JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

Terms and conditions of ICICI Bank apply


WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES
LET’S BE VOCAL ABOUT LOCAL:
SELF-RELIANCE KEY, SAYS PM
Dosage: ` 20 lakh crore
In address to nation,
PM stresses on five
pillars: big leap in
economy, infra,
demography, tech,
supply-demand
LIZ MATHEW
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
PRIME MINISTER Narendra
Modi on Tuesday announced
that India’s combined economic
package would be worth Rs 20
lakh crore or 10 per cent of GDP,
whichwouldmakeIndiaself-re-
liant and position it for the post
Covid-19 world.
With the third phase of lock-
down ending on May 17, the
Prime Minister said the fourth
stage will be new in form — and
the details, which will be drawn
up on the basis of suggestions
from the state chief ministers,
would be announced by May 18.
The details of the Rs 20 lakh
crorepackage,whichwouldhelp
everysectionincludingworkers,
farmers, middle class andindus-
trial units, would be announced
by Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman in the coming days,
the Prime Minister said.
“I announce a special eco-
nomic package today. This will
play an important role in the
‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’
(Self-reliant India Campaign).
The announcements made by
the government over Covid ear-
lier, decisions of RBI, and today’s
package totals to Rs 20 lakh
crore.Thisis10percentof India’s
GDP,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister empha-
sised on India becoming self-
reliant, a point he has been
stressing in almost all
speeches he has made since
the crisis began.
According to him, self-re-
liancewouldbebasedonfivepil-
lars — an economy that takes
quantum jumps, not incremen-
talgains;moderninfrastructure;
a technology-driven system; vi-
brant demography; and a de-
mand and supply chain.
“Wehaverealisedtheimpor-
tanceof localmanufacturingand
local supply chain, which met
our demands and saved us dur-
ing this crisis. Brands that are
global were once local, but it be-
came branded when people
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Centre plans to
take states’ views in
categorising zones
ABANTIKA GHOSH
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
AFTER SEVERAL chief ministers
demanded more authority in
classifying zones in their juris-
diction during the video confer-
ence with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Monday, the
Centre now plans to involve
states and seek their views in
drawing up the list of green, or-
ange and red zones.
“We have asked states to
share their inputs and views
withus.Thesewillbefactoredin
the next list,” a senior govern-
PAGE 1
‘Made it so far... now I’m going back with bodies of wife, kid’
ANCHOR
On way home from Mumbai, UP
migrant’s autorickshaw is hit by truck
ASAD REHMAN
LUCKNOW, MAY 12
THE FAMILY had been on the
road for three days — Rajan
Yadav, 35, driving the autorick-
shaw he had bought only six
months ago, with his wife, two
children and a nephew. Two rel-
atives were trailing them on a
motorcycle.
Around 7 am on Tuesday,
The first train since lockdown from Mumbai Central prepares to leave for New Delhi at 5.30 pm on Tuesday. Ganesh Shirsekar
On the table: Safety net
for the poor, MSMEs,
tax breaks, land assets
SUNNY VERMA, AANCHAL
MAGAZINE
& SANDEEP SINGH
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
PRIMEMinisterNarendraModi’s
announcement of a Rs 20 lakh
crore package to help cushion
the Covid economic impact and
set the stage for “self-reliance”,
could pivot around measures
thatthegovernmentis setto un-
veil in a staggered manner start-
ing Wednesday.
“Land, labour, liquidity and
laws” — that was how the PM
defined the key themes of the
package. This is likely to trans-
mentfunctionarywhowaspres-
ent in the Monday meeting told
The Indian Express. Some states
are still pushing for full freedom
in zoning districts in their juris-
diction, with the Centre only de-
ciding the broad principles.
On Monday, while the PM-
CMs meeting was still on, a fresh
list was circulated, only to be re-
called within minutes, said
sources.
Manystatesarealsoinfavour
of designating smaller areas —
rather than entire districts — as
red or orange zones. A similar
suggestion was also received
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
having covered 1,500 km, and
withhomejust200kmaway,the
relatives on the motorcycle de-
cided to speed ahead. Moments
later, Rajan’s autorickshaw was
hit on the side by a truck.
Rajan’s wife Sanju, 33, and
daughterNandini,6—whowere
sitting on that side of the vehicle
— were killed. Rajan survived
with minor injuries, as did his
son Nikhil (9) and nephew
Akash (16).
DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
CONTOURS OF LOCKDOWN 4.0
WILL COME BEFORE MAY 18
late into: steps to bolster liquid-
ity for the Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises (MSMEs),
among the worst impacted sec-
tors; a push to the process of
monetisation of surplus land as-
sets held by Ministries and
Central PSUs; a state-led easing
of labour regulations and addi-
tional tax breaks for companies
investingaboveacertainthresh-
old in technology-intensive sec-
tors like pharma, medical de-
vices and telecom equipment.
Over the next few days,
Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman will provide details
of the package that is likely to
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
LET STATES LEAD
PANDEMIC FIGHT
BY MILIND SOHONI
PAGE 10
WORLD
CLUSTERS ACROSS
ASIA SHOW FLEETING
FACE OF VICTORY
EXPERTS WARN
AGAINST RUSHING
TO REOPEN THE U.S.
PAGE 13
Auto rickshaw was hit by a truck in Fatehpur district. Express
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
TRAVAILS ON DAY 1,
THOSE WHO COULD
NOT BE ON BOARD
OPPOSITION PARTIES
REACT TO PACKAGE
PAGES 3, 5
LG gas leak: FIR blames ‘some smoke
with bad smell,’ names no company staff
SREENIVAS JANYALA
HYDERABAD, MAY 12
ELEVEN PERSONS were killed
when Styrene gas leaked from
the LG Polymers factory at
Visakhapatnam before dawn on
May 7. The Andhra Pradesh gov-
ernment set up a high-level
probe committee. But the FIR on
the gas leak registered at the
Gopalapatnam police station by
the local police is telling.
Filed at 7 am on May 7, as per
police records, almost five hours
after the incident, all the FIR
states is that “some smoke came
out”of thefactory,thattherewas
a “bad smell” and it was this
smell that endangered life.
“At about 0330 hrs some
LAND, LABOUR, LIQUIDITY, LAWS
FOCUS OF ECONOMIC PACKAGE
The math: It’s 10% of
GDP but about half is
already factored in
P VAIDYANATHAN IYER
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
THE Rs 20-lakh crore package
announced by Prime Minister
E
Narendra Modi sounds big but
willburnonlya
EXPLAINED
small hole in
the govern-
ment’s fi-
● nances. A large
part of it, or as
much as Rs
8.04 lakh crore, is additional liq-
uidity injected into the system
by the Reserve Bank of India
through various measures in
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Gas leaked before dawn on May 7. Reuters File
smoke came out from the LG
Polymers Company, due to the
reasontheneighbouringvillages
(were) affected and getting bad
Sanju’s brother Bhole
Shankar,45,andRajan’snephew
Mukesh Yadav, 19, who were on
the motorcycle, said they were
brushing their teeth by the road
when they saw a truck go past.
“We had come together all the
way, but nearing home, we
thought we would speed a bit,”
Bhole Shankar said.
Theaccidenthappenedinthe
Khaga police station area of
Fatehpur district. Inspector
Satyendra Singh said that when
the truck hit, “The woman and
daughter fell out of the autorick-
shawandcameunderthetruck’s
`6.00 (`8 PATNA & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
First day at
New Delhi
station: Long
queues and
Aarogya Setu
SHIVAM PATEL &
SUKRITA BARUAH
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
MORE THAN 4,000 passengers
boarded the first three special
‘Rajdhanitrains’fromNewDelhi
on Tuesday as the Railways re-
sumedservices, which had been
suspended for over a month un-
der the coronavirus lockdown.
TheNewDelhi-Bilaspurtrain
which left at 4 pm with over
1,000 people on board was the
first passenger service of the
Railways to start. The other two
were to Dibrugarh in Assam and
Bengaluru in Karnataka.
Outside the New Delhi
Railway station on Tuesday,
there was a steady flow of pas-
sengers — students, migrants
and professionals from within
and outside Delhi — eager to re-
turn to their families.
“We are doing thermal
screening of passengers as they
come into the station and only
asymptomaticpersonsarebeing
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
STIMULUSAS%OFGDP
JAPAN 21.1
US 13.0
SWEDEN 12.0
GERMANY 10.7
INDIA 10.0
FRANCE 9.3
SPAIN 7.3
ITALY 5.7
UK 5.0
CHINA 3.8
SOUTH KOREA 2.2
Source: Ceyhun Elgin,
Columbia University
smell and the smell is endanger
to human life. Due to fear, all vil-
lagersran...fromthehouses.Inthe
incident, 5 persons died and the
wheels.”
Rajan said Sanju had been
dozing with Nandini on her lap
when the truck hit. Speaking to
The Indian Express from the am-
bulance carrying their bodies
home to Mokalpur village in
Jaunpur, he said, “We were all
exhausted after travelling for
three days.”
It was after driving a rented
autorickshaw in Mumbai for 13
years that Rajan had saved
enough to buy one last year.
However, the lockdown broke
his back. “I have not earned any-
thing in the past month-and-a-
New Delhi
TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
LOCKDOWN
CASES:
DAY
49 70,756
KEYSTATES
TOWATCH
TOTAL
CASES
■ Maharashtra
■ Gujarat
23,401
8,542
■ Delhi 7,639
■ Tamil Nadu 8,002
■ Rajasthan 3,883
■ West Bengal 2,063
* Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last 7 days ** Calculated over 7-day growth
CONCERN
TAMIL NADU: DELHI: Reported
It has the fastest 13 deaths on
doubling time Monday, instead
among states with of the usual two
high caseloads
Based on daily data released by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
Indian Council of Medical Research and state governments
Amid tension on
Ladakh LAC, IAF
sent Su-30s, Army
says no build-up
SUSHANT SINGH &
MAN AMAN SINGH CHHINA
NEW DELHI, CHANDIGARH,
MAY 12
AWEEKafterIndianandChinese
troops came to blows in a dis-
puted area near Pangong Tso, a
lake in eastern Ladakh, and IAF
fighters took to the air, tensions
remain high in the region.
Troops on either side of the
Line of Actual Control (LAC) have
been on high alert though there
has been “disengagement” after
the incident on May 5-6 night
near an area known as Finger 5
on the northern bank of
Pangong Tso.
TheareaunderIndiancontrol
is manned by an infantry battal-
ionbutadditionaltroopsremain
onalertforanycontingency.The
Chinese, sources said, too aug-
mentedtheirstrengthinthearea
once tensions rose late April.
The Indian Army, on its part,
has clarified that there is no
build-up of troops in the area.
Army PRO Colonel Aman Anand
said Tuesday: “There is no con-
tinuing faceoff at Pangong Tso.
There is no build-up of armed
troops in the area.”
remainingpeoplewereadmitted
in hospitals as in-patients.”
Incidentally, the death toll
mentioned here is five when 10
hadalreadybeenconfirmeddead
by the time the FIR was filed.
The FIR does not mention
Styrene despite the fact that po-
lice officials had confirmed the
presence of this gas by then. The
FIR also does not name anyone
from the company.
TheFIR was registered under
Sections 278 (Making atmos-
phere noxious to health); 284
(Negligent conduct with respect
to poisonous substance), 285
(any act with combustible mat-
tertoendangerlife),337(Causing
hurt by act endangering life or
personal safety of others), 338
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
half. We borrowed what we
could, but now everyone is
struggling. We left after taking
Rs 3,000 from neighbours and
friends.”
Rajan added that they were
tired of waiting for a train.
“Around10daysago,wehadour
medical examination done and
got a certificate from the local
administration,buttherewasno
news of any train. We asked
everyone.”
With little hope of “autorick-
shaws being allowed to run in
Mumbaiinthenearfuture”,they
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
RECOVERED:22,454 | DEATHS:2,293
TESTS: 17,59,579 | DOUBLINGRATE:11.78**
SURGEIN
24HRS
7-DAYAVG. DOUBLING
GROWTH* RATE**
1,230
348
7.03%
5.68%
10.24
12.69
406 6.56% 10.98
798 12.31% 5.85
174 3.76% 19.13
124 7.31% 9.85
CAUTION A GLIMMER
KARNATAKA:
Recording 30-40
cases daily, and has
one of the slowest
or three. growth rates
The LAC cuts through
Pangong Tso, with the 45-km
long western portion of the lake
underIndiancontrolandtherest
under Chinese control. It lies in
thepathoftheChushulapproach
—inIndianassessment,itisoneof
the main approaches China may
likely use during any offensive.
The mountains on the lake’s
northern bank jut forward in
major spurs, which the Army
calls “fingers”. India claims that
the LAC is co-terminus with
Finger 8, but it physically con-
trols area only up to Finger 4.
Chinese border posts are at
Finger 8, while Indian border
posts are located close to Finger
3.TheChineseclaimthattheLAC
passesthroughFinger2.Thearea
between the two differing per-
ceptionsisthedisputedterritory
which both armies try to domi-
nate through regular patrolling.
Sources said that “no Chinese
soldier is on Indian territory in
the area as per our perception of
the LAC”.
In astatement,theArmysaid
“incidents of faceoff and aggres-
sive behaviour occur on LAC.
Patrols disengage after local-
level interaction and dialogue.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Virus spread
slowing, key
reproduction
number 1.23
until May 10
KARISHMA MEHROTRA
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
BETWEEN APRIL 13 and May 10,
the Covid-19 transmission rate
(represented by the basic repro-
duction number or R-number)
remainedsteadyat1.23,evenaf-
tersomeof thelockdownrestric-
tions were eased on May 4, ac-
cording to a study done by the
Institute of Mathematical
Sciences, Chennai.
The transmission rate is
driven mostly by outbreaks in a
fewstates,whilemoststatessaw
contained growth.
At the beginning of lock-
down, the R-naught (indicating
the initial transmission rate) for
March 27-April 6 was 1.83.
In the study of infectious dis-
ease, the basic reproduction
number (R0 in the beginning,
and then R-number) is used to
assess the severity of an out-
break.Thisnumberisanaverage,
reflecting the number of people
infected by one infected person.
The current R-number of 1.23
means that a Covid-19 patient is
infecting1.23otherpeopleonan
average.
“There has been remarkably
littlevariationintherateApril13
onwards,” said researcher
Sitabhra Sinha.
The new data captures the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
FROM PAGE ONE
Long queues
allowed inside. Only those who
haveaconfirmedticketwouldbe
allowed into the station. The
Aarogya Setu application is
mandatory for passengers and
we are asking those who do not
have it on theirphones todown-
load it,” said a Northern Railway
spokesperson.
The special trains have only
airconditionedFirstACandAC2-
and 3-Tier coaches. Tickets were
only booked online through the
IRCTC portal. Passengers were
askedtobringtheirownfoodand
blankets.
Hoursbeforethedepartureof
the first train, a queue of passen-
gers slowly moved past police
barricades put up outside the
Paharganjentranceofthestation.
Manyhadtomakealongtrek
toreachthestation.Amongthem
wasSaiKumar(20),whohadleft
hisprivatehostelinGreaterNoida
at 8.30 in the morning to catch a
9 pm train to Telangana, fearing
that he would not be able to find
a way to reach the station.
“Everyonewastellingmethat
thereisnotransportavailableand
myparentswereverynervous,so
I decided to leave early. I walked
till I reached the highway and
tried to hitch a ride. I must have
tried flagging down around 40-
50 cars before one finally
stopped. I paid them Rs 600 and
they dropped me till Mayur
Vihar. There, I got an e-rickshaw
whichdroppedmetothestation
for Rs 300. In all, I must have
walked around 10 km,” said
Kumar, a student of computer
scienceandengineeringatNoida
International University, who
reached the station at 3.30 pm.
Therewereotherswhocame
from across Delhi’s borders. This
included B Lakshmi (57), who
had arrived from Bengaluru on
March19forwhatwassupposed
to be a week-long stay at an
ashram in Kampil, in Uttar
Pradesh’s Farrukhabad district.
“I was supposed to take a re-
turn train on March 27 but I got
stuck. I was comfortable at the
ashram but my family was hav-
ing difficulty coping. So I booked
my ticket yesterday and this
morning,Itookaprivatecabwith
twootherpeoplefromBengaluru
to come to Delhi. The ticket was
for Rs 2,500 and the cab cost Rs
8,000. We also had to pay Rs 415
as highway toll. What must it be
like for those who don’t have
money to even eat?” she said.
More than 3,000 passengers
travelled on the three special
trains,theRailwayMinistrysaid.
Thefirsttraintorollafterthelock-
down, from New Delhi to
Bilaspur,had1,072passengerson
board, while the trains to
Dibrugarh and Bengaluru had
1,076passengerseach,according
totweetsputoutbytheMinistry.
Ladakh LAC
Temporary and short duration
faceoffs occur as the boundary is
notresolved.Troopsresolvesuch
incidents mutually as per estab-
lished protocols”.
Thesituationonthegroundin
thePangongTsoarea,sourcessaid,
had been brewing for over two
monthswhenthePLAstartedob-
jectingtomovementofIndianpa-
trolsuptoFinger8.
PLAtroopseventriedtophys-
ically stop Indian patrols beyond
Finger2.FortheIndianside,Finger
1actsasabottleneckandtheypa-
trolonfootbeyondthatpoint.
TheChineseusuallypatrolon
a motorable road in two-three
lightvehicles.This5-kmroadin-
side Indian territory along the
lake’s bank was built by China
during the Kargil War in 1999,
when India was fighting
Pakistani intruders in the Kargil-
Dras-Batalik region.
After the Chinese attempted
to restrain Indian patrols, the
Indians responded by asserting
their claim with PLA patrols
which led to tensions between
the two side.
Around six years ago, the
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Chinesehadsimilarlytriedtoun-
dertake construction at Finger 4
which was stopped by the
Indians. The Chinese eventually
vacated the area but on August
15, 2017, this area witnessed
fisticuffsandstone-throwingbe-
tweenIndianandChinesepatrols
— at that time, the two armies
were locked in a tense faceoff in
Doklam.
OnthenightofMay5-6,asre-
ported by The Indian Express,
there was a physical fight be-
tween the soldiers of the two
armies. At least two senior offi-
cers of the Indian Army were
among the dozens injured in as-
saults by Chinese troops using
bats,batonswithnails,andmetal
rods. Indian soldiers retaliated,
leavingmanyChinesesoldiersin-
jured.
Beforethisincident,anIndian
Army helicopter carrying a sen-
ior officer came in close vicinity
of two Chinese military helicop-
ters in the area. Sources said the
Chinese helicopters came dan-
gerously close to the Indian heli-
copter and the Chinese person-
nel on board made aggressive
gestures.
After the incident, two Su-
30MKIoftheIAFfromtheLehair-
base were also airborne in the
area. IAF sources maintained
there was no airspace violation
by either side, and it undertook
routinetrainingflyinginthearea
on May 5.
Under the existing arrange-
ment between India and China,
no fighter aircraft can come
within 10 km of the LAC without
priorintimationtoeitherside.For
helicopters, the distance to be
maintainedfromtheLACis1km.
Spread slowing
trend a week after some restric-
tionswereeasedonApril20,and
then again on May 4.
At this current pace, India
may see 70,000-80,000 active
cases by May 17, Sinha said. The
number of active cases on
Tuesday was 46,008.
The states which are seeing
exponential case growth are
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,
Gujarat, Delhi and West Bengal.
Among the 10 states which
have the highest case count
(Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil
Nadu, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West
Bengal,AndhraPradesh,Punjab),
Tamil Nadu has the highest R-
number at 2.01. The state saw its
numbers surpass that of Delhi
thisweek,primarilyduetoaclus-
ter in Chennai’s Koyambedu
marketaswellasanexpansionof
testingto3.37testsperthousand
people.
Punjab has also seen a surge
to a 1.32 R-number, partly due to
the pilgrims who returned from
Nanded testing positive; the
state’stestingfiguresstandat1.42
per thousand people.
Inthisgroup,fourstateswith
the largest outbreaks —
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil
Nadu and Delhi — account for
two-thirds of India’s case load.
While West Bengal’s total
casecountremainsrelativelylow
(2,063), the state has seen a fluc-
tuatingR-number-1.51inApril-
end, 1.14 in May-beginning, 1.34
till May 10. The state also has a
low testing rate (.45 tests per
thousand people).
BarringTamilNadu,theother
southernstateshaveseenalmost
linear growth. For example, al-
though Andhra Pradesh is in the
top 10 statesbycase count, ithas
curtailed its growth with a high
testing rate (3.47 per thousand
people).Keralaisalsonowawell-
known example of a flattened
curve.
Some states with a large
number of active cases - Uttar
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan-areshowing“sub-ex-
ponential” growth, meaning
moderate spread. Rajasthan’s
testing proportion is moderate
(2.15 per thousand), but Uttar
Pradesh (.58 per thousand) and
Madhya Pradesh (.92 per thou-
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Pandemic dosage: ` 20 lakh crore
used it and promoted it. We
should now be using local and
weshouldbevocalaboutlocal,”
Modi said.
The Prime Minister’s fifth
addresstothenationcameaday
afterhismarathonvideoconfer-
encewithchiefministers,which
could not reach a consensus
over a complete lifting of the
lockdown on May 17.
Modi said the economic
package would focus on land,
labour,liquidityandlaws,andit
willcatertovarioussectionsin-
cluding cottage industries,
MSMEs, labourers, the middle
class, industries, among others.
“Onevirushasdestroyedthe
world.Thisisanunprecedented
crisis. But we cannot get ex-
hausted, give up or break. We
have to protect ourselves and
The Math: 10% of GDP but half already factored in
February, March and April.
Add to this the Rs 1.7 lakh
crorefiscalpackageannounced
by Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman on March 27. The
balance of the economic pack-
age,detailsof whicharenotyet
known, then stands at Rs 10.26
lakhcrore.Itisexpectedthatthe
FinanceMinisterwillannounce
the details at the earliest since
this has a bearing on the bond
markets.
Sources familiar with dis-
cussions within the govern-
ment said the fiscal outgo may
not be more than Rs 4.2 lakh
crore during the year, taking
cues from the revised borrow-
ing calendar announced just
threedaysback.“OnMay9,the
government revised its esti-
matedmarketborrowingstoRs
12 lakh crore from Rs 7.8 lakh
crore as announced in Budget
2020-21... In a way, this puts a
ceiling to the size of the fiscal
package at 2.1 per cent of the
GDP (Rs 4.2 lakh crore),” the
source said.
The RBI statement on the
borrowingcalendarsaidthere-
visionhadbeennecessitatedon
account of the Covid-19 pan-
demic.
In other words, the cash
handoutthegovernmentcould
afford — given this ceiling — to
extend to the poor, vulnerable
and migrant workers, may be
limited to Rs 4.2 lakh crore. But
if thisisinnovativelyleveraged,
the multiplier impact on the
economy could be significant,
particularly when the Indian
economy would have lost al-
most 47 days of output in the
sand)aretestingrelativelyfewer
people.
In the east, Bihar and Odisha
have seen recent upswings,
partly due to cases among mi-
grantsarrivinghome.Bihar’stest-
ing proportion remains low (.29
per thousand) while Odisha has
steadily increased its capacity
(1.37 per thousand).
While the third phase of the
lockdownisscheduledtoendon
May 17, Sinha cautioned that “in
the absence of other contain-
ment measures, a lockdown by
itself may be insufficient to pre-
ventthe epidemic fromgrowing
again once the stringent restric-
tionsonmovementofpeopleare
removed.”
Vizag gas leak
(Causinggrievoushurtbyacten-
dangering life or personal safety
of others), 304-II (Knowledge
that the act had likelihood of
causing death) of IPC.
When contacted, Joint Chief
Inspector of Factories, Visakha-
patnam, J Siva Shankar Reddy,
told The Indian Express that the
“responsibility of reopening the
factorysafely”afterthelockdown
wasthatofGeneralManagerand
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
BLACK DEATH: HOW JEWS WERE BLAMED FOR THE PLAGUE AND MASSACRED
Whatsparkedthefurorewasarumour,thatsomehowspreadthroughthecontinent,ofJewspoisoningthe
wellsofChristians,leadingtotheirwidespreadsufferingandlossoflives.
MP TEENS DIG WELL TO
FIGHT WATER CRISIS
Bored during the
lockdown they decided
to help their village
moveaheadaswell.Ourresolve
shouldbebiggerthanthecrisis,”
Modi said.
Several bold reforms would
have to be undertaken to make
the country self-reliant so that
the impact of the global pan-
demiccouldbenegated,hesaid.
Self-reliance will prepare India
for tough competition in the
global supply chain. “This has
beenkeptinmindwhileprepar-
ing the package. It will not only
increase efficiency in various
sectorsbutalsoquality,”hesaid.
ThisechoeswhatthePMhas
beenemphasisinginhisvarious
previous addresses — to his
council of ministers, panchayat
sarpanches, etc., in the last few
weeks. He has repeatedly said
that the pandemic has taught a
very good lesson with a strong
THE MATH OF RS 20 LAKH CRORE PACKAGE
MONETARY STIMULUS APRIL 17
Targeted Long Term Repo
FEBRUARY 6
Liquidity injection
through RBI measures:
Rs 2.8 lakh crore
(1.4% of GDP)
MARCH 27
Liquidity injection through
RBI announcements:
Rs 3.74 lakh crore
(1.8% of GDP)
■ Targeted Long Term Repo
Operations or TLTRO:
Rs 1,00,000 crore
■ CRR cut by 100 bp to 3%
of net demand and time
liabilities: Rs 1,37,000 crore
■ Accommodation under
marginal standing facility
hiked from 2% of Statutory
Liquidity Ratio to 3%:
Rs 1,37,000 crore
full year. Most global finan-
cial services research houses
have estimated the Indian
economy to contract by 0.4 per
cent in 2020-21.
Sources said that money
which remains after making
cashtransferstothemostneedy
was likely to be used in a way
that it yields maximum gains.
“Forinstance,ifthegovernment
acceptsthefirst10percentloss
in case of default by companies
in specific sectors, it will incen-
tivise banks that much more to
lend. The big problem today is
riskaversionof bankstoextend
credit,”saidanothersource.This
Director of Operations, LG
Polymers, P P Chandra Mohan
Rao.
“Buthewasnotpresentinthe
factory on the intervening night
of May 6-7 when it was decided
to restart operations,” he said.
Despiteseveralcalls,Raowas
unavailable for comment.
“Noneoftheseniormanagers
was present. There were 24 peo-
pleinthefactoryatthattime,half
of whom were workers on con-
tract.Therewereafewengineers
under whose supervision they
wereworking.Theydidnothave
the experience to handle the sit-
uation,’’ Reddy said.
Asked why no one was
named in the FIR,
Visakhapatnam Police
Commissioner Rajiv Kumar
Meenasaid:“Evenif theFIRdoes
not name anyone, the investiga-
tion will find out the role of each
person responsible in running
the factory. The high-powered
committeeandtheexpertscom-
mittee are also examining the
roles of the senior managers.”
Emails sent to President and
Managing Director of LG
Polymers, India, Sunkey Jeong
and Technical Advisor Dongoso
CORONAVIRUS
message,i.e.,wehavetobeself-
reliant and self-sufficient.
Modi pointed out that India
has converted the crisis into an
opportunity. “Not a single PPE
kit was being made in India be-
forethecrisis.Nowweareman-
ufacturing two lakh PPEs and
N95 masks each daily.”
Asserting that India has the
resourcesandtalents,Modirec-
ollectedtheGujaratearthquake
damage. “During Kutch earth-
quake, there was rubble wher-
ever you looked. Nobody could
contemplate back then that
things would improve, but
Kutch revived. If we take a
pledge, no target is impossible,
norouteistootough,andtoday,
we have the will,” he said.
However, India’s self-re-
liance is different from others,
Operations 2.0: Rs 50,000
crore (0.25% of GDP)
Refinancing of Sidbi,
Nabard and NHB: Rs 50,000
crore (0.25% of GDP)
APRIL 27
Special liquidity facility for
mutual funds: Rs 50,000
crore (0.25% of GDP)
FISCAL STIMULUS
MARCH 27
Rs 1.7 lakh crore fiscal
package announced by
Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman (0.85% of GDP)
TOTAL: 4.8% of GDP or Rs
9.74 lakh crore
BALANCE: 5.2% of GDP or
Rs 10.26 lakh crore
maynotinvolvemakingabig
allocationintheBudgetbutwill
goalongwayinprovidingcredit
to companiesworstaffectedby
the pandemic.
Similarly, the MSME pack-
age devised by MSME Minister
Nitin Gadkari, for instance, in-
volves the government to in-
sure a revolving fund of Rs 1
lakh crore put together by
banksandfinancialinstitutions.
“Thegovernmentjustprovides
guaranteetothefund...itsakind
of insurance, which does not
entail huge outgo from the
Budget,”saidthesource.While
the Rs 1 lakh crore helps the
Kim Diaz, elicited no response.
Neitherofthesetwoofficialswas
presentatthefactorythenightof
the incident.
OnMay9,LGPolymersbroke
itssilencetoissueastatementof-
fering “condolences and apolo-
giestoallwhohavebeenaffected
by the incident.”
Admitting that the cause
prima facie was the “leaking
vapour from Styrene Monomer
storagetank,”thecompanysaidit
was working with the govern-
ment to ensure that all those af-
fected are “taken care of.” No
compensation has been an-
nounced by the firm yet.
To probe the incident, the
state government constituted a
committee headed by Special
Chief Secretary (environment
and forests) Neerabh Kumar
Prasad and four others: Special
Chief Secretary (Industries &
Commerce Department) R
KarikalValaven;Visakhapatnam
District Collector Vinay Chand
and Visakhapatnam City Police
Commissioner R K Meena as
members and AP Pollution
ControlBoardmember-secretary
Vivek Yadav as member-con-
venor.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
TEMPORARY JOB,
PERMANENT HERO
How a safai karamchari
saved the day at an
Assam hospital
he said. “When India speaks of
self-reliance, it does not advo-
cate for a self-centered system.
InIndia’sself-reliance,thereisa
concern for the whole world’s
happiness, cooperation and
peace.”
The PM reminded citizens
that one has to live with corona
for some time. “But it is impor-
tant to ensure that our life does
not revolve only around it.” He
said people must follow social
distancing protocols strictly.
“Our fourth stage of lockdown
is going to be different. Its con-
tours will be completely differ-
ent from those seen yet. On the
basis of recommendations re-
ceivedfromthestates,newrules
willbeframedandtheinforma-
tion about it will be communi-
cated before May 18,” he said.
government in showing a big
economic package, the actual
costtotheexchequerwillprob-
ably be a couple of thousand
crores of rupees.
Further,thegovernmentcan
also recapitalise banks, helping
their capital adequacy. “Again,
we just have to account for the
interesttobepaidontherecap-
italisation bonds, which also
does not amount to any sub-
stantial outgo,” said a govern-
ment official, who did not wish
to be quoted.
The government, officials
explained,cannotreallyafforda
hugestimulus.“Itisintendedto
providereliefandgetthepatient
outoftheICU...Thereisnofiscal
space to increase expenditure
substantially,” the official said.
Even in the first fiscal pack-
ageofMarch27,moneytransfers
immediatelyeffectedwouldadd
up to only Rs 61,380 crore over
thenextthreemonths:Women
Jan Dhan account holders - Rs
10,000 crore; widows, elders,
andthedisabled-Rs3,000crore’
farmers - Rs 17,380 crore; and,
buildingandconstructionwork-
ers - Rs 31,000 crore from the
WelfareFund.
TheRs17,380croretobere-
leasedtofarmerswasnotanad-
ditionality, but already bud-
geted for in 2020-21. The
government was only front-
loadingthepaymentof thefirst
trancheof Rs2,000(of thebud-
getedRs6,000perfarmerayear
under the PM KISAN scheme).
Similarly, the money for con-
struction workers did not re-
quire the government to bor-
row extra.
Thecommitteemembersare
takingthehelpof thedirectorsof
Indian Institute of Petroleum at
Dehradun and Visakhapatnam,
and of NDRF experts on chemi-
cal, biological, radiological and
nuclear emergencies.
‘Made it so far...’
left the city on Saturday, he said.
“Wepackedsomerotisandaaloo
sabzi and started.”
Rajan said he was unable to
catch the numberplate of the
truck in the commotion follow-
ing the accident. Police are yet to
identify the vehicle. A case has
been lodged under IPC Sections
279 (rash driving) and 304-A
(causing death by negligence).
“My wife and I had come so
far and then the accident hap-
pened. Now, I am going back
home with her and my daugh-
ter’s bodies,” Rajan sobbed, his
son and nephew with him.
They reached home around
9.30 pm, delayed by the post
mortem and other formalities.
The cremation will be held on
Wednesday.
The autorickshaw, its roof
ripped off, bloodstains on the
side, stands at the Khaga police
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
How India’s getting its
trains back on track
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
In today’s episode of 3 Things we look at
the Indian Railways getting back on track
after the lockdown and its fallout in states
like Bihar, that is seeing an influx of people
station. Rajan said he would re-
turn to pick it up. “I don’t know if
I will take it back to Mumbai.
Maybe I will just stay here.”
Safety net
include measures to boost local
manufacturing, help improve
India’s competitiveness in a
global economy, and provide re-
lieftothedistressedpoor,labour-
ers and hapless migrants.
MSMEMinisterNitinGadkari
had, on April 24, indicated the
possibilityofsettingupaRs1lakh
crore revolving fund for MSMEs.
The government’s plan is ex-
pected to ensure higher working
capital limits, clearance of pend-
ing dues and credit guarantee
against loan losses to MSMEs so
that banks lend to them.
Speaking to The Indian
Express, NITI Aayog Vice
ChairmanRajivKumarsaid:“You
willseeaspateareformsnow,as
you have seen in case of labour
reforms in the states. (The PM) is
bentuponturningthiscrisisinto
anopportunity,andIthinkthisis
what will happen.”
Asked if the government has
the fiscal space for such a pack-
age, Kumar said: “Even the
sternest of fiscal hawks have
stopped asking that question...If
you get the GDP to grow, the fis-
cal space gets created. On the
otherhand,ifGDPstopsgrowing,
thensamefiscalexpenditurebe-
comesmuchbigger(asapercent-
age of GDP), the ratio (fiscal
deficit) becomes much bigger.”
The Centre is also likely to
push the privatisation of some
state-owned enterprises, a sen-
ior government official said.
On the labour reforms front,
ninestateshavealreadytweaked
laws to increase working hours.
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
andGujarathavealsoannounced
suspension of labour laws for
new companies for a period of
nearlythreeyears.Anoverhaulof
central labour laws is also ex-
pected to follow suit.
Provident Fund contribution
waiver for more small and
medium companies is expected
byexpandingtheambitwhichal-
readycoversestablishmentswith
upto100employeeswith90per
cent or more earning monthly
salary less than Rs 15,000.
To provide wage support for
organised sector workers, the
government has been collating
data for companies which have
filed their returns under the EPF
scheme but have deferred the
payment of their contribution of
dues.
Similar support measures
could be extended for migrant
workers,withthegovernmental-
readyhavingcollectedidentifica-
tiondetailsforover22lakhwork-
ers.
OtherreformsModiindicated
include those related to supply
chains, rational tax system, sim-
ple and clear laws, capable hu-
manresourceandastrongfinan-
cial system.
The Prime Minister said that
in a globalised world, self-re-
lianceisdifferentfrombeingself-
centred,suggestingthatthegov-
ernmentwilltakestepstoattract
foreign investment, too.
Whilefreshmeasuresareyet
to be announced to provide liq-
uidity in the economy, on March
27,RBIGovernorShaktikantaDas
had announced three liquidity
measures: targeted long term
repooperations(TLTRO),cashre-
serve ratio cut of 100 bps and in-
creaseinmarginalstandingfacil-
ity (MSF) to 3 per cent of the
statutoryliquidityratio(SLR).The
RBI said these would pump in Rs
374,000 crore to stabilise the fi-
nancialsystemthatwashitbythe
pandemic.
Three weeks later, the RBI
stepped in again to release ad-
ditional funds of Rs 1 lakh crore
- Rs 50,000 crore refinance fa-
cility to banks for lending to
NBFCs through a new TLTRO 2
and a Rs 50,000-crore refinance
support to financial institutions.
On April 27, it opened a special
liquidity facility for mutual
funds amounting to Rs 50,000
crore after Franklin Templeton
announced the winding up of
six credit risk schemes leading
to redemption pressure in debt
funds. The central bank, along
with the government, is ex-
pected to continue the momen-
tum in improving liquidity in
the economy.
At 10 per cent of the GDP,
India’s package is now in line
withthestimulusgivenbymany
other G-20 countries including
theUS.Thisisalsohigherthanthe
Rs5-10lakh-crorepackagebeing
demanded by various industry
associationstofighttheCovidad-
versity.
Zones
fromexperts,includingfromthe
World Health Organisation,
sources said.
Meanwhilethetotalnumber
of cases of Novel Coronavirus
Disease (Covid-19) went up by
3,604 to 70,746, according to the
Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare. The total number of
deaths,includingthe87overthe
last 24 hours, now stands at
2,206. A total of 22,454 people
have recovered.
In the meeting on Monday,
PunjabChiefministerAmarinder
Singh was the first to forcefully
raise this issue. As the principal
authorityresponsibleforcontain-
ment operations on the field,
stateswerebestplacedtodecide
the treatment each district re-
quired and the extent of relax-
ations that could be allowed, he
said.KarnatakaChiefMinisterBS
Yeddyurappa (BJP), Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal (AAP)
and Rajasthan Chief Minister
AshokGehlot(Congress)toopro-
posedsubstantiallydifferentzon-
ing procedures, compared with
what exists today.
When the existing list was
firstpreparedonApril30,several
states had voiced their displeas-
ure.Inherlettertostatechiefsec-
retariesonApril30,UnionHealth
Secretary Preeti Sudan had ex-
plainedtherationalefortheclas-
sification of districts into red, or-
ange and green zones.
“The districts were earlier
designated as hotspots/ red-
zones, orange zones and green
zonesprimarilybasedonthecu-
mulative cases reported and the
doubling rate. Since recovery
rates have gone up, the districts
arenowbeingdesignatedacross
variouszonesdulybroad-basing
the criteria. This classification is
multi-factorial and takes into
considerationincidenceofcases,
doubling rate, extent of testing,
andsurveillancefeedbacktoclas-
sifythedistricts.Adistrictwillbe
considered under Green Zone, if
there are no confirmed cases so
far or there is no reported case
since last 21 days in the district,”
Sudan wrote in her letter.
While making the point that
the list was dynamic and would
be revised every week, Sudan
also said that states may desig-
nateadditionaldistrictstotheor-
ange and red zones.”However,
states may not relax the zonal
classificationofdistrictsclassified
asred/orangeascommunicated
bytheMinistry,”shesaid.Atthat
point, there were 130 districts in
the red zone, 284 districts in or-
ange and 319 districts in the
green zone.
A state government func-
tionary who was present in the
MondaymeetingwiththePrime
Minister said, “All states have
asked for this flexibility since we
knowthegroundrealitiesbetter.
One positive case in a major mu-
nicipality or corporation will
pushthewholedistrictintoared
zone making it difficult for us to
open shops, offices and busi-
nesses. May be a ward of that
municipalareaisenoughtocon-
tain it. Except in containment
zones which require strict con-
trols,statesshouldhavethefree-
dom to prescribe restrictions
based on the specific circum-
stances.”

3 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
DELHI PREPARES TO RESTART PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Proposal for city buses: 20 passengers,
alternate seats, Aarogya Setu, cashlesscollectively run over 5,500 buses
SOURAVROYBARMAN
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
ALLOWING UP to 20 passengers
perbus,placingtheminalternate
seats, encouraging them to use
smartcardsandtheAarogyaSetu
app—arangeof measures,being
considered by authorities, are
likely to be in place when public
transport services resume in the
capital.
While the measures will be
putinplaceonlyafterago-ahead
from the Delhi Disaster
ManagementAuthority(DDMA),
the Delhi Transport Corporation
and the Delhi Integrated Multi-
Modal Transit System — which
Outside the New Delhi Railway Station, Tuesday. Praveen Khanna
Among those who couldn’t board
train: Man robbed of ticket, money
SUKRITA BARUAH
& SHIVAM PATEL
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
SUDARSHAN DAS (40) had
squeezedthelastof hisresources
to book a Rs 1,800 train ticket to
Bihar, only to be robbed on his
long journey from Nangloi to
New Delhi Railway station on
Tuesday. He broke down as he
watched the lines of passengers
dissolve into the station — with-
outhisticketandhisbagthathad
two pairs of clothes. All he was
left with is Rs 20 in his pocket.
“MyhomeisinBakadistrict...
my wife is in the ninth month of
her pregnancy and will deliver
anyday.IhadcometoDelhithree
HC grants interim
protection from
arrest to DMC chief
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
The Delhi High Court Tuesday
granted Delhi Minorities
Commission (DMC) chairman
Zafarul Islam Khan interim pro-
tection from arrest till June 22, in
connection with the sedition FIR
lodged against him.
“… subject to the petitioner
(Khan) joining investigation, no
coercive steps be taken
against him,” said Justice Manoj
Kuma Ohri. Additional Public
Prosecutor (APP) M P Singh, ap-
pearing for the state, accepted
thenoticeandsubmittedthatthe
petitioner (Khan) has handed
over his laptop.
“He (Singh) seeks sometime
to file a status report. Let the
same be filed before the next
date of hearing,” the court said,
listing the matter for further
hearing on June 22.
Advocate Vrinda Grover, ap-
pearingforKhan,contendedthat
in view of the prevailing condi-
tions on account of the Covid-19
outbreak, an advance notice of
two days be served upon the pe-
titionerforjoiningtheinvestiga-
tion. The APP submitted that
Khan will be informed in ad-
vance.
—havedraftedprotocolsthatwill
be enforced once services are al-
lowed.Aseniorofficialsaid:“Not
more than 20 persons will be al-
lowed in a 40-seater bus. They
will be seated in every alternate
seatdiagonally.Cashlesstransac-
tions would be encouraged, but
those not carrying smart cards
will not be asked to deboard.
Commuters will have to wear
masks. Sanitisers will be placed
inside.Andthereisalsoasugges-
tion to make Aarogya Setu app
compulsoryforeverypassenger.”
Currently,theonlybusesrun-
ning on Delhi's roads are those
requisitioned by various govern-
mentdepartmentsandagencies.
months ago to earn money and
go back before my child is born.
Instead,therewasnoworkaftera
month... I was stuck here, with a
landlord pressuring me to pay
rent. When I found out these
trains are leaving, I got my father
totakealoanandsendmemoney
for the ticket which I booked last
night. I took a ride on a tempo
from Peeragarhi. As I was getting
off,thedriversnatchedallmybe-
longings from my pocket and
drove off with my bag,” he said.
Thestationwasasiteofheart-
break for many like Das, as they
watchedover4,000peopleenter
to board the first three special
‘Rajdhani trains’ to return home.
Theyreachedthestationonhear-
ing that trains were leaving from
DMC
chairman
Zafarul Islam
Khan
has been
charged with
sedition
Khan approached the High
Court through his advocate,
Grover, seeking anticipatory bail
in the sedition case lodged
against him, citing his old age,
health issues and risk of Covid-
19 infection.
The FIR was filed against him
onthebasisof acomplaintmade
by a doctor, who claimed that a
social media post by Khan on
April28was“provocativethatin-
tends to cause disharmony and
create a rift in the society”.
On May 2, based on the com-
plaint,theDelhiPoliceSpecialCell
lodgedanFIRagainstKhanunder
IPC sections 124A and 153A for
the alleged offences of sedition
andpromotingfeelingsof hatred
between different groups on the
grounds of religion, race, place of
birth, residence and language.
Khan,inhisapplication,stated
the FIR was mala fide and based
onmisrepresentationoffactsand
untenable reading of the law.
With the entire city categorised
as a red zone, all modes of public
transport remain suspended.
However,withtheDelhigov-
ernment making a strong pitch
forresumptionofcommercialac-
tivities across the city, barring
containmentzones,transportau-
thorities are also gearing up to
restart services in the next few
days,officialssaid,addingthatre-
viewmeetingshavealreadybeen
held in this regard. The daily av-
erage ridership in public buses is
around 40 lakh in the city.
“As of now, it has been de-
cidedthatbuseswillrun.Notdo-
ing so will only cause more
crowdingasbuseswillrunat50%
capacity only. Passengers will be
Tuesday, to find only those with
onlinebookingscouldboardand
that tickets were too expensive.
Sunil Tudu and his wife have
had their bags packed for a
month now — living off support
from ashrams and social work-
ers in Paharganj. Learning that
trains were running again, they
campedearlyoutsidethestation
in the hope of boarding a train to
Howrah, West Bengal. They
were finally told by officials that
tickets were being booked on-
line, and that they did not have
enough money to buy them.
The couple were brought to
the city barely a month ago by a
“contractor”, on an advance pay-
ment of Rs 10,000, to work as
labourers at a site in Sultanpuri.
requested by marshals and con-
ductorstonotboardbusescarry-
ingover20people.Itwillbechal-
lenging, considering Delhi is
already short of over 5,000
buses,” said an official.
Overthelastfewmonths,the
number of cluster buses, owned
by private players and managed
by DIMTS, have steadily risen.
However, DTC's fleet has shrunk
withphasingoff of oldbusesand
no additions, leaving not more
than5,500publicbusestobeop-
erated on a daily basis.
Separate protocols on saniti-
sation of buses are also being
worked out. "Buses are likely to
besanitisedaftereverytrip,"said
an official. Some measures form
“We kept that money at home
for our son and daughter and
came here. We were being of-
fered Rs 100 each per week. But
after a few weeks of work, that
stopped. The contractor ran
away, his phone was unreach-
able, and we were left on our
own,” said Tudu.
Rohit Kumar (18), who
walked for three days from
Gurgaon, said his only option
nowwastowalktillAnandVihar
ISBT to find other means of
transport to his village in Uttar
Pradesh’s Ghazipur. “At the sta-
tion, I saw only well-off people
entering and paying thousands
of rupees to go home... I have no
moneytoeat,letalonebooktick-
ets,” he said.
partoftheCentralRoadResearch
Institute's (CSIR-CRRI) recom-
mendations, which have been
shared with all states.
Right before the lockdown,
DelhiMetrohadannouncedthat
itsserviceswouldbeavailablefor
six hours a day. In an advisory, it
emphasisedontheneedforcom-
muterstomaintainatleastaone-
metregapbetweeneachotherin-
side trains and at stations.
“Standingpassengerswillnot
be allowed and alternate seats to
beleftvacant,”ithadannounced,
adding that random thermal
scanning of passengers will be
carried out at all Metro stations.
Later, CISF prepared an SOP,
outlining steps to be undertaken
HC pulls up Haryana over
cross-border restrictions
PRITAM PAL SINGH
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
THE DELHI High Court Tuesday
posedaquerytotheHaryanagov-
ernment as to why “Covid war-
riors” like doctors, paramedics,
nurses, sanitation workers and
Delhi Police personnel who have
been enlisted as essential service
providers and given right of free
movement by the Centre, are be-
ing treated as “super spreaders”
by the state. Justice Manmohan
and Justice Sanjeev Narula also
asked why the state “is wary of
implementing”theCentre’sApril
15 notification in its “full rigour”.
The query was posed to the
Haryanagovernmentthroughits
counsel during hearing of a plea
by O P Gupta, who sought to en-
THE CITY
after resumption of Metro serv-
ices such as barring people with
flu-like symptoms, frisking from
a distance, and making use of
Aarogya Setu app compulsory.
Officials also said no decision
has been taken on services of
auto, taxis, gramin sewas and e-
rickshaws yet. “The MHA circu-
larswillbefollowed.Taxiservices
are allowed in orange and green
zones with two passengers on
board. Same can be applied in
case of autos. Allowing sharing
servicessuchascarpoolingisun-
likely. Similarly, gramin sewas
and e-rickshaws are also shared
transit options. But in this case,
livelihoodsofdriversmustalsobe
considered,” said an official.
sure that individuals involved in
essential services and goods are
allowed to move freely between
Delhi and Haryana. Additional
Solicitor General Maninder
Acharya told the bench a letter
wasissuedbytheCentreMonday
to all chief secretaries of states to
ensure their field officials allow
smoothmovementofallmedical
professionals,nurses,para-med-
ical and sanitation personnel as
well as ambulances.
Perusing the counter affi-
davit filed by the Haryana gov-
ernment to the plea, the bench
noted, “there is nothing to sug-
gest any written order restrict-
ing movement of people or
goods to and fro between Delhi
and Haryana has been passed
by any Haryana official on any
district other than Sonepat.”
New Delhi
Kejriwal seeks
suggestions to ease
lockdown curbs
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
UNDERLINING THE importance
of safeguarding public health as
well as the economy, Delhi Chief
MinisterArvindKejriwalTuesday
sought suggestions from people
on charting out the roadmap to
ease restrictions and offer relax-
ationsinthenationalcapitalafter
May 17, when the third phase of
lockdown ends.
Kejriwal, who has been ad-
vocating greater relaxations to
boost the economy, said the
Delhi government will draft its
proposal, which will have to be
shared with the Union govern-
mentbyMay15,basedoninputs
from people and experts.
“On one hand we will have to
protect ourselves from corona,
take care of our health, on the
other hand we also need to pro-
tect the health of our economy.
Because a lot of people are facing
difficultiesduetothelockdown,”
Kejriwal said, a day after propos-
ingthateconomicactivitiesbere-
sumedacrossDelhi,barringcon-
tainment zones.
The AAP chief said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, during
his video conferencing with all
Chief Ministers on Monday,
sought suggestions from the
states and Union Territories on
arrangements post May 17.
Kejriwal appealed to the PM
tocategoriseasredzonesonlythe
containmentzones,andnotall11
districtsinDelhi.“Iwanttoknow
fromthepeopleofDelhiwhether
or not relaxations should be of-
fered.Lockdowncan’tbeliftedal-
together. To what extent should
weofferrelaxations?Inwhichar-
eas? Should buses run, or the
Metro? Autos, cabs? Should
schools,markets,industrialareas
be opened? What all should re-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
“On one hand we will
have to protect ourselves
from corona, take care of
our health, on the other
hand we also need to
protect the health of our
economy. Because a lot
of people are facing
difficulties due to the
lockdown”
ARVIND KEJRIWAL, DELHI CM
main under lockdown and what
allshouldbereopened?”Kejriwal
said during a webcast.
The suggestions will be
accepted until 5 pm on
Wednesday, Kejriwal said,
adding that the Delhi govern-
ment plans to send its proposal
to the Centre by Thursday. “I am
looking for ideas. There won’t be
anyvotingonthesuggestionswe
receive. We are also consulting
experts, doctors,” he added.
Around 8 pm, an official
spokespersonofthegovernment
claimedthatithasreceived3lakh
messages, 5000 emails and
25000 voice messages within
seven hours.
Suggestions can
be emailed at
DelhiCm.Suggestions@gmail.co
m, sent on WhatsApp number
8800007722orrecordedafterdi-
alling a dedicated helpline 1031.

4 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
CORONA
WATCH
Army man
hangs self
New Delhi: A 31-year-old
Army man suffering from
lung cancer and coron-
avirus allegedly commit-
ted suicide inside Military
Hospital in Delhi Cantt on
Tuesday. “The staff found
him hanging from a tree
near the corona ward. We
receivedacallaround4am
about the incident,” said
D C P ( We s t ) D e e p a k
Purohit.
HC refuses to
set time frame
for quarantine
New Delhi: The Delhi High
Court saiditis“unwillingto
hold that in each and every
case, the period of home
quarantinemuststandlim-
itedto14days,andnomore”
forpersonswhotestpositive
forCovid-19.“Certainincon-
veniences areboundtoarise
in the process…,” Justice C
HariShankarsaid,whiledis-
posingapleabyaphotojour-
nalist,whoquestionedDelhi
government’simplementa-
tion of quarantine guide-
lines.
HC: Decide on
e-sale of liquor
New Delhi: TheDelhiHigh
Court said the delay on
the part of the Centre and
Delhigovernmenttoforu-
mulate a mechanism for
online sale of liquor in
Delhican“exacerbate”the
problem of crowding out-
side liquor stores and in-
crease the probability of
spread of Covid-19.
88-year-old
man is oldest
Covid recovery
NewDelhi: An88-year-old
man, K S Jaiswal, recov-
ered from Covid-19 in
Kolmet Hospital, becom-
ing the oldest person to
recover in Delhi.
Faridabad:
Curbs lifted for
medical staff
Gurgaon: The Faridabad
districtmagistrateTuesday
exempted “all medical
professionals,paramedical
staff, nurses, sanitation
personnel and associated
medical professionals”
from curbs at the border.
FIR against
Pappu Yadav
New Delhi: Police filed an
FIR against Jan Adhikar
Party leader Pappu Yadav
for allegedly assembling
migrant workers at Garhi
villageandOkhlaMandiin
violation of social distanc-
ing norms. ENS
Head constable on 2 arrested in TikTok star murder,
way to work mowed gangster ordered hit, say police
down by truck
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
A45-YEAR-OLDpoliceheadcon-
stablediedafterhewasallegedly
hit by a speeding truck in
Northwest Delhi, police said on
Tuesday. The victim, Ajab Singh,
whowasworkingwiththeDelhi
Police for over 15 years, was on
his way for night duty at
Badarpur police station when
the speeding truck, loaded with
industrial equipment, allegedly
hit him near Azadpur Mandi.
A senior police officer said
that the truck driver tried to flee
but was stopped by locals who
handed him over to the police.
DCP (Northwest) Vijayanta
Arya said that the incident took
place on May 9 around 4 pm.
“Afterreceivinginformation,the
policeteamwenttothespot.The
406 FRESH CASES IN CAPITAL
Toll at 86 as Covid death count is updated
ASTHASAXENA
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
REPORTINGTHEbiggestjumpin
the number of coronavirus casu-
alties in a day, Delhi added 13
deaths Tuesday, taking the toll to
86. The 13 deaths have been re-
ported from Delhi government's
LokNayakhospital,whichisfunc-
tioningasadedicatedCovidfacil-
ity.
“We had written to all the
hospitals to report about the
Covid deaths in their respective
institutes.Theyhavestartedshar-
ing the death summaries after
which the number has gone up.
These 13 deaths are not reported
inthelast24hoursbuthavebeen
reportedoverthelastfewdays.In
the next three-four days, we will
be able to have compiled data,”
Two blocks in Nizamuddin West de-sealed after Maruti resumes
more than a month, containment zones dip to 78 production at its
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
OVER A month after it was de-
clared a containment zone, two
blocks in Nizamuddin West – G
and D – were taken off the list on
Tuesday. The blocks were sealed
on April 6.
Nizamuddin Basti, which
houses the Alami Markaz
BanglewaliMasjid,theheadquar-
ters of the Tablighi Jamaat, will
continue to remain a contain-
ment zone for at least 25 more
days as a resident tested positive
for Covid-19 two days ago.
Nizamuddin West has not
seen any fresh cases since
March 31. According to the pro-
tocol set by the Union Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare,
an area can be decontained if no
SHOs to maintain list of
Imphal woman beaten
docs who can help personnel over corona claims
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
WITH OVER 100 Covid-19 posi-
tive police personnel and one
death, Delhi Police has started a
new system under which SHOs
and unit heads will maintain a
panel of names of doctors who
can give advice to personnel
through tele-conferencing.
As per a press note shared by
Delhi Police Additional PRO Anil
Mittal, “They can seek advice for
themselves and their family,
which often gets ignored since
they are too engrossed in their
work.Themedicalfraternityhas
assuredtheirfullsupportforthis
initiative.Severaldoctors,despite
working so hard on the front-
lines, have volunteered for the
programme.”
Mittalsaiddoctorsfromboth
government and private hospi-
tals, such as St Stephen’s and BL
Kapoor,havevolunteeredforthis.
The initiative will also help re-
The driver tried to flee
but was stopped by
locals who handed him
over to police
injuredpersonwasrushedtothe
hospitalandthetruckdriverwas
also arrested,” said Arya.
Singh was first taken to a pri-
vate hospital nearby and was
later shifted to Ram Manohar
Lohia Hospital, where he died
during treatment the next day.
Police said that the body will
be preserved at the mortuary till
the family collects the body af-
ter lockdown ends. Singh lived
alone in Delhi, while his parents
and wife live in Mansa, Punjab.
The hospital has also taken
samples for Covid testing as per
protocol.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar
Jain said.
The Indian Express had high-
lighted the mismatch between
the death data of four govern-
menthospitalsandthestategov-
ernment. The mismatch was the
most significant in Lok Nayak.
Two days later,the Delhigovern-
mentredflaggeddeathsofCovid-
19patientsnotbeingreportedby
hospitals in a timely and regular
manner.
Explainingthereasonbehind
thedelayindeathsummariesbe-
ing provided, the minister said:
“The hospitals are also overbur-
dened. At times, they have just
sharedthenumberof deathsbut
the death summaries are a must
to record any casualty. The cen-
tral government has also shared
detailed guidelines on providing
the details in death summaries.”
plant in Manesar
The blocks were first sealed on April 6. Tashi Tobgyal
fresh cases are confirmed for 28
consecutive days. According to
officials, five people in the area
had tested positive till the end
ducetheneedforavoidablecoro-
navirustestsandhospitaladmis-
sion, said the note.
So far, 140 Delhi Police per-
sonnel have tested positive for
Covid-19, of which 35 have re-
covered and rejoined work. Last
week, constable Amit Kumar
(32), posted with Bharat Nagar
police station, died, hours after
he got a Covid-19 test done. The
testcamepositiveadaylater.His
family and two colleagues who
were with Kumar till the end al-
leged that two hospitals had re-
fused him admission.
InamessagetoallSpecialCPs,
Joint CPs, Additional Joint CPs,
DCPs and SHOs, Police
Commissioner S N Shrivastava
said Special CP (Traffic) has been
nominatedtocoordinateadmis-
sions of Covid-19 positive per-
sonnel requiring admission in
hospitals in emergency.
The message said, “Special CP
(Traffic)maybecontactedforsuch
hospitaladmissionsifthegovern-
ment hospital is unable to admit
SOMYALAKHANI
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
A YEAR after a gym trainer who
also had a sizeable following on
TikTok was shot dead outside his
residence in Najafgarh, two men
who allegedly killed him have
beenarrested bytheDelhiPolice
Special Cell. The victim, Mohit
Mor,wasshotatleast13timesby
threepeople,includingajuvenile,
on May 21, 2019.
Theaccused—Vikas(30)and
RohitDagar(27)— aremembers
of the Kapil Sangwan gang and
were arrested from Punjab's
Zirakpur on May 11, said DCP
(Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar
Yadav. "Once we received inputs
that the two were hiding there, a
raid was conducted and they
were apprehended after chasing
them for 500 metres, following
which a scuffle also broke out.
Two pistols and five live car-
tridges were recovered," he said.
At Lok Nayak Hospital. Amit Mehra
of March but no fresh case has
been reported since.
Entry and exit is not allowed
in containment zones where
patients.Undernocircumstances
should a police person suffer on
account of non-admission.”
The National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) has also is-
sued notices to the Chief
Secretary,Delhigovernment,and
UnionHomeSecretary“aftertak-
ing suo motu cognizance of a
complaint accompanied by a
mediareportallegingnegligence
in the treatment of Delhi Police
constableAmitKumarwhodied
due to Corona infection”.
Asperthenotice,itshouldin-
cludetheSOP adoptedbyhospi-
talsforCovid-19patientsandthe
status of its implementation.
The press note shared on the
NHRCwebsite says,“Alleged de-
nial of admission in the hospital
to a policeman... is a matter of
concern for the Commission...
Hospitals are required to tackle
the situation very sensibly with
a humane approach.”
A response has to be submit-
ted within four weeks, said the
NHRC.
(From left) The victim Mohit; the accused, Vikas and Rohit
On May 21 last year, Mor was
at a photocopy shop where he
wasshowinghisfriendsaTikTok
video he had recorded, when
three people pumped at least 13
bulletsinhisbody.Inastatement
to the police, an eyewitness said
the accused persons told Mor,
"Tumhe hum banaate hain TikTok
ka hero (We'll make you a TikTok
hero)", before shooting him.
Police had apprehended the
juvenilelastyear,whiletheother
two men were on the run. "They
were wanted in many cases of
shops are also not allowed to
open.
“As per guidelines circulated
by the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare… the operation
willbescaleddownif nosecond-
ary laboratory confirmed Covid-
19 case is reported from the geo-
graphic quarantine zone for at
leastfourweeksafterthelastcon-
firmedtesthasbeenisolatedand
all his contacts have been fol-
lowedupfor28days…thehealth
authorities have confirmed that
the conditions for scaling down
arefulfilledinthecaseof GandD
blocks, Nizamuddin West,” the
order for decontainment said.
Lockdown conditions, how-
ever, will continue to be in force
liketherestof thecity.Areassuch
as Dinpur Village in Southwest
Delhi and Hari Nagar in West
Delhi were also decontained on
SAKSHI DAYAL
GURGAON, MAY 12
A 19-YEAR-OLD woman from
Imphal was allegedly beaten up
bya58-year-oldwoman,herson
and daughter-in-law, who re-
portedlyaccusedherof “spread-
ing corona”. The incident took
placenearFazilpurJharsavillage
on Sunday night.
The58-year-old,meanwhile,
accused the former of walking
through the lane repeatedly de-
spite the village being a contain-
ment zone. Police said cross FIRs
have been registered.
In her complaint, Neng
Chonghoi Misao said was walk-
ingbackhomethroughanarrow
lane when the woman allegedly
intercepted her. “She started
screaming'doyoupeoplenotun-
derstand', 'why do you come
here'. She started abusing me so
I told her to... at least speak po-
litely,” stated the complainant.
Misao alleged the woman
started hitting her with a walk-
murder,robberyandextortionin
Delhi and Haryana," said Yadav.
Yadav said Delhi Police had
put a reward of Rs 1.2 lakh on
Vikas, and Rs 25,000 on Dagar. A
police officer told The Indian
Express,"Thetwoaccusedhadno
personal enmity with Mor, and
were part of the Kapil Sangwan
gang,actingassharpshooterslike
many others. Mor was not a part
of any gang but Sangwan sus-
pected he was passing informa-
tion about him to a rival gang."
Over the past year, the ac-
THE CITY
Tuesday. So far, 22 areas in Delhi
have been decontained, leaving
only78containmentzonesinthe
capital now.
Earlier in the day, municipal
councillorYasminKidwaihadap-
pealedfordesealingintheareaas
therewerenonewcases,andhad
claimed that she raised the issue
withtheDelhiChiefMinisterand
the Lieutenant Governor.
“Peopleintheareahavebeen
facing many problems as home
delivery has not been regular.
Shopsinsidetheareaalsoranout
of supplies and couldn’t get re-
stocked,” she said.
Officials from the district ad-
ministration said they had been
helping with supplies in the area
since April and that people will
nowbeallowed togoout of their
houses between 7 am and 7 pm,
as per lockdown conditions.
ing stick and that her son and
daughter-in-law also joined in.
“She also called me 'corona' and
said 'you people come here to
spread infection',” she told The
Indian Express.
Misao said “someone” made
her apologise to the woman. “I
ran to my friend’s house. She
alerted police and sought help
from the North East Support
CentreandHelpline,”saidMisao,
who works at a private firm in
Gurgaon.
Inspector Mukesh Kumar,
SHO of Badshahpur police sta-
tion, said, “Cross FIRs have been
lodged but we have not made
any arrest yet. Our probe so far
has not indicated any racial mo-
tivation; no such claim has been
made in the complaints either.”
InherFIR,thewoman,Rekha
Devi, who said she is a social
worker, claimed: “I told her our
village is a containment zone…
but she didn’t listen and contin-
uously kept passing through the
lane… she said wrong things to
us when we confronted her."
cused travelled through
Himachal Pradesh and Punjab,
and had been in Zirakpur since
December. "They stayed at each
place only for a few weeks or a
month, and kept moving. They
were in touch with Sangwan
through WhatsApp. Due to the
lockdown, they were stuck at
Zirakpur,andwerestayingina1-
BHKonthefourthfloorofashop-
ping complex. It's a U-shaped
buildingandtheywouldgotothe
terrace once a day to see if there
was a suspicious vehicle or per-
son around," said the police offi-
cer.
He said that on May 11, when
the police team led by inspector
SanjeevKumarreachedthecom-
plex, Vikas was downstairs at-
tendingtoageneratorcomplaint.
"As soon as he saw police, he
started running, and was caught
after a chase. Dagar was on the
terrace and he locked it from in-
side. We broke the door and ar-
rested him," said the officer.
New Delhi
On Tuesday as well, the hos-
pitals continued to report more
deaths as compared to the gov-
ernment's bulletin.
As per the media cell at Lok
NayakHospital,ithasreported81
Covid deaths until Tuesday
evening.Thegovernmentbulletin
put the figure at 18 deaths.
At Ram Manohar Lohia
Hospital, the number of deaths
of Covid positive patients stood
at 68 until Monday evening. Of
these, 51 were admitted while
17 were either brought dead or
collapsed hours after reaching.
The number of deaths re-
ported from AIIMS centres —
Jhajjar and Delhi Trauma Centre
— have reached 20. Lady
HardingeMedicalCollegehasre-
ported four deaths on the Delhi
government's portal.
With 406 fresh cases re-
SAKSHIDAYAL
GURGAON, MAY 12
PRODUCTION RESUMED at
MarutiSuzuki’sManesarplanton
Tuesday, with officials saying
around 2,500 people returned to
work on the first day.
“Today was the first day of
production, and the number of
personnelisexpectedtoincrease
further from tomorrow.
Preparations have also begun to
resume production at the com-
pany’s plant in Gurgaon,” said an
official from the company.
While the company received
permission from the district ad-
ministration to resume produc-
tion earlier this month, officials
saidittook“aboutaweek”topre-
pare and also inform workers.
Officials said that “special
arrangements” have been made
by the management to enable
close monitoring of the entire
unitandensuresocialdistancing
is maintained right from when
workers enter the unit and until
their shift ends.
“Earliertherewerefourwork-
ers to a table, now there is only
one. This is also being followed
during lunch and tea breaks. In
addition, the direction in which
the workers are seated will also
be different to prevent spread of
Production at the plant resumed with 2,500 people on
Tuesday. Tashi Tobgyal
Board recommends early
release for Manu Sharma
SOURAVROYBARMAN
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
THE DELHI government's sen-
tence review board is learnt to
have recommended the prema-
ture release of Manu Sharma,
servinglifesentenceforthemur-
der of model Jessica Lall in a city
restaurant in 1999. Sources said
the board took the decision in a
meeting held on Monday. Apart
from Sharma, the board recom-
mended the release of 21 other
prisoners.
However, the board’s recom-
mendations will have to be ap-
proved by L-G Anil Baijal before
they can be enforced. Sharma is
amongprisonerscurrentlyouton
parole as part of measures to de-
congest jails to ensure social dis-
tancing among prisoners.
A Delhi government
spokesperson said over 1,000
peoplehavebeenreleasedonpa-
role and 22/37 examined cases
were recommended for prema-
ture release based on merit. “All
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
ported on Tuesday, the total
number of confirmed cases of
coronavirus in the city have
reached 7,639. There are 5,041
active cases.
Of the total admissions in 10
Covid-designated hospitals, 111
people are admitted to the ICU
and 20 are on ventilator.
The total number of tests
crossed the 1 lakh mark, with
8,431testsdoneonTuesday.Ato-
talof1,06,109testshavebeenper-
formed in Delhi so far.
“At present, the doubling
rate in Delhi is 11 days. In the
next 11 days, the number will
obviously go up. But, what we
need to look at is that the dou-
bling rate, which was at 3-4
days earlier, has shifted to 11
days. If this goes upto 20-25
days, then it will be a better sit-
uation,” said Jain.
the infection,” said an official.
Officials also said a “specially
constructed sanitisation tunnel”
hasbeeninstalledatthecompany
gate, through which all workers
have to pass while entering and
exiting the plant.
Apart from making gloves
andmasksmandatory,bodytem-
peratures of workers are also be-
ingcheckedusingathermoscan-
neratthetimeof theirarrivaland
departure at the plant.
“AnapplicationcalledMaruti
Suzuki Wellness Mitra was also
developed and used to collect
data regarding the location of
workers, their health-related in-
formation, and any personal
problems they may be facing...
The company is helping them
withtheirissues,”saidanofficial.
With Gurgaon placed in the
Orangezone,thedistrictenjoyed
several relaxations in lockdown
norms at the start of the month.
Along with Maruti Suzuki, over
1,330 other industrial establish-
ments, employing over 1 lakh
people, have also been granted
permission to resume work.
Officials expect that, with big
industrial units like Maruti re-
suming work, the smaller units
associated with these will also
start production, leading to “re-
employment” for those working
in them.
22caseswerefitforreleasebased
on the prescribed criteria,” said
the spokesperson.
Sharma's case has come up
for review multiple times since
2017,onlytoberejected.Thesen-
tence review board is chaired by
theDelhiHomeMinister.Director
General (Prisons), Principal
Secretary (Home), Principal
Secretary (Law), Joint
Commissioner of Police (Crime),
thegovernment'schiefprobation
officerandadistrictjudgearealso
part of the committee.
An application for remission
is considered only when a life
convict has spent 14 years in jail.
Theboardtakesintoaccountsev-
eralfactorssuchasconductofthe
prisoner in jail, whether crime
waspremeditatedoraspurofthe
moment act, nature and gravity
of crime,propensityforcommit-
ting crime, prospects of post re-
lease rehabilitation etc.
In 2018, Jesicca Lal's sister
Sabrina Lal had written to Tihar
Jailauthoritiesstatingthatshehas
noobjectionstoSharma'srelease.

5 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
CORONA
WATCH
Medicalworkersgive
protectionkitstopolice
officialsinLucknowon
Tuesday. Vishal Srivastava
WEST BENGAL
4 cops attacked
trying to enforce
lockdown
Kolkata:Fourpolicemenwere
injured after they were at-
tacked by local residents of
Subhasgram in South 24
Parganas district on Tuesday,
while they were trying to en-
force the lockdown. Some 15
people have been arrested so
far. “Police asked them to go
back home. A verbal alterca-
tionsoonbrokeout.Later,the
residents launched an attack
on the policemen and four of
our personnel were injured,”
said a police officer. ENS
HIMACHALPRADESH
Police station
sealed after cop
tests positive
Shimla:HimachalPradeshpo-
lice sealed a police station in
Kangra district after a head
constable there tested posi-
tive for Covid, among the
seven new cases reported on
Tuesday.Thetallyof caseshas
now increased to 67. A police
spokesperson said the prem-
ise of the Panchrukhi police
wassealedandthestaff quar-
antined. Officials said five
freshcases,includingthoseof
adoctorandthecop,werere-
ported from Kangra and two
from Hamirpur. PTI
ICMR starts household survey
to gauge prevalence of coronavirus
KARISHMA MEHROTRA
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
THE INDIAN Council of Medical
Research is conducting a house-
hold-level antibody testing of
24,000 adults in select districts
to “estimate the prevalence of
(Covid-19) infection” among
people.
This new research comes on
theheelsof anotherfacility-level
pooled testing of all districts of
the country.
Both mark an enhanced
level of testing surveillance
from previous studies focused
on Severe Acute Respiratory
Illness (SARI).
“This is a household-based
survey of adults to look for pres-
ence of infection across the
SURVEY WORK BEING CARRIED OUT AT ELECTION BOOTH-LEVEL
In bid to battle virus better, Karnataka starts
preparing health register of senior citizens
JOHNSON T A
BENGALURU, MAY 12
IN AN effort to raise the state’s
preparedness in tackling any
fresh bout of Covid-19 outbreak,
the Karnataka government has
started creating a health register
of citizens with specific focus on
identifyingpeopleabovetheage
of 60 with underlying health
problems.
Survey work to gather data
for the register has begun across
the state at the election booth-
level — state officials, carrying
area voters’ lists, are at present
going house to house to find out
about elderly persons in each
householdinthejurisdictionof a
Late-night tweet, no prelude: How Rlys
made Aarogya Setu must for travel
AVISHEK G DASTIDAR
& DEEPTIMAAN TIWARY
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
THROUGH JUST a tweet past
midnight and catching many of
its key officials off guard, the
RailwaysonTuesdaybecamethe
country’sfirsttransportentityto
make Aarogya Setu, the govern-
ment’s contact-tracing app,
mandatory for travel.
Sources told The Indian
Express that the decision took
key officials by surprise Tuesday
morning as there had been no
discussions about making the
app a precondition to travel on
Monday, a day before 15
Rajdhani-type trains resumed
passenger operations to and
from Delhi. The decision was
communicatedverballytozones
onTuesdayhoursbeforethefirst
set of trains departed, officials
said. The IRCTC website started
A PAUSE, IN THEIR HONOUR
Nursing staff of the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur light candles to observe International
Nurses Day on Tuesday. Rohit Jain Paras
country in a systematic manner
irrespectiveof reporting of cases
currently. It will look for pres-
ence of IgG antibodies that usu-
ally appear 10 to14days after in-
fection,” ICMR researcher Dr
Tarun Bhatnagar told The Indian
Express.
He said SARI surveillance is a
separately ongoing testing of
hospitalised patients using RT-
PCR test that goes on as part of
routine testing to detect new
coronavirus cases.
Immunoglobulin G, or IgG, is
a common type of antibody,
which protects the body against
infection.
The sample group is spread
across 69 districts, covering four
different district strata cate-
gorised by their case count. In
eachdistrict,400randomhouse-
particular election booth.
The aim of collecting data for
the health register, state officials
said, is to ensure quick identifi-
cation of people at high risk of
being affected by Covid-19 in
case the virus s to new localities
outside the existing red zones.
An audit of 17 of 31 coron-
avirus deaths in Karnataka has
revealedthatthoseabovetheage
of 60 with comorbidities have
mostly beenvictims of the virus.
In a circular titled
“Surveillance plan to check
spread of Covid 19 virus”, state
Health Commissioner Pankaj
Pandey has stated: “Early detec-
tion of Covid-19 (cases) and per-
sons having ILI/SARI/Covid 19-
like symptoms, their treatment
flashing the message and even
sent messages to ticket holders.
The app, however, was not
mandatory for those travelling
by Shramik Special trains, a
Railways spokesperson said.
“Indian Railways is going to
start few passenger trains serv-
ices. It is mandatory for passen-
gers to download Aarogya Setu
app in their mobile phones, be-
forecommencingtheirjourney,”
the tweet posted from the offi-
cial Railway ministry handle at
12.24 am said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs
came out with the Standard
OperatingProcedureforrunning
the special trains Monday and it
did not have any mention of the
app. The Press Information
Bureau’s release about the trains
said passengers would be “ad-
vised” to download the app.
Home ministry sources told The
Indian Express that there was no
MHA direction to Railways to
holdsin10clusterswill haveone
adultindividualtestedforCovid-
19 antibodies in what is called a
“sero survey”.
This test result reveals if an
individual has had Covid-19, al-
though the efficacy of antibody
tests has been put into question.
In a separate, recently an-
nounced study, individuals from
all districtsof thecountrywillbe
randomly tested.
In each district, 10 health fa-
cilities — six public and four pri-
vate — will select 100 healthcare
workers, 50 outpatient atten-
dees who do not have influenza-
like illness, and 50 pregnant
women to undergo RT-PCR and
antibody tests.
In the last ICMR research
study on syndromic SARI sur-
veillance, released April 18, out
and segregation from others are
essential.Thepurposeof thesur-
vey is to identify high-risk
households, to build capacity to
reachhouseholds withoutsend-
ing a health worker or any other
government functionary.”
“COVID-19 has demon-
stratedthatcomprehensivepub-
lic health data is the key to act
decisively and swiftly. Our gov-
ernmentis planning to maintain
a ‘Health Registry of Citizens’,”
stateMedicalEducationMinister
DrKSudhakarrecentlystatedon
social media.
Until now, the Health
Departmenthascarriedoutrisk-
assessmentsurveysof areaswith
Covid-19 patients after cases
were detected, which, in many
make the use of the app
mandatory.
Keyofficialsinzonalrailways
told The Indian Express that they
had not been intimated about
the move before the tweet and
zonal general managers on
Tuesday passed down the mes-
sage verbally. There had been no
discussions from the ministry
about making the app a must for
travellers, they said.
Thetweet, from the publicity
department of the ministry,
came after a day of policy direc-
tives about the operations of the
trains.AarogyaSetuwas the sec-
ondlastpointinthe“Protocolre-
garding entry and movement of
passengers” issued by the min-
istry to its zonal railways
Monday. It simply said: “All pas-
sengers to be advised to down-
load and use the Aarogya Setu
application.”
Sources added that given the
last-minute nature of the deci-
of 5,911 SARI patients randomly
tested for coronavirus from
February 15 to April 2, a total of
104 (1.8 per cent) tested positive
forthe virusacross52districtsin
20 states and Union Territories.
The percentage of random
positive samples of Covid-19
among SARI patients across the
country showed an increase in-
crementally over this period.
On March 20, the SARI sur-
veillance was expanded to in-
clude all SARI patients, not only
random sampling.
The study also found 36 dis-
tricts in 15 states with cases that
had no history of contact with a
knowncase,oranyinternational
travel.“Thesedistrictsneedtobe
prioritized to target COVID-19
containment activities,” the re-
search stated.
instances, set off attacks on
healthworkersbylocalresidents.
The fresh health risk-assess-
ment and outreach survey,
which is on since May 5, is col-
lecting data specifically on those
above the age of 60; people
above 60 with cardiac, high
blood pressure and diabetes
problems; pregnant women in
each household; and people
with fever, breathing problems,
cough and cold.
While those reporting fever
and breathing problems will be
contacted immediately by
health workers, others will be
monitoredintheeventof acoro-
navirus outbreak in their local-
ity, officials said. Camps of mi-
grant workers will also come in
sion, passengers, who were any-
way supposed to report to the
stations 90 minutes prior to de-
parture, would have ample time
to download the app then
and there.
Anofficialof thepublicityde-
partment said passengers who
did not have the app on their
phones would be helped by rail-
wayfunctionariesatstationsand
trains to download. Officials said
there were no cases on Tuesday
of passengers being denied
travel for not having the app on
their phones.
It was unofficially pointed
out within the ministry by some
that the developers of Aarogya
Setu were rolling out a feature-
phone (non-smartphone) ver-
sion of the app as well.
Civil society activists have
raised privacy-related concerns
regarding use of the app, a
charge the government
has denied.
Maharashtra
to release half
the state’s
prisoners
SUSHANT KULKARNI
PUNE, MAY 12
AFTER OVER 180 positive Covid
cases were detected across
Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, the
MaharashtraPrisonsDepartment
hasdecidedtoincreasethenum-
ber of prisoners being temporar-
ily released in the state from
11,000 to 17,000. This is around
halfthepre-lockdownpopulation
in prisons across the state.
A high powered committee,
constitutedaccordingtoSupreme
Courtdirectivestolaydownsteps
todecongestthestate’sprisonsin
the wake of the Covid pandemic,
held a meeting on Monday after
185casesweredetectedinArthur
Road Jail — which include 158 in-
mates and prison staff — and one
case was detected in Byculla Jail.
Home Minister Anil
Deshmukh told The Indian
Express on Tuesday was taken
based on the recommendations
of the committee .
OnMarch26,theMaharashtra
governmenthadannouncedthat
nearly11,000inmates—bothun-
dertrialsandconvictsincarcerated
for lesser and non-henious of-
fencesthatattractlessthanseven
years of maximum sentence —
would be released.
In a video on Twitter on
Tuesday,Deshmukhgavefurther
details. “... To avoid spreading of
such infection in other jails, state
government has decided to re-
lease 17,000 of the inmates from
the (pre-lockdown) population
35,000. Of them, around 5,000
undertrialshavealreadybeenre-
leased. We will now be releasing
around3,000prisonerswhohave
beensentencedtolessthanseven
yearsofimprisonment.And9,000
moreinmateswhohavebeenun-
dergoing sentence of more than
sevenyears,willalsobereleased.”
He added that the move will
not apply to those incarcerated
under serious crimes, heinous
crimes, serious or large-scale
fraud and those booked under
stringent acts such as
MCOCA or MPID.
the purview of the survey, with
each camp considered a
household.
Pointing out that this is a
household-level survey, the
Health Commissioner said, “No
details of individuals other than
the head of a household are
collected.”
A household heath risk as-
sessment app has been devel-
oped, which links households to
an election booth area to assess
people’s health once the health
register is compiled.
Karnataka reported 63 con-
firmed cases of coronavirus on
Tuesday — a single-day high so
far in the state — taking the total
number of cases in the state
to 925.
Nation
PM ANNOUNCES ECONOMIC PACKAGE
Divergent views in
Cong; TMC, Left say
will wait for details
MANOJ C G
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
OPPOSITIONPARTIESonTuesday
reacted cautiously to the Prime
Minister’s announcement of a
Rs20-lakh-croreeconomicpack-
age, with the Congress, the
Trinamool Congress and the Left
partiesmaintainingthattheywill
wait for finer details before com-
ingupwithanelaborateresponse.
Divergent views emerged
from the Congress, with some
leaders welcoming the package
and others saying the Prime
Ministerhasonlygiventhecoun-
try a “headline”.
“We welcome the Prime
Minister’s announcement of the
economic package and stimulus
of Rs 20 lakh crore. We will wait
forthedetails,buthopethatitwill
providemuchneededrelieftothe
stressed micro, small and
mediumsector,especiallyforsup-
porttowardspaymentofworkers
wages and a healing touch to the
migrant workers, labour and the
poor.,” senior Congress leader
Anand Sharma told The
Indian Express.
Rajasthan Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot tweeted, “The fi-
nancial package announced by
PM Modi ji was much awaited.
Better late than never. We wel-
come this. Now when details
emerge,wewouldknowexactly
how different sectors
would benefit.”
Congresscommunicationde-
partment head Randeep
SurjewalatweetedthatthePrime
Minister’s address has only given
“the country and the media a
HEADLINE”.
“Whenthe‘blankpage’isfilled
with‘HeartfeltHelpofPeople’,the
nationandCongresspartywillre-
spond. The mammoth heart-
breaking human tragedy of mi-
grantworkerswalkingbackhome
needed compassion, care & safe
return. India is deeply disap-
pointed by your utter lack of em-
pathy, sensitivity & failure to ad-
dress the woes of millions of
migrant workers,” he tweeted.
Vande Bharat mission phase 2:
149 AI flights to 31 countries
SHUBHAJIT ROY
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
THE GOVERNMENT is planning
tooperate149repatriationflights
to 31 countries between May 16
and May 22 during the second
phaseoftheVandeBharatmission
to bring back home Indians
strandedabroadamidthecoron-
avirus-triggered lockdown,
sources said on Tuesday.
Thescopeofthesecondphase
is much larger than the first.
As part of the ongoing first
phase, AI and its subsidiary Air
India Express are operating 64
flightsfromMay7-14tobringap-
proximately15,000Indians from
8 die, 4 Vande Bharat Mission
returnees test positive in TN
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
CHENNAI, MAY 12
EIGHT PEOPLE with co-morbid
conditionsdiedof coronavirusin
Tamil Nadu and as many as 716
fresh cases were reported, push-
ing the tally to 8,718 in the state,
authorities said on Tuesday.
Days after the Centre’s
‘Vande Bharat Mission’ kicked in
for bringing stranded Indians
from abroad, four among those
who returned tested positive.
“Four passengers who re-
turned from other countries re-
ported positive today,” a health
department bulletin said and
added that they have been
housed in a quarantine facility
here. The country of their origin
was,however,notknownimme-
diately. Among the returnees on
Monday were 180 people from
Malaysia and 171 from Kuwait
on Sunday.
New Delhi
Party MP Manish Tewari
tweeted, “@PMOIndia ‘s speech
canbesummedupinoneword—
HeadlineHunting.Anumber—20
lakh crores. No details.”
The Trinamool Congress was
sceptical. “We saw the box today.
We saw the wrapping paper to-
day.Butwhatisintheproduct.we
don’t know. For that, we have to
open the package tomorrow or
day after. He (Modi) said 20 lakh
crores, 10 per cent of GDP, but
(there was a) little asterisk there
saying some conditions apply.,”
party leader Derek O’Brien said.
HeaskedhowtheCentrewill
raise Rs 20 lakh crore. “How is all
this going to be paid for? A bor-
rowing?Wherearethedetailsfor
the borrowing?... Because if you
are going to borrow Rs 20 lakh
crore,whathappenstothestate?
Howwillstatesthenborrow?No
details. Are you going to raise
taxes?. we have to wait for the
details because the devil is in
the details.”
O’ Brien also slammed the
PrimeMinisterfornotgivingany
assurance to states on their de-
mand for payment of GST dues
and an increase in borrowing
limit under the Financial
Responsibility and Budget
Management Act, 2005.
CPMgeneralsecretarySitaram
Yechury said it was difficult to
comment on the package or the
fourth phase of lockdown in the
absence of details. He, however,
said it was unfortunate that the
Prime Minister did not speak
aboutprovidingrelieftothecrores
of migrant workers. “We were all
expecting the Prime Minister to
announce some facility or relief
forthem.Buttherewasnoword...
Andwhataboutthelakhsof peo-
ple who are hungry.”
“The four big problems con-
fronting India: distress of mi-
grants,resourcesthatStatesneed,
HungerandUnemploymentwere
notaddressedatall,”Yechurysaid.
“Wewillwaittoseedetailsof
the package. We hope this
money will go in the pockets of
the poor and the hungry, not to
help more defaulters....”
12countrieshome.Passengersare
paying for the journey.
In the second phase, flights
will be operated from European
countries like France, Germany
and Italy, Ireland and South-east
Asian countries like Indonesia,
Philippines and Thailand aside
fromRussiaandCentralasianna-
tions like Kazakhstan, Ukraine,
Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Tajikistan
andBelarus.Othercountriesinthe
schedule also include Canada,
Australia, Japan, Armenia, Nepal
and Nigeria.
Flights to destinations from
the first phase such as UAE, USA,
UK, Singapore, Malaysia,
Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
and Bangladesh will continue.
The returnees have been ac-
commodated here in hotels and
the premises of an educational
institution after screening.
So far, a total of 927 people
have arrived here and at
Tiruchirappalli airports since
May 9.
Meanwhile,onTuesday,ato-
tal of 716 people tested positive,
of whom427weremenand 288
women and the aggregate num-
ber of cases stood at 8,718 in
Tamil Nadu.
All the four men who died in
the state were aged between 63
and 75 years of age, while the
women who succumbed to
Covid-19 were aged between 43
and 58 years.
Chronic obstructive pul-
monary disease, acute respira-
tory distress syndrome and dia-
betes mellitus were among the
co- morbidities the eight had,
the bulletin said.
They died between Sunday
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
PM declared
world’s largest
holistic relief
package: Nadda
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
TERMING IT as the world’s
largestholisticrelief package,BJP
president J P Nadda welcomed
the economic package an-
nounced by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Tuesday and
said his message has “laid foun-
dation stone for implementing”
‘AtmanirbharBharat’(self-reliant
India).
In his fifth address to the na-
tion amid the ongoing Covid
pandemic,thePrimeMinisteron
Tuesday evening announced a
relief package of Rs 20 lakh crore
and urged the country to strive
for achieving self-reliance and
self-sufficiency.
“In the times of COVID 19,
HonPM@narendramodiislead-
ing the country from the front.
The 21st century will be defined
by India, Hon PM’s message to-
dayhaslaid foundationstonefor
implementing tis.
#AtmanirbharBharat is our
Mantra for driving the country
towards new change,” Nadda
tweeted shortly after the
PM’s address.
“Today, our Hon’ble PM has
declared the world’s largest ho-
listic relief package. The Modi
govthasgivenfinancialpackages
of Rs 20 lakh cr to support every
sectionof thesociety.Itisaround
10 % of Indian GDP. Hon PM’s
proactive approach will build a
#AtmanirbharBharat,” said
Nadda in another tweet.
“Self reliance is a panacea to
fight COVID19,” he said while
thanking the Prime Minister for
the announcement.
He added: “Rooted in our
ethosof Vasudev Kudumbakam,
self reliance will notonly benefit
us but the whole world.”
The rules for bringing Indians
back were spelt out in the first
phaseitself.However,sourcessaid
that there could be some modifi-
cations in the second phase.
Those who want to leave the
country will also have to fulfill a
specificcriterion. Outbound-trav-
ellersalsohavetofulfilconditions
imposedbydestinationcountries.
According to sources, there
maybesomechangesinrulesfor
outbound travellers also.
There are about 1.4 crore
Indiansoverseas,atpresent.Sofar,
about 3 lakh Indians have regis-
tered from the Gulf region alone,
butsourcessaidIndianembassies
will ascertain those who have
“compelling reasons” to return.
and Monday in government
medical college hospitals here.
Chennai accounts for 510 of
the 700 plus new cases on
Tuesday and 4,882 have so far
been infected in the state capital
alone.
Of thisnumber,749weredis-
charged, 39 died and 4,093 are
active cases.
Till date 2,134 people have
beendischargedandonTuesday
alone 83people were sent home
after they recovered from the ill-
ness, the bulletin said. As many
as 6,520 were the active cases.
Meanwhile, two people who
returned from Abu Dhabi and
Dubai tested positive in Kerala
onSaturday,hoursaftertheState
declared that it has flattened the
coronavirus curve, Chief
Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had
saidthenewcaseswere“awarn-
ing to those coming back from
abroad and for other states to be
on the alert”.

6 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
MP borders on edge
as migrants try to
reach UP, Bihar
MILIND GHATWAI
BHOPAL, MAY 12
WITHTHOUSANDSof distressed
migrant workers, mainly from
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, passing
throughMadhyaPradeshontheir
way home, the entry and exit
points in the central Indian state
have witnessed chaotic scenes
over the last few days.
WorkersenterMPfromBijasan
GhatinSendhwatehsilofBarwani
district and arrive in UP after cov-
ering hundreds of kilometres, fol-
lowing three different routes —
Bijasan-Dewas-Guna-Shivpuri,
Guna-Shivpuri-Gwalior-Bhindand
Dewas-Sagar-Chhatarpur — to
reachtheborderareas.
Last week, the MP govern-
mentstoppedworkersatBijasan
after the UP government did not
allowthemtoenterthestate.The
UP government changed its de-
cisionafter48hoursbutitadded
tothemiseriesof migrants,some
onfootorbicycles,andsomejust
lucky to have managed rides on
vehicles after shelling out big
amounts of money.
Many have died in road acci-
dents while several others have
died of heat and due to exhaus-
tion. Many of these migrants
have also been cheated by vehi-
cle drivers who drop them mid-
way, hundreds of kilometres be-
fore their destination.
A senior police officer posted
in Gwalior said chaos has
reignedattheUPborderoverthe
last few days. Despite the two
state governments having dis-
cussed the matter, the authori-
‘Not sure if we’ll reach home or die on way’
ANJU AGNIHOTRI CHABA
JALANDHAR, MAY 12
“WE HAVE been feeding our-
selves using money sent from
home.Atthe railway station, po-
lice cane us...some even de-
manded money...to let us board
the train even though our regis-
tration was complete 12 days
ago. With no way out, we de-
cided to go home on a bicycle.
Not sure if we will reach home
or die along the way.”
AsBrijKishore(21)expresses
his fear and helplessness at
Punjab’s Phagwara, he had al-
ready travelled 150 km, with
nearly 1,500 km yet to cover to
reach his home in Bathani Tola
villageof Bihar’sBhojpurdistrict.
Kishore, who worked at a
thread mill in Amritsar district
andwaspartofagroupofover29
migrants on cycles, said, “My fa-
therborrowedandsentRs1,000.
In Bihar, panchayat mukhiyas After ‘conflict of interest’ storm, Punjab
keep an eye out for migrants Chief Secy divested of additional charge
skipping quarantine
SANTOSH SINGH
PATNA, MAY 12
FORTHElast10days,Sudhanshu
Kumar, mukhiya of Nayanagar
panchayat area in Bihar’s
Samastipur district, has been
moving around with a micro-
phone and asking people to in-
form about any migrant return-
ing to a village without staying
in quarantine for 21 days.
Kumar has been receiving
calls from villagers across the
panchayat regarding the move-
ment of migrants.
“Such is the level of aware-
ness now that villagers would
sendthemtothelocalpolicesta-
tion or block camp right from
outside the village. Our job is to
monitor that no exceptions are
made. In the last seven days, 25
migrants have returned to our
panchayat and 24 of them went
to quarantine centres. One per-
son who resisted was handed
over to the police,” said Kumar.
The mukhiya has also made
it mandatory for villagers in the
panchayat area to wear masks
before stepping out.
Following several instances
of migrants fleeing quarantine
centres, the state Panchayati Raj
department issued an order on
April 30, making it mandatory
for all mukhiyas, sarpanchs and
wardmemberstoinformthepo-
ties in MP have had to persuade
their UP counterparts to let the
migrants in. “It goes through the
day but things eventually fall in
place,”theofficersaid,admitting
that though food and tents have
been arranged on this side of the
border, the screening facilities
are far from satisfactory.
Bijasanwasoneof thebusiest
entrypointsinthecountrytillre-
cently with things improving
only marginally on Tuesday.
Even on Monday, hundreds of
workers got on top of crowded
vehicles in MP after being
dropped there by buses
arranged by the Maharashtra
government.
Khargone (DIG) Tilak Singh
said the crowd started thinning
from Monday from the figure of
35, 000 to 40,000 till a week ago.
He said those arriving on foot
havestoppedbutsomearecom-
ing in vehicles.
The MP government Tuesday
announced that it had arranged
375additional busestotransport
migrantstothebordersoftheirre-
spective states and districts. The
government claimed that pay-
ment for 70 per cent of the buses
has been made in advance.
However, Madhuri
Krishnaswamy of the Barwani-
based Jagrit Adivasi Dalit
Sangathan accused the MP gov-
ernment of failing to do its part.
She said while the Maharashtra
government dropped workers in
buses at Bijasan border, the MP
governmentdidnotliveuptothe
job.“Migrantstravelledwithfam-
iliesandinfantsatoptrucksinheat
and putting their lives at risk.”
A group of migrants cycling back home. Anju Agnihotri Chaba
I used Rs 800 to buy a second-
hand bicycle. I have been riding
for the past three days and it will
take12moredaystoreachmyvil-
lage.Ourfeetarebadlyswollen...”
Santosh Kumar arrived in
Phagwara from Hoshiarpur’s
Sudhanshu Kumar (right), mukhiya of Nayanagar panchayat
area in Bihar’s Samastipur district.
“Village youths have
turned into corona
warriors,” said Dinesh
Rai, mukhiya
lice if any migrant reaches a vil-
lage without going through the
process of registration, health
check-up and quarantine.
Kumarsaid,“Wearetryingto
fully comply with the order be-
cause it concerns the safety of all
of us. With cases surging now,
the message is loud and clear to
all villagers.”
Dinesh Rai, the mukhiya of
Qasimpur panchayat under
Patna, said Covid-19 is the only
BETWEEN HOME AND A HARD PLACE
Stranded migrants assemble at the Wagheshwar Parking Yard near Wagholi in Pune every
day as police facilitate their return by supervising private bus operations to areas in
Marathwada and Vidharbha. While fares are as high as four times than usual, migrants are
queueing up to secure a seat by undergoing primary screening on the spot. Arul Horizon
Tanda town in a group of 100
migrants on bicycles on their
way to Bihar.
“Notrains arebeingrun from
our district. We are not even
awarewhethertheywouldrun...
We walk 10 km daily to the DC
point of discussion now. “Village
youths have turned into Corona
warriors. There is hardly any in-
cident of a migrant reaching
home without completing the
quarantine period,” he said.
Sonu Kumar, a resident of
Ramchua village under Bana,
said their village mukhiya
Sarojini Devi and her husband
Kamal Kishore Singh were
moving around to spread
awareness.
AdditionalDGP(civildefence)
KundanKrishnantoldTheIndian
Express, “Mukhiyas have been
doing a good job. In 90 per cent
cases,peoplearevisitingquaran-
tine centres. Some people com-
ing to villages on bicycles or foot
are also being identified.”
office to enquire about the train,
and the police send us back to
our rooms without any clarifica-
tion. Now we are going home on
cycles,” said Santosh, who left
Hoshiarpur’s Tanda town on
Tuesday morning.
While Shramik trains have
beenrunningfromJalandharand
Amritsardistrictsforoveraweek,
migrants from all eight districts
ofDoabaandMajharegionswere
found walking and cycling to
their homes in UP, Bihar, and
Jharkhand in large groups.
The entire stretch from
Kartarpur in Jalandhar to
Phagwara was full of such mi-
grants on Tuesday.
“Whatever we had with us
here is finished... Our families
back home had been supporting
us by sending money. So is it not
bettertogobackratherthanask-
ing them to send money,” said
Vikas, another migrant who left
Beas in Amritsar for his home.
KANCHANVASDEV
CHANDIGARH,MAY12
A DAY after a controversy sur-
rounding Chief Secretary Karan
Avtar Singh, the Punjab govern-
ment divested him of his addi-
tional charge of Financial
Commissioner (Taxation) late on
Tuesday evening.
A Venu Prasad, Principal
Secretary(waterresources,mines
andgeology)andCMD,PSTCL,was
given the additional charge of
Financial Commissioner
(Taxation). As Prasad is on casual
Dehradun using app to monitor home quarantine
LALMANI VERMA
DEHRADUN, MAY 12
DISTRICT AUTHORITIES in
Dehradunareusingamobileap-
plication to track the movement
of those put in home quarantine
after their arrival from another
district or state during the
lockdown.
Officials hope the app will
substantially help in monitoring
the large influx of migrants
when the Uttarakhand govern-
ment brings people from other
states via trains. More than 1.79
lakh people have registered to
return to their homes in
Uttarakhandbytrains,busesand
personal vehicles. More than
23,000 have already returned.
Ram Nivasan from Bihar’s
Saharsa district said, “When no
one is telling us anything with
clarity, how long can we wait
here in uncertainty? ...no one
washelpingus,sowestartedour
long journey to home.”
“Police caned me when I
wenttotherailwaystationtoen-
quire about the train from
Hoshiarpur. After such treat-
ment, I decided to start on my
own,” said Bholu Ram, who
cametoPunjabtoworkasacon-
struction labourer.
The allegation of money be-
ing demanded to let migrants
board the trains was brought up
by another worker from
Amritsar. “We went to the rail-
way station after getting a mes-
sageandtheretheyaredemand-
ing Rs 500 to Rs 700 to board the
train. We don’t have even a sin-
gle penny...” said Amrish Sahu,
who reached Phagwara, cycling
to Bihar from Amritsar.
leavetillMay20,FinanceSecretary
AnirudhTewarihasbeenaskedto
officiateinhisplacetillthen.
On Monday, CM’s Advisor
AmrinderSinghRajaWarringhad
alleged that the CS must come
clean on his son’s alleged involve-
ment in liquor trade. He claimed
therewas aconflictof interestbe-
tween Singh’s additional respon-
sibilityasFinancialCommissioner
(Taxation) and his son’s alleged
businesslinkswithliquortrade.
The order to relieve Karan
Avtar Singh from Excise
Department was issued by the
Chief Secretary.
An alert is generated for suspected cases of violation, inside
the Integrated Command and Control Room in Dehradun.
Teams of the district admin-
istration ensure that an applica-
tion called IGiS Geo-Locator is
Nation
Bengal Health Secy
transferred days after
row over Covid details
ATRIMITRA
KOLKATA,MAY12
AMIDAROWbetweentheCentre
andtheWestBengalgovernment
over coronavirus-related data
from the state, the state Health
Secretaryhasbeenreplaced,offi-
cials said on Tuesday.
PrincipalSecretary,Healthand
Family Welfare, Vivek Kumar has
been made the Environment
Secretary,according to anotifica-
tion dated May 11. Narayan
Swarup Nigam, a 1998-batch IAS
officer who held charge of the
Transport Department, will re-
place Kumar.
Nigam will be replaced by
Prabhat Misra, while Kumar will
assume Misra’s erstwhile posi-
tion, it was informed.
WhilethereasonforKumar’s
sudden transfer is not clear, a
source in the state Secretariat
saiditmayhavebeentheupshot
of the1990-batchIASofficerhav-
ingfoundhimself embroiledina
controversy over Covid data in
the state.
TherulingTMCcalledita“rou-
tine transfer”.
Thedevelopmentcomesdays
after Kumar had written to the
Union Health Secretary on April
30 and given the number of con-
firmedCovid-19casesinthestate
at 931, even as his own depart-
ment had put the number at 744
Maharashtra nod to liquor
home delivery from May 14
SANDEEP ASHAR
MUMBAI, MAY 12
THE MAHARASHTRA govern-
ment on Tuesday gave its ap-
proval to allow home delivery of
alcohol in the state during the
lockdown.
Days after long queues out-
side liquor shops raised an
alarm, leading to a shutdown of
such stores in Mumbai, the
Uddhav Thackeray government
invoked a special provision
(Section139)of theMaharashtra
Prohibition Act, 1949, to order
the excise commissioner to pro-
vide the home delivery option.
The order was needed since
home delivery of liquor is not le-
galundernormalcircumstances
in the state, with the Act itself
containing provisionsthat disal-
low soliciting the use of liquor
and banning advertising or pub-
lishingleafletsrelatedtoit.Under
Section139,thegovernmenthas
Whilethegovernmentmoved
swiftly amid ‘conflict of interest’
allegations, Karan Avtar Singh
went about his business as usual
as the state’s Chief Secretary. He
attended office Tuesday and also
heldameetingwithDCsandSSPs
through a video link.
PunjabministershadMonday
unanimously refused to attend
any meeting with Karan Avtar
Singh’s participation. The charge
against Singh was led by Finance
Minister Manpreet Badal, who
was backed by other ministers,
over the Chief Secretary’s behav-
iour at Saturday’s Cabinet meet
installed in the smartphone of
every person who enters
Dehradun.Whenapersonputin
New Delhi
Vivek
Kumar
in the same day’s health bulletin.
Aftertheletterbecamepublic,
BJP, principal opposition in the
state, accused the Mamata
Banerjee government of fudging
coronavirus-related data.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, en-
gaged in a running feud with the
stategovernmentsincebeforethe
pandemic, also alleged that the
government is fudging data.
Kumar is the third senior IAS
officer to be transferred in recent
weeks. Earlier, Manoj Agarwal,
whowasPrincipalSecretary,Food
andSupplies;andSubrataGupta,
Principal Secretary, Urban
Development and Municipal
Affairs, were transferred to Fire
andEmergencyServicesandFood
Processing and Horticulture de-
partments, respectively.
District magistrates of
DarjeelingandPaschimBurdwan
werealsotransferredinthesame
three-week period.
As news of Kumar’s transfer
emerged,theBJPonTuesdaycrit-
icised the state government and
alleged that Kumar had been
made a scapegoat.
BJPnationalgeneralsecretary
the “power to issue instructions
in any matter pertaining to the
grantof licenses,permits,passes
or authorisations under the Act
as it deems proper”.
Principal Secretary (Excise)
Valsa Nair-Singh said the home
delivery option was being of-
fered to ease overcrowding and
ensure social distancing.
Excise Commissioner
Kantilal Umap said that plans
were to initiate home deliveries
from May 14. Late Tuesday, the
commissionerate finalised
guidelines for the move’s imple-
mentation. For the time being,
the government has permitted
only neighbourhood stores to
carry out home deliveries.
“Theoptionof permittingtie-
ups with e-commerce operators
is also being explored,”
Nair said. The government said
it is also looking into the issue of
providing online drinking per-
mits as many customers are yet
to obtain the same.
that discussed giving relief to
liquor contractors. According to
sources,thegovernmenttookthe
decision to divest Singh of the
charge amid growing pressure.
SourcesclosetoChiefMinister
said that to further defuse situa-
tion the government was adopt-
ingawait-and-watch-policyand
working on a compromise for-
mula to get Finance Minister
Manpreet Singh Badal and
Technical Education Minister
CharanjeetSinghChannionboard
to bury the hatchet with the CS.
FULL REPORT ON
www.indianexpress.com
home quarantine moves 50 me-
tres beyond their residence, an
alert is generated and their
movement is flashed inside the
Integrated Command and
Control Room.
An alertmessageis passedto
the nearest police station and
outpost so that police personnel
can immediately look into the
matter.
Inthecontrolroom,namesof
all those in quarantine are dis-
played as colour-coded circles,
dependingontheirhealthcondi-
tion,andthesecolourschangeas
per the health updates made by
individuals on the Aarogya Setu
app installed on their phones.
As per norms, if a person vi-
olatesquarantineguidelines,ac-
tion can be initiated under the
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
and West Bengal unit in-charge
Kailash Vijayvargiya tweeted
(translated from Hindi) on
Tuesday: “This is called passing
the blame to someone else. Why
was Kumar removed when Chief
MinisterMamataBanerjeeisalso
the (state) health minister? She
should have admitted her own
mistakes. Owning up mistakes
does not belittle anyone.”
TMC spokesperson and Lok
Sabha member Kakoli Ghosh
Dastidar, a doctor by profession,
rubbished the BJP’s allegations
andsaid:“Itmusthavebeenarou-
tine transfer because there is no
questionofdeficiency,negligence,
andpoorperformanceonthepart
of the Health Department. Our
Health Department is doing bet-
ter than many other states on
multiple parameters.”
A senior state government of-
ficial said on the condition of
anonymity,“Therewasspeculation
(in state bureaucracy) that Kumar
wouldbeintroublebecausehehad
opposed Chief Secretary Rajiva
Sinha and Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee on constituting a death
audit committee. He also ex-
pressed his displeasure at the
HealthDepartment’sfunctioning,
andontheprocessofsendingdata
totheCentre.”
The official said that Kumar
had “expressed his displeasure
and volunteered for a transfer”
three weeks ago.
Kerala wants
public transport
within state
after May 17
SHAJU PHILIP
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
MAY 12
KERALA WANTS to resume pas-
senger trains and domestic
flights within the state, and bus
services, metro rail, auto-taxi
and restaurant services within
districts when the third phase of
the lockdown ends on May 17.
During his meeting with the
chiefministersonMonday,Prime
Minister Narendra Modi had
asked the states to share a broad
strategy on how they wanted to
deal with the lockdown regime
after the third phase.
Kerala Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan said the state
wants to allow intra-district bus
service with social distancing
norms for passengers. Number
of passengers have to be limited
and a hike in bus fare would be
allowed due to the reduced
number of commuters. Buses
have to ensure social distancing
of passengers and violation of
norms would result in suspen-
sion of permit, he said.
The Chief Minister said the
state also wanted to allow op-
eration of trade and industrial
establishments outside con-
tainment zones. People should
be allowed to dine at restau-
rants, after observing social dis-
tancing norms, the Chief
Minister said. Kerala also
wanted to allow auto-rickshaw
service with the passenger in-
take limited to one.
As part of easing the curbs,
around 5,000 toddy shops will
opentocustomersinthestateon
Wednesday.
Kerala has 524 Covid-19
cases.
Disaster Management Act and
Epidemic Diseases Act.
“But no such action has been
initiated against anybody so far.
We are giving a warning... Not
manypeopleareviolatingnorms.
Peoplearegenerallyfollowingthe
rules,” said Lokjeet Singh,
SuperintendentofPolice(Crime).
DehradunDistrictMagistrate
Ashish Kumar Srivastava said
more than 2,000 people under
home quarantine in the city
were being monitored using the
application and this number
may increase when more peo-
ple return from other states.
For those without smart-
phones, Anganwadi and ASHA
workers have been directed to
ensure monitoring and home
quarantine.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020 EXPRESS NETWORK 7
Gujarat HC quashes minister’s J&K restores
2G Internet

election: ‘manipulation of record’

DELHI CONFIDENTIAL
SOHINI GHOSH
AHMEDABAD, MAY 12
THE GUJARAT High Court on
Tuesday set aside state minister
Bhupendrasinh Chudasama’s
election in 2017 on grounds of
“corrupt practice” and “manip-
ulation of record”.
Chudasama, who holds
charge of multiple departments
ADVANCE, RETREAT including education, law and
justice, legislative and parlia-
CONGRESS LEADER in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury mentary affairs in the BJP gov-
put his party in a spot with a tweet on border skirmishes be- ernment led by Chief Minister
tweenIndianandChinesetroops.WarningChina,theMPfrom Vijay Rupani, was elected from
Behrampore,WestBengal, hadtweetedonMonday:“Becare- Dholka constituency after de-
ful China, Indian forces know how to defang the venomous feating the Congress candidate
snakes like you, entire world is watching the sinister design of by a margin of 327 votes in the
yellow expansionist. I would suggest the govt to accord diplo- 2017 Assembly polls.
matic recognition to Taiwan without much delay.” The tweet When contacted,
alarmed the Congress leadership, and Chowdhury was asked Chudasama told The Indian
to delete it. On Tuesday, Congress's foreign affairs department Express:“Wearepreparingtofile
chairman and Rajya Sabha member Anand Sharma disasso- a special leave petition in the
ciated the party from Chowdhury's views. He tweeted that Supreme Court. We are hopeful
the Congress recognises and values the special strategic part- of filing it within a day or two.”
nershipbetweenIndiaandChina,andthatChowdhary'sviews The Congress candidate,
on China “are his own and do not reflect the party position”. Ashwin Rathod, had filed a peti-
tion challenging Chudasama’s
election.Rathodhadallegedthat
LOCKDOWN LESSONS thereturningofficer,DhavalJani,
had illegally rejected 429 votes
THE EXTENDED lockdown has given most people an unex- received via postal ballot.
pected opportunity to pick up a new hobby or skill, staying fit Justice Paresh Upadhyay
or brushing up some old talents. Robert Vadra used the free noted in his judgment that dur-
time to teach one of his children how to drive. Vadra, son-in- ingJani’sdeposition,itwaslearnt
lawof Congress president Sonia Gandhi, was spotted on more that a total of 1,356 votes were
than one occasion imparting driving skills to his child on the received via postal ballot, of
near-empty roads of Lutyens’ Delhi, with some security which 429 were rejected by him
personnel in tow. at the time of counting of votes.
However, the court said,
NO SOP SHOW
while seeking authorisation
THE ELECTION Commission had agreed to hold elections to
nine Legislative Council seats of Maharashtra this month on
Maharashtra:
Uddhav, eight
aspecialrequestfromtheMaharashtraGovernorandthestate
government. The polls – which were scheduled for May 21 –
were to be the first election conducted by the EC during the others set to
coronavirus pandemic. The standard operating procedure, or
be elected
SOP, for these polls were expected to become the template
for remaining elections this year. However, the Commission
was first waiting to see whether it needs to organise voting at unopposed
Bhupendrasinh Chudasama
holds charge of multiple
departments
from the poll observerto declare
the results, Jani showed the total
votes received via postal ballot
and taken into consideration at
the time of counting as 927.
“Conjoint consideration of
these documentary evidences
leadtoconclusionthat429postal
ballots were not only not shown
to any candidate, including the
petitioner, those 429 postal bal-
lots were not shown even to the
observer. This also shows that
therewasmanipulationofrecord
of the election in question, more
particularlytheFinalResultSheet
Form-20 by the Returning
Officer. This court arrives at the
conclusion that 429 postal bal-
lotswereillegallyexcludedfrom
consideration by the Returning
Officer at the time of counting of
votes and were thus illegally re-
jected,” said Justice Upadhyay.
Further, as the number of re-
jected votes (429) was more
than the victory margin (327),
Govt emergency
requests to FB for
user data more than
the court said it was satisfied
that the election was materially
affected by the Returning
Officer’s decision.
“It is declared that the elec-
tion of the returned candidate
(Chudasama) from 58-Dholka
constituency for the Gujarat
Assembly elections held on
14.12.2017, is void under Section
100(1)(d)(iv) of the
Representationof thePeopleAct,
1951,” said the court.
“There is voluminous mate-
rial on record. it takes this court
to an inescapable conclusion
that in the present case, the re-
spondent No. 2 (Chudasama)
and his election agent have not
only attempted but have suc-
cessfully obtained and procured
assistance from the Returning
Officer for the furtherance of the
prospects of the respondent No.
2 in the election in question.
There is also evidence on record
that, for that purpose, all sorts of
illegalities were committed,
whichincludemanipulationand
falsification of recordof theelec-
tion. and breach of mandatory
instructions of the Election
Commissionof Indiawithregard
to conduct of elections,” it said.
“The above noted unholy
nexusultimatelyturnedouttobe
quid pro quo arrangement be-
tween the Returning Officer and
the respondent No. 2 ance from the Centre and state,
(Chudasama). At this stage, it is
again noted that any illegality
committed by the Returning
OfficerortherespondentNo.2af-
terdeclarationofresultoftheelec-
tion in question may not be a
groundinitselftodeclaretheelec-
tioninquestiontobevoidbutthat
would be an additional factor to
understand how the respondent
No.2 and the Returning Officer
werehandinglove,”thecourtsaid.
SenioradvocatePercyKavina,
who represented Rathod, said
“thecourtalsofoundthatcorrupt
practice, as defined under the
Representationof thePeopleAct,
Section 123(7) was committed
by. Chudasama, his election
agent and the Returning Officer
Dhaval Jani, and the three acting
togetherresulted in a favourable
result for the elected candidate.”
Senior advocate Nirupam
Nanavaty, who represented
Chudasama,soughtastayonthe
order, but the court rejected his
request.
While Rathod had sought
thatheshouldbedeclaredasthe
duly elected candidate from
Dholka, the High Court rejected
his request.
BJP spokesperson Bharat
Pandya, in a video message, said
the order was shocking.
“Bhupendrasinh ji has been a
senior BJP leader since the time
of Jan Sangh. The government is
with him. After studying the or-
der and taking advice from
lawyers, as well as under guid-
we will move forward to the
Supreme Court. We are hopeful
that we will get justice in the
Supreme Court,” he said.
India condemns Afghan
attacks that left 40 dead
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
EC panel to
examine HC
order setting
aside election
New Delhi: The Election
Commission (EC) set up a
Committee of Officers Tuesday
to examine the Gujarat High
Courtjudgmentsettingasidethe
election of state minister
Bhupendrasinh Chudasama.
The judgment came in a pe-
titionbyCongressleaderAshwin
Rathod, who contested against
Chudasama in 2017 from
Dholka.Rathodhadclaimedthat
thethenreturningofficerDhaval
Jani illegally rejected 429 postal
ballot votes because of which he
lost to Chudasama by 327 votes.
The judgment held that EC’s
instructions were not followed,
givinganunfairadvantagetothe
winning candidate.
In a statement Tuesday, EC
announced that the panel was
set up by Chief Election
Commissioner Sunil Arora after
a discussion with the EC
Secretary General. “In this mat-
ter, on behest of the
Commission, direction had al-
readybeenconveyedtotheState
Government of Gujarat to initi-
ate disciplinary action against
the then Returning Officer Mr
Dhaval Jani, Deputy Collector.
The proceedings are underway,”
said EC’s statement. ENS
“Therecanbenojustification
forsuchcontinuedactsof terror-
ism. The perpetrators of such
heinous acts and their sponsors
services in
all but 2 districts
of Valley
ADIL AKHZER
SRINAGAR, MAY 12
THE JAMMU and Kashmir ad-
ministration has restored 2G
mobile Internet in Kashmir
Valley, barring the districts of
Pulwama and Shopian, starting
Tuesday, days after it was sus-
pended following the killing of
wanted militant Riyaz Naikoo in
Pulwama last week.
The administration has de-
cided2GmobileInternetservices
will continue until May 27.
“The situation was reviewed
anditwasorderedthat2Gmobile
services be restored in the Valley
fromMondaymidnight,”asenior
officer told The Indian Express.
The authorities had snapped
mobile and Internet across the
Valley, barring BSNL’s mobile
and broadband services, last
Wednesday after the encounter
inPulwamainwhichNaikooand
an associate were killed.
Doctors and health workers
in the Valley subsequently said
suspension of mobile services
had affected work of contact-
tracing of coronavirus patients.
In an order put up on the
Homedepartment’swebsitelate
on Monday, Principal Secretary,
Home, Shaleen Kabra stated:
“Given the availability of fixed
line internet connectivity with-
out any speed related restric-
tions and taking cognizance of
thefactthatmobileInternetcon-
nectivity does not cause any im-
pediment in taking measures
concerning control of Covid-19,
it is considered appropriate that
whilemobileinternetisrestored
in the Kashmir valley, excluding
Pulwama and the adjoining dis-
trict of Shopian, it is restricted to
2G speed.... The Internet speed
shall,however,remainrestricted
to 2G only across the UT of J&K.”
Aspertheorder,thedirections

double in 2019
all for these seats. By Monday, 14 candidates had filed nomi- INDIA ON Tuesday “strongly and supporters should be held willbeeffectivefromMay12and
nation for nine seats. On Tuesday, four candidates withdrew condemned” the “barbaric ter- accountable and brought to jus- remain in force until May 27.
theirnominationandonenominationwasfoundinvalid,leav- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE rorist attacks against innocent tice...,” MEA said. While rejecting restoration of
ing exactly nine candidates in the fray for the nine seats. So MUMBAI, MAY 12 civilians”, including women and “India stands in solidarity 4GInternetservicesinJammuand
EC will not have to devise an SOP for voting now. KARISHMA MEHROTRA The govt made 3,369 children, at the Dasht-e-Barchi with the people, Government Kashmir, the Supreme Court had
MAHARASHTRA CHIEF Minister NEW DELHI, MAY 12 hospital maternity ward as well and security forces of onMondaysaidthat“peculiarcir-
Uddhav Thackeray and eight
emergency requests to as at a funeral in Nangarhar Afghanistan... The holy month of cumstances” in the Union
other candidates in the fray for LASTYEARsawasurgein“emer- Facebook in 2019, province on Tuesday. Ramzan should be a period of Territory requires “delicate bal-

IITs, NITs likely to the May 21 polls to the state leg-

islative Council are set to get
elected to the Upper House un-
gency” requests to Facebook for
user information by the Indian
government and law enforce-
compared to 1,478
requests in 2018 and
“Such reprehensible attacks,
including on mothers, newly
born children, nurses and
fasting,prayerandreflection.We
call for an immediate cessation
of terrorist violence and cooper-
ancing”of“nationalsecuritycon-
cerns and human rights”. It also
ordered constitution of a special

hold 6 counselling opposed after five out of the 14

nominations were either with-
drawn or rejected over technical
ment agencies.
As per the company’s latest
transparency report, released
470 requests in 2017 mourning families are appalling
and constitute crimes against
humanity,” a Ministry of
ation to deal with the humani-
tarian situation arising from the
spread of coronavirus in
committee to “immediately de-
termine the necessity of the con-
tinuation of” limiting mobile

rounds instead of 7 grounds on Tuesday.

“All the nine candidates are
set to be announced as elected
late Tuesday night, the govern-
mentmade3,369emergencyre-
quests to the social media com-
2,000 such incidents in 2019
compared to almost 20,000 in
2018. These requests include
External Affairs’ statement said. Afghanistan,”thestatementsaid. Internetto2Gspeedintheregion.

ising institute two weeks to an-

unopposed on Thursday,” said
anofficial, adding thata notifica-
pany in 2019, more than double
such requests (1,478) in 2018,
those made by the Election
Commission about blackout on
CBSE gets new chief
RITIKA CHOPRA nounce results. JEE (Advanced) tion would be issued subse- and far more than the numbers anycampaigningaheadofvoting. New Delhi: Manoj Ahuja was appointed as the Registered Office: Bombay House, 24, Homi Mody Street, Mumbai
400 001.
NEW DELHI, MAY 12 is scheduled on August 23. quentlybytheCEOstatingabout in 2017 (460) and 2016 (121). Therequestsare increasingly new chairperson of the Central Board of Website:www.tatapower.comEmail:tatapower@tatapower.comCIN:L28920MH1919PLC000567

COUNSELLING FOR roughly
40,000 seats across 100 premier
technical institutes, including
IITs, NITs, IIITs and IIEST, is likely
to be held over just six rounds
this year.
Normally, all Centrally
Funded Technical Institutes ad-
mit students over seven rounds
of joint counselling.
The proposal to drop one
round of counselling this year
was floated by IIT-Delhi this
weekandhasbeenforwardedto
the Joint Implementation
Committee for approval, The
Indian Express has learnt.
ThejointpanelcomprisesJEE
Chairmen of all IITs. IIT-Delhi is
the organising institute for JEE
(Advanced) 2020.
If accepted by all IITs, this
proposal will be shared with the
Central Seat Allocation Board,
whichcoordinatesadmissionfor
the NITs, IIITs and IIEST. In other
words, IIT-Delhi’s proposal will
have a bearing on the admission
process for all Centrally Funded
Technical Institutions as they
have a joint admission process.
In addition to dropping one
round of counselling, IIT-Delhi
hasalsosuggestedthatresultsor
the All India Rank for JEE
(Advanced) 2020 should be de-
clared within a week of the
exam.Usually,ittakestheorgan-
Early declaration of JEE
(Advanced)resultsandlessnum-
ber of counselling rounds,
sourcesinIIT-Delhisaid,willhelp
theIITsstartclassesforfirst-year
students by early October. “This
ispossibleprovidedwecomplete
six rounds of counselling be-
tweenSeptember1andOctober
1,” said a source. In most IITs, the
newsessionusuallybeginsinthe
last week of July.
The indicative academic cal-
endar issued by the University
Grants Commission early this
month had proposed that the
new academic calendar for the
fresh batch of students should
ideally commence in the first
week of September. However,
withthelockdownupsettingthe
entrance exam calendar by al-
most three months, starting the
new session in the first week of
Septemberseemsimpossiblefor
the IITs.
Asked if the plan to drop the
seventh round of counselling
could leave the institutes with
more vacant seats this year, the
above-quoted source said, “The
proposal was made after study-
ing data of the last two years. It
was felt that the seventh round
didn’tmakemuchof adifference
as far as filling up vacant seats is
concerned. Students used the
seventh round more to change
over to preferred branches.”
their election and completion of
the election process.
OnTuesday,fourcandidates—
BJP’s Sandeep Lele and Ajit
Gopchade and NCP’s Kiran
Pawaskar and Shivajirao Garje —
withdrew their nominations,
whilepapersofIndependentcan-
didate Shehbaz Rathod were
found invalid during scrutiny, of-
ficialsatChiefElectoralOfficesaid.
With this, Shiv Sena’s
Thackeray and Neelam Gorhe,
NCP’s Shashikant Shinde and
Amol Mitakri, Congress’s Rajesh
Rathod and BJP’s Gopichand
Padalkar, Pravin Datke,
Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil and
Ramesh Karad are in the fray.
Interestingly, the BJP with-
drew the nomination of Ajit
Gopchade, whose name was an-
nounced by the central leader-
ship, and replaced him with
Ramesh Karad, a close confi-
dante of late Gopinath Munde
and his daughter former minis-
ter Pankaja Munde.
Earlier this month, the
Election Commission had an-
nounced the Legislative Council
polls for nine seats after
Thackeray approached Prime
MinisterNarendraModiseeking
hisinterventiontoavoidthecon-
stitutional crisis in the state.
Thackeray has to become a
member of either Houses of the
state legislature by May 27.
The Facebook report said, “In
emergencies, law (agencies) may
submit requests without legal
process. Based on the circum-
stances, we may voluntarily dis-
close information to law enforce-
ment(agencies),wherewehavea
good faith reason to believe that
thematterinvolvesimminentrisk
ofseriousphysicalinjuryordeath.”
The surge in emergency re-
questsforuserinformationbythe
governmentcoincidedwith2019
beinganelectionyear,andayear
thatsawprotestsacrossthecoun-
try over contentious decisions
suchasthedilutionof Article370
in Jammu and Kashmir, the en-
actment of the Citizenship
(Amendment) Act, and proposal
foraNationalRegisterofCitizens.
The total requests made by
the government (including
through the legal process) have
also been growing — jumping
30% from 37,000-plus requests
in2018toalmost50,000in2019.
At the same time, govern-
ment requests have led to lesser
contenttakedowns,withroughly
regarding posts on Instagram, Secondary Education on Tuesday. He has re- Tel.91 22 66658282 Fax 91 22 66658801
NOTICE
owned by Facebook, signalling placed Anita Karwal, who served as the chair- Notice is hereby given pursuant to Regulation 29 of the Securities and
thegovernment’sgrowinginter- person for two years before being appointed as Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure
Requirements) Regulations, 2015 that a meeting of the Board of
est in that platform. Secretary of the Department of School Directors of the Company will be held on Tuesday, 19th May 2020 to
TheIndianExpresshadearlier EducationandLiteracyundertheHRDMinistry. consider and approve inter alia (i) the Audited Financial Results
(Standalone and Consolidated) and (ii) recommendation of dividend (if
reported on the rise in data re- Ahuja,a1990-batchIASofficerof theOdisha any), of the Company for the year ended 31st March 2020.
quests made in the first half of cadre,waspreviouslypostedasSpecialDirector Pursuant to Regulation 47(2) of the above referred Regulations, the
2019, with 1,615 emergency re- of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of said Notice may be accessed on the Company's website at
www.tatapower.com and also on the website of the respective stock
quests made till then. The new Administration. He has taken over the CBSE exchanges at www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.com.
data shows that the second half while it faces a major challenge of completing For The Tata Power Company Limited
of 2019crossedthisnumber,see- theannualboardexaminations,whichwereput H. M. Mistry
Company Secretary
ing 1,754 emergency requests. on hold because of the lockdown. ENS Place: Mumbai
NearlyallInternetdisruptions Dated : 11th May 2020
in the world were recorded from
Indiain2019,thetotalstandingat
41,withthedurationlastingfrom
18 hours to three weeks. Half of
these disruptions (21) were in
December 2019, when anti-CAA
protests were at their peak.
Normally, data requests to a
US-based company such as
Facebook have to be routed
through the US Department of
Justice, as per the Mutual Legal
AssistanceTreatybetweenthetwo
countries.However,“emergency”
requests can be sent directly to
Facebook, through its “law en-
forcementonlinerequestsystem”.

New Delhi
 SALUTE THE SOLDIER
8 EXPRESS NETWORK WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020

AURANGABAD DEATHS
PM clears
CT/GD SUBHASH CT/GD PRAKASH CT/GD ASHOK
CHANDRA
BIOM KIRANDUL
CH MEENA
BIOM KIRANDUL
KR VERMA
BIOM KIRANDUL
Rs 2 lakh
13-05-2012 13-05-2012 13-05-2012 ex-gratia for
next of kin
AVISHEK G DASTIDAR
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
CT/GD JAYANTA DAS CT/GD KAILASH CH CT/GD RANJIT PRIME MINISTER Narendra
BIOM KIRANDUL MEENA SINGH Modi has approved an ex-gra-
13-05-2012 BIOM KIRANDUL BIOM KIRANDUL
13-05-2012
tia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next
13-05-2012
TAMIL NADU WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE BOARD of kin of the 16 migrant labour-
CISF proudly remembers the supreme sacrifice of these brave-hearts. On ADDENDUM/CORRIGENDUM - Extension of Tender Notice ers killed after being run over
this day, they laid down their lives at the altar of duty while fighting No. 11-2 / F. CWSS to 134 /2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt.08.05.2020
Sub : Providing Combined Water Supply Scheme to 134 Rural Habitations in Kumbakonam Union of
by a goods train on May 8 near
with the LWE outfits. Their courage and bravery would remain an Aurangabad, Maharashtra.
Thanjavur District (Period of completion: 18 months, Trial run: 6 months and Paid maintenance :
abiding source of inspiration for the force. The force will remain eternal-
ly indebted to them for their noblest deeds.
12 months ) – II Extension of tender Notice – reg. Those who were seriously in-
Ref : 1. This Office IFB No.11 / F. CWSS to 134 /2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt.13.03.2020
2. GO.Ms. No.193/ dated 15.04.2020 3.This Office Tender Notice No. 11-1 / F. CWSS to 134 /2020/ jured in the incident will be
SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt.15.04.2020 4.GO.Ms.No.217/dt.03.05.2020 given Rs 50,000 each.
***** The compensation will be
The sale period, Last date of receipt and opening of tender in the reference 3rd cited for the above
work is here by extended as below in continuation of the Govt. announcement of 144 extension due to given from the PM National
prevailing COVID -19 Virus spreading precautionary measures. Relief Fund, sources told The
Sl. No Description Extended up to Indian Express on Tuesday.
1 Date and time of Pre bid meeting 20.05.2020 at 11.00 A.M The 16 migrants were walk-
2 The last date for Sale of Tender 27.05.2020 upto 5.45 P.M inghomealongthetrackandhad
3 The last date for receipt of Tender 29.05.2020 upto 3.00 P.M stopped to take rest. According
4 Date & Time of opening of Tender 29.05.2020 at 3.30 P.M to initial invetigations, they had
All other terms and conditions already published remain unaltered. apparentlydriftedofftosleepon
Chief Engineer (i/c),
DIPR / 1787 / TENDER / 2020
TWAD Board, Thanjavur
the track thinking it was safe
SAVE WATER, CONSERVE WATER, EVERY DROP COUNTS
since train services were sus-
pended due to the lockdown.
However,agoodstrainranthem
over at around 5.22 am.
The Railways had not
grantedancompensationtothe
victims’familiessinceitwasre-
garded as a case of “infringe-
ment” in its right of way, ac-
GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA cording to the rules.
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER Following the May 8
A-26 mishap, the Railways has
MINOR IRRIGATION DIVISION, KEONJHAR alertedallitszonestowatchout
NOTICE INVITING TENDER e-Procurement for people walking along the
Bid ID No. 03 EEMID (KJR/2020-21) Dt. 04.05.2020 tracks and inform the nearest
The Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Keonjhar on behalf of the stationsonspottingthem.Some
Governor of Odisha invites online percentage rate tender through ‘e’ zones have imposed speed re-
procurement to be received in online mode for the the works as detailed in strictions on goods and parcel
the Annexure to this bid notice trains in certain stretches.
Name of work Civil Construction work
No. of works 14 (Fourteen) Nos.
Estimated Cost Rs. 795.60 Lakh SITUATION VACANT
Tender Paper Cost Mentioned in Column No. 6 of Tender call notice
Period of completion 06 (Six) & 09 (Nine) calendar month OTHERS
Part time recruiter needed by a
Availability of Bid From 14.05.2020 to 27.05.2020 during office
growing Research Firm. Work
Documents hours in Website (www.tendersorissa.gov.in)
O/o CE/TS, B-1, Shakti Vihar, Patiala
from home. Email CV at
Period of receipt of Bid From 14.05.2020 to 27.05.2020 through online.
Regd. Office: PSEB H.O., The Mall, Patiala - 147001, hr@gobolden.com
through online
CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813, Website: www.pspcl.in 0050164682-1
Date of Opening of Bid At 11.00 A.M. on 28.05.2020 in the office
OPEN e-TENDER NOTICE
Documents chamber of the Executive Engineer, M.I. Online Tenders are invited for the supply of the followlng material as per Tender
Division, Keonjhar
Digital Signature The bidder must possess compatible digital
Specification No 209/SS(D)/Spares of PSPCL:
Sr. For manufacture, Qty in Enquiry Last Date Last Date Date &
SXf¿MÑXe¹f ªf»fd½fÄff³f ÀfaÀ±ff³f, øYOÞXIYe
Certificate of Bidder signature certificate (DSC) of Class-II or Class-III No. Testing and KM No./Year & Time for & Time Time of (ªf»f Vfd¢°f ¸faÂff»f¹f, ªf»f ÀfaÀff²f³f, ³fQe d½fIYfÀf E½fa ¦fa¦ff
Date of lottery to be 05.06.2020 from 11.00 AM to onwards Delivery of Downloading for Bid Opening
conducted among the un-armoured, FRLS of Tender Submission of Bids ÀfaSXÃf¯f d½f·ff¦f IZY Aa°f¦fÊ°f ·ffSX°f ÀfSXIYfSX IYe ÀfûÀff¹fMXe)
valid bidders PVC, Outer d³fd½fQf Àfa£¹ff: 5(XVI)/2020/Pur-1 dQ³ffaI : 12.05.2020
Sheathed, Heat
Name and Address of the Executive Engineer, M.I. Division, Keonjhar Near Resistant PVC d³fQZVfI , Sf¿MÑ e¹f ªf»fd½fÄff³f ÀfaÀ±ff³f ÷ OÞ I e I e AûS ÀfZ SÀff¹f³fûÔ, ¦»ffÀf½fZ¹fÀfÊ, ´»ffdÀMI ½fZ¹fÀfÊ ½f
OIT Parkline Keonjhar, At/Po- Keonjhar, Insulated annealed,
Dist- Keonjhar Pin - 758001, Tinned Copper dR »MS ´fZ´fÀfÊ I e Af´fcd°fÊ WZ °fb ½ffd¿fÊI QS A³fb¶fa²f IZ d»fE ¸fbW S¶faQ d³fd½fQf IZ ½f»f C³f d³f¸ffÊ°ffAûÔ,
E-mail ID - eemikjr@yahoo.co.in control cable of Ad²fIÈ °f d½f°fSI ûÔ/d½fIZi °ffAûÔ/Ad·fI °ffÊAûÔ ÀfZ Af¸fadÂf°f I e ªff SWe W` , dªf³WZÔ Ad²fIÈ °f
following sizes
Further details can be seen from the web site: www.tendersorissa.gov.in d½f°fSI /d½fIZi °ff/Ad·fI °ffÊ ªfû ·ffS°f/ d½fQZVf ¸fZÔ d½fd³f¸ffʯf R ¸fÊ õfSf Ad²fIÈ °f dI ¹ff ¦f¹ff W` , ½fZ
1 2Cx2 5MM2 16.000
A´f³ff ´fiÀ°ff½f d³f¸ffÊ°ff õfSf ªffSe dI ¹fZ ¦f¹fZ Cd¨f°f ´fifd²fI fS ´fÂf, A´f³fe ¸fc»¹f Àfc¨fe ¸fZÔ Lc M ÀfdW°f
Sd/- 2. 4Cx2 5MM2 20.000
ªfû ´fcSm ·ffS°f ¸fZÔ ¸ff³¹f WûÔ ªf¸ff I SmÔ Ü ´fc¯fÊ QÀ°ff½fZªf ³f Wû³fZ I e dÀ±fd°f ¸fZÔ ½ffd¿fÊI QS A³fb¶fa²f
EXECUTIVE ENGINEER 3. 7Cx2 5MM2 10.000
d³fSÀ°f I S dQ¹ff ªffE¦ffÜ B¨Lb I ¶fû»feQf°ff, d³fd½fQf ÀfZ Àfa¶fad²f°f QÀ°ff½fZªf ÀfaÀ±ff³f I e ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM
M.I. Division, KEONJHAR 4. 9Cx2 5MM2 06.000
OIPR-32123/11/0001/2021 www.nihroorkee.gov.in ÀfZ OfC³f»fûO I S ÀfI °fZ W`Ô Ü /Sealed Tender for annu-
5. 12Cx2 5MM2 22.000 209/2020 15.06.2020 16.06.2020 18.06.2020
al rate contract for supply of Chemicals. Glasswares, Plasticwares and
6. 16Cx2 5MM2 08.000 11.00 A.M. 11.00 A.M. 11.30 A.M.
Filter Paper are invited on behalf of Director. National Institute of
7. 24Cx2 5MM2 14.000
Hdrology Roorkee only from the Manufactures, authorized
8. 32Cx2 5MM2 02.000
distributors/dealers/agents. Distributors, dealers & agents who are
9. 4Cx4MM2 02.000
I, JC-310529 M SUB M authorized by the manufacturing firm in India/abroad must submit their
I, Vaishnavi Kataria D/o TOTAL 100.00
Mukesh Kumar Kataria R/o RAJASEKARAN R/O-1358C1/6 proposal with proper authorization letter issued by the manufacturer
Flat No-15-A, 4th Floor,
ANNAITHERESANAGAR, PO- EMD 6,24,000/- along with their offer of discount on their price list valid throughout
Minimum EMD 1,56,000/-
Building No-4405/5, Part-2,
PANDAVARMANGALAM, TALUK.
Detailed NIT and Specification may be downloaded from PSPCL e-tendering web- India failing which document of ARC will be rejected. Bidders, who are
KOVILPATTI, DIST.- interested to submit bids, may visit Institute website:
Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, site http://eproc.punjab.gov.in.
THOOTHUKKDI, TAMIL NADU-
Delhi-110002, that name of my 628502,have changed my son’s
The prospective bidders may contact customer care of above cited website in case www.nihroorkee.gov.in
of any difficulty.
father has been wrongly name,from ABHISHEIK to It is Informed that in case tender process is not completed due to any reason. No IiY¹f Ad²fIYfSXe/PURCHASE OFFICER
written as Mukesh Kataria in ABHISHEIK R,for all future CORRIGENDUM will be published in newspapers. Details regarding corrigendum may
my Educational Documents. purposes and in my service- be seen on PSPCL e-tendering website http://eproc.punjab.gov.in.
The actual name of my father Sd/-
record my son’s date-of-birth C149/2020 C-815/Pb Dy. CE/Sub-Station Design, PSPCL, Patiala
is Mukesh Kumar Kataria wrongly mentioned as-
0070704899-1 07/07/1999 instead of his
I, SUNITA W/O 6947713X L/NK
correct date-of-birth as- GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL
05/07/1999. 0040537559-3
HARINDER DALAL R/o-VPO-
MATAN, TEH-BHADURGARH, I Suraj Pal Singh Rawat S/o CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI
DISTT-JHAJJAR, HARYANA-
124510,have changed my
Pratap Singh Rawat R/o Dandal
Gaon, Pauri, Garhwal,
OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF
name,from SUNITA to SUNITA Uttarakhand-246001, have
changed my name to Suraj
EXCISE, ENTT. & LUXURY TAX L & N
DEVI,for all future purposes.
0040537559-5
Rawat 0070704906-1 BLOCK, VIKAS BHAWAN, I.P. ESTATE,
I Murti Devi Alias Moorthy D/o
I, SMT JASVIR W/O JC 431645X Sish Ram and W/o Raje Ram R/o NEW DELHI- 110002
SUB RAJ KUMAR R/O-VPO- Kulasi 30, Jhajjar, Haryana- Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
Tender ID: 2020_EXC_190556_1
KOHLI, TEH-MANDI ADAMPUR, 124505, have changed my name DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS MANAGEMENT (PURCHASE-II)
DISTT-HISAR, HARYANA- to Moorthy 0070704904-1 SHER-I-KASHMIR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, E-Tender for procurement of country Liquor
125052, have changed my SOURA-SRINAGAR, KASHMIR J&K in NCT of Delhi (2020-21)
I Azharuddin S/o Sarajuddin Tel: 0194-2401013/2400064 (Ext: 2170) Fax 2403403
name,from SMT JASVIR to
JASVIR DEVI,for all future
Siddique R/o O-17/3, Batla
House, Jamia Nagar, Okhla,
E-mail: ammopurchase2@skims.ac.in E-Tenders (online tenders) are invited for
eNIT No: SIMS 10 (PII) OF 2020 Dated: 11.05.2020
purposes vide-affidavit Delhi-110025, have changed my Sub: Notice inviting tenders for Supply of “Printer Cartridges” for procurement of country liquor in National Capital
dated-06/05/2020 before- name to Azharuddin Siddique
Notary Public Delhi. 0070704903-1
SKIMS, Soura, Srinagar, Kashmir (J&K) on two years Rate Territory of Delhi. The Notice Inviting Tender (NIT)
Contract basis.
0040537559-4
I, Vipin S/o Anil Kumar R/o E-166 For and on behalf of Lt. Governor of UT, of J&K through Director Sher- has been uploaded and available alongwith the
I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura Srinagar, e-tenders are
I, R.KAVILA, w/o JC-310529M 80 Yard, Tagore Garden, Delhi-
invited under two bid system from Original Manufacturers/their author-
terms and conditions and tender form. It can be
SUB M RAJASEKARAN R/O- 110027, name my father has
1358C1/6 been wrongly written as ized distributers/dealers for supply of Printer Cartridges on rate contract seen/ downloaded at/from the website:
Horam Singh in my Aadhar basis at SKIMS Soura, Srinagar (J&K).
ANNAITHERESANAGAR, PO-
Card, Educational Documents The detailed tender document contining detailed descriptions, specifi- http://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in. The last
PANDAVARMANGALAM,
TALUK. KOVILPATTI, DIST.- and name of my mother has cations, quantity and other terms & conditions in available on www.jkten-
ders.gov.in and complete bidding process shall be online on the said e-
date of uploading the tender document is
THOOTHUKKDI, TAMIL NADU- been wrongly written as
628502,have changed my Rajindri in my Educational tender portal as per the following schedule: 29.05.2020 upto 11.00 A.M.
name,from R.KAVILA to Documents. The actual name S.No. Activity Description Schedule All the tenderers are requested to have digital
KAVILA.R., for all future my father and my mother are 01.
purposes and in my Anil Kumar and Devindri
Cost of tender document Rs. 1,000/-
certification and to get themselves registered with
02. Amount of Earnest Money Deposit Rs. 30,000/-
husband’s service-
respectively. 0070704902-1
(EMD) Delhi govt. e-procurement portal. The application
documents my date-of-birth I Vasudev S/o Gurudin R/o H-37,
wrongly mentioned as- Nanak Pura Moti Baagh-2,
03. Start date & time for submission of ten- 20.05.2020 (10.00 am)
ders
service provider can be contacted at “Help Desk”
23/05/1979 instead of my Delhi-110021, have changed my 04. Last date & time for submission of 30.05.2020 (02.30 pm) for registration, training (if required) on any
correct date-of-birth as- name to Dev 0070704905-1 online tender
23/05/1981.
working day between 9.30 AM to 6.00 PM at
I, MANJU DEVI W/o 2889991Y 05. Date & time for opening of technical 03.06.2020 (02.30 pm)
0040537559-2 HAV RAVINDRA SINGH R/o-VILL- bids Help Dek
I, MEENAKSHI W/o SUB MAJ NARNOD, PO-MALIGAVAN 06. Any clarification with regard to e-NIT 12.05.2020 to 19.05.2020
shall be entertained only from (during office hours)
6th floor, C Wing, Vikas Bhawan-II,
PRATAP SINGH MAHARA R/o- NARNOD, BAGAR, TEH-
VILL-SALLA RAUTELA, PO-
CHIRAWA, JHUNJHUNU, (no representation/clarification (Near Metcafe House)
RAJASTHAN-333023.have shall be entertained beyond the
SHITLAKHET, DISTT-ALMORA,
changed my Name from MANJU
stipulated period) Civil Lines, Delhi
STATE-UTTRAKHAND-263678,
have changed my name,from
DEVI to MANJU,for all future The tender notice is also available on official website of SKIMS Phone No. 23813523
purpose and in my husband’s www.skims.ac.in for reference only.
MEENAKSHI to MEENAKSHI service documents my date-of- Director SKIMS reserves the right to accept/reject or cancel any ten- Sd/-
MAHARA Affidavit.No- der or all tenders in full or part thereof without assigning any reason.
DL42098003174513S DATED-
birth wrongly-mentioned as-
The tenders should be submitted strictly in accordance with the pro- (RAVI DHAWAN)
18/03/1977 instead of my
visions of the detailed e-NIT.
12/05/2020 at New Delhi. correct date-of-birth as-
No: SIMS 325-05-2020-1002-08-4629-32 Sd/-
EXCISE COMMISSIONER
15/05/1980. 0040537559-1
0040537559-6 Dated: 11.05.2020 A. Material Management Officer DIP/Shabdarth/0030/20-21

CORRIGENDUM NOTICE
TENDER NOTICE

80851/HRY. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in 80852/HRY. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in

New Delhi
 E EXPLAINED
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
The Outbreak If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you
would like explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com

EXPERTS EXPLAIN

How households are coping under lockdown

Three scholars assess lockdown’s impact on Indian households, who are hit hardest, and how long they expect to be able to manage with their current resources

FIGURE 1: RURAL INDIA WROST HIT BY LOCKDOWN SOME STATES HAVE BEEN HIT HARDER FIGURE 2: MANY WON’T BE ABLE households state that they will be unable to
continue - even over relatively short periods
Proportion of households reporting income loss ■ Urban Proportion of households reporting income loss TO SURVIVE WITHOUT - without additional assistance (Figure 2).
■ Rural
94.6
HimachalPradesh Uttarakhand
UttarPradesh
ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE AcrossIndia, 34% of all households report
95% 93.0 Punjab Proportion of households surviving being able to survive for no more than one
89.7 87.2 88.8 87.4 Bihar
83.8 Haryana week without additional assistance. Among
85% 81.8 81.8 Jharkhand
Delhi Assam households earning less than Rs 8,142 per
40%
Marianne Bertrand, 75% Rajasthan Meghalaya 30%
33.7 month per-capita before the lockdown,
nearly a third report being able to survive for
Kaushik Krishnan 65% Gujarat Tripura
20%
25.1 22.3 no more than 7 days without additional as-
& Heather Schofield 55%
54.7 Chhattisgarh
West ■ 50%-70% 10%
11.5
7.5
sistance. Crucially, 14% of the sample is al-
Maharashtra Bengal ■ 70%-80% ready out of funds and risks immediate and
45% Telangana ■ 80%-90% 0% severe deprivation if they are unable to bor-
Odisha
THE SPREAD of Covid-19 and the economic ■ 90%-100% row or receive additional benefits.

lockdown enacted in response by the
Government of India have resulted in signif-
icant economic hardship. These effects are
bothsubstantialandwidespread.Eighty-four
percent of Indian households report de-
creasesinincomesincethelockdown.Athird
of Indian households report not having
enough resources to go on for more than a
week before facing distress.
These headline statistics, which are
drawn from our analysis of a nationally rep-
resentativesurveyof Indianhouseholdscon-
ducted by the Centre for Monitoring Indian
Economy (CMIE) between April 18 and April
30, 2020, should be a call to action for Indian
policymakers as they try to best balance a
public health crisis and an economic crisis.
Importantly, the data also reveal that the
economic impact of the lockdown has not
been equally distributed across people and
places. About 85% of the households earning
`0-`3,801 `3,801-
`5,914
Quintiles of household monthly per capita income (as of Feb ‘20)
a monthly per-capita income of less than Rs
3,801 before the lockdown, corresponding
to being in the lowest quintile of the per-
capitaincomedistribution,haveexperienced
a fall in income. At the other end, only 66% of
thehouseholdsearningmorethanRs 12,734
before the lockdown, corresponding to be-
ing in the highest quintile of the per-capita
income distribution, have experienced a fall
in income. While both numbers are excep-
tionally high, more than 90% of households
withincomesinbetweenthisrangehaveex-
perienced a fall in income.
Smaller lockdown-induced income
losses among those in the highest per-capita
income quintile in India are consistent with
what has been observed in other countries:
`5,914- `8,142- `12,374- AndhraPradesh
`8,142 `101,902
`12,374 Karnataka
Data source: CMIE CPHS Kerala
higher-income earners are more likely to be
employedinoccupationsthatenableremote
workandhencetobeabletocontinuetoearn
alivingdespite the stay-at-home orders. The
somewhat smaller impact among house-
holds in the lowest income quintile com-
pared to second and third quintiles may re-
flect their greater representation of
occupationsthat havecontinueddespite the
lockdown in that quintile (e.g. agriculture,
food vendors). However, it might also reflect
that India’s existing safety net and income
support programmes do not adequately tar-
get households in these quintiles that have
experienced dramatic job losses due to the
lockdown.
While economic losses due to the lock-
Tamil Data source: CMIE CPHS,
Nadu
Shape file from data(meet)
down are widespread among both rural and
urban households, rural households have
been hit the hardest, with 88% of them re-
porting a fall in income under the lock-
down, compared to 75% of urban house-
holds. As seen in Figure 1, this difference is
driven by the fact that higher income lev-
els pre-lockdown are mainly protective for
households living in urban areas. Again, we
conjecture that this a reflection of occupa-
tion sorting and greater availability of re-
mote work options among salaried work-
ers in urban settings.
Our data further reveals substantial vari-
ation in income losses by state of residence
(See map). The five most affected states are
Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and
1week
orless
2weeks
3-4
weeks
2months
3months
ormore
Data source: CMIE CPHS
Haryana. Notably, economic impact by state
does not strongly track the extent of the out-
break. Rather, we conjecture that income
per-capitaandoccupationalcompositionbe-
fore the lockdown, lockdown severity, and
effectiveness of the delivery of aid are likely
contributors to this cross-state variation.
In contrast to much of the variation de-
scribedabove,wedonotfindmuchevidence
of differential impact of the lockdown based
on households’ religion, with roughly simi-
lar share of Hindus and Muslims being neg-
atively affected across income quintiles.
Giventhewidespreadincomelossesdoc-
umented above and the low baseline wealth
of many Indian households, it should come
asnosurprisethataverylargeshareof Indian
These figures suggest that continued
rapid distribution of in-kind or cash trans-
fers is needed to prevent a sharp increase in
malnutrition andseveredeprivation.Bypro-
moting demand and fostering health, such
transfers will also likely promote a more ro-
bustrecoveryasthecountryisabletoreopen.
Marianne Bertrand is Chris P Dialynas
Distinguished Service Professor of Economics,
University of Chicago Booth School of
Business, and Faculty Director, Chicago
Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector
Innovation and UChicago’s Poverty Lab.
Kaushik Krishnan is Chief Economist, Centre
for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
Heather Schofield, is Assistant Professor,
Perelman School of Medicine and The
Wharton School.

CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER

Smoking and
227,735
United Kingdom
THE WORLD
172,812
Germany
221,216
Italy
139,771
Turkey
Aarogya Setu: Who all can Covid: recent
claims, and
177,547
France
access your data, and when? new findings
1,354,504
232,243
Russia
Reading the newly released protocol, which lays down guidelines for sharing EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 13
US
110,767
of data collected by the app with government agencies as well as third parties
Iran
ON MONDAY, the World Health
Organization (WHO) issued a state-
170,582 ment underlining the perils of smok-
Brazil 227,436
Spain PRANAV MUKUL ing,andreferringto“unprovenclaims
NEW DELHI, MAY 12 that tobacco or nicotine could reduce
TOTAL CONFIRMED: 4,222,968 DEATH COUNT: 288,368 ON MONDAY, the Ministry of Electronics &
the risk of Covid-19”. This came days
after researchers had published a hy-
Source: Johns Hopkins University, updated at 11 pm on May 12 Information Technology issued a data-shar- pothesis that nicotine may obstruct
ing and knowledge-sharing protocol for the the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
AarogyaSetuapp,layingdownguidelinesfor Also onMonday, researchers from
sharingsuchdatawithgovernmentagencies British and Saudi Arabian institutions

Are doctors, nurses getting and third parties. Prior to this, the only legal
shield around the mechanism was the app’s
published a study associating smok-
ing with Covid-19 deaths.

infected without knowing it?

privacy policy.
The executive order issued on Monday What has WHO said?
cameamidconcernsexpressedbyanumber Its statement said it is constantly
ITISALREADYknownthatmanypeo- positive for the coronavirus. Around of experts over the efficacy and safety of the evaluatingnewresearch,includingre-
ple can show no symptoms after get- one in five reported no symptoms, app. Experts have nowsaidthat while on the search that examines the link be-
ting infected with the SARS-CoV-2 two in five had very mild symptoms one hand a decision of such nature should tween tobacco use, nicotine use, and
coronavirus. Now, a study has found that they had dismissed as inconse- be backed by a personal data protection law, Covid-19. “There is currently insuffi-
hospitalstaffmaybecarryingthevirus quential, and a further two in five re- thelooselywordednatureof theprotocoltoo cient information to confirm any link
withoutrealisingit.Thestudycovered ported Covid-19 symptoms that had is an area of concern. Currently, India’s per- between tobacco or nicotine in the
staff in hospitals under stopped more than a sonal data protection bill is in the process of prevention or treatment of COVID-
the UK National Health week previously. being approved by Parliament. Prior to guidelines, the only legal shield around the app was its privacy policy. AP 19,” it said. It did not specify who had
Service (NHS), and was InNHShospitals,ar- madeunprovenclaimsaboutnicotine
published in eLife. eascaringforCovid-pa- Why has the government issued these reducing Covid-19 risk.
University of tientsaremarked“red” guidelines? individualtotheself-assessmenttestadmin- which data has been shared. This documen-
Cambridgeresearchers areas. The study found TheexecutiveorderissuedbyITSecretary istered within the app. Location data com- tation will include the time at which data So, who has made such claims?
swabbed and tested that despite wearing Ajay Prakash Sawhney, who is also the prisesthegeographicalpositionofanindivid- sharing was initiated, with which entities it Therehasbeenahypothesis,byre-
over 1,200 NHS staff at PAPER appropriate personal Chairperson of the Empowered Group on ual in latitude and longitude. was shared, the categories of such data, and searchers from a number of leading

CLIP
Addenbrooke’s protective equipment Technology and Data Management (one of the purpose of sharing the data. Frenchinstitutions(TheIndianExpress,
Hospital, Cambridge (PPE), “red” area staff several empowered groups constituted by What entities will be able to access this The protocol also calls for any entity with May5).Inhospitaldata,theyfoundthat
University Hospitals were three times more the Home Ministry to deal with various as- data? which the data has been shared to not retain the proportion of smokers among
NHS Foundation Trust, NEW RESEARCH likely to test positive pects of the Covid-19 pandemic), says that According to the protocol, the response thedatabeyond180daysfromthedayitwas Covid-19 deaths (4.4-5.3%) was much
throughout April. The than staff working in “in order to formulate appropriate health re- datacontainingpersonaldatamaybeshared collected. The protocol reads back to the lower than the proportion in the gen-
sampleswereanalysed areas free of Covid-19. sponses for addressing the COVID-19 pan- by the app’s developer — National Disaster Management Act, 2005 to establish eral population (25.4%). They hypoth-
using the PCR technique. At the same The researchers noted, however, that demic, data pertaining to individuals is ur- Informatics Centre (NIC) — with the Health the penalties in case of violation of the pro- esisedthatthereasonmightbeinpro-
time,staff memberswereaskedabout it is not clear whether this reflects gently required”. Here, individuals means Ministry,HealthDepartmentsof state/Union tocol. It also has a sunset clause, which calls tein structures, called nAChR, that are
relevant coronavirus symptoms, the greaterratesof transmissionfrompa- persons who are infected, or are at high risk Territory governments/ local governments, for the empowered group to review the pro- found in the nervous system, muscle
university said in a statement. tients to staff in red areas: Staff may of being infected, or who have come in con- National Disaster Management Authority, tocol after six months; unless extended, it and certain tissues. Nicotine is known
Of themorethan1,000staff mem- have transmitted the virus to each tact with infected individuals. statedisastermanagementauthorities,other will be in force only for six months from the to bind with nAChR; the hypothesis is
bers reporting fit for duty during the other or acquired it at home. Tofulfilthispurpose,andensurethatdata ministries and departments of the central date of issue. thatifnicotineisalreadypresentonhu-
study period, 3% nevertheless tested Source: University of Cambridge. collectedfromtheappisgathered,processed and state governments, and other public mancells,itmayblockSARS-CoV-2.To
and shared in an appropriate way, the gov- health institutions of the central, state and What are the concerns being raised? testthehypothesis,theresearchersare
ernment has issued these guidelines. local governments, “where such sharing is Legal experts have stressed the need for conducting human trials.
INDIA COUNT: 70,756 (2,293 DEATHS) “Various advisories and statements have strictlynecessarytodirectlyformulateorim- a personal data protection law to back the
been issued by the Ministry of Health and plement an appropriate health response”. government’s decision to make the app Does this not go against the
TOP 10 STATES REST OF INDIA
AndamanandNicobarIslands33
Family Welfare, Government of India and
other Ministries of the Government of India
The protocol also lay the ground for shar-
ing the data with any third parties — “only if
mandatoryforeveryone.“Theyaregoingthe
Aadhaar way. This cannot be done via an ex-
conventional view?
Thewidespreadviewinthescien-
ArunachalPradesh 1
1,877 Assam 65 and State/ Union Territory Governments on itisstrictlynecessarytodirectlyformulateor ecutive order, especially since there are a tific community is that smoking is
Punjab Bihar 747 precautionary measures such as social dis- implement appropriate health responses”. number of privacy concerns with the app,” harmful for Covid-19 patients. A few
Chandigarh 174 tancingandtreatmentof individualswhoare Further, for research purposes, the response said Prasanth Sugathan, volunteer legal di- recentstudieshavesuggestedvarious
7,233 Delhi Chhattisgarh 59
3,988 DadarNagarHaveli 1 affectedorat-risk.Inordertoensuretheir ef- data can be shared with Indian universities rector at SFLC.in. reasons why. The newest paper, pub-
Rajasthan 3,573 UP Goa 7 fectiveimplementation,thereisaneedtoen- orresearchinstitutionsandresearchentities Sugathansaidthedatabeing sharedwith lished in PLOS ONE on Monday, re-
Haryana 730 sure efficient data and information sharing registered in India. The guidelines also em- third parties was one of the biggest areas of vieweddatabasestolookatthepreva-
HimachalPradesh 59
JammuandKashmir 879
among the different Departments and power universities and research entities to concern. “They should have listed the third lence of smoking — as well as COPD
3,785 Jharkhand 160 Ministriesof theGovernmentof Indiaaswell share the data with other such institutions, parties with which the data can be shared,” (chronic obstructive pulmonary dis-
8,541 MP Karnataka 862 as those in the State/Union Territory “only if such sharing is in furtherance of the he said, adding that it was left open-ended ease) in Covid-19 patients. It found
Gujarat 2,063 Kerala 519 Governments,” the order reads. same purpose for which it has sought ap- and had a possibility of misuse. Further, he currentsmokerswere1.45timesmore
West Bengal Ladakh 42
Manipur 2 proval to access such data from the expert said the process of de-identifying the data likely to have severe complications
23,401 What data can be collected and shared? committee”. shouldhavebeendetailed,giventhatrevers- comparedtoformerandneversmok-
Maharashtra 2,018 Meghalaya 13
Andhra Pradesh Mizoram 1 ThedatacollectedbytheAarogyaSetuapp ing de-identification was not difficult. ers.Also,criticallyillCovid-19patients
Odisha 414 is broadly divided into four categories — de- What are the checks and balances? The protocol, in fact, seeks to disincen- with COPD had a 63% risk of severe
8,002 Puducherry 12
mographicdata,contactdata,self-assessment The protocol says the response data that tivise reversalof de-identification. “Anyuni- disease and a 60% risk of mortality,
Tamil Nadu Telangana 1275
Tripura 152 data and location data. This is collectively can be shared with ministries, government versity or research institution/ entity which while critically ill patients without
Uttarakhand 68 called response data. Demographic data in- departmentsandotheradministrativeagen- accesses anonymised response data... shall COPD had only a 33.4% risk of severe
UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof 11pm,May12.Somestatesmayhave cludes information such as name, mobile cies has to be in de-identified form. This not reverse anonymise such data or re-iden- disease and 55% risk of mortality.
reportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove. number,age,gender,professionandtravelhis- meansthat,exceptfordemographicdata,the tify individuals in any manner. If any person The researchers added, however,
tory. Contact data is about any other individ- response data must be stripped of informa- knowingly or unknowingly, takes any action that the study was not able to exam-
22,455 PATIENTS DISCHARGED IN 32 STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES
ual that a given individual has come in close tionthatmay make it possibletoidentifythe which has the effect of such data no longer ine whether there was an association
proximity with, including the duration of the individual personally; it must be assigned a remaining anonymised, any rights granted between the frequency of COPD ex-
Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak and what you should/should not do? contact, the proximate distance between the randomly generated ID. to them under this protocol shall stand ter- acerbations, or severity of COPD, with
Write to explained@indianexpress.com individuals, and the geographical location at Further, the NIC shall, “to the extent rea- minated, and they shall be liable for penal- Covid-19 outcomes.
which the contact occurred. Self-assessment sonable”, document the sharing of any data ties under applicable laws for the time being
data means the responses provided by that and maintain a list of the agencies with in force,” it reads.

New Delhi
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

10
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
WORDLY WISE

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Wherever the real power in a Government
lies, there is the danger of oppression.
— JAMES MADISON

Living with the virus

FOUNDED BY
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
In Phase II of epidemic, states must build empirical and
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
analytic foundations of systems of delivery

HEED THE DIFFERENCE Milind Sohoni

Strategiestoexitlockdownmustrely moreon,andrespondmore “WE HAVE TO learn to live with the virus”, the ministry of railways is perhaps over- plestexampleisthathospitalisationandtest-
saidLavAgarwal,jointsecretary,Unionhealth whelmed by the logistics of operating hun- ing of every case may not be feasible.
to,regionalneedsandspecificities ministry, on May 8. Hopefully, this will turn dreds of trains on a new schedule and coor- Managing the disease under these con-

A
outtobeawatershedmomentinIndia’sfight
STHE THIRD phase of the lockdown winds toa close, several states have re- with the corona epidemic. For, it marks the
portedly argued against a complete easing of restrictions. At a video con- realisation that as the virus spreads across
ference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, the chief minis- India, a centralised strategy of containment
ters of at least four states — Maharashtra, Telangana, Punjab, and West andeliminationisnolongerviable.Thestage
Bengal—wereof theviewthatthelockdownshouldbeextendedbeyondMay17.TheCMs isnowsettomovetothestatesastheyfindef-
fective ways to manage the epidemic. And in
of Chhattisgarh,Bihar,TamilNadu,Karnataka,andAndhraPradeshexpressedreservations
this, it is the community and regional insti-
abouttheresumptionof passengertrains.Butevenastheyarewaryaboutthevirus—jus- tutions who must play a crucial role.
tifiably so — the state governments also do not want to lose any time in getting the econ- So far, the welfare costs of the measures
omy back on the rails.As Arunachal CM Pema Khandu said: “The fight tocontain the coro- and regulations were weighed against the
navirus must not have a compromising effect on the economy”. The two imperatives infinitebenefitsthatwouldaccrueif wewere
might seem conflicting. But the key to resolving the impasse lies in recognising that dif- to eliminate the virus. This provided the jus-
tification, at least in the minds of the people,
ferent states have different needs and demands, and they should be given a greater say
for such measures. The legal basis has been
in decisions on which areas to open up and how after May 17. extremely draconian laws: The infamous
While announcing the third phase of the lockdown, the Union home ministry allowed Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and its
the resumption of economic activities in districts that had not seen a single COVID-19 case amendment, and a very lop-sided interpre-
inthelastthreeweeksofApril,thegreenzones,permittingmarketstore-open,factoriesand tation of the National Disaster Management
industrial units to resume operations, and e-commerce in non-essential items to re-com- Act, 2005. While the Act requires various
plans to be produced at the national, state
mence. The ministry also relaxed the lockdown in non-hotspot districts, the orange zones,
and district levels, no such documents are
continuing with stringent restrictions in the districts with high caseload, the red zones. available. In principle, the Act could have
Somestates,notablyPunjabandDelhi,opposedthisdistrict-centredcontainmentapproach
served to marshal our scientific institutions
attheoutset.Atthelatestvideoconference,theirreservationswereamplified,withseveral into undertaking useful studies. Instead, it
otherCMs,acrosspartyaffiliations,addingtheirvoicetothem.PunjabCMAmarinderSingh’s has largely been used by the Centre to issue
plea that the authority to slot areas into red, orange and green zones be delegated to states guidelines to the states, and to concentrate
powerintothehandsof theelitebureaucracy
had the backing of BJP-ruled Haryana. And as Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pointed out, the
and a few central scientific agencies. No re-
district-wiseformulaisimpracticalfordensely-populatedareassuchasthecountry’scap-
ports or studies have been cited in most of
ital.Kejriwal’sdemandtodoawaywiththegreen,orange,redzones,andcordonoffonlythe the guidelines issued under this act. The
containment areas, found support from his Karnataka counterpart, BJP’s B S Yediyurappa. most recent one, issued on May 9, on re-
A major lesson from the nearly two-month-long battle against the coronavirus is that sumption of manufacturing activities, cre-
ates a bonanza for factory inspectors.
the country’s demographic, economic, and cultural diversities do not allow for a one-
size-fits-all approach. Successful strategies to take on the pathogen — for instance, in Containment and elimination is an op-
Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, parts of Rajasthan and Telangana — have relied on and re-
tion for small, well-governed countries with
considerable technical and financial heft,
sponded to the local officials’ knowledge of regional specificities. The exit strategy should and,thattoo,intheveryinitialstagesof anin-
be based on the understanding that these officials are attuned to the situation on the fection. For a country which has not been
ground. While the Centre could frame the broad principles, micro-planning — including able to provide drinking water to its people,
deciding which areas to open up — should be left to the states. containment is an overreach. It has quickly
exposed our limitations, of poor testing ca-
pacity and poor access to public healthcare
facilities. The logic of containment may also
Today’s risk perceptions,
taboos and practices have
arisen from an urban
salaried upper class which
can work from home and not
from those who need to run
a shop, work in a unit or on a
farm. The morbidities of the
disease in rural or partly-
rural societies may be quite
different and behaviour
change may need a different
plan. The analysis would
help in ensuring that
procedures match risks and
respect material constraints.
The simplest example is that
hospitalisation and testing
dinating with regional agencies.
Containment was also destined to fail in
many poor urban neighbourhoods of our
cities. Extreme densities and irregular
dwellingsmadeitimpossibletomaintainso-
cial distance. Little surplus at home, depend-
ence on daily wages and frequently chang-
ingschedulescaused mobility and crowding
that further aggravated the situation. Finally,
poor per capita availability of medical care
ledto delays in response. This and the collec-
tive punishment of block quarantinecreated
bothguiltandstigmathatledmanysympto-
matic patients to delay reporting to the hos-
pital. But by then, it was too late. These are
problems not of behaviour change but of
poor planning and misplaced priorities.
Hopefully, we will now transition into a
more systematic and scientific approach to
managing the disease and improve pre-
paredness at the level of the village and the
city wards. There are several tasks which our
scientific agencies need to do.
Thefirstistouncovertheregionalparam-
eters of the disease, its prevalence in the
community,andtypicaltrajectories.Thiswill
help in both clinical and logistical matters.
Thismustbedonethroughcarefuldocumen-
tation of the cases, their geographies, their
socio-economic background, and their clin-
icalresponse.Asof now,thisdataisnotavail-
able. Perhaps, it is not even being recorded.
This analysis would help people under-
stand the actual risks and mortalities and
make compliance and participation easier. It
will provide the basis for designing village
levelguidelinesonreturningmigrants,quar-
antine rotations and accessing common re-
sources, for example, drinking water or san-
itation, in times of infection
Today’sriskperceptions,taboosandprac-
tices have arisen from an urban salaried up-
perclasswhichcanworkfromhomeandnot
from those who need to run a shop, work in
straints requires a sound empirical basis.
Theotherareawhichneedsbetterdesign
isthelogisticsof preparedness.Thisincludes
hospital beds and their distribution, ambu-
lance services, public transport, and the pro-
vision of basic amenities and welfare serv-
ices. Periodic assessments and analysis by
regionalinstitutionswouldensurethatobvi-
ous lacunae are overcome and any shortfalls
of equipment or manpower are met in a
structured manner,throughthesupportand
contributionsof communityorganisations.A
dashboard of the key parameters of pre-
paredness and their live status would instil
confidence and enable collective action.
Sadly, our central network of elite scien-
tificinstitutionshaslargelybeeninaself-im-
posed quarantine. Their contributions so far,
either in concepts or in methods, have not
been commensurate with the prestige and
place that they have in the national ethos.
They have preferred the safety and security
of their campus and old ways of working,
over an opportunity to wrest a place for
themselves and their mofussil brethren, the
regional and state institutions, in the destiny
of thenation.Theirmasters,theelitebureau-
cracy, have obliged.
Thus,asweenterPhaseIIof theepidemic,
it is in the interest of the states to build the
empiricalandanalyticfoundationof systems
of deliveryandtotalktoeachotherandshare
experiences. It is for us to deepen the scien-
tific and political understanding of our peo-
ple and to bring them to expect well-rea-
soned arguments and matchingactions,and
not merely hope to be beneficiaries of an ex-
pertocratic administration. The corona epi-
demichasoncemoreshowntheinherentin-
equalityandinstabilityof BigScienceandthe
inability of the global economy to ensure
welfare. It is time that we develop more re-
gional and more convivial and vernacular
models of managing our societies. The epi-

BUILDING TRUST havebeenoneof thereasonsfortheordealof

our migrant workers. Firstly, they were
forced to stay put. Now, their movement is
of every case may not be
feasible. Managing the
disease under these
a unit or on a farm. The morbidities of the
disease in rural or partly-rural societies may
bequitedifferentandbehaviourchangemay
demic provides us a unique opportunity to
move in this direction.

restricted by a scientific bureaucracy which need a different plan. The analysis would The writer is with Centre for Technology
The new guidelines for data handling in Aarogya Setu system are is unable to test them or move them. There constraints requires a sound helpinensuringthatproceduresmatchrisks Alternatives for Rural Areas, IIT Bombay. He
a welcome first step. Supporting legislation must follow just aren’t enough tests to go around. Also, empirical basis. and respect material constraints. The sim- is currently on deputation to IIT Goa

F
ROM CLAIMING THAT the Aarogya Setu app is unhackable, to suggesting that
it must be the safest app ever because millions are downloading it — they
are compelled to, actually — to issuing fresh guidelines to safeguard the pri-

SEEING A NEW CITY

vacy of users, the government has come a long way, tacitly acknowledging the
trust deficit and the need to address it. Trust is an essential ingredient for the success
of Aarogya Setu in helping to contain the pandemic, because it must acquire a critical
mass of users to be of any use. On Monday, an order by the empowered group on tech-
nology and data management, set up by the national executive of the Disaster
Management Act, established the protocol for handling data by the various bodies in- What stories will we tell of this pandemic? Who will be allowed to tell them?
volved in the management of the COVID-19 outbreak. Outside that circle, the data may
be shared only with the research community in anonymised form. Breaches will at-
tract penalties according to relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act, besides
Amrita Dutta
other applicable laws. “ARE YOU keeping records of the way your voices; we swim, especially in this country ing but one claim on the city they had
The government has fixed security flaws in data handling detected by a French white hearts and minds are reacting to this of a billion, in a river of people. This stifling helped build with their labour: Send us
hat hacker, limited the purpose of data collection to dealing with the pandemic, and re- strange new way of living?” In a letter to uneasewehavebeenluggingaround,locked home. Since the 1990s, the dream of an as-
stricted the types of data which may be collected and the period for which it may be held. his students, the American novelist George in homes we are lucky to possess, is also a piring metropolitan India has been a daz-
And crucially, by promising punitive measures, the order sets to rest public anxieties Saunders urges them to pay attention to longing for others. For the lives of others, zling, exponential graph, making even our
the world and themselves, as it lurches to a their gaze that holds us in shape, the public cinema turn away from the tales of the poor.
about privacy. Problems about technology are not adequately addressed by technology
bewildering halt. To see, as writers and sphere that gives the private corner mean- But the countless images of men and
— by claiming that software is hacker-proof, for instance. It is best addressed by the law, artistes can, the invisible inches by which ing. It reminds me of a question once posed women, abandoned by the state, walking
by the certainty of liability and the penalties thereby attracted. we rearrange the deepest parts of our lives, toRamanaMaharishi.“Howdowetreatoth- hundreds of kilometres away from the hos-
But perhaps this order should be read as a first step towards a law, as a letter of in- how we get turned into history’s play- ers?” His reply: “There are no others.” tile city, hiding themselves in trucks and ce-
tent rather than a compact. Justice BN Srikrishna, who headed the committee which things. So, what are the stories we will tell The coronavirus has underlined this in- ment mixers, following the compass of rail
had produced the first draft of the Personal Data Protection Bill, has pointed out that of this pandemic? terconnected-ness of human life. It has also tracks to a cruel death is the most damning
the order is not lawful — supportive legislation is required by Aarogya Setu, rather than By freezing up the world, the novel coro- dangled a test: Do we choose solidarity or evidence of inequality to confront us since
navirus has made us look at it anew. Like the The countless images of men suspicion? In India, the muscle memory of liberalisation. Who will tell the stories of
merely an order by the executive. On May 1, the ministry of home affairs had made the
sudden views of the Himalayas from and women, abandoned by castesuperiorityhaskickedin,makingiteas- this pandemic? For, which stories are told,
app mandatory for employees in the public and private sector, and in government. Saharanpur or Jalandhar, we unfog our eyes ier to suspect, police and distance the less- and which matter, is a function of power. It
Local authorities were urged to secure complete coverage in containment zones. The and look at the architecture of our lives.
the state, walking hundreds privileged. History will also remember this is that power that has made the city’s voice
Noida police then extended it to everyone, threatening imprisonment and fines for Workingfromhome,wenowexperiencethe of kilometres away from the as a time when the Hindutva project of turn- heard over the village and the kasba, the na-
non-compliance. These may be emergency interventions, but the app now requires mountain of work at home — never consid- hostile city, hiding ing Muslim citizens into second-class sub- tional over the provincial. A hobbled, angry
legislative backing. In the absence of an underlying law, it would remain vulnerable to ered real work, because women can be paid themselves in trucks and jects, and re-imagining them as uber-out- state speaks for the poor but will not factor
a pittance (or not) to do it. The cult of pro- castes, did not pause for a public health their needs while planning a national shut-
legal challenge.
ductivity is suddenly shamefaced. In this
cement mixers, following the emergency but gathered pace. What will down. It is also the privilege of people like us
pause,weputonmusic,watchfilms,seechil- compass of rail tracks to a emerge on the other side of this animus? that allows us to see migrant workers only
dren calm themselves as they paint — the cruel death is the most It wasn’t just lofty mountain ranges that as benighted victims.

BCCI WON’T artsandartistssteppingintoheal,aswewait

to emerge on the other side.
Not blessed with a writer’s serendipity, I
canseeonlyasfarasghostly,emptiedstreets.
Pointing to the pandemic, the world’s richest
Out on a grocery run, my eyes seek out
cricket board has shut the coffers strangers, a pang of joy at the sight of fellow
damning evidence of
inequality to confront us
since liberalisation. Who
will tell the stories of this
pandemic? For, which stories
swam into view in this upheaval. Gazing
down from dizzying heights, several drone
cameras brought us visuals of empty me-
tropolises, drained of its people, noise and
squalor. It was a fantasy, like all top-down
views tend to be — especially for the middle
When history accounts for this great ex-
odus, it will see the uncommon resilience,
dignity and agency of lakhs of workers, who
choseapath— as allheroichumansdointhe
faceof greatadversity—evenif itleadstothe
unknown.Willwelistentothesestorytellers

S
humans — after weeks of lockdown, panic class, which had retreated into apartment of the pandemic?
IXTEEN-YEAR-OLD CRICKETER SIDAK Singh is sheepish about taking calls from has given way to this hunger. We live and are told, and which matter, is complexes and behind N95 masks. On the
his family as he dreads the moment when they ask him if he has received the think surrounded by the hum of other a function of power. ground, the invisibles had emerged, mak- amrita.dutta@expressindia.com
outstanding dues from the Indian cricket board. In these COVID-stricken times,
with his father’s cloth business under threat, it’s his money the family depends
on to tide over the crisis. Twenty-eight-year-old Harpreet Bhatia, captain of Chhattisgarh
Ranji team, awaits the arrears of players’ shares from Indian cricket’s annual earnings.
Bhatiaisjustoneof the950first-classcricketerscoopedupathome,waitingforsomegood MAY 13, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO
news. Forget the accumulated money from the revenue pie, several first-class cricketers
haven’t got their last season’s match fees yet. Several umpires and other match officials AASU TALKS intherunoff roundof theIranianparliamen- est commodity. Here, the women of Patha
still await their dues from games held in January, February, and March. Welcome to the THE ALL-ASSAM STUDENTS Union presi- tary election, Teheran radio said. Ayatollah villages find a pitcher of water dearer than
lockdown, where the world’s richest cricket board has shut the coffers. dent, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, said that the Ruhollah Khomeini appeared to be tighten- their husbands. “Gagariya na phoote khasam
AASU was always prepared to hold negotia- ing controls over the military and the press. mari jaaye”isafolklorewhichtranslatedinto
The official reason given by the BCCI is the nationwide lockdown to contain the pan-
tions with the prime minister or any repre- The Iranian revolutionary leader has said the English means“thehusband maydie butthe
demic. But it doesn’t explain why players, umpires and referees have been waiting for up sentative of the Centre to find a solution to new parliament will decide fate of the pitcher of water should not break”. The
to three years for their earnings and rightful share of the revenue. Many haven’t got any- the foreigners issue. He, however, said any American hostages. Many Islamic women have to go as far as 10 km to get a
thing from the beginning of 2020. Most players are wary and embarrassed to raise the is- meaningful talks must be preceded by with- Republicans say that the captives should go pitcher of water. In the villages of Rukma,
sue. But in these vulnerable times, several cricketers, especially the juniors and those in drawal of all repressive measure. He reiter- on trial as spies if the deposed Shah Daderi, Baberu, Mau, and others, even the
domestic cricket, are coughing politely. ated that the current agitation in Assam was MohammadRezaPahlavi,inexileinEgypt,is dead have to go without their traditional last
directedsolelyagainstforeignersandnotany not returned to Iran to face charges of mur- rites. So acute is the water crisis that instead
These players can’t work from home, and a nagging apprehension about the future is
religious or linguistic group. der and corruption. of bathing the body, the village people just
descendingonthem.SachinTendulkarhasrecentlytoldthisnewspaperthathehopesthe open the person’s mouth and put in a few
BCCIwouldhaveanopenmindinhelpingoutthosecountrieswhichhavebeenfinancially IRAN HARDLINERS WIN DRY BANDA drops of water. The large number of tanks
worst hit by the COVID crisis. It’s a good sentiment, but the first step should start at home THE ISLAMIC REPUBLICAN Party and its IN THIS PARCHED land of the Bundelkhand thathadbeendeepenedinBandainthehope
— not as an act of charity, but as acknowledgement of a right. hardline clerical allies have won a majority region, Banda, water has become the dear- that rains would fill them are dry.

New Delhi

11
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
THE IDEAS PAGE
Dear fellow parents and teachers
The‘boislockerroom’incidenthasunderlinedanimportantlesson: Weneedtoactnow,nudge
policymakers,andschools,toensureourchildrenreceivegendereducationfromearlyon
Simantini Ghosh
I WRITE TO all of you today in anguish and
fear in the wake of the “Bois locker room” in-
cident. I am scared as a mother of a six-year-
old boy. I am scared for children irrespective
of gender.Iamafraidthatif wedon’tactnow,
a few years later, my son, any of our sons,
could be in such a group degrading their fe-
male peers.
Parents and teachers need to wake up to
two deeply disturbing yet pervasive truths.
One is cyberbullying, which is recognised to
causedepression,anxietyandextremestress
verysimilartoreal-lifestressfulevents.Inthe
lockerroomincident,cyberbullyingintersects
withviolenceagainstwomen,unfortunately
also quite familiar in India.
India does a splendid job of telling its
women to cover themselves up and make
themselvesinvisibleoutsidetheirhomes.We
routinely shame survivors of violence while
perpetratorsgofree.Womenarebinarisedto
good women, who don’t cross boundaries
thrust upon them, and bad women, who
don’t conform, and violence against them is
legitimisedbyframingitasapunishmentfor
their transgressions.
This is also reflected in cyberspace.
Outspokenwomenarenaturaltargetsof sex-
ually-charged threats online. Most women
can testify to personal experiences of online
sexual harassment, sometimes serially.
Despitetheperpetratorsbeingrepeatoffend-
ers, the usual recourse left to the victims is to
remove themselves from the groups and
communities. The perpetrators are seldom
held accountable for their actions after ha-
rassingmultiplewomen,insteadareenabled
by benevolent community members, who
somehow seem to consider rape threats and
jokes to women as affable and harmless fun.
Unless one experiences it first-hand, it is
hard to understand the extent of damage re-
lentless virtual harassment can inflict.
Womenwhohaveirkedthereligious/nation-
alist right have suffered sustained violent
threatsof lynching,rapeanddeath.Trollsusu-
allyoutcompeteeachothertryingtodescribe
innovative ways deviant women should be
mutilated and violated for the opinions they
dare to express. By and large, Indians on so-
cial media have adapted and learned to take
this in their stride. Despite increasing media
coverage,actualactionstakenagainstperpe-
trators are few and far in between. The onus
is on women to steer clear of trouble or face
the music.
The public outrage in this instance is
probably because no one expected educated
boys from the best city schools to act like in-
ternet trolls. Whether it is a rational assump-
tion will probably stay unasked. There is also
some effort to explain away such behaviour
as displays of teenage desire. Since sociobi-
ology became fashionable in the 1960s, a lot
of research effort was directed to explain vi-
olent behaviour by biological determinism.
Testosterone, the warrior gene, the super
male,allreceiveddisproportionatemediaat-
tention and most were later disproved, ei-
ther partially or fully, by more careful, con-
trolled research. But in popular
consciousness, testosterone became one
with violent male aggression, especially if it
was sexually fuelled.
Let us explore a few popular myths, and
weigh them against factual evidence.
First,educatedboysfromgoodfamiliesdo
Science with heritage
NDA government is trying to align Ayurveda with modern knowledge
Balendu Prakash
AYURVEDA SHOULD have become the fore-
runner of India’s great medical heritage, but
we started despising our culture, heritage,
and scientific traditions. As a result, people
in the country lost their connection with
nature — ayurveda went away from us. For
many years, when India wasn’t free, numer-
ous attempts were made to destroy the
country’s cultural heritage.
But even after Independence, successive
governments did not give special attention
to ayurveda. After the Narendra Modi gov-
ernment assumed office, the task of reviv-
ing this system of knowledge got a new
lease of life. The Centre has undertaken sev-
eral initiatives in this respect.
Ayurveda is not just a medical system, it
is a manifestation of our symbiotic relation-
ship with nature. It has helped cure serious
diseases and many foreign companies have
patented important ingredients used in
ayurvedic remedies. But they have intro-
duced these ingredients to the world with-
out acknowledging ayurveda. In the
process, many such remedies have gone out
of our reach.
In his messages to the country, during
the course of the nation’s battle against
not abuse women.
All the boys so far connected to the group
arefromfourorfiveeliteschoolsof DelhiNCR
and Noida and purportedly hail from edu-
cated,socioeconomicallywell-to-dofamilies.
Contrarily, a large body of evidence suggests
social privilege and power confers entitle-
mentandimpunityinIndiansocialstructures.
The brazen casualness with which sexual vi-
olence is bandied around is likely a product
of these.
Second, boys will be boys. Or, blame it on
testosterone.
Yes, testosterone has been linked with
male aggression. Male aggression is a hall-
mark of primate societies like chimpanzees,
our closest ancestors whose social interac-
tionsarerifewithviolenceagainstfemalesby
malesandalphadominance.However,genet-
ically speaking, we are equally similar to an-
other group of primates — the bonobos, who
haveafeministandegalitariansociety.So,the
idea that violence is hard-wired in human
males is deeply flawed.
Behaviourisdeterminedbyaninteraction
of biology and environment. About 12,000
years of cultural and cognitive evolution has
to be accounted for when it comes to social
behaviour.
Adolescencealonecannotexplainthecal-
lousness that is evident in the screenshots.
These adolescents could not have been insu-
lated from the media coverage around high-
profile rape cases or violent crimes commit-
tedagainstIndianwomen.Thattheyconverse
socasuallyaboutsexualviolenceandexpress
suchrabidmisogyny,whenconversationsare
exploding all around about gender and con-
sent is even more alarming.
Third, what is the problem with a bit of
good harmless fun?
Wrong question. Here are a few better
ones.Howisbrutalviolencesupposedtoelicit
fun, and how exactly is it harmless? Has any-
one tried to assess the trauma of the women
whosepictureshavebeenused?Wheredoes
this sort of entitlement on female bodies
come from? What makes one so utterly and
wilfullyignorantof consent?Howcansome-
oneimaginebrutallyviolatingapeerhemight
have known for months and derive pleasure
out of it? Have we normalised violence
against women to this extent that we now
add planning of gangrapes on women to ac-
ceptable discussion topics in Boys’ Locker
Rooms?Isthishowweplantofosterfraterni-
ties and coming of age rituals?
COVID-19, PM Modi has highlighted the
beneficial impacts of ayurvedic practices on
the immune system. These practices pre-
pare the body to take on this serious disease
without causing any side effect. Modi de-
serves praise for taking yoga into people’s
homes — he should also be lauded for bring-
ing ayurveda into the limelight.
In reviving ayurveda, PM Modi has tried
to make it more scientific and employment-
oriented. The Department of Ayurveda,
Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and
Homoeopathy (AYUSH) became a full-
fledged ministry in 2014. Modi’s efforts
have led to June 21 being declared as the
International Yoga Day. In 2016, the AYUSH
ministry declared Dhanteras, Dhanvantari
Pujan, celebrated a day before Diwali, as
Ayurveda Day.
Previous governments treated Ayurveda
in a step-motherly manner. The budget for
the development, promotion and dissemi-
nation of ayurveda was negligible com-
pared to that for the modern system of
medicine. But the Modi-led NDA govern-
ment has ensured adequate funding to the
AYUSH ministry. The budget for AYUSH,
only Rs 1,069 crore in 2014-15, has almost
All the boys so far connected
to the group are from four or
five elite schools of Delhi
NCR and Noida and
purportedly hail from
educated, socioeconomically
well-to-do families.
Contrarily, a large body of
evidence suggests social
privilege and power confers
entitlement and impunity in
Indian social structures. The
brazen casualness with
which sexual violence is
bandied around is likely a
product of these.
doubled to Rs 2,122 crore 2020-21.
The All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) was established in Delhi
in 1956. Before Modi became PM, there was
no dedicated space for ayurveda sciences
in the AIIMS campus. The Modi government
established the All India Ayurveda Institute
at a cost of Rs 157 crore in an area of about
10.015 acres in Delhi — this has given the
discipline a distinct identity.
The efforts of saints and scholars of
ayurveda did push the previous govern-
ments to establish the department of Indian
System of Medicine under the Union min-
istry of health. Posts up to the level of sec-
retary were also created for the department.
But it was never accorded the same impor-
tance as modern medicine.
PM Modi appointed an ayurvedic doc-
tor in place of an IAS officer as secretary of
AYUSH. The result of his visionary and
courageous decision has been extraordi-
nary. Rajesh Kotecha established new stan-
dards in education, medicine, and research
of ayurveda. His efforts have ensured that
the project for the scientific development
of Rasaushadhi, developed by my late
father Chandra Prakash between 1997
C R Sasikumar
Asparents,howdowehaltthistoxicmas-
culinity that is devouring our boys, and
throughthemcausingirreparabledamageto
girls? We cannot simply mark the boys in-
volved as deviants, mark them for punish-
ment,andmoveon.Everymajorrapecasein
India is followed by a public outcry to hang
therapist.Andhungtheyhave.Rapeaccused
beenkilledinpoliceencounters.Yetdatahas
consistently shown that the death penalty
does nothing to reduce violence against
women anywhere, anytime. Since India al-
lowedthedeathpenaltyincaseof rapes/gang
rapesinvolvingminors,theyhavebeenrather
liberally doled out in lower courts.
However, the recent incident is yet an-
other demonstration, the problem does not
end with hanging the “othered” rapist, be-
causerapeliveswithinus.Oursocietyenables
itandpermitsit,andpassivesilencestrength-
ens rape culture. This is rape culture, full and
frontal.
Two approaches are urgently needed.
Gender and sex education should be made
part of the primary school curriculum.
Schoolsneedtourgentlyconductcyber-bul-
lying, gender sensitisation and gendered-
abuseworkshopswithparents,teachersand
students regularly. I entreat especially the
parentsof boystoabolishthesenseof entitle-
mentwhichiscommontoeveryIndianmale
child. Rather than telling our girls to stay
home andcover themselves up,tellour boys
not to rape. We should teach children the
meaningof consent.Allof theabovewillstill
fail if parents do not lead by example. Indian
men have largely not grown up witnessing
any form of gender equity, rather the oppo-
site.Childrenlearnbyimprintingandmodel-
ling behaviours they see in adults around
them.Itiscrucialtobreakgenderstereotypes
if respect across genders is to be fostered in
children. Stereotyping creates precisely the
hierarchyinthefamily,wherethepositionof
one gender subsumes the other.
Mysincerehope,asauniversityeducator,
citizen and parent is that we will take our
share of responsibility for this collective fail-
ure.Weneedtoactnow,nudgepolicymakers,
and schools, to ensure that our children re-
ceivegendereducationfromearlyon.Unless
weacknowledgetheflourishingrapeculture
all around, safety and dignity will be a long
way off for Indian women.
The writer is assistant professor of
psychology, Ashoka University
and 2000, is being implemented after 20
years. This treatment has been found to be
an effective cure for acute
promyelocytic leukaemia, a type of blood
cancer.
PM Modi has also made his intentions
clear in the latest episode of Mann Ki Baat.
His efforts have created awareness among
people about ayurveda. The prime minis-
ter has also encouraged the practitioners of
ayurveda to combine the fundamental prin-
ciples of the system with some of the diag-
nostic methods and standards of modern
medical science. This will undoubtedly cre-
ate many employment opportunities.
The teachings of Swami Vivekananda
have left an indelible mark on PM Modi.
Swamiji wanted India to become a world
guru. By supporting ayurveda, and reiter-
ating its importance in the fight against the
pandemic and other diseases, PM Modi has
taken important steps to fulfill
Vivekananda’s vision. We wish him and all
of us a prosperous, proud, and empowered
India.
The writer is an Ayurveda practitioner.
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
Taxpayers have a right to know how and where their money is being spent in the
efforts to buy ventilators, masks and other essential supplies... While the work
of government continues, citizens are losing a fundamental right to
transparency. That’s a threat to good government and democracy.
The Kerala
way
State’sinvestmentinsocialsectorsishelping
combatCovid-19.Itmustbuildongains,
turncrisisintoopportunity
John Brittas
KERALA IS an outlier among other Indian
states in terms of social indices and its suc-
cess is often touted as an “experience” or
a “lesson”. The Kerala story has been
widely talked about even by scholars such
as Amartya Sen. There is a renewed sense
of pride among a large section of people
in Kerala that the state’s social indicators
are at par with those of Nordic countries
and that the state has outsmarted even
rich Western countries in combating
COVID-19.
How is it that Kerala could effectively
combat COVID-19 when the world at large
appeared ill-prepared to respond to this
health emergency? Kerala has the lowest
mortality rate as well as the highest recov-
ery rate with respect to coronavirus infec-
tions. The initial statistical projection of
cases and deaths became redundant due
to the organic method adopted by Kerala.
The number of tests conducted in Kerala is
just 10 per cent of the figures for countries
such as the US. But aggressive contact trac-
ing and keeping a large number of people
under observation helped Kerala in pre-
venting community spread. Ninety per
cent of the positive cases were detected
among people who were kept under
observation.
Comparative analysis will invariably
become the premise for understanding
the experiences of various countries. The
experiences of New York and Kerala are
compared to highlight the stark difference
in the approach of two systems. The pop-
ulation of Kerala is 33 million whereas
that of New York is 19 million. The per
capita income of Kerala is $2,937 while
that of New York state is $88,981. There
are 1.8 hospital beds for every 1,000 peo-
ple in Kerala whereas the corresponding
figure for New York is 3.1 beds. Kerala has
1.7 doctors per 1,000 persons, New York
is credited with 3.8 doctors. However, the
total corona positive cases in Kerala as on
May 11 was 512 and the state had reported
just four deaths. On the corresponding
date, New York had over 3.4 lakh corona
positive cases with more than 27,000
deaths. The credit should go to Kerala’s ro-
bust local governance, effective social
structure and well-knit multi-layered
public health structure. The state may be
a laggard in industrial production, but its
human development indices are stellar.
The world is once again discussing the
Kerala story. It has acquired a halo thanks
to its efficiency and resilience in success-
fully battling infectious diseases and nat-
ural calamities over successive years. In
recent years, the state government, in
close collaboration with its people, man-
aged to minimise human and economic
losses due to floods, the Nipah virus out-
break and now the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unsurprisingly, the results have attracted
worldwide attention. Kerala is now a topic
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
PROTECT WORKERS
THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Don’t call
it reform’ (IE, May 12). It rightly points
out the so-called reform in labour laws
that industry and government want to
implement. This approach will deni-
grate the life of the true nation builders
— workers. In fact, some industries
mete out cruel treatment to workers,
particularly in the unorganised sector.
Abysmal wages and overwork in unhy-
gienic, unsafe conditions make the life
of employees unbearable. Any move to
increase working hours will take a toll
on employees’ mental and physical
health. Governments should not take
any hasty decisions on labour laws.
Sarjerao Narwade, Sangli
UNFAIR FARE
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Back on
the rails’ (IE, May 12). The recent
resumptionof passengertrains is astep
in the right direction as the railways are
thelifelineof ournation.Butastheprice
of fuel in the international market has
decreased dramatically, the fact that
train fares have not come down in
proportion is disappointing. Given that
the common man is suffering from a
shortage of funds due to the economic
crisis brought on by COVID-19, their
mobility should be enabled, not made
unaffordable. This will only help the
economy.
Aamil Lodhi, Gandhinagar
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— THENEW YORKTIMES
of discussion worldwide — on TV chan-
nels and in mainstream newspapers of all
ideological persuasions, and in seminar
rooms.
We say in a lighter vein that Kerala
consumes a heavy dose of politics. Indeed,
politics pervades all aspects of life in the
state. A positive aspect of this is that there
is a close interconnect between the layers
of administration and people. Real-time
auditing, which becomes handy when
mammoth exercises, like fighting a pan-
demic, is in place in the state.
The Left has always been decried for
its redistribution-oriented economic
model and blamed for its “skewed” nur-
turing of the public sector. The Left
Democratic Front governments have al-
ways laid emphasis on public education
and public health. Official numbers from
the period — whenever the Left has been
in office — confirm a preference for state-
run institutions over private enterprises.
Since people have gained massively from
such measures, even the rival political for-
mation would not dilute the Left’s people-
centric policies for fear of a popular back-
lash when it is elected to office.
The message from Kerala is that the
world should be prodded to do business
in the state, especially in sectors such as
tourism, hospitality, education, health,
biotechnology and IT. Kerala’s weather,
friendly people, stable law and order are
clearly pluses for investors. There are mil-
lions of people across the world who are
curious about this small patch of land and
they can be induced to have an interface
with state. Moreover, the entrepreneur-
ship of those Malayalis who would be re-
turning with vast expertise and experi-
ence, can be channelised for productive
purposes. Take the tourism sector. If each
Malayali brings one tourist home, the loss
the state suffered on account of the pan-
demic can be compensated to a large ex-
tent.
It is not an exaggeration to say that
Malayalis get an adrenaline rush during a
crisis and plunge into humanitarian ef-
forts. But he or she often squanders op-
portunities to make the state proud on
normal occasions. This is another Kerala
paradox! The Malayali has a penchant to
dwell on controversies, which often result
in administrators and decision-makers
wasting their time over trivial matters.
Paul Antony, a former chief secretary of
Kerala, once said the only industry that
was thriving in the state was that of con-
troversy!
Kerala cannot afford to the miss new
opportunities coming its way in this fast-
changing world unless it wants to miss the
bus of progress and development. Late US
President John F Kennedy is reported to
have said: “The Chinese use two brush
strokes to write the word‘crisis’. One brush
stroke stands for danger; the other for op-
portunity.Inacrisis,beawareof thedanger
—butrecognisetheopportunity.”Kennedy
mayhavemisunderstoodtheChinesechar-
acters, but Kerala should lean on the sec-
ond brush stroke he spoke about and turn
the present adversity into opportunity.
The writer is managing director of Kairali
TV, and media advisor to the Chief
Minister of Kerala
IDEAS
ONLINE
ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
● THE IDEA OF SOUTH
ASIA:SANJAY KATHURIA
● REIMAGININGWORK
AND FAMILY:
GITANJALI PRASAD
www.indianexpress.com
SEE THEM
THISREFERSTOthearticle,‘Anolderin-
justice’ (IE May 12). Even though there
are 41 million migrant labourers in
India,themediaseldomhighlightstheir
issues on a regular basis. Little is being
done to alleviate their suffering, caused
by the lockdown. The main problem is
our collective failure to see them as hu-
man beings with dignity and inalien-
able rights. In normal times, we conve-
niently view them through the lens of
being cheap labour, remittance
providers, and perpetrators of crime.
The first step in ending their present
misery is to recognise them as our less
fortunate brothers and sisters.
Sunil Macwan, Ahmedabad
 12
U.P.R.V.U.N.L. TENDER NOTICE HARDUA-
GANJ THERMAL POWER STATION
SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, OPERA-
TION & MAINTENANCE CIRCLE- I, DTPS,
HTPS, KASIMPUR 1. E-Tender Notice No.
ET-13/O&MC-I/OG&CD/DTPS/HTPS/2019-
20, (Tender Id: 2020_RVUNL _ 441604_1)
Name of Work: “Round the clock operation,
daily Routine & preventive and Breakdown
maintenance of Chlorination plant OG&CD,
DTPS, HTPS Kasimpur.” for a period of one
year Estimated Cost: 9,52,736.00 (Rs. Nine
Lakh Fifty Two Thousand Seven Hundred
Thirty Six Only), Earnest Money: Rs.
19,000.00 (Rs. Nineteen Thousand Only),
Tender Cost: Rs. 1180.00, Extended due
date of Submission of e-Bid (Technical &
Financial) at e-procurement website
http://etender.up.nic.in : 26.05.2020 upto
14:00 Hrs., Extended due date of Submission
of Hard Copy of all the requisite documents,
in the office of Undersigned: 28.05.2020 up to
14:00 Hrs. Tender shall be opened on
Extended date: Part–A: 28.05.2020 at 16:00
Hrs. and Part-B: shall be intimated later.
NOTE: (1) The details for submission of bids
are available in the bid document uploaded
on the e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in (2) The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-Tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 2. E-Tender Notice No.
ET-14/O&MC-I/OG&CD/DTPS/HTPS/2019-
20, (Tender Id: 2020_RVUNL _ 441626_1)
Name of Work: “Works of Laying of
Acid/Alkali resistance bricks/Tiles including
Pointing with edge preparation, mastic lining
etc. & all other related works in Neutralizing
Pit & H2SO4 unloading area of DM plant, dur-
ing overhauling of Unit # 8 & 9 of HTPS,
Kasimpur” Estimated Cost: Rs. 14,53,212.00
(Rs. Fourteen Lakh Fifty Three Thousand
Two Hundred Twelve Only), Earnest Money:
Rs. 29,000.00 (Rs. Twenty Nine Thousand
Only), Tender Cost: Rs. 1715.00, Extended
due date of Submission of e-Bid (Technical &
Financial) at e-procurement website
http://etender.up.nic.in : 26.05.2020 upto
14:00 Hrs., Extended due date of Submission
of Hard Copy of all the requisite documents,
in the office of Undersigned: 28.05.2020 up to
14:00 Hrs. Tender shall be opened on
Extended date: Part–A: 28.05.2020 at 16:00
Hrs. and Part-B: shall be intimated later.
NOTE: (1) The details for submission of bids
are available in the bid document uploaded
on the e-procurement website: http://
etender.up.nic.in (2) The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-Tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. Superintending
Engineer, Operation & Maintenance Circle-
IV, Hdj. ‘D’ T. P. S., Kasimpur, 3. Tender No.
ET-05/O&MC-IV/EMD-I/Hdj.‘C’T.P.S./2020-
21 “Grass Cutting of 220/132KV Switchyard,
HTPS, Kasimpur as per scope of work,” for
the period of one year” Estimated Cost Rs. 2,
84,880.00 Earnest Money: Rs. 5,700.00 Cost
of tender document: Rs.300.00 + Rs.54.00
(GST) = Rs. 354.00 Opening date of tender
are as below:-Due date of Submission of e-
Bid (Technical & Financial) at e-procurement
website http://etender.up.nic.in: 15.06.2020
up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of depositing
Tender Cost through RTGS (in the HTPS
Account) & Earnest Money through RTGS (in
the HTPS Account)/ BG up to dated:
15.06.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs. due date of sub-
mission of hard copy of all the requisite doc-
uments in the office of undersigned maximum
on dated: 17.06.2020. Tender opening date,
Part–A: 17.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. NOTE: (1)
The details for submission of bids will be
available on e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in w.e.f. 18:00 Hrs.
dated: - 11.05.2020. (2) The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-Tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 4. Tender No. ET-06
/O&MC-IV/EMD-I/Hdj.‘C’TPS/2020-21,
Technical Audit of Generators, GTs,
220KV/132KV Switchyard & 6.6KV Electrical
System of U#7, U#8 & U#9 of Harduaganj
TPS”as per scope of work, for the period of
one year” Estimated Cost Rs. 22, 70,000.00
Earnest Money: Rs. 45400.00 Cost of tender
document: Rs.2300.00 + Rs.414.00 (GST) =
Rs.2714.00 Opening date of tender are as
below:-Due date of Submission of e-Bid
(Technical & Financial) at e-procurement
website http://etender.up.nic.in: 16.06.2020
up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of depositing
Tender Cost through RTGS (in the HTPS
Account) & Earnest Money through RTGS (in
the HTPS Account)/ BG up to dated:
16.06.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs. due date of sub-
mission of hard copy of all the requisite doc-
uments in the office of undersigned maximum
on dated: 18.06.2020. Tender opening date,
Part–A: 18.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs.NOTE: (1)
The details for submission of bids will be
available on e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in w.e.f. 18:00 Hrs.
dated: - 11.05.2020. (2) The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-Tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 5. Tender No. ET-
63/O&MC-IV/EMD-I/Hdj.‘C’T.P.S./2019-20,
Service support for checking & monitoring of
different equipments of 220KV/132KV
Switchyards, MCR & Unit#7 during odd hours
i.e. 16:00 Hrs. to 08:00 Hrs. in two shifts”
(From 16:00Hrs to 00:00Hrs & From
00:00Hrs to 08:00Hrs)”as per scope of work,
for the period of one year” Estimated Cost
Rs. 7, 30,000.00 Earnest Money: Rs.
14,600.00 Cost of tender document:
Rs.800.00 + Rs.144.00 (GST) = Rs.944.00
Opening Extended date of tender are as
below:-Now Extended due date of
Submission of e-Bid (Technical & Financial)
at e-procurement website http://etender.
up.nic.in: 26.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs., Due
date of depositing Tender Cost through
RTGS (in the HTPS Account) & Earnest
Money through RTGS (in the HTPS Account)/
BG up to dated: 26.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs.
Extended due date of submission of hard
copy of all the requisite documents in the
office of undersigned maximum on dated:
28.05.2020. Tender opening date, Part–A:
28.05.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. NOTE: (1) The
details for submission of bids will be already
available (ID No. 2020_ RVUNL_456618_1)
on e-procurement website: http://etender.
up.nic.in w.e.f. 18:00 Hrs. dated: -
01.04.2020. (2) The bidders are required to
be registered with U.P. Electronics
Corporation, Ashok Marg, Lucknow by
depositing requisite fees for participation in
the e-Tendering. The bidder must also be
registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. SUPERITENDING
ENGINEER, ELECTRICITY CIVIL MAINTE-
NANCE CIRCLE, Kasimpur 6. Tender No.
71/ECMC/ECMD-II/HTPS/2019-20, Name of
work “Construction of R.C.C. drain in the nala
near watch tower no. 02, approach road to
watch tower no. 02, connecting of discharge
line of S.T.P. to E.T.P. & foundations of differ-
ent crushers in C.H.P. 2X250 M.W. along with
construction of room at HTPS, Kasimpur,
Aligarh, (U.P.)”. Estimated cost 14.55 Lac,
Earnest money 30,000.00, E-Tender cost Rs.
1500.00+270 GST( 18%) = Rs. 1770.00.
Tender extended date extended Last date
and time for submission of e-bid
http://etender.up.nic.in) 15.06.2020 up to
14:00 Hrs., e-bid extended date/time for
Opening (Part-I) 16.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. or
later. Time of Completion- 06 Month. 7.
Tender No. 72/ECMC/ECMD-II/HTPS/2019-
20, Name of work “Providing & replacement
of False Ceiling and making partition above
false Ceiling in U.C.R. of 2x250 MW, HTPS,
Kasimpur, Aligarh, (U.P.)”. Estimated cost
28.94 Lac, Earnest money 58,000.00, E-
Tender cost Rs. 2900.00+522 GST (18%) =
Rs. 3422.00. Tender extended date extended
Last date and time for submission of e-bid
http://etender.up.nic.in) 26.05.2020 up to
14:00 Hrs., e-bid extended date/time for
Opening (Part-I) 27.05.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. or
later. Time of Completion- 12 Month. 8.
Tender No. 77 /ECMC/ECMD-II/HTPS/2019-
20, Name of work “SUPPLY & SERVING OF
TEA ETC. IN CONFERENCE ROOM in
2X250 MW HTPS, KASIMPUR”. Estimated
cost 4.58 Lac, Earnest money 9,000.00, E-
Tender cost Rs. 500.00+90 GST( 18%) = Rs.
590.00. Tender extended date extended Last
date and time for submission of e-bid
http://etender.up.nic.in) 11.06.2020 up to
14:00 Hrs., e-bid extended date/time for
Opening (Part-I) 12.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. or
later. Time of Completion- 12 Month. 9.
E.Tender No. 78/ECMC/ECMD-II/HTPS/
2019-20, Name of work- “SWEEPING/
CLEANING OF OFFICE AND TOILETS OF
ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING, ACCOUNT
BUILDING AND SAFTY AND TRANSPORT
DIVISISION BUILDING OUT SIDE POWER
HOUSE & CLEANING, SWEEPING OF
ROADS INCLUDING SIDE PATTERIES,
REMOVAL OF VEGETATION, DISPOSAL
OF MALWA & RUBBISH HTPS KASIMPUR,
ALIGARH, (U.P.)”. Estimated cost 6.33 Lac,
Earnest money 13000.00, Tender cost
Rs.600.00+108.00 GST( 18%) = Rs. 708.00.
Tender extended date extended Last date
and time for submission of e-bid http://
etender.up.nic.in) 11.06.2020 up to 14:00
Hrs., e-bid extended date/time for Opening
(Part-I) 12.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. or later.
Time of Completion- 12 Month. SUPERIN-
TENDING ENGINEER,OPERATION &
MAINTENANCE CIRCLE-II, ‘D’TPS, KASIM-
PUR (ALIGARH) 10- E-Tender Notice No.
ET-05/BMD/CTPS/O&MC-II/19-20,“Work of
Insulation and Refractory in different areas
(Boiler furnace Ist & IInd pass, Pipes, Bends,
Valves, Ducts etc) of Boiler, Milling & Fan
system of Unit-7 -htps-kasimpur-aligarh for a
period of one year” Estimated Cost Rs.
4,04,864.00, Earnest Money Rs. 8,100.00,
Cost of Tender document Rs. 500.00 +900.00
(GST) = Rs. 590.00 . Extended date of tender
are as below:-Due date of Submission of e-
Bid (Technical & Financial) at e-procurement
website http://etender.up.nic.in
27.05.2020 upto 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
depositing Tender Cost through RTGS (in the
HTPS account) & Earnest Money through
RTGS (in the HTPS account)/B.G.:
27.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
submission of hard copy of all the requisite
documents in the office of undersigned:
29.05.2020, Tender Opening Date: Part–I
29.05.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note: 1- The details
for submission of bids are available w.e.f dt-
23/10/2019 at 09:00 Hrs. in the bid document
uploaded on the e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in 2- The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 11- E-Tender Notice No.
ET-06/BMD/CTPS/O&MC-II/19-20,“Work of
De-scaling of pressure parts & removal of
soot from heating surface of boiler by steam
blowing through wall blower/long retractable
soot blower (LRSB) and their preventive
maintenance of boiler of Unit No-7-htps-
kasimpur-aligarh for a period of one year”
Estimated Cost- Rs- 2,28,975.00, Earnest
Money- Rs- 4,600.00, Cost of Tender docu-
ment –Rs- 500.00 +90.00 (GST) = Rs.
590.00 . Extended date of opening are as
below:Due date of Submission of e-Bid
(Technical & Financial) at e-procurement
website http://etender.up.nic.in
27.05.2020 up-to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
depositing Tender Cost & Earnest Money
through RTGS (in the HTPS account):
27.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
submission of hard copy of all the requisite
documents in the office of undersigned:-
29.05.2020, Tender Opening Date: Part–I:
29.05.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note: 1- The details
for submission of bids are available w.e.f.
30.11.2019 at 17:00 Hrs. in the bid document
uploaded on the e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in 2- The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 12- E-Tender Notice No.
E T- 0 6 / T M D / C T P S / O & M C - I I / 1 9 - 2 0 ,
“Repairing of servomotors (Bore Machine,
Honning and fitting of Bronze Bush) by main-
taining clearance Unit-7 and when required
basis date of tender are as below:- ”
Estimated Cost Rs. 135700-00, Earnest
Money Rs. 2750.00 Cost of Tender document
Rs. 300.00+54.00 (GST) = Rs. 354.00
Extended date of tender are as below:-Due
date of Submission of e-Bid (Technical &
Financial) at e-procurement website
http://etender.up.nic.in : 27.05.2020 upto
14:00 Hrs., Due date of depositing Tender
Cost & Earnest Money through RTGS (in the
HTPS account).: 27.05.2020 up to 14:00
Hrs., Due date of submission of hard copy of
all the requisite documents in the office of
undersigned: 29.05.2020, Tender Opening
Date: Part–I 29.05.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note:
1- The details for submission of bids are
available w.e.f. 22-01..2020 at 09:00 Hrs. in
the bid document uploaded on the e-procure-
ment website: http://etender.up.nic.in 2-
The bidders are required to be registered with
U.P. Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 13- E-Tender Notice No.
ET-08/ O&MC- I I/ B MD /C T P S / 2 0 1 9 -2 0 ,“
Round the clock (Day & Night) lifting &
Shifting of Coal Mill reject spelled out from
pyrite hopper or from mill (at “0”meter) of Unit
No-7 to coal yard of old plant or other speci-
fied place within the HTPS plant through trac-
tor trolley” for a period of one year under
Boiler Maintenance Division, Harduaganj
Thermal Power Station” Estimated Cost Rs.
8,82,750.00, Earnest Money Rs. 17,660.00
Cost of Tender document Rs. 900.00
+162(GST) = Rs. 1062.00 Extended date of
opening are as below: Due date of
Submission of e-Bid (Technical & Financial)
at e-procurement website http://etender.
up.nic.in : 27.05.2020 up-to 14:00 Hrs., Due
date of depositing Tender Cost through
RTGS (in the HTPS account) & Earnest
Money through RTGS (in the HTPS
account)/B.G: 27.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs.,
Due date of submission of hard copy of all the
requisite documents in the office of under-
signed:-29.05.2020, Tender Opening Date:
Part–I: 29.05.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note: 1- The
details for submission of bids will be available
w.e.f 10/02/2020 at 17:00 Hrs. in the bid doc-
ument uploaded on the e-procurement web-
site: http://etender.up.nic.in 2- The bidders
are required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 14- E-Tender Notice No.
E T- 1 8 / B M D - I / D T P S / O & M C - I I / 1 9 - 2 0 ,
“Deputation of supervisory services person-
nel (Ex-BHEL) for supervision during over-
hauling work of Boiler Pressure Part, HP/LP
valves including Safety Valves, APH & ESP
during overhauling of Unit # 8, 2x250MW,
HTPS (Extn), Aligarh” for a period of one
year” under BMD-I ‘D’ TPS, Harduaganj
Thermal Power Station” Estimated Cost Rs.
6,15,000.00, Earnest Money Rs. 12,300.00,
Cost of Tender document Rs. 500.00 +90.00
(GST) = Rs. 590.00 Extended date of tender
are as below:-Due date of Submission of e-
Bid (Technical & Financial) at e-procurement
website http://etender.up.nic.in
30.05.2020 upto 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
depositing Tender Cost through RTGS (in the
HTPS account) & Earnest Money through
RTGS (in the HTPS account)/B.G.:
30.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
submission of hard copy of all the requisite
documents in the office of undersigned:
01.06.2020, Tender Opening Date: Part–I
01.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note: 1- The details
for submission of bids are available w.e.f.
24.10.2019 at 17:00 Hrs. in the bid document
uploaded on the e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in 2- The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 15- Tender No. ET-
19/BMD-II/DTPS/O&MC-II/19-20, Name of
Work: “Deputation of supervisory services
personnel (Ex-BHEL) for the supervision of
overhauling work of Bowl Mills (XRP-903),
Qty. 06 Nos., Gravimetric Raw Coal Feeders,
Qty.: 06 Nos. and ID/FD /PA/Seal Air Fans,
Qty.: 02 Nos. each, of U# 9, D’TPS, HTPS,
Kasimpur, Aligarh” for a period of one year
Estimated Cost: Rs. 1,88,940.00, Earnest
Money: Rs. 3,779.00, Tender Cost: Rs.
590.00 Extended date of tender are as
below:-Due date of Submission of e-Bid
(Technical & Financial) at e-procurement
website http://etender.up.nic.in
30.05.2020 upto 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
depositing Tender Cost through RTGS (in the
HTPS account) & Earnest Money through
RTGS (in the HTPS account)/B.G.:
30.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
submission of hard copy of all the requisite
documents in the office of undersigned:
01.06.2020, Tender Opening Date: Part–I
01.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note: 1- The details
for submission of bids are available w.e.f.
: 09.01.2020 at 17:00 Hrs. in the bid document
uploaded on the e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in 2- The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 16- Tender No. ET-
20/BMD-II/DTPS/O&MC-II/19-20, Name of
Work: “Deputation of supervisory services
personnel (Ex-BHEL) for the supervision of
overhauling work of Bowl Mills (XRP-903),
Qty. 06 Nos., Gravimetric Raw Coal Feeders,
Qty.: 06 Nos. and ID/FD /PA/Seal Air Fans,
Qty.: 02 Nos. each, of U# 8, D’TPS, HTPS,
Kasimpur, Aligarh” for a period of one year
Estimated Cost: Rs. 1,88,940.00, Earnest
Money: Rs. 3,779.00, Tender Cost: Rs.
590.00 Extended date of tender are as
below:-Due date of Submission of e-Bid
(Technical & Financial) at e-procurement
website http://etender.up.nic.in
30.05.2020 upto 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
depositing Tender Cost through RTGS (in the
HTPS account) & Earnest Money through
RTGS (in the HTPS account)/B.G.:
30.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
submission of hard copy of all the requisite
documents in the office of undersigned:
01.06.2020, Tender Opening Date: Part–I
01.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note: 1- The details
for submission of bids are available w.e.f.
: 09.01.2020 at 17:00 Hrs. in the bid document
uploaded on the e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in 2- The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 17- E-Tender Notice No.
E T- 2 5 / B M D - I / D T P S / O & M C - I I / 1 9 - 2 0 ,
“Overhauling work of HP/LP valves and safe-
ty valves of Unit # 9 ‘D’ TPS, Kasimpur” for a
period of one year” for a period of one year”
under BMD-I ‘D’ TPS, Harduaganj Thermal
Power Station” Estimated Cost Rs.
3,71,000.00, Earnest Money Rs. 7,500.00,
Cost of Tender document Rs. 400.00 + 72.00
(GST) = Rs. 472.00 Extended date of tender
are as below:- Due date of Submission of e-
Bid (Technical & Financial) at e-procurement
website http://etender.up.nic.in
30.05.2020 upto 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
depositing Tender Cost through RTGS (in the
HTPS account) & Earnest Money through
RTGS (in the HTPS account)/B.G.:
30.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
submission of hard copy of all the requisite
documents in the office of undersigned:
01.06.2020, Tender Opening Date: Part–I
01.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note: 1- The details
for submission of bids are available w.e.f.
11.01.2020 at 09:00 Hrs. in the bid document
uploaded on the e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in 2- The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 18- E-Tender Notice No.
E T- 2 7 / B M D - I / D T P S / O & M C - I I / 1 9 - 2 0 ,
“Deputation of supervisory services person-
nel (Ex-BHEL) for supervision during over-
hauling work of Boiler Pressure Part, HP/LP
valves including Safety Valves, APH & ESP
during overhauling of Unit # 9, 2x250MW,
HTPS (Extn), Aligarh” for a period of one
year” for a period of one year” under BMD-I
‘D’ TPS, Harduaganj Thermal Power Station”
Estimated Cost Rs. 6,15,000.00, Earnest
Money Rs. 12,300.00, Cost of Tender docu-
ment Rs. 600.00 + 108.00 (GST) = Rs.
708.00 Extended date of opening are as
below:- Due date of Submission of e-Bid
(Technical & Financial) at e-procurement
website http://etender.up.nic.in
30.05.2020 upto 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
depositing Tender Cost through RTGS (in the
HTPS account) & Earnest Money through
RTGS (in the HTPS account)/B.G.:
30.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
submission of hard copy of all the requisite
documents in the office of undersigned:
01.06.2020, Tender Opening Date: Part–I
01.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note: 1- The details
for submission of bids are available w.e.f.
11.01.2020 at 09:00 Hrs. in the bid document
uploaded on the e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in 2- The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. 19- E-Tender Notice No.
E T- 3 0 / B M D - I / D T P S / O & M C - I I / 1 9 - 2 0 ,
“Overhauling work of HP/LP valves and safe-
ty valves of Unit # 8 ‘D’ TPS, Kasimpur” for a
period of one year” for a period of one year”
under BMD-I ‘D’ TPS, Harduaganj Thermal
Power Station” Estimated Cost Rs.
3,29,000.00, Earnest Money Rs. 6,600.00,
Cost of Tender document Rs. 300.00 + 54.00
(GST) = Rs. 354.00 Extended date of open-
ing are as below:- Due date of Submission of
e-Bid (Technical & Financial) at e-procure-
ment website http://etender.up.nic.in :
30.05.2020 upto 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
depositing Tender Cost through RTGS (in the
HTPS account) & Earnest Money through
RTGS (in the HTPS account)/B.G.:
30.05.2020 up to 14:00 Hrs., Due date of
submission of hard copy of all the requisite
documents in the office of undersigned:
01.06.2020, Tender Opening Date: Part–I
: 01.06.2020 at 16:00 Hrs. Note: 1- The details
for submission of bids are available w.e.f.
11.01.2020 at 09:00 Hrs. in the bid document
uploaded on the e-procurement website:
http://etender.up.nic.in 2- The bidders are
required to be registered with U.P.
Electronics Corporation, Ashok Marg,
Lucknow by depositing requisite fees for par-
ticipation in the e-tendering. The bidder must
also be registered with their Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) in the e-bidding system,
after that the bidder can participate in bid
submission activity. Superintending
Engineer, MMC, HTPS, Kasimpur (Aligarh)
20- Tender No. & Name of Division: SET-
22/MMC/EPD/CTPS/HTPS/2020, Name of
Supply: Procurement of batteries for TMD-
CTPS and EMD-lll,HTPS,Kasimpur
Estimated cost: Rs 1,15,882.00, Earnest
money: Rs. 2500.00 , Tender cost: Rs 118.00
,Extended Last Date of submission of E-bid:
27.05.2020, Tender shall be opened on
Extended date: 28.05.2020
,29.05.2020 (Part-II) E-Tender
2020_RVUNL_ 432411_1 Eligibility
Conditions: Only manufacturers/their author-
ized dealers/ Experienced Supplier can par-
ticipate in this tender. 21- Tender No. & Name
of Division: ET-24/MMC/EPD/CTPS/
HTPS/2020, Name of Supply: Procurement
of liquid chlorine gas for WTP , DTPS,HTPS
,Kasimpur Estimated cost: Rs 6,00,000.00,
Earnest money: Rs. 12000.00 , Tender cost:
Rs 708.00, Extended Last Date of submis-
: 1.
sion of E-bid: 27.05.2020, Tender shall be
opened on Extended date: 28.05.2020 (Part-
I) ,29.05.2020 (Part-II) E-Tender ID
2020_RVUNL_ 432415_1 Eligibility
Conditions: Only manufacturers/their author-
ized dealers/ Experienced Supplier can par-
ticipate in this tender. 22- Tender No. & Name
of Division: ET-28/MMC/EPD/CTPS/
HTPS/2020, Name of Supply: Study chairs
and office chairs for Vidyut Parishad Kanya
Inter College (V.P.K.I.C),HTPS Estimated
cost: Rs 9,61,000.00, Earnest money: Rs.
20000.00 , Tender cost: 1062.00, Extended
Last Date of submission of E-bid:
27.05.2020, Tender shall be opened on
Extended date: 28.05.2020 (Part-I) ,
29.05.2020(Part-ll) E-Tender
2020_RVUNL_ 432421_1 Eligibility
Conditions: Only manufacturers/their author-
ized dealers dealers/Experienced Suppliers
can participate in this tender. Note: - For fur-
ther details please log on our web site i.e.
www.uprvunl.org / etender.up.nic.in. 23-
Tender No. & Name of Division: ET-
34/MMC/EPD/CTPS/HTPS/2020, Name of
Supply: Supply & Refilling of Carbon Dioxide
gas cylinders & Hydrogen gas cylinders for
HTPS,Kasimpur Estimated
Rs 8,69,972 .00, Earnest money: Rs.
18000.00 , Tender cost: Rs 944.00, Extended
Last Date of submission of E-bid:
27.05.2020, Tender shall be opened on
Extended date: 28.05.2020 (Part-I) ,
: 29.05.2020 (Part-ll) E-Tender
2020_RVUNL_ 457408_1 Eligibility
Conditions: Only manufacturers/their author-
ized dealers/ Experienced Supplier can par-
ticipate in this tender. 24- Tender No. & Name
of Division: ET-35/MMC/EPD/CTPS/
HTPS/2020, Name of Supply: Procurement
of general consumables & electrical spares
for HTPS,Kasimpur Estimated cost: Rs
3,55,787.00 , Earnest money: Rs. 7000.00 ,
Tender cost: Rs 354.00, Date of Starting of E-
bid submission: 13.04.2020 , Extended Last
Date of submission of E-bid: 27.05.2020,
Tender shall be opened on Extended date:
28.05.2020 (Part-I) , 29.05.2020(Part-ll) E-
Tender ID 2020_RVUNL_ 457409_1
Eligibility Conditions: Only manufacturers/
their authorized dealers/ Experienced
Supplier can participate in this tender. 25-
Tender No. & Name of Division: ET-
39/MMC/EPD/CTPS/HTPS/2020, Name of
Supply: Procurement of LT cables for
DTPS,HTPS,Kasimpur Estimated cost: Rs
6,86,080.00, Earnest money: Rs 13000.00 ,
Tender cost: Rs 708.00, Date of Starting of E-
bid submission: 11.05.2020 , Last Date of
submission of E-bid 06.06.2020,Tender shall
be opened on date: 08.06.2020 (Part-I)
09.06.2020(Part-II) E-Tender
:2020_RVUNL_ 464712_1 Eligibility
Conditions: Only manufacturers/their author-
ized dealers can participate in this tender. 26-
: vii. Cost of e-Bid Document
Tender No. & Name of Division: ET-
40/MMC/EPD/CTPS/HTPS/2020, Name of
Supply: Procurement of local purchase of
medicines for project hospital of HTPS,
Kasimpur for year 2020-2021,Estimated cost:
Rs 4,78,000.00 , Earnest money: Rs 9000.00
, Tender cost: Rs 590.00, Date of Starting of
E-bid submission: 11.05.2020 , Last Date of
submission of E-bid 06.06.2020,Tender shall
be opened on date: 08.06.2020 (Part-I)
09.06.2020(Part-II) E-Tender
:2020_RVUNL_ 467628_1 Eligibility
Conditions: As per the PQC mentioned in the
tender document. 27- Tender No. & Name of
D i v i s i o n : S E T- 1 5 0 / M M C / E P D / C T P S /
HTPS/2019, Name of Supply: "Design,
Manufacturing, Supply, Erectioning &
Testing” of Heavy Duty racking System in
Permanent Store Building of 1x660 MW ,
HTPS Estimated cost: Rs 28,29,000.00,
Earnest money: Rs. 56000.00 , Tender cost:
Nil, Extended Last Date of submission of E-
bid: 27.05.2020, Tender shall be opened on
Extended date: 28.05.2020
,29.05.2020 (Part-II) E-Tender
2019_RVUNL_412601_1 Eligibility
Conditions: Only manufacturers can partici-
pate in this tender. Note: - For further details
please log on our web site i.e.
http://etender.up.nic.in Superintending
Engineer (H.Q.) (Harduaganj
Kasimpur(Aligarh) U.P.R.V.U.N.L E-Tender
Notice E-Tenders are invited for the follow-
ings supply/works items in two parts. Part- I
shall contain Tender Cost/Earnest money and
: other necessary documents as per pre-quali-
fying conditions and Part -II will contain price
bid as per bill of quantity. Tender specification
may be downloaded from the website (http://
etender.up.nic.in) and other specification
details can be seen on Nigam website
www.uprvunl.org The contactors have to
submit the hard copy before the schedule
date/time in the concern office in sealed
envelope containing details of the tender
mentioned on the envelope. Tenders are
advised to send their hard copy directly to the
concerned tendering authority of the Circles/
Division. Who reserve the right to reject any
or all the tenders without assigning any rea-
son thereof. “Save Electricity Enhance
National Productivity” Superintending
Engineer(H.Q.) Harduaganj Thermal
Power Station Kasimpur (Aligarh ´fÂffaI
19/A²fe.Ad·f.(¸fb.)d½fÄff´f³f/I` ¸´f-1/(17)/20 dQ³ffaI 11.05.2020
´fdV¨f¸ffa¨f»f d½fôb°f
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
Rajasthan State Road Development And Construction Corporation Ltd., JAIPUR.
No. NIT/2020-21/769-78 Date: 11.05.2020
BÊ-d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ff Àfa£¹ff 015/ 20-21
d½f°fSX¯f d³f¦f¸f d»f. d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fûË IZ d»fE IZÔ ýi/ 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 ¸fZÔM
´fidIi ¹ff WZ °fb Afg³f»ffBʳf d³fd½fQf¹fZa Af¸fadÂf°f I e ªff°fe W` :-
d½f¢MXûdSX¹ff ´ffIÊY, ¸fZSXNX IYf¹fÊ IYf d½f½fSX¯f A³fb¸ffd³f°f SXfdVf (÷Y.)
Construction of Court Complex at Shahpura, Jaipur. UBN: RRC2021WLOB00025 579.42 Lac
d°fd±f d½fÀ°ffSX Àfc¨f³ff BÀf I f¹ffÊ»f¹f õfSf Construction of Court Building for CJ & JM and ACJ & JM, Phagi. Distt. Jaipur. 254.84 Lac
Af¸fadÂf°f I e ¦f¹fe A»´fI f»fe³f BÊ-d³fd½fQf UBN: RRC2021WSOB00024
Afg³f»ffBʳf d³fd½fQf ´fi´fÂf OfC³f»fûO I S³fZ I e A½fd²f dQ³ffaI 08.05.2020 ´fif°f: 09.00 ¶fªfZ ÀfZ 28.05.2020 Àff¹fa 6.00 ¶fªfZ °fI
Àfa£¹ff 07 ½f 08/ d½f. I f¹fÊVff»ff ¸fa./ ¸fZS N/ 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±ff
2020-21, ªfû dQ³ffaI 11.05.2020 I û http://roads.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS QZJf ªff ÀfI °ff W` Ü B¨Lb I Àfa½fZQI ûÔ I û A´f³fZ dOdªfM»f WÀ°ffÃfS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM
Jû»fe ªff³fe ´fiÀ°ffd½f°f ±fe, I e d°fd±f A´fdSWf¹fÊ http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS SdªfÀMOÊ I S½ff³ff Af½fV¹fI W` Ü ¸fWXf´fi¶fa²fIY
I fS¯fûÔ ÀfZ dQ³ffaI 23.05.2020 °fI d½fÀ°ffdS°f
I e ªff°fe W` Ü d³fd½fQf d½fdÄf´°f I e A³¹f d³f¹f¸f
E½fa Vf°fZË A´fdS½f°fʳfe¹f SWZ¦feÜ A²feÃf¯f
Ad·f¹f³°ff, d½fô°bf IYf¹fVÊff»ff ¸f¯OX»f,
´f.d½f.d½f.d³f.d»f. ¸fSZXNX, ´fÂffIaY 933/ d½f.
IYf¹fVÊff»ff ¸f.a/ ¸fSZXNX, dQ³ffIaY 12.05.2020
GOVERNMENT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR
SHER-I-KASHMIR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, SOURA
EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, MECHANICAL, SKIMS MC&H,
BEMINA & SKIMS, SOURA, SRINAGAR
Tel.: 0194-2402617, Ext.: 2159, E-mail: mechanicalskims@gmail.com
(Part-I)
ID Re-01
NOTICE INVITING E-TENDER
Gist of NIT No. 09 of 2020-21 Dated 11.05.2020
For and on behalf of Lt. Governor U.T. of Jammu & Kashmir, Executive Engineer, Mechanical,
SKIMS, Soura, Srinagar invites e-tenders from Original Manufacturers or their Authorized
Dealers/Authorized Representatives/ Registered Firms having experience in installation of Mechanical
Equipments in Govt. Institutions/Department, Detailed in the tender document for the following works:-
Sr. Name of the Work Estimated
No. Cost (In Lacs)
Supply, Installation, Testing and Commissioning of integrated Autoclave cum Shredder 142.00 Lacs
with three years comprehensive maintenance and allied works at SKIMS Soura.
The complete tender document is available at website: http://jktenders.gov.in. Interested Bidders/Tenderers
may view, download the e-Bid document, seek clarifications and submit their bids online upto the date and time
mentioned in the table below. Tender Document contains qualifying criteria for bidders. Specifications, Bills of
Quantities & Terms and conditions of the contract and other relevant details.
i. Date and Time of downloading/ Sale of Tender documents 13.05.2020 from 11.00 hours
(Starting Date)
ii. Date & Time of Bidding Queries/ clarification/Pre-Bid meet 20.05.2020 at 11.00 hours
iii. Last Date & Time of Bid uploading 03.06.2020 upto 16.00 hours
iv. Date of Submission of hard copies (Original EMD/DD for 05.06.2020 upto 14.00 hours
Document Fee)
v. Date & Time of Commercial/ Technical Bid (Cover-I) 06.06.2020 11.00 hours (or next
opening convenient day)
vi. Date & Time of Financial Bid (Cover-IInd) opening of the Shall be intimated separately
ID
qualifying Bidders
vii. Cost of e-Bid Document Rs. 7,000/- (Rupees Seven Thousand only)
viii. Amount of Earnest Money Deposit (CDR/FDR) Rs. 2,84,000/- (Rupees Two Lac & Eighty
Four Thousand only)
ix. Completion Time Six (06) months from the date of issue of LOI
or Allotment Order
x. Budget Head Demanded
No. SIMS 139 EX./MECH/-490/20-404-14-4633-36 Sd/- Executive Engineer
Dated: 11.05.2020 Mechanical, SKIMS.
cost:
Government of Jammu and Kashmir
SHER-I-KASHMIR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL
SCIENCES, SOURA
ID
EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, MECHANICAL, SKIMS MC&H,
BEMINA & SKIMS, SOURA, SRINAGAR
Tel.: 0194-2402617, Ext.: 2159, E-mail: mechanicalskims@gmail.com
NOTICE INVITING E-TENDERS
Gist of e-NIT No. 08 of 2020-21 Dated 11.05.2020
For and on behalf of Lt. Governor of U.T. of Jammu & Kashmir, Executive Engineer, Mechanical, SKIMS,
Soura, MC&H Bemina, Srinagar, invites Online e-bids in Two (02) cover systems from Original Lift
Manufacturers or their Authorized Dealers/ Authorized Representatives/ Registered and reputed Firms having
experience in installation of lifts in Govt. Institutions/Departments, detailed in the tender document for the fol-
lowing works.
Sr. Name of the Work Estimated Cost
No. (In Lacs)
1. Design, Supply, Installation, Testing, Inspection and Commissioning of Sixteen (16) 22.50
Passenger Elevator with three years comprehensive maintenance and allied works
for Nursing College at SKIMS, Soura.
The complete tender document is available at website: http://jktenders.gov.in. Interested Bidders/Tenderers
may view, download the e-Bid document, seek clarifications and submit their bids online upto the date and time
mentioned in the table below. Tender Document contains qualifying criteria for bidders. Specifications, Bills of
Quantities & Terms and Conditions of the contract and other relevant details.
i. Date and Time of downloading/ Sale of Tender documents 13.05.2020 (11.00 hrs.)
(Starting Date)
ii. Date & Time of Bidding Queries/ clarification/Pre-Bid meet 20.05.2020 upto 14.00 hours
iii. Last Date & Time of Bid uploading 03.06.2020 upto 11.00 hours
iv. Date of Submission of hard copies (Only Original EMD/ 05.06.2020 upto 14.00 hours
DD for Document Fee)
v. Date & Time of Commercial/ Technical Bid (Cover-I) 06.06.2020 11.00 hours (or next
ID
opening convenient day)
vi. Date & Time of Financial Bid (Cover-IInd) opening of the shall be intimated separately
qualifying Bidders
Rs. 1500/- (Rupees One Thousand & Five Hundred only)
viii. Amount of Earnest Money Deposit (CDR/FDR) Rs. 45,000/- (Rupees Forty FiveThousand only)
ix. Completion Time Six (06) months from the date of issue of LOI or
Allotment Order
x. Budget Head CAPEX Budget for the Year 2020-21
No. SIMS 139 EX./MECH/-439//20-395-403-4637-40 Sd/- Executive Engineer
Dated: 11.05.2020 Mechanical, SKIMS.
ID Government of Jammu & Kashmir
DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS MANAGEMENT (PURCHASE-2ND)
SHER-I-KASHMIR INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, SOURA (SGR)
NIT No: SIMS 11 (P-II) OF 2020
Dated: 11.05.2020
Sub: Abbreviated Notice Inviting e-tenders for outsourcing of Sanitation Services at
SKIMS, Soura, Srinagar.
For and on behalf of Lt. Governor UT of Jammu & Kashmir, through Director, Sher-I-Kashmir
institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, Srinagar, e-tenders are invited under two bid system from
(Part-I) registered agencies with good track record, manpower capacity and relevant experience of three
years or more towards providing Sanitation services in any govt./ Semi-govt. department/
ID
Institution/ reputed Public/ private organizations, for a period of two years, as per the scope of
work mentioned in the detailed NIT.
The detailed tender document containing scope of work and other terms & conditions is
available on www.jktenders.gov.in and complete bidding process will be online on said e-tender
portal as per following schedule:
TPS,
S.No. Description Schedule
01 Tender Fee Rs. 2000/-
02 Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) Rs. 5.00 Lakh
03. Date & time for downloading of tenders. From 12.05.2020 to 30.05.2020 upto 4.00 p.m.
04. Date & time for submission of online tenders. From 19.05.2020 to 30.05.2020 upto 4.00 p.m.
05. Date & time for opening of technical bids 01.06.2020 at 2.00 p.m.
Any clarification will be entertained from 12.05.2020 to 18.05.2020 on all working days during
office hours. No representation shall be entertained beyond the stipulated period.
The tender notice is also available on SKIMS website www.skims.ac.in (for reference only).
Complete bidding process will be online at www.jktenders.gov.in Technical and Price bids shall
have to be submitted in electronic format on the said tender portal and in no case be submit-
ted in physical form, unless demanded by SKIMS.
Director SKIMS reserves the right to accept/reject or cancel any tender or all tenders in full of part
thereof without assigning any reason.
The tenders should be submitted strictly in accordance with the provisions of the detailed eNIT.
NOTE: The Tender Fee/Earnest Money Deposit already prepared by the bidders against eNIT No.
SIMS 09 (P-II) of 2020 dated: 07.04.2020 shall be entertained for the instant tender.
No: SIMS 325 31/2019-976-84-4625-28 Sd/-
Dated: 11.05.2020 Asstt. Materials Management Officer (Purchase 2nd)
New Delhi

13 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
PANDEMIC
WATCH
A baby is given the
measles vaccine to a
baby in Tangerang,
Indonesia. AP
INDONESIA
Tollcrosses
1000,those
under45urged
toresumework
Jakarta: Indonesia's death
toll from the novel coron-
avirus passed the 1,000
mark on Tuesday, even as
authorities signalled they
were poised to ease some
socialrestrictionsaimedat
curbing the spread of the
virus in the country.
Despite social restrictions
scheduledtorununtilthe
end of May, the head of
Indonesia’s coronavirus
response taskforce Doni
MonardosaidonTuesday
that people under 45
wouldbepermittedtore-
turntoworkindesignated
sectors. The Indonesian
governmenthasbeencrit-
icised by epidemiologists
for pushing to prema-
turely ease social restric-
tions without compelling
evidence the country is
flatteningthecoronavirus
curve,orshowingaslower
rateofinfection. REUTERS
RUSSIA
Putin’s
spokesman
hospitalised
Moscow: Russian
PresidentVladimirPutin's
spokesmansaysheishos-
pitalized with the coron-
avirus. Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry
Peskov told the Interfax
news agency on Tuesday,
“Yes, I've gotten sick. I'm
beingtreated.”Peskov,52,
has been Putin's
spokesman since 2008,
but started working him
with in the early 2000s.
Russians who have the
virus but light or no
symptoms of illness are
allowedtostayhome,and
it wasn't immediately
clear if Peskov's hospital-
izationreflectsthegravity
of his condition or was an
extra precaution. AP
SPAIN
Two-week
quarantinefor
travellers
Madrid: Spain ordered a
two-week quarantine for
alltravellersarrivingfrom
abroadfromthisFridayin
a bid to curb the coron-
avirus as the country
emerges from a national
lockdown. Health emer-
gency coordinator
FernandoSimonsaidnow
that Spain had managed
to bring the outbreak un-
dercontrolandwasrelax-
ingitsinternalrestrictions
on movements, it was
time to control people
coming from other
countries. REUTERS
Day of violence: 40 killed in 2 Afghan attacks Pak reconstitutes minority commission
AGENCIES
KABUL, JALALABAD, MAY 12
GUNMEN DISGUISED as police
attacked a hospital in Kabul, on
Tuesday, killing 16 people in-
cluding two newborn babies
fromamaternityclinicrunbyin-
ternationalhumanitarianorgan-
isationDoctorsWithoutBorders.
In a separate attack the same
day, a suicide bomber struck the
funeral of a police commander,
attended by government offi-
cials and a member of parlia-
ment, in the eastern province of
Nangahar, killing at least24 peo-
Corona clusters across Asia
show fleeting face of victory
THE NEW YORK TIMES
NEW YORK, MAY 12
ASTHEworldconfrontsthepan-
demic, several nations in Asia
have been hailed for curbing the
spread within their borders. But
inthefaceof thecoronavirus,vic-
tory can be elusive and fleeting.
Andasseveralcountriesmake
moves to lift measures aimed at
slowing the spread of the coron-
avirus, officials from the World
Health Organization are urging
governments and the public to
maintain “extreme vigilance” to
avoid a new wave of infections.
Singapore, once a model for
its speed and efficiency in trac-
ing the contacts of infected peo-
ple, has seen its cases balloon to
more than 23,000 as the virus
spreadindormitoriesforforeign
workers.
Officials in Wuhan, the
Chinesecity where theoutbreak
began and which celebrated its
recent emergence from more
than two months in lockdown,
said it would test all 11 million
residents after six new cases
were confirmed this week.
The new cluster of cases, the
first recorded there since April,
were linked to a man who fell
sick in March but was nottested.
He recovered, then fell ill again
last month.
The notice ordering the test-
ing, which has not been made
public, was reported by The
Paper, a state media outlet.
Wuhan has already tested
large numbers of residents.
Many employers required that
Man behind N95 works
to make masks reusable
SRIRAM VEERA
MUMBAI, MAY 12
PETER TSAI couldn’t sleep. The
68-year-old Taiwan-born scien-
tist, world-famous as the man
behindthepresent-dayN95res-
pirator—thelastdefenceagainst
theCovid-19virusforhealthcare
workersaroundtheworld—had
retired last year.
However, this January, he
was flooded with emails and
phone calls that had a common
refrain: could he suggest a way
tomaketheN95maskreusable?
Since the masks could only be
usedonceinvulnerableenviron-
mentslikehospitalsbeforeitlost
its virus-stopping potency, the
world remembered him again.
Tsai decided to come out of
retirement and now believes
that he has cracked the case.
“Youknowthefunnyironyin
all this?” Tsai tells The Indian
Express from his home in the US.
“The charging technology that I
had used in 1992 to make N95
capture the virus was called
‘Corona charging’.”
Now, he was called to stop
the coronavirus. The technique
he used in 1992 was the electro-
static charging on the microfi-
bres on the mask that improved
the filter efficiency ten times, al-
lowingittostopthesub-micron-
sized microbes.
“I couldn’t sleep when the
callsandmailsstartedtopourin.
In fact, the last two months I
haven’t slept much, but now I
think I can relax a bit,” Tsai says.
“Heat treatment is the best of
thesolutionsthatIhavecomeup
with now. Heat the mask at 70
degrees for 60 minutes. That
should deactivate the virus, and
Security forces at a hospital in which 16 were killed. Reuters
ple and injuring 68. Authorities
said that toll could rise.
There was no immediate
Workers disinfect a nightclub in Seoul, South Korea, after authorities detected dozens of
coronavirus cases linked to club goers. Yonhap via Reuters
their workers be tested before
returning to their jobs last
month. The new round of test-
ing reinforces fears that the out-
break can re-emerge from hid-
den cases.
Morethan3,800peoplehave
died in the city, according to the
official tally. China has faced
questions about the accuracy of
its coronavirus numbers and
whether it has divulged the true
extent of its outbreak.
The head of the street com-
mittee for the area with the new
cluster was removed from office
for poor management after the
caseswerereported,thestate-run
Peter Tsai
make the mask resuable. There
are other solutions like steaming
etc but this heating holds the
mostpromise.FDAandothersare
looking at it now. There was talk
aboutusingUVraysbutIsuspect
itcandegradethepolypropylene
material of the mask.”
Tsai might have cracked the
puzzle in short time, but it had
taken him a long time to solve it
in 1992. “Five long years. We
knew it had to do something
withchargingthemicrofibreson
surface of the mask and we tried
everything.”
Tsai has always found a way
out of a crisis. The son of a poor
rice farmer, he had to struggle to
achieve his goals. “I worked for
five years after graduating col-
legeinTaiwanin1975.Wedidn’t
have much money at all. I had to
save up for travel and studies in
America. Iwas workingintextile
industryinqualitymanagement
when I realised that the country
lacked research and develop-
ment work. All we did was pro-
duction; technology and equip-
ment came from Japan or US or
Europe. I went to Kansas State
University to study.”
Heastonishedmanythereby
signing up for 500 credits,
though a PhD student only
claim of responsibility for either
attack. The Taliban, denied in-
volvement in both.
Xinhua news service reported.
In the north of China, the city
of Shulan near the Russian bor-
der has been declared “high-
risk” after 15 people were in-
fected, cases that were traced to
a 45-year-old woman. But how
she caught the virus is still un-
clear.
AndinSouthKorea,whichhas
been a pioneer in using technol-
ogyforcontacttracing,morethan
100 new cases have emerged af-
ter an infected man visited bars
and clubs in a Seoul nightlife dis-
trict. The mayor ordered
nightspots closed indefinitely.
The United States has yet to
needed 90 credits to graduate.
He took up courses across the
spectrum:mechanicalengineer-
ing, material engineering, elec-
trical engineering, chemical en-
gineering, physics and
mathematics. “I wanted a good
base in mathematics and be-
came a teaching assistant.”
That multi-discipline curios-
ity would later help him in forti-
fying the respirator.
“I didn’t invent the N95
mask.The charging methodthat
increased its filtration is my con-
tribution. I combined two tech-
nologies — melt blowing and
electrostatic charging — to pro-
ducealayerof melt-blownfabric
that is at the core of the respira-
tor mask.”
Melt blowing turns fibers
into nonwoven fabric with very
fine pores. The electrostatic
charging gives the fiber electric
charge that traps and stops the
sub-micronvirusesandbacteria.
“My initial respirators were for
constructionandpaintingwork-
ers and painting workers. It was
later used for healthcare mask.”
It’s now the major shield in
the Covid-19 world. In 2018, he
had come up with hydro tribo-
electrification process for air pu-
rifiers. “You apply the same to
N95 to reduce half its material
and importantly, it increases the
filtration ten times more.”
Tsai is a hero in the medical
worldnow.“Iamsogladthatmy
invention has helped to save
lives. You know some of my pro-
fessor friends jokingly say that I
should get a Nobel prize. You
know what I tell them? I should
get the ‘NoBelly’ prize as I have
lost all my stomach-fat due to
sleepless times in the last two
months,” he says.
OTHER TOP GLOBAL STORIES
Meanwhile, Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani said he
was ordering the military to
move to ‘offensive mode’, away
from a defensive stance it had
taken as part of efforts to reduce
violence in the war-ravaged
nation.
“In order to provide security
for public places and to thwart
attacks and threats from the
Taliban and other terrorist
groups,Iam orderingAfghanse-
curity forces to switch from an
activedefencemodetoanoffen-
sive one and to start their opera-
tions against the enemies,” he
said in a televised speech.
curb its outbreak, but already
scientists are warning that the
feared “second wave” could in-
stead consist of a series of
smaller waves breaking soon
across the country.
On Monday, Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the di-
rector-general of the W.H.O.,
warned that only a “slow, steady
lifting of lockdowns” could ease
economic pressure while keep-
ing infections at bay.
“Until there’s a vaccine, a
comprehensive package of
measures is our most effective
set of tools against the virus,”
he said.
‘WE DESERVE BETTER’
Nurses and nursing staff protest at the German Health Ministry in Berlin, demanding higher
pay and better working conditions on Tuesday, observed as International Nurse Day. Reuters
Sick man of Europe? Criticism
mounts as UK toll tops 40,000
ANDY BRUCE
LONDON, MAY 12
THE UNITED Kingdom's COVID-
19 death toll now exceeds
40,000, by far the worst yet re-
ported in Europe, raising more
questions about Prime Minister
Boris Johnson's handling of the
coronavirus crisis.
Figures published by the
Office for National Statistics for
England and Wales brought the
United Kingdom's official death
tollto38,289asof May3,accord-
ingtoaReuterstallyof deathreg-
istrations that also includes
Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Sincethen,atleast2,251peo-
SAJJAD HUSSAIN
ISLAMABAD, MAY 12
THE PAKISTAN government has
reconstituted a commission to
protect the rights of minorities,
including the Hindus, and pro-
mote inter-religious harmony in
the country, days after a human
rights report revealed that they
continued to face forced conver-
sions and persecution under the
controversial blasphemy laws in
2019.
The Human Right
Commission of Pakistan (HRCP),
in its annual report, on Thursday
The World
‘US not out of the woods’:
Fauci, CDC chief warn
against reopening too fast
THE NEW YORK TIMES
NEW YORK, MAY 12
DRROBERTRRedfield,thedirec-
torof theUS’sCentersforDisease
Control and Prevention, warned
theSenateHealthCommitteeon
Tuesday morning that “we are
not out of the woods yet”, a day
after President Donald Trump
declared, “we have met the mo-
ment, and we have prevailed”.
Dr Redfield was one of four
top health officials testifying re-
motely by video, three of which
areinsomeformof self-isolation
after exposure to a White House
official who tested positive for
the coronavirus, including Dr
Anthony S Fauci, the nation’stop
infectious disease expert.
Dr Fauci on Monday said he
would tell the panel that there
could be “needlesssuffering and
death” if the country opens pre-
maturely, but steered clear of
that language during the early
part of the hearing, instead say-
ing, “the consequences could be
really serious.” Mr. Trump has
pushed for states to reopen and
at times has encouraged people
to defy governors’ orders.
More than 80,000 people in
theUnited States have diedfrom
thevirus,andDrFaucicautioned
that the number is likely higher
andwillgrowevenmoreif some
areas if some areas of the coun-
try reopen prematurely.
“If that occurs there is a real
risk that you will trigger an out-
break that you may not be able
to control,” Dr Fauci said, adding
ple have died from Covid-19 in
English hospitals, according to
thelatestdailydata,bringingthe
true death toll as of Tuesday to
just over 40,000.
While different ways of
counting make comparisons
withothercountriesdifficult,the
figure confirmed Britain was
among those hit worst by a pan-
demic that has killed more than
285,000 people worldwide.
The data came a day after
Johnson set out a gradual plan to
get Britain back to work, includ-
ing advice on wearing home-
made face coverings — though
hisattempttoliftthecoronavirus
lockdown prompted confusion.
The leaders of the devolved
said that religious minorities re-
mainedunabletoenjoythefree-
dom of religion or belief guaran-
teedtothemunderthecountry’s
Constitution.
“FortheminorityAhmadiyya
community in Punjab, this in-
cludedthedesecrationof several
sites of worship. Both the Hindu
and Christian communities in
Sindh and Punjab continued to
report cases of forced conver-
sion,” it said.
The formation of the
National Commission for
Minorities was announced on
Monday by the Ministry of
Religious Affairs and Interfaith
New Delhi
Donald Trump stands next to coronavirus testing machines
in the Rose Garden at the White House on Monday. Reuters
that it would not only lead to
deaths but would set the eco-
nomic recovery back as well.
The two-hour hearing, be-
nignly titled “Covid-19: Safely
GettingBacktoWorkandBackto
School”, is the first chance law-
makershavehadtopubliclyques-
tiontheofficialsinCongresssince
Mr Trump declared a national
emergency two months ago.
The Trump administration
officials did not have a quick an-
swer to a question from Senator
Bernie Sanders, Independent of
Vermont, about whether a free
vaccine will be available for
everyone.Theassistantsecretary
for health, Adm. Brett P Giroir,
said people “should gain access
to it,” but that he was not in con-
trol of that aspect. “I will cer-
tainly advocate that everyone is
able to receive the vaccine re-
gardless of income or other cir-
cumstance.”
nations — Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland — said that ad-
vice given by Johnson only ap-
plied to England. They told peo-
ple to stay at home still.
Such a high UK death toll in-
creasesthepressureonJohnson.
Oppositionpartiessayhewastoo
slow to impose a lockdown, too
slow to introduce mass testing
and too slow to get enough pro-
tective equipment to hospitals.
In March, Britain's chief sci-
entific adviser said keeping
deaths below 20,000 would be
a "good outcome".
InApril,Reutersreportedthat
the government's worst
case scenario was a death toll
of 50,000. REUTERS
Harmony.
According to the ministry’s
notification,thecommissionwill
have six official and 12 non-offi-
cial members.
The number of members in
the commission earlier is not
clear as it was dormant.
The commission will formu-
late a proposal for development
of a national policy to promote
peace and interfaith harmony in
the country.
According to a report in the
Dawn newspaper, it will formu-
late proposals for amending
laws/policieswhicharereported
to be discriminatory towards re-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
White House orders
staff to wear masks
Washington: The White House
on Monday ordered all West
Wing employees to wear masks
at work unless they are sitting at
their desks, an abrupt shift in
policy after two aides working
near the president — a military
valet and the vice president's
spokeswoman — tested positive
for the coronavirus last week.
In an internal email obtained
by The New York Times, people
who work in the cramped quar-
ters around the Oval Office were
told that "as an additional layer
of protection, we are requiring
everyone who enters the West
Wing to wear a mask or face
covering."
Officials said the new re-
quirement was not expected to
apply to Mr Trump or to Vice
President Mike Pence. NYT
WHO sees
‘potentially
positive data’ on
virus treatments
EMMA FARGE
GENEVA, MAY 12
THE WORLD Health
Organization said on Tuesday
that some treatments appear to
belimitingtheseverityorlength
of the Covid-19 disease and that
itwasfocusingonlearningmore
about four or five of the most
promising ones.
“We do have some treat-
ments that seem to be in very
early studies limiting the sever-
ityorthelengthof theillnessbut
wedonothaveanythingthatcan
kill or stop the virus,” spokes-
woman Margaret Harris told a
briefing, referring to the body’s
so-calledSolidarityTrialof drugs
against the disease.
“We do have potentially pos-
itive data coming out but we
needtoseemoredatatobe100%
confident that we can say this
treatment over that one,” she
added, saying more research
was needed and planned.
Harris did not name the
treatments. Gilead Science Inc
GILD.O says its antiviral drug
remdesivir has helped improve
outcomes for Covid-19 patients.
The WHO official sounded a
note of caution around expecta-
tionsforavaccine,however,say-
ing coronaviruses in general are
“verytrickyviruses”thatare“dif-
ficult to produce vaccines
against”.
Harris said that the Americas
were the current “centre” of the
pandemic, although she also
noted rising cases in Africa.
However, she said the continent
had a “big advantage” over other
countries with little experience
of disease outbreaks. REUTERS
ligious minorities, recommend
steps to ensure maximum and
effective participation by the
members of minority commu-
nities in all aspects of life, ensure
effective participation and asso-
ciationof minoritycommunities
with their religious and cultural
festivals and celebrations.
The commission will also
lookintothegrievancesandrep-
resentations made by the mem-
bersof anyminoritycommunity.
Its terms of reference also in-
clude ensuring that worship
places of non-Muslim commu-
nities are preserved and kept in
a functional condition. PTI
 14 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020

E-TENDERING PRESS NOTICE

Executive Engineer, Civil Division No.
IV, Irrigation & Flood Control
Department Govt. of NCT of Delhi,
L.M. Bund Office Complex, Shastri
Nagar, Delhi-31 invites on behalf of
President of India online Percentage
rate tender from approved and eligible
contractors registered with of
Irrigation & Flood Control Department
upto 3.00 PM dated on 13.05.2020 for
the works:
H.O.A.: 2711 NON PLAN (REVENUE)
MAINTENANCE DRAINAGE
1. NIT No. 197/RE/CD-IV/IFC/2019-
20 (ID No. 2020_IFC_190504_1)
Name of work: Maintenance of roads
(main & internal), cleaning of parks,
parking area & all toilet blocks
belonging to I&FC Department at L.M.
Bund office Complex, Shastri Nagar,
Delhi For the period of Twelve
Months. Estimated Cost of Rs.
37,06,684/- Earnest Money Rs
74,134/- period of completion 365
days.
H.O.A.: 2711 NON PLAN (REVENUE)
MAINTENANCE DRAINAGE
2. NIT No. 10/EE/CD-IV/IFC/2019-20
(ID No. 2020_IFC_190300_1) Name
of work: Deployment of Security
guard at Gokalpur Site Store of Civil
Division No. IV, I&FC Department,
GNCTD, Delhi. Estimated Cost of
Rs. 7,40,822/- Earnest Money Rs.
14,816/- period of completion 365
days.
Note: 1) The enlistment of the
contractors should be valid on the last
date of opening of tender. In case only
the last date of opening of tender is
extended, the enlistment of contractor
should be valid on the original date of
Government of Jammu and Kashmir
opening of tenders. SKIMS MEDICAL COLLEGE-HOSPITAL
2) The following Scanned copies are
required to be uploaded:- S. No.1:- (i)
Bemina Srinagar Kashmir-190018
Registration certificate of the firm Department of Materials Management
I&FC department or any other Govt./ 0194-2493226, mmo@skimsmc.edu.in, Mobile: 9419710885
organization. (ii) Documents satisfying Sub: Invitation of Bids for supply of Personal Protective Equipment
eligibility criteria at para 1.2 (iv) (PPE Kits), N95 Masks and other disposable items for SKIMS
Employee EPF registration certificate MCH Bemina Srinagar, COVID-19 designated Hospital.
issued by concerned Govt.
Organization. (iii) Employee ESI Short Term Quotations are invited from the manufacturers &
registration certificate issued by authorized dealers for supply of Personal Protective Equipments (PPE
concerned Govt. Organization. (iv) Kits), N95 Masks, Disposable Gowns and Disposable Bed Sheets with
TAMIL NADU WATER SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE BOARD The agency should produce PAN No. Pillow Covers, as per the specifications attached as Annexure-A to com-
(copy to be attached) (v) GST bat COVID-19 pandemic. The quotation should reach the office of the
ADDENDUM/CORRIGENDUM registration certificate issued by Govt.
Extension of Tender Notice Medical Superintendent on or before 18.05.2020 upto 03.00 P.M.
(copy to be attached) (vi) The firm/ TERMS & CONDITIONS:
No. 01-1 / F. CWSS to 73 /2020/ SDO/ CE-TNJ/ dt.08.05.2020
agency must enclose certificate that
Sub: Providing Combined Water Supply Scheme to 73 rural habitations in Veppur union of Perambalur
his firm/ agency not blacklisted in any 1. The rates quoted must be F.O.R. to SKIMS MCH, Bemina Srinagar
District (Period of completion: 12 months, Trial run: 6 months and Paid maintenance:12 months) inclusive of all taxes and charges.
– Extension of tender Notice – reg.
Govt./Semi Govt./ PUC/ other
departments etc. (vii) Scanned copy of 2. Quote both Indigenous/ Imported brands.
Ref: 1. This Office IFB No. 01 /F.CWSS to 73 / 2020/ SDO/CE-TNJ/ dt. 07.04.2020. 3. The Quotationers shall submit quotations in two bid cover system: -
2. GO.Ms. No.217/ dated. 03.05.2020. EMD (Earnest Money Deposited).
***** (viii) Valid Mobile Number, WhatsApp I. Cover 1st containing technical specifications and other HIMACHAL PRADESH
The sale period, Last date of receipt and opening of tender in the reference 1st cited for the above Number and E-mail ID related documents along with sample. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
work is here by extended as below in continuation of the Govt. announcement of 144 extension due to S. NO.2- (i) Scanned copy of II. Cover 2nd containing price bid quoted for the item.
prevailing COVID -19 Virus spreading precautionary measures. Registration with Home Department 4. The bids shall be received in the office of Medical Superintendent e-Procurement Notice
Sl. No Description Extended up to GNCT of Delhi (ii) Audited balance on or before 18.05.2020 upto 03.00 P.M. INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)
sheet & Profit and Loss Account of 5. The bid date shall not be extended under any circumstances what- 1. The Executive Engineer HPPWD Chopal Distt. Shimla H.P. on behalf of Governor of H.P invites the
1 Date and time of Pre bid meeting 21.05.2020 at 11.00 A.M last three years (i) Copy of GST soever. online bids on item rate, in electronic tendering system, in 2 Cover System for the under mentioned work
2 The last date for Sale of Tender 29.05.2020 upto 5.45 P.M Registration/ upto date file returned 6. The bids shall be opened by the designated committee on from the eligible and approved contractors/Firms registered with HPPWD Department.
3 The last date for receipt of Tender 01.06.2020 upto 3.00 P.M roof. (iii) Scanned Copy of EMD (iv) 19.05.2020 at 02.00 P.M.
Scanned copy of ESI and EPF Sr. Name of Work Estimated EMD Cost of Eligible Class
4 Date & Time of opening of Tender 01.06.2020 at 3.30 P.M 7. The items shall be approved purely on the basis of sample/Brand.
registration. (v) Copy of Pan Number. No. Cost Tender of Contractor
8. The supplies shall be accepted on the basis of approved sample
All other terms and conditions already published remain unaltered. (vi) Valid Mobile Number, WhatsApp with brand. 1. Up-gradation and M/T on Sainj khad Dimmi Trahan Kupvi Rs. Rs. Rs. “A”
DIPR / 1788 / TENDER / 2020 Chief Engineer (i/c), Number and E-mail ID 9. Supplies shall have to be delivered within a period of 10 days from road km. 0/0 to 21/0 (SH: RIDF including R/wall, B/wall, 72423589/- 755800/- 5000/- Class
TWAD Board, Thanjavur (3) EMD’s in the form of DD/FDR in
SAVE WATER, CONSERVE WATER, EVERY DROP COUNTS the date of issuance of confirmed supply order. No further extension CD, MT road side V-shape drain, essential parapet solid
favour of EE, CD-IV may be submitted shall be granted in delivery period. cause way and sign board and km. stone in between km.
in the O/o of EE, CD-IV physically by R.D. 0/0 to 21/0) under NABARD RIDF-XXIV)
10. In case of delay in supplies, penalty @ 03% shall be imposed for
Nivida No.12 of 2019-20 CORRIGENDUM No.8 the 1st lowest agency within 7 days
from opening of tenders. If the same first 03 days and 06 % on next 03 days beyond which no supply 2. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission: The Bid document is available online and bid
Following rectification is made in Tender Notice No.12 of 2019-20 of shall not be deposited physically, the shall be accepted. should be submitted in online mode on website https://hptenders.gov.in. Bidder would be required to reg-
tender shall be treated as cancelled. 11. Identified source shall have to supply the items for future require- ister in the web-site which is free of cost. For submission of bids, the bidder is required to have Digital
Executive Engineer, Ver-II Project Division, Vyara PIN CODE NO.394650 ment as and when need arises on the same rates, terms and con- Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities (CA). “Aspiring bidders who
The Detail of above mentioned work
Phone No. 02626-222090 Dist: Tapi. can be seen and downloaded from ditions. have not obtained the user ID and password for participating in e-tendering in HPPWD may obtain the
website http://govtprocurement. 12. The quotationer will certify that the rates charged are the lowest same from the website: https://hptenders.gov.in. Digital signature is mandatory to participate in the e-ten-
Event Old Date New Date market rates at present and are as per company’s price list. dering. Bidders already possessing the digital signature issued from authorized CAs can use the same in
delhi.gov.in 4) No manual tender
1 2 3 4 shall be accepted; only tender 13. The quotationer shall have to mention Drug License/ GST registra- this tender.
submitted through e-procurement tion on the offer. 3. Key Dates:
1 Online Tender 08/01/2020 to 08/05/2020 08/01/2020 to 20/05/2020 portal shall be considered. 14. 100% payment shall be released after supplies are received in full, 1. Date of Online Publication 06.05.2020 10:00 HRS
Sd/-
upload date Up to 18.00 Hrs. Up to 18.00 Hrs. EXECUTIVE ENGINEER its inspection & verification of bills thereof. 2. Documents Download Start and End Date 15.05.2020 1030 HRS upto 30.05.2020 1700 HRS
Dip/Shabdarth/0031/20-21 The detailed specifications are available at the website of SKIMS
2 Submission of Up to 15/05/2020 Up to 30/05/2020 MCH Bemina and SKIMS Soura Srinagar www.skimsmc.edu.in and 3. Bid Submission Start and End Date 15.05.2020 1030 HRS upto 30.05.2020 1700 HRS
Document Date at 18.00 Hrs. at 18.00 Hrs. www.skims.ac.in respectively. 4. Physical Submission of EMD and Cost of Tender Document 01.06.2020 up to 1100 HRS
Materials Management Officer 5. Date of Technical Bids Opening, Evaluation of Technical Bids 04.06.2020 1100 HRS
3 Opening of Pre 16/05/2020 in the Office 01/06/2020 in the Office SKIMS MCH Bemina followed by Opening of Financial Bids
Qualification Bid of the Superintending of the Superintending No.: SKIMS/MCH/MMD/S-415/2020/1889-95
4. TENDER DETAILS:
date Engineer, Ukai Circle Engineer, Ukai Circle Dated: 11.05.2020 DIPK-NB-224
(Civil), Ukai at 12.00 Hrs. (Civil), Ukai at 12.00 Hrs. The Tender Documents shall be uploaded On-line in 2 Covers:
i) Cover-1 shall contain scanned copies of all "Technical Documents/Eligibility".
All other conditions remain unchanged. No.: INF-Surat/45/2020 ii) Cover-2 shall contain “BOQ/Financial Bids”, where Contractor will quote his offer for each item.
HIMACHAL PRADESH
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 5. SUBMISSION OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS: The bidders are required to submit (a) original demand draft
Phone: 01905-272269, Fax:- 272862, Email: ee-dhar-hp@nic.in towards the cost of bid document and (b) original bid security/Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and other
Technical Documents in O/o Executive Engineer HPPWD Chopal H.P. as specified in Key dates Sr. No. 4
GUJARAT MEDICAL SERVICES CORPORATION LIMITED No. PW-DPD-CB-Tender/2020/495-97
INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)
Dated: 08.05.2020 on Tender Opening Date, failing which the bids will be declared non-responsive.
6. BID OPENING DETAILS: The bids shall be opened on 04.06.2020 at 1100 HRS in the office Executive
(A Government of Gujarat Undertaking) The Executive Engineer, Dharampur Division, HPPWD Dharampur , Distt: Mandi (H.P) on behalf of Governor of H.P
Engineer, HPPWD Division Chopal H.P. by the authorised officer. In their interest the tenderer are
invites the item rate bids, in electronic tendering systems from the eligible class of contractors registered with HPPWD
Regd. Office: Block No. 14/1 for the work as detailed in the table. advised to be present along with original documents at the time of opening of tenders. If the office hap-
Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Sector-10 Gandhinagar Sr. Name of Work Estimated Starting Date Earnest Deadline for
pens to be closed on the date of opening of the bids as specified, the bids will be opened on the next work-
Ph. 079-23250767, 23250766, 23257696 No. Cost for Downloading Money Submission of
ing day at the same time and venue.
(In Rs.) Bid (in Rs.) Bid 7. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than 90 days after the dead-
E-TENDER NOTICE : 09/2020-21 1 2 3 4 5 6
line date for bid submission.
8. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The officer inviting tender shall not be held liable for
Tenders are invited online for Medical Equipment / 1. M/T Guin Ubhak- Banerdhi-Kaounsal- Kandapatten road 41781515/- 25.05.2020 450315/- 08.06.2020 any delays due to system failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bid-
km 0/0 to 24/0 (SH: C/o R/wall, B/wall, CD works ders of any bid updates, the Employer shall not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. It
Instruments Surgical items & other Miscellaneous Industrial Mettaling and tarring, V-shape Drain Parapets and Sign
is the bidders’ responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the tender.
Board in km 0/0 to 24/00).
Products (through internet) from reputed manufacturers. For Executive Engineer
imported materials Authorised representative / dealer The bidders are advised to note other details of tender from the department website www.hptenders.gov.in.
Executive Engineer, PPWD Division Chopal
appointed either by parent manufacturer or its subsidiary Dharampur Division, District Shimla H.P on behalf of
company should submit their offer. Interested bidders are HPPWD Dharampur, Distt: Mandi (H.P) 0325/HP Governor of Himachal Pradesh
0331/HP (on behalf of Governor of H.P)
requested to submit the tender through e-tender process. All
tender documents can be downloaded free from website
http://gmscl.nprocure.com. Detail tender Notice is avalable on
wesite https://gmscl.nprocure.com / http://gmscl.gujarat.gov.in
and this office notice board.
Sr. No. Name of item
1. RESPIRATORY HUMIDIFIER COMPATIBLE WITH VENTILATOR
2. HIGH FLOW METER
Duration of Downloading Tender (online):
11/05/2020 to 18/05/2020 upto 15.55 hrs.
Last date for Submission (online) 18/05/2020 upto 16.00 hrs.
Last date for Physical Submission on: 19/05/2020 upto 12.00 hrs.
Due date of opening of Technical Bid (online): 20/05/2020 on 12.30 hrs.
INF/82/20-21 MANAGING DIRECTOR

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11/05/2020

New Delhi

15 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
PANDEMIC IMPACTS PRODUCTIVITY ACROSS SECTORS
Industrialoutputcontractsbyrecord
16.7%inMar;shrinks0.7%forfullFY20
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
FACTORYOUTPUTcontractedby
a record 16.7 per cent in March
as the impact of the nationwide
lockdown tocountertheCOVID-
19 pandemic reflected in sharp
contraction of manufacturing,
capital goods, consumer
durables and consumer non-
durables output, which is ex-
pected totranslateintoa sharply
lower GDP growth for 2019-20
and a contraction in 2020-21.
For the full financial year
2019-20, the Index of Industrial
Production (IIP) recorded a con-
traction of 0.7percent asagainst
3.8 per cent growth in the previ-
ous year.
Factory output growth was
recorded at 4.6 per cent in
February and 2.7 per cent in the
same period last year. The data
is likely to be revised due to
lower response rate from the
units from which data is col-
lected, the National Statistical
Office said.
BRIEFLY
‘`3-4Lcrboost
forbusinesses’
New Delhi: Industry body
Ficci and consultancy firm
Deloitte have, in a report,
proposed that banks pro-
videRs3-4lakhcroreingov-
ernment guaranteed credit
to sustainable businesses.
`100-crcorpus
byICAI
New Delhi: With an aim to
strengthenthefutureofstu-
dents pursuing chartered
accountancy,theInstituteof
Chartered Accountants of
India(ICAI)hassetupcorpus
fundofRs100croreandear-
marked it to provide them
scholarships. ENS
Jubilant,Gilead
inkdealondrug
Bengaluru: Jubilant Life
SciencesLtdsaidonTuesday
ithadsignedanon-exclusive
licensingagreementforsell-
ingGileadSciencesInc’sex-
perimentalCOVID-19treat-
ment remdesivir in 127
countries, including India.
Growthforecast
cutslikely:IMF
Washington: IMF MD
Kristalina Georgieva said
Tuesday it was “very likely”
the Fund would cut global
growth forecasts further as
the coronavirus pandemic
was hitting many econo-
miesharderthanpreviously
projected. REUTERS
Sebi eases compliance
norms on consolidated
results for banks, insurers
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
MUMBAI,MAY12
THE SECURITIES and Exchange
Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday
liberalised guidelines governing
publishing of results and other
compliancenormsforlistedenti-
ties as it eased norms pertaining
to the requirement of sending
physical copies of annual reports
toshareholders,proxyformsfora
general meeting and dividend
warrants or cheques.
The regulator has relaxed the
stipulationforlistedbanksandin-
surancecompaniesforpublishing
consolidated financial results for
June quarter now as “voluntary
basis” in the wake of COVID-19.
Further, Sebi said in a circular,
thattheexemptiongiventolisted
companies from publication of
advertisement in newspapers
abouttheirboardmeetings,finan-
cial results and other events has
beenextendedtillJune30.Earlier,
the exemption was till May 15.
“Listed entities which are
banking and insurance compa-
SENSEX: 31,371.12 ▼ 190.10 NIFTY: 9,196.55 ▼ 42.65 NIKKEI: 20,366.48 ▼ 24.18 HANG SENG: 24,245.68 ▼ 356.38 FTSE: 5,993.53 ▲ 53.80 DAX: 10,851.17 ▲ 26.18
Apr inflation figures not released as
lockdown prevents data collection
New Delhi: The government
did not release the April CPI
inflation data on Tuesday as
the nationwide lockdown
prevented officials from col-
lecting price data at various
centres.
However, the Consumer
Price Index (CPI) data that
could be collected telephon-
ically has been released, the
National Statistical Office
(NSO) said in a release.
Usually, price data is col-
lectedfromselected1,114ur-
ban markets and 1,181 vil-
lages through personalvisits
by field staff of Field
Operations Division of NSO
on a weekly roaster.
Manufacturingsectoroutput
contracted 20.6 per cent com-
pared to a growth of 3.1 per cent
in the same month a year ago.
Electricity generation declined
‘Liquidity woes to intensify
for MEC segment in FY21’
The mid-size and emerging corporate (MEC) segment may
witness a 6 per cent dip in their turnover and up to 1.25 per
cent contraction in profit margins in FY21, India Ratings said
<`750 crore: Revenue of
businesses that are included
mid-size and emerging
corporate (MEC) segment
2.85x: Downgrade to upgrade
ratio in MEC segment in FY20,
which more than doubled from
previous figure; expected to
continue in FY21 as well
~25%: Share of investment
grade rated MEC issuers who
may report cash flow shortfall
for debt servicing in FY21
Low chance of positive rating actions: The likelihood
of positive rating actions “remains low” as it will
take some time before trend of impairment in
credit quality reverses
Finance Ministry begins annual exercise to review
guarantees against loans, aims to ‘avoid default’
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, MAY 12
THE FINANCE Ministry on
Tuesday asked all government
departments and ministries to
review guarantees against vari-
ous loans issued by them.
The Ministry said that gov-
ernmentguaranteesare“contin-
gent liabilities and need to be
monitored properly to avoid
event of default” by the borrow-
ing entities. “The monitoring or
review undertaken should ex-
amine whether the borrower is
niesorhavingsubsidiarieswhich
are banking and insurance com-
panies may submit consolidated
financial results for the quarter
ending June 2020 on a voluntary
basis,” Sebi said. However, they
mustcontinuesubmittingstand-
alone financial results, it added.
With regard to the require-
ment of sending physical copies
ofannualreportstoshareholders,
Sebihasdispensedwiththisnorm
for listed entities who conduct
their AGMs during calendar year
2020 (till December 31, 2020).
“The requirement ... is dispensed
withtemporarily,incaseofmeet-
ings held through electronic
mode only,” Sebi said.
It has also eased the compli-
ance requirement related to divi-
dend warrants or cheques.
The norms prescribe the is-
suance of ‘payable-at-par’ war-
rants or cheques in case it is not
possible to use electronic modes
of payment. Further, in case the
amount payable as dividend ex-
ceedsRs1,500the‘payable-at-par’
warrantsorchequesshallbesent
by speed postage.
The data collected tele-
phonicallydidshowincrease
inpricesof certainimportant
commodities like milkprod-
ucts, fruits and vegetables in
April over March.
However, the release
said,“theGeneralCPIandin-
dicesatState/UTlevelarenot
beingreleasedforthemonth
of April, 2020.”
On account of the lock-
down, the collection of data
on prices for CPI through
personal visits of price col-
lectors was suspended from
March 19. In April, price data
waslargely collectedbytele-
phonic enquiry from desig-
nated outlets. PTI
by 6.8 per cent as against a
growth of 2.2 per cent in March
2019. Mining sector output re-
mained flat compared to a
growth of 0.8 per cent earlier.
CHALLENGES FOR MECs:
■ Low ability to withstand
disruptions
■ Severely constrained access
to funding
■ Tepid growth in non-priority
sector advances by banks to
MECs
■ Bigger portion of revenues
attributable to exports than
that of large corporates
Fall in liquidity profiles: A major
fall in industrial activity will
translate into significant
deterioration in liquidity profiles
discharging repayment obliga-
tionsorinterestobligationsasper
termsof theloanagreement,”the
Ministry said in an official com-
munication to ministries on
Tuesday.
Financial advisers of respec-
tive ministries have been asked
to submit annual review of gov-
ernment guarantees to the
budget division in the Finance
Ministry. For guarantees given
against external loans, the
Departmentof EconomicAffairs
will conduct a review. This is an
annual exercise done by the
Finance Ministry.
32.6% fall in first
year premium
income of
life insurers
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
MUMBAI,MAY12
LIFE INSURANCE companies
have posted a 32.60 per cent de-
cline in first year premium in-
come in April, due to the lock-
down. Total first year premium
income fell to Rs 6,727 crore in
April2020fromRs9,981crorein
the same month last year. Life
Insurance Corporation’s first
year premium income fell 32.01
per cent to Rs 3,581 crore from
Rs 5,267 crore a year ago.
The total first year premium
income of privateinsurers fellby
33.26 per cent to Rs 3,146 crore
from Rs 4,713 crore. ICICI
Prudential’s first year premium
income declined to Rs 256 crore
from Rs 633 crore and HDFC
Standard’s to Rs 668 crore from
1,422 crore. SBI Life managed to
arrest the fall with a new pre-
mium income of Rs 917 crore as
against Rs 913 crore a year ago,
while Bajaj Allianz reported a 43
per cent increase to Rs 314 crore
during April.
Production of capital goods, an
indicatorof investment,declined
by 35.6percentasagainst a con-
traction of 9.1 per cent in the
same month last year.
As per use-based classifica-
tion, primary good registered a
contractionof 3.1percent,inter-
mediate goods (-)18.5 per cent
and infrastructure/construction
goods(-)23.8percentthisMarch
over the same period last year.
The consumer durables out-
put fell 33.1 per cent, while non-
durablesproductionslipped16.2
per cent in March.
Economists said the fall re-
flected a pause in investment in-
tentions and deferral of non-es-
sential consumption and the
dragonsectorssuchasmanufac-
turing, construction, trade and
hotels is going to continue in the
coming months.
“Withthey-o-yperformance
of many lead indicators of man-
ufacturing and services portray-
ing an unfavourable trend in the
just-concluded quarter, driven
by the COVID-19 related disrup-
tions, GDP growth is expected to
1.9%:
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
(GDP) GROWTH ESTIMATE
FOR FY21, REVISED
DOWNWARDS BY IND-RA
The review is also done to
monitortherepayingcapacityfor
loan and guarantee amount of
the borrowers.
In terms of Article 292 of the
Constitution,thecentralgovern-
mentgivesguaranteesforthere-
payment of borrowings, and the
government can provide up to
0.5 per cent of GDP (Gross
DomesticProduct)forincremen-
tal guarantees in a particular fi-
nancial year.
Thestockof contingentliabil-
ities in the form of guarantees
given by the government has in-
creased from Rs 1.07 lakh crore
China’s new list of US Anil Agarwal to 67% of workers lost jobs
imports eligible for waivers take Vedanta during lockdown: Survey
private, buy out
KJMVARMA public shares
BEIJING,MAY12
CHINAONTuesdayreleasedalist
of 79 American products which
willbeexemptedfromthesecond
round of retaliatory tariffs im-
posed at the peak of the bilateral
trade war, as it faced fresh pres-
sure from the US to import more
to end the bruising dispute.
This is the second list of
American goods to be excluded
from the second round of tariff
‘Need basic income scheme
to make lockdown work’
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,MAY12
INDIA NEEDS to come out with a
basicincomeschemetomakethe
lockdown work, noted French
economistThomasPikettysaidon
Tuesday.
He also said that India has the
potential to become the global
slideto2.0percentinQ4FY2020
from 4.7 per cent in Q3 FY2020,
despitetheanticipatedimprove-
mentinagriculturalGVAgrowth
in that quarter. Overall, we ex-
pect that the GDP growth mod-
eratedto4.3percentinFY2020,”
AditiNayar,principaleconomist,
ICRA, said.
“Given the likelihood of mis-
matches in labour availability as
well as the possibility of supply
chain disruptions, we expect the
drag fromsectors such as manu-
facturing, construction, and
trade,hotelsandtransportetc,to
linger for a large part of May
2020, with a further delay in the
return to normalcy for a large
cross-segment of these sectors.
“However, we continue to
expect the healthy rabi crop and
a pickup in government expen-
diture to provide some cushion
to economic activity in
Q1FY2021. ICRA projects Indian
GDP to contract in a range of 16-
20 per cent in Q1FY2021, which
would translate to a contraction
of 1.0-2.0 per cent in FY2021,”
Nayar added.
3-12%:
EXPECTED CONTRACTION IN
CASH FLOW FROM
OPERATIONS IN FY21
COMPARED TO FY20 LEVELS
Source:
India
Ratings/PTI
in 2004-05 to Rs 4.47 lakh crore
at the end of 2018-19, as per lat-
est available data from the
Finance Ministry.
During the year 2018-19, the
net accretion to guarantees was
Rs66,811crore,amountingto0.4
percentof GDP,withintheouter
limit of 0.5 per cent.
The government typically
provides guarantees against
loanstakenbygovernmententi-
ties for executing projects that
have social and economic bene-
fits. This helps improve viability
of the projects and lowers their
cost of borrowing.
by Azim Premji University
countermeasures against the US
Section 301 measure, according
to a statement from the Customs
TariffCommissionofChina’sState
Council. The exemption will be
valid from May 19, 2020, to May
18,2021,itsaid.Thereare79prod-
ucts in total on the list published
on Tuesday by the Ministry of
Finance that included rare earth
mineralores,aircraftradarequip-
ment,semiconductorparts,med-
ical disinfectants, and a range of
precious metals, chemical and
petrochemical products. PTI
democraticleaderofthe21stcen-
tury if it manages to address the
issue of inequality.
“I think the government
would be well advised to intro-
duceabasicincomescheme,and
moregenerallytodevelopasafety
net in India. I do not see how a
lockdowncanworkwithoutasys-
tem of income maintenance,”
Piketty told PTI in an interview.
GOLD
`41,705
Note: Spot gold markets shut due to lockdown in major states; Indian basket as on March 19, 2020
INTERVIEW WITH VICE CHAIRMAN, NITI AAYOG
‘Bold, not incremental reforms,
will help to boost the productive
capacity, productivity of economy’
RAJIV KUMAR, Vice Chairman,
NITI Aayog, said the financial
packageheralds“boldreformsall
across the range” that aims at
India achieving global competi-
tiveness. In a interaction with
SUNNY VERMA after the Prime
Minister’s speech on Tuesday,
Kumar said the steps to be an-
nounced in the coming days
would focus on ensuring that
Indiadoesnotshutitselfoutfrom
theglobaleconomy,evenasitpro-
motes self reliance. Excerpts:
Whatareyourcommentson
PrimeMinister’s
announcementof apackage?
The financial package along
with the two announcements
thatit’snowtimeforboldreforms
all across the range, and the fact
thatIndiawillachieveglobalcom-
petitivenessandnotshutitselfout
from the global economy while
remaining self reliance — these
three together are what every-
body was looking for. Although I
willwaitforthedetails,thePrime
Ministerhasshownheisfullycog-
nizantofwhatthesituationisand
willing to take the bold steps.
Self-reliant India Mission:
Total package includes reliefs
earlier announced by govt, RBI
UDITMISRA
NEWDELHI,MAY12
ONWEDNESDAY,PrimeMinister
Narendra Modi said the country
should view the COVID-19 crisis
asanopportunitytoachieveeco-
nomicself-reliance.Inhisaddress
to the nation, he stressed on the
importance of promoting “local”
products.Hecalledit
Atmanirbhar Bharat
Abhiyan (or Self-re-
liant India Mission)
and said that in the
days to come, his
government will be
unveiling the details
ofaneconomicpack-
agetowardsthisaim,which,after
including the earlier reliefs an-
nounced by Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman and the RBI,
would be worth Rs 20 lakh crore
— or 10 per cent of GDP in FY20.
Is this a new package?
Notentirely.WhilethePMdid
notgivethedetails,hedidspecify
that this calculation of Rs 20 lakh
crore includes what the govern-
menthasalreadyannouncedand
the steps taken by the Reserve
BankofIndia(RBI).Thismeansthe
totalamountofadditionalmoney
—thatisoverandabovewhatthe
government would have spent
evenintheabsenceofaCOVIDcri-
sis — will not be Rs 20 lakh crore.
It would be substantially less.
Why?
That’s because the PM has in-
cluded the actions of RBI, India’s
centralbank,aspartofthegovern-
for `16,200 cr
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,MAY12
ANIL AGARWAL Tuesday an-
nouncedplanstodelisthisIndian
flagship Vedanta Ltd by buying
out nearly 49 per cent of public
shareholding at Rs 87.5 apiece.
Vedanta Ltd, whose shares have
fallen over 40 per cent this year,
houses commodity as well as oil
and gas business.
Ithadamarketvalueof under
Rs 33,200 crore going by
Tuesday'sclosingpriceofRs89.30
ontheBSE.Attheofferpriceof Rs
87.5,Agarwal'sVedantaResources
will have to shell out Rs 16,218
crore to acquire all of the public
shareholding.
In a regulatory filing, Vedanta
said it has received a letter dated
May 12, from Vedanta Resources
Ltd (VRL) expressing intention to
acquire all fully paid-up equity
shares of the company that are
held by the public shareholders.
New Delhi
RUPEE
`75.51
Rajiv Kumar. Express file
He said bold and not incre-
mental(steps)...thisisreallywhat
itis.Youwillseeaspateareforms
now, as you have seen in case of
labourreformsinthestates.Heis
bentuponcreatingthiscrisisinto
an opportunity, and I think this is
what will happen. You will see
that all the sectors are covered,
and this talk about that “busi-
nesseswillnotbehelped,”Ithink
all of that will be proven wrong.
Onequestioniswhetherthe
governmenthasfiscalspace
forsuchalargepackage?
Even the sternest of fiscal
hawks have stopped asking that
ment’s “fiscal” package, even
thoughonlythegovernmentcon-
trols the fiscal policy and not the
RBI (which controls the ‘mone-
tary’policy).Governmentexpen-
diture and RBI’s actions are nei-
ther the same nor can they be
addedinthismanner.Nowherein
theworldisthisdone,clarifiesProf
NR Bhanumurthy of NIPFP.
For instance, when the US is
said to have an-
nouncedareliefpack-
age of $3 trillion (Rs
225lakhcrore),itonly
refers to the money
that will be spent by
the government —
and it has nothing to
do with what the
FederalReserve(UScentralbank)
might have done.
So will the actual
amount spent by the
government be less
than `20 lakh crore? If
so, by how much?
Aroughestimatesuggeststhat
theRBI’sdecisionshaveprovided
additional liquidity of Rs5-6lakh
croresincethestartoftheCOVID-
19crisis.AddthistotheRs1.7lakh
crore of the first fiscal relief pack-
age announced by the Centre on
March 26. Together, the two al-
ready account for 40 per cent of
theRs20-lakhcrorepackage.That
leaves an effective amount of Rs
12 lakh crore.
However,ifthegovernmentis
includingRBI’sliquiditydecisions
in thecalculation, then theactual
fresh spending by the govern-
mentcouldbeconsiderablylower
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,MAY12
ABOUT TWO-THIRDS, or 67 per
cent,ofworkerslostemployment
during the ongoing lockdown to
countertheCOVID-19pandemic,
with urban India posting loss in
employment for 8 in 10 workers
and almost 6 in 10 workers in ru-
ralareas,asperinitialfindingsofa
phone survey of nearly 4,000 re-
spondents conducted by Azim
PremjiUniversityincollaboration
with10civilsocietyorganisations.
The survey was conducted in
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi,
Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
(Pune),Odisha,Rajasthan,Telang-
ana,andWestBengaltogaugethe
impact of the lockdown on em-
ployment, livelihoods and access
to government relief schemes.
Loss of employment was the
worst for self-employed in urban
areas, with 84 per cent of them
losing employment, compared
with76percentsalariedworkers
and81percentcasualworkers.In
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
OIL SILVER
$26.15 `38,100
International market data till 1900 IST
question.Yesterday,Ihadameet-
ing with leading economists and
they were saying that you have
(to) look at fiscal space in a dy-
namicsense.IfyougettheGDPto
grow,thefiscalspacegetscreated.
On the other hand, if the GDP
stops growing, then same fiscal
expenditure becomes much big-
ger (as a percentage of GDP), the
ratio(fiscaldeficit)becomesmuch
bigger. I think rather than asking
thisquestion(onwhereisthefis-
cal space), one should ask the
question “how is this extra fiscal
pushbeingusedtoacceleratethe
economy”.Mybelieveisthatwith
the bold reforms, this will help to
boosttheproductivecapacityand
the productivity of the economy.
DoesfocusonAtmanirbhar
Bharatindicatethatwearenot
keenonforeigninvestment?
Not at all. He kept saying at-
manirbhar but not atmakendrit,
we have to be self reliant in a
globalisedworld.Hesaidwewill,
therefore,workwithglobalvalue
chains and become a better part
of it on the basis of our competi-
tiveness.
than Rs 12 lakh crore.
That’s because RBI has been
coming out with long term bond
buyingoperations(longtermrepo
operation or LTRO, to infuse liq-
uidity into the banking system)
worth Rs 1 lakh crore at a time.
If, for argument’s sake, RBI
comes out with another LTRO of
Rs1lakhcrore,thentheoverallfis-
calhelpfallsbythesameamount.
Why shouldn’t RBI’s
package be included in
the overall package?
That’s because direct expen-
diture by a government — either
by way of wage subsidy or direct
benefit transfer or payment of
salaries orpaymentforconstruc-
tion of a new hospital etc — im-
mediatelyandnecessarilystimu-
latestheeconomy.Inotherwords,
that money necessarily reaches
thepeople—eitherassomeone’s
salary or someone’s purchase.
But credit easing by the RBI —
thatis,makingmoremoneyavail-
able to the banks so that they can
lendtothebroadereconomy—is
notlikegovernmentexpenditure.
That’sbecause,especiallyintimes
of crisis, banks may take that
money from RBI and elsewhere
and, instead of lending it, park it
back with the RBI.
Thisisexactlywhatishappen-
ing right now. At the last count,
Indian banks had parked Rs 8.5
lakh crore with the central bank.
Sointermsofcalculations,RBIhas
givenastimulusofRs6lakhcrore.
But the reality is that it has re-
ceived an even bigger amount
back from the banks.
rural areas, 66 per cent casual
wage workers reported loss of
employment, followed by 62 per
cent of salaried workers and 47
per cent of rural workers.
Average weekly earnings for
non-agricultural self-employed
workerswhowerestillemployed
fell by over 90 per cent from Rs
2,240toRs218.Forcasualworkers
whowerestillemployed,average
weekly earnings almost halved
fromRs940inFebruarytoRs495
during lockdown, the survey
noted.Halfofallsalariedworkers,
or 51 per cent, saw either a cut in
their salary or received no salary.
Nearly half (49 per cent) of
householdsreportedthattheydid
not have enough money to buy
even a week’s worth of essential
items, while 80 per cent of urban
householdsand70percentinru-
ralareasreportedconsumingless
food than before. As per the sur-
vey,overone-third,or36percent,
ofvulnerablehouseholdsinurban
India received at least one cash
transfer from the government,
while 53 per cent of rural house-
holds received this benefit.
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

16 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
FIFAU-17WCinIndiaslatedforFeb17-Mar7
The postponed FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in India was on Tuesday
rescheduled to next year from February 17 to March 7 after the world
body made a ‘thorough assessment’ of the situation arising out of the
COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Everyone has a camera phone, I just need to source

them … You can be at home and also on television’
Star head Uday Shankar delves into the challenges and opportunities in cricket broadcasting without fans at the stadium
WITH DOUBTS being raised about the
October-November T20 World Cup in
Australia, BCCI officials says that IPL now has
a window. Star and Disney India chairman
UDAY SHANKAR, while insisting that the
tournament should only be played when it’s
safe, talks about the creative challenge of
broadcasting of what looks like the first
‘closed doors’ IPL. Speaking to SANDEEP
DWIVEDI, the man on the top of world
cricket’s power list explains the importance
of imagination in dealing with this unique
COVID-19 crisis, the fundamental changes in
media business and how working from
home has made him sharper and focused.
You must be thinking hard these days …
how are you spending your days?
These days, we all are at home. Being
home is more productive. You are much
more focused as you know you can only
communicate electronically. I’m also think-
ing sharply because there are no distrac-
tions. And because there’s a crisis, every
team member is trying to think out of the
box. On the downside, there is no distinc-
tion between workplace and home. You
start in the morning and just keep going on,
so it’s exhausting.
Sports broadcasting is all about
understanding the minds of fans. But in
these unusual times, do you know what
a fan wants to see?
The most important priority globally is
for people to be safe. Only when it is safe to
have a tournament, we should have (it). We
havealotof businessridingonlivesportsbut
nothing is even remotely in the same zone
as the safety of people.
That said, to say that people will only like
something in a certain form is a very static
wayof lookingatthings.Ibelievethatthe so-
cietyisalwaysopentotryingoutnewthings.
In fact, it is the business and the experts who
are more stuck in their ways.
When we were launching Hotstar, our
streaming service, five to six years ago, about
a million people told me: “What are you do-
Uday Shankar is the the Chairman of
Star and Disney India and also
president of The Walt Disney
Company for Asia Pacific.
ing? The experience of live sports on a small
mobile phone, this doesn’t work. This tiny
three-inch mobile phone, you will never be
able to feel it, cricket is played with a small
ball.”Igotallkindsof theories.Andtherest,as
theysay,ishistory.Morethan100millionpeo-
plecometowatchonegameonHotstarnow.
Soif forsometimepeoplecan’tgotoasta-
dium,itisfine.Viewerswillembracethenew
experience. They know why it is happening.
It (empty stands) is not a concern at all. I
don’t buy it when people say, ‘oh, the expe-
rience will be incomplete’. The presence of
audience at the ground does help to create
an atmosphere, so we will figure out ways of
creating and enhancing the atmosphere
through graphics, audio, sound effects and
all that.
Can you think of an innovation that
recreates on TV the whole drama that
used to be in the stands?
You watch sports at home? Whenever
you’re watching a tense moment, do you not
have a very intense expression on your face?
So, all we need to do is capture it. And today
technology is ready for that. So, you can be
at home but you can also be on television.
Our ability to recreate the same atmosphere
for the fan who are watching it from home
islimitedonlybyourimagination,otherwise
thefangivesyouenoughopportunitytocap-
ture those moments of intensity and excite-
ment. If this had happened 20 years ago,
withoutbroadbandandhundredsof millions
of smartphones with cameras, it would be a
challenge. Today it’s happening at a time
when we’re ready.
So, you are replacing the guy in the
stands with the guy on the couch. Will
there be webcam or go pro at homes?
Why will I need them, everyone has a
camera phone, I just need to source them.
So, we’ll have to start thinking differently.
It’s a creative challenge, it’s not a sporting
challenge.
What about the changes on the field in
terms of broadcasting the game?
I can’t tell you all the details, the reason
being we’re still working on it. I don’t have
full clarity. Things evolve, say ‘day cricket’
became ‘night cricket’ and that in turn
brought with it a new set of opportunities
and challenges.
So that’s the kind of game you love, you
are in the habit of making new rules,
new sports …
Our biggest challenge is we have these
fixed ideas in the head about how to do
things. Not just in the way sports is played or
produced; it’s about everything. Earlier, no
one thought we could operate without go-
ing to office. Every morning, we would get
into our vehicles and go to office. We felt it
was important. Now suddenly, no one is go-
ing to office and the world is okay.
We launched ‘Disney plus Hotstar’ in the
middle of this lockdown. All our commer-
cials for digital and our TV channels were
producedinadecentralisedmannerandstill
everybody came to know about it.
We need to break our muscle memory.
No matter which business you are in, those
who are able to think differently and work
backwards from the new reality, they will be
able to create much more value.
In the coming days, foreign travel, in and
out, will be tough. So, have you thought
of going local or even hyper- local.
First of all, we all know that travel is
going to be a bit of a challenge. But look,
players can come in. Earlier, they used to
come five days in advance; now they will
have to come two weeks before the game.
They will be in quarantine; they will have
to be more careful when training.
You will also have to take hard decisions,
isn’t it? You have got this huge network,
in terms of your regional reach, like the
very successful Tamil commentary
initiative. You also have heavy-duty
analytical shows like Dugout that cater
to serious fans. Do you think you’ll have
to shrink operations?
It’s tough for me to say that right now,
we’ll have to see the horizon for live sports. I
don’t like to take tactical decisions quickly.
We are running a business, it’s not a charity,
we have to be profitable, or else we won’t be
sustainable. So, if something doesn’t work,
it doesn’t work.
But just because there has been a disrup-
tion,Idon’tseeareasontodownsize.Dugout
is averycompellingproduct.It’sthefinedin-
ing experience of cricket. And also, by talk-
ing cricket in regional languages, whether it
is in South or elsewhere, we have widened
the scope of cricket. I don’t think just the dis-
ruption itself means that we should do less.
What about a larger correction, in terms
of the kind of money that sports
broadcasters pay for television rights
and IPL salaries? Do you need to go back
to BCCI in terms of renegotiating these
already existing deals?
Look, first and foremost, we have a con-
tract.Weareanhonourablecompanyandwe
will honour it. But the sports bodies are also
aware of the challenges in the market place
...theeconomyandincomeshavetakenahit.
And as far as Star and cricket are concerned,
it is the goose that lays the golden egg. We
have invested more in cricket than any other
media company, any time in the world.
I thinkin myexperience,allsportsbodies
and authorities value the fact that our com-
mitment to cricket is so high. If there is a real
problem, we will go to them and I’m sure we
will get a fair audience.
There is no good time for a crisis. But
take your five-year IPL deal, in business
there are phases - first investment,
followed by breaking even, and then
profits. So, this economic slump after
two IPL seasons, is it a good time or bad?
Of course, it was the wrong time for the
whole world. But IPL has been very good for
us. So have been the ICC and also the other
cricket rights that we have. And you have
seen after all this, we took New Zealand
cricket rights and only recently we took the
rights of South Africa cricket too.
So, it’s not that we ever stopped. It has
hurt us greatly; butit hashurt everybody. So,
I won’t read too much into this. For us, the
two big challenging scenarios are: if cricket
doesn’t work or the economy’s not good. But
weknowthatcricketworks;thereisnoques-
tion about it. The key question in our minds
is the how the Indian economy will perform.
How strongly and quickly it rebounds from
the COVID setback.
During the 2008 slump, you focused on
your core competence, which was
entertainment. It proved to be a good
move. So, what is your core competence
now - is it entertainment or sports or is
it cricket?
The big difference between 2008 and
2020 is that Star is far more diversified; it is
much bigger and much deeper in this coun-
try. In 2008, we were just doing entertain-
ment, nothing else. At that point, we had a
sports business but that was a joint venture
with ESPN.
I think the core competence of the com-
pany, The Walt Disney and Star in India, is
our ability to be creative, bold and disrup-
tive. I think the media business is going
through a very deep fundamental transition
where it is becoming more and more disin-
termediated and leaning towards direct to
consumer. Don’t forget that we have about
200 million television sets in homes in this
country and we already have more than
double of that number by way of mobile de-
vices, each with a screen and with data ac-
cess. Over the next few years, we will be
about 250 million TV sets and there will be
about 700-750 million mobile screens. So
right now, the biggest opportunity and the
biggest challenge is how do we make sure
that in countries like India, the mobile de-
vice becomes the default mode of content
consumption.
We have a sustainable economic model.
Our subscription service ‘Disney plus
Hotstar’ and the way we have invested in
technology and consumer experience
should hold us in good stead.
How big is the logistical hurdle of
holding cricket behind closed doors?
Like we are seeing in European football,
things like testing, isolation and keeping
players away from their families.
It will be a challenge and we are required
to deal with it for the first time. But it will get
easier. Look, on Day 1 of lockdown, even us-
ing sanitiser and mask was a big disruption.
I heard so many people say that they were
notable tobreatheproperly.Noweverybody
is wearing masks. We will get used to it.

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4116 DAY TODAY BY PETER VIDAL
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20) LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
Your mood will The financial
begin to change, and situation is looking
you are likely to fairly complicated,
become but there's nothing
considerably more serious and new in that. You should avoid
less sociable. This is fine just as any temptation to speculate
long as you are able to make use today, and at the very least
of the all-important time you you may secure whatever
must spend by yourself. The sensible and expert
best plans might arise from a advice is necessary. But don't
favourite fantasy, not from take risks with your own
the facts. security.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21) SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
It's definitely a It could be crunch-
moment for facing time at home as
serious issues. irreversible force
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson Partners will want to meets immoveable
know exactly how committed object. Don't be hasty, for it
you are, and also to what seems unlikely that anything
extent you are prepared to take will be resolved until
care of practical questions. this time next week. And if
What you need most is security. partners are urging you on, you
And what you need, you may explain to them why
ACROSS Down must have! they're wrong.
1 Increase support to control 2 Goes out of play (5) GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
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8 Words of love among sisters it without a key (6) hard to achieve your family affairs do not
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aims. One very seem to be
9 Grape producer holds a label fabric (8)
important reminder important in your
to mark its year (7)
is to watch out for legal long-term cycles, they figure
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reviewed? (6) 6 A grave ceremony (7) absolutely sure of your rights as should therefore pay extra
11 Fix a direction indicator (6) well as your duties. But, if you attention to matters which may
7 Hot lines upset Rose Smith (9)
fulfil your responsibilities have been allowed to drift.
12 Press for a reduction? (8) 11 I stay true to the principle of willingly, then you're more ou might even remember
15
18
Acrobats in glasses (8)
Characteristics begin 13
self-denial (9)
Car is not damaged, being
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong likely to receive what's
due to you.
something you’d forgotten
all about.
holding one back (6) strong (4,4)
CANCER (June 22 - July 23) CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
20 Make a second charge for 14 Insinuates one politician You are certainly in a You have every right
killing (6) isn’t truthful (7) very serious mood to expect that others
21 Stop before the outlet 16 Deserts for growing things when it comes to will respond to your
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22 Indicating the right quarter 17 Ravel’s composition may be commitment, perhaps deeper You also have a right to demand
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23 Italian girl in disorderly style 19 Fitting end for a piece of while, but it may be impossible propriety. If they let you down,
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moment in time. But, then, - and loudly.
perhaps that's not what you
SolutionsCrossword4115:Across:11Laertes,4Crawl,7Nile,8Alsatian, really want.
10High-handed,12Creeps,13Allows,15Singleroom,18Abridged,19Asps,20 AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
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spotlight on money, public turning-point
especially on joint and, if you ever had
business ventures or any desire to be praised by your
JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel2s
investments. However, always peers for a personal
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4207

bear in mind that financial achievement, now is the time to

Instructions decisions are all too easily lay yourself on the line.
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, swayed by what others want, or Someone who has
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 by what you feel is expected of misunderstood you will soon
SUDOKU 4208

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe you. You will gain by doing the mend their ways.
Manforgiveswomananythingsavethe__to___him-MinnaThomasAntrim(3,.,6) right thing.
nineverticalcolumns,in PISCES (Feb 20 -
eachoftheninehorizontal VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23) Mar 20)
DTIIO SPROUT rowsandineachofthe The approaching Now that the Moon
nineboxes. sober Sun-Saturn is aligned with your
picture suits your sign you can martial your
efficient Virgoan emotions and channel your
DOYTT AAPPWW DifficultyLevel
temperament, and you should energy in a positive manner.
spare no time for sloppiness Self-control will be a vital
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; and unpunctuality, least of all in quality, although you don't
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; yourself. If others fail to live up want to tip over the line into
- Minna Thomas Antrim 5s=VeryHard;6s= to your expectations, that's self-inhibition. I mean, you have
Answer: Man forgives woman anything save the wit to outwit him Genius their problem, not yours. to say what you think.
SOLUTION: IDIOT, DOTTY, STUPOR, PAWPAW

Vol LXXXVIII No. 158 Regd.No. DL-21046/03-05

R.N.I. No.506/57. Printed and Published by R.C. Malhotra on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, A-8, Sector-7, Noida - 201301 and Published at The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002. Editorial office:
The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: 0120-6651500. Advertising office: The Indian Express (P) Limited, B1/B, Sector - 10, Noida - 201301. Phone: 0120-6651291. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni
Rajen Shanker, Editor (Delhi): Rakesh Sinha ** **Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act. Copyright: The Indian Express (P) Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®

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