JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SINCE 1932

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JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`8 PATNA &RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

FOUR DAYS TO END OF LOCKDOWN ConsiderablerelaxationsMay4onward,says Centre,clearsreturnhomeofstrandedmigrants Curbs to be eased in manydistricts; no movement Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital has been sealed. Express from containment zones, hotspots Covid fight:Govt DEEPTIMANTIWARY NEWDELHI,APRIL29 systeminfront, IN AN indicationofits plansaf- terMay 3when the current phase of the lockdown ends, the private hospitals CentreonWednesday said there will be “considerable relax- ations” in manydistricts. The Union Home Ministry do the distancing also issuedguidelines formove- ment of strandedmigrant labourers, students, and tourists themselves. who want to return home. PRABHARAGHAVAN, From being sealedinthe Sources, however, saidthis will TABASSUM early stages aftertheir staff notapplytothose in hotspots or BARNAGARWALA& tested positive,likeWockhardt containment zones. ABANTIKAGHOSH in Mumbai or the private hospi- In astatement, the Ministry NEWDELHI,MUMBAI,APRIL29 talinBhilwara, to refusing to ad- said, “New guidelines to fight At acremation ground in LucknowonWednesday, ashes await immersion in holyrivers. Vishal Srivastav mit patients, from suspending COVID-19will come intoeffect OF THE thousands of COVID-19 services to playing safe, private from 4th May, which shallgive patients admitted in hospitals hospitals aren’t pulling their sub- considerable relaxations to around the country, justaround stantive weight. manydistricts. Details regarding 800are critical, requiring either That’s notall. this shall be communicated in Punjab extends curfew by 2wks, Warningsignsemerge in oxygen support,ventilatorsor Nationwide, private hospitals coming days.” treatmentinICUs (Intensive Care employ four out of everyfive Curbs areexpected to be Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar Units). Private hos- doctors, but the re- easedindistrictswherecases are joinsBengal in lifting some curbs pitals, whichac- frainfromseveral tapering. The HealthMinistry count fortwo- PRIVATE cities and towns has identified129 of the coun- dress, Punjab Chief Minister AMITABHSINHA& EXPLAINED thirds of hospital AND amid the pan- try’s 736districts as hotspots.On KANCHANVASDEV& CORONACOUNT AmarinderSingh said: “The de- KAUNAINSHERIFFM bedsinIndia, and demic is that they April 15,atthe end of the first ATRIMITRA cisiononfurther course of action PUNE,NEWDELHI,APRIL29 almost80per cent ISOLATED arelocking them- lockdown, 177districts had been CHANDIGARH,KOLKATA,APR29 willbetaken aftertwo weeks, of availableventila- selvesdowneven 31,787 1,008 AN EXPRESSSERIES notifiedashotspots. CASES DEATHS dependingonthe situation. The WHILE MAHARASHTRA and tors, arehandling when it comes to The order allowing inter- SETTING Apossible post-May3 onlysolution is social distancing. Gujarat have been attractingat- lessthan10percent PART I providingnon- statemovementofthose template, Punjab on Wednesday 7,797 RECOVERED If it is under control aftertwo tention forthe rapid rise in cases of this critical load. Covid healthcare. strandedcomes almostaweek became thefirststate to an- weeks, we will take acall.” of novelcoronavirus infection, This is justone symptomofa From Patna to Mumbai,pri- afterstatessuchasUttar Pradesh nounce atwo-week extension of 7,70,764 samples have been Singh asked peopletomain- states in theeasthave, forthe largertrend over the lastthree vate hospitals citemanyreasons and Madhya Pradesh began lockdown (until May17), butsaid tested as on April 29 tain disciplineand underlined firsttime now, startedtoshow months: the Rs 2.4-lakh-crore to explain their near absence: transporting their migrant restrictions will beeasedfor four that if theystepout, theymust signs that theycouldemerge as private health caresector has lockdownrestrictions, lackofin- labour and studentsstuckin hours daily,from7amto11am, in non-containment zones from wear masks, ensuresocial dis- potential danger zones as well. largely been relegated to the ternal protocols to handlethe other states. Wednesday’s order in non-containmentzones with May4—includingmovementof tancing and return to their The latestanalysis of com- sidelines, watching the public pandemic, fear of infection to said,“Due to lockdown, migrant effect from Thursday.Italso de- private taxis and buses in green homes by 11 am. “Ifwehave puter modelling results by scien- health care system —govern- their owndoctors and nursing workers, pilgrims, tourists,stu- cidedtoallow opening of shops zones, within adistrict, with a givenrelaxation, thatdoesnot tistsofthe Chennai-basedInsti- ment hospitals, doctors, nurses staff, unwillingness to risk the dentsand other persons are and industries in theseareas. limited number of passengers. mean youcan call your friends tuteofMathematical Sciences and paramedics —battle the business from non-Covid strandedatdifferent places. They Similarly,WestBengal Chief Both stategovernmentsun- home. Social distancing has to be (IMSc) showthatthough West Covid pandemic. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 would be allowedtomove.” MinisterMamataBanerjee said derlinedthat the local adminis- ensured,” he said. Bengal, Bihar,and Jharkhandstill Behind this areasetofcir- Incidentally, at avideo-con- experts anddoctors areofthe tration would take the final call Punjab has reported377 hadacombinedcaseload of less REVISITINGCURVE cumstances thatrangefromthe ference meeting with Prime opinion that the restrictions on easing curbs. COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths so than1,200onApril29,thesethree TOREADLOCKDOWN natureofgovernment policy on NEXT: WHAT’S HOLDING MinisterNarendraModion should continue till May-end, Announcing his govern- far. While four districts —Patiala, states had the highestrate PAGE 10 managing the pandemic to de- BACK PRIVATE HOSPITALS IN CONTINUEDONPAGE2 but announcedsome relaxations ment’s decision in atelevised ad- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 CONTINUEDONPAGE2 cisions takenbythe hospitals THE WAR AGAINST COVID? Labour shortage is Railways readies movement plan, Running out Minorityinstitution rights some states push for specialtrains of time to not above law or absolute: making Punjab and enter House, be scaledupto1,000,withade- tancing. The Railways’detailed SC rules on CMC-NEET Haryana farmers AVISHEKGDASTIDAR, tailedprotocol. protocol also had aparagraph Uddhav dials tions by the Christian Medical ABHISHEKANGAD& While therehas been no in- stating that states falling in the ANANTHAKRISHNANG College, Vellore, and others, the DEEPMUKHERJEE dication that passenger train routes should allowthe move- PM for help NEWDELHI,APRIL29 benchofJustices ArunMishra, switch from paddy NEWDELHI,RANCHI,JAIPUR, services will resume before May ment, screening, controlledem- VineetSaran and MRShah or- APRIL29 3, the Railwayscarriedout an in- barking etc,” asenior govern- STATINGTHATrightsofreligious dered that NEET will be the only ternal exercise and communi- ment official said. or linguistic minorities to admin- exam foradmission to the WHILE THECentrehas allowed cated the plan to toplevels in the Accordingtosources,byde- VISHWASWAGHMODE& isteraninstitution under Article courses and institutions cannot ANJUAGNIHOTRICHABA movement of migrant workers government. cidingonbuses instead of trains, LIZMATHEW 30 of the Constitution “arenot be allowed to conduct their own &HARISHDAMODARAN in buses, severalstateshavede- Accordingtothe plan, each the government has strategically MUMBAI,NEWDELHI,APRIL29 above the lawand other separateexams over and above JALANDHAR,NEWDELHI, mandedspecial trains,underlin- non-AC train will carry 1,000 restricted the number of people Constitutional provisions”, the NEET. APRIL29 ing the sheer numbers of those people per trip —about half the who can be transported. WITH THE Maharashtra Supreme Courtruled “Weare of the opinionthat stranded. Accordingtosources, usual number —toensure ade- “It is just to allowanoption Governor sittingonthe state Wednesdaythat the National rightsunder Articles 19 (1) (g) COVID-19has openedawindow the MinistryofRailways has also quatesocial distancing. of relief forthe strandedwant- Cabinet’s recommendation that Eligibilitycum Entrance Test and 30 read with Articles 25, 26 of opportunity to wean away draftedaplan to operate 400 “Eachbus typicallycarries25 ing to travel to their home states, UddhavThackeray be nomi- (NEET) foradmission to gradu- and 29 (1) of the Constitution of farmers in Punjab and Haryana special trains per day, whichcan people afterfollowing social dis- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 nated to the Legislative Council, ateand post-graduatemedical Indiadonot come in the wayof from growing rice to less water- the Chief MinisterdialledPrime and dental courses is “regula- securing transparency and guzzling cropssuchascotton Sowing cotton in afieldin MinisterNarendraModion tory”innatureand in “national recognition of meritsinthe mat- and maize. Sirsa,Haryana. Express Tuesdayevening. interest” to improvethe quality terofadmissions. It is open to The driver: Uncertainty over Russia under lockdown, India’s manned Thackeray sought thePrime of medicaleducationwhich, it regulatingthe courseofstudy, the availability of an estimated Minister’s cooperation in resolv- said, has become a“saleable qualifications forensuring edu- million labourers from Uttar over adecade, been farming space mission trainees confined indoors ing the crisis, sources in New commodity”. cational standards. It is open to Pradesh and Biharwho under- paddy on his 13 acresatUddat Delhisaid. In Mumbai, sources Disposingabunchofpeti- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 take the bulk of the paddy trans- Bhagat Ramvillage in Punjab’s seriesofeventstriggered by the tive cases, with 972 deaths until in the Maharashtra government planting that begins from mid- Mansa district. But this time he SUSHANTSINGH spread of the novelcoronavirus. Wednesdayevening. said the Chief Minister had ex- June. That, plus the lackof has decidedtosow cotton on 11 NEWDELHI,APRIL29 Acouple of months after “The four astronauts-elect pressedunhappiness over the THE WORLD mechanical transplanting op- acres, limit paddyto2acres, that their training beganatthe areingood health.The highly “politics being played” over his tions, in contrasttothe ubiqui- too, subject to gettingenough WHILE THE four Indian Air Force Gagarin Cosmonaut Training professional medical experts of nomination to theUpper House tous combines usedfor both locallabour.“Ifinishedharvest- (IAF) fighter pilots selected to be Center (GCTC) in Star City near GCTC areconstantlyobserving of the statelegislature. 1MILLION US CASES, paddy and wheat harvesting, ing wheat on April 20, and Iam trainedasastronautsforthecoun- Moscow, it has been put on hold them,”Director General of Thackeray,who took oath on means fewerfarmersare likely waiting forwater from theKotla try’sfirstmannedspaceflightmay —and the pilots remain confined Glavkosmos JSC Dmitry November 28 lastyear,has, un- TOLL SURPASSES to take up rice cultivation in the Branchofthe Sirhind Canal (on have been motivatedbythe ad- to their rooms while Russia grap- Loskutov told The Indian Express. der Article 164(4) of the VIETNAMWAR coming kharif season. the Sutlej River). They ventureofspace travel,they ples with the pandemic. Russia Glavkosmos is the Constitution, six months to PAGE 11 Manjit Singh Sidhu has, for CONTINUEDONPAGE2 would nothaveanticipated the had reportednearly 1lakh posi- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE 1 ANCHOR He dissolvedintohis part, leftnoresidue...and camehome with us

body of work so enriched our in- we had of him, in Shyam gush, yes, it is. An unapologetic, of something he could nothave. SHUBHRAGUPTA ner lives? Benegal’s teleserial Bharat Ek BUSINESSASUSUAL teary-eyed one, because he These roles combine notjust NEWDELHI,APRIL29 Irrfan, who passedawayon Khoj,weknewwewereinthe made things better,eveninhis the ‘skills’ of aschooledactor,but Wednesdaymorning at the age presence of someone trulyspe- IRRFAN KHAN BY UNNY no-account parts. deep empathy, agenerosity of THERE ARE some obituaries you of 53, wasnot justabrilliant ac- cial.Hewent on to become an in- 1967-2020 Of his impressive body of spirit, and an unfetteredintelli- never, ever want to write. This is torwho dissolvedintohis part, tegral partofsome of Indian TV’s work,four films jostle forthe top gence, whichshone through one of them. We knewthat leavingnoresidue behind. He mostpopular serials (Zee’s spotfor me: Tigmanshu Dhulia’s everything he did, good, indiffer- Irrfan Khan,one of thebestac- also managed to walk offthe BanegiApni Baat,Doordarshan’s Haasil,inwhich he playsalocal ent, or flat-out fantastic. tors the worldhas been privi- screen, and comehome with us. Chandrakanta,and Star TV’s Allahabadi student leader; He did everything. Or at least leged to watch, wasstruggling He made space forhimselfinour Bestsellers), but hisheart wasal- Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool,in everything that Bollywood with adebilitating disease. We hearts,nestledinunexpected ways setoncinema.And,overa whichhewas amobster-with- brought to his table, afterhaving knewhewas gravelyill. But we corners, and poppeduponce in period of 30 years and more, as many-moods-in-Mumbai; Mira learnt that this tall, rangy, also believedthat he would rise awhile, forachat.Whichhe he essayedone unforgettable Nair’s The Namesake,inwhich CONTINUEDONPAGE2 and shine again, because, how would begin, withthatcharac- partafter another,fromAsif hisBengali bhadralok immigrant could he not? Howcould he teristic hooded-eyedsmile: Kapadia’s striking TheWarrior to finds his place in farawayNew leave us, this enormouslytal- chaliye baat kartehain. Shoojit Sircar’s Piku,henever let York;and Anoop Singh’s Qissa,in FULL COVERAGE ented human, who with his fine From the very firstglimpse us down. If this sounds likea whichheplays aman desirous PAGE 13

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WEB withdrawal of Indian Express EXCLUSIVE ★★★★★■4.6 rapid tests VIDEOOFTHEDAY CORONAVIRUS NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY CELEBRATING THE LIFE 11 LESSONS FROM THE In today's episode of the 3Things podcast, OF IRRFAN KHAN PANDEMIC we look at whythe government introduced Khan ownedevery Everycountryhas and then withdrew rapid testing forthe SCANTHISQRCODETO character he portrayed discoveredthat a novelcoronavirus DOWNLOADTHEAPP on celluloid shutdown is inevitable FROMPAGEONE

Private hospitals facilities. Some patientswho which applytoall institutions. In Active cases donot countthe show symptoms, whichare not case theyhavetoimparteduca- number of people who have re- patients, or even the govern- very severe,but yetrequiremed- tion, theyare bound to comply coveredfromthe disease. There ment’sownambiguityinco-opt- icalattention,mayalsobeadmit- Relaxations May 4onward: Centre with the conditions whichare were alittle over25,000 active ing the private sector. tedinhospitals. equally applicable to all.The reg- cases in the countryon But, fallen offthe radar,they Accordingto IndianCouncilof Monday,Bihar,Jharkhand and either home or institutional arefinding it increasingly dif- forexample,isheavilydepend- ulations arenecessary, andthey Wednesday. have. Medical Research, 80 per cent Odisha, whichcomprise alarge quarantine. ficult to sustain migrant labour, ent on migrant labour. arenot divisive or disintegrative. Sinha’s calculations show Bihar,infact,witnessedan“al- cases in the countryshoweither chunk of the migrant labour Existing lockdown guide- with work andrevenue In itsorder Wednesday, the Suchregulatorymeasuresenable that the current reproduction mostcomplete withdrawal”of mild symptoms or areasympto- numbers,had expressedtheir lines makenoallowance for sources drying up. Therehave MHA said:“AllStates/UTs institutions to administerthem number in Maharashtrais1.5, the private healthsector,which matic —the latter comprising 69 inability to facilitatetheir re- inter-state movement, but been severalinstances of mi- shoulddesignatenodal author- efficiently...Thequalityof medical and in Gujarat, 1.38 —both hasnearly twicethebedcapacity per cent of all cases. Thesecases turnhome without guidelines the Centre hadkeptquiet as grants desperatetoget home ities and develop standardpro- education is imperative to higher than the national num- of publicfacilities. generallydonot requirehospital- from the Centreinthis regard. states recentlymoved ahead resorting to violence in Gujarat tocols forreceiving and send- sub-servethe national interest, ber. Thereproduction number “ForgetCOVID-19, even regu- isation, and can return home af- Releasing the newguide- with arrangementstoget and Maharashtra. The Uddhav ing suchstrandedpersons. The and merit cannotbecompro- forDelhi, another fast-growing larserviceshave becomeunavail- terquarantining themselves for lines, Union Home Secretary backtheir students and mi- Thackeray government in nodal authorities shall also reg- mised. The Government has the state, could notbecalculated be- able,”complainedBiharPrincipal twoweeksinCovid CareCentres. AjayBhallasaid the movement grant labour.Bihar had shot Maharashtrahad sought isterthe strandedpersons right forprovidingregulatory cause of the large variations in Secretary(Health)SanjayKumar Giventhe complaintsfrom of those strandedshould be offaletter to the Centreatthe arrangementsfor inter-state within their States/UTs.Incase measures thatare in the national dailyincrease in the case load. onApril19.Thestate,withIndia’s patientsinthecity,themunicipal arranged through mutually time, saying the transporta- transportoflabour. agroup of strandedpersons interest,” the order stated. thirdlargest population,hadto is- corporation had on April 25 is- agreedtermsbetween states, tion wasin“utter violation of However, the move might wish to move betweenone The petitioners had said that Uddhav sue an order asking all hospitals suedacircularasking all nursing on sanitisedbuses,with re- national guidelines”. end up further impacting plans State/UT and another State/UT, unaidedminority professional become amemberofthe state to resume services. homesandprivate clinicsto open quired social distancing.Only The latestguidelines, how- to open up the economy, which the sending and receiving colleges have thefundamental legislature. However, with the Thiswas particularly signifi- up.OnMonday, thestategovern- asymptomatic people will be ever,makenomentionof is struggling to do so with the States mayconsult each other right to choose the method and pandemic raging,aby-election cantalso because all three hospi- ment held extensivediscussions allowedtotraveland asecond trains, whichwereamong the fewrelaxationsannounced. and mutually agree to the manner of admitting students, cannotbeheld, and the onlyway talshandlingCovidcasesinPatna with private hospitals,nursing assessment of their health modes of transportstateshad Manystateshavesaidthey movement by road.” subjectto satisfactionof thetriple to fulfill the requirement is for aregovernmenthospitals.Vikash homes and even clinics in Pune. would be done on their arrival suggestedfor large-scale would liketoopenthe econ- It alsoasked states falling in test of afair, transparent, and non him to be nominated to the RKeshri, Senior Research Fellow, Subhash Salunkhe, Technical in their home states. Basedon movement of migrant workers. omycompletelyingreen zones between to allowthe passage —exploitative process, andthat Upper House by the Governor. The George Institutefor Global Advisor to theChief Secretaryof this, theywould be movedto The move comes as states afterMay 3. The MSME sector, of such persons. NEET could notbethe onlypa- “He (Thackeray)calledthe Health, said it wasalso“surpris- Maharashtra, told The Indian rametertodeterminethemeritof Prime Ministertotalkabout his ing” since the number of people Express,“Theyare afraid forobvi- astudent. nomination. He asked forhelp relyingonprivate healthcareover ous reasons. Theyare involved saying if it does nothappen he publicforbothoutpatientandin- but theycan participate further. Punjab extends lockdown by 2weeks States to watch would have to resign,” asource patient services in Bihar is “far The Health Ministerand the of growth —measured by their in Delhi said. According to this higher”. Private hospitals have Chief Ministerhavealready as- Jalandhar,Ludhiana and government said standalone MamataBanerjeeannounced nounced our decision today. It reproduction numbers —inthe source, thePMtoldThackeray 47,000bedsinthestatecompared sured assistance forPersonal Mohali —havebeen declared shops, neighbourhood shops that standalone shops, includ- willbeimplemented from countryinthe last fewdays.The thathewould look intothe mat- with22,000of public hospitals. Protective Equipment to hospi- hotspots,the containment and shops in residential areas ing forelectronics, books, paint, Monday,”she said. reproduction number refers to terand getmoredetails. “Thepublicsectorremainsthe tals and nursing homes.” zonesare:Jawaharpurin willbeallowedto openon rota- laundry,hardware, cellphone She said taxis, with not the number of persons who are In Mumbai, asenior Shiv mainstayofthe Covid response. InDelhi,whichhasover3,300 Mohali,Pathlawa villagein tion, from 7amto11am. Shops recharge and paan shops,will morethanthree passengers, infected on averagebyanal- Sena leader told The Indian The private sector response has cases, government hospitals are Nawanshahar,Sujanpur in inmarket complexesandshop- beallowedtoopen in non-con- and private buses, with not ready infected person. Express: “Uddhavji discussed been variable. Theyhaveex- handlingalmostdoublethenum- Pathankot,New JainMarket in ping mallsaswell asbarber tainment zones from May4. morethan 20 passengers, will As of Wednesday, West the current political uncertainty pressedinterestbut to what ex- berofICU patients. Rajpuraand KachaPatiala, shops will remain closed. “Wewill onlyallow stand- beallowedtoply in greenzones. Bengal had 696 confirmedcases in the statewiththe PM. He ex- tent theyare actuallyproviding SeniorofficialsintheDelhigov- Safabadi Gate in Patiala. All shops in rural areas reg- alone shops. No hawkers’ cor- “Nobody can saywhen this of infection, while Bihar and pressedunhappiness over the supportrequired needs to be ernment’shealthdepartmentsaid Earlier thisweek,the isteredunder the Shops & ner,market or shopping com- crisis will end. Mostcountries Jharkhand had 383and 107 politics being playedoverhis gauged,” said KSrinath Reddy, theyhad receivedseveral com- Punjabgovernment hadset up EstablishmentAct,exceptthose plex will be allowedtoopen,” have already announcedlock- cases respectively. Together,they nomination as MLCatatime President, PublicHealth plaintsofprivate hospitals refus- an expertcommittee to formu- inmulti-brandandsingle-brand shesaid. “Wethought we down till the end of Mayand accounted forlessthan 4per when the state is fighting the Foundation of India. ingtreatment to patientsduring latealockdown exit strategy. malls, will also be allowedto would take adecisionafter get- firstweekofJune. Our experts cent of thenational case load, coronavirus outbreak,and is Beforethe outbreak,the pri- the lockdown, and later of com- Issuing guidelines forre- open with50per cent staff ting clarityfromthe central and doctors believe that there- whichwas closeto33,000 on standing with the Centreinthe vate sector accounted fornearly pellingpatientstogetaCovid-neg- suming economic activity in strength,for four hours daily. government. But we did notget strictions should continue till Wednesdayevening. crisis.” 70 percent of critical procedures ative test reportbeforedialysis. non-containmentzones,the In Kolkata, Chief Minister anyclarification. So, we an- the end of May,”she said. In contrast, Maharashtrahad Asked howthe PM had re- likechemotherapy and dialysis, This prompted the statetois- 9,915 confirmedcases; Gujarat, sponded, theSena leader said: according to Indu Bhushan, Chief sue an order on April 15 warning 4,082. Together,theymade up “ThePMagreedwiththe CM’s Executive Officer,Ayushman hospitals and nursing homesin SAXENA,ASHISHARYAN AND goofyandgrumpy, growlandguf- Space mission 4,500-5,000 peracre, whereas over 40 per centofthe cases in view. We nowhope that his Bharat-PradhanMantri Jan the cityofstrict action, including SHIVAMPATELINNEWDELHI) faw. He could be dangerous and Russian government-owned the migrant workers charge only the country. nomination will be cleared soon ArogyaYojana and National cancellation of registration. maniacal. He wasalso the loveli- space business company, which Rs 2,500,” he pointsout. “The absolutenumbers in by the Governor.” Health Authority.Yet,“alot”of Whileprivate facilities may Railways plan est, kookiest, mostpassionate signedacontract with the Indian Southwest Punjab —mainly these states (WestBengal, Bihar On Monday, theMaharashtra these private establishments seem to have remainedconspicu- andnotareally viabletransporta- loveryoueversaw. Ittookthefilm Space Research Organisation Mansa, Bathinda, Muktsarand and Jharkhand) arestillquite Cabinetreiterated therecom- treating even non-Covid cases ouslyabsent, especiallyincertain tionsolutionoverlongdistances,” industrymanyyearsto findIrrfan, (ISRO) in June 2019 for thetrain- Fazilka —was traditionallyacot- low, so theydonot seem to be an mendation it had firstmade on had shut down in certain states highburdenstates,itisnotwithout an official said. and it isn’t as if he wasflooded ing of the Indianastronauts. tonbelt.Manyfarmers in recent immediateproblem.But Ithink April 9after ameeting presided citing increased costs andre- anyreason,say seniorexecutives. RajasthanChief MinisterAshok withrolesfromthebigstudiosim- “The lockdown has strongly times switchedtopaddy, thanks theyneedtobetaken note of. over by Deputy ChiefMinister ducedfootfalls,hesaid. In some cases, facilities are Gehlottweeted on Wednesday: mediatelyafterhisbreakoutroles, beenrecommendedfortheastro- to assured minimum support West Bengal, in particular, Ajit Pawar. On Tuesdayevening, “StateslikeMadhya Pradesh, ready and waiting, but some “Long awaited demand of move- post2002, in Haasil and Maqbool. nauts-elect, as well as forthe price-basedprocurementandfree stands out even among the adelegationofthe Cabinetmet currentlystrugglingwith lackof stateslike UttarPradeshhave kept ment of migrant workers has fi- But the filmmakers who GCTCpersonnel.The decision to powerfor groundwater irrigation three. At the end of March,the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, healthcarepersonnel, and Bihar them on standby. In afew in- nallybeenacceptedbythe GoI. It did, likehis National School of resumethefull-scaletrainingwill during the cropping season. growth rate in West Bengalwas and urgedhim to nominate could do with moreprivate sec- stances, states likeTelanganadid is awelcome step but until GoI al- Drama (NSD) mateDhulia, and be takenafter athorough obser- Thiswasfurthersupportedby showingsigns of flattening, but Thackeray to one of the twova- torintervention here,” said not“fullysupport” the role of the lows Indian railway to operate— Bhardwaj,made the mostof vation of the epidemic situation the availability of migrant labour nowitseemstobeonacom- cant seatsinthe Council through Bhushan.“Thisisthetimethatthe sectorinitially, eitherintestingor practicallyitwillnotbepossibleto his, and their own, innate in the country,”Loskutovsaid. fortransplantingpaddyseedlings, pletely different trajectory. In the Governor’s quota. private sectorshould be looking treatment. facilitatesmooth andhassle-free knowledge of the Hindi belt, Russia’sPresidentVladimirPutin whichare firstraisedinnursery fact, if we just look at the growth Sources said the Governor atawelfaremaximisationmodel “Therewas even atime when transporttotheir home.” long neglected by Bollywood. had initiallyannouncedalock- bedsfor 25-30 days before being curves in anon-rigorous fashion, was“non-committal” during his and notaprofit-maximisation they(Telangana government) Jharkhand Chief Minister Their coming together wasa downuntilApril30,butextended uprootedand replanted in the it would appear that West meeting with the leaders of the model. Hopefully, this will hap- said ‘send all your positive pa- Hemant Soren said he had told great confluence.Itbrought a it until May11onTuesday, with main field. Bengal is following the MaharashtraVikasAghadi.This, pen,” he noted. tients(to government facilities)’. RailwaysMinisterPiyush Goyal newlanguage, newrobustness thewarningthatthecountryhad Maharashtranumbers with alag the sources said, mayhave In Mumbai, the city with the Now, Ithink theyhaverealised thatthe statewouldneedspecial to Hindi cinema, something notyet reachedthepeak of infec- CMC-NEET case of three weeks,” said Sitabhra “forced” Thackeray to speak to largest number of Covid cases, that in treatment, theyneedpri- trains to bring backits students that old-school Bollywood tions, and “a hardand difficult imposing reasonable restrictions Sinha, who, along with his col- the Prime Minister. Asenior and also the mostdeaths, The vate hospitalsupport. But Ithink and migrant workers. “Weare filmmakers likeMahesh Bhatt path lies ahead”. in the national and public inter- leagues at IMSc, has been track- leader of the ruling coalition said Indian Express has reportedhow this is justone or twogovern- thankfulfor theMHA order and recognised. Bhatt’s production Havingstartedtheiryear-long est,” the benchsaid. ing the disease numbers. that on Mondaynight, patients were turned away from ments. With mostofthe other we aredeliberating on our re- house gave Irrfan achance to training in Russiainearly Article 19 (1) (g) grantsciti- Incidentally, West Bengal Thackeray had discussed with onehospitalto another,andeven governments, there’s agreat part- sources. However, Ihad said ear- go over to theother side, away February, thefour fighter pilots zenstherightto practiceanypro- also has the fastestdoubling NCPleaderSharad Pawarthree Covid-positive patients have had nership role being played,” said lier that the stateisnot capable of from the raw, visceral gang- have completedapproximatelya fession,orto carryonany occupa- time amonglarge states in India, options going forward. to waitforhoursbefore theycould SangitaReddy,Joint Managing bringing them backonour own. I land/heartland tales, and ex- fourth of their course so far, tion, trade or business while as pointed out in agraphical “Thefirstistowritetothe be admitted. Director of Apollo Hospitals hadawordwithPiyushGoyaljion ploreunfamiliar territories. He Loskutov said. Their schedule of Article 30 relates to the right of analysis by TheIndianExpress Election Commissionrequesting Maharashtradid notbar pri- Enterprises, India’s largest hospi- this matter earlier,” he said. liftedbrainless comedies traininghasbeenmetsofar,even minoritiestoestablish and ad- on Wednesday. Doublingtime thatthe Legislative Council polls vate hospitalsfromtreatingCovid talchain. Thestateestimatesover9lakh (RohitShetty’s Sunday)with though the Russian authorities ministereducationalinstitutions. refers to the time takenfor the whichweredeferredbyitear- patient but manywould justnot “I think the private sector has peoplefromJharkhand,including the same verveashedid gritty, iimplemented the lockdown on “The rightstoadministeran number of cases to double. lier this month due to the lock- admitpatientswithCovidsymp- been trying to step up. Therewas 6.43 lakh migrant workers,are hard-hitting tales (Dhulia’s March 28. “Allastronauts-elect institutionunderArticle30of the Sinha said that while the na- down, should be held. Since the toms, fearing theywould be the initial fear —some hospitals strandedinvariousparts of the Paan Singh Tomar): it wasall continue working according to Constitutionarenot above thelaw tional reproductionnumber had election will be unopposed, we sealedbythe MunicipalCorpo- got shutdown...andwithsmaller country. gristtohis mill, acutely attuned theirtrainingplan,”Loskutov said, and other Constitutional provi- falledfromnearly 1.83 before also want the EC to reduce the rationof GreaterMumbai(BMC). nursing homes also, therewere In earlier interactions with to theworld around him. adding that the four Indians had sions. Reasonable regulatory the lockdown begantoabout required 21 days’period for “In Mumbai, BMC is manag- some who were worried. But I Prime MinisterNarendraModi, Irrfan methis wife, Sutapa “successfully passedtheexamon measures can be provided with- 1.29 now(forthe April 20-27pe- holding the poll. The second op- ing 80 percent load of patients; think everybody is nowramping MaharashtraChief Minister Sikdar,tooattheNSD.Marriedfor the knowledge of the onboard outviolatingsuch rightsavailable riod), West Bengalhad arepro- tion is to approachthe Supreme theprivate hospitalsarehandling up,”saidReddy,alsothePresident UddhavThackeray andKerala 25 years, theyhavetwo sons. systems of the mannedspace- under Article 30 of the duction number of 1.52 (for the Courttoask it to direct the EC to 20 per cent,” said SureshKakani, of the Federation of Indian Chief MinisterPinarayiVijayan Of course,therewasnoconfin- craft”. Theyare to take the exam Constitution to administeranin- period April 18-27). That means hold polls,” the leader said. Additional Municipal Comm- Chambers of Commerce and hadalso raisedthe demand for inghimtoBollywood.Irrfan’swork in manned spacecraft flight the- stitution,”the benchruled. that every100 infected persons The thirdand lastoption issioner.Ofthe 4,574 active cases Industry(FICCI). specialtrains. took him to the world, and he was ory, hesaid,andare“preparingfor Writing forthe bench, Justice inthe statehas been passing on would be forThackeray to resign onTuesday, 400patientsweread- Thesector’sbiggestpainpoint, Officials from Odisha and theonlyIndianactorwhowelland the exam independently”. Mishrasaid “the rightsunder the virus to another 152people. as Chief Minister, then call aleg- mitted in privatehospitals, though,istheirstruggleto operate UttarPradeshhadalsoinformally trulycrossed over.Hehad already Article 19(1) (g) arenot absolute Bihar had areproduction num- islative party meeting of all three whereas1,600wereinpublichos- facilitiesatatimewhentheircosts spokento Railway officialsonthe made an early appearance in Wes Labourcrisis and aresubject to reasonable re- berof2.03, and Jharkhand, 1.87. coalition partners to elect him as pitals. The remaining 2,500-odd have increased,buttheirrevenues matter.The Punjab government, Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited (government)normally releaseit striction in the interestofthe Sinha said that thankstothe leader,and form the govern- were asymptomatic, notrequir- have seen adip. too, had raisedthe demand. (2007).Butthebig-and-smallparts around April 30, whichwill en- student’s community to pro- lockdown, therewereonlyfour ment once again, the leadersaid. ing admission. “I feel very strongly about Bihar Chief MinisterNitish ininternationalproductionsquick- able me to plantcotton,”says the mote merit, recognition of excel- states —Maharashtra, Gujarat, “But”, theleader said, “we In fact, as on date, Maharash- peopletryingto pullprivate sector Kumar tweetedinsupportofthe enedafter DannyBoyle’s 2008 43-year-old. lence, and to curbthe malprac- West Bengaland Uttar Pradesh don’t think it will come to that. trahas 187critical patients, of hospitals down at this point in move on Wednesday. “Thisdeci- Oscar-winnerSlumdogMillionaire, Shamsher Singh, from the tices. Uniform Entrance Test —thatwerecontinuing to show We arehopeful that the whichMumbai alone accounts time, especiallywhensome of us sion is appropriateand worth and he showedupinAng Lee’s same village,alsoplans to only qualifies the test of proportion- a“consistent” rise in growth Governor will soon nominate forabout 120-125, mostof have been trying to continue op- welcoming.This wasour request magical-realistic tale of survival, grow cottononhis8-acreholding, ality and is reasonable. The same over time periods longer than a Thackeray to the Council.” whom requirejustoxygensup- erations despite incurring oper- and the central governmenthas LifeOfPi,and in such franchises as whichwas entirely under paddy is intendedtocheckseveral mal- week.AndhraPradesh and In NewDelhi, aBJP leader port. Asplit of patientsrequiring atinglosses,”saidAbhaySoi,CMD, takenapositive decision,”hesaid. The Amazing Spiderman and untilthe2019 kharif season.Jagsir adieswhichcrept intomedical Madhya Pradesh also continue said that Thackeray had ap- critical carebetween private and Radiant LifeCareand Chairman, Welcomingthedecision,sen- Jurassic World. Singh from Jhumbavillageof education, to prevent capitation to grow,but at slowerrates. proachedModi directlybecause publichospitals wasnot imme- Max Healthcare. ior Congress leader P But home wasreallywhere Bathinda district is going forcot- feebyadmittingstudentswhich “The lockdown has helped in he knows that “itwould be the diatelyavailable. Said CKMishra, chairman, of Chidambaramsought“sanitised, hisheartwas.Noneof theseinter- tononfourof hisnineacres,again arelowerinmerit and to prevent considerablyslowing down the Prime Ministerwho would be In India, thereare three levels EmpoweredGroup 2, thatisin point-to-pointtrains”forthepur- nationaloutingscouldtrulymine previouslyfully plantedtopaddy. exploitation, profiteering and growth of the epidemic. Had taking the final call on the party’s of COVID facilities. The firstlevel charge of hospital facilitiesand pose as, he said, buses would not whatIrrfanwascapableof.Hedid “The people who transplant commercialisationofeducation. therebeen no lockdown, we decision”. According to this comprisesquarantinefacilitiesin testing: “The private sectorhas be enough. thosemoviesbecausehecould, paddy arefromBihar andUP. The institution has to be acapa- could have been on apath to leader,Thackeray wantsthe stadia,hostels,schoolsandlodges, been assisting the government butsavedtherazzledazzleforhis Nobody knows if they willcome. ble vehicle of education”. reaching acase load of about 1 “BJP’sleadersinMaharashtra calledCovid CareCentres.This is and it is averywelcome step. Irrfan Khan desi dil-hai-Hindustani outings. Even if the lockdown is liftedon “Theminorityinstitutionsare lakh by the end of this month. who arenot willing to cooperate wheremostCovid-positive pa- Perhaps, we should look forward magnetic-eyedperson could Fullyswitched on, he came up as May3,train services areunlikely equallyboundto comply withthe Thankstothe lockdown, it withthe ShivSenatobedirected tients arekept. Thesecond and to moreand moreprivate-sector transform,intoanyone,withapar- closeto usaspossible,to startthat to resume soon and Icannottake conditionsimposedunderthe seems the number of active by Modiji (todoso)”. thirdlevelsare hospitalswithoxy- facilitiesjoiningthegovernment.” ticular kind of magic. He could go conversation, as onlyhecould: arisk.While locallabourers can relevant Acts andRegulations to cases would remain well within FULLREPORTSON gensupport, ventilators andICU (WITH INPUTS FROM ASTHA high, dive low, getintense, do chaliye, baat kartehain. be used, theywilldemand Rs enjoy affiliation and recognition, 30,000by that time,”Sinha said. www.indianexpress.com

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SUB-INSPECTOR DEAD, 46 PERSONNEL POSITIVE; MHA SEEKS REPORT AT FARIDABAD’SESIC HOSPITAL CRPF’s5-dayquarantinecallmay Borders shut, staff at coronavirus CORONA WATCH haveledtoMayurViharoutbreak testing lab suffer

Doctors rue CRPF reducedquarantine forparamedicalstaff from 14 days to 5, oneofthemtestedpositivelater tion as Icannotbring my baby overcrowding SAKSHIDAYAL here,” said Dr Jain. She said many the forceatthe Mayur Vihar GURGAON,APRIL29 of her colleagues, including the at Safdarjung DEEPTIMANTIWARY camponApril 7. Under the department head, were turned NEWDELHI,APRIL29 MoHFWprotocol, he would have AMONGTHE unexpected fallout away at theborder. NewDelhi: Doctorsfrom had to stay in quarantine for14 of theFaridabadadministration’s “Weprocess almost150 Safdarjung Hospital have AREDUCED period of quaran- days,but wasreleasedwithin five decision to seal thedistrict’s bor- samples dailybut we startedlate complainedtothe med- tine, in violation of guidelines is- days due to thenew CRPF order. der from Wednesdaywas the today. In addition,alotofthe ical superintendent claim- sued by the MinistryofHealth “Unfortunately, by April16- government-run laboratoryat staffhavenot come; we aredo- ing that thereisover- and FamilyWelfare, is being seen 17,hebegan showing symptoms the ESIC Medical Collegeand ing suchrisky work while being crowding at the hospital as apossiblereason forthe forCOVID-19. By then, he had al- Hospital in Faridabad—adesig- understaffed,leaving scope for due to uncheckedreferrals spread of COVID-19inCRPF’s ready mingledwith staffatthe natedCOVID-19hospital and one error... We cannotworkfrom from other hospitals. "We Mayur Vihar camp, whereasub- camp,” an official said. of sevenlaboratories involved in home and thereisnoone trained have ano-refusal policy so inspector diedonTuesday. He added, however, that it is testing forthe virus in Haryana. enough to do this job...,” she said. we take referralsfromAI- While MoHFWhas man- still in the realm of speculation With severalofits staffliving Dr Pandeysaid testing is crit- IMS, RML and otherterti- dated 14 days of quarantine, the whether the infection spread in districtsoutsideFaridabadbe- ical to containthe spread of coro- arycareinstitutions," said CRPF reducedittofivedays forits from this paramedic only. “The ingturnedawayordelayedatthe navirus: “The districtadminis- Doctor Joyutpal Biswas, paramedical staff. This is believed CRPF has got his entirefamily in border,officialsfear testingwill tration should favour those GeneralSecretary,RDA, to have ledtoaninfectedpara- Noida tested.All arenegative.So sufferinthecomingdays.“COVID- providing essential services, es- Safdarjung Hospital. In a medic, who had returnedfrom it appears he did notbringthe in- 19 testingwill be mostaffected if peciallytesting; if youstoptest- letter,the RDAsaid, "These Kashmir,beingreleasedfrom fection from Kashmir.Heisbe- theystopthemfromentering as ing, the whole purpose of these referrals aremadewithout quarantine and joining active ing suspected as he wasthe first we arethe onlygovernmenthos- measureswill be negated.” prior intimationtothe duty,leading to thespread of the to showsymptoms and be pital in Faridabad wherethese Faridabad Deputy CMO.." virusinthe camp where 46 per- CRPF personnel paytheirlastrespects prior to theburial of Sub-Inspector Mohammed tested.Itispossible that some- testsare being done,”said Dr AK Commissioner Yashpal,however, sonnel have nowtestedpositive. Ikram Hussain,who died of COVID-19,atagraveyard in ITOWednesday. Praveen Khanna one in the camphad asympto- Pandey, Registrar,Academic. said asolution is being worked SDMCto On Tuesday, 55-year-old matic infection,” the official said. As per officials, at leasteight out:“COVID-19hospitals areal- reimburse MohammedIkram Hussain, a Barring the Mayur Vihar people from the microbiology ready in the special exemption sub-inspector with the force, The MinistryofHome Affairs, Sources said thatfollowing Notably, this contradicts camp, CRPF has reportedjust department, whichundertakes category. When anew plan is in- hotel cost succumbed to the infection at sources said, has takencog- the lockdown announcement on CRPF’sown COVID-19 contain- one moreinfection, in the tests, live outside Faridabad. troduced,someissuesdo emerge, SafdarjungHospital.The entire nizance of the matter and sought March 24,CRPF issuedspecial or- ment SoPs issuedmid-March, Ahmedabad. “So far, theywereable to travel butIhavespokentothedeanand NewDelhi: South Delhi battalionofover1,000 person- areportbyMay 1. dersreducing the quarantine pe- whichmention amandatory CRPF DG AP Maheshwari did using their IDs.Now,wehave we have providedsomespacefor Municipal Corporation nel, campedatMayur Vihar,has “Home MinisterAmit Shah is riod forparamedical stafffrom14 quarantine period of 14 days. notrespond to calls and mes- been told to make arrangements stafftostayand made arrange- has announcedthat the nowbeen quarantinedand the personallyseizedofthe matter. to five days.The ordersaid the The CRPF’s nursing staff sages seeking acomment. Shah fortheir stay.However, someof mentsfor their food and other civic body will reimburse campsealed.Sources said only He has been taking stockofthe quarantineperiod should be ex- member, whowas on leave at had on Tuesdaypaid tributeto the staffhaveconstraints such as needs... We will also issue special the costofstayinhotels half thebattalion has been tested situation and has been in touch tendedifthe suspect shows home in Noida afterreturning the sub-inspector saying his con- young children or dependent passes to those who needtotravel forstrandedemployees. as of now, and resultsof257 per- with the familyofthe deceased,” symptoms, else he can be re- from KupwarainKashmir,was tribution to national security parents,” said Dr Pandey. daily. Such passes arealso being While group Aand Bem- sonnel areawaited. said an MHA official. leased and put on active duty. askedto join the 31st Battalion of wasinspiring. In the latter categoryisDr issuedtoothersexemptfromthe ployees will be givenRs Charu Jain, Assistant Professor, sealing, suchasthose involved in 2000per day, Group Cand Microbiology,who travels from transporting essential items.” Demployees will getRs EastDelhitoworkeachday,leav- Wednesdaysaw complete 1,100per day. 5-yr-oldreunited with ingher seven-month-old baby chaos at the Badarpur border as 3new cases with her mother-in-law. On severalpeoplewereturnedaway. parents after 40 days Wednesday,however, shewas Police personnel conductedtem- in Gurgaon,4 delayedbyanhour at theborder. peraturechecks of each person “Yesterday,Iwas givenapass and noteddowntheir details be- in Faridabad by theinstitutebut police person- fore allowing them entry. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE nel atBadarpurborderrefusedto Yashpal said the sealing Gurgaon: Three healthcare PUNE,APRIL29 letmethrough. We finallycame would be smoother in the com- workerstestedpositive for through another border,where ing days:“This wasthe firstday; coronavirus in Gurgaon Five-year-old Divisha Lal, who policesaid Imay notbeallowed some issues were expected... I Wednesday, taking the to- wasseparated from her parents to leaveinthe evening. This is a believe regulation will become talnumber of cases in the fornearly 40 days duetothe na- problemforme. Icannotstayhere easier.” The district has 50 cases, district to 54.Further,four tionwidelockdown,wasreunited even if Iamgiven accommoda- ofwhich41haverecovered. morepeople tested posi- with them afterMaharashtra Divisha Lal had travelled tive in Faridabad while Police providedher and three from Delhi to Pune to meet Nuhand Jhajjar recorded membersofher familyspecial her aunt on March 17 one case each. permission to travelfromPune to Delhi amid the lockdown. 200 migrants Divisha, herbrother Tanmay sion, my children, mother-in-law heading home (10) and their grandmother, all and their uncle leftPuneon residentsofDelhi,had come to Tuesdayat10amand travelled stopped over 24-year-oldAashis Ahirwarwithhis wife,daughter and nephew at theDelhi-Gurgaon Pune to meetDivisha's aunt through Madhya Pradesh, border on Wednesday. Renuka Puri Shalini on March 17.While they Rajasthan, Uttar Pradeshand last week were supposedtoreturn on Haryana, all the waytoDelhi. NewDelhi: Over 200mi- March 23, their flight was Theyreachedour home in grantsand their families, rescheduledand the subsequent Model Town at 1pmon who were heading to lockdown extendedtheir stay in Wednesday,” said Divisha's fa- neighbouring states were Ajourney fromHaryana to the city,asreportedbyThe Indian ther Ashesh Lal. stoppedbypolice on Express.OnApril 28, theywerefi- Divisha’s mother Rachana Police personnel checkvehicles at the Faridabad-Badarpur Delhi's roads over the last nallyable to leave forDelhivia thanked the Maharashtragov- border,Wednesday. The ordertotighten movementatthe week.Police said the mi- MP comes to abrupt halt road. ernment fortaking asympa- Faridabad border wasissuedlateTuesdaynight. Tashi Tobgyal grantswereeither on foot, “Aftergetting police permis- thetic stance on the issue. riding cycles or hiding in trucks. ourselves. Our landlordhas been night in atent providedtopolice 3journalists SUKRITABARUAH quitesupportivebut he cannot personnel forshelter by the NEWDELHI,APRIL29 fill our stomachs, can he? He has main road in Rajokri. Aashis said Delhi says testing delayed at Noida test positive told us that we can return to him the policemen had offeredthem FOUR DAYS intohis journey, oncethis is all over,” he said. some space thereseeinghis baby NewDelhi: Delhi Chief walking from Rohtak to Madhya Theyhad leftwithjustone daughter.Inthe heat of the after- institute:Stop sending samples there MinisterArvind Kejriwal Pradesh with his family, Aashis bagcontaining aset of clothes for noon sun on Wednesday, she said onlythree of 529jour- Ahirwarhad to makethe deci- eachmember. Husband and crieduncontrollably. nalists who underwent sion to retrace his steps because wifetook turns —one carrying “Weare justnot being al- “The sudden rise (in cases) hap- the guidelineshavechangedand come out at one go.Weare plan- testing forcoronavirus of Haryana tightening restric- the babyfor awhile,the other lowedtogoforward.Theyhave ASTHASAXENA penedbecause therewerenore- moresamples are being sent ning to enhance capacityatthe tested positive. tionsatits borders. carrying the bag —walking fora told us to go backtowhere we’ve NEWDELHI,APRIL29 sultsand peoplekeptspreading from containment zones, the lab. But, while testing is happen- On Sunday, the 24-year-old fewhours in the morning,rest- come from and said the restric- theinfection,”said asenior offi- pressureonlabs has increased. ing across centres, thereisstill a Noida hospital had begun the journeywithhis ing during the afternoon and tions will be easedalittle bit in WORRIED OVER the pendency cial from the department. Our lab is running 24x7,weare needtohaverapid testing in the staffallege wife, one-year-old daughter and walking forafew morehours in five-six days and that we should of coronavirus test resultsatthe As per officials, pendency in also planning to increase capac- city,” said Dr SKSarin, head of six-year-oldnephew. Adaily- thelateafternoon andevening. trytomakethe journeythen. We National InstituteofBiologicals test results is affecting contain- ity.The patient load hasn't in- ILBS. lackofPPEs wage labourer,hesaid he had Theyate wheretheyfoundpo- cannotjustlie around on the (NIB) in Noida, the Delhi govern- ment of the disease in severalar- creasedbut thesampleloadhas The department has also di- triedtoput offthis difficult trek lice personnel, charitable groups road forthe next fewdayswait- ment has ordered alldistrict eas. “The samplesshallbedis- gone up,” said Dr NNMathur, rected labs to provide reports to Noida: Health workers to his villageinMadhya and relief workers distributing ing to be allowedtopass commissionersnot to send any tributed among government medical director of LHMC. the Integrated Disease from Gautam Budh Pradesh’s Chhatarpurdistrict — food. through.SoIguess we do not moresamples to theinstitutetill and private labstoensurethe re- As perofficials,anRT-PCRtest Surveillance Program. Testing Nagardistrict hospital adistance of 600km—as much Thefamilywasstoppedatthe have anyoption but to go back. May3,and to send them to gov- sultsare receivedwithin aday,” takesaround five-six hours to and tracking of all fresh positive protestedatthe DM’s as possible. Gurgaon-DelhiborderonTuesday We have nothing leftthere,but ernment and private labs in said the official. complete.Atthe InstituteofLiver cases, as well as tracking of re- office alleginglackof “I had savedaround Rs afternoon and have been unable willjusthavetofind someway Delhi instead. Delhi has atesting rate of over and BiliarySciences, thereare two peatsamples, is critical to ensure PPEs Wednesday.DM 10,000-12,000 over theyears to move forwardsince then. to feed ourselves,” he said. The decision comes aday af- 2,000 testsper million popula- labs and around 350-450sam- immediatemonitoring of all Suhaas LYordered the and my familymade do with Vigilance at the Delhi-Gurgaon On Wednesdayevening, the terofficials, in ameeting with tion.Officialssaidevengovern- plesare testedeveryday.“We are cases. If this information is not hospital’s Chief Medical that forthe lastmonth, during borderwasincreasedonTuesday MinistryofHome Affairs issued UnionHealthMinister Harsh ment labs, including the one at usingpool RNAstrategyandpool collected from labsinatime- Superintendent to make whichIhad no work.But we afteraspike in Jhajjar,whichre- an order allowing movement of Vardhan, highlighted that Lady HardingeMedical College, extractionstrategy in ourlabs. bound manner,itwill lead to a arrangements. ENS have nowreachedthe end of portedits firstseven cases. migrant workers strandedin around 200testresultsare pend- areoverburdened. “Weare test- With this, 8RT-PCRtests can be delayintracing newpositive that and have nothing to support The familyspent Tuesday various places. ing since April 16 at the institute. ing over 200samples aday.Since put togetherandmoreresults will cases,” said another official.

AFTER EMPLOYER TESTED POSITIVE Quarantined inside shop at Azadpur Mandi, 17 men await test results

getting accesstofood or water A24-year-oldman, one of NorthDelhi District Delhi. Twocases of vendors till the resultsare received, con- ANANYATIWARI insidethe shop, whichisalso those quarantined, said it was MagistrateDeepak Shindesaid who came to DelhifromJhajjar, tactsofasuspect arenot quar- NEW DELHI,APRIL 29 theirhome. theywho informedthe APMC the resultsofthe employees are and another who came from antinedand tested. Lastweek,a57-year-old of hisdeath aftertheygot to still awaited:"The test results Panipat, have also tested posi- A50-year-oldemployee SEVENTEEN WORKERS quaran- vegetabletrader —who shared knowofitonApril20. "We areawaited as of now. We got tive.Morethan 30 employees in said on Wednesday, "Weare tinedinside shopsatAzadpur astall at the market with an ap- made alistofall our names and the reportofthe deathofthe six shops have been quaran- finding it difficult to getfood.No mandi, including some whose ple trader —diedofCOVID-19 phone numbers and gave it to trader on April21, sent people tinedinthe market afterthe one is paying us anyattention." swab samples were takenalmost at Max Hospital, Saket,where the security guard, and even forscreening on April 22, and traders'resultswerepositive. Shinde acknowledgedthey aweekago aftertheir employer he had been hospitalsed. triedtoreachout to thedistrict took their samples on April 23." On Tuesday in areview had receivedcomplaintsabout tested positivefor COVID-19, Seventeen of hisemployees administration," he said. So far, 11 tradersfromthe meeting between the Union distribution of food: "Wedid get have been waitingfor results and have been quarantined inside The man said it wasonlyon market have tested positive in and Delhi health ministryoffi- some complaintsoffood but help from the administration. thatstall since his death. The April 23 —three days afterthe cials, the high number of pend- have sortedthat out now. Civil Expressing distress over the staffsaid the trader would visit death —that their samples were So far, 11 traders from the ingtests wasflagged as aprob- defence volunteersare thereto long delayingetting results— the stall regularly forafew collected.“It wasastruggle to market have tested positive lem that could potentiallyresult maintainsocial distancing. theyweretestedonApril 23 — hours dailybeforehewas hos- even have our samples taken,” in the capital. Praveen Khanna in asituation wherethe case Therewas adelayingetting theysaid theywerenot even pitalised. he claimed. load becomes unmanageableas their reportfromthe lab."

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4 THEOUTBREAK TheCity THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020

DELHI ADOPTS NEW PROTOCOLBYUNION HEALTH MINISTRY Check Thosewithmild,nosymptoms lockdown violations canself-isolateathome:Jain at CWG

world, severalcountries arefol- careona24x7 basis,” the min- patient should have aseparate village: HC EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE lowing asimilar protocol. istryguidelines say. toiletnear the room. But those NEWDELHI,APRIL29 The guidelinesissuedbythe At present,ofthe 3,439peo- who can ensurethis arewel- MinistryofHealth and Family plewho have testedpositive,749 come to isolateathome,”saidan PRITAMPALSINGH THE DELHI government Welfare, whichthe Delhi gov- areadmitted to nine COVID-19 official. NEWDELHI,APRIL29 Wednesdaysaid COVID-19pa- ernment planstofollow, have a designatedhospitals. Of these, The ministryalso has detailed tientswith very mild or no strict code forthose who can iso- 52 areinthe ICUand 9onventi- guidelinesfor caregivers, who are THE DELHI High Courtasked a symptoms can self-isolateat lateathome. Health officials in lators. Another 985are in required to have acommunica- nodal officer to checkfor alleged home, providedtheyhavea Delhiare also preparing guide- COVID-19carecentres and 137 tion link with aCOVID-19hospi- violations of the lockdown and room wheretheycan stay away lines forself-isolation. Jain held in designated health centres. taltomakesureitisinformedof social distancing norms at the from their familymembers. This ameeting on the issue with All those choosing home iso- the progress and also in case the Commonwealth Games (CWG) includes aseparateroom witha Principal Secretary, Health; lation will also have to download patient starts to develop morese- villagenear Akshardham temple, toilet, officials said. SecretaryHealth,DGHS; MD of the AarogyaSetumobile appon vere symptoms. Guidelines also afteritwas allegedthat residents “Not everyone needs to go to Lok Nayak Hospital; and Special their mobile phones, the Centre’s requirecaregivers and their close continuedwiththeirwalksand ahospital. This is as per the new SecretaryHealth. guidelines say. contactstotakehydroxychloro- BEHIND THE SCREEN jogging within the villageand in protocol forthose with very mild “The person should be clini- Following the self isolation quine as prophylactic. the adjoining DDApark. or no symptoms. Theycan iso- callyassignedasaverymild protocol in the city will notbe If the patient develops diffi- Ahealthcareworker, in protective gear and behind ascreen, testsapatient at ahotel-turned Justice Yogesh Khanna is- lateathome,”saidDelhi Health case/pre-symptomatic case by possible formostpeople, said an culty in breathing, persistent testing facility in Hari Nagar, Wednesday. AmitMehra suedthe direction on April 27 on MinisterSatyendar Jain. the treating medical officer.Such official. “Onlyinaffluent neigh- pain/pressureinthe chest, con- an application by aCWG village The Delhi government had cases should have therequisite bourhoods do we have houses fusion or inability to wake up or resident. In the plea, it wasal- startedshifting patients, who fit facility at their residence forself- withenough spacefor aperson develops bluish discolorations in leged that therewererepeated in the above category, to COVID- isolation and forquarantining to isolate themselves. Because the lips or face, theyshouldget HC seeks govt violationsofthe national lock- 19 carecentres to reduce the familycontacts. Acaregiver familymembers have to avoid in touchwith adoctor immedi- ‘Police didn’t refer to down directivesbyresidents, burden on hospitals. Across the should be available to provide contact as muchastheycan,the atelyand go to ahospital. who areregularly going out for stand on walks, notmaintaining social riots, protests before distancing or wearing masks. quarantine The application wasfiledina Two deathsafter 3 In talks with states to pendingpetitionrelatingto RWA guidelines seizing my phone’ elections at the village, on which let stranded migrants the High Court, in April lastyear, days, 125 new cases NewDelhi: The Delhi High Court had appointed aretired district Wednesdaysought the Delhi ARANYASHANKAR judgeasthenodal officer to actto government’s response on aplea NEWDELHI,APRIL29 thelimitedextentof making pay- sent her to agovernment hospi- return home: Kejriwal by aphotojournalistquestioning ment of essentialservice charges, ABHINAVRAJPUT tal.” The nurse wasadmitted af- itsmechanism of implementing ALL INDIA Students’ Association including statutorypayment to &ASTHASAXENA tershe tested positive.Though COVID-19quarantineguidelines. (AISA) Delhi president thelocal authorities. NEWDELHI,APRIL29 her four primarycontacts,includ- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Theman is aresident of oneof the KawalpreetKaurWednesday “Inviewofthe limited pow- ing her husband who also works NEWDELHI,APRIL29 72 houses that came in contact alleged DelhiPolice did notrefer ers of anodal officer,and theCWG DELHI REPORTED twoCOVID-19 in the hospital, have notshown withapizza deliveryperson,who to anychatorconversation on her villagebeingagated colony, the deaths Wednesdayafter agap of symptoms, theyhavebeen home THE DELHI government is in had tested positive on April14. phonebeforeseizing it, and she directivesonlockdown issuedby three days,taking the toll to 56.It quarantined, said Singhal. talkswith other states regarding In his plea, he said the quaran- wasn’t asked anything related to the Government of India and the also saw125 newcases, with the Meanwhile,afterreportsthat the Centre’s decision to allow tine notice pastedoutside his the anti-CAA protests,the KawalpreetKaurisAISA’s StateofNCT of Delhiweregiven total count nowat3,439. Therate some private hospitalswereforc- strandedmigrantstoreturn house on April 15 said he wasin NortheastDelhi riots or thear- Delhi unit chief. Police did scantregardbyseveral residents of infection —number of patients ing patientswho areadmitted to home, Chief MinisterArvind quarantine from the midnight of restsofother student activists. notrespond to the incident of the village,” the courtwas told. testingpositiveoutofallthepeople undergo COVID-19tests each Kejriwal said Wednesday. He The CM urgedpeople to stay March 24-25, when he firsthad Her organisation Tuesdaysaid The plea soughtdirection to tested on aparticular day—stood week,Delhi Health Minister urgedpeople to remain indoors indoors till aplan is in place contactwith the deliveryperson, police had enteredher home and permit the nodalofficertoclose at4.1%,downfrom9.1%onTuesday. Satyendar Jainsaidhospitalshave till details of the plan areworked till April 20 —30daysasagainst seizedher phone “in the name of She addedpolice did not“in- the access gate from the villageto Afew healthcareworkers been asked to conduct testsonly out. The MHA has directedstates the stipulated14days.The plea enquiryintothe Delhi communal dicate anything”onwhenthe theadjacent DDAparkandto take were among the newcases re- if apatient displays symptoms. to designate nodal authorities incident, whichhad also sparked further said that on April 17,an- violence”. Kaur confirmedthe phone would be returned. She all measures to ensurestrictcom- ported. Five staffatAIIMS, anurse Aman admitted at Apollo anddevelop protocolforsending apolitical blame game between other quarantine notice was same on Wednesday. also said policedid notask her pliance of the lockdown direc- at the gynaecology department Hospital in SaritaViharhad and receiving strandedmigrant the AAP and the BJP. pastedonhis door.This time, the Asked if police gave anyrea- anythingaboutJamiastudent ac- tives, and also to reportinstances and four security guards, tested claimedthe hospital wasforcing workers, pilgrims,tourists,stu- The Kejriwal government period specifiedwas April14-28. son forseizing herphone, she told tivists SafooraZargarand Meeran of violationto thelocaldistrictad- positive.AIIMS nowhas 16 cases. them to undergo weeklytests dentsand others due to the na- then notifiedaround 111 govern- The petitioner soughtdirec- The Indian Express:“Special Cell, Haider,who have been arrested. ministration authorities. “Wehavequarantined15-20 staff and charging Rs 4,500for it. tionwide lockdown. ment facilities, mainlyschools, tions to theDelhi government to through local police, contacted “As of now, no questions on the Theplea saidsince grocery members from the department. Responding to the claims, the “Weare in talkswith other as shelters formigrants. strictlyadhere to the said guide- me seekingto seize thephonere- case were asked to me in any shops arenot available withinthe None of them were posted in the hospital spokesperson said: “We states withregardtothe MHAor- Currently, around 10,040 people linesand followdue procedure, garding the FIR no 59 dated form,” she said. CWGvillage, residents have to go COVID-19ward,”saidmedicalsu- had initiatedtesting forour pa- der concerningmigrants... We arehousedinthese shelters.The “when issues of liberty areat 06.03.20.After confiscating my DCP (Special Cell) Pramod to nearbymarketsatMayur Vihar, perintendent Dr DK Sharma.A tientstoensuretheir safetyand will updateyouinaday or twoaf- government had also issuedor- stake”. Justice CHari Shankar is- phone,theyhandedoverahand- Singh Kushwah did notrespond PandavNagar and Ganesh Nagar doctor at NorthMCD’s Kasturba that of ourstaff... With the new tercarrying out complete plan- ders asking landlords to waiveat suednoticetothe Delhigovern- written seizurereport. Theydid- to calls and messagesseeking a forbuying essential items or get Hospital tested positiveTuesday. Union government directives, ning. Till then, please remain in- leastamonth’s rent if tenants ment and soughtits stand. “The n’t refertoany particular chat or comment. them deliveredfromthere. Sevendoctors and four nurses we areawaiting the Delhi gov- doors and adheretothe happen to be migrant workers notice said he wasunder quaran- conversation on the phone.” In her Facebook post, Kaur “Manyareas incloseproximity to were senttohomequarantine.At ernment’s order on testing lockdown,” the CM tweeted. or students. tine from March 24 toApril 20, She had earlier written on said she and AISAhad been active these places aredeclared corona Rajan Babu TB Hospital in GTB modalities forpatients.” The The national capital had faced “Instances of landlords forc- whichledto his neighboursques- Facebook: “... police seizedmy in protests againstCAA-NRC-NPR hotspots by the Delhi govern- Nagar, four healthcareworkers Centrehad asked all patientsbe- acrisis latelastmonth when ing studentsfor immediatepay- tioning him as to whyhewas not phone citinginquiryintothe vio- and theyraised their voicefor ment,” the application stated. were quarantinedafter anurse ing admitted in hospitals in and thousands of migrant workers ment of rent or face eviction have observing quarantine since lence. It wasreallyhardtobelieve “peace, democracy and justice” Justice Khanna ordered;“The tested positive.Sofar,over250 around containment zones to be had gathered at itsexit points been brought to the govern- March 24,” said the plea. this could happen to me.” postthe Delhiriots,besidesdoing nodal officer to actwiththe aid healthcareworkers across Delhi tested irrespective of symptoms. bordering Uttar Pradesh, suchas ment’sknowledge.The DMs “The imposition of a35-day Asked if she wasquestioned relief work. andassistanceof thefacilityman- have contractedthe disease. DSRana, chairman (boardof the Anand Vihar bus terminal, de- shall undertake awareness cam- quarantine periodonaperson about the Februaryriots or the “It is deeplyshocking and dis- agement service agency and North MCD spokesperson Ira management),Sir GangaRam manding arrangementstoreturn paign particularly in areas hav- who had asingle definedpoint anti-CAA protests,she said, “No turbing to knowpoliceare trying CWGVAOA(CWGVillage Singhal saidthe nursewho tested Hospital, said theyare testing pa- home.In theabsenceof transport ing higher densityofof contact with the infected in- questions were asked.The only to intimidatemefor my activism, Apartment Owners’ Association) positive had visited another hos- tientscoming fordialysis and options, thousands streamedout workers/migrant workers/stu- dividual, and who livesalone, thing theywanted wasmy forspeakingindefence of the stafftocheckonany violations, pital fordialysis: “Theychecked chemotherapy: “The idea is to en- on foot.The MHA had subse- dentstoadvise affected persons appears to be arbitraryand re- phone. Theydidn’t specify any Constitution,” wrote Kaur, within the village, of the guide- her before performing dialysis as surethe disease is nottransmitted quentlysuspendedtwo senior to lodgecomplaints... by calling flectsnon-application of mind,” particular chat or anyspecific adding,“DelhiPolice action of lines and to report the matter to she had some symptoms, they further.” Delhi government officials forthe 100,” states the April 22 order. it added. ENS case or instance related to anti- seizing my phone is... an attempt the local authority concerned, CAAprotestorNortheastDelhi to instill fear among us all...all this wherever suchaction is deemed violence.” is happening in atime when the appropriate.” entireworld is in lockdown and The courtsought reportin it’s difficult to hold mass protests this regard from the authorities and access legal help.” within four weeks. fufonk lwpuk No. M-03-2020-C&W-AII SAMAGRA SHIKSHA ofj’B e.My ;kaf=d bathfu;j ¼loek½ STATEPROJECT OFFICE, vtesj Hkkjr ds jk’Vªifr ,oa mudh vksj KBC BOYS HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS, OPP RAITHU BAZAR, ls fuEufyf[kr dk;Z gsrq fnukad 20-05-2020 PATAMATA,VIJAYAWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH dks 15-00 cts rd bZ&fufonk (Single Request for Proposal packet system) vkeaf=r dh tkrh gSA e-procurement notice. No.SSA-16021/4/2019-MIS SEC-SSA,dt. 29.04.2020 1- dk;Z dk uke % Annual Maintenance SamagraShiksha, Andhra Pradeshisinviting Request For Proposal for CHHATTISGARH HOUSING BOARD DIVISION JAGDALPUR, Contract of CUMMINS Diesel Engines BODHGATH COLONY,JAGDALPUR procurement and supply of set of note booksunderthe scheme of of SPART UDZ for two years. (Engine Sr. “Jagananna Vidya Kanuka” to all the students(approximately 21 lakhsin Website: www.cghb.gov.in, Ph: 07782-231170, Mob: 094242-09020. Advt.No. 70 Dt. 29.04.2020 No. 25261220 &25261221 Model NTA- CGHB invites Technical &Financial offer as per Request for Proposal from qualified and number) studying classes VI to XinGovernment/MMP/ZPP/ experienced firms (criteria as per in RFP document) for providing "Project Management 855-R-IESM) 2- dk;Z dh vof/k % 02 Municipal/KGBVs/Model Schools/Ashram schools/ Residential/Aided Consultancy Services" for Proposed Township for NMDC Ltd at Niyanar Jagdalpur (C.G.) years] 3- dk;Z dh vuqekfur ykxr % Rs. Schools of Education and welfaredepartmentsinthe State of Andhra Name of Project Area of Land Approx .Estimated 26,29,848.80 (Rs. Twenty Six Lakhs Pradesh during the year 2020-21. For details please visit https:// cost put to bid Value Twenty Nine Thousands Eight tender.apeprocurement.gov.in from 01.05.2020. Tender/RFP form can be RFP for selection of Consultant for Project 118.00 Acres Rs. 1768.56 Crs. Management consultancy (PMC) for Proposed (47.86 hect.) HundredFortyEight and Eighty downloaded from website. Eligible firms shallupload theprescribedformat as Township for NMDC Ltd at Niyanar Jagdalpur.C.G. Paisa only) 4- c;kuk jkf'k % Rs. per the schedules given in the above said site. Contact No. 0866-2428599. The bidder has to submit process fee of Rs. 10,000.00 &Bid Security of Rs. 18.00 lakhs both 52,600/- (Rs. Fifty TwoThousands Six Sd/- V. Chinaveerabhadrudu, I.A.S., in the form of DD/BG of any Nationalized Indian Bank with offer.The offer shall be sub- Hundred only) 5- bZ&izLrko dk [kqyuk mitted either by hand/ Courier/ Speed post in the office of EE CGHB Div.Jagdalpur C.G.up State Project Director, to 4:00 AM dt. 22/05/2020, other conditions may be seen on website . (Technical bid) : fnukad 20-05-2020 dks R.O. No.: 23PP/CL/ADVT/1/1/2020-21 Samagra Shiksha, Andhra Pradesh Executive Engineer 15%00 cts 6- Website particulars : www.ireps.gov.in if'pekapyfo|qqrforj.kfuxefy-]] 421-SP/20 foDVksfj;k ikdZ] esjB vYidkyhu bZZ&fufonk lwwpuk Chief Engineer (Bridges Department) fuEufyf[kr fufonkvksa ds }kjk fuEuof.kZr dk;Z dks ckg~; ,tsUlh ds ek/;e ls No. Ch.E./20/07/Bridges/GMLR dated :- 28.04.2020 djkusgsrq vYidkyhu bZ&fufonk@ fufonk;savkeaf=r dh tkrh gS %& OPEN E-TENDER NOTICE vYidkyhu bZ&fufonk laa-&&01@fo-dk;Z'kkyk [ka-@esjB@dk;Z@2020&21 fo|qr (Single Packet System) REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION (RFQ) dk;Z'kkyk [k.M] esjBdsvUrxZr fo|qr dk;Z”kkyk cM+kSr ¼ckxir½ ij {kfrxzLr Dy.Chief Engineer (Construction)-III, (INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING) Opposite Railway Hospital, Hasanpura ifjorZdks dh ejEer esa o`f) gsrq,dvfrfjDr fo|qr pkfyr Hoist dh LFkkiuk Road, North Western Railway,Jaipur - HONOURABLE Municipal Commissioner,Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai invites "Request ,oa vU; lEcfU/kr dk;ZA (d³f.¸fc. ÷. 1180-00 ¼th-,l-Vh-lfgr½] /kjksgj jkf”k&#- 302 006 for and on behalf of the for Qualification (RFQ)" from eligible and experienced bidders through e-tendering as detailed below. 8500-00½] President of India invites Open E-Tender. vYidkyhu bZ&fufonk [kqyusdhfnukad %&14-05-2020 Tenderer shall on-line submit their DEPARTMENT Ch. Eng. (Bridges) original/revised offer before the date and e-RFQ/Bid No. 7100177476 vYidkyhu bZ&fufonk gsrq okafNr /kjksgjjkf'k ,oa fufonk 'kqYd ¼18% th-,l-Vh- time of closing of E-tender. 1. E-Tender lfgr½]¼vizfrns;½ vkj-Vh-th-,l-@,u-bZ-,Q-Vh- ds ek/;e ls vf/k'kklh vfHk;Urk] Notice No. : NWR -HQ-SC-UST- SUBJECT "Request for Qualification (RFQ)" for the work of "Design and fo|qr dk;Z'kkyk [k.M] esjBdsuke ls lSUVªy cSad vkWQ bf.M;k dh tsy pq¡xh] 444106888, 2. Name of work with construction of Twin Tunnel below SGNP from Amar Nagar,Mulund to esjB fLFkr cSad 'kk[kk esa lapkfyr pkyw cSad [kkrk la- 1403900519 ¼IFSC Code location :North Western Railway - Filmcity Goregaon along with Cut &cover Box Tunnel in Filmcity area, CBIN0282337½esa tek djk;k tk;sxkA bZ&fufonk Hkkx&izFke esa djk;s x, vkj- Carrying out Ultrasonic testing of AT / Goregaon under the Goregaon Mulund Link Road Project" Flash welds as per Indian Railway Vh-th-,l-@ ,u-bZ-,Q-Vh- dh is&bu&fLyi@jlhn ds lkFk] vU; lEcfU/kr izi=ksa] Standard Specification. 3. Sale of e-RFQ Start Date :29.04.2020 from 1100 hrs isu dkMZ] th-,l-Vh-izek.k&i= bR;kfn dh LdSuM izfr;ksa ¼pdfformat½rFkk Approximate cost of work :Rs. Last Date :11.06.2020 up to 1300 hrs. fufonk Hkkx&f}rh; ¼izkbZlfcM½ dks bZ&fufonk [kqyusdhfrfFk dks 14%00 cts rd 1,18,67,500.00 4. Earnest Money to be deposited : Rs. 2,09,300.00, 5. TAMILNADU CIVIL SUPPLIES CORPORATION Pre-bid meeting 2000 hrs. on 12.05.2020 www.etender.up.nic.in ij viyksM fd;k tkuk gksxkA bZ&fufonk Hkkx&izFke] Completion Period : 24 (Twenty four) Head Office: 12, THAMbuSAMYROAD, KILPAuK, CHEnnAI-600 010. Address- Conference room of AMC (P), 2nd floor,Annex Building, MCGM mlh fnukad esa 16%30 cts lkoZtfud :Ik ls [kksyk tk;sxkA bZ&fufonk Hkkx&izFke months 6. Closing Date &Time of Ph.no.(044) 26426773 Email id : [email protected] Head Office, Mahapalika Marg, Fort, Mumbai-400001, Maharashtra, India. esa lEcfU/kr izi=ksa dks viyksM ufd;s tkus dh fLFkfr esa bZ&fufonk dk submission of On line E-tender : 15.00 CIn:u15137Tn1972SGC006157 Hkkx&f}rh; ¼izkbZlfcM½ugha [kksyk tk;sxkA bZ&fufonk Hkkx&izFke@f}rh; [kqyus Hrs. on 27.05.2020. 7. Website Shorte-tendernotice Website http://portal.mcgm.gov.in particulars where complete details of dh fnukad dks lkoZtfudvodk'k gksus ij fufonk;sa] vkxkeh dk;Z fnol ij iwoZor% no. :BS6/014085/2020 dated:24.04.2020 Contact Person Assistant Engineer (GMLR) E-Tender canbeseen : le; ij [kksyh tk;sxhA fdlh ,d vFkok lHkh bZ&fufonk,a ,oa fufonk ds fdlh www.ireps.gov.in Note: 1. No manual Short e-tender no.: BS6/014085/2020/tncSc/20-21/et-04 a. Name 1. Shri. Ashok Mali (Mob. no. +91 9820847944) Hkkx dks fcuk dksbZ dkj.k crk;s fujLr djus dk iw.kZ vf/kdkj v/kksgLrk{kjh ds tender will be accepted. 2. The Earnest Online electronic tender for“Appointmentofmillersbased on the out-turn 2. Shri. Sudhakar Hande (Mob. no. +91 9869113088 ikl lqjf{kr gksxkA Ñi;k oSclkbZV www.etender.up.nic.in ij bZ&fufonk ls Money Deposit(EMD) and Tender ratio forthe conversion of rawtur into TurDal (Split-Husked &Fatka)asper lEcfU/kr leLr tkudkjh] fooj.k@MkÅuyksM rFkk vU; fdlh izdkj ds Document Cost (TDC) will be submitted Agmark Specification forissue under Pradan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana b. Telephone No. (Office) 022-25962601, Ext. 2006 by the tenderer only through net banking la'kks/ku@foLrkj ds fy;s ykWxbu djsaA (PMGKAY)” c. Email [email protected] or payment gateway only. Note- Fixed Complete e-tender documentcan be viewed anddownloaded through fo|qr lEcU/kh f'kdk;rksa dh lwpuk Þ1912Þ ij nsaA Deposit Receipt (FDR), Demand Draft, https://www.mstcecommerce.com/eprochome/tncsc and also available in RFQ documents are available on MCGM portal http://portal.mcgm.gov.in under e-tender tab. Any Remark: www.etender.up.nic.in BankerCheque, Deposit Receipt will not www.tenders.tn.gov.in queries about the work can be sent on Email address [email protected] on or before 09.05.2020 i=kad 232 fnukada 29-004-22020 be accepted as EMD &TDC. The The biddershavetoparticipate online bidding only with Digital Signature Sd/- payment is to be made in favour of FA & Certificate (DSC) of Class-II or Class-III jk"Vª fgr essaa fctyh cpk;sa CAO (C), N.W.Railway,Jaipur, PRO/53/ADV/20-21 Chief Engineer (Bridges) vf/k'kklh vfHk;Urk ForRegistration and further details contactMSTCLIMITED, otherwise tender will not be considered. Phone:25222842/25251910/25261005 e-Mail: [email protected] fo|qr dk;Z'kkyk [k.M] 418-SP/20 MCGM HELPLINE NUMBER 1800221292 from 9a.m.to9p.m. LastDatefor Online Submission :08.05.2020. i-ffo-ffo-ffu-ffy-eessjB FOR Homeless/Stranded Migrants/ Workers for food &shelters DIPR/1693/Tender/2020 MAnAGinG director.

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 5 THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020 THE OUTBREAK Nation

17 more deaths, At71,highest Gujarat cases 24-hourtoll; cross 4,000 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE CORONA AHMEDABAD,GANDHINAGAR, VADODARA,RAJKOT,SURAT, WATCH casesdoubling APRIL29 SEVEN JOURNALISTS and five state information department officials were among the 317 in11.3days newCOVID-19cases reportedin Gujarat —the highestsingle-day jump—onWednesday. The tionwide lockdown, asource number of cases in the statehas ABANTIKAGHOSH close to the Health Ministerin- now crossed4,000. NEWDELHI,APRIL29 dicatedthat he is in favour of The number of deaths in the continuation of the lockdown. statestands at 200with 17 more EVEN AS discussions on where The source said, “The deci- peopledying on Wednesday. eachdistrict stands in terms of sion has notbeentaken yeton Rajkot reportedits firstdeath —a Aman feedsmonkeys coronavirus cases and the open- howthe relaxations will be im- 60-year-old woman withhyper- in Jaipur. Rohit Jain Paras ing up formula continuedinthe plemented.The Prime Minister tension,whowashospitalisedon government,the country himself is consulting all stake- April 20, died. Her husband and recordedits highest24-hourtoll holders and taking as manyin- twosonshave testedpositive,tak- —71, it wasannouncedon putsaspossible.... We cannotrisk ing the district case count to 58. MADHYA PRADESH Wednesday. adisaster.” Nine people diedinAhmeda- 3workers run In all, 1,008people have died “If youask the ministerper- bad,includinga20-year-oldwom- of COVID-19across the country sonally,”the source added, “he an and a65-year-old man witha over by truck so far. would tell youthatitmay be thyroid condition. Three others In the last24hours, 1,813 better to maintain status quo.” who diedare twomen, aged 54 while sleeping The Mumbai Agricultural Produce Market Committee’s vegetablemarket wears adesertedlookonWednesday. Officials newcases were reported,taking Signalling achangeinthe and64,anda45-year-oldwoman have closedroads leading to the market aftersome traders tested positive forCOVID-19onTuesday. Amit Chakravarty the total number of cases to protocol so far, theHealth who had no co-morbidities. Two Bhopal: Three migrant 31,787, and 7,796 patientshave Ministryhas already announced other men, aged 80 and 61,who labourers who were recovered, making the recovery that offices where aCOVID case diedatSVP Hospital, had hyper- strandedinRajasthan died rate nearly 25 per cent. has been detected neednot be tension. A70-year-old woman afew kilometersaway from So far, 7,70,764 testshave closeddown, as wasthe proto- who diedatCivil Hospital had theirvillage inUjjaindistrict Attacks on frontline workers:UPto been conducted in the country col earlier. asthmaand hypertension. Anot- whenatruckranoverthem in private and ICMR laboratories. “If thereisaCOVID patient in her 60-year-oldwoman to suc- while theywereasleep on In an interaction with the anon-COVID hospital, that facil- cumb had lung complications Wednesday. Thetrio,in- Lions Club International mem- ity can be usedafter disinfection. along with mental illness. cludingacouple,waspartof bring in ordinancefor strict penalty bers from across thecountry, The same process is to be fol- In Ahmedabad, 234 people agroup of 12 workerswho Union Health MinisterDrHarsh lowedfor anyother location tested positive,including five were droppednear the Vardhan said that thereare “a lit- whereaCOVID patientisde- employees of stateinformation Madhya Pradesh border by and violating restrictions. Four held for tle over 300districtsinthe coun- tected.The buildingcan be used department. Of them,two arein aRajasthan government MAULSHREESETH The CM said medical teams, trywithnocases and another afterproper disinfection,”Joint home quarantine and three at a bus. Another bus arranged LUCKNOW,APRIL29 security personnel or even those attackonpolice 300with minimal -between 1 SecretaryLav Agarwalhad said carecentreinSamras Hostel. by theMadhya Pradeshgov- Yogi engagedindoorstepdelivery,are and 5-cases”. on Tuesday. Vadodarareported22new ernment droppedthem THE UTTAR Pradesh government Adityanath helpingpeopleofthestatebyput- team in Kanpur He also said that the dou- In his interactionwith the cases, including sevenmedia- near Nagda Naka near is settopromulgateanordinance ting theirlives at risk and just a bling time over the lastthree Lions Club members, Vardhan persons. Of these, twoare em- Ujjain lateonTuesday. to amendthe Epidemic Diseases handful of people cannotbeal- Lucknow: Minutes afterhealth days is 11.3 days. said: “Thistime the hallmark of ployees of adigital news organ- Fatigued, the workers had Act, 1897,toensurethat those in- Speakingto TheIndianExpress, lowedtocreateunrest. He said workers took away nine family According to the minister, al- our approachhas been five-fold: isation who were travelling to thendecidedtosleeponthe volvedinattacksonfrontlinewor- stateLaw MinisterBrijesh Pathak thathehas asked police officers members of aperson, who had though the global mortality rate (i) maintaining acontinuoussit- Vadodaratoreportonthe pan- roadside. ENS kers amid the COVID-19pan- said that afterthe Centreamen- nottohesitateintakingaction. tested positive forcoronavirus, is around 7per cent, Indiahas so uation awareness, (ii) preemp- demic. A24-year-oldreporter demic face stiffpenalties, dedthe Act, eachstate wassup- “Suchattacksareadirectchal- to putthem in quarantine, local farshown amortality rate of tive andproactive approach, (iii) and a54-year-old cameraperson UTTARAKHAND includingajailtermof upto seven posedtoamendrulesconcerning lengetothelawandordersystem, residentsWednesday allegedly around 3per cent, with nearly gradedresponse as percontin- of the organisation tested posi- years and Rs 5lakh as fine. it. “Uttar Pradeshhas decidedto andinnosituation,theycanbeac- attackedapolice team deployed 86 per cent fatality of patients uouslyevolving scenario, (iv) in- tivealong with theircab driver. Homoeopathy Citing the attackonhealth implement all provisions, like cepted.Ihadsaiditearliertooand at the spotand threw stonesin with co-morbidities. ter-sectoralcoordination at all Four other local mediapersons medicines for workersandpoliceinKanpurand punishment from six months to will sayitagain that in Uttar Jugiyana locality of Kanpur. While the discussioncur- levels, and, mostimportantly(v) also tested positivebut are Moradabad, Chief MinisterYogi sevenyearsand fine imposedin Pradesh,allthehealthworkers,se- Police said those who tar- rentlyiscentred around a creating apeople’s movement to asymptomatic and have been health staff Adityanath on Wednesdaysaid, the Central Act. We have decided curitypersonnel,allthesanitation getedthe police personnel de- gradedopening up of the na- combat this disease.” quarantinedattheir homes. “Attacks on our corona warriors to bring afresh ordinance, mak- workers, and even social organi- mandedthat health workers Dehradun: Uttarakhand areaserious crimewhichcannot ing the punishment morestrict.” sations areworkingtobreak the shouldtestthe patient’s family cabinet on Wednesday de- go unpunishedasthesewarriors Whilethenewordinancewill chain of coronavirus... Attacking members at the residence and cidedtoprovide homoeo- areworkingforthesocietyby put- be called Uttar Pradesh Epidemic them is an unpardonablecrime,” take away onlythosewho test Lancet study: No statistically pathic and ayurvedic med- ting their livesatrisk.” DiseaseControlOrdinance,2020, he said, addingthat GangsterAct positive forcoronavirus. icines to frontline health “Thatiswhy we have moved sourcessaiditwouldincludepun- and National Security Actwould Fiftyarearesidentshavebeen workers to “boosttheir im- forwardtoamendEpidemicDise- ishment foroffences likespitting, also be invokedagainstthose in- bookedinacase filedatthe lo- significant clinical benefits of munity”. Homoeopathy ases Act...,” he said. runningfromquarantinefacilities volved in such attacks. cal policestation. ENS drug Arsenicum Album30 and ayurvedic syrups of remdesivir in COVID patients herbs suchasTulsiand Ashwagandha will be pro- Chhattisgarh dist throws up first case, It wasusedinbetween trial of WHO, under which it is cured at acostofRs2.48 ABANTIKAGHOSH February6,andMarch 12,and237 likelytobeusedinIndianpatients, lakh and giventomedical NEWDELHI,APRIL29 patientswereenrolledand ran- too. andpara-medicalstaff,said question on transfer duringquarantine domlyassignedtoatreatment Thereare other trials under- Uttarakhand minister THE RESULTS of the firstran- group.Of these,158patientsin10 way, including one at the Madan Kaushik. ENS domisedcontrol trial forremde- hospitalsinWuhan,China,hadac- University of Nebraska Medical those suspected to have been in- state’s(government’s)prerogative Explaining whyheordered sivir,adrug originally developed tuallyreceived the drug. Center (UNMC)inOmaha, USA, ASSAM GARGIVERMA fected)toAIIMS-Raipur. Iwascon- wherepeoplearekept.They were transfer of so manypeople to forEbola, in patientsofCOVID-19 The study,however, was whose regulatorysponsor is the RAIPUR,APRIL29 tactedby theRajnandgaoncollec- quarantinedinRajnandgaon, quarantine centres in other dis- arein, and the resultsare not stoppedmidway by the data National InstituteofAllergy and Austerity torand we made arrangements were transportedbyourvehicles, tricts, Maurya said he decidedto promising. safetymonitoring boardsince Infectious Diseases, partofthe measures ON TUESDAY, a58-year-old man for106peopletheysentto ourdis- andkept inthequarantinefacility makesmall groups to ensure In astudy in themedical jour- therewerenot enoughCOVIDpa- National Institutes of Health. tested positive forCOVID-19in trict,”Surajpur districtcollector in (different) districts. It doesn’t containmentafter morethan nal TheLancet,Chinesere- tientsleftinWuhanaftertheout- Prof BinCaofromChina-Japan announced Chhattisgarh’s Surajpur —the Deepak Soni said on Wednesday. break the quarantine.” 400people congregated at one searchershave reportedthatthey break therewas broughtunder Friendship Hospital and Capital firstconfirmedcase in the dis- This transfer of nearly 400 AccordingtoaHealth camp. “Quarantine centres work couldnotfindany“statistically sig- control. So the authors high- Medical University in China, who Guwahati: The Assam gov- trict. In the rapid test,nineothers peopleto decongestRajnandgaon Departmentofficial,quarantineis in theory,but in reality everyone nificantclinicalbenefits”. lightedtheneedforlargerstudies. ledthe research,wrote:“Ourtrial ernment Wednesdayan- quarantined at the same shelter quarantinecentres —the district meant to restartafter everyin- wantstogohome. We took the The researchers reported: Remdesivir,developed by found that while safeand ade- nouncedaslewofausterity campweresuspected to have has 58 quarantine camps, hous- stance of travel. decision of sending them to “Although notstatisticallysignif- Gilead SciencesInc, aresearch- quatelytolerated,remdesivir did measuresinthewake of the been infected. ing nearly 9,000 people —has The man who has tested pos- other districtsafter they started icant, patientsreceiving remde- basedbiopharmaceutical com- notprovidesignificant benefits COVID-19outbreak.Among A10th person suspected to raisedaquestionof whetherpeo- itive in Surajpur worked as a posinglaw and order problems,” sivirhadanumericallyfastertime pany,isabroad-spectrumantiviral overplacebo...butwe aremindful the steps arereductionof have contractedtheinfectionwas ple should be allowedtotravel labourer in Maharashtra’s he said. to clinical improvementthan previouslytestedinhumans with that we were onlyabletoenrol establishmentexpenditure housedataquarantine campin during their mandatoryquaran- Wardha district and is aresident Maurya also said he had writ- those receiving placeboamong Ebola virus and has also shown 237ofthe target453 patientsbe- —from20percentto 10 per Jashpur district. tine period. of Jharkhand.Hewasquarantined tentosenior bureaucratsinthe patients with symptomduration promise as adrugagainstthe causetheCOVID-19outbreakwas cent of the budget forthe Bothwere greenzonedistricts, While Rajnandgaon collector in Rajnandgaon on April 5and statetohelp himtransfer some of 10 days or less.Adverse events MiddleEastRespiratorySyndrome broughtundercontrolinWuhan... firstquarter—and suspen- and all 12 people had arrived, JPMauryasaidthe people sent wasmoved to JajawalinSurajpur migrant workers from were reportedin102(66%)of 155 (MERS) and Severe Acute restrictionsonbedavailabilityre- sion of sops to industries. along manyothers in agroup of outhad completedthe required on April 17.The same day, four Rajnandgaon’s quarantine cen- remdesivir recipientsversus50 RespiratorySyndrome(SARS),both sulted in mostpatientsbeingen- The release of MLAFunds around400,fromquarantinecen- 15-dayquarantineperiod,state groupsofabout100 people each tres. “Wealso requestedthe (64%) of 78 placebo recipients. ofwhich,likeCOVID-19,arecaused rolledlater in the disease course, wassuspendedfor the first tres in Rajnandgaon district on AdditionalChief SecretarySubrat were transferredfrom (Union) Home Ministrytoallow Remdesivirwasstoppedearly be- bycoronaviruses.Ithasbeentouted so we were unable to adequately four months of the fiscal or April 17. Sahu said theyhad been therefor Rajnandgaon to quarantine cen- us to transportmigrant workers causeof adverseeventsin18(12%) as one of the mostpromising ther- assesswhether earlier treatment until further orders. ENS “Wehavesentall patients hardlya“few”days. tres in Jashpur,Surajpur,Koriya to theirstates(of origin),butitwas patients versusfour(5%) patients apies againstCOVID. with remdesivir might have pro- (man who tested positive and Sahu,however,said:“It is the and Raigadh districts. denied,” he said. who stoppedplacebo early.” It is apartofthe SOLIDARITY videdclinical benefit.”

DATA PRIVACY, OWNERSHIP AND STORAGE Concerns over Gujarat app, with links to health secy, used to track cases

datastorage and use. Under the government. Through said, “concernedauthorities will tion that we requestwillbere- terCOVID-19pandemic struck SOHINIGHOSH circumstances,inorder to in- MyTeCHO, citizens can register have to ensurethatprivate doctors tainedbyusand used as de- and wasalso usedtomonitor GANDHINAGAR,APRIL29 crease the coverage of the complaints or feedbackregard- and hospitals upload all informa- scribed in this privacy policy.The treatment”. “… in the firstweek TechoSoftwareapplication, ing government health services. tion online regarding suspected app does use thirdparty services of April when theCentral gov- THE GUJARATstate health com- thereshould be an MoUwiththe The service wastemporarily on cases” on DrTeCHO+ app and “vi- that maycollectinformation ernmentlaunchedamobile app missioner has raisedconcerns of developer of the application”. halt, an official said. DrTeCHO, olationof thiscircularwillresultin usedtoidentify you.” forthe treatment and observa- dataprivacy,ownership and Sources said the concern was developedpost-COVID-19, is to proceedingsunderthe Gujarat In her statement to The tion of COVID-19patientsand storageregarding TeCHO+ app, regarding sharing of datawith be usedbyprivate doctors to no- EpidemicRegulation, 2020”. Indian Express,Ravisaidthat when governments were di- whichisbeing usedtoupload ArgusoftIndiaLtd. tify SARI (Severe Acute Subsequentlytoo the gov- when she wasappointedasthe rected to use it, instead of dataonCOVID-19patients. While Shivaharerefusedto RespiratoryInfection) or ILI ernment had issuedadvertise- Health Commissioner in 2017, TeCHO, the decision wastaken The softwarefor the app was comment on the issue, Deputy (Influenza LikeIllness) cases. mentsregarding the app, talking she had informedthe General at ourlevel to use the Indian gov- developedbyArguSoftIndia Ltd, Chief MinisterNitin Patel, who Ascreenshotregarding map- of “mandatory reporting of all Administration Departmentthat ernment’s app”. whose president is Ravi holds the health portfolio, told pingdataacross TeCHOplat- Novel Corona virus symptoms or her husband’s firm Argusofthad As of April 21,accordingtoa Gopalan, the husband of The IndianExpress,“Ihavecome forms wasshared by the Gujarat Severe AcuteRespiratory in 2013 developedthe ImTeCHO Gujarat government press re- Principal Secretary, Health and across some news reports re- Information Department on Infection (SARI) through app forthe Gujarat government, lease, 3,304doctors were regis- FamilyWelfare, Jayanti Ravi. garding this but Idon’t have any April 12 on aWhatsApp group DrTeCHO app” by allprivate doc- usedasatrackerfor maternal teredonDrTeCHO+ application. Sources in the Gujarat gov- information.” with journalists,showing asen- tors and private health and infant health. Dr Kamlesh Saini,state sec- ernment confirmedthat Health In response to questions sent ior official of ArguSoft, institutions”. It wasofficially “dedicated to retary of theGujarat chapterof Commissioner Jai Prakash by The Indian Express,Ravisaid Sethuraman Venkataraman, The privacy policy for the people” on October 7, 2017, the Indian Medical Association, Shivahareraisedthe concernin anyallegations were “baseless” Medical officials in Vadodara’s Nagarwada afteraperson logged intohis account, while DrTeCHO says,“If youchoose to by Prime MinisterNarendra said doctors were expected to acommunication dated April 16 and that “as amatter of princi- tested positive in the area. Bhupendra Rana showing aspatial distribution of use our service, then youagree Modi from his hometown enter details suchasname, age, regarding “TeCHO software”, ple, Iand my husband Ravi cases. to the collection and use of infor- Vadnagar,Ravi’sstatement said, phonenumber, residential ad- saying that in order to useanup- Gopalan had decidedyears back Earlier,inanorder on March mation inrelation to this policy... adding that the information is dress, travel history,co-morbidi- gradedversion of it, “certain le- that all work he does forthe TeCHO+ as afreeapp and itspri- Incidentally, the TeCHO+ 27,signedbythe Joint Secretary, Forabetter experience… we also usedonthe CMDashboard. ties or existing health conditions galaspectsneededtobetaken Gujarat government wouldbe vacy policy states that the “ecosystem” includes twoother HealthDepartment,andissuedin mayrequire youtoprovideus Ravi addedthat the of SARI or ILI cases, as well as the intoaccount likeconsent of the free of cost”. “Service is provided... at no cost apps, MyTeCHOand DrTeCHO, the name of the Governor,the with certain personallyidentifi- ImTeCHO app wasusedfor symptoms being exhibited and patient, ownership of the data, ArgusoftIndia Ltd built and is intendedfor use as is”. withtie-ups with the Gujarat Gujarat HealthDepartment had able information. The informa- “door-to-doorsurveillance… af- since when.

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 6 THE OUTBREAK THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020

UP migrant who died after 2-week State govt procurementgets delayed, journey home tests negative farmers in Rajasthan pay the price DELHI CONFIDENTIAL

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE thatprocurement of mustard in Officialssaid that online regis- LUCKNOW,APRIL29 DEEPMUKHERJEE the district would startfrom trationwillbegin again from JAIPUR,APRIL29 May1. May1. A35-YEAR-OLD migrantworker “I couldn’t wait till procure- Farmers saythe delayhas hit who diedonMondayafter hitch- THREE DAYS afterreturning ment starts.Kharif sowing has them hard. At Sodhanavillagein hiking 1,500kmfromMumbai from the Krishi Upaj Mandi in startedand Ineedmoneyimme- Baran district’s Kishanganj tehsil, to Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti dis- Rajasthan’s Sriganganagar city, diately to purchase seeds and 58-year-oldMukeshPaliwal is trict over twoweekshas tested 48-year-old farmer Gurpreet paylabourers forsowingcotton. reluctant to sell 80 quintals of his negative forCOVID-19. Singh Sandhu still can’t stop rue- We have no wayofrecovering wheat produce to private play- Insaf Ali’s autopsy could not inghis loss —hehad to sell most our losses,” says Sandhu, who ers forless than the MSP of Rs ascertain the cause of his death. of his mustard produceof75 had sown mustard on 16 acres. 1,925 per quintal. But AjaySingh Ali had reachedMathkanwa vil- quintals formuchlowerthanthe SanjayPathak,generalman- Choudhary, another farmer from lageonMondaymorning. By minimum supportprice (MSP). ager,RAJFED,told The Indian Kishanganj tehsil, says that due noon, aftercomplaining of stom- “I suffered alossofRs900on Express that thisyear,inaperiod to his urgent needfor cash, he achache, he wasdead. eachquintalafter sellingthe Farmersatthe Kishanganj tehsildaroffice in Barandistrict of three months,the govern- couldn’t wait. “I neededcash ur- REACHING OUT “His coronavirus test is nega- mustard at just over Rs 3,500a aftersubmitting amemorandum requesting an increase in ment has atargetofprocuring gentlyfor labourers and other tive.The post-mortemwas in- quintal at the mandi. Lastyear,I thequantity of wheat and number of tokens issued. Express 10.46 lakhmetrictonnes of mus- expenses, so Ihad to sell 500 RAJYASABHA ChairmanMVenkaiahNaidu hasreachedout conclusive.His cause of death had sold my produce to the gov- tard and6.17lakhmetrictonnes quintals. The wheat wassold for to nearly allmembersofthe Upper House, former Indian couldnot be ascertained,” SP ernment at MSP of Rs 4,200a of gram at the MSP.Headded Rs 1,743and Rs 1,661per quin- Presidents, Prime Ministers, present and former Chief Justices Anoop Kumar Singh told The quintal,” says Sandhu, aresident ative MarketingFederation Ltd Government datashows that thatthere wasadelayofaround tal—lowerthan MSP,” says of India, Governors and Chief Ministers of nearly all states, Indian Express. of 8NN villageofSrigangnagar. (RAJFED) is procuring mustard as of Tuesday, theaverage price 15 days in starting the process Choudhary. leaders of various political parties and even mediapersons, The police handedoverthe Forthis year’srabi season, the and gram at MSP of Rs 4,425 and of mustard in the Sriganganagar- due to the lockdown. FCIgeneral manager (region) asking aftertheir health and safetyduring the lockdown. Part body to the family. The burial Centre has fixedRs4,425 aquin- 4,875 per quintal, respectively, Jaitsar,Padampur,Sadulsahar Atotal of 2,72,795 farmers SanjeevBhasker told TheIndian of his “Mission Connect”, Naidu has already spoken to 241 wasscheduledfor Wednesday talasMSP forrapeseedand mus- but procurement is functional and Sriganganagarmandis was areregisteredwith RAJFED to Express that FCIhas atargetof RajyaSabha members,including those who have retired and evening. AfterAli’s death, his tard.However, with the delayin onlyinafew districtsinKotadivi- Rs 3,640, Rs 3,801, Rs 3,711 and sell their produceatMSP.Online procuring 17 lakh metric tonnes those recentlyreelected.Hehas spoken with former familywas quarantinedina government procurement due sion, leaving farmers from other Rs 3,765 respectively,much registrationwas stoppedafter of wheat in Rajasthan till June Presidents Pranab Mukherjee andPratibhaPatilaswell as for- school fortouching his body. to thelockdown, farmers in districtslikeSriganganagar with lowerthan the MSP of Rs 4,425. the lockdown wasannounced. 30. “Till Mondayweprocured mer PrimeMinisters Manmohan Singh and HDDeve Gowda. Theywereallowedbackhome mostareas of Rajasthan areun- no option but to wait or sell their Ranvir Singh Chahar, Among thoseregistered,only 74,720 metric tonnes of wheat,” He has held severalvideo-conferencing calls with Governors on Wednesdayafter thetestre- able to sell theirproduce at MSP. produce at throwaway prices to Sriganganagar regional officer, 7,547farmers have been allotted said Bhasker. FULLREPORTON to assess the situation during the pandemic in thesestates. portcame backnegative. The Rajasthan StateCo-oper- private players at mandis. RAJFED,told TheIndianExpress dates forpurchaseofproduce. www.indianexpress.com Naidu has also reachedout to CJI SABobde, and his predeces- sors Deepak Misraand Ranjan Gogoi, nowaRajyaSabha MP.

Bihar welcomes govt orderon FOLLOW NO MORE ABOUT THREE weeksafter theWhiteHouse followedPrime Minister NarendraModi, PresidentRam Nath Kovind and the migrants, mum on next steps PrimeMinister’s Office (PMO) on Twitter,the official handle of the WhiteHouse has unfollowedthem all. Around April 10, the WhiteHouse followedthe personal Twitter handles of An esti- been askingfor this forlong. CM Nitish Kovind,Modi and the PMO. With this, Modi and President SANTOSHSINGH mated 10 lakh Kumar had also takenthis up with Kovind became the onlyworld leaders who were followedby PATNA,APRIL29 people from Prime MinisterNarendra Modiatthe the WhiteHouse on Twitter.But no more. Besides the three Bihar arebe- recent video-conference meeting. We handles, the WhiteHouse has also unfollowedthe Indian WHILE BIHAR welcomedthe Centre’s lievedtobe had been asking forclarity and will Embassy in Washington and the US EmbassyinNew Delhi. orderonWednesday allowing move- stuckinother nowworkaccordingly.” By Wednesdayevening, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took ment of labour,studentsand tourists states, mostly Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandeysaid an apparent dig at the government by tweeting about the de- strandedawayfromhomes across the Haryana, while the return of around10lakh peo- velopment —heexpressed“dismay” and asked the MEA to country, therewas no word from it on Gujarat, Delhi, ple, including“around 1,000 students look intoit. whether it would arrangefor the re- BiharCM Uttar Pradesh from Kota alone”,would be achallenge, turn of people from the state. NitishKumar and theywereready forit. “Wehavemade In astatement, Bihar Chief Minister Maharashtra. As arrangementstoquarantine about 2.5 MAPPING MOVES NitishKumar said, “The MHA (Union states likeUttar lakh people. It would be expandedfur- MinistryofHome Affairs) order is apt Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh last ther.Wewould likethe states from THE MHA’S order on inter-state movement of migrant work- and welcome. We will complywiththe week startedmaking arrangementsfor wheretheyare coming to conduct ers and studentshas created an interesting buzz in the power Central government’s protocolsonmi- the return of studentsand labour from screening or COVID tests of all.Wecan corridors. Manybureaucratsare saying that the Centrehas for grants’ movement.” the state, Bihar had come under pres- conduct asecond test at our quaran- the firsttimedisplayedthe “truespiritofcooperative feder- Topsources in the Chief Minister’s suretodoso. However, thestate gov- tine centres.” alism”.Theysay this is perhapsthe onlyoccasion when the Office told The Indian Express that the ernment had said it couldn’t do the Lok Janshakti Partypresident Centrehas followedalockdown relaxation model already ex- government wasunlikelytosend ve- same as the Centre’s lockdown guide- Chirag Paswan said he had also taken ercisedbyastate. Thereference is primarilytoUttar Pradesh, hicles to other states, but would lines forbid it. up the matter with the PM, while the whichhad begun extracting students and migrant workers arrangetotakethose who reachits Welcoming the Home Ministry’s RJD claimedthe Centrehad acted on in large numbers from other states muchbeforethe MHA’s E-Tendering Notice borders to quarantine centres at the order on Wednesday, Bihar Deputy CM the “constant pressureput by leaderof latestorder.Manyalso pointed to the apparent cue provided U.P POWER TRANSMISSION CORPORATION LTD. blocklevel in theirdistricts. Sushil Kumar Modi said, “Wehave Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav”. in areport in RSS mouthpiece‘Panchjanya’, whichhailedthe E-Tender Notice-02/ECTC/AGRA/2020-21 wayYogiAdityanath is managing the stateduringthe ongo- E-Tender in two parts, Part-I &Part-II valid for four months are invited for the work ing pandemic. mentioned as under:- Prayagraj Mela Authority Tender Name of Work Period Earnest Tender Total Date and Date and Triveni Bhawan, Triveni Bandh, Daraganj, Prayagraj Speci- of Money Cost Tender Time of Time of fication Work (Including Cost Submission opening +91532 2500775 /+91 532 2504011, [email protected] Hoursbefore testing No. GST) & NIT RFP for Selection of Agency for Designing and Publication of Corrigendum Charges negative, quarantined Tender Notice No. DRM (Elect.) 78, 79 07 Increasing Capacity work 02 1,40,000.00 5900 6590.00 01.06.2020 02.06.2020 Administrative Report for Kumbh 2019 by Prayagraj Mela Authority and 80 (2019-20) issued by this office, of (2x160MVA to 3x160 railway staffer kills self Month + /12:00 /12:00 The Prayagraj Mela Authority Invites Bid of Tender No. 22/MM 2019-20 for “RFP which were scheduled to be opened on MVAT/F) at 220 KV S/S 690 22.04.2020 at 15:30 Hrs.,will now be Chhata Mathura for Selection of Agency for Designing and Publication of Administrative Report for opened on 06.05.2020 at 15:30 Hrs., The tenderdocument against this bid specificationcan be downloaded from e- Other Terms and condition are same. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE procurement website http://etender.up.nic.in &www.upptcl.org. Tenders can be only Kumbh 2019”. The Request for Proposal Documentsshall be made available on Divisional Railway Manager (Electrical), 424-SP/20 NWR/Ajmer LUCKNOW,APRIL29 submitted on e-procurement website http://etender.up.nic.in. upto schedule date &time the Uttar Pradesh E-Procurement website Https://etender.up.nic.in on as above. The bidder must go through properly per-qualifying condition &ensure that all 30/04/2020 for Tender No. 22/MM2019-20. Interested partiesmay INDIAN PORT RAIL related papers are uploaded. For participating in bids throughthe e-bidding system,itis &ROPEWAY A59-YEAR-OLD Railway employeeadmitted necessary for the bidders to get themselves registered with UP Electronics Corporation download/upload their proposal from 1600 hrs 30/04/2020 till 1400 hrs 07/05/2020 CORPORATION LIMITED to ahospital quarantine facility in Firozabad Limited Lucknow.Undersignedreservesthe right to amend of withdraw any of the terms for Tender No. 22/MM 2019-20 via Digital Signature Certificate (DSC). The bids (A JV Company under Ministry of district committed suicide late on Tuesday and conditionscontaininthe tenderdocument or acceptorreject any bid without Shipping,Government of India) night, hours before his second sample tested assigning any reason thereof. Please visit websitehttp://etender.up.nic.in or (Formerly Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd.) received from interested parties shall be opened in the presence of the respective negative forCOVID-19. www.upptcl.org regularly for any correction/modification/amendments/extension till the RFQ No. date of submission of tender.CostofTender and Earnest Money Submitted in the bidders at 1600 Hrs on 07/05/2020 for Tender No. 22/MM 2019-20. Details IPRCL/ADI/PROJECTS/NMHC/ The police saidOmPrakash, aGroup-D Account of Executive Engineer,Electricity Civil Transmission Division, 220 KV S/S EPC/2020 staffer, mayhavekilledhimself because of Sikandra (Agra) with A/C No. 30065294923, IFSC Code- SBIN0005717 Payable at regarding the tender shall be made available on https://etender.up.nic.in Dated: 30.04.2020 stress. He had been admitted to the facility S.B.I Foundry Nagar(Agra) U.P.Pin Code:-282006 throughNEFT/RTGS, with Proof of Mela Adhikari Construction of National Maritime on April 20 afteracolleague tested positive. depositi.e. UTR No./PayinSlip. In case of absence of UTR No. Please Upload Bank Heritage Complex at Lothal, Gujarat “The employee’s body wasfoundhang- statement showing that transaction. SUPERINTENDINGENGINEER, ELECTRICITY Kumbh Mela 2019, through Engineering, ing in his room at ahospital quarantine room CIVIL TRANSMISSIONCIRCLE, AGRA.UPPTCL WEBSITE:-www.upptcl.org,E- Procurement &Construction (EPC) Prayagraj Mela Authority at SH Hospitalunderthe Tundla police sta- PROCUREMENT WEBSITE: http://etender.up.nic.in. “SAVE ENERGY IN THE Mode. INTEREST OF THE NATION” Ik=kad%536 fo0tk0ik0ea0vk0@fufonk@fnukad% 29-04-2020 Prayagraj For more details visit website tion on Wednesdaymorning. He endedlife www.etenders.gov.in/eprocure/app by hanging himself on Tuesdaynight. The GURU GHASIDAS VISHWAVIDYALAYA reason forthe suicide is likely HIMACHAL PRADESH to be stress regarding the (A Central University established under the Central Universities Act, 2009, No.25 of 2009) PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT coronavirus,” said KONI,BILASPUR-495 009 (C.G.) INDIA Superintendent of Police Tel. -+91-7752- 260342 260021 Fax -+91-7752- 260154260148 website -www.ggu.ac.in e-Procurement Notice SachindraPatel. INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) An official said Prakash’s ADMISSION NOTICE (2020-21) 1The ExecutiveEngineer Mandi Division No.II, HPPWD Mandi H.P on behalf of Governor of H.P firstsample had been sent for Ref.No.03/Admission/Academic/20 Bilaspur,Date 29.04.2020 invites the online bids on item rate in electronic tendering system in 2cover system forthe follow- ing worksfrom the eligible and approvedcontractors/Firms registered with HPPWD department testing lastweek.“Then on Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur invites online applications for admission to the various courses for the academic session 2020-21 through Vishwavidyalaya Monday, it wasagain sent for Entrance Test (VET). Sr.Name of Work Estimated EMD Cost of Eligible Class Time No. Cost Tender of Contractor Limit the coronavirus test.The re- (a) Courses available for admission: sult came today[Wednesday] Honours Programmes : B. Com (Honours), BSW,BA(Honours)-Anthropology,English, Hindi, Journalism &Mass Communication, Economics, History,Political 1RConstruction of Bhargaon to Alag via Tilla road km s.18445000.00 Rs.216950.00 Rs.5000.00 B&A One year 0/0 to 2/500 under RIDF XXV (SH:-F/C 5/7 Mtr wide afternoon, and it showedhe Science, R/walls,B/walls,CDworks unlineddrain, parapets had tested negative forthe B. Sc. (Honours)- Anthropology ,Biotechnology,Botany,Forensic Science, Chemistry,Computer Science, Zoology,Mathematics, Physics, Electronics, Rural logo board and dumping site etc in km 0/0 to 2/500) virus. His sample had to be Technology . 2. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission: The bid document is available online and bid should be submit- 5years Integrated BA -LLB, B. Com-LLB ted online on website http://hptenders.gov.inbidder would be required to register in the websitewhich is free of cost. Forsub- sent twice to afacilityinSaifai B. Pharm, B.Sc. in Forestry,Bachelor of Education (B..Ed.),B.Ed. Special Education (Learning disability), B.Ed. Special Education (Hearing Impaired), Bachelor of mission of bids,the bidder is required to have Digital SignatureCertificate (DSC)from one of the authorized Certifying forsome technicalreasons.” Authorities(CA). “Aspiring bidderswho have not obtained the user ID and password forparticipating in e-tenderingin Physical Education (B.P.Ed.), Bachelor of Library &Information Science (B. Lib. &I.Sc.), HPPWD mayobtain the samefrom the website: http://hptenders.gov.in Digitalsignatureismandatorytoparticipate in the Apolice official said Postgraduate programme : M.Sc. -Botany,Chemistry,Bio-technology,Forensic Science, Computer Science, Rural Technology,Forestry,Physics, Electronics, e-tendering. Biddersalreadypossessingthe digitalsignatureissued from authorizedCAs can usethe same in thistender. Prakash’s bodywas kept at Mathematics, Zoology,M.A.- Economics,Political Science, Hindi, English, History,Journalism &Mass Communication. Master of Education (M.Ed.), Master of 3. Key dates:- the mortuaryashis family Physical Education (M.P.Ed.), Master of Social Work (MSW), Master of Computer Applications (M.C.A.), M.A./M.Sc .inAnthropology,M.Lib. &Inf. Sc., M. wasyet to arrive. 1Date of online publication 4.05.2020. at 5.PM Com. “Thetwo sons areontheir 2Document download and end date 4.05.2020 at 5.00PM up to 25.05.2020. at 5.00 PM Diploma programme: Diploma in Pharmacy,PGDC, CCCL waytoFirozabad.Theyhave 3Bid submission startand end date 4.05.2020 at 5.30PM up to 25.05.2020 at 5.00 PM (b) Exam Centres for VET* -1.Bilaspur (CG) 2. Raipur (CG) 3.Jagdalpur (CG) 4. Ambikapur (CG) 5. Korba (CG), 6. Janjgir/Champa (CG),7. Raigarh (CG), 8. gotpermission to travel.After 4Date of technical bid opening 26.05.2020 at 11.30 AM Rajnandgaon (CG), 9. Patna (Bihar), 10. Ranchi (JH), 11.Vishakhapatnam(AP) 12. Prayagraj (Allahabad) (UP) 13. Bhubaneshwar (Odissa), 14. Kolkata (WB) ,15. theycome, we will hand over Gandia (MH), 16 Jabalpur (MP), 5Physical submission of original documents i/c original EMD Upto 26.5.2020 at 11.00 AM &cost of tender documents etc the body to them forcrema- Details/names of the Centres of Examinations will be available on our website (www.ggu.ac.in) from 30'h May 2020. tion,” said Kumar. (c) For admission procedure, eligibility,number of seats, reservation policy,fees, scholarship, entrance test date &time, exam centreand how to apply,please 4. Tender Details:- refer to "Online Application for Admission 2020-21" available on university website www.ggu.ac.in The tender documents shall be uploaded on line in 2cover. (d) Application/Entrance Test Fee- i) Cover1:shall contain scanned copies of all “Technical Documents eligibility” information Online Application form - Rs. 500/- +Bank Charges for GEN,OBC and EWS, Rs. 250/- +Bank Charges for SC/ ST /PWD candidates. ii) Cover2:shall contain “BOQ/Financial bid” where contractor will quote his offer foreach item Classifieds Important dates: 5. Submission of Original Documents: The bidders are required to submit (a) original demand draft towards the cost of bid document and (b) original bid security/Earnest moneyDeposit (EMD) and other l. Start of Online Application Process :4th May 2020 Technical Documents with this office as specified in key dates at Sr.No.5.failing which the bids will be PUBLIC NOTICE 2. Closing date of Online submission of Application forms :30th May 2020 declared nonresponsive. 3.. Downloading of Admit card (online) starts from :Will be declaredlater on 6. Bid opening Detail: The bid shall be opened on 26.05.2020 at 11.30 HRs in the office of Executive 4. Entrance test dates for All Courses :Will be declaredlater on Engineer Mandi DivisionNo.II HP.PWD Mandi. If the office happens to be closed on the date of opening 5. Declaration of Results :Will be declaredlater on of the bid as specified the bid will be opened on the next working dayatthe same time and venue. 6. Counselling (For VET) :Will be declaredlater on 7. The bid forthe work shall remain valid foracceptance foraperiodnot less than 120 days afterthe dead- line date forbid submission. 7. Last date of Admission (For VET ):Will be declared later on 8. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents.The officer inviting tender shall not be held liable for anydelays due to system failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bid- *The University reserves the right to change/cancel any Centre of Examination or date without assigning any reason. ders of anybid updates,the Employershall not be liable forany information not received by the bidder.It Note:- is the bidders’ responsibilitytoverify the website 1. Separate notification will be issued by the University for MBA, M. Tech. &M.Pharm., candidates interested in these courses need not apply against this advertisement . forthe latest information related to the tender. 2. In case,the University will not be able to conduct Entrance Tests for courses advertised in this Admission Notice, due to lock down (COVID-19), admissions will be Executive Engineer, given to the applicants on the basis of their merit/marks scored in the qualifying examination prescribed in eligibility criteria. Mandi Division No.II HP.PWD Mandi 3. The closing date is tentative and it can be extended if the governments extend the lock down period. HIM SUCHANA AVAMJANSAMPARK Helpline: 07752-260342 260299( For Online) Email: [email protected] Registrar (Acting) 0167/HP

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020 7 EXPRESS NETWORK

‘Present situation Kerala Startacademicsessionforfirst-year institute gets in Kashmir stable ICMRnod to studentsinSept,UGCadvisesvarsities testplant but fragile... peace extractionfor Forthe graduatingbatch, as conduct their examinationinei- “Inthe situations wherepre- search scholars. RITIKACHOPRA firstreportedbyThe Indian ther offline or online mode and vioussemesterorpreviousyear The 2020-21academicyear corona cure goal for forces’ NEWDELHI,APRIL29 Express on April 26, universities reduce the time from three to marksarenot available, particu- maynot have awinter break and and colleges have been advised twohours.However, theexam- larly in the firstyear of annual followsix-dayteaching week to THE 2020-21academic session to hold their final-yearortermi- ination should be held“observ- pattern of examinations,100% makeupfor the learning time SHAJUPHILIP LIEUTENANT GENERAL BSRAJU will startone-and-a-half months nal semesterexamination from ingthe guidelines of ‘social dis- evaluation maybedoneonthe lost due to the classroom shut- THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, took over as GOC of Chinar late forstudentsentering higher July1toJuly15and declaretheir tancing’and keeping in viewthe basis of internal assessments. If down. APRIL29 Corps, whichlooksafter the education this year. resultsend of the month. support system availablewith the student wishes to improve Examination forthe firstse- Army’s operationsinthe The University Grants Forintermediate(read 2nd them and ensuring fair opportu- the grades, he/she mayappear mesterof2020-21islikelyto EVENASthe medical research Kashmir region, includingthe Commission (UGC) on or 3rdyear) students,higher ed- nity to all students”, the UGC in special exams forsuchsub- take place in January2021and worldislooking at avaccine and highlyactive Line of Control, on Wednesdayreleasedanindica- ucation institutions can hold guidelines states. jectsduring next semester,”the forthe second semesterinMay- drug forcoronavirus, aKerala- March2.HespeakstoSUSHANT tive academic calendarfor their semesteroryear-end ex- In case higher education in- UGC guidelines state. June. The 2021-22 academic basedresearch instituteisex- SINGH about the situation in higher education institutions, amination from July16toJuly30 stitutions areunable to conduct Forresearch students, viva- year is expected to starton ploring the possibility of aplant- Kashmir and the LoC, particu- suggesting that classes forfirst- and announce results by August term-end exams because of the voce examinations areexpected August2. baseddrugtotackle thevirus. larly in the contextofthe COVID- year studentscan startby 14.June, as advised by UGC, can COVID-19outbreak,theyhave to take place through video-con- TheUGC guidelines and pro- Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical 19 pandemic. Excerpts: September 1and forintermedi- be treatedassummer vacation. been advisedtopromote stu- ferencing. All MPhil and PhD stu- posed academic calendar are BotanicalGardenand Research ateyear studentsonAugust1.It Aside from making changes dentsbygiving50% weightage dentswill getanextension of six basedonthe suggestions of an Institute(JNTBGRI), basedat Howdoyou assess the also indicated that the admission to the suggestedacademic cal- to internal evaluation and the months. The lockdown period expertcommittee ledbyRC Palode in Thiruvananthapuram current situation on the LoC? process forfresh batches of stu- endar,universities and colleges, rest to “performance in the pre- will be treatedas“deemedtobe Kuhad, head of Haryana Central district, has receivedthe ICMR’s Whyhas it become active dentsbeconducted in August. the UGC clarified, arealso free to vious semester”. attended” by all studentsand re- University. approval fortesting the effective- now? ness of the plant’s extraction for Pakistanhas consistently treatment of coronavirus, ac- been aiding and abetting infiltra- THEEXPRESS UP: BJP MLA cording to the institute’s direc- tion formorethan 30 years now. How early mover MP lost the tor, Dr RPrakashkumar. All the terroristcamps andlaunch INTERVIEW ‘threatens’ man The test would be held at pads in PoKare full. These terror- National InstituteofVirology WITH istcadres aredesperate to infil- BSRAJU in video, says he (NIV), Pune, he said. tratewiththe helpofPakistan GOC OF CHINAR CORPS plot amid power tussle in March Theinstitute’s ongoing proj- Army... Numerous infiltration at- hid ‘true identity’ ect on “anti-viral from medicinal tempts have been foiledand plantsofWestern Ghats” had PakistanArmyisconstantlyre- Shouldweexpectthe said another senior official, “an- found that acompound from a sorting to ceasefire violation to situation on the LoCto MAULSHREESETH MANOJCG& other 15 days were lostafter the particular plant extractionisef- support the terroristinfiltration. changeanytime soon? LUCKNOW,APRIL29 MILINDGHATWAI Chouhan government took over fectiveagainstchikungunya and Our befitting response to cease- Pakistan’s persistence in infil- NEWDELHI,BHOPAL,APRIL29 because therewas no cleardirec- dengue, both viral infections. The fire violations hasbeenswift,hard trating terrorists,proliferating BJPMLABrijbhushanRajput,who tion”. Chouhan remainedthe extractionhas effectiveanti-virus and punishing. false propaganda areintendedto wasseen in avideopurportedly ON JANUARY25, exactlytwo only minister in thestate fora property, theresearchfound. An impervious Counter disturb peace and itsactions are questioning avegetable vendor months before the firstCOVID- monthafter taking oathonMarch The findings on chikungunya Infiltration Grid and our effective unlikelytochangeanytime soon... about his “actualname” and 19 death wasreportedin 23. Nowhehas aCabinetoffive. and dengue is in the stageof response to ceasefire violations threatening him, told TheIndian Madhya Pradesh, the state’s Then followedthe fiasco of patenting, and the projectissup- have leftPakistanhelpless in fur- What is the internal security Express on Wednesdaythatasa DirectorateofHealthServicesis- the entiretop-levelbureaucracy portedbythe Departmentof thering itsagenda. situation in the Valley? What “workerfor Hindutva”living in suedits firstadvisorytohospi- in the state’s health department Biotechnology,under the Union arethe indicators youare Lucknow, wheretwo “Hindutva tals to be on alert.Asecond di- testing positive,startingApril 3. MinistryofScience and Isn’t it fair to expect that monitoring closely? leaders” had been killed, he fears rection followedthree days later, “Thereshould have been three- Technology. when both India and Pakistan The present situation in forhis life and is “extravigilant” askingcollectors to form task four teams. but everybody was Prakashkumar said:“It is not aregrappling with COVID-19, Kashmir is stable but fragile. aboutactivitiesnearhisresidence. forces and setupisolation wards put in one team, and all of them apreliminaryresearch work.We the situation on the LoC Maintaining peace has been the He wasreferring to the mur- forthose returning from Wuhan, got infected.Sothere wasno have alead molecule (that was) would be morepeaceful and prime goal of all the Security der of Hindu outfit leader China, then the epicentreof health minister, no principal sec- found very effective forchikun- local villagers would be Forces, working in closesynergy Kamlesh Tiwari in October last coronavirus. Childrensew face masksinJabalpur on Wednesday. PTI retary,health, and no director, gunya and dengue. Nowweare spared?What is Pakistan’s with eachother, ie. Army, J&K year and the killingofanother On January31, aday after health services,” said the official. going to addresswhether that gameplan on the LoC? Police, CAPF,intelligence agen- leader in Lucknow. India reported itsfirstcase of in- Chouhan has sought to shift lead molecule is effective for Thereisonlyone reason for cies and the civil administration. Rajput said, “I work forcow fection in Kerala and the WHO Noting that the initial mo- government said,“We issueddi- the blame of this tootothe pre- coronavirus as well. We don’t the near constant ceasefireviola- Also,the Awam-Armyconnect protection and Hindutva, and declared COVID-19apublic mentum waslost, asenior bu- rections that thereshould be no vious government, saying, “It ap- want to makeany predictions; if tions, Pakistan’s attempttoassist has always been strong due to thereisathreattomylifeaswell, health emergency, the stategov- reaucrat said, “Wehad started Holi celebrations on March 10. pears the healthofficials were we getpositive result, it would moreterrorists to infiltrateinto our ethical conduct and trans- butIdid notsay that members of ernment decidedtomakeall surveying those who hadcome We shut all schools, colleges, nottrained and manyofthem be amajor breakthrough,” India in order to disruptnor- parency in operations. The situ- anyparticularcommunitycannot those who had returnedfrom from abroad by theend of mallsetc on March13. But,as got infected themselves.” Prakashkumar said the name malcyinthe Kashmir valley. ation has been largely normal sell vegetables. Iwas just con- China afterJanuary15undergo Januaryitself. The Directorateof youknow, allattention wason Chouhan’s bureaucratic of the plant cannotbedisclosed, PakistanArmyfacilitates these and no civil casualty due to the cernedaboutsomeonehidinghis acoronavirus test. Health Services issuedatleast a the political crisis then.” shake-up includedreplacement but it is easilyavailable in Kerala. infiltration attempts. Even in Security Forces’ actionsince identity.” As Madhya Pradeshbecomes dozen advisories in February Atop stateofficial, sources of Mohanty as chief secretary, The plant extraction would not times when theworld is to- August5,2019, is one example Inthevideothatwentviral,the the thirdstate afterMaharashtra alone. It wasmuchbeforethe said, had to pull political strings transfer of Health Commissioner be giventoNIV-Pune—instead gether in combatting the spread of it. Even now, in our fight MLAfromCharkhari in and Gujarat to recordover100 fear factor had setin.” to ensurethat the Gair congrega- Prateek Hajela (who had earlier the compound of the extraction of the pandemic, thereisno againstcoronavirus, the support Bundelkhand purportedlyasked deaths duetoCOVID-19, and On March 3, then Chief tion to beheld in IndoreonMarch headedthe NRCexercise in would be handed over forthe respitefromPakistan... Our sol- and cooperation we have re- thevendortorevealhisrealname, cities likeIndore and Ujjain SecretarySudhiRanjanMohanty 14 forRang Panchamiwas putoff. Assam) and anew collector for crucial test.Hesaid, “Wealready diersalong theborders arewell ceivedfromthe Awaamhas failing whichhewould bebeaten emerge as hotspots,what is be- held avideo-conference with dis- This wasatask as the organisers Indore. One official said the new have the stockofthe plantex- equipped... We areensuring that been overwhelming. up. Aboy who waswiththe ven- coming increasinglyclearisthat trict collectors and district police were close to bothCongress collector wasrelatively inexpe- traction. But we will getthe plant our borders aresafewhile the dor wasasked his name.The boy whilethe statehad startedgear- chiefsand directed them to en- leader Digvijaya Singh and the rienced, and took time to geton harvestedagain forpreparing countryisfighting COVID-19. Howhavethe guidelineson is heardsaying the name, and ing up to take on the virus early, suremedicalcheck-up of all those BJP’s Kailash Vijayavargiya. “We topofthings. the extraction afresh so that the The Armyalong theLoC pro- COVID-19altered your promisingthattheywouldnotre- it took itseye offthe ball during who had returnedfromabroad. got across messages to both, urg- Afew days ago, theCMset up lab test gets the desired result.’’ vides all types of succourand as- working routine or thatof peat the act. The MLAisheard the crucial period in March But, soon after, Bhopal was ing them to impress upon the or- atask forceoncoronavirus Prakashkumar said JNTBGRI sistance to the population. Our your headquarters, and of tellingthe vendor nottoreturn to when it wasrockedbypolitical overtakenbythe politicaltussle ganisersto cancel.That is theway headedbystate BJP chief VD will signanMoU withNIV-Pune outreachprogrammes range unitsinthe field? his locality. turmoil. betweenthe Congressand BJP. things were in complete flux be- Sharma and including only forthe test,and thePune insti- from medical help, evacuation, All precautions as per guide- Rajput said hissecurity guard The Congress and BJP have “The Kamal Nath government tween March 10 and 24,” asenior politicians. Thereis, besides, a tutehas already sent adraft of provisioningofrations and other lines arebeing followedinletter bought vegetables from the tradedchargesoverthis period, wascaughtupinsaving itself. official said. 13-member advisory panel the MoU. material aid, help in reconstruc- and spirit by our headquarters vender.Heclaimedthatwhenthe with the Congress accusing the His Health Ministerhad rebelled. Meanwhile, BJP leaders, in- headedbyactivistKailash Prakashkumar saidtheyhave tion of damaged houses and and units. Necessaryadjust- venderwasquestionedaboutper- latter of being moreinterested Therewerealso no cases in cluding Shivraj SinghChouhan, Satyarthi and, including afew isolatedamolecule and itsderiv- even providing jobopportunities mentshavebeen made in our mission, he tried to flee. “This in toppling itsgovernment in Madhya Pradesh. so the political belittledthe threat from the doctors, whichhas had onlyone atives. “Wehad approachedICMR to locals. Apartfromthis, educa- routine and functioning in order made me suspicious that he was Madhya Pradesh,and theBJP class perhaps took it lightly,”a virus. “It’s notcoronabut video-conference with Chouhan throughstateHealthSecretaryDr tion, skill development and to maintain ourworking and hidinghis true identity,” the MLA saying that when it came into senior officialsaid. darona,” wasaline repeated by so far. Satyarthi’smainsugges- Rajan NKhobragade, showing women empowerment initia- therehas been no difference in said. He alleged the vendor,“a power, the statewas ill- The HealthMinisteratthe many, accusingthe Congress of tion has been to ban child our interesttotestthis particular tivesare undertakenregularly. our efficacy to conduct opera- Muslim,wascitingaHinduname equippedtohandle the virus. time wasTulsiram Silawat, a playing up the COVID-19scareto pornography. Athirdteam has moleculeagainstcoronavirus. We live with the locals and share tions. Along the LoC, all the loca- and did nothaveany ID proof”. Multiple bureaucrats, both close confidantofJyotiraditya save itsgovernment. been formedcomprising med- Since the fraction has anti-viral the relationship of a‘Humsaya’ tions areisolatedand to maintain Asked about the video, BJP serving and retired,whom The Scindia, who crossedovertothe The firstcase in MP wasre- icalprofessionals. property,itcan be checkedfor (co-inhabitants), which means social distancing and isolations spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi Indian Express spoketo, spoke BJP.Sources said the lastofficial portedonMarch 20, in Jabalpur, As of Wednesday,Madhya coronavirus and itseffectiveness that we standshoulder to shoul- norms, thereisnoproblem at all. said, “The BJP does notsupport about the confusion in Bhopal meeting Silawatattendedwas a the daythe KamalNath govern- Pradesh’s coronavirus figures can be ascertained,” he said. der with them through good and FULLINTERVIEWON anydiscrimination. The MLAis hitting coronavirus effortsin Cabinetmeeting on March 6. ment fell. stood at 2,560 cases and 130 FULLREPORTON not-so-good times. www.indianexpress.com just asking foraname.” March. An official currently in the Apartfrom15days in March, deaths. www.indianexpress.com 3militants killed, ADMIN JUSTIFIES RESTRICTING INTERNET SPEED SC ORDER ON NEET 3security J&K to SC:Internetused for terror, personnel injured Longlegal battle to preserve CMC in 20-hr Shopian access not fundamentalright eased, if speedisnot limited to lationofvariousphotographs, Vellore’s admissionprocess ends encounter EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE 2G, the high speedinternetwill videos, propaganda audios and NEWDELHI,APRIL29 enable the spread of anyfake hence enable the associated con- 2012,byCMC Velloreamong ADILAKHZER news/rumors and transfer of tent to go viral, with the reaction ARUNJANARDHANAN others, challenging the constitu- SRINAGAR,APRIL29 UNDERLININGTHAT“Internetis heavydatafiles(audio/video time of lawenforcement agen- CHENNAI,APRIL29 tional validity of the NEET notifi- being used” by terror handlers in files) will become prevalent cies to suchsituations decreas- cationsissuedbythe MCI and THREE MILITANTS were killed Pakistan“to supportfallacious whichmay be utilizedbyterror ing,” it pointed out. ADECADES-LONGlegal battle to DCI. Essentially, it wasalegal and three security personnel, in- proxywars”,Jammu and outfitsfor incitement as alsoin The affidavit said “misuseof preserveanadmission process fight to protect the admission cluding an ArmyMajor,injured Kashmir administration planning attacks,” the affidavit dataservices, applications like that Christian Medical College process it wasfollowing since in agunbattle whichcontinued Wednesdayjustifiedits decision said. WhatsApp and Facebook for (CMC)Vellorehadbeenfollowing 1946. CMC followedthis process fornearly 20 hoursinsouth to restrict Internetinthe region The affidavit filedbyShaleen mobilizing crowds by anti-na- since1946came to an end on —inspired by selection for Kashmir’sShopian district. to 2G speedand said “right to ac- Kabra, Principal SecretaryHome tional elementshas the poten- Wednesday, with the Supreme armedforces in pre- Sevenpeople also sufferedpel- cess the Internetisnot afunda- Department, J&K, said “Pakistan tial to cause large scale violence, Courtrulingthatalladmissionsto Independent India —with the letinjuries afterclashesbroke mental right”. basedterrorism handlers...,in- disturb public order and indeed graduateand postgraduatepro- help of multiple intern orders out near the encounter site. The administration also said stigating youth to join terrorism, threaten the security of the grammesinmedicaland dental from the Supreme Court from Police officers said thatacor- “the type and breadth of access areusing messaging applica- country”. courses in the countryshould be 1993 to 2012,and at least17 don and search operation was forexercising the right to free- tions to communicateasalso to The administration said basedonthe National Eligibility- courtorders endorsing their se- launchedinMelhooraareaon domofspeech andexpression. raise the moraleofterrorists; “steps takenagainstthe misuse cum-Entrance Test (NEET). Christian Medical College,Vellore. Courtesy: CMC lection process, even afterthe Tuesdayafternoon. “The en- and/or to carry on anytrade or however2Gmobiledataserv- of mobiledataservices which Asserting that NEET wasin stategovernmenttried to im- counter concludedtoday afterit business under.the constitution. ices considerablyrestrictthe use areprevalentinotherparts of “national interest” to improve pose acommon system. startedaround 4.30 pm on through. Internetcan be cur- of suchApplications. Further, it the countrymay notbepractical the quality of medical education, isting system,” he said. mandfor exemption from NEET. “Wehad our ownnation- Tuesday,”said apolice officer. tailed” in the interestofsecurity is submitted that VOIP services/ and definitelynot suffice in case the apexcourtdisagreedwitha Krishna Srinivasan, alawyer Legal battlesmay continue wide entrance exam followedby AJ&K Police spokesperson of state, public order etc. encryptedmessaging, etc. that of J&K”. key argumentofCMC Vellore— who had been fighting the case over largerquestions on minor- an interviewsessionwhere the said the “hiding terrorists fired Responding to petitions seek- areutilizedfor infiltration via Stating thatonly“least re- one of the petitioners—bysay- forCMC Vellorefor over three ity rightsbeforealarger benchof aptitude of candidates waseval- on the search party”, triggering ing 4G Internetspeedinthe re- Line of Control as also commu- strictive”measures areinplace, ing that the NEET regulations do decades, said theyare boundto the Supreme Court.However, uated by agroup of doctors. the gunbattle. The identityofthe gion, the UnionTerritory nication from across the it addedthat “evenwhen inter- notviolateminority rightsasthe followthe SC order. “Wewill the benchonWednesday held Evaluating the candidate’s pro- three militantsisbeing ascer- Administration told the Supreme border,depend upon highspeed netservices were restored only same have been prescribed to continue to followNEET admis- thatthere wasnoquestion of ficiency as adoctor waspartof tained, police said. Courtinanaffidavit that curbs on internet”. with white-listedURLs” afterthe weed outthe maladiesplaguing sion process subject to the discrimination in respect of mi- this process. In this manner,we When the operation began, social media had been easedpost “Current discourses of social apexcourtjudgment in January, professional education. National Medical Commission nority institutions as both ma- got thebestcandidates, who villagers from anearbyarea the January10ruling of theapex media campaigns infer that Pak “it wasfoundthatmiscreants Speaking to The Indian Act, whichwill come in force jority and minority institutions were committed to work in ru- marched towardsthe encounter courtregarding restrictions im- handles areaimingtoincitevio- were using different VPNs but Express,DrPeter John Victor, soon,” he said. will have to admit students ralareas even afterpostgradua- siteand clashedwiththe secu- posedinthe wake of thedecision lence amongstCollegeand because of lowspeedmobile Director of CMC Vellore, said While CMC Velloreseems to through the common entrance tion. Attrition rate of candidates rity personnel on Tuesdayafter- to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s Universitystudents,”the affi- dataservices, were notable to theyhavebeen following the have no immediateplans to seek test conducted by the agency ap- passing out of CMC forafuture noon. In the ensuingaction by specialstatus. davit said. uploadfiles of heavydatacon- NEET selection process forad- areview, the Supreme Courtor- pointedbyMCI or DCI. in aforeign countrywas also security forces, at leastseven “Now that therestrictions on “High speedinternetservices taining incriminating and other missions in the pasttwo years. der mayimpact the Tamil Nadu Abatchofpetitionswas orig- lowest —- 80 per cent of them people sufferedpelletinjuries. use of social media have been (4G)decrease the time of circu- objectionable videos”. “So thereisnochange in the ex- government’s long-standing de- inallyfiled in the apex court in serveinIndia,” Srinivasan said.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020 WORDLY WISE Iwant to entertain people,but 8 THE EDITORIAL PAGE with some substance. —IRRFAN KHAN The exit dilemma

§ FOUNDED BY § RAMNATH GOENKA Decision-making under high uncertainty requires BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL conviction. It is nowessential to begin end of lockdown

AFTER THE DELUGE Deepak Nayyar It is time to design clear rulesfor departurefrom PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi held his balance betweenthe twin objectivesofsav- exit from the lockdown will have to bein cal- acceptednorms of fiscal prudence fourth round of consultations with stategov- ing livesand saving livelihoods. Foranother, ibratedsteps based on aplannedtransition ernmentsonApril 27 to review theCOVID- it would help restartthe economy, whichhas path in termsofsequence and speed. In this RVIND SUBRAMANIAN HAS likenedthe current economic situation to a 19 situation.The draconian lockdown, which been almostcompletely shutdown, andthe phasing, the geographical size and diversity of “pralay(deluge)”, in whichthe government should spend morethan even completes 40 days on May3,was discussed. collateral damageisbound to be fargreater India provide degrees of freedomthatare what it oughttoinarainyday.India,the former chief economicadvisersaid As in the earlier meetings,several chiefmin- if the lockdown is extended. missing in mostcountries. Aat an e-Adda event hostedbythisnewspaper,mustplan fora“substantially isters urgedthat the lockdown be extended. Acalibrated, planned and phasedexit On April 27,ofthe total736 districtsin negative” growth this year thatmightrequire an additional fiscal expenditureofRs10 While no decision wasannounced,the lock- could also help managethe spread of the India, 283districtshad notreported any down might well continue. virus.Sofar,morbidity andmortality associ- COVID-19cases so far, while another 18 dis- lakh crore. He has apoint. Corporateindebtedness wasalready high before the lockdown. Forgovernmentseverywhere, moresoaf- ated with COVID-19inIndia has been much trictshad no newcase in the last28days Notonlywillinsolvency cases mount further,but even companies facing no significant terthe experience of Italy, Britain and the lowerthanelsewhereinthe world. This is (green zones). Thus,economicactivity can re- cash flowissues wouldn’t invest in an uncertain public health as well as demand-con- UnitedStates,wheregovernmentsdid toolit- possiblyattributable to ourimmune systems, sume without restrictions in 41 per cent of strainedenvironment. Banks, too, aren’t going to lend, no matter howmuchliquidity the tle toolate, imposing and continuing lock- whichhaveantibodies that could beeffective our districts. In addition, 48 districts had no ReserveBank of India (RBI) mayinfuse. The burden of non-performing assets,whichis downs is arisk-averse strategy.Ifthe spread in resisting the virus. Afterall,millions of mi- newcase in the last14days while 33 districts settoget heavier in the coming months, makes it impossible forthem to finance an eco- can becurbed,itwould bring political kudos. grantsstrandedinmegacities or relief camps had no newcase in the last21days. Thus,in If it is not, the microbeistoblame.Itisthe in crampedspaces have notcaughtthe virus 11 per centofour districtsthat areorange nomic recovery.Last, but notthe least, arehouseholds. Facedwith layoffsand paycuts, equivalent of aone-way optioninfinancial through contagion in largenumbers. It sug- zones, economic activity can beresumedina theywould rather save and will be afraid to spend. markets, whereyou cannotlose.Thisiseven geststhat thereare already some elements phasedmanner. Under the circumstances, the onus forensuring that the wheels of the economystart moreattractivenow as it conforms to herd- of herd-immunity in India that would grow Similarly,onApril 27,therewerenine moving —there’s no guarantee of it happening even with alllockdown restrictions be- behaviour by governmentsworldwide.Of stronger as the lockdownisliftedslowly. states,indescendingorder of numbers,that ing lifted—lies on the government. Without somebody to spend,the economy is in real course, exit from alockdown posesareal The economicand social consequencesof had morethan 1,000infections: Maharashtra, danger of contraction, whichwill, in turn, worsen the problem of businessesgoing bust, dilemma forgovernments. It is about deci- the lockdown have been severe.Alarge pro- Gujarat,Delhi, Rajasthan, MP,Tamil Nadu, UP, sion-making under high uncertainty,which portion of the self-employed, casual workers AndhraPradesh andTelangana. Takentoge- joblessness and loan defaultsthat can spread to the entire financialservices industry. The requires conviction and confidence. on dailywages,and informal workers,who ther,theyaccountedfor 80 percentofthe in- one consolation todayisthat Indiaisnot saddledwith itstraditional “3F” constraints— This dilemma will alwaysbelargerthan constitute90per cent of the totalworkforce, fections and 57 per cent of the populationin food, fuel and foreign exchange—whichweretriggers forinflation and balance of pay- lifewhen thereisasingle objective of saving Acalibrated,planned and have losttheir livelihoods. Demand has India. Therewere13states, in descendingor- mentscrises. On the contrary, publicfoodgrain stocks areatanall-time-high,global oil livesinapandemic. But it mustalso berecog- phased exit could also help dropped sharplyasemployment has con- der, that had less than 1,000infections: West prices have crashedand thereisnorun on the rupee, unlikeduring the “taper tantrum” nisedthatthe health of people andthe health tracted.Supply has been strangledbythe Bengal, Jammu &Kashmir,Karnataka, Kerala, periodofMay-August2013. The risks,ifatall, aretilted more towardsdemand-side “de- of an economyare interdependent, where manage the spread of the massive reductioninoutput. Government Bihar,Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand, Uttara- flationaryshocks”, as Subramanianputsit, thansupply-sideinflation concerns. both shape the wellbeing of people. Thus, sav- virus. So far,morbidityand revenues, forbothCentreand states, have col- khand, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattis- ing livelihoods is an equallyimportant objec- lapsed. And, even if the lockdown is lifted garh,and Assam(in the last five,the number Thereisalegitimate question, though: If the government has to take up the slack,where mortalityassociated with tive.Obviously, getting sickand going hun- now, economic growth during 2020-21 of infections wasindouble-digits). Takento- will the moneyfor itcome from? The finances of both the Centreand states areinamess, grycannotbeaneither-or choice. Everyone COVID-19inIndia has been would be zeroornegative. gether,theyaccounted for12per centofthe with receipts from taxand non-tax sources hardlycoveringevenexistingexpenditures. But would prefer to stay healthyand be well fed. muchlowerthan elsewhere Forthe poor-75per centofrural house- infections and42per cent of the population. governmentsenjoysovereign borrowing powers that allowfund-raising at ratesbelowthat It is the role of governmentstostrike abal- in the world. This is possibly holdsand 50 per cent of urbanhouseholds - The distribution of green,orangeand redzone of triple A-ratedinstrumentsissuedbyprivate corporates, moresointhe present risk-averse anceand reconcile these twoobjectives, attributable to our immune food securityisatrisk.Itisamatterofsur- districts among states is uneven. The distri- scenario.Also,there is theoptionof deficitfinancing(“printingmoney”) throughthe RBIsub- rather thanjuxtaposethem as conflicting,re- vival. Similarly,for micro-small-medium en- bution of economic activity across states is quiringachoice to be made. systems, whichhave terprises,their survival is at stake. Large firms, also unequal.Evenso, thereare possibilities. scribing to primaryauctions of government securities. Thereare,ofcourse, costs in such Lockdowns, combinedwith mass-testing, antibodies that could be exceptthosewith deep pockets, will also Economic activity can be resumedindis- powers being exercised. Past precedents—whether the issuance of ad hoc TreasuryBills to contact-tracing,containment-zones, manda- effective in resisting the struggle. Whatever the government might tricts without infections and in greenzones. the RBI prior to April 1997 or the stimuluspackagepostthe 2008 global financial crisis —do tory-quarantines, canonlyslowdownthe virus. After all, millions of stipulate, mostfirmswillfind it difficult to The orangezone districtscan be broughtin notinspireconfidence. This is the time to design clear rules fordeparturefromaccepted speedatwhichthe infection spreads. This paythe wagesoftheir employees, forthese as theyturngreen.The lockdown should con- norms of fiscal prudence. Anystimulus has to be transparent and time-bound. might helpincountrieswherepublichealth migrants stranded in will onlyadd to their cashlossesduringthe tinue in states suchasMaharashtra, Gujarat facilities arerobust, yetnot adequatefor large megacities or relief camps in lockdown. Healthcare forpatients, except andDelhi (with limited relaxationswhere numbers. But our public health system is poor cramped spaces have not those with COVID-19, has diminishedin possible) and in redzone districts,contain- and could neversuffice forour largepopula- caught the virus through terms of both access and quality.Ineduca- ment-zones or hotspots within cities, as long tion if the pandemic spreads. Thereisnovac- tion, learningoutcomes, alreadypoor, will get as necessary. THE PRICKLY STATE cine yet. From development through trials to contagion in large numbers. worse as schools and colleges remain closed. In this decision to beginexit from the lock- production will be at least one year,and far It suggests that there are In everysphere, the short-term effectsofthe down, PM Modi will needtoact with the At atime of crisis, government should welcome, notpunish, longer before it becomes available in suffi- alreadysome elements of lockdown will have long-term consequences same confidence as he did whenimposing cient quantities forour massivepopulation. -hysteresis-asfuture outcomeswill be the lockdown. ideas, criticism. These provide ammunition forthe battle ahead It is nowabsolutelyessential to beginthe herd-immunityinIndia that shapedbythispast. process of exit from the lockdown. Forone, it would growstronger as the Forthe economy, thesoonerthe lock- The writer is an economist and former Vice NFACINGTHE coronavirus challenge, information and ideas arethe onlyammuni- would enablethe government to find some lockdownislifted slowly. down is liftedthe better.But the process of Chancellor, University of Delhi tion currentlyavailable,and shouldbewelcomedand evaluatedirrespective of their provenance, whether theyoriginatefromwithin the government or from the pub- Ilic. But agovernment whichhas, in better times, sought suggestions directlyfromthe public over the weband through the Prime Minister’s app, has become undulysensitive at atime of gravecrisis. When 50 young officers of the Indian Revenue Service forwarded, through their association, policy suggestions, in areport titledFORCE (FiscalOptions and Response to COVID-19Epidemic) to the Central BoardofDirect Taxesand shared them on COMPASSION,ABOVE ALL socialmedia,theCentretermeditasaposition“contrarytocurrentpoliciesof government”, read it as abreachofservice rules and institutedaninquiryagainstthree senior Income Tax Nation’s fight againstcoronavirus cannotignorethe chronically sickand vulnerable officers. Some of the suggestions maybecontroversial, forinstance, ahikeinincome tax rate to 40 per cent forthose earning over Rs 1crore ayear foralimitedperiod of time, but the response is repressive and excessively out of proportion. The officers neverclaimedthat Shah Alam Khan their document wasofficial. Publiclydismissing the controversial suggestions would have sufficedifthe government wanted to distance itself from the report. ILIVE IN asuburban, gated(let’s call it co- side the AIIMS,inDelhi. Within 24 hours of the hospital whereIworkisworth mention- Meanwhile,publicquestioning of the government’s handling of thepandemic in Mani- rona-secure) colonyinNoida at the edge of the announcement of the lockdown, the ing. It wasencouraging that the prime minis- purhas landedseveral citizens in troublewith the law—policehaveinvoked sections of Delhi. Idon’thavetoworry about my liveli- streetsand footpaths near the hospital were teraskedcitizens to clap and clang thalis (uten- the DisasterManagementAct and the IndianPenal Code, including sedition. In one case, it hood, clean water, food, or moneytobuy empty. I’mnot surewherethis cohortmelted sils) as amarkofappreciation forhealthcare had merelybeensuggestedthat aproposedquarantine centre in Imphal should be moved hand sanitiser. Forwork, Itakethe express- away.What is moreworrying is that they workers. People respondedtothe PM’s call waytoDelhi.Afewdays afterthe lockdown might discontinue their treatment. It’s unfair with gusto.Unfortunately, suchappreciation fromagricultural land to adisusedairstrip. The deputy chief ministerwas strippedofall his wasdeclared,Iwitnessedastream of mi- to comparetragedies, but Ifeel thatthechron- wasshort-lived—juniordoctorsofthe hos- portfolios,amidacontroversyoverriceallocationunder theNationalFoodSecurity Actdur- grant workers and their familiesonthe ex- icallysickare the worstaffected in situations pital whereIworkwereasked by their land- ing the coronavirus lockdown, apparentlyfor being critical of the chief minister’s assur- pressway —men carrying children, women, suchasthe current lockdown. lords to vacatetheirpremises. Therewerealso ances of adequatefoodsupply. AndinPortBlair, ajournalistwas bookedfor askingwhythe children carrying younger children and the According to aWHO report(2015), nearly reports of afemale doctor in Telangana being phone contactsofCOVID-19patientswerebeing home quarantined. Instead of arresting him, elderly.Poor people, deprivedoftheir liveli- 5.8 million people in Indiadie everyyearof assaulted by the police who had stoppedher the authorities could have simply explainedthat tracing call records is one wayofdiscov- hoods, were supposedlywalkingtotheir vil- non-communicable diseases (NCDs). forviolating thecurfew —she wasreportedly lages, some as faras200 to 400km. Constant evaluation and surveillance hold the on her waytowork.Iwish therewas less noise ering apatient’s close contacts. Sitaram(name changed)sitsinfront of my keytotreating suchdiseases—this anyway is and moreassurances about providing equip- It is generallyagreedthatlongafter lockdowns arelifted, nations will have to remain corona-securecolony. He sellsballoons and According to aWHO report adifficult proposition in acountrylikeIndia. ment to medical professionals. in closecooperation, so that ideas that work in one place can be borrowedand deployed had once told me that he earns about Rs 200 of 2015,nearly 5.8million Afterthe lockdown, alarge number of these Physical distancing is imperative to check elsewhere. The principleapplies domestically, too. Over-sensitive and pricklyresponses aday.Sitaramlivesinashantyacrosstheroad people die everyyear in India patients could have been severely affected. the spread of the virus. But the lockdown betray insecurity,precisely when governmentsmustprojectconfidence. and has three mouths to feed.After the lock- of non-communicable In 2018,2.15million newtuberculosis(TB) could have been implemented with more down, hisonlysourceofincome has driedup. cases were diagnosedinIndia. Imagine the compassion. People’s healthisthe responsi- But Sitaram is still lucky —heand his family diseases (NCDs). One in plight of thesepatients,alarge number of bility of the state. But at no stageshould it re- members areapparentlyhealthy. The lock- four Indians runs the risk of whom would be on treatment at DOTS(di- sorttomethodsthathurtthe marginalised. HIS OWNPATH down could mean death foralarge number dying of an NCD before they rectlyobservedtreatmentshort-course) cen- The healthcaresystemofanationshould not of the chronically-ill or those under treatment reachthe age of 70. Constant tres and/or at hospital OPDs, whichare now be judged by itsresponse to an epidemic but or awaiting hospitalisation. eithershut down or inaccessible due to the by itscommitmenttoits peoples’healthin the Irrfan pushedbackagainstBollywood mainstream, made his Ihavewritteninthis newspaper about evaluation and surveillance stringent curfew.The resurgence of TB —mul- long term. Awell-oiled healthcaredelivery hold the keytotreating audience see and believe.His best wasyet to be cancer patientswho come to metropolitan tiple drug-resistant TB —asaresult of notfol- system would have been useful in times like cities fortreatment. Once their funds evapo- suchdiseases —this lowing treatment protocols is well known. It these. But it’s nevertoo latetolearn from bad rate,theyliveonthestreetsnearthehospitals anyway is adifficult is important that we trackthe health of TB pa- experiences. ITH IRRFAN KHAN’S passing, we mournthe loss of agreat actor.He wheretheyare undergoing treatment (‘The tientsduring the lockdown period. wasone of thoseperformers who dig deep intothemselvestodis- cancer refugees’, IE, July23, 2018). Hundreds preposition in adeveloping The devotionofmycolleagues,students, The writer is professor of orthopaedics, AIIMS, coverthe truth, even whenheplayedthe flakiestofcharacters. He of suchcancer refugees live on thestreetout- countrylikeIndia. nurses,ancillarystaff,and other members of NewDelhi. Viewsare personal W had thatveryunique, most paradoxicalquality,something thatall greatactors possess: To makehis audiences acceptthe falsity of film as an ineluctable truth, to makethem believe. He began, in 1988, in ShyamBenegal’stele-serial Discovery of India.His latestfilm, Angrezi Medium releasedinmid-March,but couldn’t reachthe theatres because of the lockdown. APRIL 30,1980, FORTY YEARS AGO He wasacinephile’s delight. Critics lovedhim. But the constraintsoffindinggood work in afilm industry whichcoastedonformula-heavy flicks,and star-drivenvehicles were also A SSAM CLIMBDOWN Bangladeshi migrantsbecause it would be The finance ministrywillrefund theprecious his constant companion. He beganworkwithdirectors who brokeintoHindi cinema,lat- THE ASSAMESE HAVE modifiedtheir original “inhuman”todoso. metalthrough 1,000 centres. erally, justlikehehad. The mid-’90s Bollywood wasonthe vergeofamassivechurn: The stand on the foreigners issue, saying that they do notwanttheirrepatriation”but onlytheir GOLD BONDS KOIRALA INTERVIEW mainstream, under the steam of the three young Khans, Aamir-Salman-ShahRukh, was detention”. This climbdown to an olive GOVERNMENT MINTS AREworking over- “OUR RELATIONS WITH China will be ‘very creating demand and supplyfor family-friendly, mono-cultural, mono-theistic romances branchnow offeredtothe Centreto“diffuse time to refine 13,993 kgsofgold andmake ‘friendly’and our relationswithIndia will be and sanitisedsocial dramas. Pushbackwas arriving,inthe shape of filmmakers who came tensions in Assam”, student leaders and bars forrefund to the gold bond holders after the friendliest,” said BPKoirala, Nepal’s only from the Hindi-speaking heartlands of the North, from Vishal Bhardwaj,Anurag Kashyap, Gana Sangram Parishad sources said. October this year.The gold had been given democratically elected former prime minis- Tigmanshu Dhulia,whowantedto telltheir stories,and neededactorswho could do the job. Denouncing the “occupation army-likebe- by the citizens under the National Defence ter. The man can do it again, become PM, if This Khan,who washappytojunkhis surname, wasfinallyright whereheneededtobe. haviour” of the militaryand police forces in Gold BondScheme in 1965 in wake of the the Nepalesepeople vote formulti-party par- the strongestpossible terms, theyseriously warwith Pakistan. About 1.4lakh bondhold- liamentarydemocracy in the referendum on He wascapable of being as rawand visceral as the stories he wasoffered.And soon, he was regrettedthat while theyhad revisedtheir ers will getbacktheirgoldholdings. They May2.Inanexclusive interviewtoThe Indian outstanding.Big Bollywood took notice,and made agrabfor him. Big Hollywood wasn’t far stand, the Centre was“notshowing anywill- were notonlygetting regular interestontheir Express on theeve of theelections, Koirala behind, and casthim in afew mega-budget entertainers. By then, Bollywood had turned ingness to budgefromtheir position”. The possession, but the valueofgold hasskyrock- said that “Nepal belongs to the Asiancomity new-agey enoughfor Irrfan to be able to makesome of his mostexciting work.But his best, Assameseleaders said that theyhad changed eted during the last15years. Prices have gone of nations. We will have to keep the combiningmaturityand“thehraav(gravitas)”,wasyet to be.Farewell,Irrfan.Youmadeussee. their positiononthe repatriation of up from Rs 130toRs1,400per tengrams. Americans and Russians at adistance”.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020 WHATTHE OTHERSSAY “On Monday, globalcoronavirus cases passed 3million, meaning one in three patients is in the US.The US government has failed its people and also failed 9 THE IDEAS PAGE the world.” — GLOBALTIMES,CHINA Learninginapost-Covidworld The ways out Stimuluspackagemustfocusonruralareasand Economyand society will notbethe same afterpandemicretreats. Our experiences during middle-incomegroupsto helpgenerate lockdown arepointingusinthe direction of necessaryand possible changes demandandkickstartvirtuouscycle

government having transparent discus- sions. All meetings thatthe prime minister has with the chief ministers should be open —likeinParliament. Thepeople areeager to hear notonlywhatthe primeminister has to say, but what their chief ministers areplanning. Agriculture mustbegiven the MadhavChavan toppriority -buying of farmers’ goods, their Sunil KAlagh transportation and storage.Exportoriented SCHOOLSSTARTED SHUTTINGdownin industries needtobeopenedup. White- China in lateJanuary and by the lastweekof BY NOW, we have all read about howun- collar workers can work from home, but March,all the world’s schools were closed. precedented acrisis COVID-19is—soIwish notthe blue-collar workers. Theyare the Almostlikesunsetand sunrise,asthe last to getstraight to the mainissues, andpos- backboneofthe economy. Migrant workers schools in central African countries stopped sible solutions.Weneedtosimplifyour aregrappling withnoincomeand crowded working, the Chinese schools begantore- communication, present asustainable plan living conditions —with rentstopay and open. Other countries tooare opening the and, above all, implement. Yes, we must notenough food. Theymustbeprovided doors of their schools cautiously. But thereis continue testing, but Ifeelthatweare sorely these basic survivalresources. It will be dif- agreat dealofuncertainty in the air every- lacking in implementation. ficult to getthese workers backfromtheir where. In India, thereare murmurs that Thereisnoquestioningthe wisdom of homeswhenthe economyopens up. The schools could remain closed until September PrimeMinisterNarendra Modi’sstrategy current Rs 500per month is notenough, or October.And thereisthe question:What in ensuring acomplete lockdown. While and this should be increasedtoatleast Rs will happen “afterall this is over”? the Centre, RBI and states have announced 3,000.The total costfor this entireexercise As schools begantoshutdownindiffer- aslewofgood plans,why do we still hear of would notbevery high —about Rs 50,000 ent countries, the immediatereaction wasto the stoning of doctors, the lackoffollow- crore. This is asmall price to paywhenone shift the classroom to homes using whatever ing of the rules, non-availability of essen- considers alternatescenarios whichmay technology waspossible since people were tial food and moneyfor the poor.For me, be disastrous. lockedin. There is alot of thinking, planning, the answer lies in inadequatecommunica- In the short-term, afiscalstimulus andexecution happening in ahurry in every tionand implementation. While we all needs to be givendirectlytothe ruralar- country, includingIndia.Countries or regions mustworkinunifiedfashion, the main eas, and taxesmustbereduced forthe mid- or even schools that have moreeasy access onus lies with our elected representatives, dle-income group to incentivise them to to Internet-devices and learning resources in right down to the MLA. It is time they spendand generatethe much-neededde- the appropriatemediumofinstruction seem earnedtheir votes and the trustthattheir mand. Stimulus mustalsobegiven to the to have made the transition to online learn- constituentshaveplacedinthem. They MSMEs in order forthem to paytheir ing rather quicklyalthoughnot without some mustappear at leastonce aweek before the wagesand reopen their operations. Lastly, pain. Howeffectivethese transitions were CRSasikumar public, afterdonningmasksand gloves and supportmustalsobegiven to large indus- and howgood therelatively shortexperience adhering to social distancing norms,toex- tries to open up with specific guidelines, waswill have to be analysed notonlyeduca- turnedtoradio-television technology of the primaryage group wherestrong founda- plain in simple terms the government’s but without anydraconian laws or many tionally, but also sociallyand psychologically. 1980s and ‘90s. Theyare trying to getteach- tional skills arelearned. policies.Asthe situation is dynamic, they impedimentsfor either neworexisting in- Early reports from China do notpaint arosy ers andstudentsengaged with educational Increasing public access to Internetfor mustcontinuouslyupdatethe generalpub- dustries: Nobody will open up or enter if picture. Although thereare moremobile con- resources on portals through WhatsApp school-agelearning by creating device li- lic of the changes. Making appearances on fear is drilledintothem. nections than people in China, only 59 per messages and so on. Mostefforts arecentred braries is apossibility.Investment in thecre- TV and giving instructions is notenough. Wherewill the money forall of the cent of the mobile connections arewith in- around school subject learning although this ation of good contextualisedcontent in This is the needofthe hour.Because the above come from? We mustempower the ternetand only 47 per cent households in is reallyvacation time. In the best of times, Indian languages is aneed. Integrating tech- void of informationisquicklyfilledbyspec- states to act within the broad guidelines China seem to have PCs or laptops. So, it must the classroom is noteffectiveasvarious as- nology in education oftenmeanscreating ulations and rumours, mainlythrough so- framed by the Centrewhichcannot, and have been relatively easy forthe Chinese to sessmentshaveshown. Howeffectivethese moreattractive audio-visual textbooksthat cial media. Leon Festinger’s theory of cog- mustnot act as apolice force. If alcohol is move to ahome-basedonlinelearning sys- hurriedlyput together home-learning efforts arereally one-way carriers of knowledge. nitive dissonancebasicallyexplainsthat an inco me source, then letthe states de- tem, but onlyfor about half the population. I will be,especiallyfor the lower50per cent, Thereisaneedtorecognise that the new people tend to look forconsonance in their cide on it. The Centre spends fartoo little have notseen reports about what happened is abig question mark. Will the underprivi- technology can do muchmoreand create action —right or wrong. Forinstance, we as apercentage of GDP when compared to the rest,which Isuspectliveinrural China leged lag further behind? If we aretalking non-linear paths of learning. arewell-aware of the fact that smoking to othercountries. Anystimulusmustfo- or areonperipheries of the glittering Chinese about “completing the portion”, almost It is said our economy and oursociety will leadstocancer,but smokers bringabout cus on therural areas and the middle-in- economy. everyone will. But thereare bigger problems notbethe same from hereon. The needfor ill-advisedconsonance by following any comegroups to notonlytideoverthe cri- In comparison to China, India has about to consider. learning skills that will help to survive and 80-year-old doctorwho smokes and has no sis, but also generatedemand to kickstart abillionmobile phone connections. Available These aredifficult and stressful times for thrive in the neweconomywas alreadybe- cancer.And so it is, that when some MLAs, the virtuous cycle. Industrywill notpro- dataindicate that of these,87per cent are all. Apartfromthe discomfort of forcedlock- ingdiscussedbeforeCOVID.Itappears now MPs and self-proclaimedleaders have duce anything without demand, even if it pre-paid, whichgives us ahint about the eco- in, thereisthe anxiety about the future that the economyisgoing to changeeven weddings, and break the rules as VIPs, the is opened. nomic background of the people owning among parents. Children can sense these ten- moredrastically. Therewill be morepeople averagepersonwonders,“whycan’t i?” — As the PM said, “Jaan Hai tohJahan Hai”. these connections. Of the billionmobile sions. Iwould notworrytoo muchabout dependent on agricultureand rural liveli- thus bringing about consonance to their The time has come to followhis mottoin phones, 67 percent are3Gor4Ginternet- school examination resultsduring this pe- It appearsnow that the hoods. We needmoreproductive landre- wrong actions. letter and spirit. Alot of the building blocks connected.Some of these owners also have riod. Instead, our focus should be on creative economyisgoing to change sources and morerural livelihoods. Alarge The eminent virologistIan Lipkin has have been put in place by the PM. If anew laptops or desktops at home but theyare lim- learning activities that engagebothchildren even more drastically.There number of people have returnedtovillages. said that complete normalcy will returnto stimulus packagemanages to keep/bring ited to about 13 per cent households. Our and parentsand lead to otherlong-lasting will be more people Some will go back to oldjobs while others the worldafter avaccine is developed, backworkers, it will be an opportunity for ground-levelexperience matcheswith these lessons. Relief is needed, notmorestress. will neednew skills to find work.The edu- whichisabout ayear away.The economy, us to getbackonthe path of growth. States, numbers. In rural areas of Maharashtra, Wheneverthe schools reopen, the sheer dependent on agriculture and cation system hastobe sensitive to the im- though, is floundering.Sowhat do we do industryand citizens —all of us mustsup- Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh although90per relief of going backtoschools mayalso mean rural livelihoods. We need mediateneeds of the youth as we contem- in the meantime other than communicate portand actasIndians. The futureisinour cent families have mobile phones,depend- there will be the desiretogobacktobusiness more productive land platelong-term reforms. as outlined? We shouldhaveaveryshort- handsand ourefforts can makeall the dif- ing upon the state, about 40 percent to 60 as usual. But experiences from the shutdown resources and more rural As the economychanges, the needfor term plan (three months) and ashort-term ference between jannat (heaven) and ja- per cent of these areregularphoneswithout period could be usedtomodify the educa- lifelong learning is becoming moreurgent plan (nine months),thatwillneedtobefre- hannum (hell). internetaccess. tion system as we enter anew normal situa- livelihoods. Alarge number than ever.During thelockdownperiod, peo- quentlyreviewed. So, the Indian populationcan be divided tion. of people have returned to ple have learnedthings that theywould The very shortterm plan involves the The writer is abusiness consultant intoseveral different categories. First, the Forexample, it is observed that wherever villages. Some will go back to neverhavebefore. Theyloved the experi- highlyprivileged ones with home accessto less-educated parentshavebeen invited to old jobs while otherswill ence, even if grudgingly.Thereisgoing to be broadband through multiple devices.Second, facilitatetheir child’s learning, theyhave individual needtolearn newworkskills. Our those with internetaccessvia smartmobile shownenthusiasm. Parentsofyoung chil- need new skills to find work. experiences during lockdown arepointing phones. Third, with mobile phones but with- dren todayare mostlyschooledifnot edu- Theeducation system has to us in the direction of necessaryand possible LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR out internetand finally, those without cell cated and areeager to learn to help their chil- be sensitive to the immediate changes. We should reflect on those and act. phones. Broadly, this is aproblem of dren. Parents’ role in children’seducation has needs of the youth as we 10:40:40:10division of the population with to be enhancedbytraining themina“con- The writer is co-founder and president of GLARING GAPS theratiosvaryingregionally.Inresponse to tinuingeducation” mode. This is especially contemplate long-term Pratham. Viewsexpressed in thearticle are THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Reset LETTER OF THE this division, various stategovernmentshave true forthe children in anganwadisand early reforms. personal and reform’ (IE, April 29). Inadequacies WEEK AWARD and deficiencies intrinsic in our health system and the absence of asupport To encouragequality reader system, especiallyfor daily wage intervention, The Indian workers, areattenuating our effortsto contain the Coronavirus. Though our Express offers the Letter of government is seemingly making all- the Week award. The letter Anew line of action adjudged the best forthe out effortstocopewith this contagion, the initial delayinour response to it week is publishedevery cannotbejustwished away.Our tak- Saturday. Letters maybe India can collaboratewith the US and Germanyinmoulding anew worldorder ing shelter underthe extenuating e-mailedto claims likethe small death toll in our [email protected] Ram Madhav countryascomparedtothose in other or sent to The Indian countries will onlyshowour reluc- Express, B-1/B, Sector 10, tance to learn from our mistakes. Noida-UP 201301. ONE HUNDRED years ago, therewereno stood at 82,000infectionsand 4,500deaths. Sudetenland, aGerman-speaking area of ample of democratic activism in combating Tarsem Singh, Mahilpur visas and passports forpeople to travel in Derek Scissorsofthe American Enterprise the former Czechoslovakia, Europe decided the corona challenge. Prime Minister Europe, America and their colonies. Then Institute, aWashington-basedthink-tank, to appease him,ratherthan confront. NarendraModi, together with his colleagues, THIS REFERS TO theeditorial, ‘Reset came WorldWar Iand things changed —na- argues that the number of infections could Roosevelt waswatching from afar when the is leading from the front, and has success- and reform’ (IE,April29).Through phones withhigh-speedinternetcon- tional boundaries became rigid. Economic be as high as 2.9 millioninstead. European nations —likeBritain, France and fullyimplemented alockdown and social Ayushman Bharat component of PM- nections. Giventheir curiousity,chil- stagnation, and recession followed. Some countries don’t followany conven- Italy—werecelebrating the Munich distancing measures, with full popular sup- JAY, the governmenthas triedtoim- dren then accessimages and videos Nationalism turnedintoultra-nationalism, tional course.Chinaisone of them.Itfollows Agreement. He even praisedHitlersaying, port. Acountrywithapopulation of about provetertiary healthcare access forthe glorifyingviolence and bigotry.A leading to another worldwar.After World what is described as “historical experience”. “I am convinced thathundredsofmillions 1.3billion has reportedlyseen about 17,610 vulnerablewho areinsured under the young mind is aspongeand absorbs WarII, we created an interconnected and in- Whatever it is today, is aproduct of the long throughout the worldwould recognise your active cases. Modi didnot resorttoany arbi- scheme by takingadvantageofthe all this. Parentsand the government stitutionalised global order.For thelast65 revolution that had culminated in Maocap- action as an outstanding historic serviceto traryorauthoritarian measures though there hitherto under-utilisedprivate health- an extraresponsibility to imbibeout- years, despiteseveral hiccups,the worldor- turing powerin1949. The Chineseworld- all humanity”. were deliberateactsofprovocationand mis- careinfrastructure. Public healthin- of-syllabus social concepts forthe bet- der has remainedlargely intact. viewisguidedbythree important principles: Unsurprisingly, Hitler violated his prom- information likeIslamophobia. In the face of frastructureisindispensable forany terment of tomorrow’s societyand the This pandemic threatenstoundothat GDP-ism, China-centrism and Chinese ex- ise of “no further aggression” in less than one suchprovocations, Modi displayedenor- government to improvethe health of prosperityofthe nation. worldorder.Justasbefore, countries are ceptionalism —derivedfromthatrevolution. year,and WorldWar II began. WhereBritain mous equanimity,calm and optimism. He itspeople and over-reliance on private Prashant Singh, RaeBareli turning inwards, becoming authoritarian. Deng Xiaoping had reportedly declared wasin1939-40 is whereAmerica stands to- proved that democracies with visionary infrastructurewon’t suffice. This is ev- Some political scientists arepredicting the in the 1980s that the mostimportant logic is day.The US president Donald Trumpallowed leadership can tackle suchchallenges with- ident from the examples of South VIRTUAL DISTANCE rise of amoreclosed, narrow-nationalist economic development. Chinese economists coronavirustodevastate itsstatesbeforefi- out compromising on liberal values. Koreaand Singapore, whichhaveef- world. Economists arewriting offglobalisa- describeitas“GDPism”.The second is China- nallywakingup. As lateasFebruary28, In the unfolding newworld order,India, fectively containedthe spread of THIS REFERS TO the editorial ‘School’s tion and free trade. centrism. Maoinsistedonindependence, au- Trumpwas asking his supporters in South along with countries likeAmerica and COVID-19. Higherspendingonpublic out’ (IE, April29).Thereisnoway on- Wheredoes this pessimism stem from? tonomyand self-sufficiency.“Ode to the Carolinatonot heedwarnings aboutthe Germany, canplayapivotal role in building health in general and investment in line education can replace physical From acoronavirus virion? Notreally. Two motherland”, thefamouspatrioticsong com- virus outbreak in America.Hewas blaming aworld basedon“human-centric develop- publichealthcareinfrastructure, in classrooms, but suchisthe crisis and countries, considered the mostpowerful, posed by Wang Shen thatdeclares the“grand the media for“hysteria” and calling the co- ment cooperation” as suggestedbyModi.It particular, can’tbedelayed.Health, needofthe hour that online education have shakenthe confidence of the entire and beautiful” land of China “overthe moun- rona threat “their newhoax”. Now, the is time foranew Atlantic Charter: along with education, is apillar on has become inevitableatall levels. And world. Niall Ferguson, the Americanhisto- tains, across the plains,across theYangtze Europeannations,havingcuddled up to Environment,healthcare,technology and whichthe health of asociety and barring urban locations, onlineeduca- rian from the HooverInstitution,had called and Huang rivers”asthe “dear home of ours”, China for“Beltand Road”benefits, arestrug- democratic liberalism can be itsfoundations. countrydepends. tion still remains adistant reality due them “Chimerica”. Forthe lastdecade or is entrenchedinthe psycheofevery Chinese. gling to contain the pandemic fallout. China has an opportunity today, even as Dimpy Bhatia, Delhi to various issues likepoor internet more, China and America have createdan Third, is Chinese exceptionalism. China does- Interestingly, the countries that stood up it faces opprobriumgloballyand unrest bandwidth, lack of awareness among economic relationship model that Ferguson n’t believe in learning from others. China to thiscontagionaremostlytheAsiandemoc- within the country. The Chinese Communist BETTER TOMORROW studentsand parentsand poor skills of compared withNichibei, the US-Japan eco- should followits ownwisdom foranswers racies. South Korealed the way, conducting Partyhas aphrase, “Luxian Douzheng” or line teachers. In both healthcareand edu- nomic bonding prominentlyinexistence un- to itsproblems,its leaders insist. moretests than America on asingle day. struggle. It means powerstruggle forsome, THIS REFERSTOarticle, ‘The otherpol- cation, the COVID-19crisis has ex- til the end of the lastcentury.Coronavirus The Chinese nationalistworldviewhas a Singapore undertook extensivetesting, mak- but it also denotesthe struggle for anew lution’ (IEApril 29). The transition into posed hugegaps.Going forward, both has shown that Chimerica is justachimera. parallelinhistory in pre-WorldWar II ingahugeefforttotrack downanyviralsymp- party line. Therewereseveral in the past. Can schooling from home has giventhe the central and stategovernments The Chinese leadershipfacesaccusations Germany. Ethnic superiority,historical toms. Hong Kong and Taiwan, withtheir past the worldhope forabetter one now? younger generation arightful claim to mustfocus on infrastructure. of hiding factsfromthe world, allowing the claims andthe Aryanexceptionalismwere experienceof SARSfatalities,have takentimely electronicdevices such as mobile Bal Govind, Noida virus to crossborders andturnintoapan- allveryfamiliar to thepeople of the world measures to contain the virus effectively. The writer is national general secretary,BJP demic. Till last week,their officialfigures in the 1930s. When Hitleroccupied India, on the other hand, has setanex- and director,India Foundation

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020 @ieExplained #ExpressExplained 10 TheOutbreak If thereare questions of current or contemporaryrelevance that you E EXPLAINED would likeexplained, please [email protected]

MAHARASHTRA GUJARAT DELHI MADHYAPRADESH RAJASTHAN

10000 Tests 1,29,931 10000 Tests 51,601 *Reproduction 10000 Tests 43,370 *Reproduction 10000 Tests 31,060 *Reproduction 10000 Tests 92,506 *Reproduction Recovered 1,388 9,318 Recovered 434 numberfor Recovered 1,078 number for Recovered 377 number for Recovered 770 number for 9000 9000 April 21-27 9000 April15-18 9000 April20-23 9000 April 16-21 R1,50* CASES R1.38* R1.15* R 1,16* R 1.44* (APRIL 27) (Small rangeof (Lowqualityfit) 8000 8000 8000 dates fit) 8000 8000

7000 7000 7000 7000 7000

6000 6000 3,774 6000 6000 6000 52 CASES 54 3,314 120 CASES DEATHS 183 (APRIL 27) DEATHS DEATHS 5000 5000 DEATHS 5000 (APRIL 27) 5000 2,387 5000 2,301 400 CASES CASES 4000 DEATHS 4000 4000 4000 (APRIL27) 4000 (APRIL 27) 1,018 576 3000 CASES 3000 3000 CASES 3000 290 3000 343 179 CASES *Reproduction (APRIL7) (APRIL7) CASES CASES (APRIL 7) 2000 numberfor 2000 (APRIL 7) 2000 2000 (APRIL 7) 2000 April 17-26 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

0 0 0 0 0 March1April7April27 March1April7April27 March1April7April27 March1 April7 April27 March1April7April27

PUNJAB FACT CHECK, GROUND REALITY TAMILNADU

10000 Tests 17,021 *Recent period 10000 Tests 1,01,874 *Cases growing Recovered 104 datadoesnot fit Recovered 1,128 at lowerthan 9000 exponential in a 9000 exponential R N/A* robustmanner R<1* rate 8000 Revisitingvirus curve, 8000

7000 7000

6000 19 6000 25 DEATHS DEATHS 5000 to read lockdown effect 5000 2,058 CASES 4000 4000 (APRIL 27) On April 9, The Indian Express analysed thenationaland state-wise COVID-19growthcurves. 3000 342 3000 690 99 CASES Howhavethese shaped since? Inupdated curves, trends during last3weeksoflockdown CASES CASES (APRIL 27) 2000 2000 (APRIL 7) (APRIL7) 1000 ALL INDIA COVID 19 CASES &DEATHS 1000 AMITABHSINHA PUNE,APRIL28 0 0 March1April7April27 35000 1000 March1April7April27 ON APRIL 9, we had publishedthe growth curves of CONFIRMED CONFIRMED the novelcoronavirus epidemic in various states. 30000 CASES DEATHS BIHAR Covering datauntil April 7, we had showedhow,just 800 UTTARPRADESH over amonth afterthe outbreak beganinthe first 25000 31,286 918 10000 Tests 21,468 *Reproduction week of March,the trajectory at the national level 10000 Tests 70,307 *Reproduction and in manystateshad beguntoresemblewhat is so 600 number for 20000 ■SinceApril7,whenIndiahadrecorded5,321cases number for Recovered 57 typical of the spread of an infectious disease —an Recovered 463 9000 April 20-23 and167deaths,thecountsforbothhavegrownover 9000 April18-22 R 2.01* exponential curve. 15000 R 1.50* With less than aweek to go before India steps out fivefold.Whilewehaveplotted918asreportedbythe 400 8000 stategovernmentsuntilApril27,thetotal 8000 of anationallockdown, and intothe next phase of 10000 thecontainment strategy,werevisit thosegrowth nationwidehascrossed1,000since. 7000 200 7000 curves here,inanattempt to illustratethe impactof 5000 2 the lockdown, or at least look at what happeneddur- 6000 ing this period. The national lockdown imposedat 6000 34 DEATHS 0 0 midnight of March 24 —often described as the March 1April 27 DEATHS 5000 biggesthuman quarantineever—was aimedat 5000 slowing down the rate of growth of the epidemic, so 2,053 TOP7STATES INFECTED BY COVID 19 4000 that the number of patientsneedingurgentmed- 4000 CASES ical attention could remain at manageable levels while government and local authorities would ramp (APRIL 27) 10000 ■Maharashtraremainsontop.Whathas 332 3000 366 up health infrastructureand preparethemselvesto Maharashtra 3000 38 CASES changedsinceApril7isthatthen,itaccounted CASES deal withlargernumberofpeopleatalaterstage. 9,318 Gujarat CASES (APRIL 27) forone-fifthofIndia’scases(1,018of5,321); (APRIL 7) 2000 As we move towardsthe end of that period, the lock- 8000 2000 (APRIL7) down does seem to have resulted in asignificant now,itsshareismorethanone-fourth. 3,774 TamilNadu,Delhi,UPandRajasthanremainin 1000 slowdown of the epidemic. Madhya Pradesh Uttar 1000 top7.NewentrantssinceApril7areGujaratand “I don’tthink thereisany doubtthatthe lockdown 6000 2,387 Pradesh did managetoachieve aconsiderableslowdown in MP.KeralaandTelanganadropoutoftop7. 0 2,053 Delhi 0 March1April7April27 the growth of the disease,”saidSitabhra Sinha,asci- March1April7April27 entistatthe Chennai-basedInstituteofMathematical 4000 Tamil Nadu 3,314 Sciences, who has been studying the spread of the 2,058 KERALA epidemic in India through computer modelling. Rajasthan ANDHRAPRADESH Sinha had told The Indian Express on April 12 that, 2000 2,301 10000 Tests 23,980 *Cases growing according to astudy he had been carrying out with 10000 Tests 80,334 *Reproduction his colleague SoumyaEaswaran,the number of con- Recovered 362 at lowerthan 0 Recovered 258 numberfor 9000 exponential firmedinfected cases waslikelytoremain below March 1April 27 9000 April6-27 R <1* rate 20,000 by April 20.This,hehad said, wasadirect R 1.27* 8000 impact of thelockdown, in the absence of which, 8000 computer models showed, the number would have TOP7STATE-WISE COVID-19DEATHS reached35,000.The number on April 20 was18,465, 7000 well within the prediction. 7000 3 The reproduction number (R) we mention here— 400 ■Maharashtraaccountsforover40%of900+ 6000 areference to the averagenumber of personsin- 400 deathsnationwide.Thenextfourstatesaddup 6000 31 DEATHS 350 fected by an already infected person —are those cal- toanother40%+.Outsideofthetop7,two DEATHS 5000 culated by Sinha’s team. 300 otherstateshavewitnessedover20deaths 5000 Therehas been asignificantchange in the growth untilApril27—TamilNaduandTelangana,with 4000 curves of the states from the lasttime.Some states, 250 183 25deathseach. 4000 1,259 suchasKerala, have done well to contain the epi- CASES demic, winning global acclaimfor their efforts, while 200 3000 485 3000 (APRIL 27) 335 CASES others, likeMaharashtraand Delhi, have seen a 120 304 150 CASES (APRIL 27) steady rise in numbers. CASES 2000 Some other states, likeGujarat, whichhad amod- 2000 (APRIL 7) (APRIL7) 100 54 estcase loadatthattime, have emergedasfast- 52 34 31 1000 growing hotspots.And states suchasWestBengal, 50 1000 Bihar and Jharkhand have just begun to show signs 0 that theycould potentiallyturn into trouble zones 0 0 March1April7April27 over the next fewdays,althoughtheir current case Maharashtra Gujarat Madhya Pradesh Delhi Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Andhra Pradesh March1April7April27 load is notveryhigh. KARNATAKA JAMMU&KASHMIR OTHER STATES WESTBENGAL TELANGANA

StateCases Deaths Recoveries 10000 Tests 50,512 *Recent period 10000 Tests 16,619 *Reproduction 10000 Tests 13,223 *Reproduction 10000 Tests 19,063 *Casesgrowing Recovered 207 datadoesnot fit Recovered 176 number for Andaman 10 010 Recovered 119 number for Recovered 332 at less than 9000 exponential in a 9000 April 14-17 Arunachal 10 1 9000 April18-27 9000 exponential rate R N/A* robustmanner R 1.24* (Lowquality fit) R 1.52* R <1* (Confidence of Assam 37 127 8000 8000 8000 8000 calculation low) Chandigarh560 17 7000 7000 Chhattisgarh370 32 7000 7000 Daman 10 0 6000 19 6000 8 Goa 70 7 6000 22 6000 25 DEATHS DEATHS Haryana 308 4224 DEATHS DEATHS 5000 5000 Himachal 41 225 5000 5000 Jharkhand 1052 19 1,007 4000 4000 Ladakh 20 018 4000 4000 565 CASES 523 Manipur 20 2 663 3000 3000 CASES 3000 99 3000 393 (APRIL 27) 175 CASES 125 Meghalaya 12 10 CASES CASES (APRIL 27) CASES CASES (APRIL 27) CASES Mizoram 10 1 (APRIL 27) 2000 (APRIL 7) 2000 (APRIL7) 2000 (APRIL 7) 2000 (APRIL 7) Odisha 1181 37 1000 1000 Tripura202 1000 1000 Uttarakhand 540 34 0 0 0 0 March1April7April27 March1April7April27 Editing:Kabir Firaque March1 April7 April27 March1April7April27 Graphics:MithunChakraborty &RiteshKumar

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020 NEW POLIO OUTBREAK IN NIGER TheWorld Health Organisation says Niger has been struckbya new outbreak of polio, after the suspension of immunisation activitiesduring the COVID-19pandemic. TheUNhealth agency reported that twochildren were infected by the highly 11 infectious, water-borne disease and that one wasparalysed THE OUTBREAK TheWorld

PANDEMIC WATCH 1mnUScases,tollsurpassesVietnamWar

AGENCIES Final journeys are NEWYORK/WASHINGTON, USCONSIDERING APRIL29 SCANNINGFORINTL AIRTRAVELLERS getting lonelier, last IT HAS been 100days sincea35- year-old man presentedto an ur- In Bangkok. AP gent care clinic in Snohomish ■The US is considering County,Washington, with afour- scanning of air travellers goodbyes shorter dayhistory of cough and fever from countries hit hard THAILAND and tested positive forthe virus. by the coronavirus to His wasthe firstcase to be stop itsspread in the SRIRAMVEERA Bangkokto detected. country, President MUMBAI,APRIL29 easesome Sincethen, morethan one Donald Trumphas said. million people had tested posi- BEITagraveyard incentralIndore, restrictions tive in the United States. ■ Trumpsaid this could afuneralhomeinthemidwestern In that time, residentsin be doneincoordination US stateofWisconsin or aceme- Bangkok: Officials in moststatesinthe country— witheither the airlines or teryin Italy's northeastern region Bangkok saytheyare along with morethan half of all government. “We're of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia; the final preparing to easerestric- humanity —havebeen ordered working with the airlines. journeys aregetting lonelierand tionsthatwere imposedto to shelterintheir homes in the Maybeit's acombination thelastgoodbyesshorter.Atthese fight the spread of COVID- hopes of slowing the spread of of both,” he said. three COVID-19hot spots,conti- Bodies being buriedinNew 19,including the reopen- the highlycontagiousvirus and Vice President MikePence during avisit to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. AP nentsapart, fear is getting the York's HartIsland. Reuters/File ing of restaurantsunder to trytokeep hospital systems better of grief and even death strict conditions.The from being overwhelmed. doesn’t provide an escape from Bangkok Metropolitan The death toll climbed above eral thousand,accordingto face covering on avisit there. socialdistancing. had broken down. Rules and pre- Administration an- 58,000 on Tuesday, surpassing analysis of mortality databyThe In the last100 days,the Indore's Hafiz Javed, aceme- cautions, yousee." nouncedWednesday that the loss of American lifefromthe NewYork Times. global economyhas suffered Misinformation tery caretaker,says themostdis- Elaboratefunerals featuring it hopes to liftrestrictions Vietnam War, as Florida’s gover- While the timeline forthe suchaswift andsuddendecline AINED comforting moment forhim tributesand sharingofmemo- oneightkindsof establish- nor metwith President Donald spread of the virus has shiftedas that economists have had to emergesaschallenge these days is to watchthe coffin ries areathingofthe past. E●

mentsithad ordered Trumptodiscuss an easing of public health authorities find ev- reachbacktothe Great EXPL pushed,ratherthanlowered, into AUSgovernmentadvisory closedthrough April30. economic restraints. idence that the pathogen was Depression foranalogies. the grave."Everyone stands some directsfor COVID-19deceasedto The city's plans call forthe Epidemiologists have esti- spreadingincommunitiesear- Florida Governor Ron As the US looksatlong-term plans and economicrecovery distance apartfromeachother.At becoveredintwo body bags, and reopening of restaurants, mated that the true number of lier than believed, the speedat DeSantis, among the latest to initiatives, misinformation about vaccines is shapingtobea times, therearen'tenough peo- forthe face to be coveredwith a markets, exercise venues, infections maybeabout 10 times whichthe worldhas been trans- lock down hisstateagainstthe major concern before one is even ready. ple to liftthe body,soitisdifficult mask."Noone reallyknows if the parks,hairdressers and the known number,and prelim- formedisshocking. pandemic,has been weighing The claims rangefromconcerns that vaccine trials will be to lowerthem softly. We have to virus is active andharmful after barbers,clinics and nurs- inarytesting of howmanypeo- Masksare becoming anac- whether to join other states in a rushed, to conspiracy theories that Bill Gates wantstouse slidethemintothe pit," Hafizsays. death; so, these areprecautions." ing homes, animal hospi- plehaveantibodies to thevirus ceptedpartofpublic life, whichis relaxation of workplace restric- thevaccine to inject microchips in people. Giventhat avac- With fewrelativesattending Thereisalso acap on the tals and petsalons, seems to supportthatview. whytherewas suchabacklashon tions and stay-at-home orders cine iswidelyacceptedasthe best waytodefinitively end burials, the lastrites finish number of mourners. Amaxi- and golf courses and driv- Similarly,the official death toll is Tuesdayafter Vice President Mike that have been credited with the pandemic threat, fake news-fuelledresistance to the use quickly. "Weinstruct family mum of 10 relativesare allowed ing ranges. likelytovastlyunderestimate Pence flouted the Mayo Clinic’s slowing the contagion but which of vaccines could have devastating consequences. members to pile mudoverthe in the cemetery.Technologyhas the true number by at leastsev- protocols on wearing aprotective have battered the economy. body,and once that is done,we helped. "Westartedlive-stream- rush to finish the job.Noone ing the final rites.Iremember the hangsaround, thereisnot much firsttime we had38people,sec- NEPAL UK now has crying," Hafiz says. ond time it jumpedto167 friends 3returneesof At theMalwamillregion'scre- and relativeswatching it." 2nd-highest matorium, too, the pandemic's In Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, in Tablighimeet shadowlooms large.Cloth north eastItaly,Cladio pouchesand steel boxeswith Prescherm is thankful that the testpositive COVID-19 asheshang from hooksorsit on worstseems to be over in his re- thefloor.Thelockdownmeanslife gion. "All cemeteries areclosed Kathmandu: Nepal on death toll —and death —are at astandstill. here. Theyare open onlywhen a Wednesdaysaid that Familymembers of the de- bodyisburied. No one is coming three persons, who re- across Europe ceasedaren'tturning up to col- to cemeterytolay arose in these turnedfromIndia afterat- lect themortalremains."Some times," Prescherm says. tending aTablighi Jamaat arewaiting forthings to open so "Newspapers in Bergamo are gathering, have been ANDYBRUCE theycan travel forashes immer- filled with death notices, page af- tested positive, bringing LONDON,APRIL29 sion; others areparanoid about terpage.Thattellsyoutherealstory the total number of the infection," says Gauri Kailashpati, of howmanypeople have died." COVID-19 patientsinthe THE UNITED Kingdom nowhas asocialactivistfromIndore. Prescherm'sfamilyhavebeen countryto57. Thethree Europe’s second-highestofficial In the US, meanwhile, funer- funeral directors for150 years men, who were staying in death toll from the novelcoron- als followastrict protocol. now. "Scenes of death andgriev- quarantine afterreturning avirus pandemic, accordingto Wisconsin funeral director John ing arefamiliar to me but this has from the Tablighi Jamaat newfiguresonWednesday that Wenigshares howhis son was been astrangeexperience.From gathering in Delhi's coverfatalities in all settings, in- leftspeechless by alady who had fear to sorrow, everything has Nizamuddin area last cludinginnursing homes. lost herhusbandafter 60 years been different...Ithink we,asa month, have been Some 26,097peopledied of marriage to COVID-19. "She country,remain shockedbythis brought to an isolation across the United Kingdomaf- told my son, 'Areyou telling me and needtohealasagroup... but ward of Narayani Hospital tertesting positivefor COVID- Ican'tevenhaveaproperfuneral first, this virus has to bestopped." in Birgunj fortreatment, 19 as of April 28 at 1600 GMT, formyhusband?'Myson said he FULLSTORYON according to agovern- Public Health England (PHE) couldn't even hug the lady who www.indianexpress.com ment spokesperson. said. That meansthe United STADIUM TESTING Kingdom has had moreCOVID- SINGAPORE 19 deaths than France or Spain Johannesburgresidentsgather in astadium to be tested forthe virusonWednesday. South Africa will begin aphasedeasing Failure to stop virus at have reported. of itsstrict lockdown measures whichhavebeen in placesince March 27,onMay 1. It has over 4,360 cases and 86 deaths. AP Govtwarns “These morecomplete data offakenews will give us afuller and moreup source led to 184 countries to datepictureofdeathsin Singapore: Singapore on England and will inform the gov- Wednesdaywarned ernment’sapproachaswecon- ‘Life has to go on’: How Sweden faced virus going through hell: Trump against spreading fake tinue to protect the public,” news and videos about Yvonne Doyle, medical director their hands to slowthe spread of portoroutings in local parks. the$140billion being sought migrants workers, saying at PHE, said. THOMASERDBRINK& the virus —without anymanda- Gatherings of morethan50 LALITKJHA by GermanyfromBeijing for this could disturb lawand SuchahighUKdeath toll in- CHRISTINAANDERSON tory orders. people arebanned. Museums WASHINGTON,APRIL29 the pandemic. order in dormitories creases the pressureonPrime STOCKHOLM,APRIL29 Sweden’sdeathrateof22per have closedand sporting events Leaders of the US, the UK and wherealarge number of MinisterBoris Johnson’s govern- 100,000 peopleisthe same as have been cancelled.Atthe end US PRESIDENT Donald Trump Germanybelieve that the deaths foreign workers, includ- ment whichisfacing criticism SHESTOOD leaning on her cane, that of Ireland, whichhas earned of March,the authorities banned doubleddownonChina forfail- and the destruction of the global ing Indian nationals, have from opposition parties forbe- brieflyresting among dozens of accolades forits handling of the visitstonursinghomes. ing to tame the coronavirus at its economycould have been been tested positive.Law ing tooslowtoimposealock- bubblyyoung Swedes out enjoy- pandemic,and farbetterthan in That’s roughlyit. Thereare al- very origin, saying it has ledto avoided, had China shared the and Home Affairs down and tooslowtointroduce ing one of the firstsunnyspring Britain or France.Yet,onthis mostnofines, andpolice officers 184countries "going through information aboutthe virusinits MinisterKShanmugam mass testing. days of theyear. warm spring day, at least, there can onlyask people to oblige. hell", as severalAmerican law- early phases. warned suchvideos can In mid-March,the govern- “I’m trying nottoget too Picnickers in Stockholm waslittle evidence that people Pedestrians wearing masksare makers demanded steps to re- "It's in 184countries, as you leadtoseriouslaw and ment’s chiefscientificadviser close to people,” said Birgit Lilja, lastweek. NYT were observing the protocols — generallystared at as if theyhave duce dependence on Beijing for hear me sayoften. It's hard to orderincidents. He said said keeping the UK death 82, explaining that she had left adding further mysteryto justlanded from Mars. manufacturing and minerals. believe.It's inconceivable," the authorities arewatch- toll below20,000 would be a her house to pickupanew iden- Sweden’s apparent success. Throughout the crisis Trumphas been publicly Trumptoldreporters at White ing those who spread the “good outcome”. tity cardinperson. “But Itrust wholesale lockdown to “flatten While other countries were Sweden has had enough inten- blaming China forthe global House Tuesday. "It should have videos "verycarefully". Although international them to be careful with me.” the curve” of the epidemic, pub- slamming on the brakes, sive careunitstodealwith spread of the "invisible enemy" been stoppedatthe source, Warning those spreading comparisons aredifficult, the Trustishigh in Sweden —in lic health officials pointed to Sweden kept itsborders open, Covid-19patients, the minister and launchedaninvestigation whichwas China. It should have fake news maliciously, he newfiguresconfirm Britain’s government, institutions and fel- trustasacentral justification. allowedrestaurantsand bars to of healthand social affairs, Lena againstit. He hasalsoindicated been stoppedverymuchatthe said, theywillbecharged place among the European lowSwedes. When the govern- Swedes, theysaid, could be keep serving, leftpreschools and Hallengren, said in an interview. that the United States maybe source, but it wasn't. And now if acrime wascommitted. countries worsthit hardestby ment defiedconventionalwis- trustedtostayhome,followsocial grade schools in session and “Wehave250 emptybedsright looking at "a lotmoremoney" we have 184countries going the pandemic. REUTERS dom and refusedtoorder a distancing protocols and wash placednolimits on publictrans- now.” NYT in damages from China than through hell.” PTI

OTHER TOP GLOBAL STORIES Clinton endorses Biden: ‘Wish Boris, fiancee announce Pak media mogul remandedin he were president right now’ birth of boy, two days judicial custody in 34-yr-old case

The Biden campaign had ad- after he returned to work April28. The70-year-old supremo of LISALERER,MAGGIE vertisedthattheeventwouldfea- PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA An accountability courton the PakistanMuslimLeague- ASTOR&SYDNEYEMBER turea“special guest,” and on her ASSOCIATEDPRESS LAHORE,APRIL29 TuesdaysentRehmanto jailonju- Nawaz, is currentlyinLondonfor NEWYORK,APRIL29 Twitter account Tuesday, Clinton LONDON,APRIL29 dicialremandtillMay12afterthe medical treatment. all but confirmedthe endorse- Boris PAKISTANI MEDIA mogul Mir prosecutor said the NABdid not NABofficialssaid Sharif ille- HILLARYCLINTON, the 2016 ment as she disclosedthat she BRITISH PRIME MinisterBoris Johnson Shakilur Rehman, arrested on need him anymorefor investiga- gallyleasedthe land to Rehman. Democratic presidential nomi- PRIMARIES: would be appearing with Biden. Johnson and his fiancee Carrie chargesofillegallyobtaining tion,the Dawn Newsreported. At the outsetofRehman’s re- nee and apolitical veteranwho THE AfterClinton endorsed Symonds announcedthe birth of government land hereoverthree The chargesagainstRehman mand hearing on Tuesday, NAB knows firsthand what it is liketo Biden, the event turnedintoa ason on Wednesday, justtwo theysaid the babywas duein decades agowhen NawazSharif relating to the purchase of sev- Special Prosecutor Asim Mumtaz compete againstPresident DEMOCRATS conversation about the coron- days afterJohnson returnedto early summer.Nowedding date wasthe chief ministerofPunjab eral plots of land in Lahore go told the courtthathecould not Trump, threw her support be- avirus crisis.With an easyban- work following hospitalisation has been announced. province, has been sent to jail on backto1986whenSharifwas the be brought forthe hearing as he hind Joseph RBiden Jr on portthe kind of person that we terthat recalledthe breakfast forthe coronavirus. Symonds, an environmental judicialremand afterthe coun- chief ministerofPunjab province. wasadmitted to aprivate hospi- Tuesday, the latestparty leader want backinthe WhiteHouse,” meetings theybothrepeatedly Johnson’s office said campaigner and former try's anti-graftbody did notseek The NABalleged thatSharif talowingtobad health. to makethe case forreturning Clinton said on Tuesdayafter- harkedbackto, the twoshared Symonds gave birth to a Conservative Partystaffer,also his further custody. allowedRahman illegallyac- However, Presiding Judge the WhiteHouse to Democratic noon during avirtual town ideas to supportwomen who “healthybabyboy at aLondon said she wassickfor aweek with Mir Shakilur Rahman, the ed- quiremoregovernment- Jawadul Hassan expresseddis- hands in November. hall-style event with Biden were struggling because of the hospital” on Wednesday,and COVID-19symptoms,though itor-in-chief of the Jang group owned-land than he wasal- pleasureoverthe bureaufor not “I’vebeennot onlyacol- about the impact of the coron- outbreak. both mother and infant were she wasn’t tested forthe virus. whichowns someofPakistan's lowedbylaw. presenting the suspect and also league of Joe Biden’s, I’vebeen avirus on women. “You’vebeenway ahead on doing well. The babyisthe thirdborn to widelycirculatednewspapers On April 27,the anti-graft refusedtoentertain the medical afriend, and Ican tell youthat Accepting her support, Biden these issues foralong time,” Johnson, 55, and Symonds, asitting Britishprime minister and the Geo television network, body had issuedanarrestwar- certificateofaprivate hospital. Iwish he were president right said: “I reallyappreciateyour Biden said to Clinton —ashow 32, announcedinFebruarythat this century. It wasn’t immedi- wasarrestedonMarch 12 by the rant againstthe embattledfor- Later,the NABbrought Rehman nowbut Ican’t wait until he is friendship. What a, justawon- of respect that wasoften re- they were engaged andexpect- atelyclearwhether Johnson National Accountability Bureau mer prime minister Sharif in the to the courtinanambulance —ifall of us do our parttosup- derful personalendorsement.” turned. NYT ing achild together.Atthe time plannedtotakepaternity leave. (NAB) and wasinits custody till land corruption case. from the hospital.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020 12 ECONOMY GOLD RUPEE OIL SILVER `41,705 `75.66 $26.15 `38,100

Note:Spotgold marketsshut due to lockdowninmajor states. *Indianbasket as on March 19,2020 SENSEX: 32,720.16 ▲ 605.64 NIFTY: 9,553.35 ▲ 172.45 NIKKEI: 19,771.19 ▼ 12.03 HANGSENG: 24,643.59 ▲ 67.63 FTSE: 6,016.53 ▲ 58.03 DAX: 10,835.21 ▲ 39.58

Internationalmarketdata till 1900IST FINAL REPORT OF TASK FORCE ON NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTUREPIPELINE ‘GSK plans to sell HUL stake’

iar with the matter. position in India. 2020-25infrafundingpeggedat`111Lcr: REUTERS GSKplans to offloadpartorall The dealconsideration was BENGALURU,APRIL29 of its5.7 per cent holding in paid in cash and shares of HUL, HindustanUnileverLtd through and wascompleted earlier this BRITISH DRUGMAKER aseries of blocktrades,according month. Energy,roads,railwaystogetlion’sshare GlaxoSmithKline Plc isplanning to Bloomberg News. AGSKspokesmandeclinedto asale of its$3.7-billion stakein In December 2018,Unilever comment on the matter. UnileverLtd’s listedIndia unit, struckadeal to buy GSK’s Horlicks HindustanUnileverdid notim- Affairs forraising financialre- ment and assetmonetisation Bloomberg News reportedon nutritionbusinessfor $3.8billion, mediatelyrespondtoarequest ENSECONOMICBUREAU sources forthe NIP. among other reforms forachiev- Wednesday, citingpeople famil- boosting the Anglo-Dutchgroup’s forcomment. NEWDELHI,APRIL29 Aimistoboost Out of the totalexpectedcapi- inginfrainvestmenttargets.Acrit- infrastructure talexpenditureofRs111 lakhcrore, ical step in addressing dwindling ENERGY,ROADS, railways and ur- projectsofRs44lakhcrore(40per privatesectorparticipation in in- US GDP contracts 4.8% in Q1, banprojectswouldaccountforthe investments centof NIP) areunderimplemen- frastructurecanbeinstitutionalis- bulk of allocations, involving total tation, projectsworth Rs 33 lakh ingdispute resolutionmechanism estimated infrastructureinvest- crore(30 per cent) areatconcep- to efficientlyresolve disputes re- sharpest fall since Great Recession ment of Rs 111 lakh croreduring AGGRESSIVEPUSHtowards assetsales, monetisation of tualstageandprojectsworthRs22 latedto PPP projects. Investments thefive fiscalyearperiod2020-25. infrastructure assets,setting up of development finance lakh crore(20 per cent) areunder mustbemade in the institutions the firstquarter, with less than a Thisisaccordingto thefinalreport institutionsand strengthening the municipal bondmarket development. Thetask forcewas created underThe Commercial REUTERS monthof pandemiclockdown for of the task forceonNational aresome measuressuggestedbyagovernment panelto setupafter PrimeMinister CourtsAct2015,TheSpecificRelief WASHINGTON,APRIL29 moststates, don’t ask howfar it InfrastructurePipeline (NIP) sub- boostinfrastructureinvestments.The panel has drawnupa NarendraModi, in his (Amendment) Act2018and the will crater in the second quarter.” mitted to Finance Minister National InfrastructurePipeline to bring greater focus in this IndependenceDay speechlast New Delhi ArbitrationCentre Act THE US economycontracted in Gross domestic product de- Nirmala Sitharaman on area, whichiscrucialtoboosting economic growth. year,highlightedRs100lakhcrore 2019 forspeedyresolution,itsaid. the firstquarter at itssharpest clinedata4.8 percent annualised Wednesday. Of thetotal project worthofinfrainvestmentoverthe The RBI’s latestcredit growth pace since the Great Recession as rate lastquarter,weigheddown capital expenditure, sectors such next five years to make India a$5- datashows that year-on-year stringent measurestoslowthe by sharp decreases in consumer as energy (24per cent), urban (17 mentation or under conceptuali- to aidtheprocessof galvanisingin- trillion economy. growthincreditoutstandingto the spread of the novelcoronavirus spending andadrawdown of in- per cent), railways (12per cent) sation —costing greater thanRs vestmentsininfrastructuresector Thesummaryreportfor2019- infrastructure sector fell to a19- almost shut downthe country, Americanscallfor the end of ventoryatbusinesses. That was androads(18percent)arepegged 100crore per project. in next five years. 2025wasreleasedby Sitharaman monthlow of 3.3per cent. FY20 ending the longestexpansion in the lockdown in California the steepestpace of contraction to contributednearly 70 per cent Besidesstrengtheningthemu- The task force, headed by onDecember31, 2019.Thefinalre- sawadeclineinbanks’appetiteto the nation’s history. on April 26. Reuters in GDP sinceQ4of2008—the of the infrainvestments in India. nicipalbondmarket,anaggressive Economic Affairs SecretaryAtanu port has revisedupNIP from ear- lend to infrastructurecompanies. The decline in gross domestic height of the Great Recession. A WhileCentreandstatesareex- push towardsassetsales,moneti- Chakraborty,has also recom- lierRs100lakhcrore“inlightofad- Datashows in the 11-month pe- product(GDP)reflectedaplunge deepening downturn in invest- pectedto have almostequalshare sation of infrastructureassets, mendedsettingupofthree com- ditional/amendeddataprovided riod endedFebruary2020, credit in economicactivity in the last predictions that the economy ment by businesseswas another in implementingNIP,private sec- deepeningof corporatebondmar- mittees: apanel to monitor NIP by centralministries/stategovern- outstanding forthe infrastructure twoweeksofMarch,whichsaw wasalready in adeep recession. major factor in the slumplast torcontribution is expected kets,andsettingupDevelopment progress and eliminatedelays;a mentssince the release of sum- sector as awhole shrank from Rs millions of Americans seeking “Theeconomywillcontinue quarter, helping to overshadow around 21 per cent, as per astate- FinancialInstitutionsfor infra- steering committee in eachinfra- maryNIP report,” the Centresaid. 10.55 lakh croreinMarch 2019 to unemployment benefits. The to fall until the countryopens positive news from ashrinking mentby theFinanceMinistry. The structuresector,are among the structureministryforfollowingup In itssummaryreport, the Rs 10.18 lakhcrore in February CommerceDepartment’s snap- backup,”said ChrisRupkey,chief importbill, thehousing market NIPcaptures all projects—green- measures that have been recom- implementation; and acommit- panelhadsuggestedeffective dis- 2020,thereby contracting by 3.5 shotoffirst-quarterGDP on economistatMUFGinNew York. and morespending by the gov- field or brownfield, under imple- mendedbythegovernmentpanel teeinDepartment of Economic puteresolution,contract enforce- per cent. Wednesdayreinforced analysts’ “If the economy fell thishardin ernment. Snapdeal, 4shopping List of defaulters: Chidambaram accuses ‘Govt hastostepinto complexesfigure in US FM of taking shield behind technical rules protect 11 crore Indians, NotoriousMarkets List forNPAsasper the four-year pro- tive?...Whydoesthisruleapplyto givehopetoMSMEs’ EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE visioning cycle laid down by the the Nirav Modis andthe Vijay NEWDELHI,APRIL29 RBI,Chidambaramaccusedherof Mallyasand the Mehul Choksis,” “The time to make bold LALITKJHA The other four areTank takingshieldbehindthetechnical he said. Taking adig at the FM, he EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE decisions to save MSMEs WASHINGTON,APRIL29 Road in Delhi, Heera THE WARofwords between the rule and asked whyisshe apply- said “a FM who wassilent forthe NEWDELHI,APRIL29 is now. If businesses do Congress andthe BJPgovernment ingthetechnicalruleto thosewho last 37 days has suddenlysprung not see hope, they will SNAPDEAL, ONE of India’s largest Panna in Mumbai, over the listofwilful defaulters have beendeclaredafugitiveoran to lifeandsprungto thedefenceof THE CONGRESS Wednesday e-commerce companies, along KidderporeinKolkata escalatedonWednesday, with absconder.“We understand the thesefugitives.Isn’tthatalittlesur- asked Prime MinisterNarendra decide to close” with four Indian shopping com- andMillenniumCentre former Finance Minister technical rules of the RBI. We are prising and ironical?” Modi to take urgent steps and an- PCHIDAMBARAM plexeshavefiguredintheUS’2020 PChidambaram accusing FormerFinance Minister notonthe technicality ...Thereare On Sitharaman’s remarkthat nounceafinancialassistancepack- FORMER FINANCE MINISTER edition of the Notorious Markets in Aizawl Finance MinisterNirmala PChidambaram. Express file defaulters,thereare wilfuldefault- scheduledcommercialbankshad agetoprotect the wagesand Listfor counterfeiting and piracy. Sitharaman of taking shield be- ers,there arewilfuldefaulterswho writtenoffRs1.45lakhcroreinthe salariesofabout11crore people be seen as a“no-goarea”. Other than Snapdeal, the four hind technicalrules andasking whichloans have become NPA.” arestaying back in India facing in- UPAperiod,hesaid:“Iamsurebe- working in the Micro, Small and “The time to makebold deci- marketsare Tank Road in Delhi, AccordingtoaNovember2018 the governmentwhyithastaken “You keep on throwing these quiriesandtryingtheirbestto pay tween2004and2014,bankswere MediumEnterprises(MSME)sec- sionstosaveMSMEs isnow.If HeeraPanna in Mumbai, survey,37percentof itscustomers thetechnical loanwrite-off route accusations that all these loans backand thereare wilful default- applying the rule and technically tor, andapaycheque protection businesses do notsee hope, they KidderporeinKolkataand reportedthattheyhad receiveda forfugitiveslikeNirav Modi, were givenduringtheUPAregime. ers,whohave fledIndiaandare be- writingoff1.6lakhcrore,butby the programme on the lines of what will decide to close.The govern- Millennium CentreinAizawl. counterfeit product from Mehul Choksi and VijayMallya. Is the government seriouslysug- ing declaredfugitives.” same token, between 2014 and theUShadannouncedforanother ment has to step in todaytopro- In all, the US Trade Snapdeal. Hitting backatFinance gesting that no loans were given “Your RBI rule can apply 2019,Modigovernmenthaswrit- 1crore employeeswithincomeof tect11 croreIndiansandgivehope Representatives’(USTR)annuallist Delhi’s Tank Road market was MinisterNirmalaSitharamanwho after2014? Or thatall the loans maybetothe first, second and tenoff 6.66lakh crore. So,when less than Rs 3.5 lakh ayear. to MSMEs. It is bewildering that has 38 online marketsand 34 in the Notorious MarketsList had said wilfuldefaulterswere givenafter 2014 areperforming thirdcategories.Afterfouryearsof youmention1.6lakhcroreshould Addressingapressconference, therehas been absolutelynofi- physicalmarketsthatarereported (NML)in2019.“Rightholderscon- beneficiariesofphonebankingun- loans? Imean, what do theytake full provisioning is made, youcan notthe FM also mention the6.66 former FinanceMinister nancial packageorassistance an- to engageinorfacilitatesubstantial firm that this market continuesto der the UPAregime andthe the people of India for? We may technicallywriteofftheloan.That lakhcrorerupeesthathergovern- PChidambaram lashedout at the nouncedfor businesses since the trademarkcounterfeiting and sell counterfeit products, includ- NarendraModigovernmentis be stupid,we’renot so stupid. youcandofordefaulters,wilfulde- ment has writtenoff between NDAgovernment forremaining onsetofCOVID-19,”hesaid, ask- copyright piracy. ing appareland footwear. chasing them to recoverthe dues, Loans have been givenafter 2014, faultersandwilfuldefaulterswho 2014 and2019…..Butthepointwe “non-committal on everything”, ing the government to announce “Snapdeal, one of India’s Wholesale counterfeit goods are he also asked theGovernment loans were givenprior to 2004 have stayedbackandtryingto face areasking is,these are fugitives. beitanexitstrategyafterthelock- Rs1lakhcroreaswageprotection largest e-commerce platforms, is alsoreportedlysuppliedfromthis “breakuptheNPAsintopre-2004, also. Give the breakup?,” he said. an inquiry. Butwhy do youapply TheyfledIndia under your nose. down,financialassistanceto states assistance to help MSMEs pay known as aplace to purchase marketto otherIndianmarkets,in- 2004 to 2014 andpost-2014”ar- RespondingtoSitharaman’s that rule to awilful defaulter who Youhavedeclaredthem fugitives orafinancialpackageorassistance wagesand salaries forApril and counterfeit watchesand shoes,” cluding GaffarMarketand Ajmal guing that it “will give us an idea statement thatnoloaniswaived has fledIndia and your govern- and absconders. Whyare youap- forbusinesses. He said monetisa- another Rs 1lakh crorefor credit the USTR said. Khan Road (in Delhi),”itsaid. PTI when the loans were givenand offand that provisions aremade ment has declared him afugi- plying this rule to them?” he said. tion of the fiscal deficit should not guarantee fund forMSMEs. US adds 5ofAmazon’s Sensexrises 606 points on BRIEFLY ‘27oftop 100companies can’t foreign operationstolist easing of curbs, Fed meet Ex-FinSecyis sustain current salarybill’ PESBchief Kingdom to itsannual blacklist. As many as 27 of thetop 100companies listedonthe Natio- muchas52paise againstthe dol- ASSOCIATEDPRESS USTR citedcomplaintsfrom nal StockExchangewill notbeable to sustain current wage ENSECONOMICBUREAU lartomoveabove the76markto NewDelhi:Ex-financesecre- WASHINGTON,APRIL29 US businesses that consumers MUMBAI,APRIL29 75.66inthe wake of theimprove- tary RajivKumar has been can’t easilytell whoisselling bill if revenue dips 30 per cent or more, aDeloittestudy said ment in global risk environment. namedPESBchairperson.PTI THE UNITED States forthe first itemsonthe Amazon platforms METHODOLOGY Impact will be larger since the DOMESTIC INDICES rose on Analysts said marketscontin- time addedfiveofAmazon’s and that the e-commerce com- Deloitte conducted astudy of cash stuck in inventory and Wednesdayasglobal markets uedtheirmomentumforthethird overseas operations to itslistof pany’s procedures forremoving the top 100 companies listed receivables is likely to increase edgedupahead of US economic consecutive session and ended ILO:305million “notorious markets” wherepi- counterfeitgoods “canbelengthy on the NSE in terms of market in such ascenario 27 companies won’t be able growth figures and aFederal withstronggainstrackingencour- jobsmaybelost ratedgoodsare sold. The e-com- and burdensome.’’ capitalisation to sustain current wage bill Reserveratedecision while in- aging global cues. merce giant dismissedthe move Amazon firedbackwith a 11 of the 27 vulnerable from cash profits, if their vestors seemedbuoyedasmore Oil prices surgedafter US Geneva: TheILO estimated as partofthe Trumpadministra- statement Wednesday: “We Temporarysolution:Dipintocash companies have adebt to revenue dips by 30 per cent governments, including India, crude stockpiles grew less than 305 million full-time jobs tion’s “personal vendetta” strongly disagreewith the char- balanceorborrowinshortterm equity ratio of more than 1 or more plannedto easeanti-viruscontrols expected andgasoline posteda could be lostinQ2. AP againstit. acterizationofAmazon in this and allowsome businesses to re- surprisedraw.Brentcrudefutures The Office of the US Trade USTR report. This purelypolitical open. The Sensexrose606points, were up $2.23,or11per cent,at RepresentativeonWednesday actisanother example of the ad- All the companies covered have an ability to pay their fixed Source: or 1.89 per cent, to 32,720.16 and $22.69 abarrelby12:05p.m.EDT ADBapproves addedthe Amazon.com Inc. do- ministrationusingtheUS govern- opex, interest and compensation cost from cash and cash ` Deloitte/PTI the NSENifty Indexgained172 (1605 GMT). US WTIfutures $346mnloan mains in Canada, France, ment to advance apersonal equivalents for about 5.5 months at the median, it said pointsat9,553.35 soared$3.58, or 29 per cent, to Germany,Indiaand theUnited vendettaagainstAmazon.’’ The rupee strengthenedas $15.92 abarrel. NewDelhi: The Asian Development Bank on Wednesday saidithas ap- US places India on ‘Priority Sidbi launches proved a$346-million loan Fed sticks to zero rate SC turns down Vodafone to thegovernment to pro- Watch List’ for IP protection liquidity window videreliablepowerconnec- pledge, vows to utilise for MSMEs, SFBs, Idea plea for immediate tion in rural areas of ‘LACKOFMEASURABLE Maharashtra. The loan will PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA NBFCs and MFIs support the stategovern- WASHINGTON,APRIL29 IMPROVEMENTS’ tools to help economy tax refund of `4,759 crore ment'shighvoltagedistribu- tion system programme for THE US on Wednesday placed ■ The USTR said India ENSECONOMICBUREAU contending thereturns theyhad newgrid-connectedrural Indiaonthe‘PriorityWatchList’for had been placedonthe REUTERS MUMBAI,APRIL29 AASHISHARYAN filed, the refund neednot be agricultural customers lack of sufficient measurableim- ‘Priority WatchList’ for WASHINGTON,APRIL29 NEWDELHI,APRIL29 processedimmediately. Thesaid across the state, said provementstoits Intellectual lackofsufficient mea- SMALLINDUSTRIESDevelopment taxrefundsbetween AY2012 and themulti-lateral funding Propertyframework onthe“long- surable improvements US FEDERAL Reservepolicymak- BankofIndia(Sidbi)haslaunched IN AsetbacktoVodafone Idea, the 2017 have been withheld by au- agency. PTI standing” and “newchallenges” to itsIPframework. ers on Wednesdayleftinterest aspecialliquidity schemefor mi- Supreme Court (SC) Wednesday thoritiesfor various reasons, such that have negatively affected ratesnearzeroandrepeatedavow cro,smallandmediumenterprises rejectedthetelco’splea,askingthe as transfer pricing adjustment, American right holders over the to do what it takestoshoreupthe (MSMEs), small finance banks Income Tax(I-T) Department to capitalisation of license fees, 3G NMCfounder pastyear. propertyrightsviolatorsaccount- economy, sayingthe ongoing (SFBs),non-banking financial process and deposit taxrefunds spectrum fees, andasset restora- onprivateprobe TheUSplaced10countries,in- ableandto ensuringthatUS inno- coronaviruspandemicwill“weigh companies andmicrofinance in- worth Rs4,759.7 crore. The apex tion obligation. cludingIndiaandChina,onthelist, vators and creatorshave afull and heavily”onthenear-termoutlook stitutions (MFIs) through banks. courtsaidtheauthoritieswere jus- Vodafone Idea had sought tax Dubai: NMC Health founder alleging thatenforcement of the fair opportunity to use and profit and poses “considerable risks” for USFedChairJeromePowell. File The scheme would provide fi- tifiedinholding backrefundsun- refunds of Rs 4,759.7 crorefrom BR Shetty said aprobe con- intellectualpropertieshave deteri- from their work,” said US Trade the medium term. nancial supporttobanks,NBFCs tiltaxreturnsof thecompanywas theI-T department,claiming that ducted by his ownadvisors oratedor remainedatinadequate RepresentativeRobertLighthizer “The FederalReserveiscom- and MFIs by wayofterm loansto perusedbythe authorities. itstax returns between AY2012 has found alleged fraudat levelsandtheAmericanswhorely afterthe release of annual Special mitted to using itsfull rangeof Fedsaiditexpectstomaintainthe ensureoperationalcontinuityand The SC, however, asked the I-T and 2017 hadnot been processed the firm and Finablr. on their protection have difficulty 301Report on theadequacy and tools to supportthe US economy target rangefor itsbenchmark promote onward lendingto departmenttotakeadecision on by theauthoritiesdespiterepeated withfairandequitablemarketac- effectiveness of trading partners’ in this challengingtime, thereby overnight lending rate “until it is MSMEs. The tenor of these loans thependingtaxrefundsassoonas reminders on the same. cess.The countries placedonthe protection of IP rights. promotingitsmaximumemploy- confident that the economyhas will be 90 days. possible. Though the SC directed I-Tto ‘Groupsurge listbythe Trumpadministration Initsreport,theUSTRsaidthat mentandpricestabilitygoals,”the weatheredrecenteventsandison Mohammad Mustafa, I-Tdepartment authorities process Vodafone Idea’s taxre- delayindigitaltax’ onIntellectualProperty(IP)related India had been placed on the UScentralbanksaidinastatement tracktoachieve itsmaximumem- ChairmanandManagingDirector have kept taxrefundsofthe com- funds worthRs733 crorefor issuesareAlgeria,Argentina,Chile, ‘PriorityWatchList’forlackofsuf- at the end of atwo-day policy ployment and pricestability of Sidbisaid,“Wewereprovideda panybetween assessment year AY2014-15within four weeks, NewDelhi: Lobbying groups China, India, Indonesia, Russia, ficientmeasurableimprovements meetingheldviavideoconference goals.” specialliquidity windowofRs (AY) 2012 and2017, in abeyance, the relief couldbeshort lived. The have urgedIndia to delaya Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and to itsIPframework on the “long- because of the coronavirus pan- During twoemergency meet- 15,000crorebytheRBI...Thefunds claiming thatthe returns of the department had raisedaddi- newdigital taxthatwillhit Venezuela. standing”and “new challenges” demic. ingsinMarch,thecentralbankcut will be channalisedtoMSMEs companyfortheseyearswere“un- tionaltax demand of Rs 582crore firms likeFacebook and “The Trumpadministrationis that have negatively affected US With so muchuncertainty itsbenchmarkratetoarangebe- througheligiblebanks,NBFCsand derscrutiny” and since anotice forAY2015-16, whichisstuckin Google. REUTERS committedto holdingintellectual right holders over the pastyear. aroundtheeconomicoutlook,the tweenzeroand 0.25 per cent . MFIs.” had been issuedtothe company litigation.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020 LASTING MEMORIES Among Irrfan’s last social media posts is aphoto he had tweeted of thecast and crew of his last film Angrezi Medium catching up over aZoom call, whichincluded actorsRadhikaMadan, Pankaj 13 Tripathi and Deepak Dobriyal, among others. TALK Art, Music, Style, Food

IRRFAN 1967-2020 THE BEST OF THE BEST As an actor,Irrfan’s range wasunparalleled —hecouldplayany character ‘Gone too Soon’ with conviction —allowing him to crossoverforms, languages andlater, even continents. Here are10ofhis most noteworthyperformances: Film industryand fans cometogether to mourn THE WARRIOR LIFE OF PI (2012): As Irrfan, Indian cinema’sfinestactor (2001): In Asif the adult Pi Patel, Irrfan Kapadia’s debut film, does nothaveameaty treatment,heplayedtheroleof alovingfather Irrfan plays Lafcadia, a role in Ang Lee’s ALAKASAHANI in Angrezi Medium (2020),his lastrelease. Rajasthani feudal lord adaptation of Yann Afterthenews of hisdeathbecamepublic, who livesbyhis sword Martel’s novel. But he IS NUANCEDacting,his eyes that socialmedia wasflooded with posts by many and struggles to give it up. makes everyscene he is in count —and spokeand adialogue deliverythat of his colleagues in the film industryand his Hollywood sat up and took notice. wassouniquely his, wonhim admirers.Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj,who HAASIL (2003): Irrfan gave a H muchloveand admirers during has worked with him in Maqbool (2003), power-packedperformance as Ranvijay THE LUNCHBOX his versatile career,but on Wednesday, 7Khoon Maaf (2011)and Haider (2014), told Singh, aviolent student leader at a (2013): As Saajan actor Irrfan leftthe worldquietly. As every- TheIndianExpress:“Ifearedthathe(Irrfan)will university in Allahabad. Fernandes, alonely one came togetheronlinetomourn, few be gone muchbeforehis time but didn’t ex- widowerwhose could attend his burial at the Versovaceme- pectthatitwillbesodevastatingandravaging MAQBOOL (2003): BasedonMacbeth humdrum lifechanges tery due to restrictionsimposedinthe wake to mepersonally. Itfeelsasif Iamtornintotwo by William Shakespeare, the film when he receivesthe of the coronavirus outbreak.Whilemedia parts.Apartofmehas diedwith him.” brought Irrfan widespread acclaim for wronglunchbox, Irrfan embodies a persons stood beyond the barricades outside, VidyaBalantweetedshe couldn’t stopcry- his luminescent performance as quietgrace that lightsupthe screen. present forhis last rites were his wife Sutapa ingbecauseIrrfan’sperformancesaffectedher Maqbool, amafia don’sright-handman Sikdar,sons Babiland Ayan,and 15-20 rela- in “a personalway”. Callinghim “anincredible who falls forhis boss’s mistress . QISSA (2013): As UmberSingh, whose tivesand friends, includingfilmmakers talent and gracious colleague”, his Piku(2015) desiretohaveason leads him to raise Tigmanshu Dhulia, Vishal Bhardwaj, Abhinay co-actor Amitabh Bachchan said his passing THE NAMESAKE hisyoungestdaughter as aboy,Irrfanis Deo and singer Mika Singh. away wasthe“mostdisturbing andsadnews”. (2007): Basedonthe notonlysingularly terrifying but The54-year-oldwasadmittedto Mumbai’s ActorShah Rukh Khan, who wasthe producer novelbyJhumpaLahiri, absolutelyterrific. Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospitalon of Irrfan’s Billu (2009), calledhim “myfriend, the film belongs to Tuesdayfor acolon infection.Anofficial state- inspiration and the greatestactor of Irrfan who plays PIKU (2015): As Rana, an unlikelyfoil to ment on his passing away said: “Irrfan wasa our times”. AshokeGanguli, afirst- Deepika Padukone’s outspoken Piku, strong soul, someone who fought tillthe very Making an immense contribution to the generation Indian immigrant to Irrfan is content to letbigger stars do all end and alwaysinspired everyone who came worldofcinema, Irrfan remains one of the America, who chooses an unusual the talking while he stays in the closeto him.Afterhavingbeenstruckbylight- mostsuccessfulcrossoverartistes,withmovies name and legacy forhis first-born child. background, doing all the acting. ningin2018withthe news of ararecancer, he suchasThe Lunchbox (2013), Slumdog tooklifesoonafterasitcameandhefoughtthe Millionaire(2008),LifeofPi(2012),TheAmazing PAAN SINGH TOMAR (2012): “You HINDI MEDIUM (2017): His biggest manybattles that came with it.” Spiderman (2012) and Jurassic World (2015). can’t take your eyes offhim,” said commercial success, the film is Irrfan,whoreceivedtheNationalAwardfor Many internationalpersonalities,includingdi- The NewYorkTimes in itsreview. As a testimonytothe fact that Irrfan could Paan Singh Tomar (2012)and Padma Shri in rector AvaDuVernay, paid tributetohim. former armyman turned-starathlete- be Everyman in mainstream Bollywood 2011,wasdiagnosedwithneuroendocrinetu- “Gone toosoon. When he is on screen, you turnedrebel,Irrfandelivers in every fare as well. mour in 2018,for which he underwent pro- can’t take your eyes offhim.Helives on in his frame of his action-packedbiopic. ANUSHREEMAJUMDAR longedtreatmentinthe UK. In between his films,” tweetedDuVernay.

thelineshadn’tbeenaltered,thecharacter,the wasone of the quietest studentsinthe class Cinema’s Chameleon locations,thecostumes,theywereallthesame, The Quietest Boy in Class of 1987.His classmates, suchasBharti and yet, atinymovement, afleetinglook,the Sharma, founder of KshitijTheaterSociety in quietest gesture,onehadn’tseenbefore would Irrfan’s friends from NSD remember theactor Delhi, usedtowonder,‘Pata nahin yehitna TANUJACHANDRA reveal itself. chup kyunrahtahai?’ “He nevermissedany This wasthe reason one nevertires of see- classbuthealsodidnotparticipateindiscus- IRRFAN THOUGHT long and hardbefore ing this actor on screen, this wasthe reason DIPANITANATH sions.Itwasonlywhenheperformedthatwe accepting my offer(for Qarib Qarib Singlle, that even though his work oftenhas tell-tale understoodthatIrrfanwasapersonwhobe- 2017).Hewasuncertainif hewouldbereceived signsof ‘classicIrrfan’,eachperformancevaries. INTHEcorridorthatstudentsof theNational lievedinlisteningratherthan speaking. He well in aromantic role at this stageofhis life The loss of this magnificent actor is an in- Schoolof Drama (NSD)take to reachthemain hadabsorbedeverythingwe were taughtand because romance wasmoreofaplaying field comparable onefor Indian cinema. He had auditorium, Abhimanch, arow of photo- wasimplementing it in his performance,” fortheyoung,hesaid.If peopledidn’tapprove, crossedonlysomepartofhis journeyofsub- graphs usedtohang, until ayear or so ago, of she adds. he wouldn’t have anyone to share the flak lime acting. Therewas so much morefor him past graduates. Whether these were meant Dinesh Khanna, whowasayearseniorto with other than his ownmisplaced choice Irrfan in astill from Qarib Qarib Singlle to explorewithin himself, to discover. He to celebrate achievementsofpass-outsor Irrfanandhisclosefriend,says theactor,who of subject. would have had no dearth of remarkable goad the current crop towardsfutureexcel- wasshy inperson,wasalways tryingto push Then one morning, while reading the lines scripts coming to him forthe next couple lence wasneverclearbut the displays didof- theenvelope on stage. His best friend wasa of ascene,Irrfanfoundwhathehadbeenlook- matter what theydid foraliving. This became decades. We canonlyimagine the kind of feraglimpse of anumber of stalwart per- studious girlfromhis batch, Sutapa Sikdar, ingfor. ThescenehadYogicallhisdrivertofetch the reason Irrfan agreedtodothe movie. beauty he would’vebrought to our screens. It formersintheirearly days.Inthisgallerywas who would become his wife. himafteradinnerdate.Hecarriedpackedfood Intheeditingroom,Idiscoveredsomething willbealongingleftunfulfilled.Butit’snosmall arareblack-and-whiteshotofIrrfanonstage. “Therewasaseriousnessabouthimthat’s forhim andithit Irrfan, who oftenshared magical.IdiscoveredthatIrrfan’sperformance thingthatallheleavesbehindwillbecherished The actor had cut his teethinacting in the well known but he also had asense of mis- meals with his staff, that here wasaman who had adynamic quality.Itchanged upon each foralong,longtime. hallsofthisfamous Delhi institute. Irrfan from his NSD days NSD Archives chief whichwesee in his roles,” says actor cared forpeople. Yogi lovedpeople,itdidn’t viewing. The cinematic frames hadn’t shifted, ChandraisthedirectorofQaribQaribSinglle Alankyboywithaheadofcurly hair,Irrfan MitaVashisht. OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry&TLewis CROSSWORD 4105 DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

ARIES (Mar 21 -Apr 20) LIBRA(Sep24-Oct 23) Forthe secondday Youmay be under running your some extrapressure emotional at themoment, but alignments are it’s all friendly. You strong, something which you arebeing urgedtobemore neverfind easy mainlybecause outgoing,confident in your feelings can be suchmessy ideas and public with your things. It’s all aquestion of feelings. At all times, come relaxing intoit, accepting backtothe centralrequirement whatever happens. ‘Go with the —the development of flow’, as theysay. your unique talents. TAURUS (Apr21-May 21) SCORPIO (Oct 24 -Nov 23) Your naturalinstinct People youlivewith forself-preservation can be very difficult is boostedbytwo to pindown. CALVIN &HOBBES by Bill Watterson very helpful aspects Sometimes you to Venus,the planet which wonder what they actually representsyour emotionalneeds want! As it happens, somebody anddesires. Your intellectand close should soon alter direction, instinctsshould be functioning lifting aburdenfromyourmind. as one, so your judgment could Emotionally, professionally and be impeccablehopefully. personally, allthe piecesofthe ACROSS DOWN jigsawshould nowbebeginning 1Hemay act well, but he 1Staple food (4) GEMINI (May22-June 21) to fall into place. paintsbadly(8) Youmustget your 2Passage takenfroma priorities right. First SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 -Dec 22) 5Agirlisafter one, right(4) pamphlet(7) among theseisthe Theremay be few 9Trace misdirected supply(5) 3Contenders forthe high need to co-operate individuals who are 10 Rattle causedbyaloose jump(12) with other people, whether at genuinelyhappy ratchet(7) 4Pole position (6) work or at home. It therefore with recent follows thatyou should be as discussions and agreements. 11 It won’t keep youfully 6Atheart an oration shows a charming as possible. You This is partlybecause your occupied(4-4,4) sense of proportion (5) mustbeagood listener for latent perfectionism is coming 13 Battle suit (6) 7Imposing corporal that’s one of the best ways to out, so youcan trytosee such 14 Adynamic proposition punishment (8) see to it that others do take discontent as very useful, (6) 8Don’t take legal action for youseriously. encouraging thedesiretodo better next time round. 17 Sporting event that has its nothing (4,2,6) MARVIN by Tom Armstrong CANCER (June 22 -July23) ups and downs 12 Everyyear onemay await its Noteverything CAPRICORN (Dec 23 -Jan 20) (12) return with addedinterest(8) worksout as Youcan’t stay as you 20 Spedtoo much, and went 15 Afterthis month there’s expected,but then arefor ever,neither over the limit (7) everything to put in (7) what would lifebe do youwant to.If likeifeverything went newroutines or 21 Concerning amorning’s 16 Occasionwhenspiritsare according to plan? Pretty methods aretobeaccepted, it papers (5) calledfor (6) boring, probably. Bearthis mustbewith an option for 22 Lockers AtoGperhaps 18 Three pointsgotomy reassuring and simple truth in changeinthe near future. The (4) opponent (5) mind over the coming days as point is that it is onlywhen you 23 Call forarising 19 OffshorespotIstole away to partners, lovedonesand put your plans intopracticethat (8) (4) colleagues starttoplayup. you’ll identifythe pitfalls. LEO (July24-Aug 23) AQUARIUS (Jan 21-Feb 19) SolutionsCrossword4104:Across:1Desertion,8Arena,9Mailbag,10Rigout,11 This is atime for Secret,hidden or Athens,12Flagging,15Sanskrit,18Emigre,20Averse,21Tarnish,22Elite,23 realism. Youshould suppressedfeelings Tailoress.Down:2Exact,3Eileen,4Transfer,5Naming,6Deposit,7Castigate,11 Apostates,13Afterall,14Inherit,16Kismet,17Dinner,19Rests. acceptthat errors areonce again have occurredand bubbling over.You that you’ll soon be in aposition should be awarethat, even if to work out who was your behaviour has been responsible and why. Thereis impeccable, others could still be JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel3s no need to apportion blame, annoyedorenvious. That may Instructions only to preventthe sameerrors be their responsibilityrather being repeated.Infact, if you thanyours,although youmight Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, learn from your mistakesyou have to sort them out and therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget 4194 everydigitfrom1to9 will deservepraise. restorecommonsense. theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe ___isideal,itistheworkoftheimagination.-MarquisdeSade(9)) nineverticalcolumns,in VIRGO (Aug 24 -Sep 23) PISCES(Feb20-Mar 20) eachoftheninehorizontal Youought to be able Youstill have all 4195 LVAEI ADIUNP rowsandineachofthe to ensurethat your witsaboutyou, nineboxes. partners arenever thankgoodness. In

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,APRIL30,2020 BOOKIE IN SHAKIB CASE BANNED ICC handed a2-year bantoDeepak Agarwal, afranchise owner in the 2018 T10 League held in the UAE, afterheadmitted to obstructing an ongoing investigation. TheIndian businessman 14 SPORT wasnamed as the man involved in Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasangettingbanned last year .

‘Difficult’ to host Olympics if Counting the zeroes in ‘zero year’ pandemic not Experts feel cancelling IPL 2020 will benefit all stakeholders but BCCI nottoo keen to add extrayear to Star contract contained: Abe MIHIR VASAVDA NEWDELHI, APRIL29 AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE TOKYO, APRIL 29 LEGALEXPERTSandmarket-watchers,assess- ing the impact of theCOVID-19pandemic on JAPANESE PRIME MinisterShinzoAbesaidon sports,feel that the cancellation of this year’s Wednesday thattheTokyoOlympicscouldnot IndianPremierLeaguemightbethebest-case take placenextyear unless thecoronavirus scenariofor all stakeholders. pandemic is contained, as the city'sgovernor Advising againstdelaying or shortening calledforanextensionof thenationwidestate of the season, theysay that by considering of emergency.The International Olympic 2020 as a‘zeroyear’, the broadcaster,Star, CommitteeandtheJapanesegovernmentlast and BCCIwill be able to dealwiththe present month postponedthe Gamesuntil July 2021 economicuncertainty better and also bene- becauseof thecoronaviruscrisis.Withtheepi- fitinthe long run. demic'sworldwideinfectionrateclimbingand “Sincethepandemicwillresultinachange experts suggesting avaccine is along wayoff, of timelines or loss of aseason,broadcasters doubts have been raisedabout the chances of willneedtoreviewtheir contractswith event holding the hugeevent next year. organisers. Theymay considerextendingthe "We'vebeen sayingthe Olympic and term of their contract to includeanextrasea- ParalympicGamesmustbeheldinacomplete son whereaseason has been cancelled,” apa- form,inthatathletesandspectatorscanallpar- perproducedbylawyerNandanKamath’sfirm ticipatesafely. It would be impossibletohold LawNK says. theGamesinsuchacompleteformunlessthe However, BCCI hasn't yetgiven up on the coronaviruspandemic is contained,"Abesaid IPL idea. Earlier this month, BCCI secretaryJay in response to an opposition lawmaker. Shahhadsaid:“TheBCCIwillcontinueto mon- Abe'ssummaryofthe situation waslater itor and reviewthe situation regarding apo- underlined by IOC President ThomasBach. tentialstartdateinclosepartnershipwithallof "The IOC fullyagreeswiththe position of itsstakeholdersandwillcontinueto take guid- Prime MinisterAbe," Bachsaidinresponse to ancefromtheGovernmentofIndia,state gov- aquestionfromReuters."Fromtheverybegin- ernmentsand other stateregulatorybodies.” ningof thiscrisis,we establishedtheprinciple Ontheimpactof thepandemicontheStar- thatthe Olympic and Paralympic Games can BCCIdeal,atopBCCIofficialsaid:“Wewillkeep onlybeorganisedinasafeenvironment for consultingthegovernmentand,basedontheir everyone involved.This principle has driven inputs,itwillbedecidediftheIPLcantake place all our decisionssofar,and we remain com- or not. As forthe Star deal, it’s tooearly to talk mitted to it in the future." Abehas staked part about it.” The decision won’t be so straightforward as ahostofother commercial aspectswill be decided on whether theseasoniscancelledortruncatedaswell as possible visa of hislegacyasJapan'slongest-servingpremier However, withmostmegasportingevents restrictions, whichcould have an impact on viewership andsponsorinterest. BCCI file on holding the Games and washopingfor a aroundtheworld-Olympics,GrandSlamten- boom in tourism and consumer spending. nis,Europeanfootballchampionship-getting Japan has gathered some $3 billion in domes- cancelledorpostponed by ayear,the chances As partoftheir 2020 obligation, tic sponsorship, an Olympic record, and spent of IPL Season 13 taking place seem bleak. How suspension of obligations through close to $13billion on preparations. This,accordingto lawyerAnishDayal,who Star has already paid the BCCI The prime ministersaid on Wednesday specialisesinsportslaw andIPLcontracts,is“a approximately`1,500crore as thatthe Olympics "mustbeheldinaway that clearsituation of forcemajeure”. Explaining an advance forthis season’s IPL. force majeure can mitigate losses showstheworldhaswonitsbattleagainstthe the legal term,hesays,“Forcemajeureallows coronavirus pandemic," and cautionedthat thesuspensionof obligationsandthiswillhelp Those in the knowsay that in Japan should "brace foraprotractedbattle". both,theBCCIandfranchises,tomutuallydis- the case of cancellation, and the What is forcemajeure? aspartofthedeal,thebroadcastingbehemoth theIPLby theBCCIislikelytobetreatedasforce Tokyoconfirmed47new infectionson cuss mitigation of the loss thatarises.” enforcement of ‘force majeure’, It’s an event beyond the control of aparty; already paidBCCIcloseto`1,500crore –half majeureinthe contextofplayercontracts. Wednesday. Thenationaltallystandsat13,895 However, thetricky problem forthe BCCI something thatcould notbeforeseen at the of this season’s installment. Unless the BCCI decides otherwise, payment infections, including 413deaths, national willbethe implementation of the ‘force ma- BCCI is expected to return apart time of entering intoanagreement -inthe Onthefaceof it,incasethe“forcemajeure” obligations to players will stand suspended,” broadcasterNHK said. jeure’clauseinthebroadcastingdealwithStar of or the full advance payment. present circumstances, the COVID-19pan- clause comes intoplayand IPLgets cancelled, says notedlawyerNandan Kamath. Abe'scommentsechoedstatementsmade that has promised to paythe Indian board demic. the BCCI will have to refundthe advance pay- by other senior Japanese officials this week. `16,347.50 croreoverfiveyears till 2022. mentto Star.However, itisopento interpreta- What happens if theseasonispostponed Tokyo2020presidentYoshiroMoritoldNikkan As partoftheir 2020 obligation, Star has Starto re-negotiatedealswithadvertiserswho Is the pandemicaforce majeureevent? tion. Chances arethe BCCI might just returna andtruncated? Sports on Tuesdaythatthe Games would be already paid the BCCI approximately`1,500 have alreadybookedIPLslots keepinginmind To trigger theclause, the BCCI will have to partoftheadvancebringingintheimagerights According to Vidushpat Singhania, man- "scrapped"if theycouldnottakeplacein2021. croreasanadvance forthis season’s IPL. BCCI the original April-Mayslot. An IPL later in the provethatitwasn’tjustinconvenient, but im- clause. Those in the know aging partner of Krida Legal, Theheadof theJapanMedicalAssociation officials insistthatinthe case of cancellation, year could seethemchanging their minds. A possible, forthem to hold the tournamentbe- also saythat thereisalso a if the IPL is postponed“the (JMA), YoshitakeYokokura, told anewsbrief- and the enforcement of ‘force majeure’, the productlaunchorpromotionof seasonalgoods causeof eventsbeyondtheircontrol.According possibility that the amount SIMPLY player can still perform his ing on Tuesdaythat"unless an effective vac- boardwill return the advance payment.“Of can’tbeexpectedtobeshowcasedon-airifthe to lawyerAnishDayal,whospecialisesinsports could be carriedovertonext PUT duty,whichmeans the fran- cine is developed, Iexpect hosting the course, we will return the amount,” said an IPL’s schedule changes. lawandhasadvisedonIPLcontracts,thepres- yearandconsideredasanad- chises will have to paythe Olympicswill be difficult.” official. “In such scenarios, theymay be forced to ent situation –the COVID-19pandemicand vance fornextseason. playerhis full fees”. Sports lawyer Vidushpat Singhania, man- renegotiateonexisting bookings, ratesand the government imposedlockdown –“is Incaseof atruncatedseason,itwilldepend aging partner of KridaLegal,says none of the packages,” Kamath, who has previouslyad- clearly an eventofforce majeure”. Will Star getanextrayearincase this on whether thereisaclauserelating to vari- parties mayhavetopay anypenalties if the visedthe BCCI and other stakeholders on var- season is cancelled? able pay. However, it is likelythatthere will be forcemajeure clause is invoked. Additionally, ious issues, says. What happens if forcemajeureisinvoked? That'sthebest-casescenarioforStarinthe apay cutacrosstheboard–fromplayersalaries theycan consider Season 13 as a‘zeroyear’, AnotherpredicamentthatStarcouldfaceis It will give IPL stakeholders –BCCI, broad- presentcircumstances.Expertssay thatincase to broadcast payments–incasetheIPLseason andnegotiatetoaddanextrayearattheendof thedropinadvertisingspendinginthecoming casters, franchises, players, and advertisers – the tournament does nottakeplace this year, is shortenedand/or held behind closeddoors. the contract to recoverlosses. months because of the COVID-19-forcedeco- temporaryreprieve as they wouldnolonger Season 13 can be considereda‘zeroyear’. An As per apaper producedbyKamath’s firm “Itdependsonhowthecontractisworded. nomic slump. Thereare thosewho feel that be tied down by theircontractual obligations. extrayear wouldmean Star getting another LawNK,broadcasters might also face re-nego- If it is ayearly restriction, theywillhavetone- even BCCI might face the same problem. “In Thiscanpossiblyhelpthepartiesarrive atane- season to recover itslosses. tiation and refund requests from their adver- gotiateanother year.However, if it is season- case theysomehowdohold Season13in gotiatedsettlement by comingtothe table tisers, who have already booked spots.This wise, then the contract will continue till the September-October this year,asithas been with acleanslate,not burdenedbystrict Will the franchises have topay theplayers means that the advertisement salesfor aspe- particularnumberofseasons areplayed,” proposed, within months theywillhaveto clauses.“Forcemajeureallowsthesuspension if the season is cancelled? cific period (for example, amobile phone Singhania says. hold Season 14 in April, 2021. These back-to- of obligationsand this will help both, the BCCI Thefranchise-playercontracthastwomain launchorsummer-specificproducts) mayno We'vebeensayingtheOlympicand Theideaof contractextensionhasn'tfound backIPLswilldryuptheadvertisers.Amarket andfranchises,tomutuallydiscussmitigation paymentconditions: the player needs to pass longer be relevant if the tournament is held in, ParalympicGamesmustbeheldina takersintheBCCI.“Thatmightnotbepossible. dealingwithaslowdownwillnotbeconducive of theloss arising,”Dayal says. afitnesstestand has to getabonafideno-ob- say, October.“In suchscenarios, theymay be completeform,inthatathletesand We willgo forafreshtenderoncetheStardeal foranother IPL,” says aBCCI member. jection certificatefromnational boards. forcedto renegotiateonexistingbookings,rates spectatorscanallparticipate ends in 2022,” an officialsaid. He goes on to addthat the Board, in case What happens to the BCCI-Star deal? According to thoseinthe know, the contract andpackages,”Kamathsays.Anotherpredica- However, if thetournamentisheldin it holds an IPL this year,will have to startthe The fate of this deal has worriedall IPL doesnotcontemplatecancellationof aseason. ment Star could face is the drop in advertising safely.Itwouldbeimpossibleto October –anoptionthe BCCI is exploring –it processofinviting bids foranew broadcaster stakeholders the most. As is the case with all Inanormalseason,afranchisehasto pay60 spendinginthe comingmonths. According to holdtheGamesinsuchacomplete could result in Star losing out on advertising in 2021. “The financial slumpwillmeanthey sportingleagues,itisthemediarightsrevenue percentof aplayer’sfeebyApril30.Sofar, none reports,beforethe crisis hit, the broadcaster formunlessthecoronavirus revenue due to acombination of factors, in- won’t getgoodmoneyfor theTVdeal. that keepscricket’s biggestbrand running. In of the players have been paid forthe season. wasselling a10-second advertisement slotfor pandemiciscontained.” cluding the gloomyeconomic outlook,while Delaying the tender process and pushing 2017,StarIndiaboughtthebroadcastingrights However, if theseasoniscancelledbecauseof `13-14lakhs. The slowdown couldimpact still having to paythe entire rightsfees. backthe broadcastrightsauction will be a of the tournament and promisedtopay BCCI thepandemic,thefranchiseswillprobablynot theseestimatesincasethetournamentisheld SHINZO ABE, JAPAN PRIME MINISTER Atruncated and postponedIPL will force wise decision.” `16,347.50croreoverfiveyears.Earlierthisyear, have to paythe players. “The cancellation of this year. MIHIRVASAVDA

DR ANTHONY FAUCI ‘Don’t have to act on impulse... we are not ready to have all sports back’

to normal,wecanonlygetourselvesrightback ers aregoing to have to come intocontact, like Sports areanunusual business because JAMESWAGNER&KENBELSON in the same hole we were in afew weeksago. basketball, thereare certain things youcan do. athletesare in close quarters formany APRIL29 We’vegot to makesurethatwhen we try It maynot work.I’m notsaying this is the way months. What kind of runwaydoleagues to getbacktonormal, includingbeing able to to go,but youwanttoatleastconsider having needtostart upagain? DR. ANTHONY S. Fauci, the leading public playbaseballinthesummerandfootballinthe players, if they’regoingtoplay, playinfront of That’s the reason Istressthe idea of testing healthexpertonPresidentTrump’scoronavirus fall and basketball in the winter,thatwhenwe aTVcamerawithout peopleinthe audience. everybody and having available forthemtests task force, said this week that it might be very do come backtosomeformofnormality,we And then test all theplayers and make sure from whichyou can getaresult immediately... difficultformajorsportsintheUnitedStates to do it graduallyand carefully.And when cases they’renegative andkeep theminaplace Idon’t want to makethis conversation sound return to action this year.“Safety, forthe play- dostarttorebound—whichtheywill,nodoubt where they don’t have contact withanybody likeit’sgoingto beaneasything.Wemay notbe ersandforthefans,trumpseverything,”hesaid. —thatwe have thecapabilityofidentifying,iso- on the outside who youdon’t knowwhether able to pull this off. We’regoing to have to see: “If youcan’t guarantee safety, then unfortu- lating and contact tracing. they’repositive or negative. Isitdoable?Dowe have thecapabilityof doing natelyyou’regoingto have to bitethebulletand That’s going to be logisticallydifficult, but itsafely?Becausesafety, fortheplayersandfor say, ‘Wemay have to go withoutthis sportfor Sports areabusiness, and theyhavea there’s at least the possibility of doingthat. In the fans, trumps everything. If youcan’t guar- thisseason.’” financial imperative.Some governors and other words, we said that forbaseball, getthe antee safety, then unfortunatelyyou’re going Dr.Fauci,the director of the National mayors have discussedthe possibility of playersinMajorLeagueBaseball,getacoupleof to have to bite thebulletandsay, “Wemay have InstituteofAllergyandInfectiousDiseasessince sports returning without fans. But there cities and acouple of hotels, getthem tested to go without this sportfor this season.” 1984,isanavid runner who grew up playing arestillhundredsofstaff memberswho andkeep them segregated.Iknowit’s going to basketball and baseball, is afan of the have to run the stadium, the clubhouse. AnthonyFauci,the leading public healthexpert on US President Donald Trump’s bedifficultforthemnottobeoutinsociety,but Some people areclamouring forsports to Washington Nationals and the NewYork What needs to bedone to make sure coronavirustask force, said that returnofsportsmusthappen gradually. Reuters thatmay be theprice youpay if youwantto resume, including Mr.Trump. Do you Yankees.Hesayshewillfeel comfortable re- they’realso safe? play ball. think that is the correct impulse? turning to astadiumwhenthe levelofinfec- The thingsweneedtodo to the best of our There’s adifference between an impulse tion is farlowerthan it is now. Excerpts: abilityaretryandkeepthesix-footdistanceand thatphysicaldistance because the virus does- All sports aren’t createdequal. Golf might Is it even fair to thinkabout sports leagues and what you’regoing to do. Youdon’thave wear face coverings. And do the kind of pure n’ttravelthatmuchfartherthanthat.If youcan bemore suitedto maintaining distance, and teams getting broad access to testing if to actonevery impulse. Iwould love to be Wagner and Belson: When and howcan hygiene things youdotoprevent thespreadof do that, it isn’t completely free of risk,but you but it would beharder in basketball or the general public or other industries able to have all sports back. But as ahealth sports return? respiratoryinfections: washing hands fre- diminish the risk substantially. The density of hockey. What can bedone? aren’t getting the same? official and aphysician and ascientist, Ihave What we needtodoisget it, as acountry quently; wearinggloves,particularly foodserv- theinfectioninthecommunitywilldictatethe You’vegot to bereally creative.That’sgoing Ihope when we gettothatpoint,when to say, right now, when youlookatthe coun- andasindividuallocations,undercontrol.That ice, and theydothat anyway;changing gloves degree to whichyou canloosenup. I’vesaid to bemoredifficultandmoreproblematic.But we’regoing to tryand getthe sports figures try, we’renot ready forthat yet. We mightbe sometimes takeslonger than youwould like, frequently. And if youare in astadium, make thatmanytimes thatthe virusdecides how youknow, therehavebeen some suggestions tested,thenwewill have enough testssothat ready,dependinguponwhat the sport is. But andif we letourdesiretoprematurelygetback surethatif thereare peoplethere,theymaintain quicklyyou’re going to getbacktonormal. thatif youwantto have asituationwhereplay- anybodywho needs atestcan getatest. right now, we’renot. NYT

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