RNI NO.

: DELENG/2005/15351
MILLENNIUMPOST.IN REGD. NO.: DL(S)-01/3420/2018-20

PUBLISHED FROM DELHI | KOLKATA VOL.16, ISSUE 136 | Monday, 17 May, 2021 | New Delhi | Pages 12 | Rs 3.00
No Half Truths

City: Pg 3 Nation: Pg 6 Film: Pg 12

Thousands returning from Kumbh fell ‘Prevent dumping of ‘Lockdown has been
off radar as O2 crisis consumed govt bodies in Ganga’ emotionally hard for me’

CM SAYS GAINS MADE CAN’T BE LOST DUE TO RELAXATIONS

Delhi to remain under
lockdown till May 24
Cannaught Place wears a deserted look during the COVID-induced lockdown, in New Delhi, on Sunday
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: Corona infec-
tion is now weakening in the
Capital, but the number of
deaths from it still remains
around 250. Amid this, Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal has
extended the lockdown period
in Delhi once again. Now the
lockdown will remain in Delhi
till 5 am on the next Monday
i.e. May 24. He said the gains
made so far in combating
COVID-19 cannot be lost due
to any relaxations now.
During a visit to the GTB
Hospital, he said Delhi has
recorded a “good level” of
COVID-19 recoveries in the
past few days and the num-
ber of cases is also reducing
“very fast”.
“But we do not want the
gains made in the past few
days to be lost all of a sud-
den. So, the lockdown is being
extended for another week till
5 am on May 24,” Kejriwal said.
COVID-19: India records 4,077
fatalities, 3.11 lakh fresh cases
Ten states account for 74.69% of total active cases
OUR CORRESPONDENT Takeaways
»»India’s COVID-19 active
NEW DELHI: With 3.11 lakh
fresh Coronavirus infections, caseload decreases to
India saw the lowest rise in 36,18,458
daily COVID-19 cases after a »»Positivity rate drops to
gap of 25 days, while the death 16.98%
toll rose to 2,70,284 with 4,077
new fatalities on Sunday. »»Case fatality rate
A total of 3,11,170 new recorded at 1.09%
cases were reported in a »»PM Modi speaks to
day, taking India’s total
tally of COVID-19 cases to CMs of Uttar Pradesh,
2,46,84,077. Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh
A total of 2,95,041 cases Doctors talk with patients at a 50 beds COVID-19 care centre at a and Puducherry on
were reported in a span of 24 stadium in Noida, UP, on Sunday PTI COVID-19 situation
hours on April 21.
The active cases have The number of people who been tested up to May 15 with report till 7 am on Sunday.
reduced to 36,18,458 compris- have recuperated from the dis- 18,32,950 samples being tested Prime Minister Naren-
ing 14.66 per cent of the total ease surged to 2,07,95,335, on Saturday. dra Modi on Sunday spoke
infections, while the national while the case fatality rate was Meanwhile, the cumula- to the chief ministers of Uttar
COVID-19 recovery rate has recorded at 1.09 per cent, the tive number of COVID-19 Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattis-
improved to 84.25 per cent. data stated. vaccine doses administered garh and Puducherry on the
Ten states — Karnataka, A declining trend in the in the country exceeded 18.22 COVID-19 situation in the
Maharashtra, Kerala, Rajas- positivity rate is also observed crore on Sunday under phase states and the union territory,
than, Tamil Nadu, Andhra which has dropped to 16.98 3 of the nationwide vaccina- government sources said.
PTI Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West per cent (May 16) from 24.47 tion drive. Modi has been regularly
Bengal, Gujarat and Chhattis- per cent recorded on May 3, A total of 18,22,20,164 vac- speaking to chief ministers to
recoveries from COVID-19 garh —cumulatively account the health ministry said. cine doses have been admin- take stock of the pandemic’s
Highlights in the next one week,” Kejri- for 74.69 per cent of the coun- According to the ICMR, istered through 26,55,003 situation in states and union
»»The restrictions imposed under the lockdown, including wal said. try’s total active cases. 31,48,50,143 samples have sessions, as per the provisional territories.
He said his government has
‘Already booked appointments for Congress MP
suspension of metro train services, will remain in force
written to the Centre and two
»»CM said his government has written to the Centre and companies in the country for
COVID-19 vaccines but there
Rajeev Satav
2nd Covishield dose to remain valid’
two companies in the country for COVID-19 vaccines but
there is no indication yet that doses will be arriving is no indication yet that doses
»»He also said that the Delhi government will take all
will be arriving.
He also said that the Delhi dies after
recovering
necessary steps and precautions to check cases of black government will take all nec- MPOST BUREAU The Centre had on May 13 the media suggesting that peo-
fungus or mucormycosis in the city essary steps and precautions extended the gap between the ple who had pre-booked their
The lockdown imposed on services, will remain in force
to check cases of black fungus
or mucormycosis in the city.
NEW DELHI: The Union
health ministry on Sunday
first and second doses of Cov-
ishield vaccine to 12-16 weeks
appointments for the second
dose in less than 84 days on from COVID-19
April 19 has been extended till May 24 morning. The fungal infection is clarified that already booked based on the recommenda- Co-WIN are being turned
for the fourth time till May 24 “There is no relaxation as caused by a group of moulds online appointments for sec- tions by the COVID Working back from vaccination cen- MPOST BUREAU
morning. It was scheduled to of now and all the restrictions known as mucormyce- ond dose of Covishield vac- Group chaired by N K Arora. tres without getting the sec-
end at 5 am on May 17. that were enforced in this week tes present naturally in the cine will remain valid and the The Government of India ond dose of Covishield, it said. PUNE: Congress leader and
The Delhi Disaster Man- will continue,” Chief Minister environment. same will not be cancelled on has communicated this change “Additionally, already Rajya Sabha member Rajeev
agement Authority (DDMA) Kejriwal said. Recently, several states, Co-WIN platform. to states and UTs. The Co- booked online appointments Satav died on Sunday, days after
in an order issued on Sunday He said that Delhi has including Delhi, have reported It, however, said requisite WIN digital portal has also for second dose of Covishield recovering from the Corona-
stated that the lockdown has recorded around 6,500 a rise in the number of black changes have now been done been reconfigured to reflect will remain valid and are not virus infection. Satav (46) was
been extended till 5 am on COVID 19 cases in past 24 fungus cases among people in the Co-WIN digital por- this extension of interval for being cancelled by Co-WIN. undergoing treatment at a pri-
May 24 to contain the spread hours and positivity rate has recovering from COVID-19. tal, as a result of which further two doses of Covishield, man- Further, the beneficiaries are vate hospital in Pune after test-
of the coronavirus and to break further gone down to nearly “For the black fungus online or on-site appoint- ufactured by Serum Institute advised to reschedule their ing Coronavirus positive last
its chain of transmission. 10 per cent. (cases), the Delhi government ments will not be possible if of India (SII) to 12-16 weeks, appointments for a later date month and was on ventila-
The restrictions imposed It was 11.32 per cent on will take all the steps and pre- the period after first dose date the ministry said. beyond the 84th day from the tor support. A media release
under the lockdown, includ- Saturday. cautions necessary,” Kejriwal for a beneficiary is less than “However, there have date of first dose of vaccina- by the Jehangir Hospital said
ing suspension of metro train “I hope there will be more said in a statement. 84 days. been reports in a section of tion,” the ministry added. Satav succumbed to “secondary

Arrest us but we will continue

pneumonia with multi-organ

Quick News FOR BETTER HEALTH dysfunction syndrome” around

5 am. He had become “RT-PCR
swab negative” on May 9, it

FUEL PRICE HIKED AGAIN;
PETROL NEARS RS 99 IN MUMBAI
NEW DELHI: Petrol price on Sunday was
increased by 24 paise per litre and diesel by 27
paise, pushing rates across the country to record
highs and that of petrol in Mumbai to near Rs 99
a litre. The increase led to rates in Delhi climb-
ing to Rs 92.58 per litre and diesel to Rs 83.22,
according to a price notification of state-owned
fuel retailers.
Rates had already crossed Rs 100-mark in
several cities in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra and with the latest increase, price
in Mumbai too was inching towards that level.
A litre of petrol in Mumbai now comes for Rs
98.88 and diesel is priced at Rs 90.40 per litre. In
nine increases, petrol price has risen by Rs 2.19
per litre and diesel by Rs 2.49. MPOST
GAZA: 42 KILLED AS ISRAELI
STRIKES AGAIN
asking questions: Congress, AAP
MPOST BUREAU
NEW DELHI: Congress and Aam
Aadmi Party leaders on Sunday
slammed the police action against
some people for allegedly putting up
posters critical of the prime minister
and dared the government to arrest
them for raising questions on the
export of COVID vaccines.
Led by Rahul Gandhi, Congress
leaders changed their profile pic-
tures on Twitter with the poster ask-
ing why COVID vaccines were sent
abroad.
The opposition party said tough
questions will be asked from the
prime minister if people don’t get
vaccines, medicines and oxygen.
“Arrest me too,” said Gandhi in a
tweet while sharing a picture of the
poster “Modi ji, why did you send
our children’s vaccines abroad”.
The challenge was posed after a
few people were arrested by Delhi
police for putting up posters in the
national capital on the vaccine issue.
The Delhi Police also registered
a number of FIRs and arrested peo-
ple for pasting posters critical of the
prime minister.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh
dared the prime minister and home
minister to arrest him, saying he
was putting up such posters on his
compound wall.
“Putting up critical posters
against PM is now a crime? Is India
run by the Modi Penal Code now?
Is the Delhi Police so jobless in the
middle of a raging pandemic,” he
asked.
added. Satav was admitted to
the hospital on April 23 with
severe COVID-19 pneumonia
“I am putting up posters on my
and acute respiratory distress
syndrome, the hospital said.
compound wall tomorrow. Come Maharashtra health minis-
get me,” Ramesh dared. ter Rajesh Tope had said that
Congress spokesperson Pawan Satav was diagnosed with Cyto-
Khera said at a press conference megalovirus (a prevalent viral
that questions will be asked from pathogen) after recovering from
the prime minister if people don’t coronavirus infection. The hos-
get vaccines, medicines and oxy- pital declined to comment on
gen they desperately need to fight the minister’s claim.
COVID. “I dare you to arrest me. Satav on April 22 tweeted
Where is my vaccine, where is my that he had tested COVID-19
oxygen? We will continue to ask positive. Congress leader Rahul
you questions,” he said while alleg- Gandhi condoled his demise
ing that people are being “arrested and said it is a big loss to him.
for asking questions”. Congress president Sonia Gan-
Khera said most of the deaths dhi described Satav as a ris-
could have been avoided and people ing star of the party who was
are dying not because of COVID, known for his unfailing dedi-
but due to the mismanagement in
handling the pandemic.
Passengers and frontline workers take steam from a steam
inhalation unit, at Chennai central railway station, on Sunday PTI
cation and sincerity, adding his
death was a personal loss for
 Continued on P4 her.  Continued on P4

GAZA CITY: Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flat-

tened three buildings and killed at least 42 people
GUJARAT BRACES FOR IMPACT

Cyclone Tauktae batters coastal area leaving 8 dead

on Sunday, medics said, making it the deadli-
est single attack since heavy fighting broke out
between Israel and the territory’s militant Hamas
rulers nearly a week ago.
The violence marked the worst fighting here
since the devastating 2014 war in Gaza.
The airstrikes on Sunday hit a busy downtown
By May 18 the wind speed is expected to increase to 150-160 km per hour, gusting up to 175 km per hour
street of residential buildings and storefronts over
the course of five minutes just after midnight, OUR CORRESPONDENT heavy rains at isolated places in
destroying two adjacent buildings and one about north Konkan, Mumbai, Thane
50 yards down the road. See P8 BENGALURU/PANAJI/ and Palghar and extremely heavy
AHMEDABAD: Gale-force rainfall in Raigad on Monday.

In today’s
winds, heavy rainfall and high The water level in many
tidal waves swept the coastal belt dams across Kerala showed a

paper
of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as rising trend after heavy rains in
Cyclone Tauktae hurtled north- the catchment areas, prompting
wards towards Gujarat on Sun- authorities to sound an alert.

City
... day, leaving eight people dead,
damaging hundreds of houses,
uprooting electricity poles and
NAVNEET KALRA ARRESTED 2 trees and forcing evacuation in
Nation low-lying areas.
HESTER IN TALKS WITH BHARAT BIOTECH 4 According to the India Mete-
Edit orological Department (IMD),
A LAVISH PURSUIT 7 Tauktae which has taken the form
of a “very severe cyclonic storm”
International is likely to intensify further dur-
B’DESH EXTENDS LOCKDOWN  8 ing the next 24 hours and reach
Business the Gujarat coast on Monday
BITCOIN RISES 5.6% TO $49,337.72 10 evening.
Sport Strong winds with speed
reaching up to 90 km/per were
LEICESTER WIN FA CUP FOR FIRST TIME11 lashing the western coastal region.
Four deaths were reported
from Karnataka’s Uttara Kan-
nada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru
and Shivamogga districts and two
in Goa in cyclone-related inci-
dents. Two deaths were reported
from Maharashtra, where two
sisters — 17 years old & 12 years
old — lost their lives after a tree
A man try to fix his house, which collapsed due to sea erosion during the uprooted and collapsed on their
formation of cyclone Tauktae, in Kozhikode, on Sunday PTI A tree collapsed due to strong winds, in Panjim, on Sunday PTI hut.
Gusty winds and heavy rains
According to the Cyclone Warn- gusting up to 175 km per hour. 54 teams of the National Disas- the state. started lashing several parts of
ing Division of the IMD, by May An estimated 1.5 lakh people ter Response Force (NDRF) and Maharashtra too was bracing Goa since Saturday night disrupt-
18 the wind speed is expected to are being shifted from low-lying State Disaster Response Force for the storm as the Met depart- ing power supply in a large part of
increase to 150-160 km per hour, coastal areas in Gujarat while (SDRF) have been deployed in ment predicted heavy to very the state.  Continued on P4
2 mp City millenniumpost
MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021 | NEW DELHI

THE VILLAGE HAS NO ACCESS TO QUICK TESTING AND NO CLINICS OR HOSPITALS Delhi’s 4th wave has
Ggm: Amid a week-long wait for Covid killed more than the
last three combined
results, Hajipur villagers dying at home 262 deaths added, 6,456 cases

PIYUSH OHRIE
GURUGRAM: As urban areas of the
city start reporting fewer new Covid
infections, rural Gurugram — not very
far from the city centre but completely
cut-off from urban infrastructure — is
grappling with the rapid spread of the
virus as scores die without ever know-
ing they could have the virus.
In Farrukh Nagar’s Hajipur village,
home to around 9,000 people, over 40
people have tested positive in the last 3
days in a Rapid Antigen Testing drive
conducted by local authorities and with
no primary health care centres, clinics,
or hospitals, over 150 active patients are
struggling to recover in home isolation.
In the last month, over 15 deaths
from illness have been reported in Haji-
pur village, with those managing a trip
to a city hospital finding a way to sur-
vive and those not dying.
Many of the village elders say that
the sudden cause of death in their vil-
lage is due to COVID-19. Just last week
there were three deaths reported from
the village that included one 50-year-
old woman and two men aged 34 and
40.
Among the dead Sunita (50) had
begun developing symptoms of cough
and fever. Her condition however dete-
riorated during the fifth day as the
family was forced to admit her to
Gurugram private hospital. She suc-
cumbed to the virus on May 11, before
her test results were back.
In fact, a lack of testing facilities
nearby has resulted in none of the
patients who died being tested. For
getting tested, a resident has to travel
at least 20 kilometres to Gurugram
city and then wait for at least a week
for the results.
While residents of the village high-
light that in earlier cases, they were
dealing with the pandemic by taking
early medications and through home
remedies, this time the situation is dif-
ficult to cope with.
“Shortage of oxygen, ambulances,
hospitals nearby are now taking a toll
on us and many of us are also losing
lives. It is not only the old but this time
even the young are getting ill and are
losing their lives. The government help
is now coming in but it is still inade-
quate and is also restricted to certain
residents. Arrangement of oxygen cyl-
inders and ambulance services has still
not been done”, said Dharampal, the
village head in Hajipur.
The Gurugram District Adminis-
tration has started to build a 25-bed
isolation centre in the village but that
is yet to be completed and faces a lack
of medical equipment. The village head
said they had sought three big oxygen
cylinders for the centre and that aid is
yet to come.
“It would have been useful if pri-
mary health care centres and testing
facilities could have been created last
year. This would have saved precious
time for patients and their families and
they would not have had to depend on
going to Gurugram. Today, we are fac-
ing consequences of lack of prepara-
tion”, said Ravinder, one of Hajipur’s
residents.
COVID-19
DELHI AVAILABILITY
COUNT
ACTIVE CASES
62,783
DEATH TOLL
21,506
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Delhi gov-
ernment on Sunday reported
6,456 fresh infections of Covid-
19 in the city and 262 more
deaths due to the virus. While
the positivity rate has declined
consistently over the last few
days resulting in fewer daily
cases, daily deaths remain high
COVID BED
ICU OXYGEN
728 8,719
peaking on September 16. This
wave saw relatively fewer deaths
according to the official figures
at 1,427.
But the third wave was
quick to pick up with the fes-
tive season already underway.
When the third wave peaked
on November 11, the city had
reported over 8,500 cases - the
highest ever till then since the

‘Covaxin for above 45 yrs to last only 1 day’

Govt deploys
four-member
team to answer
distress calls
from sr citizens
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Delhi gov-
ernment has deployed staff
from its Department of Social
Welfare to attend to distress
calls and other queries from
senior citizens impacted by the
pandemic.
A team of four officials has
been sent to the office of the
divisional commissioner to sup-
port helpline number 1077 that
is run under the Delhi Disas-
ter Management Authority
(DDMA), the department said
in an official order.
Section officer G C Meena,
senior assistant Kumar Gand-
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: Delhi has only
one day of Covaxin stock
left for those aged above 45,
healthcare and frontline work-
ers, while Covishield doses for
this category can last up to five
days, AAP MLA Atishi said on
Sunday.
She said 1.18 lakh beneficia-
ries received the jabs on May
15. Around 10.50 lakh people
have got both the doses since
the inoculation drive began on
January 16.
Delhi has so far received
44.94 lakh vaccine doses for
this age group, of which 41.68
lakh have been administered,
Atishi said.
After Sunday evening, the
city will have only one day of
Covaxin stock and five days
of Covishield doses left. We
appeal to the central govern-
ment to make more vaccines
available for this category
immediately, she said.
The capital has received
8.17 lakh doses for the 18-44
age group so far, of which 5.25
lakh have been used till Sunday
morning.
Since there are no Covaxin
doses left for this category,
all such vaccination centres
have been shut. We have six
days of Covishield stock left,
she said.
We appeal to the Centre to
provide more doses of Covaxin
and Covishield. If Covaxin can-
not be arranged, more doses
of Covishield should be given
to keep the inoculation drive
going at this pace, she said.
A total of 44.90 lakh
doses have been adminis-
tered in Delhi so far, accord-
ing to the latest vaccination
bulletin released by the
government.
The Delhi government had
received over 1.73 lakh doses of
Covishield on Saturday.
A government panel has
recommended increasing the
gap between two doses of Cov-
ishield COVID-19 vaccine to
12-16 weeks.
Those whose vaccination
is due this month will not be
administered the vaccine and
will only be given the dose
according to the new guide-
Highlights
lines, a government official
said.
Healthcare workers, front-
line staff and those aged
above 45 are being vaccinated
at 470 centres, whereas benefi-
ciaries in the 18-44 age group
are being inoculated at 353
centres.
on average around or over 300
daily — a distinct feature of the
fourth wave.
What now reveals the
increased fatality of this wave
is the fact that the last 57 days
of the fourth wave (March 20
to May 15) saw more people
dying from Covid than in the
first, second and third waves
of the pandemic — combined.
These are just deaths that
the Delhi government chose to
report. According to the official
figures, a total of 10,291 peo-
ple lost their lives to the virus
between March 20 and May 15.
As per granular data compiled
by Millennium Post, by March
20, the fourth wave was well on
its way up.
The first wave of the pan-
»»Atishi said 1.18 lakh beneficiaries received the jabs on demic started around May 29,
May 15. Around 10.50 lakh people have got both the peaked on June 23 and came
doses since the inoculation drive began on January 16 back down around July 31.
During this time, Delhi gov-
»»We appeal to the Centre to provide more doses of ernment figures showed that
Covaxin and Covishield. If Covaxin cannot be arranged, 3,647 virus deaths had occurred.
more doses of Covishield should be given to keep the After a brief lull, the second
inoculation drive going at this pace wave began around August 19,
ending around October 8 before
outbreak. By this time the city
was for the first time reporting
over 100 deaths daily and by the
end of it on December 31, 4,920
more people had succumbed to
the virus.
All put together, in these
three waves combined, the Capi-
tal lost 9,994 people to the virus.
In comparison, in the 57 days
between March 20 and May
15, official numbers put the toll
from the virus at 10,291. And
while the cases seem to be on
a rapid downtrend in the city,
daily deaths continue to be high.
Sunday’s health bulletin
reported that the city’s positiv-
ity rate had continued to dip
and was now at 10.40 per cent.
The numbers further showed
that the Capital saw its third
consecutive day of fresh cases
below 10,000 on Sunday.
But testing in the city has
remained a woe with numbers
fluctuating and not remain-
ing high steadily. On Sunday,
the Delhi government said it
had conducted just a little over
62,000 tests in the last 24 hours.

AAP behind anti-PM posters,

harva, welfare officers Kul-
deep Saini and Vijay have been
deployed for the task, it said.
DESERTED Gambhir,
“These officials will also
IYC chief and
say police as party owns up
coordinate with HelpAge

others helping
India, Qutub Institutional
Area to utilise the manpower
engaged for the new elderly
helpline for which the Depart-
ment of Social Welfare has
ARNABJIT SUR that he is currently abscond-
ing. The Delhi Police went on to
jay Chaudhary (ex-councillor
candidate of AAP) and party
people: Delhi
entered into an MoU with
HelpAge India as a project
NEW DELHI: As the Delhi
Police on Sunday publicly
say that Gautam had allegedly
paid locals Rs 9,000 to print and
worker Mayank were behind
the posters. In the West District Police to HC
supported by the Ministry of accused Aam Aadmi Party paste these posters in the area. too, the police claimed the post-
Social Justice and the National leaders of organising a cam- Reports said that most of ers were being pasted on direc- OUR CORRESPONDENT
Institute of Social Defence,” the paign to paste posters across those arrested for the poster tions of AAP workers.
order stated. the city criticising PM Naren- were either daily wage labour- However, launching a scath- NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police
The duties of these officials dra Modi for exporting crores ers or printers. ing attack, AAP leader Durgesh on Sunday told the Delhi High
will involve attending telephone of vaccine doses, party leader Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Pathak took ownership of the Court that its probe into alle-
calls from senior citizens, pro- Durgesh Pathak took respon- Biswal said that in the Man- posters and said, “The AAP is gations that political leaders
viding guidance regarding the sibility for the posters which golpuri incident when they behind the posters. Our party and public representatives were
online process of applying for have now elicited a widespread detained the person found past- workers have been arrested and hoarding and black marketing
senior citizen pension and political reaction from all oppo- ing posters at 4 am, they were hundreds are being detained in essential medical equipment
answering queries pertaining sition parties. told of Gautam’s alleged involve- different parts of the city. We in the garb of helping people,
to the non-receipt of pension. The Delhi Police have so ment and are looking for him. challenge Delhi Police to arrest had revealed no such role of
far arrested at least 25 people However, according to the senior AAP leaders and party any political leaders examined
City records across the Capital in multiple
FIRs related to incidents of past-
Delhi Police, the charges in this
FIR, relate to violating lockdown
MLAs instead of harassing poor
people who paste posters for a
so far, which includes Indian
Youth Congress chief Srinivas

max temp of
39.6 deg C
NEW DELHI: The national
Capital on Sunday recorded a
maximum temperature of 39.6
degrees Celsius, one notch
below the season’s average, the
India Meteorological Depart-
ment (IMD) said.
The minimum temperature
ing these posters, which ask,
“Modi ji humare baccho ki vac-
cine ko videsh kyu bhej diya?
(PM Modi, why did you send
vaccines meant for our children
abroad?)”
On Sunday, the police issued
a statement, alleging that AAP
member Arvind Gautam was
Cannaught Place wears a deserted look during the COVID-induced lockdown,on Sunday  PTI behind the poster-pasting drive
in the Mangolpuri area and
Two foreign nationals Black marketing case: Navneet Kalra arrested
rules and defacing public prop-
erty, which legally does not call
into question the contents of
the poster.
The Delhi Police said they
had gathered many required
documents, including commu-
nication between Gautam and
the workers pasting the posters.
In South Delhi too, the Delhi
police alleged that one San-
little money.”
After severe flak following
news reports of these arrests, the
Delhi Police also claimed that
news reports of such incidents
“had not carried the entire result
of the investigation and merely
showed the arrest of poor per-
sons”. Most of those arrested
are cooperating in the probe
and have been released on bail.
BV, AAP MLA Dilip Pandey,
BJP MP (East Delhi) Gautam
Gambhir and Delhi Congress
chief Anil Kumar among others.
In an affidavit filed before
the Delhi High Court, which
had ordered the investigation in
April this year, the Delhi Police
said it had examined the role of
at least nine such political lead-
ers and public representatives.
Other than the leaders men-
tioned above, the police looked
into the relief work being con-

was recorded 21.7 degrees Cel-
sius, five notches below the sea-
son’s average, it said.
The relative humidity was
recorded 53 per cent.
The minimum and maxi-
mum on Monday is likely to
settle around 24 and 38 degrees
Celsius respectively, it said.
The weathermen has pre-
dicted partly cloudy sky with
possibility of thunder and
lightning.
The air quality in Delhi
was recorded in the “moder-
ate” category. The air quality
index (AQI) was 155 at 7.05
pm, real-time data of the Cen-
tral Pollution Control Board
(CPCB) showed.
An AQI between zero and
50 is considered “good”, 51 and
100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200
“moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”,
301 and 400 “very poor”, and
401 and 500 “severe”.  MPOST
Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors,
publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only
held for cheating people from Gurugram farmhouse, say Delhi Police
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police
Crime Branch has arrested two
foreign nationals for allegedly
duping as many as 100 cus-
tomers across the country
of over Rs 2 crore on the pre-
text of providing patients with
oxygen cylinders and medi-
cines pertaining to treatment
of Covid-19.
Police has said that the
duo, one Chika Benneth and
Jonathan Kojo, hailing from
Nigeria and Ghana respectively,
were part of an Africa-based
international gang who used
to cheat customers by first put-
ting out an advertisement on
social media platforms regard-
ing the availability of these
medicines and equipment
but after taking the money
through online channels,
the accused persons went
incommunicado.
As per a police official, on
May 5, a complaint was received
where it was alleged that the
complainant was in dire need
of an oxygen cylinder for his
relative who was suffering from
Covid.
Thereafter, he found a
mobile number on social media
which claimed to provide oxy-
gen cylinders.
However, when the victim
contacted the said mobile num-
ber, the accused asked him to
pay Rs 16,000 for oxygen cyl-
inders and Rs 4,000 for trans-
port charges.
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police
have now arrested one of the
city’s top businessmen, Navneet
Kalra from a Gurugram farm-
house, in a case where he has
been accused of hoarding and
selling oxygen equipment in
black allegedly along with SIM
company Matrix Cellular Ser-
vices Limited.
The Delhi Police had been
looking for Kalra ever since it
discovered as many as 500 oxy-
gen concentrators stocked at
three of the city’s upscale res-
taurants owned by Kalra. The
police have claimed that they
found 7,000 concentrators for
sale in the black market with
all accused in the case.
According to several
reports, Kalra was found in a
Gurugram farmhouse belong-
ing to his brother-in-law.
Kalra’s arrest comes after
his pleas for anticipatory bail
and interim protection from
arrest were rejected. He had
first applied for anticipatory
bail in a lower court, which
denied him the relief. He then
appealed this decision to the
Delhi High Court, which is
currently hearing the matter.
However, the Delhi High
Court has refused to grant
interim relief to Kalra in the
case several times so far.
Significantly, Matrix CEO
Gaurav Khanna, Vice Presi-
dent Gaurav Suri, Satish Seth,
Hitesh Kumar and Vikrant who
were arrested earlier on in the
case, have been granted bail
and the Delhi High Court has
on more than one occassion
pointed out that the illegality/
legality of Kalra’s actions can-
not be seen in a vacuum with-
out first considering that the
government had not issued
price regulatory notifications
for essential items by the time
the case was registered.
The Delhi Police have
alleged that Kalra worked
with Gagan Duggal, owner of
Matrix and a friend, to sell the
equipment, mostly imported
from China. Officials claimed
that the accused imported the
equipment at prices ranging
from Rs 16,000 to Rs 20,000
each and then sold it to resi-
dents in Delhi for as much as
Rs 70,000.
Meanwhile, advocate
Vineet Malhotra, one of Kal-
ra’s lawyers told Millennium
Post that they would move an
urgent bail application before
the Saket District Court today
(Monday).
ducted by ex-Congress MLA
Mukesh Sharma, BJP Spokes-
person Harish Khurana, Delhi
Congress vice president Ali
Mehdi, Congress worker Ashok
Baghel and Shahid Siddiqui,
ex-MP of Bijnor.
The Delhi Police said that
the investigation conducted so
far had revealed that all these
political leaders “have been
actually helping people in get-
ting medical aid in the form
of medicine, oxygen, plasma,
or hospital bed”. The persons
inquired into “have not charged
any money for the help pro-
vided and thus no one has been
defrauded. The distribution,
help has been voluntary and
without discrimination”, the
police added.
The Delhi Police further told
the court that it still needs more
time to look into the investiga-
tion of the case before closing it.

Printed and Published by Jaiyendra Kumar Sharma on behalf of Front Row Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at The Indian Express Pvt. Ltd., A-8, Sector-7, Noida-201 301 (U.P.) and published from First Floor, Pratap Bhawan, 5 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi 110 002. Editor: Durbar Ganguly. Email: durbarganguly@gmail.com, Tel. No. 011-47777500
millenniumpost
NEW DELHI | MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021 City mp 3
Now, drive-in
‘OXYGEN AND ICU BEDS WERE MORE IMP, NEEDED UNDIVIDED ATTENTION’ Haryana CM
vaccination
in Noida and Thousands arriving from Kumbh fell inaugurates
makeshift
Gr Noida too
RAHUL SINGH
NOIDA: The twin cities of
off radar as O2 crisis consumed govt hosps in Ggm
OUR CORRESPONDENT

Noida and Greater Noida
have started drive-in Covid
vaccination for people above
the age of 45 years. The
Covid jab can be adminis-
tered to beneficiaries who
have booked their appoint-
ment online and they have to
wait for 30 minutes in their
car under observation.
At GB Nagar, the vac-
cination centers are at DLF
Mall of India in sector 18 of
Noida, and the other at the
Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik
cricket stadium in Greater
Noida. Officials said that
the vaccine will be available
from 9 am to 5 pm. The GB
Nagar district is the first in
UP to provide drive-in vac-
cination to people.
UP CM, on Sunday, also
visited Gautam Buddh Nagar
district to take stock of Covid
preparedness and directed
officials to pursue intensi-
fied testing in rural as well as
urban areas of district with
hassle free vaccination for
all age groups prescribed by
the government. The CM
said that the hospitals in
Noida cannot deny treat-
ment to patients from neigh-
bouring cities that are part
of NCR. He also said that
three oxygen plants have also
been proposed in the dis-
trict to cater needs or resi-
dents who have been fighting
with Covid.
Apart from this, Adity-
anath also informed that
the government is setting
up Covid care centers espe-
cially for women and chil-
dren at all the district of
Uttar Pradesh including
Gautam Buddh Nagar.
AAISHA SABIR
NEW DELHI: Throughout
April, Delhi dealt with one of
its worst-ever Covid-19 waves
— one that was nearly four times
more vicious than the previ-
ous biggest wave in November.
Soon, one after the other, the
Capital battled an acute shortage
of first medicines, then beds and
then oxygen as people in the city
kept dying outside hospitals and
crematoria and burial grounds
kept overflowing.
And throughout April, the
Delhi government failed to track
and test the trains and busloads
of people returning from Harid-
war after attending the Kumbh
Festival — declared one of the
biggest super-spreader events
behind India’s ferocious second
wave by many global experts.
While the Delhi Disaster
Management Authority had
issued a directive in a bid to
trace Kumbh returnees on
April 17, the system set up by
the authorities has yielded no
results, according to multiple
officials in the Delhi govern-
ment and district officials.
The DDMA had ordered
everyone visiting Kumbh and
returning to Delhi between
April 4 and April 30 to man-
datorily upload their travel and
contact details on a government
website. The order added that
these people would have to
quarantine at home mandatorily
for 14 days upon their return.
The DDMA had added that
anyone found not complying
would be institutionally quaran-
tined for two weeks and could
be prosecuted under the rel-
evant sections of the Disaster
Management Act.
Millennium Post has now
Devotees queue up to undergo COVID-19 testing during Kumbh Mela 2021, at a railway station in Haridwar
 PTI/FILE PHOTO
‘Data on few people could be recorded as
they had travelled by trains or flights. Those that
took the road route we have no record of it’
learned that not a single Delhi
resident who returned to the city
from Kumbh has uploaded their
details on the designated web-
site, according to information
from several government offi-
cials who refused to be named
as they are not authorised to
speak publicly on the matter.
In addition to this, the Delhi
government had said that it
would be coordinating with its
counterparts in the Uttarakhand
government to get a list of those
from Delhi attending the festi-
val — as a backup. One senior
official said that as per this list,
only a little over 150 people from
Delhi had attended the Kumbh
and returned in this time period,
of which 25 were in the North-
West district.
“There is no way of knowing
the exact number of people who
have returned as several people
would have taken the bus or
their private vehicles. Data on
few people could be recorded
as they had travelled by trains
or flights. Those that took the
road route we have no record
of it,” one senior official of the
Delhi government said.
A senior district official said
that the returnees that were
traced from the Uttarakhand
government’s list, were moni-
tored and advised to quaran-
tine at home by each district.
But they are not being tested by
the Delhi government. “If they
have individually tested them-
selves then that is another thing
and neither do we have data on
that,” an official in one of the
district administrations said.
As for the rider that those
who fail to mandatorily report
themselves would face insti-
tutional quarantine and legal
action, the senior Delhi gov-
ernment official quoted above
said that no such action had
been taken as their records have
not been maintained properly.
“We have been struggling with
oxygen supply and ICU beds
which are more important and
required undivided attention,”
the official said.
The first time the Delhi
government mentioned the
impact of Kumbh on Delhi’s
Tracking infection
»»The DDMA had ordered
everyone visiting Kumbh
and returning to Delhi
between April 4 and
April 30 to mandatorily
upload their travel and
contact details on a
government website
»»The DDMA had added
that anyone found not
complying would be
institutionally quarantined
for two weeks and
could be prosecuted
under the relevant
sections of the Disaster
Management Act
brutal fourth wave was when
Health Minister Satyendar Jain
last week said that the city saw
extra cases during this wave
because many were coming
from the rural outskirts and said
that the reason for this was that
many had attended the Kumbh
festival.
“In the previous three waves
that Delhi faced, we hardly saw
any covid cases coming from
the villages in the country-
side. But in this wave, we have
seen a number of cases. The
entire nation is in fact tackling
the spread in rural areas. It is
being widely told that the rea-
son behind this spread in vil-
lages and rural areas has been
Kumbh Mela wherein people
went in large numbers,” he said.
This failure to trace and test
attendees of a super-spreader
event, however, stands in con-
»»Millennium Post has
now learned that not a
single Delhi resident who
returned to the city from
Kumbh has uploaded
their details on the
designated website
»»This failure to trace and
test attendees of a super-
spreader event, however,
stands in contrast to
the way the Delhi
government reacted
to a similar but smaller
super-spreader event
in Delhi last year at the
Nizamuddin Markaz
trast to the way the Delhi gov-
ernment reacted to a similar but
smaller super-spreader event in
Delhi last year at the Nizamud-
din Markaz. At the time, Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal had
said, “Will give police phone
numbers of Tablighi Jamaat
event attendees to trace, ascer-
tain whether they moved in
nearby areas.”
After tracing most of them
to one location, over 3,000
attendees of the event were insti-
tutionally quarantined till they
completed their 28-day quaran-
tine, after which legal proceed-
ings were initiated only against
those members who had trav-
elled from other countries and
the Indian attendees were let go.
Official spokespersons of
the Delhi government are yet
to respond to repeated ques-
tions for this story.
GURUGRAM: Haryana Chief
Minister Manohar Lal Khattar
on Sunday inaugurated make-
shift hospitals for patients
infected with COVID-19. With
the inauguration there are now
400 beds available for COVID
patients.
The two makeshift hos-
pitals that were inaugurated
were at Tau Devi Lal Stadium
where 100 beds have been set
up. Among 100 beds, 80 beds
are oxygen beds while 20 are
ICU beds. At M3M Urbania,
300 oxygen beds for COVID
patients have been set up.
It is important to note
that both these hospitals have
been created however with
the assistance of corporates.
While the makeshift hospital at
Tau Devi Lal Stadium is being
set up from the funds of the
Corporate Social Responsibil-
ity (CSR) of Vedanta, the 300
oxygen beds have been set up
by M3M in collaboration with
officials from Indian Airforce.
Speaking at the inaugu-
ration event, Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar assured
that systems are being created
to prevent further loss of lives
due to infection.
Meanwhile, Gurugram on
Sunday reported 1,864 new
COVID-19 cases, taking the
tally here to 1.72 lakh. 4,912
recoveries were also reported,
taking total recoveries to 1.46
lakh.
However, 12 more deaths
were reported on Sunday,
taking the death toll here to
683. There are 24,926 active
patients, of which 22,900 are
under home isolation.
A total of over 14.07 lakh
samples have been collected in
Gurugram to date.

Govt will take all necessary steps ‘Set aside politics and WARRIORS

to check black fungus cases: CM work together to serve

OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said
the Delhi government will take
all necessary steps and precau-
tions to check cases of black fun-
gus or mucormycosis in the city.
The fungal infection is
caused by a group of moulds
known as mucormycetes present
naturally in the environment.
Recently, several states,
including Delhi, have reported a
rise in the number of black fun-
gus cases among people recov-
ering from COVID-19.
“For the black fungus
(cases), the Delhi government
will take all the steps and pre-
cautions necessary,” Kejriwal
said in a statement.
In an advisory released on
May 9, the Centre had said
that mucormycosis may turn
fatal if it is not taken care of.
The fungal infection mainly
affects people who are on
medication that reduces their
people hit by COVID’
The infection is commonly seen in patients
who have recovered from COVID-19
but have comorbidities such as diabetes,
kidney or heart failure, or cancer
ability to fight environmental
pathogens.
Dr Ajay Swaroop, chairman
of the ENT department at Sir
Ganga Ram Hospital here, said
the use of steroids in the treat-
ment of COVID-19 coupled
with the fact that many coro-
navirus patients have diabetes
could be one of the reasons for
the rise in the number of black
fungus cases again.
He said the infection is com-
monly seen in patients who have
recovered from COVID-19 but
have comorbidities such as dia-
betes, kidney or heart failure,
or cancer.
NEW DELHI: Chief Minis-
ter Arvnid Kejriwal on Sun-
day appealed all workers of
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to
squarely set aside politics and
help as many people as they can
in these trying times.
He tweeted on Sunday
morning, “Corona has wreaked
havoc. People are very sad. This
is not the time to point fingers
at each other but heal each
other.”
He went on to say, “I appeal
to all workers of AAP that they
try to help those in need with
everything they have. This is
what would be true patriotism
now. This is what duty is.”
The CM on Sunday also vis-
ited the GTB hospital to review
the ongoing work and video
calling facility for the COVID
patients so that they can con-
nect with their family members
during isolation.
The CM upon receiving
This is not the time
to point fingers at
each other but heal
each other: Kejriwal
several complaints about the
video calling facility decided
to review the functioning of
it. “If some patient wants to
talk to their relatives, we have
understood that if the patient
gets psychological and mental
strength, then their recovery is
faster. On one hand, the rela-
tives are under great stress as
to what is happening with the
patient, the patient too wants
to talk to the relatives,” he said.
“Right now I talked to some
of the patients and whatever
problems were being faced, Health workers wearing PPE wait to admit a COVID-19 patient upon his arrival at a newly constr-
have now been solved. All doc- ucted 500 ICU beds COVID-19 care centre at Ramlila maidan opposite LNJP hospital, on Sunday  PTI
tors and nurses are working on
this,” he added.  MPOST

City Briefs No Twitter for SOS, urban poor run
COUPLE STAB 40-YR-OLD MAN TO DEATH
FOLLOWING QUARREL OVER RS 100 helter-skelter, scared of vaccination
‘2 people in my area died after taking the vaccine so I am scared to take it’
NEW DELHI: A couple allegedly stabbed a 40-year-
old man to death following a quarrel over Rs 100 in
Delhi, police said on Sunday. The police have arrested
Reshma in connection with the incident, while her hus- CHHAVIANSHIKA SINGH
band Jitender is on the run. The deceased has been
identified as Ajeet, a resident of Mangolpuri, they NEW DELHI: Migrant workers who
said. On Sunday at 2:45 pm, police received informa- did not go back to their villages before
the lockdown and depend on working as
tion regarding the incident. Police reached Sanjay household help, car washing, shop assis-
Gandhi Hospital where on enquiry, it was found that tants, and other sundry jobs, are stuck
Ajeet was brought to the hospital by his father. He in the city without access to medicines
was declared brought dead, having one stab injury or any other healthcare facility. Unlike
behind his right knee, a senior police officer said. much of the middle and upper class
During preliminary investigation, it was revealed that urban population who is able to share
and access resources through social
Jitender asked Ajeet to repay him Rs 100 on Sunday. media platforms such as Twitter, they
On the issue, a heated argument ensued between have to rely on word of mouth and the
them which led to a quarrel. Ajeet beat the accused generosity of their employers for even
on the spot and refused to pay money, police said. the most basic healthcare needs. Apart
from that, fear of losing their livelihood
NOIDA SEES 377 FRESH COVID CASES, and vaccine hesitancy due to apprehen-
sions about sterility or losing their fer-
GHAZIABAD REPORTS 273 tility or just being ineffective, add to the
NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: Gautam Buddh Nagar on confusion and misinformation.
Sunday reported 377 new COVID-19 cases, taking Omvati (48) lives in a JJ cluster and
the tally here to 59,700, as per the daily bulletin. 4 earns her living working as a housemaid
in West Delhi’s Kirti Nagar locality. Few
deaths were also reported due to Covid on Sunday weeks earlier, the Delhi Government
taking the death toll to 385. With 812 positive pa- set up vaccination booths in her area,
tients getting recovered from Covid, the active cases rounding up all eligible (those above
in district stands at 6,412. In Ghaziabad, the total 45 years of age) residents for their shots.
number of cases reported on Sunday were 273. Omvati got vaccinated as did many of
her neighbours but she does not know
which vaccine she was given.
In the past month, several people
in her colony died of “ajeeb sa bukhar
(strange type of fever”, Omvati said.
“Doctors and ambulances refuse to
come to our house and if we manage
to take any patient to the government
hospital, there is never any bed or doc-
tor or medicine available. Now we have
to hide any sign of illness because if my
employers find out that anyone from my
area has corona, they will not allow me
to work. I have 4 daughters, how will I
feed them?” she asked.
Reena (39) works in a RWA colony
in Mayur Vihar and lives in a small slum
settlement closeby with her husband
and 15-year old son. Most others there
left for UP when the lockdown was
announced. From a village near Unnao
in UP, Reena said that everyone in her
community (including herself) is hesi-
tant about getting the vaccine and even
going to consult a doctor or buy medi-
cines because they fear being exiled.
“Two people in my area died after
taking the vaccine so I am scared to
take it,” she said.
Deepak (28), who lives on the
ground floor of the same building as
Reena’s, with four other men from his
village. He said he could arrange for
medicines for a friend only after making
calls to a doctor he worked for.
“If neighbours come to know, they
treat us as outcasts. Once I was not able
to sleep and went to wash cars with red
eyes, so the home owners called the
guards and banned me from entering
the colony for 14 days. I tried explain-
ing but they did not listen and I was not
able to earn anything”, said Deepak, who
also runs a small ironing kiosk which
has not seen much work.
PIL seeks
isolation
centres for
poor, kids
NEW DELHI: A PIL in the
Delhi High Court has urged it
to direct the Centre and Delhi
government to set up isolation
centres equipped with medical
facilities for the poor and chil-
dren at government schools in
the national Capital. The peti-
tion seeks an amendment to the
current home isolation policy,
claiming it was proving to be a
failure for the majority of the
population as not everyone has
a separate room to spare to iso-
late a family member infected by
COVID-19. “Under the home
isolation policy, the infected
person ought to be given a sepa-
rate room with an attached toilet
so as to avoid minimal physical
contact with other members.
There should also be a caretaker
for the infected person. “But in
reality, how many of the lower
middle class homes can afford
to have a separate room with
attached toilet and a caretaker
for the infected person. Resul-
tantly, more and more family
members are getting infected
creating patient load on city
hospitalsily,” the petition said.PTI
4 mp Nation millenniumpost
MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021 | NEW DELHI

COVID SPREADING TO VILLAGES

‘States to receive nearly 51
‘Sensitise ground workers on lakh doses in next 3 days’
containment, surveillance’
NEW DELHI: More than
1.84 crore Covid-19 vaccine
doses are still available with
states and UTs, while nearly 51
lakh doses are in the pipeline
and will be received by them

Centre also urged the states to train the ground-level staff on rapid
within the next three days, the
Union health ministry said

antigen test, which is the preferred test for screening of infected cases
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: With gradual
ingress of COVID-19 infec-
tion in rural and peri urban
areas, the Centre on Sunday
urged states to ensure commu-
nity-based and primary health
centre services to manage the
situation while stressing on
sensitisation of ground workers
on containment, surveillance
and use of RAT for screening,
and tele-consultation.
The states were also urged
to train the ground-level staff
on rapid antigen test (RAT),
which is the preferred test for
screening of the infected cases
to enable timely isolation and
prompt treatment, the Union
Health Ministry said.
Union Health Secretary
Rajesh Bhushan along with
Member (Health) of NITI
Aayog V K Paul chaired a high-
level video conference meeting
with all the states and union
territories.
The focus of the meet was
on COVID-19 containment
and management in peri-
urban, rural and tribal areas
along with the effective clini-
cal management of COVID-19,
of states, the ministry said.
The meeting assumes
importance in the context of
the rural hinterland of the
country recording a very high
number of cases with increas-
ing fatality and positivity rate,
combined with low reported
levels of testing.
The Union Health Secretary
highlighted various areas for
the states which include sensiti-
sation of ground workers, par-
ticularly medical officers and
block level nodal officers on
containment, surveillance and
RAT for screening, the use of
RT-PCR, teleconsultation and
important element of the SOPs
issued by the ministry.
tomorrow Monday with med-
ical officers and block levels
nodal officers to ensure that the
SOPs and the advisories perco-
late to the grassroots level.
States were urged to orga-
nise series of meetings/inter-
actions for sensitisation of the
ASHAs, ANMs, Panchayati
Raj Institutions along with
the Community Health Offi-
cers (CHO). States have been
advised to train them to iden-
tify the early signs of SARI/ILI
and COVID symptoms, the
statement said.
States were advised to use
the services of village-level
health and sanitation com-
mittee and gram sabha as first
peri urban areas, the impor-
tance to ensure commu-
nity-based services and PHC
services to manage the situa-
tion was highlighted,” the state-
ment said.
Mechanism for surveil-
lance, screening, isolation and
referral of cases from such
areas, monitoring of home
isolation cases and providing
them with information pam-
phlets, ramping up of facili-
ties in all the three subsequent
levels of COVID-19 Health-
care -- COVID Care Centres
(CCCs), Dedicated COVID
Health Centres and Dedicated
COVID Hospitals (DCHs) --
was discussed at length.
The states were exhorted to
share their best practices, and
leverage their existing capacity
in tele-consultation.
The need to ensure conti-
nuity of non-COVID essen-
tial healthcare delivery systems,
communications and behav-
ioural change, and renewed
parallel focus on mental health
support were also highlighted.
ICMR DG Balram Bhar-
gava reiterated the importance
of the Rapid Antigen Test
(RAT). He reminded the states
COVID infection, the state-
ment said.
AIIMS Director Randeep
Guleria highlighted the impor-
tance and need for infection
control protocols. He cau-
tioned that with the expansion
of COVID in the rural hin-
terland, donning and doffing
protocols are not being strictly
followed which could infect the
healthcare workers deployed.
The adherence to protocol for
donning and doffing areas for
PPE kits was stressed.
He advised the state health
administrators for triag-
ing of critical cases to reduce
mortality.
Throwing light on the
COVID complications being
reported from many states,
he advised states to curb the
excessive use of steroids, the
statement said. Steroids are to
be administered only to those
hypoxic, in low doses and not
beyond 10 days at a stretch, he
said.
The changes in CoWIN
platform were notified to the
states and UTs. Secretary urged
the states to break the myth that
CoWIN platform is biased to
those abled by technology and
on Sunday.
The Centre has so far pro-
vided more than 20 crore
vaccine doses (20,28,09,250)
to states and Union Ter-
ritories (UTs) free of cost,
Centre said.
Of this, the total consump-
tion, calculated based on aver-
age up to May 14, including
wastages, is 18,43,67,772 doses,
according to data available at 7 A medic vaccinates a beneficiary with Covaxin vaccine during a
pm on Saturday. countrywide inoculation drive against COVID-19, at Sir J. J. Hospital
“More than 1.84 crore Hospital in Mumbai  PTI
Covid vaccine doses
(1,84,41,478) are still avail-
able with the states and UTs Of this, the total consumption, calculated
to be administered. States with based on average up to May 14,
negative balance are showing
more consumption (includ- including wastages, is 18,43,67,772 doses,
ing wastage) than vaccine according to data available at 7 pm on
supplied as they have not rec-
onciled the vaccine they have Saturday
supplied to Armed Forces,” the
Ministry said. priate Behaviour). part of which the government
It said 50,95,640 vaccine The Centre has been sup- has opened up inoculation for
doses are in the pipeline and porting the nationwide vac- all aged above 18. Under the
will be received by states and cination drive by providing Strategy, every month 50 per
Union Territories within the Covid vaccines free of cost to cent of the total Central Drugs
next three days. states and UTs, in addition to Laboratory (CDL) cleared vac-
Vaccination forms an several efforts to ramp up its cine doses of any manufacturer
integral component of the production and supply, the would be procured by the Cen-
comprehensive strategy of ministry stated. tre. It would continue to make
Government of India of con- Implementation of the Lib- these doses available to state
tainment and management of eralized and Accelerated Phase governments free of cost as was
the pandemic (including Test, 3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccina- being done earlier  MPOST
Track, Treat and Covid Appro- tion has started from May 1 as

‘India got 5.3L Remdesivir vials,

including the black Mucor- The state health secretaries responders. to use this among the commu- requested them to make good
mycosis fungi which is being were asked to hold daily reg- “With gradual ingress of nities for large scale screening use of facilitated cohort regis-
recorded in a growing number ular review meetings starting COVID infection in rural and and quick identification of the tration, the statement.

COVID-19 VACCINE
1st batch of anti-Covid 13,496 oxygen cylinders as aid’
Hester in talks with Bharat Biotech drug 2-DG to be
NEW DELHI: The Union
health ministry on Sunday
countries and organisations to
augment its efforts to combat
delivered/dispatched through
road and air, from April 27 to

for production via tech transfer

said 11,058 oxygen concentra- the pandemic outbreak. May 15.

released today tors, 13,496 oxygen cylinders,

19 oxygen generation plants
and about 5.3 lakh Remdesi-
The Centre is expedi-
tiously delivering the global
aid to the states and Union
Major consignments
received on 14th-15th May
2021 from Kazakhstan,
NEW DELHI: Hester Biosci- vir vials received as global aid territories (UTs) to supple- Japan, Switzerland, Ontario
ences on Sunday said it has NEW DELHI: The first batch demic that has stretched the have been delivered to vari- ment their resources and (Canada), USA, Egypt and
tied up with the Gujarat gov- of anti-COVID drug 2-DG, country’s healthcare infrastruc- ous states/UTs from April 27 efforts, the ministry said. British Oxygen Co (UK)
ernment to explore produc- developed by the DRDO, will be ture to its limit. to May 15. Cumulatively, 11,058 oxy- include oxygen concentrators
tion of COVID-19 vaccine released on Monday by Defence “In the ongoing second India has been receiving gen concentrators, 13,496 (100), ventilators/BiPAP/
through technology transfer Minister Rajnath Singh and COVID-19 wave, a large num- international donations and oxygen cylinders, 19 oxygen CPAP (500), oxygen cylinders
from Bharat Biotech. Health Minister Harsh Vard- ber of patients are facing severe aid of COVID-19 relief med- generation plants, 7,365 ven- (300), Remdesivir (40,000)
The Ahmedabad-based han, officials said. oxygen dependency and need ical supplies and equipment tilators/Bi PAP, about 5.3 lakh besides masks and protective
firm said it has already initiated The Drugs Controller hospitalisation. The drug is since April 27 from different Remdesivir vials have been suits, the ministry said.  MPOST
the discussions with Bharat General of India (DGCI) has expected to save precious lives
Biotech in this regard. approved the oral drug for emer- due to the mechanism of its

Enough vaccines in country from

"A triparty consortium has
been formed with the Gov-
ernment of Gujarat as the lead
partner, to explore the pros-
pects of manufacturing the
Covid vaccine through tech-
nology from Bharat Biotech,"
Hester Biosciences CEO and
MD Rajiv Gandhi said in a
statement.
The discussions are cur-
rently ongoing with Bharat
Biotech towards reviewing
the infrastructure at Hes-
ter, the technology adaption
process and the regulatory
compliances,Rajiv Gandhi
added.
Based on the outcome of
the review, the next course
of action will be determined,
Gandhi noted.
Hester Biosciences is a
leading player in the animal
healthcare segment. It is the
second largest poultry vac-
cine manufacturer in the
country.
Only three vaccines have so
far been approved to be sold in
India — Covaxin, Covishield
and Sputnik V.
Sputnik V has been
approved to be imported from
Russia by Dr Reddy's, but is
yet to be widely available in the
country.
Last week the Delhi gov-
ernment urged the Centre to
use its special power to allow
more firms to manufacture
vaccines.
Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, say-
ing the Centre should share
the vaccine formula of the two
manufacturers with other capa-
ble pharmaceutical companies
to scale up production in the
country.
He said the Centre can also
terminate the monopoly on
vaccine production through
the patent law.  AGENCIES
gency use as an adjunct therapy
in moderate to severe coronavi-
rus patients, the defence min-
istry said earlier this month.
The officials said the first
batch of the drug will be
released by the two ministers
at an event at the headquar-
ters of the Defence Research
and Development Organisation
(DRDO) here. The ministry, on
May 8, said the clinical trials of
the drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose
(2-DG), showed that it helps
in a faster recovery of hospital-
ised patients and reduces sup-
plemental oxygen dependence.
The approval of the drug has
come at a time when India is
grappling with a record-break-
ing wave of the coronavirus pan-
operation in the infected cells.
This also reduces the hospital
stay of COVID-19 patients,”
the ministry had said.
The anti-COVID therapeu-
tic application of the drug has
been developed by the Institute
of Nuclear Medicine and Allied
Sciences (INMAS), a leading
laboratory of the DRDO, in col-
laboration with Dr Reddy’s Lab-
oratories (DRL) in Hyderabad.
The drug comes in a pow-
der form in a sachet and is
taken orally by dissolving it
in water, the ministry said. In
efficacy trends, it said, patients
treated with 2-DG showed a
faster symptomatic cure than
the standard of care (SoC) on
various endpoints.  AGENCIES
July-August: Union minister
GWALIOR: Union Agricul-
ture Minister Narendra Tomar
on Sunday said India will have
enough COVID-19 vaccine
doses from July-August.
He hit out at the Congress
for attacking the Centre on the
handling of the COVID-19
pandemic and said the oppo-
sition party did not have to
face such tough times during
their rule.
Speaking to reporters here
after attending a crisis manage-
ment committee meet, Tomar
said, "The Congress leader-
ship has nothing to do with
the country or public interest.
During their time, they did
not have to face a crisis like the
Coronavirus pandemic."
"The Congress is playing
politics on vaccines, which is
very unfortunate. India will
have enough vaccine doses
from July-August," he added.
A 1000-bed hospital was
under construction near the
government medical college
here and it would soon start
functioning with 570 beds to
begin with, the Union minister
said.
Tomar added that special
wards would be set up for those
suffering from Mucormycosis,
or black fungus, a rare and
dangerous infection that is
being seen in some COVID-
19 patients as well as those
who have recovered from the
infection.  MPOST

TN sees over
From Page 1 Maharashtra’s Hingoli district, also officials said. conditions, undertook rescue and Shah also advised them to Amreli districts will reach 150-

33,000 new
leaves behind two children aged The highest rainfall of 385 mm rehabilitation of people who were ensure adequate stocks of all 160 kmph gusting to 175 kmph by
11 and 16. was recorded at Nada Station in trapped in houses. essential medicines and supplies Tuesday morning.

Congress
leaders
He alleged that the government
had created man-made shortages
and there was chaos all around.
“The Government of India did
not manage the crisis well,” he said.
The Congress leader alleged
that when it came to negotiating
with vaccine manufacturers or
putting in place the vaccine policy,
everything was “centralised and
individualised”.
“Anguished by the passing
away of my friend from
Parliament, Shri Rajeev Satav Ji.
He was an upcoming leader with
much potential. Condolences to
his family, friends and supporters.
Om Shanti,” tweeted Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
The last rites of Satav, son of
former Maharashtra minister
Rajani Satav, will be performed
at his native place Kalamnuri in
Hingoli district on Monday, an
official said.
Cyclone
Kundapura taluk of Udupi district,
which was the worst affected, and
15 stations recorded more than
200 mm of rainfall in the district.
Officials said nearly a dozen
relief camps are functioning in the
state. There has been damage to
112 houses, 139 electricity poles
and other infrastructure in coastal
areas.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa
has asked in-charge Ministers
of coastal districts and Deputy
Commissioners there to visit the
affected areas and carry out rescue
and relief works.
The IMD has issued orange
High tidal waves have
also lashed Kaipamangalam,
Chavakkad and Kodungallur
in Thrissur, Pallithura in
Thiruvananthapuram,
Thrikkannapuzha in Alappuzha
and Beypore and Koyilandy in
Kozhikode districts.
IMD Director General M
Mohapatra said the cyclone has
seen a rapid intensification.
The gradual intensification
stages are cyclonic storm, severe
cyclonic storm, very severe
cyclonic storm, extremely severe
storm and super cyclonic storm.
The National Crisis
in the hospitals, keeping in view a
likely disruption in the movement
of vehicles, a statement issued by
the Union home ministry said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray said an alert
has been sounded in coastal
districts of the state and the
administration is prepared to
ensure uninterrupted electricity
and oxygen supply in COVID-19
hospitals.
The IMD said Tauktae would
cross Gujarat’s coast between
Porbandar and Mahuva in
Bhavnagar district by early
Tuesday morning and tidal waves
It will reach a speed of 120-150
kmph gusting to 165 kmph over
Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Covid cases
Bhavnagar districts during the
same period, the IMD said. for 2nd day
“Gale winds with speed
reaching 70-80 kmph gusting
to 90 kmph are likely to prevail in a row
along and off Valsad, Navsari,
Surat, Bharuch, southern parts of CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu
Ahmedabad, and Anand districts, reported over 33,000 new
as well as Dadra, Nagar Haveli, COVID-19 cases and over
Daman (Union Territories) from 300 deaths for the second
May 17 midnight till Tuesday consecutive day on Sunday, the
morning,” it said. Health Department said.
The sea conditions will become
“very rough to high” along and
The total number of the
fresh cases stands at 33,181 and

“PM Modi wanted to be known
as a vaccine guru, but now the
entire world and every Indian is
asking tough questions,” he said.
“You can’t have centralised
decision-making and decentralised
responsibility,” he said.
“What we witnessed is image
management, which is the
most unfortunate aspect of this
government. It is fatal for the
country,” he felt.
Rajeev Satav
The Congress chief also
spoke to Satav’s mother and
wife and expressed her heartfelt
condolences.
Satav, who hailed from
Tauktae
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant
said the major impact of the
cyclonic winds was felt in Bardez
taluka in North Goa district and
Mormugao in South Goa.
He said there was power
disruption for some time at the
Goa Medical College and Hospital
(GMCH), where COVID-
19 patients are undergoing
treatment, but it did not affect the
functioning.
In Karnataka, over 70 villages
in seven districts including
Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu and
Hassan have been affected by
the cyclone, the Karnataka State
Disaster Management Authority
alerts — a warning indicating
heavy to very heavy rain —
on Sunday in three Kerala
districts-Ernakulam, Idukki and
Malappuram.
Many houses were damaged
in coastal areas across the state
as seawater seeped in following
high waves. According to the state
government, at least nine districts
have been severely affected by sea
incursion.
Families living in coastal areas
and low-lying areas of the state
have been shifted to relief camps.
Indian Navy deployed its
diving and quick reaction teams
in the coastal village of Chellanam
in Ernakulam district, which was
heavily hit by tidal waves. The
teams, braving harsh weather
Management Committee (NCMC)
headed by Cabinet Secretary
Rajiv Gauba met on Sunday in
the national capital, where the top
bureaucrat of the country directed
agencies to ensure “uninterrupted”
functioning of the COVID
hospitals in the states affected by
Cyclone Tauktae and secure “zero
loss” of lives.
Home Minister Amit Shah
reviewed the preparedness for
Cyclone Tauktae in Gujarat,
Maharashtra and the Union
territories of Daman and Diu
and Dadra and Nagar Havel and
“specifically” stressed that all
health facilities, including those
for COVID-19 treatment, falling
in the affected areas should be
secured along with the patients.
are likely to inundate several
coastal districts during the landfall.
“The very severe cyclonic
storm Tauktae over the east-
central Arabian Sea moved nearly
northwards with a speed of about
11 kmph during the past six
hours,” it said.
“It is very likely to intensify
during the next 24 hours. It
is very likely to move north-
northwestwards and reach the
Gujarat coast in the evening hours
of May 17 and cross the state coast
between Porbandar and Mahuva
in Bhavnagar district around May
18 early morning,” the IMD said.
With the cyclone intensifying,
the wind speed along and off
Gujarat coasts in Porbandar,
Junagadh, Gir Somnath and
off the south Gujarat coast from
Monday morning, and “very high
to phenomenal” from Monday
midnight.
A tidal wave of about 3
metres, 1-2.5 metres above the
astronomical tide, is likely to
inundate several coastal areas of
the state during the time of the
landfall, it said.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall
in isolated places was likely over
Saurashtra and Kutch and Diu
on Monday, and extremely heavy
rainfall at isolated places on
Tuesday, according to IMD.
The Indian Coast Guard said
on Sunday evening hat all fishing
boats have reached their harbours
in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
 WITH AGENCY INPUTS
deaths at 311, the department
said.The new cases include
nine returnees from various
destinations, pushing the
caseload to 15,98,216 while
the deaths today took the toll
to 17,670 till date, it said.
According to a medical
bulletin, 21,317 people were
discharged today, taking the
tally to 13,61,204 leaving
2,19,342 active infections.
Chennai accounted for
6,247 new infections, totalling
4,38,391 till date. The metropolis
leads in the number of fatalities
too with 5,764 deaths. The
number of samples tested
today was 1,66,812, pushing
the cumulative number of
specimens examined so far to
2,51,17,215.  AGENCIES
millenniumpost
NEW DELHI | MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021
NCMC asks to ensure proper
running of COVID centres
‘All measures be taken to evacuate people affected by the cyclone’
OUR CORESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The National
Crisis Management Commit-
tee (NCMC) headed by Cab-
inet Secretary Rajiv Gauba
met on Sunday, where the
top bureaucrat of the coun-
try directed agencies to ensure
"uninterrupted" functioning
of the COVID hospitals in the
states affected by the impend-
ing Cyclone Tauktae and secure
"zero loss" of lives.
Officers from various cen-
tral agencies, the chief secre-
taries of Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and
Tamil Nadu and the adminis-
trators of the Union territories
of Lakshadweep, Dadra and
Nagar Haveli and Daman and
Diu took part in the meeting, a
DURING CYCLONE TAUKTAE
agencies, Gauba stressed
that all measures be taken
to evacuate people in the areas
affected by the cyclone so as
to ensure zero loss of life and
damage.
"All steps are to be taken to
avoid disruption of function-
ing of hospitals and COVID-
19 centres and maintenance
of regular supply of oxygen to
patients," the statement quoted
him as saying.
NDRF team clears a road blocked by the falling of trees due to strong Necessary arrangements
winds during the formation of cyclone Tauktae in Panaji  PIC/PTI have been made in this context,
it added. India is witnessing the
statement issued by the govern- coast in the morning of May 18 second wave of the COVID-19
ment said. with wind speeds ranging from pandemic currently.
The NCMC met to review 150-160 km per hour, accom- The cabinet secretary
the preparedness of the cen- panied by heavy rainfall and directed the agencies con-
tral and state agencies to deal storm surge, it said. cerned to work in close co-ordi-
with the cyclonic storm that is Reviewing the prepared- nation and extend all requisite
expected to reach the Gujarat ness of the central and state assistance to the affected states.
"Preparatory arrangements
to restore power, telecom
and other important services
should be ensured," he said.
The statement said the
chief secretaries of the states
apprised the NCMC of the
measures put in place to deal
with the cyclonic storm.
"Adequate stock of
foodgrains, drinking water and
other essential supplies have
been arranged and prepara-
tions made to maintain essen-
tial services such as power,
telecommunications etc.," they
said.
The National Disas-
ter Response Force (NDRF)
informed the meeting that a
total of 101 teams have been
earmarked to tackle the
cyclone.
Nation
‘No new virus strain behind
spate of deaths in AMU’
ALIGARH: Genome sequenc-
ing of Covid-19 samples has
not found any new coronavi-
rus strain behind the infection
around the AMU campus, uni-
versity authorities said Sunday
as another member of their fra-
ternity died.
Professor Abu Qamar, 75,
the former dean of the Faculty
of Medicine in the Jawahar-
lal Nehru Medical College and
Hospital died here on Sunday
of Covid-19 after battling it
for nearly three weeks, JNMC
Principal Shahid Ali Siddiqui
said.
Prof Qamar died two
days after AMU's former
proctor, Prof Nasim Beg, 76,
died in a New Delhi hospital
where he was shifted to and
admitted after his condition
worsened here, his family
members said.
At least 38 AMU teach-
ers, including 17 serving ones,
have died of Covid or Covid-
like symptoms in the last one
month, triggering doubts if any
new deadly strain of the virus
Aligarh Muslim University
has been in circulation on the
AMU campus.
These doubts also prompted
the varsity's JNMC authori-
ties to send Covid-19 samples
from the AMU campus and
its neighbouring Civil Lines
area for genome sequencing to
the CSIR-Institute of Genom-
ics and Integrative Biology in
New Delhi.
No new strain of coro-
navirus has been detected
in samples sent for genome
sequencing to the CSIR in
New Delhi, said a senior JNMC
official, in a relief to the hos-
pital's beleaguered staff who
have been on the edge follow-
mp 5
ing a large number of deaths of
the serving and retired AMU
employees.
Prof Haris Manzoor Khan,
the head of the JNMC's Depart-
ment of Microbiology and the
principal investigator of the
AMU's Viral Research and
Diagnostic Laboratory, said out
of the 20 samples sent to CSIR
for genome sequencing, 18
(90 percent) had B.1.617.2 lin-
eage referred to as the double
mutation variant, first identi-
fied in Maharashtra on Octo-
ber 5, 2020.
It is a subtype of B.1.617
variant which is the main virus
circulating in the second wave
of COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh,
he added.
The WHO has described
it as a Variant of Concern
because of its higher trans-
missibility and reduced neu-
tralization from pre-existing
antibodies, he said. B.1.617 has
a higher growth rate than other
circulating variants suggesting
a potentially increased rate of
transmission. AGENCIES

COVID-19: Goa govt takes over Haryana CM Khattar inaugurates 500-bed

admissions in all pvt hospitals COVID hosp in Hisar amid protest by farmers
OUR CORRESPONDENT
PANAJI: The Goa government
on Sunday issued an order
requisitioning the premises
of the private hospitals in the
state for providing treatment
to COVID-19 patients under
the Disaster Management Act.
The order stated COVID-
19 patients will be admitted
in 50 per cent of the total
beds in these hospitals as per
the directions of designated
officers of the government and
the payment for the treatment
of DDSSY (state-run insurance
scheme) beneficiaries will be
made by the government.
This order, applicable for
one month, was issued by
State Executive Committee
secretary Sanjay Kumar under
section 65 of the Disaster
Management Act, 2005.
Citing violation of
norms, Goa Chief Minister
Pramod Sawant on Saturday
said the state government
will take over the rights to
admission in all the 21 private
hospitals in the state treating
COVID-19 patients from May
17.
He had said the move will
ease the load on facilities like
the Goa Medical College and
Hospital (GMCH).
The order mentions that in
a bid to provide sufficient beds
for the treatment of COVID-
19 patients, the private
hospitals were earlier directed
to reserve a certain share of
their total bed capacity for the
treatment of such patients.
"The information has been
received that private hospitals
are either not admitting
COVID-19 patients as per
the earlier order issued for
the reservation of beds or
charging exorbitant fees for
treatment of COVID patients,
and denying treatment to
the DDSSY beneficiaries," it
stated.
OUR CORRESPONDENT
HISAR: Haryana Chief Min-
ister Manohar Lal Khattar on
Sunday inaugurated a 500-bed
COVID hospital here and said
his government is committed
to expand the healthcare facili-
ties in the sate amid the raging
pandemic. Earlier, a group of
farmers tried to move towards
the venue where Khattar was
to inaugurate the hospital but
they were dispersed by police
by using force and lobbying tear
gas shells.
Khattar said with the inau-
guration of the Chaudhary Devi
Lal Sanjivani COVID hospi-
tal, not only the coronavirus
patients of Hisar district but the
people of nearby districts would
be able to get the required treat-
ment at the facility. On April 26,
Khattar had visited Hisar and
identified the campus of Jindal
Modern School adjoining Jindal
Stainless Limited unit and after
completing all the necessary
procedures, the hospital was
constructed in a record 17 days
time, an official statement said.
In this difficult time of
COVID-19 pandemic, this
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurating 100 bed Field Hospital hospital is certainly a boon for
at Tau Devilal Stadium in Sector 38 at Gurugram  PIC/PTI COVID-19 patients as it has
adequate availability of beds
and oxygen, it said
The hospital will directly
get about eight metric tonnes
of oxygen supply from Jindal
Stainless Limited, which will be
available at 7.1 liters per minute
per bed. It is proposed that no
fee would be charged from the
patients who will come to get
treatment in this hospital, the
statement said. Khattar said the
Haryana government is con-
stantly working to provide better
healthcare facilities to the people
by making necessary arrange-
ments required for the preven-
tion of COVID-19 in the state.

Three BJP MLAs held for
flouting Covid curbs
AMITAVA BANERJEE
DARJEELING: Three BJP leg-
islators were arrested in Siliguri
for flouting safety restrictions
imposed in the state for check-
ing the spread of Covid from
Sunday. BJP MLA of Siliguri
Shankar Ghosh; Dabgram-Ful-
bari MLA Shikha Chatterjee
and Matigara-Naxalbari MLA
Anandamoy Barman and other
BJP supporters staged a sit-in
protest in front of the BJP party
office at Hashmi Chowk in Sili-
guri around 9 am on Sunday.
An hour later, police
arrived and asked them to lift
the protest. As they refused,
they were booked under the
Disaster Management Act and
taken to the Siliguri Police Sta-
tion. Specific cases have been
started against the trio. Later,
BJP MLA of Siliguri
Shankar Ghosh;
Dabgram-Fulbari MLA
Shikha Chatterjee and
Matigara-Naxalbari
MLA Anandamoy
Barman and other BJP
supporters staged a
sit-in protest in front of
the BJP party office
they were released on furnish-
ing bonds. “They have flouted
Covid norms. No political con-
gregations or demonstrations
are allowed till May 30” added
a police officer. Shankar Ghosh
had alleged that the state gov-
ernment had failed to translate
words into action regarding
Covid-19 treatment.
“There is a political vac-
uum in the BJP. They have no
issues at all. The BJP leaders are
staging such theatrics just to
stay in the limelight and news,”
said Gautam Deb, Chairman,
Board of Administrators, Sili-
guri Municipal Corporation.
On Sunday, the Darjeel-
ing district recorded 390 fresh
cases including 290 from the
Siliguri Municipal Corpora-
tion area; 2 from Darjeeling
Municipality area; 12 Sukna;
17 Kurseong Municipality area;
3 Mirik; 4 Bijanbari; 5 Sukh-
iapokhari; 11 Kharibari; 82
Matigara; 49 Naxalbari and 6
Phansidewa. At least 275 cases
are from the Siliguri Munici-
pal Corporation area including
parts of Jalpaiguri. About 361
people have recovered, includ-
ing home isolation patients.
Maha CM asks family Chh’garh CM seeks adequate
doctors to join fight virus vaccines from Centre
against COVID-19 OUR CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief
Minister Uddhav Thackeray
on Sunday appealed to doctors
who serve as family physicians
to join the state’s fight against
COVID-19 and advise their
patients under home isolation
about the right treatment pro-
tocols. During a virtual inter-
action with private medical
practitioners and members
of the state COVID-19 task
force, Thackeray said patients
trust their family doctors more
than anyone else. “The treat-
ment protocols of COVID-19
patients in home isolation can
be managed more effectively if
their family physicians join the
battle against the viral infec-
tion,” the chief minister said.
He said family physicians
can evaluate the COVID-19
patient’s condition, co-morbid-
Maharashtra CM Thackeray
ities and oxygen level during
home isolationand guide them
effectively regarding the need
for hospitalisation.
“If the asymptomatic
patients in home isolation are
treated effectively,it would help
reduce the COVID-19 mor-
tality rate,” he said. He said
family doctors should also
take into account the increas-
ing sugar level of COVID-
19 patients and how it can
be restricted. AGENCIES
RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Chief
Minister Bhupesh Baghel
on Sunday requested Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to
ensure sufficient availability
of COVID-19 vaccines in the
state, a government official
here said.
Modi held a telephonic
conversation with the CM on
Sunday to discuss the COVID-
19 situation in Chhattisgarh,
during which Baghel informed
him that the positivity rate of
the viral infection has been
steadily declining in the state,
the public relations depart-
ment official said.
Drawing attention of the
prime minister towards short-
age of vaccine in the state,
Baghel requested him to
ensure its sufficient availabil-
ity, he said.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister
Bhupesh Baghel
Baghel also told the PM
that the state currently has
adequate availability of oxy-
gen, and urged him to allow
use of the oxygen remaining
after medical use for indus-
trial purpose. “The availabil-
ity of oxygen is sufficient and
accordingly, after providing 80
per cent oxygen to hospitals,
the remaining 20 per cent can
be provided to small indus-
tries, so that such units can
start their activities,” Baghel
told Modi. The prime minis-
ter assured the CM to consider
his demands, the official said.
During the interaction,
Baghel also informed that
guidelines issued by the Cen-
tre and the state government
for prevention of COVID-
19 infection were being fully
complied with in the state
and number of tests has been
increased.
“Contact-tracing has also
been expedited. The positivity
rate is steadily declining and
the recovery rate is improving,”
the CM said.
Special attention was
being paid to rural areas and
additional teams (of offi-
cials) were deployed in the
regions where cases were still
rising, he said.

Tigress found dead Thakur sends 17 mobile med units Nation Briefs
in Panna reserve; for 12 district in HP, 70 die in 24-hr TWO HELD FOR TRYING TO SMUGGLE
4th death in 10 days Total number of deaths in Himachal Pradesh is 2311 POLYTHENE BAGS IN J&K’S SAMBA
BHOPAL: A radio-collared
tigress was found dead in
Madhya Pradesh’s Panna Tiger
Reserve, a senior forest official
said on Sunday.
This is the fourth tiger
death reported from the state
in 10 days. The carcass of the
tigress, identified as P-213 (32),
was found on Saturday in Gah-
righat range of the Panna Tiger
Reserve, located over 350 km
from Bhopal, the official said.
The tigress was spotted with
swelling in its left leg on May
12, he said, adding the feline
was then tranquilised and later
released after being provided
medical treatment.
On Saturday, forest officials
reached the spot after getting
information about the carcass.
They did not find any illegal
activity there, the official said.
The tigress seems to have
died of natural causes, he said.
After the autopsy, the car-
cass was disposed of as per
guidelines of the National
Tiger Conservation Authority
(NTCA), he added.
Earlier, the decomposed
Earlier, the
decomposed
carcass of a tiger
was found in a
buffer zone of
the Bandhavgarh
reserve in MP
carcass of a tiger was found in a
buffer zone of the Bandhavgarh
reserve in MP on Friday.
On May 8, a tiger was found
dead in the state’s Kanha Tiger
Reserve. Besides, a dead sub-
adult tiger (aged between 18
and 24 months) was found
floating in a canal of an inter-
state water project in Balaghat’s
Waraseoni tehsil on May 7, offi-
cials said.
Madhya Pradesh is home
to a number of tiger reserves,
including Kanha, Band-
havgarh, Pench, Satpura and
Panna. The state had regained
the top position in the 2018
census with a population of
526 tigers. MPOST
of which 1145 have died in the past four weeks only
OUR CORRESPONDENT
SHIMLA: After getting three
PSA Oxygen plants set-up at
Hamirpur, Una and Bilaspur, all
three districts in Hamirpur par-
liamentary constituency, Union
MoS for Finance and Corpo-
rate affairs Anurag Thakur has
rushed more emergency medi-
cal aid to Himachal Pradesh,
which reported 70 deaths even
on Sunday.
It was the highest ever toll
taking the total in Himachal
Pradesh to 2311, of which 1145
have died in the past four weeks
only. At Anurag Thakur’s ini-
tiative, Himachal Pradesh will
get 17 mobile medical units
to cater emergency needs in all
12 districts of the state ,includ-
ing five hotspot districts of
Una, Kangra, Solan, Sirmaur
and Shimla.
BJP National President J
P Nadda flagged off ‘Aspatal
Mobile Medical Units ‘carry-
ing COVID medical supplies
At Anurag Thakur’s
initiative, Himachal
Pradesh will get 17
mobile medical units to
cater emergency needs
in all 12 districts of
the state ,including five
hotspot districts of Una,
Kangra, Solan, Sirmaur
and Shimla
for Himachal Pradesh.
Chief Minister Jai Ram
Thakur ,in a message has
thanked Anurag Thakur for
providing voluntary help under
his personal initiative -- Saa-
nsad Mobile Swasthya Seva,
which has provided medical
help to people of Hamirpur and
accessible rural population in
Hamirpur.
The emergency medical
material being provided include
three lakh Ply Mask,50,000
N-95 Mask, 2500 Gloves,10,000
Face Shield, 7000 PPE kits, 6000
Oxygen Masks, 1500 Oxygen
Regulator and 250 Nasal Can-
nula. Anurag Thakur hoped
that the medical resources will
strengthen relief efforts in Him-
achal and save lives.
“The Asptal initiative till
now has provided free medi-
cal tests and treatment to over
5.5 Lakh people-- 65% of them
women. This initiative has
been working even during the
COVID period with a moti-
vated team of doctors, nurses
and lab technicians”.
Meanwhile a data release by
the state government revealed
that more young people are
dying in Himachal Pradesh
during the second wave of pan-
demic as figures show nearly
88% of deaths occurred in those
persons, who had attained the
age of 45 years.
Among deceased – 1,337
(61.2%) were males and 848
(38.8%) were females.
Among the total deaths,
comorbidities were present
in 1196 (54.7%) persons, non
comorbid were 989 (45.3%).
Majority of the co-morbidi-
ties include Diabetes Mellitus
594 (49.6%), Hypertension 528
(44.1%), Chronic Kidney Dis-
ease 119 (9.9%) and Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Dis-
ease 89 (7.4%). Highest num-
ber of deaths i.e. 613 have been
recorded in the District Kangra.
An official spokesperson
informed that 1074 deaths
,which were analysed the
average age of the person was
found around 59-60 years. If
compared to the mean age of
people dying in the whole pan-
demic reveals that compara-
tively younger people are dying
in the second wave.
This might be due to the
vaccination which was ear-
lier prioritised for the people
more than 60 years and now
also done for 45 plus with
comorbidities.
JAMMU: Two Punjab residents were taken into
custody on Sunday for trying to smuggle 16 quintals
of banned polythene bags in a mini-load carrier in
Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
The Jammu-bound vehicle loaded with potatoes was
stopped and searched by a police party at Tapyal
near Ghagwal on Jammu-Pathankot highway, result-
ing in the seizure of 64 sacks of polythene bags which
were being transported illegally, a police official
said. Driver Baljinder Paul and owner Jasvinder Singh,
both residents of Punjab, were detained and the pol-
lution control department, Samba, was informed for
further action, he said.
MAN DIES AFTER FALLING OFF
FLYOVER AS MOTORCYCLE SKIDS
NAGPUR: A 32-year-old man died after falling off
a flyover as his motorcycle skidded following rains at
Nagpur in Maharashtra on Sunday, police said. The
incident occurred on Chikhali flyover in Shanti Nagar
area around 9 pm, they said. The deceased, identi-
fied as Rajkumar, was a native of Karnataka. He
lived in a rented house in Koradi near Nagpur, police
said. As per an official, the accident took place when
he was heading to Koradi on his motorcycle with his
colleague, who was pillion riding. “Due to the sud-
den showers, the road had become slippery, due to
which their motorcycle skidded while passing from the
flyover. After hitting the bridge railings, Rajkumar fell
off the flyover and died,” the official said.
6 mp
‘Prevent dumping Indian scribe bodies condemn Israeli airstrike
on Gaza building housing AP, Al Jazeera offices
of bodies in Ganga’
Focus on their safe disposal and a
dignified cremation: Centre to UP, Bihar
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Centre
directed Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar on Sunday to prevent
dumping of dead bodies in the
Ganga and its tributaries, and
focus on their safe disposal
and a dignified cremation after
corpses were seen floating in
these rivers following a spurt
in the number of coronavirus
cases.
At a review meeting con-
ducted on May 15-16, the Cen-
tre said dumping of dead bodies
and partially burnt or decom-
posed corpses in the Ganga and
its tributaries has recently been
reported, which is "most unde-
sirable and alarming".
"Namami Gange directs
states to prevent dumping of
dead bodies in the Ganga and
focus on their safe disposal and
providing support for ensuring
dignified cremation," the Jal
Shakti Ministry said.
The state pollution control
boards were directed to moni-
tor the water quality more fre-
quently in consultations with
the health departments.
The Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB) was
assigned the task of overall
monitoring, providing guid-
ance to the state pollution
control boards and taking up
advanced analysis in the matter.
Support for cremation
needs to be given top priority.
Effective implementation of the
government orders needs to be
ensured. No loss of time should
take place in implementation,
the ministry said.
An advisory was issued by
Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Direc-
tor General, National Mission
for Clean Ganga, to the dis-
trict magistrates, who are also
the chairpersons of the district
Ganga committees, on May 11.
Search held
on FB posts
advocating
ISIS ideology
case
CHENNAI: The NIA on Sun-
day carried out searches at four
locations in Tamil Nadu’s Mad-
urai in connection with a case
relating to incriminating Face-
book posts by an extremist
advocating the ideology of the
Islamic State terror group and
fundamentalist organisation
Hizb-Ut-Tahrir, an official said.
The case pertains to upload-
ing some incriminating posts
on Facebook by Mohammad
Iqbal, a Madurai resident, who
was arrested in December last
year, he said.
The searches were
conducted at Kazimar
Street, K Pudur,
Pethaniyapuram and
Mehaboob Palayam
in Madurai district
In the social media posts,
Iqbal, an extremist, advocated
the ideology of the ISIS terror
group and Hizb-Ut-Tahrir, a
fundamentalist organisation,
the official of the premier inves-
tigation agency said.
The posts on the Facebook
page titled Thoonga Vizhigal
Rendu is in Kazimar Street” was
uploaded by Iqbal for denigrat-
ing a particular community, the
official said, adding they were
designed to incite communal
disharmony amongst different
religious groups, in a manner
prejudicial to the maintenance
of public order.
The searches were con-
ducted at Kazimar Street, K
Pudur, Pethaniyapuram and
Mehaboob Palayam in Madu-
rai district.
During the operation,
16 digital devices, including
a laptop, hard disks, mobile
phones, memory cards, SIMs,
pen drives and many incrimi-
nating books/pamphlets/doc-
uments have been recovered,
the official said. Further inves-
tigation in the case continues,
he added. AGENCIES
Nation
More than 300 bodies found buried near Ganga in Shivrajpur, Kanpur
on Friday 
This was followed up by
a letter the next day to the
chief secretaries to prevent the
dumping of dead bodies in the
river and ensure enforcement
of the government guidelines
on the cremation of COVID-
19 victims.
The letter also advised
the states to provide financial
assistance as well as regulate
the rates for the cremation or
burial process.
On May 15, the steps
taken in this regard in Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar were
reviewed at a meeting chaired
Pankaj Kumar, Secretary,
Ministry of Jal Shakti, and
further action points were
decided.
Highlighting the instruc-
tions already given, Kumar had
called for expeditious action
and underscored the need to
give equal attention to such
incidents in urban and rural
areas along the Ganga and
other rivers.
"Stopping of dump-
ing of dead bodies as well as
their safe disposal and pro-
tection of water quality have
to be ensured on a war foot-
ing. After knowing the prog-
Free Wi-fi now at 6K rly stations All hands on deck: Forces use veterinary
at Hazaribagh town of Jharkhand corps personnel at Coronavirus facilities
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The railways
has enabled free Wi-Fi at its
6000th station as the facility
went live at Hazaribagh town
of Jharkhand on Saturday, the
national transporter said.
The railways provided
Wi-Fi facility first at the
Mumbai Railway station in
2016, reaching its 5000th
station, at Midanpore in West
Bengal.
On May 15, Jarapada
station in Angul District of
Odisha was also provided
with Wi-Fi facility, it said on
Sunday.
The Wi-Fi facility at
Two die, three PROBE AGAINST NCB CHIEF
Top Court to hear matter
survive, three missing
in tug boat mishap against HC order post 4 weeks
MANGALURU: Two persons
have died and three crew mem-
bers have gone missing in the
tug boat-capsize in the sea, said
Mangalore Refinery and Petro-
chemicals Limited (MRPL) on
Sunday. The boat 'Alliance' cap-
sized on Saturday.
Three people out of eight
on board the boat have reached
the shore and been put under
the care of the authorities, said
general manager (corporate
communications) of MRPL,
which had contracted the boat,
Rudolph Noronha said in a
statement. Also, he clarified that
another tug vessel Coromandel,
which came under distress off
the Kaup coast in Udupi dis-
trict also on Saturday, does not
belong to MRPL and it does
not have any contract with the
company. Alliance belonged to
Underwater Service Company
Limited.
The company assists us
under a contract to facilitate
SPM (single- point moor-
ing) operations whenever
our crude cargo comes there
through ships. On Friday, it had
unloaded the cargo from one
PIC/PTI
ress from the states, the CWC
(Central Water Commission),
the CPCB and the state pollu-
tion control boards would also
be giving their feedback and
action plans," he had said.
Mishra stated that the sit-
uation is being monitored
and follow-up action is being
taken in several districts such
as Unnao, Kanpur rural, Ghazi-
pur and Balia in Uttar Pradesh
and Buxar and Saran in Bihar.
However, some cases have
also been reported from other
districts. He asked the state
missions to keep an eye on the
situation.
Mishra emphasised the
need to strengthen enforce-
ment, maintain vigil and
take proactive action to
facilitate and support the
families for the cremation of
the bodies and asked the state
missions to specifically report
on this.
"If needed, the proj-
ect directors can assess and
also give support to the dis-
trict Ganga committees for
this out of the NMCG funds
available with them, while
keeping the NMCG informed,"
he said.
The Wi-Fi facility will bridge the digital
divide between the rural and urban
citizens thereby increasing the digital
footprint in the rural villages and also
enhance the user experience, the railways said.
railway stations meets the
objectives of the aspiring
Digital India’ programme of
government of India. This
will bridge the digital divide
between the rural and urban
citizens thereby increasing the
digital footprint in the rural
villages and also enhance the
user experience, the railways
said.
Wi-Fi facility is being
The company
assists us under a
contract to facilitate
SPM (single- point
mooring) operations
whenever our crude
cargo comes there
through ships
such ship and was supposed
to return by the end of the day.
However, it started to move
towards the port after due clear-
ance on Saturday and under-
went distress, the statement
said. MRPL has received infor-
mation that there were eight
people on board at the time of
the mishap.
While three have survived
by reaching shore, two have
died and their bodies been
recovered, the statement said.
The remaining three crew
members are missing and
details of communication with
port and rescue operations shall
be updated, Noronha said in the
statement. MPOST
The Guild urges Indian government to take up the issue with its Israeli counterpart
OUR CORRESPODENT
NEW DELHI: Indian journal-
ist bodies including the Editors
Guild of India (EGI) on Sun-
day strongly condemned the
"brazen" Israeli airstrikes on a
building in Gaza that housed
the offices of the Associated
Press, Al Jazeera and other
news media outlets.
The EGI said in a statement
that given the recent back-
ground of the "escalating con-
flict" in this region, it sees this
airstrike as "a de facto attack on
the news media by the Israeli
government" that can disrupt
the flow of news from this
highly volatile region and have
global security implications.
"The Editors Guild of India
strongly condemns the brazen
airstrikes on a building in Gaza
that housed the editorial offices
of Al Jazeera and the Associ-
ated Press," the EGI said.
Mufti questions arrest of those holding anti-Israel protest
OUR CORRESPONDENT
SRINAGAR: PDP president
Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday
criticised the arrest of people
for holding protests against
Israel over the Middle-East
conflict during a corona cur-
few in the Union Territory.
People all over the world
are protesting against the atroc-
ities committed by Israel on
Palestine.
But in Kashmir it’s a pun-
ishable offence where an art-
ist is booked under PSA & a
preacher is arrested simply
for expressing solidarity with
Palestinians, she alleged on
Twitter.
On Saturday, police
arrested 21 persons from Sri-
nagar and Shopian districts for
holding pro-Palestine protests
during a curfew imposed in
the UT due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
provided by Indian railways
at 6,000 stations now, it added.
Provision of Wi-Fi facility
at stations is being provided
on a self-sustainable basis
with no cost to the railways
with the help of RailTel, a PSU
under Ministry of Railways.
The task was carried out in
partnership with Google,
DOT (under USOF), PGCIL
and Tata Trust, it said.
Plea against the high court’s order came
up for hearing on May 13 before a bench
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Supreme
Court would hear after four
weeks a plea by a dentist who
has challenged the Delhi High
Court order dismissing his
petition seeking directions to
the Centre, Central Vigilance
Commission and CBI to probe
and launch prosecution on his
complaint against Narcotics
Control Bureau (NCB) chief
Rakesh Asthana.
The plea against the high
court’s order came up for
hearing on May 13 before a
bench of Justices U U Lalit and
B R Gavai.
At the request of the
counsel for the petitioner, the
matter is adjourned for four
weeks, the bench said in its
May 13 order.
The high court had on
February 15 dismissed the
plea filed by Chandigarh
resident Dr Mohit Dhawan,
who had sought directions
A ball of fire erupts from a building housing various international
media, including The Associated Press, after an Israeli airstrike on
Saturday 
It also demanded that the
The police also arrested a
South Kashmir-based religious
preacher Sarjan Barkati for
allegedly delivering an inflam-
matory speech on Eid day. Bar-
kati had expressed support for
the people of Palestine.
The PDP leader alleged that
Kashmir is an open-air prison”
and “there is no outlet left to
express one’s opinion”.
The PDP president, while
referring to the detention of
two sons of late separatist
leader Mohammad Ashraf Seh-
rai, said the Public Safety Act
(PSA) was the Centre’s “go-to
method for every problem” in
Kashmir.
The two were detained from
their residence in Barzulla area
of the city late Saturday evening
in connection with a case reg-
istered by police in Kupwara
district on May 6 after pro-free-
dom slogans were raised at the
separatist leader’s funeral, offi-
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: To augment
medical care services to fight
the brutal second COVID-19
wave, doctors and other staff
from the Remount Veterinary
Corps have been roped in by
the armed forces, essentially
to help run patient facilita-
tion centres, officials said on
Sunday.
Around 18 officers, over
120 junior commissioned offi-
cers (JCOs) and other ranks
have been deployed in specially
created COVID-19 facilities in
the national capital, Lucknow,
Ahmedabad, Varanasi and
Patna under operation 'CO-
JEET', which was started by the
combined armed forces in view
Supreme Court
to the Centre, CVC and CBI
to investigate and launch
criminal prosecution on his
complaint against Asthana.
The high court had
rejected the plea with a cost
of Rs 20,000 to be paid by
the petitioner in favour of
the Delhi High Court Legal
Services Committee.
In his plea filed in the apex
court, Dhawan has claimed
that the high court had erred
in not appreciating that CVC
PIC/PTI
Israeli government give "a
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti
cials said.
Meanwhile, police on Sun-
day released 17 youths, includ-
ing an artist, a day after they
were detained for holding an
anti-Israel protest here during
the corona curfew.
Artist Mudasir Gul, who
had painted pro-Palestine
graffiti, was among 20 people
detained by the police on Sat-
urday in the city’s Padshahi
of the pandemic.
'CO-JEET' stands for co-
workers of all three services
who will finally have 'Jeet' (vic-
tory) over COVID-19.
Operation 'Co-JEET' has
engaged personnel of the three
wings of the armed forces the
Army, the Air Force and the
Navy into services like helping
restore oxygen supply chains,
setting up COVID beds and
providing help to the civilian
administration in their fight
to prevent the spread of the
infection.
The Department of Defence
has also created a COVID Cri-
sis Management Committee.
The staff of the Remount
Veterinary Corps (RVC) will be
used to help facilitation centres
has failed in dispensing
its constitutional duty cast
upon it by its disappointing
act of total inaction by
just sitting over the criminal
complaint submitted by
him against the senior IPS
officer under the provision
of the Prevention of
Corruption Act.
The plea alleged that the
high court had not appreciated
that both the CVC and CBI
have failed to adjudicate upon
the criminal complaints filed
by the petitioner.
The dentist had earlier
moved the apex court seeking
directions to investigate and
launch criminal prosecution
against Asthana, who also
heads the BSF, on the basis of
his allegations.
However, he had on
February 8 withdrawn the
plea from the apex court and
said that he would approach
the high court to pursue the
remedy.
millenniumpost
MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021 | NEW DELHI
detailed justification" of the
decision-making behind this
"Besides the loss of hard-
ware and office space, the
attack "along with evidentiary
proof ".
bombing destroyed what was
described as 'home' by some of
"The Guild also calls for the the journalists," it said.
Israeli government to facilitate Indian Women's Press
an UN-monitored investiga- Corps, Press Association
tion into this bombing raid," and Press Club of India
it added. also criticised the action of
"Further, the Guild urges the Israeli military in a joint
the Indian government to take statement.
up this issue with the Israeli They said there can be
government, demanding an no justification for bomb-
independent inquiry and reit- ing media houses and
erating the need for ensuring targeting their personnel and
the safety of journalists in any resources.
conflict situation," the state- "It appears as a clear
ment said. attempt to prevent media
The EGI noted that the houses from reporting excesses
bombing raid on May 15 that have become a routine
demolished the 12-storey affair in Gaza and the occu-
building, destroying much of pied parts of Palestine," they
the camera and editing equip- said, and demanded that tar-
ment and severely affecting geting of media persons work-
the news reporting and broad- ing in violence-hit conflict
casting capabilities of the two zones "be completely stopped
organisations. immediately".
Sami-ullah Rather told the
Youths detained news agency.
for holding protest Gul’s mother said a few
freed local youths came to their
home and asked him to draw
a mural.
Bagh area. She said his son refused to
Seventeen boys were draw the mural at first, but was
handed over to families via convinced by the youths that
Community Bond after coun- it was a protest to express soli-
selling. They violated section darity with the people of Pal-
51 of DM Act by participating estine only and there would
in protests during corona cur- not be anything against India.
few, a police official said. On Saturday, police
The official said that detained Gul and made him
engaging the families is deface the graffiti before tak-
important for prevent- ing him away.
ing youngsters from going Rather said Gul was inter-
astray. Gul, 32, had drawn ested in art and would dedicate
the face of a weeping woman about 18 hours a day to it. We
whose head was draped in a are happy he has been released,
Palestinian flag. The words ‘We he said. The arrest of the youths
are Palestine’ were written in had drawn a sharp reaction
bold, white letters. from PDP leader Mehbooba
He was released on Sun- Mufti and the moderate Hurri-
day evening and has reached yat Conference led by Mirwaiz
his home, Gul’s elder brother Umar Farooq.
to provide information to the COVID-19 is zoonotic, and
kins of patients admitted to the the pharmacology and bio-
make-shift (COVID) hospitals, chemistry of veterinary sci-
the officials said.
Officers, JCOs and other
ences and the human body is
totally the same, they said.
ranks would be deployed at the The Remount Veterinary
COVID-19 care centres to help Corps, which has a history
the over-stretched medical staff of more than two centuries,
and provide timely information among other things and besides
to anxious relatives and atten- veterinary services also takes
dants of patients. care of disease diagnosis and
Relatives and attendants investigation, and research in
have been making a beeline emerging diseases.
outside these makeshift facili- The RVC also works round-
ties to get information about the clock for prevention of zoo-
their patients, and have often notic diseases.
engaged with the staff deployed Zoonotic diseases or zoo-
there for providing medical noses are caused by germs that
care to the infected. can spread between animals
The fresh deployment will and people. They are caused
lessen the burden on medical viruses, bacteria, parasites, and
personnel, the officials said. fungi.
Nation Briefs
2 KILLED IN CLASH IN RAJ, 15 BOOKED
KOTA: Two people were killed and one injured in a
clash between two groups over alleged illegal mining
of soil near an agricultural field along the Piplaj dam
in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district, police said on Sunday.
Fifteen people have been booked and 10 of them
detained in connection with the violence that took
place near Gangpura village under Bhawani Mandi
police station area on Saturday afternoon, they said.
The deceased have been identified as Giriraj Gurjar
(35) and Basantilal Gurjar (25), both residents of
Gangpura village, the police said. A group of 15-20
people was mining sand from near the Piplaj dam
close to an agricultural field. When Giriraj and others,
who were working in the field, objected to them dig-
ging the soil, first group attacked with sharp weapons,
Dy SP and Circle Officer, Mandi, Meena said.
MADHYA PRADESH: WOMAN, HER TWO
MINOR DAUGHTERS DROWN IN CANAL
SHEOPUR (MP): A woman and her two minor daugh-
ters drowned in a canal in Sheopur district of Madhya
Pradesh on Sunday, police said. The incident occurred
at Chambal canal in Harkoi village of Virpur tehsil in
the district, they said. The 36-year-old woman had
gone to the canal to wash clothes along with
her daughters, aged 12 and 9 years, Virpur police
station in-charge Narendra Singh Rajput said. How-
ever, while washing the clothes, her younger daughter
fell into the canal. The girl’s elder sister and mother
also jumped in to save her, but all of them drowned,
he said.
millenniumpost
NEW DELHI | MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021
EDITORIAL Cutting the clutter
A lavish pursuit The Pongchinsonla case points towards an urgency to educate masses
T
he opposition last week put forward its set of on Article 371A and states’ customary laws; writes Sourjya Das
responsible demands before the Central govern-
T
ment to control the pandemic. It could have been
best-suited if the Government responded with he first advice my
the same sense of responsibility. One of the demands was local Naga friend
to pause the construction of the extra-lavish Central Vista gave me when I trav-
project. The project aims to rejuvenate the power corri- elled to a village in
dor of India extending from Rashtrapati Bhavan to the Phek district in Nagaland to
India gate. The construction of the Central Vista project deliver a lecture on access to
has been a debated issue. More so in the present circum- justice, was: “Please start your
stances. But the sentiment to accommodate varied con- speech by talking a little about
cerns and arguments seems to be a long-lost luxury, and Article 371A.” I realized that
trampling of conflicting viewpoints or at least an effort Article 371A is the only bridge
to do so has characterised our political system. If it were between a remote village in
just the viewpoints then one could try to convince oneself Nagaland and the laws of India.
that things will come back on track someday or the other. Article 371A is important
There is sheer neglect of stats and proven facts. Legal peti- for the preservation of Naga
tions had been filed against the continuation of the proj- culture but the need to edu-
ect. The Supreme Court, after its initial resistance, gave cate the masses with regards
the project a green signal in January this year. Even as to its provisions and prohi-
the nation is bleeding in its fleet and its citizens making bitions has hardly been real-
mass departure each day, the ones entrusted to handle her ized by either the Centre or the
affairs seem determined to build a crown for her, or per- state. Lack of this awareness
haps their own. But will the crown help the bleeding feet? Lack of and its consequences are best
Will it ensure that nation stands tall at the global stage? portrayed in the recent case of
Pondering over these questions will be as futile as it is to understanding “State of Nagaland v. Pongchin-
assess the relevance of Central Vista amid ongoing and between sonla and others” in the Tuen-
imminent crisis. The essentiality of the “essential” service sang District Court.
can only be doubted and nothing else. The unprepared-
the legal The investigation in the
ness before the second wave has broken our ribs and left infrastructure case had revealed that the vic-
us embarrassed on the global stage. And now, every day of the states tim woman was walking half-
and every penny that is lost could cost us like anything naked on the road as a part of
we have not yet imagined. The Central Vista project is and the villages a punishment whereby her hair
being built for Rs 20,000 crores, or around 50 per cent of is because of had been chopped off and she
what the government had announced for boosting vac- was forcibly made to undress
cine production. A single project on a small strip of land the absence of her clothing. This public sham-
eating up half of the money that is allotted to save mil- ‘codification’ of ing was imposed against hav-
lions of lives defies all logic. A statement of power, that ing an extra-marital affair.
it may be, the Central Vista will only make the country customary laws Tuensang District Court sen-
weaker at this point in time. Apart from inflicting tangible tenced eight women to one-
damages the perception it sends around the world, bears year imprisonment along with
an imperial outlook as it puts at risk the lives of many fine under sections 342, 352,
labourers in favours towering luxuries. It is unclear when 324, 354, 143 and 149 of the
people are appealed to work from home culture, for what Indian Penal Code in the case.
urgency a section of society is dangerously engaged in the What was even more con-
construction process. The Central Vista project has cer- cerning was the kind of defence
tain social and environmental downsides too. The project taken by the counsel of accused
requires the clearance of 80 acres of land which is under persons before the court. It
public use. The loss of vegetation cover and possibly the was argued that the offence
gradual delineation of people from the land in the heav- under Section 354 of the IPC
ily crowded city is, to an extent, an undesirable shift. Of wouldn’t apply since the victim
course, these aspects are matter on-ground and empirical was aware that extra-marital
assessment. Now, that the project has been green signalled relationship brings bad name
by the Supreme Court there is little room left for assess- in the society as per the “cus-
ment of these factors. But the impact of the Central Vista tomary laws” and that the acts
project on the COVID-19 fight remains a pressing issue; if of the accused were based on
left unattended, it could take the prevailing situation to yet the customary practices.
a new low. The Central Government by itself take moral The court, however,
cognizance of the issue at hand and respect the concerns observed that the villagers took
raised by the opposition. It is already quite late but still, the law into their own hands
the temporary suspension of the project could make a sig-
nificant difference. Once the leaders start prioritizing the
Renewed bonhomie
right things the confidence of citizens gets a boost. There
is a need for that confidence too if we are to tide us over
the crisis successfully. The judiciary that has shown
significant activism lately during the pandemic, need
to once again come to action to at least review the situa-
tion on the ground. The wounded nation needs healing
not laurels.
Restoration of bilateral ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia could bear
DearEditor interesting outcomes amid ongoing developments in Israel
B
RIGHT MOVE ilateral ties between
Pakistan and Saudi
The sad demise of Mamata Banerjee’s brother Aseem Arabia had plum-
Banerjee due to COVID-19 after the month-long meted over the last
battle with the disease creates a gloomy atmosphere SHANTANU year, after Riyadh developed
amid the rapid rise in Covid cases in Bengal that MUKHARJI cold feet, denting the historic
surpassed the 21,000-mark on Saturday. Given the and strategic relationship of
deteriorating condition of our state, CM Mamata many years. The ties went so
Banerjee has taken the right decision to announce a bad that Saudi Arabia prema-
complete lockdown for two weeks starting from May turely extracted the loan worth
USD three billion it had lent
16 till May 30. Although imposing lockdown is not to Pakistan. However, a recent
an ideal move for any government to contain the telephone call from Saudi
spread of the virus, the governments of most states Crown Prince Mohammad-
are compelled to take this decision to somehow break bin-Salman (MbS) to Prime
the chain of transmission. It is quite annoying to see Minister Imran Khan (PMIK)
that some people of our state are still disbelieving the extending an invitation to visit
outbreak of the pandemic, and they feel that there is the Royal Kingdom seemed to
no such virus at all rather it is the ploy of the Central have thawed the frozen rela-
Government to mislead the common people so that by tions. Soon thereafter PMIK
creating the atmosphere of fear, they may be able to paid a three-day visit (May
gain benefits through collusion with pharmaceutical. 7-9) to Saudi Arabia. Pakistan
To harbour such belief even after witnessing the death has heaved a sigh of relief with
and devastation around the world daily shows the lack the bilateral ties showing vis-
of knowledge and comprehending abilities of our fellow Some highly ible mend.
brothers and sisters whose irresponsible behaviour in placed sources After landing on Saudi soil,
this critical time is further aggravating the situation. Pakistani PM was received by
Our state government needs to raise more awareness
in the Pakistani MbS, breaking all protocols
among the people regarding the lethal threats of this establishment which show that a renewed
virulent virus so that the situation can be controlled warmth may be in the off-
say that ing between the two Islamic
from sliding into further deterioration and the health
and hygiene issues could be resolved instantly in the President Joe countries. It may not be out
of context to re-examine the
larger interest of the nation. Hopefully, with this two- Biden has principal causes for Saudi Ara-
week-long lockdown, things will be changing for the
better direction in near future.
pressurised the bia distancing itself from Paki-
stan in the last year or so. First
— IFTEKHAR AHMED, KOLKATA via email
Saudi Kingdom was, as the domain experts
and Pakistan to say, Pakistan’s immature diplo-
millenniumpost.in matic fiasco in getting closer to
reset their ties Turkey, even going overboard
Log on to write letters to the editor or send them to with President, Erdogan. The
letter2editor.mp@gmail.com. You can also send your comments to The Editor, second obvious reason was
Millennium Post, Pratap Bhawan, 5 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002 challenging the sanctity of the
Saudi-patronised Islamic out-
fit, Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) particu-
Tweet of the day larly on the issue of Kashmir
where OIC was cautious in
not criticising India on the
stand on abrogation of Article
After Kanpur, Unnao, Varanasi, now bodies 370 and effecting some struc-
tural changes in the state.
abandoned, buried in the Prayagraj sand- In addition to this, Pakistan
banks where I am on the ground tracking was warming up to erstwhile
India’s uncounted COVID deaths, a calamity Malaysian Prime Minister
that remains unacknowledged by the govern- BARKHA DUTT Mahathir Mohamed who was
ment as bodies continue to float in the Ganga @Bdutt trying to pose a direct chal-
lenge to Saudi Arabia through
Editorial
There is a need for greater clarity over the provisions of customary laws
and delivered justice in “bar-
baric fashion” through their
kangaroo court. It strongly
condemned the act saying:
“Despite the advent of the mod-
ern-day dispute redressal sys-
tem in our society, the village
folk choose to punish the victim
through their kangaroo courts.
It is such an inconceivable fact
to even think that the women
folk would go to the extent of
chopping off a lady’s hair, strip-
ping her and parading her
naked on the roadside.”
It is a fact that such pun-
ishments are not a part of the
Naga customary law. The main
punishments in Naga cus-
tomary law include boycott,
excommunication and ban-
ishment or exile. Kahuto Chi-
shi Sumi, the village council
chief of Hevishe village in the
Dimapur district stated that
such a punishment is illogical
with respect to the traditional
Naga lifestyle.
One of the judicial mem-
bers of the District Custom-
ary Court or Dobashi Court at
Ties between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have improved after a year of discordance
a faint attempt to usurp the
Islamic leadership.
Now, reverting to PMIK’s
most recent Saudi visit, his
arrival was preceded by a
high-profile visit by the Chief
of Army Staff, General Ahmad
Bajwa, where he was thought
to have straightened several
tricky issues which were seen
as the thorn in the flesh from
the Saudi side. Assigning this
crucial task to the Army Chief
is seen as an important matter,
more from the Riyadh point
of view, as it must have easily
accepted the highest-ranking
Pakistani military personnel to
pave the passage than accept-
ing a civilian personality. It’s
of course a tradition that Pak-
istan military officials have
always been playing a signifi-
cant role in the Saudi affairs of
governance including those for
ensuring the safety and secu-
rity of the monarchy. It is also
believed that prior to Imran
Khan’s visit, there have been
hectic back-channel diplo-
matic activity between the two
Kohima informed that there is
no conflict between the laws of
India and customary laws. On
the other hand, Kahuto Chishi
Sumi states that the presence of
Customary Courts or Dobashi
Courts have in fact had their
interferences in Indian penal
law whereas the same might
be completely impermissible
for Indian criminal law. Quite
surprisingly, the state often dis-
tances itself away once the mat-
ter is under the consideration
of the Dobashi Court.
The major reason behind
the lack of understanding
between the legal infrastruc-
ture of the states and the
villages is the absence of codi-
fication of customary laws. The
wisdom behind Article 371A
of the constitution can only be
realized once there is a codifi-
cation of customary laws. The
state has enough infrastruc-
ture to appoint teams compris-
ing jurists and law students to
towns and villages in Nagaland
who could, in consultation and
association with local Dobashi
countries to break the year-
long impasse and if the visit is
any indication, then the hia-
tus is surely put behind. How-
ever, only in the long run, one
would be able to objectively
assess how successful the visit
was in terms of any substan-
tial gains.
Meanwhile, upon his
return from Saudi Arabia as
part of the Prime Minister’s
entourage, Foreign Minister
Shah Mahmood Qureshi at a
press conference on May 12,
disclosed that the three-day
visit of the Pakistani PM saw
as many as five concrete agree-
ments signed, out of which the
first being the pillar of secu-
rity and politics which will be
handled exclusively by Foreign
Minister Qureshi. He was also
referring to the formation of a
Supreme Coordination Coun-
cil which will be jointly chaired
by PMIK and the Saudi Crown
Prince.
He further claimed that
under the vision of Crown
Prince MbS, millions of jobs
members, put these customary
laws into writing. Such docu-
mentation can be protected by
the Department of Social Wel-
fare and the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs of the concerned state.
If there is a locally renowned
decision of a Dobashi Court,
the same may also be written
down for reference to other
Dobashi Courts of other tribes
for the development of their
customary law.
The non-codification of
customary laws makes it dif-
ficult for villagers to under-
stand what is permissible and
what is not. The Tuensang Dis-
trict Court in the Pongchin-
sonla case has clearly noted:
“The accused persons in their
guilty statements said that in
the year 2018, the women folk
of the village passed a resolution
wherein they decided to punish
adulterous women as per cus-
tomary practices. However, the
misconceived notion of empow-
ering oneself with the so-called
“village resolutions” to do bar-
baric acts like this one should
will be created. This claim,
however, looks far-fetched
as we don’t know how any-
thing would lead to the cre-
ation of millions of jobs. At the
media meet, the Pakistani FM
also averred that the govern-
ment of Saudi Arabia will help
Pakistan in the fields of
energy, infrastructure, water
resources and hydropower
projects. Analysts feel that the
MoUs signed across various
fields are expected to deepen
political, defence and eco-
nomic ties between the two
countries.
Another important feature
of the otherwise garrulous For-
eign Minister Qureshi’s state-
ment is his allegation that
certain quarters were always
trying to thwart the warmth
in Saudi-Pakistan relations,
probably insinuating India.
His stance in any foreign pol-
icy matter has never been
consistent. He is known to
take u-turns on several issues
including on Kashmir describ-
ing it as an internal matter of
mp 7
be avoided at all cost.”
It is a known fact that in
2018, the Supreme Court had
decriminalized adultery vide
its judgment in Joseph Shine v.
Union of India, and the same
was well-reported and circu-
lated throughout the country.
It can also be assumed that a
judicial member of a custom-
ary court or a kangaroo court
would be reasonably aware of
Central penal laws, at least as
far as landmark and paradigm
changes are concerned. In such
a case, how could a kangaroo
court allow the penalty aris-
ing out of a civil dispute to be
so shocking and grave that the
orchestrators or witnesses of
such a penalty would subse-
quently be charged with crim-
inal offences under the Indian
Penal Code?
There is no doubt that there
is a lack of communication and
acceptance of the limitations of
powers of kangaroo courts. The
benefits under Article 371A of
the Constitution do not extend
to a kangaroo court whereby
it could allow, order or con-
duct a so-called “customary
punishment”, especially when
that very act of punishing is
punishable under the Indian
Penal Code.
The Pongchinsonla case
(supra) is an eye-opener to
the state as well as the Cen-
tre that systematic codification
of customary laws is urgently
necessary for states where cus-
tomary laws play such a vital
role in public life. It is also
equally important to lawfully
intervene into other instances
in the form of educating local
people regarding such limi-
tations in powers of custom-
ary courts so that no space is
left for potential offenders to
violate someone’s fundamen-
tal right justifying the same
as “customary” or “village
resolutions”.
Views expressed are personal
India then, ostensibly under
pressure, quickly retracting
from it. While India must
take stock of this visit more
clinically, some highly placed
sources in the Pakistani estab-
lishment say that President
Joe Biden has pressurised the
Saudi Kingdom and Paki-
stan to reset their ties. With
Saudi Arabia getting relatively
softer on Iran and simultane-
ously, the spiralling belliger-
ent tension between Israel and
the Palestinians and Hamas,
equations may be very inter-
esting to watch. Meanwhile,
Pakistan’s ally Turkey threat-
ening for military intervention
against Israel amid the ongo-
ing imbroglio calls for a closer
study of the changing geopo-
litical ties in the Middle East
and West Asia with Pakistan
thrown in.
The writer is a retired
IPS officer, a security
analyst and a former
National Security Advisor to
the PM of Mauritius. Views
expressed are personal
8 mp
Israeli strikes kill 42 Palestinians,
topple buildings in Gaza City
Islamic nations slam Israel and each other’s ties to it
GAZA CITY: Israeli airstrikes
on Gaza City flattened three
buildings and killed at least 42
people on Sunday, medics said,
making it the deadliest single
attack since heavy fighting broke
out between Israel and the ter-
ritory’s militant Hamas rulers
nearly a week ago.
The violence, which came as
international mediators worked
to broker a cease-fire and stave
off an Israeli ground invasion of
the territory, marked the worst
fighting here since the devastat-
ing 2014 war in Gaza.
The airstrikes on Sunday hit
a busy downtown street of resi-
dential buildings and storefronts
over the course of five minutes
just after midnight, destroying
two adjacent buildings and one
about 50 yards down the road.
At one point, a rescuer
shouted, “Can you hear me?
into a hole in the rubble. Are
you OK? Minutes later, first
responders pulled a survivor
out and carried him off on
an orange stretcher. The Gaza
Health Ministry said 16 women
and 10 children were among
those killed, with more than
50 people wounded, and res-
cue efforts are still underway.
Earlier, the Israeli military
said it destroyed the home of
Gaza’s top Hamas leader, Yahi-
yeh Sinwar, in a separate strike
in the southern town of Khan
Younis. It was the third such
attack in the last two days on the
homes of senior Hamas leaders,
who have gone underground.
Israel appears to have
stepped up strikes in recent
days to inflict as much damage
as possible on Hamas as inter-
national mediators work to end
the fighting. But targeting the
group’s leaders could hinder
those efforts. A US diplomat is
in the region to try to de-escalate
tensions, and the UN Security
Council is set to meet Sunday.
In its airstrikes, Israel has
leveled a number of Gaza City’s
tallest office and residential
buildings, alleging they contain
Hamas military infrastructure.
Among them was the building
Myanmar junta
attacks western town
that resisted coup
BANGKOK: The US and Brit-
ish embassies in Myanmar
expressed concern about reports
of fierce government attacks on
a town in a western Chin state,
where the ruling junta declared
martial law because of armed
resistance to military rule.
The fighting began around 6
am Saturday when government
troops reinforced by helicop-
ters began shelling the west-
ern part of the town of Mindat,
destroying several homes, said
a spokesman of the Chinland
Defence Force.
It is a locally formed militia
group opposed to the February
coup that ousted the elected
government of Aung San Suu
Kyi.
Helicopters also took part
in the attack, according to the
spokesman, who spoke on con-
dition of anonymity for security
reasons.
Mindat town is now under
siege and is bracing for an all-
out assault by the junta troops
from air and by land, said a
statement by the Chin Human
Rights Organisation.
The shadow National Unity
Government, set up by lawmak-
ers who were blocked by the
army from taking their seats in
Parliament, warned that within
the next 48 hours, Mindat can
potentially become a battle-
ground and thousands of people
are facing the danger of being
displaced.
Many have already left the
town of about 50,000 people,
said a resident contacted by
phone who was also fleeing.
The Mindat Township Peo-
ple's Administration, another
opposition grouping, claimed
that 15 young men had been
seized by government troops
and used as human shields. It
said at least five defenders of the
town had been killed in clashes
and at least 10 others wounded.
None of these details could
be independently verified, but a
World
Palestinian rescue a survivor from under the rubble of a destroyed residential building following deadly
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Sunday 
housing The Associated Press
office and those of other media
outlets.
The latest outbreak of vio-
lence began in east Jerusalem
last month, when Palestinian
protests and clashes with police
broke out in response to Israeli
police tactics during Ramadan
and the threatened eviction of
dozens of Palestinian fami-
lies by Jewish settlers. A focal
point of clashes was the Al-Aqsa
Mosque, a frequent flashpoint
that is located on a hilltop com-
pound that is revered by both
Muslims and Jews.
Hamas fired rockets toward
Jerusalem late Monday, trigger-
ing the Israeli assault on impov-
erished Gaza, which is home to
more than 2 million Palestinians
and has been under an Israeli
and Egyptian blockade since
Hamas seized power from rival
Palestinian forces in 2007.
The turmoil has also spilled
over elsewhere, fueling protests
in the occupied West Bank and
stoking violence within Israel
between its Jewish and Arab citi-
zens, with clashes and vigilante
Myanmar state television broad-
cast Saturday night reported
that fighting was going on,
and acknowledged the town's
defenders have been putting up
stiff resistance against the army.
The military's use of weap-
ons of war against civilians,
including this week in Mindat,
is a further demonstration of
the depths the regime will sink
to to hold onto power, the Brit-
ish Embassy said on Twitter. We
call on the military to cease vio-
lence against civilians.
The US Embassy said it was
aware of increasing violence in
Mindat, including reports of the
military shooting civilians, and
urged that evidence of atroci-
ties be sent to UN investigators.
Detailed tallies compiled
by several different watchdog
groups say government secu-
rity forces have killed upwards
of 750 protesters and bystand-
ers as they have tried to suppress
opposition to the military's sei-
zure of power.
In April, security forces were
accused of killing more than 80
people in one day to destroy
street barricades that militants
had set up as strongholds in the
city of Bago.
In many or most cases,
police and soldiers were try-
ing to break up peaceful pro-
tests, though as they increased
the use of lethal force, some
protesters fought back in self-
defense. In recent weeks there
has been an upsurge in small
bombings in many cities, mostly
causing little damage and few
casualties.  AGENCIES
attacks on people and prop-
erty. The violence also sparked
pro-Palestinian protests in cities
across Europe and the United
States, with French police fir-
ing tear gas and water cannons
at demonstrators in Paris.
At least 188 Palestinians
have been killed in Gaza, includ-
ing 55 children and 33 women,
with 1,230 people wounded.
Eight people in Israel have been
killed, including a 5-year-old
boy and a soldier.
The military said Sunday it
struck Sinwar’s home and that
of his brother Muhammad,
another senior Hamas mem-
ber. On Saturday it destroyed
the home of Khalil al-Hayeh, a
senior figure in Hamas’ politi-
cal branch.
Hamas’ upper echelon has
gone into hiding in Gaza, and it
is unlikely any were at home at
the time of the strikes. Hamas’
top leader, Ismail Haniyeh,
divides his time between Tur-
key and Qatar, both of which
provide political support to the
group.
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad
9 killed in
Pak shootout
between two
tribal groups
KARACHI: At least nine peo-
ple were killed and five others
injured in an exchange of fir-
ing between two tribal groups
in Pakistan's Sindh province,
according to a media report
on Sunday.
The shootout happened on
Saturday between Jagirani and
Chachar tribes in Kandhkot
over long-standing enmity, ARY
News reported. According to
police, nine people were killed as
a result of firing between them
over long-standing enmity.
Police said the bodies and
injured have been shifted to
the hospital. Tensions between
the two groups spread fear and
panic in the area.
A heavy contingent of police
arrived in the area to defuse the
tension.  AGENCIES
China slams hasty withdrawal Afghan cease-fire ends
of US troops from Afghan amid calls for fresh talks
China urges United Nations to play due role'
BEIJING: China has said that
the hasty withdrawal of the US
troops from war-torn Afghan-
istan has severely affected the
peace process and the regional
stability as it called on the UN
to play its due role and urged
the SCO to pay more attention
to the situation.
The issue of US withdrawal
from Afghanistan figured in
the telephonic conversation
between Chinese Foreign Min-
ister Wang Yi and his Pakistan
counterpart Shah Mehmood
Qureshi on Saturday. Wang said
that the hasty withdrawal of
the US troops from Afghani-
stan , which is expected to be
completed by September this
year, has severely impacted the
Afghan domestic peace pro-
PTI
militant group have acknowl-
edged 20 fighters killed since
the fighting broke out Monday.
Israel says the real number is
far higher and has released the
names and photos of two dozen
alleged operatives it says were
eliminated.”
The Egyptian diplomat
said the destruction of Hamas’
rocket capabilities would require
a ground invasion that would
inflame the whole region.
Egypt, which made peace
with Israel decades ago, has
threatened to suspend cooper-
ation in various fields, the offi-
cial said, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, the Biden
administration has affirmed its
support for Israel while working
to de-escalate the crisis. Ameri-
can diplomat Hady Amr met
with Israeli Defense Minister
Benny Gantz, who thanked the
US for its support.
Gantz said Israel “takes
every precaution to strike at
military targets only and avoid
harming civilians, while its civil-
ians are the targets of indiscrim-
inate attack.
UK defends delay in adding India to red list travel
ban as Covid's B1.617.2 variant spreads rapidly
LONDON: The UK govern-
ment came under strong criti-
cism on Sunday for not adding
India to the red list travel ban
at the same time as Pakistan
and Bangladesh in early April,
which is feared as a major fac-
tor behind a rapid spike in cases
of COVID-19's B1.617.2 variant
first identified in India.
Downing Street said it had
taken a precautionary action to
ban travel from India on April
23, six days before the B1.617
variant was put under inves-
tigation and two weeks before
its highly transmissible subtype,
B1.617.2, was labelled a Variant
of Concern (VOC).
According to latest Public
Health England (PHE) data,
around 20,000 people trav-
elled between India and the
UK before the red list ban and
around 122 of them arriv-
ing from Delhi and Mumbai
cess and negatively affected the
regional stability. Under such
circumstances, China expects
the United Nations to play its
due role, state-run Xinhua news
agency quoted Wang as saying.
He, however, did not elabo-
rate the UN's due role .
Wang also said that the
eight-member Shanghai Coop-
eration Organisation (SCO),
of which India and Pakistan
are members, should pay more
attention to the situation and
Afghanistan's neighbours to
strengthen communication,
speak in one voice and take
coordinated actions.
China, Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbeki-
stan, India and Pakistan are the
SCO members.
On the other hand, pro-Pal-
estinian protesters took to the
streets of Los Angeles, Boston,
Philadelphia and other US cit-
ies to demand an end to Israeli
airstrikes over the Gaza Strip.
Chinese Foreign Minis-
ter Wang Yi has called on the
UN Security Council to seek
an early de-escalation of vio-
lence between Israel and Gaza’s
Hamas rulers. He also blamed
the US for the council’s lack of
action so far.
Regrettably, the council
has so far failed to reach an
agreement, with the United
States standing on the oppo-
site side of international jus-
tice, the state-run Xinhua News
Agency quoted Wang as saying
in a phone conversation Satur-
day with Pakistani Foreign Min-
ister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Hamas and other militant
groups have fired some 2,900
rockets into Israel. The military
said 450 of the rockets had fallen
short or misfired, while Israeli
air defenses intercepted 1,150.
Israel has meanwhile car-
ried out hundreds of airstrikes
across Gaza.
On Saturday, Israel bombed
the 12-story al-Jalaa Building,
where the office of The Asso-
ciated Press was located. The
building also housed the TV
network Al-Jazeera and other
media outlets, along with sev-
eral floors of apartments.
“The campaign will con-
tinue as long as it is required,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said. He alleged that
Hamas military intelligence was
operating inside the building.
The military also has accused
the militant group of using jour-
nalists as human shields, but
provided no evidence to back
up the claims.
“We have had no indication
Hamas was in the building or
active in the building, AP Presi-
dent and CEO Gary Pruitt said
in a statement. This is something
we actively check to the best
of our ability. We would never
knowingly put our journalists
at risk. AGENCIES
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson 
between late March and April
26 were detected with the VOC.
Prior to India being placed
on the red list in April, anyone
coming to the UK had to test
negative and quarantine for 10
days," a UK government spokes-
person said.
Observers say that the US'
plan to speed up its troop with-
drawal from Afghanistan may
have troubling consequences
for China. China, whose vola-
tile Xinjiang province borders
Afghanistan, has been express-
ing its concern over the US
move despite tensions with
Washington on a host of issues,
including America's allegation
of a genocide against Muslim
Uygurs by the Chinese gov-
ernment in Xinjiang. It denies
the allegations of running mass
detention camps and violating
human rights of Uygurs. The
previous Trump administra-
tion had also lifted a ban on
the separatist East Turkistan
Islamic Movement (ETIM), a
Uygur militant outfit.  AGENCIES
MASSIVE ERUPTION
Lava flows from an eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern
Iceland 
Bangladesh extends lockdown
due to COVID-19 till May 23
DHAKA: Bangladesh on
Sunday extended ongoing
nationwide lockdown till
May 23 to contain the sec-
ond wave of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Bangladesh clamped a
week-long nationwide lock-
down on April 5, suspending
public transport and shutting
markets to combat the surge
in Coronavirus cases in the
country.
The restrictions were later
extended till April 28, then till
May 5 and then till May 16.
"Lockdown restrictions
are extended from May 16
in light of the current state of
the pandemic," the Cabinet
Division said in a notice on
Sunday.
All offices and organisa-
tions related to revenue collec-
tion have been included under
emergency services, which will
be out of the purview of the
restrictions, the Daily Star
newspaper reported.
Besides, shops that sell
PTI
However, the Opposition
Labour Party attacked the gov-
ernment for a delay in acting
when the variant first emerged
at the end of March.
This was not inevitable. They
should have put India on the
red list. We've had this three-
KABUL: A three-day cease-fire
marked by violent attacks most
claimed by the Islamic State
group ended Sunday in Afghan-
istan amid calls for renewed
peace talks between the gov-
ernment and Taliban.
Taliban political spokesman
Suhail Shaheen said the negoti-
ating teams of the government
and the Islamic Emirate, as the
Taliban refer to their ousted
regime, met briefly Saturday
in the Middle Eastern State of
Qatar. They renewed their com-
mitment to finding a peaceful
end to the war and called for
an early start to talks that have
been stalled, he said. The US
has been pressing for acceler-
ated talks as it withdraws the last
of its 2,500-3,500 soldiers and
NATO its remaining 7,000 allied
forces. Even as the Taliban and
government signed on to the
cease-fire, which was declared
MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021 | NEW DELHI
Health officials on
Sunday reported
25 COVID-19
deaths in the past
24 hours, taking
the country's toll to
12,149
food items, hotels and restau-
rants will only be allowed to
provide takeaway or online
services during the period,
the circular said.
Meanwhile, Eid holi-
daymakers have started
to return to the capital
Dhaka defying Coronavirus
restrictions.
The authorities had
ordered the employees of
government, semi-govern-
ment, autonomous and pri-
vate organisations, banks
and non-bank financial insti-
tutions not to leave stations
during Eid holidays ending on
week period in which thousands
of people have returned from
India, including probably hun-
dreds of cases of the variant, said
Yvette Cooper, senior Labour
MP and Chair of the Commons
Home Affairs Committee.
When they did finally add
India to the red list two weeks
after they'd added Pakistan on
April 9 they gave travellers four
days' notice to rush back. Why
didn't they introduce additional
testing for those travellers before
they were able to get on public
transport home, she questioned.
UK Prime Minister Boris
Johnson's planned visit to Delhi
at the end of April, which was
cancelled as the second wave
of the pandemic surged in the
country, is being cited by many
as among the reasons for the
delay in adding India on the red
list despite higher infection rates
per million than its neighbour-
to mark the Islamic holiday of
Eid-al-Fitr, violence continued
unabated in Afghanistan.
A bombing Friday in a
mosque north of the capital
killed 12 worshippers, includ-
ing the prayer leader. Another
15 people were wounded. The
Taliban denied involvement
and blamed the government
intelligence agency. In a state-
ment Sunday, the IS affiliate took
responsibility for the mosque
attack, saying its fighters planted
an explosive device in a worship
place for disbelievers Sufis, kill-
ing the apostate Imam, or prayer
leader. The statement claimed
40 worshipers were wounded.
The IS also claimed it blew
up several electrical grid stations
over the weekend. That left the
capital Kabul in the dark for
much of the three-day holiday
that followed the Muslim fast-
ing month of Ramadan. A GENCIES
millenniumpost
PTI
Sunday.
The government had eased
the lockdown restrictions dur-
ing Eid but kept long-haul pas-
senger transport services on
hold mainly to stop the out-
break from spreading to rural
areas.
Health officials on Sunday
reported 25 COVID-19 deaths
in the past 24 hours, taking
the country's toll to 12,149.
At least 363 new cases were
recorded in the last 24 hours,
taking the total number of
people infected with the virus
to 780,159.
Another 601 people
recovered from the illness
through treatment at home
and in hospital care, bring-
ing the tally of recoveries to
722,036.
Only 5,430 samples, among
the lowest collections since
the outbreak of the disease
in March 2020, were tested
across the country in the last
24 hours, yielding a positivity
rate of 6.69 per cent.  AGENCIES
ing countries.
It comes as PHE revealed
that cases of the B1.617.2 vari-
ant being tracked and traced in
the community had more than
doubled in a week to hit 1,313
cases this week. UK Health Sec-
retary Matt Hancock admit-
ted the VOC identified in India
spread much more rapidly and
may soon become the dominant
variant in the country but also
highlighted that based on the
cases in the hotspot region of
Bolton in north-west England,
the indications are that those
who are unvaccinated are more
susceptible to hospitalisation.
He revealed that 18 peo-
ple currently in hospital due
to the B1.617.2 VOC have not
had any dose of the COVID-19
vaccine even though they are
eligible and urged all eligible
over-38s to come forward for
their jabs.  AGENCIES
4 killed as
heavy rains
and flood hit
Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: At least 4 persons
have died and over 11,500 oth-
ers affected due to heavy rains
and floods prevailing in sev-
eral parts of Sri Lanka for the
last few days, according to a
media report.
While two persons, includ-
ing a 32-year-old man, died
in flood in Aluthwatta area in
Galle city, a 55-year-old man
was buried alive after a mound
of earth collapsed on his house
in Kegalle district.
Another person was
drowned in floodwaters in
Wariyapola district, Colombo
Page newspaper reported on
Friday, quoting data from the
Disaster Management Centre
(DMC).  AGENCIES
millenniumpost
NEW DELHI | MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021
‘Steel, oil industry supplying
6,650 MT oxygen per day’
Domestic steel and petroleum industries are making every effort to
help India combat second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: Pradhan
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: About 6,650
metric tonne (MT) oxygen is
being supplied by steel plants
and oil refineries to health-
care centres across the country
for the treatment of COVID-
19 patients, Union minister
Dharmendra Pradhan said on
Sunday.
In a series of tweets, Prad-
han, who handles the portfo-
lios of petroleum and natural
gas, and steel, said the domes-
tic steel and petroleum indus-
tries are making every effort
to help India combat the sec-
ond wave of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Both public and private sec-
tor steel plants have ramped
up daily production capaci-
ties, including through divert-
ing liquid nitrogen and argon
production capacity towards
production of additional quan-
tities of liquid medical oxygen
(LMO), he said.
“Steel plants and oil refin-
eries are playing a crucial role
in strengthening India’s fight
against #Covid19 by producing
and supplying approx. 6,650
MT of medical oxygen out of
the daily allocation of 10,000
MT in the country,” the minis-
ter tweeted.
Pradhan said that steel
makers, including SAIL, RINL,
Petroleum & natural gas, and steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
Pradhan said that steel makers, including
SAIL, RINL, Tata Steel Ltd, AMNS India,
JSPL, have ramped up LMO supplies to
over 4,473 MT/day from 538 MT/day as
on April 1, 2021
Tata Steel Ltd, AMNS India,
JSPL, have ramped up LMO
supplies to over 4,473 MT/day
from 538 MT/day as on April
1, 2021. The minister further
said that to strengthen the criti-
cal care and emergency health
care infrastructure, petroleum
and steel sector companies are
facilitating more than 10,000
oxygenated beds at tempo-
rary jumbo Covid care centres
across the country on a war
footing.
Players like SAIL, RINL,
MOIL, JSPL, and Tata Steel
are in the process of estab-
lishing 8,500 oxygenated beds
across the country, he said
and added AMNSIndia has
already made operational a
250-bed Covid care centre
at Hazira plant which will be
expanded to the 1000 beds in
the near future.
“@BPCLimited’s Bina refin-
ery is supplying 10 ton per day
gaseous oxygen to a 1,000-
bed Covid care facility at Bina,
Madhya Pradesh. Kochi refin-
Highlights
»»Players like SAIL, RINL,
MOIL, JSPL, and Tata
Steel are in the process
of establishing 8,500
oxygenated beds across
the country, he said
»»AMNSIndia has already
made operational a 250-
bed Covid care centre at
Hazira plant which will be
expanded to the 1000
beds in the near future
»»In another tweet, he said,
“IOCL has commenced
supply of 15 ton per day
gaseous oxygen to the
500-bedded Covid care
facility at Panipat
ery is supplying gaseous oxy-
gen & drinking water to one
of the largest Covid care facil-
ity coming up near the Kochi
refinery in Kerala,” Pradhan
tweeted.
In another tweet, he said,
“IOCL has commenced supply
of 15 ton per day gaseous oxy-
gen to the 500-bedded jumbo
Covid care facility at Panipat.
CPCL Chennai & HMEL Bath-
inda are in the process of facil-
itating 200 and 100 beds with
continuous supply of gaseous
Business
oxygen at Chennai & Bathinda
respectively.”
Besides, 13 PSUs of Minis-
try of Petroleum and Natural
Gas are establishing more than
100 PSA Oxygen generation
plants in hospitals across the
country to further boost the
availability and distribution of
life-saver medical oxygen. Oil
PSUs have also placed orders
for high capacity oxygen com-
pressors for filling oxygen cyl-
inders, he said.
Oil and Natural Gas Cor-
poration (ONGC) is procuring
1 lakh oxygen concentrators.
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd
(IOCL) has contracted 207
ISO tankers with a cumulative
capacity of 4214 MT to bol-
ster logistics, transport and last
mile deliveries of LMO.
Petroleum PSUs, Pradhan
said, have also tied up with oil
majors in Saudi Arabia, UAE,
Singapore, Bahrain, Kuwait
and Qatar for import of 13,740
MT of liquid oxygen.
“The petroleum & steel
industry is doing everything
possible to save lives and bet-
ter prepare for emerging
health challenges. Under the
guidance of PM Shri @naren-
dramodi, our steel & petroleum
sector remains committed to
strengthen & support India’s
fight against the #Covid19,” he
said.
mp 9
Cairn identifies $70 billion
Indian assets for recovery
NEW DELHI: UK’s Cairn
Energy has identified $70 bil-
lion of Indian assets overseas for
potential seizure to collect $1.72
billion due from the govern-
ment — a move if successful will
put India in league with Paki-
stan and Venezuela which faced
similar enforcement action
over failure to pay arbitration
awards. The assets identified
range from Air India’s planes
to vessels belonging to the Ship-
ping Corporation of India, and
properties owned by state-
owned banks to oil and gas Cairn plans to move courts in the US to
cargoes of PSUs, three people
familiar with the matter said. Singapore for seizure of the assets in
These assets are across sev-
eral jurisdictions, they said
absence of Indian government’s refusal to
without giving further details. honour an international arbitration award
Cairn plans to move courts
in the US to Singapore for sei- to recover such taxes — regis- planes, immovable assets and
zure of the assets in absence of tered in the US, UK, France, the bank accounts to recover the
Indian government’s refusal to Netherlands, Singapore, Mauri- amount it was awarded by the
honour an international arbi- tius, Canada’s Quebec province, arbitration tribunal. The move
tration award. Japan and UAE. is similar to a court in the Brit-
“The Indian government Now it has started moving ish Virgin Islands ordering in
naturally will challenge such courts to get a declaration that December last year that hotels
seizure but to save the assets it state-owned entities are alter in New York and Paris owned by
may have to pawn money equiv- egos of India and they should Pakistan International Airlines
alent to the value of assets in be held liable for discharge of would be used to settle a claim
some financial security such the arbitration award in absence against Pakistan’s government
as bank guarantee. The court of the government making pay- by a Canadian-Chilean copper
will return such a guarantee to ments. Cairn on May 14 filed company.
India if it does not find merit a lawsuit in a New York court Crystallex International
in Cairn’s case. But the surety to get Air India recognised as Corp had brought a similar
will be passed on to Cairn if the alter ego of India and that lawsuit to attach property of
the court finds that India had “it should be held jointly and Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A
failed to honour its obligation,” severally responsible for India’s (PDVSA), the state-owned oil
a source said. debts, including from any judg- company of Venezuela, in Dela-
Cairn has got an inter- ment resulting from recognition ware couple of years back after
national arbitration award of the award”. the Latin American country
— which overturned levy of Once a court recognises failed to pay the firm $1.2 bil-
retrospective taxes and ordered Air India as the alter ego of the lion that an arbitration tribunal
New Delhi to return the value Indian government, Cairn can had ordered to pay in lieu of the
of shares it had sold, dividends seek attachment or seizure of 2011 seizing gold deposits held
seized and tax refunds withheld its assets in the US such as air- and developed by the firm. PTI

Pharma sector to be given priority
post cyclone Taukate, says Goyal
NEW DELHI: Commerce and
Industry Minister Piyush Goyal
on Sunday interacted with the
industry on preparedness for
cyclone Taukate and said that
the pharma industry, especially
oxygen producers, will be given
priority to resume operations
once the severe cyclonic storm
subsides.
Taukate is expected to reach
the Gujarat coast on Monday
evening and cross between Por-
bandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar
district) Tuesday early morning,
which will lead to winds with
the speed of over 150 km/h,
heavy rainfall and high tidal
waves. In the wake of Covid-19
pandemic, the issue of continu-
ous availability of oxygen, main-
taining buffer stock of medicines
and essential items was stressed
in the meeting. Smooth func-
tioning of communication facili-
ties and other utilities also came
up in the meeting, an official
statement said.
Goyal said that there could
be a surge effect post-cyclone,
and asked the industry to sup-
port health care personnels.
“He also stressed that all the
people who are involved in the
production of liquid medical
oxygen, pharma industry, and
all those who make cylinders
or products in the supply chain
of the pharma industry will be
given priority to come back into
operation,” the statement added.
The minister also directed
the railway authorities to closely
monitor the situation, and be
ready to rush the essential items
to the affected areas in the short-
est possible time, and provide
help in any manner.  PTI
Mines PSUs step up fight against 2nd wave of COVID
NEW DELHI: The govern-
ment on Sunday said that pub-
lic sector undertakings under
the Mines Ministry are leading
from front and contributing in
the fight against COVID-19.
From contributing finan-
cially towards establishing spe-
cial dedicated COVID facilities
to upgrading their own health
infrastructure and conducting
mass vaccination, mines PSUs
are continuously working to
help fight the second wave of
Covid-19, the mines ministry
said in a statement.
“All arms of the govern-
ment are proactively working
to tackle the challenges posed
by Covid pandemic,” it said.
National Aluminium Com-
pany Ltd (Nalco) has made a
contribution of Rs 1.16 crore to
Saheed Laxman Naik Hospital,
Koraput Odisha for exclusive
Covid Care Centre.
It has also contributed
towards a Covid Care Centre
at ESI HOSPITAL, Banarpal
in Angul District of Odisha
incurring a monthly expendi-
ture of about Rs 30 lakh. Nalco
is also undertaking massive
sanitisation drives carried out
at its units and residential and
nearby areas. It has donated
a refrigerated truck having a
capacity of 25,70,000 Covid
vaccine (in doses) to the state
immunisation cell for smooth
transportation of COVID-19
vaccines across Odisha.
“It has supported the state migrant workers, daily earners
health department by Rs 1.16 among others.
crore for procurement of two Hindustan Copper Ltd
ventilator ambulances,” it said. (HCL) unit hospitals are
Nalco has also provided equipped with multi-bedded
financial support to Bhu- COVID centres with oxygen
baneswar Municipality Cor- support and medicines (cura-
poration (BMC) Hospital tive, emergency and preven-
for purchase of digital X-ray tive). Malanjkhand Copper
machines. Nalco is continu- Project (MCP), HCL’s plant
ously depicting COVID appro- in Madhya Pradesh, has pro-
priate behaviour on its website, vided 10 oxygen concentra-
social media platforms, digital tors to the COVID Centre at
displays, banners and hoard- Kendatola to help the State
ings. It has also distributed Administration combat the
dry rations and other materi- shortage of Oxygen and record
als for the benefit of people like surge of cases.  PTI

COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS
Truckers demand relief
WBEIDC Ltd. Notice Inviting e-Tender No: WEBEL/EOT/COM/20-21/00077R (2ND
(A Government of West Bengal Undertaking) CALL) Dated: 13-05-21
KMDA TENDER NOTICE Webel Bhavan, Block-EP&GP, Sector-V, For “Preparation of an inventory of investors claims under custody of
Bidhannagar, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 091.

measures as losses
e-NIT No. Directorate of Economic Offences (DEO)”.
KMDA/HOUSING/SE/Circle II/NIT- Notice Inviting e-Tender No. WEBEL/EOT/COM/ Due date of Submission: 03-06-2021 (12:00 PM).
09/2021-2022
20-21/00077R (2ND CALL) Dated: 13-05-2021
For “Preparation of an inventory of investors Interested parties may go through website
Online e-tender is invited by the

mount to`42,000 cr
MUMBAI: With around 65
per cent of the total truck fleet
in the country out of the road
owing to lockdown and lock-
down-like conditions in most
of the states, the truck indus-
try losses have mounted to
around Rs 42,000 crore from
the start of the fiscal till mid
of this month, All India Motor
Transport Congress (AIMTC)
has said.
The transport sector, which
is the lifeline of the nation and
essential services provider to
the people of the country,
bears the first impact of the
lockdowns and the curfews,
it said.
The industry has sought
relief from the government
by way of EMI moratorium,
soft loans provision without
collateral, tax waiver, exten-
sion of validity of insurance,
among others, AIMTC Core
Committee chairman Bal Mal-
kit Singh said.
The AIMTC has also
warned of the industry going
completely out of business and
large-scale unemployment if
the relief measures are not pro-
vided to it.
Almost 80 per cent of the
country is under lockdown.
As a result of this, about 65
per cent of the total around 95
lakh trucks are standing idle as
there is no demand and only
40 lakh trucks are on the roads,
Singh said.
He said that the per day
industry’s losses have gone
up to Rs 1,600 crore in May
from Rs 400 crore in the begin-
ning of April as more states
announced lockdown and
lockdown-like restriction in
the subsequent period amid
the massive spike in Covid-19
infection cases in the country.
“In the first 15 days of
April, the industry was facing
Rs 400 crore per day, which
rose to Rs 800 crore per day
by April 30. They have now
doubled to Rs 1,600 crore per
day till May 15. So, as of May
15, the industry’s cumulative
losses were a whopping Rs
42,000 crore, said Singh.
He said that the rising die-
sel prices, besides the impact
of the lockdown was adding to
the woes of the industry.
Already bewildered and
chastised by excessive taxa-
tion and forced lockdowns, the
breath of the transport sector is
being further snatched by ris-
ing diesel prices, said Singh. PTI
Superintending Engineer, Circle II,
Housing Sector, KMDA (Erstwhile
KIT), Unnayan Bhawan, DJ-11,
Sector-II, 1st Floor, Block-A, Salt Lake,
Kolkata-700091, from reliable,
resourceful, bonafide and
experienced firms / companies /
individual / partnership firm
contractors, for the work, Name of
Work, Estimated amount, Earnest
Money, Time of Completion,
Dismantling of existing old
dilapidated buildings and
construction of new ones including
rehabilitation at Maniktala Model
Dwelling Units at Maniktala., Rs.
18,25,42,901/- (Including 12% GST &
1% LWC), Rs.10,00,000/-, 24
months, Last date & time for online
Bid submission: 22.06.2021 upto
12.00 hrs. For details contact the
above office or visit KMDA website.
www.kmdaonline.org (KMDA-022)
www.wbtenders.gov.in
ICA- T5851(3)/2021
KMDA TENDER NOTICE
e-NIT No.KMDA/HOUSING/EE/DIV-
II/Circle I/NIT-05/2021-2022
Online e-tender is invited by the
Executive Engineer, DIV-II, Circle-I,
Housing Sector, KMDA (Erstwhile
KIT), Unnayan Bhawan, DJ-11,
Sector-II, 1st Floor, Block-A, Salt Lake,
Kolkata-700091, from reliable,
resourceful, bonafide and
experienced firms / companies /
individual / partnership firm
contractors, for the work, Name of
Work, Estimated amount, Earnest
Money, Time of Completion, Sinking
one no. 150 mm x 150 mm x 250
mm dia tubewell with fibre glass
strainer by R.C. Method including
connection with existing F.W. Main
at Mandar Apartments Housing
Society at 58A, B. B. Chatterjee
Road., Rs.6,52,744/- (Including GST
& LWC), Rs.13,060/-, 02 months,
Last date & time for Online Bid
submission: 11.06.2021 upto 14.00
hrs. For details contact the above
office or visit KMDA website.
www.kmdaonline.org (KMDA-013)
www.wbtenders.gov.in
ICA- T5842(2)/2021
claims under custody of Directorate of Economic https://wbtenders.gov.inandhttps://www.webel.in
Offences (DEO)”. For details or contact 033-23392270/033- 23392387.
Due date of Submission: 03-06-2021 (12:00 PM).
Interested parties may go through website: ICA- T5832(3)/2021
https://wbtenders.gov.in and
https://www.webel.in
For details or contact 033-2339 2270/ 2339 2387. KMDA TENDER NOTICE
ICA- T5822(3)/2021 e-NIT No.
4ICA-
x 4cmT5836(3)/2021 01/SE/Plng/S&SWM/WS /KMDA
ICA- T5830(3)/2021 13.05.2021 (A) of 2021-22
Online tenders are invited by the
Superintending Engineer, Planning
ICA- T5828(2)/2021 Circle, S&SWM, Water &
KMDA TENDER NOTICE Sanitation Sector, KMDA,
e-NIT No. 01/EE(Plng Divn.)/SD &SWM/KMDA of 2021-2022 Unnayan Bhavan, Block-‘A’, 6th
Online e-tenders are invited by the Executive Engineer, Planning floor, Kolkata-700091, from
KMDA TENDER NOTICE Division, SD & SWM sector, KMDA, Unnayan Bhavan, Block-B, 1st reliable, resourceful, bonafied and
e-NIT No. 01/EE/WBD/SD&SWM/KMDA of 2021 - 2022 floor, Kolkata-700091, from bonafide, reliable, experienced & experienced agencies, for the
Online e-Tenders are invited by the Executive Engineer (Civil), West Bank resourceful firms / agencies / individuals contractors, for the work, work, Sl. No., Name of Work,
Division, SD&SWM Sector, KMDA, Unnayan Bhavan, Salt Lake, Block-‘A’, Sl. No., Name of Work, Estimated value, Earnest Money, Time of Estimated cost, Earnest Money,
5th floor, Kolkata-700091, from eligible, reliable, resourceful and Completion, (1) Fencing work on Culvert(s)/Bridge(s) of Bagh Khal Time of Completion, (1) Annual
experienced agencies/firms/companies/individual contractors, for the from Nalco factory (R.B.C. road) to the River Ganges (maintained maintenance by clearing &
work, Sl. No., Name of Work, Estimated value, Earnest Money, Time of by irrigation and waterways department) within Rishra removing rubbish, sludge, weeds,
Municipality, District Hooghly. (UID No.-CC_HOG26). Rs.1,81,327/-, scum, liquid earth, mud etc. and
Completion, (1) One time Clearance and Annual Clearance of water
hyacinth, jungles, weeds, etc. of borrow pit adjacent to Sealdah Bogaon
Rs.3,627/-, 30 days, (2) Fencing work on Culvert(s)/Bridge(s) on Fencing work on Culvert(s)/
rly line and dumdum cantonment canal and making fencing of both side
various places of Ghunir Khal & Saraswati River under Chandan Bridge(s) of Radha Nagar Canal
nagar Municipal Corporation (maintained by irrigation and
on 8 (eight) nos. culvert on the same water bodies within dumdum waterways department), District Hooghly (UID No.-CC_HOG25). Rs.
from Bauria Rly. Station to Launch
Ghat for a period of 01 Year (365
Municipal area,24 pgs. (north). Rs.41,06,815.45, Rs.82,136/-, 45 days for 2,21,293/-, Rs.4,426/-, 30 days, (3) Fencing work on Days) within Ulberia Municipality,
One time clearance+365 days for Annual clearance, (2) One time Culvert(s)/Bridge(s) of Ghunir Canal (maintained by irrigation and District-Howrah. Rs.1,76,88,621/-,
Clearance and Annual Clearance of water hyacinth, jungles, weeds, etc.
of Dantia Khal and Prafulla agar Khal and making fencing of both side on
waterways department) from Chanditala, N.S. Road in ward no 03
to Khorigachi, Syphone in ward no.22 within Bhadreswar
Rs.3,53,772/-, 12 months (2)
Annual maintenance by clearing &
3 (Three) nos. culvert on the same water bodies in different locations Municipality, District Hooghly (UID No.- CC_HOG15). Rs. 1,42,178/- removing rubbish, sludge, weeds,
within Kamarhati Municipal area,24 pgs. (north). Rs.31,34,923.88, Rs. , Rs.2,844/-, 30 days, (4) Fencing work on Culvert(s)/Bridge(s) of scum, liquid earth, mud etc. and
62,698/-, 45 days for One time clearance+365 days for Annual clearance, Ghunir Khal (from Manasatala (W.No.17)to Baidyabati Chowmoni Fencing work on Culvert(s)/
(W No. 14) and Baidyabati Khal (from Baidyabati Chowmoni (W No.
(3) One time Clearance and Annual Clearance of water hyacinth, jungles,
14) to Ganga River) Both maintained by irrigation and waterways
Bridge(s) of North Mill Canal from
Sahapur to North Mill for a period
weeds, etc. of Nadikul Drain and making fencing of both side on 11
(Eleven) nos. culvert on the same water bodies in different locations
department under Baidyabati Municipality, District Hooghly (UID of 01 Year (365 Days) within
within North Dum Dum Municipal area,24 pgs. (north). Rs.40,63,845.77,
No.- CC_HOG17). Rs. 7,73,525/-, Rs.15,471/-, 60 days, (5) Fencing Ulberia Municipality, District-
work on Culvert(s)/ Bridge(s) of Howrah Drainage Channel (from
Rs.81,277/-, 45 days for One time clearance+365 days for Annual Nazirgaunge to Kona High Way Ward-50), Branch-II (from Kona STP
Howrah. Rs.1,01,91,961/-,
Rs.2,03,839/-, 12 months, (3)
clearance, (4) One time Clearance and Annual Clearance of water to Bhattanagar), Branch-III (from Biradingi to High Road), Branch-IV Annual Maintenance by clearing &
hyacinth, jungles, weeds, etc. of Lal Babu Nikashi within South Dum Dum
(from Haskhali Bridge to South Eastern Railway Culvert-6), removing rubbish, sludge, weeds,
Municipal area. Rs.34,71,290.82, Rs.69,426/-, 45 days for One time Swarnamoyee Canal (River Hooghly to Swarnamoyee Road) and
clearance+365 days for Annual clearance, (5) Fencing work at both side 4 Balitikuri Canal (from Howrah Amta Railway Line to H.D.C.)
scum, liquid earth, mud etc. and
Fencing work on Culvert(s)/
Nos. bridges/culverts At Different Location over Talpukur khal within (maintained by Irrigation and Waterways department) within Bridge(s) of Gouri Ganga Canal
Barrackpore Municipal area, 24 pgs (North). Rs.2,60,965.19, Rs.5,219 /-, Howrah Municipal Corporation, District-Howrah (UID No.- from Panbazar to Sinduria Mahal
30 days, (6) Fencing work at both side 10 Nos. bridges/culverts At CC_HOG24). Rs.13,06,847/-, Rs.26,137/-, 60 days, (6) Annual for a period of 01 Year (365 Days)
Different Location over Suti, Banikantha, Noai CCII Canal within Barasat Maintenance by clearing & removing rubbish, sludge, weeds, scum,
liquid earth, mud etc. and Fencing work on Culvert(s)/ Bridge(s) of
within Ulberia Municipality,
Municipal area, 24 pgs (North). Rs.10,30,365.28, Rs.20,607/-, 30 days, (7) District-Howrah. Rs.1,47,71,312/-,
Fencing work at both side 18 Nos. bridges/culverts At Different Location Swarnamoyee Canal from Swarnamoyee Road to Andul Road of
Rs.2,95,426/-, 12 months, (4)
over Palta, Ichapur, Pacha Khal/Canal within North Barracpore Municipal
UID no.- CC_HOG18, B. Garden Canal from River Hooghly to B.
Annual Maintenance by clearing &
Garden Road of UID no. CC_HOG19 and Balitikuri Canal from
area, 24 pgs (North). Rs.18,47,380.28, Rs.36,948/-, 45 days, (8) Fencing
Howrah Amta Railway Line to C.T.L Road of UID No.- CC_HOG20,
removing rubbish, sludge, weeds,
scum, liquid earth, mud etc. and
work at both side 16 Nos. bridges/culverts at Different locations over for a period of 01 Year (365 Days) within Howrah Municipal
Fencing work on Culvert(s)/
Anti Maleria, Khardah Khal within Khardah Municipal area, 24 pgs
(North). Rs.20,12,484.26, Rs.40,250/-, 45 days, (9) Fencing work at both
Corporation, District-Howrah. Rs.14,27,179/-, Rs.28,544/-, 365
Bridge(s) of Midnapur Canal from
days, (7) Annual Maintenance by clearing & removing rubbish,
side 24 Nos. bridges/culverts at different location over Kestopur, Eastern sludge, weeds, scum, liquid earth, mud etc. and Fencing work on
Kaijuri H.S. to Lock gate for a
Drainage, BB 1, Bagjola, BB, Sulanguri pass, Tarulia pass, HIDCO, Airport Culvert(s)/ Bridge(s) of Howrah Drainage Canal from South Eastern
period of 01 Year (365 Days)
within Ulberia Municipality,
Pass, Nowai Canal within Bidhannagar Municipal area, 24 pgs (North). Rs. Railway Culvert-6 to Tikia Para of UID No.-CC_HOG21, Mou Khal
District-Howrah. Rs.1,96,57,532/-,
26,55,412.91, Rs.53,108/-, 45 days, (10) Fencing work at both side 21 from Howrah Drainage Canal to Mohiary Road of UID No.-
CC_HOG22, and Pacha Khal from Belgachia Trenching Ground to
Rs.3,93,151/-, 12 months, Last
Nos. bridges/culverts at Different Location over Bagjola, cantonment,
Sonai, Udaypur, Lal Babu Nikashi Khal/Canal within South Dumdum Branch-III of UID No.-CC_HOG23 for a period of 01 Year (365 Days)
date & time for submission of
Tender through online:
Municipal area, 24 pgs (North). Rs.23,65,009.61, Rs.47,300/-, 45 days, within Howrah Municipal Corporation, District-Howrah. Rs.
11.06.2021 upto 18.50 hrs. For
Last date & time of submission of Tender online: 04.06.2021 upto 18.55 14,93,464/-, Rs.29,869/-, 365 days, Last date & time for
details contact the above office or
submission of Tender through online: 04.06.2021 upto 19.00 hrs.
hrs. For details contact the above office or visit KMDA website.
For details contact the above office or visit KMDA website. visit KMDA website. (KMDA-017)
www.kmdaonline.org www.wbtenders.gov.in (KMDA-025) www.kmdaonline.org www.wbtenders.gov.in (KMDA-020) www.kmdaonline.org
www.wbtenders.gov.in
ICA- T5854(3)/2021 ICA- T5849(3)/2021
ICA- T5846(3)/2021
10 mp Business millenniumpost
MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021 | NEW DELHI

CBIC starts special drive to Government may table

DICGC ACT AMENDMENT

clear GST claims by May-end bill in monsoon session

The 15-day GST refund drive is on the lines of an ongoing similar drive
organised by the CBIC for refund of customs and duty drawback claims
OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI: The Central
Board of Indirect Taxes and
Customs (CBIC) has launched
a special drive to clear all pend-
ing GST refunds by month-end.
The 15-day Goods and Ser-
vices Tax (GST) refund drive is
on the lines of an ongoing simi-
lar drive organised by the CBIC
for refund of customs and duty
drawback claims.
In an instruction to all Prin-
cipal Commissioners of Cen-
tral Tax formations, the CBIC
said there is a need to focus on
timely disposal of all pending
GST refund claims in order
to provide immediate relief
to business entities, especially
MSMEs, in the difficult times
of second wave of the COVID-
19 pandemic.
“It is hereby instructed that
a ‘Special GST Refund Disposal
Drive’ will be launched by all
Central Tax formations during
the period from 15th May 2021
to 31st May 2021 for process-
ing and disposal of all pending
GST refund claims on prior-
ity,” it said.
The CBIC further said that the GST
law provides 15 days for issuing
acknowledgement or deficiency memo
and total 60 days for disposing of refund
claims without any liability to pay interest
The CBIC further said that
the GST law provides 15 days
for issuing acknowledgement
or deficiency memo and total
60 days for disposing of refund
claims without any liability to
pay interest.
“It is, however, expected
that all Central Tax formations
will take up all the pending
GST refund claims for process-
ing on priority and endeavour
to dispose them of much earlier
than the statutory time limits,
preferably before a period of 30
days from the date of receipt
of the refund application,” the
CBIC added.
Highlights
»»It is expected that during
this special drive, all GST
refund claims, pending
as on May 14, shall be
disposed of by May 31,
2021
»»The CBIC also asked
taxmen to ensure that
communication with
taxpayers is done through
the GST portal, or if need
be, through email using
the official email ID of the
officer
»»The Special Refund
Disposal Drive should be
widely publicised among
the trade and industry
It is expected that dur-
ing this special drive, all GST
refund claims, pending as on
May 14, shall be disposed of by
May 31, 2021.
The tax officers will coor-
dinate with the major trade
and industry associations
(especially those that cater to
exporters and MSMEs) for
the assistance and handhold-
ing of taxpayers, including for
submission of required docu-
ments/ reply by the taxpayers
(if a claim is pending for want
of a required document/ reply
to notice, etc).
The CBIC also asked tax-
men to ensure that communi-
cation with taxpayers is done
through the GST portal, or if
need be, through email using
the official email ID of the
officer.
All communication with
taxpayers must be done
through the GST portal, or if
need be, through email using
the official email ID of the
officer.
The Special Refund Dis-
posal Drive should be widely
publicised among the trade and
industry.
“It is urged that in these
difficult times, all central tax
officers should endeavour to
make their best efforts and con-
tribution in the fight against
COVID-19, by liquidating the
pending GST refund claims by
May 31, 2021,” the CBIC added.
NEW DELHI: In a bid to ensure
timely support to depositors
of stressed banks, the govern-
ment may bring amendment
to DICGC Act in the monsoon
session with the objective to pro-
vide account holders easy and
time-bound access to funds to
the extent of the deposit insur-
ance cover.
Last year, the govern-
ment raised insurance cover
on deposit five-folds to Rs 5
lakh with a view to provide
support to depositors of ailing
lenders like Punjab and Maha-
rashtra Co-operative (PMC)
Bank. Following the collapse
of PMC Bank, Yes Bank and
Lakshmi Vilas Bank too came
under stress leading to restruc-
turing by the regulator and the
government.
The amendment to the
Deposit Insurance and Credit
Guarantee Corporation
(DICGC) Act, 1961 is the bud-
get announcement made by the
Finance Minister and the Bill is
almost ready, sources said.
It is expected that the Bill
will be tabled in the upcoming
monsoon session after being
vetted by the Union Cabinet,
sources added. Once the Bill
becomes the law, it will provide
immediate relief to thousands of
depositors who had their money
parked in stressed lenders such
as PMC Bank and other small
cooperative banks.
As per the current provi-
up to Rs 5 lakh comes into play
when the licence of a bank is
cancelled and liquidation pro-
cess starts.
DICGC, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the Reserve Bank
of India, provides insurance
cover on bank deposits.
Last year, the govt
raised insurance
cover on deposit
five-folds to Rs 5
lakh with a view
to provide support
to depositors of
ailing lenders like
PMC Bank
Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman in the Bud-
get speech in February said the
government had approved an
increase in the Deposit Insur-
ance cover from Rs 1 lakh to
Rs 5 lakh for bank customers
last year.
“I shall be moving amend-
ments to the DICGC Act, 1961
in this session itself to stream-
line the provisions, so that if a
bank is temporarily unable to
fulfil its obligations, the deposi-
tors of such a bank can get easy
and time-bound access to their
deposits to the extent of the
deposit insurance cover. This
would help depositors of banks
she had said.
It could not be presented
in the Budget session due to
curtailment of the last session
following the spread of second
wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
It is to be noted that the
enhanced deposit insurance
cover of Rs 5 lakh is effective
from February 4, 2020. The
increase was done after a gap
of 27 years as it was static since
1993. The cover is provided
by the Deposit Insurance and
Credit Guarantee Corporation
(DICGC), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the RBI. With
increased insurance cover, the
banks are paying a higher pre-
mium of 12 paise against 10
paise per Rs 100 deposited with-
out any additional burden on
account holders.
The deposit insurance
scheme covers all banks oper-
ating in India, including private
sector, cooperative and even
branches of foreign banks. There
are some exemptions such as
deposits of foreign govern-
ments, deposits of central and
state governments, and inter-
bank deposits.
It can be recalled that way
back in 2009, the Raghuram
Rajan committee on finan-
cial sector reforms had rec-
ommended strengthening the
capacity of the DICGC, a more
explicit system of prompt, cor-
rective action, and making
deposit insurance premia more

SBI to sell 3 NPA accounts next FPIs net sellers pull

sions, the deposit insurance of that are currently under stress,” risk-based.  PTI

month for recovery of `235 crore out `6,452 cr in May ‘Q4 earnings, vaccination pace,
NEW DELHI: The State Bank
of India (SBI) will sell three
bad accounts to asset recon-
struction companies or other
financial institutions next
month to recover dues of over
Rs 235 crore, according to a
sales notice.
In terms of the State Bank of
India’s policy on sale of finan-
cial assets, in line with regu-
latory guidelines, SBI said it
has placed Heavy Metal and
Tubes Ltd, Khare and Tarkunde
Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and
Elize International Ltd for sale
to recover a total of Rs 235.32
crore.
Heavy Metal has out-
standing dues of Rs 116.91
crore to the bank, Khare
and Tarkunde owes Rs 99.84
crore and Elize International
Rs 18.57 crore.
The bank has set the reserve
prices for these NPA accounts
for sale at Rs 27.50 crore,
global trends to dictate markets’
Interested ARCs/
banks/NBFCs/
FIs can conduct
due diligence of
these assets with
immediate effect,
after submitting
expressions of
interest
Rs 15 crore and Rs 8 crore, submitting expressions of
respectively. interest and executing a non-
The e-auction of Heavy disclosure agreement with
Metal and Tubes; and Khare the bank.
and Tarkunde will take place Ahmedabad-based Heavy
on June 7, while that of Elize Metal and Tubes is engaged in
will be on June 8. manufacturing of stainless steel
State Bank of India said tubes and pipes, while Nagpur-
the interested ARCs/banks/ based Khare and Tarkunde
NBFCs/FIs can conduct is engaged in real estate
due diligence of these assets business.
with immediate effect, after Elize International is
NEW DELHI: Foreign portfo-
lio investors (FPIs) pulled out Rs
6,452 crore so far in May from
Indian markets amid tumbling
investor sentiment due to the
second wave of the COVID-19
pandemic.
As per depositories data, the
overseas investors pulled out Rs
6,427 crore from equities and Rs
25 crore from the debt segment
during May 1-14. The net out-
flow during the period under
review stood at Rs 6,452 crore.
“The severe Covid second
wave, increasing lockdowns and
concerns regarding its impact
on GDP growth and corporate
earnings seem to be behind FPI
outflows,” said VK Vijayakumar,
chief investment Strategist at
Geojit Financial Services.
In the preceding month,
the total net outflow from the
Indian capital markets (equities
and debt) was Rs 9,435 crore.
The real impact on econ-
omy is unclear but investors are
becoming nervous and cautious,
said co-founder and COO at
Groww Harsh Jain.
FPIs are now running a con-
centrated portfolio with high
weightage on IT, pharma, select
FMCG, and stocks with good
earnings visibility, Vijayaku-
mar noted.
“Rising Covid cases in the
country and extension of lock-
downs could play spoilsport.
Moreover, the uncertainty
over the degree of impact on
the economy could continue
to keep foreign investors on the
sidelines and can also poten-
tially force FPIs to adopt a
wait-and-watch approach,” said
Himanshu Srivastava, associate
director - manager research,
Morningstar India. The focus
for FPIs would continue to be
on economic numbers and how
soon India gains its economic
momentum back. PTI
NEW DELHI: Equity markets
this week are likely to follow
the quarterly earnings outcome
of listed companies, pace of
vaccination drive in the coun-
try and global market trends
for further direction, accord-
ing to analysts.
“In absence of any major
event, participants will be
closely eyeing the perfor-
mance of global indices, US
bond yields, movement of
rupee against the US dollar,
and crude oil prices.
Religare Broking Vice-
President (Research) Ajit
Mishra said, “Needless to say,
COVID-19-related updates
and progress of the vaccine
drive will also be in focus.”
On the earnings front,
Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors,
Indian Oil Corp, Havells,
Hindalco and Federal Bank are
some of the prominent names
who will be announcing their
results during the week along
with several others, Mishra
added.
The quarterly earnings
from Canara Bank, JK Tyre &
Industries, Havells India, JK
Lakshmi Cement, JSW Steel
and State Bank of India will
also be watched by investors
this week.
“Going forward, market
will track the pace of vacci-
nation, trajectory of active
cases curve and management
commentary of companies,”
Shibani Kurian, senior exec-
utive vice-president and head
(equity research) at Kotak
Mahindra Asset Management
Co, said.
Investors would also track
the Wholesale Price Index-
based inflation data to be
announced on Monday.
Samco Securities Head
(Equity Research) Nirali
Shah said, “Indian indi-
ces have shown sturdiness
despite the increasing num-
ber of cases. However, sus-
tainability at higher levels
seems difficult if the situation
aggravates.”  PTI

Go Airlines might face turbulence
from possible floating-rate plane leases
NEW DELHI: The IPO-bound
Go Airlines is set to induct 22
new planes in less than two years
but expects that a possible shift
to floating-rate aircraft leases
might have an adverse impact
due to higher interest rates.
The low-cost airline has
filed draft papers for an initial
share sale worth Rs 3,600 crore
and will be the first domestic
scheduled carrier to get listed on
domestic bourses in nearly six
years. Apart from the prospects
of moving to floating-rate leases
for new planes, issues related
to brand ‘GoAir’ and certain
related trademarks, and indebt-
edness, are among the risk fac-
tors mentioned in its Draft Red
Herring Prospectus (DRHP).
All its 55 planes as of March
31, 2021, were under operating
and fixed-rate leases but the air-
line anticipates that future leases
could be based on floating rates.
The airline, which
announced rebranding itself
from ‘GoAir’ to ‘Go First’,
expects to add eight new air-
craft in fiscal 2022 and 14 in
the next financial year ending
March 31, 2023. These planes
will be part of the order placed
for 98 A320 neos. Currently, the
carrier’s fleet has a mix of A320
neos and A320 ceos.
While noting that its indebt-
edness could adversely affect its
business, Go Airlines said that
it might be required to switch
over to floating-rate leases for
planes in the future.
“All our 55 aircraft as of
March 31, 2021, are under oper-
ating leases under fixed-rate
leases and we may be required
to obtain floating-rate leases for
future aircraft leases. As a result,
a significant increase in interest
rates may increase our obliga-
tions under any floating-rate
leases and may adversely impact
our results of operations,” as
per the DRHP. As of April 19,
2021, the company’s aggregate
indebtedness on a consolidated
basis stood at Rs 8,160.09 crore.
According to the DRHP,
the brand ‘GoAir’ and cer-
tain related trademarks, are
registered in the name of Go
Holdings, in which one of the
promoters Jehangir Nusli Wadia
has 99 per cent stake.
During the re-branding
transition period and thereaf-
ter, it might use trademarks/
service marks, that primarily
consist of the terms ‘Go’, ‘GoAir’
and ‘Fly Smart’.
As per the DRHP, in March
2021, Go Holdings made two
applications to the Registrar of
Trade Marks, for registration
of two word marks used exclu-
sively by our company, namely
‘Go Airlines’ and ‘www.goair.in’.
In April 2021, Jehangir Nusli
Wadia made an application to
the National Internet Exchange
of India, to transfer 115 domain
names registered in the name of
the company, from one domain
registrar to another domain reg-
istrar, namely Net4India Ltd to
Network Solutions.  PTI
Bitcoin ‘Hotel industry takes `1.30 lakh cr
rises 5.6% to
$49,337.72
revenue hit in FY21, seeks support’
WASHINGTON: Bitcoin rose
5.63 per cent to $49,337.72 by
0800 GMT on Sunday, adding
$2,628.83 to its previous close.
Bitcoin, the world’s biggest
and best-known cryptocur-
rency is up 77.9 per cent from
the year’s low of $27,734 on Jan.
4, and down 24 per cent from
the year’s high of $64,895.22 hit
on April 14, Reuters reported.
Ether, the coin linked to the
ethereum blockchain network,
rose 6.1 per cent to $3,868.42
by 0800 GMT on Sunday, add-
ing $222.41 to its previous
close.  AGENCIES
NEW DELHI: The Indian hotel
industry has taken a hit of over
Rs 1.30 lakh crore in revenue for
the fiscal year 2020-21 due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pan-
demic, the Federation of Hotel
& Restaurant Associations of
India (FHRAI) said on Sunday.
The apex industry body said
it has submitted representation
to the Prime Minister and a few
other union ministers urging
immediate support from the
government to save the hos-
pitality sector from imminent
collapse and has requested for
several fiscal measures for this.
“The Indian hotel indus-
try’s total revenue in FY2019-
20 stood at Rs 1.82 lakh crore.
As per our estimates, in FY2020-
21, approximately 75 per cent
of the industry’s revenues got
wiped off. That is more than
Rs 1.30 lakh crore revenue hit,”
the FHRAI said in a statement.
The businesses are steadily
closing and non-performing
assets (NPAs) are rising, it
added.
Since March 2020, the
industry has been struggling to
manage its statutory and capital
expenditure obligations. Repay-
ment of loans with interest is
not just difficult but impossible
under a more severe economic
environment due to the present
surge, FHRAI Vice President
Gurbaxish Singh Kohli said.
Without a moratorium on
EMIs and interest payments, the
sector will completely crumble,
he added.
“We request the Govern-
ment to offer a sector-specific
policy which can mitigate all
adverse financial impact includ-
ing debt obligations accrued or
to be accrued towards banks,
financial institutions or any
other entities, in view of the
current circumstances and
its long-term repercussions,”
Kohli said.
While FHRAI understands
that the government has to pri-
oritise, ignoring the industry
even now will push it to the
point of no return, he added.
“Without wasting any more
time, the government should
make necessary special provi-
sions to waive statutory charges
for the hospitality sector,” Kohli
said.
The hospitality industry
should be offered a waiver of
property tax, water charges,
electricity charges and excise
license fees for the lockdown
period, he added.  PTI

Power sector CPSUs set up over 200 Covid care centres
They have also set up COVID care centres with oxygen facilities in areas with higher infection rate
NEW DELHI: Central pub-
lic sector undertakings under
the power ministry together
set up COVID care facilities
at over 200 locations amid the
pandemic.
The CPSUs are working
out multipronged strategies for
reaching out to every employee
situated across India and also to
the neighbouring community in
the fight against the COVID-19
pandemic, the power ministry
said in a statement.
The undertakings have
together set up COVID Care
facilities at over 200 locations,
which act as isolation centres for
their staff and family members.
They have also set up COVID
care centres with oxygen facili-
ties in areas with higher infec-
tion rate.
CPSUs have been proac-
tively taking initiatives in setting
up isolation centres, distribution
of masks, sanitisers, providing
oxygen beds and organising
vaccination camps at various
location in the National Capital
Region(NCR). Besides, they also
provided oxygen concentrators
and set up oxygen plants.
Power CPSUs have lent
strong support to the PM
CARES Fund by contributing
about Rs 925 crore.
NHPC Ltd is extending cor-
porate social responsibility sup-
port of Rs 41.89 lakh, which is
being provided to district mag-
istrate, Siddharthnagar (UP), for
setting up of one oxygen gen-
eration plant in district hospital,
Siddharth Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
Another CSR support of Rs
45 lakh is also being provided
to DM, Deoria, for providing
60 oxygen concentrators (5
litre a minute capacity) for L-2
COVID-19 facility in Govern-
ment Hospital District Deoria,
Uttar Pradesh. NHPC is also
setting up an oxygen genera-
tion plant of capacity 1,000 litre
a minute (LPM) with provision
of filling cylinders in Badshah
Khan District General Hospital,
Faridabad, under CSR. Procure-
ment process has been initi-
ated and shortly to be finalised.
Plant to be installed within eight
weeks time.
NTPC Ltd has placed orders
for 11 oxygen generation plants
in NCR, besides few large oxy-
gen generation plants having
bottling facility. Further, the
company is also setting up oxy-
gen generation plants at 8 dif-
ferent locations in other states.
It also extended support under
CSR for installation of oxygen
plants at different government
hospitals in other states.
Similarly, REC, another
major CPSU under the power
ministry, through its CSR arm
REC Foundation has provided
a financial assistance of Rs 2.21
crore towards the Installation of
1,700 liter-per-minute oxygen
generator plant (full assembly)
and 150 kilovolts (kV) generator
plant at Dalvi Hospital, Pune.
In another CSR initiative,
REC Foundation supported
Pandit Ram Sumer Shukla
Smriti Government Medical
College in Rudrapur, Udham
Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand,
which has been converted into
a COVID-19 treatment centre.
The centre has a 300-bed
hospital, including a 36-bed
ICU ward and facilities such
as an isolation center and test-
ing center. Further, REC is also
supporting the establishment of
oxygen generation plants at vari-
ous places across the country.
As part of the CSR initiative,
PGCIL (Power Grid Corpora-
tion of India Ltd ) is promot-
ing the setting up of oxygen
plants at two locations Jaisalmer
(Rajasthan) and Gurugram
(Haryana).  PTI
M-cap of 8 most valued
cos falls over `1.13L cr
NEW DELHI: Eight of the top-
10 most valued companies wit-
nessed a combined erosion of
Rs 1,13,074.57 crore in market
valuation last week, with Tata
Consultancy Services, Infosys
and HDFC Bank emerging as
the worst hit.
Among the top-10 most
valued companies, only Reli-
ance Industries Limited and
State Bank of India managed
to book gains on a weekly basis.
During the holiday-trun-
cated trading week, the BSE
benchmark Sensex tanked
473.92 points or 0.96 per cent.
The valuation of Tata
Consultancy Services tum-
bled Rs 30,054.79 crore to Rs
11,28,488.10 crore.
Infosys witnessed an ero-
sion of Rs 15,168.41 crore,
taking its market worth to Rs
5,61,060.44 crore.
The market capitalisation
(mcap) of HDFC Bank eroded
by Rs 15,139.12 crore to Rs
7,65,035.49 crore and that of
Kotak Mahindra Bank plum-
meted by Rs 14,398.04 crore to
Rs 3,38,358.80 crore.
The valuation of HDFC
dived Rs 13,430.38 crore to
Rs 4,36,879.75 crore and
that of Bajaj Finance tanked
Rs 9,844.62 crore to Rs
3,21,592.05 crore.  PTI
millenniumpost
NEW DELHI | MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021
Juventus beat Inter to keep Double bagel: Swiatek routs
Pliskova in Italian Open final
alive CL bid, Atalanta qualifies
Cuadrado scored twice for Juventus, converting a clinching penalty
kick in 88th minute. Juve rose to 4th ahead of its final game at Bologna
ROME: Juventus kept alive
its Champions League quali-
fication hopes by winning at
Serie A champion Inter Milan
3-2, when Atalanta clinched
a place in Europe's premier
competition.
Atalanta consolidated sec-
ond place in the Italian league
beating Genoa 4-3 and can no
longer finish outside the top
four.
Juan Cuadrado scored
twice for Juventus, converting
a clinching penalty kick in the
88th minute. Juventus rose to
fourth ahead of its final game
at Bologna next weekend.
Napoli, two points behind,
still has two games to play.
Juventus will be hoping for
a favor from Fiorentina against
Napoli on Sunday.
Roma defeated city rival
Lazio 2-0 in their derby with
goals from Henrikh Mkh-
itaryan and Pedro. Lazio
defender Francesco Acerbi was
sent off late.
Also, Spezia Calcio enjoyed
a 4-1 win over visiting Torino.
Atalanta qualified for the
Champions League for the
third consecutive year despite
a much smaller budget than its
illustrious rivals.
Duvan Zapata got the vis-
itors off to a fine start in the
Finally,
Hussey leaves
for home
CHENNAI: Having recov-
ered from COVID-19, Chen-
nai Super Kings batting coach
Michael Hussey left for Austra-
lia on Sunday via Doha, a top
official of the IPL franchise said.
Following an RT-PCR test,
the former Australia bats-
man had returned negative for
COVID-19 on Friday, paving
the way for his departure in the
early hours of Sunday.
"Yes, Hussey has left for
Australia via Doha by a com-
mercial flight. He left in the
early hours of Sunday," CSK
CEO K S Viswanathan told
PTI.
Hussey, who had first tested
positive for COVID-19 dur-
ing the now-suspended Indian
Premier League, is expected to
reach home on Monday.
The 14th edition of the
IPL was suspended on May 4
after four players tested posi-
tive for COVID-19 inside its
bio-bubble.
Subsequently, Hussey and
CSK bowling coach L Bal-
aji, who were detected with
COVID-19, were brought to
Chennai from Delhi in an air
ambulance.
Hussey aside, the other Aus-
tralians involved in the 2021
edition of IPL, including Pat
Cummins, Steve Smith, David
Warner and Michael Slater,
took a detour to Maldives and
quarantined there before head-
ing back to Australia.  AGENCIES
Leicester win FA Cup for first time, beating Chelsea
When the ball landed at the Leicester midfielder's feet, 63 minutes into the 140th final,
a powerful shot from 30 meters was aimed just where he had been advised
LONDON: Youri Tielemans
was preparing for the FA Cup
final when he received a text
message with a clear instruc-
tion: Aim for the top corner.
When the ball landed at the
Leicester midfielder's feet, 63
minutes into the 140th final, a
powerful shot from 30 meters
was aimed just where he had
been advised.
It was a sensational way to
win the FA Cup for the first
time in Leicester's 137-year his-
tory, 1-0 against Champions
League finalist Chelsea.
Even sweeter than the strike
was Leicester being able to cel-
ebrate in front of its own fans as
Wembley Stadium hosted Eng-
land's biggest crowd more than
20,000 who tested negative for
the Coronavirus in 14 months.
Wow, what a finish," Leices-
ter goalkeeper Kasper Sch-
meichel said.
I didn't dare to celebrate
because there's always VAR.
ninth minute and kept the
ball in play to set up Ruslan
Malinovskyi in the 26th. Robin
Gosens made it 3-0 before the
break.
Eldor Shomurodov pulled
one back for Genoa, followed
three minutes later by Mario
Pasalic restoring Atalanta's
three-goal lead.
Gosens conceded a pen-
alty for handball converted by
Goran Pandev in the 67th and
Shomurodov's second goal in
North Korea withdraws from World
Cup qualification, announces AFC
SEOUL: The Asian Football
Confederation has announced
North Korea has pulled out
of qualification for the 2022
World Cup.
The (AFC) has today con-
firmed the withdrawal of the
DPR Korea Football Associa-
tion from the Asian Qualifiers,
the AFC said in a statement
on Sunday.
Pyongyang has not yet
given an official reason for
pulling out of next month's
qualifiers for the tourna-
ment, to be held in Qatar
in November and Decem-
ber 2022, but South Korean
media has reported that it
is because of concerns over
COVID-19.
Battled anxiety for 10-12 years of my career: Tendulkar
NEW DELHI: Cricket leg-
end Sachin Tendulkar on
Sunday said he battled anx-
iety for a major part of his
24-year-old career before real-
ising that his pre-game quirks
were an important part of his
preparation.
Talking about mental
health, which has gained sig-
nificance in the COVID times
with players spending lot of
time in bio-bubbles, Ten-
dulkar said acceptability is
the key.
Leicester's goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, right, and Wes Morgan hold the trophy aloft at the end of the FA
Cup final soccer match between Chelsea and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium in London, England 
Not that time. Instead, the
video assistant review came to
Leicester's rescue in the 89th
minute to prevent Wes Morgan
the 84th ensured a nervy finale,
but Atalanta held on.
Antonio Conte's Inter
squad had already ended
Juventus' record run of nine
straight Serie A titles, and it
could have ended his former
team's chances of reaching the
Champions League.
Referee Gianpaolo Calva-
rese had a busy game, award-
ing three penalties and relying
on VAR for assistance.
But there was no VAR check
Pyongyang has not yet given an official
reason for pulling out of next month's
qualifiers for the tournament, to be held in
Qatar in November and December 2022
Due to the spread of the
virus, there have been no qual-
ifiers in Asia since November
2019 and in order to reduce
travel as the games resume, the
AFC has ruled that all group
matches in the second round
of qualification will be played
in hubs.
South Korea is scheduled
to host North Korea, Turk-
menistan, Lebanon and Sri
Lanka in Group H qualifying
"Over period of time I
realised that besides preparing
physically for a game, you have
to prepare yourself mentally
also. In my mind the match
started long before I entered
the ground. The anxiety lev-
els were very high," Tendulkar
said in an interaction organ-
ised by Unacademy.
"I felt the anxiety for 10-12
years, had many sleepless
nights before a game. Later on
I started accepting that it was
part of my preparation. The I
from a moment of heartache.
The 37-year-old club cap-
tain had been on the pitch for
only seven minutes when he
for the deciding penalty late on
awarded when Cuadrado fell
after running into the retreat-
ing Ivan Perisic.
The first spot kick was
awarded to Juventus through
VAR, which showed Matteo
Darmian holding back Gior-
gio Chiellini with his arm. Cris-
tiano Ronaldo took his second
chance from the rebound in
the 24th after a poor first effort.
The Inter visitors equal-
ized through another pen-
matches from June 3-15 in the
city of Goyang, just north of
Seoul.
With three games remain-
ing, North Korea was in
fourth in Group H of quali-
fication, level on eight points
with Lebanon and South
Korea and one behind leader
Turkmenistan.
Only the group winners
are guaranteed a place in the
third round of qualification,
made peace with times I was
not able to sleep in the night.
I would start doing something
to keep my mind comfortable."
That "something" included
shadow batting, watching TV
and playing video games in
the wee hours of the day. Even
making his morning cup of
tea helped him prepare for the
game.
"Making tea, ironing my
clothes also helped me prepare
for the game. I would pack my
bag the day before the game,
PTI
accidentally deflected in former
teammate Ben Chilwell's cross.
But one of those marginal off-
sides that so irritate players and
alty, converted by Romelu
Lukaku in the 35th, after Cal-
varese checked video replays
that showed Lautaro Martinez
falling under Matthijs de Ligt's
contact.
Cuadrado restored Juve's
lead with a deflected shot
before the break.
Inter was given a boost in
the 55th when Rodrigo Ben-
tancur was sent off for his sec-
ond yellow card for a foul on
Lukaku.
Martinez thought he equal-
ized with a spectacular over-
head kick but the goal was
ruled out for an apparent
foul on the wily Chiellini. TV
replays showed there was mini-
mal contact from Lukaku.
Chiellini was again in
the spotlight when he bun-
dled the ball into his own net
under pressure from Lukaku
in the 83rd. Calvarese initially
awarded the Italy defender a
free kick, then showed him a
yellow card and awarded the
goal after checking replays.
Cuadrado fell, then stayed
cool to keep Juventus' quali-
fication hopes alive with the
decisive penalty. Both sides
finished with 10 men when
Marcelo Brozovic was sent off
with his second yellow card in
injury time.  AGENCIES
scheduled to start in Septem-
ber, along with the four best
runners-up.
The AFC said that it will
refer the decision on how the
withdrawal will affect Group
H standings to world govern-
ing body FIFA.
The decision also means
that North Korea will miss
out on the 2023 Asian Cup, to
be held in China, as qualifica-
tion for the World Cup and
the continental tournament
are combined.
North Korea's Olym-
pic committee also said last
month it decided to drop out
of the Tokyo Olympics to pro-
tect its athletes from Corona-
virus infections.  AGENCIES
my brother taught me all of
it and it became a habit. I fol-
lowed the same drill even in
the last match I played for
India," said the 48-year-old,
who retired after playing his
200th Test match in 2013.
Tendulkar said a player
is bound to go through ups
and downs but it is important
to accept when one is feeling
low.
"When there is an injury,
physios and doctors exam-
ine you and diagnose what
fans was detected and the roars
of Leicester fans were even
louder than the moment Tie-
lemans scored.
After losing four finals the
first in 1949 at the old Wemb-
ley Leicester's name is finally
etched onto the cup of world
football's oldest competition.
The team from central England
is a champion again, five years
after Morgan collected the Pre-
mier League trophy.
Players such as Chilwell
and N'Golo Kante to Chelsea
have left since that improba-
ble 5,000-1 title triumph but
Morgan and matchday cap-
tain Schmeichel are still there
to celebrate again, this time in
a moment tinged with sadness.
Inside the jerseys at Wem-
bley were photos of Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha, the club's
Thai owner until he died in
2018 when his helicopter
crashed in flames next to King
Power Stadium.  AGENCIES
Sport mp 11
ROME: If Iga Swiatek contin-
ues playing like this, she might
have no problem defending
her French Open title when
the year's second Grand Slam
starts in two weeks.
The 19-year-old Pole routed
Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 with
what is known as a double
bagel score in an Italian Open
final that lasted just 46 minutes
Sunday.
Swiatek lost just 13 points.
Definitely not the best day
for me, Pliskova said.
Iga was playing great ten-
nis today.
It was the first double bagel
in a WTA final in five years,
since Simona Halep over-
whelmed Anastasija Sevastova
in Bucharest.
I think you have just days
like this in tennis where things
are not going your way, Plis-
kova added.
I will just quickly forget
about today. Blasting winners
at will with both her forehand
and backhand, Swiatek led
17-5 in winners and commit-
ted only five unforced errors
to Pliskova's 23.
It wasn't always so easy this
week for Swiatek, the surprise
winner in Paris last year when
West Ham's CL bid Indian
suffer another setback women
likely to tour
in Brighton draw Australia in
BRIGHTON (UK): West
Ham's faint hope of scrap-
ing Champions League qual-
ification was left hanging by
a thread after it needed a late
strike from Said Benrahma to
draw at Brighton 1-1 in the
English Premier League.
Substitute Benrahma rifled
home his first goal for the club
with just three minutes to go,
leaving the Hammers five
points adrift of fourth-placed
Chelsea with only two fixtures
remaining.
Sixth-placed West Ham
looked set for a damaging
defeat at Amex Stadium after
Danny Welbeck's 50th Premier
League goal broke the deadlock
only three minutes earlier.
David Moyes' men have
games against West Brom
and Southampton to ensure
the minimum of a Europa
League place does not slip
through their grasp, with Tot-
tenham and Everton each just
three points behind and in hot
pursuit.
is wrong with you. Same is
the case with mental health.
It is normal for anyone to go
through ups and downs and
when you hit those lows you
need people around.
"Acceptability is the key
here. Not just for the player,
for people around him also.
Once you have accepted you
start looking for solutions."
He emphasised that one
can learn from anyone, like he
did from a hotel staff in Chen-
nai during his playing days.
Poland's Iga Swiatek kisses the winner's trophy after defeating Czech
Republic's Karolina Pliskova at the final match of the Italian Open
tennis tournament, in Rome, Sunday 
she was ranked 54th.
She had to save two match
points in her third-round vic-
tory over Barbora Krejcikova
then had to win twice on Sat-
urday beating both two-time
Rome champion Elina Svi-
tolina and 17-year-old Coco
Gauff after her quarterfinal was
pushed back a day due to rain.
It's been a tough week but
I'm really happy that I got
through everything, Swiatek
said.
I was super focused today
so I'm really proud of myself.
Lowly Brighton remained
17th following its 14th draw of
the campaign.
West Ham was seeking
to breathe fresh life into its
European push after suffer-
ing three defeats in their last
four. It was to no avail, how-
ever, against a Brighton side
severely disrupted by the sus-
pensions of key duo Lewis
Dunk and Neal Maupay fol-
lowing their red cards at
Wolverhampton.  AGENCIES
"That person got me dosa
in the room and after keep-
ing it on the table, he offered
an advice. He pointed out that
my elbow guard was restrict-
ing my bat swing, which was
actually the case. He helped
me address that issue."
Tendulkar also thanked
the frontline workers for
their tireless work ever since
the COVID-19 outbreak last
year. The champion batsman
recently recovered from the
deadly virus.  AGENCIES
PTI
Swiatek's third career title
will move her into the top 10
of the rankings for the first
time on Monday to No. 9. Plis-
kova was playing in her third
consecutive final at the Foro
Italico, having won the title in
2019. The veteran Czech player
slammed her racket to the clay
in frustration early in the sec-
ond set and received a code
violation warning for unsports-
manlike conduct. Later, Rafael
Nadal was renewing his rivalry
with Novak Djokovic in the
men's final.  AGENCIES
September
NEW DELHI: The Indian
women's cricket team is
set to travel to Australia in
September.
India, who have played
only one series amid the
COVID-19 pandemic, tour
England next month to play
their first Test in seven years
besides three ODIs and as
many T20s.
Australia pacer Megan
Schutt dropped a hint that
India will be visiting in Sep-
tember though Cricket Aus-
tralia is yet to announce the
schedule.
The tour is expected to
comprise ODIs and T20
Internationals.
"We have got a tour against
India in mid-September,"
Schutt said on No Balls: The
Cricket Podcast, hosted by
Kate Cross and Alex Hartley.
"So, there's a couple of
camps. I believe we are doing
one in Darwin, which will be
really cool... and then the tour
against India. And then pretty
much from there things get
crazy with Big Bash, WNCL,
Ashes, World Cup, and hope-
fully the Commonwealth
Games."
The BCCI, in its last Apex
Council meeting, had also
approved the tour of Austra-
lia ahead of the World Cup
in New Zealand next year. A
home series against the West
Indies was also cleared.
The tour of Australia was
originally planned for January
this year but was postponed
after the World Cup was put
off to 2022 amid the COVID-
19 pandemic.  AGENCIES
12 mp Entertainment millenniumpost
MONDAY, 17 MAY, 2021 | NEW DELHI

Salman warns of action

after Radhe’s leak
The movie, directed by Prabhudeva, was
uploaded online within hours of its release
MUMBAI: Days after Salman ous crime”.
Khan’s much-anticipated film “We offered you to watch our

Varun, Amrita, join fight

‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’ film ‘Radhe’ at a reasonable price
was leaked on piracy sites, the of INR 249 Per View. Inspite of
Bollywood superstar has warned that pirated sites are streaming

against COVID-19
the miscreants of legal action by ‘Radhe’ illegally which is a seri-
the Cyber Cell. ous crime,” he wrote.
The action-drama had a The 55-year-old star
multi-format release in select informed that the Cyber Cell is

theatres and simultaneously on
the streaming platform ZEE5
with ZEE’s pay per view service
ZEEPlex and on DTH services
at Rs 249 on May 13 on the fes-
tival of Eid.
Salman warns of action after
Radhe’s leak However, the movie,
directed by Prabhudeva, was
uploaded online within hours
of its release.
Expressing his disappoint-
ment, Khan shared a note on his
social media accounts late Sat-
urday night and said watching a
film on a pirated site was a “seri-
taking action against these illegal
pirated sites and the ones using
such platforms.
“Please don’t participate in
piracy or the Cyber Cell will take
action against you as well. Please
understand you will get into a lot
of trouble with the Cyber cell,” he
cautioned.
Ahead of the release of the
film, Khan had appealed to his
fans and followers to shun piracy
and watch “Radhe” on the right
platform.
The actor had said it takes
the hard work of several people
to make a movie and it “hurts
a lot when some take the route
of piracy to watch the final
product”.
“I want a commitment from
all of you that you will enjoy
films on the right platform. So
this Eid we want a commitment
from the audience - no piracy in
entertainment,” he had said.
“Radhe” also features Disha
Patani, Randeep Hooda, Jackie
Shroff, and Gautam Gulati. PTI
V
arun Dhawan and Shilpa Shetty
have found a novel way to pay
tribute to Covid-19 frontline
workers. On Saturday, Shilpa Shetty
took to Instagram to drop a reel fea-
turing Harsh Upadhyay’s composition
‘Lad Lenge.’
The actor, dedicating the song to
the frontline workers, wrote, “This is
for our frontline workers who are the
true champions and need all our love &
support. Let’s sweat it out for our heroes
who don their PPE kits and fight even
with dehydration every day!” Shilpa’s
video shows her working out. Later in
the day, Varun shared a video in which
he was seen performing on the song,
sung by Divya Kumar. Varun informed
his fans, “For every reel of yours we will
donate instant electrolytes to our front
line workers.” Varun nominated Bosco
Martis, Remo D’souza, Ganesh Acha-
rya, Dharmesh and others.
Anupam Kher informed his fans
that via his foundation, he made a small
contribution towards Covid-19 relief
work in Mumbai. On Friday, the actor
went live on Instagram and asked for
Amrita Rao and her
husband RJ Anmol are
committing to donate
oxygen cylinders to
people in need
his fans’ support. “In times like these,
social media can be of great help! One
‘Follow and Share’ can help save a life.
So we humbly request you, to support
us by simply following and sharing
our page @anupamkherfoundation,”
he informed.
Actor Amrita Rao and husband
Anmol also informed the couple is
committing to donate oxygen cylin-
ders to people in need. “We urge All
of you to convert your good wishes
into some service to the Society & to
the Nation. Since the last month we
have already been working with our
@oxygenarmy1 (in Mumbai) withtre-
mendous support from many of you
generous donors …and we pledge to
continue so,” she wrote. AGENCIES

LOS ANGELES: Netflix’s smash

hit Spanish series “Money Heist”
has ended production on its fifth
It’s a wrap for Money Heist 5
and final season.

Shweta
Created by Alex Pina, the
show, titled “La Casa De Papel” in
Spanish, started production on its
eight-part final season in August
2020, after the premiere of the
fourth season in April.
The streamer announced the
Tiwari looks
news of filming wrap in a post on
Twitter, sharing a photo of the core absolutely
cast from the sets.
“What started as a heist, ended stunning as she
as a family. It’s a wrap on Part 5 of
‘La Casa de Papel’ / ‘Money Heist’. posts a BTS from
Thank you to all the fans for being
part of La Resistencia! We can’t Acebo (Stockholm), Enrique Arce Khatron Ke
wait to show you how this story Set in Madrid, the first two seasons of the (Arturo), Darko Peric (Helsinki),
ends,” Netflix tweeted.
Set in Madrid, the first two sea- show follows a mysterious man known as Hovik Keuchkerian (Bogota),
Luka Peros (Marseille), Belen
Khiladi
sons of the show follows a mysteri- ‘The Professor’ who recruits a group of eight Cuesta (Manila), Fernando Cayo
ous man known as “The Professor” (Coronel Tamayo), Rodrigo de la
(Alvaro Morte) who recruits a people to carry out an ambitious plan of Serna (Palermo) and Najwa Nimri
group of eight people, who choose robbing the Royal Mint of Spain (Inspector Sierra). PTI
cities for code-names, to carry out
an ambitious plan of robbing the
Royal Mint of Spain. second heist, this time on the Bank Ursula Cobero (Tokyo), Itziar
In the next two seasons, the of Spain, as they again deal with Ituno (Lisbon), Pedro Alonso
group are forced out of hiding and hostages and police forces. (Berlin), Miguel Herran (Rio),
find themselves preparing for a The show’s cast also include Jaime Lorente (Denver), Esther

I’m stoked to be a part of ‘Lockdown has been

‘Toxic Avenger’: Jacob
MUMBAI: Child actor Jacob Tremblay, who is
set to work with “Game of Thrones” star Peter
Dinklage in new Toxic Avenger movie, said he
is super thrilled to be part of the project.
Directed by Macon Blair, the reboot will be
a contemporary reimagining of Troma Enter-
tainment’s 1984 low-budget action comedy hit,
“The Toxic Avenger”.
The 14-year-old actor, best known for films
like Room , Shut In , Good Boys , Doctor Sleep
, said he loves action movies and is thrilled to be
part of Legendary Pictures’ new film.
I love filming action movies. I’ve only done
like one or two before and this one is so cool. I’m
so excited for this project. I feel like the whole
story of the Toxic Avenger’ would be so inter-
esting to explore. I’m just so stoked to be a part
of it. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
“And when it (comes) in theatres then that’s
going to be so exciting to see people’s reactions,
emotionally hard for me’
Tremblay told PTI.
He said more than him his family members
are excited about his collaboration with Din-
klage, who shot to international fame courtesy
The actor poured her heart out about the
his role of Tyrion Lannister in the hit HBO
series.
varied emotions that she is going through
My family is huge fan of him. I haven’t
seen Game of Thrones’ yet but my mom MUMBAI: Actor Sumona Chakravarti, tissue that normally lines the uterus grows out-
and dad like pretty much and everyone are best known for featuring in “The Kapil side the uterus.
like big fans of Game of Thrones’. I have Sharma Show”, has opened up about “Something I’ve never shared before. I have
seen him in like a couple of movies. We’re the emotional toll that the coronavirus- been battling endometriosis since 2011. Been
really excited that he’s going to be in Toxic induced lockdown has taken on her. in stage IV for many years now. A good eating
Avenger’, he added. Taking to Instagram on Friday habit, exercise and most importantly no stress
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” actor Tay- night, the 32-year-old actor poured is key to my well being. The lockdown has been
lour Paige is playing the female in the her heart out about the varied emo- emotionally hard for me, she added.
movie. tions that she is going through amid The “Bade Achhe Lagte Hain” actor said she
Besides “Toxic Avenger”, Tremblay has the lockdown. thought of sharing her feelings to
films The Kid: An Animated Adventure Though she is currently let people know that everyone is
, The Little Mermaid , White Bird and “unemployed”, Chakra- struggling and fighting some-
Bear Season , in his kitty. varti believes she is still thing in their lives at this point
The actor didn’t divulge any details in a privileged position Chakravarti of a time.
about his forthcoming movies, apart as the actor is able to revealed she “Today i worked out.
from The Little Mermaid , directed by feed her family. has been battling Felt good. Thought I’ll
Rob Marshall and penned by David “Did a proper share my feelings for
Magee. workout at home endometriosis, a whoever is reading this
I’m really excited for The Lit- after ages... Some disorder in which a to understand that all
tle Mermaid’. I started record- days I feel guilty, tissue grows outside that glitters is not gold.
ing for that like a while ago. because boredom We are all struggling with
That’s going to be a lot of fun is privilege. I may be the uterus something or the other in our
to be able to see that movie unemployed and yet am lives. We all have our own bat-
come out because obvi- able to feed my family and tles to fight.
ously The Little Mer- myself. That is privilege. “We’re surrounded by loss,
maid’ was a huge part “Sometimes I feel guilty. pain, grief, stress, hatred. But all you need is
of my childhood Specially when I am feel- love, compassion and kindness. And then we’ll
as well, he ing low due to pms’in (Pre- sail through this storm as well,” she said.
said.  PTI menstrual syndrome). The Chakravarti, who has also acted in films like
mood swings play havoc “Barfi!” and “Kick”, said she decided to open up
emotionally,” she wrote with the intention to inspire people.
alongside a post-workout “It was way out of my comfort zone. But
photo of hers. if this post can bring a smile or inspire in any
Chakravarti revealed way to even a handful of souls, then I guess
that since 2011, she has it was all worth it. Much Love #circleoflife
been battling endometrio- #circleofhope #YouAreNotAloneInThis,” she
sis, a disorder in which the said. PTI