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New Delhi/METRO n Vol. XCVI No. 89 n Price ₹5.00/with Hindustan ₹ 9.00 (₹ 7.50 in Faridabad)/with Mint ₹ 9.50 n 14 Pages + 2 Pages of HT City. Area specific pages extra.
RIMS TURNED INTO COVID HOSPITAL, J’KHAND
GOVT MULLS GRANTING PAROLE TO LALU
Cases double to 10,000 in six days
COVID SPIKE Cases in Delhi rise to 1,510 — a jump of 356; 1,253 new infections in country on Monday
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: India went past a bleak
milestone on Monday as the num-
ber of coronavirus disease (Cov-
id-19) cases crossed 10,000, with
the infections doubling over six
days and the government
expanding containment efforts
and ramping up testing in an
attempt to curb the highly conta-
gious pathogen from sweeping
across the country.
On Monday, 1,253 fresh Cov-
id-19 cases were reported in the
country. Delhi recorded its big-
gest daily spike with 356 cases.
The national capital has recorded
1,510 cases so far, becoming the
city with the most number of
infections.Four people died of
Covid-19 on Monday, taking the
Capital’s death toll to 28.
Until March 24, there were 536
Covid-19 cases in India. The num-
ber rose to 2,520 by April 2; 5,305
by April 7; and the latest tally
stood at 10,444, according to HT’s
dashboard. Of these, 355 people
have died of the disease that rages
uncontrolled across several
nations and has left at least
117,000 dead across the world.
The tally of Covid-19 cases first
jumped in India after the detec-
tion of hundreds of patients who
attended gatherings of the
Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim mis-
sionary group, in New Delhi’s
Nizamuddin last month. Once the
cluster – the largest single source
so far in the country – was identi-
fied and isolated on March 30,
In the absence of
cure, doctors rely
on HCQ, antibiotics
Sanchita Sharma
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Indian doctors are
depending on a combination of a
tried and tested antimalarial
drug and an antibiotic to treat
people hospitalised in isolation
wards and ICUs in the absence of
a specific treatment for Covid-19.
“It is not a miracle therapy, but
this is all we have. All patients in
isolation wards are given a com-
bination of hydroxychloroquine
(HCQ) and azithromycin, and it
has been tolerated well. No
adverse reactions have been
reported,” said Dr Yatin Mehta,
chairman, Institute of Critical
Care and Anaesthesiology, Med-
anta-the Medicity. ››P7
Harvest season is
on, procurement
of grains delayed
PATIALA/CHANDIGARH/LUKCNOW:
Procurement of food grains has
been delayed in Punjab, Haryana
and MP due to the lockdown
despite relaxations for agricul-
tural work announced by many
states. With an increase in output
and the beginning of the harvest-
ing season, states don’t just have
to procure food grains, but also
have to ensure social distancing
measures are maintained. For
instance, the Punjab government
has restricted entry into markets
by giving coupons to farmers
rotationally. ››P6
Mild tremors felt in
Delhi for the 2nd
time in 24 hours
NEWDELHI: A low-intensity earth-
quake of magnitude 2.7 shook
Delhi on Monday, the National
Centre for Seismology said, in
what was the second mild earth-
quake to hit the Capital in less
than 24 hours. There were no
reports of injuries or damage.
The epicentre was roughly at
the same location as Sunday’s
earthquake -- near Sonia Vihar in
north-east Delhi. “Normally
such small earthquake events are
followed by another event
because the movement of the
rocks settles back… There may
be other earthquakes but we can’t
say when,” said AP Pandey, a
seismologist at NCS. ››P12
www.twitter.com/htTweets
daily cases have surged.
The number of cases in Delhi
increased from 72 on March 29 to
1,510 so far -- most of the 356 cases
reported on Monday appeared to
be linked to the Nizamuddin gath-
ering. The Capital reported its
first case on March 2, when a
45-year-old who travelled from
Italy tested positive. According to
officials in the Delhi government,
about 1,050 of the total cases are
attendees of the Nizamuddin
event or their contacts.
With the mass identification
and isolation of such cases across
the country, however, the focus
has now shifted to how well the
government can contain and
localise the infections.
“The home secretary and the
ministry of health communicate
regularly through video confer-
encing with states and we tell
them our containment strategies
and they are working in coordi-
nation,” Lav Agarwal, joint sec-
retary in the Union health minis-
try, said at a news briefing on
Monday.
Experts say that the impact of
India’s 21-day national lockdown
-- imposed by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi from March 25 --
which appears to have relatively
slowed the spread, could be
undermined if disease clusters
are not contained effectively, and
people are not tested widely and
aggressively. The next few weeks
will likely determine the coun-
try’s trajectory in managing the
outbreak and in preventing the
CONTINUED ON P 12
Rapid test kit shipment delayed
again amid urgent requirement
Jayashree Nandi, Rhythma Kaul
and Sowmiya Ashok
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI/CHENNAI: The rapid test-
ing kits, which were supposed to
be here on April 5, and then April
10, will now be here by April 15,
the Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR) said on Mon-
day, commenting on what could
well be the lynchpin of the next
phase of India’s strategy to com-
bat the coronavirus disease --
widespread (and rapid) testing,
not just in hot spots and contain-
ment zones but also areas rela-
tively free of the virus.
Called Rapid Test Kits, or
RTKs, these are blood tests that
search for antibodies in the sam-
ple of those tested — a positive
test means the person is or has
been infected by the virus. Apart
from being a fast way to identify
the extent of infections in clus-
Five most populous SC amends order, private
states take different testing free only for poor
approaches to crisis
MUMBAI/LUCKNOW/KOLKATA/BHOPAL/
PATNA:As the coronavirus disease
(Covid-19) continues to spread,
India’s most populated states
have adopted both common, and
distinct, strategies to deal with
the pandemic.
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West
Bengal account for one-third of
total Covid-19 cases in India and
about 40% of the country’s 1.21
billion population in 2011. Being
densely populated, the probabil-
ity of rapid spread of Covid-19 in
these states was and remains
higher than in less populated
southern and Himalayan states.
They are also more vulnerable
because they house about 60% of
1.3 million migrant labourers in
shelters across India.
mustread
OPEC, ALLIES END
OIL PRICE WAR
World’s top oil producers pulled
off a historic deal to cut global
output by nearly a 10th, putting
an end to the price war but not
going far enough to offset impact
of the pandemic. ››P11
n DOWNLOAD OUR iPAD APP
>p12
VACCINE LIKELY
BY SEPTEMBER:
OXFORD EXPERT
>>htworld p8
n An official sprays disinfectant in a residential neighbourhood in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar Phase 2 on the
20th day of the 21-day nationwide lockdown on Monday. AJAY AGGARWAL/HT PHOTO
TRACKING THE VIRUS
WORLD INDIA
DEATHS
CASES 1,895,993 117,664 CASES 10,444 (+1,253) 355 (+29)
United States Rest of the world WORST-HIT STATES
573,518 1,322,475 Maharashtra
Delhi 1,510
Tamil Nadu 1,173
Rajasthan 897
MP 614
India data compiled by covid19india.org and cross-checked from inputs by HT’s correspondents and news agencies Apr 09
SETBACK FOR KEY STRATEGY
After missing two deadlines, India likely to get kits by April 15
THE ORDERS THE HOLD-UPs
500,000 Kits ordered
n According to officials, some
orders are held up because the
by India from Chinese suppliers Chinese govt has allowed only
5-6 firms to sell the kits after
2 00,00 More kits
ordered by states separately
concerns over their quality
n Whileone public sector
company in India will soon start
4.5 million Additional
testing kits India intends to
manufacturing the kits, other
domestic firms are dependent
on China for some components
procure in batches from May 1 to produce them
Antibody or rapid tests are used to find out if a person
has been infected with coronavirus before, which could
give an idea of how widespread the outbreak is
ters, countries around the world As such, they are in demand
are looking to use these tests to
determine who has immunity to
the Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes
everywhere. Unlike the RT-PCR
tests currently in use, which take
up to five hours to throw up a
Covid-19. result, RTKs give out results in 30
Murali Krishnan
n letters@hindustantimes.com
While providing food to all was NEW DELHI: Free testing for Cov-
a challenge, the states adhered to id-19 in private laboratories will
health ministry’s guideline of be available only to people cov-
testing and strong Covid-19 clus-
ter management. They also
ered by Ayushman Bharat
scheme and to economically
launched apps to track hundreds weaker sections of the society
of patients and put thousands of notified by the government as eli-
people in quarantine. gible for such free tests, the
But they also opted for state Supreme Court ordered on Mon-
specific models that helped in
containing the spread. Maha-
rashtra opted for aggressive test-
day, modifying its April 8 order,
which had forced private labora-
tories to offer free tests to every-
ing and created the most number
of containment zones in cities; UP
one.
Private laboratories, the apex
ensured the virus is restricted to
41 districts; Bihar focused more
on isolating migrant workers; MP
Tech surveillance only way forward for contact tracing: Experts
came across as lax initially before
ramping up screening and testing
efforts; and West Bengal termed
its plan as containment with
“humane face”. ››P4 Binayak Dasgupta
n binayak.dasgupta@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: Tools such as cell-
phone-based contact tracing
are becoming increasingly
CHINA SEES FRESH important in the fight to con-
SPURT IN CASES tain Covid-19, a disease
China’s Heilongjiang province has spreading too quickly and
become the new Covid-19 battle- silently for conventional dis-
ground as authorities reported ease control measures to con-
highest number of new daily tain it, according to experts
cases in nearly six weeks, driven and researchers who say this
by overseas travellers. ››P8 could fundamentally involve
www.hindustantimes.com/iPad
NYC NOW HAS MORE CASES THAN CHINA, UK
PAST WEEK WAS A ‘VERY, VERY TOUGH’ ONE, SAYS MAYOR DE BLASIO >p8
DELHI
DEATHS DEATHS
CASES 1,510 (+356) 28 (+4)
CASES LAST 5 DAYS
2,334 1,510
1,069 1,154
903
720
10 11 12 Apr 13
GOVT OPEN
TO POOL
TESTING
NEW DELHI: As the num-
ber of cases rise, the
health ministry is con-
sidering pooled testing
of people with symptoms
in areas from where no
coronavirus infections
have been reported, an
official said. There are
around 450 districts
which have not reported
any case. ››P6
minutes. However, ICMR’s proto-
col requires a confirmatory
RT-PCR test to back up a nega-
tive RTK result.
CONTINUED ON P 12
court said, can continue to charge
people who can afford the testing
fee as fixed by the Indian Council
of Medical Research (ICMR).
“Government of India, Minis-
try of Health and Family Welfare
may issue necessary guidelines
for reimbursement of cost of free
testing of Covid-19 undertaken by
private Labs,” the bench of jus-
tice Ashok Bhushan and S Ravin-
dra Bhat clarified.
The order was passed after the
ICMR, private laboratories and a
Delhi based doctor approached
the top court seeking modifica-
tion of its earlier order.
P R I VACY C O M P R O M I S E D ?
some compromises on per-
sonal privacy.
The problem stems from the
insidious nature of Sars-
CoV-2, the virus that causes
Covid-19: it can be spread by a
person who does not show
symptoms, and is thus proba-
bly unaware of the illness, and
merely breathing, coughing
and sneezing could pass it on
to anyone close by. Tracing
contacts through conven-
tional methods, therefore,
n OUR EDITION ON KINDLE
Modi to spell out plan on
lockdown at 10am today
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi will address the nation
at 10am on Tuesday, the last day
of the three-week lockdown for
the coronavirus disease (Cov-
id-19) , amid expectations he will
extend the emergency protocol
until at least the end of April and
move, in a limited way, to restart
the economy by selectively eas-
ing curbs on industry.
The Prime Minister’s Office
announced Modi’s address in a
post on the microblogging site
Twitter on Monday. “Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi will address
the nation at 10am on 14th April
2020,” the PMO tweeted on a day
the number of Covid-19 infections
rose by 1,253 to 10,444 cases, and
deaths increased 29 to 355.
It will be the PM’s third tele-
vised address to the nation in less
than a month. On March 19, Modi
said he would seek the “coming
few weeks” of Indian citizens,
asked them to stay determined
and patient in the fight against
the global pandemic, senior citi-
zens to remain indoors and called
for a “people’s curfew” on March
22 to demonstrate their unity and
resolve.
On March 24 came the
announcement of a nationwide,
Range of factors
behind selection of
containment zones
Risha Chitlangia
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Chandni Mahal and
Sadar Bazar in Old Delhi, G and
D blocks of Nizamuddin West in
the south-east district apart
from the two coronavirus hot
spots at Nizamuddin Basti and
Dilshad Garden, are among the
47 containment zones declared
by the Delhi government. But the
reason why these areas have
been picked for greater curbs are
varied -- from population den-
sity, to a cluster of infections, to
the inability to track the source
of infection.
Multiple state government
officials said there were no com-
mon rules to define these zones.
“We are declaring an area a con-
tainment zone, even if there is
just one case but if we feel there is
a threat of community transmis-
sion,” said a senior district offi-
cial. ››P2
The apex court also gave lib-
erty to the central government to
decide whether any other catego-
ries of the weaker sections of the
society like workers belonging to
low income groups in the
informal sectors or beneficiaries
of Direct Benefit Transfer should
also be eligible for free testing.
The Supreme Court had, on
April 8, ordered that tests for Cov-
id-19 across government and pri-
vate laboratories should be free of
cost and no person should be
deprived of Covid-19 tests
because he was unable to afford
it. ››P6
may be ineffective, require too
much manpower, and take too
much time for effective con-
tainment.
“To defeat this virus, you
either need a vaccine or test-
ing, contact-tracing, quaran-
tine, which is the hallmark of
epidemiological containment.
The issue is that normally
viruses don’t spread as fast.
Most that kill or are serious
are infectious at a stage when
someone gets very sick,” said
http://read.
TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020
n Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman wearing a mask is screened
as she arrives to resume work from her office on Monday. HT PHOTO
three-week lockdown -- the
world’s biggest -- that has halted
commercial flights and train
journeys,taken public transport
off the streets, closed schools and
colleges and shut industrial pro-
duction, as the government tried
to break the chain of infections.
A day ahead of the address,
Modi held in-depth talks with the
principal scientific adviser Prof K
VijayRaghavan apart from hold-
ing his regular meetings with
principal secretary PK Mishra
and cabinet secretary RK Gauba.
The talks with VijayRaghavan
focussed on how the Aarogya app
is contributing to tracking the
spread of Covid-19, HT has learnt.
Ports clogged with
goods, no workers or
trucks to ferry them
Anisha Dutta
n anisha.dutta@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: At least 50,000 shipping
containers have been lying
orphaned at container freight
stations and private container
terminals at three large ports in
Tamil Nadu with no trucks avail-
able to transport them.
Most ports have declared a
so-called force majeure —
declared when unprecedented
events overtake them and pre-
vent them from doing their job.
At ports across India, cargo
terminals are operating at capac-
ities less than 30%. On April 3, in
a video conference with Union
minister of shipping Mansukh
Mandaviya, port operators,
importers, and shipping compa-
nies raised some of these issues,
including the unavailability of
trucks (and drivers), the shortage
of workers in ports and cargo ter-
minals, and choked ports.
The 21-day lockdown enforced
by India on March 25 has hit the
handling of cargo across Indian
ports, choking shipping lines.
There has been a shortage of
workers to handle cargo and a
dearth of truck drivers to ferry
the cargo to factories leading to a
huge inventory pile up at ports.
The Centre’s move to waive
demurrage charges during the
lockdown is acting as a disincen-
mustread
RETAIL INFLATION IN MARCH EASES TO
A FOUR-MONTH LOW OF 5.91%
A sharp fall in vegetable prices has led India’s retail inflation to ease from
6.58% in February to a four-month low of 5.91% in March. However,
supply shortages due to the 21-day lockdown could push up inflation in
the short run, analysts said. Food inflation declined from 10.81% in
February to 8.76% in March because of falling onion prices.
Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiol-
ogist at Harvard University,
who was one of the first promi-
nent public health officials to
raise an alarm about the virus
in January when it spread
mostly within China.
“Contact tracing only
works if you trace far enough
and people remember well
enough. And it needs a huge
manpower. In Wuhan alone,
they deployed almost 10,000
people,” added Ding during an
Shops that sell food, groceries,
fruits and vegetables and dairy
products, pharmacists, banks
and automated teller machines,
and petrol pumps have been
exempted from the lockdown.
Establishments that have been
kept out of the purview of the
lockdown also include utilities,
sanitation, municipal bodies,the
police, home guards and civil
defence, hospitals, veterinary
clinics and pharmaceutical man-
ufacturing and distribution
units.
A majority of India’s states
have backed an extension of the
lockdown so as not to fritter away
CONTINUED ON P 12
NO TAKERS
50,000
shipping containers are lying
orphaned at three large ports
in Tamil Nadu
<30 %
capacity at which cargo
terminals at ports across
India are operating
ISSUES
n Unavailability of trucks,
and drivers
n Shortage of workers
n Factories not operating
n Customs, ports working at a
fraction of their capacity
tive for importers to figure out
ways to move cargo.
The closure of factories has
also left cargo grounded (or in
ships in anchorage).
“The ports are choking with
imports. There is no place to put
the containers. There is no
unloading happening at facto-
ries. The entire import and export
trade is a chain activity and even
if one link is missing, the entire
chain gets disrupted,” said Ajay
Sahai of the Federation of Indian
Export Organisations. ››P6
››P11
interview over video.
With a mobile phone-based
tool, “you don’t need the man-
power and it is instantaneous
– the speed is the most crucial
aspect. Problems in recalling
who an infected person met or
where they were too get taken
care of,” he said. Ding led
efforts to create the first such
mobile application in 2014
called Germ Theory. “During
the Ebola crisis, we realised
CONTINUED ON P 12
02 hindustantimes
spotlight
htspotlight
What makes an area a red zone?
CONTAINMENT Population density,
awareness, infection clusters, proximity
to high-risk areas, and inability to track
the source of infection some key factors
Risha Chitlangia
n Risha.chitlangia@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: Chandni Mahal, Nabi
Karim and Sadar Bazar in Old
Delhi, G and D blocks of Nizam-
uddin West in the south-east dis-
trict, and B block in north-west
Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, apart from
the two designated coronavirus
disease hot spots at Nizamuddin
Basti and Dilshad Garden, are
among the 47 containment zones
declared by the Delhi govern-
ment to contain the spread of the
coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
But the reason why these
areas have been picked for
greater curbs are varied -- from
population density, to aware-
ness, to a cluster of infections, to
proximity to high-risk areas, to
the inability to track the source
of infection.
Multiple state government
officials HT spoke to said that
there were no common rules,
guidelines or checklists to define
containment zones.
An order by the Delhi govern-
ment’s directorate general
health services, dated April 12
said that containment activity
can be undertaken “even if there
is a clustering of three cases.”
But the order also said that a
final decision will be “taken on
the ground by the district
authorities as per the geographi-
cal boundaries of the area of the
cluster”.
“The aim is to stop the chain
on of transmission of Covid-19.
We are declaring an area a con-
tainment zone, even if there is
just one case but if we feel there is
a threat of clustering or commu-
nity transmission. While basic
guidelines have been given to
district administration, but the
final decision is left to the medi-
cal team and the district magis-
trate at the ground level,” said a
senior district official who asked
not to be named.
So, for example, Chandni
356 new cases: Biggest Districts short of hands to deal with crisis
spike puts tally at 1,510
Anonna Dutt
n anonna.dutt@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: The number of con-
firmed coronavirus disease
(Covid-19) cases in the national
capital jumped to 1,510 after 356
— nearly twice the previous
high for single-day new cases —
more people were found with
the virus. Over 90% of the new
infections detected can be
traced to people evacuated from
the Nizamuddin Basti building
of the Tablighi Jamaat.
Monday’s numbers under-
line a trend seen since the end of
March: a large majority of all
new cases in Delhi are from
those who were evacuated from
the headquarters of the Muslim
missionary group.
Of the 1,451 active infections
in the city, 49 patients are in
intensive care units, with five of
them on ventilators.
So far, samples from 15,032
people have been collected in
Delhi and result of 1,008 were
awaited till Monday evening.
“Most of the 998 samples that
remain to be tested in govern-
ment labs are from the people
evacuated under the special
operation,” said a Delhi govern-
ment official. The government
has stopped referring to the
cases linked to the Nizamuddin
cluster as those from the
“Markaz”, and now calls them
“special operations”.
The city reported four more
deaths on Monday, taking the
death toll due to the illness to 28.
A break-up of the 24 deaths
reported till Sunday showed
that half of the deaths were in
one hospital – Dr Ram Manohar
Lohia. The hospital has treated
only 34 of the 1,120 cases in the
city. The death rate at the hospi-
tal is 35%, whereas the death
rate among other cases is 1%.
“Most of the Covid deaths
that have occurred in our hospi-
tal are of patients who were
referred from other hospitals at
an advanced stage and had sig-
nificant comorbidities. The
patients who are attending our
OVER 90% OF THE NEW
INFECTIONS DETECTED
ARE LINKED TO PEOPLE
EVACUATED FROM THE
NIZAMUDDIN BUILDING
OF THE TABLIGHI JAMAAT
Mahal, Nabi Karim and Sadar
Bazaar were sealed after small
clusters of Covid-19 cases was
reported in these areas; parts of
Nizamuddin West neighbour-
hood were declared containment
zones because of their proximity
to Tablighi Jamaat headquarters
in Nizamuddin Basti; and Vard-
haman Apartments in Mayur
Vihar was declared a “red zone”
though there was just one case
reported because the common
areas and utilities of the society
were found hard to protect from
contamination.
While there is a 21-day lock-
down in place across the coun-
try, the containment zones have
stricter restrictions. People liv-
ing here -- the zone could be a
block, a street, a plot, or just a
building -- are not allowed to step
out of their houses, and essen-
tials are home-delivered directly
by the authorities.
They are also subjected to the
Delhi government’s enhanced
safety protocols -- described last
week by chief minister Arvind
Kejriwal as “Operation
SHIELD”. The S stands for seal-
ing, H for home-quarantine, I for
isolation and tracing, E for
essential supplies, L for local
sanitisation, and D for door-to-
door checking.
“The objective is to contain
the area so that proper disinfec-
tion of the neighbourhood and
screening of residents can be
done to avoid further spread of
the virus. A neighbourhood in
south Delhi’s Deoli was declared
a containment zone after eight
members of a family were found
positive with Covid-19. Simi-
larly, some areas around the
Markaz building in Nizamuddin
were turned into containment
zones after many people evacu-
ated from there were tested posi-
tive with Covid-19,” said joint
commissioner of police (south-
ern range) Devesh Chandra Sriv-
astava.
n Paramilitary troops guard a sealed entry to the Tablighi Jamaat's
headquarters at the Markaz building.
hospital early in their course of
disease or do not have signifi-
cant comorbidities are faring
very well,” said the hospital in a
statement.
“Whenever such kind of sta-
tistic is presented, the first thing
we need to see is whether the
hospital is receiving the highest
number of cases or the most crit-
ical cases. And, that is what
must have happened. Initially,
RML was the only testing centre
and it was the first hospital peo-
ple were getting admitted to. So,
most of the critical cases
remained there, that could be
the reason for the high mortal-
ity rate,” according to Dr Jugal
Kishore, head of the department
of community medicine
Some blame it on infrastruc-
ture. “It is a new medical col-
lege, the facility is smaller and
the equipment is not advanced,
all these issues definitely play a
role in mortality,” said a doctor
from a government hospital, on
condition of anonymity.
At least seven more health
care workers from two private
hospitals in the city have tested
positive for Covid-19 on Mon-
day, taking the tally of doctors,
nurses, technicians, and sanita-
tion staff with the infection in
the city to 55.
Of these, 23 are from the Delhi
State Cancer Institute, which
has become a hotspot for Cov-
id-19. Four patients and the rela-
tive of one have also tested posi-
tive for the infection.
A 2-year-old boy, the son of
one of the nursing staff who
tested positive earlier, also
tested positive for Covid-19 on
Monday.
n People queue up to receive food packets during a distribution drive at Krishi Bhawan on Day 20 of the
21-day national lockdown.
While these parameters seem
obvious and objective, the selec-
tion of areas where there are no
more than one or two cases is
more complicated, and based on
subjective calls by health offi-
cials.
A second senior government
official who asked not to be
named said that one of the key
parameters considered while
deciding these areas required
enhanced containment was
unclear source of infection,
which could be a sign of “com-
munity transmission” -- the
third stage of the spread of any
infection in which the chain of
contamination can no longer be
established. Once stage three
sets in (the first two stages are
travel history and local trans-
mission), the next level is epi-
demic.
There are several contain-
ment zones where only one case
was reported. These include
Gandhi Park in Malviya Nagar,
and the slum cluster at South
Moti Bagh (south Delhi); H and E
blocks of Abu Fazal Enclave,
Garhi village in East of Kailash,
and Mahella Mohalla in Madan-
pur Khadar (south-east Delhi);
SANJEEV VERMA/HT PHOTO
Govt demarcates
4 new containment
zones, total now 47
Ashish Mishra
n ashish.mishra2@htlive.com
NEW DELHI : The Delhi govern-
ment on Monday declared four
new Covid-19 containment
zones, taking the total of such
zones in the national capital to
47.
While three new containment
zones are in west Delhi district,
one is in central Delhi. Till Mon-
day evening, Delhi recorded
1,510 Covid-19 cases and 28
deaths
Days after five persons, from
the same family, tested positive
for Covid-19 in Paschim Vihar,
another case was reported from
the area but from a different
locality -- Krishna Apartment, a
middle-class neighbourhood.
With this, there are two contain-
ment zones in Paschim Vihar.
The other two containment
zones in west Delhi are East
Patel Nagar and a JJ cluster in
Madipur after one case each was
reported from these areas.
There are now seven contain-
ment zones in west Delhi dis-
trict.
Sant Nagar in central Delhi
was declared a containment
zone on Monday, after a person
tested positive for Covid-19.
With this, there are four con-
tainment zones in central Delhi,
which has reported 13 deaths
due to Covid-19 so far.
and Kalyanpuri, Khichripur and
Pandav Nagar in (east Delhi).
“A majority of these areas are
thickly populated. To break the
chain of transmission of the
virus, it was felt necessary to
declare them as containment
zones and screen all the people
even though in some areas the
patients have recovered. In some
areas, the contact history of the
patient is yet to be traced due to
which chances of more testing
positive area high. We are
screening all the households in
the containment areas and also
doing testing of suspected
cases,” said the second official
cited above.
The “densely populated”
theme runs across at least 25 of
the 47 zones and includes the
working-class neighbourhoods
of Kalyanpuri, Khichripur, Mad-
anpur Khadar, Jaitpur Exten-
sion, Deoli and Sangam Vihar,
where officials say the aware-
ness of social distancing is lim-
ited as compared to the city’s rel-
atively upscale colonies.
“To ensure that the spread of
the disease is contained, some
aggressive measures have to be
taken else it can lead to commu-
COVID MANAGEMENT
Sweta Goswami
n sweta.goswami@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: With most districts
short of manpower to handle the
ongoing activities to curb the
spread of Covid-19 cases, the
Delhi government has deployed
over 13,742 booth level officials
(BLOs) for surveillance and dis-
infection drives, and urged medi-
cal students to join various con-
tainment activities.
The government said the
BLO deployment, a first in the
country, would essentially cover
each household in Delhi and con-
duct health checks.
A day after the Delhi govern-
ment, in a first, deployed 110 post-
graduate students of Maulana
Azad Medical College (MAMC) in
every district, the state health
department Monday said it will
issue a similar directive to the
University College of Medical Sci-
ences (UCMS).
As on Monday, Delhi has 1,510
Covid-19 cases and 47 areas have
been declared containment
zones. “We have provided 10
MAMC students to each district
magistrate for carrying out activ-
ities they deem fit. The tasks may
range from conducting tests to
door-to-door health checks. Next,
we are planning to rope in stu-
dents of UCMS and will do so from
more colleges,” a senior official of
the state health department, on
condition of anonymity, said.
Riot victims mend their torn lives, one stitch at a time
Kainat Sarfaraz
n kainat.sarfaraz@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: Eighteen-year-old
Saina, a resident of Shiv Vihar
in north-east Delhi, has had
little to do since her house and
family’s shop were damaged
during a communal riot in
February. These days, how-
ever, she has an important job
to do — stitch personal protec-
tive equipment (PPE) for
front-line workers to aid their
fight against coronavirus
(Covid-19) disease.
“I had planned to resume
my studies this year as I had to
take a break due to my fam-
ily’s financial situation last
year. I couldn’t because of the
riots,” said Saina, who goes
only by her first name, adding
she finished matriculation
ARVIND YADAV/HT PHOTO
nity transmission. This may be
the reason why some of the areas
have been declared as contain-
ment zones despite just 1-2 cases
being reported from there,” said
DrJugal Kishore, head of the
department community medi-
cine at Safdarjung hospital.
In south-west Delhi’s Mahavir
Enclave, which was declared a
containment zone on Sunday, a
nurse working at a hospital that
has a Covid isolation ward was
diagnosed last week. Her two
children and a neighbour also
tested positive. “It’s a dense
pocket where people interact fre-
quently. So the risk of transmis-
sion is very high. We tested as
many as 70 persons in the con-
tainment area today, and the
results are awaited,” an official
said.
Several officials said the big-
gest problem Delhi was facing
was the possibility of “cluster-
ing” in residential localities.
“With the movement of residents
restricted in containment zones,
the district administrations
have got some success in slowing
down the transmission. Exten-
sive door-to-door screening in
each containment zone is also
Dr AK Jain, acting principal of
UCMS, said, “Our students from
pathology, anesthesiology, ortho-
paedics, ophthalmology, ENT,
biochemistry and other depart-
ments will be deployed when the
government order comes.”
Since Delhi has invoked the
Disaster Management Act to fight
Covid-19, the district magistrates
lead the command chain in each
of the city’s 11 districts. But now,
with the increase in the number
of cases and, consequently, the
number of containment zones,
several DMs told HT that man-
power was going to be the biggest
challenge in the coming days.
Most districts have been get-
ting work done by reorganising
their staff, and requesting local
bodies and government depart-
ments to chip in, besides deploy-
ing civil defence volunteers.
In New Delhi district, for
example, the New Delhi Munici-
pal Council (NDMC) is not just
carrying out sanitisation and
quarantine activities but has also
provided its entire health depart-
ment staff to the district adminis-
tration. “Our area is smaller and,
hence, our staff members are also
fewer. But, the manpower
requirement spiked when con-
tainment zones in our area
increased from one to two. It also
meant that we had to impose the
lockdown strictly in areas neigh-
bouring the containment zones
and conduct extensive health
SEWING PROTECTIVE GEAR
n Three women, sharing two machines, have stitched over 35,000
masks and 200 PPE kits.
last year. “When we got the
opportunity to stitch PPE kits
and do something about the
situation in our country, we
knew we had to do it.”
The eldest of six siblings,
Saina was worried after her
helping identify new cases,” said
the first official.
Some of the areas where clus-
tering appears to have occurred
-- apart from Nizamuddin Basti
and Dilshad Garden -- are in cen-
tral Delhi. Of the 13 deaths
reported in the district, five were
reported in Chandni Mahal and
four in Sadar Bazaar.
“Out of 102 people staying in 13
different locations in the
Chandni Mahal area, 52 have
tested positive. The interaction
between people who tested posi-
tive and residents of Chandni
Mahal can’t be ruled out,”
according to the Friday order
designating the area a contain-
ment zone, issued by the Delhi
government’s Central Zone dis-
trict magistrate, Nidhi Srivas-
tava.
“When Sadar Bazar was
declared a containment area
there were seven cases and now
there are 18 Covid-19 positive
cases,” said a senior central dis-
trict official aware of the devel-
opment.
The government says that its
“SHIELD programme” is also
allowed them to test those with
symptoms, isolate and treat
patients, and stop further trans-
mission.
Delhi’s health minister Saty-
endar Jain on Friday had said
that Dilshad Garden, a Covid-19
hot spot, was “Coronavirus free”
with no new cases reported in the
last 10 days due to measures
taken under the SHIELD pro-
gramme. Dilshad Garden was
among the first areas to be
declared a containment zone on
April 8.
Dr Lalit Kant, former head of
epidemiology and communica-
ble disease at the Indian Council
of Medical Research (ICMR)
backed the Delhi government’s
decision to declare 47 contain-
ment zones.
“It is a good thing they are
doing by declaring containment
zone even if there is one case
reported from the area. If these
measures are not taken right
now, the situation will boomer-
ang. Contact tracing and surveil-
lance is the key to contain the
spread of transmission of this
disease,” Dr Kant said.
n An MCD worker sprays disinfectant at Police Lines.
checks. So on my personal
request, the NDMC provided its
entire staff of doctors, paramed-
ics and helpers to us. That saved
us,” Tanvi Garg, New Delhi dis-
trict magistrate, said.
Data with the health depart-
ment suggests that at least 5,900
accredited social health activists
(ASHA) and over 1,270 auxiliary
nurse midwives (ANMs) are cur-
rently deployed across districts
to conduct door-to-door data col-
lection which also includes
health checks. Yet, the staff
crunch pinched every district so
much that the lieutenant-gover-
nor has now asked the health
department to create a pool of
retired medical professionals to
augment resources.
At least, 7,700 civil defence vol-
SOURCED
father’s e-rickshaw was
burnt, home and grocery shop
damaged in the riots. While
the family was struggling to
restart their lives, the Cov-
id-19 disease struck. “We are
relying on the ration given to
HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
TUESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0
CORONAVIRUS: METRO
n People line up outside a customer service point of the State Bank of
India at Nangli Sakrawati in Najafgarh on Monday. AJAY AGGARWAL/HT
2 districts with no
containment zones
fighting to stay safe
Ashish Mishra and Risha Chitlangia
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: The 47 containment
zones in the national capital are
spread over nine of Delhi govern-
ment’s 11 revenue districts, bar-
ring north-east and north-west
Delhi, where there are no sealed
areas. But the administration is
working on a war footing to
ensure there is no “clustering of
cases” in these two districts.
From completing contact trac-
ing of existing cases to routine
screening in residential neigh-
bourhoods, especially in high-
density areas, the administration
is taking all possible measures,
leaving nothing to chance.
The north-east district is
highly vulnerable due to its
densely populated residential
neighbourhoods. Several pockets
here were adversely affected by
the communal riots in February,
displacing thousands. The dis-
trict is also in close proximity to
Dilshad Garden, one of the two
Covid-19 hot spots in Delhi.
While 24 and 30 cases have
been reported from East Delhi
and Shahdara, respectively, two
of the three districts in the trans-
Yamuna region, only nine cases
have been reported from the
Northeast Delhi, the third dis-
trict, which comprises neigh-
bourhoods of Karawal Nagar,
Yamuna Vihar, Gokalpuri and
Shiv Vihar.
In north-west Delhi, which
comprises Model Town, Shali-
SANCHIT KHANNA/HT
unteers (CDVs) are presently
working in the city. Their jobs
include providing food, doorstep
delivery of essentials, helping the
police enforce the lockdown, con-
tact tracing and surveillance.
“Because there is so much hap-
pening simultaneously, the chief
secretary, who is the chairperson
of the Delhi Disaster Manage-
ment Authority, has appointed
nine ‘incident commanders’ in
every district. They are in addi-
tion to the subdivisional magis-
trates (SDMs). The incident com-
manders also have magisterial
powers and they keep a track of
the containment and surveil-
lance strategies. This is overseen
by the DM,” Sonalika Jiwani,
SDM (Mehrauli), said.
Some districts such as New
us by the government and var-
ious organisations. There isn’t
anything else to do. When we
got the sewing machines as a
part of the rehabilitation
drive, we decided to stitch
masks and PPE suits during
this lockdown.”
Saina and three other
women, who lost their houses
and livelihood due to the com-
munal riots in February, take
turns to use the two sewing
machines given to them by a
civil society collective, which
was working on rehabilitation
of riot victims in the area.
Aasif Mujtaba, a PhD
scholar at the Indian Institute
of Technology Delhi, who
founded the Miles2Smile col-
lective, said, “A local, who ear-
lier gave stitching work to
these women, got a suggestion
mar Bagh and Rohini, 13 cases
have been reported so far.
District magistrate (Northeast
Delhi) Shashi Kaushal said that
house-to-house screening, health
check-ups, quick response,
round-the-clock monitoring,
intensified sanitisation drives
and awareness campaigns are
some of the measures the admin-
istration has taken to control the
spread of coronavirus in the
region. “So far, no cluster cases
have been reported. There are
only nine cases (till Monday
morning) in the entire district.
Containment zones are generally
formed when several cases are
reported from a single cluster,”
Kaushal said.
District magistrate (North-
west Delhi), Sandeep Mishra, too,
said that “no clustering of cases”
has been reported in his area. “All
the 13 cases are isolated cases and
we have done primary and sec-
ondary contact tracing in 11
cases. We are in the process of
completing the contact tracing of
two cases. There are no signs of
clustering in any of the localities
from where these cases have been
reported,” said Mishra, who has
161 teams doing the screening in
the area.
While there are no contain-
ment zones in their areas, both
DMs said that they are taking
stringent measures to avoid clus-
tering. Rigorous monitoring,
house-to-house survey, health
check-up along with blocking of
roads are conducted.
Delhi have even taken the help of
professors and senior research
fellows of community medicine
and microbiology from promi-
nent medical colleges in aiding
and advising them on contain-
ment strategies.
Central zone DM Nidhi Srivas-
tava said she got more doctors
and health workers from Aruna
Asaf Ali and Lok Nayak hospi-
tals. “There is no official in my
district who has not been
assigned work. Still, we are short
of hands and this is the situation
in every district. So, officials are
now being requisitioned from
departments such as education,
public works, finance and trans-
port,” she said.
East Delhi DM AK Mishra said
he had to warn of criminal action
under the Disaster Management
Act to an employee from a differ-
ent department after he refused
to report to work.
To streamline manpower and
optimise productivity, chief sec-
retary Vijay Dev asked all DMs to
constitute multisectoral teams —
‘Corona Foot Warriors Contain-
ment and Surveillance Team’ —
in their respective districts.
These teams will do field inspec-
tions to ensure compliance to
lockdown rules, foot patrolling to
cover every household to identify
suspected Coivid-19 cases, keep
health workers in the loop and
ensure secure transportation of
suspected patients.
that since there is no work and
a dearth of PPE kits across the
country, these women could
be approached for the work.”
A sample kit was provided
over a week ago along with
raw material. Mujtaba says
that so far, they have made
over 35,000 masks and over 200
full-body PPE kits. “We have
now provided them with bet-
ter quality material (70 gsm)
and work on it will begin Tues-
day. Kits have been distrib-
uted to volunteers working in
the area,” Mujtaba said.
The remuneration for the
labour has not been decided.
“Right now, we just wanted to
help. If there more demand
and we are paid for the work, it
will help us,” said Saina,
before heading off to finish her
day’s work.
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
T UESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0
spotlig t
htspotlight
Lives locked down, but learning
now spreads its wings online
NEW YEAR, NEW MEDIUM With the rapid spread of Covid-19 cases and the subsequent shutting of
all schools, most students and parents are now adjusting to a new alternative — online learning
Kainat Sarfaraz and
Fareeha Iftikhar
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Darshan Ram, 17, had
not expected to begin his last year
in school from home. Instead of
leaving for school at 6.30am, the
class 12 student of Bluebells
School International now begins
his day an hour later, in front of
his computer screen. “My routine
has changed since we have to
attend online classes from home.
I wake up only half an hour before
classes begin. Since we have been
asked to dress formally and not
attend classes in night suits, I
change my clothes, eat some-
thing, and then attend sessions
between 8am and 12pm,” he said.
For school-going children
across the capital, a new aca-
demic session is generally
marked with new books, bags,
uniforms, and the excitement of
starting another year with
friends.
However, with the rapid
spread of Covid-19 cases and the
subsequent shutting of all
schools, most students and par-
ents are now adjusting to a new
alternative — online learning.
While the switch from regular
classes to digital happened in a
flash, Ram isn’t complaining.
After attending the online ses-
sions, the Noida Sector 104 resi-
dent spends the next few hours
completing assignments sent by
his school via email.
“None of us had ever imagined
that we would start our final
school year like this. One positive
thing about the lockdown is that
I’m getting a lot of time to do the
things I’ve always wanted to. I’ve
recently started a YouTube chan-
nel with my father where we
upload skits on different topics,”
Ram said.
Both private and public
schools in the capital have
switched to online lessons via
AT T E M P T S T O P R E V E N T C R O W D I N G
Shops to shut early where social distancing not obeyed
Prawesh Lama and
Vatsala Shrangi
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: At several places
across the city where the police
have received complaints of resi-
dents not following social dis-
tancing, shopkeepers have been
instructed by the police to shut
retail shops by 6pm. Retail shop
owners in different parts of the
city said they were instructed by
the police to close shop before the
evening rush.
Senior Delhi police officers
said that police stations across
the city are discussing with mar-
Doctor couple in
quarantine caught
up with each other
Anonna Dutt
n anonna.dutt@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: Getting back in touch
with old friends and spending
hours talking to his wife – this
summed up the experience of Dr
Mohinder Sadana, 62, at the isola-
tion facility of Baba Saheb
Ambedkar Hospital, Rohini,
where he was admitted after test-
ing positive for the coronavirus
disease (Covid-19). His wife, Poo-
nam Sadana, 61, a gynaecologist
who worked at the same clinic,
was also infected and admitted to
the same room.
“The facilities at the hospital
were great; I got to share a room
with my wife. We were served
good breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The doctors and staff were very
nice and polite. But 14 days is a
long time. I called up my friends
from medical college and some
people I haven’t talked to in years.
My wife and I also had the time to
just sit and talk to each other,
which we miss out during our
routine,” Dr Sadana said. He also
used the time to watch some mov-
ies on his phone and read a little.
He and his wife were dis-
charged on Monday after testing
negative for the infection twice
consecutively.
So far, at least 51 healthcare
workers across the city have con-
tracted the disease. Dr Sadana
has been working at his clinic in
North Delhi’s GTB Nagar for 38
n With homes turning into classrooms and books being replaced by
computers, the education sector is slowly being reshaped. HT FILE
videoconferencing, recorded
video and audio lectures, presen-
tation slides, podcasts, portable
document format (PDFs), work-
sheets and activities on emails.
With homes turning into class-
rooms and books being replaced
by computers and phones, the
education sector is slowly being
reshaped by the lockdown, lead-
ing to a shift in the lives and lifes-
tyles of thousands of students,
and their parents.
Several students said the
online mode has made learning
more interesting. Himanshi San-
yal, a class 12 student at Mount
Abu School in Rohini, said every
morning, she looks forward to the
online classes.
“It becomes easier to under-
stand topics with PPTs and visu-
als. We generally have 35-minute
long sessions in school. But
online, we are getting 45 minutes
to an hour on each subject,” she
said.
Some students, however, miss
the fun and banter that a class-
room with its desks and black-
board affords. “When we sit with
friends, we understand things
better and it is much more fun.
Also, we are not used to sitting in
front of the computer screen for
SEVERAL SHOPKEEPERS
HAVE STARTED CLOSING
EARLY ON THE POLICE’S
ORDERS, WHILE SOME
SAID THEY WERE DOING
SO ON THEIR OWN
ket welfare associations the dif-
ferent ways to prevent crowding,
such as closing early or allowing
shops to open at different times of
the day. The police are yet to issue
a formal order to implement this.
Several shopkeepers said they
started closing early on the
n Doctors Poonam and Mohinder
Sadana. SOURCED
years now. He has been treating
people with fever and cough for as
long as he can remember.
“I had a slight fever on March
23, I also developed a cough . I got
myself tested at one of the private
labs. The report came back posi-
tive for Covid-19,” Sadana said.
His wife their maid, and five
employees got tested too.
“I am a doctor; I suspected it so
I got myself tested. Nobody else
would even think of getting the
test done for such mild symp-
toms,” he said.
four hours every day and it often
causes my eyes to ache. I miss
going to school,” Myra Chawla,
14, a class 10 student at KR Man-
galam World School, said.
SCHOOL FROM HOME
AMID WORK FROM HOME
Parents, too, are taking extra
measures to adapt to the new
lifestyle. Shreya Sharma, mother
of a class 9 student at DPS Mat-
hura Road, said parents have to
maintain a classroom-like envi-
ronment at home while their chil-
dren are tuned in to a session.
“I also sit with my daughters to
get their assignments done since
the coaching centres are also
closed,” Suman, a lawyer, who
has three school-going children,
said.
Shantanu Sharma, a resident
of Mayur Vihar-1 who works with
an IT firm, said they have only
one laptop at home. “I’ve changed
my shift timing so that the laptop
remains available for my 13-year-
old son till noon,” he said.
NEW EXPERIENCE
FOR TEACHERS
The shift in the medium has been
a learning curve for teachers as
well. They are now preparing
police’s orders, while some said
they were doing so on their own.
“More movement was seen on
the streets and the market
around 6pm when people would
just come out to get supplies,”
said Rajendra Sharda, president,
GK-1 M-block market.
Joint commissioner of police
(southern range) Devesh Srivas-
tava said the police are in touch
with all market welfare associa-
tions. “Many market associa-
tions have come up with their
own ways of ensuring social dis-
tancing.”
The police said they are focus-
ing on social distancing at market
Right now, we have
› rushed into online
learning, but solid
groundwork is needed to
make it a viable alternative.
MEETA SENGUPTA, educationist
e-learning material, while also
adapting to new applications and
the look and feel of an online
class.
Vineeta Nanda, a primary
teacher at Mount Abu School,
said although there were hiccups
initially, things have become
streamlined now. “We were all
new to the apps. But students
were excited from Day One. They
are really ahead of us in terms of
technology. The lockdown has
given us an opportunity to brush
up our IT skills and experiment
with different methods of teach-
ing,” she said.
Some private schools also held
special training sessions for
teachers to make them capable of
making the most of the medium.
Manju Sethi, principal of Blue-
bells School International, said,
“While our students and teachers
are well trained in using online
learning tools, the current situa-
tion is different and calls for
extensive interactive classroom-
like structure. We held a seven-
day training session for our
teachers from nursery to class 12
to handle this.”
IS ONLINE THE
WAY FORWARD?
Ritu Madan, officiating principal
at Springdales Dhaula Kuan, said
her school is also experimenting
with podcasts.
Madan said her computer
department was engaged in con-
ducting training sessions for
teachers on how to prepare edu-
cational podcasts. Other than
places. Two station house officers
were on Friday transferred from
their post for failing to ensure
social distancing.
Several shopkeepers said that
while they have been following
orders, they are at the receiving
end from both the police and the
residents. Amit Dudeja, who
owns a department store near
Tara Apartments, Alaknanda,
said that despite the circles
drawn on the ground that desig-
nate waiting spots, people do not
follow the rules of social distanc-
ing. “The police lodged a case
against me last week for the same.
Since then I decided to down my
that, the school is also encourag-
ing students to use the CBSE’s
learning apps.
In a city that is no stranger to
emergency school closures owing
to everything from pollution to
extreme weather conditions and
political agitations, an alterna-
tive learning medium could be
the answer to ensuring an unin-
terrupted academic session.
“Sometimes, senior students
need online modules for clearing
their doubts when they remain at
home before exams. Also, schools
are often suspended due to pollu-
tion or agitations and conflicts.
That was why we were preparing
an online teaching module,”
Divya Bharti, principal of Amity
International School in Saket,
said.
ARE STUDENTS READY
FOR DIGITAL LEARNING?
Although India’s internet pene-
tration stood at 52.08% in 2019, as
per Telecom Regulatory Author-
ity of India data, not many have
access to high bandwidth inter-
net connections needed to facili-
tate online learning.
Experts have pointed out that
this will be an obstacle in making
digital learning a viable alterna-
tive.
“Right now, we have rushed
into online learning, but solid
groundwork is needed to make it
a viable alternative,” education-
ist Meeta Sengupta said.
For now, schools have tasked
groups of teachers to work
closely with students who lack
such computer devices and tools.
For instance, Springdales Dhaula
Kuan has teachers calling all
such students and taking a regu-
lar update on their learning
progress.
“Almost all students are on
WhatsApp at least. The teachers
also monitor the progress of the
students by calling them,” Madan
said.
shutters by 3pm. Most people
come to the market in the evening
just to get out of their homes for
which we have to pay a price,”
Dudeja said.
In places like Nabi Karim and
Chandni Mahal, which have been
declared containment zones, the
police are allowing shops to open
for three hours in the morning
and the evening. Deputy commis-
sioner of police (Central) Sanjay
Bhatia said, “ The staggered tim-
ings are only for areas in contain-
ment zones. We are doing this to
ensure social distancing. We will
ensure that people are not
deprived of essential goods.”
hindustantimes
In pandemic-hit city, Emoha
steps up to help the elderly
HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Sixty-nine-year-old
Sneh Grover, a resident of west
Delhi’s Maya Enclave, was wor-
ried when Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi announced a nation-
wide lockdown from March 25, to
control the spread of Covid-19.
Grover lives with her hus-
band, and reports of senior citi-
zens being more vulnerable to
the virus had only added to her
panic. Last week, however, her
problem was solved when Varun
Suri stepped forward.
Suri is a volunteer with
Emoha Elder Care, a tech
start-up offering solutions that
enable elders to comfortably live
at home. Emoha has been pro-
viding services for senior citi-
zens across Delhi and the neigh-
bouring satellite towns for over
two years, and recently
launched a special programme
‘Elders First, Ghar pe Rahiye’ to
help senior citizens in Delhi-
NCR survive the lockdown.
Emoha volunteers, while deliv-
ering essentials at doorsteps,
also ensure their own safety by
strictly following social distanc-
ing norms.
In a span of two weeks, more
than 2,500 volunteers signed up
to help out the elderly purchase
their everyday essentials, so that
they do not risk their health by
stepping out. With Covid-19
cases on the rise in the region,
Emoha has launched a free 24x7
helpline — 1800-123-44-5555 — for
senior citizen needs.
Hindustan Times has part-
nered with Emoha to cater to the
needs of the elderly.
From delivering essential
commodities at their doorsteps
to providing emergency ambu-
lance coordination, virtual doc-
tor consults and even virtual rec-
reational activities, Emoha is
going all out to help out the eld-
erly as the pandemic rages on in
the city.
Saumyajit Roy, CEO and
co-founder of Emoha, said they
have stepped up their operations
considering the elderly needed
the most care, during such a cri-
sis. He said that along with
CORONAVIRUS: METRO
n When a senior citizen requests help, it will be forwarded to
volunteers in the area, who can coordinate and help out.
expanding their volunteer base,
the caregiver service is now also
roping in more health care
experts to have sessions with
their clients to ease the panic
around the infection.
He added: “Emoha’s strength
lies in the fact that our elders feel
comfortable calling us for any
help they need and we encourage
young people to come forward
and join us to make this happen.”
To register as a volunteer with
Emoha Elder Care, people need
to sign up on their website
www.emoha.com or download
the Emoha Responder App on
Google Play/iOS store. Likewise,
an elder seeking help can also
sign up on Emoha’s website,
which has over registered 2,600
senior citizens.
Explaining how Emoha func-
tions, Roy said most volunteers
cater to senior citizens living in
their vicinity. For instance, he
says, when a senior citizen calls
the Emoha helpline to place a
request like help with grocery
delivery from a neighbourhood,
the request will be flashed to all
volunteers in the area; these vol-
unteers can then coordinate and
buy the required items.
Since the requests are for-
warded from with a vicinity, vol-
unteers do not have to depend on
any mode of transportation to
complete the task., and Emoha
recommends the elders reim-
burse the volunteers through
digital payments.
In Gurugram, the startup has
also collaborated with the police
03
to cater to the needs of seniors.
Sharing his experience with
the service, 63-year-old Murli
Das, a resident of east Delhi, said
he requested Emoha to help him
get two of his wife’s medicines,
which he was unable to find in
his neighbourhood medical
stores because of lockdown
restrictions.
“The volunteer was a young
man named Kamal. He called to
assure me that he will find the
medicines as soon as he can.
Within a few hours, he was at my
doorstep. It had been many days
since we had spoken to a friendly
voice from outside, it felt nice,”
Das said in a video message.
“In such times when stepping
out means risking your lives, it is
important to care for our elders.
In a day I get three to four calls
from my area for the delivery of
basic requirements like vegeta-
bles and groceries. I just have to
buy some extra while I buy some
for my own house,” said Shafiq,
another volunteer from Emoha.
Health experts said such initi-
atives were welcome because it
was important for senior citizens
to stay at home. “Anyone above
the age of 50 years need to be
extra careful. The elderly have
compromised immunity and
their lungs take more time clear-
ing up. All these factors make
them extremely vulnerable to
coronavirus,” said Ravi Shekhar
Jha, senior consultant and head
of department, pulmonology,
Fortis Escorts Hospital, Farida-
bad.
04 hindustantimes
spotlig t
htspotlight
India’s 5 most populous states
DISPATCH adopt distinct Covid strategies
27
Covid-19: What
you need to
know today
A
STRIKING
A BALANCE
Like most countries
fighting the
pandemic, India too
has to find a way to
balance the
economic costs of
enforcing a strict
lockdown and
retain curbs that
can slow the virus’s
spread
RESTARTING
BUSINESSES
The key to restarting
economic activity lies
in conducting anti-
body tests. Wide-
spread and rapid
antibody testing can
help identify those
who have been
exposed to the virus
and are, therefore,
immune to it. These
people can then safely
return to work
THE DELAYS
Among the challen-
ges faced by India is
receiving kits in time
to conduct rapid
tests. Already, two
deadlines have been
missed to receive
testing kits from
China, while Indian
states that have
been trying to
procure them said
they have been
unable to do so
htweather
TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
Partly cloudy sky Partly cloudy sky Partly cloudy sky
with possibility of
development of
thunder lightning
39°c I 22°c 40°c I 22°c 39°c I 20°c
• •
R Sukumar
t 10am today (Tuesday, April 14), Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will announce if and how India
will exit the three-week lockdown, which came
into effect on March 25 and is scheduled to end at
midnight.
For three weeks, life and work across India
have been upended. There is no doubt that the
lockdown has prevented the march of the corona-
virus disease (Covid-19) to some extent; people
have spent time in self-isolation, and all estab-
lishments and offices other than those providing
essential services have been closed (with people
working from home or not at all), breaking possi-
ble chains of infection.
But the economy has taken a hit and may take
months to recover; millions have been rendered
jobless (mostly in the unorganised sector); agri-
cultural and industrial supply chains are broken.
The government has to find a way of balan-
cing two situations that, on the face of it, look like
they cannot be balanced.
The Prime Minister’s comments during a
meeting with chief ministers on Saturday and
reports on the thinking within the government
suggest that the lockdown could be partially
lifted – by geographies and businesses, and, even
within these, in parts.
India’s dilemma isn’t unique. Other countries
that have declared a lockdown to fight the spread
of the disease are debating how and when to end
it (even as they mull the health costs of not
enforcing one, and the economic costs of enforc-
ing one).
Even Italy and Spain, two countries ravaged
by the pandemic (20,465 and 17,489 dead till Mon-
day) have announced steps to restart some busi-
ness activity.
The key to this, everyone agrees, is antibody
testing. Widespread and rapid antibody testing
can help identify those who have been exposed to
the virus and are, therefore, immune to it. These
people can then safely return to work – without
the risk of infecting others, or themselves getting
infected.
For almost two weeks now, officials in the
health ministry and the Indian Council of Medi-
cal Research have spoken of these rapid tests,
which they plan to use to test for infections in
clusters and so-called containment zones. These
tests, it was held out by these people, would also
improve India’s abysmal testing statistic (137 per
million). The kits had been ordered (from China)
and were on their way, the officials said. All good;
except for one problem. The kits have already
missed two deadlines. The officials are now hop-
ing they will meet a third (April 15) (see page 1).
Separately, Indian states have also been try-
ing to order these kits, but without much success.
A minister in Tamil Nadu said last week that kits
his state ordered were diverted to the US. There’s
clearly a shortage of these kits, and because
countries have figured out that these are the easi-
est, fastest, and most efficient way of deciding
who gets to return to work, that shortage could
intensify.
Meanwhile, the state-owned HLL Lifecare,
which last week said that it would begin produc-
tion of similar rapid testing kits on Monday
(April 13), will now do so only later this week
because it has just received clearances to do so.
When Israel fell short of the RT-PCR kits
needed to test for Sars-CoV-2, the virus that
causes Covid-19, it deployed its spy agency
Mossad to source kits. In March, the agency
delivered, sourcing half-a-million kits (in two
batches) from undisclosed countries.
India has to realise that sourcing the rapid
kits could mean the difference between a func-
tioning economy (or, at the least, a partially func-
tioning one) and an economy in lockdown.
ALMANAC TEMPERATURE
Today is
14th April 2020 IN FOUR METROS
l 19 Shaban 1441
l Vaishakha,
Krishna Paksha, 7
l Samvat 2077
Sunset: Tuesday
at 06:46 p.m.
Sunrise: Wednesday
at 05:55 a.m.
Moonrise: Wednesday
at 01:26 a.m.
Moonset: Wednesday
at 00:01 p.m.
CONTAINMENT PLAN Maha, UP, MP, Bihar and Bengal focus on identification, strict monitoring, health infra
HT Correspondents
n letters@hindustantimes.com
MUMBAI/LUCKNOW/KOLKATA/BHO-
PAL/PATNA: As the coronavirus
disease (Covid-19) continues to
spread, India’s most populated
states have adopted both com-
mon, and distinct, strategies to
deal with the pandemic.
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and
West Bengal account for one-
third of total 10,444 Covid-19
cases in India and about 40% of
the country’s 1.21 billion popula-
tion in 2011. Being densely popu-
lated, the probability of rapid
spread of Covid-19 in these states
was and remains higher than in
less populated southern and
Himalayan states. They are also
more vulnerable because they
house about 60% of 1.3 million
migrant labourers in shelters
across India. While providing
food to all, including about 20
million poor citizens in these
states, was a challenge, the states
adhered to health ministry’s
guideline of testing and strong
cluster management. But they
also opted for state specific mod-
els that helped in containing the
spread. Maharashtra opted for
aggressive testing (42,000 so far)
and created the most number of
containment zones in cities; UP
ensured that the virus is
restricted to 41 of the 75 districts;
Bihar focused more on isolating
migrant workers and screening
of all foreigners; MP came across
as lax initially before ramping up
screening and testing; and Ben-
gal termed its plan as contain-
ment with “humane face”. Here
is what each state did over the
past month:
MAHARASHTRA
The state’s approach to Covid-19
infection and management has
been distinct. It got most of the
initial Covid-19 patients from
foreign travelers, unlike other
populated states, where the
infection came primarily from
secondary sources or attendees
of Tablighi Jamaat congregation
in Nizamuddin Delhi in mid-
March. After a rapid rise in the
cases with an average of more
than 150 positive cases and 12
deaths a day over last ten days,
the state shifted focus on the con-
tainment zones in Mumbai, adja-
cent areas, and other cities such
as Pune that accounted for 90 %
of the total positive patients and
91 % of total deaths. The state has
more than 400 containment
zones, including 381 in Mumbai
alone, highest for any city. “We
have decided to concentrate on
the most affected areas of Mum-
bai Metropolitan Region and
Pune by strictly implementing
the lockdown. There are hot
spots identified, in the contain-
ment zones, with the highest pos-
itive cases and they will be
strictly monitored,” said state
home minister Rajesh Tope.
As on Monday, 2334 people
had tested positive and 149 died.
UTTAR PRADESH
The state focused. on 41 districts,
from where Covid-19 cases were
reported and adopted a multi-
pronged strategy of aggressive
identification of hot spots, inten-
sification of restrictions and cre-
ation of new health facilities
combined with relief to people.
UP chief secretary RK Tiwari
said that the UP model of
“aggressive action to identify
and act” has been appreciated by
the Centre and others states
have been asked to follow. When
the pandemic first broke out,
there was not even a single test-
ing lab in the state. Now, the state
has 10 labs and more are come
up, he said.
The spurt in Covid-19 cases in
UP has been substantially attrib-
uted to the Tablighi Markaz .
Additional chief secretary,
Home, Avanish Awasthi said
50% of the cases in the state are
linked to Jamaat and the admin-
Maha crosses 2k cases with biggest 24-hr jump
Swapnil Rawal and Faisal Malik
n letters@hindustantimesc.com
MUMBAI: Maharashtra doubled its
coronavirus disease (Covid-19)
cases to 2,000 in six days, record-
ing its biggest 24-hour jump on
Monday, as 11 more deaths in the
state vaulted the number of fatali-
Delhi ties in the pandemic to 160,
39°c I 22°c prompting the Uddhav Thack-
Mumbai eray government to extend the
34°c I 26°c lockdown until the end of April.
Kolkata The state said 352 more people
37°c I 26°c tested positive for Covid-19, tak-
Chennai ing the number of patients con-
35°c I 25°c firmed to have the infection to
2,334. Of Monday’s cases, Mum-
THE SPREAD OF COVID-19
Total confirmed cases including new cases added on April 13
UT J&K
270 25 16
Punjab
176 6 25
Haryana
196 1 37
DELHI
1510 356
31
Rajasthan
897 101
133
Gujarat
572 56
54
Madhya Pradesh
614 52
51
Chhattisgarh
31 1 10
Maharashtra
2334 352 217
Goa
7 0 5
Karnataka
247 15 60
*Data compiled by covid19india.org and cross-checked from inputs by HT’s correspondents and news agencies
PEOPLE TESTED
202,551
istration got them quarantined
as soon as they were identified.
According to officials, 11 com-
mittees were set up to oversee
the situation. UP was the first
state to announce financial relief
of ₹1000 to half a million workers,
daily wagers and vendors. UP so
far has 550 Covid-19 cases with
190 hot spots in 41 districts.
MADHYA PRADESH
With a full Cabinet not yet in
place after the formation of the
new government, and 72 health
department officials tested as
Covid-19 positive, containing the
disease has proved to be a chal-
lenge for chief minister, Shivraj
Singh Chouhan.
The data provided by the state
government shows that Covid-19
has primarily been restricted to
Indore and Bhopal, even though
cases have been reported from 21
of the 52 districts. Of the 614
cases, Indore had 311 patients
and Bhopal 134. Overall, MP has
7.29% death rate while in Indore
bai, the Indian city worst hit by
the disease, alone recorded 242,
taking its Covid-19 count to 1,540.
Of the 11 deaths in the state,
nine were reported by Mumbai
and one each by Pune and Mira-
Bhayander. Thirty-nine cases
were recorded in Pune; 14 in Mal-
egaon; 11 in Nagpur; nine in
Thane; seven in Mira-Bhayan-
der; six in Pimpri-Chinchwad;
five in Vasai-Virar; four each in
Aurangabad, Buldhana and Kal-
yan-Dombivli; one each in
Ahmednagar, Dhule, Nashik,
Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Raigad
and Yavatmal. The Thackeray
government on Monday
New cases
I N D I A
Kerala
378 3 200
individuals tested by 9pm on
April 13, 2020, according data
released by India Council of
Medical Research (ICMR)
the death rate of 9.64%, higher
than the national average of 3.4.
Of the 41 deaths, 30 were from
Indore. Additional chief secre-
tary, health, Mohd Suleman,
appointed head of department a
week back after the incumbent
officer reported Covid-19 posi-
tive, said, “Our strategy has four
components — Identification,
Isolation, Test and Treatment
(IITT).” He said any area visited
by a foreigner or known for ILI
(Influenza like illness) is
declared a containment zone.
Door to door survey is done.
“The test is then either done of
high risk persons eat home or at
a testing centre,” he said, adding
that fourth component is treat-
ing people .”
BIHAR
With 65 cases in the state of 100
million people, the Bihar govern-
ment has now opened its outpa-
tient facilities for all, the first big
state to do so, in an indication of
the state’s confidence that the
extended the lockdown, which
was to end at midnight on April
14, until April 30, even as it looks
at allowing micro-, small- and
medium- enterprises to start
operations in districts that are
not affected, or relatively less
affected, by the outbreak. A pro-
posal for allowing industries to
reopen is being prepared by the
state industries department.
“It was necessary to extend the
lockdown period as the state has
been the worst-hit by the pan-
demic and more than a hundred
cases are coming per day for more
than a week. The spread can be
arrested only with the help of a
HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
TUESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0
CORONAVIRUS: METRO
Recovered cases
UT Ladakh
17 2 12
Himachal Pradesh
33 0 12
Chandigarh
21 0 7
Uttarakhand
35 0 7
Bihar
65 1 29
Jharkhand
24 7 0
Odisha
55 1 13
Telangana
592 61 103
Andhra Pradesh
439 19 12
Puducherry
8 0 1
Tamil Nadu
1173 98 58
TOTAL TESTS DONE
217,554
situation was under control.
Experts however believe the
state may not have tested aggres-
sively enough. Less than 8000
tests have been carried out so
far. State chief secretary Deepak
Kumar, however, said the state
tested all international passen-
gers who came between March
18 and 23 and all symptomatic
cases, who came between March
15 and 17, were also tested. It
identified around 3,556 interna-
tional travelers between March
15 and 23 and samples of 2,254
people, who were within the
14-day incubation period, were
taken for tests. Bihar also fol-
lowed the model of containment
zones, said Sanjay Kumar,
Bihar’s principal secretary,
health. Panjwar village of Siwan
district, where 23 of the 29 cases
were reported, was declared ‘red
zone’ and complete barricading
of the village was done . Places
visited by Jamaat attendees
were sanitised and mosques,
they were staying in were sealed.
lockdown,” said a senior official,
requesting anonymity. On the
lockdown extension, a notifica-
tion issued by chief secretary
Ajoy Mehta on Monday read: “It
is expedient to take measures fur-
ther to contain the spread of coro-
navirus; therefore, in exercise of
the powers conferred under sec-
tion 2 of the Epidemic Disease
Act, 1897 the state government
directs that the lockdown orders
shall now be extended up to and
inclusive of April 30, 2020.”
Maharashtra took 30 days to
cross the 1,000-case mark on
April 7 and exceeded the 2,000
tally in just six days. The state
Uttar Pradesh
550 67 47
Arunachal
Pradesh
1 0 0
Assam
30 1 0
Nagaland
1 1 0
Tripura
2 0 0
Manipur
2 0 1
Mizoram
1 0 0
West Bengal
152 27
29
Andaman
and Nicobar
11 0
10
10,444
Total number of
cases across India*
355
Deaths due to
Covid-19 across India
samples tested
by April 13,
2020, accord-
ing to ICMR
WEST BENGAL
The state, with 95 Covid positive
cases and seven deaths, has been
warned by the home ministry for
not enforcing lockdown norms
strictly. CM Mamata Banerjee,
however, had said they had
opted for “lockdown with
humane face” and imposed com-
plete clampdown in Covid-19 hot
spots. “Some areas where people
have tested positive for Covid-19,
and there is a threat of the dis-
ease spreading, have been totally
sealed,” said a health depart-
ment official, on the condition of
anonymity. The state has
formed an advisory body roping
in international experts (such as
Nobel laureate economist Abhi-
jit Banerjee) . The state has been
criticised for opaque informa-
tion system. Officials, however,
explained that the information
was being provided only after
vetting by experts, who termed
most deaths because of co-mor-
bidity.
(With inputs from state bureaus)
health department isn’t per-
turbed because it is still in stage
two or the local transmission
phase, where the spread of the
disease is limited to those with a
travel history or are in contact
with infected people, and not
entered stage 3 or community
transmission in which the source
of the infection cannot be traced.
State health commissioner
Anup Kumar Yadav said, “We are
still in stage two of transmission.
The spread is now in clusters, but
it is not exponential. Our cluster
containment plans are showing
results and it is not going out of
control. ..”.
06 hindustantimes
p g
htspotlight
Govt plans pool testing
in areas with no cases
SURVEILLANCE TOOL Experts say ICMR should have initiated process at least a month ago
Rhythma Kaul
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: As the number of
cases of coronavirus disease in
India crossed 10,000 , the health
ministry is considering pooled
testing of people with symptoms
in areas from where no Sars-
Cov-2 (the virus that causes
Covid-19) infections have been
reported, a health ministry offi-
cial said on condition of ano-
nymity.
There are around 450 dis-
tricts (out of a total of around
730) which have not reported
any Covid-19 cases. The plan is
to test people with symptoms
(cough, fever) using both
RT-PCR, or Reverse Transcrip-
tase Polymerase Chain Reac-
tion, and rapid antibody testing.
Pooling of samples involves
testing them in batches. When a
pooled sample tests positive,
then individual samples are
assessed. Research shows that
this method can be used to do up
to three times as many tests
with the same number of kits —
an important consideration
given India’s population.
The regions will be selected
on the basis of data available
through the integrated disease
surveillance programme net-
work, and also the new mobile
application, ArogyaSetu, which
has started generating relevant
data on the disease pattern, the
health ministry official added.
“Pooled testing is a good sur-
veillance tool and can be used to
test symptomatic people in non-
Covid areas to confirm if the
areas are actually Covid-19-free.
It has not happened yet but is
being considered as one of the
options to get an idea on the dis-
ease spread. The idea is already
there, testing will only confirm
it,” this person said.
India is yet to get the rapid
test kits it ordered from China,
so the plan will be put into effect
with RT-PCR tests.
Once the rapid test kits arrive
-- these antibody test results are
available in 30 minutes as
opposed to the RT-PCR tests
which take about five hours --
they will be used.
The Indian Council of Medi-
cal Research (ICMR) on Monday
Infections among
frontline medical
staff minuscule:
Health ministry
Rhythma Kaul
n lettters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: Healthcare profession-
als who have tested positive for
Covid-19 in India are mainly med-
ical staffers with a recent travel
history or had come in contact
with people carrying the virus
and they outnumber those
infected in the line of duty, health
ministry joint secretary Lav
Agarwal said on Monday.
“There are two categories of
infection largely seen among
healthcare professionals: one is
of those cases that had a travel
history or contact history with a
positive case and infected their
colleagues through regular inter-
action. The number of this cate-
gory of cases is higher as opposed
to those who were infected in the
line of duty,” he said.
“The number of healthcare
workers who got infected in the
line of duty is a very minuscule
percentage; even though our
effort from day one has been that
our healthcare professionals on
the ground follow all infection
control practices to avoid con-
tracting the infection,” he added.
Meanwhile, several research
efforts are underway on Covid-19,
and health, and science & tech-
nology minister Harsh Vardhan
is looking at the work of Council
of Scientific and Industrial
Research labs that are working in
close partnership with the pri-
vate sector and other ministries.
The research projects are
divided into five verticals: digital
and molecular surveillance,
rapid and diagnostic, new drugs/
repurposing of drugs and associ-
ated production processes, hospi-
tal assistive devices and personal
protection equipment, and sup-
ply chain and logistics support
systems.
“… using cutting edge technol-
ogy at all levels for timely
response to Covid-19. Live case
tracking, case management and
implementation of containment
plans are also being done,” said
Agarwal.
n Health care workers collect a swab sample of a girl for tests at Sadar, a hotspots for Covid-19, in
Lucknow on Monday.
said people should not worry
about testing as India had
enough stock of the kits.
“We currently have enough
stocks to do be able to do testing
for at least six more weeks.
There is no need to fear,” said Dr
Raman Gangakhedkar, head of
the division of epidemiology and
communicable diseases, ICMR.
Experts in the field say the
ICMR is already late.
“They should have started at
least a month ago; even if they
didn’t have rapid test kits; they
should have gone ahead with the
RT-PCR tests. We had to test
more to know better,” said a sen-
ior epidemiologist, who asked
not to be identified.
Meanwhile, ICMR is also
working on increasing the num-
ber of laboratories that can test,
and is in the process of upgrad-
ing laboratories of both private
and government medical col-
leges so that these can also be
utilised for Covid-19 testing.
It is currently in the process
of identifying college laborato-
ries that can be upgraded with
the help of some mentoring by
advanced labs already doing
I N P U N J A B , H A R YA N A , U P , M P
Covid spread, curbs delay procurement
Vishal Rambani, Gurpreet Singh
Nibber, Pawan Sharma and
Brajendra K Parashar
n letters@hindustantimes.com
PATIALA/CHANDIGARH/LUCKNOW:
Farmers of Punjab trooped to the
mandis, or agricultural markets,
to sell their produce on Baisakhi,
the spring harvest festival, on
Monday, holding invitations sent
by the state government.
The government of chief min-
ister Capt. Amarinder Singh is
trying to limit crowds at the man-
dis and maintain social distanc-
ing norms to avoid the spread of
the coronavirus disease and has
restricted the entry into markets
to invitees.
“To ensure smooth procure-
ment and also follow the instruc-
tions in the wake of the Covid-19
outbreak, no farmer can enter a
mandi without the invitation of
the Punjab Mandi Board through
the [agricultural produce] mar-
ket committee,” Punjab agricul-
ture secretary KS Pannu said.
Each day, a limited number of
farmers will be sent coupons with
holograms and more coupons
will only be issued after the pro-
duce that is already in the market
is lifted. The sale of wheat of up to
50 quintals of per farmer started
on Monday.
The procurement by invitation
is an innovation adopted by the
Punjab government in the back-
drop of Covid-19 and the ensuing
CENTRE COVID RELIEF
323 mn poor get cash aid under scheme
Rajeev Jayaswal
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: The Union government
has disbursed ₹29,352 crore in the
bank accounts of 323.2 million
beneficiaries since the March 26
launch by finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman of a ₹1.7 lakh
crore welfare scheme aimed at
protecting the poor from the
impact of national lockdown
imposed to contain the spread of
the coronavirus disease (Cov-
id-19), according to an official
statement on Monday.
ICMR has taken
› cognizance of the
need to expand Covid-19
testing facilities… efforts
are being made for search
of potential laboratories
which could be enabled…
ICMR DOCUMENT
Covid-19 testing.
“ICMR has taken cognizance
of the need to expeditiously
expand Covid-19 testing facili-
ties in all parts of the country…
efforts are being made for pro-
active search of potential labo-
ratories which could be enabled
for Covid-19 testing…,” says an
ICMR document seen by HT.
ICMR has identified 14 insti-
tutes of national eminence, such
as All India Institutes of Medical
Sciences; Armed Forces Medi-
cal College, Pune; National
Institute of Mental Health and
Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru; the
Jawaharlal Institute of Post-
n Farmers harvest wheat crops in a field on the occasion of the
Baisakhi festival on the outskirts of Amritsar on Monday.
lockdown that have already
delayed procurement of foodg-
rains by state agencies by a fort-
night in the northern state, neigh-
bouring Haryana and in Madhya
Pradesh. The nationwide lock-
down due to Covid-19 had pushed
states like Punjab, Haryana and
Madhya Pradesh to delay the pro-
curement from farmers by a fort-
night. Many states such as Rajast-
han, Uttar Pradesh and Telan-
gana have already relaxed
lockdown norms allowing work
in agriculture fields for harvest.
Punjab’s food and civil sup-
plies minister Bharat Bhushan
Ashu said that to spread out the
procurement, 1,897 rice shelling
mills with large open spaces have
been converted into procurement
centres, in addition to 1,864 mar-
kets and procurement centres.
Gloves, masks and sanitisers are
The welfare package under the
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan
Yojana (PMGKY) has already
covered financial support to 198.6
million women under the Prad-
han Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
(PMJDY), the finance ministry
statement said, adding that this
covering 97% of PMJDY’s women
account-holders and amounted to
₹9,930 crore. PMJDY is a national
mission for financial inclusion to
provide universal access to bank-
ing facilities to the poor.
“The robust digital payment
infrastructure has enabled the
PTI
graduate Medical Education &
Research in Puducherry; King
George Medical University,
Lucknow; and Nizam’s Institute
of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad
to mentor colleges.
The mentor labs will form
teams to conduct a comprehen-
sive review of the college labora-
tories.
The mentors will see what
facilities these laboratories
have and what they need to be
able to do Covid-19 testing.
At least 400 such laboratories
have been identified by the gov-
ernment for assessment.
“It is a good idea as there are
some states with good infra-
structure, and their labs can be
taken up almost immediately.
For those states that don’t have
good medical colleges, the gov-
ernment can help set up/
upgrade lab based on Covid-19
testing requirement. The good
thing is labs can be created or
upgraded in a short span of time,
so we can increase the capabili-
ties of the testing labs,” said Dr
Jugal Kishore, community med-
icine expert, Safdarjung Hospi-
tal.
AFP
being provided at all procure-
ment centres, said additional
chief secretary (development)
Viswajeet Khanna.
India is expecting a 7%
increase in rabi, or winter-sown,
crop production this year, the
highest in a decade, because of a
wetter-than-usual winter, which
prompted farmers to increase
acreage by 15-20%. The Centre
has announced an increase in the
minimum support price ranging
from 4.5% to 7.5% for rabi crops
this season.
Punjab alone is expecting an
output of 13.5 million tonnes of
wheat worth ~26,000 crore. Hary-
ana’s production is estimated at
12 million tonnes, Uttar Pradesh
10 million tonnes and Madhya
Pradesh about 6 million tonnes.
In Haryana, procurement will
start at 140 purchase centres from
prompt transfer of cash payment
under the PMGKY. About 93% of
the 8 crore farmers have already
received ₹14,846 crore cash aid
under the PM-KISAN,” a finance
ministry spokesperson said, cit-
ing the latest figures.
Vijay Kumar Gupta, former
Central Council Member of the
Institute of Chartered Account-
ants of India (ICAI) said, “Direct
financial assistance to millions of
poor people is appreciable and it
could be possible because of the
government’s financial inclusion
[Jan-Dhan] mission...”
Bringing citizens
back could pose
risk to population
here: Govt tells SC
Abraham Thomas
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI:The Centre on Monday
told the Supreme Court that evac-
uation of Indian students and
expatriates stuck abroad amid
the lockdown to curb the spread
of the coronavirus disease could
pose a risk to India’s domestic
population.
Echoing the Centre’s con-
cerns, the bench of Chief Justice
SA Bobde and justices LN Rao
and MM Shantanagouder said,
“Stay where you are”.
The Centre made the submis-
sion in response to a batch of peti-
tions seeking the court’s inter-
vention for evacuation of Indian
migrants stranded in Middle
East, fishermen in Iran and stu-
dents from the US and the UK.
The petitioners criticized the
travel ban at a time when other
countries were making arrange-
ments to evacuate their citizens
from India.
The Centre, in its status report
said that the country had evacu-
ated citizens from China, Iran,
Japan and Italy when the condi-
tion in India was not as grim.
“However, given the present
situation of the corona virus out-
break in India and the available
limited resources, it is not feasi-
ble to selectively evacuate Indian
citizens from abroad,” the report
by the Centre said.
“Travel back of such passen-
gers to different regions of India
poses a grave risk to the country
of a population of over 1.3 billion.”
The bench also noted the logis-
tical constraints in arranging
quarantine facilities for return-
ees. The Centre proposed to the
Court, “The approach of the Gov-
ernment has, therefore, been to
advise the Indian nationals to
stay put where they are in line
with Government’s approach to
contain the further spread of the
virus in India and allow health
machinery to focus on domestic
containment effectively.”
THE SC WAS HEARING
PLEAS FILED FOR
EVACUATION OF INDIAN
MIGRANTS STRANDED IN
MIDDLE EAST, STUDENTS
IN THE US AND THE UK
AND FISHERMEN IN IRAN
Tuesday, April 14, of harvested
mustard seeds. The real test will
begin on April 20 when wheat will
arrive in about 2,000 procure-
ment centres. “Until last year
most of the procurement opera-
tions used to be over in 25 days,
now we will stagger the procure-
ment operations up to two
months. The procurement will
continue till June 20,” Haryana
CM Manohar Lal Khattar said.
In Uttar Pradesh, despite the
lockdown, 34% of the wheat crop
has been harvested. “Of the total
wheat coverage 9.88 million hec-
tares, 33.89 hectares was har-
vested by April 12 and this is 34%
of the total wheat sown in UP,”
said UP’s director (agriculture)
Soraj Singh said. “The rabi har-
vesting is going as smoothly as
earlier and the lockdown has had
no impact on agricultural activi-
ties...,” said Ram Saran Verma of
Barabanki, a Padam Shri awar-
dee progressive farmer.
In MP, the procurement of rabi
crops including wheat, pulses
and mustard will start on Tues-
day except in the Covid-19 hot-
spots of Indore, Ujjain and Bho-
pal. Farmers would be given spe-
cific time slots to bring their
produce to 1,241 markets and not
more than 10 farmers will be
invited in a particular time
frame. Farmers have been
advised to sell produce to traders
through letter of sale, MP CM
Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.
coronanotes
THREE ELECTION
COMMISSIONERS TO
TAKE 30% PAY CUT
NEW DELHI: The three election
commissioners of India decided on
Monday to forego 30% of their
salary for a year starting this month
amid the Covid-19 pandemic, after
the President, Vice-President, Prime
Minister, the Union council of
ministers and members of Parlia-
ment. The decision was taken at a
meeting of chief election commis-
sioner Sunil Arora and election
commissioners Ashok Lavasa and
Sushil Chandra.
Shortage of workers, choked
ports disrupt supply chains
Anisha Dutta
n anisha.dutta@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI:At least 50,000 shipping
containers have been lying
orphaned at container freight sta-
tions and private container ter-
minals at three large ports in
Tamil Nadu with no trucks avail-
able to transport them.
Most Indian ports have
declared a so-called force
majeure -- declared when unprec-
edented events overtake them
and prevent them from doing
their job.
At ports across India, cargo
terminals are operating at capaci-
ties less than 30%. On April 3, in a
video conference with Union
minister of shipping Mansukh
Mandaviya, port operators,
importers, and shipping compa-
nies raised some of these issues,
including the unavailability of
trucks (and drivers), the shortage
of workers in ports and cargo ter-
minals, and choked ports .
The 21-day lockdown enforced
by India on March 25 -- it ends
midnight April 14; the Prime Min-
ister is to address the nation on
Tuesday morning on whether it
will be extended and if so, fully or
in part -- has hit the handling of
cargo across Indian ports, chok-
ing shipping lines.
There has been a shortage of
workers to handle cargo and a
dearth of truck drivers to ferry
the cargo to factories leading to a
huge inventory pile up at ports.
The Centre’s move to waive
demurrage charges during the
lockdown is acting as a disincen-
tive for importers to figure out
ways to move cargo.
The closure of factories has
also left cargo grounded. India’s
7,516.6 km long coastline caters to
more than 90% of India’s trading
by volume. The statistics are
worrying because a snag in the
supply chain could stoke distress.
Cargo volumes at the Indian
ports were already witnessing
some slowdown in FY2020 on the
back of various factors such as
the US-China trade war and the
ongoing economic slowdown,
according to credit rating agency
ICRA. Bottlenecks in the ship-
ping and logistics part of the sup-
SC modifies order, says free
private testing only for poor
Murali Krishnan
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Free testing for Cov-
id-19 in private laboratories will
be available only to people cov-
ered by the Ayushman Bharat
scheme and to economically
weaker sections of the society
notified by the government as eli-
gible for such free tests, the
Supreme Court said on Monday,
modifying its April 8 order, which
had forced private laboratories to
offer free tests to everyone.
Private laboratories, the apex
court said, can continue to charge
people who can afford the testing
fee as fixed by the Indian Council
of Medical Research (ICMR).
“Government of India, Minis-
try of Health and Family Welfare
may issue necessary guidelines
for reimbursement of cost of free
testing of Covid-19 undertaken by
private labs,” the bench of justice
Ashok Bhushan and S Ravindra
Bhat clarified.
The order was passed after the
ICMR, private laboratories and a
Delhi-based doctor approached
the top court seeking modifica-
tion of its earlier order.
The SC also gave liberty to the
central government to decide
whether any other categories of
the weaker sections of the society
like workers belonging to low
income groups in the informal
sectors or beneficiaries of Direct
Benefit Transfer should also be
eligible for free testing.
The Supreme Court had, on
April 8, ordered that tests for Cov-
id-19 across government and pri-
vate labs should be free of cost
and no person should be deprived
of Covid-19 tests because he was
42 EVACUEES FROM
IRAN TEST POSITIVE
IN RAJASTHAN
NEW DELHI: Forty-two people, all
evacuees from Iran, tested positive
for the coronavirus disease at the
Indian Army’s two quarantine
facilities in Rajasthan, two govern-
ment officials said on Monday.
Figures released by the Rajasthan
government show that a total of 52
evacuees are among the 796 people
who have tested positive for the
disease. However, the officials said
that nine of them had been cured,
bringing down number to 42.
HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
TUESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0
CORONAVIRUS: NATION
n Goods trucks at a parking bay in Kolkata on April 4.
ply chain, which are critical for
timely movement and evacuation
from ports, could be an aggrava-
ting factor, the firm noted.
Manufacturers whose compa-
nies aren’t producing anything
“aren’t taking deliveries” of
imports, said FIEO director gen-
eral Ajay Sahai. The Federation
of Indian Export Organisations is
India’s apex export promotion
body.
“The ports are choking with
imports. There is no place to put
the containers. There is no
unloading happening at factories.
The entire import and export
trade is a chain activity and even
if one link is missing, the entire
chain gets disrupted,” he added.
Sahai listed the problems: cou-
rier companies that are not work-
ing during the lockdown; facto-
ries that are unoperational; cus-
toms and ports that are working
but a fraction of capacity. “You
can’t force people to come to
work. Supply chain disruption
will continue once factories start
even in limited way,” Sahai said.
In a letter to the home ministry
on Sunday, the commerce minis-
try proposed allowing companies
operating large factories making
textiles, automobiles, electron-
ics, cement, and fertilisers to
restart operations with proper
sanitation and distancing norms
in place. It suggested restricting
their capacities to 20-25% in a sin-
gle shift to start with.
“Commerce ministry has sent
Free testing shall be
› available to persons
eligible under Ayushman
Bharat and any other
category of economically
weaker sections as notified
by the government...
SUPREME COURT BENCH
unable to afford it.
Until that order was passed,
private laboratories were
allowed to charge up to ~4,500 for
conducting Covid-19 tests.
The petitioner, advocate Sha-
shank Deo Sudhi, had
approached the top court, sub-
mitting that government hospi-
tals are packed to capacity, mak-
ing it difficult for the common
man to get himself/herself tested
in the government labs.
With no alternative in sight,
people are forced to pay money to
get the tests done at private labs,
the petitioner said, adding that
saddling ordinary citizens with
such a financial burden deprives
them of their accessibility to med-
ical facilities. He had prayed that
Covid-19 tests should be free even
in private laboratories.
After the court allowed Sudhi’s
plea on April 8, Dr Mishra, a sen-
ior orthopedic surgeon, moved
the top court submitting that sev-
eral citizens have been confined
to hospitals and other facilities as
Covid-19 suspects, but their test
results remained pending, put-
ting a strain on the system.
He said that in such a scenario,
casting the additional burden of
NAVY DEVELOPS AIR SC DISMISSES
EVACUATION POD PETITION AGAINST
FOR COVID PATIENTS PM-CARES FUND
NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy has
developed equipment for safe air
evacuation of coronavirus disease
(Covid-19) patients from remote
ships and remote islands, an
official release said on Monday.
The air evacuation pod (AEP),
developed by the Naval Aircraft Yard
Kochi, under the Southern Naval
Command, will allow fully sealed
patient transfer eliminating the risk
of pilots or the team getting
infected.
SAMIR JANA /HT PHOTO
the government recommenda-
tion on allowing certain indus-
tries. The industry also does not
have liquidity to pay for duties.
The key is to allow some activity,
then ease liquidity. At present
there are no incentives to clear
the consignment,” Sahai said.
Earlier this month, the minis-
try advised major ports to invoke
force majeure. This means, for
existing and operational projects,
the Major Ports can permit
waiver of all penal consequences
on a case-to-case basis along with
deferment of certain perform-
ance obligations under the rele-
vant provisions of a concession
agreement.
The Centre has issued several
orders to states asking them to
allow movement of all transport
vehicles. Tens of thousands of
trucks have been left stranded
across state borders since the
lockdown took effect on March 25.
The government has issued sev-
eral advisories to state chief sec-
retaries that movement of both
essential and non-essential goods
be allowed, seeking to avoid
shortages. To address the snag,
ports are also encouraging trans-
portation of goods by railways.
“ As of now we are operating at
70% of our capacity... We are hop-
ing it will get better slowly as fac-
tories are allowed to open. There
is substantial movement happen-
ing through rail right now ,” said
Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) chair-
man Vinit Kumar.
offering tests for free could lead to
private labs stopping their func-
tioning altogether.
Further, private labs, through
senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi,
told the court that if they are not
allowed to charge any fee for the
tests, it will be impossible for them
to carry on the tests due to finan-
cial constraint and other factors.
Solicitor general Tushar
Mehta, referring to the affidavit
submitted by ICMR, argued that
approximately 50 crore beneficia-
ries, are covered under the
Ayushman Bharat scheme and
can avail the benefit of free Cov-
id-19 tests even in the private labs.
“Free testing for Covid-19 shall
be available to persons eligible
under Ayushman Bharat Prad-
han Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana
as already implemented by the
Government of India, and any
other category of economically
weaker sections of the society as
notified by the government for
free testing for Covid-19, herein-
after... Private labs can continue
to charge the payment for testing
of Covid-19 from persons who are
able to make payment of testing
fee as fixed by ICMR,” the court
directed after hearing the plea.
Private labs welcomed the
modified SC order.
Ameera Shah, the promoter
and managing director of
Metropolis Healthcare Ltd,
which has been approved by
ICMR for Covid-19 testing, said,
“We stand by the decision of the
honourable Supreme Court. The
Government of India’s stand of
allowing the free tests of the peo-
ple covered under the Ayushman
Bharat Scheme is a welcome
move.”
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on
Monday dismissed a petition
against the setting up of the Prime
Minister Contingency Relief Fund to
battle the coronavirus disease
(Covid-19) pandemic. The bench of
Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices
LN Rao and MM Shantanagouder
termed the petition “misconceived”.
The bench asked the petitioner to
withdraw the petition or else
threatened to impose cost on him
for filing such a petition.
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
T UESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0 hindustantimes 07

p g
htspotlight CORONAVIRUS: SCIENCE & NATION

WHERE INDIA’S BATTLE STANDS

2
NATION AT A CRUCIAL
The steep graphs of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases across the world paint an alarming picture even as the human cost of JUNCTURE
the pandemic continues to mount, with over 117,000 dead and nearly 1.9 million infected. With India crossing 10,000 cases, we India has fared better than many countries so far. While India’s
curve has been nowhere as steep as most of the other countries
take a look at where the country stands when its infection numbers are compared to other countries ravaged by the virus.

1
we see here, it remains steadily planted on a path where it is
doubling every 4-5 days and has shown no signs of dropping.
UNDERSTANDING THE PANDEMIC IN THE MIDDLE
To ensure that we compare countries going through the same phase of the outbreak, for each nation, we have taken Day 1 as the first day they reported With the worst-performing countries bunched up far above India and the best performing ones such as Japan
more than 100 cases. These charts show that within about 20 days of the outbreak, China fared poorly, at times, even straying above the ‘doubles every far below, the country appears to be paving its own path on the chart. On Day 30, it is vital at this point for
the country to bring its curve down before it inches closer to the ‘doubles every three days’ mark.
day’ line. However, by Day 20, China managed to bring its curve down and around this point, nations such as the US, Italy, Spain and Germany started
1 million
posting soaring new infections. But, in the past few days, as can be seen in the flattening of the curve, these countries appear to have curbed their YS YS

DAY
DA DA
alarming numbers, with all of them dropping below the ‘doubles every three days’ line. Y2 Y3

RY
ER VER

EVE
EV SE
China Germany INDIA France Italy LE
S BLE

S
100000 U
UB DO

BLE
DO

DOU
Japan South Korea Spain US UK CASES
1 million INDIA
UNITED 555,313 10,444
DAY

10000
S
DAY
EEK
Why a logarthmic scale? S DAY 30 ERY W
LES EV
AY 3
STATES DAY 42
RY

RY DOUB
2D
In order to understand the rate
EVE
EVE

of change in exponential terms, Y ES

ER UBL
S

EV
which is crucial for viral 1000
BLE

S DO
outbreaks where cases multiply LE
DOU

overnight, we must see the UB DOUBLES EVERY MONTH

DO
100000 data on a logarithmic scale to 100
enable us to chart out drops in
infection rates more accurately. Day 1 Day 50

COMPARING THE RISING NUMBER OF DEATHS

In terms of the rising number of deaths in India, we see a similar trend as we did for cases. India remains in the
‘4-to-5 day’ doubling rate. What is alarming is that India is slowly drifting far above the better performing
CASES nations such as South Korea and Japan that managed to keep their deaths low. As a cautionary tale, India
10000 INDIA S EVER
Y WEE
K must be wary of its proximity to the chart plotted by the US – a model that is best avoided.
L E
10,444 DOUB 100000
YS

DAY
DA YS
DA
DAY 30 Y2 Y3

RY
ER VER

EVE
EV SE
LE
S BLE

S
10000 U

BLE
UB DO
DO

DOU
1000 1000 DEATHS
EEK
INDIA LES EV
ERY W
DOUB
355
DAY 23
DOUBLES EVERY MONTH 100

DOUBLES EVERY MONTH

10
100
Day 1 Day 50
DAY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

3
FOR THE WEST, UNITED STATES SPAIN ITALY SOUTH KOREA
FINALLY A BIT 1 million 1 million 1 million 1 million

10,423
In terms of the rise in the
total number of cases, by
Day 30, India just crossed

OF RELIEF
100000 100000 100000 South Korea, a nation that is
100000 DAY 50 an example for the rest of
the world. While cases in
For many western nations that have 10000 10000 10000 South Korea spiked in the
become the new hot spots of the 555,313 161,807 152,271 10000 initial days, it managed to
plateau its cases around the
pandemic, the charts hint at some 1000 DAY 42 1000 DAY 42 1000 DAY 50 9,000-case mark. At the
relief. While the number of cases in start of the outbreak, South
1000 Korea was doubling its cases
countries such as the US, Italy and 100 100 100 every two days, but since
Spain remain rising at a high rate, the Day 1 Day 50 Day 1 Day 50 Day 1 Day 50 then, it has managed to
curves have finally edged below the drop its doubling rate to
The exponential rate of case growth that countries such as the United States, Spain and Italy have seen in the initial 100
over a week.
‘doubles every three days’ line. stages of the pandemic appears to be finally relenting. Day 1 Day 50

GRAPHIC: MUKESH SHARMA; SOURCE: JOHNS HOPINS UNIVERSITY

For now, doctors bank on HCQ, antibiotic Dip in electricity

TREATMENT Administered orally, HCQ and
azithromycin have worked; efficacy of plasma
therapy needs to be tested by Indian experts
Sanchita Sharma
n sanchitasharma@htlive.com
Agrawal.
Some clinicians are recom-
usage a slowdown
THE TREATMENT PROTOCOL
From testing samples to isolating patients and assessing clinical symptoms, a look
mending oxygenating patients
through nose tubes or other devi- indicator: Experts
ces, while some are adding nitric
patients have mild to moderate at the steps that health officials follow while treating a Covid-19 patient oxide to improve oxygen and
Jayashree Nandi
illness, with symptoms of cough,
fever and tiredness, with around
blood flow to the least damaged
parts of the lungs.
INDIA RECORDED A
ADMIT PERSON WITH COUGH/COLD/DIFFICULTY IN ADMIT PERSON WHO jayashree.nandi@htlive.com
DIP OF 18.72% IN
n

NEW DELHI: Indian doctors are
depending on a combination of a
tried and tested antimalarial
drug and an antibiotic to treat
people hospitalised in isolation
wards and intensive care units in
the absence of a specific treat-
ment for the coronavirus disease
(Covid-19).
“It is not a miracle therapy, but
this is all we have. All patients in
isolation wards are given a com-
bination of hydroxychloroquine
(HCQ) twice a day and azithromy-
cin once a day for five days, and it
has been tolerated well. No
adverse reactions have been
reported,” said Dr Yatin Mehta,
chairman, Institute of Critical
Care and Anaesthesiology, Med-
anta-the Medicity, where 15 Cov-
id-19 patients are currently being
treated, of whom three are in ICU.
Medanta also treated 14 Ital-
ians infected with the disease; 13
being discharged last month, and
one, a 78-year-old woman died.
Hydroxychloroquine and
chloroquine are oral prescription
drugs that have been used for
treatment of malaria and certain
inflammatory conditions for over
a century. Both drugs are under-
going clinical trials for pre-expo-
sure or post-exposure prophy-
laxis of Sars-CoV-2 infection, the
virus that causes Covid-19, and
treatment of patients with mild,
moderate, and severe symptoms
of Covid-19.
“Hydroxychloroquine is not
mean to be taken by healthy peo-
ple as a prophylaxis to prevent
infection, only Covid-19 patients
are being given a combination of
this drug along with the antibi-
otic azithromycin for treatment.
Antivirals have been withdrawn
by ICMR as they didn’t show
much benefit,” said Dr RR Gang-
akhedkar, chief, epidemiology,
ICMR.
The majority of Covid-19
5% developing severe pneumonia
and acute respiratory stress syn-
drome (ARDS), which is marked
by worsening respiratory symp-
toms within one week of known
clinical infection.
In India, around 2% of Covid-19
cases are in ICU, according to
ICMR, with a little more than 100
being on ventilator support
across India to treat ARDS, which
makes it difficult for a patient to
breathe without oxygenation.
“All patients with ARDS are mon-
itored closely for signs of clinical
deterioration, such as rapidly
progressive respiratory failure
and sepsis, and apply supportive
care interventions immediately,”
said Dr Mehta.
The signs of ARDS include
worsening respiratory symp-
toms within one week of known
clinical infection and chest imag-
ing, including X-rays, CT scan or
lung ultrasound, showing bilat-
eral opacities, not fully explained
by effusions, lung collapse, or
nodules.
Intensive management is
needed if the patient is a smoker
or has cardiovascular disease
and lung diseases, like asthma
and chronic obstructive respira-
tory disease, which puts them at
a higher risk of severe disease
and complications. “In patients
with chronic diseases, prescrip-
tion medication is continued,”
said Dr Mehta.
With some hospitals in the US
and Italy reporting unusually
high death rates of 65% to 80% of
Covid-19 patients despite ventila-
tor support, compared to 40-50%
for other severe acute respiratory
infections, there’s a global debate
on whether ventilating patients
could be doing certain patients
more harm than good.
“Covid-19 causes death by res-
piratory failure and cardiac
arrest, just like other severe
BREATHING TO HOSPITAL
Provide mask/isolate/send sample for testing
NEGATIVE RESULT
Treat symptomatically/
monitor for 14 days
PATIENT RESPONDS
Monitor and continue treatment
Assess clinical symptoms/chest X-ray
Test after 14 days of first positive test
POSITIVE
Assess clinical
symptoms and
retest
POSITIVE
pneumonias, the difference is
lack of immunity, greater sever-
ity of disease and relatively less
lung damage. These are lungs not
difficult to ventilate but there is
relatively more hypoxia. A possi-
bility is clots in blood supply to
lung, but no one is fully sure,”
said Dr Anurag Agrawal,
TESTS POSITIVE FOR
COVID-19
POSITIVE CASES
MOVE TO COVID WARD
Treat with HCQ, azithromycin for 5 days
PATIENT DOESN'T RESPOND
Move to Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
PATIENT
RESPONDS
Continue drugs, provide oxygen
and ventilator support/monitor for
signs of deterioration
PATIENT
DOESN'T
RESPOND
NEGATIVE
Try convalescent plasma therapy in
clinical trial
Test again
after 24 hours
NEGATIVE DISCHARGE
director, CSIR Institute of the pressure in the lung), and sec-
Genomics and Integrative Biol- ond with normal mechanics and
ogy, New Delhi. increased dead space.
“If you see the published data The second group may have
of good quality - mostly Italian – micro-thromboembolism (clots
you see two subtypes of patients. obstructing blood flow), but
The first present with typical nobody is sure yet as there are not
ARDS needing high PEEP (posi- enough autopsies being done for
tive end-expiratory pressure is obvious reasons,” added Dr
“What does one do? You have
to oxygenate. Our experience in
treating Covid-19 patients found
non-invasive ventilation wasn’t
very effective and HFNC (high-
flow nasal cannula) didn’t work
as well as mechanical ventila-
tion,” said Dr Mehta.
Some hope came from the
Indian Council of Medical
Research on Sunday announcing
protocols for convalescent
plasma therapy trials in the coun-
try. “Convalescent plasma is an
experimental procedure for Cov-
id-19 patients. Hospitals and insti-
tutions planning to provide this
modality of treatment should do
so in a clinical trial with proto-
cols, which are cleared by the
institutional ethics committee,”
the ICMR said in a statement on
Sunday.
Convalescent therapy
involves drawing blood packed
with antibodies against Sars-
Cov-2, the virus that causes Cov-
id-19, from people who have
recovered.
Platelets that carry antibodies
are separated from other blood
components like red blood cells,
white blood cells and platelets,
and given to Covid-19 patients to
reinforce their immunity to fight
infection.
While studies from China have
shown it raised lymphocyte
counts, improved liver and lung
function, and reduced inflamma-
tion, lung lesions and other
severe symptoms within a week,
clinical trials to study the safety
and efficacy of convalescent
plasma therapy on Indian
patients is still needed before it’s
approved for treatment.
“The disease is four months
old and till we have a vaccine or
treatment specifically targeting
the Sars-CoV2 virus, we have to
use all the tools we have on hand
to save lives,” said Dr Mehta.
NEW DELHI: Economists and envi-
ronmental experts at the Energy
ELECTRICITY
Policy Institute of the University CONSUMPTION ON
of Chicago (Epic) have started APRIL 3 COMPARED TO
documenting the initial signs of
a massive economic slowdown DECEMBER 2019 AND A
resulting from the coronavirus 6.8% IN PM POLLUTION
disease pandemic -- closure of
industries, shops and restau-
ON APRIL 1 — AN
rants and a dip in power con- UNINTENDED BENEFIT
sumption, and an unintended
benefit -- a decline in pollution
Historically, electricity con- (PM) pollution on April 1 com-
sumption has proven to be a pared to December 2019 in these
“reliable, early indicator” of countries, the data tracker
broader economic trends, the launched on Monday indicated.
team at EPIC said. “Declining and increasing
This time, too, the institu- consumption has historically
tion’s data tracker shows a 3.37% preceded economic recessions
dip in electricity consumption in and recovery. The Covid tracker
the US, European Union, China is an indicator of the health of the
and India combined on February economy at a higher temporal
29 relative to the average elec- resolution (updated daily) than
tricity consumption in Decem- anything else that is available.
ber 2019. On January 1, the dip Most other measures of eco-
was 7.99%. The data tracker nomic health will only be availa-
updates both electricity con- ble every quarter so tracking
sumption and PM levels every this information is critical,”
day from government and non- Anant Sudarshan, South Asia
government sources and docu- director of the Energy Policy
ments the number of Covid-19 Institute at the University of
deaths in these countries. The Chicago, said by email.
graphs on the dashboard are The dip in both electricity con-
interactive. sumption and PM pollution is
“The Covid-19 pandemic has significant in India as per EPIC’s
forced governments around the data analysis. India recorded a
world to impose tough restric- dip of 18.72% in electricity con-
tions on daily life to prevent the sumption on April 3 compared to
spread of the virus. With these December 2019 and a 6.8% in PM
restrictions, roads and airports pollution on April 1. The PM pol-
are nearly empty, shops and res- lution had dipped by 36.72% on
taurants are closed, and indus- January 18.
trial activities are largely at a “There is no robust evidence
halt. In this environment, in India that PM level has gone
real-time information about down in pre-Covid era due to eco-
economic activity is at a pre- nomic slowdown. Unless trends
mium, but often hard to in source specific PM2.5 concen-
acquire,” Epic said in a state- trations are estimated, it is not
ment on Monday. possible to conclude that way,”
An unintended benefit of the said Sagnik Dey, associate pro-
dip in electricity consumption is fessor at the Centre for Atmos-
a 6% dip in particulate matter pheric Sciences, IIT Delhi.
08 hindustantimes
spotlight
htspotlight
After US, Italy loses
20,000 lives to virus
RELIEF FOR SPAIN One of the worst-hit countries so far,
Spain started to ease tough lockdown restrictions on Monday
Agencies
n letters@hindustantimes.com
ROME/ MADRID: Italy’s death toll
from the coronavirus pandemic
topped 20,000 on Monday but its
number of critically ill patients
dropped for the tenth successive
day. The 566 new deaths reported
by the civil protection service
take Italy’s fatalities total to
20,465 - officially second in the
world behind the US.
The drop in patients in inten-
sive care from a peak of 4,068 on
April 3 to 3,260 on Monday con-
firmed a general improvement in
Italy’s Covid-19 trends.
The rise in new infections
dropped to a new low of just 2%.
But a top Italian infectious dis-
eases expert said data were hard
to read because new cases show-
ing up now could have occurred
up to three weeks ago, given the
incubation period.
The Mediterranean country
last week extended its national
lockdown until May 3.
In contrast, Spain, one of the
countries worst hit by the epi-
demic, on Monday started to ease
tough lockdown restrictions that
have kept people confined to their
homes for more than a month and
put a brake on economic activity.
VIRUS TRACKER
1,895,993
GLOBAL CASES
117,664
GLOBAL DEATHS
WORST-HIT NATIONS
COUNTRY
1 USA
2 SPAIN
3 ITALY
4 FRANCE
5 GERMANY
6 UK
7 CHINA
8 IRAN
9 TURKEY
10 BELGIUM
(AS OF 10:50 PM IST)
n A deserted Piazza di Trevi and the Trevi fountain in central Rome
during the lockdown.
Spain’s cumulative death toll shops, bars and public spaces will
from the coronavirus rose to remain closed until April 26.
17,489 on Monday, up 517 from People at main transport hubs
16,972 on Sunday, the health min- were handed face masks as they
istry said. Confirmed cases went to work on Monday morn-
totalled 169,496, up from 166,019 ing. “The health of workers must
the previous day. be guaranteed. If this is mini-
However, in a sign that the sit- mally affected, the activity can-
uation was taking a turn for the not restart,” interior minister
better, some businesses, includ- Fernando Grande-Marlaska told
ing construction and manufac- Cadena Ser radio station.
turing, were allowed to reopen. The lockdown has helped slow
But most of the population are a spiralling death rate that
still confined to their homes, and reached its peak in early April.
New York is
first city with
100,000 cases
Yashwant Raj
n yashwant.raj@hindustantimes.com
(BY CASES)
WASHINGTON: New York City, the
CASES DEATHS epicentre of the coronavirus out-
break in America, itself had way
573,518 22,941 more confirmed cases on Monday
than China and the UK as US
169,496 17,489 President Donald Trump insists
a decision on reopening the coun-
try will come “shortly”.
159,516 20,465 The city has reported more
than 104,410 confirmed cases,
132,591 14,393 which is way more than 88,621 in
the UK and 82,160 in China. NYC’s
128,048 3,032 death toll stood at a staggering
6,898.
88,621 11,329 New York state had 190,288
confirmed cases, more than the
82,160 3,341 world’s three worst affected
countries after the US - 169,496 in
73,303 4,585 Spain, 159,516 in Italy and 132,591
in France. The death toll in the
61,049 1,296 state stood at 9,384.
The number of cases in all of
30,589 3,903 the US was up to at least 566,654
and deaths to at least 22,877.
SOURCE: WORLDOMETER About 1,500 people in the country
were reported dead over the last
24 hours.
Despite these rising numbers,
public health officials have
expressed cautious optimism
based on emerging signs of an
improvement, such as a drop in
hospitalisation cases and “flat-
tening” of the curve.
Vaccine likely by
Sept: UK expert
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
LONDON: As nearly 30 projects
across the globe strive to produce
a vaccine for Covid-19, Sarah Gil-
bert, professor of vaccinology at
the University of Oxford, believes
it could be available by Septem-
ber, calling for large-scale pro-
duction facilities to be put in place
soon.
Gilbert said clinical trials at
the university would start “quite
soon”.
It is important to set in motion
production processes so that it
can be made available widely, she
Very few nations
will get ‘A grade’
on response to
pandemic: Gates
Agencies
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWYORK:If we go by what billion-
aire philanthropist Bill Gates
believes, very few countries will
get “A grade” for their coronavi-
rus response when it comes to
understanding the scale of the
damage it can do.
Speaking to the BBC, Gates
said several countries have failed
on providing proper health care
and there will be a “post mortem”
AFP when the disease is tackled. “We
are in uncharted territory due to
a lack of investment and prepara-
tion,” Gates said.
Gates said his foundation is
paying for the construction of
facilities that will manufacture
seven coronavirus vaccines and
the best two vaccines would be
picked up for final trials.
Gates has also called upon
donor governments to help low-
and middle-income countries
prepare for this pandemic, in
addition to helping their own citi-
zens respond.
The Trump administration
has been pushing for reopening
the country, or parts of it, based
on these signs. Trump had said he
will announce a task force to
determine the right time for it.
But on Monday, he signalled that
he will be deciding that in consul-
tation with state governors.
“A decision by me, in conjunc-
tion with the governors and input
from others, will be made
shortly!” Trump tweeted.
The US president has been rar-
ing to reopen the country worried
about the impact of the lockdown
on his re-election prospects in
November, according to news
reports. Close to 17 million people
have been left jobless by the epi-
demic, the stock market has been
ravaged and economists have
warned of a slowdown compara-
ble to the Great Depression of
1929. Trump also retweeted a post
that called for firing Anthony
Fauci, the country’s top epidemi-
ologist who had said on Sunday in
a TV interview that mitigation
efforts earlier on “could have
saved lives”.
“I mean, obviously, you could
logically say that if you had a
process that was ongoing and you
started mitigation earlier, you
could have saved lives,” Fauci
told CNN.
said. “We need to start manufac-
turing large amounts of the vac-
cine. It is not uncommon for com-
panies to start manufacturing a
new vaccine before they really
know for certain it works.” she
told BBC Radio.
The university said research-
ers are working “at an unprece-
dented rate” to make the vaccine
available.
Adrian Hill, director of the
Jenner Institute at Oxford, said,
“The team had exceptional expe-
rience of a rapid vaccine
response, such as to the Ebola
outbreak in western Africa. This
is an even greater challenge.”
800 BODIES... ECUADOR
TOWN COUNTS ITS DEAD
In the little-known Ecuadorian town of Guayaquil, police have discov-
ered almost 800 bodies in recent weeks from homes, as makeshift
coffins piled up and overwhelmed emergency services, hospitals and
funeral parlours. Here are some tragic scenes from the town this week
n New graves are being dug up at the Jardines de la Esperanza cemetery.
CHINA TIGHTENS
BORDER WITH
RUSSIA AFTER
SPIKE IN CASES
Sutirtho Patranobis & Agencies
n spatranobis@htlive.com
BEIJING/ SUIFENHE: China’s north-
east Heilongjiang province,
which borders Russia, has
become the new battleground
against the coronavirus as
authorities reported the highest
number of new daily cases in
nearly six weeks, driven by
infected travellers from overseas.
China fears a rise in imported
cases could spark a second wave
of Covid-19 and push the country
back into a state of near paralysis.
A total of 108 new cases were
reported in mainland China on
Sunday, up from 99 a day earlier.
The National Health Commis-
sion said 98 of the new cases were
imported, a new record. A total of
49 Chinese nationals who entered
Heilongjiang province from Rus-
sia tested positive.
On Monday, two people were
reported dead in Hubei, pushing
the toll to 3,341 while total cases
stood at 82,160. As of Sunday, the
mainland had reported a total of
1,378 imported cases.
Chinese cities near the border
with Russia are tightening con-
trols and imposing quarantines
in response to influx of infected
patients from the country.
NO CASE OCCURRED IN
NOVEMBER: CHINA
China on Monday rejected
reports that the earliest case of
Covid-19 in its territory occurred
last November and that it had
concealed the real situation
regarding the pandemic, describ-
ing them as a distortion of facts.
Chinese embassy spokesperson
Ji Rong said in a statement:
“Recently, certain Indian media
ignored the facts that China had
officially released and continued
to blame China for concealing the
real situation. These claims are
fact-distorting and irresponsible.”
Millions watch Bocelli solo in Milan cathedral
n Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli rehearses at an empty
Duomo Square ahead of a live-streamed concert.
Toll rising, Raab says
UK ‘not yet past peak’
Prasun Sonwalkar
n prasun.sonwalkar@hindustantimes.com
LONDON: The death toll in the UK
rose by 717 to 11,329 on Monday,
but foreign secretary Dominic
Raab said the country is “not yet
past the peak” of the coronavirus
pandemic, as Prime Minister
Boris Johnson tested negative
after a week-long hospital stay.
The number of cases in hospi-
tals also rose to 88,621.
Raab and senior health offi-
cials said at the daily Downing
Street briefing that the govern-
ment plan including social dis-
tancing “is working”, but they
expect the figure to rise for one
more week, before the graph flat-
tening and then coming down.
BRITAIN FACES LOSSES
IF STUDENTS STAY AWAY
Less than two months ago, educa-
tion and other officials were hail-
ing the spike in the number of UK
student visas issued to Indians.
But now they despair that many
of the students will not arrive,
come September, putting billions
of pounds in income at risk.
AROUND THE WORLD
Sailor infected on US ship dead
Agencies
n letters@hindustantimes.com
WASHINGTON: A US Navy sailor
died on Monday after contracting
the coronavirus aboard the US.
aircraft carrier Theodore Roos-
evelt, whose captain was fired
after warning his crew would die
unnecessarily unless strong
action was taken.
The sailor, the first active-duty
US servicemember to die from
coronavirus complications, was
admitted to intensive care on
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
REUTERS
HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
TUESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0
CORONAVIRUS: WORLD
n Workers can be seen carrying a coffin at the
Maria Canals cemetery. AFP
AFP
nA woman cries upon learning about the death of
a relative at Los Ceibos Hospital. AFP
n A beach in Broadstairs, southern England. AP
Unions and university officials will eventually stay away. There
have sought a rescue package are similar indications from
from the government to ensure India as well.
the survival of centres of higher Last year, the income from fees
education. from international students was
According to the Institute for
Fiscal Studies, nearly 270,000
nearly £7 billion.
The number of student visas
international students were granted to Indians in the year
expected to start courses in Brit- ending 2019 had almost doubled
ish universities this autumn, but from the previous year -- seeing
recent reports from China - the an increase of 93% to 37,540 -- the
largest non-EU group among UK home office had said on Feb-
international students - say many ruary 27.
April 9 after being found unre-
sponsive in his quarters.
PAK GOVT TOLD TO FIRE
KEY TASK FORCE MAN
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme
ISRAEL’S FORMER CHIEF
RABBI PASSES AWAY
JERUSALEM: Israel’s former chief
rabbi Eliahou Bakshi-Doron,
Court on Monday asked the
Imran Khan government to
remove special assistant to the
prime minister on health, Zafar
who was known for promoting Mirza, from his post. Mirza is
interfaith dialogue, died on Sun- Pakistan’s key man in the
day from the coronavirus dis- national effort to tackle the coro-
ease, the Shaare Tzedek hospital navirus pandemic.
in Jerusalem said. While hearing a suo motu case
Bakshi-Doron, 79, was the related to the crisis, the top court
Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel expressed anger over Mirza’s
between 1993 and 2003. performance.
Agence France-Presse Amazing Grace from the
n letters@hindustantimes.com cathedral steps with a mon-
tage of images showing the
MILAN:Italian tenor Andrea empty streets of Paris, Lon-
Bocelli performed a solo don and New York.
Easter concert from an empty “On the day in which we
Milan Cathedral streamed celebrate the trust in a life
live to millions of people that triumphs, I’m happy to
around the world in lock- answer ‘Si’ to the invitation of
down. The Music for Hope the City and the Duomo of
performance, which was Milan,” he said in a message
streamed on YouTube from played before the concert.
Milan’s Duomo cathedral, has “Thanks to music, streamed
been watched more than 22 live, bringing together mil-
million times so far. lions of clasped hands every-
Bocelli sang four songs where in the world, we will
inside the Gothic building and hug this wounded Earth’s
ended with a rendition of pulsing heart,” he said.
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
T UESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0
HTSPOTLIGHT
‘Bar puja’, a Kolkata football
tradition tackled into touch
POST HIT With sports suspended, sporting
rituals with unbroken traditions have also
been disrupted for the first time in decades
Dhiman Sarkar
n dhiman@htlive.com
KOLKATA: It was a request Bablu
Halder couldn’t refuse. Respon-
sibilities as vice-president of the
Kalighat Temple Committee left
him with little time to spare but
how could he say no when, in
2010, Mohun Bagan chose him as
their messenger to god? Haldar
had been a club member for 30
years and was at Eden Gardens
when Mohun Bagan held Pele’s
New York Cosmos 2-2.
Since then, Halder, 69, would
begin the Bengali New Year’s
Day by praying for Mohun
Bagan at Kalighat Temple and
travel to the club for the ‘bar
puja’, an annual Kolkata Maidan
ritual where a newly painted
goalpost and football are wor-
shipped and garlanded. It is usu-
ally the only day Halder goes to
Mohun Bagan now.
On April 14 this year, the first
day of the month of Baisakh, Hal-
der won’t be able to get the foot-
ball gods in Mohun Bagan’s cor-
ner. It is one of the two things he
can’t remember not happen-
ing—Kalighat Temple being
closed to the public being the
other.
Mohammedan Sporting don’t
do it, but usually with priests
from one family over whom they
have proprietorial hold, many of
the 277 clubs in the Calcutta
league—some over 100 years
old—follow this decades-old tra-
dition. One, which Covid-19 has
tackled into touch.
While Mohun Bagan have
called off the event, general sec-
retary Srinjoy Bose saying on
Sunday that safety of fans and
colleagues is priority now, East
Bengal want to defer it to another
‘auspicious’ day. “Once the crisis
passes, the clubs can meet and
decide on a day. How can we not
perform the bar puja?” asks East
Bengal official Debabrata
Sarkar.
MOST OF US ARE
SAFE AT HOME
BECAUSE SOME
HAVE CHOSEN
TO STEP OUT
         
#HTSALUTES
        
          
It is unclear when and why
this became an important day for
football clubs in Bengal. Sarkar
says it is nearly 80 years old. “I
couldn’t find anything on it
before independence in newspa-
pers of the time. But I remember
the occasion at East Bengal in
1956 because I was there,” says
Gautam Ray, a football statisti-
cian and former East Bengal
media officer.
“Then it would happen only at
Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
They would announce captains
of the season who would join the
priest for the ‘puja’,” says Ray.
The captain’s religion did not
matter. Robert Lalthlamuana
and Mehtab Hossain have taken
the lead at East Bengal when
they had the armband. But
though he led both teams, Bhai-
chung Bhutia said he was never
part of the ritual. “Captains are
often chosen on the basis of sen-
iority which meant while they
performed the puja, they rarely
made the first team,” says Bhu-
tia.
“Our scriptures don’t have a
mantra for football,” says Hal-
dar. “So I use prayers that invoke
Ganesha and Lakshmi and Kali.
I also worship the idols in the
players’ change room.”
“The continuity of the pandit
(priest) often depends on how
successful the club has been,”
says Debasish Dutta, Mohun
Bagan’s finance secretary.
“Because we have won the
I-League, even if the world went
upside down, we wouldn’t have
changed ours.”
“Groundstaff who have been
around for long at these clubs
ensure the puja is done in a par-
ticular way even if the priest has
been replaced,” says Ray.
With the Calcutta league
beginning in May, the Bengali
New Year’s Day was when fans
got to see the new signings at
Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
“It was also the day when we
     
      
     
started feeling that the season
was around the corner,” says
former India captain Shabbir Ali
who was at East Bengal in 1978.
Two years later, nearly 5000
fans came to the East Bengal
ground to see three unheralded
Iranians—Majid Beshkar, Jam-
shed Nassiri and Mehmud Khab-
azzi—who had reached Kolkata
on April 11 praying that they
would be adequate compensa-
tion for many worthies who had
left. Across the street, Mohun
Bagan supporters went to see a
new Goan arrival, striker Fran-
cis D’Souza.
With East Bengal and Mohun
Bagan dominating the Indian
football scene in the 1970s, ‘bar
puja’ replaced the annual sports
day as the clubs’ marquee event,
says Ray, 73. “In 1975, when I
returned to East Bengal there
were around 15,000 people who
had to be reined in by club offi-
cials. We were sat on the pitch;
boy, that was one crazy morn-
ing,” says Shyam Thapa, the
former India forward. The crowd
had swelled because East Bengal
were favourites to win their
sixth successive Calcutta league
title, a record then.
n (Top) Shabbir Ali (2nd from
left) watches Surajit Sengupta
shoot after ‘bar puja’ at East
Bengal in 1978. (Left) East
Bengal skipper Robert
Lalthlamuana (seated left) at
the puja in 2015. SHABBIR ALI & HT
Ali recalled players’ shooting
in goal from the penalty spot
after the worshipped frame was
erected. And Thapa remembered
the feast clubs laid out for play-
ers and how as East Bengal
coach he once joined the puja.
“Former players would also play
with the current team,” says
Sarkar.
With India starting a national
league that spills into May, the
Kolkata football season’s con-
tours have changed since 1996.
“Often, the team is out for
I-League games. There have also
been occasions when a captain
has been announced but he then
left the club,” says Dutta.
But through the change in the
calendar, through ebbs and
flows, the bar puja has endured.
“It is a festival where players,
fans and club officials got
together, had ‘prasad’ and a good
time,” says Thapa.
hindustantimes 09
CORONAVIRUS: SPORT
THE DATES THAT ROCKED SPORT
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought sport to a standstill. From the widespread
transmission of the virus at a Champions League game in Milan to the first-ever
postponement of the Olympics in peacetime, the outbreak has raised worrying issues.
A look at 10 significant dates that tell a story of how sport succumbed globally
FEBRUARY 19
Spreading the virus
postponed to April 15. With several
states extending lockdown, it is
likely to be postponed indefinitely.
to minimise losses. French Open
could face losses of £230 million.
APRIL 2
Atalanta met Valencia in Milan in
the Champions League and
MARCH 17
Political football
thousands of Bergamo residents
travelled to the game. “It’s clear
Euro 2020 postponed British health minister Matt
UEFA postponed Euro 2020 until Hancock pointed at the highly-
that evening was a situation in 2021. The big question which paid Premier League players
which the virus was widely remains is: With club football saying they should take a pay cut.
spread,” Bergamo mayor Giorgio halted, can UEFA finish this season The players’ association said a pay
Gori later said. Valencia later said and sort out relegation, promotion cut would cost the govt around
35% of its squad was infected.
and Champions League qualifica- £200 million in taxes. However, the
tion in time for next season? decision of top clubs to use a govt
FEBRUARY 27 scheme to furlough staff has not
MARCH 24
Danger in the peloton amused fans.
The first sportsmen to be infected Tokyo Olympics off APRIL 6
were at cycling’s UAE Tour, which After an uprising from athletes
was abandoned after two Italian and federations, Tokyo became Open and shut for Majors
mechanics tested positive. the first peacetime Games to be The British Open golf was can-
postponed. The Games, originally celled for the first time since World
MARCH 13 scheduled for July 24-August 9, War II. Within hours, the three
will be held 12 months late. other Majors were postponed.
F1’s chequered flag
F1’s season-opening Melbourne GP APRIL 1 APRIL 8
was called off two days before the Wimbledon’s net loss Bundesliga leads race
race. Since then, eight more races,
including Monaco, have either Wimbledon was cancelled for the Most Bundesliga clubs returned to
first time since World War II. non-contact training. With talks
been postponed or cancelled.
Wimbledon’s move contrasted the over the Bundesliga resuming on
MARCH 15 earlier decision by Roland Garros, May 2, the Germans are leading
to reschedule the French Open. the race to become first top
The IPL declares Wimbledon’s insurance which is league to return to action.
The Indian Premier League was covered for pandemic, will be able Source: AFP
shortpasses
RONALDO LENDS A
HELPING HAND
LISBON: Cristiano Ronaldo and his
Portugal teammates have do-
nated half of their bonus for
qualifying for the Euro 2020 finals
to help amateur football in the
country. The Portuguese football
federation said the funds ($5.1
million) will help amateur clubs
survive the crisis. The federation
decided to end the already-sus-
pended amateur season, declaring
the season null and void without
champions, promotion or drop. n India footballer Subhashish Bose distributes food near his
Tottenham Hotspur reversed a home in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, on Monday. PTI
heavily criticised decision to cut
the wages of non-playing staff at INDIA TO HOST ASIAN BOXING IN NOV-DEC
the Premier League club by 20%
NEW DELHI: India will host the Asian Boxing Championships for men and
and use UK government money to
women in November-December, the national federation said on Monday,
prop up the rest of their salaries.
expressing confidence that the pandemic will be under control by then.
“We have decided that all non-
India last hosted the men’s Asian meet in 1980 at Mumbai, while it con-
playing staff will receive 100% of
ducted the women’s event in 2003 in Hisar. The tournament became a
their pay for April and May. Only
combined event last year. “We were awarded the hosting rights in Febru-
the board will take salary reduc-
ary and the tournament will be held in Nov-Dec and the host city will be
tions,” the club said on Monday.
finalised after things normalise,” BFI executive director, RK Sacheti, said.
10 hindustantimes
E STA B L I S H E D I N 1 9 24
Challenges of a
partial lockdown
Erring on the side of caution has
hurt individuals and businesses
O
n Saturday, the secretary of the department for
promotion of industry and internal trade in the
ministry of commerce wrote a letter to the home
ministry. While the note focused on a possible
road map to resume economic activity, one key
concern it flagged was the need to
allow the “free movement of all vehi-
cles and manpower” for activities per-
mitted so far, since there had been a “lot of problems” on this
front. On Sunday, the home ministry followed up by sending
a note to all state governments. It pointed out that in parts of
the country, trucks were still being detained; workers needed
for the manufacturing of essential items were not getting
authorisation to move; there were problems in inter-state
movement of personnel and goods; and operation of cold
stores and warehouses were being impeded — and asked all
states to make the necessary corrections.
The intra-government communication is an illustration of
the gap that exists between policy framed at the top, and
implementation on the ground. It is revealing that the com-
merce ministry is complaining to the home ministry, which in
turn, is telling the states to improve their record, two-and-a-
half weeks into the lockdown. This shows that for this dura-
tion, many industries, businesses, individuals — all eligible to
move under the rules — were facing obstacles.
But more critically, it shows the implementation challen-
ges that lie ahead. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled
to speak on Tuesday, and outline the contours of the next
phase of restrictions to tackle the pandemic. It is likely that
the government will adopt a model of a differential lockdown
— where some sectors and districts will be allowed to func-
tion. This, then, will require extremely nuanced implementa-
tion on the ground. State governments, municipal and district
authorities, and most important, personnel of the security for-
ces must understand the new guidelines well and implement
them in letter and spirit. They have to be humane, sensitive,
and awake to the needs of individuals and businesses.
§
What the pandemic
means for Europe
The EU and its member-states were
inept. But the Union will survive
A
nother international crisis, another poor show by
Europe. No government or multilateral institution
has covered itself in glory in the current coronavi-
rus pandemic. Even by these low standards, the
response of the European Union (EU) and its member-states
has been remarkably inept. Existing protocols on sharing
medical supplies during a health crisis were ignored. Freedom
of movement principles so beloved of Brussels was hastily
abandoned. There was a eurozone crisis redux over “corona-
bonds,” with frugal northern Europeans fearing they would
end up paying for the fiscal irresponsibility of southerners.
There was a palpable sense of virus-ravaged Italy and Spain
having to fend for themselves, with China providing the only
outside assistance.
Yet, the idea that a united Europe will be one of the victims
of the pandemic is an exaggeration. The EU is not responsible
for medical crises because the member-states never came up
with a common health policy. Euroscepticism has risen, but
mostly in Italy, and has been partly offset by the poor example
set by Brexit Britain. The supplies provided by China, much
of it paid for and subsequently shown to be defective, have
been surpassed by what European governments have given to
each other. The European Central Bank has spearheaded a
swathe of financial relief efforts, including for developing
countries. Much will be forgiven if a post-crisis Brussels uses
the opportunity to expand the ambit of the EU’s policy action.
New Delhi will be among the capitals that will hope Europe
can restore some of its credibility. India and the EU have made
progress in their relations, moving beyond seemingly endless
trade and human rights disputes, and starting to recognise
that they have common strategic concerns that must be priori-
tised. The hope is that these strands can be picked up again
after the virus is defeated.
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§
Time for Parliament to meet, virtually
It is an institution of public trust and needs to
scrutinise executive actions, especially in a crisis
CHAKSHU
ROY
ABHIJIT
BANARE
W
ith the coronavirus dis-
ease (Covid-19) upon us, it
is inevitable that there will
be changes in how we
engage to get things done.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi is holding Cabinet meetings and inter-
ourtake acting with political leaders through video
conferences. Last month, 82 Congress leaders
discussed the party’s response to Covid-19 on
a video call. The Supreme Court is using video
conferencing to hear cases. Government con-
ferences are moving online.
Parliament has been disrupted and the
Budget session was cut short by eight days,
delaying the debate on key bills. Many state
legislatures such as Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala curtailed their
sessions. Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pra-
desh issued ordinances to enable them to
spend money in the new financial year.
It is here that technology-centric solutions
can ensure work continuity in law-making
institutions. Parliament has been agile in its
adoption of technology through its history in
three key areas.
First, to empower members of Parliament
(MPs) to work more efficiently, as early as
1954, a teleprinter was installed in the lobby of
the Lok Sabha to enable MPs to keep up to
straightforward
SHASHI SHEKHAR
India can’t bear the costs
of the lockdown anymore
It is causing grave anxiety, unemployment, and can
undermine the nation’s agriculture and industry sectors
O C
n Sunday afternoon, an SUV tried to
enter the sabzi mandi in Patiala. The
Punjab police personnel on the
premises tried to stop the vehicle.
The driver veered into the barricades and
tried to push on ahead. But since the barri-
cade got entangled with the car, it got stuck.
Upon this, five Nihangs ( a Sikh sect, mem-
bers of which specialise in traditional mar-
tial art) got out of the car and assaulted the
more than half-a-dozen policemen who were
present. A violent conflict took place in
which an assistant sub-inspector was griev-
ously injured. Taking advantage of the ensu-
ing chaos, the offender left the scene and took
refuge in a nearby gurudwara.
They were later arrested by commandos of
the Punjab police. They recovered weapons
and lakhs of rupees from the gurudwara. I
could not help but think what would have
unfolded had the perpetrators of violence
been maulanas hiding in a mosque instead of
Nihangs in a gurudwara. I suspect it would
have led to a public furore. Sikhs and Mus-
lims both are minority communities, but the
incident reflects the kind of contradictions
we live with as a society.
The national lockdown has led to serious
unemployment issues. This has led to frus-
tration and misery. This explains why some
workers from other states came out on the
streets in Surat on Friday, their helplessness
and anger turning very quickly into violence.
The police responded with force to disperse
them. It was migrant workers like them who
fled cities and went back home after the lock-
down was declared. Given their numbers, no
action was taken against them. But the work-
ers in Surat were smaller in number and so
the police did not hesitate to take them on.
One could argue that the police was left with
no choice. But the frustration and helpless-
ness caused by this sudden unemployment
can very well lead to violence in other places.
If the lockdown period is extended — some
states have already done so — substantial
efforts have to be made to give daily-wage
workers assistance. This lockdown has
become a cause for anxiety, hunger and rest-
lessness among them. The government must
be sympathetic to their plight.
Agriculture is the main source of liveli-
hood for a majority of the people and the rabi
crop is ready to be harvested. Workers will be
required for the harvesting, which seems dif-
ficult given the lockdown and the norms on
social distancing. Even if harvested in time,
the crop has to reach the mandis and farmers
have to be given a fair price for their produce.
For this, the supply lines will have to be
opened up. Not doing this will create several
challenges, the consequences of which could
hurt us for a long time.
The shutting of industries and small-scale
industries for a longer duration will harm
not just the people but also the economy.
Industrialists and entrepreneurs have
voiced their fears, and demanded that they be
allowed to run at least one shift daily. Air
routes, trains and national highways will
also have to be opened alongside.
This is not to undermine the scale of the
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Managing Editor: SOUMYA BHATTACHARYA
comment
speed with important developments. Now
MPs can access wireless Internet on their
phones and tablets inside the Houses. Gone
are the days when MPs or their staff had to
visit the Parliament House to submit notices
for their interventions. Now, there is a dedi-
cated portal where they can electronically file
their questions, zero-hour submissions and
other notices for participating in debates.
Second, there has been rapid technology
adoption in the two parliamentary secretari-
ats. They started using computers for their
work in the mid-1980s. An example of their
digital prowess is the daily uncorrected
debate: A transcript of proceedings in the
Houses is uploaded online on the same day the
debate takes place.
Making Parliament an open and transpar-
ent institution is the third area where the
institution has leveraged technology. The pro-
ceedings of the Houses are broadcast on dedi-
cated TV channels and also streamed online.
The parliamentary websites maintain
records of all its work, and the two secretari-
ats have also digitised parliamentary debate
since 1858, and made them freely available to
the public.
The pandemic challenges the ability of the
institution to physically assemble and debate
matters of national importance. There are two
occasions when MPs have to assemble in per-
son. One, when they meet as a whole to consti-
tute a sitting of the House. This situation will
arise in July when MPs assemble for the mon-
soon session of Parliament. Parliaments
around the world are gearing up to ensure
that some parts of their proceedings can be
conducted online. For example, the Scottish
parliament recently conducted its question
n Agriculture is the main source of livelihood
for many. The rabi crop is ready to be
harvested and taken to mandis for sale. For
this, the government needs to open up
supply lines MANOJ DHAKA/HTPHOTO
health challenge. Some restrictions can be
enforced to prevent the spread of the pan-
demic. For example, the number of passen-
gers travelling in buses, trains and planes
can be limited so that social distancing rules
are not compromised. This will not only
restart the economic process but create a
sense of hope for the future. In districts still
free of the virus, the rules can be relaxed toa
greater extent.
According to the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI), India cannot sustain the burden of a
lockdown for much longer. The federation
has also appealed to the government to
advise district magistrates that they should
take the help of the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme for workers engaged in harvesting
the rabi crop. It has also suggested imposing
heavy taxes on imports for the next six
months to help the domestic small-scale
industry get back on its feet.
It’s obvious that while grappling with this
pandemic, the government will have to find
ways to deal with the economic crisis. As far
as the communal virus is concerned, all of us,
as a society, will have to fix it. If we don’t, then
the future generations could well ask us
whether even an enormous blow like the cor-
onavirus was not enough to bring us to our
senses and make us banish the communal
virus forever.
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan
The views expressed are personal
HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
TUESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0
n The workings of legislatures around the world are marked by rigid rules of functioning. But
they also have an advantage. They can effect institutional changes quickly A YADAV/HT PHOTO
hour virtually for the first time. Meanwhile,
in London, 100 MPs signed a letter calling for
the creation of a virtual parliament. In
response, the Speaker of the House of Com-
mons has urged the government to ensure
that some part of parliamentary proceedings
can be done virtually before the house
resumes next week. The second occasion
when MPs meet in person is during meetings
of parliamentary committees. These commit-
tees are smaller sub-groups of MPs which
meet outside the House to deliberate on issues.
The committees play a critical role as they are
tasked with the in-depth examination of gov-
ernment bills. Currently, there are six bills
being examined by different committees.
There are international examples that our
Parliament could examine to restart the func-
tioning of committees. For example, the
House of Commons has successfully com-
pleted a trial in conducting the proceedings of
their committees digitally. Its treasury com-
mittee recently heard witnesses on a video
conference on the subject of the economic
impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In New
Zealand, the Epidemic Response Committee,
led by the leader of opposition, has been oper-
ating via video conferencing to evaluate the
Covid-19: Private sector
has a key role in the battle
The State cannot fight the pandemic alone. It needs
help on testing, treatment, PPEs, and a lot more
INDU
BHUSHAN
ountries across the development
spectrum are grappling with an
unprecedented situation in which a
seemingly innocuous viral illness,
the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), has spi-
ralled into a global pandemic in less than 90
days. It has infected more than 1.7 million
people in more than 200 countries, claimed
over 100,000 lives, and brought most of the
world to a standstill.
In India, the authorities have responded
decisively with a strong whole-of-govern-
ment approach. However, given the enor-
mity of the challenge, we also need a whole-
of-society response.
According to the World Health Organi-
zation, a critical lesson from the 2014-16
West African Ebola crisis is that both the
public and private sectors need to work in
tandem in responding to large-scale epi-
demics. In the Covid-19 response, the pri-
vate sector in the country — for-profit and
not-for-profit segments — has to play an
even more important role, as it is the domi-
nant provider of health services. The
National Sample Survey Office’s 71st
round data shows that private hospitals,
clinics and nursing homes provide over
70% of health care. Data on the nearly 10
million treatments received under the
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) corroborate
this finding.
At present, most of the Covid-19 testing
and treatment are being done in public
facilities. As the epidemic progresses, both
these services will need to be expanded sev-
eral-fold, and the private sector will need to
step in as a major partner and stakeholder.
First, the creation of a large and accessi-
ble testing infrastructure is a key weapon
to battle the virus. Countries such as South
Korea, Singapore, Germany and Japan
have been successful in controlling its
spread and reducing mortality through
early detection and quick containment.
This has been possible only through
widespread testing. India has opened test-
ing up to private labs and payment for test-
ing is covered under the ABPM-JAY as
well. We need to substantially expand our
testing capacity, something not possible
without the active participation of the pri-
vate sector.
Second, as the government deepens its
containment efforts, the numbers of quar-
antine units, isolation wards and intensive
care unit (ICU) beds in dedicated Covid-19
hospitals have to be rapidly increased. It
will also need to ensure increased and con-
tinued supply of essential medical prod-
ucts, from testing kits, masks and other
personal protective equipment (PPE) items
to oxygen and ventilators. According to a
recent Indian Council of Medical Research
(ICMR) study, around 5% of those infected
will need intensive care and half of those in
ICUs will need mechanical ventilation. The
study was based on available global epide-
miological parameters from the initial
phase of the outbreak and comparison with
other countries with similar transmission
government’s response to Covid-19. The pro-
ceedings of the committee are streamed on
social media and on the Parliament website.
The Australian Parliament also has a provi-
sion in its rules of procedure to allow for audio
and video links to be used for committee pro-
ceedings.
The workings of legislatures in India and
around the world are marked by ceremony
and rigid rules of functioning. But they also
have an advantage. They can regulate their
functioning, allowing them to effect institu-
tional changes quickly. Working remotely is
the new normal, and for Parliament to adapt
to it is a necessity.
This disruption by the pandemic is an
opportunity for our Parliament. It should
evaluate which aspects of its functioning are
amenable to being done online. The virtual
working of parliament in other countries
underlines one key principle. Parliament is an
institution of public trust and needs to con-
tinue its role of scrutiny of government’s
actions, especially in times of crisis.
Chakshu Roy is head of legislative and civic engage-
ment, PRS Legislative, Abhijit Banare is a Chevening
scholar at Cambridge University
The views expressed are personal
dynamics. These projections translate into
large numbers that considerably exceed
the capacity of the government’s health
care system.
During the current crisis, the activities
of the private health sector should be the
core part of national health efforts. Private
hospitals with adequate infrastructure will
need to be converted into dedicated Cov-
id-19 hospitals. This process will, of course,
have to be steered by the government
through a clear policy framework of desig-
nated hospitals, reporting and referral sys-
tems, and an appropriate payment system.
The experience of purchasing health care
services through the ABPM-JAY can be the
template.
Some private hospitals can help in man-
aging the treatment of non-Covid-19
patients. With many government facilities
being converted into dedicated Covid-19
hospitals, a large number of non-Covid-19
patients will need facilities and providers
to take care of their health care needs.
The ABPM-JAY has started a process to
bring on board more hospitals to respond to
such needs. It is assisting state govern-
ments in temporarily empanelling addi-
tional health facilities to provide emer-
gency care and treatment for other serious
illnesses to all citizens, particularly the
poor and vulnerable.
Third, as more private providers join
this fight, a major concern that is bound to
arise is keeping health care workers from
getting infected. Ensuring the protection of
doctors, nurses, paramedics, lab techni-
cians and other health care facility staff
from infection is of paramount importance.
Companies manufacturing essential medi-
cal products such as ventilators, masks,
face shields, clinical gloves, hand-sanitis-
ers, and sterilisation equipment will need
to crank up their production lines. Direct
support from banks may be needed for this.
Fourth, the private sector will need to
vigorously support the large ecosystem
that drives the health system, as the lock-
down and ongoing epidemic restrict move-
ment and normal economic activities. The
production of essential drugs and medical
products, logistics to maintain smooth sup-
ply, transportation of health workers, and
delivery of food and other essential items
must continue and also accelerate. Support
for community activities such as night
shelters and community kitchens must be
strengthened.
Finally, an adequate stage-wise
response to the pandemic and its economic,
social and political aftermath will require
filling many knowledge gaps. Government,
private and not-for-profit research institu-
tions need to collaborate to understand the
nature of transmission of the virus, the fac-
tors that helps to slow down its spread, the
most at-risk communities, or the optimal
quarantine period.
The fight against Covid-19 involves the
continuous management of an evolving
public health crisis that threatens to create
economic and social disruptions. This is an
appeal to all private and charitable health
care institutions to join this effort for our
people and humanity. It is the time to
embrace reality and play our individual
and collective roles in the fight.
Indu Bhushan is CEO, Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY
and National Health Authority.
The views expressed are personal
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
T UESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0
LOCKDOWN
shortstories
FEARS AFFECT
MARKETS
MUMBAI: Indian equities ended
lower on Monday with investors
expecting an extension of the
lockdown, while weakness in
global markets and rise in crude
prices dented sentiments further.
The BSE Sensex ended at
30,690.02, down 469.60 points, or
1.51%, while the 50-share Nifty
index was at 8,993.85, down 118.05
points, or 1.3%. According to
analysts, investors are worried
that a continuation of the
lockdown will intensify pressure
on India’s economic growth as
well as corporate earnings, which
in turn will impact the markets in
the future. Shrikant Chouhan,
executive vice president, equity
technical research, Kotak Securi-
ties, said trading momentum seen
in core economy related stocks
and sectors, such as infrastruc-
ture, auto and cement stocks,
indicate that an economic
stimulus package announcement
by the government may follow
soon. The markets will closely
follow the Prime Minister’s
speech scheduled for today at 10
am, wherein he is likely to an-
nounce measures to fight virus.
SOFTBANK SEES
$12.5 BN LOSS AS
BETS BACKFIRE
TOKYO: SoftBank Group Corp.
forecast a 1.35 trillion yen ($12.5
billion) operating loss for the
fiscal year ended in March, a sign
of how badly Masayoshi Son’s
bets on technology startups have
been battered in recent months.
The Japanese company expects to
record a 1.8 trillion yen loss from
its Vision Fund and another 800
billion yen in losses from Soft-
Bank’s own investments. It has
written down the value of
investments in companies,
including office-sharing startup
WeWork and satellite operator
OneWeb, which filed for bank-
ruptcy last month. Another sign
of the troubles is Oyo, a hotel-
booking service into which
SoftBank invested about $1.5
billion. Its business model has
been slammed as global travel
screeched to a halt. This month,
founder Ritesh Agarwal said the
company would furlough em-
ployees in countries outside India
as it struggles to survive the virus.
COMPILED FROM AGENCIES
AND REPORTERS
HTSPOTLIGHT
B AT T L I N G L O S S E S I N L O C K D O W N
K’taka puts vacant govt sites on sale
Venkatesha Babu
n letters@hindustantimes.com
BENGALURU: Admitting that the
state is in “financial trouble”,
Karnataka chief minister B S
Yediyurappa on Monday
announced measures to help in
resource mobilisation, includ-
ing by authorising the auction-
ing of 12,000 corner sites in the
state capital.
The Bangalore Development
Authority intends to raise ~
14,000 to ~15,000 crore from the
auctioning. Apart from this,
corner and vacant sites in all
urban development authorities
across the state would be auc-
tioned for additional resource
mobilisation. Yediyurappa
made it clear that the auction of
government-owned sites would
be done only if they fetch a “good
price”.
“The possible situation once
the [Covid-19] lockdown is
ended was widely discussed in
the meeting. Discussion was
Punjab man, his mother say faith SC orders release
kept them strong during recovery oflodged
Assam detainees
Initially, I was worried
Gagandeep Jassowal
n letters@hindustantimes.com
SBS NAGAR: Harpal Singh’s worst
fears came true when his mother,
Pritam Kaur, 72, tested positive
for Covid-19 four days after he
was diagnosed with the disease
on March 22. He was more wor-
ried about his mother since she is
diabetic and more vulnerable.
But luckily for them, the two were
admitted to the same isolation
ward at Civil Hospital in Punjab’s
Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.
This helped them at least to keep
each other’s morale high.
Harpal Singh, 48, has since
recovered but he continues to
stay back at the hospital to look
after his mother, who doctors say
is stable and likely to be dis-
charged after she is retested this
week. He said it is their faith that
helped them stay strong. They
would listen to religious hymns
on their phones and talk to their
family over video calls.
“Initially, I was worried
because I had heard that people
Labour woes, logistics gaps
key hurdles to reboot plan
LIMITED RESTART Firms unsure if they’ll have required workers to resume work
Swaraj Singh Dhanjal
swaraj.d@livemint.com
n
MUMBAI: Broken logistics and a
crippling manpower crunch pose
the biggest hurdles to resuming
operations, multiple executives
said, as the government weighs a
limited restart of industries in a
phased exit from the nationwide
lockdown.
Even as many states have
extended the three-week lock-
down till April-end in an attempt
to keep the pandemic under con-
trol, there is growing realisation
that a controlled resumption of
the industry is vital to sustaining
livelihoods.
“Recovery of the (auto) indus-
try is heavily dependent on the
vast supply chain vendors,” said
YS Guleria, director, sales and
marketing at Honda Motorcycle
& Scooter India Pvt. Ltd (HMSI),
India’s second-largest two-
wheeler maker. “They are
equally impacted by the various
factors that are unprecedented in
scale. It is going to be a challenge
to immediately start the manu-
facturing operations and very dif-
ficult to ascertain the time by
when it will be able to fully
bounce back. Vehicle manufac-
turing is very labour-intensive
and there is a large pool of man-
power that has to report back at
work for operations to resume
smoothly,” Guleria said.
In a video-conference with
state chief ministers on Saturday,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
suggested the idea of a lock-in,
with industrial, agricultural and
construction workers housed in
their own work zones. The
Department for Promotion of
Industry and Internal Trade
(DPIIT) also wrote to the home
ministry to let more industries
operate with reasonable safe-
guards in the extended lockdown
period. However, stranded
trucks and missing workers
could upend those plans.
“We are geared up, but the sup-
porting things like packing mate-
n Chief minister BS Yediyurappa interacts with people during a
nationwide lockdown, in Bengaluru on April 12.
also held about the financial sit-
uation of the state government
and how to mobilise resources.
Many suggestions were given
and it was decided to implement
those suggestions,” Yediyur-
appa said after a meeting with
for 2 years
› because I heard that
people suffering from
chronic diseases [like
diabetes] and those
aged may not survive...
HARPAL SINGH
suffering from chronic diseases
[like diabetes] and those aged
may not survive [if infected by
coronavirus],” Singh said.
Harpal Singh, whose Pathlawa
village was on March 22 declared
Punjab’s first Covid-19 contain-
ment zone, was one of the 27 peo-
ple infected by super-spreader
preacher Baldev Singh. The
preacher died on March 18 and
tested positive a day later. Baldev
Singh, 70, returned from Ger-
many via Italy on March 7. He
visited several places before his
death that triggered a scramble
for identifying all the people he
came in contact with. At least 14
Truck movement has collapsed to less than a tenth of normal levels, as per the All India Motor Transport
n
Congress, an umbrella body of goods vehicle operators representing about 10 million truckers. BLOOMBERG
rials, consumables, raw materi-
als, transportation, everything
has to cooperate and that has to be
enabled,” said the founder of a
speciality chemicals maker that
manufacturers ingredients for
cleaning, sanitisation and hand
washing applications. Speaking
on condition of anonymity, he
said his company is currently
operating at just around 30%
capacity, having resumed partial
operations from April 6.
“Supply chain is a major
aspect which has to improve,
whether it is getting raw materi-
als from the port or transporting
finished goods to customers
across the country. This is some-
thing that has to smoothen out
and we are hoping that it will hap-
pen fast,” the person cited above
said.
Resumption of work in certain
industries also depends on the
nature of their supply chains, as
some industries tend to operate in
closely-knit clusters, while some
have dispersed chains.
Last week, Mint had reported
that truck movement has col-
PTI
officials of various depart-
ments.
According to officials aware
of developments, the state has
lost nearly ~ 2,500 crore in reve-
nue from just the stoppage of
liquor sales since March 24
members of his family were
infected along with four in Jalan-
dhar and five in Hoshiarpur.
In Pathlawa, 19 people con-
tracted the disease and 14 in
nearby villages of Shaheed Bha-
gat Singh Nagar district, which
were sealed within days. Harpal
Singh is among the 13 people from
his village to have been recov-
ered. At least 10 of them have been
discharged. As of Monday, Pun-
jab had 176 Covid-19 cases. The
state has reported 12 deaths
related to the pandemic while 23
patients have recovered.
Harpal Singh said he is grate-
ful to the doctors and medical
staff at the civil hospital for pro-
viding them moral support and
counselling as well as the best
possible treatment.
Dr Harwinder Singh, the Civil
Hospital’s senior medical officer,
said Harpal has been asked to
remain under home quarantine
for two more weeks after his dis-
charge. “We focused on their
counselling so that patients
should be mentally strong.”
lapsed to less than a tenth of nor-
mal levels, citing All India Motor
Transport Congress, an umbrella
body of goods vehicle operators
representing about 10 million
truckers.
“Industries with supplier eco-
systems in vicinity or in the same
cluster could possibly operate at
reduced levels but those depend-
ent on cross-country inputs could
see supply chain disruption,”
said Sameer Bhatnagar, partner
at KPMG in India. Thus, an indus-
try-specific and planned
approach could be one option for
a structured way to resume
industries, he added.
Smoothing out the logistics
issues will need strong coopera-
tion between the Union and state
governments, said Vimal Kejri-
wal, managing director and chief
executive officer of KEC Interna-
tional Ltd, the construction busi-
ness of RPG group. “Logistics is
an issue where there seems to be
a gap between central govern-
ment and local authorities. Most
trucks are still stranded and very
little movement is happening.
when the 21-day lockdown to
halt the spread of Covid-19 was
declared. The lockdown is
expected to be extended on
Tuesday.
The officials said the govern-
ment is likely to take a call on
Tuesday whether liquor stores
could be opened in the state.
They added the state has also
decided to use the ~1,000 crore
available for upgrading medical
college hospitals. To help dairy
farmers as well as poor people,
the state would continue to dis-
tribute free milk among the poor
living in slums, the officials
said.
Yediyurappa also announced
~45 crore compensation for
farmers of Raichur and Koppa,
who have lost their paddy crop
due to hailstorm. While appeal-
ing sugar factory owners to
clear pending payments to the
tune of ~ 2,834 crore due to farm-
ers across 11 districts, the chief
minister warned of strict action
in case they failed to do so.
NEW DELHI: Relaxing its earlier
conditions in view of the corona-
virus pandemic, the Supreme
Court on Monday directed the
release of detainees in Assam
who were declared foreigners
and have been in detention cen-
tres for two years or more.
A bench of Chief Justice S A
Bobde and Justices L N Rao and
M Shantanagoudar, reduced the
minimum period of detention
from three years to two years.
“Having regard to the present
circumstances prevailing in the
country... and... the fact that we
have already permitted the
release of prisoners and people
under detention in general, and
such detenues who have com-
pleted three years upon their
declaration as foreigners, we see
no reason why the period should
not be reduced from three years
to two years, that is to say, the
prisoners or detenues who have
been under detention for two
years shall be entitled to be
released…,” the bench said. PTI
Logistics is a big grey area, where
we honestly do not know how
much time it will take for things
to regularise. Today, my factories
are full of finished goods; those
have to be shipped out and we
need to bring in raw materials,”
he said.
While the Union home minis-
try has asked state authorities to
allow trucks to move freely, a
major challenge on this front is
getting trucks that are stranded
on the highways running again.
“State agencies could use the
state transport buses currently
lying idle to mobilise drivers to
the trucks. Many drivers come
from certain pockets and buses
with social distancing norms
could run on select pockets to
meet the short-term requirement
to get the wheels rolling,” said
KPMG’s Bhatnagar.
Manpower is another pain
point. With several migrant
workers fleeing cities, companies
are unsure whether they will
have the required workforce
needed to resume work at full
capacity.
Agra registers its
biggest 24-hr spike
with 35 new cases
Hemendra Chaturvedi
n letters@hindustantimes.com
AGRA: Agra recorded the biggest
spike in Covid-19 cases in a day on
Monday as 35 people tested posi-
tive for the disease and took the
district’s tally to 138 even as offi-
cials attributed the sharp rise to
aggressive testing and contact
tracing as part of a containment
model that the Centre has asked
states to emulate.
The Centre on Saturday cited
the model while instructing
states to learn from it. Officials
say the Agra Model has involved
a proactive approach in identify-
ing cases, conducting intensive
testing, door-to-door surveys and
implementing strict quarantine
measures to prevent the spread.
Officials said the 35 new cases
include eight that are linked to
Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi that last
month emerged as a Covid-19 hot
spot. “We are witnessing a sharp
rise in the number of patients but
soon it will start decreasing. The
institutional quarantine is the
only solution to such types of
cases,” said district magistrate
Prabhu N Singh.
He added they have been shift-
ing those who come in contact
with positive cases to quarantine
centres before collecting their
samples. Singh said they will con-
tinue with their model based on
massive sampling, social distanc-
ing and institutional quarantine.
TA B L I G H I JA M A AT
Probe laxity behind event: SC to govt
Abraham Thomas
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court
has asked the Centre to examine
a petition demanding inquiry
into the aspects leading to the
Tablighi Jamaat convention in
the national capital last month.
The petition, filed by a Jam-
mu-based lawyer Supriya Pan-
dita, questioned the role of the
Centre, the Delhi government
and the Delhi Police for risking
the health of millions of citizens
by allowing the huge congrega-
tion comprising foreign dele-
gates. The matter will be taken
March retail inflation eases
to four-month low of 5.91%
Asit Ranjan Mishra
n asit.m@livemint.com
NEW DELHI: A sharp fall in vegeta-
ble prices has led India’s retail
inflation to ease from 6.58% in
February to a four-month low of
5.91% in March. However, supply
shortages due to the 21-day lock-
down could push up inflation in
the short run, said analysts.
Food inflation declined from
10.81% in February to 8.76% in
March because of falling onion
prices, shows data released by the
National Statistical Office (NSO)
on Monday. This was reflected in
vegetable inflation softening
from 31.61% to 18.63% in the two-
month period. The number gives
a false sense of improvement in
inflation, given that the real
impact of the lockdown will be felt
in April as prices of food items
have increased quite sharply,
said Madan Sabnavis, chief econ-
omist at Care Ratings.
“With the lockdown and lim-
ited movement of goods because
of the absence of labour, trucks,
MPC minutes Oil gives up gains despite
reiterate focus on historic Opec+ output cut
mitigating risks
Reuters
n feedback@livemint.com
MUMBAI: The impact of the out-
break on the Indian economy
would depend on the depth, dura-
tion and diffusion of the crisis, the
Reserve Bank of India said in the
minutes of its emergency mone-
tary policy committee (MPC)
meeting in March.
“The covid-19 pandemic is an
invisible assassin which needs to
be contained quickly before it
spreads and wreaks havoc,” RBI
governor Shaktikanta Das wrote
in his minutes. “It is important to
ensure that finance, which is the
lifeline of the economy, keeps
flowing seamlessly to various
sectors.” “Arresting risks to the
growth outlook and preserving
financial stability should, accord-
ingly, receive highest priority.”
Bihar, Odisha may
resume NREGS
Arun Kumar and
Debabrata Mohanty
n letters@hindustantimes.com
PATNA/BHUBANESWAR: Bihar and
Odisha will soon allow resump-
tion of works under the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employee
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS),
the world’s biggest rural social
security scheme, in an effort to
provide relief to the rural poor hit
by Covid-19 and consequent lock-
down.
The nationwide, three-week
lockdown ends on Tuesday, April
14. On Monday, most states sub-
mitted their plans for the post-
lockdown phase with a majority
suggesting that the emergency
measure continue with exemp-
tions for agriculture and allied
services and more measures to
provide relief to the poor.
Bihar chief minister Nitish
Kumar told divisional commis-
sioners and zonal inspectors gen-
eral of police on Monday that a
comprehensive plan was being
prepared to generate employ-
ment opportunities for people.
The biggest concern of the
state has been the lack of work for
large number of people, including
migrant workers who have
returned from different states.
The state also wants to complete
flood management work before
the onset of the monsoon.
Officials said the second phase
of the lockdown after April 14
would be different, with the gov-
up by the court after two weeks.
The petition came up for
hearing before a bench of Chief
Justice SA Bobde and Justices
LN Rao and MM Shantana-
gouder. The court directed a
copy of the petition to be served
to the Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta appearing for the Central
government.
The Court also heard a
related petition filed by Jamiat
Ulama i-Hind which demanded
an end to demonizing of Mus-
lims following the Tablighi
event. The petition raised objec-
tions to news reports naming
the members of Tablighi Jamaat
hindustantimes
POWERED BY
AN ARRAY OF FORWARD-
LOOKING INDICATORS BY
RBI LIKE HOUSEHOLD
INFLATION EXPECTATION
SURVEY POINTS TO A
SOFTER TRAJECTORY
GOING AHEAD
and activity in wholesale mar-
kets, there have been sharp
decline in supplies of foodgrain,
horticulture, and sugar, which is
reflected in high prices in the
market. This can push food infla-
tion towards the 10% mark,” said
Sabnavis.“However, core infla-
tion will trend downwards as ser-
vice prices would not change and
those products with maximum
retail price would not witness a
change in prices even with sup-
plies declining.”
Trucks are getting detained,
workers needed for producing
essential goods are not getting
passes, and cold storages are not
Bloomberg
n feedback@livemint.com
CALGARY: Oil pared gains as inves-
tors weighed whether an unprec-
edented deal by the world’s big-
gest producers to cut output
could stabilise the market reeling
from the coronavirus pandemic.
Futures in New York were lit-
tle changed after earlier surging
8.7% after the Opec+ alliance
agreed to slash production by 9.7
million barrels a day starting in
May. The group reached the deal
following days of intense negotia-
tions after Mexico declined to
endorse the original agreement
reached Thursday. While the
Opec+ deal amounts to the largest
coordinated cut in history, it’s
dwarfed by the estimated 20 mil-
lion barrels a day or greater
decline in oil consumption as a
result of the pandemic.
The US, Brazil and Canada will
contribute an additional 3.7 mil-
CORONAVIRUS
ernment planning to allow work
under MGNREGS to resume or
the conservation of traditional
water sources, soil conservation,
environment-specific crop
cycles, organic farming, drip irri-
gation, rain water harvesting and
use of solar energy.
“After harvesting, employ-
ment generation in rural areas
will be the main focus, there is no
reason to be complacent at any
stage in view of the Covid-19 out-
break,” he added.
In Odisha, which has already
announced extension of the lock-
down until April 30, the govern-
ment on Monday announced that
work under MGNREGS and con-
struction under Swachh Bharat
(Clean India) scheme will be
allowed, apart from all agricul-
tural activities.
The state also plans to hire
retired state and central police
officers to enforce social distanc-
ing norms for the next six
months, the police said.
According to the order issued
by chief secretary Asit Tripathy,
shops and establishments selling
agricultural implements, cattle
feed and fish feed, and food proc-
essing and packaging units will
also be allowed to remain open
during the extended lockdown.
The order said that activities
relating to MGNREGS and con-
struction of toilets under Swachh
Bharat mission and individual
houses under the rural housing
scheme would be allowed.
who were infected. Advocate
Ejaz Maqbool argued that the
petition had led to violence
against members of the Muslim
community in Karnataka.
The bench told Maqbool that
the remedy for defamation
against media organizations
cannot be in a writ petition.
Also, it questioned why the peti-
tion did not make Press Council
of India (PCI) a party. Not
inclined to pass any interim
orders gagging the media, the
court allowed the petition to join
PCI as a party and posted it for
hearing along with Pandita’s
petition.
11
being allowed to function, home
secretary Ajay Bhalla said in a
letter to states on April 12.
There is a strong likelihood of
an uptick in urban retail inflation
during the lockdown period, fol-
lowed by a subsequent resump-
tion of the correction in CPI infla-
tion as the situation normalises,
said Aditi Nayar, principal econ-
omist at ICRA Ratings. “Revenue
considerations of central and
state governments suggest that
the fall in crude oil prices is
unlikely to transmit to a reduc-
tion in retail prices of diesel and
petrol in the near term,” she said.
In March, rural inflation at
6.09% stood higher than urban
inflation at 5.66% while fuel infla-
tion marginally rose to 6.59%
from 6.36% in February.
However, an array of forward-
looking indicators by the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI), such as
household inflation expectations
survey and professional forecast-
ers survey, points to a much
softer inflation trajectory going
ahead.
lion barrels in nominal produc-
tion cuts as their output declines,
and other Group of 20 nations will
cut 1.3 million more. The G-20
numbers don’t represent real vol-
untary cuts but rather the impact
that low prices have already had
on output, and they would need
months to take effect.
The Opec+ deal came after
days of brokering by US Presi-
dent Donald Trump, who spoke
by phone Mexican President
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,
followed by a three-way confer-
ence call with Russian President
Vladimir Putin and King Salman
of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Aramco reduced pricing
for all its grades to Asia, signaling
the state company’s intention to
defend sales in its biggest market
even while paring output. Oil pri-
ces have been in freefall since the
middle of February as the world
went into lockdown to try to stop
the coronavirus from spreading.
28 bureaucrats
empanelled to
secretary-level
posts at Centre
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Appointments Com-
mittee of the Cabinet (ACC),
headed by Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi, approved on Monday
the empanelment of 28 top
bureaucrats to the secretary
level.
Tarun Bajaj, an Indian Admin-
istrative Service (IAS) officer of
1988 batch of Haryana cadre, and
his batchmate from Gujarat, Arv-
ind Kumar Sharma, have been
empanelled as secretary, or sec-
retary equivalent, officers. Sig-
nificantly, both the officers are
currently posted in the prime
ministers’ office.
Among others who have been
empanelled to the secretary-level
rank are: National Highway
Authority of India (NHAI) Chair-
person Sukhbir Singh Sandhu
and Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE) chairperson
Anita Karwal.Both the officers
belong to the 1988 batch.
Others who are now eligible to
join as secretaries are IAS offi-
cers Ajay Tirkey of the 1987 batch,
Madhya Pradesh, Rameshwar
Prasad Gupta of Gujarat cadre
and his batchmate from Jammu
and Kashmir Sudhanshu Pan-
day.
Former CBSE chairperson
Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, a 1987
batch officer of the Madhya Pra-
desh cadre, has also been empan-
elled for holding secretary-level
post at the Centre. Currently, he
is posted as an additional secre-
tary and financial advisor in the
ministry of culture.
In addition to 28 officers
empanelled as secretary or secre-
tary equivalent, six officers were
empanelled as secretary equiva-
lent. These include IAS officers
Jyoti Arora of the 1987 batch of
Haryana cadre, and Alka Tiwari
of the 1988 batch of Jharkhand
cadre.
IAS OFFICERS OF THE
1988 BATCH, TARUN
BAJAJ AND ARVIND
KUMAR SHARMA, HAVE
BEEN EMPANELLED AS
SECRETARY OR SECY
EQUIVALENT OFFICERS
12 hindustantimes
news
A man of equanimity,
culture, knowledge
NK Singh
n letters@hindustantimes.com
A
shok Desai, India’s
former attorney gen-
eral and one of the
country’s most distin-
guished lawyers, passed away
on Monday. It was deeply dis-
tressing and saddening news. I
was privileged to know him
over decades and every interac-
tion with him was always
enlightening. He also had a wit
and sense of humour even while
pursuing the somewhat sombre
profession of an attorney.
He was a product of the Lon-
don School of Economics (LSE)
and thereafter of the Lincoln
Inn, London. He was the chair-
man of the Committee on
Administrative Law of Interna-
tional Law Association, and
worked with the United Nations
Human Rights Commission in
Geneva as well as represented
India at the World Trade Orga-
nisation Appellate body.
Understandably, he was con-
ferred the Padma Bhushan hav-
ing served both as Solicitor and
Attorney General of India.
Having worked with him
closely on some matters, here
are a few instances I would like
to recall.
First, he played a critical role
in drafting an affidavit on
behalf of the central govern-
ment, which brought the
famous Hawala case to a final
closure. The case had, in many
ways, altered the political
milieu since many important
politicians and others had suf-
fered when their names had fig-
ured in the Jain Hawala diary.
At a certain stage, when I
became the revenue secretary,
repetitive hearings and
adjournments by Supreme
Court was becoming exhaust-
ing for the government. It was
Ashok — the then attorney gen-
eral — who felt we should expe-
ditiously bring this matter to a
closure.
The then Prime Minister I K
Gujral had constituted a com-
frompageone
10,000 cases
health care infrastructure from
being overrun by infections.
Modi will address the nation
on Tuesday morning at 10am,
and is likely to announce an
extension of the nationwide
lockdown, possibly with some
exemptions to get the wheels of
the economy turning again.
The number of cases in Maha-
rashtra surpassed 2,000 as it
remained the state with the most
Covid-19 patients across the
country.
Three-hundred-and- fifty-two
tested positive for Covid-19 on
Monday, taking the state tally to
2,334, according to the state’s
health bulletin. Among the new
cases, 59 were reported from
Mumbai.
Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, is the
third state other than Maharash-
tra and Delhi to report more than
1,000 cases. The government in
the state also announced the
extension of the lockdown till
April 30.
The Union health ministry
said that 25 districts across 15
states that reported cases earlier
had not detected fresh infections
over the last two weeks, an opti-
mistic statistic that stood in con-
trast to some states that have
alarmingly turned into big Cov-
id-19 hot spots.
While the government has cre-
ated more than 1,200 containment
zones across the country, much
more needs to be done on the test-
ing front to guard against the dis-
ease spreading undetected, they
say.
Modi
the benefits that may have
accrued from the strict social dis-
tancing norms put in place to
keep the highly infectious virus
at bay, but some sought an easing
of the lockdown in areas outside
the so-called red zones that
include Covid-19 hot spots and
containment zones.
At least seven states -- Maha-
rashtra, Odisha, Punjab, West
Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
and Telangana -- have already
announced an extension of the
lockdown until April 30.
On Monday, members of the
Union council of ministers
returned to work at their offices
for the first time since the lock-
down began. The Union ministry
of home affairs (MHA) reaffirmed
that all offices except those in the
defence, central armed police for-
ces, essential services such as
power and postal services will
remain closed.
The Department for Promo-
ASHOK DESAI
n A towering personality in the
legal fraternity, Desai passed
away on Monday.
mittee under chairmanship of
HT ARCHIVE
NN Vohra, former principal
secretary to PM, for drafting an
affidavit. I was a member of it.
The affidavit drafted by him,
and which was finally accepted
by the Supreme Court, made
important changes by way of
guaranteeing security of ten-
ure, adherence to selection pro-
cedures and autonomy to be
given to Central Bureau of
Investigation and Enforcement
Directorate.
Later, Central Vigilance
Commissioner became the
supervisory entity as an over-
arching watchdog. Ashok’s
drafting of the affidavit, in line
with the psychology of the
court, led to ultimate closure of
the case. It was a relief to all
stakeholders.
Second, much later, we were
both members of India Advi-
sory Board of London School of
Economics, co-chaired by Lord
Nicholas Stern and myself. As a
member, given his past LSE
connections, he always had cre-
ative ideas on what could be
done to enhance the academic
reach of this prestigious institu-
tion in India. Fostering inter-
change of students, faculty
members and joint research
projects were some ideas he had
put forward persuasively.
Third, on a somewhat lighter
side, being an exceedingly
sophisticated individual, and
tion of Industry and Internal
Trade (DPIIT) recommended to
the home ministry that certain
identified industries and services
be allowed to resume limited
activity with “reasonable safe-
guards” to restart economic
activity and put money in the
hands of people.
Covid-19 is expected to take a
heavy toll on Asia’s third largest
economy, which was already in
the midst of a slowdown when the
virus hit.
Test kits
“We cannot comment on
whether our Chinese consign-
ment of rapid testing kits got
diverted to the US or somewhere
else because we neither maintain
commercial data nor are we man-
ufacturers who would know
where our supplies are going.
Kits are coming from China, and
we have been told some of the kits
should reach us by April 15,” said
Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar,
head, division of epidemiology
and communicable disease,
ICMR.
An ICMR official who asked
not to be named said that after
many kits failed quality tests, the
Chinese regulator, National Med-
ical Products Administration,
restricted exports, allowing only
five to six companies to sell them.
“Quality control is important
as there is no point in getting a
product and then realising it is of
no use. The products from China
have to be cleared by their local
regulator and we will also con-
duct tests on batches to check
their accuracy on a random
basis,” added this person.
In addition to the order for
500,000 kits that has already been
placed, ICMR raised a tender on
April 11 for 4.5 million more rapid
testing kits to be delivered in
batches. The plan is to have the
first batch in by May 1 and the
final batch latest by May 31.
India ordered 500,000 kits from
Chinese suppliers on March 30,
and in anticipation of the arrival
of the kits first on April 5, India
issued an advisory on starting
rapid antibody testing on April 4,
and revised the testing guidelines
on April 9 to include rapid testing
of all symptomatic individuals in
hot spot areas with symptoms at
least a week old.
In addition, several Indian
states have also placed orders for
RTKs. Tamil Nadu, for instance,
awaits 400,000 RTKs from China
in order to scale up testing across
the state. “The consignment
which was to come to India is not
for Tamil Nadu alone. Reports
from the vendor’s side suggest
given his interest in art and cul-
ture, fondness for classical
music, both western and
Indian, was indeed awesome. I
once recall that on a visit to
Vienna, for a meeting of Narcot-
ics Control Board of United
Nations, we witnessed an opera
called Madame Butterfly by
Giacomo Puccini. It was enter-
taining, although somewhat
heavy and needed experience to
be fully appreciated. I was
stunned he had remembered
every aria (an elaborate melody
sung solo) by-heart, and before
the aria could even get started,
to my amazement, he would
fully recite the arias himself.
Much later, when we were in
London for a conference, we
had gone to a popular opera by
Giuseppe Verdi called La Travi-
ata and, characteristic to his
style, he repeated the same feat
of reciting the operas by-heart
as if he knew them inside out.
He was equally conscious of
British habits, and at com-
mencement of the play,
reminded me in case I wanted a
drink, right time to order was at
the beginning to obviate any
unseeming rush during the
interval. Perhaps few could
recite the contents of all Shake-
speare play with such velocity.
I also recall during private
recitals of Pandit Jasraj or Kis-
hori Amonkar at my house, he
would invariably occupy a seat
in the front and savour every
bit. He was a man of great equa-
nimity, cultivated manners and
scholastic understanding of a
wide range of subjects. He was a
towering personality in the
legal fraternity.
India has lost one of its finest
legal minds. I have lost a per-
sonal friend whose presence I
will greatly miss. Without hesi-
tation, it can be said he was
clearly a cut above the others,
and by today’s standards, a
class apart.
(NK Singh is the chairperson of the 15th
Finance Commission and a former
Member of Parliament. The views
expressed are personal)
seven lakh kits (700,000) were
supposed to be shipped out, of
which five lakh was for the gov-
ernment of India, one lakh for
Tamil Nadu and another one lakh
for other states. Unfortunately,
due to some issues, these never
made it out of China,” a state gov-
ernment official said on condi-
tion of anonymity.
Tamil Nadu health secretary
Beela Rajesh said on Monday that
the kits were expected to reach
the state within two days, but
Tamil Nadu has already
expanded its testing pool using
existing RT-PCR tests. “We have
ordered rapid test kits that will
serve as a screening and surveil-
lance tool. We have already
ordered four lakh kits, and they
will reach us in a day or two. But
we are not waiting for that [to
scale up screening]. The confirm-
atory test is our PCR test and that
is now deployed as part of a large-
scale massive testing.”
On Saturday, Tamil Nadu
chief secretary K Shanmugam
told reporters that China had
diverted kits meant for India to
the US.
HLL Lifecare Limited, a public
sector company whose rapid anti-
body testing kit is approved by
ICMR, will start manufacturing
kits this week and may be able to
deliver some to the government
for large-scale testing in the com-
munity by the end of the week.
But other domestic manufac-
turers are dependent on China for
some components to manufac-
ture these kits, and constrained
by an embargo on exports of
these components.
On April 10, the National Insti-
tute of Virology (NIV), Pune, said
eight antibody-based rapid tests
have been validated and found
satisfactory by the facility. Some
of those test kits are made by
Indian manufacturers. “HLL got
a clearance from Indian Council
of Medical Research, National
Institute of Virology, Pune to
manufacture rapid antibody test-
ing kits but we were awaiting a
license from the Central Drugs
Standard Control Organisation
(CDSCO) which we have received
today. Manufacturing is likely to
start in the next three to four
days in our Manesar plant. In the
initial phase, we plan to manufac-
ture two million kits till May 30,”
said an HLL executive who asked
not to be named.
A member of the Association
of Diagnostics Manufacturers of
India (ADMI), a body represent-
ing testing kit manufacturers,
said some of the important com-
ponents for the kits are imported
from China. “China has an
embargo on exports now. This
India lodges protest
with Islamabad on
civilian deaths in
unprovoked firing
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: India on Monday
lodged a strong protest with Paki-
stan over the killing of three civil-
ians, including a minor, in unpro-
voked cross-border shelling by
Pakistani forces, people familiar
with developments said.
An eight-year-old boy and a
woman were among the three
killed when Pakistani troops
shelled several civilian areas in
Kupwara of Jammu and Kashmir
Sunday. Indian Army said it had
responded to ceasefire violations
by targeting terror launch pads
on Pakistani side.
“A strong demarche was made
to the Pakistani side on killing of
three Indian civilians in unpro-
voked ceasefire violations by Pak
forces on April 12,” said one of the
people cited above, requesting
anonymity, referring to formal
diplomatic representation made
to Pak side to protest the shelling.
The Indian move followed the
summoning of India’s charge
d’affaires in Islamabad, Gaurav
Ahluwalia, to the Foreign Office
to register Pakistan’s protest
over what it said were ceasefire
violations along the LoC in sev-
eral sectors Sunday resulting in
the death of a child and injuries to
four civilians. New Delhi has
already rejected Islamabad’s
accusation, saying its troops only
responded to shelling.Both sides
have accused each other of violat-
ing 2003 ceasefire agreement in
recent years.
PAK SHELLS FORWARD
POSTS ALONG BORDER
Pakistan on Monday opened
fire and shelled forward posts and
villages along the Line of Control
and International Border in
Poonch and Kathua districts,
drawing retaliation from Indian
troops, officials said.
Pakistani Rangers also vio-
lated the ceasefire by targeting
forward posts and villages in dif-
ferent villages of Hiranagar sec-
tor overnight. The firing started
in Chandwa and adjoining areas
around 9.45 pm on Sunday and
continued till 4 am, officials said.
has slowed down manufacturing
of these kits in India. The process
takes time, if your order hasn’t
been delivered by a vendor, you
will have to then look for other
vendors. Logistics are not at their
best now.”
Dr Tarun Bhatnagar, epidemi-
ologist, ICMR-National Institute
of Epidemiology, said: “Antibody
testing will not tell us who is cur-
rently infected. It will tell us who
has been infected in the past. Gen-
erally, antibodies are developed
five to seven days after contract-
ing the infection. If people test
positive, it tells us that they were
exposed to the virus sometime in
the past and developed no symp-
toms or very mild symptoms.
Firstly, such testing tells us how
widespread the infection is in the
community and how large is the
proportion of asymptomatic
patients because infection
spreads more from a person who
is symptomatic. It tells us what is
more common, mild symptoms or
severe. Antibody tests are
required to understand the virus.
It is a surveillance tool and is
cheaper than RT-PCR (which
detects active infection).”
Veena Kohli, CEO of Vanguard
Diagnostics Limited, which has
also been validated for manufac-
turing of these kits and president
of ADMI, said: “The Indian diag-
nostics manufacturers are work-
ing earnestly towards making the
detection kits available for the
screening of Covid-19 infection.
Depending on the assay design of
the manufacturer’s product, each
kit has some imported and some
indigenous components. A
majority of these components
including antibodies and anti-
gens are imported from China. As
we are given to understand, the
Chinese government has slowed
down the process of export. The
Indian manufacturers are also
developing alternative sources of
raw materials and components to
tide over the current situation.
Surveillance
contact tracing is a tedious effort
and people have terrible recall,”
he said.
The idea was also floated by
researchers from Oxford Univer-
sity in a paper published on
March 31 in which they said, “a
mobile phone app implementing
instantaneous contact tracing
could reduce transmission
enough for sustained epidemic
suppression, stopping the virus
from spreading further.”
On April 2, the Indian govern-
ment launched its own contact-
tracing mobile application and
roughly a week later, Apple and
Mild quake hits Delhi, 2nd in two days
HT Correspondent
n letters”hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: A mild 2.7 magnitude
earthquake hit Delhi for the sec-
ond time in two days on Mon-
day. The tremor at 1:30 pm had
its epicentre at the depth of 5 km
in northeast Delhi’s Sonia
Vihar. The 3.5 magnitude earth-
quake on Sunday had its epicen-
tre at the same location at the
depth of 8 km. “These earth-
quakes were well recorded by
seismological network main-
tained by the National Center
for Seismology (NCS),” the NCS
said in a statement.
J’KHAND SEEKS
LEGAL VIEW ON Centre sends revised order for floor test
LALU’S PAROLE Parliament build plan by Kamal Nath govt
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
RANCHI: The Jharkhand govern-
ment on Monday sought the
advocate general’s views on the
possibility of granting parole to
incarcerated RJD chief Lalu
Prasad Yadav.
Yadav, who is serving impris-
onment in fodder scam, is under
treatment in the private ward of
Rajendra Institute of Medical
Sciences (RIMS) in state capital
Ranchi.
The hospital is also the dedi-
cated state Covid-19 hospital,
where at least seven Coronavi-
rus positive cases are under
treatment.
The issue was discussed by
the state cabinet on Monday in
the meeting.
“The chief minister has taken
a serious view of the matter. He
called the advocate general dur-
ing the cabinet meeting and
sought legal opinion over the
issue. the advocate general will
soon give his advice,” said state
agriculture minister Badal
Patralekh.
Backing parole for the former
Bihar chief minister, the state
agriculture minister said that
Yadav stands the risk of getting
infected as he is old and within
yards of the building where
Sars-Cov-2 patients are being
treated, at RIMS.
Google – who together dominate
the cellphone software platform
market almost entirely –
announced they are working on
similar mechanism for iPhone
and Android-based phones.
The apps work on a simple
premise: a phone will exchange
details – converted into a random,
unique alphanumeric – with
another phone if the two are in
the range of their Bluetooth
radios. Bluetooth is a short-dis-
tance radio wave, which is picked
up only when someone is close
enough to, say, be in the same flat
or office.
The data will be shared with
health authorities in the event
either of the device’s users test
positive, triggering an alert to all
other devices that may have been
in contact, according to the work-
ings disclosed by India’s Aarogya
Setu (health bridge) and the pro-
posed Google, Apple mechanism.
Union health ministry joint
secretary Lav Agarwal, during
the daily briefing on Covid-19,
said the Aarogya Setu application
was downloaded by 35 million
people till Monday.
The approach, however, has
drawn questions about privacy
violations. “People will wonder:
who profiteers from these apps?
Will there by government intru-
sion?” said Ding.
India’s Aarogya Setu has
drawn criticism by privacy advo-
cacy groups such as the Internet
Freedom Foundation, which says
the programme has “a systemic
lack of auditability and transpar-
ency”. “[There] appears to be a
much wider collection and possi-
ble sharing [of data] outside of the
device, than envisioned under
other apps,” said a working paper
by IFF, which analysed a similar
application used in Singapore.
Technology lawyer Rahul
Matthan, who advised the Indian
government in the development
of the Aarogya Setu app, said the
features in the application need to
be looked at in the context of the
circumstances of the epidemic.
“If we agree we need some sort
of a technological solution to
carry out contact tracing, we
know that the only way to do that
is fundamentally privacy inva-
sive,” said Matthan, a partner-
lawyer at Trilegal.
“Our approach in designing
the privacy features have been to
look at what basic privacy princi-
ples are around the world,” he
said, adding that he supported
calls for the code to be made pub-
lic. Matthan said the Aarogya
Setu app seeks details to create
demographic profiles since it is
crucial to understand the scale of
the disease in India. “Age and
AP Pandey, an NCS seismolo-
gist, said normally such small
earthquakes are followed by
more tremors. “If the next event
occurs close to the epicentre as
is the case this time, then it
shows that the movement is set-
tling back. Delhi and surround-
ing regions have lots of faults.
There may be other earth-
quakes but we cannot say
when,” he said.
According to the NCS state-
ment, Delhi experienced last
perceptible earthquake of mag-
nitude 3.5 on April 24, 2018. Prior
to that, a magnitude 3.8 earth-
quake occurred on September 7,
SC backs MP guv’s
C E N T R A L V I S TA P R O J E C T
Anisha Dutta
n anisha.datta@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: The Centre has submit-
ted a revised application to the
environment ministry for the
new Parliament building of the
Central Vista redevelopment
project after an expert appraisal
committee (EAC) on infrastruc-
ture deferred its environment
clearance last month.
A new Parliament building
with enhanced technology and a
capacity to seat several hundred
more parliamentarians in both
the Upper and Lower houses was
to be built as part of a Rs 20,000
crore redevelopment project in
Lutyens’ Delhi planned out in a
phased manner over the next four
years. The new Parliament com-
plex was expected to be ready by
2022.
In its application which has
been reviewed by the Hindustan
Times, the union ministry of
housing and urban affairs’ con-
struction arm, Central Public
Works Department, has stated
the project cost for new Parlia-
ment building has been increased
from Rs 776 crore to Rs 922 crore
instead “due to changes in specifi-
cations which have been
approved after application sub-
mission.” The EAC is scheduled
to hear the matter on April 22.
Addressing concerns raised
over the project in the application
thecrosswords
CRYPTIC CLUES
ACROSS
1 Dimension of certain fellows in the flesh (11)
9 A ruthless overtaker from Meissen (7)
10 One may be dressed up to them - by
numbers? (5)
11 Monster frog resides inside here (4)
12 One drink that refreshes, but another is a
different matter (3,2,3)
14 Times of enchantment (6)
16 Artless member trapped in web of lies (6)
18 Union without a single member (8)
19 It’s used for storing crude oils (4)
22 A strange thing but it’s time for bed (5)
23 Don’t take a part naturally (7)
24 Will the orator be speechless if he lost
it? (7,4)
DOWN
2 He’s found among fuel merchants (5)
3 Point to a tree from the window (4)
4 Possibly secure and free from danger (6)
5 Unusual gloom in a remote part of Asia (8)
6 Journey on such a train can have only one
end (7)
7 Terms need no change for ratification (11)
8 You can get away with it (6,5)
13 Strange relics to be found in the
cathedral (8)
15 Angered by exchange of letters (7)
17 19 Across go into northern dwellings (6)
20 How pointless to follow a girl in a state (5)
21 Plant in another bed (4)
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS (15576)
CRYPTIC
htsudoku
gender data is relevant because
we know the disease stratifies by
age. Location data is used to cre-
ate heat maps – this is crucial
because in India, we are a densely
populated country and not a lot of
people have smart phones. If you
contact only those with phones,
HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
TUESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0
2011, near the Delhi-Haryana
border. Delhi also recorded low
magnitude earthquake with the
epicentre within Delhi in 2007.
Another earthquake was
recorded in Delhi on April 28,
2001, of 3.4 magnitude.
Officials said the people per-
haps felt the latest earthquakes
strongly than usual since most
are at home and the “ambient
vibrations” road traffic causes
have died down because of the
Covid-19 lockdown.
“These are called tremors
and very small earthquakes
have been recorded in the past
in the Jhajjar and Rohtak areas.
stated that “there will be no
adverse impact due to construc-
tion activities on existing struc-
tures and suitable precautions
will be accordingly made… Air
pollution will be minimized by
water sprinklers and by covering
the vehicles during transport.
The trucks used for transport will
be thoroughly checked for emis-
sion parameters and will be prop-
erly maintained.” In the wake of
Covid-19 pandemic, almost all
opposition parties have urged the
Centre to shelve the project and
spend money efforts to contain
the spread of the coronavirus.
The new two-storied Parlia-
ment building is to come up on a
triangular plot close to the exist-
ing Parliament. It has been
designed to seat at least 1300 par-
liamentarians. Both the Rajya
and Lok Sabha have been
designed to have up to date audio-
visual features, improved acous-
tic technology, as well as better
seating design to ensure effi-
ciency and productivity while the
houses are in session. The new
building will also have an open to
sky courtyard, meeting halls, caf-
eterias and MP’s offices.
The existing Parliament build-
ing, almost 90 years old, has faced
deterioration over the years due
to environmental conditions, and
the project aimed to preserve the
building by retrofitting to make it
compliant to safety standards.
PUZZLE 15577 © Gemini Crosswords 2012 All rights reserved
QUICK CLUES
ACROSS
1 Motto inculcating caution (6,5)
9 Eight-sided figure (7)
10 To express (5)
11 Change direction (4)
12 Keep in mind (8)
14 Pasteboard box (6)
16 To climb (6)
18 Trend (8)
19 Drink deeply (4)
22 A synthetic fibre (5)
23 Inspect closely (7)
24 Clairvoyance (6,5)
QUICK
Fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row,
column and each of the 9X9 squares contains all the
digits from 1 to 9.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL
SUDOKU>> SCAN THIS SUDOKU UNIT FOR
THE SOLUTION AND MANY MORE PUZZLES
you leave out a lot of others,” he
said. Matthan said the app is dis-
tinct from an operating system-
level solution that Google and
Apple are working on because it
involves health officials.
“Putting too much trust in
algorithmic solution is danger-
We are in seismic zone 4 [severe
earthquake intensity zone]. We
are close to the Himalayas
where even magnitude 8 earth-
quakes can be recorded. The
local soil quality also plays a
role. Thick sediment soil in
Delhi also amplifies the impact.
The area where the epicentre is
has newer alluvium soil which
can record more tremors. It is
close to the Yamuna belt,” said
Pandey. He added that less noise
from traffic or other sources has
made the recording on seis-
mometer very accurate and
intense experience for the peo-
ple.
NEW DELHI: The law must be
strengthened to curb increasing
trend of breakdown in the com-
position and allegiances of the
political parties due to private
allurements as opposed to pub-
lic policy considerations, the
Supreme Court said on Monday
while upholding Madhya Pra-
desh governor Lalji Tandon’s
direction in March for holding a
floor test in the state assembly.
Kamal Nath resigned as Mad-
hya Pradesh CM on March 20
two hours before a floor test.
The top court on Monday said
saying a governor can exercise
his power and direct a floor test
even if the House is in session.
“The governor is not denuded of
the power to order a floor test
where on the basis of the mate-
rial available to the governor it
becomes evident that the issue
as to whether the government
commands the confidence of the
house requires to be assessed on
the basis of a floor test,” the
court said in its order. It added
such a decision is subject to judi-
cial review. “The law may have
to evolve to address these bur-
geoning evils,” it said.
The court referred to specta-
cle of rival political parties
whisking away their political
flock to safe destinations, add-
ing it is best courts maintain an
arm‘s length from the “sordid
tales of political life”. HTC
DOWN
2 In the style of (5)
3 Tense (4)
4 Over there (6)
5 Grow in size (8)
6 Take a false step (7)
7 Communicative (11)
8 Brutal interrogation (5,6)
13 Military raiding force (8)
15 Rotate (7)
17 Have as purpose (6)
20 Consider carefully (5)
21 Vehicle for hire (4)
ous. They cannot take into
account several factors that can
influence the probability of con-
tracting an infection,” he said,
adding that health officials ulti-
mately determine which people
identified by Aarogya Setu must
be tested.
HIN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
T UESDAY, A PRIL 14, 2 02 0 hindustantimes 13
LIFEINTHETIMEOFCOVID-19

Something old, into something new www.hindustantimes.com/delhi

Cherylann Mollan

Confined to the indoors, it can

HOW TO MAKE A
become impossible to ignore the NO-STITCH BAG
things we’ve swept under the Mayank Austen Soofi EXPERIENCE YOUR CITY LIKE NEVER BEFORE
carpet , promising to take care of n Place an old
later. That stack of magazines, T-shirt on a flat

No way out for the rickshaw puller

clothes or bottles you’ve been
meaning to get rid of. The piece
of time-worn furniture you
keep slamming your toe, shin or
hip into.
Instead of letting these items
get to you, use this time to upcy-
cle and turn them into things you
can use. It’ll help you ease the
clutter, and give your mood a
boost as you get creative.
“The lockdown has given us a
chance to slow down,” says
Shailaja Rangarajan, whose
Bengaluru company, Rimag-
ined, upcycles waste into fashion
and home decor products. “It’s
the perfect time to see how we
can minimise consumption by
reusing, repurposing things.”
Anthony Dcosta, 30, an artist
manager from Mumbai, used
some of his free time last week to
convert an old plastic shoe-stand
into a fish-tank divider. “These
are porous partitions that sepa-
rate aggressive fish species from
the more docile ones,” he
explains. “I’d mistakenly placed
a Flowerhorn in the tank and it
YOUR DAILY WORKOUT
Tai chi looks easy, but even
basic moves take weeks to
refine. It’s slow, meditative,
but nothing like yoga. “It’s
commonly used to address
posture and breathing,
both of which pay the price
of our desk-bound lives,”
says Sandeep Desai, tai chi
practitioner and trainer for
33 years. If you’ve never
tried it, he recommends the
Hugging the Tree position.
There are no reps, moves or
sets. You simply work on
aligning each part of your
body internally.
A QUICK-FIX RECIPE
Cucumber Gazpacho
Ingredients: 2 cucumbers, peeled
and chopped; a handful of
coriander and mint leaves; 1 green
chilli; 2 cloves garlic; 2 spring onions
(chopped); 3 tbsp olive oil; ½ cup
curd; 2 tbsp diced tomatoes; pinch
of pepper; 1 tbsp lemon juice; salt
to taste.
COURTESY CHEF AMIT PAMNANI
n All those bottles, cards and papers you swore you’d do something
with, now’s the time. It’s not even hard. You can turn coconut shells
into planters, for instance, in a matter of minutes.
was making a meal of the other
fish. To stop the carnage, I sawed
off a portion of an old plastic shoe
stand, smoothed the edges and
placed it in the tank as a divider,”
he says, laughing.
Dcosta has fashioned his own
guitar picks and straps in the
past too. “You can make guitar
picks from credit or gift cards, or
PET bottle caps. Smoothen the
edges using sandpaper and a coat
or two of nail polish for colour.”
He suggests upcycling old belts
and straps from laptop and duffel
bags into guitar straps.
 Stand with feet shoulder- width
apart, your weight stabilised
between the big and little toe of each
foot. Extend the arms
outward like you’re
hugging a tree, the
fingertips of both hands
just short of touching.
 Slowly lift the crown
of your head (like you’re
suspending your neck),
and start lengthening
your spine.
 Keep your chest hollow,
underarms open, shoulders
soft and fingers separated.
Let the tip of your
Rangarajan says that a host of
things can be made from coconut
shells. “You can make hanging
planters by poking holes in the
shell and attaching ropes.
Replace soil with grain or seeds
to make a bird-feeder or wax to
make coconut-shell candles.”
If you’re looking at upgrading
your home, glass bottles can be
upcycled as trendy lamps. “Dec-
orate the glass with enamel paint
or decoupage work and slip in
some string lights for a nice dim
glow,” Rangarajan says. Addi-
tionally, she suggests gluing
tongue touch your upper palate to
get the body aligned to let the
energy or chi flow.
 Bend your legs
slightly at the knee,
but don’t clench any
muscles. Tuck tailbone
in, so spine is straight.
Close your eyes.
 The move is meant
to align your insides
and mind, not strain
the physical self. “The
slower you go, the
more you listen to how
your body is adjusting
itself,” Desai says.
Method: Blend all
the ingredients exc
ept
for the tomatoes an
d
some of the cucum
ber
and chill in the
refrigerator.
Serve in glasses
garnished with he
rbs
over cucumber and
tomato discs.
surface and
slice off the
sleeves.
n Turn it inside
out and
arrange it such
that its bottom
A moment in the life of a man at work during the lockdown
edges overlap.
n Make 2x2 inch
cuts along the
bottom edge. Tie each of the
opposing 2x2 inch strips
together, so it looks like a loose
weave at the base.
n Turn the shirt right side out and
your bag is ready.
(Courtesy Upcycler’s Lab)
wooden Scrabble tiles or carom
coins together to make coasters.
Amishi Parasrampuria, foun-
der of Upcycler’s Lab, suggests
using old bills, magazines and
newspapers to create papier-mâ-
ché projects. “Or you can cut the
material into long strips and
weave them together to make
coasters or a waste paper bas-
ket,” she adds.
READ
My Uncle Napolean by Iraj
Pezeshkzad: A retired army officer
with Napoleonic pretensions is the
centre of patronage and intrigue in
a large extended
Iranian family. The
timeless satire is a
lovely window
into a culture of
warmth and
tenderness, not
the grim Iran we
are usually shown.
WATCH
The Death of Stalin: Step inside
the Kremlin in this viciously dark
comedy directed by Armando
Iannucci and based on the graphic
novel series by Fabien Nury and
Thierry Robin. The dictator has
died, and at first no one even
dares say it. Mayhem, chaos and
hilarity follow. On Amazon Prime.
At some point or another, everybody
confronts — in their own way — the
damage the pandemic is causing on
their life. In his case, rickshaw puller
PRIVATE
CAPITAL Rajkumar can sum it up in two Hindi
words—“Phass gaye”, got stuck.
the city you
never see In his late 20s, Rajkumar just dropped a
passenger in a south Delhi neighbour-
hood. “It was a local sawari (client)... I can’t be
on the main road... but I’m able to work my
way through the lanes.” He says the cops let
him operate within the locality, but “they
insist that I should wear a mask.”
And Rajkumar, indeed, is wearing a mask.
“One good person was distributing dal
chawal to some of us patri wallas (pavement
dwellers) a few nights ago, and he gave me
the mask along with the khana (food).”
The puller lives with a few other men on a
pavement, not far from the upper crust
neighbourhood where he now operates.
This afternoon, the houses along this park-
facing street are marooned in a comfy
post-lunch silence. All the doors and windows
are locked. The buzzing sound of an air
conditioner is streaming out from one of the
apartments.
Rajkumar says he is not a Delhi walla. “This is
just the place where I work.” He says his home
is a village in Shahjahanpur, UP. “My wife and
my two children live there with my parents.”
He would send them money every two weeks
but hasn’t been able to do that since the
lockdown began three weeks ago.
“I’m stuck... I want to go back home but I
can’t.”
He now takes out a plastic water bottle from
under the rickshaw’s passenger seat, as well
as a bar of brown soap from his pocket, and
starts washing his hands. “One passenger
gave me the soap some days ago... he told me
to wash my hands many times in the day.”
And now he adjusts the mask on his face
somehow solemnly. He moves it towards the
right part of his face, then adjusts it again to
cover the left side. He pulls it high up the
nose, and then lowers it, and carefully ties the
knot at the back of the head.
As he is about to pedal away, a window opens
from an adjacent house and a woman’s face
appears. “Bhaiya, do you want peene ka paani
(drinking water)?” she asks in a halting Hindi.
Rajkumar folds his hands and shakes his head,
indicating he isn’t thirsty. But he is looking
moved, probably touched by this unexpected
gesture of human-to-human camaraderie.

GOVERNMENT OF PUNJAB
DEPARTMENT OF POWER
(Energy Branch)
Applications are invited for the post of Director/Generation,
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, Patiala
For details, login to www.punjab.gov.in, www.pspcl.in, www.
pstcl.org and www.pserc.nic.in. Last date of receipt of applications
is 18.05.2020.
723-C

Uttarakhand Urban Sector Development EMPLOYMENT

Agency (UUSDA)
Urban Development Department, Government of Uttarakhand
777, Saatvik Tower, Kaulagarh Road, Rajendera Nagar, Dehradun MEDICAL
Ph. 0135-2753894, Tel-Fax-0135-2754895, Email: uusdip@gmail.com, Web.:www.uusdip.org
Adv. No: UUSDA/P(UK)-75/911 Date: 13.04.2020 WANTED FULLTIME Radiologist
at Devli Near Saket, Khanpur, Delhi,
CORRIGENDUM No.1 (Time Extension) Contact: 8750062029.

e-Procurement Notice Re-Tender for Package no. WDN-02 COMPUTER

Due to unavoidable circumstances, due dates of bidding for works mentioned below are revised OPERATOR
as per following details:- REQD EXP. Computer Operator &
S.No. Package Name Name of Work Marketing Exec. for publishing bids
1 Package No.-WDN-02 Procurement of balance work for supplying, laying, testing in GEM for government orders in
furniture industry. # 9891261313,
and commissioning of Network in Vijay Park, Yamuna Email: sumitmago23@hotmail.com
Colony and Kanwali Gaon, Dehradun
Last Date/Time for downloading of the Tender document - 26.05.2020 upto 16:00 hrs.
Last date of submission of Bid online - 28.05.2020 upto 17:00 hrs.
Last date of submission of hard copy of Bid - 02.06.2020 upto 17:00 hrs. DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Date of opening of Technical Bid online - 03.06.2020 at 11:00 hrs. GOVERNMENT OF N.C.T. OF DELHI
For full and further details kindly visit e-procurement portal https://uktenders.gov.in. Program
Director reserves the right to shortlist or reject any of the proposals or to scrap entire process First Floor, ISBT Building, Kashmere Gate, DELHI-110006
without assigning any reason thereof. F. No. 61(1146)/Misc/DD(CPU)/18/Part File-1/33 Dated: 13.04.2020
Program Director, UUSDA
kkW¸FFSF ÀFaI »´F AF´FI F ÀFW¹Fû¦F ¶FZW °FS I »Fll
PUBLIC NOTICE
On prevention and control of the risk of Covid 19 to the children in Child Care Institutions, the
Hon’ble Supreme court in order dated 03.04.2020 in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 4 of 2020
has issued detailed guidelines listing number of actionable points to be followed by various duty
holders such as Juvenile Justice Boards, district Child Welfare Committees, managers of Child
Care Institutions (CCIs) etc.
In order to put into effect control measures on prevention and remedy, the Department of
Women and Child Development, Government of NCT of Delhi has been issuing from time to
time guidelines for the CCIs, copies of which are available on the department’s website at the
http://www.wcddel.in/. Further, district level committees have been constituted to check on
compliance of guidelines.
The Juvenile Justice Committee constituted of the Hon’ble Judges of Delhi High Court have also
reviewed in detail the implementation of the said orders of the Apex Court in meeting conducted
through video conferencing on 07th April 2020 and 13th April 2020 with all duty holders.
In order to address any issues related to Covid 19 in management of CCIs, a central Covid 19
cell has been set up at the headquarters of this department. This cell can be approached either
by email at the icps.cpudel@gmail.com or over phone to Ms. Namrata Biruly, Asst. Director
(ICPS) (Mobile No:- 9910013417) and Ms. Abhisarika Rai (Mobile No.:- 9911813487). Any
CCIs specially those managed by the NGOs may approach the cell for assistance and guidance.
It is further advised that for any updates which are of interest to CCIs they can visit the website
of Department of WCD.
DIP/Shabdarth/0004/20-21 Director, WCD

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 HIN DU STA N T IM ES , N EW DE LHI
T U ES DAY, A PRIL 14 , 2020 TIME OUT htcity 15
PHOTO: ISTOCK, FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY

SHILPA’S
Wanted to be clean Mona Singh Quarantine cooking: FAR, BUT
would like
shaven for long: Karan JJKN re-runa Men take the plunge CLOSER TO
HER FAMILY
Shreya Mukherjee
Radhika Bhirani Kritika Sehgal

A
ctor Shilpa
Rishabh Suri

A W
s celebrities frequently ith the lockdown Shirodkar, who’s
share social media turning many into quarantining in

W
updates during the ith so many old
lockdown, one unique post shows such as
that caught the eye was by Ramayan and
actor Karan V Grover. In a Mahabharat making a
video that he posted, Karan is comeback on Indian
seen cutting his hair and television, there’s a buzz
getting rid of his beard after about Mona Singh’s Jassi
five long years. Jaissi Koi Nahin (JJKN)
“I wanted to see myself making a comeback too.
clean shaven for a while now, “I have not heard any
but I was always stuck in the such news, but what I did
beard or stubble look, with experience was a lot of
some shoot or the other. I had people writing to me on
thought, after finishing the social media that I should
shoot of Kahaan Hum Kahaan
Tum, I’ll trim my hair and I’ll
go clean shaven for a few
weeks,” he shares.
speak to channel heads
and tell them to re-run
the show. It’s the perfect
time for it to re-run,” says
Mona Singh; (inset) in a still
from Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin
A new scale
culinary enthusiasts,
and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar starting a cooking
challenge, #LetMenCook, the
motivation to take over the
kitchen is reignited in men.
He wrote on Twitter, “How
about #WomenOnStrike on
Monday? #LetMenCook
Women can guide others in the
house, including children to
Dubai with her daughter
cook. In some cases, it might be challenge, #LetMenCook, and and husband, is missing
tougher to teach than to cook took hold of the kitchen.” being with sister, actor
yourself but it’s worth the Anirudh Arora, a student of Namrata Shirodkar, and
challenge....” Ramanujan College, DU, says, says she’s going to take
John Cyril, an engineering “It gives peace of mind and the first flight to
student, says, “I have always relaxation. I spent hours binge Hyderabad to meet her
loved cooking but with the watching series, but now I when things are better.
hectic college schedule, it was cook. My mother is happy to “We’ve been indoors
tough to keep up. However, I have a helping hand.” for a few weeks now. My
recently stumbled upon this n kritika.sehgal@hindustantimes.com daughter is being home-
schooled, my husband is
also working from home.
We’re all in this fight
Akshay Kapoor
(left); Hanita
Bhambri
PHOTOS:
Shilpa
Shirodkar
together, and only we
can stop coronavirus
from spreading,” says
the 50-year-old actor,

to play for
And that’s when the the 38-year-old actor, INSTAGRAM who, apart from taking
pandemic hit. “Since I was not adding that it was the care of herself and her
going out to meet anyone or to absence of unnecessary family, is also helping the
shoot anything, this was the dragging that made old staff that worked for her
best period to experiment and shows better. back in Mumbai, and
see myself clean shaven,”
says the actor, while adding
that he’s not being just a
classic “binge watcher”
during the lockdown.
“We never changed
our story according to
the ratings we got. Now
what happens is, if they
call me for a cameo and
Indie music
Mallika Bhagat artistes are now going online
Dubai.
“At this point, all we
can do is make them
emotionally and
financially confident,
Apart from writing down my track works, they with their scheduled shows. and that is what we’re

C
ideas, Grover, 37, is also will then start my track. ovid-19 began tearing Delhi-based singer- poly-genre band Cha’bi says, doing,” she says.
doing household chores. He This is something not through India in March, songwriter Hanita Bhambri, “There is an acute cash But getting to spend
believes that the big very well-planned. That and the lockdown says, “It’s unfortunate that crunch in this already fragile time with family is a
learning from this situation never happened with measures that followed forced many of my tours got industry. The lockdown has silver lining for the actor.
is the importance of police, Jassi. Every heroine in independent musicians to go cancelled. [But] once the given people time and “Namrata and I are doing
sanitation workers and shows today looks the underground. lockdown is over, I’ll have a incentive to pursue new so many video calls. It’s
medical fraternity. “We have to Karan V Grover got to live his same, either she’s crying With tours being larger online audience to genres of music. That’s the only now that she has the
create funds for these workers ‘clean shaven’ dream, amid the or angry,” Singh says. abandoned and bands losing cater to.” only relief, I guess.” time to chat,” she says.
and their families,” he signs off. lockdown n rishabh.suri@htlive.com out on sold tickets, many Akshay Kapoor of Delhi’s n mallika.bhagat@hindustantimes.com n shreya.mukherjee@htlive.com
n radhika.bhirani@hindustantimes.com PHOTOS: INSTAGRAM/KARANVGROVER

From ₹5 meal kitchen

SUDOKU DIFFICULTY LEVEL CALVIN AND HOBBES Bill Watterson

to charity on wheels...

MATHDOKU DID YOU KNOW?

Anoop Khanna (inset) goes around Noida,
distributing food packets
Ashish Kedia “We have made small ration
packets to discourage people
Actor Allu Arjun, who played the role of
Gona Ganna Reddy in Rudhramadevi
(2015), supposedly saved the film from
Fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, column and
each of the 9X9 squares contains all the digits from 1 to 9.
a financial muddle, and didn’t charge a
penny for his role in the film.
SCRAMBLE - 3421
Solve the four anagrams and move one letter to each square to
form four ordinary words

A
fter feeding the
underprivileged for five
years and at only ₹5 per
meal, through his Dadi Ki Rasoi
initiative, social activist Anoop
Khanna refuses to be daunted
by the lockdown.
While earlier, he would set
up his food stall at around
afternoon at a fixed place in
Sector 29, his schedule now
involves driving around the
empty stretches of Noida with
over 400 packets of dry rations
— a few kilograms of rice,
wheat flour and pulses.
from hoarding and to cover
more households. We plan to
revisit these places in a gap of
four to five days,” says Khanna.
With a WHO advisory
suggesting senior citizens to
exercise maximum caution and
preferably stay indoors, the
62-year-old pins his hope on
safety gears. “In this hour, it is
of utmost importance to keep
serving people. I am using a
mask, gloves and even a plastic
apron, and we always maintain
social distancing,” he adds.
n ashish.kedia@hindustantimes.com
H RUIO
FH SIT
IIORC N
E E FSUF
Now arrange the letters marked with an asterisk (*) to form the
answer to the riddle or to fill in the missing words as indicated.
______________ is the truth inside the lie.
SOLUTION SUDOKU
- Stephen King (7)
SOLUTION MATHDUKU
Place numbers into the puzzle cells so that each row and column contains each of the digits from 1 to 5. No number is to be repeated in any row or
ANSWER: Fiction is the truth inside the lie. - Stephen King
column. Each bold-outlined cells contain a hint of a number and one of the mathematical symbols + x - /. The number is the result of the operation
SCRAMBLE SOLUTION: Houri, shift, ironic, effuse
represented by the symbol to the digits contained.

Astrologer Prem Kumar Sharma can be contacted at: Delhi: 011-47033152, Sarah Michelle Gellar: The American actor,
TUESDAY
DAILY HOROSCOPE APRIL 14,
2020
40532026 (Sat to Mon): Panchkula: 91-172-2562832, 2572874 (Tues to Thurs);
Mumbai: 09716145644 (Last week of every month)
known for films such as I Know What You Did Last
Summer, Scream 2, Cruel Intentions, Scooby-Doo,
The Grudge, turns 43 today.

Some compromises may be required on
the financial front. Those in the travel
sector can find the business improving.
Good eating habits are likely to be
adopted by some just to keep a lifestyle
ARIES disease at bay. You are likely to keep
(MAR 21 - APR 20) in touch with your near and dear ones,
who are not in town. Those in love may
want to plan an outing together but may have
to wait for some more time. Achieving a distinction on the academic
front is possible.
Love Focus: Love may knock at the door of those looking for it.
Lucky Number: 6 Lucky Colour: Turquoise
Judicious spending will allow you to both
enjoy as well as save. Those in show
business will get a chance to promote
themselves. On the health front,
meditation will prove a good remedy in
TAURUS countering mental tensions. Relationship
(APR 21 - MAY 20) with spouse will remain on an even keel,
for those experiencing turbulence. Those
planning to travel abroad may have to prepare
for some additional documentations. Be careful while meeting
strangers online.
Love Focus: Some of you can get romantically involved.
Lucky Number: 2 Lucky Colour: Lemon
Good earning will help boost your quality
of life. You will fare much better if you
don’t play for short-term gains.
Adopting an active lifestyle will do a
whale of a good in keeping minor
GEMINI ailments at bay. Your love and admiration
(MAY 21 - JUN 21) for spouse is likely to make the home
front a paradise. Some of you are likely to
plan to buy a property in the form of a plot or
an apartment.
Love Focus: Those in a long-term relationship may seriously consider
taking the plunge.
Lucky Number: 3 Lucky Colour: Rose
Gifting money to the one you love
cannot be ruled out. On the professional
front, those seeking job will need to
enhance their market value to succeed.
On the health front, your new initiative
CANCER will prove effective in coming back in
(JUNE 22 - JULY 22) shape. A celebratory atmosphere may
be created at home by someone’s
achievement. Those wanting to dispose of
property should wait for some more time. Things look well on the
academic front.
Love Focus: An opposite number is likely to attract you.
Lucky Number: 15 Lucky Colour: Rosy Brown

Don’t get emotionally swayed by a Buying a new car or two-wheeler may have Financial security will make you more Financially, things brighten for you as
scheming person and give in to his or her to be postponed to a later date. confident in the present environment. pending payments are received.
demands. It will be important to Marketing personnel may need to You may feel hesitant to broach a Celebrations regarding a promotion or a
understand a task correctly initially rethink strategy. A home remedy may contentious issue with a rival at work. raise are just round the corner for some.
than to revert back time and again. On prove effective in curing a persistent Those unwell may neglect to take There will be nothing to complain about
the health front, condition of those LEO health problem. Family life cruises along VIRGO medicine and prolong their illness. A LIBRA on the health front. Domestic SCORPIO
recuperating from surgery will improve (JULY 23 - AUG 23) smoothly as you enjoy special bonding (AUG 24 - SEPT 23) pre-planned out of town business trip (SEPT 24 - OCT 23) environment needs to be handled with (OCT 24 - NOV 22)
quickly. Enjoying togetherness with family with other family members. A real estate may not materialise but should not get you care. A piece of information may prove
is indicated and will keep you in high spirits. transaction may have to be arranged on a short worried. Someone’s help and support on the important for getting new opportunities on
Taking help from someone clued up on the academic front will help notice, so start preparing for it now. academic front is likely to give a big boost to your performance. the academic front.
clarify your mind. Love Focus: Falling in love with someone you have recently met Love Focus: Someone from the opposite camp may tug at your Love Focus: Sprinkle some romance in your relationship to make your
Love Focus: Romance will be farthest from your mind today. cannot be ruled out. heartstrings and usher in romance! marital boat cruise smoothly.
Lucky Number: 18 Lucky Colour: Red Lucky Number: 22 Lucky Colour: Dark Turquoise Lucky Number: 11 Lucky Colour: Beige Lucky Number: 15 Lucky Colour: Rosy Brown

On the financial front, investment options
may appear confusing. An out of town
business deal may have to be planned
via some other medium rather than
travelling there directly. A new workout
regime will serve your purpose
SAGITTARIUS excellently, on the health front. Changes
(NOV 23 - DEC 21)
on the home front are likely to be
welcomed by all. A good morale booster will
work wonders for those appearing for a tough competition on the
academic front.
Love Focus: Marriage may be on the minds of the eligible.
Lucky Number: 17 Lucky Colour: White
Those in financial doldrums may need to do
something about it urgently. A good turn
done to someone at work is likely to be
repaid soon. You feel at the top of the
world, where health is concerned. You
are likely to do some fun things with
CAPRICORN family today. Those planning to travel
(DEC 22 - JAN 21)
abroad in the coming days may face some
hassles, so prepare well and keep your papers in
order. A property may come into your name.
Love Focus: Romantic mood may wane as you get busy with other
priorities.
Lucky Number: 8 Lucky Colour: Rose
Some relief on the financial front is
foreseen. Thorough knowledge about
your trade is likely to place you head and
shoulders above others. You will do well
to give your system a break by fasting or
eating a special diet. Organising a family
AQUARIUS get-together cannot be ruled out. Some
(JAN 22 - FEB 19)
of you may plan to shift to a new
accommodation. Guiding someone on the
academic front will give you an immense sense of satisfaction.
Love Focus: Your way with words will impress someone from the
opposite camp!
Lucky Number: 1 Lucky Colour: Cream
This is the time to consolidate your position
on the professional front. You will be able
to complete the paperwork to get a loan
released. Those feeling unwell for
sometime are likely to recover quickly.
You are likely to achieve much
PISCES satisfaction in catering to a family elder.
(FEB 20 - MAR 20)
Property dealers need to plan for new
strategies and offers to boost their sales. Some
of you can organise a surprise party for someone close.
Love Focus: A golden opportunity to win over the one you love is
about to present itself.
Lucky Number: 4 Lucky Colour: Parrot Green

NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020 I Entertainment & Promotional Features
SIXSHOTSOFLIFE
There’s negativity all around, but we will focus on the
positivity. Our editor picks shots of life that bring a smile
Y THE NEEDY
STANDING B p of people
who got toge lp the
s, a grou
Caring Indian ve set up food infrastruc
ci al m ed ia , ha
so ve nt ila to r de
ost
poor, a low-c ckdo wn helpline.
al th lo
mental he
ys, helped ov
up in three da
Pune. They
will soon
TOM HANKS IS
‘AMERICA’S DAD’
Tom Hanks was one of the
first celebrities to test
positive for Covid-19.
Hosting Saturday Night
Live show from home,
he joked, “Ever since
being diagnosed, I
have been more like
America’s dad than
ever before, since
no one wants to be
around me
anymore,” he said.
PHOTOS:
INSTAGRAM
Adaa Khan shared
an artwork of a
man clicking a
selfie while
distributing food
FRIENDS CAST
FILM 90-MIN
SPECIAL
T
he cast of Friends were set
to reunite for a special but
plans were delayed due to
the Covid-19 scare. Now
they’ve recorded a 90-minute
special. Actor Courteney Cox
and director Ben Winston
filmed a “mock rehearsal”
over a live video app, reports
thesun.co.uk. A source said
Cox set up online meetings.
“Their sessions have been
brilliant fun, and there’s some
hilarious material which they
hope can be aired as teasers, or
a special,” the source added.
NOTE TO READERS: Some of the
coverage that appears on our pages
is paid for by the concerned brands.
No sponsored content does or shall
appear in any part of HT without it
being declared as such to our valued
readers.
LITTLE CHILDREN MAKE
BIG DIFFERENCE!
Filmmaker Farah Khan Kunder’s
12-year-old son Czar Kunder has
composed a rap titled Need To
Survive, urging people not to
step out during the pandemic.
Her 12-year-old daughter Anya
has also raised ₹70,000 in five
days by sketching people’s pets
and selling the sketches. The
money is being used to feed
starving animals as well as
needy people.
ther via
he
ture to
and a
si gn ed w ith IIT Kanpur set-
in it ia ti ve,
Their food
in Mumbai and
pe op le
er 35,000 her cities.
be ad di ng Delhi and ot
PHOTO:
REUTERS
Sangeeta Yadav
A
ctor Jay Bhanushali’s
recent tweets, calling out
people posting photos
and videos while distributing
food to the needy, triggered a
debate — were the pictures
publicity or a bid to inspire?
Of late, videos of actors
Mahira Sharma and Paras
Chabbra, and Prince Narula
and Yuvika Chaudhary,
distributing food to the
underprivileged were widely
shared on social media. Soon
after, Bhanushali tweeted
without naming anyone, but
netizens assumed it was
aimed at Paras-Mahira.
“It’s a pity when someone
makes publicity out of
Weight gain? It can wait
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VICTORY OF GOOD
ASI Harjeet Singh, the brave Punjab policeman,
has had successful surgery to reimplant his
hand. A few violent men in Patiala had
chopped off his hand with a sword while he
was on duty. “The hand is viable, warm with
good circulation,” doctors from PGIMER
Chandigarh who performed the 7.5-hour long
and challenging plastic surgery said.
someone’s helplessness. You
can click pictures with the
stuff you’re donating but the
recipient’s name and identity
should be kept secret as not
everyone who’s receiving
food packets is a beggar,”
Bhanushali tells us.
Actors Kushal Tandon and
Adaa Khan, too, shared an
artwork on their Instagram
showing a man taking a selfie
while giving food packets.
“Identity of the person
receiving help should never
be revealed,” opines Khan,
adding, “If they do this to
inspire others, then instead
endorse it.” Tandon is against
the idea of filming the act of
helping someone. “Some
people have made it an event
Radhika Bhirani
B
aking, boiling, roasting,
frying — celebs are
indulging more than ever
in their kitchens during the
lockdown. And they’re glad to
be gorging on home-cooked
delicacies, avoiding piling on
weight with home workouts.
Busy shooting outdoors
since last June, Rasika Dugal is
looking at this time “to detox,
eat healthy and exercise well”.
Stressing on the limited food
supply, she adds, “It’s not time
for extravagance, hence, I’m
enjoying simple, healthy food
in small meals every two to
three hours, and working out at
home at least six times a week”.
Radhika Madan has made a
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eo which
ironment
ing it: “We
big
SALUTE TO KHAKI!
Constable Anand
Pandey walked for
450km from
Kanpur to
Jabalpur to join
duty. He had
gone to Kanpur to
meet his wife. As
he got stuck there
due to the lockdown,
he decided to walk. It
took him three days to
reach Jabalpur.
(From left) Prince Narula,
Mahira Sharma and Paras
Chabbra donating food;
Jay Bhanushali criticised
the publicising of such
actions on social media
and their PRs ensure they are
in the frame,” he says.
But some feel there’s no
harm if they can influence
people through social media.
Sharma tells us, “For me,
donating essentials is a
gesture to show I care... I’m
using my social media to
encourage people.”
Narula too says, “My
intention was to use my social
media platform to inspire my
followers. If people think it’s a
show-off, I don’t care.
Even if 20 people
get inspired
and donate,
mera
show-off
safal ho
jayega.”
lifestyle change by
removing sugar and
dairy from her diet. “I’m
also learning to cook, so
I’m eating a lot of good stuff. I
do yoga everyday besides
walking for an hour.”
Maanvi Gagroo says
quarantine has made her
“more regular” with exercise.
Shweta Tripathi Sharma
calls herself “an anda in the
kitchen”. But she loves “paneer
dosas and rajma tikkis from the
home kitchen”.
Physical work in the house
is helping Adah Sharma most.
“There’s definitely no weight
gain! Also, I’m not a very good
cook, so my weight will be
under check,” adds Sharma,
whose usual diet is rice,
AFTER MYTHOLOGY,
IS IT SAAS-BAHU
(Clockwise
from left) Stills from
Balika Vadhu,
Kahaani Ghar Ghar
Kii, Kasautii Zindagi
Kay and Kyunki Saas
Bhi Kabhi
Bahu Thi
Shruti
Haasan
Shruti
says no to
pressure
about being
productive
Kavita Awaasthi
S
tuck in the lockdown for
almost three weeks now,
actor Shruti Haasan, who
is living with just her cat in
Mumbai, has realised that she
enjoys her own company. “The
most challenging thing for me,
at this point, is the inability to
work and travel. The latter has
made me a little bit angsty. But
I value this time as well,” she
says.
She works out daily, cooks,
practises playing the piano
and looks after her cat, which
gives her “a sense of routine”.
“But I’m not putting pressure
on myself to be productive...
It’s a time of heavy
anxiousness and nervousness
for everybody — financial
worries, emotional concerns
and mental well-being... I had
taken a break from work two
years ago, and since then, I’ve
realised that one should take a
break to balance work with
free time,” Haasan shares.
Pointing out that situations
like these can “bring out the
best or the worst in people”,
she says that she’s glad to see
(Clockwise)
Rasika Dugal,
Shweta Tripathi Sharma,
Adah Sharma and
Radhika Madan
sambhar and a vegetable.
Evelyn Sharma, a vegan,
feels “it’s alright to indulge in
home-made food. Make fresh
smoothies and try out healthy
snacking options”.
n radhika.bhirani@hindustantimes.com
TIME?
The sagas that
had redefined
Indian TV, now
hope to win
audiences all
over again
Sangeeta Yadav
A
great strategy or crisis
management — reruns
of phenomenally
popular mythological
shows Mahabharat and
Ramayan or sitcoms Dekh
Bhai Dekh and Shrimaan
Shrimati during the
lockdown are proving to be
quite the game-changer on
TV. Now, with Balika Vadhu
the latest to return, many feel
getting back iconic saas bahu
sagas such as Kahaani Ghar
Ghar Kii, Kasautii Zindagi
Kay and Kyunki Saas Bhi
Kabhi Bahu Thi, among
others, will boost TRPs.
Producer Rajan Shahi feels
good shows will resonate
whenever they air. “If we
bring back saas-bahu shows
which started a new phase on
Indian TV, broadcasters can
cash in on the popularity
again,” he says.
Avika Gor, aka the young
Anandi of Balika Vadhu, is
overwhelmed as her show
returns. “It was a one-of-its
kind show, and each episode
had a message that made a
difference,” she says.
How can
I think about
work amid this
crisis?
people helping each other
and valuing the “small things
we were taking for granted”.
She adds, “But the xenophobia
and discrimination around the
world is really upsetting and I
feel if something like this
pandemic can’t unite us, then I
don’t know what will.”
While her peers have been
chatting with friends or media
outlets, Haasan did live chats
on Instagram with “inspiring”
women, who shared their
Juhi Chakraborty
views on body image issues,
music, mental health, among
D
other topics. “I believe in the ue to the Covid-19
power of sisterhood and have pandemic, every
met many interesting women industry is facing grim
through my work. So, other prospects — including the
than my friends, I spoke to film industry, with projects
some women on different halted and releases
aspects of life which I thought postponed indefinitely. But
would help others,” she says.
n kavita.awaasthi@htlive.com
filmmaker Shoojit Sircar is
keeping a positive outlook.
“I’m not worried about
when I’ll be able to get back
to work. How can I think
Dalgona about getting back to work
rice; amid this crisis? I’m not
(below) thinking about when my
Dalgona films will release or when I’ll
peg be able to start a project,” he
PHOTO: says, adding that he’s also
TWITTER keeping away from news “as
too much information is also
poisonous”. Sircar’s film,
Gulabo Sitabo was slated to
release this month. Besides,
he was also directing a biopic
rinks
ist to food, d
Netizens’ Dalgona tw
Ashish Kedia
W
hile people lately went
crazy over Dalgona
coffee, some applied the
layered concept of food
preparation to their favourite
cuisine and drinks. Two such
preparations — Dalgona rice
and Dalgona peg — are now
winning hearts. Rohan
Kachalia from Mumbai, who
posted a picture of Dalgona rice
in a glass jar, says it was an
attempt “to make our lives a
little less mundane”.
Dalgona rice is basically an
Actors who became a
household name with these
shows also feel it’s a great idea
to bring them back.
Urvashi Dholakia aka
Komolika of Kasautii... feels
people will love to go down
memory lane. Other than her
show, she says, “I’d also like
to see Kahaani... because I
love Sakshi Tanwar’s acting
and the whole cast was
perfect. Even Ghar Ek
Mandir and Mehndi Tere
Naam Ki were very relatable
and the characters
beautifully etched.” Echoing
the sentiment, Hiten Tejwani
of Kyunki... says, “All these
shows hold a great recall
value and will definitely get a
good audience. Even the
current generation will be
able to connect.”
Though the popular
sitcoms are doing well on
screen, getting daily soaps
back “involves calculative
risk”, points out scriptwriter
Gajra Kottary. “Most of these
are long-running shows and
once the lockdown is over, the
new shows would be back.
Balika Vadhu for instance,
went on for eight years, so it
will club two episodes and air
for an hour daily. So, some
broadcasters are playing it
safe by going for shows with
shorter episodes,” Kottary
adds.
n sangeeta.yadav@hindustantimes.com
Shoojit
Sircar
starring Vicky Kaushal.
In the meantime, he is
keeping himself busy
sharing interesting posts on
social media. He recently
shared, “As spas are shut,
practice self slapping. It
improves blood circulation
and gives your skin a rosy
glow. It massages and firms
up your facial muscles —
taking years off your face.
And also can awaken our
sleeping conscience...”
Asked where is this
coming from, Sircar replies,
“I’m just posting what comes
to my mind... There are
times when I feel worried
because of the children. But I
have a mantra to deal with it.
Anything can happen
anytime in life. You just have
to adapt and reboot
accordingly.”
n juhi.chakraborty@htlive.com
aesthetic presentation of good
ol’ dal-chawal — layers of rice,
lentils, and veggies of your
choice in a jar or glass. Aalok
Singh from Delhi, who used a
Cognac glass, says, “The
aesthetic, combined with taste,
makes it great to serve.”
A Dalgona-inspired spin to
Scotch peg — distinct layers of
whisky and water in a glass —is
also trending. While some point
out that a layered peg isn’t new,
it can’t be denied that the
Dalgona tag has brought new
fans as people find ways to stay
busy during the lockdown.
n ashish.kedia@hindustantimes.com