#ˇ · resume at around 1.7 lakh common service centres across the country from friday, mak- ......

��

�� !"�� !�� "�� #��$� �� %��&$� ��

�� #�� !"�� '��(��)��*��!��+��!,�� -��+��$��.� �$��/+�� (��

��

�� 0#1�(#23!

Aday after announcing theresumption of domestic

passenger flights from May25, the Ministry of CivilAviation on Thursday cappedthe maximum fare for threemonths and made it mandato-ry for passengers to reach theairport two hours in advancefor thermal screening. On thebusiest route like Delhi-Mumbai sector, pricing will bein the range of �3,500 to�10,000.

Announcing the new farestructures, Union CivilAviation Minister HardeepSingh Puri said on Thursdaythat to check that airlines arenot selling tickets at higherprice, 40 per cent of the ticketswill have to be sold below themean average of upper andlower fare range.

Earlier, the Ministry issuedstandard operating procedures(SoPs) for airlines, airportspassengers and other stake-holders. As per SoPs, passen-gers are required to reach theairport two hours in advancefor thermal screening.

Explaining the new fare

structures, the Minister saidthat flight durations have beendivided in 7 categories — 0-30minutes, 30-60 minutes, 60-90minutes, 90-120 minutes, 120-150 minutes, 150-180 min-utes, and 180-210 minutes.

“For a journey between90-120 minutes the minimumfare will be �3,500 and maxi-mum would be �10,000. Thefare band is split into differentfare buckets. 40 per cent of theseats have to be sold at a fareless than the midpoint of the

band,” Puri said, adding thatairlines will have to followticket price guidelines issued byit when they restart somedomestic flights.

The Minister furtherexplained that for example,midpoint of �3,500 and�10,000 is �6,700. So 40 percent of the seats have to be soldat a price less than �6,700.

“This is how we’re ensuringthat fares don’t go out of con-trol. The fares will be regulat-ed and will be within a fixed

range”, Puri added.In addition, the capping is

applicable only to base fares.Taxes, such as user develop-ment fee, GST (Goods andServices Tax) will be chargedadditionally. Puri also said thatthere will be no need to keepmiddle seats vacant.

He said only one-third ofthe approved 2020 summerschedule list will be allowedfrom metro to metro andmetro to non-metro cities.

“For operation from metroto metro cities, 1/3rd capacityof approved summer schedule2020, which is more than 33.33per cent, will be allowed. Foroperation from metro to non-metro cities and vice-versa,where weekly departures aregreater than 100, 1/3rd capac-ity of approved summer sched-ule 2020, will be allowed,” theMinister said.

Puri said passengers willhave to provide their medicaldetails through the AarogyaSetu app or by filling up a self-declaration form. They willhave to go for web-check-in asphysical check-in counters inairports will not operate.

Continued on 0

�� 4524+�+

Super Cyclone Amphan dev-astated at least four West

Bengal district killing 72 peo-ple, 15 in State Capital Kolkata,some crushed under theuprooted trees, others gettingelectrocuted and yet otherscoming under collapsed partsof buildings. The fiercestcyclone to hit West Bengal in100 years also wreaked havocin Odisha.

Residents recalled “livingthrough hell” for six hours asthe winds howled incessantly.Windows buckled from thepressure of the storm, carsfloated on water logged roads,bumping against each other.Parts of air conditioners wereflying around like missiles.Buses and taxis crashed againsteach other, small fishing boatsturned turtle and groundedplanes shook at the inundatedKolkata airport.

Last time Bengal witnesseda natural calamity as dreadful-ly ruinous as Amphan wastwo years before Nadir Shahattacked Delhi and 20 yearsbefore Robert Clive humbled

Nawab of Bengal Siraj udDaulah at Plassey in 1757.

Reacting to the magnitudeof the devastation, Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeesaid, “I have never witnessedsuch a fierce cyclone anddestruction in my life. I would

request Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to visitAmphan-affected areas. Thereis nothing left. No infrastruc-ture, no power, no telephoneconnection. I will visit theaffected areas very soon. Alarge part of North and South

24 Parganas and Kolkata arefacing massive power cut sincelast evening. We have to rebuildthose districts from scratch. Iwould urge the Central gov-ernment to extend all help tothe State.”

Related report on P10

�� 0#1�(#23!

Central Paramilitary forceslike BSF, CRPF and ITBP

personnel hit by Covid-19 haverecorded significant improve-ment in recoveries. While theBSF has a tally of 274 recover-ies and 87 active cases out of atotal of 363 patients, the CRPFhas shown recovery of 212personnel hit by coronavirusbesides 121 active cases out oftotal 335 personnel sufferingfrom the pandemic.

However, the CRPF onThursday recorded death of apersonnel due to Covid-19.Out of the 363 Covid-19patients in the Border SecurityForce (BSF), two personnelhad succumbed to the disease.

Continued on Page 10

�� 0#1�(#23!

Aday after China blamedIndia for flaring up tension

on the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Sikkim and Ladakh,New Delhi on Thursday said itwas the other way round.

“In fact, it is Chinese sidewhich has undertaken activitycreating hindrance in regularpatrolling by the Indian Army,”Ministry of External Affairssaid. This strong rebuttal cameamid continuing tension on theLAC in Eastern Ladakh wherea likely flashpoint was devel-oping in the Galwan River. TheChinese Army has pitchedabout 80 to 90 tents there withadditional troops and theIndian side has also reinforcedits troop strength.

China claimed India wasbuilding a road close to theLAC and disrupting Chineseactivities while India has refut-ed it.

Any suggestion that Indiantroops had undertaken activi-ty across the LAC in theWestern Sector (Ladakh) or theSikkim sector is not accurate.Indian troops are fully familiarwith the alignment of the LACin the India-China border areasand abide by it scrupulously,External Affairs MinistrySpokesperson AnuragSrivastava said here.

All Indian activities areentirely on the Indian side of

the LAC. In fact, it is Chineseside that has recently under-taken activity hindering India’snormal patrolling patterns.Indian side has always taken avery responsible approachtowards border management.At the same time, we are deeplycommitted to ensuring India’ssovereignty and security, hesaid.

The Indian troops strictlyfollow the procedures laiddown in various bilateral agree-ments and protocols to resolveany situations which may arisedue to difference in perceptionof LAC. The two sides haveestablished mechanisms toresolve such situations peace-fully through dialogue. Bothsides remain engaged witheach other to address any

immediate issues, he said.In accordance with the

consensus reached in Chennai,Indian side remains firmlycommitted to work for thecommon objective of mainte-nance of peace and tranquilityin border areas. This is anessential prerequisite to thefurther development of Indian-China bilateral relations, hereiterated.

This assertion came afterthe Chinese Foreign Ministrystatement on Wednesdayblamed the Indian Army forcoming into its territory and“blocking” its patrols and“attempting to unilaterallychange the status” on the LACbetween the two countries inSikkim and Ladakh.


�� 0#1�(#23!

Railway Minister PiyushGoyal on Thursday said

booking of train tickets willresume at around 1.7 lakhcommon service centres acrossthe country from Friday, mak-ing the service accessible tothose in remote locationswhere the availability of com-puters and internet is negligi-ble or absent.

The Minister said bookingswill also resume at counters atspecific railway stations overthe next two to three days butneed to ensure that there is nocrowding at railway stations.

We will also soonannounce the resumption ofmore trains, he said.

�� 2-�4051

The authorities have foundrare artifacts of archaeo-

logical importance, includingShivling pillars, kalash andother items reported to be theremains of the ancient Ramtemple, during leveling of thearea and removal of debris atthe Ram Janmabhoomi landmeant for the construction ofRam temple as permitted bythe Supreme Court.

“While leveling the groundlabourers found pillars indebris of the structure havingcarvings. They also found aShivling,” said Champat Rai,

general secretary, Sri RamJanmabhoomi Tirth KshetraTrust on Thursday.

He said that these itemswere discovered duringremoval of debris during landleveling at Ram Janambhoomiduring the past 10 days.

Among the items discov-ered during the work are 5 feettall Shivling with carving on it,seven black stone pillars, 6 redstone pillars along with sever-al broken idols of differentGods and Goddesses.

Rai said that all the itemsdiscovered were of archeolog-ical importance and these itemswould be kept in the museumto be constructed along withthe Ram temple.

Meanwhile, the work ofleveling of the ground wasunderway in a slow pace dur-ing the lockdown under strictsocial distancing.


��#� �� 0#1�(#23!

After the return of tens ofthousands of migrant

workers to their villages, coro-navirus is rapidly moving intorural areas. A huge number ofcases are being reported fromthe rural belts of Bihar,Jharkhand, West Bengal,Odisha, Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh ,which were until now largelyfree form covid-19 cases.

Take the case of UttarPradesh, a majority of therecent cases are being report-ed from districts with a large

rural population, includingSant Kabir Nagar, Basti, Banda,Bahraich, Barabanki, Hapur,Jalaun, Sidharth Nagar,Ghazipur, Sitapur,

Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Jhansi,Bijnor, Sambhal, Pratapgarh,Deoria, Chandauli, Auraiya,Mainpuri, Ballia, Unnao,Khushi Nagar, Sonbhadra andHathras. Till mid-March, amajority of these districts werefree from the coronavirus.

Barabanki, which wascoronavirus free till the returnof the migrants, has nowreported 95 cases, the highestsingle day surge in any districtof the State. Of them, 49 aremigrant workers who hadreturned to the district in thepast few days.


��

� ��

�� !�� " ��

��!��!��"��

#� �� $�� "�%��

��!��

�� !"

�#��

#��#��&��!�� '��

�� #�$��!� �� !"

�� 0#1�(#23!

Maharashtra on Thursdayclocked 2,345 fresh

Covid-19 positive cases andreported 64 deaths, taking thetotal count of infected personsto 41,642 and deaths to 1,454.Maharashtra’s tally of positivecases led to a total of 1,18,222positive cases and 3,584 deathsacross the country.

Of the total casualties of 64in Maharashtra, Mumbai aloneaccounted for 41 deaths. Asmany 1,392 persons were test-ed positive in Mumbai wherethe total count of those afflict-ed with the disease jumped to24,118 cases.

Tamil Nadu added 776new cases stretching the tally ofcorona positive cases in theState to 13,967. The State also

witnessed seven new deathsdue to the viral disease wherea total of 95 persons have suc-cumbed due to the pandemic.The State has 7,590 active caseswhere 6,282, including 400 onThursday, have recovered fromthe infection.

Delhi followed Tamil Naduwith 571 fresh cases being test-ed during the last 24 hours, spi-ralling up the tally to 11,659.The national Capital registered18 deaths on Thursday wherea total of 194 persons have dieddue to the disease. Delhi has5,898 active cases with the resthaving been relieved of theinfection after medical treat-ment.

Gujarat tested 371 newCovid-19 positive cases, takingthe tally to 12,910 where 24deaths occurred due to the dis-

ease on Thursday. Till now, atotal of 773 persons have dieddue to the coronavirus inGujarat. There are 6,649 activecases with 5,488 recoveringfrom the viral infection includ-ing 269 on Thursday.

Rajasthan reported 139

new cases where 6,154 personshave been afflicted by Covid-19 so far. A total of 150 personshave died in the State due to thedisease. Rajasthan has 2,583active cases and 3,421 haverecovered including 17 onThursday.

Among the States witness-ing a surge in the infection dueto influx of migrants, MadhyaPradesh recorded the mostnumber of fresh cases with 246people testing positive raisingthe total infected to 5,981.


$��%��&��()*

�� $�$%�&&&�� '�(%)��*��)%�()+

��

�� *��*�� 67%�68 7%696 77%:8��0�� 7;%��: �9��%8<8&�=� �� 78%�7> ::;��9%6<<(�� 77%�9� 7�6��9%9�:?�=�� %796 79>��;%687*�� 9%�<7 8:7��8%<66-�� 9%979 7;<��;%8>61��@�� ;%7�: 89��7%79;+�� 8%�>9 96��7%:>9��=�� 8%>8< ;��7%<7�

+',-.�!��'�/-��#��$�� )')0'+++

A��(�� B�� &� ��"

��

�� B�� B

2�� *,!-�79��../� 7;<C+� �'� �� #D� ��+��

��E ��(#23!��2-�4051 @35�+2��@3-@+0#'1+?

?+0�3!�?+!�-? �3+0(!&+?3�(#3?+(-0 3F(#?+@+(�G!)+F1+(+

�.012!�."�3�$%4)��

��&&��&+&+5�� $)��'

�1�2�12�03#+?�2#''�?#E5?*'

31�4��))�3!0+�'+F'�!��1!22�05��

+��#��-'�2+1'-!��50��5G!(

��

�1�5�)-�5*�+?!'50'�1!�3�3+?(!4150H��3#2��*#I�'3+04+?

'��$(�� )!��Lucknow (PTI): With over 20lakh migrant workers returningto Uttar Pradesh in last fewdays, the state, specially itseastern part, on Thursday sawa quantum jump in theCOVID-19 cases, with overall1,230 people testing positive,including 95 in Barabanki, saidofficials.

“Over 5.42 lakh migrantswere screened by health work-ers and among them 1,230have been found positive forcoronavirus. Samples of 46,142have been sent for testing,” saidPrincipal Secretary (Medicaland Health) Amit MohanPrasad here.

Prasad said the state gov-ernment has asked migrantworkers to strictly observehome quarantine protocolwhile the ‘village/mohallanigrani samitis’ have beenasked to keep a strict vigil onthem.

During home quarantine,they have been asked specifi-cally stay away from elderlypeople besides children andpregnant woman, said Prasad.

Barabanki DistrictMagistrate Aadarsh Kumarsaid of the 245 samples sent fortesting on May 15-16, 95 havebeen found corona positive.

Among those who testedpositive, 49 are migrants whohad recently returned fromother states, the DM said,adding all infected people havebeen admitted to hospitals asper the COVID-19 treatmentprotocol.

The remaining 46 are thosewho had come in contact withsix infected persons and hadbeen kept in isolation, the DMsaid.

According to Basti DMAshutosh Niranjan, 16 more

coronavirus-positive cases werefound in the district onThursday, raising the totalnumber of infected cases thereto 120.

All 50 new cases detectedon Tuesday were of migrantworkers who had returnedrecently from other states, saidNiranjan.

Pratapgarh reported 10new cases and Ghazipur 18 onWednesday, while onThursday, 15 cases were report-ed in Azamgarh with DM N PSingh saying that the coron-avirus infection graph has goneup with the return of migrantsfrom other states.

In Siddhartnagar, 11 newcases were reported onThursday with most of thembeing migrants having returnedfrom Mumbai, Chief MedicalOfficer, Dr Seema Rai said.

Another 16 cases werereported from Jaunpur ofwhich 15 had come back fromMumbai and one from Surat,District Magistrate DineshKumar Singh said.

Besides, eight migrantworkers who had returnedfrom Maharashtra and Gujarattested positive in Maharajganj,DM Dr Ujjawl Kumar said.

Uttar Pradesh reported 181fresh cases on Thursday, takingthe total number of coronaviruscases to 5,356 while 127 peo-ple having died of the diseaseso far, officials said.

There are 2,130 active casesof COVID-19 in the state. Asmany as 3,099 patients havebeen discharged from hospitalsafter recovery.

�� !� " "

�� ! ��""��!�#��$��%&''()*(��+��+��,��&--./��0�� .��1��%�2��3��$��2��3��$101��')*(456��%+� �"��32�.783 )-(())!93'- 55:'�. ��;��3<)5-'=' '):*:�' '*)*:�-'>) ()��"��;��3<)5*'='-) ))(�'-) *(��;��3<)5 '=' * '> �' * '>5�?� ��;��31��(�7��@� �7�%��7��A��1�%?� ��&**)))'��3)**& )**) 55��//��;��3!&-*��(�1;0?.�@��/7��1��&')*-)*�B��3)*')& :6>:))C :6>>))

�� !�� "�� #��$��%�� &�� !��

�� 2-�4051

'��=�� +��F��$� ��

�$� �� E!?�� $� � ��$� ��

3�� $� �� $� �� ,��

��'��@)�� %� �� $� �� 3�� %�� $� ��

��'��

�� %�� 5G!(�7�� ,�� 3�� $� �� 5G!(�7�� @)��$� �� %� �� %�� '��

F��$� �� $��$��$��$��@)��$� ��

�� $��@)�� %�� 3�� @)��

��

�� *�� 0� �� *��$�� %�� '�� %� ��%� �#$�� $� ��J�� $�� %��

3�� !�� 0�� 3�� !�� 3�� 0�� !�� 0��"�� %� �� $��!�� F��$� �� @)�� !��0��

�� 2-�4051

With a spike in coronaviruscases due to influx of

migrant workers into the state,the Uttar Pradesh governmenthas arranged 78,000 odd bedsin Covid hospitals and theirnumber is set to be increasedto one lakh in the comingweeks.

“The government hasachieved a milestone by arrang-ing 78,500 beds in dedicatedCovid hospitals across the state.Now every district has a Covidhospital with enough beds andfacilities like oxygen in Level-1 hospitals, and ventilators inLevel-2 and Level-3 hospitals.Soon, we will be able to addanother 12,000 beds to thesehospitals,” Principal Secretary(Health) Amit Mohan Prasadtold newsmen in Lucknow onThursday.

He expressed concern overthe sudden spike in coron-avirus positive cases due toreturn of migrant workers andtheir families and asked gramand mohalla nigrani samitis tobe vigilant and appealed toquarantined migrants to strict-ly follow the safety norms.

“During a door-to-doorsurvey of quarantinedmigrants, ASHA workers foundthat over 5,42 lakh people weremedically checked and 46,142samples were collected, ofwhich 1,230 were found posi-tive,” he said.

�� 2-�4051

The Uttar Pradesh govern-ment has achieved finan-

cial closure for two infrastruc-ture projects – BundelkhandExpressway and GorakhpurLink Expressway – that are esti-mated to cost �15,000 croreand �4,600 crore, respectively.

With the deal with PSUbanks, the government willraise bank loans totalling�9,275 crore to part fund thetwo mega expressway projects.

According to UPExpressway IndustrialDevelopment Authority(UPEIDA) CEO andAdditional Chief SecretaryAwanish Kumar Awasthi, theexpressway projects will play amajor role in boosting thelocal economy and generateemployment for the migrantlabourers returning to UP fromother states.

Following COVID-19lockdown in March 2020, thework on these projects hadcome to a standstill. However,the work resumed last monthat all such pending projects,also including PurvanchalExpressway, which is estimat-ed to cost nearly �23,000 crore.

Chairing a review meetinghere, Awasthi had recentlyasked the commercial banksto expedite the process ofapproval of the loan propos-al submitted by UPEIDA, thenodal agency for the express-ways.

The Bank of Baroda hasapproved bank loan worth�2,000 crore for theBundelkhand Expresswayproject, while the process offorming a consortium ofbanks is underway.

Besides, �700 crore worthof loan has also been sanc-tioned by the Union Bank ofIndia, and the commercialbanks are now in the processof granting sanction to theremaining portion of the loansworth �6,575 crore.

On February 29, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadlaid the foundation stone ofthe 296-km Bundelkhand

Expressway at a village inChitrakoot district andobserved that the develop-ment of UP depended uponconnectivity and that the YogiAdityanath government wasworking at the speed ofexpressways, obliquelyreferring to the mega express-ways.

Bundelkhand Expresswaywill link Chitrakoot, Banda,Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun,Auraiya and Etawah districts.Last year, the state had award-ed the six packages of theexpressway to the selectedbidders, including ApcoInfratech, Ashoka Buildcon,Gawar Construction and DilipBuildcon.

So far, the UP ExpresswayIndustrial DevelopmentAuthority has acquired amajor portion of the required3,641 hectares of land for theproject . It wil l connectBundelkhand with the nation-al capital region (NCR) viaAgra-Lucknow and Yamunaexpressways.

The project would startnear Bharatkoop at Jhansi-Allahabad National Highway(NH) 35 in Chitrakoot districtand terminate near villageKudrail, Etawah on Agra-Lucknow expressway. Besides,the 91 km long GorakhpurLink Expressway is beingdeveloped in two differentpackages. It will cut throughGorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar,Ambedkar Nagar andAzamgarh districts.

At the same time, the YogiAdityanath government hasproposed a 600-km GangaExpressway, touted as theworld’s longest access infraproject when completed. It isestimated to cost �36,000crore and link Prayagraj(Allahabad) with Western UP.It will require estimated acqui-sition of 6,556 hectares ofland and traverse 12 districtsviz. Meerut, Amroha,Bulandshahar, Budaun,Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad,Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, RaeBareli , Pratapgarh andPrayagraj.

�� 2-�4051

Aiming to empower womenin the state, the govern-

ment provided a revolvingfund of �218 crore for over35,000 families under RuralLivelihood Mission to pro-mote self-employment and self-reliance in rural areas.

“Through this, womenengaged in sewing, embroideryand production of disposableplates, spices, masks, will behelped. The purpose is to pro-mote self-employment and self-reliance in rural areas,” ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath saidwhile releasing the �218.49crore fund on Thursday.

Yogi also interacted withmigrant workers and women ofself-help groups (SHGs) fromdifferent districts throughvideo-conferencing. Mostwomen associated with theseSHGs belong to families ofmigrant workers.

The chief minister saidthat during the pandemic,women voluntary organisa-tions were making every con-tribution and there were somevoluntary groups which alsoproduced personal protectiveequipment (PPE) kits.

“This proves that suchgroups are extremely talented,which, if given guidance andopportunity, are capable ofdoing anything. If we givetimely revolving funds andcommunity investment fundsare made available to womenself-help groups, they canemerge as good examples ofrural self-reliance,” Yogi said.

The chief minister saidthat his government wouldprovide employment to allmigrant workers as per theirskills and they would be pro-vided every help so that thestate benefited from their tal-ent.

Yogi directed officials totake forward the provision oflow-rent housing as envisagedin �20 lakh crore economicpackage announced by the

Centre to help migrants ingetting employment. He alsoasked the officials to apprise hisoffice of sanitation work under-taken in rural and urban areas.

Later in the day, during hismeeting with the Team 11 offi-cers, Yogi said that the fightagainst the pandemic wasagainst an invisible enemy butconcerted efforts had broughtin good results. He exhortedofficials to continue the fightwith the same gusto, teamwork and tenacity and askedcommissioners, inspector gen-erals, district magistrates, dis-trict police chiefs and chief

medical officers to continueworking in sync.

The chief minister alsoasked district magistrates anddistrict supply officers to pro-vide foodgrains to the needy intheir districts.

“The migrants being sentto home quarantine from quar-antine centres should be pro-vided ration kits,” he said.

Asking the officials toensure cleanliness and securi-ty in quarantine centres andcommunity kitchens, the chiefminister said that all needypeople should be providedadequate and quality food.

�� 2-�4051

After announcing severalsteps to boost employ-

ment during the coronaviruspandemic and cope with theinflux of around 20 lakhmigrant workers, UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Thursdayannounced to appoint 58,000women banking correspon-dent sakhis (BCS) in everyvillage to assist people inbanking problems .

With this decision around58,000 gram panchayats willhave these banking corre-spondent sakhis, allwomen, who will assist theself-help groups (SHGs) andother people in the village intheir day-to-day bankingissues.

The decision was taken inthe Team 11 meeting of thechief minister here onThursday.

Yogi Adityanath saidthrough these bank sakhis,women of the village wouldconnect with banks and makemoney transactions by visit-ing door-to-door.

“There will be no need to

visit banks. All these transac-tions will be digital. Thiswill not only reduce therisk of coronavirusinfection but also provideemployment to women ofthe village,” the chief ministersaid.

He also directed officialsto make arrangements toimmediately deploy thesesakhis. A sum of Rs 4,000 permonth will be paid to thebanking correspondentsakhis for the next sixmonths.

In addition, the bank willalso give them commissionon transactions, and this willbe a source of their fixedincome every month.

Yogi said that now therewas no need to go to banksbecause the banks themselveswould come to servepeople.

At present there are 232banking correspondent sakhiin selected village.

The scheme would befunded from the UP StateRural Ajivika Mission and itis estimated that Rs 430 crorewould be spent on this pro-gramme.

+4F��$��$� �E!?��*�!�� !��#+,��

&$��9<4��

The UP government healthfacilities have already toppedthe 7,000-mark of daily testsand on Wednesday, 6,740 sam-ples were tested and a record772 pool of samples of five per-sons and 65 pools of 10 sam-ples each were tested, of which178 were found positive,” hesaid. The principal secretaryfurther said, “Covid testing isset to touch the 10,000-markper day soon after newmachines reach the laboratoriesthis week. Now CM Helpline istaking feedback from COVID-19 patients about facilities inhospitals and also inviting sug-gestions.” Prasad said thatHealth department officialscontacted 26,512 people afteralert from Aarogya Setu appand 74 were found positive, 42had recovered and 401 peoplewere quarantined.

Similarly, more than 85,000Health department teams vis-ited 68.72 lakh houses inhotspots and others andscreened the health of 3.43crore individuals .

Meanwhile, AdditionalChief Secretary (Home)Awanish Awasthi said thatChief Minister Yogi Adityanathexpressed concern over detec-tion of coronavirus positivecases in large numbers amongmigrant workers.

“Around two lakh migrantsare reaching the state daily andscreening them is a big chal-lenge. It is the duty of familymembers, neighbours and theirfriends to inform officials imme-diately if they fine symptoms. Ifa patient is treated in earlystages, his recovery is ensuredwithin two week but a delayresults in complications,”Awasthi said. The additionalchief secretary said that thechief minister was focused onmedical facilities at Covid hos-pitals and had deputed seniorhealth officials in every districts,beside providing at least 500infra thermometers in everydistrict for screening migrants .

��!��!��()*��'�607��

��& ��

NOTICE

��

�� !��"#$�%��&'�� (&��)��*� (�&�!�(��+�� +�� "�� ,�$��-��( � ��!"(�� ( �&��!-�.��)��/��(0,�� "#$ �/$�� "� 1� ��2��

NOTICE

This is to inform all that INutan Kumari Verma R/o L-1548, Sector I LDA Colony,Kanpur Road Lucknow, UP, inpast I used to write my hus-band's name with my nameand write my name as NutanRajeev Kumar but in future Iwould write my name as NutanKumari Verma and would berecognized by this name.

OBITUARY

SEPOY JANARDAN MISHRA01 JAN 1987- MAY 2020

ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICALCORPS SOLEMNLY PRAY TO THEALMIGHTY TO BESTOW PEACE TOTHE DEPARTED SOUL AND GRANTSTRENGTH TO THE BEREAVEDFAMILY TO BEAR THE GREAT LOSSOF SEPOY JANARDAN MISHRA WHODIED WHILE SERVING WITH 317 FDHOSP.

FROM: LT GEN NAVDEEP SINGH LAMBAAND ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICAL CORPS

OBITUARY

OBITUARY

NAIK SURENDRANATH R05 MAY 1991- 13 MAY 2020

ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICALCORPS SOLEMNLY PRAY TO THEALMIGHTY TO BESTOW PEACE TOTHE DEPARTED SOUL AND GRANTSTRENGTH TO THE BEREAVEDFAMILY TO BEAR THE GREAT LOSSOF NAIK SURENDRANATH R WHODIED WHILE SERVING WITH MHCHENNAI.

FROM: LT GEN NAVDEEP SINGH LAMBAAND ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICAL CORPS

OBITUARY

�� !� " "

�� 2-�4051

With domestic flights setto begin operations from

May 25, Chaudhary CharanSingh International Airporthas begun preparations on awar-footing. A senior airportofficial said the guidelineswould be adhered to in rightearnest to ensure safety of thepassengers in view of theCovid-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of CivilAviation has issued generalinstructions and detailedguidelines for passengers andmajor stakeholders.Vulnerable people, such aselderly, pregnant women and

passengers with health issuesare advised to avoid air trav-el. There will be no physicalcheck-in at the airport coun-ters. Only those passengerswith confirmed web check-inswill be allowed to enter the air-port.

A self-declaration ofAarogya Setu App status willalso have be obtained sayingthat the passenger is free ofCovid-19 symptoms.

Passengers with ‘Red’ sta-tus in the app will not beallowed to travel. Besides, thepassengers will be required towear protective gears and theairlines will not provide mealson board. Only one check-in

bag will be allowed and pas-sengers must report at leasttwo hours before the departuretime. As per the guidelines, thepassengers have to familiarisethemselves about the new pro-cedures at the airport, espe-cially about the norms ofsocial distancing, minimumtouch and baggage limita-tions. They have to wear themasks throughout the journey.

Passengers staying in con-tainment zones should not betravelling. People who havetested positive for Covid-19should also not travel. If a pas-senger who is not permitted tofly undertakes an air journey,

he or she will be liable forpenal action. The passengershave to give a declaration thatthey are not residing in con-tainment zones and are alsonot having fever or respirato-ry distress. The airlines alsohave to ensure that the board-ing pass is issued only after thedeclaration is given by the pas-senger.

The passengers have toboard the aircraft in a sequen-tial manner, as per theannouncement by the airlinesand throughout the flight,hygiene and sanitation has tobe maintained by the passen-gers. They are also advised tominimise the use of lavatory.

�� 2-�4051

Adreaded criminal, wantedin the much-touted mur-

der and loot case at the officeof a gutkha businessman inChowk, was nabbed followingan encounter in Charbagh onthe intervening night ofWednesday and Thursday. Hewas having a cash reward of Rs75,000 on his arrest. The policeteam was led by HazratganjACP AK Mishra.

The accused, identified asPintu aka Sheebu of PuranaQila in Hussainganj bulletinjuries in his leg as the policefired at him in retaliation. Theencounter took place nearHarbilas Hospital where thepolice cornered him followinga tip-off about his movement in

Charbagh locality. The teamrecovered a country-made pis-tol and live cartridges from hispossession.

Pintu aka Sheebu waswanted by Ambedkar Nagarpolice in connection with lootand was bearing a reward of Rs50,000. Besides, he was havinga cash reward of Rs 25,000 dueto his involvement in the mur-der and loot at the office of agutkha businessman in Chowk.

On Wednesday night, thepolice were tipped off about themovement of Pintu and teamsstarted trailing him. He wassurrounded from three sides.The accused owned up hiscrime during interrogation anddisclosed that he, along with hisaide Laeeq of Ambedkar Nagar,had shot a railway employee,

Shahnawaz, who had a tusslewith his cousins Askari andSajid in September, 2019. Healso told the police that he,along with his aides Laeeq,Firoz and Qader, had commit-ted loot at ICICI Bank inTanda (Ambedkar Nagar) inAugust, 2019. On February 20earlier this year, Pintu, alongwith Laeeq, Firoz and Qader,had committed loot at theoffice of a gutkha businessmanand shot dead an employee,identified as Subhash. Thepolice did not divulge detailsabout the amount which Pintuand his aides had looted fromthe office of the businessman.Pintu is the younger brother ofinfamous mafia Raja Bharti,who is a history-sheeter inGhazipur police station.

�� 2-�4051

As the markets opened firsttime since lockdown out-

side buffer and containmentzones in the city on Thursday,the response of customers wasnot too enthusiastic. Majorityof shops opened with shuttershalf up in a bid to ensure pre-cautions in view of coron-avirus pandemic.

Restaurants and sweetshops also opened with thermalscanners and sanitisation pro-visions but could not lure thecustomers to step out in largenumbers. Besides, with no orlittle availability of chickenand mutton, restaurants thatopened offered only vegetari-an dishes.

Shopowners said the fear ofcontracting coronavirus infec-tion and scorching heat dis-suaded the customers even asthe time of closure (7 pm) alsoplayed spoilsport. However,they were optimistic that thescenario would graduallychange for the better. It wasestimated that nearly 25 percent of the shops, restaurantsand sweet shops opened onThursday.

With Eid round the corner,

shopkeepers laid out attractiveschemes to lure the customersfor festive buying and also sentmessages to prospective buyersthat they were open. Some ofthem also sent videos of thesanitisation carried out in theirshops.

Avinash Tripathi, who hasa sweets shop in Munshipulia,said though he could not openhis shop because it was in acomplex, he carried out a sur-vey of all the sweet shops intrans-Gomti areas to get anidea about the sales.

“The customer responsewas poor and it appears thatthey have decided not to ven-ture out shopping for non-essentials. It is understandableas my own family is not tookeen on ordering or bringingfood from outside,” he said. Headded that the time of closingthe shops did not help becausesales were usually better in theevening and night.

“Preparing a certainamount of sweets which do notsell later can be very detrimen-tal to the business as the unsoldproducts will have to be dis-carded,” he pointed out.

Nitin, from a sweet shop inGomti Nagar, said there were

not too many customers evenas the products up for saleincluded boondi laddoo, ras-malai, gulab jamun, kesar bhog,rasgulla, khoya barfi andsamosa. He said they would beselling jalebi from Fridayonwards.

At another sweet shop inGomti Nagar, the customerswere not allowed to enter butcollect their orders outside.Similar was the scene at gar-ments shops where customerswere few and far between.

Satish Bhatia, who has agarments shop in Chowk, saidthe first day ended in cleaningthe shop, repairing the tele-phone and internet line. “Wehave been sending messages toour customers for Eid andhoping that the sales will begood. We have made videos ofsanitisation carried out in theshop and sent those to the cus-tomers to win their confi-dence. We will be offering freegifts to the customers andthere are other attractiveschemes too,” he added.

However, he said garmentswould not be a priority for thecustomers but they were hop-ing to cash in on Eid festivities,especially in Chowk because

everybody likes to wear a newoutfit on such an occasion.

As far as sales beyond Eidare concerned, he said there isno other option except hopingfor the best. Restaurantsopened for home deliveriesbut the rider of 7 pm closuredid not work well for them.

Girish Oberoi, general sec-retary of UP Hotels andRestaurants Association, saidonly 25 per cent of the eateries,which already had the provi-sion of home deliveries, openedon Thursday.

“The response was poorbecause most of the restaurantowners said they get orders fordinners but it was not possiblebecause of restrictions. Majorplayers are also not opening atthe moment. But the picturemay change tomorrow,” hesaid. A well-known restaurantchain had only vegetarian dish-es to offer. “We are offeringitems like chowmein, honeychilly potato, chilly paneer,tikki and dahi bada. We havetied up with Zomato and alsohave our own delivery men,”the restaurant owner pointed out.

Owner of another eatery,known for non-vegetarian

dishes, said they would openafter May 31. “The workershave returned to their nativeplaces and there is no availabil-ity of mutton and chicken,thus we can’t open at themoment,” a staff member said.

Salons also reported fewcustomers throughout the day.“The customers are calling forappointments and we are spac-ing them out accordingly,”abeauty parlour owner in IndiraNagar said.

Regarding the complaintswhich the administration hadreceived, a senior districtadministration official said onesalon owner in Hazratganjcalled to complain that salonsof a particular brand were pro-viding all the services and notjust hair cutting, and he for-warded the complaint to thepolice station concerned.

FSDA official SureshChandra Mishra said theirteams were carrying outinspections of sweet shops andrestaurants. “We started outwith Hazratganj where sweetshops owners were found to befollowing all the norms. “Theyare also maintaining records ofthe customers. There weresome places where the cus-

tomers entered without masksand they were immediatelygiven the masks,” he said.

Meanwhile, the FoodSafety and DrugAdministration (FSDA) teamsinspected over 50 restaurantsand sweet shops on Thursday.FSDA official Shailendra PratapSingh said the inspection wascarried out to check whetherprecautions were being fol-lowed or not and whether thematerial being used was up tothe mark. He said among thosewhich were inspected includ-ed Moti Mahal Sweets, RamAasrey in Hazratganj, RoyalCafé and Aryans restaurantand Madhurima sweets andBikaner Wala in Bhootnathmarket. He said warning wasissued to Moti Mahal restau-rant for allowing a customer toenter without mask.

Meanwhile, regular morn-ing and evening walkers weredisappointed as Lohia Parkdid not open for the visitors onThursday while NBRI gardensalso remained closed. Mediaspokesperson, NBRI, PramodShirke said the park was closedbecause there were some treeswhich had fallen after thethunderstorm recently.

��!��!�� &�� &��

�� 2-�4051

Two persons tested positivefor coronavirus infection in

the city on Thursday. ChiefMedical Officer Dr NarendraAgarwal said the two newcases were detected inGosainganj and Gudamba andboth were migrants who hadcome by train from Mumbaiand Ahmedabad.

They have been admittedto Lok Bandhu and RMLHospital. The CMO saidTopkhana Bazaar andKandhari Lane in Lalbagh wereno more hotspots but two newhotspots had been declared inthe city. “I have recommendedNishatganj and Chik Mandi inAminabad to be declaredhotspots because they are con-gested areas,” he said.

It may be mentioned herethat a nurse of Queen Mary’sHospital and her niece whotested positive for coronavirusare from Nishatganj.

Officials said that ChikMandi would be sealed onFriday, covering nearly 150houses. On Thursday, theCMO teams sanitised PaperMilk Colony, lanes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7 of Nishatganj, BaldaColony, New Hyderabad andPurana Badshahnagar coveringover 13,000 people living in3,155 houses.

Samples of over 222 peoplewere sent to KGMU for testing.

Meanwhile, a 341 personstested positive for coronavirusacross the state on Thursday,taking the total number ofcases to 5,515. With 138patients being discharged fromhospitals on Thursday, 3,204COVID-19 patients haverecovered so far. The state haswitnessed 138 deaths.

Meanwhile, Vice-Chancellor of King George’sMedical University Dr MLBBhatt said Covid-19 cases werebound to rise as opening of

shops is the antithesis of socialdistancing principle, which isimportant to prevent the spreadof coronavirus. However, hesaid there were compulsions asthe civil society was facinghardships and financial condi-tion of people was not good.

“Nevertheless, it is not like-ly to translate into a very bigproblem because the mortali-ty rate in UP is only 1 per centor even less. This is the deathrate caused by any epidemic ofthe mildest nature,” he said.

He added that 60-70 percent of the patients have beenasymptomatic, which does notcause any threat to their lives,and youngsters, who have gotthe maximum chances of get-ting exposed during this peri-od, also have no major threatto their lives.

However, he said peopleneed to keep sanitising theirhands after touching any sur-face. “People should removeshoes before entering theirhouses after coming back frommarkets. They should sanitizeall the stuff which they havebrought and have a bath,” hesaid. He added that three-lay-ered mask was essential whilestepping out and one shouldkeep sanitising hands instead ofwearing gloves. “Those whofetch groceries should not min-gle with senior citizens of thehouse and small kids,” headded.

�� 2-�4051

Dr Pramath Nath Awasthi,father-in law of

Additional Chief SecretaryA w a n i s hAwasthi, diedhere afterprolonged ill-ness. He was 90.

He hasleft behindthree childrenand theirspouses andseven grand-children. Dr Awasthi was anMD physician from KingGeorge’s Medical College (1953batch) and he retired fromBalrampur Hospital. The lastrites will be performed atBhainsakund at 8 am on Friday.

� ��

�&��&�� (��&!��&��

-��.��

�� 2-�4051

The Islamic Centre of Indiahas issued advisory clear-

ing doubts about offeringnamaz on the occasion ofAlvida Juma (last Friday ofRamzan month) and Eid-Ul-Fitr amid COVID-19 lock-down. The advisory stated,“The last Friday of Ramzanfalls on May 22, henceMuslims should keep fewthings in their mind regardingthe ongoing lockdown. Thosefour or five people staying in

mosques may offer prayersthere. Those offering prayersat home can offer Alvidanamaz with four people and ifthey do not have four peoplein their house, they shouldoffer regular Zuhr (afternoon)prayers.”

“As far as Eid-ul-Fitrnamaz is concerned, peopleshould strictly follow theguidelines of the lockdown tostop coronavirus from spread-ing. People should donate(Zakaat) to the poor beforeoffering Eid namaz. The four

or five people staying inmosques may offer Eid-Ul-fitrprayers in mosque while thoseoffering prayer at home canoffer Eid-Ul-Fitr namaz withfour people,” Islamic Centrechairman Maulana KhalidRasheed Farangi Mahali said.

Citing alternatives, thecleric added, “If they don’thave four people in theirhouse, they should offer 4-raka’at Namaz-e-Basht.Khutba (sermon) can also berecited if one remembers it. Incase on doesn’t remember

Khutba, they can recite SurahFatiha and Surah Ikhlas alongwith Durood Shareef and oneother verse from the HolyQuran.”

The guidelines issued bythe Islamic Centre of Indiaclearly states that lockdownguidelines must be strictlyfollowed and no one shouldgo out to meet others. Also,shaking hands and embracingshould be avoided and greet-ing with relatives and friendsshould be done over phoneand social media platforms.

�� !��"�#�$"�� %

&"��'!��#(��&"��&�)"��*"��

�� !�� !��"��#�� !��$��

� ��%��&��!� ��'�()��*'��

�� %�� !� " "

�� 2-�4051

Exhorting party workersand leaders to continue

working for humanity as atribute to her father and latePrime Minister Rajiv Gandhion his death anniversary onThursday, Congress generalsecretary Priyanka GandhiVadra did not miss to slam theYogi Adityanath governmentfor denying permission toher party to ferry migrants totheir homes.

Priyanka told party work-ers that her father sacrificedhis life as he loved the coun-try and its people. “He couldnot see their pain and we havelearnt from him to help theweak,” the Congress leadersaid. Later, Priyanka targetedthe Bharatiya Janata Partyregime in Uttar Pradesh forsetting up people wanting tohelp the needy in times of dis-

tress, in false cases and send-ing them to jail.

“A real tribute to Rajivjiwill be to expose such personsand continue working forhumanity,” she averred.

On her call to take on theYogi government’s faulty deci-sions and actions, over 50,000Congressmen across the statesurfaced on Facebook Liveduring the day and criticisedthe BJP for playing politicsand preventing others fromhelping migrants walking onfoot to reach their homes.

“Have you seen themethod of Yogi governmentto fight coronavirus epidem-ic? When Congress arrangedbuses for migrants, the gov-ernment sent UP Congresschief Ajay Kumar Lallu to jail,setting him up in a false case.Anyone can see how Lallu wasarrested twice in the statewithin 24 hours just because

he offered to ferry migrants totheir native places,” Priyankasaid in a message. Priyankaasked party workers not to beafraid and carry on the fightfor suffering and helplessmigrant workers.

The Congress leaders andworkers staged peacefuldemonstrations across thestate to protest the wrongfularrest of the UP Congresschief a day before. The agita-tors demanded that casesagainst Lallu be withdrawnimmediately and the Congressleader be released.

Lallu along withPriyanka’s personal secretarySandeep Singh were chargedfor giving wrong informa-tion on the buses offered tohelp migrants and FIR wasregistered against them inLucknow under sections 420,465 and 468 of the IndianPenal Code on Tuesday night.

�� 2-�4051

An 11-year-boy who wentmissing from his house

in Thakurganj police areawas murdered and the bodywas recovered from a semi-constructed house onThursday. Police arrested ayouth in connection with themurder but were yet to ascer-tain the motive. The boywent missing on May 15afternoon and his parentslodged a case after heremained untraceable. Afterthe family petitioned thecase to senior officials, theprobe was expedited. CCTVcamera footages in the areawere scanned during whichthe boy was seen with ayouth, who was later identi-fied as Samiul Hasan akaRinku of Thakurganj. It latersurfaced that Hasan wasclosely associated with thefamily of the victim. Thepolice tracked him downand interrogated him onThursday. Hasan owned upthe crime and disclosed thathe had choked the boy todeath and hid the body in thesemi-constructed house. Onthe revelation, a teamreached the house and recov-ered the body. The body wassent for autopsy and laterhanded over to the bereaved.The police said that theywere yet to study the autop-sy report and that Hasan wasbeing interrogated.

A 45-year-old man, whowas a native of Ludhianaand stuck at a relative’shouse in Mohanlalganj dueto lockdown, ended his lifeon Thursday morning.

As per reports, RajKumar Kanaujia had visitedhis relative Babu LalKanaujia’s house in BhaguKheda locality of

Mohanlalganj on March 10.After spending some time atBabulal’s house, Raj Kumardecided to move toLudhiana on March 22-23,but then nationwide lock-down was announced due tothe coronavirus pandemic.Raj Kumar tried his best toreach Ludhiana but did notsucceed.

Nephew Monu Kumarsaid his uncle becamedespondent as he was awayfrom his family for a longtime. “Around 9 am onThursday, he was foundhanging from the ceilingwith a rope tied around hisneck,” he said. The policesent the body for autopsyand started further investi-gations. The police said thefamily of the deceased hadbeen informed about theincident. “Prima facie, itappeared to be a case of sui-cide. However, autopsy willascertain the cause of death,”investigating officer JaiSingh said.

Meanwhile, three per-sons, including a woman,suffered serious burns afterhigh-voltage current leakedthrough DTH antenna at ahouse in Chinhat onThursday afternoon. Thoseinjured were admitted to ahospital. As per reports,two men from the compa-ny reached the house ofUrmila Mishra of NewNandi Vihar in Chinhat toinstall DTH antenna on therooftop. Around 3 pm,Dashrath Rawat and VimalKumar (both of Chinhat)reached the house.

When they were fixingthe antenna, a wire of theequipment came in contactwith the overhead high-tension line and they suf-fered electric shock.

�� 2-�4051

Asenior leader of Shiv Senawas gunned down in

Rampur. Reports said thatAnurag Sharma, former districtchief of Shiv Sena in Rampur,was standing outside his housein Jwalapur locality of Rampurlate Wednesday night, whensome unidentified assailantsopened indiscriminate fire athim and escaped.

The local residents, whorushed to the spot on hearing thegun shots, shifted Sharma to thedistrict hospital in Moradabadwhere he was pronounced deadupon arrival. Anurag Sharma’swife Shalini, who is a corpora-tor, said her husband had norivalry with anyone that couldhave led to his murder.

Meanwhile, as the news ofthe sensational killing of the saf-fron leader spread like a wildfire,hundreds of his supporters gath-ered at the hospital and hospi-tal premises to register their ire.The situation could be broughtunder control only after a heavypolice force reached the spot.

Superintendent of police inRampur, Shagun Gautam, saidon Thursday that AnuragSharma was shot twice by theassailants. She said that post-mortem was underway and FIRhad been registered on the com-plaint of the family members.

“We are investigating theincident and CCTV recordingsare being checked to trace outthe criminals, “ the SP said. Shealso said that police were alsoprobing the ransacking of thehospital by the supporters of thedeceased.

Sources said that thedeceased was a history-sheeter

of Civil Lines police station.In another murder in

Bulandshahr, a 60-year-old manwhose son was a former prad-han of Dhaunora hamlet ofKakod, was sprayed with bulletson Wednesday evening.

Kalicharan was going tobring milk when four motorcy-cle-borne youths opened fire,critically injuring him.

According to SSP ofBulandshahr, Santosh KumarSingh, the victim was hit byseven bullets and was pro-nounced dead upon arrival athospital. Kalicharan’s sonDharampal revealed that themurder took place over grampanchayat election. He disclosedthat former pradhan Barati akaJagpal was having political rival-ry with their family and is lastSeptember, he got killed hismother and his brother inPalwal locality of Haryana. Acase has been registered andefforts are on to nab the killers.

In another sensationalkilling in Shamli, bodies of twounknown woman in their mid-twenties, were found lying inJaganpur hamlet of Kairana inShamli. SP of Shamli, VineetJaiswal, said the victims werehacked to death somewhereelse and the bodies were laterdumped at the spot.

He denied that the victimswere raped before being killed.

He said the bodies were sentfor post-mortem and investiga-tions were on to ascertain theidentities of the victims.

In Philkuha locality ofGhaziabad, a 9-year-old girlwas raped and murdered. Shewas missing since the last threedays. The sensational killingcame to notice after the localpolice arrested the accused whoconfessed of the crime onThursday.

��

�� 2-�4051

Two thieves struck at thehouse of a Health depart-

ment employee in Madiaonand held his two minor kidshostage on Thursday after-noon. They later decampedwith ornaments and cash fromthe house even as parents ofthe children had gone to theirworkplaces.

As per reports, AshishSingh of Shankerpur Colony isposted as senior assistant in theHealth department. OnThursday, he left for his work-place and his wife Nisha left forher beauty parlour located atRamram Bank crossing, leav-ing their children Avanshika

(8) and Atharv (4) at home.Around noon, two maskedmen entered the house and toldAvanshika that they were herfather’s friend. They later wentupstairs and collected the bootyby breaking open the almirah.Avanshika said the miscreantsshouted at them when shestarted crying and threatenedto kill Atharv. “They tied uswith a rope and left the scenewith the ornaments and cash,”she told the police.

The incident kicked up adebate as the police claimedthat it was a case of theftwhile the house owner said itwas robbery. The house owneralleged that he was asked tomention theft of Rs 25 lakh

and ornaments while the rob-bers took away jewellery worthRs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh incash. “The police asked me tomention lower amount in thetheft as I will have to explainit to income tax officials,”Ashish alleged. He added thata probe was initiated after theissue went viral on socialmedia and senior governmentofficials hauled up theLucknow police.

Contrary to his claim, thepolice said they registered thecase of theft in the light of thefacts related to the incident.“Two youths riding a bikewere seen loitering around thehouse and the police are trac-ing them,” the police said.

/��!��0�� "��

+�$��"��+��&��)��+�$� +� ��, ��)��--��$��.��/��)��0 ��!� ��

�� 2-�4051

Aday after Rae Bareli legis-lator Aditi Singh ruffled

feathers by tweeeting thatCongress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra’s offerfor buses for migrants was a“cruel joke”, the party dis-owned her saying that shewas “technically” with thembut had no official link.

“The question of removingAditi Singh as general secretaryof Congress women’s wing ongrounds of indiscipline doesnot arise. We have alreadyrequested the Speaker to dis-qualify her from the Assembly

for anti-party activities,” saidUP Congress administrationin-charge Siddarth PriyaSrivastava.

“After being served noticefor indisciplie, Aditi did notrespond and hence she wasremoved from all party posts.We are waiting for her dis-qualification from theAssembly,” the Congressleader said. Srivastava furthersaid that Aditi was no morewith the party just like MLADinesh Pratap Singh, and hisMLA brother Rakesh PratapSingh, who had the backing ofthe ruling BJP. “Due to delayin deciding the disqualifica-

tion of their membership bythe Speaker, they remainCongress MLA/MLC onpapers,” he said.

“These leaders had a pactwith the ruling party as DineshPratap Singh contested LokSabha poll against Congresschief Sonia Gandhi on a BJPticket but he remains aCongress MLA. Likewise, AditiSingh got Y-category securitywithin 24 hours of defying theparty whip and supportingthe ruling outfit on a couple ofcontentious issues. If they haveany morals left, they shouldquit the party on their own,”Srivastava said.

�� &� �� '��8��

��1��.��2�-��

))(�� (��

.3�/3 �� 445� (��!�� -�!4�6 ,�7��%�� ,��$��-$

� ,�7�� (8$� 9: 7��;��;!(;�/;-;�<3<37<9&��1��(!�(�#��("��$��(��" ��(3=;3>;<3<3��9>;33 &�� "�-��6 � &�$�(�� *�( ��(3?;3>;<3<3��9@;33 &�8��-�&�$�(��A,�74�#6��(��"#$��$!��(��B ��(��A "1��C�� ""�D�$#��0 ��E��!!�6-7�/��!0..3�/3��445�#��!��F�� -3 C� ��(37999 �� 999@0D��7�-0 �� DD��0 ��D�� 88��67AA0��!��0--8��GA�H�(=��(<9;:;<3<3II��45��!�(� &-� ��$�(JJA

.3�/3 �� 445� (��!�� -�!4�6 ,�7��%�� ,��$��-$

� ,�7�� (8$� 9� 7��;��;!(;�/;-;�<3<37<9&��1��(!�(�#��("��$��(��" ��(3=;3>;<3<3��9>;33 &�� "�-��6 � &�$�(�� *�( ��(3?;3>;<3<3��9@;�3 &�8��-�&�$�(��A,�74�#6��(��"#$��$!��(��B ��(��A "1��C�� ""�D�$#��0 ��E��!!�6-7�/��!0..3�/3��445�#��!��F�� -3 C� ��(37999 �� 999@0D��7�-0 �� DD��0 ��D�� 88��67AA0��!��0--8��GA�H�(=�>��(<9;:;<3<3II��45��!�(� &-� ��$�(JJA

�� &�� !� " "

�� *��G+?+0+'!

As the festival of Eid is inch-ing closer, the rush of peo-

ple in many markets especial-ly the shops of garments hasstarted increasing. However,the District Magistrate (DM)Kaushal Raj Sharma has clear-ly said that in view of sharp risein corona positive cases in therecent days, it would not bepossible to give any relaxationon the occasion of forthcomingfestival of Eid. He appealed tothe Muslims to observe the fes-tival by staying at home.According to him, as the life isprecious no festival can begiven priority over it, especial-ly when the entire world is fac-ing serious coronavirus pan-demic.

At a meeting of officershere on Thursday, DM hasinstructed the Jal Nigam offi-cers to ensure proper supply ofdrinking water on the occasionof Eid and repairing of alloverflowing of sewer lines,

especially in Muslim-domi-nated areas. He also asked theMunicipal Commissioner toensure regular cleanliness inlocalities apart from regularshifting of garbage from there.He said that efforts shouldalso be made to check themovement of stray cattle in thelanes and instructed the powerdepartment engineers to ensureuninterrupted supply in the cityareas.

In the meeting when thedemands were raised to allowthe private hospitals to serve

the people apart from treat-ment of corona patients, theDM has instructed the ChiefMedical Officer (CMO) to pro-vide special training to thepara-medical staff apart fromsupply of safety equipment sothat the treatment at JanataSewa Hospital (Madanpura), AlMahmood Hospital (Bajardiha)and Sabika Hospital(Devpokhari) can be restartedagain. The meeting was alsoattended by SeniorSuperintendent of Police (SSP)Prabhakar Chaudhary,

Municipal CommissionerGaurang Rathi, ADM (City)Vinay Kumar Singh, SP (City)Dinesh Singh and many others.

Meanwhile, as per the newguidelines on Thursday theshops of right sides of theroads in various marketsremained open and at severalplaces, rush was seen. It wasseen that many were not main-taining proper social distanc-ing. In the manner, the coronapositive cases have increased,any such laxity may be danger-ous as by Wednesday the num-ber of COVID-19 had reached123 in the district. In severalplaces, the people were seenpurchasing sweets as no one isallowed to eat sweets at theshops. The customers can onlycarry the sweets at home. Atmany shops, popular localdishes like samosha, jalebi,imarti etc. are being seen to beprepared for which theBanarasis were waiting sincethe implementation of lock-down, almost two months ago.

�� *��G+?+0+'!

Like the district administra-tion and other institutions,

the Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) also remainedstand with people in the pre-sent pandemic COVID-19 tooand the personnel of its 95thBattalion helped the hundredsof people in need by makingration and other essential com-modities available. And, theCRPF personnel distributedration kits on Thursday tooamong needy persons.

There were people in hun-dreds and families as well thatfaced problems of foodgrainand other essential commodi-ties since the lockdown hadcome into effective in districtsince March 24.

In such situation, the 95thBattalion of CRPF came to fore

to help the needy persons andfamilies and its personnelunder the leadership ofCommandant NP PalSingh started makingcooked foods, ration kits andessential commodities avail-able to them.

This battalion has so far

distributed 2,221 kg rice, 3,381kg flour, 971 kg pulse, 80 kgpotato, 90 kg edible oil andother essential commoditiessuch as sugar, tea, toothpasteand biscuit by visiting variousareas of district.

The personnel of this bat-talion helped the district

administration to make rationkits available to the peopleand families as well when theywere in urgent need of this. TheCRPF personnel also distrib-uted fruits among patientsadmitted in hospitals.

The personnel made sani-tisation of many areas of dis-trict including slum localitiesand also distributed masksamong 2,000 persons duringlockdown so far, informedInspector Rajiv Kumar addingthat they made sanitisationwork in Viadyapatipur villageof Kashi Vidyapeeth Block onThursday and appealed to peo-ple to ascertain cleanliness invillage and put mask on face.The personnel also madesanitisation in Udairajpur vil-lage of Rohania area and car-ried out thermal screening ofvillagers.

�� *��+22+3+@+(

Awoman infected with coro-novirus has given birth to

a baby girl at Swaroop RaniNehru Hospital on Thursday.This is the second case inSRNH when an infectedwoman has delivered a babyhere. The newborn has beenkept in the corona suspectward of the hospital itself, hereand her corona test will be con-ducted after the sampling pro-cedure being completed. OnMay 12, an infected woman ofPratapgarh itself had givenbirth to a baby at the SRNHhere. Unfortunately, the newlyborn baby also turned positivefor coronavirus. The baby isundergoing treatment at SRNHitself.

Corona positive pregnantwoman was undergoing treat-ment at Level-1 Hospital inPratapgarh. On Tuesday, shewas referred to the SRNHwhen she complained of labourpain. She was admitted to aseparate OT in the hospital.Caesarean delivery was doneunder the leadership of Dr

Amrita Chaurasia, chairpersonof the Department ofGynecology. The team of doc-tors were equipped with PPEkits during delivery. Thewoman was also masked sothat the corona infection wouldnot spread. The woman gavebirth to a baby girl. Doctorssaid that both mother andchild are perfectly healthy.

The team included DrShakti Jain, Dr Yashi, DrKarishma, Dr Shweta Rai, DrSamiksha and Dr Rajiv Gautamof the Department ofAnesthesia, Dr Nitin and DrMuktesh.

Dr SP Singh, Principal ofMotilal Nehru Medical College,congratulated the woman andher family members on thebirth of the child and praisedthe delivery team.

DISCHARGED: The 85-year-old mother and brother ofthe late corona-infected civilengineer of Lukerganj areafinally defeated the deadlycoronavirus infection and weredischarged from the hospital onWednesday night.

Both of them were admit-

ted to L3 COVID HospitalSwaroop Rani Nehru Hospitalfor the last 12 days. The twowere discharged from the hos-pital and sent to their home onWednesday night. The moth-er and brother are now com-pletely free from corona. Nowthey will stay in the homequarantine for 21 days.

However, the report of lateengineer's wife, mother-in-lawand other brother's wife stillremained positive for COVID-19.

GASTRO PATIENTTURNS OUT TO BE CORO-NA +VE: The doctors atSwaroop Rani NehruHospital(SRNH), who weretreating a patient consideringhim to be a gastro patient fortwo days, turned out to becorona positive after his reportfor COVID-19 came here onThursday.

As soon as corona wasconfirmed in the same patient,the doctors and nurses engagedin his treatment were baffled..In a hurry, the patient wasremoved from the Gastrologydepartment and admitted to

the corona-infected ward. Andabout two dozen staff, includ-ing doctors and nurses engagedin treatment, were sent to thehome quarantine.

Sampling of these peoplewill also be conducted. On theother hand, the report of ninemore people from Mumbai onWednesday came positive forCOVID-19. The number ofinfected in the district nowstands at 56.

Ten days ago a person res-ident of Saraimumrej area hadreturned from Mumbai. Due tostomach ache, he was admittedto the ward of Gastrologydepartment of Swaroop RaniNehru Hospital. Physiciansstarted his treatment then onTuesday, when he complainedof cough and cold, his coronatest was conducted. His testreport came positive onThursday afternoon. As soonas this information wasreceived, a panic-like situa-tion prevailed among doctorsand other staff. The patient wasadmitted to the corona ward.The gastro ward was sealedafter being sanitised.

�� *��+22+3+@+(

The Allahabad High Courthas directed the Trustees of

fund under UP Advocates’Welfare Fund Act, 1974 to for-mulate a scheme to providefinancial aid to those advocates,who require funds in the pre-sent times when the courtshave been made non-func-tional due to the COVID-19virus, which according to courtis ‘definitely a natural calami-ty’.

While holding that undersection five of UP Advocates’Welfare Fund Act, 1974, the UPAdvocates’ Welfare FundTrustees Committee could alsoborrow money for the welfareof needy advocates, the courtdirected that if the Trust applies

for loans it may be extended.“The guarantee may be provid-ed by the government”, thecourt added.

Hearing a PIL registered asIn Re-Assistance to needyadvocates and registered advo-cate clerks, a division benchcomprising Chief JusticeGovind Mathur and JusticeSiddhartha Varma directedthat the entire exercise may becompleted within a period ofone week and fixed May 26,2020 for the next hearing of thematter.

When the case was takenup, the court found that theTrustees Committee underUttar Pradesh Advocates’Welfare Fund Act, 1974, had,till date, not been able to comeup with any scheme for the

purposes of releasing fundsto the court attached recog-nised Bar Associations of thestate.

Analysing the welfare pro-visions of the said Act and BarCouncil of India Rules, thecourt observed, ‘The welfare ofneedy advocates has to belooked into by the Trustees ofthe Fund and as per Chapter VIof the Rules of the Bar Councilof India Rules. The welfare ofneedy advocates had also to belooked into at the time of nat-ural calamities. The explana-tion that ‘need of lawyers’would also mean the needwhich arises during naturalcalamities has been recognisedby the Rules framed under theBar Council of India. UnderRule 44B of the Chapter VI of

the Bar Council of India Rules,providing succour at the timeof natural calamity has beenprovided’.

Emphasising the need tohelp lawyers in this hour of cri-sis, the court observed, ‘Be thatas it may, under Section 5 theTrustees Committee may useits powers in the present timesto borrow funds and, therefore,under no circumstances canU.P. Advocates’ Welfare FundTrustees Committee come upwith a case that it is lackingfunds. It can also not transferits burden of providing help tothe State Bar Council as underSection 4 of the Act virtually allfunds of the State Bar Councilstand transferred to it.’

The court passed this orderon May 14 last.

2�� 9��'��#

/��#)� �� 1��!� ��

-3(4 ��

�)�0��$��1��!� ��

0-��!��1�!��"�5��4��

-��!��3�0

�� *��4+0�-?

Hundreds of migrant work-ers who have returned to

the city from other states dur-ing the past few days are notfollowing home quarantinenorms.

The notice pasted on thedoors of these migrants clear-ly states that they are requiredto quarantine themselves for 14days in their homes. It alsowarns of strict penal action ifthey are found wandering inthe city. However, ignoring thenotice and the warning, thesemigrant workers are violatinghome quarantine norms, there-by posing threat for spread ofcoronavirus among other citi-

zens. DIG Anant Deo has

appealed to people to informpolice control room 112 if anymigrant worker or other personreturning to city from otherstates fails to home quarantinehimself/herself. The alertness ofneighbours can contain thespread of coronavirus, headded, The DIG admitted thatthere were complaints ofmigrant workers violating thenorms of home quarantineand roaming in city markets.He said if any migrant workerwho had tested positive forcoronavirus and sent for homequarantine, was found roamingin city markets, FIR would belodged against him/her under

the Epidemic Diseases Act andother laws.

It may be mentioned herethat so far 1,578 migrant work-ers have returned to the districtcity from other states had mostof them have been home quar-antined. Majority of thesemigrants are in Nawabganj,Kalyanpur, Naubasta, Barra,Babupurwa. According to com-plaints received by the policecontrol room, several of thesemigrant workers are openlyroaming in the city, therebyposing threat for spread ofcoronavirus among other citi-zens. Police have so far regis-tered 25 such complaints.

IG Range Mohit Agarwalsaid the health department

was required to give informa-tion about a person for his/herinstitutional quarantine. Hesaid it was the duty of healthdepartment to identify thecoronavirus suspect and sendhim/her for institutional quar-antine with the help of policeas police were not empoweredto directly send anybody forquarantine.

The IG asked the cops ofrespective police stations tostrictly follow the norms andinitiate penal action againstmigrants violating quarantinenorms. He also appealed topeople to help the police by giv-ing information about migrantworkers violating the norms ofhome quarantine.

%��!��6��

4�!��)!��!�� *��4+0�-?

Five more persons testedpositive for coronavirus

infection in Kanpur City dur-ing the last 24 hours, taking thenumber of cases in the districtto 323. Chief Medical OfficerDr AK Shukla said onThursday that two of theseinfected persons were fromBhaironghat and two fromWest Bengal. The CMO said sofar 288 COVID-19 patientshad been cured and dischargedfrom hospitals and there wereonly 26 active cases in the dis-trict. He said the COVID-19recovery rate in the district hadshot up to 90 per cent.

Kanpur City has witnessednine COVID-19 deaths so far.

NSI DONATES PPE KITS: National Sugar Institute,Director Prof Narendra Mohanhanded over personal protec-tive equipment (PPE) kits, 500masks and 50 litre of sanitiser.to District Magistrate BRTiwari on Wednesday.

��

Kanpur DevelopmentAuthority will provide housesto migrant workers on rent.

The state administrationhas directed the KDA to eitherprovide vacant EWS flats orhouses built by private buildersin their housing projects tomigrant workers who havereturned from other states.

This decision was takenduring a video conferencebetween Principal Secretary(Housing) Deepak Kumar andvice chairpersons of all devel-opment authorities of the stateon Wednesday.

The principal secretarydirected the KDA to plant80,000 saplings in the city andasked it to send a detailed

proposal to the state adminis-tration soon. These saplings areto be planted by July 8.

It was also decided thatDUDA would complete theverification of the applicants ofPM Awas Yojana. About 1,900houses are to be allotted underthe scheme. The lottery will bedrawn by June 6 for allotmentof these houses to the benefi-ciaries.

��

The Khalasi Lines marketopened on Thursday but theGwaltoli market remained

under lockdown. The districtadministration had allowedthe shops to open on odd-evenformula but as Khalasi Lines inGwaltoli police station area,there was row over the open-ing of the market onWednesday, leading to policecane-charge. However, afterthe intervention of DistrictMagistrate BR Tiwari, theKhalasi Lines market will openpartially as per the new sched-ule. It may be mentioned herethat shopkeepers of Gwaltoliand Khalasi Lines were plan-ning to open their shops as perthe new lockdown rules.

The residents accused theGwaltoli police of unrulybehaviour and manhandlingpeople even on foot or ontwo-wheelers. After the issuewas taken up by BharatiyaJanata Party divisional chiefPawan Gupta, the issue wassorted out on Thursday.

Kanpur (City) DistrictMagistrate BR Tiwari reiterat-ed on Thursday that shopshad been allowed to openbetween 7 am and 7 pm butexcept those in containmentand buffer zones. He said thedetails had been made publicby the All India Udyog VyaparMandal.

2�� /��3"��1��2��$�� 4� ��5��$��/"4��/��4 1��/��3��!� ��

�� *��G+?+0+'!

Four more COVID-19patients have been found in

the district here on Thursday.With this, the number ofpatients has increased to 126and out of them, 77 have beendischarged while four havedied. As many as 45 patients arestill active. According to theDistrict Magistrate (DM)Kaushal Raj Sharma, thereports of 95 samples havebeen received fromMicrobiology Lab in BanarasHindu University (BHU), outof which three were positivewhile 91 negative.

Out of four, one pregnantwoman is a resident of Rohtasdistrict in Bihar who camehere for delivery and wasadmitted to BHU on May 19last. According to the doctors,both the mother and baby arehealthy. However, after findingher positive, she was shifted toisolation COVID-19 ward,while her baby is being kept atICU. They also said that thesample of newly-born babywould also be collected.

The other three patientsbelong to the district. One 27years old youth and a residentof Shankar Dham Colony,Kabirnagar (Bhelupur) camehere from Mumbai by a trainon May 16 last. He works as adecorator of marriage party inMumbai. The other patient isa 30 years old youth fromTulsi Kuwa Hankaitola(Chetganj) who makes washerat his home. Due to fever andcough problems he visitedBHU OPD where his samplewas collected. Besides, one 19

years old boy who returnedfrom Delhi by train on May 17last has also been found posi-tive. He was preparing for SSCexamination in Delhi andbelongs to Oddhe village,under the Rohania police sta-tion. Meanwhile, the follow-upreports of seven patients admit-ted at Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay(DDU) Hospital, Pandeypurhave been found negative andthen they have been dis-charged. Out of them, two arefrom Madanpura, three fromChittupura belonging to thefamily of postman (NagarNigam) and two hotel tradersfrom Lallapura area.

In the district, as many as166 samples have been collect-ed. So far 4,254 samples havebeen collected and out of them,the results of 3,512 have beenreceived while of 742 are await-ed. Out of 3,512 results, 3,386were negative and 126 positive(it did not include the womanpatient from Bihar). After find-ing of three new patients from

Varanasi, the number ofhotspots in the district hasincreased to 58 and out of them20 has already come into greenzone while 38 are activehotspots including five orangeand 33 red. The new hotspotsare Shankar Dham Colony(Bhelupur), Tulsi Kuwa(Chetganj) and Oddhe(Rohania). Meanwhile, in thisbelt of Purvanchal comprising10 districts of three divisions ofVaranasi, Azamgarh andVindhyachal, the sharp rise innumber of corona cases contin-ued as a large number ofmigrant workers returned fromMumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad,Surat and others is being foundpositive. The maximum num-ber of COVID-19 patients isbeing found among thosemigrant workers who havereturned home from Mumbairecently. As many as 16 newcases came into the light fromJaunpur where the number ofpositive patients have jumpedup to 48 and out of them, 12

have been recovered. Five ofthem are from different villagesof Mariyahu area, while threefrom Badlapur and two eachfrom Khuthan, Kerakat,Machalishahar and Dhobhi.

Similarly, Azamgarh alsosaw a heap jump in number ofpositive cases found as 15 newcases have been detected andwith this the number has goneup to 30 in the district. Out ofthem, nine have been dis-charged while one has died.Most of these cases came intothe light from Maharajganj,Palhani and Jahanabad areas.One more case has been foundfrom Mirzapur and the num-ber of patients has increased to26 and out of them three havebeen recovered, while 23 arestill active. Earlier, in Maunine new cases were foundincreasing the number to 13and out of which 12 are stillactive. In Ghazipur, there are 42positive patients and out ofwhich seven have been dis-charged and 35 are active.

-�� 1:��()*�!��

!�� / ��(#��*��1��!� ��

�( ��&�� *��G+?+0+'!

In view to improve overallsystem affected by coron-

avirus pandemic and bring thelife back to normalcy, theDistrict Magistrate (DM)Kaushal Raj Sharma hasinstructed the ARTO to devel-op an app so that the e-rick-shaw drivers can choose theirzones by seeking permissionsfor the same. He said that thee-rickshaws would only beallowed to run in lanes and noton the main roads. DM wasaddressing a meeting of officersat his camp office here onThursday to discuss aboutrestarting the pending con-

struction work of NHAI andstudy the possibilities of high-way transport, city transportand opening of vending zones.

DM also instructed theARTO to chalk out a plan sothat the auto rickshaws and e-rickshaws can be restarted ply-ing in the city, maintainingsocial distancing. He said thatin all the five zones of NagarNigams including Bhelupur,Dashaswamedh, Varunapaar(trans-Varuna), Kotwali andAdampura, the auto rickshawsshould have stickers of differ-ent colours. He said that byidentifying the vending zonespolice station-wise, permis-sion will be given to openthem.

Sharma also instructed theconcerned officers to acceler-ate the pace of construction oftoll plaza at Tengra Morh(crossing) and asked the con-tractors to increase the work-ers from adjoining villages. Hesaid that he himself visitedthere and found that debris wascollected there and there was abig pit. He asked the NHAImanager to ensure an earlyarrangement of the roads there.Besides, he said that the con-struction of drains on roadsides near Tengra crossingshould be completed before thestart of rainy season.

The DM instructed the SP(Traffic) to chalk out a planwithin a week in view to stop

entry of overloaded trucks toVaranasi city throughMohansarai and said that afterimplementation of plan diver-sion of vehicles should be madein view to avoid damaging ofpipe and sewer lines in the cityareas. He said that the truckspassing through the city shouldbe diverted from Kachwa toKapsatti. He also asked the con-cerned officers to make himphoto available for startingconstruction work on Kapsattibridge. He also asked the SP(Traffic) to stop parking oftrucks on roadsides in Rohaniaareas. The meeting was alsoattended by SSP, MunicipalCommissioner ADM (City), SP(City) and many others.

�� '�� !� " "

�;$$2��;1?21+�'(�)�#*�

Ayouth was drowned inGanga under the Jigna

police station on Thursday. Asper the reports received here,Satyam Singh(18), son of ShivRaj Singh, a resident of KashiSarpati village, had gone tobathe in the Ganga. Whilebathing he slipped into the areawhere water was deep anddrowned. On getting informa-tion SO Jigna Chhotak Yadavreached on the spot and withthe help of the local divers thebody could be recovered. Aftertaking the body into possessionthe police was busy in com-pleting the legal formalities inthis connection.

�;$$2��;1?21+� ��+,��+�(

The team of NationalThermal Power

Corporation (NTPC)Unchahar besides generatingpower was sensitive towards itssocial responsibility too. NTPCUnchahar is standing with thedistrict administration evenduring the Covid-19 pandem-ic. Group General Manager(GGM) of Unchahar BholanathMishra handed over 500 pack-ets of food items to the districtadministration which will bedistributed among the needy.After flagging off the truck car-rying relief materials GGM

Bholanath Mishra said thatNTPC Unchahar was provid-ing masks, soap, sanitisersbesides food to the needy.Apart from it the administra-tive team which was engaged in

looking after them had alsobeen provided masks, towels,sanitisers etc for protectionfrom Covid-19, he said.

He also added that it was amatter of pride for NTPC

Unchahar that all employeeswere supporting people ofnearby villages.

He added that they atNTPC would continue supportthe government in all itsendeavours to address the chal-lenge of this pandemic. Afterreceiving the relief materialsAdditional District Magistrate(Administration), Rae Bareli,Ramabhilash, appreciatedNTPC Unchahar for it. Hesaid that NTPC was serving thecountry by generating elec-tricity. Naib tehsildar SadarRae Bareli Ritesh Singh alsothanked the NTPC Unchaharfor this gesture.

�;$$2��;1?21+�'(�)�#*�

Nodal officer Ravi ShankarGupta inspected the com-

munity kitchen and issued thenecessary directives.

The nodal officer deployedin the district to supervise theadministrative arrangementsregarding the Covid-19 visitedthe community kitchen alongwith quarantine centre set upat Swatantra Sangram SenaniVishram Singh GovernmentPG College Chunar. Heobserved the sanitation con-dition at the quarantine centreand the community kitchen.He asked the officials con-cerned to ensure civic ameni-ties in the quarantine centre.He told the officials not to com-promise with the quality ofmaterials used in the kitchenshould be tolerated at all. Heasked the staff of the kitchenthat use of mask and social dis-tancing should be followed atany cost. He himself used the

sanitiser and asked the author-ities concerned to ensure itsavailability and use it all thetime.

��

Chief Development Officer(CDO) Avinash Singh said thatout of 810 gram panchayats thework under MNREGA was

being carriedout in 768 ofthem and therest had beenasked to submittheir plan forsanction with-out delay. Hesaid that while

91,066 unskilledlabourers whowere registered

under the scheme had alreadygot the job. He said that planwas in pipeline to create the jobfor all the migrant labourers asper the directive of the gov-ernment. Regarding the

involvement of labourers underMNREGA the district hadbagged the fifth place in thestate, the CDO said.

��

After getting post-mortemexamination report the policehas lodged the case against thehusband in connection with asuspicious death of a womanwhich has taken place somedays ago in Vidyapur villageunder the Kachhawan policestation. It may be pointed outhere be noted that some daysago a suicide case had come inlight. The father of the victimhad alleged that his daughterhad been murdered of hisdaughter. After receiving thepost-mortem examinationreport the police investigationindicated that after the murderthe husband hatched a con-spiracy to show it as suicide andwiped out the evidences ofmurder.

�;$$2��;1?21+� -./,0�1��

NTPC Rihand, largest powerhouse in UP with an

installed capacity of 3,000 MWhas achieved 100 per cent PLFfor the second consecutive dayon May 19 showing impressiveperformance of operationalefficiency in power genera-tion. This achievement hasbecome even more importantin this difficult period of coro-novirus pandemic. Despite thecountrywide lockdown and

social distance limitations,NTPC Rihand’s electrical engi-neers have tried to ensureuninterrupted power supplyto the country round the clock.

“Hundred per cent PLFmeans that the power plantoperated at its full capacity of3,000 MW for a fixed period,”said the General Manager(Operations & Maintenance),added that the plant was pro-gressively achieving newachievements. As per theinstructions of head of the

plant Balaji Iyengar, theemployees of the plant areworking on ensuring safety,quality and work efficiency ona high priority and also inreducing hardships of sur-rounding villagers through var-ious voluntary organisations atthe time of coronavirus crisis.Besides, during the lockdowncrisis when about 175 hungryand thirsty migrant labourersafter pedalling bicycles andwalking hundreds of kilometerscrossed the borders of MP

recently, the UP police stoppedthem for thermal screening atSirsoti village. To provide reliefto these migrant workers, theCSR department of NTPCRihand provided food packetsand water to them under theleadership of senior manager(CSR) Ajit Kumar. The depart-ment also made arrangementsof tents for providing shade tomigrant workers there. AjitKumar said that NTPC Rihandwould continue its support tohelp such people.

�;$$2��;1?21+� ,�/1�

MLA Prakash Dwivedisaid that 1,600 lunch

packets were distributedamong the poor and needy atthe relief camp set up onBanda-Atarra Road underCity Kotwali area onWednesday. Dwivedi said thatthose who distributed theselunch packets were Rajat Seth,VP Srivastava, PushkarDwivedi, Rakesh GuptaDaddu, Swadesh GauravShivhare Golu, Rajesh Gupta,Manish Raikawar, IndrajeetRajput, Dhaniram, LalaKushwaha, Amit Sahu,Yashwant Singh and PranjalChaurasia. MLA PrakashDwivedi while talking to ThePioneer said that apart from it5,500 lunch packets were dis-tributed among the poor and

needy in different parts of thecity on Wednesday.

Dwivedi said that socialdistancing was maintainedduring distribution of lunchpackets. MLA said that his aimwas to ensure that no oneremained hungry in Banda

vidhan sabha area. Dwivedisaid that his party workerswere telling people about theimportance of social distanc-ing and wearing face masksand were also being request-ed to keep their hands sani-tised.

�;$$2��;1?21+� ,�/1�

A25-year-old youth diedunder mysterious circum-

stances in Payari village underDharampur police station ofMadhya Pradesh. Some per-sons of Bariyarpur villageunder Kalinjar police stationsaw this youth lying aban-doned in a seriously injuredcondition on the ouskirts of thevillage. They immediatelybrought him to the communi-ty health centre (CHC) inNaraini where he succumbed tohis injuries during treatment.

He was identified as AnkitDwivedi, son of Santosh Kumar.The grandfather of thedeceased, Shivavtar, said that hisgrandson had disappered onTuesday evening. He said thatManoj, uncle of the deceased,had received a phone call froman unidentified mobile numberand he was called to come toBariarpur village. This personthreatened him with dire con-sequences if they did not reach

there on time. The grandfatherof the deceased said that healong with his son, Manoj,reached Kalijar police stationand inquired about his grand-son. The Kalijar policeinformed them that some per-sons had beaten him up oncharges of theft. Police said thathe had been sent for Covid-19test to CHC Naraini. The fam-ily members reached CHCNaraini and found AnkitDwivedi dead there. The fam-ily members of the deceasedmet ASP LKB Pal and gave himan application in which theyalleged the hand of an influen-tial person of Bariarpur villageand a police official behindAnkit’s death. They said that itwas a case of murder not sui-cide or accident. ASP BandaLKB Pal said that the body wassent for the post-mortemexamination. A panel of twodoctors had been constitutedand a request for its approvalwas sent to DM Banda AmitSingh Bansal. ASP said that

videography was also done.Pal said that forensic team hadbeen sent to the spot for inves-tigation. ASP Lal said that FIRwould be lodged against thepeople involved in this case.

��

A woman, Savita (40), wifeof Raj Narayan, a resident ofMilathu village, was injuredwhen fell down from a motor-cycle in Sathi village onWednesday. Later she wasadmitted to CHC Baberuwhere she was declaredbrought dead. The police saidthat she was going to Baberu onthe motorcycle of her son forpurchasing clothes. The policehad sent the body of the victimfor the post-mortem examina-tion

��#��

Nine people, including fourwomen, sustained seriousinjuries in a group clash over a

land dispute in Parsahar villageunder the Kalinjar police sta-tion on Wednesday. The policehad brought them to NarainiCHC. Six of them were referredto district hospital for treat-ment. The police have lodgedan FIR from both sides underSection 504 and 506 of the IPC.ASP LKB Pal said that he haddirected SO Kalinjar police sta-tion to settle the matter by talk-ing to the people and women ofboth sides involved in thisgroup clash. ASP said thatChunubad was digging a ditchfor toilet which was opposed byhis neighbourer, Raj kumar.ASP said that members of bothsides gathered on the spot.When asked not dig the ditchChunubad did not listen andwas attacked with spade andaxe. Members of both the sidesstarted beating one another.Nine persons, including fourwomen, sustained injuries. ASPsaid that the efforts would bemade to resolve this mattermutually.

�;$$2��;1?21+� $.��20#*�

Keeping the Covid-19 pan-demic in mind the North

Eastern Railway (NER) admin-istration, several effectiveefforts are being made to pre-vent in which its employees areengaged wholeheartedly.During the countrywide lock-down to check the infectionalong with freight and parceltrains special trains are alsobeing operated for the past fewdays to take migrant workers totheir native places. In additionface masks and relief materialsare being distributed amongthe needy by the railwaymen insuch a situation. Railway per-sonnel who were doing com-mendable works in such a sit-uation were being rewarded bybeing declared ‘Corona war-riors of the day’ daily by theNorth Eastern Railway admin-istration in order to boost theirmorale. In the same sequencethree railwaymen on NER werehonoured on May 19, ChiefPublic Relations Officer(CPRO) Pankaj Kumar Singhsaid.

Ganesh Yadav who wasworking on the post of chiefcommercial inspector at Siwanstation during the lockdownperiod got the unloading ofgoods which had arrived via 35rakes each at Siwan and Hathuaand four rakes at Marwa and

then disposed them of. In thishe got disposed of rakes ofgoods like edibles, cement,metal etc.

He got the balance sheetfor the month of March andApril to the Accounts depart-ment through the mobile

phone. In addition he got theArogya Setu App downloadedby all commercial employeesunder him. Under his supervi-sion the operation of ShramikSpecial trains was beingensured from Jalalpur station.For these commendable worksof Ganesh Yadav he was hon-oured by being declared the‘Corona warriors of the day’ ofVaranasi division.

Likewise UP Singh, work-ing on the post of chief ticketinspector headquarters,

Lucknow, in the Commericaldepartment of LucknowDivision, in order to control thecrowd of passengers coming viaSharmik Special trains at var-ious stations of Lucknow divi-sion engaged ticket checkingstaff to get thermal screening

conducted by following thedistancing guidelines. Aftergiving them food packets andbottles of water etc he got theover of handing them over tothe district administration forsending them home. For thesecommendable works UP Singhwas honoured as the ‘Coronawarrior of the day’ of Lucknowdivision.

Similarly SomreshChakravarty, who was workingas commercial superintendentin Izzatnagar division control

office, successfully monitoredvarious types of income andgoods-related works, loading /unloading-related works inspecial goods train. Apart fromit he successfully monitored 16Shramik Special trains comingto Izzatnagar division. Besides

to sent 441 packages of sanitiserfrom Kathgodam to Patna. Forthese commendable worksSomresh Chakraborty washonoured by being declared‘Corona warrior of the Day’ ofIzzatnagar division.

In order to boost themorale of its personnel therailway administration willcontinue to give such awardsduring the lockdown period infuture too. The railway admin-istration is proud of its suchpersonnel.

��6��7��

. ��

!� �$��

�;$$2��;1?21+� ,�/1�

Co m m i s s i o n e rChitrakootdham Division

Gaurav Dayal said that therewas zero active Covid patientin Banda. Dayal talking to ThePioneer on Thursday said thatall 21 positive patients ofCovid-19 whose two consecu-tive reports were found nega-tive had been discharged fromGovernment AllopathicMedical College, Banda. Dayalsaid that they had been advised14 days’ home quarantine.

Commissioner GauravDayal said that details of threeCovid-19 positive cases hadbeen forwarded to Chitrakootdistrict. Thus they were trans-

ferred to be counted inChitrakoot district. Dayal saidthat a 33-year-old man belong-

ing to Nasaini village who hadbroken his leg and had twoother fractures while coming tohis village from Thane, NaviMumbai, on a motorcycle metwith an accident on Jhansi-Mirzapur national highway.Later he was admitted to dis-trict hospital Banda for treat-ment from where he wasreferred to Kanpur. This 33-year-old man got himselfadmitted in a private nursinghome in Kanpur. His sample ofCovid-19 was found positive.This patient had also beencounted in Kanpur district dueto some technichal issues.Dayal said that however theyhad got all the borders ofNasaini village sealed and sam-

ples of his family members anddoctors and paramedical staffwere also sent for the testwhich were all found negative.He said that they all had beenadvised to wear masks, main-tain social distancing and keeptheir hands sanitised duringhome quarantine and aftercompleting their quarantineperiod. Commissioner saidthat there were total 12 activeCovid-19 cases in the entireChitrakootdham division. Theyinclude 10 in Chitrakoot andone each in Mahoba andHamirpur and the patients hadbeen admitted to the isolationward of Government AllopathicMedical College, Banda, theCommissioner added.

��$��4� ��/��

�� $�

�;$$2��;1?21+� 30�/1�*�(

Adriver who was repairing atruck at night died when it

suddenly started and he was hit byit. According to a report, truck dri-ver Shahun Khan (40), a residentof Alwar, Rajasthan, came hadcome to the shopkeepers forunloading the cement sheet-ladentruck. According to the villagers,while doing so suddenly the truckdeveloped a snag due to and hetold his brother, Mubeen, about it.His brother told him a way to startthe truck by phone and he start-ed repairing it. Thereafter whenShaun started to started the truckit did not do so. As it was in gearit started moving and he was hitby its rear wheel. He died on thespot itself. Police sent his body forthe post-mortem examination.

�;$$2��;1?21+�'�0.,�

On the directive of DistrictOfficer Avadhesh kumar

tiwari, executive officer ofNagar Palika Lal Chandra Sarojhas got sanitiser machinesinstalled in the offices ofDistrict Magistrate,Superintendent of Police, PoliceLines and others for protectionfrom Covid-19 pandemic. Hesaid that those coming to theoffices would get entry afterthey sanitised themselves. EOsaid that during the lockdownperiod the work of cleaningand sanitising every ward wasbeing done continuously. He

said that residents of the citywere extending their full coop-eration as far as cleanliness wasconcerned. Communitykitchen was being run contin-

uously by Nagar Palika sinceApril 2 and every day foodpackets were being distributedamong 1,500 needy being goingto their houses. In collabora-tion with Nagar Palika tentshad been arranged at the inter-sections for police personnel toprotect them against sun.Nagar Palika executive officersaid that needy people of 25wards of the district who didnot have ration cards werebeing provided food packetsevery day and special care wasbeing taken of migrant labour-ers too. He said that specialattention was being paid tocleanliness in all these works.

��

89 :��$��3�� &

7+#�-�!��+8��!��-��!��"

��

4��.�� 1��

2�� $��3 �$��

��$�� "%%��

�/9��%��

�/(-�3��!��+99� ��( 4�

1��/��!��;$$2��;1?21+� -./,0�1��

In the NTPC-Vindhyachalproject, Anti-Terrorism Day

was observed on Wednesdaykeeping social distancing inmind. On the occasion, theofficials and employees of theproject took an oath to fightagainst terrorism at theirrespective workplaces.Executive Director DebashishSen administered the oath inhis office where GeneralManager (SSC) Vipan Kumar,GM (HR) Uttam Lal and GM(SSC-Finance) Virendra Malikand others were also present

and they pledged to have firmbelief in the tradition of non-violence and tolerance of thecountry and fight against allforms of terrorism and violence.Apart from this, all the heads of

departments and employeestook oath at their workplacesagainst terrorism, pledging tokeep mutual brotherhood andpeaceful co-existence in thesociety. Earlier women’s wing of

the plant Suhasini Sangh con-tinued its efforts to support thepeople in various ways duringthe corona crisis. In this direc-tion Suhasini Sangh providedfood items to the needy andpoor people of the villagesaround the project in collabo-ration with the team Yuva.Chairperson of organisationKorobi Sen and other membersreviewed the progress made bythe team through video-con-ferencing.

They praised the efforts ofAshutosh Soni and his teammembers including Rahul Pateland Raka Biswas.

0��$��

-�;<<�� $��

�� ;$$2��;1?21+� ��20('#*�20+�(

Two persons were killed bya youth due to enmity over

some issue in Bhulanpur underthe Neemgaon police stationhere recently.

On getting informationabout the incident SP Poonamreached the spot directed theauthorities to immediatelyarrest the accused. Reportssaid that the youth came sud-denly and attacked the victims,Brijbihari Maurya (40) a resi-dent of Bhulanpur village, RamGopal Maurya (65) with an axewhile they were talking. As aresult both of them were seri-ously injured. Police rushedthere and sent both the injuredto the district hospital but bothdied on the way. Neemgaoninspector incharge Rajkumarsaid that the accused wasabsconding.

+=��$�� $��+��

��;$$2��;1?21+� 0�'(�#*�

Ayouth belonging to Bangravillage under the Chikasi

police station was feareddrowned in Dhasan river wherehe had gone for fishing. Eventhough 24 hours had lapsed hiswhereabouts could not betraced, last reports receivedhere said.

According to the police,Rajesh (30) had gone for fish-ing in the Dhasan river near thevillage along with his com-panions when his foot slipped,he started drowning and couldnot be found. His companions

informed his family members.Police with the help of thedivers tried to trace Rajesh butto no avail, last reports receivedhere said.

��

A meeting of the district-level peace committee was heldat the Collectorate auditoriumroom under the chairmanshipof District Magistrate DrGyaneshwar Tripathi onThursday keeping the Alvida kiNamaz and the forthcomingfestival of Eid in mind.

!��;$$2��;1?21+� $.��20#*�

Agang of unidentifiedthieves struck at a grocery

shop on the Shriram intersec-tion under the Shahpur policestation area and decampedwith cash and valuables fromthere.. The closed-circuit tele-vision (CCTV) camerasinstalled there captured thephotographs of three youthswhile they were committingtheft there. Police on the basisof the CCTV footage wassearching for the thievesinvolved in the theft.According to information

received here, Yogendra Gupta,a resident of Preet Vihar inJungle Shaligram under theShahpur police station runs agrocery shop near Shriramintersection on Fatima Road.On the said evening he hadgone home after closing itaround 5 pm.

In the meantime onWednesday morning when thepeople belonging to the local-ity saw the shutter of the shopbroken open they informedhim on phone. In his complaintthe victim stated that Rs 1,000in cash and valuables worth Rs5,000 from there.

�� (�� !� " "

��*�6$7��

�� 0#1�(#23!

At least, 73 per cent of thetotal Covid-19 deaths in

India is of those with underly-ing co-morbidities like car-diovascular disease, stroke ordiabetes. And at 64 per cent,men continue to be the maintarget of the virulent viruswith females making up for therest.

Also, half of the totaldeaths is of those above 60years of age, probably becauseof weak immunity and under-lying poor health condition, asper the Health Ministry dataissued on Thursday.

The analysis further indi-cated that, in terms of age dis-tribution, 0.5 per cent deathsare reported in less than 15years of age group, 2.5 per centin 15-30 years age group, 11.4per cent in 30-45 years agegroup, 35.1 per cent in 45-60years age group and 50.5 percent in people above 60 yearsof age.

According to the UnionHealth Ministry data, at least3,435 individuals so far have

lost their lives due to COVID-19 in India.

The Health Ministry stat-ed that the case mortality ratein India is 3.06 per cent, asagainst the global average of6.65 per cent. The ministryattributed the outcome to itsefforts towards timely caseidentification and proper clin-ical management of the cases.

India currently has 63,624cases under active medicalsupervision. Of these, approx-imately 2.94 per cent cases arein the ICU, said the HealthMinistry.

In addition, it advised that

community awareness, per-sonal hygiene, hand hygiene,respiratory etiquette and envi-ronmental sanitation are themost important tools to com-bat COVID-19.

Asserting that the periodof lockdown has been gainful-ly utilized to ramp up thehealth infrastructure in thecountry, the Health Ministrysaid the recovery rate in thecountry improved up to 40.32per cent.

"There are reports in a sec-

tion of media about somedecisions of the governmentregarding the lockdown imple-mentation and response toCOVID-19 management. Theperiod of the lockdown hasbeen gainfully utilized to rampup the health infrastructure inthe country. As on date, 45,299people have been cured, takingour recovery rate to 40.32%."

The ministry said as onMay 21,26,15,920 samples havebeen tested and 1,03,532 havebeen tested in the last 24

hours, through 555 testinglabs (391 in the governmentsector and 164 private labs).

So far the Governmenthas set up 3,027 dedicatedCovid hospitals and Covidhealth centres and 7,013 Covidcare centres.

Additionally, more than2.81 lakh isolation beds, over31,250 ICU beds, and 11,387oxygen supported beds havealready been identified in ded-icated Covid Hospitals andCovid health centres.

�� 0#1�(#23!

For every positive Covid-19test, more than 20 negative

tests have been done, the IndianCouncil Medical Research(ICMR) has said, asserting thatthere has been a 1,000-foldincrease in the quantum oftests per day in the last twomonths.

A total of 26,15,920 sam-ples had been tested till now,and the testing capacity hasbeen scaled up to 1 lakh testsper day which was less than100 Covid-19 test per day justtwo months ago, it said in astatement here.

A 1,000-fold increase injust 60 days has been made

possible by researchers fromvarious institutions, medicalcolleges, testing laboratories,ministries, airlines and postalservices working together, saidthe ICMR.

In January, India had onlyone laboratory testing forCOVID-19, at the ICMR'sNational Institute of Virology,Pune.

"Today there are 555 lab-oratories (391 in the govern-ment sector and 164 privatelabs) across the country, per-forming molecular tests fordiagnosis of COVID-19 - anunparalleled achievement inthe history of the Indian healthsystem," said the apex healthresearch body.

As the epidemic evolved,India's testing strategy under-went iterative calibration tokeep pace with the changingepidemiology and extent ofinfection. This ensured thataccess to tests was assured forrisk groups that needed it themost; wasteful, unnecessarytesting was avoided; and test-ing infrastructure was opti-mally scaled up without takingaway resources from otherkey public health interven-tions," the ICMR said.

This is evidenced by thefact that for every positive testmore than 20 negative testshave been done throughoutthe course of the epidemic, itsaid.

�(�� !�� 6,;��0��>-?��<��@�"��)�

�� 0#1�(#23!

In its bid to ensure that non-Covid-19 medical services

do not get hampered amid thepandemic, the Government onThursday said that birth dosevaccination at health facilitieswould continue irrespective ofthe categorisation of zones butimplementing social distancingprotocols.

According to the "Guidancenote for immunisation servicesduring and post Covid-19’ out-break released by Union HealthMinistry, an area exiting a con-tainment or a buffer zone cate-gory can start facility-basedand outreach immunisationactivities only after a mini-mum gap of 14 days.

The document said that inalignment with the area cate-gorisation, immunisation ser-vices will be classified under twoheads —immunisation in con-tainment and buffer zone and

immunisation in areas beyondthe buffer and green zone.

However, the State andDistrict administration shouldmake a local assessment ofCOVID-19 risk before startingthe outreach or health facility-based immunisation withmobilisation of beneficiaries.Similarly, an area enlisted as a‘containment/buffer zone’should stop health facility-basedsessions and outreach sessions.

As a standard practice,immunisation services are deliv-ered through the modes ofbirth dose vaccinations at deliv-ery points in health facilities,health facility based sessions,and outreach sessions as part ofurban/village health sanitationand nutrition days services, itsaid.

Guidelines from the UnionMinistry of Home Affairs andthe Health ministry pertainingto Covid -19 updates will be theprimary reference points and no

State should violate any Covid-19 guidance, it said.

Practices of social distanc-ing, hand washing, and respi-ratory hygiene need to be main-tained at all immunization ses-sions irrespective of zones ordistrict categorisation by all(i.e. beneficiaries and serviceproviders) in all sessions, theguidance document said.

According to reports, inMarch during the stringentlockdown period at least100,000 children did not receivetheir BCG vaccination, (pro-tection against tuberculosis(TB)), and another 200,000missed each dose of the pen-tavalent vaccine, which providessome protection against menin-gitis, pneumonia, whoopingcough, tetanus, hepatitis B anddiphtheria, and the rotavirusvaccine, which prevents diar-rhoea-causing rotavirus infec-tions, in March, suggests theanalysis.

�� 0#1�(#23!

Congress president SoniaGandhi on Thursday

launched the Rajiv Gandhi KisanNyay scheme in Chhattisgarhthrough video conferencing andsaid this was a true tribute to theformer Prime Minister.Addressing the launch event onthe occasion of Rajiv Gandhi'sdeath anniversary, she lauded thescheme, saying it will bring achange in the lives of farmers andhelp them become self-reliant.

The party paid rich tributesto the former Prime Ministerand decided not to issue adver-tisements in his memory, ratherutilise the money in helpingmigrants. Former Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi also laudedthe Chhattisgarh Governmentfor launching the scheme at atime when the poor and farm-ers were facing hardships due tothe coronavirus outbreak and thelockdown to contain the spreadof the disease.

"Such schemes should beimplemented at the ground levelto help bring a change in the livesof people. This is a revolutionaryscheme and is a true tribute toRajiv Gandhi.

This is a big step taken in

lines with the values of RajivGandhi," Sonia said.

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel said the RajivGandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana willbenefit 19 lakh farmers andhelp bring more area under cul-tivation. He said the aim of thescheme is to help farmers earnmore and bring more area in thestate under cultivation, whichcurrently stands at 20 per cent.

While Rahul Gandhidescribed Rajiv Gandhi as a"true patriot, liberal and who putthe country on the path ofprogress and self-reliance withhis farsightedness, Congress gen-eral secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted, "To bekind to those who are unkind toyou; to know that life is fair, nomatter how unfair you imagineit to be; to keep walking, no mat-ter how dark the skies or fear-some the storm; to nurture astrong heart, and fill it with loveno matter how great it's sorrows;these are the gifts of my father'slife."

"In memory of my belovedfather, Shri Rajiv Gandhi, whowas martyred this day in 1991.He was a wonderful father; gen-tle, kind, compassionate andpatient.

3��!�*��:��&�(%.�� 0#1�(#23!

HRD Minister RameshPokhriyal 'Nishank' on

Thursday announced that thestudents enrolled inUniversities and affiliated col-leges may undertake SWAYAMcourses and avail credits bycompleting these courses as perUniversity Grants Commission(UGC)’s present regulationson credit framework for onlinelearning courses.

Now with the UGC givingits nod to a proposal in thisregard, students will soon beable to pursue two degreecourses simultaneously in sameor different streams. However,one of the two degrees will haveto be pursued through regularmode and the other has to bethrough online distance learn-ing (ODL).

"The proposal wasapproved in the recent com-mission meeting for simulta-neous dual degrees for studentsin India, allowing students tocomplete courses in the sameor different streams at thesame time. One of the twodegrees, however, has to bethrough regular mode and theother has to be through onlinedistance learning," UGCSecretary Rajnish Jain said.

Pokhriyal further informedthat UGC has shared a list of 82Under Graduate and 42 Post

Graduate Non-EngineeringMOOCs courses withUniversity Vice Chancellorsand College Principals, whichwill be offered in July Semester2020. He added that thesecourses cover subject areassuch asBiochemistry/Biotechnology/Biological Sciences &Bioengineering, Education,Law, Computer Science andEngineering, Commerce,Management, Pharmacy ,Mathematics , History, Hindi,Sanskrit, etc.

The Minister further saidthat in the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic scenario,Students, Teachers, Life-longlearners, Senior Citizens andHomemakers may enrol andavail the benefits of SWAYAMcourses to widen their horizonof learning. SWAYAM (StudyWebs of Active–Learning forYoung Aspiring Minds) is aprogramme initiated byGovernment of India anddesigned to achieve the threecardinal principles ofEducation Policy viz., access,equity and quality.

Jain said that "an officialnotification will be issued soonin this regard". The UGC hadlast year set up a panel head-ed by its Vice Chairman,Bhushan Patwardhan, toexamine the issue of pursuingtwo degree programmes simul-

taneously from the same uni-versity or different universitieseither through distance mode,online mode or part-timemode.

However, this is not thefirst time the commission wasexamining the issue. The UGChad set up a committee in 2012as well and consultations wereheld on the same but ultimatelythe idea was junked.

The 2012 committee head-ed by then Vice Chancellor ofthe Hyderabad University,Furqan Qamar, had recom-mended that a student enrolledin a degree programme underregular mode may be allowedto pursue a maximum of oneadditional degree programmesimultaneously under open ordistance mode from the sameor a different university.

"However, two degree pro-grammes under regular modemay not be allowed simulta-neously as it may create logis-tic, administrative and acade-mic problems. A student pur-suing a degree programmeunder regular mode may beallowed to pursue a maximumof one certificate, diploma,advanced diploma, PG diplo-ma programme simultaneous-ly either in regular or open anddistance mode in the same uni-versity or from other institu-tions," the panel report hadthen said.

+��

�� 0#1�(#23!

India’s people with disabilities(PwDs) are not only locked

down but also feeling left outbecause of Government’s fail-ure to ensure even basic ser-vices to them amidCoronavirus outbreak, accord-ing to a survey by the NationalCentre for Promotion ofEmployment for DisabledPeople (NCPDEP).

The Delhi-based NGO,said that many of the challengesconfronting persons with dis-abilities during lockdown couldhave been addressed had theGovernment duly enforced itsown directives.

The report, ''Locked Downand Left Behind'' focuses on thestatus of persons with disabil-ities in India during the Covid-19 crisis. It includes data froma survey of 1,067 people (73%male and the rest female) withdisabilities. The figures showedthat over 73% of those inter-viewed were facing severe chal-lenges on account of the lock-

down.Interviews with a sub-sam-

ple of 201 persons with dis-abilities showed that 67 per centhad no access to doorstep deliv-ery of essentials, and only 22per cent confirmed that theyhave access to essentials. Asmany as 48 per cent had noaccess to a government helpline,and 63% had not received anyfinancial assistance.

Many survey respondentsliving in remote areas said theydid not receive any reliefannounced by the government."The government grassrootsworkers do not want to come tosuch a remote area. Pradeep,one of the respondents, wasunable to get medical necessi-ties such as urobag, catheter andCIC pipes, and when he dialledthe emergency number 112, hewas told to ask his neighbour forhelp," the report said.

Similarly, Moin had noaccess to medical treatmentwhere he lived, and had totravel 40km to Ahmedabad toget his ear treated, the reportstated, adding these and other

similar issues could have beentaken care of if the''Comprehensive DisabilityInclusive Guidelines'' issued bythe Central government’sDepartment of Empowermentof Persons with Disabilities(DEPwD) had been uniformlyenforced across India.

The DEPwD guidelinesprovide for ensuring that per-sons with disabilities are givenaccess to food, water, medicine,preferably at their residence orplace where they have beenquarantined.

According to the guide-lines, caregivers should beallowed to reach persons withdisabilities by exempting themfrom restrictions during lock-down or providing passes in asimplified manner on priority.Continuation of support ser-vices for persons with disabili-ties with minimum human con-tact should also be ensured.

The report, however,praised states such as Kerala,Tamil Nadu and Nagaland fordoing a commendable job forthe PwDs.

4�� $��@� ��

�� 0#1�(#23!

Admitting that defence man-ufacturing industry was

adversely affected due to thelockdown, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh on Thursdayurged the Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises(MSME)tobe self-reliant and said PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s call tobe “atmanirbhar” will createscores of jobs within the coun-try.

Appreciating the role playedby the MSMEs in the ongoingnational effort to fight coron-avirus pandemic, Singh saidthe manufacturing sector hasbeen affected the most due tolockdown and disruption inexisting supply chains and thedefence sector is no exception tothis. “Rather, it can be said thatthe defence sector is more aggra-vated than other sectors as theonly buyer of defence productsis the government,” he saidwhile addressing a conclavehere.

Keeping MSMEs strong isone of the priorities of the gov-ernment, he said adding thereare more than 8,000 MSMEswhich are partners of ordnancefactories, DPSUs and serviceorganisations. They contributemore than 20 per cent of thetotal production of these organ-isations.

Citing the example ofUnited States where domesticdefence industry developedwithin a short span of two years

during the World War-II, Chiefof Defence Staff General BipinRawat said India should have itsown defence industry.

��#�� 0#1�(#23!

Hand sanitisers and masksare just temporary fixes to

keep the Covid-19 at bay. Butwithout access to soap andclean water, more than 2 billionpeople in low and middle-income nations includingIndia, which are home to quar-ter of the world's population,have a greater likelihood ofacquiring and transmitting thecoronavirus than those inwealthy countries, according toa global study.

"Handwashing is one of thekey measures to preventCOVID transmission, yet it isdistressing that access isunavailable in many countriesthat also have limited healthcare capacity," said Dr MichaelBrauer, professor at Institute forHealth Metrics and Evaluationat the University ofWashington's School ofMedicine, which currently hasone of the world's leadingmodels of the coronavirus ofthe pandemic.

The study published in therecent journal ‘EnvironmentalHealth Perspectives’ noted thatin 46 countries, more than

half of people lacked access tosoap and clean water. InNigeria, China, Ethiopia,Democratic Republic of theCongo, Bangladesh, Pakistan,India, and Indonesia, morethan 50 million persons ineach were estimated to bewithout handwashing access, itadded.

"Temporary fixes, such ashand sanitizer or water trucks,are just that - temporary fixes,"Brauer said. "But implementinglong-term solutions is neededto protect against COVID andthe more than 700,000 deaths

each year due to poor hand-washing access," Brauer said.

Even with 25 per cent ofthe world's population lackingaccess to effective handwashingfacilities, there have been "sub-stantial improvements in manycountries" between 1990 and2019, Brauer said. Those coun-tries include Saudi Arabia,Morocco, Nepal, and Tanzania,which have improved theirnations' sanitation.

Earlier this month, theWorld Health Organizationpredicted 190,000 people inAfrica could die of Covid-19 in

the first year of the pandemic,and that upward of 44 millionof the continent's 1.3 billionpeople could be infected withthe Coronavirus.

For India’s homeless andurban poor too who live in thou-sands of slums across cities likeDharavi slums in Mumbaiwhich is now hub of Covid19cases, maintaining good hygienecan be nearly impossible.

According a study byWaterAid, a global advocacygroup on water and sanitation,published in 2018, more than163 million people in India donot have access to clean water,the highest in the world. Climatechange is likely to add severalchallenges on water resourcesfront.

The Government on its parthas launched Jal Jeevan Mission(JJM) that aims to provide pipedwater to every household inurban areas while Swajal schemein around 115 rural districts inIndia to provide clean drinkingwater.

Experts assert that keepinghands clean is one of the easiestand best ways to prevent trans-mission of the new coronavirus,in addition to social distancing.

�� 0#1�(#23!

Pointing out that violation ofthe nationwide lockdown

has been noticed in variousplaces, the Union HomeMinistry on Thursday askedthe States to ensure strictimplementation of the curbs.In a communication to allstates and Union Territories,

Union Home Secretary AjayBhalla also said there should bestrict compliance of the orderissued for night curfew orprohibition of all non-essentialactivities between 7 pm and 7am. The Home Secretary saidthat it was brought to thenotice of the Ministry of HomeAffairs, through media reportsand others sources, that there

are violations at various placesin the implementation ofMHA guidelines issued tocheck the spread of coron-avirus across the country. "Iwould like to emphasise thatthe MHA guidelines should bestrictly implemented, and allauthorities in states and UTsshould take necessary steps toensure the same," he said.

��

�� )��"�� * ��

"�� *%�&��+�$�"� �� ,��+� "�� "+�� $� ��-./012 �

.��

��+��)�,�-��./.��"�0��$1��

�� 0#1�(#23!

Expressing concern overreduced budget for capital

procurement over the years,Defence Secretary Ajay Kumarsaid here on Thursday the allo-cation has come down from40% in 2010-11 to 33% andefforts are on to reduce the bur-geoning pension bill. He alsosaid the Indian Ocean is becom-ing a “threat” after the SouthChina Sea, in an apparent ref-erence to growing Chinese mar-itime prowess and its fastexpanding naval presence in theIndian Ocean in the last onedecade or so.

Addressing a webinar here,Kumar said the reduction inallocation for capital procure-ment was “systemic problem”with three factors - growingpension bill, non revenueexpenditure and dependence onimports.

On Blue economy in theregion, Kumar stated China

has been a leader in deep waterfishing while the Indian fisher-men are not even equipped tocover the entire Indian ExclusiveEconomic Zone (EEZ).Observing that India does nothave the infrastructure to sup-port them, Kumar said it needsto be seen how it can be put inplace.

Stressing on indigenoustechnology development,Kumar said it is an open secretthat current model of technol-ogy transfer drives up cost ofplatforms from 30% to 60%compared to direct imports.Other measures being pursuedto reduce expenditure are out-sourcing, leasing, automation invarious organisations under theministry and monetisation ofsome defence lands. Process isalso underway for closing downmilitary farms. Giving exam-ples, he said the Border RoadsOrganisation (BRO) is out-sourcing all work worth upto�300 crore.

#�� I�(��'��

� �� $�� A�.�� @��$��

��$��$

�� 0#1�(#23!

India’s efforts to ramp up itsantibody tests for surveil-

lance and understanding theproportion of populationexposed to Covid-19 got amajor boost on Thursday withHealthcare firm Zydus Cadilasupplying the first batch of30,000 Covid Kavach ELISAtests free of cost to IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR).

The kit will be used forantibody detection of Covid-19, a disease caused by thecoronavirus infection.

Just a few days ago Indiahad to cancel the order ofrapid anti-body test kits thatwere imported from China asthey were found to have pooraccuracy rate and the testsshowing false positive andnegative results with multipleinstances of failure of tests.

K�� ;>4��$�4�$��#2!'+��

These are difficult times forany human being as theentire world is sufferingdue to the pandemic.Millions of people are at

risk and every time we think we havehandled the situation, the virus one-ups us. It is a difficult time alsobecause so many of our loved ones(especially the aged) are at grave risk.The virus has already claimed 3,27,000lives across the world and this num-ber is heavily on the conservative side.One such life that the virus claimedwas of Willie Levi, one of the Atalissaboys who succumbed to the virus atthe age of 73 in late April this year.

Levi did not create a large busi-ness that changed the world as weknew it. He was not an inventor noran activist or a celebrity. Yet, his obit-uary was one that stayed with me. Hewas mentally challenged and startedworking for Henry’s Turkey Service in1974 along with other men with thesame disorder. Their pay was meantto be $750 a month but they receivedjust $65 for their entire course ofemployment that spanned for decades.The rest of the fund was taken by theemployer for provisions like bed,board, clothes and medical care(though they received hardly any).Besides, they were never given anoption to seek other forms of employ-ment and were lodged in an old schoolthat had been converted into abunkhouse. This inhuman treatmentmeted out to them was made possi-ble due to a cruel provision in the law,which allowed the employers to paypeople with disabilities less than theminimum wage.

Ultimately after years of inactionGovernment agencies evacuated hisbunkhouse in 2009. Levi was foundwith a broken knee cap and a debili-tating depression. In 2013, in a law-suit filed by the Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission, Levi, alongwith other claimants, emerged victo-rious. The courts finally ruled infavour of proper pay and workingconditions for people with disabilities.It is fitting to come across the storyof Levi when back home, some StateGovernments have decided to makesome shocking changes to the labourlaws.

The BJP-ruled State of UttarPradesh has proposed an ordinancethat will exempt businesses from thepurview of almost all labour laws forthe next three years. The GujaratGovernment, too, has announcedthat it intends to follow Uttar Pradesh’sstride by allowing 1,200-day labourlaw exemptions for new industrialinvestments. Madhya Pradesh, too,

has sought to significantlydilute the labour laws althoughthe Shivraj Singh ChouhanGovernment has tried to adopta slightly more nuancedapproach.

The changes in the labourlaws are oppressive and with-out any basis as to what theyseek to achieve: Attract invest-ments into their States. Anexample of this oppressivenessis how Uttar Pradesh’s ordi-nance retains only the “safetyand security” provisions of theFactories Act and excludes thechapter relating to “health” aswell as the provisions relatingto “hazardous processes.” Theseprovisions mandate an employ-er to inter alia provide adequateventilation to the employees,prevent overcrowding, ensurea clean working environmentand sufficient accommodationfor latrine and urinal. Are wecomfortable with having ourlabourers work in an environ-ment that does not even pro-vide basic amenities to them?

Labour is one of the fourtypically cited factors of pro-duction. The other three areland, entrepreneurship andcapital. When we say each ofthese factors of production outloud, certain mental images areformed in our minds. We donot have the same image for allof them. While the other fac-tors of production are theoret-ical constructs, labour, by def-inition, is human. However,such a move reduces human

labour to a mere number or alargely theoretical construct.

We must realise that unlikethe other factors of productionthat are unidimensional ie, ameans to further production,labour involves individualswho are closely interlinkedwith other human lives. Whena father has no opportunity tospend time with his family ordies due to poor working con-ditions, it is not merely a fac-tor of production that is extin-guished but the entire life of afamily is upended.

The Government cannotallow this to happen. There isno debating the fact that India’slabour laws need a revamp.The country’s regulatory envi-ronment, too, needs to be easedso that businesses and entrepre-neurship can flourish. But willdoing away with basic labourprotections achieve that objec-tive? Stalwarts of Indian busi-ness like Azim Premji andKiran Mazumdar Shaw certain-ly do not think so.

No organisation wishes totreat its labourers poorlybecause owners know that suchtreatment is not conducive totheir business. Instead, what isneeded is strong infrastructure,a skilled workforce and a health-ier environment for businessesto flourish. Instead of address-ing these substantive concernsthat would require respectiveState Governments to workhard by instituting real change,many have taken the easy way

out by taking on our labourers. The role of the Government

is encapsulated in theConstitution. A bare examina-tion of the Articles on funda-mental rights or the DirectivePrinciples on State Policy clear-ly shows that the Governmentmust advocate for its citizens.Businesses like Henry’s (Levi’semployer) are known to takeadvantage of the labourerswhenever they get a chance andthere are many such employers.

All they care about is theirtop line. This is why we haved e m o c r a t i c a l l y - e l e c t e dGovernments in place. It is theduty of the Government toensure that businesses do nottreat humans like other factorsof production. There is a basicdignity and protection that theConstitution guarantees to thecitizens. Governments have amoral, ethical and legal respon-sibility to protect these values.

If we fail to do this andaccept these changes, we arebeing hypocritical. Ask your-self: Would we allow our chil-dren to work in such condi-tions? Then what gives us theright to allow any worker to nothave adequate ventilation oraccess to proper toilets? Thereis no economic benefit to sucha move and even if there was,the price of human dignity can-not be reduced to mere num-bers on a balance sheet.

(The writer is a former IPSofficer, a former MP and cur-rently a member of the AAP)

��(�� '��45��$��

��3�� /��$�� !��'� 45��!� �� "��!��

��,�� -��$��-��!-��-�� ,��6��0��$��

,��7(��,�� !� ��3��'��0��#�� %��8��9�� -��!�� #��*-�� 7�� 6��"��$��!�� .�� !��

�� (��%�� .��

3�� 6�� !��!�� ,�� (��-��(��%��!��!��!�� !�� !��3��%��!

�� (��3�� (��,��"�� (��/��%�0��!0��/��'��-�� /�� !��(��%��2��'��/��#��'��2#.�� (�� !��3.:(1!;<��=�� "�� !��!��;<5>�� 3�� (�� ,��/�� 2�� (�� /��!��#��2�� ?�� /��@��'��#��2��$ ��(��,��/��3�� !��3��%��(�� 3.:(1!;<��3��!��

$��/��%��3��!��(��#��!��=��(�� .��%��/��3��#�� A/3#B�� !��#��'��#��2��1��8#��9��'��2��3�� "��!��.��(��%��@��!��3��%��*-��8��9��#��3�� !��!=��%�� (�� %�� 3�� 3.:(1!��(��!��(�� =�� , ��/��#��!��0�� !��3.:(1!;<��!3��"��(�� 3��%�� !��(�� !��'�� !�� /�� %�� 3��/��=��<C��A@1(B��3��/�� !��/��%��3��

5�� !

��

Sir — Bees and other pollinatorslike butterflies, bats and hum-mingbirds are increasingly underthreat from human activities.Pollination is fundamental to thesurvival of ecosystems across theglobe. Nearly 90 per cent of theworld’s wild flowering plants,more than 75 per cent of theworld’s food crops and 35 per centof global agricultural needs aredependent, entirely or in part, onanimal pollination. Not only dopollinators contribute directly tofood security but they are also keyto conserving biodiversity.

The aim of celebrating WorldBiological Diversity is to raiseawareness about the importanceof pollinators, the threats theyface and their contribution to sus-tainable development. Measuresto protect bees and other pollina-tors could go some way towardssolving problems related to theglobal food supply and eliminat-ing hunger in developing coun-tries. Since human beings needpollinators for their survival, it iscrucial that we take steps tocheck their steady decline.

Ibn Hafiz MazahireeHyderabad

��

Sir — The Government’s deci-sion to allocate an additional�40,000 crore for MGNREGA

funds is a welcome step that willhelp generate employment inrural areas and address the dis-tress caused to the migrantworkers due to COVID-19.

Given the rising spread of the

disease as well as the return ofmigrants to their home States, itis unlikely that migrant farmlabour will return for the comingKharif season. Keeping in mindthe current labour shortage, the

scheme’s work calendar must beadjusted to local conditions. Tomanage peak agricultural labourdemand, input operations likesowing and harvesting of cropsmust be allowed. This will not onlyreduce farm input cost but alsoenhance man-days and encouragethe migrants to return, especiallyto States like Punjab, Haryana andUttar Pradesh where farm oper-ations can increase man-days sig-nificantly.

Harvinder Singh ChughJalandhar

��

Sir — Ever since the first lock-down was imposed on March 25,there have been a series of cur-fews till date. The fact is that acomplete nationwide lockdownhas only helped us to slow therate of spread of theCoronavirus. The virus hascome to stay for long. Peopleshould change their lifestyle tominimise its impact and getaccustomed to living with it.

ManishaVia email

� � � � 3 � 5 < � � � � � 1 2

&&&2 ��#*�"��2�"�� B�� L A��(�� L �� B�� B

�# �� !� " "

�3

0��

�3�� 4��5

�� $��$� �� @�� %�'��&$� ��

!�"�� .��$�/ �@��!��%��$��D��%��(0+�� %��$��

�3�1��.8��9M?�$�� +��

1��$� �� %�!��%!�� !��$� ��$��

�:0,9M4� ��+� ��

'��%�� !��

� ��9�.�3��0M(��

� � � � / 6 . � �

� � � � � 5 � � � �� ) � � / . � � 5

��

+��=��8>�� !�� I��8>��

� �� .7;/�N� �� +�� E ��%�� 7;�N� ��8>�� F��%�� ;�� *�� %�'��*��#�� .*'*#�/%�� 8>%>>>�� %�� :>%>>>�� *�� +��F=��%�4�� $�� 8�� 9%>>>�� $�� !��M�� %� �� %� �� $�� %�� M��$�� $�� (� �� %�� %� �� $� ��

��'�� @��.�'@�/�� &$� �� !��7��!��

&��&$� ��76�� $�� !��7�<>%��D�� $�� &$� �� D�� $� �� '@� �3� �%�� 2�� I��$� ��

�19�31.1��1�1��

05�5?&+0!'+�!501!'3#'��5��?#+�

!�'�2+@5-?#?'�55?2F�@#�+-'#

510#?'�4051�3+��'-�3

�?#+�*#0��!'�05��50(-�!G#��5

�3#!?�@-'!0#'' !0'�#+(%�13+��!'

0##(#(�!'�+'�?50&

!0E?+'�?-��-?#%+�'4!22#(

15?4E5?�#�+0(�+3#+2�3!#?

#0G!?50*#0��E5?@-'!0#''#'��5

E25-?!'3 ��3#'#15-2(�@#0#E!��3#*�&?#+�2F

�� $��@!�00�9.0,8�,��9;�<1�!-:,<�

��'��!�� "��

�,9<�9��89�.�3��0M0��E ��

�� -��"��;��

(�� !��

'��%��

=��>�� *�� -� ��? �� -�� -

@� ��

��=��>�� *�� *��-@ �� *� ��

4��54��

There is no better day than the InternationalBiological Diversity Day to remember thatwe are a part of nature, not separate from

it. Ancient seers of India described this relation-ship as Vasudeva Kutumbakham (one universalfamily) that supports and sustains each other,right from the humble earthworm to the mightyelephant. We learnt over our 10,000-year civil-isational history, lessons from planetary con-sciousness and celebrated the inter-dependenceof all life and our role as stewards and childrenof Mother Nature.

Our ancestors toiled for centuries so that wecould be the beneficiaries of diverse, climate-resilient and nutritious seeds. As a result, Indiatoday has the largest diversity of plants and foodsand the country alone accounted for over2,00,000 varieties of rice. We honoured seeds,right from barley to millet, with sacred rituals,for filling our stomachs and bestowing upon ushealth. We pray to nine goddesses duringNavratri and offer them each a sacred seed. Frombirth to death, our biodiversity is conserved inour rituals.

In many communities in India, brides stillcarry to their husband’s home the gifts of nativeseeds and sacred spices like turmeric and so on.All communities across India, but more partic-ularly tribals, have forms of biodiversity entwinedwith their daily lives and sacred rituals. In fact,sugarcane in Sanskrit is “ikshu” and the dynastyof the mythological King Ram was Ikshvaku. Isn’tthis an uncanny coincidence?

The animal family was not left out either, wesanctified them as companions or steeds of godsand goddesses. Even the most hated pest, the rat,is associated with Lord Ganesh. The sub-conti-nental civilisation saw beyond the anthro-pocentric myopia and valued each being assacred, for each one of them contributed to thelarger wheel of life. But sadly, these were just“pagan rituals or superstitions” for the officersof the East India Company. With the mighty gun-boat and lust for gold, the colonist birthed a classof compradors, who focussed on the reversal ofour ancient ways of life.

They infected us with a virus — the conquestof nature, which was contradictory not just tothe Indian way of life but to all civilisations acrossthe world (including the pagan traditions ofEurope, which were repressed during the GreatInquisition in medieval Europe).

Right from the native tribes of the Americasto the Chinese, all affirmed that human life is asub-part of nature. And with the age of imperi-alism began the great fall from Eden into des-perate hell of pillaging, looting and rape of theEarth and all her living beings for the profit ofthe great pirate overlords.

But is the conquest of nature over? No, theconquest has evolved. Instead of the East IndiaCompany, we have India Inc. and larger behe-moth agri-giants that survive on the plunder ofthe Earth and on bio-piracy. India, the land ofabundance and diversity, is losing its truewealth — our connection with our biodiversi-ty, our seeds, our medicinal plants and the genet-ic diversity of our animals.

For instance, from the Gir to Ongalcows, we have destroyed our cattlewealth with artificial insemination andsacrificed the Nandi bull to the tractor.We have made oxen redundant in oursystem of agriculture.

The diversity of the thali, too, hasshrivelled to a handful of crops and sub-varieties of fruits, cereals and vegeta-bles. Millets and local varieties have dis-appeared from our diet and have beenreplaced by commercial varieties, whileour fields have become a eulogy tomonoculture cropping. It had takenthousands of years to evolve each vari-ety and crop and yet in little less than50 years, we have destroyed generationsof breeding.

But at the national level, there aregreater threats. Indian Plant GeneticResources (PGR), rated among thehighest in the world, are being piratedabroad. Sometimes due to laxity ofenforcers and other times illegally.Nevertheless treaties like TheInternational Treaty on Plant GeneticResources for Food and Agriculture(ITPGRFA) and International Unionfor the Protection of New Varieties ofPlants (UPOV) are trying to bully Indiainto surrendering all our PGR for cor-porate exploitation, while receivingminimal remuneration and benefits forthe communities that have co-evolvedthese plants and seeds. There is also anattempt to subvert our Biodiversity Actand undermine the NationalBiodiversity Authority.

International seed companies,including Chinese ones, are controlling100 per cent subsidiaries in India,accessing strategic PGR and exporting

parent lines of our varieties to theirnations. Meanwhile Indian companiescan’t even own firms in China, Thailandand so on, forget exporting parent linesof varieties.

We need to have a more national-istic Foreign Direct Investment policyespecially dealing with our PGR as it isa treasure trove that will prepare us toface challenges such as climate change.

The next policy step to conservediversity is to have a strong protectionof farmers’ rights to breed and co-evolvenewer varieties. As the theme “OurSolutions are in Nature”, suggests, wemust also harness the wild varieties andland races for meeting newer chal-lenges. But this should be done sustain-ably, involving local communities andfarmers instead of patented technolog-ical alternatives, which are expensiveand promote profiteering.

MS Swaminathan, father of theGreen Revolution in India, many timesstressed on how the country’s biodiver-sity has the potential to meet all of ourneeds, we don’t need gene modifica-tions or other genome editing interven-tions like CRISPR and so on. We mustlook towards nature and her abundancefor solutions.

Each of us has to embrace biodiver-sity-based products in our lives. Notonly will it be an economical option butalso the healthier one. Starting from ourplate, we can all include one millet mealor local varieties of rice/wheat apartfrom basmati, and trust me, there arehundreds of aromatic, medicinal andtasty varieties available in each city andvillage. This will increase the biodiver-sity of our gut and improve health.

We need to also bring back localnative vegetables and prefer seasonaland locally-grown greens over coldstorage ones. For processed foods, weagain must buy as much as we can ofbiodiversity- based products and sup-port native tribes. For our clothes, too,we need to end the hegemony of BtCotton. It is about time that Indians,like other more conscious citizens,choose cheaper alternate fabrics andsupport handloom and sustainableclothings collectives.

In dealing with other challenges, wemust involve processes such as bio-mimicry and evolve technologies thatwork with the Earth and not against her.Circular and non-polluting economi-cal policies are the need of the hour.

Finally, each thing we eat, touch,feel are all transformed nature so weneed to reject the false separationfrom nature. The problems and solu-tions are both part of nature. What weunderstand as problems are so becausethey risk human survival but may notbother nature so much.

The true solution lies in awareness.We need to embrace our VasudevaKutumbhakam and bring back biodi-versity and sacredness into our lives. Weneed to dispel war-mongering againstnature for profit and embrace theabundance she provides. We ought tochange our behaviour and our language(which treats nature as dead and anobject). We need to remove the “it” todenote nature and replace it with“her” as the goddess she truly is.

(The writer is Director, Policy andOutreach, National Seed Association ofIndia)

'��!�� !��<��

��"�� 27 . 5 � � � � � � � �

5�&��)�0,-��"$�&��

/6��)�5��

!��

��

1#�0##(��5�#*@?+�#�

5-?� ��

+0(�@?!0&�@+�4�

@!5(!G#?'!�F�+0(�

'+�?#(0#''�!0�5�5-?�

2!G#' �1#�0##(��5�

(!'�#2�1+?�*50&#?!0&

+&+!0'��0+�-?#�

E5?��?5E!�+0(�#*@?+�#�

�3#�+@-0(+0�#'3#��?5G!(#' �

1#�5-&3��5�3+0&#�5-?

@#3+G!5-?�+0(�5-?�

2+0&-+&#�.13!�3�?#+�'�0+�-?#�+'

(#+(�+0(�+05@)#��/ �

1#�0##(��5?#*5G#��3#�J!�"��5

(#05�#�0+�-?#+0(�?#�2+�#�!�

1!�3�J3#?"�+'��3#&5((#''�'3#

�?-2F�!'

$��4;�� 3��=�� !��'��3��=��

��*-��D��3��%��!�� 3�� 3��%��!��"��!�� !��

0��6�� =��-��-��'+�-��%��3.:(1!;<��*-(�� 3��8�� 9��#��-��!��.��-��*�� 8��9��"��%�� 0�� 0��!�� !��!��

(�� !��'��!��!��,��!��!��#��1��+��

��.��4CCE��*-$��!��!�� !��"��-�� ,�� !��

�� !�� !�� 0�� !�� F��!��!��

=�� !��%��"��!��!�� (��!��!� ��

1/�� !�� -��+�� 3��-��

"��"�� !��"��!��!��!�� "��!�� "��!�� ,�� =��3��A,=3B��;<G5��(�� !�� "��!�� !�� "��F��

��

Farming has never been prof-itable for a large majority ofcultivators in India. As a result,

they are more than willing to selltheir land for development projectslike airports, highways and so on, ifthey get good money for it. One ofthe biggest worries of Indian plan-ners today is how to control the frag-mentation of agricultural land dueto population pressure as the num-ber of small and marginal farmers(owning less than two hectares ofland) is increasing. Though suchgrowers account for 86.2 per cent ofall farmers in India, they own just

47.3 per cent of the crop area,according to provisional numbersfrom the 10th agriculture census of2015-16, which was released in2018. The census showed a declineof 1.53 per cent of the total farmedarea to 157.14 million hectare (ha)as compared to 159.59 million ha in2010-11. In spite of all our attempts,the annual grain production (291.95million tonnes) is far below the 500million tonnes that China pro-duces from the same spread ofland. The plight of farmers can begauged from the fact that the con-tribution of agriculture to the GDPis down to 15 per cent, despite thefact that 45 per cent of the peopleof the country are dependent onagriculture for their livelihood.

After Independence, except fora brief period of the GreenRevolution in the 60s, the farmersnever benefitted from true reformsand were prisoners of the consumer-oriented mentality of theGovernment and the control of themiddlemen and mandi (wholesale

market) mafia. The Prime Minister’spromise of doubling farm incomesby 2022 is a lofty dream. One of thereasons for this is the neglect of ani-mal husbandry and fisheries, whichcontribute more than 30 per cent tothe farmers’ income and which hasthe potential to jump to around 45per cent.

Now, the Corona crisis and thelockdown have made things worsefor the already beleaguered agri sec-tor. The Finance Minister’s recentannouncement of providing animpetus to the farm sector will bereckoned as a watershed event in thehistory of agriculture if it is imple-mented sincerely. Some of thedemands were long-pending and tillnow the Government was bucklingunder pressure from various lobbies.Now, the reforms planned by theGovernment will reshape the futureof the agriculture sector.

One of the biggest hurdles thatfarmers face in selling their producefreely are the mandi samitis whichforce growers to sell through them.

Till now, the foodgrain movementwithin States was restricted, whichvirtually stifled the farmers. Now,they will be able to sell their producewherever they want and be free ofthe mandi mafia. This is the biggestreform in the agriculture sector andthe Government must be lauded forthis. The �1.6 lakh crore agricultureinfrastructure fund will be used tocreate a support structure at thefarmer’s doorstep.

Of this �20,000 crore will be forfishermen, �15,000 crore for animalhusbandry infrastructure develop-ment and �10,000 crore will be usedto help micro-food units developtheir global brands. The package willalso support bee-keeping. Thefarmer producers’ organisationsand farmers’ cooperative societieswill benefit from this. It also givesan opportunity to young agriculturegraduates to develop start-ups.

The Essential Commodities Actwas one of the main hurdles in thefarmers getting better prices for theirproduce as the Centre authorised

State Governments to impose stocklimits on identified food items,issue licences to produce, sell anddistribute under the Act. Now theGovernment will enact a Central lawto ease these restrictions and helpthe farmers. This gives growers anopportunity to innovate and shouldalso cover animal resources, bee-keeping, medicinal plants, bambooproduction and so on, for which aspecial package has beenannounced. This will deregulatecereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses,onions and potatoes, giving farmersthe choice of seeking better returns.However, the Government can stillimpose stock limits for meetingemergencies.

The Government has alsoannounced a legal framework toenable farmers to tie up with retail-ers, exporters, agriculture fairs,food aggregators and processors andso on to promote investments.Contract farming may get a bigboost with these reforms and it is theonly viable solution to deal with

decreasing land holding. It willprovide opportunities for investorsto bring technology and financesinto the sector to grow what theywant. Besides, the farmers can pro-duce more from the small land hold-ing by joining hands with their com-rades and investors.

However, the Governmentwould do well to increase the ani-mal husbandry package by �15,000crore and also announce a separatepackage for bamboo development.The �6,000 crore CAMPA fund forafforestation should utilise at least�1,000 crore for creating infra-structure for the indigenoustribal/non-tribal healers and vaids(country doctors) and another�3,000 for raising 10 to 15 selectspecies of medicinal plants on for-est land and on the land vestedunder the Forest Rights Act, 2006.The investment for herbal growthon agriculture land should only bedone on organic farms, otherwise itwill not produce the medicine-yielding compound.

So focus on organic farms andforest lands and the stretches adjoin-ing them. However, the success ofthe package depends on how effec-tively and innovatively it is imple-mented.

The package has to be con-verged with the schemes of RuralDevelopment, Environment, Forestand Climate Change, Medium andSmall Enterprises, Ayush ministriesso that it evolves into a model forholistic and integrated develop-ment of our land-based resources.In fact the National Rainfed AreaAuthority was created in 2007 by thethen Prime Minister on the recom-mendations of a PlanningCommission sub-committee to getthe agriculture sector out of the stag-nated growth of one to two per cent,with a focus on integrating all theresources on a piece of land. Now,the Prime Minister has the oppor-tunity to not only achieve integra-tion but to take it to the global level.

(The writer is a former civil servant)

�� !"!#��$ ! %&�'(%�'�#�!&�"!!�)!#�*�!&��+�"!� *,�&)%�&��&��"-' #).&)'��%�#&�'�/ ..�0��'�#1�!�2�"%�"�/"&�'%��2��3�!&�

!�&�� %&�'4��+�+"'* !-� !�&��#�)!&'4� +� &� %� *,.�*�!&�2�% !#�'�.4

��6�)�8��

�� !� " "

&&&2 ��#*�"��2�"�

��/7��7��.�8)

��9� 1�� !� " "

�� 0#1�(#23!

Transporters are reelingunder severe financial

stress and if the Govt fails tointervene, they will be left withno other option than to stoprunning the vehicles, industrybody AIMTC said onThursday. The All India MotorTransport Congress is the apexbody of transporters repre-senting about 95 lakh truckersand entities.”The transport fra-ternity is in. Extreme financialturmoil and if Govt does notprovide immediate help to thetransport sector than the 30 percent vehicles (on roads now)will be stopped as they will notbe able to comply (with) thefinancial implications to runtheir vehicles or pay the EMIs,”AIMTC president KultaranSingh Atwal said.

�� 0#1�(#23!

Welcoming the measurestaken by the Centre and

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s emphasis on ‘Vocal forLocal’, the Trimex Sands PrivateLimited (TSPL) has termed ita testimony where he has chal-lenged the crisis itself andturned it into an opportunityfor Indian mining industry.

“We take this opportunityto also urge the PM to allow theindigenous beach sand miner-al industry to flourish in adomain being monopolised byChina.

Currently, China controlsover 95 percent of world’s rareearth supply and its completemonopoly is quite undesirablefor the world. At the same time,despite owning 70% of theworld’s monazite reserves,India still imports 100% of its

needs of rare earth and rare-earth-based components. Thismust change now as we movetowards a self-reliant India,”said Pradeep Koneru,Managing Director, TSPL.

He pointed out an over-sight has caused stumblingblocks in the high-potentialBeach Sand Mineral industryin India, which could otherwiseyield nearly Rs 30,000 crore inannual turnover to the exche-quer and provide jobs to thou-sands of persons.

“The Notification No.G.S.R. 134(E) dated 20thFebruary 2019 issued byMinistry of Mines that reservesthe mining of beach sand min-erals for government compa-nies only has led to huge joblosses and brought billions ofprivate sector investments to agrinding halt,” said Koneru.

India’s GDP has grown

steadily since Independencebecause it is backed by robustgrowth in the production ofminerals such as iron ore, coal,copper, zinc, aluminum, mag-nesium, limestone, etc. Indianhas significant beach sand min-eral resources of Ilmenite,Garnet, Sillimanite, Rutile,Zircon and Monazite contain-ing Rare Earths, but theseresources remain grosslyunder-utilized with theProduction to Reserve Ratio(PRR) being a meager of0.0018%, when compared toGlobal PRR of 0.01%. India isstuck in this paradox and mustleverage its plentiful Resourcesto transform into a major glob-al producer.

Appealing the PrimeMinister to rescind the notifi-cation barring private sectorfrom beach sand mineral min-ing.

�� *-*@+!

Equity indices ticked higherfor the third session on the

trot on Thursday as investorsaccumulated FMCG, auto andIT stocks amid gradual reopen-ing of the economy.

After rallying over 370points intra-day, the 30-shareBSE Sensex settled 114.29points or 0.37 per cent up at30,932.90. Similarly, the broad-er NSE Nifty advanced 39.70points, or 0.44 per cent, to9,106.25.

Investors took heart fromthe gradual resumption of eco-nomic activities, including air

and rail travel, though theunderlying sentiment remainscautious amid the coronaviruspandemic, traders said.

ITC was the top gainer inthe Sensex pack, rallying 7.48per cent, followed by AsianPaints, Hero MotoCorp,Maruti, Bajaj Auto, SunPharma, TCS and HCL Tech.On the other hand, IndusIndBank, NTPC, Bajaj Finance,HDFC and L&T slipped up to2.91 per cent.

Buying was seen in front-line stocks of sectors like auto,IT, metals and FMCG astraders took note of gradualopening of the economy, rais-ing hopes of economic recov-ery, said Narendra Solanki,Head- Equity Research(Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

However, at the fag-end ofthe session, some selling was

witnessed as negative globalcues continued for the secondstraight day and traders bookedprofits as weekly expiry neared,leading to indices losing major-ity of the gains, he added.

Concerns over the long-term impact of COVID-19 andworsening China-US relationstoo kept investors on the edge,traders said.

BSE auto, metal, FMCG,IT, teck, oil and gas, healthcareand energy indices ended up to2.45 per cent higher, whilepower, capital goods, financeand bankex finished with loss-es.

The broader BSE midcapand smallcap indices spurtedup to 0.76 per cent. Worldequities were on the backfootas weak macroeconomic dataand US-China tensions sappedrisk appetite.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong and Tokyo ended in thered, while Seoul closed withgains.

Stock exchanges in Europewere trading with significantlosses in early deals.

International oil bench-mark Brent crude futuresclimbed 1.79 per cent to USD36.39 per barrel.

On the currency front, therupee appreciated 19 paise toprovisionally close at 75.61against the US dollar.

The number of COVID-19cases in India spiked to over1.12 lakh, while the death tollrose to 3,435.

According to the healthministry.

Globally, the number ofcases linked to the disease hascrossed 49.96 lakh and thedeath toll has topped 3.28 lakh.

#��7�5��1��<�5(5��7 E ��*"��JG�� 2��"%�� "��

!�� $��@��"�!�

��

�� #�� ,$�"� ��+�� #��

From Page 1 The official statement

about the recent stand-offs inNaku La in Sikkim which sawexchange of blows said the“the Indian Army has crossedthe line across the westernsection of the Sino-Indian bor-der and the Sikkim section toenter Chinese territory”.

The statement also saidthe Chinese side had taken upthe matter with India, askingthe Indian side to “immediatelywithdraw the personnel acrossthe line, restore the status quoof the relevant areas, strictlyrestrict the frontline troops,observe the important con-sensus reached by the leadersof the two countries and theagreements signed by the twosides, and jointly maintainpeace and stability in the bor-der areas”.

From Page 1The rules included no meals on board,

mandatory temperature checks for all pas-sengers and allowing only one check-in bagfor each passenger. People who were testedpositive for Covid-19 will not be allowed totravel. All the passengers will have to wearmasks while entering the airports and there-after. No newspapers and magazines will beoffered.

In a set of detailed guidelines, theMinistry advised the vulnerable people likethe elderly, pregnant women and passengersbattling health issues to avoid air travel tillthe coronavirus pandemic abates. Peopleresiding in the containment zone will not beallowed to travel. Only one check-in bagwould be allowed and airlines will not pro-vide any meal services in flights, the Ministrysaid. Boarding for a flight will commence 60minutes before departure and boarding gatewill be closed 20 minutes before departure,it said.

The Ministry also allowed resumption ofservices by all food and beverages (F&B) out-lets on the condition that they must followall Covid-19 precautions. “Take-away, digi-tal payments, self-ordering booths at F&Band retail outlets to be encouraged to pre-vent crowding of people, it said.

From Page 1Three JCBs, one crane, two

tractor trolley along with 10 labour-ers were working on the site sinceMay 11 to clear the debris along withleveling the ground.

In its historic ruling, the

Supreme Court had on November9 last year directed the CentralGovernment to hand over the siteat Ayodhya for the construction ofa temple and set up a trust for thesame. The apex court had furtherdirected the Government to give asuitable land measuring five acres tothe Sunni Waqf Board.

From Page 1According to a data by the

Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare, of the 5175 confirmedcases in the State, 1330 caseswere reported from these dis-tricts. The data says Sant KabirNagar has reported (46), Basti(104), Banda (21), Gonda (36),Bahraich (63), Barabanki (79),Hapur (87), Jalaun (41),Siddharth Nagar (51), Ghazipur(49), Sitapur (37), Farrukhabad(20), Hardoi (20), Jhansi (30),Bijnor (58), Sambhal (57) ,Pratapgarh (56), LakhimpurKheri (40), Deoria (25)Chandauli (15), Auraiya (20),Mainpuri (24), Ballia (13),Unnao (11), Khushi Nagar (7),Sonbhadra (3) and Hathras (20)cases.

In Maharashtra’s Yavatmaldistrict, 13 new cases have beenreported from rural areas suchas Digras ( 4), Isapur ( 3), RuiTalav (1), Pusad ( 4) and Malkinivillage in Mahagaon ( 1). Allthose tested positive are Mumbaireturnees.

Resumption of inter-Statepublic transport has heightenedconcerns that migrants return-ing to their native places couldpotentially be carriers of coro-navirus. Interestingly, people

who are coming back to theirState from other parts of thecountry are facing social boycottin villages.

In last few days, up to 65-70percent of the positive casesreported in Bihar were in ruraland semi-urban areas. Until thefirst week of May, about 410 ofthe 1607 cases were reportedfrom rural and suburban areas.Those who had returned fromDelhi and other States werefound to have the maximumpositive cases. As per data,Sitamarhi, Begusarai, Nawada,Siwan, Gopalganj, Munger,Bhgalapur, Aurangabad,Jehanabad, Muzaffarpur,Darbhanga, Madhubani,Saharsa, Supaul, Sheikhpura,Samastipur, Katihar,Madhepura, Araria and Sheoharwere coronavirus free till April25. Now several villages in thesedistricts have become the coro-navirus hotspot.

Two villages in Saharsa dis-trict have reported two eachcoranavirus cases. The caseswere reported from Nariyar andKahra village, both falling underKahra Block in the district.

In Odisha, 51 new coron-avirus case were detected from11 different districts whichinclude 11 cases each fromKalahandi and Nayagarh dis-trict, 9 were in Cuttack, 5 in

Jajpur, 4 in Ganjam, 3 inMaurybhanj, 2 each in Anguland Jagatsinghpur, one eachfrom Sambalpur, Malkangiriand Puri districts.

In Madhya Pradesh, eightnew districts have reported pos-itive cases after May 1, theseinclude Neemuch (50 cases),Morena (49), Jhabua (11)Anuppur (3), Satna (10), Bhind(38), Guna (1), Jhabua (2),Panna (1 )and Sehore (5), Seoni(1), Mandla (1) and Sidhi (5), allpredominantly rural districts. Inthe Neemuch district that bor-ders Rajasthan, the worst of thelot, the first case was reported onMay 3.

In Rajasthan, Covid-19infections have spread to twomore rural districts-Jalore andSirohi in recent days. The high-est number of positive casesamong migrants has come infrom Pali district with 217 pos-itive cases reported. Rajsamandhas the second highest numberof cases (73), Sirohi with 70,Jalore with 108, Churu with 52cases.

In Jharkhand, about 75% ofpositive cases in recent daysemerged from rural belts. Sixpositive cases from Govindpurvillage area of Gadra Tribalblock has worried the adminis-tration. The six infected personsat Govindpur are of the same

family including husband, wife,daughter, son, daughter-in-lawand 3- year-old kid. The girlalong with her parents hadarrived from Delhi via RajdhaniExpress on May 10.

After the local residentsprotested, the girl and her par-ents were admitted to MGMhospital on May 14 and samplewas collected. After the reportsof the three came positive onMay 20 they were shifted toTMH Hospital. The other threemembers of the family were alsoadmitted to TMH and theirsamples were taken for test.

Late on Wednesday nightthe other three members of thefamily including a three- year-old child also tested positive.Govindpur area has been turnedinto containment and bufferzone which is the first inJamshedpur and the second inEast Singhbhum district afterChakulia, also a tribal belt.

Administration is lookingfor the persons who came incontact with the family andtheir samples will be taken.Govindpur area is being sealedand sanitized

Prime Minister NarendraModi, in his meeting with ChiefMinisters, had also flagged theissue saying “now the effortshould be to stop the spread ofthe Covid-19 to rural areas.”

From Page 1Four deaths occurred due to the

disease in MP on Thursday. A totalof 271 deaths have been recorded inthe State due to the virus.

Uttar Pradesh followed MadhyaPradesh with 181 new cases wherea total of 5,356 positive cases arethere. As many as 127 persons havedied in UP without any casualty onThursday. The State has 2,130 activecases where 3,099 patients haverecovered including 33 recoveries onThursday.

Uttar Pradesh was followed byBihar which added 124 new cases onThursday where a total count of1,900 infected persons have beenreported. The State has so far wit-

nessed just nine deaths due to thedisease.

Odisha, another State facingmigrant influx post-Covid-19, reg-istered 51 new cases during the last24 hours, taking the total count to1,103.

The State has witnessed sevendeaths due to the disease includingone on Thursday.

Jharkhand, on the other hand,reported just nine new cases onThursday where a total of 299 per-sons have tested positive for Covid-19.

Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh areamong the States which havepresently more number of recover-ies than the active cases.

From Page 1The BSF has not tested any positive

case for the last two days.The CRPF has now two fatalities from

the total count of 335 infected personnel.The CRPF reported nine fresh cases ofCovid infection from the national Capitaland all of them have been admitted toAIIMS, Jhajjar and Haryana.

An Assistant Sub Inspector suc-cumbed to Covid due to co-morbidity ofliver cancer, officials said. Earlier, anoth-er ASI had died due to the infection.

In the Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) which had a total of 186 Covid-infected personnel, as many as 67 patientshave recovered and still has an active casecount of 119.

All the infection cases in ITBP arefrom Delhi and the condition of thoseunder treatment is stable, a spokespersonsaid.

The ITBP has not recorded any freshpositive case for the last four days in a row.The CISF had earlier recorded threedeaths due to the viral disease and withtwo casualties each in the BSF and CRPF,the tally of fatalities in the paramilitaryforces has reached seven.

4�� ===

��6�� @ "��

��=== � �� ===

$��%�<<<

��===

�� 45�3!

Arecord number of 776 per-sons were tested positive

for coronavirus on Thursday inTamil Nadu as the number ofpersons tested positive till daterose to 13,967 in the State.

A medical bulletin releasedby the Directorate of Health andPreventive Medicine onThursday said the 776 who test-ed positive included 86 personsreturned to the State from for-eign countries and other Statesin India like Maharashtra andKerala. Death toll due to thepandemic reached 94 in TamilNadu with seven more suc-cumbing to the dreaded diseaseon Thursday.

The State saw 400 personsgetting discharged from hospi-tals on Thursday making thetotal number of persons gettingcured and discharged reaching6,282. This makes the activecases on date 7, 588. The bul-letin said that with two more

laboratories beginning to testthe samples in the State onThursday, there are 66 labora-tories working round-the-clockto test samples. A total of 3,72,532 samples were tested onThursday, said the bulletin.

Out of the 776 positivecases on Thursday, Chennaicontributed 567 positive sam-ples which took the number ofcovid-19 patients in GreaterChennai Corporation to 8,795.Dr K Kulandaiswamy, advisorto Tamil Nadu Governmentwho was the director of publichealth and preventive medicinetold The Pioneer that there wasno need to panic over the everincreasing number of coron-avirus patients in the State.

“This is one phase of thepandemic. The important thingis that how many persons in the60 Plus age group got afflictedwith the coronavirus. If thenumber of persons who testedpositive for covid is above theage group ,then we have to becareful. This is because they arethe vulnerable section and wehave to give maximum protec-tion to them,” said Dr

Kulandaiswamy.Dr Kulandaiswamy, an

authority on preventive medi-cine pointed out that testing,isolation and containment arethe only option available to savethe vulnerable sections. “Whatwe should focus is on the age ofpeople who are afflicted withcorona virus. The lockout ismeant for those in the 60+ agegroup,” he said.

The neighbouring State ofKerala saw 24 persons testingpositive on Thursday. Out ofthis, 13 were those who reachedthe State from West Asiancountries and one fromMalaysia while the remaining10 were from other States inIndia who reached the State bytrain and road.

A press release by theKerala government said thatthere were 177 persons in hos-pitals in the State who arebeing treated for covid-19. Itfurther stated that 78,096 per-sons returned to Kerala by air(5,495), sea (1,621), road(68,884) and by rail ( 2,136). OnThursday, 153 persons havebeen hospitalised.

BB;��!:��-5�?;B��.��8=

�� 4524+�+

Last time Bengal witnessed anatural calamity as dread-

fully ruinous as Amphan wastwo years before Nadir Shahattacked Delhi and 20 yearsbefore Robert Clive humbledNawab of Bengal Siraj udDaulah at Plassey in 1757.

That is how a seniorbureaucrat at the centuries’old Writers’ Buildings — theold state secretariat— paintedthe ferocity of super cycloneAmphan which devastated theState as no other twister didbefore.

Miles away at Nabanna —-the new secretariat— ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onThursday summed it as “thebiggest calamity I have everseen in my life. Even the districtadministrations have no com-plete information of the extentof the losses as they have notbeen able to reach the far flungareas… there is nothing left. Noinfrastructure, no power, no

telephone connection.Nothing.”

It will be at least a week tillthe State Government managesto prepare a detailed report ofthe losses suffered after reach-ing relief and absorbing the ini-tial shock, she said appealingPrime Minister Narendra Modito visit the State to see for him-self the extent of the disaster.

“I request the PrimeMinister too, to come and visitthe places to gather a person-al impression of what has hap-pened to the State,” Banerjeesaid adding she had talks withHome Minister Amit Shah toowho had assured her all help.

“I will also like to go for anaerial survey but cannot do thatnow as my chopper cannot finda place to land, as most openareas are inundated,” she said.

“The Home Minister toocalled me up. I told him aboutthe devastation. I have appealedto him for helping the State

during these hours of crisis. Ido not know what help theywill make or whether any helpwill come at all because hard-ly any help has come to handlethe corona crisis. The State hasexhausted all its � 2 0 0crore fund earmarked for coro-na endemic but is yet to receivefunds from the Centre to fightthe disease,” Banerjee main-tained.

While on Wednesday nightshe came out with a ballparkfigure of “�1 lakh crore” totackle the crisis on Thursdayshe was silent about that sayingthe Government will estimatethe extent of the destructionbefore preparing any report.

“Now after this cyclonewe do not know how to goabout it and how to conduct therelief work together with fight-ing the pandemic. Nothing isleft. Agriculture is totally gone.Districts after districts areinundated, river embankmentsare breached and the adminis-tration is working overtime torepair them as monsoon sea-sons are coming. The power

infrastructure is thoroughlydamaged, so are the internetlink and road connection,” shesaid adding thousands of hous-es have been literally raised tothe ground.

True, the devastation infour districts of Bengal is com-plete. At least 72 people died,out of who 15 in State CapitalKolkata — some crushed underthe uprooted trees, others get-ting electrocuted and yet oth-ers coming under collapsedparts of buildings. The ChiefMinister announced �2.5 lakhfor the kin of those who dieddue to the cyclone.

“There is a house right infront of mine part of which wasliterally torn off and hang-ing… and the in adjacent hous-es the greels and doors weretwisted,” Banerjee said in ameeting with her Cabinet col-leagues and the senior bureau-crats.

While there was no exactestimate of the losses theimpact of the cyclone was suchthat Kolkata withdrew into anun-imposed lockdown with

people having no way to drivearound as more than a thou-sand bid trees lay blocking thecity’s busiest thoroughfares. Atleast 47 trees had fallen with-in a mile between Ballygungeand Kasba.

So much so that the ChiefMinister’s convoy itself had towind its way through by-lanesto reach the desired spots forinspection. The news thatwould come on Wednesdaynight came in the Thursdaymorning reporting how electricshort circuits sparked fires atvarious places and how trafficsignals were lay helpless on theroads. With television connec-tion snapped almost in theentire part of the five-six southBengal districts.

“If Kolkata has more thana thousand trees uprooted whatmight it be in the districts. Ithink the number of uprootedtrees may go up to a lakh ormore,” said a Minister addingthe Chief Minister had direct-ed the Cabinet to take upimmediate plantation pro-grammes.

6:��(�� $�%��7%689

��>��'�� "��#��*� ��

�� )+**-

Shortly after senior officers ofJammu & Kashmir Police

attended a function commem-orating the National Anti-ter-rorism day in Srinagar, a groupof 'unidentified' terrorists tar-geted a joint 'naka' party ofpolice and CRPF at Prichoo inSouth Kashmir's Pulwama dis-trict in which one head con-stable of JKP laid down his lifewhile another sustainedinjuries on Thursday.

This is the second back toback terror strike on securityforces in Kashmir valley afterthe killing of Junaid AshrafSehrai, a Hizbul MujahideenCommander and son ofHurriyat Chairman in anencounter in downtown area ofSrinagar on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, two jawansof Border Security Force werealso killed by terrorists in a 'hitand run' attack in Ganderbaldistrict.

Police spokesman inSrinagar said, 'Terrorists firedupon joint naka party of policeand CRPF at Prichoo, Pulwamaon Thursday. 02 police per-sonnel got injured in the inci-

dent, however one of theinjured succumbed to hisinjuries and attained martyr-dom”.

The martyred policemanwas identified as HeadConstable Anoop Singh.

Meanwhile, three newlyrecruited local terrorists wereapprehended live by the jointteams of security forces fromthickly forested area ofGungbugh in Kupwara dis-trict on Thursday. The trio,were reportedly in touch withtheir handlers across thePakistan Occupied Kashmirvia social media and they hadmotivated them to join theranks of a terror outfit.

According to policespokesman, “On Thursday, apicture went viral on socialmedia with three youths hold-ing AK-47 rifles ,who claimedto have joined the terror ranks.The trio were identified asAabid Hussain Wani son ofGulzar Ahmad resident ofLalpora, Zakir Rafiq Bhat sonof Abdul Rashid resident ofLalpora and Javid Ahmad Darson of Ghulam Qadir residentof Thayan Kalaroos”.

Police spokesman claimed,

“Prompt contact tracingrevealed their presence in theforest area of Gungbugh area ofLolab.

Accordingly KupwaraPolice along with 28RR and162Bn CRPF launched a cor-don and search operation in thearea. During the search oper-ation they started firing on thesearch party.

However, repeatedannouncements were made topersuade them to surrenderand after a brief shootout all thethree were apprehended aliveduring the operation.Incriminating materials includ-ing arms and ammunition wererecovered from their posses-

sion. “Case FIR No. 54/2020under relevant sections of lawregistered at PS Sogam andinvestigation set intomotion”,police spokesmanadded.

In Pulwama, before hand-ing over the martyrs’ body tothe next of kins for last rites awreath lying ceremony wasorganised in District PoliceLines Awantipora where floraltributes were paid to the mar-tyr. Civil & Police Officers ledby IGP Kashmir Zone VijayKumar, IGP CRPF RajashKumar, DC Pulwama RaghavLangar laid floral wreaths onthe mortal remains and paidrich tributes to the martyr.

��

�� *-*@+!

The total number of Covid-19 infected cases in Mumbai’sDharavi slum shot up to 1,425 on Thursday, as 47 more per-

sons tested positive for the pandemic. What is worrying theBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is that there hasabsolutely no let up in the number of infected cases in Dharavi,where there have so far been 56 deaths.

Of the fresh infected cases, Matunga Labour Camp – whichhas become a hotspot within Dharavi – accounted for six newpositive cases, while Mukund Nagar locality reported five cases.

There have been four new positive cases in Shastri Nagar,while three infected cases each have been reported Rajiv GadhiNagar and Shahu Nagar.

Matunga Labour Camp recorded has been the worst-affect-ed locality within Dharavi in the last few weeks. On Wednesday,as many as seven positive cases were reported from this locali-ty, while eight positive cases had been recorded in this area onTuesday.

Earlier, six infected cases had been reported from MatungaLabour Camp on Monday, while this area had registered six pos-itive cases.

Even in the previous week, there have on an average beenhalf a dozen cases reported from this locality every day.

Spread over 240 hectare area, Dharavi is home to more than4 lakh people. It has been a hotbed for coronavirus, ever sincethe first couple deaths and infected cases were reported from thisslum in the first week of April.

9��"� 11�� !� " "��*�6$7��

� *�� $��%�� $�� $� �� %��%�� %��%��$�� $�$��%��$�� $�� %�� %��2��%��%�� $��7��$�� 0��F �� $�$�

� ��#� ��$�� $�� $� ��%�� +� ��+��%� �� #� �� (�� $�� %��,�� '��@ ��"�&�� #� �� <9�� >�� 5G!(�7� �

� +�� $� �*��"�� %�� (�� $�� $� � �� $� �� @��$� ��$� ��$�� E �*� �� E�� F��%��(�� %�� $� ��

� �� 5G!(�7�� '��+� ��+� ��"�� +� �� 78%>>>�� % �� ;O��'��+� ��"��7�%>>>��7>O��+� ��"��9%>>>�� &�� $��)�� %'��+� ��"�� %��%�� %��D�� "�� $� ��$��%�� $��

� '��"�� $� �� $�� E� ��*�� 0��'�� '�� $��%��=�� $� �� @��%��%��

� )��&$� �� 5��%4��3�� 5G!(�7�� *�� '��N�+�� %�'��%��4�� 3�� *��89�� $��$� ��D��

1��

*��

�� -'+�� 7%�>8%7;8 �9%;;8?�� ;%7:%996 ;%>��@ �N�� 8%��%>;; 7�%76<'�� 8%:�%986 8:%<<<-4� 8%9>%�>< ;�%>68!�� 8%8<%>>� ;8%6<�E �� 7%<7%9:9 8<%7;8&� �� 7%:<%<�6 <%8:;

�� @#!)!0&

China on Thursday said itwill not accept any “unwar-

ranted lawsuit” or demand forcompensation from the USover its handling of the coro-navirus pandemic and warnedcountermeasures if Americapasses any legislation or legalcases blaming Beijing for thedeadly virus.

Zhang Yesui, spokespersonfor China’’s Parliament - theNational People’s Congress - inhis media briefing ahead ofFriday’’s annual session alsosought to deflect allegations

that the virus emerged inWuhan, saying that the recentreports indicated coronavirusoccurred earlier in differentparts of the world.

Replying to questionsabout the lawsuit filed in theUS to demand compensation aswell as attempts by US politi-cians to bring a legislationblaming China for the coron-avirus pandemic, Zhang saidthe accusation are completelybaseless and run counter to theinternational law and basicnorms governing intentionalrelations.

“We will strongly opposethem and we will watch howthe bills proceed and firmlyrespond with counter mea-sures accordingly,” he said.

“Trying to blame others inorder to deflect attention fromone’s own problems is not aresponsible thing to do. It is notmoral either. For China, we willnot accept unwarranted lawsuitor demand for compensation,”he said.

Zhang said that since thestart of the COVID-19, Chinaeffectively put the diseaseunder control after an“extremely hard battle andenormous sacrifices”.

He also reiterated thatChina has acted with trans-parency and shared the neces-sary information like genomesequence with the WorldHealth Organisation and anumber of countries in a time-ly manner.

“These are facts and factsare facts. We will not accept anysmear or attack whatsoever”, hesaid. In the backdrop of theWorld Health Association inGeneva passing a resolution toprobe the origin of the virusafter the pandemic subsided,Zhang said the recent reportsindicated that COVID-19occurred in the different partsof the world and early caseshave been identified whichkept shifting the timeline of thedisease forward.

“I am sure in time thingswill get more and more clear.As to the origin of the virus,this is a serious scientific issueand should be left to scientistsand medical experts to lookinto it and come up with sci-

ence based conclusions sup-ported by facts and evidence”,he said.

Zhang also dismissed USPresident Donald Trump’s threatto move the global supply chainsaway from China post-Covid-19saying that it cannot be done bya single country.

Global supply chaindepends on the behaviour andchoices of businesses across theworld. “As such it cannot bechanged by any single country.”

He said it is true that coro-navirus has affected foreignbusiness operating in China.“But there is no flight of foreigncapital. China is still an attractivedestination for foreign invest-ment. Foreign investors remainoptimistic about China...,” he

said. About the secrecy overChina’s defence budget, Zhangdenied China has any “hiddenmilitary spending.”

China has been submittingreports on its military expen-

ditures to the United Nationsevery year since 2007, he said.

“From where the moneycomes from to how the moneyis used, everything is account-ed for,” Zhang said.

Washington: Global coron-avirus cases surpassed 5 millionon Wednesday, with Latin America overtaking theUnited States and Europe in thepast week to report the largestportion of new daily casesglobally.

It represents a new phase inthe virus’ spread, which initiallypeaked in China in February,before large-scale outbreaksfollowed in Europe and theUnited States.

Latin America accountedfor around a third of the 91,000cases reported earlier this week.Europe and the United Stateseach accounted for just over 20per cent.

A large number of those

new cases came from Brazil,which recently surpassedGermany, France and theUnited Kingdom to become thethird-largest outbreak in theworld, behind the United Statesand Russia.

Cases in Brazil are now ris-ing at a daily pace second onlyto the United States.

The first 41 cases of coro-navirus were confirmed inWuhan, China, on Jan. 10 andit took the world until April 1to reach its first million cases. Since then, about 1 mil-lion new cases are reportedevery two weeks, according toa Reuters tally.

At more than 5 millioncases, the virus has infected

more people in under sixmonths than the annual total ofsevere flu cases, which theWorld Health Organizationestimates is around 3 million to5 million globally.

The pandemic has claimedover 3,31,531 lives, though thetrue number is thought to behigher as testing is still limit-ed and many countries do notinclude fatalities outside ofhospitals. Over half of the total fatalities have beenrecorded in Europe.

Despite the continuedincrease in cases, many coun-tries are opening schools andworkplaces following weeks oflockdown that have stemmedthe spread. Agency

�� @#!)!0&

China said on Thursday thatits relationship with

Pakistan stood the test of thechanging international land-scape and remained “firm as arock” as the all-weather alliescelebrated the 69th year of theestablishment of their diplo-matic relations.

Pakistan recognised Chinain 1951, a year after Indiaestablished diplomatic ties withBeijing. India became the firstnon-Communist country inAsia in 1950 to establishdiplomatic relations withChina. Though a late entrant,Pakistan, an Islamic republic,has emerged as CommunistChina’’s closest ally and the twocountries in recent years firmedup their all-weather alliancewith USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,the biggest overseas invest-ment by Beijing.

“Today marks the 69thanniversary of the diplomaticrelationship between Chinaand Pakistan. I offer congrat-ulations,” Foreign Ministry

spokesman told a media brief-ing here on Thursday.

“We are all-weather strate-gic cooperative partners. In thepast 69 years, this relationshiphas stood the test of the chang-ing international landscape,and has remained firm as arock,” he said.

Zhao, who was earlierChina’s Deputy Ambassador toIslamabad, had a personal noteof praise for his stint inPakistan.

“I had the pleasure ofworking in Pakistan. Beforeleaving the country, I said thatPakistan stole my heart. Ibelieve it shows the deep-root-ed friendship between the twocountries,” he said.

“In future, we have everyconfidence in the developmentof bilateral relations. We willcontinue to put Pakistan a pri-ority in our neighbourhooddiplomacy and work togetherfor high-quality CPEC devel-opment”, Zhao said.

India had protested toChina over the CPEC as it tra-versed through Pakistan-occu-pied Kashmir.

London: British PrimeMinister Boris Johnson will notface a criminal investigationinto whether he offered specialfavours to an American busi-nesswoman during his time asmayor of London.

The Independent Officefor Police Conduct ruledagainst a criminal investigationinto Johnson’’s ties to techentrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri.

The independent office,which oversees police com-plaints in England, was askedto consider if there weregrounds to investigate him formisconduct in public office.Johnson has vociferouslydenied wrongdoing.

The Greater LondonAuthority immediatelyannounced that its investiga-tion into Johnson’’s conductwould continue, even though acriminal investigation has nowbeen ruled out. The case arosefrom a Sunday Times reportsaying Arcuri was given moneyand privileged access while ontrade missions that Johnson ledas mayor. AP

�� @#!)!0&

China’’s ceremonial parlia-ment will consider a bill

that could limit oppositionactivity in Hong Kong, aspokesperson said Thursday,appearing to confirm specula-tion that China will sidestep theterritory’’s own lawmakingbody in enacting legislation tocrack down on activity Beijingconsiders subversive.

Zhang Yesui said theNational People’’s Congresswill deliberate a bill on “estab-lishing and improving the legalsystem and enforcement mech-anisms for the Hong KongSpecial Administrative Regionto safeguard national security.”

Such a move has long beenunder consideration but washastened by months of anti-government protests last year inthe former British colony thatwas handed over to Chineserule in 1997. Such legislationwas last proposed in 2003under Article 23 of the Basic

Law, Hong Kong’’s mini-con-stitution, bringing hundredsof thousands of the territory’’scitizens out in protest.

The proposal was with-drawn by the government butBeijing has increasingly pushedfor measures such as punish-ment for disrespecting theChinese national flag andanthem and increased pro-China patriotic-themed edu-cation in schools. Oppositionin Hong Kong’’s LegislativeCouncil, however, made itunlikely such a bill could passat the local level.

The new measures arerequired by the “new situationand demands” and action at thenational level is “entirely nec-essary,” Zhang said.

Hong Kong’’s South ChinaMorning Post newspaper saida draft resolution would be brought before theNational People’’s Congress onFriday afternoon and votedon at the end of its session onMay 28.

�� 250(50

British pharmaceuticalsgroup AstraZeneca on

Thursday said it had securedmore than $1.0 billion from the United States to helpfund production of its coron-avirus vaccine.

AstraZeneca is partneringwith University of Oxford todevelop and distribute a vac-cine being trialled in the UK.

It comes amid concernsthat the United States — whichhas the world’s highest officialdeath rate from Covid-19 —could have a vaccine beforeother countries thanks to itslarge-scale funding of multi-national pharmaceutical com-panies.

France has slammed Paris-based drugs giant Sanofi forsuggesting the US wouldreceive its vaccine first, asworld leaders demand that thescience should be sharedamong nations.

AstraZeneca said it had“received support of more than$1.0 billion from the USBiomedical Advanced Researchand Development Authorityfor the development, production and delivery of thevaccine”.

The company, however,added it was in contact withgovernments and internation-al health institutions to ensure the vaccine is availableglobally.

AstraZeneca said it had

concluded deals for the first 400million doses of the vaccine —and has manufacturing capac-ity for one billion doses, withit hoping to begin deliveries inSeptember.

“AstraZeneca is advancingits ongoing response to addressthe unprecedented challengesof COVID-19, collaboratingwith a number of countries andmultilateral organisations tomake the University ofOxford’s vaccine widely acces-sible around the world in anequitable manner,” a statementsaid.

The company added it was“engaging with internationalorganisations”, including theWorld Health Organization,for the fair allocation and dis-

tribution of the vaccine aroundthe world”.

“AstraZeneca is also in dis-cussions with governmentsaround the world to increaseaccess.”

Britain this week pledged84 million pound ($103 mil-lion, 93 million euros) to besplit between researchers atOxford University and ImperialCollege London to help financea COVID-19 vaccine.

The UK Government hadalready given 47 million pound.

Human trials of the vaccinedeveloped by Oxford’s JennerInstitute began last month,with hundreds of people inBritain volunteering to be partof the study.

�� 250(50

The British Government hasextended a Covid-19

Bereavement Scheme, whichgrants permanent UK residen-cy to the family members ofoverseas medics who die aftercontracting the coronavirus, toall healthcare staff and socialcare workers.

UK Home Secretary PritiPatel on Wednesday said thescheme will apply not only tothe families and dependents offoreign doctors and nurseskilled on the National HealthService (NHS) frontline duringthe pandemic, but also tolower-paid NHS support staff,including from India.

“Every death in this crisisis a tragedy, and sadly someNHS support staff and socialcare workers have made theultimate sacrifice in the pursuitof saving the lives of others,” theIndian-origin Cabinet Ministersaid.

�� ?5*#

Anew Government reportindicates there were 46,909

excess deaths in Italy in Marchand April compared to whatwould have been expected.The report says it would beaccurate to attribute most of thedeaths to the coronavirus.

Italy’s social security andwelfare agency (INPS) con-cluded the official COVID-19

death toll reported by the civilprotection department “isn’tvery reliable” since it includesonly those who tested positivefor the virus, omitting thosewho died at home or in nurs-ing homes without ever beingtested.

By the end of April, Italy’sofficial Covid-19 death tollstood at 27,938. INPS saidexcess deaths at that point hadreached 46,909 and said most

of the 18,971 deaths making upthe difference could be attrib-uted to the pandemic.

The agency reached thatconclusion by noting that thefive Lombardy provinces withthe most excess deaths were thesame five provinces hardest hitby the virus. In addition, mostof the excess deaths wereamong the elderly men whoaccount for most Covid victims.

London: Doubts were growing on Thursdayover whether ambitious plans by EuropeanGovernments to use contact-tracing apps to fightthe spread of the coronavirus will be able to beimplemented with any real effectiveness soon.

In contrast, there appeared to be somemovement forward in the sprint to find a vac-cine against Covid-19, bolstered by a USD 1 bil-lion investment from the US vaccine agency.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnsonpledged Wednesday to have a “test, track andtrace” programme for Covid-19 in place by June

1 as part of a strategy to persuade the countrythat it’s safe to move on to the next stage of eas-ing the lockdown and restarting the economy.

But the Government also appeared to back-track on an earlier pledge to make a smart phoneapp a pillar of that programme.

Security minister James Brokenshire told theBBC on Thursday that he remains “confident”that the tracing system will be in place by June1, but acknowledged that an app intended to helptrack the virus was not ready.

AP

�� 0#1�F5?4

The lives of about 36,000people could have been

saved if the US had begun imposing socialdistancing measures just a weekearlier than it did in March tocontrol the spread of the coronavirus, new esti-mates from ColumbiaUniversity show.

“Counterfactual simula-tions indicate that, had thesesame control measures beenimplemented just 1-2 weeksearlier, a substantial number of cases and deathscould have been averted,” theUniversity said in an analysis bySen Pei, Sasikiran Kandula andJeffrey Shaman.

A report in The New YorkTimes, citing the analysis saidthat if the US had begun locking down cities andlimiting social contact onMarch 1, two weeks earlier thanwhen most people started stay-ing indoors, about 83 per centof the people who died so farfrom the virus could have beensaved.

Under this scenario, about54,000 fewer people wouldhave died by early May.

Tel Aviv: Israel’s newOpposition leader saidBenjamin Netanyahu’s upcom-ing corruption trial is “embar-rassing” the country and that hebelieves the only reason thelong-time prime minister isstill in office is because law-makers never imagined a sce-nario in which an indicted pre-mier would not have the decen-cy to step down himself.

In his first English-lan-guage interview since assumingthe post, Yair Lapid said he wasuncomfortable addressingNetanyahu’’s troubles before aforeign audience. Despite theirrivalry, he said he takes no joyin watching a sitting primeminister walking into a court-room defendant’’s dock andsaid he felt bad that it wouldattract worldwide attentionwhen the trial begins Sunday.

“It’’s almost like I’’m saying,I wish they would never noticethis … this shouldn’’t happen,”Lapid said. “This is horrible forthe spirit of the nation.”Together with former militarychief Benny Gantz, Lapid ledthe centrist Blue and Whiteparty to a deadlock withNetanyahu’s Likud in threeconsecutive elections over thepast year. AP

�� )#?-'+2#*

Iran is slowly pulling out ofSyria in response to Israeli

strikes, as well as growingdomestic discontent linked tothe economy and its handlingof the coronavirus pandemic,the Israeli military saidThursday.

Israel and Iran have foryears been engaged in a shad-ow war that has recently beenplaying out in Syria, whereIsrael says Iran has been boost-ing its military presence alongthe frontier. Amid the chaos ofthe Syrian civil war, Israel hascarried out repeated strikesaimed at pushing back Iranianforces and preventing the trans-fer of advanced weapons toHezbollah, the Iran-backedLebanese militant group that isalso fighting in Syria.

The Israeli militarydescribed the withdrawal as “abackward movement from var-ious locations to other locationsthat are further away and inreduced numbers.” It said themovement was “not massive,not overwhelming,” but that itwas also “undeniable.” Themilitary shared its findings in

a briefing with reporters andsaid they were based on classi-fied intelligence, without elab-orating.

The military partly attrib-uted the pullback to growingdiscontent in Iran, where theeconomy has cratered underU.S. sanctions and authoritieshave struggled to contain thedeadliest coronavirus outbreakin the Middle East.

Israel and Iran have tangledin the open on a number ofoccasions in recent years, withthe latest incident in November,when Israeli fighter jets hitmultiple targets belonging toIran’’s elite Quds force in Syriafollowing rocket fire on theIsraeli-controlled GolanHeights. Israel views Iranianentrenchment on its northernfrontier as a red line, and it hasrepeatedly struck Iran-linkedfacilities and weapons convoysdestined for Hezbollah.

Iran portrays its actions inSyria as support for an alliedgovernment battling terroristgroups, and says its support forHezbollah is aimed at defend-ing Lebanon from Israel, whichoccupied parts of southernLebanon from 1982 until 2000.

: ��)��!� ��'�: �� 6��$�� >-?��$��

��0�� :�� !� ��

��0��9��%�� 5�� 0��/��A��8��!� ��

� -'��9>�$�� ?��%��79>�� $� �� )�� $� �� $��$�� $��

�� $��7�� ?�� 2��"��$��

��I��,�� D�� %��$�� %��

��&��!��?��&� ��5��

�� ''�� 5� �� Beijing: China has reported 33 new coronavirus cases, includ-ing 31 asymptomatic ones, majority of them in Wuhan, the firstepicentre of the Covid-19 where the city’s 11 million people arebeing tested in order to prevent a second wave of the deadly virus,health authorities said on Thursday.

According to China’s National Health Commission (NHC),two confirmed coronavirus cases, including one imported infec-tion, was reported on Thursday in Guangdong province and alocally transmitted one in Shanghai on Wednesday.

But there was a spike in asymptomatic cases. PTI

��>��<�.�#2�%41>�448 ��1��8+.999��

2#��C-��2 ��$��

��A�� *�� *��

�$��#�� #"�� $�� ##� �+�$� �� ,�� !� �

/��=>.898��&��%��.�1 �� !��& ��2�;��

!��$��D��$6@��

?7�&�� @�� & ��

;�� 2�;��

#�� "�1!!�� -��

��0��:��? ��!��

D2 �� 5;#��$��6

��

�� !� " "

E �� *��1 ��@�� $�� $� �� '��=��?��'�� %��2��*��%&� ��@��%�(�$��@��*��5N��

'��=�� $�� $� �� 3��3�

�'�� D�� +�� !�� H�� %��

+�� #�� %�� @��

+��%��$��$�� +��+ ��

&� �� +��

�� 7>�� 8>79%�� $ ��8>7<

��6<�� %�� G��%'� ��'��+��%��+��

:��* 9�* �� #"��* ��""�� ,"�� $��"��#9�� $��" 9��"�;�� #��

$�� !"��"�� 9 �$�!�� 9�� +�� <�� 9�""0!�,��+�� "��;�+�� 9� ��* �� 9"" !�* �$"��"� �� $�� #��#"�� #"��;= >/� ��?�

++�� 1�

�"� ��=� 9�� 9�� 9 �,,�@�� $� ��D��

�� ?��'��

�?��!�� 3�� D�� D��!��$�� 3�� %�� %��$��$� �� %��+��

The Coronavirus pandemic has putthe global economy into a tailspin.Several countries are already head-

ing towards a full-fledged recession, whichexperts predict would be akin to the GreatDepression, while other economic disrup-tions seem inevitable. While the presentcrisis has short-term impact on all organ-isations, its effect on small businesses andstart-ups is turning out to be far-reachingand long-lasting. It has left various indus-tries and markets jittery about theirfuture.

The start-up ecosystem is desperate-ly attempting to cope with the unprece-dented circumstances. There are a pletho-ra of challenges right from continuingoperations to tackling supply chain issuesto managing cash flow. Besides these, rais-ing fresh funds has turned out to be amajor challenge for the community. DrApoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder,Venture Catalysts, and Managing Directorof 9Unicorns Accelerator Fund, says thatthe fall in public markets has directlyimpacted venture capitalists and angel

investors which, in turn, has slowed downinvestments.

According to Venture Intelligence,start-up funding in India for Marchdropped by 22 per cent as compared to thesame period in the previous year. The start-up data tracker also reports that Indianstartups only secured $354 million inMarch, down from $714 million inFebruary — more than 50 per centdecline. These numbers indicate thatstart-up investors are tightening their pursestrings and only focussing on their exist-ing portfolio companies. When we movebeyond the statistics, we face another grimreality. A slowdown in funding activitieshas resulted in a severe liquidity crunch,rendering many start-ups on the verge ofbankruptcy. Moreover, start-up valua-tions have also declined in the wake of thecrisis.

Under such circumstances how are thestartups surviving? As per NASSCOM’srecent statement, the start-up sector is fac-ing grave cash flow issues as 70 per centof them have cash reserves that will last less

than three months. The e-survey, titledReviving the Indian start-up engine duringCOVID-19, showed that about 90 per centof Indian start-ups saw a decline in rev-enues, while 30-40 per cent have haltedtheir businesses temporarily.

Shilpa Lalit, founder, Artyshills, a com-pany related to artworks, says, “Non-saleof products in the red zones is a problem.Another major challenge is that we arerunning out of stock of a lot of our sup-plies. And there are no labourers to runthe factory. This demand-supply gap willtake time to be bridged and stocks torevive.”

While Jitendra Chouksey, Founder ofFittr, an online fitness platform, feels thatthere’s no such thing as “disaster-proof”industry, he says: “There has been a slow-down in business, there is uncertainty andpeople are prioritising what they spendtheir money on.” If start-ups want to sur-vive, they need to accept this new normaland figure out what the rules of doing busi-ness are going to be.

There are many start-ups that have

lowered the rates of their services to sur-vive during these times of crisis. AarnavKalra, Chief Operations Officer, Beforv, adigital start-up says that his business hasincurred profits, though he had to reducethe price of his services in order to createmore demand during the lockdown.

An independent artist and DIY expert,Shilpi, who was planning to set up a start-up but couldn’t accomplish her aimbecause of the pandemic, says that thelockdown has affected her craft immense-ly. “I have to confine my ideas to the prod-ucts that I already have at home. I can’t stepout to buy things to keep myself going,”she adds.

Of course, the above incident wouldmake one wonder about the fresh start-upswho had started their operations before thelockdown. What about them? Jitendra says,“I don’t think anyone could have predict-ed this crisis. For those who’ve just start-ed operations, the silver lining is that theyhave little to lose. Invest this time to goback to the drawing board and rejig thebusiness plan and systems for a post-

COVID scenario. This virus is here to stayfor a long time and has disrupted howbusiness is done or taken forward. I haveone piece of advice: “think lean!”

The situation has affected people inevery possible manner. While for some itis proving to be the worst nightmare, forothers it has also proved to be a boon —the tech-based and digital start-ups as theyhave got a boost. Jitendra says that theirbiggest strength is their business model.Right from inception, they have been anonline fitness platform with no offline foot-print. “Since the beginning, our primarysource of revenue has been client enroll-ments with Fittr coaches. These enroll-ments have continued despite the lock-down. Our business model is such that theclient and coach don’t meet in person. Allcoaching is carried out online through ourapp. That’s why we have managed to seam-lessly adapt to the remote work culture,”says he and goes on to add, “Mainstreambusinesses tend to invest heavily in infra-structure. As we’ve seen with other play-ers in the fitness industry, unmanageableoverhead costs was a major reason behindtheir financial woes post lockdown. Thisis a lean start-up and we’ve concentratedmore on building a strong IT infrastruc-ture and robust internal systems. Thesehave helped us and saved us from hittinga trough.”

Shilpa says that though her stocks arehanging mid-way but she has received pos-itive responses online. “People have a lotof free time to explore and scroll throughthe paintings and other artworks right now.They also have the time to pursue their lostpassion in arts and craft, which was notpossible before due to busy schedules. Thishas also led to an increase in the viewer-ship of my online art tutorials,” she adds.

It has resulted in rise of new onlinebusinesses. A B2B edtech startup NextEducation has come up with several newfeatures to adapt to the need of the hour.Beas DevRalhan, CEO and Co-Founder,says: “Being stuck at home does not nec-essarily mean that students cannot con-tinue to learn. Advancements in technol-ogy, both computational and telecommu-nication have enabled remote learningopportunities and helped us gain profits.”

While the start-ups have beenimpacted by COVID-19, they are morelikely to regain lost ground after the lock-down gets over. Apoorva says, “This isbecause they have low-risk investmentoptions.”

It goes without saying that theCOVID-19 pandemic has seriously dis-rupted India’s start-up ecosystem, whichwas once thriving and booming. Apoorvasays that the expectations from 2020 arelow, but start-ups may pick up in the lastquarter of this year. Of course, it will taketime for it to go back into the pre-COVIDstate, but it is the early-stage start-ups thatwill take the lead.

Jitendra says that the founders shouldtry to have a lean start-up, stay debt-free,invest in people and technology. “Also,keep an ear to the ground and be pre-pared to respond swiftly to market move-ments,” he adds.

The start-up Davids, who are able toride out the virus, would emerge as theGoliaths of the business world post pan-demic.

Since time immemorial, humans haveadapted to the changing environ-

ment. These adaptations pass off unno-ticed, when viewed over a short periodof time. But as one takes a bird’s eye-viewof the period in question — lets say adecade, a century or a millennium —the transformation becomes apparent.However, the pace at which COVID-19is forcing humanity to change and adaptis astounding. It seems, that in less thansix months since the virus struck,human behaviour is undergoing a shift,one that is noticeable.

An extended hand towards a con-fident handshake gesture is met with ourage-old “Namaskar”. The act of cheekkissing (La bise in French) while meet-ing someone, gets replaced with an“elbow-knock”. Welcome to the new-agegreeting trends in a world trying tocome to terms with having to live withCOVID-19. Human interactions seemto be changing, and naturally portenda shift in how consumers behave andinteract while patronising restaurants intimes to come.

As some lockdown restrictionshave been taken off, social distancing,minimal physical contact, hygiene anddisposable incomes are going to deter-mine human behaviour. Each one ofthese, in some measure, shall alter con-sumer behaviour in the restaurantecosystem.

Sparsely laid-out restaurantsFrom the concept of “six degrees of

separation” which theorised humanconnect, the world is now hunkeringdown to “six feet of separation” in orderto avoid the spread of COVID-19.Naturally, this entails that consumerswould be averse to dining where tablesare set close to each other. Expect seat-ing capacity at restaurants to maybehalve, in order to create the requisite dis-tance. Innovative ways to screen off adja-cent tables are already being developedby enterprising ideators. No more push-ing at the bar counter to squeeze one-self in for another round of gin & tonic.The vibe of a restaurant/bar went much

beyond the four walls. The cacophonyof human chatter from close quarters iswhat made it vibrant. With the six feetin play, this would definitely change. Thevoid, probably filled with lyrics ofMichael Jackson’s “We are the World”.

Smaller GroupsTaking off from the concept of

social distancing, diners would prefer tomeet in smaller groups. The sight of atable of 15 would probably be replacedwith cosy tables of twos and fours.Dining shall get more intimate andwould probably be limited to meetingfamily and close friends, rather than aparty.

Contact-less Dining ExperienceConsumers will avoid not just

physical proximity, but shall prefer tominimise physical contact with objectsas well as persons. At a restaurant, con-sumers would probably prefer to enterdoors that are sensor controlled asopposed to palming the “push” sign,unless someone else does the pushingfor them. Glossy paper menus wouldcede ground to digital menus accessi-ble on their personal mobile phones.The fight over who gets the bill folderat the end of the meal might getreplaced with a sublime chime on themobile phone — a digital invoice. A fewclicks and the same would have beenpaid digitally without the need fortouching currency notes or fumblingwith the keypad on the oft-used creditcard terminal. This would be the com-ing of age of the “contact-less” diningexperience, which was being pedal-pushed by start-ups for the last few years.The sight of robots serving is notunthinkable, but consumers wouldprobably view them as pure optics, andstill prefer the congenial server, whosmiles, while bringing their food to the

table. The process of preparation of foodand drinks and the act of relishing thesame, shall ordinarily be spared of thiscontact-less mania till humanity evolvesfurther for it to be possible and enjoy-able, and thankfully so.

The Shift to Ordering-InSince the fear of the virus is all per-

vading, consumers might be averse tospending time at public places.Restaurants, being such, shall have towin the confidence of customers beforethey start patronising the services withconfidence. The fear of dining-outmight also shift the consumer to order-in in the comfort of their homes (spacesthey have control over). Consumer pref-erences might shift from a “bar nightwith friends” to “private gatherings athome”. Hopefully, such private gather-ings shall still be serviced by food fromtheir favorite eateries.

YouTube ChefsThe lockdown, by its very nature,

allowed millions to have time availableat hand. Some used this time to learnthe art of cooking through YouTube andthe like. Going by the number of suchposts on Facebook and Instagram, a cer-tain percentage of potential dinersmight have already pivoted to beinghome-chefs capable of preparing a finemeal without the urge to order-in.

Reduced Consumer SpendThe economic havoc that the pan-

demic has saddled us with, in most like-lihood, has left very little disposableincomes in the hands of the majority.Since dining out is purely a discretionaryspend, the amount a consumer spendsgoing forward would diminish. Optingfor better value-for-money options, toreducing frequency of visits might becommon themes across consumers,

for them to manage their monthly bud-gets.

Masks & Sanitisers — the new vanitykit

Hygiene, both personal as well aspublic, would be demanded as well aspracticed by consumers. Dressing up forthe evening before stepping out to dine,would now also involve choosing theright shade or print of the mask to beworn. The shade of the mask mightbecome as important as the shade of thelipstick. Restaurant entrances wouldseem like sanitisation zones, with cus-tomers ensuring that their hands get ataste of the alcohol before they do. Morethan discounts, customers woulddemand that their servers splash thesame before serving. In a nutshell, con-sumer behaviour would exhibit thestrongest preference for all thingshygienic. Standards of hygiene andsafety would determine when, whereand how the consumer opens his/herdigital wallet.

The Right Degree - 98.4Consumers would now be sub-

jected to an infra-red thermal scannerto check whether they qualify toenter the premises, purely for safetyreasons. Thus, consumers would prob-ably check their body temperaturebefore making a reservation.Whatsapp texts among friends wouldchange from “Hope you are wearinga collared shirt” to “Hope, you are nothot enough”.

While, we second-guess what thenew world looks like, the “new nor-mal” would have varying degrees ofwhat has been enumerated above. Thefactor of fear would determine if thechanges to consumer behaviour arepermanent or a passing phase.

Some changes would be perma-nent, while others would no longer berelevant, once the panic dissipates.Hopefully, among others, the art ofqueuing up without pushing andkeeping our public spaces clean,would stay forever.

Till such time, learn to commu-nicate with your eyes, since saying“read my lips” through the maskmight not be as effective.

They say, time is a great healer. Intime, we shall know.

(The writer is Director, PebbleStreet.)

Actor Bhumi Pednekar is taken aback todiscover the uncanny similarity that she

has with her character in Dolly Kitty Aur WohChamakte Sitare. Currently in lockdown,Bhumi took a trip down memory lane whenshe found her long lost scrapbook from schooland that triggered a huge moment for her.

She says, “There is so much time at handthat you can use it to declutter and it is notonly your space but your mind. I was clean-ing a trunk in my old house and I came acrossa scrapbook from my school. My first DVDaudition tape from my acting college, the firstscript I wrote. I was so nostalgic. My charac-ter in Dolly Kitty does something similar inthe film withher scrapbookand thismoment wasso uncanny.There are somany of yourlife experi-ences you gothrough againas an actor andthat’s what Ilove about cin-ema!”

D i re c te dby AlankritaShr ivastava ,the film hasearned Bhumiseveral inter-national acco-lades at presti-gious film festivals including the Face of Asiaaward at Busan.

Talking about life in lockdown, Bhumishares, “The first week was so weird, my roomis towards the road so it’s usually noisy butnow it’s silent and taken over by the birdschirping. The first week was manic, I meanall we used to do was talk about the virus, westill do but now we’ve figured out a way to dealwith it. Be more empathetic about what somany people are going through.”

The actor takes over her house post 6 pmevery day and lets her hair down with hermother, Sumitra, and sister Samiksha. “I lovedressing up my room and my house – thereis always some music, I light up the candles.So, post 6 pm I take over the house becausefor me it’s a way of survival. You have to bepositive and you have to spread positivity,” sheadds.

��4�� .�� <0��!��.��!��.��1:�0; �013%1

)��&� ��-��"��+�� $��

��%��%��%

��

�� %��+'3!'3 +3-)+

-�� !��2��

@��,�� ##� �� 6�� +� ��

++�� #$�%�1�� !� " "

Remember that scrumptiousquinoa salad we ate at Natasha’s

brunch? Or what was that amazingorange elderflower cocktail Nikhilwhipped up for us? Well, you cer-tainly want to give your friends andfamily a meal they will rememberand refer to in the future. But youalso want to keep your sanity whilebringing the home. The trick tohosting and cooking is to makesure 90 per cent of your work isdone before the guests arrive,preferably over a span of two orthree days, so that you aren’texhausted and ready for a napbefore the first Bellini is served. Inprofessional terms, this is calledmise en place, which literally means‘to put in its place’. Let me break itdown.

First, fix your menu. That is thebackbone of everything else. Sayyou want to have three snacks,three salads, three mains and twodesserts. Always have some roomfor options, as someone might bevegetarian, gluten-intolerant orallergic to seafood. Another dishmight need you to cook it fromscratch at the last minute. Look fordishes that you have made beforeand like to eat. Beware of recipesfrom random sources on the inter-net. Rather, ask friends for recipes.Think of the cooking process orlook at the recipe and see what youcan make in advance. Make ashopping list and break it up intosections such as fresh vegetablesand fruits, grocery store, speciali-ty store, fishmonger, butcher andbakery. Write down quantities andalso dates for when you should buyeverything. For example, vegetablesand protein can be bought inadvance, but try to buy fruits andsalads on the day of or the eveningbefore the brunch.

Plan your prep over two orthree days. Say you want to makean antipasti and cheese platter.Cheese can be bought and storedthree days in advance. Roastingvegetables such as peppers and egg-plants can happen a day in advance.Bread should be bought on the dayof the event.

Do a check the night before theevent to make a ‘collection list’ ofall the things you forgot. Keep allthe crockery, tableware, linen andglassware ready the day before.Ideally, you will just have to toss thesalad, reheat your already bakedphyllo parcels, toss the burrata inthe spaghetti and brunch will beserved!

Do ask for help. Enlist yourbest friend, husband’s assistant,sister or mom to help you or refill

your glass while you play domes-tic goddess. Get the kids to set thetable. Make it fun so you don’t feellike a slave.

I don’t know whether to thankthe stars for the internet, Googleand Pinterest, or to rue the day theywere created. Although it helps youget inspiration and tells you how toexecute anything your imaginationcan conceive of, it also makes thelife of any professional (caterer,stylist, bartender) who is workingfor you a living nightmare. Keepingthings real is important. Do youwant to spend the month beforeyour brunch knitting dreamcatch-er return presents for your guests?Do you want to be scouring localbazaars for chairs for the woodenledge on your terrace? Do you wantto be practising how to make asoufflé repeatedly before the bigday? If the answer is yes, then byall means, go for it. But if you wantto keep life pretty yet relaxed,identify a few areas where décorelements will have the biggestimpact, such as the entrance, din-ner table or the bar counter.

Flowers that go with the theme,a few rustic items like wateringcans, mason jars, wooden platters,boards and jute strings can go along way. First, work out the lookyou are going for, pick two-threeitems that will help you achieve it,and repeat the look through thevenue. ‘Online home delivery’ arethe magic words here, and a fewtrusted stores can also help you cre-ate that magical feel.

If you are working with eventstylists, give them your referencesand ideas but also let them presenttheir ideas and tell you — what isimpossible and out of your budget.Ask for a quotation, reference pho-tos and break up for each item soas to avoid any nasty surprises inthe end.

(The book has been publishedwith permission from PenguinRandom House India.)

1��$�� P'3!2+?0+�G+K#%�� %��%��

�*�� ?��@� ��*��*��&��&� �� @��'�� -��$� �� %�� %�+�� %�=�� +�� %��%�� %�� '�� +�� +=��

�� #��I�<��I�8��5��I�7��I�8��&� ��%��I�7��$��'��

� ��$��7<>�� 3�� +�� %

�� '�� !�� %�� +��%��D�� !��D�� %�� *�D�� D�� @�� 89��;>��%��

0��I�� !�� $��

��

�� I�7>>��

'��I�7>>��

&� ��I�;��

5��I�8��

@�� I�7>��

�� I�7>��

G��I�7>>��

��

�� =�� = � ��@�� @�� !��%�� +�� +�� E�� &� �� $� �

��*��

&��I�79>��

��I�8>��

&� ��I�9>��

&�� I�;>��

& ��I�7>��

*�� $��I�9>>��

+�� $��I�9>>��

'��$��I�9>>��

�� *�� $�� $�� +�� $��B'��

��

+�� %��%�� '��Q�� +�� +=��

�� &��I�7>>��'��I�9>>��@�� I�:��1��I�9>��)�� I�8>>�� '�� +��$�� $�� +=�� %��

�� 2��=��I�7>>��1�� I�7��+��$�� I�79��3�� I�78>��'�� I�7>��$�� *��=��%�� $�� D��

�� 4��%��I�;*��$��I�6��93��I�79��'�� I�8>>��2��=��I�7>��!��$� �� @��

�� +��I�:9��(��I�:9��@��I�79>��E��D�� I�9��3��I�;>��$� �� @��

1�� <�/��?�� <�� !��<�3��

�.�5�� 75�.��Upping Vitamin C intake after catch-

ing a cold is essential because it helps buildup your immune system.Vitamin Cincreases the production of white bloodcells, which are key to fightinginfections.Almost all citrus fruits are highin vitamin C. Because your body doesn’tproduce or store it, you need daily vitaminC for continued health. But do keep inmind that while vitamin C might help yourecover from a cold quicker, there’s no evi-dence yet that it’s effective againstCoronavirus.

8�5�.�While adding taste to your food, gar-

lic also gives a boost to your health. It alsoslows down hardening of the arteries, andthere’s evidence that it helps lower bloodpressure. Garlic’s immune-boosting prop-erties seem to come from a heavy concen-tration of sulfur-containing compounds,such as allicin.

8.�8�5Ginger helps in decreasing inflamma-

tion, which can help to reduce a sore throatand inflammatory illnesses. It packs someheat in the form of gingerol, a relative ofcapsaicin. Ginger may also decrease chron-ic pain and might even possess cholesterol-lowering properties

��.��) Spinach is rich in vitamin C, numer-

ous antioxidants and beta carotene, whichincrease the infection-fighting ability of our

immune systems. It is healthiest when it’scooked as little as possible so that it retainsits nutrients. However, light cooking makesit easier to absorb the vitamin A and allowsother nutrients to be released from oxal-

ic acid, an antinutrient.

A�8�5� The live and active cultures in yogurt

stimulate your immune system to help fight

diseases. Yogurt is a natural probiotic andaids in the formation of good bacteria inour body. However, if you have sore throatregardless of the cause, yogurt mightworsen it. Yogurt can also be a great source

of vitamin D which helps regulate theimmune system and is thought to boost ourbody’s natural defenses against diseases.

��/� When it comes to preventing and fight-

ing off colds, vitamin E tends to take abackseat to vitamin C. However, this pow-erful antioxidant is key to a healthyimmune system. It’s a fat-soluble vitamin,which means it requires the presence of fatto be absorbed properly. Nuts, such asalmonds, are packed with the vitamin andalso have healthy fats.

��7��B�5 ��/� These are full of nutrients, including

phosphorous, magnesium, and vitamins B-6 and E.Vitamin E is important in regulat-ing and maintaining immune system func-tion. Sunflower seeds are also incrediblyhigh in selenium.

��5��5.�There is ancient wisdom packed in that

turmeric laced milk that our grandmoth-

ers forced us to drink when we were ill. Thisgolden spice is known for its anti-oxidantand anti-inflammatory properties.Curcumin, the compound present inturmeric is a very potent agent and aids inhealing of wounds and infections. Thisbright yellow, bitter spice has also been usedfor years as an anti-inflammatory in treat-ing both osteoarthritis and rheumatoidarthritis. Research shows that high concen-trations of curcumin, which gives turmer-ic its distinctive color, can help decreaseexercise-induced muscle damage.Curcumin has promise as an immunebooster (based on findings from animalstudies) and an antiviral.

��A� It is loaded with vitamin C. You can find

the daily recommended amount of vitaminC in a single medium fruit. Papayas alsohave a digestive enzyme called papain thathas anti-inflammatory effects. The fruit haspotassium, magnesium, and folate, all ofwhich are beneficial to your overall health.

��A good old cup of some black tea can

actually help build your immunity.Regardless of colour, black or green, teapacks a big punch of polyphenols, flavo-niods, and antioxidants that destroy freeradicals that can damage healthy cells andeven cause premature aging. It’s also a goodmeans of hydrating your body. Just don’tmix it with milk, as the proteins in milk bindwith the polyphenols, thereby reducing theirbenefits.

7��/��/��8�

/��

��.�8 )��) 7.5��#�� !��" �� %��

�#�� 1%�� !� " "

�� 250(50

England pacer JamesAnderson believes his

teammates will have to moti-vate each other when cricketresumes, and in all likelihoodin front of empty stands, amidthe COVID-19 pandemic.

England were on their tourof Sri Lanka when all cricket-ing activities came to a grind-ing halt due to the outbreak ofnovel coronavirus. All profes-sional cricket activities current-ly remain suspended there tillJuly 1 and the England team arenext slated to play againstPakistan in August — threeTests and as many T20Is.

“We’re lucky (in England)that most Test matches aresold out, certainly the first few

days, we get big crowds somotivating yourself isn't anissue,” Anderson told CNN

Sport’s Amanda Davies viaInstagram Live.

“You just get out there in

front of a packed house and it'squite easy to get up for a game.I think we might have to leanon each other as players ifthere’s no crowd there, noatmosphere, we hear the soundof leather on willow echoingaround the ground rather thanthe applause,” he added.

In the post-COVID era,cricket will see a number ofchanges amongst which onewould be the ban on usage ofsaliva to shine the ball as hasbeen recommended by theICC Cricket Committee.

“It’s a massive thing for mebecause to get the ball to swing,you need to be able to polishthe ball and repair it when itgets scuffs on it,” said Andersonwho is England's leading wick-et-taker in Test cricket and

One-Day Internationals.The right-arm pacer also

said while he is “desperate toget out there and play,” hethinks it's only natural forplayers to be a bit nervous.

“It’s just a human reactionto be nervous about this situ-ation. We’ve got players in ourteam who have pregnant wivesand the worry there is if theybring something back,” he said.

“So I think what the ECBis doing is trying to make surewe really, really tick every boxthat we can to make sure thesafety of the players and staff isparamount and make sureeverything is in the right placeso if and when we do join backup as a team before we startplaying, we are as safe as we canbe,” he added.

�� 0#1�(#23!

West Indies cricketer Dwayne Bravoheaped praise on Chennai Super

Kings’ skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoniand stated he has a calming influenceon everyone in the CSK dressing room.The all-rounder also revealed howDhoni makes teammates play withfreedom which in turn gets the teamresults on the field.

In normal circumstances, Bravo andDhoni would have been currently play-ing in the 13th edition of the IndianPremier League but due to coron-avirus pandemic the tournament waspostponed by the BCCI.

“CSK over the years have had manygood captains in their dressing room.

We’ve had Faf du Plessis, BrendonMcCullum, myself, Mike Hussey,” Bravosaid in a video uploaded onESPNCricinfo.

“These guys have been leaders invarious countries, but MS (Dhoni) is thetype of person who always says that 'youare here because you’re good enough,so when you come here, you don’t needto prove anything to anyone. The fran-chise sees and it knows what you canoffer. Just be yourself ’.”

Bravo also shed light on Dhoni’shandling of players in the CSK changeroom and how he makes everyone feelcomfortable without thinking too muchabout the game and the pressure itbrings along with it.

“MS doesn’t put pressure on anyone.

Outside of cricket, you rarely see him,but his room is always open, so you canwalk in there anytime.

He's brilliant to have conversationswith, obviously played so many games,”Bravo said.

“He creates an environment wherepeople feel comfortable and everyonerelaxes; he doesn’t behave like a super-star despite all his accolades andachievements,” Bravo said.

Under the stewardship of Dhoni,CSK have won the IPL title threetimes, second-best behind MumbaiIndians’ four.

Dhoni has also led Chennai in theknockout stage of every edition of thecash-rich league that they have partic-ipated in - the only team to do so.

�� 0#1�(#23!

Vijay Shankar would nottorment himself by think-

ing that it's not he but HardikPandya, who is Indian team’spreferred all-rounder in thewhite-ball format, as the TamilNadu cricketer is focussed atchurning out match-winningperformances to stay in themix.

The 29-year-old was part ofIndia’s World Cup campaignbut an ankle injury cut short hisjourney.

Since then, he hasn't beenpart of the senior team withShivam Dube coming in placeof an injured Pandya. Now witha fit-again Pandya back in themix, the wait for anothernational comeback could belonger.

“If it starts affecting me(that Hardik is the No 1 choice)then I will lose out on gamesthat I have with me. If I focuson the games that I have andhave match-winning perfor-mances, then my name will bethere in the circuit (reckon-ing),” Vijay told PTI during aninterview.

“If I perform, people willtalk about me and if someopportunity arises, I will be get-ting into the Indian side. So Ican’t think about what otherplayers are doing,” said Vijay,who played 12 ODIs and 8T20Is for India.

Vijay said that he is notlooking at being a mere sur-

vivor in the Indian team butsomeone who can perform forlong time.

“My dream is not just to getthere and be a mere survivor.Only if I excel, can I prolongmy international career. It'simportant for us to be at ourbest when we go to internation-al level.”

But for that, the man with45 first-class games under hisbelt want a permanent battingposition in the Tamil Nadu set-up which would give him anopportunity to score moreruns.

“Over the years, if you see,I have batted in all middle-order slots and adapted to theneeds of the team. However,when people ask me what mygoal is, I tell them for that Ineed to have a fixed batting

position. If I bat at Number 3or 4, then only can I thinkabout all these goals,” he said.

“If I am always shifting mybatting position, then I willonly end up getting those 30sand 40s," he opined.

World Cup was a goldenopportunity and he admittedthat Afghanistan game endedup being a missed chance.

“I missed out on twoopportunities and one wasagainst Afghanistan (he scored29). Against West Indies, I gota good delivery. Before that Ihad successive 40 plus scoresagainst New Zealand in a toughgame and against Australia.Had I converted even one startinto a big knock, it would havebeen a different story,” he rued.

Vijay has an astro-turfwicket on the rooftop of his res-idence but during lockdown, hedidn’t hit the nets.

“Usually, I call two or threepeople who come and bowl orgive throwdowns. Due to thelockdown, I wasn’t able to callanyone so just did my exercis-es. Hope I can now start train-ing.”

A lesser known fact aboutVijay is his patronage for TamilNadu’s physically challengedcricket team, where most of theplayers are daily wage earnerssuffering due to the lockdown.

“I have been the players forthe last three years, and thistime during lockdown, I helpedthem with some money sothat they don’t go hungry.

�� *#2@5-?0#

Australia opener David Warner’sparticipation in the Big Bash

League (BBL) would depend onhow the international calenderpans out on resumption as he doesnot want “a cluttered mindset”,playing different formats close toeach other.

Warner reflected on how in2013-14, playing Twenty20 tourna-ment without much gap betweenthe Test cricket adversely impactedhis performance.

“All my decisions are basedaround how much playing andtouring I’m doing in the summer,”Warner told cricket.Com.Au abouthis Big Bash options.

“When I last played a game, mymindset in the next two Tests wascluttered between playing and notplaying shots.”

Warner had hit centuries in thefirst and third Ashes Tests of thatwhitewash summer before scoring50 from 31 balls for the SydneyThunder in a one-off appearance.In the final two Tests of the sum-

mer, he did not pass 25.“I know that's how I play but

I’ve reined it in a lot over the last fewyears and don’t want to be puttingmyself into a situation again whereI’m playing a Test match and thena T20 and then Tests again a fewdays later.

The star opener said he wouldprefer having “one rhythm goinginto it”.

“It would be easy to sit here nowand say ‘Yes, I’d like to play’ but Ihave to see what is happening at theend of the year. I'll have to have ahard think about it depending onthe schedule.”

��*#2@5-?0#

Australian pace spearheadPat Cummins believes the IPLwill be a great way to resumecricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus and the high-octane tournament will alsohelp in preparing for the T20World Cup this year.

Cummins was bought byKolkata Knight Riders for awhopping Rs 15.5 crores, mak-ing him the most expensive for-eign player in the IPL.

The 27-year-old said he hasbeen in touch with his ownersand is optimistic of playing thetournament this year.

“Whenever I speak to theowners of the team and the staffthere, they’re still really confi-dent that it can be played atsome stage this year,” Cumminstold SEN on Thursday.

“I was really looking for-ward to playing it for manyobvious reasons, hopefully itgoes ahead.”

The COVID-19 pandemic,which has so far claimed over3 lakh lives globally, forced theshutdown of sports, includingcricket, across the world.

“It (IPL) could be a greatway to get back into playingcricket (after the COVID-19stoppage). It’s T20, not as cum-bersome on your body.

“We’ve got a big World Cupthat is going to be played atsome stage, so playing as muchhigh-quality T20 cricket as wecan is great.”

The 13th IPL, which wasscheduled to start in Marchend, was indefinitely suspend-ed due to the COVID-19 pan-demic, which has also put indoubt this year's T20 WorldCup in Australia.

There is speculation thatIPL might be conducted inOctober-November if the T20World Cup in Australia is post-poned.

In a bid to resume cricket,Boards across the globe arelooking at ensuring a bio-secure environment whichincludes mandatory quarantineperiods and other safety proto-cols.

Cummins, who will beginNSW pre-season training onJune 1, said he is ready to do“Whatever it takes to get backplaying cricket safely.”

�� 1#22!0&�50

Cup final loss to England last year andhasn’t yet figured if the epic match shouldcount among the highs or lows of his career.

New Zealand got a raw deal in last year'sWorld Cup final when England wereadjudged the winners on the basis of theirsuperior boundary count after the epic gameand also the ensuing Super Over ended in atie.

Williamson said he is still trying to com-prehend what happened in the closing

moments of that spectacular final.“To determine whether it was a high or

a low takes a bit of time. And I’m still tryingto work out what it was really ... Sometimesit is difficult to make sense of it. You need toaccept, which is that it is a part and parcel oflife,” said Williamson on a ‘Cricbuzz’ show.

“We didn’t get the fruits but upon reflec-tion, it was a pretty spectacular game to bea part of but a really difficult game to under-stand and get around because you were a partof the game.”

In the drama-filled finale, a lot of thingsdidn’t go New Zealand’s way, includingMartin Guptill’s throw which ricocheted offa diving Ben Stokes’ bat and went across theboundary. Add to that, on-field umpireKumar Dharmasena erroneously gave Stokesan extra run.

Williamson said it was difficult to makesense of these “things on the outside that youcan’t control”.

“When there were so many things thatwere out of your control, pivotal things thatwere so late in the match. It meant that youwere trying to make sense and it was very dif-ficult to do that,” said Williamson, who wasadjudged the ‘Player of the Tournament’ forscoring 578 runs.

“Despite being on the wrong side of theresult you still think you played your part andwere perhaps able to do that.

�� 0#1�(#23!

With a commitment to tourSouth Africa in August fol-lowed by the IPL likely in

October, the BCCI seems ready with itsresumption plan as it waits for theCOVID-19 situation to improve andcricket to resume :in earnest: after themonsoon.

Cricket South Africa on Thursdayrevealed that the BCCI has shown “will-ingness” to play three T20 Internationalsat the end of August. This was afterBoard CEO Rahul Johri said he expectsthe sport to restart after the monsoon.

India and South Africa could playthree T20 Internationals at the end ofAugust as part of a prior “agreement”,provided the situation arising out of thepandemic improves substantially forgovernments on both sides to give a go-ahead.

The fixtures are currently ear-marked for late August but CricketSouth Africa’s acting chief executiveJacques Faul, encouraged by the BCCI's“willingness”, said both parties are notaverse to having the series at a later date.

“India wants to honour its agree-ment. If it’s postponed, maybe a bit later,”Faul said during a virtual press confer-ence on Thursday.

“We’ve had a very good discussionwith them (BCCI),” the CSA executiveadded.

A BCCI official on condition ofanonymity said that the possibility is“there” provided they get an all clearancefrom the government of India.

“First, we have to get the players fora conditioning camp in a green zone.Obviously, if things are on track, wewould play in South Africa,” the officialtold PTI.

BCCI agreeing to this bilateralseries will also mean that they will haveCSA’s support if they want to organisethe cash-rich IPL in October-November

window instead of the T20 World Cup.Considering the fast-evolving situ-

ation, CSA has reiterated that the serieswill be subject to the clearances from thehighest authorities of both India andSouth Africa.

Faul said they have already initiat-ed the process to seek permission fromthe South African government.

CSA’s Director of Cricket GraemeSmith said having the series withoutspectators is not much of a logisticalissue either.

“We have been talking to them and

the commitment is there to get the threeT20s done,” Smith said at a news con-ference on Thursday.

"There is an element of guesswork,no-one knows what things will be likeat the end of August. But we believe weare a socially-distanced sport and thatwe can play behind closed doors,” headded.

Johri, while addressing a webinaron Wednesday, gave some insight intothe BCCI’s plans going forward.

“We are going to be guided by theGovernment of India in its entirety,

whatever are the government guidelinesis what we'll follow...Cricketing activi-ty in earnest can start practically onlyafter the monsoon season,” he said.

India’s monsoon season lasts fromJune to September. There is speculationthat IPL might be conducted inOctober-November if the T20 WorldCup in Australia is postponed.

“…hopefully things will improveand give us more variables which wecan control and accordingly take thedecision.”

He also highlighted the many

logistical issues that are going to cropup because of the new safety protocolsto minimise the risk of infection.

“The flavour of the IPL is that thebest players around the world come andplay, and everyone is committed tomaintaining that flavour. Of course, itis going to be a step-by-step process, soyou cannot expect normalisationtomorrow,” he said.

“We need to factor what the gov-ernment advisories will be. Right nowthere are no flights. At some pointflights will open and everybody needsto quarantine themselves before play-ing.

“How will that impact the sched-ules because as it is the schedules areextremely tight,” he explained.

A 14-day quarantine is being talkedabout as one of the compulsory safetymeasures, which is likely to have a hugebearing on the overall scheduling.

“So there are a lot of moving parts.Having said that we stay optimistic.Hopefully the situation post the mon-soon will improve and we approach itthat point of time,” Johri said.

He also touched on the challengesthe Board will face while conductingIndia’s lengthy domestic season, whichgoes on from October to May and fea-tures more than 2000 matches.

“In this changing scenario thescheduling of domestic cricket needs tobe completely relooked at becausetoday there is a team which can travel50 kilometres to play a match or 3000kilometres to play a match,” he said.

“Everybody plays every other teamhome and away. Now in this scenariowhere travel is restricted, where play-ers’ safety, support staff safety is of para-mount importance, how do you con-duct these leagues?

“It is a discussion that will be hadand interesting options will have tocome up. Innovation will be the key inthis,” he added.

��*-*@+!

Former India openerGautam Gambhir has cho-

sen legendary SachinTendulkar over current skipperVirat Kohli as a better batsmanin the ODI format, consider-ing the changed rules of thegame and the Mumbaikar’slongevity of career.

Tendulkar, who retired in2013, played 463 ODIs andamassed 18, 426 runs with 49hundreds at an average of44.83.

Kohli, on the other hand,has played 248 ODIs andscored 11, 867 runs with 43tons at an average of 59.33.

“Sachin Tendulkar,because probably with onewhite ball and four fieldersinside the circle, not five field-ers outside, it will be SachinTendulkar for me,” Gambhirsaid on Star Sports show‘Cricket Connected’.

Nowadays, a one-dayinnings is played with twowhite balls and with threepowerplays.

In the first power play(overs 1-10), two fielders are

allowed beyond the 30-yardcircle, while in the secondpowerplay (overs 10-40) fourfielders are allowed. In the lastpowerplay (overs 40-50), fivefielders are allowed outside the30-yard circle.

Gambhir, who was thestar performer in 2011 ODIWorld Cup final which Indiawon, feels that the change inrules has helped batsmen.

“It’s difficult because ViratKohli has done phenomenal-ly well but I think the ruleshave changed as well, whichhas helped a lot of new batters,”elaborated Gambhir, whoplayed 58 Tests and 147 ODIs.

“The new generation, with2 new balls, no reverse swing,nothing for the finger spin, fivefielders inside for the 50 overs,probably that makes battingmuch easier.

He said he would also gowith Tendulkar, consideringhis longevity and flow of theODI cricket format at thattime.

“Probably I’ll go withSachin Tendulkar if we see thelongevity and flow of the one-day cricket format.

��(�2��%��5+A��

"�� /��9/"��<�<'�!��

8��0)��*��9�� ,�9��"!��")��

-�� 0��@�� 2��

J(��"��$�� '4"

.�=� � ��+� �� ,�� C �� "+� !��

A��A��6�� ,��)"*�$,��"$�*��#��-�4��0�$"��:�

@@2�� !��"�� I�1� ��

#ˇ · resume at around 1.7 lakh common service centres across the country from friday, mak- ......

Documents