C M Y K

“Fusion of the divine and spiritual unequivocally sets your soul free...”

Vol. 12 No: 85 | JAMMU, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 | Pages: 12 | Price: R 3.00 | Air surcharge 50 paisa for Leh

COVID-19: Div Comreviews stock, supply position

of essential commodities

Rajnath SinghAsks Armed

Forces To RampUp Efforts To

Fight COVID-19

Mithali Raj wantswomen’s IPL

next year, saysBCCI shouldn’t

wait forever

The MotherDivine:

Chandraghanta

JAMMUMAX : 26.0 °CMIN : 15.0 °CSUNSET : 6:46 pm TodaySUNRISE : 6:26 am TomorrowSRINAGARMAX : 16.0 °CMIN : 6.0 °CLEHMAX : 2.0 °CMIN : -8.0 °C

YEH HAI JAMMU

REGISTRATION FOR MOVING OUT: Inter-state travellers being registered at Bus Standon Thursday. GJ Photo

Mehbooba, othersmust be releasedimmediately: OmarSRINAGAR: Reiteratinghis demand that formerchief minister MehboobaMufti and other detaineesshould be released imme-diately, NationalConference (NC) Vice-President Omar Abdullahsaid on Thursday.''Till then let's not make ittougher for her and herfamily by believing sto-ries planted by people

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J&K Police registers38 FIRs, seizes 547vehicles and shopsJAMMU: Taking strictactions against the viola-tors of prohibitory ordersissued by the Govern-ment u/s 144 CrPCJammu and KashmirPolice on Thursday regis-tered 38 FIRs against theoffenders and seized 547number of shops andvehicles for defying therestrictions in view ofCOVID-19. Till

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Jammu Policestamps lockdownviolators

JAMMU: Jammu Policehas found a unique wayto identify and preventlockdown violators bystamping "Corona

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Pak troops resort toshelling along LoC, IBJAMMU: Pakistanitroops resorted to smallarms firing and mortarshelling along the Line ofControl (LoC) and theInternational Border (IB)in Jammu and Kashmir'sPoonch and Kathua dis-tricts, drawing retaliationfrom Indian soldiers, offi-cials said on Thursday.Pakistani troops resortedto small arms firing onforward posts along the

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IN BRIEF

SPREAD ACROSS AT LEAST 170 COUNTRIESWORLD : 467,594 confirmed, 21,181 deathsINDIA : 719 confirmed, 19 deaths

J&K: 5482 : Travellers, Persons in contact with suspected cases

3053 : Home quarantine 117 : Hospital quarantine

1761 : Home Surveillance551 : Complete 28-day surveillance 379 : Samples sent for testing 341 : Tested Negative

13 : positive25 : Reports awaited

1 : DeathLADAKH: 18 : Tested Negative

No fresh positive case

NEW DELHI, MAR 26:Union finance ministerNirmala Sitharaman onThursday announced a com-prehensive economic pack-age to deal with the impactof deadly coronavirus out-break. Earlier on Tuesday,Sitharaman had relaxedtimelines for filing incometax (I-T) returns and raiseddefault thresholds for invok-ing bankruptcy proceedings.

She said an insurancecover of R 50 lakh per per-son will be given for threemonths to Covid-19 war-riors, who are exposingthemselves to the virus.They include doctors, para-medics, healthcare workers,sanitation workers andASHA workers dealing withthe Coronavirus outbreak.

The Finance Ministermaintained that five kg extrarice or wheat will be givenfor the next three months for

free, apart from five kgalready being given to 80crore people. She said thatadditionally, one kg of pre-ferred pulses will also begiven per family for free.

Ms Sitharaman madeeight special announce-ments for farmers, MGN-REGA workers, poor widowpensioners, Divy-ang,women under the Jan DhanYojana, poor householdersunder the Ujjwala scheme,Self-Help Groups, EPFO inorganised sector and the dis-trict mineral fund.

Meanwhile, a corona-infected Mohalla clinic doc-tor, along with 900 people,who came in contact with

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FM announces RR 1.7 lakh cr relief packageCORONA VIRUS

Insurance cover of ss 50Lakh per health worker

80 crore poor peoplewill to get 5 kg wheat orrice and 1 kg of pre-ferred pulses for freeevery month for thenext three months

20 crore women JanDhan account holdersto get RR 500 per monthfor next three months

Increase in MNREGAwage to RR 202 a dayfrom RR 182 to benefit13.62crore families

An ex-gratia of RR 1,000to 3 crore poor seniorcitizen, poor widowsand poor disabled

Government to front-load RR 2,000 paid tofarmers in first week ofApril under existingPMKisanYojana tobenefit 8.7crore farm-ers

Central Governmenthas given orders toState Governments touseBuilding and Const-ruction Workers Welf-are Fund to providerelief to ConstructionWorkers

KEY POINTS

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26:Jammu and KashmirGovernment on Thursdayinformed that 5482 trav-ellers and persons in con-tact with suspected caseshave been enlisted for sur-veillance and, so far, 14cases have tested positive inJammu and Kashmirincluding 11 active posi-tive, one recovered and onedeath.

According to the dailyBulletin on novel coron-avirus (COVID-19), 3053

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#FightAgainstCorona: First death in J&K,13 test positive, 5482 under surveillance

An employee of Jammu Municipal Corporation fogging during lockdown at Jammu onThursday. GJ Photo

LG asks peopleto donate to J&KRelief Fund

Jammu and KashmirLieutenant Governor GirishChandra Murmu on

Thursday appealed to peopleto donate to Jammu andKashmir Relief Fund to tackelCOVID-19. In a message here,Murmu said, "the Country isfacing an unprecedented chal-lenge with communities andeconomies everywhere affect-ed by the growing COVID-19

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GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26:Political parties and severalreligious organizations andforums on Thursday con-demned the terror attack onGurdwara in Kabul inwhich 30 Sikhs were killed.

All Parties SikhCoordination Committee(APSCC) has condemnedthe militant attack anddemanded proper protectionof the minorities includingSikhs living in the differentparts of the globe.

Expressing outrage overthe attack on Gurdwara andsubsequent killings, APSCCChairman Jagmohan SinghRaina said that human val-ues continue to be trampledover by the elements thatare inimical to peace andprosperity.

"The incident is highlydeplorable and it needs tobe condemned by one andall irrespective of their reli-gious and political ideolo-gies. The attackers and theperpetrators of the attack

need to be brought to bookso that justice prevails," saidRaina.

Raina demanded that theUnited Nations HumanRights Committee(UNHRC) should step upand play a proactive role.

UT Gurdwara Parbha-ndak Board Chairman andformer MLC, TS Wazirtermed the act as extremelybrutal which reflected thedevilish mindset of perpe-trators and their supporters

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Kabul Terror Attack InvitesSevere Condemenations

NEW DELHI, MAR 26:In a major step to counter-act the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, the leaders ofthe G20 summit onThursday announced thatthey will inject over fivetrillion dollars into theglobal economy. Thiscomes as a part of targetedfiscal policy, economicmeasures, and guaranteeschemes to curb the social,

economic and financialimpacts of the pandemic."We are injecting over $5trillion into the global econ-omy, as part of targeted fis-cal policy, economic meas-ures, and guaranteeschemes to counteract thesocial, economic and finan-cial impacts of the pandem-ic," the G20 said in a state-ment.

The G20 nations alsopledged 'united front'against coronavirus threat

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Lockdown: AsJammu wore

deserted look,woes multiplying

day-by-dayJAMMU, MAR 26:Normal life remained crip-pled on second day of lock-down on Thursday in thewinter capital as evenpetrol pumps were shut,newspaper stands almostempty while labourers andworkers returned to theirhomes.

The District Administ-ration Jammu orderedimmediate shutdown offilling stations across thedistrict.

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SRINAGAR, MAR 26:Divisional Commissioner,Kashmir P K Pole hasordered an inquiry into thealleged mishandling of thepatient, who died onThursday due toCoronavirus in a hospital,couple of days after testingpositive for the disease.

Meanwhile, the familymembers of the 65-year-oldCovoravirus patient, whobecame the first casualty ofthe infection in Kashmirvalley, alleged that they hadto run from pillar to post toget the patient tested forCOVID-19. "It is quiteunfortunate that we are

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Inquiry ordered into firstCOVID-19 death in Kashmir

No freshpositive

case in LehLEH: As per the 17 num-bers of COVID-19 resultsreceived from NCDC NewDelhi, all are negativeincluding 11 reports ofKargil and 6 of Leh districtof Ladakh, statedCommissioner/SecretaryHealth Rigzin Samphel intoday's press conference.

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All religiousplaces closed

The Srinagaradmin i s t r a t i onclosed all reli-

gious places to preventspread of Coronavirus inthe district, where a 67-year-old man died due tothe pandemic on Thursday.

Grand Mufti NasirulIslam said no Fridayprayers would be held inthe valley to curtail thespread of the virus andurged people to stayindoors.

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16 deaths, totalcases rise to694 in India

NEW DELHI, MAR 26:The death toll due toCOVID-19 rose to 16 inthe country and 80 fresh

cases were reported, takingthe tally to 694, the Unionhealth ministry said onThursday, but asserted thatthe rate of increase in thepositive cases was "rela-tively stable" in India.

The Union health min-istry officials also said

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G20 nations to inject over $5 trillion into global economy Protect lives. Safeguard people's jobs

and incomes. Restore confidence, pre-

serve financial stability,revive growth and recov-er stronger.

Minimize disruptions totrade and global supplychains.

Provide help to all coun-tries in need of assis-tance.

Coordinate on publichealth and financialmeasures. (Agencies)

Rate of increase in positive cases 'relativelystable', says Govt

COVID-19 pandemic Modi pitches fornew crisismanagementprotocol at G20

As the world reelsunder the coron-avirus pandemic,

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday urgedthe powerful G20 groupingto put human beings ratherthan economic targets at

Contd. on P-4 Col 4

Financial packagewill go a long wayin ensuring food,livelihood securityto poor: PM

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday saidthe financial package

announced by his govern-ment to deal with the impactof the coronavirus lockdownwill go a long way in ensuringfood and livelihood security ofthe poor. "It is our firm resolvethat the poor and vulnerableget all possible help to copewith the testing times," Moditweeted. He said the Pradhan

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C M Y K

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 ||GJ INFO/ENTERTAINMENT2

CMYK

Friday 10.30 A.M to 12.00 A.MSaturday 9.00 A.M to 10.30 A.M

This time is not auspicious for doing any important task/taking any decision.

Rahu Kaal

Samvat: 2076 (Shaka Samvat 1941)Paksha: ShuklaTithi: Tritiiya 22:12:46Nakshtra: Ashvini [Mandaksha] 10:09:37Moon Zodiac: Mesha*Time is after midnight but before sunrise of next day

TITHI/NAKSHTRA

PP ANC

HANG

ANCH

ANG

Chaitra 14 March to 13 AprilVaishakha 13 April to 14 May

INDIAN MONTHS ENGLISH MONTHS

Pt. Kamal Shastri

su do ku

SU D

O K

U -

926

A mind game and apuzzle that you solvewith reasoning andlogic. Fill in the gridwith digits in such amanner that every row,every column andevery 3X3 boxaccommadates thedigits 1 to 9, withoutrepeating any. Thesolution to yesterdays’spuzzle is at right.

SU DO KU (925) SOLUTION

1513 - Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León reaches thenorthern end of The Bahamas on his first voyage toFlorida.

1625 - Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland andIreland as well as claiming the title King of France.

1794 - Denmark and Sweden form a neutrality compact. 1871 - The first international rugby football match, when

Scotland defeats England in Edinburgh at RaeburnPlace.

1915 - Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of diseaseever identified in the United States is put in quarantinefor the second time, where she would remain for the restof her life.

1975 - Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Systembegins.

1981 - The Solidarity movement in Poland stages awarning strike, in which at least 12 million Poles walkoff their jobs for four hours.

1990 - The United States begins broadcasting anti-Castro propaganda to Cuba on TV Martí.

1998 - The Food and Drug Administration approvesViagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, thefirst pill to be approved for this condition in the UnitedStates.

2009 - The dam forming Situ Gintung, an artificial lakein Indonesia, fails, killing at least 99 people.

2014 - Philippines signs a peace accord with the largestMuslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,ending decades of conflict.

2016 - A suicide blast in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Lahoreclaims over 70 lives and leaves almost 300 othersinjured. The target of the bombing are Christians cele-brating Easter.

HISTORY TODAY

Nav DurgaThe Mother Divine manifests herself in nine differ-

ent forms with each form signifying something subtleand deep. Discover the hidden meanings of the ninegoddesses or the Nav Durga. Thet third Manifestedform is known as Chandreghanta.

Chandraghanta The third form of the Mother Divine isChandraghanta.What does the word Chandraghanta mean?

Chandra (Moon) means the mind. The mind keepshaving its ups and downs. Usually we fight with ourown mind. Negative thoughts such as jealousy,hatred, etc. come in the mind and one starts strug-gling to get rid of them, but it does not happen. Youcannot get rid of your mind. Running away from yourmind does not help. The mind is like your shadow.

We become dejected and restless the moment ourmind is gripped by any negative feeling. We try towash away all these things from our mind by doingvarious techniques, but it works only for a short time.After a while, the mind comes back to square one! Donot struggle to get rid of that.

Chandra also signifies the various feelings orshades of emotions and thoughts (similar to the dif-ferent phases of the waxing and waning moon).

Ghanta means a bell from which only one kind ofsound arises. Do you ever hear multiple sounds froma bell? No matter how you play it, only one kind ofsound comes from the bell. In the same way, whenthe mind that is scattered and entangled in differentthoughts and emotions gets consolidated and estab-lished at one point (in the Divine), then it gives rise tothe Divine energy within us which becomes one-pointed and rises upwards. This is what is meantbyChandraghanta. Her name literally means (Thebell of the moon).

It means that state where the scattered mindbecomes steady and consolidated towards one thingonly. Do not run away from the mind, for the mind isalso a form and manifestation of the Mother Divine.The Mother Divine is present even as sorrow, misery,hunger, and peace as well. The essence here is totake everything together - whether harmonious orunpleasant - as a collective whole, bringing allthoughts, emotions and sounds as one Naad (sound)like the sound a bell or a large gong makes. This is

the meaning behind the Devi's nameChandraghanta,and the third day of Navratri is celebrated to honourthis form of the Mother Divine.

The three GunasThis Mother Divine is a symbolization of the cre-

ation, and the entire creation is made up of five ele-ments. These five elements have three qualities.These are: Sattva Rajas Tamas

These are the names given to the three qualities,and everything in this creation is governed by thesethree qualities. They also relate to our state of con-sciousness, such as waking, dreaming and sleepingstate. Sattva

Now, there is a broad understanding of whatSattva is, what Rajas is and what Tamas is. Sattva isthe quality which is responsible for clarity, wisdomand righteous action. When Sattva is dominating inour environment, or in the body, that is when we feellight, happy, pleasant, joyful, alert, awake, and ourperceptions are very clear. Rajas

Rajas is the quality which is responsible for activi-ty in the body and mind. We cannot 'act' without acertain level of Rajas. Rajas has its benefits when itis in balance with the other two Gunas. However,when Rajas increases or is dominating, we get lots ofthoughts, we feel restless, we have too many desiresand too many things to be done. Also, we either feelvery happy and excited, or extremely low. This is theeffect of the Rajo Guna. Tamas

Tamas is the quality which is responsible for rest inthe body and mind. Without a certain level of Tamas,one cannot 'sleep'. However, when Tamas is not inbalance, that is when delusion, wrong understanding,dullness, etc., come forth.

At any given time, one of the three qualities domi-nates our life. When Sattva dominates in our life, thenRajas and Tamas stay in the background and theireffect is minimum. When Rajas dominates, Sattvaand Tamas are in the background. And when Tamasdominates, then Sattva and Rajas are in the back-ground, and their effect is minimal. This is the wholemechanism of life in the world.

These three qualities are also present in our food.Our food can be Sattvic, Rajasic or Tamasic. Ourmind and intellect can be Sattvic, Rajasic or Tamasic.Our attitude and actions can be Sattvic, Rajasic orTamasic.

These three Gunas come in cycles, one after theother. It is natural to experience these three qualitiesfrom time to time. Sometimes you feel happy, joyful,and alert (Sattva). Sometimes you feel restless, sad,burdened with too many things to do, and have manydesires (Rajas). And sometimes you just feel dull,sleepy and lazy (Tamas).

Though we experience all the three qualities fromtime to time, we can still keep our levels of Sattvahigh by leading a healthy and balanced lifestyle.Spiritual practices such as meditation, chanting, etc.,also contribute towards keeping the Sattva levelshigh. The higher the Sattva, the more happiness andclarity one experiences.

www.artofliving.org/navratri

THE MOTHER DIVINE: CHANDRAGHANTA

SABUDANA THALIPEETHINGREDIENTS 1 cup of sabudana 1 cup of boiled potatoes (mashed) 4 tbsp of roasted peanuts (finely ground) ½ tsp cumin powder 1 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp sugar ½ cup of coriander leaves (finely chopped) 1 pinch ginger (grated) Ghee or peanut oil (for frying) Salt as requiredMETHOD Soak the sabudana overnight in equal level of water.

Drain exess water (if any) next morning. To this, add mashed potatoes, ground peanuts, corian-

der leaves, cumin powder, lemon juice, ginger, sugarand salt as required. Mix all the ingredients well.

Heat some peanut oil or ghee in a non-stick frying pan.Divide the sabudana mixture into equal portions.

Take one portion onto greased palms, flatten and shape

it in the form of a small pancake. Repeat the same stepfor all sabudana portions.

Place each flattened sabudana thalipeeth in the fryingpan. Cook both sides till it turns golden-brown andcripsy.

Serve hot with mint chutney and raita.

in continuation….Exercise. Eat well. Get sleep. Meditate. Journal.

Get out in nature. Prioritize your schedule. Do more ofwhatever activities recenter, recharge and reset your head-space. And if people around you are leaning on you forsupport and reassurance, then all the more reason to pri-oritize the practices that ground you.

Speak calmly Our words create our reality. If you start describing a

situation with Armageddon like language that's exactlywho your body and mind will experience it. This isn'tabout denying unpleasant realities and downplaying legit-imate dangers. It simply means that you don't talk them up.

When you use language that implies that you trustyourself to meet your challenges as they arise, you notonly spare yourself a lot of stress, you also spare others bynot spreading it.

Avoid fear-mongers Fear fuels fear. If you're continually engaging in con-

versations with anxious people who are absorbed in fear-casting and catastrophizing, you'll find it hard not to lettheir anxieties become your own. While it's important toavoid negative energy draining people at the best of times,when fear is running amok, it's even more critical. So justas you try to minimize exposure to viruses, you also needto minimize exposure to people who fuel stress. And ifyou're in a online chat group with dooms-dayers andpanic merchants, do yourself a favor and get out of it.

Educate yourself We're all wired with negativity bias. It's why we some-

times have to do a "self-intervention" and actively lookfor information that balances out all the negativitywe're being fed. For instance, while coronavirus is

highly infectious, outside of China it has a mortalityrate of 0.2% (compared to SARS which was about 10%.)Every year 60,000 people die of ordinary influenza andvery few people outside of Wuhan province who have con-tracted coronavirus have died outside of the elderly andthose with pre-existing conditions. So yes, be careful,wash your hands, up your hygiene, and stay home if you'refeeling unwell but you don't have to cancel your life.

Get on with your life It's by taking a few deep long breaths, then taking calm

decisive action in the presence of our fear that we diluteits power, and amplify your own. Hence why it is timeslike these that each of us is called upon to reel in our fearsand start leading the change we'd like to see in thosearound us. Because just as fear is contagious, so too iscourage.

OVERCOMING ANXIETY DURING CORONAVIRUS

Wellness

HAPPENING TODAY

Tribals in Bastar make masks from Palmleaves, stay in to fight COVID-19

Tribal hamlets inChhattisgarh's Bastarhave taken their ownsteps to ensure thesafety of their commu-nities during the coro-navirus outbreak. Thevillagers have madepersonal protective

equipment such as masks made from palm leaves. They are alsonot stepping out from their homes to fight COVID-19. Tribal ham-lets in Kanker and other districts of Bastar region have beenproactive in taking precautionary measures without waiting forgovernment initiatives. The 21-day lockdown is being implement-ed by the locals in many villages. Two more people have testedpositive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh, taking the total numberof confirmed cases in the state to three. One of them was report-ed from the state capital Raipur and the other from Rajnandgaondistrict. A 24-year-old woman, who had returned to Raipur fromLondon, was the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the statelast week.

It’s Okay to Cry, CoronavirusDoes Not Spread Through Tears

Contrary to some reports,researchers now claim thatthe novel Coronavirus does-n't spread via tears and it isunlikely that infectedpatients are shedding virusthrough eye fluid. Whileresearchers are certain thatcoronavirus spreads throughmucus and droplets expelled by coughing or sneezing, it is unclearif the virus spreads through other bodily fluids, such as tears, saidthe study. None of the patients in the study had conjunctivitis, alsoknown as pink eye. However, health officials believe pink eyedevelops in just one per cent to three per cent of people with coro-navirus. For the findings, researchers at National UniversityHospital in Singapore collected tear samples from 17 patients withCOVID-19 from the time they showed symptoms until they recov-ered about 20 days later. Neither viral culture nor reverse tran-scription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detected the virusin their tears throughout the two-week course of the disease, theresearchers said.

Coronavirus could becomeseasonal, says top US scientist

There is a strong chance thenew coronavirus could return inseasonal cycles, a senior USscientist said, underscoring theurgent need to find a vaccineand effective treatments.Anthony Fauci, who leads

research into infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health,told a briefing the virus was beginning to take root in the southernhemisphere, where winter is on its way. “What we’re starting to seenow... in southern Africa and in the southern hemisphere countries, isthat we’re having cases that are appearing as they go into their win-ter season,” he said. “And if, in fact, they have a substantial outbreak,it will be inevitable that we need to be prepared that we’ll get a cyclearound the second time. “It totally emphasizes the need to do whatwe’re doing in developing a vaccine, testing it quickly and trying to getit ready so that we’ll have a vaccine available for that next cycle.”

Robot nurse in Coronavirus fight: JaipurHospital's move to minimise risk

A government hospital inJaipur is putting a robotthrough its paces to seeif it can help in the fightagainst coronavirus,delivering food and med-icines to patients admit-ted. If the trial works out,the humanoid robotcould make its way toassigned patients with atray carrying food ormedicines. Potentially,this would reduce thechances of the hospital

staff contracting the infection. Nurses now need to approach suchpatients wearing protective gear like masks and gloves. SMSHospital superintendent Dr DS Meena said a private firm hadapproached them, offering a robot which could carry food andmedicines to patients, a job normally done by the nursing staff."We are conducting a trial and a committee has been formed tosee its efficiency," he said. The committee will submit a report.Robot made by the company, Club First, have also been tried outat restaurants, the firm said. The robot at SMS Hospital usesArtificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) to do its job.It doesn't need to follow lines on the floor and can navigate itsown way, according to developer Bhuvnesh Mishra.

RECIPE TODAY“NAVRATRI”

Aries : Baby blueTaurus : Black Gemini : Dark coloursCancer : GoldLeo : GreenVirgo : Blue

Libra : Dark coloursScorpio : Bright orangeSagittarius : Dark violetCapricorn : Sea greenAquarius : Bright colours Pisces : Brown

COLOUR FOR THE DAY

Doubts about a friend'smotives could plague you today,Pisces. This person seems to beacting strangely and isn't communi-cating. This probably has little if any-thing to do with you. This person hasissues that he or she is having trou-ble with. There are others who are ina better space whose company youwill enjoy at this time. Get togetherand enjoy the amiable atmosphere.

STARS TODAYSTARS TODAY

A friend or family membermight act strangely and seem dis-tracted. You may wonder if he orshe is upset with you. This probablyisn't the case. This person hasissues that need attention. Allowthem some space. A romantic part-ner might have to break a datetonight. Spend the evening alonewith a novel and look forward to thenext get-together.

You're a logical person,Aquarius. When insights come toyou through ESP, you tend todoubt their validity. Don't do this.If a feeling is particularly strong,go with it. Don't write it offbecause it seems illogical. Lifeisn't always predictable. If yougive yourself permission, you cantrust your intuition about nearlyanything.

Confusing communica-tions could be the pattern for today,Leo. Some paperwork you need todo for a task might be delayed -hung up in the mail or filed in thewrong place. It might take a while tolocate it, but it should turn up even-tually. There might be some strangemessages for you, and you may notbe sure whether or not you shouldreturn the calls.

Some unsettling news aboutyour work situation might reach youtoday and make you worried,Capricorn. You might question yourfuture in this field and possibly consid-er a change. Consider it, by all means,but this isn't the day to make a finaldecision of any kind. Wait until you'rein a more secure frame of mind. In themeantime, list your different options.This will get you back to reality.

Today you might not feelsecure about your financial situation,Sagittarius, and get a little nervous.Disconcerting information in thenews about the general state of theworld economy might have plantedsome unsettling seeds in your mind.On the whole, you should be prettyfinancially stable now, and this trendis likely to continue. Check out thefacts before giving in to panic.

A scheduling conflict maycome up today, Cancer. A businessengagement could interfere with asocial event. You might doubtwhether you can attend both, but ifyou plan carefully, it should be OK.Someone at home might not becommunicative, which could causea little worry. This person has issuesthey need to work out for them-selves. Just be there if needed.

You might get a lot of mixedmessages from friends, relatives,and colleagues, Scorpio. They maysay one thing while you sense thatthey mean something else. Insist onhearing how they really feel. Thiscan prevent a lot of resentmentlater. New businesses could open inyour neighborhood that you mightwant to check out. Take a look -especially if it's a new bookstore.

Business transactions thatcould take place in your home orperhaps involve the home mightseem a bit unclear today, Libra.Before agreeing to anything, readthe fine print and verify all the factsabout what you're signing. Useyour intuition. It's very high at thistime. Family members might beconfused about events in theirlives, but they'll get over it.

Today you could doubt theamount of money you might getfrom a business transaction. If youcan, verify this before starting any-thing. You aren't being told some-thing. Personal relationships, par-ticularly love and romance, shouldbe stable and rewarding now,although today you may not havemuch time to spend with those youcare about. Hang in there.

Doubts about business andfinancial matters might weigh onyour mind now, Gemini, so much sothat they invade your dreams. Thedreams are only a reflection of yourworries - they aren't prophetic. Yoursituation is probably better than itseems on the surface. Lack of infor-mation clouds the issue. Check thefacts and judge them for yourselfbefore making yourself crazy.

Too much reading mighthave you experiencing eyestrain andpossibly headaches, Taurus. It mighthelp to have your eyes checked, butit's probably just too much stress.You might have some trouble focus-ing on whatever work you do today,but this is only a temporary condition.You should be back to your normalself tomorrow. Stay home tonight, lis-ten to music, and take it easy.

ARIES TAURUS

GEMINI CANCER

LEO VIRGO

AQUARIUS PISCES

LIBRA SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS CAPRICORN

March 21-April 19

September 23-October 22

April 20-May 20

October 23 - November 21

May 21-June 21 June 22-July 22

July 23-August 22

January 20-February 18

August 23-September 22

February 19-March 20

December 22-January 19November 22-December 21

C M Y K

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 ||GJ STATE3

CMYK

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26:Divisional CommissionerJammu, Sanjeev Vermatoday convened a meetingof officers of variousdepartments engaged underessential services andreviewed stock position ofessentials and supply indistricts of the division inview prevailing situation.

The meeting was attend-ed by IGP Jammu, DeputyCommissioner Jammu,Commissioner JMC,Additional Commissioner,Director FCS&CA, besidessenior functionaries ofHealth, PHE, PDD,JKRTC, ULB, OilCompanies and other con-cerned officers.

The meeting wasinformed that adequatestock of ration, medicinesand fuel is available in thedistricts while supply of

essentials is regular.The Divisional

Commissioner directed theconcerned officers toensure smooth and hassle-free movement of essentialcommodity trucks so thatconsumers do not face anyinconvenience during lockdown.

The meeting was alsodiscussed various impor-tant issues includingissuance of passes tolabour, staff engaged withsupply of essentials.

It was informed that thereis requirement of passes tolabour engaged with phar-maceutical industry, retail-

ers, wholesalers, petrolpumps, chemists,pharmacists and otherengaged with essentialsservices.

The Div Com asked DCJammu to issue passes tothe employees, labour andengaged with essentialservices.

COVID-19: Div Com reviews stock, supplyposition of essential commodities

Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Sanjeev Verma chairing a meeting of officers onThursday.

GJ REPORTJAMMU /SRINAGAR,MAR 26: Taking note ofthe problems being facedby the labourers, studentsand other small tradershailing from Jammu andKashmir, struck up in dif-ferent neighbouringstates, Congress has askedthe UT administration toget in touch with therespective state govern-ments to take care of theirbread and butter duringthe period of lockdown.

JKPCC Chief G A Mirhas said that severalphone calls are beingreceived from the peoplestruck up in some neigh-bouring states where theresidents of J&K had

gone for labour works orin search of private jobsor small trading activitiesand some students. Afterlockdown the private sec-tors have mostly stoppedthem any payments asappealed by the PrimeMinister or they are fac-ing various difficulties. Itis the responsibility of UTadministration to take upwith respective state gov-ernments and Centre govtbesides appointing nodalofficers and grievancecells for each state toidentify such people andrender them all possiblehelp, he said.

Mir said that since thesepeople cannot leave theirrespective places or

directly enter the J&K, assome were already intransit, they are withoutresources to survive forlong, it is necessary toestablish contact with allsuch people.

Meanwhile, he askedthe govt to take propercare of the people kept inisolation centers inKathua district and prop-erly monitor the requiredfacilities as well the pre-cautions to be observedduring the communitystay. Proper and adequateavailability of facilitiescoupled with strict obser-vance of the guidelinesincluding social distanc-ing and hygienic condi-tions are paramount to

serve the purpose. PCC chief also appealed

the people to fully coop-erate the authorities whileasking party cares andleaders to remain in touchwith people especiallythose placed in isolationCentres to fill up gaps ifany and render all sorts ofhelp and information tothe higher authorities.

PCC president furtherappealed to the party mento remain in touch withlocal administration andrender all possible help ofany sort in this crisis.Appreciating the partymen who have offeredtheir space in the shape oftheir banquet halls, pri-vate institutions or other

such buildings to theadministration for thepurpose, he appealed allsuch workers to come for-ward to offer such loca-tions to the authorities, ifneeded.

He also asked them tomonitor the shortfalls onvarious counts especiallyfaced by the poor andunder privileged sectionsand apprise the adminis-tration and the party onregular basis. He advisedthem to remain in fullcoordination with theadministration as wellwith different social andreligious organizationsand NGOs to arrange forrequired assistance.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26:Managing Director JammuPower DistributionCorporation Limited(JPDCL), Yasha Mudgal vis-ited various quarantine cen-ters of district Jammu toensure adequacy of security,logistics like food/essentialcommodities etc, medical

surveillance and sanitationarrangements

During the tour, she visitedfive quarantine centersincluding Teacher BhawanGandhi Nagar, Yatri Bhawan,Bhagwati Nagar, NHPCGuest House Railway Road,Hotel Red Rose Narwal andPahari Hostel Bantalab.

Directions were passed to

the concerned staff to takenecessary measures to copeup with the emergent situa-tion arising due to COVID-19 to detect, test, treat, iso-late, trace and mobilize thepeople in order to preventfuture cases. After reviewingthe arrangements, the con-cerned officers were directedto implement the quarantineguidelines in strict possiblemanner, while taking carethat the patients are providedadequate comforts and prop-er medical care.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26:Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), National PresidentJagat Prakash Nadda inter-acted with all the UnionTerritory (UT) presidentsand Organization GeneralSecretaries in a VideoConferencing to discuss thelatest situation in their homeregions due to Corona infec-tion spread and variousmeasures taken to ease thesituation.

J&K BJP presidentRavinder Raina and GeneralSecretary (Org) Ashok Kaulinteracted with the J P Naddaand apprised him of theprevalent situation in theJ&K UT due to COVID 19spread as well as updates onvarious measures to counterits spread in a VideoConferencing held at partyheadquarter here.

Nadda sought completedetails of various measurestaken by party leaders at theground level. He said thatevery possible measure mustbe taken to ensure that all theessential supplies must betaken to comfort the com-

mon masses in the situationof lockdown. He said thatthe strict measures under thelockdown are being takeneverywhere to ensure that nomore damage to the humanlives occur due to the deadlyvirus and the onus of respon-sibility lies on the BJP lead-ers to comfort the commonmasses.

Ravinder Raina and AshokKaul apprised the Nationalpresident that the seniorleaders have been assignedthe job to ensure mainte-nance of essential supply tothe needy and the weakereconomic classes and theyboth themselves are moni-toring the situation. Theyalso told the National leaderthat the BJP activists arethemselves coming forwardto enlist the needy popula-tion both the residential andfrom outside the region andproviding them the rationand other essentials. Theyalso told that the party lead-ers are taking enough meas-ures to educate the commonmasses on the issue with theuse of pamphlets and othermeasures. They said that all

the measures are being takenup to the Booth level rightthrough District and Mandal.BJP has also deputed varioussenior party leaders to over-

see needs of the commonmasses as follows and aidhealth and other agencies tocounter the menace causedby the Corona Virus spread.

Nadda discusses Corona spread, counter measures in J&K

Congress concerned over J&K people struck up in neighbouring states MD JPDCL visits quarantine centers

MD JPDCL, Yasha Mudgal interacting with officers at aquarantine center in Jammu on Thursday.

GJ REPORTUDHAMPUR, MAR 26:Indian Army's effortstowards the fight againstCOVID-19 have gainedmomentum in the UT of J&Kand Ladakh considering thatthe Pandemic has entered thesensitive phase. Surveillanceand Control measures havebeen put in place and a num-ber of innovative awarenessprogrammes are being run bythe field formations and unitsfor the benefit of populace,particularly in rural areas,Advisories by MedicalSpecialists have been issuedto all in text and audio visualformats. Army personnel arebeing motivated to share theinformation with their fami-lies, friends and civil popu-lace in the area of theirdeployment.

At the unit level, a judi-cious approach has beenadopted by all ranks of theIndian Army. A number ofmeasures are being taken byArmy to prevent the epidem-ic amongst its personnel sothat Army personnel areavailable to do their primarytask and to support the peo-ple in the fight againstCorona. Troops returning

from leave or out stationduties directly report to theScreening centre establishedat various transit camps.After the medical screeningthey are being quarantinedfor 14 days in quarantineroom established in the units.

A total of 17 helplines inthe two UTs of Ladakh andJ&K for people have beenestablished by the Troops ofNorthern Command. TheMobile Vehicle Check Poststhat are usually deployed forCounter Terrorist operationsare innovatively educatingthe populace on COVID-19by way of audio broadcaststhrough loudspeakers andhailers. While the aim of

reinforcing the seriousnesswith regard to preventivemeasures against COVID-19is being achieved, Army per-sonnel are ensuring theirown safety through series ofprecautions as laid down inprotocol. Critical aspectssuch as ensuring Social dis-tancing, hand hygiene anduse of face masks are spokenabout, posters and bannersare also being pasted at mul-tiple places in Urdu, Hindiand English.

Multiple advisories onsocial media including AudioVideo content has been post-ed using the Twitter handleof Northern Command andthe same can be accessed by

the people. It is reiteratedthat the firm commitment ofNorthern Command in tak-ing this fight forward is verywell expressed in the newlycoined mission "CoronaMukt Awam". NorthernCommand of the IndianArmy stands shoulder toshoulder with the CivilAdministration of the UTs ofJ&K and Ladakh in thesetesting times. Army as anorganization are proactivelytaking all measures. Medicalpersonnel and units arebuilding their capacitieswhile non medical personnelare being taught to activelycontribute to the care ofpatients and effort is on toenhance equipment holdings.Strategy by the seniorCommanders is to proactively initiate steps and notbe able to aggressively act.Army personnel are ruthless-ly following the social vac-cine of "I will neither getinfected nor will I infect oth-ers". These will go a longway towards protecting theprotectors against the pan-demic in the UTs of J&K andLadakh and keeping themready to undertake the bigfight if the need arises.

Army's efforts towards fight against COVID-19 gain momentum in J&K, Ladakh

Army officials during a programme on Thursday.

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26: Tofurther intensify the sanita-tion drive and to avoidspreading of Coronavirus,Jammu MunicipalCorporation has put moremachinery viz Autos,Fogging machines, spraypumps, Motorized Portablesprayer alongwith 500 ltrTank with chemical solu-tion and Battery into serv-ice in presence of MayorChander Mohan Gupta andCommissioner AvnyLavasa, with the aim to

cover all areas falling with-in the Municipal limits.

While addressing theSafaikarmacharies andother sanitation field staff,Mayor instructed that noarea should remain un-attended in respect of sani-tation, spraying and fumi-gation in view ofCoronavirus outbreak.

The Commissioner alsoissued directions to the con-cerned officer and sanita-tion field staff for takingevery possible measure formaintaining proper sanita-

tion and added that JMChas already undertaken san-itation drives, Fumigationand spraying on war-foot-ing basis to avoid spreadingof COVID-19.

She further appealed tothe people to come forwardand join hands with JMC inmaintaining proper sanita-tion and also appealed themnot to come out of theirhomes. Without the help ofcitizens it is hard to achievethe desired results and tomake Jammu free fromCOVID-19, he added.

COVID- 19: JMC puts more menand machinery into service

Mayor Chander Mohan Gupta and Commissioner Avny Lavasa interacting with Municipalofficials in Jammu on Thursday.

Shiv Senademands freefood for poor

GJ REPORT JAMMU, MAR 26: ShivSena Bala Saheb ThackerayJammu and Kashmir unithas appealed to the PrimeMinister and the UnionTerritory Government to pro-vide free food to the poor.

Party's J&K presidentManish Sahni said that thecountry is going through aperiod of great crisis and toget rid of it, all necessaryprecautions need to betaken. Following the instruc-tions of lockdown, there hasbeen a tough time for thepoor people to get one timemeal, Sahni said andappealed to the PrimeMinister to issue instructionsto all the State governmentsto make arrangements forpackaged food on wheels.He also appealed to thepeople to provide meal toatleast one poor family everyday.

Around 25 lakh people dieof starvation every year, hesaid adding that there is a fearthat somewhere in the effortsto reduce the number ofCarona victims, starvation fig-ures may not increase. Sahniwhile praising the Delhi gov-ernment, said that there is aprovision of free food in theRan Basera's and even inMaharashtra, there is a mealavailable for only Rs 10.Sahni appealed to theLieutenant Governor ofJammu and Kashmir to startfree packaged food immedi-ately.

He offered services for thisnoble cause, for which thepermission has been soughtfrom the DeputyCommissioner Jammu.

PHE stresses on judicious use ofwater, establishes toll free number for

public grievancesGJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26: Public Health EngineeringDepartment today issued an advisory and urged people toensure judicious use of water following the Coronavirusscare in Jammu and Kashmir.

Stressing on maintaining the hygiene by washing handswith soap for twenty seconds, the advisory said it is incum-bent upon every individual to ensure that tap water remainsclosed for those twenty seconds so that Coronavirus crisisdoesn't turn into water crisis.

The advisory further said by turning-off the tap during 20seconds of hand washing, 2 liters of water can be saved anda family of five individuals would save 100 liters per day.

Urging responsible citizens to conserve tap water, theadvisory said that it would ensure adequate water supplyfor health workers and communities who are fighting hardto prevent the spread of Coronavirus pandemic.

In case of grievances or complaints regarding water sup-ply, people can call PHE toll free number 1800-180-7045;or 9419186479 (Jammu) and 0194-2477207 (Kashmir).

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 ||GJ STATE4

CMYK

FM announces R 1.7 lakh cr...him, will be quarantined, Delhi Health department sources said.The doctor in Maujpur area had contracted the disease, whiletreating a Corona positive woman, who had come from SaudiArabia. Later, the doctor's wife and daughter also got the virusfrom him. Between March 12 and 18, around 900 people whoreceived treatment from the doctor, are being identified.

Amid the country-wide lockdown, technology-enabled carservice company GoMechanic announced an initiative to supportemergency and essential vehicles, such as ambulances andpolice vehicles in top metro cities.

Under the initiative, OpenforHeroes, a person from an emer-gency or essential service vehicles can book an order viaGoMechanic, free of charge. The team will quickly send it to afunctional workshop, as per that city's policy.

As the entire country is under a lockdown, local authoritiesare realising that the society needs critical support of technicalpersons, who provide essential maintenance to ensure smoothrunning of water, electricity, sewerage, repair and maintenance ofessential vehicles. (Agencies)

Financial package will...Mantri Garib Kalyan Package will go a long way in ensuring theirfood and livelihood security.

The government on Thursday announced the R 1.7-lakh crorestimulus that included free foodgrain and cooking gas to the poorfor three months, and cash doles to women and senior citizensas it looked to ease the economic impact of the 21-day nation-wide lockdown. The lockdown imposed to check the spread ofcoronavirus came into force on Wednesday.

As part of the package, an insurance cover of s 50 lakh perhealth worker fighting COVID-19 will be provided.

Eighty crore poor people will get 5 kg wheat or rice and 1 kgof preferred pulses for free every month for the next threemonths. Twenty crore women Jan Dhan account holders will gets 500 per month for next three months. (Agencies)

#FightAgainstCorona:...persons have been kept under home quarantine, including atfacilities operated by the Government, while as 117 are in hospi-tal quarantine. Persons who are under home surveillance standat 1761 while as 551 persons have completed their 28-day sur-veillance period.

Principal Secretary Rohit Kansal, who is also the governmentspokesman, here wrote on micro-blogging site, “another positivecase reported just now; patient from Rajouri district of Jammuprovince”. “History of close contact with (now deceased) positivecase,” he said.

Further, the Bulletin said that 379 samples have been sent fortesting, of which 341 tested as negative and 14 cases have test-ed positive of which one recovered and one died. It said thatreports of 25 cases are awaited till March 26.

According to the Bulletin, the Government of India hasrequested for volunteer doctors who are fit and willing to be avail-able for providing their services in the public health facilities andthe training hospitals in the near future in case the outbreak leadsto a high number of infected individuals.

Retired government, Armed Forces Medical Services, publicsector undertaking or private doctors are appealed to come for-ward in this hour of need. Those who wish to contribute to thisand be a part of this noble mission may register themselves onhttps://niti.gov.in/healthcovid/volunteer_covid.php

State Health Society, J&K has also called for hiring of special-ists and Medical Officers (MBBS) under NHM in J&K. Qualifiedcandidates can come for walk-in interview on any day at StateHealth Society, Nagrota Jammu for Jammu Division candidatesand at NHM Office, Old Secretariat for Kashmir Division candi-dates. The candidates are advised to call on 9419174640(Jammu Division) and 7780966151 (Kashmir Division) to booktheir slots before coming for the interview.

General public can contact toll-free national helpline number1075 for support, guidance, and response to health relatedqueries on Novel Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19).

The Government of Jammu & Kashmir has also set uphelpline numbers in this regard which can be reached at 0191-2549676 (UT level Cell), 0191-2520982, 0191-2674444, 0191-2674115 (Jammu Division), 0194-2440283 and 0194-2430581(Kashmir Division).

Meanwhile, the government has appealed people to stay intheir homes and take the lockdown with utmost sincerity as care-lessness of few can throw all others into the grave jeopardy.

Those violating the lockdown orders can face legal actionunder the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which lays down punish-ment as per Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, forflouting such orders, the government advisory said.

The Government has also urged the general public to main-tain social distancing as it is the key to stop and prevent thespread of Covid-19 from those who are infected.

“The intervention includes remaining out of crowded settings,avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approxi-mately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others,” the Government adviso-ry said. Further, the Government has appealed people to notpanic and take care of health and protect others.

“Public in general is advised to avoid unnecessary travel anduse of public transport. Avoid unnecessary travel and use of pub-lic transport; avoid crowded places and large gatherings, do notspit in public. People must take basic precautions for personalhygiene; frequent handwashing with soap and observing cough-ing and sneezing etiquettes,” the Government advisory added.

The advisory also calls upon the general public to strictly fol-low the advisories issued by the Government from time to timeand rely only on the information released by the Governmentthrough the daily media bulletin to print and electronic media.

“People are advised to refrain from spreading rumours andpay no heed to them at the same time,” the advisory added.

LG asks people...pandemic". He said that the world is coming together to combatthe COVID-19 pandemic bringing governments, organisationsfrom across industries and sectors and individuals together tohelp respond to this global outbreak.

"Please support and donate towards J&K Relief Fund," saidthe LG. The account details are Account Number:0110010100000016, J&K Bank Branch, Moving Secretariat,IFSC Code JAKA0MOVING, MICR Code 190051062, DemandDraft/Bank Draft "J&K Relief Fund''.

No fresh positice...Among the remaining, the result of the repeat samples of a pos-itive case of COVID-19 of a medical staff admitted in SNMHospital Leh is negative and has been discharged from the SNMHospital, he added.

This brings down the active positive cases in Ladakh to 10.Essential commodities are among our top priorities, therefore

a team of seven officers have already been sent to Delhi to facil-itate early supply of required essential commodities via Air Forcecargo flights for the convenience of the general public, updatedSamphel.

Responding to queries, Comm/Sec said that an action planwill be rolled out regarding movement of general public for pur-chase of essential commodities to the market, he added.

Recognizing contributions of labourers in building Ladakh, hesaid, it is our responsibility to take care of them during such timeof need. Therefore, free ration was distributed among labourersat Chuchot Yokma by the District Administration Leh yesterday.

Similarly, study of non-local labourers who are stuck in Leh isbeing carried out and free ration would be distributed amongthem if required, he added.

Regarding violation of concealing travel history informationthat surfaced in Kargil district, Samphel strictly appeals to thegeneral public to not to hide any such information which wouldinvite strict actions in violation of advisories issued under NDMA.Profiling of such cases is being carried out in Leh also, thereforepeople are requested, if such information was not shared at theairport for any reason, must be shared with the DistrictAdministration at the earliest. Responding to a query, Com./Secsaid that at this time of pandemic, any person desirous to comeforward to volunteer in any way should contact DistrictAdministrations of Leh and Kargil districts.

Kabul Terror Attack...and appealed to the Prime Minister, Narcndra Modi to take up thematter with the United Nations and direct the Indian Commissionin Afganistan to provide all possible assistance to the affectedfamilies, including those who have been seriously injured.

He further called upon the international community that it ishigh time to realize that such barbarism cannot be allowed tocontinue and it must be crushed with full force as it is a threat tocivilization and must take special measures to protect Minoritiesworld over.

Wazir also urged upon the Afganistan Government to provideweapons to Sikhs living in Afganistan as they could be capableenough to defend themselves and take on these cowardly ele-ments who take pride in killing unarmed innocents and who havealways been at the forefront to offer services to communities indistress irrespective of cast, class or religion.

National Conference (NC) has condemned the terror attackand termed it as ghastly, barbaric and inhuman.

In a statement issued, NC leaders have expressed sympa-thies with the bereaved families and prayed for peace to depart-ed souls. The leaders have described terrorism as a grave chal-lenge to civilized world and called for a united fight against thescourge. The NC leaders expressed their solidarity with the SikhSangat in general and the families of those who lost their dearones. United Sikh Forum and Sikh Nowjawan Sabha havestrongly condemned the barbaric terror attack in Gurudwara inKabul Afghanistan.

President Sikh Nowjawan Sabha and AAP leader, MeharSingh said, "We want peaceful coexistence. Our communitybelieves in duty and work wherever it lives. We urge PM,Narendra Modi to make efforts so that the Sikh community is notharassed in Afghanistan."

USF President, Gurmeet Singh said that while the entirehumankind is on the verge of extinction due to Coronavirus, theterrorists had no shame to attack a religious place.

USF and Sikh Noujawan Sabha have appealed to thePresident of Afghanistan to kindly provide security to the minori-ty communities and demanded substantial and monetary com-pensation for the kins of all Martyrs.

Jammu Muslim Front (JMF) has condemned the barbaricattack on a Gurdawara and called for international attentiontowards this brutal attack on Gurudawara in Kabul and termed itbarbaric act against the principal of Humanity. JMF sad that theterror attack is aimed at creating wedge between two communi-ties and must be the handy work of satanic forces.

JMF President, Qazi Imran has appealed to the civilized soci-ety and Government of Kabul to investigate the attack at the ear-liest and ensure the safety of minorities.

JMF has appealed to the International community Humanright org to join hand to finish the terror regime where ever itexists. International inquiry commission be sent to Kabul toinvestigate the matter and motive behind it.

Meanwhile, Sikh Progressive Front and Kashmir Sikh Sangathas condemned the terror attack by IS terrorist group onGurudwara in Kabul. President and General Secretary SikhProgressive Front, Balvinder Singh and Manjit Singh alongwithPresident Kashmir Sikh Sangat Tejwant Singh Reen and itsmembers also condemned the horrific terror attack.

The members of these organizations stated that these inno-cent killings of Sikhs need to be condemned by the world leader-ship as the attack happened when the entire world was fightingthe menace of Covid- 19.

SPF members urged upon the Prime Minister, Narendra Modiand Foreign Minister, Rajnath Singh to take up the matter withAfghan Government to act fast for ensuring the safety of Sikhsliving there.

16 deaths...India was at the second stage as there is still no "hard evidence"to say that there has been community transmission of the fast-spreading coronavirus, remarks which may provide anxious citi-zens with much needed assurance and hope.

As the virus kept extending its footprint, the Central and stategovernments unleashed measures on a war-footing. While theUnion finance ministry unveiled a s 1.70 lakh crore economicpackage involving free foodgrain and cooking gas to poor for thenext three months, one-time doles to women and poor senior cit-izens among other benefits, and the health ministry announcedthat 17 states have started to earmark hospitals for dedicatedtreatment of COVID-19 patients.

Addressing a media briefing on the COVID-19 situation,health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said,"there is still nohard evidence to say there has been community transmission ofcoronavirus in India" and assured that the country was geared totackle the coronavirus challenge.

While the numbers of COVID-19 cases are increasing, "thereappears to be relatively a stable trend or even little bit reductionin the rate at which they are increasing," Agarwal said. "This,however, does not establish a clear trend. We are hopeful that byfollowing social distancing policy, conducting a proper contacttracing and by ensuring all people at home quarantine are moni-tored, we will be able to combat the disease," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced anationwide lockdown for 21 days, in a desperate measure to con-tain the spread of the virus. Globally, the death toll from the coro-navirus has risen to 21,293 with more than 471,518 cases report-ed in over 170 countries and territories, according to data fromJohns Hopkins University.

While the health ministry data showed 16 COVID-19 deaths,the state-wise break up did not add up to the same.

As per the ministry data, Maharashtra reported three deaths,Gujarat three, Karnataka two, while Madhya Pradesh, TamilNadu, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal and Himachal Pradeshreported one death each. Though it was not reflected in the min-istry list, Jammu and Kashmir reported one death.

According to the data, the number of active COVID-19 casesin the country stood at 633, while 44 people were either cured ordischarged and one had migrated. The total number of 694 casesincluded 47 foreign nationals, the ministry said.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19cases so far at 124, including three foreign nationals, followed byKerala, where the number of cases has climbed up to 118, includ-ing eight foreign nationals, according to the ministry data.

The number of cases in Telangana has gone up to 44, includ-ing 10 foreigners.

Karnataka has reported 55 COVID-19 cases, while the num-ber of cases in Gujarat has climbed to 43, including a foreigner.

The number of cases in Rajasthan has increased to 41,including two foreigners. Uttar Pradesh has reported 41 cases,including a foreigner, while the number of positive cases in Delhihas gone up to 36, including a foreigner.

Punjab has reported 33 cases, while 30 COVID-19 caseshave so far been detected in Haryana, including 14 foreigners.

The number of cases has climbed to 26 Tamil Nadu, including

six foreigners. Madhya Pradesh has recorded 20 cases, Ladakhand Jammu and Kashmir 13 each, Andhra Pradesh has reported11 cases each, while West Bengal has 10 COVID-19 patients.

Chandigarh has reported seven cases, Bihar andChhatisgarh have registered six cases each while Uttarakhandhas five, including a foreigner. Himachal Pradesh have reportedthree cases each, while two cases have been detected inOdisha. Goa has reported three coronavirus cases. Earlier, theministry had wrongly attributed 33 cases to the coastal state.Subsequently, the figure was revised. Puducherry, Andaman andNicobar, Mizoram and Manipur have reported one case each.

According to experts, there are four stages of the infection --stage 1 or imported and sporadic cases :When only those whohave travelled to virus-hit countries test positive, stage 2 or localtransmission: When the source of the transmission is known andcan be located, usually with ones close to the patient such asfamily or people s/he have come in contact with. Those who testpositive at this stage are those who have a history of travel toaffected countries or are in close contact with those who have.

Stage 3 or community transmission: When the source of theinfection cannot be located. This happens when a patient testspositive despite no exposure to an infected person nor any histo-ry of travelling to an infected country. Many countries, includingItaly and Spain have reported such cases and stage 4: When thedisease is termed an epidemic, or an outbreak so severe with noclear end point for the ongoing transmission. (Agencies)

Inquiry ordered into...being victimized for hiding the travel history which is absolutelybaseless allegation," they said. An order issued by Pole revealsthat there was alleged negligence on part of authorities at SKIMSBemina and the administration has asked the MedicalSuperintendent and HOD of the hospital to explain their position.

"Principal SKIMS Medical College-Hospital Bemina vide hiscommunication No. SKIMS-MC-PS/2020/399 dated: 25-03-2020has submitted a report indicating therein that a 65-year-oldpatient, name withheld, who reported to Casualty of SKIMSMedical College Hospital Bemina on 21-03-2020 at 0830 hrsalongwith his travel history was found to be a COVID-19 suspect," reads the order by the Div Com.

The report revealed that the patient who was later tested pos-itive for COVID-19 had not been handled as per the protocolrequired for treating such patients. "The report further revealsthat knowing the travel history of the patient and observing thesymptoms of the patient, the Hospital Administration has notbrought it into the notice of Divisional/District/Police authoritieswhen he left the hospital without getting admitted, " reads theorder. The patient, it says, was given ample time to spread thevirus by intermingling with the public and relatives. "The negli-gence at the hands of Hospital Administration has resulted in alot of confusion and vulnerability amongst masses," it said.

"Medical Superintendent SKIMS Bemina and Head of theDepartment, Chest Medicine SKIMS Bemina are hereby called toexplain their position forthwith," the order added.

It said that Tassaduq Hussain Mir Additional CommissionerKashmir shall enquire into the matter for exemplary actionagainst these officers under rules. "The report should reach myoffice within two days," it added. Reacting to allegations aboutthe patient not revealing his travel history, Zafar Ahmad Anim,who is a nephew of the deceased, said, "It is quite unfortunatethat we are being victimized for hiding the travel history which isabsolutely baseless allegation. Let me be very clear he did nothide any international travel."

Giving details, Anim, who himself is a doctor, said, "On March18, I had a discussion on phone with the senior specialist ofSKIMS about the patient and revealed his travel history, hisadvice was medication and isolation although I was of the opin-ion to screen the pt in view of travel history but was refused."

So, he said he kept the patient in quarantine and managed athome. "As the patient was not improving we took him to JVC onMarch 21 and again reveled the travel history and on the basis oftravel history and symptoms he was referred to SKIMS for Covid-19 screening. So we took him to Covid-19 clinic where we againrevealed the travel history in detail and resident doctor discussedthe case with the seniors who advised home quarantine andmedication although I requested them to screen him for Covid-19but was refused in view of no international travel(as was theguidelines that time)," he said.

Anim said he then met the senior doctor in SKIMS, andrequested him to screen the patient but was again refusedbecause the patient did not have international travel. However,he said 'the doctor offered admission or asked us to manage athome in view of corona problem in hospital'.

"So I took a decision to manage at home but his health con-dition was deteriorating. So I again called the senior specialist onMarch 22 morning when he advised me to take him to JVC asthey were busy with corona drill," he said.

"I was absolutely helpless so I took him to SMHS hospitalwhere again I revealed the travel history, so on the basis of trav-el history they suspected Covid-19 and the resident had a dis-cussion with his senior consultant about the symptoms and trav-el history which is all documented and was referred to CD hospi-tal," he said. "I am very thankful to CD hospital where he wasurgently admitted and kept in isolation and screening for covid 19done the same day. He was most pious person in our family.Today morning patient passed away leaving the family devastat-ed in this helpless situation," he said.

"It is my humble request to all to pray for the departed soul,"he added.

All religious places...The deceased was resident of Hyderpora in Srinagar. Four morepeople were tested positive on Wednesday in the valley, takingthe total number of infected persons to seven. 'Closure of all reli-gious places in #Srinagar is under way. With active cooperationof Management committees. Revered shrines Hazratbal,Naqshband Saheb show the way. #StayAtHome,' DeputyCommissioner Srinagar Shahid Iqbal Choudhary wrote on twitter.

He said closing of religious places which attract gatherings isan important step to save a whole population. 'Let's stay indoors,stay safe to be able to worship again,' he said.

'Prayers are equally effective from home as they would befrom a religious place. Don't call people out when everyone inworld is #StayingHomeNow,' he tweeted.

'Dastgeer Saheb , Gurudwara Saheb Chhati Padshahi andothers. Mosques follow. Thankful to officials on ground and allmanagement committees. #StayAtHome,' he added.

The Grand Mufti appealed to people, including Imans andmanagement committees of all mosques and shrines, not to heldFriday congregations in view of the outbreak of coronavirus. 'It isfor our safety and it is allowed in Islam,' he added.

He said Muazins should give call for prayer, but people shouldoffer prayers at home. 'Only three people living in vicinity ofMasjid should offer prayers for rest of days,' he added.

Restrictions were on Thursday further intensified on move-ment and assembly of people following the death of the man inKashmir valley, where life remained crippled for the eighth suc-cessive day in view of lockdown.

Lockdown: As Jammu...However, the petrol pump owners expressed displeasure overthe decision, asserting that they were not aware of it and nottaken into confidence. District Magistrate Jammu SushmaChauhan, facing continuous queries from media and civil socie-ty, on social media stated, "first priority is to give passes to Healthprofessionals, followed by pharma and perishable industry."

"Pumps will open later. So no need to worry. Things will sta-bilise in 3-4 days," she said. Petrol pumps were among in the listof essential commodities announced by the government.

Newspapers did not hit the stands as many readers haveasked hawkers not to deliver their copy in fear of spread of coro-navirus. Many small newspapers have shut their offices as staffwas facing hardships in reaching to the offices while those print-ed, remained piled up at the General Bus Stand.

"Firstly due to Corona Virus threat, circulation of newspapershas come down and secondly, the vendors, hawkers dealingexclusively in newspaper distribution, are facing hardships in thehands of police and security personnel deployed at various loca-tions," said a hawker. Hundreds of people from districts likeRamban, Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch, Reasi, working as labourersor helpers at many shops, houses, brick kilns, factories, havestarted leaving Jammu for their homes as most of the commer-cial establishments are closed following 21-day lockdownannounced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

They assembled in large at General Bus Stand here and afterregistering themselves in police diary being maintained on regu-lar basis, have been ferried in the buses of State Road TransportCorporation to their native places.

"I am working as a labourer in a bakery here at BhagwatiNagar but the owner shut it two days back," Jeevan Lal ofKishtwar said. "We are facing problem of food, water and shelterand hence decided to return home till the crisis settles down," headded. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has so far report-ed 11 COVID-19 cases with zero casualty.

G20 nations to...and 'robust' support for developing nations. It also assured of acommitment to ensure the flow of vital medical supplies andresolve disruptions in global chains due to COVID-19.

An official statement read, "The unprecedented COVID-19pandemic is a powerful reminder of our interconnectedness andvulnerabilities. The virus respects no borders. Combatting thispandemic calls for a transparent, robust, coordinated, large-scaleand science-based global response in the spirit of solidarity. Weare strongly committed to presenting a united front against thiscommon threat."

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life and the suf-fering faced by people around the world. Tackling the pandemicand its intertwined health, social and economic impacts is ourabsolute priority. We express our gratitude and support to allfrontline health workers as we continue to fight the pandemic," itadded.

Modi pitches for...the centre of the vision for global prosperity and cooperation.

In his address at a video conference of the G20 leaders, PMModi also pitched for developing a new crisis management pro-tocol and procedures to deal with global health crisis besides sig-nificantly boosting capability of organisations like the WHO, gov-ernment sources said. (Agencies)

Mehbooba, others must...who don't have a clue about what's happening,'' he added.

Abdullah was reacting to some news reports, claiming that MsMehbooba, who is the PDP president, would be released."@MehboobaMufti & all the others in detention MUST bereleased immediately. Till then let's not make it tougher for her &her family by believing stories planted by people who don't havea clue about what's happening," Abdullah, who is also a formerchief minister, wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.

Responding to Abdullah's tweet, Iltija Mufti, daughter ofMehbooba Mufti, said, "That's very kind of you. Speculationsdon't help anyone. On a lighter note,most said 'She's already atFairview' with such conviction, I thought she was hiding at home,"

In a series of tweets, Abdullah said it's difficult enough for thefamilies to deal with the detention of their loved ones without get-ting well intentioned but misplaced and incorrect messages ofcongratulations because of these planted release stories.

"What some journalists did to @MehboobaMufti & her familyyesterday was so unfair. When will these people learn that their"sources" got NOTHING correct since August 5. The storiesplanted have been absolute rubbish," he added.

M Abdullah was on Tuesday released after about eightmonths following revocation of his detention under Public SafetyAct (PSA). The detention of Abdullah was revoked after PSAslapped on him was withdrawn by the J&K administration.

J&K Police registers...Wednesday 218 FIRs were lodged against the offenders.

In Udhampur Reasi range one FIR was registered. JK Policealso registered three FIRs in Rajouri Poonch range.

Besides registering FIRs 547 number of vehicles and shopshave been seized so far by the Jammu Kashmir Police for defy-ing the government order's.

In North Kashmir Range Six FIRs were registered against theviolators and in Central Kashmir Range four FIRs have been reg-istered. In South Kashmir Range J&K Police registers two FIRsagainst the violators. Similarly in Jammu Samba Kathua range22 FIRs have been registered.

Jammu and Kashmir Police also released audio advisories inUdru and Dogri languages on social media for the general publicto make them aware about the precautions and measures thatmust be taken by one and all for their safety and for the safety ofcommunity.

Jammu Police stamps...lockdown violator" on their arms. A senior official here onThursday said that generally people give lame excuses like mov-ing out once in a day or have an urgent work and barring few,most of these are unwanted movements.

"To prevent these movements, anybody found outside withoutany urgent task, will be inked---Corona lockdown Violator: R SPura Police, " he stated. The officer said that if the same personis caught again, he will be taken into custody and booked underrelevant sections as it is an offence.

"Once inked, the stamp will not fade away for two monthseven if anybody makes attempts," he said and appealed to co-operate and adhere to the guidelines issued by the government.

"All measures are being taken in the interest of the people.Nobody is being harrassed and we are trying our best to makepeople to stay indoors," he said adding that police personnel isperforming their duty by staying outside their homes and awayfrom families by putting their lives risk and in return, all is expect-ed that people stay home and safe to break the coronaviruschain. Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir police initiated 'We Care'exercise to reach out to people with essential goods at theirdoorsteps and circulating audio clips to aware people on COVID-19. Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has so far reported 11COVID-19 cases with zero casualty.

Pak troops resort...LoC in Dewar sector of Poonch district on Thursday afternoon, adefence spokesperson said. Indian troops retaliated and theexchanges lasted for over 20 minutes, the spokesperson said.

Earlier, Pakistan rangers fired mortar shells and opened fireon forward areas along the IB in Pansar, Manyari and ChakChanga in Hiranagar sector on Wednesday night and this contin-ued till morning, officials said.

BSF troops guarding the border retaliated resulting in briefexchanges, they said.

There were a total of 646 incidents of ceasefire violationsalong the Indo-Pakistan International Border (IB) as well as theLoC between January 1 and February 23 this year, Minister ofState for Defence Shripad Naik said on Wednesday.

Over 3200 ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops wererecorded in 2019.

From Page-1...

MUMBAI, MAR 26: TheMaharashtra governmenton Thursday decided torelease around 11,000 pris-oners, whose term ofimprisonment is less thanseven years, on parole,amid the coronavirus epi-demic. Maharashtra HomeMinister Anil Deshmukhmade the announcement viahis Twitter handle.

"I've asked for releasingnearly 11,000 convicts/undertrials imprisoned foroffences with prescribedpunishment upto 7 yrs orless on emergency parole /furlough to reduce over-crowding in prisons andcontain the risk of a Covid-19 outbreak," Deshmukh, aNationalist Congress Party

leader, tweeted.Deshmukh said the

order will be implementedin some 60 prisons in thestate.

There have been 124cases of the coronavirus inMaharashtra so far, thehighest in the country,according to the Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare.The total number of casesin India rose to 694 onThursday, and the toll to 16.The Centre has imposed a21-day nationwide lock-down beginning March 25.

Globally, there havebeen over 4.95 lakh casesof the coronavirus, and over22,000 deaths so far,according to an estimate byJohns HopkinsUniversity.(PTI)

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 ||GJ NATIONAL5

With profound grief & sorrow, we inform the sad demise of ourbeloved mother Smt. Rattana Hakhoo/Nancy R/o KanyaKadal, Srinagar (Kmr.) A/p Ward no. 60 Near Billu WeldingShop, Dhok Paloura, Jammu who left for heavenly abode on24-03-2020. The Tenth Day Kriya will be performed atAkhnoor Ghat on 2nd April 2020 & Assembly will be at 11 AMat our residence.

GRIEF STRICKENSh. Chuni Lal Hakhoo -HusbandSons & Daughter-in-lawsMrs. & Mr. Amit & SudhaMrs. & Mr. Sumit & MeenakshiGrand ChildrenAshank, Maanya, AmayraSMAST HAKHOO & KOUL PARIVAARMob: 9419280061, 9149459164, 9823666718

OBITUARY/TENTH DAY KRIYA

Smt. Rattana Hakhoo(Sabha)

AGARTALA, MAR 26:Two days into the country-wide lockdown announcedby Prime Minister NarendraModi, states across India areprepping up to beat the novelcoronavirus. Even as socialdistancing norms are in placeas far as possible, states areconverting stadiums intomassive quarantine centresand accelerating medicalhires.

The high rate of conta-gion has put most states onalert — even the ones whichhave no positive case report-ed so far.

For example, in Assam— one of the few states inIndia without a positive case— the massive IndiraGandhi Athletic Stadiumalso known as SarusajaiStadium, is being convertedinto a quarantine centre,with a capacity to houseapproximately 1,000 peo-ple. On Thursday morning,

photos tweeted by Assamhealth minister HimantaBiswa Sarma showedmasked workers busy undera large U-shaped shed, lay-ing the framework of thequarantine facility — slatedto be up and running by theend of the week. “We areestablishing large homequarantine camps here — ifa positive case emerges in afamily, this is where othermembers of the family willbe brought. There will befacilities for food, attachedbathroom etc,” said Sarma.The government has alsodecided to rent flats near thedesignated centre, to house200 doctors. “If we have toget private doctors in, orones from villages etc —this is where they will beaccomodated,” he said.(Agencies)

Fighting the pandemic: Across India,stadiums morph into quarantine centres,

young graduates are on call

NEW DELHI, MAR 26:Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Thursday asked thearmed forces, defence publicsector undertakings and othermilitary organisations to pro-vide all possible assistance tocivilian authorities in theirefforts to halt the spread ofcoronavirus in the country.

He issued the directivewhile chairing a high-levelmeeting to review overallpreparedness of the defenceministry in containing thespread of the coronaviruswhich has infected over 600and killed at least 10 peoplein India so far.

India is under a 21-daylockdown from Tuesday mid-night as part of efforts tocheck COVID-19.

In the meeting, Mr Singhappreciated the proactive roleplayed by the armed forcesand various departments ofthe defence ministry in evac-uating Indian nationals aswell as foreigners from coro-navirus- affected countriesand ensuring their proper careat various quarantine facili-ties. "He urged the armedforces and other departmentsto gear up their preparedness

and provide all requiredassistance to the civilianadministration at various lev-els," the defence ministrysaid in a statement.

Giving details of contribu-tion by various defence enti-ties, it said the DRDO labora-tories have manufactured20,000 litres of sanitiser andsupplied to various organisa-tions, including 10,000 litresto Delhi Police.

The Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation(DRDO) has also supplied10,000 masks to Delhi Policepersonnel. It is tying up withsome private companies tomake personal protectionequipment such as body suitsand ventilators, officials said.(Agencies)

Rajnath Singh Asks Armed Forces ToRamp Up Efforts To Fight COVID-19

One Year have passed, since you left us. You gave no onea last farewell, nor ever said good-bye. You were gonebefore we knew it, and only God knows why. A million timeswe will miss you. A million times we will cry. If love alonecould have saved you, you never would have died. In deathwe love you still. In our hearts you hold a place, no one elsecan fill. It broke our hearts to lose you, but you didn't goalone, for part of us went with you, the day God took youhome. We pray to God to keep your noble soul in eternalpeace in heaven. The Maswar/ Vaharwar of my belovedbrother Sh. Sunil Kumar Daftari S/o Late Sh. Roop KrishanDaftari originally resident of Sathu Sheetal Nath, Barbar Shah, Srinagar will be per-formed at our residence Jagti, Nagrota on 27th March and 28th March 2020.Deeply Remembered by:-Samast Daftari PariwarMob:- 9419406960; 7006092818

MASWAR/VAHARWAR

Sh. Sunil KumarDaftari

With profound grief and sorrow , we would like to inform that our belovedbrother Prof. (Dr.) B.L. Wazir S/o late prof. Nand Lal Wazir (originally fromShalayar, Habba Kadal , Srinagar, Kashmir, present address 103 UpperLaxmi Nagar, Sarwal, Jammu) left for his heavenly abode on 21st March2020 at D- 104, Aditya Megacity, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad.TENTH DAY KRIYA would be performed on 30th March at MuradnagarGhat at 8am.IN PROFOUND GRIEF:Mrs. Durga Wazir -WifeMr. J.L Wazir and Phoola WazirMr. S.L Wazir and Shobha WazirMrs. Veena Razdan -SisterMr. R.K Bhan and Sarla BhanSons and Daughter-in-law'sPradeep Wazir and Sumam WazirDeepak Wazir and Shivani WazirSanjeev Wazir and Meenakshi WazirAshutosh Razdan and Sunita RazdanSidharth BhanDaughter and Son-in-lawsDr. Meenakshi and Dr. Pawan ZutshiMonika and Pramod ManjareSonika and Abhishek ThussuGRAND CHILDREN AND SAMASTWAZIR PARIVARCONTACT- 9910261163, 8851715258

TENTH DAY KRIYA

Prof. (Dr.) B.L. Wazir

With profound grief and sorrow, we inform the sad anduntimely demise of our beloved Smt. Urmila Tickoo W/oSh. Maharaj Krishen Tickoo permanent resident ofMartand Mattan A/p H.No. 2/114 Indira Vihar Old Janipurnear Amba Theatre Jammu on 25-03-2020.10th Day Kriya will be held on 03-04-2020 (Friday) atAkhnoor Ghat & Assembly at our home at 11.00 a.m.Grief StrickenSmt. Mohini Tickoo- Mother-in-LawSh. Maharaj Krishen Tickoo (PNB)- HusbandDevar & DevraniSh. Ravi Shanker Tickoo & Smt. Jyoti TickooSon & Daughter-in-LawMr. Rahul Tickoo & Mrs. SunainaMr. Aditya Tickoo- SonMiss Diya Tickoo- DaughterSmt. Neelam Yogi & Sh. Raj Kumar Yogi- Sister & Brother-in-LawCell: 94191-02556, 9086059138

TENTH DAY KRIYA

Smt. Urmila Tickoo

With profound grief & sorrow, we inform the sad & untimelydemise of our beloved Sh. Kashi Nath Ganjoo S/o Lt. Sh.Gopi Nath Ganjoo originally R/o Zaloora, Sopore A/p H.No.31, Gobind Nagar (Bank Colony) Gole Gujral Talab Tillo whobreathed his last on 19-03-2020.10th Day Kriya will be held on 28-03-2020 Saturday atAkhnoor Ghat and assembly at Muthi Ghat (Near Directorateof School Education Jammu) at 10:00 am.

GRIEF STRICKENSmt. Tosha Ganjoo -WifeSmt. Asha Ji Ganjoo -BhabiSon & Daughter-in-lawSmt. Renu & Sh. Rajesh GanjooSmt. Simmi & Sh. Sunil GanjooDaughter & Son-in-lawSmt. Fancy & Sh. Anil PanditaSister & Brother-in-lawSmt. Jai & Sh. P.N. TikooSmt. Krishna & Sh. J.L BhatGrand Children: Piyush, Simran, Diya, Shagun, Arin & Kristy9306601202, 9501544786, 9622045693

TENTH DAY KRIYA

Sh. Kashi NathGanjoo

“TIME PASSES, MEMORIES STAY LOVEDAND REMEMBERED EVERY DAY” With pro-found grief and sorrow, we inform the saddemise of our beloved Sh. Durga Dass DattaR/o Dogra Nagar, H.No. 421 (A), Lower RoopNagar, Jammu, near Nand Public School.Barkhi will be performed on Friday 27th March2020 at 12.00 Noon at our residence.

Deeply Missed & Remembered BySmt. Satya Devi- WifeDatta ParivarMob. No.: 6006430187, 9596766757

BARKHI

Sh. Durga DassDatta

With profound grief and sorrow, we inform the saddemise of our beloved Smt Vidhya Saraf W/o Late ShBal Krishan Kohli Agore Wale R/o 120-D New Plot,Jammu on 12-3-2020.Uthala/Rasam Pagri will be performed on 27-03-2020(Friday) at 3.00 to 4.00 pm at Hari Mandir Rehari Colony,Jammu.

GRIEF STRICKENSons & Daughter-in-lawAnil KohliRajesh Kohli & Kajal KohliDaughters & Sons-in-lawSmt Shashi Prabha & Sh Bodh Raj KhannaSmt Urmil Kapahi & Sh Rakesh KapahiMiss Nirmal KohliSmt Santosh Verma & Sh Ravi VermaSmt Suman W/o Late Sh Gopal Krishan GuptaDevar & DevranisSh Madan Lal Kohli & Smt Sudershan KohliSh Uttam Kohli & Smt Kamlesh Kohli

UTHALA

Smt Vidhya Saraf

NEW DELHI, MAR 26:Security at the IndianEmbassy in Kabul and con-sulates in Jalalabad andKandahar has been put onhighest alert with Indian andwestern intelligence con-firming that Haqqani net-work and Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) terroristschose to hit Guru Har RaiGurdwara at Shor Bazaardue to heavy troop deploy-ment at the Indian mission.

As many as 28 Sikh wor-shippers have been killed,eight are injured and another85 were rescued during theshoot-out at the gurdwara,three kilometres away fromthe Indian mission.

According to informationreaching Delhi from Afghan

and western security agen-cies, the strike was orderedby Quetta Shura of Talibanat the behest of Pakistanideep state with the largermotive of driving out Indiafrom Afghanistan.

The entire operation wascode-named Blackstar bythe Pakistan intelligence,which used the Haqqani net-work led by Taliban’sdeputy commanderSirajuddin Haqqani and ele-ments of LeT.

As many as 4 attackersarmed with AK-47 rifleswere part of the strike teamof terrorists who struck atthe Gurdwara. The Afghansecurity forces managed tokill one of the terrorists;the rest escaped.

A senior official in theIndian security establish-ment said there was recog-nition in New Delhi thatthe terrorists probablyattacked the gurdwarabecause it was a soft target.There have been alertsabout a terror attack on theIndian embassy in Kabuland the consulate atJalalabad for quite sometime. It wouldn’t have beenan easy target since thesecurity had been beefedup and more troop fire-walls deployed. Evenwhile the grieving AfghanSikhs were cremating thevictims on Thursday after-noon, a bomb explodednearby creating furtherscare in the area.

In Kabul Gurdwara attack, India was realtarget; Islamic State just a front: Intel

With profound grief and sorrow, we inform the sad demiseof our beloved mother Smt. Prabhawati Koul W/o LateJanki Nath Koul R/o Hanjura Budgam Presently at H. No152 A Sector 3 Lane 8 Durga Nagar Jammu on 22-03-2020.Tenth Day will be performed on 31st March at AkhnoorGhat and assembly will be held at Muthi Ghat at 11 am.GRIEF STRICKENSons & Daughters-in-lawSh. Rattan Koul & Smt. Sarla KoulSh. Daya Krishan Koul & Smt. Basanti KoulSister & Brother-in-lawSmt. Durga Koul & Sh. Dwarka Nath KoulBrother & Sister-in-lawSh. Raj Nath Bhat & Smt. Keemta BhatGrandchildrenSmt. Jyoti Koul & Sh. Amit KoulSmt. Archana Pandita & Sh. Vinod PanditaSmt. Sunita Koul & Sh. Vicky KoulMiss. Varsha KoulContact details: 9419155556, 9419211113

TENTH DAY KRIYA

Smt. PrabhawatiKoul

With profound grief and sorrow we inform the saddemise of our beloved revered Karmayogi Sh. HirdeyNath Mattoo (Bobu Jee) original resident of MalarattaBhori Kadal, Srinagar A/p H.No 256, Colonel Colony,Talab Tillo Bohri on March 20, 2020.The Tenth Day Kriya will be performed on March 29,2020 (Sunday) at Akhnoor Ghat and Assembly will beheld at 11.30 am at our residence.GRIEF STRICKENSmt. Sona Batni Mattoo -WifeSmt. Phoola & Pran Nath Mattoo -Daughter-in-law &SonSmt. Rajni & Ashok Kumar Mattoo -do-Smt. Dulari & Bansi Lal Bhat -Daughter & Son-in-lawSmt. Phoola Ji & Mohan Krishan Mantoo -do-Smt. Santosh & Avtar Krishan Suri -do-Smt. Sudesh & Chaman Lal Kath -do-Grand Children

TENTH DAY KRIYA

Karmayogi Sh. HirdeyNath Mattoo (Bobu Jee)

GREATER JAMMU SHARES YOUR CONCERNFor Obituaries and Remembrance Call us at Ph: 2435309, Mob: 9906198186 or email to: editorgreaterjammu@gmail.com

Coronavirus: Maharashtra torelease around 11,000 prisoners

on parole or furloughNEW DELHI, MAR 26: Israelthanked the Indian government forthe evacuation of over 500 Israelinationals from India, in two trips,one each on Thursday and Friday. Aspecial Air India flight was to fly317 Israeli back home on Thursdayfollowed by another 200 on Friday,said ambassador Ron Malka.

“Today, we’are evacuating 317Israelis. In another flight tomorrow,200 more Israelis to be evacuated.Indian govt has helped us a lot, Iwant to thank them; Israel tookdrastic measures to fightCoronavirus, the situation there isunder control,” he was quoted assaying by news agency ANI.

The flight carrying the Israelis isto leave from New Delhi’s IGIAirport for Tel Aviv, however, it willnot carry any passengers back onthe return flight, said another newsagency.

The evacuation of Israelis comes

close on the heels of similar mis-sions to fly out over a thousand for-eign nationals including theJapanese and the Germans on fivespecial flights from Delhi.

Over 150 Japanese nationalswere flown out on a special flightthat flew in from Tokyo, while fourother flights flew out 500 people toGermany, 120 to Ukraine and 240 totwo Baltic nations.

Officials said two more specialflights to Frankfurt (Germany) andAustria were scheduled from theDelhi airport on Thursday to evacu-ate 750 people.

The United States and France arealso in talks with the Indian govern-ment to evacuate their citizens fromthe country. Over 2000 Frenchnationals are currently staying inIndia. The exact number of strandedAmericans could not be ascertained,but it is believed to be in hundreds.(Agencies)

‘Indian govt helped a lot’: Israelpraises India for evacuationsNEW DELHI, MAR 26: Five central paramilitary

forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-TibetBorder Police (ITBP), Central Industrial SecurityForce (CISF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) havea combined strength of 7,500 hospital beds, whereCovid-19 patients can be treated as a contingencymeasure if the country faces a surge of positivecases, officials told HT.

The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) had onMarch 23 asked the paramilitary forces, also calledCentral Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), to provide alist of their 32 “composite hospitals” -- located acrossthe country -- for Covid-19 patients and also orderedthem on March 9 to make adequate arrangements forisolation facilities.

These composite hospitals and isolation facilitiesare located in Delhi, Greater Noida, Hyderabad,Guwahati, Jammu, Tekanpur in Gwalior, Imphal,Dimapur, Nagpur, Silchar, Bhopal, Kolkata, Pune,Bengaluru, Chennai and Jaipur among other areas.One of the biggest facilities of the forces is ITBP’sChhawla Camp in Delhi, where several batches ofevacuees, who arrived from different Covid-19-affect-ed countries such as China and Iran, have beentreated since early February. (Agencies)

Paramilitary forces can arrange beds inCovid-19 emergency: Officials

NEW DELHI, MAR 26: International flights willremain banned till April 14, the governmentannounced today amid a complete national lock-down to fight coronavirus.

A week long ban imposed last week has beenextended, the civil aviation ministry said. The banwill not apply to cargo flights or those specially per-mitted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviaion.

Domestic flights have been banned till March 31.Trains, metros, inter-state buses and all public

transport has been banned to check the spread of thedisease, which has infected over 600 in India.

Worldwide, the coronavirus pandemic has had ahuge impact on the aviation industry due to the strin-gent border controls by countries and a travel ban onforeigners to contain the virus.

The virus, which originated in China's Wuhandistrict in December, has taken more than 18,000lives and infected over 4 lakh.

Ban on international flightsextended to April 14 over

coronavirus crisis

DEAR EDITOR,Through the medium of your

esteemed newspaper I would like tostate that it has become a common prac-tice in India to spread rumours throughsocial networking websites thereby cre-ating nuisance among the general publicin particular. Spreading rumours of anykind is a punishable offence as per sec-tion 505 of the Indian Penal Code. Theresidents of J&K UT are habitual ofspreading rumours through facebook,watsapp, twitter and other social net-working platforms. Last year since postabrogation of Article 370, the J&K gov-ernment had clamped down the internetservices for around 7 months owing tothe fake news and rumours circulated bysome mischievous elements of J&K UT.Now when the whole India stands unit-ed and is fighting against the outbreak ofthe COVID-19 epidemic, the mischie-vous elements are busy in playing theirmischief by spreading fake news andrumours of increasing Coronaviruscases in India. Same thing is happeningin J&K UT as well and this is creating

fear psychosis among the residents ofJ&K UT. However, the idea of 'JantaCurfew' was really a novel initiative ofour PM Modi and it has been widelyaccepted and acclaimed as witnessedthroughout the length and breadth of ourcountry on 22nd March, 2020. Now thegovernment's recent decision of lock-down of various states will also go along way in controlling and combatingthis deadly virus of COVID-19. It isnoteworthy to mention here that the doc-tors, nurses and other health care work-ers are doing a very commendable andlaudable job by wholeheartedly workingday and night in the worst ever crisis ofCoronavirus. The government needs toensure that the rumours mongers do notgo scot free and must be dealt withstrictly. All we can do is to develop goodhealth hygiene and must adhere to theadvisories of the government from timeto time in combating this pandemic ofCoronavirus.

Vivek Koul,32, Bank Colony,

Gole Gujral, Jammu.

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020||GJ EDIT/OP-ED PAGE6

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Please send your valuable responses at editorgreaterjammu@gmail.com

STOP RUMOUR MONGERING

Greater Jammu

Niti Aayog had a few years back asserted that it is 'SevereUnderemployment' and not 'Unemployment' which is amore serious problem and had rightly stressed upon the

need for creation of high-productivity and high-wage jobs in itsdraft three-year action agenda report for 2017-18 to 2019-20.The facts and figures revealed in multiple surveys conductedby the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), which till dateremains the most reliable source of information on the coun-try's employment situation, have consistently reported low butstable rates of unemployment over more than three decades.It is pertinent to mention here that as per NSSO survey, in2011-12, 49 per cent of the work force was employed in agri-culture but the sector contributed only 17 per cent of India'sGDP at current prices. Second in 2010-11, firms with lessthan 20 workers employed 72 per cent of India's manufactur-ing workforce but contributed only 12 per cent of manufactur-ing output. It further revealed that in 2006-07 NSSO survey ofservice firms, the 650 largest enterprises accounted for 38per cent of services output but only employed two per cent ofservice workers. This implies that the remaining service firmsemployed 98 per cent of the work force but produced only 62per cent of the outcome. This undoubtedly gives credence toNiti Aayog's assertion that a job that needs to be done by oneperson is often performed by two or more workers. The prob-lem of unemployment has assumed such alarming proportiontoday that to some extent it is responsible for pushing youthtowards frustration. Now that there is a nationwide lockdownin fight against COVID-19, it is high time for the unemployedyouth to conduct a meticulous analysis of the scope of widen-ing the scope of their thinking and come up with novice ideasand strategies to become employment providers instead ofbeing employment seekers. It needs to be realized that thenext battle after successfully defeating COVID-19 in the worldwill not be fought with bullets and bombs but with greaterhuman resource especially in view of the expected setback tothe global economy due to the current disaster and in thisregard India stands already blessed both quality as well asquantity wise. The only thing required is to address the prob-lem through a meticulous planning. We need to take cue fromthe emerging global situations and benefit from the experi-ence of countries that managed to transform rapidly, such asSouth Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and China. Due to an age-ing work force in China with high wages, many large-scalefirms in labour-intensive sectors currently manufacturing inthat country are looking for lower-wage locations and with itslarge workforce and competitive wages, India would be a nat-ural home for these firms. It is ripe time for Indian youth tograb the present opportunity of remaining confined at homesand make the same productive by preparing for the neces-sary surge in economic and trade sectors post CORONA-19Pandemic thus not only addressing the unemployment prob-lem but also ushering a new era of peace and prosperityacross the nation.

FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020

MAKING CONFINEMENT PRODUCTIVE JAIBANS SINGH

The response of the IndianGovernment to Corona Virus iscreditable. The Government,

under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, isnot hesitating from taking necessary deci-sions however difficult and unpopular theymay be. The Chief Ministers are respond-ing with great commitment; even thePolice and the administration are workingwith a sense of purpose.

It is being hoped against hope that theefforts of the Government will bear fruit, atleast to the extent where the damageremains manageable. There is also a reali-sation that this might not happen. Despitethe efforts being put in, the Virus mayspread to community levels and hence theneed to prepare for the worst case scenario.

In such a scenario, all eyes will onceagain be directed towards the Armed Forceof the nation. Traditionally, they have beenthe last bastion in all natural disasters andemergencies that the nation has faced, andin all instances they have stood up to thechallenge commendably. The present sce-nario is grim enough to cause considerablealarm and anxiety to the forces too. It is forthis reason that they are preparing with agrim sense of purpose and on a war footingfor the times ahead .

The Indian army, in view of his numeri-cal strength, infrastructure and wherewith-al will be steering the campaign with ster-ling support from the Air Force and theNavy. The all important segment will bethe Armed Forces Medical Corps whichare a Tri-service entity.

In this preparation stage, the IndianArmy is working on three prongs. The firstis to maintain the health of the soldiersthemselves so that they are fit to take on alltasks in the future; the second is to remainprepared for aid to civil authority in what-ever manner required, right from dealingwith the medical emergency to maintaininglaw and order; the last is to remain pre-pared for the primary task of keeping thenation safe from inimical designs of theenemy.

Tremendous efforts are being put infrom the unit to the Headquarter level inensuring success of the first prong whichis, by far, the most critical. Military med-ical experts have devised StandardOperating Procedures (SOPs) which have

been disseminated to the grass roots levelfor strict implementation. Screening, quar-antine and isolation mechanisms havebeen put in place; personnel coming fromleave are quarantined for 14 days withimmediate isolation of symptomatic cases.

The Northern Command of the Army,that has an enhanced role to play in allthree prongs, has issued an exhaustive"Best Practice" directive. It caters for mul-tiple level screening from the TransitCamps to the Formation/Station level forall personnel returning to duty from leaveetc. This process culminates only after seg-regation on day wise basis for 14 days afterarrival to unit. To trace contact history AllRanks are instructed to carry a notebook

and record details of all such persons withwhom they come in contact. Screening byRegiment Medical Officers duringPhysical Training and Roll Call parades isbeing carried out. Door to door screeningof all family quarters by medical teams isunderway.

Round the clock control room forCOVID 19 related activities have beenestablished in all units. These are linkedwith Corona Virus control centres inHeadquarters. The control centre monitorsmovement of all personnel.

Boots on ground capacity is beingenhanced by creation of Ad-hoc medicalplatoons of Group -D (Combat soldiers)personnel with basic training being impart-ed. Personnel on leave are being contactedtelephonically for coordination of theirmove and other instructions from the unit.

SOP for lock down is in place and beingpracticed over a few days. Corona Virusprotocols in presentation form have beenissued down the command chain.Commanding officers are creating aware-ness during Sainik Sammelans to encour-age self reporting of health status. In casethere is a confirmed case, extensive disin-fection of living areas is to be resorted to.

Formations across the country arepreparing for aid to civil authority shouldthe need arise. Liaison with civil authori-ties is being carried out to remain wellinformed about the situation. The opera-tions rooms of all units and formationshave a war like atmosphere with war gam-ing and planning underway round theclock. Every possible contingency is beingconsidered and response being fine tuned.Preparation for crisis expansion, law andorder and administrative issues, includingprovision of tented accommodation, flagmarches and securing of facilities is under-way. Helpline telephone numbers for all,especially veterans, are already in placeand widely circulated, especially in Jammuand Kashmir and Ladakh. The ArmedForces, should the need arise, will be in aposition to provide massive medical andlogistics facilities across the country.

Since COVID-19 is a global phenome-non it is widely believed that all countrieswill shed animosity to meet the challenge.Such a thought, unfortunately, cannot beharboured with regard to our neighbour -Pakistan. Despite being in the depth ofdespair the country continues to look foroptions to harm India. Hence, cease fireviolations infiltration attempts and terroristactivity in the hinterland of Kashmir isunderway and will remain so. It will prob-ably accentuate with the intention of put-ting more pressure on Indian forces. Anattempt to infiltrate Corona infected terror-ists into India is not beyond the imagina-tion of the evil terrorism planners sitting inPakistan. The army, especially the Theatrecommands deployed on the Indo-Pakistanborders is ready for all eventualities,Corona or no corona.

The people of India need to remainassured that the Indian Army on whichthey have maximum faith is fully poised tocome to their assistance in whatever man-ner required and it will not allow the situa-tion to get out of control. The people canhelp by adhering to the same discipline andreslove that the army is exhibiting to over-come this challenge. If this is done thentogether the people, the leadership and theIndian Army will emerge victorious andstronger than before.

(Jaibans Singh is a reputed analyst,columnist and author)

Indian Army is ready for challenge, peoplemust emulate discipline & resolve

OMKAR DATTATRAY

The coronavirus has invadedthe whole world can best befought by resorting to social

distancing. As they say that preventionis better than cure and so it is all themore important to observe precaution,care and caution and prevent the dead-ly virus from spreading. Man is socialby nature and he loves to live in thecompany of others and he also acts andinteracts in the society. No doubt it isvery painful to live in isolation and notto interact in and through society ofwhich he is an important member. Butthen there is no option than to live inisolation and stay at the home to helpin the breaking the chain of the coron-avirus and hence all of us shouldrealise this truth and support the gov-ernmental efforts of maintaining andkeeping social distance. There is nooption but to help in keeping the socialdistance and therefore all of us shouldstay indoors so that the chain of thevirus does not spread and thus has theprime minister appealed the masses toobserve social distancing and stayindoors. All the people should appreci-ate this truth and keep social distance

by staying indoors so that the deadlyvirus does not spread. The fact is thatthe coronavirus does not spreadthrough air but is transmitted throughtouch and therefore it is all necessarythat the social distancing is adhere toin order to fight back the virus so thatit does not spread. It is also necessarythat the rumour mongering should becurbed and rumour mongers should bedealt with an iron hand so that the peo-ple are not mislead by these falserumours. The fact is that there is nomedicine to cure this virus and the sci-entists are at the research and soonthey will find an answer to this disease.Till then we should voluntarily observesocial distancing. No doubt it is verypainful to keep oneself indoors butthen there is no alternative than to con-fine onself to the four walls of thehouse and in this lies the wisdom.Therefore the citizens should cooperatethe authorities in maintaining andobserving the social distance so thatthe virus will not spread and devourmore lives as life is so precious that itcannot be indemnified by any amountof relief. Therefore the best way tofight the epidemic is to stay at thehome for three weeks so that the chainof the virus is broken otherwise it willhave dangerous repercussions. Thus itis better to take the precaution and pre-vent the virus so that we live a life freefrom fear of the disease. So the bestoption is to remain indoors and not toventure outside but only in case ofextreme necessity otherwise not. Thegovernment has declared holiday forthree weeks and now it is the job of theemployees to supplement the govern-mental efforts of fighting the virus. Allthat we can do is to keep and observesocial distance so that the virus is con-

tained. Therefore social distancingshould be encouraged for the timebeing. It should also be noted that thesocial distancing does not mean abdi-cating the social responsibility but itimplies social distancing to keep thevirus under control. So it is the primaryduty of all of us to help in staying athome and contributing to the innova-tive idea of social distancing. Peopleshould follow the rules and observe theguidelines of the government and con-fine themselves to the homes andreport the cases of foreign travelimmediately to the authorities so thatthe virus is controlled .The symptomsof the infection of the virus should notbe concealed but should be reported tothe concerned agencies. Thus what isimportant is that the doubtful casesshould be reported to the governmentso that medical treatment is adminis-tered to them. Since there is no medi-cine to cure this virus and thus the bestcourse is to keep social distance andkeep ourselves indoors so that the virusdoes not spread and thus has the primeminister appealed the citizen as to keepindoors maintaining social distance. Itis so good that the authorities havekept the essential services like medi-cine, food supply and the like outsidethe purview of the lockdown. There iscomplete lock down through India andwe should contribute our bit in thismahayaga so that the virus does notspread but is rather contained. Let meclose this write up with the oftenrepeated quotation of prevention is bet-ter than cure and at this crucial stagewe should do practical shape to thisquote by keeping ourselves indoors.

(The writer is a retired educationofficer and columnist)

SOCIAL DISTANCING IS THE ONLY ANSWER

FIGHTINGCORONA

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 ||GJ INTERNATIONAL7

A Thai Buddhist monk prepares to take part in a televised anti-coronavirus prayer at WatTraimit Temple.

Spain Coronavirus Death Toll Crosses 4,000,655 Fatalities Reported within 24 Hours

SPAIN: The coronavirus death toll in Spain surged to 4,089after 655 people died within 24 hours, the health ministrysaid on Thursday. It was a 19 percent increase on figuresreleased Wednesday by the authorities in Spain, which hasthe world's second highest death toll from the disease afterItaly. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to56,188, the ministry said. Despite a national lockdownimposed on March 14, which parliament on Thursday agreedto extend until April 11, both deaths and infections have con-tinued to mount, with officials warning this week would beparticularly bad. But the rise in the number of new deathswas smaller than that recorded on Wednesday when the fig-ure rose by 738 or 27 per cent. Health authorities are hopingit will soon become clear whether the lockdown is having thedesired effect. The Madrid region has suffered the brunt ofthe epidemic with 17,166 infections -- just under a third ofthe total -- and 2,090 deaths, or 51 percent of the national fig-ure. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose wife is infectedwith the virus, has said this is the country's most difficultmoment since its 1936-39 civil war. "Only the oldest, whoknew the hardships of the civil war and its aftermath, canremember collective situations that were harsher than thecurrent one. The other generations in Spain have never, everhad to face as a collective something so hard," he said whenhe imposed the state of emergency on March 14. Agencies

Pakistan army forcibly moving Covid-19positive patients to PoK and Gilgit

MIRPUR, MAR 26: Amid strong protests by locals, thePakistan army has started to move Covid -19 positivepatients from Punjab province to Pakistan occupiedKashmir (PoK) and Gilgit Baltistan - the two most mar-ginalised areas under Pakistani occupation. Sources inPOK reveal that special quarantine centres have been set-up in Mirpur and other major cities in the occupiedregions to cleanse the Punjab province of Covid-19patients as army top brass has ordered that no positivepatient should be anywhere near where Army facilitiesand Army family housing is there. Read also: Coronavirusoutbreak live updates Consequently, large numbers ofpatients are being moved in locked transport carriers toMirpur city and other parts of PoK and Gilgit Baltistan.The local residents have carried out protests against set-ting up of quarantine centres for Covid-19 patients fromPakistan as the region already lacks infrastructure andtrained medical staff. Agencies

In drastic step, Italy shutsmost factories to halt virus

SAOVE: Italy has become the first western developednation to idle most of its industry to halt the spread of thecoronavirus, in a potential cautionary tale for other gov-ernments, such as the Trump administration, that areresisting such drastic measures. After more than twoweeks of a nationwide lockdown, the Italian governmentdecided to expand the mandatory closure of nonessentialcommercial activities to heavy industry in the eurozone'sthird-largest economy, a major exporter of machinery,textiles and other goods. Agencies

Germany boosts coronavirustest rate to 500,000 a week

BERLIN, MAR 26: Germany has boosted its coron-avirus test rate to 500,000 a week, a virologist saidThursday, adding that early detection has been key inkeeping the country’s death rate relatively low. “The rea-son why Germany has so few deaths compared to thenumber of infected people can be explained by the factthat we carry out an extremely large number of laborato-ry diagnostic tests,” said Christian Drosten, who headsthe Institute of Virology at Berlin’s Charite UniversityHospital. “Estimates from the last days show that we arecarrying out half a million tests a week,” he added.Drosten also highlighted Germany’s dense network oflaboratories spread across its territory as a factor con-tributing to early detection. Meanwhile the research min-istry said it would commit 150 million euros ($164 mil-lion) to improve communication between hospitals andlaboratories about coronavirus patients’ health data, hop-ing the information exchange could feed into develop-ment of a vaccine. Agencies

South Africa bans dog-walkingduring coronavirus lockdown

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s police minister saysdog-walking is banned during the country’s three-weeklockdown that begins Friday to combat the spread of thecoronavirus. Bheki Cele also said people can’t go run-ning, contradicting the health minister’s comments earli-er in the day. And Cele warned South Africans to essen-tially stay sober for 21 days, emphasizing that alcoholsales are prohibited. The military and police will patrol toregulate movement, and all ports of entry are now closed.South Africa has the most COVID-19 cases in Africa withmore than 700. Agencies

IN BRIEF

BEIJING, MAR 26: Chinahas reported no new localcoronavirus infections for thesecond consecutive day, butthe number of importedCOVID-19 cases sharplyrose to 67 in a day after thedeadly virus was broughtunder control in its epicentreWuhan, health officials saidon Thursday.

China's National HealthCommission (NHC) said onThursday, while no newdomestically transmittedcases of coronavirus werereported on the Chinesemainland on Wednesday, 67new confirmed cases wererecorded, up from 47 a dayearlier, all of which wereimported.

Also, although epicentresHubei province and its capi-tal Wuhan have been report-ing zero cases for a while,death toll there continued torise.

On Wednesday, six deathswere reported from Hubeiprovince taking the death tollin China to 3,287 people andtotal number of cases to

81,285.In Hubei and Wuhan

alone as of Wednesday 3,169people died since January.The virus was first reportedin Wuhan in December lastyear.

Also, Hubei reported 58new suspected cases andnation-wide 159 people werestill suspected of beinginfected with the virus, theNHC said.

Hubei health commissionsaid on Thursday that 914people were still in severecondition and another 287 incritical condition in hospi-tals.

The province so farreported a total of 67,801COVID-19 confirmed cases,including 50,006 in Wuhan.

As of Wednesday, theoverall confirmed cases onthe Chinese mainland hadreached 81,285, this included3,287 people died of the dis-ease, 3,947 patients stillbeing treated and 74,051patients discharged afterrecovery, the NHC said.Agencies

$2 trillion rescuepackage passedby US Senate,

heads to HouseWASHINGTON, MAR 26:The US Senate passed thenation's largest-ever res-cue package lateWednesday, a USD 2 tril-lion lifeline to sufferingAmericans, depleted hos-pitals and an economy allravaged by a rapidlyspreading coronavirus cri-sis.

The monster dealthrashed out betweenRepublicans, Democratsand the White Houseincludes cash payments toAmerican taxpayers andseveral hundred billiondollars in grants and loansto small businesses andcore industries. It also but-tresses hospitals desper-ately in need of medicalequipment and expandsunemployment benefits.

The measure clearedthe Senate by an over-whelming majority andwas headed next to theHouse of Representatives,which must also pass itbefore it goes to PresidentDonald Trump for his sig-nature. Agencies

DUBAI, MAR 26: The headof the United Nations toldleaders of the world’s 20major industrialized nationsduring an emergency virtualsummit on Thursday that"we are at war with a virus –and not winning it” despitedramatic measures by coun-tries to seal their borders,shutter businesses andenforce home isolation forwell over a quarter of theworld's population.

The unusual video call inlieu of a physical gatheringcomes as governmentsaround the world stress theimportance of social distanc-ing to curb the spread of thehighly infectious virus,which has prompted clo-sures, curfews and lock-downs globally.

The Group of 20 nations,which faces criticism for nottaking cohesive actionagainst the virus or its eco-nomic impact, vowed towork together. The groupsaid they are collectivelyinjecting more than $4.8 tril-

lion into the global economyto counteract the social andfinancial impacts of the pan-demic.

In a final statement afterthe meeting, the G20 saidthey were committed tostrengthening the WorldHealth Organization’s man-date. They said “globalaction, solidarity and inter-national cooperation” wereneeded more than ever.

“The unprecedentedCOVID-19 pandemic is apowerful reminder of ourinterconnectedness and vul-nerabilities," the group said.“The virus respects no bor-ders."

U.N. Secretary-GeneralAntonio Gutteres urged G20leaders to adopt a war-timeplan to tackle the pandemic.He warned “the challengesbefore us dwarf those of2008," in reference to thatglobal financial crisis.

“It took the world threemonths to reach 100,000confirmed cases of infec-tion,” he said. “The next

100,000 happened in just 12days. The third took fourdays. The fourth, just oneand a half.”

“This is exponentialgrowth and only the tip ofthe iceberg,” Guterres said,adding that countries mustbe able to combine systemat-ic testing, tracing, quarantin-ing and treatment, as well ascoordinate an exit strategy tokeep it suppressed until avaccine becomes available.

Saudi Arabia, which ispresiding over the G20 thisyear, opened the meetingwith an urgent appeal byKing Salman for the world'smost powerful nations tofinance the research anddevelopment of a vaccine forthe virus, which causes anillness known as COVID-19.

“This human crisisrequires a global response.The world counts on us tocome together and cooperatein order to face this chal-lenge," the Saudi monarchsaid during the virtual sum-mit. Agencies

World Leaders Vow to CoordinateVirus Response in Video Call

WASHINGTON, MAR 26:Indian-American hoteliershave come forward to rescuethe stranded Indian studentsin the US following imple-mentation of lockdownmeasures in the country inresponse to the rapidly-spreading coronavirus pan-demic, offering them freeaccommodation and freemeals.

With the students scram-bling for a roof over theirheads after being asked tovacate their hostels andIndia banning internationalflights for a week fromMarch 22 due to the coron-avirus pandemic, more than6,000 rooms in nearly 700hotels were offered to themby Wednesday following acall from the IndianEmbassy.

The Indian Embassy havebeen running a round-the-clock helpline since lastweek for the students in the

US, who number over2,50,000.

Most of these hotelsoffered are in and arounduniversities and colleges,but the hotel owners fromacross the country havecome up in large numbers tothe call given by communityleaders, who have roped inAsian American HotelOwners Association(AAHOA) for the purpose.

India's Ambassador to theUS Taranjit Singh Sandhusaid in a tweet, "It is heart-ening to see that Indian;Indian-American and otherhotel owners are coming for-ward to help people withaccommodation in thesetesting times. Together wecan overcome the fightagainst COVID19!"

"The Indian communityhas come together to helpthe student and many hotelowners have offered theirrooms free of cost to them.

Many of them are also offer-ing free meals to these stu-dents," Chicago-based com-munity leader Nirav Pateltold PTI.

Indian-American hoteliercouple K K Mehta andChandra Mehta have offeredmore than 100 rooms toIndian students at their twoprime properties each nearthe Times Square andBarclays Center in NewYork City, said Jaipur FootUSA chairman PremBhandari on behalf of thehotels. The Indian Consulatein New York had contactedthem about this 10 days ago,he said.

"These students are thefuture of both India and theUnited States. All the topIndian-American CEOs, sci-entists and doctors came tothis country as a student. It'sour moral duty to help themwith our resources,"Bhandari said. Agencies

Indian-American hoteliers offer free accommodation to stranded Indian students

China reports 67 newimported coronavirus cases

Pope tests negative afteremployee gets covid-19

VATICAN CITY, MAR 26: Pope Francis was reportedThursday to have tested negative for the novel coronavirusafter a person in his residence was said to have contactedCOVID-19.

Several Italian newspapers with reputable sources in theVatican said the Italian clergyman who got sick had lived foryears in the pope’s Saint Martha’s residence.

Il Messaggero said the person is “one of the pope’s closestcollaborators, an official of the Secretariate of the State, whowas found to have a slight temperature after going in for a rou-tine check”.

The daily La Stampa said the unnamed person has beenhospitalised in Rome and that his office has been disinfected.

Il Messaggero later reported that the pope himself was test-ed for the virus and came out clean.

The 83-year-old pontiff has remained largely secluded athis residence since coming down with a cold late last month.

La Stampa said he has been “eating alone in his room forsome time” and has food brought to him on a tray by secre-taries. “He spends much of his time in his apartment, andwhen he moves inside the residence, he keeps the necessarysafe distances,” La Stampa wrote.

“The anti-contagion cordon has been tight around the popefor weeks.” Agencies

TORONTO, MAR 26: Given thedeluge of queries coming in fromIndians and those of Indian origin inCanada, the Indian High Commissionin the country has deployed cutting-edge IT tool in the form of a chatbotto address concerns over the Covid-19crisis.

The chatbot, called CANbot, hasnatural language conversation capa-bilities in English, Hindi and Punjabiand allows those seeking answersurgently to get them “safely and

securely”, either through a chat func-tion on the High Commission’s web-site or on a dedicated WhatsApp num-ber. The ability to quickly respond tothe frantic questions relating toCovid-19, public safety measurestaken in India and Canada and restric-tions on international travel, hasbecome particularly critical given theimpact the pandemic has had, espe-cially with nearly 1.6 million personsof Indian-origin living in Canada.Agencies

CAIRO, MAR 26: A trail-er-truck smashed into mul-tiple cars stopped on a free-way, killing 15 people andinjuring a dozen in Egypt'scapital late on Wednesday,authorities and state mediareported.

The deadly collisionoccurred a few hours afterEgypt's night time curfewtook effect to curb thespread of the coronavirus.

After 7 pm, public trans-port shuts down and peopleare forbidden from enteringthe streets unless they havean exemption.

Authorities said a stringof microbuses, trucks andcars were lined up at acheckpoint on a road fromsouthern Egypt into centralCairo waiting for officersto approve their curfewexemptions. The truckloaded with construction

materials plowed into thecluster of vehicles at highspeed, the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper said.

Officials were stillinvestigating to determinewhat happened. Theinjured were taken to ElSaff Central Hospital in theprovince of Giza for treat-ment.

About 8,000 people diefrom traffic accidents eachyear in Egypt, where roadsare poorly maintained andtraffic laws rarelyenforced. The accidenthappened on a stretch ofthe capital's ring roadknown for hairpin turnsand speeding traffic.

In its most aggressiveresponse yet to the coron-avirus pandemic, Egyptimposed an 11-hour nightlycurfew for its 100 millionpeople. Agencies

Indian High Commission in Canada deployschatbot to answer queries on Covid-19

At least 15 killed in multi-carcrash after curfew in Egypt LONDON, MAR 26:

Hospitals in London –Britain's COVID-19 hotspotwith over 3,000 of the coun-try's 9,529 confirmed cases -are witnessing wave afterwave of seriously ill coron-avirus patients, a senior offi-cial from the state-fundedNational Health Service(NHS) said on Thursday asthe UK entered day three ofits lockdown to curb thepandemic.

Chris Hopson, the chiefexecutive of NHS Providers– the representative body forhospital chiefs, said thatthey have been gettingreports that the rate at whichhospital beds are being filledout is extremely alarmingeven as their staffing levelsare dropping as a result ofthe infection. “They talkabout wave after wave afterwave. The words that areused to me are that it's a con-tinuous tsunami. As one saidto me, it's much bigger andlarge numbers with a greater

degree of stretch than youcan ever have possiblyimagined,” Hopson told theBBC.

“They are struggling withthe explosion of demand inseriously ill patients. Theyare saying it's the numberarriving and the speed withwhich they are arriving andhow ill they are,” he said.

The UK governmentannounced the setting up ofa makeshift hospital with4,000 beds to be created atthe ExCel conference centrein east London earlier thisweek, a move welcomed byNHS Providers but with awarning that even thatcapacity is fast getting filledup in the UK capital.

“One advantage we haveis the opportunity to learnfrom what is going on inLondon, given that Londonis some way ahead of mostof the rest of the country,recognising there are otherhotspots elsewhere,” saidHopson. Agencies

London hospitals cope with ‘continuoustsunami' of coronavirus cases

Indo-Canadian MP Kamal Kheratests positive for Covid-19 afterreturning to nursing profession

TORONTO, MAR 26: An Indo-Canadian politician whoreturned to her previous profession of nursing as theCovid-19 pandemic struck Canada, has become the firstCanadian member of Parliament to test positive for thevirus. Kamal Khera, 31, MP from Brampton West, testedpositive at the Peel Memorial Hospital in the GreaterToronto Area. Khera, who is also a parliamentary secretaryin Justin Trudeau’s Government, also received some wordsof solace from the Canadian Prime Minister, as he respond-ed to her announcement on Twitter, by saying, “Take careof yourself, Kamal. We’re all thinking of you — and hop-ing you get well soon.” Trudeau himself continues toremain in self-isolation as his wife Sophie Gregoire hadearlier tested positive.

In a statement, Khera said, “On Saturday night, I begandeveloping flu like symptoms while at home and immedi-ately began self-isolating.”

“While I am still experiencing symptoms, I am in goodspirits. I know that many Canadians are in much worse cir-cumstances. My thoughts are with all families who havebeen affected by this public health crisis,” she added.

As the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario hadsent out a call for former members of the profession to helpout at this critical time, Khera had “registered to help easethe nurse shortage.” She had tweeted at that time, “As aRN (Registered Nurse) there couldn’t be a more importanttime to give back to my community.” Agencies

KABUL, MAR 26: A bombblast took place near a Sikhcrematorium in the Afghancapital on Thursday, injuringa child and disrupting funeralservices for 25 members ofthe minority community whohad been killed by a heavilyarmed Islamic State suicidebomber a day earlier.

A magnetic bomb wentoff close to the Sikh crema-tion in Kabul, PajhwokAfghan News quoted apoliceman as saying.

It said a child was injuredin the blast, which also dis-rupted the funeral servicesfor the victims of the IslamicState attack on a prominentgurdwara on Wednesday inthe heart of Afghanistan'scapital of Kabul.

Thursday's attack was thesecond assault on the minori-ty community in as manydays.

Wednesday's attack wasone of the deadliest targetingthe Sikh community in thestrife-torn country. Eightypeople, including women

and children, were rescuedfrom the gurdwara.

TOLOnews, quotingsources in the Afghan gov-ernment blaming the dreadedHaqqani group for the attack.The Pakistan-based Haqqanigroup, designated by the USas a banned terror outfit, hasconducted several deadlyattacks inside Afghanistan.

Sikh lawmaker NardendarSingh Khalsa told reportersthat up to 150 people werepraying inside the gurdwarawhen it came under attack.

Khalsa, the only represen-tative of the Sikh communityin Afghanistan, said hereceived a call from a wor-shipper inside the gurdwara,informing him about theattack.

Afghan President AshrafGhani condemned the attackon the gurdwara, saying theattack on the religious sitesshows the extreme weaknessof the enemy, religious sitesshould not be vulnerable toattacks and violence.Agencies

Child injured in blast near Sikhcrematorium in Afghan capital

More than250,000 declared

coronaviruscases in Europe

PARIS, MAR 26: The number ofdeclared coronavirus cases inEurope topped 250,000, more thanhalf of which are in Italy and Spain,according to an AFP tally Thursdayat 1200 GMT.

The number of recorded cases inthe continent now stands at 258,068,including 14,640 dead. Italy has74,386 registered infections andSpain has 56,188, according to atally compiled from national healthdata and World Health Organizationfigures.

The number of actual infectionsis believed to be higher since manycountries are only testing severecases or patients that require hospi-talisation. Agencies

2 rockets hit high-security GreenZone in Iraqi capital Baghdad

BAGHDAD, MAR 26: Two rockets slammed into the Iraqi capital’s GreenZone, the high-security enclave home to government buildings and foreignembassies, early on Thursday, the military said. An Iraqi security sourcetold AFP the intended target appeared to be the US embassy, a sprawlingcompound a few hundred meters south of where the rockets hit. It is the26th such attack targeting installations where foreign troops or diplomatsare based across Iraq since late October. Agencies

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 ||GJ MISCELLANEOUS8

Edited, Printed, Published and Owned by Capt. Murti Gupta, Mob: 9419182274, Managing Editor Seema Murti, Leh Office: E-41, Moti Market, Leh Ph. 01982-251305, Bureau Representative Jigmet Janspal. Srinagar office: New Theed Harwan Srinagar, Bureau Chief Irfan AalamGanie Mob: 9797994664, 9469773518 Delhi office: Flat No. 726 Pocket 13, DDA Flats, Dwarka Phase 1, Bureau Chief Sudesh Dogra Mob: 9654351768, 09968041934, Email: sudeshdogra11@gmail.com.

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GJ REPORTKATHUA, MAR 26: Inorder to contain the spreadof Covid-19, being a borderdistrict adjacent to Punjab,the District administrationhere on Thursday not onlyimplemented the lockdownin letter and spirit but alsoestablished QuarantineCenters.

Elaborating further,DDC, OP Bhagat said thatno person is allowed toenter J&K and those whoare coming will have toundergo a mandatoryQuarantine period of 14days in centers establishedby the DistrictAdministration at differentlocations.

He further informed thatas many as 20 QuarantineCenters were established inKathua to deal with thispandemic.

It was informed that theDistrict Administration hasprovided all the basic

amenities like beddings, TVwith Dish connection,Toiletries, Play equipmentsat the centers. Besides,three time meals and tea isbeing served to the inmatesto make them feel at home.

Health desk was also

established, Ambulanceand medication was pro-

vided to the inmates, theDDC said and advised allthem to observe strict

social distancing till quar-antine period is over asthis would go a long wayin breaking chain of trans-mission of deadly Covid-19.

Lakhanpur, being gate-way to Jammu & Kashmir

is flooded with travelerswho were eager to comeback to their destinationsbut it was decided that tocontain the spread ofCovid-19 pandemic it isnecessary that all the trav-elers be put in 14 daysQuarantine, the DDCdivulged and stated thatnodal officers appointedare permanently stationedat these centers and a des-ignated female officer isespecially looking after thedemands of femaleinmates.

Later, an innovative ini-tiative in the shape ofMobile Laundry forQuarantine inmates wasflagged off by the DDC inpresence of SSP, Dr.Shailendra Mishra.

ADC Kathua, AtulGupta, CEO, TR Mangotra,Nodal Officer, SuninderKour, XEN PWD, RajanGupta and other concernedofficers were also present.

DDC launches Mobile Laundry service for Quarantine Centers

DDC OP Bhagat launching 'Mobile Laundry' service for Quarantine Centers in Kathua onThursday. GJ Photo

COVID-19

GJ REPORTSRINAGAR MAR 26:Following the death of anelderly male in Kashmirvalley due to the novelCoronavirus, DoctorsAssociation Kashmir(DAK) here on Thursdaysaid that the virus is killingmore men than women.

"More men are dyingthan women due to thevirus," DAK President DrNisar ul Hassan said. "Thisis what evidence shows incountries with heavy deathtolls."

"According to a reportby Higher Health Instituteof Rome, based on analysisof 250258 cases in Italy,men accounted for nearly60 percent of the cases andmore than 70 percent ofdeaths," Dr Nisarinformed.

"In Spain, the numberof men who died from the

virus was nearly doublethat of the number ofwomen, according toanother report from theCarlos III Health institute,"he added.

Dr Nisar said that thesefigures were in line withearly accounts from China,where the death rate formen was 2.8 percent com-pared to 1.7 percent forwomen, according to thelargest analysis of cases bythe China's Centre forDisease control andPrevention.

He said that the genderdisparity in illness anddeath could be biologicalor behavioral.

"Women have morerobust immune system thanmen and are able to fendoff infection. The femalesex hormone appears toplay a role in immunity, asdoes X chromosome,

which contains immune-related genes. Women carry2 X chromosomes, menonly one, Dr Nisar said.

Males are more prone todevelop heart disease,hypertension and diabetesthan females, leaving themat a higher risk of develop-ing severe complicationsfrom the virus," Dr Nisarsaid.

"Being male is as mucha risk factor forCoronavirus as being old.People need to be awarethat there is this pattern,"he said.

"Kashmir valley report-ed its first coronavirusdeath. He was 65 years oldmale, a smoker with under-lying diabetes and hyper-tension. From the eightlaboratory confirmed casesof the virus in the valley,seven are males and one isa female," said Dr Nisar.

Coronavirus killing more menthan women: DAK

GJ REPORTKARGIL, MAR 26: AlReza Health Care andResearch Foundation(ARHCRF) Kargil thehealth wing of AnjumanJamiat Ulema Isna AshariyaKargil organised an aware-ness and training camp forits volunteers who will be atthe disposal of DistrictAdministration Kargil tofight the deadly pandemicCOVID19 in the district.

During the camp DrMohammad Abass SurgeonSpecialist, GeneralSecretary, ARHCRF impart-ed full training to the volun-teers regarding basic knowl-

edge to combat CoronaVirus during their field workand to disburse the knowl-edge further among themasses.

On this occasion ChiefExecutive CouncilorLAHDC Kargil, FerozAhmad Khan was the ChiefGuest, and DeputyCommissioner KargilBaseer-Ul-Haq Choudhary,was the Guest of Honour.

Executive Councilor forHealth Mohammad AliChandan, Councilor PoyenMohammad Amin, CMOKargil Dr Ibrahim Khan,Superintendent DistrictHospital Kargil Dr Sikandar

Khan and Doctors were alsopresent on the occasion.

President AnjumanJamiat Ulema Isna AshariyaKargil, (AJUIAK) Ladakh,Sheikh Nazir MehdiMohammadi handed overrequired PPGs i.e. PersonnelProtection Gears (N 95mask, surgical masks & sur-gical gloves) and hand sani-tizers to the DistrictAdministration. Meanwhileon the occasion an amountof Rs. 30,000 was also hand-ed over to DeputyCommissioner Kargil byMohammad AminCouncilor Poyen. On thisoccasion, Chief ExecutiveCouncilor LAHDC Kargil,Feroz Ahmad Khan appreci-ated the role of AJUIAKLadakh, for its timely inter-vention and support in socialcauses, he hoped that withthe help of all the section ofthe society, district Kargilwill soon get rid of this pan-demic and urged upon thePresident AJUAIK to usehis personnel influence tomake the "Stay at Home"campaign a success, whichis the only solution to winthe war against Corona.

ARHCRC donates PPG, hand sanitizersto district administration

GJ REPORTBHADERWAH, MAR 26: In the wake of a nationwidelockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus, concernshave been raised about daily wage earners due to a suddenlack of work, BJP on Thursday distributed free ration hereat Bodha. While shops providing essential items like gro-ceries and medical stores have been allowed to remainopen amid lockdown in Bhaderwah free ration was distrib-uted among people of 60 villagers of Bodha.

"We started distributing rice, pulses and wheat amongthe needy. The poor amid lockdown deserve help and weare trying to reach out to maximum masses," BJP NationalExecutive member, Manjeet Razdan said.

He said on the direction of national President, UTPresident and former MLA, Daleep Singh Parihar theyhave distributed ration among people and shall continue todistribute in coming days.

Sanjay Saraf , Yoginder Razdan, Ankit Gupta,Sarpanchs and Panchs of the Bodha village were also pres-ent during the distribution.

BJP distributes freeration in Bhaderwah

Helping Hand: BJP National Executive member ManjeetRazdan distributing free ration among Bodha villagers inBhaderwah on Thursday. GJ PHOTO

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26:Welcoming the country-wide lockdown announcedby the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, BJPGeneral Secretary, MahilaMorcha, Jammu West,Reema Padha on Thursdaysaid that staying home isthe only medicine to fightdeadly Corona Virus pan-demic.

"Prevention is betterthan cure and lockdown isthe best option to preventCorona Virus from spread-ing it further," Reema saidhere in a statement.

Lauding the PrimeMinister for taking bestremedial measure, she fur-ther added, "people need to

understand that the less wesocialise at this juncture,more safer we are and byimplementing social dis-tancing, staying home andfollowing guidelines issuedby the government fromtime to time, we can fightagainst the pandemic."

"Yes, united we standbut this time not with our

physical presence but bystaying in our homes, sup-porting the cause," she saidand appealed to the peopleto stand by everyone, forself, people of the countrybecause this war cannot bewon alone.

"Every bad phase passeson and this shall also passbut all we need to do is tostay calm, not panic andtake care of everyone byfollowing all precautions,"she appealed and said thatthe decisions taken by theCentre Government underthe leadership of the PrimeMinister Narendra Modiare in the interest and wel-fare of the society andevery citizen of the coun-try.

Staying home is the only medicineto fight COVID19: BJP leader

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26: NPPChief Patron, Prof. BhimSingh on Thursday urgedupon the President ofIndia, Ramnath Kovindto direct the Lt. GovernorJ&K, Girish ChandraMurmu to release allthose political activists.

Prof. Bhim Singh hasalso urged the SupremeCourt to pay appropriatecompensation to all thepolitical and socialactivists who wereunconstitutional, illegallylocked in detention byJ&K administration.

Prof. Bhim Singh alsourged the President todirect the LG to restore

high spped internet inJammu & Kashmir. "2Gdoes not provide fullinternet facilities and itamounts to discrimina-tion under Article 21 ofthe Indian Constitution tothe Indian citizens inJ&K."

He advised thePresident to grant specialleave from jails to thoselife prisoners who havecompleted more than 14years inside jails.

He argued that underthe present situation andcircumstances created byNature, the Indian Lawsneed to be amended andliberalized to fit in therule of law.

GJ REPORTRAJOURI, MAR 26: Inorder to take a firsthandappraisal of availability ofessential commodities intown and to check thecomplaints of overcharg-ing by some traders, ateam of district adminis-tration on Thursday visitedthe old town. The teamalso reviewed the imple-mentation of the restric-tion.

Team was headed byDistrict Magistrate,Mohammad Nazir Sheikhalongwith SeniorSuperintendent of Police,Chandan Kohli, AdditionalSuperintendent of PoliceLiaqat Choudhary, DistrictPanchayat Officer Abdul

Khabir, besides other sen-ior officers.

The officers interactedwith the traders running

their business establish-ments of essential com-modities and asked themto display a rate list infront of shops so that cus-tomers can be fully clearabout the price of com-modities.

The traders were direct-ed to ensure customersmaintain necessary socialdistance, avoid any kind ofgathering and said that

maintaining social dis-tance can largely help tocombat the virus.

The DM appealed to thepeople to cooperate withadministration and followthe 21 day nationwidelockdown announced bythe Prime Minister reli-giously by staying athome, maintaining socialdistancing and not ventur-ing out on roads andstreets.

Later, the DM also vis-ited Manjakote andreviewed the arrangementsbeing put in place for theQuarantine centers estab-lished there.

DM visits town, inspects availability of commodities,reviews restriction implementation

COVID-19

Army distributespamphlets to Gujjars,Bakarwals in Jammu

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26:Army's efforts to fightagainst Covid-19 havegained momentum in theregion considering the sen-sitive phase of thePandemic as pamphlets inbilingual language givingout vital information tocounter Covid-19 were dis-tributed on Thursdayamong Gujjar andBakarwal communitieshere at Rakhmuthi andDevipur villages.

GJ REPORTRAJOURI, MAR 26: Theoutbreak of Covid-19 hasnecessitated stringent meas-ures to contain its widespreadamongst the local populace.Working towards a commongoal of 'Jawan aur Awam,Karein Corona Tamaam',Army on Thursday took theinitiative and provided med-ical care at far flung andremote villages.

The medical care was pro-vided to people who do nothave access to any type ofMedical assistance.

The locals highly appreci-ated the effort and expressedtheir heartfelt gratitude toIndian Army.

Pujaris to perform traditional rituals, prayers,Aarti in Temples on Navratras: Dharmarth Trust

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26: J&K Dharmarth Trust on Thursdayconveyed greetings to people of the Union Territory ofJammu and Kashmir on the auspicious occasion ofNavratras and prayed for their well being and prosperity.

In a statement issued, Dharmarth Trust Trustees haveexpressed hope and prayed that the festival would becomethe harbinger of harmony, brotherhood, amity, peace,progress and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir.

Taking appropriate action on account of in view of thegravity of the situation arising out of the global outbreak ofCOVID-19, Dharmarth Trust J&K has ordered closure ofall the temples and shrines for visitors till lockdown is inforce, the statement read. However, the management andPujaris shall continue with the traditional rituals, prayersand Aarti of the Deities at the temples coming under therealms of Dharmarth Trust", the Trustees said and addedthat Dharmarth Trust has taken proactive steps to ensureimplementation of preventive measures as per the admin-istration to contain the effect of Covid-19 outbreak.

They have also appealed to the general public, devoteesand employees of the Dharmarth Trust to strictly followguidelines issued by the authorities including social dis-tancing and hygiene practices.

Reasi administrationestablishes control centreGJ REPORTREASI, MAR 26: District Administrationon Thursday established a dedicatedadministrative control centre for clarifica-tions of public queries related to Curfewpermissions and issues related to essentialservices.

Essential services like electricity, waterand ration and any similar miscellaneousquery would also be clarified. The public isrequested to stick to only administrativepurpose on these numbers.

It was informed that the people can posttheir queries on WhatsApp numbers of theAdministrative Control Centre via9419839552, 9419839553 and9419839557.

Queries regarding Coronavirus can bemade on already established ControlRooms. Their numbers are 01991 245669,01991 245770 and 01991 232127.

NPP demands release toPSA detainees, restoration

of 4G in J&K

COVID-19Army provides medical care in Rajouri

A resident being screened by a Army doctor in Rajouri on Thursday. GJ Photo

COVID-19

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26: The NorthernCommand of the Army has asked its troopsreturning from leave or outstation duties toreport directly to the screening centres estab-lished at various transit camps in Jammu andKashmir as part of its efforts to check thespread of coronavirus, an official said onThursday.

He said after the medical screening thetroops are being quarantined for 14 days inisolation rooms established in the units.

The Indian Army's efforts in the fightagainst COVID-19 have gained momentumin the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh,PRO of northern command Lt Col AbhinavNavneet said.

A number of measures are being taken bythe Army to prevent the epidemic amongstits personnel so that they are available to dotheir primary task and to support people inthe fight against coronavirus, he said.

"Troops returning from leave or out sta-tion duties directly report to the screeningcentres established at various transit camps,"the PRO said.

To maintain social distancing, distancebetween beds in the barracks has beenincreased, to avoid crowding in dining hallsmeals are served at staggered timings andadequate hand washing points are in place,he said.

The PRO added that at the unit level, adynamic and judicious approach has beenadopted by all ranks of the Indian Army tocontribute to the efforts being made againstcoronavirus under its new mission 'CoronaMukt Awam' or coronavirus-free population.

The slogan "I will neither get infected

nor will I infect others" is being "aggressive-ly followed" by Army personnel, he said.

"Surveillance and control measures havebeen put in place and a number of innovativeawareness programmes are being run by thefield formations and units for the benefit ofthe populace, particularly in rural areas.Advisories by medical specialists on identi-fication of and precautions against fomiteshas been issued to all in text and audio visu-al formats," Lt Col Navneet said.

He said Army personnel are being moti-vated to share the information with theirfamilies, friends and civilians in the areas oftheir deployment.

A total of 17 helplines in the two UTs ofLadakh & J&K for the public have beenestablished by the troops of NorthernCommand.

The Mobile Vehicle Check Posts that areusually deployed for Counter Terrorist oper-ations are innovatively educating the popu-lace on COVID-19 by way of audio broad-casts through loudspeakers and hailers, hesaid.

Multiple advisories on social mediaincluding Audio Video Content have beenposted using the Twitter handle of NorthernCommand and the same can be accessed bythe public.

"The Army as an organization is proac-tively taking all measures. Drills have beenset in. Should there be a situation to extendfacilities to the civil administration, medicalpersonnel and units are building their capac-ities, non-medical personnel are being taughtto actively contribute to the care of patientsand effort is on to enhance equipment hold-ings," the personnel said.

Councilor Poyen, Mohammad Amin handing over chequeof Rs. 30,000 to Deputy Commissioner Baseer-Ul-HaqChoudhary in Kargil on Thursday.

Troops returning from leave, outstation dutiesto report to screening centres: Army

C M Y K

|| GREATER JAMMU ||JAMMU, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020 ||GJ LEGAL/BUSINESS 9

CMYK

Dinesh Singh Chauhan, AdvocateHigh Court of Judicature, Jammu.

In continuation....

While the SC keeps documents andinformation in a sealed cover closeto its chest and bases its decision on

it (as in the case of children detained in Kashmir)it has disapproved the High Court for followingsuit. Information contained in a sealed cover wasused by the Delhi High Court to keep a formerCabinet Minister Dr. Farooq Abduallah and pres-ent Member of Parliament in detention. The SCsaid:

"….. in present circumstance we were notvery much inclined to open the sealed coveralthough the materials in sealed cover wasreceived from the respondent. However, sincethe Learned Single Judge of the High Court hadperused the documents in sealed cover andarrived at certain conclusion and since that orderis under challenge, it had become imperative forus to also open the sealed cover and peruse thecontents so as to satisfy ourselves to that extent.On perusal we have taken note that ……. Exceptfor recording the same, we do not wish to advertto the documents any further since ultimately,these are allegations which would have to beestablished in the trial wherein the accused/co-accused would have the opportunity of puttingforth their case, if any, and an ultimate conclu-sion would be reached. Hence in our opinion, thefinding recorded by the Learned Judge of theHigh Court based on the material in sealed coveris not justified." (emphasis added)

The Ayodhya Judgment is a watershed for adifferent kind of secrecy. Perhaps for the firsttime, the specific author (s) of a Judgment hasnot been disclosed. This is truly amazing. Ofcourse, the Judgment was unanimous, but then,why was there an addendum? Who authored theaddendum? Only five people know the truth - thesame number of people apocryphally believed toknow the secret formula of Coca Cola.

A trend has been set and we have to wait andwatch how far it goes.

2. Prioritising HearingsThe SC also set an avoidable precedent in the

hearing and prioritising of cases, particularlyPublic Interest Litigations.

The twin requirements that a PIL litigant mustcross are: (i) show that he/she is a bona fide PILPetitioner and (ii) the cause is being canvassed inPublic Interest. It is for the Court to take a deci-sion on these threshold requirements. If thethreshold is crossed on both counts, the Courttakes over the conduct of the case till its logicalend - no conditions can, should, or are attached.Of course, if the Court finds that even one of therequirements is not met, it will dismiss thePetition.

The PIL Petitioner usually assists the Court,but even if he/she does not or creates a hurdle,the PIL Petitioner can be replaced. This is pre-cisely what transpired in a PIL on filed by SheelaBarse who did not want to assist the Court aftera particular stage, but petitioned for permissionto withdraw her PIL. The Court did not grant herprayer, but substituted her with a legal aid body.Similarly and more recently, Harsh Mander wasreplaced by an amicus curiae when the Court

disallowed him from canvassing the cause ofdetenus in the detention centres in Assam, acause in Public Interest. In other words, thePublic Interest cause is more important than thePetitioner.

Contrast this with the view expressed by theSC in a PIL pertaining to police atrocities againststudents protesting against the Citizenship(Amendment) Act. The Court 'declined' to heartill the violence stops. What was the basis onwhich the Court concluded that the Petitioners orthe victims of police atrocities were responsiblefor the violence, or that they were powerfulenough to stop it? Is it not possible to assume,conversely, that the violence would have beenhalted, by whoever was unleashing it, if the Statehad issued a statement that it will not implementthe law for a few months? Perhaps that possibil-ity was not considered and instead the citizenswere put on the mat. Assuming the PILPetitioners were guilty of the violence, theycould have been immediately substituted, fol-lowing past precedent, by an amicus curiae andthe hearing in the Petition - that was clearly filedin Public Interest - could have proceeded.

Placing pre-conditions on hearing mattersinvolving Public Interest is clearly inappropriate,particularly since most of such cases relate toissues concerning the depressed, underprivilegedor disadvantaged sections of society. Again, thecause and not the person is important.

The absence of any urgency shown by theCourts in hearing cases concerning human rightshas emboldened the executive, who now knowthat when such issues are raised, they can take iteasy and even keep a person in custody ontrumped up charges at least for a couple of days,if not longer. A few days in custody, is enough toshake up an innocent person. And so, cases ofnon-existent sedition are filed for keeping per-sons in detention till he or she learns the lessonthat it is better to keep shut. The sedition casefiled against a teacher and the mother of an 11year old girl for staging a play in Karnataka is aclassic example of high-handedness in restrict-ing personal liberty and getting away with it. Areport published in the Hindustan Times inFebruary notes that a total of 156 cases of sedi-tion were filed between 2016 and 2018. BetweenDecember 11, 2019 and mid-February this year,at least 194 sedition cases have been filed - withmany 'accused' perhaps not being granted bail.Such cases instil fear, and the Courts being sen-tinels on the qui vive must give confidence to thepeople that they are always available to protecttheir right to freely express their view, even if itis anti-establishment.

3. Appointment of JudgesThe third unfortunate development is the suc-

cessful flexing of muscles by the Government inmatters of transfer of Judges and their appoint-ment.

The 'transfer' of Justice Akil Kureshi fromMadhya Pradesh, where he was recommended,for appointment as Chief Justice to Tripura iswell known, though the reasons are not.Similarly, the 'transfer' of Justice Vikram Nathfrom Andhra Pradesh, where, he was recom-mended for appointment as Chief Justice, toGujarat is equally inexplicable.

Much has been written about the almost mid-night transfer of Justice S. Muralidhar from theDelhi High Court to Punjab & Haryana HighCourt. Despite what anybody may say, it wasanything but routine - nobody gets transferred atan unearthly hour and also without any 'joiningtime', least of all a constitutional authority. TheSC has maintained a studied silence at this treat-ment, which by the way, has recently beenrepeated, making it perhaps a new normal.

The appointment of Judges has been anequally tragic story. Recommendations are beingprocessed at a snail's pace - no urgency, despitehuge arrears. At last count, more than 200 rec-ommendations were pending at various stagesand levels. Worse, some recommendationsapproved by the SC Collegium have been

returned for reconsideration by the Governmentwithout adequate reason. Some of these recom-mendations have been reiterated by theCollegium, but no warrant of appointment hasyet been issued - the fate of these potentialJudges hangs on a weighted balance. To makematters worse, there is at least one recommenda-tion that has been twice reiterated, but not yetacted upon - with the Courts doing nothing aboutit.

So, Chief Justice recommendees have been atthe receiving end as well as Judges and potentialJudges. Judges recommended for appointment tothe SC have been at the receiving end, with along wait for appointment. Two well-knowninstances are of Justice K. M. Joseph and JusticeIndu Malhotra. Where will this stop?

These and similar instances have led to thefeeling among many that over the last couple ofyears, the Court has been 'executivised'. This is apolite suggestion that the Independence of theJudiciary is in danger, through self-inflictedwounds and some inflicted by the executive.And now suddenly comes the news that a recent-ly retired Chief Justice of India having beennominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Presidentof India on the aid and advice of the Council ofMinisters. How does the acceptance of the nom-ination impact on the Independence of theJudiciary? What is the message sent out, keep-ing in mind the events of the last couple years?

From Supreme Court to Rajya SabhaFor a CJI, whose tenure was marred by and

mired in controversies of all three categoriesmentioned above and whose tenure strengthenedthe perception (beginning with the tenure of hispredecessor) that the Judiciary could not take onthe Government on crucial issues, it was unwiseto have accepted the offer. It is well known thatthe Judiciary is the weakest of the three pillars ofdemocracy for it neither has influence over thesword or the purse. How then does it have itsdecisions and directions enforced - both judicialas well as administrative? If the Judiciary com-mands moral authority, and has the trust and con-fidence of the people, then the power andstrength generated by that perception is enoughto pressure the executive to obey the orders anddirections of the Court.

By accepting an offer not commensurate withthe dignity of the Office held a few months ear-lier, the former CJI has led many to believe thathe has been rewarded by the Government, thebiggest litigant, for doing their bidding when itmattered. This may or may not be true, but thatis the perception.

It may also not be a quid pro quo (as somewould have it) or a favour for favour for somedecisions (not necessarily Judgments). It couldwell be for staving off embarrassment in anadministrative or judicial issue or playing ballthrough silence or failure to put one's foot downon an administrative issue or appointment ortransfer of a Judge (s) - who knows? His accept-ance of the nomination, and the criticism this hasnaturally generated, has considerably diminishedthe moral stature of the Judiciary and therebycollaterally impacted on its Independence ofJudiciary. Public perception is important and ithas been rendered totally irrelevant, thereby tak-ing away one of the strengths of the Judiciary.

Whataboutery does not redeem the situation.No one has publicly applauded the earlier elec-tion to the Rajya Sabha of Justice RanganathMisra or Justice Baharul Islam or the appoint-ment of Justice Sathasivam as the Governor ofKerala in 2014. How then can anyone make useof these precedents to justify the nomination ofthe recently retired Chief Justice of India to theRajya Sabha? If the precedents were wrong, thepresent nomination is wrong; if the precedentsare acceptable, there is nothing to be disillu-sioned with the present nomination - and theIndependence of the Judiciary be damned.

chauhanjmu@gmail.comdschau08@yahoo.com

Nomination of former CJI Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha Sounds Warning Signals for Judicial IndependenceGJ REPORT

JAMMU, MAR 26: Inview declaration of lockdown of 21 days by theGovernment of India andthe closure of theGovernment offices by theGovernment of UnionTerritory of Jammu andKashmir, Chief Justice J&KHigh Court Gita Mittal onThursday ordered thataccess to all the Court com-plexes of the UnionTerritories of Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh,including the High Courtcomplexes at Srinagar andJammu shall remain closedduring the period of thelockdown till April 14.

According to the circularissued by Registrar General

Sanjay Dhar, the JudicialOfficers, the Officers andstaff of the registry and thestaff of the District Courtsshall remain available at alltimes at their respective res-idences to deal with anybusiness of emergentnature. Any urgent businessshall be transacted on thevirtual mode," the circularreads.

The officers and thestaff, it said, shall strictlyfollow the advisories andinstructions regarding pre-vention of spread of CoronaVirus (Covid19) infectionissued by the Governmentfrom time to time.

The Principal Districtand Sessions Judges havebeen asked to make

arrangements for hearing ofany exceptionally urgentCivil or Criminal mattersfrom the residence of theJudicial Officers who shallbe designated by the con-cerned District andSessions Judge for the pur-pose, the circular reads.

It is further directed that"Hearings shall be on thevirtual mode only".

Chief Justice, as per thecircular, has also directedthat all orders and instruc-tions of the Government ofIndia and Government ofUnion Territory of Jammuand Kashmir regardingsocial distancing, restric-tions, precautions, quaran-tine, isolation etc shall bestrictly complied with.

LUB hails FMfor announcingrelief package

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26: LaghuUdhyog Bharti (LUB) J&Khas hailed the UnionFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman and MoSAnurag Thakur for extend-ing a huge relief package forthe poor citizens of ourcountry.

General Secretary LaghuUdhyog Bharti, ParveenGupta said that theannouncement of reliefpackage at this time wheneveryone is fighting for theirsurvival is a welcome andappreciable step and thismove indicates the intentionof the government under thekind, able and dynamic lead-ership of our Prime MinisterNarender Modi. He addedthat we request and expect asimilar type of package forMSME Sector as well,which is also in distress andis struggling hard for its sur-vival. He also appealed topublic to take precautionsand follow the guidelinesannounced by theGovernment and health careservice providers for thesafety of all and fight againstCOVID 19.

COVID-19: J&K HC closesduring national lockdown

GJ REPORTBANDIPORA, MAR 26:On the directions of DistrictMagistrate Bandipora, theBandipora Police registeredan FIR against the peopleviolating restriction ordersissued by the DistrictMagistrate Bandipora in thedistrict, here today.

Deputy Commissioner,Bandipora, ShahbazAhmad Mirza, said that alarge number of people hadgathered outside an ATM atPazalpora Chowk violatingthe restriction ordersimposed under section 144risking the lives of othersamid corona virus pandem-ic.

An open FIR No07/2020 under Section 188and 269 IPC has been regis-tered at Police StationPethkoot against theunknown persons who vio-lated the restriction ordersand enquiry has been initi-ated.

DC Bandipora said that

the Police is investigatingthe matter and shall identifythe culprits soon by assess-ing the CCTV footage ofthe area. He said the peopleviolating restriction ordersshall be strictly dealt with.

Appealing people to stayindoors for their own safe-ty, Mirza said that the chainof this pandemic can bebroken by staying indoors.

He asked the people tocooperate with the adminis-tration and ensure strictadherence to the order. Hesaid violation of the orderwould constitute criminaloffence and attract strictaction under Section 188 ofIPC.

He said the districtadministration has put inplace a mechanism toensure uninterrupted sup-plies and deliveries ofessential services to thegeneral public of the dis-trict and will be home-delivered to residents aspart of this mechanism.

FIR registered againstpeople violating

restriction orders

GJ REPORTPULWAMA MAR 26:Prosecution proceedingshave been initiated againstPrincipal Degree CollegeTral for violating orders ofDistrict Administration andfor not providing the requi-site equipment includingLPG Gas Heaters, Electricheaters, Generator Sets,Computer Systems for thenewly established quaran-tine facilities.

Action has been initiatedunder section 51(1) ofDisaster Management Act2005 against the official forhis failure to perform dutiesassigned to him and forobstructing the governmentfunctionaries in dischargingtheir duties.

Moreover, Section 188IPC has also been invokedin this regard.

Earlier terminationnotices were issued to two

employees of DistrictTuberculosis Centre whowere found absent whileDistrict Magistrate wasinspecting the Covid-19preparations at the centre.

District Magistrate reit-erated that any laxity on thepart of government func-tionaries involved in dis-charging duties related toCOVID-19 shall be dealt asper Disaster ManagementAct 2005 and relevantpenal provisions. Headvised the Governmentemployees to be proactiveand make extra effort in thetimes of COVID-19.

NEW DELHI, MAR 26: Congress Member of ParliamentRahul Gandhi on Thursday (March 26, 2020) lauded theNarendra Modi government for announcing the Rs 1.7 lakhcrore financial package to protect the weaker sections ofthe society from the economic fallout of deadly coron-avirus COVID-19, which has claimed the lives of over21,000 people across the globe.

The Congress MP took to Twitter and said that saysCentre's announcement on financial package is the firststep in right direction.

"The Govt announcement today of a financial assis-tance package, is the first step in the right direction. Indiaowes a debt to its farmers, daily wage earners, labourers,women & the elderly who are bearing the brunt of theongoing lockdown," he tweeted.

The Govt announcement today of a financial assistancepackage, is the first step in the right direction. India owesa debt to its farmers, daily wage earners, labourers, women& the elderly who are bearing the brunt of the ongoinglockdown. The remarks from the Gandhi came shortlyafter Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced themassive economic stimulus to help poor tide over the cri-sis triggered by the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Rahul's party has been demanding an economic pack-age in view of the coronavirus spread and the subsequentlockdown. On Thursday, party interim president SoniaGandhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modidemanding the implementation of its proposed Nyayscheme and aid for the health workers.

Announcing the relief package, FM NirmalaSitharaman said, ''A package is ready for the poor whoneed immediate help like migrant workers and urban andrural poor. No one will go hungry. The package is worthRs. 1.7 lakh crore.'' The Rs. 1,70,000-crore scheme,dubbed the "Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan scheme" will"address the concerns of poor, migrant workers and thosewho need help", she said.

Prosecution initiated against Principal of Degree College, termination notices

issued to two Health functionaries

Rahul Gandhi hails Govt, saysCentre's financial package is

first step in right direction Vinod Cookware introduces burnfree cooking for Indian Kitchens

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26: Revolutionizing theTraditional Indian Kitchen with the advent of thelatest technology, Vinod Cookware announcedextension to its range of TriPly Platinum Series,with Platinum Frypan. The Platinum Fry Pan is tar-geted among the Premium Masses, in India whobelieve in Healthy Cooking.

The Platinum Frypan is a must-have product forevery homemaker and chef. Breaking the Indianstereotype, the cookware, allows burn free experi-ence in stainless steel. The Frypan comes in 3 lay-ers i.e. Stainless Steel - Aluminium - Stainlesssteel and is in line with its "Triply PlatinumSeries". The inner layer is 18/8 food-grade whichhelps in maintaining hygiene and enables contami-nation free cooking. The second layer is made ofaluminium it helps even distribution of heat foreven and burn-free cooking. The third layer ismade up of magnetic stainless steel 430 whichmakes the Frypan induction friendly along with theusage of Gas & Stove. It is manufactured with thehighest grade 304 stainless steel that lasts a lifetimerendering it to be rust free.

Ergonomically designed, the Frypan comes withlong handles & a firm grip. Having its last layer ofMagnetic SS 430 it is compatible with all stovetypes and it's safe even when cleaned in aDishwasher. Recommended by Top Chefs andFood Bloggers in India, the range is available onAmazon at Rs. 1500/- onwards with a warrantyperiod of 60 months.

Sensex surges over 700 pts;Nifty tops 8,400 level

MUMBAI, MAR 26: Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over700 points in opening session on Thursday led by gains inHDFC twins, Infosys, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank amid mixedglobal cues.

The 30-share BSE barometer was trading 713.76 points or2.30 per cent higher at 29,249.54.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty was up 167.95 points, or 2.02 percent, at 8,485.80.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rally-ing up to 20 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, ICICIBank, HDFC and Bajaj Finance. On the other hand, ITC, Marutiand ONGC were the top losers.

In the previous session, the BSE gauge Sensex shot up1,861.75 points or 6.98 per cent to settle at 28,535.78, and theNSE barometer Nifty spurted 516.80 points or 6.62 per cent toend at 8,317.85 the biggest single-day gain for the indices.

According to traders, investors are weighing the economicimpact of the 21-day lockdown in the country.

All eyes are Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's econom-ic package to cushion the economic impact of the lockdown tocurb the spread of Covid-19, expected to be announced shortly,they said.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul weretrading on a mixed note.

Stocks on Wall Street ended with firm gains in overnighttrade.

Incessant foreign fund outflow also kept domestic marketparticipants risk-averse, traders said.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers inthe capital market, as they sold equity shares worth Rs 1,893.36crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.51 percent to USD 27.25 per barrel. (PTI)

HONG KONG, MAR 26:Asian markets mostly roseor clawed back early lossesThursday as investorsbreathed a sigh of relief thatUS senators have finallypassed a gargantuan stimu-lus package for the world'stop economy after beingdelayed by wrangling overdetails.

The unprecedented USD2 trillion plan - described bySenate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell as a"wartime level of invest-ment" - helped spur a surgeacross global equities aspanicked traders worriedabout the impact of the coro-navirus sweeping the planet.

But another advance onWall Street was bluntedWednesday as it emergedthat four Republican sena-tors have baulked at the gen-erous provisions agreed to inthe bipartisan deal with theWhite House.

However, the bill eventu-ally cleared the Senate by anoverwhelming majority andwill now head to the House

of Representatives beforegoing to President DonaldTrump for his signature.

The monster dealthrashed out betweenRepublicans, Democrats andthe White House includescash payments to Americantaxpayers and several hun-dred billion dollars in grantsand loans to small business-es and core industries. Italso buttresses hospitals des-perately in need of medicalequipment and expandsunemployment benefits.

The plan, together with ahuge bond-buying pro-gramme by the FederalReserve that effectivelyprints cash, is part of anunprecedented globalresponse to the outbreak,which has even seenGermany put together a listof measures worth morethan USD 1 trillion.

The emergence of uncer-tainty, however, weighed onAsian investors at the startof the day, while profit-tak-ing following the recentrally also played a part.

Asia markets mixed as USlawmakers debate stimulus

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NEW DELHI, MAR 26:Star Indian batsman RohitSharma is holed up in hisapartment like everybodyelse due to the three-weeklockdown that wasdeclared in the country onTuesday as it grapples withthe coronavirus outbreak.Rohit said that he is mak-ing do with running up anddown the stairs of hisbuilding to stay fit. “Itsvery hard actually (to stayfit),” said Rohit in a liveinteraction on Instagramwith former England cap-tain Kevin Pietersen.

“I live in a buildingwhich has about 54 floorsand we had to stop all theindoor and outdoor activi-ties. So just been runningup and down the stairs. Not54 floors but about two orthree floors up and downand doing some condition-ing exercises here andthere.”

Rohit had been recover-

ing -- from a calf injurywhich he sustained duringthe fifth T20I betweenIndia and New Zealand --at the National CricketAcademy (NCA) in

Bengaluru before it wasshut down due to thespread of the pandemic. Hehowever said that he iscompletely fit now,although he is yet to do anofficial fitness test becausethe NCA is not working.

He said that he has beenitching to play the gameagain after spending two

months on the sidelines andwas looking forward to theIPL. “Definitely miss play-ing the game. I was injuredfor two months so havebeen itching to play. When Igot the news that every-thing was going to be post-poned I was very sad. I wasreally looking forward toplaying in the IPL,” he said.

Rohit’s Mumbai Indianswere scheduled to hostChennai Super Kings in thefirst match of the 2020 sea-son of the IPL on March 29at the Wankhede Stadiumbut the start to the seasonhas been deferred to April15 due to the coronavirusoutbreak.

“Regardless of all that,the safety of the countryand the whole world isimportant. And I can seethat there is a lot of disci-pline in the country. InIndia I can see that peoplehave been disciplined inthe lockdown,” he said.

Was really itching to get back toplaying cricket: Rohit Sharma

Wimbledon fateto be decided

next weekLONDON, MAR 26: TheAll England Club says it isstill evaluating whether topostpone or cancelWimbledon because of thecoronavirus pandemic andplans to make a decisionnext week.

That’s when the club’smain board is scheduled tohold an emergency meet-ing.

Main-draw play atWimbledon is slated tostart on June 29 and prepa-rations for the tournamentare supposed to begin inlate April.

The club’s statementWednesday says that post-poning the two-week grass-court tournament wouldnot come “without signifi-cant risk and difficulty”because of the surface.

Playing without fans hasbeen ruled out. Wimbledonhasn’t been cancelled sinceWorld War II.

NEW DELHI, MAR 26:BCCI should not “wait for-ever” to start the women’sIPL, said India women’sODI captain Mithali Raj,urging the board to make ithappen next year on asmaller scale before gradu-ally developing it.

“I personally feel theyshould start a women’s IPLby next year, even if it’s ona slightly smaller scale andwith some changes in rules,such as, say, have five to sixforeign players in the firstedition instead of four as isthe case with the men’sIPL,” Raj told‘ESPNCricinfo’

After India lost the T20World Cup in the finals ear-lier this month, formerskipper Sunil Gavaskar hadcalled for a full-fledgedwomen’s IPL from nextyear to unearth talent.

In 2019, a three-teamwomen’s tournament washeld featuring sides called

IPL Velocity, IPLTrailblazers and IPLSupernovas.

This year, the BCCI haddecided to organise a four-team women’s T20 chal-lenge to run parallel to themen’s IPL playoffs, butnow it has been put on holdalong with the main eventdue to the COVID-19 pan-demic.

India don’t have enoughwomen cricketers for a full-fledged IPL but Raj said itcan still be conducted if

existing IPL franchises ownteams to begin the process.

“I agree we don’t havethe depth in the domesticpool yet, but the key is toget the existing franchisesto form teams, even if(only) five or six of themare keen to begin theprocess because in anycase, the BCCI was goingto have four teams,” shesaid.

“You cannot wait forev-er; you have to begin atsome point, and gradually,

year by year, you can keepevolving the league andthen bring it down to fourforeign players.”

Raj also said that teensensation Shafali Verma,who impressed with the batin the T20 World Cup,should be included in theODIs too.

“It’s not a bad idea toconsider her for the ODIs.She is young but thatshould not be a criterion fornot giving her opportunitiesin the ODI side,” she said.

Mithali Raj wants women’s IPL next year,says BCCI shouldn’t wait forever

Spanish MotoGPpostponed dueto coronavirus

PARIS, MAR 26: TheSpanish MotoGP due to bestaged on May 3 hasbecome the latest sportingcasualty of the coronaviruspandemic.

“The ongoing coron-avirus outbreak has obligedthe event to be resched-uled,” organisersannounced on Thursday.

“As the situationremains in a state of con-stant evolution, a new datefor the Spanish GP cannotbe confirmed until itbecomes clearer whenexactly it will be possible tohold the event,” a statementadded. The postponementof the race at the Jerez cir-cuit follows the cancella-tion of the elite categoryseason-opening MotoGP inQatar. The next three legsof the 2020 calendar inThailand, Texas andArgentina have also beenput on ice, with Dorna, theseries promoter, hoping torun them in the second halfof a truncated season.

Dorna has already said itwill push back the end ofthe season two weeks to 29November.

“A revised calendar willbe published as soon asavailable,” Thursday’sstatement from the promot-er and FIM, motor cycling’sruling body, added.

NEW DELHI, MAR 26:First-class legend WasimJaffer could be in line tobecome the new coach ofthe Vidarbha cricket team.

Jaffer had called an end tohis 24-year career as aprofessional cricketer onMarch 7.

He had spent the lastfew years of his careerwith Vidarbha undercoach Chandrakant Panditand the pair led the teamto Ranji Trophy and Irani

Trophy titles in 2017/18and 2018/19.

Sources say that Pandit,who left Vidarbha tocoach Madhya Pradesh,could be replaced byJaffer in the position con-sidering the rapport heshares with the playersand the administration.

“Wasim Jaffer couldtake Pandit’s place. Hesaid recently after retiringthat he is intending to getinto coaching so he canvery well start his careerwith Vidarbha.

“For now there is noofficial work being doneat the VCA (VidarbhaCricket Academy) butJaffer has a good reputa-tion among the playersand those in the adminis-tration and so this possi-bility cannot be ruledout,” the source said.

Jaffer himself said that

he is yet to get any com-munication on the matter.“If I get any communica-tion on this from themthen certainly I will con-sider it. But for now Ihaven’t received any-thing,” he said.

VCA President AnandJaiswal said that discus-sions are still on and adecision is yet to be madeon who will take up therole.

“Nothing is final yetand because of the coron-avirus situation we can’tconduct any meetings. Ican’t comment on who isbeing considered or ruledout, these are matters thatcan be decided after con-sultation with all officials,the cricket developmentcommittee. We can talkabout all this only whenthe situation improves,”Jaiswal said.

NEW DELHI, MAR 26:Seasoned Saurashtra bats-man Sheldon Jackson hasreaped big benefits ofbecoming a ‘six-pack’ crick-eter this Ranji Trophy seasonand says the inspiration camefrom national team captainVirat Kohli, someone whohas redefined fitness inIndian cricket. The 33-year-old Jackson amassed 800plus runs for the second yearin a row to help Saurashtrawin their maiden RanjiTrophy after three failedattempts. Jackson was one ofthe architects of the triumph

with 809 runs at 50.56. TheBhavnagar-born batsmanfeels the effort that he putinto improving his fitnessover the past 12 monthsplayed a massive role in hisconsistent run this season.

“It was actually the Viratstory that inspired me. Withthe exemplary skills that hehas, if he still thought heneeded to get fitter then weare nothing in front of him,”said Jackson, who sawKohli’s fitness regimen fromclose quarters during his stintwith the RCB back in 2013.By his own admission,Jackson was very “raw” in2013 but six seasons later, hehas gone on to becomeSaurashtra’s main batsman inall formats. In fact, theJaydev Unadkat-led side wasa well-oiled machine thisseason with both star andlesser-known players pro-ducing match-winning per-formances.

NEW DELHI, MAR 26: The International CricketCouncil (ICC) said on Thursday that all qualifying eventsfor the 2021 Twenty20 World Cup and 50-overs version in2023 that were scheduled to be held before June 30 havebeen postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The flu-like virus has infected more than 470,800 peo-ple around the world and killed over 21,200, according toa Reuters tally, since appearing in China at the end of lastyear.

The pandemic has also brought global sport to a stand-still and the ICC said in a statement the World Cup quali-fiers would also be impacted.

“In light of the significant global health concerns at thecurrent time and the restrictions on movement imposed bygovernments across the world, the ICC has taken the deci-sion to postpone all events up until the end of June subjectto further review,” Chris Tetley, ICC head of events, said.

“Work will continue on contingency plans and optionsfor both men’s qualification pathways. We will provideupdates in due course on these plans and decisions on thestaging of the remaining events this year.”

India host next year’s T20 World Cup and the 50-oversevent in 2023. As many as eight events will now be post-poned due to the ICC decision.

This year’s women’s T20 World Cup was held inFebruary-March in Australia, which will also host themen’s version starting in October. The World Cup trophytour for the men’s event, which was scheduled to start nextmonth, was also postponed.

MADRID, MAR 26: “I’mjust doing my bit,” saysIragartze Fernandez, thepart-time referee turned full-time nurse who has swappedthe whistle for a face-maskin the hope of helping Spaincombat the deadly coron-avirus.

The 26-year-old, whoofficiates matches in La LigaIberdrola, the top tier of thewomen’s game, andSegunda B, the third tier ofthe men’s, has been practis-ing as a nurse for five yearsat the Rekalde Health Centrein Bilbao.

But as the relentlessspread of the virus hasstretched Spain’s hospitals tobreaking point, IragartzeFernandez has made hermedical role full-time to helpmanage the rush of patients.

“When someone arriveswith a cough and a fever, myjob is to analyse their symp-toms, while wearing full pro-

tective equipment,” she toldAFP.

“The risk of us transmit-ting the disease is highbecause we are constantlyliving next to it. That’s avery stressful experiencebecause you’re always fight-ing against something youcan’t see. You’re alwaysplaying at a disadvantage.”

Spain now has the secondmost deaths of any countryin the world, behind onlyItaly, with more than 4,000lives taken by the pandemic,according to the latest fig-ures on Thursday.

Football has stepped for-ward, as coaches, playersand fans have raised millionsto boost the effort whileclubs have offered up theirfirst-class facilities in a bidto ease the strain.

Yet Iragartze Fernandezis among the few from thesport to take her place on thefight’s frontline.

“I’m not Superwoman oranything like that,” IragartzeFernandez says. “I’m justdoing my bit, like everyoneelse.”

Spain is now 11 days intoofficial lockdown, withanother two weeks at least tocome, after the state of alarmwas extended earlier thisweek.

With people concerned,frightened and frustrated,Iragartze Fernandez says herencounters in hospital canturn ugly, something sheadmits she is accustomed tofrom her work on the foot-ball field.

“Maybe in football, wetalk about it more,” she says.“But as a nurse, I have totake a lot of abuse as wellfrom people who maybedon’t want to queue or whowant to be examined firstbecause they think their situ-ation is more serious than theperson next to them.”

NEW DELHI, MAR 26:Armed with the experienceof staying afloat in the faceof adversities, battle-hard-ened Indian shooterSanjeev Rajput promptlypressed the “reset button”after learning of theOlympics’ postponement.In an unprecedented move,the Olympic chiefs onTuesday postponed theTokyo Games to next yeardue to the COVID-19 pan-demic, which has wreakedhavoc on the world. Whilethe decision was welcomedby the sporting fraternity, italso forced all athletes toredraw their plans andrevisit their strategies.

World Cup andCommonwealth Gamesgold medallist Rajput hasexperienced his share ofadversities - from Olympicsselection snub, upheaval inpersonal life to unemploy-ment. “This is a very differ-

ent situation, an extraordi-nary situation where sportscouldn’t have happened atall. The well-being ofhuman lives is above every-thing else,” ace riflemanRajput told PTI of thehealth crisis that hasclaimed more than 21,000lives across the world.

“Yes, I have beenpreparing for the OlympicGames for more than threeyears, hoping to go thereand perform at the biggeststage. “But we simply don’thave any choice now but topostpone the Olympics. Isupport the decision, weknow it is for our well-being,” the 39-year-oldrifle ace said.

Confined to his flat inFaridabad, which is closeto the Dr Karni SinghShooting Range, Rajput isnow doing all he can athome. “Of course we mustremain indoors for the next

three weeks or till the timethe situation improves. ButI am doing dry practice (ordry firing) at home besidesyoga and meditation,”Rajput, who was droppedfrom the 2016 Olympicteam at the expense of ashotgun shooter, said.During dry practice, theshooter fires a fireman (onan object hung on a wall)without live ammunition.

Rajput secured hisTokyo quota in Rio deJaneiro last year when hegunned down a silver inthe men’s 50m rifle 3 posi-tions event. Since the 2008Games, he has secured anOlympic quota four timeson the trot. Formerly withthe Indian Navy, Rajputhas faced the highs andlows of life with dignity,never complaining aboutthe problems that knockedon his door for no fault ofhis.

‘Very good all-round player’:Justin Langer urges youngster tokeep fighting for maiden Test cap

NEW DELHI, MAR 26: Australia head coach JustinLanger acknowledged 20-year-old Cameron Green’s runscoring feats in domestic cricket but warned he still has along way to go before breaking it into the Test team. Greenwas in sensational form with the bat in Sheffield Shield ashe scored 699 runs at an incredible average of 63.54.

In total, Green has so far featured in 15 first classmatches and scored 833 runs at an average of 43.8. He alsohas three centuries and one half-century to his name. Withthe ball too he has an impeccable domestic record as he hasscalped 28 wickets at an average of 21.53.

Despite this, Langer conceded him breaking into theTest squad remains difficult because of their well-stockedmiddle-order. “Cameron Green is a very good young play-er, no question about that,” Langer was quoted as sayingduring a video conference by Fox Cricket. “He’s a verygood all-round player as well. We selected him initially inWestern Australia as a bowler but he’s still got a long wayto go. “The No.6 position, we know they need be able toscore hundreds in Test cricket. “We know traditionally inone-day cricket we need them to be able to bowl at leasteither 10 overs or some overs to help with the set-up of ourteam,” he added. Travis Head and Matthew Wade havedone really well for Australia in recent times and Langersaid it will be tough for Green to displace them in thesquad. However, he did mention that if Green continues toknock on the door with his fine domestic performances, itwill be difficult to them to ignore him.

‘Inspired by Virat Kohli’ - Saurashtra cricketerreaps rewards of fitness transformation

Wasim Jaffer may take over as Vidarbhacoach after Chandrakant Pandit’s exit

ICC postpones World Cupqualifiers due to coronavirus

Spain’s female football refereeson frontline of coronavirus fight

Shooter Sanjeev Rajput presses ‘reset button’after Tokyo Olympics postponement

COVID-19: Photographs depicting preventive measures taken on second day ofongoing lockdown to contain Coronavirus spread across Jammu on Thursday.

Aman

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COVID-19: Preventive measures continues on Day 2 of lockdown.

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GOOD SAMARITAN: A person feeding hungry stray dogs after announcement of lock-down in Cold Desert. Jigmet Janspal Shey

YEH HAI LEH

GJ REPORTNEW DELHI, MAR 26: UnionMinister Dr Jitendra Singh, who isalso a nationally knownDiabetologist, said here today thatDiabetics require extra cautionagainst Corona virus infection.

In an exclusive interview tonational news channel, Dr JitendraSingh responded to a series ofqueries on the medical aspects ofCorona virus infection, in hiscapacity as a medical practitionerand a teacher of Medicine for over30 years.

Dr Jitendra Singh said thatDiabetics have an Immuno-com-promised status which tends toreduce their bodily resistance andmake them relatively more vulnera-ble to such infections as well as theconsequent complications. This, hesaid, leads to an even more vulner-able situation when a patient of

Diabetes is also suffering from dia-betic complications in the kidney ordiabetic nephropathy or a conse-quent chronic kidney disease.

Corona virus, said Dr JitendraSingh, like most other viruses, has a

self-limiting history of disease,with the only peculiarity that it iscomparatively more virulent thanmost other droplet virus infections.Like many other viral infections, ahealthy individual with a goodimmunity status may get curedwithout any complications withadequate rest and other measures,but complications including mor-bidity and mortality tend to occur inpatients with Diabetes, chronic kid-ney disease, other compromisingdiseases like cancer etc andextremes of age group whichinclude very small children andvery elderly citizens, he added.

In response to a question, DrJitendra Singh said, the medical fra-ternity was also taken aback to anextent by the emergence of Coronainfection because over the last 30years, the focus was primarily onthe management of Non-

Communicable Diseases likeDiabetes, Heart Disease,Dyslipidemia, Metabolic Disorders,etc. and there was a certain amountof relief that, by and large, we hadconquered the infectious and com-municable diseases which wererampant before the advent of antibi-otic and antimicrobial drugs. Themedical measures of hygiene,cleanliness and resistance building,he said, are to a large extent thesame as were being practiced in thebygone years for the treatment ofdiseases like Tuberculosis, Plague,Cholera, etc. Referring to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi as thebiggest motivational factor in facil-itating good patient response tomedical management, Dr JitendraSingh said, it is the Prime Minister'spersonal credibility which hasinspired community involvement inthe fight against this epidemic.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singhspeaking on the medical aspects ofCorona infection to an electronicnews channel in New Delhi onThursday.

Diabetics require extra caution against Corona: Dr Jitendra

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26: CabinetSecretary, Rajiv Gaubatoday held video conferencewith Chief Secretaries of allStates/Union Territories toreview supply chain man-agement and transportationof essential commoditiesand services in and out ofthe State/UTs during thelockdown period asannounced by the PrimeMinister to deal with theCoronavirus outbreak. Themeeting was also attendedby Home Secretary, AjayKumar Bhalla, SecretaryHealth, Preeti Sudan andother Secretaries of con-cerned Ministries.

Chief Secretary, BVRSubrahmanyam, DirectorGeneral of Police, DilbagSingh, FinancialCommissioner, Health, AtalDulloo, Principal Secretary,Home, Shaleen Kabra,

Principal Secretary,Planning, Rohit Kansal,Commissioner Secretary,Industries & Commerce,Manoj Dwivedi, IGPJammu, Mukesh Singh,Secretary, FCS&CA,Simrandeep Singh, MissionDirector NHM, BhupinderKumar, DeputyCommissioner Jammu,Sushma Chauhan andCommissioner JMC, AvnyLavasa participated in thevideo conference.

Cabinet Secretary whileinteracting with ChiefSecretaries of the States/UTssought details from themwith regard to the implemen-tation of lockdown andarrangements put in place formaintenance of supply chainand transportation of essen-tial goods/services as alreadynotified by the Governmentof India. He said it is impera-tive to successfully imple-

ment the notifiedlockdown/restrictions, but atthe same it is necessary toensure the unhindered trans-portation/supply of essentialservices, which have beenexempted under the variousprohibitory orders. CabinetSecretary commended theStates/UTs for implementingthe lockdown restrictionsseriously. He asked them tofurther sustain the restric-tions in an effective mannerfor the period as the partialimplementation will notsolve the problem.

While referring the issueof trucks being stranded inmany States, the CabinetSecretary said that theDistrict Magistrates be askedto ensure that the trucks car-rying essential goods/medi-cines/perishable items shouldnot be stopped and beallowed to reach their desti-nations.

Considering the rise in theconfirmed coronavirus casesin the country, the CabinetSecretary asked allStates/UTs to upgrade theirhospitals/infrastructure withthe resources available withthem. He emphasized that atleast, one Government hospi-tal should be fully equippedwith doctors, staff and equip-ments to tackle Covid-19 andthat hospital should be a ded-icated health facility exclu-sively for treating patientshaving infected with thevirus.

Later, Chief Secretaryreviewed stock position ofessential supplies available inthe Union Territory andasked Secretary FCS&CA toensure that supply is notaffected anywhere because ofthe restrictions imposed.

Commissioner Secretary,Industries & Commerce andSecretary FCS&CA weredirected to ensure that onlyindustrial units involved inmanufacturing of pharma-ceuticals/essential items areallowed to carry out theiroperations and permission tosuch units be given accord-ingly.

Chief Secretary directedCommissioner JMC toensure that RTC buses, hos-pitals and other importantpublic places are fumigatedregularly to avoid the trans-mission of virus.

Cabinet Secretary, Rajiv Gauba interacting with Chief Secretary of J&K UT BVRSubrahmanyam through video conferencing on Thursday.

Cabinet Secretary holds video conference with Chief Secretariesto review supply, transportation of essential goods

GJ REPORTLEH, MAR 26: Commissioner/Secretary Animal & SheepHusbandry UT Ladakh RigzinSamphel chaired a follow-up meetingto mitigate dog menace and draw

solutions concerning stray animals inthe region.

Samphel had a discussion regard-ing construction requisites requiredfor shelter for animals with DirectorAnimal & Sheep Husbandry Dr.

Mohd Raza. Disease InvestigatingOfficer Animal Husbandry Leh DrStanzin Rabgyas, Assistant DirectorFood, Civil Supplies & ConsumerAffairs Leh Sherab Gyaltsan, GeneralSec. SPCA Phuntsog Wangyal andmember (SPCA) Leh Diskit were alsopresent on the occasion.

SPCA team updated Comm./Secthat they will provide food to the strayanimals of Leh town and adjoiningareas for a period of one month. Theysaid that charity and voluntary servic-es by good Samaritans is making themconvenient to render such service.

As per long-term plan for the strayanimals, a shelter with a capacity for5000 dogs will be constructed at theallotted land at Bomb-Garh.Comm./Sec asserted to begin the workon its' construction in the month ofApril.

Commissioner/Secretary Animal & Sheep Husbandry UT Ladakh, RigzinSamphel addressing officers during a meeting in Leh on Thursday.

Shelter with a capacity for 5000 dogs on anvil: Sampheal

GJ REPORTJAMMU, MAR 26: In anact of bravery, a J&K Bankbrave woman official onTuesday March 24 foughtoff a scooty-borne assailantwho tried to snatch herhandbag that containedofficial keys of the Bank'sNai Basti Branch inJammu.

The incident took placenear Durga Bhawan ShastriNagar when the officialwas on her way back homeby foot from the place of

posting, carrying Branch'sdouble lock and lockerkeys besides cash and otherimportant documents.

Anjali Raina, a seniorexecutive at the bank's NaiBasti Branch in Jammuheld on to the handbageven after the assailantdragged her a few meterson the road. She was latertaken to the hospital fortreatment.

Acknowledging theheroic effort of the official,the Bank's President

Human ResourceDevelopment, MohammadMaqbool Lone hailed hercourage and determination.He praised the official forbeing aware of her sur-roundings and showingpresence of mind even dur-ing the current situation

when Covid-19 pandemichas worried everyone.

Meanwhile, investiga-tions into the matter havestarted after the Bankauthorities lodged a com-plaint regarding the inci-dent with the concernedpolice station.

J&K Bank lady official fights assailant, saves self and valuables

GJ REPORTKARGIL MAR 26: Aspart of the steps being takento facilitate the provision ofessential commodities topeople at their doorstepsamidst prevailing situationof COVID-19 in the dis-trict, DistrictAdministration Kargiltoday distributed rice andatta among different house-holds in SankooCantonment Zone.

In this regard TehsildarSankoo, Sajjad Hussain

said that a total 106 quintalsof rice and 106 quintals ofatta was distributed among424 households of ThangSankoo, YokmagrongThang, Mangrong Thang,Balti Baho, Banyalsa,Chechesna, ThamaYokmagrong, NangmaGongma, Nangma, Kaosar,Nakpochu, Narambi,Lamphet and Dumbur ham-lets in the ContainmentZone. Each household wasissued 25 Kg rice and 25Kg atta.

Administration distributes ration amonghouseholds in Sankoo Containment Zone

Ration being provided to households in SankooCantonment Zone of Kargil on Thursday.

GJ REPORTSRINAGAR, MAR 26: In view of COVID-19 out-break, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor and overallin-charge of Coronavirus Control Efforts (CCE) forKashmir Division, Baseer Ahmad Khan, today saidthat the health of the people is his prime concern.

To achieve cent percent results, The Advisor isholding a series of meeting on daily basis toreview arrangement put in place by line depart-ments in this regard besides, keeping a closewatch on the present situation across KashmirDivision.

Advisor directed all Deputy Commissioners tostrengthen ground surveillance teams and trackthe absconding recent travellers, of other states &abroad, on war footing basis and put them at near-by health institutions immediately for properscreening.

The Advisor appealed the people to take thefight against novel Coronavirus infection seriouslyand come forward to furnish the information ofabsconding recent traveller, if any, in their localityto district control rooms or to nearby health institu-tions.

"In present situation, Nambardars, Sarpanchs,Panchs and Councillors should play important rolefor door to door survey to identify suspected per-

sons", Khan added. Khan appealed the citizens to stay indoors and

maintain partial lockdown for the benefit of theirand their loved ones health.

"People should follow the health advisorieswhich are issued by government in letter and spir-it and cooperate with government in present exi-gency", he said.

Advisor Baseer Khan made these remarkswhile chairing a meeting to review the prepared-ness and arrangements made by district adminis-trations of Bandipora and Kupwara for the con-tainment of the Coronavirus infection.

The meeting was informed that 1000 quaran-tine rooms each were identified by the twin districtadministrations at different locations with roundthe clock basic amenities besides health facilities.

It is given out that the ration will be distributedwithin five days through home delivery and thatthere is sufficient stock of LPG and Kerosene oil inthese districts.

It was given out that 80 groceries stores wereidentified for home delivery in the twin districts andtransport is being provided by the district adminis-trations. Each district has established three 24X7control rooms at Tehsil, Block and CMO level toprovide information to distress and anxiety callers.

GJ REPORTJOHANNESBURG, MAR 26: Balwant Thakur- theCultural Diplomat of India to South Africaaddressed the world online on the eve of WorldTheatre Day. World Theatre Day was initiated inthe year 1961 by the International TheatreInstitute, Paris and is celebrated everyyear on 27th March across the worldby theatre practitioners, organizations,institutions and lovers of theatre. InJammu Natrang pioneered to start thistradition in 1985 and continued thistradition till date by holding seminars,presentations, festivals and events tomark this International day. In wake ofCOVID-19 outbreak the entire theatrecommunity including International Theatre Institutehas decided to celebrate this day on-line. In hisaddress Balwant Thakur said that World TheatreDay is a celebration for those who can see thevalue and importance of this great art from"Theatre" and act as a wakeup call for govern-ments, politicians, and institutions which have notyet recognized its value to the people and to theindividual and have yet not realized it's potential foroverall socioeconomic cultural development.Referring to Jammu in particular Balwant Thakursaid that people out here need to take pride in the

fact that it is theatre which gave this region a newcultural, linguistic and intellectual identity. Dograsfor that matter should not forget the contribution oftheatre which took Dogri to Russia, UK, Germany,South Africa, UAE, Hungary, Poland and repre-sented in world occasions like Frankfurt

International Theatre Festival, WorldExperimental Theatre Festival andTheatre Olympics.

On this auspicious day he comple-mented all those who worked selfless-ly and tirelessly to keep this amazingart alive. Adding further BalwantThakur who is currently the Director ofSwami Vivekananda Cultural CenterJohannesburg, South Africa said that

International days are marked to educate public onissues of concern, to address global problems andto celebrate and reinforce achievements ofhumanity. Each International day provides thecommunity an opportunity to organize activitiesrelated to the theme and create public awarenesson the same.

In the hour of crisis which the world is facingtoday in wake of COVID-19 outbreak, it becomesthe larger responsibility of the creative communityto sensitize public about the possible threatthrough their creative media.

People's health is my prime concern: Advisor Baseer Khan Balwant Thakur addresses online on World Theatre Day