2020/05/10 · resume work at local industri-al units to earn money, police said. The police resorted to lath- icharge and fired tear gas to dis-perse the angry migrants work-ers

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Kerala’s joy over the “flat-tening” of the coronavirus

curve on the 100th day of thereporting of the first case in theState received setback as twopersons who landed in Kochiand Kozhikode airports fromthe Gulf tested positive for thepandemic on Saturday. This hashappened despite all screeningand checks of the evacueesbefore the repatriation.

“A passenger who reachedKozhikode from Dubai andanother person who arrived atKochi from Abu Dhabi onMarch 7 by the Vande Bharatflights tested positive and bothof them have been admitted tothe nearest hospitals,” saidKerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan during his daily mediabriefing on Saturday.

While the passenger wholanded at Kochi, a 23-year-oldmale hailing from Malappuramdistrict has been admitted forobservation at KalamasseryMedical College near the air-port, the other person who test-ed positive had reachedKozhikode airport from Dubai.He too has been admitted anearby specialty hospital forobservation and treatment,said Vijayan.

Otherwise the Stateretained its zero-Covid-19 sta-tus as there were no freshcases detected on Saturday.

“Though a person had beenadmitted to hospital in Idukkidistrict on Friday, tests provedthat he has no coronavirusinfection and hence he was dis-charged,” said the ChiefMinister.

The Air India flights fromDubai and Abu Dhabi whichwere deployed for bringingback the expatriates were ledand managed by speciallytrained pilots and cabin crew.The pilots and cabin crew weregiven special training for aweek at Kalamassery MedicalCollege.

Passengers who reachedKochi and Kozhikode airportshave been quarantined at spe-cially prepared hostel rooms.According to the details fur-nished by Vijayan, till Saturday505 persons have been testedpositive for corona virus.

“There are 17 personsundergoing treatment in vari-ous hospitals in the State. Wehave put 23.930 persons underobservation. Out of this 23,596persons have been quaran-tined at their own homes and334 persons have been admit-ted to hospitals,” said the ChiefMinister.

Vijayan cautioned the peo-ple that though the coron-avirus curve has been flat-tened in the State, utmost carehas to be continued in the com-ing days as more and morepeople from West Asia as well

as other north Indian Stateswould be reaching Kerala.

Meanwhile, the Air Indiaon Saturday brought back 129Indians stranded to Delhi fromDhaka.

This was the second flightfrom Dhaka under the VandeBharat Mission. Another flightwith 177 passengers is expect-ed to land in Kochi fromMuscat.

As many as 1,741 Indians,including 21 infants, havereturned home in the past

three days from Abu Dhabi,Dubai, Singapore, Dhaka,Bahrain and Riyadh so far. Theflights landed in on Saturdayare from the UAE, Kuwait,Bangladesh, Oman andMalaysia. They are expected totouch down in New Delhi,Lucknow, Chennai, Hyderabadand Trichy.

Till Friday, 1,441 Indiansincluding eight infants, werebrought back on two Air Indiaand four flights of Air IndiaExpress.

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The Centre and the WestBengal Government are

engaged in a fresh face-offafter Home Minister AmitShah accused Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee of red-flag-ging the special Shramik trainscarrying migrant workers fromentering her State.

In a letter to the ChiefMinister, Amit Shah said theTrinamool Government wasn’tallowing trains to reach Bengaland warned this would makelife even harder for them.

Hours after Shah’s letter,the Trinamool Congressexploded calling Shah a “ped-dler of lies.”

“He is peddling bundles oflies,” said TMC MP and ChiefMinister’s nephew AbhishekBanerjee asking the HomeMinister to prove his allega-

tions or seek apology.Saying that Bengal’s apathy

towards its migrant workerswill only aggravate their con-dition, Shah in his letter wrotethat the Central Governmentwas “facilitating (the return ofthe migrant labourers) but weare not getting expected sup-port from the StateGovernment. This is injusticewith the migrant labourers.This will create further hard-ship for them, as the workersare eager to return to theirhomes.”

Within hours the juniorBanerjee hit back wonderingwho was responsible for thecurrent state of affairs and forwhose lack of foresight thedreaded disease could enterIndia. Later he tweeted, “AHM failing to discharge hisduties during this crisis speaksafter weeks of silence, only tomislead people with bundle oflies!” adding “Ironically he’stalking about the very peoplewho have been literally left tofate by his own Govt.”

He said Shah should provehis charges or apologise. Proveyour fake allegations or apolo-gise (sic),” he wrote.

The TMC leadership alsowondered how a letter writtento the Chief Minister found itsway to the media before reach-ing its actual destination.

Turn to Page 4

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There seems to be no respitefor India from Covid-19 as

cases mounted to 62,769 onSaturday with 2,101 deaths.Maharasthra remained theworst hit States with 20,228cases and 779 deaths, whileGujarat occupied the secondspot with 7,797 cases and 472deaths.

The health authorities inMaharashtra went into a tizzyon Saturday, as the Staterecorded highest-ever day’sfatality of 48 deaths and reg-istered a phenomenal 1,165new cases. Gujarat chipped in394 cases and 24 deaths.

The day saw a recordnumber of 115 deaths acrossIndia.

Of the total deaths inMaharashtra, Mumbaiaccounted for 27 deaths, whilethere were nine deaths in Puneand eight in Malegaon. Onedeath each was reported fromPune district, Akola, Nandedand Amravati.

The eight deaths reportedfrom Malegaon took placebetween the period of April 25and May 8. With the new 27deaths, the total number of

deaths in Mumbai has risen to489, while the total number ofinfected cases has jumped to12,864.

Meanwhile, theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) in an advi-sory issued on Saturday urgedthe people not to panic andasked “all positive coronapatients” who do not havesymptoms not rush to the bighospitals for admission whenthe test result is positive.

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Putting an end the rumoursabout his health making

rounds on social media, HomeMinister Amit Shah onSaturday declared that he ishealthy and is not sufferingfrom any disease.

“I want to clarify today thatI am perfectly healthy and I donot have any disease,” Shahsaid in a detailed note onTwitter. The Home Ministersaid for the past few daysthere have been rumours abouthis health on social mediaand “some even tweeted pray-ing for my death.”

Shah said he did not payattention to these rumours ashe was busy in the coron-avirus pandemic preventionand rehabilitation relatedworks.

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The Gautam Buddh NagarPolice has requested Air

India to station its Noida andGreater Noida-resident crewmembers, engaged in “VandeBharat Mission” to fly backIndians stuck up abroad amidthe Covid-19 lockdown, inDelhi itself for the period ofthe operation, officials said.

The request has beenmade because Gautam BuddhNagar, adjoining Delhi, falls in‘Red Zone’ and the to-and-fromovement of the flight crewmay increase the risk of thespread of coronavirus infec-tion, the officials said.

Gautam Buddh Nagar hasrecorded 214 positive cases ofcoronavirus including 2deaths, and is one of the worstCovid-hit districts in UP.

Additional Commissionerof Police Shriparna Gangulisaid following a Union HomeMinistry directive, and anoth-er one from the Ministry ofHealth, a request has beenmade to Air India’sChairman-cum-ManagingDirector Rajiv Bansal to fol-low the standard operatingprocedures issued by theMHA on May 5.

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New Delhi: The IndianRailways has operated 302‘Shramik Special’ trains sinceMay 1 and ferried home about3.4 lakh migrants stranded invarious parts of the countryamid the coronavirus-inducedlockdown, officials of theRailway Ministry said.

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Hundreds of migrant work-ers came onto the streets

and clashed with the police ata village in Surat district ofGujarat on Saturday to demandthat they either be sent back totheir home States or allowed toresume work at local industri-al units to earn money, policesaid.

The police resorted to lath-icharge and fired tear gas to dis-perse the angry migrants work-ers.

Over a 100 workers weredetained in this connection, anofficial said.

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Noida: A 62-year-old mandied due to coronavirus inNoida, becoming the secondCovid-19 fatality in UttarPradesh’s Gautam BuddhNagar district.

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� What is your role in Ek Thi Begum?This story is from the late 80s and the

early 90s when the underworld was at itspeak. I play Ashraf Bhatkar aka Sapna. Theentire story revolves around her as herjourney from a normal lady to one who isseeking for revenge is shown. Her husbandwas killed by an underworld don that iswhy she chose the path of revenge. � What all preparations did you have todo for the role?

I have never portrayed a character likethis before, so it was definitely exhausting.There are many shades in Ashraf ’scharacter and I had to explore the depthsof it. I had many discussions with SachinDarekar, the writer-director of the series.It was important for me and him to be onthe same page. I wanted to follow hisvision, we had lots of workshops and triedto take out all the things between the lines.It took a lot of homework actually andthat’s how we went ahead with the process.� Do you think there is a need to bringmore such stories at the forefront?

Definitely. What we have seen or heardis that underworld was man dominated.However, I believe that there are many suchwomen who in that era also became thepolice informers and came at the forefront.There was a lot of power to women evenback then. It is important that we showpeople that women were no less. We doneed such content. � What kind of rapport do you sharewith your co-actors?

I have worked with most of the actorson the sets. For Ankit Mohan, who playsmy husband. He is a friend but we nevergot a chance to work together. It was afantastic experience. Everybody has puttheir 100 per cent in the characters theyare playing. When you are working witha bunch of people, then it is more of a teamwork. It is no longer a story about aparticular person rather it is a compilationof everyone’s story. And Sachin, he has puta lot of efforts in the series. I have nevergot a chance to work with him, though hewas the writer of one of my shows. Theexperience if for a lifetime.� How was the environment on thesets?

It was always fun. Obviously notwhen we are shooting an emotionalsequence because it takes a little while toget out of that moment but otherwise it wasan extremely positive environment on thesets which is why our work became all themore fun.� From Radhabai to now AshrafBhatkar, you have played the roles of

women of substance. What attracts youto these roles?

It is the strength inside me may be. Ihave been fortunate that I have beengetting to do so much of work and suchkind of characters.

It is my inner strength that I like toportray such characters. I can connect withall the characters that I have playedbecause there was some common trait.Also all the roles have been different. Anyactor would die for such roles. Till now, Ihave never played a naive character orsomeone who don’t have a spine. I enjoydoing such type of characters.� How did your first show Tamannahappen with you?

I auditioned for it almost five times forthat show. Then I got a call from the team,but still it was not finalised. There was a

50-50 chance. I was hoping to get the role.And when it happened, I knew that it wasan opportunity where I have to provemyself to myself ki main yeh kar sakti hun.I am glad that it happened because itopened a lot of doors for me.� What kind of roles would you like toexperiment with?

I don’t mind playing similar kind ofcharacters as long as I am getting to showmy strength. Also, I would like to explorethe side of mine which I haven’t till nowlike I said I have never played a naive ora bichari character. But my inclination willcontinue to be towards strong characters.� What is there in the pipeline?

There are some projects but I am notallowed to talk about it right now. Onceeverything will fall in place, I will share thedetails.

Believe it or not, besides Mother’sDay, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Dayand a slew of other days, there is

a National Paranormal Day. It iscelebrated on May 3 and people areencouraged to come together and sharetheir eerie stories and or experiences.But given the present situation —COVID-19 lockdown — the gettogether is not be possible. So how thenext best thing? Watch ghosts come aliveon your small screen.

“There is a reason why we love tohear or see shows and films that relateto the paranormal. We have all grownup listening to bhoot ki kahanis from ourgrandparents: ‘Ki aisa usne dekha thha’.That fascinates us. Just like those whoare addicted to sci-fi movies and wantto believe in aliens, we have out ourhome-grown bhoots,” Mayank Mishrasays, who has been playing the ghost forthe last one year on the show. He tellsyou that he has forgotten how manydifferent ghosts he has played till nowsince one rolls into another.

He tells you that it was his dream toplay a ghost since he was a kid. “Whilegrowing up, we each dream of becomingor doing something. Since I had alwayswanted to be an actor my dream role wasto play ghost and today, I am living it.It is interesting to play a bhoot. It is unlikeplaying any other character. There is somuch more than just role play. Since eachepisode has a different ghost, I need togive it a different look, walk and voice.I do a lot of study and watch shows andfilms around the genre to try and seehow I can improve on the creature thatI have to play. Then there is the wholetime spent in getting the prosthetics andmake-up and wearing a costume thatweighs over 10 kg and spend the next12 hours in that get up and then shots.It is extremely challenging but I love it,”Mishra tells you.

Though Mishra may have playedover 25 so far and counting, there are twocreatures that he loved playing. One wasthe episode he which he played the iceman. “There was something sointeresting to play a creature that wascovered in white from top to bottom and

coming out of a fridge. The other wasChanda mama, the moon ghost. Thiswas nice since the kids loved what I havedone here,” Mishra tells you whosefavourite Bollywood ghost movies asRaaz, 1921 and IT (Hollywood).

Nitica Kanwar, one of the writerswho came on board for the show tellsyou that one of the biggest challenges thatcome with writing a monster story asopposed to any other story is how it isdifferent from what one has donebefore. “One has to be more creative,imaginative and think out of the box.Every story that you have has to bringin a new element, not seen before. So thatpeople, when they come back, have anew creature and a new ghost. It isdefinitely challenging and a lot morefun,” Kanwar says who came on boardwhen the show had more of creatures,monsters and bent towards fantasyrather than ghosts.

She tells you that when you write forsuch shows, a lot of research has to gointo studying if there was any folkloreassociated with what you are writing

about or if there was a mention inmythology. “One doesn’t want to createa monster or a creature that doesn’t existor impossible to imagine,” Kanwar says.While it may not always be possible togo out and create a Marvel on TV, whatis not lacking is the talent to write scaryfantasy stories. One has to see if what Ihave written can be executed. The firstconcern is that the creature doesn’tappear to be tacky. We have to see if onecan shoot it was the graphics and VFXlevel. Also, horror/fantasy as a genre hasnot been explored much and in theindustry and that brings in its ownchallenges. It involves a lot of work aswell,” Kanwar says. It takes her aroundtwo-three days to write story before theprocess of positive feedback from thechannel and the producer beings beforethe story is finalised.

Hemant R Prabhu, tells you thatworking with horror/fantasy genre is apassion for him and not only has heproduced 13 episodes of the show, hehas directed most o them. For him thereare two biggest challenges. First, to keep

the audience thrilled enough so that theydon’t surf. Second, revolves around thelook of the monster. “There is so muchsoftware out there. Every story has to bedifferent and new look,” Prabhu says.

Directing comes easy to him sincemost of back-end works in taken careof before the episode goes on the floor.“Most of the work is beforehand. A lotof homework is done. Pre-productionmeetings take care of any other wrinklesthat may come up,” Prabhu says.

Jitu Mhatre, the man behind theprosthetics and make-up who has givenface to 90 per cent of the monsters tellsyou that the biggest challenge he facesis to deliver things on time. “We aregiven only three-four days to come upwith the look that is finalised. This takesa lot of time and effort and a slew ofpeople. We also have to ensure that themonster even though scary is notyucky. People should be scared notrepulsed with the monster. This iswhat attracts people to horror genre; thefact that we have come up with a newlook that has not been seen before,”Mhatre explains.

Then there is the VFX and thechallenges that for a show on ghosts.Sarika who is behind the camera andensures that the ghost does all scary stufflike fly and appear and disappear in lessthan a fraction tells you that while themake-up artist will give the look, it is notalways possible to have a perfect lookingghost or a monster. This is where theVFX people step in and ensure that theghost does what it does best — scare thejeebies out of you.

“Even after the prosthetics artist hasdone his job, it has limitations. He can’tmake the eyes glow nor can he make thearms or the entire body twist and turnat a horrible angel that will scare you.That is where we step in. The CG cando so much more. Even if it a smallscene, it can create that scare quotient.This adds to the thrill factor for the fansof horror genre and they love it. Theyalso want to know what new we haveto offer to them that will add to thewhole experience of watching a reallyscary show,” Sarika says.

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Girl Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis: This oneis so empowering and great that it will make youdouble down and start checking off every thing onyour 2020 goals list.

In this title she challenges women to stoptalking thermselves out of their goals and dreamsand live out their life instead of feeling traped intotheir mother/wife/best friend etc roles they havedefined for themselves.

Mom Up: Thriving with Grace in the chaos ofMotherhood by James, Kara-Kae: Being a momis hard and mothers every where know it. we allthink we are failing at this job, but we aren’t. Thebook aims yo help moms stop merely survivingtheir motherhood journey and start thriving. Thebook focuses on intentional motherhood,emphasises the importance of rest and how toembrace the chaos.

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While many people will becelebrating Mother's Day

with their families today,several mothers are strugglingto provide milk, medicationand other necessary things totheir children during thelockdown. This Mother's Day,some mothers shared how theyare taking care of their childrenduring the coronaviruspandemic.

"I think mothers take careof their children today and givethem treat. I do not know. Wedo not know about any fancydays because it actually makesno difference in our life," saida rag picker Salma on beingasked about her views onMother’s Day. Talking abouther children, Salma said, "I havethree kids and I am a singlemother. I send my children toschool because I do not wantthem to be rag pickers like meonce they grow up. But sincethe lockdown began, thesituation is quite bad. I do nothave enough money to buy

pens or notebooks for mychildren. Schools are not openyet but I am sure they will opentoo. Therefore, from thisMonday, my two children arealso helping me in rag picking.

We are getting ration throughmany kind people and thegovernment but we cannot askthem for other necessarythings. We do not have toworry much about food these

days so with little earning I canbuy stationery supplies for mychildren easily."

Another mother Birji, whosharpens knives, scissors andsickles for a livelihood besides

selling some items made of ironnear Sahastradhara Road alsoshared her story. “Thelockdown made it really hardfor us to afford basic necessitiesfor our kids. We do not earnenough to provide our kidseducation. They help me toearn our livelihood. We getration kits and cooked foodpackets from the districtadministration but arrangingmoney for milk and medicinesfor kids is tough these days.”

Meanwhile, to supportsuch mothers during thelockdown, some locals havedecided to dedicate thisMother's Day to these motherswho are having a hard timeproviding sufficient resourcesto their children. “ThisMother's Day, I and my sisterhave decided to donate somemilk packets and some otheritems to some destitutemothers in nearby areas. Wewill also donate some money toPM CARES fund. It is notmuch but we all can contributethrough our means during thecrisis," said Priyanka Pannu.

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The State Government is inthe process of finalising

the plan to bring back migrantsfrom the State back toUttarakhand by train. A sum of�50 lakh has also beendeposited as advance by theState with the railways.However, reports published bysome media outlets listingspecific date for the train areincorrect as the dates have notbeen finalised yet. Meanwhile,out of the 1,79,615 migrantsfrom Uttarakhand who haveregistered online for returningto the State, 23,794 had beenbrought back from variousstates by Friday evening.Secretary Shailesh Bagauli saidthis while addressing the mediaon Saturday.

He said that talks havebeen held to bring backmigrants by train from Surat,Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluruand other places. Talks arealso underway for train fromRajasthan. The UttarakhandGovernment is bearing thetrain and bus expense to bringback natives to the State. A sumof �50 lakh has been depositedwith the railways as advance. Sofar, the state has discussed theoperation of eight specialtrains. The time-table forbringing back migrants bytrain will be finalised soon aftertalks with the Railwaysministry and the statesconcerned. The migrants

concerned will be informed bySMS as soon as the schedule isfinalised, he said.

Bagauli further informedthat of the 1.79 lakh migrantswho have registered to return,23,794 were brought back byFriday evening.

These include 11,482 fromHaryana, 4383 fromChandigarh, 3,526 from UttarPradesh, 2,409 from Rajasthan,482 from Delhi, 327 fromPunjab, 319 from Gujarat and411 from other states. Apartfrom these, the number ofpersons going from one districtto another within Uttarakhandis 34,886. Further, 21,717persons have registered onlineto travel to other states from

Uttarakhand. Out of these,6,378 persons have been sent toother Sates so far. Bagauli saidthat the process of bringingback migrants to Uttarakhandhas to be planned properly.

The time-table is draftedaccording to the number ofpersons for whomarrangements can be made inone day in the districts. TheState Government is makingarrangements to bring back allthose who have registered forthe same.

However, precautions likemedical test, social distancingand quarantine among othershave to be observed effectively,he added.

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The Union RailwayMinister Piyush Goyal has

agreed to Uttarakhand’srequest for operating specialtrains to bring backUttarakhandis from Delhi.Thanking him for this, ChiefMinister Trivendra SinghRawat said that he had talkedto Goyal on Friday night andinformed him that about40,000 people want to returnhome to Uttarakhand fromDelhi. Rawat said, “SinceRailway Board had decidedthat special trains would runonly for distances longer than500 kilometres, I soughtrelaxation requesting thatbeing a mountain State, we donot have such long tracks. Wethank the Railway minister forunderstanding our situationand agreeing to our request.

He told me to send the State’splan and assured that train willbe provided as required.”

The CM said that there isa provision for such specialtrains to halt at only onestation. He told Goyal thatconsidering the differentsituation in Uttarakhand, thetrain should be allowed to stopat two stations. The Unionminister talked to the RailwayBoard chairman and askedhim to approve the proposalto be sent by Uttarakhand anddo the needful.

The CM said that withthis, the State will be able tobring back 1,000 to 1,200migrants from Delhi in onetrain compared to about 30persons who can be broughtback in one bus. He assuredthat the State government willbear the cost of the railjourney.

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Four new patients of novelCoronavirus ( COVID-19)

were reported from UdhamSingh Nagar district onSaturday. With them thenumber of COVID-19 patientsin Uttarakhand has jumped to67. One patient of the diseasewas discharged from thehospital in Nainital district on

the day. The positive casesreported on the day are said tobe the residents of Rudrapurand Khatima and they wererecently sent into quarantine byauthorities when they werecaught trying to sneak into thestate from neighbouring UttarPradesh (UP).

The reporting of four newpatients in a day sent theauthorities of Udham SinghNagar in a tizzy. The four wereimmediately shifted to SushilaTiwari Hospital in Haldwaniwhich is the COVID treatmenthospital. The district now hasnine active cases of the diseasewhich account to 45 percent ofthe total active cases in the state.

The additional secretary,state health department, YugalKishore Pant said that reportsof 221 samples were received bythe health department on

Saturday and out of them fourwere found positive.

He said that the state nowhas 20 active cases of thedisease out of total 67 positivecases so far. Pant said thatreports of 230 samples are stillawaited by the department.On Saturday, a total of 233samples were collected forCOVID -19 testing. Theauthorities have so far taken

swab samples of 9386 suspectedpatients for COVID-19 test.Out of the total samples only0.76 percent samples have beenfound positive for the disease.The rate of recovery from theCOVID-19 in the state is 68.66percent. A total of 9329 personsare kept in home quarantinewhile 2801 are in facilityquarantine. A total of 1264959people have so far downloaded

the Arogya Setu App in theirsmart phones.

Out of the 20 active casesin the state, Udham SinghNagar district now has highestnine cases while Dehradundistrict has seven active cases.Haridwar district has threeactive cases while Nainital hasone active case now. InDehradun district, five patientsare currently admitted in AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS), Rishikeshwhich had witnessed a surge inthe number of cases recently.Incidentally the GovernmentDoon Medical College(GDMC) hospital now hasonly two patients of the disease.Twenty four patients of thedisease have so far been treatedand discharged from thishospital so far which is thehighest in the state.

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Tulips are blooming at the tulipgarden developed by the state

government in Munsyari area ofPithoragarh district. Happy at thedevelopment, Chief Minister TrivendraSingh Rawat shared photos of the tulipgarden on Saturday. “I am happy toshare the first pics of the successful pilotof my dream project- Munsyari basedtulip garden.

Set amidst the backdrop ofPanchahuli ranges, this garden will beone the biggest tulip gardens in theworld and will transform tourism in theMunsyari region,” tweeted Rawat.

The CM further stated that, a partof the Munsyari nature education andeco park centre spread across 30hectares is being developed as a tulipgarden. This is separate from the tulipgarden being developed in Pithoragarh.At the park in Munsyari, visitors will beable to stay in huts and tents. In

Pithoragarh, a tulip garden is beingdeveloped on 50 hectare area near the

famous Mostamanu temple. Both thesetulip gardens, all weather road,

Pithoragarh air connectivity and theDharchula- Lipulekh motor roadrecently inaugurated by the DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh will helpdevelop tourism in the region, stated theCM.

The research wing of the forestdepartment had conducted suitabilitytrial for tulip in Munsyari. A touristdestination and base station for treks tomany glaciers like Millam, Ralam andNamik, Munsyari lies at the base of thegreat Himalayan mountain range at anelevation of about 2,200 metres.

The cool nights makes Munsyarithe perfect landscape for tulipcultivation. The soil in this area iscontinuously drained, creating perfectgrowing conditions for tulip bulbs,which thrive in well drained but moistsoil. The tulip germination andflowering in Himalayan climate wassuccessfully tested by the forestdepartment’s research wing head SanjivChaturvedi.

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In protest against what ittermed coercive attitude of

State Government towards theleaders of its party, seniorCongress leaders held protestson Saturday. While PradeshCongress Committee (PCC)chief Pritam Singh sat on adharna at the PCC along withother leaders, former CabinetMinister Tilak Raj Behad sat ata Dharna outside the office ofSenior Superintendent of Police(SSP) in Udham Singh Nagar.The Congress leaders are angryafter district administration ofUdham Singh Nagar filed acase against Behad recently.

The PCC president saidthat the incident of violence inMalsa Girdharpur village ofUdham Singh Nagar showsthe failure of State Governmentand deteriorating law and ordercondition in the state. He saidthat Malsa Girdharpur is thevillage of Congress leader TilakRaj Behad and when he gotinformation about an incident

of firing, he went to the village.“He helped in diffusing thetension in the village and onnext day when Behad wasagain going to his village, thepolice stopped him and therequest of administration hereturned back. However a casewas registered case against himunder the disaster managementact.

Similarly fabricated caseswere registered againstCongress leaders in differentparts of the country,’’ he said.The PCC President furtheradded that the stateadministration is acting at thebehest of the BJP leaders andis falsely implicating Congressleaders. He cited examples ofChairperson of Srinagarmunicipal council PoonamTiwari and formerspokesperson Advait Bahugunaand Arun Taneja of Kichha inthis respect. Singh warned thatthe Congress party would nottolerate the discriminatingattitude and undue harassmentof its leaders. He demandedthat the false cases against

Congress leaders shouldimmediately be taken back.General secretary(Organisation) of UttarakhandCongress Vijay Saraswat, vicepresident Surya KantDhasmana, Aryendra Sharma,Surveer Singh Sajwan,spokesperson GarimaDassauni and others werepresent on the occasion.

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The Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) chief,

Pritam Singh took part in avideo conferencing sessionwith general secretaryorganisation of All IndiaCongress Committee (AICC),KC Venugopal, nationaltreasurer Ahmed Patel andcontrol room in-charge ofAICC for COVID-19 RajivSatav on Saturday. In thesession, he informed centralleaders of party about thesituation of Uttarakhand andproblems faced by the peopledue to the lockdown. In thesession, the PCC Presidents ofall the states took part.

Cong playing politicsinstead of acknowledgingmistake- BJP

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The BJP has accused theCongress of playing politics

even amidst the COVID-19pandemic. Stating this, the BJPState vice president DevendraBhasin criticised the dharnastaged by Congress against thecase lodged against its partyleader Tilak Raj Behad forviolating the lockdown rules.

In a statement issued to themedia, Bhasin said that thecase lodged against Congressleader Behad is for violating thelockdown rules. “At a timewhen all people are strugglingagainst COVID-19 with theCentral and State Governmentsputting in all effort, theCongress is trying to createproblems instead ofcooperating. The lives of peopleseem to be worthless forCongress leaders for whomonly politics is important. Thecase was lodged against Behadbecause he and his friends hadviolated the lockdown rules.The Congress shouldacknowledge its mistake in thisepisode.

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After the recruitment ofmedical officers (MO) for

State health services, theUttarakhand Government hasnow shifted its focus on therecruitment of facultymembers for its medicalcolleges.

The Uttarakhand MedicalServices Selection Board(UMSSB) released recruitmentadvertisement for 109 posts ofProfessors, Associate Professorsand Assistant Professors onFriday. The chairperson of theboard, Dr DS Rawat said thatapplications have been soughtfor 46 posts of Professors, 61posts of Associate Professorsand two posts of AssistantProfessors in 24 disciplines.The posts of the Professors andAssociate Professors are forgovernment medical colleges ofUttarakhand while two posts ofassistant professors ( RadiationPhysics) are for cancer instituteHaldwani.

Dr Rawat informed thatthe board has given a time ofone month for the aspirants forfilling online application. Hesaid that after the receipt ofapplications, the process ofscrutiny of forms wouldresume. The board wouldinvite only the eligible

candidates for interviews. Theinterview would be done bypanel of experts. The selectedcandidates for the Professorswould be appointed on paylevel 15 ( �1,44200 to 218200)while the Associate Professorswould be appointed on paylevel 14 ( �118500 to 214100).Dr Rawat claimed that theprocess of recruitment wouldbe completed in three to fourmonths.

Recently, the board hadselected 477 medical officersfor its health services. Lastyear, the board has selected 88assistant professors in variousdisciplines.

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Contributions havecontinued to Chief

Minister relief fund to supportefforts against COVID-19 andpublic welfare measures. TheIndian Bank, Dehradunregional head Ashish Tiwaripresented a cheque for �10lakh to CM Trivendra SinghRawat in the presence of thebank’s Dehradun branchmanager MPS Rana andothers.

Ranipur MLA AdeshChauhan contributed chequesfor �5,06,802 to the CM relieffund and �2,59,137 for the PMCARES fund. The amountwas collected by the people ofRanipur constituency.

The BJP Haridwar districthead Jaipal Singh Chauhanpresented a cheque for �1,02,701 collected by partyworkers to the CM relief fund.Further, the state youth welfareadvisory council vice chairmanJitendra Rawat contributed hisone month’s salary to the relieffund. The Maharana PratapVichar Manch also contributed�1.11 lakh to the CM relieffund.

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Governor BabyRani Maurya

said that she willdiscuss the issuesbeing faced byw o m e nentrepreneurs withthe Chief Ministerand the CentralGovernment. Shesaid this afterinteracting withw o m e nentrepreneurs of thestate during a webinarorganised by the Confederationof All India Traders (CAIT).

Purvi Sarkar fromPithoragarh said thattransportation of products is aproblem being faced during thelockdown. Problems are beingfaced in packaging andtransporting the juice ofBurans, malta and ghee.

Maurya assured the womenentrepreneurs that she woulddiscuss their problems andsuggestions with the CM andGovernment of India.Encouraging the womenentrepreneurs, she said thatduring this lockdown periodwomen are working for thewelfare of their family andbusiness. She stressed on the

necessity of facilitatingemployment opportunities inorganic farming, medical herbsand local handicrafts for ruralwomen.

Women entrepreneursdiscussed the issues of taxdiscount on organic products,time-bound transportation,loading facilities and easy loansfrom the banks in the webinar.

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Covid-19 cases rose to 675 inHaryana on Saturday after

28 people, including 16 in theworst-affected Gurugramdistrict, tested positive, theHealth Department said.

The number of activecorona virus cases is 376 upfrom 358 until over a day ago,while 290 people have beendischarged so far, thedepartment said in its bulletin.On Saturday too, the majorityof the new cases are from NCRdistricts of Gurugram andSonepat. Rewari in southHaryana, which had remainedfree from the pandemic,reported its first three cases onSaturday.

Haryana had so farreported eight corona virus-related deaths, added one morenow, taking the tally to 9.

The worst affected districtsof the State with maximumnumber of positive cases areGurugram (146), Sonepat (89),Faridabad (88), Jhajjar (74),Nuh (59), Ambala (41) andPalwal (36), Panipat (36).

According to the Stategovernment’s health bulletin,28 fresh cases were reportedfrom Gurugram, Sonepat,

Panipat, Panchkula, Sirsa,Mahendragarh and Rewari.

While hard hit Gurugramreported 16 more case, takingthe total number of Covid-19cases in the district to 142,Sonepat district that had so farreported 86 cases over fewweeks ago, added three morenow, taking the tally to 89.Panipat reported one morecase, taking the tally to 36.

Panchkula reported twomore cases, taking the tally to20. One more cases reported inSirsa, taking the tally to 7.Mahendragarh reported twomore cases, taking the tally to4. Rewari reported three morecases.

Meanwhile, 51 Covidpatients have been dischargedin Gurugram while 55 inFaridabad, 57 in Nuh, 32 inPalwal, 17 in Panchkula, 11 inAmbala and 10 in Jhajjar.

Health bulletin’s reportsrevealed that there are noCovid patients in districts likeCharkhi Dadri, Kaithal,Bhiwani, Kurukshetra in theState. One patient who hadearlier tested positive inCharkhi Dadri has beendischarged. All two patientswho were earlier tested positiveeach in Kaithal and

Kurukshetra have beendischarged. All three patientswho were earlier tested positivein Bhiwani have beendischarged.

As many as 53, 282 sampleshave been tested so far, out ofwhich 48, 468 have testednegative. The report of 4,139samples is awaited.

31 FRESH CASES, 2 DEATHSIN PUNJAB

Punjab reported twomore coronavirus deaths onSaturday, while 31 people testedpositive for the infection,bringing the number of cases to1,762 in the state, according tothe state government's medicalbulletin.The fresh fatalitiespushed coronavirus-relateddeath toll to 31 in Punjab. Thereare 1,574 active cases in the state,according to the bulletin.A 62-year-old COVID-19 positiveman from Hoshiarpur died atthe Post Graduate Institute ofMedical Education and Research(PGIMER) here, said a healthofficial. The man was havingrespiratory problems, the officialadded.

A 56-year-old COVID-19patient died at a Ludhianahospital, the official said.

Among fresh cases

reported on Saturday, 17 werein Jalandhar, five in FatehgarhSahib, four in Rupnagar, two inPathankot and one each inPatiala, Kapurthala andHoshiarpur, according to thebulletin.

Five coronavirus patientsfrom Jalandhar weredischarged from hospital afterrecovering from the infection.So far, 157 COVID-19 patientshave been discharged fromhospitals in the state.

Amritsar continued to topthe COVID-19 tally in thestate with 287 cases, followedby 175 in Jalandhar, 157 inTarn Taran, 125 in Ludhiana,116 in Gurdaspur, 103 in SBSNagar, 96 in Patiala, 95 inMohali, 90 in Hoshiarpur, 88in Sangrur, 65 in Muktsar, 56in Moga, 45 in Faridkot, 43 inFerozepur, 40 in Bathinda, 39in Fazilka, 29 in Pathankot, 28in Fatehgarh Sahib, 24 inKapurthala, 21 in Barnala, 20each in Mansa and Rupnagar,the bulletin said.

One patient is critical andis on ventilator support, it said.A total of 39,462 samples havebeen collected in the state so farand 33,639 of them have comeout negative and reports of4,061 are still awaited.

CHANDIGARH REPORTSA JUMP OF 23 CASES,INCLUDING A 4-MONTHOLD

Union Territory ofChandigarh saw a major surgein the number of Coronaviruscases on Saturday with 23reporting positive, including afour-month-old.

Of the new cases, 21 havebeen reported from BapuDham colony in Sector 26,which has emerged as anepicentre of the virus infectionin the city.

An official statement said,the new cases include two andsix-year-old children. They allare already home quarantinedas their family members hadearlier tested positive. Withthis, the total count of Covidcases in Chandigarh has goneup to 169.

On Friday, the city hadrecorded its second death dueto Covid.

The patient, a resident ofHallo Majra, had died at theICU of the GMSH in Sector 16,on May 6, but his test reportcame as positive for the viruslater on Friday. The man wasreferred from the Civil Hospitalin Sector 45 to the GMSH lastSaturday with severe anaemia.

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In a sign for resumption ofeconomic activities amid the

Covid-led lockdown across thecountry, Haryana HomeMinister Anil Vij on Saturdaysaid over 1.5 lakh migrantworkers have applied ongovernment portal, expressingtheir willingness to return backto work in the state.

Most of these 1.5 lakhworkers, who have registeredthemselves to return, belong toBihar, Uttar Pradesh andMadhya Pradesh, Vij said,adding that on the same portalnearly 8 lakh migrant workers,however, have registeredthemselves for leaving the state.

“Most of the 1.5 lakh whowant to come back are fromBihar, UP and MP. They wantto come here as commercialactivities have started and theyare hopeful that they can finda job,” he said.

Asked how Haryana canfacilitate those migrants willingto come back during thelockdown, Vij said, “We aretalking to the states to which

they belong.”Most of the migrants who

want to return have applied tocome to industrial towns ofGurgaon, Sonipat, Jhajjar,Rewari, Faridabad and Panipat,said officials. They said thatmost of these who have appliedto return may have left beforethe lockdown or during itsinitial few days.

Asked if the resumption ofthe state’s industry andeconomic activities would notbe affected due to moreworkers seeking to leave thestate and than those willing toreturn, Vij said, “We and therest of the country and theworld is facing a situation thatwe are bound to face somedifficulties.

“But we cannot stop thosemigrant workers who want togo back with their states toobeing ready to have themback. We can only persuadethese workers and we arealready doing that. We areseeking to assure them that theHaryana government will takecare of all their needs, but wecannot force them to stay

back,” he said.Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattarhad on Wednesday reiteratedhis appeal to migrant workersnot to leave the state andinstead start working inmanufacturing units whichhave been allowed to resumeoperations, saying thecoronavirus situation in thestate was much better. He hadsaid migrants must comparethe situation in their nativeplaces with that in Haryanabefore taking a decision.

The chief minister,however, had said if anyone stillwanted to leave, the stategovernment has already madearrangements for their returnas per the Centre's guidelines.On Wednesday, the first specialtrain from Hisar carrying 1,200migrant workers left for Katiharin Bihar.

More such migrantswanting to go back will be sentback within the next seven daysthrough 5,000 buses and 100trains, with the stategovernment being ready tobear the entire cost of theirtransportation.

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The Union Government willrun a special train from

Goa to carry strandedHimachalis back to state,Himachal chief minister JaiRam Thakur said on Saturday.

He said on the request ofthe state government, theUnion Government has agreedto run a special train fromThivim/Margao/Karamali(Goa) to Una to facilitatemovement of the people ofHimachal Pradesh stranded inGoa.

Interacting through videoconferencing from Shimla withthe people of State stranded invarious parts of Goa due to thecountrywide lockdown, theChief Minister said that he hasrequested the Union RailwaysMinister Piyush Goyal to ply a

special train from Goa to Unain Himachal Pradesh tofacilitate the people to reach theState.

Thakur said a special trainwould start from Goa on May13 or 14 to carry theHimachalis back home.

He said as many as 1204people of the State werestranded in Goa which includes398 from Mandi district, 246from Kullu district, 241 fromKangra district, 105 fromChamba district, 70 fromShimla district and 43 fromSolan district.

He said the Governmentwould try to fully utilize theskill and expertise of the peoplecoming back to their home,adding that after theirhomecoming they will have toremain under homequarantine.

CM URGES ANDHRAPRADESH GOVT TOPROVIDE ASSISTANCE TOSTRANDED HIMACHALIS

Chief Minister Jai RamThakur on Saturday urged theAndhra Pradesh Governmentto provide assistance toresidents of Himachal Pradeshstuck in Sri Sayta Sai SevaOrganization, Prasanty Nilyamin Puttaparthy AndhraPradesh in wake ofcountrywide lockdown.

In a letter written to theChief Minister of AndhraPradesh Y.S.Jagan MohanReddy, Thakur said that theState Government wasreceiving several SOS calls ofHimachalis stranded there forextending necessary assistanceto them. He said that most ofthese people want to come

back to their native places.Chief Minister also urged

his Andhra Pradeshcounterpart to take care of thestranded residents of HimachalPradesh and ensure properfood, shelter and medical careto them. He said that HimachalPradesh Government wasensuring all possible help to thepeople of other States strandedin the State.

PARTY WORKERS MUSTKEEP A CLOSE VIGIL ONRETURNEES, SAYSTHAKUR

Addressing BJP workersthrough video conferencing,the chief minister said each andevery party worker must ensurethat they reach the home of theperson coming back from otherStates even before the person

actually arrives, so as tosensitise the family membersregarding importance of socialdistancing and homequarantine to check spread ofcorona pandemic.

The Chief Minister saidthat the State Government hasmade elaborate arrangementsto bring back the people ofHimachal Pradesh stranded inother States. He said that StateGovernment had alreadyappointed adequate numberof supporting officers to theNodal Authority to coordinatemovement of the migrantworkers, pilgrims, tourists,students and other personsboth within and outside theState.

He said that although thishas caused increase in numberof corona positives cases in theState.

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The State Covid-19 tally roseto 294 with 24 more testing

positive for coronavirus onSaturday. The highest numberof 18 cases was again reportedfrom the new Covid-19hotspot Ganjam district allhaving returned from Surat.

With the 18 new cases,Ganjam’s total cases surged to89. All are active cases. Allpatients are symptomatic and onquarantine, according to theInformation and PublicRelations Department. Amaiden case was detected inNaygarh district, which was tillnow unaffected by the virusspread and was tagged as a greenzone. The patient was identifiedas a 40-year-old man and a Suratreturnee. Contact tracing andfollow-up action are underway

by the districtadministration.With this, thetotal number of affected districtrose to 19.Three cases werereported from Mayurbhanjdistrict, taking the district’s totaltally to seven. One case each wasdetected in Sundargarh andBhadrak districts.

However, on the day, fourpersons from Baleswar andone person from Jajpur districtrecovered from the diseaseafter they tested negative. Withfive new patients recuperatingcompletely, the total number ofrecoveries stood at 68 in theState

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The Punjab Police in a jointoperation on Saturday

arrested drug smuggler RanjeetSingh Rana, who was wanted inconnection with a 532-kgheroin haul from Attari lastyear, from Sirsa in Haryana.

Arrested from a hideout,Rana alias Cheeta was facingover 10 criminal cases andwas one of the key links in thenetwork engaged in smugglinga large number ofconsignments of drugs andillegal weapons through theIndo-Pak border, the policesaid.

Among other cases, Ranawas wanted in the narcoticshaul case in which the Customsdepartment seized 532 kg ofheroin worth Rs 2,700 crore onJune 29, 2019 from 600 bags ofrock salt at the IntegratedCheck Post in Amritsar's Attari.Rana was said to be the kingpinof the narcotics haul.

Giving details of theoperation, Punjab DGP DinkarGupta said he spoke to hisHaryana counterpart ManojYadava around 9 pm on Friday.Thereafter, coordination wasestablished by Amritsar policewith Sirsa Superintendent ofPolice Arun Nehra. A team ofAmritsar police reached Sirsaat 3:30 am. The outer cordon ofthe area was laid jointly byHaryana and Punjab police, hesaid.

After not finding Rana atthe first location, a PunjabPolice team reached the secondlocation, he said. Gupta saidafter police knocked on thedoor, Rana slowly opened thedoor. As soon as he saw thepolice party, he tried to closethe door and grab an axe lyingnear his bed. But the policekicked open the door andcaught him. His brotherGagandeep Singh, who wassleeping in another room, wasalso arrested, the DGP said.

The arrest of Rana and hisbrother marks the first time thepolice have been able to unravelinternational drug networkson such a massive scale andexpose a major racket ofproceeds of narcotic tradebeing routed to terrorist outfitsoperating in Jammu andKashmir, Punjab and otherparts of the country, PunjabChief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh said in astatement.

Rana's arrest comes afterthe state police recently nabbed

Hizbul Mujahideen operativesin Amritsar. The Punjab Policehad last month arrested HilalAhmed Wagay, a close associateof slain Hizbul Mujahideencommander Riyaz Naikoo, thepolice said. Later on May 5,Wagay's two accomplices --Bikram Singh and ManinderSingh -- were arrested fromAmritsar.

Analysis of data along withthe National InvestigationAgency (NIA) led to theidentification of Rana's Sirsalocation. Subsequently, in

coordination with the HaryanaPolice, the hideout was bustedand he was arrested with hisbrother in the early hours ofSaturday, the chief ministersaid in a statement.

Rana was one of the mostactive nodes of the extensiveand common network of drugsmugglers or couriers set up byPakistan intelligence agencyISI to push compositeconsignments of drugs,weapons, fake currency fromPakistan into Punjab throughvarious means, includingdrones, he said.

PUNJAB CM WARNS PAKAGAINST ATTEMPTS TOSPREAD NARCOTERRORISM

Punjab Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh onSaturday warned Pakistanagainst its "persistent attempts"to spread narco-terrorism inIndia, asserting that the police

force was "keeping a closewatch" on anti-nationalactivities across the bordereven during a crisis.

"Our eyes are open to whatPakistan is doing," CaptAmarinder said, after the NIAarrested a notorious narco-terrorist who acted as a conduitfor Pakistan-based terrorgroups.

The central agency said ina statement that it, along withthe Punjab and Haryana police,arrested Ranjit Singh aliasCheeta, a resident of Amritsar,from Haryana.

It said investigation in adrug case against Singh showedPakistan-based outfits wereusing narcotic trade to generatefunds for terror activities inIndia.

Assuring people that nomatter how much the force hasbeen busy with Covid duties,the Punjab chief minister said,the police was keeping a watchon the borders.

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At least 23 COVID-19patients in Ranchi

recovered from the deadly viralinfection and were dischargedfrom hospital on Saturday,officials from the Ranchidistrict administration said.The development takes thetotal count of Coronavirussurvivors in Ranchi to 53,which is more than 50 per centof the total cases reported here,they added.

According to figuresshared by the National HealthMission (NHM), as many as 93cases of COVID-19 cases havebeen reported in Ranchi so far– the highest among all thedistricts in Jharkhand. ByFriday evening, at least 30patients had already recoveredfrom the infection. AfterSaturday's update, there areonly 38 active cases in Ranchi

– a development that is beingseen as a major step towardsthe State capital's victory overCOVID-19 virus.

"The recovery of patientsfrom COVID-19 infection is ahuge success for us. We willsoon fight back and bring lifeback on track, I am sure," saidRanchi Deputy CommissionerRai Mahimapat Ray. "I requestall Ranchi-ites to stay safe andfollow social distancing untilwe emerge victorious," headded.

The DC also requestedthe residents of Ranchi totreat the COVID-19 survivorsfairly, and not ostracise them.Amid the panic andpandemonium of Coronavirusinfection, the survivors mayget treated unfairly due to thegrowing fear among locals,sources said. "Please treat theCOVID-19 survivors fairly,"said Rai.

There are 33 COVID-19containment zones inJharkhand and 15 of them fallwithin the periphery of Ranchi– the only red zone in State,

Health Secretary Nitin MadanKulakarni has said. Theremaining 18 containmentzones are spread across thenine districts that fall in thecategory of orange zones here,he added.

While Ranchi tops in thenumber of cases, it is also thedistrict that has reportedhighest number of patientssurviving the infection. Out of

the 75 COVID-19 survivors inState, 53 are from Ranchi, saidan NHM report.

The first case of COVID-19 in Jharkhand was reportedfrom Hindpiri on March 31.Since then, the locality emergedas a hotspot of the viralinfection, officials said. A 22-year-old Malaysian woman,who attended the TablighiJamaat congregation in New

Delhi, is said to be the firstcarrier of the virus in thelocality.

She was apprehendedalong with 17 other foreignnationals from the locality lastmonth. Two of them –theMalaysian woman and a manfrom Trinidad– tested positive,health officials said. Later, thewoman tested negative, theyadded.

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Chairman, MythriInfrastructure & Mining

India Private Limited, TSrinivas Rao, met ChiefMinister Hemant Soren, hereon Saturday and supportedthe State Government withone lakh washable and re-usable masks to combat theCoronavirus epidemic (Covid-19). On this occasion, the ChiefMinister said that in this hourof crisis arising out of Covid-19 infection, all people shouldunite and play their part inmutual cooperation andharmony to combat the globalepidemic. The CM said that therole of voluntary institutions isalso important in combatingthe coronavirus. “We will fight

and win this battle of coronavirus together,” he said.

Rao, Chairman, MythriInfrastructure and MiningIndia Private Limited,appreciated the work beingdone by the State Governmentin preventing Covid-19infection. On this occasion,Project Manager of MaitriInfrastructure and MiningIndia Private Limited, G.

Srinivasa Rao, Project ManagerJ. Satish and others werepresent.

Meanwhile, the CM paidtribute to the death of themother of the Director Generalof Police of Jharkhand, MVRao. The Chief Minister saidthat God give peace to thedeparted soul and patience tothe bereaved families in thishour of grief.

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The Union Ministry ofMinority Affairs, which

has trained 1,500 people ashealthcare assistants and putthem in the anti-coronavirusservices in the hospitals andhealth centres, is planning totrain 2,000 more so that theycould also join the health ser-vices to contain the pandemicin the country.

Giving this information,Union Minister for MinorityAffairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvisaid on Saturday that a batch of2,000 would be trained thisyear under the Ministry’s skilldevelopment programme andjoin the anti-Covid-19 ser-vices. He said health assistantsare being trained by the well-established hospitals and healthorganisations in the country.

The Minister said 16 Hajhouses in the country havebeen handed over to the dif-ferent states to be used forquarantine and isolation pur-poses. The healthcare assis-tants, 50 per cent of whom arewomen, were trained under theministry’s skill developmentprogramme and are nowemployed in hospitals andhealthcare centres across thecountry.

He said to create awarenessabout the social distancing andneed to adopt healthcare pro-tocols to prevent the spread ofthe coronavirus, the Ministrywill soon launch the “Jaan Bhi,Jahan Bhi” nationwide aware-ness campaign.

The Ministry is also tocreate quarantine facilities inStates to cater to workers from

India and abroad.Waqf boards across the

country have contributed Rs 51crore to the Prime Minister’sand Chief Ministers’ relieffunds for the pandemic withthe support of religious, socialand educational organisations.The Aligarh Muslim Universitycontributed Rs 1.4 crore to thePM-CARES fund and AMUMedical College arranged 100beds for treating coronaviruspatients, according to a state-ment by the Ministry.

AMU also arranged Covid-19 tests and more than 9,000tests have been done till now,Naqvi said.

The Ajmer DargahCommittee and associatedorganisations provided facilitiesworth about Rs 1 crore, whichincluded arrangements to sendpeople back to their states, hesaid. Nqvi said under Dargahcommittee “Khwaja modelschool” and “Kayad” rest househas been opened up for thecoronavirus affected peoplefrom across the country andbeing used for quarantine andisolation. He said 4,500 visitorsof all religions who werestranded on account of thelockdown were served withfood and medical services.

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The CRPF on Saturdayreported 62 fresh cases of

Covid-19 patients in its ranksfollowed by identification of 35new infected persons in theBSF, 13 in CISF and six inITBP, taking the tally of coro-navirus-hit personnel in theparamilitary ranks to 653.

On Saturday, 62 new casesof coronavirus infections werereported from Rapid ActionForce, an anti-riot Force underthe CRPF. All the 62 positivecases are from 194 Battalion ofRAF deployed in the nationalcapital. They have been isolat-ed at White Lee Public School,Bawana in the national capital,a senior CRPF official said.

Earlier, the CRPF hadreported 172 cases of Covid-19infections. Out of the 234 cases,

231 are active, two have recov-ered and a Sub Inspector haddied last week.

In the BSF, 25 corona virusinfected personnel were report-ed from Tripura and 10 per-sonnel in the national capitalcontracted the viral disease.

With 258 Covid-19 posi-tive cases in its ranks, theBorder Security Force (BSF) isthe worst-hit paramilitary interms of number of personnelinfected by the pandemic fol-lowed by 234 cases in theCentral Reserve Police Forceand 100 in the Indo TibetanBorder Police (ITBP).

With six fresh Covid-19positive cases on Saturday, theITBP has now 100 Coronavirusinfections in its ranks.

All cases of coronavirusinfections in ITBP have beenreported from Delhi.

Four personnel of ITBP areundergoing treatment atAIIMS, Jhajjar, Haryana andtwo personnel are admitted atSafdarjung Hospital here.

At the CAPF ReferralHospital, Greater Noida run byITBP, 94 ITBP personnel arelodged followed by 27 person-nel of BSF, two of CRPF and

one of CISF. Two family mem-bers of ITBP are also beingmanaged here. A total of 126patients are admitted at thereferral hospital and the con-dition of all patients is stable.

Till now, five paramilitarypersonnel have succumbed tothe viral disease — two each in BSF and CISF and one

case in CRPF. The Central Industrial

Security Force (CISF) onSaturday reported 13 freshcases of corona virus infectionstaking the total count of theviral infection to 48. Out of the48 cases, 31 were deployed atDelhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) and 13 at Mumbaiairport, three at Delhi airport,two at Ahmedabad and three atMumbai airport. The SashastraSeema Bal had contracted atleast 13 positive cases.

Officials said, all the pro-tocols of Covid-19 infectionmanagement are being scrupu-lously followed but the diseaseis being contracted by the per-sonnel as they are in the front-line of assisting the law enforce-ment agencies like the policefor ensuring lockdown mea-sures and social distancing.

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Recognising the efficacy ofIndian herbs in helping

boost immunity, theGovernment enterpriseNational ResearchDevelopment Corporation’s(NRDC) Compendium ofIndian Technologies forCombating Covid-19 has eval-uated herbal drug Fifatrol asimmunity enhancer being pre-pared from the extracts ofmedicinal plants.

Launched by Dr Shekhar CMande, Director General, CSIRhere, the Compendium is com-pilation of about 200 Covid-19-related Indian technologies,ongoing research activities,technologies available for com-mercialisation, initiatives andefforts taken by theGovernment to tackle thedeadly viral infection which hascaused havoc across the world.

The Compendium notesthat, “Researchers have sug-gested that Fifatrol, a naturalformulation providing fast relieffrom nasal congestion, sore

throat, body ache and headacheand is enriched with scientifi-cally validated botanicalextracts and micro-nutrientsacts a natural antibiotic andfights infection, flu and ache.”

The Compendium furtherpoints out various benefits ofthe herbal drug, stating that “Itis a rationale combination ofvital phytoconstituents,immune-modulators andantioxidants which justifies itsbeneficial effect for the treat-

ment of viral upper-respirato-ry infections.”

Developed by AIMILPharma, the key ingredients ofFifatrol includes well-knownimmunity enhancer herbs likeGuduchi, Daruharidra,Apamarga, Chirayata, Karanja,Kutaki, Tulsi a few others.

Dr Mande after releasingthe Compendium said thatmost of the technologies in thedocument are proof-of-con-cept (POC) tested and can

help the entrepreneurs to takethe product to market faster asthey do not have to reinvent thewheel. It is very timely andwould benefit the MSMEs,Startups and the public at large,he said.

Dr H Purushotham, CMD,NRDC, said that attempt hasbeen made to compile most rel-evant and emerging indige-nously developed technologicalinnovations, including thosewhich are at research stage, tofight Covid-19 for the benefitof all stakeholders.

As coronavirus is fastspreading its tentacles acrossthe country, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has been atvarious platforms urgingAYUSH practitioners to pitchin to tackle the coronaviruspandemic. He has also beenexhorting the people to looktowards traditional homeremedies during times of sucha global health crisis to boosttheir immunity. In India, over61,000 people are infected withthe virus which has claimedover 2,000 lives so far.

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Amid Covid-19 lockdown, anon-Government organi-

sation ‘Sahely’, has decided toprovide ration to 1,000 families.Shabana Khan, national pres-ident of Sahely NGO, said thather organisation has alreadyprovided ration to 500 familiesin Mewat, Saharanpur,Kashmir and Delhi. Khan saidthat rations are being provid-ed under ‘War AgainstCorruption’ campaign.

Marginalised people suchas migrant labourers, homelessdestitutes, scrap pickers, joblessdaily wagers, commercial sexworkers and others were thefocus of attention for the reliefwork.

She also expressed grati-tude towards Urdu poetsManjar Bhopali and PopularMeerathi for their appeal todonate her organisation.

Sahely is devoted towardthe empowerment of women inevery field.

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In view of the Covid-19 pan-demic and resultant lock-

down, examiners will evaluateover 1.5 crore answer sheets ofstudents, who took the CBSEClass X and XII Board exams,from their homes.

The Government onSaturday identified 3,000 CBSEschools in the country as thecentres from where the answersheets will be sent to the homesof the teachers. This processwill be completed in approxi-mately 50 days, HRD Ministryofficials said. The HRDMinistry’s move followed theMHA’s go-ahead in this regard.

Ministry officials said theCBSE paper evaluation will beresumed from Sunday andCBSE board examiners will beable to carry out the CBSEboard exam answer sheet eval-uation from their respectivehomes.

Union HRD MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’took to Twitter on Saturdayevening to announce the newsand said that around 1.5 croreCBSE board exam answersheets from around 3,000 examcentres across India will bedelivered to the homes of theboard examiners who will carryout the checking process.

After the paper evaluationis done, officials will comeand collect the answer sheets totake them back to the boardexam centres.

In a video statement onsocial media, Nishank thanked

the Home Ministry for givingthis permission in the lock-down so that students can getthe CBSE board exam results2020 as soon as possible.Pokhriyal said that the wholeprocess of CBSE answer sheetevaluation should be over with-in 50 days.

On Friday, the HRDMinister had announced onTwitter that the remainingCBSE board exams of Class XII(all over India) and of Class X(only students whose examswere postponed due to NorthDelhi violence) will be carriedout from July 1 to July 15.

The new CBSE board examdates for each of the 29 subjectsthat are still to be conducted orthe full CBSE board examschedule after lockdown will beannounced in 1-2 days he hadsaid on his Twitter webinar onFriday.

CBSE Secretary AnuragTripathy said due to the Covid-19 lockdown which has nowbeen extended for the thirdtime and is set to continue till

May 17, CBSE has been forcedto put a complete halt to paperevaluation.

“We will need 1.5 to 2months to carry out the paperevaluation. As soon as we getthe advisory from the CentralGovernment, we can start offthe paper evaluation processwhile maintaining social dis-tancing,” he said.

The CBSE paper evaluationhad started off around a weekafter the board exams started inFebruary.

But after the Covid-19 pan-demic started to spread, theprocess had to be stoppedcompletely after 15 days ofpaper evaluation.

Around 70 per cent ofCBSE answer sheets still needto be evaluated even thoughsome of them were done in the15 days of evaluation before theCovid-19 lockdown wasimposed, Tripathy said .

There are around 35 lakhstudents who appear for boardexams and 2 crore CBSE answer sheets need to bechecked, said the CBSE secretary.

In this regard and toexpdite teh process, Nishankhad met the education minis-ters through webinar later lastmonth of all the states andadvised them to start off withthe paper evaluation of stateboard exams.

He also asked the Ministersto make provisions for CBSE tocarry out their answer sheetevaluation in the respectiveStates as well.

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The Indian Navy warshipINS Jalashwa has started its

homeward-bound journeyafter evacuating 698 Indiannationals from Maldives andwas joined on Saturday bysome more Indian warshipmissions deployed in theIndian Ocean region, high-lighting India’s unwaveringcommitment to safeguardingher diaspora anywhere in theworld. The ship carryingIndians is expected to reachKochi, Kerala, late this evening.

This even as another war-ship INS Magar is about to enterMale, Maldives’ capital to bringout more Indians who want toreturn to their country in thewake of coronavirus pandemic.

The naval rescue effort is code-named Operation Samudra Setuwhich commenced on May 7when the 17,000 tonne landingplatform dock (LPD) oramphibious ship INS Jalashwaset sail along with the 10,000tonne INS Magar for Maldives.The two ships are expected tobring back more than 1,500stranded Indians, sources saidon Saturday.

India’s High Commissionerin the Maldives, Sunjay Sudhir,had earlier expressed his deepgratitude to the Indian Navy, theMaldives Government and itsagencies for extending completecooperation for the success ofthe operation. An Indian Navyspokesman said there were anumber of pregnant womenand children among the Indians

who are travelling to Kochi inKerala.

Officials said the secondwill leave for Tuticorin in TamilNadu on Sunday with 200Indians. He said the exercisewill be repeated next week bythe Indian Navy warships.

The deployment of war-ships in rescue effort is part ofthe repatriation missionlaunched by the Indian Navy tobring Indian citizens homefrom foreign shores, the IndianNavy said in a statement. Themassive repatriation effort istestimony to Maldives-Indiafriendship, the Indian HighCommission said in anothertweet. Several Indians who aretravelling by the warship laud-ed the exercise launched by theGovernment.

New Delhi: Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR) haspartnered with Bharat BiotechInternational Limited (BBIL) todevelop a fully indigenous vac-cine for COVID-19, the apexhealth research body said onSaturday.

The vaccine will be devel-oped using the virus strain iso-lated at the ICMR’s NationalInstitute of Virology (NIV),Pune, a statement said. Thestrain has been successfullytransferred from NIV to BBIL,it added. “Work on vaccinedevelopment has been initiat-ed between the two partners.The ICMR-NIV will providecontinuous support to BBIL forvaccine development. ICMRand BBIL will seek fast-trackapprovals to expedite vaccinedevelopment, subsequent ani-mal studies and clinical evalu-ation of the candidate vac-cine,” the health research bodysaid in the statement. PTI

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The Tamil NaduGovernment on Saturday

moved the Supreme Courtchallenging a Madras HighCourt order for closure ofstate-run liquor outlets on theground that there was total violation of guidelines meant to contain the Covid-19pandemic.

The Madras High Courthad on Friday ordered closureof liquor outlets noting thatthere were huge crowds and nosocial distancing was beingmaintained by tipplers. It, how-ever, allowed doorstep deliveryof booze through online mode.

The top court too hadtaken note of crowding atliquor shops and asked stateson Friday to consider non-direct contact or online salesand home delivery of liquorduring the lockdown period toprevent the spread of the novelcoronavirus.

The appeal against the highcourt order has been filed by theTamil Nadu State MarketingCorporation (TASMAC), a gov-ernment firm which sells alco-holic beverages in the state,seeking permission to sell liquorthrough vends also.

The High Court orderrestraining counter-sale ofliquor was passed on a miscel-laneous petition filed by advo-cate G Rajesh, besides a plaintfrom the Kamal Haasan-ledMakkal Needhi Maiam(MNM). The HC had saidthere was total violation of itsinterim order issued onWednesday, when it declined tostay a government order allow-ing resumption of sale of liquorthrough outlets.

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India is nearing its daily test-ing target of 1 lakh with

95,000 tests conducted onSaturday even as theGovernment sought to allayCovid-19 fears saying it doesnot anticipate the worst kind ofsituation in India like otherdeveloped countries, which arebadly hit by the contagion.

To substantiate its claim,the Government cited thecountry’s fatality rate which ishovering around 3.3 per centwhile the recovery rate isclimbing up to 29.9 per cent.The total cases on Saturdaycrossed 60,000 while around2,000 deaths have been report-ed till date.

“We do not anticipate avery worst type of situation inour country like many otherdeveloped countries but still wehave prepared the whole coun-try for the worst situation,” saidUnion Health Minister HarshVardhan while interacting withHealth Ministers and seniorofficials of North-East State onthe current Covid-19 situa-tion via video conferencing.

“Our fatality rate in thecountry continues to be around3.3% and the recovery ratehas climbed up to 29.9%, theseare very good indicators. Thedoubling rate for the last 3 dayshas been about 11 days, for lastseven days it has been 9.9days,” he said.

Testing capacity for Covid-19 has been scaled up to 95,000per day and total 15,25,631 testshave been conducted so faracross 332 Government and121 private laboratories, said

the Health Minister.“We have dedicated 843

hospitals exclusively for Covid-19 patients’ treatment, whichhave about 1,65,991 beds in itfor the same. Across the coun-try, there are 1, 991 dedicatedCovid-19 health centres whichhave 1, 35, 643 beds. Thesebeds include isolation as well asICU beds,” he added. Vardhansaid that the Health Ministry iscontinuously coordinating withthe states and monitoring thedata on a daily basis.

“There are 7, 645 quaran-tine centres across the country.We have distributed 69 lakh N-

95 masks have been to variousState Governments. A total of32.76 lakhs PPEs have been dis-tributed to State Governmentsby the centre. We started fromone testing lab in Pune andnow we have over 453 labs inthe country,” he said.

“Yesterday evening weevaluated the data from variousstates and found that only 0.38per cent of the patients were onthe ventilators. 1.88 per centrequiring oxygen support and2.21 per cent were on ICUbeds,” he added.

During the detailed inter-action, the States highlightedvarious issues related to testingfacilities, health infrastructure,surveillance, contact tracingetc. and also shared their bestpractices, as per the statementissued here by the Ministry.

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Rome: South Korea’s capitalclosed down more than 2,100bars and other nightspotsSaturday because of a new clus-ter of coronavirus infections,and Germany scrambled tocontain fresh outbreaks atslaughterhouses, underscoringthe dangers authorities face asthey try to reopen theireconomies.

Elsewhere, Belarus, whichhas not locked down despiteincreasing case numbers, sawtens of thousands of people turnout to mark Victory Day, theanniversary of Nazi Germany’sdefeat in 1945. That was in con-trast to Russia, where a mutedevent took place over an emptyRed Square.

Around the world, the USand other hard-hit countries arewrestling with how to easecurbs on business and publicactivity without touching off adeadly second wave of infection.

Germany and South Koreahave both carried out extensive

testing and contact tracing andhave been hailed for avoidingthe mass deaths that have over-whelmed other countries. Buteven there, authorities havestruggled with finding the bal-ance between saving lives andsaving jobs.

In South Korea, where adecline in new cases hadprompted the government toloosen up, Seoul shut downthousands of nightclubs, host-ess bars and discos after dozensof infections were linked toclubgoers who went out lastweekend as the country relaxedits social-distancing guidelines.

Many of the infections werelinked to a 29-year-old manwho visited three nightclubsbefore testing positive.

Health officials in Germanyfaced outbreaks at three slaugh-terhouses in what was seen asa test of the government’s strat-egy for dealing with any resur-gence of the virus as restrictionsare eased. Meanwhile, govern-

ments came under fresh scruti-ny over their handling of thecrisis. German Foreign MinisterHeiko Maas said Europe mustacknowledge that it “wasn’twell-prepared” for the out-break. In the US, internal gov-ernment emails obtained byThe Associated Press show thata decision to shelve detailedadvice from the nation’s top dis-ease control experts for reopen-ing communities during theepidemic came from the high-est levels of the White House.

Worldwide, the virus isconfirmed to have infectedover 3.9 million people andkilled more than 275,000,according to a tally by JohnsHopkins University based ondata reported by Governments.Hard-hit Italy saw people returnto the streets for their tradi-tional aperitivos and revel infine weather as restrictionsthere have eased. In some cases,people went too far for theauthorities. AP

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Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has approved

amendments to the country’sstate of emergency that granthim and security agencies addi-tional powers, which theGovernment says are needed tocombat the Covid-19 outbreak.

An international rightsgroup condemned the amend-ments, saying the governmenthas used the global pandemicto “expand, not reform, Egypt’sabusive Emergency Law.”

The new amendmentsallow the president to to takemeasures to contain the virus,such as suspending classes atschools and universities andquarantining those returningfrom abroad. But they alsoinclude expanded powers toban public and private meet-ings, protests, celebrations andother forms of assembly.

The government haswaged an unprecedentedcrackdown on dissent since2013, when el-Sissi rose to

power, and unauthorizedprotests have been banned foryears. The amendments, whichel-Sissi signed off on Friday,also allow military prosecutorsto investigate incidents whenarmy officers are tasked withlaw enforcement or when thepresident orders it. The coun-try’s chief civilian prosecutorwould have the final decisionon whether to bring matters totrial. The amended law wouldalso allow the president topostpone taxes and utility pay-ments as well as provide eco-nomic support for affectedsectors.

Parliament, which ispacked with el-Sissi supporters,approved the measure lastmonth.

Egypt has been under astate of emergency since April2017, and the governmentextended it late last month foranother three months.

The law was originallypassed to give the presidentbroader powers to combat ter-rorism and drug trafficking.

Karachi: At least six security personnel, includ-ing an Army major, were killed when a road-side bomb struck a patrol vehicle in south-western Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province,close to the border with Iran.

The Army on Friday said in a statement thata vehicle of paramilitary Frontier Corps was tar-geted through a remote-controlled improvisedexplosive device (IED) in Kech district’s Buledaarea, about 14 km from the Iran border.

“A major and five soldiers were killed whileone soldier was injured,” according to the Army.

No one took responsibility but Baloch mil-itants often target the security forces in theprovince.

Security sources said the route where theexplosion took place was monitored round theclock because of suspected movement by smug-glers and insurgents in the border area.

A search operation was launched by thesecurity forces in the area to trace the elementsinvolved in the attack. PTI

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US Vice President MikePence’s press secretary has

the coronavirus, the WhiteHouse said on Friday, makingher the second person whoworks at the White Housecomplex known to test positivefor the virus this week.

President Donald Trump,who publicly identified theaffected Pence aide, said he was“not worried” about the virusspreading in the White House.Nonetheless, officials said theywere stepping up safety proto-cols for the complex.

Pence spokeswoman KatieMiller, who tested positive onFriday, had been in recent con-tact with Pence but not with thepresident. She is married toStephen Miller, a top Trumpadviser. The White House hadno immediate comment onwhether Stephen Miller hadbeen tested or if he was stillworking out of the WhiteHouse.

Katie Miller had testednegative on Thursday, a daybefore her positive result.

“This is why the wholeconcept of tests are not neces-sarily great,” Trump said. “Thetests are perfect but somethingcan happen between a testwhere it is good and thensomething happens.”

Houston: The U.S. Government has awarded a $275million border wall contract for construction thatwould begin in South Texas in January, at the startof President Donald Trump’s second term if he isre-elected.

Caddell Construction Company, based inMontgomery, Alabama, won the contract to build14 miles (22.5 kilometers) of barriers in and aroundLaredo, Texas, a city of 260,000 people on the RioGrande, the river that runs between Texas andMexico. US Customs and Border Protectionannounced the contract award Friday night usingfunds it had previously received from Congressrather than military funding re-directed to the wall.

The CBP said construction would begin inJanuary 2021 “pending availability of real estate.”There is little existing wall separating Laredo andits sister city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Much of theplanned construction would cut through privateland in neighborhoods close to the edge of the RioGrande, requiring the government to take proper-ty through its power of eminent domain. PTI

Washington: PresidentDonald Trump says he’s in “norush” to negotiate anotherfinancial rescue bill, even as the Government reported that more than 20 millionAmericans lost their jobs lastmonth due to economicupheaval caused by the coro-navirus.

The president’s low-keyapproach came Friday as theLabor Department reportedthe highest unemploymentrate since the Great Depressionand as Democrats prepared tounveil what Senate Democraticleader Chuck Schumer calls a“Rooseveltian-style” aid pack-age to shore up the economyand address the health crisis.

Some congressional con-servatives, meanwhile, whoset aside long-held oppositionto deficits to pass more thanUSD 2 trillion in relief so far,have expressed reservationsabout another massive spend-ing package.

“We’ve kind of paused asfar as formal negotiations go,”Larry Kudlow, the director ofthe National EconomicCouncil told reporters Friday.

He said the administrationwanted to let the last round ofrecovery funding kick in beforecommitting to hundreds of

billions or more in additionalspending.

“Let’s have a look at whatthe latest round produces, giveit a month or so to evaluatethat.” Kudlow added that talkswere in a “lull” and that admin-istration officials and legisla-tors would “regroup” in thenext several weeks.

Still, White House aidesare drawing up a wish-list for a future spending bill,including a payroll tax cut, lia-bility protection for business-es that reopen and potentiallybillions in infrastructurespending.

Kudlow added that theWhite House was also consid-ering allowing businesses toimmediately expense the costsof modifiying their facilities toaccommodate public safetymeasures necessary to reopen.The notion was brought up ona call with House membersadvising the White House onreopening plans Thursdayevening and drew bipartisansupport.

“We’re in no rush, we’re inno rush,” Trump told reportersFriday during an event withHouse Republicans. He calledon Democratic-controlledHouse to return toWashington, adding, “We want

to see what they have.”The emerging Democratic

bill is expected to include eye-popping sums, centered onnearly $1 trillion that states andcities are seeking to preventmass layoffs as governmentsreel from the one-two punch ofskyrocketing costs from the

pandemic and dismal taxreceipts in the shuttered econ-omy.

The package being com-piled by House Speaker NancyPelosi — the fifth fromCongress in a matter of weeks— draws on requests from gov-ernors for $500 billion, and

from cities and counties for upto $300 billion to preventwidespread layoffs of police,fire and other frontline work-ers during the pandemic.

“No one could look attoday’s jobs report, the highestunemployment since the GreatDepression, and say we should

hit the pause button on furthergovernment action,” Schumersaid in a statement.

He compared Trump andhis GOP allies in Congress toformer President HerbertHoover, who is often seen asfailing to respond adequately tothat crisis. “We need a big, bold

approach now to supportAmerican workers and fami-lies,” Schumer said.

But the package has hadlittle input from Republicansand is finding scant support,even as some in the partysupport certain provisions,including the local aid. PTI

New York: In a worrying devel-opment, a five-year old boy hasdied in New York from a rareinflammatory illness linked tothe coronavirus, while the deathof another seven-year-old boy isbeing investigated for possiblelinks to the mysterious pediatricsyndrome. The New York StateDepartment of Health is inves-tigating several cases of thesevere illness in children andchild deaths that may be linkedto the serious inflammatorydisease called “Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory SyndromeAssociated with COVID-19.”There have been 73 reportedcases in New York where chil-dren are experiencing symptomssimilar to Kawasaki disease andtoxic shock-like syndrome pos-sibly due to COVID-19. PTI

Berlin: German ForeignMinister Heiko Maas saysEurope must acknowledge thatit “wasn’t well-prepared” for thecoronavirus pandemic.

In a statement markingEurope Day, Maas said that ini-tially most countries, includingGermany, were focused oncoping with the outbreak athome.

While defending the nation-al response as “necessary, inorder to safeguard our ability toact and then also help other,”Maas said the European Unionhad “grown in the crisis.” TheEU’s sluggish response has givenway to cross-border medicalaid, a massive financial supportpackage and coordinated scien-tific research programmes. AP

Colombo: Muslim theologistsin Sri Lanka have urged thegovernment to reconsider itsdecision on cremating theMuslims who died due to thecoronavirus, saying the revisedrule goes against the Islamictradition.

Sri Lanka has made cre-mations compulsory for coro-navirus victims, ignoringprotests from the country’sMuslims, who make up 10 percent of the 21 million popula-tion.

In a letter to the DirectorGeneral, Health Services, theAll Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama(ACJU) claimed that more

than 180 countries in line withthe guidelines of the WorldHealth Organisation haveallowed burials for Muslimswho die of COVID-19.

“It is our moral and ethicalduty to abide by the law of thecountry and to guide peopletowards it. But it does notimply that we endorse or giveconsent to this ruling as it isagainst our religious principles”,the letter said.

They urged the healthauthorities to reconsider thedecision. The Muslim clerics inSri Lanka had earlier also madean appeal regarding their oppo-sition to cremations. PTI

Beijing: China has reported 15new asymptomatic coronaviruscases, taking their total to 836while one new importedCOVID-19 infection was con-firmed, health officials said onSaturday.

According to China’sNational Health Commission(NHC), as for Friday 836asymptomatic cases, includ-ing 63 from overseas, werestill under medical observation.

The NHC said one import-ed case of coronavirus wasreported on Friday and 15new asymptomatic cases, alldomestic ones, were confirmedin the country.

Most of the asymptomaticcases were being reported fromfirst coronavirus epicentresHubei province and its capitalWuhan where no confirmedcases were reported for the 35days, the local health commis-sion said.

Normalcy is returning tothe province as the lockdown

has been lifted and offices,business and factories havebeen opened since last month.

The province still has 628asymptomatic cases undermedical observation, after 13new cases were reported onFriday, the commission said.

Death toll in Chinaremained at 4,633 as no newfatalities have been reported onFriday while the total numberof cases stood at 82,887,including 208 patients whowere still being treated, theNHC said. PTI

Bouda (Burkina Faso):Jihadists burst into the goldmine where Moussa Tamburaworked in Burkina Faso, for-bidding everyone from smokingand drinking. It wasn’t longbefore the men returned andleveled the place to the ground.

“They attacked the site,killed people and burned hous-es,” said Tambura, 29, clench-ing his fists.

He was able to find workagain after fleeing to Bouda,another town in country’s norththat still has small-scale mining.Still, he struggles to provide forhis family since his new job isn’tas lucrative as his old one.

Jihadists linked to al-Qaidaand the Islamic State organi-zation have been overrunninggold mines like Tambura’s one

by one as they try to gain con-trol of Burkina Faso’s mostlucrative industry.

The extremists are thencollecting a “protection tax”from communities livingaround the gold mines and alsoforcing the miners to sell themthe gold exclusively, which isthen smuggled and sold acrossthe border in places like Benin,Ghana or Togo.

The violence already hasshuttered many small minesacross the volatile north andthe government also has triedto shut down other small-scalemines in the east so that theycan’t be used by extremists tofinance more attacks.

Mining Minister OumarouIdani has called the measure anecessary step in the “fight

against terrorism.”But some of the remote

sites continue running anywayas they escape the reach of thenational government inOuagadougou, other officialsand analysts said.

Some are warning too thatthe government’s strategy to cutoff the flow of money from theeast may also backfire, asunemployed miners fallingdeeper into poverty couldbecome more sympathetic tothe jihads’ recruitment mes-sages of marginalization.

“You’re opening up thegates to push people to the ter-rorists,” said OumarouGanemtore, secretary for theNational Union of theArtisanal Miners Associationof Burkina Faso. AP

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Washington: DemocraticParty’s presumptive presiden-tial nominee and former USvice president Joe Biden allegedon Friday that PresidentDonald Trump utterly failed toprepare for the Covid-19 pan-demic and said his entire eco-nomic strategy is focussed onhelping the wealthy and bigcorporations.

Referring to the record2.05 crore jobs lost in Aprilalone, resulting in an unprece-dented unemployment rate of14.7 per cent now — the high-est since the Great Depression— Biden, in a major policyspeech, said it is an economicdisaster, worse than any in

decades, and it was made all themore worse because it did nothave to be this way.

“Donald Trump utterlyfailed to prepare for this pan-demic and delayed in takingthe necessary steps to safeguardour nation against the near-worst-case economic scenariowe are now living in,” he saidin his remarks on “Trump’sDisastrous Economy”.

Covid-19 caused a massiveeconomic challenge, but thecrisis hit the US harder and willlast longer because Trumpspent the last three years under-mining the core pillars of theAmerican economic strength,Biden alleged.

Many small businesseshave closed because of thestay-at-home orders. But a lotof them will not open again asthey do not have a cushion dueto three years of Trump’s poli-cies that reward the biggestcompanies, he rued.

“Trump’s economic agen-da has three unmistakable fail-ings, failings that have beenpresent since day one, but arecoming into sharp relief in thecurrent crisis: first, Trump’smain measure of economicprogress is the state of the stockmarket, second, his entire eco-nomic strategy is focussed onhelping the wealthy and bigcorporations. PTI

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China continues to hide andobfuscate Covid-19 data

from the world, US Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo has said,asserting that he has seen a sig-nificant amount of evidencesuggesting that a laboratory inthe Chinese city of Wuhanwas “underperforming” andthe virus may well haveemanated from there.

By Friday, more than78,000 Americans had diedand 13 lakh tested positive forthe coronavirus. Globally, morethan 2,74,000 people have diedand 39 lakh have tested positive

for the disease, according toJohns Hopkins University data.

“I have seen a significantamount of evidence that sug-gests that the lab was under-performing, that there weresecurity risks at the lab and thatthe virus could well haveemanated from there,” Pompeotold Ben Shapiro in an inter-view on Friday.

“But I am happy to sus-pend the decision about that.What we need are answers.There are still people dying,”he said.

The American economyand that of the rest of the worldhave come to a standstill.

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Mounting a strong defenceof the ruling Communist

Party of China, President XiJinping has said the Covid-19fight has once again shownthat the CPC leadership andthe country’s socialist politi-cal system can overcome anychallenge.

Xi’s comments came asChina faced global criticism forits initial inaction to act againstthe novel coronavirus, whichaccording to Chinese officialsemerged in the central Chinesecity of Wuhan in December lastyear.

Pressure is also mountingon Beijing to agree for aninternational probe on the ori-

gins of the vicious virus, includ-ing from the Wuhan Instituteof Virology (WIV), as claimedby the US leadership.

China curbed the spread ofthe coronavirus in over amonth and brought COVID-19 under control at its first epi-centre in Wuhan in aboutthree months, Xi, also theGeneral Secretary of the CPC,said at a symposium held onFriday to get suggestions fromnon-ruling Communist Partyof China (CPC) parties onCOVID-19 prevention andcontrol. He termed the curbingof the COVID-19 pandemic as“hard-won achievements” forthe world’s most populouscountry and the second-biggest economy.

The COVID-19 fight hasonce again shown that theCPC leadership, China’s social-ist system and its governancesystem can overcome any chal-lenge and make big contribu-tions to the progress of humancivilisation, he said.

Xi said China had basical-ly curbed the spread of thevirus in over one month, man-aged to bring the daily numberof new domestically-transmit-ted cases down to single digitsin about two months, andsecured decisive achievementsin protecting epicentres Wuhanand Hubei province in aboutthree months. “For a hugecountry with 1.4 billion people,these are hard-won achieve-ments,” he said. PTI

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Moscow: Russian PresidentVladimir Putin marked VictoryDay, the anniversary of thedefeat of Nazi Germany inWorld War II, in a ceremonyshorn of its usual military paradeand pomp by the coronaviruspandemic.

In neighboring Belarus,however, the ceremonies wentahead in full, with tens of thou-sands of people in the sort ofproximity that has been almostunseen in the world for months.

Putin on Saturday laid flow-ers at the tomb of the unknownsoldier just outside the Kremlinwalls and gave a short addresshonoring the valor and suffer-ing of the Soviet army during the

war. Victory Day is Russia’smost important secular holidayand this year’s observance hadbeen expected to be especiallylarge because it is the 75thanniversary, but the Red Squaremilitary parade and a mass pro-cession called the ImmortalRegiment were postponed aspart of measures to stifle thespread of the virus. The only ves-tige of the conventional show ofmilitary might was a flyover ofcentral Moscow by 75 war-planes and helicopters.

The ceremony was the firstpublic appearance in about amonth for Putin, who hasworked remotely as the virustook hold. PTI

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Three promoters of RamDev International, recent-

ly booked by the CBI forallegedly cheating a consortiumof six banks to the tune of � 411crore, have already fled thecountry before the State Bankof India reached the agencywith the complaint, officialssaid on Saturday.

The CBI had recentlybooked the company engagedin export of Basmati rice to theWest Asian and Europeancountries and its directorsNaresh Kumar, Suresh Kumarand Sangita on the basis ofcomplaint from the State Bank

of India (SBI), which sufferedthe loss of more than �173crore, they said.

The company had threerice milling plants, besideseight sorting and grading unitsin Karnal district with officesin Saudi Arabia and Dubai fortrading purposes, the SBI com-plaint said.Besides SBI, othermembers of consortium areCanara Bank, Union Bank ofIndia, IDBI, Central Bank ofIndia and Corporation Bank,they said. The Central Bureauof Investigation (CBI) did notcarry out any searches in thematter because of the coron-avirus-induced lockdown, theofficials said.

The agency will start theprocess of summoning theaccused, incase they do not jointhe investigation, appropriatelegal action will be initiated,

they said.According to the com-

plaint filed by SBI, the accounthad become non-performingasset (NPA) on January 27,2016.

The banks conducted ajoint inspection of properties inAugust and October, nearly 7-9 months later only to findHaryana Police security guardsdeployed there, they said.

“On inquiry, it has come tonotice that borrowers areabsconding and have left thecountry,” according to thecomplaint filed on February 25,2020, over four years after theaccount had become NPA.

The complaint alleged thatborrowers had removed entiremachinery from old plant andfudged the balance sheets inorder to unlawfully gain at thecost of banks’ funds, it said.

��

The rights issue of RelianceIndustries Limited (RIL) is

expected to open on May 22. Itwill be priced at �1,257 pershare with a share ratio at1:15. The issue amount is �53,125 crore.As per the pay-ment terms, 25 per cent of theamount will be on applicationand the balance on more calls.

Market sources said thereis a strong repositioning of RILas consumer/technology com-pany with Jio and retail plat-forms.

As new strategic investorsparticipate in growth engines,the rights issue will rewardexisting shareholders byenabling them to participate inconsumer/technology businessvalue creation.

The rights issue ensuresminority shareholders’ participate in next wave ofvalue creation.

The price of “Right” sharesto maintain the earnings pershare (EPS) is �1,077. At 8 percent discount on the marketprice of �1,427, the rights issuewill be at �1,314 with a total

size of �55,533 crore.If the discount is 10 per

cent, the price will be �1,284 ata total size of � 54,265 crore. Ifthe discount is 12 per cent, therights issue price will be � 1,257with a total issue size of Rs53,124 crore.

Market sources said thatRIL is well-positioned to nav-igate the macro headwindsand diversified earning streamsbut with conservative gearing.It has a robust and resilientbusiness model, as 35 per centof EBITDA is coming fromconsumer businesses.

In addition, the invest-ment cycle has been complet-ed and it has stronger cost posi-tions across products andreduced Capex intensity.Sources point out that newbusiness models create dispro-portionate value and the gold-en decade of value creation liesahead.

They point out that assetlight technology companieshave created more value overthe last decade than the aggre-gate market capital of energycompanies in the S&P.

They cite the examples of

Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, andGoogle.

The strategic investmentsin digital services and orga-nized retail platforms underpinRIL’s participation in the nextleg of value creation in India.

There has been a signifi-cant re-rating of the stock withthe launch of Jio in September2016, with growth in the con-sumer business visibility.Sources say the re-rating will continue with increasingshare of consumer businessesin earnings.

Giving the rationale forthe rights issue, market sourcessaid the global pandemic isreshaping the way the worldlives and works.

There is a visible accelera-tion in digital services, heightened need for robustsupply chain-led new com-merce model.

Market sources say this isa value accretive rights issueand the first rights issue by RILin three decades.

The rights issue will ensureall investors get to participateat the same level as promotersin upcoming opportunities.

��

After announcing on Fridaythat it was reinstating pay

cuts of up to 25 per cent for itssenior employees, IndiGo air-lines said the reduction insalary would remain effectivethrough the 2020-21 financialyear. It said it would take a deci-sion on restoring original salary“closer to the end of this finan-cial year”.

The country’s largestdomestic airlines had on Fridayannounced pay cut rangingbetween 5 and 25 per cent, inaddition to its leave-without-pay programme for May, Juneand July, for senior employees.

The announcement, madethrough internal emails, cameafter a series of flip-flops on thematter as India’s largest domes-tic airline struggled to stayafloat amid grounding of allcommercial passenger flightsdue to the coronavirus-trig-gered lockdown.

In the emails accessed byPTI, the airline said the salarycut will be effected from May tillthe end of the 2020-21 financialyear. It has already paid fullsalary of April to its employ-ees.The airline had firstannounced its decision to cutsalaries on March 19 when theeconomic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic was apparent.

��

India’s fuel demand dipped45.8 per cent in April from a

year earlier, as a nationwidelockdown and travel curbs tocombat the spread of novelcoronavirus (COVID-19)eroded economic activity.Consumption of fuel, a proxyfor oil demand, totalled 9.93million tonnes - its lowestsince 2007, Government datashowed on Saturday.

State fuel retailers in thecountry sold 50 per cent lessrefined fuel in the first twoweeks of April than the sametime a year earlier as the coun-try came to a standstill due tothe lockdown that was put inplace on March 24.

The Government last weekextended the lockdown untilMay 17, with some relaxationsin lower-risk areas, althoughtravel by air, rail and metro andinter-state movement of peopleby road was still banned.

The International EnergyAgency (IEA) in its latest reportsaid the country’s annual fuelconsumption will decline 5.6per cent in 2020 compared withgrowth of 2.4 per cent forecastin its March report.

Consumption of diesel,

which is widely used for trans-portation as well as for irriga-tion needs in the country, wasdown about 55.6 per cent year-over-year at 3.25 milliontonnes.

Sales of petrol dropped by60.6 per cent from a year ear-lier to 0.97 million tonnes.

Cooking gas or liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG) sales roseabout 12.1 per cent to 2.13 mil-lion tonnes, while naphthasales fell 9.5 per cent to 0.86million tonnes.

State-retailers sold 21 percent more LPG in the first fortnight of April from a yearearlier.

The Government is pro-viding free cooking gas cylin-ders to the poor for threemonths to June to help them weather the impact of thelockdown.

Sales of bitumen, used formaking roads, slumped 71 percent, while fuel oil use dipped40 per cent in April.

However, the country’s fueldemand is set to recover witheasing restrictions on industrialactivity and transport in areasthat have contained the spreadof coronavirus, oil ministerDharmendra Pradhan said ear-lier this week.

Kolkata: Metro Railway,Kolkata has been carrying outvarious maintenance activities during lockdownperiod arising due to Covid-19pandemic.

During this period, varioussafety measures like sanitsation,disinfection activities are beingcarried out in the Carshed.

Dry and wet cleaning onboth outside and inside ofrolling stocks are also beingcarried out for proper disin-fection and sanitization main-taining social distancing andother specified safety norms. .

The communication sys-tem and display boards in eachof the six coaches of every rakeare being checked and kept inworking condition.

Cleaning of the escalatorsand lifts at all Metro stations isalso being carried out at 15 daysinterval and functional testingis being checked at 3 days

interval. Visual inspection ofthe third rail of the entire sec-tion is also being carried outand the battery sets at all thestations are kept in workingcondition.

Rolling out of rakes isbeing done inside the carshedpremises on alternate days andspeed trials on test track arebeing conducted fortnightlyto ensure healthiness of trac-tion system as well as to detectand rectify any abnormalities inany of the equipment.

��

ICICI Bank on Saturdayreported a 6.91% growth in

March quarter net at �1,251crore on a consolidated basis,after setting aside over � 2,000crore in provisions for poten-tial impact of the COVID-19pandemic.On a standalonebasis, the second largest privatesector bank’s profit grew 26 %to �1,221 crore as against � 969crore in the year-ago period.For fiscal year 2019-20, itreported a 135% jump in stand-alone profit to � 7,930.81 crore.

From an asset quality per-spective, the bank reported animprovement in gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ratioto 5.53% as against 6.70% in theyear-ago period and 5.95% asof Dec 2019, despite over�5,300 crore in fresh slippagesduring the reporting quarter.

��

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday

said �18,253 crore has been dis-bursed to 9.13 crore farmersunder the PM-KISAN schemeduring the ongoing nation-wide lockdown.

Under the PM-KISAN(Pradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi) scheme, eachfarmer gets � 6,000 in a year in

three equal installments direct-ly in bank account.

Front-loading the release ofthe first installment under thePM-KISAN scheme was part ofthe �1.70 lakh crore PradhanMantri Garib Kalyan Package(PMGKP) announced onMarch 26 to protect the poorfrom the impact of the coron-avirus lockdown. The lock-down was imposed by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on

March 25 to curb the spread ofCOVID-19, and since then ithas been extended twice.

With regard to furtherassistance to farmers, theFinance Minister said that 3crore farm loan borrowers haveopted for a three-month mora-torium. “Since March 2020,9.13 crore farmers have beenpaid �18,253 crore under PM-KISAN during the #lockdown,”Sitharaman said in a tweet.

��

Hyundai Motor India onSaturday said its Chennai-

based manufacturing facilityrolled out 200 cars on the firstday of resuming production.

The company re-startedmanufacturing activities at itsplant in Sriperumbudur (nearChennai) on May 8. The automajor has commenced pro-duction at the facility adheringto 100 per cent compliance ofsafety and social distancingnorms, Hyundai Motor Indiasaid in a statement. In line withthe government’s objectives ofreviving the economy andcompany’s global vision ofprogress for humanity.

��

The Internet peak traffic saw40 per cent rise in March in

India and there was significantspike in downloads anduploads per user, owing to thehigh volume of work andstreaming content across allmajor cities including tier IImarkets, says a new report.

While the average down-loads increased by 66 per centper user per month, the aver-age uploads surged at 37 percent per user per month,according to ½State of InternetTraffic Trend’ report by ACTFibernet, one of India’s largestwired Internet Service Provider.

The data is based on over-all traffic data measured fromFebruary-April 2020 from 19cities.

One of the most interestingrevelations was that on a par-ticular day in March, 98.7 percent of entire ACT Fibernetsubscriber base was concur-rently online.

“In the last two months, wehave seen a significant shift indata consumption across citiesas people moved to workingfrom home, spending moretime streaming content,indulging in online gaming,taking online classes/course,video conferencing etc,” said

Bala Malladi, CEO, AtriaConvergence Technologies Ltd.

While there has been anoverall surge of 55 per cent instreaming traffic, there was nosignificant difference betweenweekday and weekend stream-ing and/or traffic now.

There was an overall traf-fic increase by 73 per cent onweekdays and 65 per centincrease on weekends, said thereport.

India now has 504 millionactive Internet users, out ofwhich about 14 per cent are inthe age bracket of 5-11 years,according to a new report fromthe Internet and MobileAssociation of India (IAMAI).

Based on data from theIndian Readership Survey(IRS) 2019, the research alsofound that nearly 70 per cent ofthe active Internet populationin India is daily users.

The time spent on theInternet continues to be high-er in urban India compared torural India.

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Several companies across sec-tors ranging from textiles to

consumer electronics andliquor to pharma on Saturdayinformed that they have par-tially resumed operations aftergetting permission from localauthorities in the third phase ofthe lockdown. The manufac-turers have assured to adhere tosafety precautions mandated bythe Government and respectivelocal administrations. The Govthad last week permitted thecompanies to restore theirmanufacturing operations inred, green and organ zoneswith certain riders.

Auto parts and equipmentmaker Rane Holdings Ltd in aregulatory filing said it has par-tially resumed operations atmost of its plants and officeswith restricted manpower.It, however, said that the con-tinuance of operations in theseplaces depends on directivesfrom local authorities, issuedfrom time to time. Liquormaker IFB Agro Industries hasalso resumed operations at its distillery and select bot-tling plants.

“The company has par-tially resumed operations at itsdistillery and some of its IMILbottling plants wherein lockdown restrictions havebeen eased,” it said.

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India skipper Virat Kohli is in a goodframe of mind which gives him con-fidence of being able to pick up from

where he left as and when cricketresumes in the post Covid-19 world.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shut-down all cricketing activities across theglobe and Kohli said though he is keep-ing himself physically fit, his mainfocus has been working on the mentalaspect of the game.

“Well, fortunately I have all mygym equipment at home, so I amable to train and that’s not aproblem for me. As far as thegame goes, luckily, I amsomeone who has alwaysbeen very keen onimproving my mentalstate and not really focuson practising long hoursin the net over a periodof time,” Kohli said onStar Sport’s show CricketConnected.

“So I know, once Iam in good frame ofmind and I am keepingmyself positive andhappy, just looking for-ward in life, whenever Ireturn to the game, Iknow I will be in good posi-tion to start again from wherewe left.”

The health crisis, which hasso far killed nearly 2K people andinfected more than 59K in India,had forced the Government toenforce a national lockdown, whichwill end on May 17.

Kohli admitted it was not easy inthe initial days.

“It was a bit tough initially butyou start looking at things from adifferent point of view as the timegoes on more and more, becauseeventually you realise that nothingis in your control,” Kohli said.

“So what you can control to anextent is your own mindset and justlooking at things with positive frameof mind and the only good thing is

that I have been ableto train, practice wasnot such a big prob-lem for me evenbefore, so that is whatI am doing, I am

training, I am keepingfit.”

The highly conta-gious disease also sawthe indefinite post-ponement of the 13thIPL, which was set tostart in March.

Kohli said he“absolutely loves” to play

in the IPL because it is dif-ferent from other ICC events

in terms of the camaraderie thatcricketers of different nationalitiesshare and the connect that the play-ers have with their fans.

“You do play all your tourna-ments, which is one team versus

another, ICC tournaments come everynow and then, but even in ICC tour-naments, you don’t really interact withthe other team players or you see the

other teams so often every now andthen,” Kohli said.

“But in the IPL, you are just prob-ably meeting another team every secondor third day and that's the beauty of theIPL, you are playing in a differentmahol (atmosphere).

“I absolutely love that tournamentand also for the camaraderie which youshare with so many new players that youplay with, so many players that you haveknown for a long time now, not fromyour own country, those who you don'tsee often, and there is one reason whyeveryone loves the IPL too, there is a con-nect, of players and fans and of viewers.”

Asked about his favourite matchapart from 2011 World Cup, Kohli said:“It’s a very difficult question because somany matches happen but I think fromthe point of atmosphere and importanceof match, the quarterfinal match againstAustralia in 2016 T20 World Cup inMohali, that was my most favouritematch.

“Because that day, we won from adifficult situation and I realized manythings about myself.”

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Usman Khawaja has addedhis voice to those calling for

a re-think to the way pitches areprepared at domestic level,warning that a lack of spin-bowl-ing options behind Nathan Lyoncould leave Australia exposedlike it was when Shane Warneretired from the game almost 15years ago.

Khawaja rates hisQueensland teammate MitchellSwepson as the best spinner inAustralia apart from Lyon, butsays he’s reluctant to bowl himat domestic level because con-ditions often don’t suit spinners.

A month after former Testtweaker Steve O’Keefe said thelack of exposure to spin bowlingat domestic level was “a matterof urgency”, Khawaja has joinedcalls for more spin-friendlypitches to be produced in theMarsh Sheffield Shield.

“It’s really hard, even for meas a captain, to get (Swepson)into the game when the ball ishooping around corners andyou’re playing on really greendecks,” Khawaja told Fox Sports

News.“He’s always been a part of

our team and he’s always thereno matter what the wicket isbecause he’s such a good bowler.But it’s really hard to get him inthe game sometimes because thewickets weren’t really favouringspin.

“I feel for spinners inAustralia and we need to becareful here because we have anabsolute genius in Nathan Lyon… but who’s coming after him?”

O'Keefe, who announcedhis retirement last month, fin-ished the truncated 2019-20Shield summer as the most suc-cessful spin bowler with 16wickets at an average of 22.25,with the top 20 places among theleading wicket-takers filled byswing and seam bowlers.

Both O’Keefe and Khawajasay the effectiveness of spinnersis reduced even further in thesecond half of the Shield seasonwhen Dukes brand balls areused, a move introduced to helpAustralian players become bet-ter accustomed to the type ofseam bowling they encounter inEngland.

But with Australia not dueto play Tests in England until2023, and with away seriesagainst India, Pakistan, Sri Lankaand Afghanistan scheduled inthe interim as well as a resched-uled tour of Bangladesh, O’Keefesays time is running out to pro-mote spin bowling at Shieldlevel.

And he has even suggestedradical measures, such as scar-ifying pitches to make themmore spin-friendly, should beconsidered.

Lyon is just 32 years old andis expected to lead Australia’sspin attack for many years tocome, but Khawaja is concernedabout the Warne-sized gulfforming behind the off-spinner.

Australia tried 14 differentspinners in the decade follow-ing Warne’s retirement beforethey finally settled on Lyon, andKhawaja says the seam-friend-ly pitches that were a feature atdomestic level immediately afterWarne farewelled the game arebeing replicated now.

“Tasmania was a greenmonster (last season) ... theGabba was tough work especial-ly in the back end of the seasonwhen the Dukes balls came intoit,” he said.

“Spinners just went out ofthe game.

“Unless we have spinnersplaying day in and day out, get-ting involved in those matchscenarios across the country,we're going to suffer.

“Just like we suffered whenWarnie (Shane Warne) left. Ithink we had a similar situationwhere Tassie (Tasmania) wasreally green, they were trying tomake really green wickets.

“These guys need to bowl sohopefully this year we’ve gotwickets that are favourable foreveryone.”

��

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latifhas lavished praise on Virender

Sehwag, saying the former Indian open-er was a fearless cricketer who had a greatinfluence in the team.

“He used to play to dominate. We areused to openers who were a bit circum-spect at the beginning, gauging how thepitch is, who the bowler is whether(Glenn) McGrath, Brett Lee, WasimAkram or Shoaib Akhtar,” Latif said in aYouTube show called Caught Behind.

“But Sehwag was someone whofeared none. He was an impactful play-er, had a great influence in his team andplayers like him succeed in world crick-et,” he added.

Latif, who played 37 Tests and 166ODIs for Pakistan, further said that con-trary to popular belief that Sehwag did nothave a good foot movement, the formerIndian opener had a unique techniquewhich helped him dominate the bowlers.

“It’s wrong to say his feet didn’t move.He had unique technique with a very

strong base. He was superb on the back-foot, used to cut, pull, hook with ease,” saidLatif.

“He had beautiful balance. People saythat he had limited feet movement butthat was perhaps the reason why he wasso successful. And coaches nowadays havestarted to say that keep your balance withminimum foot movement,” he added.

Sehwag represented India in 104Tests, 251 ODIs and 19 T20Is in whichhe scored 8586, 8273 and 394 runsrespectively.

According to Latif, Sehwag playedwith batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar andRahul Dravid and remained under theirshadow.

“He played with Sachin, played withRahul and remained under their shadow.If he was playing for any other countrythen he would’ve easily crossed 10 thou-sand runs, only one and a half thousandruns were remaining,” said Latif.

“Maybe his team had bigger names,bigger players but opponents were alwayswary of the impact that Sehwag couldhave on a game,” he added.

��

Umar Akmal did not seem pre-pared to show remorse nor did

he seek an apology for failing toreport corrupt approaches, chairmanof the Pakistan Cricket Board’s dis-ciplinary panel has observed in hisdetailed judgement after imposing athree-year ban on the temperamen-tal batsman.

Justice (retired) Fazal-e-MiranChauhan submitted his detailedjudgement to the Pakistan CricketBoard, which made it public onFriday on its official website.

Akmal was found guilty of twocharges under the PCB Anti-Corruption Code, rendering himineligible for cricket activities tillFebruary 19, 2023. The 29-year-oldhas 14 days to appeal against thepunishment of two three-year banswhich will run concurrently and thePCB will appoint an independentadjudicator to hear it.

“It appears that he (UmarAkmal) is not prepared to showremorse and seek apology, makeadmission that he failed to fulfill hisresponsibility under Anti-Corruption Code...,” Justice Chauhansaid in the judgement.

“...Rather he tried to take refugeunder the pretext that in the pastwhenever any such approaches weremade, the matter was reported byhim,” he said.

Akmal was provisionally sus-pended on the eve of the PakistanSuper League. He was charged withtwo breaches of Article 2.4.4 of thePCB Anti-Corruption Code in twounrelated incidents on March 17.

On April 9, the PCB referred thematter to the disciplinary commit-

tee after the batsman opted not torequest for a hearing before the Anti-Corruption Tribunal.

“The charge as framed is provedand the participant (Umar Akmal)has rendered himself liable to bepunished for breach of Article 2.4.4,”Justice Chauhan said.

“"It is also admitted by him(Umar Akmal) that he failed toreport the approaches and invitationto the PCB Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Department, as requiredby the PCB Code, Article 2.4.4.

“In view of the above charge asframed, stood proven and participanthas rendered himself to be punishedunder Article 6.2 of the PCB Code,”he added. Akmal is the youngerbrother of former Pakistan wicket-keeper-batsman Kamran Akmal,who played 53 Tests, 58 T20s, and157 ODIs for Pakistan, and cousinof current captain Babar Azam.

The right-hander, who lastplayed for Pakistan in October, hasfeatured in 16 Tests, 121 ODIs and84 T20s, scoring 1003, 3194 and 1690runs respectively.

�* #* C England all-rounder Moeen Ali feelshe can play at the high-est level for 2-3 moreyears and that is why hewants to play as much aspossible.

Moeen expressedhis desire to play allthree formats for theThree Lions consideringhe doesn’t have toomuch time left on theinternational arena.

“Since the wholepandemic thing I wantto play as much as I can,”Moeen said during aDoosra podcast.

“Cricket at the high-est level will probablyfinish for me in two orthree years.

“I want to make themost of it and play asmuch as I can. I only did

it (stepping away frominternational cricket) fora bit of a break, and I'vehad that now.”

Moeen also spokeabout being part of theEngland team that liftedthe ICC World Cup lastyear. He gave an insightinto the minds of play-ers who were under

immense pressure toend their trophy droughtin front of home sup-port.

“It was an amazingtime,” Moeen said aboutEngland historic victorylast year.

“I think the wholeemotion of four yearsbuild up to it and somuch went into it... somuch pressure for us towin it at home.

“It took us couple ofseconds to think wehave won the game(final). I wasn’t playingthe game but it didn’tfeel like I wasn’t playing.

“I can’t describe thefeeling but just to see allthe guys celebrating andto be part of that journeywas simply unbeliev-able,” he said. IANS

#��C Bangladesh wicket-keeperMushfiqur Rahim feels his team ismore than capable of entering the top-six in the longest format. He also ruedthe fact that despite having talentedplayers in the team they somehowunder-achieved in the last two decades.

Mushfiqur also raised concernsover Bangladesh’s form in foreignconditions. He expressed his satisfac-tion over the team’s show at home buturged the team to produce similar levelof performances overseas as well.

“I truly believe that there is muchmore to be achieved as a team. Despitehaving talented players, we have notbeen able to achieve that in the last 20years. But our performance have beengoing up on home soil” Mushfiqur wasquoted as saying by bdcrictime.com.

“Our main concern is to do welloutside the country. There are manybig challenges ahead. The TestChampionship is also a big challenge

for us. We have the ability to come inthe top-six in Tests.”

Bangladesh are currently placed atthe last spot in the World TestChampionship table. They have playedtwo series so far and lost all threematches to be rock-bottom in thenine-team championship.

Bangladesh, alongwith WestIndies, are the only two teams who areyet to open their Test championshipaccount. IANS

��

The Mongoose batwas made famous

by Chennai Super Kingsopener Mathew Haydenduring the IndianPremier League, but theformer Australia bats-man has revealed thatCSK skipper MS Dhonihad pleaded with himnot to use the bat.

In a chat with CSKon their official Twitterhandle, Haydenrevealed the same. “Iwill (MS Dhoni)give you any-thing youwant in life,to not usethis bat.Please donot usethis bat,”

the opener recalled.CSK tweeted the

video which read:“#Thala Dhoni toHaydos: “I’ll give youanything you want inlife, to not use this bat!Please do not use thisbat!”@HaydosTweets

#AnbuDenLions@RuphaRamani”

#�0�� C World Cup winning-Australia captain Meg Lanninghas used the extra time inhand amid the Covid-19 pan-demic to provide a virtual bat-ting class to Ireland women’scricket squad.

Lanning was joined by for-mer Ireland skipper Isobel Joycein the initiative that took placethis week to help the playerskeep their skills sharp duringthe forced break from cricket.

The duo touched upon anumber of topics, includingthe mental preparation goinginto a big game, shot selection

and an analysis of theAustralian captain’s T20I centu-ry against England last year.

The session was chaired byIrish women’s team head coachEd Joyce and also featuredAustralia boss Matthew Mott.

“Any time you can pick thebrains of experienced cricketerssuch as Meg and Isobel is valu-able, and I know that our entiresquad enjoyed this uniqueopportunity,” Ireland skipperLaura Delany said.

“People often underesti-mate the mental aspect of thegame, and both players spoke

about the importance of men-tal preparation before a gameand how to keep a clear mindand focus when on the field,”she said in a Cricket Irelandstatement.

“It’s frustrating for all of usto be not playing, but the unex-pected opportunity of this ses-sion is a great offset,” she added.

“It was exceptionally gener-ous of Meg to contribute hertime to the session, particular-ly given that it was the eveningin Australia when she joined themasterclass,” said coach EdJoyce. IANS

��

Australia’s World Cupwinner Megan Schutt

has said she is ready to playless games this season if ithelps cricket get past thefinancial uncertainty creat-ed by the Covid-19 pan-demic.

“There’s obviouslygoing to be reductionssomewhere, there kind ofhas to be,” she was quotedas saying by cricket.com.au.

“As long as we’re nottaking too big a hit, women

specifically, I’m okay withit.

“It’s about finding abalance in terms of howwe can get cricket goingagain on the nationalscene and the internation-al scene.

“Cricket around theglobe is going to be affect-ed by this and I have nodoubt that women’s crick-et is also going to suffer.Whatever kind of seasonthey can muster together,I’m going to be happyenough with.”

&��'��#� � ��;>��

Former India captain and coach AnilKumble compared the fight against the

dreaded Covid-19 pandemic to the “secondinnings” of an intense Test match where peo-

ple can’t afford to let their guard down.The coronavirus outbreak has

wreaked havoc, claiming over2,76,000 lives so far while

infecting more than fourmillion people.

Among other things,the unprecedented healthcrisis has also broughtsport to a standstill,leading to cancellationand postponement

of several events, including the TokyoOlympics and European FootballChampionships and the Indian PremierLeague.

“If we have to fight this coronavirus pan-demic, we need to be in this together. It’s likea Test match. Cricket Test matches are of fivedays but this has been longer,” Kumble saidin a video posted on his Twitter account.

“Cricket Test matches are only twoinnings each, but this can be even more. Sodon’t be complacent that we had a slenderlead in the first innings because the secondinnings can be really rough.”

“We have to win this battle, it cannot bewon just by a first-innings lead, we need towin this battle by registering an outright vic-tory,” he added.

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Australia batsman UsmanKhawaja on Saturday said

that playing India behindclosed doors at the end of theyear might end up working infavour of the hosts. India are setto tour Australia for threeODIs and four Tests inDecember and January.

“It’s definitely an advan-tage,” he told Fox Sports News.“I remember the last time theycame over for a one-day series,the roar for India was muchbigger.”

“Especially in Melbourne,the amount of expats they haveover there, they flock in. Andwhen India’s on top they real-ly let you know it,” saidKhawaja.

“It’s a really weird feeling.When you’re in India, youexpect to be outnumberedmassively but you can be out-

numbered in Melbourne, aswell as Sydney to some extentalso.”

Australia were without tal-ismanic duo David Warnerand Steve Smith in that seriesand were still in the process ofrecovering from the 2018 balltampering scandal. Khawajaadmitted that India were thebetter team in the series.

“They were clearly the bet-ter team last time, we hung inthere but (Cheteshwar) Pujarawas outstanding and Kohli ledfrom the front as a captain,” hesaid.

“Their bowling unit was asgood as I’ve ever seen an Indianbowling unit, they really wenttoe-to-toe with our bowlers.

“Our bowlers are still ingreat form, though, and thistime Steve Smith and DavyWarner will be in the side too,so a little bit of difference in thebatting line-up.”6��

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India spinner KuldeepYadav feels Mahendra

Singh Dhoni remains invery good shape andcan still play for TeamIndia. He also statedthat the final decisionregarding his futurerests with Dhoni andthere is no point inconstant speculations.

Rumours havebeen doing the roundsregarding Dhoni’sfuture, however,Kuldeep believes theformer India captaincan still turn out for theteam as he makesthings easy for othersaround him.

“I am of coursemissing MS Dhoni.Whenever you playwith a senior player,you become fond ofthem and start missingthem and their pres-ence,” Kuldeep said dur-ing a Live video sessionwith Sportskeeda.

“As far as his retire-ment is concerned, it isMS Dhoni’s decisionand it should be left tohim. There is no pointfor us to debate on that.

“He is very fit andI personally feel heshould play for India.As a fan, I absolutelylove him. If he plays, itwould be easier for us,”he added.

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Out for a stroll on the grounds ofDimple, his tall shadow saunter-ing alongside, Rajendra Kumarpaused in mid stride, cupping hishand around the flame of his sil-

ver lighter. Inhaling the nicotine from his ciga-rette and enjoying the warm, comforting feel-ing it gave him, he resumed walking. Mothsfluttered around the garden lamps and noctur-nal insects chirped happily. An owl called inthe distance. The actor, however, was absorbedin his own thoughts. No films in hand, he pon-dered, his handsome face flushed with thewinter chill. The year has ended. It’s unbeliev-able. And yet, I am the jubilee star. He drewdeeply on the 555, expelling rings of smoke.There is so much enthusiasm, so much passionwithin me, and there are so many stories! Firstthing tomorrow, I will call up all my industryfriends. My dear film industry will respond.They will not turn me down.

But for all his efforts and enthusiasm, whateventually landed in his kitty was a handful ofspecial appearances in Punjabi films like DukhBhanjan Tera Naam and Do Sher, both withDharmendra as his co-star, although in thesecond film, where the younger actor appearedin a song sequence and one scene, RajendraKumar played a central role as a dacoit. Thefilms released in 1974. Thereafter, sleepwalkinginto 1975, Rajendra appeared in Teri Meri IkJindri, a Punjabi film made to launchDharmendra’s cousin Veerendra. What didperk up the jubilee star a bit, though, was therelease of two of his Hindi films.

The first was the remake of a Telegu film,Sunehra Sansar, directed by Adurthi SubbaRao and helmed by women actors, with MalaSinha playing Rajendra Kumar’s wife andHema Malini his former flame. In the publici-ty posters of Sunehra Sansar, superstar HemaMalini featured quite prominently. Thoughthe film was not a commercial success, shewas much appreciated in a rare negative role.This was followed by Rani aur Lalpari, a chil-dren’s musical with a melee of stars, such asRajendra Kumar, Asha Parekh, Jeetendra,Feroz Khan, Reena Roy, Neetu Singh and oth-ers.

The year ended with Do Jasoos, a film thatchalked up average profits. Produced anddirected by Naresh Kumar, the film starred RajKapoor and Rajendra Kumar. Playing bum-bling detectives, they were mere caricatures oftheir former celebrated selves. The adulationthey had once enjoyed, the fame and stardomthat had been at their fingertips had all butfaded away. Of the two stars who were used tofans screaming, ‘Raj! Rajendra! We love you!’,Rajendra Kumar was still taken aback when heoverheard somebody remark, ‘I saw that actorand he looks old.’

I’ve seen it happening to others over andover again, and yet… Rajendra brooded onenight, allowing his despondent mood to getthe better of him.

‘Biwi,’ he said, turning to his wife, ‘I’m notworried about growing old. But there is somuch more that I want to achieve. I also haveto keep the money coming in. All my money is

invested, but to maintain this lifestyle, we willneed more.’

‘Hmm…’ Shukla murmured, her eyes mov-ing around their spacious home as she listenedto her husband voicing his ambitions andfears.

‘Tonight, I need a few pegs of good Scotch,’Rajendra was saying, ‘but I am worried aboutusing up our Black Label stock.’

Shukla shook her head in exasperation.Actors, she thought to herself. Always so dra-matic! But all she said was, ‘Miyan, go aheadand drink to your satisfaction and leave themoney management to me. We have enough.’

In the days that followed, a lethargic calmdescended over Rajendra Kumar’s life. But theunderlying tension of having no workremained, surfacing ever so often. At times likethese, he would feel helpless, broken. Lying inbed one night, Rajendra reflected that in thecurrent scenario the world was backing awayfrom him, disinclined to professionally engagewith a star who, they all felt, was past hisprime. He sighed, turning on his side. Like hisfellow actors, he too had struggled constantlyto ensure that he wouldn’t lose track of his realidentity — the human being that lay at theheart of his star persona. Now he was caughtin a dilemma: what was real — the elevatedstatus he had enjoyed earlier, the glorificationhe had revelled in, his decreasing relevance inthe world of films, the growing obscurity henow faced? With a multitude of defeatistthoughts vying for space in his mind, the for-mer star shut his eyes and fell into a troubledsleep.

The next day was a Saturday. Rajendraawoke, feeling surprisingly refreshed andcharged. As part of his routine, he dressed inshorts and a striped T-shirt, ready to sweat itout on the courts with a game of tennis.Bounding down the staircase of his magnifi-cent bungalow, he called out to Kaajal, hisyounger daughter, who always accompaniedhim to the club.

‘I’m going for a run. Let me know whenyou are ready,’ he told her, before jogging downthe narrow paths that cut across the grounds ofhis house. A cow mooed, bringing a smile tohis lips. Imagine, he reminded himself, inBombay city, in Pali Hill, on the grounds of myluxurious bungalow, I have a cow, six dogs, amonkey and deer! Rajendra smiled to himself,waving back at his neighbour who stood at theback gate.

‘How’s the cow doing?’ Mr Choraria asked.‘Choraria Saab! What a gift you send over

every morning!’ the actor responded. ‘A cow ofour own to milk!’

‘Of course! Growing kids need fresh milk,don’t they?’ Choraria remarked with a smile.

By this time, Kaajal, a sports lover like herfather, had come running down the stairs.Father and daughter left for the club. RajendraKumar truly enjoyed playing tennis, because itoffered him a reprieve from the depressingthoughts that seemed to preoccupy him muchof the time. But once back home, even as hesat down to a hearty breakfast, his vacillatingmind went into overdrive again. Perhaps I

should call it a day. I am at peace, he reasoned.But then, the workaholic in him raised itshead. No, I can’t just sit at home all day doingnothing, he told himself. I have invested years infilms and I am sure they will keep coming myway. Maybe not the choicest ones, but…Stubbing out his third cigarette, he lit up afreshas the houseboy brought out a tray of fruits.What an industry, the actor reminisced, bitinginto a crisp apple. It gave me so much and I toogave back wholeheartedly. I never played poli-tics. On the contrary, I helped and advisedmany newcomers. Ramesh Behl lived with myfamily from the age of fourteen. It was for himthat we started Rose Movies. And we signedKaka [Rajesh Khanna] even before Aradhana[released and the actor’s fame and popularitypeaked]. Rose Movies also gave Daboo [RandhirKapoor] a new lease of life with Jawani Diwani,which became such a huge success. And Manoj[Kumar]… He is as dear to me as my youngerbrother. He also lived with us, until he made it. Ihelped him too…

‘Chai.’ Bahadur interrupted the flow ofmemories with a cup of tea and RajendraKumar accepted it absent-mindedly, still deep inintrospection.

He recalled how it was through him thatactor Manoj Kumar had finally got his break asa hero in H.S. Rawail’s Kanch ki Gudiya oppo-site Sayeeda Khan. Rajendra had even recom-mended Rakesh Roshan for his debut role inGhar Ghar ki Kahani. Then there were the film-makers J. Om Prakash and Mohan Kumar. Theyhad remained his dear friends.

The star sighed, still lost in the past,attempting to convince himself that his film-industry friendships had endured, despite thedownward curve of his career graph. But a deepfrown continued to furrow his brow.

Time ticked on. The trees in the garden castlong morning shadows over the solitary star ashe sat in contemplative silence.

Excerpted with permission from JubileeKumar: The Life and Times of a Superstar, by

Seema Sonik Alimchand, Hachette India, �599

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For something as apocalyptic as the present times, thetypical American slang is SHTF, that is, when the ShitHits the Fan. A rather crude expression for a catastro-

phe. Nevertheless, as the whole world is in such a situation,let’s examine what is happening. Two old time parables para-phrased here may help. First is the one I read in standard 4,some 5-and-a-half-decades back, in English Literature. It istitled the Timid Hares. The story goes that there lived in ajungle, a hare, that would always worry about the earth fallingin. One day, as it was sleeping under a palm tree, a big coconutfell with a thud. The hare jumped in panic and started run-ning, shouting that the earth is falling in. His fellow hare alsofollowed suit. Coming across other animals, they frantical-ly shouted the same message. Soon, all animals were run-ning, creating a big commotion. The lion saw this and roaredferociously, asking what the matter was. The animal in frontsaid that they were running because the earth was falling in.The lion asked where did he see that. The animal pointedto the one behind. When that animal was asked he also point-ed to the one behind. This way, the first hare was traced. Hethen took the lion to the place where he thought the earthwas falling in. As he pointed out to the palm tree, anothercoconut fell. The hare jumped again, wanting to run. But thelion asked him to stop and look. The hare saw the coconutand realised what the fact was. The lion asked him to tellthis to all animals. The lesson here is that rationality usual-ly takes a back seat in crisis situations. But that is where reas-suring leadership is needed. A leadership that is firm andmaintains a scientific approach. The second parablesummed below will help the self-styled experts who are advo-cating more scare than care understand that fear also kills.There was an ascetic living in a hut on the outskirts of a vil-lage. One night he saw a dark shadow moving menacinglytowards the village. The ascetic picks up the courage to askthe shadow who was he and what his motive was. The shad-ow replied that he was Death and was going to the villageto pick up people who were to die due to an impendingendemic that was about to hit. The ascetic asked how manypeople would die. The shadow said 1,000 and moved towardsthe village. In a few days, the endemic struck and a few thou-sand died. The ascetic was shocked. He thought The Deathhad lied. He decided to wait for the shadow to return. Asthe shadow returned, the ascetic charged him saying he hadnot kept his word because not 1,000 but several thousandhad died. The shadow said that it did not lie. The endemichad killed only a thousand. The rest died out of fear. Themoral of the story is clear. Fear of death can be more dan-gerous than death itself. In these times of distress, old timeparables are more educative and informative than the so-called real time information that is being disseminated inces-santly and copiously. Psychologists have long believed thatgood reading helps. It motivates people, and encourages themto face crisis in a better way. The world needs such peopletoday. We must forget fear. It is time to get back to work.

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Ihope that we can return to the nor-mal mood sooner than later. But thisdoes not mean that we can eliminate

the danger of Coronavirus in a hurry.No, we cannot do that. The danger isvery real and must be accepted as such.Our problem is that we have forgottenthe difference between fear and caution.We must always be cautious as we arepersonally being advised also, but noone is remotely suggesting that weshould become fearful or paralysed withfear. This is not human intelligence.

Therefore, let us separate cautionfrom fear. Cautious we must be alwaysincluding now but fearful we shouldnever be. But we become fearful help-lessly. We do; don’t we? Let us under-stand the mechanics of how fear worksin our minds. Something fearful comesinto our minds, and we give it shelter,i.e. do not deal with it rationally. Thismeans that our minds have turned intoour enemies, about which Lord Krishnahas spoken in the Bhagawad Gita. (6.5-6) Sure enough, this affects our bodieslike it affected Arjuna’s. Gandiva wasslipping out of his hand, his skin wasalso burning, he was unable to remainstanding and his mind was reeling.(1.30) Now we have a serious problem,that is the mind is generating negativeenergy, which is affecting the bodyadversely.

How should we counter it? We canlearn from Arjuna’s example. Arjunabecame fearful due to the likely deathsof his relatives and friends and that tooon a very large scale. We are also placedsimilarly. There is danger of the virusaffecting our friends and relatives. Sowhat did Arjuna do? To begin with, heaccepted his condition. Then, herequested Lord Krishna to guide him;help him. He said, “Please instruct me,who has taken your shelter.”(2.7) Lord

Krishna did exactly that. He toldArjuna about how the human mindworks; it can become one’s friend andalso an enemy. Then, the Lord went onto tell Arjuna how this mind can bemade a friend by turning to God — theultimate solution. The Lord said,“Develop My consciousness; becomeMy devotee and offer obeisance to Me.”(18.65) Arjuna wisely accepted God’sinstructions and said, “I am free fromdoubt, I am composed, and I shall fol-low your instructions now. (18.73)

Though we are not faced with anywar but are similarly face to face witha pandemic. And our minds are gener-ating fear, a lot of it. Our bodies are get-ting affected due to the negative ener-gy generated by our fearful minds.There is an overarching mood of sad-ness. So we should follow Lord Krishna’sinstructions by developing God con-sciousness, becoming devotees of Godand pay obeisance to God. As we are alldifferent, we can choose to do in ourown ways what the Lord has instruct-ed, that is what suits us. I will cite mypersonal example. I have placed pho-

tos of God of His many incarnations inmy room. I also chant God’s names andalso some mantras. When I look atGod’s photo/photos or chant God’snames or some mantras or do bothsimultaneously, a miraculous changebegins to take place. My soul, that is, me— a higher entity than my mind getsinto act. The soul is now connected toGod. This brings the ananda character-istic of soul to the fore. The process gen-erates positive spiritual energy and thenegative lower mental energy is coun-tered and made ineffective. I gradual-ly become composed and peaceful.

Believe me this is that simple but thepractice must be done with faith and forsome period till the effect is felt. But itwill surely happen. It cannot fail. BothGod and souls are realities. The momentwe link with God, His energy begins toflow into us. Our ananda part is acti-vated. Fear — a lower energy form iscountered and we become peaceful,become composed. Just do it and reapits benefits as I am blissfully doing. *��

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Life brings us many disap-pointments and challenges.It is easy to fall victim notonly to others who may hurtor mistreat us, but also to our

own anger. When someone hurts usand we grow angry, we suffer two-fold.First, we have to bear the pain thatothers may cause us. Second, we haveto bear the pain and suffering thatcomes with feeling angry.

Anger not only upsets us emo-tionally, but it has a deleterious effecton our physical body. It causes stress,which in turn contributes to stress-related ailments. This can affect us byincreasing our risk of heart disease,cancer, stroke, high blood cancer, andother diseases. It takes a great amountof strength to withstand the tempta-tions to overcome anger. We maythink the angry person is strong, butactually they are succumbing out ofweakness to this trick of the mind. Ittakes one who is brave of heart to sayno to anger.

Let us trace what happens to us

when we do not forgive. Each of ourpersonal stories generally begins withsomething that happens to us that wedo not like. Some person has wrongedus in some way. Maybe someone hassaid something to hurt our feelings orhas hurt us physically. Maybe some-one we love has stopped loving us andcaring for us or has cheated on us.Maybe someone has taken our power,position, or wealth or has been dis-honest with us.

We can safely assume that all ofus go through life with some incidenthappening that we do not like or thathurts us. So, what happens next? Weare upset, hurt, annoyed or angry. Wethink about what had happened. Wedo not like it and we cannot seem toforget it. We think about it again andagain. We may speak about it repeat-edly either to the person who hurt usor to others. Some person who has lesscontrol over themselves may lashout physically to the person or take outtheir anger physically on someoneelse. As the incident escalates, we find

our thoughts and words occupied withhow to rectify the situation. Some peo-ple will try to solve the problem peace-fully by talking it over with the per-son who they felt has done themwrong.

Sometimes they try that but theother person is not willing to listen orchange. Then, we feel we have to dosomething drastic. This may lead toretaliation or revenge. We begin tothink about ways to get back to theperson who hurt us or we think aboutways to get even with them. We wantto see justice done. Our mind refus-es to forget what had happened untilwe retaliate or see justice done. Thus,in response from one incident we endup creating more scenarios and situ-ations . The other person then may getback at us for retaliating. A cycle ofaction and reaction may go on and onescalating a small situation into amajor problem.

What has happened in theprocess? We have lost our peace ofmind. The initial incident may have

lasted a few moments or a few hours,or a day, but we have now spent hun-dreds of hours and countless daysreplaying what happened and think-ing about how to get even.

In this process, the preciousmoments of our life have been wast-ed. Instead of keeping our attentionon what can help us become better,happier in life, we have wasted thetime in replaying a bad movie. Thus,we lose more than the person towhom we are directing our anger. AChinese proverb says that when weseek revenge, we dig two graves, onefor the other person on whom we seekrevenge and the other one for our-selves.

We become nothing more than atape recording or video recording thatplays the same bad scene over andover. How many of us want to see abad movie twice, or hear a song wedon’t like played again and again? Howmany of us want to eat the same foodwe don’t like again? We usually say,“This is yuck”. That is what happenswhen we repeat in our minds all thewrongs done to us. The solution forprotecting the body against the hor-mones released by hatred, anger andvengeance is simple: forgiveness. It isonly through forgiveness that we cancalm ourselves down and avoid thereactions of hatred and violence.What are the keys to developing thepower of forgiveness?

One of the keys is to let go. Whenwe forgive and forget, we are lettinggo the past and what has happened.We are saying, “I forgive the personfor what has happened. Then I amgoing to forget about it.” In this way,we are letting it go. When we let goof the past and the wrongs done byothers, the gain is that we achievepeace in our life. If we want to succeedon the spiritual path we need to havea pure and clean heart and mind .Theway to do this is through forgiving andforgetting, letting go, and gettingGod.

Let us learn to forgive and forget.It is time to wipe the slate clean andbegin anew. Let us let go of all anger.Let us let go of all hatred. Let us letgo of all feelings of vengefulness. Letus let go of all animosity. Let us devoteourselves to forgiving and forgetting,letting go and getting God.

We can tell our mind that we needto forgive everyone and everythingfrom past and make a consciousdecision to forget all the previoushurts. By sitting in meditation, freefrom all worldly desires and attach-ments, we can let go and find our-selves free to soar back to God. In thisway, we can spend all our time inenjoyment, bliss, laughter, happiness,and love.

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In ancient times, we used to have sim-ple idols made of wet clay of Gods andGoddesses. But as time passed, we

started using colours in these clay sculp-tures. As a result, the magnificence of theidols of gods and goddesses enhanced.

Today, instead of those clay-colouredidols of God, idols of gods in the form ofplastic, POP, metal, silver, gold, glass,photos, and calendars, etc. are being avail-able in the markets.

Such sculptures are more luminous,beautiful, artistic, grand, and durable thanthose ordinary sculptures made of clay. Atpresent, most of the people have seen thatpeople put idols, photos and calendars ofgods and goddesses in their house, shopand office in any place and any direction,where spinning them is not appropriate.

The name of God is considered to bea symbol of positive and constructiveenergy and just as everything has a limit,similarly positive energy also has a limit.It is not right to place idols of God inyour home, office, etc. as a showpiece,because God is worthy of worship ratherthan a decorative item. A man should alsofollow his power, purity, and dignity com-pletely.

Today, we get the idols of gods andgoddesses on many occasions. In such asituation, we keep them at any place inour home and office. Apart from all these,most of the matrimonial invitation cardsnow have a small plastic statue of LordShri Ganesh, we remove these plastic stat-ues from the invitation letter and place itanywhere at our house, and we do noteven realise that is this the right place ornot?

According to Vastu Shastra, idols,photos, calendars, etc. of Gods andGoddesses should not be applied mainlyin the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, lawn,etc. These idols, photos, calendars should

be installed only at the place of worship ofhome and office.

At the same time, idols of God largerthan 6 inches should not be installed inthe place of worship of the house. Also, inany way, a broken (idol/image) or tornphoto of God should not be installed inthe home or office. Statues and photosshould not be kept crooked at any place,as well as full care should be taken of thedignity of the idols.

It is considered very inauspicious to

keep idols of some deities in the house.These mainly include idols of Shani dev,Bhairav dev, Rahu-Ketu, Nataraja.

An idol of gods and goddesses madeof metal, plastic, glass, silver, and gold isnot a showpiece, but a symbol of positiveand constructive energy. This is the rea-son that we should follow their power,purity, and dignity completely by keepingthis energy symbol in the right place.

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:�� "��9�+��The “unrivalled power, pres-

tige and influence” is howthe USA of the 20th centuryhas largely been defined. AsHenry Kissinger rightlyechoed, “In the 20th century,no country has influencedinternational relations as deci-sively and at the same time asambivalently as the UnitedStates. No society has morefirmly insisted on the inad-missibility of intervention inthe domestic affairs of otherstates, or more passionatelyasserted that its own values areuniversally applicable.” Thiswas how Kissinger definedAmerican power under thenewly emerged rubric of “NewWorld Order” in 1994.

Even when the historicParis Peace Conference washeld in 1919, the differences indecision making between theEuropean and American lead-ers became evident. TheEuropean representatives advo-cated in favour of maintainingthe status quo whereas the USwas firm on highlighting thatthe First World War was notthe result of “intractable geopo-litical conflicts, but from flawedEuropean practices”.

Therefore a new sign ofstatesmanship was demon-strated by the American peace-makers by intervening in theexisting European hegemony indiplomacy and policy makingin international relations.Through his famous FourteenPoints, Woodrow Wilson saidthe international system shouldnot be based on balance ofpower but on ethnic self-deter-mination. And the security ofthe nations should not dependon military alliances but on col-lective security. Further theirdiplomacy should no longer beconducted secretly by expertsbut on the basis of open agree-ments, openly arrived at. It wasclear from these historic linesthat Wilson, instead of dis-cussing the terms for endingthe First World War and tohenceforth restoring the glob-al order, was indeed busyrecasting a purely new orderwherein the US was projectedto lead the world. But then the-sis put forwarded by Wilsoncame into reality in a muchstronger way only after the endof the Second World War.

Since 1945, as Americamoved on, it has experiencedups and downs. Even at theheight of the Second WorldWar, Henry Luce, the founderof the Time magazine, advo-cated that America hadamassed too much wealth andpower that the 20th centurywould come to be known sim-ply as “the American Century”.Surprisingly, his predictionproved prescient. After almostseven decades of hegemony,though it had to live with theCold War till 1990s,Washington has brilliantlymanaged to stay in promi-nence, prestige and relevance.But with globalisation, post-globalisation and especially,globalisation of terrorism, theUS had to encounter new real-ities wherein its trade, securi-ty and stability have been badlychallenged. With the Iraq War,the Afghan War, Syrian civilwar, the Arab Spring, the emer-gence of al-Qaeda (September11 terror attack) and finally, thearrival of the Islamic State(ISIS) have altogether alteredthe global power dynamics.China’s gradual and quiet rise,the Eurozone crisis, the fastgrowth of nationalist regimesaround the world have come asthe last blow to the US-led lib-eral order once and for all.Around the same time, boththe fantasies and credentialsaround which the global liber-al leviathan has been con-structed are badly exposed.This is because the liberaldemocracies have reallybecome worse at improvingtheir citizens’ living standardsleading to major public outcriesagainst their leaders and age-old institutions. And this hasculminated into the rise ofpopulist movements and lead-ers that disavow liberalism.These kinds of regimes haveshown their ugly heads startingfrom Warsaw to Washingtonand from Brussels to Brasilia.And one such regime, manysay is undoubtedly headed byDonald Trump at the citadel ofdemocracy.

Trump, who took up reins

as the 45th President of the USin 2017, has ushered the WhiteHouse into a new age toAmerican politics. With him,starting from his campaign tillthe day he assumed office onJanuary 20, 2017, it was noth-ing but political populism thatsimply drove people aroundhim. The middle class whiteAmericans have really found inhim a leader who could trans-form their agony into comfortand a good living. In some ofthe speeches made during hisPresidential election campaignof 2016, Trump directlyaddressed the major concernsof the white working class withtheir sudden declining positionin the national pecking order.Probably, his media adviserswere smart and sensitiveenough to locate a possiblewinning constituency leftunaddressed by successivegenre of Republicans andDemocrats in the past elec-tions. Therefore, Trump didrightly pick them up whilemoving towards the WhiteHouse. He debated core con-cerns and raised their moralstatus by emphatically under-lining them as truly hard-working Americans who wereoutright victims of an era ofglobalisation and post-global-isation. Much more than that,he courted them as “peopleabove the politicians, profes-sionals and the elite”. Thisindeed drew them not onlycloser to the Republican votebank but also exposed a woundleft unattended by the previousleaders. Capturing the currentsocial dynamics of social engi-neering, he started drawingstrong moral boundariestowards undocumentedMuslims, refugees and immi-grants across America. Thiswas how Trump catapultedhimself to power by trans-forming symbolic boundariesinto engines of change in 2016presidential campaign. Whathappened in the last four yearsof his presidency has con-structed a new dimension ofAmerican power and influence,largely drawn towards “MakeAmerica Great Again”.Threatening to cut traditionalties with many of the US allies,suddenly withdrawing fromhistoric global treaties, forumsand dialogues, Trump has rede-fined an illiberal order symp-

tomatic of political populism,crude business tactics andsheer arrogance. So he hasremained an unpredictablestatesman with whom many ofAmerica’s friends and democ-ratic partners have dealt toocautiously till date.

Sadly, Trump’s pugnacityhas not worked in America’sfavour. It has brought onlyperil to his party, country andgentry along with the mostcommon people of his dearland. His recklessness has large-ly eroded the US dominantposition across the world.Saddest part of the Trumppresidency is that his authori-ty as a global leader hasdeclined not because otherleaders or nations have togeth-er or single-handedly chal-lenged him; it’s clearly as adirect result of his unwelcom-ing actions and untimely com-mentaries. At home, Trump hassignificantly lost his groundafter the House ofRepresentatives approvedimpeaching him.

It’s not that Trump hassolely made America weak. Itis a long drawn process that hascome to fruition over the years.Though globalisation of tradehas proved to be tremendous-ly profitable to for the US, itcould hardly deliver to thecountry’s middle class. Whilemaking globalisation work, theAmerican policy makers advo-cated Russia to adopt privati-sation and China to enter intothe newly established WorldTrade Organization in 1995.Despite InternationalMonetary Fund pushing for anagenda of privatisation, dereg-ulation and severe austeritymeasures, leading to sharp fallin public faith over both thecredentials of democracy andworkability of capitalism, theybacked such institutions topromote global trade and freemarket. To their utter dismay,these and many more such ini-tiatives, instead of bringingopen markets and free soci-eties, have created a vast auraof opportunities for America’srivals to simply rise and chal-lenge its traditional dominancearound the globe. ElizabethWarren, a Democratic USSenator, wrote in 2019 that asa result of such policies “Russiabecame belligerent and resur-gent. China weaponised its

economy without ever loosen-ing its domestic political con-straints. Other countries’ faithin both capitalism and democ-racy eroded. A programmeonce aimed at promoting theforces of freedom ended upempowering the opposite.”True. Absolutely true. TodayChina has turned out to beAmerica’s competitor numberone. How to surge Americaahead of all, with an evergrowing democratic spirit is amatter of serious concern.Amid all these complexities,Trump has echoed wrongnotes, even at right moments.

Around this Covid-19time, what is milling around isthat China might take over theglobal leadership from the US.Many say that this has alreadytaken place. And with thecoming of Trump at the WhiteHouse, the final countdown hasbegun. But then is it going tobe only economic yardsticksand growing military prowessof China that could be matchedwith the current US strength todecide the outcome. However,America’s longstanding liberalorder and traditions cannotsimply be undone by oneTrump and his populist poli-cies.

What advantages the UShas over China? Perfectly,Washington has much moreadvantage over Beijing. Liberalideology offers a significantadvantage to the US overChina. As a free and open soci-ety that advocates for safe-guarding basic premises ofhuman rights and freedoms,America can be a much betterally of the nations of Asia,Africa and Latin America. Thereason behind is that many inthese countries clamour forbasic freedoms and they candirectly draw inspiration fromtheir daily struggle for reclaim-ing these liberties. When itcomes to China, its dealings areaccompanied by sharp abuse ofthe ally’s people and theirresources. But for America, itsdecision making is transparentin regard to its allies unlikeChina that quietly digs debttraps in the name of econom-ic aids.

America has been a dom-inant power since 1945 and itwants to continue with this sta-tus. And this primacy hasbrought immediate and long-

term benefits to the country.This also offers Washington thecapacity to shape regional bal-ance of power. America’sprominence in global stagehas also guaranteed a tranquilenvironment for the rest of thenations to operate within theirown independent spheres.

It has been argued verywell that when a countryreaches the top, it has nowhereelse to go but simply down-wards. Way back in 1950, whenthe Soviet Union acquiredatomic weapons, the NationalSecurity Council warned thatthis advantage to the USSRmight alter the geopoliticalequations among the nations.Again when the Sputnik waslaunched by the Soviet Unionthat led many to prophesisethat Nikita Khrushchev’spledge to bury “Western capi-talism” may turn into reality.John F Kennedy in his heydaystrongly believed that the USSRcould be richer than the US.And Richard Nixon famouslyargued that America wasbecoming a “pitiful helplessgiant”. In the meantime,America’s defeat in theVietnam War provoked manyexperts to argue and writeworks like “After Hegemony:Cooperation and Discord inthe World Political Economy”.This all showed a persistent fearamong both the leaders andintellectuals in the West thatAmerica might fall from thegrace. And the Russophobiahelped Ronald Regan to justi-fy a major military buildup inthe beginning of the 1980s.However with the coming ofPaul F Kennedy’s “Rise and Fallof Great Powers” wherein headvocated that the US is in thedanger of “imperial over-stretch”, the perception aboutits decline has taken a newturn. However Kennedy’s newAmerica decline narrative wasaptly countered by Joseph Nyein his “Bound to Lead: TheChanging Nature of AmericanPower”. Nye strongly put for-ward his view that America hasdistinct strengths and hence itwould remain as leading powerfor many years to come.Afterwards, a number of booksand essays such as CharlesKrauthammer’s “The UnipolarMoment”, G John Ikenberry’s“Liberal Leviathan”, NialFerguson’s “Colossus” and

Fareed Zakaria’s “The Post-American World” have empha-sised that American domi-nance would continue.

However what DanNexton, an American politicalscientist, has just revealed isabsolutely more convincing.In his book “Exit FromHegemony: The Unravelling ofthe American Global Order”published by the OxfordUniversity Press, this year, heemphatically says, “I do notdoubt that the United States iscapable of remaining and like-ly to remain a global power.”And for him, “China is only atthe very beginning of its effortto develop the political infra-structure for power projectionand it is capable of engaging insome limited overseas opera-tions.” This kind of an analysissituates China as a regionalpower wherein it could be ableto rise as little more than a chal-lenge for America’s continueddominance in East and SouthChina Sea.

Is there any possibility thatChina may bypass theAmerican juggernaut or maycome closer to it in a post-Covid-19 economic downturn?There could be possibilities thatfor some time, China may takelead in the economic front. Butcertainly, the whole worldwould wake up to the callgiven by this virus and realisethe fact that too much depen-dence on China may be disas-trous. And this is not even con-ducive for China as well.China’s capacity to lift millionsout of poverty and adjustingthe market dynamics to itssocialist roots must be har-nessed further to resolve theconflicts within and overseasterritories of the country. Maybe a life President like XiJinping would be able to do abetter job in this regard unlikehis immediate predecessors.Instead of encircling the neigh-bourhood and expandingundeterred money and musclepower to the rest of the worldin the guise of soft power, hecan easily bring democraticreforms within his own coun-try. This will ensure at least thebasic minimum human rightsto his brethren. Why is heunnecessarily creating ani-mosity and repeating the samemistakes committed by earliergreat powers? While advocat-

ing multi-polarity, Chinashould not head for the sameunipolar world order nurturedby the US.

Frankly speaking, aChinese-led order will have fewtakers. The western liberalorder offers enough space bothfor open society and even forits enemies as well. Beijing’stutelage will nowhere guaran-tee free speech and open dia-logue. In the name of stabilityand economic development, asocialist authoritarian systemwould be imposed on all. Onecan simply witness the appre-hension generated by such “redfear” among the Hongkongerssince July 1997. The younggenerations and the most of theislanders are rejecting themainland system wheneverand wherever imposed byBeijing. This is more than suf-ficient for the internationalcommunity to learn what anAsian order led by China canherald to all of us. Mere eco-nomic guarantee offered byBeijing will not simply ensuresafe keeping of our basic free-doms.

Hope what PresidentFranklin Roosevelt onceechoed in 1941 comes intoreality: “America is not a coun-try which can be confoundedby the appeasers, defeatists, thebackstairs manufacturers ofpanic…This will of theAmerican people will not befrustrated, either by threatsfrom powerful enemies abroador by small, selfish groups orindividuals at home.”Hopefully, the American lead-ership will be back with arenewed strength. But Trump,when he comes back in 2021for his second term, should notfurther jeopardise the liberalorder that its forefathers builtin the past. He must realise thatonly with this order, the coun-try can retain its traditionalleverage over other nations.And for its old allies, and par-ticularly for the global gover-nance system, America needsto be sensitive.

Finally, it’s not only abouta US-led order. But about ademocratic world order where-in emerging nations like Indiawould be able to rise and shareits world view with the rest.

(The writer is an experton international affairs)

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Moving on from lessons in how torelax and then detoxify themind, in the previous issues, it’s

time now to explore ways and means toaccess powers of mind. The power latentin mind is immense mostly lying dor-mant out of ignorance, which if unfoldedin full has no bounds. The paradox, how-ever, is that ordinary mortals are hardlyable to use five to seven percent of ourmind power, which remains available bydefault. For, ordinarily our mind remainsclouded by lot of inherent limitations.Our reach could, however, be expandedthrough conscious efforts. Einstein andpeople of his calibre are believed to haveused about 10 to 14 percent of theirmindpower to have created history.

Now, how to go about optimisingour mindpower? The first call is to getover inherent limitations by pursuing themind-detoxification process as discussedin the previous issue. Following which,most of inconsequential and negativethought imprints parked in the innerrealms of mind, that otherwise misdirectour thought process, go out of reckoning.Yet, some memory impressions lying atstill deeper layer of mind that hold thekey to our hardened habit tendencies,

may be left. For the final assault thathelps purify the mind fully, we need totake up ‘Dhyana’. Following which, thethought process becomes easy and sim-ple. Please bear in mind; simplicity isclarity, directness, and purity. It is freefrom complications, clutter, and confu-sion. Simplicity paves the way to success,peace, focus, and happiness. Thereafter,you would in full control of the self,when wholesome powers of mind shallbe available. You may then be able to usemind as an instrument, which it is,rather than being victim of its inconsis-tencies. Consequently, mind comes outwith its creative best, when it qualifies tospontaneously lead us towards the rightcourse due.

Mind could be raised to the abovestatus, when one is in a state of “Yoga”,which in applied terms means that uni-tary mind is fully tuned to the element ofconsciousness, which holds the key to allour dynamic functionalities.

The process suggested for the pur-pose by sage Patanjali, the proponent ofthe concept, is “Dhyana”. Going by itsliteral meaning, the word Dhyana impliespaying attention. To what? It is on noneother than one’s own self, which holds

the key to how we usually conduct in life.It, in the first place calls for observingand becoming aware of one’s limitationsof mind. Second, the workable part ofone’s indwelling potential. And finallyexplore one’s wholesome latent potential,unexplored and untapped thus far out ofignorance, which when unfolded in fullwould know no limits. The methodinvolved is to first disengage one’s atten-tion from external distractions, and thenlook within to explore and scan what liesin store at the various levels of the innerrealms of mind. Having become awarethus, to consciously deliberate upon andaccordingly redefine the thought process,with the intent to come out with one’sbest.

In English lingua franca, ‘Meditation’,is the word commonly used to give asense of Dhyana. Although, it doesn’treflect true spirit and essence of“Dhyana”, it however, stands close by.For, the word meditation, seeminglyhints at reflecting deeply over some idea,thought, or concept. Dhyana, on the con-trary, is a process directed towardsattaining a state of being, when mindgets riveted to the root of all thoughts. Itbecomes possible only when flirtation ofmind almost comes to an end, what

Patanjali calls ‘Citta vriti nirodha’.Otherwise, uncontrolled thought impres-sions in mind keep you so much engagedthat it doesn’t leave much of scope toprocess your thoughts objectively, andwith obvious consequences. Meditationremains a necessary part of the process,and so contextually remains relevant.

Once the mind gets fully purified,there is no thought left that may lead youthrough. You then need to cultivate freshdefining principle of mind by raisingawareness level. The process calls forcontinued reflection (meditation) uponfresh educative inputs as laid down in thescriptures or the ones offered by anenlightened Guru. Following which, youmay come out with your creative best.You could then spontaneously makeright choices in life. Remember, mindbeing an instrument, it can’t move on itsown. It needs a guiding principle. Tosum up, Dhyana is a mind-engineeringprocess.

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2020/05/10 · resume work at local industri-al units to earn money, police said. The police resorted to lath- icharge and fired tear gas to dis-perse the angry migrants work-ers