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Tithi: Thuvithiyai
Star: Mrigashirsham

Remarks on SC/ST: DMK Ladakh standoff with

Rahukalam: CHINESE BUNKERS IN DISPUTED AREAS
4.30 pm to 6 pm
Yamagandam:
12 noon to 1.30 pm

MP arrested, gets bail

PRAYERS
Fajar: 4.25 am
Zohar: 12.11 pm
Asar: 3.27 pm
Maghrib: 6.29 pm
Isha: 7.46 pm
SUNSET TODAY 6.30 PM
G. BABU JAYAKUMAR | DC
CHENNAI, MAY 23
China takes serious turn
SUNRISE TOMORROW 5.42 AM DC CORRESPONDENT
MOONRISE TODAY 6.50 AM
DMK organisation secret-
ary R.S. Bharathi was
NEW DELHI, MAY 23 Indian Army has rushed additional troops
MOONSET TOMORROW 8.01 PM arrested in the small hours The stand-off between the National
of Saturday under the SC Indian and Chinese armies Security
CORONA and ST (prevention of in Ladakh appears to be get- Advisor Ajit
Doval is
C UNT
Atrocities) Act for a speech ting more serious with some
he made on February 15 and reports suggesting that reportedly
let off later in the day after a Chinese troops are making monitoring the
Court in Egmore granted bunkers to prevent Indian movement of
him interim bail. troops from patrolling dis-
CASES DEATHS
The 71-year-old sitting puted areas that both coun- Chinese sol-
diers along
(+6,309) (+142) Rajya Sabha Member has
been filing a series of com-
tries claim as their territo-
ry. The Chinese have been objecting to with top mili-
the construction of road infrastruc- tary
1,31,103 3,868 plaints with the Department
of Vigilance and Anti-
Corruption (DVAC) against
The Indian Army has
rushed additional troops
and National Security
ture by India to connect the area. leadership.

covid19india.org the Chief Minister Edappadi
K Paanisamy, Deputy Chief
STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS Minister O. Panneerselvam
and other AIADMK minis-
(+759) ter. The last complaint he
filed was on Friday evening,
TN: 15,512 103
hours before his arrest from
this house in Nanganallur.
WORLD CONFIRMED CASES
In earlier years, too the
senior leader of DMK had
been a petitioner in many
53,69,065 cases against AIADMK lead-
ers, including former Chief
DEATHS Minister J Jayalalithaa on
the famous TANSI case.
22,24,002 On Saturday morning,
police landed at this house
around 4 am and took him
DMK Rajya Sabha MP R.S. Bharathi comes out after getting interim bail from Egmore
Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Saturday.
cases pending in the Madras
High Court – one of the seek-
ing the quashing of the FIR
filed against him, he pointed
out.
Reacting to the arrest,
DMK President MK Stalin
said that it was done to
divert the attention of the
people from the State gov-
ernment’s failure to control
Advisor Ajit Doval is report-
edly monitoring the move-
ment of Chinese soldiers
along with top military lead-
ership.
The stand-off between
— DC
Chinese and Indian troops
are at two places in Galwan
Maran, Baalu get protection from region and Pangong Tso
which are over 110 kilome-
ters from each other.
HC, not to be arrested till May 29 According to reports, in
Galwan region a large num-
ber of Chinese troops have
DC CORRESPONDENT entered Indian territory at
CHENNAI, MAY 23
The stand-off between Chinese and Indian
troops are at two places in Galwan region and
Pangong Tso which are over 110 kilometers
from each other.
patrolling parties from the also reportedly brought
two sides who usually disen- additional boats to patrol
gage after short face-offs.
The Chinese have been
objecting to the construc-
the Pangong Tso river to
build pressure on the Indian
Army that also has patrol
tion of road infrastructure
by India to connect the area.
boats.
Meanwhile, there are
In Pangong Tso too, the reports that last week
Chinese Army is reported to Chinese troops had detained

The police have been

four locations with heavy
vehicles and are making
bunkers.
be building bunkers in dis-
puted area to stop Indian
troops from patrolling in
Indian soldiers in Ladakh,
which were later on
released. However, Indian
COUNTRIES,
213
AREAS WITH
CASES
into custody despite his giv-
ing in writing to the police
team that he was a diabetic
the spread of Coronavirus
and the cases of corruption
filed against it.
restrained from taking
any ‘coercive steps’ till
May 29 against DMK MPs
This has raised tension in
the area as it is not the usual
confrontation between
areas that India claims to be
its territory.
The Chinese Army has
army denied that any patrol
party was detained by the
Chinese soldiers in Ladakh.
worldometers.info and suffered from hyperten- Condemning the arrest, T.R. Baalu and Dayanidhi Dayanidhi TR Baalu
Ramzan to be sion. Stalin said it was carried Maran, against whom an

State corona count now

Bharathi said police were
celebrated on May 25: taking action against him
over 100 days after he had
out with no respect for the
Court, before which the peti-
tion to quash the FIR was
FIR has been filed under on a charge under the
the Scheduled caste and same SC and ST Act.
Schedule Tribe The charge against

Govt Chief Kazi made the impugned state-

ment while delivering a
pending.
He said the DMK had been
(Prevention of Atrocities) Baalu and Maran relate
Act. to a press meet they held

DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, MAY 23
The Chief Kazi to the Tamil Nadu
Government, Moulvi Mufti Kazi Dr
Salahuddin Mohammed Ayub,
announced in a statement here on
Saturday that the ‘Ramzan Id’ will
be celebrated on Monday, May
25, as the new moon for the
month of ‘Shawwal’ was not sight-
ed on Saturday, May 23.
Nepal’s coronavirus
cases climb to 584
Kathmandu: A total of 36 new
Covid-19 cases have been report-
ed in Nepal, taking the number of
speech at the Anbagam
building in Chennai. He
said he had tendered an
apology to those who were
reportedly offended by the
statement after an issue was
made out of it.
Besides, there were two
CRASHED A-320
working for the welfare of
the SCs and it was childish,
half-baked and a misuse of
official power to arrest
Bharathi and added that
the DMK would not be
cowed down by such police
action. ■ P3
IN CYCLONE-RAVAGED BENGAL
Army deployed for
restoration work
The Madras High Court on May 13 after their
passed the order on meeting with the Chief
Saturday when the two Secretary of the State.
MPs approached it seek- One of the remarks
ing an anticipatory bail made by them is alleged
more than 15K, 103 deaths
D. SEKAR |
after their party to have been derogatory M.R. VENKATESH | DC
● Urging people to
Organisation Secrretary to the Scheduled Caste CHENNAI, MAY 23 wear facial masks,
RS Bharathi was arrested community. ■ P2 mind their distance
In an startling up-climb in and take preventive
Tamil Nadu, the number medicines, Dr
H-1B legislation to of Covid-19 patients who
succumbed crossed the Radhakrishnan said
100-mark on Saturday, as special care was
also being taken to
give priority to five more deaths con-
firmed today took the insulate the 60-plus
State;s death toll due to
from the disease
US-educated the virus to 103.
While 759 new positive
foreign youths
Covid-19 cases
reported today in the
were

State, bringing its total to

all are stable," the minis-
ter tweeted later, in a mes-
sage of renewed hope.
of the outcome of the
Covid-19 containment
steps. At the end of the

PIA plane
coronavirus infected patients in
the country to 584, the health
checked
ministry said on Saturday. Twenty
seven people aged between 16
and 50 years tested positive from
Banke district, while four men ag-
ed between 20 and 27 years we-
March 21
re infected from Baitadi district. Islamabad: The
Pakistan International
COUNTER POINT Airlines (PIA) on
Saturday said the
crashed Airbus A-
320 was checked on
March 21 and it flew
from Muscat to
Lahore a day before
the accident. The
cash-strapped
national flag carrier,
which has been run-
ning into huge finan-
cial losses, issued a
summary detailing
the technical history
of the aircraft, saying
there was “no defect
related to the engine,
landing gear or major
aircraft system”, the
Dawn reported.
■ P7
Kolkata, May 23: The
Army was deployed in
Kolkata and neighbour-
ing districts on Saturday
for restoration of essen-
tial infrastructure and
services in the wake of
the destruction caused
by Cyclone Amphan, a
defence official said.
Five columns of the
Army were deployed in
different parts of the city
and North and South 24
Parganas districts, he
said.
These three parts of the
state reported the maxi-
mum damage due to the
cyclone.
The deployment was
made following a request
by the West Bengal gov-
ernment, according to
the official.
“The Indian Army has
provided three columns
to assist the Kolkata city
administration in the
aftermath of Cyclone
Amphan,” he said.
● “The Indian Army Washington, May 23: A
has provided three bipartisan group of law-
makers have for the first
columns to assist time introduced a legis-
the Kolkata city
administration in the
lation in both the cham-
bers of the US Congress
aftermath of Cyclone proposing major reforms
in the H-1B work visas
Amphan,” a defence
official said
by giving priority to the
best and brightest US-
educated foreign youths,
Army personnel a move that could benefit
equipped with road and Indian students already
tree clearance equipment in the country.
were deployed at The H-1B visa is a non-
Tollygunge, Ballygunge immigrant visa that
and Behala in south allows US companies to
Kolkata, he added. employ foreign workers
Army columns were in speciality occupations
also deployed for restora- that require theoretical
tion work at New Town or technical expertise.
in North 24 Parganas dis- Companies depend on it
trict and at Diamond to hire tens of thousands
Harbour in South 24 of employees each year
Parganas district, he from countries like India
said. and China. As far as the
An Army column has 35 students are concerned,
men, including officers India accounts for the sec-
and junior commis- ond largest number of for-
sioned officers. eign students in the US
— Agencies after China. — PTI
15,512, Chennai city alone
accounted for 624 new pos-
itive cases and returnees
to the state contributed to
49 additional infections on
a single day. Of them, 33
were from Maharashtra,
and five passengers from
Philippines and seven
from London, who initial-
ly tested negative, turned
positive on “exit test”
today, the Health depart-
ment said.
These cold statistics
rolled out even as Tamil
Nadu Health minister Dr
C. Vijayabaskar reviewed
the Covid-19 preventive
measures in Pudukkottai
district along with collec-
tor, Ms. Uma Maheswarai
and other officials. He
even enthused the front-
line staff, interacting with
doctors, staff nurses and
patients via video call at
the Pudukkottai GH, to
drive home key messages
that can keep the virus
infection under control.
"Patients are recovering,
Senior nodal officer for
the Chennai Corporation,
Dr J Radhakrishnan was
doing all the fire-fighting
in the 33-plus most vul-
nerable wards of the
metro, galvanasing some
2,500 field staff, mobilised
by 97 NGOs, for door-to-
door campaign
screening to create more
and
awareness on preventing
the virus spread in all the
1,979 slum settlements in
the city.
Urging people to wear
facial masks, mind their
distance and take preven-
tive medicines, Dr
Radhakrishnan said spe-
cial care was also being
taken to insulate the 60-
plus from the disease.
Concerned by the sud-
den jump in the number
of coronavirus fatalities,
the Chief Secretary, Dr K
Shanmugam on his part
held an emergency meet-
ing with 13 special zonal
officers of the Chennai
corporation to take stock
day, it was another multi-
pronged effort and a con-
certed bid to flatten the
curve.
While 18 persons of a
MNC private factory at
Oragadam near Chennai
tested positive for coron-
avirus today, forcing the
management to shut the
unit for the day, eight
more railway police per-
sonnel got infected, info-
rmed sources said. A 55-
year-old male patient at
Rajiv Gandhi Governme-
nt general hospital slip-
ped out, forcing the aut-
horities to look for him.
CO-MORBIDITIES
HIKE DEATH RATE:
The death details of the
five deceased confirmed
today made a very sorry
reading. They included a
67-year-old male from
Chennai who died in a
private hospital. A dialy-
sis patient already, he
died of 'acute respiratory
distress syndrome' on
May 20. ■ P3

Leopard cubs looking for their mom proves heart-rending
B. RAVICHANDRAN | DC
OOTY, MAY 23
Foresters are taking efforts
to restore three abandoned
leopard cubs which are
hardly three-weeks-old.
The cubs were found in a
private tea garden at
Kozhikarai area near
Ithalar village near here.
A video clip of the cubs
amidst the tea bushes had
gone viral on social media
since Saturday afternoon.
The sight of the cubs des-
perately looking for their
mother has evoked sympa-
thy among netizens and
residents alike.
Assistant conservator of
● A video clip of the
cubs amidst the tea
bushes had gone viral
on social media since
Saturday afternoon
● The sight of the
cubs desperately
looking for their
mother has evoked
sympathy among neti-
zens and residents
alike
forests, Nilgiris forest divi-
sion, Saravanakumar, said
that these cubs were found
abandoned just a week
back, but were re-united
India’s Covid-19
with their mother. Now,
again they were aban-
doned. Hence, foresters in
tally nears 1.3 lakh
Ithalar village limits have New Delhi, May 23: The territories, many of whom
been instructed to trace nationwide tally of Covid-19 have found a large number
the mother leopard and cases neared 1.3 lakh on of new cases among people
unite the cubs with it Saturday with over 6,000 having returned from other
again. new cases getting detected. states in special trains and
“We are unable to com- More than one lakh people buses being run for taking
prehend as to why the have tested positive for the migrant workers and stu-
mother leopard is trying to deadly virus infection and dents to their native places.
abandon the cubs. We are over 3,000 have lost their Sikkim reported its first
hopeful that the mother lives in the past one month Covid-19 case as a 25-year-
would return to the locale itself. old student who recently
soon, to join its cubs,” he The spike in the numbers returned from Delhi tested
added. has been sharp this week positive for the virus, a
The leopard cubs with nearly 5,500 new cases senior official said.
which are found >>> and 160 deaths getting The first case was detected
abandoned at a reported on an average in India on January 30, but
tea garden at Ithalar vil- every day, according to data Sikkim had managed to
lage limits near Ooty. — DC of different states and union stay free of it so far. — PTI
 CITY
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 24 MAY 2020 | COIMBATORE
OTHER STORY
Notice issued
to police
FROM P1
Subsequently the FIR was filed
by the police under Sections
3(1)(u)and 3(1) (v) of the
Scheduled caste and Schedule
Tribe (Prevention of
Attrocities) Act, 1989, which
prompted to move the court.
Senior lawyers, including P
Wilson, N R Elango and A R L
Sundaresan appeared on behalf
of the two MPs through video
conference before Justice M
Nirmal Kumar, who granted
interim status quo on the peti-
tions and also issued notice to
the police.
Chennai returnee tests
positive in Manipur
Imphal: A 26-year-old man, who
returned to Manipur from
Chennai recently by a special
train, tested positive for Covid,
taking the total number of
active cases in the state to 25, an
official said Saturday. The man
from Imphal West district had
been under quarantine since his
return and he was admitted to
Regional Institute of Medical
Sciences here. He is among 1,140
people who returned to the state
by a Shramik special train on
May 13. Samples of others in the
quarantine centre, where the
man was staying, were tested
and they were found negative.
— PTI
3 more test +ve, total
cases in Pondy 25
Puducherry, May 23; Three
more men belonging to periph-
eral villages here tested posi-
tive for the Covid-19 on
Saturday taking the tally to 25
with a woman having been dis-
charged.
Director of Health and
Family Welfare Services S.
Mohan Kumar said in a state-
ment that the total active cases
in the Union Territory was 25
now after the discharge of the
woman patient from the gov-
ernment general hospital in
Karaikal on Friday.
Eleven patients have so far
been discharged from the hos-
pitals in the Union Territory,
Curfew impact with skeletal
staff minimal, says VOC port
M ARULOLI | DC
THOOTHUKUDI, MAY 23
The lockdown impact on the
routine operations at
Thoothukudi VOC Port here
is reported to be very mini-
mal though it operated only
with skeletal staff strength,
as per norms issued by the
ministry of shipping for the
lockdown period.
The cargo volume handled
from February to April this
year is just 0.24 percent lesser
than the same period in 2019,
according to the port's busi-
ness volume records. During
these three months, revenue
earned by the VOC Port
dropped to Rs 134.47 crore
from Rs 158.49 crore the same
period in 2019. The port
administration is said to be
confident to make up the loss
of Rs 24.02 crore in the com-
ing months, as lockdown
relaxation has brought back
the situation to near normal.
The port administration has
adopted stringent anti-corona
measures like onboard
screening of crew from ships
WRITING ON THE WALL
A biker rides past a corona awareness wall painting on Tambaram flyover.
■ Now, family plans low-key Ramzan celebrations
Harrowing tale of city’s
Covid survivor couple
T. SUDHEESH | DC
CHENNAI, MAY 23
Ansar Basha (56), a retired
civil servant, is a devout
Muslim. In his entire life,
he never missed mass
‘azaan’ performed at the
Masjid on holy Ramzan.
Today, his practice stands
breached due to the lock-
down. He, as a religious
person, does not feel
depressed, because he is
now able to teach himself
to put mankind above reli-
gious priorities.
Maybe, Covid-19 was
instrumental in moulding
his mind because he is a
person who was declared
‘Covid-19 survivor’ a cou-
ple of weeks back, after
almost a month-long fight
with the virus, at the
Omandurar Covid Care
Centre here.
His wife, 52-year-old
Zareen Kausar, a home
maker, also fought the
virus successfully. The
couple from Medavakkam
near Tambaram is happy
to celebrate Ramzan
inside the confines of
their house, with their
children. The couple said
it was unimaginable for
even an average follower
● Eleven patients have
so far been discharged
from hospitals in the
Union Territory
he said.
All the three patients hailing
from neighbouring Tamil
Nadu districts of Villupuram
and Cuddalore, who were tak-
ing treatment for some weeks
in JIPMER, were also dis-
charged.
On Friday, six cases were
reported in Puducherry. Of the
six, to were women, three were
men and a nine-year-old bo.y
—PTI
that berth here from corona-
infected nations like China.
This has resulted in delayed
berthing of vessels, since
berthing without detention of
ships from non-dangerous
countries has to be ensured,
said a port official.
“The port also has initiated
proactive measures based on
the direction of the Union
Ministry of Shipping TRA-
O F T C O - M I S - C OV I D - A 1 -
20VI(46318) dated April 4 and
24, and gave
exemption/remission of
charges to improve cargo traf-
fic during the lock down peri-
od,” added the official.
Till the first week of May,
VOC Port is said to have han-
dled major cargos like food
products, coal, timber, fertil-
izers, oil cakes, construction
materials and raw materials
for fertilizer manufacturing
units and cement factories.
“Raw material import for
fertilizer units and cement
factories will help manufac-
turing units here to achieve
their optimal level of produc-
tion, once the lockdown is
Ansar Basha
of Islam to celebrate
Ramzan inside a locked
house. But now, time
demands a low-key
Ramzan celebration, and
the entire world has adapt-
ed itself to the new norm.
“We are not going to the
Masjid this Ramzan.
Instead, we have decided
to pray inside our home,
and prepare some biriyani
for children. No friends,
no relatives and no festivi-
ties,” said Basha.
According to Basha,
Covid-19 life made him so
resilient, patient and wise.
The 30-day truck with the
virus since April 2 in a
Covid-19 ward, was for the
family a tightrope walk
between life and death,
CLEAN
WORK
Sanitary workers cleaning suburban Central railway station on Saturday.
completely lifted,” said a city-
based shipping agent, who
also appreciated the VOC Port
administration for its assis-
tance to obtain certificate of
transportation from the local
district administration to
move the cargo safely to end
users and vice-versa.
The relaxation announced
by the Centre and state gov-
ernments also is said to have
helped clear the imported
cargo from the port storage
that now has 3441 TEUs of
containerised cargo, 1.40 mil-
lion metric tonnes of bulk
cargo, 0.01 million metric
tonnes of break bulk and 0.04
million metric tonnes of liq-
uid cargo, in its storage facili-
ty.
Some of the infrastructure
works like widening of the
Korampallam channel sur-
plus course bridge inside the
port premises, the rail over-
bridge and road from the
western boundary of the port
area to Tuticorin Thermal
power plant in the port area,
is however suspended since
March 23.
— DC
and the struggle has
changed their life a lot.
Today, according to Basha,
unfortunately they are not
being treated by society as
humans.
“These days, I’m even
scared of going out to our
portico, since neighbours
stare as if I’m a trouble-
maker. My wife has not
gone out of our apartment
since she was discharged.
Once I went to nearby
shop, when I was told by a
neighbour that I should
not try to walk in public
anymore. A few in the
area even went on to file
complaints to the sanita-
tion department and land-
lord to get my family evict-
ed from my house. But,
their behaviour does not
trouble me anymore. I
believe in love, sacrifice
and mankind, which are
the values Ramzan teach-
es the world,” he added.
He also said that there
was a lot of misinforma-
tion and stigma in society
on Covid survivors.
“People believe that
Covid survivors are still
carriers of the virus, and
that they are immune to
the virus. In my case, I
still wonder how I got
FREEDOM FIGHTER PERUMBIDIGU
MUTHIRAIYAR REMEMBERED
DC CORRESPONDENT
TIRUCHY, MAY 23
The Tiruchy Collector S.
Sivarasu garlanded the
statue of late freedom
fighter and historic king,
P e r u m b i d u g u
Muthiraiyar here on
Saturday to commemo-
rate his 1345th birth
anniversary (Sathya
Vizha).
Since there is a general
lockdown, political par-
ties or representatives of
the various Muthiraiyar
organisations were not
allowed to garland the
statue in the heart of
Tiruchy town. However,
leaders of various politi-
cal parties and communi-
ty organisations paid flo-
ral tributes to the portrait
of Perumbidugu
Muthiraiyar in their
offices.
While Jawahar, presi-
Industries seek subsidy linked interest free loans
RURAL | ECONOMY
A. ARUL PALANI | DC
CHENNAI, MAY 23
Experts have demanded
the Centre to focus on
rural and cottage indus-
tries and allocate required
funds in the stimulus pack
announced by the Central
government for Micro,
Small & Medium
Enterprises (MSME), by
creating a sub-section in
micro enterprises as nano-
enterprises.
They are the backbone of
the rural economy, since
70 per cent of the enter-
prises in the villages and
towns comprised of rural
industries. Besides, this
would immediately arrest
poverty and also curtail
labour movement to urban
areas. The Centre had not
given adequate impor-
tance to these industries
in the stimulus package.
Speaking to Deccan
Chronicle, M Rajan, an
expert in MSME sector,
said nano-entrepreneur
infected. I never travelled
anywhere. Yet, I tested
positive for Covid-19.
Hence, let us not underes-
timate the reasons of
virus attack. Anybody can
get infected any time,” he
added.
Talking about the steady
spike of cases in the city,
he blamed the authorities
of mismanaging the early
situation in the city.
“When I tested positive, it
was the early stages of
transmission in the state
with hardly a few hundred
cases. Most were from
Tablighi Jamaat cluster.
But officials did not
restrict non-Covid persons
from entering the Covid
ward. For instance, a ven-
dor from Koyambedu who
used to come to the ward
to take care of his brother
awaiting test results came
to the ward very frequent-
ly after finishing the day’s
sales at his shop in
Koyambedu. A couple of
weeks after his brother
was
Koyambedu
discharged,
market
turned out to be major
virus cluster. Who knows
whether it was this person
who spread the virus in
the market? he quipped.
— DC
dent of the Tiruchy
urban district Congress
and former District
Congress president advo-
cate, Saravanan, and oth-
ers paid floral tributes to
the portrait of
P e r u m b i d u g u
Muthiraiyar at
Srirangam, DMK men led
by the party's principal
secretary and former
Minister K.N.Nehru paid
floral tributes to the por-
trait of the late King at
Kalaingar Arivalayam,
the party's district head-
quarters here.
Meanwhile, The Muslim
Urimai Padhukappu
Kazhagam led by its state
general secretary,
Idimurasu Ismail,
appealed to the Central
and state governments to
clear pending bills for
government ads given to
various newspapers
immediately.
■ Introduce
may require an invest-
ment between Rs 3 lakh to
Rs 10 lakh. This would
generate employment
opportunities in rural
areas up to 80 per cent and
give thrust to the rural
economy.
“They are service,
resource and raw material
based enterprises. Cash
flow among the people can
be witnessed in a few
months. The State govern-
ment is facing general
assembly polls next year,
and if the assistance is
distributed in a transpar-
ent manner to all affected
nano-entrepreneurs, it
would play a key role in
favour of the ruling party
in the election,” Rajan
said.
The rural and cottage
industries comprise of
several activities includ-
ing wood-related work and
carving, furniture, car-
pentry, processing of agri-
culture products, tailor-
ing, small readymade gar-
Welcoming firefighters back
C. Sylendra Babu, Director of Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services, welcomes 25 fire
men who joined duty after getting cured of coronavirus at fire services
head office in Egmore on Saturday.
High court grants bail to 12
accused in doc burial case
DC CORRESPONDENT
WITH AGENCY INPUTS
CHENNAI, MAY 23
The Madras High Court
has given bail to 12 per-
sons accused of obstruct-
ing the burial of Dr Simon
Hercules, who died of
Covid-19 on April 19, when
the body was taken to the
cemetery by the family
and Corporation officials
late in the night.
The 12 accused, arrested
on April 20, claimed that
they lived close to the
cemetery and prevented
the burial due to rumours
about the spread of coron-
avirus. They had not been
informed in advance by
authorities on the precau-
tions taken for the burial,
Justice M. Nirmal Kumar
said.
Granting the bail,
Justice Nirmal Kumar
directed the accused not
to commit any offence of
similar nature.
On April 20, a mob false-
ly fearing that the burial
of the remains may lead
to the spread of contagion
had attacked the corpora-
tion health employees and
A man adjusts the mask with his image printed on it designed and created in a
photo studio in the city on Saturday.
nano, micro enterprises categories
ments and job work, flour
grinding machine, wet
flour machine, cashew
processing by manual
methods, wet grinding,
coir products, ceramic
wares, pottery products,
terracotta toys, electrical
and electronic enterprises
such as mobile repair
service centres, computer
hardware, photocopy
shops, motor coil-winding,
printing work and the like.
In the automobile divi-
sion, it involves two-
wheeler and four-wheeler
workshops, tinkering and
painting workshop, engi-
neering works, welding
works. In the building con-
struction division – it
involves hiring of center-
ing sheet, jelly cement
mixture machine, hollow
blocks, cement blocks,
country bricks, interior
works, cutting and polish-
ing of floor tiles, false ceil-
ing.
Recalling the rehabilita-
tion measures undertaken
associates of the deceased
doctor.
The doctor's wife and
son also had to leave the
burial ground at
Velangadu here in view of
the violence.
The body was brought to
Velangadu as people of
Kilpauk area had opposed
his burial there.
Over a dozen men
involved allegedly in vio-
lence were arrested and
remanded to judicial cus-
tody.
“... if the authorities had
informed in advance
about the procedure of
burial and the precaution
measures followed by
them, the residents appre-
hension about the spread
of virus would have been
dispelled and such protest
would not have occurred.
Further the burial was
at odd hours,” he
observed.
However, as a condition
for bail, the court directed
that the accused not to
commit any offence of
similar nature.
Seeking bail, the
accused submitted that
they were local residents,
by the State government
in the aftermath of
‘Thane’ cyclone in 2015, an
official said, the then
Chief Minister J enterprises.
Jayalalithaa allotted a
maximum of Rs 5 lakh
loan from banks with 25
per cent subsidy from the
state government. A large
number of youths, were
benefitted from the
scheme. On a similar note,
now the Centre and state
governments may assist
all the affected nano-entre-
preneurs, with subsidy
linked interest free loan.
As per the Micro, Small,
and Medium Enterprises
Development (MSMED)
Act in 2006, the enterpris-
es were classified into two
- manufacturing enterpris-
es and service enterprises.
One is engaged in the
manufacture of products
and the other in providing
or rendering services.
Clubbing both the manu-
facturing and service
enterprises, the Centre
pg 2
—N. Sampath
living near the burial
ground and were not edu-
cated and worldly wise.
“On the date of occur-
rence, news spread among
them that a body of per-
son who died from Covid-
19 is to be buried near
their resident cemetery
without taking any pre-
cautions, they apprehend-
ed the virus would spread
and affect the local resi-
dents.
When they sought an
explanation, the authori-
ties took the body to some
other place,” they said.
Opposing the bail, the
prosecution submitted
that the officials were not
allowed to discharge their
duties and that the body of
the doctor was not allowed
to be buried at the
Kilpauk cemetery. The
officials were chased
away.
Despite the explanations
given by officials, resi-
dents objected to the bur-
ial of the doctor's body at
the crematorium and
forced the officials to
retreat with the remains.
Their acts were offensive,
he said.
— DC
had recently modified the
classification and includ-
ed turnover of units as a
clause to classify the
Under the revised MSME
classification, the govern-
ment had hiked the invest-
ment and included annual
turnover of the units to
avail the loan and other
benefits. As per new guide-
lines rural based indus-
tries may not be in posi-
tion to receive funds under
the MSME category. Hence
the government may
reclassify and introduce
sub-category of Nano-
Enterprises in the micro
enterprises category, and
offer interest free loan
with 30 per cent subsidy.
Under the new guide-
lines it would be impossi-
ble for the rural and cot-
tage industries to receive
funds from the govern-
ment. They are the worst
affected. Only then rural
economy can be restored
slowly, he added.
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 24 MAY 2020 | COIMBATORE
OTHER STORY
No special classes
must be held for class
10 students: Minister
Erode, May 23: Private
schools should not hold spe-
cial coaching classes for class
X students to prepare them for
the public examination sched-
uled for June, shool education
and sports minister K A
engottiyan said on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters near
Gobichettipalayam where he
laid the foundation for bore-
well, drainage works, among
others, the minister said he
has been getting information
that some private schools were
holding the special classes.
This should not be conducted
failing which the education
department would seal the
particular school and cancel
the licence, he said.
Only after the public exami-
nation, paper evaluation and
publication of results would
the schools in Tamil Nadu be
re-opened, he said.
After that, fresh admission
for all classes should be con-
ducted, he said.
If any school, be it private or
government-aided and govern-
ment school authorities, was
involved in admission and col-
lection of fees from the stu-
dents, it would be pulled up,
the Minister said.
No school should collect fee
prior to re-opening of schools,
he said.
The Minister distributed
coronavirus welfare measures
and sanitisers to 21 panchay-
ats.
—PTI
A private container truck driven by Sivakumar (53) from Chennai
Koyambedu to Madurai via Vellore on Friday, turned turtle in
front of the Sathuvachari police station, Vellore, on Saturday
morning, as he was trying to crossing the highway.
Virus death toll crosses 100; 759 new cases
FROM P1
A 75-year-old woman from
Chennai who tested positive
for Covid-19, was also suffer-
ON HIGH ALERT
Special officer Dr J. Radhakrishnan and corporation commissioner G.Prakash inspect Nochikuppam area near Marina beach.
Govt has nothing to do with MP’s arrest: CM
ZAKEER HUSSAIN | DC
SALEM, MAY 23
Chief Minister Edappadi
K. Palaniswami on
Saturday made clear that
neither he nor the
AIADMK government had
any role in the arrest of
the DMK Rajya Sabha MP
and the party’s organisa-
tional secretary Alandaur
Bharathi earlier in the
day in Chennai.
Refuting DMK president
M. K. Stalin’s allegations,
Palaniswami told
reporters here after a
review meeting at the
Salem collectorate that
the police had arrested
Bharathi for his alleged
derogatory remarks on
the Dalit community in
the course of a speech at a
party youth wing meeting,
on the basis of a com-
plaint given by Madurai-
based Kalyanasundaram,
a leader of the Adi
Tamizhar Makkal Katchi.
on March 12 at Tyenampet
police station in Chennai.
Charging Stalin with
spreading canards about
him (CM) and his govern-
ment for sheer political
gains, Palaniswami said,
“I strongly condemn this.”
Alleging that the DMK
leader was trying to
indulge in a systematic
mud-slinging campaign to
gain people’s sympathy,
the senior AIADMK
leader said, Stalin should
have instead pulled up his
party MP for speaking
about Dalits in an alleged-
ly derogatory manner.
—K. Senthil Nathan
ing from 'senile dementia' as cumbed to the virus infec-
she breathed her last at the tion - two in Rajiv Gandhi
Stanley medical college hos- Government
pital on Friday. Hospital
Three other males who suc- Omandurarar multi-special-
Palaniswami said people
should ponder how fair it
was for Mr. Stalin to
instead now shift the bla-
me (for Bharathi’s arrest)
on the government.
Taking a swipe at R.S.
Bharathi also, the Chief
Minister accused him
with trying to be “in the
limelight” by hurling alle-
gations against people in
high positions. On the
DMK MPs representation
regarding irregularities
in deciding some tenders,
Mr. Palaniswami said the
tenders being referred to
by Bharathi have not
been processed or
finalised.
Stating that under e-ten-
der system, the bidders
will be known only at the
time of opening the ten-
ders online, Palaniswami
asked how did Bharathi
come to know who had bid
for the tenders. Under the
E-tender system, all those
eligible can bid for the
tender, he said, adding, it
was only under the previ-
ous DMK regime that
there was “scope for cor-
ruption” in the bidding
process. The tender sched-
ule was given only to cer-
tain persons, and they
alone would deposit the
papers into the box.
But now under the E-ten-
der process, any eligible
person could bid for the
tender and the process
was transparent,
Palaniswami said, adding,
he did not wish to say any-
thing more, as the matter
was before the court.
Ordinances
issued to relax
time limits
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, MAY 23
Governor Banwarilal
Purohit, has promulgated
two ordinances on May
22, to relax certain provi-
sions including extension
of time limits under the
state GST Act and various
Commercial Taxes laws
in view of the Covid-19
pandemic.
The first ordinance,
'Tamil Nadu Goods and
Services Tax
(Amendment) Ordinance,
2020' , amends the Tamil
Nadu Goods and Services
Tax Act, 2017, to extend
due dates for various
compliance, like filing of
statements, refund
claims, filing appeals etc.,
which could not be com-
pleted or complied with
due to “force majeure”.
The second ordinance,
“Tamil Nadu Taxation
Laws (Relaxations of
Certain Provisions)
Ordinance, 2020, is to
relax the time limits spec-
ified in various erstwhile
Acts like, “Tamil Nadu
Value Added Tax Act,
ty GH-, had other ailments
like diabetes.
General Thus, Covid-19 deaths are
and one in bringing out the medical his-
tories of patients.
Chief Minister K. Palanaiswami distributing rice and relief material to 3,150 party functionaries at Edappadi in
Salem district on Saturday.
Beauty parlours can be opened
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, MAY 23
After the barber shops and
saloons allowed to re-open
with conditions in rural
areas of Tamil Nadu,
Chief Minister Edappadi
K. Palaniswami has now
given the green signal for
‘beauty parlours’ to also
resume from Sunday, pro-
vided they maintain high
personal hygiene.
In a statement here on
2006, Tamil Nadu Betting
Tax Act, 1935, the Tamil
Nadu Entertainments
Tax Act, 1939, the Tamil
Nadu Tax on Luxuries
Act, 1981, et all, that were
administered by the
Commercial Taxes
Department till the 30th
June 2017 and those Acts
being administered with
effect from July 1, 2017,”
which could not be com-
plied with due to “force
majeure”, an official
release here said.
— DC
Saturday, Palaniswami
said considering the eco-
nomic hardship of the
Covid-19 lockdown, vari-
ous activities were being
allowed in phases, subject
to observing the social dis-
tancing norms and other
standard precautions as
part of efforts to stop coro-
navirus spread.
Stating that ‘beauty par-
lours’ could resume opera-
tions from Sunday (May
24), daily from 7 am to 7
Smart interaction
Corporation commissioner Sravan Kumar Jatavat interacts with Kunal Kumar, IAS, joint secretary & mission direc-
tor about smart city development through video conferencing on corporation office premises in Coimbatore. — DC
50 goats, owner, killed
in freak road mishap
R. VALAYAPATHY | DC
ARIYALUR, MAY 23
As many as 50 goats and
their owner were killed
and two others injured in
a freak road accident near
Meensurutti in Ariyalur
district past midnight on
Friday.
Police said the goat farm
owner Kamaraj (52) of
Devamangalam and four
others were taking some
260 goats for grazing from
Since May 1: 2,600 Shramik
trains ferry 36L guest workers
NEW DELHI, MAY 23:
The Railways has ferried
around 36 lakh guest
workers on board 2,600
'Shramik Special' trains
since May 1, according to
official data.
The Railways said also
that over the next 10 days,
it will operate 2,600 more
trains ferrying 36 lakh
more guest workers home,
chairman Railway Board
V K Yadav said.
The 'Shramik Special'
trains are being operated
primarily on the requests
of the states, which want
to send guest workers to
their home states. The
Railways is bearing 85 per
cent of the total cost of
running each of the trains
while the rest is being
borne by the states in the
form of fares. According
to data with the Railways,
Uttar Pradesh (1,246) has
received the highest num-
ber of Shramik Special
pm, in all municipal areas
outside the jurisdiction of
the Greater Chennai
police commissioner. It
means ‘beauty parlours’
in municipal corporations
other than Chennai,
municipalities and town
panchayats, they have
been allowed to re-open
their saloons. However,
‘beauty parlours’ within
‘Containment Zones’ can-
not reopen now.
Strict insistence on both
Sethiyathope in neigh-
bouring Cuddalore dis-
trict to Devamnagalam.
When the goats
approached Vennagkuzhi
near Meensurutti on
Kumbakonam-Chennai
national highway, a stray
dog attempted to chase the
goats. In sheer fright, the
goats got scattered on the
middle of the road. Even
as Kamaraj attempted to
control the goats, a speed-
ing car proceeding to
● There were inci-
dents of many of
them being killed
in road accidents.
A number of guest
workers were even
killed by a speed-
ing train after they
fell asleep on the
tracks
trains, followed by Bihar
(804) and Jharkhand (124)
and Madhya Pradesh
(112). Among the originat-
ing states, Gujarat (759)
has used the most services
to send migrant workers
home, followed by
Maharashtra (483) and
Punjab (291).
The coronavirus-trig-
gered lockdown has had a
devastating impact on the
economy as well as on the
livelihoods of lakhs of
guest workers. It shone
— DC
beauticians and cus-
tomers wearing facial
masks, ensuring social
distancing, providing cus-
tomers with hand sanitiz-
ers and disinfecting the
beauty shops at least five
times a day are among the
conditions imposed by the
government for ‘beauty
parlours’ to comply with.
Separate detailed guide-
lines will be issued for
their functioning, the
statement added.
Kumbakonam from
Villupuram fatally ran
over Kamaraj and 50 of
his goats.
One of the injured,
Chandrasekaran, an
employee of the deceased,
and another Sekar, occu-
pant of the car, were
admitted to the
Government hospital
Jayankondam. Police
secured the car driver
Raja of Villupuram and
are investigating.
the spotlight on the mis-
eries of migrant workers
whose journeys on foot
from several urban cen-
tres to their villages hun-
dreds of kilometres away
had grabbed headlines for
almost the last two
months.
There were incidents of
many of them being killed
in road accidents. A num-
ber of guest workers were
even killed by a speeding
train after they fell asleep
on the tracks.
On May 1, the Railways
started thespecial trains
to facilitate the movement
of such workers back to
their home states. While
on the first day, four such
trains were operated, it
was escalated to 279 trains
on May 20. In the last four
days, railways has operat-
ed 260 trains on an aver-
age daily carrying about 3
lakh passengers.
—PTI
pg 3
VAIKO SEEKS
WITHDRAWAL
OF CASE
FROM P1
MDMK general secre-
tary Vaiko demanded
the immediate with-
drawal of the case and
said that Bharathi had
served one year in jail
during the Emergency.
Condemning the arrest,
Vaiko said that the gov-
ernment was doing it
because it was unable to
find solutions to the
thousands of problems
thrown up by
the Coronovirus pan-
demic.
VCK president Thol
Thirumavalavan said
that if the government
was trying to convey the
message that the State
was free of atrocities
against Dalits, the NCRB
reports clearly pointed
to an increase in atroci-
ties against Dalits in the
past three years. He said
the arrest was a political
game that used Dalits as
pawns.
Meanwhile, leader of
TMC (Moopanar) G K
Vasan, said that the
arrest was well within
the bounds of law, which
is taking its own course
and added that the alle-
gations of the opposi-
tion parties were not
acceptable.
OPS CONGRATULATES
HARSH VARDHAN
FOR NEW UN ROLE
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, MAY 23
Deputy Chief Minister
O. Panneerselvam on
Saturday wrote to Union
health minister Dr
Harsh Vardhan, congrat-
ulating him on taking
additional charge as
Chairman, Executive
Board, of the World
Health Organisation
(WHO) headquartered in
Geneva.
In a letter to Dr Harsh
Vardhan, OPS said, "Sir,
you really deserve this
honour." This has paved
the way for India to play
a more prominent role
in the global public
health matters, he said.
OPS said though the
challenging task has
come at a time when the
whole world was facing
the Covid-19 pandemic,
SICCI WELCOMES
RBI MEASURES
Chennai: The Southern
India Chamber of
Commerce & Industry
(SICCI) has welcomed
the announcement of
the Reserve Bank of
India Governor
Shaktikanta Das that
the monetary policy
would continue to be
accommodative till
growth revived and sent
positive signals.
In a statement, SICCI
president R Ganapathi
said the slashing of the
repo rate by another 40
basis points and the
simultaneous reduction
of reverse repo rate to
3.35 per cent is yet anoth-
er step in the right direc-
tion.
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY| 24 MAY 2020 | COIMBATORE
pg 4

Sizzling summer and Covid woes

Amid Covid lockdown and sweltering heat, people in some parts of Chennai struggle to get
a pot of water. Tipplers hold umbrellas while waiting in the hot sun to buy liquor from
Tasmac shops and, with mercury rising, temple tanks are drying up

Women wait to fill their

pots near a public tap in
Egmore on Saturday.

Men standing in a queue

with masks and holding
umbrellas near a Tasmac
shop in Oragadam.
—E. K. Sanjay
A mother rides a tricyle with several empty pots in search of water while a little one runs behind
the vehicle in the city on Saturday. — N. Sampath

Very few shoppers found on famous Ranganathan street on a hot Saturday. —DC Kapaleeswarar temple tank running dry due to searing summer heat. —DC

Desilting works in delta region take off AISF, CPI men stage dharna
G. SRINIVASAN | DC
THANJAVUR, MAY 23

With relaxation in lock-

down norms and with a view
to complete desilting works
before June 12, when Mettur
dam will be opened for
Kuruvai (short term crop)
cultivation in the delta as
announced by the state gov-
ernment, desilting works
have begun in Thanjavur
district.
Desilting works are going
on under various schemes.
One is Kudimaramathu, in
which farmers (members of
irrigators association) par-
ticipate along with PWD,
regular desilting works car-
ried out by PWD, desilting of
C, D, E canals under
Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment
desilting done under MGN-
REGS in the same village.
The collector set an example
by taking the hoe himself
and digging the canal for
some distance along with
MGNREGS beneficiaries.
He checked the number of
beneficiaries involved, time
when they came for work
and time up to when they
have to work and wages to be
paid to them.
He also inspected desilting
of Kalayanavodai canal,
branch of GA canal at
Thennamanadu and
M.Govinda Rao, Thanjavur district collector, trying his hand desitling of two tanks by
in desilting of a canal at a village near Thanjavur. rural development depart-
Guarantee Scheme inspected some of the ongo- ment in the same village.
(Mgnregs) and desilting of ing works in Thanjavur and The collector said that
ponds and tanks by rural Orathanadu taluk on Friday. desilting works at a cost of
development department. He inspected the desilting `128 crores had been taken
M. Govinda Rao, works in Vadaseri canal in up in the district and will be
Thanjavur district collector, Valamarkottai village, completed before June 12.
Meanwhile farmers called
for accountability and trans-
parency in works. They said
that PWD should try to com-
plete works before June 12. If
it is not possible, such works
which could not be taken up
should be postponed to next
y e a r . All
Works should not be done in
haste and thus result in poor
quality. The PWD should
also complete the carried-
forward works of the last
year, they urged.
V. Jeevakumar of All India
Kisan Sabha said that
Kallaperambur lake near
Thanjavur which has an
ayacut of 3,500 acres should
be desilted. "People in the
village, through irrigators
association has paid ` 80,000
as their share for desilting
the lake.
in sea for coronavirus relief
DC CORRESPONDENT
RAMESWARAM, MAY 23
Scores of youth of the
India Students
Federation (AISF), affili-
ated to the CPI and the
party's members got into
the sea off
Villunditheertham near
Thangachimadam in
Rameswaram on Saturday
to protest against the
Centre's move to divest in
public sector undertak-
ings as part of the stimu-
lus package to revive the
economic post-Covid-19.
The half-naked protest-
ers staged a 'dharna' in
the sea, demanding that
● With no tourists
or pilgrims visiting
Rameswaram due
to the coronavirus
crisis, most autos
were running
empty on Saturday
the Centre stop its move to
privatise the public serc-
tor units, and complained
that the cash relief
announced by the state
government to mitigate
the hardship of the Covid-
19 lockdown had not
reached the fishermen in
Rameswaram. The CPI's
Rameswaram taluk
deputy secretary, Kalidas,
led the agitation.
AUTOS SANS PASSEN-
GERS: Meanwhile, auto-
rickshaw drivers, who
started plying their vehi-
cles here as allowed by the
state government, said
with no tourists or pil-
grims visiting the island
due to the coronavirus cri-
sis, most autos were run-
ning empty, only adding to
the fuel bill of the drivers
on a daily basis.
The government,
should, therefore, grant a
cash relief to auto drivers
also until the tourism
activities picked up, they
urged.
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | COIMBATORE | SUNDAY | 24 MAY 2020
SHORT
INTERNATIONAL
TAKES
FLIGHTS LIKELY IN
JULY, SAYS PURI
VINEETA PANDEY
NEW DELHI, MAY 23
Union minister for civil avia-
tion Hardeep Singh Puri said
on Saturday that if the novel
coronavirus infection rates
are within control then the
government will consider
restarting international
flights by June end or July. The
minister also clarified that the
Aarogya Setu app is not
mandatory for air passengers
and they can instead give a
self-declaration form at air-
ports.
“I am fully hopeful that
before August or September,
we will try to start a good per-
centage of international civil
aviation operations, if not
complete international opera-
tions. We must have a more
ambitious goal (regarding
international flights). Why not
start them by mid-June or
June-end or in July,” Mr Puri
said during a Facebook live
session.
Our Hyderabad bureau
reports: The Shamshabad air-
port, which operated a few
repatriation flights during two
months of the lockdown, is set
to resume operations on May
25.
The Union ministry of civil
aviation has given the go-
ahead to airports to resume
domestic flights.
CORONA CASES
ALMOST DOUBLE
IN KARNATAKA
AKNISREE KARTHIK | DC
BENGALURU, MAY 23
The Corona cases in the state
on May 15 breached the 1,000-
mark and stood at 1,056. In a
matter of 8 days, the cases
have almost doubled and stand
at 1,939, with a whopping 196
cases getting reported on
Saturday. Going by the pace,
the state will cross 2,000 cases
by Saturday evening or
Sunday.
To double from 600 cases
(May 2) to 1,200 (May 18), it
took 16 days. But with the
repeated spike in cases cross-
ing 100-mark for the fourth
time in a week, the doubling
rate has reduced to 8 days.
Of the 196, 172 are returnees
from Maharashtra. Karnataka
had recorded 149 cases in a
single day and that has been
surpassed with 196 cases. Also,
a 32-year-old male from
Bengaluru succumbed to
Covid-19 taking the toll to to
42.
The new cases are - 72 from
Yadgir, 39 from Raichur, 28
from Mandya, 20 from
Chikkaballapura, 15 from
Gadag, 4 each from Hassan
and Bengaluru, 3 each from
Davangere and Uttara
Kannada, 2 each from Dakshin
Kannada and Kolar and one
each from Belagavi, Dharwad,
Udupi and Kalburgi.
TELANGANA
RECORDS 52 NEW
CASES, AP 47
DC CORRESPONDENTS
HYDERABAD,
VIJAYAWADA, MAY 23
The Telangana state health
department on Saturday said
there has been a surge of
Covid-19 cases over the past
few days. Following lockdown
relaxations on May 16, "it is
being observed that there is a
lot of mobility and movement
of people from all walks of life
and of all age groups. There is
a surge of positive cases in the
last few days," it said.
The surge has resulted in 52
more cases and one death on
Saturday. The death toll stands
at 49.
Hyderabad continues to
report the maximum cases in
the State with 33 of 52 cases
from Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation limits.
Of the remaining 19 cases,
four were individuals who
recently returned from
Kuwait while the others are
from among guest labourers,
who returned from
Maharashtra, the health
department said in its daily
Covid-19 bulletin.
Meanwhile, 47 persons test-
ed positive for Covid-19 in
Andhra Pradesh on Saturday,
taking total cases to 2,561 and
of them, 727 are in hospital
while 1,778 were discharged.
State Command Control
Room for Covid-19 in its offi-
cial release issued at 10.00 am
on Saturday said that one
Covid-19 patient from Krishna
died taking toll to 56. Among
new infections, five including
three from Chittor and two
from Nellore were returnees
from Koyembedu market.
In Nellore district, 16 new
Coronavirus cases were
reported taking total cases to
217.
It’s a cry for help from those hit by cyclone
With houses, crops and stored food lost, villagers in Odisha urge government to help them out
AKSHAYA KUMAR
SAHOO | DC
BALASORE, MAY 23
Nira Biswal, a resident of
Nalabanka
Odisha’s
village in
cyclone-hit
Bhadrak district, has lost
everything in the cyclone
Amphan that hit Digha
near Sundarbans on West
Bengal and Odisha border
on May 20. His thatched
house has collapsed.
Layers of mud have buried
the food he stored in his
Jhudi, a square-sized box
made with bamboo wires
with a coat of cow-dung.
The standing crops,
including paddy, in Nira’s
nearly one-acre of land got
washed away in the tor-
rential rains and the mini-
horticulture garden that
kept his kitchen stove
burning doesn’t exist any-
more.
Nira and thousands of
other people, most of them
farmers, in Bhadrak,
Balasore, Jajpur and
Mayurbhanj districts now
await immediate support
TELANGANA
TO CONDUCT
ENTRANCE
TESTS IN JULY
HARLEEN MINOCHA I DC
HYDERABAD, MAY 23
The Telangana govern-
ment on Saturday
announced the schedule
for common entrance
tests for a variety of
courses including engi-
neering, agriculture,
law and education
courses.
The Post Graduate
Engineering Common
Entrance Test (PGE-
CET) will be conducted
at Osmania University
from July 1 to July 3.
The Polytechnic
Common Entrance Test
(PolyCET) will be held
at State Board of
Technical Education
and Training, on July 1.
The Engineering,
Agriculture & Medical
(Pharmacy, Veterinary
etc.,) Common Entrance
Test (Eamcet) and
Engineering Common
Entrance Test (ECET)
will be conducted at
Jawaharlal Nehru
Te c h n o l o g i c a l
University on July 4 and
July 6 to July 9 respec-
tively. Law Common
Entrance Test (Lawcet)
and Post-Graduate Law
Common Entrance
(PGLCET) will be con-
ducted at Osmania
University on July 10.
Integrated Common
Entrance Test (ICET)
and Education
Common Entrance Tes
(EdCET) will be held at
Kakatiya University and
Osmania University on
July 13 and July 15,
respectively.
The dates for the
Physical Education
Common Entrance Test
(Pecet) will be
announced later, and
will be conducted after
July 16 at the Mahatma
Gandhi University,
Nalgonda.
The state education
department announced
a special tatkal scheme
for students of SSC and
Intermediate, eligible to
appear for public exami-
nationss, can pay their
examination fee from
May 28 to June 3.
They have to pay the
tatkal fee of `500 for
SSC and `1,000 for
Intermediate, in addi-
tion to the normal exam-
ination fee.
NUMBERS | GAME
Kerala, Pondy spar over victim’s jurisdiction
GILVESTER ASSARY | DC
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
MAY 23
Puducherry Chief
Minister V. Narayanasamy
has joined issue with
Kerala government over
the death of a Covid -19
patient. The person
belonging to Mahe (bor-
dering Kannur district)
which falls within the
jurisdiction of
Puducherry, died in
Kannur medical college on
April 11. The death was
included in the Kerala list
of Covid-19 casualties.
The Kerala government
objected to the inclusion of
patient in the state’s list
in terms of food for at least
two months to begin their
farm activities again for
survival.
Pandu Rungi, a farmer of
Bhogarai in Balasore dis-
trict narrated the plight of
the farmers.
“We had invested all our
savings in paddy crop.
High tidal waves inundat-
ed the crop. Knee-deep
saline water still stands in
the farm lands and there is
little chance of recovering
the crop that was at ripe
stage,” said Pandu.
Sachindananda Barik,
another farmer, was in all
tears when he said, “I had
savings of `10,000 which I
used to cultivate paddy, the
only crop that is grown
here in the area. We can-
not grow other crops
because of the salinity of
the soil. However, the
heavy downpour, high
velocity wind and saline
water inundation during
the Amphan landfall 20
destroyed the crop.”
Sachidananda said the
affected people were given
Guest workers board a local train at Danapur railway station to reach their destination in Patna on Saturday. The Railways has drawn up a sched-
ule to operate 2,600 Shramik Special trains over the next 10 days across the country to ferry around 36 lakh guest workers to their home states,
said Chairman of the Railway Board V.K.Yadav. The Railways has ferried around 32 lakh guest workers since May 1.
Guest workers left stranded in Mumbai as
Shramik Special cancelled at last moment
SONU SHRIVASTAVA | DC
with agency inputs
MUMBAI, MAY 23
The Railways and the
Maharashtra govern-
ment’s tall claims of help-
ing guest workers reach
their natives fell flat after
two incidents came to
light on Saturday.
The Vasai Road-
Gorakhpur Sharmik
Special train to Uttar
Pradesh, which left the
city on May 21, was divert-
ed to a different route via
Odisha due to heavy traf-
fic congestion. While, in
another incident, a group
of guest workers were left
stranded at Wadala TT
police station
Saturday morning.
since
The workers
informed by the police
were
three days ago that their
journey back home has
States fight over inclusion of a patient belonging to Mahe in their casualty list
saying that the person had
sought treatment here
since Mahe lacked medical
facilities. Hence the death
should be added to
Puducherry list.
However, Narayanasamy
says as per the Central
government norms, wher-
ever a person gets detected
for Covid-19 and subse-
quently dies there; his
death should be recorded
in that particular state.
The Mahe case had also
led to controversy between
Goa and Kerala. In her
interview with the BBC,
Kerala health minister K.
K. Shailaja inadvertently
referred to Mahe patient
as hailing from Goa. In
● ONE OF THE SEVERAL
villagers who lost
everything in the cyclone
said that the affected
people were given cooked
food for two days only.
Moreover, other essential
items are yet to be
provided to them.
cooked food for two days
only. Moreover, other
essential items are yet to
be provided to them, he
lamented.
“Since we have lost
house, crops, stored foods
and other essentials, we
need urgent support for
survival for at least two
months to start our agri-
culture activity again. We
hope the state government
will realise our problem
and extend us support to
let us stand again on our
own feet,” said
Sachidananda.
Puni Das of Bhogarai in
district has another sorry
tale to narrate.
“When the cyclone hit
the coast, we were taking
been finalised. However, at
the last moment they were
told that their train has
been cancelled.
As a result, these
migrant workers had to
wait at the police station
for almost an entire day.
They had sought police
permission to return to
their home states in the
beginning of May.
A 30-year-old construc-
tion labourer Mubarak
Hussain, resident of
Bharati Kamala Nagar in
Wadala, said that he sub-
mitted an application to
the Wadala TT police in
the beginning of May
along with 25 other guest
workers. Out of the total
25 workers, 15 have com-
menced their journey
either by boarding a truck,
by riding a bicycle or
walking. There are still 10
workers, hoping to get a
view of lack of medical
facilities in Goa, the
patient was brought to
Kerala for treatment, she
had told the anchor.
Her statement was
objected to strongly by
Goa Chief Minister
Pramod Sawant who took
to Twitter saying that
their state had excellent
medical facilities and the
patient did not belong to
Goa. Subsequently, Kerala
health minister clarified
that it was a slip on her
part.
Instead of mentioning
Mahe, she said Goa. She
apologised to both the
Chief Minister and the
health minister of Goa.
shelter in our asbestos-
roof house thinking that it
was better than house
with a thatched roof and
can withstand the high-
velocity wind and down-
pour. However, within an
hour of the landfall, one
after another, asbestos
sheets started to get
uprooted from the wood-
bards fitted with them and
flew in the air. Somehow,
we managed to keep our-
selves safe in corner of the
house under the unrelent-
ing rains,” said Puni.
She urged the govern-
ment to immediately pro-
vide tarpaulin sheets as a
temporary measure to
repair the house.
In fact, state Special
Relief Commissioner P.K.
Jena has directed the col-
lectors of affected district
for immediate geographi-
cal indication tagging of
the damaged houses so as
to immediately sanction of
them pucca houses under
various housing schemes,
including Pradhan Mantri
Awas Yojana.
● A FEW GUEST workers
are trying to go home
either by boarding a
truck, by riding a bicycle
or walking.
seat in a Shramik Special
train.
Hussain said, “The
police have been calling us
since May 21 everyday to
inform us that our names
have been finalised for
travel. On May 23, we
received a call at around 2
am (on the intervening
night of Friday and
Saturday) for the same. We
arrived with our luggage
at 5 am and later around 9
am, we were told that the
train has been cancelled.”
Another labourer Istak
Ahmad (39) said that he
had also submitted the
application in the start of
‘Shailaja teacher’ came
in for sharp attack from
BJP Kerala unit and trolls
went after her on social
media. Now, with the
Puducherry Chief
Minister raking up the
issue, the controversy is
far from being over.
Meanwhile, with 62 cases
of Covid-19 reported on
Saturday, Kerala contin-
ues to witness a steep rise
in positive cases with total
number of infected per-
sons in the state reaching
275.
Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan has convened an
all-party meeting on
Wednesday to discuss the
situation against the back-
Amphan-hit Sunderbans
fears surge in migration
Kakdwip (WB), May 23:
Pronab Biswas, a resident
of Kakdwip in
Sundarbans, was happy
that his only son - a guest
worker - had returned
from Maharashtra last
week and had planned to
buy a dinghy to start a
fishing business of his
own. But the 50-year-old’s
plans were blown away on
Wednesday by Cyclone
Amphan as their home
and cattle got swept away
and they lost all their life-
long savings.
Biswas, who has a family
of six to feed, now plans to
accompany his son back to
Maharashtra in search of
livelihood. “After (cyclone)
Aila in 2009, I had moved
to Nashik to work as a
mason there,” he said.
May but did not get any
response. Hence he decid-
ed to cycle back to his
native.
“I cycled up to Bhusawal
and later boarded a truck
for Basti district in UP,” he
added.
Refuting allegations of
the migrant labourers, Dr
Saurabh Tripathi, deputy
commissioner of police of
zone-4, said, “These are
baseless allegations. We
have been only intimating
them to prepare them-
selves to leave in short
notice. That is how we
alert them generally
because arriving at the
police station without con-
firmation is of no use. We
request the public not to
gather near police stations
and risk their life as well
as others.”
In another incident, the
Vasai Road-Gorakhpur
drop of 104 cases being
reported in last two days.
The meeting will be held
with leaders of political
parties through video con-
ferencing.
Prior to the all-party
meeting, the CM will hold
a meeting with MPs and
MLAs on Tuesday.
This is the highest spike
in cases in the state since
the infection began. Of the
62 cases, 18 are from
abroad, 31 from other
states and 13 contracted
the infection through con-
tact including seven
health workers.
The recovery rate in the
state has also fallen
sharply with only 3 per-
“But as I was getting old,
my son replaced me and
started working there for
the last four years.”
“I had saved `10,000 and
had planned to start the
fishing business of my
own with my son once he
returns,” Biswas said.
“But now everything is
gone, my home, my sav-
ings, my cattle.” Biswas is
in touch with the labour
supply agency his son
used to work for and has
requested them to ensure
jobs for both of them once
the lockdown ends.
With livelihood lost and
homes washed away,
observers of the
Sundarbans feel the eco-
logically-fragile region,
which has been under
stress due to rising sea lev-
- PTI
Shramik Special train to
Uttar Pradesh was divert-
ed to a different route via
Odisha due to heavy traf-
fic congestion. The train
that left Vasai Road sta-
tion in Mumbai on May 21
was diverted via Bilaspur,
Jharsuguda, Rourkela,
Adra and Asansol sta-
tions, Western Railway
PRO Ravindra Bhakar
said.
Due to heavy traffic con-
gestion on Itarsi-Jabalpur-
Pt. Deen Dayal Dayal
Nagar route, trains will
now run on the diverted
route through Bilaspur,
Jharsuguda and Rourkela
stations in Odisha, he
said.
Meanwhile, the Railways
has ferried around 32 lakh
migrant workers on board
2,570 ‘Shramik Special’
trains since May 1, accord-
ing to official data.
sons recovering from the
infection on Saturday. So
far 515 persons have recov-
ered from Covid-19 in the
state.
As on Saturday, 91,084
persons were under sur-
veillance including 90,416
in home and institutional
quarantine and 669 in hos-
pitals.
Nine more new hotspots
were declared on Saturday
taking the total number of
hotspots to 37.
Health minister K.K.
Shailaja said the increas-
ing number of cases calls
for more caution and strict
implementation of quar-
antine and precautionary
measures.
pg 5
els, would witness a
migration surge.
West Bengal Sundarbans
affairs minister
Manturam Pakhira said
the region had suffered
losses worth thousands of
crores and everything had
to be rebuilt from scratch.
“With the infrastructure
badly hit, it will take a
heavy toll on the liveli-
hood of the people there,”
said Sugata Hazra, direc-
tor of school of oceano-
graphic sciences at
Jadavpur University.
“In months to come, all
of us will witness huge
migration from the
Sundarbans. Whatever
was rebuilt after Cyclone
Aila, everything has been
lost due to Cyclone
Amphan,” he said. - PTI
THIS ‘BASANTI’
WALKS TO HER
VEERU’S HOUSE
TO MARRY HIM
Kanpur (UP) May 23:
A groom landing at
bride’s place to tie nup-
tial knot is the tradition,
but with the lockdown
threatening to defer her
marriage again, a gusty
19-year-old woman
decided to break the cus-
tom. She marched 80
kms all alone from
Kanpur to Kannauj
early this week to wed
her fiance, said a police
official.
Goldie of Laxman
Tilak village in Dera
Mangalpur block in
Kanpur Dehat district
had been engaged for
quite some time to Veeru
alias Virendra Kumar
Rathor of Baisapur vil-
lage near Taalgram in
Kannauj district.
Their marriage was
last slated to be held on
May 4, only to be post-
poned then. But Goldie’s
patience was already
wearing thin with the
continuing lockdown
threatening to defer the
subh murhut (auspi-
cious occasion) further
drove her tolerance to
the brink.
And so one fine morn-
ing early this week,
Goldie sneaked out of
her house and set off on
foot for her beloved’s
place 80 kms away and
reached there well in
time by evening.
Startled at the sudden
arrival of the bride,
Veeru’s parent’s first
informed Golide’s father
Gorelal. Veeru’s parents
also tried to persuade
their would-be daughter-
in-law to have some
patience and return
home till they get her
married to their son
after reaching her home
with the band baja bar-
rat as per the custom.
But a gusty Goldie had
enough of the endless
waiting, and she put her
foot down, forcing her
sweetheart and his par-
ents to bow to her wish-
es.
ANTI-LEPROSY
DRUG TRIAL
SHOWS PROMISE
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY | DC
BHOPAL, MAY 23
Initial trends of clinical
trial of anti-leprosy
drug, Mycobacterium w
(Mw), for Covid-19, cur-
rently being conducted
in All India Institute of
Medical Science Bhopal,
are ‘encouraging’,
researchers indicated
on Saturday.
Four critically ill
Covid-19 patients, cov-
ered under the clinical
trial, have recovered
and tested negative.
“Four Covid-19
patients who were on
oxygen are now off-oxy-
gen and tested negative
for coronavirus. Initial
trend of clinical trial of
Mw for Covid-19 is
encouraging”, AIIMS
Bhopal director Sarman
Singh told this newspa-
per. “However, it is pre-
mature to jump to any
conclusion at the stage
since it needs to be stud-
ied further,” he added.
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 24 MAY 2020 | COIMBATORE
pg 6

LETTERS
Subhani BOOSTING DEMAND?
The decision of Reserve
24 MAY 2020 Bank of India to cut the
repo rate by 40 basis
Krishna Shastri points (to 4%) might
sound reasonable,
Devulapalli given the poor con-
sumption and invest-
Off the beaten track ment demand in the
economy. But at the
same time, it must be

Let them have song

remembered that the
commercial banks in
turn have to reduce
his is a piece about a piece I didn’t want to write. And, subse- their lending rate to

T quently, how I wrote about why I didn’t want to write it. On FB.
And how that proved I was right in not writing it in the first place.
No, I am not Swami Nithyananda writing pseudonymously from
Shrikailasa and teleporting this piece to DC via soooperconshussnessss.
(Though I do think there is something to the depth of the physics being
households and busi-
ness firms and startups
to benefit the latter. At
this point in time, the
equal to the length of the geography.) Hear me out. confidence of the peo-
Just a while ago, a leading vernacular newspaper asked me if I could ple at large in the coun-

Corona policy must factor

write a piece on someone I’m related to. A piece about what it was like
growing up under his gaze, that kind of thing. try is so low that it will
The following day, I apologized to them saying I would have to decline. deter them from get-
The editor asked me why. I said it seemed unfair on my part to celebrate ting loans.
this person in this manner at a time like this.
She said she understood. But I don’t know if she did. She couldn’t possi- Nevertheless, repo rate

in scientific uncertainty
bly have seen the italics in my response. The reason I declined was not is one of the important
because I thought the person was unworthy of celebration. Or that it was quantitative instru-
inappropriate on my part to celebrate him now.
It was more to do with how we ought to celebrate anyone or anything at
ments available with
all in these times. And by ‘we’, I mean the privileged. the RBI to boost the
Had I written purely about what he was mainly known for, no one would demand or curtail it.
have faulted me. His work is formidable and relevant. of Sars-CoV-2 is, and even might not themselves have
Not enough people knew that he had more difficult to ascertain created the conditions in
another side to him, too: social infection fatality rate. which non-Covid-19 related S. Ramakrishnasayee
Chennai
Veena Das
reformer. And that he had defied con- Confirmed cases of Covid- morbidity might lead to
vention and community, and fought 19 have been measured by excess deaths. Already
for the rights of, well, let’s just say, the rates of positive finding there have been complaints
downtrodden. among people who have that hospitals are turning
RBI’S GESTURES
The right kind of stuff to recall and
celebrate, you’d think, when our
No More Mansplaining been tested for infection.
Data are missing for those
away cancer patients, or
those with other serious WHILE WELCOMING the RBI’s
country’s rich, selfish and entitled are who have not been tested. conditions because of empathic gestures (To soften virus
putting up recipes, work-out videos, t has become common then noted, there are two The profile of the disease is shortage of doctors and pain, RBI reduces repo rate to 4%,

I
and sari challenges as the poorest of to pose the fundamen- strategies, which could be highly variable, and we other health personnel. May 23) of reducing repo rate to 4%
the poor are dying in ways we can’t tal issue today under followed. The first was that know that a very small Under such conditions, and the extending of the repay-
imagine. conditions of extreme of mitigation that would fraction of the total popula- what you need is much ment moratorium on loans for a
But I still didn’t think it was appro- uncertainty produced consist of slowing but not tion of a city, or a nation, more open discussion and further 3 months, it would have
priate to write about him. by the coronavirus in stopping. That would mean has been tested. Under generation of more system- been a blessing in disguise, had it
By writing in a newspaper, some- He referred to the guest terms of a tradeoff between reducing peak hospital these conditions would it atic data on how vulnera- announced a complete relief to bor-
thing only the privileged (and by that workers as the saving lives and saving demand, protecting those not have been wiser to ble populations are being rowers by waiving the EMI at least
I mean anyone who has footwear, unslippered. And he jobs. Yet there are no seri- most at risk and adjusting admit that policy prescrip- actually affected by the for three months (from March to
whose three meals a day are assured, actually believed the ous discussions on how to policy as more data began tions are better made in a lockdowns. Instead, the May), for many borrowers are
has a roof over his head and won’t die guest workers, currently proceed. to come. The second would piecemeal fashion, learn- government’s strategy is to either given pink slips or EMIs
of starvation anytime soon) have be suppression geared to ing as we go along? try to suppress open discus-
access to, or can afford, for that mat-
dying on railway tracks What would an honest
portrayal of partial knowl- reducing the epidemic For instance, the same sion and to blast their way
remain unpaid for over 2 months.
That said, either by collecting the
ter, I wondered what I would have and in road accidents if edge entail for governing growth, reducing case policy of stay-at-place through the crisis by a interest accumulated for the mora-
achieved. hunger, thirst, heat, under crisis, especially for numbers, to low levels and orders probably worked series of lies. torium period later, or fixing the
Would I have disturbed the comfort- exhaustion or plain democratic societies? In a maintaining that situation very well to reduce the Second, given the uncer- interest as a term loan may not
able, as they drank their second dose despair hadn’t got to recent discussion, I had indefinitely till a vaccine spread of infection in New tain trajectories of this pan- hold water technically and practi-
of filter coffee, paper in hand, their them already, needed with some data scientists it became available or the York and to reduce pres- demic and the complexity cally as the borrowers need time to
biggest worry being why their bm seems that the greatest fear pandemic disappeared for sure on hospitals. But even of the social realities any mobilise funds to pay off the dues
wasn’t entirely satisfactory? Would I
songs, ditties and is that if scientists begin to unknown reasons (not an there it did not work that attempt on the part of the accrued. The RBI too can seek
have comforted the disturbed? Not a stand-up comedy... Why show any hesitation in the unknown phenomenon in well for African American government to suppress opinions from borrowers and the
chance. Which hungry soul’s cal- give them rice, dal and predictive power of their the history of epidemics.) It residents of the city who the data should not be toler- lenders in this regard for further
loused feet would my piece have water, was his point, models then people will is striking in this report died in disproportionate ated. In a status report sub- relief. Till such clarity is obtained,
applied balm to? when we could give lose faith in science. In that that it frankly admitted numbers whether because mitted to the Supreme it would be better, if the financial
Would the man himself be writing them life-affirming art case, it is argued it will be that “we do not consider of preexisting conditions, Court at the end of March institutions put on hold giving
were he around now? I think not. He even tougher to impose reg- the ethical or economic or because their ability to in connection with a PIL on pressure to those who have taken
would be out there doing something. and literature. It was as ulations such as lock- implications of either strat- access hospitals was much migrant labour, the attor- loans.
Within minutes of my posting this, if Nero and Marie downs, stay-at-place ord- egy. Instead we focus on more limited than of white ney general submitted that
predictably, a cloth-bag-brandishing Antoinette had had a ers, or social distancing. feasibility.” populations. Where the people are easily panicked E.S. Chandrasekaran
intellectual, the kind that doesn’t nor- love child. It is well known among Translated into ordinary spectrum of assumptions to and that panic had been Chennai
mally grace downmarket dives like historians of epidemics speech this means that the calculate even such basic spread by irresponsible
my page, swooped in. that the management of assumption is that it is facts as infection rate, pro- reporting on the media. It
“Sorry Krishna,” he expounded. (His ilk never just say, they expound,
explicate and expatiate.) “I don’t buy this writing vs doing dichotomy.
crises produced by epi-
demics have led to vast
more feasible to impose
stay-at-place orders for all
portion of people who are
likely to become critically
sought approval of the
requirement that any writ- BORDER SKIRMISHES
That’s lazy theorising. Sometimes, writing is doing. We certainly need to extensions of state power rather than think of con- ill, and infection mortality ing or discussion on Covid- BORDER SKIRMISHES are
celebrate writers like this relative of yours. The unslippered anyway take — for instance, plague reg- tainment in terms of risk rate, yields very different 19 must be first vetted by nothing new to two Asian giants,
comfort in songs while they trudge along the highways, and who knows ulations equipped states assessment taking into numbers, and there is no the government. In this India and China as border dispute
one of those songs could be his.” with draconian laws, and account the fact that there consensus on these facts, case, the request was between them remain unresolved
These are the actual words of the gent. And I use that term loosely. administrative techniques have been unexplained dif- how should scientists pro- denied but it is a pointer to for several decades. The recent
He referred to the guest workers as the unslippered. And he actually that still surface when new ferences in the infection ceed? First of all, I suggest the impulse to suppress fracas between the soldiers of
believed the guest workers, currently dying on railway tracks and in road epidemics arise. Yet the rates, the infection fatality that we need much more discussion. India and China along Line of
accidents if hunger, thirst, heat, exhaustion or plain despair hadn’t got to nature of viruses are ratios, and the proportion open acknowledgment of We should realise that Actual Control (LAC) has upped
them already, needed songs, ditties and stand-up comedy, perhaps. And changing, our understand- of people in a population the fact that the knowledge people are not easily pan- the tension with both of them
poets, writers, composers, filmmakers should busy themselves making ing of the human-microbe who are infected but scientists have of the pan- icked by acknowledge- trading barbs, accusing each
inspirational art to save them, soothe them, as the disaster is still ongoing. relations have undergone asymptomatic. No attempts demic at this time is partial ments of uncertainty in sci- other of trying to alter the existing
Because painting, writing and sculpting were doing, too. Why give them radical changes and new were made in these models and likely to remain so for entific knowledge but they status quo along LAC. Lack of
rice, dal and water, was his point, when we could give them life-affirming epidemics are unlikely to to assess the feasibility of some time. are crushed by the uncer- clarity and consensus between the
art and literature. be repeats of earlier ones. people living in slums in Some economists are tainty generated by the two countries over LAC is one of
It was as if Nero and Marie Antoinette had had a love child. Should our models and crowded conditions to questioning if the dracon- kind of government orders the reasons behind the sudden
It’s not the casual callousness of the ones we dismiss as philistines that forms of implementation observe social distance or ian measures adopted in that leave no room for them flare-up. China’s territorial ambi-
we need to worry about. It is the pathological lack of empathy on the part not change to keep pace to predict how total lock- countries such as India to sustain their already tions, fuelled by its military might
of the so-called intellectual class, the lot that has appointed itself caretak- with these realities? down orders would mean fragile arrangements for and economic clout, is well
er and curator of art and literature, that frightens me. that certain categories of provisioning and social known. As responsible rising pow-
The funny thing, by which I mean sad, is despite my FB post being about SCIENTIFIC the poor such as migrant Would it not have support. ers of the world, leadership of
our appalling lack of empathy, even the ‘positive’ responses, from 95 per AUTHORITY labour would try to return been wiser to both the countries have the onus
cent of the folks, were about this relation of mine. Let us start by revisiting to their villages in large admit that policy The writer is now to give a renewed push to
All isn’t lost, though. Saw another post on FB, that of a mother congratu- the highly influential numbers. prescriptions are Krieger-Eisenhower diplomacy and dialogue to resolve
lating her daughter on her graduation. “Hope the future is full of happy Imperial College Covid-19 better made in a professor of the lingering border dispute for
surprises, baby girl,” she said. “Waiting to celebrate once the world heals.” response team’s forecast on WHO DIES? anthropology at the Johns once and all.
the impact of alternative It is by now well-known
piecemeal fashion, Hopkins University and a
Krishna Shastri Devulapalli is a humour writer, novelist, columnist non-pharmaceutical inter- that it is extremely hard to learning as we corresponding fellow of the M. Jeyaram
and screenwriter ventions. As the report say what the infection rate go along? British Academy Sholavandan

Covid makes cooks scarce, but at 10 Janpath sharing is caringto itself, the National Company Law
Missing the domestic
he government may have started open-
T ing a bit but the coronavirus pandemic
scare is taking a heavy toll on the political
class. The buzz is that 10 Janpath is with-
out its regular cook. Apparently non-resi-
dential domestic help are not encouraged
to come and go everyday by VVIPs. Rahul
Gandhi’s 12 Tuqlaq Lane, however, seems
to have a regular cook and it’s business as
usual. Some with a keen eye have even
noticed food often finding its way from 12
Tuqlaq Lane to 10 Janpath. In the Nehru-
Gandhi household, cooks and personal
attendants enjoyed respect and attention.
After the 1977 defeat, Indira Gandhi’s cook
left for home and she declined a replace-
ment fearing foul play by her political
rival. A woman Congress politician is said
to have helped her with household chores;
she much later rose to occupy an impor-
tant position.
Intrigue at the Gymkhana
Singh Chouhan. Congress leaders are
Tribunal (NCLT) chose the period of the pleading with Chouhan to let them stay as
lockdown to speed up its investigation of strict lockdown conditions in Bhopal are
the club. There is speculation that speed
was essential because one of the ministry’s
coming in way of shifting out of official
bungalows. A crucial by-election in 24
babus wanted to jump the membership Assembly seats is due in the state that will
queue; denied this, he is using this case as have a bearing on the survival of the
leverage to get his way. But what is riling Chouhan regime as the BJP had mustered
some club members is that part of the a majority with large-scale desertion and
NCLT’s case against the club is a petition defections from the Congress. Chouhan is,
filed at the Serious Fraud Investigation therefore, showing little mercy towards the
Office (SFIO) by seven disgruntled club Congress.
members including a former president and
ex-transport secretary. Since this com- Daughter also rises
plaint forms part of the MCA’s case against
the club, Gymkhana sahebs feel it could
undermine the ministry’s case as it is based I n terms of numbers and political
strength, the Congress is the number
on an individual's vendetta. Is this what the four political party in Uttar Pradesh, but
MCA is spending the tax-payer’s money on, thanks to a spirited campaign by Priyanka
they ask. According to them, the club has Gandhi, the grand old party is posing a
already begun an internal investigation challenge to the BJP and chief minister
into most of the issues raised by the MCA. Yogi Adityanath. Alarmed by the rise of
the Congress, anti-BJP parties like
Lockdown leeway Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party
have begun targeting Priyanka and
he lockdown is coming in handy for for- Congress instead of the BJP. Mayawati,
Narendra Modi’s “farcical” economic pack-
age and the neglect of states during the
coronavirus lockdown. While Priyanka
seems to be doing well against the BJP, not
every Congress leader in Uttar Pradesh is
happy with her private secretary Sandeep
Singh. A former student union leader,
Sandeep recently courted controversy
when an audio-clip of him allegedly abus-
ing party workers started doing the rounds
on WhatsApp groups.
My friend, Kovind
hen Bengal was devastated by Cyclone
W Amphan, President Ram Nath Kovind
was quick to call chief minister Mamata
Banerjee to express his concern. Mamata
enjoys warm and cordial ties with the
incumbent at Rashtrapati Bhawan while
her rapport with BJP-NDA regime is
uneven. Oldtimers recall how Mamata was
among first few callers when Kovind took
over as President in 2017, even while
Opposition parties like the Congress were
maintaining a distance.

A ll is not well in the prestigious Delhi

Gymkhana Club. The Union ministry of
T mer state ministers in Madhya Pradesh
state capital Bhopal. Former ministers in
Akhilesh Yadav and Delhi chief minister
Arvind Kejriwal boycotted a video-confer- The writer is a keen
corporate affairs is reportedly investigat-
ing into its affairs. For reasons best known
the Kamal Nath government were slapped
eviction notices by chief minister Shivraj
By WAQYANAWIS ence meeting of the “united” Opposition
that was called to oppose Prime Minister
observer of the goings-on
in backrooms of power

ADITYA SINHA Editor, R. MOHAN Resident Editor

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 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | COIMBATORE | SUNDAY | 24 MAY 2020
IN
Mexico jail brawl
BRIEF
kills 7 inmates
Mexico City: Inmates brawled
among each other with fists
and guns at a prison in west-
ern Mexico on Friday, leaving
seven prisoners dead and
nine others wounded. Jalisco
state authorities described
the killings at the infamous
Puente Grande prison com-
plex as a fight between inm-
ates, rather than a riot. “The-
re was never a riot,” said the
state’s prison director, José
Antonio Pérez. “There was
never a dispute for control of
the facility.” Officials did not
explain how the inmates got
the two guns used in the
fight. Prosecutors said five of
the attackers were arrested.
Bullying: US Sikh
student files suit
New York: A Sikh student in
the US state of New Jersey
has filed a lawsuit against a
Board of Education alleging
that he was subjected to
bias-based bullying because
of his faith and was forced to
permanently pull out of
school due to the prolonged
harassment. Community-
based organisation the Sikh
Coalition said it has joined
with co-counsel at the Law
Offices of Brian M. Cige to
file a complaint against the
Gloucester County Special
Services School District
Board of Education in
Sewell, New Jersey.
Netanyahu is
going on trial
Jerusalem: After entering
the record books last year as
Israel’s longest-serving
prime minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu will once again
make history when he
becomes the country’s first
sitting leader to go on trial.
Surrounded by security
guards, Netanyahu is set to
march into Jerusalem’s dis-
trict court for arraignment
on a series of corruption
charges on Sunday. The
stunning scene will push
Israel into uncharted political
and legal territory, launching
a process that could ulti-
mately end the career of a
leader who has been
undefeatable at the ballot
box for over a decade.
Greece asks UK
for Elgin Marbles
Athens: Greece on Saturday
urged Britain to return the
Parthenon Marbles — often
known as the Elgin Marbles
— as one of the world’s gre-
atest ancient sites the
Acropolis re-opens after the
Covid-19 shutdown. The
ancient friezes, which
include depictions of battles
between mythical ancient
Greeks and centaurs, were
taken by Lord Elgin in
the early 19th century and
are now on display at the
British Museum, London.
Britain has always refused to
return them, arguing that
they were taken with the
permission of local Ottoman
rulers. Culture Minister Lina
Mendoni said that the
Marbles were “loot”.
FASTEST NET
DATA SPEED
RECORDED
Melbourne, May 23: Scientis-
ts have achieved the world’s
fastest internet data speed,
which is enough to download
1000 HD movies in a split seco-
nd, using a single optical chip,
an advance that can help scale
up the capacity of network
connections across the world.
According to the study, publ-
ished in the journal Nature
Communications, the new inn-
ovation could fast-track telec-
ommunications capacity of co-
untries struggling with dema-
nd on internet infrastructure.
The researchers, including
Bill Corcoran from Monash
University in Australia, recor-
ded a data speed of 44.2 Tera-
bits per second (Tbps) from a
single light source.
This speed was achieved by
attaching their new device to
existing fibre-optic technology,
like the one used in broadband
internet network. “Initially,
these would be attractive for
ultra-high speed communica-
tions between data centres,”
Arnan Mitchell, a co-author of
the study from RMIT Univer-
sity in Australia, said.
They tested the transmission
on 76.6 kilometres of optical fi-
bres between RMIT’s Melbour-
ne City Campus and Monash
University’s Clayton Campus.
The scientists used their new
device which replaces 80
lasers with one single piece of
equipment known as a micro-
comb, which is smaller and
lighter than existing telecom-
munications hardware.
China plans security bodies for HK
It will help act against splitting the country, subverting state power or terror activities
Beijing, May 23: China is
preparing to set up nation-
al security agencies in
Hong Kong to deal with
pro-democracy agitators,
the state media reported
on Saturday, a day after
Beijing introduced a cont-
roversial national security
law to firm up control over
the former British colony.
Currently, a Chinese mil-
itary garrison comprising
over 10,000 troops — main-
ly a symbolic presence for
external defence — is stat-
ioned in Hong Kong. The
public order is maintained
by the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region
(HKSAR) government.
The draft bill on establis-
hing and improving the le-
gal system and enforceme-
nt mechanisms for the
Hong Kong Special Admi-
nistrative Region (HKS-
AR) to safeguard national
security was submitted to
the National People’s Con-
gress (NPC) during its
week-long session here
and is expected to be pass-
ed on May 28.
The bill is a political bo-
mbshell for the former Br-
itish colony as China has
decided to bypass the local
legislative council to bring
about a new national secu-
rity law, tailor-made to co-
ntrol Hong Kong after the
pro-Beijing local administ-
No case in China, OCIs hail easing of visa, travel restrictions
surge in LatAm H-1B legislation to give priority WH
Berlin, May 23: New
Covid-19 cases dropped to
zero in China for the first
time Saturday but overw-
helmed hospitals across
Latin America — both in
countries lax about lock-
downs and those lauded
for firm, early confineme-
nt. The pandemic’s persi-
stence stymied authoriti-
es struggling to keep peo-
ple safe and revive their
economies at the same
time, disrupting the Mem-
orial Day weekend in the
United States and collect-
ive celebrations around
the Muslim world marki-
ng the end of the holy
month of Ramzan.
As deaths and infections
surge across Latin Ameri-
ca, experts note the limits
of government action in a
region where millions
have informal jobs and
many police forces are
weak or corrupt and una-
ble to enforce restrictio-
ns. Brazil and Mexico re-
ported record numbers of
infections and deaths al-
most daily this week, fuel-
ing criticism of their pre-
sidents for limited lockd-
owns. But infections also
rose and intensive-care
units were swamped in
Peru, Chile and Ecuador,
all lauded for imposing
early and aggressive busi-
ness shutdowns and quar-
antines. One bright spot
emerged Saturday: China,
where the outbreak began
late last year, reported no
new confirmed cases for
the first time.
In Germany, seven peo-
ple appear to have been
infected with the Covid-19
at a restaurant in the nor-
thwest of the country. It
would be the first known
such case since restaura-
nts started reopening in
the country two weeks
ago. And in the southwes-
tern city of Frankfurt, a
parish leader says that
several members of a con-
gregation have tested pos-
itive for the Covid-19 after
attending a church serv-
ice on May 10. Six are hos-
pitalised, said the Evang-
elical Christian Baptist
congregation. — AP
CHANGES | GALORE
Disinfected dice: Las Vegas casinos getting ready to roll
Las Vegas, May 23: Free
parking, but no valet serv-
ice. Bartenders, blackjack
dealers and waiters wear-
ing masks. Hand sanitiser
everywhere. Yes, dice will
roll, cards will be dealt and
slot machines will beckon.
But poker rooms? Closed.
Tourists returning to Las
Vegas will see changes sin-
ce gambling stopped in
mid-March for the first
time ever to stem the spre-
ad of the Covid-19. The sta-
kes could not be higher,
said Robert Lang, executi-
ve director of the Brookin-
gs Mountain West think
tank at the University of
Nevada, Las Vegas.
People crossing a road are seen through the window of a tram in Hong Kong on Saturday. A proposal to enact new Hong Kong security legislation
was submitted, state media said, a move expected to fan fresh protests in the semi-autonomous financial hub.
ration headed by Chief Ex-
ecutive Carrie Lam failed
to control months of mass
protests by pro-democracy
groups demanding autono-
PRESS SECY
REVEALS TRUMP’S
UK PM TOP AIDE
DEFIES CURBS,
MAY BE SACKED
London, May 23: British
Prime Minister Boris Jo-
hnson is under pressure
to sack his top aide after
reports that he breached
the Covid-19 stay-at-home
lockdown rules by travell-
ing to his parents’ home.
Dominic Cummings,
who is Johnson’s Chief
Strategy Adviser at No.
10 Downing Street, had
developed Covid-19 symp-
toms around the same
time the UK PM tested
positive for the deadly
virus at the end of Mar-
ch. Downing Street on
Saturday said Cummings
believed he “behaved rea-
sonably and legally” and
that his actions were in
line with the Covid-19 gu-
idelines. — PTI
ID HAS POTENTIAL
OF BECOMING A
SUPER-SPREADER
Johannesburg, May 23:
A powerful Muslim body
in South Africa has cauti-
oned the community me-
mbers about Id turning
into a “super-spreader” of
the deadly Covid-19, urgi-
ng them to forego the tra-
ditional ways of celebrat-
ing the festival. The Mus-
lim Judicial Council of
South Africa (MJCSA)
issued a statement on Fri-
day, calling on Muslims to
not to engage in the tradi-
tional ceremonies and pr-
ayers associated with Id.
“Id can potentially beco-
me a super-spreading eve-
nt, which results in many
more people dying, espec-
ially if people disobey lo-
ckdown regulations and
start visiting family. Plea-
se avoid physically getti-
ng together as it puts yo-
urself and your family at
risk,” it said. — PTI
Regulators will consider plans, which need approval at least seven days before reopening
“Las Vegas can never be
known as the place where
people go and get sick,” he
said. Nevada Gov. Steve Si-
solak has set a tentative
June 4 date for reopening
casinos. The Democratic
governor said in a stateme-
nt Friday that Nevada has
continued to see decreasi-
ng cases of the Covid-19
and hospitalisations of Co-
vid-19 when some restricti-
ons began to be eased near-
ly two weeks ago.
Sisolak’s office said he pl-
ans to hold a news confere-
nce on Tuesday to offer
more details about the
next phase of reopening,
assuming those positive tr-
my and freedom from Chi-
na. The Chinese central
government is preparing
to set up national security
agencies in Hong Kong to
Washington, May 23:
The Indian-Americans
have welcomed the decisi-
on of the Indian governm-
ent to ease the Covid-19-li-
nked global travel restrict-
ions imposed on those ha-
ving OCI cards, describi-
ng it as a big relief for
them. Overseas Citizens
of India or OCI card is iss-
ued to people of Indian or-
igin globally which gives
them almost all the privil-
eges of an Indian national
except for the right to
vote, government service
and buying agricultural
land. The OCI card gives
them a visa free travel to
India. On Friday, the cent-
ral government allowed
certain categories of OCI
card holders, who are str-
anded abroad, to come to
the country.
Earlier, according to the
regulations issued by the
Indian government in Ap-
ril, visas of foreign natio-
nals and OCI cards were
suspended as part of the
new international travel
restrictions following the
Covid-19 pandemic.
This privilege of visa
free travel to India was
causing distress among a
large number of people of
Indian-origin and Indian
citizens in countries like
the US whose children
were OCI card holders as
they were born in this
country. Many Indian par-
ents, several of whom lost
their jobs as a result of
the economic crisis due to
Covid-19 pandemic, but
were not allowed to take
the special evacuation fli-
ghts of Air India from va-
rious US cities, took to
PIA plane checked March 21
Islamabad, May 23: The
Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA) on Saturd-
ay said the crashed Airb-
us A-320 was checked on
March 21 and it flew from
Muscat to Lahore a day
before the accident.
The cash-strapped natio-
nal flag carrier, which has
been running into huge
financial losses, issued a
summary detailing the te-
chnical history of the air-
ends continue through the
Memorial Day weekend.
Nevada’s gambling regula-
tors also plan to meet Tu-
esday and will consider re-
opening plans submitted
from casinos, which need
to be approved at least sev-
en days before reopening.
“We all know what we’ve
gone through for the last
10 weeks. No one’s having
fun,” said Bill Hornbuckle,
acting chief executive and
president of casino giant
MGM Resorts Internation-
al. “The simple idea that I
could get out, come to a
resort, lay at a pool, enjoy
a nice dinner, sit at a
blackjack table. There’s
enhance information coll-
ection and evidence-based
dealing against acts of ‘sp-
litting the country, subver-
ting state power, organisi-
to US-educated foreign youths
Washington, May 23: A
bipartisan group of lawm-
akers have for the first
time introduced a legislat-
ion in both the chambers
of the US Congress propo-
sing major reforms in the
H-1B work visas by giving
priority to the best and br-
ightest US-educated forei-
gn youths, a move that co-
uld benefit Indian studen-
ts already in the country.
The H-1B visa is a non-
immigrant visa that allo-
ws US companies to empl-
oy foreign workers in spe-
ciality occupations that
require theoretical or tec-
hnical expertise. Compan-
ies depend on it to hire
tens of thousands of emp-
loyees each year from cou-
ntries like India and Chi-
social media and urged
the Indian leaders to all-
ow them to travel to India.
“This is a big relief for
the OCI card holders. It
was a humanitarian crisis
in the making. I am pleas-
ed that the Indian Govern-
ment listened to their voi-
ces,” said social activist
Prem Bhandari, chairm-
an of Jaipur Foot USA,
who has been taking up
the cause of the OCI card
holders. At the same time,
a number of OCI card
holders on Friday sought
further relaxation.
— PTI
craft, saying there was
“no defect related to the
engine, landing gear or
major aircraft system”,
the Dawn reported.
Ninety-seven people
were killed and two passe-
ngers miraculously survi-
ved the crash when the
PIA flight PK-8303 with 99
travellers on board
plunged into a densely
populated Jinnah Garden
area near Model Colony in
● SIGNS EVERYWHERE
will remind guests of
new rules: Wash your
hands; keep distance
from others; limit your
elevator ride to your
sanitised room to just
four people.
something to be said for all
of that.” Many properties
have aimed for an early
June restart in the gambli-
ng mecca closed almost ov-
ernight in the middle of a
hot streak — three consec-
utive $1 billion months in
statewide casino winnin-
gs. The city had been draw-
ng and perpetrating terro-
rist activities’ as it acceler-
ated efforts to formulate
the national security legis-
lation, state-run Global Ti-
na. On April 1, the US Cit-
izenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) said that
the US received nearly
275,000 unique registrati-
on requests for the Cong-
ressional mandated 85,000
H-1B visas for foreign tec-
hnology professionals, of
which more than 67 per
cent are from India.
As far as the students are
concerned, India accounts
for the second largest nu-
mber of foreign students
in the US after China. Th-
ere are more than 200,000
Indian students in the US.
The H-1B and L-1 Visa
Reform Act, as introduced
in the House of Represe-
ntatives and the Senate,
will require US Citizensh-
ip and Immigration Servi-
Laser weapon to hit craft tested
Washington, May 23: A
US Navy warship has succ-
essfully tested a new high-
energy laser weapon that
can destroy aircraft mid-fl-
ight, the Navy’s Pacific Fl-
eet has announced. Images
and videos provided by the
Navy show the amphibio-
us transport dock ship
USS Portland executing
“the first system-level imp-
lementation of a high-ene-
rgy class solid-state laser”
to disable an aerial drone
Malir on Friday af-
ternoon, minutes before
its landing in Karachi’s
Jinnah International Air-
port. Eleven people on the
ground were injured.
According to the PIA’s
engineering and mainten-
ance department, the hea-
lth of both the engines
was “satisfactory” and
maintenance checks were
being performed at inter-
vals. — PTI
ing more than 40 million
annual visitors. Once giv-
en the green light, the mar-
quees and the managers
will welcome people back
to this 24/7 town built for
crowds, excitement and ex-
cess. But not every resort
amenity will be open.
Nightclubs, dayclubs, bu-
ffets and large venues will
remain closed. Cirque du
Soleil shows will stay
dark, at least for now. Sig-
ns everywhere will remind
guests of new rules: Wash
your hands; keep distance
from others; limit your ele-
vator ride to your sanitis-
ed room to just four people.
“You’re going to see a lot
— AFP
mes reported on Saturday.
The NPC Standing
Committee can hold inter-
im meetings to sign the
bill into law. — PTI
ces to prioritize for the fir-
st time the annual allocat-
ion of H-1B visas.
The new system would
ensure that the best and
brightest students being
educated in the US receive
preference for an H-1B
visa, including advanced
degree holders, those bei-
ng paid a high wage, and
those with valuable skills,
proponents of this major
legislative reforms said.
The legislation explicitly
prohibits the replacement
of American workers by
H-1B or L-1 visa holders,
clarifying that working
conditions of similarly
employed American work-
ers may not be adversely
affected by the hiring of
an H-1B worker. — PTI
aircraft, the Navy said in a
statement on Friday.
It did not give a specific
location of the laser weap-
ons system demonstrator
(LWSD) test, saying only
that it occurred in the Pac-
ific on May 16. Navy ships
face an increasing number
of threats in conducting
their missions, including
Unmanned Aerial Vehicl-
es, armed small boats, and
adversary intelligence, su-
rveillance and reconnaiss-
FIRST HUMAN CLINICAL TRIAL OF
COVID-19 VACCINE FINDS IT IS SAFE
Beijing, May 23: The
first Covid-19 vaccine to
reach phase I clinical tri-
al is safe, well-tolerated,
and capable of generating
an immune response aga-
inst the Covid-19 in huma-
ns, says a new research
published in The Lancet
journal. According to the
study of 108 adults, the
vaccine produced neutra-
lising antibodies, and a
of social distancing,” said
Sean McBurney, general
manager at Caesars Pala-
ce. “If there’s crowding,
it’s every employee’s resp-
onsibility to ensure there’s
social distancing.”
Dice will be disinfected
between shooters, chips cl-
eaned periodically and
card decks changed frequ-
ently. At some resorts gue-
sts will be encouraged to
use cellphones for touchle-
ss check in, as room keys,
and to read restaurant me-
nus. Wynn Resorts proper-
ties and The Venetian, ow-
ned by Las Vegas Sands,
plan to use thermal imagi-
ng cameras at every ent-
pg 7
US DISCUSSES
FIRST N-TEST
SINCE 1992
Washington, May 23:
President Donald Trum-
p’s administration has
discussed holding the fi-
rst US nuclear test since
1992 as a potential warn-
ing to Russia and China,
the Washington Post rep-
orted Friday.
Such a test would be a
significant departure
from US defence policy
and dramatically up the
ante for other nuclear-
armed nations. One ana-
lyst told the newspaper
that if it were to go ahe-
ad it would be seen as
the “starting gun to an
unprecedented nuclear
arms race”.
The report, citing one
senior administration
official and two former
officials, all who spoke
anonymously, said the
discussion had taken pl-
ace at a meeting on May
15. It came after some US
officials reportedly clai-
med that Russia and Chi-
na were conducting the-
ir own low-yield tests.
Moscow and Beijing
have denied the claims,
and the US has not offer-
ed evidence for them.
The senior administrati-
on official said that dem-
onstrating Washington’s
ability to “rapid test”
would be a useful negoti-
ating tactic.
— AFP
BANK DETAILS
Washington, May 23: Re-
vealing a little too much,
White House Press Secret-
ary Kayleigh McEnany co-
mmitted a gaffe by disclosi-
ng President Donald Trum-
p’s bank information while
displaying a cheque donati-
ng his quarterly salary to
the Department of Health
and Human Services.
As she held the cheque to
show it to the reporters, it
not only had the $100,000
amount to be given to the
HHS but also displayed the
president’s private bank
account and routing numb-
ers. “It’s not a best practice
to share that information
publicly,” Eva Velasquez,
president and chief execut-
ive of the Identity Theft Re-
source Center, said. — PTI
ance systems.
The US Navy has been
developing directed-ener-
gy weapons (DEWs), to in-
clude lasers, since the
1960s. DEWs are defined as
electromagnetic systems
capable of converting che-
mical or electrical energy
to radiated energy and foc-
using it on a target, result-
ing in physical damage
that degrades, neutralises,
defeats, or destroys an adv-
ersarial capability. — PTI
response mediated by the
immune system’s T-cells
against the Covid-19,
SARS-CoV-2.
However, the scientists,
including those from the
Beijing Institute of Biote-
chnology in China said
further research is need-
ed to confirm whether the
vaccine protects against
SARS-COV-2 infection.
— PTI
rance to intercept people
with fevers. Smaller opera-
tors in Las Vegas and Reno
will offer hand-sanitiser.
“A gondola pilot wearing
a face mask will be on
board to steer the vessel,”
a Venetian protocol says.
“Gondoliers stationed alo-
ng the canal will serenade
passengers from an appro-
priate distance.” New state
Gaming Control Board re-
gulations require surfaces
to be disinfected according
to federal Centers for Dise-
ase Control and Preventi-
on guidelines and “increa-
sed attention” to hotel ite-
ms like television remotes
and light switches. — AP
 GAMES
DECCAN CHRONICLE | COIMBATORE | SUNDAY | 24 MAY 2020
pg 8

Keep your cap son Ivanka all praise

SHORT TAKES
Osaka best-paid
female athlete
New York: Japanese tennis star
Naomi Osaka has become the
world’s highest-paid female
athlete, making $37.4 million
(34.3 million euros) in the past
12 months for an earnings
record, Forbes magazine
reported on Friday.
The 22-year-old Asian star, a
two-time Grand Slam champi-
on, edged US rival Serena
Williams by $1.4 million in prize
money and endorsement
income over the past year.
Both shattered the old single-
year earnings mark of $29.7
million set in 2015 by Russia’s
Maria Sharapova, who retired in
February with five Grand Slam
titles, including a career Slam.
“To those outside the tennis
world, Osaka is a relatively
fresh face with a great back
story,” University of Southern
California sports business pro-
fessor David Carter told Forbes.
Osaka, whose father was born
in Haiti and whose mother is
Japanese, ranks 29th on the
2020 Forbes list of the world’s
100 top-paid athletes.
— AFP
Tiger eyes Phil
scalp in Miami
Miami: Tiger Woods couldn’t
resist a little last-minute
needling before Sunday’s
charity showdown with Phil
Mickelson, with a deadpan pre-
diction that he and partner
Peyton Manning would
dominate.
“At the end of the day, our
team’s going to win, it’s just a
matter of how much we’re going
Players can’t handover hats to umpires or take a leak
Dubai, May 22: There
will neither be loo breaks
during training nor the
players will be allowed to
hand over their caps or
sunglasses to the on-field
umpires as international
cricketers will be
required to let go of some
of their intrinsic habits
when play resumes in the
post-Covid-19 world.
In its “back to cricket”
guidelines issued for
resumption of the game,
the International Cricket
Council (ICC) has effec-
tively barred players from
handing over their per-
sonal equipments (cap,
towel, sunglasses, jump-
ers) to the umpire or his
teammates as part of
maintaining social dis-
tance.
“Players and umpires
should maintain social
distancing on the cricket
field and that includes no
handing over of player
items (cap, towels, sun-
glasses, jumpers) to the
umpire or teammates,”
read the ICC playing
guidelines.
However there was no
clarity on who will keep
the players’ items?
“Consider adopting a
process that will assist the
bowler in managing
his/her items. Umpires
may also be encouraged to
use gloves when handling
for cyclist Jyoti
Washington, May 23: US
President Donald Trump’s
daughter and senior White
House adviser Ivanka
Trump has praised 15-year-
old Jyoti Kumari, who
cycled down 1,200km carry-
ing her ailing father dur-
ing the nationwide lock-
down in India, terming her
act as a “beautiful feat of
endurance and love”.
Stuck in Gurugram in
Haryana due to the Covid-
19-induced travel restric-
tions and lockdown, a tena-
cious Jyoti asked her
father to sit on the rear
side carrier of her cycle
and took him to his native
place in Bihar, covering
1200km in seven days.
Ivanka took to Twitter on
Friday to highlight the
story of the Indian girl, a
class eight student, whose
journey has become an
extensive talking point
even on social media where
there has been talk about
whether she has it in her to
pursue cycling as a career.
“15 yr old Jyoti Kumari,
carried her wounded
Hertha hammer
Union in derby
ICC umpire Richard Kettleborough (left) hands over a cap to Pakistan’s pacer Naseem Shah in this file photo. Berlin, May 23: Hosts
Hertha claimed the Berlin
derby bragging rights over
● American
President’s
daughter Ivanka
Trump is impressed
by the devotion
shown by 15-year-
old Jyoti Kumari,
who pedalled
1,200km carrying
her ailing father.
father to their home village
on the back of her bicycle
covering +1,200 km over 7
days.
“This beautiful feat of
endurance & love has cap-
tured the imagination of
the Indian people and the
cycling federation!” Ivanka
said in a tweet.
Impressed with the
doggedness with which
Kumari pedalled her way
to Bihar from Gurugram,
carrying her ailing father,
the Cycling Federation of
India (CFI) will invite
Kumari to appear for a
trial next month. — PTI
● Goals from Vedad
Ibisevic, Dodi

IPL best after World Cup: Jos

to win by,” 15-time major cham-
pion Woods said in an interview
posted on Golf Digest’s YouTube
channel.
“Do we keep it close, do we
blow them out ... we don’t want
to have viewers turn off if we’re
9-up through nine, that’s proba-
bly not going to be good. So
we’ll just be 8-up through nine —
something like that,” Woods
added. Reigning Masters cham-
pion Woods will team with
Manning, a superstar NFL quar-
terback who retired in 2016 after
winning his second Super Bowl
title. Mickelson will team with
Tom Brady, who recently signed
with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
after winning six Super Bowl
titles in 20 years with the New
England Patriots. The 18-hole
match will include nine holes of
four-ball and nine holes of modi-
fied alternate shot. — AFP
the ball,” says the govern-
ing body.
The players are unlikely
to keep their cap or sun-
glasses in the field of play
as it would attract penalty
runs just like in the case
of a helmet. The ICC also
wants them to minimise
their “time spent in the
changing room before and
after a match”.
BOARD CAUTIONS
MEMBER NATIONS
The ICC has advised its
member nations to exer-
cise caution while resum-
ing cricket activities, fear-
ing a spurt in local trans-
mission with many coun-
tries still struggling to
contain the Covid-19 pan-
demic. ‘Safety first’ is one
of the primary considera-
tions of the ICC’s back-to-
cricket guidelines and
involving the govern-
ments at all stages is a
must. “The resumption of
cricket activities should
begin only if there is no
perceived or known risk
that doing so might result
in an increase in the local
transmission rate,” the
ICC said in its guidelines.
— PTI
London, May 23: The
Indian Premier League
(IPL) has helped English
cricket grow, feels bats-
man Jos Buttler, admit-
ting that the cash-rich T20
tournament is the best in
the world after the ICC
World Cups.
Butler said he was des-
perate to be a part of this
year’s IPL, which now has
been indefinitely suspend-
ed owing to the Covid-19
pandemic.
The World Cup-winning
England wicketkeeper
batsman, has been a part
of two franchises in the
IPL. After playing for
Mumbai Indians in the
2016-17 season, Buttler
moved to Rajasthan
Royals in 2018.
“There’s no doubt that it
(IPL) has helped English
cricket grow and the num-
bers of players who were
involved in the last few
years,” Buttler said in the
BBC Podcast ‘The Doosra’.
“It was something I was
game rubbing shoulders
NEED TO SOLVE PUJARA together.
“Some of the match ups
you get to see in the IPL
PUZZLE, SAYS CUMMINS are great. Bangalore has
been amongst the top
Melbourne, May 23: Australia’s premier fast Pat three teams with (Virat))
Cummins is well aware of Chesteshwar Pujara’s Kohli, AB (de Villiers) and
capabilities, insisting that they will need to “take (Chris) Gayle coming up
their medicine” to outlast the Indian middle-order and then to see them up
mainstay in the home series this summer. against a (Jasprit)
Pujara’s exploits with the bat in India’s series win Bumrah or a Dale Steyn
in 2018-19 is still fresh in Cummins' mind and he or (Lasith) Malinga. As a
would like to avoid a repeat of the same in the kid growing up that is
upcoming tour. “He (Pujara) had a mammoth series what you want to play —
for them (in 2018-19). He’s one of those players that'll fantasy cricket” he added.
take his time, he’s in his own little bubble and he Buttler credited former
doesn't get disturbed by too much,” Cummins told skipper Kevin Pietersen,
cricket.com.au. who advocated for the cre-
“We’ve got to find a way to outlast him if he bats ation of a separate win-
the way he did last time. There wasn't too much in dow for the IPL, paving
the pitch so you couldn't manufacture anything. So I the way for English play-
think (we need to) take our medicine a bit more and ers to be a part of the
try and outlast him,” he added. — PTI cash-rich tournament.
“English cricket has got
quite an interesting histo-
desperate to play. For me sive strides as a white ball ry with the IPL. The docu-
it’s the best tournament player after a few seasons mentary about Kevin
in the world, taking out of IPL, said the league is Pietersen and how he
the World Cups,” he like the fantasy cricket he wanted to get involved
added. aspired to play as kid, and the road blocks he
Buttler, who made mas- with the top stars of the faced,” he said. — PTI
Union with a convincing 4-
0 victory in their almost
empty 74,000-capacity
Olympic Stadium.
Hertha moved up to 10th
place after the opening
match of the second round
of games since the
Bundesliga restarted last
week
Coronavirus
under strict
measures
thanks to second-half goals
from Vedad Ibisevic, Dodi
Lukebakio, Matheus
Cunha and Dedryck
Boyata.
“It would have been fan-
tastic if we could have
played a game like that in
front of 75,000 spectators.
But I hope that the fans at
least had fun in front of
their TVs,” said Hertha
coach Bruno Labbadia.
“In the first half we
played very well against
well-organised opponents.
I had to make that clear to
my team at half-time
because they were feeling a
Lukebakio, Matheus
Cunha and Dedryck
Boyata saw the
hosts Hertha earn a
4-0 bragging rights
over Union in the
Berlin Derby.
bit negative. By the end we
were happy because these
were important points in
the relegation battle,”
Bruno added.
Labbadia started Czech
Republic midfielder
Vladimir Darida in the
only change from last
Saturday’s win at
Hoffenheim in his first
home match in charge.
Union’s Urs Fischer, who
guided the east Berlin out-
fit to the top-flight for the
first time this season,
brought in four fresh faces
to his starting lineup after
Sunday’s loss to Bayern
Munich. — AFP

R. Shanmugam Finch wants Boards to stand united

Melbourne, May 23: Finch added.
EX-TN COACH Australia’s limited over
captain Aaron Finch AUSTRALIAN SPIN BOWLING IS GOING Stakes are high for
Australia as India is also

SHANMUGAM believes cricket boards

PASSES AWAY
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, MAY 23
Former Tamil Nadu footballer R.
Shanmugam, who coached ICF,
the state team and Indian
Railways, passed away in
Chennai on Saturday. He was
77. Shanmugam started his
football career in Burma, where
he grew up before settling
down in Chennai. He represent-
ed the Burmese junior and sen-
ior national teams from 1966 to
1967. He then turned out for
Mohun Bagan and played for
Indian Railways in the 1969 sen-
ior nationals at Nowgam. Later,
he represented Tamil Nadu in
across the world will have
to compromise and make
“one big effort” to get the
sport back on track follow-
ing the Coronavirus hia-
tus.
There are speculations
that the 13th IPL, which
was suspended indefinite-
ly due to the Covid-19 pan-
demic, might be conduct-
ed in October-November
at the expense of the T20
World Cup in Australia.
Finch, who is on the
board of Australian play-
ers’ union, said it is not
only about the IPL and all
stakeholders have to make
compromises to get crick-
et to thrive again.
DOWN THE HILL FAST, WARNS WARNE scheduled to tour Down
Under for a Test and ODI
series with $300 million
Melbourne, May 23: The legendary
Shane Warne believes Cricket
learn how to bowl on day one or day
four. At the moment, they (states) only
riding on it.
Former Australian skip-
Australia should force the states to pick them when the conditions suit. per Allan Border felt IPL
pick a spinner in every first class game How are they going to learn if you don't should not get precedent
to improve the quality of spin bowling allow them to play state cricket? There over the T20 World Cup,
in the country which is currently has to be a responsibility on the states while ex-captain Ian
“going downhill fast.” to pick one specialist spinner in every Chappell said the top
“A spinner should play every single game. And if they don’t, well maybe cricketers of the country
game, no matter what the conditions Cricket Australia has to step in,” need to snub the cash-rich
are like, so that particular spinners can Warne told The West Australian. — PTI league.
“Everyone working
together to get the best
“It will get to a point, not back and countries thriv- (Future Tours Program) result for everyone...
just for IPL but for all ing again,” Finch was again. The next couple of Some situations where it’s
cricket, there’ll be a com- quoted as saying by weeks we’ll have more not ideal for Australia we
promise from a lot of dif- ‘Sydney Morning Herald’. idea what that looks like, have to compromise and
ferent stakeholders organ- “I think the ICC are what compromises will be give. It will be one big Per Skjelbred (left) of Hertha Berlin vies for the ball with
isations, countries, play- meeting next week to start made for different tourna- effort, I think,” the 33- Marius Buelter of Union Berlin during their German
ers, the ICC to get cricket discussing the FTP ments and countries,” year-old said. — PTI league match in Berlin on Friday. Hertha won 4-0. — AP

Is Dada interested in ICC’s chairman post?

the 1970 and 1971 senior nation-
als at Jalandhar and Chennai
respectively. From 1969 to 1977
he played for Integral Coach
Factory.
As a coach, Shanumugam men-
tored the legendary Chennai fair to assume that offi- BCCI, but also — directly is not held, the projected win situation for every- Moot point is whether
player, P. Nagesh. He became a cials have been working and obliquely — other `3000-`3500 crore rupees body, those in favour of the Ganguly himself is inter-
qualified football coach after assiduously behind the boards who lean one way profit have to be written league aver. ested in the ICC job. His
clearing diplomas in coaching curtain, turning a screw or the other on the BCCI off forever. However, if the In the other story, South assignment as BCCI chief
from the National Institute of Ayaz Memon here, twisting a handle for succour. In case of hin- T20 World Cup is post- African Cricket’s new officially finishes in July.
Sports in 1975-76 and the there, to keep hopes of drances to holding the IPL poned, the losses would be Cricket Director and for- According to the Justice
Brazilian Football Academy in Over The Top staging the 2020 edition: this year, the could ‘pun- miniscule in comparison. mer captain Graeme
Smith has backed Sourav
Lodha Committee’s pro-
posal, Ganguly then goes
1995. He also attended Fifa preferably in India itself, ish’ a recalcitrant Board With spectators unlikely
coaching courses in 1978 and but if circumstances by refusing to host or tour to be allowed to attend Ganguly as the next ICC for a three-year cooling off
period since he has

1991.
Regd. No.
TNENG/2010/35692
Printed & Published by
K. Sudhakar on behalf of
Deccan Chronicle Holdings
Limited and Printed at
Deccan Chronicle Press situated at
No 2/22, Sengalipalayam Road,
N.G.G.O Colony Post,
Kurudampalayam Village,
Coimbatore - 641 022. RNI
Registration No: TNENG/2010/35692
Ph No : 2231252,253,255,257 & 358
Editor: ADITYA SINHA
W
hether the IPL
should be played
this year and who
the next chairman of the
ICC should be were the top
cricket stories this week.
In both, the power and
might of Indian cricket is
was the core.
The IPL is ‘indefinitely
suspended’ from mid-
March when Covid-19 hit
India, but has never been
out of the news. Usually
played in April and May,
made impossible this year
because of the pandemic,
many administrators,
experts, players and afi-
cionados have been sup-
porting that the 2020 edi-
tion takes place this year.
Among these are two for-
mer England captains,
Michael Vaughan — who
went public on the matter
about a month ago without
any compunction. This
week Michael Atherton, in
his column for the London
Times, without plumping
for the league, highlighted
why the IPL might win the
day.
Not that the BCCI has
been totally passive. It is
remain adverse, then some
other country, like in 2009
and 2014.
The clamour for not can-
celling the IPL, even if it
means dropping the T20
World Championship due
in Australia in October,
stems from the fiscal value
the Indian league brings to
the sport.
At a conservative esti-
mate, losses could be to the
tune of `3000-`3500 crore if
IPL 2020 does not take
place.
That kind of blow would
hurt even the cash rich
that country.
Not everybody’s happy
that the IPL should be pri-
oritised. Former Australia
captain Ian Chappell has
said that Cricket Australia
and Australian players
should not be swayed by
the money available from
the Indian league and be
more concerned about
cricket in their own coun-
try. There are some other
similar voices too.
The argument of those in
favour of the IPL this year
has some compelling
dimensions. If the league
matches in Australia, and
sponsorship receipts likely
to nosedive post-Covid-19,
the T20WC will hardly
have the lustre or the lucre
imagined even three
months back.
In the event, if Australia
are allowed to host the 2022
T20 WC (2021 is in India) in
the revised Future Tours
Program, it would be
financially rewarding for
Cricket Australia and the
ICC.
Prospects of the IPL this
year then get that much
brighter, which is a win-
Chairman. The post falls
open in July when
Shashank Manohar’s term
comes to an end. Manohar
has already declined an
extension.
A day after Smith’s state-
ment, SCA president Chris
Nenzani clarified that the
former captain was speak-
ing in a personal capacity.
But this is clearly an
internecine protocol issue
within the SCA, which is
otherwise looking for
more cricketing exchanges
with India to boost its flag-
ging finances.
already held an official
post for six years.
However, this could be
overturned if the Supreme
Court, which has been
petitioned by the BCCI on
the matter agrees to
amend the Lodha reform
and grant Ganguly (as well
as secretary Jay Shah) a
full three-year term. How
this plays out remains to
be seen
July, it would appear is
going to be a crucial
month in cricket, both in
India and elsewhere.