ˆ ˝ ˙( ) ˙ (ˆ˝ ˆ# - The Pioneer · Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday...
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T wo days before lockdown 4.0 ends, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday discussed about the views of Chief Ministers on further opening up several sectors of economy with strict social dis- tancing norms if the lockdown were to be continued beyond May 31. For the past three days, the Home Minister was collecting inputs and suggestions from all Chief Ministers. Highly placed officials say the Centre may give more power to the States to decide on opening up the economic activities and defin- ing containment zones. Many Chief Ministers have reportedly preferred the con- tinuation of the lockdown, but there is a near consensus on opening up many sectors as well as malls and public trans- ports, including metro services. While all Chief Ministers urged the Home Minister to speed up economic activities and gradual return of public life, they also expressed their apprehension about being flooded with surge of patients when the country relaxes the strict lockdown norms. As per sources, two special Covid-19 panels set up by the Centre have submitted their recommendations for the exit strategy. The panels have sug- gested that the Centre should do away with all lockdown curbs except keeping schools, colleges, movie halls and reli- gious places closed till situation improves. The panel has also recom- mended not to reopen inter- State travel and said that the efforts should be directed towards strengthening con- tainment measures in the worst-hit districts. The worst-hit 13 districts are: Municipalities of Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi/New Delhi, Ahmadabad, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata/Howrah, Indore, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu) and Thiruvallur (Tamil Nadu). These 13 districts are hav- ing 70 per cent of the positive cases in India. The Centre and the States of these 13 cities have already decided a plan on the geographical definition of con- tainment zones. The Home Minister also apprised the Prime Minister of the outcome of the talks between the Cabinet Secretary and 13 Municipal Commissioners and District Magistrates from the sensitive cities. The Central Government is expected to announce its decision on the lockdown with- in the next two days. Prime Minister may speak up on this on May 31 scheduled “Mann Ki Baat”, said officials. At present, the current lockdown rules prohibits open- ing up of hotels, malls, public transports in containments zones. There is expected to be a dilution on this and shops inside the malls and hotels may be allowed to open with limited number of entries. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said all religious places will be allowed to open in the State from June 1 but not more than 10 people can pray at a time. “Temples, Gurudwaras, Mosques and all religious places in the State are closed. They will open from June 1 but not more than 10 people will be allowed at any given point of time. No assembly would be allowed in religious places,” Mamata said. Continued on Page 6 D eaths of large number bats due to brain haemorrhage, caused by excessive heat in the last few days in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have sparked fears as bats are sus- pected to be linked to the ori- gin of coronavirus in Wuhan in China. The forest department offi- cials suspect that bats are dying due to rise in temperature and non-availability of water as the heat has dried up the lakes and ponds in several parts of the country. The post-mortem report of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly said bats died due to brain haem- orrhage, caused by excessive heat in Gorakhpur’s Belghat area early this week. IVRI Director RK Singh said there were no traces of coronavirus or rabies in the dead bats. “The bats have a high immunity level and are not affected by any pathogen — virus or bacteria — though they can be carriers of the virus,” he said. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Delhi Government, Ishwar Singh told The Pioneer that severe heat- wave could be the reason behind death of bats but due to coronavirus pandemic. The caracass of these bats will be sent for postmortem to know the exact reasons of the death, he said. The Animal Husbandry Department of the NDMC has picked up the bat remains from the Motilal Nehru Marg area in Delhi to know the exact reasons of the death. Continued on Page 6 I ndia on Friday overtook China in terms of corona- related fatalities and raced towards 5,000 death count even as the number of fresh cases saw third straight day of spikes with Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh registering huge numbers. India has reported a total of 1,73,458 coronavirus cases and 4,980 deaths till Friday after it reported 8,101 infections and a massive 269 death count from across the country on Friday. China which had reported the first Covid-19 case in December last year has registered over 82,995 cases and around 4,634 deaths. Data shows 10,652 people have been treated and dis- charged so far. The recovery rate stands at 42.89 per cent. According to the Ministry’s website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comor- bidities. On Friday, Delhi, Haryana, Karnatakata, and Uttarakhand reported biggest single day spike as Covid-19 continued to spread viciously across the country. Maharashtra continue to remain headache for the health authorities, as it contributed another day of big spike record- ing 2,682 positive cases on Friday, with Mumbai alone con- tributing a total of 35,458 cases to the States tally. Coronavirus has infected a total 62,228 peo- ple in the financial capital of the country. The fatalities in the State have shot up to 2,098. Tamil Nadu, after slipping to the third position on Thursday, again disturbingly surged ahead on Friday to acquire second slot among the worst hit States. It witnessed high number of coronavirus cases at 874 taking the total count to 20,246 cases on Friday. At least 9 people have died due to coronavirus infection in the State taking the death toll to 157. Delhi recorded its biggest spike in Covid-19 tally in sec- ond consecutive day at 1,106 fresh cases while the number of active coronavirus patients stood at 17,387. It witnessed 82 deaths bringing the total fatal- ities to 357 in the State. The national Capital had recorded over 1,000 cases in a day for the first time on Thursday since the outbreak. Continued on Page 6 T he coronavirus-led disrup- tion of Indian economy slowed down the GDP to 3.1 per cent in January-March and to an 11-year low of 4.2 per cent for the full fiscal 2019-20 amid a drop in consumption and investment. The slowdown is also result of overall eco- nomic deceleration even before the Government imposed a lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections from March 25, 2020. The GDP is expected to continue on the downward journey and gain speed in the next few quarters. The GDP growth stood at 5.7 per cent in the corre- sponding quarter of 2018-19, according to data released by National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday. The Indian economy grew at 4.2 per cent during 2019-20 as against 6.1 per cent in 2018-19. Continued on Page 6 I ndia on Friday denied that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump recently held a tele- phonic talk over the issue of Ladakh and China. This asser- tion came hours after Trump said he had spoken to Modi and “he is not in a good mood on what is going on in China.” Contradicting the US President’s claim, sources said, “There has been no recent contact between Modi and US President Trump. The last con- versation between them was on 4 April, 2020, on the subject of Hydroxychloroquine.” Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held a telephonic con- versation with his US counter- part Mark T Esper at the latter’s request. The two Ministers briefed each other on the respective experience of fight- ing the Covid-19 pandemic and vowed to continue the excellent bilateral cooperation in this regard, the Defence Ministry said. The two leaders reviewed progress on various bilateral defence cooperation arrange- ments and expressed their commitment to further pro- mote defence partnership. To this end, Singh invited Esper to visit India. Singh also accept- ed Esper’s condolence over lives lost in eastern India dur- ing Cyclone Amphan recently, and briefed him on India’s relief efforts. The two Ministers also exchanged views on regional developments of shared security interest. Trump made the remarks about talking to Modi on Thursday while reiterating his offer to mediate between India and China on what he called a “big conflict” going on between the two nations. He was appar- ently referring to the tension on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh with four stand-offs now on between the armies of India and China. Continued on Page 6 C hhattisgarh’s first Chief Minister Ajit Jogi suc- cumbed to cardiac arrest in a hospital here on Friday at the age of 74, doctors and his fam- ily members said. Jogi suffered another car- diac arrest around 1.30 pm and doctors battled for over two hours to revive him but were unsuccessful. He breathed his last around 3.30 pm, said a medical bulletin from the Shree Narayana Hospital. Jogi, who was admitted to the hospital on May 9 after a heart attack, had slipped into coma the next day. Condolences poured in for the veteran politician. Continued on Page 6 R enowned astrologer Bejan Daruwalla died at a private hospital here on Friday evening, his family said. He was 90. While speculation was rife that Daruwalla was admitted to Apollo Hospital here a few days ago after he tested posi- tive for coronavirus, his son Nastur denied it, saying his father was being treated only for pneumonia. According to his website, Ganesha Speaks, he had pre- dicted that Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Moraji Desai, Narendra Modi will be Prime Minister. Continued on Page 6 Kolkata: West Bengal Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose has tested positive for coro- navirus, making it the first such case in the Mamata Banerjee-led State Cabinet, a well-placed source in the Government said on Friday. Bose has been advised to undergo home quarantine after his test results came. C hina on Friday rejected US President Donald Trump’s offer to “mediate” between India and China to end their border standoff, say- ing the two countries are capa- ble of properly resolving their differences through dialogue and did not require the help of a “third party.” Continued on Page 6 A s lockdown 4.0 ends on Sunday, the Delhi Government recommended to the Union Home Ministry for lockdown 5.0 as the num- ber of Covid cases in the national Capital rose by 1,106 with total tally touching 17,387 and 82 people dying on Friday. The Delhi Government believes that places where large gatherings take place, like cinema halls, should remain closed. “Schools and colleges should also remain closed,” said Health Minister Satyender Jain. The Delhi Government wants to speed up all eco- nomic activities and for this the Government had allowed DTC to resume operations keeping social distancing, bus station hygiene, sanitisa- tion of buses, autos and cabs in mind. While the decision on metro is pending but the City Government wants DMRC to start its opera- tions. During discussion with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Delhi Chief Minister is reported to have requested for the resumption of Metro services. “The Delhi Government has put a request before Centre for Delhi Metro. The Central Government will take the call,” a Government official said. Meanwhile, the Delhi Government on Friday added 82 coronavirus deaths to the overall toll, taking the total to 398. While 13 out of 82 have been reported in last 24 hours, 69 deaths occurred in the last 34 days. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Jain stressed on home isola- tion. “80-90 per cent of infect- ed people are recovering in home quarantine. Not mandatory to be admitted in hospitals for patients with no or mild symptoms,” said Sisodia. 7,846 corona-infect- ed patients have recovered, said Jain, adding that the recovery rate is now at 50 per cent. W ith his government signing memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with different industries to ensure jobs to 11 lakh people, Chief Minister Yo g i Adityanath said that Skill Development and Revenue department was mapping the skills of migrant returnees for employing them close to their homes at the earliest. The agreement, signed between Indian Industries Association, FICCI, Laghu Udyog Bharati, NAREDCO and Government of Uttar Pradesh will provide employ- ment to 11 lakh workers. During a meeting with different industry associa- tions on Friday, Yogi said that it was his government’s top priority to employ these workers at local level. The chief minister said that small-scale industries were the biggest means to employ workers in the state and skill mapping of about 18 lakh workers had been done so far. “My government is trying to provide employment to all workers returning to the state as they are our strength and resource. We will use them to build a new Uttar Pradesh. And the process has already started,” he said. “I thank you for the strength with which you all acted on the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the fight against coronavirus,” the chief minister said. Yogi added that 57,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) had taken advantage of loan mela following Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement of 3 lakh crore government- backed guaranteed loans to MSMEs. Later at a review meeting on lockdown, the chief min- ister reaffirmed that his gov- ernment was committed to bringing back all workers safe and in dignified manner to the state. He said that the states concerned should be asked to furnish a list of workers willing to return so that their free train transit could be arranged. Yogi expressed satisfac- tion over the availability of Pulse Oximeter in all districts and said that infrared ther- mometers would soon be sup- plied in every district. The chief minister instructed officials to make arrangements in advance for a food grain distribution drive set to start from June 1, 2020. He said purchase centres should facilitate farmers get a fair price of their produce. Regarding the possibility of locust attack, Yogi said that precautionary measures be taken in a manner so that people do not panic over the issue.
Transcript of ˆ ˝ ˙( ) ˙ (ˆ˝ ˆ# - The Pioneer · Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday...
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Two days before lockdown4.0 ends, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah on Fridaydiscussed about the views ofChief Ministers on furtheropening up several sectors ofeconomy with strict social dis-tancing norms if the lockdownwere to be continued beyondMay 31.
For the past three days, theHome Minister was collectinginputs and suggestions from allChief Ministers. Highly placedofficials say the Centre maygive more power to the Statesto decide on opening up theeconomic activities and defin-ing containment zones.
Many Chief Ministers havereportedly preferred the con-tinuation of the lockdown, butthere is a near consensus onopening up many sectors aswell as malls and public trans-
ports, including metro services.
While all Chief Ministersurged the Home Minister tospeed up economic activitiesand gradual return of publiclife, they also expressed theirapprehension about beingflooded with surge of patientswhen the country relaxes thestrict lockdown norms.
As per sources, two specialCovid-19 panels set up by theCentre have submitted theirrecommendations for the exitstrategy. The panels have sug-gested that the Centre shoulddo away with all lockdowncurbs except keeping schools,colleges, movie halls and reli-gious places closed till situationimproves.
The panel has also recom-mended not to reopen inter-State travel and said that theefforts should be directedtowards strengthening con-tainment measures in the
worst-hit districts.The worst-hit 13 districts
are: Municipalities of Mumbai,Chennai, Delhi/New Delhi,Ahmadabad, Thane, Pune,Hyderabad, Kolkata/Howrah,Indore, Jaipur, Jodhpur,Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu)
and Thiruvallur (Tamil Nadu).These 13 districts are hav-
ing 70 per cent of the positive
cases in India. The Centre andthe States of these 13 cities havealready decided a plan on thegeographical definition of con-tainment zones.
The Home Minister alsoapprised the Prime Minister ofthe outcome of the talksbetween the Cabinet Secretaryand 13 MunicipalCommissioners and DistrictMagistrates from the sensitivecities.
The Central Governmentis expected to announce itsdecision on the lockdown with-in the next two days. PrimeMinister may speak up on thison May 31 scheduled “Mann KiBaat”, said officials.
At present, the currentlockdown rules prohibits open-ing up of hotels, malls, public
transports in containmentszones. There is expected to bea dilution on this and shopsinside the malls and hotelsmay be allowed to open withlimited number of entries.
Meanwhile, West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee on Friday said allreligious places will be allowedto open in the State from June1 but not more than 10 peoplecan pray at a time.
“Temples, Gurudwaras,Mosques and all religiousplaces in the State are closed.They will open from June 1 butnot more than 10 people will beallowed at any given point oftime. No assembly would beallowed in religious places,”Mamata said.
Continued on Page 6
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Deaths of large number batsdue to brain haemorrhage,
caused by excessive heat in thelast few days in Delhi, Biharand Uttar Pradesh havesparked fears as bats are sus-pected to be linked to the ori-gin of coronavirus in Wuhan inChina.
The forest department offi-cials suspect that bats are dyingdue to rise in temperature andnon-availability of water as theheat has dried up the lakes andponds in several parts of thecountry.
The post-mortem report ofthe Indian Veterinary ResearchInstitute (IVRI) in Bareilly said
bats died due to brain haem-orrhage, caused by excessiveheat in Gorakhpur’s Belghatarea early this week.
IVRI Director RK Singhsaid there were no traces ofcoronavirus or rabies in thedead bats. “The bats have ahigh immunity level and arenot affected by any pathogen —
virus or bacteria — thoughthey can be carriers of thevirus,” he said.
Principal ChiefConservator of Forest, DelhiGovernment, Ishwar Singh toldThe Pioneer that severe heat-wave could be the reasonbehind death of bats but due tocoronavirus pandemic. Thecaracass of these bats will besent for postmortem to knowthe exact reasons of the death,he said.
The Animal HusbandryDepartment of the NDMC haspicked up the bat remainsfrom the Motilal Nehru Margarea in Delhi to know theexact reasons of the death.
Continued on Page 6
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India on Friday overtookChina in terms of corona-
related fatalities and racedtowards 5,000 death count evenas the number of fresh casessaw third straight day of spikeswith Maharashtra, Delhi, TamilNadu, Gujarat, West Bengal,Uttar Pradesh registering hugenumbers.
India has reported a total of1,73,458 coronavirus cases and4,980 deaths till Friday after itreported 8,101 infections anda massive 269 death countfrom across the country onFriday. China which hadreported the first Covid-19case in December last year hasregistered over 82,995 cases andaround 4,634 deaths.
Data shows 10,652 peoplehave been treated and dis-charged so far. The recovery
rate stands at 42.89 per cent.According to the Ministry’swebsite, more than 70 per centof the deaths are due to comor-bidities.
On Friday, Delhi, Haryana,Karnatakata, and Uttarakhandreported biggest single day spike asCovid-19 continued to spreadviciously across the country.
Maharashtra continue toremain headache for the healthauthorities, as it contributedanother day of big spike record-ing 2,682 positive cases onFriday, with Mumbai alone con-tributing a total of 35,458 casesto the States tally. Coronavirushas infected a total 62,228 peo-ple in the financial capital of the
country. The fatalities in theState have shot up to 2,098.
Tamil Nadu, after slippingto the third position onThursday, again disturbinglysurged ahead on Friday toacquire second slot among theworst hit States. It witnessedhigh number of coronaviruscases at 874 taking the total
count to 20,246 cases on Friday.At least 9 people have died dueto coronavirus infection in theState taking the death toll to 157.
Delhi recorded its biggestspike in Covid-19 tally in sec-ond consecutive day at 1,106fresh cases while the number ofactive coronavirus patientsstood at 17,387. It witnessed 82
deaths bringing the total fatal-ities to 357 in the State.
The national Capital hadrecorded over 1,000 cases in aday for the first time onThursday since the outbreak.
Continued on Page 6
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The coronavirus-led disrup-tion of Indian economy
slowed down the GDP to 3.1per cent in January-March andto an 11-year low of 4.2 percent for the full fiscal 2019-20amid a drop in consumptionand investment. The slowdownis also result of overall eco-nomic deceleration even beforethe Government imposed alockdown to curb the spread ofCovid-19 infections fromMarch 25, 2020.
The GDP is expected tocontinue on the downwardjourney and gain speed in thenext few quarters.
The GDP growth stood at5.7 per cent in the corre-sponding quarter of 2018-19,according to data released byNational Statistical Office
(NSO) on Friday.The Indian economy grew
at 4.2 per cent during 2019-20
as against 6.1 per cent in 2018-19.
Continued on Page 6
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India on Friday denied thatPrime Minister Narendra
Modi and President DonaldTrump recently held a tele-phonic talk over the issue ofLadakh and China. This asser-tion came hours after Trumpsaid he had spoken to Modiand “he is not in a good moodon what is going on in China.”
Contradicting the USPresident’s claim, sources said,“There has been no recentcontact between Modi and USPresident Trump. The last con-versation between them was on4 April, 2020, on the subject ofHydroxychloroquine.”
Meanwhile, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh onFriday held a telephonic con-versation with his US counter-part Mark T Esper at the latter’srequest. The two Ministersbriefed each other on therespective experience of fight-ing the Covid-19 pandemicand vowed to continue theexcellent bilateral cooperationin this regard, the DefenceMinistry said.
The two leaders reviewedprogress on various bilateraldefence cooperation arrange-ments and expressed theircommitment to further pro-
mote defence partnership. Tothis end, Singh invited Esper tovisit India. Singh also accept-ed Esper’s condolence overlives lost in eastern India dur-ing Cyclone Amphan recently,and briefed him on India’srelief efforts. The two Ministersalso exchanged views onregional developments ofshared security interest.
Trump made the remarksabout talking to Modi onThursday while reiterating hisoffer to mediate between Indiaand China on what he called a“big conflict” going on betweenthe two nations. He was appar-ently referring to the tension onthe Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Ladakh with fourstand-offs now on between thearmies of India and China.
Continued on Page 6
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Chhattisgarh’s first ChiefMinister Ajit Jogi suc-
cumbed to cardiac arrest in ahospital here on Friday at theage of 74, doctors and his fam-ily members said.
Jogi suffered another car-diac arrest around 1.30 pm anddoctors battled for over twohours to revive him but wereunsuccessful. He breathed hislast around 3.30 pm, said amedical bulletin from the ShreeNarayana Hospital.
Jogi, who was admitted tothe hospital on May 9 after aheart attack, had slipped intocoma the next day.Condolences poured in for theveteran politician.
Continued on Page 6
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Renowned astrologer BejanDaruwalla died at a private
hospital here on Fridayevening, his family said. Hewas 90.
While speculation was rifethat Daruwalla was admittedto Apollo Hospital here a fewdays ago after he tested posi-
tive for coronavirus, his sonNastur denied it, saying hisfather was being treated onlyfor pneumonia.
According to his website,Ganesha Speaks, he had pre-dicted that Atal BihariVajpayee, Moraji Desai,Narendra Modi will be PrimeMinister.
Continued on Page 6
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Kolkata: West Bengal FireServices Minister Sujit Bosehas tested positive for coro-navirus, making it the firstsuch case in the MamataBanerjee-led State Cabinet, awell-placed source in theGovernment said on Friday.Bose has been advised toundergo home quarantineafter his test results came.
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China on Friday rejectedUS President Donald
Trump’s offer to “mediate”between India and China toend their border standoff, say-ing the two countries are capa-ble of properly resolving theirdifferences through dialogueand did not require the help ofa “third party.”
Continued on Page 6
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As lockdown 4.0 ends onSunday, the Delhi
Government recommendedto the Union Home Ministryfor lockdown 5.0 as the num-ber of Covid cases in thenational Capital rose by 1,106with total tally touching17,387 and 82 people dyingon Friday.
The Delhi Governmentbelieves that places wherelarge gatherings take place,like cinema halls, shouldremain closed. “Schools and
colleges should also remainclosed,” said Health MinisterSatyender Jain.
The Delhi Governmentwants to speed up all eco-nomic activities and for thisthe Government had allowedDTC to resume operationskeeping social distancing,bus station hygiene, sanitisa-tion of buses, autos and cabsin mind. While the decisionon metro is pending but theCity Government wantsDMRC to start its opera-tions. During discussion withUnion Home Minister AmitShah, Delhi Chief Minister isreported to have requestedfor the resumption of Metroser vices . “ The DelhiGovernment has put arequest before Centre forDelhi Metro. The Central
Government will take thecall,” a Government officialsaid.
Meanwhile, the DelhiGovernment on Friday added82 coronavirus deaths to theoverall toll, taking the total to398. While 13 out of 82 havebeen reported in last 24 hours,69 deaths occurred in the last34 days. Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia andJain stressed on home isola-tion. “80-90 per cent of infect-ed people are recovering inhome quarantine. Notmandatory to be admitted inhospitals for patients with noor mild symptoms,” saidSisodia. 7,846 corona-infect-ed patients have recovered,said Jain, adding that therecovery rate is now at 50 percent.
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With his governmentsigning memorandums
of understanding (MoUs)with different industries toensure jobs to 11 lakh people,Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that SkillDevelopment and Revenuedepartment was mapping theskills of migrant returneesfor employing them close totheir homes at the earliest.
The agreement, signedbetween Indian IndustriesAssociation, FICCI, LaghuUdyog Bharati, NAREDCOand Government of UttarPradesh will provide employ-ment to 11 lakh workers.
During a meeting withdifferent industry associa-tions on Friday, Yogi saidthat it was his government’stop priority to employ theseworkers at local level.
The chief minister saidthat small-scale industrieswere the biggest means to
employ workers in the stateand skill mapping of about 18lakh workers had been doneso far.
“My government is tryingto provide employment to allworkers returning to the stateas they are our strength andresource. We will use them tobuild a new Uttar Pradesh.And the process has alreadystarted,” he said.
“I thank you for thestrength with which you allacted on the call of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inthe fight against coronavirus,”the chief minister said.
Yogi added that 57,000micro, small and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) hadtaken advantage of loan melafollowing Union FinanceMinister NirmalaSitharaman’s announcementof ��3 lakh crore government-backed guaranteed loans toMSMEs.
Later at a review meetingon lockdown, the chief min-
ister reaffirmed that his gov-ernment was committed tobringing back all workers safeand in dignified manner tothe state. He said that thestates concerned should beasked to furnish a list ofworkers willing to return sothat their free train transitcould be arranged.
Yogi expressed satisfac-tion over the availability ofPulse Oximeter in all districtsand said that infrared ther-mometers would soon be sup-plied in every district.
The chief ministerinstructed officials to makearrangements in advance fora food grain distribution driveset to start from June 1, 2020.He said purchase centresshould facilitate farmers get afair price of their produce.
Regarding the possibilityof locust attack, Yogi saidthat precautionary measuresbe taken in a manner so thatpeople do not panic over theissue.
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Former chief minister andSamajwadi Party President
Akhilesh Yadav said his partywould not go for an alliancewith any party and wouldwork with small parties andstrengthen the SP at grassrootslevel.
“The SP will maintainequidistance from both theBharatiya Janata Party and theCongress. Samajwadi Partywill not form an alliance withany big party, but will adjustsmaller parties. We can havelocal adjustments withChachaji (Shivpal SinghYadav). We can adjust hisparty on the Jaswantnagarseat. But we will decide thesethings before the 2022 assem-bly elections,” Akhilesh Yadavsaid here on Friday in a pro-gramme with a TV news chan-nel.
“We have made manyexperiments in the past andentered into alliance. The rankand file of the party is againstalliance with any party. Boththe Congress and the BJP arepursuing same ends in poli-tics,” Akhilesh said , and added,“Right now the issue is to dis-lodge the Yogi Adityanath gov-ernment and give a new gov-ernment to the people,.”
The SP chief denied thathe had ever supportedCongress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra.“Some posts about theCongress were filed on Twitterbut they are old and no longerrelevant,” he added.
Akhilesh Yadav said thatthe lockdown had failed ascoronavirus cases were on therise. `` He said the peoplewere made to believe that thefirst lockdown would flattenthe coronavirus curve but thelockdown had been extendedfour times and was likely to beextended further without anytangible results. “Now we aretold that we will have to livewith the coronavirus,” headded.
Questioning the wisdomof the Union government onrunning Shramik Special trainsto evacuate migrant labourersin May, the SP chief said hadthe rail services for migrantsstarted earlier, it would havesaved them from undergoing“horrendous experience”.
Meanwhile, Shivpal Yadavhas welcomed the withdrawal
of the application by theSamajwadi Party for his dis-qualification from the mem-bership of UP assembly.
“It is a good decision bythe Samajwadi Party and I wel-come it. The adjustment oralliance issues will be decidedin the future, not right now.Today, I only say that I wel-come their decision. Thereare no other talks right now,”he said.
A senior SP leader saidthat Akhilesh Yadav had keptthe door open for an alliancewith smaller parties, whichcould include Ajit Singh’sRashtriya Lok Dal and OmPrakash Rajbhar’s SuheldevBharatiya Samaj Party. Hesaid the potential alliancecould be a fruitful tie-upfor the Samajwadi Party,especially if Shivpal came onboard.
“RLD still has a foothold inwestern Uttar Pradesh whileRajbhar has a presence inGhazipur and Ballia districts ofeastern UP. If Shivpal alsojoins hands, then the SP’s coreYadav vote will not get split,”he said.
For Akhilesh, it is a case ofonce bitten, twice shy in termsof allying with big parties, asource close to him said.
“Akhilesh does not want toally with Congress andBahujan Samaj Party afterthree successive defeats ofthe party in 2014, 2017 and2019. But smaller forces arestill an option. Let us wait fora few more months,” the sourcesaid.
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The Uttar Pradesh unit ofBharatiya Janata Party has
drawn up an elaborate digitalcontact programme to markone year of Modi 2.0 govern-ment across the state com-mencing from Saturday andaims to make people aware ofprevention of coronavirusinfection and highlight theachievements of the Uniongovernment.
The party also announcedto hold six virtual rallies in sixregions of UP.
During the 25-dayprogammee, BJP leaders andworkers will reach out to overone crore families and handover a letter of the prime min-ister to them, ensuring socialdistancing.
BJP state general secretaryVijay Bahadur Pathak said onFriday that the party’s firstpriority during the celebra-tion would be to make peopleaware about social distancing,hand washing, wearing masksand other measures to preventthe viral infection.
Pathak said that the cele-brations would start onSaturday with a live onlineaddress by BJP chief JP Naddaand on Sunday, the prime min-ister would address the nationthrough his ‘Maan Ki Baat’ pro-gramme. “From June 1 to 3,BJP leaders will hold virtual
meetings with leaders andworkers of districts. Later, allcells and morchas will hold vir-tual meetings for a week andget in touch with people fromindustries, traders, minorities,backwards, Dalits etc,” he said.
After these virtual meet-ings, the main progammeenamed ‘Pariwar Sampark’would be carried on for aweek, wherein party workerswill reach out to over onecrore families at the blocklevel.
“During this, we will dis-tribute masks and sanitisersand make people aware of pre-ventive measures and two partyleaders will hand over the PM’sletter about the government’sachievements,” Pathak said.
The BJP leader said after‘Pariwar Sampark’, the partywould hold around 1000kshetra level virtual ralliesfrom June 15. “In each rally,around 1,000 party workersand common people will par-ticipate. The programme willend on martyrs day of partyideologue late Shyama PrasadMukherjee on June 23,” hesaid. “The first year of Modi 2.0was marked by the abrogationof Article 370 in Kashmir andcreation of Ladakh as UnionTerritory. Besides, the longwait for construction of Ramtemple in Ayodhya ended,” theBJP leader claimed.
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After reports surfaced on a monkeysnatching a swab sample from Meerut
medical college lab on Friday, Congressgeneral secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadratook a dig at Yogi Adityanath governmenton poor testing facilities in the state, say-ing that it was not a ‘monkey business’.
A day earlier, she had taken on theBharatiya Janata Party regime in UP overvarious issues on a Facebook live pro-gramme. Posting on social media, Priyankaaccused that the Yogi government has notbeen testing coronavirus suspects suffi-ciently and now they even failed to pro-tect samples.
Claiming that the state governmenthad abjectly failed in controlling coron-avirus spread, Priyanka said that the gov-ernment was merely trying to shift theresponsibility of spike in coronaviruscases to other states and blaming the influxof migrants into UP for it.
On Friday, a simian waltzed into a lab-oratory of Meerut medical college andsnatched the swab sample of a coronavirussuspect. As the staff struggled to get thesample back, the monkey climbed a
tree, emptied the sachet and threw itback at them. The result of the personwhose sample was wasted is yet to be ascer-tained. Monkey menace has been a rou-tine thing in Meerut medical collegecampus, and officials even wrote to munic-
ipal commissioner urging him to takeimmediate measures to rid the campus ofthe menace. Even as several patients andtheir attendants have been attacked on thecampus, the municipal authorities are yetto take any concrete action.
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Close to 10,000 coronavirustests were carried out in the
state on Thursday and the totaltests done so far crossed the2.50 lakh-mark.
Terming it as an achieve-ment of the state government,Principal Secretary (Health)Amit Mohan Prasad said onFriday that more than 9,981tests were carried out onThursday and the total tests tilldate crossed 2.5 lakh and stoodat 2.53 lakh.
The principal secretarysaid that the number of Covidtests would increase in thenext few days as already 20 newTrueNet machines had reachedthe state and by it test results
could be received in just one totwo hours.
“These 20 machines havebeen set up in districts while 50more TrueNet machines are onthe way. Once we receive them,
almost all districts will be ableto test people for coronavirusinfection. After all 70 machinesbecome operational by nextweek, the number of tests willincrease by several folds,”
Prasad said.He further said to strength-
en screening of people in dis-tricts, especially the migrantsreturning home, every districthad been given Pulse Oximeterwhile 50 infrared thermome-ters each had been dispatchedto all the districts.
Prasad said that trackingand monitoring of migrantshad been strengthened andduring survey of 10.48 lakhhome quarantined migrantsby ASHA workers, 986 werefound with COVID-19 symp-toms.
The Aarogya Setu app toogenerated 40,920 alerts and112 were found positive, 49 hadrecovered and 1,260 were quar-antined.
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As most states have completed purchase ofwheat from farmers, the largest producer of
the staple — Uttar Pradesh — has been peggedback on this score due to the two-month-longlockdown. Between April 15 and May 24, thestate could procure 20.39 lakh metric tonnes ofwheat, a meagre 5.6 per cent of the total pro-duction of 363 lakh MT in the state. The pro-curement was delayed due to lockdown andbegan on April 15.
“The procurement lag is due to initial short-age of jute sacks, but it has picked up since plas-tic bags were allowed. Over 20 lakh MT wheathas been purchased from four lakh farmers,”Food department official said.
The procurement is being done through5,947 procurement centres across the state. Atotal of 6, 39,314 farmers have registered to sell
wheat at minimum support price.On the other hand, the farmers’ organisa-
tion said that due to slow procurement, theywere forced to sell wheat below MSP in man-dis and to wholesale wheat traders. The MSP forwheat is fixed at Rs 1,925 per quintal, up fromRs 1,840 last year.
A farmer of Barabanki alleged that officialswere ignoring the purchase in the name of qual-ity which forced most farmers to sell wheat toa trader at a rate of Rs 1,850 per quintal. To savelabour and multiple transportation costs, farm-ers are selling wheat in mandis at Rs 1,800-1,850per quintal.
Another reason for slow procurement is fail-ure of farmers to get registered with the portalfor selling wheat at procurement centres. Afarmer said that even if one got registered andgot a token, the queues were very long at pur-chase centres.
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The lockdown blues whichcast a shadow on most
economy sectors failed tostall the sugar industry inUttar Pradesh. Till May 27,the state achieved a recordproduction of nearly 1.25crore metric tons of sugaragainst the previous highest of1.20 crore MT in 2017-18 sea-son. Last year, the industryhad clocked a productionfigure of 1.17 crore MT.
The increase in UP’ssugar production is signifi-cant in the national contextwhich witnessed a 19 per centdecline from 32.61 crore MTto 26.36 crore MT till May 15.
However, the positivedevelopment has failed toamuse private sugar millowners as they worry aboutsurging cane payment arrears,a crippling dive in demanddue to the lockdown andhence bleak profits in themonths ahead.
Principal Secretary(Sugarcane) SanjayBhoosreddy said on Fridaythat of the 119 sugar mills, 94had closed down while 25were still in operation. Duringthe last season, on the sameday, 109 out of 119 mills hadstopped cane crushing.
“Farmers are our priori-ty. So till the time cane cropis standing in fields, we havedirected the mills to contin-ue crushing. I expect the sea-son to close in about a week’s
time,” the principal secretarysaid.
Interestingly, the currentcrushing season in UP gotprolonged as most gur andkhandsari units had to stopcane crushing ahead of sched-ule due to lockdown. As aresult, a large portion of canegoing to them was diverted tosugar mills for crushing in thecurrent season.
With crushing seasonbeing extended, sugar millsalso piled up huge cane duesof over Rs 15,000 crore, espe-cially as institutional sale ofsugar was almost nil duringlockdown.
“We have been literallycaught between the devil andthe deep sea. On one hand,we have huge cane arrearsand on the other, all sourcesof revenue have dried up inthe last two months. Sugarsales have been hit by the clo-sure of malls, restaurants,cinema halls, etc.,” said anofficial of a sugar mill.
He added, “To top it, ourethanol sales too plunged asoil marketing companies arenot lifting stocks and ourpower cogeneration duesworth Rs 1,050 crore are alsostuck with UP PowerCorporation Limited.”’
“The problem with high-er output is that we also endup posting higher arrears.While there is immense pres-sure on us to pay farmers, ourliquidity needs to improve forus to do so,” the official said.
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Lucknow (PNS): Bahujan Samaj Partychief Mayawati said that it was the govern-ment’s responsibility to send migrantshome free of cost and arrange for theirlivelihoods, which had now been orderedby the court.
In a tweet on Friday, Mayawati post-ed, “At last, the court had to state that it isentirely the government’s responsibility tosend lakhs of migrant workers, who wereforced to return to their homes afterbecoming victims of indifference and dis-dain due to lockdown going on for 66 days,to their homes for free by trains or buses.The government has been ignoring theBSP’s demand in this regard.”
The BSP chief further said, “It is nowthe prime responsibility of the Centre andstate government to solve issues related tothe livelihoods of lakhs of migrant work-ers who have been returning home, espe-cially in UP and Bihar. Providing them per-manent employment closer to their homeswill be the true test of the government’sintention, policy and loyalty.” Mayawati fur-ther tweeted, “In fact, now will be the examof the right use of Rs 20 lakh crore econom-ic package to be used in public welfareannounced by the Centre. The public willhardly forget the neglect and disdain ofgovernments for their unprecedentedplight and bad condition.”
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Lucknow University will be creating 102 newposts of contractual teachers under facul-
ties of Arts, Commerce, Engineering and insti-tutions like Tourism and IMS. Mediaspokesperson Durgesh Srivastava said that aconsensus has been reached on the creationof these posts.
“All these posts will be decided upon bythe Recruitment and Assessment Cell onlyafter the application for new recruitments sentby departments of the university were receivedand their need was verified,” he said. He addedthat in the series of decisions taken to bol-ster student welfare and encourage innovationamong them, Lucknow University took animportant decision on Friday.
“It has been decided that under the aegisof the director of Counselling and PlacementCell, and within the purview of MahatmaGandhi Rozgar Adhyayan Kendra, studentswill now have the opportunity to be awardedRs 5 lakh per year as seed money for businessventures. The students will prepare and pre-sent their proposals or pitch their ideas to anadvisory board that will select the winning stu-dents based on merit and marketability of eachidea. The board will also decide how much ofthe amount will be given to each candidate,the media spokesperson of LucknowUniversity said.
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Coronavirus infection canbe prevented by spreading
the right message to the com-munity during these difficulttimes, Health secretary VHekali Jhimomi said at athree-day virtual workshopon communication challengesand their redressal in theCovid-19 era. She appealed toall health education officialsof the state participating in
the workshop to make thefrontline workers aware sothat they can go from door todoor and tell people that toavoid infection what theyhave to do and what not to do.
During the workshoporganised in collaborationwith Uttar Pradesh TechnicalSupport Unit (UPTSU) andCentre for Advocacy andResearch (CFAF), the partic-ipants were made aware of
safety measures.The Health secretary said
that at this time, it was impor-tant to pay attention to takecare of migrants coming fromother states and districts. “Forthis, village monitoring com-mittees have been constitutedin rural areas and mohallamonitoring committees inurban areas,” she said.
She also asked for neces-sar y arrangements forJE/AES. She said that cold,
cough, fever and breathless-ness should be taken serious-ly and it was important tomotivate people about time-ly treatment so that the prob-lem could be prevented beforedeterioration.
Director-General, FamilyWelfare, Mithilesh Chaturvedithrew light on the conditionsof Covid-19 while state devel-opment officer VikasenduAgarwal spoke about the use-fulness of safety measures.
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Four days after the murder of a man,Mohammed Shaheen, the Nagram
police arrested the accused on Friday.The victim was found lying in a poolof blood in a dilapidated house in thelocality on May 25. He was taken to theCHC where she was declared broughtdead. The police had initially claimedthat the man died due to the injuries hesuffered while in an intoxicated state.Deceased’s brother Mohammed Saeeddecided to petition the case to seniorpolice officials and later lodged a caseagainst unidentified miscreants.
The police started investigation andit surfaced that Mohammed Shaheenwas with one Mohammed Amir on thefateful day. The police started a man-
hunt for Amir and nabbed him. Amirwas interrogated by a police team andhe owned up his crime. Amir disclosedthat he had a verbal spat with Shaheenand in a fit of rage, he hit the victim inhis stomach and face. The police saidas per the autopsy report, the injurieswere caused after he fell on boulders.
Meanwhile, the Chinhat policearrested a hardened criminal bearing acash reward of Rs 10,000. The accused,identified as Vikas Gupta of Barabanki,was wanted by Chinhat police. Thepolice said they recovered a country-made pistol and live cartridges from theaccused. Besides, the Chowk policearrested a youth on the charges sellingand purchasing stolen mobile phones.He was identified as Mohammed VilaAbbas aka Saud of Thakurganj.
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A35-year-old woman ended her lifeby jumping into Gomti river in
Mahanagar early Friday morning.Police said the woman took the extremestep as she was being troubled by a dis-ease for over seven years.
As per reports, some morningwalkers saw a woman jump into theriver and alerted the police. A team ofpolice reached the scene and presseddivers into service. After hectic efforts,the body of the woman was fished out.The police ascertained the identity ofthe deceased as Malti of Jiamau local-ity in Hazratganj police station area.
According to Mahanagar police,deceased’s brother Divansh KumarNishad told them that Malti had beensuffering from some disease for overseven years and was depressed. Thepolice said the woman jumped into theriver around 6 am.
Meanwhile, Jyoti Gupta (35) ofIndira Nagar (A block) ended her lifeat her house. According to police,Jyoti was found hanging from the irongrill covering the roof with a saree tiedaround her neck. Jyoti’s husbandChandrashekhar runs a puri stall inBhoothnath market. Investigating offi-cer SM Singh said it was not clear as to
why the woman took the extreme step.Sources said the woman ended her lifeover some family discord.
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old mini-truck driver was killed in a roadmishap in Mohanlalganj on the inter-vening night of Thursday and Friday.The victim was identified as Imran ofRampur. Reports said Imran was fixinga snag in the vehicle in Fattekheda local-ity around midnight when anotherspeeding mini-truck hit his vehiclefrom behind and he sustained injuries.He was rushed to CHC where he wasdeclared brought dead.
Besides, mother of a youth(Tanmay Mazumdar), who had endedhis life on May 25, lodged a case onFriday, accusing a woman of abetmentto suicide. The complainant, identifiedas Shivani Mazumdar, said a woman ofthe locality had trapped her son on thepretext of love and was blackmailing herfor a long time. As per Shivani’s claim,the accused had video clips of Tanmayin compromising position and she wasthreatening to share the same on socialmedia. Shivani claimed that the womanhad visited her house on the fateful dayand threatened Tanmay.
Tanmay had hanged himself in aroom on the top floor of his house onMay 24 night.
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The process has begun forroping in 8,500 migrants,
who have returned to the statecapital, in 153 industries in thefirst phase. According todeputy commissioner,Industries (Lucknow), ManojKumar Chaurasia, efforts willalso be made to engage thelabourers in 15 big industriesin the district besides encour-aging them to be self-reliantthrough a number of govern-ment schemes.
A meeting was held by thedistrict administration inwhich builders and represen-tatives of the industries werepresent, Chaurasia said. Thepurpose was to provide thelabourers employment oppor-tunities and the builders andindustries were approachedfor supporting this initiative,he said, adding it was a plat-form to make an action planregarding the same.
The deputy commissionersaid they believed that themigrant workers who hadreturned from the industrialunits of Ahmedabad andMumbai had a high level ofexposure which could be a bigasset for the district.
“We are coordinating withour industries and construc-tion companies so that theysupport in providing employ-ment to migrant labourers. Weare trying to tap the skills ofthese labourers. Currently, wehave 8,500 migrant labourersin Lucknow and they are nowcoming out of quarantine,” hesaid. Efforts are also on tofocus on direct employment ofthese labourers with severalschemes such as PrimeMinister EmploymentGeneration Scheme and theCM Employment Generationand One District, One Productschemes. “We have sometraining schemes also such as
OBC training programmesand ODOP training schemes.Hence we are working at manylevels to enhance employmentopportunities,” he said.
Regarding the possibilityof migrants going back whenother states open up, thedeputy commissioner saidthey were also trying to pro-vide affordable housing facil-ities to the migrants who havecome back from across thecountry. “We are trying to givethem more and more oppor-tunities and support so thatthey can stay back,” he said.
These migrant labourerscan work in the manufactur-ing sector, in ODOP,chikankari, zari-zardozi, flourmills, brick kilns, packagingindustry etc. “There are manyschemes available on KVICfrom which they can procureinformation. All the schemesare available online and who-ever wants to, can apply,” hesaid. “We are also supportingnew industries so that thesemigrants can secure jobs. Weare supporting big industrieswhich are expanding theirunits and we are also con-ducting training pro-grammes,” he added. Thedeputy commissioner saidthat despite problems which
the industries faced duringlockdown, the industries werewilling to come forward forhelp and discussions were onwith some of them.
Chaurasia said the advan-tage which they had withthese migrants that they wereskilled labourers since theycame from industrial zonessuch as Noida, Surat, Bhopaland Mumbai and so theycould be useful for the indus-tries here as well. On the issueof wages, he said they wereworking on it too. “We aretrying to ensure that labour-ers at least get the minimumwages and then more,” hesaid. The stress was also ongovernment schemes so thatthese labourers, instead ofbeing job-seekers, couldbecome job providers, headded. District MagistrateAbhishek Prakash said thatdata of the skilled and non-ski l led labourers .Industrialists must follow allthe precautions when theystart their units and haveworkers as per the guidelineof the Central government, hesaid. He added that arrange-ment of private buses shouldalso be made to pick up anddrop these labourers in theabsence of public transport.
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Hinting that it was ready formore relaxation in the
fifth edition of the lockdown,the Uttar Pradesh government,however, said that it would actas per the Central guidelines.
A senior official said thatChief Secretary RK Tiwari,during a meeting throughvideo-conferencing with theUnion cabinet secretary, madeit clear that while the numberof coronavirus cases hadspiked due to migrants’ return,the situation was under controlin the state. “Suggestions putforth by the Yogi Adityanathgovernment said that morerelaxation be given to the peo-ple, including movement oftransport and operation ofindustries, in the state.However, the decision onopening religious places hasbeen left to the Centre,” theofficial said.
Lockdown 4.0 ends onMay 31 and several states haveeither extended it till June 14or have shown inclinationtowards extension.
In Uttar Pradesh, lock-down was first announcedfrom March 22 but on thenational level, it was imposedfrom March 25 which entailedrestrictions on movement ofpeople. Since then, lockdownhas been extended and duringthe fourth edition, the restric-tions have been eased acrossthe country, except in contain-ment zones.
The official said that UPadvocated start of intra-statebuses services as has beendone by other states. But incase of metro rail, services maybegin in a limited manner, withless capacity, and stress onsocial distancing as two cities,
Lucknow and Noida, haveshown improvement. He saidthat educational institutions,gyms, malls and cinema hallsmay not get relaxation in the
next lockdown. “The state government
suggested easing curbs in lessaffected areas and scaling upcontainment measures in red
and orange zones. However,the government is waiting forCentral guidelines, which arelikely to be issued on Saturday,”the officer said.
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District MagistrateAbhishek Prakash car-
ried out a surprise inspectionof the containment zone inDaroga Kheda (Sarojininagar)on Friday to take stock of thearrangements for sanitisationand barricading as well asdelivery of food items. Heissued directions for the use ofPPE kits by those makingdoor-to-door delivery in theseareas and also for installationof CCTV cameras. The DMalso issued directions regard-ing monitoring to be done bygramin nigrani samitis and forfurther sampling.
A district administrationofficial from Sarojininagararea said six members fromone family of a migrantlabourer, who came fromMumbai, tested positive inthe hotspot and were shiftedto Lok Bandhu Hospital.“Samples of ten more personshave been taken and more willbe collected,” he said.Meanwhile, state surveillanceofficer Vikasendu Agarwalsaid Lucknow has done fairlywell as far as containment ofthe disease is concerned.
Meanwhile, the Lucknowpolice on Friday issued anadvisory for shopowners, whohave been asked to draw cir-cles outside their shops toensure social distancing. Theyhave been asked not to keepgoods outside their shops andalso ensure that no handcartswith goods are outside theirshops. The shopowners havebeen asked not to sell goods tocustomers without masks.Senior officers have also beenasked to take stock of the sit-uation in the markets andinitiate legal action, whereverrequired.
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Ten more persons testedpositive for coronavirus
in Lucknow on Friday whilethe report of a 55-year-oldwoman from Golaganj cameout positive after her death.She was admitted at KGMU.
CMO Narendra Agarwalsaid those who tested positiveincluded nine from the samefamily in Sadar. Two membersfrom the same family hadtested positive on Thursday.The CMO said one migranttested positive inMohanlalganj.
About the woman whotested positive after death,Agarwal said sampling hadbeen carried out in Golaganj,Charbagh and Daroga Kheda
Giving the details of thewoman from Golaganj whodied at KGMU, mediaspokesperson Dr Sudhir Singh
said she was suffering from aclot in the brain as also fromtype-2 diabetes. “She wasadmitted to KGMU at 2 am onFriday and expired at 10 am.Her test report came positiveafter her death. The audit isbeing carried out and thedeath is likely due to co-mor-bidities,” he said.
Meanwhile, a 3-year-oldchild from Lakhimpur Kheri,who was admitted toPaediatric Oncology depart-ment, was shifted to IDH afterhe tested positive for coron-avirus. Dr Singh said hischemotherapy was done onMay 25 in the day care wardwhere no patient is admitted.
“There were seven peoplewho came in contact with thechild, including three nurses,two ward boys and two safaiworkers. Samples of all thesepersons have been collected fortesting. The day care ward has
been sanitised and will bemade functional again onMonday. The patients will befacing no problems,” he said.
Meanwhile, in continua-tion with the felicitation ofhealthcare workers of SGPGI,who have completed 3-weekquarantine, the SGPGI direc-tor extended thanks to seniorresidents, nursing staff, patienthelpers and sanitary workers.Speaking on the occasion, hesaid it was a war-like situationwhich the entire world wasfaced with. He saluted thespirit of healthcare workers tofight the pandemic.
Meanwhile, 275 new coro-navirus patients in UP took thetally to 7,445 in the state.There were four deaths —one each in Noida, Mathura,Ambedkarnagar and Unnao— taking the toll to 201. Atotal of 195 patients recovered,taking the figure to 4,410.
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Apriest and his son werefound dead outside a tem-
ple in Rasoolpur Sarai village inNakhasa police station area ofSambhal on Friday. While localssuspect that the two were mur-dered, the police claim thatinvestigation point towards theduo ending their lives due todepression and illness. Thebodies were sent for autopsy.
As per reports, some res-idents reached Shiv temple inRasoolpur Sarai village onFriday morning and foundpriest Amar Singh missing. Asthey looked for him, they wereshocked to see the priest andhis son Jaiveer Singh lyingdead nearby. Later the policewere informed and a teamrushed to the site. After prelim-inary inquiry, the police saidthat it appeared that father-sonduo had committed suicide.
The police said it surfacedthat Amar Singh was sick forthe past few days and his sonJaiveer was mentally chal-lenged. The matter is being
probed from all angles.Meanwhile in Unnao, eight
persons were injured whensome locals goons attacked apradhan in Sohramau area.Sitting pradhan of Manhoragram of Nawabganj block,Kamlesh Tewari, was near hishouse on Friday afternoon,when half-a-dozen people on aScorpio reached there andattacked him. As the pradhanrushed for cover, the goonstried to run him over by theSUV. About a dozen womenworking in the area came to thepradhan’s rescue with sticksand targeted the SUV afterwhich the driver lost controland rammed the vehicle into ahouse. Later the assailantsabandoned the vehicle andfled. However, eight personswere injured in the process andwere hospitalised.
A case was registered andthe police were trying to iden-tify and arrest the assailants.Interestingly, the locals record-ed the incident on mobile phoneand uploaded it on social sitesafter which it went viral.
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Lucknow (PNS): Dr SudeeptaSaha and Amit Keshari of thePharmaceutical Sciences depart-ment of Babasaheb BhimraoAmbedkar University havereceived patents for the inven-tion of a compound byIntellectual Property India. Theyhave been granted patents for upto 20 years based on the provi-sions of the Patent Act, 1970 forthe invention of an anti-hepa-tocellular carcinogenic agent.
Dr Sudeepta Saha said thatHepatocellular Carcinoma isthe third most common cause ofcancer worldwide and around
6,00,000 people die every yearbecause of it. The lack of treat-ment options may be due tounexplored clear-cut mecha-nism of HCC. Meanwhile, anonline poetry writing competi-tion is being organised byGender Champion Committeeand Committee of BasicFacilities for Women of BBAU.The contest is titled ‘Role ofwomen as corona warriors’. Anonline essay writing competitionis also being organised jointly bythe same committee and thetopic is ‘Participation of girl stu-dents in online education’.
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In a major tragedy, fiveteenagers were drowned
while bathing at Sipahia Ghat,other side of Assi Ghat, inRamnagar under the samepolice station on Friday. Thepolice and NDRF personnelfished out the bodies with thehelp of divers. The police sentbodies for the postmortemexamination. It was said thatthey were making TikTok videoat the time of tragedy but thepolice categorically denied it.
According to information,five friends of Wari Gadhai areain Ramnagar identified asTousif (15), Saki (14), Fardeen(14), Saif (15) and Rizwan (15)played badminton on PACGround on Friday morningand thereafter they reachedSipahia Ghat, other side ofAssi Ghat, in Ramnagar policestation to take holy dip.
It was said that they madeTikTok video on sand along the
river and thereafter one ofthem went to river to take holydip. It was said that he alsostarted making TikTok videowhile bathing in river and in
the meantime he slipped andwent into deep water. Seeingthis, his friends raised an alarmand also tried to rescue him butthey also went into deep water.
But the Incharge of Ramnagarpolice station Naresh KumarSingh categorically denied of itand claimed that they hadcome to ghat to bath and wentinto deep water while bathing.
Seeing this, a youth presenton site ran away to WariGadhai area and narrated theentire incident before theirfamily members as he wasfamiliar to teenagers. The fam-ily members informed to localpolice about this and reachedthe site.
The police personnel alongwith personnel of NDRFreached the site. And, with thehelp of divers, the bodies of allfive friends was fished out.
The police and NDRF per-sonnel rushed the teenagers totrauma centre in BHU wherethe doctors pronounced thembrought dead. The police sentbodies for the postmortemexamination. Pall of gloomdescended on Wari Gadhaiarea when the death of fiveteenagers reached there.
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As per state government’sdesire, the district admin-
istration is providing job tomigrant labourers underMahatma Gandhi NationalRural Employment GuaranteeAct (MNREGA) who havebeen returning fromMaharashtra, Gujarat,Rajasthan and other states.And, in this order, a total of16,783 migrant labourersreturned to district and ofthem, the job cards of as manyas 1,936 migrant labourerswere made ,while as many as1,615 migrant labourers gotjobs after 14 days of homequarantine till May 28.
It may be noted here thatthe government had givensome relaxations in lockdown-4.0 and the Railways ranShramik special trains to fetchmigrant workers and labourersto their home districts.
And, in this order, a totalof 16,783 migrant labourersreached the district from
Maharashtra, Gujarat,Rajasthan and other states tillMay 28 last. On the demand,the job cards of as many as1,936 migrants were madeunder MNREGA and of them,as many as 1,615 migrants gotjobs for the works under thisscheme being carried out in asmany as 584 gram panchayatsof eight development blocks ofdistrict, informed the DeputyCommissioner (MNREGA)Karunakar Adeev.
The 17 departments haveso far submitted proposals of �10.45 crore for the convergencework from MNREGA labour-ers (semi-skilled andunskilled). And, the districtadministration is preparingdata on 25 points to providejobs to migrant labourers divid-ing them in four categories. Atotal of 5,002 labourers, tilesworkers, loaders, electrician &helper, workshop workers havebeen kept under the first cate-gory and a total of 681 drivers,crane operators, follower andauto drivers have been kept
under second category, while atotal of 1,749 workers whohave knowledge of work of zari,saree, textile, embroidery, clothcutting and fabrication havebeen kept under third catego-ry. While a total of 2,139 fruitsellers, housewives, beauticiansand others are under the fourthcategory.
The district convergencecommittee had recently metwith Chief DevelopmentOfficer Madhusudan Hulgi inchair and asked various gov-ernment departments to pre-pare action plan to provide jobfor convergence work tomigrant labourers. The 10departments have chalked outaction plan of � 10.45 crore forthe convergence work.
There is no dearth of fundand the migrant labourers arebeing provided jobs underMNREGA after 14 days homequarantine, informed Adeev. Itmay be noted here that the 14days home quarantine is mustfor migrant workers after theyreturned from other states or
districts of UP as per guidelineissued by government duringlockdown. And, there is pun-ishment for those defying thedirective of 14 days home quar-antine.
Meanwhile, the state gov-ernment has directed all districtmagistrates of state to appointa ‘meth’ on 50 labourers with�320 as remuneration and 50per cent meth should bewomen associated to self helpgroups and the divyang andphysically incapable but tech-nically strong be given priori-ty. The work of meth would beto supervise the work, to reg-ister the attendance in musterroll, update job card, imple-mentation of social distancing,using mask while doing workand ensuring sanitisation &availability of soap and water atwork site. It may be noted herethat the number of registeredlabourers under MNREGFA inall eight development blocks is1,51,782, while the number ofactive families under thisscheme is 70,864.
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University ScienceInstrumentation Centre
(Level 2) of Banaras HinduUniversity (BHU) has devel-oped a cheap hand free sanitis-er dispenser. As it is very eco-nomical, such dispensers arebeing made so that they can beused in more and more placeson the campus. The Vice-Chancellor of BHU ProfRakesh Bhatnagar has seenand tested this dispenser hereon Thursday. After using thesame, the V-C also gave somesuggestions. On the occasion,Rector Prof V Shukla and
Registrar Dr Neeraj Tripathiwere also present.
Professor incharge of thecentre Anchal Srivastava saidthat when the entire world isfighting against coronaviruspandemic, everyone is prepar-ing himself to prevent theattack of coronavirus and inthis direction, the sanitiser hasbecome an integral part ofeveryday life. ‘With the increas-ing use of sanitisers, new andeasy methods are also beingused for their uses. In such asituation, the hand free sanitis-er dispenser is becoming verypopular as there is no need totouch it with the hands while
using it and one’s hands can besanitised by pressing its paddlewith the feet,’ said ProfSrivastava. He further said thatmore efforts are being made toreduce the cost of this dis-penser as much as possible andthe centre is working on moreequipment for the use on thecampus including UV-sterilisa-tion cabinet to disinfect officeitems such as files, and aremote-operated trolley tocarry food to COVID-19patients.
Earlier, in view to improveits global image and relationsfurther, BHU has signed amemorandum of understand-
ing (MoU) with CambridgeUniversity to increase researchactivities in the field of archae-ology. The MoU was signed byRegistrar Dr Neeraj Tripathiand head of Ancient IndianHistory, Culture &Archaeology department ProfON Singh on behalf of BHU,while Dr Danial Wunderlichon behalf of of CambridgeUniversity. Since 2007, severalarchaeological projects arebeing done between the twouniversities under the leader-ship of Prof Ravindra NathSingh, who has played animportant role in signing of thisMoU for three years.
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The Allahabad High Courthas held that the state gov-
ernment or developmentauthorities cannot recover extracompensation given tolandowners (whose land wereacquired) from allottees of theland in sans of any prior agree-ment with the allottees withregard to increase in compen-sation to be borne by suchallottees of land.
The court further held thatany extra demand made byYEIDA from allottees of landin furtherance of governmentorder dated August 29, 2014was illegal and quashed all
such demand orders.The Bench comprising
Justice Pankaj Mithal andJustice VC Dixit allowed sever-al petitions filed by ShakuntlaEducational and WelfareSociety and various otherbuilders and trusts. On August29, 2014, state governmentpassed an order mentioningthat due to agitation of thefarmers and the legal compli-cations, it was necessary for anout of court settlement with thefarmers by offering 64.7% addi-tional amount for theiracquired land, provided theywithdraw their petitions chal-lenging the acquisition pro-ceedings and undertakes not to
institute any litigation and cre-ate any hindrance in the devel-opment work of the YEIDA.
‘The government directedfor the payment of 64.7% addi-tional amount to the farmersand to recover it from theallottees of the land.’ said theorder.
Petitioners’ contention wasthat state government wasrecovering increased compen-sation from allottees of the landthough it never modified termsand conditions of contract andin absence of any modificationin terms and conditions, stategovernment has no right torecover any excess compensa-tion from petitioners.
‘Any rights, on the basis ofa concluded or final contract orlease, which have been crys-tallised in favour of any partycannot be taken away by fram-ing a policy on some laterdate. A policy so framed wouldbe prospective in nature andcannot affect the contractsalready finalised. Any suchpolicy which is unilaterallyframed disturbing the rightswhich have accrued to a partywould clearly be violative ofArticles 14 and 16 of theConstitution.’, contented peti-tioners. The court allowed thebunch of petitions and declaredthe August 2014 governmentorder illegal.
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Three more members of thefamily of a young man
from Chandaywari village ofBara in trans-Yamuna, whowas found corona positive onMay 25, have been confirmedto be infected with the coron-avirus here on Friday taking tollof active cases in district to 41.After COVID-19 was con-firmed in the youth, his father,wife and son were kept in theKalindipuram quarantine cen-tre. On Thursday, their sampleswere tested in the MicrobiologyLab of the Medical College, andall three tested positive for thecoronavirus late on Thursday.
The young man camehome from Mumbai on May 16in his private car. He wasaccompanied by his father,wife and son. On May 25,when the young man’s healthdeteriorated, he went to a pri-vate hospital in the city for acheckup. When he was testedin a private lab he was found tobe corona positive there. He isundergoing treatment at SRNHospital. When the father, wifeand son were quarantined andtheir samplings were done,their report also came positiveon Thursday night.
These three people wereadmitted to COVID Hospitalin L3 SRN Hospital. DistrictNodal Officer for Corona, DrRishi Sahai said that four peo-ple of the same family were
found corona positive, all ofthem had come from Mumbai.
A total of 113 samples ofthe district were tested in themedical college lab onThursday evening. Of them,109 reports came negative,while four people have beenfound corona infected. Thefirst patient is of Karchanaand lived in Mumbai. He camehome with his son on May 21.
Similarly, the sample ofwoman’s husband living atJanwaar village located at MejaRoad was also taken for testing.Both have been reported pos-itive in their test. The thirdpatient hails from Rasar villagein Handia. He came to his vil-lage by train on May 14. Sincethen he was in the home quar-antine. His samping was doneon May 25. And he was con-firmed to be corona positive onWednesday. Nodal Officer DrRishi Sahai said that all threepatients have been admitted toKotwa CHC COVID Hospital.He said that a total of 82 pos-itive cases have been found sofar. In which currently 41 casesare active, and they are beingtreated at L1 Hospital, KotwaCHC and L3 Hospital SRN, headded.
MAN BADLY BURNT: Amiddle aged man was badlyburnt in the Chhayuna village,under the Sarayamrej policestation in the wee hours ofFriday. After dousing the fire,he was admitted to the SRN
Hospital in a severely scorchedstate. Police said that the mid-dle aged man burnt due to thethe mosquito net catching fire.
At the same time, a casehas been registered against thethree people of the villageincluding Ramshiromani,Lavkush and Raja, in anattempt to murder on behalf ofthe victim's son Durgesh. Thepolice is investigating the caseafter detaining the accusedpersons. Ramdhani Bharatiya,the 55-year-old son of RamSumer, a resident of Chhataunavillage, was sleeping on the bedoutside the door after havingdinner. He was sleeping with amosquito net on the bed.Around midnight, the familymembers suddenly heard thesound of Ramdhani's scream-ing. When they ran outsidethey spotted the bed engulfedin flames.
T R A D E R S H OT AT,INJURED: A trader was shotat and injured by some uniden-tifed goons at Kowdihar mar-ket, udner the Nawabganjpolice station here on Fridayafternoon. The bullet hit thebusinessman’s hand and hecollapsed on the ground.
Hearing the sound of fire,while the nearby shopkeepersrushed for his rescue, the mis-creants hit the head of theinjured businessman with a rodwhile running away. The busi-nessman is admitted to a hos-pital in critical condition.
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Twenty-six new coronaviruspositive cases have been
detected in Kanpur City duringthe last 24 hours.
Chief Medical Officer DrAK Shukla said on Friday thatthe 26 new coronavirus caseshad been detected in Fattepur,Deputy Ka Parao, Barra, LalBangla, Govindnagar,Ghatampur, Ishwariganj,Laxmipurwa, Saket Nagar andMunshipurwa.
With these new cases, 365persons have tested positive forcoronavirus infection in thedistrict so far out of which 301have been cured and dis-charged from hospitals.
At present there are 53active cases undergoing treat-ment in hospitals. The districthas witnessed 11 COVID-19deaths.
Dr Shukla said 20 teamssurveyed the containment areasin Colonelganj, Jaraulipurwaand scanned 1,480 houses. Hesaid 327 swab samples weretaken for testing.
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Uttar Pradesh’s Minister forFinance, Parliamentary
Affairs and Medical Education,Suresh Khanna, while inspect-ing the LLR Hospital on Fridaysaid the state government hadtaken several measures to checkthe spread of coronavirus incommunity and had succeed-ed to quite an extent.
He said stringent monitor-ing and social distancing wasbeing followed in the rightearnest.
The minister said apartfrom this, the state govern-ment’s objective was to allay all
apprehensions and make peo-ple more aware and vigilant fortheir own safety.
Khanna visited the LLRHospital, giving special atten-tion to the holding area wherethe coronavirus suspectsundergo testing and are kept tillthe report arrives. He warnedthat apathy and negligencewould not be tolerated at anycost.
It may be mentioned herethat the minister is said to havevisited the LLR Hospital follow-ing a number of deaths due toalleged negligence and the rowbetween the LLRH and GSVMMedical College, specially
reports about the absence ofsenior doctors who fail to per-form their duties.
The minister cautioned thedoctors to ensure that till thetime the patients are in theholding area, they are provid-ed with proper and timelytreatment.
He said the treatmentshould not be focused onCOVID-19 but other seriousailments need to be attended toin proper manner and timely.
He also inspected theneuro science building.
Khanna directed the chiefmedical superintendent andother officials of the hospital to
ensure that there was cleanli-ness in all the hospitals. He saidthe lockdown should be strict-ly enforced. He said it was notonly the duty of police but alsoof people that they followeddistancing and did not comeout of their homes.
Later, the minister held anin-camera meeting with theLLR Hospital and medical col-lege officials.
Kanpur DivisionalCommissioner Sudhir MBobde, District Magistrate BRTiwari, DIG Anant Dev, GSVMMedical College principal andmany other officials were pre-sent at the time of inspection.
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City police in associationwith officials of Kanpur
Nagar Nigam and Healthdepartment are all set to launchan aggressive tracing drive tolocate the migrant workerswho have returned to the dis-trict. The simultaneous compil-ing of data by these three gov-ernment agencies will greatlyassist in keeping a tab on allmigrant workers who havecome to the district.
Superintendent of Police(West) Anil Kumar said as thenumber of migrant workerspresently available with thepolice, Kanpur NagarNigam and Healthdepartment were different,their monitoring was alsobeing carried out according toself-devised formula of eachdepartment.
But now, to bring unifor-mity in the method, a jointteam would be set up at policestation level to collect data ofmigrant workers whohave arrived in the respectiveareas.
The joint team will beassisted by the members of S-10 and other committees setup at police station level.
Kumar said the status ofcommunity spread would bechecked through aggressiverandom sampling.
The joint team wouldmainly carry out its investiga-tions based on threepoints: (1) awareness ofmigrant worker about coron-avirus (2) can he/she be rec-ommended for home quaran-tine, and (3) can his/herneighbours monitor the quar-antined persons.
Dr Kumar said after ver-ification on all these threepoints, i f any of themigrant workers wasfound unfit for homequarantine, some Rain Baseras(shelter homes) of KanpurNagar Nigam would be devel-oped as quarantine centres forthem.
He said if, after launchingthe drive, any migrant work-er tried to hide his/her arrivalin the city and violate thelockdown norms, stern actionwould be initiated after lodg-ing FIR against the personconcerned.
So far, according to infor-mation available with theSP (West), around 1,500migrant workers have arrivedin the city.
Meanwhile, the Healthdepartment will carry out reg-ular monitoring of peoplefreed from quarantinecentres.
Chief Medical Officer DrAshok Shukla said they hadprepared a list of 1,000 per-sons, including those living inhotspot areas, for regularmonitoring.
He said as over 200 elder-ly persons were found to besuffering from diabetes andhypertension during quaran-tine, they were in high riskcategory.
Despite completing theirquarantine, these people arerequired to be kept undersurveillance as per norms.Though, after 28 days of quar-antine period, they may nothave any positive symptom,but precaution is necessary insuch cases.
These people would beexamined by the team ofhealth department every weekand in case of any suspicion,their swab samples would becollected.
The team wouldvisit door-to-door andsubmit weekly report, theChief Medical Officer Shuklasaid.
4��� ������ KANPUR (PNS): A fire brokeout in the registry office inCollectorate compound hereon early Friday morning.
Four computers, chairs,tables and several importantdocuments kept in the room ofdeputy registrar (III) were gut-ted in the fire.
With the help of two firetenders, the fire was controlledafter some time.
Fortunately, at the timethe fire broke out, there wasnobody in the registry office.Had the incident taken placeduring office hours, it couldhave assumed an ugly turn.
According to reports, somepeople passing through theregistry office road around 6am saw it engulfed in flamesand informed the fire brigade.
Immediately, two fire ten-ders from Latouche road firestation reached the spot andcontrolled the flames in 45minutes. Fire station officerSurendra Chaube said by thetime the fire fighting teamreached the spot, employees ofregistry office had also reachedthere and they helped in extin-guishing the fire by unlockingthe office. He said officerecords, furniture and comput-ers in the office of deputy reg-istrar (III) were gutted in thefire, sparked by short-circuit inthe electricity meter at theentry gate. The registry officeemployees said the old and out-lived electric wires had sparkedfire several times in the past.
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Four new COVID-19patients including three
migrants have been found inthe district here on Friday.The rise of corona patients con-tinued with the arrival ofmigrants as out of 166 patientsfound, the number of migrantshas increased to 64. Amidst thefinding of large number ofcorona patients amongmigrants, there is pleasant newsthat as many as 32 patients havebeen discharged after receivingtheir follow-up reports negativeand this included 21 fromVaranasi, seven fromChandauli and four fromGhazipur. In Varanasi, amongthe recovered patients four arefrom Shivala, three fromJamaluddin and rest of 14 arefrom Bharthara Kala,Garkhada, ChiraigaonMadhopur, Kanshi RamColony Shivpur, Latauni,Rustampur, Kaithi, Ratanpur,Rampur, Sundarpur, Nariya,Chitauna and Sarvanpur.
According to the DistrictMagistrate (DM) Kaushal RajSharma, as many as 208 reportshave been received fromMicrobiology Lab of BHU and204 of them are negative, whilefour are positive. Among thesefour, a youth (25) from hotspotKhargipur (Choubeypur)returned from Ahmedabadalong with his father, who hadfound positive earlier. Hisfather is a teacher there. The
second patient is 11 years oldboy from hotspot Narayanpur(Choubeypur) who is a nephewof earlier found patient fromthe village. The third one is 18years old boy from hotspotGadar (Cholapur) whoreturned here by a truck. Heworks as labourer in Mumbai.The fourth patient is 45 yearsold from Manikpur(Manduadih) who drives anauto in Mumbai and camehere by a train.
Among the negativereports, there are followupreports of 15 admitted at PtDeen Dayal Upadhyay Hospitaland 17 being treated at ESICHospital. All these 32 patientshave been discharged from thehospitals and out of them 21
are from Varanasi, seven fromChandauli and four fromGhazipur.
In the district, so far asmany as 166 corona positivepatients have been found. Outof them, 111 have been dis-charged, while four have died.There are 51 active patients.The number of hotspot hasincreased to 83. Manikpur(Manduadih) has been made asnew hotspot. Out of which 25have become green zonesincluding Pratappur whileamong the 58 active hotspots,19 are in orange zones, while 39are still in red zones. In the dis-trict, as many as 188 sampleswere collected and sent for test-ing. Out of total 5,517 samples,the reports of 4,997 have
received, while of 520 are await-ed. Out of received 4,997reports, 4831 were negativeand 166 positive.
Meanwhile, the situationcontinued to remain alarmingin this belt of Purvanchal (east-ern UP) comprising 10 districtsof three divisions as a largenumber of new corona patientshave been found. In Azamgarh,as many as 19 new patientshave been detected. Out ofthese patients, two are employ-ees of a hotel where an infect-ed staff of medical college wasquarantined. All the other 17are either migrants or theycame into their contacts. Withthis, the number of totalpatients in Azamgarh hasincreased to 88 with 77 active,while nine have been recoveredand two have died.
In Bhadohi, two more newpositive patients have beendetected. They are a lab tech-nician of Aurai CHC and awoman who returned fromAhmedabad. With this, thenumber of patients in the dis-trict has increased to 39 with 31active patients. Three patientshave been discharged. In Ballia,five new patients have beendetected, increasing the num-ber of COVID-19 patients to 40with 28 active.
In Chandauli, as sevenpatients have been dischargedthe situation has improved asout of 21 positive patients nowthe number of active patients is14.
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District Magistrate AmitSingh Bansal and SP
Siddharth Shankar Meenainspected the cow shed whichwas being constructed on twohectares of land at RangoliBhatpura gram panchayat ofNaraini tehsil on Thursday.DM Bansal directed executiveengineer Rural EngineeringService (RES) to complete theconstruction work soon. DMinstructed him to ensure that agate wall was there around the
water tank so that it could becleaned regularly and cleandrinking water could be madeavailable for the wanderingcows. DM asked the executiveengineer to ensure interlockingof the floor properly. DMdirected him to make arrange-ments for taking out the rainwater from the floor in order toavoid waterlogging whichmight damage it. Later DMinspected UP-MP border atKartal in Naraini. He instruct-ed the policemen not to allowthe migrant labourers to go on
foot. DM asked them to takethem to the shelter home forthermal screening, providethem food and arrange vehiclesfor dropping them at theirdestinations. DM and SP alsoinspected L-1 Covid-19 quar-antine centre at Naraini CHC.DM inquired about the sam-pling of corona suspects frommedical officer on duty. Hetold the DM that samples of 27corona suspects were sent toJhansi Medical College. Besidesthe samples of 93 corona sus-pects would be collected and
sent to Jhansi Medical College,he added. Medical officerinformed the DM that 68 per-sons were under quarantine atNaraini quarantine centre. DMBansal directed Superintendentof Naraini CHC to ensure ther-mal screening of all migrantlabourers coming to CHC fortheir health check-up. Thosepresent during the inspectionwere Chief DevelopmentOfficer (CDO) BandaHarishchandra Verma and sub-divisional magistrate (SDM)Naraini Vandita Srivastava.
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Keeping in mind the Covid-19 infection the North
Eastern Railway (NER) admin-istration was making severaleffective efforts to prevent itbesides ensuring protectionfrom it in which its employeesare engaged whole-heartedly.During the countrywide lock-down to check its spread alongwith goods and parcel trains,Shramik special trains are alsobeing operated for the past fewdays to take migrant workers totheir native places. Apart fromit face masks and relief mate-rials are being distributedamong the needy people by therailwaymen in this situation.Rail workers who had donecommendable work in such asituation are being honoured bybeing declared ‘CoronaWarriors of the Day’ daily bythe NER administration forboosting their morale. In thisseries two railway personnel onNortheast Railway were hon-oured on May 27, Chief PublicRelations OfficerPankaj KumarSingh said.
Arvind Kumar Pandey,working as senior section engi-
neer/permanent way(Construction) in the con-struction organisation ofVaranasi division, got the workof commissioning of Azamgarhyard during the lockdown peri-od. He played an important
role in completing the work bygetting labour from other dis-tricts for the non-interlockingwork of Azamgarh yard whilefollowing social distancing andsafety standards. Apart from ithe made arrangements for nec-
essary materials and tools plantetc for non-interlocking work,along with ensuring food forthe workers and their place fortheir staying. He also got theturn out dismantle work done.For these commendable works
of Arvind Kumar Pandey, hewas honoured by AdditionalGeneral Manager Amit KumarAggarwal and declared ‘Coronawarriors of the day.’
Prashant Singh Yadav,working as sub-inspector in
Railway Protection Force post,Fatehgarh, coordinated withthe Government Railway Police(GRP) and ensured the safedeboarding of about 3,500 pas-sengers at Farrukhabad station.After their thermal screeninghe contributed significantly inensuring that they reached thebuses provided by the districtadministration so that theycould reach their respectivedestinations.
He got the railway stationlocked to protect all the stationsand railway properties underhis jurisdiction. Apart from ithe provided food to 670 needyand helpless people. He alsomade made the people awareabout how they could protectthemselves against Covid-19.For these commendable worksof Prashant Singh Yadav he washonoured by being declared the‘Corona Warrior of the Day’ ofIzzatnagar division.
In order to boost themorale of the personnel therailway administration will givesuch awards during lockdownperiod in future too.
The railway administra-tion is indeed proud of its suchpersonnel.
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During the lockdown to prevent thespread of Covid-19 infection the
movement of trains for the generalpublic was cancelled. In view of the somerelaxation given by the government inthe lockdown in order to make the lifeof common people normal the railwayadministration is starting the movementof some trains for general public. Underit it has been decided to ensure move-ment of 23 pairs of special trains fromGorakhpur and Bihar via Gorakhpur andLucknow and from Ghazipur,Manduadih and Kathgodam on thelines of regular trains from June 1 thisyear and onwards, CPRO, PK Singh, said.The 02555 Gorakhpur-Hisar specialtrain will be run from Gorakhpur fromJune 1 and 02556 Hisar-Gorakhpurspecial train from Hisar from June 2.The departure, arrival and stoppage ofthese trains will be according to thetimetable of 12555/12556 Gorakhpur-Hisar-Gorakhpur Gorakhdham Express.The 02541 Gorakhpur-Lokmanya TilakTerminus Express Special train will berun from Gorakhpur from June 1 and02542 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Gorakhpur Express Special train fromJune 03 from Lokmanya Tilak. Thedeparture, arrival and stoppage of thesetrains will be according to the timetableof 12541/12542 Gorakhpur-LokmanyaTilak Terminus-Gorakhpur Express.
The 01015 Lokmanya TilakTerminus-Gorakhpur Express specialtrain will be run from Lokmanya Tilakfrom June 1 and 01016 Gorakhpur-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express spe-cial train from Gorakhpur from June 3.The departure, arrival and stoppage ofthese trains will be according to thetimetable of 11015/11016 LokmanyaTilak Terminus-Gorakhpur-LokmanyaTilak Terminus Express. The 09037Bandra Terminus-Gorakhpur ExpressSpecial train will be run from Bandra
Terminus from June 2 and 09038Gorakhpur-Bandra Terminus ExpressSpecial train from June 5 fromGorakhpur. Departure, arrival and stop-page of these trains will be according tothe schedule of 19037/19038 BandraTerminus-Gorakhpur-Bandra TerminusAvadh Express. The 09089 Ahmedabad-Gorakhpur Express special train willdepart from Ahmedabad daily fromJune 1 at 23:45 hours and reachGorakhpur at 05:40 hours the third day.The 09090 Gorakhpur-AhmedabadExpress Special train will be run dailyfrom Gorakhpur from June 3. Thistrain will depart from Gorakhpur at08.40 hours and reach Ahmedabad at14.35 hours the next day. The stoppageof these trains has been provided atVaranasi, Prayagraj Chivki, Katni,Jabalpur, Itarsi, Khandwa, Bhusawal,Surat and Vadodara stations.
Meanwhile the 02533 Lucknow-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj TerminusMumbai Express special train will runfrom Lucknow from June 1, and 02534Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj TerminusMumbai-Lucknow Express special trainwill be run from June 3 from ChatrapatiShivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai. Thedeparture, arrival and stoppage of thesetrains will be according to the timetableof 12553/12534 Lucknow-ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai-Lucknow Pushpak Express. On theother hand, the 02219 Ghazipur City-Anand Vihar Terminus Suheldev ExpressSpecial train will run from Ghazipur Cityfrom June 3 and 02220 Anand ViharTerminus-Ghazipur City SuheldevExpress Special train from Anand Viharterminus from June 2. The departure,arrival and stoppage of these trains willbe according to the schedule of22419/22420 Ghazipur City-AnandVihar Terminus. The 02234 AnandVihar Terminus-Ghazipur City bi-week-ly special train will be run from AnandVihar Terminus from June 1 and 02233
Ghazipur City-Anand Vihar Terminusbi-weekly special train from GhazipurCity from June 2. The departure, arrivaland stoppage of these trains will beaccording to the schedule of 22434/22433Ghazipur City-Anand Vihar Terminus.
The 02559 Manduadih-New DelhiExpress special train will be run fromManduadih from June 1. The 02560 NewDelhi-Manduwadih Express special trainwill be run from New Delhi from June2, 2020. The departure, arrival andstoppage of these trains will be accord-ing to the timetable of 12559/12560Manduadih-New Delhi-Manduadih ShivGanga Express. The 09041 BandraTerminus-Ghazipur City Express Specialtrain will run from Bandra Terminusfrom June 5 and 09042 Ghazipur City-Bandra Terminus Express special trainfrom Ghazipur from June 7. The depar-ture, arrival and stoppage of these trainswill be according to the timetable of19041/19042 Bandra Terminus-GhazipurCity-Bandra Terminus Express.
The following trains from Bihar willrun through Gorakhpur. The 02553Saharsa-New Delhi special train will berun from Saharsa from June 1 and 02554New Delhi-Saharsa special train fromNew Delhi from June 2. The departure,arrival and stoppage of these trains willbe according to the timetable of12553/12554 Saharsa-New Delhi-SaharsaVaishali Express. The 02557Muzaffarpur-Anand Vihar TerminusSpecial train will be run fromMuzaffarpur from June 1 and 02558Anand Vihar Terminus-MuzaffarpurSpecial train from Anand ViharTerminus from June 2. The departure,arrival and stoppage of these trains willbe according to the timetable of12557/12558 Muzaffarpur Anand ViharTerminus-Muzaffarpur Sapt KrantiExpress. The 05273 Raxaul-Anand ViharTerminus special train will be run fromRaxaul from June 1 and 05274 AnandVihar Terminus-Raxaul special train
from Anand Vihar Terminus from June2. However, the departure, arrival andstoppage of these trains will be as per theschedule of 15273/15274 Raxaul-AnandVihar Terminus-Raxaul SatyagrahaExpress. The 04673 Jaynagar-AmritsarExpress special train will run fromJayanagar from June 3 and 04674Amritsar-Jaynagar Express special trainfrom Amritsar from June 2. The depar-ture, arrival and stoppage of these trainswill be according to the timetable of14673/14674 Jaynagar-Amritsar-Jaynagar Shaheed Express. The 09039Bandra Terminus-Muzaffarpur Expressspecial train will run from BandraTerminus from June 1 and 09040Muzaffarpur-Bandra Terminus ExpressSpecial train from Muzaffarpur fromJune 4. The departure, arrival and stop-page of these trains will be according tothe 19039/19040 Bandra Terminus-Muzaffarpur-Bandra Terminus AvadhExpress timetable. The 09045 Surat-Chhapra Express special train will runfrom Surat from June 1 and 09046Chhapra-Surat Express special trainfrom Chhapra from June 3. The day,departure, arrival and stoppage of thesetrains will be according to the timetableof 19045/19046 Surat-Chhapra-SuratTapti Ganga Express. The 02565Darbhanga-New Delhi Express Specialtrain will be run from Darbhanga fromJune 1 and 02566 New Delhi-DarbhangaExpress special train from New Delhifrom June 2. The departure, arrival andstoppage of these trains will be accord-ing to the timetable of 12565/12566Darbhanga-New Delhi-Darbhanga BiharSampark Kranti Express. The 01061Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-DarbhangaExpress special train will run fromLokmanya Tilak from June 1 and 01062Darbhanga-Lokmanya Tilak TerminusExpress special train from Darbhangafrom June 3. The departure, arrival andstoppage of these trains will be accord-ing to the timetable of 11061/11062
Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Darbhanga-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express. The04010 Anand Vihar Terminus-Bapudham Motihari Special train will berun from Anand Vihar Terminus fromJune 6 and the Bapudham Motihari-Anand Vihar Terminus Special trainfrom June 7 from Bapudham Motihari.The departure, arrival and stoppage ofthese trains 14010/14009 Anand ViharTerminus-Bapudham Motihari-AnandVihar Terminus Champaran will beaccording to the timetable of SatyagrahaExpress. The 02791 Secunderabad-Danapur special train will be run fromSecunderabad from June 1 and 02792Danapur-Secunderabad special trainfrom Danapur from June 3. The depar-ture, arrival and stoppage of these trainswill be according to the timetable of12791/12792 Secunderabad-Danapur-Secunderabad Express. The 09165Ahmedabad - Darbhanga ExpressSpecial train will be run fromAhmedabad from June 3 and 09166Darbhanga - Ahmedabad ExpressSpecial train will be run from Darbhangafrom June 6. The departure, arrival andstoppage of these trains will be as per thetimetable of 19165/19166 Ahmedabad-Darbhanga-Ahmedabad SabarmatiExpress.
The 04650 Amritsar-JayanagarExpress special train will be run fromAmritsar from June 1 and 04649Jaynagar-Amritsar Express special trainfrom Jayanagar from June 5. The depar-ture, arrival and stoppage of these trainswill be according to the schedule of14650/14649 Jaynagar-Amritsar Saryu-Jamuna Express. The 02091 Dehradun-Kathgodam Express special train will runfrom Dehradun from June 2 and 02092Kathgodam-Dehradun Express specialtrain from Kathgodam from June 2. Thedeparture, arrival and stoppage of thesetrains will be according to the timetableof 12091/12092 Dehradun-Kathgodam-Dehradun Janshatabdi Express.
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Indian Railways is running alarge number of Shramik
special trains across the coun-try every day to ensure thereturn of migrants to theirhomes. It is seen that some peo-ple are also travelling inShramik special trains whoare already suffering from dis-eases and their health was atincreased risk during theCovid-19 pandemic. Therehave also been some unfortu-nate cases of people dying ofpre-existing diseases duringthe journey. In order to preventsuch incidents and to protectsome such people the Ministryof Railways under the order ofthe Ministry of Home Affairsof May 17, 2020, appeals to allthe passengers that those withpre-existing diseases like hyper-tension, diabetes, heart disease,cancer besides those with lowimmunity, pregnant women,children below 10 years of ageand elderly people above 65years of age to avoid rail trav-
el for their health and safetyunless absolutely necessary.Many citizens of the countrywant to travel by rail at thistime and to continue uninter-rupted rail services all the offi-cers and employees of IndianRailways were working roundthe clock seven days in a row,CPRO Pankaj Kumar Singhsaid. Safety of passengers wasone of the highest priorities ofthe Railways. Cooperation ofall countrymen was required inthis work. In case of any diffi-culty or contingency one couldcontact the railway adminis-tration as Indian Railways wasalways at their service. Thehelpline number of IndianRailways was 139 and 138.
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The movement of trains forthe general public was can-celled due to the nationwidelockdown in order to preventthe spread of Covid-19. Inview of some relaxation given
by the government in the lock-down to make the general lifeof the people normal the rail-way administration is startingthe movement of some trainsfor general public
In order to ensure safetravel passengers have to takespecial precautions at thebeginning of the journey andduring it and at the end of thejourney, CPRO Pankaj KumarSingh said.
Entry will be allowed at thestation only if the passengershave a confirmed ticket.
It will be necessary todownload the Aarogya SetuApp in every passengers’mobile. It will be mandatory forrailway passengers to wear facemasks for the journey andduring it.
Keeping in mind the safe-ty from Covid infection railwaypassengers will have to reachthe station at least 90 minutesbefore the departure of trainsso that thermal screening canbe done. If symptoms ofCovid-19 were found the a pas-
senger concerned will not beallowed to travel. Such pas-sengers can get back the entireamount of the ticket by takingthe ticket examiner’s certificateof non-travel. Rail passengerswill have to travel by followingsocial distancing guidelines.
No curtains will be put inin air-conditioned coaches norwill they be given bedrollsduring the journey. Passengersshould carry sheets etc as perrequirement.
Passengers should carryfood and water as much as pos-sible. Although packed fooditems and packaged drinkingwater will be made available onthe basis of payment by theIRCTC in trains and food stallswill remain open at the railwaystations. When taking goods atthe stall one should keep thesocial distancing guidelines inmind. Passengers are request-ed to travel with minimum lug-gage during the journey andfollow the guidelines given bythe government to preventCovid-19 infection.
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Co m m i s s i o n e rChitrako otdham
Division Gaurav Dayalsaid that he had issuedinstructions to DMs ofBanda, Mahoba,Hamirpur andChitrakoot to search thepossibilities for engagingmaximum migrantlabourers in differentgovernment develop-ment works coming tothe division. Dayal toldThe Pioneer on Thursdaysaid that it was quite evi-dent that these migrant labour-ers had gone to Mumbai, Surat,
Gujarat, Noida, Hyderabad andDelhi in search of jobs but theyhad to take a harsh decision to
return their respec-tive villages as theyhad no option forthe survival of theirfamilies. Dayal hadinstructed them tothink something cre-ative for makingthese migrantlabourers self-dependent in theentire division.Commissioner saidthat he had directedDMs to ensure dis-
tribution of ration kits amongthe poor and needy. Dayal also
instructed them to issueinstructions to fair-price shop-keepers to provide ration to thepoor and needy who did nothave ration cards.Commissioner said that hehad also directed them toinspect the wheat purchasecentres in their respective dis-tricts and send him a feedback.Dayal said that he was gettingreports that some fair-priceshopkeepers were not givingration to those who did nothave ration cards. He asked theDMs to take strict legal actionagainst such fair-price shop-keepers who harrassed thepoor and needy unnecessarily.Dayal said that he had also
issued instructions to DMs tomake arrangements to preventthe possible attack of locusts inthe division. Dayal said thatteams of responsible authoritiesshould be deployed to checkthe possible attack of locusts inthe division and send him afeedback on a daily basis.Commissioner said that hehad also received some reportsof violation of social distancingguidelines in shops. He direct-ed DMs to conduct meetingswith traders and talk to them tofollow the social distancing. Hesaid that he would conduct sur-prise visits to shops in the divi-sion to check implementationof lockdown guidelines.
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Superintendent of Police DrDharmveer Singh reviewed
the policing in Lalganj circle athis office on Thursday.
During the meeting the SPtouched on points related topolicing and told the policemento dispose of cases promptly.He asked the officials con-cerned to mend their waysotherwise remain prepared toface the music.
Emphasising on strength-ening the new beat system hemade it clear that it was theresponsibility of the beat staffto keep themselves updatedwith the ongoing activities inthe area and bring it to thenotice of the police station. The
meeting was attended by CircleOfficer Lalganj, SOs of Lalganj,Halia and Jigna along withincharges of police outpostsconcerned.
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District Magistrate SushilKumar Patel inspected the 40-bed hospital which was in theprocess to be set up as Covid-19 L-3 at Trauma Centre in dis-trict hospital. During theinspection Chief MedicalOfficer Dr OP Tiwari said thatout of 40 beds 30 would begeneral category while 10would be equipped with thefacilities of ICU as per gov-ernment directives.
The DM asked the doctors
to equip the beds as per thenorms and no laxity should beadopted at all. He furtherdirected the doctors to checkeach equipment properly and
ensure quality. During theinspection the superintendent-in-chief of the hospital was alsopresent along with a team ofexpert doctors.
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Nodal officer DharmendraKumar said that he had
inspected the GovernmentMedical College, Jalaun, andmet many patients admittedthere. He said that they werehappy with the facilities at theMedical College.
While talking to ‘ThePioneer’ on Thursday, he said
that the doc-tor couplewho wasadmitted inthe MedicalCollege ear-lier had writ-ten a letter of
appreciationto the state
government for the facilitiesthere. He also added that he
had visited many rural areas ofthe district where he found thatthe grassroot level workers i.e.lekhpals, BLOs etc of the gov-ernment were doing theirduties well. He also appreciat-ed the coordination amongthe officials of the districtadministration. He also appre-ciated the initiative taken byPrincipal Medical College DrDwijendra Nath and District
Magistrate Jalaun Dr MannanAkhtar of making JamunaPalace as level-1 hospital of100-bed capacity.
While giving details hesaid that he had visited Tornaand Render Bangra villages inMadhogarh tehsil and Padri,Kaithi and Simiriya villages inKonch tehsil. He said that hewas currently posted as JointDirector, Bal Vikas Pushtahar.
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Pandit Deen DayalUpadhyaya Nagar Palika
Parishad chairman SantoshKharwar on Thursday inspect-ed the drain construction workin ward number 15Hanumanpur. He checked thequality of material used in theconstruction work.
On the occasion the chair-man, Santosh Kharwar, saidthat the construction of thedrain would solve the drainageproblem of the people of
Hanumanpur. On the occasionNayab Ahmed Riku, MotiPandey, Devicharan, MurutjaAli, Monu Singh, TufailAhmed, Meraj Alam, Lal Babu,Shah Rukh, Ashok Kannaujia,Suman Pandey, and SushilaDevi were present.
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One person was seriouslyinjured in a clash between twogroups over some issue inGurehu village under theDhanapur police station here.
On getting information, policereached the spot and got theinjured admitted to the com-munity health centre for treat-ment. From where he wasreferred to the district hospital.On the basis of complaintreceived from the victim’s side,a case has been registeredagainst two people and furtheraction had started.
According to a reportreceived here, Lal BahadurMaurya, a resident of Gurehuvillage, had a dispute with hisneighbour over some issue.
During this time, people of theother group thrashed LalBahadur as a result of which hesustained serious head injuries.People informed the policewhich reached the spot and gotthe injured admitted to thecommunity health centre fortreatment from where the doc-tors referred him to the districthospital after first aid. Policestation incharge Vinod KumarMishra said that further actionwas being taken by registeringa case on the basis of complaintreceived from the victim’s side.
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One person was drowned when a boat over-turned in a pond in Belatal town here when
he had gone to collect water chestnut there.According to a report, Dulichand (65), had goneto the pond to pick water chestnut when his boatoverturned as thunderstorm suddenly lashed thearea and he was drowned. On getting information,Belatal police outpost incharge Abhimanyu Yadavreached the spot, got the body out from the waterand sent it for the post-mortem examination.
In another incident Ravindra (32), a residentof an area under the Mahobkanth police stationdied on the spot when his motorcycle collided witha bullock cart on the Belatal-Srinagar Road here.On getting information about the matter the per-sonnel attached to the Shrinagar police stationreached the spot, sent it for the post-mortemexamination after getting the panchnama done.
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The body of a 27-year-old man belonging toBhisiya village under the Belghat police station
was found hanging on Thursday morning.The family members of the victim, Veer
Bahadur, claimed that he had committed suicideby hanging himself following a dispute with his wifeover some issue on Wednesday night. On gettinginformation the police rushed to the spot, took thebody of the deceased into custody and sent it forthe post-mortem examination. According toinformation received here, Veer Bahadur wasaddicted to alcohol. On the said day too hereturned home after consuming liquor. Thereafterhe had a dispute with his wife, Sangam. Thereaftereveryone went to sleep at night. His body wasfound hanging in the morning when his wife whento draw water from the handpump. On gettinginformation the police reached the spot, took thebody of the victim into custody and sent it for thepost-mortem examination. Police station inchargeof Belghat Devendra Kumar Singh said that theprima facie it seemed to be a case of suicide. Nocomplaint had been received yet, he added.
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While the Jammu & KashmirGovernment is still con-
templating whether to allow pil-grimage to the Amarnath caveshrine for a shorter duration inthe second week of July this year,the total number of coronaviruscases are spiraling up withoutshowing any declining trend,especially in Kashmir valley.
The Government, which istied up with containment effortsto check the further spread ofdeadly virus, is already underpressure from several quarters to
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allow annual pilgrimage to thecave shrine for a limited peri-od of atleast two weeks.
The final decision in thisregard is expected to be takenduring next week by theChairman of the ShriAmarnath Shrine Board afterholding threadbare discussionswith members of the board andtaking in to account the feed-back from the Union HomeMinistry.
Earlier, Shri AmaranthShrine board authorities haddecided to suspend the yatrathis year but later recalledtheir decision claiming thefinal decision would be takenafter taking a fresh review ofthe prevailing circumstances.
Due to heightened securi-ty concerns, the authorities inJammu & Kashmir cannot takea unilateral decision as it has toensure safety and security ofthe pilgrims during the yatraperiod.
Secondly, till the timelockdown guidelines arerelaxed and smooth move-ment of pilgrims is permittedthe pilgrimage cannot takeplace even for a limited periodof time. A senior governmentfunctionary said, “we are wait-ing for the centre to take a finalcall on the issue of holdingannual pilgrimage to theAmarnath cave shrine”.
“Once we receive a greensignal, other yatra logistics,clearing yatra track, setting
up temporary shelter points,arranging refreshment, registra-tion of pilgrims as per the guide-lines can be initiated”.
On the other hand, anotherfamous shrine of Shri MataVaishno Devi is also awaiting finalnod from the union govt torestart yatra for local pilgrims.Shri Mata Vaishno Devi yatra wassuspended on March 18, 2020ahead of the nation wide lock-down from March 23.
Meanwhile, on Friday, onemore patient died due to toCovid-19 in Srinagar while 128new cases were detected inJammu and Kashmir, taking thetotal tally to 2164 cases.
Out of these, the total num-ber of active cases are 1261, 332in Jammu division and 929 in
Kashmir division. According tothe media bulletin, out of 128 newpositive cases, 36 were reportedfrom Jammu division and 92from Kashmir division.
All the 36 cases from Jammuwere returnees. Highest numberof 14 cases were reported fromthe border district of Poonchwhile seven cases were reportedfrom Jammu, and six each fromKathua and Rajouri districts.
In Kashmir valley, the high-est number of 27 cases werereported from Srinagar, fol-lowed by 19 cases from Kulgam,and 18 from Kupwara.
According to media bulletin,76 percent active cases in Kashmirvalley are localised in only fourdistricts of Srinagar, Kulgam,Anantnag and Kupwara.
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With 874 persons testing pos-itive on Friday, the number
of persons afflicted with coron-avirus in Tamil Nadu reached20,246. The only consolation forthe authorities is the number ofpatients discharged from varioushospitals in the State. Friday saw765 persons getting cured and dis-charged from hospitals and thismade the total number of activecases in the State as 8,776.
Nine persons were declareddead on Friday and the fatalitiesreached 154 all over the State. Theefforts by the Government to con-tain the pandemic continuedwithout any hold back as 71 lab-oratories were working round-the-clock to test the samples.According to the medical bulletinissued by the Tamil NaduGovernment, 11, 334 personswere tested on Friday which tookthe total number of persons test-ed till date to 4,66, 550.
Chennai continued to be theepicenter of covid-19 in TamilNadu with 13,662 persons testingpositive till date. There are 6,353active cases in the district whichis closely followed by Chengalpattu(545). There are districts likeNamakkal, Nilgiris andPerambalur which do not haveeven a single coronavirus patient.Dharmapuri, which succeeded incontaining the pandemic report-ed three cases on Friday.
62 persons tested positive forcoronavirus in Kerala on Friday,according to Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan. Speaking toreporters at Thiruvananthapuram,the chief minister said that the hikein coronavirus cases was mainlydue to expatriates and personsfrom other States who returned toKerala.
“Out of the 62 tested positivetoday, 33 were from foreign coun-tries, and 23 from other States.Number of hotspots in the Stateincreased to 101,” said the ChiefMinister. But he had some news ofcomfort to the people of the State.“The instances of virus in every100 tests done in Kerala is 1.7 percent and this is the best in thecountry,” claimed Vijayan. He alsoruled out the possibility of com-munity/social transmission in theState.
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Religious places have remained shutacross the country ever since the nation-wide lockdown was imposed on March25 to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Karnataka Chief Minister BSYediyurappa has sought the permissionof the Centre to open up places of wor-ship, hotels, motels , lodges, and insist-ed that State’s must have authority tocheck the health status of the peoplecoming from major containment zonesin the country.
At the same time, Goa CM PramodSawant told media that he informedCentre that the lockdown should con-tinue but the hospitality sector in theState should be permitted to open up.
The Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijyan has expressed apprehensionabout allowing places of worship toopen. After flattening the curve, the Statehas seen a resurgence of numbers astrain and air travel restarted. ManyNorth-Eastern states, where the coron-avirus numbers started spiking only afterthe Centre opened up rail and air trav-el, have told the Centre for thoroughchecking of passengers from the con-tainment zones itself.
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“I can tell you; I did speak to PrimeMinister Modi. He is not in a good moodabout what is going on with China,” theUS President said during an interactionin the White House.
“They have a big conflict ...India andChina. Two countries with 1.4 billionpeople (each). Two countries with verypowerful militaries. India is not happyand probably China is not happy,”Trump said when asked if he was wor-ried about the border situation betweenIndia and China.
The President also said “they like mein India. I think they like me in Indiamore than the media likes me in thiscountry. And, I like Modi. I like yourprime minister a lot. He is a great gen-tleman.”
New Delhi rejected the USPresident’s offer to mediate with Indiaand China stating India was engagedwith China on the diplomatic level topeacefully resolve the issue.
Efforts are now on at the diplomat-ic and military level to defuse tension onthe LAC in Eastern Ladakh with fourstand-offs are now on for the last 25days. More than seven rounds of talksat the local commander level of thearmies have already taken place to findan amicable solution but of no avail.
“Our engagement on the diplomat-ic front continues both in Delhi as wellas in Beijing,” External Affairs Ministryspokesperson Anurag Srivastava hadsaid on Thursday. The two nations havesigned several protocols on maintainingpeace and tranquility at the border andthere are many agreements.
Asked about the tweet to arbitrate,Trump said if called for help, “I woulddo that (mediate). If they thought itwould help” about “mediate or arbitrate,I would do that,” he said. The USPresident’s earlier offers to mediatebetween India and Pakistan on Kashmirwere firmly rejected by New Delhi, morethan once.
On the situation in Ladakh, sourcessaid at present, the two armies are in aneyeball-to-eye ball confrontation.Moreover, the Chinese troops haveintruded three kms into the Hot Springsarea in Galwan valley. Besides buildingbarracks and bunkers, the Chinese havealso bolstered their troop strength andincreased aerial vigil by helicopters.
India has also ramped up its troopsat the four face-offs besides keeping allits advanced landing grounds in readi-ness to handle additional landings andtake-offs of transport planes ferrying sol-diers and logistical back up. These mea-sures are in place in the eventuality ofa long haul as no breakthrough in thesituation is in sight as of now, sourcessaid.
The Army top brass also reviewedduring the two-day commanders’ con-ference here on Thursday the situationat the LAC in the backdrop of theChinese aggressiveness.
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In a surprise move, Trump onWednesday offered to “mediate or arbi-trate” the raging border dispute betweenIndia and China, saying he was “ready,willing and able” to ease the tensions,amid the continuing standoff betweenthe armies of the two Asian giants.
Reacting for the first time to the USpresident’s offer, Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, thetwo countries did not want the “inter-vention” from a third party to resolve thecurrent military standoff.
“Between China and India we haveexisting border-related mechanisms andcommunication channels”, Zhao told amedia briefing here when asked aboutTrump’s offer. “We are capable of prop-erly resolving the issues between usthrough dialogue and consultation. Wedo not need the intervention of the thirdparty”, he said.
“We have informed both India andChina that the United States is ready, will-ing and able to mediate or arbitrate theirnow raging border dispute. Thank you!”Trump tweeted on Wednesday.
He reiterated his offer on Thursdaywhile speaking to reporters at the White
House.Responding to a question on his
tweet, Trump renewed his offer, sayingif called for help, “I would do that (medi-ate). If they thought it would help” about“mediate or arbitrate, I would do that,”he said.
India on Wednesday said it wasengaged with China to peacefully resolvethe border row, in a carefully crafted reac-tion to Trump’s offer to arbitrate betweenthe two Asian giants to settle theirdecades-old dispute.
“We are engaged with the Chineseside to peacefully resolve it,” ExternalAffairs Ministry Spokesperson AnuragSrivastava said, replying to questions atan online media briefing.
President Trump has previouslyoffered to mediate between India andPakistan on the Kashmir issue, a proposalthat was rejected by New Delhi.
At the Chinese Foreign Ministrybriefing on Friday, the spokesman said“China’s position on the China-Indiaboundary question is consistent andclear”. “We have been implementing theimportant consensus reached by leadersof both the countries, observing the bilat-eral agreements and have been com-mitted to safeguarding territorial sover-eignty and security, stability and peacein the border area”, Zhao said.
He reiterated his earlier commentthat “Now the overall situation in theChina-India border area is stable andcontrollable”, he said, once again indi-cating a conciliatory tone amidst thetense situation along the border.
On Thursday, an op-ed in a state-runnewspaper also reflected Beijing’s standon the offer of mediation by PresidentTrump.
The Global Times said China andIndia does not need help from the US toresolve their current round frictions atthe border, pointing out that the lead-ership of the two countries successfullysolved the Doklam standoff in 2017 with“concerted efforts and wisdom.”
“China and India successfully solvedtheir Doklam faceoff with concertedefforts and wisdom. The two informalsummits between the leadership of thetwo sides, one in the Chinese city ofWuhan in 2018 and the other in theIndian city of Chennai in 2019, set thetone to maintain peace and tranquilityalong the border,” it said.
Several areas along the Line ofActual Control in Ladakh and NorthSikkim have witnessed major militarybuild-up by both the Indian and Chinesearmies recently, in a clear signal of esca-lating tension and hardening of respec-tive positions by the two sides even twoweeks after they were engaged in twoseparate face-offs.
India has said the Chinese militarywas hindering normal patrolling by itstroops along the LAC in Ladakh andSikkim and strongly refuted Beijing’scontention that the escalating tensionbetween the two armies was triggered bytrespassing of Indian forces across theChinese side. India has said that allIndian activities were carried out on itsside of the border, asserting that India hasalways taken a very responsible approachtowards border management. At thesame time, it said, India was deeply com-mitted to protect its sovereignty andsecurity. MEA Spokesperson Srivastavaon Thursday said India is committed tothe objective of maintenance of peaceand tranquillity along the Line of ActualControl and that Indian troops take avery responsible approach towards bor-der management.
“The two sides have establishedmechanisms both at military and diplo-matic levels to resolve situations whichmay arise in border areas peacefullythrough dialogue and continue to remainengaged through these channels,” he saidat an online media briefing. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control. Chinaclaims Arunachal Pradesh as part ofsouthern Tibet while India contests it.
Both sides have been asserting thatpending the final resolution of theboundary issue, it is necessary to main-tain peace and tranquility in the borderareas.
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The economic growth was the low-est since 2008-09 when the economy hadexpanded at 3.1 per cent.
The Reserve Bank had earlierpegged the GDP growth for 2019-20 at5 per cent, as projected by the NSO inits first and second advance estimatesreleased in January and February thisyear. China’s economy contracted 6.8per cent in January-March 2020, show-ing the impact of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the CSO revised down-wards growth in the previous October-December quarter of 2019-20 to 4.1 percent from 4.7 per cent. Similarly, the firstand second quarter growth figures wererevised downwards to 5.2 per cent and4.4 per cent from 5.6 per cent and 5.1per cent, respectively.
According to the data, gross valueadded (GVA) growth in the manufac-turingsector contracted by 1.4 per centin the fourth quarter of 2019-20,from 2.1per cent expansion a year ago.
However, farm sector GVA growthwas up at 5.9 per cent, compared to 1.6per cent in the corresponding period of2018-19. Construction sector GVA con-tracted 2.2 per cent from 6 per centexpansion earlier. Mining sector growthcame in at 5.2 per cent, as against a con-traction of 4.8 per cent a year ago.
Just a week ago, RBI said the impactof Covid-19 is more severe than antic-
ipated and the GDP growth during2020-21 is likely to remain in the neg-ative territory.
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In Gujarat, in the last 24 hours, 372new cases of COVID-19 and 20 deathswere reported. The total tally of positivecases rises to 15,944 including 8,609cured/discharged, death toll is 980deaths.
In Karnataka, 248 people have beentested positive for coronavirus on Friday,taking the total number of cases in thestate to 2,781 while death toll stands at48. Similarly in Uttar Pradesh, 275 newCovid-19 cases and four deaths werereported, taking the total number ofcases in the state to 7445.
In States like Bihar, Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, UttarPradesh and Odisha the migrant influxhas started pushing up Covid numbers.Madhya Pradesh has reported 7453cases while In Haryana, 217 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Friday, tak-ing the total number of positive cases to1,721. In Rajasthan, 298 fresh Covid-19cases have been reported, taking the totalnumber of cases in the state to 8,365 anddeath toll at 184.
With 9 new positive cases forCOVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh - fivefrom Hamirpur and four from Kangradistricts, total positive cases in the staterises to 290 including 208 active cases.
The number of COVID-19 cases hasgone up to 4,813 in West Bengal up by277 fresh cases while 85 new cases werereported in Andhra Pradesh and 90 inBihar. Jammu and Kashmir registered128 cases for a total of 2164, whileOdisha added 63 new cases.
Haryana reported its biggest singleday of spike , adding 217 new cases fora total of 1,546 coronavirus cases so farwhile Kerala added 62 new cases for atally of 1,151 cases. A total of 936 peo-ple have been infected with the virus inAssam and 448 in Jharkhand.
Uttarakhand also reported its biggestsingle day spike by adding 216 freshcases taking the total count to 716,Chhattisgarh has a total of 404,Chandigarh has reported 289 cases,Tripura has 244 and Goa has registered69 cases so far.
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The area is known for fruit bats andbutterflies as former Delhi ChiefMinister Sheila Dikshit had developed“a nature trails”, house of bats, butterfliesand birds at her bungalow 3 MotilalNehru Marg.
Earlier this week, panic grippedGorakhpur’s Belghat area after over 300bats were found dead in a mangoorchard. Even as the authorities rushedto the site to collect carcasses and sendit for medical examination rumours onsocial media linked it with coronovirusoutbreak, albeit without any scientificbasis.
In Bihar, a large number of bats werefound dead near Ara in Bhojpur district.The swab samples of the dead birds arebeing sent to Patna for testing.
�4/(�4?%/�!?�2?�-Hospital Director Dr Sunil Khemka
said on May 10 that oxygen had not beenreaching Jogi’s brain for some time, caus-ing brain damage. The condition iscalled hypoxia. Jogi’s neurological activ-ities were almost nil though his heart-beat was normal and blood pressure wascontrolled by drugs.
Prime Minister Narendra Moditweeted: “Shri Ajit Jogi Ji was passion-ate about public service. This passionmade him work hard as a bureaucrat andas a political leader. He strived to bringa positive change in the lives of the poor,especially tribal communities. Saddenedby his demise. Condolences to his fam-ily. RIP.” Jogi, who quit the IndianAdministrative Service (IAS) to join pol-itics in 1986, was an MLA from theMarwahi assembly seat. He became thefirst Chief Minister of Chhattisgarhwhen it was carved out of MadhyaPradesh in November 2000.
The Chhattisgarh governmentdeclared a three-day state mourning.The mortal remains of the veteranpolitician has been kept at his official res-idence Sagon Bungalow in Raipur fromwhere it will be taken to his native vil-lage in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi districton Saturday for the last rites.
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Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupaniexpressed grief over Daruwalla’s death.“Saddened by the demise of renownedAstrologer Shri Bejan Daruwalla.
I pray for the departed soul. My con-dolences. Om Shanti,” he tweeted.
Senior state Congress leader ArjunModhwadia mentioned in his tweet thatDaruwalla “died due to Covid-19”.
“Saddened to hear demise ofrenowned astrologer Wizard Shri BejanDaruwalla ji @Bejan_Daruwalla due toCovid19. Unfathomable loss to theworld of Indian Astrology,” he said.
Though born into a Parsi family,Daruwalla was a Lord Ganesha devotee.It was Ganesha who had taught him thattiming is “everything in astrology and inlife”, he once said, adding “By timing Imean the right person at the right placeand time”.
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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on Friday
issued separate ProvisionalAttachment Orders attachingassets worth USD 50.90 million(equivalent to �385.44 crore) ofaccused Rajiv Saxena underPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) inAgusta Westland chopper scamand Moser Baer Bank Fraudcase.
The attached assets includea villa in upscale Palm Jumeirah,Dubai worth 20 million AEDand balances in five Swiss bankaccounts amounting to USD45.55 million of Saxena.
Saxena was deported toIndia from UAE on January 31last year for his involvement inthe multi-crore VVIP chopperscam and was arrested underPMLA.
Investigations under PMLAwere initiated by ED on thebasis of separate FIRs registeredby CBI in connection with theAgusta Westland ChopperScam and Moser Baer BankFraud cases.
The CBI had registered theAgusta Westland chopper scamunder IPC Sections relating tocriminal conspiracy and cheat-ing besides relevant provisionsof the Prevention of CorruptionAct against former Air ChiefMarshal SP Tyagi and others.
The CBI had registered aseparate FIR against MoserBaer India Ltd. and its Directors,unknown public servants andunknown private persons underIPC Sections relating to crimi-nal conspiracy, forgery andcheatings and provisions ofPrevention of Corruption Act ina bank fraud case.
“Investigation under PMLA
revealed that accused RajivSaxena is a Hawala operator andaccommodation entry providerwho runs the accommodationentry business in Dubai throughnumerous companies known asMatrix Group companies andhas laundered proceeds of crimein the cases of Agusta WestlandChopper Scam and Moser BaerBank Fraud case,” the ED saidin a statement.
Saxena created structuresfor laundering proceeds ofcrime generated by accused ofboth cases either for the kick-backs in Agusta Westland caseor defrauding banks by mis-util-ising the loans given to MoserBaer India Ltd and its sub-sidiaries. Saxena manages theproceeds of crime and taintedfunds of many high profile andhigh net worth individuals.
In the case of Agusta Westland helicopterscam, Letter of Request to SwissConfederation was sent torestrain his Swiss bank accountsand ensure that Saxena did notshift/transfer/dispose-off thesuspected proceeds of crime.Saxena has admitted to laun-dering the proceeds of crime notonly of Agusta Westland dealbut also various other defencedeals.
The proceeds of crime havealso been transferred to the per-
sonal accounts of Rajiv Saxenaand his wife Shivani Saxena(also an accused in AgustaWestland case).
In Moser Baer Bank fraudcase, proceeds of crime belong-ing to Deepak Puri, amountingto USD 16.33 million have alsobeen attached.
The accounts of Moser BaerIndia Ltd. were classified as aNon-Performing Asset in theyear 2014. “Investigation in thecase has revealed that the pro-ceeds of crime generated byDeepak Puri out of bank fraud were received and kept by Rajiv Saxena till 2018 throughaccounts maintained forDeepak Puri and also equity hasbeen transferred from an undisclosed entity based inBahamas. From the analysis ofdigital evidences and accountsof Puri family maintained bySaxena,, it was revealed that theamount of USD 16.33 million isproceeds of crime in the hands of Saxena belonging toDeepak Puri and is parked inthe accounts of companies ofMatrix Group,” the agency said.
Likewise, proceeds of crimebelonging to Ratul Puri, nephewof Congress leader Kamal Nath,and transferred to Rajiv Saxenafrom an undisclosed foreignentity have also been attached.
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Underlying ailments arealready known to have
expedited the Covid-19 attack.However, now the researchershave found that one in tenCovid-19 patients suffering withdiabetes dies within 7 days ofhospital admission, and one infive is intubated and mechani-cally ventilated.
Age, though, is the biggestdetermining risk factor for deathamong those with either form ofdiabetes who get Covid-19, saidthe researchers as they foundthat two-thirds (65 per cent ) ofCovid-19 patients with diabetesadmitted to hospital are men,and the average age of allpatients is 70 years.
Under-40s have a very lowrisk compared with those over40, and especially comparedwith older, said the researchersin their study published inDiabetologia (the journal of theEuropean Association for theStudy of Diabetes [EASD]).
The findings hold impor-tance for India which is knownas diabetes capital of the World.There are around 50 millionpeople with diabetes in Indiawhose number is likely to touchto 87 million by 2030, becauseof various reasons, sedentarylifestyle being the major one.
Professor Bertrand Cariouand Professor Samy Hadjadj,diabetologists at l'institut duthorax, University HospitalNantes, INSERM, CNRS, andUniversity of Nantes, France,and colleagues in their studysaid that blood sugar controldid not seem to impact apatient's outcome, however thepresence of diabetic complica-tions and increasing ageincrease the risk of death, andincreased BMI is associatedwith both increased risk ofneeding mechanical ventila-tion and with increased risk ofdeath.
The study analysed 1,317patients admitted to 53 Frenchhospitals (public and private)between 10 and 31 March 2020.The majority of hospitalisedsubjects had type 2 diabetes (89per cent) (caused by sedentarylifestyle) while only 3 per centhad type 1 diabetes (autoim-mune factor), with other typesof diabetes in the remainingcases. In 3% of cases, diabeteswas actually diagnosed duringhospitalisation for Covid-19.
Microvascular complica-tions (eye, kidney and nerves)were found in 47 per cent of thesubjects in the study, whilemacrovascular complications(arteries of the heart, brain,legs) were present in 41 percent. Across all patients, by day7 one in five (20.3 per cent) hadbeen intubated and placed ona ventilator in intensive care,and one in 10 (10.3 per cent)had died. A further 18 per cent
had been discharged home atthis point.
The presence of microvas-cular or macrovascular com-plications each more than dou-bled the risk of death at dayseven. Advanced age also sub-stantially increased the risk ofdeath, with the group ofpatients aged 75 years andmore than 14 times more like-ly to die than younger patientsaged under 55 years, while
patients 65-74 years old werethree times more likely to diethan those under 55 years.
The presence of the respi-ratory condition obstructivesleep apnoea almost tripledthe risk of death at 7 days, asdid the presence of dyspnoea symptoms (shortness ofbreath).
The study also confirmedthat insulin, and indeed alltreatments for modifying
blood sugar, are not a risk fac-tor for severe forms of Covid-19 and should be continued inpatients with diabetes.
Encouragingly, there wereno deaths in patients under 65years old with type 1 diabetes,but the authors highlight therewere only 39 patients with type 1 diabetes in this studyand other work is ongoing toestablish the effect of Covid-19in this specific population.
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Persons with intellectual anddevelopmental disabilities
(IDD) are more likely to diefrom Covid-19 than those with-out IDD, according toresearchers from SyracuseUniversity and SUNY UpstateMedical University. More so,because usually individuals withIDD have a higher prevalence ofcomorbid circulatory, respira-tory, and endocrine diseases.
Published inScienceDirect's Disability andHealth Journal, the study saysthat the disparity is likelyrelated to a higher prevalenceof comorbid diseases amongthose with IDD, and/or ahigher percentage of peoplewith IDD are living in con-gregate residential settings.
IDDs are disorders that
are usually present at birth andthat negatively affect the tra-jectory of the individual'sphysical, intellectual, and/oremotional development. Manyof these conditions affect mul-tiple body parts or systems..
The study, "Intellectualand Developmental Disabilityand Covid-19 Case-FatalityTrends: TriNetX Analysis,"included 30,282 people whowere identified as Covid-19positive in the TriNetX Covid-19 Research NetworkPlatform.
“More attention is neededto this vulnerable health pop-ulation in order to ensuretheir safety and well-beingduring this pandemic, includ-ing careful attention to theimpact of public policies suchas PPE prioritisation andfunding streams on the abili-
ty of residential serviceproviders to guarantee quali-ty care during this time," saidresearcher Scott Landes.
He is an associate profes-sor of sociology at SyracuseUniversity's Maxwell School ofCitizenship and Public Affairsand a research affiliate for theLerner Center for PublicHealth Promotion.
The study was conductedby Landes and threeresearchers from SUNYUpstate Medical Center inSyracuse, N.Y.: Dr. MargaretTurk, professor of physical medicine and reha-bilitation; Dr. MargaretFormica, associate professor ofpublic health and preventativemedicine and associate pro-fessor of urology ; andKatherine Goss from theDisability & Health Research
Team.Every individual in this
study had Covid-19, so ratesare case-fatality rates that gavethe researchers an idea of theseverity of the disease amongboth groups. Among ages 0-17, for every 100 individualswith Covid-19, 1.6 with IDDdied and less than one withoutIDD died. Among ages 18-74,for every 100 individuals withCovid-19, 4.5 with IDD diedcompared to 2.7 without IDD.Rates were similar for those 75and over - for every 100 indi-viduals with Covid-19, 21.1with IDD died and 20.7 with-out IDD died.
The researchers also foundthat individuals with IDD hada higher prevalence of comor-bid circulatory, respiratory,and endocrine diseases acrossall age groups.
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In just two months since thelockdown was imposed to
contain the Covid-19 infection,the pandemic has left theIndian private healthcare sec-tor gasping for survival, a sur-vey said on Friday adding thatthe healthcare facilities in thecountry have witnessed at least80 per cent fall in average rev-enue.
The survey was conductedby healthcare industry bodyNATHEALTH in 251 healthcarefacilities across 9 states and 69cities to assess the impact ofCOVID-19 on the domestichealthcare industry especiallyamong small and medium-sizedhospitals, which are now facing
existential challenges post thelockdown from March 4, 2020.
The findings showed that 90per cent of the surveyed health-care facilities are facing financialchallenges with 21 per centfacilities facing an existentialthreat.
According to the survey,hospitals in tier 1 and tier 2 citiesare experiencing a 78 per centreduction in OPD footfalls, anda drop of 79 per cent in in-patient admissions.
The study found that 90 percent of organisations requiresome form of financial assis-tance.
The findings indicated thateven after the lockdown lift, thesituation will remain difficult forthe hospitals and nursing homes
as patients will hesitate from vis-iting hospitals.
Dr Sudarshan Ballal,President NATHEALTH, saidthere is a need to address the on-going challenges faced by theIndian Healthcare industry.“Low financial performance,shutdown of OPDs, prohibitionon elective surgeries, and ban oninternational travel have led tolow footfalls from national andinternational patients in the lastthree months,” he said..
Besides this, Covid-19 out-break has significantly impact-ed cash flow in all organizations.There is a need for a stimuluspackage to revive the Indianhealthcare industry These mea-sures will be crucial to imple-ment to provide much needed
relief to the healthcare sectorwhich is the frontline defense inthis fight against Covid, sug-gested Ballal.
The survey findings indicatethat even after the lockdown lift,the situation will remain difficultfor the hospitals and nursinghomes as patients will hesitatefrom visiting hospitals. Hospitalsare working towards adapting tomodern healthcare techniquesand are providing consultationthrough telemedicine, but theproblem related to OPD footfallwill remain for some time. “Theother challenge of increase incost of operations is also a majorconcern given more stringenthygiene and containmentrequirements post Covid,” saidthe NATHEALTH President.
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Indian Army's Major SumanGawani, who served as a
peacekeeper with the UnitedNations Mission in SouthSudan (UNMISS) in 2019, hasbeen selected for the presti-gious “United Nations MilitaryGender Advocate of the yearAward.”
She will receive the awardfrom the UN Secretary GeneralAntonio Guterres during anonline ceremony being organ-ised at the UN Headquarters,New York on Friday on the occa-sion of international day ofUnited Nations Peacekeepers,the Army said here on Friday.She will be receiving this awardalong with a Brazilian Naval offi-cer Commander Carla Monteirode Castro Araujo.
Major Gawani served as amilitary observer in UNMISSfrom November 2018 toDecember 2019 where she wasthe principal focal point of contact for gender issues for mil-itary observers in the mission.“The officer encouraged partic-ipation in joint military patrolsto maintain gender balance,irrespective of the hardshipsunder extreme field conditions,”the Army said adding she also strived to inte-grate gender perspective into theplanning and military activity inthe mission.
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The United Nation’s Foodand Agriculture
Organization (FAO) haswarned that several successivelocusts invasions are expecteduntil July in Rajasthan witheastward surges across north-ern India as far as Bihar andOdisha followed by westwardmovements and a return toRajasthan on the changingwinds associated with the mon-soon. In its latest update, theFAO said locust swarms havemoved into northern India butthere are less chances of migra-tory pest to reach southernparts of India, Nepal, andBangladesh.
The Directorate General ofCivil Aviation ( DGCA) alsoissued an operation circular forstakeholders like pilots andengineers saying locust pose athreat to aircraft in the criticallanding and takeoff phase of a
flight and advised that flightsshould be avoided through anyknown locust swarms.Himachal Pradesh, JammuKashmir and Goa tooissuedalert in the wake of possibleinvasions.
India is currently wit-nessing its worst locust attackin almost five decades withswarms of locusts havingarrived earlier than they usu-ally and have reached farther.In the past few days, therehave been movements of adultgroups of locusts in India,Oman, the UAE, and Uganda. Spring-bred immature adult groups andswarms that arr ived inRajasthan from the west con-tinued to move east in theeastern portion of the stateand to the central states ofMadhya Pradesh andMaharashtra.
As of 26 May, at least oneswarm had reached to the
northeast of Bhopal. Much ofthese movements were asso-ciated with strong westerlywinds from Cyclone Amphanin the Bay of Bengal.
Swarms are forming in thespring breeding areas andmigrating east to the Indo-Pakistan border ahead of themonsoon rains, it said. Thesemovements will cease asswarms begin to breed andbecome less mobile, it said.
According to the FAO,desert locusts are breeding400 times than usual due tofavourable climatic conditions.
This explosive multiplica-tion may spell disaster forlarge parts of Asia andAfrica.Favourable breedingconditions have resulted in
their multiplication that is 400times more than usual.
While the rabi crops,recently harvested, survivedthe onslaught, the locusts cantake a heavy toll on India’skharif produce if not con-trolled by the time the harvestseason arrives.
India is battling the worstdesert locust invasion in morethan 21 years.
The crop-destroyingswarms first attackedRajasthan and have now spreadto Punjab, Gujarat,Maharashtra and MadhyaPradesh.
In its guidelines, theDGCA said "Generally, locustsare found at lower levels andtherefore pose a threat to air-craft in the critical landing andtakeoff phase of the flight.Almost all air intake ports ofthe aircraft will be prone toingestion in large numbers, ifthe aircraft flies through a
swarm (areas like engine inlet,air-conditioning pack inletetc,”. DGCA said pilot are
required to share informationof locust swarm they spot inthe course of flight. "Air traf-
fic controllers when aware of locust presencein the vicinity of their
aerodrome are advised to sharethe information with all arriving and departing flights.Being a day time phenomena , the pilot is alsorequired to share informationof locust swarms.
It is strongly advised thatflight should be avoidedthrough any known locustswarm,” it said.
According to Ministry ofAgriculture, the Rajasthan gov-ernment has deployed 778tractors and 50 fire brigadevehicles, Madhya Pradesh - 72tractors and 38 fire brigadevehicles, Uttar Pradeshdeployed 6 tractors and Punjabdeployed 50 tractors and 6 firebrigade vehicles for locust con-trol. “The Centre is in closetouch with the affected states of Rajasthan,Punjab, Gujarat, MadhyaPradesh, Uttar Pradesh andMaharashtra and an advisoryhas been issued,” it said.
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Aviation regulator DGCAon Friday issued guide-
lines for stakeholders likepilots and engineers on howto deal with locust swarms,saying they pose a threat toaircraft in the critical landingand takeoff phase of a flight.
India is battling the worstdesert locust invasion in morethan 21 years. The crop-destroying swarms f irstattacked Rajasthan and have
now spread to Punjab,Gujarat, Maharashtra andMadhya Pradesh.
“Generally, locusts arefound at lower levels andtherefore pose a threat to air-craft in the critical landingand takeoff phase of the flight.Almost all air intake ports ofthe aircraft will be prone toingestion in large numbers, ifthe aircraft flies through aswarm (areas like engine inlet,air-conditioning pack inletetc.)," the regulator said in its
circular.Pitot and static sources
can also get partially or fullyblocked while flying throughlocust swarms, theDirectorate General of CivilAviation said.
“Blocked pitot and staticsources lead to erroneousinstrument indications, espe-cially unreliable air speed andaltimeter indications," it said.
A pitot tube in airplanesis used to measure the flowspeed of the wind.
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The Congress on Fridayalleged that the economy is
"sinking" but the Governmentis consistently "shrinking" thesavings and income of thecommon man by reducing thesavings bank deposit and fixeddeposit rates of public sectorbanks.
The party also questionedthe Supreme Court's silenceover the remarks made by theSolicitor General (SG) a dayearlier and alleged that theGovernment was autocratic inits functioning.
“The impact of interestrate cut decision on March 31amounts to loss of �19,000crore income per year for thedepositors,” Congress chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala said in a statement.
“Middle class and lowermiddle class is in "economicgrief ". The decision to reduceinterest rates and discontinueRBI Bonds during lockdown is
"brainless, heartless and shame-less," he said adding due to thealready existing economic cri-sis worsened by COVID-19 theincome of the people is down.
The interest rate cuts inPPF, KVP, NSC and other sav-ing instruments further hit thealready shrinking savings ofapproximately 30 crore depos-itors, who have deposited Rs 14lakh crore in various savingsschemes, he said.
The latest blow for middlesclass, farmers, pensioners andwomen is discontinuation of7.75 per cent RBI bonds andfurther reduction of interestrates by SBI, said Surjewala.
In the last two months, thetotal combined reduction inincome of 30 crore depositorsin saving schemes (PPF, NSC,KVP etc) and 44.51 croreaccount holders of State Bankof India (SBI) depositors is Rs44,670 crore annually (fromreduction in interest rates onsavings scheme and reductionin SBI savings, fixed deposit
interest rates), he claimed.�44,670 crore is 24 per cent
of actual fiscal stimulus mea-sures announced (Rs 186,650crore) by the government. Soaround one-fourth of whatev-er is announced is alreadytaken back by the governmentby reduction in interest rates.If we include other PublicSector Banks this figure willincrease by at least 3 times," hesaid.
The Congress demandedthat interest rates on all smallsaving schemes, fixed deposits(FD) and savings bank depositsmust be restored immediatelyto pre-March 12 level.
On the matter of SGTushar Mehta, who onThursday stated in the SupremeCourt that there were a hand-ful of people - "prophets ofdoom" - who were always scep-tical about everything,Surjewala, said, "Modi Govt's'New Definitions' in SC -1)'Some High Courts are run-ning a parallel Govt' 2).
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In an indication of gradualopening of ‘lockdown on
political activities’ which hadturned ‘digital’ over a period,BJP would conduct PhysicalPress Conferences in all Stateunits while observing the firstanniversary of the second runof the Modi-Government at theCentre.
BJP is expected to high-light the fulfilment of itspromised political agenda,including the scraping of arti-cle 370 and splitting of Jammuand Kashmir in union territo-ries and passing of parliamen-tary legislation making tripletalaq an illegal and a criminaloffence ,as the party would tryto impress upon its “success” incontaining Coronavirus pan-demic in the country throughmedical measures and theeconomic packages and con-cessions announced since the
lockdown on March 25.One of the main pro-
grammes which is to tick-offthe series of party activitieswould be BJP president J PNadda’s address to the partyworkers through Facebook Liveon Saturday
Nadda would detail “ser-vices” rendered by the BJP inlast three-months in fightingthe pandemic in different statesand may also counter opposi-tion charges over alleged mis-handling of stranded migrantworkers.
BJP National Spokespersonand Rajya Sabha member PVLNarsimha Rao said the partywould be organising physicalpress conferences in all stateunits from Sunday onwards.Actual face-to-face conferenceswere done away with by theBJP by the middle of theFebruary after pandemic beganto take threatening shape inthe country.
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In more trouble for TablighiJamaat, the CBI has regis-
tered a Preliminary Enquiryagainst the Islamist outfit’sorganisers and other unknownpersons on a complaint alleg-ing that the organisation's Trustindulged in dubious cash trans-action by using illegal meansand non-disclosure of receipt offoreign funds to the competentauthority under the ForeignContribution (Regulation) Act.
The PE was initiated on thebasis of a written complaintfrom the Foreigners Division ofthe Union Home Ministryalleging that the organisationhas violated FCRA provisions.
Through the PE, the CBIwill seek to unravel the largerconspiracy behind insidiousfunding of the Tablighi Jamaat’sTrust and gather evidence tosubstantiate the allegations inthe complaint, sources said.
Once prima facie eviden-tiary materials are gathered, theagency may convert the PE intoa Regular Case of FIR in policeparlance.
The latest move followsinvestigation by the CrimeBranch of the Delhi Police thathas registered over three dozencases including against TablighiJamaat chief Mohammad Saadunder the Epidemic Diseases Actand Indian Penal Code (IPC)Sections relating to culpable
homicide not amounting tomurder.
The Tablighi Jamaat is alsobeing probed by theEnforcement Directorate (ED)for alleged violations under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act.
Earlier this week, the DelhiPolice filed multiple chargesheetsagainst the Tablighi Jamaat, itschief Maulana Saad Kandhalviand members of the outfit from14 other countries.
In March, the police evacu-ated more than 3,000 peoplestaying at the Tablighi Jamaatheadquarters here at theNizamuddin for a religious con-gregation.
Scores of the Jamaat’s mem-bers were tested Covid-19 pos-itive and they had fanned outacross the country for allegedlyspreading the pandemic. In theDelhi police FIR, the outfit wasaccused of organising the eventin violation of governmentorders to avoid mass gatheringsin the wake of coronavirus out-break.
On its part, the Jamaat hasdenied the allegations.
After registering the PE, theCBI has collected all thechargesheets filed by the DelhiPolice in connection with theJamaat event as also the copy ofthe report relating to the outfit’sfinancial dealings through mul-tiple bank accounts includingcash transactions, sources added.
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Watching the public’s andthe Union and StateGovernments’ responseto the COVID-19 pan-demic and the devastat-
ing progress of the cyclone Amphan, Iwas reminded of Charles Dickens’famous sentence in A Tale of Two Cities,“It was the best of times, it was the worstof times, it was the age of wisdom, it wasthe age of foolishness, it was the epochof belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,it was the season of Light, it was the sea-son of Darkness, it was the spring ofhope, it was the winter of despair, we hadeverything before us, we had nothingbefore us, we were all going direct toHeaven, we were all going direct the otherway — in short, the period was so far likethe present period, that some of its nois-iest authorities insisted on its beingreceived, for good or for evil, in thesuperlative degree of comparison only.”
There are parts of the sentence thatare generally relevant to the times we livein India but not to the specific context weare talking about. Some parts do apply.For example, it is “the best of times” interms of the courage, compassion andgenerosity shown by a number of peopleto help migrant workers, rendered unem-ployed by the lockdown. One of them isPappan Singh Gehlot, a mushroomfarmer in Delhi’s Tigipur village, who hasbought air tickets worth �68,000 toenable his migrant workers to return totheir village in Bihar. He has also giveneach of them a cash advance of �3,000 sothat they do not face any hardship onreturn, besides getting them medical cer-tificates needed to fly. According toreports, Gehlot, who has been taking careof their food and accommodation sincethe lockdown began on March 25, did notwant them to walk home given the risks,including those of accidents, involved.Interestingly, one of the reports hasquoted him as saying that he had madeseveral attempts to send them back totheir home States by a Shramik Specialtrain but could not manage to do so.
Another shining example is that ofAkshay Kothawale, a 30-year-old autodriver in Pune, who is spending the�200,000 he had saved for his weddingto feed migrant workers and those in dis-tress in the streets. With the help of hisfriends who have chipped in, he is feed-ing 400 people every day besides ferry-ing senior citizens and pregnant womento clinics.
Another example is that of thealumni association of the Bengaluru-based National Law School raising fundsto charter an Air Asia Boeing A-320 air-craft to send 169 migrant workers andfive children home from Mumbai toRanchi in Jharkhand. According toSheyl Trehan, one of those involved in the
venture, it was carried out incooperation with Priya Sharmaof the Department ofHumanities and Social Sciencesof IIT, Mumbai.
There are many other exam-ples of individuals and NGOsgoing out of their ways to helpmigrant labourers and urbanpoor. They, however, constitutea small slice of the population.The overwhelming majoritycould not care less or are hostile.The indifference is manifesteven in the case of the havocwrought by the super-cycloneAmphan, which has devastatedhuge tracts in West Bengal andparts of Odisha. West Bengalbore the brunt of it. There werenot more than 86 deaths thanksto the State Government’s excel-lent work in evacuating people.The physical damage has beencrippling. The Sunderbans, theworld’s largest mangrove forestand a wildlife sanctuary, has vir-tually been destroyed. Hundredsand thousands of people havebeen rendered homeless. Cropsover thousands of square kilo-metres have been lost.According to the KolkataMunicipal Corporation, over5,000 trees have been uprootedin the city — the figure may havebeen as high as 10,000 if theadjacent areas are included.Hundreds of lamp posts havebeen destroyed. Yet, having sat-isfied their voyeuristic instincts
in front of television sets, theoverwhelming majority outsideWest Bengal and Odisha is nowobsessed with COVID-19 andthe threat the pandemic poses tothem.
And this despite the factthat COVID-19, the first case ofwhich was reported in India onJanuary 30, 2020, has beenkilling far fewer people com-pared to road accidents andother causes. Thus, according tothe latest figures, there havebeen over 166,000 cases, 71,196cures and 4,706 deaths. Thismeans, on a rough average,over 36 deaths per day sinceJanuary 30. In sharp contrast,there are on an average 1,214traffic accidents and 377 deathsfrom such mishaps, every day.There were 5.45 crore cases of,and 28 lakh cases of deaths fromcardiovascular diseases in Indiain 2016.
It is this hysteria worked upover the COVID-19 pandemicwhich is one of the main reasonsmaking this “the worst of times”in terms of the cruelty arisingtherefrom, and also thehypocrisy laid bare by the mis-match between official expres-sions of concern for migrantworkers and their inhumantreatment on the ground. It isnot just the fiasco of the effortsto take them home by specialtrains earmarked exclusivelyfor them. It is also the widely
manifested attitude of not beingsympathetic to the terrible suf-fering of migrant workers onhighways, roads, airports, rail-way stations and inter-Stateborders — and regarding themas untouchables to be con-signed to the peripheries of theirvillages or neighbourhood bylocals fearing them spreadinginfection. And this despite widedissemination through media ofthe fact that COVID-19 infectsone only through close person-al contact and home quarantineis good enough. Even singlewomen and children are notspared!
The basic reason is fear and,in its fundamental sub-stra-tum, that of death. This isunderstandable. There is neithercure nor as yet a vaccine forCOVID-19. Exaggerated fear, inthe teeth of the availability ofinformation, which shows itslack of basis, is, however, irra-tional and unwarranted. Like allfears, it should have been coun-tered by an application of will.This has not happened. Instead,the majority of people in thiscountry has been enveloped bya wild terror that has had thebetter of their humane instinctsand rationality.
This leads to two other seg-ments of Dickens’ observation,“It was the age of wisdom, it wasthe age of foolishness,” and “itwas the spring of hope, it was the
winter of despair.” It is the age ofwisdom in the sense that thepeople are beginning to realisethat what many had taken forgranted — that humans are themasters of the universe — is nottrue and that rationality is a frag-ile attribute. It is the age of fool-ishness in that the majoritycannot still apply reason in atime of crisis. The hope lies inthe shining conduct of a minor-ity and the compassion andcourage shown by even peoplefrom the most disprivilegedsections, the despair from theselfishness and worse of themajority and the attitude of theUnion and most of the StateGovernments to the plight ofmigrant workers.
It is a remarkable com-mentary on the state of affairsthat the Supreme Court, onThursday, had to forbid the rail-ways and the StateGovernments from extractingtrain or bus fares from strand-ed migrant waiting to returnhome. The railways had to pro-vide them with food and waterduring train journeys, whilethe States from which theywere boarding would have totake care of their meals andwater during bus journeys. Oneonly wishes the order came ear-lier.
(The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and an author)
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Sir — This refers to the article,“Pandemic and PDS” (May 28) bySantosh Biswal and UttamChakraborty. It needs to be clari-fied that the exercise of State-wisecoverage within the overall nation-al coverage of the National FoodSecurity Act (NFSA) was done bythe erstwhile PlanningCommission using 68th round ofNSSO Household ConsumptionExpenditure Survey (2011-12).
The estimation took intoaccount the monthly per capitaexpenditure of States and the inter-State price differentials to arrive atthe consumption cut-offs for ruraland urban areas for each State/UT.This was thereafter used to arriveat the percentage of persons fallingbelow that cut-off level of expen-diture separately for rural andurban areas. These percentageswere then applied on the 2011 pop-ulation Census to arrive at thenumber of persons in eachState/UT both in rural and urbanareas. This yielded the eligiblepopulation in the rural and urbanareas in each State/UT.
The Planning Commissionmethodology is such that the cov-erage under NFSA is higher forthose States/UTs, where the size of
the population below the cut-offlevel of expenditure is relativelylarge in proportion to their totalpopulation vis-à-vis those Stateswhere the proportion was smaller.Thus, while the all-India coverageis up to 75 per cent of the rural andup to 50 per cent of the urban pop-ulation, this percentage is muchhigher for the less developedStates/UTs. For instance, in Assam84.17 per cent of the rural popu-lation and 60.35 per cent of theurban population is covered under
NFSA. Further, as per Section 10of the Act, most States have evolvedtheir own exclusion/inclusion cri-terion under targetted PublicDistribution System (PDS).
The authors are seeminglyattempting to highlight the prob-lems in PDS but not noticing thetechnology-driven reforms andsolutions already implemented bythe Centre in collaboration with allState/UT Governments. They sur-prisingly miss out on the followingfacts regarding PDS reform:
�Coverage of 67 per cent benefi-ciaries under NFSA is not a distantdream. Around 81 crore people arealready covered under the Act toreceive subsidised food-grainsthrough PDS on a monthly basis.� Ration cards/beneficiaries datain all States/UTs have been com-pletely digitised and available onrespective State/UT portals.Foodgrains are also being distrib-uted through electronic Point ofSale devices in most of theStates/UTs.
� “One nation, one ration card” isalready enabled in 17 States/UTs.�So far, 146 LMT foodgrains havebeen delivered to NFSA beneficia-ries during April and May 2020under regular NFSA and PradhanMantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana(PM-GKAY). Further, distribu-tion is also under progress.�Also, the “Atma Nirbhar BharatAbhiyan” is being implemented toreach out to all such people whomay not have NFSA or State rationcardS, including migrants/strand-ed migrants but are in need fortemporary ration.
A proper review of the aboveinitiatives on a factual basis shouldhave been done before namingsome States as “doubly disadvan-taged.” This is a lack of properunderstanding of facts and ongo-ing reforms, which often leads tounsubstantiated criticism of thePDS of having imaginary in-builtinequity. The Government alwayswelcomes further improvementin the system and is open to anyconstructive criticism as it helps inimprovement of the system for thebenefit of the poor.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs,Food and Public Distribution
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As sustainability becomes mainstream, it isbecoming a well-acknowledged fact that theplanet just does not possess the resources
required for us to maintain our current consump-tion patterns and emulate the aspirational lifestylesof the West. The estimated growth in global pop-ulation to 10 billion in the not too distant futureis an added headwind. This situation has meantthat driving efficiencies in resource usage is fastcoming into public discourse to reduce the car-bon footprint. This is translating into necessaryassets that would need funding. Such examplesabound, like fuel-efficient cars, migration ofpublic transport to e-vehicles, high-speed rail inplace of airlines, urban Mass Rapid Transit trainssubstituting fuel-run vehicles, micro grids for far-flung communities instead of diesel generators andso on.
While these assets, which are typically part oflarge-scale transformational projects, are fundedeither by the Government or by concessional loansfrom development financial institutions, publiccapital is not going to fulfil the need for the tril-lions of dollars of investment the planet requiresto scale up projects that would usher in the desiredsustainability goals.
However, the biggest challenge to bringingprivate capital at scale is the fact that most pro-jects do not offer commercially-viable returns,owing to high upfront costs, long payback,remote location of some projects, nascent tech-nologies and in certain cases, political uncertain-ties, weak institutional frameworks and so on.
This is where blended finance has come upas a solution in this context. It combines publicsector and philanthropic monies as catalytic cap-ital to raise multiples of private sector monies,which help scale up the flow of funding to sus-tainable projects, while yielding substantial eco-nomic benefits to all stakeholders.
The blended finance structure addresses theprojects’ perceived risks, thereby helping increasethe size and number of funding opportunities. Itcomprises funding, which may or may not be con-cessionary, supported with one or more elementslike guarantees, political risk insurance, perfor-mance insurance, outcome-based funding, inter-est subvention, concessional or off-market localcurrency hedging, project preparation grants andso on.
This combination makes the projects’ termsviable for private sector capital and for the pro-ject developer, who otherwise may not have metthe criteria without the assistance these support-ing mechanisms bring in.
Among the emerging markets, India is lead-ing the way by developing successful blendedfinance models. These are worth emulating inother markets that have a similar development pro-file as India in order to bring blended finance toa global scale.
In India, the Government’s Viability GapFunding (VGF) model is one such success-story.Launched in 2004, it supports projects under thePublic Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism.VGF grants were made essentially for infrastruc-ture projects where private sector sponsors wereselected via competitive bidding. The grant wasdisbursed at the construction stage after the pri-vate sector developer made an equity contributiontowards the project. This grant is typically 20 percent of the project’s capital cost and is allocatedfrom the Government’s budget.
The Government then went a step ahead bydefining the norms of how VGF would apply toutility-scale renewable energy projects, specifying
the role of the Solar Energy Corporationof India in terms of evaluation, disburse-ment and monitoring.
Another example is that of cKersFinance and Rockefeller Foundation.Inked in 2018, their partnership involvesan investment by Rockefeller in theDelhi-based sustainable energy Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) tobuild a $50 million asset financing port-folio for scaling up India’s decentralisedrenewable energy segment (DRE).
The Rockefeller investment wouldhelp cKers provide funding access at rea-sonable rates and terms to build the sus-tainable energy portfolio about 10 percent of which would be in mini-grids.While the national grid has reachedalmost all places in India, the quality ofsupply remains erratic and thus DREsolutions like micro and mini-gridshold value.
Then there is the US-India CleanEnergy Finance (USICEF) programme,which supports distributed solar powerprojects through grants specifically forearly-stage project preparation support.Managed by the Climate Policy Initiative,it is a partnership between India’s renew-able energy ministry, the US’ OverseasPrivate Investment Corporation (OPIC)and others. Developers apply to theUSICEF, which maintains an empanelledlist of service providers (legal and pro-fessional services consultancies and soon) and engages them with the grant.
The project preparation supportmakes these developers investment-ready to raise funding from OPIC andother like-minded firms. The averagegrant is only about $0.1 million or so butthis is a significant challenge for thedevelopers given their small scale and thelimitations they face in resources and tal-ent acquisition.
This programme, with a total $3.5million grant committed so far, has sup-ported several rooftop solar, smallground-mounted and solar home systemprojects across more than a dozenIndian States. Last is the “pay for success”outcome funder model. Grameen ImpactInvestment, a Mumbai-based impactNBFC, launched social impact bondsaddressing women’s livelihood and
empowerment, youths’ skill-develop-ment and clean energy. Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) spending by organ-isations in India has risen exponential-ly in recent years, mostly towards healthand education. However, India’s HumanDevelopment Index score, whichincludes mostly health and educationindicators, has hardly improved.
While CSR is only one componentof India’s social sector spending, this doesgive some indication that actual achieve-ment of outcomes is perhaps found want-ing at times. The outcome funder modelattempts to close this gap. The pre-defined outcome metrics are indepen-dently verified by third-party evaluatorsfor on-ground achievement, only uponwhich the outcome funder (a philan-thropy or CSR fund) would meet theenterprise’s interest and/or principleobligations — thus “pay for success.”
This ensures that the philanthropicresources are leveraged in a manner thatwill help achieve outcomes far more thanwhat direct spending could possibly do.
Other blended models abound glob-ally, each of which can potentially bereplicated in India. The US-IndiaCatalytic Solar Finance Facility used cat-alytic, first-loss capital to create risk-mit-igation facilities. The Grid Solar Fund,which funds off-grid solar companies,raised $10 million in political risk insur-ance from OPIC to attract investmentsfrom the private sector.
Climate Investor One Fund raisedblended capital at about 1.7 times mul-tiple with a tiered-structure, whichbifurcates capital into first-loss, subor-dinated equity and debt with credit guar-antee to make lenders comfortable.Denmark’s Climate Investment Fundraised blended capital at over 1.7 timesmultiple, by using a preferential modelwhere losses are shared equally by pub-lic and private investors but the latterenjoy a preferential return and a catch-up option.
At the same time, a preferentialmodel based on share classes was lesseffective. The Global Energy Efficiencyand Renewable Energy Fund, which paidprincipal and interest in batches betweenits A and B share classes, could raise
blended capital only at about 0.8 timesmultiple.
Models apart, another merit ofblended finance is that it can cover areastraditionally unserved by conventionalfunding, like US’ Prime Coalition, whichinvests in early-stage clean energy tech-nologies, the Africa Clean EnergyFacility, which focusses on project prepa-ration and expects to raise a multiple ofabout 20 times its grants and IFC-GEF’sChina Utility Energy EfficiencyProgramme, which helped local bankslend for energy efficiency.
Blended finance can also mobilisecommercial bank participation as seenin Dutch bank FMO’s Guarantco thatgrants partial credit guarantees to localbanks, Indonesia’s Sarulla geothermalproject that used a political risk guaran-tee from Japan’s JBIC and a guarantee let-ter from the Indonesian Government tobring in commercial bank funding,German KfW and ResponsAbility’sGlobal Climate Partnership Fund thatrefinances green lending schemes of localbanks or Africa Development Bank’sFacility for Energy Inclusion that com-bines commercial capital for small-scaleenergy access projects.
In the end, compulsions like climatechange, greenhouse gas emissions, sub-stituting the import cost of fossil fuelsand driving economic growth through“green sectors” will necessitate an urgentscale-up in sustainability projects. Toachieve this, innovative mechanisms toraise dedicated green capital will hold thekey, especially as Indian banks cannotalways fund the long maturities that sus-tainability projects entail. While blend-ed finance cannot solve all the issues, itcan certainly address some of the barri-ers. The models discussed in this articlehave already shown demonstrable valuewhich makes them worth emulating.Most of them can be potentially replicat-ed and scaled up further to fund India’smultitude sustainability challenges.Emerging markets with similar chal-lenges to India should also take note.
(Aiyer is Consultant, South AsiaFast Track Sustainability Communicationsand Bhattacharya is India ProjectsManager, Climate Bonds Initiative)
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Human beings respond well toa familiar crisis, especially if itis also imminent. They don’t
do nearly as well when the threat isunfamiliar and still apparently quitedistant. Consider our response to thecurrent Coronavirus threat. Countriesin East Asia with recent experience ofsimilar viruses like SARS and so onimmediately responded with “test,track and isolate” drills, plus instantlockdowns if the virus had already
gained a foothold in the population. Other countries, just as rich and
well-educated, had the same informa-tion but they waited several monthsbefore taking emergency measuresthat upset the comfortable routine oftheir lives. So the US, UK and Franceall ended up with death rates per mil-lion more than 50 times higher thanChina, Korea and Japan.
The same applies to global heat-ing, except that in this case we are allAmericans. None of us has prior expe-rience of a genuine climate crisis andalthough we have known enoughabout what’s going to happen to jus-tify urgent action for 30 years now, wehave done nothing decisive about it.We have lots of “clean” technology buttotal demand for energy has grown sofast that we are still getting a steady80 per cent of our energy from fos-sil fuels. Realistically, this is not goingto change much. We are who we are,
shaped by millions of years of evolu-tion and our ancestors didn’t dolong-term planning; they had to con-centrate on acute short-term prob-lems. A truly serious response to theclimate threat will, therefore, comeonly when it is starting to hurt.Unfortunately, by then it will proba-bly be too late.
The Earth system — the bios-phere, atmosphere, the oceans, therocks, all the components that governthe climate — plays by its own rules.It will absorb new inputs like warm-ing for a long time while changing aslittle as possible: It is a “homeostatic”system. We are still benefiting fromthis feature now: A full degree Celsiusof warming already and not much toshow for it except hotter summers,shorter winters and bigger storms. Butwhen the pressure on the climate sys-tem gets too great — reaches a tippingpoint — it is liable to charge off in
unpredictable directions at high speed.“Non-linear change”, they call it
and we won’t like it a bit. Hundredsof millions, maybe billions, will startto die. Then we will be ready to makegreat changes to save ourselves but itwill be too late. Human systems willbe collapsing under the impact offamines, wars and endless waves ofrefugees. And besides, once the cli-mate hits non-linear change, it isalmost impossible to bring it back.We’re stuck with wherever it ends up,whether that new state will support alarge human civilisation or not.
How far ahead is this calamity?We probably have at least a decade ortwo. Will we end all our greenhousegas emissions in that time? Probablynot. Cutting our emissions isn’tenough. We have to stop all of ouremissions before we push the climatesystem over the edge and we don’teven know precisely where the edge
is. Every bit of emissions we can cutnow gives us a little more time beforewe reach the edge, but the global pop-ulation will still be going up and peo-ple in the poorer countries will still beincreasing their energy use. (It’s theirturn and you can’t deny them that.)
So, the crisis almost certainly willarrive and then we will finally be will-ing to make radical changes. What wewill desperately need at that point ismore time. That’s why we will needgeo-engineering. This is not a cure; itis a way of temporarily counteractingthe warming caused by our emissionsof greenhouse gases by reflecting asmall part of the incoming sunlight inone way or another. In fact, you couldsay that it is “positive” geo-engineer-ing, as opposed to the large-scale “neg-ative” geo-engineering we have beendoing for the last two centuries bydumping huge amounts of warminggases into the atmosphere.
When we are finally ready to actdecisively on global warming, wewill need a window of time to makethe changes that are required to pre-serve this global civilisation and thebiosphere it now dominates. Only geo-engineering can create that window.We don’t need to start geo-engineer-ing now. It would be wonderful if wenever have to do it but that would takea miracle. We cannot know how longwe would have to go on doing it,either: Long enough to get the carbondioxide in the atmosphere back downto a safe level, certainly, which wouldbe at least a matter of decades. Buteven without knowing the answers tothese questions, we clearly need tospeed up research and testing of thevarious potential techniques for geo-engineering now.
(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is‘Growing Pains: The Future ofDemocracy and Work.’)
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Equity benchmarks finishedin the green for the third
session on the trot on Friday asinvestors scooped up FMCG,finance and banking stocksdespite negative overseas cuesand rising COVID-19 cases.
Investors wagered on Indiafurther relaxing lockdownnorms next week, though theywere also cautious ahead ofrelease of Q4 GDP data, ana-lysts said.
After a gap-down open-ing, the 30-share BSE Sensexpicked up pace in late-after-noon trading to finish at32,424.10, up 223.51 pointsor 0.69 per cent.
On similar lines, the NSENifty advanced 90.20 points or0.95 per cent to close at9,580.30. During the holiday-shortened week, the Sensexrallied 1,751.51 points or 5.71per cent, while the Nifty spurt-ed 541.05 points or 5.98 per
cent.ONGC was the top gainer
in the Sensex pack on Friday,jumping 5.52 per cent, fol-lowed by Bajaj Auto, ITC, SunPharma, Nestle India, L&T,Hero MotoCorp and Maruti.On the other hand, Infosys,Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, TCSand Titan were among the lag-gards, shedding up to 2.25 percent. Besides stock-specificaction, heavy foreign fundinflows lent buying confidenceto domestic investors, analystssaid. On a net basis, foreignportfolio investors bought equi-ties worth �2,354.14 crore onThursday, provisional exchangedata showed.
“Indian markets onceagain performed contrary tothe other global markets whichwere weak. In the process itplayed catch up with themafter under-performing overthe last few weeks.
“Oil & gas, materials andengineering stocks did well.Large volume trade happenedin stocks that saw little move-ment suggesting shifting ofholdings between two institu-tions,” said Deepak Jasani,Head - Retail Research, HDFCSecurities.
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Retail inflation for industri-al workers eased to 5.45 per
cent in April 2020 from 8.33per cent in the same month ayear ago, mainly due to lowerprices of certain food items andpetrol, official data showed.
“Year-on-year inflationbased on all items stood at 5.45per cent for April 2020 ascompared to 5.50 per cent forthe previous month and 8.33per cent during the corre-
sponding month of the previ-ous year,” a Labour Ministrystatement said. Food inflationstood at 6.56 per cent in April2020 against 6.67 per cent ofthe previous month (March2020) and 4.92 per cent duringthe corresponding month(April 2019) a year ago, it said.
Lauding the efforts of theLabour Bureau which collectsand released Consumer PriceIndex-Industrial Workers(CPI-IW), Labour MinisterSantosh Gangwar said the ‘cost
of living index’ data collectionand release by the bureau inthese difficult times duringthe lockdown is commend-able and would go a long wayto help in policy making in thecountry.
The CPI-IW is used towork out hike in dearnessallowance and dearness relieffor over 1 crore centralGovernment employees andpensioners.
The All-India CPI-IW forApril 2020 increased by 3
points and stood at 329. On 1-month percentage change, itincreased by (+) 0.92 per centbetween March and April 2020,compared to (+) 0.97 per centrise between correspondingmonths of previous year.
The maximum upwardpressure in current index camefrom food group contributing(+) 2.43 percentage points tothe total change.
At item level, rice, wheat,wheat atta, arhar dal, moongdal, mustard oil, fish fresh, goat
meat, poultry (chicken), brin-jal, cabbage, cauliflower, frenchbean, green coriander leaves,lady’s finger, palak, potato,radish, tomato, banana, lemon,mango (ripe), sugar, cookinggas, etc are responsible for theincrease in index. However, itsaid that this increase waschecked by garlic, onion, par-val, petrol, flowers/flower gar-lands, etc, putting downwardpressure on the index.
At centre level, Doom-Dooma Tinsukia recorded the
maximum increase of 14 pointsfollowed by Salem (12 points)and Surat (10 points). On thecontrary, Chhindwara,Vadodara, Bhilai, Yamunanagarand Jamshedpur recorded adecrease of 1 point each. Restof 12 centres’ indices remainedstationary. The indices of 33centres are above all-Indiaindex and 44 centres’ indicesare below national average.The index of Rourkela centreremained at par with all-Indiaindex.
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The output of eight coreinfrastructure industries
plunged by a record 38.1 percent in April as the nationwidelockdown to contain coron-avirus pandemic caused a sub-stantial loss of productionacross sectors.
The production of coal,natural gas, refinery products,steel, cement and electricitycontracted in double digits inthe month, according to officialdata released on Friday. Theeight core sectors had expand-ed by 5.2 per cent in April 2019
while in March 2020 the sectorshad contracted by 9 per cent.“In view of nationwide lock-down during April 2020 due toCOVID-19 pandemic, variousindustries - coal, cement, steel,natural gas, refinery, crude oiletc experienced substantial lossof production,” the Commerceand Industry Ministry said ina statement. Production ofcoal, crude oil, natural gas,refinery products, fertiliser,steel, cement and electricitycontracted by 15.5 per cent, 6.4per cent, 19.9 per cent, 24.2 percent, 4.5 per cent, 83.9 per cent,86 per cent, 22.8 per cent,
respectively. During 2019-20,core industries recorded 0.6 percent growth against 4.4 per centin 2018-19. The record con-traction in the growth rate ofeight core sectors will affect theIndex of Industrial Production(IIP). These sectors account forabout 40.27 per cent of the IIP.
Commenting on the num-bers, Icra Vice-President AditiNayar said while the lockdowncontributed to a broad-basedcontraction across eight coresectors, it had a differentialimpact on the extent to whichactivity was curtailed in thevarious constituents.
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The British Government has approached theUS with the prospect of creating a 5G club
of 10 democracies, including India, amid grow-ing security concerns related to Chinese telecomgiant Huawei, according to a UK media report.
A so-called “D10” club of democratic part-ners, including G7 countries – UK, US, Italy,Germany, France, Japan and Canada – plusAustralia, South Korea and India will aim to cre-ate alternative suppliers of 5G equipment andother technologies to avoid relying on China,‘The Times’ reported.
The move to speed up such a club comes asthe UK launched an inquiry into Huawei’sinvolvement in the country’s mobile networkupgrade in the wake of US sanctions against the
company. “We need new entrants to the mar-ket. That was the reason we ended up having togo along with Huawei at the time,” the news-paper quoted a UK Government source as say-ing.
Nokia and Ericsson are the only Europeansuppliers of 5G infrastructure and experts saythat they cannot provide 5G kit as quickly or ascheaply as Huawei.
Britain has labelled Huawei a “high-risk”vendor and therefore its involvement in the UK’s5G upgrade comes with a 35 per cent marketcap, including a ban on its participation in thesensitive “core” of the network.
The review into Huawei, launched last weekby the UK”s National Cyber Security Centre, fol-lowed the announcement of US sanctions toblock the sale of American chips to the company.
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SBILIFE 748 782.75 746.45 767.1VOLTAS 486.6 493.15 477.35 480NCC 23 24.35 22.65 23UJJIVAN 167.5 171.65 163 170.95NTPC 95.4 98.85 94.3 97.75SRF 3400 3542.25 3390.75 3483.7INDIACEM 128.85 132 123.8 125.55ICICIGI 1255 1332.9 1255 1300.6SIEMENS 1082 1098.75 1061.1 1089.85
DELTACORP* 90.6 90.6 82.2 85.1MINDTREE 881 916.95 881 894PETRONET 237 261 236.5 254.05AMBUJACEM 191 194.85 187.15 191.35RECLTD 88.5 91.6 86.6 88.5DEEPAKNI 510 510 491 499.4TORNTPOWER 307 321.45 305.95 318.25CANBK 82.4 84.2 80.45 83.75RADICO 319 338 315.8 330.3GAIL 89.05 93.55 88.5 92.35MCX 1252.3 1342.85 1240.4 1311.9ADANIPOWER 36.1 37.25 35.6 36.4GMRINFRA 17.9 20.2 17.6 18.9BEL 69.5 70.4 67.85 69.25EQUITAS 42.5 43.65 41.4 42.4BERGEPAINT 460.2 497 457.45 492CEATLTD 799 820 784.3 809.75FRETAIL 84.9 84.9 80 84.8GNFC 130 136.8 128.25 130.65SPARC 139.9 142 134.8 137.1SPICEJET 44.9 46.45 43.15 44.05NAM-INDIA 243.75 259.4 240.3 255.45NMDC 78.25 82.1 77.5 81.2PNB 26.7 27.35 26.35 26.85NIITTECH 1472.9 1495.7 1445.55 1451.15IPCALAB 1557.15 1570 1469.4 1494.35UBL 944 966.55 938.5 956.65BEML 592 601 576.3 581.35HEIDELBERG 162.95 167.15 159.4 163.65HDFCAMC 2456.1 2540 2444.5 2524.35MFSL 469.9 491 451.85 481.8ADANIGAS 115 121.2 114.55 117.45SUNTV 388.95 394.55 383.5 384.85WOCKPHARMA 226.15 227.5 214.7 216.3BOSCHLTD 9803.95 9804 9477.7 9724.1KTKBANK 36.2 37 34.2 34.55ABCAPITAL 44.3 48.1 44.3 45.85GODFRYPHLP 989.6 989.65 971.6 987.4BALKRISIND 1100 1101.55 1072.35 1078.25GUJGAS 233.05 244.9 225 241.2AMARAJABAT 606 623.4 603.2 614.55RAYMOND 223.1 235.2 221.3 225.35GRANULES 175.65 177.9 170 171.4LEMONTREE 18.95 19.2 17.7 17.95RPOWER 1.97 2 1.86 1.97PIIND 1600 1642.95 1525 1538.6JKLAKSHMI 248.75 258.5 237.45 241.1BANKINDIA 32 32 31.1 31.5AJANTPHARM 1487.45 1534.05 1480.7 1523.6DIXON 4658 4950 4601.4 4880.75BIRLACORPN 546.55 560.3 514.1 518.45EIDPARRY 190 204.95 183.7 195.3LAURUSLABS 458 473.55 455 466.25PAGEIND 18275.75 19275 17953.55 18854.45WELCORP 58.5 61.4 57.85 60.55GODREJPROP 656.95 693.1 631.85 688.85EXIDEIND 157.85 164.6 156.6 163.05CUMMINSIND 364.95 382 351.05 376.3KAJARIACER 323 345.5 320.6 342.15SUZLON 2.83 2.84 2.77 2.83SHREECEM 20550.05 21022.9 20550.05 20836.7IDFC 13.75 14.32 13.52 14.31HEXAWARE 250 255.2 249.05 253.4FCONSUMER 9.01 9.01 8.17 8.54SOUTHBANK 4.97 5.05 4.87 4.93ARVINDFASN 126 134.6 121.3 125.55SYMPHONY 820.85 896.55 820 896.55NAVINFLUOR 1502.5 1590 1480.05 1562.1ABFRL 118.95 125.8 117.9 119.75HEG 750 785 750 762.75CANFINHOME 281.15 289.9 272.2 276.45OMAXE 176.8 178.2 176.8 177.75SCI 47.25 49.6 46.8 47.2CHAMBLFERT 131.5 131.5 128.1 129.8BBTC 916 946.65 900.35 908.5
MRF 58280.85 59351.45 58280.85 59104.15RCF 38.65 40.8 38.65 40NBCC 17.3 18.05 17.1 17.35JAICORPLTD 66.7 69.75 66.15 68.2IDBI 20.7 20.8 19.75 20.3VIPIND 214 218.85 212.85 217.5ABBOTINDIA 16639 16893.2 16620 16728.05NOCIL 87 87.9 85.6 86.7GMM 3622 3890 3622 3807OFSS 2518.45 2575.05 2480.5 2512.9HINDZINC 169.1 172.2 166.75 171.3VINATIORGA 965.8 1048 965 1016.65NATIONALUM 28.7 30.2 28.25 29.4MIDHANI 197 204.75 196.5 201.9APLLTD 864.9 879 849.5 871.2HAWKINCOOK 4029.95 4299 4001 4200.35CHENNPETRO 51.3 56.1 51.3 54.75VGUARD 173 177.9 173 176.9CASTROLIND 114.35 116.8 113.45 115.6CGCL 144.6 146.35 142.75 144.5CROMPTON 218.4 227.9 214 224.95JUBILANT 440 453 436 442.25COROMANDEL 652.7 657.5 641.05 644.4DALBHARAT* 560.8 577 552.65 554.7PTC 33.3 35.5 32.85 33.3CESC 569.7 581 543 552.6POLYCAB 657 682.35 651.1 679.7ALKEM 2305.05 2332.2 2240 2261.2ESABINDIA 1400 1439.5 1355 1371.3RAJESHEXPO 509.95 542.9 476.5 488.95IFCI 4.05 4.88 4 4.73SANOFI 7719.65 7835.95 7669.45 7713.4ORIENTCEM 46 47.9 45.65 46.9GODREJIND 311 320.95 306.15 319SUNDRMFAST 291.55 327 291.55 306.2VARROC 130 134.7 127.2 130.2GODREJAGRO 363 386.8 361.35 374.9QUESS 211.5 221.55 211.5 221.55COCHINSHIP 219.05 231 219.05 224.6SUNTECK 156 159.65 153.7 158.05VENKYS 1060 1060 983.95 988.9KEC 195.6 199.95 192.8 196.7JBCHEPHARM 656.9 697.45 650.1 681.85SHK 51.9 56.3 51.75 55ASTRAZEN 2919.55 3100 2919.55 3044.5ASTRAL 841.7 904.05 840.85 879.15EIHOTEL 68.6 69.85 64.9 66.4INDHOTEL 72.3 76 72.3 75.55RAMCOCEM 608 629 600.2 602.9FORCEMOT 806 862.5 806 840.9LALPATHLAB 1540 1553.35 1517 1531.3HFCL 9.45 10.18 9.15 9.53FSL 31 32.95 30.9 31.45GRAPHITE 183.8 189.9 181 182.05AIAENG 1616.35 1695 1598.45 1672.3DCBBANK 62.35 63.45 60.7 61.95PRESTIGE 145 159.05 144.25 157.15ENDURANCE 679.9 734.05 674.25 725.55DBL 258 273 256.1 259.65KALPATPOWR 208 208 201.5 204.95AVANTI 410 417.1 404.45 413.85BOMDYEING 45.4 48.9 45.4 47.7TATAMTRDVR 36 36.7 35.4 36.15JISLJALEQS 7.69 7.69 7.45 7.58LTTS 1133.55 1190 1128.25 1166.8SONATSOFTW 202.9 219.7 201 203.7SYNGENE 354.55 362.6 351.2 356.85OIL 83.7 86.25 82.95 84.8DEEPAKFERT 104.4 105.25 101.8 102.5MEGH 51.3 51.3 49.3 49.55MINDACORP 57.3 60.5 57.05 58.45MPHASIS 854 884 851.2 860.6BAJAJCON 133 136.2 132.05 132.35GLAXO 1350.45 1390 1337 1369.75UFLEX 186 194.6 183.9 187.65GICRE 133.2 139.85 130.3 138.05RALLIS 216.95 219.6 209.6 212.1RELAXO 669.95 688.9 641.95 675.95JINDALSAW 47.4 49.25 45.5 45.95GPPL 62.3 66.4 60.1 60.7JKTYRE 51.15 53.8 51.1 52.25NESCO 446 450.25 426 431JMFINANCIL 60.75 64.5 60.75 63.953MINDIA 18100 18600 18034 18298.45ATUL 4416.1 4660 4357.3 4498.75HSCL 46.05 46.6 43.5 44.05ALKYLAMINE 2049.9 2074 1990 2001.05SCHAEFFLER 3147.5 3250 3115.05 3180.4GUJALKALI 321.6 328.5 305.1 313.9JTEKTINDIA 54.5 54.5 50 50.65CARERATING 369.95 409.5 369.95 401.4MINDAIND 279.95 295.4 279.95 289.45ADANITRANS 180.15 181 173.05 174.9NHPC 20.25 20.25 19.55 19.65SHOPERSTOP 137.95 145 132.85 136.35OBEROIRLTY 305.8 324.5 305.8 319.65IEX 167.2 173 161.2 163.35TATACOFFEE 74.1 75.2 72.6 74.4ADANIGREEN 246 250 246 247.85SKFINDIA 1446.7 1450 1433.35 1441.35TV18BRDCST 21.2 21.9 20.4 20.75APLAPOLLO 1430 1546.15 1428 1519.35TVSSRICHAK 1437.6 1445 1396 1402.6JKPAPER* 89 90.5 87.6 88.4EDELWEISS 46.85 47.9 45.8 46.05STRTECH* 96.5 97.4 94.95 95.65DISHTV 4.4 4.48 4.24 4.28JAMNAAUTO 25 27.15 24.8 25.5NIACL 118 123.3 116.1 120.55
PGHH 9800 9940 9781.25 9897FORTIS 115.3 118.1 114.6 116.4INDIANB 43.8 44 43.25 43.75ISEC 377.55 384 375.5 380.95IRB 60.3 62.9 59.65 60.65PHILIPCARB 74.9 76.45 71.5 72.2TIINDIA 344.4 374 344.4 368.55SWANENERGY 100.5 102 99.95 100.1JCHAC 2447.05 2489 2415.4 2433.75RESPONIND 84 85.25 83.8 84.65AUBANK 395.7 398 387 391.95CYIENT 199.85 202 198 199.1J&KBANK 12.83 12.83 11.68 11.75SUDARSCHEM 395 395.15 385.4 388.15CAPPL 315.1 344 314.95 319.75AEGISLOG 178.3 180.25 174.4 175.4UNIONBANK 23.6 23.75 23.15 23.65RVNL 17 17.1 16.75 17WHIRLPOOL 1949.9 1969.2 1920 1938.95JYOTHYLAB 103.65 106.35 102.85 105.9JSWENERGY 40.85 40.85 39.65 40SOBHA 192.05 204 191.35 196.15BAYERCROP 5347 5441.85 5312.75 5375.05CCL 199.8 215 195.55 212.1JKCEMENT 1135.2 1172 1131.05 1167.1ENGINERSIN 62.95 63.8 62.7 63.4FLFL 153.1 153.1 145.05 152.85RELINFRA 16.75 17.1 16.5 16.7PGHL 4074.65 4128.25 4073.25 4109.05TRENT 460.7 471.35 457.25 468.9METROPOLIS 1332.5 1396.25 1312.35 1382.4BALMLAWRIE 104.5 104.5 99.15 101.2IBREALEST 44.3 44.3 41.1 42.55KRBL 180 187.35 179 187.35CENTURYPLY 104.8 107.8 100.75 102.2IFBIND 384.05 393.4 366 372.05BALRAMCHIN 98.55 100.55 98 99.65FINCABLES 214 215.9 209.15 211.9MAXINDIA 56.35 65.85 56.3 61.95LTI 1811.9 1811.9 1786 1797.85DCMSHRIRAM 279.75 290 277 278.9BLUESTARCO 483.5 494 483 489.5ITI 82.4 83.8 81.6 82.2NATCOPHARM 575.35 591.4 575.35 579.2AMBER 1254.85 1261.9 1211.35 1245.2VBL 605.45 634.5 603.65 632.3GESHIP 211.3 211.45 192.5 197.7INOXLEISUR 207.75 212 203 205.85CUB 128 136.95 128 135.3VMART 1601.5 1606.05 1571.9 1594.3FINOLEXIND 414.9 429.6 411 422.05CHALET 107.5 122 99.8 100.7KANSAINER 359.25 368 357.55 365.15DHFL 11 11.92 11 11.76GREAVESCOT 71.95 73.95 68.4 69PNBHOUSING 172.4 177.4 172.35 175.9MRPL 27.85 29.2 27.7 28.75BASF 1083 1110.85 1052.4 1079.45TRIDENT 4.57 4.61 4.5 4.56VAIBHAVGBL 1090 1142 1090 1097.65ASTERDM 90.8 91 88.8 89.9IRCON 84.5 86.3 84.05 85.55KEI 277.5 289 274.95 278.15MAHSCOOTER 1881 1935.1 1815 1854.65MOIL 125.2 129.7 125.2 126.9ASHOKA 51.55 53.35 48.7 49.3BLISSGVS 95.15 95.25 91.85 93.95
SUPREMEIND 970.1 1028.1 970.1 1018.9GSFC 40.3 42.2 40.2 41.4REDINGTON 81.3 87.95 81.3 86.7TATAINVEST 705.7 736 705.7 726.25RELCAPITAL 6.62 6.8 6.29 6.68PRSMJOHNSN 32.35 34.5 31.7 33.3ADVENZYMES 149.7 157.45 149.1 149.85HERITGFOOD 239.8 241 229.5 233.9TIMKEN 791 855 790.4 851JSLHISAR 37.95 39.2 37.95 38.95NLCINDIA 41.2 42.1 41.15 41.65GET&D 61 64.5 58.65 59.25WELSPUNIND 30.35 31.15 29.95 31.15DCAL* 67.8 69 64.2 64.5SADBHAV 41.7 42.6 39.6 39.9GSPL 194.4 201.4 194.1 199.1DHANUKA 563 582.9 559 576.35HUDCO 22.85 23.2 22.65 23IIFL 63.6 64.95 62.3 62.8AKZOINDIA 1814 1890 1814 1880KNRCON 195 201.45 191.75 200.55GILLETTE 4849.6 4860 4799.6 4836.05HATHWAY 23.6 24.3 23.15 23.6CRISIL 1450 1450 1355 1378.3
VSTIND 3090 3144.25 3075.4 3118.3BRIGADE 101.85 105.7 98 100.3PERSISTENT 529.8 540.5 524.9 526RITES 226.05 228.9 225.8 226.8NETWORK18 24.4 25.05 23.85 23.95INFIBEAM 47.6 50.6 47.6 50.6HINDCOPPER 25.7 26.75 25.5 26.05MAHINDCIE 93.55 94 89.65 94THYROCARE 514.65 530 514.1 521.1FDC 249.2 253 246.05 248.3BAJAJELEC 360.7 369 360 363.7PHOENIXLTD 492.6 539.7 492.55 532.7EMAMILTD* 193.4 196.15 189.05 193.7CREDITACC 401 401.9 372 391.1ITDCEM 34.95 38.1 34.8 35.15BAJAJHLDNG 1969.9 2008 1969.9 2003.35GHCL 104 106.95 103.4 105.85WESTLIFE 284.75 295 284.5 292.75CARBORUNIV 218.85 230.8 214 221.8LAOPALA 155.1 166.5 146.1 148.4HONAUT 26818.1 27289.05 26416.45 26971.15WABAG 91.25 94 89.25 91.2NH 270 277 261.25 272.6TCIEXP 638.65 653.2 618.4 647.15ZENSARTECH 93 93 85.9 87.55JAGRAN 39.25 40.8 36.75 38.8MMTC 14.96 15.26 14.8 15.16LAXMIMACH 2545.4 2628 2525.55 2565.2BDL 240.4 240.4 233.55 234.9GARFIBRES 1400 1494 1400 1437.15TTKPRESTIG 4797.05 4892.65 4610 4635.9HAL 559 560 549.2 555.5GRSE 137.6 143.45 137.6 142IBULISL 35.3 35.3 32.1 32.15MAHLOG 260 268 252 255.5PARAGMILK 87.45 89 87.25 87.55MAHSEAMLES 190 207.6 190 200.7SHILPAMED 380 395.85 375 391.45REPCOHOME 95.35 97.15 91.75 92.45PCJEWELLER 10.66 10.96 10.6 10.88VTL 645 671 632 656.7GMDCLTD 37.5 38.3 37.1 37.85UCOBANK 10.8 11.25 10.8 10.98ERIS 477.05 511.7 473.15 500.3CHOLAHLDNG 232.6 255 230.9 252.4SUPRAJIT 114.35 115.05 107.1 109.05GICHSGFIN 64.4 66 63.95 65.25GALAXYSURF 1327 1346.2 1323.7 1342.1GRINDWELL 519.4 545 513 536.85BLUEDART 2049 2055 2000.1 2006.2CENTRALBK 13.4 13.5 13.15 13.45MHRIL 175 175 160.7 167.85DBCORP 60.95 63.85 60.95 62.7ESSELPRO 172.7 175 171 171.25ECLERX 417.85 418.25 391.35 397.05FINEORG 1915 1949.05 1915 1933.3WABCOINDIA 6914.15 6935 6901.15 6932.3HIMATSEIDE 46 47 45.8 45.85SHANKARA 238.25 242.7 235.85 236.75SJVN 21.1 21.25 20.95 21.1LUXIND 933.45 938.45 917.05 919.15SCHNEIDER 82.75 83 81.3 81.75SHRIRAMCIT 645 645 617 635.95LINDEINDIA 503.7 507 497 502.55THERMAX 724.45 726 707.95 711.35GEPIL 398 398 378.6 383.25TIMETECHNO 29.4 30.5 28.8 29.25PNCINFRA 103.55 106.3 103.55 105.95KPRMILL 414.1 420 405 420TATAMETALI 425 428.95 415.95 417.4ZYDUSWELL 1249.4 1255.95 1245 1252ORIENTELEC 172 172 164.95 168.2VRLLOG 148 149 146 147.3MOTILALOFS* 525 527.95 512.05 516.05IOB 7.31 7.32 7.25 7.26TNPL 91 91.2 90.05 90.45ITDC 161 161 153 155.45SIS 377.35 392 376.35 382.25AAVAS 1000.3 1030.4 1000.3 1024.15TEJASNET 34.25 34.25 31.9 33.25LAKSHVILAS 12.53 12.62 12.39 12.43CENTRUM 11.1 11.49 10.99 11.41SOMANYCERA 105 105.65 102.1 103.1ALLCARGO 68.35 70 67.35 68.5RATNAMANI 868.5 947 868.05 875.85NILKAMAL 1010 1045.85 1009.55 1028.8KSB 466.4 475.3 460.1 462.9NAVNETEDUL 68 68.95 68 68.55CERA 2198.3 2441 2195.15 2291.85ORIENTREF 146 149.05 142.2 144.15JSL 26.55 27.2 26.55 27MAHABANK 8.52 8.57 8.32 8.54SFL 1331 1431 1331 1419.7STARCEMENT 73.5 75.6 73.5 73.9INTELLECT 70.95 70.95 66.05 67.55GAYAPROJ 13 13.52 13 13.52TVTODAY 175 177.75 175 176.95GDL 76.7 76.75 75.75 76TAKE 53.15 54.7 53 53.25TCNSBRANDS 339.1 342.25 324.95 325.5MAHLIFE 180 180.25 177.1 179.9TEAMLEASE 1494.9 1494.9 1476 1484.75INOXWIND 25.85 26.5 25.75 26.35NBVENTURES 37.85 38.4 37.35 37.65SOLARINDS 870.2 896.55 870.2 894.3INDOSTAR 251.05 279.9 251.05 279.45KPITTECH 49.2 49.2 49.2 49.2GULFOILLUB 581.9 581.9 575.2 575.2MASFIN 575.45 575.45 575.45 575.45
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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 9,422.20 9,598.85 9,376.90 9,580.30 90.2IOC 77.7 84.7 77.2 83.5 5.8WIPRO 199.35 214.9 196.15 211.9 12.55ONGC 78.05 83.75 77.4 82.9 4.05COALINDIA 133.5 142.45 132.25 140.65 6.75DRREDDY 3,880.00 4,090.70 3,869.30 4,060.00 172.25BPCL 328 347.15 326 340.35 13.9BAJAJ-AUTO 2,603.00 2,741.00 2,591.25 2,708.00 108SUNPHARMA 460 481.6 458 476.9 17.8UPL 392.55 419.75 388.4 404.5 13.4ITC 190.45 198 189 197.1 6.45NESTLEIND 16,950.00 17,600.00 16,784.55 17,530.00 540.85CIPLA 633 650.95 631 648.05 19.7LT 893.2 937.5 891 930 24.5HDFC 1,615.90 1,676.35 1,590.90 1,667.00 43.3GAIL 88.75 93.75 88.1 91.4 2.3BAJAJFINSV 4,240.00 4,428.95 4,201.50 4,392.55 106.6HINDUNILVR 2,009.00 2,068.00 2,000.00 2,057.10 47.15VEDL 89.6 92.7 89 91.85 1.9MARUTI 5,375.00 5,666.75 5,375.00 5,581.10 112.75SBIN 156.1 161.9 155.2 161.3 3.1ASIANPAINT 1,639.00 1,699.00 1,633.10 1,675.00 31.4BRITANNIA 3,289.90 3,417.00 3,289.90 3,381.00 57.75ULTRACEMCO 3,809.00 3,940.00 3,794.85 3,875.00 65.8HCLTECH 540 555 536.7 552 9.35HEROMOTOCO2,275.00 2,391.90 2,250.00 2,337.05 38.95EICHERMOT 15,903.00 16,996.95 15,801.00 16,500.00 263.5GRASIM 590.3 602 577 585 8.5INDUSINDBK 376 400 373.5 391.3 4.45INFRATEL 225.45 242.5 224.3 226.25 2.4ICICIBANK 322.9 334.3 320 330 3.15NTPC 94.7 98.85 94.3 96.6 0.9ZEEL 175.2 186.8 175.1 182 1.3HDFCBANK 944 955 923.45 947.1 1.85TECHM 529.9 535.65 524.45 530.55 0.85POWERGRID 157.25 158.65 156.6 157.35 0.1HINDALCO 135.95 141.15 134.6 138.45 0.05SHREECEM 20,850.00 21,049.00 20,608.90 20,800.00 -8.9JSWSTEEL 181 185.45 180.05 183.95 -0.2RELIANCE 1,468.00 1,472.00 1,452.65 1,470.00 -2.25TATAMOTORS 85.55 87.5 84.65 86.7 -0.3BAJFINANCE 1,914.00 1,980.00 1,891.00 1,940.95 -6.75TATASTEEL 292.1 296.9 287.85 294.05 -1.45KOTAKBANK 1,216.50 1,229.80 1,200.05 1,222.00 -7.45INFY 692.5 700.8 674.95 692 -5.9M&M 434 450 431.1 436.4 -4TITAN 895.45 898 875 890.05 -9.4TCS 1,982.00 2,002.65 1,962.40 1,980.90 -23.4ADANIPORTS 330 330 322.05 327 -4.8BHARTIARTL 558 564 543.8 549.9 -12.85AXISBANK 382 389.25 375.35 381.9 -9.05
SE 500B
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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 23,413.15 24,152.30 23,366.40 24,065.00 568.5IDEA 6.35 7.8 6.35 6.6 0.8ICICIPRULI 369.05 397 365.45 395 27.3PETRONET 238.2 261 236.5 255.5 17.3CONCOR 352 386.8 346.15 376 24.35COLPAL 1,298.35 1,428.15 1,295.00 1,385.00 86.65BERGEPAINT 457 499 456.65 488.5 28.1DIVISLAB 2,285.00 2,408.10 2,262.30 2,393.00 107.9MCDOWELL-N 567 601.6 563 589.35 25.75DABUR 443.75 470 440.3 468 19.6MARICO 317 349.5 317 344.55 14.4DLF 140 152.85 140 149.6 5.55ICICIGI 1,255.00 1,334.00 1,253.85 1,300.00 45.75HINDPETRO 184.65 197.65 183.95 192.5 6.65GODREJCP 610 639.95 603.05 624.95 20.55GICRE 133 139.65 130.5 137.3 4.3PIDILITIND 1,426.00 1,485.85 1,417.40 1,469.00 43.65AUROPHARMA 715.9 750.35 711.2 735 21.05BIOCON 346.15 359.15 345 355.1 9.65NMDC 77.95 82.1 77.35 81 2.05SIEMENS 1,071.50 1,098.80 1,060.00 1,097.25 25.75SBILIFE 747.95 783 745.4 766 17.9NIACL 117 123.45 116 120.65 2.8MOTHERSUMI 90 98.95 88.85 94.2 1.8HINDZINC 168.65 172.3 166.65 171.9 3.25PEL 932.2 985 932.2 974.05 16.25CADILAHC 341.95 352.5 341.3 343.6 5.5HDFCAMC 2,480.00 2,540.00 2,442.05 2,539.50 38.7PGHH 9,850.00 9,948.00 9,750.00 9,925.00 135.4L&TFH 52.85 55 52.4 54.25 0.7UBL 946 966.9 938.15 954 10.9PAGEIND 18,406.80 19,265.60 17,950.00 18,601.90 195.1SRTRANSFIN 566 577.3 547 573 5.5IBULHSGFIN 118.5 122.75 117.2 121.75 0.95BANKBARODA 38.45 39.15 37.5 38.75 0.15BAJAJHLDNG 1,982.95 2,008.90 1,966.10 2,000.00 6.25OFSS 2,505.00 2,545.00 2,480.00 2,494.95 1.9HDFCLIFE 516.4 540.8 511.75 516.8 0ACC 1,268.00 1,297.95 1,261.05 1,268.00 -4.2PNB 26.65 27.35 26.35 26.65 -0.1DMART 2,330.00 2,358.00 2,229.00 2,300.00 -8.45HAVELLS 500 503.45 485.8 496.9 -2.85AMBUJACEM 191 194.9 187 189.85 -1.45BOSCHLTD 9,762.00 9,800.00 9,472.00 9,772.00 -100.1INDIGO 941 978 941 966.7 -11LUPIN 870 881.8 840.5 866 -15.15BANDHANBNK 215.2 220 211.15 218 -4.25NHPC 20.05 20.15 19.55 19.6 -0.4PFC 76.5 79.4 74.35 74.65 -2.65ASHOKLEY 43.75 44.35 42 42.7 -1.7ADANITRANS 181.95 181.95 173 173 -9.1
world 11LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | MAY 30, 2020COVID-19 OUTBREAK
Kathmandu: Nepal on Fridayregistered its highest single-daysurge in coronavirus cases with170 new infections, taking theCOVID-19 tally in the country toover 1,200, the health ministrysaid.Moscow: Russia has reported thehighest daily spike in coronavirusdeaths once again on Friday, withhealth officials registering 232deaths in the last 24 hours, whichbought the country�s total to4,374.Tokyo: Tokyo will removeshutdown requests on morebusinesses in June whentheaters, cinemas, fitness gymsand retailers can reopen after acoronavirus state of emergencyended this week.Ankara: Turkey Worshippers inTurkey have held their firstcommunal Friday prayers in 74days after the governmentreopened some mosques as partof its plans to relax measures inplace to fight the coronavirusoutbreak.Jakarta: The number ofcoronavirus cases in Indonesiahas surpassed 25,000 with morethan 1,500 virus-related deaths asauthorities are stepping up to liftlarge-scale social restrictions nextweek.
Around theAround the
GlobeGlobe
Beijing: China has lodgeddiplomatic protests with theUS, the UK, Canada andAustralia for “interfering” in itsinternal matters by criticisingits new security law for HongKong and also warned Americaof countermeasures if it did notstop the “frivolous” politicalmanipulation over the issue.
China’s parliament onThursday overwhelminglyapproved a new controversialsecurity law for Hong Kong, amove that critics say threatensthe fundamental political free-doms and civil liberties in thesemi-autonomous territory,also a major global trading hub.
The security legislationbans secession, subversion ofstate power, terrorism, foreignintervention and allows main-land China’s state security agen-cies to operate in Hong Kong.
“China’s decision to imposethe new national security law onHong Kong lies in direct conflictwith its international obligationsunder the principles of thelegally binding, UN-registeredSino-British Joint Declaration,”the joint statement released bythe four countries said.
The proposed Chinese lawwould undermine the “onecountry, two systems” frame-
work, the four allies said in thestatement, referring to thearrangement under whichHong Kong, a former Britishcolony, was handed back toChina in 1997.
Reacting to the four coun-tries’ statement, China’s ForeignMinistry spokesman, ZhaoLijian told a media briefing onFriday that China has lodgeddiplomatic protests with thefour countries.
Hong Kong is part ofChina and the central govern-ment has the right to establisha national-level legal system toimplement ‘one country, twosystems’, Zhao said.
It is China’s internal affairand no foreign country has thefright to interfere, he said.
Separately, the Trumpadministration informed theUS Congress that Hong Kongwas deemed no longer suitablyautonomous from China.
The assessment by the USState Department is a crucialstep in deciding whether thecity will continue to receivepreferential economic andtrade treatment from the US asspelt out by the 1992 US-HongKong Policy Act.
About US PresidentDonald Trump’s plans to
impose sanctions on HongKong, Zhao remindedWashington about its extensivetrade and commercial interestin the city and said Chinawould retaliate with counter-measures.
Hong Kong after returningto China fully leveraged itsposition as an internationalbusiness hub.
“It is a financial trade andshipping hub. It is an importantarea for US investments,” Zhaosaid. The US has 85,000 nation-als in Hong Kong and hasover 1,300 companies in thecity. American firms have over300 regional headquarters and400 regional offices in HongKong, he said.
In the past decade, the UStrade surplus to Hong Kongreached USD 297 billion, hesaid.
“Safe, sound and stableHong Kong serves the interestof the US. We welcome USbusiness communities to con-tinue making more progressand success in Hong Kong.
“The US should see clear-ly and stop interfering in HongKong. If the US insists onintervening, China will take allnecessary countermeasures,”Zhao said. PTI
Hong Kong: Dozens of peopleprotested in a mall in HongKong on Friday following avote by China’s ceremonialparliament to approve legisla-tion that could severely restrictopposition political activityand civil society in the Asianfinancial center.
The protesters chanted slo-gans in the main atrium of themall in the high-end Centraldistrict, some draping bannersover the balconies with sloganssuch as “Independence forHong Kong.”
Police waited in vansparked prominently outsidethe mall but did not attempt tobreak up the gathering.Hundreds of people have beenarrested during recent demon-strations that seek to revive themomentum of protests thatshut down large parts of the cityduring the second half of lastyear.
China’s National People’sCongress on Thursday voted toapprove the bill that will nowbe sent to its standing com-mittee for final approval.
Details of the final versionof the law aren’t known, but
China says it will prohibit sep-aratist activities and actionsthat might threaten theCommunist Party’s monopolyon political power in mainlandChina.
Beijing and its supportersin Hong Kong are defendingthe legislative move againstcriticism from foreign coun-tries, including the U.S., whichhas threatened to revoke spe-cial trade privileges granted tothe former British colony whenit was handed over to China in1997 under a “one country, twosystems” framework in whichit was guaranteed its own polit-ical, legal, social and legal insti-tutions for 50 years.
In Beijing, foreign ministryspokesperson Zhao Lijian saidChina would not tolerate anyinterference in what it consid-ers a strictly internal matter.
“We advise the U.S. Side tohave a correct understanding ofthe situation and stop interfer-ing in Hong Kong affairs andChina’s internal affairs. If theU.S. Insists on jeopardizingChina’s interests, China willdefinitely take all necessarymeasures to fight back.” AP
Washington: President DonaldTrump on Friday threatened totake action to bring the city ofMinneapolis “under control,”calling violent protesters out-raged by the death of a blackman in police custody “thugs”and saying that “when the loot-ing starts, the shooting starts.”
Trump tweeted after pro-testers torched a Minneapolispolice station, capping threedays of violent protests US overthe death of George Floyd, whopleaded for air as a white policeofficer knelt on his neck.
He said he spoke to thestate’s Democratic governor,Tim Walz, and “told him thatthe Military is with him all theway. Any difficulty and we willassume control but, when thelooting starts, the shootingstarts. Thank you!”
Trump didn’t clarify what hemeant — Walz has already acti-vated the National Guard — butthe tweet drew another warningfrom Twitter for his rhetoric,with the social media giant say-ing he had “violated the TwitterRules about glorifying violence.”
The move came a day afterTrump signed an executive
order challenging the site’s lia-bility protections.
Trump, who has oftenremained silent in the aftermathof police-involved killings andhas a long history of defendingpolice, has been uncharacteris-
tically vocal this time, sayingearlier Thursday that he felt“very, very badly” about Floyd’sdeath and calling video captur-ing his struggle “a very shock-ing sight.”
But his language grew more
aggressive as violence boiledover in Minneapolis onThursday night. “TheseTHUGS are dishonoring thememory of George Floyd, andI won’t let that happen,” he wroteshortly before 1 am. AP
Peshawar: Minority commu-nities like Hindus and Sikhs inPakistan’s KhyberPakhtunkhwa province wereallowed on Friday to holdprayers and worship at theirreligious sites by followingsocial distancing and othermeasures enforced to curb thespread of the coronavirus.
Several provincial govern-ments banned gathering ofmore than five people for wor-ship in religious places to stopthe spread of the coronavirus,which has infected over 64,000people and killed 1,346 in thecountry so far.
Succumbing to pressurefrom the hardline clerics, theImran Khan government lastmonth allowed conditionalcongregational prayers inmosques during the month ofRamzan.
The government on Fridayallowed minority communitieslike Sikhs, Hindus andChristians to worship and holdprayers under standard operat-ing procedures (SOPs) notfiedby the Provincial Government ofKPK against COVID-19. PTI
AP n JOHANNESBURG
South Africa says it has abacklog of nearly 100,000
unprocessed tests for the coro-navirus, a striking example ofthe painful shortage of testingkits and reagents across Africaas cases steadily rise.
“This challenge is causedby the limited availability of testkits globally,” the health min-istry said in a statementovernight putting the backlogat 96,480 as of Monday.
Priority is given to pro-cessing tests from patientsadmitted to hospitals andhealth workers, it said.
South Africa has conduct-ed more tests for the virus thanany other country in Africa —more than 655,000 — and hasthe most confirmed cases with27,403.
One of the latest people todie in South Africa was anemployee with the NationalHealth Laboratory Services.
“We understand thistragedy will certainly test you,”the ministry said in a messageto her colleagues, adding thatthe government is committedto providing proper protectivegear.
That, too, faces shortagesacross Africa. More than 3,400health workers on the conti-nent had been infected as of aweek ago, according to theWorld Health Organisation.
The widespread shortages,especially in testing materials,have jolted African authoritiesinto facing uncomfortabletruths: Richer countries areelbowing them out in the raceto obtain crucial supplies, andthe continent relies almostentirely on imports for drugsand other medical items.
“We have to have Made inAfrica products,” the director ofthe Africa Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, JohnNkengasong, told reportersThursday.
Washington: A debate inCongress over whether toextend $600 a week in federal-ly provided benefits to theunemployed looks sure to inten-sify with the number of peoplereceiving the aid now topping30 mn — one in five workers.
The money, included in agovernment relief packageenacted in March, is set toexpire July 31. Yet with theunemployment rate widelyexpected to still be in the mid-teens by then, members of bothparties will face pressure tocompromise on some form ofrenewed benefits for the jobless.
Democrats have proposedkeeping the $600-a-week pay-ments through January in a $3trillion relief package that theHouse approved this monthalong party lines. SenateRepublicans oppose that mea-sure. They have expressed con-cern that the federal paymentswould discourage laid-off peo-ple from returning to jobs thatpay less than their combinedstate and federal unemploy-ment aid now does. AP
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s for-mer Prime Minister MahathirMohamad has been oustedfrom his ethnic Malay politicalparty in the latest twist of apower struggle with his succes-sor, but he has vowed to chal-lenge the move.
The 94-year-old Mahathir,along with his son and threeother senior members, wereexpelled from the Bersatu partyon Thursday.
The party has has beensplit into two camps sinceintense political wrangling ledMahathir to resign the pre-miership in February and theking to appoint fellow partymember Muhyiddin Yassin ashis replacement despiteMahathir’s objections.
Mahathir’s son MukhrizMahathir had since challengedMuhyiddin as party president ina vote that’s been postponed bythe coronavirus pandemic.
“The unilateral action byBersatu’s president to sack uswithout valid reason is due tohis own fears in facing partyelections as well as his unsafeposition as the most unstableprime minister in the history ofthe country’s administration,” ajoint statement by Mahathirand the four others read.
Mahathir co-foundedBersatu with Muhyiddin in2016, and the party joined analliance that won a stunning vic-tory in 2018 polls, leading to thefirst change of governmentsince independence.
The ruling alliance col-lapsed after Muhyiddin pulledBersatu out to work with theformer government, which has
been accused of massive cor-ruption.
Mahathir, a two-time primeminister, resigned in protest.Mahathir has said he still has themajority support of lawmakersand has called for a no-confi-dence vote against Muhyiddin.
The vote has been delayedamid the pandemic but could beheld at the next sitting ofParliament in July.
In their statement,Mahathir and the other expelledmembers said the move was ille-gal and they may take legalaction to challenge their termi-nation and ensure Bersatu isn’tused as a vehicle for those crazyfor power.
Party letters sent to the fivesaid their membership hadceased as they sat with theopposition bloc during a half-day Parliament sitting on May18.
But the letter was signed bya lower official who Mahathir’sgroup and others said had nopower to remove them.
“All eyes are on Mahathir’snext move,” said Oh Ei Sun, asenior fellow at the SingaporeInstitute of International Affairs.
“Muyhiddin would begravely mistaken if he thinksthis will slow down Mahathir’srelentless onslaught to not somuch unseat him, but topple thepresent ruling coalition.”Muhyiddin had earlier tried toreconcile with Mahathir, butfailed.
The current governmentincludes the party of ex-PrimeMinister Najib Razak, who is ontrial on charges related to a mas-sive financial scandal. AP
London: The UK governmenthas said that it is open toextending the visa rights ofBritish National Overseas(BNO) passport holders inHong Kong to offer them apath to the country’s citizenshipunless China “steps back” froma new security law in the for-mer British territory.
China’s parliament onThursday approved the newlaw which would make it acrime to undermine Beijing’sauthority in Hong Kong.
An estimated 300,000 BNOpassport holders in Hong Kongcurrently have the right to visitthe UK for up to six monthswithout a visa. These passportswere issued by the UK to peo-ple in the region before thetransfer of Hong Kong toChinese sovereignty in 1997.
“In relation to BNO pass-port holders, currently theyonly have the right to come tothe UK for 6 months,” said UKForeign Secretary DominicRaab. “If China continues
down this path and imple-ments this national securitylegislation, we will change thatstatus. And we will remove thatsix-month limit and allowthose BNO passport holders tocome to the UK and to apply towork and study for extendableperiods of 12 months and thatwill itself provide a pathway tofuture citizenship,” he said.
According to reports, theproposal has the backing ofIndian-origin Home SecretaryPriti Patel, with details yet tobe fleshed out.
Some British MPs wantthe UK government to go fur-ther and offer automatic citi-zenship to BNO holders inHong Kong. Conservative PartyMP Tom Tugendhat, chairmanof the House of CommonsForeign Affairs SelectCommittee, said BNO holdersshould have an automatic rightto live and work in the UK.
“We must move faster inrecognising the rights of themost entrepreneurial people in
Asia, and speak out for thosewho we know so well back in theregion. We should also buildpartnerships that can defend therule of law worldwide,” he said.
Raab’s intervention followeda strongly-worded joint state-ment by the UK, US, Australiaand Canada condemningBeijing’s proposed new law.
“China’s decision to imposethe new national security law onHong Kong lies in direct conflictwith its international obligationsunder the principles of thelegally-binding, UN-registeredSino-British Joint Declaration,”the joint statement said.
“As Hong Kong’s stabilityand prosperity are jeopardisedby the new imposition, we callon the government of China towork with the Hong Kong SARGovernment and the people ofHong Kong to find a mutuallyacceptable accommodation thatwill honour China’s interna-tional obligations under theUN-filed Sino-British JointDeclaration,” it said. PTI
Washington: A defiant Twitteron Friday flagged a fresh tweetfrom Donald Trump for vio-lating its rules about “glorify-ing violence”, hours after the USpresident signed an executiveorder aimed at stripping socialmedia giants like Twitter andFacebook of legal immunity forthe content posted by third-party users.
The move came afterTrump tweeted that “when the
looting starts, the shootingstarts” in reference to the ongo-ing unrest in Minneapolis fol-lowing the death of GeorgeFloyd, a handcuffed AfricanAmerican man who pleadedfor air as a white police officerkneeled on his neck.
Twitter had earlier addedfact-check links to two ofTrump’s tweets, enragingTrump.
“These thugs are dishon-
ouring the memory of GeorgeFloyd, and I won’t let that hap-pen. Just spoke to GovernorTim Walz and told him that theMilitary is with him all the way.Any difficulty and we willassume control but, when thelooting starts, the shootingstarts. Thank you!” Trumptweeted.
Twitter flagged the tweet,which is now only visible if oneclicks on Twitter’s flag. PTI
PTI n WASHINGTON
US President DonaldTrump is feeling
“absolutely great” after takinga two-week dose of antimalar-ial drug hydroxychloroquineand will take it again if hethinks he is exposed to thecoronavirus, a top WhiteHouse official has said.
Hydroxychloroquine sul-fate was first synthesised in1946 and is in a class of med-ications historically used to
treat and prevent malaria. It isapproved by the US Food andDrug Administration to treatmalaria, rheumatoid arthritis,lupus, childhood arthritis, andother autoimmune diseases.
The drug is not FDA-approved for the treatment ofCOVID-19 but it has beenidentified as a possible treat-ment for the infection and theUS government has requestedits immediate availability.
Trump has called hydrox-ychloroquine a “game-chang-
er” drug in the fight against thecoronavirus.
“I went to him just beforecoming out here and I askedhim that. And he said, ‘he’sfeeling perfect’, he is ‘feelingabsolutely great’ after takingthis regimen. And, he wouldtake it again if he thought thathe was exposed,” White HousePress Secretary KayleighMcEnaney said on Thursdaywhen asked how the US pres-ident was feeling after takingthe antimalarial drug.
Hong Kong internal matter, don�t interfere: China WESTERN COUNTRIES WARNED
Protest in Hong Kong UK to extend visa rights forHK unless China �steps back�
Trump calls Minneapolis protesters �thugs�, vows action
A protester carries a US flag upside, a sign of distress, next to a burning building in Minneapolis on Thursday AP
AP n MINNEAPOLIS
Cheering protesters torcheda Minneapolis police sta-
tion that the department aban-doned as three days of violentprotests spread to nearby StPaul and angry demonstra-tions flared across the USover the death of GeorgeFloyd, a handcuffed black manwho pleaded for air as a whitepolice officer kneeled on hisneck.
A police spokesman con-firmed late Thursday that staffhad evacuated the 3rdPrecinct station, the focus ofmany of the protests, “in theinterest of the safety of ourpersonnel” shortly after 10 pmLivestream video showed theprotesters entering the build-ing, where fire alarms blaredand sprinklers ran as blazeswere set.
Minneapolispolice stationtorched
Malaysia�s Mahathirousted from partyamid power struggle
Louisville (US): At least sevenpeople were shot in Louisvilleas protesters turned out todemand justice for BreonnaTaylor, a black woman fatallyshot by police in her home inMarch.
Louisville Metro Policeconfirmed in a statement earlyFriday that there were at leastseven shooting victims, at leastone of whom is in critical con-dition. The statement said therewere “some arrests,” but policedidn’t provide a number.
“No officers dischargedtheir service weapons,” policespokesman Sgt. LamontWashington wrote in an emailto The Associated Press.Washington said that all sevenwere civilians.
Around 500 to 600 demon-strators marched through theKentucky city’s downtownstreets on Thursday night, theCourier Journal reported. AP
7 shot at Louisvilleprotest over fatalpolice shooting
Twitter again flags Trump�s tweet, says itviolated rules about �glorifying violence�
Trump feeling �absolutely great� after taking HCQ: WH
S Africa has virustesting backlogof nearly 100,000
Minorities in Pak�sKPK allowed toworship atreligious places
United Nations: The U.N.Humanitarian chief urgentlyappealed for $2.4 billion tohelp millions of people inYemen cope with the conflictand COVID-19, saying pro-grams are already being cut andthe situation is “alarming.”
Mark Lowcock told a UNbriefing on Thursday that theUnited Nations received $3.2billion last year for Yemenbecause countries in the region— including Saudi Arabia andthe United Arab Emirates whoare involved in the conflict —stepped up.
This year, the U.N. Hasappealed for about $3.4 billionbut as of Wednesday it had onlyreceived $516.6 million, justover 15%. The Saudis pledged$525 million in early April andLowcock said he hopes it willquickly be turned into cash.
The United Nations andSaudi Arabia are co-hosting avideo pledging conference forYemen on Tuesday andLowcock said he has been onthe phone with Persian Gulfleaders in recent days but does-
n’t know what they’re going todo. The collapse in oil pricesbecause of the pandemic may bespurring internal discussions, hesaid.
Lowcock said he expectshigh-level representation at theconference, and asked: “Is theworld ready simply to watchYemen fall off the cliff?” Yemen’sconflict started with HouthiShiite rebels backed by Iran cap-turing the capital, Sanaa, in2014.
The following year, a Saudi-led coalition backing the gov-ernment intervened to battle therebels and curb Iran’s influencein what has turned into a stale-mated regional proxy war. Sincethen, more than 100,000 people— fighters and civilians — havebeen killed.
Lowcock and the heads of10 other U.N. Agencies and sev-eral U.N. Officials and human-itarian organizations issued ajoint statement Thursday saying“COVID-19 is spreading rapid-ly across the country alreadyexperiencing the world’s largesthumanitarian crisis.” AP
UN urges $2.4 billionto help Yemen copewith war and virus Paris: France has reported
more than 3,000 new dailyvirus infections in the biggestsuch one-day rise in more thanthree weeks - and the firstmajor increase since Francestarted gradually reopeningMay 11.
The new figure was notincluded in the government’sdaily virus press releaseThursday night, but was put ona government virus trackingwebsite.
The national public healthagency and Health Ministrydidn’t provide a reason for therise Friday.
It comes as testing hasbecome more easily available inFrance, though it is unclearwhether that is part of the rea-son.
The French governmenthas gradually increased the number of tests it is con-ducting after widespread crit-icism early in the pandemicthat it was not testing widelyenough. Scattered virus out-breaks have been reportedsince France’s reopeningbegan, notably in some schoolsthat were subsequently shutdown. AP
France reportshighest single-dayrise in virus cases
Debate over$600 in joblessaid to intensifyas claims rise
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�How different was it to shootthe song, Toxic, at home dur-ing the lockdown as com-pared to the usual outdoorshoots?
Of course, it was really dif-ferent to shoot at home. Usuallyduring shoots, people are doingeverything for you, you justhave to focus on one thing thatis acting. Here, I had to makesure my house is clean andeverything is in its originalplace. Ravi (Dubey) and I werethe art directors and the light-men for each other. We werethe ones styling ourselves,doing hair and makeup.Everything was upto us. Wewere figuring out what contentto shoot, how to go about it,what would look nice. And ifwe were to do it the usual way,there would be a unit of 75 to100 people managing every-thing for us. Here, we weredown to three people — Ravi,my friend, who was helping uswith the camera and I.
�What appealed you the mostabout your role in the song?
Frankly, when I heard thesong, I instantly fell in love withit. I thought it was one of a kind.It’s dark and simultaneously
filled with love. It’s about a rela-tionship that has gone bad butwe still wanted to give it a happyending. We were like no matterwhat, your relationship doesdeserve a second chance orany amount of chances that youthink are right. Ravi and I weregoing to share screen spaceafter almost 10 years. It’s notthat we didn’t get any offers butthere was nothing worth it.This song just felt right.
�It deals with the downfalls ofa relationship and itsupheavals. Did you relate to it?
I did relate to the song butnot from the perspective of therelationship that Ravi and Ishare. This is not exactly whatwe are as a couple, which is whywe were undecided initially.We wanted to discuss if we wantto show this side of our rela-tionship or not. At times dur-
ing the shoot, Ravi got angrythat this is not us. We tried tocut away from it emotionally asmuch as possible because wedidn’t want to get too absorbedin the story. But every relation-ship goes through this. It can gobad, you get possessive or therecan be more distance or prox-imity between two people.
There are zillion reasons thatpeople can feel there is notenough love in a relationship.But if both of you want to fixthe problem and want to betogether, you will find a way.
�How was it shooting withyour partner with whom yourjourney has been smooth?
Yes, the journey has beenvery smooth. I think this wasthe first time I didn’t see Ravionly as an actor or as a co-actor,I saw him as a director too. Onthe first day, I had my take oneverything or tried to figure outwhat we wanted to do. But later,I realised that too many peoplespoil the broth. So he tookcharge. Everything was in hishead, he directed all of it. I did-n’t want to mess with it so Icompletely surrendered to himas an actor. I thought this is theright way to do it. I saw him asa director for the very first timeand I absolutely loved him. Ihave always said that he’s a greatactor but I didn’t know he wassuch a great director too.
�From small screen toPunjabi films and now albumsongs, how challenging wasthis switch?
I don’t know if it was chal-lenging. I remember there wasa time when I had an offer tomove to another medium but Ifelt that I wasn’t ready for it.When I saw my first Punjabifilm, I decided that this is whatI wanted to do. Like this ishome and I would be able tomake my place here. It just felt
like it was a calling. When youjust sit down and think aboutwhat you really want in life,mysteriously the universe real-ly works to get that for you.Whatever I demanded — thekind of projects I wanted to do,how I wanted to make mydebut or with which actor —everything just fell into place. Idon’t think that I literally lift-ed a finger for all this to cometogether. I have seen a numberof rejections as well. Therewere so many people telling methat I won’t be able to make it.But I had faith in myself and theuniverse.
�Do you think the Punjabifilm industry competes withother new age regional cine-ma?
It definitely does. Not onlydoes it compete, I think in a lotof places it’s even better. We arean evolving industry and whenyou are growing, you try tomake a space for yourself. Youtry to make really good contentand you are okay with doing alot of experiments. That’s wherePunjabi cinema is, it’s experi-menting with content. I reallythink we are making somegreat films.
�The film is trending on Netflix. Did youbelieve something like this was possible?
Not at all. The response has beenamazing and the film has it’s own fan clubsand all that now. (Laughs, which even overthe phone line sounds overwhelmed). ButI don’t belong to this world, so it is verynew and exciting for me.
�Were you planning an OTT release ora theatrical one and shifted because ofthe pandemic?
I am the writer and director and theproducer had not masked the fact from methat it would not be the most comfortabletheatrical release. I was told that I wouldhave to make peace with big theatrerelease in Taipei, China, Taiwan, LosAngles film festivals. It was important toget a worldwide release and Netflix has anoutreach of 180-190 countries.
�OTTs have given a platform for differ-ent kinds of stories being told...
Of course, a culture of serious audiencehas come about because of these platforms.For example, a series like Wire or Mad Menhappened because these platforms wereavailable. It really nurtures your tastes asan audience. It makes them creative(pauses) and opinionated. The reaction isimmediate, personal and relies on word ofmouth. It isn’t a rehearsed audience whichsays “see this” or “do that”. It is very pas-sionate and creates its own bright guys.That’s the relevance of OTT, as of now.Earlier, we had to rely on the review of acritic and wonder if “we should we buy aticket?” But now it is as simple as turningon the TV.
�Are we making an impact globallythrough films as we see younger direc-tors doing the rounds of internationalfestivals now?
Of course, there are younger directorslike Rima Das. There is this burst of cre-ativity. We aren’t making films just with aThird World narrative based in villages toget to the festivals. There is Rhythm Jahnve,Kabir Mehta and Kabir Singh Choudhurywho are just killing it with their original-ity. They are ground breakers. I love theiredgy content. It is no longer that onlySatyajit Ray can go to Venice.
Moreover, while earlier we heavilyrelied on bigger festivals but now smallerones are also picking up in terms of audi-ence. Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
(IFFLA) is such great festival where theprogrammers are championing SouthAsian and Indian cinema.
�So what you are saying is that we’ve bro-ken stereotypes...
There are no stereotypes that areworking. It is a rude term. We do not havethe smugness or the right to call anythingstereotype. All types of writing is based onpeople’s experiences and as a culture weshould be respectful towards that. Itmight be a stereotype for us but may benot for them. We need to be harsh on theseterms in this changing world. This is a 90sterms but it doesn’t matter any more.
�Most coming of age films about ado-lescents talk about falling in love but thisfilm is different.
The protagonist has this great sense ofdiscomfort and, at the same time, compen-sating confidence. And it is possible to beboth at the same time. That is the trueinnocence of childhood. When you are 14-15, you are hormonally and mentally scat-tered. We tried to say through the charac-ter of Vivek (played by Yashasvini, last seenin Delhi Crime) that young women can bethis too. They don’t have to walk in a cer-tain way or wear spectacles. Anti-social
people can wear a yellowcoat and strut about likeshe does as she wants tobe noticed. The kidswatching this filmare relating to this.This narrative isallowing thecharacter tohave a gamutof emotions.
�Did the ideaof the filmcome fromyour own grow-ing up years?
It did. I feltvery alienated as akid. I didn’t knowhow to behave in a cer-tain way. I am a singlechild and I am socially awk-ward. I try to overcompensate bysaying something... (gives a nervouslaugh) absolutely stupid. This mademe a bit extra. I always wondered whythere were no films about children likeus. In films, 14-15-year-olds were fallingin love and having romances. Romancekuch nahi hota when you are 14-15. It was
like a series of embarrassing incidents oneafter the other where I was falling in onegutter hole after another. I felt that thisteenage angst, rebellion stupidity andinventiveness had to be honoured. Thebeauty of the character is that she can beclumsy, feisty, vulnerable, a great compan-ion, sensible and volatile — at the sametime. All that makes her what she is. It isnot a typical girl meets boy story... I did-n’t want to make that film. This starts offas a regular girl meets boy story and all thattrope and we built on it. We’ve embracedthe absurd and that’s the beauty of it all.People finally understand that it is okayto be absurd. There is so much space forimagination and the world needs it tokeep sane, little hopeful and happy.
�The film employs magic realism.How does that help the story-telling?
It is not just this film. I’ve doneit in other films too. Just that thisone has been seen by a wider audi-ence. I’ve made hybrid docu-mentaries that still follow therules of magic realism. On a big-ger scale, I will always be doingthis. There was everything —films about ghouls, crime — butnot about young women. Theyare undermined and treateddisrespectfully. It is almost likelet’s give them something dumband populist. With What AreThe Odds, we’ve proved themwrong.
�How did you select the cast?Very organically. I follow a lot
of independent musicians. I sawYashasvini playing a guitar, ukelele it
is called, at some point. She was singingand the rest of the crew too agreed thatwe had our lead. She had done a side role.What is the technical term for it? I don’tknow the word. Supporting role, it iscalled. I don’t know since I don’t comefrom this world. I feel girls like
Yashaasvini should be leading filmsbecause the youth needs relat-
able women. They don’tneed only girls who
look as if they’vejust stepped out
of the salon.She is relat-able, clum-sy, angry,wears herheart andbrain on hersleeve. She isalso viva-cious andjust fits therole.
Karanvirbrings the calm
to the storm tillthe time he also becomes like her in
the film. He does a very non head boything even though he comes across as anuptight guy. But the duo get each other. Itis their little rebellion. It is strangely pre-dictive of the times too. (Chuckles) Theyare freeing animals in the pet market. Andif you remember, the virus began with awet market.
�Did children being stuck at home dur-ing the lockdown power its success?
That’s a very ruthlessly exploitativething to say about a ruthless time in the
world and I would rather keep away fromthe question because I don’t want peopleto think that it is working for us. Whatabout those kids who do not have a TVand can’t watch the film? If I am talkingabout children being happy about thebreak, then I am talking about a particu-lar kind of children. But what about kidsbeing beaten up at home?
�How did Abhay Deol come on board?We were introduced by a friend as he
was looking to produce something. Andwe had this character, Val. The more weinteracted with him, the more we thoughthe should be our Val. When he agreed toproduce it, we asked if he would also actin the film. He said, “That’s not neces-sary. Cast who you want.” And wechimed, “We want to cast you.” It is sogracious of him as he is there for 15 min-utes. The ensemble cast also had genius-es like Sulbha Arya, a legend, who gaveus so much love, understanding andblessings.
�Your banner is called Missfit films...It is M-I-S-S-F-I-T. Miss fit. It is to
honour young women who feel mis-placed and we would like to hold spacefor them as they navigate though films.And we love to deal with narrativesaround younger people in particular. Wehear all of them. Straight, queer, gay —everyone.
�OTT changed the way films are beingviewed...
It has domesticated entertainment. It nolonger entails a trip to multiplex. There aretheatrical films and OTT films and thereis room for both. A cinema watching cul-ture needs to thrive with both. Roma wasreleased directly on Netflix by one of thegreatest directors in the world. Some of thebest directors are doing shows for OTT. Itis not the smaller platform any more.
�What were your learning experiencesfrom your past films, Newborns, Bunnyand The Last Music Store?
I was living in a very small world whereI was very content but the gates have openedto write and direct series with the successof What Are The Odds? It gives me the priv-ilege of affording enough support to otherpeople in this system. So, now I can run mycompany and hire young writers. Beingindependent means doing everything your-self.
�The absence of censorship on OTT hasbeen criticised due to explicit content. Doyou agree?
There shouldn’t be censorship. Allkinds of content make a culture. For exam-ple, films by Carlos Reygadas have a lot ofnudity but what would arthouse cinema bewithout his contribution? Censoring any-thing shows that there is something whichis not right in country.
�What is Cause Effect?It is a little outfit under Missfit. We try
and do pro bono, campaign driven workwith NGOs and raise funds. It is a commu-nity driven initiative where we ask peoplefor money. I’ve done a campaign with DrKailash Satyarthi for it too.
�Future plans?Up next is Reshma Aur Shera, few series
and a book adaptation. I am working withJeetu Mohandas about which I am veryexcited.
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As the pandemic unfolds,people around the
world have found them-selves in isolation to helpcontain the outbreak. Whilewomen continue to hold upmore than half of the sky,the increase in workloadand the surge in domesticviolence has made womenmore vulnerable even insidetheir homes. It is high timewe break the stigma aroundreporting abuse.
Against this back-ground, UNESCO, UNFPA,UNICEF, UN Women andthe South Asia Foundation(Madanjeet SinghFoundation) have joinedhands to support directorand actor Nandita Das inthe production and launchof a short film — Listen toHer.
The film focuses on twoimportant issues that manywomen are grappling with— an unprecedentedincrease in their workloadand at times, being lockeddown with their abusers. Itaims to inspire women tospeak up and for us to addour voice to end the silencearound these issues. Thefilm also creates publicawareness of helpline num-bers so survivors can seekimmediate assistance.
In India, the NationalCommission for Womenhas recorded more than atwo-fold increase in thenumber of cases of gender-based violence during thelockdown period. As wefind ways to help themigrant population, dailywagers, health workers onthe frontline, we also needto find ways to supportwomen who are battlingwithin their homes. Societysimply cannot thrive if halfthe population lives in fearof being abused, physicallyas well as mentally.
“The film was a sponta-neous response to the ironyof “stay home, stay safe’ formillions of women in Indiaand around the world. Thispandemic has taught usthat our lives are so deeplyintertwined, and so it isimperative we respond tothe issues around us. I want-ed to tell a simple story of awoman overburdened and awoman abused, both,impacting each other. Thefilm is adding its voice to
encourage women to speakand for us to listen.Creatively speaking, it wasa challenge to shoot duringthe lockdown. But wasworth the experiment,” saysNandita.
“There will be a beforeand after COVID-19, andthis should apply to genderequality too. There must bea redefinition of masculin-ities, where men shareresponsibilities with womenin dignity, respect and non-violence. UNESCO, togeth-er with its sister UNAgencies, UNFPA,UNICEF, and UN Women,felt it was important to sup-port Nandita in makingthis film possible,” shares
Eric Falt, director and rep-resentative, UNESCO, NewDelhi.
Argentina Matavel, rep-resentative, UNFPA Indiasays, “COVID-19 has forcedus to re-visit some veryimportant conversationsabout gender, be it vio-lence, equal participation athome or simply pre-definedroles for men and women.Today it is the pandemic,tomorrow it may be some-thing else. Gender equalityis no longer a contestedmatter, it is both complexand simple. It is a societaltransformation that will bea reality when each individ-ual looks at the other withfresh eyes, as if looking into
a mirror, and then, treatsthem with dignity andrespect, recognising thattheir own humanity is onlycomplete with the full exis-tence of the other.”
The film poignantlydepicts the ironic realities ofwhat it means for women to‘stay home, stay safe’ amidthe pandemic. “On onehand, women and girls arecompelled to heavy lift theincreased caregivingresponsibilities, jugglingwith many different piecesof life and work. On theother, many of themencounter a surge in domes-tic violence reported notonly in India but across theworld. The complex inter-
play of gender within thelarger socio-economicimpact of the crisis must befactored into the responseand recovery of theCOVID-19 pandemic,” saysDr Yasmin Ali Haque, rep-resentative, UNICEF India.
Nishtha Satyam, deputyrepresentative, UN WomenIndia, shares, “The pan-demic has challenged all weknew about the dynamics ofeconomics and power, bothinside the home and out-side. While many of us havehad the privilege of home,a safe space, many womenhave long dreaded the fourwalls of home, a privatechamber that reminds themof the horror and terror ofphysical, emotional andpsychological abuse. Acrossthe world, the dread nowlies exposed, along with theinescapability of it.
The pandemic hasupended several assump-tions about contemporaryworld order and equality.UN Women is proud tosupport this initiative whichcontributes to bring to lighton the importance of end-ing violence against womenand girls.”
Tell us somethingabout your next filmPonMagal Vandhal.
It is a thriller with adifference. You can alsocall it a contemporarycourtroom drama. I amvery close to the subjectwhich has been tackled inthe film by director J JFrederick who has alsowritten it. The film has avery pertinent social mes-sage with which each oneof us can relate to instant-ly. It is a film which willmake every woman proud.
You have sharedscreen with five differentactors who are also direc-tors. How was the experi-ence?
I have been lucky thatI got an opportunity towork with five actors whoare also goods directors,including K Parthiepan,Thiagarajan, Pandiarajan,Pratap Pothan and KBhagyaraj. It wasFrederick’s vision and ideato cast five different actorswho are also directors. Itwas a learning experiencefor me, I learnt how theyprepared their dialoguesand delivered them clear-ly with precision and clar-ity.
You play a lawyer inthe film. To put it in acontext, at home, are youa lawyer or a judge?
At home, I am never alawyer because I am alwaysa judge. If you compare mewith my earlier films, youwill realise that I havereally come out of myshell. I am now under theblue sky. Today, I can doany kind of role. I amblessed that I am beingapproached by manydirectors with subjects thatare daringly different.
How difficult was itto act with directors likeParthiepan and K
Bhagyaraj?It was a big challenge
to deliver my dialogues infront of Partiban becausethey were lengthy and it isbasically a courtroomdrama. But thankfully, Iwas prepared as I wasgiven the script threemonths ago. It is to thecredit of director Frederickthat he has shot four sin-gle shots each of five min-utes. You would not believethat he who is in his 20’shas not only written thesubject well but also madehis debut with this film. Inthe first narration itself, Iwas hooked to the subjectand said yes to be a part ofit. It has a lot of layers,thrills, twists and a smash-ing climax.
What are the factorsthat influence your deci-sion while choosing arole?
I always see what thescreenplay of a film offersand want characters thatare not only intelligent butalso dignified to the core.
I want to play real life char-acters, with which theaudience can easily identi-fy themselves with. I willagree to do a film only if Iam sure that people willtalk about my role and thefilm even after 20 years. Ifyou play a cop’s role, youcan easily pad your scenewith action but when youset out to play a lawyer, youcannot resort to actionand have to deliver yourlines with perfection.Considering the fact that Ihave never ever gone to acourt till date, I shouldthank the director for hav-ing done all his homework with perfection.
The film is beingreleased on an OTT plat-form, Amazon PrimeVideo. What do you thinkabout the pros and consof this release?
I’d say, there are onlypros and no cons.Especially, in the lastmonths after theCoronavirus scare, thenumber of people watch-
ing on OTT platform hasshot up considerably.Though all said and done,I will not deny that had thesituation been different, itwould have been a joy tosee your film release in the-atres and reaction of theaudience. OTT release is abig celebration as film-makers will be able toreach as many as 200countries. However, it isnot a permanent solution,it is only helping for thetime being. If we wait torelease PonMagal Vandhalin theatres, there is a longqueue. It will take at leasta year for the hero-orient-ed films to release, theheroine-oriented ones willget their chance only aftertwo years.
Why do you prefer towork in only your ownhome productions?
After 36 Vayathinile, Ihave mostly acted in myhome productions becauseit allows me to be in mycomfort zone. It is impor-tant now as I have to strikea balance between mycareer, home and kids.Also, when you do notknow how the audience isgoing to respond to yourfilm, it is better to invest inyour own film.
You seem to opt to actunder new directors...
Working with new-comers is good as they donot follow the typical pat-tern. They belong to anew genre and their work-ing process is very differ-ent from that of mine. If Iwork only with the samedirectors, I may end upbecoming stagnant as anactor. The character ofVenba that I play inPonMagal Vandhal is themost challenging that Ihave ever played in mycareer, perhaps because ofthe direction.
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The iconic Delhi locale is choc-a-bloc with shoppers, diners and peo-ple who come in to savour the beau-ty of its columned colonial architec-ture. On any given day chaat-walas,handicraft vendors and ice-creamcarts jostle for space. But a sweep ofthe camera and we witness thesilence of the centre of India’s capi-tal.
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The station, a getaway to EastIndia, contains the largest railwaymarshaling yard in Asia. However, wesee one of the busiest stations in thecountry without a soul in sight.
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On any given day, the mostfamous monument of the commer-cial capital is a place where neither thephotographer nor the tourist gets amoment to enjoy the view in peace.But now, it stands silent just like thedocks around it.
When the lockdown wasannounced on March 24, documen-tary film maker Bharat Bala realisedthat it was an important time in thehistory of the country and felt that itwas his responsibility to capture it. “Iknew that it is the most unprecedent-ed thing unfolding in front of oureyes. It is in one way historical andin another, disturbing.” People in theWest, both America and Europehave filmed the time extensively. Balasays, “In the next five years wewould be flush with interesting doc-umentaries from those places whileIndia would have nothing.”
He felt that the content from TVnews was transitory in nature andthere was “nothing emotional, deepor like a canvas which tells the storyof what a lockdown is like. Where arethese 1.3 million people?” he asks.
So the creator of some of thereally iconic works like AR Rahman’sVande Mataram got down to work.Over a period of 55 days, a team of117 people filmed extensively for 100hours across 16 states to preserve thetime for posterity.
Even under normal circum-stances when permissions are hard tocome by, during lockdown this musthave been some feat. Anticipating thequestion, Bala himself pipes up andsays, “How did we do it? It was a
nightmare, almost impossible.”Getting permissions from the Policewas difficult but essential as filmingon the streets is not allowed withoutit. “Somehow when the intent is there,things do happen and they did hap-pen,” chimes in Bala, upbeat at thethought of what he has accom-plished.
A central core team sat inMumbai while crews spread acrossthe country. Footage started pouringin from early morning to late in thenight as the core team was sitting ata studio in Mumbai and givingdirections to the crews in UttarPradesh, Utttarakhand, Tamil Nadu,Kerala Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi,Kashmir, Assam and more. “It was amammoth exercise. A camerapersonin Assam would send a WhatsAppvideo and then I would set the frameand check the lens. Doing it remote-ly was bizarre. Sometimes they wouldsend footage and I would say, ‘Thisis great but what about this?’ And theywould go there and shoot again.”
Bala credit his robust researchteam which knew exactly what wasrequired for the film. “They were con-stantly updating what we were gettingand, at the same time, specifying whatwe wanted from each place. In thatsense we had to be instinctive in plan-ning. It was crazy,” says the film makerover the phone.
Bala wanted to get a large picturefrom a variety of places. So the teamspanned out to places like theMumbai’s CST Station, which is likethe Grand Central of New York, andcould not even spot pigeons. Some ofthe busiest airports were stark, withnot a soul in sight. “Highways, air-ports, schools, colleges, streets andbazaars everything has been docu-
mented for posterity so that weshould not forget this time. We alsosaw the Ganges clean and pristine inHaridwar and Rishikesh which wascaptured in a cinematic way,” he says.
Bala believes that it would be arecord for all of us of what the nationand its people went through.“Otherwise you just look down yourwindow and see apna gali mohalla
khali hai (our streets and locality areempty) but then you see the entirecountry from Kashmir toKanyakumari and realise that every-thing has stopped. Even Tsunamis,cyclones or other disasters couldn’t dothat. Not even wars, as only the bor-der areas were severely affected.Given the size of our country, withour federal structure, it was not easy
to bring everything to a standstill.” The idea behind the four-minute
film, called Uthenge Hum, is to con-vey that no matter what happens wewill rebound. “That is the resilienceof the poorest mother of India. Shemight have lost her husband at nightbut the next day she would get up andfeed her children,” says he about thefilm which he feels is an honest effort.
The voice over by actor and the-atre person, Seema Biswas, in the filmrepresents the migrant woman.“When she says Uthenge Hum itseems like a mother, who has her feeton the ground, is saying the words.”
And we all hope so too... that webounce back resilient, more compas-sionate and better versions of our-selves from these difficult times.
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British Police want at least sixPremier League matches and
any Liverpool title clincher to beplayed at neutral venues whenthe season resumes in a bid toavoid supporters gathering out-side stadiums.
Premier League chiefs haveset June 17 as the date for the topflight to restart following thecoronavirus delay.
They hope to play themajority of the matches behindclosed doors on a home andaway basis at clubs’ usual stadi-ums.
However, police are con-cerned about the issue of hard-core fans potentially floutingsocial distancing rules by con-gregating wherever their teamplay.
With Liverpool two winsaway from clinching their firstEnglish title for 30 years andother relegation and Europeanqualification issues to be decid-ed in the remaining 92 fixtures,there is potential for policeresources to be stretched ifmatches draw crowds outsidegrounds.
Police bosses have spoken tothe Premier League about games
they consider especially trickyand the matches they requestedto take place at neutral groundsare Manchester City vsLiverpool, Manchester City vsNewcastle, Manchester Unitedvs Sheffield United, Newcastle vsLiverpool and Everton vsLiverpool.
“Our discussions with thePremier League throughout thisprocess have been positive, with
a shared focus on the priority ofpublic health,” said Deputy ChiefConstable Mark Roberts ofSouth Yorkshire Police.
“As such we have reached aconsensus that balances theneeds of football, while also min-imising the demand on policing.
“The majority ofremaining matches willbe played, at home andaway as scheduled, witha small number of fix-tures taking place atneutral venues, which,contrary to some reports, haveyet to be agreed.”
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Italy’s Serie A was given thegreen light on Thursday to
resume on June 20 after athree-month absence as oneof the countries hardest hit bythe coronavirus pandemicbegins to ease restrictions.
Sports MinisterVincenzo Spadafora said thatthe Government’s Technicaland Scientific Committee(CTS) had agreed to thehealth protocol proposed byItalian football chiefs.
“Italy has started toreturn to normal life again, itis only right that footballshould do the same,” saidSpadafora.
“The federation assuredme that it had a Plan B anda Plan C.
“In light of these consid-erations, the championshipcan resume on June 20.”
Italian football federation(FIGC) president GabrieleGravina told the ministerduring the video conferencethere would be a play-off sys-tem if the champi-onship were againinterrupted, whilethe existing stand-ings would be used ifit were stopped.
“We had a veryuseful meeting,” saidSpadafora. “From the start, Isaid that football could restartonce all the security condi-tions had been met.”
No top-flight matchesin Italy have been playedsince Sassuolo beat Brescia 3-
0 on March 9.Italian football now faces
a scheduling nightmare, formatches which will take place
behind closed doors.“I’m happy and
satisfied,” saidGravina.
“The restart offootball represents amessage of hope forthe whole country.”
Lega Serie A will nowmeet to examine the differ-ent calendar hypotheses forthe remaining Serie A andItalian Cup matches,amounting to 127 in total.
Most teams have 12
league games left to play, butthere were four postponedfixtures.
Spadafora suggested thatthe Italian Cup could beconcluded the week beforethe return to Serie A action.
The semi-final returnleg matches between InterMilan and Napoli and ACMilan and Juventus, could beplayed on June 13-14 with thefinal on June 17.
“I also hope to be able tosend a positive signal to thewhole country by takingadvantage of the week fromJune 13 to 20 to conclude theItalian Cup,” he added.
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Cricket Australia has notruled out the possibilityof the Covid-19 pan-
demic forcing a change in theschedule for India’s tour of thecountry with the board stillkeeping the door open for host-ing four Tests in “as little as onevenue”.
Cricket Australia (CA) onThursday announced that Indiawill play the Tests at Brisbane(December 3-7), Adelaide(December 11-15), Melbourne(December 26-30) and Sydney
(January 3-7) respectively.However, CA chief execu-
tive Kevin Roberts said theschedule could change depend-ing on the travel restrictionsdue to the health crisis.
“That (schedule) assumesthat state borders are open todomestic travel. It may be thatcircumstances dictate that whenthe time comes maybe we canonly use one or two venues, wereally don’t know any of thatyet,” he told reporters on Friday.
“There is a lot of variablesbased on whether we have fourvenues in four states or as lit-
tle as one venue in one state.There’s endless scenarios andpossibilities...”
Soon after the scheduleannouncement, WesternAustralia Cricket Association(WACA) chief ChristinaMatthews had lashed out at CAfor choosing Brisbane overPerth as one of the venues forthe high-profile Test series.
Roberts said that the Gabbadidn’t get a Test during India’stour of Australia two years agoand to strike a balance, Perthwas overlooked this timearound.
“If Perth received the IndiaTest (this year) it would meanthat Perth would have hostedtwo England Tests (for Ashes)and two India Tests over theeight-year cycle for a total offour ... Whereas Brisbane wouldhave only hosted two. So thatwould have created an imbal-ance over the cycle of theFuture Tours Programme,” hesaid.
“And in the national inter-est and ensuring we take high-profile Test matches to cricket
fans in Queensland, it was amore well-balanced solution.Assuming, of course, that wecould get full crowds in play,that’s when this schedule wasdetermined.
“The more balanced solu-tion was to play the India Testin Brisbane, meaning over theeight-year cycle it would seePerth hosting three Testsagainst India and England andBrisbane also hosting threeTests against India andEngland.”
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Vincent Kompany hasturned down an offer from
Manchester City to becomePep Guardiola’s assistant coach,according to various Belgianmedia reports on Friday.
The former City captain isunder contract as player-man-ager of Anderlecht until 2022,having left the Etihad Stadiumlast year following a trophy-laden 11-year spell in England.
Kompany, who has neverconcealed his desire to one daybe City manager, said he want-ed to stay at Anderlecht.
City boss Guardiola hasbeen looking for a new assistantsince Mikel Arteta leftManchester to become Arsenalmanager last December.
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French Prime Minister EdouardPhilippe reiterated his Government’s
opposition to resuming professional sportseasons in the country.
“I don’t think the time has come,”Philippe said.
“I hope it will come soon, and that thestart of next season can take place undernormal conditions.
“It is not for me to pronounce on deci-sions of leagues and federations.”
Philippe made the announcement ashe outlined relaxations to coronaviruslockdown rules in France. These did notinclude allowing sports leagues to restart.
Ligue 1 clubs hope to be back on thepitch in June and start the 2020-21 sea-son in August.
While their league season seems tohave been ended, Top 14 rugby hopes stillto complete its playoffs at some point.
“The championships were interrupt-ed for two and a half months for excellentreasons,” said Philippe who did, howev-er, raise the possibility of professionalteams resuming training on 2 June undera “strict” medical protocol.
The decision to halt the footballleague is being challenged in France’sadministrative supreme court by at leastthree clubs, led by Lyon.
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La Liga president Javier Tebas said onFriday that the league is hoping the
2020/21 season can start on September 12.The current campaign is still suspend-
ed due to the coronavirus pandemic,although La Liga is targeting a return on June
11 with the Seville derby between Real Betisand Sevilla.
There are still 11 rounds of matches inthe Spanish top flight to be played this term.
“The important thing will be toknow the end date of the 2019-20 sea-son,” Tebas told Marca. “The next onewill start on September 12.
“God willing, we will restart on June11. We are waiting for Madrid and Barcelonato move onto phase two (of easing of lock-down rules).”
The Spanish Government last weekgave La Liga the green light to resume fromJune 8. Tebas also said that television view-ers would be able to choose whether to watchmatches, which will all be played behindclosed doors, with virtual sound effectsadded.
� �� �� World Cup-winningskipper Eoin Morgan, and thepace duo of James Anderson andJofra Archer are among 55England players who have beenasked to resume outdoor train-ing to prepare for cricket behindclose doors.
The England and WalesCricket Board has added 37names to the list after 18 bowlersresumed individual training lastweek, focussing on Test cricket.
Alex Hales, Liam Plunkettand Joe Clarke are some bignames who do not feature in the55-man list for the time being.
The ECB confirmed that the
players have been asked toreturn to training, “as EnglandMen prepare for the prospect ofbehind-closed-doors cricket,subject to UK Governmentclearance.”
The Board said it continuesto work closely with its countypartners to provide a safe andefficient return to practice forplayers. Other big names whohave been asked to resumetraining include Moeen Ali,Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, JosButtler, Adil Rashid, TomCurran, David Willey, and SamBillings among others.
The ECB said squads for
specific formats will beannounced in due course.
“The pool of players willgive selectors strong optionswhen it comes to selectingsquads across formats furtherdown the line, as we move clos-er to our aim of playing interna-tional cricket this summer,” ECBPerformance Director Mo Bobatsaid in a statement.
“We will need to continue towork closely with our medicalteam and government to ensurethat our return to training andplay activities are in line withbest-practice guidelines,” headded. PTI
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Indian batting great VVSLaxman says the ability to
remain calm under pressure isthe reason behind RohitSharma’s success as a captain inthe Indian Premier League.
The 33-year-old ledMumbai Indians to four titlewins, one ahead of ChennaiSuper Kings’ Mahendra SinghDhoni, making him currentlythe most successful skipper inthe history of IPL.
The 45-year-old Laxmanrecalled how Rohit evolved bothas a batsman and skipper sinceplaying his first IPL with DeccanChargers. “He became a leaderin the Deccan Chargers team.
When he came in the first year,he was a youngster who justplayed the T20 World Cup,made his International debut forIndia,” Laxman told Star Sportsshow Cricket Connected.
“I think the way he was bat-ting in the middle order, underpressure because the team did-n’t do well in the inaugural IPLedition in 2008 ... Rohit was astandout performer for us.”
Rohit is placed third in thelist of most run-getters in IPLhistory, having scored 4898 runsin 188 matches at an average of31.60 with a highest score of 109not out.
“In each and every match,with each and every success, hisconfidence level was just grow-ing, he was getting into the coregroup, helping the youngsters,voicing his opinion and thosewere early signs,” Laxman said.
“But for me, most impor-tantly was handling the pressurebecause not once in those toughsituations when he was battingdid it show, and he has evolvedand blossomed. That’s why he’sone of the most successful cap-tains in IPL history.”
� ������ Borussia Dortmund midfielderMahmoud Dahoud has been ruled out for therest of the season with a knee injury, theBundesliga club announced on Friday.
The 24-year-old was replaced by AxelWitsel in the 85th minute of Dortmund’s 1-0defeat by title rivals and league leaders BayernMunich on Tuesday.
Dahoud has made 14 appearances forLucien Favre’s men in all competitions this sea-son.
The Syrian-born player joins Erling BrautHaaland, captain Marco Reus, Nico Schulz andDan-Axel Zagadou on the sidelines ahead ofSunday’s trip to bottom club Paderborn. AFP
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UEFA is studying “allthe options” for the
format of this sea-son’s interruptedChampions League,amid reports onFriday thatEuropean football’sgoverning body isconsidering moving thefinal from its scheduledvenue in Istanbul.
The Turkish city wasdue to host the final thisSaturday at the AtaturkOlympic Stadium, but thetournament was suspend-ed in mid-March at thelast-16 stage because ofthe coronavirus pandemic.
UEFA still hopes toconclude the competitionby the end of August, but
with major changes to theformat likely and games setto be played behind closeddoors.
“We are looking at all
the options regarding thecalendar and the format ofthe competition in theworking group involvingthe clubs, leagues and
national associations,” aUEFA spokesman said.
“No decision has beentaken yet but there shouldbe at the ExecutiveCommittee meeting onJune 17.”
According to a UEFAdocument, August 29could be chosen as the newdate for the final.
The New York Timesreported on Friday that thefinal would be moved fromTurkey but that Istanbulcould be chosen as host ofa future final, when it issafe for fans to travel fromabroad in large numbers.
Changes could also bemade to the format of theEuropa League, the final ofwhich was due to be playedin the Polish city of Gdanskthis week.
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The Badminton WorldJunior Championships
to be held in Auckland inSeptember was on Fridayrescheduled to January nextyear because of a disruption-hit international calendarowing to the Covid-19 pan-demic.
The Badminton WorldFederation (BWF) con-firmed that the World JuniorChampionships will nowbe held from January 18 to24 next year.
The prestigious eventwill be preceded by theWorld Junior Mixed TeamChampionships with theBWF scheduling it fromJanuary 11 to 16.
“There are new dates forthe BARFOOT & THOMP-SON BWF World JuniorChampionships 2020, whichwere scheduled to be held inAuckland, New Zealand inSeptember this year,” theBWF said in a release.
“The rescheduled datesfor the world events are 11-24 January 2021.
Only those athletes eli-gible for the originallyscheduled championshipsare allowed to enter.
“The new time framegives the BWF, BadmintonNew Zealand and tourna-ment organisers the bestchance to stage a successfulevent for the large volume ofjunior players expected totravel to Auckland.”
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Cricket Australia on Fridayconceded that there is “very
high risk” of this year’s T20World Cup being postponedand the body is bracing up forhuge revenue loss because ofthat.
Speaking to reporters, CAchief executive Kevin Robertsadmitted that the fate of T20World Cup, to be hosted byAustralia in October-November this year, is uncer-tain because of the global trav-el restrictions in place due tothe Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have been hopeful allalong that it could be staged inOctober-November but youwould have to say there’s a veryhigh risk about the prospect of
that happening,” Roberts said.He said CA is staring at a
revenue loss of around A$ 80million.
Even if the tournamentgoes ahead as per plan, it is like-ly to be held in empty stadiumsbecause of the social distancingnorms and CA is well aware ofit.
“The likelihood of signifi-cant crowds is very slim —ordinarily that would deliverwell over A$ 50m revenue toCA.
The T20 World Cup is a bigquestion and that’s a factor ofperhaps A$ 20m.
“And it’s likely that ourbio-security measures that weneed to put in place to deliverthe season will cost in theorder of A$ 10m,” he said.
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� �� �� The FA Cup final is setto take place on August1 after the EnglishFootball Associationannounced provisionaldates to finish the com-petition on Friday.
After the PremierLeague revealed they plan toresume the season on June 17,the FA Cup has now returnedto an English fixture list.
The FA Cup was halted
before the quarter-finalsbecause of the pandemic,but tournament organisershope to complete it along-side the Premier League.
The four matches inthe last eight will be playedover the weekend of June
27 and 28, with no decisionreached yet on whether thesewill be played on a home-and-away basis as normal or at neu-tral venues. Leicester take on
Chelsea, Newcastle face hold-ers Manchester City, SheffieldUnited play Arsenal andNorwich meet ManchesterUnited.
The semi-finals will beplayed on July 11 and 12, withthe intention being for thosematches and the final to beplayed at Wembley as usual.
All the ties will be behindclosed doors. AFP
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:( ��!���������� �"����F��-����� 4� �� �� Premier League chiefexecutive Richard Masterssaid on Friday that fans couldbe allowed to attend top-flight matches in the 2020-21
season on a “phased basis”.“No one knows when
matches will move awayfrom the behind-closed-doors model and it is rightto have contingency plans inplace, but there is optimism
at the Premier League and atclubs that we will see fans back
in the stadiums next seasonand it may happen on aphased basis,” Masters told SkySports News. “Hopefully itwill be a huge morale boostand that is what we’ve beenworking towards.
“We’ve got some incredi-ble fans in this country and weall know the Premier Leagueas we know and love it won’tbe fully back until we havefans back through the turn-stiles.” AFP
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