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RN-1127/57 TECH/GH – 103/2018-2020, VOL. 82, NO. 88 GUWAHATI, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

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JOCOSERIOUS

p3 p7 p11Shillong Markaz membersstranded outside Meghalaya

AYUSH ministry to exploretherapies against COVID-19

Mega merger of PSU banksto be effective from today

Around 10,000 persons fromState stranded in Mumbai

R DUTTA CHOUDHURY

GUWAHATI, March 31:

Around 10,000 persons

from Assam are stranded in

Mumbai and the officers of

the Assam Bhawan are

flooded with distress calls

as some landlords have

asked them to vacate hous-

es. However, on the posi-

tive side, the Government

of Assam has allocated Rs

10 lakh to the Assam Bha-

wan to help out the strand-

ed people.

When contacted by The

Assam Tribune, the Joint

Resident Commissioner of

the Assam Bhawan, Mumbai,

Debashis Sarma said that a

number of cancer patients

from the State, who went to

Mumbai for treatment, are

also stranded in Mumbai and

they are accommodated in

the Bhawan and the Arogya

Bhawans of the Deepsikha

Foundation.

Sarma said that according

to records available so far,

around 10,000 people from

Assam are staying in Mum-

bai and a large chunk of them

work in ice factories and

some work as security

guards and spot boys and light

boys in the film industry. Be-

cause of the countrywide

lockdown, most of them are

facing serious hardship as

they did not have the means

to sustain for a long period

and the prices of the essen-

tial commodities also in-

creased in the neighbourhood

markets. There is a third cat-

egory of persons from As-

sam who are stranded in

Mumbai. They are the ones

who went as tourists and for

some other works and some

are running short of funds to

stay in hotels.

Among the cancer patients,

around 50 per cent managed

to return the day before the

lock down started and 43 are

staying in Assam Bhawan,

while, around 60 are staying

in the Arogya Bhawans of the

Deepsikha foundation.

SEE PAGE 6

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 31:Dismissing publicperception that there wouldbe some relaxation of thelockdown from tomorrow,Health Minister HimantaBiswa Sarma said peoplewill have to stay indoors tillthe end of the lockdownperiod – that is till April 14.

Yesterday’s State cabinet

decisions, announcing some

relief for poor families and re-

laxations to farmers and tea

gardens, sparked specula-

tions among the people.

Social media was full of

queries on the nature of the

No rNo rNo rNo rNo relaxaelaxaelaxaelaxaelaxation oftion oftion oftion oftion of loc loc loc loc lockdokdokdokdokdown:wn:wn:wn:wn: Himanta Himanta Himanta Himanta Himanta

relaxations.

However, the Health Min-

ister said “there was no ques-

tion of any relaxation to the

general public till the lock-

down period is over. All will

have to stay at their homes

till April 14.”

Citing a notification from the

Central government, Sarma

said if any processing industry

wants to resume operation,

they will have to apply to the

health department or the dis-

trict authorities.

“The DCs will examine

their request and also other

parameters like if work could

resume adhering to all health

and hygiene precautions.

Only on obtaining the

clearance, the industries can

operate. It does not mean

that units can start operations

from tomorrow,’ the

Minister clarified.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary

Kumar Sanjay Krishna has ap-

pealed to the people of Assam

who are stranded in different

states outside Assam to re-

main where they are during

the lock down period.

“Necessary arrangement

for food, accommodation and

other amenities are being en-

sured in consultation with Gov-

ernment and local administra-

tion of the respective states,”

he said.

NEW DELHI, March 31:

Authorities launched a nation-

wide search on Tuesday for

participants of a huge religious

congregation held earlier this

month in the national capital’s

Nizamuddin area, which has

become the new epicentre of

the deadly virus pandemic

amid fears that thousands

present there could have car-

ried the infection to the length

and breadth of the country.

Thousands of participants

of the Tablighi Jamaat held in

mid-March in Nizamuddin,

which also is home to a fa-

COVID-19 cases rise in India

mous Dargah, are known to

have returned to their homes

in virtually every state includ-

ing Telangana, West Bengal,

Karnataka and Gujarat. Many

of these states have report-

ed COVID-19 cases linked to

the Tablighi Jamaat.

Several fresh cases of in-

fection were reported on

Tuesday from Delhi, Mahar-

ashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh,

Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Jammu

and Kashmir and Bihar,

among other places, taking

the nationwide tally to 1,397

with at least 35 deaths.

At least 24 people who took

part in the Nizamuddin con-

gregation have tested positive

for the novel coronavirus,

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind

Kejriwal said, as he slammed

the organisers for being

“highly irresponsible” on

their part to hold such an

event at this time.

G-20 pledgeRIYADH, March 31: G-

20 finance ministers andcentral bankers onTuesday pledged toaddress the debt burden oflow-income countries anddeliver aid to emergingmarkets as part of a planto combat the coronaviruspandemic. Theannouncement followedafter G20 leaders pledgeda “united front” last weekand said they wereinjecting USD 5 trillioninto the global economy tohead off a feared deeprecession. – AFP

nnnnn Also see page 11

Tablighi visaNEW DELHI, March 31:

The government hasdecided not to issue touristvisa to any foreigner whowishes to visit India andtake part in Tablighiactivities, officials saidtoday. The decision wastaken after it was foundthat about 2,100 foreignershave come to India sinceJanuary 1 and indulged inTablighi activities. – PTI

JEE datesNEW DELHI, March 31:

The Joint EntranceExamination (JEE) foradmission in engineeringcolleges, which has beenpostponed due tocoronavirus situation, islikely to be held in the lastweek of May, the HRDMinistry’s National TestingAgency (NTA) announcedtoday. – PTI

Pollution levelNEW DELHI, March 31:

With a nationwidelockdown in place in viewof coronavirus, Indiacontinued to breathe easyas pollution level in 88cities across the countryremained minimal. Out ofthe 103 cities where airquality was recorded, 23registered ‘good’ airquality, while 65 othersrecorded satisfactory airquality. – PTI

Mallya offerNEW DELHI, March 31:

Embattled liquor baronVijay Mallya on Tuesdayrequested FinanceMinister NirmalaSitharaman to consider hisrepeated “offer to repay100 per cent” of theamount borrowed by nowdefunct KingfisherAirlines, in this time ofcoronavirus pandemic.– PTI

ExtensionMUMBAI, March 31:

The Centre has extendedthe tenure of ReserveBank of India deputygovernor BP Kanungo bya year with effect fromApril 3, 2020. Kanungo,whose term was to endon April 2, had takencharge as a deputygovernor in April 2017.– PTI

NEW DELHI, March 31:

The Supreme Court on

Tuesday asked the Centre to

prevent migration of people

due to coronavirus and set up

within 24 hours a portal for

disseminating real-time

information on the pandemic

to counter the panic being

spread through fake news.

“Panic will destroy more

lives than the virus,” the top

court said and asked the Cen-

tre to get trained counsellors

and community leaders of all

faiths to calm down the mi-

grants, who are kept in shel-

ter homes across the coun-

try. It said these shelters

should be run by volunteers

and not the police, and there

should be no use of force and

intimidation.

The top court also asked

the Centre to prevent the

migration and take care of

people’s needs of food, shel-

ter, nourishment and medi-

cal aid.

The Centre through an af-

fidavit informed the apex

court that it has taken “proac-

KALYAN BAROOAH

NEW DELHI, March 31:

Over 300 persons hailing

from Assam had taken part

in the Tablighi Jamaat con-

gregation at Markaz Niza-

muddin here and a majority

of them are now undergoing

medical screening at three

Delhi government hospitals.

According to a list availa-

ble with this newspaper, 299

people, who attended the

event, are still in the Delhi

headquarters of the Jamaat.

Moreover, around 100 more

attendees are reported to

have returned to Assam as

claimed by a delegate.

However, there is confu-

sion over the numbers be-

cause Tablighi Jamaat does

not maintain a state-wise list

of delegates. Later, when the

authorities compiled a state-

wise list, at least 299 were

shown as having come from

Assam, even as a delegate

claimed that at least 100 at-

tendees of the event had re-

turned to the State.

Assam Health Minister

Himanta Biswa Sarma tweet-

ed that “Several people from

Assam are also present in Ni-

zamuddin who had gone to at-

tend the religious congrega-

tion arranged by Tablighi

Jamaat. First list has come

consisting the names of 299

people and second list consists

of 157 persons.”

Members registered by

the authorities were taken

to three Delhi government

hospitals – Lok Nayak Jai

Prakash Narayan Hospital,

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hos-

pital and Rajiv Gandhi Super

Speciality Hospital – for

medical screening. Officials

said if they are found to be

negative then they will be

shifted to Jawarharlal Nehru

Stadium where temporary

camps have been set up for

two-week mandatory quar-

antine.

Sarma tweeted that “Per-

sons who had congregated at

Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi

and came back to Assam

could number less than 100.

Government is tracking

them down hopeful of quar-

antining them within next

two hours.”

One Qaseem Ali of Mori-

gaon district, who attended

the event, told newsmen

here that they were not in a

group but segregated as per

their responsibilities. He said

none from Assam had been

detected as COVID-19 posi-

tive so far.

Another attendee Moinud-

din Ahmed said different per-

sons came in groups and giv-

en different responsibilities,

though he expressed his ina-

bility to clearly state how

many persons had come from

Assam. He said he knows

three persons who had come

from Guwahati and they were

still in Delhi.

Meanwhile, Ministry of

Home Affairs (MHA) spokes-

man said that they have

shared details of foreign and

Indian Tablighi Jamaat dele-

gates in India with all the

states on March 21 after

COVID-19 positive cases

among these attendees sur-

faced in Telangana.

Over 300 from Assam attendedNizamuddin event

tive and preemptive timely

steps” to deal with the coro-

navirus pandemic due to

which its spread is so far con-

tained, but fake news was

causing serious panic, and re-

mained the “single most un-

manageable hindrance” in the

management of this challenge.

The Centre sought a direc-

tion from the Supreme Court

that no media outlet print,

publish or telecast anything

on coronavirus without first

ascertaining facts from the

mechanism provided by the

government.

It said that in an unprece-

dented situation of this na-

ture, any deliberate or unin-

tended fake or inaccurate re-

porting either in electronic,

print, social media or web

portals has a serious and in-

evitable potential of causing

panic in large sections of the

society.

The government said

though creating panic is a

criminal offence, appropriate

direction from the top court

would “protect the country

from any potential and inevi-

table consequence resulting

from a false alarm having the

potential of creating panic”.

In a status report filed in

the apex court, the govern-

ment has given details of the

steps taken, including en-

hancement of testing capaci-

ty and issuance of order to

purchase 40,000 ventilators

to meet the contingencies, to

prevent coronavirus or

COVID-19 and its spread in

the country.

Solicitor General Tushar

Mehta said advisory has

been issued to the states re-

garding complete prohibi-

tion of inter-state migration

and as per the central con-

trol room, around 6,63,000

persons have been provid-

ed shelter so far.

He said that over 22,88,000

persons are being provided

food as these are needy per-

sons, migrants and daily

wagers who have reached

somewhere but have been

stopped and kept in shelters.

Supreme Court asks Centreto prevent migration

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 31: A

52-year-old man from Karim-

ganj with hitherto undisclosed

travel history has tested pos-

itive for coronavirus which is

the first such case in Assam.

“...This is Assam’s first

COVID-19 patient. He is un-

dergoing treatment at the

Silchar Medical College and

Hospital. His condition is sta-

ble,” tweeted Health Minis-

ter Himanta Biswa Sarma

this evening.

With this, Assam today

became the third State in the

North East region to report

positive coronavirus case af-

ter manipur and Mizoram.

Sarma further said that the

contact trail of the infected

person is being traced and all

the persons with whom he

came in contact will be quar-

antined or kept in isolation.

“All the protocols are be-

ing followed. We are now

better prepared... and I think

there is no need to panic.

Hopefully, he will be fine with-

in few days,” he said, urging

people to follow the adviso-

ry issued by the health de-

partment.

First COVID-19case in State

Lockdown willremain till

April 14: CMSTAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 31:

Chief Minister Sarbananda

Sonowal today said that

norms of the 21-day nation-

wide lockdown have not been

relaxed in Assam by the

State government. He said

that the lockdown will remain

fully in force till April 14 as

declared by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi earlier.

The State government

however, is taking steps to

ensure availability of essen-

tial services and goods the

Chief Minister said while ap-

pealing to the people to strict-

ly follow the norms of social

distancing and make the lock-

down successful.

NEW DELHI, March 31:

The Centre has asked all

states and Union Territories

to ensure normal functioning

of banks and ATMs during the

lockdown period as the Rs

27,500-crore financial pack-

age announced under the

Prime Minister Garib Kaly-

an Yojana will be disbursed

in coming days.

In a communication to chief

secretaries of all states and

Union Territories, Union

Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla

said many state governments

have issued instructions for

reduced working hours of

banks, functioning of limited

number of branches, restric-

tion on movement of person-

nel related to filling cash in

ATMs and their maintenance

among others.

He however, said smooth

banking operations and relat-

ed activities across the coun-

try are essential.

Further, the Central gov-

ernment has announced a fi-

nancial package under the

Prime Minister Garib Kalyan

Yojana under which approxi-

mately Rs 27,500 crores are

going to be disbursed during

this week and in the coming

weeks to the targeted public

through bank branches, ATMs

and business correspondents

(BCS), Bhalla said.

In view of these facts, the

Home Secretary said, neces-

sary instructions may please

be issued by the state gov-

ernments and Union Terri-

tory administrations to their

field functionaries to ensure

that bank branches remain

functional.

“Cash management and

maintenance agencies of

ATMs are allowed, banks are

permitted to remain open

and functional for extended

working hours, if necessary,

on March 30 and 31 for their

annual closure and govern-

ment business.

Centre asks states to ensurenormal functioning of banks

SEE PAGE 6 SEE PAGE 6

SEE PAGE 6

SEE PAGE 6

SEE PAGE 6

COCOCOCOCOVID-19VID-19VID-19VID-19VID-19 sta sta sta sta status in tus in tus in tus in tus in INDIAINDIAINDIAINDIAINDIAlllll Confirmed cases 1,397

lllll Cured/Discharged 124

lllll Death 35

Figures include foreign nationals

As on 31/03/2020 at 08:30 pm

Source: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

SEE PAGE 6

Government of Assam has allocated Rs 10 lakh tothe Assam Bhawan to help out the stranded people

Govt told toset up portalfor real time

info onCOVID-19

Majority undergoing screening at Delhi hospitals

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal taking stock of the measures put in place in Rupnath Brahma Civil Hospital inKokrajhar for fighting against the novel coronavirus outbreak on Tuesday. – UB Photos

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2 more Britain leaders arefighting against COVID-19

British Prime Minister Boris John-son said that after he has been testedfor coronavirus on March 27, he is oneof the world’s first leaders to have be-come a patient himself. As Johnsondeveloped some mild symptoms, hehas self-isolated himself and managingto lead Government’s responsesthrough video conferencing.

Just after a few hours from then, Brit-ish Heath Secretary Matt Hanson alsoannounced that he had tested positive.He is self-isolating and working fromhome.

Later the same day, Britain’s ChiefMedical Officer, Chris Witty, who hasserved as the public face for the sci-

ence community, reported that he is also suffering with symptoms thatare comparable to COVID-19. He is self-isolating but didn’t mentionwhether he has tested positive.

If Johnson became too ill to work, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raabwould likely take the responsibilities. If Raab were to be infected, theleadership would pass to another government minister further downthe line.

Hard lockdownWith death tolls increasing every day, Boris Johnson has warned the

households in Britain that coronavirus outbreak is likely to worsen andthat he is prepared to tighten the nation’s lockdown. Currently,Britain ison a soft lockdown, with citizens urged to work from home, and ventureout only to buy food and medicine and exercise once a day. All schools,pubs, bars, restaurants, gym and non-essential shops are now have beenclosed.

The announcement of possible toughening of lockdown came afterBritain suffered an alarming daily increase in death toll. Britain’s three-crore households will receive a letter from the Prime Minister statingand cautioning the citizens that the worst is still ahead. The letter willhave details of the government’s orders on social distancing, symptomsand handwashing, as ministers battle to prepare the NHS for the tsuna-mi of virus patients.

What is British public saying?A poll for Observer shows that the majority of the British public want

even stricter measures put in place to combat the spread of the corona-virus and believe that the government was too slow in responding to thepandemic. A majority (56%) also think the government did not act fastenough. However, the vast majority of voters (92%) back the currentlockdown measures and approve government’s handling of the crisis.

Pressure on health serviceMinisters remain under pressure over the preparedness of the Nation-

al Health Service (NHS). It has prioritised approval of new protectiveequipment, amid continued complaints from NHS that they do not haveaccess to the right protection.

Doctors are threatening to quit unless they are properly equipped.The health secretary Matt Hancock has acknowledged challenges withsupply of protective material to NHS staff and has drafted in the army toget supplies to frontline workers.

Concerns remain over the number of ventilators and the speed atwhich more can be purchased. There are currently 8,000 available andanother 8,000 said to be arriving in the next few weeks.

The number of intensive care beds in England per capita was lowerthan Italy and five times lower than in Germany which means in Eng-land, challenge will be greater.

Harry & Meghan move to LAThe Duke and Duch-

ess of Essex made a last-minute move across theborder from Canada tothe United States ofAmerica to start theirnew life in Los Angeles.

The couple flew in aprivate jet with ten-month-old son Archiejust before all non-essen-tial travels between thetwo countries were

ceased to stop spreading the pandemic last week.According to sources, they left behind Canada to launch their new

careers in LA. Their borrowed £10 million mansion in Canada is locatedon tranquil Vancouver Island. Sources said the couple, who officiallystepped down as senior royals on March 24, knew Canada wouldn’twork for them in the long term.

Assamese highlighted atBritish Parliament House

The 20th anniversary year of International Mother Language Day wasmarked at the British Parliament House recently by highlighting the richlinguistic diversity of India. Hosted by Bob Blackman MP and organisedby Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence, the programme includedrecitation in 17 different languages by the members of Indian diasporaliving in Britain.

Unique languages such as Saurashtra, Ladakhi and Bishnupriya Ma-nipuri of North East were introduced to the attendees, along with oth-ers. Assamese poem ‘Bishwa Xilpi’ by Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwa-la, was recited by Tonoya Barua, an Assamese entrepreneur living inLondon. She spoke about the contributions of late Rupkonwar Jyoti PrasadAgarwala’s role in Assamese literature.

Boris Johnson

Harry and Meghan

USFDA allows use of hydroxychloroquine,chloroquine to treat COVID-19

NEW YORK, March 31:The US Food and Drug Ad-ministration (FDA) has ap-proved the use of two anti-malaria drugs to treat pa-tients infected by the coro-navirus. The US Departmentof Health and Human Serv-ices (HHS) in a statement onSunday said that chloroquineand hydroxychloroquinecould be prescribed to teensand adults with COVID-19“as appropriate, when a clin-ical trial is not available or fea-sible”. The statement cameafter the FDA issued anEmergency Use Authoriza-tion (EUA) that marked the

first EUA for a drug relatedto covid-19 in the US, a me-dia report said on Monday.Currently, there are no spe-cific drugs for COVID-19. Ac-cording to Johns Hopkins Uni-

versity, over 720,000 caseshave been confirmed, morethan 34,000 people have died,and over 152,000 have recov-ered since the pandemic start-ed in China late last year.

Both chloroquine and hy-droxychloroquine are used totreat diseases including malar-ia, and have “shown activity inlaboratory studies against coro-naviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causescovid-19),” the HHS stated.

“Anecdotal reports suggestthat these drugs may offer somebenefit in the treatment of hos-pitalized covid-19 patients. Clin-ical trials are needed to providescientific evidence that thesetreatments are effective.”

Under the EUA, health careproviders and patients must begiven fact sheets outlining theknown risks and drug interac-

tions of the medications.The HSS said it accepted

30 million doses of hydroxy-chloroquine sulfate from anarm of the pharmaceuticalcompany Novartis, and onemillion of chloroquine phos-phate from Bayer Pharma-ceuticals to be used for treat-ing hospitalized covid-19 pa-tients or in clinical trials.

“These and other compa-nies may donate additionaldoses, and companies haveramped up production toprovide additional supplies ofthe medication to the com-mercial market,” the HHSsaid. – IANS

NASA mission to study causes of solar particle stormsWASHINGTON, March

31: NASA is planning to launcha new mission to study howthe Sun generates and releas-es giant space weather storms– known as solar particlestorms – into planetary space.

The new mission, called theSun Radio InterferometerSpace Experiment (Sun-RISE), is an array of six Cube-Sats operating as one verylarge radio telescope, the USspace agency said on Monday.

NASA has awarded $62.6million to design, build andlaunch SunRISE by no earlierthan July 1, 2023.

Understanding how the Sungenerates and releases giantspace weather storms can ulti-mately help protect astronautstravelling to the Moon and Marsby providing better informationon how the Sun’s radiation af-fects the space environmentthey must travel through.

“We are so pleased to add a

new mission to our fleet ofspacecraft that help us betterunderstand the Sun, as well ashow our star influences thespace environment betweenplanets,” said Nicky Fox, Di-rector of NASA’s Heliophys-ics Division.

“The more we know abouthow the Sun erupts with spaceweather events, the more wecan mitigate their effects onspacecraft and astronauts.”

The mission design relies on

six solar-powered CubeSats –each about the size of a toasteroven – to simultaneously ob-serve radio images of low-fre-quency emission from solaractivity and share them viaNASA’s Deep Space Network.

The constellation of Cube-Sats would fly within six miles(9.6 kms) of each other, aboveEarth’s atmosphere, whichotherwise blocks the radiosignals SunRISE will observe.

Together, the six CubeSats

will create 3D maps to pinpointwhere giant particle burstsoriginate on the Sun and howthey evolve as they expandoutward into space. This, inturn, will help determine whatinitiates and accelerates thesegiant jets of radiation.

The six individual spacecraftwill also work together tomap, for the first time, the pat-tern of magnetic field linesreaching from the Sun out intointerplanetary space. – IANS

Iran reports141 new virus

deathsTEHRAN, March 31: Iran

on Tuesday said 141 morepeople have died from thenovel coronavirus, raising theofficial toll in one of theworld’s worst-affected coun-tries to 2,898.

Health Ministry spokes-man Kianoush Jahanpour said3,111 new infections havebeen confirmed over the past24 hours, bringing the totalto 44,606.

He said 3,703 of those hos-pitalised are in a critical con-dition and 14,656 have recov-ered. Iran has been scram-bling to contain the COVID-19 outbreak since it reportedits first cases on February 19.After weeks of refrainingfrom imposing a lockdown orquarantine measures, Tehrandecided last Wednesday toban all intercity travel until atleast April 8.

There is no official lock-down within Iran’s cities, al-though the government hasrepeatedly urged Iranians tostay at home to contain thespread of the virus.

President Hassan Rouhanirenewed those warnings onTuesday as the climax of thetwo-week Persian New Yearholiday nears. Rouhani saidauthorities would close parksacross the country onWednesday, in a move thateffectively blocks the familypicnics that traditionally markthe 13th day of holiday.

He called on people to“leave this tradition for someother time” and said viola-tors would be fined. – IANS

‘COVID-19 pandemic far fromover in Asia-Pacific region’

MANILA, March 31: Thenovel coronavirus pandemicwas “far from over” in theAsia-Pacific region, a WorldHealth Organization (WHO)official said on Tuesday, urg-ing member countries towork together to halt thespread of the deadly disease.

“Let me be clear. The epi-demic is far from over in Asiaand the Pacific. This is going tobe a long-term battle and wecannot let down our guard,”WHO Regional Director for theWestern Pacific Takeshi Kasaitold a virtual media briefing.

Kasai said the WHO was verymuch encouraged by the coun-tries in the region that have

pushed back the virus or man-aged to slow their outbreaks,reports Xinhua news agency.

“For countries that areseeing case taper off, this isnot the time to let down yourguard. If you do, the virus willcome surging back. You mustkeep up your efforts and helpother countries in whateverways you can,” he said.

Kasai urged countries tokeep preparing for large-scalecommunity transmission.

He said that countries withlimited resources and withfragile health systems such asPacific Island nations are thepriority, stressing the need tohelp these countries by ship-

ping samples for diagnoses.As of Tuesday, WHO data

showed that the Western Pa-cific region now has tallied atotal of 104,869 COVID-19cases, including 3,671 deaths.

WHO technical adviser Mat-thew Griffith said in the brief-ing that the global communitycan learn from the experienc-es of China on how to slowdown the spread of the virus.

“This experience is alsoneeded here in our regionespecially now that new coun-tries and areas are reporting,including Laos, Papua NewGuinea, Fiji and the Com-monwealth Northern Mari-ana Islands,” he said. – IANS

WASHINGTON, March31: The US has renewedsanctions waivers on Iran,allowing foreign companiesto continue work at Iraniannuclear facilities to keepTehran from developingnuclear weapons amid thecoronavirus pandemic.

Citing officials, mediareports said on Mondaythat Treasury SecretarySteven Mnuchin prevailedin an internal debate on theissue against Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo, whoopposed extending thewaivers, reports Xinhuanews agency.

Mnuchin believed thateliminating the waivers amidthe coronavirus pandemicmight draw criticism againstthe US, according to thereports.

Iran is among thecountries that have beenseverely hit by the COVID-

US renews sanctionwaivers on Iran

19 pandemic, but the UShas shown little willingnessto ease its notorious“maximum pressure”against Tehran.

Earlier this month, theUS Treasury blacklisted fiveUnited Arab Emirates(UAE)-based companies thatfacilitate Iran’s petroleumand petrochemical sales.

Iranian Foreign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarif saidon Sunday that the US hasgone from waging aneconomic war on Iraniansto “medical terror” amidthe pandemic. This even“exceeds what would bepermissible on the battle-field”, he added. Iran is theworst-hit country by thevirus in the Middle East.

The Ministry of Healthand Medical Education onMonday reported a total of41,495 coronavirus casesand 2,757 deaths. – IANS

Japan to ban entry topeople from 73 countries

TOKYO, March 31 : Japansaid on Tuesday that it wouldban people from more than athird of the world, includingthe US, from entering thecountry to halt the spread ofthe novel coronavirus.

The US is among a list of 73countries to which the Japa-nese government also discour-aged travel amid the steep glo-bal increase in the number ofCOVID-19 infections and fa-talities, reports Efe news.

Japan raised its travel alertto Level 3 (out of a possible4), over which it advisedagainst travelling to certainterritories under any circum-stances.

The alert was extended onTuesday to 49 countries, in-cluding the US, Canada,South Korea, China, Ecua-dor, the Dominican Repub-lic, Chile, Panama, Brazil,Bolivia, the UK and Greece,from which Japan will prohib-

it the entry to travellers whoaren’t Japanese, ForeignMinister Toshimitsu Motegisaid at a press conference.

Motegi did not specifywhen the entry veto wouldtake effect.

In this way, Japan will in-crease to 73 the countries towhich it urges not to travel –more than a third of the world– among which are Spain, It-aly, Germany, France, Aus-tralia and Iran. – IANS

Brazil Senate okays minimumincome for workers

BRASILIA, March 31: TheBrazilian Senate has ap-proved a minimum IncomeBill to help workers amid thecoronavirus pandemic.

The bill had already beenapproved by the House andwith the Senate’s nod onMonday, it now needs the sig-nature of President Jair Bol-sonaro to become a law, re-ports Xinhua news agency.

It remains unclear when

Bolsonaro will sign the Bill.According to the Bill, the

emergency minimum in-come payments consist of astipend of 600 reals ($116)for citizens who are current-ly unemployed and for citi-zens with a low income.

The payments will bemade for three months, butthat period can be extendedin case social distancing meas-ures last longer.

In order to be eligible, cit-izens must not be receivingunemployment benefits orpensions.

The payments are limitedto a maximum of two peopleper household.

Single mothers are eligi-ble for a double payment.Brazial has reported a totalof 4,661 confirmed coronavi-rus cases with 165 deaths. –IANS

South Koreanschools to

reopen withonline classes

SEOUL, March 31: SouthKorean authorities announcedon Tuesday that the new schoolyear will begin from April 9after a five-week delay due tothe coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who is heading the unitresponsible for coordinatingthe government’s response tothe outbreak, announced themeasure and said that not allschools will be able to startclasses at the same time as theinstallation and implementa-tion of the systems of distanceclasses will be done progres-sively, reports Efe news.

Although South Koreahas one of the best telecom-munications networks inthe world, there are doubtsas to how the country’s in-frastructure will supportsuch a nationwide deploy-ment. – IANS

Red Cross for strictermeasures to fight COVID

NAIROBI, March 31:Even though Africa continuesto be one of the least affectedcontinents by the coronavi-rus, the spread of the deadlydisease is picking up speedand the Red Cross has urgedfor immediate containmentmeasures.

“So far, Africa has been thecontinent least affected by thepandemic, but if measures tocontain the virus are not tak-en immediately, it could bedevastating for Africa’s peo-ple and health-care sys-

tems,” Efe news quoted theincoming regional director ofICRC for Africa PatrickYoussef as saying in a state-ment on Tuesday.

Since February 14, whenthe first infection was iden-tified on the continent (aChinese citizen in Egypt),the overall number of casesin the continent has in-creased to 5,160, with 171deaths, according to datafrom the Washington-basedJohns Hopkins University. –IANS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 3

Janasanyog/D/12118/19

SHRI TRAILOKYA BHAGAWATI26.06.1939 – 22.03.2020

"GOD TOOK AWAY A PURE SOUL,

AND MEMORIES ARE ALL WE HAVE TO LIVE ON;

MAY YOU REST IN HEAVEN ABOVE,

FOR WE SHALL KEEP YOU FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS".

FONDLY REMEMBERED BY

MAYA RANI BHAGAWATI & FAMILY

AMBARI, GUWAHATI

PH. NO. 7002313427, 9435394069

OM SHANTI

NATIONAL

NEW DELHI, March 31:

Over 21,000 relief camps have

been made operational in the

country where more than 6.6

lakh destitute people and those

stranded because of the COV-

ID-19 lockdown are sheltered

as of now, the Union home

ministry said on Tuesday.

Punya Salila Srivastava, a

Joint Secretary in the minis-

try, told reporters during a

daily briefing on the coronavi-

Police personnel wearing coronavirus-themed helmets take part in an awareness programme against COVID-19, during the complete lockdown, inHyderabad on Tuesday. – PTI

Over 21,000 camps operational incountry, over 6.6 lakh people sheltered

rus and lockdown situation

that over 23 lakh people are

also being provided food at

these camps and other loca-

tions.

She said the Ministry of

Home Affairs (MHA) was con-

tinuously monitoring the en-

forcement of the lockdown in

the country in coordination

with States and Union Terri-

tories and the situation till now

has been satisfactory.

“As per information provid-

ed by States and UTs to the

MHA, there are about 21,064

relief camps set up and over

6.66 lakh people are sheltered

here. More than 23 lakh people

are also being provided food.

“These facilities are availa-

ble to the poor, destitute, to

those who are stranded mi-

grant workers, to those who

only need food and also to

those who have reached their

location but are quarantined as

per standard protocols,” the

officer said.

“The situation of migrant

workers is also under control,”

she said.

The system of transporting

essential supplies across the

country is also running satis-

factorily, she said, adding inter-

State cargo movement is also

going on smoothly.

“We hope that the lockdown

will be effective ... and we will

collectively tackle the COVID-

19 challenge,” Srivastava said.

Asked if the government is

planning to deploy Central par-

amilitary forces to strictly en-

force the three-week lock-

down declared by Prime Min-

ister Narendra Modi from

March 25, she said if any State

seeks such an assistance from

the MHA an action will be tak-

en. – PTI

NEW DELHI, March 31: With a na-

tionwide lockdown in place in view of coro-

navirus, India continued to breathe easy

as pollution level in 88 cities across the

country remained minimal.

Out of the 103 cities where air quality

was recorded, 23 registered ‘good’ air

quality, while 65 others recorded ‘satis-

factory’ air quality, according to the data

from the Central Pollution Control Board.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered

good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 mod-

erate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor

and 401-500 severe.

Air Quality Index is assessment of the

air quality by taking into account differ-

ent factors. The lower the AQI the bet-

ter the air is considered to be.

The National Capital witnessed a slight

dip in air quality after the effect of rain

subsided but it remained in the satisfac-

tory category.

88 cities continue to record minimal airpollution with lockdown in place

Bulandshahr, Guwahati record poor air quality

UP’s Bulandshahr and Guwahati were

the only two cities out of 103 that record-

ed poor air quality.

India is currently under the biggest

lockdown with around 130 crore people

asked to stay home in view of the corona-

virus outbreak, which has claimed 29 lives

and infected over 1000 people in the coun-

try. The government has urged people to

avoid unnecessary travelling, significant-

ly reducing the traffic movement across

the country.

Since the lockdown was imposed, air

quality across the country has shown dras-

tic improvement due to eradication of

local pollutants generated due to con-

struction activities and vehicular traffic

among others.

According to the Centre-run System

of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting

and Research (SAFAR), the impact of the

measures taken due to the coronavirus

outbreak has resulted in a drop in PM2.5

(fine particulate pollutant) by 30 per cent

in Delhi and by 15 per cent in Ahmeda-

bad and Pune.

The level of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)

pollution, which can increase the risk of

respiratory conditions, has also reduced.

NOx pollution is mainly caused due to a

high motor vehicle traffic. In Pune, NOx

pollution has reduced by 43 per cent, in

Mumbai, by 38 per cent and in Ahmeda-

bad, by 50 per cent.

Gufran Beig, a scientist at SAFAR, said

generally in March, pollution is in the

“moderate” category (Air Quality Index

range: 100-200) while presently, it is in

the “satisfactory” (AQI 50-100) or

“good” (AQI 0-50) category.

Environmentalists said that though it

is not the ideal way to bring down air

pollution but at least it proves that such

outcomes can be brought. – PTI

NEW DELHI, March 31:

Some residents of Nizamuddin

West on Tuesday accused the

civil and police administrations

of not heeding their complaints

about a large number of people

converging at the Tablighi Jamaat

Markaz amid the coronavirus

outbreak, after the Delhi locali-

ty was identified as a hotspot of

COVID-19.

Of the 2,000-odd people, in-

cluding foreigners, who gath-

ered at the Islamic religious cen-

tre earlier this month, 24 have

tested positive for COVID-19,

according to officials.

Delhi Health Minister Saty-

endar Jain said 700 people who

attended this congregation have

been quarantined while around

335 people have been admitted

to hospitals.

Sheikh Mohammad Umar,

the secretary of Nizamuddin

West Resident Welfare Associ-

ation, claimed that the RWA had

brought the issue to the notice

of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate

concerned, local police and

South Delhi Municipal Corpo-

ration, but nothing happened.

Umar said despite writing

several letters to the police and

the administration, no security

has been provided to the colo-

ny, which shares its boundary

with the markaz.

Congress leader and former

municipal councillor of the area

Farhad Suri, however, said the

congregation took place before

NEW DELHI, March 31: The AYUSH min-

istry has decided to invite scientific proposals

on therapies and procedures that could restrain

the spread of the coronavirus pandemic using

the Indian system of medicines.

The ministry on Tuesday said it has initiated

action on the Prime Minister’s advice to work

for scientific evidence-based solutions and de-

cided to set up a channel to enlist various sug-

gestions and proposals from AYUSH practi-

tioners and institutions, and examine their via-

bility through a group of scientists.

Further, in follow-up to the call given by

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help stop

big claims without evidence about treatment

of COVID-19, the Ministry of AYUSH has ini-

tiated steps to curb such claims through crea-

tion of awareness, it said in a statement.

In a video conference held on March 30, near-

NEW DELHI, March 31:

A group of students at the In-

dian Institute of Technology

(IIT), Guwahati, has devel-

oped a drone with an automat-

ed sprayer to sanitise large ar-

eas, including roads, parks and

footpaths, to prevent the

spread of coronavirus.

The student group, which

has a start-up called ‘Racer-

fly’, has approached the As-

sam and Uttarakhand gov-

ernments offering to join the

IIT-Guwahati students develop droneto sanitise large areasfight against the coronavirus

pandemic with their sprayer

system which they claim can

accomplish the task in less than

15 minutes which would oth-

erwise take a person 1.5 days

of work.

According to Anant Mittal,

a civil engineering student at

IIT-Guwahati, the sprayer sys-

tem can be deployed and op-

erated by just one operator

sitting and monitoring at one

spot, eliminating the need of

many cleaners manually spray-

ing disinfectants. Also, these

drones can be used to record

videos as well.

“The drone will help in san-

itizing large areas by just one

person spraying and monitor-

ing using a mobile app, hence

eliminating the need for more

cleaners who use manual

spraying disinfectant. This will

help in following social distanc-

ing guidelines issued by the

World Health Organisation

(WHO) to fight COVID-19.

The drone which is crash

proof, is equipped to adjust

itself to terrain height and

avoid obstacles,” Mittal said.

“The roads and areas can

be selected on Google maps

and the drone can be auto-

mated to perform the task

within a signal range of 3 km.

A drone can cover more than

1.2 hectare in one flight and

more than 60 hectares in a

day,” he added. – PTI

‘Authorities didn’t acton complaints againstgathering at Markaz’

the government announced the

lockdown.

“How can you allow 300 for-

eigners enter India when the

entire world is reeling under the

coronavirus outbreak? It is the

responsibility of the Central gov-

ernment to stop them,” he said.

A resident of Nizamuddin

West said despite knowing that

people from all over the world

gather there, the administration

did not issue any advisory.

Asked if people continued to

throng the markaz despite the

Delhi government issuing an

order banning large gatherings,

he claimed, “Neither the admin-

istration nor the police stopped

them... They swung into action

when a preacher, who had at-

tended the gathering, died in

Srinagar due to coronavirus.”

There is nothing the govern-

ment could have done about it.

It happened way before the

Delhi government issued any

advisory or they started screen-

ing passengers at the airports,

another resident said.

The residents complained

that the police are yet to act strict

in the area and a large number

of people could be seen roam-

ing around without any reason.

Time and again, we brought

to the notice of the administra-

tion and the police that a large

number of people gather at the

markaz regularly, but they did

not pay attention to it, another

local said. – PTI

AYUSH ministry to exploretherapies against COVID-19

Seeks online suggestionsly 100 thought leaders from different disciplines

of AYUSH participated, and among other

things, also resolved to work for spreading

awareness against such inappropriate claims.

The ministry has invited inputs from AY-

USH practitioners and AYUSH institutions (in-

stitutions may include colleges/ universities,

hospitals, research institutes, AYUSH manu-

facturers, AYUSH associations, etc).

The inputs, which can be submitted on the

ministry’s website (http://ayush.gov.in/covid-

19), will be scrutinised by the committee of

experts.

The observations of the Prime Minister

came during an interaction held through video

conference with prominent personalities from

the AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy,

Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) Sector on

March 28. – PTI

NEW DELHI, March 31:

Using tobacco and drinking al-

cohol to cope with boredom

during the COVID-19 lock-

down can affect immunity as

well as mental health, the Un-

ion health ministry said on

Tuesday, amid rising cases of

the novel coronavirus.

It also urged people not to

shun or judge those who are

suffering from the infection,

which has claimed 32 lives and

affected 1,251 people in the

country.

“If you know someone who

might have the infection, tell

them about precautions, and

how to get medical assistance,

if required,” the ministry said

in its document ‘Minding our

Use of tobacco, alcoholconsumption affect immunity

minds during the COVID-19

pandemic’, which was released

on Tuesday.

People who have the prob-

lem of substance use must go

for professional help, especial-

ly when they feel stressed, the

ministry said.

Underlining the importance

of the lockdown, it said the

lockdown is meant to prevent

the spread of the infection from

one person to another, and to

protect ourselves and others.

This means, not stepping out

of the house except for buying

necessities, reducing the

number of trips outside, and

ideally only a single, healthy

family member making trips

when absolutely necessary, the

ministry said.

If there is anyone in the

house who is very sick and may

need to get medical help, “you

must be aware of the health

facility nearest to you”, it said.

“These can be difficult times

for all of us as we hear about

spread of COVID-19 from all

over the world, through tele-

vision, social media, newspa-

pers, family and friends and

other sources. The most com-

mon emotion faced by all is

fear. It makes us anxious, pan-

icky and can even possibly

make us think, say or do things

that we might not consider

appropriate under normal cir-

cumstances,” the document

stated. –PTI

Survivors shareexperienceof fighting

coronavirusAHMEDABAD, March 31:

Social distancing and strong

will power are the ‘mantras’

shared by some of the corona-

virus patients who defeated

the deadly viral infection and

recovered from it.

Their stories offer a ray of

hope to other patients who are

battling the disease.

While one of the survivors

said she has emerged strong-

er after recovery, another one

urged people to follow social

distancing and stay at home,

saying it is the only way to

contain the spread of the in-

fection.

The Surat-based woman,

who was among the first few

cases of coronavirus reported

in Gujarat, posted an emotion-

al note on Instagram.

“I have come out of the pan-

demic (as a) stronger (per-

son). I wouldn’t have made it

without the support of my fam-

ily, friends, well-wishers and

most importantly God. I

walked the journey – of being

the first positive coronavirus

case in Gujarat to the first re-

covery in Gujarat. I pray that

each affected person be healed

as fast as I did,” she said.

The 34-year-old woman

from Ahmedabad who has re-

covered regretted her decision

to travel abroad which result-

ed in her contracting the infec-

tion. She urged people to re-

main indoors in a bid to contain

the spread of coronavirus. – PTI

4 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

MESSAGE FOR TODAY

Good judgment comes from experience, and a

lot of that comes from bad judgment.

– WILL ROGERS

Warnings of Covid-19 outbreak

Tea industry lockdownWith the State’s tea sector set to witness a big slump in

production due to the ongoing Covid-19-induced lock-

down that has coincided with three vital weeks of pro-

duction, the industry as also the Government needs to

evolve pragmatic ways to compensate for the loss in the

days ahead. The lockdown which is affecting tea produc-

tion in Assam and West Bengal – the two main tea pro-

ducing regions of the country – will cause an estimated

loss of around 150 million kg of tea and the resultant

revenue loss for Assam and West Bengal will be 12%.

Another concern is that the tea leaves will overgrow, af-

fecting the quality during the second flush that begins

mid-May. While the industry is understandably pleading

for a bailout package by the Central Government to se-

cure the livelihood of 1.2 million workers employed in the

sector, the industry, too, will have to evolve innovative

means to normalize things once the coronavirus crisis is

over. The tea industry has been going through an eco-

nomic crisis over the last few years. The tea industry

which has been battling low prices and low export vol-

umes for several years is bound to take a severe beating

under the emerging situation vis-a-vis Covid-19 outbreak.

It is clear that such a bleak backdrop has compelled the

State Government to allow resumption of plucking of green

leaves from April 1 subject to strict adherence to guide-

lines issued by the deputy commissioners and the Health

Department. While such a move is bound to raise many an

eyebrow given that many industries would now resort to

similar arguments to resume functioning, the decision tak-

en by a Cabinet meeting on Sunday night has been sought

to be defended by the authorities on the premise that tea

being a major industry for Assam which is also linked to the

livelihood of millions, such a decision was unavoidable.

Another logic put forward is that the tea gardens function

within self-sustaining precincts and can therefore operate

in an isolated manner. The Tamil Nadu Government has

also allowed plucking and factory activities for tea in the

Nilgiris subject to conditions. The situation is indeed tricky

but allowing normal activities in gardens comes with a fair

degree of the risk of a major Covid-19 outbreak. Allowing

the gardens to operate also stands to negate the objective

of the lockdown, given that a very large number of work-

ers are engaged in the industry. Meanwhile, the Consult-

ative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA), the

largest apex body of tea associations in India, has written

to the Centre saying the shutdown of the tea industry at

the beginning of the manufacturing season has virtually

disabled the sector as seasonal production of the sector

has ceased. Citing the crisis situation, it has called for liber-

al support from the Central Government during the finan-

cially-stressed condition to tide over this crisis. However,

if the gardens are allowed to function normally, the de-

mand for Central largesse will be untenable.

Sagacious decisionsThe posers being confronted by the State administra-

tion while tackling a possible coronavirus pandemic have

to be acknowledged. One of the most important of these is

to maintain a judicious balance between the requirements

of lockdown, self-quarantine and social distancing in order

not to have the contagion spread to an uncontrollable stage

which, by bringing on intolerable pressure on our health

system, might result in unacceptable number of infections

and fatalities, and at the same time prevent a situation in

which starvation and other forms of deprivation might lead

to a different form of crisis! This is especially true of a

remotely located region such as the Northeast, which has

for long lost its earlier self-sufficiency and today relies

heavily on imported foodstuff for the very survival of the

people. This is why one decision in particular taken in the

recent meeting of the Assam State Cabinet is of enormous

significance – allowing trucks carrying essential commod-

ities through our State borders! Such a decision was of

exigent need if our grocery shops were not to run out of

essential foodstuffs which are partaken of not merely by

the weaker sections of society, but the public in general. It

is also to be hoped that the railways and air cargo carriers

are doing their bit to transport essential commodities to

this region so that there is no hiatus in the supply chain.

There certainly would be no point in keeping grocery

shops open if the shelves are empty of basic food items

like rice, flour, cooking oil, oats, lentils and pulses which

are staple items of consumption! Another sagacious Cab-

inet decision has been to provide free rice to 58 poor

families and Rs 1000 to those that do not possess free-

ration cards. However, there is one segment of society,

no matter belonging to which stratum, to cater to whose

needs the State Government must work out a viable strat-

egy. There are numerous nuclear families, particularly in

the urban areas, comprising of the very elderly age group

living by themselves, who in the present circumstances

cannot get easy access to daily items of consumption.

The Government would do well to locate such groups

and devise a mechanism through which home delivery

of essential items can be made to them. Among the oth-

er sensible decisions taken by the Government are ones

like allowing flood prevention construction to continue,

considering the great damage to lives and infrastruc-

ture wreaked by annual floods. Since this is the second

flush season in tea gardens, allowing plucking to carry

on while maintaining Health Department norms on so-

cial distancing is equally sagacious. It is through similar

measures, such as allowing farmers to work in the fields

or small sector productions to maintain operations can a

semblance of economic activity be retained during a

particularly grim situation.

he people of the globe

have woken up to a rude

shock that a viral world

war can actually happen.

It’s no longer a part of a novel or a

sci-fi horror movie like Contagion.

It was just in a matter of 60 days

that the virus that causes Covid-19

spread from Wuhan city in Hubei

province of China to Korea, Italy,

Iran, Spain, Portugal, the United

Kingdom, Russia, etc., as a pandem-

ic. It crossed the Atlantic and at-

tacked the USA and is wreaking

havoc in all these countries where

human lives are getting blown away

like fallen leaves in winter. First it

was the old, but now even the

young ones are falling prey to the

viral attack. The Covid-19 has also

reached India and like most coun-

tries of the world, India is under

complete lockdown for 21 days in

the first phase. All other things

have come to a stop and it’s only

the preparation for tackling the

apocalypse that is going on. The

whole world is being converted into

some kind of quarantine quarters,

be it homes, hotels, stadia or hospi-

tals. Medics and public health au-

thorities along with governments

are fighting a seemingly losing bat-

tle, which will leave behind scars

that will take a long time to heal.

Once the pandemic is over, it will

leave the world economy shattered

and the life of the people in most

countries will only mean keeping

the wolves at bay. The mighty eco-

nomic powers will crumble and it

will take years before the issues

like development, good quality of

life, human development indices

will be again talked about. The richer

the nation the more will be the ef-

fect, while in India all the States,

whether rich or poor, will suffer the

most, as the picture is unfolding in

T

They are daily or weekly wage-

earners who get paid only if they

work. Their hearths see fire only

when the bread-earner returns

home at the end of the day, with

supplies just enough for the day.

How do you keep such people at

homes or reach them with

essential supplies at doorsteps?

The administration does not

have the wherewithal to attend to

the problem in this manner.

Lettersto the

EDITOR

Dehumanizing the citizen

Sir, – While the call of the hour is

to maintain social distance with a

view to save oneself and others

from the dreaded coronavirus

disease, the total lockdown has

created an unprecedented situation

in the history of mankind for which

people were not prepared at all. In

the absence of certain clarification

on how a law-abiding citizen be able

to meet any emergency situation

occurring in family and in personal

life, a sense of confusion is prevail-

ing everywhere. While all will

agree that the lockout should not be

violated, but the administration

must act rationally through

persuasion to restrain citizens from

coming out of house. The poor

people in India live in such a

disadvantageous situation that they

cannot meet their both ends

without coming out of house daily.

The law-enforcing authority must

understand this. Some videos of

brutal police action on the common

people in Assam have gone viral

which has earned a bad name for

the police. Not only are the police

the first few days of the lockdown.

The Centre and the State govern-

ments which are already under the

strain of scarcity of resources will

be brought down to its heels to a

stage where the very existence of

governments will be questioned like

it happened to the Assam Govern-

ment in the mid-90s, when the Cen-

tral grants dried up and the State

resources could not even pay the

government servants. History will

definitely repeat itself, albeit in a

mutated form.

In the first chapter from

the lessons from the pan-

demic was the woefully

inadequate medical infra-

structure to meet a con-

tagion. Assam, like the

rest of the country, did not

have adequate isolation

wards, testing kits, ICU

beds, ventilators and pro-

tective gears for the med-

ics to be engaged, labora-

tories competent to test

the virus. In the worst

case scenario, Assam may

have to deal with a lakh of

Covid-19 positive cases,

which would mean keep-

ing another four lakhs of

family members in quar-

antine. Fortunately, a

proactive Health Minister has tak-

en the lead to light a candle than

curse the darkness. He has mobi-

lized arrangements to take on the

first assault, as and when and if it

comes. The battles in the Covid war

will open at various fronts, for

which five new Covid-19 hospitals

are going to be built in addition to

the three medical college hospitals.

The limiting of the contagion to a

few hundreds will all depend on the

ability to enforce social distancing

and prevention of carriers from

outside the State. This is a social

awareness issue and has to be dealt

with by the other departments of

the government machinery. The

challenge for the State Health De-

partment would be to get its act in

order on the infrastructure and

equipment matters and build up the

team of medics to wage the war,

which will spread to three to four

months more. Italy had everything

in place, except that the over-

whelming number of patients be-

came unmanageable for the med-

ics and fatigue and infection took a

toll on the doctors, nurses and

medical workers alike, till the med-

ical system virtually collapsed.

Even in the USA, patients have

been forced to share ventilators.

For Assam, to train doctors and

medical personnel on the use of

equipment which till now was a

specialist’s domain is going to be a

formidable task. Again Covid-19

has no treatment as yet, so what-

ever treatment will be done will

be in following SOPs of ICUs and

ventilators. It will be more an at-

tempt at containing the infections

till the virus dies in the patient un-

der assault of self-produced anti-

bodies, rather than any curative

treatment.

The enforcement of the lock-

down has been the biggest prob-

lem in Assam and will continue to

aggravate if it is extended. The ad-

ministrative inexperience of the

Chief Minister led to the goof-up

of the markets being opened and

the public rushing in to buy essen-

tial commodities in spite of the

clampdown order. The State

Home Minister’s men

could not enforce the

home confinement of the

citizens as desired by the

Prime Minister, caught

in-between the an-

nouncements of the

Prime Minister and the

Chief Minister. Keeping

people confined to their

homes is a big problem.

Most villagers supple-

ment their incomes by

selling their produce in

the weekly markets.

The weekly profits are

used to purchase sup-

plies lasting for a week.

A huge section of the

rural population work as

labourers in construc-

tion sites, pull rickshaws

and hand-carts, work in farms, as

manual labourers in the markets

and shops. They are daily or week-

ly wage-earners who get paid only

if they work. Their hearths see fire

only when the bread-earner re-

turns home at the end of the day,

with supplies just enough for the

day. How do you keep such people

at homes or reach them with es-

sential supplies at doorsteps? The

administration does not have the

wherewithal to attend to the prob-

lem in this manner.

The Assam Government is one

of the best in the country in dealing

with natural disasters like floods,

where the population gathers in the

relief camps and arranging food is

not an issue any longer after the 70-

year-old experience of dealing with

floods. In the Covid-19 case where

social distancing is of paramount

importance, such relief camps are

not possible. The Government is

having a serious problem of finding

out the limited urban poor to supply

food to them at their homes as nei-

ther the Civil Supplies Department

nor the municipalities have the data.

Ration cards can indicate a minus-

cule number, but how do you assess

the numbers of migrant labourers?

It’s only after an assessment of the

numbers can relief be supplied to

them. Even Delhi has failed to grap-

ple with the issue. Soon the non-

government middle-class working

in shops and factories, now closed,

will run out of purchasing power.

Free food will also have to be sup-

plied to them. Assam being a food-

stuff-importing State will have prob-

lems of supplies from mainland

reaching the whole-sellers due to

transport issues from outside the

State and the within. In the event of

an extended shutdown, every home,

rich or poor or middle-class, has to

be reached to provide supplies. The

Assam Government unfortunately

has not shown the political leader-

ship to deal with such a contingen-

cy of worldwide proportions, save

in medical matters. They have failed

to read the message of the Prime

Minister in spite of a supportive

media, political opposition and a

dedicated bureaucracy waiting to

be led. All going well and the pan-

demic ending soon will keep the

political heads in place, but anything

going wrong, the guillotine will

definitely fall. Assam must brace for

harder times.

Covid-19 and racism: a deadly cocktail for NE peoplehe Covid-19 is set to

dominate the future

debates on globaliza-

tion, but its impact is

not merely limited to the field of

health or international relations.

Donald Trump, the President of

the United States, called the Cov-

id-19 as the ‘Chinese virus’ or

‘China virus’ on multiple occa-

sions. In his defence, he had

pointed out that the term was not

racist at all as the virus was said

to have originated in that coun-

try. However, he changed his po-

sition and tweeted that the spread

of the novel coronavirus in the

US was not the fault of the Asian-

Americans. Partly responsible for

this change of heart may be the

fact that the Asian-Americans have

been a target of growing number

of racist and xenophobic attacks

related with the virus.

However, closer home, disturb-

ing facts related to an ‘old virus’

but having mutated to a new form

are doing the rounds in many

parts of India now. This pertains

to a spike in racist taunts/attacks

against the northeasterners with

n Shankar Brata Raimedhi

reference to the novel coronavi-

rus. One would like to call it Rac-

ism-19 for the sake of brevity.

There are instances galore of

this latest trend which is raising

its ugly head. The most infamous

being how a Manipuri girl was

spat on and called ‘corona’ while

she stepped out to pick up essen-

tials in North Delhi. Fortunately

in this case, the police acted

promptly and arrested the culprit.

In Kolkata, ‘Go corona go’

chants could be heard in a partic-

ular locality. No, this wasn’t any

community confidence building

exercise to tide over the dark

clouds hanging over all of us due

to the pandemic, but a mob that

had gathered outside the flat

where three women from Naga-

land resided. The crowd was ada-

mant that the women – so-called

‘carriers of the virus’ – should

immediately leave their house as

well as the locality. When the in-

cidents like these occur, it is diffi-

cult to understand whether the

crowd was driven by genuine fear

of Covid-19 or outright racism.

As the videos doing the rounds

on social media show, the crowd

was not maintaining any social

distancing, and hence the possi-

bility of the former appears low.

In another harrowing tale, the

members of a housing society in

Ahmedabad harassed some stu-

dents from the Northeast and

pressurized them to vacate the

house and move out. Fortunately,

the cops intervened but imagine

the mental agony of having to live

with such neighbours who would

do anything to push you out. What

is difficult to understand is that

the students neither had any for-

eign travel history nor had shown

any symptoms of the virus.

Another video which is going

viral on the micro blogging site

Twitter is of some people from

Nagaland not being allowed to

buy groceries from a departmen-

tal store in Karnataka amidst the

lockdown. The youth can be

heard pleading that they are Indi-

ans, that they have Aadhar Cards

and that they need groceries just

like everybody else to survive.

Hopefully, some agency of the

State apparatus would intervene

again to stop this madness.

The four instances prove that

the problem is not confined to a

particular part of the country but

is all pervasive. In fact so wide-

spread has been the problem that

a New Delhi-based rights group,

namely, Rights and Risk Analysis

Group (RRAG), has recently re-

leased a report titled ‘Coronavi-

rus Pandemic: India’s Mongoloid

Looking People Face Upsurge of

Racism’. They have cited at least

22 cases of racial discrimination or

hate crimes against such people

between February 7 and March

25, 2020. What is more worrying

apart from the geographical spread

is the fact that such acts have tak-

en place in upscale restaurants and

campuses of prestigious educa-

tional institutions.

As a northeasterner who has

spent many years outside the re-

gion, this writer has been lucky

to have been largely insulated

from such racial slurs. However,

whenever there is a discussion on

racism against the northeastern-

ers, the most common rebuttal is

that many ‘outsiders’ are not

treated fairly in the Northeast.

Though this is a more complicat-

ed story driven by factors such as

partition history, landlocked ge-

ography, issues of demography

and the larger threats emanating

from illegal migration, it would

not be unwise to revisit this crit-

icism and take stock of what bet-

ter could be done.

Amidst all the gloom, one pos-

itive development is that all these

issues are getting a lot of cover-

age in the national media/web

media. On many occasions in the

past, many northeasterners feel

that the mainstream media has

been found wanting on important

issues of the Northeast but not so

this time. The Government has

also taken a serious note of the

issue and on March 21 last, the

Ministry of Home Affairs has is-

sued an advisory to all the States/

UTs to take action against such

racial attacks.

It is often said that crisis is the

true test of character. The pan-

demic has caused large-scale pan-

ic and fear and the governments

across the world are doing all they

can to keep the citizens safe.

However, as citizens we would

also have to give a test of our char-

acter and resolve, and the best

way to start is by calling out un-

just and racist behaviour.

T

beating to restrain the common

people from coming out to the

streets as if there is curfew, but

they are also punishing in other

ways by violating the self-respect of

the citizens. This is a dehumanizing

act and must be dealt with only by

compassionate approach. I appeal to

the State administration to instruct

the law-enforcing personnel to act

with certain restraint keeping the

dignity of a human being. Yours etc.,

Dr RN BHATTACHARJEE,

Guwahati.

Social distancingSir, – India is a most populous

country with over 130 crore

people. Amidst this prevailing

pandemic, if we don’t take adequate

precautions, then India might have

to face a situation worse than a war.

It is a bitter truth that most Indians

belong to the lower strata of the

society and have a bad reputation

about hygiene. As of now the

coronavirus has not penetrated to

the grassroots level in our country.

If it penetrates to the common

masses, then we can safely conclude

that it’s going to affect at least 30%

of our population which is tanta-

mount to approximately 40 crores

of people. Since India is not an

ageing society, rather a young

society thriving to reap demograph-

ic dividend, we can conclude that

the mortality rate would be around

4% which equals to 1.6 crore. As of

now, India has roughly one lakh

ventilators. We can imagine the

situation by just comparing our

medical infrastructure with Italy.

Let us get united to fight the

coronavirus and show patriotism by

staying at home. Yours etc.,

NILADRI MAHANTA, Jail Road,

Jorhat.

Aid to poorSir, – Seeing the rapid spread of

the Covid-19 disease all over the

world, India has declared a 21-day

lockdown to break the chain of the

virus spread. The sudden declara-

tion of the lockdown has created

much trouble to the common

people. The daily wager-earners

were not ready for it. After the

declaration of lockdown, they

became fear-stricken thinking

about their future. They earn in

the daytime and buy the essential

commodities in the evening to run

their families. But the sudden

declaration of the lockdown has

jeopardized their lives. The

Central Government has an-

nounced aid to such poor people of

the country but it has not reached

them yet. Unless steps are taken

to mitigate this lacuna, the poor

people will come out in search of

work and food and then there will

be no social distancing. So, the

Government should immediately

supply relief to all these people.

Yours etc., HARSHA MOHAN

SARMA, Chamata, Nalbari.

Covid-19 lessonsSir, – The pandemic Covid-19

is a matter of global tension right

now. Today, the world’s most

powerful countries are compelled

to bow down to this microbe.

Science and technology that have

changed the entire world have no

answer to it. Still all are trying,

all are fighting against it. All are

optimistic that a positive news

will come very soon. Whatever it

is, one must accept that Covid-19

has brought to light so many

hidden things, so many truths.

One has to keep safe distance.

It’s very meaningful in practical

life. Whoever you are, no one

shelters you, if you are in danger.

So, however your home is, small

or abandoned, it’s the only

heaven in real sense. Amid

extreme danger people realize

that religion is just a way of life, a

lesson to lead a moral life only.

So, any classification or discrimi-

nation on the basis of caste, creed

or religion is of no use. Whether

power or position, nothing lasts

forever. These are all temporary.

Yours etc., BASANTA BARUAH,

Kaliapani, Jorhat.

Behave responsiblySir, – The Prime minister had

announced a 21-day lockdown to

break the corona chain. However,

many people are not yet able to

understand the necessity of

staying at home. They are

roaming here and there unneces-

sarily. Only one single coronavi-

rus-affected person is sufficient

enough to spread the disease in a

large area. The Government is

taking every possible preventive

measure. Therefore, everyone

should start behaving like a

responsible citizen of the country

and be a warrior against Covid-19.

Yours etc., RAKHISHREE

LEKHARU, Nagaon.

n Swapnanil Barua

Articles (within 1000-1100 words) and

Letters to the Editor for publication in

the editorial page may be sent to the

email ID: editor@assamtribune.com.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 5CITY

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 31: Milk

producers of Assam are facing an

acute crisis of cattle-feed after the

government imposed a nationwide

lockdown, which has also directly

affected distribution of milk and

other dairy products.

During a conversation with The

Assam Tribune, chairman of the

Sitajakhala Dugdha Utpadak Sam-

abai Samiti Ltd Ranjit Sarma said

that following the lockdown, eve-

ry milk producer in both the or-

ganised and unorganised sectors,

has been badly affected.

He informed that in Assam

around 70 per cent cattle-feed is

sourced from outside the State.

State milk producers facing acute crisis of cattle-feedBut as all the factories located in

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have

stopped working after the lock-

down, scarcity of cattle-feed is in-

creasing at a rapid rate.

“Guwahati is our main market

place. But after the lockdown we

have lost 70 per cent space in the

market. At such a critical time, we

need intervention from the State

government, otherwise our econ-

omy will face a severe disaster. We

are trying to produce cattle-feed,

but it is not sufficient to cover the

demands of every milk producer

of Assam,” Sarma said.

On the other hand, Sarma al-

leged that different government

orders giving different directions

on the same issue are creating

confusion among the milk produc-

ers of Assam in marketing their

products.

“In such a situation, survival of

cows has become a challenge. Now

we need a proper supply chain for

cattle-feed, for which the Agricul-

ture Minister should take immedi-

ate step. He should take a cue from

the health department which is

working on a war-footing. The sit-

uation has turned graver as there is

protein deficiency (fish, meat, etc.,)

in the market,” he stated.

Sarma urged the State Agricul-

ture Minister and other senior of-

ficials to meet the farmers of the

State and formulate a proper plan

to solve the issues. He also ap-

pealed for financial assistance to the

milk producers.

“At Sitajakhala, our production

on any regular day is around 18,000

litres, but after the lockdown pro-

duction has come down to around

14,000 litres daily. As the supply

chain has been disrupted, we have

restricted collection of milk to

some extent. This will ultimately

harm our farmers. So the industry

is at risk. The entire dairy market

is facing around 40 per cent loss

after the lockdown. The govern-

ment should arrange sufficient

number of vehicles to supply milk

and milk products in every nook

and corner of the State. If that is

not done, then we will not sur-

vive,” Sarma added.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minis-

ter Atul Bora informed that his de-

partment has formed State and dis-

trict-level committees to stream-

line distribution of agricultural pro-

duce and cattle-feed without com-

promising with the advisory issued

by the health department in view

of the coronovirus outbreak.

Minister Bora further said that

they are devising a roadmap to

minimise the adverse impact of

coronavirus in the agriculture sec-

tor. “Officials of the agriculture and

animal husbandry departments

will work in tandem with the dis-

trict administration to streamline

the distribution chain of agricultur-

al produce, besides facilitating sup-

ply of fertilisers and other related

items,” he said.

Agriculture Minister Atul Borasays distribution of agriculturalproduce and cattle-feed will bestreamlinedd withoutcompromising with healthdepartment’s advisory vis-a-viscoronovirus

WEATHER

GUWAHATILOCAL FORECAST: Mainly clear sky.

Maximum and minimum

temperatures are most

likely to be 35°C and 18°C

respectively on

Wednesday.

TEMPERATURE:Max 35.6°CMin 16.8°C

With the nationwide lockdown in force, sanitisation being carried out on RG Baruah Road, in Guwahati on Tuesday. – Photo: Samarendra Sarma

Gauhati High Courthearing cases via

video conferencingABINASH KALITA

GUWAHATI, March 31: To contain the spread of novel

coronavirus, courts across India are adopting various tech-

nological tools, including video conferencing facility, to hear

cases from afar. The Gauhati High Court has also regulated

court working only to urgent matters till April 4 in view of

the COVID-19. The High Court has already heard 17 cases

via video conferencing facility during this ongoing lock-

down period, including the bail plea of the peasant leader

Akhil Gogoi.

Justice Ajai Lamba, Chief Justice, Gauhati High Court,

heard his bail plea via a video conferencing link on March

26. The Court has granted bail to Akhil Gogoi, who is

facing charges of ‘waging a war’ for his involvement in the

protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.

The functioning of the Court is interlinked with other

important services. So the use of technology has come to

the fore at this juncture, where it can help smooth func-

tioning of the Court in the deliverance of justice.

When the entire country is under total lockdown to pre-

vent the spread of the deadly virus, the people can avail the

judicial services through the use of the e-Courts services.

The Gauhati High Court had recently released a short

film titled as ‘Ghore Ghore e-Courts’ to generate aware-

ness on the benefits of the e-Courts services among the

common people and legal practitioners. The short film

has been directed by documentary filmmaker Dip Bhuy-

an, produced by the Gauhati High Court and conceptual-

ised by the High Court’s ICT Committee.

Moreover, along with the High Court, the District Judicial

Courts of Assam are also taking up urgent matters in this

lockdown period along with production of UTPs (Under Trial

Prisoners) before the Courts from the Jail premises using

video conferencing technology provided under the e-Courts

Project. Email services, SMS services, websites of the Courts

are also functioning for case-related information. Introduction

of e-Filing and Virtual Courts in near the future will be an

added advantage in these kinds of situations.

Workers unloading essential commodities from a truck at Fancy Bazar, in Guwahation Tuesday. – UB Photos

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 31: State Indus-

try and Commerce Minister Chandra

Mohan Patowary today clarified that the

state government has not relaxed the

lockdown norms, however, some indus-

tries would be allowed to function with

limited staff, subjected to the permis-

sion from the deputy commissioners of

the respective districts.

After the declaration by the Assam

Cabinet on March 30 regarding limited

easing of curbs imposed due to the na-

tional lockdown concerning reopening

of rice and fodder mills, tea industry, bis-

cuit and other food production units from

April 1, there was some miscommuni-

cation on social media regarding dilu-

Govt denies easing of lockdown normstion of the lockdown norms.

“The industries would be allowed to

work only after the industry owners give

application to the deputy commission-

ers of their respective districts. Only

after the DC and the Health department

are taken into confidence regarding the

particular industry following health de-

partment instructions, including the

norm of social distancing, the permis-

sion will be given,” Patowary told The

Assam Tribune.

“The basic idea behind this decision is

to maintain the supply chain, without af-

fecting the nationwide fight against COV-

ID-19 and it nowhere means lifting the

lockdown. The lockdown has completed

seven days and to keep the supply chain

healthy, the norms have been eased for

some industries,” he added.

At present, there is sufficient stock of

essential commodities in the state for the

next seven days as Assam is a consumer

state and not a major producer state.

“The stock of some of the essential

items like mustard oil, wheat flour, etc.

will have to be replenished. Similarly,

the tea industry has also been demand-

ing the easing of norms to implement

plant protection measures to avoid long-

term damage to the plants,” he added.

For tea industry, limited activities like

spraying of pesticides and irrigation of tea

plants in tea gardens would be allowed.

Earlier, social activist Ajoy Dutta had

questioned the State government’s de-

cision to ease the curbs of lockdown in

some sectors from April 1.

Door-to-doordistribution of

free rationsbegins in cityGUWAHATI, March 31:

The Kamrup (Metro) district

administration on Tuesday

started the door-to-door dis-

tribution of free rations

among economically weaker

section of the society. Today,

the drive covered 754 fami-

lies in Guwahati revenue cir-

cle and 2,542 families in Dis-

pur revenue circle.

Meanwhile, Food and Civil

Supply Minister Phani Bhush-

an Choudhury today directed

the officials concerned to en-

sure proper rates of essential

commodities in the markets

of Guwahati.

He also asked the district

administration to take strict

action against illegal storage

of food products in this peri-

od of crisis. – Staff Reporter

Bar Council tohelp advocates

in distressGUWAHATI, March 31:

The Bar Council of Assam and

other North East States

which comprises advocates of

Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram,

Arunachal Pradesh and Sik-

kim, stated on Monday that it

is working to help the advo-

cates who have been facing fi-

nancial hardships amid the na-

tionwide lockdown.

The Bar Council took the

initiative after receiving re-

quests from various district

bar associations to help the

advocates. In a statement,

chairman of the Bar Council

Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choud-

hury said at present there are

around 35,000 registered

advocates in these five states

and among them 18,000 are

continuing with their prac-

tice. – Staff Reporter

Journalist diesin road mishapGUWAHATI, March 31:

Dimpi Baishya, a young jour-

nalist of the city died on the

spot in a road accident that

took place at Sundarpur on

RG Baruah Road late Mon-

day night here. She was 22

and was working with a local

news web portal.

Her colleague Arup Mo-

rang also sustained multiple

injuries. Morang is now un-

dergoing at a city-based pri-

vate hospital and has been

reported to be out of danger.

The accident occurred

when the scooty on which the

journalists were riding, hit a

roadside electricity pole.

They were on their way

home after duty. The de-

ceased was a resident of Bel-

tola Survey area of the city.

Chief Minister Sarbananda

Sonowal and the Guwahati

Press Club have mourned the

untimely demise of the young

journalist. – Staff Reporter

Donation to govtGUWAHATI, March 31:

Arya Hospital Guwahati hasdonated Rs 10 lakh to theState government for use inits fight against the coronavi-

rus pandemic, said a press

release today.

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 31: AIUDF

chief and Lok Sabha member Badrud-

din Ajmal has urged the State’s people

not to violate lockdown rules, saying all

should stay at home and maintain social

distance. He also appealed to the Cen-

tral and State governments to make sure

that daily wage earners, small traders

and other economically vulnerable seg-

ments do not suffer during the lockdown.

He said some incidents of police be-

ing attacked by people while trying to

Stay at home, maintain social distance, AIUDF urges peopleenforce the lockdown and prevent large

gatherings at public places have been

reported, including at Chapar in Dhu-

bri. “Such incidents are totally condem-

nable. All citizens should follow the di-

rectives issued by the government in

this time of pandemic. All citizens

should unite against coronavirus,” said

Ajmal. He demanded punishment to

the culprits behind the attacks.

Ajmal pointed out that daily wage

earners, small traders and self-em-

ployed people are facing immense

hardships as they have lost their

sources of income on account of the

lockdown. “We urge all those who

can help such people to do so. The

government must also ensure that

such economically vulnerable seg-

ments are taken care of and no poor

should face starvation,” he said.

Ajmal said all segments of society

must jointly fight to prevent the spread

of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We urge

everybody to adhere to the rules of

the lockdown and to maintain social

distancing. The question of caste, creed

and religion does not arise in this time

of pandemic. All must strive to stay

safe and also urge others to do the

same. Last Friday, 95 per cent of Mus-

lims in India and Assam followed the

government’s lockdown rules and

prayed at their respective homes in-

stead of congregating in the mosques.

We hope they will follow this practice

next Friday as well,” he said.

Ajmal also said he is contributing

Rs 1.5 crore from his Members’ of

Parliament Local Area Development

Scheme fund for the government’s

fight against COVID-19.

‘Mitigate woes faced bylivestock, fish farmers’

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 31:

The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh

(BKS) has called upon the

State government to

mitigate the problems faced

by people engaged in

livestock rearing and

fishery during the ongoing

period of nationwide

lockdown.

In a letter to Chief

Minister Sarbananda

Sonowal, the state unit of

BKS stated that livestock

and fish farmers of Assam

are facing an acute scarcity of

animal feeds and fish feeds.

“A good number of

educated youths are

engaged in livestock,

especially pig rearing and

fish farming. But they have

been unable to feed their

animals during the lock-

down period... request you

to kindly find an amicable

solution to cope with the

problems faced by the

livestock and fish farmers,”

stated the BKS.

The BKS, which claims

to be the largest farmers’

union in India, suggested

that the trucks loaded with

animal feeds, which are

being stranded in other

states, should be brought to

Assam and dispatched to

different districts.

“The distribution of

animal feeds may be done

through restricted pass

(sic) to the farmers through

administration and police.

Measures should be taken

to control the price of

animal feeds,” it stated.

BKS has also demanded

that the sale of milk and

milk products should be

done in the state through

proper administrative

control.

Meanwhile, BKS state

unit organising secretary

Krishna Kanta Bora said the

union got in touch with the

state government to facilitate

the movement of thousands

of tonnes of fresh vegetables

and other agricultural

products which were stuck

due to the lockdown at

various parts of Assam.

“The farmers and

producers, who are all

indigenous people, were

staring at a big loss.

However, the state

government has now made

arrangements to sell those

products in 14 districts

through the respective local

administrations,” Bora said.

In a letter toChief MinisterSarbanandaSonowal, the stateunit of BharatiyaKisan Sangh statedthat livestock andfish farmers ofAssam are facingan acute scarcityof animal feeds andfish feeds.

BJP asks its cadresto donate to PM’semergency fund

Police, excise dept’s fight

against COVID-19 hailedGUWAHATI, March 31: Chairman of the State Anti Drug Pro-

hibition Council Dr Lokendra Prasad Deka today lauded the police

and the excise department for their efforts in fighting the novel

coronavirus in the State. In a statement, Deka said the excise

department and police raided different places and unearthed illicit

liquor dens, which were causing a huge health hazard.

“People should not forget the hooch tragedies that occurred

in the State in the past. In this hour of crisis, we all should join

hands and cooperate with the government. All should stay

inside their homes and maintain social distancing to prevent

the spread of coronavirus,” he added. – Staff Reporter

Tackling COVID-19STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 31:

With the coronavirus (COV-

ID-19) pandemic sweeping the

entire world, the ruling BJP

today asked each of its 42 lakh

plus cadres in Assam to do-

nate at least a minimum of Rs

100 to the Prime Minister’s

Citizen Assistance and Relief

in Emergency Situations Fund

(PM CARES Fund).

State BJP president Ran-

jeet Kumar Dass also asked

all the party’s elected repre-

sentatives, from legislators to

panchayat members, to take

care of the poor and BPL fam-

ilies during this time of crisis.

“I request all the BJP cad-

res to extend help to the eco-

nomically weaker segments

of the society, who have been

affected on account of the na-

tionwide lockdown. It is our

responsibility to assist the

daily wage earners, BPL fam-

ilies and others whose in-

comes have been affected,”

Dass said.

He urged that beginning

from tomorrow all the state

unit office-bearers of the BJP

should individually take steps

to provide food and other es-

sentials to at least ten such

families, while all the district

unit office bearers should look

after at least five families, all

municipal council and Nagar

Samiti chairpersons and dep-

uty chairpersons at least ten

poor families, all councillors,

area members and ward

commissioners as well as all

Anchalik Panchayat members

at least five families, all Zila

Parishad and Gaon Panchayat

presidents at least 10 fami-

lies and all Panchayat ward

members should take care of

at least two such families.

Besides, all the party’s leg-

islators have been requested

to take care of at least 4,000

such poor families. In constit-

uencies where the BJP does

not have its MLA, the party

has asked the respective lo-

cal MP or the party in-charg-

es to undertake the exercise.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 20206 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI NATIONAL

No. DME/28/AIIMS/2020/4827

CORRIGENDUM NOTICE

Due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the prebid

committee meeting in respect of tender published

vide no. DME/28/AIIMS/2020/4456, Dated:

20.03.2020 for Establishment of temporary campus

of AIIMS, Guwahati, is postponed and rescheduled

on 20th April ’2020 and the last date of bid

submission is extended upto 28th April ’2020.

The other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

Sd/- Director of Medical Education, Assam

Sixmile, Khanapara, Guwahati-22

No. DME/72/OT_Table/2020/4833

CORRIGENDUM NOTICE

Due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the prebid

committee meeting in respect of tender published

vide no. DME/72/OT_Table/2020/4450, Dated:

20.03.2020 for supply and installation of OT Table

in the Medical Colleges of Assam, is postponed and

rescheduled on 24th April ’2020 and the last date of

bid submission is extended upto 30th April ’2020.

The other terms and conditions remain unchanged.

Sd/- Director of Medical Education, Assam

Sixmile, Khanapara, Guwahati-22Janasanyog/C/12352/19

Jaipur Municipal Corporation workers fumigate the area around Hawa Mahal as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus, during thenationwide lockdown, in Jaipur on Tuesday. – PTI

Modified rail coaches to

provide 3.2 lakh isolation bedsNEW DELHI, March 31: Further fine-tuning its plans to

offer 20,000 coaches converted into isolation wards for coro-

navirus patients, the Indian Railways on Tuesday said these

coaches can accommodate up to 3.2 lakh possible beds. It

has also earmarked targets for its 16 zones, with the South

Central Railways headquartered at Secunderabad in Telan-

gana leading the pack with 486 coaches being allocated for

conversion, followed by Mumbai headquartered Central

Railway being allocated 482 coaches. “These modified

20,000 coaches can accommodate up to 3.2 lakh possible

beds for isolation needs. Work on modification of 5,000 coach-

es, which are to be converted initially into quarantine/isola-

tion coaches has already started. “These 5,000 coaches would

be having a capacity to accommodate up to 80,000 beds. One

coach is expected to have 16 beds for isolation,” a statement

from the railways said. – PTI

MP Raj Bhawan kitchenprepares food for lockdown-hitBHOPAL, March 31: The kitchen in Madhya Pradesh’s

Raj Bhawan is being utilised to make 100 food packets

every day which is then distributed to the lockdown-af-

fected through the Bhopal Municipal Corporation. A State

official said Governor Lalji Tandon not only inspected the

items that were placed in the food packets but even tasted

samples to ensure it was of the best quality. “He said clean-

liness should be maintained and directed that the eatables

be of highest purity. He also checked their packing and

sanitisation process,” the official said. – PTI

Pay-and-use quarantine unitsat 50 hotels in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR, March 31: A total of 50 hotels have

been designated as pay-and-use quarantine facilities by the

civic bodies in major Odisha cities in the wake of the corona-

virus outbreak, officials said on Tuesday. At least a dozen

hotels have been roped in by the Bhubaneswar Municipal

Corporation (BMC) to offer quarantine facilities to people at

a price in the State capital, while similar arrangements have

been made in around 26 hotels in neighbouring Cuttack as

part of measures taken by the State government to contain

the spread of COVID-19, they said. A large number of quar-

antine centres are required to be set up to tackle the coro-

navirus crisis, and many government buildings have already

been designated as such facilities, a senior official said. – PTI

Painting contest in solidarity withpeople in fight against COVID-19NEW DELHI, March 31: A global painting competition

to express solidarity with people in their fight against the

coronavirus pandemic will be organised by the Indian Coun-

cil for Cultural Relations (ICCR). The ICCR has called on

people to express their emotions through their paintings

as part of the competition – United Against CORONA-

Express Through Art, according to a statement. The ICCR

focuses on building cultural links with countries around the

world and connecting people to people through Cultural

and Educational exchanges. Details and guidelines are avail-

able on http://www.iccr.gov.in”www.iccr.gov.in. PTI

Marathwada varsity to get labto study coronavirus outbreakAURANGABAD, March 31: The Maharashtra govern-

ment will set up a laboratory at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar

Marathwada University in Aurangabad to study the impli-

cations of the novel coronavirus outbreak, said Vice Chan-

cellor Dr Pramod Yeole on Tuesday. He said the decision

to set up the laboratory was taken in a meeting at the

Divisional Commissioner’s office on Monday. “The labora-

tory will be set up in Paul Hebert Center for DNA Barcod-

ing and Biodiversity Studies of the University. A fund of Rs

1.59 crore has been sanctioned for this. It will also work as

a coronavirus testing facility with a capacity of 500 swabs

per day,” Yeole said. – PTI

More areas declared as redzones in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, March 31: The administration on Tuesday

declared more areas in Kashmir as red zones following

detection of fresh cases of COVID-19 in the valley, officials

said. They said 20 areas in Bandipora, Pulwama, Gander-

bal, Shopian, Srinagar and Budgam districts of Kashmir

division have been declared as red zones. The officials said

there would be no inward and outward movement of any

person from the areas declared as red zones and the peo-

ple would stay inside their homes to ensure complete lock-

down. The red zones have been declared in order to con-

tain the spread of COVID-19, they added. – PTI

NEW DELHI, March 31: The Cen-

tral government will soon finalise its

report on national preparedness relat-

ed to COVID-19 based on the respons-

es received from more than 260 IAS

officers, a statement issued by the per-

sonnel ministry said.

A decision on the survey report and

other matters was taken after a meet-

ing of the empowered group of offic-

ers, constituted under the Disaster

Management Act 2005, on public griev-

ances and suggestions to ensure time-

ly implementation of COVID-19 re-

sponse activities to identify problem

areas and delineate policy, formulate

plans, strategise operations and take

necessary steps regarding it.

The meeting was attended by Amit

Govt to finalise report onCOVID-19 preparedness survey

Responses from 266 IAS officersKhare, Secretary, Human Resource

Development (HRD), Kshtrapati Shiv-

aji Secretary, Department of Adminis-

trative Reforms and Public Grievanc-

es (DARPG), Ashutosh Agnihotri, Joint

Secretary Home Ministry, Meera Mo-

hanty, Director, Cabinet Secretariat

and other senior PMO officials.

“The DARPG would expeditiously

finalise COVID-19 national prepared-

ness survey 2020 in which 266 IAS

officers, who have served as assistant

secretaries in the government of India

in last five years, have responded to a

23-point questionnaire to identify hot

spots district-wise and adopt sugges-

tions for improved preparedness,” the

statement said.

The DARPG shall set up a technical

team comprising five officials for prep-

aration of daily reports on COVID-19,

consisting of a summary and a list of

suggestions and grievances received/

disposal status on the Centralized Pub-

lic Grievance Redress And Monitor-

ing System portal, it said mentioning

the decisions taken in the meeting.

The DARPG would lay down guide-

lines for all Central ministries/depart-

ments and State governments for im-

proved monitoring of public grievanc-

es related to coronavirus, the state-

ment said.

Every department/ministry shall

appoint designated nodal officers for

handling COVID-19 public grievanc-

es, name, phone number and email ID

of the designated nodal officer shall be

placed on the website of the depart-

ment/ministry, it said.

“Considering the urgency and im-

portance of redressal of COVID-19

grievances, it shall be incumbent on

every ministry/department to priori-

tise these grievances at the earliest

preferably within a timeline of three

days and provide redressal,” the state-

ment said.

The DARPG would further issue

similar guidelines for adoption by the

State governments, it said.

The suggestions related to COVID-

19 shall be collated by mygov.in, the

statement said, adding that mygov.in

has received over 46,000 suggestions

and they would be duly processed for

implementation. – PTI

A cat climbs up a statue during the complete lockdownimposed to contain the spread of COVID-19, in Jabalpuron Tuesday. – PTI

CORONA CLIPS 42 Surat residentsuntraceable afterreturning from

abroadSURAT, March 31: At least

42 residents of Gujarat’s Su-

rat district who returned to

India from foreign trips this

month have not been found at

the residential addresses

mentioned in their passports,

an official said on Tuesday.

In view of the coronavirus

outbreak, the Centre had pro-

vided Gujarat government a list

of around 27,000 people whose

passports mentioned their ad-

dresses in the State so that they

could be tracked. However, 42

of these people, whose pass-

ports mentioned that they are

residents of Surat, have not been

found at the specified address-

es, a district health official said.

Of these 42 ‘missing’ per-

sons, 16 are from Palsana area,

nine from Bardoli, six each

from Choryasi and Olpad lo-

calities, three from Mangrol

and two from Kamrej, he said.

After their foreign trips,

most of these people landed at

various airports like Mumbai,

Bengaluru, Lucknow and

Chennai, the official said. – PTI

CIC digitalhearings

NEW DELHI, March 31:

Amid the lockdown announced

by the government in the wake

of the COVID-19 pandemic,

the Central Information Com-

mission (CIC) is planning to in-

stitutionalise digital platforms

for its hearings so that RTI ap-

plicants can attend them from

their homes even after normal-

cy is restored. “We have asked

all the registries of Information

Commissioners to start pre-

paring briefs of the cases to be

conducted digitally. We are

testing a number of platforms

to make it a success as the ap-

plicant can easily attend the

hearing using these applications

from the place of their conven-

ience,” an official said. – PTI

Over 300 ...(Contd from page 1)

The swift action was takento identify, isolate and quaran-tine Tablighi Jamaat workerswho might be COVID-19 pos-itive. Instructions were alsoissued by the MHA to the chiefsecretaries and police chiefs ofall the states as well as theCommissioner of Police, Del-hi. The advisories were reit-erated by the Directorate ofIntelligence Bureau to all stateDGPs on March 28 and 29.

Staff Reporter adds: TheAssam health department hasissued strict instruction to thedistrict administrations to iden-tify the people who returnedto the State after attending theNizamuddin congregation andquarantine them.

“Many of the people who at-tended the congregation atMarkaz Nizamuddin are said tohave tested positive for coro-navirus. This morning we gotthe alert from Delhi. We haveappealed to those people tovoluntarily show up at the near-est hospital,” Health MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma said.

Official sources said track-ing their mobile towers, po-lice have found the presenceof around 80-90 people in theState, indicating that theymight have returned.

“I held a video conference withall DCs and have alerted them.As we have the names and ad-dresses of the people, we haveasked the administrations to im-mediately track them by todayand bring them to quarantinecentres. COVID-19 test will beconducted on them tomorrow,”Sarma said, adding, all police sta-tions have been alerted.

Minister of State for HealthPijush Hazarika said over 180people from Morigaon districthad attended the event, be-sides a sizeable number from

nearby Nagaon.

Lockdown ...(Contd from page 1)

The Chief Minister at thesame time also informed thatthe Council of Ministers of theState Government took someimportant decisions and an-nounced an economic packageon Monday with a view to pro-vide relief to the poor andneedy families of the Stateduring the lockdown period.

Around 10,000 persons...(Contd from page 1)

Sarma said that majority of those stranded in Mumbai wantto return home, but there is no way to do so because of thelockdown. The Assam Bhawan officers and employees got intouch with some non Government organizations to providefood and other essentials. However, Sarma admitted that it isnot possible to reach out to all the persons stranded in Mum-bai. As the Government released Rs 10 lakh, the Assam Bha-wan authorities have procured essential items like rice, dal,mustard oil and salt from the wholesale market and those willbe distributed among the stranded person.

Another major problem is that in some places the landlordshave asked the tenants to vacate their houses and Maharashtrapolice personnel are providing assistance to the tenants in thisregard. Yesterday, four youths got in touch with Assam Bha-wan saying that their house owner asked them to vacate hous-es within a couple of days. “We immediately contacted policeand the officer in charge of the local police station went to thearea to settle the matter. In other parts of Mumbai also we are

receiving such support from the police,” Sarma added.

Supreme Court asks ...(Contd from page 1)

The Centre also told the apex court that the suggestion by apetitioner to sprinkle water and chemicals on migrants to sanitisethem does not work scientifically and is not the right way. The topcourt, which refused to restrain high courts from taking up theissue of migrants, said they may monitor the issue more closely.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justice L NageswaraRao, which took up two PILs on the issue of migration throughvideo conference, asked the Centre to look into the letter-petitions filed by two MPs from Kerala and West Bengal.

The bench adjourned the hearing on the PILs to April 7,asking the Centre to ensure that duties of managing the shelterhomes are entrusted to volunteers and not to the police, andthere should not be any use of force or intimidation.

Mehta said migration of people cannot be allowed at this junc-ture as this would spread the virus. Referring to the last census,Mehta said there were about 4.14 crore persons who had mi-grated for work but backward migration is now happening dueto coronavirus fears. He told the court that the governmentwould shortly implement a system where migrants would beoffered counselling and trained counsellors of the district mentalhealth programmes would be engaged in it. He also added thatthe authorities would mobilise religious leaders to counsel the

migrants in shelters so that they could stay calm. – PTI

Centre asks states ...(Contd from page 1)

“Local district/state/police administrations are in prepared-ness to coordinate with banks during the disbursement of mon-ey to the people covered under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana,” hesaid in the letter sent on Monday. Banks, ATMs including ITvendors for banking operations, bank correspondent and ATMoperation, and cash management services have been exemptedunder the guidelines on the lockdown measures issued under the

Disaster Management Act. – PTI

COVID-19 cases rise ...(Contd from page 1)

The Union Home Ministry said approximately 2,100 foreign-ers visited India for ‘tabligh’ activities this year, including thosefrom Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh,Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan. It also said that all state police havebeen asked to locate Indian Tabligh Jamaat workers from localcoordinators, followed by their medical screening and quarantine.So far, 2137 such people have been identified and are being med-ically examined and quarantined, the Ministry said. – PTI

First COVID-19..(Contd from page 1)

The sample of the patient

was sent to the National Insti-

tute of Virology, Pune which

confirmed the infection.

Our Staff Correspondent

from Silchar adds:

Dr Babul Kumar Bezbaru-

ah, Principal of SMCH

said preliminary tests of the

patient, already battling with

diabetes and cancer were found

positive and sent to the Na-

tional Institute of Virology

(NIV) Pune. The NIV mailed

the report at around 6.05 pm

today confirming it as corona-

virus positive case.”

Dr Bezbaruah informed that

the patient, hailing from Badar-

pur was admitted here on March

29 as a suspected case with a trav-

el history of visiting Delhi.

Airlines transportover 15 tonnes ofmedical supplies

NEW DELHI, March 31:

Amid the lockdown imposed

to help curb the spread of coro-

navirus, domestic airlines and

cargo operators along with the

Indian Air Force have trans-

ported 15.4 tons of medical

supplies in 62 flights between

March 26 and March 30, said

Civil Aviation Minister Hard-

eep Singh Puri on Tuesday.

“The cargo essentially in-

cluded COVID-19 related re-

agents, enzymes, medical

equipment, testing kits & per-

sonal protective equipment

(PPE), masks, gloves & other

accessories of HLL & cargo

requisitioned by State/Union

Territory governments &

postal packets,” Puri said.

The civil aviation ministry

has formed a committee to fa-

cilitate movement of cargo

across the country during the

21 day-lockdown period. The

ministry is facilitating the car-

go movement using hub and

spoke model.

“Cargo hubs have been cre-

ated at Delhi, Mumbai, Hy-

derabad, Bangalore, Kolkata.

Hubs feed to spokes at Guwa-

hati, Dibrugarh, Agartala,

Aizwal, Imphal, Coimbatore,

Thiruvananthapuram,” it said

in a press release. – PTI

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 7NORTH EAST

WEATHER

NORTHEASTForecast for NE: Rain/

thundershower is very likely

to occur at isolated places

over Arunachal Pradesh

and weather is most likely

to remain dry over Assam,

Meghalaya, Nagaland,

Manipur, Mizoram and

Tripura.

Temperatures

Max (°C) Min (°C)

Dibrugarh 31.2 17.2

Tezpur 33.9 18.9

Silchar 35.4 15.6

Dhubri 33.9 20.0

Jorhat 32.0 16.1

N Lakhimpur 31.7 16.4

Shillong 23.8 16.9

Cherrapunjee 24.5 19.9

Aizawl 28.0 –

Kohima 25.3 13.0

Pasighat 31.6 19.3

Itanagar 33.4 17.7

Imphal 30.5 12.0

Agartala 36.0 17.6

Manipur CMurges Delhiattendeesfor tests

IMPHAL, March 31: Ma-

nipur Chief Minister N Biren

Singh today appealed to the

people of the State who had

attended an Islamic congrega-

tion at Nizamuddin in Delhi

earlier this month to come for-

ward for a COVID-19 test.

The Tablighi Jamaat event

was attended by around 2,000

people from various parts of

the country and abroad. The

congregation has become a

key source for the spread of

novel coronavirus.

“If there is anybody from

Manipur who had attended the

religious congregation, organ-

ised by Tablighi Jamaat at Del-

hi’s Nizamuddin, please come

forward and undergo a test for

COVID-19,” the Chief Minis-

ter said.

The appeal is not aimed at

spreading panic, but is a call

for acting responsibly, he said.

A total of 24 people who at-

tended the Nizamuddin West

religious congregation tested

positive for COVID-19. Au-

thorities across the country

are trying to trace the attend-

ees of the event.

Meanwhile, State Health

Services Director K Rajo

Singh has requested all para-

medic staff who retired in the

past three years to report to

the Chief Medical Officer,

State programme officers or

the heads of the department

concerned. – PTI

CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR, March 31:

Arunachal Pradesh Chief

Minister Pema Khandu has

thanked the Assam Govern-

ment as well as the Kamrup

(Metro) district administra-

tion for helping students of

Arunachal Pradesh, who

have been stranded in Guwa-

hati due to the nationwide

lockdown due to COVID-19

outbreak.

“Thank you District Ad-

ministration Kamrup (Met-

ro), Guwahati for distribut-

ing free ration items to

stranded students of Aru-

nachal due to #COVID19 in

Guwahati today through a

local NGO. Thanks once again

to Govt of Assam for taking

care of our students!,” the

Chief Minister tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Arunachal

Police Housing and Welfare

Corporation Limited has

contributed Rs 10 lakh to the

Chief Minister’s Relief Fund

for the war against COVID-

19 in the State.

DGP RP Upadhyaya hand-

ed over the cheque for Rs 10

lakh to Chief Minister

Khandu at his Secretariat of-

fice here.

“My heartfelt thanks to

Arunachal Police Housing Wel-

fare Co Ltd for contribution of

Rs 10 lakh to the Chief Minis-

ter's Relief Fund for the ongo-

ing fight against #COVID19

in the state. Also applause to

Arunachal Police for doing it’s

best in ensuring #lockdown in

the state,” Khandu wrote in

his Twitter handle.

MeghalayaPolice warningon April Fool

pranksSTAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, March 31:

Meghalaya Police has

warned that strict action

would be taken against cir-

culation of April Fool messag-

es, pranks or jokes on the

outbreak of COVID-19.

“Sharing or circulating of

April Fool’s message, pranks

or jokes especially about the

outbreak of COVID 19, the

lockdown that has been im-

posed, the promulgation of

curfew etc., will be stringent-

ly dealt with in accordance

with the provisions of law,”

the State police said.

It further said that for-

warding and circulating of

fake news and rumours is a

crime and action would be

taken against those who vi-

olate the order.

Sikkim CMreviews

COVID-19preparednessA CORRESPONDENT

GANGTOK, March 31:

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem

Singh Tamang today held a

video conference with chief

medical officers (CMOs) and

district medical superintend-

ents of all four districts at the

Samman Bhawan here, during

which he took stock of the sta-

tus and preparedness for COV-

ID-19. Tamang inquired about

basic facilities, including med-

ical equipment, PPE, medical

supplies and manpower of the

district hospitals, CHCs, PHCs

and PHSCs.

He also asked the CMOs and

the district medical superin-

tendents to maintain sufficient

stocks of medicines and en-

sure that common people do

not face any difficulties in ac-

cessing necessary healthcare

facilities and services.

Medical teams communicat-

ed with the Chief Minister and

listed the difficulties faced in

their respective areas. The

Chief Minister immediately

instructed the Principal Sec-

retary (Health) to resolve all

necessary issues and provide

immediate solutions.

Tamang assured all possible

help and cooperation from the

Government and asked the

medical teams to work with

dedication and determination.

He appreciated the efforts be-

ing put in by frontline work-

ers of the Health Department.

“We should all work in tandem

with one goal – that is to keep

Sikkim away from COVID-

19,” Tamang stressed.

Grants toSikkim workers

A CORRESPONDENT

GANGTOK, March 31: In

view of the hardships being

faced by construction work-

ers due to the situation aris-

ing out of the COVID-19 out-

break in the country and the

ongoing nationwide lock-

down, the Sikkim State

Building and Other Con-

struction Workers Welfare

Board under the chairman-

ship of Labour Minister MN

Sherpa, today sanctioned a

one-time grant of Rs 2,000

to every registered worker

to compensate them during

the period of lockdown.

The compensations will be

met from the Board of Con-

struction Workers Cess

Fund.

Sikkim has at present

7,836 registered building and

other construction workers.

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, March 31:

The Shillong Markaz today

stated that seven of its mem-

bers had gone to Hazrat-Ni-

zamuddin Markaz in New

Delhi and are stranded out-

side the State.

Anwar Ali, member of Shil-

long Markaz, told The Assam

Tribune said that its mem-

bers had gone for the religious

congregation on February 2,

and that they are all outside

the State.

“Five out of the seven

members are in New Delhi

at this moment and two are

in Lucknow. We have in-

formed the authorities here

about the present status of the

members,” Ali said.

The Shillong Markaz also

wrote to the officer in-charge

of the Lumdiengjri Police Sta-

tion here that its members

had gone to New Delhi to at-

tend the congregation before

the nationwide lockdown

came into force.

“They have been stuck at

Delhi ever since. Due to the

current situation arising out

of the COVID-19 outbreak in

the country, it is our respon-

sibility to cooperate with the

administration. The adminis-

tration can take necessary

steps in handling the situa-

tion,” the Shillong Markaz said

in its intimation letter.

Meanwhile, the State

Nodal Officer and Secretary

of the Planning Depart-

ment, Chinmay Ghotmare,

confirmed the development

and said the members of

the Shillong Markaz are in

New Delhi.

Several people tested

COVID-19-positive and

some have died after attend-

ing the religious congrega-

tion at Nizamuddin Markaz

in Delhi. There are several

hundreds still stranded in the

mosque due to the lockdown

and the entire area has been

quarantined.

Meanwhile, Ghotmare

and Cyril Diengdoh, Secre-

tary to the Political Depart-

ment, have been tasked to

monitor and coordinate with

other States regarding mi-

grant workers and students

from Meghalaya stranded

across India.

Asked about the report-

ed death of a migrant work-

er from Meghalaya in Agra,

Ghotmare said he has no

report of the incident. Re-

ports said that the migrant

worker allegedly commit-

ted suicide at his rented

residence in Agra. The

worker had alleged that his

employer was not support-

ing him after the nationwide

lockdown. “We have no de-

tails of the incident as of

now,” Ghotmare said.

Shillong Markaz membersstranded outside Meghalaya

THEY ATTENDED DELHI RELIGIOUS MEET

Khandu thanks AssamGovt for helping

Arunachal students

Stranded Mizoram residents reach homeCORRESPONDENT

AIZAWL, March 31: Twen-

ty-eight Indian citizens who

were stranded on a bridge

that connects Myanmar and

India, were on Sunday night

brought back to Mizoram af-

ter the Union Ministry of

Home Affairs gave the State

Government a green signal.

These Mizoram residents,

including 11 children, had

spent the last several days on

the bridge before the Union

Ministry finally granted the

Mizoram Government’s re-

quest to bring them back.

They had gone to the neigh-

bouring country to visit their

relatives long before the in-

ternational border was

sealed in the wake of the

COVID-19 outbreak.

The Champhai district ad-

ministration immediately in-

formed the State Govern-

ment of the matter, who then

took the humanitarian issue

with the Union Ministry of

Home Affairs. After the Un-

ion Ministry granted permis-

sion, the stranded travellers

were allowed to cross the

border late on Sunday night.

They were taken to a facil-

ity at the Champhai Deputy

Commissioner’s office

where they have been quar-

antined.

No new COVID-19 case:

Mizoram Health Minister Dr

R Lalthangliana today said

that the last 15 samples sent

to the Silchar Medical Col-

lege for COVID-19 have test-

ed negative.

“With this, 44 samples

have been sent so far, of which

only one was positive. We

believe that we have so far

managed to prevent commu-

nity transmission of the dis-

ease,” he said.

The minister reiterated

that the condition of the COV-

ID-19 patient being treated

at the Zoram Medical Col-

lege is stable.

Lalthangliana claimed that

Mizoram was the first State

to conduct screening at the

airport. He thanked the peo-

ple of Mizoram for their full

support to the ongoing 21-

day lockdown. “I believe Mi-

zoram tops the rest of India

as far as compliance to the

lockdown is concerned,” the

minister added.

He also thanked the local-

level task forces for their co-

operation with the State

Government. “Thanks to

them, we have not faced any

problem regarding essential

commodities,” he said.

These task forces are pro-

viding essential commodities

to residents in their respec-

tive areas, including stranded

migrant workers. According

to official records, there are

1,977 migrant workers, most-

ly from Assam, stranded in

different parts of Mizoram.

The Health Minister said

the Zoram Medical College

has been designated as a

COVID-19 hospital.

Appeal toNagalandchurches

CORRESPONDENT

DIMAPUR, March 31: The

Nagaland Government today

advised churches in the State

to refrain from holding religious

congregation of any kind which

may see gathering of a large

number of people during the

lockdown period in the inter-

est of public health and safety.

Principal Secretary (Home)

Abhijit Sinha issued the advi-

sory following reports of some

churches holding services on

Sundays which had seen large

congregations of people. Such

religious congregations are a

serious threat to public health

and safety, the advisory said.

In another development,

the Nagaland Cabinet, in an

effort to prevent the COVID-

19 pandemic, on Monday de-

cided that medical personnel,

including doctors, nurses,

technicians and paramedics,

who may be retiring but

whose services may be re-

quired and are willing, would

be allowed to continue for

three months, subject to re-

view according to the situation.

It allowed the Health and

Family Welfare Department to

fill up the existing vacancies of

doctors, nurses and paramed-

ics on a contingency basis. The

department has also been au-

thorised to engage medical per-

sonnel, as the need arises, re-

gardless of the sanctioned cad-

re strength for a fixed period.

A stranded student from Arunachal Pradesh receiving fooditems in Guwahati on Tuesday.

People coming out to buy essential commodities at a locality in Shillong on Tuesday. – UB Photos

CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR, March 31: As

the country is currently under

a 21-day lockdown to break the

transmission chain of the high-

ly contagious COVID-19, the

Arunachal Pradesh Govern-

ment has propped up all its re-

sources to fight the pandemic.

State-run helicopters have

been put into service to deliv-

er rations to people living in

far-flung areas, which are yet

to be connected by roads. The

first such helicopter sortie was

made to Vijaynagar today and

another five sorties have been

planned for the week.

Chief Minister Pema

Khandu today stated that all

26 DCs of the State have been

given funds to tackle the cur-

rent situation. Each DC has

been provided Rs 12 lakh from

the State Disaster Response

Fund (SDRF), totalling Rs 3.12

crore to deal with the pandem-

ic, a CMO release stated here.

A separate fund of Rs 1.30

crore has been released from

the Chief Minister’s Relief

Fund to all the SPs to tackle

the COVID-19 pandemic, the

release said.

Further, in order to empow-

er the district administrations

to fight against the pandemic,

funds under the Mukhya

Mantri Rogi Kalyan Kosh

(MMRKK) amounting to

about 15 crore have been re-

leased to all 26 districts in the

State. The MMRKK guide-

lines have been relaxed to the

extent that 80 per cent of the

funds at the disposal of the dis-

tricts can be used for procure-

CORRESPONDENT

IMPHAL, March 31: The

Manipur Pradesh Congress

Committee has urged Chief

Minister N Biren Singh to uti-

lise the services of Accredited

Social Health Activist (ASHA)

workers in combating the

COVID-19 threat in the State.

Stating that ASHA workers

are highly skilled and can pen-

etrate to all corners of the

State, State Congress presi-

dent Moirangthem Okendra,

in a letter to the Chief Minis-

ter, said, “Kindly utilise their

(ASHA workers’) service and

provide the appropriate safe-

ty gear and training. I believe

this will put the state in advan-

tage while fighting against

COVID-19 pandemic.”

He also suggested immedi-

ate improvement of the serv-

ice protocol of the frontline

workers such as security per-

sonnel, doctors and other

healthcare workers in terms of

sanitisation and health safety.

The State Congress chief

also urged the State to set up

a web portal dedicated to is-

sues relating to COVID-19.

Besides giving ease of access

to the public, the web portal

should have all information

about facilities available like

hospitals, PPE, ventilators,

ICUs, isolation and quarantine

facilities, relevant government

orders and relief details.

On distribution of relief

packages and distribution of

essential commodities like

rice, Okendra said the distri-

bution may be done through

elected local bodies/repre-

Choppers to deliverfood items in Arunachal

ment of medicines, consuma-

ble items and equipment.

The remaining 20 per cent

will be utilised for conducting

health camps and engaging

doctors, retired doctors, par-

amedics, retired paramedics

and contingency staff for the

next three months.

Meanwhile, the State Gov-

ernment, in order to strength-

en the public health system and

ensure concrete preparedness

against COVID-19, has ap-

pealed to retired health pro-

fessionals to volunteer for re-

served staff to supplement the

current human resources and

staff shortages in the State. In-

terested health professionals

have been requested to con-

tact the Director of Health

Services at Naharlagun.

“With the steep rise in the

number of COVID-19 cases

everywhere, proper precau-

tionary measures have been

put in place in the State. The

Frontline Response Team de-

ployed all over the State is

dealing with COVID-19 sus-

pects for which PPE (person-

al protection equipment) has

been supplied. A total of

10,000 N-95 masks from

HLL, 300 VTMs from the

ICMR and 30 thermal scan-

ners reached the State today

and their distribution is un-

der way,” the CMO stated.

A special chartered flight is

being arranged by the State

Government from New Del-

hi to Guwahati on Wednesday

to ferry essential medical

equipment like surgical

masks, PPE with all accesso-

ries and other items.

Use ASHA workers’services: Manipur Cong

sentatives like councillors,

members of district council,

Zilla Parishads, pradhans, ward

members and Anganwadi

workers/helpers, etc.

Meanwhile, the Manipur

Congress committee has set

up the MPCC Relief Fund to

combat COVID-19 and ap-

pealed to the public and party

sympathizers to donate

through an account number,

108/17, at the Imphal Urban

Cooperative Bank here, ac-

cording to a press release.

CM’s Relief Fund: Dona-

tions to the Chief Minister’s

COVID-19 Relief Fund are

pouring in from different sec-

tions of the society. On Tues-

day, Ningombam Ibochouba

Singh, Bhartia Infra Project

Limited MD, H Vikram Singh,

MPHC Managing Director, and

Sheikh Babumacha Memorial

Trust Chairman Md Nur Mu-

hammad donated Rs 5 lakh each,

and the Waikhom Mani Girls

College, Thoubal, contributed

Rs 3 lakh. The Bishnupur Zilla

Parishad and the Thoubal Zilla

Parishad donated Rs 1.50 lakh

each, Rajarshi Bhagyachandra

Cultural Foundation, Kakch-

ing Zilla Parishad, Hotel

Yaiphaba, Advocate General,

Manipur, M Robindro Singh,

Pangeijam Brojendra Singh,

W Jadumani, Dr Kh Chinglen

Singh, Dr Konika Khuraijam

donated Rs 1 lakh each, while

the All Manipur Panchayati

Raj Government Employees

Association, MTDC Execu-

tive Engineer Athokpam Do-

lendro Singh and Share and

Care (SAC), Wangkhei, contrib-

uted Rs 50,000 each.

8 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020STATE

NEWS IN BRIEF

Gaurav Gogoi contributesto COVID-19 fight

GUWAHATI, March 31: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi to-day announced Rs one crore from his MPLADS towardspurchase of equipment and improvement of health infra-structure in the fight to prevent the spread of coronavirus(Covid-19) pandemic. The Lok Sabha MP from Kaliaborconstituency wrote a letter to the Deputy Commissioner ofNagaon in this regard. The funds will be used for purchaseof ambulances, ventilators, thermal imaging scanner cam-eras, thermal cameras, Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) kit, N95 masks, three layer masks, gloves and san-itisers. – Staff Reporter

OIL’s contribution toPM CARES fund

DULIAJAN, March 31: Responding to the threat posedby COVID-19, the Chairman and Managing Director of OIL,Directors of each department, the Chief Vigilance Officer,independent directors to grade 1 worker of Oil India Ltdhave donated one day’s salary amounting to Rs 1.20 croreto the PM CARES Fund. Meanwhile, OIL Chairman andManaging Director Sushil Chandra Mishra has donated Rs1 lakh personally to the same fund. – ANN Service

MP Topon Gogoi’scontribution

SIVASAGAR, March 31: MP,of Jorhat Lok Sabha seat,Topon Kumar Gogoi on Monday announced releasing of Rs1 crore and one month’s salary of Rs 1 lakh for the PrimeMinister’s Relief Fund to combat the novel corona virusspread in the country, Further, he also released Rs 50 lakhfrom his PMLAD fund to the Atal Amrit Abhiyan of theState government.– Correspondent

Countrymade liquordestroyed

RANGIYA, March 31: A huge quantity of countrymadeliquor and raw materials used in making it was destroyedby the Rangiya civil administration on Sunday afternoon atvarious places of Kekenikuchi village under Rangiya PS. –Correspondent

Dima Hasao DC lauds role ofvillagers in fight against virus

CORRESPONDENT

HAFLONG, March 31:

The Deputy Commissioner

of Dima Hasao-cum-Chair-

man of District Disaster

Management Authority, Am-

itabh Rajkhowa, has appreci-

ated the services of the vil-

lagers and gaonburhas along

with the frontline workers

against their epic battle to

contain the spread of Covid

19 pandemic at this hour of

nation’s crisis.

In an interview, Rajkhowa,

who has been supervising the

entire management relating

to Covid 19, explained that

in the beginning it seemed

to be a tall order considering

the location, lack of proper

communication and infra-

structure, but as the days

passed everything seemed

manageable, thanks to the

people of the district and oth-

er stakeholders involved, he

admitted.

“In the meantime, we

have arranged vegetables to

be sold at various locations

while grocery and medi-

cines shops are kept open

so that people do not face

difficulties during the peri-

od of lockdown,” he said.

This has encouraged the

people to abide by the lock-

down norms and maintain

social distance. He also in-

formed that as many as 35

beds for COVID-19 treatment

and 5 ICU beds were ar-

ranged at the new building of

Haflong Civil Hospital. Fur-

ther, the PWD has been alert-

ed for completing some oth-

er pending works, he added.

Rajkhowa further said that

though it was not an easy task

to maintain total lockdown in

a backward district like Dima

Hasao, but in many ways the

local people’s active and

wholehearted cooperation

has made the ban and social

distancing possible.

As a precautionary meas-

ure and to maintain social dis-

tance, several village admin-

istrations have restricted

random entry of outsiders

into villages in and around

Haflong town.

Along with the entire na-

tion, the villagers of Fiang-

pui, Upper Bagetar, Lodi,

Boildura etc., have contrib-

uted to fight the deadly

coronavirus by restricting

entry of outsiders into

their villages.

The Village Defence Par-

ty, popularly known as VDP,

have been formed in almost

all the villages and the volun-

teers have been assigned to

guard every entry point to

the villages round the clock.

A number of youths have

been assigned to guard the

entry gates of the villages.

At a time when some peo-

ple were found violating the

lockdown norms, but here in

Dima Hasao the VDP has

gained tremendous appreci-

ation for engaging youths to

maintain social distance and

other lockdown norms.

People are of the opinion

that during this world crisis,

all sections of people should

come forward to fight against

this pandemic unitedly.

ARINDAM GUPTA

SILCHAR, March 31: The out-

break and brisk spread of the COV-

ID-19 virus has taken the world by

storm. Along with the rest of the

world, scientists and medical experts

and the Government of India are

desperately looking for plausible

medicinal panacea to save lives.

At this critical juncture when It-

aly, popular for its tourist attrac-

tion has taken a serious brunt of

the disease with over 10,000

deaths recorded so far, two Assam-

born young students pursuing their

academic careers in Italy are now

busy in utilising their self-quaran-

tine period to study various facets

of COVID-19.

29-year old Akash Deep Biswas,

a resident of Kumar Gaon of Tezpur,

Sonitpur district and a former

Project Junior Research Fellow

from IIT Guwahati has been in the

city of Pisa in Italy, since 2016 pur-

suing his doctoral thesis in Meth-

ods and Models for Molecular Sci-

Assam researchers in Italy working on COVID-19ences from Scuola Normale Supe-

riore (SNS) di Pisa.

Sharing his experiences with

The Assam Tribune on

the situation in Italy

which has been worst

hit by the pandemic,

Akash Deep said “the

COVID-19 came to us

here as a huge sur-

prise. We are strictly

keeping ourselves in-

doors unless stepping

out is very urgent and

that also requires to

submit a self-authorisa-

tion letter citing the

purpose of moving out

of homes.”

Asked about reasons

behind staying back in Italy and

not heading back to their homes,

the young researcher said,“ this

is the last year of my doctoral

study and I have decided to shift

to study on areas related to COV-

ID-19. I was studying Hydration

shell density of proteins. Now, I

have focused my area of work on

the CoV-2 main protease that is

mainly responsible for cell divi-

sion. I am looking into the dimen-

sions of the research area with a

group of Italian professors and we

are trying to find out molecules

that may inhibit the CoV-2 main

protease which may stop the pro-

duction of further copies of the

virus within a human host. Our

aim will be to give to the world

some molecule.”

Akash Deep further informed

that, his research article on

computational approach

based on molecular dynam-

ics simulation to study the

dependence of the protein

hydration-shell density on

the size of the protein

molecule, which includes

18 proteins including CoV-

2 main protease has been

published on March 23 by

the Royal Society of

Chemistry's Journal of

Physical Chemistry

Chemical Physics.

Silchar’s Promit Choud-

hury (27), who stays in Mi-

lan, Lombardy and doing his mas-

ters as well at Politecnico Di Mi-

lano, echoed Akash Deep saying

that travelling to Assam would have

exposed them to different climatic

and environmental changes in-

creasing possibilities of being

bugged by the virus. “I have self-

quarantined myself and for over 20

days now. I haven’t been outside

my house and I know it is frustrat-

ing but cannot help. I have been

working from home since then. I

request everyone to engage in ac-

tivities at home because self isola-

tion is needed.”

Promit, who also works in a

Mexican-based firm, informed that

in this period of crisis, he is work-

ing in collaboration with a global

community to develop some low

cost devices which could be used in

such emergency conditions. “I

would be happy if I am able to help

even a little bit for the cause of hu-

manity. I am working on a statisti-

cal model based on current census

specific data, which will predict the

range of transmission depending on

the population density and geogra-

phy. The doctors and healthcare

workers and NGOs can use to em-

ulate the number of people affected

and monitor the areas so that if

emergency erupts they can coun-

ter it before hand,” he claimed.

Promit Choudhury Akash Deep Biswas

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

JORHAT, March 31: A

male adult leopard which

strayed into a village on the

north-western outskirts of

the city here early on Mon-

day, attacked a villager, there-

by leading to a day-long chase

by Forest Department staff

to tranquilise the animal, was

subsequently shot dead by a

security man present at the

spot in self defence following

unsuccessful attempts to tran-

quilise the big cat.

According to a senior For-

est Department official, the

wild animal, identified as a

male adult leopard about

eight years of age, had earli-

er in the day attacked a for-

est guard and a BSF jawan,

who were part of the secu-

Leopard shot in Jorhat afterefforts to tranquilise fail

rity personnel deployed

along with Forest Depart-

ment staff to control the

large crowd at Da-Gayan-

gaon during efforts to tran-

quilise the leopard.

The senior official said that

the Forest Department staff

had tried to tranquilise the

big cat by bringing in a team

having veterinary doctors

from the Centre for Wildlife

Rehabilitation and Conser-

vation at Borjuri near Ka-

ziranga National Park to the

village. However, the at-

tempt was unsuccessful.

He said that the dart shot

at the leopard got dislodged

from it’s body as the animal

atop the roof of a house in

the village jumped down to

the ground.

The official further said

that subsequently the leop-

ard moved inside a store-

house and broke open the

door while coming out and

injured a forest guard and

BSF jawan.

At dusk, the leopard

climbed a tree at a distance

but was surrounded by a

large number of villagers

who came out with spears

and other sharp weapons to

kill the feline, the official said.

Thereafter, while the big

cat came down from the tree

and tried to move away from

the area, it reportedly came

face-to-face with a team of po-

licemen and forest personnel

and attacked them, follow-

ing which one among the se-

curity personnel present

shot the animal dead in self

defence, the official stated.

Jorhat DFO Bidyut Bar-

thakur told this newspaper

today that he has directed the

Assistant Conservator of

Forest (Jorhat) Ashwin Ku-

mar to conduct an inquiry

into the incident.

Barthakur said that after

completion of the inquiry, it

will be known exactly who

had fired at the leopard and

under what circumstances.

In the meantime, the car-

cass of the leopard was sent

to the district veterinary

hospital for post mortem.

The DFO said the carcass af-

ter post mortem will be

burnt as per Government

rules in the presence of

NGO members, National

Tiger Conservation Author-

ity members and officials of

the Forest Department.

ANN SERVICE

PATACHARKUCHI, March 31: As a con-

tinuous effort of the police administration in

Bajali subdivision to make the lockdown suc-

cessful, a number of persons have so far been

arrested or punished at Pathsala, including

nooks and corners of Bajali subdivision, for

violating the ban order meant to stop spread

of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

The arrested person were reportedly roam-

ing about without any rhyme or reason and

routine police patrol party nabbed them. Bir-

inchi Borah, SDPO of Bajali informed that

police will be more strict in the coming days.

From the beginning of the lockdown, the

police administration has been patrolling

throughout the subdivision round the clock

in order to implement the lockdown in let-

ter and spirit.

The violators will be punished under the

law, he said. Meanwhile, police has also ex-

Law-breakers warned ofstrict action during lockdown

tended its helping hand to the deprived. Po-

lice personnel distributed food and sanitis-

ers among the inmates of Tapoban, a shelter

home for the specially-abled and destitute

children, at Pathsala.

In the meantime, SDPO Borah appealed to

the people to make the lockdown successful

in the greater interest of the society.

In a show of humanity, SDPO Borah re-

cently came to the aid of a helpless family

and handed over some grocery items by

incurring expenses for the same from his

own pocket.

Nevertheless, he urged the local citizens

not to violate the law as police will be more

strict against the law-breakers during the lock-

down period.

On an altogether different front, police yes-

terday busted some liquor-producing joints

at Janpar area. Earlier too, raids were con-

ducted in various pockets of the subdivision

against production and selling of illicit liquor.

Digboi MLA reachesout to the poor

ANN SERVICE

DIGBOI, March 31: Digboi

MLA Suren Phukan reached

out to around 200 BPL fami-

lies here at Borbil village on

Sunday and distributed few

essential edible items in the

wake of the national lockdown.

While urging the people to

remain safe in their homes dur-

ing the lockdown period, he

said that this was his personal

effort. “I was also assisted by

local businessmen in distribut-

ing the items,” he said.

“I also contributed a sum

of Rs 1,50,000 towards the

CM Relief Fund here in Tin-

sukia on Saturday during a

meeting with the Chief Min-

ister at the office of the Tin-

sukia DC,” he informed.

The MLA also categorical-

ly deplored the attitude of

Sandeep S John, the present

Executive Director of Indian

Oil Corporation, Assam Oil

Division for being indifferent

towards the cause of the peo-

ple and the place. “Mr John is

not at all cooperative towards

the local MLA, the general

people including the contrac-

tors on various fronts, he does

not pay heed to the cleanli-

ness of the township includ-

ing the markets,” the MLA

alleged adding “I apprised the

matter to Chief Minister

Sonowal on Saturday evening

during a meeting at Tinsukia.”

“He does not receive my

calls, he restricts the move-

ment of people in the AOD

offices, he has suspended the

long provided basic services

of water and electricity to

naamghars, temples and oth-

er religious organisations

excluding churches at Dig-

boi,” Phukan lamented.

“What the AOD manage-

ment is doing during the on-

going crisis caused by the

COVID-19 here in Digboi to

assist the local administration

and the government of As-

sam is yet to be clear,” said

the MLA who called for

greater participation of the

influential section in mitigat-

ing the sufferings of the poor

during the lockdown period.”

Nagaon farmerssuffer huge lossdue to lockdown

A CORRESPONDENT

NAGAON, March 31:

Following the nationwide

lockdown over the

COVID-19 pandemic,

more than 100 seasonal

vegetable and watermelon

farmers of No. 2 Bihdubi

village under Kaliabor

subdivision and other

riverine areas in Nagaon

district have suffered huge

loss as their produce has

started to rot in their fields

due to lack of any market-

ing avenue.

Farmers like Ganga

Rajbhor, Lakhan Rajbhor,

Lakhi Rajbhor, to name only

a few, of No. 2 Bihdubi

village under Kaliabor

subdivision cultivated

watermelon and other

seasonal vegetables in

around 100 bighas of land

by utilising modern

scientific inputs.

It goes without saying

that the farmers concerned

had also invested a sizeable

amount of money in their

agricultural endeavour by

availing bank loans and

approaching micro finance

organisations present in the

area.

With hopes dashed to the

ground under the present

circumstances, the hapless

farmers today rued before

this Correspondent how

their back-breaking toil

went in vain even as large

quantities of their produce

rot in their fields.

Despite having invested

around Rs 20,000 each, the

likes of Ganga Rajbhor,

while interacting with the

media, expressed concern

on how they would repay

their loans on time.

Similarly, thousands of

quintals of seasonal

vegetables in hundreds of

bighas of land along the

riverine areas at Sutirpar,

Chitolmari Pathar, Chitol-

mari Beel, Johajaan, Niz

Dhing, Kandhulimari and

other locations too are

decaying in the fields due to

lack of scientific storage

facilities or proper

marketing avenues,

especially during this

lockdown period.

Poverty drivesquarry workers

out of homeANN SERVICE

MUSHALPUR, March 31:

At a time when a 21-day lock-

down is on in the country to

check the spread of corona-

virus, a large number of peo-

ple of Subankhata Belshri,

Paschim Ambari and neigh-

bouring villages in Baksa dis-

trict have been driven by

poverty to work in large

groups in stone quarries at

Mora Pagaldiya river.

Khaneswari Boro,Ude

Gayary, Champa Boro, Purni-

ma Gayary, Saderi Gayary,

Jagannath Gayari of the said

villages said that they had

heard about lockdown and

the necessity to stay at

homes but the fear of death

from starvation has subdued

the fear of death from an un-

known disease. They added

that the number of daily wage

earners in the quarry varies

from 30 to over 100 and their

objective is not to defy lock-

down but to feed their fami-

lies as they have not been

provided food and essential

commodities by the govern-

ment as yet.

Food itemsto inmatesCORRESPONDENT

DOOMDOOMA, March

31: Under the aegis of NGO

Nabanirman, a few youths of

Doomdooma Koliapani led by

Utpal Lahkar and Anshuman

Choudhary donated some es-

sential food items like rice,

dal, mustard oil, biscuits etc.,

to the authorities of Keshav

Bahety Surjudaya Children

Home situated at Gangabari

here and Shankarlal Bahety

Surjudaya Open Shelter

Home situated at Tinsukia.

The youths informed this

Correspondent that their

NGO has donated these

items so that the inmates of

the children home as well as

the open shelter home may

not face any shortage of food

during the lockdown period.

One held for riskingpeople’s life

SONARI, March 31: Charaideo Police on Sunday arrestedone Shahidul Khan of Simaluguri on charges for putting thelife of the whole community at risk due to his dangerous andreckless behaviour and registered a case in the matter videMathurapur PS Case No. 24/2020 u/s 188/269/270/271 IPCr/w Section 52 of Disaster Management Act, 2005. The ac-cused was found loitering around Garmur area under Math-urapur PS on a scooty. On being questioned, he initially saidhe was going to Mathurapur for buying medicines for a rela-tive. But, when confronted that Simaluguri being a far biggertown than Mathurapur had more pharmacies than Math-urapur, he accepted that he was lying and was on his way tocollect money from someone who owed him.

The accused said he was ‘advised’ by someone that carry-ing a prescription is a good alibi and no one will bother to stophim. Later, on he started playing the victim card that policehad stopped him from buying medicines. – ANN Service

SEBA officers, employeesdonate

GUWAHATI, March 31: The officers and employees ofSEBA have donated their one day’s salary amounting to Rs 2lakh to the Assam Arogya Nidhi set up to fight the coronapandemic. This was stated in a press release issued by thepresident of the employees’ union of SEBA today.

Boko Police distributing grocery items to a poor womanduring the countrywide lockdown at Boko, on Tuesday.– UB Photos

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 9WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

STATE

BFS-50/2017/Pt-1/299

NOTICEIt is for general information to all concerned that

due to lockdown for COVID-19 the technical Bid

opening date of E-Tender for selection of transporter

for door step delivery of NFSA Rice of Biswanath

District vide this office letter No. BFS-50/2017/288

dated on 13.03.2020 is extended upto 17.04.2020

at 12.00 Noon.

Sd/- Deputy Commissioner

Janasanyog/C/12350/19 Biswanath

COVID-191 ¬Ûø1Àõ∂øé¬Ó¬Ó¬ ¬Ûq ¬Û±˘Ú ’±1n∏ ¬Ûq ø‰¬øfl¡»¸± ø¬ıˆ¬±À· Œfl¡Ó¬À¬ı±1¬Û√Àé¬¬Û ¢∂˝√√Ì fl¡ø1ÀÂ√º[fl¡] ‡±Ú±¬Û±1±Ó¬ øÚ˚˛LaÌ fl¡é¬ ¶ö±¬ÛÚ- Ph. No. 94351-85593

[‡] ¬Ûq ‡±√… ¸1¬ı1±˝√√ fl¡˜« ¬ı±ø˝√√Úœ ·Í¬Ú- Ph. 94351-46959

[·] ¬Ûq ¶§±¶ö… fl¡˜« ¬ı±ø˝√√Úœ ·Í¬Ú- 94352-98832

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’¸˜ ‰¬1fl¡±11 ¬Ûq ¬Û±˘Ú ’±1n∏ ¬Ûq ø‰¬øfl¡»¸± ø¬ıˆ¬±·1 ¡Z±1± Ê√Úø˝√√Ó¬±ÀÔ« õ∂‰¬±ø1Ó¬

¸±•xøÓ¬fl¡ ¸˜˚˛Ó¬¬Ûq¬ Û±˘Ú ’±1n∏ ¬Ûq ø‰¬øfl¡»¸±

ø¬ıˆ¬±·1 ¬Û√À鬬ÛGovernment of Assam

Janasanyog/D/12121/19

fl‘¡¯∏fl¡ 1±˝◊√√Ê√1 :±Ó¬±ÀÔ«¸•xøÓ¬fl¡ ¸˜˚˛Ó¬ fl‘¡¯∏fl¡ 1±˝◊√√Ê√fl¡ ¸fl¡±˝√√ ø√˚˛±1 ¬ı±À¬ı

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fl‘¡ ∏̄Àfl¡ ά◊»¬Û±√Ú fl¡1± ̇ ±fl¡-¬Û±‰¬ø˘ ¬ıÊ√±1Ó¬ ø¬ıSêœ fl¡1±Ó¬ ̧ ≈ø¬ıÒ± Œ √̋√±ª±Õfl¡ ̋ ◊√√øÓ¬˜ÀÒ… ø¬ıˆ¬±·œ ˛̊øÚÀ«√˙ ’Ú≈¸ø1 øÊ√˘± ø¬ı¯∏˚˛±¸fl¡À˘ ̧ —øù≠©Ü øÊ√˘±1 øÊ√˘± ά◊¬Û±˚˛≈Mê√¸fl¡˘1 ∆¸ÀÓ¬ ’±À˘±‰¬Ú±fl¡ø1 ’Ú≈À˜±ø√Ó¬ ¬Ûø1¬ı˝√√Ú ¬ı…ª¶ö±1 ¸˝√√±À˚˛À1 ¬Û±‰¬ø˘ ø¬ı¬ÛÌÚ1 ¬ı…ª¶ö± fl¡ø1 ’±ÀÂ√º ˝◊√√˚˛±1ά◊¬Ûø1 ά◊»¬Û±ø√Ó¬ ˙¸…1 ø¬ı¬ÛÌÚ1 ¬ı±À¬ı 1±øÊ√…fl¡ ’±1n∏ øÊ√˘±øˆ¬øM√√fl¡ ≈√‡Ú ¸ø˜øÓ¬ ·Í¬Úfl¡1±1 ¬ı±À¬ı ¬ı…ª¶ö± Œ˘±ª± ∆˝√√ÀÂ√º 1±øÊ√…fl¡ ¬Û˚«±˚˛1 ¸ø˜øÓ¬‡ÚÓ¬ fl‘¡ø¯∏ ø¬ıˆ¬±·1 ’±˚˛≈Mê√¸ø‰¬¬ı·1±fl¡œfl¡ ’Ò…é¬ ’±1n∏ fl‘¡ø ∏̄ ̧ =±˘fl¡·1±fl¡œfl¡ ̧ √¸… ̧ ø‰¬¬ı ø˝√√‰¬±À¬Û ’±1n∏ øÊ√˘± ¬Û «̊± ˛̊1¸ø˜øÓ¬‡ÚÓ¬ ¸—øù≠©Ü øÊ√˘±1 ά◊¬Û±˚˛≈Mê√·1±fl¡œfl¡ ’Ò…é¬ ’±1n∏ øÊ√˘± fl‘¡ø¯∏ ø¬ı¯∏˚˛±·1±fl¡œfl¡¸√¸… ø˝√√‰¬±À¬Û ∆˘ ¤˝◊√√ ¸ø˜øÓ¬ ≈√‡Ú ·Í¬Ú fl¡1±1 ¬ı±À¬ı ¬ı…ª¶ö± Œ˘±ª± ∆˝√√ÀÂ√º

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¸Ê√±· ˝√√›fl¡, ¸≈1øé¬Ó¬ Ô±fl¡fl¡fl‘¡ø¯∏ ø¬ıˆ¬±·, ’¸˜

Janasanyog/DF/3406/19

Sensation prevails in Barpetaover Nizamuddin event

CORRESPONDENT

DHUBRI, March 31: Dhu-

bri and Bilasipara Markaz au-

thorities on Tuesday informed

that 32 pilgrims from Dhubri

subdivision and 46 pilgrims

from Bilasipara subdivision are

stuck in Nizamuddin Markaz

following the 21-day lockdown.

It was informed that the

Dhubri Markaz authorities had

shortlisted 35 names for par-

ticipating in the religious con-

gregation in Delhi’s Hazrat Ni-

One diesafter taking

spurious drinkSTAFF CORRESPONDENT

JORHAT, March 31: One per-

son here on Monday night died

at JMCH allegedly after con-

suming cold drink mixed with

some spurious substance, sus-

pected to be spirit, on Sunday.

Three others, who also re-

portedly consumed the cold

drink along with the deceased,

were undergoing treatment in

a private hospital here and their

condition is stated to be critical.

A police official here said that

as per information received

during preliminary investiga-

tion from family members of

Shubham Rajak (37), a resident

of Tarajan Cremation Ground

locality here, Rajak, a plumber

along with his three friends on

Sunday evening mixed some

spirit type substance with cold

drink to consume it as a substi-

tute for liquor.

On Monday all four persons

fell ill and were hospitalized and

Rajak later died in the night,

the official stated.

He said that a case of unnat-

ural death has been registered

at the Jorhat Police Station and

investigation was under way.

Post mortem of Rajak’s body

was done today and the report

was awaited, the official said.

SKAC donationfor corona relief

OUR BUREAU

DIBRUGARH, March 31: All

the 26 members of Sonowal Ka-

chari Autonomous Council

(SKAC) have decided to donate

their one month’s salary to the

Assam CM relief fund, in view of

the COVID-19 outbreak in the

country. This was informed by

the council’s chief councillor,

Dipuranjan Makrary. The

amount so collected would be Rs

3,40,000. He said he repeats the

appeal of the government to the

people to stay at home and main-

tain the stipulated physical dis-

tance from one another if going

out for work or shopping.

Python rescuedRelief package soughtfor small tea growers

Tab on petrol, paracetamol purchase in Dibrugarh

Trailokya Bhagawati: a tribute

CORRESPONDENTS

DHUBRI, March 31: ChiefMinister Sarbananda Sonowalon Tuesday visited Dhubri andreviewed preparedness of theadministration against corona-virus pandemic.

The CM also visited theDhubri Civil Hospital to takestock of isolation wards andquarantine facilities arrangedby the district administration.

While addressing the mediaon the premises of DC Office,Dhubri, the Chief Minister ap-pealed to the people of Assamto honour the request of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi to

On March 22, it was about 4:30 pm and my

worst nightmare turned into reality. I received

a phone call from my brother, who informed

that our father was no more. I

was in shock and it’s very tough

to express in words how I felt.

Our father, Trailokya Bhaga-

wati was born on June 26, 1939

at Korora, near Baihata Charia-

li. He was one of the six chil-

dren of late Bhuvaneshwar

Bhagawati and late Uma Bhaga-

wati. He studied at Korora High

School till his matriculation and

later joined the Cotton College.

In 1963 he got married to Maya Rani Bhaga-

wati and had three children.

He started his career as a journalist in The

Assam Tribune in 1964 and retired as the As-

sistant Editor of the same in 2004. He was

actively involved with the Guwahati Press Club

and a lifelong member of the Gauhati Town Club

and used to run the Rover’s Club. He was also a

member of Guwahati Sports

Association. He was the presi-

dent of the Assam Union of

Working Journalists and asso-

ciated with the Indian Federa-

tion of Working Journalists.

He was a man of discipline,

very kind-hearted as well as a

very courageous man.

He leaves behind his wife,

two daughters and a son be-

sides a host of relatives. His last rites were per-

formed at the Navagraha crematorium.

Today on the occasion of his adya-sraddha, I,

on behalf of my entire family, pray to the Al-

mighty for the eternal peace of his soul.

– Karabi Boruah (Rupali)

78 from Dhubri dist stuckat Nizamuddin Markaz

zamuddin area, out of which

only 32 went. From Bilasipara

Markaz, 46 participated in the

same congregation.

The team from Dhubri went

on February 27, while the team

from Bilasipara went on Feb-

ruary 26 and 29 to take part in

the ‘Tablighi Jamaat’ held in Ni-

zamuddin Markaz, said author-

ities of the religious institution

and informed that all the pil-

grims from Dhubri district went

to participate as Khidmadgars

for a period of two months.

Police sources said that they

have already taken up the lists

from the religious institutions

and are tallying them with the

list given by the government

on all the pilgrims stuck at Ni-

zamuddin. “Till the tallying is

over we cannot confirm the

exact number of people stuck

in Nizamuddin,” said police

sources, who also added that

they were checking if any per-

son from the district has left

Nizamuddin or has come back

to the district.

CORRESPONDENT

BARPETA, March 31: The

sensational religious congre-

gation at Nizamuddin in Delhi

has cast a gloomy shadow over

Barpeta district as several

persons of the district had par-

ticipated in this religious

event.

According to information

available, seven to eight peo-

ple from several parts of the

district attended Tabligh-e-

Jamaat – a religious event in

Nizamuddin, West Delhi, held

earlier this month. The per-

sons mostly fall under Tarabari

and Barpeta police stations.

While contacted, the Super-

intendent of Police, Barpeta,

informed that he had con-

firmed participation of five

persons from the district and

they have not returned from

Delhi yet.

Whatever may be the

number, it has become crystal

clear that several persons from

Batpeta and neighbouring Nal-

bari and Baksa districts had

attended the event.

As reports of coronavirus

positive cases are pouring in

from Nizamuddin-related

event, people here have be-

come apprehensive of a prob-

able disaster in the thickly-

populated area of the State.

OUR BUREAU

DIBRUGARH, March 31:Go to any pharmacy and askfor a paracetamol tablet or ibu-profen or similar, the pharma-cy owner will first take downthe customer’s name, phonenumber and reason for buyingthe drug. This has led to funnysituations, but it is learnt thisis on the orders from the Di-brugarh district administra-tion. The move is to have adatabase of people having fe-ver or cold conditions, and totreat the person with suspi-cion of being a possible COV-ID-19 carrier.

At any petrol depot, two

wheeler owners are forced towrite down their names, ad-dress, phone numbers and pur-pose of buying petrol. A re-porter from this newspaperexperienced this today. Askedwhy this data collection, thepump manager said this is onthe orders of the district ad-ministration. Additionally,there are notices that petrolwill not be dispensed in bot-tles or gallons. So, if one’s caris stuck on the road in Dibru-garh, the only option is to pushthe vehicle all the way to thefuel pump.

A government official wasasked the reason for this. Atfirst he said there is no such

directive. Then, he called backa little later to say that this wasto discourage unnecessary ply-ing of bikes on the roads.

The city passed the sev-enth day of the national lock-down without any majorevent. No new case has beendetected till now, which isgood news for the citizens.Last week, a secret surveyand testing of half a dozenpeople in the city and the sub-urbs were carried out to de-tect coronavirus. The exerciseresulted in all negative tests.These persons had recentlycome back here from corona-affected places like Delhi, Ker-ala and Maharashtra.

CM takes stock of COVID-19 preparednessmaintain social distancing dur-ing the lockdown.

Sonowal said, “To fightagainst COVID-19 and in ac-cordance with the appeal of thePrime Minister of India for so-cial distancing, we should alsomaintain it sincerely during the21-day lockdown period, oth-erwise stern action would betaken against the violators.”

Chief Minister also urged allthose people who come fromoutside the State recently toreport voluntarily to their re-spective district administrationand police in the greater in-terest of overall health of peo-ple in the State.

KOKRAJHAR: Chief Min-ister Sarbananda Sonowal onTuesday visited KokrajharRNB Civil Hospital and tookstock of the preparedness ofthe district administrationagainst COVID-19 outbreak.

Sonowal also appealed to thepeople who attended the Ni-zamuddin event in Delhi andreturned to the State to im-mediately voluntarily reportto the nearest governmenthospital and to go for homequarantine.

During his visit, he also held ameeting with Deputy Commis-sioner of Kokrajhar Partha PMajumdar at the Circuit House.

CORRESPONDENT

DERGAON, March 31: Theresidents of greater Dergaonhave expressed mixed re-sponse to the proposed relax-ation in the lockdown for somesectors from April 1.

According to the State Cab-inet decision, some sectors ofthe State like tea gardens, bis-cuit factories, rice mill etc., canbe given relaxation from thelockdown by respective Dep-uty Commissioners consider-

Mixed response to lockdownrelaxation for some sectors

ing their application to do so.But here the prima facie is thatthe Deputy Commissionersare to be convinced for main-taining all possible measuresof health and hygiene.

But the decision has been se-verely opposed by the All As-sam Tea Tribe Students’ Asso-ciation (AATSA). Talking to thiscorrespondent, executive mem-ber of the central committee ofAATSA, Jayanta Kurmi, saidthat no relaxation of lockdownin the tea gardens should be al-

lowed. “We the people of teagardens are obeying lockdowncompletely and will complete allthe 21 days as earlier announcedby the government,” he said.

“Instead of relaxation oflockdown in tea gardens, wedemand the payment of wag-es to the labourers immedi-ately,” Kurmi said. Similarly,retired assistant headmaster ofGarmarah HS, Biren Ch Saikia,also said that the complete lock-down for 21 days was impor-tant for the people of the State.

OUR BUREAU

DIBRUGARH, March 31:The All Assam Small TeaGrowers Development Coop-erative Society Limited hasurged the government to con-sider a relief package for smalltea growers of the State in viewof the setback caused by thecoronavirus threat. Speaking tothis newspaper, society’s chair-man, Hemanta Kumar Gohainsaid the small tea growers ofthe State employ around 3.75lakh workers on a casual basis.He said these workers are fac-ing economic hardships as the

tea gardens have had no activi-ty in the past fortnight or so.

Of Assam’s 1.5 lakh small teagrowers, 87% have tea planta-tions on 10 bighas or less land.This section of the small teagrowers are solely dependent onthe sale of green tea leaf for theirsubsistence. Their difficulties aregetting worse as the coronavi-rus threat has surfaced just at thebeginning of the tea plucking sea-son. Gohain said the hardshipsfaced by the small growers andtheir dependent workers needto be addressed on an urgentbasis. He suggested a one-timefinancial grant also.

CORRESPONDENT

DOOMDOOMA, March31: Amidst lockdown, a pythonwas rescued at Daimukhia TeaEstate here today. The locals

witnessed the python by theside of a garden road and in-formed the Forest personnel.Later, Forest personnel res-cued the python which wasaround 6-foot-long.

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LOCKHORNS

THE PHANTOM ® By Lee Falk

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

BLONDIE

Know your DAYBy JACQUELINE BIGAR

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Wednesday, April 1, 2020:

This year, you have more vitality and you take charge of your life. Your world

expands and you embark on a new quest. Look at a new income opportunity.

You are observant and alert, and it’s easy to learn. If single, you feel restless

and discard several suitors who become very attached to you. If attached, your

trust as a couple grows. You spend more time apart and this makes your

reunions extra golden. CANCER gets moody.

The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-

Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)HHH Declutter your work space and try to retreat to a private place

for meditation. Emotional issues arise related to your domestic scene.

You could be feeling possessive of loved ones. Find a new way to beautify your

home scene. Tonight: Take a healing bath.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)HHHH It’s a good day for writing and journaling. Your mental abilities

are strong and you have an emotional need to reinvigorate your

studies especially regarding matters of the past. At work you’re attracted to

historical or archaeological themes. Tonight: Read a great book.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)HHHH Your mind is on your finances today and despite what’s going

on, you feel a sense of abundance. You expand your horizons with a

new purchase or new money arrives. You’re in a fortunate position, but don’t

overextend yourself. Tonight: Online retail therapy.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)HHHHH You get a fresh start today and plot out a new future for

yourself. Be independent and avoid any naysayers. Trust your hunches

and approach a higher-up for help and advice. It’s a great time to start some-

thing different. Tonight: Call up those who owe you favors.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)HHHH Best to work behind the scenes today. Emotionally you’re

feeling exceptionally well. You have deep access to your dreams and

psychic experiences might come your way. You gain insight into a matter from

the past. Tonight: Get a good night’s sleep.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)HHHHH Groups and social events are highlighted at work. You have

a greater sense of freedom today. You are dealing with new ideas, new

options, originality. Help others, but do things your own way. Your wishes and

dreams come true. Tonight: Network at a social gathering.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)HHH You have a need for a boost in your status. You might feel you

are being blocked from achieving a career goal today. It is best to use

your energies to focus on a project to improve your bargaining power. Tonight:

Spend quality time with family.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)HHH You dig deep into a mystery at work. Gather information, but

don’t make any absolute decisions until tomorrow. You work best on

your own today. You might be interested in pursuing a new area of study.

Tonight: Spend valuable time with a child.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)HHHH It’s a good day to promote new ideas. You’re versatile and

changeable. Be careful not to spread out and diversify too much.

Freedom of thought and action are key. A change of scenery would work to your

advantage. Tonight: Make contact with an old loved one.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)HHHHH You excel in working with others today. You’re playing the

role of the visionary. The things that you value in your life become

clearer to you. Your sensitivity is highlighted. You might be doing some soul-

searching related to relationships. Tonight: Date night.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)HHHH New work opportunities come your way. Your ideas are brilliant,

and it is a good time to start a new project with a partner. Look after

your health. Women play a particularly prominent role. It is a day for feeding

your creative juices. Tonight: Early bedtime.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)HH You’d rather be at home than at work today. You feel moody and

overly sensitive. Take plenty of breaks from your work. This will help

you clear your head and improve your focus when you return. You feel strongly

attached to loved ones. Tonight: Rest.

H H H

Thought for the day

I think that most of us would prefer to bepopular than unpopular.

– DESMOND TUTU

__ __ people, both the ones who give it

and the ones who receive it. – Karl

Menninger (4,5)

Words: Reedy, obese, fungal, cravat.Answer: Love cures people, both the oneswho give it and the ones who receive it.– Karl Menninger

Given below are four jumbled words. Solvethe jumbles to make proper words and movethem to the respective squares below. Selectthe letters in the shaded squares and jumblethem to get the answer for the given quip.

JUMBLED WORDSHEALTH CAPSULES®

by Bron Smith

Health Capsules is not intendedto be of a diagnostic nature.

CROSSWORD - 6858

Across: 4 Taming, 7 Overseer, 8 Agreed, 10 Hubby, 13

Ryes, 14 Spar, 15 Peso, 16 Zed, 17 Abet, 19 Rood, 21

Derring-do, 23 Muse, 24 Rued, 26 Pan, 27 Amen, 29 Exes,

32 Aces, 33 Arhat, 34 Height, 35 Endorsed, 36 Mohair.

Down: 1 Moths, 2 Melba, 3 Espy, 4 Trays, 5 Mars, 6 Needed,

9 George, 11 Ups, 12 Braes, 13 Retires, 15 Per, 16 Zoo, 18

Breach, 20 Odder, 21 Dun, 22 Nun, 23 Make do, 25 Pea, 28

Meter, 30 Xhosa, 31 Studs, 32 Agra, 33 Axon.

SOLUTION

12:00 Forged In Fire

13:00 Shipping Wars

13:30 Pawn Stars

14:00 Storage Wars

14:30 Food Tech

15:00 OMG! Yeh Mera India

16:00 Forged In Fire

16:30 Reality - Talent

17:00 Storage Wars

17:30 Shipping Wars

18:00 Modern Marvels

19:00 Car Jackers

19:30 Pawn Stars

20:00 OMG! Yeh Mera India

21:00 Forged In Fire

22:00 Pawn Stars

22:30 Storage Wars

23:00 Forged In Fire

12:00 Wild Frank

13:00 Just Animals

13:30 Animals Unleashed

14:00 How Do Animals Do That?

14:30 Deadly Bites

15:00 Fierce Fighters

16:00 Zambia Untamed

17:00 Expedition Mungo

18:00 World Of The Wild

18:30 Super Senses

19:00 Animal Planet Exclusives

20:00 Wildest Survival

21:00 The Lion Kingdom

21:30 Jewels Of The Natural...

22:00 Wild Frank

23:00 Killer Instincts

13:00 Vivo IPL HLs

13:30 Vivo IPL – Themed

14:00 Vivo IPL Close Encouters

14:30 Vivo IPL Epic Comebacks

15:00 Vivo IPL – Themed HLs

16:00 Ind vs SL T20I HLs

17:00 Vivo IPL – Themed

17:30 Vivo IPL Countdown

18:00 Vivo IPL Heroes

19:00 Vivo IPL – Themed

19:30 Best of ICC CWC HLs

20:00 Vivo IPL HLs

21:00 Vivo IPL Rivalries

21:30 Best of ICC CWC HLs

22:00 Vivo IPL HLs

23:00 Ind vs SL T20I HLs

23:30 Hero ISL HLs

13:00 Hero ISL HLs

13:30 Vivo IPL Heroes

14:00 Vivo IPL HLs

14:30 Vivo IPL – Themed

15:00 Vivo IPL Close Encounters

15:30 Vivo IPL Epic Comebacks

16:00 Vivo IPL – Themed HLs

17:00 Ind vs SL T20I HLs

18:00 VIvo IPL – Themed

18:30 Vivo IPL Countdown

19:00 Vivo IPL Heroes

20:00 Vivo IPL – Themed

20:30 Best of ICC CWC

21:00 Vivo IPL HLs

22:00 Vivo IPL Rivalries

22:30 Best of ICC CWC

23:00 Vivo IPL HLs

13:30 Nail-Biting Finishes

14:30 India’s Finest

15:00 Memorable Master

15:30 Colour Me Blue

16:00 Masters of Oz

16:30 Great Centuries

17:00 Impact One Night Only

18:00 The Olympics on the Record

18:30 India’s Finest

19:00 Impact One Night Only

20:00 Nail-Biting Finishes

11:00 Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge

14:00 ABCD: Any Body Can

Dance

17:10 Makkhi

19:50 Main Hoon Surya

Singham 2

23:15 Sabse Bada Khiladi

10:20 Iron Man 213:00 Young Detective Dee:

Rise of the Sea Dragon16:00 Mard The Khiladi19:00 Brick Mansions20:50 Moana23:00 The Wolverine

11:50 Rampage

13:40 Madagascar

15:10 War of the Worlds

17:10 Ocean’s 8

19:00 Kung Fu Panda

21:00 Godzilla

23:10 Edge of Tomorrow

11:45 Event Horizon

13:30 Spy Kids 3-D: Game

Over

15:00 Miss Congeniality 2:

Armed and Fabulous

17:00 Escape from LA

18:45 Batman Returns

21:00 Aeon Flux

22:40 Beef

11:10 Home Alone

13:00 The Incredibles

14:55 Action Cuts

15:10 Frozen

17:00 Incredibles 2

19:00 Logan

21:40 Coco

23:25 Pirates of the Caribbean:

On Stranger Tides

STAR GOLD

19:55 Bajrangi Bhaijaan

STAR MOVIES

19:00 Logan

WB

21:00 Aeon Flux

HBO

23:10 Edge of Tomorrow

11:50 Aan: Men at Work

14:40 Hatya

17:30 Lingaa

19:45 Dilwale

22:40 Main Faisla Karunga

10:35 Housefull 313:30 Virasat Ki Jung16:40 Player Ek Khiladi19:55 Bajrangi Bhaijaan23:20 Gambler

12:00 Barrister Babu

12:30 Naati Pinky Ki Lambi ...

13:00 Choti Sarrdaarni

13:30 Barrister Babu

15:00 Fear Factor Khatron Ke...

16:30 Choti Sarrdaarni

17:00 Naati Pinky Ki Lambi...

17:30 Pabitra Bhagya

18:00 Barrister Babu

18:30 Shubharamabh

19:00 Vidya

19:30 Choti Sarrdaarni

20:00 Shakti Astitva Ke...

20:30 Barrister Babu

21:00 Shubharamabh

21:30 Naati Pinky Ki Lambi...

22:00 Pavitra Bhagya

22:30 Mujhse Shaadi Karoge

12:00 Kick-Ass

14:00 Love Island UK

14:30 The King Of Queens

17:00 Love Island UK

18:00 Penny Dreadful

19:00 Everybody Hates Chris

20:00 Love Island UK

21:00 World Of Dance

22:00 Penny Dreadful

23:00 Love Island UK

12:00 Guddan Tumse Na ...

12:30 Kumkum Bhagya

13:00 Kundali Bhagya

13:30 Qurbaan Hua

14:00 Rang Malang

15:00 Choti Bahu

16:00 Pavitra Rishta

17:00 Kumkum Bhagya

17:30 Kundali Bhagya

18:00 Tujhse Hai Raabta

18:30 Qurbaan Hua

19:00 Manmohini

19:30 Dil Ye Ziddi Hai

20:00 Guddan Tumse Na Ho ...

20:30 Tujhse Hai Raabta

SOLUTION TO TRIBUNE CROSSWORD – 6858

12:00 Gadar – Ek Prem Katha15:00 Tez Dhaar17:25 Masss20:20 Phir Hera Pheri23:45 Nayaki

12:50 Raj Mahal 3

15:40 Hindi Medium

18:15 Dynamite

20:50 Yevadu

Across4 Breaking or

subjugating (6)7 Supervisor (8)8 Consented,

said yes (6)10 Husband (5)13 Whiskies (4)14 Box (4)15 Mexican coin

(4)16 Last letter of

the alphabet(3)

17 Encourage (4)19 Crucifix (4)21 Heroic daring

(7-2)23 Meditate (4)24 Regretted (4)26 Metal container

used for frying(3)

27 Prayer

conclusion (4)29 Former spouses

(4)32 They beat kings

(4)33 Enlightened

Buddhist (5)34 Altitude (6)35 Plumped for (8)36 Angora fabric (6)Down1 Insects attracted

by light or fire (5)2 Australian diva (5)3 Catch sight of

(4)4 Salvers (5)5 God of war (4)6 Required (6)9 Mr Harrison of

The Beatles (6)11 Counterparts of

“downs” (3)12 Scottish hillsides

(5)13 Withdraws or

leaves (7)15 Each (3)16 Animal park (3)18 Violation of trust

(6)20 Stranger (5)21 Press for

payment (3)22 Religious sister

(3)23 Improvise (4,2)25 Seed of a legume

(3)28 Measuring device

(5)30 Bantu language

(5)31 Small projects or

nails ? (5)32 Taj Mahal site (4)33 Nerve fibre core

(4)

23:30 The Cute Ones

12:00 Adventure: Running Wild...

13:00 Adventure: Primal Survivor

14:00 Adventure: Snakes in ...

15:00 Science: Science of ...

15:30 Wildlife: Animal Fight Club

16:00 Adventure: Running Wild...

17:00 Investigates: Airport ...

18:00 Adventure: Running ...

19:00 Science: The Big Picture...

19:30 Science: Science of ...

20:00 Earth Day: 50 Days 50 ...

21:00 Adventure: Primal Survivor

22:00 Adventure: Running Wild...

23:00 Investigates: Seconds ...

12:00 Savage Kingdom

13:00 Wild Families

14:00 The Hidden Kingdoms ...

15:00 Survival Of The Fittest

16:00 Hostile Planet

17:00 Secrets Of Wild India

18:00 World's Deadliest Killers19:00 Wild Pals20:00 Survival Of The Fittest21:00 Deadly Game22:00 Out There With Jack ...23:00 Dangerous Encounters

‘Don’t drink alcohol to cope with lockdown’

21:00 Kumkum Bhagya

21:30 Kundali Bhagya

22:00 Qurbaan Hua

22:30 Ishq Subhan Allah

23:00 Kumkum Bhagya

23:30 Qurbaan Hua

12:00 Best Of Crime Patrol

19:00 Mere Sai - Shraddha ...

19:30 Vighnaharta Ganesh

20:00 Isharon Isharon Mein

20:30 Patiala Babes

21:00 Beyhadh 2

21:30 Mil Jate Hain Jo Bane ...

22:00 Mere Dad Ki Dulhan

22:30 Crime Patrol Satark

23:30 Best Of Crime Patrol

12:30 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata

13:00 Yehh Jadu Hai Jinn Ka!

13:30 Kasautii Zindagii Kay

14:00 Nazar

14:30 Dil Jaise Dhadke...

15:00 Diya Aur Baati Hum

16:00 Saath Nibhaana Saathiya

17:00 Mann Ki Awaaz...Pratigya

18:00 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata...

18:30 Sanjivani

19:00 Dil Jaise Dhadke...

19:30 Dadi Amma.. Dadi Amma

20:00 Kasautii Zindagii Kay

20:30 Yehh Jadu Hai Jinn Ka!

21:00 Kahaan Hum Kahaan Tum

21:30 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata...

22:00 Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke

22:30 Yeh Hai Chahatein

23:00 Nazar

21:00 India’s Finest

21:30 Memorable Master

22:00 Colour Me Blue

22:30 Master of Oz

23:00 Great Centuries

23:30 Impact One Night

12:00 WWE Raw

15:00 March of Champions

15:30 NBA HLs

16:00 WWE Raw

19:00 March of Champions

19:30 Best of Serie A

20:00 WWE Raw

23:00 Best of Serie A

23:30 Best of UCL

07:45 Pratham Xongbad

14:00 Biyolir Headline

16:00 Abelir Khabar

16:30 Superfast Prime Time100

17:00 City18

18:00 Prime Time18

19:00 Dintur Shironam

20:00 Porjyobekhyon

21:30 Aparadh Nama

22:00 North East Scan

22:30 Noixo Xironam

08:30 Devotional Music08:45 Swachh Bharat Batori

08.50 Batori

15:00 Vigyan Prasar

15:30 Classical Music

16:00 Abelir Batori

16:05 Akholor Juti

16:30 Chiphung

17:00 Nimishote Batori

17:02 DD Kisan TV Serial in Hindi

17:30 Krishi Darshan

18:00 Dharabahik

18:30 Batori

18:45 NE News

07:00 Breakfast Live08:00 Live at 809:00 Good morning Assam10:00 Assamese news11:30 Kotha Barta (R)12:00 Mid Day Live13:00 Assamese Telefilm14:30 Afternoon Prime17:30 Guwahati Bisesh18:00 Guwahati Live18:30 Breaking @ 6:3019:00 Assamesse Prime Time20:00 Discussion Show21:00 Super Prime Time22:00 Live at 1022:30 Noixo Guwahati

23:00 Noixo Batori

1700 Xopun1730 Barala Kai1830 Xopunor Aasutia Rang2000 Jonaki Kareng2030 Xopun2100 Oi Khapla2130 Bah Amarawati Bah2200 Borola Kai

Far from giving you relief, using tobacco and

alcohol during the lockdown period may

make things worse and even reduce your

immunity, the Health Ministry warned on

Tuesday.

“Distract yourself from negative emotions by

listening to music, reading, watching an

entertaining programme on television. If you

had old hobbies like painting, gardening or

stitching, go back to them. Rediscover your

hobbies,” the ministry said in a document, titled

‘Minding our minds during the COVID-19

pandemic’.

Sharing tips about how to beat anxiety and

stress which may arise due to social distancing

measures put in place to contain the spread of

novel coronavirus, the ministry urged people not

to judge those who get infected by coronavirus.

Even those who recover from the infection

may feel stress because of the behaviour of

others.

“Do not shun or judge people with a COVID-

19 infection. While you need to maintain a

physical distance and keep yourself safe to

prevent such infection, remember they need

care and concern. If you know someone who

might have the infection, tell them about

precautions, and how to get medical assistance,

if required,” the document said.

“If you happen to get infected with corona,

remember most people get better. Do not

panic. Practise self-isolation and take medica-

tions that are advised,” it added.

While simple measures like following a

regular schedule, remaining physically active

and having a positive frame of mind can help

one to handle social isolation, those who

continue to feel fear, anger or irritation should

seek help, the ministry said.

“Feeling lonely or sad is also quite com-

mon. Stay connected with others. Communi-

cation can help you to connect with family and

friends. Call up people whom you haven’t

spoken to and surprise them. Discuss happy

events, common interests, exchange cooking

tips, share music,” it said.

“If any of these emotions persists continu-

ously for several days, despite your trying to

get out of it, talk about it with someone. If the

feelings worsen, a person may feel helpless,

hopeless and feel that life is not worth living.

If that happens, call at helpline number (080-

46110007) for advice from a mental health

professional or contact your doctor / mental

health professional,” the ministry said.

(Source: IANS)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 202010 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI LEISURE & LIFESTYLE

Refrain from drinking

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 11BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Bharti Enterprisescommits over Rs 100 cr

NEW DELHI, March 31: BhartiEnterprises has committed over Rs100 crore to support India’s fightagainst COVID-19, the companysaid in a statement today. A largeportion of the corpus will beimmediately contributed to the PMCARES Fund. The balance amountis being directed towards sourcing ofmasks and other key equipment forthe doctors, healthcare workers andessential services personnel whoare at the forefront of the battle, thestatement said. – IANS

TVS Motor pledgeBENGALURU, March 31: TVS

Motor Company and its GroupCompanies TVS Credit ServicesLtd., Sundaram-Clayton Ltd., andothers on Monday announced theircommitment to donate Rs 25 croreto the PM-CARES Fund to aid thebattle against COVID-19. “This is inline with the company’s continuousendeavour to ensure prosperousand sustainable communities. It is inaddition to the ongoing activitiesbeing already undertaken throughSrinivasan Services Trust, the CSRarm of the group,” it said in astatement. – PTI

ITC sanitizersNEW DELHI, March 31: FMCG

major ITC today said it has startedproduction of Savlon hand sanitizersfrom its Manpura facility in HimachalPradesh, which has been designedto produce premium fine fragrancesto meet soaring demand due tocoronavirus pandemic. Thecompany said it has repurposed theperfume facility to help produce anadditional 1,25,000 litre of Savlonhand sanitizers as there has beenan unprecedented surge in demandfor hand hygiene products likesanitizers. – PTI

PFC offers Rs 200 crNEW DELHI, March 31: State-run

Power Finance Corporation (PFC)today pledged to contribute Rs 200crore to PM CARES Fund to supportthe battle against COVID-19.Furthermore, PFC’s employees willvoluntarily contribute a day’s salary tothe fund to further strengthen thenation’s fight against the dreadeddisease, a statement said. – PTI

Jio free talktimeNEW DELHI, March 31:

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’sReliance Jio today offered itsJioPhone users 100 minutes offree talktime and 100 free SMS tillApril 17. All JioPhone users willcontinue to receive incoming callspost validity of their pre-paidvouchers in recognition of thedifficulty some users may face inrecharging. In a tweet, thecompany said: “10x benefits toJioPhone users when it’s neededthe most – 100 minutes of calls &100 SMS complimentary”. – PTI

IFFCO contributionNEW DELHI, March 31: Indian

Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd(IFFCO) today said it has contrib-uted Rs 25 crore to the PM-CARESFund for tackling coronavirusoutbreak. “I humbly announce thecontribution of Rs 25 crore onbehalf of #IFFCO to #PMCARESFund to fight against #COVID19and support all relief work for#IndiaFightsCorona,” IFFCO MDUS Awasthi twitted. Apart from this,IFFCO is also contributing zero bydistributing masks, hand sanitizers,disinfectant soaps, etc., to thefarmers and villagers. – PTI

CAPSULE

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks during thesecond virtual meeting of the G-20 ministers to coordinateefforts to deal with COVID-19 pandemic, in New Delhi onTuesday. – PTI

NEW DELHI, March 31: The biggestever consolidation exercise in the publicsector banking space is slated to takeshape on Wednesday when six PSU lend-ers will be merged into four in a bid tomake them globally competitive.

The exercise assumes significance asit is taking place at a time when the en-tire country is under the grip of COV-ID-19 outbreak. It has triggered 21-daylockdown to contain the spread of thedeadly virus.

Experts said merger at this point oftime will not be very smooth and seam-less. However, heads of the anchor banksare exuding confidence.

“We don’t foresee any problem; it isgoing as per the plan. We have reviewedin the light of this situation also. Certainmodification in implementation. We havedone so that there is not any disruptionfor employees and customers. We areensuring zero disruption,” Union Bankof India MD Rajkiran Rai G told PTI.

The four anchor banks – PNB, CanaraBank, Union Bank and Indian Bank – arepostponing some part of the implemen-tation and processes due to the lockdown.

“For merging banks, we have notchanged some of the process like loanprocess, etc., which we proposed to do

NEW DELHI, March 31:Trade and investment min-isters of the G-20 group haveagreed to ensure fair tradeand continued flow of vitalmedicines as well as otheressential goods to tackleCOVID-19 pandemic.

According to a joint state-ment issued after a videoconference, the ministersagreed to support the avail-ability and accessibility ofessential medical suppliesat affordable prices, on anequitable basis, where theyare most needed and willguard against profiteeringand unjustified price in-creases.

The ministers also calledfor working together for afree and fair internationaltrade.

“As we fight the pandemicboth individually and collec-tively, and seek to mitigateits impacts on internationaltrade and investment, wewill continue to work togeth-er to deliver a free, fair, non-

discriminatory, transparent,predictable and stable tradeand investment environ-ment, and to keep our mar-kets open.

“We are actively workingto ensure the continued flow

of vital medical supplies andequipment, critical agricultur-al products, and other essen-tial goods and services acrossborders, for supporting thehealth of our citizens,” thestatement said. – PTI

NEW DELHI, March 31: The Centre todayasserted that there is no shortage of medi-cines to combat the coronavirus outbreak andthe Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) isregularly monitoring distribution and address-ing issues with the help of other departments,States and Union Territories.

The DoP is continuously monitoring pro-duction of medicines since the outbreak of coro-navirus in China and is facilitating the industryby addressing various issues arising from timeto time as quickly as possible on top priority inconsultation with various authorities includingState and UT governments, the Ministry ofChemicals and Fertilisers said in a statement.

Besides, the National Pharmaceutical Pric-

NEW DELHI, March 31: Oil and

Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Indian Oil

Corp (IOC), Oil India and other public

sector oil/gas companies have contrib-

uted over Rs 1,031 crore to the PM

CARES Fund to help in the fight against

COVID-19 pandemic.

ONGC was the top contributor with

Rs 300 crore, followed by IOC chip-

ping in with Rs 225 crore. Privatisa-

tion-bound Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd

(BPCL) provided Rs 175 crore, while

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL)

chipped in with Rs 120 crore.

Petronet LNG Ltd gave Rs 100 crore,

gas utility GAIL Rs 50 crore and Oil

India Ltd another Rs 38 crore.

ONGC Chairman and Managing Di-

rector Shashi Shanker said the compa-

ny gave Rs 300 crore from its CSR funds

while the company employees contrib-

uted two days’ salary, totalling Rs 16

crore, to the fund.

“IndianOil as a responsible corporate

is contributing Rs 225 crore to #PM-

CaresFund specially created to combat

COVID-19 pandemic,” the company

said in a tweet, adding, its employees

Banks sensitisebranches on EMI

moratoriumNEW DELHI, March 31: Banks have started

sensitising their branches about three months’

moratorium on all term loans, including home,

auto and crop loans, to help customers in over-

coming financial difficulties due to the coronavirus

outbreak and subsequent nationwide lockdown.

Several banks today said they have informed

and provided their branches with the detailed

guidelines on various schemes announced by

the RBI recently and customers are being sent

messages individually on their registered mo-

bile numbers about the EMI payment.

Union Bank of India Managing Director Rajkiran

Rai G told PTI that branches have been informed

about with respect to moratorium on all term loans.

“In case of those who have opted for ECS

route for EMI deduction, customers are given

the option of availing the facility by informing

the branch concerned through mail or other dig-

ital medium,” he said.

Banks on its own unilaterally cannot stop ECS

payment due to legal issue but the customer has

the option of requesting bank to stop it, Rai said.

“As per COVID 19 regulatory package of RBI,

Indian Bank allows a moratorium by deferring pay-

ment of EMI/term loan instalments & interest/in-

terest on working capital for 3 months, w.e.f 1st

March 2020,” a tweet by the banks said. – PTI

Power Gridoffers Rs 200 cr

towards PMCARES Fund

NEW DELHI, March 31:

State-owned Power Grid

Corporation of India today

said it has extend a financial

assistance of Rs 200 crore to-

wards PM-CARES Fund to

combat the coronavirus out-

break in the country.

The amount is being ex-

tended in two tranches, Pow-

er Grid said in a statement.

“Power Grid has contrib-

uted Rs 130 crore to the ...

PM-CARES Fund to support

India’s fight against coronavi-

rus. It has committed anoth-

er contribution of Rs 70 crore

in next FY (financial year 2020-

21) to help country fight the

pandemic,” it said.

The company also said its

employees have offered part

of their salaries for the cause.

Besides, Power Grid has

also distributed food packets

in slum areas to help the needy.

The labourers and contractual

workers... are also being pro-

vided with masks, soaps, sani-

tizers... grocery items and

medical support...– PTI

LIC contributesRs 105 cr to PMCARES Fund

MUMBAI, March 31: Life

Insurance Corporation of In-

dia (LIC) today said it has

contributed Rs 105 crore to-

wards the PM-CARES Fund

to help the government fight

the coronavirus pandemic.

Out of the Rs 105 crore,

Rs 5 crore has been donated

from LIC’s Golden Jubilee

Fund, the state-owned com-

pany said in a statement.

“India is facing a huge chal-

lenge in the wake of the glo-

bal pandemic which is un-

precedented in its severity.

LIC is committed to the wel-

fare of India and her people.

We promise our solidarity

with the efforts of the gov-

ernment and will take every

step to ensure the safety and

security of people and relief

for the affected,” LIC Chair-

man MR Kumar said.

In a separate release, LIC

gave its customers an option

to pay insurance premiums

at their nearest common

service centre (CSC). – PTI

earlier. However, because of the pre-vailing situation we will be continuingold system till the situation comes un-der control,” he said.

As per the mega consolidation plan,Oriental Bank of Commerce and UnitedBank of India will merge into PunjabNational Bank (PNB); Syndicate Bankinto Canara Bank; Andhra Bank and Cor-poration Bank into Union Bank of India;and Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank.

Speaking on preparedness, IndianBank MD Padmaja Chunduru said har-monisation of products – both on the loanand deposit sides – has been completedand the same products will be offered toall customers. She also said all the de-posit and loan products, including accessto Indian Bank’s emergency credit lineslaunched in the wake of COVID-19would be made available to the custom-ers of Allahabad Bank.

Commenting on the consolidation, Ca-nara Bank MD LV Prabhakar said, “Weare delighted that following the amalga-mation as a single legal entity, we willbecome a powerful banking institution thatis globally competitive and efficient, work-ing towards providing differentiated cus-tomer experience excellence across allour products and services.” – PTI

Mega merger of PSU banksto be effective from today

6 BANKS TO CEASE TO EXIST

G-20 trade ministers agree toensure uninterrupted flow

VITAL MEDICAL SUPPLIES

No shortage of medicines to combatCOVID-19 outbreak, says govt

ing Authority (NPPA) has directed manufac-turers to produce and maintain sufficient stocksof essential drugs at any point of time. All ef-forts are being made to ensure production ofdrugs and medical devices during the periodof lockdown, it added.

“The Department of Pharmaceuticals isworking in close coordination with line depart-ments like Ministry of Health & Family Wel-fare, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Cus-toms authorities, Central and State Drug Con-trollers, State governments/UTs and variousdrugs and medical device associations,” thestatement said.

The ministry further said a central controlroom [011-23389840] has been set up in DoP,

which is working from 8 am to 6 pm. Moreo-ver, NPPA has also set up another control room[helpline number 1800-111255], which func-tions round the clock.

The control rooms deal with issues relat-ed to queries or complaints and messagesdealing with coronavirus outbreak as well ascoordination of transport and other logisticservices related to drugs and medical devic-es, it added.

In case any issue pertaining to other minis-tries or departments comes or is brought tothe attention of DoP, the same is being flaggedto authorities concerned as part of inter-de-partmental coordination and through empow-ered groups, the statement said. – PTI

are also contributing two days’ of their

salary towards the fund.

In a statement, Petronet LNG Ltd

said it has made a contribution of Rs

100 crore to the PM CARES Fund.

BPCL in a statement said it contin-

ues to operate units, feeding the nation

with fuel and LPG. “BPCL and its sub-

sidiaries commit Rs 175 crore towards

PM CARES Fund to help the govern-

ment combat coronavirus...,” it said.

Oil India Ltd CMD Sushil Chandra

Mishra said the company is contributing

Rs 38 crore to the PM CARES Fund,

adding, “OIL strives not only towards en-

ergy security of the nation but also is re-

solved in rising to the occasion to combat

this difficult time.”

Besides, OIL employees have contrib-

uted a day’s salary to the fund, he said.

GAIL, besides contributing Rs 50

crore to the PM fund, said its employ-

ees have contributed 2 days’ salary

amounting to Rs 3.8 crore. Further, Nu-

maligarh Refinery Ltd has contributed

Rs 25 crore, OIDB Rs 17 crore, MRPL

Rs 2 crore, CPCL Rs 2 crore and Engi-

neers India Ltd Rs 1 crore. – PTI

ONGC, IOC, OIL, other coscontribute over Rs 1,031 cr

PM CARES FUND

12 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATISPORTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020

Janasanyog/D/12124/19

Printed and published by Ganesh Ch. Das on behalf of Assam Tribune Pvt. Ltd. at the Tribune Press, Tribune Buildings, P.O.- Assam Tribune, M.R.D. Road, Chandmari, Guwahati-781003. Tel. 0361-2660102 (EPABX), 0361-2661360, 0361-2668807 (News Desk), FAX 0361-2666396. E-mail: advt@assamtribune.com; news@assamtribune.com; atribunenews@gmail.com.

Editor: Prafulla Govinda Baruah

For our part, the timehas come toannounce that, aswell as the reductionof 70 per cent of oursalary during thestate of alarm, wewill also makecontributions so theclub’s employees cancollect 100 per centof their salary whilethis situation lasts.

– Lionel Messi

“MADRID, March 31: Li-

onel Messi confirmed thatBarcelona’s players will takea 70 per cent pay cut and makefinancial contributions to en-sure the club’s other employ-ees are paid in full during thestate of alarm in Spain.

In a lengthy message post-ed on his Instagram account,Messi also took anotherswipe at the Barca board, ledby president Josep MariaBartomeu, whom he accusedof undermining the playersduring recent negotiations.

Other Spanish clubs areexpected to follow suit in ap-plying temporary pay cuts, asfootball’s hiatus due to thecoronavirus pandemic leavesa number of them fighting forfinancial survival.

Atletico Madrid have saidthe club will impose salaryreductions on staff whosehours have been affectedwhile Espanyol have also con-firmed pay cuts, although forsporting staff only.

“For our part, the time hascome to announce that, as wellas the reduction of 70 per centof our salary during the state

NEW DELHI, March 31:The All India Football Feder-ation (AIFF) remains hope-ful of organising the FIFAUnder-17 Women’s WorldCup in November despitethe COVID-19 pandemiccausing cancellation and post-ponement of top sportingevents, throwing interna-tional schedules haywire.

The optimism stems fromthe seven months’ time thatthe organising committee hasat its disposal to prepare forthe top age-group tournament.

Everything, though, de-pends on world football gov-erning body, FIFA, AIFFgeneral secretary KushalDas said.

“FIFA will take a call onthis, they are keeping a trackof all the developments andwe will see how it goes,” Dastold PTI.

He agreed that there isquite a bit of time left for the

Messi confirms pay cut forBarca players, criticises board

of alarm, we will also makecontributions so the club’semployees can collect 100per cent of their salary whilethis situation lasts,” Messiwrote. He added: “We wantto clarify that our desire hasalways been to apply a dropin salary because we fully un-derstand that this is an excep-

tional situation and we are thefirst ones who have ALWAYShelped the club when asked.

“Many times we have evendone it on our own initiativewhen we thought it necessaryor important. Therefore, itnever ceases to amaze us thatfrom within the club therewere those who tried to put

us under the magnifying glassand tried to add pressure todo something that we alwaysknew we would do.”

Messi’s message was soonposted on the pages of near-ly all of his Barcelona team-mates, including GerardPique, Sergio Busquets, LuisSuarez, Jordi Alba, Antoine

Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong,Arturo Vidal and Marc-An-dre ter Stegen.

The relationship betweenBarca’s players and board hasbeen tense for several months,with Messi’s public criticismof technical secretary EricAbidal in February just one ofa number of off-field contro-versies. Bartomeu said lateron Monday the senior playerswere on board with taking paycuts right from the start.

“From the first moment Iwanted it be somethingagreed and not imposed evenif I could do it by law, but wewanted to reach an agreementbecause it’s best for Barca andshows their commitment,”Bartomeu told Catalan sportsdaily Mundo Deportivo.

“From the first moment,Messi said that this must bedone,” he added in an inter-view with Sport. Barcelonaalso released their ownstatement on Monday, whichsaid members of “all profes-sional sports teams andmost of the basketball team”had agreed to reduce theirsalaries. – AFP

AIFF hopeful of organisingwomen’s U-17 WC in November

tournament.“Yes, there is still a lot of

time left and we will wait andwatch the developments inthe coming time,” he said.

The World Cup is sched-uled to be held from Novem-ber 2 to 21 with matches tobe played in Navi Mumbai,Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bhu-baneswar and Guwahati.

Das is aware that the Eu-ropean and African qualifiers

for the tournament are yet totake place. FIFA is also work-ing with representatives of allconfederations regardingdates for their respectivequalifying tournaments.

The pandemic has led toeither cancellation or post-ponement of some of theworld’s biggest sportingevents, including the TokyoOlympics and Euro 2020 foot-ball tournament. – PTI

LONDON, March 31:England Test captain Joe Roothas said watching the first fewepisodes of a documentaryabout the Australian cricketteam has been a “motivator”ahead of the 2021/22 AshesDown Under.

‘The Test’ charts Australia’sprogress from the low of the2018 ball-tampering scandal inSouth Africa through to thehigh of retaining the Ashes ina drawn series in England lastyear after the hosts and even-tual champions beat them in

MELBOURNE, March 31:Australia Test captain TimPaine’s wallet was stolen fromhis car on Tuesday after heparked the vehicle on the streetoutside his home in Hobart toconvert his garage into a gym.

His makeshift practicearea, where he was trying towork on his cover drive, wasjust a day old when Paine wokeup this morning to realise thathis car had been broken into.

“I’ve actually just turnedthe garage into a bit of a homegym and I want to hang thestocking off the bit where the

Australian documentary‘motivates’ Root for Ashes

the World Cup semifinals.The largely well-received

documentary has also beenaccused of being a public rela-tions exercise given CricketAustralia had editorial control.

But with cricket suspend-ed worldwide because of thecoronavirus pandemic, Rootdecided to take a look.

“Whilst we were away (ontour) I exhausted a lot of theshows that I wanted to watch,it’s come round to watching thatnow,” he told reporters in aconference call on Monday.

Paine’s walletstolen from car

garage door opens,” he told‘SEN Breakfast’.

“I figured if I can, I can workon my cover drive while I’mat it, but I’ve actually hit a bit ofa snag today because I movedthe car out onto the street onlyto wake up this morning to atext from NAB saying mycredit card has been used.

“I went out and the (car)door was open and my walletand a few other things hadgone. Actually looking at myaccount, the boys went straightto Maccas, the boys must havebeen hungry.” – PTI

Kushal Das

Originating from Japan,

‘su do ku’ is a mind game

and a puzzle that can be

solved with proper

reasoning and logic. Fill

the grid with digits in such

a manner that every row,

every column and every

3 x 3 box accommodates

the digits 1 to 9 without

repeating any.

Solution of last problem

SU DO KU

“It’s been a good motiva-tor to get back and train, getback on the bike, use it as away of incentivising myself.

“I’ve only got to the startof the World Cup, so we’ll seehow the rest of it unfolds.”Root, while acknowledgingthe importance of the WorldTest Championship, madeclear an Ashes series in Aus-tralia remains the acid testfor an England cricketer.

Under his leadership,England were beaten 4-0 inthe 2017/18 Ashes. – AFP

Hima writes to Rijiju for access to outdoor training

NEW DELHI, March 31:Confined to their hostelrooms at NIS Patiala amid thecoronavirus-forced lock-down, some athletes, led bystar sprinter Hima Das, have

requested the Sports Minis-try to allow them to trainoutdoors within the campus,which is out of bounds foroutsiders right now.

Deputy chief national ath-letics coach RadhakrishnanNair, who is supporting themove, told PTI that the Hima-led campers at the NationalInstitute of Sports (NIS) areexpecting a reply from theministry in a day or two.

“Hima and some otherathletes have written to theSports Minister that they beallowed to train one or twohours a day in small groupsat different times so that theycan also practice social dis-tancing while training at thesame time,” Nair told PTIfrom Patiala.

“They have written to Ri-jiju that they be sent home ifno training is allowed. (But)

going home is not feasible asthe country is in a lockdownand Prime Minister has saideverybody should be wherethey are.

“So, the ministry will notallow them to go back homebut this outdoor training ideais feasible. We will know aboutit in a day or two,” he added.

Nair said he and othercoaches have supported theidea as there is no risk of anycamper contracting thedreaded coronavirus as no-body is coming in and goingout of the facility.

“We have 41 athletes atNIS and the track and fieldarea is just 50m from the hos-tels. We can have small groupssay eight athletes each andonly one group will train at atime for one or two hours.

“All the athletes of a groupwill not do running or throw-

ing together, one will runalone and finish it and thenanother will run after him orher. This way we can practicesocial distancing and be safe,”the top athletics coach said.

Nair said without outdoortraining, the athletes willhave to start from scratchwhen the conditions improveand the new season begins.

“Athletics is different. Inmany sports, the athletes uti-lise a small space but a run-ner or a thrower or a jumpercovers a lot of distance andtheir cardiovascular systemand physical strength has tobe built continuously over aperiod of time.

“These athletes have beenat NIS training almost non-stop from 2018 onwards,training three shifts every-day and they cannot sudden-ly stop it. – PTI

PARIS, March 31: The financial crisis fac-ing football as a result of the coronaviruspandemic has been laid bare in France,where a decision to withhold payments dueas part of a broadcast deal for Ligue 1 match-es is set to leave clubs reeling.

Canal Plus, the pay TV giant and long-time broadcaster of France’s top flight, stat-ed its intention to hold back a scheduled110 million-euro ($121 million) paymentin a letter to the French league revealedby the country’s leading sports daily,L’Equipe. The money is in theory due thisweekend and is the equivalent of 15 percent of the total broadcast money for theseason in Ligue 1.

“In case of force majeure, when matchesare no longer played, then payments aresuspended,” a senior management figureat Canal Plus told AFP.

“This is the perfect example of force ma-jeure. There are no more matches, so thereare no more payments. We are strictly ap-plying the terms of the contract and wedon’t see why we would do it any otherway. Canal Plus is not a bank.”

The French top flight is the fifth-richest

French football staresat financial black hole

league in Europe although its income lagssome way behind those of Italy’s Serie A,the German Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga and,in particular, the English Premier League.

French clubs, like their counterparts acrossthe continent, have been hit hard by thehealth crisis which had already forced match-es to be postponed or played behind closeddoors before UEFA suspended all club com-petitions in Europe a fortnight ago. Clubswill now have to absorb the shock of notreceiving money for which they have budg-eted, and income from broadcasters is a hugeportion of their revenue. Indeed, paymentsfrom television companies amounted to 36per cent of total revenue for Ligue 1 teamslast season, by far their biggest source ofincome, according to the DNCG, French foot-ball’s financial watchdog. A further 25 percent came from player sales, which are like-ly to be affected this year too.

“They have their problems and we haveours. There needs to be a dialogue so wecan find solutions,” said a member of theboard of the French league, the LFP. “I don’tthink the decision by Canal Plus is irrevers-ible.” – AFP

Rohit donatesRs 80 lakh

MUMBAI, March 31: StarIndia batsman Rohit Sharmahas donated Rs 80 lakh to fightthe rapidly-spreading COVID-19 pandemic, saying the onusis on the citizens to help thecountry get back on its feet.

Rohit, who is the vice-cap-tain of the Indian ODI team, hasdonated Rs 45 lakh and Rs 25lakh to the PM and CM’s Re-lief Fund (Maharashtra) respec-tively. He has given Rs 5 lakh to‘Zomato Feeding India’, whichis helping families affected bythe ongoing national lockdown,and another Rs 5 lakh to helpaid the welfare of stray dogs.

Rohit joined the list of topsportsmen comprising battingmaestro Sachin Tendulkar, hisskipper Virat Kohli, SureshRaina, and his Test team-mateAjinkya Rahane among otherswho have generously donatedfor the cause. – PTI

Lancashirechairman diesof COVID-19LONDON, March 31:

Lancashire county cricketclub chairman David Hodg-kiss has died after being in-fected by the dreaded coro-navirus. He was 71.

Although Lancashire didnot give the exact reason ofhis death in their officialstatement, a club spokesper-son said that Hodgkiss’ deathwas “coronavirus-related.”

“Further to the announce-ment from his family, it iswith great sadness that Lan-cashire Cricket announcesthe passing of its Chairman,David Hodgkiss OBE,” theclub said in a statement.

According to reports,Hodgkiss had some priorhealth issues as well. Hodg-kiss had been on the board atEmirate Old Trafford for 22years, serving as a member,treasurer and vice-chairmanbefore becoming the chair-man, succeeding MichaelCairns in 2017. – PTI