncedby COVID-19disease. of beingimpactedby this,andpri- April 1toSeptember 30, 2020. A during the situation on payment allowedbyRBI to siderthesameasadefaultevent,” centuated by COVID-19out- Finance MinisterNirmala With regard to claim proce- vate healthcarestaff,New India notice issuedbythe Ministryof causedbyCOVID-19 mitigatethe burden of debt serv- Sebi said in acircular on Monday. break.The big taxcutsfor corpo- Sitharaman lastweek. dure, the insurer saidsimple and Assurance said. CorporateAffairs (MCA) said that rate India announcedin the Companies Fresh Start September with retrospective Scheme, 2020 and the revised Experts saidthis window validityfromthe startofthe year LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020 provides an opportunity to firms FY21: Fitch, Ind-Ra cut also dented collections. Implementationdate regarding changes “incentivize compliance and re- to complete long standing com- According to official sources, duce compliance burdenduring pliances, besides providing them India GDP growth forecast going by the collectionsuntil last in levyofstamp duty deferred to July1 the unprecedented public health additional time to complete fil- Friday, gross direct taxmop-up situation causedbyCOVID-19.” ings that arefalling due in the The growth estimatefor FY21 in the fiscal couldbedown8per NewDelhi: TheFinance Ministry Government of Indiaon30th the levy of stampduty on secu- “The schemes, apartfrom time of the COVID-19outbreak. PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA compareswitha4.9percentfore- cent annually. on Mondaydeferredthe imple- March 2020withrespectto some rities, whether through physical givinglonger timelines forcor- Madhu Sudan Kankani, part- NEWDELHI,MARCH30 castinFY20 whichends Tuesday. The lasttime the Centre’s di- mentation date regarding other amendments done in the or dematerialisedform along porates to complywith various ner at Deloitte,said the move Meanwhile, India Ratings cut rect taxreceipts contracted was changes in levy of stampduty on IndianStamp Actisbeingmis- with seeking to introduce acen- filing requirementsunder the wasagreat step forthe Compa- FITCH SOLUTIONS on Monday itsFY21growthforecastto3.6per in FY1998-99, when these were securities and introduction of a quoted.Thereisnoextension of tral mechanism forcollection of Companies Act2013and LLP Act, nies Actand the LLP Act, adding slashedits estimatefor India’s cent amid virus-related worries, down 3.5 per cent, on year. centralisedsystemfor collection the financial year,” the Ministry stamp duty by certain autho- 2008, significantlyreduce there- that the length of time givenun- GDP growth in the fiscalstarting adding that it expectsIndia to The sluggish receipts also im- of stampduty through stockex- said in alatenight release. risedentities forthe issuance lated financial burden on them, der the scheme implies that April 1to4.6per cent dueto clocka2.3percentgrowthforthe plyafall in direct taxbuoyancy changes,clearing corporations The Finance Act, 2019 had in- and transfer of securities and especiallyfor those with long firms would have “timeevenaf- weakerprivate consumptionand Junequarter, downfromitsexpec- to amulti-yearlow of (-)1 in and depositories to July1from troducedcertain amendments subsequent disbursement of the standing defaults, thereby giving terthe lockdown opens, to look contractionininvestment amid tation of a4.7 per cent gross do- FY20, asharp slide from acred- earlier proposed dateofApril 1. in the Indian StampAct, 1899 duty collected to the respective them an opportunity to makea at it comprehensively andapply coronavirus outbreak,costing mestic product (GDP) expansion itable 1.6inFY18(thankstonote “A notification issuedbythe proposing to bring uniformity in states. ENS “fresh start”, said the notice. forthe fresh startscheme”. economies around the globe. in March quarter. ban) and 1.2inFY19. FE WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 14 THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 INCLUDING SELECTIONS FROM THE ECONOMIST Top international stories,commentand analysis from THE ECONOMIST

THE PANDEMIC The next calamity

The coronavirus could devastatepoorcountries. It is in therichworld’s self-interesttohelp

THE NEW coronavirus is causing havocinrich countries. Oftenoverlooked is the damageit will cause in poor ones, whichcould be even worse. Official data do not begintotell the story. As of March 25th Africa had reported only2,800infections so far; India, only650 (the casesinIndia have increased to 1,071).But the virus is in nearly everycountry and will surelyspread. Thereisnovaccine. Thereisno cure. Averyrough guess is that, without a campaign of social distancing, between 25% and 80% of atypical population will be in- fected.Ofthese,perhaps 4.4%willbeseriously sickand athirdofthose will needintensive care. Forpoor places, this implies calamity. Social distancing is practicallyimpossi- ble if youliveinacrowdedslum. Hand- washing is hardifyou have no running wa- ter. Governmentsmay tell people nottogo out to work,but if that means their families will noteat, theywill go out anyway.Ifpre- vented,theymay riot. So COVID-19 could soon be all over poor countries. And their health-caresystems are in no position to cope. Manycannotdeal with the infectious diseases theyalready know, letalone anew and highlycontagious one. Healthspending per head in Pakistan is one two-hundredth the levelinAmerica. Uganda has moregovernment ministers thanintensive-carebeds. Throughout his- tory,the poor have been hardest-hit by pan- demics. Mostpeople who die of AIDS are African. The Spanish flu wipedout 6% of India’s entirepopulation. Dozens of developing countries have or- dered lockdowns. India has announced a“to- talban”onleaving home for21days. South Africa has deployedthe armytohelpenforce one. Theymay slowthe disease, but theyare unlikelytostopit. Manyplaces arestillindenial. Street mar- ketsinMyanmar arepacked. Brazil’s populist president,JairBolsonaro,dismissesCOVID-19 as just“asniffle”. Some leaders areclueless. Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli, said churches should stay openbecause the coro- navirusis“satanic” and “cannotsurviveinthe bodyof Christ”.ManyautocratsseeCOVID-19 as ahandy excuse to tightentheirgrip. Expect someto banpoliticalrallies,postponeelections People sit on the ground in markedcircles to maintain safedistance,astheywaittoreceivesacks of ration handouts, during apartial lockdown in Karachi, Pakistan, on Monday. Reuters and extend surveillance over citizens’ daily lives—all to protect public health, of course. Granted,thereare some reasons forhope. berculosis or HIV.Rural folk mayget the virus countries lose their jobs. see their borrowing costs soar.The trade-off portofmedicalkit.Thatgoesagainstthe val- says it is readytodeployits $1trn lending ca- Poor countries areyoung—the median age later, but they willprobably stillget it. Manypoor and middle-income countries between saving livesand saving livelihoods ues theyprofess to hold. Othercountries, pacity. Muchmoremay be needed. As The in Africa is under 20—and the young appear Lockdowns will behardtosustain unless gov- face abalance-of-paymentscrisis and acol- is excruciating.The worry, as ImranKhan, suchasKazakhstan, arecurbing exports of Economist went to press, theG20 wasabout lesslikelytodie from an infection. The poor- ernmentscan provideagenerous safety-net. lapse in government revenues as theyneed Pakistan’s prime ministersays,isthat “if we food,whichisnotinshortsupply. If global to setout aplan. It should begenerous. Some estare very rural: two-thirds of people in Firms needcredit to avoidlaying offstaff. to raisehealth-related spending and imports shut down the cities...wewill save [people] trade is gummedup, the economicdamage of those vast rich-worldbail-outpotsshould countries with incomesper head below Informal workers needcash to tide themover. (toreduce the death toll) and welfare(so that from corona at one end, but theywill die will be fargreater.For poor countries that beusedtocushion the suffering of the global $1,000 ayear live in the countryside,com- Unfortunately, poorcountries do nothavethe workers can isolatethemselveswithout run- from hunger.” rely on importedfood,itcould be deadly. south. China is winninginfluencewith high- pared withless than afifth in richcountries. financial muscle to provide these things, and ning out of money). Whereas governments Farfromhelping, manybetter-offcoun- Since so muchremains unknown about profile deliveries of medical equipment. Poor Farmerscan grow yams withoutbreathing covid-19has just madeitmuchharder. in richcountries can borrowcheaplyinacri- tries have takenanationalistturn. Some COVID-19,any response mustbebasedon countries willremember whohelpedthem. viral droplets on eachother.The climatemay Demand has collapsedfor the commodi- sisasinvestors flocktosafety, poor countries places, suchasthe EU,are restricting the ex- imperfect information. But some things are As pastcampaigns againstmalaria and help. It is possible, though farfromcertain, ties on whichmanyemerging marketsde- both urgent and obvious. Governments in HIV showed, it takesaco-ordinated global that hotweather slows the spread of covid- pend, from crude oil to freshflowers. Tourism poor countries, as elsewhere, should supply effort to roll backaglobal scourge. Itistoo 19.Some places have useful experience. has tanked.Noone wantstovisitthe Masai Lockdowns will be hardtosustain unless governmentscan people with timely, accurateinformation,by latetoavoid alarge number of deaths, but Countries that endured Ebola learnedalot MaraorMachu Picchu justnow.Foreign in- anymeans practical.Nocover-ups, no inter- nottoo latetoavert catastrophe. And it is in about hand-washing, contact-tracing and se- vestors have pulled$83bn from emerging provide agenerous safety-net. Firms needcredittoavoid laying netshut-downs, no arresting of thosewho richcountries’ interests to think globallyas curing publictrust. markets since the startofthe crisis, the offstaff.Informal workers needcash to tide them over. shareunwelcome news. well as locally. If COVID-19 is lefttoravage Alas, even the good news comes with largest capitaloutfloweverrecorded, says the emerging world, it will soon spread back caveats. People in poorcountries maybe theInstitute of InternationalFinance, atrade Unfortunately, poor countries do nothavethe financial muscle to Time to be generous to therichone. young, but theyoften have weak lungsorim- group. Remittances, usuallyasafety-netin provide these things, and COVID-19has justmade it muchharder The richworld,meanwhile, should help mune systems, becauseofmalnutrition,tu- hardtimes,may tumble as migrantsinrich the poor worldswiftlyand copiously.The IMF ©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2020

CHAGUAN No shining city on ahill

The pandemic will boostChina’sstanding, itspropagandists claim

VICTORYISaperilousmomentfor aguerrilla supplies were sold by China, notdonated). army. Over years of civil war, revolutionaries Chinese officials spent several Forall that, it remains unclear whether become expertsatraids, ambushesand sub- disastrousweekssilencing China wantstooccupynewly vacant posi- version behind enemylines. Then one daya tions of global leadership—if that involvesac- foemeltsaway, giving up agreat city or miles doctors and concealingtest cepting multilateral rules and normsthat of precious terrain and setting insurgentsa results, and letting millions might constrain itsactions in the future. China different challenge: howwill yougovern, leave Wuhan, the city wherethe seeksthanksand respect forits virus re- nowthis is yours? In 1949 the peaceful fall sponse. It is happytosee covid-19weaken ri- of ancient,palace-filledPeiping, as Beijing illness wasfirstseen. That vals like America. But it is worthnoting what wasthen officiallyknown, daunted even cover-up will forevercolour it has and has notachievedduring this pan- Mao Zedong. Comparing his troops to schol- judgmentsofwhat came next:a demic. China has long had agenius forbe- ars summonedtosit entrance testsfor the friendingcountries and leaders who are imperial civilservice, he mused: “Today mass mobilisation of hundreds shunnedbymainstream peers. The pro- we’reheading intothe capital to take the big of millions of Chinese to tame a Chinese leadersofSerbia and Hungaryare test... All of us have to makethe grade.” also autocratic admirers of Russia, whose ties Today, anew victoryisinsight. For firstwaveofinfections with the EuropeanUnionare fractious. decadeswhen apandemic or other world- Recruiting foreign leaders to be “friendsof wide scourge has struck,the responsehas China” is notthe same as having an appealing been co-ordinated by richWestern countries missteps in Wuhan. But manyofthe same model—a ChineseWay—tooffer the world. ledbyAmerica, occupying the high ground of citizens cheer reports of China’s delivery of During this crisis China has made several globalleadership in amixtureofaltruism medical supplies andadvice to more than 80 movesthat paydomestic dividends but and bossy self-interest. Now, under President countries, and gasp at news of rising death makenosense foracountry that hopes to Donald Trump, America is abandoning that tolls in Italy, Britain and America. win hearts and minds abroad. In particular, ChinesePresident Xi Jinping visitsthe Chuanshan portareainZhejiang ProvinceonSunday. AP terrain. Take Chinese propaganda outlets at Small wonder that acottage industryhas official media, backedbyChinese diplomats face value, and China is ready to advance and sprung up in the West,churning out essays with Twitter accountsand ataste fornation- take theground. arguing that Mr Trumpiscreatingavacuum alistprovocation,havepromotedoffensive, orypushedbyforeign-ministryprovoca- Sowing distrustand division abroad is a tage by spinning the “politics of generosity”. Some mayobject that Communist Party that China is poisedtofill,asthe COVID-19 oftencontradictoryconspiracy theories teurs—thoughitisunsupportedbyany evi- riskygameforChina.Anothermasterofdisin- China mayemerge from this crisis chiefshaveanerve toseek praise fortheir re- pandemic reshapes the worldorder.There aboutthe origins of the virus.State media dence—that COVID-19 somehow escaped formation, Russia, can sell itsoil and gaseven stronger in relative terms, and lesswilling sponse to COVID-19.After all, Chinese offi- is something to this. China’s best scientists have publicisedaquotefromanItalian sci- from an Americanmilitarylaboratoryand amid global chaos. As awould-betechsuper- than ever to be criticised or thwarted. But be- cials spent severaldisastrous weekssilencing aresprinting to createaCOVID-19 vaccine. If entist, recalling cases of astrangepneumo- wascarriedtoChina by American athletes powerthat has profited mightily from glob- ware simple predictions about vacuums be- doctors and concealing test results, and let- theywin that race (and good lucktothem), nia circulating before COVID-19 wasidenti- competing in amilitarysports tournament in alisation,China has muchtolosefromaworld ing filled. The West maylose ground that ting millions leave Wuhan, the city where brace foratorrent of global commentary fied in China, and insinuating that this reveals Wuhan. Depressingly,lotsofChinese neti- whichcannotagree on basic facts. The nasty China prefers nottofill. As Mao understood, the illnesswas firstseen. That cover-up will comparing this to theSovietlaunchof that the virus beganinItaly,not China. The zens areunfazedbythe flimsiness of these side of China’s virus diplomacy has political an enemy’s retreat is atestaswell as an op- forevercolourjudgments of what came next: Sputnik, the firstsatellite. It is sobering to scientist has since clarified that he believes theories, some of whichhavebeen obliquely costs,too. European governmentsmay often portunity.True globalleadership mayrequire amass mobilisation of hundredsofmillions watchforeign leaders, from Serbia’s presi- that the virus is “without adoubt” from disownedbyChina’s ambassador to be appalledbyMrTrump. But in acommen- China to ditchits love of ambiguity and cyn- of Chinese to tame afirstwaveofinfections. dent to Hungary’s prime ministerand Italy’s China,fuming about Chinese “propaganda”. America. ConvincedthatAmerica is adirty tary publishedonMarch 23rdthe EU’s for- ical opportunism, and spell out what it really Yetbungling by foreign leaders, and above foreign minister, loudlythanking Chinafor Toolate. AChinese internethashtagabout fighter intent on keeping China down,on- eign-policy chief, Josep Borrell, described believesand wants. If that is the test,the hard all by Mr Trump, has handedthe Chinese medicalsupplies andteamsofdoctorswhile COVID-19’s history in Italyhas been viewed line nationalists have ableaker goal: get China’s aggressive messaging in aglobal bat- men who run China mayprefertoskip it. government achance to recover. Plentyof chiding European neighboursfor abandon- almosthalf abillion times. At the same time some lowblows in first. tleofnarrativesoverCOVID-19,andpointedly ordinarycitizens remain angryabout early ing them (nevermind thatsomeofthose Chinese netizens have seizedonarival the- When in doubt, blame foreigners chidedpowers that seek geopolitical advan- ©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2020 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 ART IN ISOLATION Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry’sshow Grayson’s ArtClub will feature lessons on drawing, painting and sculpting,along with interviews with other artists. To be aired on Channel 4, it is 15 aimed at inspiring people in isolation to create art. TALK Art, Music, Style, Food

(and counting) around the countryand the says Satpute. worldare riffing offhis original beat. While the lockdown took mostofthe Life (Online)as In the history of theinternet, neverbe- nationbysurprise, RamBalmur, 40, had fore hassocial media been recognisedasa startedpreparing foritinFebruary. The substance forsustenance as it is now, in photographer from Pune, who specialises these surreal times when uncertainty and in weddings, architectureand corporate fear have become the newnormal. And for photography, is utilising the time to exer- We Make It those who live by themselves, the follow- cise, catchuponreading and polishing his ing weeksofnear-complete isolation are craft. He’s taking the lastactivity to another likelytobefraught with anxiety.Delhi- level: Balmur is conducting aworkshop on- Reachout,bekind, share knowledge, dancealittle basedlawyer, Jayashree Satpute, 40, line on Facebook and Instagram. “These decidedtocreateaWhatsApp group for sessions arefromaworkshop I’d con- —that’s what social media is therefor people sheknewwho livedalone; some ducted afew yearsago whereIcoveredba- who experience depressionand claustro- sic to advanced photography. I’m usedto to DJ several yearsago and decidedtostart phobia too. “We’reall in it together,soI talking to studentssothe inability to inter- ANUSHREE MAJUMDAR “Club Quarantine” —every evening, at 7.30 thought this wasaway to keep acheckon act in real time has been achallenge,” he or so, Pushkarna goes live on Facebookand eachother.Sofar,wehave 17 members and says.The online workshop beganaweek ON MARCH 20, when the partial lockdown plays an hour-long setofup-tempo tracks we sharepictures of our work from home agoand has eightsessions; the firstone in India wasonlyuntil the end of the ranging from deephouse to Eurodance, spaces, our meals, we’veplayedvirtual racked up 1,800views.“Afew things are month, and panic buying and comforteat- tropical house, anything really, to getyou ludo, even donejumping jacks on Skypeto- easier online. Thereisahugesubcultureof ingbeganfor those morefortunate than on your feet,oratleastreachfor adrink to gether,” she says.The group keeps her busy video game content streaming. Ilooked up most, AdityaPushkarna decidedtotake lubricate your joints. The successofClub and itssymbiotic naturefosters asense of theirprocesses and usedthat as atemplate. matters intohis ownhands. “My wife Quarantinehas spurredaside project, Play community she feels willlastbeyond the So Ican project aliveviewofmycamera Natasha and Isaw thatalot of people were Over It. “The idea is to come up with some pandemic. “Wealsohavefriendsaround and use the virtual blackboardwith access freaking out at the thought of havingtostay beatsand inviteother musicians to jam. I’ve the worldwho have been in to online resources,” says Balmur, indoors, so we thought about howwe done one tracksofar,and I’m working on quarantine/lockdown forlongerthan us. who has moresessions planned, including couldease the stress,” says the 39-year-old another,” he says.PlayItOverisgradually We’replanning aSkype call with them to some that coverinterviews with Illustration: Suvajit Dey Mumbai-basedmusic producer.Heused gathering steam —atleast six musicians knowhow theyhavedealt with this,” expertphotographers.

century. The popular miniature claymodels through several slide shows.While one sec- EXPRESS FEATURESSERVICE VIRTUAL GALLERY from the early 1900spresent the varied tion hasworks by AbanindranathTagore, businesses and commercial enterprisesof another slide showfeaturesworks by his NationalGallery of the city.Exhibitions curated by Tasneem brotherGaganendranath. Yetanother sec- Zakaria Mehta, director of BDLM, have tion has worksbyThomas Daniell and his Modern Art AWindow to aFrame artists responding to the museum’s collec- nephewWilliam Daniell, who travelled On the weekend, NGMA launchedavir- tion, history andarchives. While Sudarshan across India and documented itsland- tual tour of itspermanent collection. The Shetty’s worksquestion the premise of the scapes, buildings and people, from 1786 to showcase features severalmasterpieces and As artgoes virtual,wepresent aseries on some of the mostprestigious “museum, itsexistence and the aura of au- 1793. Google Arts &Culturealso allows vis- recognised worksbyIndianartists, thority it exudes”,AtulDodiyaengages “in itors to explorethe exteriors and interiors includingAmritaSher-Gil’s Bride’s Toilet and museum collectionsonline, beginningwithIndia alayered dialogue with various objects of the museum. Asection titled‘India’ in- Self Portrait (7),Jamini Roy’s Mother and from the museum’s collection”. cludes Abanindranath’s iconic Bharatmata, Child and Santhal Dance,and Rabindranath and another section celebrates the building Tagore’s LadyWithFlowers.The collection NationalMuseum in marbleenvisagedbyLordCurzon, is also dividedaccording to themedium and The National Museum in Delhi is sharing Viceroy of India from 1898 to 1905. the period. If the ’60s has been described as itslatestexhibition‘The Great Steppe:Time. Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj atimewhen “artists actively entered intoa Space. Culture’ online. Organisedincollab- dialogue with traditionalvisuallanguage oration with the EmbassyofKazakhstanin VastuSangrahalaya and reinvented theirown contexts”, in the India andNational Museum,Kazakhstan, While select photographs from different ’70s, artists located“the mythic intoaworld the exhibitiondisplaysarchaeological find- sectionsofits collection areonthe museum of memory”. We areintroduced to the ings from different parts of Kazakhstan, in- website, the highlightsare the four digital prominent artcollectivesofIndia, and also cluding Saki barrows Taksay (in West exhibitions curated in collaboration with the British portrait painters and miniatur- Kazakhstan) and Berel (in the East). The Google Arts &Culture.‘Hamsafar —The ists who travelledtoIndia, including other online exhibitions curated by the mu- Companion’ looksatthe storyofIndian tex- Thomas Daniell and EmilyEden. seum include ‘ArtofCalligraphy’, featuring tiles through sculptures, paintings from the Arabic and Persian inscriptionsonobjects, Ajanta caves, cloth pieces, folios from man- Dr BhauDajiLad Museum ‘Nauras: The ManyArtsofthe Deccan’, uscripts and photographs. Another exhibi- Visit the permanentcollection of whichcelebrates the compositecultures of tion presents‘15 Variations on the Sari: Mumbai’s oldestmuseum from the com- the Deccani Sultanates, from the 15th to India's Iconic Drape’. ‘Animal in Indian Art’ fort of your couch.Its highlightsare on view 18th century, and‘PotteryfromAncient probes the various approaches usedtode- on GoogleArts&Culture. Onecan go Peru’. Select bookscan also be downloaded pict fauna in sculptures, artefactsand paint- through the 19th century fine and decora- from the website, including Life in Harappan ings. Another collection givesaninsight into tive arts that highlight artpractices in the Civilization and Birds andAnimals in the Natural History section of themuseum. erstwhile Bombay Presidency, along with Indian Art. It features several mammals, birds, reptiles dioramas, maps, lithographs and photo- and fishes. Mostofthe specimenswerecol- graphs. Rare booksdocument the lifeand (Fromleft) AmritaSher-Gil’s Self Portrait (7) at NGMA; Dr BhauDajiLad Museum; amarble artefact from BDLM Victoria Memorial Hall lected by well-known ornithologistSalim times from the late18th to early 20th The museum is sharing itscollection Ali and mammalogistSHPrater.

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry &TLewis CROSSWORD 4079 DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MARCH31,2020 BHUTIA OPENS HIS HEART Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia on Mondayoffered shelter to migrant workersof Sikkim to tacklethe ongoing crisis arising out of 16 SPORT the 21-daynationwide lockdowninthe wake of the COVID-19pandemic. Postponed Tokyo Olympic Games slated for July 23 next year

training, and broadcastand commercial part- on as scheduled, even afterapandemic had resenting swimming, table tennis, eques- TARIQPANJAANDMOTOKORICH ners who will recasttheir owncampaigns. been declared. trian and triathlon —expressedapreference WIMBLEDON’SFATE MARCH30 The Tokyo2020 organising committee on “I am confident that, working together foraSpring Games during acall lastweek Wimbledon organisers will announce Mondayannouncedmeasures aimedatre- with the Tokyo2020 organizing committee, with Bach. But mostremainedneutral or the cancellation of the grasscourt THE SUMMER Olympics in Tokyo, pushed ducing some of the disruption. It said that the Tokyometropolitan government, the calledfor the Games to remain setfor the Grand Slam this week due to the backayear because of the coronavirus pan- the thousands of volunteers who had been Japanese government and all our stakehold- summer.Perhaps the mostnotable backer coronavirus pandemic, German demic onlyafter Olympic officials and offeredpositions would be retainedfor next ers, we can masterthis unprecedented chal- foraSummer Olympics wastrack and field, Tennis Federation (DTB) vice- Japanese organisers bowedtowidespread year,and that ticketsremainedvalid, but full lenge,” Bachsaid in astatement Monday. even though the newdatefor the Olympics president DirkHordorffhas told Sky pressure, will nowopen July23, 2021, Tokyo refunds would be giventothose who could By holding the Olympics at essentiallythe means itsworld championships, settoopen Sports.All England Lawn Tennis Club 2020 organisers said Monday. The Games no longer attend. same dates, justayear later,organiserswill in August, will have to be rearranged. (AELTC)officials earlier said the June will run through Aug. 8. avoid competing with mostmajor sporting The I.O.C. also wanted to steer clear of soc- 29-July12event would notbeplayed Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Opening ceremonyinJuly leagues in Europe and the United States cer championships in Europe and South behind closeddoors and Committee president, told sports federations The opening ceremonyhad been sched- when theyare in the heartoftheir seasons. America, whichusuallytakeplace in June postponement wasnot without on aconference call ashortwhile before the uledfor July24this year.organisershad said and arebeing movedto2021. That would significant risk and difficulty. announcement that the datewas pickedto theywould consider severalalternatives, but Searing temperatures have risked forcing manysoccer players to “Wimbledon has stated that theywill give organisers the maximum time to deal hosting the event as close to the original time The dateisalso likelytosuit the Olympics skip the Olympics so theycould compete in have aboardmeeting next with the fallout from the coronavirus. When quicklyemergedasapreferred option broadcasterinthe United States, their regional championships. Wednesdayand will makethe final he calledfor ashowofsupportonthe call, it among officials in Japan and elsewhere. NBCUniversal, whose rightsfees makeup Forthe athletes, the decision will bring decision there," Hordorfftold Sky wasunanimous. The I.O.C. had said adecision waslikely Iamconfident that, working moreofthe I.O.C.’s income than anyother some welcome clarity to what has been a Sports Germany. "I am also involvedin Backdid notsay whythe Games could to take weeks, but it ultimatelycame to a together with the Tokyo 2020 single entity. constantlychanging scenario. The I.O.C.’s ini- the bodies of the ATPand WTA. The nottakeplace even later. faster resolution aftertalkswith the Japanese organising committee, the But the decision also means the Games tial indecision and slowaction in the face of necessarydecisions have already been Bachmade official what The Times and authorities, athlete groups, commercial part- Tokyo metropolitan will take place during the hottesttime of the the spreading pandemic ledtogrowing crit- made thereand Wimbledon will other news organizations had reportedover ners and sports organisations whose plans government, the Japanese year in Tokyo, an issue that wascausing icism from scientists and athlete groups in decide to cancel next Wednesday. the weekend. had been leftinlimbo. worryand complications before the coron- theUnited States and Europe whose train- Thereisnodoubt about it. ."It is The postponementhas setoff an array of The announcement came afteraflurry of government and all our avirus outbreak became an issue. The ing schedules were obliterated by movement completely unrealistic to imagine that complexplanningdecisionsfor the I.O.C. and conference callsoverthe weekend stretched stakeholders, we can master Olympic marathon wasmoved to Sapporo, restrictions on vast sections of the popula- with the travel restrictions that we the Tokyoorganisers. The changes musttake intoMondayasthe I.O.C. movedtoget all its this unprecedented challenge. acooler city in the north, and organisershad tion. Mostmajor sports had already paused currentlyhaveaninternational tennis intoaccount an array of stakeholders whose stakeholders in alignment. Less than two plannedseveral measures to trytokeep fans their competitions before Olympic organis- event wherehundredsofthousands of needs differwildly, including athletesdes- weeksago,the head of the Olympic commit- THOMAS BACH and competitors cool. erseventuallybowedtothe inevitable. people from all over the worldwould peratetoknowhow and when to resume teewas insisting that the Games would go IOC PRESIDENT Some federations —including those rep- NEWYORKTIMES travel. That is unthinkable." REUTERS

India wassupposed to start its four-month countdown to the Olympics this moment.But forced into an unprecedented,grim lockdownasthe worldbattles the Covid-19 outbreak,sport is staring at unfathomable despair.Indian athletes though have given the countryreasons to rejoicein the past. The Indian Express looksbackatabunchofthese memories. Right turn on road to redemption

Howagold at the 2006 WorldChampionships put Bindraontrack forOlympic glorytwo years later

SHIVANINAIK

FORSOMEONE capable of nit-picking an Olympic gold medal -incidentallyhis own- AbhinavBindrasounds suspiciouslycheerful and contented about another gold: his 2006 WorldChampionship title at Zagreb. “It waspretty cleveronmyparttodothat,” he chirps about tricking his mind to totallyig- norethe fact that he had ensured aquota for the Beijing Games during qualification at the Croatia Worlds. “I didn't allowmymind to learn that Ihad the quota. Therewas alongish break in between the relays,soIjustleftthe rangeafter qualification and went to my ho- tel. It wasaconscious decision to noteven bother about the quotabecause Iwanted to go all the wayinthe final,” Bindrasays.His retrospective analysis of Zagreb borders on the radiant whichisrather rare forIndian sport's DukeofDownplay. Zagreb '06was the Z-turn forBindraonhis epic and much- storiedjourneyfromPoint A (disappointment at the Athens Games) to Point B(triumph at Beijing). He calls it his road to redemption. Forthe world, it wasamere startofthe storythat gave India itsfirstand as yetonlyindividual Olympic gold; 24 July, 2006 the midpoint of twoOlympics that followeda fairy-tale curve. Bindra, though, reckons he In ayear featuring the CWGatthe start(he pickedtwo gold in Melbourne) and culminating with the Asian Games (whichhemisseddue to his back), Bindrahad been clear about prioritising the Worlds. file slayedafew Athens demons muchbefore Beijing, travelling almost1,500kmnorth by north-westfromthe scene of his great disap- feelings whichIcould call upon in competi- sends the other half of the body tautlyover- cerity.Russian Konstantin Prikhodtchenko Qinan wasanOlympic champion and they pointmentto Zagreb. “It wasredemption be- tion. The placebo workedpretty well, eh?” he compensatingfor that imbalanced10.9 per- loomedlikeonlyRussians can loom -peren- were all very good. But therewas this raging cause it wastwo years afterAthens and Iwas chuckles of his ability to summon certain feel- fection.Hehadspinalinjectionsstabbingdeep niallythreatening to snatchmedals. But the fire within me tooand Iwanted to beat them notinaverygood stateofmind. In that Indian ings at will. Facedwith the adversity of abad intohisskinto managethepain.“Aratherlarge man Bindrawas vaguelymindful of was all. None of them were my friends. And Idid- environment backthen, Iwantedto provethat backthat restricted his training, the cham- needle,” he recalls alittle cheerlessly. Athens bronze winner Jozef Gonci. n't likeany of them very muchatthat time ei- I'm notjustone moreguy with potential who pion wasdeveloping resilience whichhe'd “It’s what openedmyeyestothe fact that “Atthat phase in time, he wasthe world's ther,”heremembers.“Itwasgoodcompetitive doesn't win big. That I'm notjustanother eventuallytakeforward to Beijing to rule out trainingcan'tbeonlyabouttheshootingrange. best shooter,”Bindrarecalls.Morecrucially, the shooting, though neveraduel.” choker.Winning is the onlylicence in sport, all uncontrollables. THOSEMONTHS Ibecameinterestedinfitnessandfocussedon Slovakwas standing at Point 4-nexttothe It wasIndia's first-everWorld and younever makedisappointmentslike Zagrebhaddecidedtoturnmeltinghotthat pre-hab before rehab: avoiding injury.” IndianatPoint3.NowPoint3wasafiendfrom Championship title, though Karni Singh and Athens public. Youjusthavetoshut up and do 2006 competition summer.Bindrabrought THOSEMINUTES At Zagreb, wherehebuilt rare sunshine hellforBindra,theChandigarhman'sdramatic later Rajyvardhan Singh Rathorehad pickeda what's needed," he remembers. outhisadaptabilityfortheonce-in-four-years memories of hisotherwise torturous sport demon from the Athens past. pairof bronzemedalsatthequadrennialworld Bindrawas a23-year-old with astoic Worlds and stayed malleable. and avenue wherehe's nevershotsince, The floor under his feet at Athens' range meet. “Itwasabigdealforme,becausethere's mind, and abackthat wasthrowing an Backthen, it waspossible to train at the Bindrafound zluradost: wickedpleasurein standing at Point 3had shaken -and acertain charm to sealing abreakthrough, to almighty tantrum. “I had alot of good preps competition venue for4-5 days going into his rivals' general misery/orinknowing they metaphoricallysenthislifeandconfidenceinto breaking abarrier -winning that gold. India before that WorldChampionship and alot of the event -Bindraleaptatthe chance. He were in the same wretched boat as him. Not one seismic mess of self-doubt. Herehewas were notcomplete underdogsinshootingthen issues with my backsothings were uncertain even learnt to sip justthe right amount of onlywas the venue extremelyhot,amakeshift at Zagreb, again on Point 3, the doleful third butitwasstillrare foranIndianto winaworld and Ifelt unwell,” he recalls. The troublesome water. “In those lead-up days,Iworkedon tent whereshooters rested in between was platform,summoningeveryunparliamentary title,”Bindrarecalls,evenventuringto sayten- spinethoughtunnelled hisfocus and forthe tactics, timing, speedand hydration. “very, very hot.” The Indian chuckledinthe adjective and everysaint's stoicism to wave tatively that it might'vebeen ahappier outing firstand perhaps onlytime in his two-decade Drinking watercan suddenlychangeevery- crampedarena. away the fear of that lane. forhim than Beijing forhow it felt. long career,hesensedanunderlying tone of thing in shooting,” he explains. “On that range, therewas no real space to Of course, it had to boil down to the last It wasthe breaking of the glass ceiling for quietconfidence. “It onlyhappenedatthat In ayear packedwith the Commonwealth preparefor the finals. (Usuallythere's along shot. Qinan, twopointsadrift, wasstomping India though -for twodays later,Manavjit WorldChampionship. It wasrareand I’ve Games at the start(he pickedtwo gold in patchallotted).Everyonewaspackedcloseto- closer with precision, but it wasthe smiling Singh Sandhu would win the second gold in since triedtorecreatethat frame of mind,” he Melbourne), bookendedbythe Asian Games gether so youcould watchothers prepare. I Moldoveanu who neededfending off. “It had Men's Trap and soon afterNavnath Fartade says.His technical preparation wasprocess- (whichhemisseddue to his back), Bindrahad could see their anxiety and stress from close, beenanupanddownfinalandIgot 10.7onthe would pickthe juniors gold in air rifle. oriented,but it washis confidence that helped been clear about prioritising the Worlds. It before the final. It wasgood to knowevery- lastshot.ThatlastshotatZagrebwasverysim- “Sometime, lackofsuccess can be alimiting him tide over the backache, and when his meant notsweating the WorldCup stuff-in body'sinthats**t,”hesays.Bindrawasinjoint ilar to howIexecuted my lastshotinBeijing factor foracountrysoI'm sureitgaveothers body brokeintoafever and he had his dodgy China(whereGaganNarangpickedIndia'sfirst JULY,2006 leadgoingintothefinals,havingshot597 (100, (towin Olympic gold). Ijustwent forit, shot belief theycouldwintoo.Personally, Iwanted backagainstasolid wall. It's when he firstat- quota), Munichand Italy, wheremorespots ‘Workedontactics,timing,hydration. 99,100,100,99,99),andthefinalturnedoutto aggressive,” Bindrarecalls. to be the firstone to do it,” Bindrasays. temptedvisualisation techniques, though not were sealedbyotherIndians. “Zagreb World Drinkingwatercanchangeeverything’ be an exciting not-so-high-scoring affair. He'd gethis gold with 102.1inthe finals The onlysorepoint from the World on atraining range. Bindrahad recentlybe- Championshipwasmy'goalcompetition'with Air rifle's finestcharacters of that time (597+102.1),Moldoveanuagainasilver(heup- Championshiptitlequestremainshowhewas gun bio-feedbacksessions forthe firsttime, allthetrainingbuildingupto that.Ishotsteady madeitto thefinalsthatswelteringday. There gradedtogold at London,597 +101.3) and forcedto eatalot of spinachwhichhefrowned 24 JULY but he created those feelings of competition at Beijing (595, ended9th), and my form was wasChinese Zhu Qinan, the reigning Olympic Qinan (595 +102.9) would getusedtobeing at,atthatpoint,whilestayinginZagreb.“Idid- ‘Icouldseetheiranxietyandstress farawayfromthe range. peaking towardsthis one,” he recalls. champion and Austrian Christian Planer -the deniedthetitleby theIndian,pickingbronzeat n'tlikespinachatallbackthen.Itwastoughto “Hours and hours of visualisation actually The bad backin2006was the firsttime fromclose,beforethefinal’ worldrecordholder from earlier in April -and Zagreb before being pippedatBeijing. Gonci put it down my throat," he quibbles. happenedinone corner of my room. I’d recre- Bindrawas cutting down on training to pre- RomanianAlinGeorge Moldoveanu(pr.Al-een wasfourth (597+100.8). Butthenhejustput an eye-popping gold atehow Iwantedto feel. The brain would trig- servehistorso.Theshootingstanceisanasym- Gio-rgi Moldo-viyan-yu), who kept winning Bindra'sways arecharmingwhendescrib- medal around the throat, and having con- gerthose thoughtsand Ibuilt areservoir of metricalcontortionthatloadsuponesideand silveratevery big event with PV Sindhu sin- ing what he felt about his opponents. “Yes, quered the world, sailedhome happily.

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