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JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA ● REG .NO . MCS/067/2018 - 20 RN I REGN . NO . 1543/57
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932
` 110 per kilo
` 138 per kilo
` 171 per kilo
Inadequacies, lapses: SCseeks answers fromGovt, states on migrants
ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI,MAY26
TAKING SUOmotu cognizanceof“problemsandmiseriesofmi-grantlabourers”strandedindif-ferent parts of the country and“inadequacies and certainlapses” in efforts by the Centreand States, the Supreme CourtTuesdaysoughttheirresponses,saying it will hear the matteragainThursday.The bench of Justices Ashok
Bhushan, SKKaul andMRShahsaiditwas“oftheviewthateffec-tive concentrated efforts are re-quiredtoredeemthesituation”.
“We, thus, issuenotice to theUnionofIndiaandallStates/UnionTerritories to submit their re-sponseslookingintotheurgencyof thematter.Wedirect the suomotupetitiontobetakenupday-after-tomorrowandwe requestthelearnedSolicitorGeneraltoas-sisttheCourtandbythenextdateof hearing bring in the notice oftheCourt allmeasures and stepstakenbytheGovernmentofIndiaandtobetakeninthisregard,”thebenchsaid.Pointing out that “the crises
ofmigrantlabourersisevencon-tinuingtodaywithlargesectionsstill stranded on roads,
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SHUBHANGIKHAPREMUMBAI,MAY26
ALLEGINGTHATthereisnotruthin the statement that BJP isworking to destabilise theUddhavThackeraygovernment,formerchiefministerDevendraFadnavis on Tuesday said thethree-partycoalitionwill fallonitsownduetosharpinternaldif-ferences between allies ShivSena,NCPandCongress.“EvenCongressleaderRahul
Gandhi has admitted thatthough his party was a part ofthe government, it was not in-volved inmajor decisionmak-ing...Thackeray'slackofassertiveleadership and inability to takebolddecisionshas adversely af-fectedMaharashtra,”hetoldme-diapersons.
Almost24hoursafterseniorBJP MP Narayan Rane metGovernorBhagatSinghKoshyari,demandingthatPresident'sRulebe imposed in thestate,BJPdis-tanced itself from the develop-ment. "Rane is a senior leaderand everybody is well versedwith his blunt speak. His angeragainstthegovernment'sfailuretotackleCovid-19ledhimtode-mand President's Rule. The BJPdoes not support his demand.Politics isnotourpriority."
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TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,MAY26
MAHARASHTRA REPORTED 97deaths due to Covid-19 onTuesday–thehighestsingle-daytoll so far since the state regis-teredits firstdeathonMarch17.The previous highest toll wasrecorded onMay 19, when 76peoplehadsuccumbedtothein-fection.Thedayalsowitnessed2,091
new infections being reported,takingthetotalnumberofcasesinMaharashtrato54,578.Across
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At 97, highest single-daytoll in state; Mumbai to geta lakh beds by mid-June
SANJANABHALERAO&LAXMANSINGHMUMBAI,MAY26
IN A bid to reduce the responsetime taken by ambulances toreachCovid-19patientsandoth-ers in Mumbai, theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) has tied upwithaninternationalapp-basedcab service to track themove-mentof456ambulancesinreal-timeanddispatch themquicklywhereneeded.The operator of the app-
based cabs has provided BMCwithitssoftware,throughwhichthe location of the ambulancesspread across the city will beavailableinthecivicbody’sCovidwar room. MunicipalCommissioner I S Chahal, at ajointpressconferencewithChiefSecretaryAjoyMehtaandHealthSecretaryDrPradeepVyas,madethe announcement onTuesday.“456ambulanceshavebeende-ployed in the city. Wewill usethe software tomonitor the lo-cationofambulancesanddivertthenearestonestoattendtopa-tients,” saidChahal.
Ananalysisof thecalldataonits Covid-19 helpline (1916) byBMC has shown that amid theoutbreak, people havemade alargenumberofdistresscallsovernon-availability of ambulanceservices across the city. Thehelpline receives about 2,400calls daily from those in need ofambulances for ferrying eithersuspectedorconfirmedCovid-19patientstohospitals fromhome.Chahaladmittedthatthereis
a shortage of telephone lines tothewarroomandBMCiswork-ing to increase them. "We have
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BMC ties up with app-based cabservice to track ambulances
MUMBAI AIRPORTOPERATES41FLIGHTSONDAY2PAGES3,4,5
MAHARASHTRA
BJP not in hurry, govt willfall on its own: Fadnavis
DevendraFadnavis
Numberofdeaths 1,792
Totalnumberofpeopledischarged 16,954
Numberofpeople tested3.90 lakh
Totalnumberquarantined35,200
Numberofnewcases 2,091
TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRA
54,758
MILINDGHATWAIBURHANPUR(MP),MAY26
ON APRIL 22, when the firstCovid case was reported fromBurhanpur, near MadhyaPradesh’s border withMaharashtra, thedistricthospi-tal had one ventilator, a severeshortageofdoctors,andtwoam-bulanceswith emergency sup-port systems and two hired ve-hicleswithbasicequipment.Onemonth,293casesand13
Coviddeathslater,themaingov-ernment healthcare facility hasgotmore beds, but is still shortof keyequipmentanddoctors.
The Indian Express visitedBurhanpur on its countrywidejourney to track hospital inven-tory in Covid-care facilities farfromurbanareas -- and foundadistrictthatisscramblingtocon-tain theoutbreak.There have been upgrades
sincethefirstcasewasreported,sayofficials.The ANM training centre,
near the main building of the200-bed district hospital, hasbeen converted into a 60-bedLevel-2 facility for moderatecases.ThreeBiPapmachines, fornon-invasive ventilation, havebeenshifted fromthehospital.Anewbuildingblockbehind
thecentreisbeingusedtoquar-antine asymptomatic patients,the first Level-1 Covid CareCentre (CCC) in thedistrict.And, a part of the govern-
ment Ayurveda College andHospital, located a few kilome-tresaway,was “acquired” in thefirstweekofMaytoserveas thesecond CCC, which can accom-modatenearly100cases.But there are still someglar-
inggaps.AttheANMfacility,where60
patients are undergoing treat-ment, not all nineoxygen cylin-ders earmarked for Covid casesareavailabletogether. “Wehaveaseriousshortageofdoctors,too.
OnlyfourMBBSdoctorsandtwoMDs, who work in 12-hourshifts, attend to Covid patients.You can imagine the conse-quences.Wetreatpatientstothebest of our understanding. Orelse, we refer them to M YHospital in Indore, which isabout 175 km away,” said DrPrateek Navlakhe, one of thedoctorsonduty.Withonlyasmallboardthat
reads‘InfectionDiseaseControl’,it isdifficulttoidentifytheisola-tionareainthesamecompound.“It’s not uncommon for non-Covidpatientsandtheirrelativesto enter bymistake. The wardboys and sweepers don’t report
for work out of fear,” said an-other doctor, who did notwishtobe identified.At the Ayurveda facility,
where 61 patients are beingmonitored, there are only threeprivateAyush(Unani)practition-ers, hired on ad hoc basis on asalary of Rs 25,000 each, andthreesupportstaff.“Wemanagethe showhere.NoMBBSdoctorhas come here to check on pa-tients.Wehavetodoeverythingon our own. We need para-medics. The support staff pro-videsonly foodandtea,’’ saidDrIrfan Shaikh, one of the Unanipractitioners.
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PAGE1ANCHOR
Insidethe isolationfacilityat theANMinstitutenear thedistricthospital inBurhanpur,MP.MilindGhatwai
Migrantworkers fromUttarPradeshandBiharwait inseparate lines forbuses totakethemtotherailwaystation, inDharaviinMumbaionTuesday.GaneshShirsekar
India underlinesfaith in HCQ,says benefitsoutweigh risksSeveralprivatehospitalsinMumbaistop
givingitafternoticingirregularheartbeats
ABANTIKAGHOSH,TABASSUMBARNAGARWALA&ANURADHAMASCARENHASNEWDELHI,MUMBAI, PUNE,MAY26
A DAY after the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) suspendedthe allocation of patients in thehydroxychloroquine (HCQ) armof its multi-country SolidarityTrialtofindaneffectivetreatmentfor Covid-19, India reiterated itsfaithinthecontinuedprophylac-ticuseoftheanti-malariadrugforthenovelcoronavirusdisease.Thereisenoughexperiencein
the country of using HCQ, andsufficientdatafromobservationaland case control studies towar-rantitsuse,thegovernmentsaid.HCQ also continues to be
used for treatment of Covid-19,along with the antibioticazithromycin. “Wewill reviewit,” Dr Balram Bhargava, DG,Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) and Secretary,DepartmentofHealthResearch,saidonTuesday.
Dr Vinod Paul, Member(Health)atNITIAayog,andchair-man of the Empowered Groupon the government’s medicalemergencymanagement plan,said:“Wehaveusedchloroquineforyears...HCQisevenmoresafebecause it is used continuouslyinrheumatoidarthritis.
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AS ICMR’sDrBalramBhargavasays,wedon’tknowfor surewhatdrugisworkingandwhat is-n’t in the fightagainstthenovel coronavirus.Chloroquinehasbeen inuse foracentury, andHCQisconsideredasafedrug.TheWHOhassaidthatacall onHCQwouldbe takenaftera reviewof theexistingevidence,sometime in themiddleof nextmonth.
Jury isstillout
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, CHENNAI,MAY26
A 24-YEAR-OLD passenger onboard IndiGo’s Monday flightfrom Chennai to Coimbatoretestedpositive forCovid19uponarrival at Coimbatore, followingwhichtheairline’soperatingcrewhasbeenquarantinedfor14days.According to health officials,
he was asymptomatic beforeboarding andwas tested along
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IndiGo flyertests positiveafter landingin Coimbatore
SANDEEPASHAR,VISHWASWAGHMODE&LIZMATHEWMUMBAI,NEWDELHI,MAY26
A90-MINUTEmeetingbetweenChiefMinisterUddhavThackerayand Sharad Pawar onMondayevening, hours after the NCPchiefmetGovernorBhagatSinghKoshyari, triggered speculationabout the stability of theMahaVikas Aghadi coalition govern-ment, which is set to completesixmonthsonThursday.However,onTuesdaymorn-
ing,Pawar,seenasthegluehold-ing the three-party coalition oftheShivSena,NCPandCongresstogether,scotchedtalkofapolit-icalrealignmentinthestate,andsaidtherewas“nothreat”tothegovernment.Pawar’s meeting with the
chiefminister,heldatThackeray’sresidenceMatoshree,cameasthemainoppositionBJPhassteppedup its criticismof the Thackeraygovernment’s allegedmishan-dling of the Covid-19 crisis inMaharashtra.Over the past few days, sev-
eralseniorBJPleadershavegonetoRajBhavantocomplainabout
the government. Narayan Ranemet Koshyari on Monday andcalledforPresident’sRule.Therehas been talk thatMLAs of thethree ruling partieswere beingapproachedwithoffers to jumpship.But on Tuesday, Pawar told
NDTV:“There isnothreat to theMaharashtra government. AllMLAsarewithus,anyattempttobreak them at this timewill re-sult in thepublicbeatingus.”The meeting at Matoshree
followed what is said to havebeen Pawar’s first visit to the
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BUSINESS AS USUAL
BYUNNY
LOCKDOWNDAY
63
CONCERN
ASSAM:Bihar-likesituation unfolding,five-fold rise in
cases in one week,to over 520
CAUTION
UTTARAKHAND:Another statewith
rapidly risingnumbers, thoughstill small overall
A GLIMMER
HARYANA:For twoweeks now,growth rate belownational average.
Total just over 1200
KEYSTATESTOWATCH
■Maharashtra
■Gujarat
■Delhi
■TamilNadu
■Bihar
■WestBengal
TOTALCASES
52,667
14,468
14,465
17,082
2,737
3,816
DOUBLINGRATE**
12.03
23.82
15.63
13.14
7.35
16.40
SURGEIN24HRS
2,436
405
412
805
163
149
7-DAYAVG.
GROWTH*
5.99%
3.02%
4.61%
5.48%
9.79%
4.39%
TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE
CASES:145,380
RECOVERED:60,490 |DEATHS:4,167
TESTS:3,126,119 |DOUBLINGRATE: 13.53**
*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last 7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth
BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments
Bhopal
BURHANPUR
MADHYAPRADESH
UPRAJASTHAN
TEST
REP RTS
FROMTHE
FIELD
TRACKINGTHEVIRUS,LOCKDOWN
NSA,CDSALSOPRESENT
No change in Ladakh ground situation,military brass brief PMandRajnathCommandersconferencestarts today,Armysayswillbrainstormonsecuritychallenges
SUSHANTSINGH&KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,MAY26
AMID TENSIONS with ChinaalongtheLineofActualControlinLadakh,PrimeMinisterNarendraModi held ameeting Tuesdaywith National Security AdvisorAjit Doval, Chief of Defence StaffGeneralBipinRawatandchiefsofthethreeservices.Earlier, General Rawat and
the three chiefs met Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh andbriefedhimon theground situ-ation in Ladakh, deployment ofarmed forces and the state ofpreparednessontheLAC.Themilitarybrassislearntto
have apprised the PrimeMinisterabouttheevolvingsitu-ation in eastern Ladakh thoughofficials maintained that themeetingwaspre-scheduledandreformsinthearmedforceswasontheagenda.Themeetings cameaheadof
thethree-dayconferenceofArmy
commanders starting in DelhiWednesday.ItwillbeattendedbyNorthern Army Commander LtGenYKJoshiwhosecommandisresponsible for eastern Ladakh.He iswell versedwith the area,having been the XIV CorpsCommander before taking overas Northern ArmyCommanderearlierthisyear.The conference was origi-
nally scheduled for April 13-18,but was postponed due to thepandemic. Itwillnowbeheldintwophases, thefirstphasefrom
May 27-29, and the second inJune-end.“Theapex level leadershipof
IndianArmywill brainstormoncurrent emerging security andadministrative challenges andchartthefuturecourseforIndianArmy,” theArmy said in a state-ment.Meanwhile,therehasbeenno
scaling downof tensions on theLACineasternLadakhwithIndiamatchingtheChinesewithitsde-ploymentofmanandmaterial.
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MP district scrambles to cope: More beds ready, need doctors
After meetingUddhav, Pawarsays no threat togovt in Maharashtra
DIPLOMACYSTARTSNewDelhi: IndiaandChinaare learnt tohaveactivatedthe“workingmechanism”at thediplomatic level.NaveenSrivastava intheMEAleadsthe Indiansidewhile theChineseside isledbyHongLiangof theChineseMinistryofForeignAffairs.
THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
SC on migrantshighways, railwaystationsandState borders,” the judges said“adequate transport arrange-ment, foodandsheltersare im-mediatelytobeprovidedbytheCentre and StateGovernmentsfree of cost”.The bench observed that
“newspaper reports and themedia reports have been con-tinuouslyshowingtheunfortu-nate andmiserable conditionsof migrant labourers walkingon foot and cycles from longdistances”.The migrants “have also
been complaining of not beingprovidedfoodandwaterbytheadministrationatplaceswherethey were stranded or in theway i.e. highways fromwhichtheyproceededon-foot, cyclesor other modes of transport”,the bench said.It said “in thepresent situa-
tion of lockdown in the entirecountry, this section of the so-cietyneedssuccourandhelpbytheconcernedGovernments…steps need to be taken by theGovernment of India, StateGovernments/UnionTerritoriesin this difficult situation”.The bench said it “has also
receivedseveral lettersandrep-resentationsfromdifferentsec-tionsof society,highlightingtheproblemofmigrant labourers”.The bench asked the SC
Registry to serve a copy of theordertotheSolicitorGeneralaswell as the States and UnionTerritories throughtheirstand-ingcounsel “today itself sothatappropriate responses bebroughtbefore theCourtat theearliest”.
Faith in HCQThere is valid biological
plausibility for its use. It isknowntoincreasethepHof thecell andmake italkaline.Alongwith zinc it blocks the entry ofthe virus into the cell.Admittedly this is a new viruswhose behaviour we are stilllearning about, but it (HCQ) isknown towork inother coron-aviruses. We have taken a callbasedonbiologicalplausibilityand availability of thedrug.”Dr Paul said that the evi-
dence had been examined“verythoroughly, includingbe-foremaking theexpanded rec-ommendation [for prophylac-tic useofHCQ] lastweek for allfrontline workers”, includingthosenot inhealthcare.“Collectively the academic
andresearch fraternityof Indiahas put its faith in the drug.Prima facie there is a case foruseof thedrug.Wewillmodifyand expand the protocol aswegoalong,use itbothfor therapyandprophylaxis.Therearemin-imal and tolerable side effectsof HCQ including abnormalECGandarrhythmias.Howeverfor the purposes for which weare recommending it, the ben-efits faroutweightherisks,”DrPaul said.DrBhargavaagreedwithDr
Paul. “This is a new virus. Wedon’tknowwhatdrug iswork-ing or what is not. There are alot of drugs being repurposedfor treatment or prophylaxis.Chloroquine is in use for 100years. HCQ is even safer,” hesaid.“The biological plausibility
showed it could be an antiviraldrug.Therewasdatapublishedin[the journal]Natureetc., thatit showedantiviral activity.Wefound similar properties invitro. American governmentstarted using it, got fast-trackapproval. We had thought itmay be a useful drug for pro-phylaxisbasedon invitrodata,bioplausibility andavailabilityand safety of the drug.We hadrecommended it for empiricuse under strict supervisionsome time back. During thesesix weekswe got some data inIndiaandtheyweremainlyob-
servational studies, somewerecase control studies at AIIMSandICMRandthreepublichos-pitals inDelhi. Itwasdifficult todoRCT[randomisedcontrolledtrial] of something thatwe say“may benefit”. We looked atdata frombothkindsof studiesandfoundthat itmaybework-ing,”Dr Bhargava said.Several private hospitals in
Mumbai have, however,stoppedusingHCQ to treat pa-tients of Covid-19.Doctors in these hospitals
saidtheyhadobservedadversereactions ina fewpatientswhowere being given a combina-tionof HCQandazithromycin.Government hospitals in
Mumbai, however, continue tousethedrugforpatientsshow-ing mild to moderate symp-toms.ThenumberofcasesinIndia
reached 1,45,380 on Tuesday,with6,535newcasesbeing re-portedinthelast24hours.Ato-tal4,167peoplehavediedfromthe disease – however, ananalysis of case mortalityshowsthat Indiahashadabout0.3deathsper lakhpopulation,which isamongst the lowest intheworld.Globally, themortal-ity rate is 4.4 deaths per lakhpopulation.Pulmonologist Dr Jalil
Parkar, who has been treatingseverely illCovid-19patients inLilavati Hospital, said: “A fewpatients showed QT prolonga-tion.Wedecided to change theregimenbecausethisdrugwasnot foundeffective.”QT prolongation refers to
chaoticheartbeats,whichshowup in a patient's electrocardio-gram. Dr Parkar said he hadstoppedusingHCQevenbeforethe WHO suspended its trial,andhadswitched toa regimenof ivermectin and doxycyclineinstead.Dr Gunjan Chanchalani,
chief intensivist at BhatiaHospital, said, “We have notseen adverse reaction yet, butwe reduced its (HCQ) use toveryfewpatientsaftersomanynegative reports. NowweplantocompletelystopusingHCQ.”In Nanavati Hospital, Dr
RahulTambesaidtheywerenotusingHCQforhypertensive,di-abetic,andcardiacpatients,andelderly patients. “It is beingused foravery limitednumberof patients.We still needmoredata on it.”Dr Balkrishna Adsul, in-
charge of Seven Hills Hospital,said they had noticed adversereaction in a fewpatientswithrenal complications. “But wewill continuetoadminister thedrug until the ICMRguidelineschange. Every drug has someside effects,”DrAdsul said.Thecurrentprotocolathos-
pitals run by theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) is based onICMRguidelines,whichrecom-mend HCQ for mildly or mod-eratelyillpatients,aswellaspa-tients with pneumonia,respiratory failure, and organdysfunction for at least ninedays.Thedosesaresmall, rang-ingfrom200mgto400mg,andare being given mainly to pa-tients betweenages 15 and40.DrSubhashSalunke, techni-
cal advisor to the state govern-ment, said that since theWHOhas only paused – and notstopped – the HCQ trial,Maharashtra would for nowcontinuetoadministerthedrugtopatients.“We should not jump to
conclusions. We need to takeECG, and observe patientscloselyfortheeffectof thedrug.It should not trigger panic,” DrSalunke said.HealthSecretaryDrPradeep
Awate said: “ICMR releaseddata which has shown onlythree serious side effects ofHCQ as a prophylactic till now.WHO’s Solidarity Trial useddouble the dosage that ICMRprescribes for itspatients.Since
our dosage is small, we are notconcerned about side effects,”OnMonday, theWHO said
that a call on HCQ would betaken after a review of the ex-isting evidence, some time inthemiddle of nextmonth.WHO Chief Scientist Dr
SoumyaSwaminathantoldTheIndianExpressonTuesdaythatthis was a temporary step,which will be reviewed basedon evidence emerging fromvarious trials worldwide, aswell as published research.“There is no need for panic,
but randomised trials need tobe conducted on theuse of thedrug for prophylaxis,” DrSwaminathan said. “The safetyprofile of the drug needs to bestudied in both cases – drugsgiven to hospitalised patientsand to healthy individuals ex-posed toCovid-19.”
IndiGo flightwith all passengers at the air-port upon arrival on Mondayevening.“He alone was tested posi-
tive intheflight.Allothershavegone for mandatory homequarantine and they will betracked for symptoms in com-ing days,” said a state govern-ment official. The passengerwasworkingasanassistant inaChennai-basedbar hotel.Monday marked the first
day of domestic flights after agap of twomonths following acountrywide lockdown an-nounced onMarch 24. Prior tothe resumption of domesticflight operations, a number ofstateshadexpressedcautionattheprospectof suddeninfluxofpeople into their state bordersas they aimed to contain theoutbreak.“We received confirmation
from the Coimbatore airportdoctor that a passenger whotravelled on 6E-381 fromChennai toCoimbatoreon25thMay evening, has tested posi-tiveforCovid-19.Heiscurrentlyquarantined at ESI state med-ical facility at Coimbatore,”IndiGo said in a statement.Thestatement said thepas-
sengerwasseatedon-boardtheaircraft with all precautionarymeasures including facemark,face-shield andgloves.“Additionally, no one else
was seated in his vicinity, sig-nificantlyreducingthepossibil-ity of transmission... The oper-ating crew has been homequarantinedfor14daysandweare in the process of notifyingother passengers as per thegovernment guidelines, to en-sure safety of our passengersand staff,” the airline said.On Monday, around 500
flights operated across thecountry and on Tuesday till 5pm, 325 departures wererecorded carrying 41,673 pas-sengers.
MaharashtraThackeray family home since2012.“The Maha Vikas Aghadi
government will complete itsfive-yeartermandwewill fighttheelectionstogetherafter fiveyears,” Shiv Sena MP SanjayRaut, who attended themeet-ing, said.Asked what had brought
Pawar toMatoshree, Raut saiditwastodiscuss theCovidsitu-ation.“Thereisnothingsurpris-ing in Pawar coming toMatoshree. We sought guid-ance from him on the govern-ment’s future and on the han-dlingof theCovid-19situation.There isnothingwronginseek-ing guidance from him; PrimeMinister Narendra Modi alsoseeks guidance from Pawar,”Raut said.It is,however,nosecret that
the three parties differ overThackeray's strategy for easingthe lockdown. There has alsobeenresentment inthecabinetoverThackeray'srelianceonthebureaucracy, who have beengiven a lot of power to decideon the state’s Covid strategy.There have been complaintsthat officials are keepingmin-isters in thedark.Sources intheSenasaidthat
while Pawar is keen on grant-ingsomerelaxations toput thestate on the path to normalcy,
thechiefminister is in favourofretaining the restrictions tocontain the outbreak and savelives. Themeeting focussed onthe strategy to exit the lock-down in Mumbai, Pune, andother Covid hotspots, thesources said.Thackeray is learnt to have
asked officials after the meet-ing to decide on a phased exitstrategy fromMay31onwards,with the aim to resume mosteconomic activities by June15.In Delhi, BJP leaders said
thatwhileThackerayhadfailedto contain the spread of thecoronavirusdisease, thecentralleadership of the party did notwanttotopplethegovernmentat this time.Instead, the BJP would pre-
fer to “mount pressure on theThackeraygovernment,and letit crumble on its own,” at leastfour leaders of the party toldThe Indian Express. The BJPwould intensify its campaignforPresident'sRulebecausetheMaha Vikas Aghadi govern-menthad“utterly failedtocon-tain the coronavirus situation”and“tomanagethe issueof ex-odus of migrant labourers”,these leaders said.Leader of Opposition in
Maharashtra DevendraFadnavis told reporters onTuesdaythattheBJPwasnot in-terested in pulling down thegovernment, but it “will fall ofits ownburden”.The BJP's national leader-
ship has had several rounds ofmeetingswiththestate leader-ship.While party president J PNadda had ameetingwith theBJP core group of the state onMonday,anothermeetingwithcore group leaders and the na-tional leaders took place onTuesday.Sources said the national
leadership wanted Fadnavisand the party to attack on theentire government instead offocussing justonthechiefmin-ister. “The national leadershipwants thestateunit tokeepthepressureon, butdoesnotwantit to take theblameof topplingit, which could create sympa-thy for Thackeray. Even if the
governmentfallsonitsown,theBJPmaynotstakeclaimimme-diately. The party prefers thestate to be under central rulewhich would be the best, be-cause the Covid situation hasgone out of control already,”said aparty leader.
BMC ties upreceivedcomplaints thatwhencitizensarecallingthehelplinenumbers, thelinesarebusy.Weare increasing the telephonelines connected to thehelplinenumber and soon the waitingperiod will go down," addedChahal. The civic body had, onApril 24, launched thehelpline1916toaddressqueries relatedtoCovid-19.A shortage of ambulances
coupledwithadelay inavailinghospital beds has led to hoursof waiting in some cases. BMConMondayalso launchedalivedashboard to track the real-timeavailability of beds acrossgovernmentandprivatehospi-tals inthecity. "Thedatawillbeupdated every 30minutes andliveinformationavailable inourcontrol room," said Chahal. Headded, "We have asked hospi-tals to not refuse patients ad-mission in case of non-avail-ability of beds. Instead theyneed to stabilise the patient,contact the control room, andtransfer the patient to the hos-pitalwherebedsareavailable."To deal with hospital bed
andambulance issuesBMChasnowchangedthesystemonin-forming patients about theirCovid-19testresults.Civicbodywillnowinformpatientsabouttheirresults inthemorningandat the same time it will be up-dated in civic body's system.This will help them inmanag-ing bed and ambulances inshiftingthepositivepatients tocivic facilities. The civic chiefhadameetingwithprivate labsandtoldthemtoinformBMCatthe end of the day. All resultsand data will be doublechecked and accordinglyarrangement of beds and am-bulanceswill bemade."Currently patients get to
know about their results byevening and then they startcallingBMChospitalsandotherpersons concerned. However,the data from private labs issubmitted to BMC after that.We start getting distress callsfrom patients same day latenightandby that timeourstaffare also tired. So help to manypatients gets delayed. Now allthe data will be given to BMCfirst and checked properly andthennextmorning itwillbere-leased,” saidChahal.For the last few days,
Mumbai is recording about1,500Covid-19 cases daily.Chief Secretary Mehta said
lifting the lockdown isgoing tobeverygradual andcalibrated.“The lockdown cannot be re-movedinonego. Itdoesn’thap-pen suddenly,” saidMehta.Mehta said the administra-
tionhastwofundamentalprin-ciples before themwhen it isstrategising on removing thelockdown.“Thefirstprinciple istheextentandtheaccelerationof infection inaparticulararea.The second is that the minuteyou remove or relax the lock-down, therewillbedefinitelyasurge in thecasesandwhetherwe have the health infrastruc-ture to look after the people.Thesurge isgoing tobe limitedwith people more aware andcautiousnow.But let usnot re-main in fool’s paradise thatthere will not be a surge,” headded.He further said that the
lockdownperiod is being usedto increasebedavailability, ICUbedsandothers. “Wewill keepthis in mind and will decidewhat has to be relaxed. Now,wewillhaveto lookatthosear-eas that have been marked asred zone. We are looking atopeningthosethingswhichareneeded andwhere peoplewillnotwalkout just for thesakeofit. Thenwewill move onwhatis called moving on out ofchoice.So, inanyeasingof lock-down,necessity is the first thatyou do and the choice, electiveinnature, is thenext,”headded.
Single-day tollthe state, 1,792 people havedied so far. Mumbai has re-ported 32,974 cases and 1,065deaths.Officials said of the 97
deaths, 35 people had died inthe last twodays,while62diedbetween April 17 andMay 23.All the deathswere verified onTuesday. While 39 died inMumbai,15diedinThane,10inKalyan-Dombivali, eight inPune,seveninSolapur, fiveeachin Aurangabad and Mira-Bhayandar, three each inMalegaon and Ulhasnagar andone each in Nagpur andRatnagiri.While thereareover36,000
activecases in thestate,HealthSecretaryDrPradeepVyas saidthatbasedonthecurrenttrend,60,000 to 70,000 active andsymptomatic cases are ex-pected by June end. “These60,000 to 70,000 cases will beafterwededuct asymptomaticcases, recoveries and deaths.Wehavepreparedenoughbedsbased on this prediction,” headded.OnTuesday,Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC)Commissioner Iqbal SinghChahal said thatMumbai is go-ing to scaleup toone lakhbedsbymid-June and up to 1.5 lakhbeds by June end to treat mildtoseverelyillpatients.Mumbai,Chahal added, has 44,000bedsfor severely ill tomoderately illpatients andmildly ill patients,including 644 intensive careunits and359ventilators.Chahal has instructed that
for every patient, BMC mustidentify at least 15 high-riskcontacts. Earlier, the BMC hadincreasedthenumber to10perpatient. "Ihaveinstructedwardofficerstoincreasecontacttrac-
ing ratio up to 15. In slums, if apositive case is found, then 15high-riskcontactsof thepatientwill be put up in institutionalquarantine. If any symptomsdevelop, theywill be tested onthe 10th day of quarantine,"Chahalsaid ina jointpresscon-ference with Chief SecretaryAjoy Mehta and HealthSecretaryPradipVyas."WhenIhadjoined,thecon-
tact tracing ratiowas 1:3. Now,ithasreachedaboutfivebutwehave to improve it further," headded.Chahal said that it has been
noticedthatahighfatalityrateisbeing reportedamongpatientssufferingfromrenalailments,astheyareunabletogetdialysisontime. “In a first-of-its-kind ini-tiative,wehave starteddialysisfacilitationforpatientsthroughonlineportal,” he said.The portal, covidialysis.in,
canbemanagedbydialysiscen-tres to book positive patients aslot for dialysis in designatedcentres. Chahal said 84 dialysismachines have been assignedfor this purpose and in the lasttwo days, 30 Covid-19 patientshaveundergonedialysis.BMC has roped in 570 doc-
torsandnursesfromtheprivatesector and other districts. Tillnow, Mumbai has tested 1.75lakh people, and is testing13,400permillionpopulation.
Fadnavis"Whether it is BJP's central
or state leadership, the focus isto fight Covid-19.Wearenot inahurrytoformthegovernmentinMaharashtra," headded."The inherent differences,
which were voiced clearly byRahul Gandhi, has exposed thecracks within the coalition...RahulGandhi's confession thatCongress is in the governmentbutisnotamajordecision-mak-ing partner is both surprisingandshocking. It isaclearpointertoCongress'doublestandards–on one hand, it participates inthe government but on theother, it has distanced itselffrom owning up for the coali-tion's failure in handling theCovid-19crisis," said Fadnavis.Alleging that Congress and
NCP are working against theCM, he added: “Thackeray hashad to backtrack from severalpolicy decisions due to NCP'supmanship... There is a lack ofcoordinationwithinthegovern-ment."Fadnavis claimed that the
theory of BJP trying to dislodgethe government was a ploy todivert people's attention fromserious issues. “The purpose isto mislead and hide their ownshortcomings,” he said.As per the former CM's cal-
culation, Maharashtra's shareunder various direct and indi-rect financial Covid-19welfareschemes translates to Rs 2.7lakh crore, which, he said, thestate didnot have thepotentialto encash."Fromprovidingforrationto
cookinggas,agriculturetomed-ical and migrants travel, theCentre has made huge alloca-tions. It is unfortunate if thestate government fails to capi-talisethefunds.Thefiscalspaceof Rs 1.6 lakh crore with ex-tended period of loan repay-mentsprovidesthestateanop-portunity to initiateboldpolicydecisionandhelpcriticalsectorstorevive.Thestate'ssharefromCentre in MSME is Rs 3,500crore.Using this amount, it caninfuse fresh lease of life in 50lakh MSMEs, employing 1.5crorepeople," Fadnavis said.He claimed that of the Rs
70,000 crore provided for thehousing sector by the Centre,the state would get Rs 15,000crore. “The moot question iswhether the state is willing toutilise its share for developingcriticalsectorsandhelpingpeo-ple who are going throughhardships," Fadnavis said.
FROMPAGEONE
Military brass brief PM, Rajnath on LadakhSources said theArmyhad
increased its presence on theboundarywithChinainNorthSikkim, Uttarakhand,ArunachalPradesh,alongwithLadakh.Thiswasbasedontheunderstanding that India“wouldnotbescalingdownitsdeployment in face of aggres-
sive military posturing” byChina, sources said.In Ladakh, at least six
roundsof talkshavebeenheldbetween Indian and Chinesemilitary commanders on theground but have failed toachieve a breakthrough.Sourcessaid theChinese,who
crossedtheLACatthreeplaces,have refused to move out ofIndian territoryorde-escalatethe tensions.In Galwan valley, the
Chinese havemassed troopsontheir sideof theLAC.India’skey“strategicasset”
in the area is the 255-km
Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat BegOldie(DSDBO)roadwhichwascompletedlastyear.Itprovidesaccess to Daulat Beg Oldiewhere the IAF re-activated anAdvanced Landing Ground(ALG)in2008.Galwanvalleyisclosest to the road from theLAC.
Besides, it takes a mini-mumof threedays toget thetest results fromIndore.Andyet,with100patients
havingbeendischargedsofar,officialssayBurhanpur--thedistrict was created just 17yearsago-- isontracktofacethecrisis.Theadministrationisgiv-
ingfinaltouchestoaseparate60-bed isolation facility onthe first floor of the districthospitalwithoxygenfacilities-- 13patients fromtheexist-ing isolation area have al-readybeenshifted.“The administration is
preparedforanyeventuality,Wearenotworriedaboutthenumbers going up. TheDistrict Institute forEducationandTrainingoutsidethe city has been readied tohouse150patients.Atribalde-partment building atNepanagar,atownnearby,willbe used to house 500 cases, ifneeded.Wecanstart these fa-cilities with just 12-hour no-tice,’’ said District CollectorPravinSingh,whotookcharge
onMay2.“The government has also
purchasedfiveoxygenconcen-trators (that provide enrichedair).Wedon’twait forpatientsto come to us in an advancedstage of infection. So we aretrackingallwards andmohal-las,’’ he said.“The administration has
also involved governmentteachersandemployeesofdif-ferent communities to buildconfidence andmake peoplereport illness and undergotests. At 2,500 samples for apopulation of 2.5 lakh in thetown,theaverageismorethanthestate’saverageof1,144testsper10 lakh,”Singhsaid.Officials say that by keep-
ingatabongraveyardsandthecrematorium, theadministra-tion has also tried to ensurethatnodeathgoesunreported.“Irrespective of whether thedeathisduetoCovidornot,wemonitor familymembers, or-der tests, andask those show-ingsymptomstogo intoquar-antine,” a seniorofficial said.But yes, top district health
officials admit, there's stillsomewaytogo.“It’sdifficulttomanagethe
districthospitalwith less than20doctors.Weneedatleast60.Butwewill continueworking,whether we get doctors ornot,’’ said Civil Surgeon DrShakeelKhan.Chief Medical and Health
Officer Dr O P Garg is moreforthright.“Therearelessthan10doctors.Andhavingjustoneventilator has made it reallydifficult. We have sought 10oxygen concentrators, moreBiPapmachinesandaportablex-raymachine,’’hesaid.“TherearePPEkitsandmasksinsuffi-cientquantity.”Theadministrationhasalso
drafted All IsWell, a 350-bedhospital that is among thelargest private facilities in thestate,asaLevel-3facilityforse-vere cases -- a respiratory ICUhas been created and 15-20rooms earmarked for sus-pected cases. Officials said 13Covid patients are currentlyundergoing treatmenthere.“WhenCovidhit the town,
private practitioners werescared. People suffering fromother respiratory illnesseswere scared, too, and did notwant to go to the governmenthospital. The system strug-gled,’’ said MedicalSuperintendent Dr SubodhBorle. “But things are in placenow”.
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INPLACE:350-bedLevel-3,200-bedLevel-2,2Level-1 facilities,1isolationarea.
WISHLIST:10ventilators,10BiPapmachines,1000PPE,1,000VRT(ViralTransportMedium)kits.
CASES:293,100discharged,13deaths.
DISTRICT:Municipallimits inredzone, restingreen.
MP district: More beds ready, need doctors
SRINATHRAOMUMBAI,MAY26
IN THE space of two months,over1,000residentsofMumbaihave fallen to Covid-19. Theywereordinarymenandwomen,who are now part of India'sgrowingnumberofcoronavirusvictims.Totheirfamilymembersthough, theyaremore than justa statistic. Having said theirgoodbyes from afar, nine fami-lies recall the frighteningmo-mentoftestingpositiveandhowthey choose to remember theirlost parents, spouses, siblings,childrenand friends.
SULABHAAMBETKAR (64),
SELF-TAUGHTSINGERWHO
TOUREDTHEWORLD.
HerperformanceoftheAshaBhosle classic "Dum MaaroDum"wassoconvincingthatheraudienceoftenbelievedtheleg-endaryplaybacksingerwasher-selfonstage."ThewaySulabhajipresented herself and carriedherselfonstageitwasasthoughAshajiwassinging,"saidChetanRana, colleague and fellowper-former. Along with her saxo-phonist husband NandakumarAmbetkar, Sulabhawas amongthe most respected singers inMumbai's liveperformance cir-cuits.A diabetic, Sulabha tested
positive after developing a uri-narytractinfectionandfeverde-spite staying at home. Shepassed away at Seven HillsHospital inMarolonMay7afterher breathing rapidly deterio-rated, said her son-in-lawShailendra Pednekar, a percus-sionist. He remains confidentthat Nandakumar, who testedpositive too,willmake a full re-covery, "My father-in-law alsotestedpositivearoundthesametimeashiswife.Buthislungsareverystrongbecausehehasbeenplayingthesaxophoneformanyyears,"hesaid.Rana remembersher forher
willingness to mentor youngsingers, her warmth and hercomposed performances. "Istartedperforming23yearsagowhenSulabhajiwas at thepeakof her career. I learned a lot bysimply observing her perform.The last time I performedwithherentire familyshetoldmeaf-terwards that she was gettingtooold for this,"hesaid.
PRAKASHHANDE (63),
RETIREDCIVILIANSUPERVISOR IN
THE INDIANNAVY,WHOLOVEDTO
SPOILHISGRANDSON.
One moment from his fa-ther's three-decade-longcareeras a civilian supervisor in theNavy'sMaterial Organisation inMumbai will always stand outforhissonAmit."IwasinClass9when theKargilWarwas beingfought. My father would comehome very late every night.When I asked himwhy, he saidheneededtostaybacktoinspect
consignments of rations andclear themfor transportation tothe soldiers. My father's bosswould keep telling him to gohome and finishwork the nextday. Butmy fatherwould say, 'Icannotdelaysendingfoodtooursoldiers. If they do not eat ontime, they cannot fight'," saidAmit.After retiring, Prakash de-
votedallhistimetohisgrandsonAnuj. "AfterAnujbegankinder-garten, not a day would go bywhenmy father wouldn't buyhimchocolateor chipsor a colddrink on the way home. Wewould only find out wheneverAnuj had a runny nose. I wouldscoldmyfatherforspoilingAnujbut that never stopped him,"saidAmit.
PRAKASHDHAWALI (56),SELF-MADEGARAGEOWNERAND
AMATEURCRICKETER.
Prakash's nephew Abhijeetbelieves unceasing worry andrestlessnessgot tohim."Hewasnot the sort to sit at home. Hewould go to work six days aweek andwent out of MumbaieverySundaytoplaycricket.Hewas very fit," said Abhijeet. Butin less than threeweeks of thelockdown, Prakash developedacidityandeventuallycoughandhigh fever."He had risen from nothing
to become an apprentice to amechanic after dropping out ofschool and had saved enoughmoneytobuyhisowngarage inAndheriWest a few years ago,"
saidAbhijeet. Thedreamwouldnot last. Six months ago, thegaragewasrazedbytheBMCfora road-widening project. "Myunclewassupposedtoselectanalternate site but then the lock-downwasannounced.Athome,hebecameincreasinglyworriedabouthowhewouldprovideforhis two daughters," saidAbhijeet.
SIDDHARAMGAIKWAD (52),
AMBEDKARITEANDVANCHIT
BAHUJANAGHADI PARTYWORKER.
Siddharam'syoungerbrotherUttamsaidhadhediedof natu-ral causes, at least a lakhpeoplein Saki Naka would have at-tended his funeral. "As a socialworker, he had helped manypeopleinthelocality,"hesaid.Abuilding construction painter,Siddharam began his morningreadingtheMarathinewspaperSamrat."Itpublishesalotofarti-cles about Dr BabasahebAmbedkar.Itwastheonlynews-papermybrotherread,"hesaid.Havingnever once gone to a
doctor,Siddharamwasneverthesame after seeing bodies lyingunattended at BhabhaHospitalin Kurla in late April. "He hadbeen suffering acidity for sometimebutseeingthosebodiesre-allyscaredhim.Hishealthbegantoworsen and he passed awayonApril 24," saidUttam.
KISANMALI (60),MEMBEROFSANTNIRANKARI
MISSION.
Soonafterthelockdownwasenforced, Mali made sure hisneighbours in a Goregaon Eastslumdidnotgohungry. "My fa-ther had organised food dona-tiondrivesat theSantNirankariMissionofficeinGoregaon,"saidhis son Ramesh. His Facebookpage is floodedwithmessagesmourning the loss of a "beauti-fulperson".Malipassedawayatthe Trauma Care Centre inJogeshwariEastonMay13aftershortnessof breath.
AHSANKHAN (75),
A CHAIN-SMOKERWITHA
PATHAN'SSTUBBORNNESS.
For more than six decades,Ahsan smoked three packets ofbidis a day. "His doctor had toldhimthat40percentofhis lungshad wasted away and that hehadnochanceof living if hedidnot give up," recalled his sonTahir. After episodes of quittingandquicklyfallingoff thewagon,Ahsan finally stopped smokinglast year. "But the damagewasdone," added Tahir. Tahir re-membershis father forwhathedid for his family -- an unedu-catedman from Prayagraj whoworked as a supervisor at theMetalBoxIndiaLtdinWorliandhad pleadedwith the principalofFatherAgnelSchoolatBandraReclamationtoadmithissons. Itis due to that persistence thattwo of his sons are nowprofes-sors and the third a business-man."We tried a lot to stop his
smoking, but he could nevertolerate us hiding his bidis. Hewouldsaytous, 'Mainapnika-maai ki peeta hoon'. Woh di-maag se Pathan they," saidTahir.
HAJIGHULAMABBASSHAIKH (67),
MEDICALSOCIALWORKER.
TherewasnotasoulatNairHospital who did not knowGhulam bhai. "He had friendsateveryhospital incentralandsouthMumbai.Whenever hecame across someone whoneededurgentmedicalhelp,he
would personally take them tothehospital,bankingonhisgoodrelationswith hospital authori-ties," said his brother SharvarShaikh. Despite overcomingasthma 18 years ago, Ghulam'sbreathing grew increasinglylabouredhalf-way into theholymonth of Ramzan.His 13th fastwould be his last. He passedaway at JJ Hospital in the earlyhoursofMay11."My brother took the lock-
down seriously. But since hecouldnot leavehome,hewouldfeelbadatnotbeingabletohelpanyone. He knew that ordinarypeoplewouldnot knowwho toturnto forhelp,"addedSharvar.
RASHIDASHAIKH (30),
MEHENDI CONEMAKER.
Herdevastated family is stilltrying to comprehend how abright young woman fell to avirus they believed claims onlytheoldor infirm. She leaves be-hind a young sister and father.Rashida's uncle Khaleel Shaikhsaid she ran her homewith hermehendi cone machine, evenduring the lockdownwhen sheinsisted that mehendi artistsvisithertocollectfinishedcones."She was careful not to leavehomemuch," saidKhaleel.At the end of April, Rashida
got tested after failing to shakeoffapersistentfever.Shewasthefirstpersontotestpositiveinthenarrow lanes snaking beneathGilbert Hill in Andheri West.SoonafterbeingadmittedtotheTrauma Care Centre in
Jogeshwari, shepassedaway.ThefamilydescribedRashida
as an intelligent woman whonever changed her mind onceshe hadmade a decision. "Shehadmarried aman seven yearsago but left him within twomonthsafterdiscoveringthathedrank toomuch andwas abu-sive. She had decided never tomarryagain," saidKhaleel.
AMEENABI (83),A PASSIONATECOOKWITHAGE-
DEFYINGENERGY.
It is only now that her sonRizwanUmarcantrulycompre-hend just how old his motherwas. "I always thought shelookednoolderthan75.Shehadthe energy of a much youngerperson," he said. Until the timethat typhoid laid her low in thelast week of April, Ameena Bicommandeeredherkitchenandinstructedherdaughter-in-lawto lay out a scrumptious Iftaar."Her knees had gone and shecouldn'twalkwithoutsupport.She had high blood pressureand diabetes but she truly en-joyedcookingandcouldneverstay still. Evenwhile sitting onthesofa,shewouldpeelgarlic,"hesaid.Ofallhismother'scook-ing, Rizwanwill miss her daalgosht themost.
(For this report, The IndianExpressapproachedseveralfam-ilieswhohadlostadearone,anditincludesonlythosewhoagreedto speakabout their loss)
3THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
THEOUTBREAK TheCity
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CORRIGENDUM
Advt.No.03-R/IMSc/2020 Date: 26.05.2020
Reference our indicative advertisement No.01-R/IMSc/
2020 Dated 20.03.2020 and subsequent indicative
corrigendum advertisement No.02-R/IMSc/2020 dated
20.04.2020 inviting applications for the post of
DIRECTOR, IMSc, Chennai (Level – 15 under 7th
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extended upto 10.06.2020 for receipt of applications
through Registered Post (or) Speed post (or) Courier
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As Mumbai deaths cross 1,000, familiesremember the loss of a loved one
(Above)AmeenaBi (83)enjoyedcooking.Evenwhilesittingonthesofa, shewouldpeelgarlic; (right)AhsanKhan(75).
SulabhaAmbetkar (64)wasamongthemostrespectedsingers inMumbai’s liveperformancecircuits.
People dialling for home deliveryof liquor duped by online cheatsMOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI,MAY26
TWO DAYS after theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) allowedon-line sales and home delivery ofalcohol in thecity, a21-year-oldcollege student in Bhandup onMay 24 received amessage onWhatsApp about a wine shopthat was offering the service inthearea.Ashehadpurchasedal-cohol from the shop earlier, theyouthcheckedGooglelistingstoascertain if the number be-longed to the shop, and subse-quently called on it and placedanorder.Thecallrecipient,how-ever, informed him that therewas a problemwith the debitcard and asked him to sharephotographsof itsfrontandbacksides and the one-time pass-word (OTP) for the transaction.A fewminutes later, Rs 1.5 lakhwaswithdrawn from the bankaccount linkedwith thecard.According to police several
such fraud caseswere reportedfrom across the city in the lastfew days. With a spike in de-
mand for alcohol after a dry-spellduetothelockdown,onlinefraudsters,policesaid,weretap-ping potential buyers throughWhatsAppmessages.Whilethewine shops and their addressesareauthentic,thescammersjusttamperwith their phone num-bers listedonline, theysaid.With such cases on the rise,
severalpeoplehavetakentoso-cialmediatowarnothers. Inonesuch post on Twitter, the user,who goes by the name Kritika,has tagged theMumbai Policeandsaidamessagehasbeencir-culatingunderthename“King'sWine” in Powai. The ‘shop’ wastakingordersbutnotdeliveringalcohol despite payment, theuserclaimed.Another, Jinali Shahtweeted
she had paid Rs 2,500 to“MukeshWines” in Borivali foralcohol through Paytm, but thedelivery was not made. DevenSharma, another Twitter userwho has also tagged theMumbai Police on his post,claimedhehadpaidRs3,060 toanonlineliquordeliveryshopinAarey, but did not get the prod-uct.SaikatMitra,directorofTrust
andSafety atGoogle India, said,“Millionsofbusinessesregularlymake edits to their addresses,hoursofoperation,andmore,sowe rely heavily on the commu-nity to help keep listings up-to-date and flag issues. We workhard to fight against spammerswho try to wrongly leveragethese listings. When we en-counterorarealertedaboutfakeinformation, we remove it.Wecontinuallyworktoidentifyandremovecontentthatviolatesourpolicies, and encourage peopleto flag any such content so wecanreviewandtakeaction.”Interestingly,evenbeforethe
BMC had allowed online deliv-eryof alcohol in thecity, severaladvertisementswere doing the
roundsonFacebook,claimingtosupplyalcohol.A Facebook spokesperson
said,“...Wehaveaclearpolicyonfraudanddeceptioninourcom-munity standards, and we re-moveanycontentweidentify isaimed at deliberately deceivingpeople to gain an unfair advan-tage. Our advertising policiesalso prohibit advertisementsthat are misleading or false. Ifpeople encounter this kind ofcontent on Facebook, theyshouldreport it immediately,sowecantakeaction.”Mumbai-basedcyberexpert
Shubham Singh said, “A lot ofliquorshopsareputtinguptheirnumbers outside their shops.Thesafestwaytoensure,youarenotduped is tocall on thenum-ber displayed by the shop andfollowbasiconlinesecurity, likenotsharingOTPwithanyoneonthephone.”JointCommissionerofPolice
(Crime) Santosh Rastogi saidtheyhad compiled a list and re-leased 186 fraudulent numbersthatwerebeingcirculatedonlineas helpline numbers to cheatpeople.
Withaspike in
demand,online
fraudstersaretapping
buyers through
WhatsAppmessages,
policesaid
SANDEEPASHARMUMBAI,MAY26
FACED WITH heavy losses,trades' bodies in Mumbai arenow lobbying aggressively forresumption of economic activi-ties. Citing that thousands oftraders were struggling to stayafloat, the Federation ofAssociations of Maharashtra(FAM), an umbrella body of781 registered trade associa-tions, has approached ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray forpermitting both retail andwholesale traders to resumeactivities even in theMumbaiMetropolitanRegion."Let'sopenasmuchaspossi-
ble. Let's open as safely as possi-ble," said VineshMehta, presi-dent,FAM,whichrepresentsover20 lakh traders across the state,mostofwhicharelocatedwithinthe MMR. In his letter toThackeray, Mehta wrote, "We(theassociation)havereceivedanumberofappealsfromretailers,semiwholesale andwholesaleassociationsseekingtheeasingofcurbsfromJune1onwards."The letter, also marked to
state's Finance Minister AjitPawar, makes a desperate pleaforreopening."Wearewillingtoopen for curtailed hours, on al-ternate days, or even on selectdaysoftheweek.WewilladheretoalltheCovid-19precautionarymeasures listed by the govern-ment and theMumbaimunici-pality.But letusopen," it states.MehtatoldTheIndianExpress
that the trade businesses, both
in the retail andwholesale sec-tor,hadsustainedmassivelossesowing to the supply chain dis-ruptionsandtheunprecedentedmass closures. "We understandthe difficulties and the groundrealities faced by the govern-ment.Butbusinessesarebleed-ingheavily;payingsalariestothestaff is becomingachallengebythe day. The government(Centre) has permitted e-com-merce operators to delivergoods, but retail andwholesaletraders haven't got any relief orassistance," saidMehta.His colleague, Jitendra Shah,
SrVicePresident,FAM,said,"It'snotjustaboutallowingthebusi-nesses to open; it's also aboutourcustomers.Traderswill loseclientsif theydonotservicetheirrequirements.Otherstateshaveallowed traders to resume. Thestateisalsolosingoutontaxrev-enue."Headded, "Ourplea is toresume as much as possible.Even opening our shops forsome days and hours of theweek will be helpful at thisstage." The FAM has also ap-proachedSouthMumbaielectedrepresentatives including ShivSena MP Arvind Sawant,CongressMLA Amin Patel, andBJPMLAMangal Prabhat Lodhato raise their cause.
TheFederationof
Associationsof
Maharashtrahas
approachedCM
UddhavThackeray
Allowus toopen, tradebodies to govt
4THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
THEOUTBREAK Maharashtra
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
SADAFMODAKANDSAGARRAJPUTMUMBAI,MAY26
INTHEfirstcaseofCovid-19atachildren's institution in the city,two children and a stafferwereinfectedattheDongrihomethismonth.Whiletwopatientshavesince recovered and been dis-charged,a15-year-oldgirl isun-dergoing treatment at StGeorge'sHospital.A 17-year-old boy, appre-
hendedby thepolice ina sexualassaultcase,wasthefirstpersonto be detected positive for thevirusatthecentre.Senttotheob-servationcentrefollowingtheor-dersoftheJuvenileJusticeBoardonMay6,theboyhadfirstdevel-opedafeverandcough,andsub-sequentlymadetoundergotests.“He was kept in a separate
room till the reports, receivedtwodayslater,confirmedthathewas positive for Covid-19. Hewas then shifted to a govern-menthospital,” anofficial said.The Dongri institution has
separatewingsforboysandgirlswhoareinneedofcareandpro-tection,andanobservationcen-tre for children in conflict withlaw. Since the lockdown, newadmissionswereallowedonlyatthe observation centre, whilechildreninneedofcareandpro-tection, includingthoserescuedfromstreets,werebeing sent toother institutions in thecity.The institute currently has
136 children. It also has 25
staffers,wholiveonitspremises,and15otherswhovisit thecen-treasperduty.Within a week of the first
case, a 37-year-old nursingstaffer, on duty for conductingregular checks across the insti-tution,alsotestedpositive.Anof-ficialfromtheDongrihomesaidthat after the staffer testedpos-itive, all thosewhohad come incontactwithherweretested.Asmany as eight children weretested among whom only the15-year-oldgirl testedpositive.Shewas shifted toahospital
and is currently undergoingtreatment, the official said,addingthatthegirlwasreportedmissing, and sent to the homeonly twomonths ago after shewas found. “Her parents havebeen traced and once she is de-claredfit fordischarge, thedeci-sionregardinghandingoverhercustody to them will be fi-nalised,” theofficial said.“Wehavebeentakingallpre-
cautions, including social dis-tancingandhavemadearrange-ments for segregation aswell,”Rahul Kanthikar, Dongri homesuperintendent, said.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY26
STAFFERS AT the KEMHospitalstagedaprotest Tuesdayafter a45-year-old class III employee,with suspected coronavirussymptoms, died. So far,18health workers belonging toclasses III and IV have died duetothevirus,MunicipalMazdoorUnion said.The protest began at 7 am
andcontinuedtillnoonuntilthehospital dean held a meetingwith protesting staffers and as-suredthemaccommodationandtreatment if they fell ill. The45-year-old’sbodywashandedovertohis familyTuesdayevening.According to the Mazdoor
Union, the Class III stafferwas acontractual employee andcleaned wards at the hospitalsince2010.Forthelastfewdays,hewas posted on duty at ward20, which was assigned forCovid-19patients. “He fell ill onMay20andrequested for leave.But he was neither tested forCovid-19 nor given leave. Hecontinued towork in thehospi-tal with fever and body pain,”Pradeep Narkar of MunicipalMazdoorUnionsaid.OnMay24,whenhis condi-
tiondeterioratedandhebecamecomplained of breathlessness,hisfamilyrushedhimfromtheirThane home to KEM hospital,buthediedenroute.“Hewassufferingfromhigh-
grade fever, loss of taste, andbody pain,” Narkar said.Whilestaffersaresupposedtobetestedwhen they develop symptoms,
hewas not tested for four days,headded.Despite being a suspected
Covid-19 patient, the staffer’sbodywaskept inKEMmortuaryfor nearly two days, protesterssaid. Municipal CommissionerIqbal Chahal had earlier in-structed all hospitals to seal anddisposeof abody in30minutes.“WehaveappointedclassIVem-ployees,whosejobistoonlysealand pack bodies of Covid-19 orsuspectedpatients,”hesaid.Meanwhile, KEM Hospital
dean, Dr Hemant Deshmukh,held ameetingwith the repre-sentativesof theworkers’unionTuesdayandassuredtoprovidetreatment at nearbyMahatmaGandhi hospital if any ofthemfell ill.A class IV employee, posted
at the hospital’s operation the-atre,meanwhile, said therewasfear among the staffers in han-dling Covid-19 cases because ofincreasingnumbersof infectionsamonghealthworkers.The union estimates over
300classes IIIandIVemployeeshavebeen infectedby thevirus,themaximumnumber of casesfromSionhospital. InKEMhos-pital, eightworkers in themor-tuaryhave,sofar,testedpositivefor coronavirus. “Those whoworkinCovid-19wards,gobackhome and put their families atrisk.Wehavedemandedthatwemust be allowed to live on thecampus,” the staffer said. Headdedthat there isashortageofstaffers since those above 55yearsofagehavebeenpostedtosafer locations and several oth-erswereunderquarantine.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY26
THEWARofwordsbetween theMaharashtra government andUnionRailwayMinister PiyushGoyaloverShramikspecial trainscontinuedTuesday,withthelatterclaimingthatonlyafractionofthe145 trains scheduled fromMaharashtracoulddepartbecauseofthestate’slackofpreparedness.ThestategovernmentMonday
eveninghadsubmittedarequire-mentof145trainstotheRailways,includingthedetailsofpassengerand their destinations. Basedonthelist,theRailwayshadscheduledasmany trains to leaveTuesdayfromacrossMaharashtra.Ofthese145 trains, 120 trainswere fromMumbai Metropolitan Region(MMR)alone.“On request ofMaharashtra
govt,we arranged145 ShramikSpecial trains today. These trainsarereadysincemorning.(Atleast)50trainsweretoleavetill3pm,butonly13trainshave(left)duetolackofpassengers,”Goyaltweeted.A press note issued by the
CentralRailwaystatedthat till 12pmonMay26,a totalof 18trainswereplanned tooriginate fromMaharashtra,butnonecouldde-part due to lack of passengers.BoardingofthefirsttraincouldonlycommenceatCSMTat12.30pm,thepressstatementsaid.Ofthe145scheduled trains scheduled forTuesday,68wereforUttarPradesh,
41forWestBengal,27forBihar,twoeachforOrissaandTamilNadu,andone each for Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan,Jharkhand,UttarakhandandKerala.TheCRstatementalsosaidthat
onMay25therailwayshadofferedtorun125trains,butthestategov-ernmentcouldprovidelistofonly41trainstill2am.Ofthese41trains,only39 could runaspassengerscouldnotbebroughtinbythelocalauthorities.Thetwoothertrains,itsaid,hadtobecancelled.TakingadigatGoyal forplay-
ing thevictimcardandnotifyingtheschedulefor145trainsat2.30am Tuesday, MaharashtraTransportMinisterAnilParabsaid,“ThepoliceafteralongbandobastduringEidwentbackhomeand
sawthescheduleonlyby8am.Thefirsttrainwastodepartatnoonandtheyhadtoprepareforit,”hesaid.Parab also pulled up the
Railways for schedulingover 40trains forWestBengalonasingleday. “This is despite the fact thatWestBengalhadrequestedtonotsendmore than two trains adayandMaharashtrahadagreedto itas theywere badly hitwith the(Amphan)cyclone.Despiteknow-ingtherequest,theRailwaysdelib-erately scheduled these trains,”Parabsaid.Meanwhile, therewas huge
chaosoutsiderailwaysstations,in-cludingCSMT,asaround7,000to10,000migrantworkers report-edly assembled to board theShramikspecialtrains.Thecrowd
swelled in the evening hours,blockingtheentirePD’MelloRoadoutsideCSMTstation.Sourcessaid,scoresofstrandedworkerskeptar-rivingat thestation,evenashun-dredswaited toboard the trains,scheduledtill3am.Blaming the central govern-
mentandGoyalforplayingpoliticsandrefusingtorunallthe49trainsthatwerescheduledtodepartfromLokmanyaTilakTerminus (LTT),seniorNCP leaderNawabMaliksaid: “Even thoughPiyushGoyalsaidhe'lloperate49trainsfromLTT,the divisional railwaymanager(DRM)maintainedthatnotmorethan16trainscan leave fromLTTeven though thousands ofpassengerswerewaitingtoboardthetrains.”
NEERAJTIWARIMUMBAI,MAY26
THE THANE MunicipalCorporation(TMC)onTuesdayor-dered a complete lockdown ofMumbra fromMay27, allowingonlymilkandmedicalshopstore-mainopen.Theareahasreported298Covid-19casessofar.“Therehasbeenasubstantial
increase inthenumberofCovid-19casesinMumbra.Inspiteofthelockdown,peoplearecrowdingatshops and vegetable markets.Social distancing norms are notbeing followed...,” the circular is-suedbyTMCsaid.Official said no shop, barring
milk andmedical stores,will beallowed to remain open.Whilemilkshopswillbeopenfrom7amto 9 am,medical stores can beopenonlyafteradheringtosocialdistancingnorms.Deputy Municipal
Commissioner Maneesh Joshisaid thatno individualwill beal-lowedtostepout.“Peoplewillbeallowed tomoveout only in ex-tremeemergencies,”headded.TMC has set up a patrolling
units to enforce the lockdown.“We have decided to barricademajorjunctions.Wearealsoseek-ing extra police deployment inMumbra,” Joshi said. He addedthat arrangements have beenmadetoensurehomedeliveryofmeat, fish and vegetables. “If intwoor inthreedays, thenumberof cases godown, then the lock-downwillberelaxed,”Joshisaid.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, PUNE,MAY26
THE BIHAR government onTuesday said its Maharashtracounterpart can send asmanyShramik special trains to Biharas itwants. Allmigrantworkersand natives of the state whowish to returnwould be takenback.Chief Secretary of Bihar,
DeepakKumar,said,“Itisthede-cisionof thegovernmentthatallpeopleof thestatewilling to re-turnwill bebroughtback to thestate.”He added that so far, 130trainsfromMaharashtrahaveal-ready come to Bihar, carryingmorethan1.93lakhpassengers.Another38trainsarescheduledto depart from various cities ofMaharashtra tillMay28.Kumar added that
Maharashtrahad,onTuesday,in-formed the Bihar governmentabout itsdecisiontorun24addi-tionaltrains.“IfMaharashtrawantstosend
more trains toBihar, it cando so.Wedonothaveanyproblem.Wearefullyprepared,”Kumarsaidinastatement.
Mumbai:A56-year-old firemanfromMumbai Fire Brigade suc-cumbedtoCovid-19onSunday.This is first suchdeath reportedfrom the fire brigade. So far, 35fire brigade staffers have testedpositive for coronavirus acrossthecity.The deceased, whowas be-
ing treated for typhoid anddysentery, was posted atGowalia Tank Fire station onGrantRoadandwas involved infumigation and disinfection ac-tivities. He had been on leavesinceMay16due tohis illness.OnMay23,whenhis condi-
tionworsened,hewasrushedtoJJHospital butwas allegedly re-fused admission. The next day,hewasagaintakentothehospi-tal, where he died during treat-ment. He tested positive forCovid-19 on Tuesday. It is yet tobe ascertained how he con-tractedtheinfection.Threefam-ily members of deceased havebeenputinquarantineandtheirtest resultsareawaited.Till Tuesday, of the 35 fire
brigadestaffers testingpositive,four are in ICU. Four familymembers of infected staffershavealso testedpositive.Following the rise in cases,
thefirebrigadehasstarteda30-bed Covid care centre facility atByculla Command Centre forstaffers. Chief Fire Officer P SRahangdale said, “We havestarted the facility in Byculla. Itwas made ready in only fourdays.If required,wewillstartan-other30-bedfacilityinBorivali.”
ENS
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY26
THE FAMILY and lawyers of ac-tivist GautamNavlakha, bookedin the Elgaar Parishad case, onTuesday claimed the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA)brought him to Mumbai fromTiharjailinDelhiwithoutinform-ingthem.TheNIAprosecutor said that
Navlakhawasproducedbeforeacourt inMumbai and has beensent to judicial custody at theTalojajailtill June22.Navlakha and academician
AnandTeltumde–bothaccused
of conspiring to organise theElgaar Parishad in Pune – hadsurrendered before the NIA onApril 14 following SupremeCourtorders.Due to the lockdown,while
Navlakhahadsurrenderedbeforethe NIA headquaters in Delhi,Teltumbde had surrendered inMumbai.Followingthis,Navlakha
continued to remain inNIA cus-todyinDelhi.OnSaturday,aDelhicourthad
directedNavlakhatoremaininju-dicial custody till June22.His in-terimbailapplicationonmedicalgroundscitingtheCovid-19pan-demicisslatedtobeheardbytheDelhiHighCourtonWednesday.Hispartner,SahbaHusain,said
thatafterhewassenttoTiharjailonSaturday,shewasinformedthenextdaythathewasbeinggivenaseparatecell,asheisaseniorcit-izen. “Thereafter, I receiveda callfromhimonly after hewaspro-ducedbefore theMumbai court.Hetoldmethathewasgivenlessthanfiveminutestogatherhisbe-
longings and then taken toMumbaionanovernighttrain.Herequestedtobeallowedtocallhislawyersorfamilymembersbuttonoavail,”Husainsaid,addingthathewasonlyallowedtomakeacallafterhetookpermissionfromthespecialcourtinMumbaiwherehewasproduced.Special Public Prosecutor
PrakashShetty said theMumbaicourt had issued a productionwarrant againstNavlakha, basedonwhichhewastransferredfromDelhi. “Hewas shifted since thecase is pending here,” Shettyadded.Navlakha’s lawyers,how-ever, said that they should havebeen informedandgivenanop-
portunitytobeheardbeforeshift-ing him, especially since his in-terimbail pleawill be heard onWednesdaybytheDelhiHC.“The situation inMumbai is
worrisome given the Covid-19pandemic.Wedonotunderstandwhatwastheneedtotakehimtothe city... without giving hislawyersorfamilyanopportunitytospeakwithhim.Hehasalwayscooperatedwiththeinvestigatingagencies,”Husainsaid.“Ontheonehand,youwantto
decongest jails asMumbai hasemerged as the epicentre of theCovid-19 pandemic and on theother,youareexposinghimtothiskindofrisk,”sheadded.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY26
ON THE second day afterMumbai airport resumed re-stricted operations of domesticflights, 41 flightswere operatedbysixairlines to13 locations.Ofthis, 22 departed from the cityand19arrived,ferryingatotalof4,224 passengers comprising3,114 departing and 1,110 arriv-ing fliers. Most passenger loadcontinued to be for departurestoDelhi.The first flight departed to
Ranchiat6.30amwhilethefirstflight arrived at 8.20 am fromLucknow. Both the flights wereoperatedby IndiGo.Evenasthestatehasallowed
theairporttooperate50flightsaday combining arrivals and de-partures, some flights are beingcancelledbytheairlinesover is-sueswithslottimings,routede-mandsandstatepolicieswithre-gard to operations. On Tuesday,IndiGo cancelled three flightsscheduled to arrive fromDehradun, Ranchi andGuwahati.The three cancelled flights
wereoperated later in theday.Sources at the airport said
thatwith slots being given, it istheprerogativeofairlinesregard-ingdecisionstofly.Slotsareallot-
ted based on the size of the air-line,amongotherconsiderations.Anofficialassociatedwithan
airline told The Indian Express,“Routing flights has been diffi-cultwithdifferentstateshavingdifferentpoliciesforflights.Itde-pendsonwhatworksfortheair-line based on slot timings, pas-sengerdemands,permissionstofly between locations, etc. Theairlines don’t want to fly whentherearealreadyotherswhoop-erateinthesamerouteandtim-ingbecauseanywaythenumberof passengers flying is low.”Recently, GoAir highlighted
lackofclarityonthereadinessofstatesandtheirairportswithre-gard to acceptance of flights, ortheconditionsapplicabletopas-sengers entering the respectivestates.Theairlinehasannounced it
will flyonlyfromJune1onward.
Maharashtrafree to sendmore Shramiktrains: Bihar
A17-year-oldboy,
apprehendedbythe
police inasexual
assaultcase,wasthe
first tobedetected
positive for thevirus
3CovidcasesatDongrichildren’shome,2recover
KEM Hospital staffersprotest after worker withCovid symptoms dies
ELGAARPARISHADCASE
Navlakha shifted to Mumbai jail, family says not informedNavlakha’s interimbail
applicationonmedical
grounds isslatedtobe
heardbytheDelhiHigh
CourtonWednesday
Mumbai airportoperates 41flights on Day 2
Mostwerepassengers flyingtoDelhi. File
MigrantworkersgatheratThanestationTuesdayafternoon toboardShramikspecial trainstoLucknow.Deepak Joshi
MASSIVERUSHATMUMBAISTATIONSASCENTRE,STATEWAROFWORDSCONTINUE
Goyal says 145 Shramik trains planned onTuesday, only a fraction ran; Parab hits back
Completelockdown inMumbrafrom today
1st fireman dies ofCovid in Mumbai
Mumbai:A58-year-oldwomandied on Tuesdaywhile waitingfor her turn to board a Shramikspecial train to Jaunpur inUttarPradesh fromVasai railway sta-tion. She, along with her fourfamilymembers, werewaitingin a queue at Suncity groundin Vasai, when she collapsedanddied.Officials said the deceased,
VidhotmaSurendraShukla,wasahomemaker.Thefamilyof five,including thedeceased, are res-identsofNalasopara.On Tuesday, the family
walked from their NalasopararesidencetotheSuncitygroundandhad stood in a queue in theheat. According to the rail offi-cials, six Shramik special trainswerescheduledtoleaveforUttarPradesh–threeforJaunpur,twoforBadoiandoneforGorakhpur– due to which hundreds hadgatheredat theground.Thepolicehaveregisteredan
accidentaldeath report. ENS
Candidatesqueueuptosubmit formsfornursingpositionsatThaneMunicipalCorporationonTuesday.Deepak Joshi
Woman dies whilewaiting to boardShramik train to UP
ThousandofmigrantworkersqueueuptoboardShramikspecial trainsoutsideCSMTinMumbaionTuesday.GaneshShirsekar
5THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
MAHARASHTRA
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
COVID CARE CENTRE
TheparkingspaceofMahalaxmiRacecourse inMumbaihasbeenconverted intoaquarantineandhospital facility for treatingcoronaviruspatients. GaneshShirsekar
OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,MAY26
THE BOMBAY High Court onTuesday sought to know fromthe state governmentwhetherCovid-19 testing facilities areavailable in each district ofMaharashtraandinquiredifmo-bile clinics canbestartedacrossthestate.A division bench of Chief
Justice Dipankar Datta andJustice K K Tatedwas hearing apleafiledbyafishermanseekingproper testing facilities inRatnagiri,anon-redzone, inthelight of thousands of strandedmigrant workers returninghome in the district from redzonessuchasMumbaiandPune.OnMay 22, the HC had di-
rected Government PleaderPriyabhushan Kakade to re-spond to the petition. The stateon Tuesday submitted that duemeasuresarebeingtakentotestsuspected persons and soughttwo days' time to take instruc-tions fromtheauthorities to filea reply.Inhispetition,KhalilAhmad
HasanmiyaWasta,a58-year-oldfisherman, has claimed that ifmigrants, returning from redzone areas like Mumbai andPune to Ratnagiri, were nottested due to lack of facilities, itwould endanger the lives of lo-cal residents inRatnagiri.Appearing forWasta, advo-
cate Rakesh Bhatkar said thatsince the Covid-19 outbreak,Ratnagiri had initially reportedonly seven cases, including twodeaths.TillMay,all infectedper-sonswerecured.However,withmigrants entering the district,nearly 108 cases have been re-ported inRatnagiri, thepetitionclaimed.
“... state authorities issuedpasses tomigrants and 44,531were allowed toenterRatnagiriand nearly 30,000 people en-teredwithoutofficial passes.Asper government data, 29,259peopleareunderhomequaran-tine. A district having a popula-tion of 16.15 lakh has six func-tioning hospitals, of which twohospitalsarereservedforCovid-19 treatment,” thepetitionsaid.It added that swab samples
fromRatnagiri are sent to a lab-oratory in Sangli, which is 237kmaway.“Thisresults inadelayin receiving reports...theMirajHospital in Sangli, which is alsooverburdened with samplesfromnearby districts, is unableto provide reports within thestipulated time.”Followingthis,thecourtsaid:
“Although the grievance in thisPILisconfinedtonon-availabilityof testing centre for Covid-19cases in Ratnagiri district, wewould like to be enlightened bythestatewhethertestingfacilitiesfordetectionofcasesareavailableineachdistrictofMaharashtra.”The court posted thematter
for furtherhearingonMay29.
OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,MAY26
THE BOMBAY High Court onTuesday said that trial courtsmust not unnecessarily keeppending temporary bail pleasseeking release of prisoners, fol-lowingSupremeCourtguidelinesto decongest jails, after a rights'group argued that over 14,000such pleas are yet to be decidedbycourtsacrossthestate.A division bench of Chief
Justice Dipankar Datta and jus-tice K K Tated was hearing thestate’s response on grantingtemporarybailpleasraisingcon-cerns over several inmates andjail staffers testing positive forCovid-19.ThePeople’sUnionforCivil Liberties (PUCL), and an-other petitioner, ArchanaRupawate, had moved the HCseekingrelief forprisoners.Senior CounselMihir Desai,
appearingforPUCL,saidthatal-thoughthestatehastakenstepstobringdownthenumberof in-mates,over14,000bailpleasare
pending before different courtsandsoughtthattheybedecidedina time-boundmanner.The court observed, “As per
guidelines, the relevant courts,tothebestof itsabilityandwiththeresourcesavailableatitsdis-posal, have seen striving to takeappropriate steps to dispose ofas many bail pleas and in thelightof theguidelines, nodirec-tion as such is required to bemade, sincewe hope and trustthatnoapplication forbail shallbekeptpendingunnecessarily.”Thestate, in its reply, said23
temporary jails have been setup in different districts fornewly arrested inmates. Itadded thatwhileMaharashtraprisons can accommodate24,000 inmates, the currentpopulation in jailsasonMay10was34,000. The state said thatto maintain social distancingnorms, thecapacityof barrackswill be reduced by two-third.Directingthegovernmentto
respond to the plea, the courtposted the matter for furtherhearingon June9.
TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,MAY26
PHARMACEUTICAL companyGlenmark is set to commence aphase-3clinical trial to study theefficacy of a combination ofFavipiravirandUmifenovirdrugstotreatCovid-19.Thetrial,whichwillinvolve158Indianpatients,isthe second trial to start in thecountryusingFavipiravir.Thecombinationofthedrugs
willbeusedtocheckwhetherdu-ration of viral shedding can beshortened.Viralshedding,whichusuallyoccursbeforeorattheon-setofsymptoms,meansthevirusisexpelledfromthebodyandcan
potentiallyinfectothers.The trial, called Faith, has re-
ceivedapproval fromregulators.Favipiravir andUmifenovir areboth anti-virals. Favipiravir isgivenorallyandexpectedtopre-ventviralduplicationinthebodyby inhibiting the enzyme thatdrives the replication. It is com-monlyused as an anti-influenzadrug in Japan and China.Umifenovirisalsousedtotreatin-fluenzaAandB.However,astudypublishedinClinicalMicrobiologyand Infection onApril 25 foundUmifenovir didnothelp in fasterrecovery of Covid-19 patients.Thoseadministeredthedrugtook18daystotestnegativeforcoron-avirusasopposedto16daysthatpatientswhowerenot given the
drugtooktotestnegative.The study observed,
“Umifenovirmight not improvetheprognosisoraccelerateSARS-CoV-2 clearance in non-ICUpa-tients.Arandomizedcontrolclin-ical trial is needed to assess theefficacyofumifenovir.”The latest studywill assess
whether a combination of bothdrugsworks better onmoder-ately-illpatientswhentheyhavehighviral loadandearly onset ofsymptoms. “Combiningantiviralagentsthathaveagoodsafetypro-file andact ondifferent stages ofvirallife-cycleisaneffectivetreat-ment approach to rapidly sup-press initial high viral load andlead to overall improvement inclinical parameters,” Glenmark
vice-presidentMonika Tandonsaidinapressstatement.The company is involved in
anothertrialusingFavipiravirandinvolving 150patients -- 30 pa-tientshavebeenenrolledtillnow.InMumbai,BMCofficialssaid
hospitalshavebeenshortlistedforthe Favipiravir trial buthospitalsare yet to get shortlisted for thecombinationdrugs.DrOmSriva-stava,anexpertoninfectiousdis-eases,saidRemdesivirandFavip-iravir have shownencouragingresults so far, but it has beenad-ministeredtoveryfewpatientsinMumbai. InMumbai,Umifenovirisyet tobeusedonpatients. “Wehavenot used this combinationyet, we have only used Favipir-avir,”saidaLilavatihospitalofficial.
VIVEKDESHPANDENAGPUR,MAY26
THE MAHARASHTRA govern-ment has directed GadchiroliCollectorDeepakSinglatoimme-diately de-freeze the bank ac-countsof19Gadchiroligramsab-has,sayingthatnoirregularityhadbeencitedbyhimtothestategov-ernmenttojustifyhisaction.In a letter issued byDeputy
SecretaryofTribalDevelopment,L GDhoke, to Singla onMay26,the government said, "No viola-tionof ForestRightsAct,2006,itsrulesof2008andamendedrulesof 2012was cited in the letter is-sued to the bankor in anyotherdocumentsmade available byCollector's office. Similarly, youhavealso statedduringyourdis-cussionwithPrincipal Secretary,
TribalDevelopment,thatnospe-cificcomplainthadbeenreceivedbyyouregardinganyirregularityintheoperationofbackaccount.""You froze the accounts on
March18withoutgivinganypriornotice. Youcalledthegramsabhaauthoritiesamonthlaterwithoutconductinganyinquiry inthe in-tervening period that coincidedwith the lockdown period, forwhichtheyhadtotravel150km.Thiswasagainstprinciplesofnat-ural justice,"theletterstated."Inthetimesofcorona,thevil-
lagershaveno jobopportunities.Currently, they are collectingtendu leaves. In that respect, thecommunityforestrightscommu-nities(CFRCs)needtodofinancialtransactions under the supervi-sion of gram sabhas. Hence, topreventasituationofhunger,theirgramsabha accounts should be
de-frozen,"readtheletter.TheIndianExpresshadreported
theissuelastweek.Singlahadtakentheaction,statingthatgramsabhashaderred indepositing thecom-pensationamountofaboutRs65-70 lakhtheyhadreceivedagainsterectionofpowergridtransmissiontowersintheaccountbybypassingthegramsevak,whoistheex-offi-ciosecretaryofthegramsabhaandagovernmentrepresentative.The Collector had also insti-
tutedaprobeintothematter.The letter also directed the
Collectortotakeactionasperthefindingsof theprobe, if anythinguntowardwas found. The letter,however, stated that the gramsabhaswereperfectlywithintheirrightsconferredbyFRAtoconductthe bank accounts through theCFRCs and therewasnothing ir-regularaboutit.
Trial courts should notkeep temporary bail pleaspending unnecessarily: HC
Are Covid testing facilities availablein each district, HC asks state govt
Glenmark set for trial to study role ofanti-viral combination in treating Covid
Nochangein
RRratestill
furtherorders
Mumbai: The InspectorGeneral of Registration(IGR) on Tuesday saidthat theReadyReckoner(RR) rates for propertiesin Maharashtra will re-mainunchangedtill fur-therorders. TheRRratesare annual market val-ues for properties as de-terminedbythegovern-ment.While theRRratesfor 2020-21 were origi-nallyscheduledtobean-nounced on April 1, thegovernmenthadfirstde-ferred it till May 31 ow-ing to the lockdown.Butwith Mumbai and 18other cities in the statestill in the red zone, IGROmprakash Deshmukhhassaidthat theRRratesfor 2019-20 will con-tinue to prevail till fur-ther orders.
14from
Pune-based
SRPFunit
testpositivePune: Fourteen person-nel fromthePune-basedunit of theStateReservePolice Force (SRPF)testedpositive forCovid-19 on Tuesday, takingthe total number ofcases intheMaharashtraSRPF above 520. Twocompanies of the Pune-headquartered 'Group2'of the SRPF -- compris-ing around 100 person-nel each -- hadbeende-ployed inMumbai. Theyreturned to their base inPune on May 21. Whileall of themwere kept inquarantine as a precau-tionary measure afterarrival, their swab testswere also conducted. MRamkumar, Group 2Commandant, told TheIndian Express, "Resultsof swab tests came backon Tuesday... 14 of theconstables have testedpositive." The 14 addi-tional cases take the to-tal number of positivecases in 'Group 2' to 70,over 40 of whom havealready recovered. Testresults of some peoplewere awaited, said offi-cials . ENS
BRIEFLY
Govt asks Gadchiroli collector todefreeze accounts of 19 gram sabhas
Adivisionbenchof
Chief JusticeDipankar
DattaandJusticeKK
Tatedwashearingaplea
filedbyafisherman
seekingpropertesting
facilitiesinRatnagiri,a
non-redzone
MOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI,MAY26
THE ABETMENT to suicide caseregistered against ArnabGoswami and two others in2018 that had been closed byRaigadpolice last yearwill nowbe re-investigated by the stateCID, the Maharashtra govern-mentannouncedonTuesday.State Home Minister Anil
Deshmukh said the CIDwill re-investigate the case based on arequestbythedaughterofAnvayNaik,whoalongwithhismotherKumudNaikwerefounddeadattheir bungalow in Alibaug, inRaigaddistrict nearMumbai, inMay2018.The local police had closed
the case last year stating thatenoughevidencewasnotfoundagainstGoswami,editor-in-chiefof Republic TV news channel,and two others to chargesheetthemin thecase.Anvaywasmanaging direc-
tor of Concorde Designs, aMumbai-based architecturaland interior designing firm, hismotherwason the firm's boardof directors.Republic TV had earlier
statedthatithadclearedallpay-mentsduetoConcordeDesigns.On Tuesday, Deshmukh
tweeted, “AdnyaNaikhadcom-plainedtomethatAlibaugPolicehad not investigated non-pay-ment of dues from ArnabGoswami’s Republic, whichdrove her entrepreneur fatherand grandma to suicide inMay2018.I’veorderedaCIDre-inves-tigationof thecase.”Adnya,Anvay'sdaughter,had
also alleged that the police hadnot investigated the angle of Rs83 lakh that Goswami had not
paidherfather,whichdrovehimtocommit suicide.Raigad Superintendent of
PoliceAnilParaskarsaid,“Wehadregistered a case of abetment tosuicide against three personswhen the body was foundbased.... However, last April wesubmittedasummaryreportbe-foreacourtstatingthattherewasnot enough evidence to file achargesheetagainsttheaccused.”Anofficersaidithadcometo
lightthatwhileAnvayhadcom-mittedsuicide, thepostmortemreport indicated Kumud hadbeen strangulated. Followingthat, thepolice also registeredacaseofmurder.The police suspect Anvay
mayhavekilledhismother andthen committed suicide.WhileKumud’sbodywasfoundontheground-floor sofa, Anvay wasfound hanging on the first floorby thebungalow's caretaker.The police had found a sui-
cide note in Englishwhich pur-portedly stated said Anvay andhismother decided to take theextreme step since paymentsdue to themwerebeingclearedbyownersof three companies --- Republic TV, Feroz Shaikh ofIcastX/Skimedia, and NiteishSardaof Smartworks.The three firms owed
ConcordeDesignsRs83lakh,Rs4 crore and Rs 55 lakh, respec-tively, thenotehadstated.Anofficersaidthatduringin-
vestigation they found Anvaywas in heavy debt and wasstruggling to repay money tocontractors. Raigad police alsofoundthatNaikhadanNC(non-cognizable case) registeredagainst a contractor inMumbaiafter the latter had threatenedhim to repay themoneyhehadtaken.
Govt asks CID tore-probe suicideabetment caseagainst Arnab
‘Highly destructive’ locustswarms in parts of Vidarbha,seen first time since 1990s
PARTHASARATHIBISWASPUNE,MAY26
ANUNPRECEDENTED attack ofdesert locust is underway inpartsofVidarbha,whichisama-jorthreattotheorangeorchardsin the area. Officers of the agri-culturedepartmentsaidthiswillbe the first timesince the1990sthat the statehas reported suchanattack.Since early April, parts of
Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjabhave reported sightings of themigratoryandhighlydestructivedesert locust, Schistocerca gre-garia. This early sighting -- thepest is normally sighted alongtheIndo-PakistanborderinJuly-October -- has alerted the au-thorities of the dangers that lieahead in this season. Theseshort-horned grasshoppers areinnocuous when solitary, buthighlydestructivewhenthey ina swarm, and canmigrate largedistances in a short frame oftime.Beingpolyphagous(abletofeed on different kinds of food)
innature,thepestsdestroyeverysingle bit of greenery on theirway. A square kilometre of anareacanaccommodate40to80millionof them.In the absence of any stand-
ingcrop,thedesertlocustisfeed-ingonthegreencoverofthearea.Atthreataretheorangeorchardsinthearea,whichhavenotfacedsuchacrisis ina longtime.SridharThakare,executivedi-
rector of Mahaorange, which istheorangegrowers’cooperativein the area, said itmust be after60yearssuchattackhadbeende-tected.“Controloperationsareonbut if the swarm continues togrow, more than 1.51 lakhhectares of orange orchardscouldgetdestroyed,”hesaid.SinceitsfirstsightinginApril,
thelocustwarningorganisation(LWO) has treated over 21,675hectaresofaffectedarea,mainlyinPunjab,GujaratandRajasthan.However,swarmshavebeenre-ported in the recent days fromMadhyaPradeshandnow,sincelast Sunday, Maharashtra hasalsoreportedthepresenceofthepest.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,MAY26
AS THE Pune MunicipalCorporation (PMC) reported arecord399newcoronaviruscasesonMonday,authoritiestriedtoas-surelocalresidentsthattherewas
noneedtopanicoverthespike,asthehighernumberofpositivecaseswasbecauseofdelayedtestingofseveral samples, the results ofwhichhadcomeonMonday.ThePMCfirstsawaspikeofover300cases in a day on May 22, andthefigureroseto399onMay25.“Whilethecollectionofswab
sampleshas increased, therearelimitationsonthenumberofteststhatcanbecarriedout.Thelabo-ratory report of the test shouldcomein12hoursbut it isgettingdelayed by up to 36 hours. Thetest results received onMondaywere of samples collected inthe last fewdays. The pendency
for tests is increasing,” saidPuneDivisional CommissionerDeepakMhaisekar.Hesaidtherewasaneedtoin-
creasetesting,andhehastakenupthe issuewith the agencies con-cerned. “I have spoken to repre-sentatives of NARI, NCCS andB JMedical College to scale up the
testingcapacity,”saidMhaisekar.Meanwhile, the administra-
tion is planning toputupanon-line dashboard to provide latestupdates on thepandemic situa-tion to local residents. “ThePMChas also increased screenings incontainment zones,” said a civicofficial.
PMC says spike due to results of tests arriving late
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY 27,20206
DIPR/1900/Tender/2020
tAMiLnAdU neWSPrint And PAPerS LiMited
Unit-1 : KAGITHAPURAM - 639 136, KARUR DIST. TAMIL NADU
Phone: 04324-277 001 (10 LINES)
Unit-2: Mondipai - 621306, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu
Ph:04332-265102
NOTICE INVITING TENDERs
Tender No. Descripion Due date
202113000708
Optical Brightening Agent on cost per kg basisfor Paper M/c No.1,2&3a) Wet End OBAb) Surface OBA
10.06.2020
202113000667
DAF Chemicals De-inking PlantA. Flocculant Anionicb. Flocculant Cationicc. Coagulant Strong Cationic
09.06.2020
SI. No 1Manufacture and Supply of Stainless Steel (SS)Pipes for Hardwood Cooking area at TNPL Unit-II MEP
10.06.2020
SI. No 2Manufacture and Supply of Stainless Steel (SS)Pipe Fittings for Hardwood Cooking area at TNPLUnit-II MEP
10.06.2020
202123000203
Liquid non ferric alum for TNPL Unit-II 10.06.2020
202113000708 & 202113000667 - purchase.rawmatI@tnpl.co.in
S.No: 1&2- pmd5@tnpl.co.in
202123000203 - purchaserm.u2@tnpl.co.in
Terms& condition, Specifications, Qty., Tender Fee, EMDare availablein Tender document at our websites: www.tenders.tn.gov.in &www.tnpl.com
TNPL - Maker of bagasse based eco-friendly Paper
CENTRAL ORGANISATION FOR
RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATIONA B R /1, N WA YUSUF OAD, CIVIL LINES Prayagraj-211001
X . 0 w . ays.FA No : 0532-240715 w w core.indianrailw gov.in
r o ELCO E-OHE-ETende N . R PC-04-Mod-
( e eRe Op nTend r)
f o kName o W r : E E DER: u fo P op l F r e i ti nPC T N Req est r r osa o El ctrif ca o
i w s of t e o m /An - u e o ra dof Ra l ay Line h secti n Man ad kai M dkh d-Man ha ba
n u Ja m e ha a M h bn a h e uthi cl ding nka p t-Bod n nd a bu ag r-D on of So
ntr i w To /T 9 1 0 .1 O n in gCe al Ra l ay tal RKM KM 76 . 0/1 46 1 n E g eerin ,
o u e n o s u t n( C d [ / c eN .EP 0 ( d ]Pr c r me t&C n tr c io EP )Mo e. Bid Pa kag o C- 4 Mo ) .
m Modi i dIte s f e
I H derN T ea
O RI UC R GEND M-5
Fie d N ml a e
Tender Clo ings
Dat mee Ti
id i g rt a eB d n Sta D t
i g VExist n alue
05.06.2020
15.00
22.05.2020
Mo fi d Valuedi e
9.0 . 0 01 6 2 2
1 . 05 0
5.0 . 0 00 6 2 2
ClosingDate/Time
19.06.202015.00
"Serving Customers with a Smile” www.ireps.gov.inPR/370/2020 ADK
Corrigendum Details Publish Date: 20.05.2020, 14.52
Tender Details
TThhee IInnddiiaann EXPRESS
BUSINESS
POULTRY
VENCOBB Ex-Farm
Yesterday’s price in
Pune Rs. 120/-.
Suggested Retail Price
is Rs. 138/-
0070701559
Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertisingcopy, it is not possible toverify its contents. The IndianExpress (P.) Limited cannot beheld responsible for suchcontents, nor for any loss ordamage incurred as a resultof transactions withcompanies, associations orindividuals advertising in itsnewspapers or Publications.We therefore recommendthat readers make necessaryinquiries before sending anymonies or entering into anyagreements with advertisersor otherwise acting on anadvertisement in any mannerwhatsoever.
''IMPORTANT''
E-Tender Notice No.: BSL/ELW/
Tender/ 2020-21/011) Name of Work:- "MS pneumatic
Repiping of conventional locomotive
(WCAM-3, WCAG-1 or equivalent ) as
per technical specifications at
ELW/BSL.” 2) Estimated Cost:-
Rs.1,38,43,536/-( Rupees one crore
thirty eight lakh forty three thousand
five hundred thirty six only) 3) Earnest
Money Deposit :- Rs 2,19,200/-
(Rupees two lakh nineteen thousand
two hundred only) 4) Completion
period:- 12 Months 5) Last Date &
time for closing of uploading of
tender:- 22.06.2020 at 15:00 Hours,
6 ) W e b s i t e p a r t i c u l a r s : -
http://ireps.gov.in 7) Notice Board
location & Address:- (Where
complete details of tender can be
seen) : Office of the Chief Workshop
Manager, Electr ic Locomot ive
Workshop, Bhusaval, Central Railway,
Old Varangaon Road, Bhusaval,
PINCode:425201.
CCEENNTTRRAALL RRAAIILLWWAAYY
BHUSAVAL DIVISION
All India Passenger Helpline 138
SSAALLUUTTEE TTHHEE SSOOLLDDIIEERR9419439P LNK RAM KUMAR PRADHAN 26 MAY
On this day 9419439P Lnk Ram Kumar Pradhan of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles
(BATALIK) made the supreme sacrifice during 'OP VIJAY' (Kargil) in
May 1999 in a true act of valour. The brave soldier will always be
remembered for his enthusiasm. To this braveheart we pledge that we
shall always be guided by his immortal spirit and make his name
proud.
CO AND ALL RANKS, 1/11 GORKHA RIFLES
(BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE) (BATALIK)
Regional Office: 4, Nehru Place,Tonk Road,Jaipur-15 (Rajasthan)
E-Tender Notice
An e-tender notice is invited, under two-bid system for appointment of Vendors for the periodof one year for providing services of Vehicle Tracking System for the vehicles used by FCIRoad Transport Contractors for transporation of foodgrain from various dispatching centers to
Under e-tender notice ROJ/CONTRACT/VTS/02/2020, the bids shall be accepted ONLINEfrom 27.05.2020, 02.00 PM to 16.06.2020, 02.00 PM. All the Terms & Conditions andother details are available on CPP Portal’s website https://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app andCorporation’s website www.fci.gov.in. General Manager (Region)
various receiving centers of Rajasthan region.
NOTICE
All the tenders* issued by Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL)for procurement of Goods, Works and Services are available onwebsite of BCCL www.bcclweb.in, Coal India Limited (CIL)e-procurement portal https://coalindiatenders.nic.in andCentral Public Procurement portal https://eprocure.gov.in. Inaddition, procurement is also done through GeM portal https://gem.gov.in.
*This is applicable to all Open (Domestic/Global) Tendersissued through e-procurement portal of CIL.
BHARAT COKING COAL LIMITED‘A Mini Ratna Company’
(A Subsidiary of Coal India Limited)
notice inviting tender
cHennAi MetroPoLitAn WAter SUPPLY And SeWerAge BoArd
DIPR/1907/Tender/2020 PURCHAsE MANAGER
1. NATURE : Sealed tenders are invited in the prescribed form.
2. ADDREss : PURCHASEMANAGER,Materials Department, No.1, Pumping Staion Road,
Chintadripet, Chennai-2. Telephone No: 044 28451300, Extn:272
E-Mail: pmcmwssb@gmail.com
Tender schedule can be downloaded from websites: www.chennaimetrowater.tn.nic.in &
www.tenders.tn.gov.in
3. DETAILs OF TENDER :
sl.No.
Tender No.and date
DescripionEMD Amount
in Rs.
1.MAT/
OT/010/2020
Hiring of Water Tanker Lorries of 16000litres, 9000 litres and 6000 litres capacityon contract basis for three years 2020-2023
10,000/-per Vehicle
Availability of Tender Schedule : From28.05.2020 to30.06.2020upto3.00P.M.
Due Date & Time for receipt of Tender : 01.07.2020 upto 3.00 P.M.
Due Date & Time of opening of Tender : 01.07.2020 ater 3.00 P.M.
Beejay Ads,Opera HousePhone : 23692926 / 56051035.
Color Spot,Byculla (E),Phone : 23748048 / 23714748.
FCA Communications,Nariman Point,Phone : 40020550 / 51.
Fulrani Advtg. & Mktg.Antop HillPhone: 24159061Mobile: 9769238274/9969408835
Ganesh Advertising,Abdul Rehman Street,Phone : 2342 9163 / 2341 4596.
J.K. Advertisers,Hornimal Circle, Fort.Phone : 22663742.
Mani’s Agencies,Opp.G.P.O., Fort.Phone : 2263 00232.Mobile : 9892091257.
Manjyot Ads,Currey Road (E)Phone : 24700338.Mobile : 9820460262.
OM Sai Ram Advtg.,Currery RoadMobile: 9967375573
Pinto Advertising,Mazagaon,Phone : 23701070.Mobile : 9869040181.
Premier AdvertisersMumbai CentralMobile: 9819891116
Sarjan Advertising,Tardeo,Phone : 66626983
Sanjeet CommunicationFort.Phone : 40024682/ 40792205.
S. Arts Advtg.MasjidPhone: 23415111
Taj Publicity Services,Byculla (W),Phone : 2305 4894.Mobile : 9892011371.
Yugarambha Advertising,Girgaon,Phone : 2386 8065.Mobile : 9869074144.
Aaryan PublicityDadar (E),Phone: 022-65881876Mobile: 9320111876
B. Y. Padhye Publicity Services,Dadar (W),Phone : 2422 9241/2422 0445.
DATEY Advertising,Datey Bhavan, Dadar (W)Mobole : 8452846979/9930949817
Hook AdvertainmentDadarMobile : 8691800888
Central Advertising Agency,Mahim (W),Phone : 24468656 / 24465555
Charudatta Advertising,Mahim (W),Phone : 24221461
Jay Publicity,Dadar (E),Phone : 24124640
Pallavi Advtg.Dadar (W),Mobile: 9869109765
Shree Swami SamarthAdvertising,Dadar (W),Phone : 24440631Mobile : 9869131962
Stylus Arts,Dadar (W),Phone : 24304897
Time Advertising,Matunga (W),Phone : 2446 6191
Vijaya Agencies,Dadar (W),Phone : 2422 5672.Mobile : 9920640689
Media Junction,Matunga (W),Phone: 022-66393184/
022-66332340Mobile: 9820295353/ 9821656198
Achievers MediaBandra (W.),Phone : 22691584
NACBandra (W),Mobile : 9664132358
ReckonBandra (W.),Mobile : 9867445557
Space Age Advertising,Bandra (E)Phone : 26552207Mobile : 9869666222/9869998877
Kirti Agencies,Khar (W),Phone : 26047542.
Hindustan AdvertisingVile Parle (W),Phone : 26146229
PromserveVile Parle (W),Mobile : 9167778766
VentureAndheri (E)Phone : 61226000
Anuja MediaAndheri (W),Mobile : 9152895703
Bombay PublicityAndheri (W)Mobile : 9870703542
Carl Advertising,Andheri (W),Phone : 6696 3441 / 42.
Gauri Press Communication,Andheri (E),Mobile: 9820069565/ 9820069568
CCLLAASSSSIIFFIIEEDD CCEENNTTRREESS IINN MMUUMMBBAAII
DIPR/ 1923 /TENDER/2020
TAMIL NADU WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE BOARD
SAVE WATER, CONSERVE WATER, EVERY DROP COUNTS
DIPR/ 1922 /TENDER/2020 Chief Engineer (i/c),TWAD Board, Madurai
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER, TWAD BOARD, MADURAI.
ADDENDUM/CORRIGENDUM
TENDER EXTENSION NOTICE No.1 /DATED : 20.05.2020
Ref : T.O. IFB No.F.Kadamalaikundu CWSS /SDO I/ CW /2020 /Dt : 17.04.2020
The period of sale of tender documents and receipt & opening oftenders called for in the reference is extended as below.
Name of
work
: Providing Combined Water Supply Scheme to 250 Rural
Habitations in Kadamalaikundu - Mayiladumparai, Andipatty
and Theni Unions in Theni District including maintenance for a
period of 5 years. (Period of completion - 18months)
Period of sale of bid documents Upto 5.45 P.M on 03.06.2020
Last date for receipt of tenders Upto 3.00 P.M on 05.06.2020
Opening of tenders At 3.30 P.M on 05.06.2020
All other terms and conditions already published remain unaltered.
CORRIGENDUM No. 6 (EXTENTION IN BID SUBMISSION)Name of Project: Uttarakhand Workforce Development Project (UKWDP)
All prospective bidders are hereby informed that the bid Submission dates for the
packages mentioned below has already been extended thrice due to the
unprecedented conditions prevailing in the country. Due to the numerous
representation received from the prospective bidders requesting for extension, the
last date of submission of the technical bid is further extended as per the table below.
It is further informed that this may be treated as the last and final extension and no
further date extension shall be done. All prospective bidders are informed to work
actively to ensure the timely bid submission.Further as per the above table, a
window of additional seven(7) days is being provided for hardcopy submission of
documents, failing which the bid will not be admitted.
The rest of the terms and conditions shall remain unchanged.
Note: This corrigendum will be uploaded on websiteswww.uktenders.gov.in and
www.uksdm.org.
Project Director
State Project Implementation Unit, Uttarakhand(A Unit for Implementing World Bank Funded Project-UKWDP)
Government Industrial Training Institute (Women) Campus
26-EC Road, Dehradun – 248001.
Email- spiuukwdp@gmail.comGovt. of Uttarakhand
Bid Ref No. Bid submission date Bid
opening
date
Bid submission date Bid
opening
date
As per Corrigendum No 4
For Fitter
Trade IN-
SPIUUKWFDP
- 154891-
GO-RFB- 01
29th May 2020,11am uploading
on www.uktenders.gov.in
29th May 2020, 2pm Physical
submission at SPIU office
29th May
2020,
4pm
16th June 2020,11am
uploading on
www.uktenders.gov.in 23rd
June 2020, 2pm Physical
submission at SPIU office
23rd June
2020,
4pm
For
Electrician
Trade
Ref.no. IN-
SPIU-
UKWFDP-
154891-GO-
RFB-02
30th May 2020,11am uploading
on www.uktenders.gov.in
30th May 2020, 2pm Physical
submission at SPIU office.
30th May
2020,
4 pm
17th June 2020,11am
uploading on
www.uktenders.gov.in
24th June 2020, 2 pm
Physical submission at SPIU
office.
24th June
2020,
4pm
TAMIL NADU WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE BOARD
SAVE WATER, CONSERVE WATER, EVERY DROP COUNTSDIPR/ 1921 /TENDER/2020 Chief Engineer (i/c), TWAD Board, Thanjavur
ADDENDUM/CORRIGENDUMExtension of Tender Notice
No.1-3-2 /F. CWSS /2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt : 22.05.2020Sub : 1. Creation of an additional source with pump house to Combined Water Supply Scheme to 893
habitations in Nagapattinam District.2. Providing Combined Water Supply Scheme to 134 Rural Habitations in Kumbakonam Union of
Thanjavur District .3. Providing Combined Water Supply Scheme to 73 rural habitations in Veppur union of Perambalur –
Extension of tender Notice – reg.Ref : 1. This office I.F.B.No:- 02 / F. CWSS to 893 /2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt : 17.04.2020 (Sl.No.1)
2. This Office Extension of Tender Notice No. 11-2 / F. CWSS to 134 /2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/dt.08.05.2020 (Sl.No.2)
3. This office Extension of Tender Notice No. 1-1 / F. CWSS to 73 / 2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt.08.05.2020(Sl.No.3)
The sale period, Last date of receipt and opening of tenders in the references cited for the above worksis here by extended as below in continuation of the Govt. announcement of 144 extension due to prevailingCOVID-19 Virus spreading precautionary measures.
Sl. No Description Extended up to
1 The last date for Sale of Tender 03.06.2020 upto 5.45 P.M
2 The last date for receipt of Tender 05.06.2020 upto 3.00 P.M
3 Date & Time of opening of Tender 05.06.2020 at 3.30 P.M
All other terms and conditions already published remain unaltered.
7THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
THEOUTBREAK MigrantsOnTheRoad
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Agroupofmigrantsat theDelhi-GhaziabadbordernearGhazipurMandionTuesday. PremNathPandey
Migrants fromBiharwaitingfor trainticketsat thePMPMLbusstandonTuesday.ArulHorizon
WAITING FOR TICKET HOME
Arjun,whohails fromFatehpur, returns fromGuruNanakDevStadiumwithhis familyafterbeingtoldnotrainsaredepartingonTuesdayforUttarPradesh.Asawasherman,heusedtomakearoundRs7,000permonthbeforethelockdown.Hehadfirst registeredforatrainonMay2 ,andisstillwaiting foraridehome.GurmeetSingh
PUNE:5:15PM
AgroupwaitsoutsideKalupurrailwaystation.Theysaytheyhavenotgota train for the last20days. JavedRaja
AsocialworkerdistributeswaterbottlestomigrantswaitingforaSpecialShramiktrainonTuesday.HarmeetSodhi
PATIALA:2:15PM
AHMEDABAD:9:48AM
LUDHIANA:1:36PM
DELHI-UPBORDER:9:00AM
KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI,MAY26
WITHTHEincreaseininter-statemovement of people, the num-ber of Covid-19 cases that are“unassigned” to any state hasquadrupled over the pastweekto2,970.Onlyninestates inthecoun-
tryhaveacaseloadthatishigherthan thatnumber.Cases in theunassigned cat-
egorymakeup2per centof thecountry's1,45,380casesofcoro-navirus infection as of Tuesday,and could potentially skew thecasecurvesof several states.Thecategory“Casesbeingre-
assigned to states” was intro-ducedinmid-May.Numbersun-der thatheadgrewfrom230onMay 16 to 1,403 onMay 21, to2,970 cases onMay26. The cat-egoryhasno informationonre-covery or deaths within thisgroup,unliketheotherstatecat-egories.Government officials said
that the category captures thecaseswherediscrepancies existbetween the person’s homestateandcurrent state.A senior official of the
Integrated Disease SurveillanceProgramme (IDSP) told The
Indian Express that the unas-signedcategoryhasbeengrow-ingbecauseof the increased in-ter-state travel in the country—a sign of how countrywidemovementcould impact theef-forts to track theepidemic.“Those are the cases where
we need to reassign becausewhere they are admitted orwhere they are being quaran-tined still needs to be deter-
mined. For example, truckdriv-ers.Theyhavegonesomewhere,theybecomesymptomatic, andthey get tested. A state nowneeds to own them. Once theirtest ispositive, it comes into thesystem. But the system doesn’tknowinwhichstatethispersonhastobeputin,”theofficialsaid.An official from the Indian
Council of Medical Research(ICMR) said: “The ruleweuse is
thatwhereversomeoneistestedis the automatic location in-putted.If, forexample,someonefrom UP is tested in Delhi, thetesting samplewill be assignedtoDelhi.Butwhatifduringsam-ple collection, the person saidthey are fromUP? Then, once apositivesamplecomesback,weneedtodetermineexactlywhichlocation is thispatient innow—for hospitalisation, quarantine,etc.Soeveryday,wehavetoshiftthe locations once the informa-tion is found.”Theunassignedcategoryhas
been growing within states aswell. In Andhra Pradesh for ex-ample, there are now312 cases–more than 10 per cent of thestate's 2,719 confirmed cases –with no district-level assign-ment. In Tamil Nadu, the unas-signedcategoryhasgrownfrom40onMay21 to 92 on Tuesday.InGujarat, it grewfrom26to43in that sametime.BetweenMay1andMay15,
two-thirdsof the1,000ShramikSpecial trainscarryingmigrantshome took 8 lakh passengersfrom Red Zones to Green orOrange Zones. Domestic flightsresumed onMonday, and overthe past few weeks, vehiclemovement between states toohaspickedup.
SHAJUPHILIP&VISHNUVARMATHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,KOCHI,MAY26
SOCIAL DISTANCING, thermalscreening,handsanitisers,only20 students in a hall, and strictinstructions against childrenhuddling together.Keralahadall theguidelines
in place when it became thefirst state in the country to re-sume the school board examsthatwere stalled bymore thantwomonthsduetotheongoingCovid lockdown.But itwasachallengingtask
for officials to ensure that theguidelines were adhered to as4.25 lakh students reached2,945 centres for the class 10state board exams, and 29,458students turnedup at 389 cen-tres for the vocational highersecondarytestsacross thestateonTuesday.The Class 12 state board ex-
ams will resumeWednesday,with 3,79,519 students ex-pected at 2,032 centres. Theschool exams are scheduled tocontinue till themonth-end.“Wearenotapproachingthe
examswith fear, butwith vigil.All students have been givenmasksandpamphletsonCovid-
19 guidelines. Students havebeen told to ensure social dis-tancing, right from the time
they step out of their homes,’’said Director of PublicInstruction JeevanBabu.
Officials said that about5,000 thermal screening de-viceswerepurchased,andoverthelast fewdays,allcentresdis-infected by fire and rescueteams. After the first session,the halls, benches and deskswere disinfected again for theafternoon.And with public transport
services still not available inmany districts, schoolsarranged conveyance for stu-dentsusingPTAfunds. Inmanycases, officials said, parentsdropped their children at thecentres.“Students who could not
clear the thermal screening,
were inquarantine,orhadfam-ilymembersunderhomequar-antine, were allotted specialrooms. Theywere asked to nothand over answer sheets toteachers, but deposit them inspecial bags,” said Babu.Fortheteachersdeployedas
invigilators, gloveswill be pro-vided every day, and kept incolour-coded packets for dis-posal.“Stepshavealsotakentoen-
sure minimum contact be-tweenstudentsandteachersatschools. The attendance sheetswere not passed from one stu-dent to another for signing, in-stead the invigilators took the
count. The practice of teacherssigning the answer sheets andaffixingsealsattheendwasalsodone awaywith,” Babu said.On the ground,meanwhile,
many schools witnessed offi-cials andparents joininghandstoensurethat theexamsstayedon track— somePTAmembersevenhelped in disinfecting thecentres under the guidance oflocal healthworkers.For instance, in Kochi’s
Edappally Government HigherSecondary School in Kochi, thePTA sent details of seatingarrangements directly to stu-dents through WhatsApp toavoid crowding.
In addition, students wereadvised to not share stationeryorwaterbottles.Andassoonastheexamswereover, theyweredirected to head straight homewithout interactingwith otherstudents.Therewasaminorproblem,
though.“Around two dozen stu-
dents did not have any com-muting options fromMulavukad, which is 12 kmfrom the school. We asked thelocal MLA, P T Thomas, if hecould help. A buswas immedi-ately arranged,” saidSankaranarayanan, the schoolprincipal.
Socialdistancing inplace forexam.NitinRK
CLASS 12 STATE BOARD EXAMS TO RESUME TODAY
Kerala takes first step back to school with exams: 20 students to a hall
AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI,MAY26
WITH DIVERSION of ShramikSpecial trains to navigate net-work congestion blowing upinto a controversy, even as de-layed running of these trainsandshortageof foodandwateronboardcontinuetoplaguetheRailways, the national trans-porterhasofficiallynotifiedthealternative or diverted pathsand called it route “rationalisa-tion”.The diversions have been
done so that trains arenotheldup at one place for hourswith-out water and food, a seniorRailwaysofficial toldTheIndianExpress.A train, this officer empha-
sised to reject the criticism,“never gets lost”.According to Railways offi-
cials, therearemultiplewaysfora train to reach a destinationfroma“source”–ororiginating– station, and a “rationalisedroute” is one that may not bethe usual route during normaltimes. But since the new routeis notified, and is scheduledwithin the system, it cannot betechnicallycalledadiversion,anofficial explained.Officials said this helps bet-
ter planning of meals and wa-tering of trains en route, andalso cuts down the element ofsurpriseforrailwaydivisionsontheway.Shramik Special trains
bound for Bihar and further onwere earlier delayed by an av-erage 24 hours, which officialssaid have come down to underfive hours in the last couple ofdays. “No diversions now. Alltrainsoriginatingduringthelastthreedays are runningon theirpre-scheduled rationalisedroutes,” a ministry spokesper-son said.Officials said Manikpur
Junction of North CentralRailway, which normally fallson routeofmostof these trainsfromwestern India to destina-tionsinUttarPradeshandBihar,was a major source of conges-tion until a couple of days ago,as trains from Central Railwayand Western Railway con-vergedthere.Whilenormally ittook a train around90minutestocrossthissection, trainsweretakinguptofourhoursorsodue
to congestion.But the “rationalised route
plan”hasassignedotherroutesthrough Northern Railway,West-Central Railway andNorthWestern Railway to de-congest Manikpur, and othersuchcrossings,andgivendesti-nation stationsabreather, theymaintained.Given capacity constraints,
some railway zones have de-creasedandevenstoppedload-ingof goodstrains tomakewayfor Shramik Specials.Officialssaidwhilebusysec-
tionssuchasAllahabadthatseeoff around 300 trains one wayevery day in normal times arehandling fewer – around 250 –ShramikSpecialsperday, thesetrains are not running as per aset timetable.FieldofficialstoldTheIndian
Expressthatpoliticisationof theShramik Specials have led to“indiscriminate” introductionof these trainswithout lookingatnetworkandhandlingcapac-ity.“At the source station,
boarding is taking a long timeafter concludingall healthpro-tocol. So if a train misses itsscheduledpath set by us, it hasto eat into or share anothertrain’s path,” a senior officialsaid. “Places like Gorakhpur,whichdonothave terminal ca-pacity toreceivesomanytrainsin quick succession, takes timetoreleaseplatforms.Thisresultsin pilingupof trains.”Withavailabilityofmeals in
diverted trains proving to be amajor pain point, the Railwayshas amended its GeneralFinancialRules toenableadivi-sional railway manager tospend up to Rs 1 lakh for eachtrain to arrange for food,water,etc. Officials in IRCTC said thePSU has so far supplied at least74 lakh meals on board theShramik Specials, but deliver-ing to the diverted, unsched-uledtrainshasbeenachallenge.To make up for this, divi-
sional officers in places such asUP and Bihar, among others,have made use of the new fi-nancial powers to arrange forfoodatremotelocations,asalsoto load precooked food ontrains.On Tuesday, Railways
planned to run 315 ShramikSpecial trains, a majority ofwhich were scheduled fromMaharashtra. However,RailwaysMinisterPiyushGoyalstatedthatonly27couldberun.He tweeted: “Eight five of 145trains arranged fromMaharashtraweresupposedtorun today. But since the stategovernment could not arrangepassengers, we could run only27by6PM...”Until Monday, 3,274
Shramik Specials were run totransport more than 44 lakhpassengers; over 1 crorewaterbottles and 74 lakh free mealswere distributed, the Railwayssaid in a statement.
FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com SHAJUPHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,MAY26
KERALACHIEFMinisterPinarayiVijayan on Tuesday said theRailwayssendingtrainstoKeralawithoutpriorinformationwouldunderminemeasures taken bythestatetocontainthespreadofCovid-19. He said the issue hadbeen brought to the notice ofPrimeMinisterNarendraModi.Lastweek, after theRailways
sent a train to Kerala fromMumbaiwithout informing thestate government about its stopinKannur,theChiefMinisterhadwritten to Railways MinisterPiyush Goyal saying the statemust be informed in advanceabout such trains. “Hewas toldthat such a stepwould dent thestepsbeingtakenbythegovern-
ment to spread the disease. But,even after that, theRailwaysde-cided to send a train to KeralafromMumbai. So this issue hasbeenbrought to the attentionofthePrimeMinister. It is amatterundermining our precautions,’’hesaid.TheCMsaid thegovernment
isoftheviewthatpeoplefromallareas should come back to thestate but at the same time, strict
rulesmustbeadoptedtopreventthespreadof thedisease.“Trains are coming to Kerala
fromallpartsof thecountryandtherearenorestrictions.Ouronlycondition is that thereshouldbeprior intimation from theRailways.Theyshouldgiveusthelist of passengers who havebookedtickets.Inthesameway,itis importantandcompulsoryforpassengers to register on theCovid Jagratha portal before thejourney.Wewill be prepared toreceive the passengers. Thosewho arrive here are screened atthe railway station and sent tohomequarantine.Butweneedtohavethelistinadvancesothatwecanensurethereisaproperfacil-ityforhomequarantine.Anyfail-uretodosowouldunderminethemeasures taken by the govern-ment... thereby prevent thespreadof thedisease,’’hesaid.
Thiruvananthapuram:Keralagovernment has decided tostep up daily testing asCovid-19 number has seenan upward swing with thearrivalofpeoplefromabroadand hotspot states. Till twoweeks ago, Kerala has beentesting 700-800 samples aday.ThestateonTuesdayre-ported 67 new cases, thelargest single-day rise so far,taking the total to 963. Thenumber of active cases roseto415onTuesdayfrom16onMay8,adayafterevacuationflights began landing inKerala.Sincethen,theCovid-19 curve in Kerala has beengoingup. ENS
KERALAGOVT TORAMPUP TESTING
Pinarayi slams Rlys for sending trains ‘without notice’
PinarayiVijayanEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEDEHRADUN,MAY26
THREEGOVERNMENTemploy-ees have been booked after asnakebite killed a7-year-old girlquarantinedalongwithherfam-ily at a school in Nainital onMonday.The girl, identified as Anjali,
and fourmembers of her familyhad come fromDelhi, andwerescheduledtoleavefortheirhomefromthequarantineonTuesday.
Anjali's uncleKhimSinghal-legedhehad toldquarantine in-charge and revenue sub-inspec-tor Rajpal Singh that he fearedsnake attack as the campuswassurroundedbyathicketofbushes.RajpalSinghdidn’treceivethe
callwhenthegirl’suncle triedtoinform that his niecewas bittenby a snake earlymorning, saidsub-divisionalmagistrate(SDM)RichaSingh.Thegirlwastakentoa Community Health Centrewheredoctorsdeclaredherdeadat1:30pm,saidtheSDM.
Rajpal allegedly neitherpicked the call nor informedhisseniors about the incident. SDMsaidRajpalSingh,villagedevelop-mentofficerUmeshJoshiandas-sistantteacherKaranSinghwerefoundnegligentinaddressingthecomplaints and responding.Umesh andKaranwere also un-aware about the incident till af-ternoon.The SDMsaid the three have
been charged under various IPCsections, including 304A (caus-ingdeathbynegligence).
Girl in Nainital quarantine diesof snakebite, 3 officials booked
UP to open uppublic parksLucknow: The UP governmentTuesday directed all districts toopen uppublic parks formorn-ing walks and set timings fortheir functioning, the state'schief secretary, AwanishKumarAwasthi, said.Headded that lo-calauthoritieswouldhavetoen-sure proper patrolling in theparkstoensuresocialdistancingandsecurity.Also, the government has
asked all the state's divisions tocomeupwithaplantoestablishan integratedoffice so that sub-divisional offices can all bebroughtunderoneroof. ENS
DELAYSCUT, TRAINSNEVERGETLOST,SAYSRAILWAYSOFFICER
As Shramik Spls ‘stray’, Rlys notifies ‘routerationalisation’ to explain diversions
UTTARPRADESH
4,966 229 62Foreignentrants:None
TAMILNADU
10,289 646 49Foreignerentrants:5
RAJASTHAN
9,323 236 167Foreignentrants:NA
KERALA
1026 67 33Foreignentrants:27
ANDHRAPRADESH
8148 49 NoneForeignentrants:49
PUNJAB
1500 26 1Foreignentrants:None
HARYANA
2031 94 NoneForeignentrants:None
■Samplestested
■Positivecases
■ Migrants
A look at howCovid-19 case counts in states
are changing asmigrants return home
CASECOUNT: THECHANGINGPICTURE
*States’ data for last 24hours, updatedup to 9pmonMay26
‘Unassigned’ cases near 3,000,rise as curbs onmovement lifted
AccordingtoRailways
officials, thereare
multiplewaysfora
traintoreacha
destinationfroma
‘source’–or
originating–station,
anda ‘rationalised
route’ isonethatmay
notbetheusualroute
duringnormaltimes
ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI,MAY26
THESUPREMECourt issuedno-tice Tuesday to the Centre andReserve Bankof India (RBI) on aplea challenging the decision tolevy interestonloansdespite themoratorium on repayment inview of the extended nationallockdown.A bench of Justices Ashok
Bhushan, SKKaul andBRGavaiissued notice on the plea byGajendraSharma,ownerofanop-tical shop inAgra,who said “thisaction of imposition of interestduring themoratoriumperiod iscompletely devastating,wrong”andhas caused “hindrance” andobstructedhis“righttolife”guar-anteedbyArticle21of theConstitution.Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta said hewill take instruc-tionsonthematter.Itwillbeheardagainaftertwoweeks.Thepetitionerurgedthecourt
to declare ultra vires that part oftheRBI’sMarch27notificationonthe charging of interest since it“creates hardship in thepresentscenario of complete nationallockdownbeing extended fromtime totime due to the Covid-19 out-break”.Sharma pointed out that
thoughRBI, bywayof thenotifi-cation, permitted all banks togrant a moratorium of threemonthsonpaymentof all instal-mentsduebetweenMarch1andMay31, it“madeclearthat inter-estshallcontinuetoaccrueontheoutstandingportion of the termloansduringthemoratoriumpe-riod”.Sharma saidhewas running
anopticalshopinAgraandhadagross total income of about Rs.6.57 lakh per annum. He hadavailedahomeloanandhadbeenpayingtheEMIswithoutdefault-ing.The extended lockdown, he
said,hadcreated“immensebur-den”onhis“budgetasapartfrompayingEMIonhomeloan”,hehadto “payhis employees... and alsomanage financial aspects of hishomeandfamily”.“Inthepresentscenario,when
all themeans of livelihood hasbeen curtailed by theGovernment of India by imposi-tionofacompletelockdownpan-India…thePetitioner,beingacit-izen of India, has no way tocontinuehisworkandearnliveli-hood… imposition of interestduring themoratoriumwill de-feat the purpose of permittingmoratoriumonloans,”hesaid.
Loan interest during moratorium:Supreme Court notice to Govt, RBI
8THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
EXPRESSNETWORK
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY26
EVENASprivatediagnostic labo-ratoriescitetheRs4,500pricecapasoneof thepainpoints fortheircoronavirustestingnumbersstag-nating at less than20per cent ofdailytestsdoneinthecountry,theCentrewants the price to be re-ducedfurther.This is inthelightofavailabil-
ity of indigenous testingkits andother supplies, unlike inMarch,whenallthesehadtobeimportedamidtoughglobalcompetition.Ina letter to statesandUnion
TerritoriesonMonday,DrBalramBhargava,Secretary,Department
ofHealthResearch,wrote:“Now,testing supplies are also stabiliz-ingandmanyofyouhavestartedprocuring such kits from localmarket. Due to variedoptions oftestingmaterials/ kits, includingindigenous ones, prices are be-coming competitive andareun-dergoing reduction.... ICMRcon-tinuously advocates aggressivetesting of lLl symptomatic per-sons,forwhichRT-PCRtestiscon-sidered as Gold Standard.” Hewrote,“lnthisbackdrop,andkeep-ing inviewtheevolvingpricesoftesting commodities, the earliersuggested upper ceiling of INR4,500videletterdated17/3/2020maynotbeapplicablenow”.Therefore,Bhargavastated,all
stategovernmentsandUTadmin-istrations are “advised tonegoti-atewithprivatelabsandfixmutu-ally agreeableprices for samplesbeingsentbythegovernmentandalsoforprivateindividuals...”Bhargavanoted,“Atthebegin-
ningofCOVID19pandemic,therewas a global crisis of testing kitsandreagentsasIndiawasheavilyreliant on importedproducts formoleculardetectionofviruses.Assuch, inmid-March, no rates forRT-PCR test for Coronaviruswasavailableforreferenceinthecoun-try.Keepinginviewthecostofim-portedkitsandeffortsinvolvedincarrying out the test, ICMR sug-gested theupper limitof a singletestaslNR4,500...”
ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY26
POLICE PERSONNEL at checkpoints,buildingsecurityguards,airportstaff,busdriversandstaff,vegetablevendorsandpharma-cists have been identified byIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) as “frontlineworkers”whoneedtobetestedforCovid-19if theyshowflu-likesymptoms.This is inaddition tohealthcareworkers,paramedicsandreturningmigrants.Asper therevisionof testing
strategyonMay18,“allsympto-matic(ILIsymptoms)healthcareworkers /frontline workers in-volved incontainmentandmit-igation of COVID19” need to betestedfortheNovelCoronavirus(SARS-CoV2). ILI or influenza-like symptoms are the symp-tomsassociatedwithflusuchasfever, sore throat, bodyache.Symptomatic healthcare
workerswereeligiblefortestingfromtheverystart,butinclusionof other frontlineworkers wasthebigtakeawayof the last test-ingstrategyrevision.However,adocumentdrawnupbytheICMRon the general way forward ontesting shows howwidespreadthatdefinition isset tobecome.Apart from paramedics and
healthcareworkers, the full listincludes:“Securitystaffatbuild-ingsbothprivateandGovt,Policepersonnel manning check-points/ roads (In certain indus-trial areas/ business establish-ments), airport staff, Air Indiateaminvolvedintheevacuation,migrant labourers returning toStates,busdriverandassociatedstaff, Certain category of shopslike–pharmacist,vegetableven-
dors, banks, etc.” The last threeareparticularly incongestedar-eas of cities and high-incidence/containmentzones.The Covid-19 outbreak in
India is currently concentratedin cities, with 70% cases anddeaths in10cities.However, sources said, the
ICMR’s list has been drawn upwith an eye also on identifyingemerginghotspots. “Wehavetograduallymovetotesting‘front-line’ workers as per the ex-panded definition. This is thewayforward.Thisdocumenthasbeendrawnupalsowithspecialfocus on the eastern regionwhere testing facilities are lim-itedandauthoritiesarestill get-ting used to the containmentand contact tracing drill,” said asource. Thedocument also reit-erated the general testing prin-ciples such as RT-PCR being thegoldstandardandantibodytestsbeinggood for surveillance.It is also partlywith this ex-
panded definition inmind thatICMR is looking at ramping uptestingcapacityto2lakhaday.Alotofthefreshtestingisexpectedto be from the eastern stateswhere infrastructure is scarce.Seventeen testing laboratorieseacharebeingsetupinBiharandOdisha, 27 inUttar Pradesh and36inWestBengal.The Ministry of Health on
Tuesday held a meeting withChhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar,UP andMP, asking for states totake care of the immediatehealthneedsofmigrantworkersby activating existing health in-frastructure such as AyushmanBharathealthandwellnesscen-tresandcompleteenumerationatthevillagelevelofcomorbidi-ties if any.
Guards, vegetable vendors in ICMR listof frontlineworkerswhoneed testing
ApoliceofficerhelpsanelderlymigrantputonamaskafterhisarrivalatBikaner’sLalgarhjunctiontoboardaspecial traintohisnativeplaceMotihari inBiharonTuesday. PTI
Centre asks states, UTs to negotiatewith pvt labs, bring down test price
SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,MAY26
ATAtimewhen“socialdistancing”and “work fromhome”havebe-come the norm, South Block ismakingeffortstoconduct“virtual”diplomacyintheabsenceof“face-to-face”meetings.Besides virtual summits and
phone calls, demarche, consularaccess andevenpresentationofcredentialshavemovedtoonlineplatforms.InearlyApril, in themiddleof
thenationwide lockdown,whenthegovernmentrealisedthathun-dreds of foreigners had beenrounded up for attending theTablighi Jamaat congregation inDelhi inMarch,manyembassiesreached out to the Ministry ofExternalAffairs for “consular ac-
cess”(ameetingbetweenadiplo-matand the foreignnational fac-ingcharges).TheMEAdecidedtograntvirtual“consularaccess”viavideoconference.Again,inmid-April,whenSou-
thBlockwantedtolodgeastrongprotestwithPakistanoverwhatitcalledunprovoked firing that re-sultedinthekillingofciviliansneartheLineofControl, a “demarche”(diplomaticnote)wasissuedoverthe phone to the PakistanHighCommissioninNewDelhi.“Astrongdemarchewasmade
to thePakistansideon thekillingof three innocent Indiancivilianswithaphonecall,whichwas fol-lowedbyanemail,”asourcesaid.At least two Indianambassa-
dorswhotookchargerecentlypre-sentedtheircredentials“virtually”.India’s newly appointed HighCommissionertoSriLankaGopal
Baglay,whowent toColombo inan IndianAir Forceaircraft alongwith themedical supplies, pre-sentedhiscredentialstoSriLankanPresident Gotabaya Rajapaksathroughavideoconference.India’snewPermanentRepr-
esentativetotheUnitedNationsTS Tirumurti, whowent to NewYork in oneof theVandeBharatevacuationflights,alsopresentedhis credentials to UN SecretaryGeneralAntonioGuterresthroughavideoconference.President RamNath Kovind
also accepted credentials fromAmbassadorsandHighCommis-sionersofAustralia,NorthKorea,Senegal, Trinidad & Tobago,Mauritius, Cote d’Ivoire andRwandathroughavideoconfer-encelastweek.“Thiswas the first time in the
historyofRashtrapatiBhavanthat
credentials were presentedthrough the digitalmedium,” astatementsaid.SouthBlock alsousedonline
platformstoconduct substantivediplomaticconversationsaswell.External Affairs Minister SJaishankarheldthefirst-ever“vir-
tual” & 3rd Joint CommissionMeeting between India andDenmark onMay 12, the MEAsaid. Flanked by officials,JaishankarandDanishMinisterofForeignAffairs JeppeKofoddis-cussed India-Denmark ties andstrengtheningofbilateralrelations.PrimeMinisterNarendraModi
alsoparticipated inonline sum-mits, fromtheSAARCsummit toG-20summit,andaddressedInd-ianambassadorsallovertheworldthroughvideo-conferencing.“With foreign travelbeing re-
strictedinthesetimes,onlinesum-mitsorvirtualsummitswillbethenew normal in the months tocome,”saidanofficial.Plansarebeingchalkedoutfor
avirtual summitwithAustralianPrimeMinister ScottMorrison inJune, possibly June 4, as well.Morrison, whowas set to visit
India in January this year, had tocancelbecauseofthebushfires.WhiletheIndiangovernment
hasused theNICvideoplatform,differentcountrieshaveuseddif-ferentplatforms toconnect. “Thevirtual platformused isdifferentforeverysummit,anddependsonthehost. Saudis used adifferentvirtualplatformfortheG-20sum-mit,RussiansusedanotherfortheSCOforeignministersmeeting,”asourcesaid.Whilevideoconferencesand
summits are usually plannedahead and take time,more sub-stantiveconversationshavetakenplaceduringphonecallsbetweenModi, Jaishankarand their coun-terparts.ModiandJaishankarhavetogetherclockedabout100phonecallssinceMarchwiththeircoun-terparts.WhileModi held at least 53
phoneconversationswithworldleaders, includingUS PresidentDonaldTrump,Jaishankarheldatleast44phoneconversationswithhis counterparts. “Someof thesephone calls also took placethrough video conference,” asourcesaid.While India has adapted to
virtual diplomacy in less thantwo months, China has alsomoved ahead on this and hascoined a term— “cloud diplo-macy”. On Sunday, ChineseForeignMinisterWang Yi saidthatwhile lifemayhavepausedduetoCovid-19,diplomacyhas-n’t paused.He said that ChinesePresident Xi Jinping has heldabout 50 phone conversationswithworld leaders and has at-tendedvirtual summits, includ-ing of G-20 countries and theWorldHealthAssembly.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY26
THE BJP on Tuesday hit back atCongress leader Rahul Gandhifor slamming the Centre's lock-downstrategy.Union Minister Prakash
Javadekar said, “Rahul Gandhigave awrong statement. I wantto tell him,when the lockdownwas imposed, doubling rate ofinfection was three days. Nowthe infection takes 13 days todouble. This is India's success,andeveryone's success.”He said the “wholeworld is
praising India” for imposing thelockdown“at the right time”.Javadekaradded,“Whenthe
lockdown was imposed, theCongresswas upsetwhy it wasimposed across the country;(they said) the economywill bedestroyed.Theyopposedtheim-position of the lockdown andnowareopposingtherelaxation.This is their doublespeak.Compared to the loss faced bythE US, France, Britain, Spain,Italy,Iran,Brazil,andChina,Indiahasbeenrelativelylessaffected.”
MANOJCGNEWDELHI,MAY26
CONGRESSLEADERRahulGandhionTuesdaysaidtheaimandpur-poseofthenationwidelockdownhas“failed”andaskedtheCentretospelloutitsstrategynowtocon-tainthespreadofcoronavirus.Rahul also said “haphazard”
lifting of the lockdowncould re-sult inasecondwaveof thepan-demicinIndia—onewhichcouldbe“extremelydevastating.”Addressing an online press
conference,theCongressMPsaidPrimeMinister NarendraModihadtoldthecountrythatIndiawilldefeat the virus in 21 days, andpointedoutthatthelockdownhasnotproducedtheresultModihadin mind. “Clearly, the PrimeMinisterandhisadvisershadun-derestimatedthescaleofthebat-tle India had to launch to defeatcoronavirus,”hesaid.Using cricket terminology,
RahulsaidthePrimeMinisterwasquick to take centrestage in theearlystagesbuthassteppedbackand “gone on the back foot” at atimewhenhisleadershipismostneeded.Hesaid:“He(Modi)playedon
the front foot initially. Nowhe isnot to be seen. But the countrywants to see thePrimeMinister.Hewill have to tell the countryhowtogoforward.Hewillhavetocomeon the front foot again, ag-gressively—hehas gone on theback foot. I am from theOppositionbutIamtellinghimtocomeonthefrontfootagain.”Rahulsaidstategovernments
arenotgettingadequate supportfromtheCentreandfeeling“ham-strung” as a result. He said chiefministers of Congress-governedstateshavetoldhimthattheyare“fightinga lonelybattle”withoutadequatesupportfromtheCentre.
“Whatwearefacingrightnowis a failed lockdownbecause thegoalofthelockdown,asstatedbythePrimeMinisteronnationaltel-evision,was thatwewill defeatthedisease in 21day... These arenotmywords;thesearethePM'swords...nowwearecomingtotheendof the fourth lockdownandthe disease profile is not reduc-ing.”He added, “Sowhatweex-pectedfromthelockdownhasnotoccurred.Diseaseprofileisshoot-ingup.”First imposed onMarch 25
and extended thrice, the lock-downendsonMay31.TheformerCongresspresident
said India is the only country“where thevirus isexponentiallyrising andwe are removing thelockdown”.He said there shouldbeastrategytoensurethatthedis-easedoesnot“runamok”oncethelockdown is lifted. “I amworriedthatinanon-lockdownsituation,inahaphazardopeningup,wewillget a secondwaveof corona thatwillbeextremelydevastating.”“It is pretty clear that theaim
andpurposeof thelockdownhasfailed.What India is facingnow,whatisinfrontofus,istheresultofafailedlockdown.Whatwewanttounderstandis,thegovernment’sview (of it)…going forward.Wewant to understandwhat theirstrategyis.Itisprettyclearthatthefour stagesof lockdownhavenotproducedtheresultthatthePrimeMinisterexpected,”hesaid.
Aim of lockdown ‘failed’,Rahul asks govt about plan B
RahulGandhi PrakashJavadekar
BJP hits back:Doubling rate upfrom 3 to 13 daysunder lockdown
SouthBlockhasusedonlineplatformstoconductsubstantivediplomaticconversations. File
Cloud diplomacy: Consular access, demarche move online
SOHINIGHOSHAHMEDABAD,MAY26
ITWAStooearlytogiveacertifi-catetothestategovernment,theGujarat High Court said duringan urgent hearing on a civil ap-plication the governmentmovedonMondayseekingclar-ifications on the court’sMay 22orderwhilerebuttingcertainob-servationsby thecourt.The civil application sought
to clarify its position on somescathing observationsmade bythe court regarding the condi-tion of the Ahmedabad CivilHospital, comparing it to “dun-geonsorworse".Tothestate’sobjectiononthe
court taking cognizance of ananonymous letter written by aresident doctor, the court saidthatwhile the government dis-misseditas"rubbish",noresidentdoctor “would muster the cou-rage of coming forward disclos-inghisidentityforthepurposeofredressingsuchgrievances".Defending itself against the
court's criticism on the highermortality rate at the civil hospi-tal, thegovernmentsaiditcouldnotbecomparedtoAhmedabadMunicipal Corporation-runSardar Vallabhbhai Patel hospi-tal because it was takingmorecritical patients. The bench saidthe courtwill visit the civil hos-pital"onefinemorning"andendall controversy.
HC: Too early to giveGujarat govt certificate
Situation inAhmedabadbetter than Italy,France: govtAhmedabad:Defending itself inacivilapplicationseekingclarifi-cation on the Gujarat HighCourt’s May 22 order that saidthe Ahmedabad civil hospitalwas “as good as a dungeon orworse”,theGujaratgovernment,saidits(Ahmedabad's)Covid-19situation was better than Italyand France, which had compa-rablepopulations.According to the state gov-
ernment, “...the rise in numberof Covid-19caseshasbeensub-stantially slow in the state ascomparedtothesaidcountries”despite the latter having supe-riormedicalfacilities.“Similarly,the number of deaths has beensubstantially less in Gujarat ascompared to Italy and France,”the application before the HCsaid.The application moved by
the government prayed beforethecourtthatitbe“kindenoughtoclarifythatthe...observations”ofHC,whichwerebasedon“theanonymous letter of theResidentDoctorandtheanony-mous report of the MedicalOfficer of the Civil Hospital, donotreflectthetruepictureof thegroundrealities.”ENS
SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,MAY26
INDIA AND China are learnt tohave activated the “workingmechanism” at the diplomaticlevel, establishedduring formerPrime Minister ManmohanSingh’stenurein2012andsignedby then Indian ambassador toBeijingSJaishankar.Thishasbeenactivatedalong-
sidethemilitary-to-militarycon-versationtakingplaceatthefieldlevel to “dis-engage”and“de-es-calate”thesituation.The“WorkingMechanismfor
Consultation&Coordination onIndia-China Border Affairs”wasestablished in January2012afterborder talks between thenNSAShivshankar Menon and hisChinesecounterpartDaiBingguo,and isheadedby joint secretary-level officials from both sides.They are entrusted to help thespecialrepresentativeforbound-arytalks,apositioncurrentlyheldbyNSAAjitDoval.Whilejointsec-retary (EastAsia) in theMinistryofExternalAffairs(MEA),NaveenSrivastava, leads the Indian side,the Chinese side is led byHongLiang, Director General,Department of Boundary andOceanicAffairs,ChineseMinistryofForeignAffairs.In the lastmeeting, in accor-
dancewiththeimportanceplacedbyleadersofbothcountriesforef-fective bordermanagement, the
twosideshadreviewedthesitua-tioninborderareas.Inthisregard,theyhadalsotakennoteof regu-lar exchanges at the troops anddiplomaticlevels,includingundertheWMCCframework,formain-tainingpeaceandtranquility.In the current situation,
Srivastavaissaidtobeleadingtheconversation at the diplomaticlevel, since themandate of themechanism is clear: “aim fortimely communication of infor-mation on theborder situation”and “for appropriately handlingborderincidents”.India's assessment is that the
Chinese are involved inwhat isknown inmilitary parlance as“holding the line”.While there isno agreed Lineof Actual Control(LAC), both Chinese and Indiantroops patrol up to their “claimlines”andthenreturn.Inthecur-rent situation, it appears theChinesecrossedtheirperception
of LAC and are now camping atthespotinabidto“holdtheline”.This“holdingtheline”tacticis
backed by a large number ofChinese troops — much morethanordinarypatrols.Sourcessaidthere have beenmultiplemeet-ingswithin the government—bothonlineandsomephysical—and a call is yet to be taken onwhetherapolitical-leveldialogueistobeopened,andatwhatlevel.Although the effort is to resolvethe situation “locally”, wheretroopsmovebacktotheiroriginalpositionsinthenext“7to10days”,NewDelhi’s position is that the“Chinesetroopswhohavecrossedover” and the “Indian troops areontheIndiasideof theLAC”. Butthe efforts are to not dial up therhetoric.While theMEAhas is-suedtwomeasuredandnuancedstatementssofaronthesituationonLAC, theChinese foreignmin-istryhasalsoissuedstatements.
NewDelhi:Asborderten-sion rises between India andChina, Congress leaderRahulGandhionTuesdayaskedtheCentre to be transparent andsharewiththecountrythesit-uationinLadakhandtherea-sonsforescalationintension.“What we would like to
see is some more trans-
parencyonwhatisgoingon,”he told reporters.Rahulalsosaiditisuptothe
government to resolve the is-sue. “As far as India andChina(border skirmishes issue) isconcerned,itisaliveissuenow.Idon’twant tosaymore. Iwillleave it to thewisdomof thegovernment... ENS
As LAC heats up, India & Chinaactivate border mechanism talks
Govt must tell nation what’s onin border areas, says Rahul
ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI,MAY26
The Assam government onTuesday directed deputy com-missionerstoensureadequatere-lief material and repair of em-bankmentsasthestatebracedforfloods,with seven districts andnearly 2 lakhpeople already af-fected. Heavy rain continued to
lashlargepartsofthestate,includ-ingcapitalGuwahati,evenasthenumberofCovidcasesincreased.According to the RegionalMeteorological Centre inGuwahati, heavy rainfall is pre-dictedintheregionoverthenextfive days. After ameeting, stateParliamentary AffairsMinisterChandraMohan Patowary saidministers in charge of differentdistricts for the supervision of
Covidwilloverseefloodmanage-mentandrelief.
3killed in landslides
Guwahati:A landslide triggeredby rain in Arunachal Pradesh’sDibangValleydistrict onMondaynightledtothedeathofafamilyofthree.Afterthebodieswererecov-ered on Tuesday evening, ChiefMinisterPemaKhandusaidreliefwillbeextendedtothenextofkin.
2 lakh affected in Assam floods
A NEW study has found a link be-tween the severity of Covid-19andagene linked to dementia. Having afaulty gene linked to dementia dou-bles the risk of developing severeCOVID-19, according to the large-scalestudy,publishedininthe JournalofGerontology:Medical Sciences.ThegeneiscalledAPOE,andexists
in a different forms, one of which istermed e4e4.Researchers at theUniversity of ExeterMedicalSchoolandtheUniversity ofConnecticut School ofMedicineanalyseddatafrom the UK Biobank,which collects healthand genetic data on500,000 people. Theyfound high risk of se-vereCovid-19infectionamong European an-cestry participants who carry twofaulty copies of this gene. One in 36peopleofEuropeanancestryhavetwofaulty copies of this gene, and this isknowntoincreaserisksofAlzheimer’sdiseaseupto14-foldandalsoincreasesrisksofheartdisease,theUniversityofExetersaidinastatement.Now,theresearchteamhasfound
that carrying these genemutationsdoublestherisksofCovid-19—eveninpeoplewhohadnotdeveloped these
diseases. The same team has previ-ouslyfoundthatpeoplewithdemen-tia are three timesmore likely to getsevereCovid-19, theUniversitysaid.It said part of the increased risk
mayhavebeenduetoexposuretothehigh prevalence of the virus in carehomes. However,thenewstudysug-gests that a genetic componentmayalso be at play. The team found that
people with the APOEe4e4genotypewereatdouble the risk of de-velopingsevereCovid-19, compared to thosewiththecommone3e3formoftheAPOEgene.In this analysis,
2.36% (9,022) of 3.82lakh participantswithEuropean ancestrieshad the APOE e4e4faulty gene, but 5.13%(37) of 721who tested
positive for Covid-19 had this genevariant,suggestingtheriskisdoubledcompared to e3e3 (410 per 100,000versus179per100,000).Co-authorDrChia-LingKuo,ofthe
UConnSchoolofMedicine,saidintheUniversity of Exeter statement: “…Wemight now be able to pinpointhowthis faulty gene causes vulnera-bility toCOVID-19. This could lead tonewideas for treatments.”
Source:Universityof Exeter
PAPER
CLIPNEWRESEARCH
In gene linked to dementia, acorrelation with severe Covid
TOP 10STATES
INDIA COUNT: 145,380 (4,167 DEATHS)
52,667Maharashtra
17,082Tamil Nadu
7,300Rajasthan
6,859MP
6,532 UP
14,053 Delhi
14,460Gujarat
3,816West Bengal
2,730Bihar
Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak andwhat you should/should not do?
Write to explained@indianexpress.com
3,110Andhra Pradesh
UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,May26.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.
60,491PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN32STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES
RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 33ArunachalPradesh 2Assam 526Chandigarh 238Chhattisgarh 291DadarNagarHaveli 2Goa 67Haryana 1184HimachalPradesh 223JammuandKashmir 1668Jharkhand 377Karnataka 2182Kerala 896Ladakh 52Manipur 39Meghalaya 14Mizoram 1Nagaland 3Odisha 1438Puducherry 41Punjab 2060Sikkim 1Telangana 1920Tripura 194Uttarakhand 349
CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD
149,822India
230,158Italy
180,802Germany
266,590United Kingdom
183,067France
236,259Spain
1,667,154US
374,898Brazil
157,814Turkey
TOTAL CONFIRMED: 5,534,728 DEATHCOUNT:347,587Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonMay26. JHU’sIndiatallyandHealth
Ministry’stally(below)maynotmatchastheseareaccountedatdifferenttimes.
THEWORLD
362,342Russia
ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY26
LATEONMondaynightIndiatime,theWorldHealth Organization (WHO) announced itwould no longer assign patients to the hy-droxychloroquine (HCQ) arm of themulti-country Solidarity Trial on possible treat-ments for Covid-19. The announcementraisesseveralquestions,particularlyinIndiawhich is amajormanufacturer/exporter ofthedrug andhas also reposed implicit faithin its therapeutic and prophylactic role forhealthworkersexposed toCovid-19cases.
What is theSolidarityTrial?
“Solidarity” is an international initiativeforclinicaltrialslaunchedbytheWHO,alongwithpartners,tohelpfindaneffectivetreat-mentforCovid-19.Itwasoriginallysupposedto look at four drugs or drug combinations:remdesivir, HCQ, ritonavir/lopinavir andlopinavir/ritonavir/interferon beta 1a. NowwithHCQtrial enrolmentstalled forat leastthe next fewweeks, the Solidarity trial willproceed with the other three arms. SomedataonHCQwill still begenerated, though.AccordingtoWHO:“Byenrollingpatients
in multiple countries, the Solidarity Trialaims to rapidlydiscoverwhether anyof thedrugs slow disease progression or improvesurvival.Otherdrugscanbeaddedbasedonemerging evidence... Over 400 hospitals in35countries areactively recruitingpatientsandnearly3,500patientshavebeenenrolledfrom 17 countries. Overall, over 100 coun-trieshave joinedorexpressedan interest injoining the trial, andWHO is actively sup-porting60of them.”India is among the countrieswhere the
SolidarityTrial isbeingcarriedout.Fourhos-pitals in Jodhpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai andBhopal have received regulatory approvals,andmorewill follow. Inall,patients in20-35hospitalsinthecountrywillbepartofthetrial.
Haveanyof thearmsmadeparticularly
goodprogress?
Sofar,remdesiviriswidelybeingdescribedasthemostpromising,althoughresultsofvar-ious trialshavesometimesbeingconflicting.DevelopedbyGileadSciencesInc,remdesivirisabroad-spectrumantiviralwhichwaspre-viouslytestedinhumanswithEbolavirusdis-ease,andwhichhasalsoshownpromiseasadrug againstMERS and SARS, both ofwhich
arecausedbycoronaviruses.AtrialfundedbytheUSNationalInstitute
ofAllergyand InfectiousDiseaseshas found,inthepreliminaryresults,significantpositivesto theuseof remdesivir inpatients requiringoxygentherapy.Thedrugwasfoundtospeeduprecoveryduringatrialandtheresultswereencouraging enough towarrant publicationof theresultsevenwhilethetrialwasstillon.However, In an earlier, truncated study re-portedinTheLancet,Chineseresearchershadconcluded they could not find any “statisti-callysignificantclinicalbenefits”of thedrug.
WhatresultswasHCQshowingintrials,
andwhat ledtothesuspension?
Hydroxychloroquineisadrugusedinthetreatment of autoimmune diseases such asrheumatoid arthritis and lupus, and also asa malaria treatment and preventive. In asense, itremainspartof thetrialbecausepa-tientswho had been earlier randomised toget thedrugwill continue todo sountil thetreatment is completed. TheWHO is ex-pected to take a call on its future inside the
trialbymid-June.On Monday WHO Director General
TedrosAdhanomsaid:“OnFriday,TheLancetpublishedanobservationalstudyonhydrox-ycholoroquine&chloroquine&itseffectsonCOVID-19 patients that have been hospi-talised.Theauthorsreportedthatamongpa-tients receiving the drug, when used aloneorwithamacrolide,theyestimatedahighermortality rate. The Executive Group of theSolidarity Trial, representing 10 of the par-ticipatingcountries,metonSaturdayandhasagreed to review a comprehensive analysisandcriticalappraisalofallevidenceavailableglobally. The reviewwill consider data col-lectedsofarintheSolidarityTrialand,inpar-ticular robust randomisedavailabledata, toadequately evaluate the potential benefitsandharmsfromthisdrug. Iwishtoreiteratethat these drugs are accepted as generallysafeforuseinpatientswithautoimmunedis-eases ormalaria. The Executive Group hasimplemented a temporarypause of thehy-droxychloroquinearmwithintheSolidarityTrialwhile thedata is reviewedby theData
SafetyMonitoringBoard.”The study ledbyBrighamandWomen’s
Hospital had concluded: “Wewere unableto confirmabenefit of hydroxychloroquineor chloroquine, when used alone orwith amacrolide, on in-hospital outcomes forCOVID-19.Eachof thesedrugregimenswasassociatedwith decreased in-hospital sur-vivalandan increasedfrequencyof ventric-ular arrhythmiaswhen used for treatmentof COVID-19.”Macrolides are a class of an-tibiotics that include the antibioticazithromycin.
Whataretheotherarmsof Solidarity?
Bothofthesearewithacombinationofthedrugsritonavirandlopinavir,withonearmtri-allingthecombinationtogetherwithanaddi-tional substance. Ritonavir and liponavir aresecond-lineHIVdrugs,knownasHIVproteaseinhibitors,thathavebeeninuseforsometime.Theybolster the immune system,which re-ducesthechancesofaHIV-positivepersonde-velopingcomplicationssuchastuberculosis.Theiruse in India forHIV, though, isvery
limited— 70% Indian patients are on first-linedrugs.ThesedrugsaremanufacturedinIndia mainly for export mostly to Africancountries.FollowingearlyreportsfromChinaon successful use of the drug combination,India in February had obtained regulatoryclearancefortheiruseinCovid-19.Thedrugswere used in a handful of patients beforeIndia began to focus on HQL andazithromycinby theendofMarch.India’schangeofstancecamefollowinga
199-subject trial in China on the efficacy ofritonavir/lopinavir.Thestudyreportedthatat22.1%,themortalityreportedinthetrialwassubstantially higher than the 11% to 14.5%mortality reported in initial studies of pa-tients hospitalisedwithCovid-19. Howeverthedrugshavenotbeenwrittenoffascandi-dates in thehunt forCovid-19 treatments.
What is theotherarmthat includes
ritonavir/lopinavir?
It involvesthetwodrugs incombinationwith interferonbeta 1a—whichbelongs toaclassofsubstancesknownascytokinesthataresecretedbyimmunecellstosignalothercells toactagainstan imminentoracute in-fection. It isusedtotreatdiseaseslikemulti-plesclerosis. Somestudieshaveshownthatif interferonbeta1aisaddedtoritonavirandlopinavir,therearebetterresults thanwhentheantivirals aloneareused.
9
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PARTHASARATHIBISWASPUNE,MAY26
OVERTHElast fewdays, swarmsof locustshave been sighted in urban areas ofRajasthan,which isunusual. Swarmshavealso been reported from parts of MadhyaPradesh and Vidharbha region ofMaharashtra.ThefirstswarmsweresightedalongtheIndia-PakistanborderonApril11,monthsaheadof theusual timeof arrival.
Whatare locustsandwhenaretheyare
sightedinIndia?
Thedesert locust(Schistocercagregaria)is a short-horned grasshopper. Innocuouswhen solitary, locusts undergo a behav-iouralchangewhentheirpopulationbuildsuprapidly.Theyenterthe‘gregariousphase’byforminghugeswarmsthatcantravelupto 150 km per day, eating up every bit ofgreenery on their way. These insects feedonalargevarietyofcrops. Ifnotcontrolled,locust swarmscan threaten the foodsecu-rityofacountry.AtpresentcountriesintheHornofAfricasuchasEthiopiaandSomalia
arewitnessingoneof theworst locusts at-tacks in the last25years.In India, locusts are normally sighted
duringJuly-OctoberalongthePakistanbor-der. Last year, parts of Western RajasthanandNorthernGujaratreportedswarmsthatcauseddamagetogrowingrabicrops.Thesewere the first swarms reported in Indiasince 1997. This year, the first sightings ofsmallgroupswerereportedearly—onApril11 — by scientists of the AgricultureMinistry’s LocustWarning Organization(LWO), fromSriGanganagarand Jaisalmerdistrictsof Rajasthan.
Whyare locustsbeingseeninurban
areas?
Locustsarebeingseeninareasnothistor-icallyassociatedwithsuchsightings—Jaipur,MP’sGwalior,MorenaandSheopur, and re-cently stray swarms in Maharashtra’sAmravati,NagpurandWardha.K LGurjar,DeputyDirector of LWO, said
therebeingnocropsinthefields,thelocustshavemovedacrossstatesattractedbygreencover.“Theswarmswereaidedbyhigh-speedwindandthustheymadetheirwaytoJaipur,”
he said. At present there are three to fourswarmsinRajasthan,anothertwoorthreeinMadhyaPradesh, fromwhereasmallgroup
hasmigrated toMaharashtra,whichGurjarsaidwouldnotbeverydifficulttocontrol.KeithCressman,seniorlocustforecaster
of the UN Food and AgricultureOrganization said the locusts have startedmoving in search of food. “Spring-bredswarms from Pakistan started arriving inRajasthan earlier thismonth. As this is be-forethemonsoonrains,theyfounddrycon-ditions so they continued tomove east inRajasthan looking for green vegetation forfood and shelter where theywill matureand then lay eggs with the onset of themonsoon inabout fiveweeks,”hesaid.
What ledtotheirearlyarrival?
This can be traced back to the cyclonicstormsMekunuandLubanthathadstruckOman and Yemen respectively in 2018.Theseturnedlargedesertstractsintolakes,facilitating locust breeding that continuedthrough 2019. Swarms attacking crops inEastAfrica reachedpeakpopulations fromNovember, and built up in southern Iranand Pakistan since the beginning of 2020,with heavy rains in East Africa inMarch-April enabling furtherbreeding.
Whatcanitmeantocrops inIndia?
Atpresent, chancesof cropdamageare
low given that farmers have already har-vested their rabi crop. Orange growers inMaharashtra have expressed concern butas Gurjar said, the swarm inMaharashtrawouldbeeasy tocontrol.Thebiggerproblemwill comeoncethe
presentswarmsbreed.Anadult female lo-cust lays 80-90 eggs thrice in her three-month life cycle. If left uncontrolled, aswarm can grow exponentially to 40-80millionlocustspersquarekilometre,Gurjarandothersestimatee.Thelocustswill startlaying eggs after themonsoon starts andcontinue breeding for twomoremonths,with newer generations rising during thegrowthphaseof thekharif crop.Earlier thismonth, Union Agriculture
Minister Narendra Singh Tomar chaired ameetingtotakestockofthesituation.Controlinvolvessprayinginsecticideonlocusts’nightrestingplacesliketrees.Tilldate,theLWOhascarriedout sprayingover21,675hectares inRajasthan. Indiahas alsoput anorder of 60specialisedinsecticidesprayerswiththeUK.Gurjar said the country alreadyhas50 suchmachines.“Also,droneswillbeusedtospraytherestingplaces,”hesaid.
Solidarity Trial progress so farSIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER
Inthehunt forpossibleCovid-19treatments,WHOhashaltedenrolmentforthehydroxychloroquinearmof trials.What ledtothemove,andwhatprogresshasbeenmadewiththeotherarmsofSolidaritysofar?
ANURADHAMASCARENHASPUNE,MAY26
THEDECISION to temporarily suspend en-rolment in the Solidarity Trial’s hydroxy-chloroquine arm, one of four options beingstudied for Covid-19 treatment, was takenby the Solidarity Trial executive committeebecausethedatasafetymonitoringboardfeltit prudent to gathermore evidence on thesafetyandefficacyof thedrug,WorldHealthOrganization (WHO) chief scientist DrSoumyaSwaminathansaidonTuesday.Dr Swaminathan told The Indian Express
that the trial is ongoing. Thiswas a tempo-rarymeasure and a reviewwill be done ofthe emerging evidence from various trialsworldwide, aswell as the published litera-ture. Dr Swaminathan said the interim trialanalyses aremonitored by the global dataand safetymonitoring committee,which isan independentgroupof experts.A recent study in The Lancet had cau-
tioned that theuse of a regimen containing
hydroxychloroquineorchloroquine(withorwithoutamacrolide)wasassociatedwithnoevidence of benefit. Instead the use waslinked to increased rates of mortality andheart arrhythmias amonghospital patientswith Covid-19. However, Dr Swaminathanmentionedthatthiswasobservationaldata,subjecttobias,andthesefindingsneedtobeconfirmedbywellconductedRCTs(randomcontrolled trials).Asked about the use of hydroxychloro-
quine as a preventive drug to be taken byfrontline healthworkers treating COVID 19patients, Dr Swaminathan said the safetyprofileislikelytobeverydifferentinsickpa-tients compared to healthy individuals.“There isnoneedforpanic,butrandomizedtrialsneedtobeconductedontheuseof thedrug as a prophylaxis. The safety profile ofthedrugneedstobestudiedinbothcases—drugs given to hospitalised patients and tohealthy individuals exposed to COVID-19,”she said. She reiterated that data emergingfromvariousstudiesisbeingreviewedcare-fullybeforeWHOcan takeapolicydecisionontheuseofHCQ.In India, Pune-based Indian Council of
Medical Research -National AIDS ResearchInstitute(ICMR-NARI)isthenodalcentreforcoordinating the Solidarity Trial. Dr SheelaGodbole, Head, Division of Epidemiology,ICMR-NARI andnational coordinator of theSolidarity Trial, said the trial continues andthey have been engaged in the process ofrandomising patients. “There has been evi-dencefromobservationalstudiesaboutHCQ
and it is often a standard practice to tem-porarily stop the randomisationof thedrugin the trialwhile adata safetymanagementboardreviewisongoing,”DrGodbole said.“However there are three other drugs
whicharebeingassessedandthetrialcontin-ues.Wehaveregisteredmorethan15clinicalsitesforthetrialandhopetoregisteratleast30andenrol1,500participants,”shesaid.DrSamiranPanda,Director, ICMR-NARI,
saidthetrialstartedwithafewpatientsacou-ple of weeks ago and theywill have towaitandseewhathappensasothercountrieshavealsoprogressedintheirtrialefforts.“Thetrialhasanadaptivedesignthatallowsforadverseeventsandhenceitisstandardpracticetohaltthedrugtemporarily,”DrPandasaid“TheSolidarityTrialisahugeeffortandwe
were due to start nextweek," said Dr ZarirUdwadia, one of the members ofMaharashtra's Covid-19 task force. After theWHOdirective, the other three armswill bestudied,hesaid.Healsosaidseveral trialsex-ploring theuseof CQorHCQ forprophylaxisofCovid-19inhealthcareworkersisunderway.
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you
would like explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
Why locusts are being sighted in urban areas, what it canmean for crops
Aswarmofdesert locusts in JaipuronMonday.Rohit JainParas
Remdesivir,oftendescribedasthemostpromisingof theoptions.ReutersFile
What next for HCQ after enrolment freeze?
Movetemporary,says DrSwaminathan
10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
TACKLING THE SURGEHospitalsneedtolookforcreativesolutionstodealwithpatient
influx,whileensuringsafetyofhealthcareworkers
WITHLESSTHANaweekforLockdown4toend,India’sCOVID-19case-
loadhassurgedpast1,40,000.Therelaxationofrestrictionsfromthe
third phase of the lockdown onwards has added to the challenges
faced by the country’s already overburdened healthcare system.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, the positivity rate (share of tests
thatyieldpositiveresults)hasgoneupto7percentinthethreeweeksofLockdown3and
4— itwas around3per cent at the endof Lockdown2. Themortality rate, reassuringly,
has remainedstaticatabout3percent.Moreover,more than80percentof the infected
do not require hospitalisation. Even then, the sheer scale of the pandemic seems to be
taxing the resources of hospitals inmost parts of the country and taking a toll on the
health of medical professionals. The death, on Sunday, of a COVID-positive nurse em-
ployedataprivatehospital inDelhi,whowasallegedlymadetowearusedPPEs, frames
thedifficultiesof thoseat the frontlinesof thebattleagainst thevirus.
Inthepasttwomonths,stateshavetriedtomobilisepublicresources, rampupmed-
ical centres, andshoreupquarantine facilities. Inmostpartsof thecountry, suchefforts
have, at best, producedmixed results. In Delhi, more than 75 per cent of the beds ear-
marked for COVID-positive patients in private hospitals are already occupied. Though
theDelhigovernmentclaimsthatthesituationisundercontrol, itneedstobeonhighalert
becausethecityhasbeenaddingmorethan400COVIDcasesdailyformorethanaweek
now. InMumbai, asa report in thispaper showed lastweek, thesituation ismuchmore
critical: There is an acute shortage of Dedicated CovidHospitals,which admit critically
illpatients likethosewhorequire ICUorventilatorsupport.Withthereturnofmigrants
from hotspots, districts and small towns in the country will have their task cut out.
Khagaria district in Bihar, for instance, expects about 50,000migrants to return in the
comingweeks,buthasonlytwoventilators,both inprivatehospitals.Only37of the135
postsof governmentdoctors in thedistricthavebeen filled.
Overwhelmedbythepandemic,somemedicalfacilitieshaveturnedupthepressureon
medical professionals, particularly junior doctors andnurses. Lastweek, theGujaratHigh
Courtpulledupthestate’shealthministerandchief secretary forneglecting theproblems
facedbypatientsandstaff at theAhmedabadCivilHospital.Responding toananonymous
letterdetailingtheproblemsofthegovernmenthospital’sjuniorstaff,thecourtdescribedthe
healthcarefacilityasa“dungeon”.Asthecountry’sCOVID-19caseloadincreases,policymak-
ersandhospitalauthoritiesneedtoworkatcreativesolutionstodealwiththepatientinflux.
Asafirststep,theymusttreathealthcareworkersinahumanemanner,ensuretheirsafety.
UNLOCKING JUSTICEThata19-year-oldisstill injail,accusedofsedition,because
courtseesnourgencyinhermatterisatragedyandtravesty
INDIVIDUALSAGAINSTWHOMcasesofseditionhavebeenfiledinrecentmonths,
for protests against theCitizenshipAmendmentAct and theproposedNational
Register of Citizens in particular,may be facing a double injustice, in the justice
process.Asareport inthispaperhasbroughttolight,amidapublichealthemer-
gency inwhichcourts arehearingonly “urgent” cases throughvideo-conferencing, bail
pleas filed in these cases are not being defined as such. That these people, like 19-year-
oldAmulyaLeona,arrestedinFebruarybyBengalurupoliceunderSection124of theIPC
for raising “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans at an anti-CAA rally, are languishing in custody,
theirbail pleasunheard, is thesecond injustice. The first, asanother report in thispaper
underlined in February, predates the pandemic: It is the fact that inmany of these ar-
rests, theremandordersbymagistratesneitheraskednoransweredbasicquestionslaid
down by the Supreme Court to satisfy themselves that the serious sedition charge is
founded.A scrutinyof 25-oddarrestsmadeonchargesof sedition inUP,Karnatakaand
Assamsince theanti-CAAprotestsbegan, threwupasoberingpatternofpolicecustody
granted by courts, no questions asked, no reasons given, or after themost perfunctory
hearings.While the SupremeCourt hasupheld the colonial-era sedition law, it has also
readtheprovisionrestrictively,sayingonlyseditious“speechtendedtoincitepublicdis-
order”waspunishable.Theapexcourthasemphasisedthatclearandimmediateincite-
ment toviolence isnecessary formaking theoffenceof sedition.
The apparent languor of the courts, the evident lack of rigour or urgency, in cases
where itwould appear that the government is criminalising acts of protest by slapping
serious charges on them, is troubling. It is disquieting if thepandemic becomes a cover
todelayordenytheweakandthevulnerable theirday incourt, their fundamental right
tobail.Eversincepeople’sprotestsbeganacrossthecountryagainsttheCAAandthepro-
posedNRC—theywereseentobe introducingreligionasacriterionforcitizenship,and
discriminatingagainsttheMuslimminority—theBJP-ledgovernmentattheCentrehas,
deservedly, invited accusations of intolerance of viewsdifferent from its own. The gov-
ernmentdidnot just turnadeaf ear to theprotesters, it alsoattempted tosubdue them,
includingbywieldingtheseditionlaw.Thishascastagreaterresponsibilityonthecourt.
Thecourtsarethetime-testedrecourseforupholdingandsafeguardingconstitutionalpro-
tectionsforthecitizens’freedomofexpression,includingandespeciallythelibertytodissent.
Theymustnotshow,norbeseentoshow,alackofalacrityinperformingtheirvitalrole.
WATCH THE BIRDIEThegoldenageof kabootarbaazi inPakistan isn’tover—
anothermission fromthe far side isontheradar
TWICE EVERYDECADE, on average, intelligence officers on the borderwith
Pakistan interrogate a flighty suspect and try tomake it sing. But it canonly
coo,becauseitisahomingpigeon.ThelasttimeaPakistanipigeonwascaught
in the Indiandragnetwas in2015,whenabirdwithnashtaliqmarkingswas
apprehended. Thewriting referred to adistrict and town inPakistan, andwasprobably
thepre-modernequivalentof thecouriercompany’sstandardmessage:“Ifundelivered,
pleasereturntosender.”However,amidrampantattemptsbysomecustodiansof Indian
culture topurge it of Urdu, the letteringwas found tobe suspicious and thepigeonwas
interrogatedmercilessly.Thecontentsof itsdebriefingwereneverrevealed.Presumably,
thebirdhadcooedsoothingly.
Butithadlied.Allisnotwell.Thenashtaliqpigeon’ssuccessorintheservicehasbeenap-
prehended inKathua, theborderdistrict in Jammu&Kashmir, as it flew in fromPakistani
airspace,undertheradar.Thismiscreant is inscrutable,butfeaturesradicalheraldry. Its left
wingismarkedbrightred,andsoisaringfixedtoitsleg,whichbearsastringofcode.Adated
signalfromthecommunistmovement,whichhasalargelyforgottenhistoryinPakistan?
Having left behind that history, no one has the key to read thatmessage anymore.
Andanyway,theonlyapparentgroundforsuspectingthepigeonisitsnationality.Maybe
the“code”isjustthebird’smembershipnumberinapigeonracingclubinSialkot.Maybe
it is theSwissbankaccountnumberof itsowner,which is the internalaffairof Pakistan.
Maybe it’s a stringof gibberishdesigned tokeep theNational SecurityAdvisor onedge.
Maybewe shouldwait five years for the next Pakistani pigeon to violate our airspace,
bearingamoresensiblemessage.
The importance of campus
SatishDeshpande
Varad Pande and Subhashish Bhadra
Pandemicisbeingusedtopushonlineeducation—butitmustsupplement,notreplace,physicalsitesof learning
A PORTABLE WELFAREExperiencewithGSTholdsvaluable lessons forOneNationOneRationCard
THE CURRENT CRAZE for online education(OE)remindsmeof thewallgraffitiadvertis-ing sex clinics that are visible across urbannorth India. These ads promise guaranteedcures—shartiyailaj—forallkindsofailmentsandafflictions.Today,OEisbeingforce-fedtoIndianeducationasamiraclecure—atalllev-els(school,college,university)andforalltasks(lectures, exams, admissions)—not only forpandemicconditionsbutforthefuture.Readersmayhave alreadydecided that I
cometoburyOE,nottopraiseit.Theyarehalfright.Ibelievethattheincrediblesynergyun-leashedbyinformationandcommunicationstechnology(ICT)isthebestthingtohavehap-pened to education since the printingpress.Indeed,highereducationtodayisunthinkablewithoutsomeformofthecomputerandsomemodeofdigitiseddatatransmission.Asprod-ucts of this revolution, onlinemethods ofteaching and learning deserve our highestpraise—but onlywhen cast in their properrole,whichistosupplement,supportandam-plifythetechniquesofface-to-faceeducation.Themoment they are proposed as a substi-tuteforthephysicalsitesof learningwehavelongknown—brick-and-cementschools,col-leges, anduniversities—onlinemodesmustberesolutelyresisted.ResistancetoOEisoftendismissedasthe
self-servingresponseof vested interests,no-tablyobstructive,technophobicteachersun-willing to upgrade their skills. But these arenot the only vested interests involved.Authoritarianadministratorsareattractedbythecentralisedcontrolandscaling-at-willthatOE offers. Educational entrepreneurs havebeen trying to harvest the billions promisedbymassive openonline courses (MOOCs)—thinkofUdacity,Coursera,orEdX.Punditsarenowpredicting post-pandemic tie-ups be-tweenICTgiantslikeGoogleandAmazonandpremiumeducationbrandslikeHarvardandOxfordthatwilllaunchaneweraofvertically-integratedhybridOEplatforms.Whateverthevestedinterests,ultimately
itistheperspectiveofstudentsthatshouldbedecisive.IsOEaviablealternativetotraditionaleducational institutions (TEI) for the typical
Indianstudent?Proponents of OE offer misleading an-
swers to this question by making biasedcomparisons.Sincenoonewithaccesstoanelite TEI chooses OE instead,we know thatOE always loses in best-to-best compar-isons.Favourable impressionsaboutOEarecreatedmostlybycomparingthebestofOEwithaverageorworseTEIs.Butis it truethatthe best OE is better than the average col-legeoruniversity?To answer this question,wemust exam-
ine the implicit claim at the heart of theOEproject, namely, that the goals of TEIs areachievablewithout the latter’sphysical loca-tion or forms of interaction. In otherwords,OEclaimsthatneitherthecampusnorface-to-faceinteractionareintegraltoeducation.Sincethe comparative evaluationof virtual versusface-to-facepedagogicinteractionneedsmorespace,thecampusquestionisconsideredhere.How does the typical student’s home
(wheremostwouldaccessOE)comparewithatypicalTEIcampus?Census2011tellsusthat71percentofhouseholdswiththreeormoremembershavedwellingswithtworoomsorless(74percentinruraland64percentinur-ban areas). According to National SampleSurvey data for 2017-18, only 42 per cent ofurbanand15percentofruralhouseholdshadinternetaccess,andonly34percentofurbanand11percentof ruralpersonshadusedtheinternetinthepast30days.ItistruethatmanyTEIs (bothpublic andprivate) have substan-dardinfrastructure.Butthesedatasuggestthatthemajority(roughlytwo-thirds)ofstudentsarelikelytobeworseoffathomecomparedtoanycampus.Theimpactofsmartphonecapa-bilitiesandstabilityofnetconnectivityonOEpedagogyalsoneedstobeexamined.But it is as a social rather than physical
space that the college or university campusplaysacriticalrole.Wehavelongignoredthevital rolepubliceducational institutionsplayasexemplarysitesofsocial inclusionandrel-ativeequality.InIndianconditions,thisroleisarguably even more important than thescholasticrole.Thoughmanyuglyblemishesremain, the public educational institution is
still the only spacewhere people of all gen-ders, classes, castes, and communities canmeetwithoutonegroupbeingforcedtobowtoothers.Whateveritsimpactonacademics,this is critical learning for life.Women stu-dents, inparticular,will bemuchworseoff ifconfinedtotheirhomesbyOE.Itsunacceptabilityasasubstitutedoesnot
diminish the indispensable part thatOE canplayas a supplement toon-site education. Itcanusecontentandmethodsthatarehardtoinclude in thenormal curriculum. It canputpressure on lazy or incompetent teachers. Itcan provide hands-on experience inmanytechnical fieldswheresimulationsarepossi-ble.Anditcan,ofcourse,beapowerfulacces-soryforaffluentstudentsabletoaffordexpen-siveaids.ButitisfraudulenttosuggestthatOEcan replace public education, the only kindthatthemajoritycanaccess.Suchbluntnessmayseemunseemly. It is
necessary todaywhengovernments are us-ing the cover of the COVID-19 emergency topushthroughregressive“reforms”—suchasanti-worker amendments to labour laws—thatwould face vocal opposition in normaltimes. In this context, there is a real dangerthat OE is being groomed to play the roleplayedbythe“cashlesseconomy”duringthedemonetisationcrisis,butinreverse.Themi-rage of a cashless economywas a retrospec-tivelyinventedjustificationforacatastrophicautocraticdecision.OEcouldbetheproactivetrojan horse smuggled in under pandemicconditions to abrogate the state’s commit-ments inpubliceducation.Thebestlast-ditchargumentforreplacing
TEIswithOEistofirstunderminetheformerto thepoint of collapse, and then innocentlypointoutthat,afterall,OEisbetterthannoth-ing. This cynical argumentworks only if wearesomehowpersuadedtobecomplicitinthedestructionofpubliceducation.Unlesswere-sist such persuasion today, OE is exactly thekindof“shartiyailaj”thatwemaybecoercedintobuyingtomorrow.
Thewriter teaches sociologyatDelhiUniversity
THE ECONOMIC CRISIS precipitated byCOVID-19 has focussed the country’s atten-tion on inter-state migrants. Millions ofIndians in this diverse, complex grouphavecrossedstateborders insearchof bettereco-nomicopportunities.Thecrisis,however,hashighlightedtheirprecarioussocio-economiccondition.Historically,governmentshavemadesev-
eral attempts tobridge thegap.Akeypartofthat roadmap is the idea of portablewelfarebenefits,thatis,acitizenshouldbeabletoac-cesswelfarebenefitsirrespectiveofwheresheis in the country. In the case of food rations,theideawasfirstmootedundertheUPAgov-ernmentbyaNandanNilekani-ledtaskforcein2011.Thecurrentgovernmenthadcommit-ted to a national rollout of OneNation, OneRationCard(ON-ORC)byJune2020,andhadinitiatedpilots in12 states.While intra-stateportabilityofbenefitshasseengoodinitialup-take,inter-stateportabilityhaslagged.Thefi-nanceministerhasnowannouncedthedead-lineofMarch2021torolloutON-ORC.Toensureasmoothrollout,wewouldben-
efit from reviewing the challenges thus far.First, the fiscal implications:ON-ORCwill af-fect how the financial burden is shared be-tweenstates.Second,thelargerissuesof fed-eralism and inter-state coordination:Manystatesarenotconvincedabouta“onesizefitsall”regimebecausetheyhavecustomisedthePDSthroughhighersubsidies,higherentitle-ment limits, and supply of additional items.Third, the technology aspect: ON-ORC re-quires a complex technology backbone thatbringsover750millionbeneficiaries,5,33,000
ration shops and 54million tonnes of food-grainannuallyonasingleplatform.Thesebarriersmight seemdaunting, but
the country has previously dealt with anequally complex situationwhile rolling outtheGST,whichwaswidelytoutedas“onena-tion,onetax”.JustlikewithON-ORC,fiscalconcernshad
troubledGST fromthe start. States likeTamilNaduandGujaratthatare“netexporters”wereconcernedtheywouldloseoutontaxrevenuesto “net consumer” states likeUP and Bihar.Finally, theCentrehad to step in andprovideguaranteedcompensationforlosttaxrevenuesfor the first five years. TheCentre couldpro-vide a similar assurance to “net inboundmi-gration”statessuchasMaharashtraandKeralathat any additional costs on account ofmi-grantswillbecoveredbyitforthefiveyears.GST also saw similar challenges with
broaderissuesofinter-statecoordination.Inanoteworthyexampleof cooperative federal-ism, the central government created a GSTcouncil consistingof the financeministersofthecentralandstategovernmentstoaddresstheseissues.Thegovernmentcouldconsidera similar national council forON-ORC. To beeffective, this council shouldmeet regularly,havespecificdecision-makingauthority,andshould operate in a problem-solvingmodebasedonconsensusbuilding.Finally,GSTissupportedbyasophisticated
tech backbone, housed by theGSTNetwork(GSTN),anentityjointlyownedbytheCentreandstates.AsimilarsystemwouldbeneededforON-ORC. TheNilekani-led task force rec-ommended setting up of a PDS network
(PDSN)totrackmovementofrations,registerbeneficiaries,issuerationcards,handlegriev-ances and generate analytics. Since food ra-tions are a crucial lifeline formillions, such aplatformshould incorporate principles suchas inclusion, privacy, security, transparency,and accountability. The IM-PDS portal pro-videsagoodstartingpoint.At the same time,we should learn from
the shortcomings and challenges of theGSTrollout.Forexample,delayinGSTrefundsledto cash-flow issues. Similar delays in receiv-ing food rations could be catastrophic.Therefore,ON-ORCshouldcreate,publishandadheretotime-boundprocesses, likerighttopublic services legislation that have beenadoptedby15states,andrapidgrievancere-dressmechanisms.MSMEs also complained about the in-
crease in compliance burden especially forthosewhohad to digitise overnight. SimilarchallengescouldariseinON-ORC.PDSdealerswillneedtobebroughtonboard,andnotas-sumedtobecompliant.Citizenswillneedtobe shielded from the inevitable teething is-suesbykeepingthesystemlenientatfirst,pro-vidingdifferentways of authenticating one-self,andpublicisingahelplinewidely.Ifdonewell,ON-ORCcouldlaythefounda-
tionof a trulynational andportablebenefitssystem that includes other welfare pro-grammes like LPG subsidy and social pen-sions.Itisanopportunitytoprovideareliablesocialprotectionbackbonetomigrants,whoarethebackboneofoureconomy.
ThewritersworkatOmidyarNetwork India
We have long ignored the vital
role public educational
institutions play as exemplary
sites of social inclusion and
relative equality. In Indian
conditions, this role is
arguably even more
important than the scholastic
role. Though many ugly
blemishes remain, the public
educational institution is still
the only space where people of
all genders, classes, castes, and
communities can meet
without one group being
forced to bow to others.
Whatever its impact on
academics, this is critical
learning for life. Women
students, in particular, will be
much worse off if confined to
their homes by OE.
In a noteworthy example of
cooperative federalism, the
central government created a
GST council consisting of
the finance ministers of the
central and state
governments to address
these issues. The
government could consider a
similar national council for
ON-ORC. To be effective,
this council should meet
regularly, have specific
decision-making authority,
and should operate in a
problem-solving mode based
on consensus building.
FOUNDED BY
RAMNATH GOENKA
B E C A U S E T H E T R U T H I N V O L V E S U S A L L
§ §
THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
WORDLYWISE
If you bureaucratise popular justice then
you give it the formof a court. — MICHEL FOUCAULTTHEEDITORIALPAGE
ASSAM VIOLENCEFourpersonswerekilledwhenpoliceopenedfireonclashingmobsof rivalstudentgroupsin at least two Assam towns thismorning.More than 400 persons, including a dozenpolicemen, were injured. Scores of houseswereburntdown,shopslootedandinnumer-able casesof assaultswere reported fromasmany as 24 places in lower Assam. Three ofthe casualtieswere at Bijni andoneof themwas at Abhoypuri. One person has beenstabbedtodeathatBarpetaroad lastnight.
OPPOSITION VIEWSTWENTYLEADERSFROMvariousoppositionparties and groups in Parliament have been
invited by PrimeMinister IndiraGandhi, fordiscussionsontheAssamproblemonMay31.Membersof thecabinetcommitteeonpolit-icalaffairswillattendtheall-partymeet.MrsGandhi had convened themeeting tomakeanotherbidtoevolveanacceptablesolutiontotheproblemofforeignnationalsinAssam.MrsGandhiislikelytoseektheopposition'sviewson thevarious suggestionswhichhavebeenmadeaboutthebaseyearfordeportationandsettlement of those identified as foreigners.Since the earlier all-partymeeting had en-dorsedthegovernment’smovetofix1971asthe base year for identifying and deportingforeigners,itisfeltthattheoppositionshouldbeconsultedif anychangeistobemade.
KWANGJU CRISISTHE BATTERED SOUTH Korean city ofKwangju remained in the hands of anti-government rebels. The student leadersof the insurrection said that they wantedthe United States as a “firm ally”to helpmediate a solution to the crisis. “TheUSshouldexercise influenceonthegovern-ment,” the militants told reporters asthe stalemate between them andmartiallaw authorities continued for the fourthday.Student leadersalsoannouncedanewdeath toll from the three days of riotinglast week, saying that they had collecteda total of 261 bodies, of which 100 remainunidentified.
MAY 27, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO
11THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
WHATTHEOTHERSSAY
“What is now at stake is bigger than the future of Hong Kong, as important as
that is. Other nations should ask themselves whether they want China to
believe that it can trample on its pledges and renege on international treaties
with impunity.” — THEGUARDIANTHE IDEASPAGE
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Admittedly, the response to
HIV was disease-centric,
strengthened with large
sums of financing and
human resources.
Unfortunately, it failed to
transform health systems
more broadly, which should
have been another positive
outcome of such a resource-
intensive effort. And
undoubtedly, COVID-19
and HIV are different in
their pathologies, causes,
manifestations and impacts.
Still, like the Basic Structure
of India’s Constitution, there
are some fundamentals
which are true and work
regardless of the nature of
things.
HIV lessons forCovid-19
When faithis shaken
ON JUNE 8, 2017, then External AffairsMinister of India, the late Sushma Swaraj,tweeted: “Even if you are stuck onMars,the Indian Embassywill be there to helpyou.”Thisconfidence-ladendeclarationtohelp Indians on foreign soil during crisesstemmedfromtwofactors.First, theglori-oustrackrecordof30-plussuccessfulover-seasevacuationsbythegovernmentsinceIndependence, includingtheKuwaitAirliftand Operation Safe Homecoming. These,despitebeingheldduringwartimecondi-tions, were characterised by a quick gov-ernmentalwill and intent toshield thedi-aspora. Second, from the assurance givento every citizen on the first page of theIndian passport which reads “...Allow thebearertopassfreely…andtoaffirmhimorher, every assistance and protection ofwhichheor shemaystand inneed”.COVID-19 has not only tested the re-
silience of themedical and safety infra-structureof thecountrybuthasalsoputtothetesttheseriousnessof thepledgeofas-sistance and protection made to everyIndiantravellingorstudyingabroad.Whilethe reversemigrationof labourershasex-posed faultlines in thewelfare apparatus,the commercialised, chargeable interna-tional missions — “Vande Bharat” and“Operation Samudra Setu” — expose thearbitrary and slow-footed responseof thecurrent central government towards therepatriationof Indians stuckabroad.The government shut down Indian
skies to all inbound traffic onMarch 22,which left a large number of Indiansstrandedinvariouscountries. Indiansma-roonedabroadstaredatthebleakpossibil-ity of not returning home, faced evictionsfromhostelsandhotelsincertaincasesduetosafetymeasuresaswellasfinancialcon-straints. The sequence of events that fol-lowed, rather than reassuring them, gavetheimpressionthattheadministrationhasadiscriminatoryandwhimsical approachtowards its citizens in need overseas. Thedecision to sign a contract whereby AirIndia would return safely the citizens offourcountries—Germany,Canada,FranceandIreland—andoptingtoflybackemptyinsteadofferryingbackIndians(desirousofreturning)lefteveryonewithasenseofbe-trayal. TheMinistry of External Affairs in-dulged in self-congratulation in one of itspressbriefings,forassisting20,000foreignnationals in exiting India. But it failed toshare a blueprint or even give a commit-ment about the return of Indian citizensabroad, highlighting the “out of sight-outofmind”mindsetof thedecision-makers.
When the central government finallydecidedtoofferahelpinghand, itopted tolaunch a paid repatriationmission ratherthan an evacuationmission (which is freeof cost for the evacuee). Is this the time toextractapoundoffleshfromdisheartened,disappointed and fatigued Indians? TheVandeBharatMissionalongwithOperationSamudraSetuhascreatedhistorybybeingthelargestpaidrepatriationexercise.Ithasalso createdhistorybybeing themost de-layedandcommercialisedrepatriationtheworldhasseeninrecent times.Moreoftenthannot,whenevertheex-
ecutivefails,thejudiciarycomestotheres-cue.Unfortunately, in thecaseof strandedIndians, even the Supreme Court of IndiaonApril13said,“staywhereyouare”inanobservationwhile dealingwith the pleaseeking directions to the government toinitiate evacuationmissions. The lacunaand unpredictability of the government’sresponsebring to the forefront theurgentneedforIndiatohaveawell-structuredandinstitutionalisedrights-based“citizenevac-uationpolicy”withthepotential tobe ini-tiated and implemented without beingheld hostage to unpredictable politicaltemperamentsandthebureaucraticmaze.The fact that suchapolicy is critical for
beingwell-preparedforanotherCOVID-19likeexigencyisaforegoneconclusion.Also,keeping inmind the increasing traffic ofoutbound students, businessmen, tourists(the United Nations World TourismOrganisationestimated thatmore than50millionIndianswilltravelabroadtill2022),researchersandjob-seekers,Indianeedstorevisit its overseas evacuation strategy. Assuggested by a research paper on January4, 2017,“India’s Expatriate EvacuationOperations:BringingtheDiasporaHome”,publishedbyCarnegieIndia,legislatorsandpolicy experts need to frame a set of stan-dardoperatingprocedures.Thesemustnotbe based on convenience but on the re-quirement to strengthen the responsemechanismofIndianembassiesworldwide(amongstotherthings)sothateveryIndianonforeignsoilisawareofthelaw,timelines,communicationchannels,individualrightsbeyondthe“11linepromise”printedonthefirstpageofthepassport.Atthesametime,theofficialsattheMEAneedtoanswerwhytherewasadeparturefromtheswift,non-commercialised approach adopted in thepast, creating a trust deficit amongst thehelp-seekingcitizens.The PrimeMinister of India, in a tele-
vised interview on January 21, 2018,claimedthatthe“Indianpassportnowhasdifferent respect and strength”. Now, justas the faith of migrant workers has beenshakenanddemolishedbythesystem,thefaithofstudentsandtouristsabroadstandsscarred. To reinstall the trust of the dias-porainthegovernmentasaneffectiveres-cuer, a Citizen Evacuation Policymust betabledat theearliest.
Thewriter isaSupremeCourt lawyerandnational spokesperson,IndianNationalCongress
A DECADE AGO, India demonstrated ahealth-relatedresponsethatwasacclaimedas a blueprint for how public health chal-lengescanbesuccessfullytackled.Weseemto have forgotten (or dismissed) the funda-mentalsof that successalready.The decades-long response toHIV/AIDS
fronted the followingprinciples. First, deal-ingwithepidemicsrequiresplacingthemostmarginalisedandvulnerableattheforefrontof any strategy. If their needs are met —whetherintheformofaccesstoinformationand services, or respect for their bodily, so-cial and economic integrity — not only aretheir healthoutcomesmorepromising, butinall likelihood,theneedsandhealthofoth-ers who are higher in the socio-economicladder will also be met through such athoughtful approach.Shaping inclusive and nurturing health
systemsandsocialenvironmentsmeansthatthosedeliveringhealthareattunedtothere-alities of the vulnerable andmarginalised,and can better serve their needs. It meansfosteringanenvironmentofhealthandgov-ernance that those at themargins feel en-couragedandsafetoengagewith.AsaqueermanwhowasvulnerabletoHIV,Iknowhowvery distant a health system that shunnedme andmy ilk felt like in the 1990s. As alawyerwho has longworked on issues re-lated to health, I sawhow transformative itwas toworkwith governmentbureaucrats,physicians, nurses, police, employers, andNGOs, whowere open to conversations onsex,sexuality, illnessandlaw,andhow,overtime, these dialogues fostered an enablingenvironmentinthehealthsector,whichbe-gantoreflect inpolicy, and inwidersocietalefforts tocounterHIV.InthecaseofHIV,fosteringsuchanenvi-
ronmentmeant sexworkers, hijras, peoplelivingwith HIV, drug users, menwho havesex with other men were at the heart ofhealth and public policy efforts. In the con-text of COVID-19, itmeans centering front-line personnel such as healthcareworkers,sanitationworkers, and the police, peoplewith co-morbidities, senior citizens, andthosewhoselivesareturnedchaoticbyharshmeasures such as lockdowns— dailywageandmigrant labourers, women and the ur-banpoor.Second,makethemarginalisedandvul-
nerablealliesinthisjourneythroughacollec-tiveapproachthat listenstotheirneedsandoffers appropriate solutions. Do not treatthemassubjectstoberegimented,butpart-nerstobeempowered—bottom-up,nottop-down.Strengthenthemwithreliable, relat-able, destigmatising and evidence-basedinformation and services, the rights to availthese, and a health and social system thatdoesnot castigatebutwelcomes.This requires humility, a consciousness
to know that whatever our expertise, we
don’t have the solutions to health issuesthatareentwinedwithcomplexhumanre-alities.Andthatalthoughthose inthemostserious predicaments may be lower in allthekindsof ill-conceivedwaysbywhichwemeasure social and human worth, theyprobablyhaveinsightsthat leadustogetherto solutions.Third, leaveone’s personalmorality and
the all-too-common human tendency toblameandvilifybehind.This entailsunder-standing how a disease transmits, but notfaultingthosewhohaveit.LikewithCOVID-19, inHIV too anoverwhelmingmajority ofpeoplehaveno idea that theyarecarriers.Doing this in relation toHIV led to some
extraordinaryprogress,includingthematur-ingofahealthbureaucracyforwhomissuesofhumansexualityandsexualbehaviourbe-cameroutinelycomfortable,onewhichwashonest and empathetic about such issues,regularly at ease sittingwith hijras and sexworkers to listen and learn from them, andlet such voices shape policy and practice,which became somuchmore reflective ofground realities, and therefore,more effec-tive. Indeed, it was heartening to note thatsomeof thosewhoservedingovernmentatthe peak of the HIV response are part ofICMR’shigh-leveltechnicalcommitteeofex-pertsonCOVID-19.Theywillhavelessonstoshare from HIV. That advice should beheeded.HIVwas thwarted from ravaging India
notbyan intimidating top-downapproach.Itwas containedbecauseof anempoweredcommunity of affected citizens who de-mandedtheirhealthandrelatedrights, andaplace at the table as responsible solvers ofthechallenge,notdocile recipientsof direc-tives.Itwasacommunitythatdemandedac-
cess to antiretroviralmedication thatmadethe government roll out and scale up a freeprogramme that has saved and enhancedmillionsof lives. Itwasanactiveanddiversequeercommunitythatdemandedanendtolawslikesection377whichmadethemvul-nerable to violence, unjust criminality andHIVthatcausedthelawtobestruckdown.ItwasavastswatheofcitizensthatworkedonandobtainedIndia’sfirstanti-discriminationlaw—theHIV/AIDSAct. It isthiscommunitywhich challenges illegitimate monopolyclaims by big pharma to patent life-savingdrugsthatthreatentomakemedicationun-affordable.Admittedly,theresponsetoHIVwasdis-
ease-centric, strengthenedwith large sumsof financing and human resources.Unfortunately, it failed to transformhealthsystemsmore broadly, which should havebeenanotherpositiveoutcomeof suchare-source-intensive effort. And undoubtedly,COVID-19 and HIV are different in theirpathologies,causes,manifestationsandim-pacts. Still, like theBasic Structureof India’sConstitution, there are some fundamentalswhich are true andwork regardless of thenatureof things.Although the challenges of COVID-19
shouldnotbedealtwithinadisease-specificmanner, this crisis is a ripe opportunity tostrengthen the public health and social se-curitysystemmorefully, fortifiedbythehu-maneandinclusiveapproachesthatHIVhasshownus. It is not yet too late for India’s re-sponse to COVID-19 to recalibrate so that itserves community health and the publicgood in just thismanner.
Thewriterheads theCentre forHealthEquity, Law&Policyat ILSPune
VivekDivan
LEARN NOW
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Thinksmarter' (IE,May26). Therehas tobeacourse correction in our Smart CitiesMission. How little health figures insmartcityprojectsisridiculous.Perhaps,if our infrastructure had not been sowoefully inadequate,wemaynothavebeenpushedbehindcloseddoorsforsolong. The lack of means to deal withCOVID-19 has led to indescribable suf-fering. Ahealthypopulation is an assetfor anation. It’s time to realise this andlearnour lessons fromthepandemic.
VijaiPant,Hempur
FEAR MONGERS
THISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Theconta-gionof fear’ (IE,May26). The fearof anunknowndisease,acontagionthathasaffected all aspects of life, is under-standable.InIndia,though,thereactionto thedisease isn’t just about anaturalfear.Thepoliticalclass,particularlytherulingparty,hasmade the issueoneofdemonisingminorities.It’sownant-sci-ence bias — as the author points outthroughexamples—encouragesexclu-sionandobscurantism.
BiswadeepChatterjee,Delhi
UNEQUAL CITIZENS
THISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Migration:Our’sandtheirs’(IE,May26).Thewriterpoignantlycapturestheunequaltreat-mentmeted out to the interstate andintra-state migrants, based on theircaste and class. Inequality — amarkerof capitalism— is today a way of life.
With values like empathy, solicitudeandrespectmissinginpubliclife,alargechunk of the population is reduced tosecond-rate citizens. This betrays ourcollective conscience and the humanspirit. A bit of conscientiousness anddueregardwill goa longway.
AnirudhParashar,Solan
DON’T SUCCUMB
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Unquietfront’ ( IE, May 25). The stand-off be-tween India and China on the borderappears to be a pressure tactic by theChinese to force India toplaya lowkeyinthepandemicoriginprobe.Indiaget-ting close to the US has also irked theChinese. So, the latter has even pro-vokedNepaltoraiseaborderdisputeinSikkim. Indiamust stand its guardandnot succumbtoBeijing’sbully tactics.
RDSingh,Ambala
LETTERS TO THEEDITOR
WEARESTILLinthemiddleof theCOVID-19pandemic and, therefore, a more detailedanalysisof all the factorsatplay inreal-timemayhave towait. However, several aspectsof thispandemic—whatitwillmeanfortheworld—arealreadyvisible.At the global scale, the systemof gover-
nanceisitselfattest.Thisisnotaminorhap-penstance,ashistoryshowsthatsuchglobalcrises have often led tomajor upheavals inthegloballyacceptedformsofgovernments.In the present context, the question beingposed is this: Is the autocratic model ofChina, which claims to have stopped thevirus in its tracks, better? Or is the demo-cratic model better? Considering the waythe virus has been handled in some largedemocracies,anenterprisingpartisancouldmakeacasefortheChinesemodel.Thepar-tisan could argue that South Korea orSingapore are not reallymodels since theyare very small states, and in terms of scale,ChinahasfaredbetterthantheUSorBritainin first managing the pandemic, and thenlater, in restarting theeconomy. India is theonlyspoilsport in thisnarrative. It isa large,chaoticanddiversedemocracy.Yet, fromen-forcingstrictandearlylockdownstoprovid-ing economic relief to almost half a billionpeople, and then to a gradual opening up,
India — under the leadership of PrimeMinisterNarendraModi—standsasashin-ingdemocraticcounter totheartificialglitzof theautocraticChinesemodel.Closer home, an unstated contest be-
tween the various states is also playing out.Whichstateleadershiphasproveditsmettlein this time of unprecedented crisis?Whileananswertothisquestionmayhavemultipleviews,whatcannotbecontestedistheemer-gence of Yogi Adityanath as the state leaderwith themost enhanced stature. He had al-ready built a reputation for administrativedexterity by the simultaneous and flawlessexecutionofthemega-scalePravasiBharatiyaDivas and the 2019 Prayagraj KumbhMela.But in a sense, theywereminor challenges.The realmettle is testedwhenoneneeds toreacttounforeseenchallenges—likeCOVID-19—AdityanathandhisCOVID-19“Team11”managementteamhave,sofar,performedina stellar fashion inmanaging all the dimen-sionsof thischallenge.First, in establishing a protocol for con-
tact tracing, testing andquarantining, UttarPradeshhassetagoodexample.Thesuccess-ful Agra cluster containmentmodel, for ex-ample, has already attracted a lot of atten-tion. In dealing with the violators ofguidelines, be it the Tablighis or others, the
state has displayed requisite tact and firm-ness. So far, more than 2.52 crore people inover 50 lakh homes have been reached byover60,000surveillance teams.Second, health infrastructure has been
scaledupinrecordtime.Seventy-eighthos-pitalsofLevel-1,64governmenthospitalsofLevel-2andsixhospitalsofLevel-3—withacombined bed capacity of 52,000 — havebeen set up, covering every district of thestate. Fifty-threeunitsmanufacturingPPEs,99 units making sanitisers and 412 unitsmakingmedical equipment andmedicineshavebeenmadefunctionalinthestateinthelast twomonths.Third,Adityanath is theonlystate leader
to have understood the importance of pro-viding early economic relief. Itwas the firststate government to provide Rs 1,000 eachto5.97 lakhconstructionworkersonMarch24. Since then, in April, Rs, 1,000 eachwastransferred to an additional almost 30 lakhworkers,andRs611crorewastransferredtoover27 lakhMGNREGAworkers.OnMay1,labourday,over30lakhworkerswereagaingivenRs1,000each.Allthisisoverandabovethecentral government relief packages.Fourth, the state has been themost hu-
mane and proactive in managing themi-grants' movement. Apart from immediate
travel, foodandfinancialassistance,thestatehasalsostartedpreparingforthefuture.Theunskilled labour that once left the state isnowreturningasaskilledandtrainedwork-force. Utilising the opportunity, aMigrantsCommission is being set upwhich, amongotherthings,willprepareadistrict-wisehu-man-skillsmapforusebyindustriesinabidto retain talent.Fifth, realising the inherent opportunity
in the crisis, aggressive reforms carried outat the state level—especially in labour laws— have already attracted global attention.Coupledwith an alreadymassive push to-wards creating connectivity, easier land ac-quisitionprocessesandresponsivestatema-chinery, the state is putting its best footforward. VonWellx became the first com-pany to shift itsmanufacturing fromChinato India post the COVID-19 crisis.Coincidentally, it choseUPas itsbase.It will be fascinating to watch howUP
fares in general, and Adityanath in particu-lar, in the comingmonths and years. If theresponsetotheCOVID-19crisisisanybarom-eter,weare in forexciting times.
Thewriter isCEO,BluekraftDigitalFoundationandwasearlierdirector
(content)MyGov
UttarPradeshissettinganexample,dealingwithpandemicwithefficiency,firmness
Crisis and leadership
AkhileshMishra
IDEAS
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Toreinstall trustof diaspora ingovernmentaseffectiverescuer, aCitizenEvacuation
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HIV/AIDSwasthwartedbyabottom-upapproach, inwhichthemarginalisedandvulnerablewereseenaspartners,notsubjects
12THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
THEOUTBREAK TheWorld
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
GERMANY
Socialdistancing
tobeextended
untilJune29
Berlin:Germanyplans toextend social distancinguntil June 29, newspaperBildcitedadraftdocumentthat still needs to be ap-proved by the federalstates as saying. Askedabout the report, aspokesman for theGermangovernmentsaidtalkswere ongoing. Bildsaid meetings in publicplaceswouldbelimitedtoamaximumof 10peopleormembersoftwohouse-holds. It said therewouldbeno limits on the num-ber of visitors allowed tovisit people in their ownhomesbut theymust en-sure that there is enoughspaceforeveryonetokeeptheirdistance. REUTERS
Astudent inCologne,Germany.AP
PANDEMICWATCH
SAUDIARABIA
Curfewends
June21,except
inMecca
Cairo: Saudi Arabia willbegin easing restrictionsonmovement and travelthisweek,morethantwomonths after they wereintroduced. Restrictionswill be lifted in threephases, culminating inthe curfew completelyending -with the excep-tion of the holy city ofMecca- fromJune21, thestate news agency re-ported in a statementearlyonTuesday.TheHajjandUmrahpilgrimmages—which attractmillionsof travelers from aroundtheworld —will remainsuspended until furthernotice. REUTERS
RUSSIA
174newdeaths,
casenumbers
cross360,000
Moscow:TheRussiangov-ernment reported arecord daily spike of 174deaths Tuesday, whichbrought the country'sdeath toll to 3,807.Russia'scoronaviruscase-load surpassed 360,000on Tuesday,with almost9,000newinfectionsreg-istered in the past 24hours. AP
OTHERTOPGLOBAL STORIES
REUTERSSÃOPAULO,RIODEJANEIRO,MAY26
IN MID-MARCH, Brazil tookwhat seemed to be a forcefulearly strike against the coron-aviruspandemic.AlthoughBrazilhadyet tore-
portasingledeathfromCovid-19,publichealthofficialsappearedtobegettingoutinfrontofthevirus.TheyactedonMarch13, justtwodays after the World HealthOrganizationcalled thediseaseapandemic.Less than 24 hours later, the
ministrywatereddown its ownadvice,citing"criticismandsug-gestions"ithadreceivedfromlo-cal communities.In fact, four people familiar
with the incident told Reuters,thechangecameafter interven-tion from the chief of staff's of-
fice for Brazil's President JairBolsonaro. “Thatcorrectionwasduetopressure,"saidJulioCroda,anepidemiologistwhowasthentheheadoftheHealthMinistry'sdepartment of immunizationandtransmissiblediseases.The about-face, given scant
attention at the time,marked aturningpoint inthefederalgov-ernment'shandlingof thecrisis,according to the four people.
Behind the scenes, they said,power was shifting from theHealthMinistry, the traditionalleaderonpublichealthmatters,to the office of the president'schiefofstaff,knownasCasaCivil,ledbyWalterSouzaBragaNetto,anArmygeneral.Brazilhaslosttwohealthmin-
istersinthepastsixweeks—onewasfired,theotherresigned—af-ter they disagreedpubliclywithBolsonarooverhowbesttocom-bat the virus. The interim leadernow in charge of the HealthMinistryisanotherArmygeneral.More importantly, the revi-
sionsunderlinedthehardeningof Bolsonaro's view that keep-ing Brazil's economy runningwas paramount, the peoplesaid. Bolsonaro, a far-right for-mer Army captain, has neverwaveredon that stance formu-lated during a crucial few daysin mid-March, despite domes-
ticandinternationalcriticismofhis handling of the crisis, and asnowballing death toll.Brazil now has the world's
second-worst outbreak behindthe United States, with morethan 374,000 confirmed cases.More than 23,000 Brazilianshavedied fromCovid-19.“So what?” Bolsonaro said
recently when asked by re-portersaboutBrazil'smountingfatalities.“Whatdoyouwantmetodo?”Some experts said Brazil's
stumblesareallthemoreshock-ing because of its previous suc-cesscontainingmalaria,ZikaandHIV. "One thing that has been ashining light in Brazil has beentheirpublichealthsystem,"saidAlbertKo,aprofessorattheYaleSchoolofPublicHealthwhohasdecades of experience in Brazil."To see that all disintegrate soquickly, it's justbeenverysad.”
REUTERSGENEVA,ZURICH,MAY26
Countrieswherecoronavirusinfectionsaredecliningcouldstill facean"immediate secondpeak" if they letup toosoononmeasures tohalt theoutbreak,theWorldHealthOrganizationsaidonMonday.Theworld is still in themid-
dleofthefirstwaveofthecoron-avirusoutbreak,WHOemergen-cies head DrMike Ryan told anonlinebriefing,notingthatwhilecases are declining in manycountriestheyarestillincreasingin Central and South America,SouthAsiaaswellasAfrica.Ryan said epidemics often
come in waves, which meansthatoutbreakscouldcomebacklaterthisyearinplaceswherethefirst wave has subsided. Therewas also a chance that infectionrates could rise again morequickly if measures to halt thefirstwavewere liftedtoosoon."Whenwespeakaboutasec-
ondwaveclassicallywhatweof-tenmean is therewill be a firstwaveof thediseasebyitself,andthen it recursmonths later.Andthat may be a reality for manycountries in a number ofmonths' time,"Ryansaid."Butweneedalso tobe cog-
nizantofthefactthatthediseasecan jump up at any time. Wecannotmake assumptions thatjustbecausethediseaseisontheway down now it is going tokeepgoingdown... Wemaygetasecondpeak in thiswave."He said countries in Europe
andNorthAmericashould"con-tinue to put in place the publichealth and socialmeasures, thesurveillancemeasures, the test-ingmeasuresandacomprehen-sive strategy to ensure that wecontinueonadownwardstrajec-toryandwedon'thaveanimme-diate secondpeak."
HCQsafety findingsexpectedbymid-JuneWHOsaidonTuesday that a
safety teamwould review dataon hydroxychloroquine by nextmonth,adayafterofficialscitedsafety concerns that promptedthem to suspend use of themalaria drug in a global trial inCovid-19patients.TheWHOcalled timeonus-
ingthedruginitsmulti-countrytrial, called Solidarity, after astudypublished inBritishmed-ical journalTheLancet foundpa-tientsrandomisedtogethydrox-ychloroquine (HCQ) hadincreased mortality rates andhigher frequency of irregularheartbeats.
WHO warns of‘second peak’ inareas wherecases declining
THENEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,MAY26
AS TOP officials revisit their re-sponsetotheconstantlyshiftingcoronavirus pandemic, they arecomingunderincreasingscrutinynot just for their broader policyapproachesbutfortheirpersonalwillingness—ornot—toabidebytherestrictionsthey'veimposed.In Britain, the apparent
breach of lockdown rules byDominic Cummings, a top aide
toPrimeMinisterBorisJohnson,has ignited apolitical firestorm.Mr.Cummingsheldanewscon-ference onMonday to confirmreports he traveledmore than250milesfromhishomeduringthe lockdown, but he pointedlydeclined to apologize. Mr.Johnsonhasdefendedhim.Theissuehasopenedarift in
the governing ConservativeParty, with at least 20 lawmak-ers from the party condemningMr.Cummingsandajuniorgov-ernmentminister resigning his
postonTuesday inprotest.The Polish government had
to apologize last week afterPrime Minister MateuszMorawiecki tweeted photos ofhimselfsittingdownamealwiththreecolleaguesatarecentlyre-opened restaurant and encour-aged others to visit local estab-lishments.LeoVaradkar, Ireland's care-
taker primeminister, was tar-getedbysometabloidsandcrit-ics on socialmedia andaccusedof violating his country's lock-
down ruleswhen he picnickedin aDublin park over theweek-endwithhispartnerandfriends.In the US, the prospective
DemocraticpresidentialnomineeJoeBidensteppedoutforhisfirstpublicappearance inmonthsonMonday, donning a facemask.ThatwasinastarkvisualcontrasttoPresidentDonaldTrump,whoattendedMemorial Day com-memorationswithout one.Mr.Biden, 77, and his advisers havesaid they intend to abide by thepublicsafetyrecommendations.
AposterdepictingDonaldTrumpinWashington.AP
JairBolsonaro
THENEWYORKTIMESHONGKONG,MAY26
THE COMMANDER of China'smilitary garrison in Hong Kongsaid in an interview postedTuesday that forces stationedtherewould"resolutely"protectthe country's national securityinterests, a pointed reminder ofBeijing's ultimate power to en-force its rule over the semiau-tonomous territory.The commander's remarks
cameasHongKong'sembattledleader,CarrieLam,defendedthecentral government's plan todraftnewnationalsecuritylawstopunishactsof dissentor sub-version,eventhoughtheprocesssidestepped the territory's ownlegislativeprocess."Rightsandfreedomsarenot
absolute," Mrs. Lam said at herregularweeklynewsconferenceinHongKong.
"If a minority of people, in-deed a very small minority ofpeople, are going to breach thelaw to organize and participatein terrorist activities to subvertthe state power, then of coursetheyhave to beboundedby theneeded legislation," shesaid.The garrison commander,
Maj. Gen. Chen Daoxiang, ad-
dressed the situation in HongKonginaninterviewontheside-lines of the National People'sCongress inBeijing.General Chen said the new
legislationwoulddeter"allkindsof separatist forcesandexternalinterventionforces,"echoingtheview of Mrs. Lam and others inChina's political leadership that
the protests have internationalsupport intendedtounderminetheCommunistParty'sruleoverthecity."Garrison officers and sol-
diersaredetermined,confident,andcapableof safeguardingna-tional sovereignty, security anddevelopment interests andmaintainingthelong-termpros-perity and stability of HongKong," General Chen said in in-terviewwith China's state tele-visionnetwork,CCTV.The video of the interview
was accompanied by scenes ofpreviousmilitary training exer-cises, including drills against ri-oters andmarine operations inHong Kong's Victoria Harbor.Someoftheclipsappearedtobefromoperations last year,whenthe protests overwhelmed thecity and the People's LiberationArmy and the People's ArmedPolicesentasurgeofnewtroopsintoandnearHongKong.
Riotpoliceafter theydispersedprotestersonSunday.Reuters
China’s military vows to defendcountry’s interests in Hong Kong
Sweden steadfastin strategy asvirus tollcontinues to rise
Stockholm: Sweden’s govern-ment defended its response tothe Covid-19 global pandemicon Tuesday despite theScandinavian country now re-portingoneof thehighestmor-tality rates in the world with4,125 fatalities, or about 40deathsper100,000people.“Transmission is slowing
down,thetreatmentofCovid-19patients in intensive care is de-creasing significantly, and therising death toll curve has beenflattened,”ForeignMinisterAnnLindesaid.Swedentookarelativelysoft
approach to fighting the coron-avirus — large gatherings werebanned, but restaurants andschools for younger childrenhave stayed open. The govern-ment has urged social distanc-ing, and Swedes have largelycomplied. AP
ASSOCIATEDPRESSKABUL,MAY26
THE AFGHAN government an-nounced itwould free900pris-oners on Tuesday, its singlelargestprisonerreleasesincetheUS and the Taliban signed apeace deal earlier this year thatspells out an exchange of de-tainees between the warringsides.Theannouncement cameas
a three-day cease-fire with theinsurgentsdraws toanend.TheTaliban had called for the truceduringtheMuslimholidayofEidal-Fitr thatmarks theendof theIslamicholymonthofRamadan.There are expectations that
the prisoner release could leadto new reductions in violence,andTalibanofficialssaytheyareconsidering an extension of thecease-fire.A senior Taliban figure con-
firmed this to The Associated
Press. “If these developments,like the announcement of pris-onerreleasecontinues, it ispos-sible tomove forwardwith de-cisions like extending the briefcease-fire and tomove inapos-itivedirectionwithsomeminorissues,” theTalibanofficial said.Theprisonerswerebeingre-
leased from Bagram prison,where the US still maintains amajor military base, north of
Kabul, as well as from the infa-mous Pul-e-Charkhi prison onthe eastern edge of the Afghancapital.Bylateafternoon,theAPwit-
nessed scores of men pouringout of the Bagram compound -presumablythereleasedprison-ers. Itwasnot immediatelypos-sible to verify their numbers orwhether they were all Talibanmembers.Theprisonerreleaseispartof
the US deal with the Taliban,signed on February 29 to allowfor the eventual withdrawal ofUS and NATO troops fromAfghanistan, bringing to an endthecountry'sprotractedwarandAmerica's longest military in-volvement.Underthedeal,Kabulistore-
lease 5,000 Taliban prisonerswhile the insurgents are to free1,000captivestheyhold,mostlygovernmentofficialsandAfghanforces, before intra-Afghan ne-gotiationscanbegin.
Securitypersonnelatacheckpoint inKabulonMay23.Reuters
Afghan govt to free 900 prisoners;Taliban may extend Eid truce
US military saysRussia deployedits fighter jetsto Libya
Cairo: The USmilitary Tuesdayaccused Russia of deployingfighterplanestoconflict-strickenLibyatosupportRussianmerce-naries aiding east-based forcesin their offensive on the capital,Tripoli.In a strongly worded state-
ment, the US Africa CommandsaidtheRussianmilitaryaircraftarrivedinLibyarecentlyfromanairbaseinRussiaviaSyria,wheretheywererepaintedtohidetheirRussianorigin.There was no immediate
comment fromMoscow.Libya is nowsplit between a
government in the east alliedwithHifterandoneinTripoli, inthe west, supported by theUnitedNations.Hifter is backed by The
UnitedArabEmirates,EgyptandRussia, while the Tripoli-alliedmilitias are aided by Turkey,Qatarand Italy. AP
KJMVARMABEIJING,MAY26
CHINESEPRESIDENTXiJinpingonTuesday ordered themilitary toscaleupthebattlepreparedness,visualisingtheworst-casescenar-ios andasked themto resolutelydefendthecountry'ssovereignty.Xi,66whoisalsotheGeneral
Secretary of the rulingCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)and head of the two-million-strongmilitarywithprospectsoflifelong tenure in power,madethe remarkswhile attending aplenarymeetingofthedelegationof the People's LiberationArmy(PLA)andPeople'sArmedPoliceForce during the current parlia-mentsessionbeingheldhere.Xi ordered the military to
thinkaboutworst-casescenarios,scale up training andbattle pre-paredness, promptly and effec-tively dealwith all sorts of com-plex situations and resolutelysafeguard national sovereignty,securityanddevelopment inter-ests, state-run Xinhua newsagency reported,withoutmen-tioning any specific issues thatposedathreattothecountry.His comments came in the
backdrop of the continuingstandoff between themilitariesof India andChina at the LineofActualControl (LAC).Several areas along the LAC
inLadakhandNorthSikkimhavewitnessedmajormilitarybuild-up by both the Indian andChinese armies recently, in aclearsignalofescalatingtensionandhardeningof respectivepo-sitionsbythetwosideseventwo
weeks after theywere engagedin twoseparate face-offs.The nearly 3,500-km-long
LAC is the de-facto border be-tweenthe twocountries.OnMay 22, China, the sec-
ond-largestmilitaryspenderaf-
ter the US, hiked its defencebudget by 6.6 per cent to USD179 billion, nearly three timesthat of India, the lowest incre-ment in recentyearsamidst themassivedisruptioncausedtothecommunist giant's economyby
theCOVID-19pandemic.In his meeting with a PLA
delegation on Tuesday, Xistressedonachievingthetargetsandmissions of strengtheningthenationaldefenceandarmedforcesfor2020,whilemaintain-
ingeffectiveepidemiccontrolona regularbasis.He listened to speeches by
themilitary deputies on fulfill-ing epidemic control tasks,strengtheningtrainingamidtheepidemic, and accelerating ca-pacity building on biosecuritydefence, amongothers.Commending their role in
battling Covid-19, Xi said thepeople'sarmedforceshaveonceagain proven themselves to beheroic forces that can be fullytrustedbytheCommunistPartyandthepeople.Xi said the epidemic has
brought a profound impact onthe global landscape and onChina's security and develop-mentaswell.Xi demanded reformand in-
novation to address new situa-tions and problems exposed intheepidemicandorderedaccel-eratingtheresearchanddevelop-mentonCovid-19drugsandvac-cines by tapping the advantagesofmilitarymedicalresearch.Noting that this yearmarks
theendofthe13thfive-yearplanformilitarydevelopment,Xisaidextraordinarymeasuresmustbetakentoovercometheimpactofthe epidemic to ensure majortasksonthemilitarybuildingareachieved.Meanwhile,aChineseexpert
commentedthatunlikethepre-vious standoffs between the
Chinese and Indian armies, thelatest border friction was notcaused by accident, but was aplannedmoveofNewDelhi."India has been crossing the
boundary line into the GalwanValley region and enteringChineseterritory.Indiansoldiershavealsodeliberatelyinstigatedconflicts with their Chinesecounterparts. If India failed tostop such provocations as soonas possible, it will impact onBeijing-NewDelhities-andmayevenexceedthesortof intensityoftheDoklamstandoff,anarticlein the state-run Global TimeswrittenbyLongXingchun,pres-ident of Chengdu Institute ofWorldAffairs, said.TheMinistryofExternalAffairs
saidall Indianactivitieswerecar-riedouton its sideof theborder,asserting that India has alwaystakenaveryresponsibleapproachtowardsbordermanagement.Atthe same time, it said, Indiawasdeeply committed toprotect itssovereigntyandsecurity."Any suggestion that Indian
troops had undertaken activityacross the LAC in theWesternsectorortheSikkimsectorisnotaccurate. Indian troops are fullyfamiliar with the alignment ofthe Lineof Actual Control in theIndia-China border areas andabide by it scrupulously," MEAspokespersonAnuragSrivastavasaidatabriefing lastweek. PTI
Scale up battle preparedness: Xi tomilitary
ChinesePresidentXi Jinpingtalks toWangYang, thechairmanof theChinesePeople'sPoliticalConsultativeConference,duringthesecondplenarysessionofChina'sNationalPeople'sCongress inBeijingonMonday.AP
Bolsonaro brought in generals tofight virus, but Brazil is losing battle
Leaders face scrutiny over adherence to lockdown rules
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THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
ECONOMY
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AASHISHARYAN&KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI,MAY26
INAdeparture from its previousstance,theCentreonTuesdayre-leasedthesourcecodeof itscon-tacttracingappAarogyaSetuandannounced cashprizes for thosewhofindabugorvulnerabilityinit. Governmentofficials oversee-ingthemobileapplicationdevel-opment also told The IndianExpressthattheywillsoonprovideanonymiseddata to researchersto conduct their ownanalysis onCOVID-19trendsinthecountry.Thereleaseoftheapp’sAndr-
oid source code (which 98 percent of the 115million AarogyaSetuusersuse)comesnearlytwomonthsaftertheappwasreleasedonApril2.Whenaskedaboutthedelay in releasing the code aftersignificant calls from India’s de-veloper community, IT SecretaryAjay Prakash Sawhney told TheIndianExpress:“Eventhebestde-velopers don’t document theircodewhen they are rushing tomakeitfunctional.Now,theyhaveproperly cleaned the code.Weevenplan to release the code forthe server function so that othercountries canpick it up andusethisappintheircountryaswell.”National Informatics Center
Director General Neeta Vermasaidthegovernment’sinternalas-sessmentfoundpotentialvulner-
abilities intheapp,callingforde-velopers to attempt to solve theconcerns in a detailed technicaldocument.TheCentre’sfirst-everbugbountyprogrammewillgiveuptoRs3lakhfortworewardcat-egories— security vulnerabilityreportingandsuggestionsforim-provementinthesourcecode.Although the IT Ministry’s
ownpolicy from2016states thatall softwareusedby the govern-mentwillbeopensourceasfaraspossible,theMinistryhadbarredindividuals from reverse engi-neeringthecodeofAarogyaSetu.Reverseengineeringallowsin-
dividualsandfirmstodeconstructtheworking of a software or ahardware by tracing back stepsfromthefinalproduct,oftentoen-hance theworkingof the sourcecodeorfindabuginthesystem.
Sawhney told The IndianExpresstheCentresharesAarogyaSetu data in three buckets.“Personal data is shared tomed-ical officials in order to fight thepandemic. Anonymised, aggre-gatedataissharedwithsupport-ingdepartmentsliketheplanningdevelopmenttoassesstheinven-tory required. Andwewill beginto share ‘hard anonymised’ datawithresearchinstitutionswhore-questsuchdataandareclearedbyacommitteesoontobesetupbythePrincipalScientificAdvisor.”Till date, 1,264 emerging
hotspots have been identifiedacrossIndiathroughtheapp.“Transparency,privacyandse-
curityhavebeen the coredesignprinciples of Aarogya Setu sinceits inception and opening thesource codeup to thedeveloper
communitysignifies thegovern-ment of India’s continuing com-mitmenttotheseprinciples,”NitiAayog CEOAmitabh Kant said,while announcing the release ofthesourcecode.Hesaidthatif70-80per cent of a community hasthe app downloaded, they canachieve“digital immunity.”Theopeningupof the source
code fulfills a long pending de-mandof cyberlawexperts fromacrossthecountryandtheworld.“Aarogya Setu should always
havebeenopensource,rightfromthegetgo.Everythingdevelopedbythegovernmentshouldalwaysbe open source as that uses tax-payersmoney.Work to ensurethat the appdoesn’tmutate intoanyothervehicle thatplayswithsensitive information of such alarge population should contin-ue,”MishiChoudhary,technologylawyerandfounder,SFLC.insaid.Earlier thisweek, thegovern-
mentupdatedthetermsofusageof the app, removing the restric-tionson tamperingwith its codeandallowingreverseengineeringofthesame.Intheupdatedtermsof use, the Centre also specifiedthatanindividual’sfailuretocom-plywiththetermsofusageoftheappwillnolongerleadtothesus-pensionof theiraccount.Aarogya Setu has become
mandatory for central govern-mentemployeesandfortravelerscrossing several borders acrosspartsof thenation.
ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY26
INDIA’SGDPgrowthislikelytobeat 1.2 per cent in the January-Marchquarter (Q4)of theprevi-ousfiscal(2019-20),aseconomicactivitycametoastandstillinthelastweekofMarchduetothena-tionwidelockdowntocontainthespreadofCOVID-19,aStateBankof Indiareporthassaid.AccordingtotheSBI’sresearch
report ‘Ecowrap’,grossdomesticproduct(GDP)growthislikelytobe4.2percent forthefullyearofFY20.Itisexpectedtocontractby(-) 6.8 per cent for the ongoingFY21. TheQ4GDPgrowthnum-ber for FY20will be announcedby theNational Statistical Office(NSO)onMay29.“WenowbelievethatQ1GDP
FY21losswillbehumongousandcould even exceed 40per cent,”the SBI report said.When Indiahad first imposed a lockdown,GDP estimatewas 2.6 per centand since then it has been pro-gressively reduced to a negative4.7 per cent,with nominal GDPwitnessingacontraction, itsaid.“However, given that the
Statesarenowtakingastaggeredapproachintermsofactivities inred, greenandorange zones,webelieve that abottom-upappro-ach estimation to growth couldbemoreappropriatethananear-liertopdownapproach,”itadded.Subsequently, SBI estimated
thedistrict-wise, zone-wise lossinGSDPforeachstateandfoundthat total GSDP (gross state do-mestic product) loss due toCOVID-19 for states stands at Rs30.3 lakhcrore,whichis13.5percent of total GSDP. The loss ismaximum(around50per cent)inredzonesandwherealmostallthe big districts of India are lo-cated. The combined loss of or-ange and red zone is around 90percentof total loss. “The loss ingreen zone is the least as 80 percentofpopulation in thiszone islocated in rural areaswhich arealmost open for all activities,” itsaid.The Ecowrap said state-wise
analysis indicates that top 10states accounted for 75per centof total GDP loss, withMaharashtra contributing 15.6percentof total loss, followedbyTamil Nadu (9.4 per cent) andGujarat(8.6percent).Thesethreestatesalsohavethelargestnum-berofconfirmedCOVID-19casesinIndia, itsaid.AccordingtoSBI,oneinterest-
ingaspectofdataisthedifferencebetween GDP and GVA (grossvalue added). Normally the dif-ference betweenGDP andGVA
growth rate is not large, but thistimeduetohugelossesinnetin-directtaxesthedifferencewillbequitebig. “Weestimate realGVAgrowthcouldbeat -3.1per centinFY21andrealGDPgrowthat-6.8percent inFY21,” itsaid.SBI saidGDPnumbers forQ2
of2020-21couldwitnessasmartrecoveryandclock7.1percent, ifthecountry isable tosustain thedemand. “Q3 and Q4 growthnumbers could also lookmuchbetter, with an average of 6 percent, but the Q2 bump couldcomedownwiththeimmediatebust in pent up demand in Q2subsidingsubsequently,” itsaid.However,thingscouldrapidly
changeastheincomeandjoblosscouldagainpropelthecountryto-wards a lower equilibriumaftertheinitialbumpup.“Wethusbelievethegovern-
mentmightbelookingatthedatamorecloselytopreventsuchlossinmomentuminQ3andQ4andeven comeupwith another tar-geted package later in the year,”thereportsaid.
AMIDPRIVACYCONCERNSRAISEDBYCYBERLAWEXPERTS
GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,MAY26
SNRAJESWARI,GeneralManager,New India Assurance (NIA), hasbeenselectedbytheBanksBoardBureau(BBB)astheChairmanandMDof theDelhi-basedOrientalInsuranceCompany(OIC)afteranonlinevideointerviewprocessinthewakeof thelockdown.With this move, there are
clearindicationsthattheCentreisnotinahurrytoimplementthe2-yearoldproposal tomerge threePSUgeneral insurers,OIC,Natio-nalInsuranceCompany(NIC)andUnited India Insurance, analystssaid.TheBBBhadconductedvir-tualinterviewsoffiveseniorgen-eralmanagersofthepublicsectorgeneralinsuranceindustry—withtwoyears of residual services tillMay2022— to select a CMD forOIConTuesday.AVGirijaKumar,CMD,OIC, is retiring thismonthendonreaching60.For the first time, the inter-
views for selecting a CMDweredonethroughvideoconferencing,with thenationunder lockdowntocheckthespreadofCOVID-19.Currently,BPSharmaheadsa
seven-member panel to selectCMDsof PSU insurance compa-niesandbanks. Inauniqueprac-tice,BBBhaspreferred,forthesec-ond time, toannounce the resultof theinterviewonthesameday.Earlier,resultsofinterviewsfor
selecting CMDs of GIC Re andAgriculture InsuranceCompanywereannouncedthesameday.TheFinanceMinistrywillnow
start the process of appointingRajeswariastheCMDofOIC.AfterFinanceMinisterNirmala Sitha-raman’s nod, the official papers
would be sent toAppointmentsCommitteeoftheCabinetandthePrimeMinister’s Office for theirapprovals. “Going by the earlierexperience, thewhole processmay takearound twomonths tonotifythenameofRajeswari,’’saidsourcesattheMinistry.Othergeneralmanagerswho
appeared for the interviewwereDinesh Waghela (OIC), SobhaReddy (NIC), Deepak Godbole(GICRe) andMadhulikaBhaskar(GICRe).Rajeswari,acharteredac-countant, is currently thesecondseniormostGMofthepublicsec-torgeneralinsuranceindustryandwillretireinMay2022.Meanwhile, theMinistryhas
indicated that itwould start theofficialexercisestoappointdirec-tors of PSU general insurancecompanies. It had completelystopped appointing directors inthe four PSUgeneral insurers foralmost twoyears and as a resultmajorityposts of directors—outof eight—are currently lyingva-cantinthosefourPSUcompanies.
BBB selects SN Rajeswari as CMD ofOriental Insurance via video interview
REUTERSSANFRANCISCO,MAY26
APPLEINCplanstoreopenabout100USstores,mostlywith curb-sidepickupbutsomewithwalk-in service, the company said onTuesday. Apple shuttered storesworldwide as the novel coron-avirus pandemic spreadbut hasslowlyopenedthembasedonlo-calhealthdata.Earlierthismonth,
thecompanyreopenedahandfulof stores in Alaska, Idaho andAlabama.Under Apple’s new proce-
dures,storeswithwalk-inservicewill require customers and em-ployees toundergo temperaturechecksandwearmasksbeforeen-tering. Applewill providemasksto customers who have none.Social distancing ruleswill limitthenumberofpeopleinthestoreatonetime.
Apple to reopen about 100 USstores, most with pickup option
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,MAY26
SEBIONTuesday issueduniformguidelinestobefollowedbystockexchangeswhile identifying andselecting a location as adeliverycentreforcommodityderivativescontracts. The move by theSecuritiesandExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi)hasbeentakenbasedon the recommendations ofCommodityDerivativesAdvisoryCommittee(CDAC)andinconsul-tationwithbourses.A particular location can be
identifiedandselectedasadeliv-ery centre by a stock exchangebasedondemand-supply dyna-mics, liquidity of the contract,value chain participants, infra-structuresupportandtradefeed-back,theregulatorsaidinacircu-lar.Theregulatorsaidthatdeliverycentre, whether basis or addi-
tional, plays an important role inthepricingandsettlementof thephysically delivered commodityderivativescontract.
New norms for deliverycentre for commodityderivatives contract
REUTERSBENGALURU,MAY26
LATAMAIRLINESGroupSA filedforUSbankruptcyprotectiononTuesday, becoming the largestcarrier to seek anemergency re-organization amid the coron-aviruscrisis.LatinAmerica’s largestairline
follows rivalAviancaHoldingsofColombia in seeking US bank-ruptcyprotection.But unlike Avianca, Chile’s
LATAMpostedprofitsforfourcon-secutiveyearstotalingmorethan$700million. It had recently ap-provedadividendpayment.LATAMlaidoff1,800employ-
eesoutofover40,000inthelead-uptoitsbankruptcyfiling.“Wehave implementeda se-
riesof difficultmeasures tomiti-gate the impact of this unprece-dented industry disruption, butultimatelythispathrepresentsthebest option,” CEORoberto Alvosaid inastatementregardingthefiling.LATAM is an instantly recog-
nizable brand for SouthAmericans, dominating interna-tional air travel in the region, aswell as a leadingdomestic flightoperatorinBrazil,Colombia,Chile,Argentina,PeruandEcuador.CarriersinLatinAmericahave
soughtbailouts tonoavail so far,unlike rivals in theUnited StatesandEurope.LATAMwillcontinuetoflywhileitisinbankruptcypro-tection. Its affiliates inArgentina,Brazil andParaguaywerenot in-cludedintheChapter11filing.
Chile’s LATAMlargest airlineto file forbankruptcy
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,MAY26
PROMOTERFIRMBhartiTelecomhas sold 2.75 per cent stake inAirtel to institutional investors inthesecondarymarket,raisingoverRs8,433crore, thecompanysaidonTuesday.Thesaleproceedswillbe fully utilised to repay debt atBhartiTelecomandwillmakethepromoterholdingfirma‘debtfreecompany’, itsaid.BhartiGroupandSingtelwill
continuetoholdamajoritystakeinBharti Airtel at 56.23per centafterthetransaction,thetelcosaid.However, shares of Bharti
Airtel fell nearly 6 per cent afterthe sale of stake. It dropped5.71per cent to close at Rs 559.15 ontheBSE.Intra-day,ittumbled5.96percenttoRs557.65.OntheNSE,sharesofthecompanyfell5.72percenttocloseatRs559.25.
Bharti Telecomsells 2.75%stake in Airtelfor `8,433 crore
REUTERSNEWYORK,MAY26
OILPRICESroseonTuesday,sup-ported by growing confidencethat producers are followingthroughoncommitments to cutsuppliesandasfueldemandpicksupwith coronavirus restrictionseasing.Brent crude futureswere up
45cents,or1.3percent,at$35.98a barrel by 1709GMT. USWest
TexasIntermediatecrudefuturesgained89cents,or2.7percent,to$34.14.The Organization of the
PetroleumExporting Countriesandotherleadingoilproducersin-cludingRussia,agroupknownasOPEC+, agreed lastmonth to cuttheircombinedoutputbyalmost10millionbarrelsperdayinMay-June to shore up prices and de-mand,whichhasbeenhitby thecoronaviruspandemic.Meanwhile,USstocksjumped
and the S&P 500 crossed 3,000points on Tuesday as optimismaboutapotentialcoronavirusvac-cineanda revival inbusiness ac-tivity helped investors overlooksimmeringSino-UStensions.During intra-day trade, the
DowJonesIndustrialAveragewasup593.68points,or2.43percent,at25,058.84,theS&P500wasup50.88points, or 1.72per cent, at3,006.33.TheNasdaqCompositewas up81.78 points, or 0.88 percent,at9,406.37.
Mayhelp assuageconcerns overprivacy, security
WITHTHEopeningupofthesourcecodefordevelopersaswellastheannouncementofabountyschemeforfindingbugsintheAarogyaSetuapp,thegovernmenthasopeneditself toscrutinyofcodersacrosstheworld.Thiswill,however,restoresomefaithinskepticalminds
astheycannowreadandunderstandthecodeforthemselves.Itwillalsohelpinassuagingthedataprivacyandsecurityconcernssurroundingtheapp.
BRIEFLYOlaFinServices
raises`205crNew Delhi: Ola FinancialServices(OFS),whichoper-atesOlaMoney, has raisedaboutRs205crore in fund-ing fromMatrix Partnersandothers,asperregulatorydocuments.
KotakMahindra
BankQIPMumbai:KotakMahindraBank Tuesday launched itsoverRs7,000-crorequalifiedinstitutionalplacement.PTI
MoerstobeAston
MartinCEOLondon: AstonMartin con-firmed on Tuesday TobiasMoers, CEO of Mercedes-AMG,would becomeCEOonAugust1,replacingAndyPalmer.REUTERS
Vedantaseeks
nodfordelistingNewDelhi:Vedanta Ltd onTuesdaybegan theprocessofseekingshareholdersnodfordelistingthecompany.
TorrentPharma
netat`314crNewDelhi:DrugfirmTorrentPharmaceuticalsonTuesdayreportedaconsolidatednetprofitofRs314croreforthequarterendedMarch31.PTI
Centreshiftsstance, releasessourcecode forAarogyaSetuapp
NewDelhi:Sebisaidithasnotimposed any restriction ontheuseofPowerofAttorney(PoA)betweena clientandabrokerintheequitymarkets.It said systems are in
place where broker usingPoAtransfersclientsecuritiesasmarginintohisclient’scol-lateral account and thenplace these securitieswithclearingcorporation(CC)bywayoftransferorcreationofpledgetowardsmargin. PTI
No restrictionon use of PoAby broker: Sebi
Mumbai:Therupeeappreci-ated by 29 paise to close at75.66 against theUSdollaronTuesday.IntheIndianeq-uitymarket, theBSESensexfell 63.29points, or 0.21percent, to end at 30,609.30,while theNSENifty ended10.20points,or0.11percent,downat9,029.05. PTI
Rupee gains 29p
Oil prices rise as faith in supply cuts grows
‘States’ fiscal deficit seenrising to 4.5% of GDP’Despite the relaxation in COVID-19-related restrictions,the revenue balance of states in FY21 is set to worsen,India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said in a report
4.5%OF THE GDP: EXPECTEDAGGREGATE FISCAL DEFICITFOR THE STATES IN FY21,HIGHER FROM EARLIERFORECAST OF 3%
0.9%EXPECTED NOMINAL GDPGROWTH RATE FOR FY21 ASNATIONWIDE LOCKDOWNWOULD EXACERBATEECONOMIC DOWNTURN
2.8%OFGDPExpectedaggregaterevenuedeficit
forstatesasagainstearlierforecast
of0.4%,withstates
likelytofacesignificantslippages
fromtheirbudgettargetsforFY21
`8.25TRILLIONEstimateofgrossmarket
borrowingsofstatesinFY21,revised
upwardfromearlierestimateof`
6.09trillion
■Aggregaterevenuereceiptsof20
states(constitutingnearly86%of
thebudgetedtarget)camein4.2%
lowerthanbudgetedat`24.79
trillioninFY20,primarilyledbya
16.2%reductioninthedevolutionof
centraltaxes
■States’owntaxrevenue
receiptswerelowerby2.2%in
revisedestimatesforFY20than
budgeted`12.04trillion
■Revenueandfiscaldeficitsare
budgetedat0.02%and2.5%of
GSDPinFY21
Ind-Raexpectsstatestoresortto
highermarketborrowingstofund
thefiscaldeficit.Thepressureon
stategovernmentstoprovide
supporttohouseholdsand
businessesthroughfiscalstimulus
measuresissettoincrease
Source:IndiaRatingsandResearch/PTI
Internationalmarketdata till1900IST
RUPEE
`75.66
OIL
$35.98Brentcrudeasof2300IST
PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,MAY26
FIVELARGEcompaniesintheconsumer internet space inIndiahaveannouncedreduc-tionofover4,000jobsoverthelastonemonth,onaccountofcontractioninbusinessduetoCOVID-19-led lockdownandthesubsequentfallindemand.OnTuesday,US-basedcab-
aggregatorUberannounceditwill lay off around 600 fulltimeemployees in the India-SouthAsia region, amajorityofwhich are located in India,due to the “impactof COVID-19and theunpredictablena-tureof therecovery”.In total, five companies—
UberIndiaandSouthAsia,Ola,Zomato,SwiggyandCure.fit—havetogetherannouncedthereductionofaround4,441jobsinthelastonemonth.“Theim-pactofCOVID-19andtheun-predictable nature of the re-coveryhas leftUber India SAwithno choice but to reducethesizeofitsworkforce.Arou-nd600fulltimepositionsacr-ossdriverandridersupport,aswellasotherfunctions,arebe-ing impacted. These reduc-tionsarepartofpreviouslyan-nounced global job cuts thismonth,”saidPradeepParam-eswaran,president,UberIndiaandSouthAsia.Thenumberoflaidoff staff comprisedabouta fourth of Uber India andSouthAsia’semployeebase.The taxi-hailingcompany
said the layoffswere part ofpreviously announcedglobaljobcuts. Lastweek, the firm’sparent company—US-basedUber Technologies — an-nounceda23percentreduc-tioninitsworkforce.Uber’s Indian rival Ola,
which saw its revenue fall by95per cent over the last twomonths,lastweekannouncedthat it will be letting go off1,400employees.“...theprog-nosisaheadforourbusinessisveryunclearanduncertain. Itisgoingtotakealongtimeforpeopletogooutandaboutlikebefore.Withmorecompaniespreferring to have a largenumber of employeesworkfromhome, air travel limited
toessentialtripsandvacationsbeingputoff forbetter times,theimpactof thiscrisis isdef-initelygoingtobelong-drawnforus,”OlaCEOBhavishAgga-rwalwroteinane-mailtoem-ployees,addingthatthecrisishasaffectedlivelihoodofmil-lionsofthecompany’sdrivers.Priortothis,thetwolargest
food-techcompanies in India—Swiggy andZomato—an-nounced, inquicksuccession,the plan to prune their em-ployee base. Exhorting thatthenumberrestaurantsisex-pectedtoshrinkby25-40percent over the next 6-12months, Zomato CEODeep-inderGoyalwrotetothecom-pany’sstaffersthataround14per centof them,or541peo-ple, have been asked to lookfor new jobs. Swiggy CEOSriharshaMajetytoldtheem-ployeesthatthecorefoodde-livery business had been se-verelyhitandwaslikelytostayimpactedovertheshortterm.To this effect, he announcedlettinggooff1,100employees.Similarly, health and fit-
ness startupCure.fit had alsolaidoff around800people, inanefforttoreducecosts.In addition to the layoffs,
someofthesecompanieshavealsoannouncedsalarycutsfora chunk of their employees.Zomato said its staff will un-dergo a temporary salary re-duction of up to 50per cent,withsomeoftheseniormem-berstakingavoluntarypaycutof 100per cent. Similarly,Olasaid thatover thepastcoupleofmonths, allmembersof itsextendedleadershipteamhadtaken“significantsalarycuts”.
COVID-19 IMPACT
CONSUMER INTERNETCOS
Over 4.4K jobs cut by5 major Indian cos in1 month; Uber lays offnearly 600 people
■UberIndiaandSouthAsia,Ola,Zomato,SwiggyandCure.fithavetogethercutaround4,441jobsinthelastonemonth
■ The600peoplethatUberplanstolayoffarefull-timeemployees
UBERTOLAYOFFFULL-TIMESTAFF
Rajeswari,General
ManagerofNewIndia
Assurance,issetto
replaceAVGirijaKumar,
whoretiresthismonth
NewDelhi: India’s fourth re-cessionsinceIndependence,the first since liberalisationand perhaps the worst todate,ishere,CrisilsaidTues-dayasitpredictedtheecon-omy to shrinkby5per centinthecurrentfiscal.“Thefirstquarter(Aprilto
June2020)willsufferastag-gering 25per cent contrac-tion,”itsaidinitsassessmentofIndia’sGDP.“About10%ofGDP in real terms could bepermanentlylost.” PTI
India facingworst recessionin FY21: Crisil
NewDelhi: FitchRatings onTuesdayforecasta5percentcontraction of Indian econ-omyin thecurrent fiscal, onaccount of slump in eco-nomic activities and verystringentlockdownpolicy.This is substantially lowerthan0.8percentgrowthfor2020-21 fiscal projected inApril.Fitchsaidithasmadefur-
thercutstoworldGDPfore-casts in its latestGlobalEco-nomicOutlookforMay.PTI
Fitch projectseconomy tocontract 5%
‘Q4FY20 GDP growthlikely to be 1.2%, maycontract 6.8% in FY21’
Vol. LXIVNo.124Printed for theproprietors, The IndianExpress (P) LtdbyMsVaidehiThakaratThe IndianExpressPress, PlotNo.EL-208, TTC IndustrialArea,Mahape,NaviMumbai -400710andpublished from 1st floor, ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Editorial&Administrative
Offices:ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Phone:22022627/67440000. Fax:022-22835726.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha, Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Mumbai):NirupamaSubramanian.* (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct)
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THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,MAY27,2020
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14
Chennai’sKutti,winnerof eRacingseriesheldduring lockdown, to trainatKarthikeyan’sacademy&withVolkswagen inrealworld
Teenaged gamer gets the realwheelNIHALKOSHIENEWDELHI,MAY26
VIRTUAL RACING series started by promi-nentIndianracedriversduringthelockdownhavegivenateenagedgamerhisbigbreak—amoveto real-world racing.AmithKutti,a16-year-oldfromChennai,
sat on a plastic chair while driving with agaming racingwheel in front of a PC screenat homewhen eRacing against someof thebestdriversinthecountry.Kuttiwentwheel-to-wheelwithNarainKarthikeyan-thefirstIndian to drive in Formula One - and ArjunMaini, a European LeMans Series driver, inUltimate E’s all-star race, an online serieshostedonweekendsduring the lockdown.Earlier thismonth, Kutti beat 31 racers
from15 cities towin the third season of theIndianSimRacingLeague(ISRL),avirtualrac-ing series that began in April. Consistentpodium finishes inUltimateEenhancedhisreputation.Hisreward:admissiontothekart-ingprogrammeatKarthikeyan’sracingacad-emy and a training stint and test withVolkswagenMotorsport India. Hewill nowgettodriverealcarsandkartsonracingtracks.“Now especially during the lockdown,
there have been new virtual competitionspaving theway for virtual drivers in India. Ihaven’t been offered anything (in the realworld) before. This is the first time I havebeen offered a chance to train at the NKRacing Academy. VolkswagenMotorsporttraining is the prize forwinning the IndianSimRacingLeagueseason,”Kutti says.Karthikeyancalledhimthe ‘fastestgamer
in India’whenhe announced the tie-upbe-tweenhisacademyandUltimateE. “ERacinghasbecomemorerelevantwiththeCovid-19situation. In the firsteditionof thiscollabora-tion,wehavedecidedtosignupAmithKutti,whohasexcelled inmultipleeSports leaguesandhaseasilycomeontopasthefastestgamerin India,”Karthikeyansays. Theobjective, ac-cordingtohim,istogetKuttiaseatintheRotaxMax(karting)nationalchampionships.Home-grownvirtualracingcompetitions,
opentoanyonewithaccess toasimulatororaconsoleathome,were launchedbyprofes-sionaldriverswhenracetracksbecameinac-cessible because of the countrywide lock-
down fromMarch 25. ISRL is promoted bymultiple-time national karting championRayomand Banajeewhile Formula 2 racerArmaanEbrahimandAdityaPatel,whodrivesforAudiMotorsport,havecreatedUltimateE.Both virtual racing championships held
theirinauguralseasonsduringthelockdownto keepmotorsport addicts engaged. Thedrivingexperiencemirrorsreal-worldracingwithpracticeandqualifyingsessionsforeachrace,officialswatchingeverylap,driversbe-ingpenalisedandhavingtoenterthepitlanetorepairdamageandlosingoutontime.When the coronaviruspandemic forced
thecancellationoftraditionalraces,FormulaOne, Formula E andMoto GP launched vir-tual competitions but theywere restrictedto professional drivers and teams. FormulaOneEsportsseries,whichbeganin2017,pitseSport drivers signed to F1 teams againsteachother.TheNissanGTAcademyisoneofthemostpopular virtual-racing talenthuntprogrammes in the world and enablesgamers tomakea transitiononto the track.ISRLandUltimateEwanttoprovideIndian
driverswithasimilarnon-traditionalroute.Kuttiisconfidentofmakingtheswitchfrom
thesimulatortotheroad.“Inthesimulator,youfeel(thephysicalforce)throughyourarmandintherealcar,youfeelitthroughyourbody,es-peciallywhenyoubrake,”Kuttiexplains.Hegotafirst-handexperienceofaracingcar-hisonlyone -whenhedroveanentry-level FormulaLGB4 in Chennai in February. “When I firstdrove it, Iwasscared that Iwasgoing too fast.ButIamcomfortablenow,”Kuttisays.The teenager’s initiation into gamingbe-
ganwhen a friend convinced him to buy aFormula One game for the Xbox. A fewmonthsearlier,hisfather,abusinessman,hadtaken him towatch the 2012 Formula OneIndianGrandPrixinGreaterNoida.Herecallsbeingfascinatedwatchingthecarsspeedpast.
Transition challengeSittingbehind thewheel of a vehicle, be
it a kart or amodified car, will be challeng-ing fora rookie likeKutti, experts reckon.Banajee,founderofIReSports,whichruns
ISRL, will train Kutti in a VolkswagenMotorsportcar.Theexperienceddrivertalksabout‘speed’and‘braking’beingawholenewexperience.“Speedatwhichyouaregoingon
the computer does not scare you but itwillscareyouintherealworld.Gettingyourbrak-ingrighttoo(willbekey)becausethereisnoreal-world feel when you are racing here(simulator).Abroad,someeSportsracershave
done exceedingly well on the actual racetrack. In India, I think gamerswho are tal-entedneed tobegivenenoughof anoppor-tunity.Youcan’t takethebestgamerandtellhimthisisyouronechanceontrack.Wehave
tobepatient,”Banajeesays.Sim racing, however, can help in the
switch from a gamingwheel to a steeringwheel. “Forexample, if youaregettinga lotofundersteer,howareyouaregoingtotackleit with the steering. The process is going tobe thesame,”Banajeeadds.Twenty-year-old Sai Prithvi, thewinner
of the second season of ISRL, will also testdrivewith VolkswagenMotorsport. Prithvicomeswiththeexperienceof racinginbothworlds.Hehasanumberoftrackracesunderhis belt, including podium finishes in theFormula Junior Rookie Series and Red BullandECRkartingchallenges.“The first thing I realisedwhen I started
Simracingishowsimilar itwasandhowfarit has come (technology). I have been play-ing racing games since I was young and toseeitevolvetowhatit istodaywasastonish-ingintermsofhowaccurateitcanbe.Exceptfor simulating the physical forces on thebody,everythingelse,goingfromsettingupyourcar,tyredegradationorweightbalanceisalmostperfect,”Prithvi,whomadehisvir-tual competitiondebut in the ISRL, says.Ebrahimtooacknowledgestheadvances
invirtual-racingtechnology.“Youcan’tevencall these games, games anymore. They areso realistic inasimulator,”hesays.Kutti would have had towait longer for
someone to give him a break but the lock-downopenedthedoorof opportunity.Ebrahimsaysthepandemichastenedthe
startofvirtualleaguesinthecountry.“Ithinkwe in India woke up a little late to the po-tential of virtual racing andhow it can be aplatform to identify talented drivers,” hesays. Towards theendof last year, aspartofthe promotion for the X1 Racing League(custom-built cars on track), Ebrahim tooksimulators to six different cities to testwa-ters. “We realised the appetite for eSportslastyear.TheCovidsituationacceleratedtheprogressandwestartedhostingraceseveryweekend on different platforms as part ofUltimate E, which people can play fromhome.Theaimistoputdriversfromthevir-tual track to the real track,” Ebrahimadds.Kutti iscurrentlybrushinguphisphysics
lessons as he starts Class XII, a crucial year,onewhichwill also see him graduating totheracetrackwithKarthikeyanguidinghim.
AmithKuttihasbeenvirtual racingfromhomeduringthe lockdown. Express
CROSSWORD4128
ACROSS
1 Felt shopscontributedtohighliving (9)
8 Thegodofunions (5)9 Musicianhavingearmostdeveloped(7)
10 Anewangle foragirl(6)
11 Iaminpursuit inacarriage(6)
12 His relationsmaketheheadlines (8)
15 Whatonerequires tocomplete thescore(8)
18 Lowersoneself? (6)20 Threetimesthey initiallyfacednewperil (6)
21 Letter I’vegivento thegirl(7)
22 Aquestionofplace(5)
23 Crosswordaddicts shouldbeusedtosuchsetbacks(9)
DOWN
2 Onemaybeattachedtoadogbecauseof it(5)
3 Is inahide toseeabird(6)
4 Gothroughpoetry,beingunreasonable (8)
5 Nothis sortof religion(6)6Granted, it couldsetmanyfree(7)
7 Startingpoint forapersonontheotherside (3,6)
11 Easternquarter inDresden?(9)
13 Ancientwritersmadetheirpointwith it (8)
14 Hedoesn’tbelieve in fieldmanagement (7)
16 Doeshe issuebankstatements? (6)
17 IsagainstusingLatin(6)
19 Upordownit isneither(5)
ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)
Someoneathomeneedsagoodtalkingto, and if youdon’tdo it,nobodyelse
will. This is,by theway,agooddaytocheckuponall travelarrangements,mainlybecauseyour intentionsmayhavemovedon.Theremightalsobesomethingyouhaveoverlooked,perhapssomethingquite important.
TAURUS(Apr21-May21)
Youmayhavegoodreasontoquestionotherpeople’spriorities, especially
if you feel theirethical stanceleavessomethingtobedesired.Youmayalsoget in touchwithfamilymemberswhoare faraway,orengineerareunionbetweenfriendswhomayhavefallenout.
GEMINI (May22- June21)
This isanextremelyusefulmoment tosortoutall financialplans, although I
hopeyoudon’t slipback intotheconfusionof thepast.Youhaveabout threedays inwhichyoumaytakeveryvaluablesteps toboostyourmaterialsecurity, afterwhichyou’llhavea freshchance inanothermonth.
CANCER(June22- July23)
Onthepsychologicalleveleverythinghingesaroundhowmuchyouvalue
yourself, andwhereyouseeyour trueworth.Sort thisoutandyou’ll get ridof severalbadhabitswhichhavebeendistortingyourability todealwithmoneyreasonablyandrationally.
LEO(July24-Aug23)
Theoverall emphasisremainshighlypleasurable,butthat’sprobably
becauseyoucanenjoyactivitiesandexperienceswhich leavelesserpeople feelingwornoutandweary.Unlikemanypeople,youhaveahigher regard for thevirtuesofhardwork.Keepyourself busy.
VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)
If yousettleoutstanding issuesathomeonceandforall, youshouldthen
findthatmorepleasurablepossibilitiesareopenedup.Aculturaloutingseemsappropriate,butanyactivitywhichbroadensyourhorizonsandadds to thesumtotalofhumanhappinesswillbeworthwhile.
LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)
It’s important thatyouopenadialogue.If youhaveaninterviewtoattend
ormustputoveryourpointofviewinanyotherway, theplanetsareonyourside. Justdon’t letdifferencesovermoneycloudthereal issues.Anddo listento friendswhoknowyoubetter thanyouknowyourself.
SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)
For once in your lifeit is very hopefulthat yourprofessional
achievements andworldlyambitionswill be properlyrewarded. This is nomore thanyoudeserve, andmanyof youhavewaited an extremely longtime. If there is a further delay,don’t despair, but keep yourhopes up.
SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)
You still have thepower to controland influenceeverything that
happens at home, so don’tsquander this valuableopportunity. Other people areverymuchof onemind, and soyou’ll need tohave yourwitsabout you, finding awayforwardwhich fulfilseverybody’swishes.
CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)
Youmaybe in ahaze today, but nomatter. By thisevening you should
once again have your finger onthepulse, andnobodywill beable to pull thewool over youreyes again, at least not foranotherweek.Make apoint of talking to peoplewhose opinions areusually ignored.
AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)
Thiscouldbeasociableday,onewhenyoumayeasilymakethemostof
friendlyadvances.Therearefurther indications thatyou’llneedtospendsometimealone.Someof youwill evenshutyourselvesaway, tendingyoursensitiveemotionsandoh-so-vulnerable feelings.
PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)
There is somethingtobeadmiredaboutthewayyouinstinctivelyseemto
knowwhatotherpeoplearefeeling.Colleagueswillbe inneedof yoursympathytoday,even if firstappearances tellyouotherwise.Youmaystop, listen,andofferyourwisestadvice.
SUDOKU4121
DifficultyLevel1s
Instructions
TosolveaSudokupuzzle,
everydigitfrom1to9
mustappear ineachofthe
nineverticalcolumns, in
eachoftheninehorizontal
rowsandineachofthe
nineboxes.
DifficultyLevel
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;
3s=Medium;4s=Hard;
5s=VeryHard;6s=
Genius SOLUTIONSUDOKU4120
Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget
theanswerforthegivenquip.
Therearethreefaithfulfriends-anoldwife,anolddog,and______.-BenjaminFranklin(5,5)
SOLUTION:PEACE,ROBIN,ADMIRE,YEARLYAnswer:Therearethreefaithfulfriends-anoldwife,anolddog,andreadymoney.-BenjaminFranklin
CPAEE AEIRDM
BINOR AELRYY
SolutionsCrossword4127:Across: 1Declaim,4About,7Aims,8Crackers,10Followsuit,12Railed,13Refuge,15Fatalerror,18Clean-cut,19Serf,20Noted,21
Riposte.Down:1Dwarf,2Complain,3Morose,4Archimedes,5Open,6Testate,9Forewarned,11Quarters,12Rubicon,14Valuer,16Rifle,17Lent.
JUMBLEDWORDS
OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis
CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson
MARVIN byTomArmstrong
DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL
WI RESUME TRAINING
Gearing up for a proposed tour of
England in July, some West Indies
players, led by skipper Jason Holder,
returned to training in small groups
following a coronavirus-forced hiatus.
A skilled gamermay best LeBron James and LionelMessi on NBA 2KandFIFAvideogamesbutstandsnochanceontherealturf.VirtualracerEnzoBonito,however,alreadygrabbedthebraggingrightsforhiscom-
munitywhenhebeatLucasdiGrassi, aFormulaEandex-Formula1driver, inareal-world race last January. TheG-force-driven, high-riskworldof real racingdemandsenormousskillandbravery,butsimulatedracing isstill incrediblyrealisticanddiffi-cult. It is theonlyesport thathasparallelswith therealworld; the reasonwhy ithasconnectedwithprofessionaldrivers. Itstartswiththegear.There'snojoystickorkey-board +mouse setup. Professional virtual racers train with wheels and pedals.Advancedsimulatorsgoevenfurther, implementingcutting-edgeaerodynamicandsuspensionresearchaswell as real-world3dtechnology."There ismassiveoverlapandparallelsbetweenour real lifeandvirtualworlds.
Thesamecannotbesaidaboutmanyother sports," JulianTan,headof Formula1'sesportsdivision, told thispaper.RedBulldriverMaxVerstappenhasbeenthe inter-mediarybetweenthe twoworldsandusesvirtual racing tosharpenhis skills. Ingaming too, the22-year-old remainsmilliseconds faster, focussingonreal-lifede-tails suchassteeringangle, slipangleof thecar, trail brakingordownshifting. It’snota1:1experience,but theprocessof tailoring thecar tospecificneedsandusingtelemetryonpainstakingly recreatedcircuits is avalid formof training forprofes-sionaldrivers, andagreat jumping-off point forgamers looking to transition.
Whye-racingconnectswithprodrivers
E●EXPLAIN
ED
Paklegendsmourn
Balbir’sdeath
Balbir Singh Sr's death evoked emo-tionaltributesfromPakistan'shockeycommunity,whichdescribedtheleg-endarycentre-forward'sdemiseasabiglosstothesportingeneralandthesubcontinent in particular. The 96-year-old three-time Olympic gold-medallist, consideredoneof thebestcentre-forwards of all time, died onMondayinMohali. "Hehadamazingflexibility, speed and litheness in hisgame. His sprints were a treat towatch," former Pakistan captainSamiullahsaid.TheSecretaryGeneralof the Pakistan Hockey FederationAsif Bajwaalso condoled thedeath.
JLN,National
StadiumreopenedTheSportsAuthority of India (SAI) onTuesdaystartedactivities intwooutofits fivestadiumsinthenationalcapitalafter the central government greenlightedresumptionofoutdoorsportsina phasedmanner. According to a SAIstatement, sportingactivitieshave re-sumedattheJawaharlalNehruStadium,MajorDhyanChandNational StadiumfromTuesdayafternooninslotsofonehourwhichneedstobepre-bookedon-line.However,activitiesinIndiraGandhiStadium and Karni Singh ShootingRangeareexpectedtostart inaweek'stimeaslogisticsarebeingworkedout.
Holyfield-Tyson
rematchoncards?Former heavyweight championEvanderHolyfieldhassaidheisopentofacingone-timerivalMikeTysoninatrilogyfightforcharityonthecondi-tionthatTysonasksforthebouttobeset up.Tyson, 53, fought two epicboutswithHolyfield,57,during theirprofessional careers, including theircontroversial 1997 encounter inwhich Tyson bit off a chunk ofHolyfield's ear.
PTI/REUTERS
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