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A fter suspending train ser-
vices and international
flights, the Centre on Monday
suspended all domestic flights,
effective midnight March 24 to
contain the spread of coron-
avirus pandemic. The
Government also decided to
block all immigration ports and
seaports.
At the same time, Punjab
and Maharashtra have decided
to impose curfew while sever-
al other States have announced
lockdown as part of efforts to
ensure safety of the citizens.
These restrictions will not
apply to cargo-carrying flights.
Metros, inter-State buses,
private and public transport
including buses, auto, taxis, e-
rickshaws have already been
banned, and the cancellation of
flights will bring the country to
a complete halt.
As many as 30 States and
Union Territories have
announced a complete lock-
down. Other States and Union
Territories have been placed
under partial lockdown to pre-
vent the spread of coronavirus
pandemic while three have
ordered the shutdown of some
specific activities.
“Airlines have to plan oper-
ations so as to land at their des-
tination before 11:59 pm on
March 24, 2020,” the Ministry
6& 5HOHDVH
SULVRQHUVRQ
SDUROHEDLOWR
XQFORJMDLOV
?C8Q =4F34;78
he Supreme Court on he National Task force for
T Monday directed all States TCOVID-19 led by Indian
and Union Territories to con- Council of Medical Research
stitute high-level committees to
consider releasing on parole or
interim bail prisoners and
undertrials for offences entail-
ing up to 7-year jail term to
decongest prisons in the wake
of coronavirus pandemic.
The SC said overcrowding
of prisons is a matter of serious
concern, particularly in the
present context of coronavirus.
In regard to the provisions
of Article 21 of the
Constitution of India, it has
become imperative to ensure
that the spread of coronavirus
within the prisons is controlled,
the court said.
A bench of Chief Justice SA
Bobde and Justices LN Rao and
Surya Kant said the State or UT
could consider the release of
prisoners who have been con-
victed or are undertrial for
offences for which prescribed
punishment is up to 7 years or
less, with or without fine and
the prisoner has been convict-
ed for a lesser number of years
than the maximum.
/RFNGRZQYLRODWRUVWRIDFHOHJDODFWLRQ DYZgcR[dh`c_Z_Rd>A4>
?=BQ =4F34;78
he country-wide lockdown
T announced by the
Government to prevent “com-
munity spread” of coronavirus
was flouted by a section of peo-
ple in different cities, including
Delhi, prompting the Centre to
direct State Governments to
strictly enforce the orders and
take immediate legal action
against violators.
While Punjab,
Maharashtra and Puducherry
have imposed curfew to
enforce the lockdown, some
other States have promulgated
section 144 to prevent gather-
ing and to ensure “social dis-
tancing”.
The flagrant violation of
the “lockdown” was observed
in various cities around veg-
etable markets, grocery stores
and kiosks. The self-quarantine
sought by the Government lost
?PbbT]VTabRa^fSP[^]Va^dcTQdbSdaX]VR^a^]PeXadb_P]ST\XRX]:^[ZPcP^]<^]SPh
said in a statement.
Sharing this information,
the Delhi Airport tweeted,
“Passengers of the last inter-
national arriving flight have
now exited the airport.
Operations at T3 internation-
al arrivals will remain sus-
pended till 05.31 hours of
March 29, 2020.”
“We take this opportunity
to thank all our airport employ-
ees and doctors for their com-
mitment. Passengers are
:4>C@<¶dR_eZ^R]RcZR]
UcfXW`cYZXYcZd\TRdVd
?=BQ =4F34;78
(ICMR) on Monday gave its
nod for the use of anti-malar-
ial medicine hydroxylchloro-
quine as prophylaxis (preven-
tive drug) for the coronavirus
infection for high risk cases
albeit with precautions. The
Drug Controller General of
India (DCGI) has approved it
for “restricted use in emergency
situations”.
The drug cannot be given
for general use and one must
not self-administer, said ICMR
Director General Balram
Bhargava when it was brought
to his notice that people are
rushing to hoard it.
Meanwhile, in the wake of
rising cases of coronavirus in
the country, the ICMR has
also put on fast-track the
process of giving approval to kit
manufacturers for testing sus-
pected coronavirus (COVID-
19) cases.
In a press briefing here on
Monday, Dr Bhargava said the
hydroxyl-chloroquine com-
pound is recommended only
<T\QTab^UCP\X[=PSd3XbPbcTaATbRdT5^aRTfTPaX]VUPRT\PbZbPcPfPXcX]VPaTP
PccWTSTbTacTS<6A2T]caP[APX[fPhbcPcX^]X]2WT]]PX^]<^]SPh
its meaning as hordes of peo-
ple, including motorists, who
were not part of the essential
services, kept asking policemen
to allow them to move to their
respective destinations.
The lack of clarity to imple-
requested to get in touch with
the airline concerned for
updated flight info on interna-
tional departing flights.
#Coronavirus,” the Delhi
Airport said in another tweet.
The official said all airlines
will have to plan operations in
such a way so that they are able
to land by 11:59 pm on March
24. On Sunday, the Centre has
overturned the Delhi
Government decision that no
flights would be allowed in or
7TP[cW<X]Xbcah9^X]cBTRaTcPah;Pe0VPafP[PSSaTbbTbP?aTbbR^]UTaT]RT^]
³2>E83 ()?aT_PaTS]TbbP]S0RcX^]bcPZT]´X]=Tf3T[WX^]<^]SPh?aX]RX_P[
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82<A1P[aP\1WPaVPePPaTP[b^bTT]
for a healthcare worker who is
treating a Covid-19 patient.
“Secondly, it’s recommended
only for persons staying and
caring for a household positive
patient. They can take that only
for prophylaxis, only for pre-
vention,” he added.
ICMR has, however, cau-
tioned the States that placing of
healthcare workers under
chemoprophylaxis with
hydroxy-chloroquine should
not instill a sense of false secu-
rity and that they should simul-
taneously follow all prescribed
public health measures such as
frequent washing of hands,
?C8
ment orders to the police fur-
ther allowed people to break
self-restraint and go out with
impunity.
In Delhi, West Bengal,
Har yana, Maharashtra,
Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh
?C8
out of the Capital. The
Directorate General of Civil
Aviation had put out a clarifi-
cation saying there would be no
change in domestic flight oper-
ations. The Government’s lat-
est decision to suspend domes-
tic flights come after several
States like Bihar and West
Bengal reached out to the
Central Government to stop
flights to contain the spread of
COVID-19.
Earlier in the day, aviation
?C8
respiratory etiquette, keeping a
distance of minimum one
metre and use of personal pro-
tective equipment (wherever
applicable).
In an advisory issued to the
States, the ICMR said that the
high risk contacts of a positive
case placed under chemo pro-
phylaxis should remain in
home quarantine while on pro-
phylactic therapy. As recom-
mended by the task force, the
drug should only be given on
the prescription of a regis-
tered medical practitioner, it
added.
Continued on Page 2
people were seen standing in
long queues purchasing veg-
etables and other items of daily
use in complete violation of the
“corona-curfew”.
Meanwhile, the Gurugram
district administration on
Monday made it mandatory for
foreigners and travellers com-
ing from abroad to stay in quar-
antine for a period prescribed
by the district health depart-
ment. “Whether it is a home
quarantine or a quarantine
facility built elsewhere, they
must keep themselves in quar-
antine,” said a health official.
According to the
spokesperson of the district
administration, it is necessary
for the people of the district
who are coming from abroad to
keep themselves in quarantine
and if they see symptoms of
Covid-19 then they will be kept
in isolation.
Continued on Page 2
sector regulator, Director
General of Civil Aviation, said
there are no restrictions on
domestic and foreign air oper-
ators to carry out cargo oper-
ations. “Currently, there are no
restrictions on domestic or
foreign air operators for carry-
ing out cargo operations at any
airport in India. All stake-
holders kindly note,” DGCA
tweeted on Monday.
While States have shut
down inter-State traffic, except
carriers of essential commodi-
ties and sealed intra-city trans-
port services, all private vehi-
cles and citizens not engaged in
essential services have been
strictly asked to stay indoors.
Section 144 of the Indian Panel
Code has been imposed in
several States and UTs.
Punjab on Monday became
the first in the country to
impose curfew, and only
exempted essential services to
prevent the infection, while
Maharshtra Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray imposed
curfew in the entire State from
Monday midnight as the fight
against coronavirus.
Delhi, Jharkhand, Goa,
Assam, J&K, Arunachal
Pradesh, Kerala, Tripura,
Telangana and Nagaland Bihar,
Haryana, UP and West Bengal
declared lockdown.
Chandigarh announced impo-
sition of curfew.
'HOKL%XGJHWVHWVDVLGH
CFUWRFRPEDWYLUXV I
BC055A4?>AC4AQ =4F34;78
he Delhi Assembly passed
T C65,000-crore Budget for
the 2020-21 financial year on
Monday, with the Government
setting aside C50 crore to deal
with the coronavirus outbreak.
<PaZTcbbdUUTa³T]S^Uf^a[S´bh]Sa^\T
DV_dVi]`dVd$*$&a`Z_ed,de`T\^Rc\VedRTc`ddX]`SVdZ_\
?=BQ =4F34;78
n “end of the world” syn-
A drome gripped the stock
market on Monday, and cur-
rency shared the panic. The key
indices saw the biggest single
day fall in the history even as
the Rupee touched a new low,
breaching 76 levels for the first
time on intra-day basis.
The BSE benchmark
Sensex sunk 3,935 points or 13.
15 per cent to close at
25,981.24; while the NSE Nifty
cracked 1,135.20 points or
12.98% to settle at 7,610.25.
By all yardsticks, this was
an unprecedented fall even
considering the continuing
sell-off in the global indices
after the outbreak of the dead-
ly coronavirus. While the
RhRjWc`^^VUZRX]RcV
BC055A4?>AC4AQ 17>?0;
Soathhivraj Singh Chouhan was
on Monday administered
as the Chief Minister of
Madhya Pradesh in a small cer-
emony at the Governor House.
In the wake of coronavirus
threat, only a few VVIPs were
present at the swearing-in,
while the media was not
allowed entry at the event.
With the oath-taking cer-
emony, Chouhan created his-
tory in Madhya Pradesh for
having become Chief Minister
for the fourth term. First, he
became CM on November 29,
2005, second time on
December 12, 2008 and for
third term on December 14,
2013. Earlier, on Monday
evening, Chouhan was elected
&DVHVULVHWR
WROOPRXQWVWR
?=BQ =4F34;78
eadly coronavirus contin-
D ue to spread its tentacles
taking India’s tally to 468 cases
on Monday with new cases
being reported from
Telangana, Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
Bihar. The tally also includes 34
cured cases as well as death toll
which rose to nine on Monday.
Confirmed coronavirus
cases in India have more than
doubled in just the last four
days. Total number of active
coronavirus cases in India
stands at 434, as per latest
ICMR report. Multiple States
and over 100 cities across the
country are in lockdown till
March 31. According to data
from the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR), a
total of 18,383 samples from
17,493 individuals have been
tested for COVID-19.
Maharashtra is worst hit
with 89 confirmed cases.
Kerala has the second highest
number of cases at 67. Delhi
has reported 30 positive cases.
Telangana has reported 26
cases. Uttar Pradesh and
Rajasthan have reported 28
cases so far. In Haryana, there
Presenting the Budget for
the sixth consecutive time in the
Assembly, Deputy Chief
Minister Manish Sisodia said the
Delhi Government will imple-
ment the Ayushman Bharat
Yojana of the Centre in Delhi.
Continued on Page 2
0[PShfP[ZbX]Ua^]c^UPSXVXcP[bRaTT]X]bXST1B4QdX[SX]VPbcWTBT]bTgV^Tb
S^f]X]<d\QPX^]<^]SPh
Indian market crashed by near-
ly 13 per cent — Sensex shed-
ding more than 4000 points
BWXeaPYBX]VW2W^dWP]cPZTb^PcWPb
2WXTU<X]XbcTa^U<PSWhP?aPSTbWX]
1W^_P[^]<^]SPh ?C8
as BJP Legislative Party’s leader
at a meeting held at the State
BJP headquarters. Having
elected as Chief Minister des-
ignate, Chouhan called on his
partymen saying it is not a time
for any celebration but to fight
off corona scare. He said he will
start working at Mantralaya
from Monday night.
F^aZTabb_aPhSXbX]UTRcP]cX]PaTbXST]cXP[PaTPc^R^]cPX]cWTb_aTPS^U
R^a^]PeXadbPc1PeSWP]X]?d]T^]<^]SPh
are 17 cases, which include 14
foreigners. Apart from these,
seven confirmed cases have
been reported in West Bengal,
three in Uttarakhand, 13 in
Ladakh, four in J&K, 5 in
Chandigarh, seven in Tamil
Nadu including two foreigners,
21 in Punjab, 1 in Puducherry,
4fcWVhaRddVd^fdeW`c
VddV_eZR]ecRgV]Z_5V]YZ
BC055A4?>AC4AQ
=4F34;78
n the wake of coronavirus
outbreak, the Delhi Police on
Monday evening sealed its
border as the execution of the
prohibitory orders in the
national Capital was not up to
the mark during the day. Police
said people associated with
essential services will be issued
curfew passes.
On Sunday, the police
imposed prohibitory orders
?C8
one time — the Asian indices
were lower by 3 to 7 per cent
and Europe traded in the same
As the BJP legislative party
meet held in Bhopal on
Monday evening, senior leader
Gopal Bhargav proposed
Chouhan’s name and several
MLAs, including former
Minister Narottam Mishra,
seconded his name. Soon after
central observers — Vinay
Sahastrabuddhe and Arun
Singh, attending the meeting
through video conferencing
announced that Chouhan has
been named the leader of BJP
Legislative Party.
Chouhan in his address
straightaway launched a sting-
ing assault on outgoing
Congress Government claim-
ing that the Congress govern-
ment completely destroyed the
State in 15 months of rule.
Continued on Page 2
?C8
2 in Odisha, 6 in Madhya
Pradesh, 2 in Himachal, 30 in
Gujarat, 1 in Chhattisgarh, 2 in
Bihar and five in Andhra
Pradesh. The deadly coron-
avirus, which has infected over
3,25,000 people and killed over
14,000 globally.
Continued on Page 2
under Section 144 of the CrPC
in Delhi till March 31 in view of
the coronavirus outbreak,
banning protests, and other
gatherings.
According to the order,
persons private sector staff
who are engaged in essential
services in Delhi, their respec-
tive organisations shall seek
curfew passes from the office
of Deputy Commissioner of
Police in which the organisa-
tion is located.
Continued on Page 2
range. It was obvious that the
foreign investors were dumping
Indian stocks without consid-
ering the relatively cheaper
valuations.
The absence of any fiscal
stimulus by the Government
has accented the freefall in the
India market, which has come
down by nearly 40 per cent
from its peak. The banking sec-
tor has seen the biggest sell-off
amid fear of rising NPA in the
coming quarters due to the
“lockdown”. Take the case of a
company like Axis Bank. The
share plummeted by as much
29 per cent in a single day,
before registering a symbolic
recovery. The stock closed at
C308, compared to C760 it
reached six weeks ago.
Continued on Page 2

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34;78;>2:3>F=
7VhgVYZT]VdaV`a]V`_c`RUd
BC055A4?>AC4AQ =4F34;78
n the first day of lock-
O down, the national Capital
witnessed very few people and
vehicles on roads as many
stayed indoors to contain the
spread of the coronavirus pan-
demic. Delhi Police on borders
conducted thorough checks
and advised people to return to
their residences. Meanwhile,
police allowed, doctors,
patients going to hospitals,
media personnel and those
involved in essential services to
go to their destinations.
Police had sealed around
27 borders with neighbouring
States — Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh. “Police has sealed all
border areas including
Faridabad, Noida, Maharjapur
, Singhu border, Tikri border,
Gurugram, Ghazipur, Anand
Vihar, Apsara border, Bhopura
border, Loni and others with a
purpose to contain the spread
of coronavirus,” said a senior
police official.
Despite Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal
appeal to stay at home, on
Monday morning till noon,
several people were on road
which also lead to traffic chaos
on Delhi borders of Noida,
Faridabad and Gurugram as
police didn’t allowed com-
muters to pass or come in
Delhi.
“Police teams are request-
ing public to stay indoors and
doctors, patients going to hos-
pitals, media personnel and
those involved in essential ser-
vices are being allowed to pass
through the borders,” said a
police official.
According to Narendra
Bundela, Joint Commissioner
of Police, Traffic, Delhi police
has initiated a strong vigil to
keep public safe by ensuring the
compliance to the directions of
the Delhi Government and
Delhi Police Commissioner
instructions.
“During the field visit
scores of good citizens were
observed supporting the gov-
ernment direction of social
distancing as they stayed back
home which increases the
chances of curbing the spread
of covid-19,” said the Joint CP.
Most of the shops were
?W^c^)AP]YP]3X\aX
shut, but dairies, grocery shops,
chemists, petrol pumps, ATMs
remained open. Metro, autos,
taxis and cab aggregators have
already suspended their ser-
vices due to the lockdown.
Indraprastha Gas Ltd shut
down nearly two-third of its
dispensing outlets in Delhi,
Noida and Ghaziabad as most
vehicles went off the roads.
The firm has some 155
self-operated compressed nat-
ural gas (CNG) stations in the
National Capital Territory. The
CNG dispensing operations at
petrol pumps as well as Delhi
Transport Corporation (DTC)
depots will continue unhin-
dered.
AIIMS-New Delhi said it
would shut down its outpatient
department (OPD), including
speciality services and all new
and follow-up patients' regis-
<PbbXeTcaPUUXRYP\Pc3T[WX6dadVaP\Q^aSTa
tration from Tuesday till fur-
ther orders.
The lockdown come on a
day the Aam Aadmi Party gov-
ernment presented its first
budget after registering a land-
slide victory last month.
“Delhi has 30 cases.
Twenty-three are those who
have returned from abroad,
seven are their family members
who have been infected,” Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal
tweeted.
“Currently, the situation is
under control. Lessons from
other countries state that if
strictness is not adhered to,
things can go out control. This
is why there is a lockdown so 0_^[XRT^UUXRXP[RWTRZb83RPaSb^UR^\\dcTab^]cWT6daVP^]3T[WXQ^aSTaPUcTa[^RZS^f]X]=Tf3T[WX^]<^]SPh ?C8
that the situation does not go
out of hand,” Kejriwal said. ?0AE4B7B70A<0Q A video of the traffic jam at ered in the border areas since essential vehicles such as ambu-
The Health and Family 6DAD6A0< the Delhi-Gurugram border Monday morning despite the lances, police vans, army trucks,
Welfare department had issued showed chaos on the street as huge police deployment. The among others.
a detailed order on Sunday, massive traffic jam was wit- locals gathered at the spot and motorists returned only after the “People are arguing with us
notifying the lockdown in the
whole of Delhi, stipulating var-
A nessed at Delhi-Gurugram
expressway on Monday morn-
requested authorities to allow
movement of vehicles.
police warned them of strict
action.
despite knowing about the gov-
ernment’s lockdown orders. We
ious restrictions. ing after police stopped vehicles "Vehicles coming to Delhi The Gurugram traffic have been instructed by our
It includes no operation of from crossing border amid a from Gurugram were stopped at police with their folding hand seniors only to allow essentials
public transport, including pri- lockdown to combat COVID- the border. It seems people are were requesting to the com- vehicles and people who have
vate buses, taxis, auto-rick- 19. not honouring the lockdown muters not to violate the lock- been exempted from the lock-
shaws, e-rickshaws. All shops, While the police personnel and are not taking it seriously," down and asking them to down orders. But those having
commercial establishments, were allowing professionals such said a commuter, who was return. no urgency are also quarrelling
factories, workshops, offices as doctors, paramedical staff, going to a hospital in Delhi from While many of the with us as if we are stopping
weekly markets will be closed. court staff, bank officials and Gurugram. motorists were seen obeying the them for our own safety,” said a
All motorable and non- those carrying supplies of essen- Several state governments instructions of the policemen, traffic police officials.
motorable borders of Delhi tial commodities to cross over. have appealed to the people not some insisted on the entry and "We have given directions to
with Har yana and Uttar But a large number of vehi- to violate the lockdown and were seen stopping their cars the police officials on the
Pradesh have been sealed. cles, including cars and bikes, remain indoors to help prevent behind the police barricades ground take strict action against
Movement of interstate buses were trying to cross the border the spread of the virus. and arguing with them, creating violators,” said Preet Pal
trains and Delhi Metro trains and were caught in the massive However, in spite of the appeals, inconvenience for other Sangwan, ACP of the
are closed. traffic snarls. vehicles in large numbers gath- motorists and even halting Gurugram police.

5D8>4`WWVcd>R[_f
<REZ]]R8fcUhRcRW`c =RdY\Rc^`Uf]VSfdeVU 1RLGD1HDUO\FKDOODQV 'HOKL Clinics will also be increased to
1,000, he said, adding that an DYZgcR[dh`c_
DPLGORFNGRZQWRSFRSZDUQV %XGJHWVHWV outlay of ? 365 crore for
Z_Rd>A
bfRcR_eZ_VWRTZ]ZeZVd
Z_<fahRcR'RccVdeVU
Mohalla Clinic and Polyclinic
was made in 2020-21.
BC055
A4?>AC4AQ
DFWLRQDJDLQVW6HFYLRODWRUV DVLGHCFU Explaining about the
health projects under the AAP
From Page 1
The state government also
=4F34;78 Srinagar: Security forces have to undertake the operation, Noida (UP): Nearly 2,000 chal- checkposts have been created for in Delhi, he said the exhibited ways how they can

T he Delhi
S i k h
Gurdwara
Management
Committee on Monday offered
the 'Serai' (inn) at Gurdwara
Majnu Ka Tilla on the banks of
the Yamuna for setting up isola-
tion wards and quarantine facil-
ities for the treatment of coron-
avirus-affected people. DSGMC
president Manjinder Sirsa In a
letter to Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal, said all 20 rooms in the
inn, equipped with modern facil-
ities, can be used for this purpose.
Sirsa said that DSGMC will
provide separate rooms for heath
staff Doctors /Nurses etc with
ample parking in Gurdwara per-
mises in most safe and secure
environment.
busted a module of Lashkar-e-
Toiba's shadow outfit in
Kupwara district of Jammu &
Kashmir arresting six suspect-
ed terrorists and recovering a
large cache of arms and ammu-
nition, officials said on Monday.
The six were members of
'The Resistance Front', a newly
formed terrorist outfit believed
to be a shadow group of the
LeT and were arrested in an
operation spreading from
Sopore in Baramulla district to
Keran in Kupwara district
near the Line of Control, the
officials said.
Acting on an input devel-
oped by police about trans-
portation of arms and ammu-
nition from Keran to Sopore
hospital, the cops swung into
action and formed four teams
they said.
"All the teams reached the
spot covertly and apprehended
four people identified as
Ahtisham Farooq Malik,
Shafqat Ali Tagoo, Musaib
Hassan Bhat and Nisar Ahmad
Ganai -- all residents of Sopore,"
the officials said.
During questioning, they
revealed that they were work-
ing under a Pakistan-based
man who goes by the name
'Andrew Jones' on Telegram
messenger, they said.
"These four were the main
handlers deputed by 'Andrew
Jones' for recruiting local youth
for terrorist activities in
Kashmir particularly in North
Kashmir... Their job was to
instigate local youth to join ter-
rorist ranks," they said. PTI
lans and penalties were issued on
Monday against those violating
Section 144 on the first day of
the lockdown due to coronavirus
in Gautam Buddh Nagar, police
said and appealed to the resi-
dents to strictly adhere to the
orders and stay indoors.
Gautam Buddh Nagar
adjoining Delhi in western Uttar
Pradesh has so far reported
eight COVID-19 positive cases,
nearly one-third of the entire
state, and is among the 16 dis-
tricts put under a three-day
lockdown to prevent novel coro-
navirus from spreading, accord-
ing to officials.
"As many as 96 FIRs have
been registered for violation of
Section 144, while 1,995 challan
and penalties have been made so
far. He said 86 barriers and
24x7 monitoring across the dis-
trict," Noida Police
Commissioner Alok Singh said.
According to the district
health department, 324 samples
have been sent for test so far of
which eight have resulted posi-
tive, 228 negative, and result for
90 was awaited by Monday
evening.
As many as 155 people have
been kept isolated at quarantine
facilities in hospitals and at the
Gautam Buddh University, the
department stated, adding that
1,731 individuals were under
surveillance.
The police chief also asked
citizens to remain vigilant, not
violate the law and assured
strict action against hoarders,
black marketers and people
involved in profiteering. PTI
WRFRPEDW
From Page 1
The Budget focussed on
the education, health and trans-
port sectors, which Sisodia
said were important areas in
the Kejriwal model of gover-
nance.
“The Government is pro-
viding health care services to
Delhiites through 451 Aam
Aadmi Mohalla Clinics, 24
polyclinics and 36 multi-spe-
cialty/super-specialty hospi-
tals. Ninety-four polyclinics
are being established by way of
up-gradation of existing dis-
pensaries,” said Sisodia, who
also holds the finance portfo-
lio.
The number of Mohalla
Government has started the
work of upgrading and expand-
ing existing hospitals and con-
struction of new hospitals to
increase the bed capacity from
10,000 beds to 26,000 beds.
“An outlay of Rs 724 crore
is proposed in 2020-21 to build
new hospitals and upgradation
of 16 existing Government
hospitals. Free treatment,
surgery, radiology, diagnostic
schemes and medical treat-
ment being provided through
the Arogya Kosh in Delhi will
now come under the purview
of the “Mukhya Mantri
Swasthya Yojna”. There is a pro-
vision of ? 125 crore for the
“Mukhya Mantri Swasthya
Yojna”, having ? 100 crore
under Delhi Arogya Kosh in
2020-21,” Sisodia said.
destroy the state further while
shunning power, claimed
Chouhan adding it was not a
time for discussing these
things. With collective efforts,
we would put the state back on
track on development and pub-
lic welfare but I wish to urge
partymen that it wasn’t a time
for celebration and Corona
scare was the topmost priority.
“I would start sitting in my
office in Mantralaya since
Monday night,” said Chouhan.
Lauding the will shown by
PM Narendra Modi against
Corona scare, Chouhan who
will be sworn in as the Chief
Minister for fourth time in MP,
claimed the MLAs would
shortly visit their constituencies
to raise awareness on Novel
Corona virus.

&DVHVULVHWRWROO
From Page 1
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From Page 1
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From Page 1
Gujarat, Bihar and Maharahstra reported a death each Apart from the symptoms of Covid- From page 1 Those private organisations which are locat-
on Sunday, while four deaths were earlier reported from 19 (fever, cough, breathing difficulty), if SBI, ICICI bank, Indusind Bank and ed outside the national capital in the neibhour-
Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab, the Health the person on chemoprophylaxis develops HDFC Bank suffered the same carnage. ing districts may similarly seek curfew passes for
Ministry said.Eighty cities including Delhi, Mumbai, any other symptoms, he should immedi- Reliance Industry, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and those employees who commute from Delhi to the
Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru went into complete lock- ately seek medical treatment from the L&T tanked by more than 10 per cent. neibhouring districts from the office of DCP of
down till 31 March. Trains, metros and inter-state buses medical practitioner who has prescribed In the very first hour of trade on Monday, districts: Southwest, Southeast, Shahdara, East,
have been shut from today, only essential services like milk, the chemoprophylaxis, said the advisory. trading on the BSE and the NSE had to be halt- Outer-North or Outer districts of the Delhi Police.
vegetables, medicines, grocery and ATMs will be available The health authorities are pinning ed after the benchmark indices Sensex and The Government officials who are engaged
during the shutdown.Meanwhile, nearly 500 Indians, who hopes on hydroxyl-chloroquine amidst Nifty hit the 10 per cent lower circuit break- in essential services will be permitted on the basis
were evacuated from Iran in batches and quarantined at studies reporting its positive results. For er. As trading resumed after a 45-minute of identify cards. For employees of private com-
three Army facilities in Jaisalmer, are presently asympto- instance, researchers in France have pub- freeze, losses widened on bourses due to plaines to whom the essential service is out-
matic, a defence spokesperson said on Monday.The staff lished a study in which they treated 20 unabated sell-offs across sectors. sourced by Government, the movement shall be
at the Army wellness facilities is working overtime to ensure Covid-19 patients with hydroxyl-chloro- Global stocks too roiled after nations permitted on the basis of identify card and autho-
that the centres remain clean, he said. In addition to sani- quine. They concluded that the drug sig- across the world announced lockdowns in an risation issues by the concerned Government
tisation of the entire premises, daily motivational lectures nificantly reduced viral load in nasal effort to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 pan- organisation, the order stated.
are conducted by the Army medical authorities to make swabs. But it was not a randomised con- demic, spiking fears of a mammoth global “Strict checking shall be done at the border
people understand the importance of the mandatory quar- trolled trial and it didn’t report clinical out- recession. pickets and internal pickets within the city in
antine to combat the spread of COVID-19, the spokesper- comes such as deaths, according to the All sectoral indices ended significantly every police station area to ensure that no gath-
son said.He said the people are enjoying their time by play- journal Science of the American lower, with BSE Bankex, finance, capital goods, ering or movement takes place in contravention
ing games, watching television, praying and utilising the Association for the Advancement of basic materials, industrials and auto indices of the prohibitory orders,” the order further stat-
available resources in the wellness facilities. Science (AAAS). plunging up to 16.82 per cent. ed.

/RFNGRZQ people stay in homes for a few

From Page 1
“Action can be taken
against those who are not liv-
ing in quarantine as per rules.
There is a provision of punish-
ment of 2 to 6 months in such
rules for such people,” said the
spokesperson of the district
administration.
He said till March 31, the
Gurugram district has been
locked down. During this time,
if a person violates the rules laid
down under the lockdown sit-
uation, then action will be
taken against him under
Section 269 of the IPC
“The district administra-
tion has appealed to the people
to follow the rules during the
lockdown and not to leave the
house unnecessarily. People do
not come on the streets unless
it is very important and try to
work from home. Also, to pre-
vent the spread of coronavirus
infection, it is necessary that
days and do not come in con-
tact with more people,” said a
senior administration official.
FIR was filed against 40
people in Ahmedabad for vio-
lating Janata Curfew on Sunday.
A video of people chanting slo-
gans, dancing and clanging
utensils during Janata curfew,
which was called as a social dis-
tancing measure, had gone viral
after which a police case was
registered, an official said
.Similar scenes were observed
in many other States, including
the national Capital where
police was not scene dispersing
the gatherings.
Union Home Secretary
Ajay Bhalla held a video con-
ference with DGPs of States
where lockdown has been
ordered and asked them to
strictly implement the order,
Home Ministry officials said.
The Home Secretary held a
video conference with State
DGPs and asked them to strict-
ly implement lockdown in their
respective state, they said.
The Central and State
Governments on Sunday
announced lockdown in about
80 districts where at least one
confirmed case of COVID-19
was reported. The districts
where lockdown was
announced included 10 each in
Maharashtra and Kerala, six
each in Uttar Pradesh and
Gujarat, five each in Karnataka
and Haryana, three each in
Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
As people are defying the
Government order of lock-
down, Punjab and Puducherry
Governments have announced
curfew so that no one can
come out of their houses.
Earlier in the day, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
appealed to State Governments
to ensure that rules and regu-
lations of the coronavirus lock-
down are enforced as he noted
that many people are not tak-
ing the measure seriously.
“Many people are still not
taking the lockdown seriously.
Please save yourself, save your
family, follow the instructions
seriously. I request state
Governments to ensure rules
and laws are followed,” Modi
said in a tweet in Hindi.
In Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal announced a
slew of measures to counter the
rapid spread of coronavirus. He
announced a complete lock-
down from 6 am tomorrow till
midnight of March 31.
“No public transport ser-
vices, including private buses,
autos, e-rickshaws will be
allowed during the lockdown
period in Delhi. Twenty five per
cent of the DTC bus fleet will
continue to ply on roads of
Delhi to carry people involved
in essential services,” said
Kejriwal.
As coronavirus cases raced
to around 500 mark on
Monday, several States
announced a complete lock-
down till the end of the month.
Commissioner of Police
Delhi SN Srivastava said in
wake of coronavirus outbreak,
section 144 of CrPC has been
imposed in Delhi. “We expect
that everyone will stay at home
other than people related to
essential services. Strict action
will be taken against those who
will not follow the restrictions,”
he said.
The Kerala Government
announced complete lockdown
in the State. All borders in the
State to remain closed, opera-
tions of all public transport to
cease. All places of worship to
also remain closed.
The lockdown will come
into effect from tonight and will
continue till March 31st. Other
than pharmacies, all other
shops timing will be restricted
from 7 am to 5 pm, said Kerala
CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
Maharashtra which has
turned a hot spot of the virus in
the county has announced
almost a state-wide curfew.
“Compelled to announce a
statewide curfew as people were
not listening,” said Chief
Minister Udhav Thackrey.
He said the pandemic
prompted the Government to
announce lockdown in nearly
80 districts across the country
and suspend rail, air and inter-
state bus services till March 31.
In Haryana Chief Minister
Mohan Lal Khattar said
declared a complete lockdown
in 15 more Haryana districts
from Tuesday. On Sunday seven
districts in the State were locked
down where positive cases were
found.
The Centre has already sus-
pended operations of domestic
scheduled commercial airlines
shall cease with effect from
midnight on March 24.
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee had earlier
chaired an all-party meeting at
Nabanna in Kolkata, over coro-
navirus Pandemic and asked
the Centre to suspend all flights
to Kolkatta as Bengal reported
first death case with Railway
employee passing away in the
State Capital.

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B0?=0B8=67Q =4F34;78

elhi Finance Minister

BC055A4?>AC4AQ =4F34;78 pitals and construction of new hospitals
will increase the bed capacity by 16,000

SODQV6WDWH%RDUG
Manish Sisodia presented
a budget of C65,000 crore for
the financial year 2020-21 on
Monday in special Assembly
session.
Notably, the budgetary out-
lay was C60,000 crore for the
ongoing 2019-20 fiscal while
the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
Delhi Government’s first bud-
get back in the year 2015 was
C30,000 crore.
The Budget estimates for
the fiscal 2020-21 is 8.33 per
cent higher than than previous
fiscal ( 2019-20)
The Budget estimates of
C65,000 crore in 2020-21 is 8.33
per cent while the financial sup-
port of C6,828 crore to the Local
Bodies in 2020-21 is proposed
as against C6,380 crore in the
Budget Estimates in 2019-20.
“The total financial support
to Local Bodies mainly includes
C2,299 crore as share in tax col-
lection and C1,805 crore as
share in Stamps and
Registration Fee and one time
parking charges etc while
C2,724 cror for implementation
of various developmental
Schemes and programmes,”
Sisodia said while announcing
the Budget.
According to Aam Aadmi
Party’s (AAP’s) budgetary
report, Delhi’sGross State
Domestic Product (GSDP) is
expected to grow at a rate of
more than 10.48 per cent dur-
3T[WX3T_dch2WXTU<X]XbcTa<P]XbWBXb^SXPfXcWcWT1dSVTc!!! PbWTPaaXeTb
Pc3T[WX0bbT\Q[hX]=Tf3T[WX^]<^]SPh
ing the year 2019-20, which will
increase to C8,56,112 crore
from C7,74,870 crore in the pre-
vious year.
In his Budget speech,
Sisodia marked that at constant
prices, Delhi’s economy is
expected to grow at the rate of
7.42 per cent in 2019- 20, much
higher the all India growth
rate of 5.0 per cent. “The annu-
al average growth rate of GSDP
in the last five years remains at
8.18 per cent, which marked the
sound economic health of
Delhi,” he added.
Further, The Per Capita
Income of Delhi is estimated at
C3,89,143 in 2019-20 with an
increase of 8.57 per cent over
the per capita income of
C3,58,430 in 2018-19 whereas
the per capita income of the
AP]YP]3X\aXk?X^]TTa
Delhi has gone up by 44 per
cent since 2015-16 when the
per capita income was
C2,70,261.
“The per capita income of
Delhi is about three times high-
er than the national average,
which is estimated to be
C134,432 in 2019-20, the
Finance Minister said.
As per the economic survey
report,the contribution of Delhi
to the national GDP also
increased from 3.97 per cent in
2014-15 to 4.20 per cent in
2019-20 despite 1.49 per cent
of the total population.” The per
capita expenditure of
Government of NCT of Delhi
through budgetary transactions
has increased from C19,004 in
2015-16 to C31,841 in 2020-21,”
Sisodia added.
BC055A4?>AC4AQ =4F34;78
he Delhi Government will set up
T its own ‘State Board of Education’
with an objective to focus on under-
standing and learning rather score
marks by rote learning so that students
prepare themselves to tackle themselves
for the any possible challenges. The
Government has earmarked C15, 815
crore for education sector in the finan-
cial year 2020-21 which is 24.33 per
cent of the total Budget.
Finance Minister Manish Sisodia
in his Budget speech on Monday pro-
posed a number of initiatives on skill
and entrepreneurship development
programme, spoken English compe-
tencies, patriotic course with an aim for
overall development of personality of
students to become a good citizen.
The Government will bring a new
law to ensure quality early childhood
education keeping in view of its
importance on overall development
of children in age group 3 to 6 years,
he said.
The Government will replicate
the best models and new experiments
of best performing countries in the
Government schools in terms of
qualitative training to teachers and
development of curriculum, Sisodia
said, adding that the school health
scheme will be launched from next
year and students will be given a mul-
tipurpose identity card containing
detailed health records.
“The school health scheme will be
launched from next year and students
will be given a multipurpose identity
card with their health details. A sum
of C22 crore is proposed for this
scheme,” he said.
He also said that students will be
given equitable and affordable educa-
tion opportunities in higher education
through expansion of existing Institutes
and Universities and introduction of
new courses. The Delhi Skill and
Entrepreneurship University, Delhi
Sports University and Delhi Teachers
University will also be set up.
“Our Government is mulling over
joining the PISA Test in 2024. This
process assesses how well the level of
education received by children up to
the age of 15 in a country or state meets
international standards and needs.
About 80 developed and highly devel-
oped countries of the world participate
in this competition. We are optimistic
that Delhi will achieve a distinct place
on the educational map of the world
by 2024 through our continuous hard
work and through the Kejriwal Model
of Education Governance of last five
years,” he said.
PISA is the world's most important
international educational assessment
process in the field of education,
which is held every three years.
he Delhi Government on Monday
T said it would implement the
Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Yojana in Delhi from fiscal 2020-
21 to provide health insurance cover up
to five lakh per family every year.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia, who also holds finance portfo-
lio, made the announcement while pre-
senting the Delhi Budget in the Assembly
on Monday.
"The Delhi Government will imple-
ment the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana in Delhi in
2020-21 to provide health insurance
cover up to C5 lakh per family every year,"
he said.
The Ayushman Bharat scheme plans
to cover over 10.74 crore poor and vul-
nerable families as per the socio-eco-
nomic caste census (SECC). It provides
a cover of up to C5 lakh per family per
year which includes 1,400 pre-defined
packages spread over 23 specialities.
The Government has also set aside
C724 crore in 2020-21 to build new hos-
pitals and upgrade existing Government
hospitals, as compared to the revised
estimates of 195 crore in 2019-20, the
Finance Minister said.
Sisodia also said that the
Government has started upgrading and
expanding existing hospitals and con-
struction of new hospitals to increase the
bed capacity from 10,000 beds to 26,000
beds. “An estimated cost of C2,578 crore
has been approved for upgrading and
expanding the 16 existing hospitals and
construction work has already been
started in some hospitals,” hje said,
adding that the expansion of existing hos-
more beds.
“The work of hospitals in Burari and
Ambedkar Nagar has been completed and
health services will start soon. The con-
struction work of the hospital at Dwarka
is in advanced stage,” he said during the
speech.
He also announced that free treat-
ment, surgery, radiology, diagnostic
schemes and medical treatment being
provided through the Arogya Kosh in
Delhi will now come under the purview
of the “Mukhya Mantri Swasthya Yojna”
in which 1016 surgical packages are pro-
vided free of cost.
“I make a provision of ` 125 crore for
the “Mukhya Mantri Swasthya Yojna”,
which includes the provision of ` 100
crore under Delhi Arogya Kosh,” he said.
The Government has earmarked Rs
20 crore in2020-21to strengthen the
facility of tele-radiology. Besides, non-
radiology laboratory diagnostic facility
will be made available through public pri-
vate partnership.
Talking about another important
step in health services, Sisodia said that
the Delhi government is bringing the
“Mukhya Mantri Health Card” Scheme
for the people of Delhi. “Under this
scheme, health ID cards will be prepared
and distributed to all the residents of
Delhi. The health ID card will be linked
to the hospital information manage-
ment system in all the health centers of
the government,” he added.
Sisodia also said that the government
will introduce a comprehensive ‘Delhi
Health Bill’ to regulate the quality of
health care services and to protect the
rights of patients and common people.

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BC055A4?>AC4AQ =4F34;78
he Delhi Government on
T Monday increased the 2020-21
Budget for water supply and sanita-
tion by around 70 per cent, allocat-
ing more funds for unauthorised
colonies and wastewater treatment
plants.
Presenting the Budget in the
Delhi Assembly, Deputy Chief
Minister Manish Sisodia said four
decentralised water treatment plants,
with a combined capacity of about
four million gallons per day (MGD),
will also be installed on the banks of
Yamuna.
He also said that Delhi Jal Board
has started the plan to install rain
water harvesting in 439 out of its 771
installations. “The target is to set up
rain water harvesting in 155 other
installations this year. Around 1,605
unauthorised colonies have been
connected with water supply system
through pipelines,” he said.
The DJB has awarded the con-
tract to re-fill 22 reservoirs with
water. “For this, these ponds will be
filled with water of adequate quali-
ty after treating the waste water. The
water treatment capacity has been
increased to 607 MGD and present-
ly the treated capacity is utilised up
to 500 MGD. It will steadily increase
with the commissioning of the
Interceptor Sewer Project,” he said.
The Government has started
working on the action plan to
ensure clean drinking water to every
household in Delhi within the next
five years.
As many as unauthorised
colonies have been connected with
water supply system through
pipelines, out of this, water is already
being supplied in 1,549 colonies and
notification will be issued soon to
start water supply in the remaining
56 colonies, Sisodia said during his
budget speech.
Sewer lines are laid in 434
unauthorised colonies, he said,
adding that the work is in progress
in 597 colonies and is targeted to be
completed by December 2020.
bQdUcRU\_g^QdY_^Q\\UfU\*5S_^_]YSCebfUi
NEW DELHI: Delhi's infant mor-
tality and neonatal mortality rates
are below the national-level figures,
according to the Economic Survey
of the national Capital that was
tabled by the Delhi Government in
the Assembly on Monday.
The health sector infrastructure
in Delhi comprised 1,432 dispen-
saries, seven primary health centres,
1,172 nursing homes, 251 maternity
homes, 222 polyclinics and special
clinics, 88 hospitals and 17 medical
colleges, the survey pointed out.
According to the report, the
total number of hospital beds
increased from 48,096 in 2014 to
57,709 in 2018, which indicated that
the bed-population ratio (beds per
1,000 people) increased from 2.65
to 2.94 in the same period, it said.
Important vital indicators such
as the infant mortality rate, neona-
tal mortality rate, under-five mor-
tality rate in respect of Delhi stood
at lower levels — 16, 14, and 21
respectively — in comparison to the
national-level figures — 33, 23
and 37 respectively — the survey
said. Per capita expenditure on
health in Delhi has increased from
1996 in the year 2014-15 to 3044 in
2018-19, the report stated. The total
fertility rate (TFR) of Delhi was 1.5,
the lowest among all the states in
the country, it added. SR
  !"#!$!$








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A n anguished Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
on Monday rued that some
people are not taking the lock-
down in the country serious-
ly in the wake of Coronavirus
pandemic and appealed to the
people to save their family
members and themselves by
strictly adhering to the direc-
tions being given by the State
and Central Governments. He
also requested the State
Governments to make people
adhere to the lockdown.
“Many people are still not
taking the lockdown serious-
ly. Please save yourself by
doing this, save your family,
follow the instructions seri-
ously. I request the State
Governments to get the rules
and laws followed,” Modi
Tweeted in the morning.
Later, Prime Minister
interacted with industry rep-
resentatives via video confer-
ence from ASSOCHAM,
FICCI, CII and several local
Chambers from 18 cities across
the country.
He appealed to the corpo-
rate to be united in dealing the
economic and social issues in
the current chaotic situation
even as he reiterated that the
companies should not go for
retrenchments or salary cuts.
Modi asked the corporate
houses to be passionate to
their manpower and provide
all sorts of help to them as well
as to the society in upholding
the corporate social responsi-
bility.
Soon after the Prime
Minister’s meeting, Mukesh
Ambani-led Reliance
Industries declared that they
have geared up the production
of one lakh masks per day and
increased the production of
other hospital related materi-
als. They also offered support
to free meal schemes across the
country and fuel supply.
Industrialist Anand Mahindra
too pitched in for production
of ventilators.
The Prime Minister said
that while the government was
working on giving a fillip to the
pace of growth in the country,
an unforeseen hurdle in the
form of COVID-19 came in
front of the economy. He said
that the challenge posed by the
pandemic is graver than even
that posed by the World Wars
and we need to be on constant
vigil to prevent its spread.
Modi told the barons that the
fulcrum of the economy is
trust.
“Trust has a unique yard-
stick - it is earned or lost in dif-
ficult and challenging times.
The parameters of trust are at
a critical juncture in various
H9@R]]RjdWVRcRS`fe
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he World Health
T Organisation on Monday
allayed fear that Coronavirus
(Covid-19) spread through
air also besides contaminat-
ed objects.
Dr Poonam Khetrapal
Singh, Regional Director
WHO South Asia tweeted
that based on the information
received so far and our expe-
rience with other coron-
aviruses COVID-19 apppears
mostly through respiratory
droplets )(for instance pro-
duced when a sick person
coughs) and close contact.
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he over C1 lakh crore
T Budget for Jammu and
Kashmir and Ladakh for 2020-
21 — approved by the Rajya
Sabha on Monday through
separate Bills— laid emphasis
on the development of newly
carved-out Union Territories
with effect from October 31,
2019.
The Bills were subse-
quently returned to the Lok
Sabha, as required under rules
for money bills.
The total Budget estimates
for the fiscal is C1,01,428 crore,
of which developmental expen-
diture is of the order of C38,764
crore, an increase of 27 per
cent. The Government also
presented a separate expendi-
ture plan of C 55,317.81 crore
for the last five months of the
sectors of the economy. Several
sectors like tourism, construc-
tion, hospitality and daily life
engagements including the
informal sector have been hit
due to COVID-19. The impact
on the economy will be felt for
some time to come,” said Modi
to the industrialists.
The industry representa-
tives thanked the Prime
Minister for leading from the
front and taking swift, front-
footed action to counter the
threat. They informed the
Prime Minister about the steps
being taken by them to main-
tain supply lines of essential
items and medical equipment
including ventilators, assis-
tance in creation of isolation
wards, utilisation of CSR funds
for combating COVID-19 and
provision of assistance to
migrant labour.
“They discussed the spe-
cific issues being faced by sec-
tors like banking, finance, hos-
pitality, tourism, infrastruc-
ture and requested for help to
overcome these challenges
through financial and fiscal
assistance. Industry represen-
tatives also appreciated the
importance of instituting a
lockdown, irrespective of eco-
nomic losses, to prevent the
spread of the virus. Prime
Minister thanked the industry
representatives for speaking
in one voice on the needs of the
unorganised sector and said
that this marks a new dawn of
economic integration. He
asked them to allow employees
to work from home wherever
doing so is feasible through
using technology. He exhorted
them to adopt a humanitarian
approach and not to cut down
on workforce in spite of the
negative impact on their busi-
nesses,” said the PMO in a
statement.
Modi reiterated about the
importance of ‘swachhta’ and
following medical advice to
prevent the spread of COVID-
19 at factories, offices and
workplace. He added that social
distancing remains our biggest
weapon in our fight against
preventing the spread of the
This is why the WHO rec-
ommends hand washing and
maintaining hygiene.
The WHO also tweeted,
“Airborne spread has not
been reported for #COVID-
19 #coronavirus. Chinese
authorities reported possi-
bility of aerosol transmis-
sion in a relatively closed
environment with prolonged
exposure like ICUs & CCUs
in hospitals, but more epid
data analysis is needed to
understand this.” Her clarifi-
cation came amidst reports
and a few studies that the
deadly virus can be spread
through air also.
current fiscal.
With regard to the Union
territory of Ladakh carved out
of the erstwhile state of Jammu
and Kashmir, the total Budget
Estimates for the past 5 months
have been pegged at C5,754
crore. Of this, capital expendi-
ture would be C 4,618.35 crore
and revenue expenditure would
be C 1,135.65 crore.
Leader of Opposition
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C oncerned about likely job
losses and pay cuts due to
the coronavirus crisis, the
Ministry of Labour &
Employment on Monday
asked all the employers of
public/private establishments
to not cut salaries or resort to
layoffs of their employees.
The move has come days
after the televised address by
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on the outbreak on
Thursday when he urged the
business community not to cut
staff salaries.
The Ministry in its advi-
sory said the Employees’ State
Insurance Corporation (ESIC)
requests all employers not to
cut salaries of employees who
are unable to work.
The advisory asks employ-
ers not to terminate their
employees, particularly casual
or contractual employees, from
their jobs or reduce their
wages. The letter states that the
catastrophic situation due to
the outbreak of coronavirus is
a challenge to the society and
?Pa[XP\T]cPSY^da]TSbX]TSXT]TPa[h
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arliament was adjourned
P sine die on Monday, near-
ly two weeks ahead of its
schedule, due to the
Coronavirus scare with Lok
Sabha passing the Finance Bill,
2020, without a discussion
even as the Opposition want-
ed an announcement from
Union Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitaraman for a finan-
cial package to tackle COVID-
19. The Minister did not
address the issue.
The two-part budget ses-
sion was scheduled to conclude
on April 03.
The decision to shorten
the session was taken before
the House convened at 2 pm
after a meeting was held by
Speaker Om Birla with floor
leaders of various parties.
The Rajya Sabha which
passed budget for union terri-
tory of Jammu and Kashmir,
too was adjourned after it
completed its business in the
evening.
Besides passing the finance
bill, the lower house intro-
duced two bills and the pro-
ceedings the concluded with
the address of the Speaker
Om Birla who touched on the
ongoing coronavirus scare in
the country and people’s strong
resolve to cope with the epi-
demic.
Earlier, as the Finance
Minister presented amend-
virus. He also requested them
to use their CSR funding for
humanitarian causes related
to the pandemic at this critical
juncture. Principal Secretary,
Cabinet Secretar y and
Secretary, Department for
Promotion of Industry and
Internal Trade also participat-
ed in the interaction.
Later, Prime Minister also
convened separate meeting
with Pharma company owners
Ghulam Nabi Azad alleged
that Jammu and Kashmir was
on “ventilator” after the
Government put it under a
“political quarantine” for the
last seven months and a half,
saying the situation there was
worse than what it was even 30
years ago.
MoS Finance Anurag
Singh Thakur, however, said
under the current Government
these challenges can only be
neutralised by the coordinat-
ed efforts of all.
The advisory further states
that in view of the coronavirus
pandemic and the consistent
efforts of the government
requesting the citizen to
remain at home and not ven-
ture out, will constraint the
worker or the employee to
report for work.
There may be instances
that on this pretext, the
employer may dispense with
the services of the employees
or may force them to go on
leave without wages or
salaries.
As per the advisory, if
any worker takes leave, he or
she should be deemed to be
on duty without any conse-
quential deduction in wages
for this period. Further, if
the place of employment is
to be made non-operational
due to coronavirus pan-
demic, the employees of
such unit will be deemed to
be on duty.
The advisory also realis-
es that the termination of the
ments to the Bill for passing,
Congress legislative party
leader Adhir Ranjan
Choudhar y said
Opposition was ready to pass
the
the Finance Bill but wanted an
announcement from
Sitharaman for a financial
package that would help mit-
igate the economic hardships
generated by the pandemic.
DMK member T.R. Baalu also
made the demand.
The finance minister,how-
ever, did not speak on the
issue. After the passage of the
Bill, two more Bills for a
National Security University
was introduced by Minister of
State for Home G. Kishen
Reddy. “We are ready to pass
the Finance Bill but we need to
hear some announcement of
an economic package from
the Finance Minister,” said
Choudhary.
Choudhar y had also
moved an adjournment for-
putting on hold the exercise of
National Population Register
in the country.
Before the house was
adjourned Prime Minister
Narendra Modi arrived in the
House. On the appeal of the
speaker members gave a stand-
ing ovation to the first respon-
ders, medical professionals,
essential services workers and
media for being at the forefront
in the fight against the pan-
demic coronovirus.
The Speaker also men-
and TV channels’ editors. He
praised the media for their
work during the crisis period
and asked the editors to ensure
the health and welfare of
reporters and cameraman
working whole day and night
in the field.
He also thanked the Air
India crew for their courageous
work in airlifting people from
Covid-19 affected countries.
He also thanked the heads
there has been a growth in GST,
excise duty, stamp duty, bank-
ing transactions in Jammu and
Kashmir.
“No loss has been evident
in micro-terms,” he said on
behalf of his senior colleague
Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman.
On the occasion, Thakur
recalled how in 2011 he was
prevented from unfurling the
Indian flag at Kashmir’s Lal
Chowk, which is something
anyone from any corner of the
country can do now in the val-
ley.
Initiating the debate, Azad
hoped that the next budget for
Jammu and Kashmir would be
passed in the Assembly there
and all political detainees
would be released immediate-
ly to help revive political activ-
ity in the State.
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ollowing the Ministry
F of Labour’s advisory, the
Ministry of Finance on
Monday issued order that all
casual, contractual and out-
sourced staff working with
the Ministries/ departments
and order organisations of
the Government of India
would be treated ‘on duty’
during stay at home in view
of lockdown order regard-
ing coronavirus prevention,
and pay and wages would be
paid accordingly.
employee from the job or
reduction in wages in this
scenario will further deepen
the crises and will not only
weaken the financial condi-
tion of the employee but also
hamper their morale to com-
bat their fight with this epi-
demic.
tioned the success of the ‘Janata
Curfew.’ He said that as MPs go
back to their constituencies,
they would be joining the
fight too. As Choudhary
sought to press for his
demands, Birla also mentioned
that opposition leader’s daugh-
ter too banged the ‘thali’ on
Sunday in solidarity with the
doctors and health workers
who are securing the country
from the epidemic.
Birla said apart from pass-
ing thegeneral budget , 13 bills
were passed by the house.
“As we go back to our con-
stituencies, we need to take on
the challenge of this pandem-
ic and turn a negative atmos-
phere into a positive one,” he
said.
The Rajya sabha lasted
longer than the Lok Sabha as
it approved the Bill for the bud-
get of C1-lakh crore for the
Union Territory of Jammu
and Kashmir for 2020-21. The
upper house too was
adjourned by its Chairman M
Venkaiah Naidu, in the
evening.
It also approved and
returned to Lok Sabha anoth-
er Bill for the budget of
Ladakh, as required under
rules for money bills.
The Bills were approved
with voice vote after a debate
of over two hours. The Jammu
and Kashmir Appropriation
Bills were passed by Lok Sabha
on March 19.
of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh for offering initial
funds to the Covid Fund cre-
ated by SAARC nations. India
has donated 10 million dollars
in the fund. Si Lanka has
donated five million dollars
and Maldives donated two
million dollars. Bangladesh
donated 1.5 million dollars
and Afghanistan donated one
million dollars for the Covid-
19 Fund.
?=BQ =4F34;78
R ajya Sabha Chairman M
Venkaiah Naidu on
Monday asserted that members
have no right to disrupt the
House as claimed by somebody
while they have a certain right
to debate and discuss any issue
in the House. He expressed
concern over the loss of 24 per-
cent of the time of the House
during the Budget Session that
concluded ahead of the sched-
ule amidst rising concerns over
the spread of Corona virus.
The day also saw several
members including Motilal
Vohra, Prabhat Jha, Rajiv
Gowda, BK Hariprasad and Dr
Satyanarayan Jatiya retiring
from the house.
Naidu in his valedictory
observations in the House
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H aving airlifted 170 Indian
citizens from Wuhan and
Iran since the cornoavirus
pandemic outbreak, the IAF
has decided not to allow
COVID-19 suspects to board
the aircraft and directed the
pilots and other crew to
remain in the cockpit at the
time of escorting passengers
from outside the country as a
precautionary measure.
In the latest set of advi-
sories, the IAF also asked its
crew to brief passengers about
social distancing, cough eti-
quettes, refrain from touching
aircraft surfaces and person-
al hygiene.
As per the drill, the board-
ing passengers will go through
thermal screening and any
symptomatic person will not
be allowed to board the plane,
officials said here on Monday.
After going through ther-
mal screening, the passengers
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eft parties and its trade
L
unions on Monday urged
Centre, State Governments
and Corporate Houses to
adopt compassionate
approach to employees work-
ing in private sector and unor-
ganised sectors. CPI (M) gen-
eral secretary Sitaram Yechury
in a letter to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi demanded
announcement of economic
relief packages to the workers
and employers. He also said
that no private companies
would be allowed to go for
retrenchment or salary cut in
the wake of Cornoanvirus
pandemic situation.
Yechury suggested that
there should be moratorium
of bank loan repayments to
SME, retail traders and EMI
payments to employees.
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midst the coronavirus
A
scare, the Centre seems to
have forgotten the people
with disabilities (PwDs) as it
is yet to make all its informa-
tion and circulars/advisories
related to Covid-19 in a for-
mat that is easily accessible to
them.
Waking up to this need of
the sector, the Union Social
Justice and Empowerment
Ministry has now written to
the Department of Personnel
and Training (DoPT) to make
the awareness material in
braille for blind people and in
sign language video/tapes for
deaf and dumb people.
The Ministry has also
asked the Union Health
Ministry to ensure medical
treatment on priority basis to
the sector, in case they are
inflicted with the virus, as
envisaged under the Rule 25
of the Rights of People with
informed that as against the 31
sittings of the House scheduled
in two parts between January
31st and April 3rd, the House
was constrained to conclude
after 23 sittings.
The Chairman stated that
as against the total scheduled
duration of 118 hours 52 min-
utes during the 23 sittings, the
House functioned for a dura-
tion of 90 hours and 30 min-
utes resulting in 76.13 percent
productivity of Rajya Sabha
during the Budget Session.
A total functional time of
38 hours 23 minutes of the
House has been lost due to dis-
ruptions including 32 hours 51
minutes so lost during the sec-
ond part of the Session. The
House, however, sat beyond the
scheduled time on 9 days for a
total of 9 hours 59 minutes.
will have to disinfect their
hands by using sanitisers before
boarding the plane. Moreover,
the support staff and crew of
the IAF planes will not come in
close contact with the passen-
gers as a safety measure. The
IAF had deployed its giant C-
17 transport aircraft to bring
back Indians from Iran and
China and the plane can
accommodate more than 400
passengers. The procedure
after landing in India entails
the ground staff maintaining
distance from the incoming
crew and passengers. Also, all
waste items left over by pas-
sengers will have to be tightly
sealed in bags on board and
disposed of by biohazard vehi-
cles, they said.
Besides this, the IAF is
also working on a contin-
gency plan to allow its per-
sonnel to work from home.
The Army has already imple-
mented such a scheme with
35 per cent officers and 50
“Many countries in the world
have announced that the gov-
ernment will guarantee the
payment of at least 80 per cent
of the salaries being drawn by
workers who are now unable
to attend work. Government
of India should do likewise.
Alongside there should be a
moratorium on bank loans for
a year for SMEs and retail
traders as well as on EMIs.
Now that the
Finance Bill has been
approved by the Parliament,
the Central government must
set aside separate funds for a
substantial package to save the
lives and livelihood of crores
of people. This is the time to
use our resources for saving
lives and not be preoccupied
by concerns to maintain fiscal
discipline,” said Yechury.
CPI’s trade union AITUC
urged Government to
Disabilities Act 2016.
In a letter to all the State
Chief Secretaries recently,
Shakuntala Doley Gamlin,
Union secretary (Social Justice
and Empowerment Ministry)
drew their attention stating
that the information in regard
to the Coronavirus that has
infected over 3,0000 and
killed over 14,000 is very
often not accessible by the
PwDs.
As such they remain
unaware of the safety mea-
sures to be taken by them to
deal with the situation even
though it has been proven that
they face increased risk of get-
ting infected and developing
more severe cases of COVID-
19.
The virus can be kept at
bay by following simple
hygiene measures like wash-
ing hands with soaps and
usage of hand sanitisers.
Taking stringent view of
the gaps, Gamlin reminded
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mid scarcity of medical
A equipment and protective
gear for health workers, the
Congress has demanded sack-
ing of Union Commerce
Minister and Commerce
Secretary for allowing export of
ventilators, surgical and face
masks, raw material for
masks/coveralls till March 19.
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi termed the export of
masks and ventilators till March
19 as a criminal conspiracy. He
raised the issue soon after the
Congress sought sacking of the
Union Commerce Minister
Piyush Goyal.
per cent other ranks working
from home at the Army
Headquarters here from
Monday. These personnel
will work from home till
March 31 and then the sec-
ond batch will do the same.
The IAF plan comprises
working with 50 per cent
manpower in case of coron-
avirus spread in the service.
The remaining workforce
will work from home, offi-
cials said.
The plan also says while
deciding the roster for the
first week, addressees are
advise to include personnel
who are involved in core
activities, residing in close
proximity of their office and
who may use their own
transport to travel to work
places. The IAF has directed
the Director General Medical
Services (Air) to work out a
disinfection plan for all office
complexes of Air headquar-
ters and common areas.
strengthen the grass root level
health administration and
economic relief packages to
the workers and employees. “
The government should have
come out with financial assis-
tance to working people and
businesses in case of shut
down due to govt. decision to
ensure job security and to safe
guard the poor, vulnerable
needy sections of the society
specially those who are daily
/casual/contract/migrant
workers. The migrant labour
is worst hit, nothing to fall
back upon. The financial
package to them for the peri-
ods of lockdown is must.
There should be distribution
of food packets and drinking
water to all these worst hit
people during the lockdown,”
said Amar Jeet Kaur, AITUC
general secretary
the States about the RPwDs
Act 2016 that envisages dis-
semination of all information
in accessible format both print
and electronically.
Rule 15 of the Rights of
the PWD rules clearly man-
date that all the websites must
be made accessible in accor-
dance with guidelines for gov-
ernments websites as adopt-
ed by the Department of
Administrative Reforms and
Public Grievances and all
public domain documents to
be uploaded in the website
either in the OCR (Optical
Character Recognition) or
ePUB (ebook file format)
format, she said.
Gamlin asserted that
immediate steps need to be
taken to make all the public-
ity material related to COVID
19 accessible in print mater-
ial in braille and audio tapes,
videographic material with
sub titles and sign language
interpretation for the sector.
He tweeted in Hindi,
“Respected Prime Minister, on
the suggestion of the WHO the
government was advised to
keep stock of ventilators and
masks, but the opposite has
been done and these items
have been exported. At whose
behest has this been done?”
Earlier, the party objected
to the permission given to
companies to export masks
and ventilators
alleging that this was allowed till
March 19. Surjewala termed it
as a “criminal conspiracy”.
Why was it allowed when
the country is facing a shortage
of such items?” asked
Surjewala.
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n an extreme measure to
I check the alarming spread of
COVID-19, Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray on Monday
ordered lockdown in entire
Maharashtra till March 31 and
sealing of all State borders and
25 coronavirus-free district bor-
ders, even as the pandemic
claimed one more life and the
total number of confirmed
COVID-19 cas es shot up to 89
in the State.
An overnight after the
Maharashtra Government
extended the Prime Minister-
called “Janata Curfew” from 9
pm till 5 am, the Chief Minister
announced a slew of measures
under the Epidemic Diseases
Act, 1897, including lockdown
in the entire State, sealing of all
State borders and 25 coron-
avirs-free district borders and
penal action against those who
are not complying with “home
quarantine”.
“As a precautionary mea-
sure to prevent the spread of
coronavirus, we have sealed
the various borders of
Maharashtra. We have also the
collectors of 25 coronavirus-free
districts to issue orders pro-
hibiting any vehicular move-
ments into their districts. The
movement of essential and per-
ishable commodities have been
spared from the lockdown of
State borders, the district bor-
der sealing orders do not apply
to medical emergencies,” the
Chief Minister said.
Meanwhile, the
Coronavirus toll in the State
rose to three as a 68-year old
Philippine citizen man, who
initially tested positive and
later tested negative after appar-
ently after some recovery, died
at a private hospital late on
Sunday night.
The patient had been admit-
ted to the Kasturba Hospital in
Mumbai ten days ago and post-
recovery when he tested nega-
tive, moved to a private hospi-
tal where he succumbed late on
Sunday. “The patient was a case
of diabetes mellitus and asthma.
He was admitted on March 13.
He had developed acute renal
failure and respiratory distress,”
a statement issued by the pub-
lic health department of the
Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) said.
After the latest death, the
total number coronavirus-relat-
ed deaths rose to three. Earlier,
a 63-year-old disease-infected
had died at the Kasurba Hospital
on March 17, while another 63-
year-old male patient, who had
been admitted to private hospi-
tal in Mumbai on March 19.
With 15 more fresh cases,
the total number of confirmed
coronavirus cases in the state
jumped to 79 on Monday. “Of
the 15 fresh cases, 14 are from
Mumbai and one case is from
Pune. The fresh cases include 8
close contacts or family mem-
bers of earlier positive cases and
4 with travel history to affected
countries,” State Health Minister
Rajesh Tope said.
Of the total infected cases in
the state, Mumbai accounted for
a maximum of 38 cases, while
Pune and Pimpri-chinchwad
cities reported 16 and 12 cases
respectively. Nagpur, Yavatmal,
Kalyan and Navi Mumbai
recorded four infected cases
each, while Ahmednagar district
accounted for two cases. Panvel,
Thane, Ulhasnagar, Aurangabad
and Ratnagiri registered one
confirmed coronavirus case
each. The State Health Minister
said that the state stood on the
threshold of a 'multiplication
stage' of the virus and empha-
sized the need for people to
maintain ‘social distancing’.
"This is the stage to exercise
extreme precautions since we
don't want to enter from Phase
II to Phase III at any cost," Tope
said, as he appealed to people to
stay indoors as such a measure
would help check the spread of
COVID-19.
After 22-hour-long curfew,
including the 14-hour-long
“Janata Curfew” called by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, peo-
ple ventured out of their homes
in Mumbai and other parts of
Maharashtra on Monday to
purchase essential commodities
and drugs. Though there were
reasonably large crowds around
grocery and medical stops, the
police chose not to enforce sec-
tion 144 of CrPc banning five or
more persons understandably to
help the harried citizens.
Addressing the people
across the state live through
social media, Uddhav said:
“Essential commodities, drugs.
Drug manufacturing compa-
nies, agricultural goods and
products, banks/ATMSe related
activities, print and electronic
media, IT, telecom, postal, inter-
net and data services, supply
chain and transport of essential
commodities have been spared
from the lockdown,” the Chief
Minister said.
Under the lockdown notifi-
cation issued by the Maharashtra
later in the evening, all public
transport services including
inter-city MSRTC buses and
Metro rail will not be permitted.
Significantly enough, taxies
with not more than two persons
besides drivers, autorickshaws
with not more than one pas-
senger besides driver are per-
mitted only for purposes spec-
ified in the notification.
“However, transport of passen-
gers for accessing emergency
medical services shall be per-
mitted. Plying of private vehicles
shall be restricted to the extent
of procuring essential com-
modities, health services and
activities permitted under the
order and with only one person
besides the driver.
In a restriction that stipu-
lates a penal against those not
complying with “home quaran-
tine”, the relevant portion of the
notification read thus: “Every
person who is required to home
quarantine shall strictly observe
the same failing which he/she
will be liable for penal action and
shifted to Government quaran-
tine”.
Under the lockdown order,
any congregation of more than
five persons is prohibited in pub-
lic places. “All shops, including
commercial establishments,
offices and factories, workshops,
godowns etc shall close their
operation. However, manufac-
turing units engaged in pro-
duction of essential commodi-
ties like dal, rice mill, related
units, dairy units, feed and fod-
der units, will be permitted to
operate,” the order stated.
The coronavirus free dis-
tricts where borders have been
ordered to be sealed are:
Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia,
Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Satara,
Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur,
Buldhana, Amravati, Akola,
Washim, Nashik, Dhule,
Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Beed, Jalna,
Osmanabad, Parbhani, Hingoli,
Latur, Nanded and Sindhudurg.
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:D<0A274;;0??0=Q
274==08
he entire State of Tamil
T Nadu is being shut down
from Tuesday evening till
March 31 in view of the
COVID-19 coronavirus attack.
By Monday evening, the num-
ber of persons admitted to
hospitals in the State rose to 9.
“Those tested positive were
persons who came to Tamil
Nadu from outside the State.
But there are hundreds of peo-
ple who have been quarantined
in the State and we are expect-
ing the results of their tests,”
said Dr Vijaya Baskar, Tamil
Nadu Minister of Health and
Family Welfare.
The decision taken by the
Government to bring the entire
State under shut down was
announced by Chief Minister
Edappadi Palaniswamy in the
Assembly on Monday. Though
the Chief Minister was present
in the House, he took out time
to preside over the high level
meeting which was attended
among others by top govern-
ment officials including the
chief secretary.
Barring shops that sell
essential commodities like
milk, meat, groceries and phar-
ma products, all business estab-
lishments will down their shut-
ters till March 31. “All con-
struction works throughout
the State would remain sus-
pended till then. But the State
has made arrangements to take
care of the needs of workers
who would be affected by the
shut down,” said the chief min-
ister.
The chief minister further
stated that all district borders
across the State would be
sealed. “District collector and
superintendents of police have
been authorised to issue orders
under Section 144. Public or
private transport buses would
not be operated. All eateries
have been told to suspend ser-
vices till March 31 though
they could sell packed foods,”
he said. The general public in
the State would be serviced by
Amma Restaurants that sell
subsidized idlis, pooris, Pongal,
curd rice and lemon rice.
All government offices
except district collectortates,
police stations, fire and rescue
services are being shut down
from Tuesday evening. Private
companies which are into the
production of goods meant
for esports would be allowed to
operate with minimum staff.
Employees of private firms
including IT, telecom and other
technological sectors are to
work from home while private
medical facilities can continue
to operate.
The chief minister told the
assembly that the government
has set apart an additional
amount of Rs500 crore for pre-
ventive measures against
Corona virus. Palaniswamy
said the hospitals in the State
are fully equipped to meet any
emergency arising out of the
COVID-19 attack.
WZcdeUVReY
B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q
:>;:0C0
ven as all the Opposition
E parties including BJP, Left
and the Congress hailed Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee for
her “impressive performance”
in containing the proliferation
of the dreaded virus, the State,
reported its first corona-infect-
ed death with a 57-year-old
Railway employee from Dum
Dum succumbing to his ail-
ments late on Monday noon.
At least three other relatives of
the victim, including his wife
and mother, were under obser-
vation at a different hospital of
Kolkata, Health Department
sources.
Though any foreign trav-
el history of the victim was still
not established as his wife said
that they had not visited any
corona-affected country in the
recent past, authorities were
trying to find out whether his
infection had anything to do
with his US-based son.
The relatives of the victim
said he had recently back trav-
elled back from Bilaspur in
Chhattisgarh by Pune-Howrah
Azad Hind Express wondering
whether he had contacted the
disease while travelling in
train.
“If he did not pick it up
from his son or if his son had
not visited India in the past
couple of months then he could
be the first such patient who
contacted the virus from the
community,” a Government
official said.
There are seven more
Corona-infected patients
undergoing treatment at the
Beleghata ID Hospital, sources
said adding no new infection
was reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, even as the
urban parts of the State went
into a complete lockdown the
opposition leaders of Bengal
on Monday hailed the Chief
Minister for her “impressive
performance” in containing
the outbreak.
IRUHLJQSUHDFKHUV Z_<VcR]R
GHWDLQHGLQ%LKDU
?C8Q ?0C=0
RccVdeVUW`c dRj2]ZafcUfRc
wo Indians and 10 Y`]UZ_X^Rdd
T Kyrgyzstan nationals were
held in preventive custody
here on Monday in the wake of
the coronavirus outbreak and
sent to the All India Institute
of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in
the city for tests, police said.
Acting on a complaint by
the locals, police picked them
up from a mosque in Kurji area
of the Bihar capital. The for-
eigners were Islamic preachers,
Digha police station SHO
Manoj Kumar said.
The two guides are resi-
dents of Uttar Pradesh, he
said.
Six of them were tested
negative for COVID-19 while
reports of the others are await-
ed, the police officer said.
Six persons whose reports
are awaited have been quar-
antined at a city hotel.
"Initially, we detained them
for medical examination but
later set six of them free," the
officer said, adding all had
valid travel documents.
W`c#hVV\d
dVih`c\Vcd
Thrissur(Ker)/Chennai: As
coronavirus cases in the coun-
try surge past 400, a priest in
Kerala who conducted a mass at
a church defying a Government
order against public gatherings
was arrested on Monday.
Priest Pauly Padayatti,
Vicar of the Lady of Perpetual
Help church at Koodapuzha in
Chalakudy, conducted the
mass on Monday morning in
which at least 100 people had
participated, police said. The
priest was arrested and later let
off on bail.
A case under sections 269
IPC (Negligent act likely to
spread infection of diseases
dangerous to life) and 118e of
the Kerala Police Act (causing
danger to public) has been reg-
istered against the priest and the
100-odd faithful. The total
number of COVID-19 cases in
the country surged to 415, a
spike from the figure of 360 the
night before. PTI
Alipurduar: Over 100 sex work-
ers in West Bengal's Alipurduar
district will not be working for
the next two weeks in the wake
of the coronavirus outbreak,
they said on Monday.
People from several places,
including neighbouring dis-
tricts, visit the red light area
located in the central part of the
district town.
They said that the step was
taken to prevent the spread of
the deadly virus. A local NGO
that works for the welfare of the
sex workers said it would pro-
vide financial assistance to these
women during the period. "This
is a very good decision and we
will provide them some assis-
tance so that they can sustain
themselves during this period,"
said Larry Bose, a member of the
NGO. Terming the decision
exemplary, the district's chief
medical officer Puran Sharma
appreciated the efforts of the sex
workers and said that the move
was much needed. PTI

2c^ja`dea`_Vd ;<S`cUVcddVR]VUWf]]j CTYPbWfX^UUTab^UUXRXP[

cVTcfZe^V_e ^`cVWf_UdcV]VRdVUW`c
cR]]jZ_;<
R_eZgZcfdWZXYe+@WWZTZR]
Jammu: The Army on Monday
announced the postponement of
its 10-day major recruitment
rally slated to take place in
Rajouri district of Jammu &
Kashmir next month in view of
the coronavirus outbreak. The
rally was meant for eligible can-
didates of all the 10 districts of
Jammu province. "In view of
COVID-19, Army Recruitment
Rally scheduled to be held at
ALG, Rajouri from April 20 to
29 for eligible candidates of
Doda, Kishtwar, Kathua, Jammu,
Poonch, Rajouri, Ramban, Reasi,
Samba and Udhampur districts
of J&K has been postponed till
further order," the defence
spokesman said. PTI
<>78C:0=370A8Q 90<<D
fter locking down four
A most-affected districts in
Jammu & Kashmir and
Ladakh, the administrators on
Monday decided to seal inter-
state borders with Punjab,
Himanchal Pradesh, and
Ladakh to effectively deal with
the outbreak of COVID-19. It
also ordered release of an addi-
tional C40 crore to all deputy
commissioners to support their
corona-mitigation efforts
besides two months' advance
ration to eligible consumers.
The gateway of Jammu &
Kashmir at Lakhanpur was
declared out of bounds by
placing concertina wires on the
historic bridge connecting
Jammu & Kashmir with
Madhopur in Punjab.
To check movement of
people in their personal vehi-
cles, the Government also
decided to restrict inter district
movement of vehicles but only
permitted movement of vehi-
cles ferrying essential supplies.
A Government advisory
urged public to stay at home
to slow the spread of the
novel coronavirus disease
(Covid-19) and advised not to
venture out unless it is
absolutely essential.
Qd]VP[^fU^adbTPb`dPaP]cX]T
RP\_^aeXadbcTbcX]VRT]caT
Patna: Leader of Opposition in
the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi
Prasad Yadav, on Monday
offered his 1, Polo road official
bungalow to the Government
for turning it into a makeshift
quarantine camp or a testing
centre for Covid-19.
Taking to Twitter, the RJD
leader also said that he would
donate a month's salary to the
chief minister's relief fund to
help those in need in the wake
of the crisis.
As per the State Health
Societys bulletin, of the 143
samples collected till Sunday, two
0\d]XRX_P[R^a_^aPcX^]WTP[cWf^aZTab_aPhbSXbX]UTRcP]cc^R^]cPX]cWTb_aTPS^UR^a^]PeXadbX]9P\\d^]<^]SPh ?C8 have tested positive for Covid-19.
One of them, a 38-year-old man,
died at AIIMS, Patna, on
Saturday, while the other patient
was undergoing treatment. "As
the leader of opposition, I have
been allotted the 1, Polo road
government bungalow. I would
like to put it (bungalow) to bet-
ter use," Yadav tweeted.
"The bungalow could be
used as a quarantine camp or a
testing centre, or for setting up
isolation wards and increasing
the number of beds. It can also
be used in any other manner to
fight against the coronavirus
outbreak," he wrote on the
microblogging site. PTI

=^QXVUPcfTSSX]VX]CP\X[=PSdP]h\^aT
:D<0A274;;0??0=Q
274==08
pulence, that’s how people
O describe marriages in Tamil
Nadu. Whether the bride and
groom hail from the rich and
powerful families or from the
lower middle class strata, mar-
riages in Tamil Nadu are known
for their extravaganzas, mind
boggling entertainments and
unique and exquisite spread of
lunch and dinner tables. The
number of persons attending
the marriage reception and the
kind of swanky cars in which
the guests arrive are an indica-
tion of the social stand of the
hosts.
Though the Dravidian
movements in the State claim
that they have revolutionised
Tamil society with self-respect
marriages, touted as simple
events sans Vedic scholars for
solemnising the most important
event in the lives of youths, it is
all for public consumption. You
may not see Brahmin pundits
officiating as “God’s
Representative” during the cer-
emony. But there are new
avatars of EV Ramasamy
Naicker (founder of Dravidian
movement who propounded
the idea of self-respect mar-
riages) playing the role of the
pundit. The marriages contin-
ued to be glittering events where
music concerts and western
dance events by the stars of
Kollywood played major role.
Not any more. The coron-
avirus, which struck Tamil
Nadu early this month, has
taken the glamour and crowd
off the marriages. The last four
days saw people hailing from
upper middle class families
doing away with all opulence,
high-end celebrations and the
unique spreads during lunch
and dinner. Gone are the glit-
terati and chauffer driven lim-
ousines. And above all, the
venues have been shifted to the
sanctum sanctorum of tem-
ples! The priest of the temple
blesses the couple, who
exchange the garlands (made
out of minimum number of
flowers) which are sanitised.
The minimum number of
guests who grace the occasion
are welcomed not with the tra-
ditional sandal waters and pastes
but with sanitisers with which
they could clean their hands!
The amount of loss suffered
by the catering agents because
of the corona virus attack is
beyond comprehension.
“Usually there would be a min-
imum of 6,000 guests for a mar-
riage. The coronavirus has
brought it down. We serve 14 to
20 course meals during lunch
which include vegetable
biriyani, fried rice, parothas,
puris, vegetable curries and
sweet delicacies,” said
Manikandan , a lead caterer
from Ambur near Velore.
0bbP\;^?faXcTbc^BWPWTg_aTbbTbR^]RTa]^eTa=4_T^_[TQTX]VcPaVTccTS
Guwahati: The leader of the
opposition in Assam
bringing to his notice the fact
that at a time when the coun-
incidents, where persons from
the north-east have been
"Other incidents include
another young woman from
Monday saw a youth Legislative Assembly, try was struggling to cope abused as chinkis, bat-eating the north-east being spat upon
belonging to the political outfit Debabrata Saikia, on Monday with the threat posed by coro- tribe etc," Saikia said. by a scooterist in New Delhi
led by film star Vijayakanth wrote to Union Home navirus, certain racist ele- He said that at a shopping for apparently the same rea-
tying nuptial note in Chennai. Minister Amit Shah expressing ments in some parts of India mall in Pune, a middle-aged son.
He was forced to do away with
all celebrations because of the
concern over the targeting of
people from the north-east fol-
were abusing and vilifying
people with Mongoloid fea-
woman abused a young girl
from the north-east ostensibly
A woman named Angelica
Aribam was so appallingly
Section 144 but he shifted the lowing the coronavirus out- tures who hail from the north- because she suspected the vic- abused on social media that she
venue to the actor’s residence so break. eastern states. tim of being a Chinese nation- was compelled to lodge an FIR
that his “God” could grace the The Congress leader, in his "I have already received al, and therefore, responsible with the Delhi Police against the
occasion. A wheel chair bound letter to Shah, said that he was information about several such for spreading the coronavirus. culprits," he said. PTI
Vijayakanth, who is keeping
indifferent health for the last two
years attended the marriage
covering his face with mask and
blessed the couple.
Elsewhere in the State, the
bride, groom and their imme-
diate relations constitute the list
of guests. The same is the case
in Kerala with parents of soon
to be married youngsters decid-
ing to do away with the air-con-
ditioned wedding halls, lavish
feasts, and related rituals which
would help them save a few
lakhs.
COVID virus too has its
advantages !

 

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RIKRSHLQDUUHVWLQJWKHYLUXOHQFHDWOHDVW$VRIQRZLWKDVDSSURYHGWKHXVHRI that this solemn and collective chiming of
H[LVWLQJGUXJVWRDUUHVWVHYHUHGHWHULRUDWLRQLQFRQGLWLRQVEHFDXVHGHYHORSLQJ bells and conch shells was happening in a
FRPSRXQGVIURPVFUDWFKLVWLPHFRQVXPLQJ7KHUHLVWKHGUXJFRPELQDWLRQDOUHDG\ war-like situation of utter morbidity to fight
back the black swan, COVID-19, which has
XVHGDJDLQVW+,97KHUH·VDPDODULDWUHDWPHQWILUVWWHVWHGGXULQJ:RUOG:DU,, struck lives and livelihoods with unprece-
$QGWKHQHZDQWLYLUDODJDLQVWHEROD7KH:+2VWXG\ZKLFKFRXOGLQFOXGHPDQ\ dented ferocity.
WKRXVDQGVRISDWLHQWVLQGR]HQVRIFRXQWULHVLVSXWWLQJWRJHWKHUDJOREDOGDWD The Armageddon of 2020 is more per-
ilous than the localised terrorist strikes of
EDVHRIKRVSLWDOVWKDWFDQORJLQSDWLHQWUHVSRQVHVWRYDULRXVGUXJUHJLPHVDQG 26/11, the Great Depression of 1929, the
HVWDEOLVKDSDWWHUQRIUHVSRQVH financial apocalypse of 2008 or any other one-
)UDQNO\UHSXUSRVLQJH[LVWLQJGUXJVLVDZRUNDEOHRSWLRQDWWKLVVWDJHEHFDXVH time shocker, devastating human lives and
financial resources. The spread of the pan-
WKH\DUHDOUHDG\DSSURYHGIRURWKHUGLVHDVHVDQGDUHVDIH6RPHH[SHUWVDUH demic has left the medical fraternity and pol-
DOVRORRNLQJDWXQDSSURYHGGUXJVWKDWKDYHSHUIRUPHGZHOOLQDQLPDOVWXGLHV icy-makers confounded on how to deal with
ZLWKHDUOLHUVWUDLQVRI&RURQDYLUXVHVZKLFKKDYHFDXVHGVHYHUHDFXWHUHVSLUD the crisis because the contour of this upheaval
WRU\V\QGURPH6$56DQG0LGGOH(DVWUHVSLUDWRU\V\QGURPH0(56%HVLGHV is a biological beast and has nothing to do
with the principles of economics. Yes, we are
WKHVHGUXJVFDQEHSURSK\ODFWLFVPXFKQHHGHGWRSURWHFWKHDOWKFDUHZRUNHUV all together and, hopefully, six months from
DQGRWKHUVDWKLJKULVNRILQIHFWLRQ$OVRWUHDWPHQWWLPHFRXOGEHUHGXFHGHDV now, this, too, shall pass.
LQJWKHSUHVVXUHRQFULWLFDOPHGLFDOLQIUDVWUXFWXUHDQGPDNLQJVXUHWKDWPRUH We stand at that moment in time when
we have been compelled to self-reflect and
FDQDFFHVVIDFLOLWLHVDQGJHWVXFFRXU7KH+,9FRPERIDLOHGLQDVPDOOVWXG\LQ re-strategise from the confines of individual
&KLQDEXWKDVEHHQVXFFHVVIXOLQRWKHUSDUWVLQFOXGLQJ7KDLODQGDQGLQ-DLSXU isolation: How do we cope by rebuilding
KHUH7KH:+2WKHUHIRUHEHOLHYHVDODUJHWULDOZLWKDJUHDWHUYDULHW\RISDWLHQWV from the free-fall of economies; insulate our-
selves from being afflicted by the disease; the
LVZDUUDQWHG7KHPDODULDGUXJFKORURTXLQHKDVEHHQIRXQGWRZRUNRQUHVSLUD shock of ensuing job losses; and worst, the
WRU\FHOOV,WLQFUHDVHVWKHHQGRVRPDO3+UHTXLUHGIRUWKHYLUXVKRVWWDUJHWFHOO emotional aftermath of feeling vulnerable
IXVLRQOLPLWLQJWKHYLUXVWDNHRYHURIWKHERG\,Q6$56&RURQDYLUXVFKORURTXLQH and so close to death? The $87 trillion glob-
al economy propels on the simple principle
ZDVIRXQGWRLQWHUIHUHZLWKWKHJO\FRV\ODWLRQRIFHOOXODUUHFHSWRUVRIWKHYLUXV of “one person’s spending being the other
7KLVLVRODWHGWKHEXJ7KRXJKQRWDFWLQJRQWKHYLUXVSHUVHLWLVVWUHQJWKHQLQJ person’s income” as the underlying driver of
KRVWV\VWHPVDQGSUHYHQWLQJWKHIRUPHUIURPODWFKLQJRQWRWKHP7KLVLVEHOLHYHG any business activity. With the world in shut-
down mode, the economic impact of social
WRKDOWWKHYLUXVLQWKHSUHOLPLQDU\VWDJHVDQGDUUHVWFRPSOLFDWLRQVOLNHSQHXPR distancing is at present unquantifiable as the
QLD$OVRFKORURTXLQHPROHFXOHVGRQRWORVHWKHLUHIIHFWLYHQHVVERWKSUHDQG risks to life cascade into financial risks that
SRVWLQIHFWLRQ7KH\LQFUHDVHWKHYROXPHRI]LQFLRQVLQWKHKRVWFHOOWRLQKLELW will reverberate for at least a year until a med-
ical solution is found.
WKHYLUXV5HPGHVLYLUWKHDQWLYLUDOLQWUDYHQRXVPHGLFLQHIRUHERODKDVKDGODE Restricting physical movement has
OHYHOVXFFHVVDQGLVEHLQJXVHGLQKXPDQWULDOV,QWKHHQGWKHVHDUHVWLOOMXVW damaged the demand-supply economics
SURDFWLYHEXWSUHYHQWLYHVWHSVDQGDJOREDOUHVHDUFKDQGVXVWDLQHGIXQGLQJLV much beyond what a cyclic slowdown or a
recession could erode, lowering forecasts of
QHHGHGWRWDPHWKH&RURQDYLUXVZKLFKNHHSVRQDSSHDULQJLQDGHDGOLHUIRUP global growth to 1.25 per cent. Prolonged
\HDUDIWHU\HDU&RQVSLUDF\WKHRULHVRIELRZDUIDUHVWUDWHJLHVDQGELJSKDUPD growth below two per cent is classified as
FRPSOLFLW\DSDUW&29,'KDVVKRZQZK\QRERG\FDQEHVDIHRUEHDURXQG “recession” by the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) with shrinkage in every para-
WRFODLPWKHEHQHILWVRIVXFKRIIHQVLYHV7KHZRUOGHFRQRP\KDVWDQNHGDQG meter: From lowered industrialist produc-
KXPDQVKDYHKRSHIXOO\UHDOLVHGWKDWWKH\WKHPVHOYHVFRXOGEHFRPHWKHYLUXV tion to a slowdown in trade to tighter cap-
$JRRGEHJLQQLQJKDVEHHQPDGHEHWZHHQ*RYHUQPHQWVRQFRRSHUDWLYHUHVHDUFK ital flows, less of oil consumption, heightened
0D\EHWKHDOWUXLVPZLOOQRWODVWRQFHWKHFULVLVHEEVEXWRQHWKLQJLVFOHDULID unemployment rates and lowered per capi-
ta investment and consumption.
UDSLGO\PXWDWLQJYLUXVFDQVWLOOZLSHRXWKXPDQLW\DQGIOXVFRQWLQXHWREHSDQ The only light at the end of the tunnel
GHPLFVLQRXUWLPHOLQHVWKHQZHFOHDUO\KDYHQRWGRQHHQRXJKWRFXUHRXUPLQGV is for the healthcare and pharmaceutical
RIWKHLQYLQFLELOLW\RIEHLQJWKHVXSUHPHUDFH$OOZHQHHGWREHLVMXVWKXPDQ industry, e-commerce platforms and any dig-
ital business that delivers products and ser-
DQGDV,QGLDQVVWULFWO\FRPSO\ZLWKORFNGRZQDQGGLVWDQFLQJ-XVWUHPHPEHU vices online to the customer confined at home
'HOKL·V3DWLHQWD'XEDLUHWXUQHGZRPDQZKRKDVPDQDJHGWRLQIHFWDQHQWLUH as has been the case for video streaming ser-
QHLJKERXUKRRGVLPSO\EHFDXVHVKHGLGQ·WFRPSO\ZLWKDQ\QRUPV vices like Netflix, online grocery stores, Ed-
tech, e-health and fintech, among others.
much before the COVID-19
pandemic struck, even the few
erstwhile profitable sectors have
now been pushed to the brink.
This will all precipitate India’s
banking crisis even deeper with
a likelihood of turning even
positive net-worth firms into
non-performing assets (NPAs).
India’s response is in sync
with the rest of the world in hav-
ing to resort to fiscal expansion
while simultaneously lowering
revenue target expectations to
perhaps the lowest ever. The
anticipated shortfall cannot be
now made up through disinvest-
ment targets but will have to
depend on the deficit being
made up through the windfall
gains of roughly $50 billion
through oil arbitrage. If the 2008
financial crisis eroded a decade’s
global growth and earnings,
COVID-19 will globally regress
national and individual gains
even deeper and longer, elevat-
ing sovereign and corporate debt
to even higher levels than they
stood historically.
But who put the world into
mass quarantine? Once the chaos
settles and a cure is found, China
must be held accountable by the
World Health Organisation
(WHO) and international trade
bodies for keeping the outbreak
under wraps, which squan-
dered precious five weeks that
could have alerted the world to
take proactive measures.
tional/domestic environmental
laws, there is a ‘polluter pays prin-
ciple.’ Similarly, China must be
forced to provide free medical aid
and economic reimbursements
to all countries affected by the
virus.” Especially as China prof-
itted the most through global
trade in the comity of nations. As
the culprit nation, it deserves
international sanction and eco-
nomic isolation. Because even
acts of genocide or terrorism
stand pale in comparison to the
havoc wrought by Corona’s con-
tagion and contagiousness.
This is serious and re-read
this point please: I state that
China’s wilful opacity on this
issue is tantamount to mass
murder. Because near-fatal out-
breaks can originate from any
country. But the host nation has
a moral obligation to not wilful-
ly obfuscate facts that can jeop-
ardise the very survival of
humanity. As the Chinese econ-
omy will be the first to recover
and rise, thereby having the lead
in redefining its predominance in
the world order, we need to
diminish our over-dependence
for supplies of intermediate
goods for pharmaceutical and
electronics from it or any single
nation. Ideally, the culprit must
be ostracised economically for a
near war-like crime.
These are testing times for
the Indian Government to dis-
play how it will deliver on ease
tices being pursued by Canada
and the US among others, as
most nations are moving
towards offering a universal
basic income. Exceeding fiscal
deficits no longer matters as pol-
icy-makers now need to tear up
conventional theories of eco-
nomics that are outdated and
salvage livelihoods by offering
financial relief commensurate
with the economic costs of the
crisis. The downside is that
even when the most developed
economy like the US disburses
$1,000 to all adults, people will
spend it only on necessities and
conserve the rest. This will not
spur the demand cycle.
The Government’s task force
under the Finance Ministry will,
of course, address sectoral con-
cerns of the largest afflicted
unorganised sector, hospitality
and tourism, which employs 40
million people. Restaurants
account for 7.3 million jobs,
aviation has more than 3,50,000
employees, ride hailing services
have five million driving part-
ners, cinema and entertainment
cover eight million and online
food delivery companies employ
5,00,000. Real estate, the second
biggest employer after agricul-
ture, is expected to take a hit of
35 per cent.
But the essence for the
Government is in speeding up
the response time to effect pay-
outs to businesses; to ease liquid-
payments for hawkers, vendors
and daily wagers; and food dis-
tribution and emergency shelters
to the unorganised and vulner-
able sections in need of financial
aid with immediacy.
Aside from ensuring freer
flow of working capital, the
Government is now expected to
take its fiduciary duties serious-
ly by under taking the role of a
standing guarantor for a portion
of the wages for businesses
affected by the crisis and those
unable to operate, offering a life-
line to citizens by lowering
taxes as also the rates of utilities;
extending loan tenors and relax-
ing bad-debt norms for small
firms; and speeding up direct
cash transfers to eligible Jan
Dhan holders and for MNRE-
GA wagers dependent on con-
struction activity that has
slowed down.
This is a moment in history
that will test national leadership
by gauging how efficiently
Governments react with compas-
sion, speed and scale. This is not
a moment to lose in our attempt
to recalibrate and resurrect from
ground zero, as it were. We have
to ride it out individually and col-
lectively till we inch back to pre-
crisis levels, reminding ourselves
with optimism that even war-
time losses never precluded
strong economic bounce-backs.
(The writer is an author,
columnist, Chairperson of the

A`dea`_VeYVXR^Vd
While other sectors such as the real estate, According to a Supreme Court of living and ease of doing busi- ity for the crippled NBFC and National Committee for Financial
airlines and telecom were gasping for life Advocate, GV Rao, “In interna- ness, in line with the best prac- MSME sectors; provide cash Inclusion at Niti Aayog)

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Sir — Kerala Chief Minister Government to take care of the
Pinarayi Vijayan doesn’t believe in WPb PUUTRcTS cWT _a^SdRcXeXch ^U \P]h T\_[^hTTb daily wage earners and ensure
RIFDUGV7KH%RDUGRI&RQWUROIRU&ULFNHWLQ,QGLD%&&,ZKLFKZDVWRQHGHDI rhetoric like many other leaders, PRa^bbcWTV[^QTCWTT\_[^hTab¯_aXePcTR^a_^ that there is no shortage of essen-
WRIDQVLPSORULQJLWWRFDQFHOWKH,QGLDQ3UHPLHU/HDJXH,3/SRVWSRQHGWKH who sound much like empty ves-
WRXUQDPHQWWLOOPLG$SULO,WQRZORRNVDVLILWZLOOQRWJRDKHDGDWDOO$XVWUDOLD sels. Rather, he has silently engaged
himself in a concrete job. He and
DQG1HZ=HDODQG·V2QH'D\LQWHUQDWLRQDOVLGHVSOD\HGDPDWFKZLWKRXWDQDXGL his Government have announced
HQFHEXWTXLFNO\FDQFHOOHGWKHVHULHV7KH(QJOLVKVXPPHUFULFNHWVHDVRQWRR a C20,000 crore revival package for
PLJKWEHSXWRQKROG those economically weak to
,QWKHPLGVWRIDOOWKLVDVVSRUWVORYHUVNQRZWKLVLVDQ2O\PSLF\HDUZLWK help them tide over the fallout of
COVID-19 that has shut down
WKHVXPPHUJDPHVVFKHGXOHGWRJRDKHDGLQ-DSDQ·VFDSLWDO7RN\R:KLOH-DSDQ all income-generating opportuni-
KDVEHHQH[WUHPHO\SURDFWLYHLQSUHSDULQJIRUWKHJDPHVERWKWKHORFDORUJDQ ties for them.
aPcX^]bP]ScWT6^eTa]\T]c¯WPeT]^fbfXcRWTSc^ tial commodities.
P[cTa]PcXeT^_cX^]bCWTbTX]R[dSTaTSdRTS]d\QTa^U Yugal Kishore Sharma
f^aZX]VW^dabP]ST]PQ[X]Vf^aZUa^\W^\TCWT\^eT Faridabad
c^T]R^daPVTf^aZX]VUa^\W^\TXbfT[R^\TPcPcX\T
fWT]cWT_P]ST\XRXb^]cWTaXbTP]ScWaTPcT]b_dQ[XR
WTP[cWP]SbPUTch 3_b_^QUVVUSd
CWTf^aZUa^\W^\T^_cX^]bW^d[SQTTg_[^aTS]^c
^][hSdaX]VbdRWPRaXbXbQdcTeT]PUcTaXcbdQbXSTb8U Sir — It is a fact that the pandem-
aTVd[PaR^\\dcTQhT\_[^hTTbXbcPZT]^dc^UcWT_XR ic has wreaked havoc all over the
cdaTXc\PhWT[_X]R^\QPcX]VPXa_^[[dcX^]P]SQTPcX]V cXeXchP]S`dP[XchfWT]T\_[^hTTbf^aZUa^\W^\T1h world. In addition to this, many
LVLQJFRPPLWWHHDQGWKH,QWHUQDWLRQDO2O\PSLF&RPPLWWHH,2&KDYHEHHQJUDS The package includes
C140,000 crore to clear various
SOLQJZLWKZKDWWRGR³WRFDQFHORUSRVWSRQHWKHJDPHV7KH,2&·VVWHDGIDVW dues the Government owes to
VWDQGRIJRLQJDKHDGZLWKWKHJDPHVXQWLOWRGD\LVEHLQJLQFUHDVLQJO\VHHQDV individuals and institutions,
DQDFWRIDUURJDQFHDQGVWXEERUQQHVV2ULVLWWKDWOLNHWKH,3/LWLVZRUULHGDERXW C2,000 crore in consumer loans,
C1,320 crore to disburse two-
WKHVSRQVRUVDQGEURDGFDVWHUFRPPLWPHQWV"2IFRXUVHFRPPRQVHQVHVKRXOG month welfare pension in
FRPHLQWRSOD\HYHQLIWKHFRQWUDFWVDUHWLJKWO\ZRUGHGEHFDXVHQRFRPPHUFLDO advance and a health package of
FRQWUDFWLQDQ\VHFWRUKDVDSDQGHPLFFODXVHEXLOWLQWRLWXQOHVVRIFRXUVHLWLV C500 crore. Be it the handling of
the Nipah virus, the rehabilitation
WKHLQVXUDQFHLQGXVWU\4XDOLI\LQJWRXUQDPHQWVKDYHQRWEHHQDEOHWRWDNHSODFH after the floods or local gover-
GXHWRERUGHUFORVXUHVDWKOHWHVFDQQRWWUDLQGXHWRVRFLDOGLVWDQFLQJ:KLOH-DSDQ nance, Kerala has been way ahead
KDVEHHQVDYHGE\WKHZRUVWRIWKHYLUXVVRIDUEULQJLQJDWKOHWHVRIIL of the curve. Through his human-
itarian moves, Vijayan has proved
FLDOVMRXUQDOLVWVEURDGFDVWHUVWHFKQLFLDQVDQGSROLWLFLDQVIURPDFURVVWKHZRUOG that his ideology, which is a mix
WRRQHVSRWZRXOGEHDGLVDVWHUZDLWLQJWRKDSSHQ0D\EHZHZLOOEHDEOHWR of strategic thinking, communi-
FKHFNWKH:XKDQFRQWDJLRQE\WKHQEXWZHFDQQRWDVVXPHWKDW1RUVKRXOGWKH cation and coordination, have
been much better.
,2&,ILWFRQWLQXHVWRGLJLWVKHHOVLWZLOOEHKRVWLQJDJDPHWKDWZLOOEHDWWHQG Kajal Chatterjee
HGE\QRQH7KLVZD\LWZLOOGHVWUR\HYHU\ODVWVKUHGRILWVFUHGLELOLW\ Kolkata
caPUUXR RWP^b ?T^_[TUaXT]S[h _^[XRXTb bW^d[S ]^f QT Tg_TaX\T]cX]VfXcWbdRWP\^ST[6^eTa]\T]cbRP]WT[_ of us have had to contend with a
UaP\TSc^X\_^bTf^aZUa^\W^\TfWTaTeTaUTPbXQ[T X\_a^eT cWT _a^SdRcXeXch ^U cWTXa T\_[^hTTb Pb P[b^ rise in the prices of essential
Tb_TRXP[[hX]cWT8CbTRc^aP]STeT]X]6^eTa]\T]c^UUXRTb aTSdRTcWTQdaST]^]caPUUXRP]ST]eXa^]\T]cCWXbfX[[ items. Using the excuse of a
<^bc^UcWT6^eTa]\T]cST_Pac\T]cb]^faT[h^]X]cTa aTSdRTRPaQ^]T\XbbX^][TeT[bP]SfTRP]PRWXTeTf^aZ shortage of essential commodi-
]Tc P]S R^\_dcTab aPcWTa cWP] _P_Taf^aZ 0] ^][X]T [XUTQP[P]RTX]P]TUUTRcXeT\P]]Ta ties, there are instances of prices
P__a^eP[\TRWP]Xb\^aPSPbWQ^PaScaPRZX]VbhbcT\RP] EPad]3P\QP[ being raised even though there is
QTRaTPcTSU^a6^eTa]\T]c^UUXRTbc^caPRZcWT_a^SdR 1T]VP[dad no shortage of goods in reality. It
has been made worse by all sorts
of forwards on social media. One
situations, we have displayed all passenger trains and the impo- is unable to understand why
6YWXddXU`Q^TU]YS immense courage. But never have sition of air travel restrictions will people are hoarding items. The
we experienced such fear and go a long way in limiting the Government must make it clear
Sir — This refers to the article, anxiety as we are witnessing right spread of the disease. But beyond that shopkeepers, who are selling
“Govt must go out of the way to now due to the spread of this, it is essential to sustain the goods at a higher price, will be
fight corona”( March 22). We all Coronavirus. momentum. prosecuted.
have seen disasters like the tsuna- The Prime Minster’s move to The number of cases being Abdul Malik Qasmi
mi, floods, epidemics such as impose janta curfew was success- tested and those found positive Mumbai
cholera and other infectious dis- ful in bringing the people togeth- could be the tip of the iceberg.
eases like swine flu, bird flu and er. Other measures such as the India has very few testing centres BT]Shh^daUUTTSQPRZcc^)
SARS among others. In all such shutdown of shops, suspension of when compared to its population [TccTabc^_X^]TTa/V\PX[R^\


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VHFWRUGHVSLWHWKHIDFWWKDWWKH&HQWUHFDPHRXWZLWKQXPHURXVVFKHPHV
DLPHGDWLWVLQFH*LYHQWKHPXOWLSOLFLW\RIVFKHPHVDQGIXQGFRQ
VWUDLQWVSULRULWLHVVKLIWIURP\HDUWR\HDUDQGQHZVFKHPHVLQYDULDEO\
JDUQHUPRUHIXQGVZKLOHROGVFKHPHVIORXQGHU$OVRWKHUHLVDYHU\REYL
RXVODFNRIUHVHDUFKRQWKHJURXQGEHIRUHVXJJHVWLQJDQGDSSURYLQJD
VFKHPHIRULPSOHPHQWDWLRQ7DNHIRULQVWDQFHWKHULYHULQWHUOLQNLQJVFKHPH EDD1= +"
ZKLFKFRVWELOOLRQDWWKHWLPHRIWKHODXQFK2QFHLQWHUOLQNLQJRI
uch before the crisis at the beleaguered
RI,QGLD·VODUJHVWULYHUVLVFRPSOHWHGLWLVH[SHFWHGWRKHOSHQGIDUPHUV·
GHSHQGHQFHRQUDLQIDOOEULQJPLOOLRQVRIKHFWDUHVRIFXOWLYDEOHODQGXQGHU
LUULJDWLRQDQGKHOSJHQHUDWHWKRXVDQGVRIPHJDZDWWVRIHOHFWULFLW\(YHQ
WKRXJKZDWHULVOLVWHGDVHQWU\LQ/LVW,,RIWKH6HYHQWK6FKHGXOHRI
M Yes Bank reached a flashpoint [when the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on March
5, 2020, superseded its Board, appointed ex-Chief
Finance Officer (CFO) of the State Bank of India
WKH&RQVWLWXWLRQWKH1'$LQLWLDWHGZRUNIRUOLQNLQJWKH%HWZDDQG.HQ (SBI) as its administrator and imposed a mora-
ULYHUVZKLFKSDVVWKURXJK8WWDU3UDGHVKDQG0DGK\D3UDGHVKTXLFNO\ torium for a month on critical operations such
7KHZRUNLVQHDUO\FRPSOHWHEXWWKHUHLVQRZRUGRQZKHQLWZRXOGEH as sanction of fresh loan, renewal of existing
RSHUDWLRQDO,QIDFWQRVXEVWDQWLDOIXQGLVEHLQJDOORFDWHGWRVWDUWZRUN loans, C50,000 ceiling on withdrawal of money
RQOLQNLQJRWKHUULYHUV2IFRXUVHOLQNLQJRIWKH*RGDYDULDQG&DXYHU\ per account] some depositors had already
ILJXUHVLQWKHUHSRUWRIWKH7DVN)RUFHRIWKH'HSDUWPHQWRI(FRQRPLF sensed it coming.
$IIDLUVXQGHU1DWLRQDO,QIUDVWUXFWXUH3LSHOLQH1,3SURMHFWVEXWWKHUHLV They withdrew about C18,000 crore during
QRPHQWLRQRIOLQNLQJRIRWKHUULYHUVOLNHWKHPLJKW\%UDKPDSXWUDLQWKH the first six months of the current year (deposits
declined from C2,27,000 crore as on March 31,
1,3·VYLVLRQGRFXPHQW 2019 to C2,09,000 crore as on September 30,
'RXEOLQJWKH)DUPHUV·,QFRPH'),LVDQRWKHUVFKHPHWKDWZDV 2019); of this, C16,000 crore were withdrawn dur-
ODXQFKHGE\WKH&HQWUHDQGLQWKH8QLRQ%XGJHWWKH)LQDQFH0LQLVWHU ing July–September, 2019 alone. Thereafter, the
DQQRXQFHGDSRLQWDFWLRQSODQIRUWKLV,WLQFOXGHGPHDVXUHVWRSUR withdrawals leapfrogged to C72,000 crore till the
YLGHJURZHUVDFFHVVWRGLVWDQWPDUNHWVWKURXJKWUDLQV.LVDQ5DLODQG moratorium came into effect on March 5, 2020, C74A180=3C74
IOLJKWV.ULVKL8GDDQ+HUHWRRWKHSODQGLGQRWWDNHLQWRDFFRXQWWKH the current level of deposits being C1,37,000
DEXQGDQFHRIIDUPHUVZLWKVPDOODQGPHGLXPVL]HGKROGLQJVZKRVH crore.
RQO\ZRUU\LVWRJHWDUHPXQHUDWLYHSULFHIRUWKHSURGXFHLQWKHQHDUE\ At the core of the crisis is the surge in non-
PDUNHWDQGQRWEHH[SORLWHGE\WUDGHUV7KH'),FRPPLWWHHKDVPDGH performing assets (NPAs) — a jargon for the
PXOWLSOHUHFRPPHQGDWLRQVIRUDFKLHYLQJLWVJRDOE\EXWPRVWRI loans that have turned bad raising serious
WKHVHLQVWUXFWLRQVDUHWKHRXWFRPHRIDWRSGRZQDSSURDFKDWWKH8QLRQ
doubt about their recovery. As per results for the
third quarter of current year, the NPAs are
*RYHUQPHQWOHYHOHYHQWKRXJKPXFKRIWKHVHSROLF\GHFLVLRQVQHHGWR C40,000 crore. At this level, the bank was on the
EHLPSOHPHQWHGE\6WDWH*RYHUQPHQWV0RUHRYHURQO\VRPHRIWKHVH brink of collapse. Had things continued as usual,
UHFRPPHQGDWLRQVSHUWDLQWRSDUWLFXODU6WDWHVDQGWKHVHDUHWREHLGHQ each one of the remaining depositors would have
WLILHGDIWHUH[DPLQDWLRQDWWKHJURXQGOHYHOZKLFKZDVQRWXQGHUWDNHQLQ rushed to withdraw his/her money lying in the
WKHFRPPLWWHH·VGHOLEHUDWLRQV)LQDOO\HYHQWKRXJKFRPPLWWHHUHSRUWV bank. Given the mammoth shortfall in available
SURYLGHHVWLPDWHVRIWKHLQYHVWPHQWUHTXLUHGIRU'),QRDWWHPSWKDVEHHQ capital, this would have led to utter chaos. The
PDGHWRVHTXHQFHWKHIXQGQHHGV$IWHUDOOJLYHQWKHPRQHWDU\FRQ RBI intervention averted it.
VWUDLQWVIRULQYHVWPHQWDQGWLPHOLPLWDWLRQWKHWRSSULRULW\VKRXOGKDYH Meanwhile, the Union Government has
EHHQWRLGHQWLI\WKHPRVWELQGLQJFRQVWUDLQWVIRU'),6WDWHZLVHDQGDOOR approved a scheme for the ‘Reconstruction of Yes
FDWHIXQGVDFFRUGLQJO\*LYHQWKHIXQGOLPLWDWLRQHYHQWKH8QLRQ*RYHUQPHQW
Bank — 2020’ under which the SBI has commit-
ted to invest C6,050 crore for 49 per cent share-
KDVRQO\EHHQDEOHWRXQGHUWDNHDIHZRIWKHVHUHFRPPHQGDWLRQV,Q holding and private sector banks viz. HDFC
IDFWWKHODUJHVWFKXQNCFURUHRIWKHIDUPEXGJHWIRU
Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and
6>E4A=<4=C
=443C>270=64
640AB8=BC403
>51>;C8=6C74
BC01;405C4A
C747>AB4B
70E45;43C74H
=443C>14
?A>02C8E40=3 bad under an external environment and controlled by the kin of the ex- jolt to the financial system. The RBI and
5>2DB<>A4>= becoming adverse. For instance, dump- chairman and used for laundering the the Government need to change gears.
²?A4E4=C8E4³ ing of steel by Chinese producers in the proceeds of corruption. From this Instead of bolting the stable after the
<40BDA4BC74H Indian market a couple of years back or alone, one gets an idea of the magni- horses have fled, they need to be
B7>D;3DB4 withdrawal of the Generalized Scheme tude of bribe money in the deals, man- proactive and focus more on “preven-
BDAE48;;0=24 of Preferences or the global economic ifold gain to the borrower (in the cited tive” measures.
?>F4ABC> slump accentuated by the Coronavirus cases, the ratio is 6:1) and correspond- They should use surveillance pow-
02CD0;;HB44 and so on. These are all factors beyond ing loss to the bank in NPAs. There is ers to actually see things happening and
C78=6B the control of the borrower which could no way any loss being the result of a pre-empt the chances of dubious loans
change for the better and with policy “quid pro quo” arrangement between being sanctioned — instead of waiting
70??4=8=6
support from the Government, the the bank top brass and borrower, could for the balance sheet and audit report
ZHQWWRWKH3UDGKDQ0DQWUL.LVDQ6DPPDQ1LGKL30.LVDQDQRWKHU so on, promising to put in about C3,950 crore tak-
QHZO\ODXQFKHGVFKHPHIRUSURYLGLQJFDVKVXSSRUWWRIDUPHUV ing the total capital infusion to about C10,000
/DVW\HDUWKH8QLRQ*RYHUQPHQWODXQFKHG-DO-HHYDQ0LVVLRQXQGHU crore. With this, the moratorium was lifted on
ZKLFKDOOUXUDOKRXVHKROGVDUHH[SHFWHGWRKDYHSLSHGZDWHUVXSSO\E\ March 18 when the new Board took over. Under
1RGRXEWLWLVDQH[FHOOHQWVFKHPHJLYHQWKDWWKHUXUDOSRSXODWLRQ the new ownership and management control,
VXIIHUVVLJQLILFDQWO\IURPZDWHUYHFWRUERUQHGLVHDVHV+RZHYHUJLYHQ whether or not, the bank will be able to stem the
WKHZDWHUVWUHVVLQ,QGLDLWLVQRWFOHDUZKHUHWKHVXSSO\ZRXOGFRPH exodus of depositors, restore confidence and start
IURP$VRQHUHFDOOVWKH1,7,$D\RJ·VUHFHQWO\UHOHDVHGUHSRUWDUJXHV
normal operations, one time will tell.
WKDW,QGLDLVQRWRQO\IDFLQJWKHZRUVWZDWHUFULVLVLQKLVWRU\WKLVZLOODJJUD
Meanwhile, it is necessary to analyse as to
how the Yes Bank came to such a pass; in fact,
YDWHRYHUWLPH%\WKHFRXQWU\·VZDWHUGHPDQGLVSURMHFWHGWREH look at the big picture as to how in a span of two
WZLFHWKHDYDLODEOHVXSSO\LPSO\LQJVHYHUHZDWHUVFDUFLW\IRUKXQGUHGV years, three other financial entities viz. Punjab
RIPLOOLRQVRISHRSOHDQGDQHYHQWXDORYHUVL[SHUFHQWORVVLQWKHFRXQ and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank,
0=3?A44<?C stress on loan can be eased. be recovered. to be finalised. If need be, the Banking
C74270=24B>5 The loan given under the second Add to this, NPAs due to loans Regulation Act should be amended.
3D18>DB category is potentially vulnerable as at given to Reliance Communications The Yes Bank episode clearly demon-
;>0=B148=6 the time of sanctioning it, the bank sim- Limited (RCL), Jet Airways, Cox & strates that proactive regulatory inter-
B0=2C8>=43¯ ply did not bother to conduct due dili- Kings and so on. The capital loss on vention on “real time” basis is far more
8=BC403>5 gence and determine whether the both these counts may well be in crucial than even governance reforms
F08C8=65>AC74 underlying project is viable. Still, there excess of C30,000 crore. in banks. It also shows that lowering of
10;0=24B744C could be an unusual chance it is able to The project ‘Reconstruction of Yes Government shareholding in public
0=30D38C generate adequate cash flows to amor- Bank — 2020’ is an attempt to plug this sector banks to below 50 per cent or pri-
A4?>ACC>14 tise the loan — possibly based on an big hole created in the bank’s balance vatisation in plain words is not a
implicit assumption that there was no sheet by the dubious actions of the pro- panacea for the latter’s ills. Irrespective
58=0;8B4385 malafide intent. moter and irregularities at the manage- of whether a bank is owned by a State
=44314C74 Coming to category three, a loan ment level. To the extent, it remains or private entity, the managements are
WU\·V*URVV'RPHVWLF3URGXFW*'30RUHRYHUWKH6WDWHVZKLFKZRXOG Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services
EHKLWWKHKDUGHVWE\WKHZDWHUFULVLVFRQWULEXWHWRQHDUO\SHUFHQW (IL&FC) and Dewan Housing Finance
RIRXUDJULFXOWXUDORXWSXW,GHDOO\LQYLHZRIWKHLPSHQGLQJZDWHUFULVLV Corporation Limited (DHFL) were pushed
WKH*RYHUQPHQWVKRXOGKDYHSURYLGHGPRUHLQFHQWLYHVWRWKRVHZKRFXO towards bankruptcy. At a fundamental level, we
WLYDWHOHVVZDWHULQFHQWLYHFURSVLQZDWHUGHILFLHQW6WDWHV+RZHYHUQR need to look at the manner in which the bank
sanctions a loan and to whom it is given name-
VXFKVWHSVKDYHEHHQWDNHQWKRXJKWKH'),FRPPLWWHHKDVDGYRFDWHG ly, the borrower.
WKHP6LQFHJURZHUVRYHUXVHZDWHUGXHWRWKHDEVHQFHRIZDWHUPHWHUV Let us consider three possible scenarios viz.
DQGIUHHSRZHUWRWKHIDUPVHFWRUWKHUHDUHRQO\WZRZD\VWRWDFNOHWKLV First, the bank has conducted due diligence, care-
ZDWHUFULVLV,QWKHVKRUWUXQSURYLGHPRUHLQFHQWLYHVIRUFXOWLYDWLQJOHVV fully assessed the viability of the project/venture
ZDWHULQFHQWLYHFURSVDQGLQWKHORQJUXQODUJHLQYHVWPHQWVKRXOGEH for which loan is to be given, convinced itself
XQGHUWDNHQWRH[SDQG´SHUGURSPRUHFURSµVFKHPHVZLWKLQFUHDVHG about the credibility of the borrower and taken
XVHRIWHFKQRORJ\7KH*RYHUQPHQWPXVWUHDOLVHWKDWLWLVEHVWWRVWLFN adequate security/collateral against the loan.
WRDIHZVFKHPHVRYHUDSHULRGWRUHDSWKHLUEHQHILWV,QWKHDIWHUPDWK Second, it has granted loan in a cavalier fashion
RIWKH&29,'SDQGHPLFLWLVOLNHO\WKDWWKHHFRQRP\ZLOOSDVVWKURXJK without conducting due diligence and assessing
DUHFHVVLRQ6LQFHDJULFXOWXUHLVDYLWDOVRXUFHRIOLYHOLKRRGLWLVWKHUHVSRQ project viability, at best seeing in some cases,
whether or not the borrower has a licence. Third,
VLELOLW\RIWKH*RYHUQPHQWWRLQFUHDVHIDUPLQFRPHVDVWKLVZRXOGUDLVH
while, granting the loan, the management only
GHPDQGDQGKHOSNLFNVWDUWWKHHFRQRP\ looks at the gain that will accrue to it at person-
7KHZULWHULV3URIHVVRU1&$(57KHYLHZVH[SUHVVHGDUH al level under what is termed as “quid pro quo.”
10=:8=6 given by the bank top brass with an
A46D;0C8>=02C intent of self-aggrandisement is bound
B7>D;314 to go junk as the person taking it has
0<4=343 no intent of returning it. The probe cur-
rently underway by the Enforcement
Directorate (ED) points to several
loans given by the Yes Bank in this cat-
egory. Two such cases that have been
widely reported include a loan of
C3,700 crore extended to DHFL in lieu
of the latter returning the favour by giv-
ing C600 crore to shell companies
owned by daughters of the ex-
Chairman of the bank. Second is the
loan of C1,900 crore extended to the
Avantha group in lieu of the benefit of
over C300 crore given by the latter to
the wife of the ex-Chairman for pur-
chase of a posh bungalow in New Delhi.
The agencies have reportedly
unplugged (so far, the total commit-
ment is just about C10,000 crore; which
consortium members are forced to keep
invested for three years, the SBI’s whole
contribution and private investors 75
per cent), even after reconstruction, the
bank will remain vulnerable.
Here, we need to recognise that the
problem is systemic. All other entities
(having gone bankrupt) had given
loan under the third category. For
instance, C6,500 crore loan given by
PMC to Housing Development and
Infrastructure Limited; tens of thou-
sands of crores in dubious loans given
by IL&FS which landed in dozens of
shell companies owned by the top brass
of the former and so on.
There is a lurking fear that this
could be the tip of the iceberg. In that
prone to playing with public money.
This attitude is propelled by lack of
timely supervision on one hand and
absence of punishment commensurate
with the crime on the other.
The bailout given and that, too,
using public money (resurrection of Yes
Bank involves 60 per cent of capital
infusion by the SBI which is majority-
owned by the Government) emboldens
them to continue with their game
plan. It is, therefore, incumbent upon
the Government and the RBI to do all
that is necessary to give a body blow to
this attitude. Otherwise, the banks
will continue to remain vulnerable to
manipulation by the top management
including by the founder/owner for
adding to personal riches.
(The writer is a New Delhi-based
7KHILUVWOLQHRIGHIHQFHLQDSDQGHPLF
*KYVOZKVUZKTZOGRNG`GXJYNKGRZNIGXKVXULKYYOUTGRYGR]G_YSGOTZGOTGYZGZKULIGRSGTJXKGJOTKYYLUXVKXLUXSOTMKSKXMKTI_ZGYQYJ[XOTM
U[ZHXKGQY]OZNU[ZHKOTMIUTIKXTKJLUXZNKOXU]TYGLKZ_UX]KRRHKOTM
F9=1< #$#
t a time when the COVID-19
A outbreak has forced most peo-
ple around the world to hun-
ker down and go into self-isolation,
distancing themselves from everyone
socially and professionally, there are
people who are putting themselves at
risk and who are pulling out all stops
to fight the pandemic and stall its
deathly march across the globe.
These soldiers in the war against
Coronavirus are the doctors, nurses,
paramedics and other healthcare
workers who are putting their own
lives at risk and fulfilling their duty
and moral obligation like true profes-
SHUVRQDO A loan given under category one could go
sionals. Acknowledgement of the
selfless service that the medical com-
munity is providing to people around
the world and in India by world lead-
ers and citizens alike, helps to bolster
their confidence and motivates them
to work with greater zeal.
It was heart-warming to hear all
the clapping and ringing of bells and
beating of drums and thalis by peo-
ple across the country on March 22
at the behest of the Prime Minister
to acknowledge the yeoman’s service
being provided by the media, police,
doctors, nurses, other healthcare
workers, and so on.
In times like this, when social dis-
tancing is becoming imperative, the
role of doctors has again come to the
fore and it is vital that doctors
remain closer than ever before to their
patients. Their professional com-
mitment demands that doctors
remain at the beck and call of
patients.
So, what defines a doctor in these
situations? No doubt it is a mix of
skills such as leadership, managing
uncertainty, problem-solving, risk-
taking, professional judgment and a
grasp of clinical situations based on
a deep understanding of the area of
practice. Most importantly, their
much-required confidence and assur-
ance of survival to the patients is the
most important element.
During the last few decades, we
have witnessed many disease out-
breaks such as Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
(MERS), H1N1 flu virus (Swine Flu)
and Nipah virus among others. All
these required quick responses from
healthcare providers and the whole
world have seen how Indian doctors
have proved their professionalism, be
it on the ground in India or playing
a critical role abroad. Our
Government places huge faith in its
healthcare professionals and keeps
sending medical teams abroad as well.
Doctors are among the first to
observe patients suffering from the
unravelled 78 shell companies owned
attack of a deadly disease, especially
as initial signs and symptoms may be
subtle or mimic common disorders,
prompting victims to contact their
primary care physicians.
In its initial stages, a contagion
like COVID-19 may not be obvious
as healthcare systems sometimes are
not fool proof enough due to their
limitations and may not always detect
suspicious patterns. In the majority
of cases, early symptoms are vague
and readily mistaken for more com-
mon upper respiratory infections
such as influenza and staphylococcal
enterotoxin B or viral gastroenteritis,
which take a heavy toll on a nation’s
health.
Depending on the agent and its
mode of transmission, the population
density and access to healthcare, it can
be days or even weeks before anyone
can recognise the problem. As early
response may be crucial in contain-
ing the problem and minimising
resultant morbidity and mortality,
doctors play a vital role in recording
scenario, we could be staring at a big
data and developing the response sys-
tem for later reference. The doctors,
therefore, are first to become aware
of a problem and are pivotal in ini-
tiating and guiding the public health
response. It is they, who have to
remain vigilant about general trends
and patient flow in their clinics and
communicate the same to the health
authorities to formulate the right
strategy at the national level.
In an emergency situation doc-
tors are required to go beyond their
routine responsibilities. They have to
carry out exhaustive jobs in a stress-
ful environment as witnessed in
China, Italy and France which are
now the epicentres of disease spread.
Despite the potential hazards, health-
care professionals always maintain a
state of calm and readiness for fulfill-
ing the planned emergency tasks in
these situations without being con-
cerned for their own safety or well-
being. Early responders, doctors,
nurses and other healthcare profes-
sionals during these times require
policy analyst)
protection as well. Since they care for
both patients who are suffering from
Coronavirus as well as the regular
patients, they could inadvertently
spread communicable agents rather
quickly, especially to vulnerable
members of the population.
Therefore, in the interest of the
nation, it is essential that healthcare
professionals adequately protect
themselves. In fact, all hospital per-
sonnel, including regular employees,
volunteers and temporary staff,
should follow the highest level of per-
sonal protection from infection and
other risks to their safety and the
same degree of access to occupation-
al health services.
Anxiety among staff confronted
with a crisis involving the COVID-
19, a highly contagious infectious dis-
ease, is to be expected and requires
active management through per-
sonal protective procedures and psy-
cho-social support.
There is also a chance that the
efficiency and effectiveness of hospi-
tal staff may be adversely affected by
circumstances not necessarily or not
directly related to the crisis, such as
an illness or a conflict between fam-
ily and work commitments. During
an emergency of this scale, there
could also be the need for addition-
al personnel for providing specialised
care to meet the likely increase in
numbers of patients seeking admis-
sion to the hospital. Arrangements
must be made to meet such eventu-
alities so that there is enough time for
the healthcare professionals to rest
and re-energise. Provisions for req-
uisitions have to be made to the
armed forces for getting their person-
nel to meet emergency situations.
In these trying times when most
of us want to stay within our comfort
zones to beat the Coronavirus, health
professionals are putting their armour
on and attacking it with full force. Let
us give more power to these heroes
who will eventually save the world.
(The writer is Chief Clinical
Officer, Clove Dental)
  !"#!$!$
2>E83 (>DC1A40:
,
-.

8=@32=562E9E@==A2DD6D"&!!!
05?Q ?0A8B
he number of deaths
T around the world from the
novel coronavirus cases stood
at 15,189, according to a tally
compiled by AFP on Monday
from official sources.
More than 341,300
declared cases have been reg-
istered in 174 countries and ter-
ritories since the epidemic first
emerged in China in
December.
The tallies, using data col-
lected by AFP offices from
national authorities and infor-
mation from the World Health
Organization (WHO), likely
reflect only a fraction of the
actual number of infections.
Many countries are now
only testing cases that require
hospitalisation. Italy, which
recorded its first coronavirus
death in February, now has
more fatalities than China with
5,476, as well as having 59,138
declared infections with 7,024
recoveries.
0eXRcX\^UcWT2^eXS (eXadbXbTePRdPcTSUa^\cWT<d[W^dbTRXeX[W^b_XcP[TPbcTa]5aP]RT^]<^]SPh
China -- excluding Hong
Kong and Macau -- has to date
declared 81,093 cases, includ-
ing 3,270 deaths, with 72,703
people recovered. It reported 39
new cases and nine new fatal-
ities since Sunday.
The third worst hit coun-
try is Spain with 2,182 fatalities
and 33,089 cases, followed by
Iran with 1,812 fatalities and
23,049 cases, France with 674
deaths and 16,018 cases, and
the United States with 471
0?
deaths and 35,224 cases.
Since 1900 GMT Sunday,
the Czech Republic, Nigeria
and Montenegro announced
their first deaths. Papua New
Guinea and Syria reported
their first cases.
0RUHWKDQEQSHRSOH 9dQ\iRQ^cdbQfU\Y^RYT
ZRUOGZLGHWROGWRVWD\ d_c\_gfYbecTUQdXc
KRPHRYHUYLUXV
05?Q ?0A8B
ore than one billion peo-
M ple have been asked to
stay home in more than 50
countries and territories around
the world as governments bat-
tle the coronavirus pandemic
sweeping the globe, according
to an AFP tally Monday.
Some countries imposed
mandatory lockdown mea-
sures, while others have issued
stay-at-home recommenda-
tions to stem the spread of the
virus. At least 34 countries or
territories has established
mandatory lockdown measures
ordering people to stay in their
homes, accounting for some
659 million people. This
includes France, Italy,
Argentina, the US state of
California, Iraq and Rwanda.
Greece is the most recent
country to impose mandatory
confinement measures, which
came into effect on Monday
morning. Colombia will
enforce an obligatory lock-
down on Tuesday and New
Zealand will follow suit
Wednesday. In most cases it is
still possible to leave the house
to go to work, buy essentials or
seek medical care.
At least four countries with
a collective population of more
than 228 million people,
including Iran, Germany and
Britain, have urged their pop-
ulations to stay indoors and
limit contact with other people
as much as possible.
05?Q A><4
taly banned travel and shut
IMonday
down a range of industries
in a last-ditch push to
stem the spread of a coron-
avirus that has killed nearly
5,500 people in a month.
The latest wave of restric-
tions is designed to get the
Mediterranean countr y
through a vital 10-day stretch
in which the rate of deaths and
infections is supposed to final-
ly drop.
Italy’s health officials
sounded notes of guarded hope
after reporting another 651
fatalities on Sunday.
The figure was the second-
highest recorded during the
crisis and above that officially
registered anywhere else in the
world in a day.
But it was still lower than
the record 793 deaths health
officials announced on
Saturday. The number of new
infections also rose Sunday by
a relatively modest 10.4 per-
cent. The chief health officer of
northern Italy’s devastated
Lombardy region sounded
uncharacteristically upbeat
Sunday.
“These figures are always a
matter of either seeing the
glass as half full or half empty,”
Giulio Gallera wrote on
Facebook.
“Today, the glass is half
full.”
Italy has sacrificed its econ-
omy and liberties by shutting
down and banning almost
everything to halt the spread of
a virus the government views
as an existential threat.

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05?Q <03A83
he coronavirus death toll in
T Spain surged to 2,182 after
462 people died within 24
hours, the health ministry said
on Monday.
The death rate showed a
27-per cent increase on the fig-
ures released a day earlier,
with the number of confirmed
cases of COVID-19 rising to
33,089 in Spain, one of the
worst-hit countries in the world
after China and Italy.
Despite an unprecedented
national lockdown which was
put in place on March 14, the
number of deaths and infec-
tions have spiralled in Spain,
with the figures growing as the
country steps up its capacity for
testing. And the lockdown,
which was initially put in place
cRZdZ_Xe`]]e`")"#
05?Q C47A0=
I ran on Monday announced
127 new deaths from the
novel coronavirus, raising the
official toll to 1,812 in one of
the worst hit countries along
with Italy, Spain and China.
Health ministr y
spokesman Kianouche
Jahanpour said 1,411 new cases
had been recorded in Iran over
the past 24 hours, bringing the
total of those infected to 23,049.
Jahanpour, who was speak-
ing during his daily news con-
ference devoted to the pan-
demic, said he would no longer
give a breakdown of cases by
province.
This was necessary, he said,
E^[d]cTTaf^aZTab^UBTPaRWP]SATbRdTB0AfXcWb_TRXP[T`dX_\T]cSXbX]UTRcP to avoid sparking undue con-
e^[d]cTTaPUcTaSXbX]UTRcX]VP_^[XRTRPaPc;^RP[?^[XRTbcPcX^]c^_aTeT]ccWTb_aTPS cern among residents of the
^UR^a^]PeXadb2>E83 (X]?P\_[^]P]^acWTa]B_PX] 0? most stricken areas and ensure
that those in less affected zones
warned that the number of
remained cautious.
All of Iran’s 31 provinces
have been hit by the novel coro-
navirus outbreak. Tolls pro-
vided by the health ministry in
recent days indicated that the
spread of the virus has wors-
ened especially in northern
and central regions of Iran.
Jahanpour renewed a call by
authorities for people to stay at
home until “the virus is con-
quered”.
That call has come as the
Islamic republic is celebrating
the Iranian New Year,
a time when people usually
travel far and wide across the
country for holidays and fam-
ily reunions.
Authorities, however, have
not imposed any travel ban or
lockdown on Iran where the
Nowruz holiday continues until
April 3.
&KLQD¶RYHUFRURQDYLUXV RTPbTUXaTPbR^a^]PeXadbUXaTaPVTb^]
LQIRVKDULQJ7UXPS United Nations: United Nations Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres on Monday called for an “imme-
?C8Q F0B78=6C>=
S President Donald Trump has said he
U is “a little upset” with China over its late
sharing of information on the outbreak of
the deadly coronavirus and refusing to
accept a visit by American medical experts
to the country “out of pride”. “They should
have told us about this,” Trump told
reporters at a Press conference in the White
House on Sunday during a briefing on his
administration’s coronavirus response.
“I’m a little upset with China. I’ll be
honest with you, because as much as I like
(Chinese) President Xi (Jinping) and as
much as I respect and admire the coun-
try,” he said. There are now 31,057 con-
firmed cases across the US, with 390
deaths. New York state has become the epi-
centre of the outbreak in the US and
accounts for almost half of the country’s
cases. Trump said soon after he received
information about the spread of the
deadly viral infection in China, he want-
ed to send US medical team there.
However, China did not allow.
diate global ceasefire” in all corners of the world,
emphasising that it is time to put armed conflict in
lockdown and focus on the fight against the rapidly-
spreading coronavirus pandemic. His appeal came as
the total number of deaths due to coronavirus
crossed 15,000 globally. Over 341,300 cases have been
registered in 174 countries and territories since the
epidemic first emerged in China in December.
Addressing UN correspondents in a virtual brief-
ing, Guterres said: “Our world faces a common enemy:
COVID-19. The virus does not care about national-
ity or ethnicity, faction or faith. It attacks all, relent-
lessly”. He voiced concern that as coronavirus spreads
across the world, armed conflict rages on around the
world and the most vulnerable — women and chil-
dren, people with disabilities, the marginalised and
the displaced — pay the highest price.
Noting that these people are also at the highest risk
of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19, he said
that health systems have collapsed in war-ravaged
countries.
“The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.
That is why today, I am calling for an immediate glob-
al ceasefire in all corners of the world. It is time to put
armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the
true fight of our lives,” the UN chief said. PTI

for two weeks, will be extend-
ed until April 11 to try to curb
the spread, Prime Minister
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deaths and infections would
continue to rise this week
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and that the worst was yet to

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Pedro Sanchez said — in a come.

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measure which will be put to
parliament on Tuesday.

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The rise in infections in
this country of 46 million peo-
ple has brought Spain’s health-
care system to the brink of col-
lapse, particularly in Madrid,
the worst-hit area, which has
registered 10,575 cases, and
where 1,263 people have died
— accounting for 58 per cent
of the national death toll.
Some 3,910 healthcare
workers have tested positive for
the virus, or around 12 per cent
of those infected, the health
ministry’s emergencies coor-
dinator Fernando Simon said.
Officials have repeatedly
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Berlin: Chancellor Angela
Merkel was on Sunday in quar-
antine after meeting a doctor
who tested positive for the
novel coronavirus, as Germany
further tightens rules on pub-
lic gatherings and plots a
taboo-breaking package of sup-
port for Europe’s top economy.
News of Merkel’s potential
minutes after she announced a
ban on public gatherings of
more than two people and
further infection control mea-
“The Chancellor has decid-
ed to quarantine herself imme-
diately at home. She will be
tested regularly in the coming
days... (and) fulfil her official
business from home,”
spokesman Steffen Seibert said
in a statement.
Merkel had been slated to
lead a cabinet meeting Monday
to sign off on a 822-billion-euro
($882 billion) slew of measures
to support Europe’s top econ-
omy through the shutdowns of
public life designed to slow the
infection’s spread. AFP
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Islamabad: Pakistan said on
Monday that the total number
of coronavirus cases in the
country rose to 803, even as the
Army scrambled to put togeth-
er all resources to tackle the
infection which has claimed
more than 15,000 lives world-
wide.
At least six people have
died, while six others recovered
from COVID-19 so far, accord-
ing to the country’s National
Disaster Management
Authority. Of the total 803
cases, Sindh province account-
ed for with 352 cases, Punjab
246, Balochistan 108, Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa 32, Islamabad
15 and Gilgit-Baltistan 72 and
1 in Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir.
Sindh Education Minister
Saeed Ghani in a video message
on Monday confirmed that he
had tested positive for coron-
avirus and was now in isolation
at his home. PTI
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hina on Monday “applaud-
C ed” the aid sent by India dur-
ing the height of Beijing’s battle
against the deadly coronavirus
and said it would like to share its
experience in handling the
COVID-19 with New Delhi and
provide necessary assistance in
preventing its spread.
India sent about 15 tonnes
of medical assistance compris-
=8!'dbYQ\RbYUV\ibUce]Uc
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he trial of three Russians and
T a Ukrainian charged with
multiple murder for their alleged
roles in shooting down Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17 in 2014
resumed briefly Monday as the
presiding judge read out a num-
ber of preliminary decisions.
Courtroom was almost
empty due to restrictions aimed
at slowing spread of coron-
avirus. Decisions on several
requests by prosecutors for
further investigations were
delayed to give defense lawyers
for one of defendants more
time to prepare.
ing masks, gloves and other
emergency medical equipment
to the coronavirus-hit Wuhan
city on February 26 by a mili-
tary plane, which also evacu-
ated 112 Indians and several
foreign nationals.
In his media briefing here,
Foreign Ministry spokesman
Geng Shuang said China is
extending assistance and aid to
local Governments in 19 coun-
tries which have extended assis-
tance to it when the coronavirus
outbreak struck the country.
Among decisions taken by
the court since the trial opened
on March 9, Presiding Judge
Hendrik Steenhuis authorised
prosecutors to give lawyers for
family members of the 298 vic-
tims access to limited parts of
the investigation dossier.
After a hearing of just under
45 minutes, the case was
adjourned until June 8, when
defense lawyers for one of the
suspects will be allowed to make
preliminary objections such as
challenging the Dutch court’s
jurisdiction to stage the trial.
None of the suspects is
attending the trial and only one
— Russian Oleg Pulatov — has
Asked about the conspicu-
ous absence of India in the 19
countries listed by him,
Geng said India and China
have an “unimpeded channel of
exchanges and the exchange
is close.” “After the outbreak of
COVID-19, China and India
have been in communication
and there is cooperation
between the two. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi sent
a letter of sympathies with the
Chinese side and the Indian
Foreign Minister also spoke
appointed defense lawyers to
represent him. When the trial
opened earlier this month, the
courtroom was packed with
lawyers, judges, family mem-
bers of victims and media.
But on Monday judges sat
separated from one another by
an empty seat, the number of
prosecutors, lawyers and other
staff was reduced and family and
media were not allowed to
attend. The flight, known as
MH17, was shot down July 17,
2014, by a Buk missile fired from
territory in eastern Ukraine con-
trolled by pro-Russian separatist
rebels as it flew from Amsterdam
to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
with the Chinese side over
phone,” he said.
“We have received assis-
tance from the Indian side
and we applaud that. We have
a mechanism of exchanges and
China has been notifying the
information to India in a time-
ly manner,” he said.
“We have also been pro-
viding assistance and neces-
sary convenience to the Indians
in China. We have been pro-
tecting their health and safety,”
he said. “As the pandemic
3RPSHRLQ.DEXOLQHIIRUWWR
UHYLYHIODJJLQJSHDFHSURFHVV
KABUL: US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo was in Kabul on
an urgent visit Monday to try to
move forward a US peace deal
signed last month with the
Taliban, a trip that comes despite
the coronavirus pandemic, at a
time when world leaders and
statesmen are curtailing official
travel. Since the signing of the
deal, the peace process has
stalled amid political turmoil in
Afghanistan, with the country’s
leaders squabbling over who was
elected president.
President Ashraf Ghani and
his main rival in last September’s
presidential polls, Abdullah
Abdullah, have both declared
themselves the country’s presi-
dent in dueling inauguration
spreads, we have also noted the
situation in India. China and
India are the only two countries
with a population of over one
billion. The virus is a challenge
to all and we would like to share
our experience with the Indian
side and further provide neces-
sary assistance to the Indian
side,” he said.
Geng also pointed out India
was part of a video conference
conducted by the Chinese offi-
cials to share their COVID-19
experience with Eurasia and
ceremonies earlier this month.
Pompeo met separately
with Ghani and was meeting
with Abdullah before going to
meet together with both
Afghan leaders. His schedule
also has Ghani and Abdullah
coming together for a one-on-
one meeting, presumably to
discuss a possible compromise.
The United States pays bil-
lions every year toward the
Afghan budget, including the
country’s defence forces.
Afghanistan barely raises a
quarter of the revenue it needs
to run the country, giving
Pompeo considerable finan-
cial leverage to force the two
squabbling leaders to over-
come the impasse. AP
South Asian countries recently.
South Asian countries
including India, Sri Lanka,
Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan,
Maldives, Bangladesh partici-
pated in it, he said. Officials
included those from health
authorities, diplomatic ser-
vices, national defence, customs
civil aviation etc. The World
Health Organisation delegates
in the relevant countries also
participated in the video con-
ference, he said.
The conference was a plat-
0UcTabW^RZbaPcc[T
2a^PcXP]RP_XcP[PSPh
PUcTabca^]V`dPZT
Zagreb: Croatia has experi-
enced a series of aftershocks a
day after a strong earthquake
caused widespread damage and
injured at least 27 people amid
a partial coronavirus lockdown
of the capital.
Seismologists said Monday
at least 38 weaker temblors
were felt in Zagreb since a 5.5
magnitude quake struck the
capital early Sunday, triggering
panic, the evacuation of hos-
pitals and structural damage,
including the city’s iconic
cathedral and other historic
buildings.
The strongest aftershock
was around noon, measuring
3.7. AP
,
form to share China’s experience
in epidemic prevention, diag-
nosis and control, treatment,
supply guarantee, Geng said,
adding that Chinese officials
answered around 80 questions.
Geng said the conference lasted
for four hours and around 2,000
representatives participated in it.
The participants think it is time-
ly and necessary to learn from
China’s experience, he said.
China, which is battling the
coronavirus since January 23, has
reported no new domestic cases
,VUDHO¶V6XSUHPHFRXUWRUGHUV
3DUOLDPHQWWRFODULI\VSHDNHUYRWH
Jerusalem: Israel’s Supreme
Court on Monday ordered the
country’s parliament to recon-
vene for the selection of a new
speaker, dealing a blow to
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu as he tries to steer
the country through the coro-
navirus crisis and fend off a
looming corruption trial.
The current speaker, Yuli
Edelstein of Netanyahu’s Likud
party, suspended the parlia-
ment’s activities last week, cit-
ing procedural issues and
restrictions on large gatherings
due to the virus.
But the opposition Blue
and White party, which is
backed by a slim majority in the
newly elected Knesset, said the
of the COVID-19 on Sunday but
reported nine deaths taking the
death toll to 3,270 as it ramped
up measures to strictly quaran-
tine people coming from abroad.
The overall confirmed
cases on the Chinese mainland
has reached 81,093 by the end
of Sunday. It included 3,270
people who died of the disease,
5,120 patients still undergoing
treatment, 72,703 patients dis-
charged after recovery, accord-
ing to China’s National Health
Commission.
country’s legislature must con-
tinue to function at such a crit-
ical time. The party accused
Edelstein of shuttering the halls
of the legislature in order to
keep his job and shield his
beleaguered party leader.
Blue and White is expected
to choose a new speaker and use
its parliamentary majority to
push through legislation that
could prevent Netanyahu from
serving as prime minister in the
future. The Likud party has
accused Blue and White of rely-
ing on the votes of “terrorist-
sympathizing” Arab members of
parliament to “trample democ-
racy” amid a national state of
emergency and vowed to boycott
a vote for a new speaker. AP

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s part of its continued

“As a pre-emptive mea-
sure to tide over any frictional
liquidity requirements on
both the auctions. In the first
repo auction, the RBI received
C31,585 crore of bids. It accept-
The RBI added it is monitoring
the evolving financial market
conditions.
RBI said it has advanced the
second tranche
open market operation (OMO)
of

ZeV^d_`eZ^aRTeVU ?=BQ =4F34;78 A effort to provide liquidity,

?C8Q =4F34;78
rime Minister Narendra
P Modi on Monday asked
captains of India Inc to ensure
that production of essential
items is not impacted in the
wake of the coronavirus out-
break and there is no hoarding
and black marketing.
During his interaction with
leaders of India Inc, the Prime
Minister also asked them to
allow employees to work from
home, said an official release.
“The impact on economy
will be felt for some time to
come,” said PM as he exhorted
India Inc to adopt a humanitar-
ian approach and not to cut
down on workforce in spite of
the COVID-19 negative impact
on their businesses. “The PM
said that while the Government
was working on giving fillip to
the pace of growth in the coun-
try, an unforeseen hurdle in the
form of COVID-19 came in
front of the economy.
“He said the challenge
posed by the pandemic is
graver than even that posed by
the World Wars and we need to
be on constant vigil to prevent
its spread,” the release said.
Industry representatives
from Assocham, FICCI, CII
and several local chambers from
18 cities across the country par-
ticipated in the interaction with
the PM through video-confer-
encing. Modi asked the indus-
try “to allow employees to work
from home” wherever doing so
is feasible through using tech-
nology, the release said.
He exhorted them to adopt
a humanitarian approach and
not to cut down on workforce
in spite of the negative impact
on their businesses. The PM
stressed that while the
Government was working on
giving fillip to the pace of
growth in the country, an
unforeseen hurdle in the form
of COVID-19 came in front of
the economy.
he spread of coronavirus in
T India is rapidly increasing
with eachpassing day, the
Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology reiter-
ated advisory to all social media
intermediaries — Facebook,
YouTube, TikTok, ShareChat
and Twitter to control the spread
of misinformation on coron-
avirus pandemic.
Showing their sense of
responsibility, such intermedi-
aries have been showing on
their platforms the links to the
WHO’s dos and don’ts regarding
the virus, and how to contain its
spread. As per a statement
released by the ministry, social
media platforms are intermedi-
aries as defined under section
2(1)(w) of the Information
Technology Act, 2000 and are
required to follow due diligence
as prescribed in the Information
Technology (Intermediary
Guidelines) Rules notified under
section 79 of the IT Act.”Social
media platforms must inform
their users not to host, display,
upload, modify, publish, trans-
mit, update or share any infor-
mation that may affect public
order in any way,” the statement
read.
([HPSWVWRFNPNWHQWLWLHV
the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on Monday said it will
conduct C1 lakh crore of short-
term variable repo auction.
The repo auctions will be con-
ducted in two tranches. The
first repo auction of C50,000
crore was held on Monday.
C3:+@_]V_UZ_XSjSR_\d
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T he Reser ve Bank on
Monday said bank credit to
registered NBFCs towards agri-
culture, MSEs and housing
sector up to prescribed limits
will be treated as priority sec-
tor loans during the next fiscal
starting April.
The move will help boost
credit disbursement
in the targeted segment like
agriculture, MSME and hous-
ing sector.
After undertaking a review,
it has been decided to extend
account of dislocations due to
Covid-19, the RBI has decided
to conduct the fine-tuning
variable rate repo auctions for
C1 lakh crore in two tranches,
“ the central bank said in a
release.
The RBI is offering funds
to banks for 16 days through
the priority sector classification
for bank loans to NBFCs for
on-lending for 2020-21, RBI
said in a statement.
Further, it said, the existing
loans disbursed under the on-
lending model will continue to
be classified under Priority
Sector till the date of repay-
ment/maturity.
“Bank credit to registered
NBFCs (other than MFIs) and
HFCs for on-lending will be
allowed up to an overall limit
of five per cent of individual
bank’s total priority sector lend-
ing cap,” it said.
4`TYZ_DYZajRcU
ed all the bids at a cut off rate
of 5.16 per cent.
The second tranche of
C50,000 crore of repo auction
will be conducted on March 24.
As a special measure, the
RBI has also allowed stand-
alone primary dealers to par-
ticipate in these repo auctions.
,QGXVWULHV
FRPPHUFHGHSWV
OD\GRZQQRUPVWR
ILJKW&29,'
?C8Q 0<0A0E0C8
he Industries and
T Commerce Department of
Andhra Pradesh on Monday
issued a set of guidelines for
industrial units in the state to
check the spread of coronavirus.
E-commerce establishments like
Walmart and Amazon would be
allowed to supply food, gro-
ceries, milk, bread, fruits, veg-
etables, meat, fish and also carry
out other transport-related activ-
ities, logistics, warehousing and
delivery facilities.
The firms could also con-
tinue e-commerce services that
are essential to the public,
according to Special Chief
Secretary (Industries and
Commerce) Rajat Bhargava.
“We will calibrate our oper-
ations to meet any need for
additional liquidity support, if
warranted, to ensure normal
functioning of markets, pro-
mote staff welfare and preserve
financial stability,” the central
bank said.
Earlier on Monday, the
8V_VcR]>`e`cd
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New Delhi: General Motors
(GM) on Monday said it has
suspended production at its
Talegaon manufacturing facil-
ity in Maharashtra, in support
of government efforts to pre-
vent the spread of COVID-19
(coronavirus).
The company, which has
ceased to sell products in the
Indian market and utilises the
plant for export purposes, said
suspension of production began
on March 21 and will run until
March 31, 2020. PTI
purchase to March 26 from
March 30.
It will buy C15,000 crore of
four government securities
under OMO purchase auction
on March 26.
The first tranche of OMO
purchase worth C15,000 crore
will be conducted on March 24.
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WKHLUZRUNIRUFHIURP YR]eddYZaSfZ]UZ_X All essential factories and

ORFNGRZQ&HQWUHWHOOV6WDWHV
New Delhi: The Centre has
requested chief secretaries of all
states to exempt services of
Sebi-regulated stock market
entities as well as related
workforce from the purview of
lockdown imposed to
curb spreading of coronavirus
infections.
The move comes against
the backdrop of alleged
instances of brokers, deposito-
ry participants and other per-
sonnel related to stock markets
facing difficulties in commut-
ing to their workplaces.
In a letter, Cabinet
Secretary Rajiv Gauba has
requested that services of Sebi-
regulated stock market entities
be exempted from the purview
of lockdown.
“Further, essential staff
related to these agents should
be allowed to commute so as to
ensure that these establish-
ments function smoothly,” as
per the letter addressed to
Chief Secretaries of States and
Administrators of UTs.
Domestic stock market suf-
fered its worst-ever single-day
crash on Monday, with the
benchmark indices plummet-
ing as much as 13.15 per cent
as sell-off continued amid ris-
ing coronavirus cases.
In the wake of the coron-
avirus outbreak, many states
have announced partial or
complete lockdown, to curb
spreading of infections. PTI
cVaRZcZ_Xh`c\d
New Delhi: State-owned ship
maker Cochin Shipyard Ltd
(CSL) on Monday said it has
decided to stop building and
repairing ships as part of its
measures to contain the spread
of deadly coronavirus.
The company has already
been taking a series of mea-
sures in view of the COVID-19
pandemic to ensure safety and
health of all employees besides
complying with government
directives, CSL said in a BSE fil-
ing. “The company has decid-
ed to stop shipbuilding and
ship repair operations with
effect from (wef) March 23,
2020 till further order, to ensure
safety of the employees and to
contain the spread of the coro-
navirus (COVID-19),” it said.
PTI
industries across the state pro-
ducing pharmaceuticals, masks,
sanitizers, ventilators, COVID
kits and essential food products
could operate duly following the
social distancing norms and
other guidelines issued from
time to time, the Special Chief
Secretary said.
The district Collectors have
been directed to permit indus-
trial units engaged in continu-
ous production (steel plants,
cement, fertilisers, textiles, elec-
tronics and IT units) to work
with curtailed capacities,
reduced shifts and skeletal staff.
Bhargava said the lockdown
period announced by the gov-
ernment would not be treated as
break in production and all
industries should mandatorily
pay full salaries and wages to
employees and workers, includ-
ing those under contract and
outsourcing.

1XV1PbZTcfTQbXcTP__
UPRTQaTPZS^f]U^[[^fX]V
bdaVTX]ST\P]S
New Delhi: Website and
mobile app of online grocery
seller BigBasket on Monday
faced breakdown due to surge
in demand amid the coron-
avirus outbreak. Following the
load, the company restricted
access of service only for exist-
ing customers. “We are cur-
rently experiencing unprece-
dented demand. In light of this,
we are restricting access to
our website to existing cus-
tomers only. Please try again in
a few hours,” it said. PTI
DVSZT`^Vd`fehZeYXfZUV]Z_Vd
W`cV_Tf^ScR_TV`_C6:Ed:_g:Ed
New Delhi: Markets regulator
Sebi on Monday put in place a
framework for invocation as
well as encumbrance on units
of real estate and infrastructure
investment trusts.
In a separate circular, Sebi
has also extended the regulato-
ry due date for filing and com-
pliance for real estate investment
trusts (REITs) and infrastruc-
ture investment trusts (InVITs)
for the financial year ending
March 31, by one month over
and above the timeline in the
wake of coronavirus pandemic.
In view of developments
surrounding the spread of
COVID-19, “a need for tem-
porary relaxation in compliance
requirements for REIT and
InvIT is warranted”, it added.
With regard to encumbrance,
Sebi said entities required to
hold units of REITs and InvITs
may create encumbrance on
such units during the manda-
tory holding period wherein
encumbrance will include
pledge, lien, negative lien, non-
disposal undertaking or any
other covenant, transaction,
condition or arrangement in the
nature of encumbrance.
This is subject to the con-
ditions that for creation and
invocation of encumbrance are
also included in the agree-
ment executed for the purpose
of creation of such encum-
brance, the Sebi said in two cir-
culars. PTI
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ince New Year eve, China has reported a cluster of cases of

SPECIAL CARE
S pneumonia from Wuhan associated with seafood, which was
later diagnosed to be associated with novel coronavirus. Around FOR ELDERLY
B^bPhbF7>
10,000 persons were reported to be infectious which includes 17 midst the recent coron- studied the spread of coronavirus-
healthcare professionals and the casualties have been reported
to be over 200 within a month.
While the virus is common in different species of animals,
A avirus outbreak, there are a
lot of myths doing rounds
among people. It is important to 'XULQJORFNGRZQLW¶VLPSRUWDQWWRFRQWLQXHORRNLQJ
es in animals and humans, said
that he had seen no evidence that
people who have the virus could
A t a time like this, with the threat of coron-
avirus disrupting our lives, it is very impor-
tant that the elderly keep themselves safe, as they
it has now spread to humans through close contacts via respi-
ratory droplets generated through sneezing or coughing. While
clear all the misconceptions and
go by the facts to fight the pan-
DIWHU\RXUSK\VLFDODQGPHQWDOKHDOWK be a danger to their pets
Sex is safe.
are easily targeted as their immunity is impaired.
The following precautions need to be taken:
there is a misconception that the virus only spreads through demic. Q Eat healthy to boost your Q If you can’t leave the house, Kissing could spread it. Though Q They should wash their hands frequently:
symptomatic infectants, many such cases have been recorded Here are a few myths and immune system. dance, do some yoga or walk up coronaviruses are not typically sex- Old people tend to hold things a lot more than
where the virus has been transmitted through asymptomatic facts. Q Limit alcohol and sugary drinks. and down the stairs. ually transmitted, it’s too soon to young people like grabbing railings for support,
infectants also. It is thus the foremost priority to seek primary All infected patients need to Q Don’t smoke. It can exacerbate Q People working from home know. holding people’s hands to help them climb up
prevention through keeping self-hygiene. Always wash your hands be admitted. COVID-19 symptoms and shouldn’t sit too long in the Virus can move freely. and down stairs, or to walk, to sit down and
with soap or alcohol-based rub and seek immediate medical Home management is appro- increase your risk of getting same position. A naked virus can’t go any- sometimes even go to the bathroom. It is very
advice in case of flu-like symptoms for ruling out the condition. priate for patients with mild infec- seriously sick. Q Take a three-minute break every where unless it’s hitching a ride with important that they wash their hands with soap
Though Indians usually do not prefer to consume under cooked tion who can be adequately isolat- Q Exercise for at least 30 minutes 30 minutes. a droplet of mucus or saliva, said for 20 second.If they are unable to wash their
or raw meat/ animal products, still avoid any type of animal prod- ed in the outpatient setting. a day for adults and an hour a Q Get your mind off the crisis. Kin-on Kwok, a professor at the hands themselves, they must be washed by some-
uct. Management of such patients day for kids. Listen to music, read a book or Jockey Club School of Public one at all times, especially if they have returned
Vitamin C as a immunity booster: Vitamin C is an immu- should focus on prevention of Q If you’re allowed to go outside, play a game. Health and Primary Care at the from the doctor or a hospital.
nity booster. Along with the supplements, it also advisable to do transmission to others and mon- go for a walk, run or bike ride Q Get your information from Chinese University of Hong Kong. Sometimes old people tend to forget to wash
warm saline gargles regularly, itoring for clinical deterioration, while keeping a safe distance reliable sources once or twice a These mucus and saliva their hands, in that case, they need to be remind-
because the coronavirus tries to which should prompt hospitalisa- from others. day. droplets are ejected from the mouth ed to do so by either the nurses or the maids
"01
 remain in the throat for around tion. or the nose as we cough, sneeze, looking after them as they do not have

,2 two-three days, so if you are
cleaning your throat regularly ,
Outpatients with COVID-19
should stay at home and try to
number of sick people to levels
that medical providers can man-
droplet landed on a surface, a per-
son who then touched that surface
laugh, sing, breathe and talk. If they
don’t hit something along the way,
children/relatives around.
The staff must also be trained to wash their

3 2
00

( your things are going to be on a separate themselves from other age. could pick it up. How much is they typically land on the floor or own hands frequently as they are looking after
better side. While there are no people and animals in the house- Prolonged contact is required to infect a person is the ground. When the virus someone who is vulnerable and prone to the
22
-
proven treatment modules avail- hold. They should wear a face- required with an infected person unclear. becomes suspended in droplets Coronavirus.

4

5-
6 able, and hence every possible mask when in the same room (or It’s not yet clear, but most But as long as you wash your smaller than five micrometres — Q They must be dissuaded from going out of
preventive measure will act as a vehicle) as other people and when experts agree that more time hands before touching your face, known as aerosols — it can stay sus- the house: Some geriatrics want to go meet their
!


,
( weapon. presenting to health care settings. equals more risk. you should be ok, because viral pended for about a half-hour. friends in the garden or go out to houses of

1

1 Regular consumption of hot Disinfection of frequently touched The virus cannot last on a bus droplets don’t pass through skin. Face to face eating is safe. friends. This has to be discouraged by the staff
water and green tea is also surfaces is also important. pole, a touch screen Buy a good brand soap. No, to gain access to your looking after him/her. The only place they should
00 (0( preferable. Include nuts like There is no definition of After numerous people who No, the brand or type of soap cells, the viral droplets must enter be allowed to go to, are doctors and only if it's
 
 41 almonds,
walnuts and seeds like
flax and pumpkin in your diet.
“how close is too close”.
The US CDC recommends
attended a Buddhist temple in
Hong Kong fell ill, the city’s
does not matter.
My coughing neighbour
through the eyes, the nose or the
mouth. Sneezing and coughing
an emergency.
In case they do need to go out, they must
00  It’s a medical proven fact keeping a distance of six feet Center for Health Protection col- cannot cause infection in me. are most likely the primary forms be made to wash their hands with soap as soon
0
-
 4 first our that immune system is the
line of defence against an
from other people to minimize the
possibility of infection. (A useful
lected samples from the site.
Restroom faucets and the cloth
No. An infected neighbor
might sneeze on a railing and if
of transmission. Talking loudly
face-to-face or sharing a meal with
as they return. Unfortunately, many of the elder-
ly suffer from diabetes or hypertension and this


(
21 alien microorganism entering way to think about six feet is that covers over Buddhist texts tested you touched it, you would get it. someone could pose a risk. attracts the virus to these diseases.
Q Medication given on time: All medication to

-( our body. Stronger your immune
system, lesser is the chance of
it’s roughly twice the length of the
average person’s extended arm.)
positive for the coronavirus.
A recent study found that it
Virus particles can cross the
glasses.
If you can smell what someone
had for lunch — you are inhaling the elderly must be given on time, especially the
falling ill. Three feet is the distance the could live for three days on plas- No. There is no evidence that what they are breathing out, includ- medications for diabetes and hypertension as
Turmeric: It has powerful W.H.O. emphasises as particular- tic and steel. If you are ordering viral particles can go through ing any virus in their breath. these diseases make the old people far more vul-
anti–inflammatory effects and is ly risky when standing near a per- lots of supplies online, you may be walls or glass as suggested by a The virus is smart, it makes the nerable to the virus as the coronavirus tends to
very strong antioxidant. Turmeric is a natural way to help boost son who is coughing or sneezing. relieved to know that the virus did doctor. nose loose the small, so to experi- attack people with these diseases even more than
the immune system by increasing the immune modulating capac- Still, other public health poorly on cardboard — it disinte- AC is dangerous. ence the smell you inhale deeply. others.
ity of the body. experts say that at this crucial grated over the course of a day. It We are more concerned about There are no predictors of Q Hydration and nutrition: Geriatrics must be
Ginger: Ginger is antibacterial and it helps support the moment, when the world still survived for about four hours on the dangers posed by common transmission given anything form of hot water, like soup, tea
immune system and it can help to prevent nausea and soothe has an opportunity to slow the copper spaces than those posed by vents, There are four factors that or coffee from time to time as their respiratory
stomach. Ginger helps decreases inflammation, which can help transmission of the coronavirus, Dirty surfaces are more like- provided there is good air circu- likely play a role: how close you get; system needs to be unclogged and free so that
reduce a sore throat. any number of feet is too close. By ly to keep the virus. lation in a room. how long you are near the person; the Corona Virus does not affect them.
Garlic: Garlic helps and prevents the severity of illness like cutting out all but essential in-per- No, whether a surface looks Dog or cat cannot join me in whether that person projects viral
the flu and common cold. Garlic contains antioxidants that sup- son interactions, we can help flat- dirty or clean is irrelevant. If an quarantine. droplets on you; and how much you CWTfaXcTaXb6TTcP:d\P]P?a^_aXTc^a
port the body’s protective mechanisms against oxidative dam- ten the curve, they say, keeping the infected person sneezed and a Professor Whittaker, who has touch your face. ?aX\T7TP[cWBd__^ac
age. Garlic can fight infectious diseases especially for the elder-

;UU`Q^hYUdiQdRQi
ly or people with dysfunctional immune systems.
Lemon: Lemon is a powerful source of vitamin c that helps
build up the immune system. Vitamin C helps in the produc- 'DGL.D.HKQD
tion of white blood cells and the key to fighting infections. These are testing times. There
Spinach: Spinach is packed with abundant nutrients which
help build the immune system. It is packed with anti-oxidants is need to keep oneself healthy
including Vitamin C and Vitamin E which increase the infec-
tion-fighting ability of our immune system.
and strong to keep infections
away. ROSHNI DEVI tells 7KHUHLVDIHDUS\FKRVLVGXHWR&29,'$5&+$1$-<27,
VSHDNVZLWKGRFWRUVZKRVD\WKHUHLVQRQHHGIRUSDQLF
Sweet potatoes: Sweet potatoes are not just great in taste but
also bundled with immunity boosting vitamins. It comes with you how some home remedies
our daily requirement of 30 per cent of Vitamin C and 120 per can help to fight viral
cent of the daily value of Vitamin A. They are fat and choles- orty-year-old Sunandita Dasgupta, a uncertainty. So far COVID-19 has infect- abandonment and being neglected. This
terol free with all the vitamins along with healthy portion of fibre.
and flu
here is panic and right- in digestion, it has anti-oxidant
F Government servant in Delhi, has
been freaking out about the novel coron-
ed over 2,22,000 people and claimed
more than 13,000 lives.
can make an already challenging situation
far more difficult for the elderly people,
6800(5&22/(56
2>2>=DC F0C4A) Coconut
T ly so since we are not fol-
lowing the Government’
advisory of social distancing.
properties as well. Take atea-
spoon of ginger juice, add
honey and luke warm water.
avirus (COVID-19) since last few days. “I
have Early Onset Parkinson’s Disease
which makes me prone to anxiety, but it
Experts say that generally, the cause of
a medical condition isn’t relevant, what
matters is the condition itself. It’s likely that
particularly for those who have co-mor-
bidity conditions, are victims of depression
or other mental health problems.
fore it helps in aiding digestion. There is also fear and anxiety Drink this two-three times a is manageable. However, in the last few most people won’t require doctor’s help However, there are ways to tackle the
water is not only a tasty It is also rich in electrolytes and the minute we get a cold or flu. day to soothe a soar throat. days it was going out of control, affecting under these circumstances; but those rise in panic accompanying COVID-19,
alternative to water but is help keep the blood pressure One has to realise that Turmeric is my daily activities and worsening my phys- who are mentally finding tough to deal the disease caused by the novel coron-
also packed with many under control. not every flu, cough found in all ical condition. Moreover, I was feeling ner- with the situation because of stress, then avirus. For instance, says Dr Smitha
health benefits. It also help in achieving that and cold is kitchens. It has vous with the flood of information on all they must seek professional help like Pande, Professor of Psychiatry at Dr RML
This perfect thirst picture perfect skin by keep- COVID-19 anti-inflam- media platforms,” she says. Sunandita did. hospital, Delhi, one should take break from
quencher aids in ing it moisturised and and the m at o r y, It started with panic and before deep- Dr RC Jiloha, Professor of Psychiatry, watching TV, reading or listening to news
weight loss. It sup- hydrated. same antiviral, er anxiety set in, she decided to take pro- Hamdard Institute of Medical sciences & items, including social media. “Go for the
presses the appetite can be a n d fessional help. Research, Delhi opines that pandemics are facts. But don’t overdo it. Eat healthy food,
and makes you feel treat- antibacter- “I sought help of a counsellor who sug- not just a medical phenomenon. They maintain regular routine and try to do
full because of its ed by ial proper- gested a few methods to control my affect individuals and society on many lev- what you like or planning to do for a long
rich nature. taking ties. Haldi thoughts. Now, I am taking recourse to els, causing disruptions such as panic and time but were not getting time. Talk to peo-
In the scorching sum- a few simple has cur- yoga, progressive muscle relaxation and stress. As concerns over the perceived ple you trust about your concerns and feel-
mer heat, it helps keep ingredients cumin is other such techniques to reduce anxiety,” threat grow, people may start to collect ings.”
the body hydrated at all found in our and is best she says adding that she’s much settled now. (and hoard) masks and other medical sup- She asserts that meditation and yoga
times. In wake of recent kitchen. absorbed in the Sunandita’s is not the lone case of fear plies. This is often followed by anxiety- can help people come out of such negative
coronavirus outbreak, Lemon is full of blood stream when psychosis amidst the coronavirus scare in related behaviours, sleep disturbances, thoughts in this crucial time. She cautions
when certain doctors are Vitamin C. Cut three-four taken with black pep- India. With cities after cities under and overall lower perceived state of health. people not to take any anti-depressant
suggesting to keep the slices of lemon and pour boil- per. Add a teaspoon of turmer- unprecedented lockdown, and a major part Individuals with mental illness may be par- medicines without doctors’ recommenda-
body as hydrated as pos- ing water in a cup. Sip this. it ic and one-eighth teaspoon of of the earth’s population being in self-iso- ticularly vulnerable to the effects of wide- tions.
sible, coconut water makes is not only boost immunity, it black pepper in any drink of lation, whether with families or individ- spread panic and threat. “Those already on medication, should
for a good option. can also prevent normal cough your choice like orange juice. ually, health professionals feel that a large He says, social distancing and self- continue taking medicine as situations will
The fibre content in and cold. One can also add warm water number of people can go through mental quarantine, especially for the children and certainly improve with the passage of time,”
coconut water is high and there- Ginger not only has helps and drink it. health issues, mainly caused by fear and elderly may bring a feeling of ostracism, she tells you.
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SOCIAL STARS IN TIME OF CORONA

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UaXT]S[h[^ePQ[T aximum City”, “The City maintain social distancing. reading a book peacefully in a can- the clock to eradicate COVID-19 been risking their lives, so we
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b_XaXccWPccWT
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M That Never Sleeps” are
some of the descriptions
that Mumbai attracts. In popular
DEEPIKA’s PRODUCTIVITY
EPISODES
dle-lit study room and the other
one of the opposite end of the
room, where she can be seen using
from India.

RANVEER’s “OUT OF QUAR-

have to be at home to stay healthy.
Suriya then quoted a few words
from Valluvar’s classic Tamil
]TeTabTT] imagination, the metro is synony- Bollywood actor Deepika her phone while sitting on a sofa ANTINE” LOOK Language text, The Thirukkural,
mous with the film industry which, Padukone is utilising her time at chair. Bollywood’s livewire star which says, “Anjuvathu anjamai
QTU^aT5a^\P by default, also gets imbued with home productively in a time of Her next post was a cheeky Ranveer Singh shared his “out of pethamai (It is foolish to say no to
R^]RT_c[TeT[ the qualities of the city. But with COVID-19 pandemic. She took to selfie with a bookshelf. She can be quarantine” look. In a photograph fear).”
XcbT[UXcfPb both being intertwined, it is not sur- social media and shared a photo- seen with a French dictionary by that he posted of himself on
d]X`dT8fPb prising that with the shutdown in graph of her wardrobe and said that Collins Robert among others and Instagram, the actor carried dread- SIDHARTH COOKS PRAWNS
_[TPbTSc^bTT place due to the Coronavirus or she is busy cleaning it. “Productivity wrote dreaming of everybody’s locks and had an intense look. He Actor Sidharth Malhotra is
cWTaTPRcX^]bc^ COVID-19 pandemic, Bollywood in the time of COVID-19!? #clean- favourite junk, “I just love French captioned it, “Me coming out of trying his hands at something new
sits at home — quarantined and ing #wardrobe,” she captioned it. fries.” quarantine.” — cooking prawns. Sidharth shared
cWTUX[\± ongoing productions have come Post this, it was time for some Kareena and Saif Ali Khan a video on Twitter in which we can
to an untimely and infinite halt. “self love” for the actor. A photo- know how to keep Taimur enter- AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE BY see him cooking. He captions it,
However, the people who pop- graph in which she was seen pos- tained while abiding by Janata SURIYA “Well, it’s never too late to try some-
9!:
,
( ulate the industry are as tensile as ing with a face roller popped up Curfew on Sunday, and staying Tamil actor Suriya also took to thing new! Here’s #MyAttempt at
-1
 some of the characters that they next on her account. “Season 1: indoors in the wake of coronavirus social media to explain to fans the cooking butter garlic prawns for the
portray on screen. So when the Episode 2, Productivity in the time outbreak. In Kareena’s latest post, importance and necessity of social first time, which surprisingly
2 

 ; stars can’t step out of their homes of COVID-19! #selflove #selfcare,” she shared a few photographs in distancing. In a brief video, the turned out pretty well.”
:( to shoot another blockbuster, what she wrote. which we can see Saif and Taimur actor talked about how the
0 

- do they do? They’ve fallen back on
technology to catch up. And thanks
She later posted her third pro-
ductivity episode where she can be image of herself which was cap-
planting saplings in their balcony.
The father-son duo is dressed in
Coronavirus is spreading faster
than we thought and we can spread
SOURCES OF ENTERTAIN-
MENT
 4
 ( to social media we also get a seen drinking fruit juice in her tioned, “Stay home and take self- white kurta-pyjama. “My boys awareness about it. Referencing to When you were closeted with

-
 
 glimpse into how they are going nightwear. ies (be)cause a little vanity never doing their bit,” Kareena captioned the Jallikattu and Marina protests, your cousins and friends in a
about keeping social distance at hurt anybody.” the photos. The actor also urged he asked people to stay indoors and room or during a long train jour-
0
(
2 0
1( their respective homes. ALIA’s “ME TIME” people to “make the world a bet- take part in this war against ney, Antakshari, the quintessential

  - 0
 Actor Alia Bhatt took to KAREENA ENJOYING HER ter place” and “play their part”. “Stay Corona. He also said that the Indian past time came to the res-
12 0

PRIYANKA-NICK’s SOCIAL Instagram to share various pictures NEWLY-JOINED INSTAGRAM Home...Stay Safe. #JanataCurfew,” death toll in Italy is higher than in cue. Bollywood has taken to it a leaf
MEDIA MUSH of how staying at home at this time Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, she added. China because of the ignorance of out of that book but tweaked it to

6! Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas, is important and can be utilised for who recently made her debut on people living outside. The actor present times. Actors Aparshakti
 -0(2( along with her husband Nick, completing important chores. One Instagram, said that there could BOLLYWOOD CLAPS FOR insisted that we should follow the Khurrana, Parineeti Chopra,
posted a mushy picture on social of them was reading a book, which have been no better timing than COVID-19 WARRIORS precautions such as keeping safe Nupur Sanon, Bhumi Pednekar,
(1
1  media while emphasising on the she captioned, “stay home and this as she is able utilise her time Bollywood biggies like distance from one another and and singers Vishal Dadlani,

-1 -(1
 fact that self-isolation is the need finish a book.” Alia was reading a to the maximum on social media. Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay washing hands, so that India does- Harshdeep Kaur, Jonita Gandhi,
of the hour. The actress can be book on musician Nitin Sawhney. She had earlier shared a Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya n’t become another Italy. Armaan Malik and Aditya Narain
4 0 01 seen sleeping with her head on With the post, she urged her fans glimpse of what the couple’s week Rai Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Varun He also explained that when a are some who have posted videos


 2 0( Nick’s lap. Their pet dog is sitting to finish the book they have been ahead would look like. Kareena Dhawan, Karan Johar, Kiara person, who carries the virus, trav- of themselves singing song taking
-
, 6< and relaxing next to the couple. wanting to for a long time. revealed what the couple would do Advani and Hema Malini were els by train or goes to a public event off from the last alphabet of the
She captioned the photo, “Stay at She later posted an image of during their self-isolation period: seen participating in PM Narendra instead of isolating himself, he pass- singer who had tagged them where
=>

?
  home.” On the other hand, Nick herself looking at the sunset. “Looks like he is ‘booked’ for the Modi’s Janata Curfew ‘taali bajao’ es the virus to everyone around, they are playing
shared a video in which the two Utilising the quarantine time to the week... While I Instagram.” She also or clapping initiative to pay tribute and they suffer. He added that doc- #QuarantineAntakshari.
urged people to stay at home and maximum, she also posted an shared two photos — one of Saif to all those who are working round tors, government officials have °FXcWX]_dcbUa^\0VT]RXTb
CWT\P]QTWX]S
0eT]VTab)4]SVP\T

CWT_d[bT^U1T]VP[
7^[[hf^^SSXaTRc^a hotography is perhaps the only ulously documented by me,” he
9^TAdbb^aTRT]c[h P art form that captures the pre-
sent and seals it forever in history.
says.
“The water line forms an inte-
_aPXbTSPRc^a Travel photographer Sanjay Das has gral part of Bengal with its many
B0;<0=:70= chosen to lay particular emphasis rivers, Ganga delta and Bay of
9^TX]P]X]cTa on the visual storytelling of differ- @X_d_WbQ`XUbC1>:1I41CT_Se]U^dcdXU Bengal. The Hooghly, the lifeline of
eXTffPbcP[ZX]V ent parts of India since more than CdQdUQ^TYdc]ibYQTbU`bUcU^dQdY_^cY^Se\debU millions of people who live along
PQ^dc8]SXP]RX]T\P two decades. It has always been an its bank, dramatically changes the
fWT]WTbPXS\P]h effort to discover the known and Qbd\Q^TcSQ`UcQ^T]_bU2i1IEC89 C81B=1 landscape, with wonderful lush
unknown facets about this country, green fertile flood plains of the
R^\_[X\T]cPahcWX]VbPQ^dc he says. However, to do this, one golden Bengal. I have captured
BP[\P] needs to walk off the beaten track many moments of this fascinating
CP[ZX]VPQ^dccWTPRc^a³b which the photographer has done. river that flows into the Bay of
UX[\3PQP]VV9^TbPXS°7T³b His objective is to create an imagery Bengal from the Himalayas where
VaTPc8[^eTcWPcUX[\8cWPbV^c that tells a story in texture, and in it is alive with people bathing on its
VaTPcT]TaVh8[^eTcWTfXc light and shadow to form a unique banks, pounding their clothes on
blend, which is spiritually as well as flat rocks to launder them, fishing
QTWX]ScWTPRcX^]bT`dT]RTb mentally rewarding. from boats, towing passengers
BP[\P]³b_TaU^a\P]RTXbWX[PaX Bengal has deeply inspired him across or swimming,” adds Das.
^dbP]ST]cTacPX]X]VP]Sh^d time and again. For almost nine He feels that Kolkata is, indeed,
Z]^fWT³b\PV]TcXR^]bRaTT]± years now, a unique blend of past and the

8QSDFNLQJFKRFRODWH
since his first throbbing vitality of a metropolis of
visit, he keeps teeming millions. “The city, with its
going back to centuries-old heritage buildings, is
" 
0
DWKRPHULVN\
the region. brimming with life and looks like

4 ( Taking local
boats and ani-
mal carts to
6P\T>UCWa^]TbbcPaB>?784
CDA=4AWPbb[P\\TSCWT0]c
reach
nooks and
the
<P]0]SCWTFPb_bcPa crevices of the
4eP]VT[X]T;X[[h P]S^cWTa_T^_[T f a s c i n at i ng
land that
fW^PaT]^ccPZX]VcWTXSTP^U holds many
b^RXP[SXbcP]RX]VbTaX^db[hX]cWT surprises, he says that he always
cX\T^U2^a^]PeXadb^dc prefers to travel by road. Be it land-
QaTPZ scapes, water, people, dialects,
°BcPhX]bXSTS^]c architecture, interiors, crafts, folk
paintings, cuisine, textiles or festi-
QTbcd_XSTeT]XUh^d vals — Bengal is one place where
R^d]ch^daUaTTS^\ culture is a way of life.
^eTa¯8S^]c His photographic journey of
Z]^ffWPcXbXc the State is an endeavour to bring
¯h^daWTP[cW± forth the ‘spirit of Bengal’ found in
the blend of its land, people, culture
Cda]TabPXSSda and heritage. “It is mesmerising
X]VP]8]bcPVaP\;XeT with its long history, cultural lega-
eXST^ cy and ancient architectural sites
8cbTT\TScWPc and above all, its amiable people
Cda]TafPbaTUTa and natural beauty. Every place I
have visited is a witness to how the
aX]Vc^PR^]ca^ locals organically weave their spir-
eTabXP[8]bcPVaP\ itual practices within their every-
_^bccWPc;X[[h day activities. The people, their life,
\PSTPUTf occupation, skills, art and craft,
tribes, festivals, fairs and rituals,
SPhbTPa[XTa depict the lyrical quality of life, spir-
X]fWXRW;X[[h it and the pulse of Bengal,” he says.
WPSbPXSbWT The state was the richest part
eP[dTbWTa of Medieval India and has a long
UaTTS^\\^aTcWP]cWTbPUTch tradition of popular literature,
music and drama largely based on
\TPbdaTbP]SXb^[PcX^]cWPcWPeT Bengali folklore and Hindu epics
QTT]bdVVTbcTSc^UXVWccWTeXadb and Puranas. He tells us, “Rural
Bengal takes the lead in keeping the
old customs and the associated song
and dance forms alive in the mod-
ern era. The folk songs and dances
deal with a variety of themes.
While some are associated with reli-
gion, prayers, festivals and rituals,
others talk about society at large,
and yet others bring religious epics
to life.”
His focus as a photographer is
to search and document unique
images that present the State as a
pulsating tapestry of life, interwo-
ven together with different ethnic-
ity, culture, religion, languages and
a diverse landscape — flanked by
the Himalayas in the North, the
lush Gangetic plains in the central
part and the deltas and beaches in
the South before the myriad trib-
utaries and distributaries of Ganga
finally drain into the Bay of Bengal
forming a unique biosphere, the
Sunderbans.
“Many of my images have
depicted how devotion and spiritu-
ality exist as a way of life in Bengal,
in its lanes and by-lanes, through
its sublime culture, inherently reli-
gious people and rituals that are in
harmony with nature. Be it the dif-
ferent religions all-assimilating into
one or the lovely cultural events that
seem to make up the glorious state
that it is. The images of Bengal’s
Architectural influences from dif-
ferent eras are seen in its various
temples, mosques, churches,
rajbaris (home of the aristocratic
people in the olden times) metic-
a medley of colours and sounds.
Roads are thickly populated with
yellow taxis, the rickshaw-pullers,
trams, buses, cars, cycles and peo-
ple. Here, life never comes to a
standstill, except for the noisy
impasse created by the traffic jams,”
Das tells us.
The photographs have been
taken in monochrome as he feels
that it gives them a nostalgic feel of
the yesteryears. However, in a span
of nine years, “during the time I was
doing my survey and research on
Bengal, I have witnessed the
changes the State has undergone,”
he says and adds, “In a few years,
many of these facets will be reduced
to dust, and with that we lose an
essential part of our pristine glory.
Therefore, as a photographer, who
wants to keep alive the stories and
unique elements for posterity, it is
my effort to preserve through visu-
al archiving the remains of a glori-
ous past and components of our
plush ethnicity. As much as we
hope not, this may cease to exist in
the years to come. And that is when
these archives may help ameliorate
the memories of those genera-
tions, who may never get to see
these images and memories again.
(Presented by Gallery Art
Exposure and curated by Ina Puri,
the exhibition, Aparajito — The
Unvanquished, has been put on hold
due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It
shall be rescheduled and the gallery
will notify the new updates.)
aily tasks such as cut-
D ting, tearing or twisting
open plastic bottles, choco-
late packaging and contain-
ers at home also generate
small amounts of microplas-
tics — pieces of plastic that
pollute the environment and
may risk humans, warn
researchers.
Microplastics are gener-
ally believed to originate
directly from industry. For
example, as cosmetic exfoli-
ates, or indirectly from the
breakdown of larger plastic
items over time.
Researchers at the
University of Newcastle in
Australia monitored the gen-
eration of microplastics dur-
ing the tearing open of
chocolate packaging, cut-
ting of sealing tapes and
opening of plastic bottle
caps.
The generation of
microplastics during these
processes was confirmed
using chemical tests and
microscopy, said the study
published in the journal
Scientific Reports.
The researchers found
that different shapes and
sizes of microplastics were
generated during tearing or
cutting. These included
fibres, fragments or triangles,
ranging from nanometres
to millimetres in size.
Fragments and fibres were
generated most often.
They estimated that 10
to 30 nanograms (0.00001-
0.00003 milligrams) of
microplastics may be gener-
ated per 300 centimetres of
plastic during cutting or
twisting, depending on the
opening approach and con-
ditions of the plastic, such as
stiffness, thickness or densi-
ty. “Everyday activities such
as opening plastic bags and
bottles could be additional
sources of small quantities of
microplastics,” the
researchers noted.
However, their risk, pos-
sible toxicity and how they
may be ingested are not yet
resolved and further research
into human exposure is
needed, the study said.
The finding sends an
important warning that we
must be careful when open-
ing plastic packaging, if we
are concerned about
microplastics and care about
reducing microplastics con-
tamination.
°80=B
  !"#!$!$
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>[h\_XR_^bc_^]T\T]c\PhQT³X]TeXcPQ[T´)9P_P]´b?<
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05?Q C>:H>
ostponing the Olympics
P over the coronavirus pan-
demic may become
“inevitable”, Japan’s prime min-
ister conceded on Monday, after
the International Olympic
Committee said a delay was
being considered as pressure
grows from athletes and sports
bodies.
The comments from Shinzo
Abe were his first acknowledge-
ment that the 2020 Games may
not open as scheduled on July
24.
For weeks, Japan and
Olympic officials have held the
line that preparations are mov-
ing ahead to hold the Games as
scheduled, but there has been
increasing pressure from sports
federations and athletes whose
training has been thrown into
turmoil.
On Monday, Abe told par-
liament that Japan was still
committed to hosting a “com-
plete” Games, but added: “If that
becomes difficult, in light of
considering athletes first, it may
become inevitable that we make
a decision to postpone.”
“Cancellation is not an
option,” Abe said, echoing com-
ments from IOC chief Thomas
Bach, who ruled out scrapping
the Games, saying it “would not
solve any problem and would
help nobody”.
The IOC has also shifted its
position on the Games, issuing
a statement on Sunday saying it
was stepping up planning for
different scenarios, including
postponement.
It said it would hold
“detailed discussions” on the
“worldwide health situation and
its impact on the Olympic
Games, including the scenario
of postponement”. A decision
should come “within the next
four weeks”, the body added.
“Human lives take prece-
dence over everything, includ-
ing the staging of the Games,”
Bach wrote in an open letter to
athletes.
<=µcZXYeWZe¶W`c?`&Z_@5:d
?C8Q <D<108
ormer India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar says
F young batsman K L Rahul is most suitable for
the number five position in the batting order in
the ODIs but suggested that the team manage-
ment must look for batsmen like Suresh Raina and
Yuvraj Singh.
KL Rahul had batted in the middle-order in
the home ODIs against Australia in January ear-
lier this year with success. He later continued his
fine form in the limited-overs series in New
Zealand. Of late, the Karnataka player has also
been keeping wickets in the 50-over games.
Manjrekar, who played 37 tests and 74 ODIs,
was responding to questions from fans after he
asked them “talk cricket” with him on his
Twitter page.
He was asked whether India should stick
with Rahul at number five in ODIs and does
he find other batsmen other than Rahul to be
GY\\gQYdgQdSXV_bQ]_^dX
RUV_bUQ^iTUSYcY_^*9?1
?C8Q =4F34;78
he Indian Olympic
T Association on
Monday said it will “wait
and watch” for at least a
month before taking any
call on Tokyo Olympics
participation.
“Being the head of
IOA, the health and well
being of our athletes and
officials are of prime con-
cern to me,” IOA President
Narinder Batra said.
“Whatever decisions
the IOA takes will be for
the welfare of our athletes.
But right now we are just
waiting and monitoring
the situation on a daily
basis.
“I assure the people
that we won’t let anyone
down and our decisions
will be in the best interest
of our athletes,” he added.
IOA Secretary General
Rajeev Mehta put a time-
line to this wait and watch
approach, saying it would
be at least a month before
anything is decided.
“We will wait and
watch for 4 to 5 weeks and
then come to any decision
after consultation with the
International Olympic
Committee and the sports
ministry,” Mehta said.
“The situation is not
that bad in our country as
compared to other
nations,” he added.
When contacted and
But the IOC warned that
the logistics of postponing the
Games were extremely compli-
cated, with venues potentially
unavailable, millions of hotel
nights already booked and a
;P;XVPbdb_T]STSX]STUX]XcT[h
05?Q <03A83
rofessional football in
P Spain will remain sus-
pended until further
notice to limit the
spread of coronavirus,
La Liga and the
Spanish Football
Federation (RFEF)
announced
Monday.
La Liga and the
RFEF said matches
=^5 aPRTd]cX[\XS9d]T ! 2
0\P]bcP]SbX]Ua^]c^UPR^d]cS^f]SXb_[PhU^acWTC^Zh^!!>[h\_XRbP]S
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:@4d`fXYefaUReV`_YVR]eY
acVaRcReZ`_d`W@]j^aZTS`f_UReY]VeVd
?C8Q =4F34;78
I ndian Olympic Association
President Narinder Batra on
Monday said the IOC has
asked all members to furnish
updates on health and prepa-
rations of their Olympic-
bound athletes this week as it
deliberates on the fate of the
Tokyo Games.
The International Olympic
Committee (IOC), has asked
National Olympic Committees
(NOCs) to detail the impact of
the coronavirus crisis on ath-
asked if India is also contem-
plating acting on the lines of
Canada, Sports Secretary
Radhey Shyam Julaniya said the
ministry is not in consultation
with anyone at the moment.
“Your question is hypothet-
packed international sports cal-
endar.
“These are just a few of
many, many more challenges.”
The IOC is responsible for
making any final decision on the
in the top two divisions will
only resume when the
Spanish government decide
there is no longer any
health risk.
on
would restart this
weekend, with the crisis
continuing to escalate.
0?
0?
letes’ preparation.
“I am personally in touch
on regular and continuous
basis with Sports Ministry,
Sports Authority of India, IOC,
NSFs, with athletes through
the NSFs and all stake holders
regarding the 2020 Olympics
and preparations for
Olympics,” Batra said.
“All NOCs have to get
back to IOC this week on
their preparations and the
health of athletes in their
respective countries,” he
added.
ical and the govt cannot react
to hypothetical questions,” he
said.
“We are not in consultation
with anyone right now. The
ministry can’t keep giving advi-
sories,” Julaniya added.
Games, and has come under
increasing pressure as the coro-
navirus crisis grows.
The idea of holding the
Games on schedule has drawn
a swelling chorus of objections.
A joint statement from La
Liga and the RFEF read: “The
Monitoring Commission
established by the current
RFEF-La Liga Coordination
Fixtures had pre- Agreement agrees the suspen-
viously been sus- sion of professional football
pended for two competitions until the author-
weeks from March ities of the Government of
12 but there was no Spain and the General
expectation they Administration of the State
consider they can be resumed
without creating any health
risk.”

$XVWHOOVDWKOHWHVWR
SUHSDUHIRU
2P]PSPdaVTbC^Zh^6P\Tb
ST[Phf^]³cbT]ScTP\X]9d[h
05?Q <>=CA40; more important than the
health and safety of our athletes
anadian Olympic offi- and the world community,” the
0>224><Pcc2Paa^[[PSSaTbb\TSXP
05?Q BH3=4H
/0DB>[h\_XRCTP\CfXccTa
C cials on Sunday urged
postponement of the
Tokyo Games, saying that in
COC and CPC said.
“This is not solely about
athlete health — it is about
ustralian Olympic officials said on Monday “it was clear” view of the coronavirus pan- public health,” their statement
A the Tokyo Games could not go ahead as scheduled this
year and told its athletes to instead prepare for the event in
demic they won’t send a team
in the summer of 2020.
added. “With COVID-19 and
the associated risks, it is not
2021. “The Canadian Olympic safe for our athletes, and the
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) convened a Committee (COC) and health and safety of their fam-
board meeting on Monday and unanimously decided a Games Canadian Paralympic ilies and the broader Canadian
starting in July was not possible given the uncertainty around Committee (CPC), backed by community for athletes to
the pandemic. their Athletes’ Commissions, continue training towards
“It’s clear the Games can’t be held in July,” Australian chef National Sports Organizations these Games.
de mission Ian Chesterman said. and the Government of “In fact, it runs counter to
“Our athletes have been magnificent in their positive atti- Canada, have made the diffi- the public health advice which
tude to training and preparing, but the stress and uncertain- cult decision to not send we urge all Canadians to fol-
ty has been extremely challenging for them.” Canadian teams to the low.”
AOC chief executive Matt Carroll said athletes needed Olympic and Paralympic Bach said the IOC was
certainty, and they must also prioritise their health and that Games in the summer of considering “different scenar-
of their families.
The board meeting decided an Australian team “could not
be assembled in the changing circumstances at home and
2020,” the COC said in a state-
ment that ratchets up the pres-
sure on the International
ios,” adding that complete can-
cellation of the games was not
among them.
abroad” and they should now plan for an Olympics in the Olympic Committee to post- “We are thankful to the
northern hemisphere summer next year. pone the Games scheduled to IOC for its assurance that it will
“We have athletes based overseas, training at central loca- start on July 24. not be cancelling the Tokyo
tions around Australia as teams and managing their own pro- IOC president Thomas 2020 Games and appreciative
grammes. With travel and other restrictions this becomes an
untenable situation,” he said.
Bach said a decision on when
the Games would take place
that it understands the impor-
tance of accelerating its deci-
“The IOC had adopted the key principles of putting ath- would be made “within the sion-making regarding a pos-
lete health first and ensuring it acted in their best interests next four weeks.” sible postponement,” the
and the interests of sport. This decision reflects those prin- Canadian Olympic and Canadian statement said.
ciples. Paralympic authorities, howev- “We also applaud the IOC
“We are now in a position where we can plan with greater er, said they wouldn’t wait for acknowledging that safe-
certainty.” that long, urging the IOC to guarding the health and well-
Chesterman said postponing the Games until next year postpone the Games for one ness of nations.
“will allow athletes from around the world to properly pre- year while offering “our full “We remain hopeful that
pare with the hope the coronavirus crisis will be under con- support in helping navigate all the IOC and IPC will agree
trol”. the complexities that resched- with the decision to postpone
“We are aware that for many such a postponement will uling the Games will bring. the Games as a part of our col-
present a range of new issues. But when the world does come “While we recognize the lective responsibility to protect
together at the Tokyo Olympic Games they can be a true cel-
ebration of sport and humanity,” he said.
inherent complexities around
a postponement, nothing is
our communities and work to
contain the spread of the virus.”
6NLQQHUDWWDFNV,2&FKLHI
5PcT^U>[h\_XRc^aRW
aT[PhWP]VbX]QP[P]RT 05?Q ;>=3>=
05?Q C>:H>
ritish track cyclist Callum Skinner has
T he Olympic torch relay,
due to begin on Thursday
B labelled International Olympic Committee
president Thomas Bach “arrogant” and “stub-
from a symbolic site in born” over the organisation’s approach to the
Fukushima, will proceed as coronavirus pandemic.
scheduled but organisers said Skinner, who won Gold and Silver medals
they would re-assess in the at the 2016 Olympics and is a member of the
coming days given the “wors- British Olympic Association’s (BOA) athletes’
ening” coronavirus situation. commission, was scathing about Bach in a
“The torch relay will start social media post on Monday.
on March 26 in Fukushima, “IOC president Thomas Bach’s stubborn-
the plan has not changed,” ness and arrogance has spectacularly failed in
Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro this instance and he has weakened the
Muto told Olympic movement,” Skinner wrote on
reporters. Twitter. going to be postponed anyway!!!"
“The situ- “This isn’t the first time he has put his own Meanwhile a spokesman for Boris Johnson,
ation is get- motives above the athletes and the move- the British Prime Minister, urged the IOC to
ting worse and ment.” resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
worse,” admit- British sprint star Dina Asher-Smith, who “Athletes are facing significant uncertain-
ted Muto, but won the 200 metres world title last year, said ty in the current environment... We want the
he added: “For the IOC’s delay created further uncertainty for International Olympic Committee to make a
now, the deci- competitors. definitive decision soon, to bring clarity to all
sion made one “So wait... Does this mean that athletes of those involved,” the spokesman said.
week ago (to pro- face up to another FOUR weeks of finding “The sports minister, Nigel Huddleston,
ceed as planned) ways to fit in training — whilst potentially set out yesterday (Sunday) that the IOC should
is still appropri- putting ourselves, coaches, support staff and be seriously considering postponing the
ate.” loved ones at risk just to find out they were games.”
058R^]UXa\b_^bc_^]T\T]c^U5TS2d_2bWX_b
?C8Q =4F34;78 Prix series, was reported on which was to serve as a better.
Thursday and AFI made qualifying event of the “As of now, we have not
T he Athletics Federation
of India (AFI) on
the official announcement
on Monday.
Tokyo Olympics, was
scheduled to be held from
discussed what will be the
new dates for Indian Grand
Monday officially
announced the postpone-
“The competition
committee of AFI on
April 10-13 at NIS Patiala.
AFI President Adille
Prix competitions and
Federation Cup.”
ment of the Federation Monday decided to post- Sumariwalla said, “Looking Earlier, AFI had to
Cup National Senior pone the 24th Federation at the present situation in postpone its season-open-
Championships to be held Cup National Senior the country and around the er Indian Grand Prix
next month in view of the Athletics Championships world, hosting any compe- series which was sched-
COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 due to the outbreak of tition is difficult. Health uled to be held at three dif-
The postponement of coronavirus (COVID-19) and safety of everyone ferent venues — Patiala
the championships, as well pandemic,” the AFI said in comes first and we can (March 20), Sangrur
as the cancellation of sea- a release. resume the competitions (March 25) and New Delhi
son-opening Indian Grand The Federation Cup, once things start getting (March 29).

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in that position. 10:D) The Azerbaijan Grand Prix 64=4E0) The future of football FIFA president said. “Let’s all are already too few dates in the
To which, Manjrekar, also a was postponed on Monday because could be fewer games and fewer together save football from a cri- FIFA-managed calendar to com-
known commentator, tweeted, of the coronavirus outbreak, delay- top competitions to help avoid a sis that risks becoming irre- plete the scheduled qualification
“For the moment he is the right ing the start of the Formula One financial crisis, FIFA president versible.” paths for the 2022 World Cup in
fit. But we must keep looking for season until the middle of June Gianni Infantino said in a news- Infantino said different for- Qatar.
a Raina and Yuvi kind of bats- at the earliest. paper interview published on mats could be an answer, with The pressure now on football
man when Rahul eventually The first eight races of the Monday. “fewer, but more interesting tour- stakeholders — many with con-
moves to the top.” 2020 season have now been either would be announced for later in the With football around the naments. Maybe fewer squads, but flicting interests — is likely to force
Yuvraj, who played 304 postponed or canceled. season. world in near-total shutdown and more balance. Fewer, but more a debate on the squeezed sched-
ODIs for India, scored 8,701 The race at the Baku City F1 races have been staged in no end in sight because of the competitive, matches to safeguard ule that the pandemic has exposed.
runs while Raina amassed 5,615 Circuit was scheduled for June 7 but Azerbaijan since 2017. coronavirus pandemic, Infantino the health of the players.” Some influential clubs in
runs from 226 ODIs. has been called off after discussions The next race scheduled after said the sport risked going into Before the pandemic, Europe are pushing to get more
The former Mumbai bats- between governing body FIA and Azerbaijan is in Canada on June 14. recession. Infantino added to the congested guaranteed games in a bigger
man was also asked who he the local government. The season is scheduled to end “Maybe we can reform world football calendar by expanding the Champions League, and 20-team
thinks was the right choice for “This comes as a direct result of with the Abu Dhabi GP on Nov 29, football by taking a step back,” World Cup from 32 to 48 teams for South American football body top leagues could be under pres-
number four and all- the ongoing global COVID-19 pan- but could be extended to fit some Infantino said in the interview the 2026 edition, and by trying to CONMEBOL postponed their sure to make cuts. Those include
rounder’s spot in the T20 demic and has been based entirely postponed races in. with Italian daily Gazzetta dello launch a 24-team Club World Cup championships by one year to leagues in England, Spain and Italy.
World Cup to be held in on the expert guidance provided to A total of eight races with 12 Sport published on his 50th birth- next year. 2021. That was to give domestic “It’s not science fiction. Let’s
Australia. Manjrekar picked us by the relevant authorities,” cars must be completed for the day. The inaugural edition of the leagues time to try to finish their discuss it,” Infantino said about the
Shreyas Iyer and Hardik organizers said in a statement. championship to be validated, FIA “There needs to be an evalu- latter tournament in China was seasons. possibility of changing football cal-
Pandya respectively. They said a new race date has said. AP ation of the global impact,” the delayed last week after UEFA and The shutdown means there endars. AP