JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA ● REG .NO . MCS/067/2018 - 20 RN I REGN . NO . 1543/57

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 12 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

`̀ 98 per kilo

`̀ 126 per kilo

`̀ 155 per kilo

`̀ 60 per Dozen

U.S. OIL PRICEHITSHISTORIC LOW:ENTERSNEGATIVETERRITORYPAGE11

GARGIVERMARAIPUR,APRIL20

JAMALOMADKAM, 12, left herhouse for the first time twomonths ago, going with somerelatives and friends towork ata chilli farm in Telangana. OnSunday, she returned dead, try-ingtomakeherwaybackamidstthecoronavirus lockdown.Officials said the tribal girl

diedonApril18duetoelectrolyteimbalanceandexhaustion, hav-ingwalked for over three dayswith13others,coveringover100kmanddyingbarely11kmshortof her home in Aded in Bijapur

districtofChhattisgarh.Jamalowas the only child of

Andoram (32) and SukamatiMadkam (30), who barely sur-vive on the forest produce theycollect. It was the first time shehadgoneouttowork.“ShewenttoTelanganawithsomewomenfromthevillage,”Andoramsaid.OnMonday, Chief Minister

Bhupesh Baghel announcedRs1 lakh for Jamalo’s family.ManyamongChhattisgarh’s

tribal population go every yearto farms in Telangana to earnmoneypickingchillies.Andoram said he last heard

that Jamalo had left Peruru vil-lage in Telangana, where she

worked, on April 16 with agroup. “They decided to comebackafterrealisingthatthelock-downhadgotextendedandtheywouldnotgetanywork.”The13withJamaloincluded

threechildrenandeightwomen.Accordingtosources, Jamalo

died around 8 am on April 18when the group reached theborder of Bijapur district ofChhattisgarh. The group couldnotinformthefamilyasonlyoneamongthemhadaphonewhosebatteryhaddied.Finally, when the group

reached Bhandarpal village inBijapurdistrict, theymanagedtocallherparents.Aresidentof the

village requesting anonymitysaid,“Heaskedifhecouldmakeaphonecall tothegirl’svillage.”TheBhandarpalvillagersalso

alertedpolice.Medical Officer of Bijapur

district Dr B R Pujari said thatwhen they got the news, theyimmediatelyrushedover.“SinceTelanganahadcases,we imme-diately sent our teams, but wecouldn’t find them,”hesaid.Chhattisgarh currently has

36positivecases,ofwhich11arein hospital. It is quarantininganyonearrivingfromoutsidethestate. In Telangana, 872positivecaseshavebeenreported.Finally, amedical teamfrom

Bijapur managed to catch upwith the group on the outskirtsof Bhandarpal village. WhileJamalo’s body was taken to amorgue,thegroupwassentintoaquarantine facility.On Sunday evening,

AndoramandSukamati arrivedto take theirdaughter’sbody.SaidDrPujari,“Thegirlissus-

pected tohavedieddue toelec-trolyte imbalance and exhaus-tion, as the group had beenwalkingthreedays.Theywalkedthroughforests,andatoneplace,shealso tooka fall.”The day after she died,

Jamalo’s test results for coron-aviruscame.Shewasnegative.

PAGE1ANCHOR

JamaloMakdam’sparentsAndoramandSukamati. She lefttoworkatachilli farminTelanganatwomonthsago. Express

12-yr-old walks 100 km, dies just short of Bijapur home

WorkbeginsonMankhurdflyover inDeonar,Mumbai,onMonday, thefirstdayofeasingof somerestrictions.PrashantNadkar

OPPN-RULEDBENGAL,MAHARASHTRA,RAJASTHAN INLIST,WITHMP

Eateries tobarbers: AfterCentre warns,Kerala limitsrelaxationsSHAJUPHILIP&DEEPTIMANTIWARYTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,NEWDELHI, APRIL20

KERALAMONDAY rolled backsomeofthekeylockdownrelax-ations it had decided to allowfromApril 20 in a phasedman-ner, including the partial open-ing of restaurants, non-AC bar-ber shopsandbookshops, adayafteritwaswarnedbytheCentrethattheywereinviolationoftheguidelinesissuedbytheMinistryofHomeAffairs.Ina letter,datedApril19and

sent to Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan’s office, UnionHome Secretary Ajay Bhallawrote: “Iwouldurgeyoutorec-tify the guidelines... in linewiththe consolidated revisedguide-lines dated 15th April & 16thApril 2020withoutanydilutionand to ensure strict complianceof lockdownmeasures.”On Monday, as confusion

prevailed across Kerala withpeopleturningoutinstreetsandmarkets in large numbers, thestategovernmentdiscussedtheMHAletteratahigh-levelreviewmeeting and decided to adheretotheCentre’sguidelines.Byaf-ternoon,thepoliceforcedshopsselling non-essential items todown shutters and clampeddownonmovementofvehicles.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

VISHWASWAGHMODEMUMBAI, APRIL20

EVEN AS industries were al-lowed to resume operations insomedistrictsofMaharashtraonMondaywithpre-conditions,of-ficials said around 3,000 indus-trial units have sought permis-sion tostartwork.Sources in the industry de-

partment said that of the 3,000registrations made on theMaharashtra Industrial

Development Corporation(MIDC) portal, 1,355 industrialunits — 750withinMIDC areasand the rest outside—have ap-plied with details of how theyplantoaccommodateandtrans-port labourers.“These industrial units will

provide employment to 20,000workers in thestate.Of the totalworkers, the industries havemadearrangements foraccom-modation of 10,000 workerswithintheirpremisesand4,500in nearby areas... they have also

sought permission to transportthe rest of theworkers,” said anofficial.The official added thatmost

of these applications have beenreceivedfromdistrictsincludingNashik,Ahmednagar,SangliandSatara. The applications are be-ingscrutinisedandpermissionsarelikelytobegivenonTuesday,theofficial said.Terming the industry re-

sponseaspositive, anotheroffi-cial said that many more are

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL20

EVENAStheUniongovernmentis looking at various options for“gradual”liftingofthelockdownpost-May 3 and hopes that thedoublingtimeofCOVID-19caseswill increase to12daysby then,sources said it is preparing for asecondwaveinlateMayorearly

June, as restrictionsareeased.On Monday, the Health

Ministry said thedoubling time— an epidemiologicalmetric ofhow long an infectious diseasetakes for thenumberof cases todouble—is7.5days,upfromthe3.4 days before the lockdown.The government hopes that itwill increase to 10 days by theendof theweek, and12daysbythe firstweekofMay.

“At ourworst, our doublingtime was 3.4 days. We are ex-pectingtotouch12byApril-endorearlyMay,butafterthat,aswegradually start toopenup—thelockdownwill definitely not belifted inonego—therewill beagradual increase (in cases).Weare looking at a second peak inlateMay or early June, but nowthat awareness levels are high

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

DEEPTIMANTIWARY&ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL20

ADAYafter it directedKerala torectify its lockdown relaxationssaying some of the concessionsdiluted national guidelines, theCentre singled outmore states,putting under strain the com-monexitstrategythatthePrimeMinisterhadurgedstatestohelpframe in the country’s effortsagainstCOVID-19.OnMonday, the Centre in-

formed West Bengal,Maharashtra, Rajasthan — allruled by the Opposition— andMadhya Pradesh that lockdownmeasureswere being routinelyflouted in their districts, and itwas sending six newly-consti-tuted Inter-Ministerial CentralTeams (IMCTs) for on-the-spotassessmentofthesituationthere.The IMCTs, whichwill sub-

mit a report to the Centre, havebeen authorised to issueneces-sary directions to state authori-ties for redressal. Headed by

Additional Secretary-rank offi-cers from the Centre, the IMCTswill start the inspection visitswithin threedaysof theorder.TMC-ruledWestBengal’sini-

tial response was frosty, ques-tioning the deployment of theIMCTs and suggesting that it“might not be consistent withthespirit of federalism”.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Bengal cases far belowothers in list, Mamataslams ‘unilateral’ move

ACentral teamattheSecretariat inKolkataMonday.Express

KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI, APRIL20

WITHIN 30 minutes of WestBengal receiving the UnionHomeMinistry’sorderannounc-ing the formation of Inter-Ministerial Central Teams tomonitorcoronavirusindistricts,two teams flew into the state at10amMonday.Chief Minister Mamata

Banerjeepointedthisout,alongwith the fact that she got a callfromUnionHomeMinisterAmitShahonly around1pm, to slamthe Centre’s “unilateral action”.She also questioned the criteriaon the basis of which sevenBengaldistrictshadbeenpickedformonitoring—of the total11.TheUnionHealthMinistry’s

district-wise data for COVID-19released over the weekendshows that the seven districts

have 224 cases, as compared tothe four non-West Bengal dis-tricts selected, which togetheraccountforaquarterofthecasesin thecountry, at3,732.While oneCentral teamwill

look at Kolkata, Howrah, North24ParganasandEastMedinipurdistricts,anotherwouldfocusonDarjeeling, Jalpaiguri andKalimpong (the last three hadbetween them 15 cases as ofApril 18).A comparisonof theApril 18

data for Kolkata (105 cases)againstthefournon-WestBengaldistrictsunderlinesthewidegap.Mumbaihad20timesthenum-ber of cases (2,070) as theWestBengal capital; Indore seventimes (707); and Jaipur, Puneroughlyfourtimes(485and470,respectively). Mumbai, Indore,Jaipur and Pune are among theworst-hit in thecountry.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Lynchings in Palgharright under policenose, probe ordered48hrsearlier, anothermobattackaverted, samepolicemeninvolved

ThefamilyofNileshYelgade,whowasamongthethreekilled,at theirhomeinKandivali. Express REPORTS PAGE3

SRINATHRAOMUMBAI, APRIL20

THELYNCHINGof threemenbyamob at Gadchinchle village inPalghar Thursday night hap-pened right under the nose of apoliceteamledbytwoofficers—whoshouldhaveknownbetter.For, barely 48 hours earlier,

theyhad responded toa similarsituation in thesamedistrict.OnMonday,thetwoofficers,

Assistant Police InspectorAnandrao Kale and Police SubInspector Sudhir Katare of Kasapolice station, were suspendedfor their failure to prevent thelynchingatGadchinchle.

Twodaysearlier,onApril14,KaleandKatarewerepresentatSarni Patilpada village, 60 kmfromGadchinchle,whereamobattacked a Thane-bound carwith two doctors and theirdriver,allegedlyonthesuspicionthat theywere “thieves”. In thiscase,though,policemanagedtodrivetheoccupantsofthecaroutof the area, which, according tothe district administration, hasbeen rife with rumours ofthieves, organ traffickers andchild kidnappers for the pastthreemonths.Two days later, Kale, Katare

and their teamof 18police per-sonnel were again present but

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SHUBHAJITROY&PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI, APRIL20

TWO DAYS after the govern-ment tweaked its FDI policy tomake its approval mandatoryfor firmsinneighbouringcoun-tries to invest in Indian compa-nies, China claimed Mondaythat this violates the WTO’s“principle of non-discrimina-tion”.Andhopedthat Indiawill“revise” its decision.The government’s move is

seen as aimed at checking “op-portunistic takeovers”of Indianfirms hit by the ongoing COVIDoutbreakand lockdown.NewDelhimaintainsthepol-

icyisnotaimedatanyonecoun-try but spokesperson for theChineseEmbassyinIndiaJiRongmade it clear itsecho inBeijing.

“The impactof thepolicyonChinese investors is clear.Chinese investment has driventhe development of India’s in-dustries, such asmobile phone,

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Centre steps in: Sends teams tomonitordistricts,withmandate to issueorders

CORONACOUNT

559DEATHS

2,842RECOVERED

4,01,586sampleshavebeentestedasonApril19

17,656CASES

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

THECOVIDoutbreakhashitmanybusinesses. Theamendment is seenasacheckagainst “oppor-tunistic takeovers.”Thestakesarehigh:Asof2019,China’s cumulativeinvestment in Indiaex-ceeded$8billion,morethanthat fromallbordercountriesput together.

$8billionandhighstakesE●EX

PLAINED

3,000 industrial units in Maharashtraseek permission to resume work

One option leftas Mallya losesextradition plea

ADITIKHANNALONDON,APRIL20

VIJAYMALLYAMondaylostaUKHighCourtappealagainsthisex-tradition, amajor turning pointthatbringsIndiaclosertogettingback the embattled liquor ty-coon wanted on alleged fraudandmoney laundering chargesamounting toRs9,000crore.The dismissal of the High

Court appeal leavesMallyawith14daystoapplyforpermissiontoappealtotheUKSupremeCourt.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Govt preparing for a second wavetowards May end as lockdown eases

ADILAKHZER&BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,APRIL20

THE J&K Police have booked a26-year-old woman photogra-pher under the stringentUnlawfulActivities(Prevention)Actforallegedlyuploading“anti-nationalposts”onhersocialme-dia accounts. In a separate case,the police have filed an “openFIR” related to “a news storypublishedinanationalnewspa-

per”,alleging itwas“fakenews”— in a statement issued later, itnamed Peerzada Ashiq, TheHindu’sKashmircorrespondent.In the case against the pho-

tographer, police claimed thatthe Cyber Police Station inSrinagar received informationon April 18 “through reliablesources that one Facebook usernamely Masrat Zahra is fre-quentlyuploadinganti-nationalpostswithcriminal intention”.“The post by the users can

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ARUNJANARDHANANCHENNAI, APRIL20

THELASTritesof thefirstdoctorto die of COVID-19 in TamilNadu, prominent Chennai neu-rosurgeonandmanagingdirec-tor of a hospital Dr SimonHercules, were disrupted bymobsonSundaynight.Newsthatacoronavirusvic-

tim’s bodywas coming for lastrites brought residents to twoburial grounds inChennai,withsticks and stones. As they at-

tacked the ambulance driversand family, the doctors’ col-leagues had to ready the pit by

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

UAPA against Kashmirphotographer for posts,journalist faces FIR

DrSimonHercules finallyburiedwithpolicehelp

China says new FDI normsviolate WTO; officials sayothers put firewalls too

Friends dig pit as Chennaimobs attack family, stopburial of noted doctor

Rules being flouted,claims govt; 7 of 11dists from Bengal,others are hotspots

ECONOMY

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21, 2020

Palghar lynchingthis timeas littlemorethaneye-witnessesas themobpulledthethreemenout of the police vanand lynched them atGadchinchlevillage.On April 16, Mahant

Kalpavruksha Giri (70) andSushilgiriMaharaj(35),hadhireda driver, Nilesh Yelgade (30), totake them fromKandivali to at-tendafuneral inSurat,Gujarat.As they nearedGadchinchle

village,ontheborderwithDadraand Nagar Haveli, they werestopped by guards of the forestdepartment and told togoback.Soon,amobgatheredatthespotand, accusing the occupants ofthecarofbeingthieves,attackedthem.A teamof fourpolicemenfromKasa reached the spot, butbythen,themobhadoverturnedthecar.Anotherteamof16policepersonnel reached the spot 45minuteslaterandmanagedtogetthethreementosit intwosepa-ratepolicevehicles.Butthemobpulled them out of the policevansandlynchedthem.Avideoofthelynchingshows

Giri pleadingwitha56-year-oldAssistant Sub Inspector, who isseensimplywalkingawaywhilethemob attacks Giri. The videoalso shows some of the policepersonnelrunningawayfromtheviolence.Whenaskedaboutthevideo

and the alleged inaction of thepolice,Kale,who isalso theSHOof Kasa police station, said, “Thevideo only showshalf the story.Itdoesnotshowthatwefirstres-cuedthemenandtookthemin-side the van. One of our col-leagues has health issues andcould not have fought back.Twenty policemen could nothave fought back against amobof500,”saidKale.Onwhyonlya four-member

teamwenttothespotdespiteru-mours in the area and the inci-dentthatoccurredtwodaysear-lier, Kale said, “The forest guardwho called us only said there isanincidentandthatafewpeoplehadgathered.AssoonIgotthere,Icalledforabackup.Atnight,wedo not have asmany people ondutyasintheday.Sixteenpeoplerushed fromKasa police stationandtheSPandaround300otherpolicemen reached two hourslater as they were in Palghartown,”hesaid.Palghar Superintendent of

PoliceGauravSinghtoodefendedKale, saying he called for rein-forcementwhenheassessedthesituation on reaching the spot.“APIKalereceivedthephonecallat10pmandreachedthespot45minuteslaterasitwasquiteadis-tance away. Initially, hewas in-formedthatonlyasmallnumberofvillagershadgatheredaroundthe vehicle. But by the time heandthreeotherofficials reachedthe village, the number had in-creased.Afterassessingthesitu-ation, he called for 20more po-licemen,”hesaid.Policehavesofararrested110

people in the case. According topolice, the victims had taken aroute through villages to evadepolice check-postswhere theywouldhavebeenstoppedforvi-olatingthelockdown,butthefor-est officials had forced them toturnbackatthestateborder.On Monday, Maharashtra

HomeMinister Anil Deshmukhannouncedthataninvestigationinto the lynchingwouldbe con-ducted by the CriminalInvestigationDepartment (CID)anddirectedInspectorGeneralofPolice, Konkan Range, NiketKaushik,toinvestigatetheroleofpolicemenatthespot.IntheearlierincidentofApril

14, a group of 200-250 menarmedwithsticks,stones,sicklesand pickaxes had gathered atSarni Patilpada village and at-tacked a car thatwas on itswaytoThane.

FDI normshousehold electrical appliances,infrastructure and automobile,

creatingalargenumberofjobsinIndia.Chineseenterprisesactivelymade donations to help IndiafightCOVID-19epidemic,”Jisaid.China’s FDI has grown five-

fold since 2014 and, as ofDecember 2019, its cumulativeinvestmentinIndiahasexceeded$8billion. ABrookings India pa-per pegs the total current andplanned Chinese investment inIndiaasbeingover$26billion.Ji said that the outbreak

shouldmakecountrieswork to-gether to bring their economiesback on track. “(But) the addi-tional barriers set by Indian sidefor investors fromspecificcoun-tries violateWTO’s principle ofnon-discrimination, and goagainstthegeneraltrendofliber-alizationandfacilitationof tradeandinvestment,” Ji said.She added that NewDelhi’s

decision isn’t in tunewith “theconsensus of G20 leaders andtradeministersto...keepourmar-ketsopen”.According to the amend-

mentstoIndia’sconsolidatedFDIPolicy, 2017,while non-residententitiescancontinuetoinvest inIndia,exceptinprohibitedsectorsoractivities, firms inneighbour-ingcountrieswillhavetoseekap-proval. “...an entity of a country,which shares land borderwithIndia or where the beneficialowner of an investment intoIndia is situated in or is a citizenof any such country, can investonly under the Governmentroute,” stated the press note is-sued by the Department forPromotion of Industry andInternalTrade.This camedays after China’s

centralbank,thePeople’sBankofChina (PBoC), raised its share-holdinginHousingDevelopmentFinance Corporation (HDFC) toover oneper cent during the re-centstockmarketslump.Restrictions on investments

bycitizensoforentitiesincorpo-ratedinPakistancontinueintheamended notification. “Theamendmentsarenotprohibitinginvestments. (We have) justchanged the approval route forthese investments. There aremanysectorsinIndiathatareal-ready subject to this approvalroute,”aseniorgovernmentoffi-cial toldTheIndianExpress.Over the last two months,

countrieslikeGermany,Australiaand Spain have tightened theirforeign investment policies toprevent hostile takeovers byoverseas investors.

KeralaAfter the review meeting,

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayansaid public transportwould notbeallowedduringthelockdownperiod. “The decision to allowmanagements of institutions tohire special buses for their em-ployees was misunderstood.Barbershopswillnotbeallowedto function until a further deci-sionistaken(theywereearlieral-lowedtoopenonSaturdaysandSundays).Diningwouldnotbeal-lowed in restaurants. Inspectionof vehicleswill be implementedstringently inhotspots,”hesaid.Thisisthefirstinstanceofthe

Centreobjectingtoastate’scon-tainment measures since thelockdownwas first announcedonMarch 24. But Vijayan said“there is no confrontation” be-tweenthestateandtheCentre.“For certain relaxations, the

permission of the Centrewouldbe sought. There are minorchanges in certain guidelines,which can be implemented asper the conditions of the states.Wehavepreparedaredzonebutnot in themanner they (Centre)hadsuggested,’’hesaid.The Centre’s letter had

pointed out that under theDisasterManagement Act, thestatecannotdilutemeasuresstip-ulated by the central govern-ment, and that the SupremeCourthadaskedallstatestoabidebytheCentre’sdirectionstocom-batthecoronavirusoutbreak.The Sunday Express had re-

ported that that the state’s deci-siontoallowbuseswithincities,lettwopeopletravelintheback-seatofcars,andopenrestaurants,barber shops, electrical work-shops and repair shops, hadnotgonedownwellwiththeCentre.In Sunday’s letter, theMHA

referredtoKerala’sApril17orderon “revised guidelines for lock-downmeasures” and said thatthestate“hasallowedopeningofactivitieswhich are prohibited”intheMinistry’sorderissuedtwodays earlier. TheHomeMinistrysaid that this “amounts to dilu-tionofguidelinesissued...andvi-olationofMHAorderdated15thApril 2020 issued under theDisasterManagementAct2005”.ThelettersaidthatinitsApril

15order,theCentrehadspecifiedthatwhilestatescantightencon-tainmentmeasuresstipulatedbyit, theycannotdilutethem.The Kerala government had

earlierdividedthestateintofourzones:Red,Orange-A,Orange-BandGreen.Relaxationsinnormswere allowed in non-red zones,includingtheplyingofprivateve-hicles on an odd-even registra-tionbasis fromApril 20 in somedistrictsandApril24inafewoth-ers.However, on Sunday night,

thegovernmentissuedalistof88hotspotsunderlocalself-govern-ing bodies. Accordingly, localbodies in Green, Orange-A andOrange-Bzones,whichhadear-

lier reported positive cases orcontacts, were marked ashotspots.Butwithmost residents un-

awareof thelaterevision,alargenumberofprivatevehicleswereseenonroadsMondaymorning,when someprominentmarketsalsoopened.

Second waveandpeoplearegettingusedtotheidea of social distancing,masksetc,wedonotanticipatethedou-bling time dipping to below 5daysatthatpoint,”saidasource.It is likely that the caseswill

be concentrated around urbanand peri-urban areas, whereCOVID-19managementwill belesschallenging than inrural ar-eas.“HoweverasMumbai,Indore

andChandigarhhave shownus,therearesomanyunforeseende-velopments in this battle.Sometimes cities that are ex-pectedtodowellexplode,whileat other times citieswhere youexpect a problem to happensomehowmanage to hold it to-gether,”saidthesource.Thereisasensethatarea-spe-

cific lockdowns and relaxationswillhavetobethenorm,depend-ingontheriseandfallincases,tillSeptemberat least.Whilethegovernmenthopes

that the secondwavewill nottouchtheMarchhighof3.4daysdoublingtime,itwillstillmeana

rise infreshcases.However, themedical infra-

structure— including hospitalbeds,PPEsandventilators—isex-pected to be better prepared inJunethanitwasinMarch.While there is no clarity yet

onthecriteriaforliftingthelock-down post-May 3, the HealthMinistry’s classification of dis-trictsintored,orangeandgreenisbeingcarefullywatched.In her letter to the states last

week, Union Health SecretaryPreeti Sudan had said:“Containment operationwouldbedeemedoverwhenthereisnocasereportedin28daysfromanareaafter the last case testsneg-ative. Hotspots (designated redzones)willbeassumedtobeun-dertakingeffectivecontainmentactivities ifnocase isreportedinthenext14days (designatedor-angezones),andwillbedeemedsuccessful in containment if nocaseisreportedfor28days(des-ignatedgreenzones).”Theredzonesareareaswhich

accountfor80%ofthecasesinthecountry, or 80%of the cases in astate,orwherethedoublingtimeis lessthanfourdays.Currently, there are 321 dis-

trictswithnocases;77havenotreported cases for 7days; 62 for14days;17for21days;and3dis-tricts (Mahe, Kodagu and PauriGarhwal)havenotreportedcasesfor 28 days. However, officialspointedoutthattheclassification

of districts into red, orange andgreen zones is quite fragile, as asingle casemay send a districtbackintotheredzone.

Chennai doctorscoopingmudoutwithhands.DrHercules,55,whoheaded

NewHopeHospital,waslaterlaidtorestwithpolicehelp.OnMonday, theChennaipo-

licearrested20peoplefortheat-tacks.TheAIADMKgovernmentsaiditwasformingateamtohan-dlethelastritesofCOVID-19pa-tients. “The teamwill hereaftermonitorarrangementsforthisinthe state,” Health Minister CVijayabaskarsaid.Dr Hercules is believed to

havecontractedthevirusfromapatient, and was admitted toApolloHospitalinVanagaram,as-signed for COVID-19 treatment,inthefirstweekofApril.HediedonSundayeveningandhisbodywashandedoveraround9pm.Whenthedoctor’sfamilyand

colleagues reached the burialgroundatTBChatraminKilpauklate at night, a group of peoplewerewaiting to stop them. Theambulance carrying DrHercules’s bodywasdiverted totheVelangaduburialground,butfacedanothermobthere.As a vehicle arranged by the

Chennaicitycorporationstarteddigging a pit at Velangadu, themob hit the workers withwooden logs andpelted stones,

injuring the ambulance drivers,recounted a doctor. “The familywas also attacked. The corpora-tionofficialsfled,”thedoctorsaid.Anhourlater,withpolicepro-

tection, thebodywasburied.

Vijaya MallyaIfhedoesapply,theUKHome

Office wouldwait for the out-comeof that appeal. Otherwise,under the India-UK ExtraditionTreaty, it would be expected toformally certify the court orderfor the 64-year-old to be extra-ditedtoIndiawithin28days.“We have held there is a

prima faciecasebothofmisrep-resentation and of conspiracy,andthusthere isalsoaprimafa-cie case of money laundering,”theHighCourtconcluded.In India, the businessman

faces cases filed by the CBI andED.HehasbeenonbailintheUKsincehisarrestonanextraditionwarrant inApril2017.The former Kingfisher

Airlinesbosshadappealedtothehigher court against his extradi-tionorderedbytheWestminsterMagistrates’ Court in London inDecember 2018, and signed offbythenUKHomeSecretarySajidJavid last year, at a three-dayhearinginFebruarythisyear.PTI

J&K scribeprovokethepublictodisturbthelawandorderbesidesglorifyingtheanti-nationalactivities,etc.InthisregardFIRNo.10/2020undertherelevantprovisionoflawwasregisteredatCyberPoliceStationand investigation taken up,” itsaidinastatement.Srinagar-based Zahra’swork

has been published in variousnewsorganisations in India andabroad.When contacted by TheIndian Express, she said that shemostly posted links to herworkonher socialmedia accounts. “Iam shocked to see these allega-tions. I amaprofessional photo-journalist. I have no political orsocial agenda.This isanattempttomuzzlejournalistsinKashmir,”shesaid.Zahra said the police called

herSaturdayevening,askingherto report at the Cyber PoliceStation.Accordingtoher,sheex-pressedherinabilitytoreachim-mediately and informed theKashmir Press Club, afterwhichshecametoknowthatthe“mat-ter has been sorted and I don’tneedtogo”.Zahrasaidshecametoknow

fromcolleaguesMondaythatshehadbeenbookedunderUAPA.SPCyberCellTahirAshrafBhattitoldThe Indian Express: “The caseagainst (Zahra) was lodged forposting content on socialmediadepictingfakenewsandalsoglo-rifying terrorismand terrorists.”PolicesourcesclaimedZahra’sso-cialmedia posts “demean secu-rityforces”.In the other case, the police

claimedthatitreceivedinforma-tiononApril19“regardingafakenewsitembeingpublishedintheThe Hindu newspaper by thejournalistnamelyPirZadaAshiq,regarding an encounter atShopian and subsequent devel-opments”.On Sunday, a report by

Peerzada Ashiq said that the“JammuandKashmir adminis-tration on Saturday allowed thefamiliesof twoslainmilitants inShopian toexhume their bodiesfroma graveyard in Baramulla”after “the police denied thempermission”.Thereportalsosaidthat “Yasin Choudhary, DeputyCommissioner,Shopian,wasnotavailableforhiscomment”.In its statement, the police

claimed:“Thedetailsreflectedinthenewsitemwerefoundfactu-ally incorrect and the said newscould cause fear or alarm in theminds of public. The said newswas publishedwithout seekingconfirmation from the Districtauthorities.” Police said that thecorrespondent was called toAnantnag for questioning. “Theinvestigation inboththecases isinprogress,” itsaid.

Whencontacted,Ashiqsaid:“I was questioned regarding anews item based on the inter-viewof the family in Shopian. Itold Cyber Police that I have arecordingof the interview. I alsoshared screenshots of themes-sages I had sent on SMS,WhatsAppandTwittertotheDCShopiantogettheofficialversionforthestory.Itisshockingtonowterm it as fake news.” In a state-ment, the Kashmir Press ClubcondemnedthepoliceactionandsoughttheinterventionofUnionHomeMinisterAmitShahandJ-KLtGovernorGCMurmu.

West BengalIn a letter to PrimeMinister

NarendraModi, Banerjee ques-tionedthe“breachofestablishedprotocol”innotkeepingthestateinloop.Earlier, in a tweetmoments

after the HomeMinistry’s an-nouncement, the CM said, “Wewelcomeallconstructivesupport& suggestions, especially fromtheCentralGovt innegating the#Covid19crisis.However,theba-sisonwhichCentre isproposingtodeployIMCTsinselectdistrictsacrossIndiaincludingfewinWBunderDisasterMgmtAct2005isunclear.”There are several districts in

Bengalwhich havemore casesthanJalpaiguriandDarjeeling,in-cluding PaschimBurdwan andNadia, which are not on theCentrallist.Therearealsodistrictswith higher numbers thanKolkataoutsideWestBengalthatareomitted,suchasAhmedabad,Hyderabad, Thane, Chennai,BhopalandAgra.AsofApril18,Darjeelinghad

three cases, from none earlier,whileJalpaiguriwasatfive(after0 onApril 1, and four onApril 6andApril12).The CMcited similar data in

her letter to the PM,writing, “Ithasbeenstated... thattherehavebeennumberofviolationoflock-downmeasures and situation isspecificallyseriousinsomeofthedistricts. These observations aredevoid of any facts... KalimpongreportedthelastincidentonApril2. Similarly, Jalpaiguri onApril 4and Darjeeling on April 16. Itshows that the selection of dis-trictsandobservationsmadeuni-laterally are nothing but a fig-mentof imagination.”While one Central team ar-

rived in Bagdogra, headed forDarjeeling, Kalimpong andJalpaiguri, another visitedBelgachhia and certain areas ofHowrahinKolkatabeforereach-ingtheSecretariatintheeveningfor ameetingwith the CM. Thetalks lastedalmostanhour.Inherletter,Banerjeepointed

out thatwhile theCentral ordersaid the state should makearrangementsfortheteams,thelatter had “approached Centralforces like BSF, SSB (SashastraSeemaBal) for logistics supportandhadalreadymoved(into)thefieldwithout any consultationwiththestategovernment”.The TMC government has

been inawarofwordswith theCentreaswell as theBJPover itshandlingofcoronavirus,particu-larly the state’s case count. TheHealthMinistry’s data for cases(339 vs 318) and deaths (66 vs12)inWestBengalishigherthanthe state’s. In anothermove invariancewith the national pro-tocol,West Bengalwas the firstin the country to start auditingdeaths to certify if these werecausedduetothevirusoranyco-morbidity.The state has also been ac-

cused of not testing enough.WestBengalhad225casesfrom15districtsasofApril18.Kolkatahadthehighestshare(108),from17onApril1,29onApril6and29on April 12. In comparison,Indore, ahotspot,which startedoffat12onApril1wasupto707byApril18.

WITHINPUTSFROMKOLKATA

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

FROMPAGEONE

Centre steps in: Sends teams

3,000 industrial units in Maharashtraseek permission to resume work

Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, taking to Twitter,said: “We welcome all con-structive support & sugges-tions, especially from theCentral Govt in negating the#Covid19 crisis. However, thebasis onwhich Centre is pro-posing to deploy IMCTs in se-lect districts across India in-cluding few in WB underDisasterMgmtAct2005 isun-clear.IurgebothHonb’lePrimeMinister @NarendraModi Ji &HomeMinister @AmitShah Jito share the criterion used forthis. Until then I amafraid,wewould not be able to moveahead on this aswithout validreasons thismightnotbecon-sistentwith thespiritof feder-alism.”Incidentally,West Bengal

andMaharashtra are amongthe handful of states wheredoubling time of COVID-19cases is currently less than thenational average of 7.5 days.Doublingtimeisanepidemio-logicalmetricofhowfastanin-fectiousdisease isspreading.OnMonday,theMinistryof

HomeAffairs, in identical let-ters to West Bengal,Maharashtra, Rajasthan andMadhyaPradesh,identifieddis-trictswhichareproblemareas.The justification for constitu-tionofIMCTsisbasedlargelyongeneral observations such as

“incidentsofviolenceonfront-line healthcare professionals;completeviolationofsocialdis-tancing norms outside banks,PDS shops etc, and inmarketplaces; movement of privateand commercial vehicleswithpassengersinurbanareas,andsoon”.This text is identical in all

letters, signedbyUnionHomeSecretary Ajay Bhalla: “...insome of the districts of thecountry,anumberofviolationsto the lockdown measureshave been reported, posing aserious health hazard and riskfor spread of COVID-19whichis against general interest ofpublic.”The letters go on to state,

“These incidents, if theyareal-lowedtooccurwithoutanyre-strainingmeasures in hotspotdistrictsoremerging hotspots,withlargeoutbreaksorclusters,pose a serious health hazard,bothforthepopulationofthesedistricts and for that living inotherareasof thecountry.”In the case ofWest Bengal,

theMHAhas identified sevendistricts — Kolkata, Howrah,Medinipur East, North 24Parganas, Darjeeling,Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri—where it said “the situation isespecially serious” in terms of“prevalenceofsuchviolations”.Thesedistricts,accordingto

the Ministry of Health andFamilyWelfare, cumulativelyaccount for 224 Covid caseswith Kolkata reporting themaximum (105), followed byHowrah (46) and North 24Parganas (37). Darjeeling hastheleastnumberofCovidcasesamong these seven districts -threepositivecases.The MHA order said it is

constituting two IMCTs forWestBengalwhichwill“makean on-the-spot assessment ofthe situation, issue necessarydirectionstotheStateauthori-ties for redressal of the situa-tion,andsubmittheirreporttothe Central Government inlarger interest of general pub-lic”.Asked about the specific

health circumstances in theidentifiedWestBengaldistrictsthatnecessitatedsuchamove,LavAgarwal, Joint Secretary intheMinistry of Health, said:“When we identify areas ofconcern, there are primarilytwo major criteria: highernumbers,rateofgrowthishighordoubling time is low.This isprimarily in areas where weneed effective intervention sothattheydonotfurtherleadtolargernumberofcases.”Similarordershold for theother threestates regarding the role ofIMCTs. The districts identifiedinMaharashtra are Mumbai

and Pune. Together, they ac-count for over 2,500 cases inthe state. In Rajasthan, theCentre has identified Jaipurwhile in Madhya Pradesh,Indore has been picked forlockdownviolations.Jaipurhasreported 485 cases whileIndorehashad707.The MHA order said that

whiletheIMCTsairtravelfromDelhiwill bemanaged by theMinistry of Civil Aviation, thestateswillprovidelogisticssup-porttoIMCTs“fortheiraccom-modation,transportation,PPEsand extend all cooperation fortheirvisitstolocalareas”.Statesarealsosupposedtocooperatein “production ofdocuments/records as re-questedbyIMCT”.On Mamata Banerjee’s

tweets,PunyaSalilaSrivastava,Joint Secretary inMHA, said:“Thepurposeofconstitutionoftheteamsistoprovidesupportand assistance to the states intheirendeavourtofightCOVID-19. The teams have been verycarefully constituted so thatsupport can be provided fromhealth administrative anddis-aster management aspects. Iamsure the stateswill benefitfromit.TheordermentionsSC(SupremeCourt)directionsbutthe orders have been issuedunderSection35oftheDisasterManagementAct.”

likely tocomeforward toseekpermission to resume opera-tions.“We need to take into ac-

count that MumbaiMetropolitanRegionandPuneMunicipal Corporation areashavebeenexcludedfromlock-down exemptions. Moreover,with conditions like submit-tingself-declarationsadheringto laid down conditions, in-cluding arrangements like ac-commodation and transportfor labourers, to be followed,the industries will take sometime to make arrangementsandthencomeforwardtoseekpermission,” said the official,

pointingout that these indus-tries are besides the essentialindustries that have been al-lowedtooperateearlier.In order to mitigate eco-

nomic hardships brought onby the unprecedented shut-down, the state governmentonFriday,actingonCentre’sdi-rectives,hadexemptedmanu-facturing units and other es-tablishments in industrialestates, industrial townships,special economic zones andexport oriented units in non-containmentzonesfromlock-downmeasures starting April20.Thenewguidelinesthatare

being enforced fromMondaypermitindustrialactivityinru-ral areas or outside the limitsofmunicipalities.But suchac-tivities are prohibited inMumbaiMetropolitanRegionand Pune MunicipalCorporationareas.The guidelines have also

imposed various riders—dis-infecting all areas, dedicatedtransportandaccommodationforworkers, mandatory ther-mal screening for everyoneand staggered shifts amongothers.Meanwhile,referringtore-

ports on crowding on thestreets on Monday, Chief

Minister Uddhav Thackeraysaid that the stringent restric-tionsmayneedtobe imposedagain if this continues.“Crowding has been re-

portedinsomeareastodayasifthe lockdown has been lifted.This is not acceptable. If suchcrowdingcontinuesandsocialdistancing norms are not fol-lowed,wemayneedtoimposemorestringentrestrictionsforsomedays.Wehavenot liftedthelockdown.Someindustrialactivity is allowed and it is atrial," Uddhav said while ad-dressing the state. Nobodyshould assume that the crisisisover,headded.

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

WhytheCentre istusslingwithstatesover lockdownnorms?NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

Weunpackhowcertainstateshavebeenhauledupfornot implementing lockdownmeasuresandhowtheCentreplanstomonitor thesestates

DOWNLOADAPP

LOCKDOWN: BARBERS LIVE ONRAZOR’S EDGE, SEE LIVELIHOODSHAVEDOFFItmightbetruethathairsalonswillseelongqueueswhenthelockdownends.But,atthemoment,vulnerability isall that loomsonthelivesof innumerablebarbersthatgroomthecountryof1.3billion

VIDEOOF THEDAY OPINION

PEOPLETURNING‘HUNGERHEROES’

Newdefinitionsofhumanity beingsetbyindividuals, companies

WEB

EXCLUSIVE

SCANTHISQRCODETODOWNLOADTHEAPP

CRISISCALLSFORNATIONALGOVERNANCE

Governmenthastoact,butsystem canbecomemorebroadbased

■VISUAL STORIES

■ DAILY BRIEFING

■ PODCASTS

■ CUSTOMIZABLENEWS EXPERIENCE

IndianExpress★★★★★■4.6

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21, 2020

THEOUTBREAK Mumbai

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Government of IndiaDepartment of Atomic Energy

CORRIGENDUMAdvt.No.02-R/IMSc/2020 Date: 20.04.2020

Reference indicative Advt.No.01-R/IMSc/2020 Dated20.03.2020 inviting applications for the post of DIRECTOR,IMSc, Chennai (Level – 15 under 7th CPC) which appearedon all leading Newspapers.

Due to COVID–19 Lock Down the last date for receipt ofapplications, is extended up to May 31, 2020.

Other terms and conditions as explained in the detailedadvertisement appearing on the following websites remain same.

i) www.dae.gov.in under “Vacancy Notices’’ii) www.imsc.res.in under “other positions”

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI, APRIL20

IT’SAclassicCatch-22situation.Lastweek, the BMCordered

dialysis centres to screen pa-tientssufferingfromkidneyfail-ure for symptoms of COVID-19beforeadmission.Asmanybear-ers of the virus showno symp-toms, the dialysis centres askedallthoseknockingonitsdoorstoget tests done. Patients scram-bled to get themselves tested,only to be told that COVID-19testing is not for asymptomaticpeople, despite the BMC ex-emptingthosewhoneeddialysisandchemotherapy.Andwithoutthe test, no hospital will admitthemfordialysis.Thehurdledoesnotendhere.

A dialysis patients requires re-peated COVID-19 test beforeeverydialysis round.AtKEMhospital,53-year-old

Madhuri Kansara stood cryingoutside the emergency ward.She requires dialysis thrice aweek. Her last dialysis was fivedays ago. Her husband waswalkingfromonedepartmenttoanother in the hospital holdingher documents. “If she doesn’tget dialysis today, she will col-lapse,”hesaid.Madhuri, a Grant Road resi-

dent,hasbeenundergoingdial-ysisoverthelastsevenyears.HerregularcentreisBhatiahospital.On Saturday, the centre in-formedherthataCOVID-19testis required before she is put onthedialysismachine.Since Bhatia hospital has no

testing facility, the couplewentto HNReliance hospital. “Theretheysaid theycouldnot testmywife.WewenttoSRLlaboratorybutnotechnicianwasavailable,”said Dharmendra Kansara, thehusband.The couple then called

Kasturbahospital,whereanof-ficial said they had only onedialysismachine for COVID-19patients. They went to Nairhospital, where an official re-ferred themtoKasturbahospi-tal again. At Kasturba hospital,a doctor asked them to visitKEM hospital. In KEM, theemergencywardreferredthemto the dialysis department. Itwas shut.When they returnedto emergency ward, a doctorsaid she could not be tested atthe hospital.“Staffers and doctors are

sending me from one depart-ment to another. Nobody is

readytohelpus.Mywifehasnosymptoms, they said they can’ttesther,”Dharmendrasaid.DrRBDastur, thedirectorof

Bhatia hospital, said, “We haveto ask each dialysis patient forgettestedasperBMCdirections.Two days ago, a woman whocamefordialysistestedpositive.Theentiredialysisunithastobedisinfected insuchacase.”OnApril 10, BMChad issued

a circular with the instructionthatastherehadbeeninstancesof infection transmissionthrough dialysis centres, thesecentres should screen the pa-tients forCOVID-likesymptomsbefore treating them. “It hasbeenobservedthatafewcentresare performing dialysis onCOVID-19symptomaticpatients,thereby spreading the disease.Therefore, it is directed thatthese dialysis centres shouldscreen for COVID-19 like symp-toms(cough,cold, fever,etc)be-fore putting themon dialysis…any centrewho is found to vio-latetheseconditionsis liableforpunitive action fromMCGM,” itstated.Thecircularaddedthatasec-

ond alternative was to directCOVID-19patients to dedicatedhospitals inMumbai. The BMCsaid COVID-19 patients shouldbe treated separately or if suchisolationfacilitieswerenotavail-able, they should be referred toanyofthefivedesignatedhospi-tals for the virus – KEM ,Kasturba, Saifee, Nanavat andSevenHills.But for thosewithno symp-

toms,ascreeningwasnecessary.Ineffect, fordialysiscentres,thishasmeantaskingpatientsforgetCOVID-19 testsdone.Pre-testing before hospital

admissionhas becomeparticu-

larly challenging forpatients, asBMChasissuedanothercircularbarring tests on asymptomaticpeople. The circular doesmakean exception for dialysis andchemotherapy patients as wellas pregnant woman, but KEMandNair hospitals have refusedto test them.AtNairhospital,Dahisarres-

ident Anurudh Sonawanewaited in a critical condition inanambulanceashismother-in-law tried to convince the casu-altydepartmentofficialtoadmithim.“InKandivaliShatabdihos-pital, a doctor saidNair hospitalwill provide dialysis. Here thehospital said it only treats coro-navirus patients.Where dowego?”sheasked.Sonawane requires dialysis

every alternate day, as both hiskidneysmalfunction.Hisrelativesaid other hospitals in theirneighbourhoodwereshut.With the focus of BMC hos-

pitals on COVID-19 and severalprivate hospitals shut, patientswith other emergencies alsocontinuetosuffer.SinceSundaynight,ShahjahanKhanhastakenhiswife Heena to hospitals likeNoor, Masina, Nagori, KasturbaandWockhardtbefore reachingNair hospital where hewaitedoutside the casualtyward beg-gingforadmission.“Sheinhaledbleachingpowderandisbreath-less. All hospitals refused to ad-mit her. If Nair hospital also re-fuses, wherewill I admit her?”Khansaid.A senior doctor in Nair hos-

pital saidsince theentirehospi-tal has been converted into aCOVID-19 centre, all other pa-tients have been transferred toKEM and Sion hospitals. “Wecan’thelppatientswithotherill-nesses,” shesaid.

MadhuriandDharmendraKansaraoutsideKEMhospital’semergencywardafterwaiting forhours toget tested.Madhuri requiresdialysis thriceaweek. Express

CopassignedondutyatCM’sofficialbungalowtestspositiveMumbai:Awomanassistantpolice inspector, posted atPydhoniepolicestation,testedpositive for coronavirusSunday. The policewomanwas reportedly assigned adutyattheofficialresidenceofChief Minister, Varsha, atMalabarHill Saturday. “Everyperson,who is on an assign-mentattheCM’sbungalow,istested for coronavirus.Accor-dingly, before the police-womanenteredVarsha,anof-ficialcheckedhertemperature,andasitwasfoundwayabovenormalshewasaskedtogoforahealthcheck-up,”saidanof-ficer.Afterher test confirmedinfection, the policewomanwasadmittedtoSaifeehospi-tal.Thepoliceman,whocamein close contactwith thepo-licewoman,hasalsobeensentforatest.Thepoliceman,whocameinclosecontactwiththepolicewoman, has also beensentforatest.Everypolicesta-tionfromZone-IIisassignedaspecialdutyatVarshabunga-lowona rotational basis, po-licesaid.OnSaturday,officialsfromPydhoniepolice stationweresentthere. ENS

30newcasesinDharaviMumbai:DharavionMondayrecorded30newcoronaviruspositivecases,thehighestsin-gle-dayjump.OnApril15,thearea had recorded 26 caseswithin24hours.Sofar,a totalof 168 cases, including 11deaths, have been reportedfrom theAsia's largest slum.The BMC is reportedly stilltracing addresses of eight ofthenewpatients as theyhadnot mentioned it during aswabcollectiondrive at feverclinicssetupinthearea.Withcoronavirus cases found innewerlocalitiesofDharavi,thenumberofcontainmentareasintheareahavenowgoneupto22.Theyoungestpatienttotest positive for coronavirusfromDharavi is a15-year-oldboy. The civic bodyhas initi-atedcontact tracingof the30newpatients, aged between15and70years. ENS

CORONAWATCH

ABHAGORADIAMUMBAI, APRIL20

“THEYHADnotsetoutonapic-nic. Despite my concerns, I letmy husband go because it wasa good deed to help MahantKalpavruksha Giri attend hisguru’s funeral.Theydidn’thavepermission but it was the po-lice’s duty to protect them.When the police keeps watch-ing like helpless spectatorsamid a ghastly act, where doesonegofor justice?”askedPooja,thewife of NileshYelgade.On Thursday night, Yelgade

wasatthewheelofthecarwhenitwassurroundedbyvillagersinGadchinchaleinPalghardistrict,andheandhistwopassengers—Mahant Kalpavruksha Giri andSushilgiriMaharaj—werepulledoutandbeaten todeath.Yelgade is survived by his

mother,wifeandtwodaughters.His two daughters, Sanika (7)andShalini (5), arenot awareofthe painful death their fathersuffered.Yelgade used to live close to

the Pimpaleshwar Mahadev

temple in Kandivali East’sHanuman Nagar area, whereMahant Kalpavruksha Giri (70)performed his duties. He wasclosetotheascetic.TheMahant’shome was a small room at-tachedtotherearof thetemple.Sushilgiri Maharaj (35) was apriestatatemple in Jogeshwari.“Mahant Kalpavruksha Giri

desperately wanted to attendthe funeral of his guru RamgiriMaharaj.Policerefusedpermis-

sion, but he was adamant. Hesaid ‘we will find a way’,” re-countedDiwakarGupta,ayouthwhohelpedthemahantinlook-ingafter the temple.He had been staying with

himforovernineyearsandcon-sidered themahant “more thana friend”. “He askedme to lookafterthetempleaswasthenormwhenever he had to travel,”Guptasaid.OnMonday, the temple lo-

cated on the main road re-mained shutwith photographsof thethreevictims,andtributeswrittenonablackboardbylocalresidents.The management of the

Varanasi-based Shri PanchDushnam Juna Akhada, whichruns the temple in HanumanNagar, has written to UnionHome Minister Amit Shah.Signed by Mahant PremgiriMaharaj, the letter narrated theeventsaskingShahwhythepo-lice remainedmute spectatordespite the trio being in theircustody. “Many sadhus in theakhada are angeredover the in-cident.Werequestyoutoconsti-tute a high-level inquiry com-

mitteetotakeactionagainsttheguilty,” the letter stated.Localresidentssaidthethree

hadleftforSuratonThursdayaf-ternoon. “We heard theywerestoppedbythepoliceandaskedtoreturnatsomepoint,buttheytried to take another routethrough forests,” saidGupta.“Wespoketotheakharapra-

mukh, and told them that wedidn’t have anyone to conducttheirlastrites.Theycollectedthebodies of the sadhus fromPalghar and took them toTrambakeshwar,” said local res-identRajAlma.“Nilesh’s bodywas brought

home on April 18... The policemade uswait for two days andmadeus go to several places forthebody.OnSaturdaynight,wereceived the body. In this lock-down, no one is helping any-body. ButNilesh volunteered tohelp the mahant. We said wealsowouldaccompanyhim,buthe didn’t allow us to join,” headded.The temple is over 50 years

old, residents said, and MahantKalpavruksha Giri had beenlookingafter it forover15years.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL20

CHIEF MINISTER UddhavThackerayonMondayruledoutany communal angle in thePalgharmob lynching incident,inwhichtwosadhusandadriverwere killed,whilewarning thatstrictactionwillbetakenagainstthosewhoare ignitingcommu-nal hatred on through socialmedia.Uddhav, who has received

phone calls from both UnionHomeMinister Amit Shah andUttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath to inquire intothe incident, added that he hadtold Shah that there is no com-munalangle in the incident.“Since there were curbs on

themain roads due to the lock-down, the two sadhuswere go-ing to Gujarat from a remotearea. Theywere stopped at theborder of Dadra Nagar Haveliand asked to return. On theirway back, they were attackeddue to amisunderstanding andkilled unfortunately,” Uddhavsaidwhile addressing the state

throughwebcastonMonday.He added thatwhile the in-

cident tookplace inPalghardis-trict,thelocationwasaround110kmaway fromPalghar, near theborder of Union Territory ofDadraNagarHaveli.On Thursday night, three

men, two sadhus and a driver,were lynched by a mob inPalghar district after allegedlysuspectingthemtobechildkid-nappers and organ harvesters.

The threewere driving to a fu-neral in Surat when a group ofvillagers inGadchinchle,a tribalvillage in a remote part ofPalghar,stoppedtheircarandat-tacked themwith stones, logsandaxes.Uddhavsaid that therewere

rumours that the thieves wereroaminginthearea.“Somepeo-ple are trying to ignite commu-nalhatredintheincident.ThereisnoHindu-Muslimangleoranycommunalangleinit,”headded.The CM further said that he

has spoken to Amit Shah in themorningandbriefedhimaboutthe incident. He had also re-ceivedacall fromAdityanathonSunday. “Shahknowsthat thereis no communal angle in it andhesaidUddhavji ‘takecare’. Ialsotold him that wemust look forthose people who are ignitingcommunalhatredthroughsocialmedia.Becausethesepeopledonot suffer after the incidents.Theymustbelocatedattheear-liestandarrested.Ihavegivenin-structions to the state authori-tiesabout it,”headded.Uddhav also indirectly

blamedtheauthoritiesofDadra

NagarHaveliforturningthetwosadhus back in the night. “Hadtheauthoritiesshownsomehu-manity, kept these two sadhuswith themat night and handedthemover toMaharashtra gov-ernment the next day, the inci-dent could have been avoided,”hesaid.Denying allegations of gov-

ernment inaction, Uddhav saidmore than100 accused, includ-ingfivemainaccused,havebeenarrestedadayafter the incidentonApril 16.“They were produced in

court onApril 18 and remindedin police custody till April 30.Nineminors have been sent toremandhomesandsearch isonto arrest others who are ab-sconding.Wewillnotspareany-one,”headded.Taking an indirect dig at BJP,

thechiefminister said that inci-dentsofmoblynchinghadtakenplaceinMaharashtraandothersstates in the last five years aswell. “But I don’t want to playpoliticshere. It is shameful inci-dent and shouldn't happen inMaharashtra.Thisisnotourcul-ture,”headded.

Uddhav: Nocommunal angle inPalgharmob lynching incident

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI, APRIL20

AFTERREPORTSthatalargenum-berof patients, bothwith coron-avirus symptoms and other ill-nesses, are being made to runfromonehospital to another foradmission,ataskforcecreatedforcritical care management ofCOVID-19patientshassuggestedthat private hospitals open theirout-patientdepartments (OPDs)totreatallsortsofpatients.Privatehospitalshave,however, resistedthesuggestionstatingthattheydonothaveenoughstaffandfeartheriskof shutdownif acoronavirusinfectedpatientisadmitted.The state government and

BMCobservedthatprivatehospi-talsarenotsharingtheburdenof

treating COVID-19 patients oreven thosewith no coronavirussymptoms.Inavideo-conferenceMonday, private hospitalswereadvisedtostartnormaloperationsandcreateasystemoftriagetore-fer COVID-19 patients to dedi-cated treatment facilities,whileadmittingotherpatients.“Wehad a video-conference

with CMUddhav Thackeray onSunday, too.Adiscussion ison tosee if private hospitals canopenOPDs.Thiswillhelppatientswhoneedtreatmentforillnessesotherthan coronavirus,” said DrGautamBhansali, amember ofthecriticalcaretaskforce.Bhansali added currently

coronavirus suspected patientsarenotbeingadmittedtoprivatehospitals due to a fear of shutdown.Hesaiddiscussionsareontoassessthepossibilityofhaving

oneward for suspectedpatients,andanother for confirmedcoro-naviruspatientsso that infectioncontrolprotocolcanbefollowed.DrOmSrivastava,amemberof

thecriticalcarecommittee,saidadiscussiononpossiblesolutionsisunderway.“OneofthemistoopenprivatehospitalOPDs,”hesaid.Thegovernmenthas advised

privatehospitals toprovideper-sonalprotectiveequipmenttostaffintheirOPDandfollowallpreven-tion protocol. Dr Daksha Shah,deputy executive health officer,BMC, said civic-runhospitals areunder a lot of pressure tohandlebothcoronavirusandnon-coron-aviruspatients.“Everyprivatehos-pitalisreferringpatientstous.WehavededicatedKasturbaandNairhospitalsforCOVID-19treatment.Therestof thehospitalsareman-agingallkindsofpatients,includ-

ingdialysisservices,”shesaid.In the lastmonth, severalpri-

vatehospitalshad tobedeclaredcontainment zones after stafferswere infected by the virus fromunsuspecting patients. Jaslok,Shushruta, Breach Candy,Wockhardt,Bhatia,HindujaKharandSai (Chembur)hospitalshadto be sealed and staff had to bequarantined. A doctor from asouthMumbai hospital said thesealing of hospitals by BMChasledtopanic.“Itisabigreasonwhyprivatehospitalsarenotwillingtoadmit new patients, we don’tknowwhocanbeinfected.”A doctor from one of the

sealedhospitals said, “Weadmitemergencypatients to save theirlives. But if any test positive, ourentire ICUstaff has tobequaran-tined...Weneedgovernmentsup-porttocontinueworking.”

SANJANABHALERAOMUMBAI,APRIL20

AT 11.30 AM, food packets arestackeduponamakeshifttableatMotilalNagar inGoregaonWest.Immediately,men,women andchildren queue up at the ShivBhojanThalicentre— somewithmasksandothersusingclothestocovertheirnoseandmouth.Thequeueisdisciplined,each

comesuptothecounter,collectsa foodpacket, looksatamobile-camera, shouts his or her nameandmoves ahead. Fifty-some-thing Vedahi Shinde, whoworkedas adomestichelpuntilthe nationwide lockdownwasannounced, says: “Nowonder

we are disciplined, we do thiseveryday.Thisishowwegetourday’smeal.”A flagship scheme of the

Uddhav Thackeray government,the subsidisedmeal is providedatRs5per,insteadofRs10,toonelakhpoorpeoplebetween11amand3pmdailyacross684eater-ies inMaharashtra. OnMonday,as per the data provided by thegovernment,1.8 lakhthalisweredistributed.The scheme is operational at

25 locations in Mumbai(Santacruz, Vile Parle, Andheri,Wadala andKandivali-Goregaonareas). Formany likeVedahi, themeals—comprisingtwochapatis,daal, rice and sabzi— is theonlydefinitesourceoffoodintheday.

Everydaysincetheshutdown,workers,watchmananddomes-tic helps, who now find them-selveswithoutwork,lineupwait-ing tobe fedby thegovernmentshelters–oranyoneelse.Conversationaboutrelaxation

ofthelockdownandavailabilityoffoodisconstantoutsideallcentres.Kamlesh Yadav, who was

standing in the queuewith hiswifeandtwochildrenattheShivBhojan centre on FilmCity road,asked,“Whenwillthislockdownend? Ihavenomeans toprovidefoodformyfamily.Iusedtocleanthepremises in andaround stu-dios in FilmCity. For the last twodays, I have been giving Rs 5 foreachparcelofthefood... Iwillrunout of money soon. Today, weweretoldthatfoodisforfree,let'sseehowlongtheygiveitforfree.”Each centre on an average is

preparing1,000rotis,25kgofrice,40to45kgofvegetablesand30to35 kg of lentil per day. Ownersrunningthecentres,whoaredis-

tributingnearly500mealsevery-day since April 1, some for evenfree, said that overpriced rationandlackoftransportationarethebiggest hurdles. “I amusingmyown car to transport vegetablesandotherrawmaterials.Thereisnotransportchainavailable.Eventhequalityof rationisnotgood. Iam paying double the normalprice,”saidNevilKotak,whorunsthe centre on SV Road atGoregaonWest.ChotelalYadav,whohasbeen

running the centre since thescheme was announced inJanuary, said: “Therewereprob-lems in between of ration andovercrowdingandwehadtostopdistribution inMarch. ButnowasystemisrunningsinceApril1.”

Private hospitals asked to reopen OPDsMumbai:After twomembers ofBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation’s (BMC) disastermanagement cell testedpositiveforthenovelcoronavirus,thecivicadministrationMondayquaran-tined12other staffers at thede-partment's24x7control roomatChhatrapati Shivaji MaharajTerminus(CSMT).Thequarantined stafferswill

continuetoworkfromtheCSMToffice,while 40 other operatorswillwork fromthe cell’s backupoffice at Parel, officials said. Thetwo staffwho testedpositive forthevirus,officialsadded,areresi-dentsofWorliandDharavi—bothCOVID-19 hotspots. Theywerebothasymptomatic.“We have quarantined 12

staffersatcontrolroom,whowillnowstayinthebuildingandalso

handletheemergencyoperations.Forty other staffers have beenmovedtoPareloffice,whichisthebackupfor thedisastermanage-mentcell.They, too,willbequar-antinedthere for14days,” a sen-iorofficial fromtheBMCsaid.TheCSMTcontrolroomisthe

civicbody'snervecentreforplan-ningandimplementationofpoli-ciesinthefightagainstCOVID-19andcannotbesealed,officialssaid.All emergency civic services andcitizenhelplinenumbersareop-eratedfromtheoffice.Recently,awar roomwas set up and threeIAS officers—Ashwini Bhide, NRamaswamy and ManishaMhaiskar—weredeputedto thedisaster cell to oversee prepara-tions.OfficialssaidtheIASofficerspostedatthewarroomandotherstafferswillalsobetested. ENS

Two BMC disaster managementcontrol room staff test positive

HEARDATASHIVBHOJANCENTRE

‘No wonder we are disciplined, this is how we get our day’s meal’

AShivBhojancentreatGoregaonWest. Express

Denyingallegationsofgovernment inaction,ChiefMinisterUddhavThackeraysaidmorethan100accused,includingfivemainaccused,havebeenarrested.

When police watches helplessly, where doesone go for justice, asks wife of deceased

ThetempleremainedshutonMonday,while localresidentspaidtributes

Patients with kidney failuretold to get tested for Covid,suffer delay in dialysis

4THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21, 2020

THEOUTBREAK Maharashtra

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DIPR/1657/Tender/2020

TAMILNADU CIVIL SUPPLIES CORPORATIONHead Office: 12, THambusamy ROad, KilpauK, CHennai-600 010.

ph.no.(044) 26426773 email id : tncsc.tn@nic.in

Short e-Tender NoticeNo. : Com1/014050/2020 Date: 20.04.2020

Short e-Tender No. : TNCSC/20-21/ET-2Tamil nadu Civil supplies Corporation invites online electronic shorte-tender for “ PURCHASE OF 60,000 MTs. of S-30 grade SUGAR forPublic Distribution System (To be supplied at TNCSC Godowns in33 regions). Season 2018-19 (or) 2019-20”.Complete short e-Tender document can be viewed and downloadedthrough https://www.mstcecommerce.com/eprochome/tncsc andalso available in www.tenders.tn.gov.inThe bidders have to participate online bidding only with digitalsignature Certificate (dsC) of Class-ii or Class-iii. For Registration andfurther details contact msTC limiTed, phone: 25222842/ 25251910/25261005 e-mail: mstcsro@mstcindia.co.inlast date for Online submission : 06.05.2020

MANAGING DIRECTOR.

SPIKE INCHILDPORNOGRAPHYCASES

46 held, over 130 FIRs registered during lockdown: Minister

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,APRIL20

WITH466newCOVID-19 casesreported Monday, the tallyreached 4,666 across the state.Mumbai accounted for 308 ofthese newcases, taking its totalcountto3,032.Ninedeathswerereported in the state, with theoveralltollreaching232.Of thenewcases inMumbai,

53weremediapersons,whohadbeen recently tested by theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC). The 53, allasymptomatic,havebeenmovedtoahotelinGoregaon,wheretheyarebeingkeptunderisolation.TheBMChadlastweektested167me-dia professionalswhohadbeenreportingfromthefield.Mumbai Mayor Kishori

Pednekar,too,wentgoneintoself-quarantineashehadcomeincon-tactwith someof the journalistswhohave testedpositive. “Iwaspresentduringthecheck-upofthejournalists.Mydriver'sandmyre-portsarenegativebutsomejour-nalistswhomImetinthelastfivedays (since the testswere con-ducted)have testedpositive, so Ihave decided to isolatemyself,”saidPednekar.ThirteenstaffersinENThospi-

tal and two staffers in Sewri TBHospital tested positive. Morethan 200 healthworkers havenow tested positive for coron-avirusinMumbai.Pune onMonday recorded

87 new cases, taking the total

count to756.In the last two days,

Maharashtra has reported 1,018newcases.Twodayspriortothis,only 446 new cases were re-ported. State public health offi-cialssaidtheincreaseinthenum-bers released Sunday andMondaycanbeattributed to theinclusion of results of tests con-ducted by private laboratories,whichwerewaitingtobeverifiedbythegovernment.Thisprocessisslow,andthetestsfromthepri-vate labs over days get bunchedup,anofficialsaid.BMCofficials said of the 308

newcasesdetectedMonday,137testedpositive inprivate labsbe-tweenApril14and17.“Thosehavebeenverifiednowandadded tothelistofcases,”saidanofficial.An analysis of 2,336 cases

showsatleast81percent(1,890)

havenosymptomsatallandonlytwopercent(53)arecritical.While sevendeathswere re-

ported inMumbai onMonday,twodiedinMalegaon.A25-year-oldmandiedinKasturbahospitalinMumbai Sundaywithin threedaysofbeinghospitalised.Adoc-tor saidwhile theman had nootherillness,hisliverfunctioningwaspoor.“Weneedtoauditthesedeathstounderstandwhypeoplewithnocomorbidityaredyinginsomecases.Alcoholcouldbeonefactor,” said Dr HemantDeshmukh,deaninKEMhospital.In all the six other deaths re-

ported inMumbai, thedeceasedeithersufferedfromhypertensionordiabetesorboth. Inonecase,a73-year-old man died withinhours of hospitalisation inKasturba hospital Sunday.Deshmukh saidwhile patientshavebeendyingwithinfewhoursof admission in last twoweeks,the number of such cases havedipped. BMChas declared thatKasturbahospitalwill soon starttreatingtheinfectedwithplasmaextracted from recovered pa-tients. The BMC is awaiting ap-proval fromtheIndianCouncilofMedicalResearchtostartplasmatherapyforpatients.Plasmafromrecovered patients is being col-lectedatNairhospital.Across the state, 572patients

have recovered and been dis-chargedsofar.Plasmawillbecol-lected from thosewho provideconsent. BMCwill also kickstartrapid testing for its healthwork-ersfromTuesday.

SANDEEPASHARMUMBAI, APRIL20

MAHARASHTRA, THEworst-hitstatebytheCOVID-19pandemic,won’t takeupanynewdevelop-mentworkinthecomingmonths.Having suffered a hefty loss

of income due to themass clo-sures,thestatehasnowgoneonan austerity drive, announcingdeep cutbacks in expenditureandimposingrestrictionsontheareasof spending. Ithasappliedbrakes on public sector invest-ment in capital projects. Lastweek, the state finance depart-ment, citing the losses,wrote toalldepartmentsaskingthemnotto submit spend plans for newdevelopmentprojects.FinanceMinister Ajit Pawar

has already slashed salaries ofministersandlegislators.Theywillhavetobracefora30percentcut.Salaries of government officialshave,meanwhile,beenstaggered.In anothermeasure, all de-

partmentshavenowbeenaskedtocapspendingintheApril-Junequarterto25percentof thebud-geted estimates, prioritising ex-penditureoncommittednon-de-velopmental liabilities, includingsalaries, wages, pensions, rentsandtaxes,foodallowances,otheradministrative expenses and theservicingofdebt.“Apriorconsentofthefinancedepartmentwillbeneeded forexpenditureonotherworks,”aseniorofficialsaid.Attheendofthefirstphaseof

the lockdown on April 14,Maharashtra estimated an in-come loss of Rs 42,000 crore,

promptingittoseekafinancialas-sistance of Rs 25,000 crore fromtheCentre.Inhisbudgetspeechfor2020-

21,PawarhadsaidMaharashtra'stotaldebtwouldcrossRs5.20lakhcrorebyMarch2021, forcing thestate to spend a staggering Rs35,531 crore on servicing it. Butwithalmostnoincomerealisedinthelastcoupleofmonthsandthestate’sfiscalmanagersnothopefulofarevivalof theeconomyinthenear future, this debt numbersmayworsenfurther.WhilePawarhadannounceda

one-time settlement scheme forcroploanarrearsof farmerswithlandholdingabove2hectareandan incentive scheme for farmerspaying loans regularly, the statehasdecided todefer their imple-mentationforthetimebeing.

Restrictionshavealsobeenen-forced on grants to local bodiesand state-run statutory corpora-tions. “Donot release grants un-less their duespendingwith thegovernment are recovered. Also,do not release additional grantsforaparticularworkiftheamountreleased previously remainedunutilised,”readanotificationbythe department. Departmentshavebeenwarnedagainstdivert-ingunspentfunds.Developmentgrantswon’t be released to localbodieswithoutsubmissionoftheutilisation certificates showingpreviousexpenditure.Meanwhile,Mantralaya saw

morefootfallonMonday,withthegovernmentissuingordersaskingdepartments to ensure that atleast 10 per cent of its staff re-portedtowork.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENAGPUR,APRIL20

THE NAGPUR bench of theBombayHighCourtonMondayissued a notice to theMaharashtragovernmentoverits circular banning door-to-doordeliveryof newspapers inthe state.The bench of Justice Nitin

Sambresoughtthegovernment’sresponsewithin two days on apetitionfiledbyNagpurUnionofWorking Journalists andMaharashtra Union ofWorkingJournalistschallengingthelegal-ityof theban.TheHC issued the notice to

the chief secretary, UnionInformation and Broadcasting

Ministry, state DirectorateGeneral of Information andPublic Relations, Nagpur dis-trict collector and NagpurMunicipal Corporation, askingthemto file a replybeforeApril23, when the next hearing isscheduled. The court is likelyto decide on granting interimrelief about lifting restrictionson delivery of newspapers.The two journalists’ unions

haveopposedtheaddendumis-suedbythegovernmentonApril18, dubbing it “illegal, illogicaland unconstitutional”. “The baroncirculationanddistributionofnewspapersisviolativeoffunda-mental right to speech and ex-pressionandgoesagainstseveralSupremeCourtrulings,”thepeti-tionersargued.

Citing an advisory issued byUnion Information andBroadcastingMInistry, the peti-tioners have said that themin-istry had directed all state andUnionterritoriestoensureunin-terrupted functioning of printand electronicmedia, includingitsprintinganddistribution.“The advisories issued by

MHAandstategovernmentalsorecognised print media as anessential service, but suddenlyon April 18, the governmentbarred distribution, whichamounts to unreasonable re-strictionwithoutanyempiricalevidence,” petitioners’ counselDevenChauhanargued.“Somerestrictionsincontain-

ment zones or guidelines to en-sure evenmore cleanliness are

welcome, but gagging the voiceofmedia throughsuchdiktats isnotacceptable,”hesaid.“Whilepermittinghomede-

livery of grocery and vegetablesthrough e-platforms and evenpermitting plumbers andme-chanics and food delivery serv-ice, human interferencewill oc-cur, but newspaper deliveryhasno element of interaction be-tween hawker and reader,” thepetitioners stated, questioningthe logic behind banning news-paperdelivery anddecrying thesame as violative of fundamen-talrightofcitizenstogetauthen-ticandcrediblenewsatdoorstep.Thepetitionersalsoopposedtheargumentofavailabilityofe-pa-per as justification tobanphysi-caldeliveryofpapers.

Government PleaderSumant Deopujari, while op-posing the petition, claimedthat it was reasonable restric-tion put in place due to spreadofCOVID-19pandemic.Besides,the readers are getting e-paperand hence, there is no bar oncirculation,heclaimed,seekingrejectionof thepetition.Deopujariargued,“Thecircu-

lation of newspapers is verymuchpermitted.Therespondentactivities have no control overplacefromwherethevendorsordistributors are coming from...whetherhotspotorCOVID-19af-fectedareas.It isalwaysopenforpetitionertoapproachstategov-ernment with their grievanceandstatecanaddressthemhav-ingregardtofreedomofspeech.”

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI, APRIL20

THE BOMBAY High Court onMondayrefusedtograntinterimrelief inapleafiledbyamemberof state BJPworking committeeseeking a stay on the stateCabinet’s decision that recom-mendedGovernorBhagatSinghKoshyari to nominate ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray’sname for nomination to theLegislativeCouncil.A single-judge bench of

Justice S J Kathawallawashear-ing the writ petition filed byRamkrishnan Pillay, throughseniorcounselAtulGDamleandadvocate Vijay Killedar, thatsought the recommendation isquashedandsetasideasthede-cisiontakenintheApril9meet-ingwasillegallyandunauthoris-edlyconvened.The state Cabinet, in the

meeting chaired by DeputyChief Minister Ajit Pawar, hadrecommendedKoshyaritonom-inateThackerayasamemberofthe Legislative Council throughthe Governor quota to avoid aconstitutional crisis in themid-dleof theCOVID-19 lockdown.Currently,twoseatsfromthe

Governor’s quota are vacant atpresent.Thackeraywasnotpresentat

themeeting.As per Article 164 (4) of the

Constitution, anyministerwhois not a member of the Houseneeds to get elected to theLegislative Assemblywithin sixmonths of appointment.Thackeray,whowassworninonNovember 28, has time tillMay

27 to get elected to the legisla-ture, failingwhich, hewill haveto step down as the chiefminister.Earlier, the Election

Commission had deferred theelections to the nine legislativeCouncilseatsthatwillfallvacantonApril24inviewof thecoron-aviruspandemic.PillayarguedthattheCabinet

meetingwasnot headedby theChief Minister and, therefore,such an advice was illegal inviewofconstitutionalprovisionsunderArticle163.Pillay also claimed that

Thackeray had not delegatedpowerstothedeputychiefmin-istertoconveneandpresideoverthemeeting.Advocate General Ashutosh

Kumbhakoni, appearing for thestate,contestedthepleaandsaiditwasnotmaintainable.After hearing submissions,

Justice Kathawalla examinedvariousconstitutionalprovisionsandnotedthattheGovernorhasnotyettakenanydecisionontheproposal and he is to considerwhethertherecommendationisvalid in law.The bench said its interfer-

ence at this stage was not re-quired as it would amount topreventing the Governor fromtakinganyindependentdecisiononthevalidityrecommendationmadeby theCabinet.Refusing to grant an interim

stay on the Cabinet's decision,Justice Kathawalla noted in theorder, “The reliefs sought in thewrit petition, therefore, appeartobepremature.Thepetitioner,atthisstage,isnotentitledtoanyurgent reliefs.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL20

STATE HOME Minister AnilDeshmukhMondaysaid133FIRshavebeenregisteredand46peo-ple arrestedby theMaharashtraPoliceinconnectionwithcasesre-lated to childpornography sincetheCOVID-19inducedlockdownwasenforcedonMarch25.Hiscommentscamedaysaf-

ter India Child Protection Fund(ICPF) noted an alarming rise inthe demand for child pornogra-phymaterial, also referred to as‘Child Sexual Abuse Material’

(CSAM), on the internet duringtheperiod.“The spike in childporn con-

sumption during the lockdownperiod shows thehugepresenceof paedophiles, child rapists andchildpornographyaddictsonline.Thismakesthe internet—whichisused foreverything fromplay-ingindoorgames,socialisingandonline classes by children—ex-tremely unsafe for them (chil-dren)becauseof thethreatofcy-bertrafficking,grooming(theactofbefriendingachild,andsome-times the family, to lower thechild'sinhibitionswiththeobjec-tive of sexual abuse), sextortion,

sexting, and live-streaming ofchild sexual abuse,” Deshmukhtoldthemedia.Whilewarningparentstore-

mainalertwhenchildrensurftheinternet, the minister saidMaharashtra cyber police hasbeen asked to keep a strict vigilonuseofchildpornographydur-ing the lockdown period. Headded in amajority of the 133FIRs,registeredintheconnection,accusedwerechargedundersec-tion292(prurientcreationoflas-civious images), Protection ofChildren from Sexual Offences(POCSO)ActandITact.Actionagainstpeopleinvolved

in child pornography received aboost lastyearafter India tiedupwith theUS-based private non-profit organisation NationalCentre forMissingandExploitedChildren(NCMEC).According toofficials, several

ofthe133FIRswereregisteredbythe Maharashtra Police aftertipline reportswere sent by thecentre.NCMEC receives tip-offs

throughcitizens,serviceprovidersanduses software to track childpornographycontentonlinethatis sharedwith lawenforcementagenciesintheformof‘tiplinere-ports’—a tipline reportprovides

detailslikeIPaddressofthedeviceusedtosurfchildpornography.TillJanuary this year, India received25,000 such reports for cases ofCSAMacrossthecountry.Lastweek,ICPF,whichwasset

up in January 2020 by NobelLaureate Kailash Satyarthi's sonBhuvanRibhu, released a reportthat said: “Thenationwide lock-down to contain the COVID-19outbreakhasexposedadarkun-derbellyofoursociety—millionsof paedophiles, child rapists andchild pornography addicts haveincreased their activities online,making the internet extremelyunsafeforourchildren”.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL20

MORE THAN 10,000 migrantworkers from various parts ofBihar have availed packages ofgroceries through the BiharFoundation,aregisteredsocietyunder the Bihar government’sDepartment of Industry. Withfunds fromBihar’sgovernment,the foundation has distributedrelief material at various loca-tions inMumbaiandThane.“…As we keep ramping up

quantities,wefindmorepeoplein need,” said Ahsan Hussain,secretary of Bihar Foundation’sMumbai chapter. Set up by thestate’sdiasporain2007withtheaim to aid the development oftheirhomestate, thesocietybe-gan relief work on March 26.From then until April 14, nearly5,000 people, almost all ofthem daily wage earners fromBihar,havequeuedupformealsevery day at various locations,including Dharavi, Govandi,Mankhurd,BycullaandKalya.“Today, ourdaily fooddistri-

bution reaches 4,250 people inthemorning,andanequalnum-ber of people in the evening,”Hussain toldThe IndianExpress.Thepackagesofgroceryma-

terial have reached well over10,000 beneficiaries, with eachpackageincludingfivekgofrice,three kg of wheat flour, two kgof lentils, one kg ofmustard oil,half a kg of jaggery and two kgeach of onion and potato, alongwith packets of salt, turmericandchillipowder.“It’sasubstan-tial relief package, a family cansurviveonitforseveraldays.Weran into several challengeswiththestaff,aswellasprocurementandlogistics,but…willcontinueservices as long as there is de-mand for it,”headded.The foundation has also

taken over a college building inBhiwandi, where they have setupa shelter forup to500work-ers from the state who need aplace to stay until they can gobackhome.Hussain said that as the

foundationissetupforthewel-fare of those fromBihar, the fo-cus group is Bihari workers.“However,wehavehelpedoth-ers who have approached ustoo,”Hussain said.The Bihar government has

also begun the process of de-positingRs1,000inthebankac-countofeveryAadhaar-verifiedmigrantworker from the state,headded.

UPTHEWALL:AmanwearingamaskwalkspastaposterofChhatrapatiShivajiMaharaj inPuneonMonday.AshishKale

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, APRIL20

WITHA view to provide coun-selling and care for those suffer-ingmental health problems oremotionaldistressduetothepro-longedlockdownanddeepeningeconomic hardships, the statetribal development departmenton Sunday launched a helplinenumber especially for rural andtribal regions. Thehelpline is be-ing operated by non-profitsPrafultaandProjectMumbai.Already, 30 trained counsel-

lors have been appointed andworkhasbeguntospreadaware-nessaboutthehelpline.Thecoun-sellors,whoare trained to speakinMarathi, Hindi and English,fieldedover 100 calls on SundayandanequalnumberonMonday.All 30were continuously on thephonesduringtheirshift.Minister for Tribal

DevelopmentKCPadvi said thehelpline,which has been chris-tenedSamvaad,willbeausefulre-sourceforthoseamongthestate’sone crore tribals, whomay nothave other avenues to seekhelpforstress,anxietyordepression.Principal Secretary (Tribal

Development)Manisha Vermasaidconcernsaboutmentalwell-ness usually remain outside theambit of discussionswithhealthprofessionalsinverybackwardre-gions.“Asthishelplinecanbene-fit people from acrossMaharashtra,wehavefacilitateditthrough the state governmentwiththesupportofotherdepart-ments,” she added. Thehelplinewillbeaccessiblefromanypartofthestate,eventhoughithasbeenlaunchedwith a view to enablepeopleintribalandbackwardre-gionstoaccessmentalhealthcare.CEO of Project Mumbai,

ShishirJoshi,saidtheorganisationhas until now provided coun-sellingtourbanpopulations,andthisinitiativewillbeanewoppor-tunity. Thedepartment has alsoinvited counsellors, especiallythoselivinginnon-urbansettings,to also volunteer. The toll freeSamvaadhelplinenumberis18001024040.Thedepartmenthasas-suredthatcallers’ confidentialitywillbemaintained.

2,124 (57,517)CasesregisteredunderSection188(Violatinganorderissuedbyapublic servant)of the IndianPenalCode

Personswhoviolatedquarantine 5(572)

Phonecallsmadeto100pertainingtoCOVID-19 700(73,344)

Numberof infectedpolice personnel 9 (49)

Casesof illegal transport 0 (1,051)

Arrests 478(12,123)

Vehiclesseized 3,479(40,414)

Fines imposed Rs13.80 lakh(Rs2.20crore)

*Total figures forall categories inbrackets

Figures forApril20releasedbytheMaharashtraPolice

NUMBERWATCH

To addressmental health,govt launcheshelpline for rural& tribal regions

No new development projects to be takenup, depts asked to cap spending to 25%

HC refuses to stayCabinet decisionrecommending Uddhavname to Council

CIRCULARBANNINGDOOR-TO-DOORDELIVERYOFNEWSPAPERS

HC serves notice to govt, seeks response within 2 days

Bihar Foundationprovides over10,000 migrantswith packagedgroceries

AsthishelplinecanbenefitpeoplefromacrossMaharashtra,wehavefacilitateditthroughthestategovernmentwiththesupportofotherdepartments.”

MANISHAVERMAPRINCIPALSECRETARY (TRIBALDEVELOPMENT)

Numberofdeaths 232

Totalnumberofpeopledischarged 572

Numberofpeople tested76,277

Totalnumberquarantined6,879

Numberofnewcases 466

TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRA

4,666

AlongqueueatMulundtollnakaonMonday.Deepak Joshi

Over 1,000 casesin last two days

5THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21, 2020

THEOUTBREAK Nation

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AFTERGOVTPERMISSIONTOPARTIALLYOPENUNITS

VAIBHAVJHAAHMEDABAD, APRIL20

EVEN AS the Union and stategovernmentshavegrantedper-missiontopartiallyopenindus-trialunits, justaboutsixcompa-nies in the Sanand GujaratIndustrial DevelopmentCorporation(GIDC)becameop-erationalMonday.Thereasonisamassiveshortageofworkforce,industrialists said.“Out of 8,000workers, only

3,500 remained in the villageand GIDC area since the lock-downwasannounced.Theytooare not staying by choice. Theywant to return to their nativeplaces after May 3. Therefore,the coming times will be chal-lengingforindustrialunitstore-main operational,” said AjitShah,headofSanandIndustriesAssociation.At least 70 industrial units

weregivenpermission tooper-ate at Sanand GIDC on the out-skirts of Ahmedabad, but onlysix—mainlyfromtheengineer-ing sector—wereoperational.Anotherfactorthatcanham-

pernormalcy inSanandGIDCisthe lack of skilled workers.While Sanand GIDC hosts ma-jority of the migrant workerswho are unskilled, the skilledworkers stay inAhmedabad.WhileAhmedabadhas seen

hundreds of positive COVID-19cases, Sanand taluka has none.Industrialists said they havebeenwarnedby thedistrict ad-ministration that if anyworkertests positive, then policeaction can be initiated againstthe owner of the unit for negli-

gence.“We have 70 workers, but

only12reportedforworktoday.We have stopped getting neworders, and our priority is tocomplete orders of March.Wehavededicatedourstaff towardssanitisingtheentireunitandoil-ingmachines. Since our skilledworkers live in Ahmedabad,which has many hotspots, wehavenotcalledthem,”saidNiraj

Shah, owner of KaushikEngineering.Ajit Shah said the warning

couldaffectprospects. “Ownersof industrial units cannot beheld accountable for the placesidle workers have visited sincethe lockdown.Moreover, func-tioning units are abiding by allguidelines,” headded.Workers in GIDC area are

paid on a monthly basis.Unskilled workers get aroundRs15,000whileskilledonesgetRs18,000-25,000amonth.Almostall theworkerswere

paid for March, but industryunitsmay find it difficult topaythem for April as 20 days havepassedwithout anywork.“MycolleaguesandIdecided

to stay here as there was notransport andour industryunithad arranged for amonth’s ra-tions,”NirajPaswanfromUP,an

unskilledworkeremployedasafitter in Kaushik Engineering,toldThe IndianExpress.“We were paid for March,

but we don’t think we will bepaid for April,” said MahendraSahoo,anotherunskilledworkerat SanandGIDC.Meanwhile, the state gov-

ernment issued a statement onMonday that 6,000 units with40,000-45,000 workersrestartedoperations inGujarat.It said that in thenext twodays,15,000 units will begin func-tioning, including Alang ship-breakingyard inBhavnagar.The sectors that started op-

erationsincludetheceramicin-dustryinMorbi,chemicalindus-tries in Bharuch, oilmillers andengineeringunits inRajkot,andengineering units in Kutch andAhmedabad.

WITHENSAHMEDABAD

6firmsreopen inGujarathub

Atanindustrialunit inSanandGIDCnearAhmedabadonMonday. Express

Industrial activities pick up, slowly

At least70 industrialunitsweregivenpermissiontooperateatSanandGIDContheoutskirtsofAhmedabad,butonlysixwereoperational

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL20

WHILE IT said that about80percent of novel coronavirus(COVID-19)patientsareasymp-tomatic, the Indian Council ofMedicalResearch(ICMR)main-tained onMonday that there isno need to change the testingprotocol.According to the govern-

ment’sstrategyforRT-PCRtests,only symptomatic peoplewithtravel or contacthistory, health-care workers who developsymptoms while caring forCOVID-19 patients, all hospi-talised patients with SevereAcuteRespiratoryIllness,asymp-tomaticdirectandhigh-riskcon-tactsof aconfirmedcase,andallpatients with symptomatic in-fluenza-like illnessaretested.Responding to a question at

the daily briefing, Dr R RGangakhedkar,headofepidemi-ology and infectious diseases attheICMR,said:“Ihaveexplainedthat80percentpeoplewillhaveinfection without symptoms.Theywill be asymptomatic butifyoutestthem,thereisachancethat theywill be positive…Weneedtounderstandthat theRT-PCR test comes positive after aperson is symptomatic. Peopletake time to be symptomatic.This means if I test him/ herwhen asymptomatic, thechancesofhim/hertestingpos-

itivearesmall.”Statingthatthetesthas“lim-

itations”, he said: “This is a newdisease,peoplearelearning.Weare intervening, taking quickstepsbasedonourevolvingun-derstandingofthedisease.Asfortestingstrategy,yourchancesoftesting positive become less asyou near the infection timepoint. It comes positive whentherearesymptoms,sokeepingin mind the cost effectivenessand risk-based approach, youryieldwillbecomelessthesooner

you test. Even to think aboutchanging the testing strategynow…Icannot say.”He said in hotspots, people

withinfluenza-likeillnessarebe-ing tested. “Howmuchweneedto change the testing protocol,timewill tell, based on the pro-gression of the disease and theevolutionof thetests,”hesaid.Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary

in the HealthMinistry, clarifiedthat80percentpatientsare“ei-therasymptomaticorhaveverymild symptoms”. “Our testing

criteriaisdetailedandtakesintoaccountasymptomatichigh-riskcontacts aswell as peoplewithsevere acute respiratory ill-nesses,”hesaid.He emphasised that it is al-

wayspossible tomakeaclinicalassessmentofwhethertestingisrequiredornot,basedonthepa-tient’shistory.With1,540freshcasesand40

deathsbeingreportedinthelast24hours, the total tallyhasnowgone up to 17,656 cases (2,842recovered)and559deaths.

The average doubling timehas increased to 7.5 days, from3.4daysaweekbefore the lock-down.Thedoublingtimeismorethan the national average insome states and Union territo-ries.Amongtheseare:Delhi(8.5days),Karnataka(9.2),Telangana(9.4),AndhraPradesh(10.6), J&K(11.5), Punjab (13.1),Chhattisgarh (13.3), TamilNadu(14), Bihar (16.4),AndamanandNicobar Islands (20.1), Haryana(21), Himachal Pradesh (24.5),Chandigarh(25.4),Assam(25.8),Uttarakhand (26.6) and Ladakh(26.6). Two states have a dou-blingtimeofmorethan30days:Odisha (39.8)andKerala (72.2).Three districts — Mahe

(Puducherry), Kodagu(Karnataka) Pauri Garhwal(Uttarakhand) — have not re-ported any fresh case in the last28days.In the last 14 days, 59 dis-

tricts,spreadacross23statesandUTs,havenotreportedanyfreshcase.Thesixnewdistrictsinthislist are: Dungarpur and Pali inRajasthan, Jamnagar andMorbiin Gujarat, North Goa andGomati inTripura.Lastweek,astudyfromChina

that looked at patterns of viralshedding concluded that 44percent of COVID-19patientswereinfectedbyasymptomaticpeople.It estimated that viral shedding,whichiswhenapersoninfectsan-other,beginstwotothreedaysbe-foretheonsetofsymptoms.

80%patients asymptomatic: ICMR

WestBengalgovernmentonMondaystartedconductingrapidantibodytestsasper ICMRdirectives inredzoneareasof thestate. ParthaPaul

WESTBENGAL

20cops injuredinclashwithlocalsover ‘bidtodisposebody’Alipurduar/Malda/Kolkata:Atleast 20 police personnelwere injured inaclashwithamobwhichallegedauthor-itiesweresecretlydisposingthe body of a person whodied due to COVID-19 inAlipurduar. The incidenthappened on the banks ofthe Teesta river inSalkumarhat earlyMonday,police said. Locals alleged apolice teamarrivedwith anearth mover to secretlydump the body of a personwho died of COVID-19.During the clash, policeopenedfire,injuringayouth,locals alleged. Denying theallegations, SP AmitavaMaity said a case has beenlodgedandtheyaretryingtoidentifythosebehindthein-cident. PTI

ANDHRAPRADESH

Man ‘assaulted’for lockdownviolation, diesHyderabad: A man diedafter allegedly beingassaulted by the police forviolation lockdown normsin Sattenapalle village ofGunturdistrictonMonday.The 28-year-old man wasreportedly out buyingsupplies when he wasassaulted at a checkpost.He collapsed at thecheckpost andwas shiftedto a hospital where hesuccumbed. Guntur RuralSP V Vijay Rao said thepoliceman who allegedlythrashed the man wassuspended, pendinginquiry. ENS

RAJASTHAN

Newborn testspositive forCOVID-19Jaipur:Anewbornbabyhastested positive for coron-avirusinRajasthan’sNagaurdistrict, an official saidMonday. “ThebabybornonSaturdayiscoronaviruspos-itive.Hermother,fatherandother familymembers tooare COVID-19 patients,”Nagaur chief medical andhealth officer Dr SukumarKashyapsaid.ThetestreportofthebabycameonSunday.

PTI

CORONAWATCH

Ahealthworker inJammu. PTI

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, APRIL20

AMID OUTRAGE from promi-nent Arab citizens overIslamophobic comments fromsomeIndians in theGulf region,Indian envoy to the UAE PavanKapooronMondaysoughttore-mindIndiansintheUAEthatdis-criminationisagainsttheIndianmoral fabricandruleof law.Kapoor tweeted, “India and

UAE share the valueof non-dis-crimination onmany grounds.Discrimination is against ourmoral fabric and the ruleof law.Indian nationals in the UAEshouldalways remember this.”He was sharing a tweet by

PrimeMinisterNarendraModiinwhich he said, “COVID-19 doesnot see race, religion, colour,caste,creed,languageorbordersbeforestriking.Ourresponseandconductthereaftershouldattachprimacy to unity and brother-hood.Weare inthis together.”Bilateral ties between India

and the UAE have deepened inrecent years, especially incounter-terrorism.Over2million Indians live in

the UAE and about 8 millionIndiansintheGulfregion.Apos-siblebacklashagainst Indians intheUAE inparticular, and in theregioningeneral,appearstohaveprompted the tweet by theIndiandiplomat.OnSunday,Dubai-basedbusi-

nesswoman Noora Al GhuraircalledoutBJPMPTejasviSuryafora tweet aboutArabwomen thathe had shared in 2015. Sharingthe tweet,NooraAlGhurair said

shepitiedSurya’s“upbringing”.Lastweek, Princess Hend Al

Qassimi,amemberofaUAEroyalfamily,warnedthat“anyonethatis openly racist and discrimina-tory intheUAEwillbe finedandmadeto leavethecountry.”She also slammed Dubai-

based Indian expat SaurabhUpadhyaywhohadputoutsev-eral tweets targetingMuslims.Meanwhile, the PTI has re-

ported that a prominent Indianbusinessman in the UAE hasapologised for “unintentionallyhurting religious sentiments”throughhispoem,accordingtoamedia report.Inarelateddevelopment,the

Organisation of IslamicCooperation’s IndependentPermanent Human RightsCommission (OIC-IPHRC)Sunday urged India to take “ur-gent steps” to protect rights oftheMuslimcommunity.Following this, Pakistan PM

Imran Khan compared theIndian government’s treatmentofMuslimsto“whatNazisdidtoJews inGermany”.The Ministry of External

Affairs, which has not com-mented on the OIC comments,issued a statement against re-marks by the Pakistani leader-ship.MEAspokespersonAnuragSrivastavasaid:“...Insteadofcon-centratingonfightingCOVID19,theyaremakingbaselessallega-tions against their neighbours.On the subject of minorities,they would be well advised toaddress the concerns of theirown dwindlingminority com-munities,whichhavebeentrulydiscriminatedagainst.”

ARABOUTRAGEAGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA

Delhi envoy remindsIndians in UAE:Discriminationagainst moral fabric

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,APRIL20

FIFTY-FOUR PEOPLE were ar-rested fromaBengaluru localityidentifiedascoronavirushotspotafter they allegedly protestedagainst healthworkers trying toquarantinesecondarycontactsofaCOVID-19-positivepatient,andforresortingtoviolence.The incidents occurred in

Padarayanapura, which wassealedafter14peopletestedpos-itive inthearea inrecentdays—-thehighest forany locality in thestate.OnSundaynight,healthwork-

erswenttherewithpoliceescorttobringintoquarantineafewsec-ondarycontactsofapatientwhohas testedpositivebutwerepre-vented by local residents, whoclaimedthattheauthoritiesweretargettingonecommunityintheirbattletocombatthepandemic.After a brief clash, inwhich

youthsremovedpolicebarricadesputuptoseal thearea, thepolicebroughtthesituationundercon-trol.OnMonday, KarnatakaChief

Minister B S Yediyurappa saidsome local residents resorted to“goondaism”andtriedtostoppo-

lice, BBMPandhealthofficials inPadarayanapura and tried to re-move roadbarricades. “They in-dulged in hooliganismwithoutunderstanding that the govern-mentistryingtoprotecttheirlivesandhealth;54peoplehavebeenarrested.Wecannottoleratesuchacts;theymustnotrecur.”Healsosaid,“Thereisnoques-

tionof (differentiatingbetween)Hindu,Muslimor Christians—-action must be taken againstwhoeverviolatesthelaw.”In a Cabinet meeting on

Monday, the state governmentdecided to promulgate an ordi-nanceonthelinesoflawscreatedinUPandKeralatopunishpeoplepreventinghealthworkers.

Policeconductamarch inBengaluru’sPadarayanapuraareaonMonday. PTI

Health workersstopped in Bengaluruhotspot, 54 arrested

No relief, TNindustries seekCentre aid

ARUNJANARDHANANCHENNAI,APRIL20

THETAMILNadugovernmentonMondayannouncedthatthepro-hibitory orders enforced in thestate to contain the spread ofcoronavirus will continue tillMay3.Thishas led to the indus-trialandmanufacturingsectorinthe state to appeal to theCentrefor a “helping hand” by provid-ing financialaidtothesector.On Monday, a number of

leading industryplayers andas-sociationsofmanufacturerssaidtheywill approach the Centralgovernment for financial aid. AShanmugavelayutham of theTamil Nadu Small and TinyIndustries Association said theconsortiumwaspreparingape-tition to send to PrimeMinisterNarendraModi,seekingfinancialaidtomanagethesituation.Manufacturers in the state

have already approached theUnion FinanceMinistry, statingthatthereshouldbepolicyinitia-tives for small andmicro indus-triesduringthe lockdown.A letter addressing Finance

Minister Nirmala Sitharamanstated the MSME sector was“struggling for our concrete re-vival”evenbeforethelockdown.With the lockdown, the lettersaid, all units have been closedandthattheydonotknowaboutthestatusofrawmaterials,semi-finished products andmachin-ery.The state has among the

highest number of industries inIndia.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,JAIPUR,DEHRADUN,APRIL20

EVEN AS one of the studentsbrought back from Kota testednegativeforcoronavirusinUttarPradesh’s Ghazipur, RajasthanCMAshok Gehlot said that theUniongovernmenthasagreedtoallow states to make arrange-ments for students fromKota totravelback to theirhomestates.TheCMalsosaidthatafterUP

andUttarakhand, nowMadhyaPradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat,West Bengal and Assam haveagreed to takestudentsback.Thestudentwhotestedneg-

ativeonMondayisamongthosewhowerebroughtbacktoUttarPradesh fromKota. On Sunday,shewasfoundtohavehighviralloadinherrapidtestatGhazipur,

her native place, and kept in in-stitutional quarantine alongwith 27 others including stu-dents,policemenandthedriverwho travelled in the same bus.Now, after her negative report,all of them are being sent formandatory 14-day home quar-antine.“In the rapid test, a girl was

foundtohavehighviralload.Herthroat and nasal swabwas sentforfinaltestingtoBHU,Varanasi.The reportwas confirmed neg-ativeMonday,”saidDistrictCMODrGCMaurya.SP Om Prakash Singh said

that257studentswerebroughtto the district and all of themtested negative. “Earlier, the 28whowereonthatbuswerekeptininstitutionalquarantine.Now,as the report is negative, theywill be sent to home quaran-tine,” said theSP.

Additional Chief Secretary(Home) Awanish KumarAwasthi told themedia 10,500childrenwerebroughtfromKotain250busesinthreedays.“Theywere screened at Agra andJhansi, and ADM-led teamsagainexaminedthestudentsaf-tertheyreachedtheirrespectivedistricts,”hesaid.UP buses also transported

411 students belonging toUttarakhand to Haldwani andRishikesh on Monday. TheUttarakhand government willpayUP for ferrying its students.Kota’s Additional District

Magistrate, Administration,NarendraGupta,saidthat12,500students have been ferried totheirhometownsacrossUPandUttarakhand by 400 buses. Hesaid that buses fromMPare ex-pected to start arrivingTuesdayto ferry3,000students.

Kota student tests negative in UP,5 more states to take back kids

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,DEHRADUN,APRIL20

UTTARPRADESHChiefMinisterYogi Adityanath’s father AnandSinghBisht,whowasundergoingtreatmentatAIIMSinDelhi,diedonMondaymorning.Hewas89.Adityanath expressed his

helplessnessinattendingthefu-neral, as he is in themiddle ofworkingoutastrategytocombatthe spread of coronavirus in thestate. Inastatement,hesaidthathehasrequestedhismotherandfamilymemberstocompletethelast rites,with theattendanceofminimumpossiblepeople.Adityanath said he would

themvisit once the lockdownisover. Inastatement,hesaid,“...Hegave me sanskar to work withhonesty, selflessness andwithcomplete devotion as a child. I

wantedtoseehim(alasttime)butcouldnotvisithimbecauseofmyresponsibility towards 23 crorepeople of UP in the fight againstcoronaviruspandemic...”Uttar Pradesh’s Additional

ChiefSecretaryAwanishAwasthitold themedia that Adityanathreceived information about hisfather’s demise while he washolding a reviewmeetingwithsenior officials for coronaviruscontrol andmanagement.In Dehradun, Uttarakhand

CMTrivendra Singh Rawat saidAnandBisht,whowasanativeofPanchur village in the state’sPauriGarhwaldistrict,wasasso-ciatedwith the BJP, had servedas theparty’smandalunitpres-ident in Yamkeshwar block (ofPauriGarhwal), andhisworkasapartyworker andactive socialworkerwill be remembered bythepeople.

UP CM: Can’t attend father’slast rites due to corona work

DIPANKARGHOSE&KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, APRIL20

SENIORMADHYA Pradesh offi-cials have admitted that COVID19 testing capacities in Indorewere not “what it should havebeen”,andthat itwaslikelythatthere were “undetected cases”muchbeforeMarch24whenthefirst casewasdetected.The officials said therewere

“initial setbacks”, but the statehassincetakenstepstorampuptestingand isnowinagoodpo-sition to tackle the number ofcases. They added that therewere at least 40 cases where“100 per cent contact tracing”hasnotbeenpossible, indicativeof possible local communitytransmission.

Additional Chief SecretaryMohammad Suleman,whohasbeengivenchargeof theHealthDepartment,toldreportersovervideo-conference on Saturday,“Itisafactthatourtestingcapac-itywasway lower thanwhat ithadtobe.Wehaveabacklog.Weare trying to run three shifts inthe labs and have given addi-tionalmachines.Delayintestingdoes result in some kind of un-certainty. But we are ensuringthatthosewhosetestresultsarepending are either inhome iso-lation or institutionalquarantine.”Headded, “Initiallyour test-

ing and sampling capacitywasvery low. In March, we tested150 samples per day in twolabs. Now we are testing over1,200 samples per day. By theend of the month our target is

2,000, and 5,000 by May. Wehaverampedupsamplecollec-tion. In Indore alone we havecollected 5,000 samples. Weare ensuring that all suspectedpeople in quarantine facilitiesare tested on priority.Additionally, 2,000 teams aredoing surveillance to identifyhigh-risk patients.”The Additional Chief

Secretary said that whileIndore’sfirstcasewasidentifiedonMarch24,thenumberssincethen—closeto900now—showthat it is probable that therewerecasesthatwentundetectedearlier. “The growth has beenvery fast, and nomathematicalmodelling can explain this.Therefore,whilenobodycansayfor certain, it does seem liketherewerecasesbefore the firstonewasdetected,”hesaid.

Officials: Indore testinglower than required

TENDER WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL 21, 20206

Government of JharkhandJharkhand Rural Health Mission Society

Department of Health, Medical Education & Family WelfareNamkum, Ranchi.

NoticeRequest for Proposal for Covid-19 RT-PCR testing at private laboratories

Notice No.: IDSP/2020/154-119 (IDSP) Date: 20.04.20Mission Director, Jharkhand Rural Health Mission Society, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. ofJharkhand, Namkum, Ranchi, invites proposals from ICMR approved Private Labs for conducting Covid-19RT-PCRtest as per ICMR guidelines.Objective:In compliance with the various orders of competent authorities and to supplement and complement the efforts ofthe government and to utilise the capacity of ICMR empanelled private laboratories to enhance the number ofCOVID-19 tests to the maximum without any compromise on protocol or quality of testing, towards mitigation andmanagement of COVID-19 Pandemic, the present ‘Request for Proposal (RFP)” has been envisaged. Under thisRFP, ICMR approved Private Labs shall be empanelled for the following models:a. Collection of samples (as facilitated by district administration) and testing thereuponb. Pick-up & testing of samples already collected by the districtsc. Collection of samples and testing thereupon against individual payment by the person tested.Detailed operational model for the above options & other terms & conditions can be obtained through websitehttp://jrhms.jharkhand.gov.in and proposal should be submitted through e-mail onnrhmjharkhandfmr@gmail.com only.

Sr. No. Particulars Details1 Name of the work COVID-19 RT-PCR testing

2 Date / time for receipt of proposals on email Upto 24th April by 12 Noon

3 Contact Person for queries Narsingh Kumar Khalkho-8986912295Pratik Mittal- 9570171514

Sd/-Mission Director

Jharkhand Rural Health Mission Society

Tender Enquiry No.: 77/GHTP/MM-II/HM-50(V) dated: 20.04.2020E-tenders are invited from reputed and registered Firm/Contractors for

the following work:-

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF WORKRoutine, Preventive and Breakdown maintenance of Heavy EarthMoving Machinery, i.e. Loco Shunters, Bulldozers, Poclain includingGrabber Loader Machines, AUGER Machine and Coal Compactor etc.and Re-railment of minor derailments of Wagons & Loco Shunters inCHP of GHTP, Lehra Mohabat as per tender specifications.

EMD: Minimum Rs. 1,22,000/- (Rupees One Lac Twenty TwoThousand only)Last Date & Time for bid submission: 20.05.2020 upto 11.30 hrs.Date & time of opening of Fee stage bid: 21.05.2020 at 12.00 hrs.Detailed NIT and tender specifications can only be downloaded from web-site: http://eproc.punjab.gov.in from dated 22.04.2020 onwards.NOTE:-1. The prospective bidders can obtain clarification regarding tender

specifications from this office. For registration of Digital Signaturesand uploading of tender, information may be sought fromhttp://eproc.punjab.gov.in.

2. It is informed that in case the tender process is not completed due to anyreason no Corrigendum will be published in Newspapers. Detail regard-ing corrigendum may be seen on website i.e. http://eproc.punjab.gov.in.

Sd/- Dy. Chief Engineer,Mechanical Mtc. Circle-I, O&M,

GHTP, PSPCL, Lehra Mohabbat, Distt. Bathinda (Pb.)-151111.

GURU HARGOBIND THERMAL PLANT, LEHRA MOHABBATCorporate Identity Number: U40109PB2010SGC033813

e-Tendering website: https://eproc.punjab.gov.in

NOTICE INVITING TENDER(Through E-tendering)

Government of Andhra PradeshREVENUE (DM) DEPARTMENT

INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)IFB No. 01 to 2/APDRP/APSDHA/2020 Dated 20.04.2020

The Government of India has received credit from the InternationalDevelopment Association (IDA) for an amount equivalent to US$ 201.38million towards the cost at Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project(APDRP) and intends to apply a part of the proceeds of the credit tocover eligible payments under the contract for which this Invitation to bidhas been issued. The bidders from India as defined in the IDA and IBRDGuidelines are eligible to bid for the project, Bidders are advised to notethe eligibility and qualification criteria specified in the Bidding Documentto qualify for the award of the contract.The Project Director, PMU, APDRP invites "on line e-bids" from eligiblebidders for the Activities shown below, through website of Central PublicProcurement Portal http:/eprocuregov.in from 22/04/2020, The IFBsare also available at the website www.apdrp.ap.gov.in and UNDB website www.devbusiness.com

Sd/-Project Director, APDRP

Release Order No 14PP/CL/ADVT/1/1/2020-21

IFB No ActivityNo inSTEP

Activity Name BidSecurity inRs. Lakhs

Period ofcontract in

months1 2 3 5 6

01/NCB/APDRP/APSDMA

152622 Procurement and Setting up ofIn-House Data Centre forAndhra Pradesh State DisasterManagement Authority

11.00 40

02/ RFQ/APDRP/APSDMA

163911 Procurement of Vehicle Trackingand Management System forEmergency ServiceDepartments in Andhra Pradesh

NIL 39

ANDHRA PRADESH DISASTER RECOVERY PROJECTWORLD BANK CREDIT NO. 5694-IN

GOVERNMENT OF INIDAMINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

RESERACH, DESIGNS & STANDARDS ORGANISATIONMANAK NAGAR, LUCKNOW-226011

Corrigendum No.-02GLOBAL TENDER NOTICE No. “RM1/GL-8/FTL/InstronSystem Rehabilitation/2020” dated 27.01.2020Name of work: Rehabilitation of Instron make FatigueTesting system installed in Fatigue Testing Lab. of RDSO,Lucknow.The date of opening of tender is changed to17.06.2020 instead of 23.04.2020.All future corrigendum to the tender will be published onthe RDSO website www.rdso.indianrailways.gov.inonly.File No. RM1/GL-8/FTL/Instron System RehabilitationDated: 20.04.2020

Sd/-Dy. Director Testing/Labs

Testing Directorate, RDSO, LucknowFor and on behalf of President of Union of India

Sanjeet CommunicationFort.Phone : 40024682/ 40792205.

S. Arts Advtg.MasjidPhone: 23415111

Taj Publicity Services,Byculla (W),Phone : 2305 4894.Mobile : 9892011371.

Yugarambha Advertising,Girgaon,Phone : 2386 8065.Mobile : 9869074144.

Aaryan PublicityDadar (E),Phone: 022-65881876Mobile: 9320111876

B. Y. Padhye Publicity Services,Dadar (W),Phone : 2422 9241/2422 0445.

DATEY Advertising,Datey Bhavan, Dadar (W)Mobole : 8452846979/ 9930949817

Hook AdvertainmentDadarMobile : 8691800888

Central Advertising Agency,Mahim (W),Phone : 24468656 / 24465555

Charudatta Advertising,Mahim (W),Phone : 24221461

Jay Publicity,Dadar (E),Phone : 24124640

Pallavi Advtg.Dadar (W),Mobile: 9869109765

Shree Swami Samarth Advertising,Dadar (W),Phone : 24440631Mobile : 9869131962

Stylus Arts,Dadar (W),Phone : 24304897

Time Advertising,Matunga (W),Phone : 2446 6191

Vijaya Agencies,Dadar (W),Phone : 2422 5672.Mobile : 9920640689

Media Junction,Matunga (W),Phone: 022-66393184/ 022-66332340Mobile: 9820295353/ 9821656198

Achievers MediaBandra (W.),Phone : 22691584

CCLLAASSSSIIFFIIEEDD CCEENNTTRREESS IINN MMUUMMBBAAII

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL20

KERALAHAS bucked the national trend fornovelcoronavirusdisease(COVID-19)withadoubling time of 72.2 days—whichmeansthatthenumberofcasesinthestatedoubledinthatmanydays—againstanationalaverageof 7.5days. Lastweek, theCentre showcasedthe contact tracing and containmentmodelofKerala’sKasaragod,oneoftheearliestspotson India’s COVID-19map, as one of the suc-cessstoriesof thecontainmentexercise.A lookat theKasaragodmodel, andhow

it differs from some of the other modelsacross the country that have generated in-terest.

WhyshowcaseKasaragod?Kasaragod reported the third case of

COVID-19inthecountry—astudentairliftedfromWuhanon February 3. The district ad-ministrationmounted amassive exercise totracethe150-oddcontactsofthatonestudent.According to figures uploaded by the

Kerala government, Kasaragod has had 169casesandzerodeathsuntilApril19,auniqueachievement in itself, given the fact that alargeproportionof thedistrict’s populationhave settled abroad. Of those infected, 123peoplehaverecoveredsofar, leavingonly46activecasesamongtheoriginal169.Intheinitialdaysof theepidemic,almost

all indexcaseswerepeoplewhohadcaughtthe virus during their travels abroad (about15.38%).Thesecondwaveinthedistricthap-penedafterpeoplestartedcomingbackfromtheMiddleEast fromMarch16.

Underwhatcircumstanceswasthiscontainmentachieved?Thedistrict is far frommajorcities,sothat

theisolationexercisewassmoother.KasaragodisKerala’snorthernmostdistrict,farawayfromcapital Thiruvananthapuram.However, thisdistance also presented an additional chal-lenge.When expatriates returned in largegroups, they landed in various airports andtookvariouspublic transport options— rail-ways,roadetc—toreachhome,whichhadthepotentialtoleavecontactsallalongtheway.HealthMinistry officials said thatwhile

Kasaragodhasbeenshowcased,thesuccessof Kerala as awhole is a story essentially ofthestrengthof thestate’shealthcaresystemrather thanoneof the immediatemeasurestaken.“It isnot fornothingthat it leads inall

human development indices. The mostamazingthingaboutKeralaishowreceptivethey are of suggestions for improvement,”saidaseniorofficial in theHealthMinistry.

What is theKasaragodmodel?Thedistrict administration relied on ag-

gressivetesting,technology,foolproofcontacttracing,andaneffectivepublicawarenesscam-paignon social distancing to achieve the re-sultsitcannowshow.InKasaragod,asinotherdistricts, the state government appointed aspecialofficertocoordinatefunctioningofthedistrictadministrationandforeffectivecoor-dinationbetweenlinedepartmentsatfieldandsecretariatlevels.Section144wasimposedintheentiredistrict,withsevendronesemployedforsurveillance.UndertheCareforKasaragodinitiative,adetailedactionplan—commonco-ordinated action plan—was drawn up forcombatingCOVID-19so thatall stakeholderscouldturntoitwhenthesituationarose.

Andwhatwasthisactionplan?Allquarantinedpeopleweretrackedus-

ingGPS.Allessentialswerehome-deliveredin the containment/cluster zones, irrespec-tive of whether they were rich or poor. Acampaignonsocialdistancingcalled“Breakthe Chain” was carried out to deliver themessage of social distancing. Core teamswere formedwith incident commanders torush tovariousareasandtakequickaction.

The plan was carried out with a verystrong socialwelfare component,which in-cludedfreefoodkitsforthepoorandmigrantworkers, a strong check on hoarding andblack-marketing, and health checkup on al-ternate days formigrants or the destitute.Communitykitchenssuppliedfreefood. JanaJagratha Samitis at theward level ensuredthat themessagingreachedeveryperson.

Whatwasthescaleof theexercise?A total of 17,373 people were quaran-

tined.Onanaverage,100-150samplesweretested every day andnew testing labswerestarted. Themedical college in Kasaragodwith200bedsandan ICU facilitywasoper-ationalised in fourdays. There is also a709-bedCOVID-19carecentre.ASHAsandhealthinspectors carriedouthouseholdsurveys.All primary and secondary contacts of

high-riskcases(thoseaged60orabove)werequarantinedinisolationcentres.Thiswasdoneasmanyhomesdidnothaveseparatetoilets.

Whataretheothersuccessfulmodelscontainment?Inarecentmeeting,theCentreaskeddis-

trictmagistrates to draw up separate crisisplansforCOVID-19management,andsharedseveralmodels.TheseincludeAgra,Bhilwara,Pathanamthittaetc.AGRAMODEL:Under the cluster con-

tainmentandoutbreakcontainmentplanin

Agra, the district administration identifiedepicentres,delineatedtheimpactofpositiveconfirmedcasesonthemap,anddeployedaspecial task force as per amicro planmadeby thedistrict administration. Thehotspotsweremanagedthroughanactivesurveyandcontainment plan. The “hotspot” areawasidentifiedwithin a radius of 3 km from theepicentre,whilea5kmbufferzonewasiden-tifiedas thecontainmentzone.BHILWARAMODEL:Thisentailedcom-

plete isolation of Bhilwara citywith Section144 CrPC being imposed. In the first phase,essential serviceswere allowed; in the sec-ondphase, theshutdownwas totalwith thecity and district borders sealed and check-posts at every entry and exit point. Trains,buses and cars were stopped. The districtmagistrates of neighbouring districts toowereaskedtosealtheirborders.ThemessagefromBhilwarawas“ruthlesscontainment”.PATHANAMTHITTAMODEL:Keralade-

ployed technology to a large extent in thePathanamthittamodeltoo.Everypersonwhohad entered thedistrictwas screened and adatabasecreatedsothattheycouldbereachedatshortnotice.Graphicswerecreatedshowingthetravelrouteof thepositivecasesandpub-licised.Thisledtoself-reporting.Aspeoplere-alisedfromtheroutemapsandthetraveltimesthat theyhadcomeincontactwithsomeonepositive forCOVID-19,manywalkeduptobescreenedortreated.

7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

UDITMISRA&NUSHAIBAIQBALNEWDELHI, APRIL20

THE ECONOMIC disruption due to thespread of the novel coronavirus disease(COVID-19) over the past fewmonths hasadversely affected various aspects of theIndianeconomy.But is the impactonIndiamorethantheimpactonothereconomies?Therearedifferentways toanswer this

question.Onecouldlookatthegrowthratesof gross domestic product and gross valueadded.Or, in theabsenceof suchdata, onecould treat other high-frequency data likesalesof automobilesetc. asaproxy.In this regard, the exchange rate of the

rupeecanalsobeanaptmarkeronthestateof the Indianeconomy’s competitiveness.

What iscurrencyexchangerate?Essentially, a currency’s exchange rate

vis-a-vis another currency reflects the rel-ativedemandamongtheholdersofthetwocurrencies. This demand, in turn, depends

on the relative demand for the goods andservicesof thetwocountries. If theUSdol-larisstrongerthantherupee,thenitshowsthatthedemandfordollars(bythosehold-ingrupee) ismorethanthedemandforru-pees (by thoseholdingdollars).Typically, stronger economies have

strongercurrencies.Forinstance,theUSecon-omyisrelativelystrongerthanIndia’sandthisis reflected in oneUSdollar being equal toaround76rupees.Therupeehasbeenlosingvalue(ordepreciatingorweakening)againstthedollaroverthepastfewmonths.ButtheUSisnottheonlyothercountry

intheworld; India tradeswithmanyothercountries. To have a better understandingof the Indian economy’s overall competi-tiveness,oneshould lookathowtherupeeisbehavingwith itsmajor tradepartners.

Whatmeasuresshouldwelookat?TheReserveBankof India tabulates the

rupee’s Nominal Effective Exchange Rate(NEER)inrelationtothecurrenciesof36trad-ingpartner countries. This is aweighted in-

dex— that is, countrieswithwhich Indiatradesmorearegivenagreaterweightintheindex. Adecrease in this indexdenotesde-preciation in rupee’s value; an increase re-flectsappreciation.Asthechartshows,inNEERterms,theru-

peehasdepreciated to its lowest level sinceNovember2018.Therupeehasbeensteadilylosingvalue—showingtheIndianeconomy’sreducingcompetitiveness—since July2019.ThedipinMarchwaslikelyinfluencedbythenetoutflowof foreignportfolio investmentsfromthe Indian equity anddebtmarkets—they stood at $15.92 billion in March asagainstnetinflowsof$1.27billioninFebruary.There is onemoremeasure that is even

betteratcapturingtheactualchange.This iscalledtheRealEffectiveExchangeRate(REER)and is essentially an improvementover theNEERbecause it also takes into account thedomesticinflationinthevariouseconomies.

Andhowdoes inflationaffectexchangerates?Manyfactorsaffecttheexchangeratebe-

tweenanytwocurrenciesrangingfromtheinterestratestopoliticalstability(lessofei-therresults inaweakercurrency). Inflationisoneof themost important factors.Here’s how. Imagine that the Re-$ ex-

change ratewas exactly 1 in the first year.This means that with Rs 100, one couldbuy something thatwaspriced at $100 intheUS.But suppose the Indian inflation is20% and the US inflation is zero. Then, inthe secondyear, an Indianwould needRs120 to buy the same item priced at $100,and the rupee’s exchange rate would de-preciate to 1.20.

WhatdoesREERshow?Even in REER terms, the rupee has de-

preciated inMarch and fallen to its lowestlevel since September 2019. As the graphshows, the difference between trends ofNEERandREERwasdue to India’s domes-ticretail inflationbeinglowerrelativetotheother 36 countries. As domestic inflationstartedrising, theREER, too,starteddepre-ciating like theNEER.

How Kasaragod has fought virusSIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

InKerala,whereCOVID-19growthhasbeenmuchflatter thanthenationalaverage,Kasaragodstandsoutwithaprogressivedecline inactivecases.What is theKasargodmodel,beingshowcasedbytheCentre?

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, APRIL20

INTHE immediate aftermathof thenation-wide lockdown being announced lastmonth, when countless migrant workersstartedwalking hundreds of kilometres inthehopeof reachingtheirvillagesor towns,visuals emerged from various parts of thecountry, includingBareillyinUP,ofmigrantsbeingsprayedwithdisinfectant solution.As the country prepares for some relax-

ationsandindustriesgetreadytostartfunc-tioningwithstrictconditionsincludinghous-ing labourers on the premises, the HealthMinistry has issued a detailed advisoryagainstsprayinghumanswithdisinfectants.

Whatdoestheordersay?The order datedApril 19 says, “Spraying

of individuals or groups is NOT recom-mendedunderanycircumstances.Sprayingan individual or groupwith chemical disin-fectants is physically and psychologicallyharmful. Even if a person is potentially ex-

posedwiththeCOVID-19virus,sprayingtheexternal part of the body does not kill thevirus thathasenteredyourbody.Also thereisnoscientificevidencetosuggest that theyare effective even in disinfecting the outerclothing/body inaneffectivemanner.”Theadvisoryhasbeenissued,officialssay,

to prevent a rerunwhen labourers start re-turning to industries that qualify for relax-ation. HomeMinistry guidelines requirethemtobehousedonthepremisesbut“dis-infection”atentry is avery realdanger.

Howis“disinfection”carriedout?Disinfection for the SARS-CoV2 virus is

usually done using a solution of sodiumhypochlorite, commonly known as bleach.It isaharshchemical. “It (disnfectant) refersto substances applied on inanimate objectsowing to their strong chemical properties.Chemical disinfectants are recommendedfor cleaning and disinfection only of fre-quentlytouchedareas/surfacesbythosewhoare suspected or confirmed tohaveCOVID-19,” theadvisory laysdown.

What is theproblemwithsprayingpeoplewiththissolution?It canbeharmful.Besides, theact itself is

pointless. This is because there is a specifictime that the disinfectant takes to act on anarea,andasperthedisinfectionprotocol,anyplacethathasbeendisinfectedhastobekept

shut overnight. “There are very clear normsforthis.Youdisinfectwithsodiumhypochlo-rite and then the place remains closedovernight.Ifduringthattimeanybodyenterstheplace, regardlessofwhether thatpersonis carrying the infection or not, the processhas to be repeated,” explained a senior offi-cialoftheNationalCentreforDiseaseControl.

Whatarethepossibleharmfuleffects?The solution of sodium hypochlorite is

unstableandquicklybreaksdowntoreleasechlorine. Chlorine canhave severalharmfuleffects, theHealthMinistry said.“Spraying of chlorine on individuals can

leadtoirritationofeyesandskinandpoten-tiallygastrointestinaleffects suchasnauseaand vomiting. Inhalation of sodiumhypochloritecanleadtoirritationofmucousmembranes to the nose, throat, respiratorytract and may also cause bronchospasm.Additionally use of suchmeasuresmay infact lead to a false sense of disinfection &safety and actually hamper public obser-vancetohandwashingandsocialdistancingmeasures,” says theadvisory.

Why disinfectant must not be sprayed on humans

@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould like explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINED TheOutbreak

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21,2020

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 17,656 (559 DEATHS)

4,203Maharashtra

1,477 Tamil Nadu

1,478 Rajasthan

873Telangana

1485MP

1176 UP

2,003 Delhi

1,851Gujarat

402 Kerala

Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak andwhat you should/should not do?

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

722 Andhra Pradesh

CORONAVIRUSOUTBREAKYOURQUESTIONSANSWEREDDAILY

83,505Iran

181,228Italy

146,200Germany

125,851United Kingdom

154,098France

200,210Spain

47,121Russia

761,991US

83,817China

86,306Turkey

TOTAL CONFIRMED:2,435,876 DEATHCOUNT: 167,369Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonApril20

MEHRGILL

THEVIRUSSARS-CoV2,whichcausesthe disease COVID-19, is called a“novelcoronavirus”becausethereareother coronaviruses that are not“novel”. A look at various coron-aviruses, how they infect, andwhattheadjective “novel”means:CORONAVIRUS:Acoronavirusis

a family of viruses, which are sur-roundedbyafattylayer,onthesurfaceofwhichisa“spike”proteinthatgivestheappearanceofacrownor“corona”.There are hundreds of coronavirusesthat infect animals, but only sevenkinds have been known to infect hu-mans. Coronaviruses are subdividedinto groups called alphacoronavirus,betacoronavirus, gammacoronavirusanddeltacoronoavirus,dependingontheirevolutionaryhistory.NOVELCORONAVIRUS:Acoro-

navirus is called “novel”when it is anew strain that was not previouslyknowntoinfecthumans.SARS-CoV2wasnamedonlythisyear,afterinfec-tionwith it started in late2019.ANIMALINFECTION:Inanimals,

coronavirusescancausediarrhoeaincowsandpigs,andupperrespiratorytract disease in chickens. The firstcoronaviruswas isolated in 1937; itwas the infectious bronchitis virus(IBV), which infected chickens. Cats

are vulnerable to feline coronavirusattacks.Batsareknowntobeinfectedbyavarietyofcoronavirusesandhaveoftenbeenthesourceoftransmissiontohumans,usuallyviaanintermedi-ate host.When a coronavirus infec-tion is transmitted from human tohuman, it is after undergoing amu-tation thatenables this.HUMAN CORONAVIRUSES:

BeforeSARS-CoV2struck, thereweresix known human coronaviruses —229E,NL63(bothofwhicharealpha-coronaviruses), OC43, HKU1,MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV (all fourbetacoroaviruses).Thecoronaviruses229E and NL63 cause the commoncold;NL63causesmoresevereupperrespiratory tract infection; HKU1 in-fectsboththeupperandlowerrespi-ratory tracts. MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, which caused the MERS andSARSoutbreaksrespectively,andnowSARS-CoV2have emerged in the lasttwodecades.Thesehavebeenseentobemuchmore aggressive than thefourcoronavirusespreviouslyknown.ROOTSOFTHENAME: In 1965,

scientists D J Tyrrell andM L Bynoewere the first ones to identify a hu-mancoronavirus,whichtheyisolatedfrom the nasal washing of a malechildwhohadsymptomsofcommoncold.Thestrain,B814,wasofthecoro-navirus OC43. In 1968, the term“coronavirus”wasaccepted.

What are the coronavirusesthat can infect humans?

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 15ArunachalPradesh 1Assam 35Bihar 96Chandigarh 26Chhattisgarh 36Goa 7Haryana 233HimachalPradesh 39JammuandKashmir 350Jharkhand 42Karnataka 395Ladakh 18Manipur 2Meghalaya 11Mizoram 1Nagaland 0Odisha 68Puducherry 7Punjab 219Tripura 2Uttarakhand 44WestBengal 339

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,April20.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystateswiththemostcasesarelistedabove.2,842PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN28STATESACROSSTHECOUNTRY

200

150

100

50

0

19Mar

20Mar

21Mar

22Mar

23Mar

24Mar

26Mar

27Mar

28Mar

29Mar

30Mar

31Mar

1Apr

2Apr

3Apr

4Apr

5Apr

6Apr

7Apr

8Apr

9Apr

10Apr

11Apr

12Apr

13Apr

14Apr

15Apr

16Apr

17Apr

18Apr

19Apr

169Confirmed

123Recovered

Activecases

45

6

136

161

FEWER&FEWERACTIVE CASES

Kasargod’s firstcase, reportedonFeb3,hadrecoveredbythetimethesecondcasewasreportedonMarch16;thegraphplotstrendsfromMarch19.Thegapbetweenthetwolines(shaded)representsactivecases.Datasource:GovernmentofKerala

HowCOVID-19 is hurting the rupee’s exchange ratewithother currenciesNOMINAL&REAL EFFECTIVE EXCHANGERATES120

110

100

90

80

70

60

Apr-18

May-18

Jun-18

Jul-18

Aug-18

Sep-18

Oct-18

Nov-18

Dec-18

Jan-19

Feb-19

Mar-19

Apr-19

May-19

Jun-19

Jul-19

Aug-19

Sep-19

Oct-19

Nov-19

Dec-19

Jan-20

Feb-20

Mar-20

116.51REER

71.22NEER

74.44

116.26

109.78

69.8771.64

74.87

112.07

117.72

Thiruvananthapuram

KasaragodKERALA

Screengrabof asolutionbeingsprayedonmigrants inBareillyonMarch30.PTI

155

46

131

44

Source:RBI

8WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

FIGHTING TOGETHERCentreandstatesmustsidestepconflict incrisis, agreeonacommonminimumprogrammeoncontainmentstrategies

INTHEBATTLEagainstCOVID-19, inwhichsurvivaldependsonaunityofpurpose,governmentscan ill afford toplayupdifferencesanddivisionsonthesmallerde-tails, or allowthemto takecentrestage.Among thepointsof difference, andcon-tention,betweenNewDelhiandThiruvananthapuramovertherelaxationofcon-

trols in the second phase of the lockdown, is thewisdom of opening up barbershops,restaurants,bookstores.TheMinistryofHomeAffairshadwrittento thegovernmentofKerala onApril 19, protesting that thepermissions announcedby it forApril 20were atvariancewiththecentralorder, issuedundertheDisasterManagementAct.StateTourismMinister Kadakampally Surendran,who looks after the interests of the sector hitworstby the novel coronavirus, admitted that unlockingwas a novel exercise and attributedthe incident toa “misunderstanding”. So far, sogood.The first difference of opinion between the Centre and the states on containment

strategydoesnotnecessarily representconflict. It is a learningprocess, andanopportu-nitytoreaffirmthefederalspirit.Butwhatisgleanedsubsequentlydependsontheman-nerinwhichtheproblemisaddressed.Whiletheprimeministermadeavisibleefforttomarshal the states against the coronavirus — holding extensive consultationswith allchief ministers ahead of the extension of the nation-wide lockdown— the Centre hasconstituted six inter-ministerial teamswhichwill assess the situationon theground inWestBengal,Maharashtra, RajasthanandMadhyaPradesh. This canbe readasa lackoffaithinthestateadministrations.BoththeCentreandthestatesneedtoappreciatewhatisatstake,andtounderstandthatanypointsscoredoff eachothermaycometonothing—thefinalpoliticalreckoningwillonlycountthelivesandlivelihoodslost. Inabattlethatisbeingwagedonmultiplefronts,byvariousstrategies, thequestionof legal jurisdictionmustnotbeoveremphasisedorallowedtocome in theway.COVID-19presentsdifferentrealitiesaccordingtogeography.WhatisgoodforKerala

is not necessarily good forMaharashtra, and vice versa. Each state has its own diseasemapanditsownscatterplotof theresources thatcanbemobilisedagainst it,whether itis respirators or self-help groups, and the value of local knowledge cannot be stressedenough.Theprimeministerhadhimselfacknowledgedthatstatesshouldhavetheelbowroom to craft their own exit strategies, but, at the same time, it is also clear that stake-holdersmustagreeonacommonminimumprogramme.Letitconsistofgoalsandbroadguidelines. Thedetailsmaybe left to thestates.

LAWLESS IN PALGHARLynchingof threemeninMaharashtrapoints toshockingpolice failure.Culpritsmustbeurgentlybrought to justice

THELYNCHINGOFthreemen inPalghardistrict,Maharashtra, in themidstofthe coronavirus crisis is a shocking case of police failure. More than a hun-dredpeoplesuspectedtobe involved inthe incidenthavebeenarrestedandthe police personnel who evidently failed to prevent the crime frombeing

committedhavebeensuspended.ChiefMinisterUddhavThackerayhasorderedahigh-levelprobeandassuredthat theculpritswill bebrought to justice.Heneeds tourgentlydeliveronhispromise.The incident that tookplace last Thursday night, a video ofwhichwent viral subse-

quently, was allegedly triggered by suspicion that themen, including two sadhus andthedriver of the car inwhich theywere travelling fromMumbai to Surat to attenda fu-neral,werethieves.Thevillagers,belongingtoatribalcommunity,hadformedvigilantegroups, apparently following rumours that organ-harvesting gangs, child-lifters andthieveswereroaming in thearea.Byall accounts, the forestguards,who initiallyappre-hendedthetravellers, andthesmallpolice teamthat laterarrived inthevillage, failedtointerveneorprevent themob fromtaking the law into its ownhands. The incident rep-resentsa terrible failureof the lawandordermachinery.Thegovernmentmust takeex-emplaryactionagainstthepolicebrassresponsibleforthisshamefulabdicationandsur-render tomob justice.Especiallyintimesofheightenedfearandanxietysuchasthese,amidalockdownne-

cessitatedbythefightagainst thecoronavirus, it is incumbentonthe lawandorderma-chinerytobealertandvigilantandtocounterrumourandpreventsuspicionfromgain-ing ground through sustained outreach to the people. In times such as these, theadministrationneedstovisiblyandfirmlysendoutthemessagethat theruleof lawwillprevail—notthemob.Anyfailuretodosocanprovetobecostly—ashasbeenseenear-lier, inothercontextsandsettings, in the lynchings inUP, JharkhandorRajasthan, for in-stance,oversuspectedillegalcattletrade.Actionmustbetakenquicklyandfirmlyagainstthose in thepolice forcewho failed to takeactionagainst theculprits, orwerecomplicitin thecrimecommittedatPalghar, lest thepeople’s trust in, andrespect for, theauthor-ityof thestate iseroded.Theremustbenodelay,much isat stake.

CIVILISATION, DREDGED UPShipwrecksdiscovered inLevantBasinmaybechangingthe ideaof ‘westerncivilisation’

BEYONDBORDERSANDunderthesea,aBritish-ledteamof scientistsandar-chaeologists discovered 12 shipwrecks in the Levant Basin in theMediterraneanSea in2015.Now, amidst a halt on themovement of peopleand goods forced on the world by the coronavirus, the first findings from

whatpromisestobeoneof themostrewardingarchaeologicalsitesarebeingpublished.AndtheEnigmaShipwrecksProject(ESP) isalreadychangingideasof “civilisation”and“sophistication”.Thedozenships spana largeswatheof history—spanningHellenistic, Roman,early

Islamic andOttomanvessels. The largest among these is a 17th-centuryOttomanmer-chant ship, “an absolute colossus”, at least twice the size of the other vessels. Its cargofrom14civilisationsrangesfromancientChineseartefactsandincludescupsrepurposedfordrinking coffeeandspices fromIndia.According to theESP, this ship reveals aprevi-ously unknown “silk route” and also goes someway in establishing the degree of cos-mopolitanisminIslamicsocietiesatthetime,andhowmuchofwhattheWestvaluesasits civilisationalheritage isowedtoAsiaandAfrica.“Europemaythinkitinventednotionsofcivility,butthewreckedcoffeecupsandpots

provethe‘barbarianOrient’wasatrailblazerratherthanabackwater,”accordingtoSeanKingsley,director,ESP.Thefactthatmuchofwhatisseenas“westerncivilisation”isare-sultofcontactwiththeIslamic,AsianandAfricanworldsisnotapartofpublicknowledge,evenover70years afterdecolonisation. In fact,muchof the contemporary criticismsofglobalisationandopennesstotradestemfromafearof thatculturalandeconomicasym-metry.On thecultural front at least, boats from2,000metresunder the seacanaddressthese insecurities. It turnsout, opennessand internationalismcreateandnurturecivili-sations—theydonot threaten them.

Spotlight on the states

Sanjaya Baru

ChakshuRoy

Managementof lockdown,itsaftermath,willshapebalanceofpowerbetweenCentreandstates

MOVING HOUSE ONLINEHowcrucial legislativeworkcouldcontinue incrisis

THE TELUGU DESAM supremo, N T RamaRao,oncefamouslydeclared,“theCentreisaconceptual myth.” If Prime MinisterNarendraModi had notmade his repeatedpost-lockdown appearances on television,most citizens dealing with the threat ofCOVID-19andthechallengeofthelockdownmaywell have felt the sameway. From en-suring supply ofwater, food, electricity andhealthcaretolawandorder,thegovernmentthat a citizendealswith is the state govern-ment.Only inDelhi thepoliceareunder theCentre’s charge. Themanagement of a sub-continental lockdown has brought into fo-cus the role of state governments, their un-evencapacitiesandcapabilitiesandvaryingquality of provincial leadership— both po-litical andbureaucratic.There is a growing body of opinion that

inthepost-COVIDworldmostcountrieswillsee governments playing a larger role inshapingpeople’slivesanddeterminingtheirlivelihoods. The return of big governmentand the prospect of a potentially larger roleforthestateintheeconomyraisestheques-tion,certainlyinIndia,ofwhatitwouldmeanfor Centre-state relations, and for nationaland provincial politics. The central govern-ment’srolewillnodoubtbeimportantinthehandling of the economic and financial af-termath, in reviving inter-statemovementofpeopleandgoods, inre-negotiatinginter-nationaleconomictreatiestomakethemrel-evant to the new situation and so on.However, the immediate challenge of pub-lic health andmedical care, as well as thecontinuedsupplyofnecessities,willremaintheresponsibilityof stategovernments.The manner in which the central and

stategovernmentsresolvetheproblemofin-adequate fiscal resources, given falling rev-enuesduetotheslowdownandrisingclaimsonthepublicexchequer,willbeakeyissueinCentre-state relations. Several chief minis-ters have been complaining about theCentre’s lack of fiscal nerve, resolve andimaginationinhelpingstates.KeralaFinanceMinisterThomas Isaachasdubbed it “crazymacroeconomics” (‘Ahead of the Covidcurve’, IE, April 17). The Fifteenth FinanceCommission,alreadygivenanextensionandsaddledwith additional termsof reference,may have to look de novo atmany new is-suesinfederalfinancegiventhefiscalimper-ativesof apost-COVIDeconomy.

Given the constitutional division of re-sponsibilitiesbetweentheCentreandstates,oneissuethathasfallenbetweentwostoolsis the entire question of internalmigrationandtheeconomicandsocial interestsofdo-mestic migrant labour. Historically, bothhomeandhoststateshavenotactedrespon-sibly in dealingwith thewelfare ofmigrantlabour. Many states have, in fact, discrimi-nated against migrant labour. The COVIDlockdown has brought their welfare to thefore. PrimeMinister NarendraModi has ill-advisedly dissolved the NationalDevelopment Council, but the problem ofmigration andmigrant labour, especially inthe current context, is a fit subject for a fed-eral forumlike theNDCtodiscuss.Indian politics today presents a balance

betweenthecentripetalpulloftheBJP’sHindunationalismandthecentrifugalpullofregion-alism.Themanagementofthelockdownandits aftermathwill determine the balance ofpowernotjustbetweenCentreandthestates,butbetweenalternativepoliticalplatforms.Ifchiefministerssucceedindemonstratingtheircompetence and compassion to their con-stituents, theycanweakenthenationalbaseofapopulistPM.Modiwouldsurelybeawareof this. In part, hismedia outreachmaywellbedefinedbyhisneedtooccupypublicmindspaceatatimewhenmostcitizensare,infact,turningtolocalpoliticalleadershipforlibera-tionfromthelockdown.Inhisfirstterm,PrimeMinisterModiwas

able to keep national attention focused onhis foreign and economic policy initiativesaswellasonnationalsecurityanddefence-all areas within the purview of the Centreandoffering thePMthespace toact.Modi’ssecond term got off to a wrong start withpublic attention focused on law and order,questionsofcitizenshipandpersonalhealth.These issueshaveopeneduppolitical spacefor provincial leadership. Not only has theprofile of non-BJP chief ministers like KChandrashekar Rao and Pinarayi Vijayangoneup,butevenBJPchiefministerslikeYogiAdityanathseemtohaveacquiredapoliticalpersonality of their own. At the same time,the unsure start of PMModi’s second term,damagedbyavarietyof factors, hasmadeaPMwithmorenumberslesssureofhimself,mimicking the experience of the secondManmohanSinghgovernment.Ideally, at a time like this, anyPMwould

wanttoshiftpublicattentionbacktoforeignaffairs and national security to burnish hisnational image. However, the current eco-nomicandfiscalsituationathomeandglob-ally offers little space for significant diplo-matic initiatives. Most governments willremainfocusedondomesticaffairsandpoli-cies. This policy context opensup the spaceforprovincial leaders.During the “era of coalitions” — from

1989 to 2014—Centre-state relationswereshaped by the decentralised politics of thatperiod inwhich primeministers were de-pendentonchiefministersbothfortheirsur-vival inofficeandtoensuredeliveryofpub-lic services and national initiatives. Thearrivalinofficeofasinglepartygovernment,that too one headed by a domineering per-sonality who has centralised governancewhile advocating “cooperative federalism”,suggestedforawhilethatIndianpoliticswasmoving in the direction of greater centrali-sationof policy initiative.Ironically,however,theabilityofregional

partiestoretaintheirbaseandtheresurgenceof theCongressparty in somestates, thanksto provincial leaders rather than the party’sFirst Family, has createdadualpower struc-turewherein chief ministers have becomepowerfulfunctionariesonceagain. Itusedtobelikethis intheearly1950sandlater intheearly 1970s when, first under JawaharlalNehru and then under Indira Gandhi, thecountry saw a powerful PMworkingwithpowerfulCMs.Since the1990s, a successionofrelativelyweakPMshavehadtoworkwithrelatively powerful CMs. PrimeMinisterManmohan Singhhandled this situation byfrequently interactingwith CMs and regu-larlyconveningCMs’conferences. Itwas theCOVID crisis that finally forcedModi to en-gagetheCMsinanorganisedmanner.In thecomingmonths, the focusof pub-

lic policywill perforce shift to areaswherestate governments and provincial leaderswillhavetoplayalargerrole.Theonlywayinwhichthecentralgovernmentcanre-assertits developmental role would be throughmassive public spending and investment.How competently that is donewill have itsownconsequencesforeconomicgrowth,po-litical stabilityandCentre-state relations.

Thewriter isapolicyanalystand formermediaadvisor toprimeministerof India

EARLIER THISMONTH, 12MPs created his-torywhen theymet virtually in their officialcapacities.TheseMPsaremembersofthejointcommittee on salary and allowances. LokSabhaMPRitaBahugunaJoshiheadsthecom-mittee,whichhasnineother LokSabhaMPsand five Rajya SabhaMPs. OnApril 6, an on-linemeeting of the committee took place.Therewere two sittings of 15minutes each,bytheendofwhich,theyrecommendeda30percentreductionintheconstituencyandof-fice allowancesofMPs.Despite itsmember-shipbeingmadeexclusivelyofMPs,thejointcommittee is not like other parliamentarycommittees. Itwas set up in 1954under theSalary,AllowancesandPensionofMembersofParliamentAct.ButifMPscanmeetonlinetodiscussissuesunderaparticularlaw,cantheyalsoassembleonlinetodolegislativework?OurparliamentaryrulesdonotrequireMPs

tomeet physically at the ParliamentHouse.Discussionshave takenplaceonmultipleoc-casions for holding its sessionoutsideDelhi.The only requirement for a duly constitutedsittingofahouseisthatitbepresidedoverbythe chairman/speaker or anyauthorisedMP.The rules alsogive full discretion to theRajyaSabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu and LokSabhaSpeakerOmBirlawhenitcomestorun-ningthehouses.Onmatterswhicharenotap-

parentintherules,bothofthemhavetheresid-uary power to decide on them. The Speakeralsohasthediscretiontoallowtheparliamen-tary committees tomeet outside theHouse,whichhehasallowedonmultipleoccasions.As the next session of Parliament is a fewmonthsaway,itgivestheparliamentarysecre-tariattimetodrawupplansforholdinganon-linesessionshouldtheneedsoarise.Itisthestoppageintheworkofparliamen-

tarycommitteeswhichneedsimmediateat-tention. Two committees are scrutinisingpendingbills on issues related to labour andregulationofpersonaldata.Boththeseissuesare important andhave gainedprominenceduring the ongoing pandemic. Committeesinvitestakeholderstoappearbeforethemandsharetheirviewpointsonthebills.Perhapsaninitialsteptowardsresumingtheworkofpar-liamentary committees could be tohear thetestimony of stakeholders through a videoconference. Since there are only 30MPs ineachcommittee,itmightbeeasiertoconducta pilotmeeting for these committees. Theaddedadvantagecouldbethatthecommitteecould get to hear awide range of stakehold-erswhomightotherwisefinditdifficulttoap-pear in-person before the committees.SpeakerOmBirlaisconsideringsuchamove.Across theworld, legislatures areusing a

combinationof technology, physical separa-tionandreducedphysicalpresencetocontinuetheirwork.TheBrazilianparliamentpassedaresolutiontoworkremotelyduringthepublichealth emergency. The Chilean Senate haspassedalawtoallowittomeetremotelyusingappropriatevideoconferencingtechnology.InIndonesiaandMaldives,asittingoftheparlia-menthashappened remotely. In theUK, theHouse of Commons Commission has sug-gestedahybridmodelof virtualandphysicalpresence. It has recommended that 120MPscanparticipate in certainhouseproceedingsviavideoconferencingand50of themcanbein thehousephysically under social distanc-ingguidelines.Thecommitteesofparliamentsofmorethan15countriesareworkingonline.Many of ourMPs are already interacting

with their constituents andparty colleaguesviavideoconferencing.Therefore,theswitchtoavirtualmeeting for their legislativeworkmightbeeasy.Whatwill requirework is thesettingupofprotocolsforensuringparticipa-tion,securityandrobusttechnology.ItistimethatourParliament leverages its technologi-cal ability and steps up to fulfil its constitu-tionalduty.

Thewriter isheadof legislativeandcivicengagementatPRSLegislativeResearch

In his first term, PrimeMinister Modi was able tokeep national attentionfocused on his foreign andeconomic policy initiativesas well as on nationalsecurity and defence - allareas within the purview ofthe Centre and offering thePM the space to act. Modi’ssecond term got off to awrong start with publicattention focused on law andorder, questions ofcitizenship and personalhealth. These issues haveopened up political space forprovincial leadership. Notonly has the profile of non-BJP chief ministers like KChandrashekar Rao andPinarayi Vijayan gone up,but even BJP chief ministerslike Yogi Adityanath seem tohave acquired a politicalpersonality of their own.

Our parliamentary rules donot require MPs to meetphysically at the ParliamentHouse. Discussions havetaken place on multipleoccasions for holding itssession outside Delhi. Theonly requirement for a dulyconstituted sitting of a houseis that it be presided over bythe chairman/speaker or anyauthorised MP.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

B E C A U S E T H E T R U T H I N V O L V E S U S A L L

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21,2020WORDLYWISE

Theymake glorious shipwreckwho are lost in seekingworlds.

— GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM LESSINGTHEEDITORIALPAGE

GANGA WATER TALKSINDIA ANDBANGLADESH are tomake yetanother attempt to resolve the deadlockover theirdiscussionsonthesharingof theGangawaters.The JointRiversCommissionof thetwocountrieshasmet18timeswith-out throwing up an agreement. Given thevastlydivergentpositionsof the twocoun-tries, the fate of the JRCmeeting, slated totake place on Saturday inDelhi, is likely tobe no different. This week’s JRC meetingwill, however, be crucial as another failureto reach an agreement can even put theIndo-BangladeshRiverWatersAgreementthe twocountries signedthreeyearsago injeopardy.

JANATA CONVENTIONTHENATIONAL CONVENTION of the JanataPartyconcludedinBombaywithadetermi-nation to effectively meet the challengeposedbyauthoritarianforces.Inhisconclud-ing remarks, party president ChandraShekhar expressed the hope that with theconfidenceof theyouthandtheguidanceofthe veterans, the partywouldmarch aheadtowards its goal of rebuilding India as con-ceived byMahatmaGandhi and LokNayakJayaPrakashNarayan.

ASSAM AGITATIONTHOUSANDSOF PEOPLEmarched towardsthe Narengi oil installation, 15 kilometres

awayfromGuwahati,whichwasbarricadedby the Army and the CRPF after arrestingsome 8,000 picketers who had stayedovernight, after an abortive attempt to sealtheroutes.TheNarengiareahasbeenputun-der curfew.ArmedCRPFmenprotected thebarricades.

US PLANNED IRAN COUPTHENEWYORKTIMESquotedseniorCarteradministrationofficialsasdisclosingthattheadministrationattemptedtolaytheground-work for a military coup in Iran againstAyatollah Khomeini, but the rapid disinte-gration of Iran’s military forces made theplansunworkable.

APRIL 21, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“If the United States gets it right, coronavirus testing will eventually becomeavailable in community centers and parks, at mobile clinics and sports arenas..”

— THENEWYORKTIMESTHE IDEASPAGEWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THECURRENTFOCUSinthefightagainsttheCOVID-19 pandemic rightly remains on themedicalmanagement,economicfalloutandimpact on social harmony due to themassdisplacementofmigrantlabour—allaspectsofhumansecurity.Iwouldnothazardaguessat the final comprehensive impact of thecoronavirus on India or theworld. Humanimagination is finding it difficult to fathomhowthiswillpanout.It’sthepost-pandemicstrategicenviron-

ment that will dictate how soon theworldrecoversfromthisunexpectedshock.Itmuststartwith the international geopolitical an-gle,withmanyassumptions.Withsomeclar-ity inthisdomain,wecanprepareourselvesbetter for the recoveryphaseof anearpost-war situation. Inhis essay titled “TheWorldafterCoronavirus”, Israelihistorianandcele-bratedauthorYuvalNoahHarariwrites:“Thedecisions people and governments take inthenext fewweekswill probably shape theworldforyearstocome.Theywill shapenotjust our healthcare systems but also oureconomy,politicsandculture.Yes,thestormwillpass,humankindwillsurvive,mostofuswill still be alive—butwewill inhabit a dif-ferentworld.”Shortly,evenastheworldcon-tinues to reel under the pandemic threat,therewill bemore endeavours on enhanc-inghumansecurity throughbetter strategicmanagement of theworld. So, whatwill allthatbeabout?In 1921-22, the great powers came to-

getherfortheWashingtonNavalConference.Itwasatimewhentheworldwasalsotryingtodealwiththeglobaleffectsof apandemicandanageof greatpowercompetitionaftertheGreatWar.Amoratoriumonaspectssuchas enhanced naval deployment and restric-tionson the sizeof battleships followedbutnothingmore. The strategic effects of theTreatyofVersaillesescapedattention.Acen-tury later, the level of trust between greatpowers is even less. Individual nations orblocsofnationsareboundtoseeopportuni-tiesforstrategicgain.Thesituationissimilarto theelusiveefforts towards thecreationofa newworld order after the end of the ColdWarin1989.Willtheworldconsideramajorconferencewith the agenda being a revivalafterthecoronavirus?The2015ParisSummitof theUnitedNations,whichwas convenedto save theworld from the rapid impact ofclimate change, couldnotmuster a consen-sus.Willapotential2020“pandemicconfer-ence” succeed ingettingbigpowers to jetti-son theirgeopolitical ambitions?TheUS-Chinarivalrywillremainthecore

issue,withseveralotherregionsandnationsjostling to clamber on to the onewho canbring them short tomedium-term advan-tages. Contingent uponhowbadly theUS isfinally affected, its current confused leader-shipisunlikelytoinspireanditseffortsatin-ternal stabilisation may compromise USpower. Iseeamajorturninpoliticalfortunesin the US and its bumbling on pandemicmanagement could throwopenopportuni-

tiesforotherstoexploit.TheUSwillperceiveitself as farmore insecure than it was evenafter9/11.There is likely tobeahugeeffort to slan-

derChina—accusing itof beingtheorigina-tor of the scourge—and isolate it economi-cally and politically. The allegations on theuseof biologicalwarfareare theoneswhichwill cause turbulence in relationships.Ironically, China is also in a unique positionto help theworld bounce back. Against thebackdropoftheseaccusationsregardingcul-pability,we need to be ready for changes inthenormsof international cooperation andbehaviour.A coldwar of sorts couldwell be on the

cardsforsometime,hamperingafull recov-ery. It will be brutal in the cyber world —fake news on social mediawill prevent in-ternational cooperation in crucial fieldssuchasscientific research,patentsandper-hapsevenslowdowntheability topreventthe next pandemic. China is reported to behaving leadership issues, but a steadfast-ness of purpose has always been China’sstrength. Its ambitions for 2035 and 2050,so succinctly expressed by the 19thCongress of the Chinese Communist Party,couldwell be advanced sensing amomentof opportunity.Subject to the US’s economic capability

after thepandemic, theability to findacon-sensus to put on hold defence spending forthe sake of human securitywill be the key.But the trust deficit between nations willprobably hamper this to a great extent. Thekey anchor of globalisation— theUS-Chinatraderelationship—will changeevenmore.ChinacannotbereplacedbytheUSasama-jorindustrialproducer(evenfortheUSmar-ket). Other countries or blocs — ASEAN,Bangladesh and India —will all chip in butthat will still not be enough. Nor can anycountry buy asmuch grain from the US asChinadoes.So,aneconomicrelationshipwillcontinue butwill be politically fractured asboth parties search for alternatives, whichdon’texistonascalethatbothof themneed.China’srecoveryislikelytobethefastest.

Its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)may now go uncontested by the US-led ef-fortstocreatealternatives.TheChineseabil-

ity to influence politics among smaller na-tions inAsiaandAfricacouldbring it strate-gicadvantages,butitisunlikelytobeenoughto replaceAmerica unless the recession-hitUS remains defensively oriented. Knowingthe US propensity to bounce back, China’seffortswillhavetoremainenergeticandthatiswhere thepotential forconflict is likely torise. Of course, it is not as if the USwouldabandon its interests for an era of only-in-wardeconomichealing.Itseyeonthefuturewill remain firmly inplace.The UN has lost credibility with the

WorldHealthOrganisationtakingtheworsthit any UN agency has suffered in years.However, its future is contingentuponhowitmanagesthegeopoliticalfalloutofthepan-demic.Thesooner itcanget theworld lead-ersonboard, thebetter.Some traditional hot spots could yield

temporaryspace.Iranhasbeenhitbadlyandwith the US unrelenting on sanctions, itseconomycouldcollapsewithfrighteningre-sults as far theMiddle East is concerned. Abignation in instabilitymodewith internalturbulenceandleadershipchallengescouldspreadgreaterthreatsofanundefinedkind.TheUSmayabandonAfghanistanwith lesscommitment towardskeeping itseconomysustainable — a sure recipe for internal in-stability, which could see the Islamic Stateemerge a major player. Everything in theMiddle East points towards Russian advan-tageanddomination.Is this an opportunity for India?

Economicallyhitbutprobablyoneofthefewnationswithout a recession, India’s strongcentral leadershipcouldbeabigadvantage.PrimeMinisterNarendraModiwouldneedtouseallhisinfluencetocobbletogetherin-ternational cooperation to pull the worldfrom the abyss it could sink into. His credi-bility is already higher thanmost interna-tional leaders and could spell a leadershiprole for India not in conflict with China butincooperationwithit. ItisIndia’sestablishedmultilateralforeignpolicythatcouldeventu-ally cometo theassistanceof theworld.

Thewriter, a formercorpscommanderof theSrinagar-based15Corps, is chancellor,

CentralUniversityofKashmir

THEREISaChinesejokefromthemid-1990saboutUSPresidentBillClinton,BritishPrimeMinister Tony Blair, Russian leader BorisYeltsin and the General Secretary of theChineseCommunistParty,JiangZemindriv-ing downa road to arrive at a fork. Clintonturnedrightwithoutsignalling.Blairtaggedalong.Yeltsin,whowasblindlyfollowingtheAnglos,was not looking for choices. A ten-tative Jiang lookedbacktoaskhis lonepas-senger,“whichway?”DengXiaoping,inthebackseat,said:“Signal leftandturnright.”The imagined story tells us a lot about

global transformation in the last fourdecades. It was about historic politicalchangeswithinmajor economies and be-tween them. Chinawas an integral part ofthisstory.Denggaveahugeboostershot toglobal capitalismwhile helping China rap-idlyelevateits internationalstanding.This extraordinary transformationwas

running out of steam in the last fewyearsand the corona crisis threatens towrite itsobituary.Thereversalofthegreatright-warddriftsincethe1980shasbegun.But first to the fourmenon the road. In

theUS,ClintonmovedtheDemocraticPartyaway fromitsworking-class rootsandem-braced the Reagan revolution—domesticderegulationand free trade. Inpushing thepartytotheright,Clintonendedthepoliticalwildernessof theDemocrats inAmerica. InBritain,Blairdidmuchthesamebyrebrand-ing a working-class party as the “NewLabour” to endnearly twodecades of Toryrule underMargaret Thatcher and JohnMajor. The socialists in France and Europedemurred at the “Anglo-Saxon” capitalistexcessesbuthadnochoicetoadapt.As Yeltsin buried the Soviet Union and

turnedtotheWesternmodel,thenewly-lib-eratedmembers of theWarsawPact em-braced economic openness and joined thepoliticalprojectonEuropeanintegration. Itwas Deng, however, who provided the“piecede resistance” of the era byopeningupChinatoWesterncapital.After the Tiananmen Square events in

1989,therewasabriefmomentwhenChinaflirtedwithclosingitseconomy.Inhisfamous“southerntour”inearly1992,Dengorderedrenewed economic reform that propelledChinapoliticalfortunes.Dengwasconvincedthat “leftism” was a bigger danger than“rightism”. But the right turn had to bemaskedwith a left signal in a country thatwasavowedlycommunist.SotheCCPmain-tained a relentless emphasis on socialism,evenif itwaswith“Chinesecharacteristics”.Cynics have named it “red capitalism” or“capitalismwithChinesecharacteristics”. ItdidnotmatterwhattheCCPcalledit,buttheglobalconsequenceswereprofound.ThenewWashingtonconsensus led to

boominginternationaltrade,super-profitsforWestern capital, prosperity for China,andbenefittedmanypartsof thedevelop-ingworld, includingIndia.Theemergenceof the internet economy reinforced the

proposition that aworldwithout borderswasjustaroundthecorner.Butthe“losers”fromglobalisation, especially in theWest,showedupto ruin theparty.InBritain,theBrexiteerssuccessfullymo-

bilisedagainst the integrationwithEuropein the 2016 referendum. In theUS, Trumpwhipped up passions on trade to squeakthrough toWhiteHouse in the 2016 elec-tions.Trumparguedthatglobalistshadout-sourcedAmericanjobstoChinaandvowedto bring themback. Trump’s success hasturnedtherichmen’sRepublicanPartyintoachampionof theworkingpeople fightingagainsttheinequitiesperpetratedbyaglob-alistelite. Inpolitics, surprisesnevercease.Boris Johnsonwon amassivemandate

in2019byreachingouttotheworkingclassandbreachingtheLabour’s“redwall”inthenorth.BothJohnsonandTrumparenowac-tivelyundoingtheThatcher-Reaganconsen-sus on neoliberal economics. Some of thecoreelementsof thatera—freetrade, fiscalprudence,downsizingthestate,marginali-sationof theworkingclassandpartnershipwithChina—areallunravellingtoday.Theuncriticalsupportforfreetradeisbe-

ingreplacedbyargumentsabout“fairtrade”.LondonandWashingtonaredolingoutlargesums for protecting the paychecks of theworkingpeopleastheeconomyundergoesamassivecontraction.TheRepublicanswhohadvotedagainstbailingoutWallStreetdur-ingthe2008financialcrisisarenowlettingtrillionsofdollars flowoutof theCongress.Meanwhile, the presumptive nominee

of theDemocraticParty, JoeBiden, ispivot-ing to the left oneconomic issues, partly inresponse to the pressure from BernieSanders,whohassuspendedhiscampaignbutwants a big say in the party’s platformforelectionsthisyear.Wedonot know if Biden ismerely sig-

nalling left for electoral purposes or gen-uinelyreclaimingtheoldworking-classbaseoftheDemocraticParty.Democratsarealsounder pressure to respond to Trump’scharges that the party andBiden are com-plicitinlettingChinagaintheeconomicup-perhandovertheUSthroughfreetradeandrefusing to see theemergingpolitical chal-lengefromBeijing.As Trump ties China, globalism, and

Beijing’s responsibility for the pandemicwith Biden and the Democrats, there aregrowing prospects for the decoupling of“Chimerica” that emerged in the 1990s.Democrats can attack Trumpas fiercely astheywantto,buttheycan’taffordtobeseenasweakonChina.TheWesternimperativetoseparatefrom

China has been reinforced by Xi Jinping’sabandonment of theDeng line onkeepingan open economy and a low internationalprofile. The perception that China, thebiggest beneficiary of globalisation, hastakenadvantageof theWesthasbeenrein-forcedbythecoronacrisis. If the rightwardshift had transformed the global politicaleconomyandinternationalaffairsinthelastfourdecades,thedrifttotheleft—de-glob-alisation, big government, the focus on re-dressinginequalityandnewpoliticalweightoftheworkingclass—islikelytohaveapow-erful and lasting impact on national eco-nomicstrategieseverywhereandthepoliticsamongnations.

Thewriter isdirector, InstituteofSouthAsianStudies,NationalUniversityofSingaporeandcontributingeditoroninternational

affairs forTheIndianExpress

Subject to the US’s economiccapability after thepandemic, the ability to finda consensus to put on holddefence spending for the sakeof human security will be thekey. But the trust deficitbetween nations willprobably hamper this to agreat extent. The key anchorof globalisation — the US-China trade relationship —will change even more. Chinacannot be replaced by the USas a major industrialproducer (even for the USmarket). Other countries orblocs — ASEAN,Bangladesh and India — willall chip in but that will stillnot be enough. Nor can anycountry buy as much grainfrom the US as China does.So, an economic relationshipwill continue but will bepolitically fractured.

The drift to the leftThecoronacrisisthreatenstowritetheobituaryofglobalcapitalism.Itwillhavealastingimpactonnationaleconomicstrategiesandpolitics

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

TRUTH AND FREEDOMTHISREFERSTOTHEarticle, ‘Virusandthe one-party State’ (IE, April 20). Thenotionthatthehigh-handednessofau-thoritarianism trumps the soft de-meanour of democracy is false. Onecannotvouchfortheveracityofthedataof an authoritarian state, democracy,howsoever dysfunctional, allows free-dom of press to a certain degree. TheChinese grassmight look greener, butitmostly is amirage.

AbhishekKumarAnshu,Patna

SURVIVAL FIRSTTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Resettingbalance’(IE, April 20). The knee-jerktweakingof FDI rules topreventChinafromtakingadvantageofthepandemicis arguably an act of playing to thegallery,giventheriseofanti-Chinasen-timent across the globe. At this criticaljuncture, India shouldavoidbadbloodwith any country.We are heavily de-pendentonChinaforlive-savingdrugs(APMs). The first priority is survival ofhumanityandnot tosettle thescores.

DeepakSinghal,Chennai

RIGHT RESPONSETHISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Mappingacivic response’, (IE, April 20). The stan-dard response to any modern-dayhealthcrisisistogeneratepublicaware-ness by leveraging ICT tools. The dis-seminationofessential informationon

preventivecarehasmadepeoplemoreconsciousabout theirhealth.

SudipKumarDey,Kolkata

A CASE FOR SWARAJTHISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Rethinkingthemodern’(IE,April20).IntheGandhi’swayoflifesociety,economyandpoliticsare linked. The articlemakes a case foran economybased on swadeshi and asocietybasedonsarvodaya,butitissilentonswaraj,whichisthepoliticalrealmofGandhi’s thought. Swaraj is basically adecentralisationofpower. Itempowersthe people. Without swaraj, neitherswadeshinorsarvodayaarepossible.

SuchakDPatel,Ahmedabad

LETTER OF THEWEEKAWARD

To encourage quality readerintervention, The IndianExpress offers the Letter oftheWeek award. The letteradjudged the best for theweek is published everySaturday. Lettersmay be

e-mailed toeditpage@expressindia.comor sent to The IndianExpress, B-1/B, Sector 10,Noida-UP 201301.

SyedAtaHasnain

In India, tomeetchallengesahead,emphasismustbeon livelihoodsecurity

HUMANSHAD started to believe that theyhad become invincible with technologicaladvancements. Now, an organism that isone-thousandththewidthofaneyelashhasforcedaboutsevenbillionpeopleacrosstheworldtonotonlystopflying,buttoalsostaywithin theconfinesof theirhomes.Many are optimistic that a vaccinewill

soon be found andwewill return to life asweknewit.Thismissesalargerpoint:Thereare limits to technological advancements.Defeatingthecoronavirusdoesn’tobliteratethe risk of emergence of newviruses.Withrapid deforestation and climate change,manynewvirusesareemergingevenasweracetofindavaccineforCOVID-19.Andthereareno instantvaccines for them.While viruses are as old as human exis-

tence, climate change has only aggravatedourvulnerabilities. In2014,avirus frozen intheSiberianpermafrostfor30,000yearswasrevived in a laboratory andwas still foundpotentenoughto infectanamoeba.With glaciers melting, floods ravaging

countries and earthquakes bringing downthesturdiestofhumancreations,thecoron-avirus,couldwellbethetrailerforwhatistocome. Ifwewant tocomeoutof ourhousesand livewith the freedom tomove around,weneedtocourse-correct.Forstarters,wemustredefinehumande-

velopmentgoalsandprioritisesectorswhichneedmoreattention.Bothvillagesandcitieswillhavetobetreatedinawaythatfactorsinthesustainabilityof theirdevelopment.Wecannolongerturnablindeyetothespecific

requirements of our villages and cities; weneed tomake both self-sufficient and non-exploitativewhen it comes tousingnaturalresources.Catchmentareasandfloodplainswill have to be freed fromconstruction andcommercially exploitative activities. Smartcitiesmustbecomplementedwithsmartvil-lages that are not just provided electricity,sanitation andwater, but are also digitallyconnected.Themovetowardsgreenenergy,includingsolarandwindhas tobemade.Whilewe do need to augmentmedical

education with more doctors and betterhealthcare facilities, Indiaalsoneeds togivea big push tomedical research. Research isnotonlyneededinthefieldofallopathy,butalso inthefieldof traditionalmedicinesuchas ayurveda. Together, the two can prepareus for thechallengesof tomorrow.Marketdemandcannotbeallowedtodic-

tateeconomicmodelsonwhichcountriesarerun.Marketdemandinitiatedarelentlessas-sault on nature with resources being ex-tractedwithout caring for the future of theplanet. An important question to ask is therolethatpoliticswillplayinthisefforttopre-ventenvironmentaldegradationthatexposesmankindtothreats likevirusesandbacteria.Humanhistoryshowsusthatsomeofthe

most seemingly insignificant things haveushered in some of the most significantchangesintheworld. InSapiens,YuvalNoahHarari describes howwheat productionchanged the course of human evolution.Hararisays,“Wedidnotdomesticatewheat.Itdomesticatedus.” InAgainst theGrain,po-

liticalscientist-anthropologistJamesCScottsaidthatwheatcultivationisresponsibleforthe arrival of what we now understand asstatepower,andwithit,bureaucracyandin-equality.Nopoliticalpartycanaffordtoignorethe

significance of a virus. Irrespective of theirideological moorings, parties will have tocometogethertoformulateauniform,trans-parent and implementable policy to tacklesuch threats tohumanexistence that knownoterritorialboundaries.Politicalpartieshavetoworktogetherto

developanagendaforhumandevelopmentthatfocusesnotjustonGDPgrowthbutalsoon enhancing livelihood security by gener-ating sustainable occupations. The virus isjust one aspect.Wemust be able to foreseethesocio-economicdisruptionsthatwilltakeplaceasaresultof suchchanges. Inafederalsystem such as in India, it is important forboththeCentreandthestatestohaveamin-imumagreed“pathofgrowth”whichissus-tainable and reduces dependence on inter-nationalmarket forces.Wemust realise that the corona pan-

demic is not a temporary disruption. Theviruswill run its course, but India needs toprepare itself for the economic impact thatwillhitthecountrybecauseofrisingsealev-els, more cyclones, floods andmelting gla-ciers.In2018,theWorldBankestimatedthatthe current trajectory of carbon emissionswill result in sharply diminishing the livingconditions of 800million SouthAsians.Wecandebate thenumbers, butwecannotde-

bateonwhether itwillhappen.Thecurrentpandemichasseenthecoun-

tryactasoneunit:Almosttheentirecountryhasrespondedresponsiblytothecallofstay-ingindoorsduringthelockdown.States,too,areworkingincoordinationwiththeCentreto fight the virus. Future challenges need tobemet inasimilarmanner.Another question is how the economy

willchangeafterthethreatof thepandemicrecedes.Allassessmentsshowthattherewillbeaneconomicmeltdown.Theexactnatureof the impact will depend on how long ittakes for us to take control of the situation.Thecurrentcrisishasexposedthevulnerabil-itiesof theglobaleconomicandtradingsys-tems.Thereisthusaneedtoreviewthesec-torswhicharedisproportionatelydependenton internationalmarket forces.Sectorssuchasaviationandtourismmay

wellbehitthehardest.Buttherushtofixtheeconomycannotdiscounttheaspectof sus-tainability. Financial packages for an eco-nomicrevivalshouldbecarefullyplannedtoensurethat theyaredirectedtowardsactiv-itieswhichprovidegreaterscopeforsustain-able livelihoodsecurity,asopposedtothosewhicharedependentontheglobaleconomy.Weneed todevisebettermodels forour

existenceso thatwecanovercomenotonlythe challenge at hand, and are never againheldhostagebyavirus.Thegoodnewsisthatit is totallydoable.

Thewriter isnationalgeneral secretary,BJP,andmemberofRajyaSabha

Future, post-COVID-19Bhupender Yadav

Strategiccooperation,focusonhumansecurity,willbethekeytoglobalrecovery.Buttrustdeficitbetweengreatpowerswillmakethatahardtask

Putting world together again9

RAJA MANDALA

by CRajaMohan

CR Sasikumar

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21, 2020

THEOUTBREAK TheWorld

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SPAIN

200,000cases;infectionratedropping‘alot’Madrid:Thespreadofthecoronavirus in Spainseems to be slowing de-spitemore than200,000people nowhaving beeninfected, officials said onMonday. With 200,210recordedinfections,SpainissecondonlytotheUSintermsofconfirmedcases,accordingtoReutersdata.But Health EmergencyChief Fernando Simonsaidtherateofnewinfec-tionscontinuestofallde-spite an increase in test-ing, suggesting theoverall prevalence of thedisease could be lowerthan expected in thepopulation. “Fortunatelyoccurrenceisfallingalot,evenmore than we hadthought,” he said.

Atahospital. Reuters

PANDEMICWATCH

AUSTRALIA

CasesatrecordlowinmanypartsofnationMelbourne:ManypartsofAustralia have registeredrecordlowinnewCOVID-19 patients, with somestates even reporting nilcase in the last 24 hours.Australia has so far re-ported 6,619 coronaviruscases,including71deaths.SouthAustralia,WesternAustraliaandQueenslandhave reported zero casesin the past 24 hours,healthofficialssaid.WhileQueenslandandWesternAustraliareportednonewdiagnosesforthefirsttimeinovertwomonths,SouthAustraliahasrecordeditsthird consecutive day ofzeronewcasesdespitean"unprecedented" num-berof tests.

UNITEDKINGDOM

GovthitsbackatreportsoverslowresponseLondon:Downing Streethas dismissed as “false-hoods and errors” a UKmedia report which al-leged the government'sresponse was slow andthat British PrimeMinister Boris Johnsonmissedemergencymeet-ings in theearly stagesofthe outbreak that haskilledover16,000peoplein thecountry. "This arti-cle contains a series offalsehoodsanderrorsandactively misrepresentstheenormousamountofworkwhichwasgoingoningovernmentattheear-liest stages of the coron-avirus outbreak,” a UKgovernment spokesper-sonsaid inastatement.

AGENCEFRANCE-PRESSEBERLIN,APRIL20

CHANCELLORANGELAMerkelurged discipline in the fightagainst the coronavirus pan-demic,warning thatGermany isnot"outofthewoods"evenasthecountrytooksmallstepsineasingcurbsimposedtoslowcontagion.Withsmallshopsopeningon

Monday for the first time in amonth,Merkel said the author-ities can only allow such smallcautiousstepseachtimetoavoidadevastating relapse."Wemust not lose sight of

the fact thatwestandat thebe-ginningofthepandemicandarestillalongwayfrombeingoutofthewoods," she told journalistsafter chairing a cabinet sessiononthecoronavirusbattle.Itwouldbea"cryingshameif

we were to stumble into a re-lapsewithoureyeswideopen,"she added.Merkel and regionalstate premiers announced thedecision to reopen last week—but were careful to cast it as acautious first step.From florists to fashion

stores, the majority of shopssmaller than800squaremetres(8,600squarefeet)wereallowedtowelcome customers again inmuchofGermany,inafirstwaveof scalingback lockdownmeas-ures introduced lastmonth.Merkelsaidlooseningrestric-

tions too hastily could be coun-terproductiveastheeffectsofthefirst stepswouldonlybeseen intwoweeks."We must remain vigilant

anddisciplined," shestressed.Germany currently has

141,672 confirmed coronaviruscasesand4,404deaths.Widespread lockdown

measures were rolled out lastmonth,restrictingnon-essentialoutings and closingmost shopsexcept for supermarkets andpharmacies.

HYONHEESHIN&HEEKYONGYANGSEOUL,APRIL20

SOUTHKOREANS are returningtoworkandcrowdingshoppingmalls, parks, golf courses andsomerestaurantsasSouthKorearelaxes social distancing rulesamid a continued downwardtrend incoronaviruscases.Agrowing list of companies,

including SK Innovation andNaver, has ended or eased theirworkfromhomepolicyinrecent

weeks,thoughmanycontinuetoapplyflexibleworkinghoursand

limit travel and face-to-facemeetings.Parks, mountains and golf

courses brimmedwith visitorsover theweekend, while shop-pingmallsandrestaurantswereslowly returning tonormal.SouthKorea'songoingrecov-

ery from the first major coron-avirus outbreak outside Chinapaints a stark contrast tomanyother countrieswheremetrop-olises remain sealed off andsweeping stay-at-home ordersare inplace."I'mamemberof acommu-

nity football club andwewentout to play on Saturday for thefirst time in twomonths," saidKim Tae-hyung, a 31-year-oldpower plant engineer living inSeoul. "We were wearing amask while we played, stillworriedabout thecoronavirus,but theweatherwas nice and Ifelt so refreshed."SouthKorea extended its so-

cial distancingpolicy for another16 days on Sunday but offeredsomereliefforreligiousandsportsfacilities previously subjected tostrictrestrictions. REUTERS

OTHERTOPGLOBAL STORIES

NEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,APRIL20

PRESIDENTDONALDTrumpsaidSundaynighttheadministrationwaspreparingtousetheDefenseProductionActtocompelanun-specified US facility to increaseproductionof testswabsbyover20millionpermonth.Theremarkscameduringhis

Sunday evening news confer-ence, after he defended his re-sponse to the pandemic amidcriticism fromgovernors acrossthe countrywho have said thatthere had been an insufficientamountoftesting—andashort-ageof teststhemselves—tojus-tifyreopeningtheeconomyanytimesoon.“We are calling in the

DefenseProductionAct,”Trumpsaid. He added, “You’ll have somany swabs you won’t knowwhat todowith them.”Multiple governors had said

ontalk showsearlieronSundaythat a shortage of tests wasamongthemostsignificanthur-dlestoliftingrestrictionsintheirstates.“Wearefightingabiolog-ical war,” Governor RalphNortham of Virginia said onCNN’s “Stateof theUnion.”“Wehavebeenaskedasgov-

ernors to fight thatwarwithoutthesuppliesweneed.”Thegov-

ernors bristled at claims fromTrumpadministrationthatsup-plyof testswasadequate.Meanwhile,Trumpdefended

protesters whowere rebellingagainst the restrictions, threat-ening to undermine the effortsofhisownadministration’spub-lichealthexperts.“These people love our

country,” Trump said Sundayevening after a day filled withscattered protests around thecountry. “Theywant togobacktowork.”TrumpattackedDemocratic

governors and took up the slo-gan of protesters who claim towant to “liberate” their states.

MARINESTRAUSSBRUSSELS,APRIL20

BELGIUM'S IMMEDIATE coron-avirus crisis appears to havepasseditspeakasthenumberofpeople admitted to hospitalswith COVID-19 fell to its lowestlevel inamonth,healthofficialssaidonMonday.Belgium, with one of the

highest per capita rates of con-firmed COVID-19 cases and re-lated deaths in Europe, an-nounced that 232 peopleweretaken into hospital on Sunday,the lowest level sinceMarch19."Thereareseveral indicators

thataregoing in the rightdirec-tion and that continue to go inthe right direction," EmmanuelAndre,spokesmanforthecoun-try's COVID-19 council, told anewsconference."Andsoyes,bydefinition,wearegoingtowardswhat is called de-confinement.That is to say a progressive en-largement of the safety zonearoundussonowwe'rethinkingabouthowtoorganise this."Belgium's national security

council is due tomeetonFridaytodiscussaneasingofrestrictionmeasures fromMay4.Officialsaddedthatthecoun-

trymay also be beyond its peakfordeaths.Belgiumrecorded168newdeathsonMonday,bringingthetotalto5,828deaths.Justoverhalfhavebeeninnursinghomes,the vast majority of them inwhichCOVID-19issuspectedbutnotconfirmed. REUTERS

AGENCIESGENEVA,APRIL20

WORLDHEALTH Organisationchief Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus insisted onMondaythattheUNagencyhadnot hidden from the UnitedStates any information it hadabout thepandemic.He said thepresenceof em-

bedded US government secon-deesworkingattheWHOhead-quartersinGeneva"meansthereis nothing hidden from the US,fromdayone",adding:"Thereisnosecret inWHO".He also warned that “the

worst isyetaheadofus”, raisingnewalarmbells about the pan-demicjustasmanycountriesarebeginning toeasecurbs.WHODirector-GeneralTedros

AdhanomGhebreyesus didn'tspecify exactlywhyhe believesthattheoutbreakcouldgetworse.“Trust us. Theworst is yet aheadof us,” he said. “Let's prevent thistragedy.It'savirusthatmanypeo-plestilldon'tunderstand.TedrosalludedtotheSpanish

fluin1918."Ithasaverydangerouscom-

bination and this is happening ...like the1918 flu that killedup to100millionpeople... Butnowwehavetechnology,wecanpreventthatdisaster,wecanpreventthatkindofcrisis,”hesaid.

GURDIPSINGHSINGAPORE,APRIL20

SINGAPORE ON Monday re-portedarecord1,426newcoro-naviruscases,outofwhich1,410are foreign workers, includingIndians residing in dormitories,healthofficials said.Withthefreshcases,thetotal

number of coronavirus cases inthecity-statestandsat8,014,theMinistryofHealth (MOH)said."We are still working

through thedetails of the cases,and further updates will beshared via the MOH press re-leasethatwillbeissuedtonight,"saidtheMinistryinastatement.A total of 18 foreignworker

dormitories have been gazettedas isolationareas, as thenumber

ofCOVID-19casescontinuetorise.AsofSunday,theclusteratS11

Dormitory at Punggol remainedthebiggest,with1,508confirmedcases. The next biggest clusterwasatSungeiTengahLodge,with521confirmedcases.Though the dormitories are

beingdisinfectedandbeddingac-commodationre-arranged,mostofthesewereovercrowded,lead-ing toa largenumberof cases asforeignworkers are nowunder-goingscreeningandtesting.TheMinistry of Manpower

(MOM) and the Building andConstruction Authority (BCA)notedthatwhiletherecentriseinthenumberofforeignworkersin-fectedwith the coronavirus hasmostlybeenconcentratedindor-mitories,therehavebeencasesatconstructionworksites. PTI

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIACOLOMBO,APRIL20

THESRI LankangovernmentonMondaydropped itsdecision torelaxthenationwidecurfewandextendedittoApril27followingasuddenspikeof41coronaviruscases in the last24hours.The island nation has been

under a 24-hour curfew sinceMarch 20 to combat the deadlyviral infection. On Sunday, thegovernment announced topar-tiallyliftthecurbsfromMondaytoboosteconomicactivity.Health Minister Pavithra

Wanniarachchihadsaidthegov-ernmentwas able to tackle thecommunityspreadofthedeadlyvirusandwas,therefore, lookingat the need to revive the eco-nomicactivity,stalledduetothelockdownsincemid-March.However, following the 41

COVID-19 cases reported in thelast 24 hours, PresidentGotabayaRajapaksa'sofficesaidtheplannedeasingofthecurfewwon'thappenandithasbeenex-tendedtillApril 27.Following the curfewexten-

sion, ameeting of the ElectionCommission scheduled forMonday afternoon to decide onthe date of the parliamentaryelectionhasalsobeenpostponed.

OUTANDABOUT:Apackedshoppingstreet inGelsenkirchen,Germany,afterstoreswereallowedtoopenonMonday. AP

Workersatadormitory inSingaporeonMonday.Reuters

South Koreans return to offices, crowdparks, malls as social distancing rules ease

InSeoulonMonday. Reuters

Belgium saysCOVID-19peak passed,looks at endingrestrictions

Lanka dropsplan to relaxcurfew aftersudden spikein virus cases

Nothinghidden fromUS on virus:WHO chief

Record 1,426 new casesin Singapore, foreignworkers mostly affected

MEASURES INOTHERCOUNTRIES

DENMARKHairsalons,dentists,physiotherapistsandeventattooparlourswereallowedtoreopeninDenmark,withprecautions inplace.

IRANThecountrybeganopening intercityhighwaysandmajorshoppingcentresMondaytostimulateitsvirus-hiteconomy

■ChinaonMondayrejectedTrump'sdemandtoallowanAmericanteamintoWuhantoprobeoriginsofthevirus.

■"Wespoketothemalongtimeagoaboutgoingin.Wewanttogoin.Wewanttoseewhat'sgoingon...”hesaid.

■"Likeanyothercountry,Chinaisattackedbythisvirus.Chinaisavictiminsteadofculprit,”aChineseofficialsaid. PTI

Healthcareworkersstandagainstpeoplecalling forastay-at-homeorder tobe lifted inColorado. Reuters

Governors criticise Trumpover lack of testing, gear aslockdown protests continue

AngelaMerkel

ILIANAMAGRA&IANAUSTENNEWYORK,APRIL20

THE AUTHORITIES on the eastcoast of Canadawere searchingfor amotive onMonday after agunman who appeared to bedressedasapoliceofficerandwasdrivingavehiclethatappearedtobeaNovaScotiapolicecarkilledat least 18 people in one of thecountry’sworstmassshootings.Prime Minister Justin

TrudeauofCanadaimploredhisnation, which likemany othersis reeling from the coronaviruspandemic, tostandtogetherde-spitethisnewshock,“nomatter

how evil, how thoughtless orhowdestructive.”

GabrielWortman,whoranadentureclinicinNovaScotia,be-

gan themassacre in the townofPortapique on Saturday nightanddidnotstopuntilhedied12hours later at a gas station inEnfield, 22miles away, the au-thorities said. The police havenot saidhowhedied.Thepolicesaidthatwhilethe

killings appeared tobe targetedatthestart,theybecamerandomas the rampage through NovaScotiaprogressed.“Oneman’sactioncanbuild

awall between us and a betterday, no matter how evil, howthoughtless or how destruc-tive,”Trudeausaid. “As familiesgrievethe lossof a lovedoneallCanadians are standing withthem.” NYT

ASSOCIATEDPRESSJERUSALEM,APRIL20

ISRAELI PRIME MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu and hischief rival announcedMondaythat they have forged a deal toform an “emergency” govern-ment, endingmonths of politi-calparalysis.The deal avertswhatwould

have been a fourth consecutiveelectioninjustoverayear.Termsoftheagreementweren’timme-diately announced. But Israelimedia said it called for a three-year period with Netanyahu

servingasprimeministerforthefirst half, and Gantz taking thejob for thesecondhalf.

After the last vote onMarch2 ended in a stalemate,Netanyahuand formermilitary

chief Benny Gantz agreed latelastmonthtotrytoformaunitygovernment. The talks havedragged on and stalled severaltimes since.Thedeal likely requiredma-

jor compromise by both men.During three bitter campaignsover the past year, Gantz andhis Blue and White partyvowed never to serve in a gov-ernment under Netanyahu solong as he faces corruptioncharges. Netanyahu, mean-while,would likelybe forcedtostep aside and allow Gantz toserveasprimeminister forpartof the time.

18 killed in Canada mass-shooting

Workersremoveabodyfromtheattacksite inNovaScotia.AP

THEREAREquestionsofhowlongthealliancecanbesta-ble.AmainfactorunitingGantz’sgrouphadbeenitsoppo-sitiontoNetanyahu.Whentalksbegan,Gantzfacedcriti-cismfor“abandoning”hisvowtonotserveinNetanyahu’sgovernment,withmanyalreadyleavinghisparty.Expertssaidhiscredibilityasaleadertookahitbecauseof this. Inaddition,thecorruptionchargesNetanyahuisfacingmayleavetheallianceinaprecariousposition.

Coalitionfacesquestionsofcredibility,stability

Israel: Netanyahu, Gantz announce dealto form ‘emergency’ govt, ending paralysis

As Germany allows smallstores to reopen, Merkelsays not out of woods yet

More countries begin easing lockdowns

11SENSEX: 31,648.00 ▲ 59.28 NIFTY: 9,261.85 ▼ 4.90 NIKKEI: 19,669.12 ▼ 228.14 HANG SENG: 24,330.02 ▼ 49.98 FTSE: 5,746.48▼ 40.48 DAX: 10,480.76 ▼ 145.02

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD`41,705

RUPEE`76.53

OIL$26.15

SILVER`38,100

Note:Spotgoldmarketsshutdueto lockdowninmajorstates. *IndianbasketasonMarch19,2020

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

REUTERSNEWYORK/LONDON,APRIL20

TRADERSFLEDfromtheexpiringMayUSoil futures contract in afrenzy onMonday, sending thecontractintonegativeterritoryforthe first time inhistory, asbarelyanybuyersarewillingtotakede-liveryof oil barrelsbecause thereisnoplacetoputthecrude.MayUScrudefuturesplunged

toadepthneverbeforeseen, set-tlingonthedayatminus$37.63abarrel, adeclineof some305percent,or$55.90abarrel.Pricessetalowofnegative$40.32.With demand down30 per

centworldwideduetothecoron-aviruspandemic,andthemainUSstoragehubinCushing,Oklahomaexpected to fill up in amatter ofweeks,very fewwanttobestuckwithoil barrels that theyhave totakedeliveryonatsomepointdur-ingMay.“Thepeoplewhoare longare

desperate to get out,” said PhilVerleger, a veteranoil economistand independent consultant. “Ifyoudon’thavestorageyouhavetogetout.”Major oil-producingnations

have agreed to cut output andglobaloilcompaniesaretrimmingproduction,butthosecutswillnotcomequickly enough to avoid amassiveclog.Thedifferencebetweentheex-

piring May US West TexasIntermediate crudecontract andthecomingJunecontractwidenedtoarecordatmorethan$22abar-rel.Thatyawninggapemergedbe-cause owning theMay contract

whenitexpiresonTuesdaymeansthat buyer is obligated to takethosebarrels,which fewwant todo.“Formanyinvestorsorpeople

usingthesecontracts forhedgingthis is really a big pain,” saidEdwardMoya,market analyst atOANDA inNewYork. “There’snoplacetoputit-we’rerunningoutofspacetostoreoil.”TheJunecontractendeddown

16 per cent to $20.43 a barrel.Whena futures contract expires,tradersmust decidewhether totakedeliveryorrolltheirpositionsintoanupcomingcontract.Usuallythisprocessisrelativelyuncompli-cated, but theMaycontract’s de-cline reflects worries that toomuch supply couldhit themar-kets,withshipmentsoutofOPECnations likeSaudiArabiabookedinMarchsettocauseaglut.

Availablestoragespaceisdrop-pingfastattheCushing,Oklahomahub,wherephysicaldeliveryofUSoil barrels bought in the futuresmarket takes place. Fourweeksago,thestoragehubwashalffull-now it is 69per cent full, accord-ingtoUSEnergyDepartmentdata.“It’sclearthatCushingisgoing

tofillanditwillstayfullforthenextseveralmonths,”saidAndyLipowof LipowOilAssociates. “Becauseproducers have been lagging intheirproductioncutswe’reseeingan overwhelming amount ofcrudeoil looking foraplace togoaroundtheworld.”Crude stockpiles at Cushing

rose9percentintheweektoApril17,totalingaround61millionbar-rels,marketanalysts said, citingaMondayreportfromGenscape.Theworld’smajoroilproduc-

ersagreedtocutproductionby9.7millionbpd in anattempt to getworldsupplyundercontrolasde-mand slumps, but those cuts donotbeginuntilMay.SaudiArabiaisramping updeliveries of oil, in-cluding big shipments to theUnitedStates.Worldwideoilconsumption

is roughly 100million barrels aday, and supply generally staysin linewith that. But consump-tion is down about 30 per centglobally, and the cuts so far arefar less.USexchange-tradedfundsare

alsoplayingaroleintheaction,an-alystssaid.TheUSOilFundLP,thelargest crude oil ETF, said onThursdaythatitwouldstartmov-ing someof its assets into later-datedcontractsearlierinthelifeofthemonthlycontract.

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,APRIL20

THE AUSTRALIAN govern-ment has said it will sooncomeupwith a law thatwillmandateinternetbehemothsFacebookandGoogle to startsharing advertising revenuewith local media groups.Whenthelawispassed,itwillmakeAustraliathefirstcoun-try in theworldwhere inter-net companies will have topaymediagroupsforthecon-tenttheyshare.According to Reuters,

Australia Treasurer JoshFrydenberg said onMondayAustralia’s competitionwatchdog, the AustralianCompetition and ConsumerCommission(ACCC),hasbeenaskedtocomeupwithacodeof conduct formedia outletsand digital platforms likeFacebookandGoogle, sayingthat codewill bemandatory.The draft code is likely to bereadybyJuly.Reutersmentioned that

Frydenbergwroteinanopin-ion piece that there is noprogresson the issueof pay-ment for content. “On thefundamental issue of pay-ment for content, which thecodewas seeking to resolve,there was no meaningfulprogress,” he wrote in TheAustraliannewspaper. It is inthis context thathesaid “thegovernment has taken thedecision tomove fromavol-untary to amandatory code,thepreparationofwhichwillbe ledbytheACCC.”“The codewill include a

numberofprovisions,includ-ingthoserelatedtovalueex-changeandrevenuesharing;transparencyofrankingalgo-rithms; access to user data;presentation of news con-tent; and the penalties andsanctions for non-compli-ance,” he said, adding “it isonly fair that the search en-ginesandsocialmediagiantspayfortheoriginalnewscon-tent that they use to drivetraffic to their sites”.ACCCChairmanRodSims

reportedlytoldtheAustralianBroadcastingCorporationthatthe“problemwiththatisthatsomeofthatinformationthey

are providing consumers forfree has come from peoplewho have invested a lot ofmoneyinjournalismandthecaseofmedia toprovide thatcontent.”The announcement by

Frydenberg comes nearly 10daysaftertheFrenchcompe-tition regulator has de-manded that Google shouldstartpayingmediaforsharingtheir content, as its practiceshad caused serious harm tothe press sector. The Frenchregulatorhadasked, inanor-der on April 9, to “negotiatewith publishers and newsagencies the remunerationduetothemunderthelawre-lating to neighbouring rightsfor the re-use of their pro-tected contents”. However, itwas an interimdecision, andtheregulatorisyettodecideifGooglehasactuallybreachedcompetitionrulesofFrance.The French competition

regulatorhadsaidinitsorderearlier inApril that “Google’spracticescausedaseriousandimmediateharmtothepresssector,whiletheeconomicsit-uationofpublishersandnewsagencies is otherwise fragile,andwhile the law aimed onthecontraryatimprovingtheconditions of remunerationtheyderivefromcontentpro-ducedbyjournalists”.Boththesedevelopments,

actingasprecedents,providehopefor largeandsmallme-dia businesses across theworldwhohavebeenhopingto increase their advertisingrevenue.MediabusinessesinIndia have been severely hitrecently,withdwindling ad-vertising and subscriptionsrevenues,andhavetakenfur-therbeatingsincethedisrup-tion caused by COVID-19pandemic.

SECTORWATCHONLINENEWS

ENTERSNEGATIVETERRITORYONSTORAGECONCERNS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI, APRIL20

THE RESERVE Bank of India(RBI)hashikedthelimitofWaysandMeansAdvances(WMA)fa-cilityof thecentralgovernment,allowing it to borrow up to Rs2,00,000 crore fromthe centralbanktomeettheshort-termliq-uidity requirements.This is the second hike in

WMAlimitbytheRBI inthelastonemonth.OnApril1,theWMAlimit—theceilingonitstempo-rary loan facilitywith theRBI—for thecentralgovernmentwasraised to Rs 1.2 lakh crore fromRs75,000crore,a60percentin-crease.AccordingtotheRBI, thelimit forWMA for the remain-ingpartof firsthalfof thefinan-cialyear2020-21(April2020toSeptember2020)willberevisedtoRs2,00,000crore“totideoverthe situation arising from theoutbreakof thepandemic”.On April 17, the RBI en-

hanced the limit onWMAs tothe state governments from 30percentto60percent,enablingthem to raisemore funds fromthe RBI. On April 1, the RBI in-creased theWMA limit by 30per cent from the existing limitfor all states and UnionTerritories to enable them tideover the situation arising fromthe outbreak of the COVID-19pandemic.WMAisashort-termliquid-

ity arrangement facilitated bythecentralbank,whichenablesthe government to borrowmoney up to 90 days from the

RBI at the repo rate of 4.40 percent to tide over its liquidityproblems. The hike in WMAlimit is expected to providegreater comfort to the govern-mentforundertakingCOVID-19containmentandmitigationef-forts.“When we look at the past

WMAlimits for theCentresuchahugeamountwasseenonlyinFY19whichwasanelectionyearin which the government ex-penditure generally witnessesan increase,” said a research re-port fromStateBankof India.

Australia to comeup with law askinginternet platforms topay media for content

Fitch cuts FY21GDP forecast to1.8% from 4.6%PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA

NEWDELHI, APRIL20

THE FINANCE Ministry onMondaysaidithassanctionedRs46,038croreforthedevolutionofstates’ share in central taxes anddutiesforApril.Inatweet,theMinistrysaidto

assiststateseffectivelyaddresssit-uation arising out of COVID-19pandemic, as a special dispensa-tion,thecalculationofnetproceedsof shareable taxeshasbeenkeptunchangedasperBudget2020-21.TheBudgethadprojectedtheshareofthestatesintaxesatRs7.84lakhcroreforFY21.The15thFinanceCommission

had recommended the share of

statesat41percentof thedivisi-ble pool and 1 per cent for thenewly-createdunionterritoriesofJammuandKashmir,andLadakh.The14thFinanceCommission

had recommended the statesbegiven42percentshareintaxes.“MinistryofFinancehasissued

sanctions forApril instalmentofDevolution of States’ Share inCentralTaxesandDutiesamount-ingtoRs46,038.10croretoday,”theMinistrytweeted.

Pvt PF trusts disburse `481.63 crore to40,826 staff as non-refundable advanceENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, APRIL 20

ATOTAL of Rs 481.63 crore hasbeenwithdrawnby40,826em-ployees of companies runningtheir own provident funds un-der the non-refundable ad-vance facility from theEmployees’ Provident FundOrganisation (EPFO).NLC India, TataConsultancy

Services, Visakhapatnam SteelPlant,NTPCandHCLareamongthe top10exemptedestablish-ments or companies havingtheirownprovident fundtruststhat have recorded the highestwithdrawals under the provi-

sion that allows withdrawalsexceeding the basicwages anddearness allowances for threemonths or up to 75 per cent ofthe member’s EPF accountamount, whichever is less, inthewakeofoutbreakofCOVID-19 pandemic.Of the total Rs 481.63 crore

disbursed to these subscribersof privateprovident fundorex-emptedestablishments,68percent has been withdrawn bythesetencompanies:NLCIndia(Rs 84.44 crore), TCS, Mumbai(Rs 43.34 crore),VisakhapatnamSteel Plant (Rs40.99 crore), NTPC, Delhi (Rs28.74 crore), HCL, Gurugram(Rs 27.14 crore), Power Grid,

Delhi (Rs 26.17 crore), ONGC,Dehradun (Rs 24.17 crore),BHEL, RC Puram (Rs 22.22crore), BHEL, Bhopal (Rs 16.42crore),HPCL,Mumbai (Rs14.33crore).Exempted establishments

haveexemption fromfilingEPFreturns with the EPFO andmanage their employees EPFaccount as well as funds. OnApril16, theEPFOhadsaid that3.31 lakh claims had beenprocessedandanamountof Rs946.49crorewasdisbursedun-der the facility which waslaunched lastmonth as part ofthe government’s financialpackage to counter theCOVID-19 outbreak.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,APRIL20

FITCHSOLUTIONSonMondaycutIndia’seconomicgrowthforecastforFY21to1.8percentsayingpri-vateconsumptionislikelytocon-tractdue to large-scale lossof in-come in the face of worseningdomesticoutbreakofCOVID-19.“Wehavecontinuedtoadjust

downour country-specific realGDPgrowthforecastsonthebackofpersistentlowoilpricesandthewideningspreadofCOVID-19.Ourforecastsremainfluidand...webe-lievethattherisksremainskewedtothedownside,”itsaid.

BMW IndiaCEO RudratejSingh deadPRESSTRUSTOF INDIANEWDELHI, APRIL20

BMWGROUP India PresidentandCEORudratej Singhpassedaway onMondaymorning fol-lowinga cardiac arrest.BMWGroup India, as an in-

terimmeasure, has appointeditschief financialofficerArlindoTeixeira as actingpresident.“The company with pro-

found sorrow, announces thedemise of Rudratej Singh (46),President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer on April 20, 2020,”BMW Group India said in astatement.

RBI asks banks,NBFCs to carryout moneylaundering riskassessmentperiodically

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIAMUMBAI, APRIL20

THERBIonMondayaskedbanksandNBFCs to carry outmoneylaundering (ML) and terrorist fi-nancing (TF) risk assessment ex-erciseperiodically.The Reserve Bank said it has

addedanewsectionintheMasterDirectionsonKYC.Thisrequiresitsregulateden-

tities(REs)tocarryoutMLandTFriskassessmentexerciseperiodi-callytoidentify,assessandtakeef-fectivemeasures tomitigate itsmoneylaunderingandterroristfi-nancingriskforclients,countriesor geographic areas, products,services, and transactions or de-liverychannels.“While assessing theML/TF

risk, theREs are required to takecognizanceof theoverall sector-specificvulnerabilities,ifany,thatthe regulator/supervisor maysharewithREsfromtimetotime,”theRBIsaidinacircular.Further, the internal risk as-

sessment carriedout by the reg-ulatedentityshouldbecommen-surate to its size, geographicalpresence, complexity of activi-ties/structure, itadded.Entities regulated by theRBI

include,banks,AllIndiaFinancialInstitutions, NBFCs, and all pay-mentsystemproviders.

PRITAMPALSINGHNEWDELHI,APRIL20

THEDELHIHighCourtMondaystayed invocation and encash-mentoftheeightbankguaranteesof a firm,whichexpressed its in-ability todevelop threeoil blockswith thedeadline, observing thelockdown,whichcameintoplaceonMarch24,was “prima facie inthenatureof forcemajeure”.“Sucha lockdownisunprece-

dented,andwasincapableofhav-ingbeenpredicted either by therespondentorby thepetitioner,”JusticeCHariShankarsaidinitsin-terim order, while restrainingVedantafrominvokingbankguar-antees of HalliburtonOffshoreServiceInc.It further observed the situa-

tionof nationwide lockdown, inwhichwefindourselvestoday,hasnever,earlier,beenimposed.“The imposition of the lock-

downwasbywayofasuddenandemergentmeasure, ofwhichnoadvanceknowledgecouldbecred-itedtothepetitioner–or, indeed,toanyoneelse.Asaconsequence,submitsMr (Sandeep) Sethi, thepetitioner’s(Halliburton)activitieshad to suddenly discontinue onMarch22,2020,andhavenotbeen

abletoresumeeversince,”itsaid.Thelockdown,as imposedby

theCentreispresentlyinplacetillMay3,2020.Thecourthasstayedtheinvocationofguarantees tillaweekafterthisdate.Theguaranteeswereissuedby

the ICICI Bankon the instructionof Halliburton, ofwhich five areduetoexpireonJune30,2020,andremainingonNovember24.SeniorAdvocateSandeepSethi,

appearingfor Halliburton,argued

thatthoughasubstantialpartoftheprojectwascompletedbeforethesetdeadline,butowingtoacom-pletelockdownonindustrialactiv-ities aswell as onmovement ofpersons in thecountry, includingRajasthan,whichcontinues toaf-fectthecountrytilldate–thepeti-tionerwas unavoidably handi-cappedinperformingthecontract.Itwasemphasised in thepetitionthat theperformanceof thecon-tract required travel of personsfromoverseasandworkmenfromvariouspartsofthecountry.Sethipointedtothecourtthat

hisclienthadaddressedcommu-nications,“dated18thMarch,2020and 25th March, 2020, toRespondentNo. 1 (Vedanta), in-vokingtheforcemajeureclauseinthe contract…and seeking thebenefitthereof.”

HeaddedVedantaearlier ex-tended the project deadline tillMarch31.“Asubstantialportionoftheprojectwascompletedpriortothedeadline,” Sethi said, adding“totheeffect thatonly2.1%of theworkrelatingtotheManglafield,5.5% of thework relating to theBhagyam field and 2.4% of thework relating to theAishwariyafield, remained,whichcouldeas-ily have been completed beforeMarch31, 2020, had the restric-tions clampedby the lockdownnotintervened.”Senior Counsel Abhishek

Manu Singhvi, appearing forVedanta, submitted in law, theonlygroundonwhichinvocationofabankguaranteecanbestayed,istheexistenceofegregiousfraud.

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com

Whenthelawispassed, itwillmakeAustralia thefirstcountry intheworldwhere internet firmswillhavetopaymediagroupsfor thecontenttheyshare

Infosys Q4 net rises 6%, suspendsrevenue guidance on outbreakENSECONOMICBUREAUBENGALURU,APRIL20

INLINEwithitsotherpeers,InfosysonMondayrefrainedfromgivingaguidanceonrevenuesandmar-ginsforthenewfiscal,asitantici-patesnear-termchallenges in itsbusinessasawidesetofindustrieshavebeendisruptedbythecoron-aviruspandemic.InfosysCEOSalil Parekh said,

“Giventheuncertainenvironmentwith theglobalpandemic,wedonot feel itwill be appropriate toprovideanannualguidanceatthisstage.Asaresultwearesuspend-ingthepracticeofgivingrevenuegrowthandmarginguidance forFY21.”Thecompanyhassuccess-fully facilitated93per cent of itsworkforcetoworkfromhome.

Despite its strong balancesheet, the company is still takingseveralmeasurestocutcosts,apartfrom “no regret” decisions like

freezingwagehikes, promotionsandnewhiringforthemomenttotideoverthecurrentcrisis.The impact of the COVID-19

crisis is visible in the company’sfourthquarternumbers. Indollarterms,thecompany’srevenuesfell1.4per cent sequentially to $3.19billion,whileinconstantcurrencyrevenues fell by 0.8 per cent se-quentially.Forthequarter,Infosysposted a revenue of Rs 23,267crore andanetprofit of Rs4,335crore,withanoperatingmarginof21.2per cent—a70-bpdecreasesequentially.Digitalrevenuenowaccountsfor42percentofoverallrevenues.Growthacrossbusinesssegments and geographies re-mained flat in thequarter endedMarch 31, 2020. However, thelandscapeissettochangewiththecrisis,inthecomingquarters.FE

‘India Inc’s biz confidence atlowest level since 2008-09’AsurveybyFicci has “revealed sharpestmoderation” in theconfidence level of India Inc since theglobal financial crisis of2008-09as the coronavirus outbreakhasaffectedbusinesses

SUGGESTIONItmade a case for financialpackage for the entire industry(especiallymicro, small andmediumenterprises) from thegovernment in the formofsubsidies, policy support, taxholidays, and specialdispensation of funds tosustain employment levelsbefore the pandemic

100-BPCUTIt also demanded a further 100basis points reduction in therepo rate by theRBI

SITUATIONON‘08-09The index value had slippedto a lowof37.8 in the secondquarter of 2008-09–attime of the global financialcrisis

Methodology: The Survey drew responses from about 190 companieswith a turnover ranging from ` 1 crore to ` 98,800 crore and belongingto a wide array of sectors. The survey gauges expectations of therespondents for the April-September 2020 period

Source:Ficci/PTI

42.9TheOverall BusinessConfidence Index in thecurrent round vis-à-vis anindex value of 59 reported inthe last survey

THEHIKEinWaysandMeansAdvances(WMA)limitisexpectedtoprovidegreatercomforttothegovernmentforundertakingCOVID-19containmentandmitigationefforts,andtoplanitsmarketborrowingprogrammesbetter.Consideringthe

expectedfiscalslippage,totalborrowingsoftheCentreandstatesarenowestimatedtobearoundRs20lakhcrore.

GreaterfinancialcomfortforCentre

RBI hikes Centre’s Ways& Means Advances limitto `2L cr from `1.2L cr

Bengaluru: Infosyswill de-laytakingonboardnewre-cruits andwill temporarilyfreezehiring,hikesandpro-motions in thewake of thedisruptionduetotheglobalpandemic. “Wehavenore-gretsindoingso.Itwillhelpus come out of the crisisstronger,” Nilanjan Roy,CFO, saidonMonday.FE

Company tofreeze hiring,salary hikes

BRIEFLYNextMPCscheduledforJun3-5:RBIMumbai:TheReserveBankof India on Monday an-nouncedthecalendarofthemeetings of theMonetaryPolicy Committee for thecurrent financial year, anddecisionofthefirstmeetwillbeannouncedonJune5.PTI

Rolls-RoyceformsvirusdataallianceNewDelhi:Rolls-Roycehasinvited a group of leadingcompaniestocollaborateonEmer2gent,anewallianceofdata analytics experts chal-lengedwith finding fasterways of supporting busi-nessesandgovernmentsasthey recover from the eco-nomicimpactsofCOVID-19.

BISclarifiesonIndiastandardsforcoverallsNewDelhi:Aspersomeme-dia reports, confusion hasarisen about standards ofcoverallsinpersonalprotec-tion equipment. Standardsspecified by the HealthMinistryareapplicable,saidaBIS release. TheBureauofIndian Standards (BIS) hasnotnotifiedanystandardforcoveralls,itsaid.ENS

TheBudgetprojectedtheshareof thestatesintaxesatRs7.84 lakhcroreforFY21

FinMin sanctions `46,038 cr asstates share in taxes for April

■Thecourt furtherobservedthat thesituationofnationwide lockdown, inwhichwefindourselvestoday,hasnever,earlier,

been imposedonthecountry.■Thecourthasstayedtheinvocationofguaranteestill aweekafter thisdate.

UNPRECEDENTEDSITUATION

Citing lockdown, Delhi HC stops invocation of bank guarantees

OIL FUTURESCONTRACTSSHOWHUGEGAPThe spread between the currentUS crudeMay futurescontract and the June contract haswidened tomore than$45 a barrel, widest in the contract's history

February March April

Source:RefinitivEikondata/Reuters

$10

0

-10

-20

-30

-40

-50perbarrel

USOILCRASHES300%

New York: Wall Street fellsharplyonMondayafterUScrude futures turned nega-tive for the first time in his-tory,underscoringthechaosthe coronavirus pandemichasunleashedontheglobaleconomy.TAt 2:26 p.m. ET, the

Dow Jones IndustrialAveragewas down1.79 percent at 23,807.69 points,while the S&P 500 lost1.27 per cent to trade at2,838.15.The Nasdaq Composite

dropped 0.46 per cent to8,610.34.REUTERS

Wall Street drops

Vol. LXIVNo. 93 Printed for the proprietors, The Indian Express (P) Ltd byMs Vaidehi Thakar at The Indian Express Press, Plot No. EL-208, TTC Industrial Area,Mahape, NaviMumbai - 400710 and published from 1st floor, Express Towers, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021. Editorial & Administrative Offices: ExpressTowers, Nariman Point,Mumbai - 400021. Phone: 22022627/67440000. Fax: 022-22835726. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor (Mumbai): Nirupama Subramanian.* (*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act) Additional air surcharge of

`1 .00 - Goa. Copyright: The Indian Express (P) Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in anymanner, electronic or otherwise, inwhole or in part, without priorwritten permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®

NIHALKOSHIENEWDELHI,APRIL20

ELITE INDIAN track and field athleteswill bein for ahectic time in2022with threemajorcompetitionslineduponeaftertheotherovertwomonths.Thepostponementof theTokyoOlympicshasresultedinasituationwheretheWorld Athletics Championships,CommonwealthGamesandAsianGameswillallbeheldintheJuly-Septembertimeslot.TheWorlds, to be staged inOregon in theUnitedStates,willbeonfromJuly15-24,quickly fol-lowedby theCWG inBirmingham (July 27-August 7). After abrief respite, the fortnight-longAsianGamesbegin inHangzhou, ChinafromSeptember10.With Indians eligible for all three events,

the tight schedulingwill present a challengeto the athletes, especially those like javelinthrowerNeerajChopra,whowillbeeyeingthepodiumatallthreecompetitions.“Itwill be challenging because youhave

threebigcompetitionsinoneyearandthattoowithintwomonths.Inmycase,Ihopetheex-perience of participating in the DiamondLeague series (up to three competitions amonth),which I havegotused to, helps,” thereigningAsianGamesandCWGgoldmedallisttoldTheIndianExpress.“DiamondLeaguecom-petitionsalsotakeplacewithinaboutamonth.Ihaveparticipatedinabout10competitionsayear, including theDiamondLeague. But theschedulefor2022callsforproperplanninginterms of training if I want to peak andwinmedalsinallthreecompetitions.”

Preparing for the challengeTheAthletics Federation of India (AFI) is

prepping its competitors to use the timeoff,becauseof theCoronavirus lockdown,tostaystrong. Anonline video callwith50 athletesand30coacheswasarrangedlastweek.“WiththeOlympics2020beingpostponed

to 2021 andWorld Championships, AsianGamesandCommonwealthGamesscheduledto takeplace in 2022, itwill be a tough chal-lengeforyouall.Wehavetousethisopportu-nityofdelaytoouradvantageandyouhavetobementally prepared for these challenges.Withback-to-backmajor eventsplanned forthe next twoyears,wewill have to adapt to

singlephaseofcompetitionperiod,”AFIpres-ident Adille Sumariwalla told athletes andcoachesoverthegroupvideocall.With'micro-planning'andtargetedfocus,

Sumariwalla believes Indian athleteswill beable todealwith thecongestedcalendar twoyearsfromnow.“We have to plan correctly and look at

eventsinwhichaparticularathletewillfocus.For somepeople,who don't qualify for theWorldChampionships, theAsianGamesandCommonwealthGameswill be themain fo-cus. Therearecertainevents inwhichwearestrong at the Commonwealth Games andtherearecertaineventsinwhichwearestrong

attheAsianGames.Accordingly,wewillhavetoplanandforonesetofathletesthemainfo-cuswillbetheAsianGames, foranotherset itwillbetheCommonwealthGames.“TheFederation's responsibility is toplan

thewholethingandgivethembuild-upcom-petitions andprepare schedules. And thosewhodon't qualify forWorldChampionships,their trainingwill beplanned towardspeak-ingfortheCommonwealthGamesandAsianGames (if the current schedule remains un-changed),”theAFIpresidentsaid.Indianathleteswon20medals, including

eightgold,atthepreviouseditionoftheAsianGames in 2018 but won only three at the

CommonwealthGamesandreturnedempty-handedfromtheWorldChampionships.

Even tougher forEuropeansThescheduleisequallyhecticforEuropean

athleteswhowill be part of the CWG. Theydon’t have toworry about theAsianGamesbut the EuropeanChampionships (Munich,August11-21)meanstheywillhavethreemar-quee events crammed in38days. The conti-nentalcompetitioninGermanystartsjustfourdaysaftertheCWGends.

Lookingat thebright sideRatherthantheunprecedenteddemands

putontheathletes,WorldAthleticspresidentSebastianCoechosetomarketthesummerof2022asafestivalforthesport.“Wewouldnothavechosentohavethree

majorchampionshipsback-to-backbutitwillgiveusauniqueopportunity topromoteoursportanditsstarsaroundtheglobeoverasix-weekperiod. Thiswill be a bonanza for ath-letics fans around theworld. Theywill betreated to sixweeks of absolutely first-classathletics,”thetwo-timeOlympicgoldmedal-listsaidinastatement.“Morethan70ofourMemberFederations

arepartoftheCommonwealthandmorethan50ofourMemberFederationsareEuropeanso our guiding principle in rescheduling theWorldChampionshipswastoensureenoughspacewas created around the centrepieceWorldAthleticsChampionshipforathletestochooseothermajoreventstocompetein.Wewerealsoverymindful thatwedidnotwanttodamagetheothermajorchampionshipsin2022,becausetheyarealsoveryimportanttooursport.”

A little leewayAccordingtomultiplereports, there isa

suggestion tomove the athletics competi-tionstothesecondweekof theCWGtogivemore breathing space post the WorldChampionships.ThrowintheOlympicGamesnextyearand

theroadaheadiscrammedwithmajorevents.In a step to ease the pressure on athletes toqualify immediatelywhen lockdowns arelifted,WorldAthleticshassuspendedthequal-ifyingwindow for next year’s Olympics tillDecember1,2020.

Gruelling 2022 season for athleticsTrack&fieldstarsfacepossibleburnoutasrescheduledWorlds,CWG,andAsiadslatedformidJuly-Septemberslot

12THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,APRIL21, 2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

NOVAKAGAINSTCOMPULSORYVACCINATIONNovak Djokovic has said he would be against a compulsory coronavirusvaccination if it became a requirement for tennis players to travel to tournaments."Personally I'm against vaccination. I wouldn't like that someone forces me to get avaccine in order to be able to travel," the world number one said late Sunday.

AGENCEFRANCEPRESSETOKYO,APRIL20

A JAPANESE expert who has criticised thecountry's response to the coronaviruswarnedMondaythatheis"pessimistic"thatthepostponedOlympicscanbeheldevenin2021."TobehonestwithyouIdon'tthinktheOlympics is likely tobeheldnextyear," saidKentaro Iwata, a professor of infectious dis-easesatKobeUniversity.Japan and the International Olympic

Committee(IOC)agreedlastmonthtodelaythe Tokyo2020Gamesuntil July 2021 afterpressure from athletes and sports federa-tions. But in recent days, as the coronaviruspandemic continues to spreadworldwide,there have been questions about whetherevenayear-longdelaywill besufficient.Iwata told a press briefing that the virus

wouldhavetobeundercontrolathomeandabroadfortheGamestotakeplace"becauseyouhaveto invite theathletesandtheaudi-ence fromallover theworld"."Japanmight be able to control this dis-

easebynext summer, Iwishwecould, but Idon't think thatwouldhappeneverywhereonEarth,sointhisregardI'mverypessimisticaboutholdingtheOlympicGamesnextsum-mer."IwatasaidhecouldonlyseetheGamesbeingheldnextyearif theyweresignificantlyaltered,"suchasnoaudience,orverylimitedparticipation".Iwatamadeheadlinesearlierthisyearfor

hispubliccriticismof Japan'shandlingofthecoronavirus-wracked Diamond Princesscruise ship that docked off the country'scoast. Japaneseofficialsoptedtocarryoutanon-shipquarantine,butmorethan700peo-pleonboardendedupcontractingthevirus,and 13 died. The decision to postpone theOlympics is unprecedented in peacetime,andfollowedawaveofcomplaintsfromath-letes facing travelbansand lockdowns.The postponement is a huge undertak-

ing, but organisers have insisted they areworking towards thenewopeningdatede-spite ongoing uncertainty aboutwhen thepandemicwill beover.

Tokyo Games‘not likely’ in2021, believesJapan expert

WorldC'shipOregon,July15-24

CWGBirmingham,July27-Aug7

EuropeanC'shipMunich,Aug11to21

AsianGamesHangzhou,Sept10-Sept25

2022ATHLETICSCALENDER Itwillbechallengingbecauseyouhavethreebigcompetitionswithintwomonths. Ihopeexperienceofparticipating intheDiamondLeague(uptothreecompetitionsamonth),whichI’vegotusedto,helps.”

NEERAJCHOPRAJAVELINTHROWER

CROSSWORD4097

ACROSS

1 Stay todrinkwine(7)

5 Mincepieshavingabrowncolour (5)

8 Howanunrepeatableoffer ismadeavailable toeveryone(4,3,3,3)

9 Monster fish? (5)

10 Leaves todress fordinner (7)

11 Witnessata trial (6)

12 I’mleftwithsomething fromabroad(6)

15 Resultingeffectof reductionin fare (7)

17 Draggedto thealtar? (5)

19 Anattack that’smounted(7,6)

20 Germantowninaprofitlessenterprise (5)

21 Sidsetsout,butdoesn’tgoon(7)

DOWN

1 It’snot for longone is lackingmoney(5)

2 Fifty-twoknaves? (4,2,7)

3 Theygaveadvice thatwasmadesoclear (7)

4 Anearlywalk (6)

5 Lookout forahelpful lad(5)

6 Pun,oracharadeperhaps(4,4,5)

7 I lamentaboutdisorder(7)

11 Whatonemaywriteaboutarecital (7)

13 Formsaunion forstriking(7)

14 Extremelyragged(6)

16 Hose inNewYork leftrunning(5)

18 Suitoneself (5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Today’s starsareadirectextensionofyesterday’s,indicatingthat there

willbe fewnewdevelopmentstocopewith. If you’restarting torun into themudatwork,don’tworry; take theopportunity tohavesometimeoff andgeta freshperspectiveonyour life.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)If youhaveeverwonderedwhyyouexperienceboutsoffinancial indecision,

it’sbecause it’sall in thestars!Actually, there isawayout ifyouwould justputyourfearsandworries toonesideandstopallowingyourfeelings to interferewithyourgoodsense.

GEMINI (May22- June21)TheMoon’scontinuedalignmentwithyoursign isadirect

indicationthat theworld liesatyour feet, speakingmetaphoricallyof course.Thefact is, though, thatamightyactof self-sacrificemaybenecessary if youare tomakethemostof partners’ support.

CANCER(June22- July23)Yourmysticalaspirationsarebeingstirredupandthisprocesscreatesasort

of ‘divinediscontent’ leavingyoudeeplyambitious.You’rereluctant tosettle foranythingless thanthebest—butyoushouldconsiderwhetheratemporarycompromisewouldbeagood idea.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Anumberof verypowerfulalignmentshaveremained invitalareasof your

chart, inspiteof the fact that themaingaggleofplanetshasmovedon.Youshouldthereforekeepupyourguardandresolvenever tobecaughtoutagain,at least,notbythesameperson.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)If therearechoices tobemade, try toclarifyyour ideastoday,andrecognise

thatchangemaynotonlybenecessarybutalsodesirable.Devoteadditional timetoprofessional responsibilities,anddon’t shrink fromtakingonnewtasks.Doyourbest.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)TheMoonmakesahelpful relationshiptoyoursign,and itshouldbe

responsible fora fairamountofemotional support. Itmaythereforenotmatter thatyoumight forgetacoupleofimportantengagementsorpromises.Afterall, it’sabouttimethatotherpeoplesharedtheresponsibility.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Social starsdoseemtobestrongandgrowingstronger, anindicationthatyou

canfindsolace inotherpeople’sarms.Theoneconditionseemstobethatold friendswillproveagooddealmorereliablethannew.You’resomuchhappierwithpeopleyoucantrust.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Professionalcommitmentswillsoontakeover,buteventhoughthere

aredefinite indicationsofhardworkahead,youareabout tochangeyourmind.Youmightdecidethatyouhavebetterthings todothanwasteyourtimeonpeoplewhodon’tdeserve it.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)There is still everysignof theneedforhardwork,whichmaynotbevery

excitingbut isno lessnecessaryforall that.Mercury,planetofthemind,will soonmakeyourealise that traditionalvalueswerealways thebest, inspiteofwhatyouthought.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)AssoberSaturngraduallyshifts itsposition,soyourgriponcertainvital ties

andcommitmentsmayweaken.However, thismaybenobadthingif itenablesyoutostartalloveragainwithafreshplan.Themainpointtoremember is thatall futureactionsmustbefirmlyrootedinthepast.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Don’t listentowhatpartnerssay,watchwhattheydo. Ifyoucanseparatethought

fromactionandwordfromdeed,you’ll realisethatthereisaninternalconsistencyintheiractions,eventhoughthey’recompletelyunawareof it. Inspiteofappearances, itwillsoonallseemtomakegoodsense.

SUDOKU418

6

DifficultyLevel2sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU418

5

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Withoutthe___therewouldbeno__onEarth.-PeterBenchley (6,..,4)

SOLUTION:ENEMA,OASIS,SUNLIT,FORCEDAnswer:WithouttheoceanstherewouldbenolifeonEarth.-PeterBenchley

MNAEE INSULT

ASIOS DEORCF

SolutionsCrossword4096:Across:1Stamp,8Obtained,9Pride,10Coughsup,11Diary,12Ebb,16Putter,17Around,18Egg,23Skies,24Half-moon,25Waste,26Emigrant,27Stays.Down:2Terminus,3Moderate,4Absorb,5Cargo,6Angst,7 Adept,12Ere,13Bag,14Rocksalt,15Ancestry,19Ground,20Cheek,21Slain,22Smart.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

ICCtodiscussT20WorldCupfutureThe ICC Chief Executives’ Committee(CEC)meeting - via conference call onThursday-willexplorecontingencyplansfor the T20World Cup, scheduled to beheld inAustralia inOctober-November.TheCovid-19outbreakhascastdoubtonthetournamenttakingplaceaspersched-ule; especially after Australia closed itsborders to all foreigners for sixmonths.ICChasbeenweighingupalternativesandit is learnt that deferment, too, is anop-tion.TheCECwillalsodiscussthefutureofthe ongoingWorld Test Championship.“The CECwill discuss the approach torescheduling postponed series and theneed for collectively reviewing the FTPthroughto2023aswellastheWorldTestChampionship and CricketWorld CupSuperLeague.Theywillalsoreceiveanup-dateonthecontinuingcontingencyplan-ningforallICCglobalevents,includingtheICCMen’s T20WorldCup2020,” an ICCreleasestated. ICCChief ExecutiveManuSawhneyadded:“InrelationtoICCevents,including the ICCMen’s T20WorldCup,wewill continue to takeadvice fromex-perts and authorities, including theAustraliangovernment.” ENS

Sonbegins3-weekmilitarytrainingTottenham forward Heung-min Sonstartedathree-weekperiodofmilitaryservice in his native South Korea onMonday. The27-year-oldSonreportedtoaMarineCorpsunitonthesouthernisland of Jeju, according to SouthKorea'sYonhapNewsAgency, andwillbe in campuntilMay 8. He is fulfillingrequirementsof themilitaryserviceex-emptionheearnedbywinningthegoldmedal for South Korea in the soccertournament at the Asian Games in2018. Without the exemption, hewould have been required by law toserve21months.Son,whorecentlyre-covered from a broken arm sustainedin a match in February, is doing hisservicewhile thePremierLeague is in-definitely suspended because of thecoronavirus pandemic. AP

BRIEFLY