Terms and conditions of ICICI Bank apply

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

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

`̀ 115 per kilo

`̀ 143 per kilo

`̀ 178 per kilo

`̀ 50 per Dozen

SANDEEPASHARMUMBAI,MAY20

TWODAYS after MaharashtraChief Minister UddhavThackeraycalledonthe“sonsofthesoil”tograbemploymentop-portunities in industrial unitswith lakhs of migrant workersreturning to their native states,the state government has de-cidedtosetupanindustrialem-ployment bureau (IEB) tomeetthe labour shortfall.Thisgovernment-runbureau

will give priority to employinglocal labourers, said stateIndustries Minister SubhashDesai.Anofficialannouncementwill soonbemade,headded.OnMonday,withlakhsofmi-

grantworkersgoingbacktotheirstates, Uddhav had urged localworkers or the “sons of the soil”

tostartworkinginMaharashtra'sindustrial units. “Withmigrantworkers going back to theirstates, there is a shortage oflabourinthestate. Iwanttospe-cially urge the sonsof the soil tocome forward to grab employ-ment opportunities in the

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Uddhav govt’s ‘sons of thesoil’ push: New bureau tohire more locals in industries

MigrantworkersatThanestationWednesdaytoboardatraintoNewCoochBeharinWestBengal.Deepak Joshi

Defaming onsocial media:Maharashtracops give ‘lastwarning’ to 100MOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI,MAY20

MAHARASHTRA Cyber PoliceWednesday sent notices to over100 individuals for publishingdefamatorycontentagainst“pro-minentpersons”onsocialmedia.The notices, sent under section149CrPC, are a “final reminder”thatrepeatingsuchactionwillre-sult inacognisableoffence.“Wehaveobserved thatcer-

tainusersareusingsocialmediaplatforms for posting offensive/abusive/defamatory/maliciousposts.MaharashtraCyberPoliceDepartment...is issuing a noticeunder section 149 CrPC to allsuch users posting offensive

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STATESSUPPLYtransportand logisticsatairportsandgiventhatmostma-jormetrohubsare in redzones, startingdomesticaviationservicesposesachallenge. StandardOperatingProceduresonhealthandsafetyof pas-sengerswill alsoneedtobeworkedoutbefore theresumptionof flights.

StatesneedtoboardE●EX

PLAINED

MORE EASING

Homeamendsguidelines;a thirdofflightscouldstart in the firstphase

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,MAY20

GROUNDED FOR almost twomonths by the Covid pandemicandthelockdown,somedomes-ticcommercialpassengerflightswill resume fromMay 25, CivilAviationMinisterHardeepSinghPuri saidWednesday. There areindications that only a third oftheflightsmaycommenceinthefirstphaseof easing.Late onWednesday night,

the Ministry of Home Affairsamendeditsguidelinesonlock-downmeasuresbydeleting“do-mestic air travel of passengers”fromthelistofprohibitedactiv-ities. On Sunday, framing therules for the fourthphaseof thenational lockdown, it hadbanned domestic passengerflightsuntilMay31.Butmore spadeworkwill be

needed. For airlines to operateflights, they require supportfrom the state government in

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY20

SEVENTEEN JAN Shatabdis, fiveDurontosandanumberof pop-ular mail/express trains areamong100 trains thatwill startrunningagainfromJune1inthesecondphaseofgradedresump-tionof passengeroperations.Railway Minister Piyush

Goyal had announced theCONTINUEDONPAGE2

Airspace unlockdown: Some domesticflights fromMay25, saysMinister Puri

100 pairs of trains to start onJune 1, bookings open today

Acivildefencestafferaskspeople tostay indoorsasDighaseeshightideaheadof thelandfallof CycloneAmphanonWednesday.ANI

LOCKDOWNDAY

57

CONCERNDELHI: Two daysof 500-plus newcases. Uncounteddeaths continue to

be adjusted.

CAUTIONKARNATAKA:Nearly 250 casesin 2 days, doublingtime faster thannational average.

A GLIMMERANDHRA

PRADESH: Slowgrowth, doublingtime of 34 days.Impressive testing.

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Gujarat■Delhi■TamilNadu■Rajasthan■WestBengal

TOTALCASES37,13612,14111,08812,4485,7322,961

DOUBLINGRATE**11.6815.9015.0713.7913.8615.93

SURGEIN24HRS2,078395534688338136

7-DAYAVG.GROWTH*

6.17%4.53%4.78%5.22%5.20%4.52%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:106,750

RECOVERED:42,297 |DEATHS:3,303TESTS:2,512,388 |DOUBLINGRATE: 13.54**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY20

INDIA IS now procuring about75% of its testing kits from do-mesticmanufacturers, officialssaidonWednesday.While the number of sam-

plestestedcrossed1lakhforthesecond day on Tuesday, effortsare on to further increase dailytesting,maybeevendoubleitbytheendof June.Amidprojectionsofcasesris-

ing in June-July, self-sufficiencyin testing kits forms an impor-tant part of the government’sCovid-19strategy.“InthefirstfortnightofApril,

wewere struggling a littlewithsupplies. But today, that haschanged in two ways — the

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3 of 4 kits localas India tests1 lakh plus forthe second day

SANTANUCHOWDHURYDIGHA,MAY20

THEEXTREMELYseverecyclonicstormAmphanmadelandfallonthecoastofWestBengalaround2.30 pm onWednesday, bring-ing in itswake fallen trees, flat-tenedhomes,andfreshwavesofdifficultyandanxietyforpeoplestrugglingwiththefalloutof thenovelcoronavirusoutbreakandthenationwide lockdown.West Bengal Chief Minister

MamataBanerjee,whospentalldayat the cyclone control roomat thestate secretariatmonitor-ingthesituation,saidatleast10-12peoplehadbeenkilled.“Areaafterareahasbeenru-

ined. I have experienced awar-like situation today. At least 10-12peoplehavedied.Nandigram,

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BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

Class 10, 12exams getgovt nod, withconditionsDEEPTIMANTIWARY&RITIKACHOPRANEWDELHI,MAY20

THEMINISTRY of HomeAffairsonWednesdayallowedthecon-duct of board exams for Classes10 and 12. The decision wastaken after several states andcentral boards such asCBSEpe-titionedthegovernment.In a letter sent to the states,

HomeSecretaryAjayBhallasaid,“Taking into consideration theinterestofalargenumberofstu-dents it has been decided togrant exemption from the lock-downmeasures for theconductof BoardExams forClasses10thand12th.”HomeMinister Amit Shah

too announced this in a tweet,adding this permissionwas be-ing given “with few conditionslike social distancing, facemasketc, for their safety.”As opening of schools had

been prohibited under theguidelines on lockdownmeas-ures,theannualboardexamina-tions being conducted by StateEducation Boards/ CBSE/ ICSEetc. for Classes 10 and 12 hadbeensuspended.

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CONSIDERSTARTINGMETRO: DELHI HCPAGE9

Cyclone Amphan batters coastal BengalAt least10-12killed, saysMamata

PAGE1ANCHOR When room moves to home, class comes into the classroomUMAVISHNUNEWDELHI,MAY20

■A14-year-old Class X studentin Delhi spends close to fourhourseachdayattendingvirtualclasses and uploading assign-ments.Then,onlineguitarclasses,weeklychatswithfamily,stream-ing movies and music — herMacBookispoweredallday.■Across thecity, inanothervir-tualclassroom,whilemostwin-dows display children againstdesignerdécorandstuffed toys,inone, thechild sits in thecom-monlandingareaofhisbuilding,peoplewalkingpasthim.

■Twostatesaway,theprincipalof aschool inNagaur,Rajasthan,whichtoppednationalrankingsinmath and reading outcomesin2017-18, says less than30perofherstudentsaccessthemate-rial she shares with parents onWhatsAppeveryday.

IN THIS tale of three snapshots,is a telling story of how theCovid-19pandemiclockdownisplayingoutinschools,privatetopublic,metrostoTierIIcities,andfar-flungruraldistricts.The Indian Express sat

throughseveral virtual sessionsto find that the classroom is be-ing reshaped, not just by tech-

nology,butalsobywhothechil-dren are, state of infrastructureintheirschooland,moreimpor-tantly, athome.Access becomes key given

that less than half the house-holds (42%) in urban India haveInternetfacility,accordingtotheNationalSampleSurveyOffice’sEducation in India report for2017-18.Inruralareas,thisnum-ber falls to less than15%.Which

furtherdropstoapaltry10.7%forhouseholds (both rural and ur-ban)witha computer, laptoporothercomputingdevices.It’sthisdigitaldividethathas

added another layer to this so-cialinequity,onethatalwaysex-isted, but has only deepened inthese times.Yet, students and schools

haverespondedtothis indiffer-entways.Take a Zoom session for pri-

marychildrenof aNoida schoolwhich has reserved 25 per centseats for EconomicallyWeakerSectionsunder theRTEAct, andhasasensitivesocial integrationprogramme. But virtual classes

mean that the inequities, rela-tivelyflattenedintheclassroom—where they shared the samefood and the desk — becomemoreconspicuousonline.But in another Central Delhi

school that has had a long andsuccessful EWS programme,these inequitiesare less jarring.AfterherGeographyclasson

Zoom, duringwhich a 17-year-old raised a virtual hand to al-mosteveryquestionherteacherasked, theClass 12 student saysshemisses“thefeelofmyschooldesk”, but is glad that she has awaytoattendthevirtualschool.Daughterof ataxidriver, she

was admitted under the EWS

quota andnow, inher final yearin school, is a proud recipient offourhonourbadges.She uses her father’s

Samsung phone for her classes.“Luckily, papa applied for abroadbandconnectionlastyear,when I had a lot of projects tosubmit,” shesays.Speakingonphonefromthe

terraceof theirhome,“sincethesignal at home is never strong”,her father says that with thelockdown on, his taxi has beenidle sinceMarch 22. “We havebeenlivingoffoursavings.Baithebaithekharahenhain.Kyakarein.My daughter will be

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LOCKDOWNLESSONS

AN EXPRESS SERIES

PART1

Schoolshavebeenlockeddown,andarebeingusedforotherpurposesbygovernmentauthorities. ExpressArchive

SUSHANTSINGHNEWDELHI,MAY20

TWOROUNDSof talks betweenIndianandChineselocalmilitarycommanders at Pangong Tso,where troops of the two sidescame to blows twoweeks ago,remained inconclusive TuesdayandBeijingwarnedof“necessarycounter-measures”. It claimedthe Indian Army had “enteredChinese soil on the Baijing andLujin duan section of the Sino-Indian border, obstructing thenormalpatrolof Chinesebordertroops, andwas “attempting tounilaterallychangethestatusquoofborder territory”.WhiletheArmyandMinistry

ofExternalAffairsmaintainedsi-lence, officials inNewDelhi de-scribedthesituationas“delicatelypoised” and “very sensitive” at atimewhen the country is grap-pling with the Covid-19 pan-demicandits fallout.The Indian Expresshas learnt

thattherehasbeenmovementoftroopstoeasternLadakhfollow-

ing the continuing objections ofthe Chinese to the constructionofaroadintheGalwanriverarea,wellwithin Indianterritory.The site of the current con-

struction is near the confluenceof Shyok and Galwan rivers,some 200 km north of thePangongTso lake.The Chinese, sources said,

haveobjectedtoconstructionofa new roadwhich branches offthe Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat BegOldie (DSDBO) road along theriverbanktowards theLAC.The Chinese have moved

troopstothearea,pitched70-80tentsandparkedheavyvehiclesandmonitoringequipment,notvery far from the Indian side.This falls in SSN or sub-sectornorthundertheArmy,whilear-eas south to it are in the HotSprings sectorunder the ITBP.“Galwan is not a disputed

area between India and China,unlike Pangong Tso. Both sidesagree on the LAC and patrol ac-cordingly. There was no trans-gression by Chinese patrols in

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SHUBHAJITROY&YUBARAJGHIMIRENEWDELHI,KATHMANDU,MAY20

THEROWoverconstructionofanIndian road linkingDharchula inUttarakhandtoLipulekhaspartoftheMansarovarYatraroutedeep-ened Wednesday after NepalPrimeMinister K P SharmaOlitookaswipeatIndiaandhisgov-ernmentreleasedanewmapin-cludingterritoryonIndianmaps.India hit backwithin hours.

AnuragSrivastava,spokespersonfor the Ministry of ExternalAffairs, said: “The Governmentof Nepal has released a revisedofficialmapof Nepal today thatincludespartsof Indianterritory.

Thisunilateralactisnotbasedonhistorical factsandevidence.”“It is contrary to thebilateral

understanding to resolve theoutstanding boundary issuesthrough diplomatic dialogue.Such artificial enlargement ofterritorial claimswill not be ac-ceptedbyIndia,”Srivastavasaid.In Kathmandu, Oli said he

had doubts on whether Indiasubscribed to “Sinhaev Jayate”(the lionprevails) or “Satyamev

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India builds road northof Ladakh lake, Chinawarns of ‘necessarycounter-measures’

NepalPrimeMinisterKPSharmaOli

Road row triggers newNepal map, India hits back

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020

Class 10, 12“Requestswerereceivedfrom

StateGovernmentsandCBSEforconducting theBoard examina-tions,”Bhalla’s lettersaid.MHA’s clarification came a

day after the High Court ofBombayatGoasoughtanurgentreply from the government onwhether its order on lockdownextensionprohibitsholdingboardexams.The clarification comes as a

shotinarmforstategovernmentswhose decision to conduct re-maining Board exams hadmetwithresistance.Spellingouttheconditionsfor

allowing conduct of exams, theletterhassaidthatstatedmusten-sure there are no examinationcentres in containment zones,there are provisions of thermalscreening and sanitisers at thecentres, and social distancing atallexaminationcentres.

3 of 4 local kitssupplyhasimprovedandwehavealsoproactively takenmeasurestoreducethedependenceonim-portsforourtesting.Tohelpusgoahead,wemade surewehand-hold all organisationswhich canproduceRNAextractionkits andVTM (viral transportmedium)kits. Iwould say thatmore than75%of the supplies are fromdo-mesticmanufacturers andnewplayersarecomingineveryday,”said C KMishra, EnvironmentSecretary and chairman of theempoweredgrouponhospitals,quarantinefacilities,diseasesur-veillance,testingandcriticalcare.WhiletheRNAextractionkits

andVTMkits areneeded topre-pare samples, the RT-PCR kit isneededforcarryingoutthetest.Atpresent,fourofthesixVTM

suppliersandfiveoftheeightRNAextraction kit suppliers are do-mesticmanufacturers.Of the28companieswhose RT-PCR kitshavebeenapprovedbytheICMR,14aredomesticfirms.TheCentrehasgivenafreehandtothestatestoprocuretheirowntestingkits.Meanwhile,thetotalnumber

of cases across the country hastouched1,06,750,ofwhich5,611caseswerereportedinthelast24hours.With140moredeaths,thetoll is now 3,303while 42,297have recovered.With 1,08,121samplesbeingtestedinthelast24hours, the total number of testshasnowtouched25,12,388. Thecurrent sample positivity rate isaround4%.

Maharashtramessagestorefrainfromdoingsoas it is an offence underInformation TechnologyAct,” anote issuedby theMaharashtraCyber Police said. “...Any userfoundviolating theprovisionsofthe said lawswill have to facestrictpenalaction.Wewill be is-suing separatenotices individu-ally, to users posting offensivemessagesintheirinboxes,”itsaid.An officer said thiswas the

“lastopportunity”forthoseregu-larlypostinghatefulanddefama-tory content including “paidusers”tostopdoingsobeforethepolicebegins“acampaigntotakelegalaction”againstsuchoffend-ers.Asourcesaidthecyberpolicewasmonitoringpeoplewhowereregularly using abusive anddefamatory content againstprominent functionaries includ-ing Chief Minister UddhavThackeray.When contacted IG (Cyber)

Yashasvi Yadav told The IndianExpress, “We have realised thatpeoplehavebeen spreadingha-tredonlineduringsuchsensitivetimes. They feel the internet isanonymousandtheycanmalignanyone’sreputationwithoutfac-inganyrepercussions.Theseno-tices have been sent to them tomakethemawarethatwhattheyaredoingisanoffenceunderthelawand they canendup spend-inguptothreeyearsinprison.”Earlier, Maharashtra Home

Minister Anil Deshmukh saidthesenoticeswouldalsobeissued

to thoseposting contentdefam-ing anywoman. “In a state thatfollows the legacy of SavitribaiPhule, wewill not tolerate anyposts thatmakewomenfeelun-safe,”Deshmukhhadsaid.He said that in reference to a

tiktok video that promoted acidattackagainstwomen.Yadavsaidthe police hadwritten to tiktokandtheprofileofthatpersonhadbeendeleted.Sofar,Maharashtrahasregistered400casesofcybercrime,withBeedtoppingthe listwith40offences.

Ladakh laketheareainthepasttwoyears.Theissue is the construction of theroad,whichiswellinsideourter-ritory,and,therefore,theirobjec-tion is hard to comprehend,” asourcesaid.Indiahasrelocatedadditional

troops to thearea, but theyhavenotbeendeployedsofaratthelo-cation.TheDSDBO road connecting

DaulatBegOldie,atthebaseoftheKarakoramPass,withShyokandDarbuk,wascompletedayearagoandprovides India greatly con-nectivity intheborderareas.The255-kmroad,whichhadtobere-alignedaftertheinitialalignmentwasfoundunsuitable,runsalongShyokandTangtserivers.AtPangongTso,asreportedby

The Indian Express, the Chinesehave deployed additional boatson the lake and stopped themovementof Indiansoldiersbe-yond Finger 2 on the northernbanks of the lake— themoun-tains there jut forward inmajorspurs, which the Army callsFingers.IndiaclaimstheLACisco-terminuswithFinger8,whiletheChineseclaimthattheLACpassesthrough Finger 2. The area be-tween the twodifferingpercep-tions is the territorywhichbotharmies try to dominate throughregular patrolling. The Indiansphysically control the areaup toFinger4.Onthetalksbetweenthetwo

sidesTuesday, sources said, “Themeetingbetweenthecommand-ersonbothsidesispartof thees-tablished procedure to resolveanymisunderstanding. Thesetake place on required basis atvarious levels, from a platooncommandertothebrigadecom-mander. The important thing isthat the procedure is being fol-lowed,” sources said. They de-clinedcommentonthedateorlo-cationof thenextmeeting.In comments in Mandarin

Tuesday, the Chinese ForeignMinistrywarned of “necessarycounter-measures” and said:“Chinesebordertroopsarecom-mitted to upholding peace andtranquility inChina-Indiaborderareas. At the same time,wewillresolutelydefendthesovereigntyandsecurityofourhomeland.”“TheChinese side has asked

theIndianpersonneltoreturnim-mediatelyandrestorethecontrolof the relevant areas. Strictly re-strict their frontline teams, buildon the important consensusreachedbytheleadersofthetwocountries and the agreementsthathavebeenmadebetweenthetwosides,meet eachother face-to-face, andwork togetherwiththe Chinese side to safeguardpeaceandstabilityintheregion,”itsaid.Meanwhile, US State

Department official AliceWells,responding to aquestionduringapublicwebinar, said: “Chineseaggression isnot always rhetori-cal.WhetheritistheSouthChinaSeaorwhetheritisalongthebor-derwithIndia,wecontinuetoseeprovocations anddisturbingbe-haviourbyChinathatraisesques-tions about howChina seeks touseitsgrowingpower.Andthatiswhywe are seeing a rallying oflike-mindednations. Theborderdisputes are a reminder of thethreatposedbyChina.”

Classroomin college soon, there areexpenses.”Afewkilometersandaworld

apartisa14-year-oldClass10stu-dentofanupscaleNoidaschool.“Withonline classes, I amon

topofmyassignments.AndIlikeelectronicdevices,sothatmakesthis amore interestingway oflearning,” she says, adding, “Ofcourse,mymotherhelpsmeor-ganisemywork,andIkeepturn-ingtoherforhelpeverytimetheconnection goes off - and thathappensquiteoften.”It’s thisparental support that

hasdeterminedtheeffectivenessof suchonlineprogrammes. Butmanyparents - especially thoseofsmallerchildrenandthosejug-glingworkatofficesandhomes-arestruggling.An illustrative case is of the

parents of an 8-year-old specialneeds childwho say they havehaditespeciallytough.“MyhusbandandIarepublic

healthspecialists.Iworkatamed-ical college and I have to go towork every alternateday.Whileour sononly has two-three ses-sionsaday,for40mineach,eventhat becomesextremely agonis-ing.Oneofushastobeconstantlywithhim,so Iworkmyschedulein such away thatmyhusbandsitswithhimwhenhehaslightersubjects likemusic andarts, andformathsandlanguages,IensureI am home. But I am dreadingwhatwillhappenafter thevaca-tions.Whatwillhappenonceourworkplaces openup fully?” saysthemother.For teachers, too, many of

whomhaverarelyexperimentedbeyond chalk-and-board class-roomsessions, theshifttoonlinehasn’tbeeneasy.Rekha Roy, 50,who teaches

mathematicsatCarmelConventSchoolinChanakyapuri,saysthat“for a generation that’s not verytech savvy, this cameout of theblue”.These days, Roywrites her

mathsumsonpaperanduploadsthem on her computer, before

sharing itwith the class. “Thereare otherswho use stylus pensandallthat,butIdon’t.Luckily,myson and husband are home, sotheyhelpwithtechnicalglitches.But I hope this doesn’t go on fortoo long. It’s almostdepressing. Imiss going around the class andhelpingkidswiththeirsums,”shesays.This is a luxury formany, ar-

guesRafiq Siddiquiwhounder-stands these times and these in-securitieslikefewothers.Siddiqui,who founded Holy MotherEnglish School inMalvani, thevery slums he grew up inMumbai, bristles at thementionofonlineeducation.“I get calls every other day

fromedtechcompaniesofferingsomepackageor the other. I amnotevensureifmychildrenwholive in these slumsare eating al-right. Their parents areprobablyoutofwork. I tryandarrange forfoodandwhenIcall themtodis-tribute those packets, theirphones are usually switchedoffbecause theyhavenomoney torecharge. Can’t we handle thepandemic first?Can’t online ed-ucationwait?”hesays.Notquite,suggeststheprinci-

pal of a government school inDelhi, a statewhere the govern-ment’s education reforms areamongitsbiggestsuccessstories.Admitting there are limits of

access and many families arestruggling tocopewith the lock-down, technology is also anem-powering tool. “Wehave startedliveonlineclassesfor9,10and12.And for classes 7 and8,we sendthemactivitiesonWhatsAppandSMS,”hesays.Headmitsthatonly30-40per

centstudentsattendtheseclasses.Butheisnotdiscouraged.Lowat-tendanceingovernmentschoolsis an issue even in the best oftimes,hesays.“Thesearesummerholidaysandatleastthereissomelearninghappening,atleastmore

thanwhatusuallyhappensdur-ingvacations.”

TOMORROW:DELHITONAGAUR:STEPPING,

SOMETIMESFUMBLING,OVERTHEDIVIDE

Cyclone AmphanRamnagar... the twodistricts ofNorthandSouth24-Parganasaredestroyed,”PTIquotedherassay-ing.The India Meteorological

Department said the extremelyseverecyclonicstormcrossedtheWest Bengal-Bangladesh coastbetween Digha (West Bengal)andHatiya Islands (Bangladesh)across the Sunderbans (WestBengal) near latitude 21.65N&longitude88.3Ebetween3.30pmand5.30pmwithwindspeedsof155-165 kmph, gusting to 185kmph.In Kolkata, wind speeds

quicklywent from69 kmph toabout 105kmpha little before6pm,andkeptincreasingininten-sitythereafter.The districts of East

Midnapore, South 24-ParganasandNorth24-Parganasweretheworst affected. The same areashad been pounded by cycloneBulbulinNovember2019.Heavy rain and strongwinds

hadbeenpummellingthecoastaltowns of Digha, Tajpur,Shankarpur, Mandarmani,Bakkhali, Kakdwip andHaldiasincemorning. AsAmphan toreintoDigha, giantwaves crashedontoroads lining thebeach, andtrees taller thanbuildings fell atregularintervals.Fearfulof thecyclone’s feroc-

ity,48-year-oldSanatNandi,whohad taken shelterwith hiswifeanddaughter at amultipurposecyclonecentre inPadimavillage,worriedfortheirthatchedhutasthewind howled and the raincamedownhard.A hand-rickshaw puller,

Nandi said the hutwas his only

possession— thepandemichadexhausted thevery little savingshehad, and the familyhadbeenlivingon free rationprovidedbythelocalpanchayatatNewDighainWestBengal’sEastMidnaporedistrict.“Ifmyhut isdestroyed in the

cyclone,wewillbeonthestreets.Mydaughter is15, andwill beofmarriageable age in a fewyears.Wearepraying thecyclonedoesnotbringdownourhome,”NanditoldTheIndianExpress.At least 230 people had

movedtothisshelterasAmphanheaded to coastalWest Bengal.Andmost had similar fears andprayers asNandi— their housesshouldremainintact. Ithasbeenadoublewhammyforallofthem—thepandemicandthecyclone.NDRFpersonnel deployedat

Dighahaveaddedresponsibilities—sanitisationofthecyclonecen-treandensuringsocialdistancingduringthewaitforthecyclone,itsimmediateaftermath.In-chargeof thecyclonecen-

tre, Abhishek Kumar Gaurav,Assistant Commandant, 2ndBattalion, NDRF, said: “When itcomestonaturalcalamity,itisnotpossibletosaynotopeoplelook-ingforshelter.Wecanonlyallowabout350peoplehere.Somepeo-ple have also taken shelter inschools. The evacuationprocessstartedonTuesday.”At the control room, Chief

MinisterBanerjeespokewiththechairmanof theboardofadmin-istratorsattheKolkataMunicipalCorporation, FirhadHakim, andtook stockof the situation in thestate capital. The ChiefMinisterwasexpected tospendthenightatthecontrolroom.As the cyclone intensified,

treeswereuprootedandelectric-ity polesweredamaged. A largenumber of houses, especiallymudhouses in the coastal areas,collapsed.Anumberofembank-mentswerebreachedand there

were reports of flooding in thelow-lying areas of South andNorth 24-Parganas. Electricitywascutoffinthecoastalareasandasaprecaution.According toMet officials, it

wouldtakefivetosixhoursforthecyclone topass overBengal, andtherainwasexpectedtocontinueuntil Friday. The extent of thedamageandlossof livescouldbeascertainedonly after the stormhadpassed,officialssaid.Deputy Director General of

Meteorology, RegionalMeteorological Centre, Alipore,SanjibBandyopadhyaysaid:“Theprocessof landfallstartedat2.30pm.Ittakesthreetofourhoursforlandfall tobe completed.At 2.30pm,werecordedwindsof speed130 to 170 kmper hour in EastMidnapore and South 24-Parganas. In Alipore (Kolkata),wind speed of 69 kmper hourwasrecorded,whichincreasedto105 kmper hour later. Thiswillonlyincrease.”In Kolkata, trees were up-

rootedinoverthirtyareasinclud-ingNewAlipore,CentralAvenue,SNBanerjeeRoad,BidhanSarani,Shakespeare Sarani, Ballygunge,Maidan,Hastings, PrinceAnwarShahRoad,andGariahat.Atmanyplaces,trafficsignalscollapsed.Allmajor roadswere blocked, andtherewere reports ofwaterlog-ginginthecity.

Nepal mapJayate” (truthprevails)—arefer-ence to India’s official emblemandslogan.Oli told lawmakers Tuesday

thatthecoronaviruscomingfromIndia was “more lethal” thanthose fromChina and Italy. Heblamed the rising number ofCovidcasesonpeoplesneakinginfromIndia.On Wednesday, Padma

KumariAryal,Nepalminister forland management, released anew map, includingLimpiyadhura, Lipulekh andKalapaniwhichtogethermakeanareaof310sqkm.Nepalclaimsitstotal areawill nowbe officially147,491sqkm.In New Delhi, the MEA

spokespersonsaidNepal is“wellawareof India’s consistent posi-tion on thismatter andweurgetheGovernment of Nepal to re-frainfromsuchunjustifiedcarto-graphic assertion and respectIndia’ssovereigntyandterritorialintegrity. We hope that theNepaleseleadershipwillcreateapositive atmosphere for diplo-maticdialoguetoresolvetheout-standingboundaryissues”.TheassessmentinNewDelhi

is thatOli hasbeenemboldenedaftertheChineseplayedakeyroleinsecuringhis leadershipwithinNepal’sCommunistparty.InlateAprilandearlyMay,as

Olifacedaleadershipchallenge,ChineseambassadorHouYanqihad held backroomdiplomacyandhadbackedthePM.Shehadseparatelymet leaders PushpaKamal Dahal “Prachanda” andMadhav Nepal, both formerPMs.RanjitRae,formerIndianam-

bassadortoNepal,toldTheIndianExpress: “Chinahasnotonly theintent,butalsotheabilitynow. ItisheavilyinvolvedintheNepalesedomesticpoliticalprocesses.”Raesaidheis“surprisedbythe

kindof languageusedby PrimeMinisterOli” and that “the toneandtenorofthePM’sspeechcer-tainlydoesnotreflectthecivilisa-tionalnatureof theties”.Both Indian and Nepalese

sides say that 98per cent of theboundaryquestionhas been re-solved,anditisonlytheKalapaniand Susta segmentswhich re-mainunresolved.

New bureauindustries in green zones to re-buildMaharashtra,”hehadsaid.OnTuesday, thegovernment

reclassified its lockdownzones,limitingtheredzonestoMumbaiand17othermunicipal corpora-tionareas.Therestofthestatehasnowbeen classified as “non-red

zones”,wherealleconomicactiv-ities have beenpermitted fromMay22.DesaisaidtheIEBwillinvolve

a collaboration of three depart-ments – industries, labour andskilldevelopment.Tailoredtosuittheneedsoftheindustries,itwillenrollworkers in skilled, semi-skilled,andunskilledsegments.“The coronavirus crisis has

seenanexodusofmigrantwork-ers.We can safely assume thatsomeof themwon’treturnsincetheir own states will come upwithschemestoretainthem.Thewhole idea behind setting up anewemploymentbureauisacre-ateanewworkforce tomeet theshortfall in both skilled andun-skilledsegments.Therewillbenoshortage of labour in the state,”saidDesai.“Thecrisishasalsogivenusan

opportunity to givemore em-ployment to localMaharashtrians. They will begivenpriority,”headded.A senior official said that an

initial blueprint regarding thefunctioning of the bureau hasbeen readied after discussionswith industry players, tradeunionsandexperts.Basedonin-putsoftheMaharashtraIndustrialDevelopment Corporation andtheLabourCommissionerate,thestateinformationtechnologyde-partment is currently designingtheproposedbureau’swebpor-tal,whichwillbeusedtoenrolel-igibleworkers.The industries department

has been taskedwithmappingskilled andunskilled labour re-quirement of units in every dis-trict,whiletheskilldevelopmentdepartmentwill be responsiblefor training the unskilled andsemi-skilledworkforce.“Wewilldesign courses tailored tomeettheindustries’requirement,”saidDesai.WhileMaharashtra already

hasalawthatrequiresindustriesthat avail tax concessions fromthegovernmenttoensurethat80percentof theyworkerstheydi-rectly hire are local residents,Desaiindicatedthattheplanwasto amendnorms to ensure thateven for labour hired on a con-tract basis, the localwork forcegetspriority.Around 30 to 35 per cent of

the industrialworkforce,mostlyon the unskilled and the semi-skilled side,workoncontractualbasis. Before the statewent intolockdown, a vastmajority of un-skilledlabourintheconstruction,steel,andhospitalitysectorscom-prised of migrants. While thestate’sreliefandrehabilitationde-partmenthas claimed that oversix lakhmigrantworkershad sofarreturnedtotheirnativestates,senior officials said “more thor-oughassessment” of the impactofexodusintheindustriessectorwasstillbeingmapped.Maharashtra, the country’s

most industrialised state, hasmore17 lakhunits registered inthemicro,small,andmediumen-terprises(MSME)sectoralone.Invoking Shiv Sena founder

Bal Thackeray, Desai said,“BalasahebThackerayhadalwayschampioned the cause of em-ployment to the localMaharashtrians. It was on ShivSena’sdemandthatthestatehadenactedlawsrequiringindustriestoreserve80percent jobs(indi-rectemployment)tolocals.”He added, “Through the

Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti, setup in the 70s, the party had en-suredarise inpercentageofem-ploymentofMarathis in varioussectors.”Meanwhile, Desai said that

thegovernmentwaseyeingnewinvestmentfromcompaniesthatwouldmoveoutofChina,andhadreserved40,000acres forsettingupofnewplants.“Thenewbureauwillalsode-

sign special employment pro-grammes for such new invest-ment. The government willappoint relationshipmanagersforeachnewinvestortoexpeditevariousclearances,”headded.

FROMPAGEONE

Airspace unlockdown from May 25: Minister

100 pairs of trains to start on June 1, bookings open today

providing complementarymobilityinfrastructuresuchasbuses and taxis, to operatefromtheairport.Also,detailedSOPs forresumptionofopera-tionsarestill awaited.“Domesticcivilaviationop-

erationswillrecommenceinacalibrated manner fromMonday 25th May 2020. Allairports&aircarriersarebeinginformedtobereadyforoper-ations from 25th May. SOPs(standard operating proce-dures) for passenger move-mentarealsobeingseparatelyissued by Civil Aviationmin-istry,”Puri said.Certain state governments

have already expressed con-cernsoverresumingflightop-erations given that majormetro hubs like Delhi andMumbaiareinredzones.OnlyTuesday, Puri had alluded tothefactthatitwasnotuptotheCentre “alone to decide on re-

sumingdomestic flights”.“Inthespiritofcooperative

federalism,thegovernmentofstateswhere these flightswilltake off and land should bereadytoallowcivilaviationop-erations,”hehadsaid.Topairlineexecutiveswere

scheduled to meet seniorMinistry officials lateWednesday to finalise themodalities of resumption,alongwith SOPs for flight op-erations.Speaking to The Indian

Express, an airline executivesaid that while the govern-ment has indicated that “30-35%”of flightsmaybeallowedto operate, theywere lookingat a lower number given thatdemand may not be high atthis stage.“Somemajor airports are

still inredzonesandstategov-ernments there have not al-lowed any public transport to

ply. Insuchacase,peoplemaynotwanttoflytoorfromthoseairports,” the executive said.Furthermore,airlinesmayalsonot find it viable to fly solelybetween green-zone airportsas these may not be viablegiven theweakdemand.“WhiletheSOPforresump-

tion of operations and detailsof flights tobeoperated is stillawaited, we are sure that thismuch-awaitedmovewillhelpa large number of passengersby providing them access tothe safest andquickestmeansof transport,” SpiceJet’sChairman and ManagingDirector Ajay Singh said in astatement.The government had al-

readyfloatedasetofdraftSOPswithaviationstakeholders in-cludingairlinesandairportstoseek feedback on measuressuch asmandatory social dis-tancingatairports,revisionsin

the way security proceduresareconductedtoensuremini-malcontact,useof facemasksandpersonalprotectiveequip-ment by passengers and em-ployees, amongothers.A set of newhealth checks

may also be instituted thatcould result in longer queues.Additionally,theBureauofCivilAviation Security has alreadyput in placemeasures such asdoing awaywith stamping ofboarding passes at securitycheck and an enhanced limitfor passengers to carry handsanitiser liquidonboard.On whether fares would

jump given that airlines willrunmuch below their capac-ity, Puri had said that a prag-matic approachwill be taken.“Since only 30 out of 100flightsmightbeoperating,wedon’t want something thatsells for Rs 5 to sell for Rs 50,”hehadsaid.

resumptionof “200 trains” onTwitter on Tuesday. After theRailways released the list oftrains onWednesday, it ap-pearedthathehadmeant100pairs — to and fro — of trainswould resume.Bookings for these trains

will open on Thursday. Berthscanbereservedupto30daysinadvance.TicketscanbebookedonlyontheIRCTCwebsite.On Wednesday evening,

Goyal tweeted: “Taking strictprecautionarymeasures, 200more trainswill commence. E-ticket booking for these trainswillbeginon21stMayat10am.”The Railways also an-

nounced that food stalls andcanteensatstationswillreturnwith immediate effect, bring-

ingbackadegreeof normalcyat stations.Sources said the decision

had been takenwith the twinobjectives of opening up op-tions formigrants to return totheir statesofwork fromtheirhome states to help resumeeconomic activity, and givingstranded people and otherswhowanttotravel thechancetodoso.The bouquet of trains, cu-

rated over the past few days,will connect tier2citiesacrossIndia, as well as metros andcapitals.Thesetrainswillruninaddition to the ShramikSpecials. States such as Biharhad proposed to the Railwaysthat along with the Shramiktrains, ticketed trains should

alsoberunforstrandedpeople.The five Durontoswill run

fromHowrah to Yesvantpur,Sealdah to Puri, Shalimar toPatna, Ernakulum toNizamuddin, andSecunderabadtoNizamuddin,theRailwaysannounced.Apart from the 17 Jan

Shatabdis, which are seating-only trains for shorter dis-tances, regular mail/expresslong-distance trains that willresume include the popularShivganga, Shramjeevi, Goa,Andhra Pradesh, Ashram, andKarambhumi Expresses, andthe Golden Temple Mail,KarnatakaSamparkKranti,andHowrah-MumbaiMail.All thesetrainswillbefully

reserved,withbothAC&Non-

AC classes. General coachestoo,willhavereservedseating.“Fares shall be normal and forGeneral(GS)coaches,beingre-served,secondseating(2S)fareshall be charged and seatwillbe provided to all the passen-gers,” theRailwayssaid.Theusualheathprotocolof

screening and allowing onlyasymptomatic passengers totravel,asapplicableonthespe-cial Rajdhani-type trainsstartedearlierthismonth,willcontinue.Passengerswillhavetoreachthestation90minutesinadvance.Only four categories of

Divyangjanconcessionsand11categories of patient conces-sionswillbepermittedinthesespecial trains.

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3THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020

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3. The above is an extract of the detailed format of Quarterly Financial Results filed with the Stock Exchanges under Regulation 33 of the SEBI (Listing andOther Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The full format of the Quarterly Financial Results is available on the Stock Exchange websiteswww.nseindia.comandwww.bseindia.comandon theCompany'swebsitewww.tatapower.com.

4. Figures for the quarters ended 31stMarch, 2020 and 31stMarch, 2019 are the balancing figures between the audited figures in respect of the full years andthe restated figures of ninemonths ended 31stDecember, 2019 and31stDecember, 2018 respectively.

For and on behalf of the Board ofTHE TATA POWER COMPANY LIMITED

PRAVEER SINHACEO & Managing Director

DIN 01785164Date: 19th May, 2020Place: Mumbai

EXTRACT OF CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE QUARTER AND YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH, 2020

a. Total Income from Operations 6,620.80 7,071.03 7,229.84 29,136.37 29,881.06b. Profit / (Loss) before Exceptional items and tax 549.60 365.44 470.54 2,142.00 2,073.26c. Profit / (Loss) before Tax 869.73 365.44 319.13 2,368.16 3,819.09d. Profit / (Loss) for the period/year 474.70 262.00 171.57 1,316.44 2,605.66e. Total Comprehensive Income 1,121.37 324.33 58.84 2,152.64 2,770.15f. Paid-up Equity Share Capital (Face Value: ₹ 1/- per share) 270.50 270.50 270.50 270.50 270.50g. Total Reserves 17,795.52 16,535.01h. Earnings Per Equity Share (of ₹ 1/- each) (not annualised)

Basic and Diluted: (In ₹)(i) From Continuing Operations before net movement in

regulatory deferral balances 2.31 0.38 (0.49) 5.33 8.29(ii) From Continuing Operations after net movement in

regulatory deferral balances 2.70 0.62 0.39 4.64 8.54(iii) From Discontinued Operations (1.38) (0.05) (0.09) (1.52) (0.46)(iv) Total Operations after net movement in regulatory 1.32 0.57 0.30 3.12 8.08

deferral balances

Quarterended

31-Dec-19(Unaudited) *

Quarterended

31-Mar-20(Refer Note 4)

Quarterended

31-Mar-19(Refer Note 4) *

Yearended

31-Mar-20(Audited)

Yearended

31-Mar-19(Audited) *

ConsolidatedSr.No.

₹ crore

Notes:1. The above results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 19th May, 2020.2. Financial Information of the standalone financial results of the Company is as follows:

Registered Office: Bombay House, 24 Homi Mody Street, Mumbai 400 001 Website: www.tatapower.com CIN : L28920MH1919PLC000567

* Restated

Quarterended

31-Dec-19(Audited)

Quarterended

31-Mar-20(Audited)

(Refer Note 4)

Quarterended

31-Mar-19(Audited)

(Refer Note 4)

Yearended

31-Mar-20(Audited)

Yearended

31-Mar-19(Audited)

StandaloneSr.No.

a. Total Income from Operations 1,764.42 1,932.22 2,169.44 7,726.39 8,255.25b. Profit / (Loss) before Exceptional items and tax 55.21 (2.87) 106.90 656.88 1,179.01c. Profit / (Loss) before Tax (157.17) (2.87) 61.90 350.53 2,347.00d. Profit / (Loss) for the period/year (309.94) 6.94 69.16 148.12 1,768.70e. Total Comprehensive Income (317.30) (1.90) 40.37 95.36 1,724.06f. Paid-up Equity Share Capital (Face Value: ₹ 1/- per share) 270.50 270.50 270.50 270.50 270.50g. Total Reserves 13,491.47 13,919.10h. Earnings Per Equity Share (of ₹ 1/- each) (not annualised)

Basic and Diluted: (In ₹)(i) From Continuing Operations before net movement in

regulatory deferral balances 0.57 0.34 0.28 3.23 6.72(ii) From Continuing Operations after net movement in

regulatory deferral balances 0.08 (0.08) 0.19 1.44 6.36(iii) From Discontinued Operations (1.38) (0.05) (0.09) (1.52) (0.46)(iv) Total Operations after net movement in regulatory

deferral balances (1.30) (0.13) 0.10 (0.08) 5.90

₹ crore

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY20

ACTOR RANVIR ShoreyWednesday took to Twitter tocomplainagainstMumbaiPoliceafterhiscarwasallegedlystoppedbyon-dutypolicemen.Theactorhasclaimedthat itwasanemer-gency situation but the policehaverefutedtheallegations.Inaseriesof tweets, theactor

said,“Mycarwasimpoundedfortakingmydomestic help for hiswife’sdeliverytohospital.Officerin-chargesaysachildbeingdeliv-ered is not anemergency. Pleaseadvise.”Awhilelater,asthepolicemen

refused to budge, he againtweetedsaying,“Evenasotherof-

ficers haveunder-stoodthesituationand are sympa-thetic, the OIC,Vijay K Kadam atJogeshwari high-waypolicechowkidecided to file anFIR and impoundmycar.Thisisplain

harassment.”However, traffic authorities

said the allegationswere false.Kadam said, “He has been lyingall this while. His house help’swifedeliveredababyonMay14.Thereweretwopersonspresentin the car, one was his driverwhile another was his househelp.Therewasnowomaninthecar, andhewas also not presentinthevehicle.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY20

THE BMC’s decision to resumebiometric attendance at civicand government hospitals tocheck absenteeism has causedconcern as fingerprint identifi-cation machines, touched byhundreds of employees, couldbecomeapotential coronavirusspreader.AMay 16 circular, signed by

DirectorateofMedicalEducationand Research (DMER) Dr T PLahane and MunicipalCommissioner I SChahal, statesthatbiometricattendanceinthegovernment, aswell as the civichospitalsformedical,non-med-ical, and para-medical staff,should be resumed as soon aspossible. It further states thatduecareshouldbetakentowash

hands with soap andwater orsanitisers to prevent transmis-sionofthenovelcoronavirusdis-ease.Civic hospitals had sus-

pendedbiometricattendanceonMarch 16 soon after the out-breakof thepandemic.OnWednesday,civicofficials

saidthedecisiontorecommencethebiometricattendancesystemwas taken inviewof the irregu-lar staff attendance.“Biometric machines will

helpkeeparecordofemployees,androtationof dutiescanbera-

tionalised to ease the pressureonstaffworkingconsistentlyforthelasttwomonths,”theofficialsaid.However, officials also ex-

pressedconcernedthatthema-chines themselves could pose arisk—first, itstouchmechanism,and second, the queues ofstaffers waiting tomark atten-dance that itmay trigger.“Thecentralgovernmenthad

cancelledbiometric attendancesystem and there is no biomet-ricpresenceinreputedhospitals,like AIIMS. I would request theMaharashtragovernmentnottoplaywiththelivesofmedicalof-ficers and staffers,” RTI activistAnilGalgali said.Joint Municipal

Commissioner, GeneralAdministration department,MilindSawant,wasnotavailablefor comment.

SANJANABHALERAOMUMBAI,MAY20

MUNICIPALCOMMISSIONER I SChahal onWednesday orderedwardofficers to register a crimi-naloffenceagainstprivatehospi-tals, clinics and nursing homesthathavefailedtoreopenevenaf-ter repeated orders by the civicbody. Anticipating a spike in thenumber of coronavirus cases,Chahalalsodirectedwardofficersto reserve 100 beds each fromnursinghomesandsmallprivatehospitalsintheirrespectivewards.“Outof 100beds, at least 10per-centmust be ICU (intensive careunit)beds,”Chahalsaid.Inavideomeetingwiththe24

wardofficers,Chahalaskedtheof-ficials to ensure that all privatehospitals and nursing homeswerereopened.Chahalhasaskedall thewardofficers toprepare alist of suchhospitals and clinics,which have closed down in thelast twomonths, and register acriminaloffenceagainstthem.Afterreportsthatalargenum-

berof patients,with coronavirussymptoms aswell as other ill-nesses, are being made to runfromonehospital to another foradmission, thecivicbodyhaddi-rectedall theprivatehospitals toopen their out-patient depart-

ments(OPDs),nursinghomeandclinics. Even after repeated re-mindersandnoticesfromthecivicbody,manyprivatehospitalsandnursinghomesinthecitychosetoremain shut. The civic bodyhaddirectedallhospitalstostartpro-vidingmedical services as non-Covidpatientswere facingprob-lemsinaccessinghealthcare.Severalhospitalshadreached

outtotheBMCclaimingthattheywereunable to run routine serv-icesofOPDandadmissionsduetostaff shortage.With a spurt inCovid-19cases,especiallyamongmedicalpractitioners,manyhaveshutdown.In themeeting, Chahal asked

civic officials to ensure supply ofpersonal protective equipment(PPE) kits to private hospitals.According to the circular datedMay14,theBMCwillhelpprivateclinics in andnear containmentzoneswith PPE kits to facilitatescreening of those displayingCovid-19symptoms.In the lastmonth, severalpri-

vatehospitalshad tobedeclaredcontainmentzonesaftertheirstaffcontractedtheinfectionfromun-suspecting patients. Jaslok,Shushruta, Breach Candy,Wockhardt,Bhatia,HindujaKharandSai (Chembur)hospitalshadto be sealed and staff had to bequarantined.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY20

TWOMUMBAIPoliceconstablessuccumbed to Covid-19 onWednesday, taking the overalltoll forthecitypoliceforceto10.Thepoliceidentifiedthecon-

stables as Ganesh ChaudharyfromParksitepolice stationandDhivsenPingale fromthe trafficdepartment.ACP (Vikhroli division) Vilas

Kanade said, “GaneshChaudharyhadbeenonleaveforthe last10days.Afterhestartedsufferingfromfeverandbreath-lessness,heunderwentaCovid-19test,whichconfirmedthathewas infected.” Chaudhary wasadmittedatSevenHillshospitaleight days ago. “As hewas alsosuffering fromdiabetes, his im-munity system could not fightthevirus,” saidanofficer.Pingale, whowas posted at

the traffic department, devel-oped symptoms onMay 6, fol-lowing which he underwent atest. “Afterhetestedpositive,hewas admitted to Trauma Carehospital in Jogeshwari,” said anofficer. On May 10, he wasshifted to Seven Hills hospital,wherehedied.So far, 699 Mumbai police

personnel have tested positive,with 93 of them recovering.Besidesthe10inMumbaiPolice,14 personnel from the state po-licehavesuccumbedtothevirus.

MOHAMEDTHAVERMUMBAI,MAY20

MAXIMUMCITYremains inthered zone but the now two-month-long lockdown, whichenteredits fourthphaseonMay18, isclearly fraying,withtrafficon the roads themain indicatorof this. There aremore vehicleson the roads than at any timesince March 22, when the cityshut down two days ahead ofthenational lockdown.There are even traffic snarls

on the highways and majorroadsacross thecitybut largelyon account of the police check-points onvarious roads. Armedwith the knowledge of wherethecheckpointsare, several, in-cluding cab drivers, have foundawaytoply their tradewithoutlanding in trouble.

TilakSingh,acabdriver,hadparked his kaali-peeli on onesideof LJRoadinMahim.Whenaskedif thecab,whichisnotof-ficiallyallowedtoply,wasreadyfor hire, he replied in the affir-mative. “I only take fares for

south Mumbai, I do not go to-wardsthesuburbs. Iknowthereisapolicenakabandiontheroadahead so I take a fewbylanes tocircumvent the nakabandis,”Singh toldThe IndianExpress.“I do get fares through the

day. I’m charging by themeteras I know everyone is in a des-peratesituation. I toohavebeeninthecityfortoolongtogobacktomyvillage,”Singhsaid,beforedriving off as he got a fare forShivaji park. Like him, severalauto and cab driverswere seenplyingon internal roadsof localareas, like in Andheri, whichtheyknowisnotmannedbypo-lice.On the highways andmajor

roads, however, the story is dif-ferent. BEST buses plying mi-grants to railway stations, am-bulances, essential servicesvehicles,deliveryexecutives, JCB

vans and dumpers dotted theWestern Express Highway(WEH)onWednesdayevening.Therewere traffic snarls on theWEH in Vile Parle, on LJ Roadnear Machchimar Colony atMahim andWorli naka due topolice checkpoints. “The trafficisonaccountof thecheckpointsbut these are needed or elseeveryonewill beon the road,” atraffic official said.“Sincepastweek,vehicleson

the roads have gone up. Mostvehicular traffic is in themorn-inghours,” saida traffic consta-bleatacheckpointontheWEH.“We allow vehicleswith emer-gency services sticker. In othercases, they showus ID cards. Inaddition, thereareseveralvehi-clescarryingmigrantsoutof thecity,” headded.“In many cases, rumour-

mongering has also led to peo-

ple coming out on the roads.Many people show usWhatsAppmessages claimingvehicular movement has beenallowed. The messages are ei-ther false ormisinterpreted bypeople,” said Raju Gaikwad, atrafficconstableatacheckpointonCadellRoadnearShivajiPark.“In some cases, people don’thave police passes but showussomemedical slip.Howcanweallow them unless there is anemergency?Weaskthemtoap-proach local police for permis-sion,”headded.Apart from this, there are

youngsters on bikes. “They seepolice nakabandi from a dis-tance, try to take a U-turn andflee. If we nab them, a case isregistered and the vehicle im-pounded.Theythenhavetofig-ureoutawaytoreturnhomebythemselves,” he said.

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,MAY20

THE BOMBAY High Court onTuesday directed the state gov-ernment to take all possiblemeasures to implement ordersbythecompetentauthorityanddistribute essential protectiveequipmentseizedbyinvestigat-ing agencies in MaharashtraamongthoseonCovid-19duty.Thecourtpassedanorderaf-

ter the state on Tuesday in-formeditthatthecompetentau-thority under the EssentialCommoditiesActhasalreadyor-dered the release of some vitalprotective equipment seizedbyinvestigating agencies to theBMC, which can be reached tothe frontlineworkers.Followingthis, thecourtdis-

posed of a PIL filed by stateCongress general secretaryMohan Joshi, seeking release ofpersonal protective equipment,

hand sanitizers and masksseized by state agencies for useby hospitals and healthcareworkers.“So long the orders of com-

petent authority are not dis-turbed in judicial proceedings,the state shallmake all possibleendeavour to implement suchorders and ensure that in thesetrying times, the seizedproper-ties do reach the end-users forcombating Covid-19,” the courtsaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY20

ENVIRONMENT ACTIVIST andlawyer Afroz Shah alleged onWednesdaythathewasdetainedby the police on Tuesday nightwhen hewas ferryingmigrantworkers walking towardsGhatkopar to take a bus toUttarPradesh.Shahclaimedhewastakento

theTilakNagarpolicestationandthreatenedwithanFIRandatraf-ficchallanforviolatinglockdownnorms.SinceMarch18,Shahsaidhehadbeenproviding food andrationtopeople.“IhavealsobeentravellingontheMumbai-Nashikhighway,wheremanyworkersare walking, to provide themfood,”headded.“While Iwas returning from

thereonTuesdaynightalongwithavolunteer,wesawagroupofsixworkers who wanted to go toGhatkopar,” Shahsaid.Headded

he decided to drop them to thesuburb but was stopped at acheckpointinGhatkopar.“Thepo-licemenondutyspokerudelyandbehaved in ahigh-handedman-ner.ItoldthemIhadpermission,”Shahsaid.Headdedhewastakentothe

policestationforregistrationofanFIR, but after 45 minutes, wasagain taken to the spot,where atraffic constable said a challanwould be issued against him.“Finally, after two hours, I wasaskedtogo...Ihavenowdecidedtosuspendallmyactivities,”hesaid.SeniorInspectorofTilakNagar

policestationsaidsinceShahdid-n’thavethenecessarypaperworktodrivemigrants,hewastakentothepolicestation.“Initially,hewastold an FIRwould be registeredagainsthim.Butthenwerealisedthathis intentionwasnotwrongandallowedhim to leave.Noof-fensewasregisteredagainsthim.”Kamble denied that any police-manbehavedrudelywithShah.

LAXMANSINGHANDTABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,MAY20

A57-YEAR-OLDsecurityofficerofthecivicbody,whowasduetore-tire later this year,Wednesdaysuccumbed to the novel coron-avirus, theninthBrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC)staffertodieduetotheinfection.Sofar,80civicsecurityperson-

nel have tested positive for thevirus,ofwhom55arestillunder-going treatment and25have re-covered.The security guard, originally

posted at KEMhospital at Parel,waslastmonthshiftedtoG-Southward — comprising Worli,Mahalaxmi,LowerParel—afteragovernment directive restrictedassigningstaff above55yearsonCovid-19duty.“OnMay14, thesecurityoffi-

cer, a resident of Delisle Road inLowerParel,wasadmittedtoKEMHospital after he complained ofbreathlessness.Subsequently,hissamplewas tested for Covid-19.OnTuesday, after he testedposi-tiveandwasshiftedtoaCovid-19ward. By evening, his conditiondeteriorated and he died earlyWednesdaymorning,”anofficialfromBMC’s security guard de-partmentsaid.The official added that the

sourceofhis infectionisyet tobeascertained.Of55securitypersonnel,who

areundergoingtreatmentforthevirus,52areguardsandthreeoth-ersareofficers.BMCemploys 2,400 security

guards,whoaredeployedatcivichospitals,wardoffices,andothercentral offices. The corporationalsohasmore than2,200privatesecuritypersonnel.The BMC employees’ union

hasallegedthat thesecuritystaffis not being given proper safetyequipment, which is exposingthem to infection. “The securityguards are not getting enoughsafety equipment. Theygetpoorqualitymasks and gloves. Thecivic body shouldgive themPPEkitswhen they are deployed atCovid-19wards. The57-year-oldsecurity officerwas assignedondutyevenwhenhewasabove55yearsofage.Thisiscompleteneg-ligence,” Prakash Devdas ofMumbai Manpa KarmchariSangathanasaid.The civic administration has

deniedtheallegations.“We are giving all the safety

equipment to our staff. If anyguard is posted at a Covid-19ward,heisbeinggivenPPE.Apartfrom this, all guards have beengivenmasks, gloves, and handsanitisers.Wehaveenoughstock.Also,allourstaff iscoveredunderthecompensationpolicyofCovid-19death,” said a senior officer ofthe civic body’s security depart-ment. Chiefsecurityofficer,VinodBadkar, couldnot be reached forcomment.

INTHEFRONTLINE:CISFpersonnel,deployed inthecity toassist thepolice, takeoutarootmarchatBhendiBazaronWednesday.NirmalHarindran

Traffic snarls make a comeback on city roadsInmanycases, rumour-mongeringhasalso ledtopeoplecomingoutontheroads.ManypeopleshowusWhatsAppmessagesclaimingvehicularmovementhasbeenallowed.Themessagesareeitherfalseormisinterpretedbypeople”

RAJUGAIKWADTRAFFICCONSTABLEATACHECKPOINTONCADELLROAD

Actor tweets policestopped, impoundedcar in ‘emergencysituation’; cops deny

RanvirShorey. File

2 constablesdie, toll 10

Ofthe55securitystaffers,whoareundergoingtreatmentforthevirus,52areguardsand3areofficers

Sofar,699Mumbaipolicepersonnelhavetestedpositive

CHAHALTOWARDOFFICERS

‘LodgeFIRsagainstpvthospitals thathavenotreopeneddespiteorders’

Concern as BMC set to resumebiometric attendance at hospitals

Distribute seized protective equipmentto those on Covid-19 duty: HC to govt

Activist drives sixmigrants workers toGhatkopar, threatenedwith FIR by police Civichospitalshad

suspendedbiometricattendanceonMarch16soonaftertheoutbreakof thepandemic

25 NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES INDHARAVI

Mumbai: Twenty-five newcoronaviruspatientswerede-tected in Dharavi here onWednesday,takingthetallyofcases to 1,378, according to aBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation(BMC)official.Sixcaseswere found inMatungaLabourColonywithinthearea.

Butnonewcoronavirusdeathwas reported in the area,knownasAsia’s biggest slum,since Tuesday evening, theBMCofficialsaid.Thedeathtollthus standsat56. Themortal-ity rate in Dharavi due to thepandemic is 4.1 per cent, headded. PTI

An1,100-bedquarantine facilityhasbeensetupatVashiExhibitionCentre.AmitChakravarty

TOTAL80CASES,25RECOVER

57-year-old BMCsecurity officer dies

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NOTICE INVITING TENDERSTender No. Description Existing Date Due Date

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192023002793

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DIPR No.- 3479/20 Superintending Engineer

Name of work Rehabilitation of Dantiwada Dam MI Sub Project,Teh.- Bali, Distt.- Pali under RWSLIP

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Amount of Bid Security 6.26 LacsPeriod of Completion 18 MonthsCost of Bid Document 5000/-Period of sale of biddingdocument

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Color Spot,Byculla (E),Phone : 23748048 / 23714748.

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Fulrani Advtg. & Mktg.Antop HillPhone: 24159061Mobile: 9769238274/ 9969408835

Ganesh Advertising,Abdul Rehman Street,Phone : 2342 9163 / 2341 4596.

J.K. Advertisers,Hornimal Circle, Fort.Phone : 22663742.

Mani’s Agencies,Opp.G.P.O., Fort.Phone : 2263 00232.Mobile : 9892091257.

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Premier AdvertisersMumbai CentralMobile: 9819891116

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Samagra Shiksha, Andhra Pradesh is inviting Request For Proposal for pro-curement and supply of 3 (Three) paris of uniform cloth under the schemeof “Jagananna Vidya Kanuka” to all the students (approximately 8.2 lakhsin number) studying classes IX and X in Government/MPP/ ZPP/Municipal/KGBVs/Model Schools/Ashram schools/ Residential/ Aided Schools ofEducation and welfare departments in the State of Andhra Pradesh duringthe year 2020-21. For details please visithttps://tender.apeprocurement.gov.in from 21.05.2020. Tender/RFP formcan be downloaded from website. Eligible firms shall upload the prescribedformat as per the schedules given in the above said site. Contact No. 0866-2428599, 7032091512.

Sd/-V. Chinaveerabhadrudu, I.A.S.,

State Project Director,Samagra Shiksha, Andhra Padesh

GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESHSAMAGRA SHIKSHA,

STATE PROJECT OFFICEKBC BOYS HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS, OPP RAITHU BAZAR,

PATAMATA, VIJAYAWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH

R.O.No.:68PP/CL/ADVT/1/1/2020-21

Sl. No Tender Inviting Authority Specification No. Total1 CE/MM M-01, M-02, M-03 32 CE/CD DRIP-01 1

3 SE/Transmission-III T-2145 1For details of works/Procurement/Due date of submission/opening Corrigendum,Due date extension, viewing and downloading of e-tenders, please visit websites:www.tangedco.gov.in,www.tantransco.gov.in,www.tenders.tn.gov.in,www.tntenders.gov.in/nicgep/app,

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Rajasthan State Road Development And Construction Corporation Ltd., JAIPURNo. NIT/2020-21/1146-55 Date 20.05.2020

BÊX-d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ff Àfa£¹ff 026/20-21d³f¸³fd»fd£f°f I f¹ffÊZÔ IZ d»fE IZ ³Qi/Sfª¹f ÀfSI fS IZ Ad·f¹ffadÂfI e d½f·ff¦fûÔ õfSf ´faªfeIÈ °f E½fa A³fb·f½fe Àfa½fZQI ûÔ ÀfZ d³f²ffÊdS°f ´fi´fÂf ¸fZÔ BÊ-´fiû¢¹fcS¸fZ³M ´fidIi ¹ff WZ°fb Afg³f»ffB³fd³fd½fQf¹fZÔ Af¸fadÂf°f I e ªff°fe W`a:-

d³fd½fQf ÀfZ Àfa¶fad²f°f Àf¸fÀ°f d½f½fS¯f E½fa ÀfaVfû²f³f ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in, http://sppp.rajasthan.nic.in °f±ffhttp://roads.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS QZJf ªff ÀfI °ff W`Ü B¨LbI Àfa½fZQI ûÔ I û A´f³fZ dO dªfM»f WÀ°ffÃfS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ ½fZ¶fÀffBÊMhttp://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS SdªfÀMOÊ I S½ff³ff Af½fV¹fI W`Ü

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IYf¹fÊ IYf d½f½fSX¯f A³fb¸ffd³f°f SXfdVf (÷Y.)Remaining Construction work of various Building at RAU Karwar, Jodhpur. (Cottage ward, General ward,Service Block and Main Gate) UBN No: RRC2021WSOB00038

252.61 Lac

Afg³f»ffBʳf d³fd½fQf ´fi´fÂf OfC³f»fûO I S³fZ I e A½fd²f dQ³ffaI 20.05.2020 ´fif°f: 09.00 ¶fªfZ ÀfZ 08.06.2020 Àff¹fa 6.00 ¶fªfZ °fI

Nivida No.12 of 2019-20 CORRIGENDUM No.9Following rectification is made in Tender Notice No.12 of 2019-20 ofExecutive Engineer, Ver-II Project Division, Vyara PIN CODE NO.394650Phone No. 02626-222090 Dist: Tapi.

Event Old Date New Date

1 2 3 4

1 Online Tender 08/01/2020 to 20/05/2020 08/01/2020 to 06/06/2020upload date Up to 18.00 Hrs. Up to 18.00 Hrs.

2 Submission of Up to 30/05/2020 Up to 16/06/2020Document Date at 18.00 Hrs. at 18.00 Hrs.

3 Opening of Pre 01/06/2020 in the Office 17/06/2020 in the OfficeQualification Bid of the Superintending of the Superintendingdate Engineer, Ukai Circle Engineer, Ukai Circle

(Civil), Ukai at 12.00 Hrs. (Civil), Ukai at 12.00 Hrs.

All other conditions remain unchanged. No.: INF-Surat/85/2020

TThhee IInnddiiaann EXPRESS

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THEOUTBREAK Maharashtra

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SAGARRAJPUTMUMBAI,MAY20

A 13-YEAR-OLD girl walkinghome toAkoladistrict, 588kmfromMumbai,withher family,was reportedly kidnappedfrom Jalgaon-Bhusawal high-waybyabikeronthepretextofoffering a lift, police saidWednesday.The accused allegedly had

tried to force-feed the childsomemedicine,butabandonedher inAmravati, around270kmfrom the spot where she waskidnapped, when she resistedand tried to raise an alarm, po-lice said. A police team foundthe child sitting on a roadsideover 20 hours later. While ini-tial check-uphasnot indicatedsexual assault, thechildwill besent for furthermedical exam-ination, police said.According to police, the

child's family was stranded atMulund in Mumbai, where

they worked as daily-wagelabourers, due to the coron-avirus-induced lockdown.With no income and transportavailable, thefamilyhadstartedwalking towards Akola fourdays ago.Assistant Police Inspector

Pravin Salunkhe, fromNasirabad police station inJalgaon, said around 2 pm onTuesday, the family hadstoppedtoeat in Jalgaonwherelocal residents were distribut-ing food to migrant workers."While they were eating, thebiker,whoclaimed tobehead-ing towardsAkola, approached

them and offered to give a lift.Like many others, the familyhad started trusting unknownmotorists, andthe fatherurgedhimto takehis17-year-old sonand daughter on the bike," theofficer said.Just sevenkilometres away,

near a police checkpoint onJalgaon-Bhusawal roadclose toGodawari FoundationMedicalCollege, the man reportedlyaskedtheboytogetoff thebikeclaimingpolicemay slap a fineon them for riding triple seat."He told the boy that theywould wait under a tree afterthe checkpoint, but sped off,"

Salunkhe said.After walking for a long

time,whentheboydidnot findhissisteror thebiker,hereport-edly alerted his parents.Whilehe started walking towardsBhusawal in the search of hissister, his parents approachedthe Nasirabad police station.Police later brought the boyback to the police station andon the basis of his statement, acase under IPC section 363(kidnapping)was registered.Suspecting that theaccused

might take the girl to a neigh-bouring district, police inBuldhana, Amravati and Akoladistrictswerealerted.Thechildwas finally locatedbyAmravatipoliceatLoniTakliarea,around270 kilometres from the spotwhere she was kidnapped, onWednesday noon."Werecordedherstatement

and took her to a governmenthospitalforamedicalcheck-up,"said Assistant Police InspectorNirmala Bhoi of Lodi police sta-

tion inAmravati.The girl, in her statement to

thepolice, said after leavingherbrotherontheJalgaon-Bhusawalhighway, the biker took her toAmravatiRoad."Hestoppedthebike at a secluded location atnightandaskedhertotakesomemedicines. When she refused,the biker started forcing her toeat,butthemedicinesfellontheroad," the girl told police in herstatement. Thebiker reportedlyalso slapped the childmultipletimes and later abandoned hernearLoniTakli."We have sent a team to get

thechildbacktoJalgaon.Wewillsend her to a hospital formed-ical examination once shereacheshere," Salunkhesaid.Meanwhile, Jalgaon police

has formedfour teamsto locatethe culprit. "With the help ofthe local informants, we haveidentified thesuspectandhavedispatched a few teams toround him up," Salunkheadded.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,MAY20

A 26-YEAR-OLD farm labourer,whowaswalking to his homehome in Parbhani district fromPune, reportedly diedof fatigue,hunger and dehydration.According to the Beed police,Mahadev Pawar, a resident ofThoptePandulvillageinParbhanidistrict,wasfounddeadatBeed'sDhanoravillageonMonday.Thepostmortemfindingssug-

gesthediedduetostrain,hungeranddehydration, thepolice said.Pawar,whoworked as a sugar-caneharvestlabourer,hadalreadywalked150kmandwas200kmfromhis home. His elder sisterKaveri Jadhav, who stays inVadgaonSheri areaof Pune, saidshe had asked himnot to coversuch a longdistanceon foot, but

herefusedtolistensayinghewasanxioustomeethiswifeandsonbackhome.According to the local police,

PawarhadleftPuneonfootontheeveningofMay8andhadreachedAhmednagar district onMay14.InAhmednagar,hehadborroweda cellphone froma local residentand informedhis family that hewasonhiswayhomeandwouldreachinafewdays.Hewalkedan-other 35 km on Ahmednagar-Beed roadbeforehalting for restunder a tin shed in a farmalongtheway."OnMay18, theownerof the

shednoticedafoulsmellemanat-ingfromtheshed.Hediscoveredadeadbodyandinformedthepo-lice," saidDyaneshwar Kukrale,assistantinspector,Ambhorapo-licestationinBeeddistrict,addingthepostmortemof thebodywasperformedatthesite.

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,MAY20

MAHARASHTRA RECORDED2,250 new Covid-19 cases onWednesday, taking the overalltoll to 39,297. The state hasrecorded20,000casesinthelast12days. Incontrast, ithadtaken58daystorecordthefirst20,000infections.The day also saw 65 deaths,

takingthetotalnumberof fatal-ities in the state to 1,390. Asmany as 41 people died inMumbai, 13 in Pune, three inNaviMumbaiaswellastwoeachin Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur,UlhasnagarandAurangabad.Mumbairecorded1,372new

cases, reaching anoverall countof24,118.With41deaths, its tollnowstandsat841.Mumbai's doubling rate of

cases has slowed down to 13days, improving from lastmonth when it took just six toseven days for the number ofcases to double. Despite this,thecity iswitnessingadailyad-dition of over 1,200 newcases.On Wednesday, even as 350people were discharged,Mumbai recorded four timesmore newcases.Civic officials said they have

reachedoutto58.14lakhhousesto conduct survey for fever,cough, cold andbreathlessness.This process has found 7,447people with suspected symp-tomsof Covid-19.The BMC is also layingmore

stressoncontact tracing, askingits officials to quarantine 10high-risk contacts of each in-

fected person. Till now, 52,798high-risk contacts of infectedslumdwellershavebeentraced.Another screening processthroughfeverclinics incontain-ment zones has identified18,643 high-risk contacts. Ofthem, 5,188 were tested, with683comingpositive.Civic officials said a drive to

screen senior citizens throughdoor-to-door visits has helpedthemfind1,279peoplewhohadlowoxygensaturationlevels.Theinfectioncausesadropinoxygenandleadstobreathlessness.Thosewithoxygenlevelsbelow95havebeenreferredfortreatment.Officials said they estimate

that in the next sixmonths, 0.5per cent of the total populationwill be infected inMaharashtra."We will have to wait for themonsoon to see how Covid-19fares in the presence of otherviruses," saidDrPradeepAwate,stateepidemiologist.

Numberofdeaths 1,390

Totalnumberofpeopledischarged 10,318

Numberofpeople tested3.07 lakh

Totalnumberquarantinedinhospitals, institutions,govtbuildings: 26,752

Numberofnewcases 2,250

TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRA

39,297

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY20

CHIEF MINISTER UddhavThackeray skipped the reviewmeeting called by GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari onWednesday,adayafteraBJPdel-egation met him and allegedgrossnegligenceonthegovern-ment's part in handling theCovid-19situation.The Governor presided over

ahigh-levelreviewmeetingthatwasattendedbyChiefSecretaryAjoyMehta, secretaries of vari-ous departments, DGP SubodhJaiswal,BMCchief ISChahalandothers. However, none of theministers and secretaries in theChief Minister's Office werepresent at the meeting.Incidentally,Thackerayhadpaida courtesy visit to theGovernoronMonday after taking oath asMemberof LegislativeCouncil.The skipping of themeeting

by Thackeray, his cabinet col-leagues and secretaries fromCMO assumes significance as itcomes a day after a BJP delega-tionledbyLeaderofOpposition

Devendra Fadnavis met theGovernor.When contacted, Milind

Narvekar,partysecretaryandper-sonalassistantofThackeray,said,"Itwas officially communicatedtoRajBhavanintheafternoonthattheCMwon'tbeabletoattendthemeeting."Narvekarwaspresentatthemeeting.Meanwhile, as per the state-

ment issued by Raj Bhavan, theGovernorhasaskedthestatead-ministrationtoprepareforCovidchallenge considering the likelysituation in the state in June andJuly."Heaskedthegovernmenttokeep enoughmedical facilities,doctors,staffandbedsreadycon-sideringthelikelycaseloadinthemonthsofJuneandJuly,"saidthestatement.Thestatementfurthersaid that theGovernorasked thegovernmenttotakespecialmeas-ures for containment zones likeDharavi."TheGovernoraskedthegovernmenttokeepadashboardproviding handy informationaboutavailabilityofbeds,doctors,nursesandparamedical staff forthe entire state so that the samecouldbedeployedwhereneededmost," itadded.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY20

ADAYafterthestategovernmentallowedpublic transportwithindistricts that havebeendeclarednon-red zones, it is learnt thatpublictransportbetweendistrictswouldalsobeallowedsoonandaplan for thiswasbeingpreparedfor approval by Chief MinisterUddhavThackeray.The state government's re-

visedlockdownguidelinesissuedonTuesday, andapplicable fromMay22(Friday),permitintra-dis-trictbusservicesinnon-redzones,with amaximumof 50per centcapacityperbuswithphysicaldis-tancingandsanitationmeasures.Italsosaidinter-districtbusserv-iceswouldbenotifiedseparately.Eighteenmunicipalitieshave

beentaggedasredzones,includ-ing in theMumbaiMetropolitanRegion, and no buses will plywithin the limits of these corpo-rations,eventhougheightarealsodistrict headquarters - Pune,Nashik, Solapur, Aurangabad,

Akola, Amravati, Dhule andJalgaon."Thebuseswillplywithinthe district but outside the redzones only," said anofficial fromthetransportdepartment,addingthatpublic transportwouldhelpruralpeopletravelwithindistricts.Theofficialsaidthesamerulesap-plytoprivatevehiclesalso.Thegovernmenthasallowed

privatetransport-twowheelers,threewheelers (rickshaws), andfourwheelers.While only onepersonwillbeallowedtotravelonabikeorascooter,rickshawsandcarswillbepermittedtoferrytwopeoplebesidesthedriver.However,thegovernmenthas

notallowedanypublicorprivatetransportintheredzonesthatin-clude municipal corporationsfromMMRregionandnineother

municipalcorporations.Sources in the transport de-

partmentsaidaplanisbeingpre-paredtoallowinter-districtpub-lic transport in the state thatwould be sent to the CM for ap-proval. "One of the options in-cludesallowinginter-districtpub-lictransportinnon-redzonesonlywith50percentcapacity," saidasource. "Theotheroptionis toal-low public transport from redzones aswellwith limitednum-ber of buses daily.Manypeoplefromredzonesaretryingtoreachtheirnativeplaces invariousdis-trictsandarenotbeingmonitored.So,wefeelthatitwouldbebettertoallowpublictransportwithlim-ited number of buses thatwillhelptheauthoritiestokeeptrack,"thesourceadded.

Mumbai: In a letter to ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray,Opposition leader DevendraFadnavishasraisedobjectionstoCovid-19patientsbeingchargedhighratesbyhospitals.On May 1, state Health

MinisterRajeshTopeannouncedthatthestategovernmentwouldprovide free treatment to Covidpatientshospitalisedacrossstate.Fadnavis said, " The Kalyan

Dombivali MunicipalCorporationshortlyafteracquir-ing three private hospitals fortreatment of Covid 19 patientsdisplayed on board the rates asfollows: General ward Rs 2800per day, Room shared by twopersonRs3100perday,Roomforindividual Rs 3800 per day andICU Rs 5000 per day. The ex-penses for ventilators will costRs2000perday.Thechargesfor

other testswill beadditional."The rates in neighbouring

ThaneMunicipal Corporationwhichhasbeenissuedbythelo-cal administration for coron-avirus positive patient is alsoshockingly high. For generalward the are charging Rs 4000per day, sharing a room for twopatients Rs 5000 per day, indi-vidualroomperpatientRs7000and ICURs10,000.”ENS

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,MAY20

WITHADOPTIONprocesses, onhold till May 31, headed for anosedive this year, theFederationofAdoptionAgenciesinMaharashtra is likely to urgethe Central Adoption RegionalAgency (CARA) to permit facili-tation of adoptionwithin citiesallowing adoptive parents totakehomeachild.Severalcouplesandchildren

were caught mid-way in theiradoptionprocesses as the coro-

navirus-induced lockdownstalled court work -- childwel-fare committee meetings, andtransportation among others -since lateMatch. InApril, CARA,the central body that overseesadoption regulations, issued anotificationtoalladoptionagen-cies to furtherextendthe freezeover adoption procedures tillend-May. Officials in theMaharashtra State AdoptionRegionalAgency (SARA) say thefreeze is likely to be extended ifthe lockdowncontinues.TheRighttoInformationdata

till February 10 shows there areat least 26,591 coupleswaiting

toadoptachildinIndia.Of them1,016 are coupleswho areNon-Resident Indians (NRIs), foreignnationals or have OverseasCitizenshipof India (OCI). Thereareover2,300childreninadop-tionpoolasofMarch thisyear."This is worrisome for us.

Infantsaregrowingolder,andasthey growold chances of adop-tion reduces for them," saidNajma Goriawala, from IndianAssociation for Promotion ofAdoption and Child Welfare(IAPA). Most couples seekhealthy children aged less thantwo years for adoption - thereare only 89 such children in

adoption pool in the country.There are 649 children alreadyagedabove twoyears and1,401who have special needs, andchances for adoption for thisgroup will reduce as monthspassby, shesaid.Goriawala said the associa-

tionofadoptionagenciesarego-ing to propose to allow adop-tions within a city, wheretransportationisstillpossible,sothat a couple can take a child'scustody. The federation is alsounderdiscussiontoproposepa-perworkforchildrenwherecou-pleshaveselectedthemandonlyneed formalities tocomplete.

"This year the process hascometoagrindinghalt.Wehavecoupleswhohadfinishedpaper-workandwerejustabouttotakecustody of a child, some otherswhowerereferredtoachildandwere about to visit an adoptioncentre.Theyareallnowwaitingfor lockdown to lift," saidAvinashKumar,fromFamiliesofJoyFoundation.Rahul Jadhav, fromBalAsha

Trust, said it isahumanrightvi-olationforachildwhohasbeenchosenbyacouple foradoptionto remain in institutional stay.UNICEFdatasuggests thereare60milliondestitutechildren in

India,but less than4,000adop-tions happen each year. In2018-19, a total of 4,027 chil-dren were adopted in India,while 3,327 children wereadopted in 2017-18."Withinacity,adoptionisstill

possible.Wewantat least thattohappen. It seems the entire yearwill pass before things get nor-mal," Jadhav said. His adoptioncentrehas32children.Atleast10ofthemwouldhavebeenadoptedlastmonthhadthelockdownnotfrozentheadoptionprocedure.Hesaid twoNRI couples have beenconstantly calling tounderstandtheprocedure. Their paperwork

wasabouttostartwhenthelock-downwasannounced."It istrau-matisingforthemtoremainsep-aratedfromtheirchild."An adoption procedure also

takes about two to three yearsbefore a couple can bring homea child,withCovid-19outbreak,theperiodwillstretchfurther,ex-pertssay.The Federation of Adoption

Agencies are alsomulling overwhether temporarily switchingback to adoptionprocedure fol-lowedbefore 2015wouldmakesenseunderthepandemic.Before2015, adoption processwas notdigitalandcouplescouldvisitalo-

cal adoption agency to adopt achild. Now, the entire process isroutedthroughCARAoveradigi-talplatform.Keeping children safe from

Covid-19 infection is also a chal-lenge.ManishaPirari,fromSARA,saidadoptionagencieshavebeenadvisedtokeepstaffonpremisesfor10daysandthenrotatethem.Adoption agencies are finding itdifficult to ensure infection con-trol for babies prone to infectionandwithlowerimmunity."Ifstaffremainwithininstitutionandnooutsider is allowed, wewill beable to ensure no child is in-fected,"shesaid.

Walking home to Akola, 13-yr-old girl abducted by bikerAccordingtopolice, thechild’s familywasstrandedatMulundinMumbai,wheretheyworkedasdaily-wage labourers,duetothecoronavirus-inducedlockdown.Withnoincomeandtransportavailable, thefamilyhadstartedwalkingtowardsAkola fourdaysago

Labourer walking hometo Parbhani from Pune diesof hunger, dehydration

2,250newcases, 65deaths as tolltouches 1,390

As wait stretches, association to propose adoption within cities

Uddhav skips meetingcalled by Governor

Govt likely to allow busesto ply between districts

Therevisedlockdownguidelines issuedonTuesday,andapplicable fromMay22(Friday),permit intra-districtbusservices innon-redzones,withamaximumof50%capacityperbuswithphysicaldistancingandsanitationmeasures

Hospitals charging high rates for treatment: Fadnavis

HC seeks BMC,state response toplea claimingovercharging byprivate hospitals

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,MAY20

THE BOMBAY High Court onTuesday sought a response fromthe state government and theBMConaplea,whichclaimedthatprivatehospitalsarenotadmittingCovid-19 patients and chargingexorbitant fee frompatients bytaking advantageof a lockdown.The plea also claimed that theBMCisnotacceptingreportsfromprivatetestinglaboratories.TheHCalsoobservedthatthe

presence of themunicipal com-missionerwouldbebeneficialforadjudicationanddirectedthepe-titionertoaddtheBMCcommis-sionerasapartytothecase.TheHConTuesdaywashear-

ing a PIL filed by Sarika Singh, aresident of Kurla,which claimedthat private hospitals certifyingpatientsasnotaffectedbyCovid-19arenotbeing acceptedby theBMCandtheyarebeingaskedtoundergotestsagain.AdvocateVarsha Jagdale said

SinghwaspromptedtofilethePILafter she learnt that a constable,who had Covid-19 symptoms,wasaskedtodepositRs2lakhbyaprivatehospital inVashi forad-mission. The petitioner, in herplea,statedthattheconstablewasunable to arrange the amountand, therefore,hewaskeptwait-ing for close to five hours. Itwasonly after the local police stationwarned the hospital authoritiesthat they could face legal action,thehospitaladmittedhimwithadepositofRs20,000,thepleafur-therstated.Accordingtotheplea,privatehospitalsshouldnotrefuseadmission to police personnelcovered by Aarogya KutumbYojanaof thestategovernment.GovernmentPleaderPurnima

HKanthariarepresentingthestateandadvocateYamunaParekhforBMC sought time to obtain in-structionsfromtheauthoritiesongrievancesraisedinthe plea.

Unable to findatrain,RanjitKumarBehera(25)andSwamiCharan(28),whoworkedasaplumberandpainter, respectively, inNaviMumbai, startpedallingtotheirhomeinCuttack,Odisha.Ranjit saidhetriedtoregister fora train journeyat thepolicestation inVashi,butwastoldthatonlyworkers fromBiharandUttarPradesharebeinggivenpriority.Hesaidhewon’tearnasmuchinCuttack,buthehasnoplans toreturn.NirmalHarindran

■CasesregisteredunderSection188(Violatinganorderissuedbyapublicservant)of IPC:492 (1,11,412)

■Personswhoviolatedquarantine:0 (680)

■Phonecallsmadeto100onCOVID-19: 293(95,291)

■Numberof infectedpolicepersonnel:60 (1,388)

■Casesof illegaltransport:0 (1,317)

■Arrests:1,546(22,472)

■Vehiclesseized:8,263 (67,972)

■Fines imposed:RS2.81LAKH (Rs4.56cr)

NUMBERWATCH

*Figures in red are fromMay20; inbracket total so far

VIVEKDESHPANDENAGPUR,MAY20

GADCHIROLI COLLECTORDeepakSinglahas frozenwhathe described as "illegal ac-counts" of 19 gram sabhas inKorchi tahsil of the district,drawingprotestsfromcommu-nity leaders and Forest RightsAct (FRA)activists.Singlaorderedtheaccounts

frozenonMarch18butnothingwas com-municatedto the vil-lages aboutit. It came tothenotice ofthe villageson April 16,whencheques is-sued byKukdel,GahanegataandZankargondivillages toshopkeep-ers, againstpurchase ofessentialitemsforvil-lagers dur-ing the na-tionwidelockdown,bounced.The bankstold themthat ac-counts of 19gramsabhashave been

frozen as per the Collector's or-der.The villages have got com-

munity forest rights (CFRs) un-der FRA that empower them tomanage the forest areas undertheir command and own forestproduce in the area, such astenduleavesandmahuaflowers,which they canharvest and sellandusethemoneyforvillagede-velopment. The gram sabhashave their bank accounts oper-atedbysignatoriesauthorisedbyandwith consent of the sabhas.Many of these gram sabhas, in-cludingthe19fromKorchi,haveformed federations (ma-hasangh) for combined tenduauctions as a safeguard againsttraders exploiting individualgramsabhas.Thegramsabhashadalsore-

ceived compensation for apower grid transmission linethat passed through the com-munity-managed forest andSingla's predecessor ShekharSinghhaddepositedthemoneyin theseaccounts.OnApril20,KukdelandTemli

gramsabhaswrotetothecollectorthat in view of the oncomingtendu season, their accountsshouldbe freed since thewholetendutransactionisdonethroughtheseaccounts."TheCollectordid-n'tevenacknowledgethereceiptoftheletter,"statedarepresenta-tion sent by 'MahagramsabhaKorchi',theumbrellaorganisationof 80 gramsabhas inKorchi, in-cluding the aggrieved 19 gramsabhas, to Principal Secretary ofTribal Development,Maharashtra,ManishaVerma.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY20

THE BALGANGAdamproject inRaigad is one of the 14 contro-versial projects against whichthepreviousBJP-ShivSenagov-ernment under chief ministerDevendraFadnavishadinitiatedan investigation by the stateAnti-Corruption Bureau for itshugecostescalation.The alleged scam around

these projects dates back to2009, when the Congress andNCP were in power under thewatchofAjitPawar,currentlythedeputychiefminister.He was then the water re-

sourcesminister.The Balganga dam was

meantforsupplyofdrinkingwa-ter for expanding areas of Navi

Mumbai. The project hadcourtedcontroversysinceitsin-ception with the City andIndustrial DevelopmentCorporation (CIDCO) and theKonkanIrrigationDevelopmentCorporation (KIDC) warningthenCongress-NCPgovernmentagainst approving the revisedcostestimates—fromRs353.89crore, the project cost spiked toRs1,220crore.OnTuesday, in a relief to the

state, CIDCO and KIDC, theBombayHighCourtquashedlastApril'sorderbyanarbitraltribu-nalthathaddirectedthegovern-ment to pay Rs 303 crore to FAEnterprisestowardsunpaidbillsfor theconstructionof thedam,The ACB chargesheet in the

caserelatingtothedamhadnotdirectlymentionedanypoliticalleaderorministerforthealleged

scam. It had, instead named 10people, includingofficials of FAEnterprises,KIDCandCIDCO.BJPandShivSena,thencoali-

tion partners, had argued thatwithoutpoliticalpatronage,sucha scam would not have beenpossible,achargethatPawarhaddeniedseveral times.OnWednesday,theSena-led

governmentrefusedtoofficiallycommentonthe issue.A senior Cabinet minister,

ontheconditionof anonymity,

said,"Thecourtverdictisacom-ment on contractors and notministers. Moreover, since thematter relates to a court verdictand the project is under ACBscanner, it would be unfair tomakeanycomment."The Thane unit of ACB had

filed a chargesheet in theBalganga case in 2016, which isstillgoingon.Thecontractorwasaccused of diverting around Rs494 crore, paid by the govern-ment, into accounts of dummycompanies.TheEDisalsoinves-tigating thecase.In 2016, the state water re-

sources department lead byGirishMahajanhadcancelled94tenders for the 14 projects. Ofthese,12tenderswerefromirri-gationworks in Konkan, 81 re-lated to Gosikhurd NationalIrrigation Project, which comesunder Vidarbha IrrigationDevelopment Corporation, andoneproject inNashik.

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,MAY20

INAmajorrelief tothestategov-ernment, City and IndustrialDevelopment Corporation(CIDCO) and Konkan IrrigationDevelopment Corporation(KIDC), the BombayHigh Courton Tuesday quashed and setasidethemajorityawardpassedby the arbitral tribunal in Aprillast year that directed the au-thorities to pay Rs 303 crore toFAEnterprises,aprivatefirm,to-wardsunpaidbills for construc-tion of Balganga dam. The proj-ect is meant for supply ofdrinkingwater inexpandingar-easofNaviMumbai.Thetribunal,inAprillastyear,

haddirectedKIDCand the stategovernment topay thecontrac-tor Rs 303 crorewithin60days.The authorities moved the HC

againstthetribunalorderinJunelastyear.Allowing appeals made by

the authorities, the HC onTuesdaydirectedFAEnterprisestoreturnasumofRs50crorede-posited to it by CIDCO withineight weeks with interest of 7per cent per annum from thedateofwithdrawal.A single judge bench of

Justice RDDhanuka passed theruling on Tuesday and struckdownthearbitralawardofApril3lastyearandsaidthatcontrac-tual relations between the pri-vatefirmandKIDCwerenotgov-erned by the arbitral tribunaland could be decided only bytermsandconditionsofcontract.The judge said that the arbi-

tral awardwas patently illegaland unsustainable and that FAEnterprises could not provemostof itsclaimsindependently.However, majority members

(threeoutof five)of thetribunalacceptedtheclaimsonthebasisof communications given bysomeKIDCofficers,whoareun-der the cloud of suspicion, thecourtnoted.JusticeDhanukaobserved,“It

isnotindisputethatforestclear-ance, which was one of themandatoryconditionsunderthecontract, has not beenobtainedtill date. Substantial part of thebalancework falls in the forestarea.Onthisground,theArbitralTribunalcouldnothaveawardedrelief in favour of claimant (FAEnterprises).”The court enumerated the

facts of the case and noted thatin themeeting held on January28,2009,theauthoritiesinclud-ing KIDC, CIDCO andMumbaiMetropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority (MM-RDA)decidedtoconstructadamon Balganga river, near Niphadvillage in Pen taluka of Raigaddistrict, for drinking water re-quirements of expanding areasin NaviMumbai. CIDCO agreedtofundtheprojectandapprovedfunds of approximately Rs 488crore.InFebruary2009,KIDCin-vited tenders for constructionworkof nearlyRs353.89crore.Thereafter, in May 2009,

KIDC issued a work order infavour of FA Enterprises for Rs

495.45 crore. The project costwas revised to Rs 1,220 crore inJune 2011. CIDCO officials dis-puted it and appointed expertcommitteestoascertainthecost.As per senior counsel ShrihariAneyforKIDC,CIDCOdidnotac-ceptreportsof itsthreecommit-tees, which gave the last reporton June2013.On October 28, 2013, FA

Enterprises moved the HighCourt and invoked arbitrationclauseinitsagreementwiththeauthorities. The arbitral panelwasformed,whichcomprisedofrepresentatives from KIDC,CIDCO, FA Enterprises and thestate government, The HighCourt appointed its presidingmember. In August 2015, theAnti-Corruption Bureau filed achargesheetagainstthefirmandothers for corruption and otherirregularities.In September 2016, the firm

claimedanamountofRs536.56crore, includingRs186.89croretowards one of the bills, and Rs75 crore as difference in rate ofinterestamongothersbeforethetribunal. KIDC and CIDCO op-posed the claimsmade by theprivate firm.After examining several

statements and evidences, onApril3 lastyear, threemembersof thetribunalpassedamajority

award directing KIDC to pay tothe claimant firm a sum of Rs303 crore. The authorities had

challenged the award. The HChad reserved its judgement inJanuary thisyear.

TAMIL NADU HOUSING BOARD : SALEM CIRCLE @ COIMBATORESHORT TENDER NOTICE NO:01 /2020-2021 Dated : 20.05.2020

Sealed tenders with name of work, reference No., due date and the name of tenderer duly superscribed on the cover (under Pre-qualification system) are invited for the following works, so as to reach the Office of the Superintending Engineer , Salem Circle, CowlyBrown Road, R.S.Puram, Coimbatore-2 upto 11.00A.M, (as per office Clock) on the date mentioned below. The tenders will be opened theundersigned at his office at 11.15A.Mon the sameday in the presence of the tenderer or their agent who choose to be present.

Sl.No. Descriptionof Work

Approximatevalue

(Rs. In lakhs)

EMDin

Rupees

Cost of TenderSchedule in Rs.(Non-refundable)

Period during which thetender schedule for sale

Last date of receipt andopening of tender

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1

Construction of Local PlanningOffice building for DTCP (Ground +1 floor) in Daily market site ofS.F.No. 50 pt at Ganapathy Site &Serv ice Scheme, Phase I ,Ganapathy Village, CoimbatoreNorth Taluk, Coimbatore District.SCC/306/2020

294.00lakhs 1,57,000/- 15,000/- +

5% GST

29.05.2020to

04.06.202005.06.2020

2

P roposed Cons t r u c t i on o fadditional class room in SecondFloor building of Tirupur KumaranCollege for Women & WomenHostal in SF.No.39/1A,42/2 andSF.No. 51/2 at AndipalayamVillage,Tirupur South Taluk,TirupurDistirct. SCC/309/2020

1950.00lakhs 9,85,000/- 15,000/- +

5% GST

29.05.2020to

04.06.202005.06.2020

3

construction of office building forErode Local Planning Authority atSampath Nagar, ErodeSCE/313/2020

264.60lakhs 1,42,300/- 15,000/- +

5% GST

29.05.2020to

04.06.202005.06.2020

4

Construction of office building forSalem Local Planning Authority atThalavaipatty NeighbourhoodScheme, Salem

462.08lakhs 2,41,040/- 15,000/- +

5% GST

29.05.2020to

04.06.202005.06.2020

CONDITIONS FOR ISSUE OF TENDER SCHEDULES:1The contractors registered (the registration certificate should be reclassified and renewed upto date)under class-I in TNHB, P.W.D.,T.N.P.H.C., T.N.S.C.B. and otherGovt. / QuasiGovt. Departmentswith appropriatemonetary limit are eligible to particicpate in the tender.2The tenderer should have executed works of similar nature costing more than 50% of the value of the work put to tender in a single tenderwithin the last 5 years period. Further particulars and tender documents can be had from the office of the Superintending Engineer, SalemCircle, Cowly Brown Road, R.S. Puram, Coimbatore-2 on requisition in writing on payment of the prescribed cost in the form of DemandDraft in favour of theExe. Engr. &Adm.Officer, CoimbatoreHousingUnit for serial no. 1 & 2, Exe. Engr. &Adm.Officer,ErodeHousingUnit forserial no. 3 & Exe. Engr. &Adm.Officer,Salem Housing Unit for serial no. 4 on all working days between 11.00A.M. to 1.00 P.M. on the datementioned in the columnNo.6 of the tabulation.NOTE:1The undersigned reserves the right to reject any or all the tenders without assigning any reasons therefor.2The tender documents will be issued only after verifying credential produced by the intending tenderer regarding their registration,previous performance, nature and value of the work done etc.3The tender schedule can also be down loaded from the Web site www.tenders.tn.gov.in at free of cost.

Cowly Brown Road R.S.Puram,Coimbatore-2 Phone: 2456606

Superintending Engineer,Salem Circle, Coimbatore.DIPR / 1859 / TENDER / 2020

ANdhRA PRAdesh CAPiTAL ReGioN deVeLoPmeNT AuThoRiTyLenin Center, Governorpet, Vijayawada-520002 (A.P.)

e-Procurement Tender NoticeTender- cum- reverse Auctioning or Reverse Tendering

NIT No. 17/PROC (19)/MAU61-USIOHB (BG)/35/2019 APCRDA(2nd Call); Dt: 19.05.2020

Name of Work: APCRDA - “Balance work of “Construction of Amaravati “HAPPYNEST” Residential Housing Project Consisting of Total 1200 Apartment units in12 towers of G + 18 Floors Pattern with Sub Structure, RC wall Super Structureusing shear wall technique with Aluminum formwork, Podium, ArchitecturalFinishes, Internal & External Electrical, Plumbing & Sanitary, Landscape, FireFighting, Lifts, DG Sets, HVAC, Security Systems, External development andLPG on Item Wise basis (Design Built) including Three (3) Years Defect LiabilityPeriod near, Nelapadu, Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh” – Tender cum E-Auction(Reverse Tendering). Estimate Value of Rs.656.44 Crores - 2nd Call.

The bid can be downloaded on AP e-procurement portal from21.05.2020 - 08.06.2020(14:00 Hrs). Due date for submission of bid08.06.2020 @ 15.00 Hrs, Technical bid opening 08.06.2020 @ 16:00Hrs, Opening of Financial bid 10.06.2020 @ 11:00 Hrs. Please refer towww.apeprocurement.gov.in or

www.crda.ap.gov.in for details.Sd/- COMMISSIONERAPCRDA, Vijayawada

6THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

MAHARASHTRABALGANGADAMPROJECT

TIMELINEJANUARY2009:KIDC,CIDCO,MMRDAdecidetoconstructadamonBalgangariver inRaigadfordrinkingwatersupply toexpandingareasofNaviMumbai.CIDCOapprovedRs488crore.

MAY2009:KIDCissuedworkorder in favourof FAEnterprises forRs495.45crorebasedonrevisedofferagainst tenderofRs353.89crore invited inFebruary.

JUNE2011:ProjectcostrevisedtoRs1,220crore.CIDCOdidnotapprove,expert reviewcommitteesetup

OCTOBER2013:FAEnterprisesmovedBombayHCinvokingarbitrationclause, soughtdirectionagainstCIDCOtopayKIDCtorelease furtherpayment

JULY2015:HCdirectedfive-memberarbitraltribunal toresolvedisputesbetweenparties

AUGUST2015:ACBfiledFIRagainstFAEnterprises&formerKIDCofficials

OCTOBER2016:KIDCterminatedcontractawardedtoFAEnterprises

APRIL2019:Threeof thefive-membertribunalpassedmajorityaward infavourof FAEnterprises,directingKIDCtopayRs303crorewithin60days

JUNE2019:KIDCchallengedarbitralawardbeforeHC

MAY2020:HCstrikesdownarbitralawardaskingKIDCtopayFAEnterprisesRs303crore

BombayHC strikes down tribunal order askingstate agencies to pay Rs303 crore to firm

Balganga dam one of 14 irrigationprojects under ACB scanner

TheACBchargesheetinthecaserelatingtothedamhadnotdirectlymentionedanypolitical leaderorminister for theallegedscam

Uddhav, Raut toattend Oppositionmeet called by SoniaEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,MAY20

CHIEF MINISTER UddhavThackeray and Shiv Sena leaderandMPSanjayRautwill attend,via video-conference, theOpposition leaders’ meetingcalled by Congress presidentSonia Gandhi on Friday after-noontodiscussthecurrentsitu-ation in the country. Eighteenpartieshavebeeninvitedforthemeet, sources said.Thiswillbethefirstmeeting

of oppositionparties, ledby theCongress,thatThackeraywillat-tend as a chief minister.Thackeray hadmet Gandhi forthe first time in February aftertheMahaVikasAghadicoalitiongovernment was formed inMaharashtra.Whilethemeetingislikelyto

the government’s handling ofthe coronavirus pandemic andthemigrantissue,sourcesinthe

Senasaid itwasyet todecideonthe issues thatwill be taken upin themeeting.In January, the Sena had

skipped an opposition partiesmeeting called by the Congresson theCitizenshipAmendmentAct,citing“miscommunication”between the two parties. Twodays later, Sena leader andEnvironmentMinister AadityaThackeray had met Congressleader Rahul Gandhi. It wastermed an “informal” meetingby theSena leaders.In November last year, Sena

MPArvindSawanthadresignedas a Unionminister fromPrimeMinister NarendraModi’s gov-ernment alleging that the BJPhad not honoured the promiseof sharing equal power in thestate.With Sawant's resignation,

theSenahadexitedtheNationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA), butsofarithasnotjoinedtheUnitedProgressiveAlliance (UPA).

Gadchiroli collector freezesaccounts of 19 gram sabhas

7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020

KABIRFIRAQUENEWDELHI,MAY20

IN THE continuing hunt for antibodies thatcouldfightthenovelcoronavirusSARS-CoV-2,researchershavemostlylookedatpeoplewhohavealreadycontractedCovid-19.Therehavebeen at least twoexceptions, both ofwhichhave lookedat antibodiesdevelopedby sur-vivorsofanotheroutbreak,SARS,17yearsago.Oneantibody,calledS309,

taken from a SARS survivorfrom2003,hasbeenshowninthe lab to neutralise SARS-CoV-2. The results were re-ported inNature thisweek.Theother antibody, called

CR3022, was first isolated in2006, again from a SARS sur-vivor of the early 2000s.CR3022mayholdcluestothevulnerability of SARS-CoV-2,researchers reported inScience lastmonth.

S309: The newer of the two studies has re-ported themore definite findings, althoughmore research is still required. An interna-tional teamof scientists isolated antibodiesfrom a SARS survivor’s “memory B cells”Memory B cells form after an infectious ill-ness,andusuallyrememberthepathogen(ora similar one) that it had fought it back ear-lier. If a new infection happens, these cellslaunchanantibodycounterattackagain.FromtheSARSsurvivor’smemoryBcells,

the scientists identified anumber ofmono-clonal antibodies. Several of theseantibodiestarget a protein structure on coronaviruses(SARSandCovid-19arecausedbydifferentbutrelatedcoronaviruses).Thisproteinstructureislocatedinthespikesinthecrown—the“co-rona”of thevirus.Thespikeisacrucialtool ininfection;thisiswhatattachestohumancells.Amongtheantibodies,S309wasfoundto

be particularly potent at targeting and dis-

abling the spike protein. Itwas able to neu-traliseSARSCoV-2byengagingwithasectionof thespikeproteinnear thesitewhere it at-tachestothehostcell, theresearcherssaid.

MILESTOGO: Itisimportanttonotethattheaction of S309 has only been demonstratedinthelab.“Westillneedtoshowthatthisan-tibody is protective in living systems,whichhas not yet been done,” biochemist DavidVeesler,oneoftheseniorauthorsofthestudy,

saidinastatementreleasedbytheUniversity ofWashingtonSchoolofMedicine.The scientists noted, how-

ever, that theyhope these ini-tialresultswillpavethewayforusing S309, aloneor in amix-ture, as a preventivemeasureforpeopleathigh-riskofexpo-suretoSARS-CoV-2oraspost-exposuretherapy.Theantibodyisnowonafast-trackdevelop-ment and testing path at thecompanyVirBiotechnology inthe next step towardpossible

clinicaltrials, theUniversitysaid.

CR3022:Theactionof this antibody fromaSARSsurvivorwasdescribedbyChinesesci-entists earlier this year, indicating that itcross-reactsagainstSARS-CoV-2, too.Citingthisreport,theScrippsInstituteintheUSsaidin April that its researchers have nowdonestructural mapping to determine how theantibodybinds toSARS-CoV-2.The antibody’s binding site was found

highly similar between the two coron-aviruses.However,theantibodybindsmuchlesstightlytoSARS-CoV-2thanitdoestotheSARS virus. And CR0322 cannot neutraliseSARS-CoV-2 in labas itdoesSARS-CoV.The takeaway is that the binding site, as

identified, is a siteof vulnerability forSARS-CoV-2. Other antibodies binding it moretightlywould plausibly succeed in neutral-ising thevirus, theScripps Institute said.

Two antibodies from SARSsurvivors, and how theyreact to new coronavirus

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,MAY20

MAHARASHTRAaccountsforaboutathirdofallCovid-19casesinIndia,andtwooutofeveryfivedeaths.Mumbai,inturn,accountsforthreeoutofeveryfivecasesinMaharashtra,andalsothreeofeveryfivedeaths.Amidthesehighnumbers,epidemiologists

alsopointtosomeencouragingrecenttrends.Whilethenumberofcasesisrising,thegrowthratehasslowed,ashasthedeathrate,andtherecoveryratehasbeenstrong.

The trendsAs of 5:30 pm on Wednesday,

Maharashtra has had37,136 caseswith 1,325deaths, out of India’s1,06,750 and 3,303;Mumbaihashad22,746casesand800deaths.Until the first week

of May, Mumbai wasrecording about 500new cases each day.Now, this is over 1,200newcaseseveryday.For both the state and the city, the case

and death counts newly registered in Aprilwere 30 to 50 times the correspondingcountsinMarch.Mumbai’sMarchdeathtollrose40timesto283inApril, followedby1.8times in the first 20 days of May (see table).Mumbai’snewcases,whichroseby45timesfromMarchtoApril,havesincethenrisenby2.2 times until now.While theMay countsare for only 20 days, this is still a verywidedifferenceingrowthratesofmonthlycounts.

The takeawaysTake the time taken for cases to double.

“Earlier, caseswere doubling in three days,then it slowed down to six-seven days, andnowMaharashtra has doubling rate of 11.9.Thismeanstransmissionofthevirusisslow-

ing.Mumbaihasshownsimilartrends,”saidDr Pradeep Awate, epidemiologist. OnWednesday,Mumbai’s doubling ratewasat13,betterthanithasbeeninthepastfewdays.Deathsasapercentageoftheinfectedpool

has declined inMaharashtra andMumbai.Mumbai’sdeathratehadclimbed to over 7% inApril. Followingmeas-ures to ramp up inten-sive care and oxygensupport,with emphasison immediate sympto-matic treatment, thedeath rate has droppedcontinuouslyandiscur-rentlyat3.5%.

ByTuesday,9,639patientshadrecoveredin Maharashtra (25%), including 6,116 inMumbai(26.8%).Tuesdayrecordedthemostrecoveries, at1,202acrossMaharashtra.

TheworriesThehugenumbersaremakingitdifficult

toinstallfacilitiestotreateveryone.Mumbaiisadding1,200-1,400newcaseseveryday. IfwetakeonlyTuesday’sexample,foronebedthatwasvacated (due todeathor recovery),twonewpatientswerewaitingtotake it.Healthofficialsareworriedaboutthemon-

soon.“Influenzacases,whichriseinmonsoon,haveaffection for lungs.Coronavirusalsohasanaffinitytoattacklungs.Wedon’tknowhowtheseviruseswill behave together,” said epi-demiologistAwate.Hewasreferringtovirusesthatcausedengue,malariaandleptospirosis.

In rising Covid-19 counts instate and Mumbai, a fewsilver linings to take note of

FOCUSONMAHARASHTRA

MONTHLYTALLIESMonth Mumbai Maharashtra

Cases Deaths Cases Deaths

March 151 7 302 10

April 6,910 283 10,196 449

May1-20 15,685 510 26,638 876

Total 22,746 800 37,136 1,325

Ontheimpactof thepandemicontheIndianeconomy,andhowtorecoveronceavaccine isdeveloped:Thisisthemostunprecedentedcrisisfaced

by theglobal economyand India. It’s like theGeorge Clooney movie The Perfect Storm,wherea fishing trawlerwent toaspotwherethreestormswereraging.TheglobaleconomyandIndianeconomyisfacingamedicalcrisis,economic crisis, and financial crisis together.ThisisaNaBhutoNaBhavishyatievent.Ifwe lookataverysimplistic

back-of-the-envelope calcula-tion,ourGDPisabout$3trillion.If we remain shut for 47 days at50%capacityutilisation,with allmonths contributing equally totheGDP— which is awrongas-sumptionbutonlyforthesakeofsimplicity — then roughly theloss of output is about $190 bil-lion... There will be a cost ofrestartingtheeconomyaddedtothisnumber.Againstthat,wewillsave$40-$45billioninoil importbill, if oilpricespersistatcurrentlevels. Andwecould look to save about $20billion by replacingmade-in-China goodswithmade-in-India goods. To some extent,importmovementhasbeencurtailed,sothatwillhelp,andtosomeextentwewillhavetomakeaneffort. Thenetdamage thatCovid-19cancosttoIndianeconomycouldbe$130billion,plus thecostof restarting...Nowmore importantly, howdowecon-

tainthedamage?Therearethreeways— at-tractingforeigndirectinvestment;providingfiscal stimulus; providingmonetary stimu-lus. These three steps together alongwithmedical solutionscanreducethedamage.

WhetherthePrimeMinister’smessageof self-reliancemeansreversingIndia’sjourneyof liberalising imports:Thegainsofthe1991liberalisationshould

notbe lost. Thishasput the Indianeconomyfromsub-4%growthtoabove6%growth.Weneedtoconsolidateonthisandstepfurther.When I say that you need to replace

made-in-China goodswithmade-in-Indiagoods,itdoesnotmeanthatwestopimport-ingfromChina.Butwemuststopimportingthose things whichwe can easily make inIndia. For example, when you go out onDiwali to buy electric lighting, it ismade inChina. I’msurewecanmake that in India...The second thing is competing with

China. For example, we have one of theworld’slargestcottonproductions,oneofthebest quality cottons... one of the world’slargestcapacitiestoconvertcottonintoyarn.We also knowhow toweave that yarn intofabric.Butwhenitcomestoconvertingthatfabric intoagarment,ofputtingabrandandselling it abroad for exports, we lose out. Acountry like Bangladesh has three timesmore garment export then India despitethem not growingmuch cotton or despitethemnothavingmuchyarncapacity.Why have we reached this situation?

Therearemultiplefactors...Letmegiveasmallexample,inChina,womenareworkingintwoshifts of 12hours,which iswhy their cost ofmakinggarmentsismuchlower. InIndia,we

donot allowwomen towork af-ter8pminfactories...Weneedtochangeourrulesandregulations.Givingthethirddimension.In

1980, China and India were ofsimilarsize.Chinabecameaman-ufacturer to the world andwewere left behind... How doweclose this gap?Chinawasable toachievewhat it did by attractingall the foreign direct investmentthatitcould.WeneedtogetthosecompaniesoutofChinaintoIndia.Today is thebest time.Theworldis suspicious of China. It is being

consideredasacountrywhichhasgiven theworld the novel coronavirus.We are beingconsideredpositivelyaswehavesuppliedhy-droxychloroquinemedicinetotheworld.Godwilling, we shall supply vaccines from theSerumInstituteof India,Punetotheworld.Wemust encash this goodwill by estab-

lishing amanufacturing base.Weare todaythebackofficetotheworld.Whycanwenotbecomethe factory to theworld?

OnwhetherMSMEsarepreparedtocater totheneedsof thecorporatesectorhigherupinthevaluechain:... It isclearthatIndianentrepreneursare

capableof building largesuccessful compa-nies. Butunfortunately,theIndianentrepre-neurislikeamodern-dayAbhimanyu.IntheSatyug, Abhimanyu went into theChakravyuhabyhis choice. InKaliyug, he isbornintotheChakravyuha.Heisdestinedtofightmarket competition, volatility in de-mand/supply, etc. But, many a time, he is

strugglingwith taxation rules, compliancerules, labour in flexibility, land acquisitionnorms.EvenintheSatyugwhenAbhimanyuwas fighting the Kauravas, while hewas intheChakravyuha,hewasstill under the im-pressionthathisunclesandbrotherswouldcomeandhelphim.Hestill lost.InKaliyug,ifAbhimanyuisnotonlyfight-

ingtheKauravas,butalsothePandavaswhoweresupposedtohelphim,howwillhebe-

come successful? This is where the PrimeMinister’sannouncementcomes in thatwewill focuson land, labour, liquidity, and law.These are the four ingredients thatwill en-surethatourAbhimanyugetssupported.Wemust support entrepreneurship at themi-cro,medium,and large levels...

Onwhetherriskaversionamongbankswouldreduce,andwhetherbanks

wouldpushcredit intothesystem:The government has taken a big step by

providingguarantee,asthiswillhelpensurethatbankersarenotafraidof lending.Slowly,wehavetomakesurethatgenuinedecisionsbybankersarenotsubjectedtoawitch-huntbytheagencies.Whenyoulendmoneysomedecisionswillgowrong,thatisapartofbusi-ness.Thisconfidenceistheessenceofbank-ing and hopefully, with these guarantees,those fearswill bebehindus.

OnwhethertheCovid impactonthestockmarketcangodownfurther:Thiswill dependonthe intersectionof a

medical solution in the formof of a drug orvaccine, and the quality andquantity of fis-calandmonetarystimulus,bothfrominten-tionaswellasexecutionpointofview.Thesewilldeterminewhenoureconomybottomsout, and subsequently, when ourmarketsbottomout. Obviously, themarkets are for-ward-looking,andtheywillbottomoutwaybefore theeconomybottomsout.

OnwhethertheMSMEpackagewasnotwell receivedbythestockmarkets:Themarketfallcanbeattributedmoreto

globaldevelopments-globalmarketsfellandthisprobablygotreflected inourmarkets. Itcould also be a function of having alreadyrisenonthedaythat thePMannouncedtheRs20lakhcrorepackageandhenceitwasal-readypriced in. My feeling is thatmarket isgoingtoswing—whenever there isgoing tobe news about amonetary stimulus, fiscalstimulus, thenmarketswillmoveup. In theabsenceof thatnews,marketswillgodown.Until such time that amedical solution

emerges, which gives themarkets the cer-tainty that economic activitieswill resumenormally,marketswill keep swinging frompessimismtooptimism, fromfear tohope -thisvolatilitywill continue.

Onwhetherthemarketrecovery isbroad-based,andwhetherthestimulusgoestoprimarilyhelptopcorporates:So, themarkets havebeenextremelypo-

larised.Therearefewstockswhichhavedonewell.Someindiceshavenotfallenasmuchasthebroadmarket. Ithinkthepackagetodayisgearedmore towardsSMEs rather than largeenterprises. In fact,most of the large enter-priseshavehadworsecashflowmismatches.Theydonoworry about survivability... Theyjustneedsomecashflowsothattheycancovertheircurrentdownturn.ItistheSMEswhichrequirenotonlymon-

etary stimulusbut fiscal stimulus. And this iswhere the stepswere taken by the govern-ment,ifexecutedwellontheground,willbeagame-changer. Andwhen these SMEs start

functioning,withcreditflowcomingintotheirbalancesheets,thatwillautomaticallyreinvig-oratetheeconomy,andthiswouldgetreflectedinthebalancesheetsof largecompanies...

Onwhetherhotspots in industrialisedstatessuchasMaharashtra,Gujaratwoulddelaytherecovery in India:Undoubtedly,thisisaworry,andwewould

requireherculeaneffortsfromentrepreneurs,businessmen, government, and citizens.Broadly aswe see, there are threemodels ofcontaining coronavirus. One is a lockdown,whichwehaveexperimentedwith.Secondisthe SouthKoreamodel,where theydid ran-domtestingonalargescaleandenforcedstrictquarantine. The third is the Japanesemodelwherethereisahigherlevelofpublicandpri-vatehygiene.Asanation,weneedtocometo-getherthroughallthreemodels.

Onwhetherthere isagreaterneedtogivefiscalsupportnot just to industriesbuttoa largepercentageofworkers:Today,thisisaone-daymatch—twobats-

menareplaying,oneisfiscalstimulusandtheother ismonetary stimulus. Nownormally,onebatsmanstartshittingandthesecondtriestogivescoringopportunitiestothefirst.If themonetarystimulusisinoverdrive...thenprob-ablywecantakeabackfootonfiscalstimulus.Whenmonetary stimulus reaches its limit,thenwecanincreasefiscalstimulus...

Onhispersonal investmentportfolio,andwhetherthere isariskthatnewinvestorswouldbescaredout:Iamamutualfundsperson,butthisdoes

notmean that allmy savings are inmutualfunds. I am well diversified into mutualfunds, equity anddebt; I have physical goldformydaughter’swedding,Ihaverealestate,I haveprovident fundsalso.Nowtheotherquestion.Whenreturnsbe-

comenegative,itteststhenervesof investors,andweneedtopacifythem.Todaythemutualfund industry has, fortunately, more than100,000distributors,whoaredoinganexcel-lentjobinhandholdinginvestorsinthesetrou-bledtimes.Wealsohavealotofinvestorswhowentthroughthe2008experience...Thesecondquestionthenisthatifweare

confident about long-termperformance ofequity,thenwhataboutitsvolatility?...Equitymarketsarevolatilebynatureandhencetheygive better returns than fixed incomeor sil-ver... The bestway to benefit out of the cur-rent situation is to be a long-term investor,andtohaveadisciplinedassetallocation.

TRANSCRIBEDBYOMMARATHE

(Editedexcerpts)VIDEO:https://youtu.be/DXgD_ralrGk

‘Until a medical solution emerges, marketswill keep swinging from fear to hope’

NILESHSHAH,MDatKotakMahindraAssetManagement,hasspent25years incapitalmarketsandhasmanagedfundsacrossequity, fixed incomeandrealestate for localandglobal investors. In thiseditionof E-Xplainedbeforeacountry-wideZoomaudience lastweek,hediscussedthe impactof theCovid-19pandemicontheeconomy,andwaystocontain thedamage.HespoketoPVaidyanathanIyerandSandeepSinghofThe IndianExpress

NileshShahinconversationonZoomwithPVaidyanathanIyerandSandepSingh(inset) lastweek. Screengrabs

A U D I E N C E Q U E S T I O N SOnwhetherthegovernmentshouldgoinformoreborrowing:Iagree.Weareoneofthefewcountries

intheworldwhichhasalltheleversavail-able...InIndia,wecancutinterestratesbe-causehereitis6%plus,andourreporateisstill 4.4%.Wealsohave the ability topro-vide fiscal stimulus because the debt toGDPratiois70%,andintheUSitisupwardsof100%.Wehavetheabilitytocreatecredit.Weare a countrywhichhas a lot of deadassets,likegold...Thiscanbemonetisedandbroughtintothemainlineeconomy.So,weareoneof the fortunatecoun-

trieswhichhave the choice of eitherus-ingmonetary stimulus, fiscal stimulus,credit creation, monetising dead assetsin order to support the economy... Sincewe today have the luxury of using thetoolsatourdisposal,wearedoingwhatisappropriate.Weneed tomaintain abal-ancebetweenspeedandaccuracy.

Onwhetherthereshouldbemoremarketplayersassistingthegovernment...Fromthe interactions that Ihavehad

withregulators, Ibelievetheyareknowl-edgeablepeople,be it atRBI, SEBI, or theFinanceMinistry. Butwemust also takeintoaccount thecurrent situation.As an example, Mexico is a country

which hedges its oil. An oil-producingcountry, ithedges itsoil in forwardmar-kets.Whenoilpricesgohigher they losemoney, andwhen prices fall they gainmoney.ButwehaveneverseenMexicancitizenscomplainingwhentheirgovern-mentusesmoney inhedging....Wehave togive space toour regu-

lators, toourdecision-makers, that theycan make legitimate errors. We wanteveryone to be perfect. How can thispossible? We need to give them thisfreedom.

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

126,949Iran

227,364Italy

178,170Germany

250,141United Kingdom

180,934France

232,555Spain

1,537,584US

271,628Brazil

152,587Turkey

TOTAL CONFIRMED: 4,947,929 DEATHCOUNT:324,872

THEWORLD

Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonMay20

308,705Russia

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 106,750 (3,303DEATHS)

37,136Maharashtra

12,448 Tamil Nadu

5,845Rajasthan

2,002 Punjab

5,465MP

4,926 UP

10,554 Delhi

12,140Gujarat

2,961West Bengal

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

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

2,532Andhra Pradesh

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,May20.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.42,298PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN32STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 33ArunachalPradesh 1Assam 142Bihar 1498Chandigarh 200Chhattisgarh 101DadarNagarHaveli 1Goa 46Haryana 964HimachalPradesh 92JammuandKashmir 1317Jharkhand 231Karnataka 1397Kerala 642Ladakh 43Manipur 9Meghalaya 13Mizoram 1Odisha 978Puducherry 18Telangana 1634Tripura 173Uttarakhand 111

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020

THEOUTBREAK MigrantsOnTheRoad

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Perchedonatruck,migrantspass throughShaheedPathontheirwayhomeonWednesday.Vishal Srivastav

Sunil,withhis4-month-olddaughterandfamily,waits togetscreenedbeforeboardingatraintoBasti,UP.GurmeetSingh

NO COMING BACK

Hundredsofmigrant labourersandtheir families fromUttarPradeshandBiharwaitneararegistrationcentreatMayurVihar inNewDelhi tobescreenedbeforetheycanboardShramikspecial trainsonWednesday. TashiTobgyal

LUCKNOW

LUDHIANA

Peoplequeueupformedical screeningbeforeboardingabustoUttarakhandat thecentralbusstand.Rohit JainParas

AchilddozesoffwhilewaitingforabustoChhattisgarhatWagholi.Themigrantshadbeenwaitingfortwodays.AshishKale

JAIPUR

PUNE

NEWDELHI

Agriculture MinisterNARENDRA SINGH TOMARspeaks with HARIKISHANSHARMAaboutreliefmeasuresannounced for the agriculturesector as part of the Centre’sRs20-lakhcroreCovid-19pack-age.Excerpts:

Thebroadcontoursof thepackagesuggestamajorpolicyshiftawayfromthesocialisteraof cooperativefarmingtocorporatefarming.I thinkthisassumption isun-

true.Thereisaclassinthecountrywhichdoesnotwant farmers toprogress, and that’s why theymakesuchcomments.Farmingistheprincipalactivityofourcoun-try. Therefore, asmuch freedomandfacilitiesitgets,itwillprogresstothatextent.Generally,somepo-liticalpartiesusedtowaivesomedebts, won elections, and thenforgotabout the farmers.But theway PrimeMinister NarendraModi isworking,hewillnotonlystrengthenagricultureandmakeitprofitablebutwill(also)ensurea continuity - be itmarketing orenactingalawforpre-determina-tionofpricesandquality...

FinanceMinisterNirmala

Sitharamanhasannouncedacentral lawforbarrier-freeinter-statetradebuthasnotsuggestedawayfor it.Howwillyoudothat?Wewillenactacentral legis-

lation.Allstateswillacceptitbe-cause itwill be in the interestoffarmers.

Will thenewlegislationbeamodalActorbinding?Thiswill beaproperact.

Didyouconsult statesbeforeannouncingsuchabigmove?Wewilldoconsultation,if re-

quired.Allstatesandpoliticalpar-tiesarerepresentedinParliament.Wearediscussing the issue.Wewilldoitassoonaspossible.

Will thegovernmentpromulgateanordinancetogive immediaterelief tofarmers?Weare drafting the law. The

Cabinetwill decide thecourseofaction.

ManystatesgetasubstantialrevenuefromtheexistingAPMCsystem.Will theCentreprotect thatrevenue?Stateswill not losemuchon

this count. Itmay be around Rs

6,000crore toRs7,000crore forall states. Let the timecome,wewilldiscusswithall.Letthedraftbeprepared first.

Wehavebeenlisteningtoannouncements fordevelopingfarm-gateinfrastructureforyears.Whyshouldthe latest

announcementofRs1 lakhcrorefundbeconsideredbeyondapromise?The full scheme isbeing for-

mulated. Itwillbeusedtofill in-frastructure gaps. We have al-readydonetwomeetingsonthisissue.We are in the process ofdraftingguidelines for the fund.It can be used by FPOs (FarmerProducerOrganisations)andco-operatives, etc. Besides, the PPPmodel canalsobeconsidered.

Doyouthinkthegovernmentshouldchangethetargetofdoublingof farmers’ incomeby2022toa lateryear?Itwillbetooearlytosayany-

thing(onthat)-wehaveatleasttwomoreyears. It is truethat4-5monthshavebeenaffectedbythis(Covid-19),butIcansaythatagricultural production, partic-ularly food production, has notbeenaffected...

AsRuralDevelopmentMinister,howdoyoulookattheproblemsfacedbyagricultural labourers inthewakeofCovid-19?Aftersometime, jobswillbe

requiredforlabourersreturningtovillages.Tocreatejobopportu-nities there,economicactivities

wereallowedinruralareassincethe beginning. Moreover, wehave increased allocation inMGNREGAandwillspendmorethan Rs 1 lakh crore in the cur-rent financial year.We have al-readyapprovedRs33,000croreforstatesunderMGNREGA,andRs 21,000 crore have been re-leased. Until Monday, 18 croreperson days have been gener-atedunderMGNREGA.

Thegovernmenttalksaboutthepoorbutthewaypeoplearewalkingonroadsandreturningtotheirhomesshowsthat theCentremadesomemistakewhileformulating its responsetothepandemic.I don’t think so. When the

country went into lockdown,there was fear among peopleabout the coronavirus, so therewas chaos. If relaxationsweregiven,what is happening todaycouldhavehappenedatthattime,too.Weensuredlabourershadnodifficulty.NGOsaswell as politi-cal parties contributed for thiscause.Besides,theCentrereleasedRs 11,000 crore to states so thattheycanundertakereliefwork.

FULLINTERVIEWONwww.indianexpress.com

DIPANKARGHOSENEWDELHI,MAY20

WITH OVER three-and-a-halflakhmigrantworkersexpectedtoreturn to thestateover thecom-ingweeksintheaftermathofthelockdown, theChhattisgarhgov-ernment is focusingondevelop-ing quarantine infrastructure atthegrassrootslevelandupscalingMNREGA-basedemployment.Senior officials in the state

governmentsaidthatthekeyob-jective over thenext fewweekswillbe to increasedisposable in-come, especially in rural areas.Returingmigrantswhohavebeenput up in panchayat-level quar-antine centres arebeing asked ifthey are interested inMNREGA-basedwage labour. Job cards are

being created for thosewhoareinterested,saidofficials.A senior official in the

Panchayat and RuralDevelopmentdepartmentsaidaquarantinecentreineveryvillageinnowamust.“Anygovernmentbuildingthatisavailableinthevil-lagecanberequisitionedforthatpurpose. It canbeaschool, it canbe an angwanwadi, it could beanything. Not the panchayatbhawan(office)tobeginwith,be-cause the panchayat bhawan isthecentreofallactivities.”While Chhattisgarh has vast

swathesofforestland,muchofitscrop landhas a single crop cycle,heldbackbypoor irrigation.Thishasledtopeopleleavingthestatetoworkelsewhere.Sincethelock-downhowever,migrantworkershavestartedtoreturn.According

to thestate’s assessment, 52,000peoplehavereturnedsofar.Thekeythen,officialssaid,will

betoensurethatthesereturnees,also have somemeans to earn.“Whatwehavealsodoneistoask

our panchayat officials to ascer-tain from these people if theywant to be engaged in wagelabour after the 14-day quaran-tine period. Because many ofthese peoplemay not have too

much in theway of savings. Sowhile they are nowbackhome,theymighthaveaproblem.Ifpeo-pleare interested, thenwemakenewMNREGAjobcards.Sooncethey are out of quarantine, andsafetyissuesarehandled, imme-diately wewill be able to givethemlabour,”theofficialsaid.Aseniorofficialdesigningthe

policysaidthenextchallengeistocreatework thatmeets this re-turning inflowof people. “Whatwehavealsodoneisaskdistrictsto sanction the highest possiblelabour-intensiveworksothatwedon’twaste toomuch funds onprocuring items. Instead,weareable to put themoney into thepocketsofthepeoplesothattheyhavedisposableincome.Landlev-elingisoneworkthatcanbedone.Smallfarmpondscanbedug,and

then the earth can be used tostrengthenthepatchofland—thisis calledmedbandi. This soil thatcomesout is fairly fertile andwecanuse it for of plantation alongculvertsof the land.Wecanpro-vide some fruit-bearing trees, orpulsesandsoon,”theofficialsaid.PanchayatandRuralDevelop-

mentMinisterTSSinghDeosaidoneof thebiggest issuesinstatesis the lackof disposable income.Hesaidduringthemonsoon,lackofincomewillaffectbothreturn-ing migrants, and those whostayed back. “Those who dopaddy transplantationonly theyareabletogeneratesomelabour.So forest produce andMNREGAhelps themost needy. There arenotwowaysaboutit,”hesaid.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

WorkunderMGNREGAgoesoninSamnapurvillageofChhattisgarh’sKabirdhamdistrict . Express

THE EXPRESS

INTERVIEWWITH

NARENDRASINGHTOMAR

UNIONMINISTERFORAGRICULTUREANDFARMERS’WELFARE

‘(To create jobs)we’ve raisedMGNREGAallocation,will spendRs 1 lakh cr this year’

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,MAY20

AMID EASING of lockdown re-strictions leading to partial re-sumptionofeconomicandtradeactivities, the Kerala govern-mentWednesdaysaid the statedoes notwant to see the exit ofmigrantworkers.Of4.10lakhmigrantworkers

staying in Kerala after the lock-down, 42,230 have returned totheir home states via specialtrains. Of these, 11,157 have re-turned to Bihar, and 9,186 toUttar Pradesh. The rest havegone to Jharkhand, Odisha,Rajasthan,MadhyaPradeshandWestBengal.Kerala Labour Minister T P

Ramakrishnansaidthestatewillgive all legal protection tomi-grant workers who want towork in the state. “Kerala doesnotwantmigrantworkers togoback. Those who want to gohome can do so. If those whohad returned to their statescomebacktoKerala,thegovern-mentwouldofferthemall facil-ities for takingup jobs,”hesaid.Theminister said42,230mi-

grantworkers had returned to

their states after lockdown.Another 1.50 lakhmay leave thestateinthecomingweeks,hesaid.Labour department sources

said workers attached to con-struction firms, contractors orproductionunitsarenotkeentogobackastheyaregettingregu-larwork. “Wehaveanothercat-egory of migrant workers whoare scattered and look at odd-jobs. They are demanding thatthey be taken home. Since sev-eral trains have been operatedformigrant workers, many arepatiently waiting at their resi-dentialcampsevenwithoutgo-ing out in search of work. Theythink that the call to board thenext train would come at anytime,” sources said.Some of themigrants have

regularworkinKeralabutwanttogoback to their families.AssimAkthar(25),anativeof

MaldainWestBengal, isearningRs 800 a day at a brick unit inKozhikode. “There is work forme here for six days. But myfamily keeps callingme back. Iwanttogohomeandthencomeback. I have already registeredmynamewith local officials.AsWest Bengal is taking us free ofcost, moreworkers are keen togohome,”hesaid.

We don’t want migrantsto leave, will offer allfacilities, says minister

OVER42,000EXITKERALA

Haryana aid for studentswho have education loans

ESHAROYNEWDELHI,MAY20

AFTER A go-ahead from theIndian Council of MedicalResearchandpermissionfromtheCentral Drugs Standard ControlOrganisation, theAggapeChitraMagna,amagneticnanoparticle-based RNA extraction kit to beusedduringCovid-19testingissetformassproduction. Thekit, de-velopedbyThiruvananthapuram-based Sree Chitra TirunalInstituteforMedicalSciencesandTechnology, will be launchedThursdayandAgappeDiagnosticswillsellitsfirstbatchof3,000suchkitstoAmritaInstituteofMedicalSciencesinKochi.

SCTIMST director Dr AshaKishore said the extraction kitscostRs150—halfthepriceofkitscurrentlyinuse.TheChitraMagnawas trans-

ferred toAgappeDiagnostics inAprilandhasbeenvalidatedattheNational Institute of Virology forCovid-19RNAisolation.ItisolatesRNA froma sample usingmag-neticnanoparticles.Thenanopar-ticle beads bind to the viral RNAand,whenexposedtoamagneticfield, give a highly purified andconcentratedRNA.As the sensi-tivity of thedetectionmethod isdependentongettingaadequatequantity of viral RNA, this en-hancesthechancesofidentifyingpositivecases.“Presentlythereare6-7types

of importedkitswhicharebeingusedforextraction,themostpop-ular one being imported fromGermany.We have tested oursagainst theGermankit andhavefoundthesamelevelofefficacyatalowercost,”saidDrKishore.“What is significant is thatby

nextmonth,Aggapewill be abletomanufacture80,000kitswhichcancarryout1lakhtests.Wewillbe tying upwith another com-panyinthenextfewdays.Wefeelthese two firmswill be able tomeet thegovernment’s demandof one lakh tests per day by Julyand theneight lakh testsperdayin the subsequentmonths.Wemaynothavetoimportextractionkitsatall,’’shesaid. INPUTSFROMENSTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Indigenous RNA extraction kitset to go into mass production

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH,MAY20

THEHARYANAgovernment onWednesday announced a seriesof financialbenefits,especiallytostudentswhohavetakeneduca-tion loans andpoor peoplewhowant to take loans to start theirbusiness.Chief MinisterManohar Lal

Khattarsaidthat“thesemeasurestaken by the state governmentshall be in addition to the finan-cialassistancealreadyannouncedbytheUniongovernment”.“All such students,whohave

taken education loans,who aregoingtocompletetheireducationthisyearorhaveearliertakenloanfrombankstobegintheirbusiness

buthavenotyetbeenable tobe-ginitandhavenotbegunrepayingtheir loan’s principal amount—havetopayinterestontheirloans.Threemonth interest for theseloansshallbepaidbytheHaryanagovernment. Approximately,36,000 studentswill benefit andRs40croreworthbenefitshallbeextended to them by the stategovernment,” Khattar an-nounced.Hesaid:“Forpoorpeoplewho

want to begin small business,bankshave aDifferential Rate ofInterest plan. In this, they get aloanofRs15,000at fourpercentinterest.Outof this fourper centinterest,Haryanawillpaytwopercent and shall facilitate nearly 3lakh people to get this loanthroughbanks.”

CHHATTISGARH

As migrants return, focus on MGNREGA, quarantine infra

AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI,MAY20

THE CENTRE may have doneawaywith theneed for destina-tion states’ consent to rampupservicesofShramikSpecialtrains,butstatessuchasBiharandUttarPradesh,which aremajor desti-nation states formigrants, aregrapplingwith logistics issues inhandlingtherush.While Bihar has flagged ca-

pacity constraints to the Centre,Uttar Pradesh has sought localtrains formovementwithin thestate.In a letter to Union Home

SecretaryAjayBhalla,BiharChiefSecretaryDeepakKumarhassaidthat to receive additional trains,the state requires those trains tocarry passengers directly to thehomedistrictsofmigrantpassen-gers and halt at the stations inthosedistricts.“If this is not followed and

trainsbringpassengers fromdif-ferentdistricts, thenitwill createhugedifficultyfortheadministra-tion,”Kumarsaidinhisletter.Uttar Pradesh,whichhas re-

ceived— and is expected to re-ceive — the most number ofShramikSpecial trains, haswrit-ten to the Railways requestingMainline ElectricMultipleUnits(MEMU) trains (like locals) onninemainroutesinthestatetore-placebusestoferrymigrantwork-erstovariousdistricts.Most of theShramikSpecials

inBihar are bringingpassengersto central points like DanapurnearPatna, fromwhere30busestake passengers of each train to

theirdistricts.“Weare handling around50

trains per day, which meansaroundalakhpassengersinaday.We have been receiving thesetrainsasperourcapacity.Consentis not a problem and everyonestrandedshouldcomehome.Wehave told the Centre that if youwant togiveusmore trains thensendthetrainsasperourrequire-ment, or elsewewill have diffi-cultyinincreasingthenumberoftrains,” Kumar told The IndianExpress.Withoutstrikingadiscordant

notetotheCentre’spolicy,thelet-tersaysthestatecanreceivemoretrainsiftheyaresentasproposed.“Ifthepassengersaresentap-

propriatelyasdiscussedabove, itwillputlessburdenonusintrans-porting thosemigrantworkersand in that casewecaneven re-ceivetrainseverytwohours,thatissixtrainsperdayineachroute,which implies per day an addi-tional54trains,”thelettersaid.Bihar so far has received367

ShramikSpecialsandconsenthasalreadybeengiven for 575addi-tional trains from Gujarat,Maharashtra, Punjab, Delhi andUttar Pradesh. “In buses theremaybechancesofaccidents;thebus drivermaybe tired, andwehavetakenallthebusesavailable,schoolbusesandall,fortheexist-ingtrains,”Kumarsaid.Bihar has asked for 54 addi-

tionaltrainsdailybut inninedis-trict-wiseroutes.Theninerouteshavethreehalts,eachinadistrict,carryingpassengersfromfourfar-flungdistricts.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Facing migrant flood,UP, Bihar say need helpto connect to districts

AVANEESHMISHRALUCKNOW,MAY20

BARABANKI DISTRICT in UttarPradesh, which till twoweeksagowasadistrictwithnoactivecoronavirus cases, onWednesday reported 95 Covid-19cases—thehighestsingle-daysurge inaUPdistrict.Notably, out of the people

whotestedpositiveWednesday,49aremigrantworkerswhohadreturned to the district in thepast fewweeks.Theremaining46peopleare

possible contacts of the six per-sons who had tested positiveearlier.“According to information

received onWednesday, out ofthe245samplessent for testingonMay 15 and 16, the report of95cameouttobepositive.Thereisnoneedtopanic.Thenumbersarenotimportant,butthefact iswe had identified these peopleandweresuccessful instoppingfurther spread of the virus,”Barabanki District MagistrateAdarshSinghtweeted.The district has now122 ac-

tivecases,headded.Thereportofasurgeincoro-

navirus cases comes a day afterBastireported44newcases—allmigrants who had returnedfrom Pune in Maharashtra, ahotspot.Uttar Pradesh has been re-

porting a jump in coronavirus-cases for the last fewdays.While the government ini-

tiallyattributedtheinflectiontorampingupof testing—thedailyaverageof samplesbeingtestedhas increased to 6,000—it lateradmittedthattherisingnumberof returningmigrants is a causefor concern.Principal Secretary (Health)

AmitMohanPrasadhadsaidonTuesday that the test-positivityrate among themigrants couldbe as high as 22% vis-a-visaround2.6%overalltest-positiv-ity rate.Meanwhile,thetotalnumber

of coronavirus cases in UttarPradesh crossed 5,000 onWednesday with four moredeathsbeingreportedovera24-hour-period.

UP’s Barabankirecords 95cases— highestsingle-day surgerecorded in state

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

COVID JOURNEY CALLNEWKARNATAKAunit Congress presidentDKShivakumarhas announcedanationwideyatra to reachout to the “com-monmanwhose trials and tribulations shouldbeheardandaddressed”duringCovid-19crisis.Butnotmanyineithertheparty'snational leadershipor inhis stateunit areapparentlyveryenthusiasticabouttheplan.Whilestate leaderssee itasShivakumar'sattempttoacquireabiggerstature,thenationalleadership is said tobeapprehensiveof the repercussionsofsuchatourduringthepandemic,believingitcouldbackfirefortheparty.Many, it appears, hadadvisedShivakumar againstthemovebuthehasmentionedinhisannouncementthatheisnot looking for “anypolitical advantage”butwants todo itas a Kannadiga person. The Congress national leadership isyet tobeconvinced, it seems.

KUDOS AFTER CLOSURERAILWAYSMINISTRYofficersgotfieldofficers,manyof themprobationers, to shut down their voluntary online platformSETU, which ensured delivery of medicines, PPE and farmproductsinparceltrainsacrossIndia.TheRailwaysbrasscalledthe initiative “departmentalism” since itwas runby IRTSof-ficers.TwitteractivityofSETUwasstoppedabruptlyonApril27.Butinanironyofsorts,manygovernmentagenciesoutsidethe Railways are tweeting in praise of the initiative. OnWednesday, official Twitter handles of the NDMA, PIB inJammu and Kashmir, and ‘Invest India’, the national invest-ment promotion agency, tweeted in praise of SETU, callingthem#coronawarriors. One of the tweets tagged the SETUhandle, but therewasnoacknowledgment since it hasbeenkeptdormant.

IN LINE FOR ONLINEINDIAANDAustraliahavenotbeenabletohavetheirsummit-levelmeetingsinceAustralia’sPrimeMinisterScottMorrisoncouldnot travel to India in Januarydue to thebushfires inhiscountry. And now,with the Covid-19 pandemic, chances ofschedulingasummitseemsbleakinnearfuture.ButNewDelhiand Canberra are discussing the possibility of a virtual sum-mitearlyJune.Datesarebeingfinalised,anditcouldtakeplaceonJune4.Besidesanofficialmeeting, ideasarebeingthrownaroundonhowtomakesomeinterestingvideos.

HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI,MAY20

ABOUTRS30,000croreworthofschemes announced in theAtmanirbhar Bharat packagewill rely on 40 per cent sharefromstates.These schemes — Pradhan

MantriMatsya SampadaYojana(PMMSY) and Scheme forFormalisation of Micro FoodProcessing Enterprises (FME)—were approved by the UnionCabinetonWednesday.ThePMMSY,which is aimed

at bringing about a BlueRevolutionthrough“sustainableandresponsibledevelopmentoffisheriessectorinIndia”,hasato-tal estimated investment of Rs20,050crore.Outofthis,Rs9,407crorewillcomeascentralshare,

Rs 4,880 crore as states’ shareandRs5,763croreasbeneficiar-ies’ share.ThePMMSYhastwocompo-

nents— Central Sector Scheme(CS) and Centrally SponsoredScheme (CSS). The statementshowsthatundertheCScompo-nent, the fundingpattern for theNortheastern and Himalayanstateswill be 90% central shareand 10% state share; for otherstatesitwillbe60%centralshareand 40% state share; and forUnionterritories(withandwith-out legislature) it will be 100%centralshare.However, under CSS compo-

nentof PMMSY, “theentireproj-ect/unit costwillbebornebytheCentral government (i.e. 100%centralfunding)”.“Whereverdirect beneficiary

oriented i.e. individual/groupac-

tivitiesareundertakenbytheen-tities of central government in-cluding National FisheriesDevelopmentBoard (NFDB), thecentral assistancewill be up to40% of the unit/project cost forGeneral category and 60% forSC/ST/Womencategory,” itsaid.“The Schemewill be imple-

mentedduringaperiodof5yearsfromFY2020-21toFY2024-25,”it added. Itwillhelp in “doublingof fishers, fish farmers and fishworkersincomesby2024”.ThePMMSYwasannounced

in the third tranche of the Rs20.97 lakh crore AtmanirbharBharat package by FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamanlastweek.However,PMMSYfirstfig-uredduringthe2019-20Budget,presented on July 5 last year. Inher speech at that time,Sitharaman had said, “Through

(the)scheme,theDepartmentofFisherieswill establish a robustfisheries management frame-work. This will address criticalgapsinthevaluechain,includinginfrastructure, modernisation,traceability,production,produc-tivity,post-harvestmanagementandqualitycontrol.”Another schemeannounced

in theAtmanirbharBharatpack-age—Scheme for Formalisationof Micro Food ProcessingEnterprises (FME)—was also ap-provedby theCabinet. The FMEwill have anoutlay of Rs 10,000crore and funding pattern of60:40.ThismeansthattheCentrewill share 60per cent of the ex-penditureandthebalance40percentwillbebornebystates.FMEisanewscheme,andwill

be implementedovera five-yearperiodfrom2020-21to2024-25.

ADILAKHZER&BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,MAY20

TWOBSFpersonnelwerekilledand theirweapons snatched bymilitantsinthePandachareaonthe outskirts of Srinagar onWednesday.OfficialssaidConstableRana

Mondal and Constable JiaulHaquewere killed in the attackwhich took place a day afterHizbulMujahideencommanderJunaid Sehrai and anothermili-tantwere killed in a gunfight inSrinagar.“Two BSF jawans on Naka

DutyontheoutskirtsofSrinagarcity at Pandach Chowk werefireduponby2/3bikebornemil-itants/youth. One jawan died.Theotherinjuredwasevacuatedto hospital,” a spokesperson forJammuandKashmirPolicesaid.Police sources said themili-

tants snatched theweapons ofthe twoBSFmenbefore fleeing.Officials said the BSF men

were taken to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of MedicalSciences Hospital in Sourawhere both were declaredbroughtdead.“They had bullet injuries in

the head,” said Dr Farooq Jan atthe hospital. “Our twomen losttheir lives in the attack. Theywere on routine duty whenunidentifiedmilitantscameandattacked them,” a Srinagar-basedBSFofficer said.Meanwhile, a 12-year-old

boy, who was injured after ahouse collapsed Tuesdayevening at the site of the en-counter in which the HizbulMujahideen militants werekilled,succumbedtoinjuriesonWednesday.“The boy had burn injuries.

He died this evening,” SMHSHospital medical superinten-dentDrNazirChowdharysaid.Hesaidfivepersonshadbeen

brought to the hospital onTuesdayevening. “Thefouroth-ersare stable,”hesaid.OnWednesday,policeques-

tioned journalist Fahad Shahover his coverage of theNawakadal gunbattle. Editor ofThe Kashmir Walla, Shah wascalledtotheCyberPoliceStationinSrinagar toexplain thecover-age. “They accusedme of ma-ligningthepolicereputation,”hesaid. Srinagar SSP Dr HaseebMughal declined comment onthe decision to summon thejournalist.EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

LUCKNOW,MAY20

HUNDREDSOF buses arrangedby the Congress, which werestuck on Uttar Pradesh-Rajasthan border for over 24hours after the UP governmentrefused to allow them to ferrystrandedworkers,beganreturn-ingtoRajasthanonWednesday,hoursafterCongressgeneralsec-retary Priyanka Gandhi Vadrasought towithdraw themsincethe state refused the offer torunthem.Priyankaalleged that theUP

government was creating hur-dles rather thanworking jointlyto help the stranded workers,whileUPDeputyChiefMinisterand senior BJP leader DineshSharmaallegedthatshehadsentRajasthan Roadways buses,whichshecannotdo inherper-

sonal capacity.The developments come on

a day UP Congress chief AjayKumarLallu,wasgrantedbailbyanAgra court a day after his ar-rest,alongwithafewotherpartyleaders, for allegedly violatingCrPC Section 144, lockdownor-ders and Sections of EpidemicAct. On Tuesday, Lallu had led a

dharna against the UP govern-ment's move to not allowthebuses.But a Lucknow police team

present outside the court tookLallu into custody soon in con-nection with another caselodged against him andPriyanka's private secretarySandeep Singh at Lucknow'sHazratganj police station onTuesday for allegedlymislead-ing the government by furnish-ing wrong details about thebuses and making falsestatements.Assistant Commissioner of

Police (Hazratganj) AbhayMishrasaidLalluwasbroughttoLucknowandlaterproducedbe-forealocalcourt,whichsenthimto judicial custody.Hewouldbekept in a temporary jail inLucknow,Mishrasaid.OnWednesdayevening, PTI

reported from Jaipur that the

Rajasthan Roadways busesstarted turning back from thestate's border with UP. “Thebuses are returning now afterthe UP government denied en-try...” Sarvan Pathak, in-charge,Chiksana police station inBharatpur,wasquotedbyPTI.Inashortvideomessagere-

leased earlier in the day,Priyankasaid this is “no timetoplay politics”, and urged UPChiefMinisterYogiAdityanathtouse thebuses. “...If youwant,you can paste your posters orbannersonthem,butkindlyal-low themtoply so that themi-grants can be ferried in them,”she said.Priyankasaid,“Ourbusesare

standing on the border since 4pm yesterday...(they) would betheretill4pmtoday.Pleasegivethempermit if youwish to usethem, otherwise we wouldwithdrawthem.”

ATMANIRBHARBHARAT 2 BSF men killed inSrinagar attack,weapons snatched

In2schemesworthRs30,000cr,40%funding tocomefromstates

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY20

THEUNIONCabinetWednesdaygave post-facto approval to thenewlawthatreservesallgovern-ment jobs in Jammu andKashmir for residents of theUnion Territory. The UnionHomeMinistryhadnotified thelawonApril 3.The government said in a

statement that it had given itsnod to “the Jammu& Kashmir(Adaptation of State Laws)SecondOrder,2020issuedunder

section 96of Jammu&KashmirReorganisationAct,2019,”which,it said, “furthermodifiedtheap-plicabilityofDomicileconditionsto all level of jobs in the Unionterritory of Jammu& Kashmirunder the Jammu & KashmirCivil Services (Decentralisationand Recruitment) Act (Act No.XVIof2010)”.Thegovernmentmentioned

that theorder “wouldapply thespecified domicile criterion foremployment to all posts in theUnion territory”. OnMarch 31,thegovernmenthadannouncednewlaws fordomicile status.

Law on domicile conditionsfor J&K jobs gets Cabinet nod

PriyankaGandhiVadraduringhervideoaddress

Buses return after Priyanka recalls offer;UP Cong chief held in bus row after bail

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH,MAY20

ACONGRESSleaderwasarrestedlateWednesdayeveningfromhisresidence in Haryana’s Karnaldistrict a day after he allegedlytweetedanabusivepostostensi-bly targeting a particular faithwhile criticising the YogiAdityanathgovernmentinUttarPradeshoverhishandlingof theCongress’sofferofbusestoferrymigrantworkers to their homedistricts inUP.The accused, Pankaj Punia,

hasheldmultiplepositionsinAllIndiaCongressCommittee.In his tweet in Hindi, Punia

wrote, “The Congress onlywantedtohelpmigrantworkersreach their home and pay forthem. But the [UP] governmentstarted politics. Such lowly actsare only done by saffron-clad

sanghis.”While Punia deleted his

tweetandclarifiedthatitwasnotmeantto“targetanyreligion”,heretweeted other tweets thatquotedhisoriginal tweet.Punia faces at least two FIRs

on similar charges in Agra andGhaziabad districts of UP.Wednesday’s FIR, lodged on acomplaint by Karnal residentVivekLamba,chargesPuniawith“promoting enmity betweencommunities, disturbing com-munalharmonyandtargetedha-rassment”.Puniaislikelytobeproduced

incourtonThursday.

PankajPunia

Haryana: Cong leaderheld after ‘abusive’ tweet

9THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020

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EXPRESSNETWORK

READYTORESUMEOPERATIONS:DMRC

PRITAMPALSINGHNEWDELHI,MAY20

THE DELHI High CourtWednesdayaskedtheCentreandtheDelhigovernmenttoconsiderthe prospect of recommencingDelhiMetroservicesastheyarea“mainstayofthepublictransportsystem”.“It shall be the duty of the

DMRC to ensure adequate stepsare taken tomaintain social dis-tancingoncetheMetroispermit-tedtofunction,particularly,sinceDMRChasbecomethelifelineforcitizensofDelhi and theNCRre-gionand,invariably,thecompart-ments are packed to the gills,which can be dangerous in thecurrentCovid-19pandemicsitu-ation,” a bench of Justice HimaKohli and Justice SubramoniumPrasadsaid.TheDelhiMetroinformedthe

court that theyare ready to startoperations, andhighlighted thatthe “Ministry of Housing andUrbanAffairshasformulatedtheStandard Operating Procedure(SOP) forMetro operation afterrestorationofMetroservicespostCovid-19lockdown”.“Detailed guidelines have

been laiddowntoensuresafetyof the passengers and staff ofvarious Metro systems in thecountry.Main focusareasof theSOParesocialdistancing,sanita-tion,thermalscreening,disinfec-tion, useofmasks and sanitiser,Aarogya Setu app and dissemi-nationof informationtopassen-gers,”theMetrostatedinitsaffi-davit.The counsel for the Centre,

though,maintained that due tothe pandemic, theyhave to takeprecautionary measures. TheCentre, in its guidelines for thefourth phase of the lockdown,hadnotallowedMetros tooper-ate. TheDelhi government, in itsrecommendations to the Centre

before the fourth phase of thelockdown,saidtheMetroshouldbe allowed to function, but onlythose involved in essential serv-icesshouldbeallowedtoboard.As reported by The Indian

Express,theCentrehad,beforethefourth phase of the lockdown,writtentoMetrooperatorsacrossthe country suggesting that QRcode-basedticketsbelinkedwiththe Aarogya Setu app to ensureonly"safepassengers"gainentryintostationsoncerestrictionsonservices are lifted. "Wearing offacemask/covershallbemanda-toryforallcommutersduringen-try into the stations/trains andduring theentire journey.UseofAarogyaSetuappwillbemanda-tory for passengers to enter intothe stations… someMetros aretryingtolinkQRcodeticketwithAarogya Setu App so that onlysafe passengers as per AarogyaSetuAppareissuedQRcodetick-ets. Metros using QR codemayadoptthisif technicallyfeasible,"theCentre’sguidelinesstated.Thebench’soralobservations

weremadeduringthehearingofa plea by a law student, ShreeshChadha, seeking to allowopera-tionofpublictransportinthena-tionalcapital.AdvocatePrashantVaxish,ap-

pearing for the lawstudent, saidthattherevisedguidelinesbytheMinistryofHomeAffairsandsub-sequently by the Delhi govern-ment are not adequate tomeetthedemandsoftheworkingpop-ulationofDelhi.“With limited capacity in

buses and no Metro services,thereareboundtobepeoplewhoaresufferingduetolackofaccessto public transport systems,”Vaxish said. The counsel forDTCstated that the fleetof busesandtheirfrequencyisadequatelyad-dressing theneedsof thepublic,and undertook before the courtthat further considerations arebeing taken to ensure the same.Amaximumof20peopleareal-lowedonabusinDelhi.The petitioner’s counsel also

pointedoutthatDelhiMetroRailCorporationhasalreadylistedthemeasureswhichitintendstotakeforensuringsafetyofcommutersonceoperationsarepermitted.Taking note of the submis-

sions, the benchdisposed of theplea, observing: “As andwhenthe lockdown is further relaxed,theDMRCshallalsobepermittedtooperatetheMetroRailintermsof the directions thatmaybe is-sued by the respondents subse-quently.”

Consider restartingMetro services, HCtells Centre, Delhi govt

DelhiMetrostatedthatdetailedguidelineshavebeenlaidout toensurethesafetyofpassengersandstaff.Archive

Demand hit, dairy co-opspay less for milk they buyHARIKISHANSHARMA&PARTHASARATHIBISWASNEWDELHI, PUNE,MAY20

THE CENTRE has claimed thatcooperativedairieshavenotonlysteppedupprocurementofmilkin the post-lockdown periodamid a demand collapse, butcontinued to pay farmers the“earlier declared rates”, or evenincreased theirprices.However, ground reports

fromat least twomajorstates—Uttar Pradesh andMaharashtra— suggest quite the opposite:Notonlyprivatedairies,butevencooperatives have sharplyslashed procurement prices inthe last twomonths.Take the Mathura Dugdh

Utpadak Sahakari Sangh Ltd(MDUSSL). This cooperativedairy union inMathura districtofUPwasuntilMarch8procur-ingbuffalomilkcontaining6.5%fat and 9% solids-not-fat (SNF)fromfarmersatRs46perkg.That price, as per orders is-

sued by MDUSSL accessed byThe Indian Express,was reducedtoRs44/kgeffectivefromMarch9—and then toRs 42onMarch14, Rs 40 onMarch 18, Rs 37 onMarch23,Rs34onMarch30andRs30onApril3.OnlyonApril25was the procurement priceraisedmarginallytoRs31perkg.MDUSSL’s current procure-

ment price of Rs 31/kg or Rs31.93 per litre (the averageweightofonelitreofbuffalomilkis about 1.03 kg) for milk with6.5% fat and 9% SNF content isway below the Rs 55/litre thatconsumers are paying for full-creammilk.The latter, in fact, contains

lessfat(6%)andthesame9%SNF.MDUSSL incidentally, is also asupplier tomajor pouch liquidmilk retailers such as MotherDairy.In Maharashtra, private

dairies indistricts such as Pune,Solapur and Osmanabadwerepaying a procurement price ofup to Rs 32.50 per litre for cow

milkwith 3.5% fat and8.5% SNFuntil earlyMarch.At that time, the district co-

operative milk producersunions of Pune (Katraj Dairy)and Kolhapur (Gokul Dairy)were procuring the samemilkat Rs 31 and Rs 29 per litre re-spectively.Butafter theannouncement

of the lockdown fromMarch24—whichledtotheclosureofho-tels, restaurants, and tea shopsalongwithnoofftakefrominsti-tutional consumers such ascaterers, ice-creammakers andsweetmeat sellers — the sameprivate dairies brought downprices to as low as Rs 19-20 perlitre.While the Kolhapur unioncontinued to pay Rs 29, theKatrajDairyreduceditsprocure-ment rate toRs22/litre.Subsequently, following the

Maharashtragovernment com-ingoutwithaschemetoprocureupto10lakhlitresperday(LLPD)of milk fromdairies for conver-sionintoskimmedmilkpowder(SMP) and white butter, theKatrajDairyaswellasmanypri-vatedairiesstartedpayingRs25per litre.The Maharashtra govern-

ment’s schemewas conditionalupon dairies procuring at thisminimumprice fromfarmers.Gokul Dairy is paying a

slightlyhigherrateofRs27/litre.Again,thisrateformilkwith3.5%fat and 8.5% SNF ismuch lowerthan the retail priceof Rs45perlitre for tonedmilk containingonly3% fatand8.5%SNF.“Nodairy, privateor cooper-

ative, has raised procurementprices. If at all, they are paying

lessthanwhattheywerebeforelockdown. Only Amul (GujaratCooperative Milk MarketingFederation) is still giving farm-ers a rate of Rs 650-680 per kgfat,whichtranslatesintoRs43.5-45.5 per litre formilkwith 6.5%fat and9%SNFmilk,” sources inthedairy industrysaid.According to a statement by

theUnionMinistry of Fisheries,Animal Husbandry & Dairyinglastweek,cooperativedairiesarenowprocuringaround560LLPDofmilk, comparedto510LLPDayear.At thesametime, their liq-uid milk sales have droppedfrom360LLPDto340LLPD.With private dairies cutting

down on procurement due tothe collapse of institutional de-mand, the surplusmilk is goingtocooperatives.Theyarebeingforcedtocon-

vert this excess milk into SMP,whitebutterandghee,which,inturn, isresultinginablockageofworkingcapital.To enable cooperatives to

keepprocuringmilkandnot re-duce procurement prices, theCentre has decided to provide a2 per cent interest subsidy onworking capital loans taken bythemfrombanksbetweenApril1, 2020andMarch31,2021.They are also eligible for an

additional2percentsubventionincaseof timelyrepaymentandservicing of interest, the state-ment said.Tillaboutmid-March,dairies

were sellingSMPatRs310-320,butteratRs290-310andcheeseat Rs 350per kg. But these havenow plunged to Rs 170, Rs 230andRs225 /kg levels.“The cheese market is

roughlyworthRs1,500crorean-nually. Out of this, only Rs 250-300 crore is marketed in con-sumerpacksandtherestsoldtothe likes of Domino’s Pizza,KFC/PizzaHut andMcDonald’s.Their businesses have been se-verely hit by the lockdownand,in turn, impacting dairies,” thesources said.

--WITHHARISHDAMODARAN

SMITANAIRPANAJI,MAY20

THEGOAgovernmenthasprom-ised “lockdown arrangements”includingthermalscreeningandamaximumof12studentsineachexamhall, asmore than 19,000students sit for the SecondarySchool Certificate examinationfromThursday. Trained volun-teers from Parent TeacherAssociationswill act asushers toensurethatstudentsaredirectedtotheirrespectivebenchesanddonottouchotherbenches.TheHighCourt of Bombayat

GoaWednesdayallowedthestategovernment and Goa Board ofSecondaryandHigherEducationtoconducttheexams,whichwereputonholdsinceApril2.ThecourttooknoteofanMHA

correspondenceallowingGoa toconductexamsduringlockdown.Thecourtwasalsoshownphoto-graphsof classroomswhere stu-dents appeared for theMarathiboardexamforHSC—indicatingthemeasuresinplace.Parents and children had

moved the High Court citinghealthconcerns,pointingtoMHAordersofMay1andMay17pro-hibiting examsduring the lock-down.Earlier,satisfiedwithmeas-ures promised by the stategovernment, the court said itwouldnotinterferewiththegov-ernment’s decision. OnWedne-sday, as it reviewedthematter, itpassedanorderstressing“theas-pect of safety andwell-being ofthestudentsandthepersonnelin-volvedintheexaminationprocesswill brook of no unnecessarycompromisesandadjustments”.

HIGHCOURTGIVESNOD

Goa set to conductboard exams amid‘arrangements’

InMaharashtra,privatedairieswerepayingaprocurementpriceofuptoRs32.50per litreforcowmilkwith3.5%fatand8.5%SNFuntilearlyMarch

10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

LAW AS WEAPONMisuseofEpidemicDiseasesActbygovernmentmuststop.Else,courtmuststepintoprotectcitizens’freedoms

ADHARNA INAgra over themovement of buses to ferrymigrant labour ledto thearrestof theUttarPradeshCongress chief AjayKumarLalluand twoofhispartycolleagues—all threesubsequentlygotbail.Amongst the lawsweaponisedbytheUPpolicetodetaintheOppositionleadersisalate-19th

centurystatute,TheEpidemicDiseasesAct.Draftedbythecolonialstate in1897“totakespecialmeasuresandprescriberegulations” for“thebetterpreventionof thedangerousepidemic diseases”, the law has been summoned in the past to deal with outbreaks ofcholera,swinefluanddengue.Butitsheavy-handedandarbitraryuse,ormisuse,duringthe fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is new. Patients, journalists and Oppositionleadershavebeenatthereceivingendof thisbluntinstrumentthatdoesnotactuallyde-fineanepidemic, leavealoneapandemic.Ofcourse,combatingCOVID-19doesrequireextensivesurveillance,includingidentifi-

cationof thecarriersof thevirusandtheircontacts.But inmostpartsof theworld, includ-ingIndia,agrowingbodyofliteraturehasunderlinedthatsuchextraordinarymeasuresarebestundertakenbytakingcitizensintoconfidence,usingpersuasionandinvolvingthecom-munity.Atseveralplaces,however,thestateauthoritiesaregivingthego-bytotheseimper-ativesandassertingstatepower inheavy-handedways,bytakingcoverunderClause4oftheEpidemicsAct—actions takenunder the lawareprovided immunity from“legalpro-ceedings”fortheyaredeemedtohavebeen“undertakeningoodfaith”.InearlyApril,whenknowledgeof theviruswas still uncertainamong largesectionsof thepeople, anFIRwasslapped against the family of a Bengaluru technician,whohad contracted COVID-19, for“hiding information”, and theywere charge-sheeted under the Epidemics Act. Also lastmonth,theMumbaiPoliceinvokedthelawtoarrestajournalist,allegingthathissocialme-diaposts ledtounrestamongmigrantworkers insuburbanBandra.A toxicmix of theDisasterManagement Act, 2005, Section 144 of the CrPC and the

EpidemicsActmaywellbeonitswaytobecomingthenewseditionlaw,whichhasbeeninvokedwithdisturbingfrequencyintherecentpasttocriminalisecriticismanddissent.Last week, the Gujarat government combined the sedition lawwith the DisasterManagementActtochargeajournalistforreportingthatChiefMinisterVijayRupanimayberemovedbytheBJPHighCommandforhishandlingof thepandemic.Also lastweek,thispaperreportedthatat least fourFIRshavebeenfiledagainst journalists inHimachalPradesh for highlighting the condition of stranded labourers in the pandemic. The FIRsallege that these reports are “fake” and “sensational” news; the cases are being investi-gated. But governmentsmust realise that the discourse on citizens’ rights and publichealth has moved on from the times when the colonial government charged BalGangadharTilak forsedition forcriticising itshandlingof the1897bubonicplague.Else,theSupremeCourtmust intervene toallowpeople tovoice theiropinions freelyduringacrisis, andespecially inacrisis,without the threatof theirbeingcriminalised.

A FULLER SUPPORTGovernment’s conservativeapproachtowardsaddressing

economicshockwillneedtobereexamined

OVERTHEPASTweek, FinanceMinisterNirmala Sitharamanunveileda se-riesofmeasures tohelpeasethestress indifferentsectorsof theeconomyacross the country. But the announcements have failed to reassure or en-thuse,pointingtoachasmbetweenexpectationsandreality.Theactualfis-

cal outgo is likely tobearoundonly1per centofGDP, far shortof theproclaimed10percent.Thegovernment’sconservativeapproachseemstobedrivenbyseveralfactors.First,as there continues to be uncertainty over how long it will take for the pandemic to bebroughtundercontrol,andhoweconomicactivitywillshapeupoverthecomingweeksandmonths,it isdifficultatthisjuncturetomakeareasonablyaccurateassessmentaboutthe stateof theeconomy, and thusarriveat anestimateof thebreadthanddepthof thegovernment intervention that is needed. As Sitharaman said in an interview to this pa-per, “It’s too early forme tomakean (assessment), it’s too early forme to evenhazard aguess”. Thereappears tobe an inclination, then, tokeepthepowerdry fornow.Therealsoappearstobeastrongdesireonthepartofthegovernmenttoavoidthemis-

takesmadeintheaftermathof theglobalcrisisof2008.Theconsequencesofcontinuingwiththestimulusfortoolong,whichstokeddemand,andprovedtobeinflationary, lead-ing to the taper tantrums in2013, are still etched inmemory. Yet, having said that,withdemandcollapsing,andunlikelytorecovermeaningfully inthenear-term,andinflationbarring temporary supply-side disruptions unlikely to firmup, sooner or later the gov-ernmentwill have to firmup its plans. All options, including thepossibility ofmonetis-ingthedeficit,mayhavetobeonthetableasthemeasuresannouncedsofarareunlikelytochange thenear-termgrowthoutlookmeaningfully.It is true that the extent of uncertainty is unprecedented. But revisiting the budget

revenueandexpenditurenumbersonly at the timeof presenting the revisedestimatesmight not be a prudent approach. Instead, the government should present a short-to-mediumtermfiscalroadmapthatprovidesarealisticassessmentof thestateof theecon-omy. It shouldclearly layouthowit intends to support theeconomyduring thisperiod,its expenditurepriorities, aswell asaclearplan for funding itsdeficit.

MASKED BALLTiredof sameness,people theworldoverare tweakingthe

mask,which is thegreatanonymiser

BACKINWORLDWar II,womensteppedoutof assignedgender roles toworkinmunitions factories or as fitterswith fighter squadrons, and volunteeredfor civil defence. Today, as awar of a different kind—one long rearguard ac-tion—isbeingwagedonCOVID-19, theminister forwomenandchilddevel-

opment is stitchingmasks. So are amillion otherwomen,whose inspirational picturesarebeingpostedonsocialmediaasproof of commitment to thewareffort.Andat leastoneBJP leader inWest Bengal is generating admiration and irritation in equal volumesbyputtinghiselectionsymbolwherehismouth is—onhismask.Thedrearysamenessof themonthsinlockdownhasbeenmatchedonlybythedrea-

rinessofmass-producedmasks.Butdon’tworry,becausethefashionindustryhasscentedmoney andmoved in for the kill. Theworld is learning to dowith fewer shirts, but it isbound tobuymoreandmoremasks.Andwhile apersonalprotection suitwill look likea plastic bag nomatterwhat, masks can be as interesting as the faces they conceal. InChina, anenterprisingentrepreneur ismakingmasks inshantungsilk. In theUK,masksarebeingsoldforthreefigures—insterling.Andfashionlabels likeChanelandGucciarevery visible onmasks displayed on online storefronts. Of course, it is impossible to tellhowmanyof themareChineseknockoffs.Themask is an anonymiser, and could be playing havocwith the facial recognition

softwarewhich had been causing somuch concern. Themask is also a great leveller.Superheroesarelosingtheirspecialstatus,andcriminalsareblendinginwiththecrowd.Wheneveryone ismasked,bothcrimefighterandcrookareEveryman.

Amartya Lahiri andUrjit R Patel

SriM

Covid-19coulddofor thebiomedical industrywhat theY2Kscaredid for the Indian ITsector

IN THE WAR AGAINST THE VIRUSTheGitaoffers lessonsonhowtomakeyourmindyour friend

THERE SEEMS TO be a plateau in the num-berofCOVIDtestsperdaythatIndiaseekstodo—about1,00,000.Atthisrate,closetotwoyears would elapse before 5 per cent ofIndians are testedonce. Sowhy is a countryof 1.3 billion seemingly sanguine about thepace of testingwhen it has accepted one ofthe strictest lockdowns for twomonths,whichmeansithasnotunder-estimatedthepublic health challenge? Or, why are coun-trieswith smaller populations trying to en-hancetheirtestingcapacityfromcurrentlev-els?TheUSisaimingforamilliondailytests.Germanyalreadyhaswalk-in test centres.Themaindriverof increasedCOVIDtest-

ingglobally is theneedtomakepeoplesafe,and for them to feel safe,while engaging inmarketactivities.Thisisfundamentalforget-tingtheeconomytomoveagain.Onemightthink that the necessity of earning a livingwill forcepeople to report forwork. Butde-cisionsregardingmarketactivityarenotjustaboutgoingtowork.Innormaltimespeoplego for outings — to shop, dine outside, andgo on vacations. These actions sustain awhole ecosystem of businesses and liveli-hoods.Asanexample, the tourismandhos-pitality sector in India employs 40millionworkers, which is estimated to be about 10percentoftotalemployment.UnlessIndiansbegin to engagewith some of these activi-tiesonaregularbasis,thiscomponentof theeconomy, and thosewhose livelihoods arederived fromthesesectors, cannot recover.More generally, the virus has impacted

activities involving interactions betweenpeople. Interactionsoccurbothatworkandwhile consuming outside the home; thoselatter activities create their own businesssupply chain.Asdemanddriesup indown-streamconsumption industries, businessesupstream,whoaresupplierstothesedown-stream industries, will shut down aswell.This chain of broken links is what needs tobe repaired, and fixed quickly, for which aplausible requisite is making peoplemoreconfident toengage inmarketactivities.Itisperhapsasignofourtimesthatinthe

incessantcacophonyandtheconsequentdis-appointment over fiscal and financial pack-ages, relatively little discussion has takenplaceoverthepotentialexpenditurerequired

for public health safety. To the best of ourknowledge, little beyond the Rs 150 billionannounced inMarch by the Union govern-ment for increased budgetary spending forthe sector has beenheard. And yet,withoutsafetyonthehealthfront,theriskofasharperandlongerdeclineineconomicactivitystayselevated. It isperhapsnotanexaggerationtosurmisethatglobal investmentdestinationswill be influencedby the relative reputationofnational testingprotocols.Ubiquitoustestingisexpectedtobeanec-

essary ingredient formultiple reasons. Theviruscurrentlyhasnoeffectivetreatmentanda safe vaccine is possibly a year away.Moreover,evenrecoveryfrominfectiondoes-n’t guarantee immunity from future infec-tion. At this time, there is uncertainty aboutboththelevelandthelongevityof immunitythat is acquired through infection. This is attheheartofthenecessityofmultipleandreg-ulartestingofworkerstoprotectworkplacesand impart confidence to co-workers thattheywillbesafe.Hence,eventhepreviouslyinfectedwillhavetocontinuetobetested.Inaddition,alltestshavefalsenegativeandfalsepositivechancesassociatedwiththem.Botherrorsareproblematic.So howwidespreadmust testing be and

howmuchwill itcost?Ifoneonlytargetsur-banworkers in India, we are considering atesting pool of approximately 200millionpeople. Tomakeworkplaces safe, at amini-mum,everyworkerneedstobetestedatleastonce everyweek over the next year, or tillsuchtimeasavaccinebecomesavailable.Onadailybasis, this isaround21testsper1,000people. By comparison, 1,00,000 daily testsimplyarateofonly0.08per1,000people.ThecostofRT-PCRtestsinIndiacurrently

rangesbetweenRs1,000andRs2,500. Thiswill undoubtedly decline going forward asmoreprivateplayersenter the field,andthegovernment refrains from a licence-permitraj predilection.With scale economies andextensive pool testing, itmaynot beunrea-sonabletobudgetanaveragepriceofRs500per test. The totaloutlayonthis testingplanwouldamountto2.5percentofGDP.Whilenotanamount tobesneezedat, thismoneycanbefound.Thecostofhavingacomatoseeconomyduetolimitedtestingwillpossibly

behigher than this.Implementation of this strategywill re-

quire mobilisation on a war footing. Thenumberof labsthatcantestfortheviruswillhave to be increased to at least 2,000witheach lab having the capacity to test 5,000samples a day. Moreover, labs need to bespread out across the country; presently, athird of all authorised testing labs are con-centrated in three states.Another approachwould be to incentivise private investmentinpoint-of-caretestingmachines;thesegivequick resultsand facilitatedecentralisation.Testing at this scalewill also demand a

quantumincreaseinsuppliesofcomponentslike swabs and reagents. These can be con-straints.UniversitylabsintheUShavedevel-opedalternativetestingmethodsthatdonotrequirereagents.Indiawillhavetoincentiviseitsuniversities,researchlaboratoriesandbio-medicalsupplychainstojointhismissiontodevelopcheaperandfastertestingmethods.The approach needsmassive hiring of

testers,transportersandcontacttracers.Theresultant increase in demand for labourshouldprovidejobstounemployedworkers.Hence,itwillprovideemploymentinsurancewhilesimultaneouslystimulatingdemand.Ubiquitoustestingwill likelybeaworld-

widephenomenonoverthenextyearortwo.Consequently,worlddemandfortestingkitswill explode. If Indian businesses can re-spond to the challenge by quickly buildingcapacity toproduce relatively cheap testingkits, thiscouldsparkaboominthebiomed-ical industry.Thepandemiccoulddoforthebiomedical industrywhattheY2KscaredidfortheIndianITsector. Indianeedstogiveanunambiguous signal to its entrepreneursaboutthecentralityof thismission.Theskillandenterprisearebothavailable.Meetingthechallengecouldbeaperfect

launchpadforaglobal“MakeinIndia”offer-ing. Wehavealready reachedananalogousposition in parts of the pharmaceutical in-dustry. A bottomof the pyramid virus test-ingproductwill beagamechanger.

AmartyaLahiri isRoyalBankProfessorofEconomicsat theUniversityofBritish

Columbia;UrjitRPatel is formerGovernor,ReserveBankof India

THEOTHERDAY,afriendcalledtosayhowde-pressed hewaswith the “shut down” andCOVID-19. I said, “Read the BhagwadGita.”The reactionwas predictable. He said, “Shutup.Iwasaskingforsomepracticaladvice,notreligiousadvice.Ithoughtyouwouldbediffer-ent.Youarebehavinglikestereotypicalguruswho say step up your vibrations, become acelibate,worshiptheCobra.”Hecontinued:“Ihavehadasurfeitofthatkindofadvice.Whenyouaregoing todie,whatyouneedareven-tilators. I need to stay sane. I need to fight anextraordinary situation and you are saying,readtheGita.Man, this isunkind. I thinkyoucan’thelpme!”Isaid:“Theproblemwithyouis thatyou

areoneof thoseEnglish-educatedpeople—andbelievemetherearemany—whohavefallenintothetrapsetbyThomasBabingtonMacaulaywho, in1835, said, Indians taughtthrough themedium of Englishwould be-come,toquotehim,‘aclassofpersons,Indianin blood and colour, but English in taste, inopinions, inmoralsand intellect’.”TheGita(liketheUpanishads)isnotamere

religioustextintheconventionalsenseoftheterm. It is an in-depth study of the nature ofconsciousnessandapracticalguidetoexplor-ingitsdepths.Aboveall,itisanexhortationtoshakeoffnegativityanddepression,theinnerenemies,andfighttheouterenemydepictedas the epitome of evil, degradation and de-struction.Let’sexamineitsrelevancetoday.

The scene is the great Kurukshetrawar,which is about to begin. The great warriorkingArjuna,inhishorse-drawnchariot,leadsthe Pandavas into battle. His charioteer isnone other than Krishna Vasudeva, son ofDevaki,thecharismaticprinceof theYadavaclanwhotherishisdeclareasdivinity inhu-man form, an “avatar”. On the other sidestandstheKauravaarmywithitsformidablewarriors including the great Bhishma, thepatriarchofboththePandavasandKauravas.Somewhere along the line, Arjuna loses

hisnerveandusing theexcuseof notwant-ingtohurthisrelatives,goesintodepressionand refuses to fight. The first chapter of theGita, therefore, is named Arjuna VishadaYoga, theYogaofArjuna’sdepression.Therestof the17chaptersdealwithhow

Krishna, the expert psychologist, warrior,strategistandclosefriendofArjuna,liftshimup step by step from the depression he hasfalleninto,convincinghimthattofightevil istheboundendutyof theking, the ruler, andthat he should tap into the powerhouse ofenergythatresides inhissoul,asparkof theSupremeSelf, thedivineBrahman, and thatthere is nothing to fear. Arjuna picks up thebow,whichhehadalmostdiscarded,andthePandavasemergevictorious.Sowhyis itrelevanttoday?Wearepass-

ing through “vishada”, a timewhenmanyaredepresseddue to theunpredictable andunfamiliardangercalledtheCOVID-19pan-

demic and the unusual circumstances cre-atedbythelockdown,whichisnecessarytoputa lidon thevirus’ spreading tentacles.The Gita hasmany lessons for us. There

are practical lessons, like for instance in thefifth chapter, called the Yoga ofMeditation,wherethetechniqueofmeditationistaught.In the second chapter, there are numerouspointers on how to keep themind tranquilinallcircumstanceshowtobe“sthitaprajna”.The chapter on Karma Yoga deals with thetechniqueofworkingwithoutself-centred-ness and free of tension. Every chapter hassomething to offer, to cultivate a positiveframe of mind — in words of the Gita to“makeyourmindyourfriend”.Aboveall, theGitabringshometheUpanishadicstatementthateachoneofusisasparkof theSupreme,the all-powerful Divine, and that one canmanifest thisvastenergy if one learns to.Consider the coronavirus as the enemy

that stands before us and fight the battle toemergevictorious.Arise,awakeandstopnottill the goal is reached, said SwamiVivekananda, echoing theUpanishads. Givenoplacetodepressionandgiveahelpinghandtothegovernmentandthegreatdoctor-war-riors,whohavebravelyandselflesslyenteredthebattlefield.Hearkentothethunderousvic-torycallofthePanchajanyaconchthatKrishnablewinthebattleofKurukshetra.

Thewriter is founder, SatsangFoundation

The virus currently has noeffective treatment and a safevaccine is possibly a yearaway. Moreover, evenrecovery from infectiondoesn’t guarantee immunityfrom future infection. Atthis time, there isuncertainty about both thelevel and the longevity ofimmunity that is acquiredthrough infection. This is atthe heart of the necessity ofmultiple and regular testingof workers to protectworkplaces and impartconfidence to co-workersthat they will be safe. Hence,even the previously infectedwill have to continue to betested. In addition, all testshave false negative and falsepositive chances associatedwith them. Both errors areproblematic.

The Gita (like theUpanishads) is not a merereligious text in theconventional sense of theterm. It is an in-depth studyof the nature ofconsciousness and apractical guide to exploringits depths. Above all, it is anexhortation to shake offnegativity and depression,the inner enemies, and fightthe outer enemy depicted asthe epitome of evil,degradation and destruction.

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,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020WORDLYWISE

A fashion is nothing but aninduced epidemic.— GEORGE BERNARD SHAWTHEEDITORIALPAGE

ASSAM FORMULAA FRESH ROUND of talks between PrimeMinisterIndiraGandhiandtheleadersoftheAll-AssamGanaSangramParishad(AAGSP)and the All-Assam Students Union (AASU)on the “foreign nationals” issue in the nearfutureappearstobeadistinctpossibility.MrsGandhi’s personal emissary, YashpalKapur,cameonaspecialmission toShillongabout10 days ago and held closed door parleyswiththeagitationleadersattheresidenceofaformerAssamminister.Asaresultof thesemediatorymoves,atentativeformulaisun-derstood to have emerged. The broad out-lineof theformulaisthatwhilethemigrantsenteringAssamafterMarch25,1971would

be deported, the burden of thosewhomi-grated before that datewould be shared bythe restof thecountry.

IRAN HOSTAGE CRISISTHE ISLAMIC FOREIGNministers appealedto Iran to settle the American embassyhostage affair “in the spirit of Islam” andcalledontheUStorefrainfromactionswhichmight impede such a solution. The callwasgiven in a resolution adopted by theminis-ters who have beenmeeting in IslamabadsinceSaturday.Aconferencespokesmansaidtheresolutiondenounced“Americanaggres-sionagainstIran”andthe“violationof Iran’ssovereigntyandterritorial integrity”.

CONG (I) WIN LIKELYTHAT THE CONGRESS (I) is going to sweeptheAssemblyelectioninMaharashtraisnotdoubted even by the opposition. Knowingfully well that the division of votes amongthemwill only benefit the Congress (I), theopposition parties are contesting the elec-tionontheirownstrengthonthegroundthattheywanttobuilduptheirrespectiveorgan-isations. Although the Congress (I) is facingthe problem of rebel candidates in almost100ofthe288constituencies,thestatelead-ership is not worried. The leaders feel thattheelectoratewillvote,asinthepast, forthesymbol of theparty andMrs IndiraGandhi,andnot for the individual candidates.

MAY 21, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

Can’t avoid ubiquitous testing

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“Bangladesh has a commendable track record in disaster management. Thistime, we hope we can confront the double-edged sword of a cyclone and thespread of a virus with the same determination.”

— THEDAILYSTARTHE IDEASPAGEWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THE TWINMANTRA for the government’sstimulus inresponse to theunprecedentedeconomic impact of COVID-19 has been toensure thathumancostof thecrisis ismin-imised,especially for thoseat thebottomofthe pyramid, and to convert this crisis intoan opportunity by implementing boldstructural reforms that will go beyond re-pairing the damage to the production ca-pacities andenhance theoverall supply re-sponse capabilities of the economy. Thestimulus announced by Finance MinisterNirmalaSitharamanlastweekisacarefully-crafted, well-balanced and bold packagethat will, in the coming days, achieve boththese objectives.It is widely recognised that the present

crisis is farworsethanboththeAsianfinan-cial crisis of the late Nineties aswell as theglobal financial crisis of 2008-09. It has se-riously impacted both the supply and de-mand side of the economy. The govern-ment’s response has been to effectivelyaddress both these aspects. On the supplyside, the government response has beenfour-fold. First, to ensure that food securityandfarmers’ incomesarenot impaired.Thegovernmentdeclaredagricultureandall re-lated activities as essential services imme-diately upon announcing the lockdown.This permitted the successful harvestingand efficient procurement of the criticalRabi crop. It also implied pumping in Rs78,000 crore as new purchasing power inthehands of the farmers.Thesecondprongwastoeffectivelypre-

ventthepressingcash/liquiditycrunchfromleading to insolvencies and bankruptcies.Animmediatemoratoriumwasannouncedon their debt servicing obligations to com-mercialbanks.Thismeasurewasreinforcedfor MSMEs, for whom an additional creditlineofRs3trillionwithoutanyfreshcollat-eralwas extended.MSMEs could also availofnewequityfromtheRs50,000crorefundof funds and take advantage of the sub-sidiary debt facility announced by the FM.Thesemeasuresprovidedsuccourtoa largenumber of businesses, especially those inthe services sectors like hospitality, enter-tainment and retail. The Rs 90,000 crorecredit packagemade available to state dis-coms should also be included in this set ofmeasuresas itwill preventbankruptciesofstateelectricityutilitiesandthepowerpro-ducers, which would have had disastrousresults.The third set ofmeasureswere directed

to significantly improve the ecosystem forprivate producers, both in agriculture andmanufacturing. Long-pending reforms togive farmers themuch-needed freedom tochoose their clients and for traders and ex-portersofagro-productstomaintainneces-sary stocks have now been announced.Defence production and exports will get a

new fillipwith the liberalisationmeasures.Greater spacewill be given to private busi-nesses in sectors inwhichpublic sector en-terpriseshithertohadeitheramonopolyorapredominantpresence. Finally, inameas-urethatdoesnothavealargefiscalfootprint,buttouchesthelivesandlivelihoodsofmorethan50lakhfamilies,streetvendorsalloverthe country have been given a credit of Rs10,000eachforre-stockinganduseaswork-ingcapital. Thus, “thepackage”hasguaran-teed the survival of existing production ca-pacities and laid a strong foundation toenhance larger private sector participationbybothdomestic and foreignplayers.Severalmeasureshavebeenannounced

to lift the sagging demand in the economy.Before detailing them, it is important topoint out that aggregate demand is madeup of consumption, investment and de-mandfor intermediategoods.Thishastobetaken note of by those who consider onlythe cash-in-hand of consumers as the solemeans for reversing the declining demandintheeconomy.Therefore,additionalcreditlinesprovided toMSMEs, vendorsor farm-ers (Rs 2 trillion over and above the limitsalready provided under the KCC) will con-tribute to the strengthening of aggregatedemand.A significant number ofmeasureswere

announced to hike consumption demanddirectly as well. Among these are: Rs 1.73lakh crore for improving the incomes andwelfare of the most vulnerable, includingthe20crore female JanDhanaccounthold-ers who will receive monies directly into

their bank accounts; Rs 50,000 additionalincomes in the hands of those whose TDSand TCS were reduced by 25 per cent; Rs40,000 crore additional allocation forMN-REGA,whichwillprovide jobsandsuccourto those returning to their villages frommetros and cities; Rs 30,000 crore for con-struction workers; Rs 17,800 crore trans-ferred to 12 crore farmers and Rs 13,000crore transferred to states to finance thecosts of running quarantine homes andshelters formigrantworkers. Thesemeas-ures, which will directly benefit differentcategories of individuals, will surely raisethe flaggingdemand—thenecessary con-dition for triggering a fast-paced recoveryin economic activity.As the finance minister emphatically

pointedoutonSunday, thesizeof thestim-ulusatRs20.97 trillion, totalledmore thanthepromisemadebytheprimeminister inhisaddressonMay12.This ismorethan10per cent of GDP and compares veryfavourably with packages announced byotheremergingeconomies.Combinedwiththe significant number of bold structuralreformmeasures,whichholdthepotentialto make Indian firms attain global scalesand competitiveness and give the much-needed freedoms, flexibility and financialstrength to our beleaguered farmers,“the package” promises to promoteIndia’s economic recovery in the postCOVID-19period.

Thewriter is vice chairmanNITI Aayog.Views are personal

THEGAZETTENOTIFICATIONoftherulesondomicile has brought the process initiatedonAugust 5, 2019, in JammuandKashmirto a logical end. The annulment of Article35AoftheConstitutioncalledforrestatingofthe domicile qualifications in the state.Article35Ahadallowedthe J&Klegislatureto introducethe“permanentresident”cat-egory,whichwasarbitraryanddiscrimina-tory. The Permanent Resident Certificate(PRC)becameaweaponinthehandsofsuc-cessive state governments to deny funda-mentalrightstoseveralpeople,eventhoughthey had been living there for decades, inmanycasesfromthetimeofaccession.The new rules extend domicile status

tonotjustthecurrentPRCholders,buttoallthosewhohadbeendeniedthatstatusun-der the 35A regime. Refugees fromWestPakistan,whohadmigratedtothe JammuregionduringPartitionandthemajorityofwhombelongtotheScheduledCastes,willnowbeabletoattaindomicile.Thesameistrue for the1971refugees fromChambre-gion.Safaikarmacharis, largelyfromtheSCcommunity,whowerecalledintothestateinthe1950sforsuchjobs,werealsodeniedPRC status. Sowere theGurkhas. ChildrenofKashmiriPandits,bornoutsidethestate,can now claim domicile, as can childrenborn to a residentmother and a non-resi-dentfather.PeoplefromPoK,whohadmi-gratedtootherpartsof thecountryandbe-come domiciled in those states, can alsocomeback toclaimdomicile in J&K.The newdomicile policymandates all

government jobs tobe reserved fordomi-ciles. Inthisscenario, thenewrulesarego-ing to benefit large sections of the state’spopulation,whoweretreatedasaliensun-tilnow.Incidentally, several such important

measures benefitting large sections of thepopulationofthestateneverattracttheat-tention of themany eminenceswho shedgarrulous tears over neutralised terroristsandtheirincarceratedaccomplices.Thishasbeen the tragedywith J&K. J&Khasalwaysbeen seen fromeither a Pakistan prismorthe prism of the terrorists. That there aremillionsofordinarypeoplebothinJammuandinKashmir,whoare far removedfromterrorismandseparatism,andwanttoleadlifeaspeacefulcitizensofthecountry,doesnotappeal to theseeminences.“TheKashmirdispute is on theagenda

ofthetwocountriessince1947,whichdoesnot allow people of the state tomentallysettle down and treat themselves as citi-zensof India.Repeatedrhetoricof Indo-Pakdialogue for settling all disputes naturallyleaves every Kashmiri thinking that theirfutureisyettobedecided.Thisaddstotheiranger, alienation, uncertainty and resultsin violence,” bemoanedpolice officerAMWatali inhis revealingmemoir.Themost significant change that has

beenbroughtaboutbytheNarendraModigovernmentwastostoplookingatKashmir

from a Pakistani or a terrorist prism.Instead, we started looking at it from theprismof its12million inhabitants.August5,2019,symbolisesthatshiftinthegovern-ment’s approach.There is a Kashmiri saying: “shal shal

beunbeun, tongiwizi quney” (Jackals liveseparately, but howl together). FromIslamabadtoNewYork,manyIslamistsandtheir supporters are howling at a feverishpitch against this shift. But the people ofJ&K are largely calm. Incidents of terrorhave increasedsince theonsetof summerlargelyduetothepushfromacrossthebor-der.Localrecruitment,however,remainedlowcompared topreviousyears.Article 370 had been amended

umpteentimesinthepast.Oncetheacces-sionwas “ratified” by the J&KConstituentAssembly in1954, the Indiangovernmentquicklyextendedmajorityoftheprovisionsof theConstitution to J&K.TheNehrugov-ernment even assured Parliament onNovember 27, 1963, that further steps toerode Article 370would be taken “in thenextmonthor two”.All along, Kashmiri politicians were

making provocative speeches in Srinagar,but the people at large remainednoncha-lant. Sheikh Abdullah had the reputationofbeinga“communalistinKashmir,acom-munist in Jammu and a nationalist inIndia”,asPanditPremnathDograhadonceput it. The Delhi Agreement of 1975 be-tweenAbdullahandIndiraGandhi toodidnot return any of the original powers un-derArticle370.IndiraGandhitoldAbdullahcategorically that the “clock cannot beturned back”. The people of J&K acceptedtheDelhiAgreement.Now,Modi and Amit Shah decided to

put an end to the “uncertainty” by doingawaywith Article 370 and Article 35A inletter and spirit. Having lived under theshadow of Article 370 for seven decades,thepeople of J&Kdecided to give thenewstatusachance.That is thereasonwhytheregionhasbeenlargelyquietinthelastninemonths.Thedetractorswouldattributethiscalm to the excessivepresenceof securityforcesandarrestsof leaders.Exceptforhalf-a-dozen senior leaders, most politicianshavebeen released. Thepresenceof secu-rity forces toohasbeenrolledbacksignifi-cantly. Even then, people are not on thestreetspeltingstonesandshoutingazadi.It is time the state administration ap-

preciates this and pays the people hand-somely for their openness. Certain harshmeasures likedenialof4Gservices,whichwere necessary under special circum-stances,cannowbedoneawaywith,asthestateadministrationandsecurityapparatusarecapableofhandlingdifficultsituations.TheConstitutionallowsfortheadministra-tivehandlingofunitsforsomedurationun-der special circumstances. Those circum-stanceshavemoreor lesspassed in J&K. ItistimetheUTisallowedfull-fledgedpolit-ical activity.Full political integration is when the

state is run by its people rather than theproverbial “steel frame”. And that conclu-sively conveys themessage to the jackalsacrosstheborderthatJ&Kisfullyandinte-grally India’sandtheonlydispute tosettleis the returnof PoK.

Thewriter isnationalgeneral secretary,BJP,anddirector, IndiaFoundation

It is important to point outthat aggregate demand ismade up of consumption,investment and demand forintermediate goods. This hasto be taken note of by thosewho consider only the cash-in-hand of consumers as thesole means for reversing thedeclining demand in theeconomy. Therefore,additional credit linesprovided to MSMEs,vendors or farmers (Rs 2trillion over and above thelimits already providedunder the KCC) willcontribute to thestrengthening of aggregatedemand.

Reward the peopleDenialof4Gservices,necessaryinspecial

circumstances,cannowbedoneawaywith.ItistimetoallowJ&Kfull-fledgedpoliticalactivity

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

GOOD FOR FARMERSTHISREFERSTO theeditorial, ‘Endof amonopoly’ (IE, May 20). Archaic lawshavenotonlybeenabarriertothereal-isationofmarketpricesbythe farmersbut also a discriminatorypractice. Theremoval of such impedimentswill in-crease competitionamong theplayershandling farmproduceandencouragethem to invest in storage, transporta-tion and processing of agri-productsleading,inreturn,tothesustainabilityofotherwiseunviable farmsector.

PritamSingh,Delhi

AN INSPIRATIONTHISREFERSTOthearticle ‘In thecity Ifeel no fear... there isnothing in thevil-lage’ (IE, May 20). Thewriter is finan-cially weak and awoman at that. Thecourage she showeddespite this is ex-traordinary.Thatshetooklegalrecoursetogetridofheroppressivehusbandwillbe an inspiration for others. The pity,though, isthatshehadtogothroughsomuch.It’sindicativeoffailureonthepartof theadministrationanda lackof em-pathy inthecivil society.

MAbdullahGhazali,Patna

UNHOLY NEXUSTHIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Unequalspaces,hiddenpower’(IE,May20).ThearticlerightfullyexposesfallaciesinJaggiVasudev’s thinking process. Instead ofquestioning the establishment andspeakingforthemarginalised,Vasudev

keepsspiritualityhostagetostatepower.But this is inaccordancewith thatverypower structure. Clearly, there exists anexus between, market, state powerandreligion.

ShekharDeshmukh,Mumbai

NEW STRATEGYTHIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Humilityover hubris’ (IE,May 20). The article isright in observing that the acid test forour political leadership begins now.However, it seems that the Centre hasalreadyseenthewritingonthewall.Theprimeminster has altered his strategywhilemakingatrade-offbetweenpub-lichealthandtheeconomyandallowingstategovernments toeaserestrictions.

AzharAKhan,Rampur

Rajiv Kumar RamMadhav

Lackof social security forwomenin informaleconomyneeds tobeaddressed

ITWAS IN themiddle of the second lock-down. Ayeshaben, a home-based garmentworker, suddenly experienced chest pain.Her son, Asif, a tailor, requested one of hiscustomerstotakehismotherinhisrickshawto thehospital.Thankfully, Ayeshaben has been taking

insurancecoverwithSEWA’s insuranceco-operative, VimoSEWA, for the last 15years.HerclaimofRs5,000wasprocessedonlineafter Asif sent all her documents viaWhatsApp.TherearemillionsofAyeshabens in this

country.More than 90 per cent of workingpeopleinourcountryareengagedinthein-formal economy. Themost vulnerable arewomenwhosufferfrommultipledisadvan-tages — as women, as poor and informalworkersandasmembersof thesociallydis-advantaged castes and communities. Theykeep the wheels of our economy turningwiththeir labourandyethavelimitedornosocial protection.Social security for all informalworkers,

includingmigrants, hasbeena long-stand-ing demand of unions like the Self-EmployedWomen’sAssociation,SEWA,andother national unions. From our SEWA sis-ters we have learned — over almost fivedecades — about organising women intounions and cooperatives.We have learnedthat work security and social security aretwo sides of the same coin. One can’t existwithout theother.WorkerslikeAyeshabenandothershave

taughtusthatsocialsecuritymustincludeat

leasthealthcare, childcare, insurance,pen-sion and housingwith basic infrastructure—likeatapandtoilet.Theirexperiences in-formed the WHO’s Commission on theSocialDeterminantsofHealth—agoldstan-dard for public health inmany countries—and our government’s own High-LevelExpert Group (HLEG) on Universal HealthCoverage, and later, the National HealthPolicy, 2017.Bothare landmarkdocumentsfor Indian public health, whichmay needtweakinginlightof thepandemicbutstandout for theirvisionforuniversalhealthcare.The current pandemic has also broughthome the fact that states with strong pub-lic health systems and decentralised plan-ning and implementation mechanismswere able tomeet the COVID-19 challengeandflattenthecurve.Forinstance,muchhasbeen written about Kerala — Goa, Sikkimandotherstatestoohaveshownustheway.Wehavealso learnedthatchildcare isan

essentialserviceforpoor,workingwomen—indeed, for allworkingwomenof India.Ourstudies have shown thatwomen’s incomesdouble as a result of full-day care for theiryoung children:Women say that they canbringinbetterqualityfoodfortheir families.Theirolderchildren,especiallygirls,canevenattendschooloncetheyarerelievedofchild-careresponsibilities.Localwomen,inourex-perience, aremost suited to running suchchildcarecentreswithpropercapacity-build-ingtrainingandsupport,andfairremunera-tion.SEWAhasexperimentedwithchildcarecooperativeswhichnot onlyprovide care at

the local level to young children of workingwomen, but also provide livelihood and re-spect for the care-givers in theircommunities.Thereisalsotheimportanceof insurance

coverforallworkerstoconsider.PMJAYmayhavemade a solid start for some, but thereare still lakhs of workerswho are not eligi-bleduetotheenrolmentcriteriaorbecausethey still struggle to comprehend the sys-tem—where to go, whom to ask for helpandmore.OverVimoSEWA’sworkofalmostthree decades, we have seen that thebundling of products — providing servicesthroughonewindowandat the same time—and tailoring the services to the needs oftheworking poor iswhatworks best. Theyarereadytopayif theyseethesystemserv-icing their needs promptly. Recently, theInsurance Regulatory and DevelopmentAuthorityof India(IRDAI)hasdevelopedanimportant set of recommendations to in-crease the spread of microinsurance, bothbundled and unbundled products, in low-incomepopulations.Thesecanbetakenfor-ward easily in the current pandemic andpost-pandemicperiod.Pensioniswell-recognisedasanotheres-

sential aspect of social security. Already,statesandthecentralgovernmenthavean-nounced increases in thepensionamountsforworkers.Theseneedtobeexaminedto-getherwithunions, cooperativesandothercollectives of informal workers to see howappropriatetheyare,andalsohowthesecanreachall in a timely andsimplemanner.

We need to set up a small taskforce ofthosewhohavebeenthinkingandworkingontheseissuesandhaveexperienceofwhatis required at the grassroots. This could in-cludetradeunionandcooperativerepresen-tatives, those from various collectives likeSelf-Help Groups (SHGs) and their federa-tions, PRImembers, NGOs, academics and,ofcourse,governmentrepresentativesfromthe states and theCentre.Someyearsago, inpartnershipwith the

Ministry of Labour and Employment, wehad developed a set of recommendations.One of thesewas that the financeministrybethenodalministry,bringing inotherrel-evantministries under a common body toplan for universal social security. At thattime,calculationsweremadeoncostingandhow it could be rolled out. Careful thoughthas already been given to implementationmechanisms and issues such as the identi-fication of informal workers throughportable identitycardsanddigitisation.Weneedtore-visitthereportsof thesecommis-sions and committees through a taskforce,whichwould, in turn, bring in fresh think-ing in light of what we have learned fromthe pandemic. We also need to deliberateon decentralised and simple implementa-tionmechanisms.We knowwhat we need to do for the

workingpeopleof thiscountry.Nowwejustneed toact on it.

Thewriter is director, Social Security, Self-EmployedWomen’sAssociation (SEWA)

The safety net she needsMirai Chatterjee

Government’spackagereachesouttomostvulnerable.ItalsoseizescrisistobringinstructuralchangesthatwillpromoteIndia’spost-Covidrecoveryandgrowth

Relief and reform11

CR Sasikumar

IDEASONLINE

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12THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020

THEOUTBREAK TheWorld

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Singapore: Singapore, aregional travel andtourism hub, will gradu-ally allow travellers totransitthroughitsChangiAirport from June 2, theaviationregulatorsaidonWednesday. Currently,foreign passengers mayonly transit throughSingapore if they are onrepatriation flights. “Thisis part of Singapore’sstrategy to gradually re-open air transport tomeet the needs of oureconomy and our peo-ple...” the Civil AviationAuthoritysaid.REUTERS

TRANSIT THROUGHCHANGI AIRPORTFROMJUNE2

SPAIN

PMpushesfor2moreweeksof lockdownMadrid: Spain's primeminister appears beforeparliament onWednesday to ask for itsendorsement to extendthe state of emergencythat his government hasused to rein in the coun-try'scoronavirusoutbreakthat has killed at least27,000people.Itwouldbethefifthtwo-weekexten-sion to the state of emer-gency,which is currentlyset to expire on Sunday.ThegovernmentwantstoextendituntilJune7. “Thepathweareonistheonlyonethatcanpossiblybeatthevirus,”PrimeMinisterPedro Sánchez told achamber with only ahandful of members tolimitcontagionrisks.

InBarcelona. AP

PANDEMICWATCH

INDONESIA

Biggest1-dayspikeincasesJakarta: Indonesia hasrecorded its highest sin-gle-day rise in COVID-19cases as the governmentis preparing a “new nor-mal”by July.Healthmin-istry official AchmadYurianto announcedWednesday that con-firmedcasesofCOVID-19infections spikedby693,taking the total numberof infections nationwideover 19,000, includingmore than 1,200 deathsandabout4,500recover-ies. The previous highestdaily increase in COVID-19 cases was recorded aweek agowith 689 newcases. President JokoWidodo has said thecountrymustbereadyfora “newnormal”by July.

PAKISTAN

LegislatordiesofcoronavirusIslamabad:A60-year-oldwoman legislator of theruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party in Punjabprovince died of COVID-19 onWednesday,mak-ingherthefirstlawmakerinthecountrytosuccumbto the virus. ShaheenRaza,60,wasadmittedtothe Mayo hospital inLahore a fewdays agoaf-tershewastestedpositivefor the coronavirus. Herhealth deteriorated overthe weekend followingwhich she was put onventilator, GujranwalaDeputy CommissionerSohail Ashraf said.However, Raza suc-cumbedtotheviralinfec-tion in the hospital onWednesday,hesaid.

OTHERTOPGLOBAL STORIES

YIMOULEE&BENBLANCHARDTAIPEI,MAY20

TAIWANCANNOTacceptbecom-ing part of China under its “onecountry,twosystems”offerofau-tonomy , President Tsai Ing-wensaid onWednesday, strongly re-jectingChina’ssovereigntyclaimsandlikelysettingthestage foraneverworseningof ties.Chinarespondedthat“reuni-

fication”wasinevitableandthatitwouldnevertolerateTaiwan’sindependence.Inaspeechafterbeingsworn

in for her second and final termin office, Tsai said relations be-

tween Taiwan and China hadreached an historical turningpoint.“Both sides have a duty to

find a way to coexist over thelongtermandpreventtheinten-sificationofantagonismanddif-

ferences,” shesaid.Tsai and her Democratic

ProgressivePartywonJanuary’spresidential and parliamentaryelectionsbya landslide, vowingto stand up to China, whichclaims Taiwan as its own and

says it would be brought underBeijing’s control by force ifneeded.“Here, Iwant to reiterate the

words‘peace,parity,democracy,anddialogue’.Wewillnotacceptthe Beijing authorities’ use of

‘one country, two systems’ todowngrade Taiwan and under-minethecross-straitstatusquo.Westand fast by this principle,”Tsai said.China’sTaiwanAffairsOffice,

responding to Tsai, said Beijingwouldstickto“onecountry,twosystems” - a central tenet ofChinese President Xi Jinping’sTaiwan policy - and “not leaveanyspace forTaiwanindepend-enceseparatist activities”.“Reunificationisahistoricalin-

evitability of the great rejuvena-tionoftheChinesenation,”itsaid.“Wehavethefirmwill, fullconfi-dence,andsufficientabilitytode-fendnationalsovereigntyandter-ritorial integrity.” REUTERS

DAVIDMHALBFINGER&ADAMRASGONJERUSALEM,MAY20

RAISINGTHEstakesoverIsrael’sdrive to annex land thePalestinians have long claimed,President Mahmoud Abbas ofthe Palestinian Authority onTuesday angrily declared it freeof its commitments under theOslopeaceprocess,includingse-curityunderstandingsthathaveprotectedIsraelisandpreservedtheauthority’spoliticalholdovertheoccupiedWestBank.For a change, several senior

Palestinian officials insisted,Abbas was notmaking amere

threat. “ThePalestineLiberationOrganization and the State ofPalestine are absolved, as of to-day,ofallagreementsandunder-standingswiththeAmericanandIsraeli governments,” Abbas de-claredinaspeechinRamallahaf-ter amuch-anticipatedmeeting

of officials of the authority, thePLO and Fatah, the political fac-tion that dominates themboth.Those understandings, he said,includeall securityagreements.Abbassaidhismovewasare-

sponsetothenewIsraeligovern-ment’spushtoannex largepor-tionsof theWestBank.Withpeacetalksnonexistent

for years, many right-wingIsraelishaveurgedNetanyahutoextendsovereigntyovertheWestBankonideologicalandreligiousgrounds. Supporters of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, however,have warned that annexationcouldrenderafuturePalestinianstate impossible toachieve.NYT

THE LONG WAITPeoplequeueuptoreceive foodaidamidthespreadof thecoronavirus, at the Itireleng informalsettlement inPretoria, SouthAfrica,onWednesday.UNSecretary-GeneralAntonioGuterreswarnedthat thepandemic threatensAfrica'sprogressandcouldpushmillions intoextremepoverty.Reuters

THENEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK,MAY20

WITHCHANGEStakingeffectonWednesday, all 50 states havebeguntoreopeninatleastsomeway,more than twomonths af-ter the coronavirus thrust thecountryintolockdown.Butthereremain vast discrepancies inhowstates aredeciding toopenup,withsomeforging faraheadof others.Connecticutwillbeamongthe

laststatestotakeaplungebacktobusinessonWednesday,whenitsstay-at-homeorderliftsandstores,museumsandofficesareallowedtoreopen.ButnotfarawayinNewJersey, the reopening has beenmore limited,withonlycurbsidepickup at retail stores and al-lowancesforcertainindustries.The contrast illustrates a dy-

namicplayingoutacrossthecoun-try,asgovernorsgrapplewithhowtohandleapandemicthatcomeswithnopoliticalplaybook.States in the Northeast and

on the West Coast, as well asDemocratic-led states in theMidwest, havemoved themostslowly toward reopening, withseveral governors taking acounty-by-countyapproach.(InWashington,DC,astay-at-homeorder remains in effect untilJune.) By contrast, a number ofstates in the South opened ear-lier andmore fully. Though so-cial-distancing requirements

were put in place, restaurants,salons, gyms and other busi-nesses have been open inGeorgia for severalweeks.Alaskawentevenfurther.On

Tuesday, Governor MikeDunleavy said hewould lift re-strictions on businesses by theend of the week, allowingrestaurants,bars,gymsandoth-ers to return to full capacity.Sports and recreational activi-tieswill beallowed.

ASSOCIATEDPRESSWASHINGTON,MAY20

PRESIDENTDONALD TrumponWednesday threatened to holdup federal funds for two battle-ground states because they aretrying tomake it easier to voteduring thepandemic.Thepresident’stweetstarget-

ingMichigan andNevadawerehis latest salvoagainst votingbymail, a practice thathehaspub-liclyworriedwill lead somanypeople to vote that Republicanswill lose inNovember.Trump began by targeting

Michigan,erroneouslydescrib-ing Democratic Secretary ofState Jocelyn Benson’s an-nouncement Tuesday that shewouldsendabsenteeballotap-plications to every voter in the

state.“Michigan sends absentee

ballots to 7.7 million peopleahead of Primaries and theGeneral Election,” TrumptweetedWednesday.“Thiswas done illegally and

withoutauthorisationbyarogueSecretary of State. I will ask tohold up funding toMichigan iftheywant togodownthisVoterFraudpath!”Trumphas been vocal about

hisopposition tovotingbymail.His threats drew an immediatesharpresponsefromDemocrats,who alluded to impeaching thepresidentforhisthreatstowith-holdaid fromUkraine.“We will not allow our

democracytobecomeacasualtyof this pandemic,” CaliforniaSecretary of State Alex Padilla, aDemocrat, said.

ASSOCIATEDPRESSROME,MAY20

AS NATIONS around theworldloosen coronavirus restrictions,peoplearediscoveringthat“thenewnormal” is anythingbut.Yet some realities have

emerged: schools, offices, pub-lic transport, bars and restau-rants are nowon the front linesof post-lockdownlife.How each of those key sec-

torsmanages social distancingand tamps down on expectednew outbreaks will determinetheshapeofdailylifeformillionsas researchers race to develop avaccinethatisstill likelymonths,if not years, away from beingavailable toall.InItaly,wheregoodfoodisan

essential part of life itself, once-packedrestaurantsandcafesarefacingahugefinancialhitastheyreopenwithstrictsocialdistanc-ingrules. The lossesare forecasttopileupto30billioneuros($32billion) thisyear.

“We have to turn upsidedownall theactivity thatwedidbefore,” lamented chef Raffaeledi Cristo,whonowmustwear amaskandlatexglovesashepre-pares food at the popular CorsiTrattoriainRome.“Everythingischanged. Slowly, slowly,wewilltrytounderstandandtoadapttothiscoronavirus.”Slovakia reopened theaters,

cinemasandshoppingmallson

Wednesday,allwithnewrestric-tionsonvisitornumbers.Theheadof theDutchhospi-

tality industrywelcomedadeci-siontoallowbarsandrestaurantsto reopen June 1, but warnedabout the impact ofmandatorysocialdistancingconditions.“Therestrictionsareunfortu-

nately unworkable” for manybusinesses,saidRoberWillemsenofRoyalHospitalityNetherlands,

addingmore government sup-port isneededtoensuresurvivalofmanybarsandrestaurants.In South Korea, high school

seniors had their temperaturescheckedandusedhandsanitisersas they returned to schoolWednesday, many for the firsttimesincelatelastyearaftertheirnewtermwasrepeatedlypushedback.Studentsandteacherswererequiredwearmasks and some

schoolsinstalledplasticpartitionsarounddesks.Cambridge has become the

firstuniversity inBritain tocan-cel all face-to-face lectures forthe2020-21academicyear.Theuniversity says all lectures willbe held virtually and streamedonlineuntilsummer2021.Itsaysitmay be possible to hold tuto-rialsandotherteachinginsmallgroups inOctober.

ADITIKHANNALONDON,MAY20

BRITISH PRIMEMinister BorisJohnson on Wednesday dis-missedanyhopeofareviewintowhathasbeenbrandedan “un-fair” surcharge on foreign doc-tors, including Indians,workingin the UK's state-fundedNationalHealthService.Anumberofprofessionalas-

sociations for doctors in Britainhavebeen campaigning againstthe annual ImmigrationHealthSurcharge(IHS), imposedof for-eignworkers to raise additionalfunds for the NHS, as an addi-tionalburdenwhiletheydirectlycontribute to thehealthservice.TheOpposition Labour Party

Leader,KeirStarmer,backedtheircampaign in the House of

Commons during PrimeMinister'sQuestionsWednesday,when he asked Johnson if hethinkssurchargeonNHSdoctorsandnurses is“fair”.“I have thought a great deal

about this and I do accept andunderstandthedifficultiesfacedbyouramazingNHSstaff. Ihavebeen a personal beneficiary ofpeople and carers who havecome from abroad and, frankly,savedmylife,” replied Johnson.“I knowexactly their impor-

tance. On the other hand, wemust look at the realities thatthis is a great national service, anationalinstitutionwhichneedsfundingandthosecontributionsactually help us to raise about900millionpounds.Itisverydif-ficult in the current circum-stances to find alternativesources...”headded. PTI

ASSOCIATEDPRESSKUALALUMPUR,MAY20

SINGAPORE HAS sentenced adrug suspect to death on thepopular video chat app Zoombecause of the city-state's coro-navirus lockdown, a moveslammed by a human rightsgroupascallousand inhumane.Defence lawyer Peter

Fernando said the SupremeCourtannouncedthepenaltytohisclient,PunithanGenasan,inavirtualhearingFriday.Genasan was in jail, while

Fernando and prosecutors par-ticipatedinthehearingfromdif-ferent locations. It is believed tobe the first time the death sen-tencewasdeliveredremotely inSingapore, which has imposedsocial distancing measures itcalls a “circuitbreaker.”The court ruled that the 37-

year-oldMalaysianwasthemas-termindofdrugtraffickingactiv-ity in2011.“This has been the arrange-

mentmade by the court underSingapore's 'circuit breaker'measures, with essential hear-ings conducted via Zoom.Wehave no complaints,” FernandosaidWednesday.HesaidhewillmeetGenasan

onFriday todiscussanappeal.Singapore imposed a lock-

downinearlyAprilafteritwashitby a secondwave of virus infec-tionssparkedbyforeignworkersliving in crowdeddormitories. Ithas reportedmore than 29,000cases,amongthemostinAsia,butonly22deaths. Itplanstogradu-ally lift restrictionsnextmonth.Human Rights Watch said

the death penalty is alreadycruel and inhumane, and theuse of Zoom to announce itmade itworse.

Tsai Ing-wen(left). AP

Anencampmentforthehomeless inCalifornia.Reuters

900■Thenumberofmigrantchildrenthat theTrumpadministrationhasdeportedalone—insomecases,withoutnotifyingtheirfamilies—sincethecoronavirusbrokeout. Ithassaidthatpolicywillnowremain inplace indefinitely

All US statesease curbs tovarying levels

Trump threatens to holdfunds for states easingvoting amid pandemic

Ataschool inDaejeon,SouthKorea,Wednesday. AP

Singapore issues first deathsentence via video conference

‘Unfair’ surcharge onforeign doctors: Borisrefuses to back down

30,000

20,000

10,000

0

March April May

Note: The seven-day average is the average of a day and the previous sixdaysofdata. Source:NYT

Newcases

7dayaverage

NEWREPORTEDCASESBYDAYIN THEUNITEDSTATES

Sworn in for second term, Taiwan president rejectsBeijing rule; China says ‘reunification’ inevitable

“Wewill not accept theBeijingauthorities’ useof‘onecountry, twosystems’ todowngradeTaiwanandunderminecross-strait statusquo...”

—TSAI ING-WENTAIWAN’SPRESIDENT

“Reunificationis historicalinevitabilityofthegreatrejuvenationoftheChinesenation...Wehavethefirmwill...todefendnationalsovereignty...”

—STATEMENTCHINA’S TAIWANAFFAIRSOFFICE

Palestinian Authority free of Oslopeace pact commitments: Abbas

MahmoudAbbas

INAcore reopeningdecision,manycountrieshaverestartedschools, eachwith theirownpatchworkof sched-ulesandsafetyprecautions.Manyapproachesarebeingexperimentedwith: tem-

peraturechecks,useof plasticdividers,useofmasks, cut-tingclass sizesandaphasedreopenings.However, expertssaidmass testingwasoneof the fewreliable—if costly—waysof ensuringacertain levelof safety.Aprimeconcern isthat childrencouldaid invirus transmission,particularlytheasymptomaticvariety,which is thehardest to track.

In reopeningnations, a keystep:Restartingschools

Nations struggle to define ‘a new normal’

13SENSEX: 30,818.61 ▲ 622.44 NIFTY: 9,066.55 ▲ 187.45 NIKKEI: 20,595.15 ▲ 161.70 HANG SENG: 24,399.95 ▲ 11.82 FTSE: 6,020.05▲ 17.82 DAX: 11,095.91 ▲ 20.62

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD`41,705

RUPEE`75.80

OIL$26.15

SILVER`38,100

Note:Spotgoldmarketsareshutdueto lockdowninmajorstates;*goldper10g, silverper1kg; IndianbasketasonMarch19,2020

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,MAY20

WITHTHElockdownnowgettingextendedup toMay31andpos-sibility of further extension notruledout in somekey states, theReserveBankof India (RBI)mayhavetoextendthemoratoriumonloanrepaymentsbyanotherthreemonthstoAugust31,bankersandanalystssaid.Worriedoverrisingbadloans,

bankers are veering around theideathatextensionofmoratoriumisrequiredasfactoriesareunlikelytostartproductioninMay,inviewofthecurbsinmanyimportantin-dustrial belts, broken supplychains and increasing job losses.Banksarealreadyfacingsluggishcreditofftakeandaspike innon-performing assets (NPAs) due tothelockdownandthecontractionintheeconomy.Onextendingthemoratorium

beyondMay31,thechairmanofanationalisedbanksaid,“Let’swaittillMay31andthenseethatwhatisthedemandorwhatisthesitu-ation,anddependinguponthesit-uationontheground,IthinkthesearethethingswhichRBIcantakea viewand take a calibrated ap-proach.Ithinkthenextviewprob-ablywillbetakenafterMay31.”On March 27, the RBI an-

nouncedathree-monthmorato-rium(March1toMay31)onloanandcardrepaymentsandslasheditsmainpolicy rate—reporate–

by 75 basis points (bps) andmandatory cash reserve ratio(CRR)of banksby100bps tosta-bilisethefinancialmarketsandre-ducethepainonborrowershitbytheCOVID-19pandemic.“With the lockdownnowex-

tendedup toMay31,we expectRBItoextendthemoratoriumbythreemonthsmore.Thiswill im-ply companies neednot pay tillAugust 31, and almostminimalpossibility of companies beingabletoservicetheirinterestliabil-ities then in September, failingwhichtheaccountmightbeclas-sifiedNPAasper extant norms,”saidSoumyaKantiGhosh,GroupChief Economic Adviser, StateBankof India.RatingagencyCrisilsaidNPAs

aresettoriseby150-200bpsthisfiscal.“Lockdownwillimpactcol-lectionsandresolutions,andthus

result in higherNPAs. The grossNPAswouldbebetween11-11.5per cent for the base case and itcouldrisehigher,” itsaid.Among the sectors, a Crisil

metric onparameters of erosioninrevenuegrowthandcreditriskshowsthatautocomponents,realestate, gems& jewellery, airline,construction,poultry&meat,andtextiles are the weakest posi-tioned.However,theRBIhasalsostipulatedbanks should create a10 per cent provisioning on allloansthatareoverduebutnotyetanNPA andwheremoratoriumhasbeenapproved.Bankscategorisesuchloansas

specialmention accounts (SMA)where loansare in the0-90daysoverduebuckets.Thisprovisioningrequirement

stipulatedbythebankingregula-tor has to bemadeover the two

quartersofMarchandJune2020.While theprovisioningcould

beadjustedagainsttheprovision-ing for slippages inNPAsduringfiscal 2021, the banking sector’sability tomanageassetquality inthe near termpost themorato-riumperiodremainsacriticalfac-tor.“Asperourestimates,theRBI’s

stipulation on additional provi-sioning requirements could in-crease the total provisioning ofbanks byRs 35,000 crore in theMarch-June 2020 period,” saidVydianathanRamaswamy,direc-tor of credit rating agencyBrickworkRatings,Banks are offeringmorato-

riumtoretailcustomersonablan-ket ‘opt-out’ basis and towhole-sale customers on case to case‘opt-in’ basis. Evenwithin retailsegments, higher instances ofmoratoriumutilisationwereob-servedinagriloans,micro-credit,CVloansandotherunsecuredre-tailproducts likecreditcards.Formost banks, a higherproportionoftheretailbookappearstobeun-dermoratorium.Severalborrow-ers opting formoratoriumhadsufficientaccountbalancesorun-drawn lines, indicating that bor-rowerswanttobemoreliquid(ata cost, of course), according toHDFCSecurities.Therehavebeen instances of

eligible borrowers requestingmoratoriumretrospectively,ask-ingforrefundofpaymentstotheiraccounts.

CURRENTMORATORIUMONLOANREPAYMENTSFROMMAR1-MAY31

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY20

OVERA year after it hadwon a600-MWsolar project in Rajas-thanatahistoricallylowtariffbidofRs2.44perunit,ACMESolarhasterminated the project citing‘forcemajeure’eventsliketheon-goingCOVID-19lockdown.Thesolarpowerdeveloperhas

approachedtheCentralElectricityRegulatoryCommission(CERC)torestrain the Solar EnergyCorporation of India (SECI) andPowerGridCorporationof India(PGCIL)frominvokingbankguar-anteesandlettersofcomfortthatithadsubmittedfortheproject.During the proceedings,

ACMEtoldCERCithadterminatedits power purchase agreements(PPAs)with SECI for this projectonMay 4. This is on account offorcemajeure events like status

quoordersbytheRajasthanHighCourtrelatedtolandonwhichtheFatehgarh substationwas to beconstructedaswellastheCOVID-19outbreakand its “adverse im-pact”onmanufacturing facilitiesofsuppliersinChinaandIndia.Asa result, theprojecthasal-

readybeendelayedby15months,saidACME’scounsel,addingthatit expected further delay due touncertaintyfromCOVID-19.Invoking the ‘forcemajeure’

clauseallowscompaniestowrig-gleoutofliabilitiesincasetheyareunable to fulfil their contractualobligations,onaccountofextraor-dinary events or circumstancesbeyondhumancontrol.ACMEsaid its PPAswithSECI

set its deadline for commission-ingtheentirecapacityoftheproj-ect atMay8, 2021.However, theforcemajeure events have left itunable to execute the projectswithinthistime, itsaid.

AsthePPAsallowfortermina-tion if forcemajeure events con-tinue for over three months,ACME has argued that it has“validlyterminatedthePPAs”andhas sought the returnof its bankguaranteesandlettersofcredit.“Basedonthedeveloperpro-

file, supply chain disruptions,changeinfinancingcost,pricebidandanticipateddespatchfromtheproject, similar casesmayemer-ge,” said SambitoshMohapatra,partner, PwC India. SECI has notaccepted the termination of thePPAs, and is disputing ACME’sclaimof forcemajeure. PGCILar-gued that ACME “cannot be al-lowedtoescapetheliabilitiesun-der the contracts entered into itand the regulations of thisCommissionwithregardtoaban-donment/exit from the projectundertheguiseofforcemajeure.”

Full reportonwww.indianexpress.com

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY20

LENDERS RECOVERED 64 percentoftheirclaimsfromsuccess-ful resolution plans in the firstthreemonths of 2020 throughthecorporateinsolvencyresolu-tion process (CIRP) under theInsolvencyandBankruptcyCode(IBC). Financial creditors recov-eredRs25,063.8crorefromtotalclaimsofRs39,101.8 incase.AsperdatabytheInsolvency

and Bankruptcy Board of India(IBBI),averagerecoveryforfinan-cialcreditorsincasesresolvedtillMarch2020stoodat46percent.

The resolution of JaypeeInfratech Limited—which hasled to recoveries of Rs 22,223croreforclaimsofRs23,716croreby financial creditors — has ac-counted for the majority ofclaims resolved and recoveryduring this period, with the re-maining resolutions combinedleadingtoarecoveryofRs1,840.8crore against claims of Rs15,925.8crore,providinglenderswithanaveragerecoveryofonly11.6percent.Expertsnoted that therehad

been a general lack of interestfrom distressed asset buyerswhen it came to smaller firmsleadingto lowerrecoveries.

Lenders recover 64% of theirclaims via CIRP in Jan-Mar

NewDelhi:Continuingtoprovidesome relief to states affected byrevenue crunch, the Centre onWednesdaysanctionedRs46,038croreastheMayinstalmentofde-volutionofstates’shareincentraltaxes, basedon the FY21Budgetestimate(BE).“These releases, similar to

April releases, have been calcu-lated based on tax receipts pro-jectedinBudget2020-21&notasperactuals.GoI’sprimeobjectivehas been protecting states rev-enues&meetingtheirliquidityre-quirements in their fight againstCovid-19 global pandemic,” theFinance Ministry tweeted. InApril,theCentrehadalsoprovidedRs 46,038 crore,whichwas 110percentof itsnetrevenuesinthemonth,ExpenditureSecretaryTVSomanathanhassaid.FE

`46,038 cr taxdevolutionsanctioned tostates for May

Mumbai: In a move aimed athelping investors assess thedamagecausedbytheCOVID-19disruption on businesses, theSecuritiesandExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi)onWednesdayaskedlisted companies to disclose theimpactof the lockdownontheirrevenuesandprofits.“Itisimportantforalisteden-

titytoensurethatallavailablein-formation about the impact oftheseeventsonthecompanyandits operations is communicatedinatimelyandcogentmannertoits investors and stakeholders,”Sebi said in a circular onWednesday. ENS

Listed cos toldto discloseCOVID-19impact on biz

New Delhi: The Centre has re-leasedRs15,340croreGoodsandServicesTax(GST)compensationtothestatesandUnionterritoriessofarinthecurrentfiscal,despiteaninsignificantrevenuemopupfromgoodsandservicestaxow-ingtothenationwidelockdown,accordingtosources.For 2019-20 fiscal (up to

November2019), theCentrehasreleased Rs 1,20,498 crore GSTcompensation, higher than Rs69,275 crore released in full2018-19 and Rs 41,146 crore in2017-18. PTI

‘`15,340 cr GSTcompensationto statesreleased sofar this fiscal’

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY20

ONLINETAXIaggregatorOlasaidonWednesday it has decided tolet go of 1,400 employees as theCOVID-19pandemic has dealt asevereblowtoitsbusinesses.Revenues for theBengaluru-

based firmhave reduced95percent in thepast twomonths, co-founder&CEOBhavishAggarwalwroteinanotetoemployees.The job cuts will be imple-

mentedacrossmobilitywhichac-counts for about 80 per cent ofrevenuesandfoodsandfinancialservicesverticals.Aggarwal, however, said the

downsizingwouldbea“one-timeexercise”andnomoreCOVID-re-latedcutswillbedone. FE

‘One-timeexercise’: Olato lay off 1,400employees

Citing ‘force majeure’, ACME Solarterminates 600-MW Rajasthan project

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY20

STOCKMARKETSonWednesdaystagedasharprallydespitemixedglobalcuesandunabatedincreasein number of infections acrossIndia. The benchmark Sensexbouncedbackby622.44points,or2.06per cent, to30,818.61,whiletheNSENiftygained187.45pointsto 9,066.55, on all-roundbuyingsupportonexpectationsofmorestimulusmeasuresfromthegov-ernment.Therupee,however,declined

14paise to 75.80 against theUSdollaronWednesday,asUS-Chinatrade tensions andworries overthe secondwave of coronavirus

infectionweighedontheinvestorsentiment.

On the other hand, positivedomestic equities supported therupee despite sustained foreignfundoutflows.VinodNair,headofresearch,GeojitFinancialServices,said, “The Cabinet approvals ofsomeof theproposedmeasuresandleavingthedooropenforfur-therstimulusmeasurescouldalsohaveplayedapartinthepositivity.Investors advised to remain cau-tious.”According toAjitMishra, VP-

Research, ReligareBroking,mar-ketswitnessedhealthybuyingintoday’s session andmanaged toendwithgoodgains.Sectoral indices participated

in the move and the marketbreadthwasalsoinclinedstronglyontheadvancingside.

Reclassificationof90-daynorm, loanrecastalsosought

MANYINthebankingsectorsuggesttheRBIneedstogiveoperationalflexibilitytobanksforacomprehensiverestructuringofexistingloansandalsoareclassificationofthe90-daynorm.Asofnow,theJune7circularisstringentandgiveslittleflexibilitytobanks.Accordingtoanalysts,thecentralbankneedstoclarifywhetherenhancedworkingcapitalloansclassifyasCOVIDdebt.

BRIEFLY‘Industryshouldresetrelationswithworkers’NewDelhi:Industryneedstoresetitsrelationswithwork-ersandalsoconsiderapro-fessionalwaytoengageun-skilled workers, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sithara-man saidWednesday, dur-ing an interaction withmembersofCIItomark125yearsofitsexistencein2020.

MarchnetnewenrolmentswithEPFOdipsNewDelhi:Thenetnewen-rolments with retirementfund body Provident FundOrganisation (EPFO)dipped to 5.72 lakh inMarch 2020 from 10.21lakhinthepreviousmonth,according to its payrolldata,providinganemploy-ment perspective in theformal sector. PTI

Apple-GooglecontacttracingtechreleasedOakland: Apple Inc andAlphabet Inc's Google onWednesdayannouncedthereleaseof the initialversionoftheircontacttracingtech-nology, as authorities in 23nations across five conti-nents sought access to thesystem. REUTERS

‘Over 70% cos likely to continuework-from-home policy’Nearly 72 per cent of companies are likely to continue thework-from-home policy for a percentage of their totalstaff for the next sixmonths, a Knight Frank survey said

>230:NUMBEROFEXECUTIVESSURVEYEDWHOHANDLECORPORATEREALESTATEPORTFOLIO INLARGECOMPANIESACROSSVARIOUSSECTORS

7%:Percentage ofrespondentswho said noemployeeswill work fromhome

62%:Percentage of totalrespondentswho said theywilleither retain (38per cent) orincrease (24per cent) theircurrent office space portfolio

28%:Percentage ofcompanies that said outputhas increased duringwork-from-homephase

26%:Share of respondentswho said productivity has gonedownduringwork-from-homephase

35%:Share of respondentswho feel that currentwork-from-homepolicy has yieldedsameproductivity as in pre-lockdownphase

11%:Percentage ofcompanies that said itwasdifficult to assess changein productivity

50%: Share of companies that saidover 30 per cent of their workforce willwork from home for next six months

Twocriticalchallengesfacedbycompanies’workforce:■ Connectivitywhileoperating from remotelocations■ Distraction from family

As lockdownextends,banksseekanother3-mthmoratoriumfromRBI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY20

MILLIONSOFmigrantswhohadtorushhomebecauseofthelock-downcouldhavebeenhelped ifthe government had accepted aproposal to guarantee loans tocompaniesbybankstofundwag-esduringthelockdownsaidNaus-hadForbes,co-chairmanofForbesMarshallandformerpresidentofConfederationof IndianIndustry(CII) at an Indian Express E-XPLAINEDwebinarWednesday.Forbesalsosaidthatthelock-

downcouldhavebeenorganisedbetteriftherehadbeentranspar-entdiscussionabout itsplanningand if more preparationshad beenmade to allowmove-mentofpeople.

“I do not knowwhy the firstlockdown needed to be an-nouncedwith fourhoursnotice.That’swhatcausedalotoftheim-mediate crisis formanymigrantworkersbecausetherewasacer-tainmassofpeoplewhoweretry-ingtotrytogetontrainsandsoontogohome,”he said. Forbes alsosaidthatthepackageannouncedby the government so far hasfallen short of the “fundamentalneedfordirectbenefittransferstothemostvulnerableinsociety.”“Theyneed reassurance that

theywillbetakencareof.Thebestway they get that reassurance isthroughadirect benefit transferthat could transfermoney intotheirJanDhanaccountsonaperi-odic basis,” said Forbes, notingthat it hadhappened inbits andpiecesandthatitwouldhavebeen

betterifdirectbenefittransfersaregiven rather than separatepack-ages providing free food formi-grantworkersandseparatepack-agesforfarmers.Forbes also said thatmillions

ofmigrantworkerswhohad totravel back could have beenhelpedifthegovernmenthadac-cepted aCII proposal that enter-prises be given loans at 4-5 percent interest, guaranteedby thegovernmenttoallowfirmstopaythreemonths’wages.TheCentrehasannouncedapackageguaran-teeingcollateralfreeloansofRs3lakhcroretoMSMEs.Forbes said thatmany firms

had paid salaries inMarch andApril,butwhentherewas“noendin sight” for the lockdown, com-paniesthatemployedmanypeo-plewerenotgoingtobeabletogo

further.Headded that itwasnotappropriatetoforcecompaniesbylaw to pay peoplewho are notworking.Forbes said therewas aneed

toaddresslabourcontractsinthecountry.“... Ifyou’reformallyem-ployed, youhave complete pro-tection and almost no flexibility(for employers), and that coversmaybe10-15percentof thetotalworkforce.Andifyou’reinthe85per cent that’s informally em-ployed,youhavealmostcompleteflexibility (for employers) andallandprettywellnoprotection.”Hesaidthatdecisionsbystates

suchasUttarPradeshandMadhyaPradeshtosimplysuspendsomelabour laws was “knee-jerk”,addingthatsuchmovesmaycre-ate attractive conditions for badjobswhich isnot the intentionof

thestategovernments.TheUPgovernmenthadear-

lier thismonth exempted busi-ness fromthepurviewof almostalllabourlawsforaperiodofthreeyears,while theMPgovernmenthas relaxed labour lawsallowingextendedshiftsof upto12hoursandallowingbusinesstohireandfireworkersattheirconvenienceforaperiodof1000days.Forbessaidthatstategovern-

mentsneededtoworkonprovid-inglabourregulationswithabal-anceofprotectionforworkersandflexibility for employers. “Letstates get that balance. Let statescompete,ontweakingthebalanceofprotectionflexibility.Ithinkwecan,” he said, noting thatwhenthey compete, states shouldnotcompete in a race to thebottomwithnolaws.

Mumbai:De-materialisedtradingofRelianceIndustriesLtd,RightsEntitlement(RIL-RE),madeastrongdebutonthe stock exchanges onWednesday,risingbynearly40percenttosettleatRs212.RIL’s Rs 53,125 crore

megarightsissueopenedforsubscriptionbyshareholdersonWednesday.RIL-REclos-ed at Rs 212 on theNSE onWednesday. PTI

RIL-RE jumps40% on debut

Source:Knight Frank/PTI

NaushadForbes,co-chairman,ForbesMarshal,andformerCIIpresident. File

‘Don’t know why lockdown was announced with four hours notice’

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY20

THEUNIONCabinetWednesdayapprovedadditionalfundingofupto Rs 3 lakh crore through theGuaranteed Emergency CreditLine (GECL) for theMSMEsectorhit hardbyCOVID-19pandemic.For this purpose, a corpus of Rs41,600croreshallbeprovidedbythe central government spreadover the current and the nextthree financial years to provideguarantee against loan losses.Interest rates under the Schemeare capped at 9.25 per cent forbanks and financial institutionsandat14per cent fornon-bank-ingfinancialcompanies(NBFCs).TheNationalCreditGuarantee

Trustee Company (NCGTC)willprovide 100per cent guaranteeagainst losseson loansadvancedto eligible micro, small, andmediumenterprise(MSMEs)andMUDRA borrowers under theschemewhichisopentillOctober31.AllMSMEborroweraccountswith outstanding credit of up toRs 25 crore as on February 29—whichwere less thanor equal to60dayspast dueason that date,andwithanannualturnoverofuptoRs100crore—wouldbeeligibleforGECLfunding.Theycangetupto20percent fresh loansof theirentireoutstandingcredit.TheNCGTCwillnotchargeany

guarantee fee from thememberlendinginstitutions.“Bysupport-ingMSMEstocontinuefunction-ingduring the current unprece-dented situation, the Scheme isalso expected to have a positive

impactontheeconomyandsup-portitsrevival,”theCentresaid.Further,anewSpecialLiquid-

ity Scheme forNBFCs andHFCswas also approved. Under thescheme,alargepublicsectorbankwouldsetupanSPVtomanageastressedasset fundwhichwouldissueinterestbearingspecialsecu-rities guaranteed by theGover-nment of India, to bepurchasedbyReserveBankof Indiaonly.TheSPVwouldissuesecurities

subjecttothetotalamountof se-curities outstandingnot exceed-ing Rs 30,000 crore. The fundsraisedwouldbeusedby theSPVtoacquirethedebtpapersofatle-astinvestmentgradeofshortdu-ration(residualmaturityofupto3months)ofeligibleNBFCs/HFC.“Thedirect financial implica-

tion for theGovernment is Rs 5crore,whichmay be the equitycontribution to the SpecialPurpose Vehicle (SPV). Beyondthat,thereisnofinancialimplica-tionfortheGovernmentuntiltheGuarantee involved is invoked,”thegovernmentsaid.The Cabinet also relaxed the

norms of the Partial CreditGuaranteeSchemeandextendedits timeperiod inorder towidenthe coverage to include a largernumberofNBFCs,HFCs(housingfinancecompanies)andMFIs(mi-crofinance institutions).Guaranteeofupto20percentoffirstlosswillbeprovidedtostate-owned banks for purchase ofbonds or commercial papers ofNBFCs,MFIs andHFCs having acredit rating of AAor below, in-cludingunratedpaperwithorig-inalmaturityofuptooneyear.

CENTRETOPROVIDECORPUSOF`41,600CR

`3-lakh cr emergency credit linefor MSMEs gets Cabinet approval

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY20

THE DELHI High Court onWednesday rejected a plea byMonsanto,MonsantoHoldings,and the Indian armof the com-panyMahycoMonsantoBiotechIndiatoquashprobeproceedingsinitiated by the CompetitionCommissionofIndia(CCI).TheCCIhad, in 2016, asked its DirectorGeneraltoinitiateaprobeagainstMonsantoanditssubsidiariesforalleged abuseof dominantposi-tion in themanufacture and saleofBtCottonseedsinthecountry.Asingle-judgeBenchofJustice

VibhuBakhruheldthattheorder

passedbytheCCIwasanadmin-istrative orderwhichwaswellwithintherightsof theanti-trustbody,andthereforecouldnot in-terferedbyatthisstage.“Areviewonmeritsisimpermissibleatthisstage, and therefore, this court isrefraining from examining themerits of the dispute,” JusticeBakhrusaidinhisjudgment.Theprobe againstMonsanto

and its subsidiarieswas initiatedbased on a complaint byNuziv-eedu Seeds. The Hyderabad-based company had in its com-plaint to the CCI also said thatMonsantohadbeenseekingveryhighpricesforitsbollwormresist-antBtCottonseeds, andhad fur-ther pressured it to sign unfair

sub-licensingagreements.Nearlyallthecottongrownin

IndiausedthebollwormresistantBt Cotton seeds developed byMonsanto. Local seed firms,which sub-license fromMonsanto to sell genetically-modified seeds, pay a “trait fee”fixedbythegovernment.Last January, the Supreme

CourthadheldthatBayerCorpor-ation-ownedMonsantowas therightfulpatentover forBtCottontechnologyinIndia.OverturningaDivisionBench judgment of theDelhiHC,theapexcourthadthensaid that the high court shouldhave only checkedwhether theinjunction granted againstMonsantowasfairornot.

‘ABUSEOFDOMINANTPOSITION’

HC rejects Monsanto plea to quash CCI probe

OTHERDECISIONSPMVVYRATEOFREDUCEDCUTTO7.4%TheUnionCabinetfixed the annual rateof return for PradhanMantri VayaVandanaYojana (PMVVY), asocial security schemefor senior citizens, at7.4per cent for FY21,down from8per centin theprevious fiscal,as it extended theschemeby three yearsup toMarch31, 2023.

METHODOLOGYFORBIDDINGOFMINESCLEAREDTheCentre approvedamethodology for theauctionof coal blocksfor commercialminingon revenuesharingbasis andincreasing the tenureof coking coal linkage.With this, the coalmining sectorhasbeen completelyopened for theprivatesectorwithno-enduse restrictions forparticipating in coalmine auctions. PTI

Sensex gains 622 pts on stimulus hopes

14THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,MAY21,2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Vol. LXIVNo.119Printed for theproprietors, The IndianExpress (P) LtdbyMsVaidehiThakaratThe IndianExpressPress, PlotNo.EL-208,TTC IndustrialArea,Mahape,NaviMumbai -400710andpublished from 1st floor, ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Editorial&AdministrativeOffices:ExpressTowers,NarimanPoint,Mumbai -400021.Phone:22022627/67440000. Fax:022-22835726.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha,Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Mumbai):NirupamaSubramanian.* (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct)

Additional air surchargeof `1 .00 -Goa.Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Ltd.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The IndianExpress®

It’swait andwatch forathletes at SAI centresMIHIRVASAVDANEWDELHI,MAY20

INITIALCONFUSIONoverthegovernment’sor-der and thengoing through the rigmarole ofstate-levelimplementationofguidelineshavedelayedathletes’returntotraining,despitetheCentredeclaringsportscomplexesandstadiaopen on Sunday. To add to it, the death of aSports Authority of India (SAI) employee inBengaluru,who testedpositive forCovid-19,hasonlycomplicatedtheresumptionofactiv-itiesforthecountry’selitesportspersons.Therevised lockdownguidelinesreleased

by theMinistry of HomeAffairs (MHA) onSunday gavemore than ahundred athletes,whohavebeenconfinedtotheirroomsattheSAI Centres in Patiala and Bangalore sinceMarch25, a glimmerof hope. That has nowgraduallygivenwaytoanxiety.“Wearestillin-doors andwaiting fororders fromSAIbeforeourtrainingcanresume,”nationalweightliftingcoachVijaySharmasaid. Theorder, however,mightstillbesometimeaway.It is learntthatsincethetimetheMHAre-

leaseditsadvisory,SAIandthesportsministryhavebeenintheprocessofobtainingmultipleclearancesandclarificationsbeforefirminguptheirreopeningstrategy.Accordingtoafederationofficial,therewas

uncertaintyat thebeginningonwhether theguidelineswereapplicabletoSAIcentressinceNIS, Patiala alsodoublesupasaneducationalinstitute.“Pointnumber2.5oftheMHAguide-lines states that sports complexes andstadiacanopen.However, point 2.3 says educationinstitutes should remain closed,” theofficial,who is the federationpresidentof oneof theprioritysports,said.“Soatfirst,thatwasoneoftheconfusingparts.”ASAIofficialsaidanotherproblemwasthe

interpretation of the guidelines. “While theguidelinesgaveusthegreensignaltoopenourcomplexes,” theofficial said, “in theverynextpoint,theMHAsaidallsportseventsandgath-eringswereprohibited.So,therewehadtobeclearinourinterpretationoftheadvisorysincethetwopointsseemedtobecontradictingeachother.”Then,thereweresomeroutinebureau-

craticdelays:SAIwaitedforthesportsministrytocleartheconfusion,whilethelattersaidsincetheMHAhadspeltoutthedirectives,theyhadnoroletoplay.ByMondayevening,theseissueswereclar-

ifiedand sportsministerKirenRijiju, too, de-claredthecomplexesandstadiaopenforath-letestorestarttraining.However,whilethosewhowereatnon-SAI

centres– sprinterDuteeChand, for example,whoistraininginOdisha,orthetraineesatthePTUshaAcademyinKozhikode–returnedtothe track in the subsequentdays, those stuckinside the Patiala andBengaluru campuseshavestillnotbeenabletodoso.Thereason, according toasportsministry

official,isthatSAIfirsthastogetclearancesfromtherespectivestategovernments.“Inthelatestadvisory, the stateshavebeengiven theulti-matepowertodecidewhatactivitiestoallow.Sowithouttheirclearance,andwithoutcheck-ingthezoneinwhichaparticular facility falls,wecan’topen,”theofficialsaid.“Thedecisionhas tobetaken incollabora-

tionwith thestategovernmentandonly thenpracticecanresume.”ThestategovernmentsofPunjabandKarnatakahaveallowedsportscom-

plexestoopen,inlinewiththecentre’sadvisory.SAIdirectorgeneralSandipPradhandidnot

respondtocallsandmessagesseekinghisviewsonthedelay.Anotherofficial fromtheorgani-sationsaidtheyareexpectingthesportsmin-istry to approve their Standard OperatingProcedureonThursday,afterwhichtheprocessto reopen the facilities couldmove forwardswiftly. Theofficial, however, didnot committoatimeframe.“Therearealotofprecautionarymeasures

thathavetobetakenbeforeweallowactivitiestoresume.First,wehavetosanitise theentirefacility, especially the trainingareas, and thenbringinmorestaff todealwiththeincreaseinworkload,”theofficialsaid.The incident involving a SAI cook in

Bengaluru,whodiedfromaheartattackandthen testedpositive for coronavirus, hasalsogiven theofficials cold feet.According toSAI,the cook had visited the centre to attend ameetingtodiscusstheresumptionofkitchenactivities, given that the training of thewomen’sandmen’shockeyteamswaslikelytoresumethisweek.Now,thatplanisputonholdandtheseniorstaffofthecentrehasbeenquarantined.

SafetyprotocolcomplicationsdelayEngbowlers’ returnEngland bowlers’ much-anticipated resumption of training amid the COVID-19pandemic has been delayed after the first session was postponed due to “complications”in ensuring safety protocols.

CROSSWORD4123

ACROSS1 Guess themeaningof this

word(10)8 Nameofdoctorcaught in

malpractice (5)9 Oldrepublicquietly leads

another (7)10 tcomes fromtheLatin, as far

asoneknows(1,6)11 Aportionofmincepie?

Certainly (5)12 Don’tencouragedelay (3,3)14 Notalwaysbrief (3,3)17 Itmaybeawardedtoofficers

andgiventoprivates (5)19 Lower,duetoa

disappointment? (3,4)21 Verydearmixtureof lard

andgin (7)22 Onedividingmywealth

(5)23 It’s clearnowthatsummer’s

here (6,4)

DOWN2 Howpromotionshouldbe

giventominer,perhaps (2,5)3 Nojig forachauvinist (5)4 Many insight leading to the

church(6)5 Heenters theoffice

uninvited(7)6 Directions toprosecute

follow(5)7 Notesorcoins for the

newsboy?(5,5)8 Yet theymaybeusedwhen

speakingbluntly (5,5)13 Womenhavewarmregard

forhiswares (7)15 Complicatedcounterbeat

(7)16 Keepsignalling for thewine

bottle (6)18 Gamerequiringmanyskills

(5)20 Timeof strain? (5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Aswitchofmoodisduetoday,andyoumayfindyourselffeelingverymuch

moreconfidentand incontrolthanyoudidyesterday.Youshouldbear inmind, though,that therearestillplans, ideasandfeelingswhichmightbebestkeptsecret.Nobodyhasanabsolute right toknowwhatyou’reupto.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Youshouldmaintainahighsocialprofile ifthat iswhat iscalledfor,butpaymore

attentiontoyourownprivate,innerworld.Neverwas itmoretruethatyoucannot livebybreadalone, so followyourdreams.Yourvivid imaginationmightevenbeoneof yourgreatestassets.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Youmaymakeastrenuouseffort togetpeopleonyourside.Even if it seems

likeawasteof time,persuadingpartners thatyouarerightwillat leasthelpyougetyouracttogether.Also,beprepared foremployersorcolleagues tochangetheirplans.

CANCER(June22- July23)Youareacreatureofextremes,simultaneouslyultra-sensitiveand

hyper-ambitious!Mostof yourlife is spent tryingto findamiddlepath,but rightnowyoushould letyourambitionsoffthe leash.Onewordof cautionis toavoid treadingonanyoneelse’s toes, evenwithoutmeaningto.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Characteristically,yourchart is splitbetweentheultimatelyprofound

andthedeterminedly trivial.The firstpatternurgesyoutoseize themoralhighground,while thesecondlendssupport toholidayandtravelplans.This sounds liketheperfect recipe foraninteresting life.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Youmaybreak thehabitof a lifetimeandstopcountingyourcash.Never

was itmoreapparent thatwhatyoumustdo is spendwhateverisnecessary to secureyourprivateandpersonalhappiness. If youare thinkingabouta long-lost lovedonethenyouneverknow, theymightbeabout to reappear.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Partnersareboundtobe inadifficultmood,butwhetherthis isabadoragood

thing isamootpoint.Thebestapproach isprobably torealisethat theyaresimultaneouslytryingtodowhat isbest foryouandfor them,andhavingahardtimeof it.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Mars, the symbol ofyour currentsuccess, is still in anemotionalmood.

This is bound to crampyourstyle a little, but only if you failto realise that life, even atwork, can be fun. Yournumber onepriority should beto enjoy yourself, andnotto be too botheredbylingering difficulties.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)If therearesigns thatcertain familyordomesticconcernsare less important

nowthan lastweek,or lastmonth,don’tbelieve them. It isatmoments like these thatyoucandropyourguardandgetcaughtout.Afterall, youneverknowwhat’s justaroundthenextcorner.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Youarenowenteringaphaseofall-roundchange,notasgreat formost

of youas thosewhichhaveoccurredregularlyover therecent times,butpowerfulnonetheless.Themostextremeoption isamoveofhome,whilesomesortof domesticupheaval isonthecards forallof you.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Dialogueanddiscussionare thenewpriorities.There isnobetter

thingyoucandoover thenextforty-eighthours thanunburdenyourself of familyguiltor resentmentsgoingbackto thedistantpast.Dosowithdueregard forothers’ sensibilities.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Youwill have to turnto thequestionofcost. Youmaynotberenowned foryour

innate financial sense, althoughbusiness skills canbe learnt.This ispreciselywhatyoushoulddorightnow.And thenthere’s the romantic situationtoconsider, and thepleasureyoumayanticipate fromapossible reunion.

SUDOKU4115

DifficultyLevel2sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4114

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.___aretheenemyof___.—DonQuixote (5,..,5)

SOLUTION:HARSH,TUTTI,CHERUB,FOUGHTAnswer:Factsaretheenemyoftruth.—DonQuixote

HHARS BEHRCU

IUTTT GOTUFH

SolutionsCrossword4122Across: 1Racket,4Addsup,9Despair, 10Utter, 11Sweat, 12Elegant, 13Coachdriver, 18Wayover,20Rogue,22Topes,23Ocarina,24Ensure,25Usages.Down: 1Radish,2Caste,3Elastic,5Douse,6Situate, 7Pirate,8Friendor foe, 14Olympus, 15 Inroads, 16Swathe, 17Medals,19Visor, 21Going.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

‘Why don’t you eat moreoften here at my mess?’

SHIVANINAIKMUMBAI, MAY 20

“HEWAS feeding us for somany years. Hewas like my extended family at SportsAuthority of India, Bangalore,” championlong jumper Anju Bobby George recalls ofthe55-year-oldcookat thecampus for thelast 23 years,whopassed awayonSundayof a heart attack and was found to havetested positive for Covid-19 post-death.Anna, as he was lovingly called, was

known to SAI campers and coaches assomeonewhocouldn’t standevena speckof dust around his athletes in the hostelmess, andwouldn’twait forhousekeepingto fetch up, brushing it clean himself im-mediately.Amanknowntobemeticulousand helpful, he also whipped up whole-some chicken for the charges he was as-signed to feed.“The last time Imethimwas justbefore

the lockdownwhenIwent into thekitchenand he made me coffee just the way heknew I liked it. He also chided me andasked me, ‘why don’t you eat more oftenhere atmymess?’ It was such a happy in-teraction, it’s so unfortunate he passedaway,” Anju said.Hispassingaway,afterhehadattended

ameeting of 16 personnel at a 300-seaterauditorium onMay 15 to discuss resump-tionof trainingat theSAIcampus, sentoth-ersat thatmeeting intopanic.Apressstate-ment from Sports Authority of India, said,“The person went through all necessaryscreenings, including thermal screening,before entering the SAI centre and wasfound to be absolutely fit. Hewaswearingmaskandgivenhandsanitiserat thegate.”It further added: “The deceased left

soon after the meeting and did not inter-act with any of the players or other staffmembers housed in the centre.” Four offi-cials, present at themeeting and living in-side the campus, have been quarantined,

as per government guidelines.The Bangalore campus went back into

lockdownonMonday.Butevenas thepositive testmeantonly

two or three persons were allowed at hiscremation and even those wanting tocouldn’t attend his last rites, athletes andSAI campers spoke affectionately aboutthe reassuring figure that Anna had beenat the camp.

Apermanent employee for the last 20-oddyears, assignedto the ladies’hostel, heplayed abit part,whichAnju recalls as be-ing significant.“Iwent to the Bangalore hostel in 1998

andwas there till 2003. At that time, he’dcome into thekitchenafter thegentswerefedandhewouldcookextra forusanden-sure we weren’t going hungry,” she re-members.

Feeding the famishedHe loved feeding the perennially-fam-

ished, hard-training athletes and Anju re-membershimextending thatextraplopofgruel forheryoungercharges, saying“theseareMadam’s kids.”“He always told my children that he

had first fed me as a youngster from myfirst day here, andwatchedme grow intoan international athlete, and would behappy to now feedmy kids and see themdowell,” she says. “I’llmisshimwheneverI go to the campus.”A father to a son and two daughters,

Anna lived three km from the campus inwhat is a non-containment area.He was suffering from a couple of co-

morbidities, but is said to have suffered aheart attack when he went to visit a rela-tive at a hospital. SAI Bangalore officialssaid they had dispatched someone to gomeet thefamilyafter theyheardof thesud-den demise, and will in the coming days,look to help his family.Badminton coach Ganguli Prasad re-

called Anna as an earnest worker and asoft-spoken man. “He was a straightfor-ward guy, the nicest person. I was told hewaseager toresumeworkandvolunteeredto help kick-start activities at the SAI cen-tre after the two months’ lockdown. It’svery sadwe lost him,” he added.“Even last time he asked me, ‘why are

you not eating with us?’” Anju laments,wishing she’d stayed on for a meal, andmore of his ever-consistent coffee.

The last time Imethimwas justbefore the lockdownwhen Iwentinto the kitchenandhemademecoffee just thewayhe knew I likedit. He also chidedmeandaskedme,‘whydon’t you eatmore oftenhereatmymess?’ Itwas suchahappyinteraction, it’s so unfortunatehepassedaway.”ANJUBOBBYGEORGE,FORMERLONGJUMPER

AnjuBobbyGeorgeremembers thedeceasedcookatBangalore’sSAIcentreasacaringsoulalwaysreadyto fill athletes’hungrystomachs

WhileathletesatSAIcentresareyettoreceiveconfirmationabouttheresumptionoftraining,traineesbegantheirpracticesessionattheUshaSchoolCampus,inBalusseryonWednesdaypostthelockdown.@ptushaofficial/twitter

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