12
T he Supreme Court on Thursday steeped in to deal with massive hardship faced by commuters in traversing across National Capital Region (NCR) after Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh imposed restriction on inter-State movement in and out from their territories. First Haryana and then Uttar Pradesh imposed restric- tion on entering of vehicles in their territories from Delhi to check the spread of coron- avirus. The Delhi followed the suit and did the same by seal- ing its own borders. The result has been chaos and tremen- dous hardship to office-goers, common citizens, and those wishing to catch trains and flights, etc. The SC on Thursday said the Governments of Delhi, Haryana and UP must hold a meeting and consider evolving a common policy and portal to facilitate inter-State movement in the NCR. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said these states should endeavour to find out a common programme and portal for inter-state move- ment within the NCR. The bench, also compris- ing Justices SK Kaul and MR Shah, further stated that there should be a consistent policy in this regard for the NCR. The SC was hearing via video-conferencing a plea, filed through advocate Anindita Mitra, which has raised the issue of alleged restriction on movement for permissible activities in the NCR owing to sealing of borders due to the coronavirus pandemic. S cientists at Hyderabad’s Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have discovered a new virulent strain of the coronavirus, known as Clade A3i, which could be responsible for the widespread death being wit- nessed in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. “Here is a fresh preprint on genome analysis of SARS- CoV2 spread in India. The results show a distinct cluster of virus population, uncharac- terised thus far, which is preva- lent in India — called the Clade A3i,” CCMB tweeted. “This cluster seems to have originated from an outbreak in February 2020 and spread through India. This comprises of 41 per cent of all SARS- CoV2 genomes from Indian samples, and 3.5 per cent of global genomes submitted into public domain,” the CCMB further tweeted. The research institute has named this unique cluster of the virus as ‘Clade A3i’, which it says is found in 41 per cent of the genome sequenced in India. According to the study, which is still under peer review by bioRxiv journal, Clade A3i has not been found in any other part of the world. The CCMB scientists say the virus has mutated in India because of the different genetic material found here. The coronavirus strains found in other countries have been named as A2a, A3, B and B4. This cluster has four dif- ferent strains. Of these, C13730T has been found to be the most virulent. The study said this strain has been found in the highest proportions in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Delhi. It was found in lower concentrations in Bihar, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. Scientists collected samples from Telangana on March 11 and subsequently from Delhi, Maharashtra and other States. When these samples were analysed, it was found that a new cluster had emerged in February and led to the muta- tion of the virus and further spread of the infection. N orth-eastern States as well as Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Bihar saw a huge spike in the number of cases on Thursday that pushed the countrywide tally to 9,000 plus for the second day in a row amid indications that the coming days could see wors- ening of the situation in the country. India’s total count in the country to 2,26,494 as 9,770 cases were reported on Thursday including 224 deaths taking the toll to 6,362. Maharashtra achieved yet another dubious feat on Thursday, as a record 123 peo- ple succumbed to coronavirus and 2,933 others tested positive for the pandemic, taking the total number of deaths to 2,710 and infected cases in the State to 77,793. A day after 122 people died of Covid-19, the State sur- passed its earlier day’s highest tally and registered a record 123 deaths on Thursday. Mumbai accounted for 48 deaths, while there were 21 deaths in Jalgaon, nine deaths in Pune, eight deaths in Thane, seven deaths in Solapur, six deaths in Navi Mumbai. U nknown miscreants have vandalised the statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside the Indian embassy in the US with graffiti and spray painting, prompting the mission to reg- ister a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies. Vandalism of the statue of the apostle of peace happened during the week of nationwide protests against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The incident is reported to have taken place on the inter- vening night of June 2 and 3, officials said. The Indian embassy has informed the State Department and registered a complaint with local law enforcement agencies, which are now con- ducting an investigation into the incident. On Wednesday, a team of officials from Metropolitan Police in consultation with the Diplomatic Security Service and National Park Police visit- ed the site and are conducting enquiries. D ays after US President Donald Trump invited India, Australia and South Korea to join the G-7 summit in September and China slammed the gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Aussie counter- part Scott Morrison held a video summit on Thursday and discussed a range of issues, including coronavirus pan- demic, terrorism, maritime security challenges in the Indo- Pacific region and reforms in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The two countries also inked an agreement for recip- rocal access to military bases for logistics support besides firming up six more pacts to further broaden ties. The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies besides facilitating boosing overall defence ties. India has similar pacts with the US, France and Singapore, seen as part of broader security cooperation to balance China’s growing eco- nomic and military weight in the region. Given the ongoing face-offs on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh and diplomatic and military level efforts on to defuse tension, Ministry of External Affairs said the China issue was not discussed during the talks between Modi and Morrison. In his opening remarks, Modi favoured a coordinated and collaborative approach to come out of the adverse economic and social impact of the epidemic that has infected around 65 lakh people and killed 3.88 lakh globally. He said a process of com- prehensive reforms covering almost all areas has been initiated in India as his Government viewed the Covid crisis as an “opportunity”. T he Centre has blacklisted 2,550 Tablighi Jamaat members from nearly 40 coun- tries in the past two months for the visa rules violations. They will be deported after comple- tion of judicial proceedings and would not be allowed to enter India for more than 10 years. According to the Union Home Ministry officials, the 2,550 blacklisted Tablighis hail from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, US, UK, France, Australia, Russia, China, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, the Philippines, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Ukraine. Detailed report on Page 4 A head of Rajya Sabha elec- tions on June 19, the Congress on Thursday suf- fered a jolt in Gujarat after at least two of its MLAs resigned and a third one is said to be on the way out. The development can turn the Rajya Sabha elec- tions into a close contest this time too. Karjan MLA Akshay Patel and Kaprada MLA Jitu Chaudhary have submitted their resignations. Congress leaders said there are uncon- firmed reports that a third MLA could also resign. Congress leaders were taken aback when the trouble reported last night and frantic attempts by leaders, the party could not reach the MLAs. “India is in the midst of its independent history’s biggest health, economic and human- itarian crises. The BJP, though, cannot think beyond putting all its energies in poaching legis- lators for RS polls, people be damned!,” AICC in charge of Gujarat Rajeev Satav had tweeted. I n Birsa Bhagwan’s own coun- try, people are praying and offering medicines to save an injured elephant. Unlike Kerala where a pregnant wild elephant suffered a painful death after unknown miscreants offered her fruit laced with explosives, villagers of Hesadih and Rigrigram of Ranchi in Jharkhand are sup- porting forest department to save the life of a 12-year-old wild elephant. About a week back local residents found an injured, limping jumbo stranded in hillock of Mahilong forest range under Silli block of Ranchi district about 70 km from district headquarters and immediately informed the for- est department. The forest department con- tacted senior veterinary doctor of Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park, Dr Ajay Kumar, who gave the elephant broad spec- trum antibiotic and non- steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs along with proteolytic enzymes. Villagers have joined the drive along with forest depart- ment officials and serving ele- phant pumpkins and bottle gourds stuffed with medicines for quick heal of injury. Besides they are offering paddy for feeding the jumbo. They are desperate to save life of this elephant even know- ing well that the same elephant had trampled two people to death last month and also damaged standing crops and houses in Rahe, Silli and Angarha blocks which are ele- phant corridors. “The elephant has injury on his left leg caused when it trampled people when people hit elephants with stones to save life. After villagers informed us we started locat- ing injured elephant and final- ly traced. Villagers are offering all kind of support. Though ele- phant and man clashes are very common in these locali- ties, people never harm ele- phants. They are providing pumpkins and bot- tle gourds that we use to stuff medicines to cure injured ele- phant. We put it near the waterbody where elephant comes to quench thrust,” said RK Singh, ranger of Angarha forest. F ilmmaker and screenplay writer Basu Chatterjee, best known for portraying middle class India with its realism and hope through such films like Rajnigandha and Chitchor, passed away in Mumbai on Thursday. He was 93 and the cause of his death is cited as age-related ailments. Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, president of Indian Film and TV Directors Association, took to twitter to confirm the news. He tweeted, “I am extremely grieved to inform you all the demise of Legendary Filmmaker Basu Chatterjee ji. It’s a great loss to the industry. Will miss you, Sir.” He also posted about Chatterjee’s last rites, which were performed at the Santacruz Crematorium at 3 pm yesterday. Born in Ajmer, Rajasthan, on January 10, 1930, Chatterjee began his career as an illustra- tor and cartoonist at the week- ly tabloid Blitz. After working there for 18 years, he switched to filmmaking and made his directorial debut with Teesri Kasam, starring Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman, an ode to aspiration and wish fulfil- ment, a bridge he traversed in his many other films. Chatterjee was known for his innovations in cinema, which will be known for decades to come. He scored on TV too. It was his Byomkesh Bakshi (1993) that grew to be the most loved series for India in the days of State television. Yet the show became such a huge suc- cess that even subsequent gen- erations became fans. This is why it made a comeback with a second season in 1997 and continues to have re-runs on Doordarshan. Known to be a pioneer of the 70s’ middle-of-the-road cinema, along with Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Chatterjee’s film made it from small to medium- budget entertainers of the time and highlighted the everyday stories of common people, much like the genre of realism widely be seen in Bollywood today. Besides a National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare (for Durga), Basu Chatterjee also won Filmfares for best screenplay for many of his films. T he Centre on Thursday said that it will seek probe into the horrendous killing of the pregnant elephant in a fruit blast in Kerala which has enraged the activists and the common man alike. “Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill,” tweeted Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. Earlier, Kerala Forest Minister K Raju assured strict action against those involved in the killing of the elephant and also clarified that the incident had taken place in Palakkad, and not Malappuram. The elephant had died on May 27 after she ate the pineap- ple stuffed with crackers and died standing in the river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its jaw. A s shopping malls, hotels/hospitality units, restaurants and religious places are set to open from June 8 except those in the contain- ment zones, the Union Health Ministry has issued separate standard operating (SOP) pro- cedure to ensure check on spread of coronavirus. The SOP will be in addi- tion to specific measures to be taken at particular places. The Government has advised per- sons above 65 years of age, per- sons with comorbidities, preg- nant women and children below the age of 10 years to stay at home. While disinfection of the premises is to be taken up if any person there is found pos- itive, thermal screening, a minimum distance of 6 feet in public places as far as feasible, mandatory use of face cov- ers/masks, practicing frequent hand washing with soap (for at least 40-60 seconds) will be mandatory at all these places to ensure hygiene. Only asymptomatic per- sons shall be allowed in the premises whether it is temple, mall or hotels. In temples, staggering of visitors has to be done and touching of stat- ues/idols/holy books, etc, will not be allowed. In view of potential threat of spread of infection, as far as feasible recorded devotional music/songs may be played and choir or singing groups should not be allowed while no physical offerings like prasad/distribution or sprin- kling of holy water, etc, to be allowed inside the religious place. Similarly, all restaurants will encourage takeaways, instead of dine-in. Food delivery personnel should leave the packet at customer’s door. The staff for home deliveries will be screened thermally.

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Page 1: 3(+ 0 ˇ ˆ˙ ˙ ˝ ˛ - News Headlines India - The Pioneer · adverse economic and social ... “India is in the midst of its independent history’s biggest health, economic and

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������%� ���24*

The Supreme Court onThursday steeped in to deal

with massive hardship faced bycommuters in traversing acrossNational Capital Region (NCR)after Delhi, Haryana and UttarPradesh imposed restrictionon inter-State movement in andout from their territories.

First Haryana and thenUttar Pradesh imposed restric-tion on entering of vehicles intheir territories from Delhi tocheck the spread of coron-avirus.

The Delhi followed thesuit and did the same by seal-ing its own borders. The resulthas been chaos and tremen-dous hardship to office-goers,common citizens, and thosewishing to catch trains and

flights, etc.The SC on Thursday said

the Governments of Delhi,Haryana and UP must hold ameeting and consider evolvinga common policy and portal tofacilitate inter-State movementin the NCR.

A bench headed by JusticeAshok Bhushan said thesestates should endeavour to findout a common programmeand portal for inter-state move-ment within the NCR.

The bench, also compris-ing Justices SK Kaul and MRShah, further stated that thereshould be a consistent policy inthis regard for the NCR.

The SC was hearing viavideo-conferencing a plea, filedthrough advocate AninditaMitra, which has raised theissue of alleged restriction onmovement for permissibleactivities in the NCR owing tosealing of borders due to thecoronavirus pandemic.

����� %� ���24*

Scientists at Hyderabad’sCentre for Cellular and

Molecular Biology (CCMB)have discovered a new virulentstrain of the coronavirus,known as Clade A3i, whichcould be responsible for thewidespread death being wit-nessed in Maharashtra, TamilNadu and Delhi.

“Here is a fresh preprint ongenome analysis of SARS-CoV2 spread in India. Theresults show a distinct clusterof virus population, uncharac-terised thus far, which is preva-lent in India — called theClade A3i,” CCMB tweeted.

“This cluster seems to haveoriginated from an outbreak inFebruary 2020 and spreadthrough India. This comprisesof 41 per cent of all SARS-CoV2 genomes from Indiansamples, and 3.5 per cent ofglobal genomes submitted intopublic domain,” the CCMBfurther tweeted.

The research institute hasnamed this unique cluster ofthe virus as ‘Clade A3i’, whichit says is found in 41 per cent

of the genome sequenced inIndia.

According to the study,which is still under peer reviewby bioRxiv journal, Clade A3ihas not been found in any otherpart of the world. The CCMBscientists say the virus hasmutated in India because of thedifferent genetic material foundhere. The coronavirus strainsfound in other countries havebeen named as A2a, A3, B andB4. This cluster has four dif-ferent strains. Of these,C13730T has been found to bethe most virulent.

The study said this strain

has been found in the highestproportions in Tamil Nadu,Telangana, Maharashtra, andDelhi. It was found in lowerconcentrations in Bihar,Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, WestBengal, Gujarat, and MadhyaPradesh.

Scientists collected samplesfrom Telangana on March 11and subsequently from Delhi,Maharashtra and other States.When these samples wereanalysed, it was found that anew cluster had emerged inFebruary and led to the muta-tion of the virus and furtherspread of the infection.

����� %� ���24*

North-eastern States as wellas Jammu & Kashmir,

Haryana, Uttarakhand, andBihar saw a huge spike in thenumber of cases on Thursday that pushed thecountrywide tally to 9,000 plusfor the second day in a rowamid indications that the coming days could see wors-ening of the situation in the

country.India’s total count in the

country to 2,26,494 as 9,770cases were reported onThursday including 224 deathstaking the toll to 6,362.

Maharashtra achieved yetanother dubious feat onThursday, as a record 123 peo-ple succumbed to coronavirusand 2,933 others tested positivefor the pandemic, taking thetotal number of deaths to 2,710

and infected cases in the Stateto 77,793.

A day after 122 peopledied of Covid-19, the State sur-passed its earlier day’s highesttally and registered a record 123deaths on Thursday.

Mumbai accounted for 48deaths, while there were 21deaths in Jalgaon, nine deathsin Pune, eight deaths in Thane,seven deaths in Solapur, sixdeaths in Navi Mumbai.

������ (�4*%,�'%

Unknown miscreants havevandalised the statue of

Mahatma Gandhi outside theIndian embassy in the US withgraffiti and spray painting,prompting the mission to reg-ister a complaint with the locallaw enforcement agencies.

Vandalism of the statue ofthe apostle of peace happenedduring the week of nationwideprotests against the custodialkilling of African-AmericanGeorge Floyd in Minneapolison May 25.

The incident is reported tohave taken place on the inter-vening night of June 2 and 3,officials said.

The Indian embassy hasinformed the State Departmentand registered a complaintwith local law enforcementagencies, which are now con-ducting an investigation intothe incident.

On Wednesday, a team ofofficials from MetropolitanPolice in consultation with theDiplomatic Security Serviceand National Park Police visit-ed the site and are conductingenquiries.

����� %� ���24*

Days after US PresidentDonald Trump invited

India, Australia and SouthKorea to join the G-7 summitin September and Chinaslammed the gesture,

Prime Minister NarendraModi and his Aussie counter-part Scott Morrison held avideo summit on Thursdayand discussed a range of issues,including coronavirus pan-demic, terrorism, maritimesecurity challenges in the Indo-Pacific region and reforms inthe World Trade Organisation(WTO).

The two countries alsoinked an agreement for recip-rocal access to military basesfor logistics support besidesfirming up six more pacts tofurther broaden ties.

The Mutual LogisticsSupport Agreement will allow

militaries of the two countriesto use each other’s bases forrepair and replenishment ofsupplies besides facilitatingboosing overall defence ties.

India has similar pactswith the US, France andSingapore, seen as part ofbroader security cooperation tobalance China’s growing eco-nomic and military weight inthe region.

Given the ongoing face-offson the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Eastern Ladakh anddiplomatic and military levelefforts on to defuse tension,Ministry of External Affairs

said the China issue was notdiscussed during the talksbetween Modi and Morrison.

In his opening remarks,Modi favoured a coordinated and collaborativeapproach to come out of theadverse economic and socialimpact of the epidemic that hasinfected around 65 lakh peopleand killed 3.88 lakh globally.

He said a process of com-prehensive reforms coveringalmost all areas has been initiated in India as hisGovernment viewed the Covid crisis as an “opportunity”.

����� %� ���24*

The Centre has blacklisted2,550 Tablighi Jamaat

members from nearly 40 coun-tries in the past two months forthe visa rules violations. Theywill be deported after comple-tion of judicial proceedingsand would not be allowed toenter India for more than 10years.

According to the UnionHome Ministry officials, the2,550 blacklisted Tablighis hailfrom Bangladesh, Myanmar,Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,US, UK, France, Australia,Russia, China, Sri Lanka,Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Algeria,Democratic Republic of theCongo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti,Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Iran, Jordan,Kazakhstan, Kenya,Madagascar, Mali, thePhilippines, Qatar, Senegal,Sierra Leone, South Africa,Sudan, Sweden, Tanzania,Togo, Trinidad and Tobago,Tunisia and Ukraine.

Detailed report on Page 4

����� %� ���24*

Ahead of Rajya Sabha elec-tions on June 19, the

Congress on Thursday suf-fered a jolt in Gujarat after atleast two of its MLAs resignedand a third one is said to be onthe way out. The developmentcan turn the Rajya Sabha elec-tions into a close contest thistime too.

Karjan MLA Akshay Pateland Kaprada MLA JituChaudhary have submittedtheir resignations. Congressleaders said there are uncon-firmed reports that a thirdMLA could also resign.

Congress leaders weretaken aback when the trouble reported last night andfrantic attempts by leaders, theparty could not reach the MLAs.

“India is in the midst of itsindependent history’s biggesthealth, economic and human-itarian crises. The BJP, though,cannot think beyond putting allits energies in poaching legis-lators for RS polls, people bedamned!,” AICC in charge ofGujarat Rajeev Satav had tweeted.

� ������ ��� �(%.4*

In Birsa Bhagwan’s own coun-try, people are praying and

offering medicines to save aninjured elephant.

Unlike Kerala where apregnant wild elephant suffereda painful death after unknownmiscreants offered her fruitlaced with explosives, villagersof Hesadih and Rigrigram ofRanchi in Jharkhand are sup-porting forest department tosave the life of a 12-year-oldwild elephant.

About a week back localresidents found an injured,limping jumbo stranded inhillock of Mahilong forestrange under Silli block ofRanchi district about 70 kmfrom district headquarters andimmediately informed the for-est department.

The forest department con-tacted senior veterinary doctorof Bhagwan Birsa BiologicalPark, Dr Ajay Kumar, whogave the elephant broad spec-trum antibiotic and non-steroidal anti-inflammatorydrugs along with proteolyticenzymes.

Villagers have joined thedrive along with forest depart-

ment officials and serving ele-phant pumpkins and bottlegourds stuffed with medicinesfor quick heal of injury. Besidesthey are offering paddy forfeeding the jumbo.

They are desperate to savelife of this elephant even know-ing well that the same elephanthad trampled two people todeath last month and alsodamaged standing crops andhouses in Rahe, Silli andAngarha blocks which are ele-phant corridors.

“The elephant has injuryon his left leg caused when ittrampled people when peoplehit elephants with stones tosave life. After villagersinformed us we started locat-ing injured elephant and final-ly traced. Villagers are offeringall kind of support. Though ele-phant and man clashes arevery common in these locali-ties, people never harm ele-phants. They are providing pumpkins and bot-tle gourds that we use to stuffmedicines to cure injured ele-phant. We put it near thewaterbody where elephantcomes to quench thrust,” saidRK Singh, ranger of Angarhaforest.

������%� ���24*

Filmmaker and screenplaywriter Basu Chatterjee, best

known for portraying middleclass India with its realismand hope through such filmslike Rajnigandha and Chitchor,passed away in Mumbai onThursday. He was 93 and thecause of his death is cited asage-related ailments.

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit,president of Indian Film andTV Directors Association, tookto twitter to confirm the news.He tweeted, “I am extremelygrieved to inform you all thedemise of LegendaryFilmmaker Basu Chatterjee ji.It’s a great loss to the industry.Will miss you, Sir.” He alsoposted about Chatterjee’s lastrites, which were performed atthe Santacruz Crematorium at3 pm yesterday.

Born in Ajmer, Rajasthan,on January 10, 1930, Chatterjeebegan his career as an illustra-tor and cartoonist at the week-ly tabloid Blitz. After workingthere for 18 years, he switchedto filmmaking and made hisdirectorial debut with Teesri

Kasam, starring Raj Kapoorand Waheeda Rehman, an odeto aspiration and wish fulfil-ment, a bridge he traversed inhis many other films.Chatterjee was known for hisinnovations in cinema, whichwill be known for decades tocome.

He scored on TV too. Itwas his Byomkesh Bakshi(1993) that grew to be the mostloved series for India in thedays of State television. Yet theshow became such a huge suc-cess that even subsequent gen-erations became fans. This iswhy it made a comeback witha second season in 1997 and

continues to have re-runs onDoordarshan.

Known to be a pioneer ofthe 70s’ middle-of-the-roadcinema, along with HrishikeshMukherjee, Chatterjee’s filmmade it from small to medium-budget entertainers of the timeand highlighted the everydaystories of common people,much like the genre of realismwidely be seen in Bollywoodtoday.

Besides a National FilmAward for Best Film on FamilyWelfare (for Durga), BasuChatterjee also won Filmfaresfor best screenplay for many ofhis films.

��������� ����������������������������������������

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����� %� ���24*

The Centre on Thursdaysaid that it will seek probe

into the horrendous killing ofthe pregnant elephant in afruit blast in Kerala which hasenraged the activists and thecommon man alike.

“Central Government hastaken a very serious note of thekilling of an elephant inMallapuram, #Kerala. We willnot leave any stone unturned toinvestigate properly and nabthe culprit(s). This is not anIndian culture to feed firecrackers and kill,” tweetedUnion Environment MinisterPrakash Javadekar.

Earlier, Kerala ForestMinister K Raju assured strictaction against those involved inthe killing of the elephant andalso clarified that the incidenthad taken place in Palakkad,and not Malappuram.

The elephant had died onMay 27 after she ate the pineap-ple stuffed with crackers anddied standing in the riverVelliyar after it suffered aninjury in its jaw.

(���������,���!��������������������-����� ��#.�������� ����

���-,��/�0�1��� �-���!��������2����##��������������������� %� ���24*

As shopping malls,hotels/hospitality units,

restaurants and religious placesare set to open from June 8except those in the contain-ment zones, the Union HealthMinistry has issued separatestandard operating (SOP) pro-cedure to ensure check onspread of coronavirus.

The SOP will be in addi-tion to specific measures to betaken at particular places. TheGovernment has advised per-sons above 65 years of age, per-sons with comorbidities, preg-nant women and childrenbelow the age of 10 years tostay at home.

While disinfection of thepremises is to be taken up ifany person there is found pos-itive, thermal screening, aminimum distance of 6 feet inpublic places as far as feasible,mandatory use of face cov-ers/masks, practicing frequenthand washing with soap (for at

least 40-60 seconds) will bemandatory at all these placesto ensure hygiene.

Only asymptomatic per-sons shall be allowed in thepremises whether it is temple,mall or hotels. In temples,staggering of visitors has to bedone and touching of stat-ues/idols/holy books, etc, willnot be allowed.

In view of potential threatof spread of infection, as far asfeasible recorded devotionalmusic/songs may be playedand choir or singing groupsshould not be allowed while nophysical offerings likeprasad/distribution or sprin-kling of holy water, etc, to beallowed inside the religiousplace.

Similarly, all restaurantswill encourage takeaways,instead of dine-in.

Food delivery personnelshould leave the packet atcustomer’s door. The staff forhome deliveries will bescreened thermally.

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The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet onThursday gave its consent to constitute

sixth state Finance Commission which willreview the financial position of panchayatsand urban local bodies and make recom-mendations to the Governor on measuresneeded to improve their financial positionwith determination of taxes, duties, tolls andfees and grants in aid.

The Cabinet, presided over by ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur, also decided toincrease the honorarium of Jal Rakshaks,Para Fitters and Para Pump Operators in JalShakti Vibhag by Rs 300 per month. Withthis increase, now Jal Rakshaks would getRs 3,300 per month, while Para Fitters andPara Pump Operators would get an hono-rarium of Rs 4,300 per month.

It accorded approval for procurement,supply and distribution of school bagsunder Atal School Vardi Yojna to school students of Class I, III, VI and IX one-tender basis through Himachal PradeshState Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd for theyear 2020-21. This would benefit 256,514students.

It also decided to create a state disastermitigation fund and approved the guidelinesfor the administration of the fund underDisaster Management Act, 2005, and Rules2011 to meet the expenses on mitigation.Under this fund, 20 per cent of the state dis-aster risk management fund would be usedfor mitigation, which comes to Rs 90.80crore for the current financial year. Besides,funds worth Rs 50 crore have also been rec-ommended for managing seismic and land-slide risks from the National DisasterMitigation Fund to the state.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Thursday directed all theDeputy Commissioners of theState to intensify the work onvarious ongoing short termschemes of flood control in theState and said that they shouldpersonally visit the sites toensure that these are complet-ed well before the commence-ment of monsoon season.

Setting a target for the DCs, hedirected that work on the ongo-ing schemes and other floodcontrol measures includingdesilting of both urban andrural drains should be com-pleted by June 20, 2020.

Presiding over a meetingwith all the DeputyCommissioners to review floodpreparedness in the Statethrough video conferencinghere, he said that DCs shouldpersonally visit the work site

every week to see for them-selves the progress of work andensure that same are complet-ed at the earliest.

He said that work for thedisciliting of drains should becompleted before June 20, 2020positively. He also directed theDCs to ensure the strengthen-ing of river banks especially inYamunanagar and Karnal dis-tricts to avert flooding.

At present, 143 short termschemes are being implement-

ed in differentdistricts of the

State at ane s t i m a t e dcost of Rs132.25 crore.

w a si n f o r m e dthat out ofthe total 833urban andrural drainsin the State,588 drainshave beenidentified forcleaning. Itwas alsoi n f o r m e dthat the work

of desilting of drains is beingcarried out at a rapid paceunder MGNREGA.

Apart from the list ofdrains has been shared withDepartments of Irrigation andWater Resources, Urban LocalBodies, Public Works (Buildingand Roads) and HaryanaShehri Vikas Pradhikaran(HSVP) for this purpose.

As 18 drains in the State arebeing managed by NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI) and Railways, the con-

cerned Deputy Commissionershave been directed to coordi-nate with NHAI and Railwaysfor the cleanliness of thesedrains.

It was further informedthat about 522 temporary siteshave been identified in the statewhere there is a possibility ofwater accumulation duringmonsoon.

Adequate arrangement hasbeen made to pump out excesswater from these sites and forthis temporary electricity con-

nections are being applied. It was informed that with

a view to prevent the possibil-ity of breach in river or canalbanks, the Irrigation and WaterResources Department hasprepared a roster of employeesto identify vulnerable spots.

Apart from this, thedepartment is also preparingStandard Operating Procedures(SOPs) for the immediate supply of resources at the weak spots.

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Page 3: 3(+ 0 ˇ ˆ˙ ˙ ˝ ˛ - News Headlines India - The Pioneer · adverse economic and social ... “India is in the midst of its independent history’s biggest health, economic and

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To strengthen the screening of population for timely detec-tion of COVID-19 patients to contain the spread of pan-

demic, Punjab Government has decided to conduct free of costRT-PCR testing for COVID-19 samples sent by empanelledprivate hospitals or clinics and private labs.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhusaid that instructions have been issued to the Civil Surgeonsto empanel those private hospitals or clinics and labs who arewilling to get empanelled voluntarily for offering free of costtesting of samples.

Sidhu pointed out that the private hospitals and clinicsavailing this facility shall not charge more than Rs 1000 frompatients for sample collection. “Private hospitals or clinics shallselect the patients for testing as per ICMR criteria whichincludes symptomatic international or domestic travelers, symptomatic contacts of lab confirmed COVID-19patient, symptomatic persons coming from containment zonesor hot-spots, asymptomatic high risk contacts of COVID-19patient, asymptomatic or symptomatic frontline workers andsymptomatic returnees or migrants,” he said adding that allprivate hospitals or clinics and labs empanelled as collectioncenters shall be linked to a RT-PCR testing lab as per ICMRProtocol.

“It has been made mandatory that the private hospital orclinics and labs should have a separate isolated area for thesuspected patients of COVID-l9 where sample will be takenand the person taking samples will ensure complete person-al protective gear,” he said.

The Minister said that the private hospital shall arrangerequired logistics and collect samples, pack them and sendto the nearest Government Health facility as per protocol. Theyensure to fill in the details as per ICMR protocol in RT-PCRApp, he added.

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Punjab Government hasshot off a communiqué to

the Central Government toallow the travel of the migrantworkers back to Punjab to jointheir jobs as the industries areresuming their operations.

“With an increasing num-ber of industrial units resum-ing operations in the State, theGovernment has written to theUnion Government to arrangetrains for bringing migrantworkers who wish to comeback from their home statesand start working,” said thestate Industries andCommerce Minister SunderSham Arora on Thursday.

Arora said that the PunjabGovernment had even sentbuses to ferry the labour backto Punjab and two such busesreturned to Hoshiarpur onThursday.

The Minister, during ameeting with the representa-tives of industrial organiza-tions at Ludhiana CircuitHouse, said that to assist theindustry in this hour of need,Punjab Government has alsowritten to the UnionGovernment that instead ofanother loan, they shouldwaive off bank interest ofexisting loans taken by indus-trialists for a period of at least

six months.“Under the Ghar Ghar

Rozgar Scheme, around 20,000local youth is being trained asboiler operators and their two-year course at ITIs would endthis year and it would benefitthe industry to a large extent,”he said.

Other issues discussed inthe meeting includedVAT/GST refund, fixed elec-tricity charges, local youthshould be trained and givenjobs in state industry etc.

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With a view to utilizePunjab’s capacity in manufac-turing of personal protectiveequipment (PPE) kits tofullest, Arora said that he haswritten to the Union Ministerof Commerce and Industry toconsider allowing its exportsto other countries in need. “Ihave also written another let-ter to all Chief Ministers ofother states to purchase masksand PPE kits being manufac-tured by Punjab’s textile indus-try,” he said adding that at pre-sent, 103 units are manufac-turing approved PPE kits inthe State.

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Yet again, Haryana onThursday continued to bat-

tle a surge in infections with327 new cases of novel coronavirus, the highest in a day so far,raising the total of infectedcases to 3,281.

Of the 327 new casesreported on Tuesday, 215 arefrom Gurugram alone.Faridabad accounted for 35cases, the second highest dis-trict of the State followed by 13new cases in Rohtak.

Haryana on Thursdayreported one death, taking thestate's death toll to 24 even as34 patients recovered fromvarious hospitals of the Stateover the last 24 hours onThursday.

The State has a recoveryrate of 34.23 per cent, fatalityrate at 0.73 per cent whiletests per million being con-ducted are 5,230. The doublingrate in the State is six days.With 1,123 people cured anddischarged from the hospitals,there are 2,134 active COVID-19 cases in Haryana now.

Gurugram reported 215new cases of the deadly disease,taking the total in the districtto 1410. Faridabad reported 35new case of the deadly disease,

taking the total in the districtto 522. Jhajjar reported twonew Covid cases, taking tally to105. Nuh reported four morecases, taking total to 82. Onemore corona virus case report-ed in Ambala, taking total to70. Palwal reported seven morecases, taking the tally to 86.One more case reported inPanipat, taking total to 66.

Karnal reported eight morecases, taking count to 74. Onemore case has been reported inSirsa, taking total to 48. Twomore cases reported inFatehabad, talking total to 27.12 more cases have beenreported in Bhiwani, takingtotal to 57.

13 more corona virus casesreported in Rohtak, takingtotal to 110. Hisar reported onemore case, taking the tally to69. Three more cases reportedin Kaithal, taking total to 33.

By Tuesday evening,Haryana had sent as 132,575nasopharyngeal samples fortesting to various diagnosticlaboratories, of which 124,769tested negative while report wasawaited in 4,525 cases, theHealth Department said.

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Covid-19 cases on Thursday,pushing the state's tally to2,415. With these fresh cases,the state has so far seen morethan 200 people testing positivefor the virus in the past sixdays.

Fifteen cases were report-ed in Amritsar, followed by sixin Ludhiana, four each inJalandhar and Pathankot, threein Bathinda and one each inFazilka, Muktsar, Rupnagar,SBS Nagar, Sangrur,Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur,according to the state healthdepartment's medical bulletin.Among the fresh cases, twowere foreign returnees, as perthe bulletin.

Fourteen coronavirus pos-itive patients were dischargedfrom hospitals in Jalandhar,Ludhiana, Mohali, Sangrur andBathinda.

A total of 2,043 patientshave recovered from the dis-ease so far, the bulletin said.There are 325 active cases inthe state as of now, it said.

Amritsar continued to topthe COVID-19 tally in thestate with 405 coronaviruscases, followed by 262 inJalandhar, 206 in Ludhiana, 157in Tarn Taran, 145 inGurdaspur, 134 in Hoshiarpur,125 in Patiala, 120 in Mohali,106 in SBS Nagar, 103 in

Sangrur, 80 in Pathankot, 71 inRupnagar, 69 in Muktsar, 66 inFaridkot, 64 each in FatehgarhSahib and Moga, 53 inBathinda, 46 in Ferozepur, 45in Fazilka, 38 in Kapurthala, 32in Mansa and 24 in Barnala.

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Ten fresh COVID-19 caseswere reported in HimachalPradesh on Thursday, takingthe state tally to 370 even as 17people - 9 from Kangra, 6from Shimla and 1 each fromBilaspur and Una were cured ofthe virus, Special HealthSecretary Nipun Jindal said.

Four of the fresh caseswere reported in Kangra, fol-lowed by three in Mandi andone each in Chamba, Bilaspurand Kullu. The number of

coronavirus cases in the statehas risen to 370, AdditionalChief Secretary (Health) R DDhiman said, adding that thenumber of active patients is197. As many as 167 patientshave recovered so far, he added.

So far, six people have suc-cumbed to the virus inHimachal Pradesh. Hamirpurhas the highest number ofactive cases in the state at 74,followed by 49 in Kangra, 18 inSolan, 15 in Una, 13 inChamba, 11 in Bilaspur, 10 inMandi, 2 each in Kinnaur,Shimla, Kullu and 1 in Sirmaur.

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An 80 years old woman, aresident of Bapu Dham colonyhere has been tested positive forCoronavirus on Thursday.

With this, the total number ofcases reached 302 in the city.

“An 80 years old womanfrom Bapu Dham colony,Sector-26 who is communitycontact of a positive case hasbeen reported as positive forCoronavirus.

Six of her family contactsare being sampled and theirreports are awaited,” statedChandigarh HealthDepartment’s evening bulletin.

Eight persons, all residentsof Bapudham Colony, Sector-26 have been treated, cured anddischarged and shifted to Postdischarge quarantine center atSood Dharamshala, the bulletinstated.

The cases in Chandigarhstood at 302. While 222patients have recovered, 75 areactive cases, it added.

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Asserting that the fightagainst COVID-19 is “far

from over”, Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh on Thursday appealed toall Punjabis to make ‘MissionFateh’ a public movement bytreading cautiously and takingall precautions.

Capt Amarinder took toTwitter on Thursday morningto share the state’s figures in itsbattle against the unseenenemy. “As of 3rd June, Punjabhas a total of 300 active casesout of 2,376 patients that havetested positive so far. Yesterday,34 patients tested positive & 12patients recovered of #Covid19.Our fight is far from over & Iwant you all to join#MissionFateh by taking fullprecautions,” he tweeted.

As part of the state's battleagainst Covid-19, CaptAmarinder on Tuesdaylaunched the ‘Mission Fateh’war anthem featuringBollywood megastar AmitabhBachchan, Kareena Kapoor,Gurdas Maan, Milkha Singh,Kapil Dev, Harbhajan Singh,besides a star-studded line upof personalities from sports andPunjabi cinema.

“Battle against #Covid19 isa long-drawn one which can bewon only if all of us cometogether. We need to inculcatethe habit of wearing masks,maintain social distancing andfrequently washing hands.Sharing this song on#MissionFateh & request all toshare for spreading awareness,”capt Amarinder had tweeted.

Urging everyone to comeforward and complement thestate's efforts to save preciouslives by disseminating infor-mation about the preventivemeasures, the Chief Ministersaid that with the cooperationfrom everyone, Punjab hasbeen successful in controllingthe spread of the virus to a greatextent.

The song, which also fea-tures local boy Sonu Soodalongside Punjab Police posterboy ASI Harjit Singh andTikTok sensation Noor, hasbeen sung by Punjabi musicdirector and singer B Praak.

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Pitching for a joint strategywith Delhi and Uttar

Pradesh for the inter-statemovement of people, HaryanaDeputy Chief MinisterDushyant Singh Chautala onThursday said all three Statesshould come together in thefight against coronavirus.

The deputy chief ministersuggested that each statesshould appoint a senior offi-cial to prepare a common

programme for ensuring bet-ter inter-state movementamid the coronavirus pan-demic.

“There is a need for allthree states to come togetherfor combating the COVID-19pandemic,” Chautala said.

“All three states mustappoint one senior official forestablishing a common pro-gramme for ensuring betterinter-state movement in thissituation,” Chautala, whoseparty JJP is a coalition part-

ner of the BJP in Haryana,said. His statement has comeon the day the Supreme Courtsaid the governments of thethree states should hold ameeting and consider evolv-ing a common policy andportal to facilitate the inter-state movement in the nation-al capital region (NCR).

On Monday, the Delhigovernment had ordered thesealing of city borders for aweek due to a rise in coron-avirus cases. Earlier, Haryana

too had sealed its borderswith the national capital,maintaining that the move-ment of people from Delhihas resulted in a spike in viruscases in the state.

Chautala said Haryana isready to establish a commonpolicy keeping in view thecoronavirus situation in Delhiand the NCR.

Har yana has a lreadymade a portal for the inter-state movement of people,he said.

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Page 4: 3(+ 0 ˇ ˆ˙ ˙ ˝ ˛ - News Headlines India - The Pioneer · adverse economic and social ... “India is in the midst of its independent history’s biggest health, economic and

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For the first time, the UnionHome Ministry has black-

listed as many as 2,550 TablighiJamaat members from nearly40 countries in the past twomonths for visa rules’ viola-tions. These blacklisted personswill be deported soon after thecourt procedures and wouldnot be allowed to enter Indiafor more than 10 years.

According to Union HomeMinistry officials, the black-listed Tablighis are basicallyfrom Bangladesh, Myanmar,Indonesia, Malaysia andThailand among others. Theblacklisted Tablighis are alsofrom the US, the UK, France,Australia, Russia, China, SriLanka, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam,Saudi Arabia, Algeria,Democratic Republic of theCongo, Ivory Coase , Djibouti,Egypt, Ethiopia,Fiji, Gambia,Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan,Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, thePhilippines, Qatar,Senegal,Sierra Leone, South Africa,

Sudan, Sweden, Tanzania,Togo, Trinidad and Tobago,Tunisia and Ukraine.

This is perhaps for thefirst time that the Governmenthas blacklisted a large numberof people in one stroke andbanned their entry into Indiafor such a long duration underthe Foreigners Act.

The action has been takenby the Home Ministry after var-ious State Governments pro-vided details of the foreignerswho were found to be illegallyliving in mosques and religiousseminaries across the country.Almost all of these foreignTablighi Jamaat activists hadcome to India on tourist visasbut were engaged in missionaryworks, thus violating the visaconditions, the officials said.

Action against the foreignTablighi Jamaat members wasfirst taken after over 2,300people, including 250 foreign-ers, belonging to the Islamicorganisation, were found to beliving at its headquarters locat-ed at Delhi’s Nizamuddin soon

after the nation-wide lock-down was announced inMarch. Several of these mem-bers had tested positive forcoronavirus.

The Tablighi Jamaat mem-bers were blamed for the spreadof coronavirus in more than 20states and Union Territorieswith more than a thousandCOVID-19 positive cases andover two dozen deaths tracedto them. After finding abouttheir illegal stay in India,Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gaubahad also told the states and UTsto take action against foreign-ers, who have participated inthe missionary activities of theTablighi Jamaat, for violation ofvisa conditions.

In April, the HomeMinistry had directed DGPs ofall the states and UTs, and theDelhi Police Commissioner totake necessary legal actionagainst all such violators, onpriority, under relevant sectionsof the Foreigners Act, 1946 andDisaster Management Act,2005. Last week, the CBI hasregistered a preliminaryenquiry (PE) against the organ-isers of Tablighi Jamaat foralleged dubious cash transac-tions and hiding of foreigndonations from authorities.

The enquiry was regis-tered on a complaint that theorganisers of the Jamaat areindulging in dubious cashtransactions through illegaland unfair means, the officialssaid. The Delhi Police has alsoregistered a case against theTablighi Jamaat and its officebearers.

The head of the organisa-tion, Maulana Saad, is still to beapprehended by police.

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With the possibility ofreopening of schools

post-lockdown, the HRDMinistry is preparing aStandard Operating Procedure(SOP) for the school transportsystem wherein 50-55-seaterschool buses will accommodatea maximum of only 25 studentsat a time.

While it anticipates that amajority of the guardians willgive up transportation pro-vided by the schools and thatparents will make alternatearrangements to drop andpick their kids from school,nevertheless, those opting forprivate vans can have only onechild accommodated on onerow of seat. In case of autorick-shaws too, only one child willbe allowed in it.

A senior HRD Ministryofficial said social distancingneeds to be maintained notonly during classes but alsoduring transport facilities likeschool bus service.

The guidelines are likely tomandate that even on a three-seater row in a bus, only onechild will be seated. A big buswith seating capacity of about50 will carry only 25 studentsand the bus operators and theschool administration have toensure that the buses are sani-tised after every trip and theyhave a medical kit with handsanitisers in place.

“They will have to ensureand check that only maskedchildren are allowed to boardand deboard. While public

schools can mandate faceshields though there will be nostrict directions from the gov-ernment, mask will be com-pulsory for all schools," said anofficial of the Department ofSchool Education at HRDMinistry.

The SOP will also have theschools use different gates ina staggered manner for trans-port operations. The sameguidelines will be for thoseusing private transport facili-ty like vans, mini buses andthree wheelers.

“After all, the stakeholdersof education including theparents and guardians have tobe cautious round the clock inmaintaining the SOP and edu-cation simultaneously duringthe crisis and no leniency willbe accepted," added the offi-cial.

Earlier, the HRD Ministryhad announced modified seat-ing arrangements, change intimings and further division ofthe class into different sectionsas the measures to be followedin schools when they re-openby July end.

As part of the Centre'sunlock plan, schools and aca-demic institutions have beenput in the last league and willbe opened phase wise in con-sultation with the Centre andState administration.

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Industrialist Rajiv Bajaj onThursday came out with a

strong criticism of the Centre's“hard” but “porous” lockdown,which he said, flattened the“wrong curve” and termed thestimulus package “too little” torevive the economy

In a candid online conver-sation with Congress leaderRahul Gandhi, Bajaj said, “Wetried to implement a hard lock-down which was still porous.So, I think we have ended upwith the worst of both worlds.On one hand, a porous lock-down makes sure that the viruswill still exist and as you said,it is still waiting to hit you whenyou will unlock. So, you havenot solved that problem," saidBajaj.

Bajaj commented that ahard lockdown implies an air-tight, impervious lockdown."And to the best of my knowl-edge, this has not happenedanywhere in the world. Tophysically constrain yourself toyour home and see absolutelyno one," he noted.

Coming hard on theCentre's stimulus package,Bajaj said: “Only a tenth of the20 trillion worth of stimulusthe Centre announced lastmonth, to help people andbusinesses to tide over thecovid-19 crisis, makes fordirect support which is wayless than what other countrieshave offered.”

“In many places in theworld, two thirds of what theGovernment has handed outhad gone to organisations andpeople as direct benefits.Whereas in India, it has onlybeen 10 percent,” he added.

He cited examples ofdirect cash benefits given to

big and small businesses aswell as citizens fromGovernments in other coun-tries to stay afloat during thecrisis.

He said the Centre's lock-down to slow the spread ofcoronavirus ended up "flat-tening the wrong curve" andleft the country with the worstof both worlds.

When Rahul praised RajivBajaj for his braveness forspeaking to him, Bajaj said,“I'm speaking with Rahul andthe first reaction was from afriend, don’t do it. I said, butwhy not?. “Mat karna, this canget you into trouble”. But Isaid, I may have said somethings, perhaps a little toovehemently.”

He also shared how hisfather (Rahul Bajaj) raised asimilar point last year in thepresence of the HomeMinister.

Bajaj said he stronglybelieves that to revive demand,the government must dosomething to boost sentiment.

“We need some mood ele-vator. And I do not understandwhy there is no strong initia-tive, even if it is for a periodof 6 months-1 year to strong-ly lift the mood of the peopleand provide a stimulus todemand," said the managingdirector of Bajaj Auto.

This was fourth in theseries of online conversationsthat Rahul Gandhi has beenholding with experts to discussthe fallout of the pandemicand the ensuing lockdown.Earlier, Rahul did similar ses-sions with former RBIGovernor Raghuram Rajan,Nobel Prize winning econo-mist Professor AbhijitBanerjee, and Prof Ashish Jhafrom Harvard University.

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The Supreme Court has dis-missed the plea filed by the

CBI seeking review of its ver-dict granting bail to formerfinance minister PChidambaram in the INXMedia corruption case.

The apex court had onOctober 22 last year grantedbail to Chidambaram in thecase saying he was neither a“flight risk” nor was there apossibility of "his abscondencefrom the trial".

A bench headed by JusticeR Banumathi rejected thereview plea filed by the CBIsaying the last year verdictdoes not suffer from any errorapparent warranting its recon-sideration.

“Application for oral hear-ing the review petition in opencourt is rejected. We haveperused the review petition andthe connected papers careful-ly and are convinced that theorder, of which review hasbeen sought, does not sufferfrom any error apparent war-ranting its reconsideration,"the bench, also comprisingJustices A S Bopanna andHrishikesh Roy, said.

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The Supreme Court onThursday extended till June

12 its earlier order of May 15asking the Government not totake any coercive action againstcompanies and employers forviolation of Centre's March 29circular for payment of fullwages to employees for thelockdown period.

A bench of Justices AshokBhushan, S K Kaul and M RShah reserved the verdict ona batch of petitions filed byvarious companies challeng-ing the circular of theMinistry of Home Affairsissued on March 29 asking theemployers to pay full wages tothe employees during thenationwide lockdown due tothe coronavirus pandemic.

In the proceedings conducted through video conferencing, the top courtsaid there was a concern thatworkmen should not be leftwithout pay, but there may bea situat ion where the industry may not have moneyto pay and hence, the balancing has to be done.

Meanwhile, the apexcourt asked the parties to filetheir written submissions insupport of their claims.

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The Supreme CourtThursday sought finance

ministry's reply on waiver ofinterest on loans during themoratorium period after theRBI said it would not be pru-dent to go for a “forced waiv-er of interest” risking financialviability of the banks.

The top court said there aretwo aspects under considera-tion in this matter — no inter-est payment on loans duringthe moratorium period and nointerest to be charged on inter-est.

A bench of Justices AshokBhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kauland M R Shah said that theseare challenging times and it isa serious issue as on one handmoratorium is granted and onother hand interest is chargedon loans.

The bench was hearing a

plea, filed by Gajendra Sharma,in which he has sought a direc-tion to declare the portion ofRBI's March 27 notification "asultra vires to the extent itcharges interest on the loanamount during the moratori-um period, which create hard-ship to the petitioner beingborrower and creates hin-drance and obstruction

in “right to life' guaranteedby Article 21 of theConstitution of India”.

Sharma, a resident of Agra,has also sought a direction tothe Government and theReserve Bank of India (RBI) toprovide relief in re-payment ofloan by not charging interestduring the moratorium period.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for theCentre, said that he would liketo file the reply of financeministry on the issue andsought time.

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The elections to 24 Assemblyseats in Madhya Pradesh,

results of which would be cru-cial for the stability of theState BJP Government, areunlikely to be held any timesoon and dates may get pushedahead “indefinitely” on accountof the Coronavirus pandemicand related CentralGovernment guidelines againstpublic gathering or meetings.

BJP leaders are expectingthat the bypoll results inMadhya Pradesh would yield aresult “similar to Karnataka”where the party had “success-fully toppled” the HDKumaraswamy government asCongress MLAs crossed over tothe BJP after quitting theirseats and later won theirbypolls on BJP tickets.

BJP leaders point out thatthe party has a stronghold inthe Gwalior-Chambal regionwhere it won “ even the seat ofJyotiraditya Scindia” who isnow with the BJP. A majorityof bypoll seats are to be con-tested in the Gwalior-Chambaldivision in the North MadhyaPradesh.

The Pandemic, which doesnot seem to be reversing itstrend, however, has put a ques-

tion mark on the dates for theby polls to MP assembly seatsand also seemingly cast a shad-ow of uncertainty over a firmschedule for Bihar Assemblyelections, due later this year,said a senior BJP leader.

The Rajya Sabha polls, tobe held on June 19, wererescheduled due to the out-break of coronavirus but sinceMLAs exercise their franchisein the RS poll, the Lockdownnorms could be easily observed, said the key BJP functionarywho affirmed that assemblypoll and voting cannot be heldunder the current laid downnorms of Ministry of HomeAffairs.

“RS poll is not a publicelection but assembly electionswould involve active partici-pation of large public for vot-ing. The election commissionwill have to take a call onthis..situation is unprecedent-ed”, said the BJP leader.

The bypoll to MadhyaPradesh assembly are manda-torily to be held beforeSeptember as resignations by22 Congress MLAs whocrossed over to the BJP at thebehest of erstwhile CongressGeneral Secretary JyotiradityaSchindia in March, this year.

The high stake bypolls in

the Gwalior-Chambal regioncould swing the balance ofpower in the state assemblywhere BJP now commandsmajority in the 230-membereassembly after 22-Congressmen quit the erst-while Kamalnath government,leading to the installation ofthe Shivraj Singh ChauhanGovernment.

Since a majority of seatswould be contested fromGwalior-Chambal region, therole of former CongressGeneral Secretary JyotiradityaScindia who joined BJP inMarch and played central rolein the fall of CongressGovernment, would be taskedthe BJP to play the key role towin most of the 24 seats for theparty.

Scindia who has beennominated to Rajya Sabha bythe BJP would be required toprove his political mettle int theregion which is considered hisfamily bastion.

The BJP, which currentlycommands 107 seats in thereduced House strength of 204,will need to win at least 10more seats to cross the magicfigure of 116 in the 230-mem-ber Assembly and stabilise thegovernment comfortably inthe State.

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Changes in eating habits andan overall decrease in phys-

ical activity due to the closingof schools, playground andsummer camps in the wake ofthe Coronavirus lockdownhave negatively impacted over-all health of the children withobesity, researchers have said.

“The tragic Covid-19 pan-demic has collateral effectsextending beyond direct viralinfection," said study co-authorMyles Faith from the Universityat Buffalo in the US.

“Children and teens strug-gling with obesity are placed inan unfortunate position of iso-lation that appears to create anunfavourable environment formaintaining healthy lifestylebehaviours," Faith added. In astudy published in the journalObesity, they have suggestedneed for establishing and eval-uating telemedicine programsthat encourage families tomaintain healthy lifestyle choic-

es during periods of lockdown.Children and adolescents

typically gain more weight dur-ing summer vacation than dur-ing the school year, which ledthe researchers to wonder ifbeing homebound would havea similar effect on the kids'lifestyle behaviours.

For the findings, theresearchers surveyed 41 chil-dren and teens with obesityunder confinement throughoutMarch and April in Verona,Italy.

Lifestyle informationregarding diet, activity andsleep was collected three weeksinto Italy's mandatory nation-al lockdown and compared todata on the children gatheredin 2019.

Questions focused onphysical activity, screen time,sleep, eating habits, and theconsumption of red meat,pasta, snacks, fruits and veg-etables. The results confirmedthe negative change in behav-iour, indicating that children

with obesity fare worse onweight control lifestyle pro-grams while at home com-pared to when they areengaged in their school cur-riculum.

Compared to behavioursrecorded a year prior, the chil-dren ate an additional meal perday; slept an extra half hourper day; added nearly fivehours per day in front of thephone, computer and televi-sion screens; and dramatical-ly increased their consumptionof red meat, sugary drinksand junk foods.

Physical activity, on theother hand, decreased by morethan two hours per week, andthe number of vegetables con-sumed remained unchanged,the study said. “Recognisingthe adverse collateral effects ofthe Covid-19 pandemic lock-down is critical in avoiding thedepreciation of hardfoughtweight control efforts amongyouths afflicted with excessweight," Faith said.

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The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on

Thursday announced the out-look for a fresh low-pressure areaforming over the eastern partsof West-Central Bay of Bengal(off the Myanmar coast) in thenext four days (June 8), whichpromises to sustain the orderlyprogress of a nascent monsoonover the country. According toIMD, southwest Monsoon hasfurther advanced into someparts of Central Arabian Sea,entire Kerala and Mahe, someparts of Karnataka, some moreparts of Comorin Area andSouthwest Bay of Bengal, mostparts of Southeast Bay of Bengaland some parts of East centralBay of Bengal.

IMD said that fresh lowpressure area forming due tocyclone Nisarga from theArabian Sea that crossed theWest Coast near Alibaug inMaharashtra on Wednesday wasmeandering its way across Central India towards the

foothills of the Himalayas,accompanied by moderate toheavy rain and high winds.

“In the next few hours, it willfurther weaken into low pressurearea over Madhya Pradesh. It isexpected to cause some rainfallactivity over east MadhyaPradesh, Chhattisgarh andadjoining areas during next 24hours,” Mrityunjay Mohapatra,Director General, IMD.

The IMD said a depression lay over the con-tiguous Vidarbha and MadhyaPradesh about 60 km North-West of Akola and 220 kmwest-northwest of Nagpur (bothin Maharashtra) and 230 kmSouth-South-East of Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh). As a result ofthe cyclone, parts of MadhyaPradesh has been receiving rain-fall since Wednesday.

According to the forecast forwestern parts of the state, heavyto very heavy rainfall and thunderstorm accompanied bylightning is most likely to occurat isolated places in next 24hours.

Page 5: 3(+ 0 ˇ ˆ˙ ˙ ˝ ˛ - News Headlines India - The Pioneer · adverse economic and social ... “India is in the midst of its independent history’s biggest health, economic and

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Come June 10, India’s one ofthe oldest film cities at

Tollygunge — more popularlyknown as Tollywood — will beback to its usual bustling self.

Most television serials willstart shooting from June 10onwards, State Minister ArupBiswas said after a meeting withthe functionaries of the EastIndia Motion Pictures andother such organisations.

“The Tollygunge film stu-dios will begin work after a 75-day hibernation ending theCorona lockdown phase,”Biswas said on Thursdayadding however “film shootingwill however take some moretime to start as we have certainissues to be sorted out.”

The Minister said that afterconsultation with the television

companies “it has been decid-ed that shooting with televisionserials will start with certainnew measures particularly aninsurance of �25 lakh for thoseinvolved in shooting.” The pre-mium will be shared partly bythe serial companies and artists,he maintained.

“Unlike other professionswhere one can maintain socialdistancing film shootingdemands physical proximitytriggering the chances of coro-na infection,” actor and singerArindam Ganguli said addinga lot of precautions will betaken while the shooting arecarried out. The new step willensure the shooting of themega Bengali tele-serial RaniRashmoni awaited by crores ofpeople, said an artist,Tollywood locals said.

The mega serial is shot

after the life and times of a fear-less, spiritual and one of therichest woman zamindars ofthe country living in the early19th century and playing notonly an important role in thereformation and renaissancemovement besides construct-ing the famous DakshineshwarKali Temple but also challeng-ing the mighty British rulers onseveral occasions through herindomitable spirit and grit.The serial also brings into playthe life of RamakrishnaParamahansa the spiritual guruof Swami Vivekananda.

Though the StateGovernment took stepstowards gradual opening up ofthe economic activities, author-ities decided to clamp nightcurfew from 9 pm to 5 am inview of steady proliferation ofcorona infections, sources said.

The State has witnessed726 cases the period interven-ing June 2 and 3, sources saidadding in the past 24 hours thenumber of cases has gone up by368. Out of these, 210 caseshave been reported from thefour districts of Kolkata,Howrah, Hooghly and North24 Parganas.

In a view to balance con-tainment protocols and eco-nomic activities theGovernment came out withnew “containment zone” pro-tocols, Kolkata MunicipalCorporation ChiefAdministrator and MinisterFirhad Hakim said.

“We will now place onlysuch buildings under contain-ment where reports of coronainfections have come releasingthe adjoining areas from otherprohibitions” he said adding

only the slum those slum areaswill be declared containmentzones where people have usedthe same toilets with thosewho have been infected by thevirus.”

Meanwhile, two renownedfood chains of the countryhave started delivering alcoholin partnership with authorisedretailers and wine shops in acouple of cities of the State,sources said adding the alcoholwas being delivered in Kolkataand Siliguri after obtainingnecessary approvals from theBengal Government. One ofthese companies may soonstart operations in other 24cities of the State, sources said.

Elsewhere, protests brokeout at several quarantine cen-tres in districts where themigrant works complained oflack of facility and food.

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Much before PrimeMinister Narendra Modi

and US President DonaldTrump told their countrymenthat the coronavirus pandem-ic was a challenge which couldbe converted into an opportu-nity, a couple based in Kochi,saw the potential offered by thedreaded disease and decided totake on the virus by its horns.

E M Bipin, formerly ofIndian Navy and his wifeNeethu, a fashion designer,who were running a sports gar-ments manufacturing unit inNorth Paravoor in Ernakulamdistrict faced labour problemswith the onslaught of covid-19.

The workers employed bythem in the unit were fromAssam, Orissa and Bengal andmost of them left for their

native villages. As part of thenationwide lockdown, the cou-ple too was forced to down theshutters. But there were issues.A dozen workers employed intheir unit chose to stay backforcing Neethu and Bipin tofind out a source of income tolook after their trusted labours.

It was then that Neethucame to know about the needfor face masks all over thecountry. “Though we were intomanufacturing face masks they

were meant for hospitals. Thechallenge before us was tomake the people in the State towear face masks. The initialdays saw people openly flout-ing the appeals made by ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan andHealth Minister K K Shylaja towear face masks,” said Neethu.

An idea struck Bipin, whowas the main star of the IndianNavy’s volleyball team and thisresulted in designer face masks.The masks made by their unit

spotted pictures of personali-ties, wild animals and cartooncharacters. “The demand wasso high that we had to deployall the labourers who stayedback into production. It was aGod-given idea as we werestruggling to take care the

needs of these migrant labour-ers who were left helpless inthis State,” said Bipin.

Today, the unit is workingtwo shifts per day to meet thedemand. “The most soughtafter face masks are those fea-turing the pictures of footballplayers Messie, Lukaku andNeymar. Masks with pho-tographs of Pinarayi Vijayanand Shylaja too are in demand.Children prefer masks withcartoon characters, especiallyMicky Mouse, Tom and Jerry,”said Neethu.

Of late, many customerssend them their pictures withthe request to make face masksspotting their own pictures.The unit with nine workers isequipped to manufacture 2000masks daily. Bipin said theytake care to manufacture maskswhich do not cause any incon-venience to the persons wear-

ing it and also to those whowatch it.

The couple is happy thatthe masks have come as ablessing in disguise to save theunemployed migrant labourswho had trusted their employ-ers and stayed back. “Till theunit resumes its normal pro-duction, the face masks willkeep as going,” said the couple.

K Divya, a Trivandrumbased young fashion designeris also into manufacturing facemasks but her speciality is kidsand children. The fashiondesigner got the basics aboutface masks from social mediaand since then has not lookedback. Masks made by her havea niche market in the State andare priced at �50 apiece. Thereis money to be made in thetime of the pandemic, for thosewho are willing to think andwork.

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With 1,384 persons testingpositive for covid-19 on

Thursday, the total number ofpersons tested positive for thepandemic in Tamil Nadu tilldate reached 27, 256. But takinginto account the number of per-sons discharged from varioushospitals on Thursday, the num-ber of active covid cases in theState stood at 12,132, accordingto a release issued by theGovernment of Tamil Nadu onThursday.

The death toll in the Statereached 220 with 12 personssuccumbing to the pandemic onThursday. The release said14,901 persons have been curedof the disease till date. Morethan 5.2 lakh persons havebeen tested in the State tillThursday evening. There are 74laboratories all over the Statetesting the samples and TamilNadu remained ahead of allSouth Indian States in testingmaximum number of persons.

Out of the 12 deaths record-

ed today, eight persons were those admitted tohospitals with diabetes/melli-tus/hypertension co-morbidissues. A 25-year old femalehad bronchial asthma and a 52year old person had acute res-piratory distress syndromewhile a 33 year old female wassuffering from recurrent gesta-tional diabetes mellitus.

J Radhakrishnan, the IASofficer who has been appoint-ed as the special nodal officerfor Chennai Corporation tocontrol the spread of coron-avirus in the metropolis andknown for his soft demeanourwarned those violating guide-lines that they would be slappedwith police case and may haveto face severe punishment.

In the backdrop of the everincreasing number of covid-19

cases in Chennai and sur-rounding districts,Radhakrishnan, who has put upcommendable job in his previ-ous role as Tamil Nadu’s healthsecretary said that covid patientswho are under home isolationand found moving freely outsidewould be put under institutionalquarantine (which could be insome government hospitals).“We will also initiate policecase against them for violatingthe instructions to be observedduring quarantine period,” saidRadhakrishnan. He said therewere many instances of personswho were under orders of homequarantine flouting the lawsand putting the lives of othersin jeopardy. “This is the onlyoption available to make themfall in line,” said the IAS officer.

Speaking to reporters atChennai on Thursday duringhis field visit, Radhakrishnansaid that following the guide-lines prescribed by the medicalexperts (wearing of face masks,frequent washing of hands andstaying indoors) have paid richdividends.

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Kerala on Thursday saw thehighest-ever number of

Covid positive cases on a sin-gle day— 94 —and threedeaths, Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan said.

“With the three deaths,the total death toll has reached14. Of the new cases, 47 camefrom abroad, while 37 reachedthe state from within the country. On Thursday, 39 peo-ple under treatment turnednegative. Presently 854 areunder treatment and in all,1,588 have had this disease,” hesaid.

Ten more hotspots wereadded on Thursday, taking thestate's tally to 124 while1,68,578 people are underobservation at homes or incorona care centres, while 1,487are in the hospitals.

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For the second time in 4 days,Andhra Pradesh registered

an all time high, single daycount of Covid-19 cases. OnThursday, the tally of positivecases zoomed to 98, the all-time high tally first reported onSunday. The latest update takesthe state's tally to 3,377 casesdetected till date.

On Thursday, the statenodal officer reported that9986 samples were tested overthe preceding 24 hours, com-pared to 8,086 tests conductedin the preceding testing cycle.

With 29 persons dis-charged from hospitals, thecumulative tally of cured per-sons rose to 2,273 on Thursday.The number of active cases inAndhra Pradesh stands at1,033.

However, the death of 3persons in different districtsraised the death toll in the stateto 71 on Thursday morning,with Krishna, Guntur andKurnool districts reporting 1death each. Andhra Pradesh'smortality rate of 1.69 percentranked 10th among the statesof India, according to figuresissued by the Andhra Pradeshgovernment on Wednesday.

The cumulative tally ofCovid-19 cases amongreturnees from other statesclimbed to 616 from 573. Thetally of active cases climbed to372 from the 362 cases report-ed on Wednesday. Thirty threepersons from this categorywere discharged on Thursday.

With no new cases detect-ed among foreign returnees,their cumulative tally remainedstatic at 119 on Thursday.

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Aheavily armed ter-rorist was neu-

tralised by the jointteams of security forcesduring the cordon andsearch operationslaunched in the Mayariarea of Kalakote inRajouri district lateThursday evening.

According to pre-liminary reports, “thecordon and search oper-ations were launchedafter receiving reports ofmovement of a group ofheavily armed terroristsin the area”.

Local reportsclaimed, at least four ter-rorists were trapped bythe security forces whenthe first contact wasestablished and firefight started in thearea.

According to pre-liminary reports, thegroup of terroriststrapped in the area hadrecently crossed overfrom Shopian via

Mughal road axis toescape the counter ter-rorist operations.

Till the time of filingthe report, officialsources confirmed to ThePioneer, “one of the ter-rorists has been neu-tralised while firing wasstill going on in the area”.

Additional rein-forcements have beenrushed to the area toplug the possible routesof escape in the area.

The security forceswere taking all neces-sary steps to prevent anycollateral damage whilemaintaining a tight cor-don in the area.

Lucknow: While the spread ofcoronavirus has stabilised to acertain extent in the urban and A-class cities of Uttar Pradesh, barringdistricts bordering Delhi, the infec-tion now seems to be spreading inthe rural belt.

The districts like Kannauj,Auraiyya, Farrukhabad, Unnao,Etawah, Sultanpur, Firozabad, Bastiand Ayodhya are now reportingmore corona cases.

Health experts claim that thisis mainly due to the return ofmigrant workers, especially thosewho escaped medical screening orwere asymptomatic.

In Kannauj, for instance, amother-daughter duo who hadreturned from Gurugram, infect-ed ten members of their family inthe Galla Mandi area ofChhibramau, which has turnedfrom green to orange zone now.Kannauj had reported 12 cases onTuesday.

On Wednesday, three morepersons tested positive for COVID-19 in Farrukhabad, six positivepatients were detected in Auraiyya,five in Unnao and four in Etawah.

Kannauj Chief Medical OfficerKrishna Swaroop said, “With thislarge-scale influx of migrants from

urban cities to villages, the ruralareas cannot be ignored and needspecial attention as far as moni-toring is concerned. Infected peo-ple are being home quarantined oradmitted to hospitals with thehelp of community management.”

The district authorities haveroped in block development offi-cers, besides village heads andCivil defence volunteers, to takedue care to avoid the spread.

A senior health official saidthat the situation is alarming inrural pockets where the majority ofthe people use one water sources -- whether a well or a hand pump.

“Migrants who have returnedto the villages, are escaping quar-antine centres and violating safetyprotocols. There is no resistanceform the local people too, becausemost cases are asymptomatic,” hesaid.

The official further said thatsocial distancing was an alien con-cept in rural areas where peopletend to collect even at the slightestprovocation.

“Besides, the wedding seasonis beginning and social distancingwill be hard to maintain. We canonly step up the awareness cam-paigns and increase testing,” headded. IANS

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The Union Territory ofJammu & Kashmir on

Thursday recorded thebiggest ever jump of 285cases of coronavirus,takingthe total tally of cases to3,142 and active cases to2,059.

Meanwhile, with onemore death reported fromKashmir the death toll toohas gone up to 35 while thetotal recoveries touched1,048 on Thursday.

According to themedia bulletin, 63 caseswere reported from Jammudivision while 222 caseswere reported fromKashmir division onThursday.

Moreover, 41 moreCovid-19 patients wererecovered and dischargedfrom various hospitals, 24from Jammu division and17 from Kashmir division.

According to themedia bulletin, out of 3,142positive cases, 2,059 are

Active Positive, 1,048 haverecovered and 35 havedied; 04 in Jammu divisionand 31 in Kashmir divi-sion.

In Kashmir valley, outof 222 positive cases,Kulgam district reportedmaximum number of 49cases, Shopian reported 35cases, Baramulla 29cases,Anantnag 27 andSrinagar 25 fresh cases.

With fresh surge inCoronavirus cases, nowfive districts of Anantnag,Kulgam, Srinagar, Kupwaraand Baramulla in Kashmirvalley have reported 300plus cases so far.Out ofthese five, two districtshave recorded more than350 plus cases so far.

In Jammu division,Ramban and Jammu dis-tricts have recorded over150 cases so far followedby Udhampur which hasrecorded 97 cases, Kathua83 cases while the frontierdistricts of Rajouri andPoonch have reported 46and 63 cases respectively.

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Amid official reports thatCyclone Nisarga claimed

six lives and caused consider-able damage to agriculturecrops and property in variousparts of the State onWednesday, Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayon Thursday directed the offi-cials in the various affectedareas, particularly worst-affect-ed Raigad district, to do“panchnama” of the losses suf-fered by the people during thesevere cyclonic storm.

Ahead of and during theCyclonic storm, as many as78,191 living in coastal andlow-lying areas were shifted tosafer places

According to officialsources, six persons were killedin the cyclonic storm, while 15others were injured. As per pre-liminary information, as manyas 5033 hectares of farm landwas damaged in the cyclone.

The state governmentannounced a compensation ofRs.4 lakh to each of the fami-lies of persons killed in the nat-ural calamity.

Reviewing the situation in

the Cyclone-affected areas withthe various district officialsand cabinet colleagues, thechief minister said: “Raigad hassuffered huge losses. In hous-es where roofs or walls crashed,the people do not have drink-ing water. Apart from electricsupply and making availabledrinking water, the districtofficials should provide foodgrains.

The officials should takethe people into confidencewhile deciding on compensa-tion for the losses suffered bythem”>In Raigad district, near-ly 13,000 ‘kutcha’ housesdestroyed, while around100,000 trees, thousands ofelectric poles were uprooted. Asmany as 14 electric substationsand 1962 transformers weredamaged, while 500 mobiletowers were and 10 fishingboats were damaged.

Relief & RehabilitationMinister Vijay Wadettiwar, whowas among the ministers pre-sent at the meeting said that asmany as 14 districts which isnearly one-third ofMaharashtra’s 36 districts –have been affected by Cyclone.He said undertake a tour of the

cyclone-affected areas fromSaturday to assess the damages

Thane Guardian MinisterEknath Shinde said that 162‘kutcha’ homes had beendestroyed and there were 360incidents of big or small treebranches crashing.

Revenue MinisterBalasaheb Thorat said that thepriority would be to restorepower in the affected areas. “Itis only after the restoration thatwe will able to provide relief tothe affected people,” he said.

Meanwhile, State EnergyMinister Nitin Raut onThursday rushed to Raigaddistrict to take stock of thepower situation and restoreelectricity supply in the affect-ed areas.

Raigad Guardian MinisterAditi Tatkare urged the stategovernment to announce aspecial relief package for herdistrict which has borne themaximum brunt ofWednesday’s severe cyclonestorm.

Apart from Raigad, theother districts which wereaffected by the cyclone includ-ed: Thane, Palghar, Pune,Nashik and Ahmednagar.

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Two days after he hit out at ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray

over the cancellation of universi-ty examinations, MaharashtraGovernor Bhagat Singh Koshyarion Thursday granted his permis-sion to conduct all under-gradu-ate and post-graduate examina-tions of the Maharashtra Universityof Health Sciences (MUHS), asproposed by the University.

While conveying his approvalfor the conduct of the examina-tions, the Governor — who in hiscapacity as Chancellor of univer-sities in the State —appreciated thedetailed plan of conducting themedical examinations presented tohim by Maharashtra Minister ofMedical Education and CulturalAffairs Amit Deshmukh who methim at Raj Bhavan in southMumbai on Thursday morning.

In a letter submitted to theGovernor, Deshmukh stated thatthe University of Health Scienceshad unanimously decided to con-duct all its Summer examinationsas per three alternative plans,depending on the situation, fromJuly 15 onwards.

According to the first plan, theTheory examinations will be heldbetween July 15 and August 15 in

a staggered manner if the situationis conducive.

According to the second plan,if the examinations cannot beheld as per the first plan due toCovid – 19 situation, the same willbe held between August 16 andSeptember 15.

According to the third plan, ifexaminations are not held as perabove plans, then the Universitywill take guidance from CentralMedical Council regarding theconduct of examinations such asonline examinations.

The Minister informed theGovernor that he had discussed theissue of conducting of examina-tions with all the stakeholdersand regulatory authorities besidessome of the former ViceChancellors and Pro ViceChancellors.

Deshmukh apprised theGovernor that the University hadheld consultations with the IndianNursing Council, the MedicalCouncil of India and other centralbodies before preparing the exam-ination plans.

It may be recalled that onTuesday, the Governor haddescribed chief minister UddhavThackeray’s announcement aboutcancellation of University exami-nations as ‘unprecedented’ andmade ‘without any profound think-

ing on the legal repercussions”. Hehad gone onto assert that as theChancellor of Universities, he hadthe final authority over allUniversity matters as per the pro-visions of Maharashtra PublicUniversities Act.

Koshyari conveyed Uddhavthat decision regarding holding ofthe examinations of final year stu-dents ‘shall be taken in consonancewith the provisions of theAct’.

Flagging the university exam-inations issue for the second timeduring the last 11 days, theGovernor had said that he was ‘sur-prised’ to learn through mediareports that Uddhav had declaredthat ‘no examinations shall beconducted this year’, while he was still awaiting aresponse to his letter to the ChiefMinister.

In his letter to the chief min-ister, the Governor wrote thateven though the Committee ofVice Chancellors constituted by theMinister for Higher and TechnicalEducation to analyse the situationand to explore various optionsavailable to conduct the examina-tions had given its report to theSecretary, Higher and TechnicalEducation Department on May 62020, the same had not been pre-sented to him till date.

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Maharashtra achieved yetanother dubious feat on

Thursday, as a record 123 peo-ple succumbed to coronavirusand 2,933 others tested positivefor the pandemic, taking thetotal number of deaths to 2,710and infected cases in the Stateto 77,793.

A day after 122 people diedof Covid-19, the state surpassedits earlier day’s highest tally andregistered a record 123 deathson Thursday.

Of the deaths, Mumbaiaccounted for 48 deaths, whilethere were 21 deaths in Jalgaon,nine deaths in Pune, eightdeaths in Thane, seven deaths inSolapur, sixx deaths in NaviMumbai, five deaths inAurangabad, three deaths eachin Raigad and Nashik, two

deaths in Kolhapur, Washimand Parbhani, one death each inVasai-Virar, Palghar, Panvel,Dhule, Jalna, Latur, Osmnabad,Nanded and Yavatmal.

There have been a total of939 deaths in Maharashtra dur-ing the previous ten days. OnMay 26 (Tuesday) the state hadwitnessed 97 deaths, while therewere 105 deaths on May 27, 85deaths on May 28, 116 deaths onMay 29 and 99 deaths on May30, 89 deaths on May 31, 76 onJune 1, 103 on June 2, 122 onJune 3 and 123 on June 4.

With 2933 fresh positivecases reported from across thestate, the total of number ofinfected cases in the state wentup to 77,793. With 2710 deathsand 33,681 others dischargedfrom the hospitals, the healthauthorities said that the totalnumber of “active cases” in the

state was currently 41,393.Of the dead, 85 were men

while 38 were women. Seventyone of them were aged over 60years, 44 were from the agegroup 40 to 59 years and 8 wereaged below 40 years. “Ninetytwo out of 123 patients (75%)had high-risk co-morbiditiessuch as diabetes, hypertension,heart disease,” a state health bul-letin said.

Out of the total deathsreported on Thursday 30 deathsoccurred in the last two daysand the rest are from the peri-od April 30 to June 1.

With 48 new deaths and1442 fresh infections, the totalnumber of deaths in Mumbaimounted to 1465, while theinfected cases rose to staggering44931. The authorities peggedthe number of “active cases” inMumbai at 25364.

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Page 6: 3(+ 0 ˇ ˆ˙ ˙ ˝ ˛ - News Headlines India - The Pioneer · adverse economic and social ... “India is in the midst of its independent history’s biggest health, economic and

Aussie Prime Minster ScottMorrison’s tweet about shar-ing a “samosa platter” withIndian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and the lat-

ter’s response saying, “Connected by theocean, united by the samosa” made fora good banter before the inaugural of thefirst-ever virtual summit between them.ScoMo with the “samosa fame” andNaMo with the “chai fame” make for anunbeatable combo to welcome wintersin Down Under and plug a gap in diplo-matic ties. Coming in the backdrop ofboth India and Australia facing tenserelations with China, the summit washugely significant. As for the former, itfaces tensions along the Line of ActualControl (LAC). The latter has been eco-nomically hit for asking for an indepen-dent inquiry into the origins of the novelCoronavirus.

More than anything else, the virtu-al summit gave a fresh momentum tothe bilateral agenda with both nationsinking several pacts. While the focus ofthe media has more or less remained onsimilar issues — ranging fromQuad/Quad-plus talks, RCEP, Indo-Pacific strategic cooperation,Malabar/AUSINDEX Naval exercises,Indian students in Australia to cybersecurity and mutual logistics supportagreement among others — what hadescaped their attention was their bilat-eral journey. This was highlighted byAustralian High Commissioner Barry O’Farrell in a compelling speech in NewDelhi recently. He said, “Over the lastfew months and years, India andAustralia have grown closer together.They are at a historical high.” This jour-ney extraordinaire beholds a dozen ofkey determinants and political path-breakers that deserve a roll call here.

In the early 2000s, the then PrimeMinister John Howard’s role in placingbilateral business and trade ties on thehigh road is incontrovertible. But the set-back came with former Prime MinisterKevin Rudd’s refusal to supply uranium,the “monkey-gate” cricket controversy,Muhammad Haneef case and Indianstudents’ safety concerns. If PrimeMinister Julia Gillard acted timely anddecisively to reverse this decision to res-urrect plummeting ties, her successor,Tony Abbott addressed the students’issue effectively by cracking down ondubious education providers, tighteningvisa rules and stamping out corruptionin the industry. To some extent, bothleaders also dispelled New Delhi’s per-ception of Australia’s pro-China tiltunder the Mandarin-speaking Rudd.

New Delhi has remained grateful forCanberra’s stellar support to India’sentry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG) and securing a waiver from the

group to enable uraniumexport and get rid of thenuclear outsider tag. Over time,both have mastered the art ofemploying the allure of cultureto galvanise relations. If a gar-landed Malcolm Turnbull saton the footsteps of theAkshardham temple in NewDelhi alongside Modi,Morrison, taking a cue fromformer US President BarackObama, who once cited afamous Hindi dialogue from aShahrukh Khan blockbusterto charm the Indian audience,tweeted a selfie with Modi inHindi saying, Kitna achcha heModi (How good is Modi).And Modi returned the cour-tesy the Australian way bytweeting, “Mate, I’m stokedabout our energy in bilateralrelations.”

During his visit toAustralia in 2014, Modi hadacknowledged Canberra’s lead-ership in sports. WhileAustralian cricketers enjoy starattraction in the IndianPremier League (IPL), legendslike Matthew Hayden, Brett Leeand others grace the commen-tary box. Now, the AustralianOlympic swimming goldmedallist Stephanie Rice alsocommentates in the Indiankabaddi league (a local sport).Other professionals, too, havebeen encouraging marginalisedchildren and youth to take upsports in a bid to improvelivelihoods.

Both nations possess amore nuanced mutual under-

standing of opportunities andchallenges. That is thanks toPeter Varghese’s report, ‘AnIndia Economy Strategy to 2035:From Potential to Delivery,’and the complementaryAustralia Economic Strategy(AES) report by AmbassadorAnil Wadhwa that provide ablueprint for business and tradeengagements.

Besides, Australia isaddressing its Asian literacydeficiency, too. The NewColombo Plan supports over10,000 research fellowships in40 Asian countries, includingIndia, and produces around900 Australian undergradu-ates undertaking research,study and internships in India.But Australia must reinvent theold 3Cs (Curry, Cricket andCommonwealth) by nurtur-ing a new paradigm:Constituencies of CountryChampions. It must invest inpeople and institutions withlanguage, cultural and areaexpertise.

Following the Valentine’sday terrorist attack that killed41 Indian security personnel inPulwama, Jammu & Kashmir,the bipartisan Australian sup-port from Morrison, ForeignMinister Marise Payne andPenny Wong, leader of theOpposition in the Senate, cas-tigating Pakistan for its role innurturing cross-border terror-ism, was warmly noted andacknowledged by the ModiGovernment.

Stunned by the 2019 feder-

al elections debacle, thePalaszczuk Government’s swiftapproval to the Adani Miningoperation that remainedenmeshed in unending litiga-tions and factional politicalbickering in Queensland forover eight years, infused freshlife in bilateral ties. In hind-sight, the decision could nothave been better timed fromthe business and trade perspec-tive.

In the fight againstCOVID-19, an AustralianNGO, Doctors for You, hasprovided upgraded medicalequipment and set up 20 isola-tion and treatment beds inPatna, Bihar. Prime MinisterMorrison has also been inadmiration of Prime MinisterModi’s SAARC COVID-19regional initiative and hadurged him to initiate the G-20COVID-19 summit, whichmaterialised in March. Nowsecretary-level meets withQuad-plus counterparts,including Australia, India,Japan and the US, on a week-ly basis is gathering coordinat-ed response. In Australia,Indian students are also play-ing an outstanding role in pro-viding care to the aged, distrib-uting food and helping emer-gency services.

Both sides also seem tohave overcome their mutualinhibitions over the China fac-tor. India’s military standoff inDoklam and now in Ladakhand Australia’s discomfort overcybersecurity concerns,

Beijing’s alleged interferenceand influence in internal affairs,in politics and academic insti-tutions, Hong Kong protestsand human rights abusesagainst Uyghurs Muslims havebrought the two partners clos-er strategically.

The pandemic has alsocreated a global synergy amongliberal democracies for a moretransparent, accountable andrule-based order. Australia’sdemand for an internationalinquiry into the origins of theCoronavirus found favour inNew Delhi. This, along with thebacking of 137 countries, fora review of the origins of thevirus under the aegis of theWorld Health Organisation(WHO) has put more pressureon it.

Lastly, Australian SenatorSimon Birmingham, who led atrade delegation to New Delhiin February, had said, “Australiamust look into alternative mar-kets in the European Unionand India.” His call must havebeen heard loud and clear byNew Delhi. As Australian bar-ley farmers look to divertexports to India, Australianbusinesses are turning to Indiafor answers. Undoubtedly, thebilateral journey of the twovibrant democracies has bravedextraordinary and testing timeswhich must be remembered asthe two leaders herald a newdawn in strategic partnership.

(The writer is CEO, Institutefor Australia India Engagement,Brisbane)

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Sir — The total number ofCoronavirus cases in the countryis now over two lakh. This is adeadly warning to those citizens,who are not following basicguidelines issued for their ownsafety. The Central as well as theState Governments have taken acollective decision to restart theeconomy with hopes that the cit-izens would scrupulously followall the guidelines while com-mencing their economic activi-ties. People should fight theCorona battle with vigour andcourage. And if they flout norms,it will be difficult for the Centreand States to handle the situationif the virus becomes widespread.

Katuru Durga Prasad RaoHyderabad

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Sir — Lowering of India’s sover-eign rating by Moody’s and slow-ing of economic growth to an 11-year low cumulatively are a warn-ing for India. The foremost take-away from these two assessmentsis that though they have surfacedduring the pandemic, which has

evidently dampened economicspirits, their assessment periodprecedes it.

While the downgrading maybe fodder for criticism pointedtowards economic policies of theGovernment, it serves as anopportunity to run a comprehen-sive impact assessment of policiesin place. Unless the Governmentdeliberates on reasons for the pre-

pandemic slowdown of 2019, itwill not be able to register a highgrowth trajectory in future.

Contrary to what Moody’smay expect, policymakers have tostep up and mitigate the worsen-ing trend. Positive or negative,indicators are a reflection of thekind of trajectory we record basedon our policies. The rudder stillrests on the Government’s hands

and, hence, it must turn the grimsituation to its advantage.

Ravi Teja KathuripalliHyderabad

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Another push” (June 2). Withina span of one month, the

Government has increased theturnover and investment limit ofMinistry of Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises (MSMEs)to bring more units under the newdefinition. Further, the distressfund of �20,000 crore, if utilisedjudiciously, will help stressedMSMEs. And the decision withrespect to farmers will help themdecide which kharif crop theyshould grow as sowing will pickup with the onset of the monsoonseason. The Government hasincreased the MSP for 14 crops.This decision needs to be commu-nicated to the farmers.

Bal GovindNoida

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Sir — Had the current dispensa-tion used its mandate for genuinegovernance, India would havebeen in a better position to face thesocial and economic crises.Instead of opting for a radicalapproach, it is introducing half-baked reforms.

Rishi GuptaVia email

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The stand-off at Doklam in 2017 has been fol-lowed by another and bigger face-off inEastern Ladakh now, with defence analysts,

diplomats and strategic experts predicting the fre-quency to be almost annual due to the ostensibleChinese annoyance at the rapid rate of developmentof infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) by India which neutralises the asymmetrycreated by the former till now. While on one handChina was actively trying to build a new image ofa responsible global power by its increasing partic-ipation in Military Operations Other Than War(MOOTW) like peacekeeping, anti-piracy andhumanitarian assistance, on the other it has not shedits belligerent attitude on the border with India dueto the potential threat it perceives from India in itsquest to become a superpower. It continues to encir-cle India through its “Strings of Pearl” and Belt andRoad Initiative (BRI) doctrine. Despite the desireexpressed by Xi Jinping in his early years of presi-dency to speedily resolve the border dispute withIndia, China appears to be in no hurry to resolvethe boundary dispute and on the contrary is becom-ing increasingly aggressive to reach areas as claimedby it and marked in our maps as “Claim Line.”

China’s national goal is to achieve unificationand build a moderately prosperous society by 2050,which would coincide with the centenary year ofCommunist rule. The Chinese Communist Party(CCP) has directed its army, the Peoples LiberationArmy (PLA) to ensure that no internal or externalforces should be able to sabotage China’s econom-ic engine or embarrass its national honour. The cur-rent stand-off is a result of this mandate to the PLAbecause it feels threatened in Aksai Chin, a safe betfor the PLA till now. Both Aksai Chin andKarakoram Pass are China’s jugular veins.

In response to the offer of US PresidentTrump for a mediation to resolve the stand-off whichas per the US assessment is “very serious”, IndianDefence Minister Rajnath Singh has informed hisUS counterpart that, “It has been India’s efforts toensure that the tension does not escalate. It shouldbe resolved through talks at the military and diplo-matic levels. We have already developed a mecha-nism for the same. Negotiations are ongoingbetween the two countries at the military and diplo-matic level.”

Going by the statements of the spokespersonof the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the ChineseAmbassador to India, Beijing, too, wants to resolvethe issue mutually. China, before ordering the stand-off, would have war-gamed the Indian responses andworked out an exit strategy to match each Indianresponse. New Delhi’s response, though firm andclear, has been traditional and nothing “out of thebox.” Hence, as in the past, if China is keen to resolvethe issue, it would buy time, coerce India throughpsychological operations, deception and threat ofa conflict to seek a withdrawal on its terms. But Indiathis time is adamant not to succumb to any type ofpressure keeping in mind the prevailing geopolit-ical environment loaded heavily in its favour. In thatcase, China may agree to find a face-saving settle-ment for the time being but the dragon is knownfor its vengeance and non-forgiving behaviour.

The threat from the dragon may only bedeferred for the next campaigning season but noteliminated. Can the present stand-off be China’srevenge for Doklam with a new recalibratedresponse and so on? Status quo, therefore, is advan-tage China.

In the mind of our security policymakers Chinais not a threat but a challenge. The threat/challengeposed by an adversary is assessed by the policymak-ers based on their capabilities and intent. The major

difference lies in assessing the intent of theadversary. If an adversary has hostile inten-tions as well as a matching military capa-bility to pursue those intentions it is cat-egorised as a “threat.” In the assessmentof our policymakers, though China pos-sesses a strong military capability, it doesnot harbour “hostile” intentions, hence cat-egorised as a “challenge.” Rightly so,because of the stated national goal as men-tioned above. But it does not take time fora militarily strong nation to change itsintentions, particularly when the countryis known for expansionist and extra-ter-ritorial ambitions.

Such a policy is good to justify theongoing debate of “Gun versus Butter” ina developing economy and a nation bur-dened with a yawning gap between therich and the poor. Fortunately India fallsquite low in China’s current threat assess-ment and “worst-case scenarios.” But canIndia remain happy with status quo ormust it plan alternatives to meet growingChinese aggressiveness and assertive-ness?

“India can end Chinese transgressionif the conflict is taken to Beijing’s worryspot(s),” says Ram Madhav, NationalGeneral Secretary of the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP). Besieged by a geopolitical sit-uation, which led to a global assault againstit, the dragon has decided to be proactiverather than succumb to the global pres-sure led by the US. It decided to conveya subtle message to the US’ potential alliesthrough posturing and aggression inwhat is referred to as “signalling” in strate-gic terminology. In doing so, it made thecardinal mistake of opening up too manyfronts simultaneously. The South ChinaSea (SCS), Taiwan, Hong Kong and theSino-Indian border. Even Australia, afriend of China, joined the globalonslaught against it. Japan was alsobecoming aggressive. China felt that it hadbeen cornered and its move against Indiamay prove costly.

China knows that in the currentstand-off, militarily, both the Chinese andthe Indian Army are equally strong, withIndia enjoying shorter lines of communi-

cation as compared to China. In case ofa conflict, India would be at an advantageand will be able to concentrate more forcesthan China could deploy. No doubtChina would bank on collusion with thePakistan Army to tie down Indian troops,but even then, it could at best lead to astalemate. A stalemate would definitely hitChina’s image globally and in other areasof conflict and would be a definite loss offace. China has the knack of springing sur-prises. Beijing may well begin with a non-contact battle; Information Warfare (IW),Electronic Warfare (EW), cyber-attacks,precision munitions followed by a surgi-cal strike. Will we be able to match theChinese capabilities in the conflict zone?In the end, if China does not vacate Indianterritory, New Delhi should have otheroptions to exercise. In such a scenario,India should have the option to signal theChinese obliquely (through media, strate-gic community, diplomatic means and soon) that the conflict may not remainlocalised in the trans-Himalayan regionbut may spread to the high seas.

If the Indian policymakers considerIndo-Pacific as a soft underbelly of China,have they done enough to encash thisadvantage through capacity and capabil-ity build-up? The zone of peace and tran-quility along the LAC espoused betweenthe two nations in the beginning of thiscentury has slowly been turned into a lineof asymmetry through rapid developmentof infrastructure on its own side byChina, thus providing it the capability ofrapid deployment. India is fast trying tocatch up but lags behind due to manydomestic factors.

There was also an attempt to main-tain peace through a series of border man-agement and Confidence BuildingMeasures, including the mechanism toresolve the boundary dispute. But Chinamore often than not has been violatingthese because of its better capability to manthe LAC viz a viz India. Any effort by theIndian Army to improve infrastructure onits side is objected to and resisted by theChinese.

China believes in buying time and

wearing out the opponent while buildingits own strengths. It has been able toachieve the asymmetry on the LAC as wellas reorganise and modernise its army. Inthe process it has begun to be moreassertive on its “Claim Line” by not justpatrolling but by camping and digging inthose areas. Of late, even in those areaswhere the claim line and the LAC coin-cide, China has begun to transgress inorder to provide grazing grounds to thelocals. It is testing India’s response so thatit can enhance its claim line in those areasas well. In a nutshell, the PLA has becomevery strong in the mountainous sectorthrough which the LAC runs. Ourresponse has been to meet the Chinesethreat through enhanced deploymentand efforts to improve the infrastructure.In other words we have been trying to pitour strength against the enemy’s strength.China is happy with status quo and is notkeen to resolve border issues. It feels con-fident of “managing” conflicts along theLAC. India will always be subjected to pin-pricks at will by the dragon. Is this the waywe want to tame the dragon and let itbecome a “threat” from a “challenge?” Theanswer obviously is “No.”

Strength begets respect and instils fearin potential adversaries. China alsorespects strength. India’s strength does notlie in the lofty trans-Himalayas but in thehigh seas. “The lion cannot protect him-self from traps and the fox cannot defendhimself from wolves. One must, therefore,be a fox to recognise traps and a lion tofrighten wolves,” said Machiavelli, thefamous Italian philosopher and writer. Inrelation to China, India needs to developboth the qualities.

If our strength is on the high seas andnot in the mountainous regions, then whyare we still obsessed with our frontiers?India must take advantage of its geostrate-gic location in the Indo-Pacific region anddevelop the maritime strength to tame thedragon. While doing all this we need tomaintain our strategic autonomy.

(The author is a Jammu-based veter-an, political commentator, columnist, secu-rity and strategic analyst.)

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Today is World EnvironmentDay (June 5) and it is usuallymarked by functions organised

to raise environmental awareness andencourage action to protect ourplanet. Last year, as the world cele-brated environment day in the usualmanner, it could not have imaginedthat a year later the very same envi-ronment which had been degradedfor centuries would be regardedwith a new-found respect and humil-

ity. They could not have foreseen thatpeople would start realising thevalue of the smallest of pleasures inlife, such as taking a walk in the park,meeting friends and family or eatingout at a restaurant. All because ofCOVID-19 and the huge impact ithas had on our lives and the globaleconomy.

The pandemic has changed theglobal outlook on the environmentand biodiversity. And as India andthe world try to limp back to normal-cy, we need to build on this new-found regard for the environmentand incorporate it into our post-COVID-19 recovery plans. Thismust get reflected in the form of cre-ation of healthy cities where natureand people can thrive harmonious-ly.

This year’s environment daytheme is “Time for Nature”, where-in humanity’s relationship with

nature is sought to be reimaginedand brought back into focus.

We must realise that naturegives humans the diversity that isneeded for survival, providesresources to develop medicines,helps absorb carbon, reduces pollu-tion and, therefore, mitigates climatechange. But when the same natureand biodiversity is exploited to abreaking point, the consequences aredark and stark.

The speed of human progressand growth is impressive andunprecedented but sadly detrimen-tal for the environment. In the last50 years, the human population hasdoubled, the global economy hasquadrupled and international tradehas increased by ten times. Thiswarp-speed development is makingsuch demands on nature that itwould need 1.6 planets like theEarth to fulfill all human needs.

We need to realise that this spi-ralling demand on nature and bio-diversity is also increasingly expos-ing human life to hitherto unknowndangers. The emergence of COVID-19 has underscored the fact thatwhen biodiversity is destroyed thenatural system that intuitively sup-ports and secures human life is alsodestroyed.

The more diverse the ecosystem,the more difficult it is for onepathogen to spread rapidly anddominate. A severe loss of biodiver-sity enables harmful pathogens tocross over from animals to humans.COVID-19 is an unfortunate exam-ple of this.

Nature is already sending us amessage but humans are unable todecipher the same. This is evident bythe fact that the number of zoonot-ic infectious diseases, or those dis-eases that are transmitted from ani-

mals to humans, are rising rapidlyand it is estimated that in future theywould comprise 75 per cent of theglobal disease burden.

Anthropogenic activities such asdeforestation, urban expansion,intensification of illegal wildlife tradeand thriving wet markets are unwit-tingly building a highway of diseasesbetween the animal world and thehuman population and this needs tobe stopped immediately.

The ongoing pandemic hastaught some very painful lessons tohumanity. India, too, has seen anever-before societal awarenessregarding the environment. Thisawareness has ensured a uniformresponse from all spheres of the soci-ety to battle a common enemy. Thisunity in civil society is priceless andcan be utilised for furthering com-mon causes.

Given the deteriorating state of

the environment and biodiversity,India must leverage the new-foundawareness levels of the population tosecure the interests of nature andensure that a robust biodiversity isestablished as a check dam betweenharmful viruses and the precioushealth of the population.

India must ensure that by thetime World Environment Day 2021rolls around, significant progress islogged in restoring nature to its for-mer glory. As part of the same, effortsneed to be made to ensure thathumanity moves closer to nature andlearns to put nature first in the orderof priority. This will not only ensurethat we leave a better world for ourchildren but it will also lend truemeaning to the theme of this year’sWorld Environment Day — Time forNature.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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George Floyd, the African-American, who died in

police custody last month, hadtested positive for the coron-avirus in April, according to themedical examiner’s report.

A report in The New YorkTimes (NYT) cited the fullautopsy released by theHennepin County medicalexaminer and said that the 46-year-old had tested positive forthe coronavirus on April 3.

The county’s top medicalexaminer Andrew Baker saidthat the MinnesotaDepartment of Health hadswabbed George Floyd’s noseafter his death and he had test-ed positive for the virus, theNYT report said.

The positive result at thetime of his death was likely alasting positive result from hisprevious infection, it said.

The report added thatthere is no indication that thevirus played any role in hisdeath. Protests across NewYork and the US intensified asthousands of demonstratorstook to the streets demandingan end to police brutality afterFloyd was killed when a white

police officer kneeled on hisneck for nearly nine minuteswhile he lay handcuffed andpinned to the ground gaspingfor breath on May 25.

“Please, I can’t breathe,”were George Floyd’s last wordsand have become a clarioncall for the protesters demanding action againstpolice brutality.

Former New York Citymedical examiner MichaelBaden, who was among twodoctors who conducted a privateautopsy for George Floyd’s fam-ily last week, said county officialsdid not tell him that Floyd hadtested positive for Covid-19.

“The funeral director was-n’t told, and we weren’t told,and now a lot of people arerunning around trying to gettested,” Michael Baden said.

“If you do the autopsy andit’s positive for the coronavirus,it’s usual to tell everyone whois going to be in touch with thebody. There would have beenmore care,” he said.

Michael Baden has saidthat the four police officers whoarrested Floyd should also gettested for Covid-19 as shouldsome of the witnesses.

“I’ ‘m not angry,” he said in

the NYT report. “But therewould have been more care.”

Michael Baden added in theNYT report that the full autop-sy includes information he didnot have access to, such as thetoxicology results showing.Floyd had fentanyl in his system.

Michael Baden said thatwhen he conducted the autop-sy report, a part of the heart wasnot provided — the part thatshowed coronary artery disease.

Forensics expert at John JayCollege of Criminal JusticeLawrence Kobilinsky said he wasstruck by the difference between

the county’s official autopsy andthe results of Michael Baden’sprivate autopsy. Kobilinsky saiddefense lawyers could make apoint of the amount of fentanylin George Floyd’s body.

The NYT report said whilethe amount required to belethal varies from person toperson, fentanyl can stop a per-son’s heart and breathing.

“It seems to me, it’s highenough where a defense attor-ney would argue that this kindof predisposes him to heart fail-ure, when you are on a druglike this,” Kobilinsky said.

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Demonstrations across theUS to condemn racism

and police abuses remainedlarge but mostly without the vio-lence of previous nights on theeve of a Thursday memorial ser-vice for George Floyd that kicksoff a series of events to mournthe man whose death empow-

ered a national movement. The calmer protests fol-

lowed a decision by prosecutorsto charge three more policeofficers and file a new, toughercharge against the officer at thecenter of the case.

The most serious newcharge Wednesday was an accu-sation of second-degree murderagainst Minneapolis Police offi-cer Derek Chauvin, who wascaught on video pressing hisknee to Floyd’s neck. The threeother officers at the scene werecharged for the first time withaiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

If convicted, they could besentenced to up to four decadesin prison. The move punctuat-ed an unprecedented week inmodern American history, inwhich largely peaceful proteststook place in communities of allsizes but were rocked by boutsof violence, including deadlyattacks on officers, rampantthefts and arson in some places.

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Thousands of people inHong Kong defied a police

ban on Thursday evening,

breaking through barricades tohold a candlelight vigil on the31st anniversary of China’scrushing of a democracy move-ment centered on Beijing’sTiananmen Square.

With democracy all butsnuffed out in mainland China,the focus has shifted increas-ingly to semi-autonomousHong Kong, where authoritiesfor the first time banned theannual vigil to remember vic-tims of the 1989 crackdown.

Beijing is taking a tougherstance following months ofanti-government protests lastyear, in what activists see as anaccelerating erosion of the city’srights and liberties.

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Hong Kong’s legislatureapproved a contentious

bill on Thursday that makes itillegal to insult the Chinesenational anthem.

The legislation wasapproved after pro-democracyopposition lawmakers tried todisrupt the vote. The bill waspassed with 41 lawmakers vot-ing for it and just one votingagainst. Most of the pro-democracy lawmakers boy-cotted the vote out of protest.

The pro-democracy campsees the anthem bill as aninfringement of freedom ofexpression and the greaterrights that residents of thesemi-autonomous city havecompared to mainland China.

The pro-Beijing majority

said the law was necessary forHong Kong citizens to showappropriate respect for theanthem. Those found guilty ofintentionally abusing the‘March of the Volunteers’ faceup to three years in prison anda fine of up to 50,000 HongKong dollars (USD 6,450).

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The British Government ishosting a vaccine summit

Thursday, hoping to raise bil-lions of dollars to immunisechildren in developing coun-tries and to discuss how anypotential vaccine against thenew coronavirus might be dis-tributed globally — and fairly.

The event is a pledgingconference for the vaccinesalliance GAVI, which says thefunds will be used to vaccinateabout 300 million children indozens of countries againstdiseases like malaria, pneu-monia and HPV.

GAVI is also expected tostart a new “advance marketcommitment” mechanism thatit hopes will enable developingcountries to get any effectiveCovid-19 vaccine when avail-able. The United Nations andthe International Red Crossand Red Crescent Movementhave urged that “a people’svaccine” be developed thatwould be freely available toeveryone, calling it a “moralimperative.”

Beijing: A Chinese city close tothe Russian border has orderedthe Covid-19 tests for all 2.8million residents, becomingthe second city in the countryafter Wuhan, the first virus epi-centre, conducted mass testingof its entire population, state-media reported on Thursday.

According to the China’sNational Health Commission(NHC), one imported case was

reported in GuangdongProvince on Wednesday.

Also, four new asympto-matic cases were reported inthe country. In all, 326 asymp-tomatic cases, including 245 inWuhan were under quarantine,it said.

As of Wednesday, the over-all confirmed cases in thecountry reached 83,022.

Among the total, 69

patients were still being treat-ed, 78,319 had been dischargedafter recovery, and 4,634 peo-ple died of the disease, thereport said.

Meanwhile, Mudanjiangcity in China’s Heilongjiangprovince bordering Russia hasordered the coronavirus testsfor its 2.8 million people, offi-cial media here reported.

PTI

United Nations: Refugees,internally displaced personsand migrants are among thehardest hit due to the Covid-19pandemic, UN chief AntonioGuterres said, calling onnations to uphold human dig-nity and respect human rightsas travel restrictions and bor-der controls are implementedby governments to control thespread of the virus.

During his new policy brief“Covid-19 and People on theMove”, Secretary GeneralGuterres said Covid-19 con-tinues to devastate lives and

livelihoods around the globe —hitting the most vulnerablethe hardest.

“This is particularly truefor millions of people on themove — such as refugees andinternally displaced personswho are forced to flee theirhomes from violence or disas-ter, or migrants in precarioussituations,” he said. Guterressaid the migrants and those dis-placed face three crises rolledinto one — health, socioeco-nomic and protection crisis.He, however, noted that theCovid-19 crisis is an “oppor-

tunity to re-imagine humanmobility.”

He stressed that the inter-national community “mustuphold human dignity in theface of the pandemic and learnfrom the handful of countriesthat have shown how to imple-ment travel restrictions andborder controls while fullyrespecting human rights andinternational refugee protectionprinciples.” The UN Chief saidCovid-19 is at first a health cri-sis and people on the move canbe exposed to the virus incrowded conditions. PTI

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The United Nations and theInternational Red Cross

and Red Crescent Movementare urging that governmentsand others unite in developinga “people’s vaccine” to protecteveryone against the coron-avirus.

Their appeal came ahead ofa vaccine summit in Londonorganised by the GlobalVaccine Alliance that is seeking to mobilise billions ofdollars of funding for a Covid-19 vaccine.

The “people’s vaccine”should protect the affluent,the poor, the old and young,said a statement by the UN andthe International Red Crossand Red Crescent Movement.That is a “moral imperative thatbrings us all together in ourshared humanity,” it said.

It said the pandemic isalso raising risks of other dis-eases as it disrupts childhoodimmunisation programs, leav-ing at least 80 million childrenunder the age of one at risk ofdiseases like measles, diphthe-ria and polio.

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South Africa’s worst hotspotfor the coronavirus is no

longer testing most peopleunder age 55 as it tries to cleara backlog of 27,000 tests amida shortage of kits.

Western Cape province,centered on the city of CapeTown, will test people under 55only if they have serious healthconditions, have been admittedto a hospital or are a front-linehealth worker, Premier AlanWinde said.

“If you’re younger than 55and you have symptoms,assume you have Covid-19 ...After 14 days, you’ll be fine.There’s no purpose in getting atest,” Western Cape head ofhealth Keith Cloete told radiostation Cape Talk this week.People who are younger than55 and generally healthy areadvised to isolate themselves ifthey show symptoms.

“We want to preserve testsfor where it makes the most dif-ference,” Cloete said.

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The malaria drug hydroxy-chloroquine may not pre-

vent Covid-19 illness or stopnovel coronavirus infectionwhen used as preventive med-icine within four days afterexposure to the virus, accord-ing to a study.

Scientists, including thosefrom the McGill University inCanada, assessed whether thedrug hydroxychloroquine(HCQ) can prevent sympto-

matic infection after exposure to the novel coron-avirus, SARS-CoV-2, isunknown.

In the study, published inthe New England Journal ofMedicine, the researchers con-ducted a randomised placebo-controlled trial across the USand parts of Canada testingHCQ as a preventive medicine,or prophylactic, followingpotential exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

“We enrolled adults who

had household or occupation-al exposure to someone withconfirmed Covid-19 at a distance of less than 6 feet(ft) for more than 10 minuteswhile wearing neither a facemask nor an eye shield (high-risk exposure), or while wear-ing a face mask but no eyeshield (moderate-risk expo-sure),” the scientists wrote in the study.

Almost 90 per cent of theparticipants (719 of 821),according to the study, report-

ed a high-risk exposure to aconfirmed COVID-19 contact.The researchers then random-ly assigned the 821 symptom-less participants to receiveeither a placebo (a fake drug),or HCQ within four days afterexposure.

According to the study,the drug treatment involved800 milligrammes (mg) ofHCQ given once, followed by600 mg in six to eight hours,then 600 mg daily for 4 addi-tional days.

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There has been a massiveincrease in psychological

distress among adults in the USduring the Covid-19 pandemic.

Young adults aged 18-29years, adults across ages inlow-income households andHispanics across ages haveexpressed the highest psycho-logical distress, according to anew survey by Johns HopkinsUniversity.

The survey by researchersat the Johns Hopkins’Bloomberg School of PublicHealth and the SNF AgoraInstitute at Johns HopkinsUniversity found more thanthreefold increase in the per-centage of US adults whoreported symptoms of psycho-logical distress - from 3.9 percent in 2018 to 13.6 per cent inApril 2020.

The percentage of USadults aged 18-29 years whoreported psychological distressincreased from 3.7 per cent in2018 to 24 per cent in 2020.

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New Zealand has planned tomark June 15 as the

Covid-19elimination day afterhealth authorities detected nonew coronavirus case for the13th day in a row on Thursday.

The country, which haswon global praises for itsCovid-19 management, hadreported the last positive caseon May 22, reports Efe news.

A health ministryspokesperson told New ZealandHerald that the last communi-ty transmission case of a per-son, whose source of infectionwas not known, came out ofisolation on May 18.

That could be be taken asthe reference point for the 28-

day coronavirus-free period tomark its elimination day, ahealth ministry spokespersontold Efe news.

That means that the peri-od will finish on June 15.

“Elimination does notmean eradicating the viruspermanently from NewZealand. It is being confidentthat we have eliminated chainsof transmission in our com-munity for at least 28 days andcan effectively prevent or con-tain any future imported casesfrom overseas,” the spokesper-son said.

New Zealand has so farconfirmed 1,154 Covid-19cases with 22 deaths.

Director-General of HealthAshley Bloomfield told

reporters on Thursday thatNew Zealand was in the posi-tion now “that is the envy ofmany countries international-ly and that is due to the hard work and sacrifice of somany Kiwis”.

He, however, stressed theneed to maintain precautionarymeasures as the pandemic isstill prevalent remains presentexist in other countries.

Bloomfield said the inter-national situation was still serious with June 1 mark-ing the day when most caseswere reported in a single dayworldwide.

“If we want to stay in agood position here, we can’t actas if it’s all over globally,” he said.

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Around 40 students and staffmembers of a primary

school in China were stabbedby a security guard, officialmedia reported on Thursday.

The incident happened ata school in China’s Guangxiprovince, state-run China Dailysaid in a brief report.

Knife attacks by disgrun-tled people have been takingplace in different parts of China in the past few years,reported news agency PressTrust of India.

The attackers targetedmainly kindergarten and pri-

mary schools besides publictransport, the news agencyreported.

All the victims, includingteaching staff, were sent tohospital but were not in a life-threatening condition, author-ities in Cangwu County,Guangxi region, said.

Schools in the region hadonly reopened in May after being closed formonths due to the coronavirusoutbreak.

In November, a manclimbed a kindergarten wall insouthwest Yunnan provinceand sprayed people with a cor-rosive liquid, wounding 51 of

them, mostly students. Last September, eight

schoolchildren died and twoothers were wounded in a“school-related criminal case” in the central Hubeiprovince, with a 40-year-oldman arrested.

A knife-wielding mankilled two people and wound-ed two others at a primaryschool in central Hunanprovince in April last year.

In April 2018, a man killednine middle school students asthey were returning home, inone of the deadliest knifeattacks seen in China in recent years.

Washington: A Navy veterandetained in Iran for nearly twoyears has been released andstarted making his way home,with the first leg on a SwissGovernment aircraft, US offi-cials said on Thursday.

“The nightmare is over,” hismother said. The US specialenvoy for Iran, Brian Hook,flew to Zurich with a doctor tomeet freed detainee MichaelWhite and will accompanyWhite to the United Statesaboard an American plane,the officials said.

White’s release was part ofan agreement involving anIranian-American doctor pros-ecuted by the JusticeDepartment, and followedmonths of quiet negotiationsover prisoners.

The two countries are atbitter odds over US penaltiesimposed after PresidentDonald Trump withdrew theUS from the 2015 nuclear dealand over the killing byAmerican forces of a topIranian general in Iraq at thebeginning of this year. AP

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The Finance Ministers ofthe wealthy G7 nations

have said a debt relief initiativefor the world’s poorest coun-tries could be extended beyondthe end of the year to help dealwith the fallout from the coro-navirus pandemic.

Their joint statement cameamid warnings that low-incomeand emerging market economieswill need more than theInternational Monetary Fund’sinitial estimate of USD 2.5 tril-lion to deal with the crisis.

The Group of Seven (G7)includes Canada, France,Germany, Italy, Japan, the UKand the US.

“We continue to worktogether to advance the inter-national economic responseto the Covid-19 pandemic,with a focus on the poorest andmost vulnerable countries,” the

ministers of the world’s mostadvanced economies said.

“Covid-19 has exacerbatedexisting debt vulnerabilities inmany low-income countries,highlighting the importance ofdebt sustainability and trans-parency to long-term financingfor development,” they said.These nations welcomed effortsof the international financialinstitutions (IFIs) to amplifytheir support for the most vul-nerable countries.

“In this context, we arecommitted to implementingthe Debt Service SuspensionInitiative (DSSI) agreed by theG20 and the Paris Club, by sus-pending official bilateral debtpayments for the poorest coun-tries to year-end 2020 andpossibly longer, providing thosecountries fiscal space to fundsocial, health, and other mea-sures to respond to the pan-demic,” they said.

“In line with the G20 andParis Club DSSI agreements,we will implement the DSSIacross our export credit agen-cies and other public lending agencies, and call on allofficial creditors to do so, too,”they said.

The G-7 Finance Ministerssaid they strongly support thecommitment by DSSI benefi-ciary countries to strengthendebt reporting, which facilitatesbetter-informed investmentdecisions, enhances publicaccountability, and supportslong-term sustainable devel-opment.

“We welcome that theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF) and the World BankGroup will monitor creditorparticipation, public debt dis-closure, and use of additionalfiscal space, and we look for-ward to public reporting ofthese results.

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The Government is mullingto make it mandatory for

large companies to disclosetheir dues to the micro, smalland medium enterprises toensure that timely payments getmade, Union Minister NitinGadkari said on Thursday.

The MSME minister con-ceded that despite variousinterventions, includingpromising micro, small andmedium firms that paymentsby the Central Governmentand its undertakings will bemade within 45 days of deliv-ery of goods or service, a sat-isfactory solution to the prob-lem has been elusive.

MSMEs are considered thebackbone of the Indian econ-omy, contributing the bulk ofIndian employment, manufac-turing and exports. Many suchfirms have been hit hard by the

Covid-19 crisis.“We are thinking of various

ways on how micro, small andmedium (enterprises) can gettheir money. One attempt is tomake the bigger companydeclare whether they have paidMSME or not and make thesame binding for them. Thereis thought going on,” Gadkarisaid during an interaction withthe small businesses focusedindustry lobby IMC.

Without elaborating on thedetails of the scheme beingconsidered, Gadkari said thepayment issue is “very serious”and added that non-paymentleads to working capital becom-ing scarce for such businesses.

Gadkari also said the timeis not correct to introduce any“strong legislation” on thisfront as everybody is sufferingin the current crisis, but assuredstakeholders of coming outwith some solution.

Another scheme being con-sidered is to partner with banks,wherein a bank pays the supplierin a specified time and starts col-lecting interest from the com-

pany which has received thegoods or service, he said.Gadkari also said Governmentis looking at a specially created“MSME Stock Exchange”, which

will have such small businesseslisted on it. Government willprovide equity of 15 per cent tothose businesses which list onthe platform.

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Gross non-performing assets(NPAs) of banks are likely

to worsen to 11.3-11.6 percentby the end of this financial yearfrom 8.6 per cent as of March2020, due to disruptions causedby the coronavirus pandemic,according to a report.

Fresh gross slippages areestimated to be at 5-5.5 per centof standard advances during2020-21, which will increase thebanks’ credit provision andimpact their earnings, ratingagency ICRA said in a report.

With an increase in stress onasset quality and profitability,state-owned banks may need�45,000-82,500 crore of capitalin this financial year under aweak credit growth scenario, itsaid. “The RBI moratorium toborrowers was extended byanother three months till August31, 2020, and we expect the assetquality stress is likely to reflectonly in third and fourth quarters

of 2020-21 results,” the ratingagency’s sector head (financialsector ratings) Anil Gupta said.

It said that while the lock-down has surely impacted thedebt-servicing ability of bor-rowers, the extent of revival ineconomic activities as the restric-tions are eased will drive the finalimpact on asset quality of banks.

The credit provisions willcontinue to exceed the operat-ing profits for the public sectorbanks during 2020-21, translat-ing in a sixth consecutive year ofloss, it said.

The profitability of privatesector banks will also moder-ate with return on equitydeclining to 3.5-5.1 per centduring 2020-21 as against ear-lier expectations of improve-ment to 10-12 per cent. Theincremental credit growth ofbanks during this financialyear is expected to be �6-7 lakhcrore, which will translate intoa year-on-year credit growth ofaround 6-7 per cent. PTI

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Benchmark equity indicesclosed in the red on

Thursday as investors pocket-ed gains after a six-session rallyamid lacklustre global cues.Banking and finance stocksled the decline, while a depre-ciating rupee also weighed onsentiment, traders said.

After swinging 599 pointsduring the day, the 30-share BSESensex settled 128.84 points or0.38 per cent lower at 33,980.70.Likewise, the NSE Nifty slipped32.45 points or 0.32 per cent toclose at 10,029.10.

Asian Paints was the toplaggard in the Sensex pack,falling 4.85 per cent, followedby Bajaj Finance, HDFC,IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank andKotak Mahindra Bank.

The gainers included Tech

Mahindra, Sun Pharma, BhartiAirtel and PowerGrid, whichclimbed up to 5.34 per cent.

Banking stocks came underpressure after the SupremeCourt sought the finance min-istry’s reply on a petition seek-

ing waiver of interest on loansduring the moratorium period.The RBI has told the apex courtthat it would not be prudent togo for a “forced waiver of inter-est” risking financial viability ofthe banks.

“The rapid rally in worldmarkets fed by bets on a speedyglobal economic recovery final-ly halted on Thursday, astraders waited to hear howmuch more stimulus theEuropean Central Bank plansto shovel out to address thecoronavirus slump.

“After weeks of sharp gainsfor stocks, oil and currencies,investors were looking to lock insome profit,” said Deepak Jasani,Head Retail Research, HDFCSecurities. BSE bankex, finance,capital goods, realty, consumerdurables and industrials indicesshed up to 2.70 per cent, whiletelecom, teck, IT, energy andhealthcare closed with gains of upto 3.47 per cent. Broader BSEmid-cap and small-cap indicesslipped up to 0.06 per cent.

International oil bench-mark Brent crude futures fell1.21 per cent to USD 39.31 perbarrel. The rupee depreciated10 paise to provisionally closeat 75.57 against the US dollar.

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Stocks are mixed in earlytrading on Wall Street on

Thursday as the market takesa pause following its longestwinning streak in nearly fourmonths. The S&P 500 wasdown 0.1%, putting its four-daywinning streak under threat. Areport showed that the numberof US workers filing for unem-ployment benefits eased for aninth straight week, but econ-omists saw pockets of disap-pointment after the total num-ber of people getting benefitsrose slightly.

That number had droppedthe prior week, which hadraised hopes that some compa-nies were rehiring workers. TheDow Jones Industrial Averagewas down 5 points at 26,264, asof 9:57 am Eastern time, and theNasdaq composite was up 0.2%.

Many professional investorshave been arguing that thestock market’s rally, whichreached nearly 40% between lateMarch and Wednesday, wasoverdone and that a pullbackwas likely coming. Stocks begansurging following massive aidfor the economy fromWashington. More recently,they’ve climbed on optimismthat the recession created by thereaction to the coronavirus out-break could end relatively quick-ly as states and countries liftlockdown restrictions.

Critics said stocks wererising much more quickly thanexpectations for corporate prof-its and other measures of finan-cial health. They also pointedto risks in rising US-China ten-sions and the possibility ofsecond waves of coronavirusinfections.

Longer-term Treasuryyields were rising on Thursday.That area of the market hadbeen one of the first to warn ofthe coming economic devasta-tion from the coronavirus out-break, and it’s been much morecircumspect in recent weeksthan the US stock market.

Mumbai: Even as coronaviruspandemic has impacted manysectors, the agriculture could bethe only bright spot as realagriculture is likely to witnessa 2.5 per cent growth in 2020-21, according to a report.

The report by CrisilResearch however listed riskssuch as any likely impact oflocust attacks and impact oflockdown on horticulture pro-duce. With the pandemic andthe ensuing lockdown, demandfor horticultural produce islikely to be impacted more thanthat of food grains.

Food grains have theGovernment’s minimum sup-port price (MSP) and pro-curement support, the reportexplained. PTI

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New Delhi: Petroleum Natural GasRegulatory Board (PNGRB) in its pub-lic notice on 2nd June 2020 announcedthat any entity can set up an LNG sta-tion in any Geographical Area (GA) oranywhere else, even if it is not the autho-rised entity for that GA.

This clarification by the PNGRB hasbeen wholeheartedly welcomed by PLLmanagement. PLL being the pioneerand the largest LNG infrastructurecompany of India would like to facili-tate LNG dispensing infrastructureacross the country on major nationalhighways and invites OMCs, CGDentities or any interested parties to part-ner up for this project.

Petronet’s MD&CEO Shri. PrabhatSingh said “PLL in its endeavour to con-tribute towards vision of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and relentless efforts ofCabinet Minister of Petroleum andNatural Gas and Minister of SteelDharmendra Pradhan of making Indiaa gas based economy is putting in allefforts to promote LNG as a cleaner,greener and economic automotive fuelfor Medium and Heavy CommercialVehicles(M&HCVs) in India.”

In these efforts, PLL has alreadylaunched its first commercially regis-tered LNG buses and LNG dispensingstations at its Dahej and KochiTerminals.

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Gurugram: RITES Limited’ssubsidiary Railway EnergyManagement Company Ltd.(REMCL) has secured itslargest mandate from IndianRailways for handling tender-ing, installation supervisionand managing power supplyfrom 3 GW solar power plantsto be set up on vacant IndianRailways Land.

The project will be dividedinto 3 phases of 1 GW each.First and third phase of 1 GWeach will be on PPP basis underDesign, Build, Finance, Operateand Transfer model. Second

phase of the project (1 GW) willbe on ownership model ofREMCL, which will be eligiblefor capital subsidy under CPSEinvestment scheme.

The Railways has alreadyidentified suitable land to beleased to REMCL on nominallease rent.

Commenting on this man-date, Rajeev Mehrotra,Chairman & ManagingDirector, RITES Ltd andChairman REMCL, said, “Thisis the largest mandate receivedby REMCL for tendering,installation and power man-

agement of solar energy. Thiswill strengthen REMCL’s posi-tion as the green energy solu-tion provider and energy man-ager to Indian Railways andfirmly establish REMCL ingreen energy sector in India.”

Besides Bid managementfee in the beginning, REMCLwould earn long term revenuethrough supply managementfrom these installations whichmay amount to approximately�20 crore per year to REMCLduring life of the project. Entireinstallation is expected to becompleted by 2022-23.

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New Delhi: The Centre hasreleased �36,400 crore as GSTcompensation to the Statesand Union Territories for threemonths till February 2020.

For the April-November2019 period, the Centre hadalready released �1,15,096 croreto compensate States and UTson account of revenue lossdue to implementation of theGoods and Services Tax (GST).

“Taking stock of the cur-rent situation due to Covid-19where State Governments needto undertake expenditure whiletheir resources are adverselyhit, the Central Governmenthas released the GST compen-sation of �36,400 crore to thestates/UTs with legislature for

the period from December2019 to February 2020,” an offi-cial statement said.

The Centre had released�69,275 crore in 2018-19 and�41,146 crore in 2017-18 ascompensation for GST whichwas rolled out on July 1, 2017.

The cess collection in2019-20, 2018-19 and 2017-18fiscal was �95,000 crore,�95,081 crore and �62,611crore, respectively. As thecompensation requirement ofthe states was less than collec-tion in the first two years(2017-18 and 2018-19) of GSTrollout, �47,271 crore GSTcompensation cess collectedhad remained unutilised inthe compensation kitty. PTI

New Delhi: Union MinisterNitin Gadkari on Thursdaysaid foreign direct investment(FDI) can be explored in thenon-banking financial com-panies (NBFC) sector, which inreturn will prove to be a hugesupport to micro, small andmedium enterprises (MSMEs).

The Minister opined thatstrengthening of non-bankinglenders or NBFCs, state coop-erative banks, district cooper-ative banks, credit societies, etcis required to extend support to

MSMEs during this challeng-ing time. Further, FDI can beexplored in NBFCs to strength-en them, which will leadtowards greater support toMSMEs, an official statementsaid quoting the minister

He said a credit ratingmechanism can be devised forNBFCs also to support themadding that a possibility needs tobe explored to get some foreigninvestment in the NBFC space.

He said in a situation wherean NBFC has a good credit rat-

ing, it can be a good thing ifsuch a company can also attractforeign investment but a crite-ria needs to be fixed for thispurpose. Regarding request forextension of interest subventionscheme for MSMEs, which wasin place until March 31, 2020,Gadkari said: “We have alreadyrecommended to the FinanceMinistry for giving extension tothis scheme. I am trying mylevel best to get it approved... IfI get it, definitely we will con-tinue this scheme”. PTI

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New Delhi: Amid the call forhigher public spending to spurgrowth, the CII on Thursdaysounded a note of caution say-ing that the Governmentshould guard against increasingfiscal deficit that may promptrating downgrade resulting inother consequences for theeconomy.

Earlier this week, Moody’sInvestors Service downgradedIndia’s sovereign rating to‘Baa3’ from ‘Baa2’, saying therewill be challenges in imple-mentation of policies to miti-gate risks of a sustained peri-od of low growth and deterio-

rating fiscal position.In its agenda document

2020-21, the CII also refrainedfrom making an estimate oneconomic growth this fiscalyear given the uncertainty ofthe situation against the back-drop of Covid-19 pandemic.There is currently a consensusamongst economists that theIndian economy will witness acontraction in 2020-21, thequestion is how deeply negativethe growth is likely to be, thechamber said. The RBI alsoexpects GDP growth to remainnegative in the current finan-cial year. PTI

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It’s been five months into 2020 andthe film industry has already lost a

few of its legends. Filmmaker andscreenplay writer Basu Chatterjeejoined the list yesterday. His passingaway at 92 due to age-related ailmentshas made film connoisseurs reminisceabout his films and the reality hebrought out through them. His worksare still remembered as somethingthat had made the 1970s the most fas-cinating and interesting times for theIndian cinema.

Here are his five must-watchfilms, which find relevance eventoday due to themes that resonate.

SARA AKASH (1969)The film, Chatterjee’s directorial

debut, has time and again proved tobe a must-watch for married couples.It traces the journey of a couple who,because of the man’s obstinacy, does-n’t interact with each other for a longtime after their marriage. The film isa commentary on incompatible mar-riages and how Indian joint familiesforce decisions.

The protagonist Samar, played byRakesh Pandey, even recalls in ascene how he once discussed the urgeto “break-free” from society’s expec-tations with his friends, when he says,“Inhi baadhaon ko kuchal kar humeaage badhna hai.”

The film is also said to have show-cased the early distorted view ofwhat came to be known as the Middlecinema — a waystation betweenglamourous commercial films andself-consciously inward-looking art-house cinema. And representing man-woman relationships through theprism of reality was Chatterjee’s forte.

PIYA KA GHAR (1972)While Sara Akash portrayed the

disputes of a newly-married couple,this film focussed on privacy in a mar-riage by showcasing a struggling cou-ple in a joint family of seven inMumbai, somewhat explaining the‘big city woes.’

Through satire, the film com-mented on how two people in lovecould long for privacy in their ownhome. However, with “Jagah toh dill

mein honi chahiye, aur kahin nahi,” itsummed up its underlying message.

RAJNIGANDHA (1974)The sea, the romance, the maxi-

mum city — these are just three thingswhich explain one of the most cele-brated films by Chatterjee,Rajnigandha.

It traces the journey of Deepa,who is deeply in love with Sanjay inDelhi and unexpectedly meets Navinin Mumbai, her former lover. She islater left confused between the two.

The reason why thefilm found aplace in peo-ple’s hearts isb e c a u s eChatterjee, whileshowing a womanconfused in love,neither made it scan-dalous nor apologetic.The protagonist, firsttravelled to another cityall by herself to findindependence and later, goes through

turmoil to eventually find clarity.Art collector and archivist

Supratik Roy had once said,“Rajnigandha’s poster is one such thatif you remove the title credits, it’s anamazing artwork by itself, not a typ-ical film poster.”

KHATTA MEETHA (1978)The film portrays a middle-aged

Parsi widow and widower, who decideto get married despite the objectionsof their grown-up children.

It still finds relevance becauseeven today, adults might find it hardto adjust with the fact that their sin-gle parents could also fall in love withanyone else. “Thoda hai, thode ki zaru-rat hai...” explains it all.

CHITCHOR (1976)A misunderstanding about his

professional position brings Vinod(played by Amol Palekar) close toGeeta (played by Zarina Wahab) andher family. However, later, whenVinod’s boss Sunil (played byVijayendra Ghatge) enters their lives,her family chooses Sunil as Geeta’ssuitor, considering him as her lover.

The film was described as a typ-ical Basu Chatterjee presentation, asit was “so infectious, so appealing.Simple, realistic and aesthetic tothe core, you want to revisit andexperience the joy of quality andmeaningful cinema,” by anational daily. It simply bringstwo people close to eachother without dramatisinganything, or a guy trying to

woo a girl. Rather, it makesfor a very compelling and natural

narration.The film was also nominated for

Filmfare Best Screenplay Award.

Actor Freida Pinto-voiced animated showMira, Royal Detective, revolves around Mira,

a brave and resourceful girl who is appointed forthe role of royal detective by the queen.

She says, “There will be many things yourecognise if you are from India. Right from thecare, attention and detail taken to focus on cos-tume, food, conversation about food and wordsthat are being used. At the end of the day, this isan international show, but the creators of the showhave been so mindful as to not isolate those watch-ing it in India who are growing up in this culture.So, it feels like there is a convergence of interna-tional appeal and the Indian story.”

She further added, “I think Queen Shanti andI have this one thing in common. We both liketo lead, and I think while I was voicing the char-acter of Queen Shanti, I did embody those lead-ership qualities. So, I feel the thing that I learnedfrom her is to lead with grace and to come froma place of kindness.”

(The show is available on Disney+ HotstarPremium.)

Child: “Tell me the oneabout the virus again.Then, I’ll go to bed. That

one’s my favourite.”Adult male: “Okay! Snuggle

down my boy, though I knowthat you know full well...

“It was a world of waste andwonder, poverty and plenty. Backbefore we understood why hind-sight’s 2020. You see, the peoplecame up with companies to tradeacross all lands but they swelledand got much bigger then weever could have planned. We’dalways had our wants but now, itgot so quick, you could have any-thing you dreamed of in a dayand with a click. We noticed fam-ilies had stopped talking. That’snot to say they never spoke butthe meaning must have meltedand the work-life balance broke.The children’s eyes grew squar-er and every toddler had a phone.They filtered out the imperfec-tions but amid the noise, they feltalone. Every day the skies grewthicker till you couldn’t see thestars. So we flew in planes to findthem, while down below, wefilled our cars. We’d drive aroundall day in circles. We’d forgottenhow to run. We swapped thegrass for tarmac, shrunk theparks till there was none. Wefilled the sea with plastic becauseour waste was never capped.Until, each day, when you wentfishing you’d pull them outalready wrapped. While wedrank, smoked and gambled,our leaders taught us why it’s bestto not upset the lobbies, moreconvenient to die.

“But then, in 2020, a newvirus came our way. The govern-ments reacted and told us all tohide away. But while we all werehidden, amidst the fear, peopledusted off their instincts. Theyremembered how to smile, start-ed clapping to say thank you andcalling up their mums. Andwhile the car keys gathered dust,they would look forward to theirruns. With the skies less full of

voyagers, the earth began tobreathe. The beaches bore newwildlife that scuttled off into theseas. Some people started danc-ing, some were singing and somewere baking. We’d grown soused to bad news but some goodnews was in the making. So whenwe found the cure, and wereallowed to go outside, we all pre-ferred the world we found to theone we’d left behind. Old habitsbecame extinct and they madeway for the new. Every simple actof kindness was now given itsdue.”

Child: “But why did it take avirus to bring people backtogether?”

Adult male: “Well, some-times you’ve got to get sick, myboy, before you start feeling bet-ter.”

Tom Roberts’ poem, TheGreat Realisation, is a bedtimetale about pre-pandemic life thatfalls apart when a virus hits, andyet, the — a world where peo-ple are kinder and understandthe reality of life.

Years ago, when 2012 waspredicted to be the doomed year,nobody believed it. Neither theeponymous film, nor the predic-tions. They seemed too bizarrefor so many calamities to takeplace together, all of a sudden.Well, 2020, has been acting muchlike 2012, only a more exagger-ated version of it. It started withAmazon and Australia bush-fires, followed by theCoronavirus pandemic, cyclones,locusts attack, blood-suckingticks attack, tsunami (nearRussia), landslides (in Assam),earthquakes and what not, havetaken a toll on the world.

The year of keeping in touchwith our loved ones on videocalls, virtual meetings on accountof a lockdown has definitelymany drawbacks. But it has beena blessing in disguise for ourecosystem as it has considerablyslowed down the vicious cycle ofunnecessary human consump-

tion and nature has been flour-ishing. Manu Singh, ChiefMentor, and Environmentalist,Varenyum says, “The result of thelockdown has been clearer skies,purer rivers, thriving flora andfauna and an astronomicaldecrease in pollution.”

We saw a lot of examples thatmade it evident that nature wasbalancing itself as humans werelocked indoors — clear water inthe Venice canals, pigeon flockedthe streets of Connaught Place inDelhi, flamingoes were sighted byhundreds in Mumbai, GangeticDolphins were spotted nearKolkata ghats after almost 30years while resident of Jalandhar,Punjab and its surrounding areaswere thrilled with the clear viewsof Himalayan peaks whichweren’t visible for decades.

All these incidents havemade us reflect on our actionsand earth’s sustainability. Nowthat the lockdown is relaxed andlater when life gets back ontrack, will pollution and otherman-made disasters resume or isthere a sense of realisationamong the people? Manu says:“Let’s not imagine that this will,in anyway, remain the case, oncethe lockdown is lifted. We haveturned ourselves into reactivezombies, who will again resume

the rat race and individualismwithout giving any consciousthought to these learnings.People who have come to thisrealisation and will act upon itare a miniscule minority, where-as the ones itching to get back tothe nefarious normal are in hugenumbers.”

Delhi-based environmentalactivist and entrepreneur, JaiDhar Gupta agrees and says,“Human memory is very short.They won’t remember after awhile what disaster they havecaused to the environment. Thebasic human nature is to be self-ish. We will only be concernedabout our economic survivalwhich is at stake now. We willuse the fossil fuels at the samerate and will bounce back to theold ways because people don’tchange that easily.” He adds thatthe subset of people, who areenvironmentalists, is very small.Their hopes or aspirations don’teven matter.

Now that earth has becomecleaner, albeit temporarily, howcan we make sure people don’trepeat the mistakes that theyhave been making since decades?Well, Manu believes that theworst kind of pollution is not air,water, soil or noise but pollutionof consciousness. We abuse our-selves, our fellow sentient beings,and nature because we havepolluted our consciousness byinvesting in ego and greedinstead of love, compassionand care. “The entire creationis a web of interconnectednessand the moment we start actingas if we’re separate from it, westart behaving like carcinogenswho grow only for the sake ofgrowth, destroying the ecosys-tem that nourish us — andeventually destroying our-selves. We need to slow downand feel the treasures ofnature within and without,re-establishing ourconnection with life.We need to realise

what we are losing as this alonecan stop us from wreakinghavoc on our planet,” says he.

The question of meetingour current needs without com-promising the ability of futuregenerations to meet their needsis sustainable development. Butthis is something that we do notpause and think about. Jai Dharsays that of course the rightapproach is to find a more sus-tainable way. He adds: “Butbefore looking for solutions letus see what those mistakes are?One of the big problem is that60 per cent people light theirchulha using bio fuel — woodor dried cow dung, which is thelargest source of air pollution.How is that going to go away?The people using them areeither too poor or live in remoteareas and neither the people atlarge, nor the government seemto try hard to change that. Idon't think even ourEnvironment Minister knowswhat the word ‘sustainable’ actu-ally means, it is blind leadingthe blind. Our forest ministerhas done everything possible todestroy the environment to pro-mote growth. We are compro-mising on health and govern-ment. We have been doing it foryears.”

Talking about sustainabili-ty in the current times, he fur-ther asks, “What is it that peo-ple are buying in large numbersnumbers?” and then answers, “itis the masks and PPE kits. Doesanyone of us know how to useand throw plastic masks andPPE kits? How will they decom-posed? Is their any authoritythat will regulate the waste thatwill be produced? Well, theseare the questions we need toask the government so thatour safety doesn’t act as a bur-den for the environment.”

We can

make sustainability possiblenow through a paradigm shift inour concept of developmentfrom a greed-based model to aneed-based one. We need torevisit what Gandhiji hadexhorted — the planet hasenough for every man’s need butnot enough for every man’sgreed. Manu says, “This conceptof development must migrateaway from its current anthro-pocentric viewpoint and encap-sulate all life forms and forcesthat support them. Our modelof economics shouldn’t be animpediment in the path of ecol-ogy, but should protect it.Nations must join forces topromote cleaner forms of ener-gies, reduce the population,destruction of rainforests anddumping of contaminants intoour ecosystem.”

We can use this crisis to dothings differently and under-stand the power and change thatone person can bring about.While Jai Dhar’s only ray ofhope is today’s youth, Manu saysthat this predicament is born outof our current lifestyles and wemust radically and consciouslyalter it. He adds, “During this cri-sis, we have witnessed first handhow vehicular and industrialemissions affect our natural sys-tems and what horrors areunleashed by the diabolic animalflesh trade. Thus, we can pledgeand join forces to make the nec-essary lifestyle changes to miti-gate the disastrous effects ofthese industries at least. Finally,I’ll quote Gandhiji again, ‘Be thechange you want to see in theworld.’”

Post self-realisation, we needto actively engage other peopleand transform this into a contin-uous movement, ensuring thatour elections are fought over it sothat we build back a better worldthat is more sustainable, resilientand inclusive.

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From war to mass addiction andpalaces to naval ships, gin has beenthrough it all. Since the late 1600s, the

drink has been both a trailblazer and a tra-ditionalist. The world’s first substanceepidemic of the masses and savoured byroyalty — gin has seen it all. Over thecourse of this article, we will explore theevolution of gin, how it has developed intothe popular spirit we drink today and, mostimportantly, how best to enjoy this glori-ous liquid. So, let’s first define what exact-ly a gin is. It’s a spirit that has been flavouredwith botanicals through distillation or com-pounding, with the most important botan-ical called juniper. Though there are a fewexamples to the contrary, as a whole, ginis not aged.

EVOLUTIONDuring the war with William of

Orange the British soldiers witnessed theDutch soldiers scull a healthy measure ofthis Dutch Genever before charging madlyinto a battle and thus was born the phrase,‘Dutch Courage’. Like with many things, theBritish adopted this foreign substanceand made it their own. Refining it to suittheir palates and rebranding it as quintes-sentially English.

This new spirit quickly grew in pop-ularity with both the upper and middleclass in Britain. The upper class praised itfor its refined flavours and exclusivenature, while the lower class praised it forits significantly higher abv (alcohol by vol-

ume) to their staple, beer. This populari-ty among the masses grew into addictionand London in particular was faced witha widespread epidemic. To curb the con-sumption, the government introduced anumber of laws. One of those being theTippling Act 1751, which regulated bothsale and production of poor quality ‘bath-tub gin’ — a poorly made, unregulated anddangerous liquor. Thus, paving the way forcommercial brands like Gordon’s andlater, Tanqueray to grow in popularitybringing to market the gins we love today.

In more recent history, gin fell out offavour during the late 20th century with the

increase in popularity of vodka, which hadbeen growing since the late 1950s. Vodkabeing more neutral in flavour could pro-vide a boozy element to drinks withoutinfluencing the flavour of other ingredients.From a brand point of view, this was a mar-keter’s dream, it could be promoted due tothe fact you could have several drinks atlunch and no one would smell it on yourbreath when you returned to work.

Over time gin became synonymouswith older folk, less trendy and was seenas a depressant. Gaining names like‘Mother’s Ruin’ as it was considered some-thing you would find gathering dust in your

grandmother’s closet rather than beingordered at a bar. Fast forward 20 years andgin is now in a true renaissance as discern-ing drinkers become more educated onwhat they are putting in their glass andtransitioning from less flavoursome spir-its like vodka into the versatile world of gin.

GIN IN INDIAThere are wonderful ties between

India and gin. Not only is the country close-

ly connected through the abundance ofbotanicals and spices often used in produc-tion. It is also the birthplace of the Gin &Tonic. It was here that the British discov-ered quinine — the key botanical in tonicwater — offered protection against malar-ia. It is important to note, that this is mostlikely due to repelling mosquitoes, and notcuring or preventing malaria. So the onlylogical step to take with this newfound dis-covery was to up the intake of G&T’s.Cheers!

With the trade routes in operation, qui-nine was transported all over the world andthe combination of gin, quinine or tonicand lime was sold as medicinal cures formany common health issues.

MARKETWhile the gin category has been grow-

ing steadily around the globe for the pastdecade. We are seeing that trend take offin India primarily in the last 12-18 months.

This is exciting because the growth of con-sumption leads to the growth in variety, soexpect to see more gins behind the bar.

A contributing factor to the increasein number of brands is the endless botan-ical combinations which means an endlessrange of gins on offer. In comparison to thewhisky, which primarily relies on aging toinfluence flavour and requires to stay inbarrels for several years, thus, tying up sig-nificant resources. In short, this means youcan have a differentiated, saleable productin market within a short span of time, mak-ing gin a more economical product to pro-duce.

While there is significant innovationwith production methods, many of theworld’s most successful and popular brandsstill use tried and true methods likeTanqueray, who has followed the samerecipe and production since 1830. However,they often innovate for new releases. Forexample, Tanqueray No. 10 was the first ginto use whole citrus fruit when it launchedin 2000. An experiment that took two yearsto perfect, and aren’t we glad they perse-vered.

CONSUMPTION OCCASIONSGin is possibly the best base spirit for

mixing as it has a pre-existing base rich-ness without an overwhelming flavour pro-file. This makes it perfect for cocktails asthe botanicals give hint to flavours that canbe amplified through additional ingredi-ents. When creating cocktails withTanqueray No. 10, which uses whole cit-rus and chamomile, I am instantly inspiredto use fresh herbs like mint or basil, or morerelaxing flavours like honey to complimentthe chamomile.

The versatility of gin makes it equallysuited to long, refreshing drinks for sum-mer as well as stiff, fortifying concoctionsfor the colder nights. I’m delighted to sharesome of my favourite gin cocktails andwhen I consume them.

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England wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billingssays he doesn’t want to be “pigeon-holed as

a white-ball cricketer” and has a renewed desireto come good in the Test format, an ambitionthat took a backseat when he decided to playIPL early in his career.

The 28-year-old has never played a Test forEngland but featured in 15 ODIs and 26 T20Isbefore a shoulder injury robbed him of chanceto be a part of his team’s historic victory in the50-over World Cup last year.

“There’s no one else to blame apart fromme really for that (white-ball typecasting),”Billings told ESPNcricinfo.

“I think there are opportunities in the Testteam as well, especially as a batter and also inthe wicket-keeping position. I find that reallyexciting. I don’t want to just be pigeon-holedas a white-ball player. I’m better than that,” heasserted.

Billings spoke about a change in mindsetafter competing in the IPL.

“I played four IPLs and you’re not going toturn down an opportunity like that as a youngplayer in terms of a chance to develop.”

“Obviously four-day cricket had to take aback seat at that point in time and I just did-n’t play anywhere near enough cricket. That’swhere my mindset has changed a little bit.”

After returning to action, Billings managedjust 34 runs in five T20 innings against NewZealand and was dropped from white-ballsquads for South Africa tour early this year.

He could play a few matches for Kent andhe made it count by scoring three hundreds inconsecutive Championship innings, includingtwo in a match against Yorkshire at Headingley.

���� The BangladeshCricket Board hasturned down formercaptain MushfiqurRahim and other seniorplayers’ request to trainat the Sher-e-BanglaStadium in Mirpur, cit-ing health safety con-cerns amid the Covid-19pandemic.

The BCB said thedisinfecting process isyet to be completed atthe Mirpur facility.

“Mushfiq commu-nicated with us, hewanted to begin person-

al training. But we toldhim that this is not yet asafe time to do so, heshould train at home.Training is important,but players’ safety ismore important to us,”BCB chief executiveN i z a m u d d i nChowdhury was quotedas saying by Cricbuzz.

“A few other playerswanted to know if theycould do individualtraining. But our mes-sage was the same for all.We are working on dis-infecting our facilities.

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Australia’s world-cup winning cap-tain Meg Lanning is hopeful that

the women’s ODI World Cup will goahead as planned next year andremains confident that their prepa-ration for the big-ticket event will notbe affected due to the coronavirus-forced break.

The 50-over World Cup is sched-uled to be held in New Zealand inFebruary-March next year but withthe Covid-19 pandemic taking a tollon international tournaments such asthe T20 men’s World Cup, there arespeculations that it could have a

domino effect on the women’s event.“At this stage, we anticipate the

World Cup to go ahead as scheduled(early next year) but have to wait andsee how that plays out. We’ve got aplan in place for what it looks like butalso fully understanding things canchange pretty quick,” Lanning toldcricket.Com.Au.

“The group we’ve got, we’veplayed a lot of cricket together overa long period of time and if it (thecoronavirus) means we’ve only got ashort time to prepare and get ready(for the World Cup), I’ve got nodoubt we’ll be able to do that. We’llbe ready to go.”

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If it weren’t for a pandemic-caused postponement, theFrench Open would have been

in Week 2 now, and Rafael Nadalmight still have been in contentionfor a 20th Grand Slam title.Instead, he’s home in Spain, prac-ticing lightly — and wonderingalong with everyone else in ten-nis whether the next Grand Slamtournament, the US Open, will beheld.

“If you (ask) me today, I willsay, ‘No,’” Nadal said with a shakeof his head during a video confer-ence call with The AssociatedPress and other wire services onThursday.

“In a couple of months? Idon’t know. Hopefully, ‘Yes,’” hecontinued.

“But we need to wait proba-bly until we have more clearinformation about how the virusevolves and how the situation isgoing to be in New York in a cou-ple of months. Because, of course,New York has been one of theplaces that have been very strong-ly hit by the virus. So let’s see.”

Nadal thinks there are two keyrequirements for the US Open tohappen — and for tennis toresume anywhere: assurancesabout being protected from thecoronavirus and having everyonebe able to fly internationally.

“We can’t come back until thesituation is completely safeenough in terms of (health),” hesaid, “and fair enough in terms ofall the players from every single(country) can travel to the tour-naments under safe circumstancesto compete.”

Tennis, like most sports, hasbeen on hold since March becauseof the Covid-19 outbreak.

The ATP and WTA tours aresuspended at least until late July.The French Open’s start waspushed back from Mayuntil September.Wimbledon was can-celed for the first time in75 years.

A decision about theUS Open is expectedwithin weeks; the tournament’smain draw is scheduled to beginin New York on August 31.

The US Tennis Association’s

chief executive for pro tennis,Stacey Allaster, told the AP onSaturday that contingency plansinclude providing charter flightsfrom around the world for play-ers and requiring proof of nega-

tive virus tests beforetravel.

“I really believe weneed to be patient, beresponsible,” Nadal said,“and we need to (be)calm and do the things

the right way.”Nadal, who turned 34 on

Wednesday, said he didn’t toucha racket for more than two

months before recently resumingtraining in a less-intense waythan normal and “not testing mybody.”

“I am going very slow, step bystep, not playing every single dayand not practicing much,” hesaid. Usually at this time of year,he is exerting himself on the redclay of Roland Garros, where hehas won a record 12 of his 19major championships.

He’s neither optimistic norpessimistic right now aboutwhether the French Open can beplayed later in 2020.

“I miss playing tennis. I miss

playing the tournament that I lovethe most,” Nadal said.

“But at the same time, mymind is not thinking about that.

My mind is focused on trying torecover the normal life. The firstthing we have to do is recover thenormal.”

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Multiple Grand Slam champi-on Chris Evert feels players

who have been around the sportfor a long time like SerenaWilliams, Roger Federer andRafael Nadal will ‘dive right intoit’ when tennis resumes post theCovid-19 pandemic as they knowtime is not on their side.

“I have a sneaky suspicion thatthe players that have been aroundfor a long time, especially Serena(Williams), Roger, Rafa, I thinkthey’re going to dive right into it,”Evert said on French Open’s offi-cial website on Episode 11 ofChatting with Daniela.

“They’re appreciating thatthey can be with their family.They’re appreciating that theycan rest their bodies. But they alsoknow that time is noton their side,” saidthe 18-time GrandSlam champion.

Evert also opinedthat it will be interesting to see ifcurrent world No1 NovakDjokovic could regain hismomentum.

“I feel bad for Novak. He hadthe momentum,” she said.

“Everyone was saying, ‘Is he

going to win a Grand Slam? Is hegoing to win four in a row?’ Hewas playing awesome tennis andthen all of a sudden (seasonstopped). He’ll be an interestingstory to see if he can get thatmomentum back.”

Djokovic recently announcedthat he is hosting a tennis tourna-ment across the Balkan countriesstarting on June 13.

The Adria Tour will start inBelgrade in Djokovic’s homecountry of Serbia and followed bymatches in Zadar, Croatia onJune 20 and 21. The next stop isin Montenegro on June 27 and 28and the tour ends in Banja Luka,Bosnia and Herzegovina on July3 and 4.

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But the job is yet to becompleted.”

In Bangladesh 746people have died and over55,000 have tested positivefor coronavirus.

“We need to considerthe overall situation. Wecan’t rush into anything.

Many countries are start-ing their activities; we willdefinitely do the same.However, we can’t give anexact date right now,”Nizamuddin said. “Wehave been working to dis-infect the things we needfor training after Eid, and

it is in the process. Afterit is completed we can saythat we are ready to startcricket training again.

“Then we will see theoverall situation of thecountry. After assessingthe overall situation wewill call the players. PTI