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New Delhi/METRO n Vol. XCVI No. 87 n Price ₹ 5.00/with Hindustan ₹ 9.00 (₹ 7.50 in Faridabad)/with Mint ₹ 14.50 n 14 Pages + 2 pages of HT City. Area specific pages extra. SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2020

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#HTSALUTES
THE FRONT RUNNERS
IN THE FIGHT
AGAINST COVID
For more details, turn to page 7

100,000 dead in 101 days, PM to meet CMs today

Punjab extends curbs;
half of them in just a week HT Correspondents
n [email protected]

NEW DELHI: With Prime Minister

THE PUNJAB CM SAID
COMMUNITY SPREAD
HAS BEGUN IN THE
wheat harvesting and procure-
ment season, an official state-
ment said.
Singh said in a tweet, “Given
COVID-19 Global toll continues to mount; Delhi sees its highest single-day rise with 183 new cases Narendra Modi scheduled to hold
his third video conference with STATE. THE UNION
the seriousness of the situation
arising out of #Covid19, Cabinet
chief ministers on Saturday to HEALTH MINISTRY has decided to extend lockdown &
Binayak Dasgupta know what is going on in your discuss the coronavirus pan- curfew till May 1.” He told the
n [email protected] country,” said Bhramar Mukher- demic, including reviewing the MAINTAINED THERE media that most of the 27 positive
jee, the head of biostatistics at lockdown, which ends on April WAS NO COMMUNITY cases reported in Punjab on
NEWDELHI: In the 101 days since the University of Michigan. 14, Punjab became the second Thursday (the maximum daily
world first heard about the mys- “The acceleration curve in state — after Odisha — to extend
TRANSMISSION IN INDIA increase for the state) were those
terious new virus behind Cov- India looks completely different the lockdown till the end of the of secondary transmission and
id-19, a person has, on average, than other countries – India is month. Uttarakhand also recom- sion. Punjab chief minister Ama- expressed apprehension that the
succumbed to the illness every 90 doubling infections in about six mended to the Centre that the rinder Singh suggested the spike state may be entering the commu-
seconds. days while a country like UK lockdown should be extended. of secondary infections in the nity transmission stage of the
On Friday, the toll surpassed takes three days,” she said, The Union government has also state indicated it had; the Union outbreak. Odisha had, on Thurs-
100,000, a milestone that could adding that it is important to asked for strict enforcement of health ministry continued to day, extended the lockdown to
well be dwarfed soon at the cur- determine whether this is the current lockdown, and deny it; and the World Health April 30.
rent rate of the pandemic’s because of lack of reporting or reached out to states to assess if Organization (WHO) bracketed Back in Delhi, there was a
growth: fatalities have doubled other factors such as tempera- some categories of services and India in the category of a “cluster spurt of activity within the gov-
and the total number of infections ture and genetics. people needed to be exempted, in of cases”, which is a stage before ernment. The Union health min-
grew by 600,000 in the last week India is at present in the middle a sign that a set of restrictions will community transmission. ister, Harsh Vardhan, chaired a
alone, according to the Johns of a three-week lockdown that continue to be in place. In Punjab, CM Singh chaired a meeting of state health ministers.
Hopkins University Coronavirus has brought the economy to a halt With the number of positive meeting of the council of minis- He urged them to ensure that the
Research Center. and led to a massive spike in cases in India growing to 7,556 — ters, which decided to extend the lockdown was strictly followed —
In India, national capital Delhi unemployment, but is also cred- Friday witnessed 855 new cases — lockdown to check the commu- failing which India would find it
recorded 183 new cases on Friday ited with averting an endemic cri- a fresh debate also broke out on nity spread of the pandemic and hard to battle the pandemic. “I
– the largest single-day jump. sis. The government is likely to n People walk through a sanitising tunnel at Azadpur Mandi in New Delhi on Friday. SANCHIT KHANNA/HT whether the country has entered to prevent overcrowding at the request health ministers of all
Most of these (154), however, retain much of the curbs, maybe the stage of community transmis- mandis in the light of the ensuing CONTINUED ON P 14
were related to the Nizamuddin
cluster from where roughly 2,300
have been taken to hospitals and
quarantine centres. Overall, the
even extend the lockdown which
is scheduled to end on April 14.
“From an epidemiological per-
spective, you start seeing an
Industry calls for expansion TRACKING THE VIRUS
country recorded 855 new cases
and 19 new deaths, taking total
infections to 7,556 and fatalities to
250.
appreciable drop in case counts
when you lock down for 42-56
days but that may not be practi-
cal. You have to come out of a
of working capital financing WORLD
CASES 1,652,652 1,00,371
DEATHS
INDIA
CASES 7,556 (+855) 250 (+19)
DEATHS
DELHI
CASES
DEATHS
903 (+183) 14 (+2)
The numbers, which came on lockdown soon,” added Mukher- chairman of Toyota Kirloskar “This could be in the form of United States Rest of the world WORST-HIT STATES CASES LAST 5 DAYS
the 39th day of the outbreak in jee, who is among a dozen acade- Motor. extra credit limits for wage pay- 478,366 1,174,286 Maharashtra 1,574 903
India, represent a steady flow micians from three American “We believe the stimulus has ments and interest obligations of Tamil Nadu 911 669 720
that, while not ballooning in the universities studying the dis- Goutam Das to be twofold. One would be to stressed sectors. Also, additional Delhi 903 525 576
way they did in many populated ease’s progress in India and other n [email protected] assist and support the affected loans are required to enable Rajasthan 520
Telangana 487
countries, threaten to quickly go nations. population through relief and MSMEs and stressed sectors to India data compiled by covid19india.org and cross-checked from inputs by HT’s correspondents and news agencies Apr 06 07 08 09 Apr 10
out of hand. In western countries, Since the middle of March, NEW DELHI: Indian industry cash transfers. This can be an overcome the loss of business.
the virus tore through in approxi- some of the biggest economies of expects a prolonged recovery additional ₹2 trillion given Expansion of working capital
mately six weeks: the United the world have locked down their period after the national lock- directly into the hands of benefi- loans to all enterprises across the
States and Europe together
account for over 77% of all infec-
tions and close to 87% of all
cities and are now struggling
with the question of when to lift
some of these curbs and let indus-
down is eased and is hoping for
government support, especially
to small and medium enterprises,
ciaries. The second would be to
support enterprises, especially
MSMEs (micro, small and
board would greatly help them
address the present challenges.
To be able to do this, the govern- Vaccine expected India hits back
deaths. tries restart to fend off further to help mitigate the pain, said medium enterprises), to avert ment could consider a fund of
hard as Pakistan
“The attention now should be
on lower and middle income
countries like India and the
sooner you start testing at a wide-
economic devastation.
The head of the International
Monetary Fund warned on
Thursday the global economy is
Vikram Kirloskar, president,
Confederation of Indian Indus-
try. Kirloskar is also the chair-
man and managing director of
mass-scale closure of businesses
and loss of jobs. We have sug-
gested that this support can be
extended through banks,” Kirlos-
₹30,000 crore for banks, which
would enable a leverage of five-
six times.”
CONTINUED ON P 14
by 2021: Analysis violates ceasefire
spread level, the better you will CONTINUED ON P 14 Kirloskar Systems Ltd and vice- kar said in an interview. FULL INTERVIEW ››P11 Sanchita Sharma As many as 78 projects have SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: The army on
n [email protected] reached the active stage of devel- Friday targeted Pakistani posi-
opment within three months of tions across the Line of Control

Law may be altered Capital now has 30 containment NEW DELHI: The development of a
vaccine for Covid-19 is proceed-
ing at an unprecedented pace and
the genetic sequence of the virus
being published on January 11,
2020.
(LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s
Keran sector with artillery guns
and caused severe damage to

to allow 12-hr work zones, nearby areas are ‘buffer’

scale, and also using innovative Of the confirmed active vac- posts, terror launch pads and an
technologies, according to an cine candidates, 56 (72%) are ammunition dump in Pakistan
analysis of the global Covid-19 being developed by the private Occupied Kashmir, said two offi-
vaccine development database, sector, with the rest being led by cials familiar with the details of

shifts at factories HT Correspondent

n [email protected] SECOND TIER OF DEFENCE
published in the journal Nature
Reviews Drug Discovery.
With five Covid-19 vaccine
academic, public sector and other
non-profits.
Parallel vaccine development
the operation. ››P13

Saubhadra Chatterji
[email protected]
the current accepted norm of 8
hours, six days a week (or 48
NEWDELHI: The Delhi government
on Friday declared seven more
areas in the national capital as
WHAT ARE
BUFFER
HOW ARE THEY SIMILAR TO
CONTAINMENT ZONES?
candidates in phase 1 clinical
trials to establish safety for
humans and 73 in exploratory or
phases, innovative regulatory
processes and advanced manu-
facturing capacity have helped
Pandemic threat to
global peace and
n

hours) to up to 12 hours, six days containment zones, taking the ZONES? n Allroads, paths leading up to these areas preclinical stages, a vaccine is fast-track development, which
NEWDELHI: The Union government a week (72 hours). total to 30, as authorities stepped n Buffer
will be blocked likely to be ready in early 2021, the traditionally takes an average of
zones

security: UN chief
n There will be police surveillance
is considering a change in a 1948 According to two senior offi- up efforts to contain the spread of are meant to analysis says. a decade. ››P6
law to allow longer shifts in facto- cials aware of the matter, a pro- the coronavirus disease that has ring-fence n The area will be disinfected, although at

ries as it works out ways to help posal is under “active considera- infected 903 people in the city- containment a lower frequency than containment zones
factories cope with fewer work-
ers and high demand -- and all
tion” to amend the Factories Act
of 1948.
state.
The areas include Nabi Karim
areas with
curbs that are
mustread UNITED NATIONS: United Nations
secretary general Antonio Guter-
against a context where the ongo- Although there are provisions and Chandni Mahal in central not as strict HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT res warned the UN Security
ing nationwide lockdown is likely of overtime in the same Act, the Delhi, Zakir Nagar in south-east n The perimeter FROM CONTAINMENT ZONES? ALCOHOLICS LAND IN EMERGENCY ROOM Council on Thursday that the
to continue beyond April 15. feeling in the government is that Delhi, upscale residential area of such areas n Peoplecan step out of their homes The number of people with severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms in coronavirus pandemic is threat-
The change will allow compa- exceptional circumstances call DLF Capital Greens in west can vary wearing face masks, but may be emergency department of Delhi hospitals has doubled during the ening international peace and
nies to extend the daily shift, from for exceptional provisions. ››P4 Delhi’s Moti Nagar, Block B in depending on questioned by police lockdown, according to doctors -- and, they are coming in with severe security.
the contain- symptoms. “Earlier we would see only about one or maybe two patients
Paschim Vihar, areas around a n Shops selling essential supplies will be He urged the UN’s most power-
ment zone a day; now we are getting at least three or four patients in the emer-
property in Ashok Nagar and open, but with staggered timings ful body, which has been silent on
gency,” said Dr Nimesh Desai, director, Institute of Human Behaviour and
mustread pocket E of GTB Enclave.
On Friday, the government
Allied Sciences. A similar increase was also noted at AIIMS. ››P3
Covid-19 so far, to unite on tack-
ling the virus, saying its engage-
also decided to set up 19 buffer ment will be “critical”.
PUBLIC HEARING POLICY UP FOR REVIEW
››P8
zones – immediate areas next to announced in the lockdown, but trate (South-West Delhi).
The Union environment ministry is revising its policy on public hearings containment zones – as a second less stringent compared to con- The decisions come on a day
and is likely to release it by next week keeping in mind the social line of defence to break the chain tainment zones. “The basic idea is Delhi saw its highest jump in cor-
distancing required in view of the coronavirus pandemic that has of transmission of the highly to create a graded progression onavirus patients, with 183 fresh
prompted a 21-day nationwide lockdown, a top official said, adding
that a case-by-case approach will be taken. ››P13
infectious disease.
Restrictions in buffer zones
between the normal lockdown
and stricter containment policy,”
cases on Friday. With this, there
are 903 infections including 14
BIRDS HAVE A FIELD DAY AT RAJPATH
will be stricter than the curbs said Rahul Singh, district magis- deaths in the Capital. ››P2

HLL LIFECARE

Condom-maker PSU at forefront of antibody testing kits

Ramesh Babu and there was an attempt to priva- Limited, its avatar in its con- nian, director of technical Pune. “We have got an order of
Venkatesha Babu tise the company. dom making days, but no one operations of HLL Lifecare, 2 lakh kits to begin with and
n [email protected] Over the past month, it has uses that name anymore), the company was able to are planning to produce 20,000
been at the centre of contro- which has emerged an impor- develop the test kit within a per day in our Manesar plant
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/BENGA- versies -- on how it delayed tant part of the government’s month. It has had experience in Haryana. Mass production
LURU: In the 1970s, it played a placing orders for protective fight against Covid-19. in developing test kits for TB, will begin on Monday and two
key role in India’s family plan- equipment for health care The Thiruvanthapuram, dengue and malaria. lakh kits will be dispatched
ning programme, manufac- workers, or the margin it was Kerala-based company has The rapid antibody diag- within the next 10 days,” said
turing condoms branded adding to such equipment it developed a rapid antibody nostic kit to test Covid-19 Subramanian. The produc-
Nirodh. sourced. diagnostic kit to test Covid-19 patients has been approved by tion is scalable, he added.
Just around three years Meet the state-owned HLL patients (in a mere 15-20 min- the Indian Council of Medical The Union government has
ago, dismissed as a mere con- Lifecare Limited (the HLL utes, the company claims). Research, and validated by the already placed an order worth n Rosy starlings, staging for their return migration to eastern Europe, with the Rajpath in the
dom maker (it was more), stands for Hindustan Latex According to EA Subrama- National Virology Institute in CONTINUED ON P 14 backdrop on a clear evening in New Delhi on Friday. ARVIND YADAV/HT PHOTO
02 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
SATURDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0

p g
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: METRO

Delhi govt adds 7 containment zones Buffer zones set up

around 19 spots as
to combat virus spread, total now 30 added safety step
Abhishek Dey demarcation of these zones.”

COVID-19 CURBS Districts step up efforts to screen households in 7 areas after new cases of Covid-19 over the last 3 days n [email protected] In terms of enforcement of sur-
veillance, sanitation and other
NEWDELHI: After naming 30 areas measures, a buffer zone is a semi-
HT Correspondent as containment zones and sealing quarantine zone, a senior govern-
htreporters@hindustantimes,com them, the Delhi administration ment official said.

Difference between containment area, buffer zone

n

has set up buffer zones in 19 of Another official said that simi-

NEW DELHI: As part of its effort to these to prevent transmission of lar to containment zones, all
check the spread of Covid-19, the the coronavirus disease (Cov- roads and lanes connecting the
Delhi government on Friday Unlike containment zones, residents in buffer zones can step out of their homes wearing face masks, but might be questioned by police id-19), senior government offi- buffer zones with arterial roads
added seven more areas in the cials said Friday. are blocked by the police. These
Capital to the list of 23 contain- WHAT ARE BUFFER ZONES? HOW IS THE BUFFER Buffer zones are geographical areas are disinfected but at longer
ment zones announced two days The geographical areas immediately ZONE AREA areas immediately surrounding intervals compared to the con-
ago, taking the count to 30. surrounding the containment zones are DETERMINED? containment zones, as described tainment zones.
The new areas include Nabi known as buffer zones. The size, perimeter and other by the Union health ministry in a Unlike containment zones,
Karim and Chandni Mahal in specifics of the buffer zones document — Containment Plan residents in buffer zones can step
central Delhi, Zakir Nagar in depend on the core for Large Outbreaks — released out of their homes wearing face
south-east Delhi, upscale resi- containment zone in question earlier this week. masks, but might be questioned
HOW BIG ARE THEY? in terms of its population
dential area DLF Capital Greens Officials said it is not neces- by police, who will patrol the
The size of a buffer zone can range density, scale of outbreak and
in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar, Block from a few adjoining lanes and roads to sary to set up buffer zones around areas around the clock and also
B in Paschim Vihar, areas around potential rate of virus four apartments and gated colo- be deployed in temporary pick-
a few adjoining buildings and shanties. transmission.
a property in Ashok Nagar and nies — three in east Delhi and one ets. So far, there are no door-to-
pocket E of GTB Enclave. in south-west Delhi. door drives being conducted by
The district administrations CONTAINMENT BUFFER Work on demarcating buffer health workers in the buffer
stepped up efforts to screen ZONE ZONE zones in the seven additional zones, to check residents’ health
households in the seven areas areas notified on Friday was for flu-like symptoms but this
Venturing out of house Strictly Allowed with
after new confirmed cases of Cov- ongoing and will be announced exercise is soon likely to be added
prohibited restrictions
id-19 were reported in the last soon, the officials said. in the protocol, the official added.
three days. According to a senior Shops selling essentials Closed Open but staggered These zones will also be under In containment zones, all
district official of the Delhi gov- timings imposed constant surveillance, with resi- shops are closed and essentials,
ernment, three new Covid-19 dents being directed to maintain including medicines, are pro-
cases were reported from Nabi Essential deliveries Delivered to Residents can shop a strict quarantine. Even busi- cured through orders routed
Karim, while seven cases have common collection themselves keeping ness establishments dealing in though appointed community
point by staggered time in view
been reported from Chandni essential goods and services have leaders and residents’ welfare
authorities and social distancing
Mahal area in the last three days. been advised to stagger their tim- association office-bearers. These
norms are monitored
Three deaths were also by the police ings in these zones. are delivered to common collec-
reported from Chandni Mahal in The modalities of setting up tion points by health workers and
the last couple of weeks . Police patrolling Maximum Moderate such zones were discussed in a sanitation workers.
Three people also tested posi- meeting chaired by Delhi’s Lieu- In buffer zones, shops dealing
tive at DLF Capital Greens in new Disinfection drive 2-3 times a day Once a day tenant Governor (L-G) Anil Bai- in essentials are open but have
Moti Nagar, a senior district offi- Door to Door Yes No jal on Thursday. In the blueprint been subjected to staggered tim-
cial confirmed. health check sent to the chief minister’s office, ings. Police and government offi-
“Of 102 people staying in 13 n Police barricades outside Mayur Vihar’s Vardhaman Apartments, which was identified as a seen by HT, the periphery of each cials personally monitor social
religious locations in Chandni containment zone in the city. SUSHIL KUMAR/HT PHOTO Access via roads and lanes Blocked Blocked containment zone is marked in distancing norms outside these
Mahal area, 52 have tested posi- red, while that of the buffer zones shops when open.
tive…Interaction between people is marked in purple. According to Jugal Kishore,
who tested positive and residents
of Chandni Mahal can’t be ruled
out,” said an order issued by the
Delhi government’s central zone
In South-east Delhi’s Zakir
Nagar, three persons tested posi-
tive . An order issued by District
Magistrate Harleen Kaur on Fri-
their area for essential supplies.
The government said there will
be no centralised helpline num-
ber for the containment zones.
Dilshad Garden ‘corona-free’ The containment zones com-
prise apartment blocks, gated
communities, slums, streets,
even entire neighbourhoods.
head of community medicines
department at Safdarjung Hospi-
tal, creating buffer zones around
containment zones is a policy
district magistrate, Nidhi Srivas-
tava, on Friday
Two blocks in pocket E of GTB
Enclave, which was declared as a
day said “Gali no 18 to 20 of Zakir
Nagar and nearby Abu Bakar
Masjid” were declared as con-
tainment zones while the rest of
Each zone will have one dedi-
cated helpline number.
Accordingly, the south district
DM BM Mishra and the local
after Op SHIELD: Delhi govt “Similarly, every buffer zone
is different in its own way. It can
range from a few adjoining lanes
and roads to few adjoining build-
approved by the World Health
Organization years ago. “It is a
welcome move. In India, it was
successfully implemented to pre-
containment area on April 6, was Zakir Nagar is in the buffer zone. police issued a common helpline HT Correspondent of people were quarantined and Thereafter, chief minister Kejri- ings and shanties,” a district mag- vent cases of H1N1 and Zika.”
listed separately in the list of 30 A senior Delhi police official in number for Malviya Nagar and n [email protected] tests were done. The hard work of wal instructed to implement istrate who did not wish to be While some RWAs said that
containment zones on Friday. charge of the area said, “We have Sangam Vihar (8287898412). The the health officials and successful Operation SHIELD at Dilshad identified said. they were briefed by the district
“The blocks in GTB Enclave were got orders to make arrangements local administration put up post- NEW DELHI: Delhi health minister implementation of the Operation Garden. It was the first such Tanvi Garg, district magis- administration in the last 48
declared as containment areas as Zakir Nagar area has been ers publicising these numbers Satyendar Jain on Friday said SHIELD have made Dilshad Gar- implementation,” said Jain. trate (New Delhi), who has two hours about the buffer zones, oth-
after a nurse with the Delhi state declared as a containment zone.” along with the phone numbers of east Delhi’s Dilshad Garden is den coronavirus free.” In a massive exercise, 81 people containment zones under her jur- ers said that they are still await-
cancer hospital tested positive,” The government said every identified vegetable, fruit, gro- “coronavirus free”, with no new Dr SK Nayak, a district admin- who had come in contact with the isdiction, said: “Buffer zones are ing clear instructions.
said a senior Delhi government district having containment cery and general stores. cases reported in the last 10 days istration officer in Shahdara, woman were traced in the area created for enhancing enforce- “Proper briefings were con-
official, requesting anonymity. zones is now preparing detailed But such procedures and num- from the area, which he said was said: “By working round-the- and quarantined. The woman’s ment of surveillance and quaran- ducted by the subdivisional mag-
On Friday, Delhi saw the high- management plans. bers were still not in place in due to measures taken under the clock in the last 15 days, Opera- son, two daughters and mother tine norms in the core contain- istrates (SDMs). After the brief-
est jump in coronavirus patients The government is likely to north-east Delhi’s Pratap Khand government’s ‘Operation tion SHIELD has been successful had also tested positive. The ment zones. They are an essential ings, pamphlets with contact
so far with 183 fresh cases. The launch a mobile application on in Jhilmil Colony. Residents com- SHIELD’. Dilshad Garden, which at Dilshad Garden. Not a single Delhi government took the help part of the policy.” details of RWA members are
national Capital had 903 corona- Saturday to conduct door-to-door plained that till Friday afternoon, emerged as one of the hot spots for positive case has come from the of CCTV cameras to find out the “The size, perimeter and other being published and distributed
virus positive cases till Friday, checks and monitor people in the local administration did not the coronavirus disease in the area in more than 10 days from movement of her son and traced specifics of buffer zones depend in the buffer zone,” said BS
which included 14 deaths and 26 home quarantine, a senior official put in place any mechanism for national Capital, was declared a the area.” the places or the people he visited, on the core containment zones in Vohra, president of the Joint
recoveries. Of the 903 cases, 584 in the chief minister’s office said. people to get essential items. containment zone on April 8. Dilshad Garden, which was said a Delhi health department question, in terms of its popula- Front RWA in East Delhi, where
were linked to the Tablighi The app is presently being used in “We got a call from the SHO at The government’s medical declared one of the first 10 Cov- official. tion density, the scale of the out- there are nine containment
Jamaat congregation, while 269 South District. 4pm, asking us to identify gro- teams screened the entire area id-19 hot spots in the country, saw “When the woman tested posi- break and potential rate of trans- zones, the most in the city.
were related to foreign travel and “Currently, a security audit is cery, medical and general stores under Operation SHIELD (Seal- a spike in coronavirus cases after tive, we rushed to her residence to mission,” said BM Mishra, dis- KC Rana, general secretary of
local transmission. The number under way for the official launch that could be opened for people to ing, Home quarantine, Isolation, a 38-year-old woman tested posi- ask her family for names and trict magistrate (South Delhi), Khirki village, which is a buffer
of new Nizamuddin Markaz cases of the app in all the districts,” the get their items. Now, six shops Essential supplies, Local sanita- tive. Five of those she had come in addresses of the people who had who has two containment zones zone, said, “It is a welcome move,
on Friday were 154. officer said. have been identified and they will tion and disinfection, and Door- contact with, including a mohalla visited them since March 10, the under his jurisdiction. but we are awaiting a briefing. We
A senior Delhi government Meanwhile, efforts were being be opened from 7-9 in the morning to-door checking) — a strategy of clinic doctor, subsequently tested date of her return from Dubai. Rahul Singh, district magis- have been getting a lot of calls
official said, “We are doing con- made to streamline essential sup- and evening. They also asked us contact tracing to contain the positive. Her son was not very cooperative, trate (South-West Delhi), who has from anxious neighbours and
tact tracing of positive cases plies and step up screening of peo- to identify 10-15 volunteers for spread of Covid-19, announced by “I feared a massive Covid-19 so we had to seek the help of the two containment zones under his there is panic shopping happen-
reported from Nabi Karim and ple in all households in each of the home deliveries. But, we thought Delhi chief minister Arvind Kej- outbreak in the Dilshad Garden local police to get information. jurisdiction, said: “The basic idea ing. That has to be controlled.”
Chandni Mahal. Door-to-door 23 containment zones first all this was the administration’s riwal on Thursday. area after seven people were We also used footage from the is to create a graded progression Five SDMs individually con-
screening of households has announced on April 8. job. They should deploy civil Jain said, “Under Operation found positive. It was transmitted CCTV cameras installed near between the normal lockdown, firmed that briefings in the con-
started in both the areas,” said Many people in the 23 zones defence volunteers,” said Vinod SHIELD, 123 medical teams from the woman who had their home to identify those who which is in place, and stricter con- tainment zones are almost done
the official, who didn’t wish to be complained of having no infor- Kumar, general secretary, screened more than 15,000 people returned from Saudi Arabia and needed to be put under surveil- tainment policy. Health officials and are likely to be completed in
named. mation about whom to contact in Pratap Khand RWA. living in 4,032 houses. Thousands was found Covid-19 positive. lance,” said Dr Nayak. are playing a major role in the buffer zones by Sunday.

shortstories
Delhi cancer hospital patient dies of SDMC councillor’s husband
DEENPUR VILLAGE

DISINFECTANT
TUNNELS SET
UP IN N DELHI
NEW DELHI: The Delhi govern-
Covid-19 a day after testing positive booked for ‘misleading’ cops
ment on Friday installed two
disinfectant tunnels at Azadpur Anonna Dutt fourteen nurses, and four other our staff members to get tested,” tine from Maharaja Agrasen hos-
Mandi in north Delhi. Now every n [email protected] staff members working in differ- said Dr Ravinder Singh, joint pital, against which action was HT Correspondent
person entering will have to pass ent departments. director of the institute. initiated for not following proto- n [email protected]
through the tunnel to get sani- NEWDELHI: The Delhi government- The hospital had shut its out- So far, at least 40 hospital staff cols.
tised before entering Azadpur run cancer hospital — the Delhi patient clinic after one of its doc- from the city have tested positive Around 60 to 70 of the staff NEW DELHI: The police on Friday
Mandi. While inaugurating the State Cancer Institute — has tors – a 35-year-old senior resi- for the disease. members from the DSCI have booked south corporation coun-
tunnel, Delhi’s development emerged as one of the hot spots of dent – tested positive for the infec- Accidental exposure to been tested so far. cillor Santosh Shokeen’s hus-
minister Gopal Rai said depending Covid-19 with 22 health care tion on March 31. When three of patients who later developed The 100-bed hospital has band, saying that despite being
on how successful the tunnels workers and three patients test- the 19 staff members who had symptoms has resulted in around already been sanitised twice and tested positive for Covid-19 and
prove to be, the government will ing positive for the infection. come in contact with the doctor 130 staff members being quaran- will again be sanitised on Satur- infecting two family members
install such machines in the other
One of the three patients who also tested positive, the hospital tined at Max Hospital, Saket. day. “However, the hospital will (including the councillor) , he
wholesale markets in Delhi. HTC
tested positive for Covid-19 late decided to move around 48 of its “All of them tested negative not start working immediately; misled authorities about having
Thursday night succumbed on patients to other facilities. and will soon be out of quarantine not until all authorities agree that visited the Tablighi Jamaat head-
Friday afternoon. “We were waiting for the test and ready to join back,” said a there is no chance of people get- quarters in Nizamuddin last
137 BOOKED The 56-year-old male patient results of the patients before hospital personnel. Another 114 ting infected. The hospital treats month. The man, Sukhbir Shok-
FOR FLOUTING had end-stage gall bladder cancer moving them to other facilities. people have been quarantined cancer patients, who are all een has denied the claims, and
with extensive metastasis. Three of the 19 patients we tested and two have tested positive at Sir immuno-compromised and are labelled the charges a “political
MASK ORDERS Of those who have tested posi- turned out to be positive. One per- Ganga Ram Hospital. Around 81 likely to get severe infection,” conspiracy”. He tested positive
NEW DELHI: The police on tive, four are resident doctors, son died. Now, we have asked all staff members are under quaran- according to a hospital official. for Covid-19 on April 1.
Friday said they had so far A case under the Epidemic Dis- n Shokeen’s family lives in Deenpur village, which is among the areas
booked at least 137 people eases Act and sections 188 (Diso- that have been declared containment zones. VIPIN KUMAR/HT PHOTO
for violating a govern- SOME COLLEGES APPREHENSIVE bedience to order duly promul-
ment order that made gated by public servant), 269 wide radius around the village “The investigation confirmed
wearing of masks in
public places mandatory.
The north-west district
led in terms of prosecu-
Conduct admissions online: DU to colleges (Negligent act likely to spread
infection of disease dangerous to
life) of the Indian Penal Code has
has been sealed completely.
“The man (Shokeen) was
placed in home quarantine
his visit to the Tablighi Jamaat
congregation at Nizamuddin. But
the man withheld this fact during
been registered against him at around two weeks ago. He was the repeated medical and police
tion, with 32 offenders
being booked from the Fareeha Iftikhar dents for the coming academic candidates have to visit colleges itoring the situation. “We will Chhawla police station. not home when a physical verifi- enquiries,” Alphonse said.
area on Thursday. HTC n [email protected] session amid the pandemic. of their choice to verify certifi- wait for the CBSE and other state Santosh Shokeen is the South cation of people in home quaran- However, in a phone call with
“There have been conscious cates and documents. boards to complete their exams Delhi Municipal Corporation’s tine was carried out. When ques- HT, Sukhbir said he has never
NEW DELHI: Delhi University (DU) efforts to minimise visits of the The registration process for and announce results before councillor from Nangli Sakra- tioned later, he hid the facts about visited the Jamaat headquarters.
NDMC ISSUES on Friday recommended to all its students for physical verifica- admission in DU colleges begins starting the registration proc- wati municipal ward. his past travel,” read a Delhi “I’m a practising Hindu. I have
colleges to shift the admission tion of the mandatory docu- in the last week of May every ess,” said the official. The Jamaat headquarters has Police statement. no connection with the Markaz
SHOW-CAUSE TO process completely online, ments during the admission year, immediately after the Some college principals, emerged as the biggest hot spot A police officer said that after and have never been there. It is a
SHOP OWNER including the verification of doc- process. In the current scenario, announcement of CBSE class 12 meanwhile, said it won’t be feasi- for Covid-19 in the country. Shokeen’s medical tests con- political conspiracy as my wife is
NEW DELHI: The New Delhi uments and certificates, for the it is recommended that it results. However, this year, the ble to verify certificates and doc- Shokeen’s family lives in firmed he had Covid-19, he was the only Congress councillor
Municipal Council (NDMC) on academic session 2020-21, in view becomes more imperative to CBSE had to suspend exams mid- uments online. “On one hand, Deenpur village, which is among shifted to a hospital. from among the 25 municipal
Friday issued a show-cause notice of the Covid-19 pandemic. have the complete admission way after the nationwide lock- the university asks us to do the areas in the city declared as Later, two of his family mem- wards in Najafgarh zone. I’m
to the owner of a pastry shop in In a communication sent to process online, which also down was announced. The board forensic checking of the certifi- “containment zones”. bers also tested positive. Since the being framed.”
Central Delhi’s Bengali Market colleges on Friday, Shobha includes the online verification is yet to announce a fresh date cates and documents and on the Deputy commissioner of police health and police authorities He said he has been distribut-
above which 35 workers were Bagai, the dean of admissions, of the certificates,” it stated. sheet for the remaining exams. other, it’s now recommending (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said the were not able to ascertain how the ing essential items to people in his
found living in “unhygienic said that the varsity’s admis- In DU, the process of registra- Although the university has online verification. DU’s colleges village was declared a contain- man got infected with the disease, ward ever since the lockdown. “I
conditions” and not following sions branch has been working tion for admission to undergrad- not announced any delay in the are not equipped for that,” said ment zone after Shokeen and two his cellphone’s call detail records have been travelling to different
social distancing norms to contain towards ensuring a friendly uate courses and submission of admission process as of now, a the principal of a north campus family members were tested posi- were analysed, and the location areas. I could have contracted the
the spread of Covid-19. HTC admission process for the stu- fee is already online. However, senior official said they are mon- college, requesting anonymity. tive for Covid-19. A kilometre- data tracked, the officer said. infection from anywhere.”
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
SAT URDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 03

spotlight
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: METRO

Drones drive surveillance in sealed areas Delhi govt shuts

paid quarantine at
Aerocity hotels as
COVID-19 Identifying people violating orders, enforcing Prashant Pillai, co-founder of the
Indian Robotics Solution Pvt. Ltd,
social distancing and spraying disinfectants made stringent said, “There are few food crops
like sugarcane, which go up to 20
feet in height. Spraying pesticide
people move out
Anvit Srivastava and Baishali Adak duct an “aerial spray”, as the cor- Police are using drones exten- on them manually is not possible. Sweta Goswami
n [email protected] poration’s large 3,000-litre tank- sively to watch at ration shops, That’s where these drones, with n [email protected]
ers could not easily be manoeu- banks and religious places in carrier boxes of up to 10 litres
NEW DELHI: As a drone hovered vred in the narrow by-lanes. every subdivision, where people capacity, help. In the Covid-19 NEWDELHI:Once the largest quar-
over a narrow lane in east Delhi’s Officials of the Delhi Police and gather. scenario, China first modified antine cluster facility in the coun-
Dilshad Garden, a group of men civic agencies say the drones are Deputy commissioner of these drones to carry disinfec- try, the paid quarantine centres
loitering the lanes ran inside a success. police, central, Sanjay Bhatia, tants, followed by South Korea in Aerocity near the Indira Gan-
their houses, while those stand- The deputy commissioner of who is using a drone to keep a and then other countries.” dhi International (IGI) Airport
ing outside a ration shop quickly police, Shahdara, Dinesh Gupta, vigil on dense pockets of Darya- Explaining how the civic were shut by the Delhi govern-
queued up ensuring adequate dis- said that drones come in handy at ganj, Chawri Bazar, Chandi agency used drones in Nizamud- ment on Friday. From now, all
tance among one another. locations with high population Mahal, Karol Bagh, Rajindra din, the SDMC’s leader of the Covid-19 suspected patients will
Parts of Dilshad Garden, one of density, where keeping a watch Nagar, Paharganj and Kamla house, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, said, be taken directly to government
the first coronavirus (Covid-19) on residents is not easy. Market, said that they have not “We were under tremendous quarantine centres set up in vari-
hot spots in the country, have “At present, there are at least prosecuted anyone, based on pressure to sanitise the entire ous parts of the national capital.
been sealed to contain the spread 12 coronavirus positive cases drone surveillance, but detain area in a short span of time. The paid centres were opened
of the pandemic. from my area. Because it is a sen- 100-150 people every day. Besides, many by-lanes of the on the night of March 16 at five
From chasing violators of the sitive area, with five containment “Our police teams accompany Nizamuddin Basti are narrow hotels of Aerocity — Red Fox,
prohibitory orders, enforcing zones (two in Dilshad Garden and the drone handler, who is a civil- and our large tankers could not IBIS, Aloft, Holiday Inn, and
social distancing on the roads and one each in GTB Enclave, Dilshad ian, for his security. Once the enter. We have deployed hun- Pride Plaza — and as many as 608
spraying disinfectants, the city Colony and Vivek Vihar), at least drone captures a violation, we dreds of backpack sprayers; but people were put under quaran-
police and civic agencies have 12 people had to be prosecuted for either take a screenshot and alert n Municipal corporation workers equip a disinfectant pack to a drone, to sanitise narrow lanes and hot for them to do it manually, it tine. Most of the them were pas-
adopted drones as an extension of violating the lockdown in the last local staff or immediately rush spots to prevent the spread of Covid-19. SANCHIT KHANNA/HT FILE would have taken ages. That’s sengers who had arrived at the
their forces. five days, due to which we started our Covid Bike Patrol squad to why we went for drones.” Delhi airport from other coun-
The world has taken a cue from surveillance using drones. We the spot. Those caught out on the ber of people were caught in Hauz zone. A six-storey building in the deputy health officer (DHO) with Ujjawal Kumar Mishra, who tries and had to undergo the man-
China’s use of drones for surveys have three drones that cover streets are sent home with a Rani, the second containment area, the headquarters of the the South Delhi Municipal Corpo- works for Idea Forge Tech Pvt dated quarantine.
and deliveries, and agricultural these five areas. We are also using warning, after proper verifica- zone. The number of detainees Tablighi Jamaat, has emerged as ration (SDMC). Ltd, which helps Delhi Police According to district magis-
drones for a variety of purposes the drones to make public tion. Roughly, since Day one, we who were caught solely with the the largest Covid -19 hot spot, Dr Ashok Rawat, municipal operate drones, said that when trate (New Delhi) Tanvi Garg, of
during the Covid-19 pandemic, as announcements,” Gupta said. have detained more than 2,000 help of a drone is much higher for with cases from across India health officer (MHO) of the North fully charged, a drone can fly for the 608 people under quarantine,
early as February 2020. Several He said because congested and violators,” Bhatia said. the entire district. Action under being traced back to gatherings at Delhi Municipal Corporation, up to 30 to 40 minutes on one bat- five tested positive for Covid-19.
European and central Asian densely populated areas like Even in south Delhi’s Sangam the DP Act, IPC sections and DM the Markaz. While Nizamuddin said that using drones for aerial tery. “We keep spare batteries Three of them had come from the
countries, such as France, Italy Seemapuri and Shahdara also Vihar, one of Delhi’s largest Act is ensured against the viola- Basti and Nizamuddin West have spraying is better because the depending on the duration it is USA while two were from Austra-
and Kazakhstan have since modi- come under his jurisdiction, unauthorised colonies, where tors,” Thakur said. been cordoned off by the police, nozzle of the drone turns it into needed for. From one spot, we can lia. “The Aerocity’s paid quaran-
fied drones to remotely identify keeping a watch on residents in lane number 5, 6 and 7 in block L1 Flying drones is prohibited in the civic agency is continuing its mist form, due to which no signif- cover up to 800 metres in high-def- tine facility saw the last batch of
lockdown violators in crowded every lane isn’t an easy task. have been declared as one of the Delhi because of security risks. work of aerially spraying disin- icant quantity of the liquid falls inition, and drones can reach a passengers check out on Thurs-
areas and also installed public “This is where our drones take two containment zones in south Only government agencies are fectants. on any one person. “It will only height of 400 metres. We use cam- day. With this, the paid quaran-
announcement (PA) systems on charge. We have seen that the Delhi, police are detaining at least allowed to use it. “Initially, some “The solution (1% Sodium effectively sanitise the air and kill eras with 10x optical feature, tine achieved its purpose success-
drones. In India, Madhya Pra- moment a drone takes flight, peo- 200-300 lockdown violators every of our officers complained that Hypochlorite in water) is strong any coronavirus particles on sur- through which we can zoom from fully with only five positive
desh’s Indore was among the first ple start returning to their day. “On Thursday, we detained children threw stones. But now, enough to emulsify the lipid faces like tin sheds, doors and one spot and capture high defini- (asymptomatic) cases. The
to use drones to spray disinfec- houses. Those who are sitting on more than 200 violators who were everyone knows that if the flying (fatty) outer layer of the coronavi- walls.” tion images without lowering the remaining 603 persons were dis-
tant, followed by Hyderabad and terraces get inside, people at caught in our drone cameras. objects is used by the govern- rus, which is 900 times smaller The private company that has drone.” charged after they tested nega-
Bengaluru. shops start maintaining a queue Since Day one of the lockdown, ment,” a police official said. than the width of human hair, lent its drones to the north civic Delhi Police said that while tive for Covid-19,” Garg said. The
In central Delhi’s Karol Bagh, at an adequate distance and those we have detained at least 3,000 The police and civic agencies through its soap-like action. body said these were originally they are currently hiring drones, five Covid-19 patients are being
civic officials were busy filling a loitering also hurry indoors. ,” violators in Sangam Vihar alone. used the drones in Delhi’s Nizam- However, it’s too weak to harm ‘agricultural application drones’ they plan to buy the machines treated at Lok Nayak hospital.
drone with disinfectant to con- Gupta said. Roughly, around the same num- uddin, another containment humans,” said Dr Deepak Mittal, used to spray pesticide on crops. and train personnel as handlers. Piyush Rohankar, the area’s
subdivisional magistrate and the
G O O D F R I D AY nodal officer of the paid facility,

The faithful worship Bootleggers find new ways to smuggle liquor in NCR said the facility has now been
closed. “Now, every district has
quarantine centres, so there is no
HT Correspondent Delhi Police personnel, espe- not reveal details of the Mundka goods. Our constables at the spot passes. Two men, working with a need for the paid facility any-
cially those at the Delhi-Haryana case, in the Roshanara road case, found the vehicle driver suspi- municipal agency’s sanitation more. In case there is a spurt in

from home this year

n [email protected]
border have been instructed by the police suspect the theft is the cious and signalled him to stop. department, were arrested in cases, then the government itself
NEWDELHI:Bootleggers are trying their superiors to be extra vigi- work of amateur thieves. The On checking the mini truck, we Mundka for smuggling liquor. will book the hotels,” he said.
different ways to smuggle liquor lant and check for suspicious thieves, an officer said, stole only found 70 cartons with 3,360 small Additional commissioner of A few who stayed at the quar-
The church gave us
Harikrishnan Nair
n [email protected]

NEW DELHI: In preparation for

the Good Friday and Easter
Sunday in the time of lock-
› a feeling of being in
presence of the Lord. It
is also the time that we
from other states into the
national Capital since Delhi came
under a lockdown.
Among the many who
attempted to smuggle liquor defy-
ing prohibition were a sanitation
vehicles. In Dwarka police dis-
trict, which shares its border
with Haryana, the police have
registered 17 cases of illicit liquor
smuggling since March 25.
The police said that they have
a few crates.
A senior police officer, who did
not wish to be named, said that
most of the illicit liquor is being
smuggled from Haryana. “We
busted an interesting case last
bottles of liquor hidden under
vegetables,” the officer said.
Over the last two weeks, the
police have also arrested one of
their own for smuggling. An
assistant sub-inspector, who
police MS Randhawa said police
officers across the city, especially
those at the border, have been
told to be extra vigilant to ensure
there is no smuggling of liquor.
“Our officers at the borders are
antine facility told HT over phone
that some of them had to remain
even after their 14-day manda-
tory quarantine was over as the
government did not have a stan-
dard operating procedure (SoP)
down, Reverend Prateek Pil- worker who misused his curfew registered at least 60 cases under week. At Bhalswa Dairy, we lived in Haryana, was caught on checking suspicious vehicles in place for their movement.
lai of the St James’s Church would break the fast pass, a vegetable supplier’s Excise Act since March 25. stopped a suspicious vehicle car- Monday while trying to smuggle since the lockdown was enforced. It was only on April 4 that Delhi
in Kashmere Gate, the old- L MATHEW, Janakpuri resident driver who had concealed liquor Over the past week, break-ins rying vegetables to the Azadpur around 1,432 small bottles of Apart from ensuring that only chief secretary Vijay Dev issued
est in Delhi, took inspiration bottles in his truck and an Uttar have been reported at two liquor vegetable market. Movement of liquor into Delhi. vehicles under essential services the SoP which allowed persons
from the life of Jesus Christ. Pradesh resident who tried to shops in Mundka and Roshanara vehicles carrying vegetables is In three cases, the police also enter the city, our officers are also who have completed their quar-
“Jesus had his Last Sup- Janakpuri, who had not smuggle liquor in milk canisters. Road. Though police officers did allowed as they are essential found people misusing their checking suspicious vehicles.” antine to return home.
per indoors, together with missed a single Good Friday
his disciples with whom he service at church till now,
shared bread,” Pillai said.
“So, this year, we, too,
encouraged our laity to
observe Good Friday at
says the virtual experience
was “not to her liking”.
“The church gave us a
feeling of being in the pres-
Hospitals see double the usual alcohol withdrawal cases
home with their families. ence of the lord. Normally, it Anonna Dutt see patients with substance-use seizures,” said Dr Ravindra Rao, the number of cases of alcohol ure once we started receiving are all symptoms that you need
With so much talk of ‘work is also the time that we n [email protected] disorders in its out-patient clin- additional professor of psychia- withdrawal. “Yes, there has been these reports, we developed an to go to a doctor.
from home’ happening, we would break the fast by ics, however, to maintain social try at the National Drug Depend- a surge in cases of people with online training module which is “If the patients come in within
told our congregation to receiving the Holy Commu- NEW DELHI: The number of people distancing, the OPDs were ence and Treatment Centre alcohol and drug withdrawal freely accessible to all,” said Dr 24 to 48 hours of stopping alcohol,
‘worship from home’.” nion and some gruel.” with severe alcohol withdrawal closed. Around 1,000 to 1,500 (NDDTC) of AIIMS. coming to the emergency depart- Rao. then the symptoms are mild to
One of the most sacred For priests too, the expe- symptoms in emergency depart- patients visited these clinics The main centre of NDDTC in ment. However, I will not be able The doctors say not all who moderate. The severe symptoms
days of the Christian calen- rience was a novel one. ment of Delhi hospitals has dou- every day. The hospital has Ghaziabad was also shut down. to quantify it without going drink daily are likely to experi- start after two to three days of
dar, the Good Friday, or the “Several priests, including bled during the lockdown, started teleconsultation on the “No new cases are being taken through the admission data,” ence withdrawal. stopping the alcohol. If the
day Christ was crucified, myself, had gone to the according to doctors -- and, they number – 9868396824 – where in. And that is a problem. People said Dr Rajesh Rastogi, senior “Not everyone who drinks patient has severe withdrawal,
was observed across homes church to officiate the are coming in with severe symp- patients can get their prescrip- are landing up in the hospital consultant at the hospital’s psy- daily will experience with- they require medication -- diaze-
in the national capital and mass,” Father Christopher toms. tions. emergency with acute alcohol chiatry department. drawal, only those who are pam – taken every day. But in
suburban towns. The occa- of the Rosary Church at “There has been at least a 50% A similar increase was also withdrawal symptoms because To tide over the problem dur- dependent on the substance will. severe cases we have to inject the
sion was made more sombre Kingsway Camp said. “It increase in the number of noted at the main emergency of two reasons: One, the lock- ing the lockdown, AIIMS has We decide whether a person is medicine in high doses,” said Dr
as the world reels under the was surreal to do it before patients coming in with severe department of the All India Insti- down has impacted the availabil- designed a nearly three-hour- dependent based on whether Rao.
Covid-19 pandemic.. empty pews.” alcohol withdrawal symptoms to tute of Medical Sciences ity of alcohol and two, it has also long training session for all doc- they have developed a tolerance, Mild cravings can be managed
Ever since the Delhi gov- On Easter Sunday, the hospital emergency. Earlier (AIIMS). restricted the movement of peo- tors, available free of cost on the they experience cravings, they at home, the doctor says.
ernment had banned con- Catholics across the globe we would see only about one or “We are getting double the ple and health care services. So, website of NDDTC. take a lot of time out to satisfy “If people have mild symp-
gregations, churches had will tune in to listen to Pope maybe two patients a day; now cases in the emergency depart- people wait longer and then end “Unfortunately, the thing is these cravings, and they con- toms– it comes in waves – and
informed their members of Francis, who will lead the we are getting at least three or ment of our main AIIMS campus up in the emergency department that most of the doctors are not tinue to consume the substance people can control it by focussing
timings when sermons, ser- prayers. In India, where the four patients every day in the and these are patients with with severe symptoms,” said Dr trained in management of with- even after they have developed on other activities such as listen-
vices and mass will be Easter prayers would have emergency,” said Dr Nimesh severe alcohol withdrawal Rao. The psychiatrists on duty drawal symptoms. Not just for physical problems such as liver ing to music, watching movies. It
broadcast so that the faith- been completed by then, Desai, director, Institute of symptoms like delirium tremens respond to such cases, who are the lockdown, but otherwise too. disease,” said Dr Rastogi. is extremely important to
ful could virtually take part. watching the Pope on TV Human Behaviour and Allied or shaking, hallucinations, and then admitted for follow-ups. Many patients might have gone These people have to keep a remain engaged; people might
But for Leelamma would give many strength Sciences, the only stand-alone confusion caused due to such Safdarjung hospital has a lim- to their neighbourhood doctors watch on their symptoms. Sleep- be irritable because of the lock-
Mathew, 52, of west Delhi’s during this difficult time. mental health hospital in Delhi. withdrawal. Severe withdrawal ited psychiatry OPD running before landing up at the hospital ing difficulties, anxiety, palpita- down and the cravings will add
The hospital would usually can be fatal too as it can cause and has also seen an increase in emergency. As a stop-gap meas- tions, and shaking of the hands to it,” said Dr Rao.

Fear, concern at residential hub of doctors

away, Gautam Nagar, a middle- this pandemic. However, there is
class neighbourhood adjacent to a fear that the community could
several posh south Delhi neigh- suffer. There are old people and
livingin bourhoods, has become a hub of children living here,” she said.
lockdown young doctors and nurses look-
ing for cheap housing.
Deputy commissioner of police
(south) Atul Thakur said the area
Soumya Pillai and Vatsala Shrangi Residents say house owners is being patrolled intensively and
n [email protected] have been renting out to health- announcements are being made
care professionals for years now. urging people to not panic or take
NEW DELHI: Thirty-two-year-old However, over the last two days, the law in their hands. “We are
Sushil Kumar rubs clean the last many medicos living in the area urging people to maintain social
orange from his bag and places it have been gripped with fear. Vid- distancing norms and will ensure
on top to pinnacle his pyramid of eos of two doctors narrating their strict action against anyone
oranges. Finally looking up after horrors of being roughed up by a breaching the rules of the lock-
completing this elaborate exer- local while they were out buying down,” the DCP said.
cise, Kumar tends to a group of oranges, has been circulating all n Gautam Nagar is home to doctors and nurses working at AIIMS and The municipal body is also
customers waiting patiently for over. In hospital groups, doctors Safdarjung Hospital, which are located in its vicinity. BIPLOV BHUYAN/HT ensuring that residents are at
him to dole out their orders. residing in these areas have been peace with each other. Anil
Despite the Capital’s lockdown asked to “lay low” and “not erratic that we have no other large do have apprehensions Kumar Sharma, a local council-
to control the spread of Covid-19, engage with the general public”. option but to shop for essential about living in the same neigh- lor, said the incident of violence
the lanes of South Delhi’s Gautam “We are out there risking our items whenever we find the time. bourhood as those from the medi- against the doctors was a “one-
Nagar are busy with people going lives to save people and when we We do everything we can to cal fraternity at this time, as the off” case. “This colony’s main
out to buy medicines, fruits, vege- come home, this is what we have ensure our own safety and of the latter has a greater degree of income is rent from tenants,
tables and basic groceries. Some to face?” said Sheeba Panam- people around us.” exposure to the contagious Sars- many of whom are medical pro-
are seen just walking around ketty, a junior resident at Safdar- “There is confusion among the Cov-2. “This has emerged as a fessionals. Why would anyone
with large bags over their shoul- jung Hospital, who lives in general public that any doctor common sentiment, that people want to upset their tenants and
ders. “Many doctors and nurses Gautam Nagar. nearby is on the Covid-19 team, look at doctors with a suspicion of ruin their income? We assure
live here. They are either coming While Panamketty voices her which is not the case. Besides, being infected,” said Bhatti. them (doctors) that we will keep
back from their duties or going to fear, the owner of a grocery shop there is anxiety among people Dhriti Singla, a resident of the them safe while they fight for
them. This place is usually bus- where she has placed an order for here, which is understandable, area, said the hospital adminis- everyone’s safety,” Sharma said.
tling with activity despite move- two water cans,, clarifies that the but it’s equally difficult for us,” tration or the government should Shop owners, especially after
ment restrictions,” said Kumar, incident with the doctors took said Akanksha Nidhi, a doctor provide doctors with alternative Wednesday’s incident, are ensur-
adjusting his face mask. place at the neighbouring Gulmo- who lives here. accommodation until the Cov- ing that essential items reach the
With central government hos- har Enclave. Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti, id-19 outbreak is brought under doorsteps of medical profession-
pitals such as Safdarjung and All Carefully maintaining dis- employed with a private medical control. “We are not against doc- als, but come continue to harbour
India Institute of Medical Scien- tance while talking, Panamketty facility and a resident of Gautam tors; they are doing a great job by doubts about living in close prox-
ces (AIIMS) just a kilometre says, “The shift timings are so Nagar, said that people by and saving so many lives in the time of imity to doctors.
04 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
SATURDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0

spotlig t
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: NATION

No religious meets
To boost sales, Centre asks during lockdown,
DISPATCH states to suspend farm law Centre tells states
NEW DELHI: The Union home min-
istry on Friday directed all states

24
and Union territories not to
EASING Govt says farmers should be allowed to sell anywhere, not just at designated markets allow any religious or social
gathering during upcoming fes-
Zia Haq tivals, and appealed to the citi-
n [email protected] zens to observe the lockdown
imposed to stop the spread of the
NEWDELHI:The Centre has recom- coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
mended that states suspend cer- States/UTs have been asked
tain provisions of their respective to inform district authorities and
Agriculture Produce Market field agencies of prohibitions
Committee (APMC) Acts for clamped as part of the lockdown
three months to allow farmers to and take measures for the main-
sell their harvest from multiple tenance of law and order, peace
locations and to any buyer, Union and public tranquillity.
farm minister Narendra Singh “Clause 9 & 10 of the Consoli-
Tomar said on Friday. dated Guidelines (on the lock-
The move is aimed at encour- down) state that no religious
aging social distancing and also congregation will be permitted
ending farmer distress during the without any exception and all
ongoing lockdown to fight the social/cultural/religious func-
coronavirus disease, with dis- tions/gatherings shall be
AMAL KS/HT PHOTO rupted supply chains forcing barred,” the order said.
many producers to destroy their For the attention of the public

Covid-19: What harvests.

The APMC Act regulates buy-
ing and selling of farm produce in
about 5000 mandis or markets
n The APMC Act regulates buying and selling of farm produce in about 5,000 mandis or markets across
the country. States have been requested to sidestep this Act for three months. PTI
authorities, social/religious
organisations and citizens,
guidelines of the lockdown
should be widely circulated. Peo-

you need to
across the country. The Act intervention scheme, which will would have suffered losses, espe- vests under the aegis of the ple violating the guidelines will
empowers states to notify mar- allow the Centre to compensate cially in perishable commodities. national agriculture markets, an face penal action under provi-
kets to cater to a specific area and horticulture farmers for a dip in States are on alert. They have to online trading platform, that has sions of the law, the order said.
farmers can sell in their desig- wholesale prices and damages to do the assessment of losses. If been updated to meet the needs of “There are several festivals in
nated markets only. harvested fruits. they want Centre’s help to com- farmers during the lockdown. the coming week. In this regard,

know today “Farmers should be able to sell

to any buyer. Otherwise, all farm-
ers of an area will converge in a
single market, which will
A nationwide lockdown to con-
tain the spread of the coronavirus
disease has impacted farmers as
labour shortages and lack of buy-
pensate, we have a laid down
process and we will look into it
with compassion,” Tomar said.
The minister added that if
The farm sector, which
employs nearly half the popula-
tion, has been roiled by the lock-
down. Arrivals (of farm commod-
several community leaders have
come forward and are convin-
cing their respective communi-
ties to assist the government in
R Sukumar obstruct the principle of social ers have thrown farm operations states grant exemptions to cer- ities) in APMC markets have strictly implementing lock-
distancing,” Tomar said in a into disarray. This has also tain aspects of the APMC Act, plunged sharply, down almost down,” a spokesperson for the
he total number of people infected by Sars-CoV-2,

T
video press conference. upended the farm-to-fork supply then finding buyers should not be 60% in some markets from a home ministry tweeted.
the virus which causes the coronavirus disease “Therefore, states have been chain, as India fights the Covid-19 a problem. month ago. Home minister Amit Shah in a
(Covid-19) has crossed 1.6 million. Of these, at requested to sidestep this Act for pandemic. The Centre has therefore Land transportation costs video conference with the BSF
least 100,000 have died. And at last count, 177 of three months.” Farmers in many states have allowed large farmer producer have risen sharply, as truckers senior command on Thursday,
the 195 countries in the world had confirmed Tomar said procurement of been forced to dump perishable organisations, which are rural struggle to cross interstate directed that vigil on border be
cases. In India, the number of cases on Friday wheat should start on April 15. harvest due to lack of buyers, agricultural businesses, large boundaries, despite exemptions intensified, especially along the
night was 7,556, and there have been 250 deaths The Centre has also asked states which has also depressed farm- buyers, cooperatives and individ- from the lockdown. Restrictions unfenced area, to ensure that no
attributed to Covid-19. Like many parts of the to start procuring 25% of pulses gate prices. Most farmers in ual traders to buy farm produce, and quarantine measures have cross border movement is
world, India is in the midst of a nationwide lock- and oilseeds under the Centre’s northern and central India are in sidestepping the APMC regula- resulted in crippling labour allowed. The Home Minister fur-
down. Most people who can work from home are price support scheme. On April 9, the middle of harvesting the big- tions. shortages, affecting loading, ther directed that farmers in the
working from home; many factories are shut; all the agriculture ministry issued gest winter staple, wheat. The government has kept over unloading and sorting of food border areas must be educated
recreational facilities are closed; and there’s no orders, invoking the market “We can’t deny that farmers 300,000 trucks ready to ferry har- commodities. about Covid-19.
work happening in construction, and very lit-
tle in agriculture, the most employment-in-

100,000
The death toll of the corona-
tensive sectors of the economy.
Across 32 states and Union territo-
ries affected by the disease, local admin-
Punjab, U’khand want national curbs extended
istrations have declared containment HT Correspondent for all residents. transmission.” lockdown was formulated at a
virus pandemic exceeded zones, and almost completely sealed n [email protected] The recommendations came a
CM AMARINDER SINGH The Union health ministry has meeting at the residence of chief
100,000 worldwide, marking these off from the rest of the neighbour- day after Odisha chief minister SAYS RESTRICTIONS ARE denied that India had reached the minister, Trivendra Singh
another grim milestone on hood, or city, or district, or state as the
Friday as the virus continues case may be.
NEWDELHI: The Punjab and Uttara-
khand governments recom-
Naveen Pathnaik extended the
lockdown in his state till April 30.
THE ONLY WAY TO FIGHT community transmission stage,
insisting that it was still at the
Rawat, on Friday evening.
Madan Kaushik, cabinet min-
to ravage countries across
the globe
Apart from affecting lives and liveli- mended on Friday that the ongo- There were calls from states such THE PANDEMIC AS local transmission stage. ister and spokesperson, said the
hoods, Covid-19 has affected our very way ing national lockdown be
extended beyond April 14, when it
as Tamil Nadu for extending the
curbs. The BJP-ruled states have
COMMUNITY SPREAD Singh said he would convey
the decision of his cabinet to
decision regarding extending
lockdown till April 30 will be sent
of life. And it has changed the way we work.
Many believe that things will never be the same was supposed to end, and restric- left it to Prime Minister Narendra HAS STARTED IN PUNJAB Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Central government for
again — even when we have vanquished the tions not be lifted until the end of Modi to take a decision on extend- on Saturday. approval.
virus. the month. ing the lockdown. But this will spread,” Singh told Singh said in view of the har- “Regarding other points in the
What little we know of Sars-CoV-2 tells us that The Punjab announcement Modi on Wednesday indicated media via video-conferencing. vest season in Punjab starting policy like making masks com-
it is highly infectious. That it can live on metallic came hours after chief minister that his government is not He said the 27 positive cases of from April 15, the state govern- pulsory, the state government
Amarinder Singh insisted it was inclined to lift the emergency pro- secondary transmission were a ment will allow district-wise has taken them on its own and
surfaces for days. That it can be transmitted
the only way to fight Covid-19 as tocol in its entirety on April 14. He serious cause of worry and that is exemption for farmers to harvest doesn’t need the permission of
through mere exhalations. And that apart from
the community transmission has is due to discuss extending the why the Centre has to consider the rabi crop with appropriate Centre,” he said.
social distancing, self-isolation, simply not going started in his state with 27 cases lockdown with chief ministers on extending the lockdown. Punjab social distancing. In Tamil Nadu, a panel of
out and interacting with as few people as possible linked to secondary sources. Saturday. “The number of posi- has reported 151 cases and 11 “We are expecting another health care experts on Friday rec-
is the best way to prevent infections (and also
A DEEPER break the chain of infections).
Later in the day, the Uttara- tive Covid-19 cases will increase deaths. “We had around 140,000 bumper crop of 185 lakh tonnes of ommended extending the lock-
khand government recom- as is happening across the world NRIs and foreign returnees... wheat this year and for that we down till the end of April. After
IMPACT Yet, there are people who are out and about, mended the extension of lock- and even in India. How can Pun- They were the primary ones. will have to make adequate meeting with them, chief minis-
Apart from affecting doing what they usually do. down till April 30, closure of all jab be isolated from it? We have Now, with 27 positive cases of sec- arrangements,” he said. ter Edappadi Palaniswami said
lives and livelihoods, The newspaper vendor delivering papers. educational institutions till May contained the pandemic to some ondary transmission we have In Uttarakhand, the policy the final decision would be made
Covid-19 has affected The municipality worker sweeping the 15 and made masks mandatory level as compared to other states. entered the stage of community enumerating steps to move out of on Saturday.
our very way of life streets.
and changed the way The sanitation worker disinfecting a neigh-
C O V I D PAC K A G E S P L A N N E D
Govt plans changes in law to More hospitals being
we work. Many believe
bourhood.
that things will never
be the same again — The grocer and the pharmacist who remain
even when we have open for business.

allow 12-hr shifts in factories approached to join

vanquished the virus The delivery people who drop off food or other
purchases.
The police who man pickets and maintain

›
order.
Saubhadra Chatterji also reduce the requirement of
The health care workers who care for the ill. Whatever changes
The volunteers who feed the poor (and, lest we
forget, those who feed stray dogs and cows).
n saubhadra [email protected]

NEWDELHI:The Union government

the government is
workers by 33%. The entire
scheme perfectly fits the current
situation,” said the second offi-
Ayushman Bharat
There are more — from the researcher experi- considering, overtime

›
is considering a change in a 1948 cial.
menting with cures, to the worker in a factory
making protective overalls — but you get the pic-
law to allow longer shifts in facto-
ries as it works out ways to help should be paid in
According to the two officials,
the government is also aware that
Rhythma Kaul
n [email protected]
Since most hospitals
ture. factories cope with fewer work- proportion to normal only 270 of 700 districts in India are providing Covid-
All of them go on about their work as if noth- ers and higher demand -- and all have reported Covid-19 cases. It NEWDELHI :With many of its 20,000
ing has happened. But what may have been the against a context where the ongo- wages and worker consent has already received suggestions, empanelled hospitals being con- 19 treatment, we decided
ordinary in the past is now the heroic. Mundane ing nationwide lockdown is likely
to continue beyond April 15. has to be taken.
they added, that in the remaining
districts, industries should be
verted into dedicated coronavi-
rus disease (Covid-19) hospitals,
to bring more hospitals
acts of drudgery are now selfless acts of courage.
These people, and what they do isn’t just our link The change will allow compa- CHANDRAJIT BANERJEE, director allowed to reopen. the implementing agency of the on board for non-Covid
STAYING with the past — but makes the present bearable. nies to extend the daily shift, from general, CII On Friday, Union commerce Ayushman Bharat health insur-
patients.
the current accepted norm of minister Piyush Goyal interacted ance scheme has launched an
SAFE Most of these people go on about their work as if
eight hours, six days a week (or 48 with industry bodies over con- express empanelment service to DR INDU BHUSHAN,
With little known
it is business as usual — either the significance of
hours) to up to 12 hours, six days on how many workers they will cerns which included shortage of get on board more hospitals so CEO, AB-PMJAY
about SARS-CoV-2, the what they do is lost on them, or they do not want to
make much of it. I’d like to think it is the latter. a week (72 hours). allow curfew passes to. In some labour, liquidity issues, cancella- non-Covid beneficiaries don’t
virus that causes According to two senior offi- cases, this person adds, it is 50%. tion of orders and massive lose out on medical treatment.
Covid-19, it appears These are ordinary men and women doing extraor-
cials, a proposal is under “active In some, lower. losses. For Covid-19 treatment, sepa- and doesn’t fit into our regular
social distancing, dinary things without making a big deal of it.
consideration” to amend the Fac- Longer shifts will help in this Trade union leaders, however, rate treatment packages are package structure. We have
self-isolation, avoiding Yet, at a time when staying in is the surest way
stepping outside and tories Act of 1948. Section 51 of the context -- as long as the workers remain unimpressed with the being created that states govern- given states a free hand and they
to stay safe, the mere act of venturing out to per- Act says “No adult worker shall are paid proportionately more, proposal of extending the shift ment will take a final call on. will be designing as per local
interacting with as few form what the law calls an “essential service” is a
people as possible is be required or allowed to work in something that is part of the plan. hours. Several medical colleges, civil needs. These hospitals have the
display of selflessness. Of courage in the face of a factory for more than forty- The proposal is being backed “In some enterprises, workers hospitals and district hospitals, choice of whether to provide reg-
the best way to
prevent infections and adversity. Of resilience. When (not if, but when) eight hours in any week.” by a bunch of senior officials, are already working overtime. which were otherwise treating ular treatment under the scheme
break the chain of we defeat the virus, it will be because of these peo- Although there are provisions including two officials who were This is the government’s long the bulk of Ayushman Bharat or convert into dedicated Cov-
transmission ple. of overtime in the same act, which part of the empowered group, term project to extend working Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya id-19 hospitals,” he said.
And so, starting today, Hindustan Times will has been providing the key legis- headed by drinking water and hours and eventually, workers Yojna (AB-PMJAY) patients, are The express empanelment will
feature as many of such people as it can on its lative framework for industries sanitation secretary Parameswa- will work more with less pay- being converted into dedicated be open for three months, and
pages in a series branded HT Salutes. They may for the past 72 years, the feeling in ran Iyer. ment. Instead of these cheap tac- Covid-19 facilities in States. later extended if a hospital
not need the recognition (and probably don’t the government is that excep- The first official, who is tics, the government should look The National Health Author- desires but it will have to go
want it), but a country in want of positivity and tional circumstances call for directly involved in the discus- into the large-scale retrench- ity (NHA), which implements the through the usual empanelment
heroes desperately needs their stories. exceptional provisions. sions, said: “It can ensure lesser ments that is talking place in state-run insurance scheme, has process that may take longer.
One of the eleven empowered physical movement of a large industries across India now,” started a new service called Hos- “We are merely fast-tracking the
groups of senior bureaucrats, the number of workers amid restric- said CITU (Centre of Indian pital Empanelment Module process now keeping in mind the
one on “facilitating supply chain tions. But longer working hours Trade Unions) general secretary (HEM) Lite, for patients suffering outbreak situation,” said Dr.
and logistics management for would mean resetting production Tapan Sen. from serious illnesses such as Bhushan.
availability of necessary items lines to a higher capacity. Since Chandrajit Banerjee, director cancer, cardiac issues and diabe- Using the HEM Lite process, it
such as food and medicine” is workers will get paid extra general, Confederation of Indian tes. “We are also dividing our will take less than one hour for a
htweather pushing for the amendments to money it will also resolve their Industry (CII), said, “We need to empanelled hospitals under Cov- hospital to fill the application
allow up to 12 hours of daily shifts liquidity issues.” restart business operations for id-19 and non-Covid-19 hospitals, form along with documents. The
ALMANAC TEMPERATURE
Today is
from the eight-hour schedule in While a factory worker is essential supplies. We also need largely to prevent cross-infec- system has been built in a way to
11th April 2020 IN FOUR METROS factories making essential goods. already entitled to overtime, the to overcome the key challenge of tion. Since most of the hospitals ensure that the rest of the process
l 16 Shaban 1441 Delhi An executive at a large con- factories act restricts such over- reduction in workforce. Keep in are providing Covid-19 treat- of approvals by concerned
SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY l Vaishakha,
Mainly Clear sky Strong surface Partly cloudy sky Krishna Paksha, 4 36°c I 18°c sumer products company that time to a maximum 120 hours mind that even if factories ment, we decided to bring more authorities is expeditious, say
winds during day with possibility of l Samvat 2077 Mumbai also makes essential products over three months. reopen, many workers will have hospitals on board for non-Covid NHA officials.
time development of Sunset: Saturday
at 06:44 p.m.
34°c I 24°c said on condition of anonymity The law also stipulates that for to adhere to social distancing patients,” said Dr Indu Bhushan, Last week, the government
thunder lightning
Sunrise: Sunday
Kolkata that the shortage of workers is a each hour of overtime, a worker norms. Whatever changes the chief executive officer of had brought testing and treat-
at 05:58 a.m.
36°c I 18°c 36°c I 19°c 37°c I 21°c Moonrise: Sunday 37°c I 25°c real problem -- not because his is entitled to double the normal government is considering, over- AB-PMJAY. ment of Covid-19 under
at 11:34 p.m. Chennai company employs contract work- rate of wages. time should be paid in proportion “The packages, especially for AB-PMJAY so as to provide these
• • Moonset: Monday 36°c I 24°c ers (it doesn’t) but because local “The amendments will ensure to normal wages and worker con- Covid-19 treatment, are being to beneficiaries at private labs
at 10:09 a.m.
administrators have to take a call higher earnings for a worker and sent has to be taken.” designed since it is a new disease and hospitals.
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
SAT URDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 05

spotlig t
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: NATION

Rising infections among medical Mumbai’s cases cross 1,000

after 132 more test positive
staff raise preparedness concerns Shrinivas Deshpande
n [email protected]
OFFICIALS SAID THE RISE
IN NUMBER OF CASES
ward that includes areas like
Malabar Hill and Grant Road
with 61 positive cases.
MUMBAI: Mumbai’s coronavirus AND THE DEATH COUNT Medical experts said the gov-
ACROSS INDIA At disease (Covid-19) cases crossed
WAS PROPORTIONAL TO
ernment should opt for random

least 200 health care

workers have tested
THE SPREAD OF COVID-19
Total confirmed cases including new cases added on April 10 New cases Recovered cases
1,000 on Friday, taking just 10
days to multiply tenfold, as health
workers in India’s commercial
capital ramp up testing for the
THE HIGHER LEVEL OF
TESTING FOR THE
community testing to for a true
picture of the virus’s spread.
“Yes it is necessary to do test-
ing on large scale, but it is not
positive for Covid-19, infection, which has so far left 64 DISEASE IN THE CITY enough. In addition to that the
people dead in the city. government should go for ran-
12 hospitals sealed UT J&K UT Ladakh The city recorded 132 cases on dom testing in areas like Dharavi

207 23 6 15 0 11 Friday, including two nurses at a

hospital that was ordered to stop
the virus was reported on March
17 when a 64-year-old man died in
to get information about the com-
munity spread,” Dr Shashikant
Rupsa Chakraborty admitting new patients and two Kasturba Hospital. It then took 13 Ahankari, a community health
[email protected] Himachal Pradesh Uttar Tablighi Jamaat followers, tak- days to register 10 deaths. The specialist and president of the
Pradesh
n

Punjab ing the number of people con- death count tripled to 30 on April Halo Medical Foundation, said.
MUMBAI: In the past two weeks,at 28 0 3 433 23 firmed to have been infected by 5, and more than doubled to 64 on To deal with the challenge of
least 90 doctors and medical 151 21 20 the virus to 1,008. Ten more Friday, April 10 . testing people in densely popu-
workers have tested positive for
the coronavirus disease in Mum- Chandigarh 32 deaths took the count of fatalities
to 64 in the Maharashtra capital,
Mumbai municipal commis-
sioner Praveen Pardeshi said the
lated areas like Dharavi, Asia’s
largest slum, the Brihanmumbai
bai hospitals, raising questions
about the preparedness of hospi- Haryana 19 1 7 Arunachal
the worst hit by the pandemic.
It took Mumbai 20 days to
rise in the number of coronavirus
cases and the death count was
Municipal Corporation (BMC)
has decided to procure 50,000
tals to tackle the pandemic. In all,
eight private super speciality 176 6 22 Uttarakhand
Pradesh breach the 100-case mark after
the first two patients, an Andheri-
directly proportional to the
higher level of testing for the dis-
rapid testing kit. This antibody
test kit will be made available
hospitals, having 1,500 beds, have
been sealed in Mumbai. 35 0 0 1 0 0 based couple, were identified on
March 11. On March 31, the city
ease in the city.
“High-level testing is our
within next three-four days, said
a senior official from the civic
Across the country, the total crossed the 100-patient mark, tak- weapon through which we have health department.
number of health workers who
DELHI ing the number to 151. Since then, identified many positive cases .... On Friday, six more people
have tested positive for Covid-19
has increased to 200 and 12 pri-
903 183 26 the number cases has been multi-
plying faster.
We are extracting more and more
cases before the 14-day cycle of
tested positive for Covid-19 in
Dharavi, taking the total in the
vate hospitals have been sealed. The city crossed the 200-pa- the virus so that these numbers slum to 28, a BMC official said.
On Thursday, a doctor died in tient mark (235 cases) on April 2, don’t burst and emerge as com- Two nurses, aged 27 years and
Indore, Madhya Pradesh’s Cov- Assam the number doubling in two days. munity spread,” Pardeshi added. 42 years, of Dadar’s Shushrusha
id-19 hotspot, but he was not on
Covid-19 duty, the government Rajasthan
I N D I A 29 0 0 The number of Covid-19 cases tri-
pled in the next six days.
Mumbai’s G south ward that
spans areas like Worli and
Hospital also tested positive for
Covid-19 on Friday following
clarified.
Still, in both MP and Maha- 520 90 Tripura
Similarly, the death count due
to the virus has increased at a
Prabhdevi has reported the maxi-
mum number of positive cases at
which authorities asked the hos-
pital to stop taking in any new
rashtra, health workers’ associa- 60 faster pace.By April 9, the city 199. The E ward, which covers patients. The BMC has asked the
tions have complained of inade-
quate masks, gloves and personal
2 1 0 had registered 54 deaths, which
rose to 64 on Friday.
Byculla, Mazgaon and Central
Mumbai, ranks second with 69
hospital to quarantine nearly 28
nurses who are employed there.
protection equipment (PPE). Glo- Mumbai’s first death linked to positive cases, followed by the D (With inputs from Sagar Pillai)
bally, many health workers have Bihar Manipur
Gujarat
died after getting infected.
378 116 30 60 9 17 2 0 1 IN DARJEELING
The list of hospitals and clinics
in Mumbai that have been Truckers demand
restricted from taking new
admissions include major medi-
cal centres such as Saifee, Jaslok, Madhya Pradesh
Jharkhand
14 1 0
Mizoram
1 0 0 Plantation with HCQ ~50L insurance in
Breach Candy and Wockhardt.
On Friday, another hospital,
Shushrusha Hospital in Dadar,
451 40 37 Odisha West Bengal potential joints fight meeting with govt
was sealed after two nurses were
diagnosed with Covid-19.
Chhattisgarh
48 4 2 116 9 Joydeep Thakur and Pramod Giri quine. “At present, we manufac-
Anisha Dutta
n anisha.dutta@hindustantimes .com
Apart from the medical staff,
19 n [email protected] ture chloroquine phosphate.
which includes at least 50 doctors
who are being treated for Cov- 18 0 9 Telangana
Andaman KOLKATA/SILIGURI:Tucked away in
We’ve applied to DCGI to obtain a
licence to manufacture hydroxy-
NEWDELHI:The Centre reached out
to road transporters on Friday to
id-19, 200 health workers have
been quarantined for 14 days at 487 16 45 and Nicobar
the Darjeeling hills of north Ben-
gal, India’s only cinchona planta-
chloroquine. We’ve got the neces-
sary infrastructure to manufac-
resolve problems being faced by
stranded truck drivers during the
these hospitals. Maharashtra 11 0 tion is preparing to join the big ture up to 1 million hydroxychlo- coronavirus lockdown so that
That’s a huge blow in a country fight against the coronavirus dis- roquine tablets daily,” said PM essential supplies reach their des-
Andhra Pradesh
that has a doctor-population ratio
1574 210 188 10 ease (Covid-19). The bark of the Chandraiah, managing director, tinations.At a meeting with the
of 1:1,457 and a nurse-population
ratio of about 1:675 . 381 6 10 cinchona is a source of quinine,
used in anti-malarial medication
Bengal Chemicals and Pharma-
ceuticals Limited.
transport ministry through video
conference, transporters sought
“It is essential to keep the hos-
pital closed for 14 days. We disin-
fect the wards and take samples of
close contacts. This is as per pro-
Goa
7 0 1
Puducherry
7 2 1
7,556
Total number of
that has held out hope of treating
people infected with the virus.
US President Donald Trump
has been an enthusiastic advo-
“We can supply the cinchona
to the factories in north Ben-
gal...The CII will submit a list of
machinery needed to revive fac-
safeguards including ~50 lakh
insurance cover for those
engaged in the supply chain and
free medical treatment for those
cases across India*
tocols set by the Union health cate of the use of anti-malarial tories,” said Sinha. who test positive for the virus.
ministry,” said Dr Daksha Shah, medicine like hydroxychloro- Set up by the British in 1892, “We have been in touch with
deputy health officer, BMC.
Sealing off hospitals for 14 days
during a pandemic is not a good
Karnataka
207 10 34
Kerala
364 7 124
Tamil Nadu
911 77 44
250
Deaths due to
quine in the treatment of Cov-
id-19 patients, touting it as a
potential game changer in the
the cinchona plantation sprawls
over 6,900 acres in the Darjeeling
hills. For more than a hundred
various transport associations
since the lockdown and have
assured government support. ...A
idea, said doctors. Covid-19 across India battle against the pandemic. years, extracts from the bark of decision on the demand for insur-
“A rescue plan to isolate With demand for hydroxychlo- these trees were used to produce ance cover will be taken soon,” a
infected workers and the saniti- *Data compiled by covid19india.org and cross-checked from inputs by HT’s correspondents and news agencies roquine rising across the world, quinine, the only effective drug senior government official said,
sation of premises should be for- the state government is exploring for malaria. Chloroquine, which requesting anonymity.
mulated to reopen these institu- how fast it can start producing it. was discovered in 1934, is a syn- Trucks will be sanitized and
tions within 24-48 hours instead TOTAL TESTS DONE ON APRIL 10 “The state has asked the Con- thetic variant of quinine. their drivers will undergo screen-
of 14 days or more,” said Dr federation of Indian Industry to “...The plantation has 500 met- ing at the loading and unloading
Ramen Goel, President, Indian
Association of Gastro-intestinal
Endo-Surgeons (IAGES).
In Rajasthan, a small private
hospital in Jaipur was sealed on
Thursday, after health workers
161,330
samples tested by 9pm on April 10, 2020,
according to ICMR
15,663 433
samples reported positive for Sars-Cov-2
submit a report on how soon we
can revive the production of qui-
nine and hydroxychloroquine in
north Bengal,” said Rajiva Sinha,
chief secretary of the West Bengal
government.
ric tons of cinchona bark in the
stock waiting to be auctioned,”
said Samuel Rai, director of cin-
chona plantation.
With chief minister Mamata
Banerjee taking an interest in
points and also every 200 kilome-
tres along the highways, as per
ministry recommendations.
“The movement of essential
goods to the remotest corner of
the country could get jeopardised
there tested positive, officials The Kolkata-based Bengal how to boost the production in the due to restricted mobility of the
said, as the total number of health Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals state, it has come as a ray of hope drivers, first, due to lack of means
workers infected with the deadly tested positive, was sealed. for Covid-19 on Wednesday night, covered under the national compensation for any health Limited, the only public sector for the 5,000-odd plantation work- of transportation and secondly
virus increased to around 50 in In West Bengal, the superin- following which he was admitted health insurance scheme, Ayush- worker dying because of the coro- unit that manufactures the anti- ers. The plantation has already due to stringent lockdown meas-
the state. Some of them have tendent of Howrah district hospi- at a Covid-care hospital on man Bharat. Some state govern- navirus disease. Several other malarial drug in India, has also received bulk orders from two cli- ures of certain hotspot areas by
recovered. Earlier, a private hos- tal, where two persons who tested Thursday. A health worker at the ments have also provided them states have announced similar applied for a licence from the ents, including a pharmaceutical local administrations,” said Kult-
pital in Bhilwara, where three positive for Covid-19 died over hospital has also tested positive. additional cover. Delhi chief min- compensation packages. Drugs Controller General of company based in Madhya Pra- aran Singh Atwal, president, All
doctors and 14 health care staff the past 10 days, tested positive All health workers are now ister Arvind Kejriwal announced (with inputs from state bureaus) India to produce hydroxychloro- desh. India Motor Transport Congress.

50 INFECTIONS SUSPECTED
CBI, ED write to Satara
admin over Wadhawans Most MP health dept
Email has been sent to officials quarantined
HT Correspondent
n [email protected]

NEWDELHI:The Central Bureau of

Investigation (CBI) and Enforce-
ment Directorate (ED) have
› DM and SP of Satara
for not releasing them
without an NOC from the
Ranjan
n [email protected]
insisted on working from home
and said they did not have any
symptoms. On April 8, both of
asked authorities in Maharash- BHOPAL: Almost every senior them were taken to a hospital by
tra’s Satara not to release Dewan CBI or order of the court member of the Madhya Pradesh the state authorities.
Housing Finance Corporation state health department is in By then, 18 health department
Ltd (DHFL) promoters Dheeraj and taking steps to prevent quarantine or in the hospital officials -- including the addi-
and Kapil Wadhawan from a Cov-
id-19 quarantine facility without
them from absconding after two officers allegedly
flouted social distancing norms
tional director of health services
-- had tested positive, and 40 oth-
CBI SPOKESPERSON
their approval. The two, accused and suppressed symptoms, two ers were in mandatory home
of financial irregularities, had senior officials said on Friday. quarantine. On Saturday, the
been absconding since March. them without an NOC from the The government has now insti- principal secretary in the depart-
The two were traced to Maha- CBI or order of the court and tak- tuted an inquiry against the offi- ment who had allegedly not
baleshwar on Wednesday after ing steps to prevent them from cers and expanded testing in a bid reported to the authorities about
going into hiding in March and absconding,” a CBI spokesperson to arrest the spread of Covid-19 in her son’s US trip, tested positive.
ignoring summons from investi- said. The ED too has written a the state, whose two biggest cit- “The two IAS officers heading
gators. They had travelled from similar letter to the Satara ies, Bhopal and Indore, are reel- the department showed symp-
Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on administration. ing under the pandemic. toms of cold and cough almost the
the basis of an authorisation let- Meanwhile, a political blame The state, which has one of the same time but they continued to
ter from a Maharashtra police game has started in the state, with lowest rates of testing in the coun- attend the meetings,” a top health
officer. The state government has the ruling and opposition parties try (70 per million), has 451 cases department official said, request-
ordered an inquiry and sent the accusing each other of aiding the as of Friday evening. Roughly ing anonymity.
officer, Amitabh Gupta, on leave. family. 70% of these cases were concen- He said the government esti-
The two were quarantined for Leader of Opposition and trated in Bhopal and Indore, mated that the two were responsi-
violating the national lockdown former chief minister Devendra where the administration has set ble for at least 50 infections in the
imposed to check the spread of Fadnavis accused the Maharash- up 70 and 74 containment zones, department.
the coronavirus pandemic. tra Vikas Aghadi government of respectively, with sweeping A second senior health depart-
They are facing investigations “facilitating the accused”. “Chief restrictions. ment officer said, “The control
for allegedly diverting money minister Uddhav Thackeray The health department, room later became an epicentre of
from DHFL using fake borrowers should tell the people that under reported its first case on April 2, coronavirus spreading.”
and in the matter of alleged kick- whose pressure the letter was when the managing director and “We have decided to divide
backs taken by Yes Bank promot- issued,” he said. IAS officer in the National Health Indore into different zones and
ers in exchange for a loan. Maharashtra Congress Mission (NHM) tested positive. there will be an officer for each of
“On April 9, information was spokesperson Sachin Sawant hit Two days later, another IAS the zones. They will be supported
received by the CBI that both the back, saying, “We suspect that officer contracted the virus. An by the local teams. The state gov-
accused were located in district the permission given to Wadh- additional director in the depart- ernment is making all out efforts
Satara ... Thereafter, an email has wans was at the behest of some ment, who returned from a for- to break the chain of Covid-19
been sent to DM and SP of Satara BJP leader as the family has been eign country, has tested positive. spread,” said chief minister Shiv-
(Maharashtra) for not releasing very close to the party.” Despite testing positive, both raj Singh Chouhan on Friday.
06 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
SATURDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0

spotlight
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: SCIENCE & NATION

THE IMPORTANCE OF TESTING

An analysis of death and
testing rates across major MP TOPS THE 215.9
J&k
CAPITAL LEADS
Indian states indicates that 2.2 DEATH LIST 112.6
Himachal
2110.9
Ladakh THE WAY
states that test aggressively, Jammu and
Kashmir The central Indian state is followed Pradesh
Among major states, Delhi has done
will, over time, show lower 7.1 by Punjab and Jharkhand 168.6 the most tests per million people
Himachal Chandigarh
fatality rates than others 7.7 Pradesh Death rate (per 100 cases) Test per million
Punjab
States with active cases
115.1 151.8 States with active cases
Punjab
Vijdan Mohammad Kawoosa Haryana 1.2 116.9 Uttarakhand
n [email protected] 1.7 Delhi Haryana 593.8 135.1
NEW DELHI: An analysis of fatality or death rates (proportion
Delhi 42 Arunachal Pradesh
of those infected who die) and testing rates (per million of 1.6 1 278.7 48.4 75.3
population) throws up some interesting results and serves
Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh 2 Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh 32.9
Assam Nagaland
to highlight an important aspect of the coronavirus disease Bihar Bihar
(Covid-19): states that test more, will, over time (and this is
8 7.7 70.7 43.6
a mater of a few weeks to a month) end up showing lower
6.9 Madhya Jharkhand 4.7 102.6 Jharkhand
20.7 76.6
fatality rates than states that test very selectively. Mizoram
To be sure, even the best Indian states (from the perspec- Gujarat Pradesh West Bengal Gujarat Madhya
Pradesh
113.6 West
tive of testing) aren’t doing enough, but, in general, states Bengal
that test more will, over time expand the denominator (peo- 2.3 Chhattisgarh
74.6 Tripura
ple tested), which will reduce the proportion of people found
to be infected. It will also serve to reduce the death rate,
7.1 Odisha
273.8 67.7
Maharashtra Odisha
which is a subset of those infected.
2.5 Maharashtra OTHER COUNTRIES
In the absence of widespread testing, a comparison of 179
death rates is, at best, a road approximation of how the virus
Telangana
Telangana (TESTS PER MILLION)
has affected various states; however, with 7556 people being
Country Tests Tests/million people
infected with Covid-19 as of Thursday night, and the death 235.9 84.2
toll crossing 200 (250), it makes sense to look at these num-
3 1.6 Goa
Germany 1,317,887 15,892
bers. As the numbers change appreciably, HT will revisit this Karnataka Andhra 124.6 Andhra Pradesh Italy 807,125 13,356.1
analysis. Pradesh Karnataka South Korea 466,804 9,040.4
On the basis of the current analysis, Madhya Pradesh has 3.4 US 2,189,766 6,693.1
the highest fatality rate of 8% and Delhi has done the most
testing per million population (594), leaving out Ladakh 1 National 100.7 UK 232,708 3,499.9
whose small population skews the number. Maharashtra 0.6 Tamil
Total
365.5 Tamil Nadu France 224,254 3,347.7
Kerala
has tested 274 per million , which puts it in fourth place, but Nadu Kerala Japan 46,172 364.9
if, as the state claims, the high number of cases in it (1574 on India 146,404 121.4
Thursday night) is a result of aggressive testing, then the
state’s fatality rate (currently 7.1%) will reduce over time.

TOP FIVE COUNTRIES BY HIGHEST NUMBER OF CASES COUNTRIES WITH HIGHEST DEATH RATE
Death rate (per 100 cases) This includes countries with at least 1,000 cases and excludes those already listed on the left

USA SPAIN ITALY FRANCE GERMANY ALGERIA UK NETHERLANDS BELGIUM SWEDEN

461,437 16,478 153,222 15,447 143,626 18,279 118,781 12,228 118,181 2,607 1,666 235 65,872 7,993 21,903 2,403 24,983 2,523 9,141 793
TOTAL CASES DEATHS TOTAL CASES DEATHS TOTAL CASES DEATHS TOTAL CASES DEATHS TOTAL CASES DEATHS TOTAL CASES DEATHS TOTAL CASES DEATHS TOTAL CASES DEATHS TOTAL CASES DEATHS TOTAL CASES DEATHS

3.6 DEATH
RATE 10.1 DEATH
RATE 12.7 DEATH
RATE 10.3 DEATH
RATE 2.2 DEATH
RATE 14.1 DEATH
RATE 12.1 DEATH
RATE 11 DEATH
RATE 10.1 DEATH
RATE 8.7 DEATH
RATE

Blood donors to be Most coronaviruses seasonal;

As race for vaccine heats asked about health
Sars-CoV-2 presents mystery
status for Covid-19
up, new techs come to fore Rhythma Kaul
n [email protected]
Jayashree Nandi
n [email protected]
adult cases and 20% of cases in
children associated with these
four coronaviruses involved
we do not know whether that
virus will behave like the sea-
sonal coronaviruses,” said
UNPRECEDENTED 78 projects have reached active stage of development within 3 months NEW DELHI: Blood donors are now NEW DELHI: Out of the seven coro- doctor visits. During year- Arnold Monto, a professor at the
asked for their health status, naviruses known to infect round surveillance, most coro- University of Michigan and
Sanchita Sharma vent it from entering cells and including symptoms of Covid-19, humans, four are seasonal and navirus cases were detected co-author of the study, in a state-
n [email protected] multiplying to cause infection. but are not being tested for it even cause common respiratory between December and May ment.
“Vaccines based on viral vec- as the number of cases crossed infections that transmit similar with a peak in January-Febru- Amit Singh, an associate pro-
NEW DELHI: The development of a tors offer a high level of protein 6,500. to influenza, according to a new ary. The highest infection fre- fessor at Bengaluru’s Indian
vaccine for Covid-19 i s proceed- expression and long-term stabil- Despite the lockdown, there is paper by public health quency was among children Institute of Science, said based
ing at an unprecedented pace and ity, and induce strong immune no shortage of blood and its com- researchers at the University of under five. on the clues from other corona-
scale, and also using innovative responses,” said Dr Ganguly. ponents as requirement for Michigan. Of 993 infections, about 260 viruses that infect humans, it is
technologies, according to an Vaccine development, on aver- trauma cases and elective surger- The authors of the study, pub- were acquired from an infected possible that Covid-19 will even-
analysis of the global Covid-19 age, takes 10.71 years from the ies have gone down substantially. lished in the Journal of Infec- household member. The trans- tually become seasonal. “A
vaccine development database, preclinical phase, and has a mar- “We have started thorough tious Diseases on April 4, say mission window for the infec- 10-year-old study conducted in
published in the journal Nature ket entry probability of 6%, screening of all donors; they have that their findings may help tion acquired from a household the UK on three coronaviruses
Reviews Drug Discovery. according to a study in journal to fill up a detailed form inform- investigators better prepare for member ranged from 3.2 to 3.6 isolated from humans showed
With five c oronavirus disease PLOS One. “Any vaccine devel- ing about their health status and the Covid-19 pandemic. But it is days. Cases in children under marked winter seasonality. ..
(Covid-19) vaccine candidates in opment requires a lot of testing also details such as their Covid-19 not possible to say that Sars- five and adults over 50 were However, without data assem-
phase 1 clinical trials to establish for to establish it’s efficacious and status, or if anyone they knew CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, more likely to manifest them- bled over a number of seasons,
safety for humans and 73 in safe, we need to make sure coun- had tested positive, or someone in will also behave as the four do, selves as severe disease. the relationship between Cov-
exploratory or preclinical stages, tries licence the vaccine through their neighbourhood had any they say. Coronaviruses have long id-19 and seasonality is mostly a
a vaccine is likely to be ready in proper procedure. They then symptoms,” said RK Jain, secre- The researchers used data been recognised as human res- prediction.
early 2021, the analysis says. need to get a massive build up in tary general, Indian Red Cross from an ongoing 10-year house- piratory pathogens manifesting Dr T Jacob John, a former
As many as 78 projects have manufacturing capacity and Society (IRCS). hold influenza vaccine evalua- as mild respiratory illnesses. head of virology at Vellore’s
reached the active stage of devel- have a system to ensure that The ICMR has not included tion study based on hundreds of But when animal coronaviruses Christian Medical College, said,
opment within three months of those who need the vaccine the blood donors in the list of people individuals infected by the four spill over to humans, they are “... lifting the lockdown would
genetic sequence of Sars-CoV-2, most get it first,” said Dr David who should be tested for Covid-19. mild coronaviruses: OC43, 229E, known to cause severe diseases mean opening the flood-
the coronavirus that is causing Nabarro, the World Health Orga- With the number of blood HKU1, and NL63. The rest of the as in the case of the severe acute gates...Maybe the speed of
the current pandemic, being pub- n Vaccine development, on average, takes 10.71 years from the nisation’s special envoy on Cov- donation dropping to none in three are Sars-CoV, MERS or respiratory syndrome (SARS) transmission will slow down in
lished on 11 January 2020, accord- preclinical phase. REUTERS id-19. Delhi since the lockdown, the EMC, and Sars-CoV-2. in 2002 and Middle East Respira- summer and then catch up
ing to the Coalition of Epidemic “Accelerating vaccine discov- ICRS is reaching out to individu- The researchers from the epi- tory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012. again when the temperature
Preparedness (Cepi), one of the (18%) in Europe. There is no pub- (ICMR). ery process should not compro- als to motivate them to donate. demiology department of the “Even though the seasonal falls...people should continue to
world’s biggest public funders of lic information on vaccine devel- Scientists are leveraging exist- mise safety and evaluation of It recently tied up with resi- University of Michigan School coronaviruses found in Michi- exercise physical distancing of
vaccine development. opment in Africa or Latin Amer- ing work on vaccines against the effectiveness and safety at each dents’ welfare associations and of Public Health found that 9% of gan are related to SARS-CoV-2, about six feet...”.
Adaptive and parallel vaccine ica, said the report. Middle East Respiratory Syn- step is imperative. Countries plans to send mobile-collection
development phases, innovative A range of new technology drome (Mers) coronavirus and need to also build manufacturing, vans to colonies from Monday.
regulatory processes and
advanced manufacturing capac-
ity have helped fast-track devel-
platforms are being used, includ-
ing nucleic acid (DNA and RNA),
virus-like particle, peptide, viral
rapid response platforms with 2
Sars-CoV-2 genetic sequences
inserted to speed up vaccine
distribution and delivery capac-
ity to ensure it reaches those who
need it most,” said a public health
The government on Thursday
declared blood as an essential
supply.
Sonia tells Cong state units to keep eye
opment, which traditionally
takes an average of a decade.
vector (replicating and non-repli-
cating), recombinant protein, live
development against the novel
virus. “The speed with which we
specialist in India, requesting
anonymity.
“Since elective surgeries are
not happening, and trauma cases
on govt relief work, ensure PPE supply
Even accelerated efforts, such as attenuated virus and inactivated have [produced these candidates] Animal models that specifi- have gone down, what we these
that for the first Ebola vaccine, virus approaches, many of which builds very much on the invest- cally assess vaccine efficacy have days are getting is request for HT Correspondent help the poor, farmers and labou- impress upon the United States to
took five years. have never before been used to ment in understanding how to been developed, using ACE2- blood from people who undergo n [email protected] rers who were suffering the most prevent job losses of Indians hold-
Of the confirmed active vac- develop vaccines that are cur- develop vaccines for other coro- transgenic mice, hamsters, fer- regular blood transfusions, such due the lockdown. ing H-1B visas.“After compro-
cine candidates, 56 (72%) are rently licenced for use. naviruses,” said Richard Hatch- rets and rhesus macaques. A as people suffering from thalasse- NEW DELHI: Congress president She urged her party to ensure mising the ‘India First’ policy in
being developed by the private “Most vaccine development ett, CEO, Cepi. small study from China posted in mia and other blood disorders. By Sonia Gandhi on Friday asked that reliable and free testing the HCQ (hydroxychloroquine)
sector, with the rest being led by focuses on identifying the genetic Most developers for the Cov- the preprint database medRxiv, and large, we managed to stay her party’s state leaders to play mechanisms were ramped up and drug, the government is again
academic, public sector and other code of the protein that a virus id-19 vaccine are focusing on plat- found rhesus macaques don’t get afloat due to demand from a par- an active role in the fight against also that steady and sufficient failing to secure the safety and
non-profits. There are 37 uncon- uses to enter human cells, which forms based on nucleotides, re-infected with Sars-Cov-2, ticular set of people going down,” Covid-19. She wanted them to supply of personal protective livelihood of Indians in the US,”
firmed projects for which devel- is then used in the vaccine to trig- which are the building blocks of which provides evidence that says Jain. reach out to as many people in equipment (PPE) reached those Congress chief spokesperson
opment status cannot be deter- ger an immune response against genetic material, DNA and RNA, vaccines will offer protection, Dr Vanshree Singh, director distress as they can and assess at most risk of infection. Randeep Singh Surjewala said.
mined from publicly available or subsequent exposure in people because of their potential for though for how long remains (blood bank), IRCS, said the vans the government’s work in con- For their part, some state units “Time for the PM to ensure that
proprietary information sources, who are vaccinated. The virus speed and flexibility for antigen unclear. “The changes in a virus’ they plan to send out will be disin- taining the pandemic. pointed out that certain govern- our soft power of ‘Namaste
according to the analysis. can also be genetically modified manipulation. Sars-CoV-2 con- genetic sequence must also be fected regularly and practice Interacting with Congress ments were deliberately Trump’ converts into fair treat-
Most Covid-19 vaccine devel- to be rendered harmless to make sists of a strand of RNA enclosed tracked to establish patterns and social distancing as well. state unit chiefs through video- obstructing and preventing Con- ment of H-1B visa holders.”
opment activity is in North Amer- inactivated vaccines, such as in shell covered with crown-like predict its behaviour, on how it Apart from the camps, the soci- conferencing for over three gress workers from carrying out Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
ica, with 36 (46%) developers of polio, rabies, and hepatitis A and spikes (explaining its name; will spread and whether it is ety will also run a fleet of cars to hours, Gandhi asked them to reg- the necessary relief measures hailed accredited social health
the confirmed active vaccine can- B, which often require multiple Corona is derived from the Latin likely become more virulent. To pick up donors from their homes, ularly update her on the party’s activists, auxiliary nurse and
didates, compared with 14 (18%) doses,” said Dr N K Ganguly, for crown) . Producing an develop an effective vaccine, we take them to the blood donation relief works. ‘SAVE INDIAN JOBS IN US’ midwives and anganwadi work-
in China, 14 (18%) in Asia (exclud- former director general, Indian immune response against the need study consistent virus centre and drop them back home She hoped that the Centre The Congress Friday urged ers for being at the forefront in
ing China) and Australia, and 14 Council of Medical Research viral spike (S) protein can pre- change,” said Dr Ganguly. again. would come out with a plan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the fight against coronavirus.
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
SAT URDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 07

htsalutes
Everyday heroes of the pandemic
CHAMPIONING RESILIENCE As the country grapples
with Covid-19, thousands of Indians are finding ways to
help the vulnerable by sewing masks, holding donation
drives, feeding stray dogs and countering fake news
Snigdha Poonam Hundreds of questions are posed and
n [email protected] answered on the group every day.
“Do gas cylinders come under essen-

T
here is little to be cheerful tial commodities?”
about in a world battered by “When will Covid-19 tests be available
the coronavirus disease (Cov- for general public in private labs?”
id-19). The global tally stands “There are rumors going on about one
at 1,447,471 confirmed cases confirmed case in Koppal. Can I know?”
and 83,401 deaths even as the pandemic As an information warrior, one of
peaks in one country after the other. In Naveen’s major tasks is to spot and call
India, the news is becoming grimmer: out fake news. So far, he says, he and his
infections, fatalities, shortages. As the fellow volunteers have busted a handful:
numbers go up of people infected (5,274), “Jio offering lifetime free recharge for Rs
dead (165), hospitalised and quaran- 498. There is a cure for novel coronavirus
tined, staying home is seen as the only in a book by Dr Ramesh Gupta. A medi-
way India’s citizens can save others, but cine has been discovered for Covid-19.
not everyone is convinced this is all they Russia has unleashed 500 lions on the
can do to help. roads to keep people indoors.”
So, while they follow the official rules On Monday, Paramesha C from Kana-
and restrictions, thousands of Indians taka’s Davanagere district posted a
are finding ways to help those who are query on the Telegram group. He wanted
more vulnerable. They are publishing to know if a message he was sent via
data and insights, launching donation WhatsApp contained real or fake news.
drives, sewing masks, video-chatting The message alerted recipients that the
with senior citizens, mobilising support police would act against anyone posting n From left: Screenshots of members of the Dignity Foundation during a video chat session; (top) a man feeds pigeons amid the nationwide lockdown imposed in the wake of the
for migrant workers, countering fake or forwarding any coronavirus-related Covid-19 pandemic, in Bengaluru on Friday. HT PHOTO/PTI
news and fake science, feeding stray update on social media as per a new gov-
I collect positive news from around the world and share it with as
dogs, and making viral memes to remind
people to do the simple things like wash-
ing their hands. Meet some of India’s
corona volunteers.

NAVEEN MS
ernment mandate. “I wanted to check if
it was true before I believed it or for-
warded it. I was told it was fake news.”
Naveen thinks it’s equally important
to find and share uplifting information
about the human battle against the
They said they would never have asked
someone for help, but they are struggling
to find any food. One of our volunteers
there got in touch with the local adminis-
tration which came to their rescue
immediately.”
vicinity of open garbage, but now they
were literally in the middle of it,” said
Jose, who runs a volunteer-driven initia-
tive for the street dogs of Coimbatore
called the Pawsome People Project. The
team also began to hear from people anx-
› many people as possible, like China closing down its coronavirus
hospitals, doctors in India being successful in treating many cases...
NAVEEN MS, Karnataka Sahaya, Challkere
Karnataka Sahaya, Challkere virus. “I collect positive news from Typically, she says, once they receive ious about their proximity with their
“Today, we don’t have solution to coro- around the world and share it with as an alert from a place, they try to mobile own pets as rumours about dogs being
navirus, but we have a solution to the many people as possible, like China clos- local support in one way or the other. carriers of the coronavirus went viral on by fellow Stanford alumni Tomas Pueyo. ramp up the delivery mechanism with
fear and rumours,” says Naveen MS, a ing down its coronavirus hospitals, doc- “We are fairly spread out by now, so usu- social media. “A lot of people were call- “It was a 25-minute read, and I thought I the best options we have, government or
civil service tors in India being successful in treating ally one of us knows someone in local ing to say, ‘we don’t know if we can keep will give it five minutes, but I ended up non government.”
aspirant based many cases, a network of Canadian sci- police or administration or political the dog around while we have old people reading it over and over again,” she said.
in Challkere entists making excellent progress in party or NGOs, and irrespective of juris- living in the same house.’ They were also Mittal spent the following 48 hours SHIVENDRA KUMAR
taluka in Chit- Covid-19 research, number of cases diction or affiliation, most of them have concerned about their residential socie- researching Covid-19 “like a maniac”. Dignity Foundation, Delhi-NCR
radurga district declining in South Korea.” He says the been helpful. At times, we are even able ties banning dogs. We saw some pure- When she was done, she cleared up Kumar and his team of volunteers and
of Karnataka. work has filled him with purpose like to arrange food or medicines for bred dogs, including a Pitbull and a her calendar for the next six months and coordinators have been spending a lot of
While he wor- never before. “You feel a sense of nation- stranded labourers through an individ- Doberman, left in the streets,” Jose said. made about 50 phone calls. “To people in time on video communication apps
ries about the alism, a sense of belonging.” ual or shopkeeper near them.” Down to 40 volunteers from their startup ecosystem, industry bodies, gov- lately. “Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp,” he
impending Stranded in Moradabad after his met- usual strength of 150, the Pawsome peo- ernment, policy community, health tech said. Active in six cities across India, the
damage to the ANUPRIYA SINGH al-works factory shut down and the bor- ple reacted to the emergency by doing network,” she said. “I understood how Dignity Foundation’s mission is to “ena-
economy from Corona Warriors, Bahraich ders closed, daily-wage worker Kamal what they do: finding street dogs and dire the situation is going to become in ble senior citizens lead active lives
the pandemic, his immediate concern is On March 24, when Prime Minister Nar- Saxena ran out of food supplies and cook- feeding them. “People were sending us India.” On March 13, she joined CovidIn- through easy access to trusted informa-
for people’s “psychology.” In his own endra Modi declared a national lock- ing gas. “My family is in Bareilly and I messages whenever they saw a group of dia.org, her friend Girish Khera’s all-en- tion, opportunities for productive ageing
town, he says, panic is widespread. down, millions of migrant wage labou- am in Moradabad, living alone and wait- dogs at a location, and we would go out compassing tech platform aimed at bat- and social support services”. Daily meet-
“Minimum people are infected (Kar- rers employed in urban centres rushed ing to be paid by the factory contractor with food and follow their directions. tling the spread of the coronavirus in ups with the members at its physical cen-
nataka has 181 positive cases so far) but to their villages, but thousands have my pending salary. Last week, I couldn’t The first few days, some of us were India. Spread out over a website, multi- tres was one of their core activities until
maximum people are fearing. Facts are since found themselves stuck far from leave the house because of lockdown and stopped several times by the police ple social media channels and partner- Covid-19 struck Indian cities. In Delhi-
being manipulated in private WhatsApp home without work or food, or a future had nothing to eat. I had no money because of the curfew, but then we got 40 ships with stakeholders, Covid India NCR, where the foundation has 110 sen-
groups and prime-time news alike,” he plan. On March 26, Anupriya Singh, who either. My daughter found out about this passes from the district magistrate who aggregates data, builds and reviews tech ior-citizen members, Kumar says the
said. In the cities, he points out, people lives in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, started Facebook group and gave me a number. had heard about our hurdles and asked products, aids sourcing and supply of social distancing rules have led to a
have easy access to verified facts and a Facebook group to get them help wher- I called and gave my details, and some us to get in touch,” Jose said. health equipment, and strategizes with “complete lockdown” for them because
official information, but not so in the ever they are. “The first alert we hours later, someone came by with a bag Weeks into the routine, their popular governments and companies. It’s a old age and existing illnesses make them
rural areas. “In the villages, no one has received, just a friend and I, was about a of groceries –– atta, daal, oil, chawal.” social media pages display a wide range “100% volunteer effort. Everyone has a especially vulnerable to infection. Cut
a Twitter account, and no one is using group of migrant workers in a Noida The volume of posts on the Facebook of photos and videos of volunteers feed- day job,” Mittal points out. “Since March off from their social and support net-
Telegram (messenger), so the responsi- market. They are entirely dependent for group is going up steadily. “There is a lot ing the dogs whatever was available, 14, when we had 40 volunteers, we have works, many of them face a wide range of
bility is on the educated people such as their meals on the local carts that sell of panic among migrant workers. Not from idlis to packaged treats. “We have been growing by 200-300 every day. worries, from filling up their days to
myself who have access to technology. lunch and dinner for ~10 or ~15, but as each of them needs to rush home, but put up memes and stories saying, ‘look at Today we number over 1,000. The volun- finding groceries and medicines. “No
Even if one person in a village is using lockdown curfew struck, the carts van- many are fleeing because they believe us, we have been hanging out with the teers bring such diverse experiences -- gardens, no roads, no going up to the
Telegram, he can share the right infor- ished, and the workers were stranded this is a city virus and it will consume dogs for a month now, and nothing has some I couldn’t have imagined in my wil- neighbour for a chat. Those who only
mation with the rest of the population.” without any gas cylinders or cooking everyone who remains in the cities,” she happened to us’.” Seeing these visuals, dest dreams, from election management had domestic staff find themselves alone
In Mid-March, Naveen joined the Tel- supplies. A friend drove 50km with food said. Currently, Singh says her volun- Jose said, more and more people have to social work.” with nobody else in the house,” Kumar
egram group Karnataka Sahaya which to reach them, explaining to the police teer shift begins at 8am and ends at 2am been shrugging off the rumors and help- They start by asking everyone fight- said. So, while many of the foundation’s
was launched by the state information every few kilometers that this was an the next day. She has made her peace ing the “streeties.” ing Covid-19 in India the same question: volunteers are delivering essential sup-
department to circulate official informa- urgent matter.” with it: “We live in India. In this country, Their work at the moment goes what do you need to know? Bridging the plies to their houses, some are also help-
tion and counter fake news. The open Since then, Singh says, the group has people stand up for each other.” beyond feel-good messaging. The Paw- “information asymmetry”, Mittal points ing them socialize over video.
group has over 21,000 members of whom grown to 5,000 members who respond to some volunteers also use their wide out, is central to India’s coronavirus “On Zoom calls with our volunteers
most are citizen volunteers. “We deal messages posted on the group all day MEGHA JOSE social media network, including What- challenge. So their website is designed and other members, they are showcas-
with three kinds of inquiries. There are from across India. “In Surat, 20 labou- The Pawsome People Project, sApp groups, to make people aware of around providing constantly updated ing their talents and pastimes. Some
medical enquiries where people are rers are stranded and there is no ration. Coimbatore the punishments under the Indian Penal information from multiple sources -- sing, some talk about the books they are
dropping in to ask if they should be tested They are from Ara district of Bihar.” Just days into the social isolation Code for killing, caging, poisoning, and ministry of health and family welfare, reading, mainly motivational titles at
in the case of a cough; then there are offi- “Ten labourers stuck in Santacruz, sparked off by Covid-19, Megha Jose and maiming animals. They also regularly Indian Council of Medical Research, this time. Some talk about their cook-
cial enquiries where people ask about Mumbai. They are from Giridih in her team noticed that many of Coimba- file police cases in partnership with the state and district governments, individ- ing,” Kumar said. His team is using the
rules and restrictions in their areas; and Jharkhand. Food is a problem.” “Thir- tore’s estimated 30,000 street dogs were local animal shelter against individuals uals (verified by official sources) – about video platforms to connect them to the
third are basic enquiries about general teen people from Hardoi in UP stuck 100 leaving the streets. “They began to or housing societies breaking these laws. multiple dimensions of the virus’s resources they need. “Depending on
facts – how many infections, what are the km from Hyderabad in Kandukur.” migrate kilometers beyond their areas “The good thing is most of our volun- spread: number of infections and deaths, their need, we have them on video with
precautions, etc. As laypeople, us volun- Singh says most of the appeals for help and organised into groups – possibly to teers are young, so they are not shy to testing history, state-wise numbers, dieticians, Yoga teachers, doctors. To
teers don’t know anything, so our job is are coming from Delhi and Maharash- hunt for food. As people stopped coming speak their minds,” Jose said. quarantine capacity, drug availability, keep physically active while indoors, we
to connect doctors and officials who tra, but the problem is nationwide. “We out to feed them and shops and restau- The results are already showing. ICU beds. Mittal says aggregating data at are trying new things. Like teach them
show up in shifts on the group with those recently heard from a group of migrant rants closed, a lot of dogs were starving. “We are hearing back from some peo- that scale in India isn’t easy. “We need yoga postures they can practice while
who have queries,” he said. workers from Nagaland -- 20 of them. Street dogs are known to hover in the ple who are saying that they changed access to data top down and bottom up. standing or working in the kitchen. Or
their minds about giving up their pets. No one right now has the access to data yoga with meditation or yoga set to songs
People are also uploading photos and that people need to take decisions in the rather than structured exercises.”
videos feeding street animals and tag- correct fashion. We get a lot of requests For some of them, Kumar points out,
ging us in their posts.” for data: what is the production capacity this is the first exposure to live video. “Of
It’s not only the dogs on the streets of mask manufacturers in India, what is our 110 members in Delhi-NCR, 60 have
who are being fed but also goats, cows, the list of pan-India hospitals treating joined us on video calls so far. It hasn’t
and even horses who find themselves Covid-19 cases, what is the exact need for been easy for some of them. They get
abandoned during the lockdown. ventilators in all Covid-19 hospitals. But frustrated if the connection breaks
“Four or five days ago, the volunteer this data exists in silos. And when you go down. Some had been using 2G handsets
for PN Pudur road went to feed the dogs bottom to top, data quality control is a so far, so their families are helping them
but before they could even taste the curd- challenge.” move on to advanced smartphones,” he
rice, a goat came and ate it all. The dogs She says the CovidIndia.org team is said. Many are learning fast. “From not
didn’t mind; they were quietly watch- doing its best at making the flow of infor- using smartphones, some have pro-
ing!” mation smoother among governments gressed to leaning how to cook by watch-
In Coimbatore, said district collector (central, state, and district), companies ing YouTube videos. They like learning
Thiru K Rajamani, “the street animals and individuals while factoring in their things on YouTube -- someone is talking
have been taken care of by individuals respective concerns and interests. Their to them while teaching them something.
from day one of the lockdown. These ani- methods are complicated, but their goal Some are chatting with multiple people
mal lovers have been tracking each is simple: “We want to help Indian citi- at the same time on different screens.”
neighbourhood and making sure that no zens and Indian government.” For Surinder Mohan Sharma (69), a
dog or cat on the street goes hungry.” “Governments should work closely resident of Safdarjang Enclave, the days
with citizens,” said Captain Manivan- are now structured around these Zoom
RIDDHI MITTAL nan, the IAS officer leading Karnataka sessions. “We have a yoga session 4-5
CovidIndia.Org, Bengaluru government’s information department, days a week with an instructor from
On March 11, Riddhi Mittal, a startup on volunteer-driven initiatives such as Gurugram who teaches 15 of us. I also
entrepreneur based in Bengaluru, had CovidIndia.org. “I am delighted to see have individual video calls with the vol-
her ‘oh no’ moment with regards to the them. Those times are gone when the unteers. A quiz session is coming up
global spread of coronavirus. She had government used to handle everything later this week to keep us mentally
n Clockwise, from left: Anupriya Singh of Corona Warriors; Megha Jose of The just read the now-viral Medium article on its own. In this era of complex issues active, and we are also looking forward
Pawsome People Project and Riddhi Mittal of CovidIndia.Org. HT PHOTO ‘Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now’ and need for faster solutions, we need to to our next singing get-together.”

MOST OF US ARE SAFE AT HOME.

BECAUSE SOME HAVE CHOSEN TO STEP OUT.
Share a picture/video saluting any COVID Warrior you know.
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SATURDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0

spotlig t
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: WORLD

n Panama's Archbishop Jose Domingo Ulloa holds the Blessed Sacrament as he sits on a helicopter. AFP n A balcony adorned with a Jesus Christ image in Valencia, Spain. AFP n Pastor Klaus-Martin Pothmann stands in front of photos of believers in Hamm, Germany. AFP

A quiet Easter as deaths mount

VIRTUAL CEREMONY Pope Francis is planning to livestream his Easter message as the pandemic shows signs of peaking in Europe and US
UN chief: Crisis
offers window to
HT Correspondents & Agencies
n [email protected]
had recorded 980 deaths in 24
hours, the highest daily toll yet,
bringing total fatalities to nearly
Trump administration in addi-
tion to the overall package of $2.2
trillion cleared last month. Dem-
significant surge in infections.
In Italy, the industrial lobbies
in regions representing 45% of the
bio-terror attacks
ROME/WASHINGTON/LONDON: The 8,000. Confirmed cases in the UK ocrats wanted a matching country’s economic output urged Agencies governments was turned
global death toll from the corona- climbed to more than 65,000. amount to be set aside for health- the government to ease its two- n [email protected] towards the coronavirus pan-
virus topped 100,000 as Christians A Downing Street spokesman care workers. US lawmakers week lockdown on all non-essen- demic.
around the world marked the said Prime Minister Boris John- appealed to China to shut down tial manufacturing, saying the UNITED NATIONS: Secretary-Gen- “The weaknesses and lack of
Good Friday in front of computer son, who was moved out of inten- all its operating ‘wet markets’, country “risks definitively shut- eral Antonio Guterres warned preparedness exposed by this
screens instead of churches and sive care after being hit with the where fresh produce including ting down its own motor, and the UN Security Council on pandemic,” the UN chief said,
some countries tiptoed toward virus, “has been able to do short meat and vegetables are sold. every day that passes the risk Thursday that the coronavirus adding: “Provide a window onto
reopening s battered economies. walks, between periods of rest, as Prime Minister Justin Tru- grows not to be able to restart it.’’ pandemic is threatening interna- how a bio-terrorist attack might
Public health officials warned part of the care he is receiving to deau said Canadians should get A hasty lifting of restrictions tional peace and security — unfold - and may increase its
people against violating the social aid his recovery.” Stanley John- accustomed to the “new normal” imposed to control the Covid-19 “potentially leading to an risks.”
distancing rules over Easter. In son, the prime minister’s father, of living with restrictions even pandemic could lead to a fatal increase in social unrest and vio- “Non-state groups,” he
Italy, officials used helicopters, expressed relief that his son is out after the first wave of the pan- resurgence of the new coronavi- lence that would greatly under- warned “could gain access to vir-
drones and stepped-up police of the ICU and wanted him to rest. demic has peaked. He said social rus, the World Health Organiza- mine our ability to fight the dis- ulent strains that could pose simi-
checks to make sure people don’t In the US, the death toll surged distancing or remaining at home tion warned on Friday. ease.” lar devastation to societies
slip out over the holiday. to more than 17,900 as of Friday may be necessary over a period Malaysia’s prime minister He urged the UN’s most power- around the globe”.
Some churches held services morning, with more than 478,000 longer than the expected peak of announced a two-week extension ful body, which has been silent on The closed meeting was the
online, while others arranged cases. New York state, the worst- the infections in the country. to the country’s lockdown but Covid-19 since it started circling first by the council on the pan-
prayers at drive-in theatres. Fire- hit, had nearly half of fatalities at n Pope Francis holds a Mass on Holy Thursday at St Peter's Basilica In some of the worst-hit coun- said selected economic sectors the globe, to unite on tackling the demic and afterward it issued its
scarred Notre Dame Cathedral 7,800 — with 779 in 24 hours on at the Vatican. REUTERS tries, Italy and Spain, new infec- can reopen in phases. virus, saying its engagement will first brief press statement
came back to life briefly in locked- Thursday, a rate of 33 an hour. tions, hospitalisations and deaths China’s Wuhan city, where the be “critical to mitigate the peace expressing “support for all efforts
down Paris. Services were broad- New York City reported 5,150 York fell to their lowers on Thurs- before getting “out there prema- have been levelling off. But the pandemic began, is still testing and security implications of the of the secretary-general concern-
cast from the nearly empty, deaths, becoming the city with day since the state was put “on turely and winding back in the daily tolls remain shock- residents regularly despite relax- Covid-19 pandemic” and “would ing the potential impact of the
closed-to-the-public cathedral. highest number fatalities any- pause” by the state authorities. same situation.” New York gov- ing.Spain, after a two-week freeze ing its tough two-month lock- count for a lot at this anxious Covid-19 pandemic to conflict-af-
France on Friday reported 987 where in the world. Anthony Fauci, the epidemiol- ernor Andrew Cuomo counselled on all non-essential economic down. China has also ordered all time.” fected countries and recalled the
more deaths in hospitals and City officials are now consid- ogist in President Donald caution, citing cities and coun- activity, decided to allow facto- hotels in the capital Beijing to He cited other pressing risks to need for unity and solidarity with
nursing homes in 24 hours, but ering mass, temporary burial Trump’s coronavirus task force, tries hit by a second wave because ries and construction sites to ensure all guests provide nega- global security from the pan- all those affected.”
the number of patients in inten- sites. Such internments would cited the improvement in New they rushed to it. resume work on Monday, while tive coronavirus report. Beijing demic: terrorists seeing an oppor- Guterres, who called for a
sive care fell for the second day in likely be at Hart Island off the York to acknowledge a turn- US Senate, meantime, failed to schools, most shops and offices will require all arrivals to provide tunity to strike, groups seeing cease-fire for all global conflicts
a row. Bronx, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. around has started. But, he told pass on Thursday a request of will remain closed. a negative nucleic acid report and how a biological terrorist attack on March 23, said the crisis has
Health secretary Matt Han- Still, there were signs of hope. CNN on Friday, he would like to $250 billion more in relief for Spanish authorities said they green health code before check- might unfold, the erosion of trust “hindered international,
cock said on Friday that Britain Hospitalisation numbers in New see clearer and stronger signs small businesses sought by the trust that the move won’t cause a ing in to hotels starting Sunday. in public institutions, economic regional and national conflict
instability, political tensions resolution efforts, exactly when
from postponing elections or ref- they are needed most.”

TRUMP PUSHING V I R U S ‘ R E A C T I VAT E D ’ I N S O U T H K O R E A? erenda, uncertainty sparking

further division and turmoil in
The secretary-general reiter-
ated that the United Nations faces

TO REOPEN US BY 91 patients thought to be some countries, and Covid-19 cor-

onavirus “triggering or exacer-
bating various human rights
“its gravest test” since the organi-
sation was founded 75 years ago
from the pandemic and con-

MAY 1, EXPERTS free of virus test +ve again

challenges.”
Terrorist groups, he said, may
see a window of opportunity to
cluded saying: “This is the fight of
a generation — and the raison
d’être of (the reason for) the

ADVISE CAUTION SEOUL: South Korean officials on University Guro Hospital.

strike while the attention of most United Nations itself.”

WASHINGTON:US President Donald Friday reported 91 patients The KCDC’s Jeong raised the
Trump is reported to be pushing
for reopening the country on May
1 even as the Covid-19 rages and
thought cleared of the coronavi-
rus had tested positive again.
Jeong Eun Kyeong, director of
possibility that rather than
patients being reinfected, the
virus may have been “reacti-
VIRUS TRACKER
experts continue to press for n A man passes a graffiti on the coronavirus in Vienna. REUTERS the Korea Centres for Disease vated”. Kim also said patients had
keeping mitigation efforts in
place, fearing a resurgence.
“Hopefully, we’re going to be Austria set to be first
Control and Prevention (KCDC),
told a briefing that the virus may
have been “reactivated” rather
likely “relapsed” rather than
been reinfected.
False test results could also be
1,652,652
opening up — you could call it than the patients being rein- at fault, other experts said, or GLOBAL CASES
President Moon Jae In
in Europe to reopen
opening — very, very, very, very fected. n REUTERS remnants of the virus could still

100,371
soon, I hope,” Trump said at the South Korean health officials be in patients’ systems but not be
White House coronavirus task said it remains unclear what is The South Korean figure had infectious or of danger to the host
force’s briefing on Thursday. He behind the trend, with epidemio- risen from 51 such cases on Mon- or others.
had argued that the US had Agencies As the country, governed by logical investigations still under day. Nearly 7,000 South Koreans “There are different interpre-
reached the peak, but gave no n [email protected] right-wing Chancellor Sebastian way. The prospect of people being have been reported as recovered tations and many variables,” said GLOBAL DEATHS
timeline or schedule. Kurz, is planning to resume its reinfected with the virus is of from Covid-19, the disease caused Jung Ki-suck, professor of pulmo-
“The invisible enemy will soon VIENNA: Austria plans to let non- economic activity amid reports international concern, as many by the coronavirus. nary medicine at Hallym Univer-
be in full retreat,” he tweeted on essential shops of up to 400 that it likely had at least twice as countries are hoping that “The number will only sity Sacred Heart Hospital. WORST-HIT NATIONS (BY CASES)
Friday.The Washington Post square metres as well as all DIY many new coronavirus infec- infected populations will develop increase, 91 is just the beginning “The government needs to
reported that the president has shops and garden centres to tions than officially reported. sufficient immunity to prevent a now,” said Kim Woo Joo, profes- come up with responses for each COUNTRY CASES DEATHS
been pushing his aides to come up reopen on Tuesday, likely The SORA institute-led study resurgence of the pandemic. sor of infectious diseases at Korea of these variables”. REUTERS
with the plan to reopen by May 1, becoming the first Western found that 0.32% of those sur- 1 USA 478,366 17,927
and even earlier in some parts of country to attempt to reopen its veyed in the first week of April
the country at the end of the
social-distancing guidelines in
force till April end.
economy since the beginning of
the coronavirus pandemic.
Austria, locked down since
tested positive for the new coro-
navirus, with more than three
per 1,000 people thought to have
WHO defends pandemic handling 2 SPAIN
3 ITALY
157,053
147,577
15,970
18,849
The president has been wor- March 16, is among a small num- caught the virus.
ried by the spiking unemploy-
ment numbers and the impact of
ber of European countries that
have announced plans to ease
SORA said it was the first such
study in the EU to better under-
HTC & Agencies
n [email protected]
the WHO accusing the world
body of “missing the call” on the
cally motivated to shift blame for
the pandemic, Xinhua news
4 GERMANY 119,624 2,607
the coronavirus outbreak on the restrictions on social life, trans- stand the virus’s prevalence. outbreak and not alerting the agency reported. And WHO sent
economy and his re-election port and cross-border travel. The result means some 28,500 GENEVA/WASHINGTON: The World world in time. President Donald AFP an email, denying the char-
5 FRANCE 117,749 12,210
prospects, the Post reported. Smaller stores in the country of Austria’s close to nine million Health Organization on Friday Trump had called WHO “China- ges. The UN body said it received
Trump first planned to reopen are likely to return on Tuesday. people were likely affected, the denied having brushed off a Tai- centric”. an email on December 31 from 6 CHINA 81,907 3,336
the country by Easter, this Sun- Shopping malls, hairdressers institute said, compared to the wanese warning on human-to- The US said on Thursday it Taiwanese authorities which
day, but was forced to back off and larger stores should reopen official statistic of up to 12,200 human transmission of Covid-19 was “deeply disturbed that Tai- mentioned “press reports of cases 7 UK 70,272 8,958
after experts of his task force from May 1, though the plan coronavirus infections for that soon after the outbreak in China wan’s information was withheld of atypical pneumonia in
showed him their projections for could change if infections accel- April week. late last year. from the global health commu- Wuhan.” 8 IRAN 68,192 4,232
fatalities, up to 240,000. HTC erate. Restaurants and hotels The total of known infections The US has accused the world nity, as reflected in the WHO’s “There was no mention in this
could reopen step by step from stood at more than 13,000 on Fri- body of ignoring Taiwan’s warn- January 14, 2020 statement that mail of human-to-human trans- 9 TURKEY 47,029 1,006
mid-May, although details have day , of which 7,021 were active. ing in late December, and thus there was no indication of mission,” the WHO maintained.
yet to be announced. A total of 319 people have died. helping Beijing conceal the pan- human-to-human transmission”. “We are only aware of this sin- 10 BELGIUM 26,667 3,019
demic’s gravity. The Trump But on Friday, China’s foreign gle email which makes no men-
administration has said it is ministry said the US comments tion of transmission between (AS OF 10:30 PM IST) SOURCE: WORLDOMETER
re-evaluating its contribution to were “fact-distorting” and politi- humans”, the UN body said.

TECH TO THE RESCUE

Apple, Google team up to create contact tracing technology

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc and technology that will allow ing systems in the coming
Alphabet Inc’s Google said on mobile devices to trade infor- months so that users do not
Friday that they will work mation via Bluetooth connec- have to download any apps to
together to create contact tions to alert people when begin logging nearby phones.
tracing technology that aims they have been in close prox- The companies said the
to slow the spread of the coro- imity with someone who has technology will not track the
navirus by allowing users to tested positive for Covid-19. location or identity of users,
opt into a system that cata- The technology will first be but instead will only capture
logues other phones they available in mid-May as soft- data about when users’
have been near. ware tools available to con- phones have been near each
The two Silicon Valley tact tracing apps endorsed by other, with data being
companies make the world’s public health authorities. decrypted on the user’s phone
dominant smartphone oper- However, Apple and Goo- rather than the companies’
ating systems for iPhones and gle also plan to build the servers. GPS location data is
n Passengers fill forms to register their contact details for tracing Android devices. tracking technology directly not part of the effort, the com-
at the Murtala International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. AFP FILE They will work together on into their underlying operat- panies said. BLOOMBERG
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
SAT URDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 09
HTSPOTLIGHT CORONAVIRUS: SPORT

Why IPL may take precedence Tokyo dreams on shortpasses

GAMES IN 2021
hold for volunteers NO GUARANTEE:

over T20 World Cup for BCCI

TOKYO CEO
TOKYO: As the coronavirus
Agence France-Presse teer hoping to use her Spanish spreads in Japan, the chief
n [email protected] and Portuguese skills and relive executive of the Tokyo Games
her experience as a World Cup said on Friday he can’t
SAGAMIHARA: Japanese Olympic volunteer in 2002. “There was a guarantee the postponed
PRIORITY The Indian board needs the IPL volunteer Ami Endo has dreamed sense of fun and a swell of emo- Olympics will be staged next
year, even with a 16-month
for years of seeing the Games, but tion you could only feel on the
treasure chest more than ICC’s revenue share despite her crushing disappoint- ground,” she said. But she sympa- delay. Japanese Prime Minis-
ment over Tokyo 2020 being post- thises with the decision to delay, ter Shinzo Abe issued an
Rasesh Mandani & Abhishek Paul Even if the pandemic sub- poned, she is determined to be and said she would “definitely” emergency declaration this
n [email protected] sides in time for the ICC to hold part of next year’s edition. participate next year. week to battle the virus. “I
its mega event, it may face It’s a “once-in-a-lifetime In the town of Sagamihara, don’t think anyone would be
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The multibil- another challenge: the Board of event,” the 19-year-old university near Tokyo, local officials had able to say if it is going to be
possible to get it under
lion dollar global sports indus- Control for Cricket in India student told AFP not long after spent more than two years pre-
control by next July or not,”
try is staring at an unprece- (BCCI). the Games were postponed by a paring to host athletes from Bra- Tokyo organising committee
dented financial fallout as a The Indian cricket board does year over the coronavirus pan- zil and Canada. Even before the CEO Toshiro Muto said. The
result of the Covid-19 pandemic. not overly rely on the ICC’s rev- demic. Endo isn’t even consider- postponement, they were left Olympics were postponed last
Cricket is no exception. Players enue share, but it does depend ing joining fellow students in get- reeling when Canada announced month with a new opening
are expecting pay cuts, and on the treasure chest called the ting a summer job next year, it would no longer send athletes to set for July 23, 2021, followed
cricket boards are gearing up IPL. The league currently determined to volunteer for the any Games held this year because by the Paralympics on Aug. 24.
for tough negotiations with stands suspended till April 15, postponed Games. of the virus. “We think Canada’s
broadcasters. The England and but officials admit that it looks “I’ll gain something that national Olympics Committee BCCI clears dues of
Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is unlikely it could resume any money can’t buy,” she said. made the final decision by priori- contracted players
the first of the sport’s governing time soon. Across Japan, tens of thou- tising its athletes,” said Hisashi NEW DELHI: The BCCI has
bodies to announce a relief A BCCI official said that a res- sands of volunteers, and hun- Kikuchihara, pre-Games man- cleared the quarterly dues of
package worth 61 million cheduled IPL’s best window is dreds of villages, towns and cities ager at the city’s planning depart- all its centrally-contracted
pounds to confront what it September-October. have registered to help or host ment. “But from our standpoint, cricketers. Major cricket
called the “biggest challenge in Former England captain athletes and participants at the it was a real shame.” boards like England and
our history”. Michael Vaughan made a simi- Tokyo 2020 Games. Chizuko The Canadian decision was Australia have indicated that
The International Cricket lar suggestion on Twitter: “I Yabusaki, 63, was a child when part of a wave of pressure that players will have to take pay
Council (ICC) is betting big on would play a 5-week tourna- Japan last hosted the Games, and forced the eventual postpone- cuts. “The match fees of all
conditions easing to allow the ment Sept/Oct including all remembers watching the 1964 ment of the Games, now sched- those who played for India
T20 World Cup in Australia to players as a warm up for the T20 opening ceremony in rare colour uled to open a year later on July and India A during this period,
take place as scheduled, in Octo- WC.” television. “I remember the scene 23, 2021. But Sagamihara officials all these dues were cleared at
ber and November, to help the A leading BCCI official vividly, and the excitement when said they breathed a sigh of relief the end of the financial
year,“ a BCCI official said on
game through the crisis. echoed Vaughan’s sentiments. n BCCI stands to earn approximately ~2500 crore from the two-month Indian Premier League. GETTY IMAGES we cheered for the marathon run- when both Canada and Brazil
condition of anonymity.
In reply to a query on “Why should Indian players ners,” she told AFP. confirmed they would stick with
whether ICC is considering pay have to suffer any losses? They She became an Olympic volun- the town next year.
cuts/layoffs, the body said: “At contribute to the revenue pool.
this stage we have nothing to
say regarding finances, but you
And, the IPL isn’t cancelled,
yet.”
BCCI 2020-21 EARNINGS ESTIMATES (APPROX)
should understand that unlike If IPL 13 is cancelled, what IPL ~2,500CR
leagues, etc., we are not reliant kind of financial fallout can the INTERNATIONAL CRICKET ~950CR ‘PACKED’ STANDS
on weekly sport to sustain us; BCCI expect?
ICC events do that. Right now Analysing publicly available ICC SHARE ~380CR
we have the luxury of time with figures, the Indian board stands
6.5 months to go until our next to earn approximately ₹2500
planned major event.” crore from the two-month IPL, BCCI, and part with another term contracts with broadcast- will take precedence for India.
The Australian government, much more than its annual ICC 20% of earnings from their own ers and central sponsors getting But that would also entail tak-
however, has sealed the coun- share (₹380 crore), and the esti- sponsorship deals and gate pushed out for one additional ing a tough call on the 17 bilat-
try’s borders till September 19, mated ₹952 crore it expects to sales. year to accommodate an extra eral matches across formats
raising doubts whether it will be generate from international What happens to these deals season. For the broadcasters, that Team India is supposed to
possible to put logistics in place action at home, if all 17 bilateral if the IPL is cancelled? There is the immediate impact will be on play at home in the next twelve
for an event like a World Cup. matches are held in 2020-21. no clarity on whether any part profits, which will be pushed months.
“With regard to the venues, Here’s how the revenue adds of the board’s IPL earnings is back by a year, as they will not Between broadcast, jersey,
we have just used most of them up: the annual media rights for insured. have to incur rights acquisition title and apparel rights, the
for the women’s event (Febru- the IPL, paid by Star India, is “There’s no point in counting costs this year,” said Kamath. BCCI was set to make ₹56 crores
ary 21-March 8) and are very ₹3270 crore. The title rights held losses right now. We will have to “But if the tournament is not per match from those.
comfortable with them,” the by Vivo is for ₹440 crore per wait for the next government held, BCCI and the franchises With all countries scram-
ICC said. year, and approximately ₹200 directive before we reassess lose their respective share of bling for a window to reschedule
“Additionally, we have a crore come from the seven cen- things,” says BCCI treasurer one-year’s worth of IPL reve- their own cricket, BCCI presi-
local organising committee on tral sponsors. That makes a cen- Arun Dhumal. nues. This would in turn impact dent Sourav Ganguly’s inter-
the ground in Australia, along tral revenue pool of around Star India declined comment. the distribution chain – the state personal relations with member
with Cricket Australia, who ₹3910 crore—half of which goes Nandan Kamath, a top lawyer associations’ share, the player boards, and the ICC, will hold
manage these things on a daily directly to the BCCI, the other who deals with sports law, said fees for IPL, etc.” the key. n Defending Belarusian league champion Dynamo Brest has started boosting its ‘home crowd’ with
basis, so we do not consider this half is distributed among the that the BCCI has the most to Which is why, if sports and That’s if the virus gives mannequins and by adorning the stands with faces of ‘virtual fans’, who bought tickets online.
an issue. We are continuing to eight franchises. The franchises lose in case of a non-IPL year. cricket are at all resumed this cricket, and sports in general, a Belarus is the only European nation to still stage professional sports in front of spectators. AP
plan for the event in October.” give back 20% of this share to the “What we will see is the long year, the rescheduling of the IPL chance.

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E STA B L I S H E D I N 1 9 24
comment
§
An unworkable In the Covid-19 fight, how the Indian
testing model armed forces can assist the State
Private labs have costs. They Its human resources, communications, and
must be compensated for testing distribution networks can prove to be very useful

I
n a significant move, the Supreme Court, earlier this
week, ordered that all coronavirus disease (Covid-19) the second-order impact. Additionally, the
AKSHAT forces have a sterling reputation in the public
tests be made free. This applies to both government facili- UPADHYAY eye and this can be “weaponised” and used to
ties — which were testing for free — and private laborato- stabilise the situation, if it worsens.
The armed forces have developed several
ries, which, as per a guideline set by the government, advanced capabilities in communications,
were charging ₹4,500. The court’s order, far from making testing logistics, inventory management, surgery
and rapid insertion and deployment of modu-
accessible to all, could actually curtail the scale of India’s testing lar teams. While dealing with pandemics, the

T
he Indian armed forces have been armed forces can be used to supplement and,
and limit it by making it unviable for private labs to test.
called upon to combat terrorists, at times, complement the efforts of the civil
It is important to go back to first prin-
ciples here. Private enterprises, includ-
ourtake violent ideologies and natural dis-
asters. In rare instances, they
administration.
The Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force
have been ordered to enforce law (IAF) have significant capabilities such as
ing labs, are not charities. They invest capital in setting up infra- and order in riot situations. How- secure and robust communications, near
ever, they have not dealt with pandemics. blue-water presence and dominance and stra- n From evacuating Indians abroad to providing assistance to friendly countries, from
structure; they have working capital requirements to pay their The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) currently tegic airlift, which puts them in the driver’s creating quarantine zones to helping in case of law and order concerns, from distributing
staff, pay rent, and run operations; they charge patients and poses a threat which, affecting the entire spec- seat when it comes to out-of-area contingen- basic amenities to conducting awareness campaigns, forces can contribute PTI
trum of society and State, can be classified in cies. After the outbreak of Covid-19, the two
then hope to recover the cost — and make profits. It is true these terms of its first-and-second-order impact. major contingencies that arose were the evac- and open spaces for patients, in case hospitals what can happen if false information is
are exceptional times. And that is why, to their credit, private The first order or direct impact is on the uation of Indian nationals from affected coun- are overwhelmed. As the forces have shown, allowed to spread uncontrolled. In such a situ-
patient affected by the virus in terms of illness, tries and providing trained medical man- by creating quarantine zones and wellness ation, the forces can be pressed into action.
labs agreed to test Covid-19 patients at cost price — as deter- possible death and the risk of infecting others. power to friendly countries. The mass evacua- centres out of pre-existing accommodations, With rugged distribution networks, the
Medical services and related infrastructure tion of Indians and nationals from at least 23 they have the capability and manpower to do armed forces are adept at the distribution of
mined by the Indian Council of Medical Research. What the
are also directly impacted. The second-order countries was earlier conducted successfully so at a larger scale, and in a much shorter time basic amenities during natural calamities, as
court order has done is remove even this layer by not allowing impact is manifold and on infrastructure and during Operation Raahat in 2015 from Yemen. frame. The engineering equipment in the has been evident in the aftermath of many nat-
services such as communications, law and In the case of Iran, India flew some of its scien- Army’s inventory can be used by local forma- ural disasters in India and abroad. These
private labs to charge anything. How, then, is it possible for order, and finances. These can be managed tists from the Indian Council of Medical tions to support and augment civilian capaci- capabilities can be utilised by the government
these labs to have the testing infrastructure, retain their and controlled through various departments Research in an IAF aircraft to set up a lab to ties in respective areas. The human resources and local administration to provide basic food
of the government. The questions that then test 1,200 stranded Indians for Covid-19. On of the armed forces can also be used to rapidly and medicines to remote places as well as to
employees, and run operations? In fact, the likely outcome of the arise are the following: Should the armed for- March 13, doctors and paramedics from the convert open spaces such as stadiums and specific sections of society most affected by the
court order is that at a time when India is desperately trying to ces be deployed to deal with pandemics? If yes, armed forces were flown to the Maldives to parks into closed ones with basic facilities. lockdown. The forces can also be used to carry
what are the ways of utilising them? provide medical assistance. Both these If there is a breakdown of law and order, out awareness campaigns within the civilian
augment testing capacity, private labs will scale down their To answer this, one must understand the actions were made possible due to the bilat- there may have to be flag marches or other population, thanks to their credibility.
operations and minimise, or even stop, testing. This will not just concept of securitisation. This means that eral and multilateral exercises with friendly interventions by the forces. This is in case the The unique capabilities of the armed forces
security, as understood from a realist point of countries on humanitarian assistance and police and Central Armed Police Forces are in terms of their trained manpower, commu-
hurt public health objectives, but also weaken the already frag- view, is a social construct rather than a condi- disaster relief operations, port calls, partici- overwhelmed. The panic likely to be gener- nications and extensive distribution net-
tion. In other words, the affected political sys- pation in air shows, seminars and discussions ated due to the news about casualty figures works will complement the government’s
ile economy further, especially if private labs decide to close
tem may define what a security threat is, and in various multinational forums. With the may lead to violence, which may be intrinsi- efforts. They must be prepared for a role that
operations. it may not be what is commonly considered a severity and spread of Covid-19 increasing, cally created or inflated by external factors. will be challenging and risky. However, all
threat. The armed forces can deal with pan- the armed forces may likely see an accelerated The armed forces need to weaponise their these capacities can be brought to bear on the
The same logic applies to vaccine research; billions of dollars demics as a lead agency in countries when deployment cycle in the Indian Ocean region. perceived impartiality in cases of intra-com- condition that the forces themselves are safe
are spent on it; imagine if overzealous courts around the world they are defined as security threats, and if the The sharp increase in the number of munity violence, if any. Violence in a jail in and infection-free.
forces are equipped accordingly. However, if infected cases in almost all affected countries Bogota, Colombia, over Covid-19 rumours, Lt Col Akshat Upadhyay is a serving officer and author
decided that a vaccine should be made available for free. Who defined from the perspective of aid to civil is an indicator that India will face this situa- which resulted in 23 deaths and 83 people of Coercive Diplomacy Against Pakistan
will then defray the research cost? Which is where the State authorities, the forces are likely to deal with tion soon. There will be a clamour for wards being injured in March, is a stark reminder of The views expressed are personal

comes in. In this case, the government must step in to compen-

sate and reimburse the private labs, on an efficient basis, so that F U N D A M E N TA L R I G H T S ting drivers (many of whom owe regular EMI
they can ramp up testing without needing to worry about busi- payments for their vehicles) out of work.
ness viability issues. It is important for courts as well as govern-
ments to realise that the primary onus of dealing with the public The lockdown must not What is, therefore, required is a comprehen-
sive relief package that compensates for the
loss of livelihood during this time. In the
interests of leaving no person behind, it may
health challenge rests with the State, not private facilities,
which can, at best, play a supportive and supplementary role.
The order is also a reminder that what may appear noble at first
undermine citizen rights even be necessary to universalise this — in
the form of a universal basic income — that
reaches every individual (the cost of which
can be recouped through a progressive taxa-
glance can end up being counterproductive, even go against More measures are needed to mitigate its effect on the tion system). To be sure, India has intro-
duced a set of relief measures, but it will need
national objectives. poor. The cure must not become worse than the disease to do a lot more.
The loss of livelihood and income also
apply to all individuals, without discrimina- directly impacts the ability to pay rent, and to
GAUTAM tion — in effect, their impact on the ground is secure accommodation. Consequently, a
BHATIA differential. For the section of the population temporary freeze on evictions and demoli-
editor’spick that is willing and able to work from home
(WFH), the curfew may not be too disruptive
tions has been mooted in several countries,
and implemented in some. In India, the high
HT’s editors offer a book recommendation every Saturday, in terms of employment and livelihood. How- courts of Kerala and Allahabad recently
which provides history, context, and helps understand recent news events ever, a large part of the country is not in a passed orders to this effect; these orders
position to work remotely. Indeed, as a recent were, however, stayed by the SC, on the cen-

A STORY OF TRAGEDY AND RESILIENCE study showed, the ability to WFH is directly
Placing a disproportionate burden upon one
tral government’s assurance that it was

O
n the midnight of March 24, the linked to a person’s socio-economic class. n working on a comprehensive relief package.
Union government invoked the A nationwide curfew, therefore, dispro- set of people creates a constitutional When it is ready, it is to be hoped that these
problem that the State must address

T
he world has shut down. There is an air of stillness, National Disaster Management Act portionately affects the most vulnerable seg- HT issues will be addressed.
with people locked inside their homes, anxious (NDMA) to impose a nationwide ment of society, witnessed during the exodus There is one, final point to be considered.
about their fate and the fate of their loved ones. And “lockdown” in the struggle against the coro- of migrants from the cities. According to the tion of policy, which the State may frame at As many people have noted, a lockdown for-
humanity confronts an almost existential challenge — navirus pandemic. The lockdown entailed equality clauses of the Constitution, placing its discretion, but a question of the enforcea- ces people to remain within their homes. This
the coronavirus pandemic. the closure of establishments (apart from a disproportionate burden upon one set of ble rights of the people, which the State must directly impacts individuals — and, specifi-
This week, we recommend an iconic novel, The Plague those providing essential supplies) and rec- people creates a constitutional problem that respect. cally women — who are in abusive relation-
by Albert Camus, author and philosopher, published in ommendations on social distancing. At this the State must address. In addition, as the What might such measures look like? ships, or subject to domestic violence. It has
1947. In the French-Algerian town of Oran, the disease point, a number of state governments had Supreme Court (SC) has noted on multiple There have been a number of suggestions, a detrimental impact upon these peoples’
breaks out, first with the death of thousands of rats on the already invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, occasions, the right to life under the Consti- and indeed, measures have been put in place right to physical safety and security; conse-
streets. Warnings by the novel’s main protagonist, Ber- 1897, to impose strict restrictions on the tution is not limited to a “bare animal exis- in other countries. For example, in Britain, quently, the State is obligated to put into
nard Rieux, first go unheeded. But as people begin dying, movement of people. A combination of these tence”, but also includes the right to a digni- the government has guaranteed that all place immediate institutional mechanisms
authorities wake up, people are quarantined, travel is measures — taken by both the central and the fied livelihood. There can be little doubt that employees will be paid 80% of their regular to respond swiftly and directly to cases of
banned, and the town is sealed. state governments — amounts to what Prime an imposed curfew adversely affects the live- wages for the period that they are off work domestic violence. The measures taken by
The novel’s characters respond differently. A religious Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech, a lihoods of vast numbers of people, especially due to the coronavirus. This is an important the central and the state governments will, it
figure blames it on God’s wrath, only to fall ill himself. A “nationwide curfew”, lasting 21 days. The daily-wage workers. Indeed, the distress suf- start, but it is also crucial to note that this pol- is hoped, check and contain the spread of the
criminal profiteers from the suffering. Health workers lockdown may get extended. fered by this class has already been visible in icy has been strongly criticised for leaving pandemic. In doing so, however, vital funda-
show courage, symbolised by Rieux. Violence breaks out The imposition of a nationwide curfew reports from across the country. Conse- out the self-employed, and the precariously mental rights should not be sacrificed, and it
Book: The Plague
in pockets. Eventually, the human spirit prevails. Read- raises a set of crucial questions, involving the quently, it is the obligation of the State positioned workers in the gig economy. The should not be the case that the cure becomes
ing The Plague in these times will seem dark, but also pre- Author: Albert Camus fundamental rights of the people. The first authorities to mitigate the effects of the lock- fears of this class of workers are very real: worse than the disease.
scient about the human condition and its battle. Year: 1947 important point is that although the regula- down. For example, the ban on transport has Gautam Bhatia is a Delhi-based advocate
tions are neutrally worded — that is, they As I have argued above, this is not a ques- resulted in Uber suspending its services, put- The views expressed are personal

wideframe
Democratic, has been less or more transac- bottomless treasure trove of goodies. But its
pitstop tional; the current dispensation is avowedly
more.
significance for the relationship cannot be
overstated, as Trump himself acknowl-
Anyone who doubts that should check the edged in a thank-you tweet on Wednesday.
archives to learn of the outpouring of indig- In the short-term, can India expect to be
YASHWANT RAJ nation in 2012 when India overlooked the an early beneficiary of the vaccines that are
bids of two US companies for 126 medium either undergoing clinical trials in the US or

India was right to export multi-role combat aircraft. The Americans

had expected to win the multibillion-dollar
contract — among other things, as an
expression of gratitude from India for the
are about to? More than two dozen pharma-
ceutical companies are racing to find a vac-
cine; two of them got off the starting line just
this past Wednesday.

HCQ to US. Here’s why civil nuclear deal signed four years before,
that ended India’s nuclear isolation.
There have been constant reminders
then of India’s voting record at the United
Human trials began on one in Seattle in
mid-March, which could hit the markets
next year. Gilead Sciences’ investigational
drug, remdesivir, has been called the most

T
he Narendra Modi government did right thing to do on humanitarian grounds. Nations (UN), that does not align with US promising of antiviral treatments on the
well to lift export restrictions on cer- This is presuming India did not dip too deep interest (guess what, not so surprisingly way. India might also need ventilators and
tain drugs, especially hydroxychlo- into its own reserves. India has voted mostly in line with its own other medical supplies that are being
roquine (HCQ), the anti-malarial Equally important perhaps are the impli- interest). Americans express a sense of hurt cranked out or repurposed in American
drug that United States (US) President cations for the bilateral relationship. Ameri- that this is so despite the growing relation- manufacturing facilities.
Donald Trump has touted as a game- cans have for long been very clear that while ship and all that the US does for India at the In the longer-term, Indians will feel most
changer in the fight against the coronavirus they may seem, and have been, genuinely UN, especially to block or fend off the Chi- reassured by the president’s promise that
disease. Even though the drug’s efficacy supportive and generous with India, they nese on a range of issues, including shaming their gesture of goodwill at this time of grave
against the deadly pathogen remains scien- don’t expect to see the relationship run like it last year and getting it to agree to designate crisis for the US “will not be forgotten”.
tifically unproven, if it helps save lives, as a charity. There is an expectation of returns, Masood Azhar a terrorist.
Trump and some of his advisers have con- pay back — reciprocity, as Trump likes to Just as the HCQ decision does not take n [email protected]
tended, letting US orders go through is the put it. No administration, Republican or care of all past favours, it will not unlock a The views expressed are personal n After a gruelling lockdown, Wuhan, China lifted restrictions on outbound travel on April 8. As
emotions ran high, medical staff and nurses were seen hugging each other at the airport AFP

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SAT URDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 11
POWERED BY

shortstories facetoface
ZEE INVESTS
₹522 CRORE IN
SUGARBOX
Govt plans strategic VIKRAM KIRLOSKAR, president, Confederation of Indian Industry

‘Must prioritise labour intensive sectors’

NEW DELHI: Media and entertain-
ment company Zee Entertain-
ment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) said it
has invested ₹522 crore in Margo
Networks Pvt Ltd (SugarBox), a
restart with experts NEW DELHI:Indian industry
expects a prolonged recovery
period after the national lock-
down is eased and is hoping
(GDP) over and above the allo-
cation of ₹1.7 trillion. This is a
prudent level that would pre-
vent flight of capital and safe-
place. We need to reassure
workers that their safety and
health will be of paramount
concern through a strong
tech startup it bought three years
ago. SugarBox helps users access
ACTION PLAN Kick-start agriculture first, suggest analysts for government support, espe-
cially to small and medium
guard the macroeconomic
fundamentals.
messaging exercise. Next, we
must ensure safe travel
Internet services in areas of bad or enterprises, to help mitigate means. We have suggested
no network, ZEEL said. Users at Rajeev Jayaswal the pain, Vikram Kirloskar, What should be the govern­ that a QR code can be used by
key places of interest (PoIs) can n [email protected] president, Confederation of ment’s exit strategy from the local authorities to permit
access its servers over a local wi-fi Indian Industry told Goutam lockdown? workers to travel to their
network. PoIs include public NEWDELHI: The government is dis- Das during an interview. banks. This could be in the From an industry perspec- workplaces... The second is
transport, public places, rural cussing a calibrated reopening of Edited excerpts: form of extra credit limits for tive, we will abide by the deci- the smooth movement of
areas, hotels, co-living spaces and
the economy with industry asso- wage payments and interest sions of the government as far goods across the supply chain.
malls where a large mass of users
access a host of digital services.
ciations and experts who have What sort of stimulus will India obligations of stressed sec- as exit timing and strategy is
Zee currently holds a 80% stake in said a prolonged nationwide lock- need to emerge out of the cov­ tors. Also, additional loans concerned. The key ask is that What is the industry’s ask from
SugarBox. Using the SugarBox down could lead to shortfall of id­19 crisis? are required to enable MSMEs the strategy be communicated the government in terms of eas­
platform, a user will be able to essential goods, and that it would We believe the stimulus has to and stressed sectors to over- well in advance to industry to ing the pain?
stream and download videos, not be easy to stop the economic be twofold. One would be to come the loss of business. enable restart plans. It is per- The government has proact-
listen to music, play games, learn engine altogether during the bat- assist and support the affected Expansion of working capital haps important that labour ively been consulting with the
on-the-go, pay bills and access tle against covid-19 pandemic. population through relief and loan to all enterprises would intensive sectors such as man- industry on a continuous
other online services without a Prime Minister Narendra cash transfers. This can be an greatly help address present ufacturing and construction basis on the modalities of exit,
mobile data connections. This Modi has already indicated it will additional ₹2 trillion given challenges... the government be given priority... and this process will lead to an
investment has been made to not be possible to remove the directly to the beneficiaries. could consider a fund of orderly exit. However, we are
exploit strong synergies of the lockdown completely.Many The second would be to sup- ₹30,000 crore for banks, which What are the supply­chain con­ in a situation where we can
technology developed by Sugar- states have also recommended port enterprises, especially would enable a leverage of straints the manufacturing expect a protracted recovery
Box with the current businesses extending the lockdown, and Odi- MSMEs (micro, small and five-six times. industry will face after the lock­ period. The government
of the company with a potential sha and Punjab, for that matter, medium enterprises), to avert We have recommended down? should consider conserving
to significantly augment digital have already extended it. The mass-scale closure of busi- that the government limit its The manufacturing industry its firepower to last it over a
content consumption, ZEE said in government is expected to take a nesses and loss of jobs. We fiscal spending to contain the restart will depend critically length of time, even while pro-
a statement.
call on this after PM Modi’s con- have suggested that this sup- crisis at an additional 2% of on two things. The first is the viding succour to the most
versation with chief ministers on port can be extended through the gross domestic product return of workers to the work- needy sections of society.
AMAZON WORKER Saturday. A spokesperson in the
TESTS POSITIVE Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
declined to comment. n Industry bodies say the post-lockdown strategy should aim at
POST BEZOS VISIT
WASHINGTON: An Amazon.com
Inc. warehouse visited this week
“A very long period of shut-
down can lead to other problems,
including social unrest. Keeping
bringing about a fine balance that normalises economic and social
activity and contains the disease from spreading. BLOOMBERG Opec+ deal to cut ADB assures $2.2 bn to support
by chief executive officer Jeff
Bezos confirmed its first em-
ployee coronavirus case, accord-
this in mind, the Prime Minister
has recently urged states and the
gests giving first preference to
agriculture and procurement as
spreading and getting out of con-
trol,” it said. production fails to India’s war against Covid-19
ing to a message sent to workers
on Thursday. The employee who
Centre to formulate a common
exit strategy to ensure staggered
re-emergence of the population
50% of the population is depend-
ent on agriculture and allied
activities followed by “some
“CII has called for all sanita-
tion and hygiene, shift intervals
and social distancing measures to
cheer crude mkt assistance, policy-based loans
tested positive for covid-19 was
once lockdown ends,” State Bank relaxation” in inland transport be instituted on a self-certifica- Utpal Bhaskar Asit Ranjan Mishra and budget support to facilitate
last at the site on Monday,
of India’s (SBI) research publica- and retail trade (as it is supports tion basis by enterprises to start n [email protected] n [email protected] swift disbursement of ADB
according to the update Amazon
sent. “Consistent with our daily tion, Ecowrap, said in its latest over 250 million households). operations. At all times it is funds.”
processes, the site has undergone edition. Next, it has proposed a limited important to look at smooth NEWDELHI: Global oil prices on Fri- NEW DELHI: The Asian Develop- Asakawa appreciated the
enhanced cleanings since the A calibrated strategy can help duration opening of hotel and res- movement of goods and related day remained depressed, despite ment Bank (ADB) on Friday Indian government’s decisive
associate’s last day,” said the in rapid economic recovery when taurant services, including home men and material,” CII’s director the Organization of the Petro- assured India of a $2.2-billion response to the pandemic,
message, which was reviewed by the lockdown ends, it said. “The delivery, because they are big general, Chandrajit Banerjee, leum Exporting Countries-plus aid to fight the covid-19 pan- including a national health
Bloomberg. Amazon declined to good thing is that banks have wit- employers. The other crucial said. Associated Chambers of (Opec+), including Russia, agree- demic, following a telephonic emergency programme, tax and
comment. Bezos made a surprise nessed good traction in credit activity is construction, which Commerce and Industry of India ing to slash production by 10 mil- conversation between ADB other relief measures provided
visit Wednesday to the ware- (term and working capital can be allowed to start activities (ASSOCHAM) secretary general, lion barrels per day (mbpd) under president Masatsugu Asakawa to businesses.
house, called FTW6, which is just requirements) in the last 7-days in districts that have no cases or Deepak Sood, favoured a gradual US pressure. and finance minister Nirmala It also lauded the ₹1.7 trillion
north of Dallas Fort Worth of the year ending March 31, 2020. limited cases of covid-19, the pub- exit from lockdown in select With this, the organisation Sitharaman on Thursday even- economic relief package
International Airport. It’s among It seems companies/corporates lication said. areas, with well laid out protocols along with large producers ended ing. announced on March 26 to pro-
more than 100 similar sites around are preparing themselves for a Industry executives said both for the safety of the workforce. the game of flooding the markets Last week, the World Bank vide immediate income and con-
the US where employees are surge in demand after the lock- the PMO and the finance ministry “Without compromising on the amid Covid-19, which has taken a had approved a $1-billion assist- sumption support to the poor,
toiling to meet a surge in online down period. As per our estimate, are working on a strategy based safety of our people, the well- major toll on demand. Any pro- ance to help India prevent, women, and workers affected by
orders from customers sheltering the incremental credit offtake on their inputs. managed lifting of the lockdown duction cut assumes significance detect and respond to the out- n ADB president Masatsugu the lockdown.
at home. Bezos walked through
would have been ₹210000 crore in The Federation of Indian would at least partially restore because the daily global demand break, and strengthen its public Asakawa said they will On Thursday, the Centre
the facility wearing a face mask,
March of which the estimates for Chambers of Commerce and the near $3 trillion economy to its of around 101 mbpd is expected to health preparedness. consider all financing options announced a ₹15,000 crore pack-
waving to workers and flashing
thumbs up. He also visited a agriculture, industry, services, Industry (Ficci) has told the gov- shape,” he said. come down by 10 mbpd in March- “ADB is committed to sup- to meet India’s needs. age to help states with their cov-
Whole Foods location, and and personal loans are ₹10000 ernment that a country like India For the export sector it is a April. However, this could not porting India’s emergency id-19 emergency response and
Amazon posted video of his tours crore, ₹120000 crore, ₹60000 crore, cannot afford a prolonged lock- matter of survival, said Sharad cheer the global markets. While needs. We are now preparing prises, and the financial sector,” health system preparedness.
on Twitter. The FTW6 warehouse and ₹20000 crore, respectively. down that lasts for months. “The Kumar Saraf, president of the oil prices rallied on Thursday $2.2 billion in immediate assist- Asakawa said. Last week, ADB had slashed
has been cleaned multiple times Clearly, the tide seemed to have exit strategy, thus, should aim Federation of Indian Export after the cut, they traded at low ance to the health sector and to “ADB assistance will be fur- its growth outlook for India
since the news came out. turned as far as bank credit is towards bringing about a fine bal- Organisations (FIEO). He said the levels on Friday. Brent traded at help alleviate the economic ther increased if needed. We will from 6.5% to 4% for 2020-21, cit-
concerned in March.” ance that on one hand normalises industry is staring at job loss of $31.48 while the West Texas Inter- impact of the pandemic on the consider all financing options ing weak global environment
COMPILED FROM STAFF
AND AGENCIES
The research paper proposed a economic and social activity and about 15 million due to half the mediate was at $22.76 per barrel at poor, informal workers, micro, available with us to meet India’s and continued efforts to contain
staggered exit strategy. It sug- yet contains the disease from export orders being cancelled. the time of filing this story. small and medium-sized enter- needs, including emergency the covid-19 outbreak.

HTSPOTLIGHT CORONAVIRUS
FA R M C O O P E R AT I V E I N I T I AT I V E
10 quarantine camps to come up at Corbett ODISHA

Fresh produce right at UTTARAKHAND

25-year-old cycles
1k km from Maha
consumers’ doorstep Ankur Sharma
n [email protected]

HALDWANI: The Uttarakhand for-

to reach home in
TAMIL NADU
est department will set up 10
quarantine facilities at its rescue
centres in Corbett Tiger Reserve
Odisha in a week
(CTR) to house tigers or other ani- Debabrata Mohanty
TR Vivek mals that contract the coronavi- n [email protected]
n [email protected] rus disease in the reserve known
to have one of the highest concen- BHUBANESWAR: A 25-year-old
BENGALURU: Even as the count of tration of the tigers in the world. migrant worker returned home
Covid-19 cases in the Tamil Nadu The move is prompted by news in Odisha this week after cycling
surged to 911, an initiative started that a tiger at the Bronx zoo tested over 1,000 km for seven days
by the state barely four months positive for Covid-19, although it from Maharashtra after the fac-
ago has played an important part is reported that the big cat was tory where he worked was closed
in ensuring that the supply of veg- infected by its keeper -- not a prob- when the 21-day national lock-
etables to cities such as Chennai lem for animals in the wild. Cor- down to check the spread of the
and Coimbatore, continues with- bett Tiger Reserve has around 260 coronavirus pandemic was
out a hitch during the national tigers , according to forest offi- announced last month.
lockdown. cials. Still, there are many villa- The lockdown triggered an
With large parts of these cities ges and towns in the Corbett land- n The quarantine facilities will house tigers or other animals that contract the disease. HT PHOTO exodus of tens of thousands of
designated as containment zones scape, where people have con- migrant workers left jobless.
and movement, almost prohib- tracted Covid-19 or are suspected here. If symptoms of coronavirus and sniffer dog handlers will be field staff, 32 elephant handlers Many of them returned from big
ited, a well-oiled supply chain of patients, said CTR senior veteri- infection are found in tigers or done to ensure they are not and eight dog handlers are stay- cities to their homes on foot. The
food and essentials that reaches nary doctor Dr Dushyant any wild animals, they will be infected with coronavirus infec- ing within the reserve. “We are Centre has directed all states and
people’s doorsteps becomes even n Vendors unload turmeric at Koyambedu vegetable market. PTI FILE Sharma. quarantined immediately.” . tion and create the possibility of ensuring minimum movement in Union territories to use their
more critical. “The risk of infection among Sharma said thermal, CCTV the virus jumping from humans and out of the park”, he said. State Disaster Response Fund to
Four months ago, Tamil Nadu Management Scheme was used to on account of the lockdown, tigers or elephants or any other and camera traps are being used to wild animals,”he said. AK Nayak, member of NTCA provide temporary accommoda-
handed over a large part of the set up warehouses and cold stor- Ahimsa manages door delivery of wildlife that lives in the Corbett to monitor the wildlife . “We have received PPE (Per- said the body wasn’t aware quar- tion, food, clothing and medical
management of fruit and vegeta- age units for the primary process- nearly 30 tonnes of vegetables to landscape is a possibility. As a “According to NTCA ( sonal Protective Equipment) for antine centres were being set up. care to migrant labourers left
ble supply chain to farmer pro- ing centres in 10 horticulture- people in Chennai. The five kilo precautionary measure, we have National Tiger Conversation medical staff and essential things “We had asked states to watch for jobless because of the lockdown.
ducer companies (FPCs). FPCs heavy districts like Krishnagiri, Ahimsa packs cost ~250—and is decided to convert our 10 rescue Authority) guidelines, regular for wildlife treatment,” he said. Covid-19 symptoms in tigers, but On April 7, Jena arrived in
are for-profit cooperatives that Theni, Dharmapuri and Nilgiris good to last a family of four for a centres into quarantine centres checkups of forest staff, elephant CTR officials said the forest haven’t hard from states yet.” Odisha’s Jajpur, where he was
can be formed with 10 or more that were identified. Though week. stopped at a check post installed
farmers as shareholders. Their farmers’ cooperatives are not Vincent could take it up to 100 to stop outsiders from entering
activities can range from produc-
tion and procurement to market-
ing, even export. Such coopera-
new in the state, it was the first-of-
its-kind model where such coop-
eratives were allowed to run the
tonnes with credit and funding
from the government. On April 7,
the government announced a
Early curbs, screening help state stay clear the district. “With a rucksack on
his back, he was cycling. After
lockdown was announced, the
tives now run nearly 10 primary PPC , cutting out the middleman. loan of ~10 lakh to all FPCs to factory in Maharashtra where
processing centres (PPCs) in hor- “By allowing farmers to run allow them to procure vegetables. SIKKIM SIKKIM CM PREM SINGH is no fund crunch. have been deployed to keep vigil he worked as a daily labourer
ticultural regions like Krishna- the chain of distribution—from The state has temporarily “For the sake of the safety of on tracks, rivulets and forest was closed leaving him and sev-
giri and Dharmapuri. processing to sales—not only scrapped the fee farmers pay to Pramod Giri TAMANG SAID THE STATE the people we did not look at eco- paths adjoining Darjeeling and eral others in great misery. He
According to Gagandeep Singh
Bedi, the agricultural secretary
would they get a fair price, this
would also ensure the availabil-
use services like cold storages.
“At a time when consumers
n [email protected]
HAS ENOUGH RICE TO nomic losses and took early and
hard decisions, which includes
Kalimpong hills in Bengal.
Sudhakar Rao, special director
managed to get a rickety bicycle
from a local and started cycling
of Tamil Nadu and the agricul- ity of fresh vegetables without tend to hoard food, the shortage of SILIGURI: Strict screening of travel- FEED PEOPLE FOR THREE sealing the borders and banning general of police, Sikkim, said home in Odisha,” said police
ture production commissioner, frequent price shock,” says Bedi. essentials can create chaos. lers since January and banning MONTHS AND THERE IS entry of international and domes- that all loop roads in the hills are inspector Ashish Kumar Sahu.
nearly 5-10 % of Chennai’s vegeta- The ten PPCs, warehouses and Tamil Nadu’s response has been the entry of foreigners and resi- tic tourists,” Tamang told HT. guarded round the clock and not Jena was screened as per pro-
ble supplies are being door-deliv- cold chains started functioning in proactive,” says the southern dents of other states since the first NO FUND CRUNCH Most of the essential commodi- a single person is being allowed to tocol at the district headquarters
ered thanks to the public private January 2020. region sales head of one of India’s week of March has helped the ties are sent from Siliguri in West cross the border. hospital and found without any
partnership initiative with these The move has paid off, said biggest consumer product firms small Himalayan state of Sikkim, the lockdown. In January, Sik- Bengal. Vehicles carrying essen- M K Sharma, state health min- symptoms of Covid-19. He was
FPCs. The state’s horticulture Vimal Arockiaraj Vincent who who did not wish to be identified. which shares its borders with kim began to screen travellers at tial goods have been given special ister, said, “More than 500 people then sent to a government quar-
department has also started an runs Ahimsa Organics, an FPC For parts of the state where the China to the north, Nepal to the Rangpo and Melli, the two main permission to ply between Sik- returned from other states and antine centre set up at a high
online e-commerce platform that manages the PPC in Krishna- FPC’s produce hasn’t reached as east, Bhutan to the west, and entry points into the state. kim and Siliguri. The govern- they are in quarantine. The state school in the district, where he
which has resulted in up to 1,000 giri. Vincent, a 41-year-old aero- yet, the state has been supplying West Bengal to the south, remain Jacob Khaling, political secre- ment has also been getting its government has made arrange- would be kept for 14 days. As no
door deliveries a day — including nautical engineer chucked his job vegetables using its own supply clear of Covid-19 till date. tary to the chief minister, said, pulses and edible oil from Kanpur ments for isolation in govern- phone is allowed inside the quar-
packages made by the FPCs — in with an aerospace firm in Canada networks. Close to 4000 mobile As of Thursday, its interna- “From January 28, we started in Uttar Pradesh. ment hospitals equipped with antine centre, he could not be
Chennai alone, Bedi said. to try his hand at a farm enter- vegetable trucks operate in Chen- tional neighbours had 1,116, 9 and sanitization programmes at Melli Wire fences have been put up ventilators.” contacted.
It was an agriculture policy prise in Kancheepuram district nai , and the aim is to add 500 more 5 active cases respectively, while and Rangpo borders and started along some parts of the border In addition to ~50 crore allotted “The tyre of his cycle punc-
reform initiated by Bedi in 2018 in 2010. Ahimsa Organics has a each day of the lockdown, Bedi West Bengal has reported 113 keeping records of all travellers.” that are unmanned and wild, as part of the State Disaster Man- tured and he had to walk till he
that helped kick-start the farm- network of 12,000 vegetable farm- said. Several municipalities in cases till date. The landlocked state, Sikkim along shallow rivers and streams agement Fund, ~175 crore has got it repaired. As he had little
to-fork linkage. Once the tenders ers who cultivate close to 60,000 smaller towns are also door deliv- Sikkim banned the entry of chief minister Prem Singh Tam- from where people can cross into been sanctioned from the North money, he would eat little at dha-
were put out, the ~400 crore ear- acres. Despite operating with ering 3 kg packs of assorted vege- people from other states in the ang said, has enough rice to feed the state. East Council to tackle Covid 19 bas. His mobile phone too conked
marked under this Supply Chain only a third of its usual employees tables for ~100. first week of March well before people for three months and there More than 2,000 policemen cases in the state. off during his travel,” said Sahu.
12 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
SATURDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0

spotlig t
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: NATION

US demands transparency Village in Bihar’s

Siwan declared HOW THE WORLD CHANGED
Overall cases, recoveries, deaths and active cases
hot spot after
in data at UNSC Covid meet 19 fresh cases Half of the 100,000 deaths took place in the last week alone
1200000

1000000
Active cases Recovered Deaths
1,145,920
120000

100000
OUTBREAK After Washington’s swipe, Beijing hits back, highlights ‘racial discrimination’ Ruchir Kumar
n [email protected]
95,455

Yashwant Raj tions deliberately should be 800000 80000

n [email protected] abandoned.” PATNA: The Bihar government
While the origin of the epi- Friday imposed a hard lockdown 600000 60000
WASHINGTON:The US has called for demic in China’s Wuhan city last in a village after it emerged as a
“complete transparency” in December is well documented, its Covid-19 hot spot in Siwan dis-
reporting of Coronavirus data at spread around the world has been trict that accounts for 29 of the 400000 353,975 40000
the UN Security Council’s first due to a combination of factors, state’s total 60 cases. As many as 2,24,403
meeting on the pandemic, an with the lack of urgency and 19 cases in the district have been 2,458
200000 17 22,886 14,651 20000
unmistakable reference to China response of various nations play- reported since Thursday.
28 53,228
which it didn’t name but has pre- ing a key role. Other factors too A hard lockdown in contain- 510
viously accused of concealing the came into play, such as how soon ment zones mandates people to 0
97,899 0
extent of the outbreak. countries initiated mitigation stay indoors and leads to closure Jan 22 Feb 22 Mar 22 Apr 09
2020 2020 2020 2020
China hit back, pushing the measures, and when they closed of all businesses, including gro-
need to oppose “stigmatisation” their borders or shut down travel cery stores and banks otherwise
of the crisis and “racial discrimi- from affected areas. exempted from curbs as essen- India vs Others: Comparing severity on Day 39
nation” in a clear reference to The Trump administration tial services. Critical services India completed its 39th day on Friday. A look at where others were at this stage and how it changed
Washington’s efforts to pin the has been criticised at home for such as food and medicine are Day 39 April 9
epidemic on Beijing, calling it the responding late and inade- home-delivered to people in con-
“Chinese virus” or “Wuhan quately, despite the president’s tainment zones United States 68 461,437
virus”, which is said to have A woman wears a face mask as she and others walk along State claims to the contrary. “Within the 3-km contain- Spain 1,695
n
153,222
fuelled a spate of hate crimes Street in Chicago, Illinois, on March 23. AFP It has been seen to be trying to ment zone of Panjwar village,
9,172
against Asian Americans. deflect responsibility by pinning barricades have been set up at a Italy 143,626
The UN Security Council was calling for “intensified interna- ence-based data collection and the pandemic on China and, distance of 200 m, 500 m, 1 km, 2 France 191 118,781
largely missing in action as the tional cooperation”. analysis of the origins, character- lately, the World Health Organi- km and 3 km to ensure that peo-
Coronavirus spread across the The UN’s top decision-making istics, and spread of the virus” is zation (WHO), accusing it of aid- ple stay indoors,” said health Germany 482 118,181
world as China, which held the body remains divided on its man- the most effective way to tackle ing Beijing hide the extent of the secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh.
China 79,356
body’s rotating presidency for date and role in dealing with the the pandemic. outbreak. “We are doing active surveil- 82,883
March, didn’t allow a debate or a pandemic that has killed more Calling for the world commu- President Donald Trump has lance and also undertaking an Iran 35,408
66,220
meeting. China argued the pan- than 97,000 people worldwide and nity to “act with solidarity” been re-evaluating the US’ contri- intensive disinfection drive by
UK 322 65,872
demic was outside the Security infected more than 1.6 million. against the pandemic, the Chi- bution to WHO, which is the high- spraying sodium hypochlorite in
Council’s mandate and it was The US and China, two of the five nese ambassador to the UN, Chen est of all at more than $450 mil- the affected village,” Singh Belgium 559 24,983
backed by Russia and South permanent members of the Secu- Xu, focussed on the Trump lion. added. 19,606
Africa. rity Council, have been hit the administration. “All parties Trump began calling the virus Bihar chief secretary Deepak Switzerland 24,051
The Security Council finally hardest. should jointly oppose stigmatisa- the “Chinese virus” and secre- Kumar on Friday directed top 6,725
India 6,725
met on Thursday via video con- “The US reiterates today the tion and politicisation of public tary of state Mike Pompeo named officials to camp in Siwan to
ference at the request of nine of need for complete transparency health issue,” he said. it the “Wuhan virus”. Trump has enforce the complete lockdown
the 10 non-permanent members and the timely sharing of public “The virus is common enemy since stopped after he was widely in Panjwar. District authorities Spike in job losses
of the body, but failed to consider health data and information for all mankind, which respects criticised for fanning racial back- have also deployed drones for Data shows unemployment in India rose from around 8% to 23% in a week after lockdown
two resolutions it was expected to within the international commu- no borders and hurts all ethnic lash against Asian Americans, surveillance in Panjwar and 30
take up. nity,” said Kelly Craft, the US groups. Instigating racial dis- who have been subjected to ver- pressed National Disaster Unemployment rate (in %)
The UN General Assembly ambassador to the UN. crimination and xenophobia, and bal abuse and whose businesses Response Forc personnel into 25
23.81
passed a resolution last week, She added that “accurate, sci- creating divisions and confronta- have faced boycott calls. service .
Two people tested positive on 20 23.38
Friday belonged to the same fam-
coronadiary ily of the village, where a 33-year-
15

old had returned from Oman on 8.25 8.79 8.1 8.11

10 7.51 6.56 7.42 6.74
March 21, said Bihar’s principal
GOPINATHAN WHATSAPP HELPLINE ENOUGH HCQ TO STATES TOLD TO NOT secretary (health) Sanjay 5 7.62 7.67 8.52 7.42 7.71 8.41
6.44 7.03 6.6
DECLINES GOVT FOR DOMESTIC MEET DOMESTIC GIVE PASSES FOR Kumar. The super-spreader 0
ORDER TO RETURN ABUSE COMPLAINTS REQUIREMENT: GOVT ASHES IMMERSION tested positive on April 3 and is Dec 01 Dec 08 Dec 15 Dec 22 Dec 29 Jan 05 Jan 12 Jan 19 Jan 26 Feb 02 Feb 09 Feb 16 Feb 23 Mar 01 Mar 08 Mar 15 Mar 22 Mar 29 Apr 05
believed to have infected six 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020
THIRUVANANTHPURAM: Former NEW DELHI: Faced with rising cases of NEW DELHI : Amid a debate on HARIDWAR: Despite lockdown and immediate family members,
Indian Administrative Service (IAS) domestic abuse and with most of its whether India’s decision to lift sealing of interstate borders, many
besides 21 of his extended family
officer Kannan Gopinathan who quit offices under lockdown, the National restrictions on the export of the anti people from neighbouring states are
and two co-travellers, said heath Skies fall silent
the service eight months ago protest- Commission for Women on Friday malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine trying to reach Haridwar for ash Analysis by FlightRadar 24 shows total number of flights tracked was down 21.6% from 2019.
ing the “growing intolerance and launched an emergency WhatsApp (HCQ) was correct, the government immersion rituals of their deceased officials.
120000
curtailment of freedom of speech” number for women in distress. The has reiterated that there is enough family member, relative or loved Number of flights
We are undertaking
has been asked to join his duty
immediately in the wake of Covid
pandemic but he said he has no plan
to rejoin the government service.
“Received a letter from the Govt,
asking me to rejoin my duty. While I
number—7217735372—will be availa-
ble for women facing domestic abuse
round the clock for messages only,
and will operate till the lockdown is
over. In addition to that, NCW said
that complaints can be registered on
email and on its website, too.
stock to meet domestic requirements.
Luv Agarwal, joint secretary,ministry
of health, said, “We have even buffer
stock in place so there is absolutely no
question of the shortage of this drug.
The norms to export the drug were
ones.On a daily basis nearly 20 to 40
such cases are coming into light at
border posts even as there is total
prohibition on ash immersion rituals
at ghats in Haridwar.
District magistrate C Ravi Shankar has
› an intensive
disinfection drive by
spraying sodium
100000

80000

60000

40000
101,804

extend all my services in health, relaxed after a thorough examination now written to chief secretary that
wealth and mind to the Govt in this The women’s agency has recorded a of situation by a high-level empow- authorities concerned in states such hypochlorite in the 20000
31,700
fight against Covid-19 pandemic, it 50% jump in cases of gender-based ered committee.” Agarwal added as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi,
will be as a free and responsible violence after the lockdown began, it India’s projected requirement was Haryana should be communicated not affected village in Siwan. 0
citizen and not anymore as an IAS said. Domestic-abuse complaints rose about 10 million tablets, and it already to issue passes and permission letters LOKESH KUMAR SINGH, Jan 11 Feb 01 Mar 01 Apr 01 Apr 09
2020 2020 2020 2020 2020
officer,” he tweeted. from 116 between March 2-8 to 257 had about 38.2 million tablets availa- to their residents for ash immersion health secretary, Bihar
RAMESH BABU between March 23 - April 1. HTC ble in stock. HTC rituals. SANDEEP RAWAT

Punjab State e-Governance Society

O/o Directorate of Governance Reforms, Punjab
With 400,000 kits,
Plot No.-D 241, Ind. Area, Phase-8B, Sector-74 Mohali
E-mail ID: [email protected]
Applications are invited for the positions of Four (4) Technology
TN to ramp up testing
Experts. Eligible candidates may apply by May 01, 2020. For Sowmiya Ashok had said last week, “Once the test
details, visit www.dgrpunjab.gov.in n [email protected] kits arrive, we will be testing the
Note: Any corrigendum(s) to the recruitment notice shall be family members of those who are
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has tested already tested positive for Cov-
published on the above website.
8,410 samples for Covid-19 as of id-19. After that, tests will be per-
937-D Member Secretary Friday, of which over 10% of cases formed on those who have come
have tested positive. While in contact with these people.
nearly half or 4,167 of those tested Then people living in the areas
are people who attended the around the spot will be subjected
Tablighi Jamaat congregation in to testing. That is why we have
New Delhi in March, and their procured 4 lakh rapid test kits.”
contacts, the government is now The chief secretary also told
looking to expand testing. reporters Friday that not one case
BUSINESS OFFER The first step towards large-
scale testing was to procure
of severe acute respiratory infec-
tion (SARI) tested over the last 24
400,000 rapid test kits. An official hours showed a positive result.
at the Tamil Nadu Medical Servi- “We are going to increase test-
ces Corporation (TNMSC)said ing centres to all government
the state has also procured medical colleges and are encour-
100,000 more real-time PCR kits. aging private labs with accredita-
“Our priority is to stop the tion to apply to be testing facili-
spread of any new cases outside ties,” director of public health K.
containment zones or quaran- Kolandaisamy said. Tamil Nadu
tined areas,” chief secretary K. has 220 containment zones. There
Shanmugam said on Friday. are 19 testing facilities – 12 gov-
Chief minister E. Palaniswami ernment, 7 private -- at this stage.

W C D M I N I S T R Y I N I T I AT I V E

Online sessions for

E-Tender No.03
2019-2020
Divisional Sports Package Committee, Aurangabad
PUNJAB ICT EDUCATION SOCIETY
Vidya Bhawan, PSEB Building, E Block, 5th floor, Phase-8, SAS Nagar
Phone No. 0172-5218801-16
childcare workers
Email ID: [email protected] Amrita Madhukalya experts from UNICEF, NIM-
Appointment of Divisional Sports Complex Committee, Aurangabad Architect
[email protected] HANS (National Institute of Men-
(Request For Proposal)
n
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
tal Health and Neurosciences),
Inviting e-tender (online). (Second) advertising Due to Pandemic of Covid-19, all Govt. schools of Punjab State are NEWDELHI:From young women in ChildLine, among others where
SR. Name of Work Estimated cost Gesture Completion Tender closed. Keeping in view to provide quality education to the students a slum in Himachal Pradesh’ s care workers are instructed on
No. (2% at Rs. amount period (months) Setting studying in Govt. schools and students should not deprived off their
Hamirpur not receiving sanitary how to look after women and chil-
7.08/- crore) (rupees) Price studies due to closure of all schools in this adversity, Punjab Information
and Communication Education Society (PICTES) intends to hire pads amid the l lockdown to runa- dren during the unfolding coro-
(Rupees) way children in a Moga childcare navirus pandemic.
services and seeking Expression of Interest from the reputed companies
1
NAME OF WORK: THE PLANNING DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION 70800000/- 10000/- 12 Month 3360/- for broadcasting of videos/lectures in the form of educational content institute(CCI) not wanting to go Speaking to over 825 officials
INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATION OF 9 X 10 LANES 400 Mtr. prepared by Department of School Education, Govt. of Punjab through home, women and child develop- during a session, Irani asked the
SYNTHETIC ATHLETIC TRACK AND ASSOCIATED WORKS AS DTH (Free to Air services). The time duration of telecasting of lectures ment minister Smriti Irani had to Hamirpur NGO worker to get in
PER IAAF STANDARD will be of 10 Hrs per day. take queries on all kinds of prob- touch with the district officials.
The company should fulfill the following criteria: lems during a live orientation ses- Irani, who has attended two such
Terms and Conditions:
sion for childcare workers earlier sessions till now, also asked
1. Period of sale of tender from 11/04/2020 to 25/04/2020 at 5:00 pm • The company should have proven track record in handling projects
of similar nature. this week. frontline workers to download
2. Tender Opening Date 27/04/2020 3.00 PM Tender will be opened at District Sports Officer's Office, Aurangabad.
3. The above work can be downloaded and uploaded on the schedule given on the website of the district tender • Sufficient knowledge and experience in Required Field. Following Supreme Court the Aarogya Setu app, and told
https://mahatender.gov.in. orders which listed out steps that them that protective gear will be
Submission
4. All the details regarding the terms and conditions of the tender are mentioned in the tender set. The tender set is available child welfare committees , juve- provided to those delivering
Interested companies may submit the EOI alongwith cost estimate nile justice boards among others ration.
for viewing online. The Department Sports complex Committee, Aurangabad reserves the right to accept or reject the tender. in next 3 days. The detailed information and terms & conditions are
5. The tenders will be required to submit all the documents (scanned copies of the original documents) demanded in the tender must take to ensure the safety of The rising sing cases of vio-
available at www.ssapunjab.org. For any further query, you may
context. Otherwise the online tender will not be opened. It should be noted. please contact Sh. Amritpal Singh, Studio Engineer at his mobile No. children in the wake of the Cov- lence against women, children
6. AS PER ABOVE PART SIMILAR TYPE OF WORK HAS TO DONE BY THE CONSATLANT IN SPORTS DEPARTMENT. 98555-22216 id-19 pandemic, the ministry were discussed in the sessions
Member Secretary started these live sessions on and emergency helpline Child-
Sd/- April 3.So far, most of the sessions Line highlighted that it saw a 50%
Punjab Information & Communication
District Sports Officer And the Secretary, 938-D Technology Education, Society have been hosted by the WCD jump in distress calls, with many
DGIPR / 2020-2021/ROC 04. Divisional Sports Complex Committee, Aurangabad ministry officials with the help of children asking for food.
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
SAT URDAY, A PRIL 1 1 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 13
NEWS

Army targets terror launch pads Uddhav to be MLC

for 2 months if
SC, high courts
RETALIATORY ACTION Indian Army accuses Pakistani troopers of
India hits at Pak for Maha governor hear interesting
unprovoked ceasefire violation in Kupwara’s Keran sector across LoC nominates him cases amid curbs
Mir Ehsan and Rahul Singh
n [email protected] conditional pledge Faisal Malik
n [email protected]
Murali Krishnan to print media from lockdown
SRINAGAR/NEWDELHI: The army on Rezaul H Laskar tation of their Saarc Covid-19 MUMBAI: The Covid-19 outbreak n [email protected] restrictions be withdrawn.
Friday targeted Pakistani posi- n [email protected] Emergency Response Fund has created troubles for the chief The court said restricting or
tions across the Line of Control commitments.” minister Uddhav Thackeray’s NEWDELHI: Interesting cases have prohibiting the publication of
(LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s NEW DELHI: India on Friday He added, “Where India is election to the state legislature. come up for hearing in high newspapers will be violative of
Keran sector with artillery guns responded to Pakistan’s condi- concerned, the commitment While the state cabinet has courts and the Supreme Court the right to free speech and inde-
and caused severe damage to tional decision to pledge $3 mil- made by the prime minister is passed a resolution asking gover- since the lockdown was imposed pendence of media. “More
posts, terror launch pads and an lion to the Saarc Covid-19 Emer- today in an advanced stage of nor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to on March 25 to check the spread research is needed to establish
ammunition dump in Pakistan gency Fund by saying each implementation. Assistance in nominate Thackeray from his of the coronavirus (Covid-19) that the virus could spread easily
Occupied Kashmir, said two offi- member of the grouping is free material and services has been quota to the Legislative Council, pandemic. Here are some of through newspapers. When such
cials familiar with the details of to decide the manner and imple- extended to Afghanistan, Bang- the CM will get only about two them: is a position based on these pre-
the operation. mentation of its commitment. ladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, months’ tenure to Upper House ‘Animals have the right to liminary researches and in the
The assault was launched in Pakistan had on Thursday Nepal and Sri Lanka.” as the term of the two vacant seats life’: Kerala resident N Prakash absence of sufficient data, the
response to an unprovoked cease- made a contribution to the The other members of Saarc from the quota ends on June 6. moved the high court via video prayer sought for by the peti-
fire violation by the Pakistani n BSF patrol near the international border at Hiranagar, Jammu. PTI FILE South Asian Association for have also “made early commit- Notably, elections to the Coun- conferencing on April 4 seeking tioner cannot be granted.”
army days after five commandos Regional Cooperation’s (Saarc) ments to the Fund” and the cil have been postponed due to the permission to travel for purchas- Centre on government-ap-
belonging to an elite army Special in a huge ball of fire. violations this month (as of April Covid-19 Emergency Fund on “degree of seriousness of each coronavirus pandemic. ing food for his cats. He submit- proved news on Covid-19: The
Forces (SF) unit were killed in As reported by HT on April 8, 6). Figures show that the Pakistan the condition that the facility be nation can be gauged by their Thackeray, who took over the ted that as a vegetarian, he does Supreme Court on March 31
action along the LoC, the de facto there has been an unusual spike army violated the ceasefire 685 administered by the Saarc sec- behaviour”, Srivastava said. reins of the state on November 28, not cook meat at home and his rejected a plea of the Centre for a
border, in the same sector on Sun- in ceasefire violations by the Pak- times in 2019 and 627 times in 2018 retariat. According to New Delhi, is not a member of either Legisla- three cats were being fed special direction to the print, electronic
day during an intense close-quar- istan army along the LoC this from January to March. The J&K It was the last of Saarc’s eight India’s engagements with Saarc tive Council or Legislative biscuits. Prakash said police and social media against pub-
ters battle with an equal number year to help infiltrators sneak police said Pakistan violated the members to contribute to the members on Covid-19 related Assembly, and has six months to rejected his request for an online lishing anything on Covid-19
of terrorist infiltrators who were into Jammu & Kashmir com- ceasefire in Uri sector of Baram- fund, which was created with an matters are stand-alone events, get elected to either of the House. pass to travel to a pet hospital to without first ascertaining facts
all eliminated. pared to border violations in the ulla district as well. initial corpus of $10 million from whereas Pakistan has sought to The CM’s six-month period ends procure the biscuits. through a mechanism of the cen-
The army had received intelli- previous years. The Pakistani Last month, a house was dam- India following a video confer- bring all issues under the Saarc on May 28, and if he is not nomi- HC heard Prakash via video tral government. The direction
gence inputs on Friday about army has carried out more cease- aged when Indian and Pakistani ence of leaders of the grouping secretariat in a bid to block nated or elected during this time, conferencing April 6 and allowed was sought in response to two
another infiltration attempt in fire violations during January- troops exchanged fire along the on March 15. Indian initiatives. not just him but the entire cabinet his plea noting that animals also petitions filed in the court high-
the same sector, said one of the March this year compared to the LoC in the Uri sector. Pakistan also proposed that On Wednesday, Pakistan would have to resign. have the right to life as laid down lighting the plight of migrant
officials cited above. Terrorists corresponding periods of the pre- The Pakistani troopers the contribution be used in skipped a video conference of “Uddhav Thackeray will not in a 2014 Supreme Court judg- workers, who were forced to
often sneak into Jammu & Kash- vious two years. attacked Indian posts with small accordance with the Saarc senior trade officials of Saarc, get full term of six years. He will ment. It referred to Constitu- return from big cities to their
mir under cover fire from the Pakistan violated the ceasefire arms and mortar shells along the Charter. saying it chose not to participate be able to get only remainder tion’s article 51 A (g), which says homes on foot after the lockdown
Pakistani army. 1,144 times between January and LoC in Poonch district through Responding to Pakistan’s since the Saarc secretariat term as an MLC and term of that it shall be the duty of every citi- was announced. “Any deliberate
The Indian army released a March, with the highest number this week. position, external affairs minis- wasn’t involved in organising it. particular seat is ending on June zen to protect forests, lakes, riv- or unintended fake or inaccurate
48-second video clip showing of violations (411) being recorded Last week, six security person- try spokesperson Anurag Sriv- Saarc groups Afghanistan, 6. He will have to be re-nominated ers and wildlife, and to have com- reporting either in electronic,
heavy artillery blasting some last month when Covid-19 cases nel were injured in Sunderbani- astava said: “It is for each Saarc Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the by the Governor to continue to passion for living creatures. print, or social media and partic-
positions, including an ammuni- started peaking globally. Nowshera sector when Pakistan member state to decide on the Maldives, Nepall, Pakistan and work as the CM,” said a senior ‘Let the curse of corona fall ularly web portals has a serious
tion dump that is seen exploding It has carried out 53 ceasefire violated ceasefire. timing, manner and implemen- Sri Lanka. official from the state legislature. upon you’: The Calcutta high and inevitable potential of caus-
Given the uncertainty due to court on March 23 initiated con- ing panic amongst large sections
the outbreak, the question is tempt proceedings against law- of the society,” the Centre said it

New environmental public hearing policy soon what will happen after June 6
when Thackeray’s term as a
potential MLC ends. If the gover-
nor re-nominates him to the
yer Bijoy Adhikari after he
cursed Justice Dipankar Dutta
that “may the coronavirus infec-
tion befall” on him after the lat-
in its affidavit.
‘Lockdown impossible
without the declaration of
emergency’: The Centre for
Jayashree Nandi control board officials are Board has, for instance, sched- Public hearings related to notify these public hearings.” Upper House, all may be well. ter’s refusal to hear his case. Systemic Accountability and
n [email protected] present during the hearings and uled a public hearing for the infrastructural projects are Separately, meetings of EAC But, there could be a legal tangle In his order, Dutta said Adhik- Change, an NGO, moved the
are supposed to record people’s expansion of a refinery and petro- pending across the country. Dub- on mining were held on March 25 over whether a person can be ary on March 23 interfered when Supreme Court on March 31
NEW DELHI: The Union environ- comments. These comments are chemical complex at Vadinagar na-Sakridihi iron ore and manga- and 26 and that of the National reappointed as a minister with- the court was dictating a ruling arguing the lockdown has effec-
ment ministry is revising its pub- also considered by the ministry’s on May 1. The residents said they nese mines in Odisha had started Board for Wildlife (NBWL) on out being elected to any House. and “thumped the addressing tively led to the suspension of
lic hearings policy and is likely to expert appraisal committee to may be unable to participate in mining without any prior envi- April 7 during the lockdown and A Supreme Court judgment table and then banged the micro- fundamental rights and the same
release it by next week keeping in clear or reject a project. the hearing amid the lockdown. ronmental clearance. When the decisions on significant infra- issued on August 17, 2001 has phone on it.” It said Adhikary can be done only through the
mind the social distancing CK Mishra, the ministry secre- Virendrasinh Vadher, a local ministry’s Expert Appraisal structure projects were taken. termed such re-appointment of a was warned to behave but imposition of emergency and not
required in view of the Covid-19 tary, said they were working out farmer leader, said he has written Committee (EAC) heard this vio- The NBWL’s meeting was minister in Punjab government instead of heeding to such warn- under the Disaster Management
pandemic that has prompted a the policy for the pending public to the board about their concerns. lation case in January last year, it chaired by Union environment without getting elected as ing, he was heard to say that “my Act as was done by the central
21-day lockdown in the country, a hearings. “...during the lockdown “In this situation, it is not possible recommended a public hearing, minister, Prakash Javadekar, via “improper and undemocratic”. future shall be doomed by him government.
top official said. period public hearings should be for most persons concerned to which remains pending. video conferencing and wildlife “Tej Prakash Singh had and for such purpose, he cursed The NGO sought imposition
Public hearings are consulta- avoided unless very urgent. A know that the public hearing has Kanchi Kohli, a legal clearances for projects in 11 resigned from the position as a I be infected by the coronavirus”. of financial emergency under
tions with local people who are case-by-case approach will be been announced because distri- researcher with the think tank, states were approved. minister on March 8, 1996 but was No ban on newspapers: The Constitution’s article 360 argu-
either displaced or affected by taken. The district administra- bution of newspapers is affected.’’ Centre for Policy Research, said The EAC on March 25 recom- reappointed without getting Madras high court on Thursday ing it was essential to tackle the
any infrastructure project. The tions have also been informed “People concerned have no way public hearings ought to have mended public hearings on sev- elected to the legislative assem- dismissed a plea seeking a ban on threat of coronavirus and to
local people can object to the about not holding public hear- to connect with their communi- been conducted for many more eral projects. Kohli said there is a bly as a minister on November 23, newspapers. The plea claimed ensure recovery of the economy
project or voice specific concerns ings during lockdown. For later, ties and discuss issues.” projects. “We do not know how the visible one-sidedness in how 1996, which was challenged in the coronavirus can spread through after the lockdown is lifted. The
at these hearings. Company rep- we are deciding on a strategy.” He has not received a response many in total because respective the environment ministry is pre- court of law,” said a law depart- contact with newspaper and court adjourned matter when it
resentatives and state pollution The Gujarat Pollution Control to his letter dated April 6. state pollution control boards senting itself during lockdown. ment official. prayed that the exemption given came up for hearing on April 1.

TENDER NOTICE
SR. NAME OF NAME OF WORK NOTICE TENDER OPENING DATE AMOUNT/EMD WEBSITE OF THE NODAL OFFICER/
No. BOARD/CORP./AUTH CLOSING DATE (APPROX.) IN BOARD CORP./AUTH CONTACT DETAILS/EMAIL
(TIME) RUPEES
1 DHBVN, HISAR ENGAGEMENT OF FIRMS FOR CARRYING OUT THE 06.04.2020 24 LACS www.dhbvn.org.in [email protected]
RECONCILIATION OF COLLECTION & DRAWING 28.04.2020

CHARITY SHOULDN’T BE 2 CAD DIVISION,

ACCOUNTS NIT NO. 1FA/HQ 2020-21 DATED 06.04.20
LINING//EXTENSION OF WATERCOURSES (20 NOS.) CLOSING DATE Detail of amount in the https://etenders.hry.nic.in 01664-244273/

A PEER PRESSURE: 3
BHIWANI
MUNICIPAL TOTAL 62 NO. OF DEVELOPMENT WORKS TO BE
27.04.2020
10.04.2020
NIT published online
866.63 LACS https://etenders.hry.nic.in
[email protected]
0171-2443747

TAAPSEE PANNU
CORPORATION EXECUTED IN THE JURISDICTION OF MUNICIPAL 01.05.2020
AMBALA CITY CORPORATION, AMBALA CITY
4 CAD DIVISION 17 NOS. LINING OF WATER COURSES CLOSING DATE AS DETAILED IN NIT https://etenders.hry.nic.in 01251-257076
Check out today’s HT City JHAJJAR 28.04.2020 PUBLISHED ONLINE
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in
[email protected]
80604

P.W.Department G.R.No.CAT2017/Pra.Kra.8/Building-2 Dt.12.04.2017 Sr. Name of Work Estimated Earnest Cost of Class of
Government Of Maharashtra, Office of The Executive Engineer, No. Cost put to Money E Tender Contractor
Public Works Division, Allapalli- 442703 tender (lakh) Form
E Tender Notice No. 01/2020-21 (RCPLWEA, Batch-I, 2019-20) DIST. GADCHIROLI
26 MH-1057 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH-12/985 ON 295.72 1,50,000/- 2,240/- Non Registered
Online E Tenders of Percentage Rate in B-1 Form for the following work are invited by the Executive Engineer, Public Works Division
Allapalli (Tel: 07133-266402, Email: [email protected]) On behalf of Public Works Department of Government of KASANSOOR GHOTSUR BHUMKAM TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
Maharashtra Contractor registered In appropriate class of public works Department. And above 1.50 crore non register contractors. DIST. GADCHIROLI
Right to reject any or all Tenders for the following work is reserved by the competant Athority Conditional tender should not be accepted. 27 MH-1054 MH-1057 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 3/980 61.42 62,000/- 1,120/- Registered
Sr. Name of Work Estimated Earnest Cost of Class of ON KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
No. Cost put to Money E Tender Contractor DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4A & above
tender (lakh) Form 28 MH-1054 MH-1057 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH-13/615 138.73 1,39,000/- 1,120/- Registered
ON KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
Public Works Division Allapalli DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above
1 MH-1044 KANDHOLI PERMILI YERAMNAR KOLSEPALLI 3253.88 16,27,000/- 3,360/- Registered 29 MH-1054 MH-1057 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH-15/130 163.72 1,50,000/- 1,120/- Non Registered
PALEKASE DAMRANCHA ROAD TAL. AHERI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor ON KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
2 MH-1045 KOREPALLI KAWATHARAM KAPWANCHA NAINER 1246.07 6,23,000/- 3,360/- Registered DIST. GADCHTROLI
MADHUMADGU ROAD TAL. AHERI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor 30 MH-1058 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 26/090 ON 133.45 1,33,000/- 1,120/- Registered
3 MH-1048 BHAMRAGAD HEMALKASA KARAMPALLI KIAR HALWER 4001.16 20,00,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
SURJAGAD ROAD TAL. BHAMRAGAD DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above
4 MH-1055 JIJAWANDI ERAPNAR TO STATE ROAD TAL. ETAPALLI 286.47 1,50,000/- 2,240/- Non Registered 31 MH-1058 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 29/050 ON 141.79 1,42,000/- 1,120/- Registered
DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
5 MG-1053 TODSA TO SURJAGAD ROAD TAL. ETAPALLI 509.24 2,55,000/- 3,360/- Registered DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above
DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor 32 MH-1056 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 2/100 ON 691.38 3,46,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered
6 MH-1059 GATTA GARDEWADA WANGETURI MENDHARI TO 3526.45 17,63,000/- 3,360/- Registered KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
STATE BORDER ROAD TAL. ETAPALLI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor DIST. GADCHIROLI
7 MH-1057 KASANSOOR GHOTESUR BHUMKAM ROAD 1614.57 8,07,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered 33 MH-1056 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 7/300 ON 319.20 1,60,000/- 2,240/- Non Registered
TAL. ETAPALLI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
8 MH-1054 KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA ROAD 2833.89 14,17,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered DIST. GADCHIROLI
TAL. ETAPALLI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor 34 MH-1056 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 12/770 ON 144.21 1,44,000/- 1,120/- Registered
9 MH-1058 PARSALGONDI REKNAR ZAREWADA GATTA ROAD 1036.61 5,18,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
TAL. ETAPALLI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above
10 MH-1056 GARANJI VENGNUR SURGAON KASANSOOR MOHURLI 2443.98 12,22,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered 35 MH-1056 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 13/185 ON 120.48 1,20,000/- 1,120/- Registered
HETARKASA JAWELI ROAD TAL. ETAPALLI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
11 MH-1060 KOTHI TUMARKOSI TODGATTA GUNDRAUR ROAD 1078.10 5,39,000/- 3,360/- Registered DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above
TAL. ETAPLLI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor 36 MH-1056 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 16/820 ON 74.52 75,000/- 1,120/- Registered
Class-4 & above KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
12 MH-1044 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 26/780 ON 83.95 84,000/- 1,120/- Registered DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 A
KANDOLI DAMRANCHA ROAD TAL. AHERI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor & above
Class-4 & above 37 MH-1056 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 18/074 ON 126.21 1,26,000/- 1,120/- Registered
13 MH-1044 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 22/080 ON 94.01 95,000/- 1,120/- Non Registered KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
KANDOLI DAMRANCHA ROAD TAL. AHERI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above
14 MH-1048 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 62/80 ON 390.49 1,96,000/- 2,240/- Non Registered 38 MH-1056 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 20/945 ON 154.59 1,50,000/- 1,120/- Non Registered
BOTANFUNDI TO HALWER ROAD TAL. BHAMRAGAD Contractor KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
DIST. GADCHIROLI DIST. GADCHIROLI
15 MH-1048 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 25/960 ON 109.75 1,09,000/- 1,120/- Registered 39 MH-1056 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 5/580 ON 152.74 1,50,000/- 1,120/- Non Registered
BOTANFUNDI TO HALWER ROADTAL. BHAMRAGAD Contractor KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above DIST. GADCHIROL
16 MH-1055 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 0/350 ON JIJAWANDI 175.34 1,50,000/- 1,120/- Non Registered 40 MH-1056 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH-9/840 ON 99.64 1,00,000/- 1,120/- Registered
ERAPNAR TO STATE ROAD TAL. ETAPALLI DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor KASAMPALLI UDERA TUMARGUNDA TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
17 MH-1059 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH-3/560 ON GATTA 314.72 1,57,000/- 2,240/- Non Registered DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above
GARDEWADA VANGETURI MENDHARI TAL ETAPALLI Contractor Public Works Division No. 2 Gadchiroli
DIST. GADCHIROLI
18 MH-1059 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 11/170 ON GATTA 87.61 88,000/- 1,120/- Registered 41 MH-1051 MURUMGAON TO REGEGAON GUREKASA TO 1064.91 5,32,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered
GARDEWADA VANGETURI MENDHARI TAL ETAPALLI Contractor KATEZARI ROAD TAL DHANORA DIST GADCHIROLI Contractor
DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above 42 MH-1049 DHANORA CHAVHELA MUNGNER PENDHARI ROAD 3188.70 15,94,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered
19 MH-1059 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 11/415 ON GATTA 60.28 61,000/- 1,120/- Registered TAL DHANORA DIST GADCHIROLI Contractor
GARDEWADA VANGETURI MENDHARI TAL ETAPALLI Contractor 43 MH-1049 MALEWADA DEVSUR ROAD K.M. 0/00 TO 25/500 2425.43 12,13,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered
DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4A & above TAL. DHANORA DIST GADCHIROLI Contractor
20 MH-1059 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 23/565 ON GATTA 121.41 1,21,000/- 1,120/- Registered 44 MH-1052 MURMADI GILGAON SODE DHANORA KANHARTOLA 428.07 2,41,000/- 2,240/- Non Registered
GARDEWADA VANGETURI MENDHARI TAL ETAPALLI Contractor TODE PORVEL ROAD TAL. DHANORA DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor
DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above 45 MH-1049 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH-19/200 ON 179.51 1,50,000/- 1,120/- Non Registered
21 MH-1059 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 29/175 ON 74.57 75,000/- 1,120/- Registered MALEWADA DEVSUR TAL. DHANORA DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor
GATTA GARDEWADA VANGETURI MENDHARI TAL ETAPALLI Contractor 46 MH-1052 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH-38/555 ON 262.20 1,50,000/- 2,240/- Non Registered
DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4A & above MALEWADA DEVSUR TAL. DHANORA DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor
22 MH-1059 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 32/565 ON GATTA 83.88 84,000/- 1,120/- Registered Executive Engineer, Special Project Division, Sironcha
GARDEWADA VANGETURI MENDHARI TAL ETAPALLI Contractor 47 MH-1046 ROMPALLI SIRKONDA MAL ZINGANUR KOPELA ROAD 1246.07 6,24,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered
DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above TAL. SIRONCHA DIST. GADCHIROLI Contractor
23 MH-1057 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 2/320 ON 100.63 1,06,000/- 1,120/- Registered
KASANSOOR GHOTSUR BHUMKAM TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor Further Information of Above E-Tender available at following link
DIST. GADCHIROLI Class-4 & above 1. http//mahapwd.com 2. www.pmgsytendersmah.gov.in
(Any Change in related Tender Notice will be mentiond at above web site)
24 MH-1057 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 5/010 ON 82.30 83,000/- 1,120/- Non Registered
3. Notice Bord at Office of Executive Engineer Public Works Division Allapalli
KASANSOOR GHOTSUR BHUMKAM TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor
4. Notice Bord at Office of Executive Engineer Public Works Division No. 1/2, Gadchiroli / Special Project Division, Sironcha
DIST. GADCHIROLI Sd/-
25 MH-1057 CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE IN CH- 8/220 ON 612.60 3,06,000/- 3,360/- Non Registered Executive Engineer
KASANSOOR GHOTSUR BHUMKAM TAL. ETAPALLI Contractor DGIPR/2020-2021/ROC 07 Public Works Division, Allapalli
14 hindustantimes HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
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HELP CREATE WHAT IS Mayank Austen Soofi EXPERIENCE YOUR CITY LIKE NEVER BEFORE
thinking this just doesn’t feel CALLED COGNITIVE EASE
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true; there have been other pan- Stay connected: It’s impor-
demics. Use your screens to tant in times of unease or anxiety
spend time with family and to tap into your sense of belong-
friends; set up play dates or chat ing in ways that are positive and
sessions. But log out of the min- n Is the anxiety getting to you? Limit the time you spend worrying and productive. Being connected
ute-by-minute reactions and scrolling through social media feeds. Make healthy meals and time reminds you that there are other
over-reactions from those not with loved ones the focus of your day. Spend less time alone. ISTOCK people invested in your well-be-
qualified to be projecting. ing, and that you are not alone in
Pay close attention to what is healthy meals and exercise focal can interpret as threats or oppor- this situation.
causing you to feel anxious or points in your day; as also qual- tunities. Scrolling, for instance, “My hunch is that teenagers
distressed, the World Health ity time with loved ones spent in addition to the nature of the will find ways to connect with
Organization has advised, and talking about anything but the content itself, creates cognitive one another online that are dif-
log out or move on when you pandemic. Incorporate at least a dissonance by exposing you to a ferent from how they’ve been
encounter such opinions. Seek few breathing exercises and a lit- constant stream of new stimuli, doing it before. But it’s not going
information only from trusted tle meditation too. putting your brain on high alert to be a good idea to have unfet-
sources, a fixed number of times Routine itself is important — which is why it’s harder to go tered access either. That may
a day, and then move on to work, because it reassures the human to sleep right after you’ve read amplify your anxiety,” adoles-
family, taking care of loved ones. brain, which is programmed to through Twitter for a bit. cent psychologist Dr Lisa Dam-
Build a routine: Your usual view regular patterns in its envi- Play your favourite music: our told UNICEF while spelling
work schedule can’t ground you. ronment as a sort of all-clear; There is a reason your favourite out strategies for teens facing a

Self-isolating, in exile
Stepping out feels stranger than and irregular or erratic patterns music is so calming. The regular new normal. So aim for balance, middle child, so I could be spared.”
staying indoors, with streets as a prompt to keep scanning the rhythms of your favourite take it one day at a time, and take He keeps up with the contemporary life in his
empty and shops closed. So make horizon for more stimuli that it sounds create what is called cog- care of yourself and others. homeland through literature. “I read a lot of
modern Tibetan fiction... about people in

YOUR DAILY WORKOUT READ

A Tibetan at home, and very far from home too the small towns of Tibet and their daily
struggles.”
Try these stretch exercises to improve strength and mobility in your wrist and fingers. Once There Was A City Named There is nobody else in his Lajpat Nagar Tibetan government in exile. He was smug- Mr Jigme now moves about his phone,
Dilli by Intizar Husain: Forts, pad. The young man is alone in this gled across the international border with a showing the nooks and corners of his cosy
Wrist stretch: Stretch out one Finger extensions: Stretch your Claw stretch: Hold both hands
walled cities, bazaars, durbars and prolonged lockdown following the group of 40 kids. apartment. Books lie stacked against statues
arm, palm outward, fingers arm out, fingers extended and palm out, palms
the Yamuna come alive in this ode coronavirus pandemic. of Buddha. A thick mattress on the floor
pointing to the floor. Use your facing the floor. Use your other hand facing you. PRIVATE “The journey took two months,” Mr Jigme
to the capital city serenaded by serves as his bed. A table is placed beside a
other hand to pull those fingers to gently pull your thumb back- Bend CAPITAL Actually, he is totally alone in the recalls. Though time has passed, he clearly
kings and chieftains. A narrative of long window covered in white curtains—the
towards you gently, till you feel a wards till you feel a stretch. Hold for fingers till the city you world, in a manner of speaking. recalls the hardships. “We would walk at
stretch. Hold position for 3 to 5 25 seconds. Now push your thumb each tip Delhi’s past by never see scene looks serene.
one of the Kalsang Jigme laughs at the sugges- night and sleep during the day in secluded
seconds. Repeat 3 times, then forwards, towards your palm. Hold touches the places… beside the rivers, inside the caves, “And that’s my country’s flag!”
switch to the other side. for 25 seconds. Repeat on all fingers. base of its subcontinent’s tion. He is talking on WhatsApp — the
leading Urdu photos are taken on the phone screen that under the blue sky.” Many a times, he would These days Mr Jigme is learning to write the
finger. Hold cry on thinking of his parents—he would miss
writers, in a connects him to this reporter. Urdu Inquilab in Urdu script. “I came across it
for 30 to them more when hungry. It was true of other
translation by on YouTube. Inquilab denotes a struggle for
60 seconds “But I have John Berger with me,” he says,
Ghazala Jamil and kids, too. “Then the brokers who would be in freedom, and the conditions in my country
and release. showing his half-read copy of the said
Faiz Ullah. charge of us would hush us up saying that the are like India before 1947...”
Repeat author’s Understanding a Photograph. Chinese soldiers would hear us!”
four times. Mr Jigme, 29, is a freelance photographer, He goes on to talk of his inspirations, who
The trip ended in Dharamshala, the seat of include icons of India’s freedom struggle
WATCH in fact. And he’s also a documentary film-
the exiled Tibetan government. Mr Jigme such as Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar
Note: Build intensity and number of repetitions gradually. Stop all stretches if there is pain. maker.
Relatively Relatable: The new later finished his schooling in a Tibetan Azad.
stand-up special by Naveen Just before the lockdown began, his three institution in Mussoorie. Later, he graduated
A QUICK-FIX RECIPE roomies—all Tibetans like him—went to their Smiling radiantly throughout the course of
Method: Grind the Richard is out on Amazon Prime. from a Bengaluru college and learnt photog-
chilli and garlic int families in the hill town of Mussoorie. this chat, Mr Jigme appears to have an
coarse paste. Heat oa Don’t miss the raphy at an institute in Delhi.
Mexican Fried Rice oil in a broad, non-s optimistic temperament. He is hopeful that
pan and sautee on tic many ways in
Ingredients: 3 cups ions on medium fla k Mr Jigme doesn’t have the luxury to return to “I have never met my parents or my siblings the pandemic shall end sooner than later. And
for 2 minutes. Add me which lizards his family in this period of crisis. “My folks are
cooked rice; 2 tbsp oil; ½ chilli-garlic paste, since the time I left Lhasa,” he replies calmly. then he’ll be back doing what he loves
tomatoes and capsic seem in Lhasa,” he says, chuckling, referring to the
cup onion (cut into um; sautee on mediu Not even a single phone call has been ex- most—“walking around the lanes of (Delhi’s
flame for 3 minutes m open-hearted, the Tibetan capital.
. Ad changed between them. “Because the Tibetan refugee enclave) Majnu ka Tila with
strips); ½ cup tomatoes and 1 tbsp water. Mi d mixed vegetables while
(finely chopped); ½ cup x well and cook on He left his family when he was just six. Mr Chinese government eavesdrops on phone my camera.”
medium flame for cockroaches
2 mi calls and that might put them in trouble.”
capsicum (thinly sliced); occasionally. Add rice nutes, stirring are clearly Jigme explains that his parents realised that And obviously he will also meet his parents.
1 cup mixed vegetables (beans, corn etc), boiled; 5 dried and salt to taste. Mi education opportunities for Tibetans were far
well and cook on a x the drug Nevertheless, Mr Jigme believes that his “One day, yes, I’m sure,” he says, looking
me
Kashmiri red chillies; 4-5 cloves garlic; salt to taste minutes, stirring occ dium flame for 3 lords of the more superior in India where their spiritual parents sent him to India “for the sake of my pleased. Perhaps visualising that distant
asionally. Serve ho leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, already ran the
RECIPE & PHOTO COURTESY TARLADALAL.COM t. insect world. better future and also because I was the prospect in his heart’s eye.

frompageone 2 wanted criminals htsudoku

100,000 deaths Sars-Cov-2 , the pathogen that may see the staggered re-emer- imported Covid-19 test kits, Fill in all the squares in
headed for the worst recession
causes Covid-19. According to an
analysis in the journal Nature
gence of certain more segments of
people, as indicated by PM Modi
which cost ~700-800, its own kits
will be priced ~350-400 (the final arrested in Delhi the grid so that each
row, column and each of
since the Great Depression of
1930s, and the UN labour organi-
sation said 195 million full-time
Reviews Drug Discovery, five
vaccine candidates are in phase 1
clinical trials and 73 in explora-
in his last video conference with
the chief ministers.
A review meeting was also
prices have not been fixed).
The health ministry has
already authorised HLL Lifecare
after encounter the 9x9 squares
contains all the digits
from 1 to 9.
jobs could be lost in the second tory or preclinical stages. A vac- held by the Prime Minister’s as the nodal procurement agency HT Correspondent
quarter alone. The rate of unem- cine, the analysis says, is likely to Office during the day on various for all medical requirements to n [email protected] DIFFICULTY
DIFFICULTY LEVE LEVEL
ployment in India shot up from be ready in early 2021 – the earli- efforts to check the coronavirus fight Covid -19. It has been
8.41% to 23.81% in the week when est estimate available at present. spread, including the production entrusted with procurement of NEWDELHI: In the first exchange of
the country was forced into a At the same time, however, of PPEs, the absence of which has N95 surgical masks with respira- gunfire between the police and
near-complete shutdown, there are many aspects of the emerged as a key obstacle in tory valves, personal protective wanted criminals in the national
according to estimates by Centre pathogen that are still to be securing health workers who are garments, nitrile gloves, goggles, capital since the nationwide SUDOKU>>SCAN THIS
for Monitoring Indian Economy. known. South Korean officials in direct contact with patients. hand-held infrared thermome- lockdown came into force, two SUDOKU UNIT FOR
Scientists and researchers say said on Friday that they had Meanwhile, despite the Punjab ters and hand sanitisers . men were arrested on Thursday THE SOLUTION AND
the way forward for the world launched an epidemiological CM’s statement on possible com- Since there is mounting night from outer Delhi’s Narela. MANY MORE PUZZLES
will require new, focussed steps investigation after 91 patients munity transmission, and the demand for these products across The two arrested men have
to enforce social distancing that thought cleared of the new coro- fact that data from an Indian the country, HLL floated an open been identified as Pankaj Dabas,
are more sophisticated than pop- navirus had tested positive again. Council of Medical Research tender and shortlisted some of 25, and Ajeet, 30. They were
ulation-wide lockdowns. “It is Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of (ICMR) study said that samples of manufacturers who will now involved in a dozen crimes ran-
important that we start to think of the Korea Centers for Disease about 2% of the Severe Acute Res- supply these, said a company offi- ging from murder to robbery,
exiting lockdowns as combina- Control and Prevention (KCDC), piratory Infections (Sari) cases cial who asked not to be named. said A Koan, deputy commis-
tion of policies. People will need said the virus may have been lifted from within the community The company is also manufactur- sioner of police (outer district).
to be allowed greater social flexi- “reactivated” rather than the had tested positive for Covid-19, ing some protective equipment The duo was booked in a mur-
bility and there will need to be patients being re-infected. the health ministry reiterated in-house. der case in February when they
innovative solutions, such as con- Other Korean experts said that there was no community “We have also entered into an allegedly gunned down a nurse
tact tracing through mobile patients had likely “relapsed” transmission. agreement with Sree Chithira in outer Delhi’s Mundka at the
apps,” said Steven Riley, profes-
sor of Infectious Disease Dynam-
rather than been re-infected and
that false test results could also be
“If there is community trans-
mission in the country then we
Tirunal Institute for Medical Sci-
ences and Technology for devel-
behest of her son-in-law, the
police said.
R O W O V E R L O C A L B O DY P O L L S
10 dead as lightning
ics at Imperial College London, in
a video published on Thursday by
the varsity’s Abdul Latif Jameel
at fault, or remnants of the virus
could still be in patients’ systems
but not be infectious or of danger
will be the first ones announcing
it, as we would need people to take
extra precautions,” said Lav
oping patient examination and
disinfection booths. The World
Health Organization is also fund-
The police said that they had
received a tip-off about the pres-
ence of the two suspects in
Jagan govt sacks AP strikes 3 districts
Institute for Disease and Emer-
gency Analytics.
On Friday, Apple and Google --
to the host or others.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Agarwal. The WHO also put
India in a category named “clus-
ter of cases” — a notch below the
ing us to make and procure more
ventilators,” said Subramanian.
Meanwhile, employees of the
Narela around 9pm on Thurs-
day. When the police reached the
spot, the duo allegedly began fir-
poll commissioner in Andhra Pradesh
who together control the mobile
phone software market almost
Punjab curbs community transmission stage
and a classification used by the
public sector unit are upbeat
about the role their firm is play-
ing at the police team.
Koan said that the police fired Press Trust of India of the High Court.
Press Trust of India
n [email protected]
entirely -- said on Friday that they states to ensure that lockdown is global body for cases “clustered ing in the Covid fight. “Good the in self-defense, hitting Ajeet in n [email protected] The State Election Commis-
will work together to create con- followed 100% in your respective in time, geographic location and/ government did not sell it off. his ankle. A sub-inspector and a sioner shall hold office for a term AMARAVATI(AP): As many as 10 peo-
tact tracing technology that aims states. If we lag behind in this, it or by common exposures”. Now it is playing a key role in the head constable were also hit, but AMARAVATI: The YSR Congress of three years and the incumbent ple have been killed in lightning
to slow the spread of the coronavi- will be difficult for us to win this health sector of the country. saved by their bullet-proof vests, government in Andhra Pradesh shall also be entitled for re-ap- strikes in three districts of
rus by allowing users to opt into a
system that catalogs other
fight against Covid-19,” he said.
The Centre has constituted 10
PSU at forefront Hope this will open the eyes of the
government,” said an office-
he said.. on Friday abruptly removed
State Election Commissioner N
pointment to another term of
three years, the order said.
Andhra Pradesh, the State Disas-
ter Management Authority said
phones they have been near. high-level multi-disciplinary ~2,000 crore for the kits and other bearer of the Hindustan Latex Ramesh Kumar from the post by The developments on Friday here on Friday.
They will work together on
technology that will allow mobile
devices to trade information via
central teams to help states from
where high number of cases are
being reported. The teams have
equipment. In fiscal year 2018-19,
HLL Lifecare’s standalone reve-
nues were ~1,471 crore and net
Employees Union who did not
want to be identified.
The union, the Kerala govern-
Allahabad HC promulgating an Ordinance,
amending the AP Panchayat Raj
Act, 1994, curtailing the tenure of
came in the backdrop of a
reported tiff the Chief Minister
had with the SEC after the latter
In a release, the State Disas-
ter Management Authority
(SDMA) said seven people were
Bluetooth connections to alert
people when they have been in
been rushed to Bihar, Rajasthan,
Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya
profit , ~15.36 crore. Even includ-
ing its five subsidiaries it had rev-
ment and the Union ministry of
health are believed to have rejects bail plea of the SEC to three years from five.
“In pursuance of promulga-
postponed the elections to rural
and urban local bodies on March
killed in lightning strikes in five
mandals of SPS Nellore district,
close proximity with someone
who has tested positive for Cov-
id-19. In India, authorities will
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pra-
desh, to aid them in containment
enues of ~1,696 crore and made a
small loss of ~12.96 crore.
The test kits are important
scotched efforts to privatise the
company. former UPPCL MD tion of Ordinance No. 5 of 2020, Dr
N Ramesh Kumar, IAS (Retd), the
incumbent State Election Com-
7 in view of the COVID-19 pan-
demic. Jagan complained against
him to the Governor. The state
two in Guntur and one in Praka-
sam district on Thursday.
At Chennur village alone
also need to focus on mobilisation
of resources since infections are
preparedness, hospital prepared-
ness and ventilator management.
because governments across the
world are scrambling to manu-
Industry calls Press Trust of India
n [email protected]
missioner ceases to hold the office
of State Election Commissioner
government subsequently filed a
petition in the Supreme Court
under Dagadarthi mandal in SPS
Nellore district, three were killed
likely to peak in different regions “The minister assured all help, facture or buy enough test kits. The industry body has recom- on and with effect from 10.04. challenging the SECs decision in the incident.
at different times. “We have seen including providing adequate India, too, ordered on April 7 half- mended that the government LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of 2020,” Panchayat Raj and Rural but the Apex Court only endorsed “We had issued advance
that hot spots go through peaks at supply of personal protection a-million rapid antibody test kits limit its fiscal spending to contain Allahabad High Court on Friday Development Department Prin- the deferment of polls. warnings with the likely location
different times. India will need to equipment (PPE), N-95 masks with at least seven Chinese com- the crisis at an additional 2% of rejected the bail plea of former cipal Secretary Gopal Krishna The previous TDP govern- of the lightning and asked people
find a way to move resources rap- and ventilators, in all states. A panies receiving import licenses the gross domestic product (GDP) UPPCL managing director Ayo- Dwivedi said in an order. ment appointed Ramesh Kumar, to stay in safe places. But still the
idly so that health care systems detailed discussion was also held from the Drug Controller Gen- over and above the allocation of dhya Prasad Mishra, currently In all, the government issued a 1983-batch IAS officer who deaths occurred,” the SDMA
don’t collapse,” said Mukherjee. among the group of ministers yes- eral of India (DGCI ) for the same. ₹1.7 trillion, he said. in jail in connection with the three confidential orders to this retired as Special Chief Secretary said. For instance, the State Dis-
“Our lives are going to be con- terday [Thursday] on the existing Established in 1967, HLL Lifec- Kirloskar appreciated that the investment of crores of rupees of effect, providing that a retired to the Governor, as the SEC for a aster Management Authority
strained and restricted for a while lab strategy, especially how to are played a crucial role in the government had been proact- the State Power Employees’ judge of a High Court would five-year term on January 30, sent out bulk text messages and
everywhere in the world. It is increase sampling in hot spots family planning campaign of the ively consulting the industry on a Provident Fund ( EPF) in the henceforth be eligible for 2016. The opposition parties also WhatsApp messages at 10.22
important to be intelligent how and clusters,” informed Lav country, distributing condoms at continuous basis. scam-hit housing finance firm appointment as the State Election launched a blistering attack on am and 10.58 am alerting people
we emerge from this, because Agarwal, joint secretary, health subsidised rates. Its brand “We are in a situation where DHFL. Commissioner. the YSRC government over the about lightning strikes in Daga-
cases will rise when we do and ministry, during a media briefing Nirodh was the mascot of the fam- we can expect a protracted recov- Passing the order, Justice Consequent to the promulga- issue amid coronavirus crisis. darthi mandal.
instead of having pickets, we need Separately, the Union home ily planning campaign and ery period. The government Dinesh Kumar Singh said that tion of the Ordinance, Dwivedi The main opposition Telugu The lightning strike happened
to build check dams to handle if ministry reached out to states almost became a generic name should consider conserving its Mishra is an influential person issued an order stating that the Desam Party president N Chan- at 12.30 pm and three persons fell
there is a flood of cases,” she and asked whether more catego- for condoms in the country. Later firepower to last it over a length of and the money trail is yet to be State Election Commissioner drababu Naidu and Congress victim, the SDMA has said.
added. ries of people and services need to it diversified into other areas, time, even while providing suc- completely discovered. The shall be appointed by the Gover- state president S Sailajanath shot Disaster Management Com-
The unprecedented crisis has be exempted, officials familiar making intrauterine devices, cour to the most needy sections of court had heard the arguments nor, on the recommendation of off separate letters to Governor missioner K Kanna Babu advised
been met with unparalleled with the development said on Fri- contraceptive pills, blood bags, society, including MSMEs, the on behalf of Mishra and the state the state government. Biswa Bhusan Harichandan tak- people to follow the instructions
efforts in the scientific commu- day. This is being widely inter- surgical sutures, and Ayurvedic self-employed and those at the lawyer prior to the closure of the “The State Election Commis- ing strong exception to the prom- sent by the department and stay
nity that has raced to develop a preted as a sign that the lockdown preparations. bottom of the income strata,” he high court due to the imposition sioner will be a full time officer ulgation of the Ordinance, calling in safe places to avoid such trage-
vaccine to protect people from will continue in some form — but The company says that unlike said. of lockdown. and will have the status of a Judge it unethical and against the law. dies.
 HIN DU STA N T IM ES , N EW DE LHI
S AT U RDAY, A PRIL 1 1, 2020 TIME OUT htcity 15
THE INTERNET
Thrilled with Circus LOCKDOWN
Naina Arora and Akshay
Kaushal
20% discount. It’s great how e-
commerce platforms are
transforming their services to GOES BANANAS
F
rom fashion to beauty meet current demands.”

Abhay
Deol re-run, says Renuka
Rishabh Suri like Circus cannot be made
SALE: A
SAVIOUR
essentials, there’s
ample variety available
online as part of Covid-19
lockdown sales, with
discounts up to 60% on
A number of city-based
designers, such as Gauri and
Nainika, Ritesh Rajpoot,
among others, have also come
up with online sales — with
OVER BANANA
BREAD
FOR MANY
now. Not many circuses are most of the popular brands. some advance payment, the Manish Mishra
Kareena Kapoor Khan

P
PHOTOS: INSTAGRAM opular drama from the functioning any longer. It’s And lapping up the idea of product will be delivered

S
90s, Circus is among the part of our history.” such sales are denizens, who after the lockdown ends. “My croll down your Insta

Celebs’ lockdown slew of old shows making

a comeback on TV, and actor
Renuka Shahane, one of its
key cast members, couldn’t be
She is particularly glad with
the euphoric response from
the younger audience.
“Youngsters are watching it
just can’t let go of their
debit/credit cards lest they
miss an offer.
“I ordered shampoos,
payments are stuck... I had no
option but to think of a sale
during the lockdown, so I can
at least pay my workers,”
feed, and you’re likely to
see multiple posts of
people making banana bread.
From Hollywood stars to the

look-book happier.
Ecstatic about the re-run of
the show, which stars actor
Shah Rukh Khan in the lead
with their parents, and there
have been many reactions on
social media. Shah Rukh will
remain a star for the next five
conditioner, face serum and
wax strips. They delivered it
in seven days, but it was
worth the wait,” says Priya
says designer Rishabh
Chadda.
But there’s another side to
this surge in online shopping.
likes of Bollywood actors such
as Alia Bhatt, everyone’s
jumped on the banana bread
bandwagon as they

N
o parlour visits or spa role, Shahane, 55, says, generations to come. A lot of Sharma, a Delhi-based “This is a sort of defence quarantine. While you might
sessions, but the show “There's no new content on people had missed the serial corporate. Yatika Paharia, mechanism for dealing with also want to give it a try,
goes on for celebrities, who any channel, and more people earlier. I’m happy to see my another professional, adds, anxiety and uncertainty in experts believe that it can be
are flaunting their overgrown are drawn towards what’s role and the show getting “I bought personal care the present times,” says made healthier with slight
hair and chipped nail paint being shown on Doordarshan. appreciated,” she signs off. PHOTO: ISTOCK essentials, and even got a psychologist Sudha Ananth. modifications.
online, unabashedly. I was thrilled with the decision n [email protected] Nutritionist Shikha
Actor Surbhi Chandna for Circus.” Mahajan says, “I don’t think it
braved a close up face shot to Outlining that content of PHOTO: ISTOCK (FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY) has any extra nutrition value.
share on social media, and the old shows makes them One could add nuts and seeds

Covid-19 puts placements in limbo

wrote: “Wake me up when 14th unique, she or make it with
April Ends #lockdown. Easily adds, “A show coconut flour to
Ignore the overgrown I-brows. improve the
(sic)”, while actor Nushrat nutritional value.”
Bharucha didn’t mind sharing Renuka Psychologist Kamna
her ‘champi diaries’. Shahane Aprajita Sharad hai because we don’t have a the dearth of placement Chibber attributes the
From Deepika Padukone PHOTO: degree yet,” worries a final opportunities is shared across trend to people’s

T
and Kareena Kapoor Khan to YOGEN SHAH he pandemic has sent jolts year student of Hindu College, varsities. Anushka Sharma, a boredom. “Bananas are
Alia Bhatt and Shraddha across companies, who Delhi University. final year MBA student at a quite accessible and
Kapoor, actors have either are either withdrawing The state of dismay around private university in Noida, baking is a great way of
been posting pictures or going Nushrat Bharucha with her offers or deferring the date of says students are unable to go staying busy,” she says.
live on social media, flaunting mother and grandmother joining for campus for internships, which is also It’s also a way to
their no makeup look and placements. “Before the affecting future offers. maintain emotional
comfy home clothes. And then bloody hair out of shape. campus shut down, we had The situation isn’t any intimacy on social
there’s actor Neena Gupta, who Why are the salons been attending interviews. better for those applying for media. Psychologist
is happy getting all dressed up, closed!?’ Countless However, those companies internships abroad. Pranav Priyanka Verma says, “It
just for her social media Indians’ issues currently, won’t take us until we have Pawar, an IIT Madras student, is a way of staying
followers. She suggests ‘How am I to get home our accumulative grade sheet was offered an internship by a connected with others.
mascara to hide white strands without transport? How am or final degree. Even after US-based company, but the Through baking, people
of hair as a temporary solution. I to earn a daily wage that, offers could be declined offer was rescinded soon. “We form emotional bonds
Meanwhile, actor Abhay today…’ #selfabsorbed as they had a specific date of tried negotiating it as a work- with each other, such as
Deol took a dig at the present #ignorant #apathetic. joining… For jobs offered with from-home internship, but whose banana bread was
situation, writing: “My biggest Sorry, been wanting to a joining date in June, we don’t Students are worried about the nothing worked out,” he rues. Banana bread by Alia Bhatt better looking, etc.”
issue currently, ‘How do I take scream these words to a few know kab tak offer letter valid lack of opportunities n [email protected] PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/ALIAABHATT n [email protected]
that perfect selfie with my people I know!(sic)”. HTC

SUDOKU DIFFICULTY LEVEL CALVIN AND HOBBES Bill Watterson

Internet is full of memes for those

with birthdays during the lockdown

A BIRTHDAY LIKE
NEVER BEFORE consultant, says, “It’s a relief in
disguise because for the last 10
Etti Bali years, I’ve been trying to evade
the limelight on my birthday. MATHDOKU DID YOU KNOW?

A
birthday amid lockdown But I’ll definitely catch up with
isn’t an ideal situation, but my friends over video call.” Rishi Kapoor starrer Henna (1991) was
these people are unfazed. his father, Raj Kapoor’s last directorial
Meme lords, too, have BAKED HER CAKE, AND Fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, column and venture. It was later completed by his
capitalised on the situation, ATE IT TOO each of the 9X9 squares contains all the digits from 1 to 9.
with a flood of memes leaving Rini Mehta, an entrepreneur brother, Randhir Kapoor.
netizens in splits. However, from Jaipur, says, “I baked a SCRAMBLE - 3418
nothing can put a dampener birthday cake and made some
Solve the four anagrams and move one letter to each square to
on celebrations for these dishes requested for by my form four ordinary words
April borns. husband. I live with my in-laws
so the lockdown does not pinch.
#9BAJE9MINUTE I video called my parents in the
IYE E R
Shrey Sahjwani, a Mumbai- evening and they also joined in NT X IO
based content writer, says, “My on the celebrations.”
grandmother managed to find AALVDN
some tea cakes, I ended up ME TIME
cutting those. It was also kind Mumbai-based Chirag Lakhani ABE LFF
of fitting that the whole lights says, “Normally, I go to a beach Now arrange the letters marked with an asterisk (*) to form the
out for 9 minutes at 9pm with limited coverage. I’m answer to the riddle or to fill in the missing words as indicated.
happened that day…felt like going to replicate that by A strong _______ is better than a weak _________.
the whole country was turning my phone off, making - Edward Dahlberg (3,...,6)
SOLUTION SUDOKU SOLUTION MATHDUKU
celebrating my birthday.” fresh fruit juice, and chilling in Dahlberg
the balcony with my feet in a ANSWER: A strong foe is better than a weak friend. - Edward Place numbers into the puzzle cells so that each row and column contains each of the digits from 1 to 5. No number is to be repeated in any row or
column. Each bold-outlined cells contain a hint of a number and one of the mathematical symbols + x - /. The number is the result of the operation
GLAD TO BE HOME bucket of warm water.”
SCRAMBLE SOLUTION: Eyrie, toxin, vandal, baffle
represented by the symbol to the digits contained.
Sunny Raj, a Delhi-based n [email protected]

Astrologer Prem Kumar Sharma can be contacted at: Delhi: 011-47033152, Mohit Suri: The filmmaker, known for his films
SATURDAY,
DAILY HOROSCOPE APRIL 11,
2020
40532026 (Sat to Mon): Panchkula: 91-172-2562832, 2572874 (Tues to Thurs);
Mumbai: 09716145644 (Last week of every month)
such as Murder 2, Aashiqui 2, Ek Villain and
Malang, turns 39 today.

Your efforts will make things look up on the You will be able to ward off a major Getting careless with money is possible for Your decisions at workplace are likely to hit
financial front. Some of you may need to expenditure by being sensible enough to some. Things at work will go according to the mark and boost your reputation. An
hone your professional skills. Your hard subscribe to a scheme beforehand. On plans and you will be able to achieve expensive purchase can pinch you, but
work on the fitness front are likely to the professional front, you are likely to much. Love for junk food can affect your little you can do about it. Your daily
bear fruit. Overbearing nature of a make a mark for yourself by your sheer system – be careful. Maintaining a low fitness routine will help you retain good
ARIES family member can drive you into your TAURUS brilliance! Your loving and caring nature GEMINI profile will help in keeping a harmonious CANCER health. Students are set to fare well in a
(MAR 21 - APR 20) shell. Your desire for a short vacation may (APR 21 - MAY 20) will keep the spouse and family happy. (MAY 21 - JUN 21) domestic environment. Stability is assured (JUNE 22 - JULY 22) competition. Innovative ideas in
have to be postponed. Extra efforts may be Your knowledge about a subject may not be on professional and academic fronts, organising an event on the social front will
required by those appearing for a competition. up to the mark, so put in more efforts on the basically through your own efforts. be highly appreciated. Some online research
An embarrassing situation regarding someone may develop on the academic front. Some of you may succumb to a temptation. Participation in a sporting event may have to be postponed . will help you narrow down on your choice of property deals.
social front. Love Focus: Suspicions of lover will have to be assuaged, if you hope Love Focus: Possibility of getting romantically involved with a Love Focus: Some of you are likely to enjoy an exclusive time with
Love Focus: Trying times are predicted for a long-term relationship. for an enjoyable romantic evening. colleague or friend cannot be ruled out. lover.
Lucky Number: 7 Lucky Colour: Peach Lucky Number: 1 Lucky Colour: Green Lucky Number: 18 Lucky Colour: Purple Lucky Number: 17 Lucky Colour: Parrot Green

Financially, you will be in a much Financial constraints that some of you Money will not be a problem and you will Financially, you may have to wait for things
comfortable position than before. Job had been experiencing of late will not hesitate to help out someone. Your to turn better. Those working from home
satisfaction may be hard to achieve for become a thing of the past. Market absence from the office without can expect a good break. Something
some. Your focus on achieving total trends can tempt you into playing the permission may come to the notice of that you are trying for coming back in
fitness will bring untold benefits. stocks, which may prove to be a seniors. Too much of anything is bad, so shape will prove successful. Nearness to
Happiness in the domestic sphere will LEO profitable venture. An old ailment is VIRGO keep that in mind if you want to retain LIBRA the one you love will keep your spirits SCORPIO
only come with a changed mind set. A (JULY 23 - AUG 23) likely to cause problems for some of you (AUG 24 - SEPT 23) good health. A lot of encouragement (SEPT 24 - OCT 23) high. You will feel much happy and (OCT 24 - NOV 22)
sight seeing experience may be relived by today, if you are not careful. You may from the family is in store for those wanting contented on the family front. You will soon
going through some old posts or pictures. An crave for get-togethers and parties but you to do something different. Something said have a place that you can call your own as stars
immovable asset may come to you by way of inheritance or gift. would need to hold on your thoughts. Today, long travel is best by a senior on the academic front may help you sail through rough favour you on property front.
Love Focus: Spouse appears extra lovey-dovey today, so just play avoided. waters. Love Focus: Someone of the opposite gender is likely to feel
along. Love Focus: Concern of lover is likely to warm your heart. Love Focus: Someone is likely to feel attracted towards you. attracted towards you.
Lucky Number: 11 Lucky Colour: Orange Lucky Number: 8 Lucky Colour: Light Grey Lucky Number: 22 Lucky Colour: Beige Lucky Number: 17 Lucky Colour: Parrot Green

Those afflicted with a lifestyle disease will Financial situation improves and enables Someone will go out of the way to help You will be able to safeguard your interests
be able to keep it in check and enjoy good you to complete some unfinished those in need of monetary help. Slow on the financial front. A technology
health. Despite good financial projects today. On the professional pace of progress on the work front may upgrade may be required to improve the
management, your monetary strength front, you can be at the receiving end at not be to your liking. Morning workouts processes. Efforts towards maintaining
may show signs of weakening. You will work for a tardy job today. Changing may help you in maintaining a high level good health will be rewarded. Some
feel much happy and contented on the your diet and shunning junk food is the of fitness. Your desire for changes on the developments on the family front may
SAGITTARIUS family front. Trekking or going to a far of CAPRICORN need of the hour and will have positive AQUARIUS domestic front can be met with stiff PISCES get you into a contemplative mood. Some
(NOV 23 - DEC 21) (DEC 22 - JAN 21) (JAN 22 - FEB 19) (FEB 20 - MAR 20)
place will not be a good idea. Your efforts effect on your health. Spouse will be most resistance. Spending quality time with more hard work is required on the academic
on the academic front may fall way short of supportive today, and even give a helping family seems difficult for students, as they may font by those aiming for higher studies. An
your own expectations, if you are not careful. hand in whatever you are doing. Stars on the property front appear remain engaged in studies and assignments. enjoyable day with relatives or friends is foreseen for some.
Love Focus: Romantic life remains most exciting through to be good. Love Focus: Closeness to someone of the opposite gender can Love Focus: A seemingly perfect matrimonial match may need a
togetherness. Love Focus: Your love life promises to cruise along smoothly. blossom into romance. second look.
Lucky Number: 4 Lucky Colour: Sky Blue Lucky Number: 9 Lucky Colour: Dark Red Lucky Number: 6 Lucky Colour: Cream Lucky Number: 5 Lucky Colour: Light Green
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HERE’S TO
There’s negativity all around, but we will focus on the REAL
SUPERHER
instagram.com/htcity
positivity. Our editor picks shots of life that bring a smile OES
Actor Katri
na Kaif
expressed
www.youtube.com/user/ht gratitude
cops. “Salu to
A TOKEN OF GRATITUDE tin
NEW DELHI, SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2020 I Entertainment & Promotional Features bravery of g the
Pop star Pink and her three- Mumbai P
and Mahar olice
ash
year-old son Jameson working so tra Police
recently recovered from hard while
stay in the we
Covid-19. The singer safety of o
homes,” sh ur
shared how they e wrote on
Instagram
survived the pandemic . Akshay K
and other umar
on the quarantine actors are
saying ‘#D also
edition of the Ellen ilSeThankY
DeGeneres Show. She on social m ou’
edia, hold
thanked those working placards. ing
hard to protect people.
“You are our heroes,” said
the singer who is donating
$1 million to relief efforts.

REN CORONA KUMAR, CORONA KUMARI, YOU ROCK!

WHEN CHILD We Indians surely know how to brighten up even the
INSPIRE US passion
gloomiest situations with our out-of-the-box thinking!
ly to see com
It’s love 5, Corona Kumar and Corona Kumari
ovizo Rino,
in kids! Meg ga ve his
are children named so because
al an d, they were born during the
from Nag
,150, put
savings of ₹3
Covid-19 lockdown in
er ov er three years Andhra Pradesh! Despite
togeth
tt er y bike, for landing up during such a
to buy a ba ,a
f. Meanwhile difficult phase, they are
Covid-19 relie An dh ra
d boy in hale and hearty. God
four-year-ol d ₹971 to the bless them!
te
Pradesh dona to fight
Fund
CM’s Relief
had collected
Covid-19. He e.
buy a bicycl
the money to

Taapsee Pannu — who feels

charity is a personal choice — PET KO TROUBLE
KARO-NA
kept her donation a secret and Singer Shaan shared
a video of his dog
grooving as he sings
says she isn’t bothered by trolls a parody. He altered
the Cat Mane Billi
Sangeeta Yadav scary for me,” she adds. song from Dilli Ka
And that’s one of the reasons Thug (1958) to send a QUARANTINE MASTERPIECE

Masakali A
t a time when the entire Pannu doesn’t post self-shot message. “C-a-t, cat
film industry has come videos or go live on social Humans are quarantined but not their imagination!
maane billi, D-o-g, These mind-blowing entries were received by Los
forward to donate for the media. “It’s as if I’ve to perform dog maane kutta,
Covid-19 relief efforts every time. I’m not that Angeles’ Getty Museum in response to their
arey in dono sey nai quarantine challenge, #BetweenArtandQuarantine,
across country, actor Taapsee dramatic in real life, and like to phailta corona,” he
Pannu, too, has done her bit. spend this time living a normal asking people across the world to recreate famed art
sings, urging people
However, unlike some, she has life. I don’t want to overexpose pieces using household items while in isolation.

remake:
not to abandon pets.
decided to not publicise it. myself through social media,”
“I’ve done it for my personal says the actor, who is making
satisfaction and not for the most of the quarantine time
attention. Charity is a personal by setting up her new house

Classics
choice and shouldn’t be a peer with sister Shagun, in Mumbai.
pressure. Those who talk about On her projects that are on
how much they have donated hold, she says, “I’m 10 days Sonil Dedhia

Sonu’s hotel is open

to encourage others is also a short of finishing Haseen

A
personal choice,” the Thappad Dilruba, and I had to start s children are confined to

should actor explains.

But she also reveals that her
silence has raised many
shooting for Rashmi Rocket by
March-end in Bhuj. It is now
pushed to June-July. We’ll also
their homes due to the
coronavirus pandemic,
they are bound to discover new

be left
questions. “I get trolled, and
people write nasty things and
say, ‘She didn’t do anything’.
Just because I didn’t announce
or get a big article out about it,
have to consider the weather
conditions as it will be too hot
at that time. So, a lot of work
now depends on external
factors.”
for healthcare staff ways to spend time with
friends. But the online versions
of board games such as Ludo,
Uno and Monopoly, have led to
an undesirable outcome —
or didn’t copy paste my bank [email protected] Titas Chowdhury contracting the virus from illegal betting.

untouched
n

Prasoon receipt, that doesn’t mean I’m them, the 46-year-old A software expert, Rohit

Kids bet
Joshi

S
not doing it. So, all this name- onu Sood believes that elaborates, “It’s unfortunate Gupta, 37, shares an incident
HT PHOTO calling isn’t going to affect me,” everyone should come that people don’t respect the about his son Parth, 8. “I gave
she shares. together and help the sacrifice that healthcare him ₹1,000 as pocket money. In
The 32-year-old, who is also a doctors, nurses and professionals make. They, just two days, ₹300 had already
Rishabh Suri action, it’s still sinking in,” part of the new music-video paramedical staff, who’re along with their families, gone, and I realised that he was

R
ecreations, rehashes,
remixes are not new.
Yet, the recreation of
Masakali, from Delhi-6
he says.
The new version, filmed
on actors Sidharth Malhotra
and Tara Sutaria, has been
recreated by Tanishk
collaboration, Muskurayega
India, which was self-shot from
home by celebrities such as
Akshay Kumar, Bhumi
Pednekar, Kriti Sanon and
working tirelessly in the
face of Covid-19. And so, he
has decided to host them at
his hotel in Juhu, Mumbai.
“Healthcare workers are
should be provided with the
best of facilities. They are the
only wall that exists between
us and the virus. The only
way to help them is by being
for fun? playing online games with real
money. I took the remaining
amount back.”
And here’s how Punit Shah
from Mumbai, discovered that
(2009), has created quite an Bagchi. We contacted many others, shares that doing staying away from their kind.” his son Aarav, 13, was playing
uproar. Bhushan Kumar, the owner it was both fun and difficult. families, and are risking Sood also feels the Monopoly with real money.
Not only has it been of the company which “The most challenging part their lives. They’re the real pandemic calls for a better Shah says, “He asked for ₹500,
trolled by netizens since its recreated it, and Bagchi, but was filming myself. I’m not healers. But they don’t have healthcare infrastructure in and said he owed it to a friend.
online release, the song’s they didn’t respond till the good at it at all. It feels like I’m any place to rest in the the country. “It’s time to Later, he revealed that he had
original team too joined in. time of going to press. giving an audition and that’s hospitals,” he says. build more hospitals than lost the sum in a game. I asked
Composer AR Rahman n [email protected] “I offered my hotel temples. We need to get a him to uninstall all the games.”
tweeted a link to the rooms to them, so good healthcare system in Aarav, however, feels that
original, writing: “No that they could place, and I hope that our it’s just for fun. “In each game,
short cuts, properly
commissioned, sleepless THIS REEKS OF GREED: rest, save their
travel time and
efforts towards it will
continue even after the Children are betting their pocket
we place friendly bets and keep
aside some money for donation.
nights, writes and re-
writes...” When
MOHIT CHAUHAN spend more time
serving the
Covid-19 situation is over,”
he signs off.
money on virtual games My friends and I have decided
that at the end of 21 days we will
R Rahman saab does
contacted, lyricist
Prasoon Joshi says, A not talk often. So one
can imagine how hurt he
society. Breakfast
and dinner will
donate the entire amount.”
Aarav’s friend Palash Mehta
“Masakali is not a word, it also be provided to Sonu Sood (far argues, “How does it matter if
was coined by me. To is. And this is not the first them. The idea is to left) has offered we spend a few bucks? We
justify its use, we had to time he is unhappy with a make them feel to lodge aren’t going out anywhere.”
name the pigeon in the remake (of a song comfortable,” he healthcare Child psychologist Vijay
film Masakali. Some songs originally created by adds. professionals at Kamath feels, “Children pick
should be untouched, him). The time for polite On how doctors his hotel in up habits from their parents,
unless absolutely well dismissal is over. I think and nurses are being Juhu, Mumbai, and Diwali card parties are a
thought through.” it’s time for the industry ill-treated by the and also common trend. Monitoring
Has Joshi spoken to the to take a stand... When society, that fears provide dining what the child plays or watches
maker of the original film, any musician is creating facilities is very important.”
an original there’s a lot of Mohit Chauhan FILE PHOTO:
Rakeysh Omprakash [email protected]
hard work, heart and soul in
n
WASEEM GASHROO/HT
Mehra, singer Mohit
Chauhan and Rahman it. Once it becomes a big hit, a
about this? “Rahman and I few people piggyback on it
are working on other and ruin the feel of the song.
That’s not right. This isn’t I’m not discovering my I always made and I realised you should This lockdown should
projects.We’ve been family again, what I am is make sure that I spend never take your near be a huge wake-up
talking, but haven’t right. This reeks of greed.
(As told to Samarth Goyal) how the world has changed, time with friends and and dear ones for call to every human
thought of (taking any) how cleaner our air is. You family, it’s only now granted. My family is being. There are
open the window and hear when I realised I scattered across the changes we can make
birds sing. It is such a sheer should re-organise my world, and I so wish to in our lifestyle when
joy going to the terrace and house and throw out be with them now. it comes to saving

WEINSTEIN H
ollywood producer
Harvey Weinstein, who
was convicted of rape and
gazing at the sunset.
—Raveena Tandon
the things I don’t use.
—Radhika Apte
—Jacqueline
Fernandez
water and power.
—Sonakshi Sinha

SURVIVES tested positive for Covid-19

while serving his prison I realised we used to

COVID-19 IN sentence, has survived his

battle with the virus in his 14-
My attention is
always on
maximising a The lockdown has made us realise
take nature for
granted. In cities like
Mumbai, we’ve
PRISON
day prison quarantine and was
released on Thursday. The 68- shoot day, throw in seen an 80% drop in
year-old, according to Daily a workout. I forget pollution. I noticed
Mail, is currently at a
maximum-security prison in
the east of Buffalo, New York.
He is being held in the
facility’s residential mental
to pause and realise
that sometimes all
the body needs is
sleep and rest.
what we took for granted, say celebs that we can see the
stars more clearly in
the night sky.
—Pankaj Tripathi
—Rasika
health unit and is under Dugal If there’s something I I didn’t realise the
I am an insomniac, so now
suicide watch. A source close didn’t pay attention to, importance of resting
I’ve realised it’s important
to Weinstein told Daily Mail he but now am taking into body and mind both.
I get up at my own sweet
is surprised that he survived account, it would be the It’s something that you
I’m sure that we will ensure time. I took so many
the virus considering his poor need to warm up pre- miss out in your day to
that the pollution levels things for granted before,
Harvey health. Weinstein reportedly workout and cool down day life, you don’t
don’t rise again, be mindful including Mother Nature.
Weinstein suffers from high BP, heart post. Now I can actually know how to slow
of the food we’re eating Also, sorting my cupboard.
PHOTO: AP issues, diabetes and a spine see its positive effects. down. That’s exactly
and ensure sustainable use —Chunky Panday
condition. —Aparshakti Khurana what I am learning
of our resources.
and managing to do.
NOTE TO READERS: Some of the coverage that appears on our pages is paid —Sanya Malhotra Text: Rishabh Suri, Nishad —Kirti Kulhari
for by the concerned brands. No sponsored content does or shall appear in Neelambaran and Titas Chowdhury
any part of HT without it being declared as such to our valued readers.